i remember when robin thicke was cool (7/26/14)

Many years ago, and months before his first single came out, Robin Thicke performed at one of our MTV management retreats in Montauk. He was so good that for a few moments I forgot his label only had him there hustling like a show dog so we would promote his video. He looked like Jesus, with his long curly hair and burlap-like top, and his voice was effortlessly soulful. Yeah, I remember when Robin Thicke was cool.

Before the Blurred Lines of Plagiarism, before his appalling collaboration with Miley Cyrus, before his uncomfortably public efforts to salvage a marriage he himself had compromised with uncomfortably public acts of infidelity. And before this: his acting debut in a movie co-starring Jamie Pressly. Since the introduction of reality TV and YouTube, we've seen more examples of bad acting than at any other point in history. Still, for me, this is the most excruciating montage in recent memory.

On the site where I found this, commenters were posting stuff like "Oh poor Jamie Pressly's eyes look like she's pleading to be rescued!" But hold on now. Let us not pretend Jamie Pressly is an acting phenomenon, some grand "artiste". She's just a half-step above a Lifetime movie her damn self. She knew Robin Thicke was in this movie when she signed on, and she signed on anyway, didn't she? There are enough of us piling on Robin for being messy YET AGAIN. We don't need to pull Jamie onto the bandwagon. Girlfriend just trying to make that paper.

Anyway, if you can find it and watch it for free, watch it. Watch it ALL. As one commenter quipped: "I swear I was waiting for the Funny or Die logo to pop up." So was I. It doesn't.