Quick Thought On A Tuesday…
…when I’m busting my ass at work like I’m a real employee.
Somebody must have told them wrong. Actually, somebody must have told me wrong since I’m up here working my ass off.
Anyway, a thought occured to me while watching television a few nights ago.
Before I get to that, have you been watching Grey’s Anatomy? I’m not usually into medical shows or anything but my little sister got me hooked around Christmas and I’ve been a fanatic ever since. Man, that’s a good show. Last night was the 2 hour season finale and it was great, but man, the prelude to the 2 hour season finale on Sunday? Geez Louise. That had me on the edge of my seat. I don’t know all the characters real names, but the chick that plays Izzie (sp?) seriously kicked up her Hollywood potential with her rendition of a schizophrenic, nucking-futs, over the top, love-struck, dumb-struck, dire-straits, reverse Florence Nightingale syndromed potential woman scorned.
Man, somebody needs to get her some more acting roles, STAT. If you haven’t seen it, somebody has that joint Tivo’d or DVR’d or for the archaics amongst us, VCR’d. That was good television.
Now back to my question. I was watching Bill Maher’s show on HBO on Sunday and I noticed that he had Cornel West, some politician-looking white guy (I can’t remember for the life of me who it was) and John Legend.
Yes, John Legend.
I watched part of the show and it got me to thinking…why in the hell do some of these entertainers agree to go on the show? For one, unless you are SERIOUSLY up on shit, you aren’t going to be able to get in any good arguments or anything worth debating edgewise. Regardless of your opinion of him, Bill Maher is sharp, and often times, so are his guests.
But sometimes, some of the entertainers he brings on don’t have jack shit to contribute. Such was the case with John Legend. This is not to say that these entertainers aren’t capable of gunnin’ with the politicians, political wonks, and policy analysts, but a lot of times, they just…
…can’t.
I remember Chris Rock was on there once and you could tell he was completely outgunned. As in didn’t have a single thing to offer. And I’m a huge fan of his, but the problem is that Bill Maher and his guests, more often than not, dig into the weeds on stuff and discuss shit that unless you read the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and any and all things coming out of Washington, you will have nothing to contribute and will just be sitting there nodding your head trying to keep up. I’ve seen it time and time again with entertainers. In fact, one of the few to go on the show that could not only keep up with the big dogs but put the big dogs on edge was, Ben Affleck.
I know, let that marinate. He isn’t the best actor, but he knows his politics. I have to give credit where credit is due.
So I just wonder, if you’re an entertainer that actually watches the show and you get asked to come on, and you arent so big into politics and the like, why in Sam Hill would you put yourself in a position to look like a deer caught in headlights? And I know a lot of these entertainers are smart, trust me I do. But it’s one thing to be smart, it’s a total different animal to attempt to get into a heated intellectual discourse with the most cynical, yet sharp man on TV this side of Jon Stewart. And most entertainers just aren’t that political. Puffy included. They are entertainers. We pay them to make us feel better about ourselves, not make us smarter.
Nobody wanted to hear Chris Rock say, “I”m just pissed that gas cost so much” the (at least) 10 times he said it.
Just a thought…but why walk into a gunfight with a slingshot and some split pea soup?
PlayStation: Heather Headley’s song “In My Mind” is the worst written great song of the past 10 years.
PS 2: Bill Cosby is at it again. At Spelman College (my favorite place) he told the women they need to take over since most black men are in jail. You have to love it when he shoots from the hip. Good times.
PS 3 (Coming Soon): This was way longer than it should have been. The sad part is that it took me like 8 minutes to come up with and type all of that. I really am longwinded. I’m also…well, you know the rest.
May 16th, 2006 11:49
That was Richard Clarke up there w/ them and I was thinking the same damn things about John Legend. He looked like the slow kid in the class that wasn’t understanding the curriculum. Poor baby. Even when Cornell kept trying to draw him in, he couldn’t catch the ball and run with it. *sigh*
I know that I’m not always quick on the uptake, but I also know better than to appear on a national panel.
May 16th, 2006 12:40
and that kid’s ivy league…yet another example that shows you how folks need to stop putting so much credence in institutionalized ed. if you don’t know shit, then you just dont know it…that’s what’s up. now, if you had put lupe fiasco on that joint, you might’ve gotten a more interesting discourse…
May 16th, 2006 12:57
lol at the first two comments…I SOOO agree! It was painful to see J.Legend up there. But I was shocked a couple years ago when a certain comedian was ON IT on that show…you’ll never guess…I’ll give you a second…
D.L. Hughley! I was really impressed!
Anyway, take care.
T
May 16th, 2006 19:17
Dick Clarke was a national security advisor under Clinton and was put out on the fringes when Bush the younger took over. He eventually left the administration and wrote a book exposing their incompetence and unwillingness to pay attention to the facts as it related to the case being made to go to war in iraq. From what we know he is not political but he is a sharp man.
I agree that some celebrities just should stay out of that debate arena. It is less an issue of smarts and more an issue of being informed. And Affleck and D.L. really knew what they were talking about. Chris Rock and some others really had no clue but at least he was funny. Bill Maher once had Andre 3000 on the show and it was an utter embarrassment. He wasnt a part of the panel discussion which is unfortunate becasue he may have been able to hide himself among the discussion of others. But Bill had him in the one on one interview at the begining of the show and it was a train wreck. Dre is a great artist but formed opinions on current events come a bit hard for him. And honestly I wasnt impressed with Dr. West either. He is obviously a well educated man but it seemed like he was more interested in clever one liners than real dialogue on the issue.
But in the case of Reel Time I think that Maher does it as a continuation of his other show Politically Incorrect. And its necessary because if he just has the political blowhards on all the time, it would just be another show that you would see on Fox or CNN.
Maher will be doing a rare standup show in the south in Atlanta in July. Its on the 7th if i can remember correctly and I highly recommend it. Dude is hilarious and sold out the Tabernacle last time I saw him there. And i will be back in july. Maybe Karrine will be in the house and up to her old ways and I just might find myself in the right place at the right time. Ok that was wholely uncalled for.
May 17th, 2006 10:39
I didn’t think that John Legend was that bad. He has some good comments in the begining, but clearly didn’t have as much knowledge on the subjects as Dr. West, Clarke, and Maher.
The only thing that I don’t like about entertainers on this show is that they don’t ask intelligent questions. Say there’s a topic they have a surface-level understanding of. Then the panel starts analyzing it below the surface. It seems as if the entertainers are content letting the conversation go over their heads instead of asking for some clarity so that they can atleast say something.