As I’m slowly but surely getting back on my feet, I’m catching up on the news of the world.
First, you know how I love to continuously point out how I called the 2009 3-D emergence. Well now Comic-Con has announced its first ever 3-D panels, including one for James Cameron’s Avatar, and another by Disney showing footage from A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland and Tron.
In other news, Ryan Reynolds is set to star as DC’s Green Lantern movie adaptation, becoming the first actor to both star as a DC and Marvel superhero.
Also, a trailer has been released for ABC’s upcoming new “Sci-Fi” show, Defying Gravity. The pitch intrigued me (an 8-person team of astronauts travelling through the solar system) as well as the fact that it is an internationally produced show, which means in a way international cast. But ultimately the show doesn’t look that promising, it just seems like Grey’s Anatomy in space.
And finally, a quick update regarding the 2×2 Russian network case about South Park censoring. We’ve seen how a case to revoke the channel’s licensewas dismissed, and now footage from the show has apparently been cut as it mocked Vladimir Putin. Yay free speech.
For a week now there has been non-stop coverage of Michael Jackson’s life.
All this media circus culminated in today’s memorial service.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Michael Jackson is probably (one of) the greatest entertainers in History.
But we’re talking about, hands down, the biggest broadcast event in History.
Bigger than Obama’s Inauguration.
Bigger than any other event in recent times.
Would you say that Michael Jackson dying is a Historical event?
Or is everyone treating it as a Historical event the event itself?
No offense to whomever might get offended, but this is ridiculous.
During this hommage, the poor man’s coffin was publicly displayed right in front of the stage like some kind of weird trophy.
I have never seen anything like this and probably will never again.
Just the entrance of the coffin under applause is enough to get chills down your back (not in a good way).
This isn’t just the biggest broadcast in History, it’s also one of the creepiest.
The final choir with the kids holding hands intersected with shots from London and people dancing to “We Are the World” mixed gaudy with crass.
Are people going to dance on his grave soon?
James Hibberd even declared (about the event itself, before it began):
Is it possible to have a pop star’s memorial service on this scale and not have it be, to a large extent, tacky? […] No matter how much it means to you, the setting turns it into camp. Who can regard an event soberly when you know there’s going to be folks selling T-shirts outside?
Honestly, is this supposed to be a concert with a coffin or a memorial service?
What was even more heart-breaking was seeing the family, especially the daughter, talking about their dead brother/father.
Though fans can grieve, this is a memorial service that in my opinion should have been held privately.
The mourning of a family towards a human being shouldn’t be shared with over a billion people worldwide!
Elizabeth Taylor earlier stated:
I’ve been asked to speak at the Staples Center. I cannot be part of the public whoopla. And I cannot guarantee that I would be coherent to say a word. I just don’t believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others.
How I feel is between us. Not a public event. I said I wouldn’t go to the Staples Center and I certainly don’t want to become a part of it. I love him too much.
The fans are grieving a celebrity.
Michael’s family is mourning a man.
This isn’t the same thing, and the media circus is only blurring the line.
Time for follow-ups to some of the post from the last year.
Hopefully this won’t turn into another Jaws, trying to follow on follow-ups with other follow-ups and pointless sequels.
Let’s begin with, guess what, follow-ups to a couple of posts from way back.
In late September, Russian channel 2×2 was facing a criminal investigation following the broadcast of a South Park episode, Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics. And now an update from ten days ago: the court has dropped the case against the adult cartoon channel. Problem solved.
The case deals with swearing on live TV: In March of 06, the FCC fined FOX for Cher and Nicole Richie saying “shit” and “fucking” during the 02 & 03 Billboard Music Awards, all due to a “new” FCC policy that allowed penalization even if the expletive is made only once, and live.
The case worked its way up to the Supreme Court and on Tuesday were heard the oral arguments for the case.
I forgot to talk about but finally a decision was reached at the end of last April:
The Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision on April 28, 2009 that the Federal Communications Commission had not acted arbitrarily when it changed a long-standing policy and implemented a new ban on even “fleeting expletives” from the airwaves. Justice Antonin Scalia, in the majority opinion, wrote: “The FCC’s new policy and its order finding the broadcasts at issue actionably indecent were neither arbitrary nor capricious.” In the dissenting opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens claimed that this decision was hypocritical given the presence of television commercials for products treating impotence or constipation.
Incidentally, “the Court explicitly declined to decide whether the new rule is constitutional, and sent that issue back to the lower courts for their review.” So long story short, First Amendment rights are still up in the air.
Richard Kelly’s The Box (reviewed here) also has a few new updates. The first trailer is now out:
And there is an interesting interview with Kelly on SciFi Wire.
Speaking of SciFi, given the backlash after the Syfy rebranding announcement earlier this year, there has been in the last month or so a few responses from channel president Dave Howe. In a very recent TVGuide interview he said:
This wasn’t an option, it was a mandate. We made a commitment to grow into a global lifestyle brand. Sci Fi is a genre; it is like calling a TV network Drama or Sport. The default perception of sci-fi is that it’s space, aliens, the future. It’s Star Trek. The new name positions us as having our own attitude and personality, which gives us permission to do a broader range of sci-fi/fantasy shows and take us into the supernatural, the paranormal, action-adventure and mystery space.
I think it’s been pretty much established, if only by Star Trek‘s very recent success, that the clichéd opinions regarding science-fiction are gone. We’ve seen pretty weak arguments regarding the brand change… Broadcasting & Cable also has a piece up detailing Syfy’s upcoming branding strategy, including “Wyfy from Syfy”.
You can as well check out the future Syfy TV spots right here.
Continuing on the SciFi side of things, we have another article on the genre by STLtoday‘s Gail Pennington. Included in it is an interview with Battlestar Galactica‘s Ronald D. Moore.
Moving back to more serious issues, there has been some talk regarding the future of entertainment, and especially the future of broadcast. TV Week‘s Brian Steinberg had an In Depth article on the conflicting visions of NBC and CBS:
NBC and CBS are at odds about how best to proceed at a time when the future of the business is under serious assault. Is the future of broadcast TV generating big audiences from early morning to late at night? Or is it picking the right spots, focusing instead on syndicating big-ticket programming — the Olympics or a favorite crime procedural — across a multitude of screens in exchange for advertising and other revenue?
It’s a very intriguing and interesting look at two network giants that are actually betting on opposite sides of what the future might be.
Well, that’s all the time we have folks. Tomorrow is writing day so be sure to tune in.
