Johnny Carson beats Neil Armstrong by a step

[pghnative]

At least Neil beat out Donald Trump --- that would have been hard to take.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16083404/

“Heeere’s Johnny!” has been ranked the most memorable TV catch phrase in a Top 100 list covering 60 years of American television shows, cartoons, commercials and quotes from news programs.
Neil Armstrong’s famous “One small step for man ... “ comment when stepping onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, took second place in the list compiled by TV Land, while millionaire businessman-turned-TV star Donald Trump came in third with his curt “You’re fired!”

[Roving Philosopher]

Is it me, or did Reuters just blow the finale to TVLand's special?

[soylentgreen]

Is "One small step for man..." really a catch phrase, anyway? It doesn't seem to fit the common concept. It was said, in it's actual context, only once. Besides, the article got it wrong with leaving out the 'a'...if he did indeed say it

The commercials for this thing that TV Land has been running 24/7 promote the JFK "Ask not..." quote which I also don't see as a catch phrase. If anything, his "Ich bin ein..." comes closer to fitting the idea. To me, Nixon's quote also falls outside the area of catchphraseology. Had he meant it to be a phrase associated with his public persona(and, upon reflection, maybe he did), that might justify it. But I believe he just wanted people to believe he wasn't a crook, not sell t-shirts.

Also, these 100 Best, Top 100, 100 Ultimate yadda yadda yadda...Of All Time! lists(of which there are WAY too many of to be useful in any way)tend to have many more very recent examples(e.g. Trump's 'You're Fired')than seem warranted. Assumedly, any honest survey of catch phrase impact would need to allow some serious time frame to make the speculation of impact credible.

Most egregious, since I believe the show doesn't actually start until Sunday, the MSNBC article has in fact rendered the whole point of the countdown moot...for those who care to watch these things in frame of mind they were intended for.

[pghnative]

Most egregious, since I believe the show doesn't actually start until Sunday, the MSNBC article has in fact rendered the whole point of the countdown moot...for those who care to watch these things in frame of mind they were intended for.

I'm of the opposite opinion. I think most people watch these shows with the intention of getting a little bit of backstory, or some nugget of trivia they hadn't known before. I would think that TV Land released the info to get a little buzz.

[soylentgreen]

I'm of the opposite opinion. I think most people watch these shows with the intention of getting a little bit of backstory, or some nugget of trivia they hadn't known before.

They were certainly good for that sort of thing when they first started this type of show, only to have VH1 drive the concept into the ground for it to then be mimicked by other networks.

Unfortunately, for myself, the format seems to have degenerated into little more than whatever fringe celebs they can muster sitting around saying "Yeah, I remember that too, that was cool!" over and over. Once in a while there are some great observations* but(like almost all news programs)you have to cut through alot of gristle to get at the good meat.

At least with this TV Land special they seem to have engaged the participation of a number of 'primary sources' for commentary. There is only so much useful input to be gained from Dee Snider and the Coors twins.


*Hal Sparks giving voice to the idea I'd had since 1982, that the crew of the Enterprise gave Spock his send off in a sunglasses case, was one such moment.

[Roving Philosopher]

No doubt TV Land wanted some buzz, but I think they did themselves a disservice by releasing the top ten list. Better to offer a handful of quotes without specifying their ranks, and throw in a bit of trivia about each.

That last half hour of the show might be kinda painful, having to listen to the announcer before each commercial break wonder, "what quotes made our top 10 (5, 3, etc)?", when you already know the answer.

Of course, it doesn't matter much to me, as I don't get TV Land.

[pghnative]

No doubt TV Land wanted some buzz, but I think they did themselves a disservice by releasing the top ten list. Better to offer a handful of quotes without specifying their ranks, and throw in a bit of trivia about each.

That last half hour of the show might be kinda painful, having to listen to the announcer before each commercial break wonder, "what quotes made our top 10 (5, 3, etc)?", when you already know the answer.

Of course, it doesn't matter much to me, as I don't get TV Land.

Good points. And I agree with soylentgreen that these things are way overdone. The worst are the E! countdowns of various celebrity mishaps (101 GREATEST RED CARPET DISASTERS!!!; 101 WORST CELEBRITY MELTDOWNS!!!!!! 101 WORST BLOND SOCIETY GIRL FIGHTS ABOUT EX-BOYFRIENDS IN MALIBU ON TUESDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!), with D-list celebrities insulting their A (or B- or C-) list colleagues.

[crosscountry]

don't watch them. didn't when I had the opportunity.

I prefer to read this board than watch commercials and the like. Not a humbug, just don't watch much TV.

[farmerjumperdon]

Every once in a while one of those shows will start to look like it might be worth something. If you make the mistake of tuning in you are quickly reminded that they are all just so much trash.

I think we need a worst 100 shows about the best 100 of anything. I see a show of 100 clips, each 3 seconds long. Throw in 6 commercials of 5 seconds each and you've got at the least 5 1/2 minutes of entertainment at the pace so many people seem to enjoy these days, at the worst only a few minutes of wasted time.

It would be the #1 show on a list of the top 100 bad shows that wasted the least amount of time.