TMC
08-21-2020, 01:51 AM
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-08-19/ellen-degeneres-show-toxic-workplace-scandal-larry-sanders
"In the olden, golden days of the Hollywood studio system, battalions of publicity agents labored to control a star’s public image, to craft them into something at once glamorous and ordinary, thrilling yet unthreatening, with a heavy lid over even the intimation of any deviation from 'the norm,'" says Robert Lloyd. "Inevitably, the practice of selling the public personalities too good to be true ran into the business of revealing them as all too human — gossip columnists and scandal mags like Confidential made this their meat — and this tension exists to this day. YouTube swarms with videos meant to tell us that famous people are not who they want us to think they are. Celebrities Who Are Not Nice is a genre of its own — usually the same small pool of suspects, hung on not always substantial evidence. DeGeneres gets whole videos to herself, many posted just this year as Ellen Disfavor Fever mounted: 'Top 10 Times Celebs Clapped Back at Ellen.' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSWswBzMP-g) 'Top 10 Most Awkward Ellen Moments,' 'Top 10 Times Ellen DeGeneres Got Exposed,' 'Ellen DeGeneres Is a Hollywood PSYCHO.' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IJqFw8YUHE) The presenters strike a tone, usually unconvincing, between shock and concern, with a little snark sprinkled on top." Lloyd adds that no series captured the doubleness of show business "better than Garry Shandling’s The Larry Sanders Show, from back in the 20th century, a comedy set at a late-night talk show. We understand on a formal level that Larry lives in two worlds: onstage, with guests, where he is in control (shot on video), and anywhere else (shot on film), where he is not. Still, the character is too conflict-averse — he literally turns away from confrontation — and too needy to be an active tyrant. Shades of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, it’s his producer, Artie (Rip Torn), who maintains the perimeter (and bullies him a little, deferentially). Most every character on the show lives at least a little bit in fear."
"In the olden, golden days of the Hollywood studio system, battalions of publicity agents labored to control a star’s public image, to craft them into something at once glamorous and ordinary, thrilling yet unthreatening, with a heavy lid over even the intimation of any deviation from 'the norm,'" says Robert Lloyd. "Inevitably, the practice of selling the public personalities too good to be true ran into the business of revealing them as all too human — gossip columnists and scandal mags like Confidential made this their meat — and this tension exists to this day. YouTube swarms with videos meant to tell us that famous people are not who they want us to think they are. Celebrities Who Are Not Nice is a genre of its own — usually the same small pool of suspects, hung on not always substantial evidence. DeGeneres gets whole videos to herself, many posted just this year as Ellen Disfavor Fever mounted: 'Top 10 Times Celebs Clapped Back at Ellen.' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSWswBzMP-g) 'Top 10 Most Awkward Ellen Moments,' 'Top 10 Times Ellen DeGeneres Got Exposed,' 'Ellen DeGeneres Is a Hollywood PSYCHO.' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IJqFw8YUHE) The presenters strike a tone, usually unconvincing, between shock and concern, with a little snark sprinkled on top." Lloyd adds that no series captured the doubleness of show business "better than Garry Shandling’s The Larry Sanders Show, from back in the 20th century, a comedy set at a late-night talk show. We understand on a formal level that Larry lives in two worlds: onstage, with guests, where he is in control (shot on video), and anywhere else (shot on film), where he is not. Still, the character is too conflict-averse — he literally turns away from confrontation — and too needy to be an active tyrant. Shades of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, it’s his producer, Artie (Rip Torn), who maintains the perimeter (and bullies him a little, deferentially). Most every character on the show lives at least a little bit in fear."