Poor Oscar the Grouch. Not even PBS' ombudsman will cut him a break. No wonder he's so grouchy. Well that and he lives in a garbage can. That would make me more than a little perturbed.
A clip of a two-year episode of Sesame Street popped up on YouTube thanks to conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart's on his Big Hollywood blog in which Grundgetta, Oscar's girlfriend, makes a crack about "POX News" that sounds very close to "FOX News." PBS' ombudsman Michael Getler said while the name could be construed as a "clever and appropriate title" to the "Grouch News Network," the joke about the reference "should have been resisted.
I was shocked when I saw it. Oscar the Grouch has a frigging girlfriend?!?
[via Popeater]
cnn-related stories
PBS ombudsman criticizes Sesame Street for 'POX News' joke
Ann Coulter has the most annoying voice ever
I don't fit neatly into any one political category. There are things I like about the Republican party and things I like about the Democratic party. I watch Fox News and CNN equally, and there are talking heads on both networks that I like and don't like. I will say this, though: Ann Coulter has one of the most annoying voices on TV right now. It's hard to listen to what she's saying, because her whiny voice is so distracting. Sometimes when I'm just listening to her but not watching her, I almost expect to look over at the TV and see a cartoon character droning on about ... whatever.
I don't watch Saturday Night Live regularly, but surely someone must have spoofed her by now. With her nasal voice, hair fixation, and political opinions, she's like a skit waiting to happen.
Aside from their political views, what other commentators just bug the heck out of you? (Yes, I realize I'm going to be in the eye of the storm here; keep it as clean as possible!)
Heene family faked 'Balloon Boy' accident to get on TV
Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they learned about "Balloon Boy." Rather, they remember what they were thinking: "Has the news media completely run out of things to cover today or was Chester the Squirrel That Can Water-Ski taking a day off?" Every section of your TV had been preempted and saturated with coverage of what sheriff's deputies believed to be a runaway balloon that was carrying the life of an innocent boy with it. It even preempted the so-called cable "news" networks that interrupted coverage of the pending health care reform bill. That move only would have made sense if insurance companies refused to cover victims of hot air balloon accidents because they considered "gravity" to be a pre-existing condition.
And the really funny part is now it starts getting weird. The Larimer County Sheriff's Office said the family faked the whole thing just so they could get on TV.
Continue reading Heene family faked 'Balloon Boy' accident to get on TV
Zach Braff goes on YouTube to say he's not dead at all
The latest celebrity death rumor that turned out to be false was the one about Scrubs star Zach Braff. He didn't kill himself by taking pills. To prove it, Braff has made the video below. He calls the guy who started the fake rumor (he even created a fake CNN page to make it more believable) a "douchebag" because the story upset his mom.
There's a special guest star at the end.
There's a special guest star at the end.
What You Missed Last Night: CNN will have to leave it there
I've never noticed how often the hosts at CNN - almost all of them - say the phrase "we'll have to leave it there" when they run out of time when interviewing a guest. But The Daily Show noticed it, and last night they were all over CNN about it.
[Watch episodes and clips of The Daily Show and other shows at SlashControl.]
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| CNN Leaves It There | ||||
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Why does cable news have to be so stupid?
Earlier today I posted a video from last night's Daily Show where Jon Stewart took FOX News to task for flip-flopping on their coverage of protestors. But let's be fair. Here's Stewart from the night before, dumping on CNN for their ridiculous new segments.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c |
| CNN's Just Sayin' | |
Political commentator Robert Novak dead at 78
The TV talking head and former right side of CNN's political cluster#*$& Crossfire has passed away. Robert Novak died Tuesday morning at the age of 78 from his bout with brain cancer.
The right-wing pundit was a journalist first as evidenced by his long stint in the ink stained world of newspaper reporting from his days as an Illinois sports stringer to his columns for the Chicago Sun-Times. But he's probably best remembered by audiences' eyeballs for his work as a TV pundit and his uncanny ability to make news as he reported it.
Continue reading Political commentator Robert Novak dead at 78
94% of people polled aren't sure what they think of polls
If I was to make a list of ten things I hate on television, I think polls would be one of them. The news channels (cable and local news) are always asking us to text or call in with our opinion on some poll question. But you can't believe the numbers, as Jon Stewart showed last night on The Daily Show. (Video also here.)
