Tuesday, December 31, 2013

President Obama's favorite television shows, according to the New York Times

By Jack Brummet, Entertainment Ed. and Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.




Over the years, we've had tantalizing hints about BHO's downtime entertainment.  We know he loves Al Green, and even sang a few bars of a tune by the Reverend.  He told the press at one point that his favorite Bob Dylan song was "I ain't going to work on Maggie's farm no more."  He's mentioned other songs, performers, and movies he likes.  Recently, his television viewing was chronicled in these excerpts from Michael D. Shear's article in the New York Times:




Obama’s TV Picks: Anything Edgy, With Hints of Reality

"Mr. Obama is … a devotee of Showtime’s 'Homeland,' which offers an eerily familiar mirror to the president’s own foreign policy adventures: terrorism, Iranian nuclear negotiations, drone strikes, and an intelligence agency struggling for legitimacy with Congress and the American people.




"It may be a fool’s errand to psychoanalyze anyone — let alone a sitting president — based only on the books he reads or the music he listens to, or the television shows he watches." - Michael D. Shear
"And the list of heavies continues. Mr. Obama has told people he is a big fan of 'Game of Thrones,' a brutal imagining of the wars in medieval Europe. He has raved about 'Boardwalk Empire' and the BBC’s 'Downton Abbey,' two period dramas that document the angst and difficulties that people faced during those times. And he has worked his way through the DVDs of AMC’s smoldering 'Mad Men' series, telling friends that the character of Peggy Olson has given him insight into what it must have been like for his strong-willed grandmother in a world dominated by men.



"These days, when Mr. Obama retreats to the White House residence after a long day on the other end of the colonnade, he is working his way through the DVD box set of AMC’s 'Breaking Bad,' the award-winning TV drama about a drug-dealing high school teacher. The show just ended after five seasons, but the president is way behind and frequently reminds those around him not to give anything away."




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