Yes, for the rest of today, it's another Mushroom Soup Monday. This means that Mark is taking the day off and will not be blogging unless something comes along that's too important (or just too funny) not to post. Tomorrow morning, I have to direct Garfield cartoon stuff and after that, you'll have my undivided attention.
Oh, before I go: A couple of folks read my little piece about Norm Macdonald and somehow saw an invisible sentence or two in there where I said I thought Norm wouldn't do a good job hosting The Late, Late Show. I wrote no such thing and in fact, believe the opposite. I don't think CBS will just flat-out hire him…but they could sure do worse and there's at least a 50-50 chance that they will.
What I was trying to say was that they wouldn't just add him to the list of folks to consider, then decide he's their best option and hand him the assignment. He hasn't been on too many radar screens lately. Apart from being very funny in Conan O'Brien's guest chair, which probably counts for zip, he hasn't really been anywhere. That's a strike against him. In Show Biz, there's usually a very strong sense of, "Well, if he's so good, why isn't anyone else hiring him lately?" Another strike is that he can be a bit abrasive. Look at the kind of guy NBC (which is winning handily) thinks America wants to watch in late night.
And I think there's an "it's about time" sense that if they're aren't going to go with a superstar, it's time to give a break in that daypart to someone who isn't a white male which, last I looked, Norm was. That's not an absolute disqualifier. If John Oliver or Louis C.K. suddenly said, "Hey, I'd like to have a talk show that airs after Colbert," they'd be signed within the hour. But all other things being equal, networks used to break ties by ruling in favor of the white guy and now, I think it would go the other way.
No, what I thought I was saying was that the only scenario I can see that gets Mr. Macdonald that job is that CBS decides to let a lot of different folks tryout in that time slot and Norm's little "hire me" campaign lands him one of those auditions, which is possible, and then he's so good, they award him the grand prize. That's also possible. I don't think it's likely but, hey, I'd watch a Norm Macdonald talk show. Maybe one of these days, someone will give him one.
Okay, now I'm outta here…