A few weekends ago, my wife and I, home at 9:30 on a Saturday night, sat on the couch and watched GSN's "Meow Mix Think Like a Cat," a game show with cats and their owners competing for lots of Meow Mix. And a lot of money if they can beat the infinitesimal odds.
I felt sorry for Chuck Woolery for hosting it. Then I felt sorry for us for watching it. Then again, we can blame it on our infant daughter, who keeps us home nights. I don't know what Chuck's excuse is--alimony? Back taxes? Desperate desire to stay in the limelight, however dimmed it may be?
The show itself was silly, even to a cat owner like myself. It was so filled with plugs for Meow Mix that by the end of the episode, I craved the stuff. Fortunately, our cat isn't on the stuff; otherwise there might have been an awkward moment when we bumped into each other at his supper dish.
I don't think Woolery is even a cat guy. I could see Alex Trebek being one. Haughty, superior, capable of occasional forced displays of warmth--yeah, that man thinks like a cat. But if Woolery is a lover of felines, maybe this is a decent mix--er, combination of show and host. I got to thinking about other possibilities GSN can explore if it wants to continue making shows in which humans try to emulate the behavior of animals. The formula is simple: Take one of the many past and presents emcees out there, match them with an appropriate creature, and there you go. I'll let GSN come up with the sponsors.
Here are some of my ideas:
*Hug a Cuddly Ol' Teddy Bear with Richard Karn
*Wrestle a Bear with Drew Carey
*Strut Like a Peacock with John O'Hurley
*Creep Like a Sloth with Louie Anderson
*Get Paid to be Spayed with Bob Barker
*Sing Like a Mockingbird with Wayne Brady
*Scratch Yourself Like a [Insert Comically "Backward" Animal Associated with the South] with Jeff Foxworthy
*Hook Up with a Model Half Your Age with Christopher Knight (hey, a middle-aged male recapturing his youth is an animal in his own right)
*Sit There Like a Pet Rock with Pat Sajak
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Aw, c'mon, the best part was when they tried to get the cats to come to their owners, and six of the eight sat there and said "**** you, you already put me in a carrier, you think I'm listening to ANYTHING you say now?"
And of course the tricky questions like "What do cats spend two thirds of their lives doing?"
I actually enjoyed it, but I had it on TiVo and was skipping all the Meow Mix blather. And I enjoyed it *once*, wouldn't watch it again.
I noticed that the contestants seemed chosen for ethnic and geographic diversity -- plus they included the only two guys who auditioned nationwide. (Yes, that's mean, but I'm a cat guy, and I wouldn't subject my cats to that!)
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