Skip to main content

Strombo: Hipster Night in Canada




There was a funny meme going round on the CBC Community page yesterday.
"It could be worse," the post suggested over the symbol for Hockey Night in Canada. "We could have this guy."
The guy they were talking about was Ben Mulroney, our sad Canadian version of Ryan Seacrest,, the belittled son of disgraced Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who has become the host of everything from CTV's coverage of the Oscars to our country's failed attempt to launch a homegrown version of Canadian Idol.
I have never gotten what the appeal of Bennie was. He has nice teeth, I suppose, though his hair resembles that of Count Chocula and his smarmy nature harkens back to the days of "ya dance with the girl who brung ya."
It would have been disturbing to have Vlad the Impaler as the replacement for Ron and Don, the muppet pair who look down from the balcony each weekend on HNIC and reminisce about Bobby Orr. But George Stromboulopoulos?(heretofore referred to as Stombo, as I refuse to cut and paste his name again and again.
Look hipsters, before you threaten to burn my ear with ethical coffee, don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about Strombo personally. I like the guy. He's cool, though evidently not cool enough to take a pay cut and go to CNN where everybody confuses him for the short guy married to Ally Wentworth.
What I don't like is that Rogers, in its lazy wisdom, didn't even try to find someone who didn't already have a job. Why not have a casting call, like Masterchef Canada, and see if there is another living, breathing, hockey-loving sage out there who could take the reigns of a tired old institution and shake things up a little? HINC is a sure thing; people aren't going to tune out in droves if they don't see someone they've seen over and over and over again, like their stinky old grandpa (sorry Don!).
We know that Canadian television is an insular, incestuous place made up of people who can't get jobs in the States, but Rogers had a chance here to try something different instead of falling back on the old brand.
Sometimes, Canadians like a breakfast frittata instead of corn flakes.
It is true, Rogers didn't replace the Muppets in the Balcony with one of the members of The Hot Stove, the Brill Crème team that lays waste to the Canadian environment every evening with their massive amounts of guy product. There is enough lube on that hair to power a Harley Davidson across Canada.
But Strombo?
Really?
It's a sad day for Canadian television when the executives of Rogers simply dipped into another network's sad talent pool and picked the least offensive guy.
I guess they were afraid of creating another Don Cherry.
No chance with Strombo.
We're more likely to fall asleep.
 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What Bell isn't telling you about Fibe TV

Update: This week, we switched back to Rogers after spending far too long using Bell's crappy television service. For those with Bell, read and weep. For those considering Bell, think twice even if you hate Rogers. RS I've always been an early technology adapter. I had a Betamax. That tells you everything (if you're over 50 at least). My first computer was a "Portable". It weighed 40 pounds and I had to lug it around town on a gurney. I've been through probably 15 computers in my lifetime. Apple is the best. It's also too expensive so I have a piece of shit HP, the one I'm writing this blog on. I've had cable, internet and now Netflix. American Netflix . That's how far ahead of the curve I am. I get all the newspapers for free. How? I disabled my cookies so they can't track me when I'm on the newspaper sites. Even the New York Times hasn't cottoned on to that trick. Hahaha. That will be a fifty buck consulting fee. Bein...

Ashley Simpson: Please sign this petition to help her family

Those who read this space regularly know that my family is frantic with worry about my cousin, Ashley Simpson , who has been missing 40 days now. Both her boyfriend and her landlord reported that she had left with no money, no car, no resources from her Salmon Arm, B.C. home after a domestic dispute over money. Since then, there has been no trace of her. The RCMP now considers this a homicide investigation, but the family has not heard any updates from them in more than three weeks. Just after she disappeared, her father, relatives and friends set out from St. Catharines on a long trek to B.C. to find her. They all left their work, and their lives, intent on finding Ashley who had always kept in touch. It was completely out of character for her to lose touch. Her parents have been consumed by worry. They have been unable to work, and are having a hard time functioning. As a result, they are now relying on donations from family and friends to keep the wolf from the door...

The strange case of Greg Etue

I got out of the daily news reporting game, I'll admit, because I didn't have the stomach to cover the many sad stories that came across my desk. I remember clearly once when I had to call an RCMP sergeant after his young son blew his head off with the officer's service revolver. "Please," he pleaded. "I really can't talk right now." "It was your gun, is that correct?" He slammed down the receiver. I was ashamed of myself. People have a right to some privacy in difficult times like that. I also used to hate having to go to the door of a dead child's home and jostle the competition for a picture. Really, it felt more like ghoulism than journalism. That said, I still believe that these stories must be told in an honest and forthright fashion with all the facts and none of the flourish and emotion that is all the rage in reporting these days. Over the past two years, we, in this community, have been treated to a lot o...