An open letter

To: Dick Ebersol, Chairman NBC Universal Sports & Olympics
Re: The upcoming Olympics

Dear Mr. Ebersol,

I am writing with an idea that, I think, will greatly enhance the NBC prime time presentation of the upcoming Olympic Games from Beijing.

There are a number of things that have become standard in NBC's presentation that I've gotten used to. Eight minute segments of a single event strewn over three hours to keep me watching? Check. More personal interest stories than the average issue of People? Check.

But the one thing I have never gotten used to is Jimmy Roberts and his nightly "essays." Simple fact: Jimmy Roberts is not Jim McKay. Never was, and never will be. His voice is too high and nasally, and his presentation can generally be described as unctuous.

I was thinking that, in this year that we lost Jim McKay, it may be better suited to give someone else a turn at making these reports on the background stories of the Games: Morgan Freeman.

Have you seen the ads he's voicing for Visa? They cover some relatively well-known Olympic territory - Kerry Strug's one-legged vault and Derek Redmond's dad-assisted 400 meter run - but are given new life by Freeman's majestic delivery. And have you seen March of the Penguins? The man can deliver the goods, and should get to do so from Beijing. Heck, even let Roberts keep writing the segments, if that'll help.

I know time is short, but if you can swing this I think it'd be well-received by all parties. Well, maybe not from Roberts.

Anyway, hope things go well for you, and thanks for the expanded coverage on the cable networks. It's invaluable for people like me who like to actually watch an entire event from start to finish.

Best,

Mark

The Emmys are actually good for something

So the Emmy finalists were announced last week, and for all that I don't care about them I was taken with the haul of nominations for Mad Men, the AMC show about 1960s ad execs. So when the network ran a marathon over the weekend, I figured I'd sample.

I didn't watch more than an episode, sad to say, but I liked what I saw. Off to find the DVDs!