April 30th 2008 10:43 am
Is TV the new movies?
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I have great respect for George Clooney. As an actor and as a director. Say what you will but old George really knows how to pick them. The likes of Syriana, Good night, and Good luck, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Solaris, Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, hell even Ocean’s 11 was fun to watch. I always regarded George as someone who used his fame in a such a great way picking projects that were all so bloody good it is unbelievable. It does take a lot of talent, brains and creativity to shift through the piles of shite in Hollywood and find real gems.
Recently I have read an article on Digital Spy and I found myself disagreeing with his statement. Clooney said “There is a strange pecking order among actors. Theatre actors look down on film actors, who look down on TV actors. Thank God for reality shows, or we wouldn’t have anybody to look down on.”
Ok lets ignore the obvious irony that this is coming from a man who got his break on Roseanne and as a doctor on ER. I had an impression (and that is all it was, just my impression) that old George did not take himself too seriously. And while I agree with him on the zero tolerance for the likes of Big Brother contestants, I do think he might be wrong on the TV actors.
When you think about it, it is like TV has become the new movies. Back in the day you had the likes of big TV studio stars, but in a way I think that has changed drastically. Sure old George and the rest of the A list still have their devoted followers, but TV has become a force to be reckoned with. And I think it is all down to the viewer friendly policy networks were forced to take in order to promote the shows. Fans can mingle with their favorite TV actors at numerous conferences, TV blogs get all sorts of previews, scoops and privileged information and when you think about it being viewer friendly has paid off.
Browncoats have managed to get Serenity even after Firefly was canceled, Veronica Mars fans were so persistent they got another season (ok it only worked once, but still) and do not let me even get started on saga that is Jericho. Look at Lost fans, look at BSG fans.
I think old George is wrong about TV actors, they might be earning lower wages then the movie stars and there might be some crappy shows out there (just like there are plenty of crappy movies) but nowadays TV (and by this I mean good TV) is nothing to be sneered at.
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