Here’s a question to ponder. What is it that bloggers and organized crime killers have in common? They are both judged by the number of hits they can accumulate.
It is an interesting concept. If a person writes for a newspaper, they know how many papers are sold. But there is little way to tell if the person who read the newspaper ever stopped on that reporter’s story.
The Internet answers that question in the minds of many. The more people who read the blog, as measured by hits and comments, the better. But, can the number of blog hits be artificially manufactured?
After seeing “The Dark Knight” and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” this weekend it seemed very clear that the stars of the upcoming movies would be perfect guests for Dr. Phil. It is not unusual for stars of movies to make the talk show rounds to promote their movie. So why not take advantage of Dr. Phil’s show?
Imagine Dr. Phil opening the show with the announcement, “Today’s guests have what I like to call old-fashioned problems. My first guest is that crimson-skinned star of ‘Hellboy II,’ It is Hellboy himself. Joining him is the trickster of Gotham City. The man with the fashion sense of Prince. Put you hands together for The Joker.”
The Walt Disney Studios dominated the world of animation during the decades following the 1937 release of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Every other studio knew the best it could do was second place. Walt Disney’s ability to use the latest technologies to producing staggering pieces of film art was nothing short of genius.
Now it is John Lasseter and his team at Pixar showing true genius. Not since Walt Disney has there been such force in a film genre. Anyone else trying to do computer animation might as well settle for second place.
Pixar’s “WALL-E” is the latest example of the magic of Pixar.
Here he comes to save the day. There was a time when super heroes beat up bank robbers, stopped trains from crashing and even saved a few lives. This is the 21st Century. The help a super hero provides these days is a little more practical.
In connection with the release of the Will Smith super hero feature film “Hancock” on July 2, Columbia Pictures has launched a contest. The winner will get their home mortgage paid off faster than a speeding bullet. Hancock, a hero from a distant planet can bend steel deals in his bare hands.
Look. Up in the sky. It is a high mortgage rate. It is staggering closing costs. No. It is Hancock.
California Adventure has been the New Coke of theme Parks. Sure, you would buy New Coke if it was cheap. But how many people really preferred the knockoff to the real thing. Since California Adventure opened in 2001, it has been an anemic partner to Disneyland.
Except for Tower of Terror, California Screamin’ and Soarin’ Over California, the only great thing about the park was it was never as busy as Disneyland. Just pop in the park during Disneyland peak hours and you could always find an open attraction or place to eat.
John Wallace is no longer working at KGPE, Channel 47. His contract wasn’t renewed, says Tom Long, acting general manager of the station. Long added Wallace’s last day was today.
The station has not wasted anytime in an effort to make Wallace a distant memory. The photo and information about Wallace has already been deleted from the KGPE Web site.
Wallace began his broadcast career in Fresno in 1969 when he joined the news staff at KYNO radio. In 1975, Wallace became a television news anchor at KFSN, Channel 30. In 1987, he joined KJEO (now KGPE) to anchor the station’s evening news.
He left that job in 2001 to spend more time in community work and politics. Four years later Wallace was lured back to the station to co-host the KGPE morning show with Kathryn Herr. Wallace has continued to do community work. He currently is the Bulldogs Foundation Fund Drive president.
Mornings never seemed to be the right fit for the veteran news anchor. And his years of local work did not give the show a ratings spike. In fact, the morning show for the CBS station continues to struggle to find viewers.
As for the future of the KGPE morning show, Long says there will be a program Friday morning. He would not comment on who would be anchoring the program.
Before I write another word, I must make a deep, dark confession. This is just between us. That's because it is absolutely critical for a journalist to remain impartial. Each story must be approached with an open mind.
That isn't the case with reviews. Remain impartial in a review and every movie or TV show will get a C grade. Eventually that kind of middle-ground approach can lead to a new career.
The impartial approach is needed when writing features and news stories. It should not matter whether the writer hates or loves the person, place or thing that is the subject. Each story just has to be approached with a wide open mind.
That is tough in one particular case. Here’s my confession. And I hope you can forgive me.
