I knew things were desperate at WCCO these days, but who knew things were bad enough that I’d be making a guest appearance? Jason DeRusha’s question during the 10 p.m. newscast tonight will be on how much TV viewers care about convention coverage and, due to the fact that Jason’s top 42 choices weren’t available, I’ll be chipping in my two cents. Despite the big get, DeRusha showed up without a tie. No respect, I tell ya.

For those who have read my recent stuff, all 13 of you, you’ll know that I think an hour a night from each convention is just fine. Political junkies can savor more, but the average American is probably best served hearing one or two speeches, getting some quickie analysis and then doing something more productive, like catching up on AMC’s “Mad Men.”

As we prepare for the Republican Convention, it’s important to remember that these kind of festivities don’t really tell us a whole lot about the candidates. The events are too rehearsed, too myopic, too important for any politician to dare be himself or herself.

That’s why it’s key to look beyond the traditional formats to get to know these guys.

While the Democrats were showcasing Michelle Obama and Ted Kennedy on Monday night, I found two of the more revealing profiles far away from Denver.

ESPN’s Stuart Scott played one-on-one hoops with Barack Obama and while the game was a bit ragged, the courtside conversation was not. Obama scored big points when Stuart asked him who he would root for in a Cubs vs. White Sox World Series. Without hesitation, Obama went with the Sox, saying going to Wrigley Field was a fun place to visit and have a beer, but that nobody there really cared about baseball. His heart belongs to the blue-collar world of the Sox.

I’m willing to bet that answer got as many votes as any one of Michelle Obama’s clever lines did.

John McCain spent Monday night with “The Tonight Show,” and while he’s an old pro at these things - this was his 13th appearance - I found it refreshing that he came with a few “I’m so old” jokes of his own. “My social security number is eight,” he said.

Yeah, he’s been doing the self-deprecating schtick for a while, but it’s still effective. What isn’t is the tired ol’ joke about asking a late-night talk show host to consider being a VP. Whoever the next president is should have that bit outlawed.

There are many evenings that I’m willing to forego all prime-time programming and just stick with late night TV - and I’m not talking about just the usual suspects. It seems like the last home for serious talk (”Charlie Rose,” “Tavis Smiley”), spontaneous humor (Jimmy Kimmel has slipped ahead of Conan O’Brien in this department) and genuine movie stars (When he really, really admires someone, nobody fawns better than David Letterman).

So if I could only watch two late-night shows, which would they be? A year ago, I would have stuck with my old-standbys, “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” and “The Late Show With David Letterman”) but I’m ready to make an adjustment, at least until the political season is over.

“The Daily Show” is required viewing for the next three months. No other program, and that includes the Sunday-morning yakkers and “Nightline,” does a better job of gauging the temperature of the country - and if a bunch of professional comics jump on someone’s shortcomings, you can bet politicos will be soon behind.

If that’s the entree of the night, then Kimmel makes the ideas dessert. Politics rarely enters the discussion. Instead the focus is on pure goofiness, and not in a women-bouncing-on-trampoline kind of way. It’s the kind of spontaneous, let’s-throw-it-up-against-the-rubber-wall schtick that Steve Allen invented and David Letterman perfected that’s all too often missing in corporate entertainment. On some nights, O’Brien still has it. But more and more, I feel like he’s rehearsing for the more traditional “Tonight” format and giving The Masturbating Bear too many nights off.

Who’s with me?

Can Jesse Ventura bring order to the court? The former governor is reportedly in talks with Twentieth Television about hosting his own daytime series in fall 2009, one in which he would settle heated disputes during a mock trial. If it happens, he’ll be jumping into one of the hottest trends in television. The genre is so hot right now that local station WUCW will start programming judge shows from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every weekday, starting next month.
“The numbers are pretty good and until we reach a point of saturation, they’re not going to go away anytime soon,” said WUCW’s general manager Joe Tracy.
Tracy said that Ventura might look perfect in a black robe.
“These are shows about right and wrong, with no gray area. Plus, the guy’s a character,” he said. “He’d fit right in.”
If Ventura does enter the market, he’ll have some heavy competition from other high-profile names. Dr. Oz, Leah Remini and Marie Osmond are all expected to have daytime shows launching in fall 2009.

Just got confirmation from KARE’s general manager John Remes that the NBC affiliate is canceling its kids’ program “Whatever,” the show run by kids and aimed at kids, after 11 years. We’ll have more details online and in Thursday’s paper, plus comments from KARE on the decision and memories from past grads of the program.

NBC continues to impress with its coverage, but I noticed one thing missing day after day: The faces of the announcers. Sure, the studio guys get plenty of face time, as do the sideline analysts, but where are the folks calling play by play? How many are doing it from New York? How many are doing it from some air-conditioned studio 10 miles away? And if they’re not on site, should it matter? This bugs the traditionalist in me who actually thinks that someone witnessing a sporting event in person will have insight and observations that you can’t get by watching a screen. On the other hand, maybe with all the new technology, maybe they are MORE equipped to tell the story by looking at it through a lens than with the naked eye. What do you think?