Friday, July 30, 2004

Crossballs



Comedy Central's new show is a riot. I saw the episode with people debating sexual education and thought it was hilarious. The title of the show is a blending of Chris Matthews' "Hardball" and "Crossfire" on CNN with the very handsome Tucker Carlson.



Jacob Sullum writes about the irony of the new show:
"Crossballs" is at least as edifying as the typical TV debate show -- and a lot more entertaining. But it poses a serious puzzle: How is it that the real guests don't realize the fake guests are fake?

One possibility is that the positions staked out by the comics pretending to be experts are what we've come to expect from TV pundits: strong beliefs backed up by little more than bold assertions and bluster. When a marijuana activist played by Matt Besser (co-creator and executive producer of "Crossballs") begins a segment about drugs by declaring, "I think we all agree that pot is good for everyone," his debating style does not seem very different from what you can see on "The O'Reilly Factor" any given evening.

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