Bravo to Michael Moore.

• Author: McKissack, Fred
• Position: Film producer - Brief Article

Michael Moore's television show The Awful Truth (Wednesday, 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. ET) is in its second season on the cable channel Bravo, and it's one good reason to have cable in your home. Moore's sense of humor, coupled with his sense of justice, makes the show funny, fresh, and more thought-provoking than any segment of Prime Time Live.

Take the premiere episode, which I hope Bravo will rebroadcast at some point. Moore begins by saying he's become more "advertiser friendly," and throughout the half hour, he has ex-cons identify themselves by name, prison, crime, years served, and release date before announcing their support of products such as Coca-Cola and the American Express Card. Celebrity testimonials at their most ludicrous. Ah, genius.

Then there's the Alan Keyes mosh pit moment, which you may have read about already but really is a sight to behold. During the primary season, Moore traveled across Iowa asking Presidential candidates to jump into a mobile mosh pit to the blaring music of Rage Against the Machine. Moore pledged that the first candidate who stage-dives gets his support. And I've got to hand it to Moore, he really made an effort to give all the candidates a chance. Most looked annoyed, including the Brothers Stiff: Al Gore and Bill Bradley. George W. cracked that Moore should find a real job. Moore turned this bit-o'-humor on its ass. He called his dad and asked if he owned an oil company he could work at. Steve Forbes reacted the way the tragically rich do when they have no idea what the hell is going on when confronted by the most rudimentary concepts of popular culture.

Keyes, a conservative black man, dove into a sea of left-leaning white youth. He was held up for the content of his character, not the color of his skin, which made my dry eyes moist.

So, does Keyes look stupid? No, not when you consider that Gary Bauer fell off a stage and out of the running while trying to flip a pancake in New Hampshire. Keyes had his butt held aloft by kids, while his opponents kissed ass for funds.

In the same episode, Moore also takes aim at the National Rifle Association's "Eddie Eagle" mascot with "Pistol Pete," a man in an...