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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/if-you-are-under-45-years-old-heres-a-personal-explanation-as-to-whyand-howcronkite-was-so-influenti.php">If You are Under 45 Years Old, Here's a Personal Explanation as to Why—and How—Cronkite was so Powerful and Influential</a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38">Chuck Ross</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 18, 2009</a> at 1:55 PM </p> <p class="tags"> <strong>Tags:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/Influential">Influential</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/Walter+Cronkite">Walter Cronkite</a> </p> <p>For anyone under 45 years old, the stature, power and influence that Walter Cronkite had in the 1960s and 1970s is likely hard to understand.</p><p>The best way I can explain it is to tell you a little about my family.</p><p>My dad was born in 1911, five years before Cronkite was born. My dad was a young man of 18 when the depression hit. As with many people from that era, the depression had a lasting impact upon my dad. For the remainder of his life he believed that cash was king, and that debt—and credit—were to be avoided at all costs.</p><p>My dad had just turned 30 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and he volunteered for, and became an officer in, the Army Air Corps, which was the predecessor to the Air Force.</p><p>To say that my dad was conservative, both fiscally and politically, is almost an understatement.</p><p>After the war my parents got married, and had two sons. My older brother and I became part of the Baby Boomer generation.</p><p>Though of the generation that fell in love with the movies, our dad was never seduced. His entertainment of choice was reading, primarily history.</p><p>He never watched a lot of TV. One program that did become a staple in our house was “The 20th Century.” It ran on CBS on Sunday nights at 6 pm (later at 6:30pm) for most of my formative years. The program featured stories of the events and the people that shaped the 20th century. Cronkite was the narrator.</p><p>The other program my dad watched with regularity was Cronkite’s evening newscast. Though we had the Los Angeles Herald Express (later the Examiner) delivered in the late afternoon, the Cronkite newscast became a must in our household.</p><p>In those days, information was neither instantaneous nor ubiquitous. Millions and millions of Americans depended upon the evening newscast to catch up on the day’s events.</p><p>Like my dad, Cronkite was a veteran of World War II. My dad clearly respected the newscaster. Back in those days people on TV and in movies had great voices, and Cronkite’s timbre was authoritative yet not overbearing.</p><p>The big split in our household centered around the Vietnam War. My dad was a proponent and my brother was demonstrably against it. The arguments they had would often ratchet up to yelling and screaming between them, usually concluding with my brother storming out of the house.</p><p>Until, one fateful night, when Walter Cronkite turned against the war. In what I recall was almost shockingly uncharacteristic for Cronkite, he broke out of his familiar “news reader” mode to editorialize that the war could not be won.</p><p>I could tell that my dad was visibly surprised by this pronouncement. My dad was a thoughtful man, and not a knee-jerk conservative. But on the issue of the Vietnam War he had not budged. The arguments between my brother and my dad about the war had produced a serious rift between them. By this point they were barely speaking to one another.</p><p>And then, suddenly, my brother had an ally in a man who had a lot of influence in our father’s mind: Walter Cronkite. Cronkite, I’m sure my dad would have said, was smart, sensible, and cautious. And, my dad would have noted, Cronkite was both a contemporary of his and, like my dad, a veteran of the second world war.</p><p>If Cronkite had decided the war couldn’t be won, that meant something.</p><p>In fact, in thousands of households like ours, it meant a lot. Walter Cronkite, this calm, polished, learned man who was so good at explaining the news to us—news we didn’t know about until he told us about it every day—had actually come out against the war.</p><p>Unlike the current war in Iraq, fought with all-volunteer servicemen and servicewomen, there was a draft during the Vietnam War. So one way or another, every home that had young men in it was very much directly affected by the war.</p><p>Cronkite’s coming out against the Vietnam war was the beginning of our dad changing his mind about the conflict. Our dad finally decided it was not a war we should be fighting. He and my brother reconciled.</p><p>President Johnson reportedly said after the CBS newscast that night that since Cronkite had come out against the war that the country would also turn against it. Cronkite’s pronouncement was clearly a factor in Johnson not seeking re-election.</p><p>Today, with the fragmentation of media and the fact that we now get our news instantaneously on the Internet or from the all-news cable outlets, there’s no newsperson who has the singular voice—literally and figuratively—that Cronkite had.</p><p>A short eight months after Cronkite’s last broadcast at age 65, my dad passed away, far too young, at age 70.