Hornswaggler | The culture, the humor, a bit of the sports, not so much the politics, and the workplace distraction

Hornswaggle is an alternate spelling of hornswoggle, an archaic word that means to bamboozle or hoodwink. I take my pronunciation from the late Harvey Korman in "Blazing Saddles" --

"I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, conmen, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass kickers, shit kickers and Methodists!"

Hornswaggler
Culture, Humor, Sports
Workplace Distraction

Thursday, April 15, 2004

The Apprenctice

Season finale for the Donald tonight, though, don't worry retarded people out there with Donald separation anxiety, he will most definitely be back.

I have to say I've enjoyed "The Apprentice" this year, despite Trump's self-aggrandizing ways.

First off, it's refreshing to see smart, educated people on reality television. Can you imagine? Though Trump's claim that multiple people on the show had IQ's over 200 was perhaps slightly overstated.

The thing that really made this show work was the fact that Trump came off as a paternal figure, tough but fair, as well likeable. Which is why, incidentally, it was a little unsettling when he and his number one hussy Caroline went off on Heidi, whose mother was being treated for colon cancer, when they fired her a month ago.

There's been a lot written about how this show's timing was perfect, with the national mood in the can and the economy still not recovered, and how this show wouldn't have worked in the dot-com boom era. There's something to that theory, but I think it's been overdone.

The one thing that's for certain is that, beginning with his appearance on Saturday Night Live, Donal Trump is well on the way to a major case of overexposure. Which will be a fitting end for him, undone by his own absurd narcissicism. The SNL he hosted, though it was funny when he made fun of his hair, was weak. His promo for "The Apprentice" and the Miss USA Pagaent was tacky and stupid.

"The Apprentice" had an incredible buzz early on, and the trick is keeping it going without oversaturating the public a la Bennifer. But, with a second season and all the hype that will accrue to it on the way, it's clear that Trump, who had done such a great job rehabilitating his image, which was in the shitter, really, prior to this, is headed for the moment when viewers, beaten over the head with him like they always are in TV-land (remember when "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" with Regis was on ABC five nights a week), will, with a sigh of frustation and relief, tell Trump to get the fuck out of their face and change the channel.

.: posted by hornswaggler 3:18 PM


|
Salon Articles
The Right Take on Libby?
Hurricane Horror Stories
"Looting" or "Finding"?
Run, Andy, Run!
Newsweek's Grand Inquisitor
Robert Blake
American Idol
Year in Television 2002
X-Files


Links
Andrew Sullivan
Atrios
Bigmouth's "Lost" blog
Chris Keating
Digby
Hendrik Hertzberg
Matt Yglesias
Paul Krugman
Peter Kinney
Talking Points Memo
Two Glasses


Contact




Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com