The November "sweeps" ratings hold more bad news for WBAL when it comes to Jay Leno and his effect on the NBC affiliate's late local news. And despite a slight bump in some ratings thanks to the arrival of People Meters over the summer, struggling WMAR finds itself as the last place news channel in Baltimore behind WBFF by virtually every measure.

On a week that will mark the departure of anchors Mary Beth Marsden and Terry Owens, after 21 and 17 years, respectively, one can't help but wonder whether it might not make more sense for Baltimore's ABC affiliate to get out of the local news business altogether based on these ratings. (As reported here in stories on their departures under a buyout offer, Marsden anchors the 5,6 and 11 p.m. newcasts, while Owens anchors 5:30 p.m. and reports for the late newscast.)

The biggest news, which has been reported here in September and October, is the way NBC's ill-advised, cost-cutting move of Leno to a nightly 10 p.m. prime-time spot continues to hammer WBAL's fortunes for network fare at 10 p.m. and its late news at 11 p.m.

WBAL, which use to be neck-and-neck with WJZ at the 11 p.m. newscast, an affilate's most lucrative, is now a distant second to the CBS-owned station. And note what WBFF does at 10 p.m. versus WMAR at 11.

Here are the 11 p.m. November ratings in households: WJZ (79,000 homes), WBAL (58,900 homes), WMAR (31,800 homes) and WBFF (33,300 homes for its news that airs at 10 p.m.).

Now here are the 11 p.m. figures in adults ages 25 to 54, which is what the demographic that stations actually sell ads based on : WJZ (40,900), WBAL (27,600), WMAR (15,400) and WBFF (24,300 at 10 p.m.).

WBFF also beats WMAR in the morning and at 5:30 p.m. when they are in competition. Most striking is how close WBFF's adult audience for its late news now is to WBAL's thanks to the hit the NBC affiliate has taken post-Leno. WBAL still leads the market at 5 and 6 p.m.

Sunday's night's victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers was a joy to behold for Baltimore Ravens fans, but what about the NBC telecast? What did you think of that?

I thought the camera work during the sudden-death overtime and the instant montages that followed the winning field goal were terrific. I thought the instant post-game interviews with Ray Lewis and Ray Rice captured the adrenaline of the final minutes about as well as anyone watching at home could ever expect it to be captured.

The in-studio analysis in New York Tony Dungy, the former coach of the Indianapolis Colts, was on-the-money.

And Bob Costas brings a sense of class to any broadcast on which he appears. I like having him at the site of the game rather than in New York.

 

And Bob Costas brings a sense of class to any broadcast on which he appears. But how about you? How did you feel about NBC's performance?

A consensus is starting to build that says so far, Barack Obama has been a lot better at playing a president on TV than actually being one in 2009.

Maybe it is the arrival of the holidays and the inescapable realization that our president has seemed to be mostly indifferent to the millions of Americans who are out of work and can't even start to think of holiday cheer. While the White House has been focused in recent months on such misguided campaigns as trying to beat Fox News into submission for daring to criticize him, more and more Americans are wondering why the president hasn't heard their growing cries of desperation. That's what the intensity and outrage of the town halls were really about during the summer. But the tin ears in the administration didn't hear it. They were too busy booking the president on every talk show on television -- as long as it wasn't on Fox News.

I am thinking of all this as President Obama launches another prime-time PR effort  Tuesday night with a speech on Afghanistan. We will be seeing a lot of him on the tube in coming days straight through to his TV special with Oprah Winfrey, "Christmas from the White House" on ABC on Dec. 13. This week, the president with the fralling poll numbers will also be starring in a jobs related "summit" and a tour of "Main Street" -- all the better to show, of course, through the use of TV words and images how concerned the president now is about the unemployed.

Forget the "No-Drama Obama" name the president's PR-oriented aides talked about a year ago to stress how cool and focused the candidate had been under fire during the campaign. I say a more apt name today is Prime-Time Obama, the president who never met a TV booking he wouldn't grab when the going got rough -- rather than getting down and dirty with the grunt work of trying to govern the nation out of its pain.

Cool, elegant, glib and detached is nice for a latenight TV chat with Jay Leno or David Letterman -- not so nice for crafting and forging support for a real jobs package that will put real people to work rather than the questionable numbers Vice President Joe Biden has been attributing to the stimulus money.

Don't blame me on this one, folks. I have been saying this since early in the year, and generally catching hell for it even from some of my colleagues. After warning that Obama was the most effective TV president this side of Ronald Reagan and John Kennedy, I wrote several pieces saying that talking about governing on TV was different than actually governing.

Back in March, I wrote that I wished President Obama had more Lyndon Johnson in him -- one of the worst TV presidents in history with his awkward, ill at ease and sometimes angry-sounding presentation.

Here is what I wrote:

As Barack Obama extends his buy-my-economic-plans-please tour from Jay Leno tonight into next Tuesday with a prime-time press conference, the question that begs to be asked is whether the President is spending enough time governing -- as opposed to talking about governing on TV.

There is a difference, and as much the author of this blog dedicated to mapping the intersection of TV and politics welcomes Obama's commitment to using the tube to sell his proposals, I worry as a citizen that he's not doing the nitty-gritty, late-night, deal-making, closed-door, on-the-phone politicking that it takes to really govern this troubled nation.

I'm talking about the kind of Presidential grunt work that you hear Lyndon Johnson doing on those audio tapes C-SPAN radio plays on Saturday afternoons.

Read the full post here.

On June 17, under a headline, "Time for TV press to quit being used by Obama," I wrote:

As we approach another version of what I have come to think of as network-White House co-productions,  the TV press desperately needs to step back and question how it is covering President Barack Obama. ...

The need for such self-scrutiny should be all the more apparent in light of the president's complaint Tuesday about one media outlet (read: Fox News) "attacking" his administration. I am no less troubled than I ever was about the way Fox and MSNBC have turned all-news into all-partisan opinion TV in prime time, but thank goodness at least one TV outlet, Fox, is questioning Team Obama ... .

You can read the full post here.

I knew this new TV blitz was coming when I saw the sinking Gallup poll numbers for President Obama last week. For the first time, he no longer has a majority of Americans who approve of his job performance (49 percent). In the Obama White House, when the going gets tough, the tough get more air time.

Maybe, going on TV makes Team Obama feel better about all that the administration is not accomplishing. But I somehow don't think seeing President Obama on TV this holiday season is going to mean too much to those people who have lost their jobs this year, or to those who are lying awake nights wondering if they are going to be the next ones laid off.  Cool, glib and detached is nice for chatting with billionaire talkshow hosts like Oprah, not so nice for people who have been cut from the workaday herd and fear they will never find steady employment again.

 

 

Now that Kate Gosselin, TLC's artificially constructed TV mom, has been exorcised from the weekly airwaves (for a while, at least), let's talk about images of motherhood on television. TV moms matter for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that we have become such a media culture that TV images play a huge role in defining the ideal. We know how wrongheaded that can be with TV Kate and her earpiece with handlers telling her what to say.

So, here is the topic of the day, who is your favorirte current TV mom and why -- and who is your all-time favorite and why. I'll give my current pick: The character played by Julie Bowen on "Modern Family." In a class I teach at Goucher College on popular culture, I have the students watch episodes of "Modern Family" and compare them to epsiodes of the 1950s's classic, "Father Knows Best." Many students focused on the moms, and the discussion was fascinating.

And here's a bonus. The best thing about a great blog community like this is the two-way flow of ideas. Just before sitting down to write this post, I checked comments, and here is a great one from tj in which she does a terrific job of setting the table for this discussion with a post on her favorite TV moms from the 1950s through 1970s. I am including all of it here, please read on and share your thoughts. 

Here is tj on TV moms (the headline is hers). And I am especially grateful, as I was feeling a little burned out. But am re-charged now and ready for a big week on this blog with President Obama's address Tuesday just one of the many topics on tap. I am also delighted with the poll suggestions. I am including a bit of the nostalgia idea in this post. Enough, Z, pipe down, and let tj and this fabulous cast of bloggers take over:

TV MOMS BETTER THAN KATE GOSSELIN

The mention of nostalgia TV brought a lot of memories back to me.  I
started reminiscing about some of the TV Moms and how they would measure up
against Katie Irene (or she against them).  I have not been around as long
as all of these shows have, but I have seen a lot of the old reruns.
One of the first 1950s TV Moms was Harriet Nelson.    Their TV show
storylines were based upon the happenings in the family?s life.   Harriet
was always there for her sons when they arrived home from school.   She
kept them on an even keel.   Her family always knew her love was undying.
She always supported her husband and never dreamed of badmouthing him in
front of the children.  Although the outside of their home was used in a
few shots of the show, a soundstage was built for the interior.   Her real
life children were kept out of the family show until they were older, not
drug in as soon as they were born.

Who could talk about a TV Mom and leave out June Cleaver?   She was always
well-dressed ? heels and pearls and never trashy.    She was always able
to deal with her boys and never called them icky or told them to man up.
There was plenty of good nutritious home cooked meals and all the milk they
could drink.  She never argued in front of the boys with her husband but
went to a closed room to discuss the best way both parents should handle
whatever hurdle her children had.

Another great 1950s TV Mom was Donna Reed.   She was another quintessential
graceful mother who never dreamed of purposely making fun of her
children?s? misfortunes.  She was able to fix any problem the kids had.
 Too bad Paul Petersen did not know while filming what he knows now.
Let?s move into the 1960s.  One TV Mom, although a little goofy, was My
Mother The Car.  Sometimes there was a crazy guy or two chasing her around,
but she never called that guy ahead of time to let him know her location.
All in all, she had her son?s best interests in mind and only wanted to
spend a little more time with him. She was not interested in the fame and
glory she, as the car, could obtain on her own.

Another TV Mom was Lily Munster.   She too showed grace that just
wouldn?t quit.  She taught her son and husband the importance of having
extended family around.  She knew Grandpa had a lot of things to pass on to
little Eddie.   She also accepted Marilyn as she was and never made
reference that she was odd and did not fit in with the family.  She would
never dream of cutting any of them out of the picture.
Morticia Adams really knew how to stand by her man.  That was soul mate
love between those two.  Beautiful.  She still had as much time to give to
her children as they wanted.   She also did not let the trappings of wealth
negatively impact her family.

Wilma Flinstone was barefoot most of the time, but she kept her feet clean.
  She was able to whiz through her household chores as quick as lightning,
and still serve up great gourmet dinners every evening to her loving
husband.  Wilma also made sure her daughter had play dates to insure her
social growth.

Lordy bee, do you remember there was a 1960s TV Mom who was single and a
nurse?  Yes sir, it was Julia Baker.  She had to manage parenting alone
after being widowed and did a bang up job without having 10 pity parties an
hour.  She only had one child, not eight, but her loving and caring heart
was big enough to encompass the entire apartment building her family
resided in.

The 1970s brought two of my personal favorite TV Moms to the small screen.
The first was Olivia Walton.  This was the ultimate TV Mom for me.   She
let her children know she had anger sometimes, but love would always win
out over the mischievous actions.  Forgiveness was her middle name.  She
was another Mom who knew the value of grandparents and relied on them for
the life experience and knowledge that was so lovingly shared to the entire
family.   Her family all treated each other with love and was not afraid to
say so.

The other favorite was Caroline Ingalls.  She taught facing adversity well
to her family.   The thriftiness Caroline passed on to her girls would make
any of us envious today.   This was a family who made do with what they
had.  She instilled a calm, quiet and undying faith to her daughters. 
She would never dream of shrieking out orders just to make herself known to
all who were around her.

Another single TV Mom successfully integrated her family?s modest amount
of fame with the realities of home life.  Shirley Partridge might have
shook a tambourine a lot, but never a tight-fisted hand at her kids.  She
was also able to parent without upstaging her children.  She never
threatened penalties of severeness or anything else, for that matter.
Ann Romano had great lessons for us as well.  It was okay to be a divorced
Mom.  Ann did not have to remind us hourly that her husband was gone and
she was the only one her children could count on.  She took each day as it
came and knew her girls would be stronger for the struggles they
encountered.   Of course, she was right there helping them through their
struggles.   You can bet she would never pit her daughters against each
other or flaunt favoritism.

Edith Bunker was the glue that held her family together.  Her husband was
stuck in the 1950s gender/racial roles and her daughter was a full-fledged
feminist with a really enlightened husband.  Edith managed to keep the
peace and the love flowing.

Who wouldn?t want Marion Cunningham for a Mom?   Her family lived the
life.  She hosted the home where the kids (and Fonz) would hang out if
Arnold?s wasn?t feasible.  She taught her son how to face the obstacles
teenage life had and helped him grow into a man.  Marion never missed a
beat in ushering her daughter into the teenage years as she guided her son
into adulthood.  She was another woman who chose a great man for a husband
and had a great relationship with him.  Mrs. C. knew a good thing when she
saw it.

By now, you have probably noticed I left out two prominent TV Moms.  The
first is Lucy Ricardo.  You could consider Kate to have some of the same
attributes.   She was always yelling ?Oh Ricky?.   Another favorite
sound to come out of her mouth was:  ?WWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH?.  Then
if Lucy wasn?t doing either of those, she was scheming to get a part in
her husband?s night club act.  The show must go on with her starring in
it.  She also ended up getting herself into silly predicaments each show.

Carol Brady was another TV Mom who might have had an influence on Kate.
There is a somewhat familiar theme with the hair, although Carol wore her
style a little short in front and in the back, a tailish kind of pre-mullet
theme was going on.  Carol was lucky enough to have a housekeeper but no
nannies, thank you.  Carol was there to oversee the home and family.  Two
differences I see with Carol and Kate ? Carol instilled good manners in
her children.  I?m thinkin? there was no lock on the parents? bedroom
door, either.  

I have left the 1980s through 2000s TV Moms up for grabs.  The TV shows I
did watch starting then were the attorney dramas, Cheers and Quantum Leap.
I gravitated away from so much TV as I was a busy single Mom myself.  It
seems TV quickly took a back seat to my reality life at home.

 

First of all, I hope all the regulars at Z on TV had a great Thanksgiving. I took a 24-hour sabbatical except for posting a few comments.

I needed it after all those Monday nights that we worked overtime to make sure "Jon & Kate Plus 8" really did come to an end with the kids finally freed from their TLC TV shackles. I think many of you should feel very good about the role you played in exposing the show for what it was.

Of course, Jon and Kate Gosselin are not going away. They are too self-absorbed and reckless for that. And there are still media outlets and show hosts ready to try and squeeze another dollar out of them -- like Barbara Walters, if it is true that she named Kate Gosselin one of her "most fascinating women" of the year and will interview her on a Dec. 9 on ABC. Is there anyone who hasn't interviewed Kate the last two desperate months? And of course, Kate will have her new TLC talk show come spring? Won't that be fun to write about?

But here is the real reason for this post: I want us to stay together even if we never write about the Gosslins again. So, what TV and media subjects, stars, shows, issues would you like to see more of at Z on TV?

Please be as specfic as you can. And let's exchange comments and talk among ourselves as we did with the Gosselins. Let's try and find a consensus.

I am also thinking I would like to include more of your writing as posts the way we did with Kelly the last three weeks. How do you all feel about that?

So, over this long weekend, please take a few minutes to think about this, and then, let me know what you think.

Adam Lambert was polite, but defiant during his interview on "The Early Show" Wednesday, saying he got "carried away" with his sexually-explicit performance on the "American Music Awards," but he did not feel he owed an apology to anyone.

"I'm a performer, not a babysitter," he said in response to several questions from co-host Maggie Rodriguez in which she gave him the chance to apologize to parents and children who might not have been expecting such a graphic display of sexuality on network TV.

