Although many a major celebrity/pop star has appeared as a guest star on a TV series (mostly conceding to Will & Grace or Friends), it’s typically not a good sign when he or she decides to do so after their cultural peak. A prime example of this was Lindsay Lohan’s multi-episode appearance as Betty’s (America Ferrera’s) former high school nemesis, Kimmie Keegan, on Ugly Betty.
At the time Lohan was struggling to regain credibility (and still is) after getting arrested for a DUI (not alcohol) and establishing her reputation as a drug and liquor-addicted party girl. Incidentally, 2007 was also the year of Britney’s notorious breakdown, spurred on by her now iconic head shaving.
And so, with Lohan’s reputation irrevocably tarnished, many studios were hesitant to sign her (she was especially abhorred by Georgia Rule producer James G. Robinson). Which is exactly why she found herself relegated to the fantastically lame TV role of Kimmie Keegan (her mean girl attempt had nothing on Rachel McAdams’). So catastrophic was the stint that the number of episodes Lohan was set to appear in got cut from six to four.
And now, here we are in 2015, where we find Britney putting out a “pretty” bad single, doing the whole retired performer in Vegas thing and, to cap it all off, agreeing to star as herself in the CW’s Jane the Virgin. It all smacks slightly of Lohan’s 2008 desperation. While Britney claims to be an enthusiastic viewer of the show (perhaps she was too busy being a bit cuckoo circa Ugly Betty‘s renaissance to catch the first wave of Latina-centric television), it seems an odd and unnecessary career choice in a series of many at the moment. But, at least she only has to play herself. Maybe she’s fine-tuned this impression since her cameo on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
