This was going to be my big break. If I played it right, I could eventually become one of those barely known talking heads who always show up as experts on the faux documentaries that run on the entertainment cable channels.
But it was not to be. More, after the jump:
I got an email before Thanksgiving asking if I wanted to interview one of the cast members of “Leverage,” the TNT show about a group of con artists who play Robin Hood. In an upcoming episode, said the email, the “team cons a corrupt winery owner out of a priceless bottle of wine in their episode ‘The Corkscrew Job.’ ”
This was too good to be true. Regular visitors know I like to write about wine in TV and the movies. In addition, “Leverage” star Timothy Hutton turned in the greatest performance ever of an angst-ridden teenager in “Ordinary People,” which was filmed more or less where I grew up and at about the same time. Plus, I wrote about his father, Jim Hutton, who played Ellery Queen on TV, in my history of American fictional detectives.
And the blog post would get gazillions and gazillions of hits. Think about the exposure. Think about the big shots on the coast who would see it. Think about the Google Ad Sense dollars. I would no longer be a wine blogger in the middle of the country; I would be someone on the fringes of the fringes of the celebrity culture that powers so much of the cyber-ether. So I could be one of those talking heads.
I should mention here that, during my newspaper days, I dealt with publicists for actors and musicians, and I never really expected to do an interview. So what happened next didn’t surprise me. I sent an email – yes, let’s talk and set up a date for an interview – and heard nothing. I called the name and the number on the email – yes, let’s talk and set up a date for an interview – and heard nothing.
I was good enough for a mass emailing, but not good enough to get my calls returned. How Hollywood is that? Maybe it’s because I am in the middle of the country. Maybe it’s because the Wine Curmudgeon’s reputation preceded me (“Tell me, Mr. Hutton, how do you feel about screwcaps?”) Maybe it’s because they weren’t impressed by my 15th percentile Quantcast number.
So it doesn’t look like I’ll interview Hutton (or any cast members). No one on the coast will notice me. I’ll get my usual Ad Sense check, $100 every 12 months or so. And I won’t get gazillions and gazillions of hits. Life is so unfair, no?
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