SCENE: You having a drink with your friends, talking about election night.
SETTING: A bar, or any establishment where fine Stella Artois is sold.
SOBRIETY LEVEL: Medium. Two-day hangover.
You: I know, I know. I cried during the part of his speech about the really old black lady. A little. I didn’t, like, weep, but I definitely welled.
Your Friend: I thought McCain was really respectful in his concession speech. It was like the old McCain was back again. Why wasn’t he like that during the race?
Your Other Friend: I almost felt bad for Sarah Palin, to see her crying like that. Almost. She knew it was her fault.
That Guy That Follows You and Your Friends Around: You know what I liked best? The hologram.
You: Oh my God, that was so absurd.
Your Friend: It was so fake! They couldn’t even see them in the studio, they were just pretending. Anderson couldn’t even keep a straight face!
Your Other Friend: No, I think they could see them. That was the whole point!
That Guy That Follows You and Your Friends Around: Are you guys joking me? Don’t you know anything about holograms?
Has something like this happened to you? Have you realized, one or two days later, that you actually don’t know whether the holograms of reporter Jessica Yellin and musician Will.I.Am really were visible to the anchors in the CNN studio, or if they were just inserted into the broadcast? Because of all the things we saw on Tuesday night, it turns out that was the part we understood the least (even less than the part where Oprah was using that random white dude as a chin rest, or the part when Michelle Obama put a fireball on her FUPA). Thankfully, Canada’s CBC News has an explanation. Will.I.Am and Yellin were not, technically, holograms. They were basically the result of combined video streams. Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper could not see them in the studio, even though Anderson totally said: “It looks exactly like in Star Trek when they would beam people down, that’s what it looks like right here.” If you watch the video again below (courtesy of Vulture) you can see by his reaction time that he totally can’t see Will.I.Am (and that yes, he is struggling to contain his laughter).
Anderson! How could you deceive us like that?! You’re supposed to be keeping them honest! We will never forgive you. Unless … Unless! Can that hologram be beamed anywhere? Like, anywhere anywhere?
CNN’s Holograms Not Really Holograms [CBC News]
Related: CNN Studio Haunted by Ghost of Will.I.Am [Vulture]
Top Ten Cable-News Election-Coverage Gimmicks [Intel]