</p><p>Six years ago Cronkite told Time magazine that he thought he had stepped down from his news anchor chair too early.</p><p>But I think my dad, and millions of others of us, would demur with Cronkite’s re-evaluation. Time has not been kind to the traditional news business, both on the distribution and content fronts. </p><p>Reporting about stains on a blue dress and stars found dead in closets in Thailand after masturbating are not events those of us who grew up watching Cronkite picture him reporting.#<br/></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/if-you-are-under-45-years-old-heres-a-personal-explanation-as-to-whyand-howcronkite-was-so-influenti.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/if-you-are-under-45-years-old-heres-a-personal-explanation-as-to-whyand-howcronkite-was-so-influenti.php#comments">Comment <span class="commentcount">1</span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36858)" id="scoring-id-36858" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36858" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> <div class="entry box" id="entry-36864"> <div class="headshot left pull-2"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=64"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_mt-static/support/assets_c/2009/06/barnhart-thumb-47xauto-43.jpg" alt=""/> </a> <p class="bottom"><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=64" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=64#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/what-youll-find-in-cronkites-birthplace-st-joseph-missouri.php">What You'll Find in Cronkite's Birthplace, St. Joseph, Missouri</a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=64">Aaron Barnhart</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 18, 2009</a> at 12:00 PM </p> <p class="tags"> <strong>Tags:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/Kansas+City">Kansas City</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/St.+Joseph">St. Joseph</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/Walter+Cronkite">Walter Cronkite</a> </p> <p><i>[Editor'sNote. Our friend Aaron, the TV Critic of the Kansas City Star, wrote a terrific obituary on the passing of Walter Cronkite, who is from Missouri. To read the entire obituary, </i><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/1331858.html"><i>click here</i></a><i>. Below is a short excerpt focusing on Cronkite's ties to his birthplace, St. Joseph, Missouri.]</i></p><p>Walter Cronkite was just a baby when his family left St. Joseph, but it’s St. Joe that will always have the honor of being the newsman’s birthplace.</p><p>The big draw at the Patee House Museum, 12th and Penn streets, is probably the house where Jesse James was shot in 1882. But the museum’s “Streets of Old St. Jo” section includes a small exhibit devoted to Cronkites — two of them dentists (his father and grandfather). The display features a portrait of Walter Jr. (as he signed letters to his dad), the same portrait his dentist dad proudly displayed in his office.</p><p>There’s also a Cronkite family Bible there, and a thank-you note Walter Cronkite wrote to museum director Gary Chilcote when he dropped by to see the dental-office exhibit in October 2006. <br/>The building where Cronkite was born in 1916 still stands at 15th and Edmond streets. Then a physician’s maternity hospital, it’s now a residential care facility.</p><p>The Cronkites left St. Joseph in 1917 — baby Walter’s dad would serve as an Army dentist in World War I. Curiously, while the Patee House exhibit mentions the family’s relocation to Houston (when Walter was 10) , it does not acknowledge the years before that, when they lived in Kansas City. Walter as a young man would return to KC, and his father would return to St. Joseph.</p><p> In a 1994 interview, Cronkite told the St. Joseph News-Press he remembered taking the Interurban from Kansas City to St. Joseph in the 1920s to visit his grandfather’s farm. “He had horses, and a storm cellar that always smelled marvelously of apples,” Cronkite said.<br/></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/what-youll-find-in-cronkites-birthplace-st-joseph-missouri.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/what-youll-find-in-cronkites-birthplace-st-joseph-missouri.php#comments">Comment <span class="noboxthankscommentcount"> </span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36864)" id="scoring-id-36864" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36864" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> <div class="advert inline-advert"> <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/fullbanner.jpg" alt=""/> </div> <div class="entry box" id="entry-36853"> <div class="headshot left pull-2"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=45"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_mt-static/support/assets_c/2009/05/4b23a0be79ab4529abd02d317af96dea-thumb-47xauto-26.jpeg" alt=""/> </a> <p class="bottom"><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=45" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=45#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/i-was-there-watching-the-great-cronkite-at-work.php">I Was There: Watching the Great Cronkite at Work</a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=45">Adam Buckman</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 17, 2009</a> at 7:11 PM </p> <p>It was the 1980s and the old guys were still around.