At the end of the day ...
Hollywood has been overtaken by a hideous monster. That monster is an overused phrase called “At the end of the day …” All kinds of stars are saying it all the time, from Conan O'Brien to Queen Latifah and other actors and TV executives.
The phrase does make stars get to their point quicker, though, like when Lisa Ling talks about being a reporter now, instead of a cohost on “The View”:
“At the end of the day, I'm as much a pop culture junkie as anyone else. But for me as a journalist and for my job, I just have sort of chosen to focus on these things because it's where I derive the most inspiration and passion.”
For two weeks, Hollywooders abused the phrase during the Television Critics Association in Pasadena. Here’s a look-see:
- Conan O’Brien on working outside of his duties at his late show: “At the end of the day, when I've taken what I do in late night and I go anywhere else and I do a guest appearance on a primetime show, or I do the Emmys or something like that, I just try and think of what would be funny.”
- Producer Eric Kripke explaining his show, “Supernatural”: “At the end of the day, the whole concept of the show is two brothers on the road with chainsaws in their trunk, battling things that go bump in the night. There, that's the whole show.”
- Queen Latifah on her HBO movie, “Life Support”: “It's that simple with HIV and AIDS, at the end of the day. What will make it continue is our prejudices, our ideas about it, and the fact that we don't look at ourselves as one giant community and protect each other's children and protect each other's wives.”
- Producer Bill Lawrence on “Scrubs” copycats: “At the end of the day … this show is without a doubt cribbed from “M*A*S*H” and “The Wonder Years,” which are two of my favorite shows.”
- “Lost” producer Damon Lindelof on why the show has many executive producers: “At the end of the day, if you are doing a job, if you have some level of autonomy, if you are responsible for the finished product, you know, my personal opinion, I think the more EPs, the better, because it makes your job a little easier as a show-runner.”
- Actress Nicole Sullivan on her new cop show “Raines” starring Jeff Goldblum: “I'm there for [displaying] txxs and ass really. … And [her character] sort of begrudgingly goes through her work helping [her boss]. But she really does obviously care, at the end of the day, very much. She has a real soft spot for this guy.”
- Liko Smith of G4’s reality-snowboarding hotel show, “The Block”: “On top of the hotel, we layer it with snowboarders and the scene and the music and the media and the stripper poles and the parties, this and that. It succeeds as a hotel first because, yeah, it's fun and games, but at the end of the day, you need to get your wake-up call on time.”
- Producer McG talks about his new reality-competition show on the CW, “The Pussycat Dolls”: “Under no circumstances is this in the service of men. You see women having fun and applauding, and really, at the end of the day, should we have to apologize for having fun?”
- Producer Tim Minear of Fox’s new “Drive”: “We actually do have a [storyline] plan. What we don't want, at the end of the day, is for the audience to feel like they didn't get someplace.”
- Producer Al Edgington on his reality-competition, “Grease: You’re the One That I Want”: Obviously our dream would be for the guy from Allentown to actually end up being Danny. But at the end of the day, long after I've disappeared, Kathleen [Marshall, a talent judge] has to work with these people to make sure they can make a Broadway show work.”
- Producer Ed Bernero describing the appeal of his CBS drama “Criminal Minds”: “It's a thriller. You sit down and watch this thrilling episode, and then it's over, at the end of the day.”
- Dawn Ostroff, president of the CW, on viewers aged 18 to 35: “We're targeting them specifically, and at the end of the day, I think a lot of the components that we have, and some that you will see today, will speak to them in different ways so that we are going to be many things to them.”
- PBS president Paula Kerger on finding funders for “Masterpiece Theatre”: “I think the quality of the work will [be obvious] at the end of the day – that's why I'm optimistic about it.”
- PBS documentarian Irshad Manji: “At the end of the day, the world is at a crossroads. And I can tell you, from the perspective of young Muslims, that one of the reasons there is so much anger at America is that this is a country whose every move matters to the rest of the world. And so many young Muslims see that they do not have any vote in what happens in this country, and yet what happens in this country affects them profoundly.”
- Executive Larry Aidem on his Sundance Channel: “Our audience does not distinguish between the kinds of original programming that we make and the kinds of acquired programming [found] from around the world. At the end of the day, they're either good or not, and they're exclusive to us.”
- Talent manager David Weintraub on protecting clients from doing super stupid stuff while starring in a reality show: "At the end of the day I'm always going to do what's best for my client's career.”
- Actor Robert Vaughn using the phrase literally regarding his AMC show, “Hustle”: “Most people that are in series do not see each other at the end of the day, but we do see each other. We do like each other, and I think the more that we've liked each other and growing each year to be more friendly and a part of our lives, I think the show has improved for that reason.”
