JolieSimons.com

2008, my husband and I both agree, was the worst year on record for both of us. Not only were we living in a new city, my husband got a job with a very long daily commute. We didn’t know anybody in town, and finances, being what they are, were also causing strife.

Sometimes life becomes a little more bearable with the introduction of a new hobby. In this case, we started listening to The Adam Carolla Show, a morning radio station syndicated from KLSX in Los Angeles. Adam’s multi-hour show had celebrity guests, two adorable sidekicks, and was the funniest thing I’d heard on the radio, well, ever. TACS didn’t actually air in St. Louis, so we would podcast the program and listen to it a day later. It made the long St. Louis commutes seem shorter and made our lives a little better.

Now the LA Times is reporting that KLSX is switching formats from FM talk to Top 40. Advertising dollars in the tough economy are harder and harder to come by, and KLSX has decided to cop out and go with what works: radio for teens.

Tomorrow, February 20th, will be the last day for The Adam Carolla Show, and will be a sad day. While I know it’s coming, I won’t be able to listen to it until I can sync up my MP3 player tonight.

Losing The Adam Carolla Show is like losing a best friend. Adam Carolla, Theresa Strasser, and Brian Bishop have become like family, a strange digital family that I never get to see but still feel I know. While I thank them all for the laughs, I hope to hear one or all of them again soon. After all, TACS is a very popular podcast. Perhaps go podcast-only? I’m just sayin’…

I very rarely have the knee jerk reaction to boycott anything. I’m a friend to the large corporation. I use plenty of products from so-called “evil” organizations, including the Microsoft-powered laptop on which I currently type. Now why in the world would I send a letter to Kellogg’s informing them I couldn’t purchase their products anymore?

As might already know, the story goes like this: Swimmer Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, more than anyone else in history.  After the games, Phelps signed a bunch of very lucrative contracts to hawk products for the likes of Kellogg’s, Omega watches, and more. A few days ago, a British tabloid printed a picture taken by some jerk at a college party of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana. A few days after that, Kellogg’s informed the public that they would no longer honor Phelps’s endorsement contract.

Why did this action by Kellogg’s get me so upset? Well…

• Phelps, for all intents and purposes, had his privacy violated at that party, even if there’s no inherent right to privacy at a public event.

• Phelps, like most Americans, probably has the opinion that marijuana isn’t all that big a deal. The worst harm that the drug can cause a person is if they get caught by authorities. The punishment for marijuana in this country far out weights any of the dangers of the drug itself.  What do people in countries with more sane marijuana policy feel about the Kellogg’s decisions? Are they insulted?

• Several states in this nation have legalized medical use of marijuana. Whether you agree or not, this reflects the shifting position of Americans that marijuana isn’t that big a deal to anyone but the authorities.

• Kellogg’s is insulting all Americans who believe that this country is founded on principles of privacy and personal liberty, even if our federal laws don’t always reflect those values. 

I’m sad to see Kellogg’s leave my life. Kellogg’s makes several products I really enjoy, including Morningtar Farms meatless products and All-Bran cereal, both of which I’ve eaten to help me with my recent 50 pound weight loss.

I urge Kellogg’s to reconsider their position and apologize to Phelps for their much ado about nothing. Reinstating Phelps as a spokesperson would also be nice.

I’d also like to pose the following question: What year does Kellogg’s believe it is, anyway?

The lads of Top Gear

Hello again. I haven’t written in a while, but now I’m back! (Mild, condescending applause). I’ll get back to Arrested Development movie news soon, but today, we’re talking about cars. And television. 

I know you’ve heard me say this before, but one of the best television shows in the world is the BBC’s amusing car show Top Gear. One of the most popular shows in the world, Top Gear brings you three very different English blokes talking about cars, testing new models, and participating in various car-related challenges. 

Now, being from the land of well-refined car snobbery, the English have managed to get the world excited about cars, especially European  cars. The series has spawned versions in other countries like Australia, as well as the occasional copycat. Wikipedia tells me (and they would never lie) that about 350 million people watch Top Gear all over the world.

Now, let’s move on to NBC. The Peacock is struggling a bit at the moment. Despite having one of the funniest sitcoms on the air in Tina Fey’s 30 Rock, NBC suffered a blow from lowered Super Bowl ratings and has fallen into fourth place in ratings among the four majors. So it would seem that NBC would want to take a different approach, and approach that might, you know, produce programming that others might want to watch.

Adam Carolla

So last year, NBC ordered a pilot of an American version of Top Gear. At the helm would be Adam Carolla of The Man Show and Loveline fame, but also the very funny host of The Adam Carolla Radio  Show, a syndicated radio show out of Los Angeles. He also recently released a very funny and touching movie called The Hammer. Sitting alongside Adam would be Eric Stromer, star of Over Your Head on HGTV, and Tanner Foust, a stunt car driver. 

I’m sad to report that, despite sagging ratings (because everybody wants to watch more Howie Do It, obviously) and a built-in fan base, NBC has officially passed on an American version of Top Gear. So instead of funny car stunts and hot lap times in fast cars, NBC continues to do more of the same. Perhaps a cable network might pick up Top Gear but, in the meantime, fast car voyeurs in this country have to be satisfied with shows that just aren’t that entertaining.

I know American car companies are struggling, but perhaps there’s a good reason: today’s kids just aren’t excited about cars because there’s nothing to be excited about. Sure, it’s nice to foam at the mouth at the sight of an Astin Martin DB9, but how many eight year olds are excited about, say, a Cadillac or Pontiac? Wouldn’t it be nice to try and cultivate some fans for your product with, say, an entertaining TV show? I’m just saying…