Lil' Bush

The Comedy Central cartoon series Lil' Bush fascinates me. How can a comedy show do such a terrible job of imitating the most easily imitated and mocked president in our history? It's pathetic. It's like they're shooting at fish in a barrel and missing.

From what I've seen in commercials and at the tail end of episodes, the show makes our president out to be a mischievous little prankster, taking charge and orchestrating juvenile adventures with his cabinet. It portrays Bush as a successfully scheming and impulsive leader, and neglects the qualities that make him (in)famous: his backwoods humor, his lack of presidential dignity, his astounding ignorance, his difficulties with grammar and syntax, his unparalleled capacity for the disastrous execution of poorly planned schemes.

But the worst thing is the impersonation itself. For an impersonation to work, it has to resemble the person it's imitating; by caricaturing certain aspects of the actual person, the basis for humor is formed. In this regard the show is a thorough failure. The writing doesn't resemble in the slightest anything you can actually imagine Bush saying - it's too snappy, and doesn't have enough stumbling, hesitation, or failed attempts to sound dignified and intelligent. The cartoon version of Bush, frankly, looks and sounds a lot brighter than the real president. It especially doesn't capture the simian expressions that make President Bush so bewildered all the time. And the voice! I don't know who does the voiceover for the cartoon, but it's terrible. It sounds more suitable for a hot dog commercial.

And lastly, why would a cable network want to spend money developing a show that is guaranteed be dated almost as soon as it airs? (Last season, I remember seeing Rumsfeld in commercial adverts for the show, despite his resignation months earlier). This season they're apparently having an episode about Katrina. Way to be two-and-a-half years behind the issues! Good luck selling this crap on DVD in a year.