The Britney Spears Effect Extends To Eli Stone : Do you like it ?
By fred | July 18, 2008
Alright, so it might be a little unfair to put Katie Holmes in the same bag as the Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and other Lindsay Lohan, but seriously even since Tom Cruise brainwashed her and everything, it’s hard to think of her as an actress and remember she used to be Joey in Dawson’s Creek, for example.
But she was, and back then Holmes did work with producer Greg Berlanti, now executive producer on ABC series Eli Stone. And apparently, everyone loves to bring in some once-famous actress, of just “celebrity”, and give her a part hoping that it will boosts the ratings. What’s even more depressing to me is that it’s often good shows, shows I watch & like, who falls into this trap.
Latest addition to the list : Berlanti approached Holmes and persuaded her to do a guest spot on the series. Holmes will come in to play a lawyer, and as you could expect from the show she’ll even do a little bit of dancing & singing. “It’s great! It’s a great role for her — she actually does some singing and dancing and she’s exquisite” ABC’s McPherson commented.
Holmes is scheduled to appear in the second episode of the upcoming season of Eli Stone, which returns October 14 on ABC.
Now, really, I’m getting sick of this. Aren’t you?
And I don’t understand why they keep thinking it’s a good idea, it’s not. I don’t get it when McPherson says this : “Obviously, for a show that we really creatively believed in and had a tough launch because of the strike, it helps us from a promotional standpoint.”
- First, if you truly “really creatively [believe]” in the show, you shouldn’t try to compromise it with stupid guest appearances. Might not be the case here, but when it comes to How I Met Your Mother it sure was…
- Then, do they really think it helps, from a promotional standpoint ?? I mean sure the “Britney” episode had a boost and all, but that was one time. It’s only a one time thing, it doesn’t help at all on the long run, because curious people tune in for the occasion but don’t return, they don’t care about the show, only the trainwreck guest spot.
I would actually go as far as to say it could hurt the show, because ever since How I Met Your Mother was back from the strike, it performed well. The show was back, performing better than ever this season, we got to see some very awesome episodes, and then we had to suffer through this. And that hurt the show, on the long run, that affects people who aren’t one-time viewers but regular viewers tuning in each week, who have been for years, and who might be driven away because of this.
UPDATE: Well, seems CBS President Nina Tassler agrees that Britney Spears did not “save” How I Met Your Mother, at least not from cancellation because “it was never in danger… it’s something we’re very proud of“. Somehow given how the show’s been dealt with all those years I find that a hard to believe, but…
Just between us, let’s try this : take a show you love and trust, one whose writers you have faith and confidence in. I don’t know, let’s pick Lost for example. Would you really still have the same respect and faith in Cuse and Lindelof if they were to bring in Britney Spears or whoever on the show, just to get some promotion ?? Or, as I, would you not feel this is really hurting the show and its “artistic integrity”, letting stupid execs alter it and risk to ruin everything just trying to make a few more bucks using the most stupidest technique they could ??
So, again, I do not see this as really helping a show, not from a promotional standpoint, and definitely not for a creative one either. Am I wrong there ? Do you think those special appearances are helping the shows ? And a somewhat related note, are you glad about Katie Holmes stopping by Eli Stone ??
BTW, Tassler also confirmed that the gorgeous Sarah Chalke would return to How I Met Your Mother for “multiple episodes” next season (yaaaay!!), adding that “right now I do not think that she is the mother“. Yeah, well, of course she’s not, she can’t be, wouldn’t make sense, we’ve said that already!
Posted in News
Shows: Eli Stone, How I Met Your Mother
