Category: Television & Radio

You Wanna See Stars? Don’t Look to Network TV

From a brief item at Fortune.com on “prime time [being] populated mostly by unfamiliar faces and unknown names.”

Hit shows today achieve only about a 25% share of the viewing audience. Ten years ago, top-rated Home Improvement captured 33%, and a decade before that The Cosby Show reached 50%….

This isn’t to say that there are no stars left on television. They just aren’t actors. Oprah Winfrey, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Bill O’Reilly, Larry King, and the broadcast network anchors are all bona fide stars. TV’s newest star is talk-show host Dr. Phil. And Donald Trump’s on the cover of TV Guide. No wonder the networks are in trouble.

Bad boys, What ‘ya gonna do?

From AP via the Santa Fe New Mexican

Mayor Martin Chavez says the television show Cops presents a bad picture of Albuquerque, and he’s banned it from filming in the city.

“The city’s police officers are portrayed in a good light, but the rest of the city looks horrible,” he said. “That has a real impact. That’s all people see, and that’s not who we are.”

Albuquerque has been featured on more than 40 episodes of the Fox series — more than any other city except Fort Worth, Texas, and the county around Tacoma, Wash. The series began in 1989.

Roots

The 12-hour mini-series Roots premiered on this date in 1977. According to the Encyclopedia of Television:

Roots remains one of television’s landmark programs….For eight consecutive nights it riveted the country. ABC executives initially feared that the historical saga about slavery would be a ratings disaster. Instead, Roots scored higher ratings than any previous entertainment program in history. It averaged a 44.9 rating and a 66 audience share for the length of its run. The seven episodes that followed the opener earned the top seven spots in the ratings for their week. The final night held the single-episode ratings record until 1983, when the finale of M*A*S*H aired on CBS….

Apprehensions that Roots would flop shaped the way that ABC presented the show. Familiar television actors like Lorne Greene were chosen for the white, secondary roles, to reassure audiences. The white actors were featured disproportionately in network previews. For the first episode, the writers created a conscience-stricken slave captain (Ed Asner), a figure who did not appear in Haley’s novel but was intended to make white audiences feel better about their historical role in the slave trade. Even the show’s consecutive-night format allegedly resulted from network apprehensions. ABC programming chief Fred Silverman hoped that the unusual schedule would cut his network’s imminent losses–and get Roots off the air before sweeps week.

Silverman, of course, need not have worried. Roots garnered phenomenal audiences. On average, 80 million people watched each of the last seven episodes. 100 million viewers, almost half the country, saw the final episode, which still claims one of the highest Nielsen ratings ever recorded, a 51.1 with a 71 share. A stunning 85% of all television homes saw all or part of the mini-series….Today, the show’s social effects may appear more ephemeral, but at the time they seemed widespread. Over 250 colleges and universities planned courses on the saga, and during the broadcast, over 30 cities declared “Roots” weeks.

NewMexiKen co-sponsored a symposium at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1979, that included Alex Haley, the author of Roots. Haley, who also wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X, was a very self-possessed and self-assured speaker, confident yet pleasant and informal. He spoke for some time without notes, telling the story about the story — that is, how he learned about his family. Along with the Archivist of the U.S. and Professor Wesley Johnson, I sat on the stage behind Haley as he spoke and could see the rapture on the faces of his listeners. To an audience of genealogists this was the Sermon on the Mount.

Nominees for the 10th annual Screen Actors Guild awards

Movies:

Actor: Johnny Depp, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”; Peter Dinklage, “The Station Agent”; Ben Kingsley, “House of Sand and Fog”; Bill Murray, “Lost in Translation”; Sean Penn, “Mystic River.”

Actress: Patricia Clarkson, “The Station Agent”; Diane Keaton, “Something’s Gotta Give”; Charlize Theron, “Monster”; Naomi Watts, “21 Grams”; Evan Rachel Wood, “thirteen.”

Supporting actor: Alec Baldwin, “The Cooler”; Chris Cooper, “Seabiscuit”; Benicio Del Toro, “21 Grams”; Tim Robbins, “Mystic River”; Ken Watanabe, “The Last Samurai.”

