as i am hacking away at the computer trying to find a t-statistic bigger than 2, my wife is watching dancing with the stars. our next contestant is harry hamlin, and the pre-commercial teaser references something about "battling the kracken". talk about a cross-demographic reference: i would wager that in all the demographics older than 25, males 25-34 is probably the lowest watcher of this stupid ballroom dancing crap (i'd rather watch something on HGTV. or even I-AA football.). but a reference to the award-winning* clash of the titans, and harry's legendary depiction of perseus, is sure to bring these big spenders to the show in droves. if the slinky outfits on the women don't. (by the way: laurence olivier: clash of the titans :: marlon brando : superman, the movie)
* burgess meredith apparently won something called the saturn award for supporting actor. however, clash of the titans was also nominated for special effects. really? even for 1981 technology, i can do better effects now with my cell phone.
Nice dig at I-AA! But you could have easily have inserted "Carolina Quarterback" into that sentence ;->
Posted by: John Whitehead | September 13, 2006 at 08:32 AM
carolina has no qb -- two halfs do not make a whole.
Posted by: mark | September 13, 2006 at 08:46 AM
A long held tenet of the Second City and it's style of improvisation is to play "above the level of the audience". This seems like the only defense for including Clash of the Titans references in a Dancing with the Stars episode.
Sure, no one who's watching gets it, but maybe if you overhear your wife watching, and their making cool references to the Kraken, Ride (the band) and the Electrifying Mojo, maybe that's cool enough to get some additional eyeballs. Then again, if that's really a strategic move, and not just some 33 year old producer performing indulgent reference level display, I would expect that the next episode will feature breakdance (80s style) and employ Kraftwerk's "Tour De France". When that happens, I'm in...
Posted by: Jason Dolenga | September 13, 2006 at 08:48 PM