Forget fauxlebrities, when it comes to a long-lasting career, Pauly Shore says it's all about real talent. The actor and comedian, who stars in the forthcoming Showtime variety special, "Pauly Shore's Vegas is My Oyster," sees right through celebrities like Kim Kardashian and the "Jersey Shore" gang and longs for the bygone era when people had talent, not just fame.
“At the end of the day, the talent wins,” Shore explains. “At the end of the day, people from the "Jersey Shore" or the Kardashians eventually might go away because they are not really actors, they are not in it for the creative, they are more in it for the fame."
For Shore, his focus is on bringing back the old school variety show -- in which raw talent is the only thing actors can rely on.
“The issues I have with a lot of specials is they bring out people they don’t know, but in the old days of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis it was very much like all these guys were having a good time,” Pauly tells me. “Adam Sandler does this in a lot of his films -- he puts his friends in stuff.”
The special includes comedians Tom Green, Bobby Lee, Andy Dick, Charlie Sheen's former goddess, Bree Olson and Jesse James' mistress, Michelle ‘Bombshell’ McGee (who, he says, "couldn’t act for sh-t").
“Growing up in the business with my mom [Mitzi Shore], I have developed relationships for 40 years. These folks, they are my friends on and off-camera,” Pauly tells me.
And although Shore wouldn’t outright say if he was a fan of comedian Kathy Griffin or Chelsea Handler, he did tell me that he is happy for anyone who finds success in such a difficult business.
But Shore did admit that he is a fan of at least one living comedian, Chris Rock; “he is really smart and makes me laugh. But to me, all the good ones are dead. Richard Pryor was the best.”
Although Shore has a point when it comes to reality TV stars' fading spotlight, the sun only seems to be rising in the house of the Kardashians and "Jersey Shore" crew.
Don't forget to catch "Pauly Shore's Vegas is My Oyster" on Showtime, August 6th.