</p><p>One of them, Walter Cronkite, had relinquished his CBS anchor chair to Dan Rather in 1981, but I got an opportunity to watch Cronkite work one day a couple of years later, in a small studio at New York’s public TV station, WNET, where Cronkite was videotaping some intros and other material called “wraparounds” for a PBS documentary.</p><p>I had been invited up to the station to see him and, standing a few feet away from him while he worked, I learned about the art and effort of broadcasting.</p><p>Cronkite, then in his 70s, sat in a chair a few feet away from a large television camera, and recited some copy. I don’t recall if he read from a TelePrompTer, but if he did, it didn’t seem to draw his eyes away and distract him from his keen concentration on that camera lens.</p><p>He leaned forward in his chair and peered so intently into that lens that he literally seemed to strain physically to do it. It was as if he wanted to dive into it bodily. I realized that this was the method Cronkite must have adopted as anchor of “The CBS Evening News.” He must have believed that if he could focus his unwavering gaze directly through a point at the very center of the camera lens, then viewers at home could literally make eye contact with him.</p><p>The method evidently worked since it made him the most trusted man in America in his heyday as anchor of “The CBS Evening News.” I learned that day that broadcasting – real broadcasting – takes effort and study and work. And I never forgot it.<br/></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/i-was-there-watching-the-great-cronkite-at-work.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/i-was-there-watching-the-great-cronkite-at-work.php#comments">Comment <span class="commentcount">1</span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36853)" id="scoring-id-36853" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36853" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> <div class="entry box" id="entry-36850"> <div class="headshot left pull-2"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_mt-static/support/assets_c/2009/06/dscn1446tn-thumb-47xauto-115.jpg" alt=""/> </a> <p class="bottom"><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/by-hillary-atkinthey-may-know.php">Funny Thing About the Emmy Nominees for Comedy Actress </a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98">Hillary Atkin</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 17, 2009</a> at 11:33 AM </p> <p class="tags"> <strong>Tags:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/actress">actress</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/comedy">comedy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/Emmy+Awards">Emmy Awards</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/lead">lead</a> </p> <p>They may know she was "F-ing Matt Damon," but Emmy voters may not know that much else about the surprise entrant into the exclusive club of the funniest women on television. Sarah Silverman nabbed one of the now six coveted slots in the lead actress in a comedy series race – a spot that  many people predicted would be filled by another comedienne with her own cable show, Tracey Ullman.</p><p>Silverman's brand of edgy comedy, bringing her sex and Jewishness to the fore in a way many people find offensive, is shaking up the contest -- with the other spots being occupied by acclaimed actresses in more traditional shows who are veterans of the awards-show circuit and owners of many trophies.</p><p>Julia Louis Dreyfus, Mary Louise Parker and Tina Fey have all been here before (and I've had the pleasure of interviewing all of them, as well as their fellow nominee Christina Applegate), and they all deserve to be this time, joined by Toni Collette, whose star turn as a mom with multiple personalities in Showtime's “The United States of Tara” obviously turned Emmy voters’ heads.</p><p>Fey will be riding the tidal wave not only of "30 Rock's" record-breaking 22 nominations, but of her win last year in this category. Not only did her character Liz Lemon get a new love interest this year, (the also-nominated Jon Hamm) but Emmy voters are clearly still madly in love with her. And of course, her buzz from this season was massively intensified by her deft and hysterical portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” through the fall, which drew critical raves and huge numbers of viewers -- and will probably contribute to "SNL" winning the comedy/variety series category against the hosted shows of Letterman, Colbert, Stewart and Maher.</p><p>Was it all part of a master plan by Ms. Fey, who as well as taking home the statuette for lead actress in a comedy series last year also grabbed Emmys as a producer and writer of "30 Rock?"</p><p>Tina Fey is ruling the world right now, and we’re just living in it.</p><p> But the competition is stiff, stiff, stiff. The Emmys love JLD and MLP, and Ms. Applegate may draw a large sympathy vote, both for “Samantha Who?” being shown the door and for her high-profile battle with breast cancer.</p><p>Even Silverman might have trouble coming up with some jokes about that.</p><p></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/by-hillary-atkinthey-may-know.