Did you see Al Franken's wife's ad?

It's been running on Minnesota TV stations for about a month but, if a Minnesota TV station isn't on your cable grid, perhaps you haven't seen it: a remarkably candid and moving 60-second spot in which Franni Franken, the lovely and down-to-earth wife of U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken, tells the story of her alcoholism and of her husband's devotion to her while she was in recovery. We had some of Mrs. TVB's kinfolk in town overnight, and they mentioned how struck they were by the commercial. Here it is:

I remember Franni, who would cheerfully take a message for Al when I used to call their apartment in New York looking for a quote. She says in the ad that Al's Stuart Smalley character on "SNL" wasn't a satire at all. Rather, it was an attempt to help people who were struggling with alcohol dependency like she did. "And it's still used in rehab clinics all across the country," she adds.

Actually, that jibes with my recollection of "Stuart Saves His Family," which when it came out in 1995 surprised a lot of moviegoers. They found it much more earnest than they'd bargained on given the "good enough, smart enough" shtick that Franken/Smalley had perfected on TV (here's the trailer).

But that's always been the dilemma with Al Franken: Does he mean it? When he's being dead serious about something, is that mock seriousness or serious seriousness? Either way, he uses exactly the same facial expression.

Well, at least when it concerns his beloved Franni, there's not a whole lot of doubt that Al's intentions are sincere.