The awards show aired on ABC, which cancelled a scheduled appearance for Lambert on "Good Morning America" Wednesday. CBS, which has the last place morning show, quickly rushed in and put Lambert on Wednesday morning both for an interview and performance.

Lambert did say, "I can see how some got offended" by his performance. But, he insisted, "That was not my intention." He said his body movements came from an "impromptu place" and that "it just got the most of me."

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Citing what he decsribed as a "background in theater," Lambert said he "forgot" that he was on TV.

"Like 'Idol,'" he said referencing his runners-up performance last season on "American Idol," "I have a tendency to divide. Apples or roanges, either you like me or you don't."

Lambert was working the Elvis Presley vibe Wednesday on CBS with his outfit of black leather pants, black jacket, and his hair poofed up into an Elvis-like pompadour. Co-host Harry Smith cited the connection to one of rock 'n' roll's first sexually  transgressive performers.

I wrote about the strong link to Elvis last spring during the "Idol" finals in this column titled "Kris Allen and Adam Lambert: Ricky Nelson vs. Elvis." I argued that Lambert clearly was the more worthy performer to be named American Idol, and essentially charged that TV, and by extension, American culture wimped out in going with Allen.

And so, I was a little disappointed to see the Lmbert who apperared on CBS Wednedsday. He has become quite the TV huckster, constantly popping up through the Wednesday morning show to let the crowd gathered for his outdoor concert see him while he schmoozed with the co-hosts. For a minute there, I thought he was was going to do the weather forecast as he stood their chuckling with the weather guy. 

I guess Sarah Palin is not alone in embracing the "Shill, Baby, Shill" ethos of American life and television these days. Somehow, last spring, I didn't think it would happen to Lambert. But in retrospect, I guess he was cutting it both ways throughout "Idol" when he was purposefully ambiguous about his sexual identity. 

Even in his interview Wednesday with Rodriguez, Lambert seemed to want to have it both ways: be both transgressor in violating the normal boundaries of network TV expression, and the victim. To sell the victim part of the equation, he re-iterated his claim that there is so much blowback against him because he is male and gay.

"It's a double whammy," he said.

He does have a point about mainstream bias and hypocrisy when it comes to homosexuality  -- and it is a point that seldom gets made in mainstream media. So, maybe it is worth being a dancing bear for the last place network morning show to get the chance to make that point with an audience of millions.

As for the performance of the first song "What Do You Want From Me," it was technically proficient and as emotionally flat as the top of Kate Gosselin's hair-do. But then, it was 8:45 a.m. on the set of a news show -- not exactly the perfect conditions for rock 'n' roll.

CBS brought Lambert's mother on to the set after his performance of the first song, and it was a deft bit of clean-up-the-image, PR work.

Rodriguez asked his mom what she thought of the AMA performance, and mom cut it both ways, too, just like Adam.

"I was a little taken aback at first," she said. "But then, I just went with the flow...and it felt good."

Thanks, mom. CBS loves Adam, too.

ABC, with all the complaints from angry "AMA" viewers, not so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 17 years of covering city government and anchoring the news at WMAR-TV, Terry Owens is leaving the station, he said Thursday.

Owens, who along with Mary Beth Marsden is the second high-visibility anchor to take a buyout offer in recent days, said his last day at Channel 2 will be Dec. 4.

"They've had the buyout offer on the table, and the date to accept is fast approaching," Owens said Thursday. "So after much soul searching, prayer and talking with my family, I have decided to look at other possibilities."

For the last two years, Owens has been the anchor of the 5:30 p.m. nightly newscast and a reporter for the 11 p.m. broadcast. For almost a decade before that, he specialized in covering City Hall and Baltimore City government.

 

For the last 14 years, Owens has been host of "2 The Point," the longest running public affiars show on Baltimore TV. The 51-year-old journalist has made a major contribution to the community with this show, which brought new and diverse voices to local television.

"It was a chance to bring back into the community," Owens said of the show. "One week, you might see [actor] Charles Dutton. The next show might be on World AIDS Day -- as it was last week. It was the thing that kept us going."

Coupled with the Dec. 2 departure of Mary Beth Marsden, who anchors the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, Owens decision to take a buyout offer leaves the station with almost no frontline anchors -- and means the loss of another familiar face to area viewers. WMAR is a station going through tumultuous change with more resignations expected before the buyout window from E.W. Scripps, owner of the station, closes. The offer has been extended to members of two unions.

WMAR finds itself caught up in larger economic and technological forces affecting third and fourth place stations in larger cities. With new online outlets competing just as advertising becomes more scarce amid the recession, there simply is not enough revenue to support three and four full-scale local news operations on the type Baltimore area viewers have come to expect. With more than six decades of broadcast news history, WMAR is one of the pioneering news stations in the country.

Owens, who came to Baltimore from a freelance job in San Francisco 17 years ago, said he has enjoyed "tremendous support and encouragement" both at WMAR and the larger Baltimore community.

The past president of the Association of Black Media Workers said, "I have been given the chance to grow from a cub reporter to a main anchor. And now I get to explore new opportunities."

Owens said he might become involved in some joint media ventures with his wife, Deborah Owens, a local author, radio show host and expert on personal finance. The couple has two children, ages 17 and 22.

"I will stay active in the community," the Michigan State University graduate said, adding that he will remain on the boards of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland and the Board of Child Care. He said he is also actively involved in the Bridgeway Community Church.

See photos of Terry Owens.

 

David Zurawik will be live at noon (that's in about 15 minutes!) to chat with readers about "Jon & Kate Plus 8" finale. Submit questions and comments starting now, then stay tuned for 12 p.m.!

Could TLC have been more heavyhanded in the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" finale in hitting its one theme again and again? It went like this all night long: It's over, and it's sad. And it didn't have to be over, if it wasn't for Jon with his "warped" and "unhealthy" ways. But, hey, I'm not going to say bad things about my childrens' father.

Right, Kate. You and TLC are shameless.

Oh, you have to hand it to Kate, she went out in high-Kate-lying-through-her-teeth-and-crying-when-she-couldn't-think-of-any-more-lies-to-tell style Monday night.

Take your pick of the following crying points that Kate hit over and over: "It's too soon." "It's been cut short." "It's sad." "It's useless." "It's totally avoidable."

UPDATE: Don't forget live chat about finale at noon Tuesday (ET) at Z on TV.

If you feel sad, dear viewer, because it is over, blame Jon. It's all his selfish fault. Here look at how mean he is to Cara and Mady when they are trying to help him make signs for a lemonade stand. See, what a bad and selfish person he is. It's all his fault for all the tears you are seeing tonight. Oh, and did I mention that I don't tell the children about his girlfriends? 

"That's too warped for them...too unhealthy," organic Kate, the purveyor of all things moral and healthy, says.

The total takedown of Jon Gosselin was set up with the opening image of the sign Jon posted to keep TLC and its production company cameras off his property. Of course, the word "penalty"  was spelled wrong ("penelty"), and that proves how stupid Jon is, right? Because Kate is such a genius.

Forget the lemonade sale with Jon and the trip to the organic farm with Kate. That was all just garbage tape TLC used to pad out the episode and sell a few more ads. The finale, as several bloggers here correctly predicted, was really about making Jon look bad, and giving Kate more couch time to try and make viewers hate Jon for ending the show. Because we all know that as a father, he should not have the right to take his kids off TV. What are a parent's rights compared to those of the great TLC?

I really have avoided using the word "vile" to describe TLC, but I think The Lying Channel earned it with this finale and last week's episode in the way their producers set out to do a hatchet job on Jon.

Jon is an idiot, adolescent, self-absorbed, low-life fool of a fool. But he is not a bad person for taking his kids off TV, even if Kate said several times Monday night how much the kids "miss" being circus animals for TLC.

Oh yeah, that was the secondary theme, Kate saying again and again how many "great and unique opportunities" TLC provided for her and the kids -- opportunities that the kids otherwise would not have had if not for the generous and great TLC. She even thanked TLC at the end for the "tapes"" -- the videotapes that will record forever her family imploding before the eyes of millions of viewers.

Her closing words, "It's sad. It's cut short. It's too soon... I'm very grateful for the opportunities. I'm grateful for the memories. I'm grateful for the memories on tape."

Could you pimp your kids out more for TLC's cameras and profits -- and your borderline shot at being a third-rate talk show host? Let's see how happy your kids are, Kate, for the "memories on tape" that will haunt them the rest of their lives when they see their parents being mean to each other, when they see Jon making Cara cry, or Jon talking on a cell phone when one of his 5-year-old daughters asks for a popsicle on a hot day.

I have had enough. I can take no more Gosselin and TLC lies. I am handing off to Kelly. Here's Kelly and she is taking no prisoners:

And so it is, we have now come to the destination.  I know now how my parents must have felt many years ago, on a trip to the beach and we kept asking, minute by minute, “Are we there yet”?

How they must have wanted to pull their hair out, much like all of us have been doing these past five seasons…  Yes Kate, I said five seasons not five years because seasons are short and years are long and the thought of watching you day in and day out for 5 years is tantamount to self abuse.  ”Are we there yet”? 

Finally folks, we’ve pulled into the parking lot and it’s time for all of us to run to the sandy shores of freedom, relaxation and forget about this long national nightmare called Jon and Kate Plus Eight.  It’s over.  (Unless Jon has yet again, another Epiphany and wants Kate back and they realize their freebies are over and they need some cash)

At this point, I’m almost expecting a government bailout of the Gosselins by January and everyone who watched this exploitation of children should be placed in the witness “protectionish” program.  So, with that said, the show begins:

It’s a crazy life:

Last time on the set.  Kate looks behind her and acts like she is so surprised with the question from the PA.   She doesn’t like ends, goodbyes or no paycheck.  Kate says: “It’s totally avoidable and every job has it’s benefits. The fact that  she could go to work and her kids could go with her……..YEAH KATE… it’s bittersweet just like an unemployment check.  Is  there not enough?    Jon still talking about being 27, 32, having twins,  Tups   not ready for it.  …..He’ll always be a kid.   The father of 8,  loves New York, three hours from his house and work.  HELLO…….. Work???   What loving Dad moves three hours away from his kids????  Partying at all hours of the night could be work if you didn’t work.  The morning after is always hell.  Jon is moving forward and knowing what he has to do to save his family.  Those Red Bulls and Vodka  are really helping him out with saving the family. 

Hard to here Stories:

Kate has her need to protect them.  Is it safe, well thought out and Jon doesn’t take them many places without her.  I’m starting to realize, just 10 minutes into this slam fest that Jon is going to be trashed, no matter what.   Jon takes the kids to a firehouse to raise money for charities.  I’m believing this just like I heard from a debtor that the check is in the mail. 

The Gosselins working for a charity?????  That’s like saying the IRS is going to send you a Valentines card.  Jon kicks the twins out of the picnic table because they were acting rude.  WHAT??????   They were just coloring in coloring books.  HOW RUDE.    Jon cuts up two or three lemons and takes the kids to the firehouse to sell lemonaide.  I bet they sold about three glasses before the lemons ran out.  Typical Gosselin charity. 

The donation jar was about as big as a shot glass.  Jon thinks only in shot glass measurements.  When the babes showed, Jon turned the paper on the table into lemons.  WOW…… the lemonade was plentiful.  I thought I was watching a biblical feature of the Wedding at Canna.  Oh yeah, then Kate adds her own tepid response saying it was for publicity purposes.  Just forget about those trips Kate makes to Kinkos, Target, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, the bus stop and all the other photo ops.  Kate is looking good in this TLC white wash   Didn’t see Jon or Kate donate any of their church earned cash to the volunteer fire fighters. 

After the dinner break of 60 grams of saturated fat, fried food, without bibs, and no veggies, Jon dons a firemans outfit and moves toward the kids in an attempt to scare them.  He’d scare me without a firemans turnout clothes..  I only hope that they sterilized the breathing mask after Jon took it off.  Who knows what he was breathing into it.  All the kids got a firemans hat but I’m pretty certain, we’ll see them on Ebay tomorrow.  Gosselin Firehat anyone?

Kate discovers an Organic Farmer:

Kate takes the tups to the farm.  All of them except the twin girls.  They don’t count do they?  Twins are just twins.  Tups are just……….MONEY MAKERS.   They walk to the farm, about a mile.. RIGHT!!!  5 year olds can’t walk a mile without being tired, complaining.  She managed to get passed the P People, on a country road that has no curb, no sidewalk and KATE walks on the inside, next to the fence while the kids were all walking on the road.  Hmmmmmm,  she did this for the kids?  I’ve been on that road folks and it aint a country road.  Cars travel at 50 mph through the twists and turns.  Not something you want your kids to be walking on.

Kate loves organic cows. Kate says… “They are so gorgouse.”  Her first admission of any feeling towards anything.  She speaks about utters.  Well Kate, perhaps they could get a tummy tuck and a body enhancement too.  Maybe a push up utter helper and a tooth whitening ala TLC and they’d look HOT  grazing. 

MOMMY can we get down:

Kate pets a cow and talks about how many vegetables the cow has eaten.  For a minute there, I thought Kate was going to pick the cows up, tell them they were all getting a cow for Christmas and name them all at the same time.  Poor cows.  The kids started milking the cows and I’m almost certain that Jon was watching this and thinking about Kate Major, Hailey Glassman, Stephanie Santoro and all the other women he’s been with, remembering what a cow he is.  Hint to Jon…..You better keep grazing because the grass is dying.

Kate watching the cows being milked.  She was as excited as watching a car going through an emmisions testing station.  The cows weren’t really happy either.  Kate was there.  They know all about her.  Can’t wait for the cows to be on the interview couch.

Kids getting a Snack:

Organic, mind you.  Except for the Hershey’s chocolate that was added to their cows milk.  After the kids drank that organic concoction, they all turned into Transformers and solved the worlds problems…………Jon and Kate.

Kate says, “it’s been a great run.  I’m very greatful for the opportunities.  For the people who took us into their livingroom and supported us. “  She cried, yet again.   Let’s all pitch in and buy this woman a couch so she can cry and cry and cry and ……………
I’d be crying too if my check stopped coming in.  Good bye Jon and Kate and …..GET A JOB
As the great Walter Cronkite would say, “ And That’s the Way it is.”   Goodnight and good riddance to the program…Jon and Kate plus 8 little innocent kids.   Good luck to the eight little innocent, unknowing kids that were pushed, pulled and bribed into this horrible, horrible charade.  Time has recorded your lives and as embarrassed  as you may feel years from now, know that we weren’t watching you like a circus attraction, we ached for you and did all we could do to speak for you by blogging and asking for this to end…..for your sake.

And since this is the last episode, here is a special bonus post from Chrysee, who got this posted so fast, it drove her to take up smoking again. Here's Chrysee:

I can't believe I gave up Top Chef for this.  Here goes,
 
The Lies -  in some semblance of order thus far:

Kate: This was totally avoidable.
It was a job where.... I didn't have to leave home for work.  (then why did you do that so often, Kate?)
 [fiddles with necklace]

Jon:I gotta stop being a kid.
I kinda took advantage of it "for awhile" (uh,five years to be exact , Jon)

Kate:  I'm in a different boat than Jon. (it's the boat YOU built Kate)
I'm gonna do everything I can as a mother (better start soon, Kate)
 [fiddles with necklace]

Jon: I have work again.  (what???)

Kate:  I need them to see a hard working parent. (meaning herself of course, again better get at it, Kate)
I try not to do 'it' in a disparaging way (speaking of her childrens father)
 [fiddles with necklace]

(on Hailey) They don't know about the girlfriends at all  (uh huh, right Kate)
 [fiddles with necklace]

Oh good  a commercial.

We're back.

