Hollywood Highlights

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

NBC Universal: More cutbacks and layoffs

NBC Universal is showing signs of rising from the ratings cellar, but that has not stopped the cutbacks and layoffs by parent company, Comcast. (Disclosure: I am a former NBC employee). The Internet is buzzing with the latest reports of 500 employees getting the axe throughout the entertainment, news, and cable units. The first story I saw about this was […]
Friday, November 2, 2012

NBC’s star-studded live telethon tonight for victims of Sandy

Today the death toll from superstorm Sandy in the U.S. stands at 96 and could still go higher. Four days after Sandy slammed into the East Coast and began a slow march across the northeast, more than three million are still without power and there are reports of shortages of gasoline, food, and other necessities. On NBC tonight, “Hurricane Sandy […]
Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Academy Award winner rides out superstorm Sandy

The East Coast took a brutal pounding from the superstorm Sandy, which made landfall late yesterday. The storm caused widespread devastation in some of the mid-Atlantic states, knocking out power to millions. At least 26 deaths have been blamed on Sandy, now moving slowly across the country — less powerful, but still a threat. The nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., suffered […]
Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety sold

The oldest of Hollywood’s trade papers, Daily Variety, has a new owner today. The 107-year-old Variety was very slow to move into the digital age. For that reason, and poor management, it has been struggling for years and bleeding a lot of red ink. In its glory days of the 1990s, when circulation and advertisement were robust, the publication took […]
Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Recap: 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards

The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards are history. Sunday’s telecast of the ceremony was ho-hum — in fact, some of the jokes and failed gags were down right painful to watch, so the writers responsible should hope they are forgotten real quick. Favorite moments: Julianne Moore picking up best actress in a miniseries for her performance as Sarah Palin in “Game […]
Thursday, September 13, 2012

Kevin Costner snags new adventure series book deal

Actor/director/producer, Kevin Costner, reportedly has a new book series deal with Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books. The first book in the adventure series, “The Explorers Guild, Volume One: Passage to Shambhala,” is set for release in 2014. Costner told Deadline.com’s Mike Fleming he feels “… the book has the sweep of adventure classics he grew up reading, including “Arabian Nights” […]
Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Comcast NBCUniversal hit with “Tonight Show” jokes and class action lawsuit

More bad labor press for Comcast NBCUniversal.  First, a lot of shock and surprise when it came out last week  that about 20 staffers got laid off  from the highly rated, “The Tonight Show.”  Host Jay Leno reportedly was forced to take a pay cut as part of that budget slashing.  For the past couple of nights, Leno and his […]
Friday, August 17, 2012

Entertainment Bits: MJ’s will reviewed, Facebook stock down again, WGA-West slams Verizon/cable deals

No surprise that a family feud is underway over the very rich estate of the late pop legend, Michael Jackson. Some of the superstar’s disgruntled siblings have charged his will is a fake. Yes, that’s the will that left the singer’s fortune to various charities, his mother, and his children and nothing to his brothers and sisters.  Forbes investigated MJ’s […]
Friday, August 17, 2012

A Writer’s View: From TV police drama “Hunter” to mystery author

My first paid writing job fell into my lap when working for a TV syndication company.  My boss needed to hire someone to watch seven seasons (23 shows a season) worth of “Hunter,” the police drama starring Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer, and compose a one page, double spaced synopsis of each show to be faxed (our office didn’t have […]