That’s true, actually. I was there at the NYC “gala,” and while it was sorta insane -- Sony took over the entirety of the Regal E-Walk multiplex in Times Square, so much so that I heard security guards turning people away who wanted to buy tickets to other movies, telling them to come back later when the box office would be open again. (My special embossed ticket to one of the many This Is It screenings happening simultaneously at the E-Walk was checked at least half a dozen times between the front door of the multiplex and the auditorium itself.)

But this is what happens when there’s a celebrity corpse with some meat still on it just begging to be picked off.

Anyway, the Gawker post went on to quote The New York Times, which summed up the lack of glitz and glamour in Times Square thusly:

That level of excitement was not visible in Times Square, where the V.I.P.’s for the 9 p.m. premiere screening at the Regal E-Walk Stadium 13 included Ice-T and Orianthi, the Australian guitarist featured in “This Is It.” But only one of the three midnight screenings there sold out. On 42nd Street outside the theater was a small delegation of protesters from This Is Not It, a group of disgruntled hard-core fans who say that the film presents a misleading portrait of Jackson as being relatively healthy before his death.

As I tweeted last night when I was leaving that first premiere screening, there were a lot of people lined up in the rain for the midnight screenings. But I guess there could have been more.

It was very exciting, actually -- well, you know, not -- because at the E-Walk we got to watch the arrivals at the L.A. premiere on the big screen via satellite. It was like some sort of D-list celebrity visual acuity test, because every time there was someone up there smiling a dazzling white ten-foot smile, I was like, Who the hell is that? Why are they famous? And it was almost always because the dubious celeb in question had been on American Idol or something. Literally the most famous person I recognized was Mary Hart, who is only famous for interviewing famous people.

Well, and then five minutes before the movie was set to start -- in both L.A. and NYC -- Will Smith showed up onscreen and started schmoozing with fans on the red carpet. And I thought, Ugh, are we gonna have to wait for Will Smith to find his seat in L.A. before we can start in New York?

At least we were better off than the poor folks in London and Cape Town, where it was the middle of the night.

Okay, one more thing about the ridiculous “gala” before I get to the best comment ever and then shut up: As the L.A. red carpet was winding down, a couple of guys pushed off into the sunset a glass case containing three of Michael Jackson’s suits, which had apparently been signing autographs or something. And all I could think was: David Niven’s fridge. Monty Python fans know what I’m talking about...

Anyway, commenter norbizness at Gawker posted:

I'm looking forward to the Huey Lewis documentary, If This Is It.

I’d see that, actually. I love Huey Lewis.