There's nothing like breaking news to get the Cable Game going. When you see something hot and happening on the screen, you stop everything and pull up a chair to watch. That's the "unique selling proposition" of TV compared to newspapers, and even relative to the Net. Yes, the Net has streaming video, and many newspaper websites "stream," too, but it's still the case that no medium is as well situated to deliver breaking news as TV. That's why we all watch: Because we never know--just never know--what's going to happen next.
Ask Larry King, who is so laid back and world-weary--some would say "detached," or worse--that it's hard to imagine anything surprising him. But The King was, indeed, surprised on Tuesday night, when Dr. Jan Adams walked off the set. If you missed it live, you can at least see the video here, courtesy of CNN. But you shoulda seen it live, because it was like a mystery, taking an unforeseen twist. But imagine that the mysterious twist was unforeseen by the author, as well as by the readers! That's the essence of unpredictability: Nobody scripts it in advance.
The Cable Gamer is still saddened by the premature death of Donda West, mother of the extremely cool Kanye West. It's a shame that it had to happen--except, of course, that it apparently didn't have to happen. There is much reason to think that some sort of medical malpractice was involved.
And so we come to Adams, the doc who many think botched Donda's operation. He agrees to come on the show, and then he un-agrees, right on the air. I mean, who could've predicted that? Truth may or may not be stranger than fiction, but it certainly makes for good television!
So who knows what will happen next. Any guesses?
In the meantime, yes, more questions: legal, medical, and public-relations-al. I just came across a press release from Ronn Torossian, the President & CEO of New York City-based 5W Public Relations. Here are some of the p.r. issues in the case:
"There are a lot of questions surrounding the death of Donda West and it leaves Dr. Adams facing two courts; a court of law and a court of pub opinion. Clearly, walking off the set of one of America’s most widely regarded programs is not the way to convince Americans that you did nothing wrong. I would strongly advise Dr. Adams on two courses of action; a great legal team and an experience public relations firm to help convince anyone who is considering surgery that the practice is extremely safe and not always conveyed properly by the media.”
"People will be very hesitant to have Adams perform any kind of surgery on them and clearly his reputation is in vast danger as a result of the West death and even more so after walking off the set of Larry King. His reputation needs some serious fixing."
Torossian has some pieces of the puzzle, lawyers and doctors and others have other pieces. But the great jigsaw mystery of this case is going to be unfolding live, on TV, for months and maybe years to come.
And I, Cable Gamer, don't intend to miss any of it.
