NBC's Thursday Liineup
Ed Comet
considering renewing its hit show "Rumsfeld", which follows the lives of a
quirky group of friends who hang out together in Donald Rumsfeld's office in
Washington, DC.
Rumsfeld is quirky, intelligent but often cranky. We laugh at his many
troubles as he tries to maintain his various relationships with the
Pentagon, defense contractors and various military establishments around the
world. Donald's friend (and ex-girlfriend) Condi, is also on hand to spice
up the proceedings by uttering some of the funniest lines in TV. Condi
always has her own motives in mind even as she pretends to be supportive of
the others. Across the hall from Rumsfeld, his oddball neighbor "W" is on
hand with his own blend of mugging and malaprops. W drops in at the most
inconvenient times and frequently tries to convince Donald to join him in
his zany schemes. Last but not least is Rumsfeld's longtime pal, Ashcroft,
a not-very-bright fellow who nonetheless bluffs and blusters his way through
life with his trademark blend of absurd arguments and crazy ideas. Ashcroft
is a character that is totally "out-of-right-field in an exasperating yet
amusing way.
Rounding out the cast and bring a darker comedic element to the show is
Rumsfeld's nemesis, the diabolically scheming and somewhat rotund "Rove" who
Donald always greets with the popular catch phrase, "Hello, (pause) Rove".
NBC is, in part, making this decision by asking the audience to vote this
fall for the revival of the Rumsfeld show, although the show originally was
put on the air despite a slightly negative audience vote. It is most likely
that the competition for the timeslot will put Rumsfeld up against the Kerry
Springer show, a pseudo-talk show featuring some of life's biggest losers
trying to explain to Kerry (and the audience) why they are entitled to the
audience's sympathies (and money). The Kerry show is also frequently
punctuated with fights between the guests. Although the fights often bring
the show to a standstill, many viewers consider them the highlight of the
show.
Audiences love the Rumsfeld show for many reasons, but one reason is the
hair-splitting discussions the cast often engages in such as the memorable
show last season where they argued over the minutia who is and is not
covered by the Geneva Convention. Logic is often turned on its ear as the
cast hilariously bumble their way through the absurdities placed before them
by the show's talented writers.
Buno
>a not-very-bright fellow who nonetheless bluffs and blusters his way through
>life with his trademark blend of absurd arguments and crazy ideas. Ashcroft
>is a character that is totally "out-of-right-field in an exasperating yet
>amusing way.
Ashcroft is my latex salesman!
*****
And then you're falling in love with the lesbian again? Oh brother. I didn't
like it the first time... when it was called Chasing Amy.