As a child of about 10, a plant and a calculator were the sole items that comprised my Christmas wish-list. That same year, I collected an unimaginable bounty of presents, and thus began my correlation theory between lack of gift requests as being inversely proportional to gift volume received.

This year — mostly due to sheer laziness — I didn’t really ask for anything. The theory held true and I came out of the holiday season like a bandit. One of the items I received was the boxed set of Michael Moore’s The Awful Truth that I somehow missed on Bravo. Does anyone know if this was aired in Canada during 1999/2000?

Watching each episode demonstrates an obvious progression towards Moore’s later production of Bowling for Columbine. He seems to have honed all of his trademark style and flashy editing skills, at least partially, during the shooting of The Awful Truth. Season 2 episodes were produced by the now-defunct Salter Street Films Halifax studio that also produced Columbine.

It wasn’t surprising to see many of the same topics covered between television and film, but rather amusing to see the exact same video used in some cases between the two (i.e., “Corporate Cops”). The standard stockpile of grievances are covered in with typical Moore wit and belligerences. Both seasons are worth borrowing; I don’t know if I would have bought them on my own — It probably isn’t something I’d watch over and over again.

Aside from the Moore films, I also got 3 (!!) seasons worth of Star Trek: The Next Generation DVDs (I’m a full-fledged nerd now) and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon 30th Anniversary release. Perhaps this is an excuse to buy myself a new TV (and stereo)?