The Obama Show

The format is being kept tightly under wraps. But the producer's past work offers some clues about what promises to be a most unusual political TV show.

The Obama campaign is spending millions of dollars on 30 minutes of prime time next week in what amounts to a big gamble for a presidential candidate with a decent lead in the polls so close to Election Day. The Obama show, airing on the major broadcast networks (NBC, CBS and Fox are confirmed; ABC is still in talks) and three cable news networks, will be the last big set piece of the extraordinary 2008 presidential campaign. One senior source close to the campaign puts the price tag in the $6 million range—which would make it the most expensive single political ad ever.

Broadcasts like the Oct. 29 infomercial were not uncommon in the 1960s. But the prohibitive cost has kept candidates from pursuing this path in recent years. Hillary Clinton bought a block of time on the Lifetime cable network during the primaries this year. But the tactic hasn't been used on network television since Ross Perot aired a memorable mix of charts and folksy catchphrases back in 1992.

The Perot show was a static affair, with the candidate perched behind a desk, in front of a bookshelf, facing the camera. The Obama camp has not yet tipped its hand about how its production will be staged. But judging from the credentials of producer Mark Putnam, it will be a much more polished affair.

Putnam has produced more than 1,000 TV ads for Democratic candidates across the country, including some of the most striking spots broadcast over the last two cycles. His work for Gov. Bill Richardson's re-election campaign in New Mexico in 2006 and 2007 was widely praised and politically effective, not least for their use of humor. One spot showed Richardson in a Western movie, wearing a sheriff's badge and often riding on horseback. The ad touted his record of shuttering crystal-meth labs as the governor strode into a saloon to order a glass of milk. It ended with a line about movie production in New Mexico, with the governor riding off into the sunset. "Next time," Richardson said, "let's make a space movie."

Putnam also handled Richardson's ads in this year's Democratic presidential primaries. They were among the most distinctive and talked about of the year—at least until Hillary Clinton's camp began airing the infamous 3 a.m.-phone-call spots (well, OK, those Mike Gravel rock-in-the-pond numbers were pretty great, too). Putnam's product was credited with moving Richardson's numbers in Iowa substantially. Two of the ads featured mock job interviews with a lazy, sandwich-eating interrogator who rattled off Richardson's impressive foreign-policy resume, only to ask at the end: "So what makes you think you can be president?" Richardson looks wryly at the camera and says nothing.