Almost!
NBC had Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera doing the play by play-- or is it "step by step" for a parade? These are pretty notorious people to do a parade. I remember Captain Kangaroo doing the parade commentary, and Hugh Downs, and Regis, and Katy Couric and more. When I searched for past hosts to aide my recall, the first few that I found reminded me why I have historically avoided watching the parade. Example:, the 1989 CBS host list included Patrick Duffy and Joan Van Ark, Faith Ford, Mary Frann, Tim Reid and a visit from Richard Chamberlain. Now, honestly, in your absolutely most delirious chemical induced moments, could you have ever come up with a combination like that?
More research revealed that Bryant Gumbel and Willard Scott did the parade for a ten year span, '87 to '97. I believe that Bryant is the obnoxious Gumbel. Greg is the sports oriented one who's actually rather likable. I also found that Matt and Meredith have been doing this for ten years now. I am beginning to recall why I usually avoid watching this spectacle.
By the way, the Macy's Parade was born in 1924. Since there was no TV back then, the commentators for the first parade, Sid and Manny, two guys from the tenement district, bellowed their descriptions at the crowd through megaphones until they were chased off by a barrage of rocks from onlookers who feared that commentators might become a permanent fixture.
The first act in this year's parade was was James Taylor, who sang America the Beautiful. It was simply wonderful. The next act was Miley Cyrus. The downward spiral was officially launched. Next, three little blond lip-synchers called The Clique Girlz. Implosion! My parade watching was over for the day.
TV doesn't give us the real drama of the parade, the human interaction with inflated floating creatures, the parade balloons. The first balloon ever used in the parade was Felix the Cat in 1927. Mickey Mouse debuted in 1934. Underdog joined in 1965. The list is pretty long, with Ronald McDonald winning my nomination for perennial creepiest balloon, and Pikachu a creepy close second. Pikachu looks like a dust mite that has grown to mammoth proportions, ready to assault Manhattan.
The balloon creatures have had problems over the years, the drama that TV denies us. In 1986, the evil Raggedy Ann balloon knocked down a lampost and the Superman balloon was attacked by a tree--presumably a helium filled kryptonite tree-- that tore off his Superhand. In 1997, the Cat in the Hat crashed into a lampost, resulting in one human parade attendee suffering a fractured skull that left her in a coma for a month. The winds that same year prompted NYC police to stab and subdue balloon Barney and balloon Pink Panther, committing grand scale balloonicide, justified, allegedly, by public safety concerns. The NYC balloon coroner's investigation was never made public.
My favorite balloon just debuted this year: Buzz Lightyear. It looks like they've dressed up Jim Thome and floated him down the street.
My other favorite, the M&M's, has been banned, presumably for bad behavior. The two photos below reveal the M&M's plotting their attack and the aftermath of their helium fueled rage.
This misfortune proved that Al Roker and Willard Scott are not the biggest gas bags in New York.
That is all.
****************
Different topic, carried over. http://durbin.senate.gov/ That's where you can tell Dick Durbin that he's dicked you and me and everyone else in Illinois, having now proceeded with his bold faced display of cronyism, seeking a commutation of sentence for George Ryan. Dick wrote a letter to W, who's been handing out pardons as his reign comes to a conclusion. You can send an email to W comments@whitehouse.gov , or just hope he treats the request like the USA's economy, in which case Ryan won't be going anywhere.
