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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Lou Dobbs leaves CNN
Lou Dobbs, the last of CNN’s original anchors, announced Wednesday that he was leaving the network, the Associated Press reported. Although Dobbs made his announcement just as I was beginning my commute home, I’m not suggesting he timed his exit to make me an hour late in getting the story on my blog — that would make me a conspiracy theorist.
“I will let you know when I set my course,” said Dobbs, explaining that the cable network had agreed to release him from his contract early. He added that he wanted to “contribute positively to a better understanding of the great issues of our day.”
“With characteristic forthrightness, Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere,” said CNN President Jon Klein. “We respect his decision.”
Are you upset that Dobbs, who has gained a lot of attention for his controversial stands on trade and immigration policy, is leaving CNN? Do you think he’ll end up at FOX News, as is rumored? Check out the video of Dobbs’ resignation and sound off below:
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Disabled actors upset about tonight’s ‘Glee’
Some disabled actors are speaking out against FOX TV’s “Glee,” which airs an episode tonight largely based upon the paraplegic character Artie, portrayed by Kevin McHale — an actor who, unlike Artie, does not have to use a wheelchair. The criticisms appear in an article from the Associated Press.
Robert David Hall, a longtime cast member of CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” heads a multi-union committee for performers with disabilities, according to the article. He suggests that fears of litigation, production slowdowns or viewer discomfort are poor reasons for casting non-disabled actors as disabled characters. “I’ve made my living as an actor for 30 years and I walk on two artificial legs,” Hall is quoted as saying.
“Glee’s” executive producer, Brad Falchuk, says plenty of wheelchair-using actors were auditioned for the part. “We brought in anyone: white, black, Asian, in a wheelchair,” he said. “It was very hard to find people who could really sing, really act, and have that charisma you need on TV.”
Casting controversy aside, I found tonight’s “very special” episode to continue the confusing slide in quality “Glee” was experiencing before its recent hiatus. The more pseudo-serious the show gets, the less funny and entertaining it becomes. Tonight’s effort seems more like an after-school special, except for the consequence-free introduction of pot-laced brownies to a bake sale — and didn’t the show just have an episode that hammered home how bad drugs are?
This exemplifies the schizophrenia problem from which “Glee” is suffering. It continues with the character assassination the writers are perpetrating on Jane Lynch’s Cheerios leader, Sue Sylvester. Will she be nice tonight? Or evil? Maybe this is the week in which she’ll be both … I won’t spoil it, except to note that the episode ends with a treacly Sue scene that, I guess, attempts to explain her odd behavior, but doesn’t do that at all.
Sue’s secret was not, as the winner of our recent TV Blog contest Gabe Hernandez guessed, that she is pregnant with newscaster Rod’s baby. Nice try, though. Enjoy that soundtrack CD, Gabe. You may want to just listen to it instead of watching tonight’s episode.
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