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/by-hillary-atkinthey-may-know.php#comments">Comment <span class="commentcount">1</span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36850)" id="scoring-id-36850" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36850" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> <div class="entry box" id="entry-36825"> <div class="headshot left pull-2"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_mt-static/support/assets_c/2009/06/userpic-49-100x100-thumb-47xauto-33.png" alt=""/> </a> <p class="bottom"><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/emmy-nominations-im-pleased-im-pissed-how-do-you-feel.php">Emmy Nominations: I’m Pleased. I’m Pissed. How Do YOU Feel?</a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38">Chuck Ross</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 16, 2009</a> at 9:30 AM </p> <p class="tags"> <strong>Tags:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/cheers">cheers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/emmys">emmys</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/jeers">jeers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/kudos">kudos</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/primetime">primetime</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/snubs">snubs</a> </p> <p>The most outstanding nomination of the day: “The Family Guy” as most Outstanding Comedy Series.</p><p>I also liked the nomination of “How I Met Your Mother” in that category. Well-deserved.</p><p>I’m pissed about the overlooking of “The Shield” and “Battlestar Galactica,” two outstanding series that both ended their runs with easily Emmy-winning worthy seasons.</p><p>And a long-time favorite of mine, “24,” had its best season in several years but was snubbed.</p><p>On the acting side, both Kiefer Sutherland of “24” and Michael Chiklis of “The Shield,”—both former Emmy-winners—were certainly worthy of nominations this year for the new, dark places they took their characters. (Sutherland was nominated for last season's "24" movie, which was some consolation...)</p><p>And don’t even get me started about the snub of “Rescue Me” in too many categories—but hooray for the courageous Michael J. Fox, nominated for his guest appearance on that series.</p><p>I was surprised (shame on me for having not enough faith in the Academy), though very pleased, that Elisabeth Moss was recognized for her brilliant work in “Mad Men,” but what about Jeanne Tripplehorn, who is the best thing about almost anything she is in, especially “Big Love”? (Though she did get a nod for “Grey Gardens.”)</p><p>Not to make too much of a point about who rules the remote control in my roost, but any morning when one can wake up and see that “The Simpsons,” “iCarly,” “Hannah Montana,” "Spongebob Squarepants" and the aforementioned “Family Guy” all get Emmy nominations is a good one.</p><p>I could go on and on (good for nominee Holly Hunter, who delivers a wonderful performance of a fascinatingly screwed-up character week-in and week-out on “Saving Grace,” jeers for the snub of Tim Roth, an almost always under-rated actor, on “Lie to Me”), but, please, let me know how you feel about these Emmy nominations.<br/></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/emmy-nominations-im-pleased-im-pissed-how-do-you-feel.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/emmy-nominations-im-pleased-im-pissed-how-do-you-feel.php#comments">Comments <span class="commentcount">3</span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36825)" id="scoring-id-36825" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36825" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> <div class="entry box" id="entry-36731"> <div class="headshot left pull-2"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_mt-static/support/assets_c/2009/06/userpic-49-100x100-thumb-47xauto-33.png" alt=""/> </a> <p class="bottom"><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/funny-story-about-one-of-tvs-all-time-great-pitchman.php">Funny Story About One of TV's All-time Great Pitchmen</a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38">Chuck Ross</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 9, 2009</a> at 10:15 AM </p> <p class="tags"> <strong>Tags:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/alpo">alpo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/Billy+Mays">Billy Mays</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/Ed+McMahon">Ed McMahon</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/johnny+carson">johnny carson</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/pitchman">pitchman</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/the+tonight+show">the tonight show</a> </p> <p>Discovery is airing a tribute to the late pitchman Billy Mays tonight (Thursday, July 9th, 9 pm ET/PT), and I’m eager to see it. Mays was indeed a pitchman extraordinaire. Like many of us raised on TV, we’ve come to realize the difference between your run-of-the-mill pitch person and those who almost raise it to the level of art. Or at least who are a hell of a lot more fun to watch than others.</p><p>Another of my all-time favorite pitchmen also died recently: Ed McMahon. In various remembrances McMahon has received lots of well-deserved praise for his skill in understanding what made a second-banana top dog.</p><p>But it was McMahon’s skill as a pitchman, particularly for Alpo dog food, that I’ll most fondly remember about him.