The other night a 1-800-COLLECT commercial came on and I was utterly amazed to see Mr. T back in the, uh, limelight making a fast buck as the latest pitchman for the most annoying campaign out there. Overcome by amazement and revulsion, I cried out “Oh my God! It’s Mr. T!!!”
To which my son replied, “Who’s Mr. T?”
Onscreen, the one-time comedic foil for George Peppard and Dirk Benedict was terrorizing someone about to make a collect call.
I replied, “That guy. Right There. That’s Mr. T.”
“But who is he? I mean, why is he famous?” my son asked me.
I paused for a moment as the commercial came to a screeching, embarrassing halt.
“That’s a very good question, son.” I said.