WHEN my dad, Allen Funt, produced "Candid Microphone" back in the mid-1940s, he used a clever ruse to titillate listeners.
Though at times a tad worshipful, the film's tone is ultimately more awed than hagiographic, its commenters too cleareyed and candid to back away from negative publicity or public disenchantment.
His advocacy of the American cause is especially useful with governments that have little trust in Washington, and Mr. Blair has carried their candid comments back to Mr. Bush.
The man in charge of franchises, Peter Wilkinson, made it clear in an unusually candid speech back in February that this dispute was intended to be a key moment in changing past practice.
Shows that stick to more benign pranks, and that includes a revival of "Candid Camera" (back on the air on the Pax network since 2001, starring Peter Funt, the son of the show's creator, Allen Funt), have dismal ratings, suggesting that viewers prefer their humiliation served raw.
So will this transparency continue to see such candid reports back to Whitehall?
Welcome back, Candid Camera.
In a candid interview looking back on his five years as deputy prime minister in the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, Clegg said he found the behaviour of his senior Conservative partner "very unattractive, very cynical".
"Let's be candid," Gingrich shot back.
In typically candid fashion, Wagner fired back, saying: "When he walks in my shoes, then I'll say something.