</p><p>What made the Alpo commercials that he did on the ”Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" special is that they were done live…and later, live-on-tape.</p><p>Here’s my favorite one. I don’t’ recall if I saw it live or in highlight reel. But I do remember seeing it. My memory is enhanced by Ed’s recounting of this particular live commercial in his 1998 memoir “For Laughing Out Loud.”</p><p>One day, for a reason no one recalls, the dog that usually appeared in the commercial with McMahon had the night off. A substitute dog, a beagle named Hernandez, was filling in.</p><p>As was his want, when the commercial began McMahon was sitting on a chair on a raised platform, holding a can of Alpo and said: “Alpo is the only one of the leading dog foods that has real beef…..” That was the cue for Hernandez to walk out on stage.</p><p>But, as McMahon quickly surmised, Hernandez had stage fright. He’d take a few steps toward Ed and turn away. No amount of coxing by McMahon could convince the dog to make it out to where Ed was sitting and the bowl of Alpo next to him</p><p>I’ll let Ed tell it from here:<br/>“And then I saw Johnny come into my little commercial area. He got down on his hands and knees and came over to me. “Come right up, nice Hernandez,” I said as I started to pet Johnny. <br/>Nice boss, I was thinking as I pet him on the head, nice boss. By this point the audience was hysterical. Carson wagged his rump to show how much he loved Alpo. I just kept going. I was going to get my commercial done.</p><p>“The next time you’re looking at canned dog food …” –he rubbed his cheek against my leg --- “…… nice Hernandez ….reach for the can that contains real beef….” Johnny got up on his knees and started begging for more. I started petting him again … and then he licked my hand. Good boss, good.</p><p>"And I still managed to conclude, gratefully, “And doesn’t your dog deserve Alpo?”#<br/></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/funny-story-about-one-of-tvs-all-time-great-pitchman.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/funny-story-about-one-of-tvs-all-time-great-pitchman.php#comments">Comments <span class="commentcount">3</span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36731)" id="scoring-id-36731" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36731" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> <div class="entry box" id="entry-36720"> <div class="headshot left pull-2"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_mt-static/support/assets_c/2009/06/dscn1446tn-thumb-47xauto-115.jpg" alt=""/> </a> <p class="bottom"><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/jackson-memorial-a-dreamy-dramatic-feat.php">Jackson Memorial a Dreamy, Dramatic Feat </a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98">Hillary Atkin</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 9, 2009</a> at 4:04 AM </p> <p>Not since young JFK, Jr. saluted his slain father’s coffin has a child’s reaction to the loss of a parent so moved a global television audience.</p><p>Paris Michael Katherine Jackson’s spontaneous, heartfelt tribute to her father was the highly emotional capper to the public memorial service for Michael Jackson at Staples Center.<br/>If you hadn’t choked back tears when Usher sang “Gone Too Soon,” taking off his sunglasses to gaze at the King of Pop’s rose-covered coffin, when Brooke Shields spoke lovingly of their bond as child stars and her fun moments with Michael or when brother Marlon asked him to give his twin Brandon a hug in heaven, you wept with the 11-year old girl as she took the microphone and said, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. And I just wanted to say, I love him so much," before tearfully collapsing into the embrace of her aunt Janet and other family members.</p><p><br/>The clip has already played countless times, and is likely to become a turning point in the tenor of the media’s never-ending fixation on the man Motown founder Berry Gordy dubbed “the greatest entertainer that has ever lived”—at least until the autopsy results are revealed.</p><p>If there was a little bit of hyperbole there, it was understandable, coming from the man who launched the Jackson 5 and its wise-beyond-his-years lead singer into superstardom 40 years ago. Just about all the words spoken at the ceremony—from Queen Latifah reading Maya Angelou’s tribute poem to Magic Johnson’s memory of Michael eating Kentucky Fried Chicken—resonated within the auditorium and throughout the world, and although Mariah Carey criticized herself later for losing it during her rendition of “I’ll Be There,” it was hard to find fault with any of the performances during the nearly 2 ½ hour tribute.</p><p>Someone said Jackson not only raised the bar, he broke it. And so did the memorial, far exceeding the expectations of media pundits and fans alike who had been anticipating the event since it was announced just five days in advance. Kudos to veteran producer Ken Ehrlich, who pulled off what must be one of the highlights of his career. <br/></p><p>There was plenty of drama in the lead-up, the babble from naysayers and haters who felt it was all too much, and a measure of dread—as voiced by the LAPD, sternly warning people who didn’t have a ticket not to come downtown—and that they would be thrown in jail if they attempted to scalp the coveted tickets.