Obama: The Woody Boyd Candidate

Earlier this year, I rented and re-watched the entire series run of Cheers. Towards the end of the series, the hayseed junior bartender Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) decides to run for city council. He is encouraged in this endeavor by psychiatrist Fraser Crane (Kelsey Grammer), the bar’s resident elite, who acts as Woody’s campaign manager.

Fraser masterminds Woody’s campaign as a social experiment: He is convinced that anyone, even a bumpkin, can get elected, simply by spouting vague cliches. His advice to Woody? Don’t be specific on the campaign trail – just repeat empty slogans like “change.”

When I saw this, I burst out laughing – perhaps this is where Axelrod & Co. received their inspiration for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign theme, I surmised. (more…)

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Tags: "Cheers", Obama, Ted Danson, Woody Boyd, Woody Harrelson
Posted Nov 14th 2009 at 6:10 pm in Featured Story, Political Humor, Politics | 259954133 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mpatterson/2009/11/14/obama-the-woody-boyd-candidate/Obama%3A+The+Woody+Boyd+Candidate2009-11-15+02%3A10%3A28Matt+Patterson

Grammer’s ‘Hank’ Tries Different Comedic Approach

The new ABC sitcom Hank is rather short on big laughs, but it’s well-stocked with good ideas and sound values. The big question is, will ABC give it a chance?

Hank is the first of two family-oriented comedies ABC is running back-to-back on Wednesday nights beginning at 8 p.m., with each show featuring a big former sitcom star.

Most TV sitcoms, and that goes double for ABC, are largely about what the great filmmaker and satirist Preston Sturges referred to as Topic A. That is because Americans presumably have nothing else on their minds–other than being murdered or having to go to the hospital, the subject matter of most TV dramas.

Hank bucks that restriction, attempting to mine humor from family relationships, romantic love, and social conditions–which used to be the central subjects of Anglo-American comedy before the relaxing and eventual discarding of social and cultural restrictions on discussions of sex freed Hollywood to parade its inner sex maniac with impunity and in fact great financial success. (more…)

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Tags: "Cheers", "Hank", "The Honeymooners", abc, kelsey grammer
Posted Oct 16th 2009 at 10:46 am in Reviews, Television | 24629432 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/10/16/grammers-hank-tries-different-comedic-approach/Grammer%27s+%27Hank%27+Tries+Different+Comedic+Approach2009-10-16+17%3A46%3A24S.T.+Karnick