CNN on Broadway

 

Well, they might as well.  Given the shitty job they do as a so-called "news" network.  Indeed, the fact that they broadcast live this Broadway play is audacious enough.  I mean, the theme of the play is how we should embrace the truth and journalism.   CNN hasn't had a truthful journalistic moment since the Challenger exploded.

Now, this was the first time ever a Broadway production was telecast live and, for that, Anderson Cooper Land should be applauded.   Of course, they couldn't get through the whole affair without mucking it up.  But, I am guessing that most of the blame can be laid at the feet of the play's star, the Right Reverend George Clooney.

You may remember that "Good Night and Good Luck" was originally a fine and stylish movie about 15 years ago.   It was all about a moment in television time when, back in 1953, journalist Edward R. Murrow battled Senator Joseph McCarthy over Communists under your bed.  Clooney was one of the stars and the writers of the piece and it was wonderful.   But, that was way before George Clooney had become GEORGE CLOONEY. complete with all the pomp and circumstance that comes with being...well...George Clooney.

The present state of events in our nation prompted CLOONEY to dust off his movie script and turn it into a similarly taut Broadway play with 800 dollar orchestra seats.  Big George also opted to switch roles and play the lead of Murrow as had been essayed by David Strathairn on film.  Truth be told, Strathairn was much better as everything Clooney speaks on stage sounds like a sermon on the mount as delivered by Jesus Christ himself.   All nuances have been tossed in the trash.  This is Edward R. Murrow with a pick axe aimed at your head.

While the play still hits the same notes as the movie, it doesn't work as well.  Beyond Clooney's Boar's Head Ham of a performance, the TV production was a little frenetic and lit like the back of your basement furnace.  Maybe that's why more Broadway shows aren't filmed for television.

Of course, the 1953 setting gets expanded for Clooney's last solo reading accompanied by every right wing image of the last thirty years.   Additionally, I had to laugh when faces of current "journalists" were flashed on screen and Jake Tapper was one of them.   Now there's a last minute edit that should have been made.

While it was cool to watch a Broadway show live on TV, there are countless other shows right now I would have preferred to see telecast..."Sondheim's Old Friends" for instance.  But those shows don't provide George with the opportunity to suck the air out of Times Square/

And, to make my matters worse, I caught several errors in the timeline of play. There is a reference made about Murrow interviewing Lassie and Mister Ed.   Um, the latter didn't make his TV appearance until seven years later.

Mike dropped.  Loudly.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chili.