Talking to the Famous 101

British actor Stephen Fry (Black Adder, plus former comedy partner of House’s Hugh Laurie) has posted a long essay on his blog (he calls it a “blessay”) about fame. By his own admission, it’s prolix, and there are a lot of references to famous people North Americans won’t recognize, but it’s a fascinating insight into fame as “wholly an exterior construct.” Check it out.

I’m not famous. I have no idea what it’s like to be famous. The only famous-like thing that happened to me once is that I was minding my own business with my family in Row K at Radio City Music Hall when someone in the row ahead turned around and asked if I was who I am. I think my family was impressed. To put it in context, though, I was at the Harry, Carrie and Garp event, so there was a much better chance there’d be someone in the audience two thousand miles from home who might know who I was than if we were watching the Rockettes, for example.

Back to You and Criminal Intent were okay last night, but unexceptional. I liked the drinking game between Kelsey Grammar’s character and his daughter in the former, and am glad to see the political bs thread winding down in the latter. Mandy Patinkin’s riding off into the sunset was too cliche for me. He should have offed himself. Harsh, I know, but the guy quit the show over money—he deserved more fitting treatment than that!

I also watched the new Pushing Daisies, which is neat and quirky, but a little precious and astringent. The upbeat, talky narration and staged flashback set pieces keep the viewer too far from the characters, in my opinion. I don’t really care about any of the characters yet, though I do like the detective played by the guy who was the principal on Boston Public. The opening shots and the narrative reminded me of Desperate Housewives, and not in a good way. They dance around some fairly complex issues. Wouldn’t Chuck have been autopsied and embalmed, for example. Chuck at least asks about a dead person’s last wishes, but what about their experiences while dead? And what’s with all the doubling: Charlene Charles, Boutique Travel Travel Boutique, the darling Darlings? How precious. I might come back next week to see about the skeletons in the closet, but I don’t think this one is long for the world unless they find clever ways to keep it from becoming gimmicky.