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News coverage
November 19, 2008
Katie Couric has another "get" tonight
In case you haven’t noticed, CBS anchor Katie Couric is on a roll.
On the stiletto heels of her newsmaking interview with Republican veep hopeful Sarah Palin, Couric has landed the first sit-down with Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-Independent-turned-sometime-Republican.
Lieberman, a former Democratic vice-presidential nominee, threw his devoted support to John McCain during the presidential campaign. The Connecticut senator traveled with McCain, made speeches and fundraising pitches for McCain and even made a fervent case for his pal at the Republican convention.
The Democrats, with whom Lieberman officially caucuses, were not amused. But after a recent tongue-lashing by Democratic leaders, they decided to keep him in the mix.
Couric’s interview with Lieberman, his first since all this post-election shakedown, will air tonight on the “CBS Evening News” (5:30 p.m. on KEYE).
Meanwhile (and not in the same league at all), ABC’s Diane Sawyer has landed the first interview with disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s prostitute pal, Ashley Alexandra Dupre. That riveting sit-down will air Friday on “20/20” (9 p.m. KVUE).
“Masterpiece Classic” gets a new master
Laura Linney, a movie star who recently won an Emmy for her portrayal of Abigail Adams in the HBO miniseries “John Adams,” has been tapped to host of PBS’s “Masterpiece Classic.”
She will make her first appearance when the series premieres with a new adaptation of “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” on Jan. 4. The actress replaces of Gillian Anderson, who introduced the productions the first year “Masterpiece” decided to break its seasons into thirds. (“Masterpiece Theatre” and “Masterpiece Contemporary” are the others.)
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November 5, 2008
Election finale: Oh, what a night!
The old electronic campfire did its thing again last night, didn’t it?
Millions of us huddled around televisions, watching the returns and then experiencing history in the present as Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech and John McCain conceded. Holograms nothwithstanding (explanation to come), it was a swell night for viewing.
Those of us who have been sucked into this political drama for more than a year enjoyed the magic walls, the emotional scenes and even some of the analysis. CNN’s David Bergen remains my favorite — for his calm, intelligent and articulate observations.
The broadcast networks looked to be playing catch-up with the cable networks all night. After virtually ceding campaign coverage to cable news, the Big Three were left with offering mostly their top dogs’ perspectives and a few crowd scenes. Viewers who haven’t followed the election saga on CNN, Fox or MSNBC missed out on much of the story’s rich details.
Back to the hologram disaster: In case you missed it, CNN transported reporter Jessica Yellen from Chicago to the New York studio in the form of a hologram. Why? Because, technologically speaking, they could — but not very well.
Yellen seemed to shrink in her holographic form, and she was backed by an odd-looking light. Basically she looked like a cheaply made sci-fi flick. Several people compared her unfavorably to Princess Leia of “Star Wars.” Later in the evening, CNN hologrammed rapper Will.I.Am, too. He was equally unsuccessful.
Nielsen ratings combining broadcast and cable networks’ coverage were not available Wednesday morning, but experts predict the total will top the 64 million viewers who tuned in for 2004 election night. We should know later today or early Thursday morning.
Some experts believe entertainment ratings will benefit from the close of the election. A sizable number of viewers, these experts believe, abandoned regular prime-time fare to watch campaign developments on cable news. We won’t know the truth to that theory for at least a week.
In the mean time, the exciting political drama is over, and most of us will need some time to adjust our viewing and body clocks.
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November 4, 2008
Tonight's the night! What to expect on TV's election results
Are you ready for some results? Barring a mind-blowing disaster, we will find out who our next president will be tonight — possibly as early as 7 p.m.
And millions upon millions of Americans will hear the “calling” of the election on TV. Nearly 65 million viewers watched election returns four years ago. If viewership for the 2008 primary elections and presidential debates are any indication, considerably more millions will be tuned in for tonight’s historic showdown between Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain.
All of the cable and broadcast news networks will be dancing around their “magic walls” by 6 p.m. (Central Time). At that very moment, polls will be closed in two battleground states — Indiana and Virginia. If both of those states fall for Obama in a big way, we’ll see the anchors, reporters and pundits begin to salivate over an early call for victory.
At 6:30 p.m., two more big battlegrounds end their voting — Ohio and North Carolina. If McCain takes both of those states, look for insecurity among the folks who previously were prepping for a winner to be announced early. And at 7 p.m., after Florida, Pennsylvania and Missouri wrap things up, the suspense will either be gripping or the end will be clear.
Low-tech fun like Tim Russert’s grease-board, upon which he scrawled “Florida! Florida! Florida!” in 2000 will be replaced by dazzling high-tech gizmos. CNN broke ground with the digital “magic wall” map in the early primaries and apparently is flirting with introducing 3-D holograms of reporters in the field being beamed into the New York studio.
ABC is taking over Times Square for its network coverage, while NBC, as it has done before, is home-based at Rockefeller Center, where the outside Plaza’s ice rink has been tansformed into a U.S. map.
As it was in 2004, the political executives at cable and network news divisions will be favoring accuracy over speed. Nobody wants to be caught calling a state before it’s actually been tabulated. Projections, as we found in 2000, can be deadly wrong. That means an official winner shouldn’t be called before the polls are closed in the West (10 p.m. our time), but if the tally becomes lopsided, it wouldn’t take a genius at home to make a personal call and pop open the bubbly.
You can either flip around, as I’ll be doing, or settle in with one source. Here’s the lineup of, by now, very familiar faces:
Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer, George Stephanopoulos on ABC
Brian Williams on NBC
Katie Couric on CBS
Jim Lehrer on PBS
Shepard Smith on Fox TV
Brit Hume and Chris Wallace on Fox News Channel
Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and Campbell Brown on CNN
David Gregory, Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann on MSNBC
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October 23, 2008
Presidential campaign more fun to watch than reality TV, according to EW poll
A new Entertainment Weekly survey has found that 6 in 10 Americans find this election to be enormously entertaining. And the 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed estimate they spend a third of their TV time watching election coverage.
This has got to be terrific good news for cable news networks, where the overwhelming bulk of political coverage is found.
(The survey polled 1,004 Americans last weekend.)
The survey also found that half of all Americans said they are watching fewer prime-time shows due to the election coverage, which might explain lower ratings for several TV shows this fall.
In other ET poll findings:
Viewers like Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin (37.4 percent) on “Saturday Night Live” a little bit better than the Republican vice presidential nominee herself (37 percent). Among women (39 percent), viewers age 18 to 34 (45 percent) and Democrats (66 percent), Fey’s Palin is preferred over the real thing.
Of people whose favorite political spoofs are courtesy of “SNL,” “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report” or “Real Time with Bill Maher,” 3 in 10 respondents say they will watch less of these shows after the election.
