12 Apr 08 Sunday talk lineup; Nancy Pelosi, Robert Gates on ‘Face the Nation’, Stephen Hadley hits ABC and Fox
Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:
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ABC’s “This Week” — Former President Jimmy Carter; National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.
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CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Defense Secretary Robert Gates; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
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NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Democratic strategists James Carville and Bob Shrum; Republican strategists Mary Matalin and Mike Murphy.
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CNN’s “Late Edition” — Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Joe Biden, D-Del., Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
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“Fox News Sunday” — Former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; Hadley; Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek; Alex Ovechkin, left wing player for the Washington Capitals hockey team.
Tags: Sunday talk, TV
29 Mar 08 Sunday talk linueup: Democratic invasion! John Kerry, Gov. Ed Rendell on ‘This Week’, Bill Richardson and strategist Joe Trippi on ‘Face the Nation’
Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:
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ABC’s “This Week” — Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa.
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CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M.; Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; Democratic strategist Joe Trippi.
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NBC’s “Meet the Press” — CIA Director Michael Hayden.
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CNN’s “Late Edition” — Aaron Miller, former State Department adviser; Heraldo Munoz, Chilean ambassador to the United Nations; Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Mel Martinez, R-Fla.; Democratic strategists James Carville and Jamal Simmons.
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“Fox News Sunday” — Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Stan Kasten, team president of the Washington Nationals.
26 Feb 08 Quote of the day
The bleakest thing about [HBO's] The Wire is that it’s ending after the current season. Desperate Housewives, meanwhile, is set to go on until 2011. Now that’s a depressing thought.
- Brian Cook
‘The Wire’ — Why Criticize One of the Best Crime Shows in TV History?
Alternet.com
Truer words have never been spoken. If you haven’t seen The Wire, do so as soon as possible.
Related Links19 Jan 08 Sunday Talk
The Sunday line-up of punditry:
ABC’s “This Week” — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.
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CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.; David Axelrod, strategist for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign; Howard Wolfson, communications director for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign.
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NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian.
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CNN’s “Late Edition” — Edwards; Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.; Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.
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“Fox News Sunday” — Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
24 Dec 07 Are John Stewart and Stephen Colbert scabs for going back on the air?
In short, no. Keep reading for the long version.
After recently announcing that they would be returning to air, sans writers, John Stewart and Stephen Colbert have been both applauded and chided by colleagues and TV watchers.
A Facebook group popped up and I had a brief and ill-advised “discussion” with one of its members regarding this. Now I won’t go into the details, but we’ll just say that the people that think that Stewart and Colbert are scabs are being completely irrational.
It seems that they want to paint the WGA strike as if it were the labor union strikes of old, with the poor, working class, farm or auto workers fighting against their corporate masters. This strike is anything but.
First, these are Hollywood writers, not destitute workers that are begging for insurance or a slight pay increase. Second, what they are after is money based on Internet residuals for their intellectual property. It has nothing to do with big business or this whole “us vs. them” mentality. Constantly I was cited with historical examples of the power of labor unions and how they have shook the power structure, blah, blah, blah.
Look, none of that matters. All it takes is a little Spock-like logic to figure out why John Stewart and Stephen Colbert should not be treated like they are scabs or otherwise greedy, evil individuals.
There are other people affected by the strike!
It’s not just the writers, talent and the suits that put together a TV show. There are a whole slew of others such as directors, stage producers, lighting techs, sound techs and a whole cluster of other positions. These are people that in no way have a stake in whether the writer’s get paid residuals or not. These are people that were just busy doing their jobs, but are now put out of work and can’t pay their mortgage or feed their kids because the writers decided to strike.
Other hosts have been criticized for crossing the picket line as if they are doing it merely out of personal gain. Some, such as Dave Letterman and Conan O’Brien, paid their employees out of their own pockets for as long as they could while production was stopped. That can’t last forever though.
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert putting their shows back in production allows them to pay all of those crew members that put the show on the air and have nothing to gain from the writers striking. That’s it. Right now the writers are being extremely selfish and I think it is a little unfair to make others starve so that your already sizable income can get a little fatter.
