First Karina Smirnoff, now Edyta? Because I’m superficial, and I like my female professional dancers to emit the long-legged hotness that I can never match, Edyta was a personal favorite. She’s quit the show due to a spat with producers, because they did not feature her husband, Alec Mazo, as much as she would have liked. This feud does answer my plaguing question about what ever happened to Alec Mazo, who I figured just did not want to appear on the show. After all, the man won the first season of Dancing With the Stars, so why wouldn’t the show keep him around? The only thing I can think of, is that the producers no longer want their professional dancers to be in relationships, because they like when the press speculates that they are romantically involved with their celebrity dance partners. That would also explain why Jonathan Roberts was fired, and his wife, Anna Trebunskaya, remains with the show. Keeping the husbands away perpetuated the ruse that both Anna and Edyta are hot, single ladies.
Category: Television
Today’s Question: What’s Wrong With Being a “Fame-Whore?”
Today is a new day, and it’s therefore time for a new pet-peave. Both Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are throwing the word “famewhore” at each other, amidst Bristol joining Dancing With the Stars and Levi’s bid for Mayor of Wasilla. I think it’s fair to say they are both famewhores. But this isn’t the first time I’ve seen famewhore name calling. Remember when douchey bachelor Jake Pavelka called Vienna a famewhore? Last time I checked Jake, there are many ways to meet “the one,” which don’t include starring in an ABC television show, and crying over a balcony like a woman. The truth is, just about everyone on the planet is a “famewhore,” and it’s only a rare few that have both fame and talent. So what’s wrong with a blind quest for fame? If you have ever gone to a show taping, you will see the crew, working tirelessly for an inordinate amount of hours, while the actors just loaf around and wait for their moment to robotically spit out their lines. I realize that acting is an art-form and I don’t mean to insult it. That being said, it would certainly be a nice life to get paid an excessive amount of money to sit around in your trailer while everyone else is doing the heavy lifting.
The Secret Behind Glee’s Success
There is a very specific reason that Glee is successful. The show made its stars, and not the other way around. Confused? Here’s my theory in a nutshell: Glee creator Ryan Murphy, cast a group of unknown talents. He did his homework, instead of lazily casting famous actors to avoid risk. Almost every hit show in television history started with unknown actors. For example, did you ever hear of Jerry Seinfeld prior to Seinfeld? What about Ray Romano before Everybody Loves Ramond? Or Ted Danson before Cheers? How about Jennifer Aniston before Friends? Certainly there are some clear exceptions to my general rule. The two main exceptions are Kelsey Grammer’s move from Cheers to Frasier, and Mary Tyler Moore’s move from Dick Van Dyke to Mary Tyler Moore. But overall, recycling stars doesn’t work, and it’s unfortunately prevalent in today’s television world, which is flooded with creatively devoid executives that can’t be bothered to search for unknown talent. I won’t mention the very famous stars on the recent, failed television shows. Why? Because I hope to one day get invited to celebrity shin-digs, and I can’t very well accomplish that if I bash A-listers.
Modern Family Promises Big, Gay, Wet Kiss — Is Ryan Murphy Happy?
Glee creator Ryan Murphy, recently complained that the gay characters on Modern Family don’t kiss on the show, calling it “archaic and and outdated.” So what happened? You guessed it — they are going to kiss. Though Modern Family co-creator Steve Levitan insists that the kiss has nothing to do with Murphy’s comments, I’m absolutely positive it is the exclusive reason for the choice. I’m guessing that because Eric Stonestreet is straight in real life, he probably doesn’t feel comfortable consistently kissing his co-star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. As a result, the writers have yet to work it in to the script. The problem with executing the gay kiss now, is that it becomes a “stunt,” which is exactly what Ryan Murphy said is ridiculous. According to Murphy, it should be organically worked in to the scene. Otherwise, it hearkens back to Melrose Place — remember Doug Savant’s highly promoted “first-gay-kiss on television?” You would think times have changed — but apparently not.
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino Will Make $5 Million — He’s Worth Every Penny
If anyone should be making oodles of money off of reality stardom, it’s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, of Jersey Shore. Almost every other reality star on television cannot even put two sentences together. Contrary to Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, The Housewives of Anywhere, and every cast member of The Real World’s last ten seasons, Mike Sorrentino actually has a personality, and he isn’t evil. Yes, the Jersey Shore folks drink lots of liquor and occasionally get it on with “grenades.” But alcoholism and sexual promiscuity is far more respectable then ripping out hair extensions and rubbing someone’s toothbrush against a shit-filled toilet bowl. So congratulations to The Situation on his five million dollars, and please be sure not to squander your money on excessive GTL.
