Media Musings

Time once again for moi to fit in a little crow with my increasingly selective diet. In hindsight, we’ve probably been a little harsh on the Artists Formerly Known As NBC Cable, a.k.a. Versant.  In the first days of their technical self-existence we were admittedly more than a tad bearish on how they were faring.  … Read more

There couldn’t be two less likely candidates to have overlapping audiences than the respective series launches that occurred in prime time last night.  On the ancient-skewing CBS, with the compromised 60 MINUTES as a lead-in, was the latest entry into the YELLOWSTONE-verse–and the first that actually was premiering on what used to be called a … Read more

It was anything but a bellweather week for TV journalists, and I’m not merely referencing the shell-shocked and panicked employees at CBS NEWS and CNN.  While their worlds may be crashing down in their minds, as THE GUARDIAN’s Jeremy Barr conveyed yesterday, at least for the moment they’re still employed.  That’s more than can be … Read more

No, it wasn’t an earthquake that rippled through Hollywood, Wall Street and just about everywhere where the worlds of media and business intersect yesterday.  More like an avalanche. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Joe Flint was among the first that reported what went down: Paramount Skydance emerged victorious in the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery … Read more

I’ve never quite understood exactly why SCRUBS broke through at all.  When it debuted a quarter-century ago it seemed to borrow elements from just about everything and everyone associated with it.  It was adjacent to ER, so the hospital setting was a natural, and it often attempted to draw from that show’s walk-and-talk shooting style.  … Read more

The downside of a rare night out for me is that the following day leaves me even more sleep-deprived than usual.  Sunday was one of those rare occasions, so yesterday was one of those days where I needed several naps to try and catch up to the energy level I normally aspire to.  None of … Read more

I haven’t been all that kind to NBC comedies in this decade.  Maybe it’s because I hold them to the high standard that the must-see TV components of the 80s and 90s set as a bar.  And no, I’m not being so unrealistic that I’m insisting everything be as massive and broad-appeal as the more … Read more

Throughout my career I’ve been blessed with top-down support from the various chairpersons and CEOs I’ve had the opportunity to work with.  Sometimes that didn’t sit all that well with the more thin-skinned folks that I actually reported into, but the nature of my responsibilities often put me into direct contact with their superiors and … Read more

A few of you more ardent followers and readers have observed that I do tend to lean more than a tad negative of late.  And after a day where the leader of the free world literally stunk up the internet and airwaves with perhaps one of the most nauseating combinations of press conferences and releases … Read more