Who is Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf, and why is he #23 on this week's Lycos 50?
Well, Hank shows you what happens when two well-known Lycos 50 axioms collide. First, an appearance on Howard Stern will boost your popularity. Second, dead celebrities draw search traffic.
How can we describe the legendary Hank Nasiff, who died last week at the age of 39? Well, to be honest, he was angry, he was drunk all the time, and he was a dwarf. He was also one of the countless demi-celebrities (such as Crackhead Bob and Crazy Cabbie) that are part of Stern's show.
Hank is best known from a stunt a couple years ago, when Stern fans flooded the People magazine website and voted Hank the winner in People's "Most Beautiful People" poll. Thanks to his death, for one brief moment, his star shines brighter in the Internet firmament than that of Jennifer Lopez (#24). His death also puts his benefactor, Stern, back on the Lycos 50 at #36.
WITHER BRITNEY: Dragonball (#1) was back in its accustomed top position, but there were bigger stories just below it on this week's Lycos 50.
Last week, we speculated that Britney Spears (#7) might have a chance at the top spot after debuting her new single, "I'm a Slave 4 U," at Thursday's MTV Video Music Awards. Instead, she only moves up one slot. Very few Britney searches specified her VMA performance, in which she cavorted with a snake in a triumph of phallic imagery sure to be a hit with all her eight year-old fans.
Lycos users seemed to really yawn at the whole VMA experience in 2001. Last year, the Video Music Awards were #31 on the Lycos 50. This year they don't even come close to making the list, with less than half as many searches as #50 NASA.
BIG GETS BIGGER: In fact, the item to next topple Dragonball may not be Britney Spears, but rather Big Brother. Last week, the reality show surged to #4 thanks to interest in a new South African version. This week it goes up another two spots, no thanks to interest in that South African version.
Yes, this week, searches for Big Brother that specified South Africa dropped in half. But searches for Big Brother that didn't specify South Africa were up about 40 percent. So it seems that the interest this week was in the CBS Big Brother, which is now down to three contestants. The show also got a boost from this week's episode which showed ex-Survivor competitors discussing the reality TV life with the Big Brother folk.
Interest is building in specific Big Brother contestants. Unlike with most shows, it seems to be the male cast members who are popular, not the females. We received a lot of searches this week for Hardy (who was evicted this week) and Will, and not as many for Nicole and Monica.
Two new reality shows didn't make much of a dent on the Lycos search logs. The Amazing Race and Lost each had roughly the same number of searches, fewer than the white-bread WB drama Seventh Heaven or the University of Iowa.
ANNE EMOTION: She doesn't make the Lycos 50, but Anne Heche got a lot of Internet attention this week from her wacky interview on ABC. For those who didn't watch, Heche claims that she used to believe she spoke with aliens. She received as many searches this week as Carmen Electra, who incidentally used to be married to a man from another planet.
LOTTA LOTTERIES: Powerball is now a memory, dropping off the Lycos 50 entirely this week, but big state jackpots make some noise. The California Lottery (#33) is back after three winners split a Super Lotto prize on Wednesday worth $88 million. The Florida Lottery was also hot -- it gave away a $54 million jackpot on Wednesday.
SHORT SUBJECTS: Pigskin fans preparing for pro football week 1 made NFL #3 and fantasy football #9? Halloween (#11) keeps getting hotter -- it is 13 places higher than it was last year at this time -- and costumes (#21) enter the list for the first time this year? The recent wave of shark attacks (#16) made waves on Lycos again? Actress Angelina Jolie falls out of the Lycos 50 after 14 weeks.
NEW THIS WEEK: Shark attacks, costumes, Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf, California Lottery, Howard Stern, college football, NASA.
DROPOUTS: Powerball, Angelina Jolie, Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Barbie, Gary Condit, Martha Stewart.
BIGGEST RISE: Halloween, up 13 places to #11.
BIGGEST DROP: Madonna, down 23 places to #46. "Gee, thanks for the free HBO special, Madonna, we won't be needing you anymore."
There will be no Lycos 50 report on Wednesday due to the terrorist tragedies in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. We'll return Thursday.