Kate: Jon doesn't take them many places alone without me
[uh oh here comes the bus]

cut to kids bickering and looking bored re: lemonade day. Jon actually disciplines the kids.  Yeah, TLC is trying to make him look bad (it's not working....yet)

Jon: (disses the paps -their fault for not raising much money)
 
Kate: I worry about his intentions, is this a publicity stunt.  (no, you don't Kate, cuz you do it ALL the time) 

Commercial # 2 (and I'm sick already - must...find...water...beer....anything...I...don't...think ....I...can....do....this....)

And we're back - on with the lies;

More firetruck/lemonade day,
some cute stuff with the kids

Kate: My goal has been to remain neutral, state the facts...blah blah blah
(Big Lie)

I feel like it's ended so suddenly and it's been taken away from me and the kids... (yep, same ol same ol, as predicted) 

Half over, commercial.
 
 I'm taking up smoking again.  See you guys later.

 

 

 

 

The note from jurors Friday saying that deliberations were getting a "little overheated" in the trial of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon probably came as no surprise to those who have been listening to talk radio in Baltimore the past two weeks.

From "The Larry Young Morning Show" (WOLB),  to "The Anthony McCarthy Show" (WEAA), radio talk shows here have been filled with no shortage of passion, debate, and disagreement about the guilt or innocence of the mayor in her use of gift cards from developers -- as well as the larger issues of government ethics and the realpolitique of power in Baltimore City government. With the jury resuming deliberations Monday morning, the conversation should be all the more spirited and intense in the next fews days.

Overall, the level of radio talk has been solidly impressive, and I have to believe that anyone who has been tuning into any of the shows discussed in this piece is better informed about city government, city leadership and how city hall is being run these days by Mayor Dixon. Talk radio, which is often maligned for its most strident voices or noticed only when a host crosses a line, is serving an important civic function responsibly and well in Baltimore right now -- and the stations and hosts deserve praise. (Larry Young photo by Jed Kirschbaum/Baltimore Sun)

As a media critic, one aspect of talk radio that I am most interested with is the way that some program hosts who have expressed their support for Mayor Dixon have neverthless allowed for a diversity of voices and points of view to be heard on their shows without trying to steer the conversation one way or the other. Former State Senator Larry Young is a case in point.

While Young was constantly urging listeners last week to "let the process play out" before making a decision about Dixon based only on what the prosecution had to say, he gave full play to those who were unwilling to wait.

"If the assessment would be made in terms of what we're hearing from out callers, the mayor would be in the deficit by about 60 to 40," Young said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "Perhaps, only four out of every 10 would be supportive, and I'm sure that's discouraging."

But Thursday morning on-air, he said the calls were running "about 50-50," and I am eager to hear how they are coming in Monday morning. (His show airs from 6 to 10:15 a.m. at 1010 on the AM dial.)

While the debate among callers has been spirited, the one between Young and Coach Butch McAdams, a member of the show's morning team, has been just as intense. There is an engaging rapport between the two with McAdams playing a kind of on-air prosecuting attorney of Dixon, while Young constantly admonishes patience, fairness, restraint and balance.

Some callers on WOLB and other stations seem to want anything but restraint and balance. They have strong feelings and want to make them known -- and Young let's them have their say on his show. There is a real energy and chemistry to this program. Give it 10 minutes, and I guarantee you'll be hooked for an hour. I now find myself tuning in every day, not just for the Dixon debate but the wider-ranging and ongoing discussion about the ways in which power flows in this city. Everything from parking lot fees not being paid to variations in garbage pickup and school funds depending on zip codes are fair game for Young, McAdams and the callers.

Doni Glover, founder of the Web site bmorenews.com and host of the "Empower Hour" on WOLB, is also trying to keep his Web site and radio show open to a variety of opinions and a larger discussion about the role of government in our daily lives, he says.

Glover, who said in an interview last week that his "heart goes out to Mayor Dixon," nevertheless, refused to state a position when one of his guests last week asked for his view of her case.

"I'm just here to be the host today," he said.

Anthony McCarthy, a former director of communications for Dixon who now hosts "The Anthony McCarthy Show" on Morgan State University's WEAA-FM radio station, says there are divisions within divisions when it comes to the opinions on the mayor that he is hearing.

"There's a clear divide in my callers in support for the mayor, or a belief that the mayor has done something wrong and should be punished," McCarthy says, citing one level of commentary from his audience.

And then, there is a kind of hybrid of the two: "And it's very clear to me that some people can actually like the mayor and think she is doing a good job, but believe she did something inappropriate with those gift cards," McCarthy says. "Then, there is the question that's constantly raised caller after caller about the relationship of developers... to Sheila Dixon when she was City Council president and when she was mayor."

Mark Miller, the longtime news director at WBAL, says what he has heard on talk shows at his station and others does seem to be in synch with what we think we know about the conversations in the jury room: "We know feelings are very divided and it can get a little heated at times," he says.

"The bottom line to all of this, of course, is guilty or not guilty," Miller concludes. "But a veil has been lifted in the courtroom and media discussions on a new form of currency at city hall with the gift cards. A new definition of what business as usual at city hall means has been offered, and it's important that listeners and voters are getting a chance to talk about that."

Talk radio plays a major role in high-visibility civic stories like this one. So far, so good. Let's hope the folks behind the microphones stay on the high road once we have a verdict.

(Full disclosure: I appear on WYPR once a week with a TV commentary and have been a guest on the station's "Midday" show.)

The news that "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is going to end after 25 years so that its host can devote herself to a new cable channel set off reverberations in TV and financial circles late last week. But nowhere was the effect felt more keenly than in Silver Spring, where the Maryland-based Discovery Communications was vaulted into a new realm of prominence and prestige as the future home of The Oprah Winfrey Network.

Discovery, a cable channel once known for showing inexpensive documentaries, has found itself the talk of both Wall Street and Madison Avenue, as everyone from financial analysts to managers of network affiliates and -owned stations that depend on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to provide an essential lead-in to their early evening newscasts wondered how the move would affect them.

"In one swoop, this jumps Discovery and, by extension, cable up to another league," says Douglas Gomery, media economist at the University of Maryland, College Park. "There's been a narrowing between the lowest-rated network and the highest-rated cable shows. Football on cable made the first breakthrough; this is the second, a cable TV talk show with Oprah. And the financial ramifications of that are huge."

Friday morning, a tearful Winfrey stood before her Chicago audience to make the formal announcement of the news that broke Thursday night. The 55-year-old broadcaster - who got her talk-show start in 1976 at Baltimore's WJZ-TV - deftly made it sound almost as if the decision had come down from on high.

"After much prayer and months of careful thought, I've decided the next season, Season 25, will be the last season of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show,' " she said. "I love this show. This show has been my life. And I love it enough to know when it's time to say goodbye. Twenty-five years feels right in my bones. And it feels right in my spirit."

But even as she was delivering those words in her TV temple, Wall Street was calculating how many of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, depending on market size, Winfrey's decision was going to cost stations in lost revenue. They were also handicapping winners and losers.

J.P. Morgan was already circulating an analysis titled "Much Ado About Oprah" on Friday. It offered the best, no-spin, hard-nosed critique on the street.

"Discovery appears to be the 'winner' in this announcement," the Morgan analysis says. "We think OWN should benefit from not having 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' on competing broadcast stations. However, the extent of Ms. Winfrey's on-air involvement is still to be determined."

Noting that Winfrey's "network will come out of the gate with over 70 million households" as Discovery re-brands the Discovery Health Channel as OWN, the Morgan analysis also notes that the network's launch has been delayed several times. It was initially scheduled for a launch this year but has been delayed until 2011, without any explanation. There were similar delays and issues when Winfrey helped form the Oxygen cable channel for women in 1998. Winfrey, however, claims it was never her vision, and eventually severed ties with that operation.

But such past matters were quickly dismissed amid all the speculation as to what Winfrey's move will mean to her and her new Discovery partner.

Discovery has come a long way from its modest beginnings in Landover in 1985 with154,000 subscribers. Today, it encompasses 10 channels, including Animal Planet, TLC and the Science Channel. Several of its franchises and series have cut through the cable clutter and found a solid niche. Who hasn't at least heard of "Deadliest Catch," "Storm Chasers, "Dirty Jobs" or Shark Week"?

Still, Discovery Communications has been making in money in 2009 at a time when many other broadcast and cable outlets are hurting. Profits for the first quarter of 2009 for Discovery Communications rose to $119 million from $34 million in the same period in 2008.

"There is no bigger brand in media than Oprah Winfrey," David Zaslav, Discovery Communications president and CEO, said. "She has changed the broadcast landscape and how people consume television. Along the way, she has impacted our culture and touched us all. Discovery Communications has a tremendous partner in Oprah, and we look forward to bringing her and her creative vision, programming and unique voice to approximately 80 million homes on OWN, as well as online through the award-winning Oprah.com."

No words were more important in the wake of the announcement than the ones in a Friday statement from Winfrey's Harpo Productions, which said that the talk-show host plans to "appear and participate in new programming for OWN."

That's big news, because initial reports of the 50-50 partnership between Winfrey and Discovery Communications that have been circulating for more than a year said she would not do a talk show on cable. Winfrey, Harpo and Discovery have been intentionally vague because of the potential that Winfrey might have contractual difficulties with broadcast stations that have bought "The Oprah Winfrey Show" into 2011.

If a new show is announced for OWN, those stations might find advertisers reluctant to buy time on a show seen as a lame duck when they can hold their money for the new Oprah talk show on OWN.

That's why the Harpo statement also said that she would appear on-air at OWN "only after production wraps" on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

But in the end, the deal makes sense only if Winfrey does a talk show on cable, and that statement indicates she will.

"That will be the game-changer," Gomery says. "Cable already has most of the best dramas on TV. It has sporting events that draw audiences comparable to the broadcast networks. Its news channels are gaining on the networks every day. And now, it will have the most popular talk show on television - with this star that is such a force."

University of Syracuse pop culture scholar Bob Thompson says that any analysis of the move has to allow for the fact that Winfrey is a "force of culture and nature" who cannot be underestimated.

"Oprah Winfrey is more than a TV show, she's a lifestyle," Thompson says. "With the magazine, book club, radio, the acting in movies, producing TV shows, she's a cultural empire. Just as a TV figure, she's in a league with Walter Cronkite, Johnny Carson and Mr. Rogers. So the last thing you want to do is underestimate her."

But pointing to a decline in ratings and sky-high syndication fees that have made her show what the Morgan report termed a "loss leader" for some stations, Thompson says, "To make this work, she will have to do her talk show on OWN because, in the final analysis, the entire Oprah cultural empire is built around her being on TV five days a week."

Thompson believes, "There is a legitimate question as to whether she will ever be as big on Discovery" as she is now on easy-to-find broadcast stations like Baltimore's WBAL.

"But even if she never is this big again, this deal still gives Discovery a flagship like it's never had before. I wonder how many people never heard of Discovery Health before the news that it was about to become the Oprah Winfrey Network."

I have learned to never say never when it comes to TLC, but this could be our last "Jon & Kate Plus 8" show Monday night. So, of course, we have to have a poll.

Here it is: What are you feeling as "Jon & Kate Plus 8" comes to an end? A lot of folks here wanted to get those poor kids off TV. It looks like that is the case. After Monday, "Jon & Kate" is kaput, and TLC now says "Kate Plus 8" is not in production. So, the kids are off TV -- at least for now.

As for Kate's alleged show, who cares? If she needs an earpiece and real-time coaching to be interviewed by Natalie Morales, do you think she can handle hosting her own show? So, what are you feeling about all that and the fact that we won't have Jon and Kate in our TV lives after Monday -- at least for now?

(Keep reading for news about our Monday night coverage. There has been a change in our live chat plans.) 

I have a second alternate question if you don't like the "feeling" one: What do you think Jon and Kate will say in their separate talks to the camera Monday? If you like both questions, answer them both in one or more comments.

Now, here's the deal on Monday night. If we live chat, it is hard to write aa  full review of the show. Also, there are problems with getting some of the other folks involved in live chat (like Carla) involved because of their other work duties at the "Sun."

So, I am going to watch Monday night and review right after the show, as I have always done. As soon as Kelly sends her comments Monday night, I will add that to my post, so you have them both as we did last week. Kelly's involvement has been great.

Then, we will do a live chat at noon Tuesday. Everyone will be revved up to talk about the finale on the morning after, and this will be a great venue for it. Trying to do it at the end of a long day and watch at the same time doesn't sound as appealing as this plan does to me.

So, post-show coverage Monday night from me and Kelly, and live chat Tuesday. Let's have some real fun with this the poll, Monday night's coverage and Tuesday's live chat.

And I really think many of you have made a difference in getting the Gosselin kids off the air with your dedicated blogging and analysis. Thanks.

 

Here's video of a tearful Oprah Winfrey announcing the end of her long-running, hit show. It was taped earlier today, but won't air in Baltimore until 4 p.m. Friday on WBAL (Channel 11). What do you think? She is convincing, isn't she?

The Sarah Plain "Shill, Baby, Shill" November sweeps book tour looks like a certified TV triumph.

After handing Oprah Winfrey her highest rated show in two years, Palin rolled into Sean Hannity country on Fox News Wednesday night and delivered his second-highest rated show of the year with 4.2 million viewers.

Hannity always dominates the time period, but this week the Hannity-Palin tandem absolutely steamrollered the competition: 958,000 viewers for Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, and 836,000 for Larry King on CNN.

 

As for President Barack Obama's first interview with Fox in the wake of the White House's misguided war on the top-rated cable news channel, well, that was a nice draw, but not as nice as Palin's.

"Special Report with Bret Baier," which featured an interview with Obama, drew an audience of 2.2 million viewers. The interview took place in China and was conducted by Fox White House correspondent Major Garrett.

Baier, though, didn't have a giant billboard with Obama's face on it that he featured for a week, as Hannity did with his Yankee-Stadium-like homage to Palin.

 

"The Oprah Winfrey Show," one of the most successful franchises in TV history, will come to an end in September 2011, as the former Baltimore talk show host commits her energies to launching a cable channel with Maryland-based Discovery Communications.

Winfrey, who got her talk show start at WJZ in Baltimore TV, will make the announcement on her show Friday, according to WABC, the ABC-owned New York station that carries the show in the nation's largest TV market.

The syndicated program, which debuted in 1986, has been a gold mine for the owned and affiliated stations that use it as a lead-in to their early evening newcasts. The program airs here on WBAL (Channel 11), the Hearst-owned NBC affiliate.

Ending in 2011, will give Winfrey's landmark show a run of 25 years. It is the most lucrative and highest-rated show in syndication.

 

Winfrey, 55, is ending the show so that she can devote more of her time to the start of her own cable channel, OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network), which will be a 50-50 partnership between her and the Maryland-based Discovery Communications.

OWN was scheduled to start at the end of this year, but the date has been changed several times, and 2009 no longer seems likely. Winfrey reportedly told staffers at Harpo Productions that she will not do a talk show on OWN. But she could be saying that so as not to be seen as "competing" in any way with "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which has contracts it must obligate through Sept. 9, 2011.

Winfrey was one of the founding partners in the Oxygen cable in 1998, but she said the channel did not reflect her voice and she eventually ended her relationship.

One of the most interesting stories will be the way Oprah's move in 2011 re-aligns early evening news ratings in cities form coast to coast.

 After 21 years on-air at Baltimore’s WMAR, Mary Beth Marsden, the face of Channel 2 news, is leaving the station. Taken with Sally Thorner’s planned retirement from WJZ next month, Marsden’s exit marks a changing of the guard on the local airwaves.

It also signals big changes ahead in personnel and presentation for Baltimore’s last-place station. And in a larger sense, some analysts see her departure as one more indication that we are witnessing the end of an era in TV news when anchors spent decades at the same station and became a valued part of viewers’ lives through the nightly ritual of presenting them with the day’s news.

