Terrific: Murderous cannibal character on NBC is … ex-POW senator from Arizona; Update: Bad rap?
posted at 3:40 pm on March 5, 2008 by Allahpundit
The bad news? This might be a veiled commentary on John McCain. The good news? My screenplay about a power-mad woman senator from New York who eats the placentas of aborted fetuses is suddenly looking golden. (Don’t worry, I’ve made her a Republican.) Click the image to watch.
Update: Johnny Dollar e-mails:
I watched this on air and totally did not get the McCain connection. As a regular viewer the AZ thing didn’t stick out, becuase the show is SET in AZ, so the Senator would have to be from there. It was interesting that they get Itzen, so weasly on ’24′, to play the Senator.
One thing to keep in mind: MEDIUM is produced by Kelsey Grammar–one of the few H’wood Repubs. I would be very surprised if he intended any sort of McCain hit piece.
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Yeah, I found it quite disgusting!
ihasurnominashun on March 5, 2008 at 3:42 PM
Welcome to Hollywood, John.
ChrisM on March 5, 2008 at 3:42 PM
Gonna be a long long 8 months, my friends.
And he is going to run a cordial campaign.? ? ? Let’s hope the famous temper kicks in sometime before November.
stenwin77 on March 5, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I’m Waiting for a screenplay of Democrat Senator from Illinois, that cheats on his wife with a man in the back of a limousine and is a crack addict, drug dealing hustler.
Chakra Hammer on March 5, 2008 at 3:46 PM
Brainstorming here…
AN ex
powdraft-dodger,senatorgovernor fromArizonaArkansas who is amurderous cannibalserial rapist.Nah, no one will buy it.
reaganaut on March 5, 2008 at 3:46 PM
Oh, this must be a coincidence; no one in Hollywood would ever do anything to make a Republican look bad, right? Right?
Frozen Tex on March 5, 2008 at 3:46 PM
**edit**
I’m Waiting for a screenplay of partially-Black Democrat Senator from Illinois, that cheats on his wife with a white man in the back of a limousine and is a crack addict, drug dealing hustler.
Chakra Hammer on March 5, 2008 at 3:49 PM
That’s pretty shameless.
tlynch001 on March 5, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Kelsey Grammar – isn’t he the second cousin of Louella Syntax?
corona on March 5, 2008 at 3:53 PM
See, stuff like this is the reason I don’t have a TV. Of course I spend eight hours a day on the Internet, but that’s totally different.
JS on March 5, 2008 at 3:54 PM
I am never get that image out of my head. Lewl…
Branch Rickey on March 5, 2008 at 3:55 PM
In the end it didn’t come across as a deliberate hit-piece on McCain, though it did cross my mind, and I can’t help but suspect that’s precisely what the writer intended it to be.
Worse than any veiled swipes at McCain, though, was it’s ridiculous depiction of life in a NVA prison camp, and how quickly its fictional imprisoned US soldiers came to embrace the idea of murderous cannibalism. The story might have worked if they characters had been adrift on a boat in the ocean. It didn’t make sense as a POW scenario.
At any rate, utterly crappy in and of itself, and just barely politically offense enough that I’m not going to watch the show (which has been on the skids with me, anyway) anymore.
Blacklake on March 5, 2008 at 3:56 PM
I don’t know about that, but his uncle on his mother’s side is Franklin Vocabulary.
Frozen Tex on March 5, 2008 at 3:57 PM
Well, this certainly explains why NBC is constantly fourth in the ratings behind Fox, CBS and ABC.
The Ugly American on March 5, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Kelsey Grammar or no, it is the Hollywood meme. Recent Law&Order with the wide-stance Independent (right down to the tapping foot). We have all seen a thousand of these type of ‘coincidences’ on the HDTVs.
Looking forward to spring training being over so there is something worthwhile to watch on TV.
Limerick on March 5, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Dog bites man.
Kid from Brooklyn on March 5, 2008 at 4:02 PM
Still disgusting, but par for Hollyweird’s course.
Kid from Brooklyn on March 5, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Yes, I remember that; I was explaining all the references to Craig (and Hillary Clinton) that were used in that episode.
Frozen Tex on March 5, 2008 at 4:05 PM
I only have NBC/ABC/CBS on my TV during football season. As soon as the season is over they are removed from the list on the remote. I never even see them as an option.
I like it that way.
I haven’t even seen network “news” in over a DECADE.
I do not miss it.
Janna on March 5, 2008 at 4:06 PM
I’m a Hollywood screenwriter. Believe me, folks, you’d be amazed how many conservatives are in this business. They just have the decency and quiet integrity to not wear their politics on their sleeves. During the strike the message boards were dominated by lefty pro-union hacks, until, of course, the DGA deal was settled, and then the center-right writers flooded the message boards and kicked the beejeezus out of the ranting self-loathing lefties.
