Overkill.

I was watching the TV news tonight. Ten or fifteen minutes in, the news reader says ‘And now, here’s Fred with the sports news.’ Cut to Fred who says, in an artificially effusive way, ‘Michelle, thank you.’

Why does he do that? It sounds disingenuous. They are, after all, both just doing their jobs – she reading the general news and he reading the sports stuff. If he restricted himself to a mere ‘thanks’ it would be a reasonable nod to basic politeness. Or if it had run thus:

‘And now, here’s Fred with the sports news. By the way, Fred and I spent the whole of last night and most of this morning in bed together. I can assure you that, contrary to reports in the tabloid media, he is neither gay nor impotent. In fact, he’s a right bloody stallion-and-a-half. He knows how to keep a woman humming, does Fred!’

‘Michelle, thank you.’

Then it would make sense.