I adore Anderson Cooper.
He's smart. He's witty. He's attractive. He's modest. He's a dog person.
On his CNN show AC 360, he comes across as a caring person of the people, who isn't afraid to tackle tough issues or risk his own safety for the story.
However...whether he's in hip waders in New Orleans or carefully coiffed and wearing a cornflower shirt that coordinates perfectly with his azure eyes and silver locks in CNN's studios, this Yale-educated son of artistic, talented writers - for God's sake - uses the same four adjectives in response to, well, to anything. I wish a producer would quietly take him aside and give him a list of descriptives he is no longer allowed to utter.
That list might go something like this:
Amazing.
Incredible.
Fascinating.
Unbelievable.
(And he might have said 'unreal' a time or two. I forget.)
This might become the new fad drinking game: every time Anderson says one of these four words, you have to do a shot. I predict a significant rise in the number of sloppy-drunk cable viewers out there in TVland. Could make for interesting evenings, especially considering that Anderson started taking calls live on the air this week. Although he's certainly no Howard Stern, Anderson might decide his callers warrant a five-second delay. Quick, someone call the FCC.
Maybe his callers could suggest some new, more creative words. Roget sure can.
astonishing, awe-inspiring, awesome, exciting, hair-raising, heart-stirring, impressive, magnificent, moving, overwhelming, spine-tingling, stunning, thrilling, astounding, bang-up, breathtaking, cool, crack, dilly, doozie, extravagant, fab, fantastic, first class, groovy, immense, inconceivable, legendary, marvelous, mind-blowing, out-of-this-world, outrageous, peachy, phenomenal, primo, prodigious, rad, remarkable, spectacular, striking, stupendous, super, superb, terrific, top drawer, tops, turn-on, unreal, wicked, wondrous
Better yet, how about being the journalist you so say you want to be, and cut out the editorializing altogether. Let the stories speak for themselves.
Comments
Let's drink to that!