Griper Blade: New Public Broadcast Head Not All That Into Public Broadcast

Tell me which sitcom this is -- there's this guy with kids and he doesn't always see eye to eye with his wife. He has crazy relatives and works with this crazy guy and makes funny faces as the wackiness ensues. He gets into all sorts of trouble and misunderstandings, but by the time the credits roll, he's glad he's got his family.

Yeah, it's a trick question. I just described 99.9% of sitcoms ever made, from Life of Reilly to The Jetsons to Everyone Loves Raymond. There isn't a lot of 'outside the box' thinking in the TV sitcom business -- it's not the home of visionaries. In fact, it'd be hard to argue that the people who come up with the shows that make up this 99.9th percentile are even funny. The incoming president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and producer of the sitcom, According to Jim, really illustrates this point well. His show is unoriginal and his sense of humor is questionable.

Media Matters:

On December 20, President Bush installed via a recess appointment TV producer and National Review Online contributor Warren Bell on the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Bell's appointment only intensifies the widespread and longstanding concerns regarding the partisan makeup of the CPB leadership under Bush and their apparent efforts to compromise the political independence of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Public Radio (NPR), and other public broadcasting outlets. Indeed, while Bell appears to have no experience in public broadcasting, nor interest in the service, he is an avowed conservative and Bush contributor with a record of inflammatory remarks regarding Democrats, women, minorities, and underprivileged people. For instance, in May 2005 he wrote, "I could reach across the aisle and hug Nancy Pelosi, and I would, except this is a new shirt, and that sort of thing leaves a stain." Remarking on using a TiVo to shield his children from birth control ads on television, Bell said, "A little vigilance is all it takes -- well, that and a couple hundred bucks for a TiVo. Sorry, poor people, your kids are going to be asking you awkward questions about condoms."

While I can't prove it, I suspect Bell to be the genius behind inspired punchlines like "Now that's gonna leave a mark!" and "Wait if I'm here and you're over there, then who's... AHHHH!" He ought to be a great fit for the cooking shows and 'Three Tenors' crowd...

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Tags: news | politics | media | Bush | republican | National Public Radio | Public Broadcasting System | Warren Bell | Corporation for Public Broadcasting