July 9, 2008 4:24

Corporate Press Release Theater: A Very Special Baby Borrowers

OK, so I have already granted that NBC's The Baby Borrowers is topical in addressing the very of-the-moment topic of teen pregnancy. (Though my gut tells me this issue, however genuine, is on the verge of becoming the shark attacks of summer 2008.) But the network seems to have let the matter go to its corporate head, having decided to forego the usual reality TV "reunion special" in order to upgrade to a more serious-sounding [clears throat] "town hall."

Release after the jump.

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July 9, 2008 2:00

AFTRA Ratifies Contract; Strike-o-meter Dives

AMC

The American Federation of Radio & Television Artists ratified its new contract yesterday. Although AFTRA is the smaller of the two actors' unions up for contract renewal, the vote (approving the pact with 62% in favor) would appear to make a strike by the larger Screen Actors Guild less likely. Anything can happen, of course, and SAG remains without a contract, but (1) SAG had invested in a campaign to sink the AFTRA deal, (2) many actors belong to both unions and (3) a SAG strike would require a three-fourths vote of its membership for authorization.

Not that the AFTRA numbers necessarily transfer to SAG, but it sure doesn't make the math easier. Keep your fingers crossed for a full season of Mad Men.

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July 9, 2008 11:56

More Hard-Hitting Campaign Journalism

And while we're on the subject of Barack Obama as pop-culture product, last night Access Hollywood debuted the beginning of its four part[!] interview with Barack, Michelle and their two daughters, Malia and Sasha. The Obamas—who have been on something of a soft-media assault lately, with a cover shot in Us and Michelle's guest spot on The View—sat down with eco-cabana owner Maria Menounos for a gloves-off grilling that included:

* How "for the Obamas, family always comes first," Michelle "is his rock" and his daughters "help him keep it real"

* "How Michelle and Barack keep their romance alive and what makes the girls feel so loved by their mom and dad"

* The shocking revelation that the candidate doesn't like ice cream. Doesn't like good old, hard-working, regular-folks American ice cream. "My daddy doesn't like sweets," reveals Sasha, though Barack confesses a partiality for mint chewing gum: "I'm pretty conservative when it comes to my gum"

Enjoy it while you can, as Obama has already said this is likely to be the last such interview for his daughters. In retrospect, he told Good Morning America today, the interview gave "a little bit of pause [to] Michelle and I, particularly given the way it sort of went around the cable stations. I don't think it's healthy and it's something that we'll be avoiding in the future." (Expect the McCain camp to pounce on the Access Hollywood flip-flop issue.)*

As for the equal-time issue, this spring Cindy McCain was interviewed by Access' Nancy O'Dell. About, um, infidelity allegations against her husband. I'm sure they'd have gotten around to the ice-cream question if they'd had more time.

* I wrote this parenthesis as a joke, but as I type, MSNBC is running a segment chyroned "OBAMA INTERVIEW CONTROVERSY: Sen. Obama criticized for allowing kids to be interviewed on Access Hollywood."

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July 9, 2008 10:50

Obama's Stadium Show

While I was catching up after vacation, word came out that Barack Obama's campaign had shifted plans and would hold his nomination-acceptance speech not indoors in Denver but in the Broncos' 76,000-seat stadium. In the TV press, of course, the main burning question was: how will this affect the news producers?

A few thoughts after the jump:

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July 9, 2008 9:07

The Morning After: TCA Roundup Edition

Among the news nuggets to emerge from yesterday's TV critics' press tour:

DISCOVERY

* If American broadcasters can't keep Ted Koppel sufficiently occupied, what to do? Become a special correspondent for BBC America. (In the meantime, Koppel's Discovery documentary on China, The People's Republic of Capitalism, left, begins tonight.)

* But enough about living news legends. Bring on the naked teens and dinosaurs!

* African-American-focused channel TV One, stunningly, plans on spending a bit more time covering the Democratic convention this year.

* Style Channel joins forces with a massively obese woman.

* Oh, and that whole business about the TV critics' tour being a soon-to-be-extinct dinosaur? Aaron Barnhart and Eric Deggans beg to differ.

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