Bean,

I think it would be worth my while to get a satellite dish just to be able to watch "Talking to Americans."
Thanks for telling us about that program(me). Some of us can poke fun at ourselves, though: Late-night variety show host Jay Leno (the Tonight Show? Or is that Letterman? doesn't matter for now) often steps out to do a vox pops, similar to your Mercer, with the proverbial man on the street. Again, the informed don't make good footage so they aren't used, of course, but what we do get to see is hilarious in its sadness.
[schadenfreude emoticon]