The Morning Fix: Pay TV subscriptions drop! Gay movies and TV shows become matter-of-fact. Cable network Ovation starting to get some applause.
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After the coffee. Before getting over the shock of Tiger Wood’s divorce.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. USA Today looks at the rising number of movies and television shows featuring gay characters and plots. ‘It’s a new era’ in which being a gay family ‘is no longer a significant part of the story,’ said David Hauslaib, founder of a blog called Queerty, which tracks this stuff. Well, if that’s the case, does that mean a story on this topic is no longer significant either? Just wondering.
Cutting the cord to save some money. A report by media industry consulting firm SNL Kagan showed that in the second quarter the number of pay-television subscribers declined for the first time in modern history that anyone can seem to recall. The cause, though, may not be people cutting the cord because they are getting everything they need from the Internet but they’re doing it as a cost-saving measure. More on the trend from Dow Jones.
Someone is a little nervous. A Funny or Die Web parody of an Oscar campaign centered around the Weinstein Co.’s ‘Piranha 3D’ -- which was sanctioned by the Weinstein Co. -- apparently made a few too many jokes about the awards show for somebody’s comfort. Vulture’s Joe Adalian looks at the original spoof that ran and then the edited version and wonders if Harvey Weinstein, whose love of all things Oscar, went back and demanded cuts so the academy wouldn’t get offended. (Weinstein especially loves winning Oscars and no doubt hopes to take another one home with ‘The Tillman Story.’)
Just a little touching up, really. In the United Kingdom’s version of ‘The X Factor,’ Simon Cowell’s music talent show, sometimes the contestants have their vocals tweaked during post-production. The BBC has a story about how a contestant’s performance is not all that it appears to be on the show.
With friends like these. Jennifer Aniston’s ‘The Switch’ didn’t exactly set the world on fire last weekend. But did Disney, which ultimately ended up handling the marketing for the movie, fail to deliver what it promised? That’s what the Hollywood Reporter hints at in its analysis of Aniston’s latest movie’s performance and what it means in the long term for her. In the short term, it apparently means an appearance on former ‘Friends’ costar Courteney Cox’s show, ‘Cougar Town,’ which happens to be on Disney’s ABC.
And the Emmy should go to ... With the Emmy Awards less than a week away, it’s time for television critics to start making their picks. These days, it’s not enough to say who will win. You also have to say who should win. Since most everyone who I think should win usually gets snubbed in the nominating process (‘Rescue Me’), I don’t have much fun playing this game. Anyway, here are today’s predictions from Jace Lacob of the Daily Beast. Meanwhile, Variety has an update on the Paley Center’s plans for its own awards show, which may be held in May.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: The artsy cable network Ovation is starting to gain some traction. ... The boyfriend of an assistant to a senior Disney executive pleaded guilty to charges of security fraud -- the result of his efforts to sell inside information about Disney. Charges against the woman are still pending. ... David Lazarus on how hard it is to comparison shop for pay television.
-- Joe Flint
Where else will you find so much wisdom with so few characters? Follow me on Twitter at:Twitter.com/JBFlint
