BY DAN
KENNEDY
Serving the reality-based community since 2002.
Notes and observations on
the press, politics, culture, technology, and more. To sign up for
e-mail delivery, click
here. To send
an e-mail to Dan Kennedy, click
here.
For bio, published work, and links to other blogs, visit
www.dankennedy.net.
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Like a (really annoying)
virgin. What are we to make of an adult male who refers to
himself as "Virgin Boy"? And what are we to make of a TV station --
WFXT-TV
(Channel 25) -- that hires
him as a commentator on its brand-new morning news
broadcast?
"Virgin Boy" is Doug Goudie, the
former Howie Carr sidekick best known for playing crude
sound effects whenever the
subject of -- tee, hee! -- homosexuality came up. (Goudie claims it
was a tape of former Boston city councilor David Scondras clearing
his throat at a news conference. Perhaps it was, but it definitely
offends on more than one level.)
In his new incarnation, Goudie goes
simply by "VB," so perhaps he's slowly trying to carve out a new
image for himself. Then again, judging by yesterday's debut, perhaps
not.
Some years back, someone once told
me that he regularly ran into Goudie in the gym and that, away from
the microphone, he's a pretty nice guy. I bring this up only to note
that Goudie does not appear to have seen the inside of a gym in quite
some time.
And I bring that up only
because Goudie demonstrated a weird proclivity for fat jokes
yesterday. At one point, as a clip played of Ted Kennedy holding up
what appeared to be two military helmets, Goudie "joked" that Kennedy
was trying out a new bra.
Later, his reaction to
Stevie
Nicks's lament about
Madonna and Britney Spears's kiss was to observe that Nicks, now 55,
is, well, fat. How insightful!
Goudie also treated us to some sex
jokes about Ronald Reagan, whom he insisted on calling "Dutch" -- a
tone-deaf touch of familiarity that co-anchor Jodi Applegate made fun
of. So how did Goudie react? By referring to Sylvester Stallone as
"Sly," of course.
It called to mind nothing so much
as Bill Murray's cringe-inducing turns at the anchor desk on
Saturday Night Live in the mid '70s -- the difference being
that you were supposed to cringe at Murray.
Neither Applegate nor co-anchor
Gene Lavanchy seemed to know quite what to make of their
sidekick. Applegate kept scrunching her face up, while Lavanchy opted
for detachment.
Herald TV critic
Monica
Collins writes today,
"Goudie has some roguish appeal but needs to be smarter and sharper
about targets."
Unless Goudie gets much better real fast,
that is likely to be the kindest thing anyone says about
him.
posted at 11:07 AM |
|
link
MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