Know how you spot a fellow conservative in Hollywood? They’re the ones who go politely quiet when lefty politics are brought up. No use trying to convert someone out of their religion. You’ll get your car keyed.
John the Libertarian on March 5, 2008 at 4:11 PM
…well, that didn’t take long.
Alden Pyle on March 5, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Do any of you really expect more ( or better ) from Hollywood Morons? Really?
White men are always evil–especially white businessmen; especially defense contractors
‘Ravenswood’ on “Jericho”, etc.
Women are always victimes of men ( even while routinely kicking men’s asses in every physical confrontation )
Too many shows and movies to mention here
Non-whites are always victims of whites–ALWAYS
Even when they are Black Presidents on ’24′
Whites are always racist, even when they don’t intend to be and are apparently unaware of it–ALWAYS
Again, too many examples to mention
The military is always menacing and destructive–even when a Latent Leftist emerges out of the ranks to try to Stop the Madness.
But what do any of you expect? Did you see the film and photos of the writers on the picket lines during the ‘strike’? Berkeley / Old Hippie Redux
When the Scum of the Earth looks at America, what do you expect them to see?
This is a Post About Nothing New
Janos Hunyadi on March 5, 2008 at 4:17 PM
Sorry, I just didn’t see any hit job. I watch the show and happen to like it. I think there are too many people who see what they want to see, even more so in an election year.
Torch on March 5, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Medium is one of the few shows my wife and I actually watch (it’s her show – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). I did chuckle a little when this episode appeared.
sleepy-beans on March 5, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Dude, POWs survived prison only by eating each other? This makes Gloria seem rather mild in her downplaying of McCain in retrospect. I think there’s an ugly metaphor here about POWs in general and McCain specifically.
BohicaTwentyTwo on March 5, 2008 at 4:26 PM
I watched and never once thought of McCain.
roux on March 5, 2008 at 4:28 PM
Its not a new idea, here’s an example of a similar storyline in one of my favorite video games (and is excellent if you can find a copy) Twisted Metal: Black (Content Warning!). TMB is much darker in its style than the other TM games.
doubleplusundead on March 5, 2008 at 4:36 PM
This just in ……
Sanjaya to play Obama in musical version of “They Call Me Mr. Libs“.
fogw on March 5, 2008 at 4:40 PM
True dat.
From what I’ve noticed, it’s easier to tell who not to talk to by saying something somewhat polite about a democrat pol, and see who bites… fish in a barrell!
Califemme on March 5, 2008 at 4:44 PM
Keep taking the moral high ground Mav. Let the usual suspects do their thing. It’s the very reason the NYT’s piece helped instead of hurting. Stick to the issues like national security, taxes, free trade, and responsible spending. The folks can see, just get out of the way and let em’ look.
THE CHOSEN ONE on March 5, 2008 at 5:01 PM
I saw it and it jumped out at me. I even posted about it the next morning:
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/03/03/video-how-the-west-wing-prepared-the-way-for-obama-and-vice-versa/comment-page-1/#comment-989329
Seemed pretty obvious to me. But hey, I guess there have been a lot of Senators from Arizona who spent time in a North Vietnamese prison camp so it doesn’t have to mean McCain right? I mean it’s not like they said he was a Republican so it must be non-partisan.
Dudley Smith on March 5, 2008 at 5:05 PM
Well….Grammar was initially supporting Giuliani ; )
The Ugly American on March 5, 2008 at 5:17 PM
Apparently you can’t wear religion on your sleeve either. I wrote an Austin festival semi-finalist script that was positive towards Catholicism (I’m a Protestant). Landed me with an agent who walked me through a re-write in which they wanted to bash Catholicism. I refused… and was dropped because they “couldn’t sell it”. Needless to say I DON’T work in the industry.
papabryant on March 5, 2008 at 5:28 PM
I saw it. He was “only” a state senator. However, he did end up being somewhat of a good guy. He and his fellow POWs ate the guy who was dying anyway (drew straws, etc). They all lived exemplary lives after the war except for one of them, who was a drunk and gambler. That guy ended up getting murdered by all the others because he was extorting and blackmailing them and was going public anyway. They hacked him up with a chainsaw. A black doctor took the rap for the POWs (though all participated), because he drew the short straw this time.
llano on March 5, 2008 at 5:29 PM
I’m glad you don’t wear your politics on your sleeves, but sometimes I do wish that conservative representation in Hollywood could be a little more obvious.
Either way, it’s still nice to know you’re out there.
