MTV Eats Its Young
Maria and I headed to the Hollywood Palladium last night to take in the taping of an upcoming special for the channel, "MTV Bash"--their version of a Friar's Club roast.
The roastee? MTV's very own Carson Daly, the Man Who Would Be Dick Clark.
Now, if you find it odd that MTV would promote a special that more or less makes fun of one of its marquee "talents," you're not the only one. But it's all in fun, I suppose, and Carson should probably be counting his blessings that MTV still cares enough to devote a special to him-- even one that mocks his existence. The channel frequently rotates its hosts so that they never become bigger than the channel itself -- but for some reason, they took a liking to Daly's white-bread, non-threatening persona.
Roaster extraordinaire Jeffrey Ross hosted the program, and he probably was the best thing about the show-- and the only guy who really took to heart the "Bash" aspect of the event. (Too bad MTV viewers have no idea who the hell he is.)
Otherwise, people kept the gloves mostly off. Rapper Nelly was probably the surprise of the night-- he pulled off his presentation rather well. Comedians in the house, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Corolla and Sarah Silverman, also held their own.
On the other hand, Carson's celeb pals like Fred Durst, Kid Rock and Pam Anderson could barely read the teleprompter. (Kid Rock and Pammy both encountered each other at one point, and the recently split-up pair at least appeared civil to one another, if not kind of happy to see each other. I know, probably not juicy enough dirt for ya. But whaddyuh want? This ain't Page Six.) Famous Carson ex Jennifer Love Hewitt, newly blonde, also struggled a bit with her bit.
One thing you could count on: Plenty of dick jokes, and "Carson-is-a-womanizer" jokes. A good Catholic whose parents were in the audience, Daly seemed genuinely embarrassed at times-- yet likely knew something like this could only help his career, particularly at MTV (where he is quickly aging out of the demo).
The surreal point of the night, however, was when MTV has-been Pauly Shore, who was in the audience, leaped on stage during a commercial break to say "hi" to Carson. Must have freaked the crap out of young Mr. Daly. Pauly, afterall, represents those legions of one-time MTV stars who eventually faded away in favor of the next generation.
Also at the event: Nicky Hilton, one half of the Hilton sisters. ("She puts the 'ho' in 'hotel,' Ross says--drum shot, please.) Do these girls do anything other than show up at events?
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