Blagojevich faces up to 20 years in prison on 24 charges of racketeering, wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, conspiracy and false statements. Prosecutors say they recorded him attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat that President Obama was then vacating. Blago had sole power to fill the vacant seat.

Court watchers predict the corruption trial could take as long as four months, putting the spotlight on Blago, a hotdog who loves the lamp’s heat.

Since forced from office in 2009, Blagojevich has executed a charm offensive, appearing on David Letterman's Late Night and The Today Show.

He also published a book, The Governor, in which he argued his innocence, and more recently appeared as a clueless contestant on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice.

The trial promises to raise the curtain on the backstage goings-on of Illinois' smelly, corrupt and primarily Democratic politics of which Blagojevich was but one player. A popular view among Chicagoans is that Blago's crime was getting caught for being clumsy at the locals’ favorite pay-to-play game. The trial’s potential for revealing that game’s rules and players is evoking the salivary glands of the state’s long put-upon Republicans who have created their own website to spin the trial's events.

Among those on the witness list or expected to testify: Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel, convicted fundraiser and wheeler dealer Tony Rezko, long-time Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

It all adds up to the best reality TV for the summer months.