I've recently got into a very funny US comedy called Lateline, which may be
well known "over there" but has slipped in virtually under the radar here -
it's being shown at midnight on BBC2, the "minority" channel. If I say that
it's set in a company that produces a current events programme, not a million
miles from "Drop the Dead Donkey", only somewhat sharper, UK listers (and
maybe Antipodean ones) will get the idea. One of its USPs is cameos from
real-life famous people, ranging all the way from Ralph Nader to G Gordon
Liddy, the latter's contribution being particularly funny.
I highly recommend this show. I've also been catching some of the world
athletics championships, even though they're being shown at the most
unsociable hours - a couple of times I've got up in the middle of the night
when the accursed chicken pox itching has been unbearable and I've had to get
up to re-apply the Calamine lotion.
Most sports commentary is nationally biased, but I'm struck by the ludicrous
partiality of the Brits commentating here: Christian Malcolm came a very very
close 5th in the 200 metres, and they kept going about how unlucky he was
(fair enough, he was literally a few inches away from a medal); and then one
of them said "he really deserved a medal" - um, why?? They tried to analyse
what went wrong, coming up with every explanation except the rather simple
one: he couldn't run fast enough!
Azeem
