13
February
2008

Episode 55 of Upon Further Review!

We’re finally back, new reviewer in tow, and ready to roll in Episode 55 of Upon Further Review! In this episode, where we are joined by first time guest star Aaron of The Road fame, we thank everyone for their kind words and well wishes on the birth of our daughter before moving on to the review portion of the show: first, we do our civic duty as we review voting; second, we ask when a train wreck really is a train wreck with our review of Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew; and finally, we try to get more nutritious and more flight-worthy (what do you mean those don’t seem to be connected?) with our take on the American Talk USA podcast. As always, we appreciate your ideas and comments, and as always, we ask that you continue to spread the word about the show! (As usual, podsafe intro music is provided by Sharif (“You’re My Girl”), outro by David Henderson (“We Gotta Go”).)

Reviewed in this show:

Voting

Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew

American Talk USA

7 Comments

  1. Media Districts Entertainment Blog » Episode 55 of Upon Further Review!:

    […] Upon Further Review » Where two ex-debaters get the last wordâ?¦on EVERYTH… placed an interesting blog post on Episode 55 of Upon Further Review!Here’s a brief overview […]

  2. Bernadette in Australia:

    We have compulsory voting here in Australia. In state and federal elections (not local government) everyone between the ages of 18 and 70 must vote (or at least get their names crossed off at the polling booth). I suspect if we didn’t have this rule about 630 of our 23 million people would turn out to most election days because we’re generally far less interested in politics than most other places I’ve visited.

    I’m far less supportive of voting than I was at 20. We had a federal election last year and the majority of people in my office (admittedly mostly under 30) decided their vote based solely on the fact that one candidate for Prime Minister appeared on Rove Live (which is a “tonight show” style show similar to Letterman or Leno). They didn’t care what he said or what he stood for but they thought it was cool he went on Rove Live and the other guy didn’t. The reason that is so important to people is that the host asks every guest “so who would you turn gay for?” and people thought it was funny that the candidate for prime minister would answer that question. So does it matter why people vote as long as they vote for the ‘correct’ candidate?

    I don’t know what would be better though – benevolent dictatorship? anarchy?

  3. admin:

    Interesting…we’re afraid the American electorate sometimes makes boneheaded decisions too, although we must say that they can also surprise at times. Greg always used to like the idea of compulsory voting, until scenarios like the one you mention started popping up in his head *shiver.* As for what would be better…well, there’s the rub, isn’t it?

    As always, thanks for the comments!

    T.R.

  4. DrumIntellect:

    There is the opposite view (note that I’m not advocating this) that only people who can pass a test about the candidates or the issues can vote in elections. This would at least weed out people who vote with no idea as to what they are voting about. It has the disadvantage of discouraging people from voting and of the politicization of those “entry” questions.

    Personally, I’d rather people vote without having a clue as to why they are voting than for them to stay home, because someone who votes feels more involved and is more likely (I feel) to learn the issues and about the candidates who are running.

  5. admin:

    Probably true, DI–and we think especially this year, the people will tend to be much more involved in the voting process. An Obama/McCain election will be an especially interesting clash of change and optimism vs. experience…which may not be a winning formula for the experience candidate this time!

    T.R.

  6. DrumIntellect:

    “An Obama/McCain election will be an especially interesting clash of change and optimism vs. experiencewhich may not be a winning formula for the experience candidate this time!”

    It’s still too early to count Hillary out. She has a lot of political connections and it looks like it’s going to come down to who can better bribe the super delegates. Also, she is fighter, so, until someone else serves 2 or 3 months as the next president, I will not count her out.

    But if it does come down to Obama/McCain, I’m supporting optimism.

  7. classic chris:

    Hey, G&C & Aaron!

    Please bring Aaron back as often as you can! He’s fantastic! I still chuckle when I think of his notation of the Japanese version of American Talk USA as “Super Happy Lucky Surprise Hour” (or something like that, but it still made laugh).

    As I’ve shared, I’m not quite of the same political bent as you guys, so I winced a little with Clea’s request for a “2” for voting based on the embarassment of recent US elections (I sense that it was driven by a touch of anger based on the outcome of that election, perhaps?), but it was an excellent and concise review of the process. (For the record, I agree that recent elections have been quite ugly, but to tell you the truth, I think it’s less a function of the process and more a function of living in a media-molded and litigious society).

    But on to lighter topics — Celebrity Rehab is actually now probably much higher up the reality show ladder than it should be. It’s just disgusting the number of spin offs and extensions of what passes for reality tv make the cable schedule. At first, I really liked the direction VH1 took things with the spotlight turned toward the quirky part of hollywood, but now with shows that give people like Janice Dickinson and Kim Kardashian leading roles, it’s really gone too far. The one that really sticks out in my mind is the one with DJ Run from Run DMC, which could just as well be any average family in the US with cameras following them around. Every time I click past it, all I see is “Reverend Run” in his robe and pajamas sitting on the couch. Riveting.

    Keep up the great work! We all appreciate it! See you on 56!

    – Chris

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