Off The Chain
Blaxploitation TV.
5 a.m.: Adventures of Fat Albert
5:30 a.m.: Adventures of Fat Albert
6 a.m.: Soul Train
7 a.m.: B. Smith With Style
7:30 a.m.: B. Smith With Style
Posted on April 30, 2013
Local TV Notes: Mathis Judges Chicago & We Judge Poland
Plus: The Sounds Of Chicago Fire And 1980
Our very own Andrew Kingsford was once on Judge Mathis, though we don’t have the video at our disposal to prove it. But we’re assured it’s true.
We thought of that upon reading the news that this week’s shows will all feature Chicago litigants.
Here are some other locally related TV doings we came across this morning:
Posted on April 29, 2013
What Oprah Misses About Chicago
By The Beachwood Breaking News Affairs Desk
She tells it to Steve Harvey today but the Beachwood got an early look through its Chikileaks program. To wit:
* Her ratings.
* The limo ride in from the airport.
* The obsequious press.
* Steve Harvey.
Posted on April 26, 2013
Homeless Chicago Man Who Inspired Public Television Series Goes Viral
DePaul University Class Made It Happen
“Big Questions is in the news again,” South Bend public television station WNIT says on its Facebook page.
That’s because Redditors discovered this 9-month-old video this week and then Gawker discovered that Reddit had discovered it and issued a challenge.
First, the video:
Posted on April 25, 2013
Local TV Notes: Tom Skilling Was A Boyhood Weather Geek & Lovie Smith Is A Schmuck
Plus: A Chicago Fire Spinoff And Local Casting Calls
And Northwestern writes a soap opera.
1. Harry Volkman in the Daily Herald:
“When [Tom Skilling] was 13, he came to see me at Channel 5. He said, ‘I want to have the same job you have and do it the same way you do.”
2. Lovie Smith is . . .
“. . . the latest hypocritical coach or player who decries the working press until he becomes a part of it.”
And ESPN is complicit by working as an employment agency for those same hypocrites.
“[I]f Smith didn’t think offering his opinions on camera could benefit him professionally one day, he wouldn’t have bothered going to Bristol, Conn.
“Smith understands landing a television job next season could give him a chance to make a weekly impression on NFL executives looking for a head coach.”
Which makes his “analysis” unlikely to be anywhere near truthful.
Posted on April 24, 2013
Local TV Notes: Fix Channel 11, Chicago’s Ugly Yards & Local Stuntman To The Stars
Plus: The Great Wicker Park Outage
Because it’s on.
1. And how.
FixChannel11.com.
2. Chugly.
“Got an ugly yard? The DIY Network’s reality show Desperate Landscapes wants to fix it up. The show is still looking for ‘tragic front yards’ in Chicago to feature in the show.”
Posted on April 17, 2013
Local TV Notes: Jay Levine Tweets The Apocalypse
Plus: Local News “Reporters” Are Rich
Because it’s on.
1. Oprah Tells Ad Buyers OWN Is Making It.
Really? Network only averages 350,000 viewers in prime time.
2. Echo Valley Meats didn’t get an investment on Shark Tank last week, but just appearing on the show has goosed sales for the Peoria area firm.
Posted on April 11, 2013
Reminder: MSNBC Helped Lie Us Into War
By Steve Rhodes
“I am not sure exactly when the death of television news took place,” Chris Hedges writes for Truthdig.
“The descent was gradual – a slide into the tawdry, the trivial and the inane, into the charade on cable news channels such as Fox and MSNBC in which hosts hold up corporate political puppets to laud or ridicule, and treat celebrity foibles as legitimate news. But if I had to pick a date when commercial television decided amassing corporate money and providing entertainment were its central mission, when it consciously chose to become a carnival act, it would probably be Feb. 25, 2003, when MSNBC took Phil Donahue off the air because of his opposition to the calls for war in Iraq.”
“Donahue and Bill Moyers, the last honest men on national television, were the only two major TV news personalities who presented the viewpoints of those of us who challenged the rush to war in Iraq. General Electric and Microsoft – MSNBC’s founders and defense contractors that went on to make tremendous profits from the war – were not about to tolerate a dissenting voice. Donahue was fired, and at PBS Moyers was subjected to tremendous pressure. An internal MSNBC memo leaked to the press stated that Donahue was hurting the image of the network. He would be a ‘difficult public face for NBC in a time of war,’ the memo read. Donahue never returned to the airwaves.”
Posted on April 5, 2013
Local TV Notes: Sex Slaves, Jeopardy! & Cubs Fans
Plus: Roland Martin & AT&T Suck
Because it’s on.
1. Dr. Michael Fauntroy: Shed No Tears For Roland Martin.
Previously: Local TV Notes: Roland Martin Threatens To Not Go Away.
2. Protect The Public From AT&T.
“Members of the Keep Us Connected Coalition are urging the Illinois Legislature to protect public, education and government (PEG) access channels in the 2013 renewal of the Illinois Cable and Video Competition Act of 2007 (‘the Cable Act’).
“Since passage of that law, AT&T has refused to follow key provisions that would result in equitable treatment of PEG access channels.”
Previously: AT&T Is Back For More.
Posted on April 4, 2013