Gimme a BBT with mashed potatoes and gravy.

fett on 13/4/2009 at 15:13

The thing is, we've all seen bands pull stunts like this before. Axl Rose did it, Diamond Dave did it, etc. One difference that's very telling IMO is that in those cases, the other band members jumped in and tried to ease the tension, or spoke up and actually answered the question being asked. The Boxbuilders sat there with disinterested pensive expressions. Why? Because the band belongs to BBT and they know they'd good and well better not embarass him or point out that he's being an asshat because if he gets mad and quits, they've got nothing left. That wasn't a band in that interview. It was BBT and three hired guns who either didn't have the balls to speak up or couldn't because BBT is the boss. Which goes back to my theory that their career is predicated on his Oscar award.

Stitch on 14/4/2009 at 18:24

Quote Posted by New Horizon

I don't think Billy Bob was high, he simply jumped the gun and took the offensive against the interviewer based on the introduction, which in my opinion belongs to the interviewer...it's his show.

Except it isn't. I didn't listen to Jian's interview of MGMT the other night because I give a shit about Jian. The person being interviewed is and always will be the draw, and the only difference an interviewer makes is what he or she is able to draw from the interviewee.

My point is Billy Bob may be a colossal cock but without him Jian has no interview. Focusing on BBT not being professional or appreciative enough ignores that Jian is essentially committing the same sins (assuming this simply isn't a matter of miscommunication). Jian should have either stuck to BBT's conditions or rejected them outright and booked another guest.

Having said all of the above, BBT could have handled this far less destructively.

fett on 14/4/2009 at 19:21

Granted, but he could have at least moved on when the interviewer tried to apologize and ask new questions. Instead of BBT immediately correcting him, he fucked around with him for a good ten minutes and still wouldn't let it go once Jian tried to move on. Also, I'm pretty sure that Jian could have had any number of guests on that night, most of whom anyone has actually heard of, so I don't think BBT was doing him some big favor by being there.

Edit: In related news -

Quote:

Billy Bob Thornton's band, The Boxmasters, has nixed the final two shows on their Canadian tour with Willie Nelson because a band member and several members of the crew came down with the flu.

The cancellations come after The Boxmasters were booed and taunted at a Toronto show Thursday — a result of Thornton's comments during a CBC interview in which he likened Canadian fans to "mashed potatoes but no gravy."

My translation: BBT is a huge dickhead.

sh0ck3r on 14/4/2009 at 20:27

You're grossly underestimating the extent to which BBT was doing a favor for Jian. Compared to the late night shows BBT could have appeared on, Jian is pretty fucking far down the totem pole. One of my old buddies from high school was on Q last week. :D

Nicker on 14/4/2009 at 21:20

sh0ck3r - Within the last couple of weeks - Leonard Cohen, Dan Hill, Neil Gaiman, Yoko Ono, David Lynch, Bruce Cockburn, Nicholas Kristof, Gordon Lightfoot, Kenneth Branagh. He regularly attracts quality guests from all around the world and he consistently has insightful, polite and revealing interviews.

What talk show host is NOT in love with their own voice? Give me a break. It’s whether they reveal something new and intriguing about the guest that counts. Jian is not perfect but then Q produces eight hours of live programming a week. Try keeping that pace without slip-ups and without a bit of filler in the form of the host’s banter. Name me a show that doesn’t. For that matter, name a radio talk show that regularly scores better?

I didn’t like Gomeshi when he first appeared as a host but I have come to respect his capabilities and, quite frankly, I applaud the more liberal use of words exceeding two or three syllables. The dumbing down of our language is a pox and broadcasters should be doing something to raise expectations.

Stitch on 14/4/2009 at 21:50

Quote Posted by fett

Also, I'm pretty sure that Jian could have had any number of guests on that night, most of whom anyone has actually heard of, so I don't think BBT was doing him some big favor by being there.

Yeah, but he didn't, and Billy Bob was under no obligation to treat the situation as an amazing favor bestowed upon him, either. Jian violated the agreement they had and Billy Bob was in no mood to let it slide.

I'm not really going to win this one, as Billy Bob was clearly an asshole whose overreaction resulted in his valid complaint disappearing in the noise. Still, I can't help but smile when an interviewee looks a self-important iconic journalist square in the eyes and then flies violently off the well-worn script.

Nicker on 14/4/2009 at 22:58

"Today our Kollectors Kars panel discussion features renowned crochet enthusiast, Richard Dawkins, and back-yard barbecue king, Christopher Hitchens."

If Jian had gone through the interview without mentioning BBT's pedigree it is likely many in the audience would have been thinking - "WTF Jian, don't you recognise that guy? It's Billy bloody Bob friggin' Thorton, FFS! What sort of idiot are you?"

He never asked a single question about BBT's films and if BBT wanted, he could have been the consummate professional and gently but firmly steered the interview back on track.

Scots Taffer on 14/4/2009 at 23:18

Quote Posted by Stitch

Still, I can't help but smile when an interviewee looks a self-important iconic journalist square in the eyes and then flies violently off the well-worn script.

You rebel!

sh0ck3r on 14/4/2009 at 23:58

Jian is an underwhelming interviewer because he lacks journalistic sense. He is like a little boy with a big P.C. quotient discovering the world. Some believe his positive attitude is a substitute, but I don't, and I'd take Stroumboulopoulos or one of the regular dinosaurs on CBC over Jian any day. As for your assertion that it is improper for an interviewer not to mention a star's regular line of work, I disagree and suspect Jian couldn't resist boosting his ratings by breaking the (assumed) agreement. He boosted them, though not in the way he probably envisioned. And speaking of BBT not steering the interview back on track, Jian did no better when he so tirelessly defended himself during basically the core of the interview.

Returning to the bigger picture, I don't understand why people are so irate at BBT's antics. I'm much more sympathetic to his manicky, insolent and mildly amusing behavior than to Somali pirates or massacres in Alabama, and yet it seems the former is more directly repugnant and worthy of scorn to many, as though BBT violating "basic decorum" is a real and personal threat rather than just an off-kilter movie star acting up.

Nicker on 15/4/2009 at 01:21

If we constrain our discussions only to events crossing a certain arbitrary line of significance, it's going to put a pretty big gag on a lot of conversations, since there will always be something arguable more repugnant than even the most heinous situations one can imagine.