So, this was just another desperate attempt by the family to get on television. Honestly, have you ever heard anything so ridiculous?
I say that because if these parents have even a scintilla of sense, couldn't they have projected what was going to happen when the balloon came down? Couldn't they have seen that there was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?
The "Balloon Boy" incident, the cleanest name I can give this monumental media f#*$#-up, sounded vaguely familiar to me. In fact, it sounded more like the setup to a classic joke with an incredibly unfunny punchline.
It seems the folks at Countdown with Keith Olbermann noticed that as well and turned the whole thing into another umpteenth retelling of the classic "Aristocrats" joke. If you're not familiar with the infamous joke about a family walking into a talent agent's office, search for it on YouTube. But don't come whining to me that your ears won't stop bleeding.
I'm sure that they are going to get some sort of deal from someone for a show, and there's a good chance they wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't for this hoax, so maybe they'll have the last laugh. I think all of us, if asked, would say "there's no way I'll watch a show with that family!" but here you can vote anonymously. So tell me: would you watch it?
I was thinking the other day that someone has to write a folk song about the Heene family and Balloon Boy. I'm sure someone is working on one right now.
But a few years ago, Heene and others wrote a couple of theme songs for the TV shows he was pitching to networks, The Contractor and The Psyience Detective (Heene's site is The Science Detective). TMZ has both theme songs.
Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they learned about "Balloon Boy." Rather, they remember what they were thinking: "Has the news media completely run out of things to cover today or was Chester the Squirrel That Can Water-Ski taking a day off?"
Every section of your TV had been preempted and saturated with coverage of what sheriff's deputies believed to be a runaway balloon that was carrying the life of an innocent boy with it. It even preempted the so-called cable "news" networks that interrupted coverage of the pending health care reform bill. That move only would have made sense if insurance companies refused to cover victims of hot air balloon accidents because they considered "gravity" to be a pre-existing condition.
And the really funny part is now it starts getting weird. The Larimer County Sheriff's Office said the family faked the whole thing just so they could get on TV.
Well, you sort of knew that this was coming, didn't you? The mother of balloon boy, Mayumi Heene, has admitted it was a hoax. The Heenes knew that Falcon wasn't in the balloon, that he was hiding in the garage. The entire boy in the balloon fiasco was a hoax from the get-go. Her court affidavit confirms what everyone has suspected.
Podcast time again! In this episode, 
All this talk about the Heene Family and Balloon Boy and their hoax
I was thinking the other day that someone has to write a folk song about the 
Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they learned about 
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
The Prisoner -- An early look