The phrase does make stars get to their point quicker, though, like when Lisa Ling talks about being a reporter now, instead of a cohost on “The View”:
“At the end of the day, I'm as much a pop culture junkie as anyone else. But for me as a journalist and for my job, I just have sort of chosen to focus on these things because it's where I derive the most inspiration and passion.”
For two weeks, Hollywooders abused the phrase during the Television Critics Association in Pasadena. Here’s a look-see:
- Conan O’Brien on working outside of his duties at his late show: “At the end of the day, when I've taken what I do in late night and I go anywhere else and I do a guest appearance on a primetime show, or I do the Emmys or something like that, I just try and think of what would be funny.”
- Producer Eric Kripke explaining his show, “Supernatural”: “At the end of the day, the whole concept of the show is two brothers on the road with chainsaws in their trunk, battling things that go bump in the night. There, that's the whole show.”
- Queen Latifah on her HBO movie, “Life Support”: “It's that simple with HIV and AIDS, at the end of the day. What will make it continue is our prejudices, our ideas about it, and the fact that we don't look at ourselves as one giant community and protect each other's children and protect each other's wives.”
- Producer Bill Lawrence on “Scrubs” copycats: “At the end of the day … this show is without a doubt cribbed from “M*A*S*H” and “The Wonder Years,” which are two of my favorite shows.”
- “Lost” producer Damon Lindelof on why the show has many executive producers: “At the end of the day, if you are doing a job, if you have some level of autonomy, if you are responsible for the finished product, you know, my personal opinion, I think the more EPs, the better, because it makes your job a little easier as a show-runner.”
- Actress Nicole Sullivan on her new cop show “Raines” starring Jeff Goldblum: “I'm there for [displaying] txxs and ass really. … And [her character] sort of begrudgingly goes through her work helping [her boss]. But she really does obviously care, at the end of the day, very much. She has a real soft spot for this guy.”
- Liko Smith of G4’s reality-snowboarding hotel show, “The Block”: “On top of the hotel, we layer it with snowboarders and the scene and the music and the media and the stripper poles and the parties, this and that. It succeeds as a hotel first because, yeah, it's fun and games, but at the end of the day, you need to get your wake-up call on time.”
- Producer McG talks about his new reality-competition show on the CW, “The Pussycat Dolls”: “Under no circumstances is this in the service of men. You see women having fun and applauding, and really, at the end of the day, should we have to apologize for having fun?”
- Producer Tim Minear of Fox’s new “Drive”: “We actually do have a [storyline] plan. What we don't want, at the end of the day, is for the audience to feel like they didn't get someplace.”
- Producer Al Edgington on his reality-competition, “Grease: You’re the One That I Want”: Obviously our dream would be for the guy from Allentown to actually end up being Danny. But at the end of the day, long after I've disappeared, Kathleen [Marshall, a talent judge] has to work with these people to make sure they can make a Broadway show work.”
- Producer Ed Bernero describing the appeal of his CBS drama “Criminal Minds”: “It's a thriller. You sit down and watch this thrilling episode, and then it's over, at the end of the day.”
- Dawn Ostroff, president of the CW, on viewers aged 18 to 35: “We're targeting them specifically, and at the end of the day, I think a lot of the components that we have, and some that you will see today, will speak to them in different ways so that we are going to be many things to them.”
- PBS president Paula Kerger on finding funders for “Masterpiece Theatre”: “I think the quality of the work will [be obvious] at the end of the day – that's why I'm optimistic about it.”
- PBS documentarian Irshad Manji: “At the end of the day, the world is at a crossroads. And I can tell you, from the perspective of young Muslims, that one of the reasons there is so much anger at America is that this is a country whose every move matters to the rest of the world. And so many young Muslims see that they do not have any vote in what happens in this country, and yet what happens in this country affects them profoundly.”
- Executive Larry Aidem on his Sundance Channel: “Our audience does not distinguish between the kinds of original programming that we make and the kinds of acquired programming [found] from around the world. At the end of the day, they're either good or not, and they're exclusive to us.”
- Talent manager David Weintraub on protecting clients from doing super stupid stuff while starring in a reality show: "At the end of the day I'm always going to do what's best for my client's career.”
- Actor Robert Vaughn using the phrase literally regarding his AMC show, “Hustle”: “Most people that are in series do not see each other at the end of the day, but we do see each other. We do like each other, and I think the more that we've liked each other and growing each year to be more friendly and a part of our lives, I think the show has improved for that reason.”
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