Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Watching a promo for The Tonight Show a couple of hours ago, I had a revelation: Martha Stewart is rapidly becoming the Dr. Joyce Brothers of the Aughties.

The parallels are striking. Both attained national prominence on the strength of a specialized area of expertise. Each, while not exactly attractive, is inoffensively photogenic. Neither is averse to a little self-promotion.

The Tonight Show ad illustrated Martha's continued progress along the Brothers Fame Curve. In it, she's getting ready to down a shot. And back during the holidays, she was on Letterman reading off a list of "her" Top Ten Thanksgiving tips. It included such items as "bite the head off of a live turkey." Both of these appearances showed Martha isn't afraid to gently mock her own very carefully cultivated image.

These things called to mind some of Dr. Brothers' out-of-character turns, like calling the baseball game in the first Naked Gun film and flirting with Alex Rieger at Latka Gravas' wedding on Taxi.

Here's where it gets scary. While she's nowhere near the ubiquitous figure she was in the late 70's, Dr. Brothers still pops up from time to time. Just a few weeks ago I caught her on a rerun of a recent Friars Club roast and according to the good ol' IMDb, she was in an episode of Felicity this season.

Extending this line of thinking out to its inevitable conclusion, we are faced with a bitter probability: Martha Stewart may fade into the background a bit, but she will never completely disappear from the public consciousness.

Much like the dilemma my own parents faced before they had me regarding the threat of nuclear annihilation, this may affect whether or not I decide to bring children into the world.

Posted @ 1:08 AM

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