46 posts in the News Category63rd Primetime Emmy Award Nominations The 2011 Emmy Award nominations (brief). Emmy Awards Abrams officially commits to raping Star Trek's dead body J. J. Abrams has officially signed up to helm Star Trek "2" (aka Star Trek 12, aka Not Really Star Trek Just A Massive Cliche Waiting To Gently Rape Your Fond Childhood Memories). J. J. Abrams, Star Trek 12 Keith Olbermann's "indefinite" suspension ends after just four days Keith Olbermann's "indefinite" suspension will only end up lasting four days, covering two shows, and it was never going to turn out any differently than this. Keith Olbermann, MSNBC Is this how the long struggle ends for MGM? MGM's creditors are nearing a deal with Spyglass Entertainment to run the studio after converting a majority of the $4 billion in debt to equity. MGM, Stargate BP turns to Hollywood for ideas to stop oil gusher James Cameron has been brought in to brainstorm ideas for stopping the oil gusher in the Gulf. Has it really come to that? James Cameron CBS dumps Ghost Whisperer and six other shows ABC dumps seven shows including a few that surprised THR's James Hibberd. ABC, Cold Case, Ghost Whisperer, Upfronts Google's coming set-top box may run Android apps Google's push into home entertainment may involve a TV set-top box that will stream from flash drives, the Internet, open the floodgates for new Android applications to run on your television. Chuck, 'V', Human Target renewed, Flash Forward canceled, 15 new shows ordered.. Chuck, V, Human Target, Lie to me reportedly renewed for another season, Flash Forward canceled, and more upfront news. Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Flash Forward, Human Target, Lie to Me, Two and a Half Men, Upfronts, V FOX developing American-ized Torchwood THR is reporting that FOX is developing an American version of the British sci-fi show Torchwood, but it's already got problems. FOX, Torchwood Polanski went back on his settlement with rape victim A link to a list of Hollywood celebs demanding the release of child rapist Roman Polanski, and news that he agreed to settle a civil suit with his victim but never even paid up. Roman Polanski DTV transition delay fails While the Senate passed a six-month delay for the analog TV cutoff, the House refused to follow today making the February transition inevitable. Digital TV MSNBC Extends Keith Olbermann's Contract NBC-Universal has renegotiated Keith Olbermann's contract which keeps the Countdown host with MSNBC through 2013 for an estimated $7.5 million per year. Keith Olbermann, MSNBC Polls show Obama takes second debate from McCain Last night's debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama was won handily by the D.C. newcomer, according to snap polling conducted by CBS last night. Barack Obama, John McCain, Politics South Park's "Chef" passed away Sunday The voice of Chef on South Park passed away on Sunday of unknown causes. Isaac Hayes, South Park Comic Con: Thursday & Friday Part 1 The Thursday and Friday news roundup, part 1 with more to come later tonight. Comic Con Comic Con 2008 daily roundup Comic Con daily roundup for Wednesday, July 23rd. Comic Con Crazy big Comic Con roundup Comic Con daily news roundup for July 18th-22nd. Comic Con Comic Con 2008 daily roundup A roundup of 2008 Comic Con news for Thursday, July 17th 2008. Comic Con Comic Con 2008 daily roundup A daily roundup of Comic Con 2008 news for Wednesday, July 16th. Comic Con Comic Con 2008 daily roundup A roundup of 2008 Comic Con news for Tuesday, July 15th 2008. Comic Con Comic Con 2008 web coverage A one-stop-shop for 2008 Comic-Con in San Diego coverage from across the web. Comic Con Goodbye Don SG-1 anchor Don S. Davis passed away over the weekend, which makes the upcoming Stargate Atlantis S5 premier a bit of a sad celebration. Don S. Davis, Stargate SG-1 George Carlin passed away Iconic comedian George Carlin passed away Sunday George Carlin Media Pundit hits the big 100k The Media Pundit reaches 100,000 views just before the first year anniversary. AP stories embargoed until further notice After the Associated Press' attack on bloggers, they are no longer welcome here at The Media Pundit. Clinton's loss is a win for creative freedom Hillary Clinton's failed presidential campaign is a small victory for those who oppose media censorship, at least for now. Censorship Massive fire at Universal Studios (Pictures) A large fire has consumed a film vault and a number of iconic sets at Universal Studios, their seventh fire in their nearly 100 year history. Universal Studios A Post By... There are a number of things I'd love to write about later today now that everyone is back home and recovering from the long weekend. It seems that Twitter's well earned reputation for failure is being looked after with the shutdown of the instant message gateway on Friday that was supposed to be back up on Saturday, but here we are heading into Tuesday and it's still dead. It's too bad they've established themselves so well (like a TiVo or Windows) that it's really not possible for a competitor to come in and challenge them immediately, because lord knows they could desperately use some competition.This may be petty and to a lot of people completely irrelevant and boring, but it's... Journalism may be a relic in history In liberated Afghanistan, a journalist who "insulted Islam" has been sentenced to death. Unless you looked for it, you'd never even know how bad the world really is. Citizen Journalism Hans Reiser found guilty Linux file system programmer Rans Resier