Friday, December 14, 2012

Unfinished Business

Gun control is one of those "third rail" issues.  Now matter how you approach it, you're going to get hurt if you touch it.  NBC's Bob Costas uttered some pro gun control comments on an NFL telecast on the weekend where a member of the Kansas City Chiefs shot and killed his girlfriend, then himself.  I think we can all agree that too many bad people have guns.  I have no idea where to go after that.  Costas certainly has the right to express his opinion, but it seemed out of place at an NFL halftime.  Report the story.  Move on.  Save the commentary for another time.

The alleged "war on Christmas" is another third rail zapper.  It's like this.  If you want to celebrate Christmas, go nuts.  If you'd rather not, great.  In a similar vein, I was totally against shopping on Thanksgiving, so I didn't do it.  Where we run into trouble is when others, and this involves both sides, thrust their views in your face.  This seems to be tabloid TV fodder, more than anything else.

Some steroid users are on baseball's Hall of Fame ballot.  I hope voters keep them out, in spite of their excellent statistics.  Always remember, it's the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Numbers.

After a little radio bashing the other day, something good.  It's called Red Eye Radio, and it runs 1-5 AM.  I don't think current hosts Eric Harley and Gary McNamara are as good as the guy they replaced, Doug McIntyre, but it's still a decent listen-- even though it's not local.

CBS Sports starts a radio network next month.  I don't see any local affiliates, but there's always the internet.  Some of the hosts look like they have something interesting to offer.

This next entry is going to start with a radio reference, but it's not about radio.  I'm a huge fan of Tony Kornheiser's radio show.   It's on a local station in Washington, DC and is available via internet.  On Tuesday, Tony was talking about his Cadillac loaner while his car was in the shop, and he was unable to operate the radio!  Yes!  I test drove a new Honda a few months ago.  It was a great car, but I was confounded by the radio.  I couldn't figure it out.  It seemed to be a combination smartphone/tablet/notebook.  No!  Just play the music and make stations easy to find.  I didn't buy the car, even though it was a fantastic vehicle.  I'm still looking.

Reinhold Weege died December 1 in San Diego.  He created the NBC sitcom "Night Court."  It wasn't the greatest show of all time, but it consistently produced laughs and introduced us to one of TV's best bad guys, Asst. DA Dan Fielding, played by John Larroquette.  Larroquette won four straight Emmy awards, and that's a record.  Before "Night Court, " Weege was a writer and producer on "Barney Miller," one of the most under appreciated sitcoms in history.  Weege was 62.