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By The Beachwood Told You So Affairs Desk
Last month Jon Stewart told Bill O’Reilly that “I thought [Obama’d] do a better job. He ran as a visionary; he’s led as a functionary.”
This week Stewart welcomed Obama as a guest. First, the appearance. Then, the reviews.
1. Official interview: “Actual President of United States Actually on The Daily Show in Actuality.”
2. Elizabeth Hasselbeck schools the panel.
Posted on October 29, 2010
By 15 Gigs
“Bo and Wyatt, two unemployed 20-something stoners, spend their lives sitting on the couch watching reruns of their favorite 80s detective show, Derringer P.I.. Faced with a mountain of overdue bills and back rent, our boys’ foggy but overactive imaginations conjure a version of their hero into their living room. Derringer P.I. takes the slackers under his wing and shows them how to deal with partners in too deep, mafia run amok, and territorial drug lords. Undercover goes under the influence.”
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Seventh in a series.
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Tonight’s special episode: Too Deep – A Music Video Tribute.
Posted on October 26, 2010
By The Beachwood 24 Hours Desk
Paid programming.
5 a.m.: Squawk Box
8 a.m.: Squawk on the Street
10 a.m.: The Call
11 a.m.: Strategy Session
11:30 a.m.: Fast Money Halftime
Posted on October 22, 2010
By The Beachwood TV Team
Mono, the award-winning Minneapolis-based creative branding and advertising agency, today announces the new brand position, campaign and tagline for cable news giant MSNBC.
The line, “Lean forward” is a simple, yet bold statement designed to impassion MSNBC’s audience and urge them to engage with the issues of the day.
For director Spike Lee, the campaign was an opportunity to mix his talents with his beliefs. “It was great to get the call from MSNBC President Phil Griffin and mono. This is a big campaign and it comes at an interesting juncture in American politics. I’m happy to be a part of it.”
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The Beachwood TV Team has obtained the taglines to be unveiled in the coming months.
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* MSNBC: Do The Left Thing.
* Leaner Staff. Hey, Times Are Tough.
* Lean Left. But Not Too Far Left. In Fact, Just Tilt Your Head Imperceptibly.
* MSNBC: The Other White News.
* Lean news. Less filling.
* MSNBC: FOXY.
* OBAMACARE TV.
Posted on October 11, 2010
By Scott Buckner
A short while after I’d settled into her apartment, Gracie said to me, “The TV’s there if you want to watch TV.” It’s not like I’m so daft that I actually need to be reminded what the big, hulking Magnavox is for, but it comes in handy at 3 a.m., when – with nothing else to do in such a small town at such an ungodly hour – I try to find out if 3 a.m. TV is any worse in rural Virginia than it is in Chicago.
No matter what I do, I get snow. Enough incessant white-noise snow to render an army of insomniacs narcoleptic. More snow than the Donner Party ever imagined. Hissing, fuck-you TV snow.
Then it occurs to me what the problem might be.
Posted on September 20, 2010
By Steve Rhodes
I suppose William Shatner wants to keep working, but he keeps showing up in the weirdest ways. His latest is a Biography channel show called Aftermath, described thusly:
“William Shatner takes an in-depth look at what happens when people are tragically or infamously transformed from unknown citizens into household names overnight, taking viewers back to the dramatic events that dominated the American news cycle as he gains exclusive access to the newsmakers at the heart of each story – heroes, villains, perpetrators, victims, family members and law enforcement officials – to dig deep and separate the fact from the fiction.”
Well, yes, but he’s not exactly a newsman and with episodes on Mary Kay Letourneau and the Unabomber, the whole enterprise just sounds like an another excuse to play the television version of search engine optimization – hammer those buzzwords! Or in this case, those buzzpeople.
I was, however, quite interested in the episode I saw over the weekend about Randy Weaver of Ruby Ridge fame because I had ever so slight touch upon the story back when I was a reporter in Iowa. And I have to give the show’s creators credit – it was fascinating to hear from the central characters now reflecting upon the tragedy (particularly Weaver’s daughter, Sara).
It’s just too bad Shatner played the role of inquisitor instead of someone with a more serious mien. Perhaps he would have been a bit more skeptical; I guess I always viewed Weaver as less victim and more provacateur than the general view because of my reporting experience.
Posted on September 7, 2010
By The Beachwood Niche TV Affairs Desk
Forget OWN, here comes CWN.
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I’m a Committeeman, Get Me Out of Here!: Stranded at the Board of Elections all night, some contestants will be forced to eat ballots.
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CSI: Bridgeport: A crack team of analysts dissect political deaths emanating from this region.
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Who Wants to Be a Porch Inspector?: All the more dramatic because contestants don’t have to even show up for the competition to win.
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Everybody Loves Huberman: Or do they? Watch and find out!
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Last Alderman Standing: Contestants brave wiretaps, political recriminations, union organizing and constituent fatigue to see which can hold on to their job the longest.
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Parks and Recreation: Airs only in white neighborhoods.
Posted on August 10, 2010
By Nikki and Andrew Golden
My Boys, how we hate thee, let us count the ways . . .
Since we missed the first show of the season, you’ll have to forgive us if we stick to reasons we hated last night’s episode.
1. Bobby’s hair.
Is it a comb-over? A bad dye job? Maybe both? Whatever the issue, it was distracting every time he was in a scene.
2. Mike.
Each show, he becomes a bigger and bigger douchebag. As it was his birthday – is he 35? Is he 40? Or was it, gasp, 43! – he was particularly irritating. Plus, how the hell did this random group get together again? We thought Mike was a college friend.
3. Bobby’s family has its assets seized.
I’ve never lost my fortune nor invested it with a crook, but I’m going to guess that if you lose all your money in a Ponzi scheme, the Feds don’t really come over and kick you in the nuts by taking all your shit. Isn’t that the bank’s job? Unless Bobby’s family was in on the scheme, why were they sending over a Fed and a policewoman?
Editor’s Note: And then they pulled that hilarious classic gag of having a character surmise the policewoman as a birthday party stripper. Way to earn your paycheck, writers!
And how were those two going to take everything? And why wasn’t Bobby more upset? Which brings us to No. 4.
Posted on August 4, 2010
By Steve Rhodes
“My Boys is back, and so are the Chicago in-jokes,” Thomas Conner writes in the Sun-Times.
Hoo-boy!
Says the show’s “star” Jordana Spiro: “I was just speaking with someone who was really excited about the Ed Debevic’s scenes.”
Yes, probably a reporter from the Trib!
It turns out, as we learned in last night’s opening episode, that Spiro’s poorly constructed character, PJ Franklin, used to hang out at Ed Debevic’s. I mean, does anyone hang out at Ed Debevic’s? Please.
It got worse.
Posted on July 26, 2010
By Steve Rhodes
Last in a series. For now.
The last time Comcast turned off my cable service instead of that of the person moving out of my building, they offered me a $2.10 credit for my troubles (including a couple days without service.)
If I hadn’t followed my instinct, those troubles would have included driving across town to replace a perfectly fine cable box and returning home to find myself still without service.
This happens every time. I know it, but somehow Comcast doesn’t.
And you wanna run NBC?
Posted on July 23, 2010
