March 15, 2010

21st annual glaad media awards partially announced

GLAAD has announced the winners of 24 of its 32 categories of awards, with the last eight awaiting the Los Angeles ceremony. And the winners are:

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) - 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards - New York:

Awards Presented on Stage
Outstanding Drama Series: Brothers and Sisters (ABC)
Outstanding TV Movie or Mini-Series: Prayers for Bobby (Lifetime)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: "Why Will Won't Pledge Allegiance", American Morning (CNN)
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article - Two-Way Tie:
- "'We Love You, This Won't Change a Thing'" by John Buccigross (ESPN.com)
- "Why Can't You Just Butch Up? Gay Men, Effeminacy, and Our War with Ourselves" by Brent Hartinger (AfterElton.com)

Other English-Language Awards Announced in New York

* Outstanding Film-Limited Release: Little Ashes (Regent Releasing)
* Outstanding Individual Episode: "Pawnee Zoo" Parks and Recreation (NBC)
* Outstanding Daily Drama: One Life to Live (ABC)
* Outstanding Talk Show Episode: "Ellen DeGeneres and Her Wife, Portia de Rossi" The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
* Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: "Uganda Be Kidding Me" (series) The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
* Outstanding Newspaper Article: "Kept From a Dying Partner's Bedside" by Tara Parker-Pope (The New York Times)
* Outstanding Newspaper Columnist: Frank Rich (The New York Times)
* Outstanding Newspaper Overall Coverage: The New York Times
* Outstanding Magazine Article: "Coming Out in Middle School" by Benoit Denizet-Lewis (The New York Times Magazine)
* Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: The Advocate
* Outstanding Comic Book: Detective Comics by Greg Rucka (DC Comics)
* Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off–Broadway: A Boy and His Soul by Colman Domingo
* Outstanding New York Theater: Off–Off Broadway: She Like Girls by Chisa Hutchinson

Benoit Denizet-Lewis' story was fascinating, if vaguely inconceivable back in my day. And, in one of those moments of clanging irony, One Life to Live had its award announced a couple of days after the producers announced that the gay storyline for which it won was being phased out. Apparently, they thought that the storyline had harmed the ratings. (The fact that they also dragged out the wretched and annoying Mitch Laurence storyline from mothballs at exactly the same time somehow doesn't get blamed. Only the gay guys in what was clearly a subsidiary storyline. Yes. Quite.)

And you know what? I'm not even going to snark about that comics award. Yes, Detective Comics comes from one of their beloved four mainstream publishers (DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse). Yes, Greg Rucka is, you know, a straight guy. It's also a superhero comic starring two lesbian leads, with gripping storylines. And it's bloody flippin' gorgeous to look at. (It's a bit of a pity that this seems to be only a writers award; I think that artist JH Williams III has had as much to do with the series' success as Rucka, frankly.) Doesn't mean that I don't think there were other titles out there worthy of consideration; just that, even allowing for GLAAD's relentlessly narrow parameters for consideration, this is a pretty good choice.

Spanish-Language Awards Announced in New York

* Outstanding Novela: Más Sabe el Diablo (Telemundo)
* Outstanding Daytime Talk Show Episode: "Adopción gay: un tema muy controversial" Paparazzi TV Sensacional (MegaTV)
* Outstanding Talk Show Interview: "Realidades de ser gay en la tercera edad" El Show de Cristina (Univision)
* Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: TIE: "En el cuerpo equivocado" Primer Impacto (Univision) & "Damas gracias: Entrevista con Eva Leivas-Andino" Al Rojo Vivo (Telemundo)
* Outstanding Newspaper Article: "Mas familias de dos papás o dos mamas" by Pilar Marrero (La Opinión)
* Outstanding Magazine Article: "Del odio a la justicia" by Lena Hansen (People en Español)
* Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: "Saliendo del clóset: Cómo enfrentarlo en familia" by Fernanda Martínez (Univision.com)

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January 15, 2010

the defenestration of leno and nbc's new schedule

Um ... wow. Just ... wow.

