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?
This clip from The Soup will bring a smile to the face of every reader who thinks that TV coverage of Michael Jackson has gone too far. I guess that would be all readers. Joel McHale introduces montages about how the gossip shows and news channels reveal too much info about his death, wonder where his body is, and speculate wildly. The funeral is tomorrow, so we can imagine what coverage is still to come. (Video also here.)
You've probably heard that at the time of his death, Michael Jackson was working on 50-date concert tour in London. From the various accounts of the production and rehearsal photos that were released this week, it looks like it was going to be a typical Michael Jackson production: expensive, outlandish, and explosive. A real spectacle that was going to include burning bed and a giant orb.
And the production was going to be worked on by a former cast member of Saved By The Bell.
Since Michael Jackson died two days ago, TV and radio stations have been busy with around the clock news coverage, specials about the King of Pop, and even non-stop playing of Jackson songs and videos. More special programming is planned this weekend, and AOL has a list of what we'll see.
This morning at 10:30, E! will have the special Michael & Farrah: Lost Icons (good for them to include Farrah, whose death was overshadowed by bad timing). At 8 tonight (and Sunday), CNN will have Man in the Mirror, followed by a rerun of Larry King Live coverage and interviews about Jackson's death. At 10, The Bio Channel will air Bio Remembers: Michael Jackson.
Back in 1984, Michael Jackson was filming a TV commercial for Pepsi and got severely injured when his hair caught fire from a special effects explosion. I'm assuming that the finished commercial has a body double during that scene (or they used footage from another take), though Michael can be seen in other parts of the commercial with his brothers. Some people close to Jackson say that he started taking painkillers after this incident. (Here's footage of Jackson after it happened.)
It seems that everyone had an animated series in the 1970s (like Gilligan's Island), and the Jackson 5 were no exception. Here's the opening of their cartoon, The Jackson 5ive, which ran on ABC for a couple of years starting in 1971. Not sure how many series actually show the cast of the show, one by one, twice. It's also odd how dancing mice and a wacky snake show up in the middle, BUT IT WAS THE 70S DUDE. This was done by Rankin/Bass, who did all those Christmas specials.
I was on Twitter all night last night, and there were actually a lot of Michael Jackson jokes mixed in with the tributes and the breaking news tweets. I was wondering if the late night talk shows would either talk about Jackson passing away or if they'd make a joke about it or both. I especially wondered about Jimmy Kimmel, because he has not only made a ton of jokes about Jackson in the past (as they all did), but he actually had correspondent Jake go out to events like the Jackson trial and act like a nut. Here's Kimmel's monologue from last night.