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Florida Today, Sat, 09 Jul 2005 11:19 PM PDT

TV celebs dive into blogging world http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/accent/83256.php
Back when the whole Internet thing became a thing, many of its apostles were high on democracy. They believed we'd all be equals in the cost-free, global neutrality of cyberspace. And that dream has

Section: Accent

TV celebs dive into blogging world
William Shatner

By Matthew Gilbert
THE BOSTON GLOBE

Back when the whole Internet thing became a thing, many of its apostles were high on democracy. They believed we'd all be equals in the cost-free, global neutrality of cyberspace. And that dream has indeed come true - for those who can afford computers, that is.

And now that same dream is coming true for those in power, including the keyboard-carrying men and women of the TV entertainment industry. Blogging is turning into a national sport not only for "regular people" who want to spell out their identities and for the CEOs who want to defend themselves, but for the small-screen celebrities who want to advance their public presence. The names range from the silly (Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood") to the more serious (NBC's Brian Williams), and all of them are discovering they can complement their onscreen images with a few quick strokes into the blogosphere.

It's a little ironic. Analysts have long claimed that Americans no longer read because of TV, but now TV is redirecting us back into the world of the word. But, of course, most of the words from TV's regular celebloggers are weightless and promotional at this point. For the folks at the "Today" show, or for Billy "Access Hollywood" Bush, an Internet diary is little more than an opportunity to opine humorlessly about the likes of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes - their bread and butter.

"Tom and Katie are engaged and that is exciting," Bush writes when he's not defending the "integrity" of "Access Hollywood." "Cynics will tell you it's a publicity stunt."

"The best part about being American," Al Roker writes of Cruise's self-righteous interview with Matt Lauer on "Today," "is that you can say whatever the heck you want in this country, as loopy and as goofy as it might sound."

Anchorman Williams goes a tad deeper in his online reflections, but mostly in the form of hyping his "Nightly News." His blog entries read like he's dictating a set list for his next show to a secretary. Only in reference to the Time magazine CIA source story does Williams take advantage of the backstage potential and unedited atmosphere of a blog: "I covered the Clinton White House with (Time reporter) Matt Cooper, and spent hours with him in the press room and in various motorcades. I enjoy Matt's company enormously and I have a lot of respect for his work. But in a case like this, we leave it to our correspondents to cover the story as they see it."

Naturally, the motives for TV celeblogs have more to do with extending brand names than with extending provocative thinking. They're sell-e-blogs, part of an expanding promotional tool kit that now includes podcasts and video logs, or vlogs. While these tools can enable the most obscure political and cultural pundits to vent their views, they are also perfectly suited for fluffily commercial purposes.

On his blog, William Shatner writes, "I've been hard at work on 'Boston Legal' and the wonderful challenge of playing Denny Crane. His character offers several unique challenges for me as an actor." On her blog, Pamela Anderson writes, "Long time . . . no blog . . . ! Sorry, but I've been on the road for the last few weeks. Hey, I wanted to let everyone know that 'Stacked' is airing tonight." And David Duchovny and Zach Braff, best known for their TV work on "The X-Files" and "Scrubs," respectively, have blogged as a way to promote their big-screen directorial work.

In some cases, the celeblog can be a print version of a reality show, an attention-getting visit into the personal life - albeit the heavily edited personal life - of a notable. Just as people such as Martha Stewart, Donald Trump and Kathy Hilton use reality TV to usher brand names into the future, Rosie O'Donnell uses her blog as a reality series in free verse:

its (sic) hard to be famous

that sounds so bad

but it's true

i was super famous

for a few years

in my 30's

O'Donnell's self-aggrandizing blog is not unlike the reality TV ventures of, say, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. These folks are famous, and if they assume we care about the mundane details of their day, well then, maybe we will.

Some celebloggers have shown an interest in "issues." Naturally, MSNBC talkers Dan Abrams and Keith Olbermann have strong political opinions, and what you read on their sites is close to what you hear on their shows. But for the most part, TV celebs who blog politics come off flatter than Shatner's shilling.

Celeblogging has a long way to go before it finds a true purpose. When The Huffington Post, a group blog recently launched by Arianna Huffington, features TV types such as Ellen DeGeneres weighing in the Defense of Marriage Act, it's a turnoff.You want them to just gather up Cruise and get back to work.

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