December 28, 2006, - 12:04 pm
“Living With Ed”: New HGTV Show on Nightmares of Living w/an Enviro-Freak
By Debbie Schlussel
Based on USA Today’s description, it sounds like the most amusing new TV show of 2007 will be “Living with Ed“–an HGTV reality show on the life of left-wing enviro-freak actor Ed Begley, Jr. and his wife, Rachelle Carson.
It looks like the show will portray how ridiculous these enviro-freaks are. And how impossible it is to live with them. And how joyless, to boot. It sounds hilarious:
Actor Ed Begley Jr., 57, has long been eco-obsessed. He has driven an electric car for decades. He recycles. He uses solar energy.
But his wife, Rachelle Carson, 46, gets a little tired of the unconventional lifestyle. Waiting for him to power the toaster by riding a stationary bike, for example, is frustrating. . . .
In the yard, for example, she’d like to pull that weed, but then she’s not sure if it’s a weed or something Ed planted that might be edible. . . .
In the series, Ed clocks Rachelle’s shower with a stopwatch, taunting her outside the bathroom door about how many gallons of water she’s wasting.
Claims Begley, Jr.:
I’m a perfect husband. Women in America are going to see it that way.
You keep telling yourself that, Ed. He would be the perfect husband . . . in the Stone Age. Or the Amazon Jungle.
This show reminds me of President Jimmy Carter’s speech to America telling them to ride their bicycles to work in the sweltering hot summer in coat and tie, sweating themselves to a drench, in order to conserve energy. Come to think of it, Begley is sort of like the actor version of Jimmuh Carter, minus the Southern accent and specious, anti-Semitic books.
And it reminds me of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”/”Seinfeld” actor Larry David’s lamentations about how his whacked-out environmental activist wife Laurie David makes him separate the plies of toilet paper and other absurdities, all in the name of conservation and environmentalism. Their life, too, would make a hilarious show into the absurdity of the She Greens/He’s Normal lifestyle.
I’m already looking forward to the follow-up season spin-off of this show: “Divorcing Ed.” I can almost guarantee there won’t be a fight over who gets the stationary bike-powered toaster.
The show begins with a sneak preview on HGTV at 1:00 p.m. Eastern New Year’s Day, and starts in its regular Sunday Night slot on January 7th, at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
Tags: actor, Amazon Jungle, America, Claims Begley, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Debbie Schlussel, Ed Begley, Ed Begley Jr, electric car, energy, Jimmy Carter, Jr., Larry David, Laurie David, left-wing enviro-freak actor, Living With Ed, New Year's Day, President, Rachelle Carson, Seinfeld, solar energy, USA Today
What I would give for this show to be on a widely watched network!
This would be an “in your face” for the American public. It’s so easy and trendy (yes, you, too, limo riding, huge energy using mansion living Al Gore) for people to spout out the “green” lifestylisms.
This would be a great education tool to show what these wackos are really like. My guess is 99% of people who talk about the environment wouldn’t live this way for more than 5 minutes.
Jeff_W on December 28, 2006 at 12:32 pm