Another alleged tabloid TV show about "celebrity gossip", only the casual and astute viewer both will note that this program predominantly focuses on interracial couples. I personally don't think that's a bad idea at all, except that you'll note that it's more forced than an actual expose on "who likes who". The stories are in point in fact manufactured as a multimedia visual example to encourage people to go beyond their social and ethnic circle to look for love by witnessing the examples of personalities in popular media who have done the same.In other words, this whole show appears to be one giant come on, much like the articles in popular women's magazines. The concept to is put forth social concepts and see if they fly with the American public. The same thing is done in the UK and a few other nations, but this particular show is so lo-brow and blatant that one wonders how it's survived all these years.It's also testimony to the fact that regular intelligent films for adults are dead, and that what reigns supreme is not the so called movie star or yesteryear, but the person who makes a lot of money and gets notoriety for it.Movies and the actors in them no longer get the lion's share of the popular media spotlight. They are now essentially assuming the crown of the Broadway actor, and have to play second fiddle to people are popular among the people for no good reason. At one time in this nation's history Broadway was the place to make your acting fame. Then movies came along and it became the Hollywood movie star. Now that's not even the case.Is that a good thing? The truth is I really couldn't care less (the G-rated version of what I want to say), as this kind of programming just insults my mind. But, for what it's worth, I'm glad people (probably mostly women) aren't going gah-gah for some actor, but now are going nuts over anyone who gets their name in the news.Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same.In the words of Robert Townsend in "Hollywood Shuffle", I give this show, the finger.

The Insider and Entertainment Tonight are just two annoying television shows regarding the entertainment industry. I get more information from the TMZ show. Most of the time, they are just promoting stories and teasing the audience about it. When they get to the promoted story, they spend less time than you can imagine. I remember Lara Spencer who was a reporter for ABC in the New York City affiliate before coming to The Insider. She is promising reporter but she spends so much time on fluff stuff. Entertainment news shows are past it's prime with competition E!, internet, and other shows. Entertainment Tonight was the first and probably the best until now. The Insider is just the expanded hour and promo into Entertainment Tonight anyway. Besides, they used to focus on all kinds of celebrities back in the day when you couldn't miss it. Today, the celebrities that are covered on these shows aren't worthy of the attention. I remember when they remembered celebrities who passed away. At the end of the show, they would roll clips and play music. I was hoping that with Estelle Getty that they would do the same thing by remembering her with clips from her career and interviews while playing the Golden Girls theme song. That was a missed opportunity. Instead, they talked about what's coming up next. They used to do that before the credits rolled.

Is your life so empty that you find it fulfilling to live it through the lives of celebrities? Are you so shallow that you consider a celebrity text message a "news story"? Do you enjoy staring at deformed people to make yourself feel better? If so, then the Insider just might be for you! This is quite simply one of the dumbest shows ever. It makes other gossip TV shows look informative. Everybody involved with this show should feel ashamed of themselves. (And no, I don't watch the show. I've seen it one or twice but am mostly familiar with it just by flipping channels.) Oh, and don't fall for their "story's coming up in two minutes" line: they'll drag you along for half the show before they disappoint you.

I really hate this type of show. I blame them for creating a population of morons who equate big budgets, box office numbers, and Nielsen ratings with actual quality. Of all of them (ET, MTV "News", EXTRA, and their ilk), THE INSIDER has to be the worst. Their so-called exclusive interviews are hardly exclusive (ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT runs in the same time slot here and if I flip channels, I almost always see the exact same story). They milk stories to death (I swear they've run the same Richard Pryor interview every week since the series began). In what was already a show filled with puff pieces, insipid happy talk, and maudlin insincere sentiment, they bring in... KATHIE LEE GIFFORD! Just when I thought we were finally rid of that talentless phony, she's back on TV everyday. Pure torture. If you value your brain cells, don't watch this.