found guilty of murdering a woman that hasn't even been shown to be dead. Hans Reiser Great things coming out of Six Apart Six Apart buys an ad network and releases a fantastic Facebook application. How few years will WordPress have left at this rate? Movabletype, Six Apart Another striking writer hit by car Back when the writers strike began, it was reported that one impatient studio employee had hit a picketer with his SUV and thrown this guy for a ride. Other writers pulled the guy out of his car and took his keys, after which he ran away and hid inside the building while police were called. The picture on the right ought to give you an idea how of bad that "accident" could have been, but should also have served as a warning about the apparent psychotic nature of office bugs working inside these monolith corporations.Another writer, this time Law & Order: Criminal Intent showrunner Rene Galcer was struck by a car on Tuesday, then physically assaulted by the driver... After 9/11, NBC wanted "Cops", got "Predator" instead There's an interesting story running from Reuters featuring some unflattering accusations from a former Dateline reporter that NBC rejected his ideas for shows investigating the origins of Islamic fundamentalism and al-Qaeda in favor of fluff pieces that "should instead focus on the firefighters and perhaps ride along with them a la 'Cops.'"John Hockenberry pitched these ideas after September 11th 2001, and claims he was shot down by Jeff Zucker.... Dateline, NBC Girls dreams screwed by stupid parents and souless business I love watching Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" segment every night, and if I could nominate somebody or something, it'd have to be a retail clothing outlet called Club Libby Lu. They held an essay contest of some sort with a set of concert tickets to a Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana concert as the prize, which this girl and her parents won, only to find out the essay lied about the little girls supposedly dead father.The result while not unexpected, was cruel and despicable nonetheless.... SAG Awards gets strike waiver Now isn't this interesting: the Writers Guild of America has granted SAG a wavier for its award show, meaning WGA writers can now participate without breaking the guilds strike rules. I love the gesture and thought they should have done it no matter what, but doesn't it seem a little bit like ass kissing between the two?Writers stand to gain immeasurably from a SAG strike -- if and when there is a SAG strike -- in the summer of next year when their contract comes up for renewal. Kiss kiss, hug hug, lots of love!Officials from other bashes -- including the Golden Globes and Academy Awards -- are scrambling to obtain similar waivers from the WGA, which has been on... SAG, WGA Citizen Kane script barely bags MBA minimums Quick and ironic news about the sale of Orson Welles' script for Citizen Kane:Orson Welles' personal working script of "Citizen Kane" sold for almost $100,000 Tuesday, but his Oscar for the 1941 film was withdrawn after bidding failed to rise above the seller's minimum price.Am I the only one noting that he'd probably have gotten more money for that script if it were sold today, just because of where the (now old) minimum wages are set? Apparently people think so little the value of a priceless script like that, that a studio would have to pay probably a shade more than that bare minimum just to buy the darn thing no matter how little or great they valued it.Personally, I... Variety says writers are being mean You'd think that one of Hollywood's top trade mags would be thrilled over a strike by any of the big unions, as insiders and others turn to their pages as an authoritative source for what's going on, who wants what, and when it'll all come to an end. Something to be proud of, and a fantastic opportunity to raise your profile beyond reporting which studio bought which script and which over paid actor just signed a record deal for a movie nobody wants to go see.And you'd be wrong.Variety published a faux story Wednesday that reads more like an impassioned op-ed from the editor that amounts to begging writers to stop being mean to them. While Brian Lowry acknowledges the... Variety, WGA Paramount and Warner Bros. Making Fools of Themselves While Paramount, Warner Brothers, and the other studios refuse to grant writers a four-cent-per-disc increase in DVD residual fees (they currently only get four - they want eight) saying it would cost them too much and that such demands are completely out of the question, the two named companies have hatched a plan to sell DVDs in China at the price of - get this - $3 per disc, to stave off mass street piracy where counterfeit units are going for half that much.They can't give writers a four cent raise, but they can afford to chop between 80-85% off the asking price to prop up sales overseas. They can't possibly be serious..Whatever the price, the studios have come to... Paramount, Warner Brothers Update On The Picketer Struck By Car I just found a story posted on Defamer from a couple of days ago that fills in some missing pieces about the writer who was hit by a car while walking the picket line (two days ago) in front of Sunset-Gower Studios. I did note in the strike news update this afternoon that the writer (Tom Johnson) ended up with a broken leg, but thankfully sustained no critical injuries. I didn't know what the surrounding circumstances were such as whether or not the driver fled the scene.Turns out that's exactly what happened.