Keep up With the Kardashians is Fake?! — The Cheap Wine Says Yes
A friend of mine avidly watches Keeping up With the Kardashians, and I regretfully admit I catch it from time to time. I got an email from her this morning after she engaged in some very serious detective work. On the last episode of Kourney and Khloe Take Miami, Kim Kardashian came home to discover that Scott drank her “amazing” and “expensive” wine. Kourtney denied it, but the bottles were later found on the roof (the shot of the bottles revealed the label). So what was this very expensive wine? Get ready . . . it’s called Oak Creek Merlot and it’s $3 dollars a bottle at CVS. No, that is not a typo. In fact, you can get three bottles for the grand total of $10. So what does this mean, and is this a smoking gun? All signs point to yes. I’m guessing that a producer came up with the idea to have Scott drink Kim’s “very expensive” wine, and then instructed a production assistant to pick up the cheapest wine he could find for the shoot, forgetting not to let the label show on television. Translation? — it’s a prop. If you watch the video below, with the idea that the scene was set-up, you might pick up on the bad acting.
Update: To see a screen-shot of the bottle from the show, click here.
Hollywood Nepotism — Famous Family Trees
Everyone knows that Hollywood plays favorites, and I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing. After all, isn’t the entire world based on connections — Hollywood or not? Some of our greatest actors come from famous families, and most of them have proven themselves worthy. Plus, isn’t it better to use a family connection than to sleep your way to the top? Obviously those are not the only two options, but I’m all for arbitrary comparisons to prove my point. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorites below. Enjoy!
Michael Douglas and Kirk Douglas are two of my favorite actors. Though they went through some troubles at one point, they kissed and made up and are now very close. Michael Douglas recently told Letterman that he’s suggested that Kirk should retire and enjoy his old age, but Kirk refuses. Good for him.
Anjelica Huston makes history, coming from a family with three generations of Oscar winners. That includes Anjelica, her father, director John Huston, and her grandfather, actor Walter Huston. Her father won twice, as a director and writer of The Treasure of Sierra Madre, and her grandfather won as a best supporting actor in the same film.
Nicolas Cage always tells the story about he changed his last name from Coppola to Cage, as a way to proving himself on his own. Personally, I think that story is an old wise tale that Cage started. I can’t imagine that he actually auditioned for roles without anyone knowing he was Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew. He probably just changed his last name to deceive the public. Not to pick on Cage though, because Family Man and It Could Happen to You are two of my favorite films (Seriously).
Kiefer Sutherland and Donald Sutherland are also two favorites of mine. Kiefer once said in an interview, that he took an entire day to watch his father’s movies, and he was overwhelmed by what a great actor he is. He said he was embarrassed he had not done it sooner.
Liv Tyler is a real life example of that show My Two Dads. Her mother, Bebe Buell, led her to believe that musician Todd Rundgren was her biological father, and she found out that Steven Tyler was really her father at age nine, after noticing her strange resemblance to Steven’s other daughter, Mia. That story is so insane, I’d like to interview Liv to get to the bottom of it.
I first noticed Scott Caan as the good-looking guy from Oceans 11. When I looked him up, I was shocked to discover that he is James Caan’s son. I just don’t think they look anything alike. But as I’ve previously mentioned, I’m not very good at spotting resemblances.
Christian Slater got his start in the industry through his mother, who was a high-powered Hollywood agent. That might be an even better connection than having a high-powered actor parent.
Gwyneth Paltrow was destined to have both good looks and a good career. Her mother is the very beautiful actress, Blythe Danner and her father is director Bruce Paltrow.
There’s not much to say about Colin Hanks and Tom Hanks. They both look alike, and they are equally charming. Colin is Tom’s son from his first marriage, before he met Rita Wilson. I’ve also heard that they are both very nice guys. Though that might not seem like a big deal, please keep in mind that most actors are total douchebags.
