First, Scott Baio was my FAVORITE "Tiger Beat" celebrity when I was a kid. I loved the guy, starting about the age he was in the picture you posted. So cute! And how sad that I would never be in his league. Crushes me to this day. Sigh.
Second, what's up with Ben not taking the stripper to the promised land, as she states in her interview? Isn't that the point?
Scott Baio....yummy. I would do him again.
I only got 10 of the 12 right on the Mensa test. How stupid of me to miss 2 questions.
When I was a kid, I was in love with Scott Baio and Shawn Cassidy. Even as a youngster, I knew that there was no way Scott could be into Erin Moran. Remember that show "Joanie Loves Chachi"? I never missed it. He must have something special in his pants to get the women he has had because he hasn't been a celebrity for years. He is more famous for being a Playboy Mansion regular and nailing ever piece of ass to get off the bus in Hollywood, then he is for his acting work.
When I was living in Seattle I saw Scott Baio in the lead role of the road company of How to Succeed in Business. Beat that, Baio-Wolves!
As a side note, my friend Jahna D'Lish performed a dramatic reading of the original Nat'l Enquirer article on our way down to Atlantic City. Highly recommended.
PAUL. Enjoyed your funny article very much. Surprised though by the disappointing lack of helpful visitors' comments thereon. Your webpage needs something more in terms of data. Allow me to freely provide it. Just leave this blogger to me during the next several months or so. I will add more recent and relevant information on Scott Baio for you and your readers. (Bet you didn't know that he's now a multi-awarded and critically-praised independent film actor.)
We also shouldn't forget to greet Scott Baio a HAPPY 43RD BIRTHDAY this September 2004.
P.S. I don't think Mr. Baio ever performed in the musical touring company of "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying". That must have been John Stamos.
THE DECLINE OF SCOTT BAIO AMIDST THE RISE OF THE NEW HOLLYWOOD LEFTWING CULTURAL OLIGARCHY.
(Part 1 - Darkness before The Millenium.)
Scott Baio's legendary showbiz career began in kiddie commercials during the early 1970s. (A really cute and mischievous little tyke he was!) His first big break came in Alan Parker's gangster-musical "Bugsy Malone" (1976) where he played the title character opposite a very young Jodie Foster (a cult movie with a devoted following). Both of them would later act together again in Adrian Lyne's "Foxes" (1980).
For nearly three decades, Mr. Baio consummately maintained his television stardom while many of his fellow teen idol rivals predictably vanished into obscurity after just a few years. From the short-lived "Blansky's Beauties" and "Who's Watching The Kids?" in the late 1970s to the long-running classic "Happy Days" and the cult sitcom "Charles-In-Charge" in the 1980s.
Moreover, Scott garnered two Emmy nominations for his excellent performances in "Stoned" (1980-1981) and "All The Kids Do It" (1984-1985). He also won two Young Artists Awards during the Third Annual Youth In Film Awards (1980-1981) as Best Young Actor in a Television Special for "Stoned" and Best Young Comedian in Television or Motion Pictures for "Happy Days".
But when he finally left the mystery series "Diagnosis Murder" in the 1990s, the political atmosphere in Hollywood was already changing to the detriment of Republican stars. Both the entertainment industry and community were turning sharply to the very hard left in terms of politics. Vice-President Dan Quayle foolishly attacked "Murphy Brown" and enraged the powerful Tinseltown liberals who united together in demolishing his political career. Afterwards, the impeachment proceeding against President Bill Clinton due to the Monica Lewinsky scandal further ignited the toxic hostility of leftwing celebrities versus anything Republican or conservative, even to the point of HARMFULLY PERSECUTING THEIR INNOCENT NONLIBERAL OR NONDEMOCRAT-VOTING FELLOW ARTISTS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY. Right-of-center actors and actresses, tragically lacking any box-office clout for their own necessary protection, had to quietly endure professional stagnancy and setbacks during these lean and miserable years. Circumstances got so bad that in 2001, the Hollywood Congress of Republicans had to be organized as a sheltering refuge from this highly antagonistic outer work environment.
