TV TALK: ‘Farmer' betrays CW's desperation

It's come to this: "Farmer Wants a Wife." In the annals of inane reality shows, this may be no greater indignity than the likes of "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire" and "Temptation Island," but it's been a few years since the heyday of Fox's reality sleaze-and-cheese dominance.

From the first shot of the shirtless, six-packed titular farmer - Matt, rolling through the fields of his Missouri farm on a tractor - any shred of doubt is removed that you're about to see a truly spectacular cheesefest. It premieres at 8 p.m. Wednesday on the CW.

If you're into guilty pleasures, it's hard to beat watching a bunch of city girls wrestle roosters and march through manure in their high heels.

I'm not sure there's a deeper lesson to be drawn from this, other than as an indicator of how desperate the CW is for a hit.

It may, however, surprise you to learn that "Farmer Wants a Wife" is not a uniquely American piece of trash. The show started in Britain, and Belgian and Norwegian versions were hits. It's unlikely the CW will be so lucky with the ratings, but we can certainly hope that at least Matt will find the girl of his pastoral dreams.

Loco politics

Last week, Hillary Clinton was knocking back shots in Pennsylvania. On Monday, she was appearing on "WWE Raw" on the USA Network. She's apparently a big fan of Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Actually, her opponents, John McCain and Barack Obama, also taped "Raw" spots. Mixing pro wrestling and politics is as bizarre a concept as it was inevitable.

Playing up their middleclass values has become an obsession in this campaign, and a shot of Crown Royal doesn't get you nearly the suburban street cred of the coveted Vince McMahon endorsement.

Once, Bill Clinton playing the sax on "Arsenio" was considered revolutionary. Now we've got Hillary Clinton telling wrestling fans that "You need a president who will go to the mat with you"; Obama asking his opponents, "Do you smell what Barack is cooking?"; and McCain borrowing from Hulk Hogan: "Whatcha gonna do when John McCain and all his McCain-iacs run wild on you?"

The appearances were part of the WWE's "Smack Down Your Vote" campaign.

Smack down your vote? The guy those three are trying to replace, President Bush, did an appearance on "Deal Or No Deal," urging contestant Capt. Joseph Kobes, "don't be stupid, take the banker's offer."

No, actually Bush joked that he was "thrilled to be on ‘Deal or No Deal' with you tonight. Come to think of it, I'm thrilled to be anywhere with high ratings these days."

If you missed them Monday night, you can watch all of those videos at springstvtalk.blogspot.com.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0275 or awineke@gazette.com