All Hail the Network Plugs!

The air gets a bit brisker, a slight chill comes into the air, the wind begins to howl and summer fades to fall. It's a reminder that pivotal matchups that determine the playoff picture are running out.

It's also a sign that the new fall season for TV is set to go, and time for awkward broadcast booth network schills. We're all kind of used to this when the episode in question is "an all new Desperate Housewives/Amazing Race/Heroes/Whatever the name of your favorite show that gets delayed, pre-empted, or otherwise fucked with by the network suits to bring you the final few minutes of a late-game blowout." It's kind of awkward though when the shows in question are syndicated and not really "all new" in that sense of the word.

Today's talking, breathing commercials are our good ole' friends Len and Bren. During today's Cubs-Cardinals broadcast, they did a plug for WGN's new fall shows. Good ole' Channel 9 (or Channel 44 here in Mizzurah) has picked up the rights to Family Guy and Two and a Half Men.

[In the interests of full disclosure, I personally think Family Guy is a pretty funny show, even if all the jokes are interchangable and usually irrelevant to the plot . I also have never seen an episode of Two and a Half Men, but every commercial for it convinced me that the show probably deserves two and a half viewers with an IQ of two and a half points to fully appreciate. (Sorry, couldn't decide between two equally lame put-downs)]

Len Kasper: "He's a baby trying to take over the world and he's a dog who's more BOOZE hound than man's best friend. They're just two of the characters you'll discover in the hilarious animated comedy FAMILY GUY, on WGN this fall."
Bob Brenley: I've seen that Family Guy. It's a really funny show. You should check it out!

(Thanks Bob, most of us did check it out, like....several years ago. Strangely enough, the show did in fact exist and was quite popular before WGN picked it up.)

A similar promo for Two and a Half Men followed an inning later. Len reminded us that this addition to WGN's programming applied to Chicago-area viewers only, and as a St. Louis resident, I was crushed.

30 seconds of dead air followed. Awkward.