Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
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Friday, December 8
Oprah.... the truth comes out she didn't give away anything..cars, books, bubble bath..all given away (read paid for) by the companies that make them.....oh yeah she gets first taste...
Overrated: Sammy Sosa
Underrated: Jeremy Piven
OT: What's with the Oprah haterade? I mean, no one ever said Oprah was giving cars away --- it's a f'in television show people, not a charity. If people can't afford the $30K gift just handed to them, so be it. Don't blame it on Oprah.
I think that R. Kelly is definitely given too much credit. C'mon people, this guy is a total creep, especially with that new(ish) song with the pipes of pan or flute or whatever that is. It's got such a "Come along with me kids, have some candy" vibe to it.
For underrated people, it really depends. Royko for people that deserve a park named after them, but I suppose everyone loves him sufficiently if his name comes up. Maybe Bobby Conn deserves a little more credit, and you can never get enough Studs Terkel.
Underrated:
Steve Walters, Doug Sohn, Jim O'Rourke
Jeremy Piven doesn't underrate himself. As much as I like him as an actor, I've heard enough "Don't you know who I am?!" stories about him to lower my opinion of him as a person.
Overrated: Ditka.
It pains me to say it, but Jen the Bachelorette is overrated. There, I said it.
Overrated: Jeff Tweedy (sorry, Jeff, it truly pains me)
Underrated: Archer Prewitt
Overrated:
John Cusak
Umphrey's McGee
Underrated:
Robin Robinson (she rocks the local Fox News)
Hmmmm.....those are the first that come to mind; I realize that I might get some flac about the John Cusak thing.
I don't know if he is overrated, but Bob Sirott has got to go on Chicago Tonight. Oh yeah, Billy Corgan sucks too. However, is he really overrated?? I'd call it washed up and willing to appear in or on any form of media. C'mon...baseball correspondent for XRT?? Billy, don't you have anything better to do?? Simease Dream rocked, but now you just suck.
i'm sorry, it just pains me to see "underrated" and "FOX news" used together in any context.
Underrated: John McEntire.
Hmmmm...which celebrity is most overrated...arent all celebrities overrated, isn't that the idea?
I can handle a Joe Mantegna
I'm thinking Jerry Springer belongs here somewhere.
Overrated: Billy Corgan
Underrated: Kevin Drumm
Overrated: Ron Santo, Joan Cusack, any reality show contestant
Underrated: Gary Sinise
Overrated: Billy Corgan.
Underrated: Frankie Knuckles.
Overrated: Anyone who really cares about celebrities. Specifically, I am thinking of the people who read Us or People magazines.
Underrated: Will Clinger, host of Wild Chicago (though I do have to say I liked Ben Hollis more)
Doctors, surgons, teachers, nurses are all underrated. People who do important work. Life saving work. Those are the people who are underrated.
Whatever Chris,
You're crazy! That song "Toxic", by Brittany Spears probably save more lives than your precious little "Doctors", if they are even real doctors.
And what about yesterday's celebs, the ones who we grew up with? Haven't pro wrestlers, MTV V-Jays, Sit-com stars, the cast on the show CHIPS and the many different phases of the Morrisey taught you anything?! Good God, where are your priorities?
all this time i thought wilco was underrated. then they hit it big and now they're overrated? c'mon now...
Overrated: last season's Apprentice Bill Rancic.
Underrated: Ken Nordine.
Overrated: Joan Cusak. Why is she so famous? Because of those US Cellular ads? Because of her half-assed sit-com that tanked? Because she's a Cusak? I don't get it.
Underrated: Jerry Bryant, host of JBTV.
Overrated: WILCO! WILCO! WILCO!!!!!!!!!!!
Gawd, could they be more boring? (I bet you they could!) I've said it time and time again, I just don't get it.
Underrated: Ana Castillo. That woman can write her ass off, yet Sandra Cisneros always gets the only props as Chicago's Latina author, like she's the only one or something...
Underrated: Jerry Bryant, host of JBTV.
