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.

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Posted on April 24, 2013

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.”

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Posted on April 17, 2013

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.

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Posted on April 11, 2013

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.”

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Posted on April 5, 2013

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.

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Posted on April 4, 2013

By WCIU/The U with value added by The Beachwood Green Screen Affairs Desk

WCIU, The U is proud to announce that Green Screen Adventures is featuring the work submitted by Jeremie McLaurin from Jose de Diego Community Academy located in Chicago, Illinois.
Jeremie wrote “I’m Scared Of,” which will air on Green Screen Adventures on Sunday, April 7 at 7 a.m. on Me-TV.
Green Screen Adventures, the nationally award-winning children’s television show, selects writing and illustrations by students and brings them to life using story theatre, game shows, and puppetry.
To wit:

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Posted on March 29, 2013

Compare And Contrast

The whole world wasn’t watching, but these folks were.
1. Al-Jazeera (English).
“Thousands of teachers in the third largest US city of Chicago are protesting against plans to shut down schools in poor neighbourhoods.”

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Posted on March 28, 2013

Plus: Lou Grant Loves Kalamazoo

Because it’s on.
1. Roland Martin Really Likes Roland Martin.
But he’s out at CNN.
*
Martin, of course, worked in Chicago for a time as the editor of the Defender. But he really was working as the editor of Roland Martin. That’s who he is.

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Posted on March 27, 2013

Anthropologists Of Illinois

Because it’s on.
1. Lake County On Stun.
From the Sun-Times:

So, you’re a dedicated Star Trek fan and you think you know everything there is to know about the show and its spinoff movies?” the Sun-Times
You might want to think again. Unless you already know Spock got caught cheating at chess, that is.
While researching the papers of Star Trek movie writer/director Nicholas Meyer, College of Lake County professors John and Maria Jose Tenuto uncovered 800 behind-the-scenes photos from his 1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (along with production memos, drafts of scripts, etc.) that have never been released to the public.
They’ll present roughly 100 of them during their History of Star Trek program Thursday in Vernon Hills – along with other previously unknown Trek treasures.

The deets from the College of Lake County:

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Posted on March 20, 2013

By J.J. Tindall

Not exactly a Goodson-Todman production.

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Posted on March 18, 2013