Denny MOS

My cable TV connection had a glitch tonight on CH 16. I had "Boston Legal" on and for a moment, I assumed I was watching a bar scene from the POV of a deaf person. You could still hear the wee noises and sound effects in the background, but not one word uttered by any of the characters. When the commercial break came, it became clear that there was something wrong with the transmission, so I called Comcast and talked to a nice guy named Paul. I explained that my TV, a Mitsubishi, which works perfectly, even though it dates back to 1989, doesn't have a lot of fancy options for electronic finagling. We were on the phone for 15 minutes and tried every trick in the book, including turning off and unplugging the set. Still, no verbiage was emitted from "Boston Legal." Only for their commercials. Paul said there was no transmission issue in my town.

As an actress, I found this most instructive. Much more interesting, in fact, than watching our former president giving the State of the Union address, which I had often watched MOS over the years, for entertainment. When you check Denny MOS, he's pretty interesting. He rarely moves his head or body, has about 5 pat expressions, and uses them over and over again. He's got it down to a science, no doubt. Of course, I really missed the cool William Shatner's voice, because therein lies his ability to transmit nuance and a sardonic wit planted by good writing.

I'm supposed to call the Mitsubishi company in the morning and see what they have to say on the matter of MOS for one show.