Okay, here's the deal. I know there's a bunch of you out there who could fit into the grouping of "TV generation." I mean, let's face it, people, Nick at Nite and TVLand would not exist if there were no people in this world that lived and breathed TV. Fact of the matter is, like it or not, there aren't too many of us that wouldn't sell their soul, their dog, and a couple of toes to be a TV star. It's like a disease. Everyone wants to be on TV.
There was some talk a couple of years ago that Carver Point was going to get its own little TV station. Nothing worth screaming about, just a little local access thing that would have about five hours of programming a night. News, sports, a goofy talk show with an organ player for music, and maybe a couple of fishing shows. I want to tell you, though, you'd have thought Tom Brokaw and Johnny Carson were coming to town to set up shop. Everybody and their mother wanted to be a newscaster or a talk show host or a sportscaster. It was ridiculous! Folks who have trouble reading the menu at the Carver Point Diner, trying to read what passed for a Teleprompter. Bubba Kinkaid had a nervous attack during his audition for sportsanchor 'cause he couldn't read as fast as the Teleprompter was moving. They slowed it down to his speed, but he got slower. The words moving up threw him, he said. He still has little sweating fits when the tornado warnings roll past on his Zenith.
Amid a lot of comparison, the new movie EDtv opened this past weekend. It stars Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrellson, and Jenna Elfman, and it deals with regular folks becoming TV stars. And, despite the long-winded harping about "Truman Show rip-off," it's a good piece of movie.
Real bluntly, EDtv is the story of a Texas nobody named Ed (McConaughey) who becomes the subject of a 24/7/365 documentary show, the brainchild of a cable TV exec (Ellen DeGeneres). Suddenly, Ed is thrown into the spotlight, the camera crews following his every move, no matter what he does or says. And people fall for it. He's quickly the most famous guy on TV. Then, Ed's life starts getting complicated. His family does not cope well with the fame, sponsors are trying to place logos all over Ed's world (Pepsi delivers a machine to his house!!!), and his love life takes an interesting spin when he starts falling for a lovely young woman (Elfman). Trouble is, the young woman also happens to be the girlfriend of Ed's brother (Harrelson).
Ron Howard chose wonderfully when he picked McConaughey to be his Everyman, Ed. Brother Matt is great here. Matt's charm as an actor is in his "normal" appearance. Sure, I know women are goofy over him, and, yes, I admit the guy is a good-lookin' kid. But Matt has a fresh quality about him that keeps him on our level. His big smile and Texas accent keep him grounded, especially here. Adding in Harrelson as his brother works well, too. I also think Jenna Elfman is just about ready to carry her own star. She does some good work here as the woman trapped in a very public love triangle.
Now, let me hit on this little bitter crowd who were trying to write this off as a dig on The Truman Show. I agree that they two revolve around a man's life taking place on a TV show. But, quite frankly, the comparison ends there. Boom.
Truman dealt with a man being trapped in a world unwillingly, being manipulated by executives who controlled every detail of his life since the minute he was born. He knows no other world than the "set" he grew up in, and everyone he knows, including his mother, his wife, and his best friend, are actors, responding to scripted moments. And, most importantly, The Truman Show is a fable about one man trying to learn what reality really is.
Edtv is nothing of the sort. Ed takes this assignment willingly. His friends and relatives are real people. He chooses to be the subject of a constant surveillance, much like those idiots who let their lives be filmed for that MTV show "The Real World." If anything, EDtv is a comedic study of how a "normal guy" would deal with sudden fame. And, as we see here in Real Life, fame is often more corrupting to the family of the person in the spotlight than it is to the spotlighted. Those associated with the central figure suddenly imagine that they, too, are important enough to care about, just because their names are mentioned with the main focus. I did find it rather interesting that Ellen DeGeneres was cast in this movie, as a network exec. Ellen, by her own choice, ended up deep it the spotlight, as did her family, her friends, and her significant other, Anne Heche. Heche prospered either because of or despite the attention. DeGeneres hasn't, at least so far. Wonder what message we can read into that.
If I'm preaching a bit, bear with me. If you're not following me at all, let me simplify. Ever notice how, if one person gets famous for whatever reason, people associated with that person finds a way to steal the thunder (and money)? How many people are now considered "celebrities" because of the O.J. Simpson murder case? Marcia Clark, Christopher Darden, Lance Ito, Fred Goldman, Johnnie Cochran, Robert Schapiro, Denise Brown, and Faye Resnick, just to name a few. Resnick even flashed her Tupperware for Playboy, just 'cause she knew the victim of a crime!
If EDtv does have a message to deliver, it's a plain one. Nobody can live comfortably in the public spotlight for long. It destroys the basic way of life. Think of celebrities like Elvis, becoming prisoners of their homes because going out in public caused too much of a mob scene. Sometimes, it really is no wonder that movie stars take a swing at photographers. Who would want their every move photographed and plastered in The Enquirer?
As I step off my soapbox...
Thankfully, Ron Howard had the frame of mind to keep this movie funny, because it could've been a dark fairy tale, like the now-classic Network. Having a great cast helps, and having long-time comedy demigods Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel write the script also helped. I think the subject itself also lends a lot of humor, though. Think about how nuts we, as TV hounds, are. The entire world came to a mourning standstill when "Seinfeld" went off the air. We were mesmerized by a 40-mph car chase with a white Ford Bronco. The troglodytes on Springer, the "reality shows" about animals attacking, police chases, and natural disasters are ratings winners. If someone actually did an EDtv, and followed someone around all day, every day, it would be the most-watched show on TV. I have no doubt about it. People laughed at me a long time ago when I said, after the release of The Running Man, that, all stupidity aside, one day the criminal justice system will go on TV, and there will be televised executions, and those executions would be the most popular thing on TV. You tell me -- how wrong was I? Check out the weeknight ratings for Fox and then answer me.
But, hey, let's keep it light, right?
Do yourself a favor. Go see EDtv. Have no fear of your loyalty to The Truman Show. EDtv is more than capable of standing on its own, and it's a lot of fun to watch, too. It's a bit drawn-out and the ending is kinda predictable, but, hey, isn't everything on TV the same way?
Image copyright Universal Pictures.
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