BC Crawler

Friday, November 9, 2007
November 9, 2007

By Alex Weprin

[Ooh Ooh… Terminator Joke!] An open letter to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was posted on the Huffington Post from a writer, an excerpt:

“With all respect, I suggest that it is a philosophical luxury of governance which will not be sustainable for very long. As this strike worsens, and as more wounds are inflicted, the more all parties will be damaged. For the governor to simply observe, the more it would resemble the unthinkable notion of your doing nothing as fires rage through dry Californian canyons.”

Meanwhile, CBS and Fox have escalated their actions against striking show-runners, sending breach of contract notices to all of the writer-producers that are out striking. It was expected that the hyphenates would still perform their duties as producers, and finish the episodes that had been scripted.

[Will it be Like Entourage?] Hollywood agents are stepping in to help end the strike. They are losing money as well, so it pays to help spur on negotiations. Come to think of it, that’s what agents do, right? So come on Ari, get cracking on this thing, your mailroom boys with their fancy graduate degrees need to earn their 300 dollars this week.

[Hey, Wrong Country] Chinese media censorship… in Canada? The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was scheduled to run a documentary on the  Chinese government's persecution of the Falun Gong. After complaints by Chinese diplomats in Canada, the CBC decided to pull the program. A Toronto journalism professor expressed concern that the decision might have something to do with the Beijing Olympics, which the CBC will broadcast next year…

[Hoooold On a Minute Now…] Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) among others, have introduced a bill that would “prevent the Federal Communications Commission from voting on any new media-ownership rules until sometime in 2008 and open a separate proceeding on broadcast localism.”

[Mighty Mouse] Driven by their strong cable division, Disney posted $1.1 billion in operating income in the 2007 fiscal year. ESPN led the cable division, which posted $577 million in operating income. Maybe Mickey can finally afford to pay the mortgage on Cinderella’s castle.

[What Happened to His Old Show?] Bernie Mac is back baby. Mac will star in a new half-hour sitcom for Fox, tentatively dubbed Starting Under. The deal was finalized, Friday, making it the last major deal before the WGA strike began. Says Variety:

“Multicamera sitcom will star Mac as a large, opinionated guy (not unlike himself in that respect) who winds up divorced and living with his introverted twentysomething son. What's more, he also winds up working for his son.”

I was hoping for more of an Ocean’s 15, but this sounds funny too.

[Just Enough Time to Grab a Sandwich] CNN is trying out a neat new graphic during commercials: a timer counting down till the show returns from the break. Inside Cable News has a screenshot. The move will surely result in people rushing to the fridge to grab a beer before The Situation Room gets back. Drink every time Wolf Blitzer uses one of his fancy video walls for an interview!

Posted by BC Crawler on November 9, 2007 | Comments (0)