The Day the Music Died

If hit me this past weekend that I have not been a good student of pop culture, specifically music.
Growing up I was heavily involved in music knowing everything from countdown stats to band member bios, but as I got older I started to let go of my passion, not because I wanted to, but [...]

George Clooney Plays Peacemaker

George Clooney just wants actors to get along instead of choosing between sparring unions.
In a two-page letter, Clooney is neutral in the dispute between the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild.
He says “What we can’t do is pit artist against artist.”
AFTRA has already reached a tentative [...]

Nice Guys do Really Finish First!

After Jim McKay, Tim Russert and George Carlin all died, I started to notice a trend emerge.
Yes, it’s been around for awhile, but it really hit home this week when Carlin died – every story told posthumously about the individual involved niceties.
It just showed how ‘regular’ they were to me.
They did not represent [...]

SAG says Studios Offered More to Sister Union

The Screen Actors Guild is accusing the major Hollywood studios of offering a contract deal worth less than an agreement tentatively approved by the leaders of a smaller actors union.
SAG executive director Doug Allen told The Associated Press on Wednesday the offer is worth millions of dollars less over the life of the proposed three-year [...]

Dying Is Hard. Comedy Is Harder.

I’m still in shock and saddened over this weekend’s death of George Carlin. I found this op-ed by Jerry Seinfeld in today’s New York Times and wanted to share it.
My parents always watched George Carlin’s specials…so I basically grew up on his jokes.
I’m assuming he’s in a better place now and is looking down and [...]

The Witness Protection Program at Work

How George Carlin Changed Comedy

From Time Magazine
Monday, Jun. 23, 2008
By Richard Zoglin
 
When the culture began to change in the late 1960s — when the old one-liner comics on the Ed Sullivan Show were looking pretty tired and irrelevant to a younger generation experimenting with drugs and protesting the war in Vietnam — George Carlin was the most important stand-up [...]

TV Networks Brace for Potential Actors Strike

Fall season could be delayed if walkout halts production

By Steve Gorman
Reuters
updated 6:24 p.m. PT, Thurs., June. 19, 2008

LOS ANGELES – As Hollywood recovers from a tumultuous writers strike that ended in February, U.S. television networks are bracing for a possible actors walkout that could delay the upcoming fall TV season.
Jitters over renewed labor unrest have [...]

Stepping Up to the Plate

This ad appears in today’s New York Times and it’s not even from NBC! Now, that says a lot.  
It reads, ‘We celebrate your life and honor your life’s work. We will miss you. Your friends and colleagues at CBS News.’

How Much is That Baby on the Magazine Cover?

While looking at various news sites today, I came across an article on MSNBC that discussed the lucrative business of celebrity baby pictures.
It mentioned how Brangelina could get $15 million for pics of the couple’s twins.
It then gave a list of things you could buy with $15 million: some items serious, some amusing, [...]