The 48-year-old newscaster, who now anchors the station’s 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts solo, said her last day will be Dec. 2. Marsden, who is also a union steward, said the reason she is leaving now is that she is taking a buyout offer made to union employees at the station.

“It’s probably in the end as mutual a decision as you can get,” Marsden said Thursday. “I would call it an amicable divorce — if there is such a thing. Thank God, we don’t have any children together.”

Marsden, a University of Maryland, College Park graduate, has provided a solid and steadying influence on-air at WMAR as the station goes through a major downsizing and realignment of its newscast. The station is without a dedicated sports anchor or reporter and has canceled Saturday and Sunday night newscasts in recent months. Marsden has been reading sports news herself on-air.

Channel 2 has been an also-ran in the local news ratings for years. And while the station’s fortunes have improved a bit with the introduction of local Nielsen People Meters over the summer, it still finishes well behind WJZ and WBAL overall.

Marsden was one of the few links left to the station’s better days in the 1980s and 1990s.

Praising Marsden for the sense of stability she has provided in recent years, WMAR General Manager Bill Hooper said, “Mary Beth has been the quarterback of the newsroom for many, many years, and she’s been a solid rock through lots of changes of news director and general managers.”

There is certain synchronicity in Marsden leaving now. She was the young reporter tapped to replace Thorner as the lead anchor in 1993 when Thorner jumped to WJZ in a highly publicized move.

“Mary Beth has been such a huge part of us, that when we look at this [resignation], it’s just the shock of it all,” said Kelly Groft, WMAR’s news director. “I grew up here, and I remember the early days of both of the women. But we’re still going to continue, and we’re still going to put on news.”

Responding to questions about a replacement for Marsden and direction of the news operation, Hooper said, “We will be working to revamp the news presentation, and that will be coming sooner rather than later.”

Groft and Hooper declined further comment on the matter.

“There is definitely a pattern here,” said Deborah Potter, executive director of NewsLab, a nonprofit TV journalism resource center in Washington. “I think we’ve seen a lot of senior anchors getting out of the business — not just leave for another station, but take a buyout and say, ‘I’m going to do something else.’”

Potter says there are several reasons.

“One, the economy is still bad and these are your most highly paid people. So there’s an incentive for employers to encourage these people to leave. It’s very public when it happens in broadcast journalism, but it probably happens in all kinds of businesses,” said Potter, a columnist on broadcast news for American Journalism Review.

“And I think a lot of people are just ground down. It gets to be very hard when you’re working in a newsroom with fewer and fewer colleagues to do the work. And at some point, particularly if you have children and are tired of never seeing them, this might be a time when people are saying a change is needed.”

Marsden said she is looking forward to spending the holidays with her family. She and her husband have three children, ages 8, 10 and 11.

After the holidays, she says, “I’m open to possibilities. ... I still love what I do.”

 

 

 

Even with all of "the end is near" hype from TLC, "Jon & Kate Plus 8" series failed to find any kind of significant ratings surge Monday.

TLC aired two episodes of the troubled series back to back on Monday. The first drew 1.9 million viewers. The second attracted an audience of 2.3 million. So the average audience for the hour is 2.1 million or only 2 percent of the TVs set in use from 9 to 10 p.m.

By comparison, "WW II in HD," a documentary on the Second World War drew 2.6 milllion to the History Channel Monday night. "Little People," the TLC series that precedes "Jon & Kate" was seen by 1.65 million viewers -- and "Little People" costs TLC a fraction of what it costs to make "Jon & Kate" this season.

Last season, "Jon & Kate" averaged 3.7 million viewers a week. It started the season in June with more than 10 million watching.

The Sarah Palin November sweeps TV roadshow, a.k.a. the Audacity of Hype Book Tour, is in its Barbara Walters-ABC News phase today. And the former governor of Alaska is still getting an easy ride from ratings-hungry interviewers to sell her books, try to re-write her controversial history and take cheap shots at those she sees as opponents. And now, that she is past Oprah Winfrey, a supporter of President Barack Obama, Palin is taking some hard shots at the White House.

Bob Thompson, the Syracuse University pop culture scholar and decades-long friend, called Winfrey's interview with Palin "an informercial for the book" in a conversation we had Monday night after it aired. Even by Oprah's schoozy standards, it was softball chat. I was disapppointed in Winfrey.

And now comes Palin with Barbara Walters saying this about President Obama's Afghanistan deliberations: "[General Stanley] McChrystal gave the president the advice and said, 'We need essentially a surge strategy in Afghanistan, so that we can win in Afghanistan. And that means more resources, more troops there.' It frustrates me and frightens me -- and many Americans -- that President Obama is dithering around with the decision in Afghanistan."

In case you didn't get the point: Real men and frontierswomen don't dither. George W. Bush didn't dither; he just plunged the nation into two wretched and budget-busting wars that we still can't extract ourselves from.

I am no fan of Obama's war on Fox News and I am not much impressed with his failure to create new jobs, and while I am at it, I am growing increasingly concerned about what seems to be an administration policy of arrogantly force feeding huge social change without thinking through the cost or possible unintended consequences. But that said, who in the heck is she to question anything about foreign policy after the woeful lack of knowledge she exhibited with Charles Gibson and Katie Couric?

Walters did question Palin about her claim that the Democractic healthcare reform would mean "death panels" for the elderly, a particularly reckless and dangerous charge. Obama rightfully denounced Palin's words in his address to Congress as "a lie, plain and simple."

Was the president lying when he said that? Walters asked Palin.

"He is not lying, in that those two words will not be found in any of those thousands of pages of different variations of the health care bill," Palin acknowlewdged. "No, death panel isn't there. But he's incorrect, and he is disingenuous."

How is he incorrect?

I hope interviewers will stop letting her pivot and go on the attack just when she is on the point of being cornered for her ignorance, deception and recklessness.

But I guess that isn't going to happen -- especially with Sean Hannity up next. The Shill, Baby, Shill TV interviewers have been selected with way too much care. 

 

Is the Great White House War on Fox News finally over?

The administration confirmed that President Barack Obama will do an interview Wednesday with Fox News White House correspondent Major Garrett. Team Obama had gone out of its way to exclude Fox News in a recent round of interviews with the president and initially in a Treasury Department press pool opportunity.

Anita Dunn, who is leaving at the end of the month as acting communications director, launched the White House campaign against Fox last month by declaring that it was not so much a news channel as a tool of the Republican Party.

The White House has suffered considerable criticism from virtually all realms of the press for its misguided and heavy-handed campaign against Fox.

The interview will take place in Beijing. Garrett is part of the press corps accompanying Obama on his trip through Asia.

Watching the next-to-last episode of TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8" felt like you were going through a dumpster. You felt soiled the minute it started, and things got worse the deeper into it you went.

TLC labeled the episode "Broken Dreams, Broken Promises, Broken Episodes." The half hour was made up of scraps of episodes that didn't pan out during Season 5. Talk about throwaways.

I am going to ask some of the core bloggers here to pick up the baton and help out as Kelly did last week with detailed critiques of their most hated moments.

One of mine, of course, involved the segment called "Dog Training," which was about the training that those two poor dogs didn't get. I was also struck by how obvious TLC was in including film that showed Jon in the worst possible light. See Jon. See TLC trash Jon. See Kate laugh at TLC trashing Jon. Kate and TLC really do deserve each other.

"I kind of left it to him [Jon], and not a lot of training occurred," Kate said of the family's lame attempt to train their two German Shepherds. She explained that the dogs would run "down the street" and neighbors would bring that back. She seemed far more annoyed by the inconvenience of neighbors returning the dogs than the possibility they could have been killed by a car or truck on the road.

Her big moment, though, after explaining that they tried to train the dogs with electronic collars and an invisible fence, was to say to the camera, "Maybe we should have used a collar for other people." Of course, she meant Jon.

When the production company and TLC groupie slaves laughed, she cackled, "Oh, did I just say that? Where did that come from?" It as at moments like this that she does seem slightly mad or deranged.

TLC also showed video of one of the kids asking Jon for a pospicle while he talked on the phone and ignored the little girl.

"He is on the phone a lot," Kate says after the damning video is shown. "...I'm on the phone, but it's for work....He's on with what's up?, friend-type calls."

I am going to leave it right there for now, as CNN's Wolf Blitzer says when the discussion is getting too animated. I don't care how much TLC and Kate trash Jon -- I really don't. But what they did to those dogs, and then to use them to sell ads Monday night, makes me want to scream.

So, I am hoping other BBF's will talk about Kate at the "Southern Women's Show," Kate at the Ronald McDonald House (pointing out that Jon is not there), and Kate on the book tour (narcissists' dream). Show no mercy, gang. They deserve none.

And again, thanks for all the live blogging fun today. You folks really came through for Z.

A fast answer to the pleas of a weary Z. Kelly rides to the rescue again. Here's Kelly:

Okay Z, I'm going to try this just one more time.  A verbatim, blow by blow of tonight's episode, seen by the eyes of a totally disgusted east coaster who can't stand the fact that Kate and Jon live just 90 minutes away.

Excuse Me, Thank You, I'm talking:  Kate standing in the foyer of her McMansion with the entire brood, talking about going out, probably for the first time for an excercise class, beyond the gates and stage of the Gosselin home.  Yes, the kids are acting excited but Kate is even more so because the camera is capturing KATE.  She is talking to the kids with so much love and care I almost thought that she was going to shout, "NO MORE HANGERS".  Mommy Dearest to the max.

Now they are out shopping for gymnastic clothes and Kate asks the kids to disperse because it is getting crowded.  HELLO!!!!  Where do 5 year old Tups and 10 year old twins disperse in a store without a parent being with them?   Kate says she is feeling "More Grouchish"

My God, she makes Daniel Webster sound like a prictionary with her new found words. 

Kate walks through the store, picking out clothes and asking people to "PART"  so she can walk through unemcombered.  Yes, she actually asked people to "Part".  Can anyone say "MOSES"?

The Diva that she is continues on.  As the store clerk explained to Kate, that the clothing line was nearly out of season, Kate, with her wonky eye, stood in the background, with a wad of hubba bubba gum in her mouth just staring down at the little money makers and the less than worthy clerks and finally decided on the clothes.

They all hop on the TLC provided bus and head out to a restaurant and Kate says, they don't go out to dinner much due to the "nature of the beast".  Her words, not mine.  Well, I can fully understand why they don't go out to eat because the beast is among them. 

Okay, I'll be nice and continue this witness to road kill.

So, Kate takes them to a greasy spoon and all the kids order burgers and fries and then Kate asks them if they would please order a vegetable.  Holy go to war Ms. Murphy..... ordering a vegetable at a fast food restaurant is like ordering a Vodka and Tonic at Friendly's.  All for show. 

So I move on. The bread shows up at the table, Kate butters it with real, fattening, full of saturated fat whipped butter and she tells the kids like Seargant Shultz, "please be quiet" as she butters the non organic bread.

So, the dinner ends with Mac and cheese, cooked KFC style, burgers, and a whole lot of saturated fat for the little gosselins.  Wonder if they asked for those triangular shaped Doritoes on the way home. 

Kate takes them all to gymnastics.  She was so thrilled with the entire thing I thought she was going to reanact the bit from Dumb and Dumber at the ski lodge and light a fart.  I couldn't get over the dull, drool, jowls she exhibited while sitting on the white throne and narrating the entire outting with the kids.  Paint drying would have been more exciting.

So, Kate stood there, watching the kids doing gymnastics, chewing her gum with her mouth open, carring her American Tourister purse on her shoulder and she had this look like she just witnessed Lawrence Welk burp out the theme song to Love Boat.  She was just so excited.

At this point, The new Kate walks out of the gym with all 8 kids and tries to find her car keys amidts the "P People" filming her and she just can't find them while wearing her baby doll blouse and keeping the "P People" in tow.  Hmmmmm, I thought Kate was organized.  Wouldn't she have the keys ready before leaving the building????

Next frame, Kate at a book singing and believe me when I say this, Kate tells someone standing in line, "Well your hair is kinda similarish"  ....camera fades to catered food in the kitchen and Kate saying "Food is served, minus Jon"
Folks, that food was in aluminum foil tins and it wasn't organic. 

Passports to Nowhere: 
Kate sitting in the throne and talking about the passports they had but didn't use.  She was going to Korea, Australia, Atlantis, Mars, the Moon, Area 51..... she was just so filled with angst.

They sat there on the floor, waiting for their passport photos and playing with crayons but think back..... At the Crayola factory, they couldn't play with crayons.  Anyway, Kate makes a snide remark about Jon's photo being like a mug shot but her pic is like a Michaelango....

Kate tells the camera, that she tells the kids they can't say where they are going "out loud".  Yet, Kate calls the P People to let them know she's going to Target, Kinkos, Starbucks, KFC..... Those kids probably couldn't say, spell or even wonder what Korea was.

So, at this point, Jon says the word "Korea" and then Kate decides they aren't going just because the P People were there.  Wow.  This was a deal breaker.  Yet again, Jon got beaten down.  Typical Kate.

Then we fade to Kate at the Southern Womens Show and her foot is going left, right, left right, up down, in out and I thought I was looking at fish out of water all the while Kate sitting there being coy and cute and being.... well.... being just Kate.  Not endearing, not photogenic, human or nice.  I thought at this point, I was watching Leona Helmsley in her youth.

So, at this point, Kate decides, on her 10th anniversary to make an obstacle course for the kids, all by her lonesome.  She didn't want to wallow in self pitty so she so happened to have a moon bounce, blow up sliding boards, obstacle courses for the kids and all the other things that we, you know, us regular people, going through a divorce, have in our garage when we're feeling low and alone.

She stood there with a whistle and had the 8 kids lined up like they were heading for a lineup and I swear, I thought I was watching the best movie from my childhood days, "The Great Escape". 
I thought those kids were going to run for the gates, down Route 30 and head for the interstate like Vic Morrow.

So.... at this point, it was more of Kate talking about Kate and loving the attention.  When she started to talk about the dogs, I had to just turn it off.  Yes, yet again, I couldn't make a full hour of this remake of Leona Helmsley.  Good luck to those who could finish it.
Kelly

 

 

 

 

In his first TV interview since resigning abruptly Wednesday night, former CNN anchorman Lou Dobbs told Bill O'Reilly Monday that it was the presence of President Barack Obama in the White House as much as a commitment to fact-based, objective presentation at CNN that led to his troubles with management in recent months.

While pointing out that Dobbs had criticized both the

  (Photo Fox News)

George W. Bush administration and Obama White House on matters of immigration, O'Reilly asked Dobbs why it wasn't a problem then, but it is a problem now for CNN.

“You know, I discern more of a difference between then, which was under the Bush administration whom I was criticizing, and now, when it is the Obama administration and an entirely different tone was taken," Dobbs said.

All in all, it wasn't much of a conversation -- mainly because Dobbs wasn't bringing much to O'Reilly's table. While O'Reilly did a pretty thorough job of trying to trash CNN for its lower ratings, Dobbs insisted he had complete editorial control over his broadcasts. He insisted that CNN/US President Jonathan Klein never voiced any displeasure with specific opinions Dobbs held.

“Never," Dobbs said in answer to a question of whether management complained to him about his opinions on immigration. "The only issue that came up in the last 90 days of my employment there was that Jon Klein and I had talked about the issue of opinion itself and advocacy journalism, and he wanted to take the network in a different direction. And I quite understood that, and tried to accommodate him, though. 

Dobbs also talked about a gunshot that had recently been fired at his New Jersey home.

