A Little of the Old In and Out



(image via newmediamusings)

In: Jason Calacanis. As you may have heard, our old pal Jason Calacanis, whom we were just talking to yesterday (and he didn't let a word slip) just sold his company, Weblogs, Inc. to AOL for a reported $25 million (This was first reported by Rafat Ali, who was the superstar of yesterday's We: Media conference). This is good news -- most of all -- to the jet-setting Jason, but also for all bloggers. AOL is now in the blogging game; more big-media courting and the general "pitching-of-woo" is sure to follow (Nick, are you reading?). As Jason used to say to us editorss at SAR, "the rising tide carries all boats." He says on his blog:

"Yes, it�s true.I�m in a conference room at AOL right now running down a list of 15-20 press calls with Jim Bankoff� exciting news."

Congratulations to you, Jason. The first million, they say, is always the hardest. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.



(image via andrew.cmu)

Out: NBC Thursdays. Oh, Lord: It stinketh to high heaven! "Joey") (Averted Gaze) Make it go away; make it go away! "The Apprentice" (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment) Kevin Downey of Medialifemagazine has the solution:

"One of the stunners of this new season is just how poorly NBC is doing on Thursday night, even worse than many media planners and buyers had anticipated. What was once known as 'Must-See TV' is now in shambles, and clearly NBC's top programming whizzes, network president Jeff Zucker and entertainment president Kevin Reilly, are in need of a bit of programming advice.

"Here it is: Embrace the past. It's not exactly a no-brainer, but it's close. NBC was the reigning network for two decades based on a very clear logic centered around owning Thursday night. That in turn was built on a lineup of four comedies from 8 to 10 and an hour drama leading into the late news. The thinking: People who turned in for one sitcom would be inclined to stay for the evening."

Thge full article here.



(image via washingtonpost)

In: George Clooney's Network. What an interesting career the Vogue Men's coverboy is making for himself. Say what you will about George Clooney ("Blog quitter!" "Scourge of Lake Como!"), but he does exude -- in a very Holywoodish, image-conscious way -- an air of "lazy" 1950s glamour, if, indeed, any such a phenomenon actually existed back in that oily, black-and-white days era.

But ... we digress. We weren't entirely surprised to hear that he, the son of a newsman who executive produced the groundbreaking -- and overlooked -- "K-Street," plans to follow-up 'Good Night, and Good Luck' with yet another spirited meditation on media. Namely: a live network version of Paddy Chayevsky's "Network." Says the Washington Post:

"Execs at CBS were taken by surprise when Clooney leaked word of the project -- being developed for next fall -- to the Associated Press while promoting his flick 'Good Night, and Good Luck.'

I"ronically, that flick details how, in the '50s, CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow defied corporate and advertiser pressure to expose the scaremongering of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee's communist witch hunt.

"Contacted yesterday, a CBS spokesman told The TV Column that the 'Network' redo is 'in the works' but they're 'short on details' at this early stage."

What a hott idea for the cool medium of television. Almost as interesting -- he said, a propos of nothing -- as Woody Allen's teleplay "Don't Drink the Water." (Hey, Trio Tv Programming, that's a suggestion)



(image via timeinc)

Out: Dick Morris. Dick Morris was once a brilliant political strategist. Stellar. So brilliant was Morris that he actually advised the President of the United States and the Majority Leader of the Senate -- simultaneously. As if that weren't a feat to regard with awe, both came from opposing political parties. Morris also invented -- or at least rediscovered from his readings of Napoleonic warfare -- the concept of "triangulation," which confounded Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich at the closing of the 20th Century. Since, at the time, the Soviet Union was in the process of disintegration, and the United Stets was the dominant superpower, it could be argued that Morris was one of the most powerful men oon the planet.

Then came the hooker fiasco on the goddam night of Clinton's DNC acceptance of the nomination (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment). That was bad. And though he resigned, he still blames the Clinton's -- and not himself -- for his Icarian fall.

The Dick Morris of late is a shadow of the man he once was. To wit, his pathological obsession with all-things-Clinton has led him, lamentably, to write his gazillionth tome on the subject of Hillary, this time, entitled, "Condi versus Hillary." (Averted Gaze)

The Corsair would like to ask -- nay, plead -- with publishers and editorial page editors that enable this bullshittery -- Stop.

Please; stop paying this man to write on the Clinton's. You are only encouraging his moist and fetid pathologies! Dick can't get better if you keep rewarding his immoderate rants. So, if Dick comes to you with a pitch or a book proposal on the Clintons, tell him to get over it and get himself a robust cocktail of industrial-grade pharmaceuticals. Shnell.

(A considerable pause) Thank you for listening.



In: Michael's. Prognosis on Lunch at Michael's? Swishy. Our favorite social chronicler, David Patrick Columbia, assesses the scene at Michael's with an exhaustive list of who's-with-whom. From NYSocialDiary:

"Lunch at Michael�s, the Passing Parade: Broadway and Wall Street�s Terry Allen Kramer holding forth with Judith Giuliani, Serena Boardman, and Pamela Gross, while at next to them at the table in the window were Roger Ailes with Rick Leventhal, Shep Smith, and Bill Hemmer (Laurel Touby of Mediabistro.com who takes an every-Wednesday inventory of the Michael�s crowd, described them thusly: '� all in black suits and pastel shirts like East Village undertakers �'). And one table over was Joe Armstrong, known as the Mayor of Michael�s with Newsweek�s Dorothy Kalins; while in the corner, Freddie Gershon with Ann Sweeney. And next to them Mort Zuckerman with music impresario Tommy Mottola; Atoosa Rubenstein with Jeff Bercovici, and Elizabeth Dye."

If you want the whole parade of boldfacers, click here (you know you love it as much as The Corsair does).



"There's a bullet in his tongue," says superhottie Joy Bryant. (image via drexel)

Out: Fitty Cent's Tongue. Once again, we turn to the November 2005 issue of Premiere (A really great issue, BTW):

"By now everyone and their grandma has heard about 50 Cent's crack-dealing past and that fateful day when he was shot nine times. Joy Byant, who plays (50 Cent's) lifelong crush in ('Get Rich or Die Trying') was brave enough to explore the star's famous wound. 'It's a trip: There's a bullet in his tongue,' she says. We were having dinner, and he was like, 'You want to feel?' And he stuck my finger in his mouth. I mean, he is definitely walking around with scars that he can't help but see and feel every day.'"

Eeeew.