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Showing posts from May, 2014

'The Arsenio Hall Show' Canceled After One Season

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Arsenio Hall's syndicated "The Arsenio Hall Show" debuted last November but never seemed to generate enough consistent buzz to be competitive in the late-night arena, and apparently the ratings proved that.  CBS Television Production previously announced the show would be renewed, but problems with stations moving the show's time slot may have contributed to the cancellation. Hall had a successful run with his original series that began in 1989 and ended in 1994. However this time around Hall was only given one season to build an audience after being off the air for perhaps twenty years. The Arsenio Hall Show i s now in reruns. The last original show aired May 21. Related: Arsenio Hall Show' Renewed  CBS' Stephen Colbert Pick Was A Fresh Bold Move

Middle School Band Backs Phil Collins

Phil Collins sounds wonderful (he seemed a little nervous) considering he's been retired for a few years now! When we saw this, it reminded us of how much we miss his talent.  Enjoy.

R.I.P Dr. Maya Angelou

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Many of us remember reading Dr. Angelou's deeply personal and moving memoir "I Know Why The Caged Birds Sing" as teens. The memoir had a huge affect on us as did she. We're forever thankful that she shared her life with us.

Media CEO's in Top 10 Highest-Paid List

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With a just released list of the highest paid CEOs (for 2013) six out of the top 10 CEOs run media conglomerates. CBS' Les Moonves is number two with other media giants Viacom, Disney, Discovery, Time-Warner and Comcast rounding out the six. Check out the AP's  Top 50 Highest-Paid CEOs  for a complete list of the CEOs' compensation and companies.

Denzel Washington's New Movie 'The Equalizer' Trailer

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Sony reunites Denzel Washington (currently on Broadway in "A Raisin in the Sun" )  with director Antoine Fuqua , "Training Day", for what looks like another thriller. The Equalizer has a September 26 release date. Trailer

Memorial Day Weekend Hiatus

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We're fanning out across America (for the unofficial start of summer). Happy Memorial Day ! We'll be back on May 27 (unless there's something we really need to cover ). M.Scott Mahaskey/ (Politico) 

Angela Bassett To Direct Whitney Houston Movie

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Lifetime has announced it has greenlighted an original movie about Whitney Houston's life to be directed by Angela Bassett . This will be Bassett's directorial debut. The acclaimed and much admired actress has worked with the network on previous projects, most recently the original movie "Betty and Coretta", in which Bassett portrayed Coretta Scott King. The Houston movie is said to cover the Bobbie Brown , Houston's singer-songwriter husband, years and delve in their stormy marriage. The movie is from executive producer Larry Sanitsky and writer Shem Bitterman . We just hope Brown (as well as close friends and family) was involved in the project and offered first-hand knowledge with a clear eye.  It might go a long way in helping us understand Houston's demons (if there were any). The movie is expected to have a world premiere sometime in 2015.

History's 'The World Wars' Series Premieres On Memorial Day

President Obama will introduce History's The World Wars , a three-night event (running consecutively) covering 30 years of war from 1914 to 1945, on Memorial Day at 9pm. The series will feature General Colin Powell, Sen. John McCain, former British Prime Minister John Major, among others.

Zucker Won't Be Shamed Into Benghazi Coverage

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Can't believe we actually agree with CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker on anything that has to do with CNN programming. However, Zucker is saying "no" to the Benghazi special committee hearings coverage ("unless it's of real news value"). Zucker must have his ear to the ground and feel the coverage will be a rating bust.  Whatever the reason kudos to Zucker for skipping the potential circus! Jeff Zucker: CNN Won’t be ‘Shamed’ Into Benghazi Coverage http://t.co/Y5LeeW9wPp via @tvnewser — ConversationCircle (@ConversationCir) May 21, 2014

Jose Diaz-Balart Named MSNBC Host

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Perhaps Jose Diaz-Balart will have better success in the 10am time slot than Chris Jansing , who is leaving MSNBC to become NBC's White House Corespondent, did. Jansing, who hosted Jansing & Company since 2010, became a ratings drag earning the dubious title of the least watched show on the cable network. Jansing's hosting duties will end June 13. Diaz-Balart will continue to co-anchor at Telemundo while hosting the MSNBC show from Miami. According to Phil Griffin, the network president, "MSNBC is committed to engaging new audiences and communities." We're just hoping the addition of Diaz-Balart will be a fresh addition to the morning talkfest.

Is NBC Investing In Creative Advertising?

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It seems with all advertising you have to read the fine print . Great catch by MediaBistro:  Should NBC Be Describing Its Morning News as Number One?

