The Most Intense Night of Television, Ever

Barack Obama won $1 million?!?!
Howie Mandel and a black woman named Tomorrow won the World Series?!?!
The Phillies told us why they are the better presidential candidates?!?!

Did I get those confused?!

Last night I sat and watched television with my girlfriend. We expected to be enthralled by Barack Obama's half hour special and just hang out, maybe watch some Mad Men on DVD. Instead, we were glued to our seats with anticipation for every second of television we watched for about 2 hours.

At 8pm, we tuned into NBC to watch Obama's advertisement (it was also on CBS, but I see CBS as having an elderly viewing constiuency so I passed). I thought the ad was one of the most effective ways Obama could have used his half hour. He played the political game the way it should be played nowadays; cleanly and respectfully. Not once did he mention John McCain's name. He took us through the lives of a diverse group of Americans and allowed us to see their everyday struggles with health insurance, job retention and an array of different issues. After each family's segment, Obama appeared in an office where he outlined how his presidency would allow that family and families like them to afford health assurance, retain their jobs and etc. At the end of the special, Obama appeared at a rally in Florida and made one final plea for his message of hope.

The night's intensity did not stop there. We were bombarded by NBC's amazing advertisement campaign; their advertising team seems to be one of a few that is thriving in this recession, dare i say it (i.e. Tina Fey's double advertising effort with 30 Rock and SNL). Right away, following Obama's special, we were invited to stay tune to Deal or No Deal. Howie Mandel and that bald head of his was so inviting that we chose to actually watch it. This summary will be short. If you don't know how to play the game, you should go to the NBC website and figure it out (I'm sure it's on wikipedia also). Spoiler follows: This latina woman named Tomorrow, ended up winning $1 Million dollars--after about an hour and a half of playing the game! It was so intense that we actually watched the entire show... and we have short attention spans.

At this point we had been turning back and forth, from the World Series to Deal or No Deal. Howie Mandel was doing that, what if you take this money now BS that game show hosts have to do to make viewers mad, you know. When I finally remembered to check the World Series out, we found out that the Phillies were two outs away from the World Series! The Phillies?! About to win the World Series?! That doesn't bode too well in New York, where the Mets lost their spot in the playoffs to the Phillies by 3 games. We turned back to Deal and Howie was still wasting time so we went back to the game. Another out had happened. Turned back to Deal. Model opens case it's $300. All other cases have $1 Million dollars, celebrations erupt in the studio. It's crazy. We watch for maybe 15 seconds and then turn back to the World Series.

2 outs and 2 strikes. The pitch. Swing. Out. The entirety of the Philadelphia Phillies bench empties onto the pitcher's mound. It had to happend in about 5 seconds.

The Phillies had won the World Series.

Just like that, in about 30 seconds of time, the craziest night of television had spoiled me. Now, I want t.v. to always be like that and I don't know if It will ever live up to such amazingness. It won't and I probably won't watch t.v. that much but anybody who got a glimpse of these three programs found themselves wrapped in a special, unimaginable continium unlike anything in recent memory. I'd like to thank NBC and Fox for that feel good television last night.


two times.

P.S.
Here's the video of Obama's half hour advertisement (Shout out to my fellow blogger Grambo):



Without having competition from John McCain's campaign with a similar event with such magnitude taking place, Obama probably helped his case with swing voters. I really think that he has more than just a chance of winning; he has a chance for a landslide. Watch my word.