Max Ex

This is Sunday’s blog, appearing just after midnight.

My favorite late-night Sunday show is “Maximum Exposure,” also known as “Max Ex.” It is, generally, amateur videos of people doing pretty stupid things. I don’t mind seeing them running head-first into cliffs, or over them; they know what they are doing and, if someone’s going to do a idiotic stunt, I’d like to be there watching them.

It’s like an auto race: I don’t want anyone to get hurt and I hope the race goes without incident. But if they are going to pile up, especially if it’s an Olympic-class crash, I’d like to have the tv on at the time.

There’s something fascinating about watching people do really dumb things. I’d rather they don’t and often plead with them not to but, you know, they aren’t going to listen. They learn the hard way that, mayyybe, other people really do have good ideas. If we listened to each other’s wisdom, shows like “Max Ex” wouldn’t be on the air and I wouldn’t have my Sunday night mind-clearing tv.

As they say, anything’s funny when it happens to someone else.

Everybody’s got a story.
Joan Harris died the other day here. A retired entertainer, she once worked the Copa with ex-Army singer Joe Bari (a stage name, later changed to Tony Bennett).