The Media Interview

Caught part of Glenn Beck’s CNN TV show last night and I’d have to say it’s a pale imitation of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. What I find disturbing about that statement is that Stewart’s show is a comedy/parody, while Beck - an influential radio talk show host (#3 syndicated talk show in the US) - is doing his show under the guise of a legitimate social/political commentator/interviewer. Yet he’s clearly trying to do what Stewart does.

To be fair, Beck’s website has the sub-title “the fusion of entertainment and enlightenment”, but it was clear in what I saw last night that entertainment was in the driver’s seat. I found it weak entertainment at best: many of the jokes (like the reporter “tracking down” Beck’s french ancestry) seemed forced, Beck is constantly grinning in an effort to keep up the energy, and the level of humour was often sophmoric (though that’s hardly Beck’s fault since that’s what a lot of people want these days). Perhaps Beck is trying too hard and, given that the show debuted in May 2006, he may not yet have found his stride. I’ll give a listen to his radio show and pass along some thoughts on that.

Can’t help adding that a wonderfully ironic moment came when Beck (interviewing Henry Winkler about the movie Click) commented on the fact that it was the Fonz’s jumping over a shark during the decline of Happy Days which gave rise to the phrase “jumping the shark”, meaning that a TV series is past its prime. If what I saw last night (not just the interview) is any indication, his own shark may already have jumped… a few times.

To keep up with Shark Jumping on TV in general, you’ll want to visit jumptheshark.com