Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!, October 27, 2012
My housemates and I like to listen to the latest episode of NPR's weekly news quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! on Sunday nights as we are falling asleep. (Don't tell them I know, but my housemates often fall asleep before the show is finished playing.) It's a nice, easy way to end the week. I like to have such traditions to mark the time. Days can run together without things to distinguish them. I have noticed a fairly regular routine: my housemates are out late on Mondays; one is out late on Tuesdays; on Wednesdays, one goes out during the day and comes back with bags full of fun stuff; housecleaning is done on Thursdays, which is the scariest day of the week for us bears; one of the housemates heads to work later on Fridays but comes home early; then they both head out for day trips most Saturdays; and Sundays are lazy days, ending the week with college football and Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! at bedtime.
We were surprised with this week's episode (October 27, 2012) because it was guest hosted by Drew Carey. I suppose regular host Peter Sagal deserves days off, but at the same time, it does play havoc with my routine. I like to have things predictable and the same; I am creature of habit.
In the interests of full disclosure, I should admit that I am not a fan of Drew Carey, I never have been. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way. I can't quite pin down what it is, but there is something that makes me bristle a bit when I see or hear him. One of my housemates commented tat in the few episodes of The Price Is Right with Drew Carey hosting he had seen, it looked like Mr. Carey was just phoning it in, like he didn't care about doing the job well -- so he paled in comparison to Bob Barker even more than expected. Thinking it over that may very well be the problem I have with Mr. Carey. He appears to be phoning everything in. I have seen him in his eponymous show, hosting Whose Line Is It Anyway?, as a guest star in a number of shows, as well as hosting a couple of episodes of The Price Is Right. He never seems to want to be there, his mind is never focused on the task at hand. Mr. Carey, if you don't like your job, if you always want to be somewhere else, then get another job and be somewhere else!
The regular panelists of this episode did valiantly trying to keep up the witty banter and jokes the listeners are used to, but there was a big hole where the host should be. It was a disappointing end to my Sunday. Mr. Carey admitted that he is a huge soccer fan, but even with U.S. Soccer star Abby Wambach playing "Not My Job," there was no genuine excitement in his voice, no indication that he was thrilled to be guest hosting that segment. The witty banter was obviously scripted and was delivered without emotion or humor -- and that was hard to imagine as the questions were all about wombats! Heck, even the word wombat is funny to say! (Don't tell my friends who are wombats I said that, please?) It's hard to figure out how anyone can remove the humor from a pointedly humorous discussion of wombats, but Mr. Carey managed. Were it not for the panelists the show would have put everyone to sleep within the first five minutes.
I will continue to look forward to my Sunday night Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! fix, but I do hope that they do not invite Drew Carey to guest host again. I suggest inquiring after Fozzie Bear's schedule the next time the show needs a guest host. But I may be biased in that regard.
One Bear's Rating: One Box of Stale Popcorn
Happy Sunday Everyone,
Oliver
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