At a time when the first African-American president is about to take office, a new report is zeroing in on an irony of the historic moment: There are a "serious shortage of minority faces" on network primetime television.
In fact, the study, to be released today by the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, raises fears that networks are backsliding on progress made earlier this decade, and that the economic downturn will only make it more difficult for minorities to get jobs on and off screen.
"There is anecdotal evidence that the recent WGA strike and the economic concerns that it engendered, have only entrenched members of the various guilds in the long held habits of nepotism and cronyism, causing them to make sure that they take care of friends and family," the report stated.
The NAACP is calling for a task force including the heads of the networks, diversity executives and minority groups to update their agreements. It also raised the prospect of a boycott if "tangible progress" is not achieved in the coming seasons.
INTERVIEW: ATWT's Van Hansis"I think it’s an incredibly interesting storyline, and it’s really especially interesting for Laurence Lau, who plays Brian. What did I think? I thought, 'Hell it’s a soap opera, and if anywhere a step-grandson is going to be
kissing his step grandfather, it’s on a soap!'"
90210 casts new hunk Matt Lanter
Fans the CW’s 90210 have been clamoring for a good, old-fashioned bad boy to rattle the lockers at West Beverly High. Well, meet the new guy — Liam, played by Matt Lanter.
Study: Young people watch less TV
Young Americans just aren't watching TV like they used to. Put another way, the older you get, the more you watch, according to a report due out Thursday from Deloitte indicating that "millennials," the generation of ages 14-25, watch just 10.5 hours of TV a week. That compares with 15.1 hours for those belonging to Generation X (ages 26-42), 19.2 hours for baby boomers (43-61) and 21.5 hours for matures (62-75).
But while millennials are watching the least TV, they are spending the most time with media in general, making that up with video games, music and the Internet. TV does remain the most influential advertising medium going, according to the Deloitte study, titled "The State of the Media Democracy." It is followed by magazines, the Internet, newspapers, radio and billboards.
Macrovision sells TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com
TV Guide Network has been sold for 255 million dollars to Allen Shapiro and One Equity Partners. Macrovision Solutions Corp. reached an agreement to sell the the cable channel, distributed in 83 million homes. Included in the deal is tvguide.com. The deal is expected to close on April 1, 2009. UBS Investment Bank worked on the deal for Macrovision, which is a provider of interactive program guide technology.
More films in the works from Corbin Bersen
First, there was Carpool Guy. Now, he's shopping Donna On Demand to distributors. Currently, actor/writer/producer/director Corbin Bernsen (ex-Durant, GH; ex-Todd, Y&R) is finishing production on his third feature, Dead Air.
"It's a horror/thriller about what happens when a virus gets loose and turns people into zombie-like creatures."
ALLISON WALDMAN: Give soaps a break
"The soaps are great! I don't care what the critics say; I have loved the soaps since I was a teenager. Me and millions of other TV fans enjoy the daytime dramas and so have generations of families. You cannot let this genre die because today's TV landscape is not what it was in the '60s, '70s or '80s. Those kind of Nielsen numbers and audience share cannot be duplicated today, because TV is too fragmented and there's too much choice every afternoon. When I hear some say that GUIDING LIGHT should be canceled because it's had a bad year, I'm ready to bust. GL has been on the air -- radio and TV -- for 71 years. It's allowed to have a bad year. If they give up this outdoors, on-location filming style, it will bounce back. Even more than CBS dropping GL is my fear that NBC will pull the plug on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. Jeff Zucker, I'm warning you -- don't cancel Days! It's an NBC classic and the last soap on your network."
In your one news item, Allison Waldman says "If they give up this outdoors, on-location filming style, it will bounce back."
ReplyDeleteBut, based on everything I have read from the "blogger trip" (and I think that is everything that has been disseminated) the new production model IS the thing. Production dictates story. Scenes must take place outdoors or in small sets (even when alternatives are available) simply because "that is the new form". Function follows form...which is the kiss of death in any system.
Barbara Bloom has said any kind of evolution back to/closer to 'classic style' will NEVER happen...and Ellen Wheeler basically said the same thing, attributing it to financial survival.
With those facts, what would Allison Waldman say? By her definition, GL will ALWAYS have 'bad' years from this point forward.
I'm aching for GL to find a way to tell classical soapy stories (think OLTL or Y&R today), taking pages from their own history (the Josh-and-Reva 'movie' has come the closest), using the new production model.
I keep hoping that the returns of Alexander and MacDonald will signal this kind of turn.
You make a great point. I don't think the production model is keeping GL from being all it can be. Friday Night Lights is shot the same way and it's the best show on TV in my opinion. It's always about writing stories that resonate with viewers.
ReplyDeleteI think the new production model can actually help and make many things more realistic, but the writing has to be there as well.