Among the 18 to 34 age group, 31 percent said they are watching more election coverage because it’s more entertaining than regular TV series, especially reality shows.
More than 40 percent of respondents said the candidates’ appearances on talk shows have influenced their opinions.
More than half of those polled (53 percent) said celebrity endorsements have “some influence” on the candidates’ appeal. Those age 25 to 34 (59 percent) and Democrats (64 percent) were more likely to be influenced by celebrity endorsements.
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October 21, 2008
Kids pick the prez ... in a close one
Drop the balloons. It’s over.
Sen. Barack Obama has won Nickelodeon’s 2008 Kids Pick the President vote — but it was a close call.
Obama received 51 percent of the vote (1,167,087), and Sen. John McCain received 49 percent (1,129,945).
A record-breaking number of votes — more than 2.2 million — were cast in the network’s online poll. Kids voted online from Oct. 12-20.
Nickelodeon has held a kids’-vote every election year since 1988, and kids have correctly predicted the winner in four out of the last five U.S. presidential campaigns.
Linda Ellerbee, host of Nickelodeon’s Nick News, announced the winner on Monday.
“It’s important to take note of who won the ‘Kids’ Vote,’ simply because so many kids vote the way their parents will,” Ellerbee said in a statement after the election. “But what really counts is this: they participated in democracy. They voted. How can this be anything but good?”
This year’s Nickelodeon campaign kicked off in January with the first-ever “Kids’ Primary,” which resulted in kids accurately predicting senators Obama and McCain to win their respective party tickets.
During the next months, Nick News aired four election-themed episodes: “Kids Primary,” “Election Issues,” Tales from the Trail” and “Kids Pick the President.”
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October 16, 2008
Obama vs. McCain debate? Bob Schieffer won; McCain on Letterman tonight
Who won the last presidential debate? Bob Schieffer.
Yep, the veteran CBS News anchor/reporter from Texas nailed it.
PBS’s Jim Lehrer, who anchored the first encounter between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, looked like a deer in the headlights. He kept trying to get the two candidates to look and talk to each other, but that never happened. Frustration reigned.
Gwen Ifill, also of PBS, seemed to be over-run by vice presidential contenders Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. Republican Palin made it clear from the get-go that she would say what she wanted to say, regardless of the question, and Ifill never found a way to keep her on point.
At the helm of the second presidential debate, NBC’s Tom Brokaw did the best he could with audience questions, but he was better when he asked his own questions — which wasn’t the format of the town-hall debate.
But last night’s third and final presidential smackdown sailed along as it was supposed to, thanks to the steady hand and determined questioning of Schieffer. When Obama or McCain veered off topic, Schieffer ordered them back. And when time was up, he politely but firmly cut them off.
Controlling the direction and format of a debate is the moderator’s function, and no-nonsense Schieffer did a spectacular job. Cheers to you, Deputy Dog.
All’s forgiven on Letterman? Maybe not.
John McCain hits the hot seat on “The Late Show With David Letterman” tonight (10:30 p.m. on CBS) after stiffing the show at the last minute for a scheduled appearance on Sept. 24.
Letterman has been slamming McCain ever since — not because the Arizona senator bailed but because he fudged about it at the time. McCain, who has been a frequent guest over the years and informally announced his candidacy on the show, told the host he had to “rush back to Washington” to take care of the economic crisis.
But while Letterman was taping his show, he learned that McCain had not gone back to D.C. but, in fact, was a few blocks away doing a live interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric. McCain remained in New York the following day for a United Nations event.
“This doesn’t smell right,” Letterman said on air. “This is not the way a tested hero behaves. I think someone’s put something in his Metamucil.”
Letterman has been steaming for weeks now, so it will be amusing to see if McCain grovels, if Letterman forgives … or if sparks will fly between the two hot-heads.
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October 15, 2008
Last debate, UT's ABC Campus News has on-air debut and Chocolate News
The third and final presidential debate (tonight at 8 on every conceivable channel) could be make-or-break time for John McCain, with former KTBC and KEYE anchor Neal Spelce offering advice (again) to the Republican nominee.
Spelce’s tip for McCain to avoid looking at Democrat Barack Obama in the first debate produced nothing but criticism, so we’ll see how things go this time.
The debate will cover domestic issues, which probably means a sharp focus on our swooning economy. CBS veteran Bob Schieffer will moderate. The trio is scheduled to sit elbow-to-elbow at a table, which will either make the debate more comfortable or more awkward.
‘ABC’s World News Now’ airs story from UT’s Campus Bureau
A student-produced news story about the political sign controversy on UT aired nationally overnight last Thursday on “ABC News’ World News Now.”
The story was reported by UT’s campus bureau chief Sara Loeffelholz, a broadcast journalism senior in the School of Journalism. Joseph Millares, a broadcast journalism senior, was the story videographer and editor.
ABC News’ UT campus bureau was established this fall to educate and mentor talented college students. It is one of five university bureaus across the country.
‘Chocolate News’
David Alan Grier is one funny, talented guy. But his new Comedy Central newsmagazine spoof “Chocolate News” is sketchy — and not in a good way.
The “In Living Color” alum takes on news and pop culture from an Afrocentric perspective. Some of it is hilarious; most of it is cringe-producing. Grier serves as the pompous anchor and also appears as multiple characters in the news segments.
The premiere is tonight at 9:30, so if you’re sick of debate analysis, see for yourself.
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September 30, 2008
First prez debate ratings disappoint; First veep debate likely to sizzle
Here’s the debate I’m dying to see: Sarah Palin vs. Tina Fey.
Seriously, wouldn’t that be fantastic? We’d never be able to tell who was making points and who was making gaffes because the two women look like identical twins. But it sure would be entertaining, don’t you think?
The real vice presidential debate, in case you’ve been orbiting Mars, is Thursday night at 8. Palin and Joe Biden will face off in what very well could be a bigger TV event than last Friday’s first showdown between John McCain and Barack Obama.
In spite of all the hysteria surrounding that first debate, the audience Friday turned out to be considerably smaller than anticipated. Nielsen says 52.4 million viewers tuned into the first McCain-Obama debate. So it wasn’t even one of the Top 10 presidential debates. The President Carter vs. Ronald Reagan set-to in 1980 drew a whopping 80.6 million, and the first George Bush vs. John Kerry debate in 2004 drew more than 60 million.
Of course Friday’s debate was still a blockbuster, grabbing the biggest rating since the Super Bowl in February. Considering the McCain-Obama debate was on a Friday night, traditionally a pitiful night for TV, and considering nobody knew if McCain would even participate (remember, he was hunkered down in D.C. monitoring the economic crisis), that’s not so bad.
I bet the Palin-Biden match will be huge — partly because it’s on Must-See Thursday night but also because Palin remains something of a mystery.
