Television Is My Friend

The first time I ever saw a guest actor in a famous TV show was a special episode of Friends when Brad Pitt made an appearance. I figured that since Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were married, they assumed it was a cool idea to have him on the show. At the time (mostly because of my age), it seemed like plain old fun, no publicity or hidden intentions.However, it is evident that this is not true. As White allows us to see, these appearances have a different agenda.

White gives a lot of examples of TV shows weaving their plot lines together. When I read these examples I was reminded of a MadTV skit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JImyMGNQSs ) which joins the shows Grey's Anatomy, House, and ER. The main characters of this show interact hoping to save a patient. Although a skit meant to mock these shows, I think they had a good idea. Had it been a little (or a lot) less stupid and with the real actors, the skit would have shown the bizarre cases and remedies that House shows, the dramatic and comedic aspects of Grey's Anatomy, and the drama and action that keeps you on your toes of ER.

This strategy gone bad can be seen in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Not being a fan of these shows my information might be in correct, but the main characters seemed to be dating each other. Buffy was not an actual character on Angel and neither was he in Buffy. Now I'm not aware of when exactly these shows started mixing (was it because both shows were at their best, etc.) but I do know that it became so complicated that they had to break up the character's relationship. This basically shows that although it is a good idea to join shows and have guest appearances, its best if its kept at a minimum of an episode.

I feel that shows are no longer doing this as much as White's article leads us to believe. However, guest appearances are still being made. This happened a lot in Will & Grace. You would see Jack trying to be a back up dancer for Jennifer Lopez or Janet Jackson or Will dancing to the music of Footlose with Kevin Bacon. There are also many episodes in which one of the main characters meets an actor and insists they are the character they play on TV. Not only bringing attention to the actors, but the shows they are on.

Both Harold & Kumar movies, for example, have Neil Patrick Harris play a drug and sex obsessed version of himself. Harold and Kumar would idolize Neil Patrick Harris. These characters would act like crazy fans, just like we would. I feel like this may have more impact. They are telling us that these actors are worthy of being written into the show. However, they aren't going to play the server or love affair, but themselves. They are so "awesome" they are worthy of having these fictional characters be obsessed with them.

On one last note, big name companies have been taking this idea to advertise their products. White mentions Robert Young/Marcus Welby, M.D. promote Sanka decaffienated coffee, and Neil Patrick Harris promoting Old Spice comes to mind. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TusJ8HSLaUs)