Former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), the leading proponent of a national initiative process, wrote recently to supporters about his new enterprise: a TV show called "I Like Mike" in which Gravel is president. From Gravel's missive:
"Earlier this fall Eliot Fisher, a creative young writer from New Mexico,
asked if I was interested in doing a TV comedy series, a sharp satire on
the political establishment, via the fantasy of a Mike Gravel
presidential administration, a cross between the political drama of The
West Wing (in fact we will be using all of the West Wing sets) and the
melancholy comic realism of The Office (with an occasional hint of the
absurdity of Dr. Strangelove and Bulworth). The documentary style of the
show (see The Office) is achieved by embedding as part of the show
itself a French Canadian documentary film crew.
"The documentary or rather "mocumentary" style of the show is ideal to
enlarge the knowledge of viewers on political issues beyond the
slapstick, throw-away lines and celebrity interviews of existing
political comedies and is considerably less expensive to produce since
there is no audience involved. The show will lampoon the Administration,
the Congress, the political parties, the military, the media, the wars,
foreign governments and the cultural foibles of the public. It will
serve as an antidote to the corporate-controlled mainstream media babble
that passes for civic debate in our country.
"I Like Mike, the title of the show, will appear initially in a weekly
half-hour format distributed by cable or standard network and digitally
via CDNs (content delivery networks) on the Internet, e.g. via Hulu,
YouTube, Netflix, iTunes, and video podcasts from our own website. I
will play myself and act no differently than I did during the
presidential debates. My presidential staff (chief-of-staff, press
secretary, etc.), permanent characters on the show, will be improv
comedy actors who will play off of and react to my positions and antics
on the issues."
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