Decision ‘08

Actual Conversation at Work…

…with a very nice co-worker who sometimes reads this blog, so if you see this, I’m not making fun, just reporting!:

She: Did you watch TV last night?

Me: I did.

She: Did you watch the Geena Davis president thing?

Me: No, I watched the second part of the Bob Dylan documentary.

Pause…

Me: Was it good?

She: It was…Donald Sutherland was her nemesis.

Me: Oh, he played the evil Republican?

She: How did you know? I thought you didn’t watch it…did you read an article about it?

11 Responses to “Actual Conversation at Work…”

1 Jeff Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 10:46 am
Sutherland, OK. But who played the evil conspiring general? And what about the bigoted, maniacal, fundamentalist preacherman? I’m sure they’ll be worked in, too.
2 utron Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 11:01 am
I’m sorry to say that I missed it. First I was out socializing, and when I got home I decided to do something more enjoyable, like ripping out my toenails with my teeth…

Actually, the morning-after reviews make the show sound entertainingly awful. I’ll definitely catch next week’s thrilling episode. Any bets on how long it will take President Davis’s evil right-wing daughter to get pregnant and agonize over an abortion?
3 Dennis Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 12:05 pm
I was flipping channels and caught bits of it. The best way I can describe it was remember when The West Wing was in its prime and mixed occasional sanctimonious speeches with humor and the dramatic mechanics of backroom politicking? This show seemed to focus pretty heavily on the sanctimonious speeches, and that’s about it.

What struck me is that for a show that presumably is done by people who would be all in favor of a female president, it seemed to rest pretty heavily on the “Gosh, how can she reconcile being a wife and mother with being president?” angle. Maybe they’re just setting up strawmen to battle, but you never see Jed Bartlet agonize over whether he’s a good enough family man.
4 bebere Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
Oh, let them have their play presidents; we’ll just keep on electing our real ones.
5 Dmac Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 12:21 pm
Sutherland playing the evil Repub - man is almost as good as Dreyfus’s rendering of the Cheney - like evil Repub in The American President. Hilarious, over - the - top impersonation, but of course it was meant to be reality - based. Another brilliant polemic from the good folks who brought you The Left Wing.

But then again, I watched the Scorsese/Dylan flick as well. Great to hear the man actually talk about his work at length, without all the cant that usually went with it.
6 Mark Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 1:00 pm
bebere, that’s a tradeoff I can definitely live with…the funny thing is that people actually think this might effect whether Hillary gets elected - now, Hillary may very well have a shot, as I’ve often said, but Geena Davis’s little TV series won’t be the determining factor, I feel confident in saying…
7 bebere Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 1:35 pm
I’d gather that Hillary will get as much a push with this little show as Kerry did with “West Wing.” I wonder if those who put this sort of stuff out realize that there’s a good chunk of the population out there that doesn’t actually let their realities be formed by TV.
8 HoldYerNose Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 1:50 pm
Dang! I went out drinking last night and missed everything.
9 Dennis Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 2:53 pm
“Hillary may very well have a shot, as I’ve often said, but Geena Davis’s little TV series won’t be the determining factor”

Based on what I saw last night, if this show is still on in time for next year’s midterms, let alone 2008, that’ll be a minor miracle.
10 fatman Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 2:55 pm
Heck, I don’t even have a television. (I wonder what Donald Sutherland does in the summer now that the Expos have moved to D.C.?)
11 Dmac Says:
September 28th, 2005 at 3:51 pm
Well, you’re not missing too much these days by not having one, when you really think about it.