Oh my god. Is that show still on?
i'm probably biased since i'm a wilco fan, but kate makes a good point. wilco's "summerteeth" was a fantastic pop album that went largely unheralded. next album, they've got a little record label drama, and pretty soon the press is saturated with wilco wilco wilco. doesn't make the music any different. but if you aleady think they're boring, i'm sure the excess of positive press would seem unwarranted.
however, plenty of reviews i read for "a ghost is born" weren't all that positive. which would make wilco not necessarily overrated but simply overexposed.
i'd like to second the motion for jerry bryant.
Most overrated: any local newscaster. C'mon people, we're a major city -- our newsreaders shouldn't be treated like stars! Let's get some real celebs!
Underrated: Steve Albini. Sure he can rub you the wrong way, but the integrity of his work (and his approach to it) is a model for how the arts would work in a better world. (Basically, he'll record any band, and charge them according to their ability to pay, so the milion-selling Nirvanas and Page & Plants of the world underwrite emerging artists. And he charges a flat fee, where most producers insist on a cut of the profits. Pretty f---in' cool in my book.)
underrated: Tom Skilling, best weather guy in the world.
Overrated: Bozo the Clown.
Underrated (while still alive): Ray Rayner.
Overrated: Michael Jordan. Get over yourself already. I swear, the man has no dignity. Also Brian Urlacher.
Underrated: I'll second the Tom Skilling nod. And add Steve Stone.
Underrated: Dennis Farina
Word to Tom Skilling.
WILCO!! Gawd, could they be more boring? (I bet you they could!) I've said it time and time again, I just don't get it. Ditto. I really want to like them but I lapsed into a coma watching them on Soundstage.
Underrated: Cathy Richardson
Overrated - a Mayor
Sure Chicago seems to be doing well now...but at what price? We shall see.
Overrated - Mayor Daley
Sure Chicago seems to be doing well now...but at what price? We shall see.
Overrated and dead: Al Capone
Underrated and dead: Louis Armstrong's Chicago Blues days
Overrated and living: LIZ PHAIR and David Schwimmer
Underrated and living: Arturo Herrera
overrated: Eric & Kathy - why do so many people listed to those morons?
underrated: Local God, Studs Terkel. Helmut Jahn for the IIT Campus. The Japanese Garden in Jackson Park.
underrated: H.H. Holmes
(although I suspect his notoriety will come to light when the Tom Cruise-produced movie version of The Devil and the White City is completed)
gotta cast my vote for WILCO as most overrated local celebs.
yuck.
i too have to had my props for Will Clinger. he rocks.
Whatever happened to Chris O'Donnell?
There aren't enough celebrities here to rate, over or under -- one of the more pleasant aspects to the city.
Underrated - Common
One of the greatest lyrical artist to hit the scene in a long time and no one gives him credit.
Overrated - Mayor Daley
Chicago's government is nothing but one great big political machine.
Overrated: Jim Belushi, Bernie Mack, Sammy Sosa
Underrated: Wilco, Common, Kanye West, Maglio Ordonez
overrated: Bill Curtis
underratted: Bill Curtis
Ira Glass!
thanks to naz this morning, reminding me in his front page blurb that i was wrong to say billy corgan was "by far the most overrated." i forgot about how overrated tim kinsella(s?) is. the OR kinsella(s?) is tim, the UR kinsella is mike. "by far."
Kurt Elling! One of the most remarkable male jazz vocalists of his generation, and a nice guy to boot.
Overrated- Sammy Sosa, Michael Jordan, Michelle Leigh (Fox News), Amanda Puck (AND the new Check Please lady...could they have picked more boring hosts?) R. Kelly dated a girl I went to high school with, she said he was boring (I'm sure he thought that golden showers could cure him of this trait).
Chris O'Donnell is neither over or underrated, he just plain sucks
Underrated- omg, I love that dude from Wild Chicago. Ira Glass. Second City alums. I know the Joan Cusack kind of jumped the shark with her commercials for the cell, but I still love her long time
Urban Ethos [26]
What is Chicago's "urban ethos"?
Cool Glass of... [16]
What're you drinking?
Supreme Decision [22]
What's your reaction to the Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act?
Taking it to the Streets [20]
Chicago Street Fairs: Revolting or Awesome?
I Can Be Cruel [9]
Be real: what is the meanest thing you've ever done?
robin.. / September 23, 2004 2:12 PM
oh, billy corgan is by far the most overrated. and it pains me to say so as i love their music and their work, but wilco is also being overrated. by the media! oh, the media!