If my colleague John "the Beltway Belter" Eggerton can reference Schoolhouse Rock, I guess it's OK for me to name-check '80s HBO laff-fest Not Necessarily the News. With a tip of the Stetson to Rich Hall, I offer an entry to his brilliant "Sniglets" ouevre. 



EX POSTER FACTO: Signage on buses and phone booths advertising new programs even after the programs have been cancelled.  

Usage: It appears the marketing campaign for NBC rookie My Own Worst Enemy has outlived the actual show. 

[image telegraph.co.uk]

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I've long heard tales of B&C Washington bureau chief John Eggerton's legendary golden throat. Though I'd listened to his bass tenor over the phone nearly every day for the past two years—and found it unfailingly melifluous, even when roughened by the occasional chest cold—I had yet to hear John break into song...until now.

As loyal readers of his Washington blog know, John recently proposed the revival of ABC's educational interstitial series Schoolhouse Rock as a way to address renewed demand for high-quality children's programming. To demonstrate his investment in the idea, he posted his phone number and encouraged readers to call him up if they wanted to hear his rendition of "The Preamble," Schoolhouse Rock's catchy ode to the Constitu...Read More

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October Road may have been cancelled last spring, but the ABC series appears to be enjoying something of a second life…on Mars.

Despite a promising midseason start in 2007, the primetime soap didn't make it to a third season, and its creators went on to become the showrunners on ABC's Life on Mars. But the producers have been sprinkling the cop drama with sly call-backs to their dearly departed show.

In the Life on Mars pilot, moments before a car accident mysteriously catapults the main character, a modern-day police detective, back to 1973, a sign on a row of tenement houses is clearly visible through his window: "Welcome to Cataldo Houses."

October Road fans no doubt caught the reference: Ray "Big Cat" Cataldo was the name of October Road's arch villain, who owns a successful constr...Read More

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When the history of the 2008 presidential election is written, Martin Eisenstadt just might make it as a footnote.

But two weeks after Election Day, the tale of this fraudulent Republican gunslinger is the perfect capper to an often ridiculous political season.

Last week, Eisenstadt—a blogger who described himself as an adviser to Sen. John McCain's campaign and a "senior fellow" at "The Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy"—claimed to be the source of a post-election smear aimed at Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin. You know, the one about Palin not realizing that Af...Read More

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OK,  maybe "flash" was parrot overkill. It is clearly one of those end-of-a-long Friday items, but I am convinced by the press mavens behind a new online joke book, "new" being the absolute least appropriate adjective imaginable, that they are on to something.

Online self-publishing site, yudu.com (get it?,) has just released a new version of a 4th century BC joke book, Philogelos: The Laugh Addict, with over 200 jokes and witticisms ascribed to a pair or Greeks, Hierocles and Philagrius. BTW: I Googled them enough to conclude there actually is an ancient joke book of which this is a new translation.

Anyway, according to the book, which was being hawked with the headline about tracing the roots of the Python's famous TV skit, the ...Read More

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The election has come and gone, but stories from the hotly contested campaign remain near the top of the media rotation, right under the cratering U.S. economy and speculation about Barack Obama’s cabinet.

William Ayers, erstwhile bomb-builder and now pillar of the Chicago community, will break his silence on ABC’s Good Morning America. Anchor Chris Cuomo will conduct the interview live in GMA’s New York studios Friday morning during the show’s 7 a.m. half hour.

Obama’s connection with Ayers – they served on a charity board together, Ayers hosted an event for Obama when Obama was running for the Illinois state senate – became Exhibit A in Sarah Palin’s stump arguments decrying the now president-elect&...Read More

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Everyone and their mother was throwing an election night bash Tuesday, but very few could say they were one of the hottest tickets in town. One of those parties, without question, was Comedy Central’s Indecision 2008 shindig, held at The Park in New York’s meatpacking district.

 

The Atmosphere

 

Each room had a different vibe. The main room, which had trees and a park-like atmosphere, was the center of the party, with two bars, a buffet and more TVs than you could...Read More

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11:22 p.m.

Celebrations all over as The Daily Show calls it. McCain is not popular with this crowd.

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11:18 p.m.

MSNBC shows shots of celebrations including one of Jesse Jackson with tears flowing then cuts to John McCain’s 10 minute speech in front of supporters holding off supporters’ boos with his hand when he mentioned Obama.

He urges supporters to support Obama and acknowledges the historic aspects of the outcome of the election, ending with: &ldqu...Read More

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10:56 ET -- Leading up to the 11 pm hour when polls in the west will be closed Chris Mtthews pondered on what it means if Obama wins. “If this happens in the next few minutes and we announce it every reality we grew up with in terms of ethnicity will be different.”

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10:53 ET -- Mark McKinnon on ABC: "The fat lady has not yet sung. She's just warming up."

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10:41 ET -- Brian WIlliams finally comes close to an admission about the end, talking about the great history of Chicago's Grant Park, "History that's about to be doubled tonight."

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10:21 ET -- MTV's Kim Stolz reporting from the McCain viewing party in Phoenix, Ariz. "Although McCain's camp still remains optimistic, there's a sense of reality filling the room," she said. Talking about Obama's victo...Read More

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10:43 ET -- PBS' Lehrer says CBS and Fox call Virginia for Obama.

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10:42 ET -- ABC calls South Dakota for McCain.

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10:38 ET -- NBC and MSNBC call South Dakota for McCain. 207-138. Chuck Todd says we could have Nebraska splitting it's electoral votes for the first time.

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10: 27 ET -- The other Big O weighs in. WABC's Dave Evans, reporting from Obama HQ in Chicago, Ill., talks to Oprah Winfrey, who doesn't hold back on her Obamamania: "I feel like I’ve been pulsating all day and now I’m in, like, full vibrational mode."

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10:14 ET -- MTV is still lacking any sort of real-time election coverage. With Obama at 207 and McCain at 95 electoral votes respectively (according to CNN.com, my only current source of up-to-the-minute election coverage),...Read More

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9:42 p.m.

John King just went state by state and made a case that the race is over.  He then kind of caught himself and said that if you live out West, by all means, please vote.

9:31 p.m.

I'm watching John King work his magic wall and suddenly I'm a bit sad for both of them. Where does this love affair go from here after the election?  I am among the people who think King is a rising star, but what of the magic wall?  Poor thing may end up like that other guy from Wham.

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It was already 8:16 but Univision special correspondent Lourdes Meluzá was in Phoenix, AZ still urging voters in the West Coast to go out and vote. During a live interview, U.S. Senator Mel Martínez says that what is happening with the Hispanic electorate (which has shown to favor Obama overwhelmingly) is a real “tragedy” for the Republican party, especially because McCain is a “real champion of immigration reform.” 

For the Spanish-language networks this is not only the most analyzed –and polled- Presidential election, but it is also “unprecedented” in terms of the importance of the Hispanic electorate. According to Univision and Telemundo analysts, this year Presidential election will see an unprecedented number of Hispanic voters, with 1 million new voters who registered to vote this year.  

In a...Read More

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