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Filed Under Business
Bush Show Continues Despite Ratings Slump
Posted October 24, 2005
A new poll reveals that Bush's ratings have sunk to a new low. His approval is 39% - that's like saying that 2 out of 5 dogs prefer our kibble to the other leading brand. You don't move product with those numbers. People aren't tuning in, and when they do they become upset. All Day Coffee has to ask: why isn't this turkey being cancelled?
Because I'm in the entertainment business, I've followed the Bush show since the beginning. The pilot episode, about a constitutional battle over the Florida election was confusing, but mostly boring. You wouldn't see that on the West Wing. The show has become more interesting over time, especially when he flew that airplane onto the aircraft carrier to rescue us from terrorists (even though it was a re-hash of Air Force One).
But they totally jumped the shark with Hurricane Katrina. It's some of the worst television I've ever seen. These days I feel like I'm watching post-Clooney ER. Here are some things Bush could do to bring us better television.
- Bush In Space
- A Cooking Show (they could call it Commander & Chef)).
One last idea: before your father's show was cancelled, he had a sequence of episodes about our military liberating a country that had been invaded by another country. It was a really popular move, and it'd look cool if you did something like that.
Are his managers too busy with other things, like staying out of jail, to focus on Bush becoming the television star we all would like to see? The other day, Mr. Bush had a daring cameo with Bono. But just as Richard Nixon learned years ago, shameless pandering to guest stars doesn’t equal good ratings. If we see the President with the muppets, we'll know he'll be returning to dinner theater any second. But we would be thrilled to see the U2 frontman become a regular guest on Mr. Bush's program.
Bono on set with Mr. Bush
Returning our phone calls, a spokesperson from the Bush camp explained that regardless of ratings, Mr. Bush’s four-year contract was ironclad. Did they really decide to renew this guy for another four years without consulting the American people? The speaker suggested, rather morbidly, we thought, that Mr. Bush would only leave upon death. We assumed this was metaphorical death, like if Bush were moved to the dreaded Saturday night slot.
There was another suggestion that Mr. Bush's sponsors were unlikely to let him break his contract, which means I'll only tune in when I'm home sick, like when I watched soap operas in elementary school.
Contract or no, I think Mr. Bush has an obligation to give us some good television. There are so many programs to watch, and if he doesn’t give viewers what they want, we’re going to change the channel and watch Geena Davis' new show, even though it will undoubtedly spawn another generation of girls named Mackenzie.
 
copyright 2004-2024 G. Xavier Robillard
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