LaineyGossip

It’s an ongoing discussion we’ve examined on my site and it could be a very interesting liveblog debate between Duana who loves television and Sarah from Cinesnark who also loves television but who supports the notion that the television star is still a second class citizen compared to the Movie Star, even though there is SO MUCH MORE QUALITY on television these days. I’m of this position too, while lamenting the abundance of sh-t in theatres, not only because I’m personally, on a gossip level, much more excited by (true) movie stars, but because it’s a Truth that is perpetuated by the very people who live in the tv vs movies world.

For Television Stars themselves, it’s not enough being on television, the ultimate goal is the Movies. Because of the money, the workload, and yes, the variety. There are so many agents who represent movie stars who have told me they’d gladly see their clients sign onto a 5 year or 7 year deal with a tv show that guarantees a steady cheque without the dress and it’s their goddamn vain “actor” clients who say they don’t want to play the same character over and over again for so long, for so many years.

And what about the writers? Do the writers feel the same way?

Mindy Kaling just wrote a piece for The New Yorker that might break Duana’s heart a little bit. The subject of the article is the romantic comedy and the eye-rolly female archetypes we find at the movies, but she opens by describing a meeting she once had with a movie studio for which she was very excited:

“I have a great job writing for “The Office,” but, really, all television writers do is dream of one day writing movies. I’ll put it this way: At the Oscars the most famous person in the room is, like, Angelina Jolie. At the Emmys the huge exciting celebrity is Bethenny Frankel. You get what I mean. It’s snobby and grossly aspirational, but it’s true.”

I’m with you when you say that there is much more interesting, provocative work happening on tv right now. Totally. But even still, the players themselves, for them there’s still a bigger goal. For them it doesn’t count until it’s at the movies. That’s not just an opinion. For them, it’s a Belief System.

Click here to read more from Mindy in The New Yorker and click here to read an excerpt (very funny) from her upcoming book due out in November.

Attached - Mindy at Jennifer Garner’s “Pink Party” on September 10th.