I agree that the writers should earn a percentage off of the money made on DVD sales and Internet broadcasts of their creative property. However, I think there could have been a better way to negotiate that outcome than to affect the lives of so many others that have nothing to gain from the strike.
Yes, historically this has happened in the past. On the Facebook board I was thrown all sorts of facts and figures about thousands of people losing their jobs in past strikes and these are the sacrifices that must be made to “fight the man.” That’s all bullshit and does not matter in this instance. Again, these aren’t desperate farm workers, they’re highly paid and skilled writers. It’s a unique situation which requires a unique solution.
So to all who would call Stewart and Colbert traitorous scabs–shut the hell up!
Related LinksTags: news, TV, WGA strike
14 Nov 07 Go Dave, go Dave!
According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Late Show host David Letterman is paying his entire staff during the WGA strike despite the show being off the air. Here’s the kicker, Dave is paying them out of his own pocket. CBS (and NBC) have stopped paying their entire staffs due to the writer’s strike, in order to put pressure on the writers to come back. Those writer’s should watch out once the violence starts, I hear gaffers are killer at knife fights.
In all seriousness though, this is the type of awesome, noble and just badass act that puts Dave above the rest late-night hosts. Once this strike is over, writers are going to be lining to work for The Late Show. Then again, they probably already are.
For more interesting reading on the WGA strike, the LA Times has a good day-by-day tracker of news and updates.
Oh, and What Would Tyler Do? has the best response to Dave’s kindness:
Dave Letterman is the fuckin coolest. I like to think I would kind of do the same thing, that I would do my part to help the people who worked for me, but then it would occur to me - fuck those homos. And then I’d roll around on the waterbed and throw a pile of hundreds at the naked teen models.
Word.
Related LinksTags: hollyweird, randoms, TV
20 Sep 07 Darkly Dreaming Coincidence.
I stopped by Borders for a random coffee this evening and Jeff Lindsay, author of the Dexter series, was there signing his new book Dexter in the Dark. I found this to be an odd coincidence considering I just finished watching the first season of the Showtime series today. The show is excellent and I’d be interested to read the books. Unfortunately the store was sold out of all three books and I couldn’t buy them and get them signed.
Maybe next time I suppose, though it was still cool to see and meet the man behind the series. One day maybe I’ll be on the other side of the table.
Related Links09 Sep 07 Juxtaposition.
I’m watching CNN: Special Investigations Unit - Narco State: Poppy Jihad while my parents are watching the MTV Video Music Awards.
What the hell?
Related Links09 Sep 07 Frontline PBS
It looks like my favorite news program is going to have another great fall season. Check out the preview video:
If that doesn’t get you amped then you are probably not a news dork like me. If you’ve never watched Frontline PBS I strongly encourage you to check it out, it’s worth it.
I most recently watched Endgame which has some stirring analysis of the Iraq War. Along with their other Iraq documentaries, The Lost Year in Iraq and Gangs of Iraq it makes a great trilogy of understanding of the Iraq War, the players involved and the hopes for the future.
The new season begins in October.
Related Links08 Sep 07 The World According to Sawyer
In honor of my all-day Lost season 3 marathon.
01 Sep 07 I hate sports.
UPDATE: Sharapova loses 3rd round to Radwanska, she’s out!
The Deutsch Bank Championship has Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh all teeing off together for round two today.
Roger Federer and Sharapova both have US Open matches, with a possibility of Nadal and Federer facing each other again.
I have a story due and a bunch of reading to do. Damn yous!
I used to hate both sports, now that I understand them I love them. Retirement is right around the corner. Dig out the Geritol and the Preparation H, I’m cashing in the 401K and moving to Florida. Oh wait, I already live there.
Related Links16 Aug 07 Yo Gabba Gabba!
Someone pass the peyote.
Featuring Biz Markie in a segment called, Biz’s Beat of the Day. Awesome!
15 Aug 07 R.I.P: "Half Hour News Hour"
Tags: Fox "News", TV
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