All Newman all day on Saturday, Oct. 12
Turner Classic Movies tips its hat to legendary movie star Paul Newman on Oct. 12, with back-to-back films for 24 hours.
Newman, who died of lung cancer last Friday, certainly has enough fabulous flicks to warrant an entire day of watching.
Among those to be featured: “Cool Hand Luke,” “Somebody Up There Likes Me,” “Torn Curtain,” “Exodus,” “Hud,” “Rachel, Rachel,” “Sweet Bird of Youth,” “The Outrage” and, of course, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
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September 26, 2008
Presidential candidates gobble up new TV season
The poor, pitiful fall TV season continues to be upstaged by presidential politics.
David Letterman, who has had many fun late-night chats with John McCain, is on an anti-McCain crusade since the Republican stiffed “The Late Show” Wednesday night.
McCain canceled a scheduled appearance at the last minute because he said he had to return to Washington, D.C. right away. During the taping of Letterman’s show, which happens at 5:30 p.m., the host learned that McCain actually was a couple of blocks away doing a live interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric.”
“This smells funny,” a clearly ticked off Letterman told viewers.
And again last night Letterman railed about McCain, telling guest Paris Hilton he thinks McCain must be “losing his marbles.”’
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the dramatic, suspense-filled, who-knows-what’s-happening nature of the campaign is trumping everything from the debut of news series to the return of old favorites. The new stars are not Simon Baker or Christian Slater but John McCain and Barack Obama.
Will there be a debate tonight, as planned by the Presidential Debate Commission and the two campaigns? Apparently so, but it’s 11 a.m. and that could change twice before tonight.
Tonight is the first scheduled presidential debate (at 8 p.m.), and “NewsHour” anchor Jim Lehrer is ready with his questions. The agreed-upon topic was foreign relations and national security. But given the current economic crisis, the economy likely will move front and center. Lehrer is more than capable of switching gears.
McCain had decided Wednesday that he wouldn’t participate in a debate until a bail-out agreement was reached on Capitol Hill. As of early this morning, McCain was still a question mark.
So, one podium or two? An alternative format has been proposed by the commission that would turn an Obama-only debate into more of a town hall meeting, with the audience allowed to submit questions through Lehrer.
But the prospect of Obama having 90 minutes of air time on every single news channel without McCain present would have been a disaster for the Republican. Now McCain says he’s coming.
Stay tuned …
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September 19, 2008
Obama and McCain take over '60 Minutes' season opener
In case there’s anyone left in the United States of America who doesn’t know enough about the two men running for president, “60 Minutes” is devoting its entire hour this weekend to interviews with Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.
The program airs Sunday at 6 p.m. (or possibly later, depending on the preceding football game) on CBS … right before ABC’s all-night Emmy Awards telecast.
“60 Minutes” is beginning its 40th season and its first in high-definition. The old show has managed to remain relevant for a very long time, consistently earning ratings in the Nielsen Top 10 and consistently doing fine work. Kudos.
Steve Kroft is doing the sit-down with Obama; Scott Pelley will chat up McCain.
If you’re hunkering down for a night of glitter and fun at the Emmys, it might be a good TV dietary balance to start off with “60 Minutes.” Maybe the prez wannabes will say something new.
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September 17, 2008
Palin to perch with Couric ... Lifetime delays 'Runway' debut
What would happen if the major news anchors decided NOT to pursue Republican veep candidate Sarah Palin?
Would the new Star of Alaska be happy to be left alone? Or would she be pursuing the anchors with a vengeance, begging for her closeups?
The “big get” is the goal of all TV newsies, and Palin, virtually unknown until John McCain tapped her to be his running mate, has been the biggest “get” out there until ABC’s Charlie Gibson nabbed her last week.
Palin is still considered a “get,” otherwise the pursuit would not continue. Late Tuesday, CBS announced that anchor Katie Couric will spend two days on the road with the Republican veep wannabe. (Oh, and by the way, McCain also might be part of Couric’s package.)
CBS says Couric’s interview will air in two parts: on the “Evening News” on Monday, Sept. 29, and the following morning (Sept. 30) on “The Early Show.” The timing nestles nicely with the vice presidential debate on Oct. 2.
Presumably if Palin says anything remotely newsworthy, snippets of the interview will air sooner and spread like wildfire to other TV news outlets — just as Gibson’s sit-down in Alaska did.
Palin also has an interview planned for later this week with Fox News guy Sean Hannity.
Left out of Palin’s picks? Anyone remotely connected to MSNBC, which the Republicans loathe for the left-leaning Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthew, and NBC’s Brian Williams, who apparently is guilty by association.
Lifetime delays ‘Runway’ debut
“Project Runway,” now in its final season on Bravo, will make its switch to Lifetime in January ‘09. The original plan was to bring the show back for a new season in November, fairly quickly after its Bravo finale in October.
But Lifetime decided to insert more lead time between the end of Season 5 and the beginning of Season 6 to build up anticipation for the show’s re-launch on a new network.
Guess the network folks don’t realize that viewers watch shows, not networks. It won’t make a lick of difference to “Runway” fans that the show is on Lifetime rather than Bravo …
Especially because “Runway” is keeping all of its original fashionistas: host/executive producer Heidi Klum, judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia and fashion mentor Tim Gunn.
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September 11, 2008
Republican vice presidential candidate taking over TV news
America’s Most Famous Hockey Mom will be all over TV over the next few days.
This evening (5:30 p.m.) on “ABC World News,” Charles Gibson unveils the first of a multipart sit-down with Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. More of that interview will air on “Nightline” and continue to dribble out Friday morning, culminating with an hour-long special at 9 p.m. Friday on “20/20.”
The “20/20” special also will include a filmed bio and a round-table discussion of the presidential race, moderated by ABC’s “George Stephanopoulos.
CNN also plans specials on Palin this weekend — whether or not they will include interviews is not yet known.
Fox News had an hourlong documentary on Palin last Saturday, and that program was the cable news channel’s highest-rated documentary ever, pulling in 2.7 million viewers.
Add that to the 40 million viewers (a combined audience on all news channels) who saw the Alaska governor’s acceptance speech during the Republican National Convention, and you’ve got a mega-star.
Here’s my question: When are the TV newsies going to roll out interviews and documentaries on Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden? Sexy or not, doesn’t he deserve equal treatment?
Boxer Presley is ‘The Greatest!’
Owner Travis and his handsome boxer Presley won the $250,000 prize and title “Greatest American Dog” on the finale of the CBS reality show last night.
Presley was my personal favorite. See, I actually can pick a winner sometime!
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September 9, 2008
Gov. Palin on ABC News ... what should Charlie G ask?
