Yes, But is Sofia's Ass Better Than Beyonce's?

You'd think after Kanye West made a national embarrassment of himself when he stormed the stage attempting a "People's Choice" takeover of Taylor Swift's video award on behalf of Beyonce last year that other celebrities would have said to themselves, "There but for the grace of God, and a bottle of Hennessy, go I". But evidently Ed O'Neill, of ABC's "Modern Family", didn't get the memo. He mentioned in an interview with TV Guide Canada that he thought his "Family" co-star, Sofia Vergara, should have won this year's Emmy instead of "Glee"'s Jane Lynch. He said that he loves Jane Lynch, but that her character of Sue Sylvester is "one-note". Wow.

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Okay, we're not even going to get into this thing; in reality, comparing two different characters and the way that different actors portray those characters is a pretty ridiculous notion. And even worse, giving trophies which name one actor's performance as "The Best" of the year, i.e. Oscars, Emmys, etc. has nothing to do with real artistic achievement. But with that said, we think Ed O'Neill misses the fact that Sue Sylvester is indeed a multi-layered character and that real skill and real, genuine comedic ability goes into Jane Lynch's portrayal of the ego-maniacal cheer coach. Sofia Vergara is talented and is funny, no doubt, but we'll just say we think the Emmy voters got it right and leave it at that.

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But where someone like Ed O'Neill might really get himself into trouble is by believing in hype. "Modern Family" is a funny show, but it's not the second coming of Jesus H. Christ. The popular media quickly anointed the show as comedy genius, afterwhich we remember watching the show and thinking that it was funny, but it wasn't earth shatteringly funny, or even funny enough to keep our attention for longer than a short while. There wasn't really anthing there that we hadn't already seen in a hundred other sitcoms. But from the way the popular media was flogging its privates over the show, you would thought the show had found a cure for cancer. And so, Ed O'Neill, all the hoopla surrounding your show is what's known in your business as "hype", and you believe in it at your own peril.