Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

A small item from this month's Esquire magazine. In a piece about a potential scandal on television's "The Price is Right," the author Chris Jones describes some of the show's changes. He writes:

"Even when Drew Carey replaced Bob Barker — the show's own version of Vatican II — he rocked a similar skinny microphone."

Curious that the copyeditors at Esquire -- a magazine that is devoted to "beautiful women, men's fashion, best music, and drink recipes" -- let this one slide. I wonder how many of its readers understood the reference. Let's face it: even some Catholics are vague on the details of Vatican II. So what's next? Articles about "Mad Men" that reference the Land O' Lakes statement? Or maybe the editors can work in a mention of Humanae Vitae in their next interview with Megan Fox.    

Michael O'Loughlin

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
M D
15 years ago
I think you  might underestimate the readership of Esquire...some of America's best writers got a ton of exposure writing for them. Sure, they don't have the star power they used to (HST, Hemingway) But you don't sell magazines with articles by people like Chuck Klosterman if you're readership is solely interested in  Women, music, style and booze. That's what Maxim's for.

that said...I got the reference.  Though I can't really remember when - I do recall having heard a similar comparison before.
Max Lindenman
15 years ago
Mack's right.  Esquire's always been among the highest-brow of all the glossies.  For quite a while, its tone was just a notch below the New Yorker's.  I'm not even sure it's fallen that far.

I'm still trying to work through the metaphor, though.  Was Barker's replacement with Carey like Vatican II in the sense that some loved it and others hated it?  Or are the two alike because no one can agree on what in heck they mean?

Man, I really need to quit reading America and start watching more game shows.

The latest from america

Frank Turnbull, S.J., a longtime editor at 'America' who died earlier this week, is remembered as a humble, quiet and yet forceful presence to those who knew him during his 85 years of life.
James T. KeaneJuly 18, 2025
A Reflection for Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, by Zac Davis
Zac DavisJuly 18, 2025
Trauma-informed spirituality knows better than to promise that prayer will take away all the pain. But it can offer the hope that, even in the midst of pain, there can be moments of feeling whole.
Nicole KirpalaniJuly 18, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Pope Leo XIV, who urged Israel’s leader to revive negotiations and enact a ceasefire.