Barbara Walters must have set a low bar for her "Most Fascinating People of 2011"
By James Brady RyanDecember 2nd, 2011, 12:30 pmComments (15)
Barbara Walters' annual "Most Fascinating People" special has featured some truly interesting people since its start in 1993 — Hillary Clinton, Jack Kevorkian, Anna Wintour, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore, Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga... All people you necessarily like? Definitely not. But people who were making big statements, contributing to important dialogues, affecting significant change, etc. Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you the 2011 picks for "Most Fascinating People" as chosen by Barbara Walters:
Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet — The Modern Family gays. Okay, sure! Modern Family is still pretty successful, and I guess people do still talk about it, though mostly with phrases like, "Modern Family was better last season." But they are funny; that's... fascinating, sorta.
Derek Jeter — I'm going to be honest here, I absolutely hate baseball. So maybe Derek Jeter did something really big this year and I totally missed it.
Donald Trump — Well, he is still pretty rich. And I guess The Apprentice is still on. But really, if you're going to pick someone who pretended to be running for president without ever actually wanting to run for president, why not go with Herman Cain? At least you may get a free pizza out of it.
Simon Cowell — Is it 2002? Seriously, did I make a wish in front of the wrong magical fountain and now it's 2002 again? Because if it is, I need to find my high-school self and tell him to stop shopping for message tees at Hot Topic.
Katy Perry — Blargh. Sorry, what I meant was "blaaaaaargh."
Pippa Middleton — Oh my god, she didn't even do anything. Her sister did things! And you had her sister on last year, Walters. Honestly, just because someone's talked about in trashy celebrity magazines a lot doesn't mean they're actually... sorry, what's the next pick? Who?!
The Kardashians — No. Please, no. Look, I understand where you're coming from with this. The Kardashians, much like kudzu, are everywhere. They have about a million TV shows and because of them I know what a "Kris Humphries" is. But attention does not equal fascination. The Kardashians are like breakfast cereal: you may eat it every day, but you are not fucking fascinated by Chex!
Was this year just straight-up boring, is that what's happening here? I can think of a few names I would swap-in here: Gabrielle and Mark Giffords (though Diane Sawyer already got that get), Adele, Elizabeth Warren. But I'll admit that off the top of my head, there aren't a lot of obvious people deserving of a spot here. Readers, who would be better choices for the special than the Kardashians?
(Haha, I'm kidding: anyone would be.)
Commentarium (15 Comments)
well there's nothing fascinating about BWalters, so it makes sense.
Why is she considered a journalist instead of an older, more out of touch Perez Hilton?
Mel Gibson, Sandra Bulloch, Michael C. Hall, John Lithgow, Mark Harmon, Edward James Olmos, Bill Clinton, Tom Selleck, Steven Spielberg, Steve Buscemi, Hugh Laurie, Kurt Sutter, -- anyone but the Kardashians. It seems that Ms. Walters has lost touch with what makes a person interesting.
Seems that you and I watch the same sort of shows.
Well the only thing we can blame her for is being a whore to media. That's all this is..totally driven by the media and the market. We need to face the fact that the majority of this country doesn't even know what 'fascinating' means...probably thinks it means that we now have to fasten our seat belts when we're going through the drive up window...
Soooooooooo true. Laughed until my sides hurt!
Steve Jobs.
... I know he's not technically living anymore but he was alive for SOME of 2011 and - still - that's better than the Kardashians.
I took a shit this morning that was more interesting than the Kardashians. I wish I could be famous for having a famous dad, a big ass, no talent, a sex tape, and fugly sisters.
General McChrystal, Tina Fey, J.R. Martinez...
Anyone who participated in OWS.
Just rename the list: "the shitty celebrities we got to come on our show for an interview with a crazy lady."
+1
I could never understand Barbara Walters claim to fame... I guess that explains the list too, maybe it should be the most un-fascinating tabloid cover people
the kardashians? really?
Now you say something