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tv
A Golden Age For Cable
Time Warner yesterday announced some weak quarterly financials, with earnings off 26 percent. But there was a big bright spot, the media conglomerate's cable networks like HBO and CNN, where profits were up 18 percent, led by advertising gains. There's a similar situation at NBC Universal, where ratings gains at Bravo (Runway, Top Chef), MSNBC (Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews) and even the USA Network have formed a thick silver lining around the storm cloud that is the flagship broadcast network. The business-side gains add a financial dimension to the cable industry's creative golden age, described by the Times' David Carr in June and obvious to anyone with a smartly programmed DVR or Netflix queue. Cable is the swaggering golden child of television, and it's only going to get more confident, because the advertising model that's fueling all its fun happens to be perfect for a recession. More » -
mad men
Ads For Ad Show Swallow Commuters
The New York subway system is taking full advantage of its plan to sell all flat surfaces for advertising, including the outside of trains. The latest and most appropriate sponsor of the metal cattle car that you squeeze yourself into every depressing morning: Mad Men, the acclaimed show about advertising! Even if you barely miss your train as it pulls away, leaving you frustrated and abandoned, you'll still be educated about the existence of Mad Men. Sweet. More pics of the hellaciously busy interior of these message-wielding cars, after the jump. More » -
celebrity-industrial complex
HBO's Washingtonienne: Sex And The City With A Lot More Anal
HBO announced it was moving forward with a pilot for Washingtonienne, based on the book that lightly fictionalized Senate staffer Jessica Cutler's adventures as an anonymous blogger who took money from politically-powerful men for sex including, famously, for lots of ass fucking. The show, whose development has been previously reported, is to be a half-hour comedy. Cutler sells her body, wacky hijinks ensue, presumably. Sarah Jessica Parker is executive producing, so it sounds like it will basically be Sex And The City, but in DC. Filming is set to begin soon. Does this mean casting has already occurred? Who will play Cutler? Who will play Gawker Media alumna Ana Marie Cox (who publicized Cutler's online diary in 2004)? Vote on this critical civic issue in the comments, even if it's the only vote you cast all year! [Variety] -
cultural figures
OMG Sloane Crosley Totally Loves Us
Sloane Crosley, author, popular publicist, self-effacing autobiographer, HBO series subject, gossip monster assembler, big ass chronicler, partygoer, and etiquette specialist has a new video interview out, and damned if she's not commenting on us and the rest of the "snarky urban jungle." Whoa, you write about somebody 27 times and all of a sudden it's like they can't stop talking about you. It's okay though—she thinks all this vicious online gossip is a net positive(!), a view that I tried to get across to Keith Gessen at his party, without success. Perhaps he will be persuaded by listening to his pal Sloane! Watch Crosley explain why she tolerates Gawker and its commenters, but Village Voice readers made her cry, below: More » -
dan klores
Way Smart Ex-PR Guru To Make Crazy Movie Version Of Crazy Documentary
Dan Klores is the smartest man in PR. That's because he's not in PR any more. He founded his eponymous agency, which made (and still makes) him a ton of money, and then decided, "You know what? Fuck this shit. I'm gonna make movies." Now he spends all his time making (actually good!) documentaries and hosting soirees for various power brokers, without ever having to deal with the actual PR industry much. And he's about to move further up the entertainment industry food chain, because HBO has signed him to direct a movie version of his Believe-it-or-not psycho documentary Crazy Love. This, I will watch. More » -
lady business
Sex and the City Actress To Continue Having Sex
Sex and the City star and perpetually naked old lady Kim Cattrall will continue her illustrious career of pretend-fucking on camera for HBO. The positively ancient fiftysomething coital acrobat has signed on to play the lead in a new series, copied of course from a British show, about a middle-aged woman who has a sexual reawakening, leading to major life changes. It's essentially about fucking to terms with things. No word yet on whether she'll have three shrill, shoe-worshiping friends, but you can bet there will be puns. So very many puns. [EW.com] More » -
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media
Frank Rich Gives Journos False Sense of Hope
So. Times columnist and former theater critic Frank Rich has a sweet creative consulting deal with HBO. They give him a paycheck, and he will sometimes call them up if he has a great idea (and Frank Rich has thousands of great ideas every day). He will maybe read some scripts and give notes. Did we mention he gets a paycheck? We don't begrudge him this cushy gig, but he should BEWARE. Another respected cultural thinker once went down this road, Frank! More » -
hbo
Frank Rich Gets Vague Title at HBO
Avuncular Times columnist and former theater critic Frank Rich just signed a deal making him HBO's "creative consultant." Which means, according to Nikki Finke, "a consulting fee combined with payments for projects that get made." What it also means is that now he can get all his kids jobs on television too. (Zing!) [Deadline Hollywood Daily] -
movies
Old Man Upset At Accurate Portrayal of His Wimpiness
Recount, the HBO film about the 2000 presidential election mess in Florida, premiers on HBO soon. It looks fiendishly entertaining if you are a nerd, like some of us. Primarily because OMG Laura Dern as Katherine Harris. The make-up! They even recreated the horse photos. Some people, though, are not so excited about this movie. Because they are characters in it. Specifically Warren Christopher, a respected elder of the Democratic party, who is portrayed as a spineless pussy. He is played by John Hurt in goofy (but accurate) prosthetics. Christopher was the "public face of the Gore team" and the film basically shows how he played fair while Bush's fixer, James Baker, waged war. All of this is public record, but Christopher's pissed anyway, saying the filmmakers distort the story. Baker, on the other hand, is hosting a damn screening of the film at his think tank. He says the film makes him out to be "a little more like Don Corleone" than he really is, but that is actually a dark and depressing joke. He's worse than Don fucking Corleone, because Don Corleone was pretend. Oh hey, the trailer's after the jump. More » -
Downsizing
Yet another auteur filmmaker is making the jump to television (well, HBO). This time it's the brilliant Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, the lovely final segment of Paris, je t'aime) who will be directing (and exec-producing) for an idiot box series. The show, unfortunately, is something called Hung, and is about, sigh, a well-endowed man muddling through middle age. Well, at least half of that is familiar territory for Payne. [Variety]
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