I'm disappointed by this list (I'm disappointed by most lists these days) because they're aren't many TV people on it. Oh, there are some TV execs and producers (J.J. Abrams) and plenty of former TV stars (George Clooney, Will Smith, Will Ferrell), but there's no Tina Fey? She's the first name that popped into my head, TV-wise. I know there are others (readers, that's your cue to comment!). Freaks and Geeks creator Judd Apatow is on the list, as is Tyler Perry. Sacha Baron Cohen is there too.I wonder how they came up with this list. Did they send out questionnaires? Administer IQ tests? Or did they just go with some equation that includes success, popularity, power, and how they handle themselves in interviews? How exactly did Ben Stiller get two spots before Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg? Is Modi Wiczyk, co-CEO of Media Rights Capital really smarter than Jeff Skoll, founder of Participant Productions?
It's funny that even though they put Ben Affleck on a list of the 50 smartest people in Hollywood, they stick him at number 50. He just gets no respect at all.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-29-2007 @ 3:30PM
LBT said...
Where is Trey Parker?
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11-29-2007 @ 3:56PM
Steven Babler said...
Smart can have a different meaning than intelligent. But if you want an intelligent TV person I choose Masi Oka (Hiro on Heroes) he worked as a CGI artist for Industrial Light and Magic and wasn't on the cover of Time for being a genius when he was a kid?
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11-29-2007 @ 4:23PM
khamel said...
apatow at #1. what a turn of events for him. freaks and geeks couldn't last a year. undeclared (good but not nearly f&g) doesn't get aired in the right order and doesn't last a year. earlier the ben stiller show, same story. he had a good run on the larry sanders show but he was 'just' a writer.
2005 starts and hes on fire. from zero to hero in 2 years.
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11-29-2007 @ 5:55PM
AJ said...
...Masi Oka is like a super genius isn't he?
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11-30-2007 @ 1:57AM
Bill said...
FYI, Paul Feig created Freaks and Geeks. Apatow was a writer/producer.
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12-01-2007 @ 12:53AM
SL said...
If you read the EW article closely it states that this list is
"the 50 brightest minds leading the film industry forward today. (We'll get to our TV-industry list after the New Year--hopefully by then those big brains will have figured out how to end the strike.)"
EW set expectations clearly but as usual this particular blogger spouts opinions without cursory research.
So I suppose we'll have to wait until that future issue to hear this blogger express even more disappointment then.
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