What the hell was Leno thinking? There's being a good sport, and then there's being a total idiot, and this pretty clearly crossed the line. By the end, Leno was clearly not a happy camper. And he set it up! After it became obvious where this was headed, wouldn't you change a question or two on the fly, do something so that you didn't turn yourself into the comedic equivalent of a volleyball? (Serve, lob, set, SPIKE!) I mean, jeez, guy, do something.

And yet another shoe drops as NBC announces its forthcoming post-Olympics schedule, also known as Life After The Great Failed Experiment.

Mondays kind of make sense. Kind of. On the one hand, "Trauma" -- which has been yanked from the jaws of cancellation but not necessarily back into production, as NBC still had six episodes of the series to burn off -- would seem a terrible fit for "Chuck", albeit a better fit with "Law and Order". You'd think that maybe they'd want something more transitional between Chuck and L&O, like, say, "Parenthood". But then, that's the one so-far-unaired series that's been getting a certain amount of critical respect, even with the last minute recasting of a central role forced by Maura Tierney's breast cancer. So putting it after "Biggest Loser" on Tuesdays makes sense, as BL has been their consistently highest-rated non-football primetime series. So, perforce, Tuesday's schedule is perfectly understandable.

Wednesday's schedule, on the other hand ... that one has a certain head-scratching quality. "Mercy" is profoundly unsuited for the early evening timeslot. And if you're going to do that, why wouldn't you have the one new drama you managed to save lead into new episodes of SVU, rather than into an encore SVU episode that then leads to a new episode of the same show? The only thing I can think is that they decided to simply suicide the second hour against of "American Idol" and "24" ... but then, why would you suicide "Mercy" as well?

Thursdays are pretty much the same schedule NBC's had all year, with the exception of "The Marriage Ref" -- which sounds like an utter abomination before the programming gods.

...Yeah. So there's that. Because watching real life couples fight and get comedic zings launched at them is going to be so entertaining! In any event, "The Marriage Ref" as an end to the evening doesn't seem exactly calculated to improve NBC's fortunes on that night; wasn't the one thing that came out of the Leno experiment a fairly clear indication that people don't quite want that sort of comedy heading into their evening newscasts? But then, it's not as though NBC has a lot of product on their shelves to stick into that slot.

Fridays are very meh, with "Who do you think you are?", a celebrities' origin story reality series which sounds like a less sensationalistic take on "E! True Hollywood Story", only it's possible that some of the celebrities won't have died tragically or stupidly or have done something lunatic to warrant being profiled. (Which ... honestly, sounds like it could be a bit dull.) Saturdays, along with every other network, are a very traditional "lay down and die" schedule. (Once upon a time, Saturdays were the second most watched night on television. True story. CBS had the killer lineup of Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart and the Carol Burnett Show. Oh, for the good old days. But one digresses.)

Sundays are kind of eyecrossing, featuring NBC taking direct aim at CBS ... by counterprogramming with more or less exactly the same type of shows that CBS is airing for the early part of the evening. Sending "Dateline" up against "60 Minutes" again? I mean, Dateline sometimes does ... OK on those nights, but by and large, it never seems to win that sort of thing. And they're sending "Minute to Win It", a game show formerly called "Perfect 10" hosted by Guy Fieri, up against "The Amazing Race", ABC's "Extreme Home Makeover", and Fox's animation block. (Interestingly enough, Fox has ordered a US version of Britain's "The Cube", which uses a similar concept, giving people a very limited amount of time to complete otherwise very simple tasks for a startlingly large amount of money. The Cube adds in the concept of a sort of physical restraint -- contestants are contained inside a plexiglass cube Fox apparently sent the order straight to series, but it's not clear when the series will air -- my own guess would be as a summer replacement series, depending on cost, given the relative success of ABC's "Wipeout!" as a summer series. But i digress.) Guy Fieri, the second winner of the Food Network's "Next Food Network Star", can be a very ... acquired taste, let's say. Though, honestly, game show host seems like the sort of thing that would suit his expansive personality to a T. "Celebrity Apprentice" goes up against ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters" and CBS' procedurals, offering a genuine alternative and a proven show that should do OK in that time slot. (Though, seriously, two hours a night of that every week? Well ... OK.)