'Game of Thrones' Gets Ratings Surge

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Sunday's Game of Thrones hit another all-time high with 7.2 million viewers tuning in at 9pm. The HBO ratings hit will not air on Sunday, due to the Labor Day weekend, but will return the following Sunday with just 3 episodes left. The remaining episodes are said to contain lots of dramatic turns. With all of the edge-of-your-seat action to come, guess we're happy to have a week off.

Barbara Walters' Goodbye A Ratings Winner

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The much admired and respected veteran journalist Barbara Walters' huge sendoff was a ratings boost for ABC's "The View" with 5.2 million viewers tuning in. Walters' tearful and heartfelt  goodbye , which aired on Friday, was the show's biggest audience since 2009. Later that evening 9.5 million viewers tuned in for ABC's two-hour retrospective on Walters' career. Somehow we think (and hope) we haven't seen the last of Barbara Walters.

Willie Geist's 'Good Talks, Dad'

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A Conversation Circle favorite  Willie Geist , Morning Joe and Today host has written a book, "Good Talk, Dad", with his father Bill Geist , an award-winning special corespondent for CBS Sunday Morning . We're sure the two Geist men have put out a great 'witty' read (that shares good talks  about camp, sports and the like) just in time for Father's Day. We think the Geist men will have a bestseller.  Best of luck.

'And So It Goes' Trailer

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We noticed Michael Douglas has been pretty active on Facebook (he's racked up more than 1 million " Likes " and posts some pretty cool stuff), we may be cynical, but now we know why. Douglas, whose last film was Last Vegas,  is starring in the film "And So It Goes" a romantic drama, directed by Rob Reiner and co-staring Diane Keaton , who last appeared in the ensemble film The Last Wedding , due to be released July 11. Check out the official trailer:

Barbara Walters and Anderson Cooper Land Sterling Interviews

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ABC's Barbara Walters scored what seems to be a softball interview with, the wife of embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling , Shelly Sterling . The body language between Walters and Sterling seems more like "girlfriends", rather than a hard-hitting interview we know Walters is capable of. During the interview, Shelly Sterling implies she is going to divorce her husband (showing "unfilled" papers to prove it) who was caught on tape making racist remarks and banned from the NBA . Donald Sterling, in his sit-down with CNN's Anderson Cooper , argues for forgiveness stating "Am I entitled to one mistake?...." At the same time, Sterling calls out Magic Johnson for not doing enough to "help minorities". Yikes! Some in the media point to a well orchestrated PR campaign, rather than any real remorse on the part of the Sterlings. It seems the Sterlings will not go down without a fight, and Donald Sterling seems prepared to take Magic Joh

Meet the Press Still Stuck in Third

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Ratings show "Meet the Press", in third place for the fourth week,  got its lowest numbers in viewership and demos. Yikes! We've been on the "how bad can MTP get" bandwagon for a while. Obviously NBC News doesn't have the fix, yet. Perhaps they don't want to admit what or who the problem is. Related:  NBC Still Looking For 'Meet the Press' Fix' NBC's beleaguered "Meet The Press" remains in third place for a fourth-straight week http://t.co/mjpgoIy5r9 via @DylanByers — POLITICO (@politico) May 8, 2014

'Empire' Joins Fox's 2014/15 Season

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Lee Daniels and Danny Strong's hip-hop drama pilot , that featured music written by Grammy Award-winning   Tim "Timbaland" Mosley , "Empire" will go series. The family drama, from Imagine TV and 20th Century Fox TV, stars Terrance Howard . Empire teams Daniels, Strong and Howard who previously worked together on "The Butler." Variety has "up-to-the-minute" TV pilot and series orders . Related:  Hip-Hop Drama Pilot For Fox TV

'Moms' Night Out' Trailer

This is our Mother's Day film pick. A little bit of funny goes a long way. Although the film has not gotten good reviews, due to what some in the media call a heavy-handed "faith-based "film, we wonder why it can't be viewed as just entertainment! Moms'Night Out" is a family comedy that celebrates parenting in it's many forms . Directed by Jon Erwin and Andrew Erwin . In theaters Mother's Day weekend, May 9, 2014.

Jimmy Kimmel's 'Mother's Day 2014' Video Genuinely Funny

ABC's Jimmy Kimmel , who recently had his contract extended for 2 more years, has a pretty funny Mother's Day 2014 video. We think it's cute and funny. Happy Mother's Day!

