BC Crawler

Thursday, December 13, 2007
December 13, 2007

By Alex Weprin

[Raising a Ruckus] Some members of the WGA are angry at their negotiators for straying away from new media residuals and instead focusing on jurisdiction over animation and reality TV. With the Directors Guild of America ready to negotiate, some of the union members are concerned that if the DGA strikes a deal, the WGA may be forced to take a similar offer. Of more concern however, is that the two sides are once again not talking, meaning that this strike could go on for a while. More than anything else, the union members want the two sides to get back to talking, putting aside personal animosity.

Also raising a ruckus: at a taping of Last Call with Carson Daly, a number of WGA members interrupted an interview he was conducting with former NFL star Jerry Rice. From Nikke (24/7) Finke:

 “A clearly disconcerted Daly asked whether Rice would be willing to start the interview over again, which he was. After reintroducing Rice to the audience, who repeated their cheers, Daly was horrified when another incognito writer stood up and loudly declared: ‘I feel so bad for the striking writers! Can I please leave?’ The scribe also pointed out Daly’s use of cue cards and asked who was writing the show now. NBC security, still expelling the first troublemaker, instantly scrambled back into the studio, then hurriedly ejected three more WGA members from the audience. 

Daly, now visibly rattled, had no witty impromptu comment to offer the perplexed audience. Rice was also upset because he was perplexed, audibly asking: ‘What’s going on?’ A tense Daly responded with a nod, saying darkly: ‘I know what this is about.’
 
After that, someone associated with the production took the stage to declare, ‘Anyone else interrupting the show will be prosecuted’ and urged ‘any other striking writers’ in the crowd to ‘leave now.’ Over 20 people scattered throughout the stands dutifully shuffled out, including one Oscar-nominated screenwriter and one creator of a beloved TV cult series. The audience gasped. Daly paled. Ironically, one member of this departing group had been given a prize moments earlier for being ‘such a great audience member.’ The award was a gift certificate to El Pollo Loco.”

[Tackling More Controversy] Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is not pleased. The NFL Network has chosen to air the New England Patriots final regular season game on the NFL Network, which almost no one has. This means that anyone outside of New york and much of New England will not be able to see potentially one of the most historic regular season games of all time. Kerry sent a letter to the two sides, urging them to make a deal before the December 29 game, even inviting them to his office to talk.

Comcast responded by saying that the network is available on their sports tier package, and that fans who want it can easily get it,” while the vast majority of our customers who have no interest in receiving this expensive network do not need to be saddled with its cost.” They also urged the NFL to put the game on broadcast TV, because obviously  they care (about publicity).

The NFL said that they are willing to talk to the MSOs, but about a long term deal, not a one game fix. They noted that the network is available on satellite television. Though that has led to problems of its own: “Apparently on weekends, DirecTV has capacity problems with their system due to all of the "NFL Network" games so they've been having to cut service (channels) to everyone. Thats right, they're DE-AUTHORIZING people's access to certain channels so they have enough room on their system to provide everyone with their precious NFL Network.”

[Oh… They Sponsor Us?] CNN is in hot water over one of their recently honored “CNN Heroes.” Pablo Fajardo was saluted by the network for forcing Chevron to pay more than $6 billion to clean up toxic waste in the Amazon Rainforest. The thing is, CNN never named Chevron on the program, which, as the NY Post points out, is an advertiser on the network. Not only that, on the CNN Web site, the link to Pablo’s site: Chevrontoxico.com, was removed a few days prior to the special aring. CNN eventually reinstate a link, but with a link to Chevron’s site as well.

[Web Find: Top 10 Viral Videos] Valleywag has a roundup of the top 10 viral videos of the year. These vids racked up big votes on Digg, and found their way onto thousands of blogs. Some even received some attention from the mainstream news providers. Among the winners: Will Ferrell’s The Landlord, Tay Zonday’s Chocolate Rain and an awesome video featuring a battle between wild Lions, Buffalo and Crocodiles in an African animal reserve.

[This… Looks… Amazing…] American Gladiators will be back on NBC in January, and LAist had a spy in the audience to give a preview. While their spy did not have a particularly good time, the show still sounds hilariously kitchsy.

Says their spy, after the introductions of the gladiators: “Shouted over the PA, we hear directions given to these muscle-bound freaks of nature. The director says things like, "Howl for me, Wolf," and "More posing, Justice" and my personal favorite - "Look menacingly while you stare at your balls" (he was referring to the giant balls that were swinging from the rafters, I hope).”

Posted by BC Crawler on December 13, 2007 | Comments (1)