Supporting actress: Maria Bello, “The Cooler”; Keisha Castle-Hughes, “Whale Rider”; Patricia Clarkson, “Pieces of April”; Holly Hunter, “thirteen”; Renee Zellweger, “Cold Mountain.”

Cast performance: “In America,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” “Mystic River,” “Seabiscuit,” “The Station Agent.”

Television:

Actor in a TV movie or miniseries: Justin Kirk, “Angels in America,” HBO; Paul Newman, “Our Town,” Showtime; Al Pacino, “Angels in America,” HBO; Forest Whitaker, “Deacons for Defense,” Showtime; Jeffrey Wright, “Angels in America,” HBO.

Actress in a TV movie or miniseries: Anne Bancroft, “Tennessee Williams’ The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone,” Showtime; Helen Mirren, “Tennessee Williams’ The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone,” Showtime; Mary-Louise Parker, “Angels in America,” HBO; Meryl Streep, “Angels in America,” HBO; Emma Thompson, “Angels in America,” HBO.

Actor in a drama series: Peter Krause, “Six Feet Under,” HBO; Anthony LaPaglia, “Without a Trace,” CBS; Martin Sheen, “The West Wing,” NBC; Kiefer Sutherland, “24,” Fox; Treat Williams, “Everwood,” WB.

Actress in a drama series: Stockard Channing, “The West Wing,” NBC; Frances Conroy, “Six Feet Under,” HBO; Tyne Daly, “Judging Amy,” CBS; Jennifer Garner, “Alias,” ABC; Mariska Hargitay, “Law & Order: SVU,” NBC; Allison Janney, “The West Wing,” NBC.

Actor in a comedy series: Peter Boyle, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS; Brad Garrett, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS; Sean Hayes, “Will & Grace,” NBC; Ray Romano, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS; Tony Shalhoub, “Monk,” USA.

Actress in a comedy series: Patricia Heaton, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS; Lisa Kudrow, “Friends,” NBC; Debra Messing, “Will & Grace,” NBC; Megan Mullally, “Will & Grace,” NBC; Doris Roberts, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS.

Ensemble in a drama series: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS; “Law & Order,” NBC; “Six Feet Under,” HBO; “The West Wing,” NBC; “Without a Trace,” CBS.

Ensemble in a comedy series: “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS; “Frasier,” NBC; “Friends,” NBC; “Sex and the City,” HBO; “Will & Grace,” NBC.

Mary Tyler Moore…

was born in Brooklyn on this date in 1936 (some sources say 1937).

From The Museum of Broadcast Communications, The Encyclopedia of Television:

On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Moore played Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman “making it on her own” in 1970s Minneapolis. MTM first pitched her character to CBS as a young divorcee, but CBS executives believed her role as Laura Petrie was so firmly etched in the public mind that viewers would think she had divorced Dick Van Dyke (and that the American public would not find a divorced woman likable), so Richards was rewritten as a woman who had moved to the big city after ending a long affair. Richards landed a job working in the news department of fictional WJM-TV, where Moore’s all-American spunk played off against the gruff boss Lou Grant (Ed Asner), world-weary writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod) and pompous anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). In early seasons, her all-male work environment was counterbalanced by a primarily female home life, where again her character contrasted with her ditzy landlady Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman) and her New York-born neighbor and best friend, Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper). Both the show and Moore were lauded for their realistic portrayal of “new” women in the 1970s whose lives centered on work rather than family, and for whom men were colleagues rather than just potential mates. While Moore’s Mary Richards’ apologetic manner may have undermined some of the messages of the women’s movement, she also put a friendly face on the potentially threatening tenets of feminism, naturalizing some of the decade’s changes in the way women were perceived both at home and at work.

Decline of Western Civilization

From the Tuesday Morning Quarterback

Proof on the Decline of Western Civilization

At 11 p.m. ET during the Pats-at-Jets broadcast, ESPN offered viewers an online poll. Within minutes, 215,120 voted. This means at least 215,120 people were watching television and using their computers simultaneously — at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night.

