Top 10 Thought-provoking Phrases on Television: 2010

Some People Just Aren't So Memorable
David Letterman has an occasionally funny phrase, but thought-provoking phrases from him are rare simply because he is perceived by television viewers as shallow and some might not think he's very smart...he treats women with a shallowness that's remarkable and consistent. Jay Leno has a way about him that doesn't strike my funny bone harmoniously...what I mean is he isn't funny to me so he's not on the 2010 top ten list. Regis Philbin who has been noted for his ability to self-promote himself without any apparently funny or noteworthy phrases...he didn't make the top ten list this year either. I heard some nice phrases come back from the archive room...in this year's list are some phrases repackaged for our own good. Some thoughts reflect genuine human concern and can't be ignored...you'll see when I list them a bit down the page. All the funny things in 2010 really can't compete with the funny things over the last thirty years and that's why phrases make comebacks---perhaps they never left. They just weren't getting visible air time.

Top Ten Thought-provoking Phrases on Television: 2010
1 "You Can Call Me Al" is a phrase written by Paul Simon in a song in the early 1980s...I've heard the phrase used on the "Today" show when referring to Al Roker while on MSNBC Rachel Maddow who is a part-time communist spoke of Al Solzhenitsyn and used the term in describing the part-time dissident.

2 "What have you been doing since graduation?" I heard a lot of times this year. I instantly roll my eyes and try to think how I can avoid talking to those people at a class reunion I SOMEHOW managed to get out of my mind. I have horror-making-ideas of Steve Carell (of the NBC show "The Office") actually managing a class reunion I am required to attend--NOOOOO!

3 "Chaka Kahn, Chaka Kahn" is a phrase I heard this week and several times throughout the year...I went to the Google search engine and found out that she actually coerced Al Roker to subliminally play her harmonious and yet quirky name on NBC burpcasts (not a typo) --"Chaka Kahn, Chaka Kahn...(Chaka Kahn, Chaka Kahn)...

4 "The Aga Kahn" is on the other hand a mysterious figure to North Americans, but Middle Easterners know him as an influential and humanitarian figure in the Middle East...Aga Kahn, Aga Kahn...(Aga Kahn, Aga Kahn)...

5 "Men in Trees" sounds on the awkward scale to be awkward and doesn't sound as humorous or as purposeful as "Chaka Kahn, Chaka Kahn"...(Chaka Kahn, Chaka Kahn)..."Men in Trees, Men In Trees"...(Men in trees, men in trees)...

6 "Let's be careful out there."...indeed, let's be careful when the Hill Street Blues take to their cars in that danger-filled city full of awkward and angry people whose emotions are likely to spill out abruptly and without concern for the good people of Sgt Phil Esterhaus's beloved precinct. I echo Sgt Phil Esterhaus thirty years later, "let's be careful out there!" You see I am concerned.

7 "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?"...I heard someone say it and it wasn't Jeff Foxworthy and no one was laughing or pointing and accusing...they were simply looking for some relief from the self-conscious assault being perpetrated by someone at someone else. I don't know who was confronting who...the word confronts, indeed, might be a bit confrontational as well. I'll leave that bunch of protagonist words alone.

8 "I'll help you with that?"...I heard that more than a few times this year...the phrase implies no ego-stroking motives on the phraser's part. I also would expect to hear "Thank you very much son."

9 "Let's get ready to rumble!"...Michael Buffer inspired the crowd at the event, the home television-viewing audience, the boxers, and the concession stand vendors at the boxing venue...it did not, however, inspire me to fight anyone in my house or passing through my apartment building.

10 "Are you tougher than a fifth grader?"...I guess I probably am tougher than a fifth grader but that's not a fair test since kids should be measured against those their own age...I was in Pop Warner football as a kid and the teams were manned according to weight limits. I never actually wondered if I was tougher than any of my opponents in games (or in practice for that matter.)

Resources:
www.wikipedia.org/Paul_Simon

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