A former cable TV staff member dropped by TNKR's office today. This is TNKR's second office. When we first moved into our first office in 2016, he donated some items, mainly a microwave office that we still have.
His gift today: A testimonial about how difficult I was for the TvN staff to deal with.
Apparently everyone (other than Casey Lartigue) featured by TvN has opened up their lives and homes for the cameras.
I said "no thank you." Not only that, but I didn't want them to feature me. As I said: "It would be better to highlight the organization instead of me." That was in 2016, when TNKR's future was uncertain, and needed a boost more than my ego does. They tried to convince me, but I said no. I would prefer to stick my head in a lion's mouth.
I mention this because I have heard grumbling in recent years about how much I get featured in media, with some people complaining that I don't give Eunkoo or others a "chance." People who think I embrace media should talk to some of the people who worked me to get prepared for interviews. I am quite fine with walking off the set or telling a reporter he or she has asked a stupid .
I am not a TV staffer, and TV producers and directors have no obligation to put anyone on TV, or to listen to my advice about how they should conduct their shows (which I don't give, by the way, I just answer their questions).
What I can control is how they will have me participate. And as the former TvN staff member informed Eunkoo, I was very difficult to deal with. Eunkoo said she didn't remember me being difficult to deal with, but then she experiences that every day, so perhaps it just seemed to be a regular work day for her.
When media comes knocking on my door, I will answer. Typically, the response is: "WHO IS IT?" It is difficult to deal with me, because I know they want to entertain their viewers, and they figure they can use me for that purpose. As Richard Pryor would have said: They are not going to get a reputation off of me!
I remember telling those TV people: 'Most of you probably won't even be at TVN in a few years, but this video will still be available. So if I let you use me like a puppet, then TNKR can suffer later.'
And I was right. Most of those the staff members were gone after a short time, several were on short-term contracts. They had the short term interest of producing a good TV show, and I had the long-term concern about TNKR.
Now before people start complaining about TvN, they were acting like typical TV people, so save your outrage! And despite the behind-the-scenes battles, they still produced a fantastic show. I had stuck my head in a lion's mouth again, enduring just bad breath, not death.
Anyway, here's the video.
And a column where I mentioned some of this, and got criticized by some for being arrogant.