Left With A Bad “Taste”

I know I can’t be the only one who is tired of the fact that “reality” programming does not represent real life.  Well, as you may have read in the post prior to this one, my friend Brett Gursky recently competed in MSN.com’s reality competition web series The Tastemaker.  However, much to my dismay – and boatloads of other people’s – Brett was only named the runner-up.  Normally I would say that he tried his best and that runner-up is still great, but I have had time to process the outcome and truly believe that he deserved to win.  Not just because we are friends, or because I’m biased, but because out of the rest of the competitors, he truly proved himself to be THE Tastemaker.  Allow me to explain.

I watched each and every episode and I have to say that the results left me in shock.  I felt as though the rug was pulled from underneath me and I wasn’t even in the competition, but instead a fan and a supporter.   Something clearly was not right, and it wasn’t Brett’s ability and outcome of each task which garnered praise after praise.  From the start he pulled in all of the elements that would qualify someone as a “Tastemaker” by definition.  The PSA that he directed – and that my best friend Nicki helped produce – not only won Round 2, but went on to air on MTV during the Barack Obama special.  Brett single-handedly got 12 actors from TV and movies to appear in the PSA on a day’s notice.  Then for round 3, he put on a charity fashion show for designer Donna Mizani which is still being written about on fashion and party blogs, getting the same coverage as official LA Fashion Week events.  The judges’ commentary on both fashion shows spelled out who should have won the round.   They cited Donna Mizani and Adrianna Costa as stars and loved how Brett reached out to the charity for the actual lemonade stand.  No ordinary person could just make these things happen so seamlessly and quickly.  Even if Raymond, Brett’s competition in round 3 (who was previously his teammate for round 2), did raise more individual donations for his charity, that was only one element of the task.  Brett created an out of the box fashion show including actual lemons, lemonade, and the freaking life-sized lemonade stand to boot.   Not to mention the size of his audience, the celebs, clearly the designer, the carpet, the rose petals, the photographers, the beverages, the energy.   He even had a live auction including signed movie posters, tickets to a live taping of a TV show, restaurant and nightclub gift certificates, and more – all donated by his very large and supportive network of friends without any hesitation at all.

The weekend after the final episode aired, my friends and I attended the wrap party that Brett threw for the cast and crew of the show.  Ironic that the person throwing the wrap party was only the “runner up.”  I got to meet people involved with the show and I asked a lot of questions.  I had to get to the bottom of this.  Over the next few days I did some digging on MSN.com for coverage of their show, and I came across a blog entry entitled “The Tastemaker is Chosen!” with the main image being a picture from none other than Brett’s fashion show.  Um, MSN.com why  would you put a picture of Brett’s fashion show on that blog if Raymond won?  Wouldn’t you want to highlight the person’s show who won the challenge?  If you aren’t even buzzing about his show, why would anyone else?   However, there was tons of buzz about Brett’s show, even from you MSN!  Not only was it on that MSN blog, but photos from Brett’s show were on the MSN homepage.  Twice.  Photos from Raymond’s fashion show were not even on the MSN homepage once.  Just saying.  Also, Raymond’s special “out of the box” break-dancing element to his fashion show was performed by “friends from The LXD” as MSN put it in their blog entry.   So I started to do a little more digging and found out that The LXD is a web series produced by Agility Studios who also produce…wait for it…The Tastemaker. Coincidence?  Conflict of interest?  You tell me.  But I’ll say this.  Something just seems, dare I say it, rigged.

Of course I could be saying this as an extremely supportive and disgruntled friend of the contestant that didn’t ultimately win the title.  But believe me, if Brett dropped the ball on the final task, I’d be the first to let him know in a non-sugarcoated way.  But he didn’t drop the ball.  And he deserved to win.  All of the evidence is there and stands on its own without me having to point it out.  But I feel that I must anyway.  I will also say that I have met Raymond several times throughout the process of the show, and he is a very nice guy.   He and Brett brought each other to the final round with their winning PSA.  I just really feel that in this case, the right guy did not take home the title.

