Brain Droppings: On Mary Hart

A cameraman's perspective as Mary Hart prepares with Jane Seymor on the set of ET in London
The ever up Mary Hart
The ET producers on the Buckingham Palace Set, London

(all photos F. LoBuono)

After 29 years, Mary Hart is stepping down as host of the nightly entertainment news program, Entertainment Tonight or ET. Hart propelled the show to become a ratings power house and the well spring for a myriad of other entertainment news programs. She became synonymous with Hollywood. She, and ET, flourished in that environment. She is to be congratulated on an enormously successful career.

I recently had some extensive professional dealings with her during the coverage of The Royal Wedding in London. ET was one of our clients and used our production facilities to produce and broadcast their show. Of course, since Hart is the main host of the program, I had a lot of exposure to her and the crew. I didn't have a great deal of direct dealings with Ms. Hart, but I was close enough to make inside observations about how she, her co-host Jane Seymor, and their producers got the show done.

First, let me say, they ALL worked especially long and difficult hours. They do a great deal of location shooting and have to fill an entire half hour EVERY night. Considering the time difference between London and LA (8 hrs.), the crew was worked to the max! They also worked with a HUGE budget. Their production manager complained about the budget, but who else would have the money to spend on 6 men just to hold a screen to filter sun light above the hosts' heads (as ET did)? Certainly not a news organization!

ET was by far our biggest client (i.e. spending the most money). This gave them clout and with it, a sense of entitlement that was less than ingratiating. All clients can be demanding but ET was particularly so; often just because they could be! And, because of their place in the entertainment market, they came across with an air of arrogance and self-importance. They could be nice and often thanked us for our efforts. However, it always came across as insincere. I personally call it the Hollywood Syndrome. It's a way of being nice, not because you feel like being nice but, rather, because you need to look like it.

Now, I get it: Big clients get Big attention. And we gave them plenty of that. But I also keep things in perspective. This is not life or death television! I have been in some situation that were. So, somethings I'm going to get excited about, and somethings I'm not. ET is in the latter category.

As for Mary Hart, she was what, if you watch ET, you might expect. A good deal of make-up, hair, and attention gets her ready to be on camera. This is no surprise, virtually all of them take great measures to control their appearance. And, after 29 years, Ms. Hart takes full advantage of the skills of those provided for her assistance. She is very professional, coming to work on-time and fully prepared. Once taping began, she stepped right into her role as the "energetic", "thoughtful" and still "glamorous" host with the inside track to the biggest stories and names in Hollywood. My co-technician and I got a good laugh watching her "come alive" when taping began. It was almost robotic. It was as if someone flipped a switch and Mary Hart - Professional Host appeared. Her voice changed its tenor from conversational to what I call the announcers voice; emphasis and accents were added at certain, key moments to make the statements sound more colorful. Even when she turned from one angle to another, it appeared stiff and overly rehearsed. Instead of just quickly turning her head to address a different camera angle, she would slowly turn her whole body. We figured that it was so her hair wouldn't collapse if she turned her head too quickly!

I found it almost laughable. The whole idea of people working so hard on something so trite was strange to me. But that's just me! I've never been Joe Hollywood. As one news producer put it to me, "Frank, you're not their demographic". Man, was he right! But, still, I have to give Mary and them credit. For what they do, they do it well, and they have for a long time. Congrats, Mary!