After fielding puffballs from MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and hostile interruptions from Fox’s Bill O’Reilly last night, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama turns TV’s center stage over to Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin this week.
The “big get” went to Charles Gibson of ABC News, and we can expect a good deal of interest in the Palin interview that will be spread over four programs and two days.
ABC News has taken pains to say that “nothing is off limits” for this interview. Gibson isn’t really the type to badger Palin about her family life, so I’m betting we won’t hear a lot about Gibson’s pregnant teenage daughter Bristol.
But I’m betting we will hear a few tough questions about Palin’s much-touted credentials as a reformer. The Bridge to Nowhere? That’ll be fair game. Earmarks? That, too.
What would you ask Gov. Palin? Would you whip out a map of the Middle East and ask her to identify all the countries to prove her foreign policy smarts? Send us your questions, and we’ll forward them to ABC News.
Gibson trekked to Alaska on Monday for pre-interview reporting. He is scheduled to sit down with Palin in Fairbanks and Wasilla on Thursday.
Assuming all goes according to plan and Gibson manages to hit his Thursday afternooon deadline, the first portion of the Palin piece will air on “World News” and later that same day on “Nightline.” More will dribble out Friday morning on “Good Morning America,” “World News,” “20/20” and “Nightline.”
Let’s hope she has that much to say. If not, Gibson and ABC News will have devoted lots of time to very little news. But curiosity about Palin seems to be insatiable.
The competition for this first-ever sit-down with the veep nominee was fierce. Everyone who’s anyone in TV news has been begging for Palin since McCain “released” her to the public the day after the Democratic Convention ended in Denver.
I bet Barbara Walters was willing to crawl on her knees to Alaska, but Good Ol’ Charlie got the call.
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September 8, 2008
MSNBC's fall-out from political coverage ... Wilmington, N.C., gets DTV early
Fallout from the political conventions:
MSNBC has ended its stupid experiment of having opinionated analysts Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthew anchor actual political coverage. The guys remain free to rant and rave on “Countdown” and “Hardball,” respectively, but they will no longer be pretending to be news anchors.
NBC and MSNBC have had an increasingly uneasy relationship during election season. Fair and balanced? Not so much.
Elevating NBC White House correspondent David Gregory to anchor MSNBC’s upcoming debate and election night coverage should help heal the rift — and benefit viewers, too.
In an effort to increase its last-place cable news ratings, MSNBC had decided to go the leftwing opinion route during the primaries, possibly assuming that the move would do for them what Fox News’ conservative slant has done for Fox.
But loud-mouth right-wingers like Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly don’t anchor news coverage for Fox, and MSNBC’s decision to put its opinion guys into news coverage roles backfired.
Ratings for MSNBC improved, but NBC News’ reputation took a big hit that has finally been deemed unacceptable. Kudos to the network for choosing what’s right over ratings … finally.
Now can we all just learn the lesson and move on?
Wilmington, N.C. gets DTV early
Today is Wilmington’s version of Feb. 17, 2009. The city is switching all of its commercial broadcast stations from analog to digital.
If viewers are plunged into darkness because (a) they don’t have cable or satellite or (b) because they have failed to buy DTV converter boxes for their rabbit-ear analog sets, we’ll know soon.
Wilmington has been spamming its viewers with even more dire warnings than the crawls we’ve been seeing for months on Austin’s stations: Are you DTV ready? Get DTV ready! Life as you know it will end if you don’t!
Today the folks in Wilmington who are NOT ready will see this message flash across their screens: “If you are viewing this message, this television set has not yet been upgraded to digital.”
Wilmington is the 135th TV market, according to Nielsen’s latest rankings. Austin is the 49th. We’ll see how they handle things.
UPDATE: How conveeenient! The City of Austin just sent out the following release …
The Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission and the City of Austin’s Office of Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs will present a free community forum on “The Transition to Digital Television” Thursday, Sept. 18 from 6:30 to7:30 p.m. at the Dottie Jordan Recreation Center, 2803 Loyola Lane.
Members of the community forum and those affected by the technological advancement are invited to learn more about the digital TV transition. This transition affects viewers with televisions that operate with rooftop antennas or “rabbit ears.”
Speakers will discuss the basics of DTV and what residents without cable or satellite television will need to do to continue to receive free over-the-air television programming.
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September 5, 2008
Political conventions end ... whew! What an overdose!
Are you ready for some crime dramas and comedies? Boy, I sure am.
After three weeks of Olympics, followed by two weeks of political conventions, I’m ready to catch up on “Mad Men,” “The Closer” and the new season of “The Shield.”
And in the next couple of weeks, even the slow-moving broadcast networks will bring back our favorite shows. Can’t wait … seems like years since we’ve had a taste of “Grey’s Anatomy” or “30 Rock.”
Back-to-back conventions make no sense, politically or from a TV perspective. Reporters, anchors AND viewers are probably all exhausted today. I know I am.
By the time John McCain finally accepted the Republican nomination for president last night, I had already started drifting to the U.S. Open matches on USA Network. A little Cindy and John McCain here, a little Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic over there.
At least the Republicans favored us with a big balloon drop. The Dems had to forego balloons because of the open-air stadium, but McCain and company gave us the traditional rain of balloons and confetti. Can’t help it … I love the balloons.
Ratings aren’t in for McCain’s speech yet, but his veep choice, Gov. Sarah Palin, drummed up almost 40 million viewers, which is nearly as big a crowd as watched Democrat Barack Obama accept his nomination.
As good citizens, we all should watch the three presidential and one vice-presidential debates that are coming. The first one, Obama vs. McCain, is Friday, Sept. 26. To prepare for this final TV assault of the candidates, let’s all take a break and watch “SpongeBob” or something. It’s time even for political junkies to step away.
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September 4, 2008
RNC: Sarah Palin strikes ratings gold
Alaska’s Gov. Sarah Palin is ratings gold!
The Republican’s veep nominee attracted 37,244,000 viewers on Wednesday night, according to Nielsen Media Research.
That’s 13 million more than watched Democratic veep nominee Joe Biden and close to the 38.4 million viewers who watched Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama’s acceptance speech in Denver.
Who said politics can’t draw a crowd!
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Palin sparks TV fire for Republicans
Is there any way at all that John McCain’s acceptance speech tonight can top the drama and frenzy that surrounded last night’s appearance by Sarah Palin?
Absolutely not. McCain has managed to upstage himself at his own Republican National Convention. But in terms of stirring interest in a convention that seemed doomed by comparison to the slickly produced drama of the Democrats, Palin was the best thing that could have happened to the Republicans.
Consider: Before McCain announced his choice for veep, the prospect of endless speeches by a bunch of aging conservatives was daunting. Although the broadcast networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — had only planned an hour of prime time anyway, head-scratching was underway about how exactly to fill that hour.
But then along came unknown Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, a former beauty queen with zero national exposure, and suddenly there was excitement all over the place — not all of it welcomed by the Republicans. But even frantic attention has got to be better than no attention, right?
It’s almost as if McCain planned the frenzy. If indeed he already knew about Palin’s pregnant teenage daughter and the investigation into “trooper-gate” back home on the frozen tundra, he must have known that the media and the country would soon be electrified by his choice.
The TV coverage, which might have been lethargic on the heels of Barack Obama’s inspiring speech before 84,000 people in Denver, has thus been anything but. The Republicans were able to gin it up even further by attacking the media for investigating the unknown veep nominee and her family.
CNN’s Campbell Brown got into a shouting match with Republican strategist Tucker Eskew, Fox’s Sean Hannity got into a shouting match with Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs and (here’s the really BIG news) Obama is scheduled to be interviewed by Bill O’Reilly tonight on Fox — before McCain makes his grand entrance!
As a theatrical production, the Republican convention has paled compared to the Denver gathering. It’s a smaller number of delegates, which makes the crowd seem tamer, and that enormous, scene-changing screen behind the speaker’s podium is distracting. Fred Thompson, a very large man, was dwarfed by the waving flag and mountain scenes, and Rudy Giuliani looked momentarily confused by the looming monstrosity when he came out onto the stage.
I may have missed it, while flipping from cable news to PBS to the broadcast networks, but I saw no coverage of Ron Paul’s mini-convention that apparently took place in Minneapolis. That’s good news for the Republicans.
The TV ratings have not been touted this week the way they were in Denver — which probably means not as many people have been tuning in. Although I bet last night’s Palin speech did extremely well.
For the Democratic convention, CNN topped the ratings, beating the broadcast networks as well as cable competitors. Fox came in second, and MSNBC, which has a definite liberal slant (thanks to Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann), finished a distant third among the cable nets.
We can probably expect Fox to win the war this time around.
UPDATE: The ratings for Tuesday night’s RNC are here, delayed by the Labor Day holiday:
9 to 10 p.m. - Broadcast + Cable ratings for Tuesday of RNC
FOX: 6,179,000
NBC: 4,468,000
CNN: 3,220,000
ABC: 3,098,000
CBS: 2,928,000
MSNBC: 1,590,000
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August 29, 2008
Dems done, Repubs next on TV's political double bill
That’s it … I’m taking a break from TV. After nearly three weeks of Olympics — every night until late at night — followed by four nights of the Democratic National Convention, I’m more than eady to pluck myself off the sofa.
Oops, I forgot. The U.S. Open Tennis Championship is on CBS all weekend … But nah, I’ve got to get up and out of the house. Eyes glazing over, rump numbing into permanent paralysis. Must hit the gym and the hike-and-bike trail.
“So, what did you think of the Democratic extravaganza?” a snarky-sounding reader wanted to know this morning. This was a man demanding to know if I would be blogging as much about the Republican National Convention as I did the Dems.
First, I thought the Dems did a whale of a job with their Denver convention. A Republican friend of mine said he was so riveted by the speeches and musical performances that he was glued through the whole thing. He said it was the “best-produced” convention he’d ever seen, and he’s seen a few.
I can’t help thinking the broadcast networks must have regretted their decision to air entertainment reruns instead of convention coverage, except for that last 9 to 10 p.m. hour. PBS probably did boffo business as the only broadcast network to provide three hours in prime time.
The evening portions of the convention ran on time and without disaster, Monday through Thursday. Who can ask for anything more?
Those of us of a certain age remember disastrous Democratic conventions when disorganization and bedlam took over, and the nominee was stuck making an acceptance speech on national TV after midnight on the East Coast.
Were last night’s fireworks a bit over the top? Maybe. But when some 80,000-plus people wait all day to get into the stadium to hear Barack Obama make history, you might as well give ‘em a little extra fun.
Fireworks and confetti were really the only possibilities, since the open-air stadium made the traditional balloon-drop impossible.
As for next week’s Republican marathon? Absolutely, I’ll be watching and blogging. I love politics, and I love a good show. Color me there.
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August 26, 2008
Kennedy shines on TV's first night of Democratic convention
Political conventions are known for their general dreariness. Streams of boring politicians saying the same thing night after night.
Showcasing the wife of the nominee on the first night of the Democratic convention in Denver left broadcast and cable networks with a soft feature when they were hungry for some serious news … or at least some meaty politics.
For days anchors and reporters have been stoking the fire between the Obama and Clinton contingencies. Nothing had really sparked.
But then Uncle Teddy arrived in Denver late Sunday night, draped in mystery. All day Monday CNN, MSNBC and Fox News speculated on whether the ailing senator, who has been battling brain cancer since May, would make an appearance. Even Kennedy family members traveling with him seemed unsure what would happen.
But early in the evening yesterday, word spread that Uncle Teddy was indeed at the convention center.
Was he walking or would he be rolled onto the stage in a wheelchair? Would he speak? Could he speak? CNN’s Wolf Blitzer said a short speech had been written. Maybe Kennedy would deliver it. Fox’s Chris Wallace speculated that if Sen. Kennedy was in the building, there seemed little doubt he would make an appearance.
Suspense built, and the made-for-TV moment left even the crustiest reporters semi-speechless.
NBC’s Brian Williams and ABC’s Charles Gibson struggled to muster words when the “Lion of the Senate” walked out on the stage (without assistance), pushed aside a stool at the podium and mustered his full voice and enthusiasm to nail one of the best speeches of his career.
It was pure drama. What will Hillary Clinton say tonight? How about her husband, apparently still ticked off about the primary campaign his wife lost? And Barack Obama’s acceptance speech in the middle of a massive football stadium? Will it be exciting or just a huge spectacle?
There might be more big moments ahead for partisans to enjoy in Denver, but the sheer suspense and excitement of Uncle Teddy taking over Denver was a real cliffhanger — with a climax worthy of the Beijing Olympics.
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June 13, 2008
Huckabee will shine on Fox News, Heigl should stop whining about Emmys
Good news for Fox News fans: The cable news network has hired former Arkansas governor and former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee as a commentator.
Why is this good news? Because Huckabee, a former preacher and decade-long governor, knows how to communicate with people. He has a wry sense of humor and bubbles beautifully on the air.
Huckabee may not be a pointy-headed intellectual, and we may not agree with everything he says. But at least he can be entertaining and insightful.
The comparison I’m making here is with another fairly recent Fox addition, former George W. Bush insider Karl Rove, who sounds like a robot and is dull as they come.
As a White House insider, Rove didn’t have to deal with people very often, so his communication on Fox has been less than illuminating. Locked in an office all those years, how could he be a people person? Plus, if Rove has a smile, we’ve never seen it on TV.
Huckabee, on the other hand, is a happy warrior, and he’s going to be a nice addition to Fox’s lineup heading into the general election.
Of course his career on Fox News could be short-lived if Republican presidential nominee John McCain taps him as his running mate.
Izzie out of Emmy running
Katherine Heigl has not come off well in her recent criticism of the writers on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
In case you missed it, Heigl, who won the best supporting actress Emmy last year, decided not to place her name in nomination this time around. She claimed the writers did not provide her with material that would have made her competitive.
Huh? So it would have been the writers’ fault if she were nominated and didn’t win. That’s a pathetic excuse if every I heard one.
Plus, can we please remind Mizz Heigl that she is making millions and launching a wildly successful movie career as a member of an ENSEMBLE drama on TV. That means focus shifts among members of the ensemble, and thus not every single character gets to star in every single scene every season.
Sheesh. You’d think Heigl would be more gracious and more grateful.
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May 28, 2008
Katie returns to 'Today' ... for what?
Tuesday morning, when Matt Lauer said Katie Couric would make a “major announcement” Wednesday morning on “Today,” the Internet exploded with speculation.
Is Katie, after suffering ratings slump and humiliation as anchor of “The CBS Evening News,” returning to her long-running triumph as co-anchor of NBC’s “Today?”
Speculation has been rampant about when (not if) Katie would step down. Before the political conventions? After the conventions but before the November election? Before or after the inauguration in January?
But this morning we saw the truth about Katie’s big reveal on “Today.” She was one of three network news anchors, including NBC’s Brian Williams and ABC’s Charlie Gibson, to appear on all three network morning shows to announce a major fundraising initiative called “Stand Up to Cancer.”
On Friday, Sept. 5,the Big Three will devote a simultaneous hour of prime time to a cancer research fundraiser that will feature celebrities and musical performances.
(Fox declined to participate, citing its own charity iniative “Idol Gives Back.”)
Did Lauer intentionally set off the buzz about Couric? You bet. And it must have made everyone at CBS News cringe. And current “Today” co-host Meredith Vieira must have been a bit miffed, too.
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May 27, 2008
'48 Hours' takes on polygamy
“48 Hours” takes on a full-court investigation of polygamy tonight (at 9 p.m. on CBS), pegged to the controversial revelations provided by the raid on the Eldorado compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints.
The raid and the 450 children taken from their parents after a call alleging abuse has been front page news since April 3. Just last week a Texas appellate court ruled that officials did not have sufficient grounds to seize the children, but the whole mess is likely to be tied up in court for months.
CBS News has fanned out, sending Susan Spencer to investigate the sect’s practices and check on self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs, who continues to lead the sect from prison. (He was convicted of rape of a minor in connection with one of his teenage wives.) She interviews Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff (who refers to the sect as “the American taliban”) and 21-year-old Elissa Wall, who was forced to marry at the age of 14.
Reporter Peter Van Sant engages in a hand-to-hand combat interview with Willie Jessop, who insists the sect does not break any laws and charges that Texas officials’ demand for birth certificates and DNA samples from church members is “un-American.”
“48 Hours” has been tracking two women who escaped from an sect community in Salt Lake City in 1999, when they were teenagers. Reporter Erin Moriarty reports on the status of one of the girls, now a young woman permanently separated from her family.
Finally, reporter Troy Roberts explores the face of modern polygamy. And yes, HBO’s “Big Love” pretty much has it right. A family consisting of one husband and three wives (two of them twins) lives in a “normal” suburb of Salt Lake City with their 22 children. They have regular jobs and wear modern clothes, but they face a daily challenge of fitting in and staying under the radar.
If you’ve been wondering about polygamy, this hour will answer lots of questions.
Bye bye, Jim
The season finale for “According to Jim” airs tonight at 7, which immediately brings to mind:
If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?
The ABC sitcom, an old-fashioned nuclear family model, is wrapping up its seventh (yes seventh) season and is not on the network’s recently announced fall schedule. So the back-to-back episodes serve as the show’s finale, the end of the run, the swan song of a show that debuted in 2001.
Will anybody care?
“Jim” has been a mediocre utility player throughout its run. ABC has dropped it from the schedule, picked it up and moved around more times than anyone can count. Unless you’re a devoted fan (and, seriously, who can that possibly be?), you might not even know it was still on the air.
Jim Belushi and Courtney Thorne-Smith star as a married couple with children. She’s the smart one; he’s the doofus. The stereotypes are long-running and rampant. And incredibly tiresome …
If you feel the need to bid farewell to an ancient genre, tonight’s your chance.
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April 16, 2008
Democratic debate tonight: another chapter in our political reality show!
Our red-hot political reality show continues tonight with another bout between Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Could this Philadelphia bout, refereed by Charles Gibson with George Stephanopoulos standing by as his corner man, be the title match? Maybe but probably not. Never mind that Clinton has already compared herself to the city’s most famous (and fictional) prizefighter, Rocky Balboa.
The 90-minute debate, starting at 7 tonight on ABC, has been anticipated for weeks, and the hissing between the two candidates’ camps has only heightened the pre-debate frenzy. Political reporters are licking their chops, and bloggers are ready for a big blast in cyberspace.
The April 22 Pennsylvania primary has been shaping up to be a major smackdown between Obama and Clinton. Not too long ago, Clinton was more than 20 points ahead of her rival in the opinion polls there; now a slender 4 points separates the two. The tightening of the race — yet again — should serve to tighten the tensions as well.
Gibson is one of TV’s most laid-back anchors, but he’s also one of the most steeped in politics. He grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and has been covering politics for most of his journalistic career. He’s not likely to get caught in either an unmanageable diatribe by one of the candidates or a determined skirting of the issues.
Snuffleupagus, uh, Stephanopoulos, is an interesting choice for the debate … he was Bill Clinton’s senior political adviser and communications director before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke.
New blood coming to ‘L&O’
“Law & Order,” the Energizer Bunny of TV dramas, is prepping for another transformation next Wednesday.
That’s when Jesse L. Martin, the dependably sane Detective Green, bows out, and Anthony Anderson, so superb as a villain in “The Shield” and a hero in the recently axed “K-ville,” makes his debut.
Now in its 18th season (and renewed for a 19th), “L&O” has changed principal cast more often than Elton John changes shoes. But with rare exceptions (hello, Elizabeth Rohm!), change has been good.
In next week’s episode, Detective Green gets in trouble because of a past life of gambling, and Anderson’s Detective Bernard barges into the precinct to sort things out. Green leaves; Bernard stays.
“L&O” will have five episodes with the cast change before the end of the season but will return next season — and maybe with even more changes. You never know with this show.
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April 10, 2008
WSJ: Katie Couric leaving CBS News?
Rupert Murdoch’s version of the Wall Street Journal loves poking CBS News in the eye, and the latest assault claims that “Evening News” anchor Katie Couric will leave after serving only two years of her five-year contract.
CBS issued a statement today insisting the WSJ story is untrue.
“We are very proud of the ‘CBS Evening News,’ particularly our political coverage, and we have no plans for any changes regarding Katie or the broadcast,” said CBS spokeswoman Sandy Genelius.
So, who’s right?
Well, if CBS News plans to lift its sagging ratings any time soon, Couric might well be leaving the anchor desk. The newscast has been abandoned by loyal viewers who were initially put off by Couric’s desk-perching chats and long-winded, “Today”-style interviews.
Most of those alleged innovations are long-gone, replaced by Couric helming the type of traditional newscast that has served broadcast networks well for more than 50 years.
The once hallowed “Evening News” has been fading since Dan Rather’s tenure. When Couric was lured away from NBC’s “Today” in 2006, for a reported $15 million annual salary, the hope was that change — of style and gender — would be good.
But after an initial sampling, CBS fell back behind NBC’s Brian Williams and ABC’s Charles Gibson — both traditional anchors who weren’t trying to spice up an old format.
WSJ claims Couric will depart in January, after the presidential inauguration. Nobody would be surprised, however, if she left sooner.
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April 4, 2008
UT's Ransom Center posts old Mike Wallace interviews online
Mike Wallace is gone from “60 Minutes,” but some of his earliest work is now available online through an acquisition by the University of Texas’ Harry Ransom Center. Wallace donated kinescopes of the shows to UT back in the 1960s, which the Ransom Center has transferred to a digital format for online distribution.
These are not the “gotcha” grabs for which Wallace became famous on “60 Minutes.” Rather, these are 63 interviews conducted by the newsman during the 1957 and 1958 seasons of his nationally syndicated documentary series “The Mike Wallace Interview.” Four of the sit-downs are audio-only, but the rest are on film and haven’t been seen since their original airdate.
Among the historically significant newsmakers Wallace interviewed are architect Frank Lloyd Wright, artist Salvador Dali, actor Kirk Douglas, diplomat Henry Kissinger, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and birth-control activist Margaret Sanger.
Copyright of the interviews is held by Mike Wallace, who agreed to allow the Ransom Center to present them online in their entirety. (Any further use of this material requires the permission of both Mike Wallace and the Ransom Center.)
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April 1, 2008
Kathie Lee and 'Today' ..... zzzzzzzzzz
It has taken me a full 24 hours to rev up an ounce of concern about Kathie Lee Gifford joining “Today” next week.
OK. I’m still not exactly concerned, but at least I can form a thought. Sort of …
Kathie Lee (she prefers we use her first two names rather than her last) will be co-anchoring the fourth hour of “Today,” starting Monday. The flighty, one-line-tossing hostess will be paired with the more serious NBC newsie Hoda Kotb, previously a contributor on “Dateline.”
You remember Kathie Lee, don’t you? She’s the perky singing celebrity who bolted from “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee” eight years ago because (she actually said at the time) the media had become too intrusive in her life. This after she regaled viewers just about every day with stories about her adorable kids (Cody was a particular favorite) and her super-sexy hubby Frank Gifford.
Kathie Lee bathed herself in the limelight during her run on the popular syndicated daytime talk show, chronicling her personal life and business accomplishments. But when former pro football player Frank was caught on camera having a fling with a flight attendant — and her clothing line was revealed to be churned out by foreign sweat shops — Kathie Lee decided celebrity was no longer working for her.
But that was then and this is now. Kathie Lee is 54 years old, Cody is heading off to college and Frank, now 77 and publicly “forgiven” by his wife, nevertheless might not be as spunky as he was in the days of their “perfect marriage.”
Matt Lauer and the rest of the “Today” gang made the announcement Monday, heralding Kathie Lee’s pending arrival in grand style. The whole gang perched on one very long couch. Kathie Lee responded by telling the world she has had “cosmetic surgery on my feet.” We desperately needed to know that, didn’t we? Here we go again.
The fourth hour of “Today” — a show that, like Jack’s bean stalk, just keeps growing — has struggled to find an audience since it arrived last summer. Can Kathie Lee and her well-publicized family save it? Do we care? Probably not, on both counts.
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March 20, 2008
'20/20' hops on hookers
You could smell this “special” coming the minute former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s call-girl scandal broke a couple of weeks ago.
Friday’s “20/20” (8 p.m.) is a two-hour edition by Diane Sawyer that ABC claims has been in the works for two years. Maybe. But the timing for airing obviously had a lot more to do with Spitzer’s salacious dabblings and subsequent resignation than any dramatic new findings Sawyer uncovered in a legal brothel in Nevada or a plain old illegal house of sex in Philadelphia.
Whatever. The breathless Sawyer likely will get big ratings for “Prostitution in America: Working Girls Speak” (9 p.m. tomorrow).
As a nod to the latest developments, Sawyer added some interviews with high-paid prostitutes who ply their trade among the powerful and wealthy, men like oh, say, a political scion from New York.
Sawyer’s take on prostitution is that these are women “in crisis,” not women who choose to sell themselves for a power trip over men. ABC indicates it will be a “serious look” at the sex industry from the women’s point of view.
Smug and grumpy Amanda bites the dust on ‘Idol’
I realize Amanda Overmyer, the 23-year-old Grace Slick wannabe from Indiana, was an important rocker element in the otherwise bubblegum pop-and-blues kids on “American Idol” lineup this season.
But frankly, the Bride of Frankenstein with the platinum streaked bangs scared me. She had about a four-note range, mostly in the screaming decibel level, and she didn’t seem to give a flip whether she made the cut or not. When she heard last night that she was voted off the show by voters, she shrugged, belted out another horrendous rendition of the Beatles’ “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and then stomped off the stage.
Ta-ta and good riddance.
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March 5, 2008
Cable news networks call the winner ... eventually
After trumpeting the do-or-die nature of Super Tuesday II for weeks, the broadcast networks elected to stick with regular programming last night.
Maybe they thought viewers might be sick of Texas and Ohio and the Barack vs. Hillary War. Or maybe they just didn’t think. Probably the latter …
Anyway, the coverage fell to the cable news networks, and throughout the evening, they were all dancing carefully around the Democratic primary contest between fruntrunner Barack Obama and steely challenger Hillary Clinton. Even when it looked like Ohio would go for Clinton in a landslide, the cable nets cautioned viewers that it was too soon to call because certain urban areas had not reported.
Ditto the results from Texas, which none of the pundits seemed capable of explaining. What was this odd primary-and-caucus system? Why can’t those Texans pick one or the other? CNN’s Anderson Cooper looked perplexed, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews giggled and spewed and Fox’s Brit Hume, when he wasn’t looking terminally bored, just sighed.
Both primaries turned out to be close, but Texas was such a nail-biter that caucus results were still inconclusive at midnight. Zzzzz. A girl’s got to get her beauty rest, you know?
With most of the news outlets getting data at the same time, there wasn’t much of a competition over who called which primary result first.
The biggest plus or minus, when it comes to viewers actually getting information, falls to the graphics. MSNBC rolled results through by party, rather than state: all of the Texas Republican results, all of the Ohio Republican results, all of the Rhode Island results, all of the Vermont results. Then … vice versa for the Democrats. This plan didn’t strike me as nearly as useful as running both parties’ tallies by state.
CNN and Fox used the state-by-state system, with CNN’s graphics a bit clearer than Fox’s — mostly because Fox, as usual, tried to put too much stuff up on the screen at once.
Everybody was careful to mention Republicans from time to time, even though John McCain’s official nomination status was never in doubt. Mike Huckabee’s gracious concession speech was carried in full by all of the cable networks, followed by McCain’s incredibly sincere and deeply boring reading from a TelePrompTer. If McCain doesn’t stop adding “my friends” to every line he delivers, he’s going to make us all go mad by November.
In terms of big contests, we’re finished with primary season until Pennsylvania on Apr. 22 — surely that one really will end the Hillary-Barack smackdown. Just be glad we don’t live and watch TV in Pennsylvania. If you thought ads went negative in Texas, imagine how much nastier they’re going to get in the next few weeks there.
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February 28, 2008
Austin actor McKenzie campaigns for Obama
Traveling with actress Kerry Washington (“Ray,” “The Fantastic Four”), McKenzie and Washington hosted a rally Thursday morning at 9:30 at Southwestern University in Georgetown, galloped over to Huston-Tillotson University for another rally at 12:30 p.m. and then will dash to yet another gathering for St. Edward’s University at Opal Divine’s on South Congress Avenue.
The busy day will conclude at the University of Texas with a 5 p.m. rally at Dobie Mall.
On Friday, McKenzie and Washington will continue their sweep of colleges in Central and South Texas, heading to Houston for gatherings at Texas Southern and Rice, swinging up through College Station to A&M and returning to Austin for a quick respite.
On Saturday, the duo hits the road again for San Antonio to visit Trinity and UT-San Antonio.
“This is my first time stumping for Senator Obama,” McKenzie said. “There’s a ton of energy right now behind him. I think he’s got a great shot, especially among young people.”
By the way, McKenzie has a role in a new Al Pacino movie, “88 Minutes,” which was filmed last year and is due in theaters in April. Like most actors, McKenzie’s career path hit a bump when the writers’ strike brought Hollywood to its knees for three months.
“What’s next is a little unclear, but we’re getting back into the swing of things,” he said.
Image from Fox Broadcasting
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February 27, 2008
Tim Russert annoys on MSNBC's debate
Somebody needs to tell Tim Russert that it’s not all about him. Oh, OK. Let me be the one …
During last night’s Democratic debate on MSNBC, Russert was beyond obnoxious. I know he thinks he’s just being a tough journalist, boring into the candidates with long-winded questions and barking, bug-eyed follow-ups. But really, he’s just being rude.
At least he didn’t play favorites. Russert was equally nasty to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But he did seem to get under Clinton’s skin more than Obama’s.
The format for MSNBC’s Ohio grilling was awkward at best. Anchor Brian Williams and Russert were on one side of an enormous table, with Clinton and Obama on the other side seated about 4 inches apart. The audience was somewhere out in the darkness, off-camera, and apparently warned, under penalty of waterboarding, not to utter a peep until the end. The silence was deafening.
Russert and Williams were armed with “gotcha” questions, dramatized by video clips. Did the Clinton campaign send those photos of Obama in Somali Muslim garb to The Drudge Report? Was the Obama campaign engaging in Karl Rove tactics with those mailers stating that Clinton’s health-care policy would force citizens to pay for insurance whether they could afford it or not?
The whole debate was more of a joint Q&A than an actual debate, but at least both MSNBC and CNN in recent debates have stopped using 60-second buzzers. Candidates can actually finish a thought, on some occasions, before the reporter or opponent interrupts.
But Russert’s blow-hard aggressiveness comes across as counter-productive. People are not tuning in to watch him puff up, turn red and ask questions that are longer than the answers. And they’re not rooting for him to provoke angry or inappropriate responses. If we wanted that, we’d be clamoring for Bill O’Reilly and Chris Matthews to host a smackdown debate.
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February 22, 2008
CNN's Austin debate: A really big show
“American Idol?” What “American Idol?” Four contestants were sent packing, but I, an admitted and unrepentant fan of the show, didn’t watch last night’s pivotal results episode. (But I can catch up, courtesy of our “Idol Chatter” blogger Gary Dinges.
I was glued to the Democratic debate on CNN — you know, that little event that has consumed Austin’s political elite and shut down streets for days. Beamed live from the University of Texas campus, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama went toe to toe for the 19th time, and although nothing Earth-shattering happened, it was must-see TV anyway.
CNN host Campbell Brown seemed to realize early on that she wasn’t going to be in control, so instead of battling the participants at every turn, she just let the flow go. Clinton and Obama stayed on health care for what seemed like hours (but really was only about 20 minutes, while questioners CNN’s John King and Univision’s Jorge Ramos tried to move them in a different direction.
This was the first of the televised debates I’ve seen (I’ve seen most but not all) in which the audience actually booed. That came when Clinton accused Obama of plagiarizing lines from Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts — who happens to be a friend of Obama’s AND a co-chairman of his campaign. The line was a poor attempt at sarcasm and fell flat: “That’s not change you can believe in; that’s change you can Xerox,” Clinton said to a chorus of boos.
The two kissed and made up before the debate was over, with Clinton insisting she was “honored to be here with Barack Obama,” Obama patting her on the back and shaking her hand and the crowd leaping to its feet and cheering lustily.
Post-debate analysis followed on CNN, with Anderson Cooper taking charge, and Keith Olbermann running the ship at MSNBC. Cooper focused on regular CNN talking heads Gloria Borger, David Gergen, Jeffrey Toobin and Donna Brazile. Olbermann pulled in various campaign spokesmen from the “spin room” at the debate venue. What a deafening mess that must have been!
The media hordes likely will stick around for a whole. Although Clinton is gone, daughter Chelsea has an event this morning, and Obama is revving up for a big ol’ rally at the Capitol tonight. There may be fewer gigantic satellite trucks around (KVUE’s Christine Haas last night reported seeing one from Belgium, for crying out loud!), but traffic will continue to be a mess anywhere north of Lady Bird Lake and south of the UT Tower.
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