Pro and con

Happened across a thread on Matt Ottinger's board about Reg Grundy. The legendary Aussie TV mogul is most famous in the U.S. for his role in producing Sale of the Century and Scrabble.

You might say the comments aren't complimentary. "My love for Mr. Grundy is big, hot and throbbing - like a hemorrhoid," intones a poster who happens to be one of the board's moderators. Another poster chimes in with an accusation of plagiarism: "Al Howard tells the story of Grundy arriving in a hotel room in New York with a pen and legal pad to watch American game shows so that he could 'create' his new formats."

Well, don't ask me. I don't know the guy and I have no idea if the criticism is justified. But the other side of the story is not hard to find. An account of Mr. Grundy's career in the Sydney Morning Herald begins with "Three cheers for Mr. Television" and never lets up with glowing praise for the jolly good fellow.

This might just be a conflict in Australian and American points of view. Or it could be money talking in a peculiar way. By all accounts Reg Grundy is extremely wealthy, and that kind of (non-hemorrhoid) pile usually inspires detractors...and flatterers.