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NFL = WTF?

Okay, the NFL now bans local affiliates on the sidelines of games. The guys at Lost Remote have a good gut reaction: screw them. Don't report squat. Check out that LR link to add your 2 cents to a worthy debate.

(Yeah, that would work, unless your network carries the games. And you have an hour pregame show each week. Then sales gets mad when you leave colorbars and tone up in between those car ads.) ¶ 10:40 AM 0 comments

Questionable Writing in Bios


Domonique Benn, WRDW (CBS), Augusta, GA

Not slamming the woman, you understand, but this line in her bio caught my eye:

Domonique Benn has been Co-Anchor of News 12 First at Five since October 2004. Before that, thousands of viewers woke up with Domonique each morning.

Wow. That's quite an accusation. ¶ 12:34 PM 2 comments

What the hell?!?!!

You've really got to dig to find this on the KJTV (Lubbock) (!) website, (since half of their links don't work) but there's all kinds of fun things to be found in a directory.

Drew Dougherty

Born in the backwoods of Texas, Drew Dougherty was raised by a pack of wild grizzly bears until the age of 14.

At that time, he was ushered into society, where he quickly learned how to live with humans and speak English.

¶ 9:23 PM 3 comments

Bad Online Bios/BLOGS

Darrin Bradley, WNEM (CBS) Saginaw, MI


The Blog page tells me "Darrin's blog is updated every Tuesday."
I downloaded this on March 12.

Darrin Bradley’s Blogger-iffic Blog for February 28

Well, we’re about to “close the books” on February 2006. Of course, we really don’t have a “book” about the month of February 2006, let alone more than one book. Come to think of it, I don’t think we have books about ANY of the months of ANY of the years. What I could have said is that “we’ll be filing away” the month of February 2006, but I don’t have a filing cabinet, either. Hmmmm…how about we’ll be “kissing February goodbye!”. Nope, too weird.

You know, I don’t even remember what I was going to write about this week. Oh well…

DB

¶ 9:28 PM 3 comments

Bad Online Bios #3
Thanks to Lost Remote and NewsBlues for the plug!

Now, today's installment:

Jade Alexander, WFOR (CBS) Miami


I'm sure she's a lovely woman, but this photo looks a bit... masculine.
(Or as a friend said, "She's a man, man!")

In 1999, Jade was once again scouted by a general manager, Steve Mauldin of WFOR/CBS-4. Having spotted her on the cover of the November 1998 issue of MIAMI METRO MAGAZINE, Steve invited Jade to join the CBS-4 news team as the Entertainment/Lifestyle reporter.
[Ed: I'm pretty sure GMs don't hire off local mags alone...]

Memorable Interview: WHEN I PLAYFULLY SMACKED GLORIA ESTEFAN WITH A PALM FRONG AND SHE PLAYFULLY SMACKED ME BACK ...LUCKILY IT DIDNT TURN INTO A SMACKDOWN!
Dream Job: LOTTO WINNER
Moviestar: MATTHEW McCONNAUGHEY--OH , AND I LIKE HIS WORK TOO.

¶ 11:38 AM 5 comments

Bad Online Bios, #1
Starting a new feature here that I hope will become semi-regular.
I'm going to troll websites of television stations and post the worst online bios I can find.
Out of the chute:

Stacy McCloud, WVTL (CBS) Knoxville


From her 700+ word bio:

I lived in the same house on Norris Lake in Caryville for 18 years. The subdivision had no other kids, so I quickly became best friends with my cat, had many imaginary friends and our neighbors ended up with the child they never wanted!

¶ 10:09 AM 7 comments

Bad Online Bio #2
Julie Chin, KJRH (NBC) Tulsa


From Julie's online bio:

My only "child"-- is my 19 pound cat Jackson. He's part Siamese, and part "puppy"-- or at least so he seems to think. In my spare time, I love doing anything in the sunshine. I play tennis and have recently taken up golf. And, of course, I love the movies.
"The Wizard of Oz" inspired my love for the weather, but also for many things. That includes chasing rainbows, and shoes.
I even own my very own pair of Ruby Red Slippers.

She even posted a photo of herself as a child.
¶ 10:04 AM 2 comments

50 Book Challenge #2


Marc Eliot's biography of Cary Grant is carefully researched, almost annoyingly annotated and chock-full of facts. So full I found myself skimming several paragraphs in each chapter.

Which isn't so bad. It lends an air of careful research and hours of culling from former interviews. I got a little bored with the Hollywood behind-the-scenes politics of movie making; however it's important to note because the Zanucks and others of the day controlled virtually EVERY aspect of film entertainment. (This is why box office receipts are down today-- too many choices for entertainment elsewhere now.)

To sum up this particular biography:
1930s= Grant was flamingly gay
1940s= falling in love with leading ladies, struggles with gay relationship with Randolph Scott
1950s= shrewdly managed career, but creatively unfulfilled
1960s-death= regularly took LSD under a doctor's guideance, married five women, had a child with fourth wife Dyan Cannon, died wealthy and still married.

The moral: even the rich and handsome don't always feel rich and handsome.

Grade: B- ¶ 11:15 AM 5 comments

CW stands for...

...surely not Conventional Wisdom? Complete Waste? How about Crappy & Worthless-- as in Tribune's stock? It's soaring right now to $29.16, a scant 11 months after peaking at $42.50.

Lost Remote has a good screed on why the merger of WB & UPN probably isn't a good idea, what with highly specialized cable shows and mega-syndication of anything over 25 episodes.

As LR poins out, it's the same old thing-- perhaps branching out in new media would help capture the fickle 18-35s, who are increasingly becoming more tech-savvy. How about getting some decent programming that isn't terrible? How about letting series live longer that 2 episodes?

No wonder everyone is doing their own vlogs. Plus I find it really amusing that www.thecw.com was registered to someone in Nov '05. Damn, I wish it were me. ¶ 10:21 AM 33 comments