01.19.10 I’D RATHER WATCH PBS

I love AMC’s original programming. “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” are two of the best shows on television, and I’m looking forward to upcoming offerings like “Rubicon.” One thing I’m not excited about, however, is a miniseries about the Teapot Dome scandal.

“Black Gold” is set in the 1920s following a scandal when big oil companies orchestrated the election of President Warren G. Harding…

“Teapot Dome is quite possibly the most outrageous political scandal in American history,” said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior vp of original programming [who has apparently never heard of Watergate - Ed.].“It is bawdy and substantive at the same time, and reminds us that nefarious connection between the oil industry and our government is not a new phenomenon.”

There aren’t many entertainment bloggers out there who are bigger nerds for American history than I am. I majored in American history after acing the AP exam for it, and I still could never force myself to give a rat’s ass about the Teapot Dome scandal. Try to stay awake while reading this description from Wikipedia:

In 1921, by executive order of President Harding, control of U.S. Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and at Elk Hills and Buena Vista in California, were transferred from the U.S. Navy Department to the Department of the Interior. The petroleum reserves had been set aside for the Navy by President Taft. In 1922, Albert B. Fall, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, leased, without competitive bidding, the Teapot Dome fields to Harry F. Sinclair of Sinclair Oil, and the field at Elk Hills, California, to Edward L. Doheny. In 1922 and 1923, these transactions became the subject of a sensational U.S. Senate investigation conducted by Senator Thomas J. Walsh.

I just yawned three times in the last minute trying to think of a joke to make here. This is gonna be like watching C-SPAN minus all the female and minority politicians.