Posts with tag John McCain
Posted Oct 13th 2008 3:09PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Late Night, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Now that Senator John McCain is doing the most important thing in his campaign to become the 44th president of the United States,
agreeing to appear The Late Show with David Letterman, I think we can say that the Straight Talk Express is on the way to being back on track.
It was inevitable, and really, really necessary, for McCain to fix this problem with Dave. McCain was the butt of the joke for nearly three weeks and it hasn't helped his campaign. Appearing Thursday should do a lot to ameliorate his image and in every way it can only be a win-win for McCain and Letterman.
Continue reading McCain gets his priorities straight: Letterman first, then the economy
Posted Oct 10th 2008 3:06PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Reality-Free
After a few weeks of rumors, denials, and "will she or won't she" talk, it looks like
Governor Sarah Palin is finally set to appear on NBC's Saturday Night Live.
The Alaskan Governor and VP candidate will appear on the October 25 episode, according to Cindy Adams at
The New York Post. If that wasn't exciting enough, this is the same episode that Jon Hamm will host, so I bet we can look forward to a
Mad Men parody. Wouldn't it be great if Palin could appear in that sketch? Maybe she could play Joan Holloway. The mind reels.
Of course, she'll probably appear in the cold open, I'm guessing alongside Tina Fey and her fake Palin, similar to the time that Hillary Clinton appeared alongside Amy Poehler and gave her tips on how to play her.
I wonder if Palin will change the opening to the show and say something like "LIVE FROM GODLESS NEW YORK, HOME OF THE MEDIA ELITE, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!"
Posted Oct 9th 2008 6:04PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: News, Industry, OpEd, Ratings, Reality-Free
Okay, 63 million viewers shouldn't be considered 'measly'. It is nearly 25% of the American population after all. Considering a normal show in primetime only garners a few million viewers each week (excluding shows like American Idol) that number is pretty good. And, while it doesn't compare to the whopping 70 million viewers that tuned into last week's Vice Presidential debate, the number is higher than the first debate between Senators Obama and McCain which garnered only 54 million viewers.
Why the uptick? Well, I'm no political or media analyst but there are probably a few factors. One is that we are one week closer to the election and Americans who are on the fence are now starting to take the race more seriously. Another is the rise in interest after the Vice Presidential debate (which, to me, seemed so rushed it gave me a headache). A third could be the format that the debate took place under -- a town hall style where both moderator and audience were able to ask questions. Unfortunately, moderator Tom Brokaw asked more of the questions than the audience, which made the 'Town Hall' format somewhat pointless.
Continue reading A measly 63 million viewers watch the second Presidential debate
Posted Oct 6th 2008 7:03PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Reality-Free
New York magazine has reported that the
Saturday Night Live team is brainstorming some way to
involve the real Sarah Palin in one of the upcoming "Weekend Update" episodes. Word is, she might play Tina Fey in a spoof of her American Express commercial. Granted, this will gain Palin some of those much needed cool points with the comedy crowd, but I'm having trouble picturing this actually coming to fruition. It's fun enough trying to picture what the writers would put her through, because they haven't made any attempts to hide how they feel about her.
Continue reading Sarah Palin wants to be one of the cool SNL kids
Posted Oct 1st 2008 1:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, TV Royalty, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
That headline might be confusing to some. After all, doesn't David Letterman have an episode of his show every Friday night?
He does, but he always tapes it on Monday night after he tapes the regular Monday episode. But he wants to
tape a show on Friday so he can comment on the Senator Joe Biden/Governor Sarah Palin VP debate which happens on Thursday night.
Continue reading Letterman to tape a show this Friday
Posted Sep 5th 2008 1:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Now that the confetti has been swept away, all the balloons popped, and the St. Paul cops are stowing their riot gear, it's time to recall the surprisingly eventful Republican National Convention in Minnesota. Is it really only one week ago today that Senator John McCain pulled a rabbit out of his hat and introduced little-known Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate? She's not little-known anymore. In fact, the 2008 Republican Convention is forever more to be remembered for her ascent, whatever her future portends.
