Sunday, February 10, 2008

Frank Caliendo: Enough Already!

Media Saturation Point - When a person, event, movie, product, is so prevalent as to negatively affect your impression of it/him/her.


Britney is there, Paris, Madonna, and a constantly streaming list of others, find ways, usually on purpose to put their faces, names and every move in the spotlight. For good reason. It is lucrative to be famous and sought after, but dangerous and cumbersome.

Over the last few months, on a whirlwind tour, Frank Caliendo has penetrated every single bit of the national consciousness. Partially because of my demographics, which must align perfectly with his targets, I can't go an hour without getting some tidbit of his. And despite only having watched one whole stand-up routine of his and part of one of his television shows, I know his bit and his characters so well I call every punchline. He has a small arsenal, and memorizing them is easier than the details on my DMV report.

I used to like him. I checked out his routine, part of one of his shows that was advertised on every single break during the Cubs games last season. But really, enough already. During Superbowl week, he jumped from one sports radio station to another, then to television, where mercifully he is only allowed to be on one broadcast network. Then he is on Comcast commercials, his Madden character getting much more air time than the overburdened real John Madden, with fewer new lines than the Video game.

Frank, you surely made a nice haul from this, and your show will be coming back after the Writer's Strike, but if I have to listen to one of those five fucking soundbites again, or watch puffy George Bush, I'm going to put you on remote control probation. I see you, I change the channel, same with the radio.

This is not some backhanded way to get him more buzz, but to be fair, if you want to see more of Frank, check out this YouTube video. It is old, but you'll notice he hasn't changed much of it.

No comments: