A Little of the Old In and Out



(image via cspanarchives)

In: CBS News Eye Blog. If you don't know it, The Corsair has become fairly addicted to the CBS Eye Blog. It's like digital "crackrock," only we don't lode weight. It intrigues us that CBS bigwigs take our suggestions to heart -- or, at least, appear to take our sugggestions to heart -- about a all manner of things, great and small. There is something fascinating, trusting, candid --especially to a digital communications Gemini junkie like ourself -- about what they are doing. Dare we say: Bold? It is not like MSNBC's cacophony of blog, no, this is something altogether more interesting (How come more Americans don't avail themselves of this?).

Sure, we kid Larry Kramer. Well, kid is too benign a way to explain it: we "blogstalk" him. Mercilessly. But the CBS Eye Blog with Vaughn Ververs fascinates us mightily. A major network news organization this transparent? Heaven forfend!

We should give them an "A" for effort, however it turns out. Cheers. (Now, what is Larry like in real life?)



(image via smh.com.au)

Out: Martha Stewart. Who would have thought that America's Top Model could kick Martha Stewart's ass (Is UPN having a banner season, or what)? And even though she is driven like a West Indian, we vote Martha out once again, making it the second "Out" in as many weeks; a dubious honor, to be sure. According to Broadcasting and Cable (link via iwantmedia):

"In an attempt to boost the flagging fortunes of two new shows, NBC has flipped the Wednesday time slots for The Apprentice: Martha Stewart and E-Ring for the immediate future, beginning this Wednesday, Oct. 5.

"The move is a strategy NBC hopes will help resuscitate both new shows, neither of which are off to strong starts.

"The Apprentice: Martha Stewart had been airing Wednesdays from 8-9 p.m. E-Ring ran 9-10 p.m.

"NBC found that much of its Martha audience was being poached by UPN's America's Top Model, and is hoping E-Ring's 9 p.m. slot, which has no other reality competition, will help rescue the second member of the Apprentice franchise.

"Likewise, the network is hoping that by moving E-Ring out of the drama-heavy 9 p.m. hour - and away from behemoth Lost - it can give the Pentagon drama a chance to bounce back.
E-Ring�one of NBC�s most heavily promoted fall shows�is fading in a 9 p.m. slot loaded with dramas."

And, "drama," singular, as well (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment)



(image via snopes)

In: Steven Spielberg. While we are fairly sure indeed that the mighty Steven Spielberg alone didn't sink the NBC Universal-Dreamworks deal like, say, Tara Reid after a gravity bong-hit, we know he played a major factor. How could a man of his prestige not affect matters on his beat?

Wouldn't you just love to know what went on behind closed doors in those final moments that everything went ... sideways (The Corsair sparks a Cohiba Esplendidos, dramatically)? Someday, (The Corsair pours himself a glass of a very dry sherry) we hope Vanity Fair, or forward-thinkers at HBO, or it's ambitious though less-successful younger competitor Showtime will devote some quality time on the story of how (The Corsair gesticulates, slyly, across the media landscape) this all went down -- really and truly -- whether in a feature article, or in a made-for-cable film. Enquiring minds want to know. Says the Old Gray Lady:

"Mr. Spielberg balked at the idea that Universal wanted to be able to approve spending more than $100 million on a movie, said one of the two executives.

"NBC Universal executives declined to comment on the talks.

"David Geffen, the music mogul and the DreamWorks co-founder who has been negotiating for the company, said he met with Bob Wright, NBC Universal's chairman, in Beverly Hills on Friday. Mr. Geffen confirmed the talks were over, adding it was unlikely the two companies would revisit the notion of an acquisition anytime soon.

"Mr. Geffen said he was sad a deal could not be reached, but Mr. Spielberg was 'happy.'"

We'll bet. But give us some atmosphere; give us some frantic phone calls of pleading Uni execs; give us the Spielberg and Geffen fucking with Uni. Who do they think they are, anyway: Asking Steven Fucking Spielberg for "approval" for any project over $100 mil (Averted Gaze). Don't they know he owns that town?

Out: Turkey. Turkey -- part Muslim nation, part Western -- could have been the linchpin of the war on terror; now, it might fall back into medieval fundamentalist chaos, and -- worse -- on the footsteps of Europe, bordering Greece. There are too many variables in favor, unfortunately, of Turkish disintegration into chaos, among which, a) European bigotry, b) Papal discouragement, coming -- of all places -- from the Apostolic See, c) the very fact that Turkey borders Iran; should Iran goes nuclear, and Turkey subsequently join the EU, then ... a hostile nuclear power is at Europe's doorstep, and, d) that Turkey has invested many years worth of hopes and dreams into the future, an EU future, and a rejection would be perceived as the unltimate insult, thus a recruiting tool for Al Quaeda. (The Corsair sighs deeply, thoroughly vexed; world-weary) Anyway: some backstory: According to The Council on Foreign Relations website:

"European Union ministers work to resolve a standoff blocking Turkey�s EU entry talks Monday, which are caught between Austria�s demand for an alternative to full Turkish membership and Ankara�s threat to walk away. Major stumbling blocks include the EU�s insistence that Turkey recognize EU member Greek Cyprus, improve its human rights record, and recognize the Armenian genocide during Ottoman rule in 1915.

"Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey 'has fulfilled her obligations' for EU membership in a CFR transcript; CFR�s Bernard Gwertzman interviews Europe expert Charles Kupchan, who says Turkey�s entry is unlikely; the Economist reports on challenges to the negotiations; Germany�s Deutsche Welle op-ed says the membership talks are 'hardly realistic'; Turkey�s Ministry of Foreign Affairs outlines Ankara�s relationship with the EU; a Washington Institute brief analyzes German and French views on Turkey�s EU membership;"

More here.



(image via debokenplank)

In: The Risorgimento of The Sci Fi Genre. We never actually thought when we began doing This-Thing-Of-Ours that we'd ever end up putting this sort of thing (Averted Gaze) in the "In" category, but, then again, everywhere you turn -- in the blogosphere, amongst The Chatterers -- there are conversations on the resurgence of Sci Fi (And, almost in the same breath, always praise for Philip Seymour Hoffman's Capote). Says David Itzkoff, re: the trend, in The Old Gray Lady:

"..'Threshold' is just one of several new network series to offer varying degrees of science fiction or fantasy cloaked in real-world scenarios, including NBC's 'Surface,' ABC's 'Invasion' and WB's 'Supernatural.' This trend, say the producers of Threshold, is partly the result of viewers' reawakened appetite for escapist fare in an age of global terrorism. 'It's unexplained phenomena which cause a threat to mankind, and that threat is not contained to one area,' Mr. Heyman said. 'It can happen any time, any place, to anyone. It's something people can really relate to right now.'

"But shows like 'Threshold' may also reflect the networks' belated appreciation of the value of genre entertainment. 'Have you seen the box office numbers on War of the Worlds, by the way?' asked a 'Threshold' co-star, Brett Spiner, who played the android Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. I don't think the networks are in the business of doing things people aren't going to watch. I think they sniff some dollars here.'"

One cannot forget the last most recent period of American cultural anxiety -- The Cold War -- where, at the outset, science-fantasy, in the form of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Blob, also happened to reign supreme over the American Imagination. Curious, no?