Brett brings people together and influences others.  All day, every day.  He gets people to follow their dreams and move to Los Angeles.  He got ME to move and do just that.  He is also thanked for things that were simply one BBM away from happening and then he’s on to the next task.   He truly is “The Tastemaker.”  I guess MSN will find that out the hard way.  That being said, Brett handled the news with grace and humility.  He was very complimentary of Raymond and an extremely fair competitor.  He could have faced the judges and torn opposition’s event to shreds.  But instead he showed respect and restraint.  He could have pointed out that Raymond’s musical acts, dancers, and the photo booth were all just distractions from the fact that he did not bring in a real designer.  He left out a crucial aspect of a fashion show – the fashion.  Anyone can take a charity’s merchandise and put on a “show” with it, but how many people can get an A-list designer to do a real LA Fashion Week caliber show, as a favor with just a week’s notice?  In episode 11, Raymond is quoted as saying that he could call up 30 fashion brands on a Saturday afternoon and get someone to do a fashion show.  Well then he should have.  Proof is in the pudding.

My research also taught me that Raymond publishes a music magazine.  I would have expected him to bring in the big guns then for the final task rather than unknown musicians.   Amount of individual donations aside, I asked Brett the difference in the amount of money they raised and he informed me it was only about $200.  That’s it?  Besides, the show was not called The Fundraiser.  Anyone can be a fundraiser if they ask people to donate money.  It was called The Tastemaker. Both sides raised a lot of money for their charity of choice, but I would argue that Brett brought more awareness, especially to the Hollywood community, to his charity.  Brett went above and beyond and his event was in a whole other league.  In my eyes, and the eyes of countless others, he won round 3 fair and square.  He may not officially have the title, but everyone that knows him, including the genius’ who allowed this to happen, knows that he is it. 

So where does that leave us?  Had Brett won the title, The Tastemaker would have gotten it right and, as a result, all of the highly influential people in Brett’s social network – all of the actors, producers, directors, writers, agents, managers, club owners, etc – would be talking about the show.  But unfortunately, whomever had the final say caused this show  to lose ALL credibility.   So much for future seasons.   And so much for a reality show actually depicting…reality.

Watch episodes 11 & 12 and see for yourself.

Case closed.

Funny People!

Every Wednesday night I get together with the special people in Ithamar Enriquez’ Conservatory 4 class at the Second City Training Center Los Angeles to pitch sketch ideas and cast scenes just like we are producing SNL.  These scenes are then performed again in our improv shows before a live audience.   We are collecting material that will soon be used in our 8 week show run once we graduate from Conservatory Level 5.  What ever makes the audience laugh will stay, and whatever doesn’t, well…it will probably also stay!  Just kidding folks.  Here’s a sample of what we’ve been up to…

Want to see more?  You can still catch us on April 11 and 25 at 7PM.  And the best part?  The show costs a whopping ZERO f-ing dollars.  I know, I know.  It just seems too good to be true.  And it is.  Hope to see you all there!

Class Dismissed

“You can pay for school but you can’t buy class.” – Jay-Z

Wake up Mr. West.  Were you dreaming when you thought it would be a good idea to run onstage at MTV’s Video Music Awards and interrupt first time winner, Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Pop Video?  What other excuse could you have for that behavior if not because you were literally dreaming and sleep walked your way up there?  Yes, the story is old news by now but I am still baffled by Kanye West’s actions.  It was absurd.  How is it possible for a grown man and member of the music community to act in such an inappropriate manner? 

The sad thing is that we’ve been around this block before with Kanye.  He had a meltdown at the 2007 VMAs because he didn’t win.  He even threw out the race card as though that had something to do with it.    The only reason we didn’t hold a grudge was because his mother died abruptly so instead of chastising him, we sympathized with him because it humanized him.  He was one of us, with parents and feelings and sadness.  Talk about timing.  And now this.  Literally stealing this young artist’s spotlight mid-speech to recognize Beyonce because he felt her video was better.  Hey Kanye, had you had the patience to wait for the show to go on, and not lose your mind during the FIRST award being given out, you would have avoided this situation because Beyonce won for Best Video.  Seriously, what a thing to ruin for someone else and for nothing.  What if someone had done that to him during his first win, or ever for that matter?  He would have wreaked havoc and all hell would have broken loose.

