Semi-Retired President to Take Well-Deserved Break from Grueling Schedule of Golf and Jazz Festivals to Have a Little Fun with Crises in Iraq and Ferguson

He's scheduled to speak at 4 pm EDT (12 minutes ago) so there's no rush to get this post up.

Last night, as Ferguson burned again, Obama was attending a jazz festival at Martha's Vinyard.

Allah has various speculation as to what Obama will say.

I have a different theory: He's going to announce that from here on out his Presidency will consist of following around Phish on tour, and just "takin' to the rails" to "just be" and to "discover the real America," the America inside of us all.*

Song selection by Lauren:

* This is a Just Shoot Me joke. I think guest star Alan Thicke said something like this.**

** Just Shoot Me is a greatly underrated comedy, largely because the format itself was the standard sitcom workplace setup-and-punchline thing.

But while the format wasn't novel, the writing (and delivery) within that format was top-notch.***

*** "Big Bang Theory" gets criticized unduly for this reason too -- that the format is same-old, same-old. BBT is no Just Shoot Me, but you can't judge a show on format alone. ****

**** Larry David didn't threaten to pull the Seinfeld show over the concept of "being about nothing" -- but he did threaten to pull it for the network's insistence that it be the three-camera format (three cameras mounted on a large stage, of a workplace or apartment, as you see in all sitcoms of this style, like Friends or pretty much any other sitcom, except for the few rarities that deviate from it).

He wanted the more movie-like one-camera format, which you see on Arrested Development, 30 Rock, and Larry David's later show, Curb Your Enthusiasm.

But he relented. The three-camera format/stage presentation is certainly old-hat, and sure, the one-camera of Always Sunny feels fresher, but are we really going to judge shows on their camera format?

Because that would mean Seinfeld -- generally adjudged to be a very innovative show -- would be called old-hat, tired, and hacky. *****

***** I could probably just keep adding asterisks all day while we wait for President Shows Up Whenever He Likes. ******

****** Says the guy whose first post today was at 2:15.

posted by Ace at 04:10 PM

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