Modified On August 20, 2009
What a muddled mess is the article in Variety that is headlined “Thesps on eponymous shows actually act.” Miami television critic Glenn Garvin, quoted in the article, says:
“There has been a tradition of comedians playing themselves on television because, let’s face it, a lot of these people can’t necessarily act,” says Miami Herald television critic Glenn Garvin. “So what better than to give them a show where all they have to do is stand up and be themselves.”
Huh?
We’re not quite clear on the concept.
Further attempts at clearing up the matter by the author Glenn Whipp result in such quotes (again, from Garvin) as, “We’ve gone from a more traditional format to one in which all the characters are self-aware, not to mention self-absorbed.”
Again… Huh?
We’re not sure who comes off dumber in the article– Garvin or “Emmy voters.”
We let Whipp off the hook because we suspect it was a boneheaded editor who saddled him with this moronic story assignment in the first place.
All the parties involved try to blame the viewer for being such an idiot. But, hey– that’s no excuse. “The Viewer” is the one who encounters soap stars on the street and raps them with an umbrella and says things like, “I was so mad at you when you left your fourth wife to sleep with Erica!” They’re the people who actually buy WWE storylines.
Aren’t editors and reporters from Variety (and TV crits for the Miami Herald) supposed to know a bit more about the product than the couch potatoes who consume the product spewed out by Hollywood?