Asked about the first time she loved a reality show, Kathy Griffin did not hesitate.
“I was really hooked on ‘American Family,’ ” the actress and comic said, referring to the 1973 PBS documentary about the Loud family. “I know I’m dating myself, but I loved that Loud family. I remember watching that with my parents.”
That began a lifelong love for Griffin, both as a viewer and a performer. She adores reality television.
“I can’t help it,” she said recently. “I’m watching ‘Paradise Hotel.’ I’m watching ‘[For] Love or Money 2.’ I cannot believe that dumb bimbo Erin went for the $2 million. Just take the million and be done with it! … I’ll be shocked if she gets the $2 million and the guy. And the first week, she totally kicked off the one guy who says over and over, ‘I couldn’t care less about the money.’ “
As you can see, talking to Griffin is like taking a graduate seminar in reality TV. Reminded that many people are ambivalent about the form–calling it a guilty pleasure–she said they were wrong.
“It’s interesting,” she said. “These shows are involving. … I just get taken in from the first episode.”
She also has a place in reality television history.
She won “Celebrity Mole.” She hosted a talk show about reality for MTV. She’s hosting “Average Joe,” an upcoming reality series for NBC. She even did a variation on “Extreme Makeover,” inviting a syndicated TV show along while she got work done for free.
“I have new teeth,” she said proudly at a news conference for “Average Joe.” “The teeth, 30 grand, totally free. … I got an eyebrow lift. That was great.”
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Griffin has no illusions about herself, maintaining her own grip on reality, mocking her own celebrity with repeated references to being on “the D-list.” She even plans to give that name to a sitcom she’s working on for NBC.
“Average Joe” was accordingly a good fit for her, since it has pro cheerleader Melana Scantlin trying to find a match among 16 noticeably non-hunky guys. As host, Griffin has the dullest role on any reality series. Still, she said, “I really like the guys. … I think that people are going to relate to the guys.”
And what about Scantlin?
“What the hell am I going to say to a 105-pound cheerleader?” said Griffin, who ended up asking a lot of routine questions about Scantlin’s “journey.” “I have no idea what her world is like.
“I’m an ‘Average Joe,’ but I’m trying to look slightly above average,” she said.
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Edited by Lara Weber ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])