Several months ago I made a promise that I was never going to watch the daily tabloid shows again. And I held on to that promise for a long time, and didn't watch Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Access Hollywood or the other shows. Until last night, that is. I wanted to see if there was any news on the Owen Wilson story (though these shows claiming they have "breaking news" is truly laughable in this day of the web and instant info). I just want to report that these shows are still disgusting, ridiculous, and sleazy.
Example: On The Insider, Pat O'Brien showed clips of the hospital, with Samuel L. Jackson arriving and also Owen Wilson's brothers driving in a car to or from the place. And then they show "last known photos of the actor" (taken, um, August 8), and O'Brien describes Wilson as "running his hand through his hair," and you see Wilson with a serious look on his face. O'Brien is clearly implying that they can decipher something from a quick photo taken weeks ago on some street. Give me a break.
And the whole "last known photo of the actor." What the hell? He didn't die, he didn't mysteriously vanish. What does a photo taken almost four weeks ago have to do with anything?
It's rather bizarre what drives these shows. There was a time when you could actually turn on Entertainment Tonight and get some good movie information, some good interviews, some good movie reviews from Leonard Maltin (remember those?). Now it's all sleaze and drama and gossip. Who's doing drugs, who's out of control, who's sleeping with who and why (exclusive photos! Zac Efron and girlfriend on the beach!). They're the type of shows that will have these big "investigative reports" on how the pressures of Hollywood can force young women to starve themselves and make themselves sick, and then the very next night have an interview with Cameron Diaz and ask "how did you lose so much weight so fast, you look great!"
There aren't many shows on TV - no matter how lame they are - that make you want to shower after watching them. These shows do.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-28-2007 @ 3:32PM
headieglass said...
i totally agree, i too watched the insider for news on owen wilson and nick hogan, i never watch it but wanted to see if both of them were alright, etc.. the insider is garbage. how did they have 3 "this just in updates" on owen wilson during the show? they showed luke wilson in the car like 3 times with detailed descriptions of exactly what we could see for ourselves. such pointless info, no news at all! i was really disappointed and disgusted with that show, they read his statement about him wanting privacy and in the same sentence show all those photos and footage all over again, making up garbage to say. if you want any kind of entertainment news, watch E! NEWS or stick to tmz. luckily tmz will have it's on show soon and hopefully that'll be more dignified.
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8-28-2007 @ 4:07PM
Dan said...
I couldn’t agree more! Pat O’Brian Is the quintessential sleaze monger!! I can’t stand to even look at him. How does a guy like that get a show? And the content is just nonsense – this and that in 8 minutes or 10 minutes – give me a break! It’s stupid.
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8-28-2007 @ 4:09PM
Karen said...
Why would you go anywhere other than TMZ for the latest info on those two? TMZ is gross but they do have the latest info.
Rock of Love on VH-1 makes you want to take a shower as well. Eww!
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8-28-2007 @ 4:16PM
Shebbie said...
You could not have said it better. I remember when "Entertainment Tonight" had Mary Hart and John Tesh, and was somewhat respectable. In trying to keep up with "The Insider" and "Extra" and "Access Hollywood", they are just as sleazy as all the rest. Now I see the TMZ.com will have a show premiering soon. Do we really need all this gossip on TV? And Pat O'Brien as a host of "Insider"??? Didn't he himself have a meltdown a couple of years ago?
I wish Owen Wilson well and hope he has a speedy recovery.
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8-28-2007 @ 6:11PM
KMF said...
Entertainment Tonight has gone downhill. The show makes me frustrated for one that I'm so bored I'll watch it ( no cable. I have three channels.) and secondly that it's total garbage. Yeah they'll run stories on anorexia then exclaim joyiously how Jessica Simpson lost 20 pounds in 2 months. And they pander it's soooooooo sickening the way the pander to whatever is some publicists push as hot at the moment.
I got pretty sick of them and stopped watching for a long while when they were gloryfing Mary Kay LeTourneau marrying her victim, like it was some kind of wonderful fairy tale love story!
Ugh I need to take a shower!
Where the heck is Mary Hart anyway? She's always out somewhere.
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8-28-2007 @ 8:34PM
MacKinney` said...
I certainly agree with the comments about Entertainment TOnight.
ET used to be at fairly useful back in the days before the internet came along and offered instant updates on what's happening. Now it's just another trashy gossip show that panders to the basest elements of the Hollyweird "celebrity" obsession.
Actually, the only time I've paid any attention to ET in years was the night after Anna Nicole Smith's death had been announced (on-line, of course) when I tuned in just to see how ET would handle the demise of their favorite obsession. And they didn't even mention that the poor woman was dead! Just went ahead and burned off a lot of their Anna Nicole/Dannielynn footage, pretending madly that she was STILL ALIVE!
It was one of the sickest things I've ever seen - tasteless, disgusting, and shameful.
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8-28-2007 @ 9:13PM
jake said...
Access Hollywood is so much better at providing actual entertainment news. Unlike the insider, which consistently uses teasers -- like find out which movie star is pregnant -- instead of just saying who it is and only later do you find out that the movie star in question is just preparing for a role -- thus making you feel ridiculuous and annoyed for waiting. I would think that CNN Showbiz Tonight would be better coming from a great news channel -- instead they are one of the worst. So hard to get good entertainment coverage, I used to love ET like 10 years ago and got excited to watch -- now as others of you have said -- just boring and no indepth coverage -- Access Hollywood is still the best in my book.
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8-29-2007 @ 1:40AM
In L.A. said...
Yeah, I agree ET used to have some real value - but, now it's all about corporate/ stockholder interest.
As for Pat O'Brien, TMZ will be eating his lunch next month...That old thing should have been fired years ago and Mary Hart is way too classy to get involved with tabloid filth - she should move on to her own show or to something like The View.
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8-29-2007 @ 2:27AM
Jason said...
These days I usually watch Access Hollywood, E! News, Daily 10 and Showbiz Tonight (even though they repeat segements i've seen so many times before).
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8-29-2007 @ 9:11AM
upoh05 said...
People in this country are obsessed with two types of syndicated programming- Court Shows (2 more this year), and Gossip rags (TMZ premiering this year). Sad.
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8-29-2007 @ 3:54PM
Tigger said...
Billy Bush= LAME ASS
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9-22-2007 @ 1:57AM
Lavora Hazzard said...
There's nothing but sleaze and trash that's reported. And, to employ Marcia Clark and put her on the O.J. case is obsurd! It's more than obvious what her opinions of O.J. are and just because she's been a prosecutor does not mean that she's impartial. Did you really read her comments! E.T., I agree, use to be a newsworthy show when Mary Hart / John Tesh were hostings. But, to even entertainment the thought, less lone employing Marcia Clark to report on O.J. is scandalous! You are in serious denial of her impartiality and I think that's wrong and you know that's wrong. In addition, her face looks scary and that facelift did nothing to enhance her looks. In fact, esthetically, she looked better back in '95.
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