Barack Obama's Check Please on Friday night

Barack Obama's episode of Check Please will air Friday at 8PM on Channel 11 WTTW.

And, as previously posted, it can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oyTD6JGie0

nr706 wrote:And, as previously posted, it can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oyTD6JGie0

That's just a wee snippet. Or are they not showing the whole episode?

Binko wrote:

nr706 wrote:And, as previously posted, it can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oyTD6JGie0

That's just a wee snippet. Or are they not showing the whole episode?

They will be showing the whole episode on Friday.

I saw this tonight.

Are the restarants featured still open??

Dixie Kitchen
Le Bouchon
Zia's (?)

I know Dixie Kitchen is still there and drive by Le Bouchon often; I'm 99% the Zia's is still there as well.

Nothing against Alpena Singh, but I forgot how much I missed Amanda Puck. I know others didn't care for her, and even on the "Best of" episodes they pretty much edit her completely out, but I thought she brought a lot to the show. I liked it when she called him "Barack."

From what I've read this episode didn't air because the President-elect dominated the conversation and they couldn't edit the contributions of the other two into a viable half-hour. Hyde Park is transforming itself into a neighborhood with many decent dining options, but I don't count Dixie Kitchen among them. Its servicible when everything else is booked or has hour wait times, but its not a destination and hardly original. I find it extremely adequate.

I just saw the episode. It took less than 2 minutes for Mellonhubby and I to figure out why the show never aired - it was like watching paint dry...

Yes - I think the conversation was dominated by Obama, but I didn't really think that the other two participants were all that articulate about food or the dining experience (or Obama, for that matter). It was as if nobody told the group that when they talk about the restaurants they need to be descriptive about how the food tasted, the atmosphere, the service, etc. Making a comment about how much you enjoy a restaurant is great, but I want to know why you thought a restaurant is great. For example - this was a typical comment:

"I liked it very much. We walked in and were greeted warmly, we had some food that I thought was really good and I'd definately go back."

Uh...that doesn't tell me much. The only one of the three who was even close to describing the food or atmosphere at the places that were reviewed was the woman - but even then I found her a bit flat.

Obviously the fact the show was a bit boring isn't a big deal - just kind of funny. I'd heard the build up for the airing of this episode for over a week and now that I've seen it I kinda want that 26 minutes of my life back! If I want to watch Obama on TV, I'll turn on the news

So now I wonder how often they shoot one and it's just unusable, at least as long as nobody in it is elected president.

I agree that it was kind of boring (all the way around) but the novelty aspect was fun. And as much as I don't love the show in general, watching this episode made me feel that it has improved greatly over the years. There was so little specific talk about the food, it was like a void. Beyond that, the roll-in segments showed very few of the dishes, so if you didn't have previous knowledge of what these places served, you might have been left to wonder about it even after watching the episode.

I did think it was interesting and impressive that all 3 of the reviewed restaurants are still open. 8 years is an eternity in the restaurant universe and all these places have all been open even longer than that.

=R=

man obama talks a lot. that o'grady guy is right on about the chicken vesuvio at Zia's... its darn good

Here's hoping for something better from the unaired one featuring Congressman Blagojevich (who loved the food and the atmosphere at Miomir's Serbian), rising young musician Robert Kelly (who thought the soul food at Army & Lou's was delicious), and Sun-Times publisher Conrad Black (who recommends the shrimp dejonghe at the Tavern Club).

MBK wrote:that o'grady guy is right on about the chicken vesuvio at Zia's... its darn good

LOL, I was surprised that it wasn't too exotic and that he actually tried it

=R=

MBK wrote:man obama talks a lot. that o'grady guy is right on about the chicken vesuvio at Zia's... its darn good

They re-edited the show to have more of Obama and less of the other people.

imsscott wrote:Barack Obama's episode of Check Please will air Friday at 8PM on Channel 11 WTTW.

If you missed it, it was rerun Saturday at 4:30 pm, and will run again on Sunday at 10:00 pm and Tuesday at 4:00 am.

radiator wrote:From what I've read this episode didn't air because the President-elect dominated the conversation and they couldn't edit the contributions of the other two into a viable half-hour.

