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TV Squad Daily with Brigitte - VIDEO

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily: It's a special "Law and Politics" episode!
  • How powerful is Oprah, really? Is she like "choose the next president" powerful?
  • You may know Al Franken best as Stuart Smalley. Minnesotans may soon know him as their senator.
  • News: Cartoons have a hard time appearing in court.
The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also download the file directly.

It's official: Al Franken is running for Senate

Al FrankenOn his final Air America radio show today, comedian and political pundit Al Franken announced that he is going to run for a U.S. Senate seat in his home state of Minnesota. He'll be seeking the Democratic nomination for next year's election; whoever gets that nomination will run against Republican incumbent Norm Coleman.

This isn't exactly a surprise, since all the signs were there: he moved his family back to Minnesota last year and decided to end the Air America show. Both pointed to his intention to run. But his presence is going to lend national attention to that race, meaning we'll probably be hearing much more of the humorless pundit version of Franken than the witty comedian we actually came to like over the last twenty-five years. Oh, and don't put it past Minnesotans to vote him into office; he's a much more serious a candidate than Jesse Ventura was, and you remember what happened there.

The Daily Show: September 27, 2006

The Daily ShowJon briefly touched on the heightened security of the other night's episode (bulletproof glass and snipers and all that jazz). "If you're ever in this situation and they bring the bomb-sniffing dogs in, please know -- and I know this now for a fact -- they do not, in anyway, recognize drugs or porn... Not that we weren't scrambling!"

Continue reading The Daily Show: September 27, 2006

Best and worst SNL movie performances

Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Harold RamisThe Boston Phoenix has another list (they've been doing this a lot lately), and this one lists what they think are the best and worst movie performances from Saturday Night Live cast members. While it's great to have Bill Murray number one, it's for Ghostbusters?! What about Lost In Translation? Or Stripes? Or Rushmore? How about Groundhog Day? (Same thing with Janeane Garofalo - they pick Wet Hot American Summer?)

Among the best: Eddie Murphy in Bevery Hills Cop, Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer, and Harry Shearer in This Is Spinal Tap. Among the worst: Eddie Murphy in The Adventures Of Pluto Nash, Adam Sandler in The Waterboy, and Jimmy Fallon in Fever Pitch.

OK, SNL fans, who's missing from this list?

Franken ponders politics

al frankenAl Franken recently moved his radio show to my humble little metropolis of Minneapolis, the city where he grew up. By sheer coincidence I know one of his producers and I asked them why he was back in his homestate of Minnesota. Turns out Franken is giving some serious consideration to making a senate run in 2008. He hasn't officially thrown his hat in the ring, according to an interview with AlterNet he did recently, but the fact that he moved the whole shebang to Minnesota pretty much makes one think it's going to happen. I think the "celebrity to politician" move is a crap shoot at best, but this is Minnesota, and Al is a hometown boy. I figure if Jesse Ventura could get his hulking frame into office Franken probably stands a pretty good chance.

In the interview, Franken talks about humor revealing a deeper truth (something I completely agree with), but even with his recent political affiliations, do people still think of him as just Al Franken the funny guy from Saturday Night Live? Put another way, can a person add a new dimension to their public persona after so many years of being seen only one way? It has happened, but that move is always a tenuous one.

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