The Pat Stevens Show: Barbara Bush and Kitty Dukakis

A month before the 1988 election, vapid talk-show host Pat Stevens presents the contest for First Lady as a pageant, with Barbara Bush and Kitty Dukakis as the last two finalists and the loser standing by as runner-up. After parading them across the stage, Pat fumbles every question: she mixes up the old panel shows when Kitty explains her name, and when Kitty speaks candidly about her past amphetamine dependency, Barbara brushes it off as mere diet pills and Pat sides with her. Barbara refuses to apologize for her age, Kitty pivots to health care and her husband's policy passions, and Pat openly mocks Michael Dukakis's looks. The polite rivalry curdles into a shouting match about each other's husbands until Pat scolds them for tarnishing the pageant and signs off.