Here's some other thoughts from the TV coverage of the RNC:
Media matters Having the two political conventions back to back was a plus for the TV pros. All the mistakes from Denver were rectified in St. Paul. The MSNBC set ups avoided train stations and noise interruptions. Splitting up Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews worked better, with Olbermann as the point man throwing the coverage to the other news pros. And there was less bickering and fighting, at least compared to the week before.
Continue reading Thoughts on the Republican National Convention - VIDEOS
Posted Sep 2nd 2008 12:05PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, Reality-Free
While the Republicans are gathering in St. Paul for their national convention to confirm the candidacy of Senator John McCain as presiden,t and Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate,
Turner Classic Movies is presenting a night of alternative politics.
The cable channel going to present five movies about politics, and if you want to see how the world of running for public office has changed in the 20th century, these films are a fantastic reflection of the times.
On Wednesday, September 3, starting at 8 PM ET, the night begins with
The Last Hurrah, and includes
The Candidate (10:15 PM),
The Best Man (12:15 AM),
Nashville (2 AM) and
The Dark Horse (1932).
Like I said, these pictures are all really interesting choices.
The Candidate, released in 1972, for instance, is not so different from today's campaign pitting Senator Barack Obama versus Senator John McCain.
It's a young candidate espousing change, up against an experienced, wizened establishment candidate. Robert Redford plays Bill McKay, the up and comer, while Don Porter is the popular, long-time incumbent senator. Check out these photos, because Porter even looks like McCain!
Continue reading If you like politics, check out TCM's Wednesday lineup
Posted Sep 1st 2008 5:25PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Celebrities, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Last Friday, Senator John McCain shocked the world by announcing that little-known Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was his choice as vice presidential candidate for the Republican party. If you were like me, you couldn't help but notice that Sarah Palin -- a very attractive, 44-year-old mother of five -- looked an awful lot like some familiar TV faces, like
30 Rock's Liz Lemon.
In fact, at least one Hollywood writer recognized in Sarah Palin's being plucked from virtual obscurity was like one of his creations. Rod Lurie, the writer/producer of
Commander in Chief, joked that he and
Gena Davis should be asking for royalties if Palin emerges as McCain's VEEP, especially if she becomes president like Davis's character did on that ABC drama series.
Here are the main TV characters that come to mind when you think about Palin:
Continue reading Palin comparison ... GOP VP choice looks like a bunch of TV characters
Posted Aug 29th 2008 3:38PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
The reviews from the political talking heads -- right and left -- have been mostly positive. The visuals were spectacular and riveting. History was made at Mile High Stadium in Denver last night when Senator Barack Obama accepted the nomination of the Democratic party as the first African-American presidential candidate. There were 80,000 people packed in the stadium, and
now Nielsen has determined that 38 million people tuned in to watch on TV.
How impressive is that number? It's
more than the opening ceremonies from the Beijing Olympics. It's also more than the 2008 Oscars and the finale of Fox's
American Idol.The networks cleared just one hour of prime time -- from 10-11 ET -- and the Democratic organizers made sure to present Obama's speech right in that slot, not drifting into the local late news.
Continue reading Obama's speech shatters Nielsen ratings
Posted Aug 6th 2008 12:01PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Video, Celebrities, Reality-Free
John McCain's presidential campaign included images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton in a television attack ad against opponent Barack Obama. Now,
one-half of that duo strikes back and the result is posted on
Funny or Die.
At first, I was thinking that it was nice to see Paris Hilton able to take the piss out of herself like this. Then I realized that she was probably serious. I also realized that since was on this site, someone else wrote the sketch for her and she just had to speak the words. Her reference to John McCain as "the wrinkly white-haired guy" was funny, but not nearly as funny as her attempt at intellectual debate toward the end.
Video is after the jump.
