Let's just dance the news away
Sometime between the Israeli-Hezbollah cease-fire and the arrest of a suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey slaying last week, a story of grave national import broke on the newswires.
Yes, MSNBC host Tucker Carlson will waltz -- or perhaps tango, lambada or funky-chicken -- across our screens as a contestant on the upcoming season of ABC's reality competition "Dancing With the Stars."
Upon hearing the news, many viewers probably wondered the same thing: Is Tucker Carlson one of the stars, or will he just get to dance with one?
The formerly bow-tied pundit who hosts "Tucker With Tucker Carlson" has seldom danced cheek to cheek with big ratings, now or during prior stints at CNN and PBS. His MSNBC show covering politics and media was recently shunted from prime time to the less-glamorous bailiwicks of 4 and 6 p.m., averaging a paltry 219,000 viewers in the later slot, according to Nielsen Media Research. In fact, Carlson might be most famous for a testy exchange with Jon Stewart in 2004 on the now-defunct "Crossfire."
But then again, on "Dancing" his star power might prove blinding. His rivals will include the merry emcee of syndicated sleaze, Jerry Springer, plus pinup Shanna Moakler of MTV's reality show "Meet the Barkers" and Mario Lopez from the '80s sitcom touchstone "Saved by the Bell." (Evidently "Bell's" Screech was unavailable).
The "Dancing" gig could boost his audience by nearly 100 times. But Carlson insists he's not gettin' down as a PR stunt for "Tucker."
"That played no role in my decision, actually," Carlson said by phone Friday from Maine, where he's vacationing and, as he admitted, not rehearsing dance steps as he should be. "If I really wanted to improve ratings for my show, I'd do true crime stories every day."
He explained that he simply views "Dancing" as an interesting life experience. "I am a person of good cheer, and I'm not a coward. I'd like to do so many things. I'd like to do bonefishing on Christmas Island. All the things that add up to a rich life."
No one wants to deny a rich life to a person of good cheer, but it's worth asking whether TV journalists are going a little too far in their endless cha-cha with Hollywood. This fall, Tucker busts a move on ABC. What's next, Katie Couric taking a shower with Flavor Flav on VH1?