Really, the best thing you can say of NBC's winter/spring schedule is, given the utter lack of notice and time they had to construct it is that they're clearly making the best effort they can. It'll be interesting to see how it all works out.

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January 14, 2010

nbc's late night soap opera gets vicious

The Wrap is tracking the monologues of the late night shows as they all make hay out of skewering NBC for its hamhanded handling of the late night show mess it created.

It's worth noting that they're a day behind at this point. Last night, Conan got truly vicious and mean about the whole thing in a way that I hadn't thought he had in him, including taking a direct shot at Jay Leno.

I have to admit, I hope this is the last time he does something like that. As long as he can direct his shots at NBC, and not Leno, I think he'll get a lot more support. Once he starts going after Jay ... well, honestly, at least in his public persona, Jay is a bit meaner and a bit sharper with the personal attacks, and I kind of don't think Conan can win that way anyway.

Moreover, in order to maintain any sort of respect from its own employees and from the business at large, NBC has to put a stop to this public sniping on its own airwaves, and soon. In any other business, an employee who went after their employer like this would at the least be suspended, if not fired outright. Of course, they're in a difficult position there, as well; Leno's also been sniping at the network, and he's the one they want to keep the most. Differential treatment for substantially the same activity might put NBC in an even more difficult legal position. The one thing they've got to work with is that Conan seems to have now specifically said in public that NBC breached his contract, which is something their lawyers can go after.

On the other hand, there's this interesting aspect: NBC is actually kind of benefiting from the late night follies. Kind of. "The Tonight Show" ratings are up 42% in key demographics this week. You'd think that might be enough of a "win", if that's quite the right word, for NBC to let things continue. However, ratings for the Leno show have dropped 10% during the same time period, which means they're feeding even fewer viewers to the affiliates' late night newscasts, which was the key that set all these dominoes in motion in the first place.(That said, Leno's lead-in was off substantially as well. Sort of points out the benefits of a strong lead-in, doesn't it?)

The whole mess will probably end, or at least disappear from public view, fairly soon. Enhanced ratings for Tonight aside, NBC simply cannot tolerate things going on like this for much longer.

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January 12, 2010

stay klassy, nbc

And now the other shoe has dropped. Mind, it had to get kicked around real hard by that first shoe for a while, but here it is.

So presumably, when NBC moves Jay Leno back to the 10:30 Central time slot, he will actually get to be hosting the Tonight show again. I can't imagine that NBC will want the name to go away after all these many years, and it'll be available.

Except ...

The question is just how much NBC wants to screw over Conan at this point. Considering the rather epochal reaming they've been giving him the past week or so, the idea that they don't "have the stomach" for a long legal battle seems kind of improbable. They may decide to shelve the Tonight show name for a couple of years -- ending something like a continuous 50-odd year run -- purely to keep from having to make a massive payout. After all, part of this whole mess was about NBC wanting to save money at the corporate level, even though they were told and told and TOLD that the Leno show would be ruinous for their affiliates.

That Conan may not have the stomach for a long legal battle I can imagine -- his public persona, at least, is the sort of person who really woudln't like that. And, hey, he's been getting paid a few million a year for a while now. Even with the downturn in the stock market, he surely has enough stored by to decide, What the heck, I'm going to take a couple years off, let my contract expire, maybe go back and do a lot more standup to sharpen those skills again, and then come back to late night with Fox or whoever. And that said, as the article notes, the Fox affiliates are for the most part not at all happy about Fox wanting a late night show and having to give up the lucrative (and unshared) advertising spots that come with the syndicated shows in that timeslot. That's apart from the rather hefty expenses to the network itself that come with starting the show in the first place. Given that their affiliates are going through "a challenging business cycle", it might also suit Fox to back off for a couple of years until things settle down a bit.

The only issue then would be whether or not people were still interested in watching Conan at all -- a very real issue, given how easy people seem to bounce from show to show these days.

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