411: VH1's 'I Love the Bloggers'?

Well, guess this whole blogging phenomenon has really jumped the shark. VH1, the network for has-been celebrities, redemptive rags-to-riches-to-rags music reunion shows, and we suppose the occasional video countdown, is trying to put together a show with bloggers called HushHush (why, was Drunk in our Underpants taken?).

According to Jossip:

Last month, VH1 fired off invitations to audition to what seemed like anyone who had put their fingers on a keyboard and launched a blog mildly related to entertainment.

Try-outs were held in New York and Los Angeles over the past couple weeks, with VH1 flying in potential on-camera talent for group auditions where bloggers – many of whom had never met before – were encouraged, according to one insider, to "act like they were friends" on camera and joke around with each other like old pals. (Or, as one hopeful put it, "Act like idiots in front of a bunch of producers who [themselves] didn't know what the fuck they wanted from us.")

But while the auditions allowed the bloggers to build new social networks (we hear they're called "blogrolls"), they also gave the potential talking heads time to muse that "this type of show shouldn't be on television," says one insider.

What type of show? Essentially, a blogger roundtable that discusses the current pop culture topics — with the usual doses of forced snark and humor.

Says another put-off blogger : "It's obvious that these show producers want to capitalize on the large traffic our sites have, while getting bloggers on the cheap. I think they still see bloggers as celebrity wannabes (like Perez) but they don't understand that we're smarter than they think we are, and the lure of a 15 minute spotlight isn't quite enough anymore."

Totally. Like, fuck you, VH1. We don't need you. We're totally above crass, mainstream exposure. We want real cred, like being on a conference call with Nancy Pelosi.

That said, call us. Seriously. We guess you misplaced our number and we'd like give you a chance to make amends. We're kinda desperate for something, anything to do right now. And you have craft services, right?