One Liner: Pardon the Advertisements Time of Death: 7:51 pm.

Today was the first episode of the new year of Pardon the Interuption, which is probably my favorite show in current production, maybe a close second behind Conan, the ranking isnt that important, its damn good. For the longest time, perhaps since the first episode ever, the primary sponsor has been Smirnoff. First it was the original Smirnoff Ice, the red labelled, too sweet to consume, a pioneer in the citrusey malt beverage revolution that occurred a few years ago. I will admit that when Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice were big during my junior year in highschool, i had consumed a few. Its not like i chose them over beer, but I did drink them when available. Not long after though the fact that my teeth felt like they were being eaten away by the sugar and acid, and my inabillity to taste anything but citrus sugar after drinking one, i quickly swore off the stuff... This was mainly an issue among highschool kids who weren't accustomed to the taste of beer yet, and wanted to drink soda with a kick... some beer drinkers got indignant, even if they didnt like the taste of beer, they dealt with it and called those, who had found a way around their distaste for hops, names and wouldnt let them borrow their copy of Reindeer Games...It was dubbed a bitch drink. Personally i think any 'bitch' who can stomach that nasty shit is tough as a beer drinker...different strokes, who cares...anyway, when male Smirnoff Ice drinkers began to have fight off those who would question their sexuality along with fighting off the super-sweet-syndrome, much similar to the Bitter Beer Face from the Keystone commercials, Smirnoff introduced a new incarnation called Triple Black to try to regain the demographic. Personally, I've never had the triple Black, but they claim it as a crisper taste, and one reviewer claimed it was less tangy, more lemony than the original, which was more lime. Well if its a better product, easier to drink, more like a sprite, and who doesn't like sprite (well i dont like soda in general so sprite sucks), but i mean Kobe Bryant drinks sprite....and hes a model citizen. Sprite isnt a bitch drink. If marketed correctly, this triple black could have won back some of the men. So the folks at Smirnoff started running commercials with Matt Kenseth, the nascar driver, and became the primary sponsor behind PTI. Of course, PTI is not the best market for Smirnoff Ice Triple Black. I understand why they marketed their new Triple Black on a sports talk show, that is watched by a predominantly male audience. Because their beverages had gotten a bad rap as wimpy, unmanly, lady liquors. The same way Zima, advertises a group of black males drinking Zimas before going to the club. Zima already has the gay and eurotrash market sewn up, time to try to trick the urban market that "Playas" drink Zima too, before going out with their "Breezies." For 2004, Pardon the Interuption has gotten a few new sponsors. Instead of being 'Smirnoff Ice: Triple Black presents: Pardon the Interuption,' now its 'Guiness Draught Stout presents Pardon the Interuption.' I think thats better. That makes me happy. But one of the most popular shows on the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, could rake in a few more advertisement dollars than just the assumed enormous amount that Guiness had to shell out to present the show. So for the new calendar year the show is also brought to in part by Time Warner Cable, and Mail time is brought to by MSN email, "make it better with the butterfly." Now that makes some sense. Selling out is one thing, but selling out for money over appropriateness is another. Guiness is a tasty one of a kind coffee/motor oil/beer concoction, that invokes manly activities like talking about sports. MSN email, presenting a segment where the hosts read emails, makes some semblence of sense. This is a nice step forward with a nice chunk of change and a new suit. Kornheiser made reference to the new sponsors, when he first said he was floating like a butterfly to the first email. And again at the end of the show when he holds the PTI sign over his face and whispers PTI, after Wilbon says to stay tuned for sportscenter, this time Tony added "Kit Kats, Send Kit Kat Bars, new sponsors" because Kit Kat had an ad spot during each commercial break. I guess its about time, as almost every few segments on Sportscenter has been brought to you by an advertiser lately. I can only assume that the rest of the weekday-specific PTI segments that take place in the same time period as Mail time does, will each be brought to you by an equally appropriate sponsor. "Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame...on his plaque it can say 'Pete Rose: Gambler and a Liar,' but he belongs in the hall of fame" -Michael Wilbon

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