Esthier on March 5, 2008 at 5:32 PM
also, the show was likely written before the writer’s strike began in early november, when mccain still looked all but dead on the campaign trail.
its vintage duh on March 5, 2008 at 6:02 PM
Hollywood is familiar with eating their own, so it was a natural “high concept” sell.
Next week:
Transexual Muslim woman eats herself to protest Abu Ghraib.
I’m only asking 50 G’s for the treatment.
profitsbeard on March 5, 2008 at 6:09 PM
I have a treatment for a story about a black Svengali who can hypnotize masses with meaningless gibberish then leads them all off a cliff. What’s the chance of a movie deal on that?
Tantor on March 5, 2008 at 6:16 PM
… whose falling out with mentor Roger Thesaurus has been well-documented.
mikeyboss on March 5, 2008 at 6:21 PM
I’m okay with the cannibal part, if he will secure the border.
2Tru2Tru on March 5, 2008 at 6:35 PM
A wise person once said “You can’t reason somebody out of a position that reason didn’t get them in to.”
I used to avoid talking about Religion in polite company, until I realized that Politics is religion for the left. Now I skip them both and talk about the weather…nope too controversial…ok, I just walk away.
TBinSTL on March 5, 2008 at 6:45 PM
Yea, sounds like a deal at this point.
labrat on March 5, 2008 at 7:19 PM
Is that Gregory Itzin, otherwise known as President Charles Logan on Seasons 4 & 5 of 24?
JG2K6 on March 5, 2008 at 7:51 PM
Poor Itzin (is that how its spelled) is just gonna be typecasted as a political jerk now after 24
Rbastid on March 5, 2008 at 10:18 PM
I work in Post Production in Hollywood. I actually worked on that episode when it was shot. I think it was in late October or so (they all fade into one long episode after a while)… If it was filmed last fall, it was probably written at least a few months before then. I highly doubt this had anything to do about McCain.
As a side note, I heard two guys at work this morning discussing ‘supporting the troops’, among other things. I was fascinated to even hear a conservative POV discussed out loud there. The moonbat was having NONE of it though!
I’ve found that there are a lot of fairly conservative people that work in Post. Like mentioned above, we mostly keep our mouths shut unless we know our audience is safe. It’s got nothing to do with not being willing to speak out though, it’s simply that we’d rather do our jobs than argue with people who don’t use logic to come to a viewpoint.
OldManC on March 6, 2008 at 12:20 AM
don’t be silly. don’t you know that there is a ‘vast right wing conspiracy’ in this country that runs all media and suppresses anything even remotely liberal from hitting the air waves? /sarcasm
I am in the same position as John (not a writer but a differnt part of the buisness here) and sadly, if you speak out too much you simply don’t get more work.
The thing many people don’t know is that with all of the liberals in Hollywood who gripe about unions and socialist ideals, there is basically ZERO adherence to labor laws here. People openly blackball people and fire people for reasons that would have any other corporation sued for MILLIONS. Hell, my boss has an assistant who has worked for her for YEARS part time who makes $0.50 LESS than minimum wage; and yes he is a legal citizen of the US (born and raised here)
It’s really quite pathetic sometimes.
MannyT-vA on March 6, 2008 at 8:19 AM
I have to agree with J$. I saw the show as well and didn’t get a McCain vibe at all. Not only that, but as creepy weird as the situation was, they did make the character and the situation he was in fairly sympathetic. The plot goes that 6 captured American soldiers are being tortured and starved to death by their captors. One of the them is dying, the men “speed it along” and when he’s dead they eat his leg to survive.
Years later, one of the men starts building up some gambling debts, so he blackmails the other four so he can pay off his debts and keep gambling. One of the other four is this senator. All four of the men decide to kill the gambler, but only one is caught, a kind doctor who willingly takes the full weight of the blame. The Medium heroine confronts the Senator with what she’s “seen” (she psychic) but ultimately does nothing else about it- though she’s not happy about it. Leaves lots of things open for future episodes when they might clash again.
Anyway, you can decide whether or not that was a hit piece on McCain; personally, I’m dubious.
Jewels on March 6, 2008 at 8:29 AM
Was Jane Fonda the district attorney in this episode?
Shawn92101 on March 6, 2008 at 9:18 AM
I work in an academic department dominated by left-wing radicals. To survive this environment often requires my silence during faculty discussions. The question that gnaws at my heart, is whether breaking this silence could have made a difference within our lock-step academic community. How many other voices remained quiet from fears of being professionally isolated or even damaged? Conservatives and moderates occasionally speak out, but attempting to locate them through casual conversations can be risky.
Ragnell on March 6, 2008 at 7:05 PM