Perhaps you've heard the news that Martha Stewart has agreed to let Fine Living TV play back her old "MSL" TV show from the 1990s while her daughter Alexis and Alexis's radio partner make fun of it. Martha told the New York Times that she actually came up with the idea herself (the show, called "Whatever, Martha!" begins Sept. 16) while watching "Mystery Science Theater 3000" reruns late at night.
Two things to say about this: First, Martha apparently never watches VH1 or E! or any other cable channel that kills hours and hours every day replaying previous-aired TV shows for the sole purpose of mocking them. And second, as reader Joe Coughlin noted: What kind of kick-ass satellite dish does Martha have where she can pull in reruns of "MST3K"? Go ahead, try to find it on your TiVo.
Martha Stewart has a long tradition of making fun of herself in approved ways that advance her brand. Many of these involve David Letterman (see example clip below). The new concept, the VH1 way, is to let other people mock you. So Martha is adapting ... sort of. She's chosen her daughter to do the mocking, which is interesting I guess, but not nearly as interesting as if it had been, say, Candy Spelling letting Tori review her upcoming memoir for the Times.
But the important thing here is that Martha is still in firm control of the product, dammit, and has figured out how to make money off it. (Do you think VH1 pays for those Internet clips it uses constantly on "Best Week Ever"? Think again.)
WBAL's midday host, Shari Elliker, and I talked about Martha's latest idea this week.
- Here's the podcast: WBAL 8-12-2008
So here is some evidence of Martha Stewart playing against type, making fun of herself in 1996:
(Bonus points if you noticed Alan Ball's name in the credits of "Cybill.")
Personally, though, what I'd really like to see is a TV show that used old clips of Martha with her disapproval. For example, do you think MSL Omnimedia ever greenlighted this:
As I explained about a month ago, mashups like these are perfectly legal and video and audio artists are becoming more and more brazen about appropriating copyrighted materials for their own evil ends. I like to call it Buster Keaton's Revenge (read down into this story and you'll get my drift).
Hopefully Martha's little experiment will encourage other 60-plussers to try their hand at reality comedy. For example, I'd like to see a show where Donald Trump made fun of Martha's other TV show. (That would raise my estimation of the Donald even more than this.) Or Barbara Kingsolver trying to make some of the gaudier recipes in Martha's 1988 debut book, Entertaining. (Sample clip: "Midnight Omelette Supper for Thirty? We're drinkin' by midnight!! Hahaha (snort)")
By the way, a 20th-anniversary deluxe DVD edition set of "MST3K" is coming out soon
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