Friday, June 26, 2009

News Round-up: Michael Jackson, GL, Teens, HUNG

EASTENDERS tonight will become the 1st scripted show to address MJ's death
EASTENDERS' producers have added a scene featuring Michael Jackson's death into tonight's show - filming it just hours after the news broke. In the scene in tonight's episode, characters Denise Wicks and Patrick Trueman are seen discussing the shocking news.

An EASTENDERS spokesperson said: "We will be making a reference in tonight's episode to Michael Jackson's death.

Nielsen: "Teens are NOT abandoning TV for new media"
Contrary to what has been often report, teens "watch more TV than ever, up 6% over the past five years in the U.S.," according to a new Nielsen study.

Other interesting points:
- Teens love the Internet ... but spend far less time browsing than adults: Teens spend 11 hours and 32 minutes per month online. Far below the average of 29 hours and 15 minutes.

- Teens' favorite TV shows, top websites and genre preferences across media are mostly the same as their parents.

- Teens watch less online video than most adults, but the ads are highly engaging to them.

HBO hopes HUNG becomes a massive hit
HUNG, which premieres Sunday, is the first show championed by HBO's new entertainment chief Sue Nagle. And HBO is hoping it becomes the next SOPRANOS, a breakout hit that everybody will be talking about.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: DAYS' John de Lancie (ex-Eugene)
Actor John de Lancie is accustomed to playing many roles, from acting in TV shows, films and stage productions to directing radio plays and operas. So, it’s not surprising that de Lancie, formerly Eugene on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, worked in some multitasking when he accepted a teaching position at this month’s Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute.

For the past two weeks, the 61-year-old performer has been training aspiring actors at the rigorous academy for Oklahoma high school students. The intensive program takes place “out on the frontier” at Quartz Mountain Resort Arts and Conference Center near Lone Wolf in southwest Oklahoma.

GL Driven Into Ground
The Hollywood Reporter's Roger Friedman takes a shot at GL: "One trick for not turning viewer anger into displaced resentment toward P&G brands like Crest and Pringles: Turn the fans against the show so they won’t miss it. In the last few weeks, maybe thinking no one’s watching, the GL producers have made the remaining episodes unwatchable. They’ve allowed the actors to use coarse language generally unsuitable to network TV. You can only imagine older fans wincing when they hear 'pissed off' or 'douchebag' uttered by their favorite characters." Friedman was fired by Fox News in April after a controversy surrounding pirated copies of Wolverine came back to bit him. Feel free to let him know if you disagree with his assessment of GL.

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