The Awful Truth

Michael Moore (Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine) is the most subversive, fearless, humorous guerilla journalist in the world today, but damned if he can keep a TV show going for more than a season. TV Nation was killed by the very corporate execs that the show went after, and his follow-up The Awful Truth didn’t do a whole lot better. But it did save a life. In the first episode of this show, Moore introduced viewers to a man in urgent need of a pancreas operation. He had HMO coverage but the company in question wasn’t prepared to pay for the operation. He would surely die without it but to the company it was a bad investment. So Moore took him to the newspaper so he could place his own obituary. Then he invited the HMO to help the man choose a coffin, then he invited them to his funeral party. With the ailing father wearing an "I signed with Humana and all I got was this lousy t-shirt but no pancreas" shirt, they held a rehearsal funeral outside the company’s offices. Sure enough, the company caved, changing their policy on pancreas transplants, accepting his claim and, in the end, saving the guy’s life. Sixty Minutes wishes it could be as effective. Total hottie Karen Duffy served as a correspondent and would we all like to correspond with her some?