Sunday, October 26, 2008

T.J. Hughley's new CNN political show bombs; why can't George Lopez get his own Sunday program? Huckabee impresses with his own FOXNEWS show

For some reason, comedian T.J. Hughley was tabbed to host a Sunday night political TV show on CNN.

After tonight's debut, the reason for his selection still defies any logic or rationale.

Hughley bombed with attempts at humor that were simply not funny, starting with a monologue about Sen. Barack Obama's cholesterol rate and a skit featuring a "Freddie Mac", who turned out to be a street pimp. Give me Dave Chappelle any day, no matter his degree of soberness.

My wife and I finally had to turn the channel to something with more riveting action -- the turtle-like World Series between two very forgettable teams ... sorry fans of the Phillies and Rays.


So who picks whom gets to be on television commenting on politics? Hughley's obviously is the wrong choice, even if an African-American is about to become president. Hughley's record of TV already is a poor one. His ABC-TV series bombed earlier this decade.

Why can't comedian George Lopez get a show on CNN? His series ran for several series and made it into syndication. And there's a big advantage he has over Hughley: Lopez is actually funny.

Or get somebody like former Gov. Mike Huckabee. His Sunday night show on FOXNEWS is at least intelligent. And the former GOP presidential candidate plays a mean guitar and invites entertainers to play along and close his show. Ricky Skaggs was tonight's musical guest. Skaggs did great, even endorsing Huckabee's sentiment that all of us should be able to disagree on political solutions and still believe the other loves America.

But there's one reason why someone like Huckabee wouldn't make it on CNN: he's too conservative. And there's only room for Lou Dobbs. So CNN made the politically and ideologically correct choice for its Sunday lineup with Hughley, leaving viewers to fend for themselves when it came to entertainment and information.

Gee, if only Dennis Kucinich played the harmonica.


While Hughley may have bombed as a political analyst/entertainer, he has succeeded as a way to get Americans to go to bed early to handle Monday mornings.

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