Turner panels: Dark Blue, George Lopez, Joy Behar, and cankles - TCA Report
The daytime segment of cable's first day concluded with four Turner-related panels: Joy Behar on her new HLN talk show; a CNN panel with John King, Christiance Amanpour, and Soledad O'Brien; a panel with Jerry Bruckheimer and the cast and producers of TNT's Dark Blue; and George Lopez, who is starting a new late night talk show on TBS.Behar and Lopez bookended the session, and they were an interesting contrast. Two comedians, both opinionated, both with things to say about current events. But while Behar's gentle jabs played to mostly silence among the cranky writers in attendance, Lopez got more than a few of us to laugh. I've never been the biggest Lopez fan, but I have to admit, he was ready for us: he made most of us stand up to talk to him, he jostled us on our reluctance to be enthusiastic, and he was able to make pretty quick comebacks with ease. Must be the years of dealing with hecklers.
Anyway, after the jump, some details of Turner's day in Pasadena, including audio of an interview with O'Brien that I started with the word "cankles."
Continue reading Turner panels: Dark Blue, George Lopez, Joy Behar, and cankles - TCA Report
What if the Apollo 11 moon landing didn't happen under Cronkite's watch?
Walter Cronkite's passing didn't mark the end of an era in the TV news business. The era he helped produce and prolong died long before he did. It's hard for me to ever imagine a time when people considered a major network news anchor as America's most trusted source for anything. Claims of bias and political persuasion being injected into every story with a meat syringe created a thick fog that made it very hard to cover anything with a modicum of honesty.
Cronkite, however, was the man people turned to when something blew up, exploded, imploded, launched, landed or any other number of descriptive verbs, because his goal wasn't to make news every time he stepped in front of a camera. His goal was just to report it.
Continue reading What if the Apollo 11 moon landing didn't happen under Cronkite's watch?
News/documentary Emmy nominations announced
This isn't just the week for prime time Emmy nominations, we also have the nominations for news.Here's the list of news and documentary Emmy nominations. There are many categories, including several for the cable news channels, but a few of the big nominations include Charlie Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin for Outstanding Interview (really?), NBC Nightly News coverage of Tim Russert's death for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story, 60 Minutes taking three of the four nominations in the Outstanding Feature Story in a News Magazine category (Primetime took the other), and three nominations for The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
[via TV Newser]
A quick note to CNN's Larry King
Dear Larry,FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP WITH THE SHOWS ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON?!
Honestly, what else can you possibly say? You've already interviewed every Jackson lawyer (past and present), interviewed his dermatologist, talked to his friends, talked to Jermaine Jackson, given a live tour of Neverland Ranch (complete with ghosts), had Marlon Brando's son on almost every night, interviewed Jackson's former nurse, and you actually went to the memorial service itself and reported from there. What else can you possibly do? Are you going to have an exclusive interview with Michael Jackson's nose? Talk to his mailman?
Continue reading A quick note to CNN's Larry King
CNN denies catching Michael Jackson's ghost on camera
The sheer volume of coverage surrounding Michael Jackson's untimely death has reached such a solid density that you can actually take a hammer to it (and believe me, I've tried). The man's death was tragic and newsworthy, and the recent memorial was also deserving of some extreme attention, but some of the bits and pieces almost scream for the story to stick around. Mark my words, Michael Jackson will replace Jesus and the Virgin Mary as the holy face that some yahoo will see in their morning batch of French toast.
One of those stories reached such a fever pitch that the network that spawned it tried to put a stop to it. An overly vigilant CNN viewer spotted a shadowy figure walking across the camera during Larry King's visit to Neverland Ranch. The video found its way to YouTube where it garnered over 4 million hits and sparked a wave of news coverage not seen since, well, Michael Jackson's death.
Continue reading CNN denies catching Michael Jackson's ghost on camera
Anderson Cooper knows nothing about sports
This is not a political post. Let me repeat that: this is not a political post. I just thought that Anderson Cooper was pretty funny in this clip from his show, trying to get information from Sarah Palin's spokesperson. She's a bit confusing and spokesperson-ish though, and at one point Cooper really does scratch his head.
How extensive should the Michael Jackson funeral coverage be?
It has been announced that Michael Jackson's public funeral with be held next Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. CBS has revealed that they are going to cover it extensively, with The Early Show broadcasting live from the Staples Center on Monday and Tuesday and Katie Couric doing The CBS Evening News from there as well. No word yet on what ABC and NBC will be doing, though I assume they'll do similar coverage (not to mention the massive coverage we'll see on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News). But how extensive should the coverage be? Should the news channels cover it all day long? Should the networks report live from the funeral? Should the funeral be televised live on all channels? Should there just be stories of it and no live coverage at all?
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