# John Basedow's chest freaks me out **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754 "2005-01-02T23:44:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/41 "2005-01-08T18:57:03Z")
> [@tarragon918](#): > > Oh yeah, the first time I saw Phuket, I too thought … fucket. 😛 I’ve been getting a sardonic smile out of that since I first heard about that whole mess. Pure graveyard humor. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/42 "2005-01-08T19:46:53Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Jane Fonda, 1990-'95. I thought she was in the aerobics earlier than that, but anyway she was already a celebrity in the true sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/43 "2005-01-09T00:49:20Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally Posted by **Lyllyan** _ > And, while we are at it, who really believes that Bowflex woman is a 50 yr old grandmother? Actually, I believe it. Take a close look at her neck the next time the commercial comes on. The skin has the distinctive sag of an older woman. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/44 "2005-01-09T04:08:18Z")
Moderator speaketh: I have to confess, I’m a little torn here. On the one hand, a celebrity is a celebrity, and is thus “fair game”, alive or dead. On the other hand, we’ve had a major catastrophe that’s had global impact, and the man seems to have perished in it. Snide remarks or nasty comments about the recently deceased – especially under the circs – seem out of place. I’m going to vote for good taste over unfettered speech, and close this thread. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/45 "2005-01-26T13:12:48Z")
Just to put “CLOSED” to this for real. On the John Basedow website at [http://www.fitnessmadesimple.com/](http://www.fitnessmadesimple.com/) , they now have an “Important Notice” on their front page which says, in part: > [@](#): > > John is safe and sound at home here in the U.S. … John has never even been to Thailand So we learn what we have always known: the internet is a powerful source of both information and misinformation. I’ll re-open the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/46 "2005-01-26T16:15:06Z")
Good god. How could his own ‘people’ be soooooo wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Nurobath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@Nurobath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nurobath)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/47 "2005-01-26T17:33:13Z")
What’s intersting to me is that before the tsunami his commercials were on TV 50 times a day…since that time I haven’t seen his commercials once. Even though he creeps me out I’m glad to hear that he’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/48 "2005-01-26T17:48:16Z")
> [@Nurobath](#): > > What’s intersting to me is that before the tsunami his commercials were on TV 50 times a day…since that time I haven’t seen his commercials once. I have and I remember thinking how odd that they would continue to use a newly dead man to flog a product. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/49 "2005-01-26T20:02:13Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I have and I remember thinking how odd that they would continue to use a newly dead man to flog a product. It hasn’t stopped TNT from using Jerry Orbach to plug L&O repeats. He’s still appearing in those “What id Drama?” ads. You’d think by now TNT would either have pulled them or re-edited them. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/50 "2005-01-26T20:16:11Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > It hasn’t stopped TNT from using Jerry Orbach to plug L&O repeats. He’s still appearing in those “What id Drama?” ads. You’d think by now TNT would either have pulled them or re-edited them. But he is in the repeats. Should TNT not plug Steve McQueen the next time they run “Bullitt”? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/51 "2005-01-26T20:33:35Z")
He truly is a freaky Photshop accident. I think it is the coloring that bothers me most…his head is so white, and the rest of his body is so whatever color that is. Sort of like he was out sunning on the beach wearing a bag over his head. My guess is the biggest consumers of his products are teenage boys hopelessly trying to beef up to impress the local neighborhood girls…anybody remember those ads on the back of comic books with the guy getting sand kicked in his face? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/52 "2005-01-26T20:39:32Z")
> [@Nurobath](#): > > What’s intersting to me is that before the tsunami his commercials were on TV 50 times a day…since that time I haven’t seen his commercials once. > > Even though he creeps me out I’m glad to hear that he’s okay. I saw them just as often “after,” so they actually seemed a bit more creepy. Now I guess I’ll go back to my earlier level of creepedness. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/53 "2005-01-26T22:26:26Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > But he is in the repeats. Should TNT not plug Steve McQueen the next time they run “Bullitt”? The ads I’m talking about feature Orbach and other actors addressing the camera. It’s not just clips of Briscoe. By the way, who exactly was monitoring the website to see if Basedow was alive so as to alert **Dex** to re-open the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/54 "2005-01-26T22:46:41Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > The ads I’m talking about feature Orbach and other actors addressing the camera. It’s not just clips of Briscoe. That is a little different. How do you feel about dead celebs hawking products in commercials? > [@](#): > > By the way, who exactly was monitoring the website to see if Basedow was alive so as to alert **Dex** to re-open the thread? Good question. Maybe **Dex** had a note to check on John Basdow’s life status in his bring forward file. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/55 "2005-01-26T23:18:22Z")
One of the Members alerted me. You don’t think I’d voluntarily waste time tracking that kinda thing, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/56 "2005-01-26T23:23:06Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > You don’t think I’d voluntarily waste time tracking that kinda thing, do you? I wouldn’t think that anybody would. Yet, here we are. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/57 "2005-01-26T23:31:10Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > One of the Members alerted me. You don’t think I’d voluntarily waste time tracking that kinda thing, do you? Hey! ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/58 "2005-01-27T02:48:37Z")
Is there some sort of law that he has to be referred to as “Fitness Celebrity John Basedow”? You never hear “fitness model John Basedow”, or “Detroit native John Basedow”. What happens if you introduce him as “along-the-same-lines-as-Chef-Tony John Basedow”? Kind of reminds me of what Joe DiMaggio used to do. He wouldn’t make an appearance unless he was introduced as “The Greatest Living Ballplayer”, since Ted Williams held title to “The Greatest Hitter That Ever Lived” or words to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/59 "2005-01-27T04:22:53Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > That is a little different. How do you feel about dead celebs hawking products in commercials? I think it’s gross. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/60 "2005-01-27T04:29:27Z")
Well, now that CreppyChest is okay, here’s hoping he’ll work the upper chest in his next video series. Or at least stop posing at odd angles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754.md?page=2)