<br/></p><p>It all, miraculously, went off without a hitch. It could not have been scripted better by an Oscar-winning screenwriter. Even the hastily-devised Internet lottery system of allocating and then distributing the tickets at Dodger stadium went smoothly.</p><p>In a city where memories of the OJ Simpson car chase and the 1992 riots still loom large, there was a potential for some sort of disaster. At the very least, monster traffic jams tying up morning rush hour were a big concern.</p><p> Expert planning by the CHP and the LAPD and personal attention from its chief Bill Bratton mitigated those logistical nightmares. And the only one remaining: who's going to pick up the tab for all the police overtime—which was actually less than predicted?</p><p>I vote for a) AEG and/or b) Sony Music, both of which will make untold boatloads of money on Jackson's legacy.<br/></p><p>Seeing the Jackson family's well-coordinated motorcade of Rolls-Royces, Range Rovers and Escalades depart from Forest Lawn Mortuary to Staples Center on closed freeways was dreamy, and dramatic.<br/></p><p>There was a creepy rumor reported on one of the major broadcast networks that Michael Jackson's body was not actually in the golden coffin being carried by the hearse. In the context of all the bizarre and eccentric aspects of the pop star's life that have been reported over the last few decades, it was momentarily believable—until it was clearly apparent that it wasn't, as his white sequin glove-clad brothers bore the casket into the auditorium.</p><p>Inside the Staples Center, it was a relief not to think about the stranger aspects of Michael Jackson's life—until Al Sharpton brought them up. If there was a low point, that was it—because for all we know, Michael Jackson's children were so sheltered that they had no idea that the world thought their father might be a bit strange. This certainly was not the time to inform them of that, Rev. Sharpton, or to use the occasion to bring up racial divides. Yet he drove home a good point when he stated that Michael never gave up, and never stopped.</p><p>With the tantalizingly little bit we've seen of Jackson's rehearsals for the shows in London that were to open next week—and there are reportedly untold hours of tapes and a London tribute concert in the works—that is certainly true. And it makes his passing, at what could have been a new pinnacle in his illustrious, iconic career, all the more tragic.</p><p></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/jackson-memorial-a-dreamy-dramatic-feat.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/jackson-memorial-a-dreamy-dramatic-feat.php#comments">Comments <span class="commentcount">3</span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36720)" id="scoring-id-36720" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36720" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> <div class="entry box" id="entry-36715"> <div class="headshot left pull-2"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_mt-static/support/assets_c/2009/06/userpic-49-100x100-thumb-47xauto-33.png" alt=""/> </a> <p class="bottom"><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/todays-beach-read-update-on-the-big-brother-participant-who-wanted-to-auction-off-her-virginity.php">Today's Beach Read: Update on Big Brother Participant Who Wanted to Auction Off Her Virginity</a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=38">Chuck Ross</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 8, 2009</a> at 10:50 AM </p> <p>It ‘s summertime, which means it’s “Big Brother” time.</p><p>Here’s today’s beach read: One of the wilder stories that garnered a lot of publicity in the gossip columns last fall was the one about Raffella Fica, the beautiful 20 year old model and participant in the Italian version of “Big Brother.” She announced that she was going to auction off her virginity for 1 million Euros, which, at the time, translated to close to $2 million. She said at the time that if someone met her price but when she met him, “If I don’t like him I’ll just have a glass of wine and forget about it.”</p><p>Here’s the update, courtesy of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-girl-auctions-virginity-for-a-millionmeets-hot-millionaire/">thefrisky.com</a>. Raffaella did have someone meet her steep price, but she turned him down. Instead, she’s now dating a hot soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo, who introduces Rafaella as his girlfriend. And Ronaldo reportedly has lots and lots of money. Here’s how thefrisky.com ended its update:</p><p>"Hmmm, if an online virginity auction is the fast route to celebrity, riches and love, then should we consider selling ours too? Who cares if it’s slightly used."</p><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline"><img class="mt-image-none" height="255" alt="raffaella_renaldo_m.jpg" width="445" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/assets/raffaella_renaldo_m.jpg"/></span></p><p></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/todays-beach-read-update-on-the-big-brother-participant-who-wanted-to-auction-off-her-virginity.