Good News Doesn't Last For CNN

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According to Nielsens Media research, looks like CNN's ratings, despite the bump the network received from its 3 hour coverage of the WHCA dinner, have fallen dramatically since the wall-to-wall coverage (which was derided by MSNBC and became the source of one-liners for comedians) of the missing Malaysian aircraft has ended. As the story broke CNN's wall-to-wall coverage pulled in 770,000 viewers in primetime. Viewership from late April to May 2 dropped to 427,000. MSNBC and Fox also saw a drop in their demos, but CNN's coverage of the missing aircraft allowed the network to overtake MSNBC for second place in the ratings behind Fox. For now, MSNBC has regained the number two spot. None of our members are surprised that CNN's ratings fell by 45%. We had been actively avoiding the network because of the nonstop "missing aircraft" coverage that yielded little to no new ' news '.

Finally Some Good News For CNN

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CNN devoted 3 hours of coverage to the WHCA dinner on Saturday, (from the looks of Wolf Blitzer, who attended the event, it was perhaps 40 minutes too long) and according to the cable news ratings, CNN 's coverage paid off with a ratings bump . Perhaps this good news helped CNN get over the fact that the network seemed to be the dinner's main course, from an entertainment point of view, considering the biting one-liners the POTUS and Joel McHale, in particular, launched at the network. It seems everyone thinks CNN has too much "missing plane" coverage, except CNN. Related: Bloomberg News Documents POTUS' 10 Best One-Liners Last Week Tonight's Take On WHCA Dinner

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann To Host Bloomberg Political TV Show

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Mark Halperin , editor-at-large and senior political analyst for Time and John Heilemann , national affairs editor fo r New York magazine have signed on with Bloomberg Media Group to oversee Bloomberg Politics , a multi-media platform brand. Halperin and Heilemann will also host a political television show (we assume it will be a  talkie) that will also stream online. While we generally like and respect Halperin and Heilemann (who are contributors at MSNBC ) sometimes we wonder if we're getting too many of the same faces (and voices) in the media.

Bloomberg News Documents POTUS' 10 Best One-Liners

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Just incase you missed the WHCA dinner, Bloomberg.com documented the best one-liners President Obama gave.  Also check out Politico's article on comedian Joel McHale's , the dinner's entertainment, best lines .  (Some in the media have criticized McHale's bit as mean-spirited and noted that some jokes were not appropriate for the audience.) President Obama’s 10 Best One-Liners From WHCA Dinner http://t.co/4POYMj0uS6 via @BloombergNews — ConversationCircle (@ConversationCir) May 5, 2014

Last Week Tonight's Take On WHCA Dinner

John Oliver has a funny bit about the White House Correspondents' dinner , also known as the 'nerd prom', which aired on C-SPAN this weekend. Oliver ties the dinner in with the shortage of Ukraine coverage, by pointing out the media was too busy "party planning." We nominate John Oliver as next year's entertainer! CAUTION: minor language issue.

Deadline.Com to Blog White House Correspondents' Dinner Live

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Cast members from House of Cards and   Scandal  (biggest show of force we hear), and of course Lupita Nyong'O are in the house. Let's hope the POTUS is funny tonight.  Deadline.com will have live blogging . UPDATE: White House Correspondents’ Dinner Live Blog: The Obamas & Lupita Nyong’O Have Arrived http://t.co/IfvuXji2FA via @deadline — ConversationCircle (@ConversationCir) May 4, 2014

41st Daytime Emmy Awards Nominees Announced

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Press Release:  New York – May 1, 2014 – The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominees for the 41 ST Annual Daytime Emmy ® Awards.   The Daytime Emmy ® Awards recognize outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television production and are presented to individuals and programs broadcast from 2:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. during the 2013 calendar year.   This year’s gala will be held the prestigious Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA on Sunday, June 22, 2014. The Daytime Creative Arts Emmy ® Awards gala, which honors the crafts behind the many shows that grace the Daytime genre, will be held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles on Friday, June 20, 2014. “With over 1,400 entries this year, the National Academy is again excited to welcome more than 350 nominees to this year’s Daytime Emmy Awards,” said, Malachy Wienges, Chairman, NATAS.   “We are happy to return to both the Beverly Hilton and the Westin Bon

CBS to Air 'Judge Judy Primetime' Special

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Our favorite no nonsense judge is coming to primetime. On May 20 CBS will air a one-hour special on Judge Judy's (Judith Sheindlin) career. The special " Judge Judy Primetime " will look at the popular jurist's career path from New York Family Court to presiding over daytime television's No.1 program. The special precedes a syndicated program Sheindlin created, "Hot Bench", scheduled to debut in the fall and will air in 75% of the country.