"It's a demonstrable fact," he said of the gunshot. "And that followed months and months of threats on the issue of illegal immigration over our phone...And it became a matter of some intensity in the last two or three months preceding that shot.  And there are those on the far left who say it just didn't happen.... Well, here's the conclusive evidence to my thinking and to my wife's, and that is the threats stopped on that very day that that shot was fired.”

Dobbs vowed to remain in the "public arena." O'Reilly did try to pin him down. But as close as he got is Dobbs saying he will stay on radio, maybe return to TV and possibly run for elected office in New Jersey.

 

 

 

Starting at 3:30 p.m., click below to submit questions and comments. At 4 p.m. chat live with Baltimore Sun critic David Zurawik about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, her book and her appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Okay, fellow bloggers and commenters. We're going to kick it up a notch here at Z on TV and try a live chat today at 4 p.m. during the Oprah Winfrey interview with Sarah Palin.

I know it is short notice. But we're doing it on the fly, so anything goes. And if it works out, I am told we might be able to do a live blog next Monday for the finale of "Jon & Kate Plus 8." That will be something.

So, here is the plan for today. Stop back to the Z on TV blog at 3:30, and we will have directions on how to sign in. And then, all we have to do is deconstruct the conversation in real time -- "chatting" back and forth. Let's give it a try.

Even if you don't have strong opinions about Oprah or Palin -- right -- join the live chat today, so that we get clearance to do the "Jon & Kate" takedown next week.

If you don't watch Sunday morning TV because you think it is dull, check out this video of a discussion about Lou Dobbs, the anchorman who abruptly resigned from CNN Wednesday night on-air.

 The conversation took place yesterday on CNN's "Reliable Sources." At the table: host Howard Kurtz, St. Petersburg Times media critic Eric Deggans, WMAL radio show host Chris Plante, and me.

Plante, a conservative talk show radio host in Washington, argues that Dobbs was fired for his opinions, which Plante characterizes as being at odds with what he sees as a mainstream liberal bias in the media. Deggans and I could not disagree more with Plante.

The discussion will continue. Monday night at 8, Dobbs is on Fox News as a guest of Bill O'Reilly, who has the highest rated program on cable news TV.

Wednesday night, Dobbs will be on Comedy Central's "Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

I plan to write about the O'Reilly interview tonight. Please check back.

With only two weeks to go for the show, and tabloids saying Jon is using cocaine, while Kate says she wants her own TV show, it seems reasonable to wonder where it will all end.

So, the question this week for the official Z on TV "Jon & Kate" Poll: What will become of these two self-absorbed and immature fools?

Will Jon continue to seem to make really bad life choices -- or is he the victim of courtroom enemies who are feeding tabloids a seemingly endless supply of dirt on him? Will he overcome it, or will TLC break him financially? Will Kate pick up the phone one day and hear the "old Jon" on the other end? Or will she become the movie star she says she could be and marry Brad Pitt? 

Submissions will be accepted until 9 p.m. Monday. And as always, let's have some fun with this. At this point, the show is too grim to watch, so we might as well try to find some humor in what it has become. Humor is one of our best weapons right now in deconstructing the lie that "Jon & Kate" has become.

Whatever you think of Lou Dobbs, you have to admit a show host resigning on-a-dime on-air after almost three decades on the job is a pretty remarkable turn of events -- even in the insane world of cable TV news.

I will be on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday at 10 a.m. (ET)  discussing the Dobbs resignation. This story is far from over.

Monday night, Dobbs will be interviewed by Bill O'Reilly at 8 p.m. on Fox, and that is one conversation I want to hear. I'll be watching and writing. Ditto for Wednesday when he will be on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

I have been arguing that CNN needs to dump Dobb since July. Even if he does wind up at Fox and gets big numbers, I would still argue it is a move CNN needed to make to preserve its credibility.

Dobbs reportedly walked away frrom $9 million worth of contract to leave CNN once Klein told him he was not going to allow Dobbs to voice extreme opinions and compromise the channel's integrity. Like I said, this story is far from over.

The actual interviews have yet to even air, but already the Sarah Palin spin-o-rama is in high gear.

In the excerpt released from the Oprah Winfrey interview that airs Monday, Palin tries to re-write the script of her ill-fated interview last year with Katie Couric, anchor and managing editor of the the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric."

Now comes an excerpt from her interview with Barbara Walters that is scheduled to start airing Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America" and appear all over the ABC schedule straight through to "20/20" on Friday night. Palin, who is indeed the big November sweeps attraction this week on American TV, tries in this conversation to re-write the script on how she and the Republican Party received and handled the news of the teen pregnancy of her daughter, Bristol. Again, Palin tries to re-write another part of her story that didn't play so well -- and blame any and all mistakes on others.

According to ABC News, Palin tells Walters didn't know her daughter was sexually active.

"That's why I was shocked," Palin tells Walters in the interview. "Truthfully, we were devastated."

Palin announced that her daughter, who was then a high school senior, was pregnant in September 2008. It was shortly after Palin accepted the offer from presidental candidate John McCain to become the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Here's an AP descriptiion of how Palin handles that in her book: "Palin shares behind-the-scene moments when the nation learned her teen daughter Bristol was pregnant, how she rewrote the statement prepared for her by the McCain campaign — only to watch in horror as a TV news anchor read the original McCain camp statement, which, in Palin's view, glarmorized and endorsed her daughter's situation."

See, it was the fault of McCain and his aides that it looked as if she endorsed and glamorized the pregnancy of her unwed teen daughter.

AP also has her saying ABC newsman Charles Gibson, seemed bored by "substantive issues" in her early interview with him -- the first interview that exposed the gaping holes in her grasp of national politics. Remember the question about the "Bush Doctrine"? But it was all his fault, because he "peered skeptically" over his glasses at her like a disapproving schoolmaster.

And, of course, there's more on Couric interview, which will haunt Palin to her grave if she spins non-stop every day for the rest of her life. 

Here is thre AP's description of what in her book: "She writes at length about Couric. She says that the idea to meet with Couric came from McCain campaign aide Nicolle Wallace, who told Palin that Couric — also a working mother — liked and admired her. It would be a favor to Couric, too, whom Palin notes had the lowest ratings of the network anchors. Wallace said Couric suffered from low self-esteem. And Palin replied that she almost began to 'feel sorry' for Couric."

I'll bet she didn't feel sorry for Couric after she started reading the reviews of their encounter.

From AP: "She alleges that Couric and CBS left out her more 'substantive' remarks and settled for 'gotcha' moments. She writes that Couric had a 'partisan agenda' and a condescending manner. Couric was 'badgering,' biased and far easier on Couric's Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden."

Spin, baby, spin. I can't wait for the TV interviews to begin airing Monday.

 

 

It might be hard to believe, but things are getting even uglier as the saga of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" moves from the TV screen to the courtroom -- and, hopefully, approaches denouement. On Tuesday, I wrote about Jon Gosselin planning to countersue the Maryland-based TLC cable channel. The papers were officially filed in Montgomery County (Md.) court at the end of the week.

The suit asks $5 million in damages, and the most damning allegations involve Gosselin claiming that TLC knowingly violated child labor laws in the use of his eight children in making the show. He also claims TLC took advantage of him with its inititial contract, which paid the family of 10 only $2,000 per epsiode and locked him into a set of restrictions that denied him the right to photograph members of the family or speak about the show without TLC's permission.

"I do not believe we were paid a fair amount for the overreaching and overly restrictive contract — my family was initially paid $2,000 per episode for all 10 members of my family and the use of my family home for filming," Jon Gosselin says in his suit.

 

Indicative of how down and dirty the suits and countersuits are getting, and how damaged all parties could be by this nasty business, Gosselin cites an ongoing investigation of the show by Pennsylvania authorities that was started with a bootleg video clip that allegedly shows one of the program's producer refusing water to one of the Gosselin children because they were about to begin filming.

Meanwhile, the blogosphere is suddenly buzzing with tabloid allegations and denials of Jon Gosselin and cocaine use. The timing makes me suspicious of this charge -- coming as it does just as Jon takes a firmer stand in response to TLC trying to squeeze him even harder.

The series that started it all some three years ago, "Jon & Kate Plus 8," ends in two weeks. Maybe this business will come to en end -- for the sake of the kids if nothing else.

 

How did this happen? In one day, my world went from Sarah Palin as an abstraction somewhere out there in moose country writing a book, to yesterday when suddenly I could not turn on my TV without seeing her face and hearing her voice. Not only is she baaaackkkkk, she's bigger than anything any network has for November "sweeps" programming.

I know how it happened, of course. TV has edmbraced its role in national life as The Great American Sell Machine like never before, and she has something to sell -- something that will sell lots of copies, her new book. That and the fact that the High Mistress of Talk TV, Oprah Winfrey, released a clip of her taped interview with Palin, and everyone kept showing it over and over and over.

Fox's Sean Hannity, Palin's most devoted TV acolyte,  sounded almost breathless Thursday night on his show when he told viewers, "We also have the first clip of the governor's interview with Oprah Winfrey." That came after his fourth or fifth mention that he was going to have the "first cable interview" with her.

One might wonder why I was watching Hannity Thursday night. Actually I watched Bill O'Reilly and Hannity. It wasn't for Palin initially. I was watching to see if they gave aid and comfort to Carrie Prejean after the pasting she took for her petulant and bizarre performance on CNN's "Larry King Live" Wednesday.

O'Reilly did not. He ran the video and seemed to think it was a bizarre scenario himself. Hannity not so much either in the way of Prejean support. He was in full Palin swoon. Too bad for you, Ms. Prejean. Hannity has what he termed a "rock star" to worship. He actually said that, "I've been out of the campaign trail with her [Palin]. She's a rock star."

But the really special part of Hannity's show was the billboard he has with Palin's face on it that announces his upcoming interview. I think it was shown every time they went to commercial. All that is missing is a countdown clock, and I expect I will see that tonight.

With Palin being the new kind of November "sweeps" big event programming, there are a few important questions I think we ought to consider as we watch this media sales blitz.

First, let's see what kind of interview Oprah does. If Palin is going to avoid top TV journalists like Katie Couric, Charles Gibson or John King in favor of syndicated talk show hosts like Winfrey, the hope is that they will step up and not give her a free pass to use their shows to push her ideology in return for a ratings spike.

The clip Oprah put out there Thursday seemed pretty schmoozy to me, but let's not pre-judge.

And let's understand that those who did practice good journalism and helped show voters how unprepared Palin was for the job of vice president, as Couric and Gibson did, will probably be "punished" by not getting an interview. Perhaps, the news organization that employs Couric will be punished as well.

We should treat that as a badge of journalistic honor and not start praising those who do serve Palin's sales campaign as having scored some big "get." I mean that.

And also, let's not let Palin rewrite history in these interviews with folks whom she considers safe. She is out there still trying to spin the Katie Couric interview, which only serves to remind me how terrific Couric, who for my money is one of the five best interviewers working in the medium, was the day when she sat down with Palin and deconstructed the candidate's phony frontierswoman facade.

Me, I'm getting a big scoreboard like Hannity's and I'm putting it on my desk. On it will be the date of Palin's last TV interview. But for now, she owns the medium, because everyone in the business thinks whe will bring ratings and money. She is the new face of sweeps programming in these downsized and less responsible TV days.

 

CNN President Jonathan Klein wasted no time replacing Lou Dobbs with one of TV's finest journalists as he named John King the host of a new 7 p.m. hourlong show devoted to news and politics starting early next week.

“The program will reflect what CNN is all about: straight facts from our anchors and the widest range of opinions from across the political spectrum,” Klein said Thursday in a statement. “John has enthralled CNN viewers with his vast political knowledge, and he has spent the past year reporting from beyond the Beltway on pressing policy issues and the real people they impact. Every night, he’ll share his passion and his insights about what is really going on in Washington and across America.”

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity, at this busy and consequential time, to have a platform to discuss and explore the big issues of our time,” said King. “There is a lot of noise and conflict in our political discourse, which is fun to cover, but I’m convinced from my travels that people also thirst for more details as well as insight and context. I’m looking forward to combining those conversations with top newsmakers, smart reporting and expert analysis.”

 

King, one of the most modest and hardest working journalists on TV, was the star of the 2008 election with his in-depth knowledge and wizardry at CNN's "Magic Wall" of color-coded maps.

Since January, he has served as host of the hard-charging Sunday morning show, "State of the Union," which featured King visiting a different place outside of Washington each week to gauge the mood of the country.

King will continue to host "State of the Union" until early 2010, according to CNN.

It was a wild night on CNN Wednesday.

First, Lou Dobbs resigns on-air after some 30 years at the network. Read my post here.

And then, Carrie Prejean decides Larry King's questions are "inappropriate" and stops the interview by taking off her microphone. Only making it even stranger, she doesn't walk off the set. She just sits there. Take a look.

Prejean, who is selling a book, has this rap she's also selling in recent interviews as to how "conservative women" are treated poorly by the "liberal" press.I think her primary goal is to somehow link herself to Sarah Palin whom she mentions a lot. And so, last night, she decided to do a little agit prop playacting, even though Larry King is one of the nicest, kindest interviewers on the face of the Earth, let alone TV. There was absolutely nothing "inappropriate" about what he asked. She later said it was inapprorpiate for him to take phone calls, even though that is what the Larry King show almost always does.

Only 1.6 million viewers accompanied Kate Gosselin on her trip down memory lane Monday night on a cut-and-paste "Jon & Kate Plus 8" purporting to feature viewers' favorite moments from the show's five seasons. The audience was one of the show's smallest in the last two years.

More than 10 million viewers tuned in for the season premiere in June. Last season's average audience per episode was 3.7 million.

With only two weeks to go on the beleaguered TLC show, it looks as if the one-time pop culture pheonomenon is going to end with a whimper, unless the Maryland-based cable company can pull a rabbit out of the hat and reunite these battling parents. That does not seem likely with all the legal prodedures underway. They range from divorce proceedings to TLC suing Jon Gosselin -- while the father of eight says he is going to countersue TLC. What a ugly mess.

 

TLC has been trying to sell the notion that there is still an audience for the series as the audience climbed back over 3 million last week. It had fallen to 1.6 million two weeks before. But last week's show featured Natalie Morales, correspondent for NBC's "Today" show, interviewing Kate Gosselin and it got a big promotional push on "Today." TLC, however, had to pay NBC to produce the hour -- not a formula for making money in cable TV.

Monday's number seem to be a better barometer as to what kind of audience is left for the show. And as the comments at this blog suggest, part of the audience that remains is only tuning in for a "trainwreck" look at how bad things will get for the former hit.

The rating of 1.615 comes from The Nielsen Company as reported at tvbythenumbers.com site.

Longtime CNN anchorman Lou Dobbs announced his resignation on-air Wednesday night after almost 30 years at the all-news network.

After saying that he had a "personal note" for viewers just before the first commercial break at 7:10 p.m., Dobbs said, "This will be my last broadcast on CNN."

Dobbs, who was one of the original CNN anchors when Ted Turner started the channel, said he had been in meetings with CNN President Jonathan Klein who had agreed to let him out of his contract. In truth, CNN has been trying for months to find a way to part company with Dobbs who had become a liability because of his political views on such issues as immigration and the birth of President Barack Obama.

Dobbs had consistently been lending credence to the "birthers" movement, which claims President Barack Obama is not a U. S. citizen, and thus, not eligible to be president because he was not allegedly born in the United States.

The view has been widely and thoroughly discounted -- most notably by Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate. But despite such facts and a public warning from Klein to back off, Dobbs persisted.

The most recent embarrassment for CNN came with Latino groups protesting statements made by Dobbs urging more restrictive immigration policies even as the cable channel was premiering an important documentary series titled "Latino in America" from Soledad O'Brien last month. 