THE DECLINE OF SCOTT BAIO AMIDST THE RISE OF THE NEW HOLLYWOOD LEFTWING CULTURAL OLIGARCHY
(Part 2 - The New Hollywood "Gray-List".)
James Hirsen's book TALES FROM THE LEFT COAST: TRUE STORIES OF HOLLYWOOD STARS AND THEIR OUTRAGEOUS POLITICS describes the treacherous method of Tinseltown ostracism known as "Gray-Listing". Chapter 6 entitled "Reverse Blacklisting" has the following pertinent quotes:
1. "Author and activist David Horowitz says that the anti-conservative mood in Hollywood is real. He uses the term GRAY-LIST to describe its negative effect on showbiz careers. He says that to anyone involved in the entertainment business, the hatred of conservatives is obvious. And those in the industry who are sympathetic to conservative or Republican goals are terrified."
(p. 160)
2. "There are more people with conservative beliefs in Hollywood than one would think. They're working in various places in the industry. Producers, directors, actors, musicians and other creative types running the gamut from staff technicians to well-known celebrities. And they have all verified one thing - when it comes to political viewpoints, the oppressive atmosphere that you hear about in Hollywood is definitely real."
(pp. 163 - 164)
3. "In an industry where it's very difficult to move up the career ladder, people do miss out on opportunities if they have Republican sympathies."
(p. 166)
4. "If one is even perceived to be a Republican in Hollywood, there can be an excluding reaction and people genuinely resent you."
(pp. 159 - 160)
5. "Admitting to Republican sympathies can be a dangerous thing in Hollywood, career-wise."
(p. 159)
THE DECLINE OF SCOTT BAIO AMIDST THE RISE OF THE NEW HOLLYWOOD LEFTWING CULTURAL OLIGARCHY
(Part 2b - continuation)
Here are two more quotes from the James Hirsen book:
6. "Another star, who went from doing prominent TV roles to working behind the camera, refused to go on a local conservative radio talk show because he was afraid that publicly revealing his political beliefs might further damage his career." (p. 165)
7. "Noone wants to admit that there's a GRAY-LIST but there is." (p. 161)
Paul. Your blogger page on Scott Baio is malfunctioning. Posting messages has become difficult. Please check the problem.
What was the source of the problem? I won't be able to contribute my thoughtful discussions on Scott Baio until this page functions normally again.
How come my discussions on Scott Baio are perceived as "questionable content" that cannot be posted?
THE DECLINE OF SCOTT BAIO AMIDST THE RISE OF THE NEW HOLLYWOOD LEFTWING CULTURAL OLIGARCHY
(Part 3 - Scott falls victim to the "Gray-List")
I first sensed the impending dangers threatening Scott Baio's prolific showbiz career while reading a biased article on Hollywood politics in "George" magazine (the brainchild of Democrat prince charming JFK jr.) in the middle 1990s. The writer not only stigmatized poor Scott as a young Republican but also maliciously contrasted him to the cast of "Friends" who all voted for the Democratic Party. The resulting negative implications of such an obvious hatchet job were cruel, unfair and fatal to his showbiz career.
(Truth be told, Mr. Baio cheerfully admitted his right-of-center politics in a celebrity interview during the 1980s. An era when it was yet safe to be a Hollywood Republican. How times quickly changed for him and other unfortunate victims of the "Gray-List".)
Said damaging article was merely the literal tip of the iceberg. After the issue came out, his flourishing showbiz career underwent a terrible dry spell. The Republican-hating powerbrokers of the industry viciously slammed their doors to him. But of course, those very same hypocrites continued to employ unrepentant drug addicts, substance abusers and sex offenders like Charlie Sheen, Rob Lowe, Christian Slater, Robert Downey Jr. and others. (I personally cheered when "George" magazine ran out of business years later. And that tragic planecrash may have been partial retribution for this injustice committed against Mr. Baio. Perhaps certain rules of karma just won't be denied.)
