Monday, September 21, 2009

Late nights

Whenever I watch television, I'm struck by the resources behind America's favorite "personalities." For instance, I find Jay Leno wholly unpersuasive as an entertainer. What I suspect is that the man exists -- but what really works in his favor are the generous production budgets and national distribution agreements. Jay Leno could be an avatar and America would not care; he could be a different person entirely and people would like him better.

2 comments:

Keifus said...

I'm pretty sure Leno wrote his own standup material in the day, couldn't tell you if it was any more persuasive then.

It's a necessity for the entertainer that lucks into a regular televised gig to augment his material with the work of a few other writers, followed by a whole team of writers and other assistants, followed by the huge production staff. Eventually the artist persists as the delivery vehicle (the "personality") of material that is based on the surviving idea of the original entertainer. Sometimes it looks more organic than others, and more convincing entertainers seem to stay close to the writing (while the rest go to prime time).

Success in technical fields can follow this path too.

JRB said...

Well said!