I set the Barbara Walters Oscar special to record before I left for Dallas last weekend. The combination of it being her "last" special and my want to see the Sandra Bullock interview was enough to suck me in. I took the time to watch it earlier this week. I have never been a big Barbara Walters fan, but she gets a lot of the "big" interviews, so I have seen a lot of her over the years.
I was disappointed in the interviews she did, but mostly because the whole special was dedicated to it being her "last oscar special." She only did 3, less than 10 minute interviews, during the whole show. She also did recaps of all the celebrities she has done interviews with in these specials over the past 29 years. It seemed like she was name dropping for an hour. Almost a "nanny, nanny, boo boo" about the fact that she interviewed all these people and we did not. She promised at the beginning of the interview to tell us why she was calling it quits. After the first commercial break she did just that. And I quote, "I'm kind of sick of it." What? Okay, I understand that may be the reason, but who says that? A lot of people probably tune into those specials every year. How about a "thanks for watching"? And what does that say about the celebrities she has interviewed over the past few years? Did they bore her so much she had to quit? It all seemed a little bizarre.
I wrote down a few of the interviews she did. I think she said her first special was one with an interview of Linda Evans from Dynasty. She called this "The Golden Age of Television." I was a child of the 80's and know that shows like Dynasty and Dallas were must-see-tv, but the "golden age?" Highly unlikely. I think of the golden age of tv as Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore and I Love Lucy. I do not think many people will argue with me on that either. I am a huge fan of Lost, but I will not be calling it the "Golden Age of Television" in another 20 years.
She sort of made fun of a lot of her interviews. Warren Beatty and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were two that come to mind. She poked fun at herself about the interviews, but she came across as making fun of them both even more. I doubt the turtles care, but Warren Beatty might not appreciate being made fun of for an interview he did 15 years ago, even if what she said was true. Why not make fun of the clothing or hairstyles, neither of which have changed much over the years for her. I guess helmets and shoulder pads never go out of style, right? If it is good enough for the NFL, it is good enough for Babs.
She mentioned that in 2008 "the guests got younger." She interviewed Miley Cyrus and Ellen Page. Miley is one of the biggest acts out right now, so an interview with her seems appropriate, even if she is 50 years younger than Babs. Why act like it is a big deal now to have interviewed her two years ago. She is just as relevant in popular culture today as she was then, perhaps even more so. And Ellen Page was in one of the biggest movies that year. Juno was hilarious. If Babs did not want to do the interview I would have gladly taken over. I had a pretty big crush on Juno then. She also interviewed Harrison Ford in that episode. She described him as an "age appropriate" interviewee, which I thought was another dig at the other two.
Speaking of age appropriate, she got a lap dance from Hugh Jackman in last year's interviews. Good interview? Maybe. Appropriate? No.
Babs, I wish you had gone out on more of an appreciative note, but to quote someone I no longer work for, "it is what it is."
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