The New Mister Television

In the 1950s, comedian Milton Berle, fondly called "Uncle Miltie", was also given the nickname "Mister Television" for his groundbreaking work in the early days of network TV. Is there a successor to the title in today's world of 500 channels? If so, I nominate the ever ubiquitous Regis Philbin for the honor.

Regis just turns up all over the dial. His long-running Regis & Kelly (formerly Regis & Kathie Lee) continues in syndication; Game Show Network reruns ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire; Last year he hosted NBC's America's Got Talent, and he now is on a revival of the old favorite Password on CBS. In this revival of the old show that was amicably hosted by the late Allen Ludden, Regis Philbin and celebrity contestants play with the average Joe or Jane to see if they can give away a million bucks. And who better to do that than Reege? The new Million Dollar Password looks like it could be the latest hit game show, as it has all the core components...a familiar and likeable host, a million-dollar prize, and the nostagia factor to bring the baby boomers into the fan base.

I watched the premiere episode, and thought the contestant, Dante Mercadante (love that name), left too early. He was doing great, but got cold feet. But who can argue with his fifty-grand prize money?

The password is "entertaining".

The Ongoing I-69 Project

The ongoing project to extend Interstate Highway 69 south from Indianapolis to the Texas-Mexico border continues to move along slower than rush hour traffic. The plan has been surrounded by a number of controversies, with people fighting against it for anti-NAFTA reasons to conspiracy theories to environmental opposition. In Texas, the project is the Trans-Texas Corridor, and will run southwestward from Texarkana to an eventual triple fork running to the towns of Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville, all on the Rio Grande and the Mexican border.

The Houston Chronicle reports today that TxDOT has changed plans to route the highway through rural areas to the north and west of Houston, instead using existing US 59 (the Southwest and Eastex Freeways), the 610 Look (West Loop and North Loop), or the Grand Parkway (Texas 99). Through most of the state, US 59 will become the new I-69, and while much upgrading is needed, a lot of this highway is already up to Interstate standards, particularly in the Houston area.

However, running the new "I" either straight through on US 59, or worse, putting it on 610 (the busiest highway in Texas, and possibly the U.S.) seems to me to be a bad idea. If this gets Grand Parkway completed, it will be a much better routing, in my opinion, although the new road will quickly become as developed and congested as the others. Still, it is far enough on the outskirts of the city to avoid running the Mexico to Canada traffic into the Bayou City's rush hours.

I-69 already exists from Indianapolis to the Canadian border in Michigan, and upon completion, this will be a major trade route from Mexico to the markets in Canada such as Toronto, Montreal, London, and other major cities. For more on I-69, check out the following links:

I-69 Article on Wikipedia

Keep Texas Moving

Snopes debunks a sexy I-69 myth

Houston Chronicle article about the routing of the highway