"Grey’s Anatomy" star Katherine Heigl has always been a great interview. The first time I talked to her was for the series "Roswell." What makes her such an enjoyable interview is that she is smart, funny and goes out of the way to make you feel comfortable.
That's why the report on the L.A. Times blog Gold Derby that Heigl's name is not on the the list of Emmy contenders is both depressing and understandable. It is sad that she won't be able to defend last year's win. This wasn’t a great year for her, but there were at least enough episodes to make her worthy of consideration.
Since “The Sopranos” ended there have not been a lot of reasons to suggest paying the extra bucks to pay for HBO. It is certainly not the premium channel to chose if you want to watch uncut theatrical films. The network tends to lean more toward original series and programs.
But, while you still have time, call your cable provider and order HBO before Monday. Order the service. I’ll wait while you make the call.
Hmmm. Hmmmm.
Oh good, you are back. It was nice to see you agree to order HBO without knowing the reason why. Thanks for the trust. You will be glad you did.
And now we wait. Last night’s finale of ABC’s addictive “Lost” answered a few more questions. But, in what has become the norm, along with the answers came more questions.
The problem is the next new episodes of “Lost” will not air until early in 2009. Curse you ABC. You can keep rolling out garbage like “According to Jim” but viewers are made to wait for quality shows like “Lost.” Remember, we don’t have the ability to manipulate time like those on the island. We have to sit and wait.
Please stop reading now if you have not seen last night’s episode and don’t want me to spoil the surprises.
The second season of ABC's "Ugly Betty" ended with a cliffhanger. Betty (America Ferrera) faced the tough decision of choosing between two men. Henry (Christopher Gorham) asked Betty to marry him. Gio (Freddy Rodríguez) wanted to travel to Italy with Betty.
What's a girl to do?
If you are making bets, don't pick the marriage proposal. At this point, Gorham, a Fresno native, is not scheduled to be on season three. And Rodríguez is also not scheduled to return. These changes are part of a revamping of the series to swing the focus more back to the workplace. As part of the changes, the series moves from being shot in Los Angeles to New York.
The show can make all the changes it wants. The loss of Gorham is a mistake.
Gorham's goofy Henry gave the series a sweet element that was a nice balance to all the bitterness. Sure Betty is sweet. It just was nice she had some help from Gorham's character.
The announcement Harrison Ford would reprise his role as Indiana Jones was greeted with some doubts. Could the 65-year-old actor handle the physical demands of playing the adventurer? Would the action have to be less exciting so Indy would not break a hip?
If you were one of those asking the questions, go see “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” It opens today. What you will see is Ford’s performance has not lost a step. And it has been 19 years since he played the character. Indy is just as wise cracking, fist throwing and chance taking as ever.
His return along with Sylvester Stallone’s recent decision to make new “Rocky” and “Rambo” movies suggests a trend of aging action actors reprising their famous roles just one more time.
NBC has announced it will add a new reality show called “Momma’s Boys” to its schedule in late August. The show will feature male contestants and their moms living in a house with potential wives. It is up to the moms to decide which of the harlots, oops make that hopefuls, are perfect for their sons.
This comes on the heels of the NBC reality show “My Dad is Better Than Your Dad.” This TV answer to child abuse pitted fathers and a child against other family pairings. It was painful to watch the way some of the dads treated their kids.
It appears, based on these two shows, NBC is looking at family related reality shows to fill a schedule that gets weaker with each passing moment. You have to think more is to come. Here are some ideas for future NBC reality shows.
Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth?
If the number of telephone calls and emails I continue to get is any measure of the continued interest in Heidi Watney, the former KMPH, Channel 26 sports reporter, then she is gone but not forgotten. So here's an update:
As part of Watney's new job as a sideline reporter at Boston Red Sox games for the New England Sports Network, she was interviewed for a story that can be seen at BostonHerald.com. The contents of that story drew attention from many sports bloggers in the Boston area.
That’s because Watney had some interesting things to say.
One part of the story focuses on The Fresno Bee's reporting in December of how Watney was suspended by KMPH management after cursing at a school administrator.
