TVSquad

The UK's Channel 4 had decided not to broadcast a drama featuring British soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees so as not to exacerbate the current situation surrounding fifteen Royal Navy personnel currently held captive in Iran. The debut for the movie was moved to May 17, which will most likely remain now that the soldiers have been released to the British Embassy (and assuming their return to British soil).

The drama, Mark of Cain, is somewhat based on the true-life story of three British soldiers who were convicted of abusing Iraqi civilians at Camp Bread Basket, Basra, in May 2003. The drama itself, however, is entirely fictional according to Gerard Kearns, who plays a soldier in the made-for-TV movie. Due to the tumultuous nature of the diplomatic standoff, the channel decided it was better to avoid anything that might endanger the lives of the fifteen soldiers, who were held captive in a secret location for twelve days.

The BBC is making plans to launch a Farsi language television channel in Iran starting in early 2008. The channel will air for eight hours a day, though the BBC hopes to expand that eventually. Currently, the BBC has an online and radio presence in the region, although the Web site has been occasionally blocked by authorities in Iran. The BBC claims Iranians are turning to television more and more to get their news, and that the editorial content of the new channel will not be dictated by the UK government. As I mentioned a year ago, the BBC also plans to launch an Arabic channel in the Middle East around the same time.

Jon Stewart started off by announcing that Congress has raised America's limit of debt to a whopping $9 trillion. "Are you getting an 'F'? Don't study harder! Just make the grading scale go to a 'K'!"

March 19 will mark the 3 year anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first year anniversary was paper, the second anniversary was (we were hoping for) oil, and the third year anniversary will be Operation Swarmer, the largest air assault since Shock and Awe. Happy anniversary! "It's our way of telling Iraq we would do it all over again..."

If you recall, the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, barred CNN from his country after they reportedly misquoted him as saying that it was Iran's right to use nuclear weapons, when he actually used the term "nuclear technology". After CNN apologized, he allowed their reporters to remain in the country, including star correspondent Christiane Amanpour. However, Amanpour didn't get away scot-free, though; a local newspaper called her a "CIA and Mossad agent with a bad record," who should be expelled from the country. Jeez, tough crowd there in Iran.

CNN doesn't have a bureau in Iran. Actually, it has nothing in Iran right now at all after a mistranslation of a speech given by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. CNN reported Ahmadinejad saying "the use of nuclear weapons is Iran's right." What was actually said was "Iran has the right to nuclear energy." The subtle difference being between using the power for energy or using it to blow things the hell up. I have my own theories about Ahmadinejad's intentions, which you're more than welcome to try and extract from my brain this evening while I sleep. I'll leave my door unlocked for you. Meanwhile, Iran is off limits to CNN until further notice.

The new, young faces of World News Tonight debut this evening on ABC. Five months after Peter Jennings' death from lung cancer, Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff will co-host the nightly newscast. They are the first network anchor team since Dan Rather and Connie Chung shared the desk at CBS in the 1990s. But, don't expect to see them sharing the desk very often. Vargas says it's not going to be two anchors sharing 22 minutes of news, rather, one of them will most likely be reporting anchoring from the field while the other reads the rest of the news from the desk. In fact, tonight's debut of the new format has Vargas at the anchor desk and Woodruff off in Iran. I imagine this is what the anchoring-from-the-field schtick is going to be like: Vargas and Woodruff sharing different "in-depth" or "special" reports about issues rather than day-to-day news events. The purpose of Woodruff's visit to Iran tonight is to help bring better understanding to Americans about a very powerful country that has been on the Bush Administration's radar ever since it was included in the "axis of evil".

Vargas and Woodruff take over the #2-rated newscast in the nation, with Brian Williams and NBC still on top. CBS has yet to decide what it will do with its open anchor position and there are still whispers that Katie Couric is in contention.