Indeed, news of Dobbs' resignation was met Wednesday night with a statement of victory from another group organized against him, BastaDobbs.com, a Latino-led coalition that had been advocating for his removal from the CNN airwaves in recent weeks.

“Our contention all along was that Lou Dobbs – who has a long record of spreading lies and conspiracy theories about immigrants and Latinos – does not belong on the ‘Most Trusted Name in News,’” said Roberto Lovato, co-founder of Presente.org, a national online advocacy organization coordinating the BastaDobbs.com campaign. “We are thrilled that Dobbs no longer has this legitimate platform from which to incite fear and hate.”

Media Matters, a liberal advocacy group, also ssued a statement  in the wake of the Dobbs' resignation.

“For too long, CNN provided Lou Dobbs with its stamp of approval as he pursued a dangerous, one-sided and all too often false conspiracy tinged crusade against immigrants,” said Eric Burns, president of Media Matters. “This is a happy day for all those who care about this nation of immigrants and believe in the power of media to elevate the political discourse.”

There had been rumors the last two months that Dobbs would be joining Fox News or the Fox Business Channel, but he said on-air that he has several "options" and "opportunities" without being specific. Fox has recently added several high-profile personalities like John Stossel, and it is looks less and less as if Dobbs will be joining Fox in the immediate future.

"We have not had any discussions with Lou Dobbs for Fox News or Fox Business," a spokeswoman for both channels said in response to an email inquiry from the "Sun" Wednesday night.

 

While CNN generally has lower prime-time ratings than its more opinionated competitors on the right and the left, it does have credibility and a kind of journalistic highground by "playing it down the middle." And that has paid off in the past on big news events when viewers want verified facts and information provided without partisan spin.

But Dobbs' behavior the past few months has threatened the trust on which that success is based.  Credibility is at the very heart of the CNN brand, and Dobbs' angry and polarizing rhetoric threatened that identity.

CNN's Klein had been trying to distance his cable channel from Dobbs by pointing out that long-time anchorman's most controversial statements were made on his radio show, which CNN did not control, not on the cable channel. But few were buying the argument, especially since Dobbs never seemed willing on-air to back down from his polarizing rhetoric.

Fox recently trounced CNN on the day and night of the Fort Hood shootings, the kind of breaking news event for which viewers used to turn to CNN for its trusted coverage. Some analysts believe Dobbs had already done serious damage to the CNN brand.

The pressure from protesters and critics had clearly been mounting. Two weeks ago, police were called to Dobbs home to investigate reports of a shot being fired at his house. While it might have been a stray bullet from a hunter given the semi-rural area in which Dobbs lives, according to police, the incident is still being investigated.

Dobbs had two more years on the contract at CNN. Here is the ona-ir statement he made last night:

Tonight I want to turn to a personal note, if I may, and address a matter that has raised some curiosity. This will be my last broadcast here on CNN, where I've worked for most of the past 30 years, and where I have many friends and colleagues whom I admire deeply and respect greatly.

I'm the last of the original anchors here on CNN and I'm proud to have had the privilege to helping to build the world's first news network. I'm grateful for the many opportunities that CNN has given me over the many years. I've tried to reciprocate with a full measure of my ability.

Over the past six months it's become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us. And some leaders in media, and in politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day and to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible.

I've talked extensively with Jonathan Klein. Jon's the president of CNN, and as a result of those talks, Jon and I have agreed to a release from my contract that will enable me to pursue new opportunities. At this point, I'm considering a number of options, and directions, and I assure you, I will let you know when I set my course.

I truly believe that the major issues of our time include -- the growth of our middle-class, the creation of more jobs, health care, immigration policy, the environment, climate change, and our military involvement, of course, in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But each of those issues is, in my opinion, informed by our capacity to demonstrate strong resilience of our now weakened capitalist economy and demonstrate the political will to overcome the lack of true representation in Washington, D.C.

I believe these to be profoundly, critically important issues, and I will continue to strive to deal honestly and straightforwardly with those issues in the future. Unfortunately, these issues are now defined in the public arena by partisanship and ideology rather than by rigorous, empirical thought and forthright analysis and discussion.

I'll be working diligently to change that as best I can. And as for the important work of restoring inspiration to our great free society and our market economy, I will strive as well to be a leader in that national conversation.

It's been my great honor to work with each and every person at this wonderful network. I will be eternally grateful to CNN, to Ted Turner, and to all of my colleagues and friends and, of course, to you at home.

I thank you, and may God bless you.

 

 

 

 

 

I give up. Too many regulars at Z on TV have contacted me today asking if I saw this video and what I thought of it. I will tell you what I think: There is no way this guy can ever go back to being a reality TV dad. Hollywood has blown his mind and taught him about irony and deconstructing his own media image. I am not sure he gets it, and if he doesn't, that would make him the joke rather than the joker. But this is actually a pretty savvy commentary on him not being able to go back and be what estranged wife Kate referred to last week as the "old" Jon. Take a look. The video, by the way, comes from funnyordie.com. It's got people laughing and talking. But I think most people wish he'd spend more time just being dad to his kids, rather this TV character.

The David Letterman extortion story is an embarrassing one for CBS. First, the alleged extortionist, Joe Halderman, is a producer for CBS News. Second, the story includes admission by Letterman that he slept with female employees.

And while I criticize CBS for remaining silent on the issue of sexual harassment, I have to credit CBS News for covering the story aggressively. Some media organizations would have tried to stick their heads in the sand and hope the story would play itself out and go away.

That was not the case Wednesday morning of the network's "Early Show," which included a lengthy report on the latest development in the case, the claim by Halderman's attorney Tuesday that what his client did was attempt to make a business deal with Letterman not extort money from him. And then, later in the show, the lawyers were brought on to debate the case. Take a look...

 

 

Watch CBS News Videos Online The "Early Show" producers might also be covering this story so aggresively because it is filled with great, tabloid, get-the-ratings factors. But either way, I am glad to see it covered on a network that has much at stake -- and possibly much to lose.

I had not planned to watch the season premiere of TLC's "Table for 12." But Tuesday morning, I stumbled upon the Hayes family being interviewed on NBC's "Today" show.

The conversation with the mother, father and 10 children of yet another TLC "big-family" reality TV series held my attention because I was thinking, "Well, Kate Gosselin, if you are watching TV this morning, here's your replacement. TLC has them, not you, on 'Today.' Trust me, there is a message to be taken from that."

What I liked best about the interview was the fact that there was none of the tabloid-craziness and interview-tears-and-angst that you get with the Gosselins. Most of all, the parents of the 10 children, Betty and Eric Hayes, appeared in no way to think of themselves as celebrities or media stars, as both Kate and Jon Gosselin have so ridiculously come to do. I read that difference as evidence that it is Jon and Kate who bring the craziness with them -- not necessarily the press manufacturing as Kate Gosselin constantly complains.

And so, I watched the two episodes of "Table for 12" last night. The first, was a backyard campout. I know, we've seen this before. The second, featured the little kids (4-year-olds) going to karate school in a nearby New Jersey shopping strip, while two of the older kids (13 year old boy and 10 year old girl) go to summer music camp.

Okay, here are the issues. You still have cameras in the home and kids being filmed -- just like the Gosselins. And some of the kids are very young.

The parents were asked on "Today" why, given all the trouble families like the Gosselins have seen, they were doing the show. Betty Hayes gave what I thought was a credible and realistic answer.

One of their children has cerebral palsy, and her mom said she thought the show would provide them with the means to give that child possibilities she might not otherwise have. I took that to mean that she thought the money TLC paid them would allow the parents to provide their daughter with such resources and opportunities. The father is a police officer.

I actually enjoyed the  backyard camping episode, as well as the friendly eye-rolling and teasing between the parents when they sit at the family table and talk to the camera.

But it is still a camera in the home and kids on reality TV -- and TLC making money off all of it.

So, here's the reason for the post. What do you think? Many of the core bloggers here have thought long and hard about families on reality TV shows and I want to know what you think about this show.

This is another Z on TV Poll, and they only work so well because of your thoughts and comments. The sociology of such shows is important to understand, and your comments will help me get a feel for how we should approach this show. Maybe we should just ignore it. What do you think?

No matter how good or bad things get in America, one thing that just keeps growing is the amount of time we spend in front of the TV.

According to Nielsen research, Americans are watching more TV than ever. For better or worse, here's the press statement:

For the 2008-2009 TV season, the amount of television watched reached an all-time high as Americans spent four hours and 49 minutes a day on average in front of the TV, up four minutes from last year and up 20% from 10 years ago. The average household watched eight hours and 21 minutes a day on average, also at an all-time high.

Yes, there are now multiple screens in our lives, and many of us spend more and more time online. But don't believe those who tell you that the Age of Television is over.

Just when you thought reality TV could not get crazier, along comes news the Maryland-based cable channel TV One and Donald Trump are producing a new eight-episode series starring Omarosa, one of the most-talked about contestants ever to appear on reality TV.

Here is the press release from TV One:

Real estate billionaire and entertainment mogul Donald J. Trump has partnered with TV One on a groundbreaking new reality series entitled, “Omarosa’s Ultimate Merger.”
 
Voted America’s #1 reality TV villain by TV Guide, Omarosa has yet to meet her match. . ..until now! ... Reality TV diva Omarosa has yet to give an inch in the boardroom, or on the reality set, but now it is time for this strong-willed and wily schemer to settle down and find a husband.

Will she marry for love or for money?   And can this bevy of bachelors tame this shrew?
 
“Omarosa was a great personality on the “Apprentice” that was watched by over 40 million people as it became the #1 show on TV. Omarosa is smart, witty, and difficult, but all of these qualities will make for some very interesting entertainment,” says Executive Producer Donald J. Trump.
 
Donald J. Trump went on to say, “I am very excited to partner with the great Comcast Corporation and TV One. They really stepped up to the plate to do this deal. TV One is making a huge impression on the cable landscape with this tremendous new show.”
 
On the show, Omarosa will put a cadre of 12 hot, successful bachelors through a gauntlet of tests. These challenges are designed to play upon their weaknesses, test their business acumen, measure their seductive strengths, and draw out their true intentions. But these guys will fight back, and Omarosa may just meet her match. But this is all a part of the love dance… and viewers will get to see what happens when “sharks” mate.
 
Certainly no ordinary man could possibly weather the storm that is the cunning and opinionated Omarosa.  But The Donald is not one to back down from a challenge.  Don’t expect these bachelors to be the usual band of romantic wimps and brainless him-bos seen in traditional dating shows.  These men are all successful, egotistical, and looking forward to going toe to toe with the “Big O.”
 

How can this be? On a day of such great celebration, the 40th anniversary of "Sesame Street," Big Bird wants to leave the urban nest that has been home for four decades and migrate to the rain forest? The rain forest!

Elmo is so rattled he can barely speak as Big Bird comes to say goodbye. "But Sesame Street is where Big Bird lives," Elmo squeaks to the group of old friends, including Gordon, Maria and Snuffleupagus, who have gathered to see the yellow feathered one off.

The rest of the world might be focused on first lady Michelle Obama coming to The Street today to show Elmo and some of the children how to plant their own vegetable gardens. And symbolically, her appearance to help launch this special season is huge. As I said on WYPR last week, "Sesame Street," with its groundbreaking message of multiculturalism, did more to pave their way for the election of the first person of color as president than any other series in the history of the medium.

But screening the season premiere, I wasn't thinking such cosmic thoughts about the sociology of the show. Nor was I remembering the way it instantly took kids' TV out of the all-white, pastoral landscape of bunny rabbits and adults in baggy pants, to a jagged, urban, concrete and diverse landscape where children with a real preschool need for help in learning numbers and letters saw themselves for the first time on TV.

Instead, as I watched, I was reminded of how good "Sesame Street" made me feel - and how much fun it was to watch. And, oh yeah, I couldn't help but notice how incredibly smart this series is without ever showing off.

The opening segment with Big Bird is brilliant. The word of the day is "habitat," and a real estate salesman straight out of the Great American Theater Book of musical con men and hustlers appears almost magically on The Street to convince Bird that with winter coming, it's time to move to a new (you guessed it) habitat.

The salesman takes Big Bird on virtual tours of the beach, swamp and rain forest. And for each (you guessed it) habitat, he has a slam-jamming hip-hop number complete with choruses of singing birds - birds that have migrated to their new (you guessed it) habitats.

No spoilers here, but Big Bird comes to his senses.

And once Big Bird is settled in his old nest, it's off to learn a number for the day: (you guessed it) 40. Big number, but the educational consultants found a way to make it easy with fours and 10s.

God bless the Ph.D's who work behind the scenes to vet the curriculum and pre-test many of the scenes and concepts so that no little kid will ever be asked to handle more than he should when he sits in front of the TV with PBS.

Michelle Obama seems perfectly at ease with the "Sesame Street" kids as she hands them seeds and shows them how to place them in the ground. But her interaction with Elmo and Big Bird doesn't seem quite as natural at first.

I visited The Street for a Sunday profile on its 30th anniversary, and it took me a beat or two to realize you can't go halfway with a Muppet. You have to totally give yourself over to the fantasy. Embrace the Muppet, as it were. Easier for a TV critic than a first lady, I suppose.

So, Michelle Obama is a little stiff when Big Bird stumbles upon her and the kids and says, "Seeds? I love seeds. I didn't know you eat them, too."

The first lady informs Big Bird that she doesn't eat them, she plants them. But she seems almost taken aback when Big Bird says, "Hey, we're both really tall. Maybe we're from the same family."

But then, something clicks, and she just goes with the "reality" of talking to Muppets covered with red fur and yellow feathers. She stops playing the educator giving a lecture about how yummy fresh vegetables are.

And when the vegetables in a nearby basket start to speak, the first lady of the United States totally surrenders herself to the madness and starts laughing really hard with Elmo, Big Bird and the kids.

In that moment, she doesn't look at all like someone thinking big thoughts about the way in which "Sesame Street" changed the hearts and minds of multiple generations of American kids paving the wave for the presidency of Barack Obama. It looks like she's just enjoying this marvelous, magical gift to America from public television.

WMAR-TV (Channel 2) will cancel its 6:30 p.m. Sunday newscast next month replacing it with Richard Sher's public affairs show "Square Off." which now airs Sunday mornings. It is the latest in a series of moves that Baltimore's ABC affiliate has made in the last year to reposition its news programs in the market.

"We have been thrilled with 'Square Off' so far, but feel that its current time period is hurting the potential success of the show," Bill Hooper, general manager of WMAR, said in email response to questions about the move. "We want to counter program our competition with strong local community oriented programming and 'Square Off' is the perfect answer. Richard Sher has brought in a 'who's who' of panel guests to discuss today's many issues. This will start on December 6th, and run until further notice."

Hooper said the station will continue to produce an 11 p.m. newscast on Sundays.

Sher said he is happy about the move, which will give "Square Off" two plays on Sundays during December -- one at 9:30 a.m. and the second at 6:30 p.m. In January, it will start airing in its new 6:30 p.m. time period only.

"My partner, Howard Maleson, and I  are thrilled that ABC2 Vice President and General Manager, Bill Hooper  is moving 'Square Off 'to 6:30 p.m. Sunday evenings beginning in December," Sher said in an email. "The early success of the 'Square Off' revival  is proof positive that Baltimore television viewers have long missed this local, often heated,  discussion of issues.  We are overwhelmed by the response and cannot thank Billy and Hassan Murphy and The Murphy Firm enough for being our major sponsor."

What a fitting ending for this show that has become so troubled and false in this last season. As TLC aired a cut-and-paste clip-job trip down memory lane of the five seasons of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" Monday night, Radaronline was reporting that Jon Gosselin was countersuing TLC for $5 million.

Aren't Jon and Kate Gosselin and TLC, which is suing Jon, all just perfectly made for each other? And aren't they going out with class during these three weeks. TLC said Monday night there are two weeks left of the show, and then that is it.

