During our travels last summer, one of our stops was in St. Paul, Minnesota (lovely city, btw, first time there!), where I had been invited to be a panelist on PBS’s Mental Engineering program. The show takes an amusing look at four different TV commercials each week, and then criticizes the hell out of them. It was a nice change of pace. Bill Moyers says the show is “the most interesting weekly half hour of social commentary and criticism on television.” On the other hand, New York Times calls it “brilliant”. So proceed at your own risk.

When the host/producer John Forde found out who my longtime companion is (actress Desi Doyen, who had actually been featured in one of the commercials they’d critiqued from the Super Bowl), he was thrilled to invite her onto the show as a panelist as well. She’s the gorgeous one sitting to my left. Also filling out the panel was gorgeous comedian Tom Rhodes and gorgeous media professor Renee Hobbs. It was a hoot.

The first episode we shot last Summer begins airing this Sunday on PBS (check listings for local air dates and times). The second episode will begin airing next Sunday.

For your dancing pleasure, here’s a quick video clip of one of the segments — in which we tear apart one of Chrysler’s bizarre “Doctor Z” spots — just to give you a taste…