I don’t care how talented you are or how much money you have, if you have no humility, no class, none of it matters.   Taylor Swift displayed class with her level of composure in her reaction to Kanye’s rant.  Beyonce did the same when she won the biggest award of the show and brought Taylor back onstage to have her moment since Kanye took it upon himself to take it from her.  It’s one thing to have a job, even a career, but that doesn’t make you who you are.  Your morals, integrity, actions, and class are what make you who you are and really what people remember about you. 

How does a person even get to the point where they think this type of behavior is acceptable?  What is it about the entertainment industry that makes people lose their minds?  This might be news to some, but you are a person just like the rest of us.  If you have the ability to say, walk on water, or heal people by touch, you may have the right to say whatever you want whenever you want.  Otherwise Mr. West, and people like him, should take their seats and stop thinking they are godlike.  A taste of fame and notoriety seem to quickly change people’s outlook on the rest of the world in relation to them.  What ever happened to the Golden Rule?  Do unto others as you’d have done to you. 

So now the question is do we forgive Kanye West for the second time?  After we watched the VMAs, we were quick to write him off.  I for one, wanted him banned from all future award shows forgetting any opportunity to be recognized again.  And then he went on Jay Leno and shed a crocodile tear.    I can forgive, but most likely will not forget.  Just like I haven’t forgotten about Chris Brown with Rihanna and almost feel guilty listening to his music.  At this point Kanye’s apologies don’t hold much weight, are they even sincere?    To me an apology means I get it, I messed up, and it won’t happen again.  So for the record, I guess I can say that I am not going to forgive Kanye West.  Yes I love his music and will continue dancing to it when I hear it out at night, but I will not support him monetarily or by voting for him for anything.  My vote and hard earned dollars will go to artists that truly deserve it, are humble, and appreciate the support. 

On that note, I leave you with Taylor Swift’s video “You Belong With Me” because although I was a fan pre-Kanye tantrum, I’m an even bigger fan post.  There is something to be said about a 19 year old that wrote lyrics we at any age can relate to, sing beautifully, and handle a situation like this with such class and grace.  She is extremely impressive and talented and is likely to have longevity.  Go team Taylor! 

Good Morning Rabbit is a wrap!

Rising from the ashes of spunky original comedies like Flight of the Conchords, It’s Always Sunny…, and Pinky and the Brain is GOOD MORNING RABBIT, the next can’t-miss television comedy series.

Side-splittingly funny! Hilariously surreal! GOOD MORNING RABBIT follows the weekly adventures of two platonic friends, BOXER and MIRA, in their efforts to celebrate every one of our great nation’s real holidays – from the most obscure (National Sorry Charlie Day, Flitch Day) to the more well-known (Groundhog Day, Wednesday). Each episode features a new holiday that leads our endearing heroes down the strangest of rabbit holes – nothing is off-limits in their world.

Platonic friends, Boxer and Mira are the rare male-female dynamic duo supporting and sharing their skewed view of the world. In stories that are off-beat and surreal, our main characters attempt to function within the parameters of the real world, aided by Boxer’s inherited fortune and a larger-than-life set of recurring characters such as their go-to assistant, the flamboyant HOLLAND HIDALGO. In the way that Buffy the Vampire Slayer utilized fantastical and sci-fi elements as an allegory for adolescence, GOOD MORNING RABBIT borrows robots, zombies, vampires, time travel, and other colorful conventions in a metaphor for growing up and discovering your greater purpose with a friend at your side. GOOD MORNING RABBIT is written and directed by Hadley Klein and produced by Nicki Cortese and Kristina Apgar.

(Courtesy of www.hadleyk.com)