Blogography Logo
spacer

  Home  

Actor

Posted on Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Dave!And so Betty White was on Inside The Actors Studio tonight.

It's kind of odd seeing her relatively recent massive surge in popularity when I've been a huge fan of hers for as long as I can remember. I first saw her on game shows like Match Game, Pyramid, and (of course) various Password reruns and revivals. And while I didn't watch a lot of Mary Tyler Moore Show episodes, I (of course) remember her genius performances there. And then came appearances on everything from The Love Boat to Mama's Family... and (of course) The Golden Girls, where she (rightfully) became a huge star again.

From there, Betty gave me no shortage of reasons to remain a die-hard fan. Dozens of amazing guest appearances in just about everything... including a ballsy role in Lake Placid and her wicked turn as Catherine Piper on Boston Legal.

Now she's appearing everywhere, including her mind-boggling awesome guest-hosting gig on Saturday Night Live.

So what in the hell took James Lipton so long to finally get her on Inside the Actors Studio?

Betty on Inside the Actors Studio

I have no idea. But it's about frickin' time.

Sadly, as Karl noted on Twitter, it was absurd that they cut the interview down to a mere one-hour show. Her career is so brilliant, varied, and long that TWO hours would barely scratch the surface. Yet they butchered it down to just one? Stupid. I mean, hey, it's Betty White... so the show was understandably fantastic. But it was a rushed superficial hack-job of an interview and James Lipton should be ashamed to air it. All I can hope is that eventually they release the full two-plus hours they recorded on iTunes or DVD or something.

   
Updating my New Television Season Scorecard... tonight was the premiere of No Ordinary Family...

No Ordinary Family

Now, I've made no secret of my scathing hatred for the pile of shit television show Heroes which featured boring super-powered people rarely using their super-powers (unless they were lame-ass powers that didn't require special effects). Now, for reasons I cannot fathom, ABC has decided we can't live without a mash-up of Heroes and Modern Family by way of ripping off Pixar's The Incredibles. Along the way, they steal from comic books left and right (the "super-speed" wife has to eat huge quantities to maintain her metabolism, just like The Flash, for example). Not to mention a blatant rip-off of TV's Greatest American Hero ("instructions not included?"... SERIOUSLY?).

The result is an all-new show that we've already seen a dozen times before.

And while it doesn't 100% suck, it does mostly suck. Because there's nothing surprising enough... exciting enough... new enough... to draw me in. Hell, even the big fight scene at the end (well done as it was) ended up being a rip-off of Nightcrawler's invasion of The White House in one of those awful X-Men movies. Nothing in the show has any semblance of originality to me. I was b-o-r-e-d.

On the plus side, I do think the performances were pretty good. And I think they set themselves up for the possibility of doing something interesting with the show's background mythology (unlike shitty Heroes which failed miserably with theirs). So, despite my better judgement, I will be tuning in for a few more episodes just to see if they go anywhere I want to be. Final score? C-

Tags: ,
Categories: Television 2010Click To It: Permalink
   

Comments

  1. I remember Greatest American Hero. Loved that show. I remember being scared out of my wits when they did this one Halloween episode where the FBI agent was taken over by evil spirits in a haunted house!

    Too bad most of today’s TV rips off great shows of the past. Get some originality people!

  2. Karl says:

    Sadly, I couldn’t tape Actors Studio because there were already two shows being recorded, No Ordinary Family being amongst them. Sucks that Lipton kinda butchered together the interview.

    Haven’t yet watched No Ordinary Family, but feared it’d suck. Should have taped Betty White, dammit. I just noticed that I still use the word “tape” when I’m recording something, even though tape hasn’t been involved in quite a while.

    Have you watched the 2nd episode of “The Event” yet? Wondering what you thought of it. I was a little more intrigued than I was after episode 1…will give it an episode or two more, but I’m still not sure about it.

    And lastly in this epic comment, sorry to hear about Lone Star being canceled. Hadn’t had a chance to watch it yet, and I guess I won’t bother now. Damn execs don’t give shows a chance any more.

  3. martymankins says:

    Betty White can do no wrong.

    Although it looks like ABC can. Boo!

  4. Sybil Law says:

    I missed both of these shows. I am the suck.
    (James Lipton scares the shit out of me, though.)

  5. I dunno I kinda liked Heroes to begin with. The first season anyway or maybe the first two. Then I got bored, missed an episode, then two, then a season, then I never watched it again.

  6. I’m fairly convinced you’re a large proportion of the CAUSE behind Betty’s recent surge in popularity.

Add a Comment

Blankatar!

   
I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.




   


   


   
   
   
Your personal information is optional. Email addresses are never shown, and are only used by me if a public reply would be too personal or inappropriate here. The URL link to your web site or blog will be provided, so only fill this in if you want people to visit!



   

  Home  

spacer
Welcome:
Blogography is a place to learn and grow by exposing yourself to the mind of David Simmer II, a brilliant commentator on world events and popular culture (or so he claims).
Dave FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions
Dave Contact:
dave@blogography.com
Blogography Webfeeds:
Atom Entries Feed
Comments Feed
translate me
flags of the world!
lost & found
Search Blogography:
thrice fiction
Thrice Fiction Magazine - March, 2011 - THE END
I'm co-founder of Thrice Fiction magazine. Come check us out!
hard rock moment
Visit DaveCafe for my Hard Rock Cafe travel journal!
travel picto-gram
Visit my travel map to see where I have been in this world!
badgemania
Blogography Badge
Atom Syndicate Badge
Comments Syndicate Badge
Apple Safari Badge
Pirate's Booty Badge
Macintosh Badge
license
All content copyright ©2003-2022
by David Simmer II
   
Creative Commons License
This weblog is licensed under
a Creative Commons License.
ssl security