Even though I have been woefully bad in keeping up with the show, "How I Met Your Mother" on CBS is some of the most entertaining stuff on TV these days. Neil Patrick Harris, formerly of Doogie Howser fame, and Alyson Hannigan, who played Willow (and more importantly Evil Willow... mmm Evil Willow...) on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, were part of the reason that I picked up on this show. The other part being the raves I heard from my friends.
And here we find Neil Patrick Harris complaining about how the recent appearance of Britney Spears in a cameo role lowered the artistic integrity of the show. It feels a little ironic for me, but it's not that he doesn't have a point.
Now, noone will claim that Britney got the role because of her fantastic acting skills. She wasn't horrible in the role, but there are others that could have done better, no doubt. But she brought in a million extra viewers. A million more people watching the shows (and the commercials which keep the show on the air and so forth) is nothing to sneeze at.
So where is the line between artistic integrity and selling out? The ensemble cast of the show is fantastic, but more people now know just how fantastic they are because of Britney's brief appearance. Arguably, the show has a chance to last longer with a greater audience for its messages now. That's a whole lot of TV writers with greater job security.
If it were me calling the shots, I'd be happy to have guest appearances of popular people in my shows. I'd just want them to be better actors than Britney (ok, that's not saying much, but you get the idea). There's a happy medium in there somewhere.
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I'm not sure I understand the point of this site so far. I was under the assumption that this was to be a site to develop the playwright's acess to producers as well as form a community wherein plays could be discussed and some semblance of collaboration could be formed. This seems much like a traditional, personal blog.
And, for the record, if Britney wants to star in my play (I have no intention of writing for TV if I can help it), I couldn't give two shits. If my writing can't withstand her acting then it's my fault, not hers. I'll take the extra butts in the seats.
The full site is still under development, but you are correct, the eventual aim is to have precisely as you describe. Until the site is developed though, I've been hoping to spur some more general discussion and get my own thoughts flowing. I do hope that you'll be hanging in there until the prototype is ready within a month or so.
I should have more details to discuss about the site soon at which point this whole thing will be far less boring, I'm sure.
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