Moonves, Grushow get some Practice

There were several good lines in last week's episode of ABC's The
Practice
.

The episode was a preachy take on reality TV in which CBS president Leslie
Moonves and Fox chief Sandy Grushow played themselves.

Moonves portrayed a kidnap victim with a cannon pointed at him and a
beautiful abductress (Amy McDowall) seeking millions of dollars for the right to televise
his possible death.

Grushow played himself bidding on the TV rights to the game of Russian
roulette.

Potential names for the reality show, said McDowall's character: Shoot the
Moonves
and Les Is More or No Les No More.

Then there was the shot of a local newsman reporting on the planned reality
show and one of the jokes circulating about the macabre scenario: "If they blow
him up, he'll be eaten by the contestants on next week's Fear
Factor
."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.