Update: Shame-Faced

Rosemarie corrects a grievous oversight by reading her first James Bond novel.

TV: Weekends With Maury & Connie

Rosemarie and I started Shame-Faced as a dry run for our eventual TV show, in which we banter about the vital issues of the day over cocktails.

That’s what Maury Povich and Connie Chung, married for over 20 years, are supposed to be doing on their new MSNBC show. There weren’t any cocktails in sight, but I’ll bet they’d come in handy.

The show is supposed to be light-hearted, but it’s just weird. Connie interviewed herself about Katie Couric becoming the CBS news anchor, but Stephen Colbert does a better job of this in his ‘Formidable Opponent’ segments – and without one side of the conversation being on tape. Later, Connie wrote a mash note to Tom DeLay.

During a piece on political changes in Russia, Maury clearly wanted to rip open an envelope containing paternity results and announce, “Vladimir, you are NOT the father of democracy in your country.” (I did like the graphic that ran throughout this bit: ‘Putin On The Fritz.’)

The closing debate segment is called “Po & Con.” Let me repeat that, because it’s the only reason I wrote about the show: “Po & Con.” Weekends is the rare news program where I felt like I knew less by the time it was over. About the news, about marriage, and about life.

Miscellaneous: Links

The New Yorker on how Muzak is reinventing the retail experience. And via Jaime Weinman, Jonathan Rosenbaum offers ten overlooked noirs.