Psycho Fonzie Advisor

On Friday's Nightly News, an on-screen graphic identified John Brennan as a "U.S. Counterterrorism Adviser". On Sunday's broadcast, Brennan was identified as a "Deputy National Security Advisor". While it's puzzling that Brennan would be identified two different ways in the space of 48 hours, it's inexcusable that the Nightly News producers still use "advisor" and "adviser" interchangeably. When are they going to decide on an official spelling to be used for all Nightly News broadcasts? This lack of regulation is extremely unprofessional and makes the broadcast seem as if it isn't very well thought out.

Can someone please buy Mike Taibbi a membership to Netflix? On Sunday's story about farmers who turn their farms into haunted house theme parks, Taibbi tells us, "But to make a profit in this business, you do have to spend money...to make the shower in this Bates Motel remind you of the big finish in 'Psycho'." As he says this, we see a re-enactment of the "Psycho" shower scene in a haunted farmhouse, followed by the shower scene from the original 1960 movie. Someone needs to tell Taibbi that the shower scene in Hitchcock's "Psycho" took place before the halfway point of the film, not at the "finish" as he claimed. I think Taibbi should re-watch "Psycho" before referencing it again in one of his stories.

On Sunday, Nightly News ran an obituary for Ted Sorensen, John F. Kennedy's speechwriter and confidante. Then they ran it again on Monday. Apparently, the Nightly News producers will run obits on two consecutive nights if they believe that the deceased was an iconic giant of twentieth century America. Fair enough. I guess they must have felt that way about Barbara Billingsley, since she got a two-night obit on Oct. 16 & 17. But what about Tom Bosley? His obit ran only one night (Oct. 19). Was June Cleaver a more influential character than Howard Cunningham? Was her advice more sage? Was she more dear to the hearts of American television viewers? If Barbara Billingsley deserves a two-day obit, then so, too, does Tom Bosley. In the immortal words of Fonzie, "That is so uncool." (I have it on good authority that Ted Sorensen actually wrote those words but refused to take credit for them.)