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/todays-beach-read-update-on-the-big-brother-participant-who-wanted-to-auction-off-her-virginity.php#comments">Comment <span class="noboxthankscommentcount"> </span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36715)" id="scoring-id-36715" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36715" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> <div class="entry box" id="entry-36703"> <div class="headshot left pull-2"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=45"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_mt-static/support/assets_c/2009/05/4b23a0be79ab4529abd02d317af96dea-thumb-47xauto-26.jpeg" alt=""/> </a> <p class="bottom"><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=45" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=45#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/now-he-belongs-to-the-ages-michaels-memorial-joins-select-group-of-unforgettable-telecasts.php">Now he Belongs to the Ages: Michael’s Memorial Joins Select Group of Unforgettable Telecasts</a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=45">Adam Buckman</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 7, 2009</a> at 5:17 PM </p> <p class="tags"> <strong>Tags:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/Michael+Jackson+Memorial">Michael Jackson Memorial</a> </p> <p>It happens only a few times in a lifetime – when presidents die and state funerals are held, when a beloved princess is killed in a sudden accident, or when men walk on the moon.</p><p>And now, the memorial service for Michael Jackson joins this very exclusive, very unique group of televised events – the kind of events that are never to be forgotten.</p><p>What a moving way to spend a Tuesday afternoon in July, watching a loving tribute that brought the world together for two hours.</p><p>What were the most moving moments? There were so many – Mariah Carey and <span lang="EN">Trey Lorenz singing a duet </span>on “I’ll Be There,” Queen Latifah reciting a Maya Angelou poem specially written for the occasion called “We Had Him,” Stevie Wonder singing “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer,” Brooke Shields weeping as she described a friendship forged in childhood with Michael, brother Jermaine Jackson singing Michael’s favorite song “Smile,” with its lyrics, “Smile though your heart is aching,” Smokey Robinson bidding farewell to his “little brother,” Michael’s daughter Paris, a stranger to all of us, taking the stage and declaring her love for her late father.</p><p>Watching alone at home, or in groups large or small throughout the world, it was impossible not to weep.</p><p>TV made it possible as only TV can do. For two hours on a Tuesday afternoon, gone were the afternoon soaps and talk shows, the Jons and Kates, bachelorettes and bridezillas. In their place, TV provided an entire planet with an opportunity to contemplate the durability of art and the universality of music.</p><p>It was as great a way as any to pay tribute to an entertainer we didn’t realize we loved so much until he was gone.<br/></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/now-he-belongs-to-the-ages-michaels-memorial-joins-select-group-of-unforgettable-telecasts.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/now-he-belongs-to-the-ages-michaels-memorial-joins-select-group-of-unforgettable-telecasts.php#comments">Comments <span class="commentcount">2</span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36703)" id="scoring-id-36703" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36703" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> <div class="entry box" id="entry-36638"> <div class="headshot left pull-2"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_mt-static/support/assets_c/2009/06/dscn1446tn-thumb-47xauto-115.jpg" alt=""/> </a> <p class="bottom"><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98" title="">about</a><br/><a class="biopic" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98#entries" title="">posts</a></p> </div> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/the-media-madness-surrounding-the.php">Jackson Coverage: Treading the Line Between Class and Crass</a></h1> <p class="meta"> <strong class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/profile.php?id=98">Hillary Atkin</a></strong> <span class="separator">■</span> Posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/">July 2, 2009</a> at 4:17 AM </p> <p class="tags"> <strong>Tags:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/ABC+News">ABC News</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/Michael+Jackson">Michael Jackson</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tag/TMZ">TMZ</a> </p> <p>The media madness surrounding the sudden death of Michael Jackson continues unabated, fueled by the public’s nearly insatiable decades-long appetite about the talented and troubled King of Pop.</p><p>One can get whiplash trying to keep up with all the latest developments. The pop star will be buried at Neverland after a public viewing and private service. No, he won't be. The former long-time nanny to his three children pumped his stomach regularly. No, she didn't. Former wife Debbie Rowe could get custody of the children. No, in his will, Mr. Jackson gave guardianship to his mother Katherine and secondarily to Motown legend Diana Ross. Jackson had a fatal heart attack after being given a shot of Demerol by Dr. Conrad Murray. No, now there are reports he may have been given the powerful anesthetic Propofol intravenously. Madonna will be part of a special tribute concert planned in London. No, she will not. Michael Jackson did not “adopt” his three children. No, he didn't need to under California law.