Shark Bytes

Things I'd love to hear: Lipton: "What's your favorite word?" Guest: Douche bag. Lipton: "What's your least favorite word?" Guest: Brown-Nose. Studio Audience Member: "My name is Bella Klutzky and I'm on the Directing track." Guest just starts cracking up. Lipton breathlessly with very special guest Larry Storch: "The year is 1964 and Corporal Egar explodes on to our television screens". Sir Anthony Hopkins makes a return visit and Lipton drops all pretense and shows up wearing a snorkel.

What about intervention has it jumped the shark?

The Corey Feldman interview. Seriously, was this supposed to be some kind of a joke? I mean, STAND BY ME is a lovely film, and lots of kids liked THE GOONIES, but did Lipton really have to do a TWO-HOUR INTERVIEW with this guy, and let Feldman perform four heavy-metal numbers from his latest self-produced album? Who even knew Feldman played bass guitar? And when Lipton told the students he hoped they would "prove themselves worthy of the evening by their future endeavors," I expected them to howl with derision. But, as usual, they rose to a standing ovation.

they did Jennifer Lopez ? why not just get it over with & do "adult film" stars at least they are honest about what they do=J LOW.

Just a few words on method acting I thought I'd offer. It is dangerous (people on stage or on a movie set really hitting each other for realistic effect to say nothing of how dangerous it is to syke yourself up so bad just to play a role). It's really practically insane to act this way!

You have to look at it from Liptons point of view. He has been parodied, which makes a narcissist like him thing all love him. He also gets kudos all day long from Hollywood insiders and students. He is probably interviewed my magazines and newspapers and small tv stations. His ego will be very inflated. Also, he wants to keep this gravytrain going. I mean..how many A actors are there to elarn from? All Dustin Hoffman wanted to do was get the aidience to laugh all night. This is a trick actors use when they have low self asteem. Little was learned from him. The object is not to learn, it is to keep Lipton rubbing elbows with celebrities so he feels important. He is a homely man, no women chase him, so this is all he has. I believe he dyes his beard and hair also. Looks terrible. So, he will continue to put B and C and D actors on so he can keep the gig going. Does anyone really think these people on TV give a crap what we think? They want to make money. I stopped watching long a go when he told crappy actors how magnificant they are. Ludicrous. How many times can we hear him ask what a persons favorite swear work is?

It could be an interesting show, if it weren't for the pretentious gasbag host James Lipton. He's the epitome of a fawning interviewer who pitches softball questions at an increasingly mediocre lineup of guests, most of whom couldn't act to save their souls. Will Ferrell was absolutely brilliant when he parodied Lipton.

Did they actually run out of actors? I thought there were plenty, but maybe some want nothing to do with the show. Thus, we get J-Lo and Billy Joel. It would be better to trot out the old child actors (Paul Peterson, Johnnie Whittaker, Butch Patrick) than to have musical guests on there!

There is more intelligence in the turd I left this morning than there is in Ben Affleck's entire being. Yet Lipton has this douchebag on as a glittering jewel of thespian achievement? At UCLA? So this garbage is taxpayer funded? Hello, IRS. I want a friggin' refund!

Yeah, I can see why some people think this show jumped, given he caliber of some of the "actors" invited to plug their new movie- I mean speak about their craft. I am not an actor, real, working, serious, wannabe, or otherwise, so sometimes it is fun to sit and watch this show and not know or care how truly helpful it may or may not be to those wanting to become actor's. (Besides, isn't that subjective anyway? What is a useful learning tool for one person may be worthless to another?)Yeah, Lipton is pompous but aren't most entertainers to one degree or another? His tan is sort of scary, in a "honey I stood too close to the microwave kind of way". But what I would just love to see, just once, is when Lipton askes a guest, "How is it to work with Steven (Spielberg), or any other bigwig producer/director, the actor answer back (rather than the ususal ass kissing statements): "Aw, he was a slave driver! A total hack. He steals his flunkie's ideas and uses them for his own! He tried to look down my shirt all the time, etc etc." No offense to Spielberg, or anyone else, just once I would love to hear a guest not have to kowtow. Of course, it's not like I never laugh at my boss's jokes regardless of whether their funny or not, or talk about sports with managers when I don't give two cents about football, but it is a dream I have.

The new, more "informal" set with the big TV monitor in the background seems to be another shark jumping point. Ever since Lipton got the new backdrop, his questions have been dumbed down even more than usual and it seems like he's really more interested in trying to become his guests' new best friend than actually talking about "the craft." He tries way too hard to make the show "fun" now, which misses the point. Some of the best, most informative episodes were kind of dry and low-key... but at least the guest had really good stuff to say about acting and directing. Now, he would rather make guests tap dance or do impressions or sing so he can spend the next five minutes gushing about how awesome they are because they have a little talent in another area. No, I really didn't want to see Broderick and Lane recreate one of their dance numbers onstage. Just stick to asking questions about method acting, Lipton.

I find the most inspirational and it helped me, I laughed, cried, and as a care giver LIZA MINELLI ON INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO lifted my spirits, depression, and made me feel so much better. I have a husband, alzheimers, a son, brain tumor, and I take care of my Mother in Law in a nursing home, my plate overflows at times, when I felt really having my Pity party, I watched James Lipton, Liza Minelli, and it was the best thing I ever did, and the next morning, like my MOM told me "pull up your boot straps and go on" Thank you, and if you can contact James Lipton, Liza with a Z. tell them they helped ONE person.

Here is my impassioned plea: any person that uses the term "craft" in regard to their job, go out and find AS MANY of your brethren as you can, put on your collective thinking caps and create a "craft", preferably an aerodynamically jet-engine propelled "craft", to fly away in pursuit of your posse's eden: the land of Costner-ia, a lovely place where the citizens only goal in life is to listen to you about you.

I'm a longtime viewer of Inside the Actors Studio, and Lipton has had on some questionable talent, but I just saw the Martin Lawrence episode...holy crap. Besides the fact that Martin Lawrence is fairly obviously not at the top of anyone's list for a show like this, he also had nothing to say about the craft of acting. He's had some interesting things happen in his life to talk about, but what does that have to do with acting? The worst part was watching the absurd level of ass-kissing going on by Jimmy Lipton...normally it's amusing to watch that aspect of the show, but this time it was so undeserved it was painful. This show has nothing to offer anymore beyond the Jerry Springer-level of watching a car accident. Ouch.

I've been watching this show for years and every so often an actor will come on only to plug whatever new film he or she has coming out. Usually the new film is brought up at the end of the show. The Producer's episode is a new low for this series. An entire episode of clips from the new movie with Lane, Broderick, and the new film's director (what has she done to deserve an Actor's Studio appearance?) on stage with the only intent to plug the new movie. There was nothing educational about this episode at all. Just one big commercial for the new Producers film!