Kate Spade is obviously a designer and not an actress, but I just could not resist adding her to list, and revealing that she is actually married to David Spade’s brother. Now there’s an interesting factoid. Update: People I forgot the first time around
I’ve received a lot of criticism for forgetting to include the Stiller family in my original post. I simply forgot, which is no excuse, as I’m a huge fan of the entire family. I loved Ben Stiller since Reality Bites, and his father, Jerry Stiller had one of the greatest roles in television history, as George Constanza’s father on Seinfeld. His mother, Anne Meara, is also immediately recognizable as Steve Brady’s quirky mother on Sex and the City. I can’t leave without also mentioning his wife, Christine Taylor, who played Melody on Hey Dude — another one of my favorite shows.
The story of name-changing in the Sheen family is much different than I originally thought. Apparently, Martin Sheen’s birth name is Ramon Antonio Gerard Estevez, and he changed it to Martin Sheen, as a stage name. His son, Charlie Sheen, was named Carlos Estevez, but he changed it to Charlie Sheen, presumably to intentionally associate himself with his father’s fame. Emilio didn’t get the memo, and chose to stick with his birth name, which was probably not the best idea. If I were trying to make it in Hollywood, or even to resurrect my dormant career, I would have no problem riding my father’s acting coat tails.
George Clooney’s father, Nick Clooney, once said, “I spent the first half of my life as Rosemary Clooney’s brother, and the second half as George Clooney’s father.” For those of you that don’t know of Rosemary Clooney, aside from being ashamed of yourself, you should know that she was a famous singer and actress. She starred in White Christmas with Bing Crosby, and later appeared with him on television multiple times. It’s nice to see Hollywood connections based on a famous female.
Dina Lohan and Matt Lauer — Tales of an Enabler
Rumor has it that Dina Lohan is pissed off at Matt Lauer for the interview below, feeling that he was too tough on her. While it’s true that I hate Matt Lauer’s judgmental interview style, I actually think he was too easy on Lohan, who consistently defends Lindsay on television, insisting that her spirits were fantastic in jail, and she’s doing great in rehab. Wow, Lindsay must be quite the optimistic person. Who knew that jail and rehab could be so enjoyable? I don’t understand why Dina Lohan does these interviews at all, considering they do nothing but hurt Lindsay’s reputation. She comes across as an enabling liar, and isn’t press savvy in the least. My advice for Lindsay is to get some help, do an un-paid Barbara Walters interview, and then go completely underground until she has another role. Unlike all the other famous Hollywood partiers (i.e. Paris Hilton), Lohan actually got famous for a talent (well, a non-sex related talent). So get back to it.
Tribute to Christina Hendricks — I Love Her
I’m admittedly not an avid Mad Men fan, but Christina Hendricks has been on my radar since her interview on Chelsea Lately, when Chelsea called her voluptuous, and Hendricks appeared annoyed. Now, she’s learned to take it as a compliment, and represents all curvy-girls across America. In an interview with Deadline, she furthered my affection for her, by saying that she would stay on Mad Men forever if she could, and has no desire to leave the show for films. It’s refreshing to hear an an actress appreciate of the role that makes them famous, unlike every cast member of Grey’s Anatomy that has bashed their show in interviews. It’s also refreshing to see a beautiful woman on television that isn’t either overweight, or an underweight stick-figure. Here, you’ve got a sexy, humble actress that looks like a normal human being.
Remaking Television Shows — Is There Such a Thing?
I read an article that referenced 90210’s Matt Lanter making an appearance on True Blood, and I had to look him up because I never heard his name before. I thought surely if he was on Beverly Hills 90210 I would have heard of him. Did David Silver have a best friend other than Scott (if you don’t get that reference, you should be ashamed of yourself)? Upon researching further, I realized that Matt Lanter is actually on the “remake” of Beverly Hills 90210, which is referred to as 90210 — and I became infuriated. It’s bad enough that the CW butchered my favorite television show of all-time, but now they are confusing me on top of it? Second, there is no such thing as “remaking” a television show. You might be able to “resurrect” it by bringing all the old characters back and continuing the storyline, but unlike a movie, you cannot copy an entire plot (which, in television, consists of a bazillion episodes). Yes I realize that the “concept” involved a family from a small town moving to Los Angeles, but that is literally the only similarity. How many shows have the same fish-out-of-water concept and don’t use the coveted 90210 title? It’s a cheap way to get viewers, and if you’re gonna do it, at least make it quality.