Here's what I wrote at that time:
KMPH, Channel 26, sports reporter Heidi Watney has been suspended this month because of an incident with a Hoover High School vice principal that occurred in November. Watney cursed at the school administrator.
This is the problem Clinton, Obama and McCain should address
Forget the high prices of gas. Forget the increase in student fees. Forget that the voting on “American Idol” is all wrong. There is a much bigger problem facing this country. Not since Roseanne Barr grabbed herself and spit while while singing the National Anthem has there been such a blight on this once proud landscape.
And this problem is growing. It has gone from a few small incidents to being almost universal. You can’t drive down the street without running into it.
The problem is a lack of common courtesy. There was a time when most people where civil to each other. Now it is all men and women for themselves. Who cares if the light has been red for five minutes? Go on through. Lines at the checkout counters are only suggestions. Go ahead and get in front of the crowd.
There is no place on this great green planet where there is so little lack of common courtesy than at the grocery store.
The nominations for the “35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards” were announced today. Categories included most of the usual suspects from talk shows to children’s programming. We won’t know until June 20 who has won. Can’t you just feel the tension?
This year’s group on nominees include the usual battles such as in the talk show category where “The View,” “Rachael Ray” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” will fight for the top honor. And of course there were numerous categories for daytime dramas.
But the real battle is in the Game Show host category. This is where white collar vs. blue caller. Veteran vs. rookie. Stander vs. sitter. Yes, I am talking about “Cash Cab’s” Ben Bailey and “Jeopardy!’s” Alex Trebek going head-to-head for the Daytime Emmy.
There hasn’t been as much tension in this category since the old Peter Marshall and Bert Convy showdowns of the ‘70s. Just as it was with those titans, arguments can be made for both this year.
Yawn. That’s how exciting the competition on “Dancing With the Stars” has become. Watching the ABC reality show is like watching the Oscars and trying to predict who will come in second place. The action resumes tonight.
Unless Kristi Yamaguchi suddenly goes mad and beats up the judges, this is her year to take home the tackiest trophy in televison. Her dancing is so far superior to the others it is like a Broadway dancer taking on an 8th grade nerd.
There must be a way to make the competition interesting again. Here are some suggestions.
You can look at any television ratings book and see KFSN, Channel 30, is the most watched station when it comes to local news. And 99% of the time the local ABC station does the solid work that proves it deserves that attention.
That is why when the station loses its focus the results just seem completely out of place. Just such a moment happened Thursday night. Any of you who stayed up past “Lost” saw the story. If you didn’t see the report, you at least had to have seen one of the 34,267,528 promotions for it.
The story that stands out like a sore thumb is KFSN’s report on Fresno’s Bigfoot connection.
It is not unusual for politicians to pop up on television shows. Richard Nixon appeared on “Laugh-In.” Bill Clinton played the sax on “The Arsenio Hall Show.” But tonight the three leading contenders for the White House go where no Presidential hopeful has gone before. They are going to get down and dirty with professional wrestling.
On the eve of the Pennsylvania primary, Presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain will be featured in taped messages on WWE’s “Monday Night RAW.” Those messages will air between 8-11 p.m. tonight on the USA Network.
This is one way to get a message to the five million viewers who tune in the professional wrestling program. It just makes a person wonder what kind of message will be presented. Here’s one possibility.
The mystery of the Oceanic Six seems to be getting clearer on “Lost.” Or is it?
For those of you who don’t watch the ABC drama, survivors of a plane crash have been on a mysterious island for 100 days. Since the end of last season, there have been flash forwards to show that a group known as the Oceanic Six were rescued.
It is clear that the six include Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Hurley (Jorge Garcia), Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Sayid (Naveen Andrews). Here’s the big question. Has the sixth member of the group been revealed or not.
Please don’t continue to read if you are behind in watching the series. There will be spoilers.
Lindsay, Britney and Amy go into a bar ... 
Here’s a question to ponder. What is it that bloggers and organized crime killers have in common? They are both judged by the number of hits they can accumulate.