(Defamer) quoting a local ABC affiliate, whitenesses said that the driver was corralled by other picketing writers immediately after the accident and took away his keys so he couldn't... Michael Eisner Calls Writers' Strike "Stupid", Says They Can't Afford To Pay Writers More -- Time Warner Announces $1 Billion Profit On Huge Summer Box Office $250 Million dollars -- About 1/28th what Time Warnermade this year.Two different stories from two different corporations on two different websites emerged today, that when put together, says all you need to know about why the writers are striking right now and how dishonest and pathetic the major studios are. Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner was on Wall Street today telling the stock market bigwigs that the writers' strike is "insanity" and "too stupid", according to The Hollywood Reporter, that "writers had been premature in pressing for digital revenue when the model was still unproven, and should have postponed action for at least three years."NBC and Fox recently initiated a beta test of their new video publishing website called Hulu.com... Michael Eisner, Time Warner, WGA Sony and Marvel Raking It In This Year When negotiations began between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) this year, the WGA accused the AMPTP of selling one story to them, and exactly the opposite story to wallstreet. Claiming to the writers that hardly any TV show or film made a profit, that they should stop receiving residual payments until after the studio has recouped its costs to produce the material in question, then producers would then turn to wallstreet and brag about record earnings and golden prospects for future profit.The producers denied every having done this, only they're doing it right this very second, with the most recent entrant bragging about its earnings just a day after... Marvel, Sony, Spider-Man 3 Viacom Raking It In This Year Viacom owns many of the companies that are represented by the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade group that took such a hard line against the Writers Guild of America this fall that a strike has been called beginning Monday, after which no new writing will be done until a new contract is signed. While browsing around this morning on the light weekend news, I found a post on Defamer pointing to something in Variety where Viacom is bragging about its awesome financial earnings this year and how it is just rolling in the money.Viacom crows about the "phenomenal success" of "new global brand Transformers" that helped lift their net income by 80 percent, forgetting to transfer... Defamer, Viacom Mike Davidson - RAM Arbitrage They say that when you start a blog, you should fine a niche and not deviate from it, but they also say you should look at what your competition does, and do something else. Rather than focus on television or film, both of which are extensively covered, I've tried to converge the two into a "media brief" theme over the first three months, though I hope to expand just a little bit as time moves on to other things I know people might be interested in, like Apple ripping people off.I've never been a fan of Apple because for what seems like eternity, their hardware has cost more while really under performing compared to PC's. Our stuff may not be... Apple One Drunk Actor That Wasn't So Lucky Kelsey Grammer, Michele Rodriguez, Kiefer Sutherland, Daniel Day Kim, Lindsay Lohan, the list of irresposible drunk, rich actors is nearly endless. Luckily for those of us that can't afford the pay for the medical expenses caused by a car accident, most of these jerks don't end up hurting anyone but their own really expensive cars. Lane Garrison who was in the first season of Prison Break, and a little bit of the second, got behind the wheel and ended up with one dead kid and another severely injured, because they were just as retarded as he was and got in a car with a drunk in the first place.Garrison is now going to pay for what he's done, as they... Lane Garrison Britney Spears and J.K. Rowling Have Something in Common Having a lot of money usually means never having to hear the word 'no', such is the case with Britney Spears who has become so spoiled and disgusting that even not being able to see her own children won't stand in the way of her treating the rest of us commoners like so much dirt she rolls around in while high, drunk, naked, and probably puking all at the same time.A source told US Weekly: "[Spears] paid her [monitor] no attention or respect at all, as if she were some employee whom she could blow off. "Britney’s often distracted and in her own world when she has the kids and has a hard time focusing. She is adamant that she... Britney Spears, J. K. Rowling Joss Whedon Speaks on Fox Shutdown of Fan Gathering News has been circulating the web over the past few days about how a number of fan gatherings have been shutdown by Fox, generating a great deal of negative press for virtually no gain for the studio (we're not talking about the broadcast network here.) Short story: Joss Whedon wrote an episode of his series Buffy The Vampire Slayer called "Once More, With Feeling", which was a musical - one that was nominated for an Emmy, Hugo, Nebula, and won a Golden Reel Award.Buffy was nominated 99 times and won 30 awards in seven seasons, just in case you were thinking this show was pure corn.Fans gather and sing along with the songs that Whedon wrote specifically for the episode... Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Fox, Joss Whedon |
