GET FUCHED

Everybody's pretty well aware that the economy is circling the bowl at the moment. So I couldn't help but be struck with an overwhelming wave of irony when flipping through TV channels recently. Look- it's Family Feud! THAT'S what America needs in these challenging economic times; a good ol' fashioned game show. And now there's a row of hearty, beaming and hopeful looking Midwestern folks with their family name emblazoned on the wall behind them- "FUCHS."

There's always that hope that you'll hit it rich without having to do much work. With the possible exception of the lottery- perhaps the most futile pursuit of cash imaginable- Game shows are the benchmark for quick n' easy cash. Family Feud, in particular, has a kind of cheesy, homey quality to it that makes me feel like I should be balled up on the couch in Batman pajamas eating a bowl of Frankenberry waiting for it to be over so I can watch the Muppet Show.

Especially at a time when the middle class doesn't exist, people are losing their savings, their pensions, and all seems hopeless. Welcome, Game Show. You can make things better. Watching those Fuchs for a minute, trying to lay their hands on some cash- it was as though they were the shining example of the American middle class getting screwed over (and out of existence.) Maybe Daddy Fuch got laid off from the auto parts factory, so Mama Fuch had to go back to teaching piano lessons to make ends meet. Son Fuch and his wife, the new Mrs. Fuch, had to help pitch in, too, even though they have a baby on the way. Then- a Godsend- a letter from the TV studio asking them to try their hand at Family Feud. "Go ahead, you Fuchs. Try and win some money. Get Fuched, why dontcha?"

Not these Fuchs. These Fuchs will survive.

Don't care for my thin analogy? Fuch off.