Don’t you love when bloggers refer to their own blog entries? I sure do. <\/p>\n
My self-annoyance at self-quoting, however, is surpassed by my would-be (will-be?) self-annoyance at becoming one of those people who just writes the same blog entry over and over with different opening paragraphs. So travel back with me now to Christmas Time 2008, when I was being the Awesome New York Gal that I am, sitting on the couch at my dad’s house<\/a> in Connecticut watching Batman <\/i>with the fam:<\/p>\n On Christmas, my dad, sister and I were watching The Dark Knight<\/i>. At I then blather on about blogger Adam Brinkley, who launched [Sarah]palinforvp.blogspot.com<\/a> in 2007 (New Yorker <\/i>article here<\/a>) and then I somehow get to whether or not critics want artists to actually take their reviews as constructive criticism. All of this is to introduce the thing with Betty White <\/a>(we’re in today’s blog post, now), that you may have heard about:<\/p>\n The Internet has gotten its way: Betty White<\/span> will host “Saturday Night Live<\/span>.”<\/p>\n NBC<\/span> said Thursday that the 88-year-old actress will host the show May 8. “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels<\/span> says he can’t think of a better way to spend Mother’s Day weekend than with White.<\/p>\n The announcement followed a campaign on Facebook<\/span> urging the sketch show to make White a host. The group attracted nearly half-a-million supporters. [Via Yahoo!<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Facebook campaign started after White was featured in a Super Bowl ad<\/a> for Snickers. According to PopEater<\/i><\/a>, White will be co-hosting a Mother’s Day episode with former Saturday Night Live<\/i> cast members Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Obviously, all this interwebz buzz is great for SNL<\/i>, Snickers, the Super Bowl, and of course, for Betty White herself. I’ve wondered on this blog before why orchestras don’t present their communities with three possible soloists for, say, a world-premiere or a well-known concerto, and let audiences decide who they want to hear. Viral campaigns could be started by passionate fans who would lobby for their choice of soloist, thus making audiences feel like they were part of the booking process and getting everyone excited for the concert. Local and industry media would most likely cover the promotion, generating press not just for the concert, but for the actual process leading up to the concert. <\/p>\n This all has fantastic marketing and publicity potential, but aren’t we supposed to trust presenters (producers, casting agents) to do their jobs? Lorne Michaels has been producing Saturday Night Live<\/i> since he created it in 1975, and despite what anyone says about its decline in quality in recent years blah blah, no one can argue that the history books will be kind to Saturday Night Live<\/i>. So why does Lorne Michaels, creative genius, top business man, suddenly need, as Joel Keller at TVSquad<\/a> writes, “users
\nI was playing with my phone during this blessed event, and decided to
\ndo some research on who the next Batman movie villain(s) would be.
\nAccording to various bloggers, Johnny Depp and Eddie Murphy are both
\nbeing considered for The Riddler, and Philip Seymour Hoffman will be
\nasked to play The Penguin. Someone also mentioned Angelina Jolie as Cat
\nWoman, meow, and one very eager lad is pushing Guy Pierce as The Black Mask<\/a> on account of his – Pierce’s, not B. Mask’s, though who knows – history with director Christopher Nolan. <\/p>\n
\nwhat point do these things become self-fulfilling prophecies? That is,
\nin 2008, how powerful is would-be, or potential will-be, audience
\nparticipation? I’m not going to pretend I know anything about Hollywood
\nbeyond what Entourage<\/i> teaches us, but one presumes casting
\ndirectors, or at least interns in casting departments, read these blogs
\nand are consequently aware of the casting buzz, true or completely
\nfalse. And if casting teams learn from blog entries, blog comments and
\nonline discussion forums that there is an existing fan base for a
\ncertain casting choice, does that affect their decisions, even in the
\nslightest? If Guy Pierce is cast in the next Batman movie, producers
\nknow x number of people who believe they are responsible for the
\ndecision are guaranteed to go see the movie. That’s worth something.
\nSimilarly, might a studio “leak” a few casting options and see how the
\nblog-o-sphere reacts before making a final decision? I have no idea,
\nbut wouldn’t be surprised if that happened all the time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nof a decidedly 21st century technology, Facebook…in
\nsupport of a star who started working before the vast majority of the
\nsite’s users were even born”?<\/p>\n