You Haven’t Really Been Smacked….

…Until Ann Althouse smacks you. Not only is she a Constitutional Law professor, she is also a very, very sharp critic on much of pop culture. She has just provided a review of Katie Couric's debut as the anchor for the CBS evening news. Me, I do NOT watch network news and have not done so more than a few times since the 1980's. But Althouse bites the bullet and takes one for the team.

Now she's interviewing Tom Friedman, who seems to really be trying to help by speaking extra quickly and smiling, beaming at Katie. They've got two armchairs angled together, with just enough room for Katie's bare, sinewy crossed legs.

The teaser going into the break is about gas prices, and we see the image of a gas pump nozzle, slowly rising, rather lewdly, I have to say, as if CBS felt the need to provide — albeit symbolically — the missing phallus.

After the break, there's an aggressively edited segment on oil. Lots of color and graphics and moving cameras and Shell logos gliding through space and guys yammering about hurricanes and whatnot.

Next, there's a segment called "freeSpeech." Not "free speech" or "Free Speech" or "freespeech" or Freespeech." "freeSpeech." Get it right. And it's Morgan Spurlock, fast talking, wearing a purple striped shirt and a purple paisley tie, and he's saying civil discourse, it's important. Okay, Mr. Spurlock, if you could, please don't wear that shirt and tie again.

Now the show veers into the female territory we were so worried about. That "freeSpeech" thing seemed to be the bridge. They're showing the Vanity Fair cover with the photo of the spawn of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. The baby's name is Suri, and Katie — Couric — does the pun "Yes, sirree."

Couric, she's cute, she's perky, she's photoshopped and she's been smacked.

Oh, on the sign off line thing: don't use "Courage". Rather stupid you know.

Other Links to this Post

1. The Anchoress » First reviews of Couric — Tuesday, 5 September , 2006 @ 10:22 pm