Here is an item from the You-Couldn't-Make-This-Stuff-Up Department: Today the showbiz newspaper Variety reported that Tommy Lee (yes, that Tommy Lee, drummer of Mötley Crüe, shown in the photo above dressed up for Halloween) will be hosting a television series investigating secret societies—starting with Freemasonry:
Syfy will develop “Culture Shock With Tommy Lee,” in which the former Motley Crue member seeks to uncover and expose secret societies. [Syfy channel president of original programming Mark] Stern said that any show involving a celebrity was a tough sell to him, but that he was won over by Lee's sincerity. “This comes from a very deep-seated, personal desire to uncover the truth behind these secret societies,” Stern said, “starting with his father's membership in the Freemasons.”The Hollywood Reporter adds that this will be an hourlong “investigative travel show,” in which “Lee will attempt to uncover rituals, symbols, and other mysteries of secret societies.” Lee Stubner and Carl Stubner will act as executive producers for ITV Studios America, which will produce the series.
According to his bio on Wikipedia, Tommy Lee was born in Athens, Greece, his father being David Oliver Bass, then a U.S. Army serviceman, and his mother Vassiliki Papadimitriou, a former Miss Greece. I have no information at present about the Masonic background of Tommy Lee’s father.
In our celebrity-obsessed culture, it is perhaps no surprise that someone with no background in investigation, history, or esoteric research would get a reality show where such credentials would seem to be crucial. (Of course, former professional wrestler and governor of Minnesota, Jesse “The Body” Ventura, has a similar show, “Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura,” on TruTV.) One hopes that someday some television network will produce a show with someone who has the real chops to do such an investigative show, not just name recognition and a colorful persona.
I’m not holding my breath.
(Although, my schedule does have some openings right now.)
Copyright 2011 Mark E. Koltko-Rivera. All Rights Reserved.
[The photo of Tommy Lee at his Halloween Party at Club Medusa was taken on October 30, 2005 by Joel Telling. It was obtained from Wikimedia Commons and appears here under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.]
