Lots of folks seem to have noticed that NBC is hiring Isaiah Washington, who once said an unnice word and may have unnice thoughts, onto one of their shows.
Few seem to be bothering to comment that they’ve built a new show around Uri Geller, an unconfessed, unrepentant fraud who has likely bilked folks out of millions by claiming special abilities and showing off cheap prestidigitation. They’re not only rewarding their fraud, they’re also legitimizing him, giving him more power to continue his misdeeds.
What next? Will they give OJ Simpson a talk show and a gun?
Low, low, low, NBC.
Rewarding bad behavior
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I’m one of those holding Isaiah Washington, and the decision to cast him on Bionic Woman (a show I was looking forward to greatly), in contempt. But I hadn’t heard this news about Uri Geller, and that makes me much, much angrier.
I’ve long railed against networks legitimizing these con artists with their programming — such as Medium, based on “real-life psychic” Alison DuBois, or Ghost Whisperer, based on “spirit communicator” Mary Ann Wintkowski and “real-life psychic” James Van Praagh. It sickens me that the major networks are aiding and abetting these defrauders of the gullible and the bereaved by presenting thinly-veiled representations of them as heroes.
And Uri Geller, of course, is the King of the Frauds. How he can have any respect at all, following his legendary exposure on Johnny Carson’s show — under the guide of James Randi — boggles my mind. Are we really regressing this much as a nation? Are the American people now so willing to believe ANYTHING that a shamed and exposed faker can regain his credibility?? It sickens me.