At the end of the 1990s, Scott Baio was facing a major crisis in his professional showbiz career. Limited to making rare guest appearances ("Buffy The Vampire Slayer", "The Nanny", "Full House" and "Touched By An Angel") and a few interesting TV movies ("Mixed Blessings" and "Face Value"), he sought a primetime return to the familiar sitcom genre ("Rewind") but his valiant efforts were unsuccessful. In this problematic era, Scott kept busy with directorial assignments on various series. (His resume now boasts at least 12 directing stints.) He even signed up with "Thirty Second Films", a known production firm where he directed numerous commercials. Unfortunately, all of Mr. Baio's genuine hard work led to zero in the new Hollywood where he yet suffers terrible mistreatment as a celebrity outcast like many Republican artists. (Ironically, it would take a major national tragedy such as 9-11 to soften momentarily the negative impact of the "Gray-List".)
THE DECLINE OF SCOTT BAIO AMIDST THE RISE OF THE NEW HOLLYWOOD LEFTWING CULTURAL OLIGARCHY
(Addendum 1)
As a necessary supplement to the foregoing discussions, here are more relevant quotes from HOLLYWOOD INTERRUPTED by Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner:
1. "A large swath of the celebrity class has begun morphing into obnoxious vessels of unequaled political vitriol espousing a religious zeal for extremist politics and exposing a Taliban-like hatred for anyone who might disagree." (p. 209)
2. "Celebrities who disagree with Hollywood's establishment exist in an ideological Siberia where publicly disagreeing with David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and their Democratic National Committee-supporting clonelike minions translates into something akin to career suicide." (p. 215)
3. "What the Hollywood crowd is now experiencing is a different kind of McCarthy era, one in which they're the ones behaving like the fascists they so volubly claim to despise." (p. 217)
4. "Actually, it seems that if you want to work regularly in Hollywood at all, you can't be the sort of character who publicly sympathizes with the conservative half of the American population." (p.220)
THE DECLINE OF SCOTT BAIO AMIDST THE RISE OF THE NEW HOLLYWOOD LEFTWING CULTURAL OLIGARCHY
(Addendum 2)
More quotes from HOLLYWOOD INTERRUPTED by Ebner and Breitbart:
5. "Political correctness has become the primary weapon used by those in Blue Country (Hollywood, elitists, Democrats, mainstream media, academia, multiculturalists, et al.) to squelch the ideas and speech of those in Red Country (Middle America, conservatives, Republicans), creating a uniform social consciousness that appears to celebrate diversity and tolerance, but rejoices only in its own narrow and condescending perspective." (p. 240)
6. "No Hollywood affliction over the last 20 years has been as obvious and odious as full-blown PC. Showbiz careers have been built on its very premise. (And jeopardized or even destroyed because of it.) Whether they'll admit it or not, studio executives, actors and the rest of Hollywood's elite hierarchy use political correctness as an illegitimate and undemocratic method to ram their narrow, dysfunctional, condescending moral and political values down the rest of our throats in a very un-American way." (pp. 240-241)
7. "Stars and entertainment execs not attuned to the politically correct way of thinking cower from dissent, fearful of being called racist, sexist, homophobic or any other all-purpose impossible-to-defend slander. Even the accusation of operating outside the boundaries of political correctness is enough to put a damper on one's professional life." (p. 257)
First, Scott Baio was my FAVORITE "Tiger Beat" celebrity when I was a kid. I loved the guy, starting about the age he was in the picture you posted. So cute! And how sad that I would never be in his league. Crushes me to this day. Sigh.
Second, what's up with Ben not taking the stripper to the promised land, as she states in her interview? Isn't that the point?
Posted by bhw at September 22, 2003 10:24 AM