Offensive Statement of the Week

Industry

By B-Side | Wednesday, March 29, 2006 | 12:23 pm | 13 Comments

howiemandel32906I have a bone to pick with Marc Berman. For those of you who don’t know who he is, Mr. Berman is a columnist for Mediaweek, and everyday, he writes “The Programming Insider,” which is an analysis of the overnight Nielsen ratings. His work is widely-read, and over the years, he’s become a minor talking-head on cable TV. Unfortunately, if anyone ever wants to read “The Programming Insider,” they have to weed through dozens of inane comments about television. I’ve often disagreed with Berman’s point of view, but hey, he’s entitled to have his opinion, right? So for years, I’ve put up with cloyingly suburban tastes, even when he’s called Yes, Dear “underrated” and Supernanny “underrated” and pretty much any awful show “underrated.” But now he’s gone too far. In Monday’s column, Marc Berman wrote this:

Over at NBC, The Apprentice 5 continues to squander its stellar Deal or No Deal lead-in, with a 7.4/11 in the overnights (#3), 10.19 million viewers (#3) and a 4.0/ 9 among adults 18-49 (#4) from 9-10 p.m. Retention for The Apprentice out of the Howie Mandel hosted game show (who is damn good, by the way, isn’t he?) was a disappointing 74 percent in the overnights.

It’s bad enough that Berman bashes Trump (everyone does, so I understand), but then he says that Howie Mandel is “damn good”??? What the hell?? Mark Berman has squandered all his television cred. Someone with his sort of influence and reach should not be spewing out blatant lies. Howie Mandel is NOT damn good, and the perpetuation of this myth is borderline criminal. Please, people, if you know what’s good for you, keep your children away from Mr. Berman’s column.

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13 Comments

  1. 1
    ShimmyShea
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 12:32 pm

    Howie Mandel is icky. So is Deal or No Deal. It’s become so scripted and down-right hokey that I can’t stand to watch it anymore. Blech.

  2. 2
    dsc805
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 12:52 pm

    I agree, B-Side. I had the misfortune of catching “Deal or No Deal” last week and it was absolutely painful, although not nearly as bad Regis and that stupid “Millionaire” piece of shit.

    By the way, and I hate to criticize because I love your commentaries, I don’t think you meant “usurped”. “Squandered”, perhaps?

  3. 3
    stacyrocks
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 12:53 pm

    That picture of Howie Mandel is painful to look at.

  4. 4
    copygodd
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 12:58 pm

    i think the donald’s ratings drop is due more to being up against 24 than anything else. to make matters worse for trump, kim bauer has been riding blimp for most of the season.

    and howie looks he should be freestyle cruising.

  5. 5
    Cantstandya
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 1:03 pm

    I agree, Howie Mandel is a no talent hack, but he’s been doing that for so long that people just accept it for what it is.

    Anyone else see a connection between the chest size of the female models and the amounts of money they hold in their briefcases? Lets just say that the two are directly proportional. That’s my theory anyway, and proving my theory is the only thing keeping me from turning off the TV during this dud of a show.

  6. 6
    EdHill
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    Sometimes I accidentally catch the last minute of that show on my TIVO before the Apprentice starts and whenver I see it I start cutting myself in disgust.

  7. 7
    B-Side
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 1:35 pm

    Ah yes. Squandered is a much better choice. Don’t know why I went with “usurp.” Thanks for the heads up.

  8. 8
    Belinda
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 1:47 pm

    First and foremost – WTF is with that show anyway????? Stupid, stupid, stupid

  9. 9
    Lizardqueen
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 1:55 pm

    Good Christ! Could “Yes, Dear” and that mid-80′s bit of tripe “Small Wonder”, please square off in a “Most Horrendous Thing to Stick Around WAY Too Long On TV” challenge? Could Howie Mandel please host this? Or maybe a tag team with Pauly Shore and Robin Williams. Yes. That’d be awesome.

    And for frustrated English scholars everywhere – Please visit the much more prolix Pajiba.com for all of the latest pedantic prose about pop culture media. More Scrabble bingos than you can shake a stick at! Even more egotistical commenters than, well, this.

    It’s tough out there for a blogger. Who has a job.

  10. 10
    Leah3t
    Posted March 29, 2006 at 4:24 pm

    I have to admit I was kind of disappointed in Pajiba.com. They kind of suck the fun out of all the movie reviews.

  11. 11
    Tabby Lavalamp
    Posted March 30, 2006 at 1:25 am

    I’ve got a Howie Mandel comedy album, and I’ve seen him live twice back in the day. Back when he had that hair in the picture. And damn, he was funny.

  12. 12
    Laurie
    Posted March 30, 2006 at 6:44 am

    I gotta admit. My girlfriends and I LOVE Supernanny (esp. those that have kids) Plus that British accent of Jo Frost’s is damn sexy. If you started talking with a British accent B-side, you could really pull in the ladies. :)

    And let us not forget the Mandel distaster that was “bobby’s world”

  13. 13
    AbbyAnn
    Posted March 30, 2006 at 9:41 am

    Deal or No Deal will “Millionaire” itself into oblivion (or syndication with someone from The View as host) soon enough. It’s a fad that is hot right now, but the formula will become stale, especially with it on 2 or 3 times a week. Although I know a lot of you disagree, The Apprentice was a fad, too. Somehow certain reality shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race have managed to keep going without losing major ground over time, but The Apprentice’s ratings speak for themselves.

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