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Network Doomsday

“I’M MAD AS HELL AND NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE”

That line is from the 1976 excellent film “Network” of course. Written by the great Paddy Chayefsky. The line was delivered by Peter Finch who played slightly nuts anchorman Howard Beale. Finch by the way won the Oscar for his performance. I always expected one day Dan Rather would blurt that line out on his CBS Evening News. I always thought Rather himself was slightly nuts, “What’s the frequency Kenneth,” “Courage” etc; In the end it was the George Bush military record debacle that did him in. CBS replaces him with another fossil Bob Schiffer. So much for the precious 18 to 49 audience.

Dan’s gone, Ted Kopple called it quits, Tom Brokaw is fishing and Peter Jennings sad to say will most likely just fade away. As Sam Donaldson put it at a broadcast convention recently network news is dead. Those that sit in the esteemed anchor j\chair have the biggest egos in television. They believe that the entire nation is waiting to hear what they have to say. With cable news channels up the wazoo, who needs them? I’ve said this for years in fact I haven’t watched a network newscast in years.

If you want to know how big those anchorman egos are, here are a couple of examples. NBC would send a live truck and a crew into Time’s Square every evening so it could shoot the giant screen at 1 Times Square, (that’s the building where the New Years Eve ball drops) for a two second shot of Brokaw signing off. When you ride north on the West Side Highway every network has a huge billboard for their star anchors. By no coincidence all of these anchors would pass them on their ride home to fashionable Westchester estates or Connecticut.

Those newscast still make a lot of money for the networks and that is the main reason they won’t fade into history anytime soon, sad to say. Also, nobody has any idea how to replace them.

In the early days of TBS long before CNN, Ted Turners idea was to run re-runs of Andy Griffith and The Beverly Hillbillies instead of wasting a ton of money doing news. It worked.

When CNN first started one of it’s selling points was, “The news is the star, not the people reporting it.” Well, that hasn’t worked. Now CNN is trying to make stars out of their people, just like Fox News has done. Good luck!

If you get the chance pick up “Network” it is a great film and it is amazing how Chayefsky predicted what television would become. Remember this picture was done way before there were five hundred channels. Peter Finch received his Academy Award posthumously, his wife accepted for him. Useless trivia.

Back to CNN. I see their old bag in residence Judy Woodruff is calling it quits. Ya! Like it was her decision. Maybe nobody is watching “Inside Politics.”

GO SEE THIS MOVIE:

“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.” Usually the word Documentary scares people off, especially if you have to fork over ten bucks for a ticket. This one is worth it. I knew of Enron but did know the details. This will clear it up and will leave you thinking how much of this stuff may still be going on and who out there hasn’t gotten caught. The men who put Kenneth Lay and Jeffery Skilling were like the leaders of a religious cult. Think of the Wizard in “The Wizard of Oz,” don’t look behind the curtain. The entire empire was built on smoke and mirrors and they fiddled while Enron burned.. Congratulations to Alex Gibeny the filmmaker who brought this story to the big screen in a most entertaining way.

Hey! I’m in a bad mood and I’m not going to take it anymore.

Jane Fonda's Big Party

If “Socks Without Partners” is not your favorite charity how about “G-Capp”? That is Jane Fonda’s charity it stands for Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention. Celebrating its tenth anniversary. We attended a party this week in honor of the occasion. Okay! It also co-incited with Jane’s new book and her upcoming movie. The book “My Life So Far,” and the movie “Monster In Law” with Jennifer Lopez.

Jane was there autographing her bio and told me she had just learned she was number one on the New York Times best seller list. It doesn’t get better than that.

I first met Jane Fonda when then boyfriend Ted Turner brought her by CNN New York for a tour. He asked me to take them around. I’ll never forget him introducing Jane to some of the folks saying, “This is Jane Fonda, you know (he sang) Workin’ nine to five.”

Despite what some may thing she is a really nice down to earth person and very funny. She was saying that she wore a ring on every interview she did hoping the jewelry designer would give her the matching earrings for free. As I’ve always said no matter how rich you might be there is nothing better than free stuff.

Also ran into at the party former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young. I just found out he’s an ambassador. Which means you refer to him as Ambassador and not “hey, look at you.” Which is what I did.

Another old friend former soap opera actress now film producer Tonya Walker. Tonya and I go back to her days on “One Life to Live.” If I recall she played “The Other Woman.” She is as beautiful as ever and married with two young children.

It was great party and we’ll be attending the premier of “Monster In-Law” May 5th.

Oh! At the party Lisa won a crystal bowl from Tiffany’s. Nothing makes her happier than carrying around a big blue bag from Tiffany’s.

One parting shot McDonald’s is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. Billion’s sold. Anyway if everyone took the film”Supersize Me” to heart those red roof restaurants might look like this.

BACK FROM NEW YORK

Just got back from a week in New York, my old home. Still is mentally though. Currently keeping my stuff in the south home of the Waffle House chain. If you don’t know what they are they are fast food diners and there is one at every exit. We happened in one the other day for breakfast and learned that Waffle House is celebrating their 50th anniversary. There is a pamphlet available on the counter with Waffle House facts. Since 1955 they have served 1.5 billion eggs. Now come on who has been counting these eggs for fifty years.

Let’s go back to New York. Ya! Good idea. On Broadway Kathleen Turner stars in the revival of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” She is fantastic as the drunken Martha. Elizabeth Taylor made the role famous on film. So there were some big shoes to fill and Kathleen Turner is the perfect fit. Richard Burton plays husband George in the film. This time around Bill Irwin best known for slapstick comedy takes on the challenge and in my opinion does quite well.

If you’re not familiar with the story Virginia Woolf takes place over one drunken night. George a failure college professor and Martha the dipsomaniac daughter entertain another couple. I guess you could say entertain. It is a booze-fueled night. In this day and age you are not suppose to laugh at a couple of alcoholics but this show is as funny as it is tragic. If you get to New York check it out.

One final note, “Spamalot” is being called Broadway’s next “Producers.” Based on the Monty Python films a cast of recognizable faces is performing to sold out audiences at every show. According to the New York Times, “Spamalot” is also drawing straight young men. Young ticket buyers are few and far between on the Great White Way. Which lately is a term describing the hair color of most theatregoers.

Well, have to get back to work on my latest charity, “Socks Without Partners.”