Millions of dollars have been spent in an effort to find the second coming of Friends. I have a suggestion for all those executives who continue to scratch their heads in their corner offices, wondering where on earth their next hit TV show is going to come from. Stop ignoring the stars that have been under your feet on Hollywood Boulevard and throw them some money to film their daily lives and interactions with each other. Some real stars too... no more past their prime 80's sitcom actors!
If you ever wonder why Oprah gets paid the big bucks, her special last night is a good example. She's figured the above idea out and made some pocket change on it last night in the first ever Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special.
Besides the fact it took someone so long to come up with this concept, I cannot believe that Julia Robers and George Clooney have never been romantically linked together...
In this TV's Top 5! Moment, Oprah left Julia Roberts and George Clooney to interview each other and let the cameras just roll to capture their interactions with one another. We even got a side order of Brad Pitt on the telephone, which is always a welcomed treat! Oprah also had Sidney Poitier, Jamie Foxx, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe interview each other on the show as well, which was truly compelling.
Two reasons why this Oscar special worked:
1) It didn't involve another boring Barbara Walters interview.
2) It showcased the real chemistry between real Oscar winning Hollywood friends.
The answer to the next Friends has been here all along. I wonder why no one has seen it.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-23-2007 @ 2:25PM
Quetzalcoatl said...
Nicole Kidman w/ Russel Crow segment was the most self serving piece of television crap I've ever seen in my life, and I've seen a lot of crappy TV, I loved the Julia Roberts / George Clooney segment, and I would have loved the Foxx/Poitier exchange even more if Oprah would have stayed out of it.
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2-23-2007 @ 3:00PM
Jeff N. said...
It was all worth it to watch Clooney and Roberts play off each other. Crowe & Kidman were waaaay too cautious. Sidney Poiter is all class.
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2-24-2007 @ 6:59AM
Tom said...
"Besides the fact it took someone so long to come up with this concept"
I think she ripped off the concept from Sundance's Iconoclasts which did about 6 episodes this season. If you haven't seen, I definitely recommend the Dave Chappelle/Maya Angelou episode.
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2-25-2007 @ 8:20AM
donna said...
Surely you're kidding. The only chemistry between Julia and George was fake. They seemed strained and giggled incessantly in that super-clipped "Hollywood-ese" fashion. I got the distinct impression that they were uncomfortable around each other without a master screenwriter supplying their lines. Russell and Nicole, on the other hand, listened to each other and shared insightful comments. In a time when we must be entertained every second, I supposed some would view that as 'boring.'
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2-23-2007 @ 6:12PM
Tammy said...
Oprah showed more out takes on her show today and Julia/George were even funnier than on the special last night. I'm not a big Jamie fan but Sidney was so great. I could listen to him talk for hours.
I had just said to my husband, before I read this article, that I could watch Julia and George joke with each other for hours. You could bring in probably all of George's good friends and enjoy it. He should let cameras follow him on his annual golfing trip with his buddies. I assume he still does it but they use to all climb into a mobile home and drive to different golf courses, drink, grill, play poker, etc.
I agree that Nicole was too stiff and nervous about how she came across. The clip on Oprah today was a bit more laid back, more joking around. Russell was picking on her and she was laughing. Much better than any of the interview last night.
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2-24-2007 @ 12:35AM
shawn said...
To me, it was bullshit televison.
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2-24-2007 @ 5:34PM
Jasmine said...
Oprah Presents was so Much better than the hard-to-listen-to-awful voice of Barbara Walters and her old show. I hate watching her!
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2-24-2007 @ 9:38PM
Elizabeth Chan said...
Iconoclasts was a completely different show because they people they paired did not have the opportunity to just vibe with each other. Plus it was completely over edited in terms of cutting in b-roll and filming the icons separately. Its hard to match chemistry in a genuine manner, and can only happen when you find the right pair of individuals, who know each other that intimately.
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