James Hibberd

» NBC’s Kevin Reilly Just Waiting For This ‘Idol’ Hype To Blow Over at from
[...] Network presidents tasked with counterprogramming American Idol’s 37 million viewers (a job further complicated by the Mandatory ‘Idol” Viewership Act For Citizens 18-34 just passed by the newly Democrat-controlled Congress under heavy lobbying by News Corp.) find themselves with precious few practical options for combating the Nielsen juggernaut; those brave enough to resist the easy out of simply scheduling two hours of test-patterns in their Idol-opposing timeslot and then splattering their brains on the windows of their corner offices really have only one reliable strategy for surviving their Sisyphean labor: burying their heads in the warm sands of total denial. TV Week’s Critical Eye TCA blog notes how NBC’s Kevin Reilly is dealing with the Idol problem: We got to see how it weathers over the course of the year,” he says. “Not to be shitty about it, but maybe they’ll have a bad run. Nothing burns that bright forever. Some day it will be uncool to watch ‘American Idol.’” [...] [Read More]

» Weblog Sin Pies » credit where it’s due from
[...] My friend James Hibberd, blogging from TCA, posted a great entry today that illustrates what can happen when quotes get attribuuted to the wrong people. In this post he compares American Idol to the Death Star — a reference to its being the most powerful show on TV, etc., etc. — while discussing NBC’s current status among the networks. NBC’s Kevin Reilly is mentioned in the same sentence. But note! Hibberd — not Reilly — made the Death Star reference. Unfortunately, overzealous bloggers attributed the statement to Reilly, and CBS’s Nina Tassler got the news before the error could be corrected. Hibberd writes: Not to get all self referential, but CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler is crediting/blaming NBC's Kevin Reilly for something at the CBS session, the statement is taking on a life of its own, and I'm slowly slumping further and further down in my chair because it's sort of my fault. [...] [Read More]