‘Bad-hair days’ for Brian and Shia

LABEOUF. Disturbing incidents have made some fans worry about his current state of mind. AP

Our boob-tube booboos compilation of TV gaffes usually features amateurs who end up saying all the wrong things on-cam due to nervousness or lack of experience. Once in a while, however, we see a famous professional similarly making an unintentionally humorous mistake, despite all of his years of experience—and the sight and sound is especially bemusing and instructive to behold!

Last Sunday morning, for instance, we were idly listening to a replay of an NBC News telecast anchored by no less than the iconic and multiawarded Brian Williams, and the famous broadcast journalist put his foot in his usually precise and well-trained mouth: He was plugging a special report by Meredith Vieira on developments in the new field of Regenerative Medicine—and he couldn’t, for the life of him, pronounce the word regenerative!

He tried to do it three times—“Reger-, regern-, red…”— but ended up giving up—and feebly promising, “I’ll get it right, don’t worry,” before taking a deep breath—and manfully going on to another news item.

It was pretty smart of him to not get further bogged down by his unexpected inability to pronounce the pesky word correctly. His decision was the product of his extensive experience, which taught him not to make things worse by calling more attention to his inexplicable gaffe!

Unusual images

Other unusual images on TV this past week: Shia LaBeouf used to be not just a rising star on the global film firmament, but also a veritable comet of unusual promise and brilliance! How sad to see, therefore, that, in the past few months, he’s been involved in disturbing incidents that have made some fans worry about  his current state of mind.

He’s been rude and rash in his recent encounters with paparazzi and, during a TV interview, he spoke gibberish, confounding his interviewer bigtime! In addition, last February, at a red carpet event, he showed up with a paper bag over his head—on it was scrawled, “I used to be famous!”

To top it all, he was recently collared by police for struggling after he disturbed a performance of “Cabaret” with his rants—and then spitting on them.

What in the world is happening to the previously much-admired young screen comer? We hope that drugs aren’t involved, because drug-induced bad behavior is more difficult to control and fix than other displays of stellar surliness.

We trust that Shia will be able to defeat his demons, because he’s an exceedingly talented and charismatic young comer.

Hopes are high that this happy ending to Shia’s troubles will indeed materialize, because previously addicted stars like Robert Downey Jr. were, after some failed attempts, finally able to resume their high-flying careers—and take them to even more stratospheric heights!