"THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!" MAKES FOR VERY BAD TV IN GEORGIA

There is another Georgia that may be less familiar to people than the home of the Atlanta Braves and good peach recipes. The other Georgia is a small independent country that used to be under Soviet rule.

The end of Commie rule meant that Georgia was able to fly on its own. The problem was that Russia didn’t want to lose their  Georgia anymore than the United States wanted to lose their Georgia during the Civil War. But the Russkies had little choice in the issue, so eastern European Georgians regained their independence.

But Russia has not been a good neighbor to the Georgians. They can barely resist the strong urge to cross the border and kick some serious ass in Georgia. The Russians invited themselves to the party in the summer of 2008 when they rolled into Georgia under the pretense of a peacekeeper in a troubled land. It was a little like inviting the Hell’s Angels into a peacekeeper’s role at a Cub Scout jamboree.

And nobody was buying the Russian story.

The result was a brief skirmish between Russians and Georgians over territory and towns that were well within Georgian borders before the Russian peacekeepers arrived. It was a bold move by Russia and it was a public relations disaster.

Georgians realized that the threat of a Russian invasion was a very real prospect. And that is what makes the fake Georgian TV broadcast of a new Russian invasion into Georgia this past Saturday night an even greater puzzle.

The broadcast was supposed to be a funny satire that entertained and amused people. No offense, but very few comedians have emerged from eastern European countries that were formerly under rigid Soviet domination. Nothing says “not funny” like an Iron Curtain and Siberian gulags for people who want to branch into political humor.

This has an Orson Welles ‘War of the Worlds feel to it. Only Russians are a much greater invader possibility than Martians. Georgians were not amused, even in that relieved Candid Camera victim kind of way.

Real panic based upon a real possibility of a Russian invasion somehow sucked the funny right out of the fake TV broadcast. There were more heart attacks than belly laughs in Georgia on Saturday night during the show.

Satire is a tough concept. It is supposed to amuse and enlighten, but it often falls short on both. It sounds like Georgian TV producers need a lot more training in the concept.

A lot more training.

COMMENTS

BRAD:""Satire doesn't really fly over too well in news broadcasting. I recall last year there was some Fox News program where the host bashes on anything and it caused an outcry from Canadians. They shouldn't have satire on a "news" (using that term VERY loosely) channel.

http://www.facebook.com/l/47a8b;www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X9tBjt0DUk

Russians invading Georgia is a pretty serious reality. Save the satire for those who know how to do it! (i.e., Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and, I guess, Rick Mercer)"

DENNIS:"I meet people from all over the world in the museum where I work. www.freedomisntfree.org