Monday's show was surprisingly empty and emotionally flat, and the reason context. Because TLC still has control of Kate, the cable channel used her as a hostess and moderator of sorts sitting on the coach commenting on the clips that viewers alledgedly picked as their favorites. As longtome viewers of the series know, some of the clips have charm and heart. But Kate's comments coming in and out of them were so distant and patently false, that you couldn't help but think, "I they mean so little to her, why should they mean anything to me."

Typical of her distant response, were the half dozen times she used the word "precious" to describe  a moment. When people use an adjective like that over and over, they usually mean the moment is anything but precious to them. What I'm saying here is Kate managed to suck any emotion there was right out of the montage of moments.

 

Not that it was a very skillfully crafted show. I watched it all, and I still can't figure out how they came up with a Top 10. The categories seemed totally random -- most shocking moment, best family moment, cutest thing a kid said, most memorable meltdown. The Top 10 list, though, had no correlation to how many moments they picked. The number one moment was supposedly Jon and kate announcing thgeir separation, but it was only one of three "most shocking moments."

Let someone else figure out how TLC was trying to scam viewers Monday night. Kate's robot-like, tinny, I'm-barely-interested attitude stole any meaning that there might have been in the evening.

Halfway through the hourlong show, Kelly posted a blow-by-blow, kindly trying to help me out. I am going to include her comment here. It is very good stuff. If you watched, or if you remember some of these moments, please weight in. Z needs your help and energy.

Here's Kelly:

At the risk of sticking my neck out here, I'm going to give Z some back up here as he has taken one for the team for so many weeks now.  My take on the following scenes and I will abstain from comedic interjection and be totally neutral.

The coupons:  Totally, totally abusive.  This would be a classic scene for spousal abuse if I've ever seen one.  Threats to shoot him went uncommented on yet when Governor Ehrlich's wife (Governor of Maryland) said she could shoot Britany Spears, the national press picked up on it and made it a weeklong news item. 

Again, it's TLC's whitewash to make Kate look coy and cute.

"Pull the stick out".  Hmmmm, Kate has berated Jon for "five seasons" and when Jon says "Pull the stick out", Kate is hurt, embarrassed, disgusted that he would talk to her in that tone.  Again, look at her response and it's all about Me, I, Me, i.e. Kate. Then, in the ending frame, she says with her Jack Nicholson arched eyebrows from "THE SHINING", perhaps is was a sign of things to come".  Cackling like the wicked witch from the west.  It just gets worse.

Toys R Us:  "He just annoyed me.  He was playing with toys"  Again, all about how she was tired, blew it off and made it all about her.  Her words, "Yueah, that was a wake up call for me.  Yueahhhh, not so good to do that in public". 

Okay Kate, it's okay to do it in private?

Cutest Kid Moment:  " Kate holding Alexis and saying in her monotone voice: "Let go, I'm busy working" as Alexis is giving love kisses.

"Wonder if she's 15 if she'll do that".. Then Kate says:  "Yeah Right" with such disgust, Alexis will have this google moment at 15.

Tummy Tuck:  Kate tells her daughter regarding her new hair color, "Pretty, Pretty, say pretty".  Most moms having been gone for a week from their kids would have said, "You're pretty, I missed you.  You are so special".
At the end of the clip, Kate says, "I don't ever want to miss a week of your life again".

HELLO!!!  OVER HERE!!!  I've been gone on book signings 22 days each month.  I digress.

TOP OUCHIE MOMENT:
Kids pummeling each other with bricks, bats, Dodge Rams or whatever they could muster in their tiny hands and Kate's response:  "Boys are so rough".  HELLO!!! AGAIN!!! We've seen the girls doing it too.

Nala's sick:

Kate admits she was traveling and when she gets home, Nala is still sick.  Jon did nothing about it so Kate takes her to the vet.  Kate's response?  "$2,000 dollars later, that was an expensive one".  All the while her boys are saying how Nala is bleeding and needs a cast.  Where's the concern for Nala and not the dolla Kate?

Joel learning to ride the bike:  TLC forgets that some of us have memories.  In the actual clip, John was running down the street next to his kids learning to ride bikes.  At one point, Jon was roller blading at the same time and Kate is standing in the driveway, shouting at him like a dog gone loose saying "You have to watch your kids".  What a white wash on this scene too. 

Ov VEY...... It just gets better.

Camping Out:

Kate says, "I just got out of the tent, It was just terrible"  Talking about the rainstorm the night before and nothing about the kids.  Typical.

Alidagtors:  The first scene all night that Kate didn't say, Me, I, Myself, MY MY MY.

Daddy's Have Weiners:  Well, we won't go there considering all the tabloid accusations.  I'm sure Kate didn't want to touch on that clip either.  We all know from Stephanie Santoro, Hailey Glassman and the other Kate, all know about this. 

Gang, We're just halfway through and I just can't do this anymore.  Z... You are the man.  Pick up the slack here because I have a flight on Wednesday and I need my rest.  Watching another half hour of this crazy woman would be like counting head hairs.  I'm done. 

If anyone wants to take on the second half hour of this Kate-fest, please have at it. I am worn out by Jon and Kate and TLC -- and all their crass, selfish craziness. 

I am sure there is almost no one left on earth who doesn't know that Sesame Street turns 40 on Tuesday, and I think that is a good thing. The beloved and iconic kids show is one of the five most important productions in the history of American TV.

I don't say that without some thought. I have been teaching a course in children and television since the early 1990s -- first at the University of Maryland, College Park and now at Goucher College in Baltimore. And the last third of the course is always spent with "Sesame Street" and the dramatic way it changed America.

I have a podcast up that you can listen to here in which I say how appropriate I think it is that Michelle Obama will be on Tuesday's show since I believe "Sesame Street" helped make it possible for this country to elect our first person of color as president. My "Sesame" piece first aired aired last Thursday on WYPR-FM, which records the segments on Wednesday, airs them on Thursday and then kindly shares them with baltimoresun.com readers as podcasts.

Anyway, let's not get too heavy. Let's have some of the same kind of fun "Sesame Street" offers to kids everyday. All this week, I am going to post "Sesame" thoughts and memories of my own. But let's start today with a few of your favorite "Sesame" things -- moments, characters, memories or guests. Here's Cameron Diaz sounding this season's nature curriculum for Professor Grover.

 The episode in which Mama Bear and Papa Bear go to New York on business and leave Baby Bear with Gina, the pre-school teacher, is hands-down my all-time greatest.

"Hey Baby Bear, how about some porridge," says Gina.

"Oh bwoy, Gina. Dat sounds really good. Hey, I didn't know you loved porridge, too. Bwoy, you know what, Gina?

"No, what baby Bear?"

"We're a wot awike -- you and me."

It wasn't much of an election last Tuesday night, but the performance by Fox News was enough to earn a mock segment from NBC's "Saturday Night Live." What do you think of the satire targeting Greta Van Susteren and Glenn Beck? What about the sketch dovetailing with White House complaints about Fox?

Do you think enough folks saw election night coverage to get this? And here's my real question of the day: Do you think Tina Fey will step back onto the "SNL" stage in coming days to do the Sarah Palin book tour? That's one I will go out of my way to see.

TLC is promoting Monday night's clip-job, cut-and-paste hour of video scraps as a special evening of nostalgia with Kate Gosselin.

Here's the way TLC describes it: "Kate takes a walk down memory lane as she looks back at viewers' favorite moments from Jon & Kate plus 8 and helps the audience countdown some of the best moments on the show."

So, these are going to be the "viewers' favorite moments," huh? How about the viewers who regularly visit this blog? What are your "favorite" moments?

In the name of deconstructing this series that has so embraced duplicity, let's have a Z on TV poll of your favorite mock moments -- moments that show the Gosselin parents for what they really are.

In fairness, we will also accept genuine favorite moments -- because I know many bloggers here once really liked this show and do have some fond memories.

Either way -- genuine or mock -- is fine. Just be clear which it is. Heck, you can have one of each.

Nominations for favorite or "favorite" moments are accepted until 9 p.m. Monday (ET) when TLC airs the laundered and sanitized list with Kate as emcee.

Let the nominations begin.

What do you think about this statement made by co-host Brain Kilmeade on "Fox & Friends" in the wake of the Fort Hood killings? It starts out as a question, but ends up a controversial statement about Muslims in the U.S. military. Kilmeade is the Fox News anchor who earlier this year apologized for another controversial on-air statement he made about intermarriage.

Did you notice Geraldo Rivera's initial "wow" reaction to Kilmeade's words? ... Well, again, what do you think?

If you care at all about the future of health care in this country, please turn on C-SPAN today and watch the live debate in the House. It's historic, informative and passionate.

By 11 p.m., the Republicans had raised so many points of order that all conversation basically ground to a halt. Michigan Democrat John Dingell, who held the chair, brought his gavel down repeatedly. You did not need to understand the ins and outs of Parliamentary Procedure to appreciate the battle that was playing out on the floor of the House.

All hail C-SPAN. I went to bed Friday night with the sounds of a late-night debate in the House Rules Committee coming from my bedside radio tuned to WCSP (90.1 FM), and awoke at 7 a.m. to C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" skillfully raising the curtain on the live and historic debate taking place in the House Saturday.

Please spend some time this weekend with C-SPAN. These public service cable channels and their radio sister station really are a national treasure.

If you want the kind of information it takes to be a truly informed citizen as this country goes through epic change, you need to make C-SPAN part of your core media diet. These are tumultuous times of monumental change, and much of the rest of the media has never been more polarized and ideologically contaminated.

UPDATE: The bill passed late Saturday night, and at 7 a.m. Sunday, C-SPAN was still on the case with a "Washington Journal" full of in-depth analysis of the historic vote and what it means to us.

Fox News swamped the cable competition Thursday on a day and night when millions turned to their TVs for coverage of the rampage at Fort Hood.

CNN was the second most watched channel, but it wasn't close to Fox when it came to viewership. From Shepard Smith to Bret Baier and Bill O'Reilly, all the newscasters and show hosts dominated in their time period.

From 3 p.m. to midnight, Fox drew an average audience of 3.04 million viewers, while CNN was seen by 1.57 million. MSNBC drew an audience of 820,000. In the key demographic of viewers 25 to 54 years of age, almost doubled CNN's audience and more than tripled that of MSNBC.

Smith's newscasts proved to be among the cable channel's most watched programs. From 7 to 8 p.m., "Fox Report with Shepard Smith" drew an audience of 3.97 million viewers, while Lou Dobbs was seen by 1.52 million on CNN. Chris Matthews attracted 1.06 million on MSNBC.

The ratings for Bill O'Reilly's hour at 8 p.m., which also included some live coverage of Fort Hood, were huge. O'Reilly was seen by 5 million viewers -- topping the audiences viewing such network shows as "Fringe" (Fox), "Parks and Recreation" (NBC) and the "Jay Leno Show" (NBC).

Is there anything left in American life that does not ultimately find itself folded, bent and packaged for television? I am thinking about the strange interplay of TV interviews Friday night that will find Chris Brown being interviewed on MTV at 6 p.m. about his assault of former girlfriend, Rihanna, while she talks about the attack at 10 p.m. on ABC with Diane Sawyer. In one sense, I am glad to see the subject of such abuse discussed in a large public forum, but I do not know what lesson young men watching MTV will take about the consequences of such acts when they see Brown still being treated like a rock star hero. While there are issues involved with someone being judged guilty in the media before being found guilty in court, I think perhaps Oprah Winfrey's act of editing Bebe Winans out of her show in response to him being charged with misdemeanor domestic assault might have a greater impact. It shows men that there can be consequences for such acts. Tell me what you think about Brown's apology in this video. Do you think he gets it? Rihanna's TV interview will be one of the topics I'll be talking about as a guest on "Reliable Sources" Sunday at 10 a.m. on CNN.

I'll bet Winans gets it, though, now that he knows someone as powerful as Oprah is willing to make him pay for him alleged abusive actions.

It used to be that TV networks tried to present blockbuster special event entertainment programming in prime time during "sweeps" months to attract larger audiences. Expensive mini-series, controversial movies and big-name guest stars filled the airwaves in November, February and May.

Scratch that strategy as too expensive in these downsized media days.

Now the game is to get big-name stars and/or controversial guests on your talk shows. Think of Oprah and Barbara Walters with Sarah Palin later this month -- or Diane Sawyer scoring a November sweeps scoop Thursday on "Good Morning America" with Rihanna talking about the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of then-boyfriend Chris Brown. It is the first time she has talked about the widely-reported assault.

The pop star said it was "humiliating" and "traumatizing" to acknowledge that the assault took place. She also said it was "wrong" that she went back to Brown after the beatings. (AP Photo\ABC Ida Mae Astute)

"That's embarrassing that that's the type of person that I fell in love with," Rihanna told Sawyer. "So far in love. So unconditional that I went back. It's humiliating to say this happened. To accept that? It's a traumatizing experience."

She added: "I stayed. I even went back after he beat me, which was wrong. But again ... I'm a human being and people put me on a very unrealistic pedestal. And all these expectations, I'm not perfect."

The full interview will air Friday at 10 p.m. on ABC's "20/20." Read more of the interview and see video here.

And I am sorry, NBC. But having Kate Gosselin on for the 50th time doesn't count in this league.

How about you? Will you be watching the Palin interviews? Will you watch Rihanna Friday night? Who would you like to see interviewed? Who are you sick of seeing? Yes, Kate Gosselin does count in this caregory.

Radio station WCHH-FM (104.3) changed format this week going to an Top 40 hits playlist. The story here is a fairly straightforward one of the former home to alternative music continuing to lose ratings ground to Baltimore's 98 Rock.

The Clear Channel station that is now packaged as Z104.3 will feature such artists as Britney Spears, Kanye West, Jay Z, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Black Eyed Peas.

"Baltimore is one of the rare exceptions in top 25 markets to not have a CHR format. It is finally time for listeners to be able to hear all the hits in one place, and Z104.3 is the new home for those hits. Operations Manager Thea Mitchem has put together an amazing music intensive format that Baltimore has asked for and we know they will love." President/Market Manager Hartley Adkins says in a Radio Online report of the shift.

You can see and hear the station's new look and sound at online the www.z1043.com. It is in the midst of playing 10,000 songs commerfcial-free as part of the re-launch.

It looks as if Jon and Kate Gosselin are now in a duel to see who can act nuttier and more out of control on TV. What great parental roles models. Here is Jon and his friend, Hailey Glassman, on ET. You tell me what you think. I think these folks are absolutely cracking up before our eyes. This is an insane story about the insane genre of reality TV -- and it is all playing out on TV. People ask me why I am so involved with the "Jon & Kate" story. When I started this blog last year, I promised that among other matters, I would also include in my coverage "the craziness" that is American TV. It does not get much crazier than what's going on with "Jon & Kate." This is a hit show gone out of control and headed for one of the most spectaular crack-ups in the history of television.

After all the hype by TLC and the money spent by the Maryland-based cable company to try and buy some credibility from NBC News, Monday night's interview show with Kate Gosselin did not make much of a dent in the ratings loss that "Jon & Kate Plus 8" has suffered in recent months.

"Kate: Her Story," an hourlong interview of Kate Gosselin by NBC News correspondent Natalie Morales, drew an audience of 3.795 million viewers. That is up from 3 million the week before. But it is long way from the audience on 10 million with which the reality TV show, "Jon & Kate Plus 8," started the season in June. Last March before the tabloid explosion, the regular weekly show was averaging about 3.7 million, as I wrote at the time.