More Proof on the Decline of Western Civilization

Television ads for the new Nissan Titan mega-pickup say at the bottom in tiny type, SIMULATED DEMONSTRATION. A “simulated” demonstration? “Demonstration: the act of showing or making evidence; conclusive evidence, proof.” (American Heritage Dictionary.) “Simulation: an imitation, a sham; the assumption of a false appearance.” (American Heritage Dictionary.) Something that is simulated cannot be a demonstration; simulations are, by nature, phony.

Fans of Dharma & Greg…

may or may not know that at the end of each episode Chuck Lorre posted a Vanity Card with a few thoughts — whatever was on his mind. All 107 of those cards, which appeared for only two seconds at the end of each show, are on line. Some are amusing, some are clever, some are thoughtful, some are worthless. Together they’re rather interesting.

The Regina Monologues

From BBC News

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair will make his debut in US animated comedy The Simpsons on Sunday.

Mr Blair, who is said to be a big fan of the show, recorded his dialogue in April for an episode in which Homer Simpson meets him in London.

Actor Sir Ian McKellen and Harry Potter author JK Rowling appear alongside in the show, called The Regina Monologues.

“[D]ocudramas are the enemy of thought, history, fact, and public understanding”

Easterbrook

Even if the show was totally fair to the Reagans, Easterblogg is glad CBS cancelled it, because all docudramas should be cancelled. News programs are good and pure fiction is fine; docudramas are the enemy of thought, history, fact, and public understanding. When a viewer sees something in a docudrama, he or she has no way of knowing, not the slightest clue, whether what’s being presented is real or fabricated. Docudrama producers claim they are driving at “higher truth,” blah, blah, but what they are driving at is lower drek.

Simpsons news ticker

From Wired News: Furthermore

Simpsons creator Matt Groening says Fox News threatened to sue the makers of his popular animated series over a spoof of its news ticker. Interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air, Groening said the news channel backed down because it would have meant suing its sibling channel, Fox Entertainment. The episode showed a rolling news ticker at the bottom of the screen that read, “Pointless news crawls up 37 percent … Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com … Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer … Dow down 5,000 points … Study: 92 percent of Democrats are gay … JFK posthumously joins Republican Party … Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple …” Fox News, however, denied the charges. “We are scratching our heads over here. We liked the cartoon,” a Fox News spokesman told The Independent.

Wheel – of – Fortune!

It’s pretty exciting having the Wheelmobile here in ‘Burque.

“What is the Wheelmobile? It’s 32-feet long, 13 feet high and bright yellow. It rolls through cities, down highways and into America’s heartland. Wherever it stops, huge crowds are waiting. It’s giving fans all over the country the chance to try out for America’s favorite game show.The Wheelmobile serves as the preliminary screening process before the final Wheel of Fortune contestant audition.

What happens at a Wheelmobile event? Thousands of fans fill out applications and gather in front of stage with a traveling version of the famous Wheel and Puzzle board. Applications are drawn at random throughout the event, calling individuals on stage in groups of five to participate in a brief interview, play a version of the Wheel of Fortune speed-up round and win special show-themed prizes.”

Indirect Aggression

Also from The Atlantic:

It’s not just murder and mayhem that are linked to childhood exposure to TV violence. So are gossip, petty theft, and backstabbing—but only among girls. Researchers at the University of Michigan recently examined the relationship between TV-violence viewing among children aged six to ten and their behavior fifteen years later, and the researchers’ findings suggest that childhood exposure to TV violence (along with a tendency to identify with aggressive TV characters and a belief that the violence seen on TV accurately represents real life) better predicts adult aggressiveness than does a child’s initial aggressiveness, intellectual ability, or parents’ educational background. But whereas exposure to violence on TV correlates with adult physical aggression in men and women alike, it correlates more strongly with “indirect aggression” in women. Thus girls exposed to considerable TV violence are more likely not only to grow up to shove, punch, beat, or choke other people but also to try to talk their friends into disliking someone who has angered them.

MTV mouth-to-mouth resuscitation

“Thursday’s big make-out scene [at the MTV Video Music Awards] between Madonna and Britney Spears (and Christina Aguilera, which, tragically, didn’t get the same coverage) lasted only about a half-second. In that short time, men all over America lurched from their chairs. Mothers moved to shield the eyes of youngsters. Frat boys high-fived. Fathers reached for their TiVo remotes.” Tony Hicks in the Contra Costa Times.