The Good, The Bad, And The Lame
Of course, I'm hardly alone in making lame wordplay with "Good Night and Good Luck." There's "Good Night, and Bad Luck," from the Village Voice, and "Bad Night and Good Luck" from the blog gridskipper, for example. But even worse these are when people use "Good Night and Good Luck" to make a point. People, I beg of you: Stop. It's getting embarrassing.
I mean, there's this: "Katie, I admire your gumption and your place in the feminist league. I wish you Good Night and Good Luck." And this: "As for those in our nation who still hang on to the fraying threads of journalism, 'Good night, and good luck.'" And hey, why not throw it into a story about college basketball? ("Forget that Florida said good night and good luck.")
The biggest offender out there, however, is one Russell Shaw, who yesterday wrote on the Huffington Post the words "Katie Couric in Edward R. Murrow's chair? 'Good Night and Good Luck, Indeed.'" Shaw obviously isn't a big fan of Couric. Fine. The reason he earns special mention here is because he's taken one of the hackiest constructions around and used it twice. Back in December, he had a post on HuffPo entitled "The Latest TV News Anchor Choices: Good Night and Good Luck, Indeed." The point? They ain't Ed Murrow.
As another legendary American might say: Good grief.