Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2006 > November > 06
Monday, November 6, 2006
Yea! Last night of mean political ads!
Tonight is the last night we’ll have to deal with all those mean-spirited political ads.
A dark, grainy photo of an opponent is a sure-fire way to signal corruption. Add a touch of creepy, “Law & Order”-style “bum BUM” music, and you’ve hammered the other candidate(s) to a pulp.
It will be a relief to get back to toilet paper (except for that animated bear in the woods) and cough syrup ads, won’t it?
The odd thing to me throughout the Texas political season is the negative campaign conducted by current Republican Gov. Rick Perry. I thought negative ads were the last gasp of a desperate candidate. Perry is way ahead in most polls — 17 percent in the latest Dallas Morning News survey.
So why did he go negative? Why not run on his record or, at least, do those warm-and-fuzzy spots with his exceptionally handsome family?
Instead, he launched the dumbest spots ever heard on radio — those ridiculous jingles based on the Bud Light beer ads. “Mr. Way Too Liberal for Texas Guy!” somehow tied former Democratic congressman Chris Bell to France. I still don’t get that one. “Mrs. Corrupt Comptroller Politician Woman” ripped Republican-turned-independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn for alleged misuse of tax dollars. If that’s really a serious charge, why set it to music?
Bell and Strayhorn hoisted their own negative ads, but when you’re as far behind as they are, it makes more sense. Negative ads used to be a last resort; now they’re de rigueur.
Independent guber candidate Kinky Friedman’s ads, portraying him as the “good shepherd” surrounded by a dozen or so of his rescued dogs, aren’t negative. But they don’t really tell us much about what kind of governor the Kinkster might be. So what’s the point?
Anyway, it all comes to a screeching halt tomorrow night, when election returns and good old car commercials will trump political nastiness — for now.
“The O.C.” sagging
Fox is trying to figure out why once-loyal young viewers aren’t coming back to “The O.C.,” the sexy teen sudser starring Austinite Benjamin McKenzie. A safe bet is they’re tired of it.
The show’s fourth season opener was buried last Thursday in the “Grey’s Anatomy” versus “CSI” standoff. So this week, Fox is going to give “O.C.” a one-time-only shot at a better slot — Wednesday at 8 p.m., following the popular “Bones.” A second new episode will air in the show’s killer slot Thursday.
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