Sunday Morning Roundup: Twirling Toward Freedom

It's the last Sunday before "Super Duper Grouper Flooper" Tuesday, so you'd expect the Sunday morning political shows to be on fire. Or as on fire as these shows could muster. After watching two of them, I'd say, not so much.

Maybe it's just my mood this morning, but I couldn't stop focusing on the superficial. NBC's Meet the Press with Tim Russert apparently couldn't lure one of the remaining Presidential candidates to the set, so they had a roster of four political commentators. Among them were Bob Shrum, Mike Murphy, and married odd-couple Mary Matalin and James Carville. They talked and talked, but none sounded very convincing. It sounded like the standard issue, shot-in-the-dark guessing that pundits often offer. And they could be absolutely wrong about everything they said, and still be asked back for a post-election roundup.

But what really struck me was the appearance of these four pundits, and the host, Tim Russert. These five people are a caricaturist's dream. Or maybe a Muppeteer's dream. And not the cute Sesame Street/Muppet Show Muppets, but characters from The Dark Crystal, Fraggle Rock or even SNL's Land of Gorch! Not a pretty face on the panel.

I didn't get much more engaged by FOX "News" Sunday, a show I always watch on the DVR so I can zip through it if I have to. F"N"S did manage to pull in Hillary Clinton and John McCain (who were even inartfully forced into a mini debate). Hillary was great, not thrown by Chris Wallace's zingers. But when McCain was on, I started staring at the spinning spool logo in the corner.

The spool has been modified since I last mentioned it. The logos are no longer chasing each other, and the colors are different. But it's still throbbing and pulsating, while its twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom! Mesmerizing. And with Grampa McCain's droning voice, hypnotizing.

But I was rudly slapped awake by the (ludicrously named) "Power Panel." In the last couple of weeks, the FOX entertainment division must have needed to move some sets around. Because apparently, every FOX game show set has been shoved around the FNS news desk. And turned on! What were they thinking? It's garish, it's seizure inducing, and it's ridiculous.

I'm starting to believe the rumor that the FOX "News" ratings are so high, because rest homes leave it on with no sound; its brilliant graphics and colorful animation being soothing to the infirm. But they've gone too far! All of the blinking and flashing is going to kill their audience, literally!

And while I'm on the superficial, can I mention that it looks to me like Brit Hume and John McCain have both had some sort of neck-tightening procedure? Neither is now suddenly a fashion plate, but where it once looked like their heads were melting into their collars, they now have more of a jawline. Just sayin'. . .