The program was promoted as a special hour of the most "intimate" conversation yet with Gosselin, who seems to have been interviewed a lot about herself in recent months. The only thing "special" about it was the peculiar arrangement of its production that saw TLC hire NBC's Peacock Productions to make the program. TLC appears to have been trying to buy some of the credibility of NBC News for its falling star, Kate Gosselin. Judging from yesterday's online reviews and blog comments, the reality-TV drenched cable channel did not seem to be so successful in that regard.

TLC is not going to be making money off Kate Gosselin with 3.8 million viewers if it has to hire outside producers like NBC News to make programs featuring her. But the cable channel is in a desperate place with the show, since Kate Gosselin's estranged husband, Jon, has gone to court to shut down production. Jon Gosselin says he had an "epiphany" recently and came to understand that being on TV is bad for the couple's eight children.

TLC literally cannot make new epsiodes of the show unless Jon Gosselin, whom it is suing, relents -- or a court rules against his efforts to keep his children off this controversial TV show.

The cable channel will try to keep "Jon & Kate Plus 8" going with clip-job productions -- shows made up of film from eisodes that previously aired. I suspect they will use Kate Gosslin is a kind of hosting role, trying to package some of the old material as her "favorite" moments.

Kate Gosselin seems as desperate as TLC to stay on the air with some version of this franchise. They have managed in the last two weeks with unusual and heavily promoted episodes featuring Kate Gosselin to halt a ratings skid that saw the show drop to a low of 1.9 million viewers.

It appears that neither TLC nor Kate Gosselin is ready to throw in the towel.

There are three things you should know about the HBO documentary "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama."

First, this two-hour film is the document in all likelihood by which the landmark presidential campaign of 2008 will be known to future generations. Think Theodore White's book on the 1960 campaign of John F. Kennedy, "The Making of the President."

Second, the documentary is so skillfully crafted that it will transport many viewers back to Nov. 4, 2008, and they will re-experience what they felt on that emotion-charged election night as the returns came in and it was announced that the nation had elected its first African-American president. I am astonished at the visceral and profound ways in which this film affected me.

And after three decades of parsing campaign documentaries ranging from "Primary" (1960) and "The War Room" (1993), to "Journeys with George" (2002), I thought I was immune.

Third, as skeptical as I am about anything born of an alliance between Hollywood and Washington, especially when it might shape national memory of a landmark event, I believe that producer Edward Norton and filmmakers Alicia Sams and Amy Rice have created a documentary that will stand the test of historical scrutiny.
The film establishes its fly-on-the-wall, cinema verite credibility instantly with an atmospheric backstage opening on Nov. 7, 2006, the night of mid-term elections. Then-Senator Obama arrives in a hotel war room just as CNN's Wolf Blitzer announces on TV that Ben Cardin has been elected senator from Maryland. Obama and aide Robert Gibbs exchange smiles at the news as the senator from Illinois announces his goal of wanting "every candidate" for whom he campaigned to win.

The overture ends with Obama in a moment of joy saying, "I love elections. It's so much fun. It's even more fun when you're not on the ballot."

Quick cut to a snowy Iowa in February, 2007, with Obama on the ballot for president of the United States. Inside the modest campaign headquarters, it's about work, not fun, as viewers meet staffer Ronnie Cho, a twentysomething organizer handling Iowa's Polk County for Obama.

Cho's story is one of the narratives that makes "By the People" soar. Following him on and off all the way to election night in 2008 was a brilliant choice by Rice and Sams. Cho represents so many of the themes of this film and Obama's campaign: hope, youth, change, multiculturalism and unbridled optimism.

And he wears all of his emotions on his sleeve -- calling home to his mother from rental cars and motel rooms on the campaign trail, speaking from his heart about what he feels. One measure of the greatness of this film: When Cho cries, you feel his joy, you feel his pain. On election night, his ecstatic, tearful inability to do anything but sob into the phone is overwhelming.

Being able to reach back to mid-term elections in 2006 and the opening days of the Iowa caucuses contributes greatly to the power of the documentary. It also helps explain why Sams and Rice got access instead of others. Seeing the kind of hardball the Obama administration is now playing with media outlets like Fox News, it is not unreasonable to wonder about what went into them being the filmmakers allowed to get so close to the candidate.

"There was never a very clearly defined proposal and then a blanket acceptance," Norton, the Maryland-born actor, says when asked about access. "It was very much sort of access by stages and slow increments. We never said, 'We want to follow your presidential campaign.' We started talking to them in early 2006 in terms of a long-term political diary of sorts that chronicled his experiences as freshman senator as he confronted the realities of government and politics."

Norton says he and Rice told Obama and his advisers in their first meetings that they thought there was a "trend toward disengagement with politics by younger generations." They attributed that in part to lack of interest and appeal of "political candidates of the baby boomer generation." They said it was their belief that Obama "represented the new face of politics" and that they would like to try and "use him as a vehicle for introducing new generations to the political experience."

That sensibility -- a point of view that looks at the promise of Obama through the eyes of youth -- permeates the film. And it extends well beyond Cho. As the Iowa caucuses heat up, the film catches fire. And it is in part because the cameras of Sams and Rice take us into the trenches with the young campaign workers.

On Christmas Eve, just days before the caucuses themselves, we are in the makeshift Iowa headquarters at night with the staffers and volunteers. Most are far from home and you can sense an uncertainty about the price they are being asked to pay to help get Obama elected. It is faith, hope and mainly volunteer charity that keeps them hitting the phones and the computer keyboards on the candidate's behalf.

A short time later, it is easy to get caught up in the film's celebration of Obama's surprise victory, because through our identification with the young staffers and volunteers, we see it as much as a vindication of their belief in American politics as we do a victory for the candidate.

Understand that "By the People" is ultimately a celebration of Obama. And given the intense involvement in the lives of a candidate and campaign that such a documentary requires, it at least raises the question of how objective the filmmakers were able to remain after two years of traveling alongside Team Obama as it battled to win the White House.

"I never worried about, like, Stockholm Syndrome with the directors," Norton says in direct answer to that question. "Amy and Alicia had a pretty firm commitment to verite filmmaking from the beginning. They were never going to be Michael Moores imposing themselves or questions and points of view on the film. They were both clearly inclined -- both in their influences and references and personalities -- to be true documentarians."

Norton says their goal was "to absorb as much as possible with the cameras." As a result, he believes, "The objectivity of the film is very clear when you watch it."

That "objectivity" is rooted in what the filmmakers termed "man on the street" marching orders from Norton and his producing partners, Stuart Blumberg and Bill Migliore.

"We always kind of held onto the notion that Barack was going to be a prism through which the country would reveal itself -- that his candidacy would reverberate through the country in a way that would reflect where we are," Norton says, explaining the directive given Sams and Rice to constantly record reaction to Obama along parade roots, on front porches, on the press plane, and up and down Main Streets across the country.

"So, almost in a classical sense, what you would have is the notion of a Greek chorus," Norton says. "You would have intimacy with Barack, but then, you would also have the film stepping out to see how he's being received by the country. ... We all felt that if we were also studying the way people were reacting to him, then we were doing something that was an objective piece of documentary history."

On TV: "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama" airs 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO.

TLC and NBC News teamed up to deliver a pity party and Kate Gosselin cry-a-thon all rolled into one Monday night. It was a new low in the pathos and bathos of what has become the greatest reality TV crackup of all time. Kate started crying less than 10 minutes into the hour, and she never turned the tears off until the final credits rolled.

Let me give you the big picture of what was going on first in this NBC News approved and produced hourlong interview of Kate Gosselin by "Today" show correspondent Natalie Morales. TLC paid for a piece of the credibility of NBC News, and here is the trick that the network producers used to try and deliver the goods.

Instead of performing like a journalistic interviewer, Morales played the role of a defense attorney forced to put her client on the stand because there is so much evidence against the client. So, what Morales did in her defense attorney role is time after time state the charges against her client in such a way that Kate could easily refute them. This is beyond asking softball questions. This is a far more sophisticated manuever that undermines and seeks to dismiss the allegations against a client even as the defense attorney states them.

Typical of the back and forth was this exchange with Morales bringing up rumors of Kate having an affair with her bodyguard.

 

After a voiceover intro that says, "Now, Kate Gosselin is responding to the gossip and innuendo," Morales says: "There have been a lot of rumors about Jon and infidelity. There have been rumors about you and infidelity. And Jon said in past interviews that he suspected first that you were having an affair with your bodyguard. Would you like to set the record straight?"

So, now whatever Kate says is implied to be the truth: She is setting the record straight.

And Kate says, "It is so unthinkable to me that to have to think about it makes me sick...."

Great, now the record is straight. Glad that was cleared up so decisively.

How about her lies about her having only $1,000 and being unable to pay her bills? Or how about her not yet accounting for the money she took from the account? Here's the way "Kate's Story" dealt with that.

MORALES: Let's talk about finances -- Jon tapping into your account, your joint account. Was the money returned in full? What's the status of the money right now?

KATE: "The judge ruled it's all been taken care of. I did everything that I needed to do. I'm the bill payer in the household, and all the money I spent has been spent on family things, mortgage, utility. So, the important thing is it's all figured out for now."

Ok, fine, Kate says it's all figured out and she doesn't want to be any more specific about the money the judge ordered her to account for, and the hard-hitting Natalie Morales leaves it right there. Except Kate's shopping buddy has some more mopping up to do as regards allegations that Kate has not put aside all the money she says she has for the kids.

MORALES: In terms of a separate account for the children, that's secure?

KATE: Secure. Because it's their money, and my goal in all of this is that they have the opportunity to go to college. It is absolutely secure, locked up and safe. I'm very proud of that.

Once again, no specifics, no evidence, no follow-up. We must simply take Kate at her word -- actually Morales' word that the kids money is "secure."

Kate was unbelieavable in all her old and tedious ways. She said again, "I just want peace for my kids."

She said again that she is a "contract honorer," and Jon is not, and that is why TLC is in her judgment righteous in suing him.

And here is Natalie Morales, for the defense, once again: "Some have accused you of using the show as paycheck. This is your income. What do you say?"

Come on, Kate, knock it down. You can do it.

KATE: I've heard accusations that I set out for this reality show as my paycheck and that I wanted to become some huge celebrity, which I laugh about. It has become our primary source of income, but nobody could have predicted that."

Why not? You signed contracts, and TLC gave you money. Even in the first season, it was more than you and Jon ever saw at your other jobs. How could you not see it was your primary source of income?

But that would be my follow-up question. As for Morales, she had already served her role as setting up Kate to refute the accusation.

Here is one of Kate's greatest moments, though, playing the childbirth and mommy cards in the face of one of the most serious charges against her.

MORALES: SO when people ask you, 'Are you exploiting the children, allowing these cameras to come in?' Are you compromising your children in any way by doing that?

KATE: (Pause while Kate gathers herself) Coming from a mom who laid on bedrest from the time I found out I was pregnant, seven-weeks pregnant 'til 30 weeks. And absolutely would not put anything in my mouth that would harm them, and fought for every second of their existence. I can tell you that there is nothing that would ever force me to put them in harm's way."

When Kate plays the "laid on bedrest" card, it is all over but the shouting.

She was more ridiculous and pathetic than ever, but maybe that is just because she was on camera saying crazy stuff longer than ever.

One of my favorite moments came when she became so overcome with emotion that she had to stop altogether and gather herself to deliver this line: "I still wake up every day and I think the phone will ring, and it will be the old Jon."

But later, she said the old Jon was filled with "anger," and they would have broken up anyway even if they never had a reality TV show.

And at another point, she said actually it was her "kids" who say they want the "old Jon" back.

Which is it Kate? And did you ever wake up even one day hoping that angry guy whose breathing you couldn't stand would call?

Or, did you just think people would feel sorry for you if you said it? And you knew you could get away with saying such stuff, because Morales, your defense attorney, wouldn't call you on it?

 

 

I wasn't going to post this, because I did not want to help NBC News with its shameless shilling for the special it produced for TLC tonight. But almost everyone who visits this blog and comments about "Jon & Kate" saw this already, and I do want to put tonight's interview in some context. So, did you hear Natalie Morales say Kate Gosselin was being "brutally honest"? How about her saying of the interview that "no topic was off limits"? The fact that she can say such things with a sincere look on her face and that phony note of concern in her voice makes her just the perfect interviewer for this latest spin-o-rama. And, oh, the tears again. Boo-hoo, Kate. This is shameless, and to think I defended Meredith Vieira's interview with Kate. I will be back later Monday night with a review of the interview. Please stop back.

Maryland is again the focus of the ESPN film series "30 for 30" this week as it premieres Kirk Fraser's "Without Bias," a look at the career, death and impact of one-time University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias.

This production is part of the same film series that last month showcased Barry Levinson's documentary on the Baltimore Colts Marching Band, "The Band That Wouldn't Die."

The publicity notes promise "the most ambitious, comprehensive and uncompromising account of Bias' life and death ever captured on film." And I will say Fraser seems to have had excellent access to members of Bias' family, teammates, coaches, Washington area media types who covered Bias and even the athlete's girlfriend.

But the best even the promotional material can claim is that Fraser "utilizes dozens of interviews ... in an effort to determine exactly what happened on that fateful night" when Bias died after consuming cocaine in a University of Maryland dorm room.

And that is what "Without Bias" comes down to in the end: an "effort" to determine what happened -- not any kind of convincing determination. Like so many before him, Fraser ends up with a raft of unanswered questions. Bias' girlfriend says she never saw him use drugs, while the classmate who was with him in the room and was ultimately acquitted on four cocaine charges says today that he and Bias had used cocaine before.

To his credit, Fraser does explore some of the fallout -- and even legacy of Bias' death. That ranges from the resignations and firing at the University of Maryland, to passage of federal maximum minimum laws for users of small amounts of certain drugs.

What the documentary lacks is a strong dramatic arc. In the end, it feels more like a long magazine piece than a documentary film.

The death of Len Bias still has power, and the film captures some of that. But while it could have been a poignant meditation on all that promise lost, it merely leaves you feeling sad and somewhat confused about this athlete who died so young.

The film premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN.

See photos of Len Bias here.

 

 

On Oct. 2, two weeks into the fall season, I wrote a piece saying it looked as if we had a preliminary answer to the question of the TV year: How will Jay Leno do in prime time for NBC?

That answer: Not very well.

I also said that while the troubled NBC is probably willing to  live with being a low-cost alternative to the other networks in prime time, affiliates like Baltimore's WBAL (Channel 11), looked as if they were going to be feeling some real pain in the pocketbook from reduced sales on their late newscasts as a result of NBC's bold move. I wondered how long they would be willing to live with it.

After four more weeks, the October ratings are in, and the news is even worse than I predicted for Leno and WBAL in Baltimore. At 10 p.m., not only does Leno get beat by prime-time entertainment programming on the other network owned and affiliated stations in the market, WBFF Fox-45 beats Leno with its 10 p.m. newscast.

I'm talking about the key sales demographic of viewers 25 to 54 years of age, because that is what the stations live or die with in the real world. And when you extend the look at those figures into 11 p.m., the news only gets worse for WBAL.

 

For decades, the story of the late news was one of a back-and-forth struggle between WBAL and WJZ for leadership.

Say goodbye to that story line in the new post-Leno era. WJZ not only is firmly established in first place, it doubles WBAL's audience in the key demographic. In fact, WBFF gets a bigger audience at 10 for its news than WBAL now does at 11.

The rating for viewers 25-54 goes from a 3.8 for NBC programming in prime time up until 10 p.m., to 2.2 for Leno from 10 to 11. After that, it is 2.0 for WBAL's late news, followed by only 0.9 for Conan O'Brien's "Tonight" show -- and 0.5 for Jimmy Fallon.

These are the numbers of a failed programming move made by NBC that its owned and affiliated stations like WBAL must now live -- and suffer -- with.