This is more-or-less the same thing I was told about a year and a half ago while chatting with David Mannilow in the green room before the taping of a show. It was one of his "growing pains" stories about Check Please, and an example of how they learned to balance the personalities on the show better, and keep the moderator moving the discussion among all the participants. So, perhaps it was re-edited to show more of Obama (and I don't doubt there was a re-edit of some sort. I don't even know if there was an initial edit or if it just got scrapped from the get-go), but I got the distinct impression that the group dynamic of that particular episode was lop-sided.

I watched it last night. I do agree with the above comment that the episode made me wistful for Ms. Puck.

Maybe I'm just a crazy Oak Parker, with all that implies, but I did not find the episode off in any way. Yeah, they had a hard time focusing them, but they also came across as real and sincere, and the implied mission of sending the Black man to Edison Park and the firefighter to Hyde Park worked out quite well. Call me more crazy, but I imagine that Obama got the votes of his two co-panelists.

The other thing I liked, the Barak Obama talking restaurants seemed about exactly as the Barak Obama debating John McCain.

Vital Information wrote:I watched it last night. I do agree with the above comment that the episode made me wistful for Ms. Puck.

Maybe I'm just a crazy Oak Parker, with all that implies, but I did not find the episode off in any way. Yeah, they had a hard time focusing them, but they also came across as real and sincere, and the implied mission of sending the Black man to Edison Park and the firefighter to Hyde Park worked out quite well. Call me more crazy, but I imagine that Obama got the votes of his two co-panelists.

The other thing I liked, the Barak Obama talking restaurants seemed about exactly as the Barak Obama debating John McCain.

Totally concur. The descriptor that best characterized him on this episode, and does for me in general, is "reasonable." As in, he possesses great facilities of reason himself, and also the key ability to be moved by the rationale, motivation, and observations of others. He's a listener as much as a talker (and will happily listen while digging in to Dixie Kitchen johnnycakes, of which I'd love to share a basket with anyone out there the next time you're in Hyde Park).

Santander wrote:He's a listener as much as a talker

You'd never know it by the show that aired last Friday . No one else seemed to be able to get a word in edgewise. Personally, I would have loved to hear more "fish-out-of-water" comments from the Boston firefighter. He was hilarious! (I tried to get the white part out of my soft shell crab, but I couldn't do it".)

stevez wrote:

Santander wrote:He's a listener as much as a talker

You'd never know it by the show that aired last Friday . No one else seemed to be able to get a word in edgewise. Personally, I would have loved to hear more "fish-out-of-water" comments from the Boston firefighter. He was hilarious! (I tried to get the white part out of my soft shell crab, but I couldn't do it".)

As mentioned upthread, I heard Manilow interviewed, and he stated the show that aired this week was edited to maximize the available Obama content. However, I think it would have been even stronger to edit the show normally, even if they didn't love the original balance. I liked the other two and their choices and wanted to hear more.

Santander wrote:The descriptor that best characterized him on this episode, and does for me in general, is "reasonable." As in, he possesses great facilities of reason himself, and also the key ability to be moved by the rationale, motivation, and observations of others. He's a listener as much as a talker (and will happily listen while digging in to Dixie Kitchen johnnycakes, of which I'd love to share a basket with anyone out there the next time you're in Hyde Park).

This is no pronouncement on President-elect Barack Obama's politics, but come on, the thing that jumped out at me after watching that episode was that, just like any other politician, he is a consummate Bullshitter with a capital B. (And I mean that in the nicest, most respectful way possible. )He can't just answer a question directly, he has to follow it up with a story about him, appeal to the hearts of those around him, bring up the kids to show that he's just like everyone else, make people think he understands exactly what they're thinking and feeling before they think or feel it themselves. That show, if nothing else, showed how adept a politician he is. By the end of the episode, the dreadlocked/cat's eye-glassed woman was smiling incessantly at him, and even the tough firefighter had morphed into a grinning, cuddly rabbit, all fallen to the charms of Barry O. I think those two decided right then that they'd vote for Obama should he ever run for president.

For me, the highlight of the show was that Firefighter O'Grady had finally gotten his comeuppance after telling people for the last year that he was on some local TV show with Barack Obama. Now, people will believe him when he tells them that, and maybe even buy him a beer.