Super Bowl Sunday!

Readers, we shouldn't even be blogging today, since this is practically an American holy day. A very drunken holy day. It's also a day when instances of domestic violence skyrocket (Chip: "I don't condone it, but it's natural to want to hit somebody when your team is underperforming."). Pre-game coverage is surely already underway, so we won't linger long, but let's take a quick look at the new reality show premiering after the game. It's called "Undercover Boss," and a lot has been written already about how its premise cleverly capitalizes on the country's current economic dissatisfaction: in each episode, a boss has to go to work alongside his or her employees.

Tonight's premiere "focuses on Lawrence O’Donnell III, the president and chief operating officer of Waste Management, a major trash collection company" (NY-Times). During the show, Larry learns "that hard work isn’t always fairly rewarded." The Times points out that the show's psychological motivations are nothing new: "this kind of wishful thinking has been around since ancient times, from Greek mythology’s Zeus Xenios, donning a disguise to test the hospitality of mortals, to the Duke who goes undercover as a friar in Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure.”

Chip: "Ten bucks says this show is better than Shakespeare."

Richard: "I do enjoy shows where people learn something. TV has strayed too far from good old-fashioned moralizing. But I think we all know that the greatest post-Super Bowl premiere occurred on January 24, 1983, when a little show called The A-Team hit the airwaves. I remember that moment like some people recall the moon landing."

Chip: "Everybody has such fond memories of post-Super Bowl premieres like The A-Team, and The Wonder Years, and Homicide, but why does no one ever recall 1991's Davis Rules. That shit was hilarious. Take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8isFdZ5BFQ

Enjoy the game, readers!