I'm home with a sick kid today--daughter #2, to be specific. Tired of reruns of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, daughter #2 said, "Hey! Didn't you record that Lord Haden-Guest movie about Hollywood last night? Let's watch that!"
"Ugh, I don't know what I was thinking. You know Lord Haden-Guest: a bunch of pathetic losers believe they are destined to be more than pathetic losers and are then suitably punished for dreaming above their station."
"But you've said in the past that you despised the way he picks on ordinary people!" she countered. "Here he's spoofing Hollywood! Surely you'll enjoy this one!"
"The Hollywood satire died with S.O.B. They keep making these movies and they keep sucking. Nobody who doesn't work in Hollywood finds these movie industry satires either funny or interesting. But once a year they have to crank one out so everybody who works there can prove how above the pettiness they are by cameoing in or praising a movie that mocks the petty soulless nature of the film industry."
"Well, I think there's an infomercial on," she said.
"Well...okay..." I said, and reluctantly turned on For Your Consideration. As predicted, it featured a talented cast portraying pathetic losers--in this case, washed-up actors who dare to dream of Oscar glory and are suitably punished for their dream by being cruelly humiliated. It did have it's funny moments, but gosh, Lord Haden-Guest has gone to this well too many times. Even if you think the spectacle of Harry "I Earn a Quarter Million Dollars Per Simpsons Episode" Shearer mocking a character who actually does commercials to pay the rent is funny, the formula is really getting a little long in the tooth.
Still, it was better than daytime infomercials. But just barely.