Continue reading Paris Hilton for President - VIDEO
Posted Aug 5th 2008 5:21PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Reality-Free
John McCain wanted ten town hall style debates with Barack Obama, but after 22 Democratic debates, Barack said, "Thanks, but no thanks." So now the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates will meet three times: two traditional, one-on-one debates with a single moderator for each, and one townhall-style session with questions from the crowd.
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced that
NBC's Tom Brokaw, PBS's Jim Lehrer, and CBS's Bob Schieffer will be the moderators, with Gwen Ifill, the host of PBS's
Washington Week handling the chores for the one vice presidential debate.
What's interesting here is that of the big three, ABC is not represented. Among the cable news crowd, Fox News and MSNBC were equally snubbed as was CNN.
I can't say why ABC was left out of the loop. However, George
Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson were both roundly criticized for their work on the Democratic debate they helmed.
Continue reading The presidential debate moderators are chosen
Posted Aug 4th 2008 6:23PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: News, Interviews, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free
When I spoke to Keith Olbermann at the press tour a few weeks back, I mainly wanted to get his thoughts about the
comments that Fox News' Chris Wallace made earlier in the tour. Essentially, Wallace said that MSNBC isn't objective in its election coverage because they have commentators like Olbermann -- who are perceived to be "in the tank" for Barack Obama -- serve as anchors.
Olbermann's remarks in response were pointed, to say the least.
But while I had Keith poised in front of my voice recorder, I wanted to ask him some questions about the origin of his Special Comments, how he thinks people determine their perception of each of the news networks, and what it will be like to sit down and do highlights with his old
SportsCenter partner Dan Patrick on NBC's
Football Night in America. The remainder of the interview is after the jump; we pick up with Olbermann talking about Wallace's "In the tank" line.
Continue reading More from Keith Olbermann: Special comments, and reuniting with Dan Patrick
Posted Jul 18th 2008 5:26PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: News, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free
After the executive session, it was CBS News' turn to face the critics and talk about their election coverage. Via satellite from their New York studios was
CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric,
Face the Nation moderator Bob Schieffer, senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield, and CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus.
Right away, a reporter brought up Katie Couric's job status. "I'm glad you got right to it," Couric joked. "I thought [the speculation] had died down considerably." She said she "can't control what media writers write. We live in an echo chamber," with media reporters more fascinated by her status than the general public is. "The attention befuddles me," she continued. She's concentrating on doing "the best job I can."
Continue reading As far as Katie Couric knows, she's staying - TCA Report
Posted May 18th 2008 1:05PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S33E12) To ensure a strong season finale,
Saturday Night Live made a very smart choice to go with Steve Carell. He is an incredible comedic performer and his first hosting stint went pretty well, so I wasn't surprised to see him pull it off again this time around. Actually, this picture is from the first time Carell hosted
. Is it weird that I've had it sitting on my desktop since then? Yes, probably. Anyway, the material was better than some of the other episodes', with a few spectacular highlights, including the hilarious digital short.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Steve Carell/Usher (season finale) - VIDEOS
Posted May 8th 2008 9:47AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, The Daily Show, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
"The Long Flat Seemingly Endless Bataan Death March to the White House": The Hillary Clinton camp decided to celebrate its win in the Indiana primary, despite the fact that it wasn't 100%. Clinton and Barack Obama also tried to be nice to each other, leaving the bitterness to the media. The Indiana primary saw a bit of controversy and the news networks, desperate for any bit of drama to spice up those seven hours of news time, jumped all over it.
Indiana's Lake County didn't turn in its results within the same time as the other voters. Naturally, "hanky panky" was suspected and the news anchors were
pissed. CNN's John King turned to the touchy screen for distraction. The choice of music under the footage made me laugh uncontrollably. Fact: On two hours of sleep,
The Daily Show is even funnier, but not necessarily on the best parts. The mayor fight sent me into a fit of giggles, if that's any indication of my fatigue.
Continue reading The Daily Show: May 7, 2008 - VIDEOS
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