Al Franken
So Al is off and running. Run, Al, Run.
Franken’s books are hilarious and thought provoking. His radio program was fun to listen to before Air America began to charge for downloads. Franken is witty, and more importantly, intelligent.
Minnesota likes to vote for underdogs and odd sorts. They elected a wrestler for a governor. Why not put a comedy writer in the Senate?
That seems to be the gist of Franken’s candidacy to date, now just a few short weeks old. You can find more at www.alfranken.com. Franken has always been more cerebral than the rest of the world, which is why he never quite made it into the upper echelons of comic superstars.
If you examine his career, it is a series of failures and modest accomplishments. He and his writing partner, Tom Davis, were hired to write for "Saturday Night Live". Both were included in the 1980 mass exodus from the show, only to return with Lorne Michaels in 1985.
The most successful bit of television comedy Franken contributed was the character Stuart Smalley. Stuart will always make me laugh. The poor fellow is doing his best, but having a hard time. Sketches with Michael Jordan and a young Macaulay Culkin will always have me in stitches.
He parlayed the Smalley character into a film and appeared in a few other films that never turned into huge hits. He did a sitcom for NBC titled “Lateline” about an evening news program that lasted only a short time. He also did a series of very funny specials for Comedy Central before becoming a radio show host.
Franken’s best success has been as a writer. Starting with a Stuart Smalley diary, Franken has been writing a book every couple of years. The most recent, “The Truth (with jokes)” includes, among other things, a detailed case regarding the sins of Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff long before any of the scandals hit the mainstream media.
If anything, Franken is sincere in his desire to make the world a better place. He believes in the system and wants to see it work. The only difficult part is that he is a comedy writer. He enjoys a good joke and is good at portraying a good-hearted loser. Time will tell if that works for him or works against him.
Franken’s books are hilarious and thought provoking. His radio program was fun to listen to before Air America began to charge for downloads. Franken is witty, and more importantly, intelligent.
Minnesota likes to vote for underdogs and odd sorts. They elected a wrestler for a governor. Why not put a comedy writer in the Senate?
That seems to be the gist of Franken’s candidacy to date, now just a few short weeks old. You can find more at www.alfranken.com. Franken has always been more cerebral than the rest of the world, which is why he never quite made it into the upper echelons of comic superstars.
If you examine his career, it is a series of failures and modest accomplishments. He and his writing partner, Tom Davis, were hired to write for "Saturday Night Live". Both were included in the 1980 mass exodus from the show, only to return with Lorne Michaels in 1985.
The most successful bit of television comedy Franken contributed was the character Stuart Smalley. Stuart will always make me laugh. The poor fellow is doing his best, but having a hard time. Sketches with Michael Jordan and a young Macaulay Culkin will always have me in stitches.
He parlayed the Smalley character into a film and appeared in a few other films that never turned into huge hits. He did a sitcom for NBC titled “Lateline” about an evening news program that lasted only a short time. He also did a series of very funny specials for Comedy Central before becoming a radio show host.
Franken’s best success has been as a writer. Starting with a Stuart Smalley diary, Franken has been writing a book every couple of years. The most recent, “The Truth (with jokes)” includes, among other things, a detailed case regarding the sins of Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff long before any of the scandals hit the mainstream media.
If anything, Franken is sincere in his desire to make the world a better place. He believes in the system and wants to see it work. The only difficult part is that he is a comedy writer. He enjoys a good joke and is good at portraying a good-hearted loser. Time will tell if that works for him or works against him.
Labels: Politics
posted by Alexander Dimm | 6:12 AM
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