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Oprah Attacks Major Media Outlet for Kowtowing to Her Some Years Ago and Then Gleefully Attacking Her This Past March, During the ‘Worst Week’ of Her Life. Oprah Is Wrong on Both Counts

I was clearing out past shows on my DVR the other night, and one of the programs I was finally able to watch was the second part of “Oprah Builds a Network,” which debuted on OWN about two weeks ago,…

Aug 2, 2012

A Fond Remembrance of Tom Snyder on the 5th Anniversary of His Death. A Larger Than Life Personality. A Favorite of Many, From Letterman to O’Reilly. He Appealed to ‘the jokers and the smokers, the drinkers and the thinkers’ Who Watch TV Late at Night

NOTE: This remembrance of Tom Snyder is by Michael Horowicz Tom Snyder died on my birthday, July 29th, 2007, and I’m still pissed at him for that. Did he think I’d forget him? I was Tom’s producer at ABC, CBS…

Jul 26, 2012

Anderson Cooper’s Heart Is in the Right Place, But as a Reporter, He’s Made a Big Mistake. Makes You Wonder — What’s Going on With His Bosses at CNN? Catch-22

Soon after the news hit last week that a gunman had killed 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., CNN’s Anderson Cooper was on a plane to that city. He arrived in time to do both editions of…

Jul 25, 2012

‘Downton Abbey’s’ Stiff Upper Lips Get Loose for a Night

It was beginning to look like a scene out of "Magic Mike." At the end of a raucous and well-received presentation by the creator and cast of "Downton Abbey,” Emmy lead actor nominee Hugh Bonneville got up, turned around and…

Jul 24, 2012

Some Fun Behind-the-Scenes Stories About ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’ It’s One of the Greatest Movies Ever Made. It Will Be Back in Theaters Soon, and Released on Blu-ray for the First Time as Well. Some Insight Too

”’Lawrence of Arabia’ was the first film I saw that made me want to be a moviemaker,” Steven Spielberg once said. "It was in Phoenix, I was 13 or 14 at the time, and it was overwhelming." For me, “Lawrence…

Jul 19, 2012

Diverse Approaches to Diversity — From Getting Into a ‘Pissing Match’ to Embracing It as an Opportunity

It’s an issue that has long simmered on the back burner and intermittently moves to the front, as in these early days of summer that have brought a raft of criticism leveled at several showrunners for the all-white-ness of their…

Jul 9, 2012

Figuring Out Aaron Sorkin and HBO’s ‘Newsroom.’ If You Miss Jane Fonda’s Debut in ‘Newsroom’ on Sunday, You’ll Likely Be Missing an Emmy-Winning Performance

I’m a big fan of Aaron Sorkin. Well, let me amend that. I’m a big fan of Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter. I’ve seen “The Social Network” half a dozen times, and never tire of it. Dazzling screenplay, for which Sorkin justly…

Jul 6, 2012

Fakin’ it: Why The New York Times Culture Editor’s Defense of Alessandra Stanley’s Reporting on a Segment That Never Aired is BS

According to Steve Myers at Poynter.org — who writes news items about journalism — “New York Times Culture Editor Jonathan Landman said he and Executive Editor Jill Abramson accept some of the responsibility for Alessandra Stanley’s mistakes in a story…

Jul 3, 2012

CNN, Fox News and The Huffington Post, Among Others, Screwed Up in Initially Reporting the Supreme Court Decision About the Healthcare Law. Really? It’s Inexcusable. We Have Fun at CNN’s Expense

Yesterday, on Thursday, June 28, 2012, a number of journalists, including ones at CNN, Fox News and The Huffington Post, initially reported, incorrectly, that the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down a key provision of the healthcare law. This provision…

Jun 29, 2012

An Example of Smart Thinking in the TV Business — How the TV Station Summit Came to Be. Lessons for NATPE?

We’re on the eve of the second annual TV Station Summit in Las Vegas, which I think is one of the smarter events that have debuted in the TV industry in the past several years. It’s a first-rate example of…

Jun 25, 2012