FROM THE "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO..." FILE....AGAIN

Al Gore, the former Vice President of the United States, has entered a new genre: Television.

Gore is Chairman of a new television network, called Current. He and Chief Executive Officer Joel Hyatt are partners in purchasing the former NewsWorld International (NWI), which previously aired news and other public affairs/documentary programmes from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Sadly, that means the end of viewing the best damn news programme in North America, CBC's The National, and it's wonderful anchor, Peter Mansbridge.

Their new venture breaks away from the traditional half hour or hour long programmes, using a rotation of three to seven minute segments.

However, unless you have DirecTV, you won't see Current in Central Florida...at least not on Bright House Networks. And it doesn't have a fan in St. Petersburg Times television critic Chase Squires.

In his blog on the Times' Web site, he describes Current this way:

So former vice president Al Gore apparently thinks if you’re 34 and under, you’re an idiot.