I sense another TV show cross-over

Well I haven't been in touch for a little bit. The reason being I was busy busting Dublin up. Once I remember what happened in the last week and get some photos, I will reveal more details. It was fun though, I think.

Anyway, last night was a historic episode of the Simpsons here. However, I was not looking forward to it. The reason being Ricky Gervais, the joint-creator of The Office had written the episode, resulting in an explosion of advertising all over the TV this week. This is Ricky Gervais as David Brent in The Office.


Now I love The Office, love it. It's incredibly original and the humour very satirical and suttle. Brilliant. However, I am not a huge fan of Ricky Gervais as he comes across as actually being David Brent in every interview he does. And I have one of his stand-up DVDs, which I have seen once and doubt if I ever see it again, something about swearing and animals so is not funny.

And again, in the Simpsons, he appeared, as this one character. If I wanted to see a TV show starring David Brent I would watch The Office, not the Simpsons. And the script was shit. And I only laughed once, but I can't remember at what. This worries me that the Simpsons Movie may be a huge let down next year, although no doubt no-one else will be wary, only get hysterical as we saw this week. Seriously people, calm down.

This kind of excitement before the event is something I have noticed in Americans and I hope it's not spreading. Watch a chat show or something with a guest celebrity on an American channel. A hell of a lot of the time the audience spends the first five minutes whooping, cheering and giving a standing ovation to the guest. Then they given their performance on said TV show. The worst is Inside the Actors Studio at some NY University, they do it every time. It's almost as if they have won the audience just by turning up. I realise they must have done something special to be invited onto such shows but they are asked on to do something, not to be applauded for what they have done before.

However, what is usually the case here is the guest (and also stand-up comedians/musicians when performing live) gets a relatively brief round of applause, then they have to impress. Only if they impress the audience afterwards do they get a standing ovation, and only then. And not always. And I much prefer that, stars being appreciated when they perform, not before, or their egos may get carried away or they become complacent. I enjoy much more when someone is firstly challenged and then secondly rises above the challenge, its much more rewarding.

And that is why I hope people don't get carried away by this new Simpsons Movie, like they did for the Ricky Gervais episode. Isn't it much better to be sceptical and proved spectacularly wrong than to simply have your expectations met? Just wait and see, before you judge this thing. Be pessimistic, try it. Maybe you'll appreciate the pleasant surprises in life more and experience fewer let-downs. Or maybe that's just me.

Sorry for going on and on, rant over.