Ineptitude reaches new heights

TV Press Tour rather thoughtlessly ate severely into my surfing-the-web-in-search-of-really-embarrassing-things time, so I’m a little late in catching up to this scorchingly penetrating interview with Holly Hunter by what might just be a manatee in a human costume, but if you haven’t seen it yet, by all means, you must.

This is an absolute clinic in what not to do in front of TeeVee cameras. In four short – or agonizingly long, if you’re Hunter – minutes, our hostess with the leastest manages to:

* Mispronounce the word “Academy” right out of the gate, visibly causing the confidence to drain from her face and initiating the first in a series of awkward pauses.

* Say with insincere jollity, “Holly, thanks so much for joining us,” pause awkwardly, returning with another “Holly, thanks so much for joining us,” followed by yet another awkward pause, at which point you can hear the director in her earpiece imploring her to ask a question already, fer chrissakes.

* Squint long and hard at that teleprompter (yes, that is the English language there, young lady).

* Gush incessantly about how much she loves “Saving Grace” to the point of gibberish.

* Say, erroneously, that production has wrapped on the series. (Hunter corrects her gently.)

* Pause awkwardly twice again as the interview concludes.

* Get the premiere date wrong.

* Promote nbc.com even though she’s with ABC, prompting a squeal (of dismay?) in the background. (In all, however, that’s probably not such a bad thing for ABC, since anyone sitting through this is no doubt making a mental note to never visit nbc.com.)

Next up for our hapless interrogator: A job with the White House Press Corps.