</p><p>That was just a short list of the facts, the half-truths and the complete distortions of the truth that have made headlines since the shocking news of the star’s death was first reported last Thursday afternoon. Celebrity tabloid Web site TMZ claimed to be first to break news of the heart attack and then the actual death—and whatever claim to fame that's actually worth is debatable. (Apparently, UCLA has not rid itself of employees who sell tips about celebrities, even in the wake of the scandalous breach of Farrah Fawcett’s medical records.)</p><p>Debatable, especially since no one, meaning no one in mainstream media, believed the site as a source for the earth-shattering news that would rock the globe. The recognition of Michael Jackson's death came only when it was blasted on the Los Angeles Times website a short time later. By then, the circus had come to town -- to UCLA Medical Center, to Jackson’s rented mansion on Carolwood Drive and to the Jackson family home in Encino. It will not leave any time soon.</p><p>TMZ, run by my former colleague Harvey Levin, bowed to audience pressure to show some respect to the late performer, and the day after his death, changed all of its offensive mentions of “Jacko” to “Jackson” or “MJ.” At last check, the New York Post and other tabloids were still seemingly glorying in using the distasteful nickname (shortened from “Wacko Jacko”) that Jackson himself told interviewers he found very hurtful.</p><p>But the lowest point in the death coverage—aside from all the rumors that in the heat of the news moment turned out to be not true—was the close-up photograph of an apparently already dead Michael Jackson to which “Entertainment Tonight” and “The Insider” kept cutting. It was repulsive, completely unnecessary and just plain wrong. I’m having nightmares just thinking about its ghastliness—and the incredibly poor taste in running it, repeatedly, in primetime, or at any time. The photo belongs in a coroner’s file, not to be seen by the public.</p><p>The coverage of the Jackson story proves there is still a line between tabloids and traditional news organizations, the line between class and crass.</p><p>ABC News played up clips from the 2003 documentary “Living with Michael Jackson,” during which “Nightline” co-anchor Martin Bashir said he spent eight months with the pop star. Given his role in the piece, Bashir found it understandably difficult at times to control his emotions during 2 ½ hours on air on the night of Jackson’s death. Yet his personal experience with Jackson—whether you think he made himself too much a part of the story or not<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">—</span>gave the coverage added resonance and depth.</p><p>It also gave viewers the chance to re-examine some of Jackson’s eccentricities up close, including his admission to Bashir that he found sharing his bed with children to be a loving thing to do, a shocking statement which ultimately led to the second, and like the first, unproven, child molestation charge against the singer. And then there was the jaw-dropping shopping spree at a luxe store in which Jackson seemed to be buying up every ostentatious chess set, pair of candlesticks and antique lamp in sight, as Bashir trailed behind, astonished by the price tags, one of which was $85,000.</p><p>ABC also dug up a telling Barbara Walters interview of Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley during their brief marriage in the mid-1990s, and let it play.</p><p>With the Jackson story being the lead on “Nightline” every night, the show spent one inside baseball lead story on the impact of TMZ, interviewing a harried Harvey Levin, who said he wasn’t getting much sleep since the story broke.</p><p>And thinking of that appalling death photograph that should have never aired, neither am I. <br/></p> <p class="social clearfix"> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/the-media-madness-surrounding-the.php#more">Continue Reading <img src="/web/20090719192810im_/http://www.tvweek.com/_images2/continue.png" alt=""/></a> <a class="button" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090719192810/http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/2009/07/the-media-madness-surrounding-the.php#comments">Comments <span class="commentcount">3</span></a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return mtScore(36638)" id="scoring-id-36638" class="scoring button"> Like <span class="scoring-status"></span> <span id="scoring-score-36638" class="scoring-score">0</span> Votes </a> </p> </div> </div>  </div> <div id="sidebar" class="column span-8 last"> <div id="utility" class="widget-sign-in widget clearfix"> <div id="signin-widget-content" class="widget-content"></div> </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20090719192810js_/http://www.tvweek.com/_js2/signin.js"></script> <div id="oas2" class="advert"><script language="JavaScript">OAS_AD("Middle1");</script></div> <div class="box"> <h2>About Open Mic</h2> <p>Open Mic is the TV industry鈥檚 Town Square, a forum for insight, analysis and debate about all things television. 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