DirecTV fires back in satellite-vs.-cable ad war with its own journeyman-comic-studded commercial

With the icebergs of over-the-top distribution floating all around the broader pay-TV business, the resurgent ad war between satellite and cable is a little bit like having an argument...while seated in the deck chairs of the Titanic.

But give DirecTV credit for coming back strong after Charter Communications depicted the entire satellite TV biz as a kind of Galactica-esque aging space ship, captained by a goofy Kevin Nealon. 

For its ads, which poke fun of cable mergers, DirecTV doubles down on the journeyman comedic talent, enlisting Jeffrey Tambor, John Michael Higgins, Jennifer Coolidge and Fred Willard to play top executives at the merging Cable Corp. and Cable World, who are banding together to ward off competition from DirecTV. (Forget for a moment that the satellite operator was itself just acquired, and the humor is pretty great.)

You can see the first ad in the series here on YouTube. The follow-up commercial can be viewed here