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Pelosi's Fairness Doctrine push could jeopardize Net Neutrality, FCC Commissioner

EDITORIAL

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some of her colleagues from the Left have been talking up restoring The Fairness Doctrine recently.

For those who may not be familiar with the term, The Fairness Doctrine was nothing more than a governmental attempt to regulate the airwaves - radio and television - to make certain that the public hears or sees more than one side of an issue.

Essentially, the legislative teeth in The Fairness Doctrine said that if a radio or television station or program voiced an opinion, then that station or that program was legally obligated to air opposing points-of-view on that program or that station for a fair counter-balance of opinion.

As altruistic as that sounds, many on the right believe The Fairness Doctrine was merely a political tool sought by those from the left who wanted to silence or just reduce the impact from the growing popularity of right-leaning talkradio. The fact that left-leaning talkradio, AirAmerica, for example, failed to attract even a fraction of the kind of audience numbers that right-leaning talk did some say has been another reason for Pelosi's recent push for reinstatement of The Fairness Doctrine. After all, the right said, if the left couldn't compete, then they would try to control.

Advocates for The Fairness Doctrine say that even though major corporations and media conglomerates own most big city radio and television stations, those same companies don't own the frequencies their stations transmit on. The frequencies are owned by We the People, controlled and managed by the U.S. Government on our behalf.

Those who oppose The Fairness Doctrine cite concerns about governmental interference with our nation's Constitutional right to First Amendment Free Speech and don't believe programs like Keith Olbermann's on MSNBC television on the Left and Rush Limbaugh's radio program on the Right have a duty or an obligation or be legislatively forced to surrender their air time to an opposing point-of-view. And those stations who carry their programs across the nation should not be so penalized as well.

And from a business standpoint, air time, whether on radio, television or the Internet, has a finite inventory, only renewable every 24 hours but still maxing out at 24 x 7 week after week. And unlike any other industry, station owners cannot increase their manufacturing capacity beyond that 168 hours per week.

But more importantly, the networks and programs would not be compensated for surrendering that time.

However, what should be on the table of greatest concern is what Pelosi and friends might want to do to those who write for or post comments on the Internet - or to the hosts of those who do. FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell believes the possibility exists for The Fairness Doctrine to be extended beyond radio and television and into the Internet, a fear and concern not necessarily too far-fetched.

For all of its faults and despite those who abuse it, the Internet remains the last frontier of worlwide free thought, speech and opinion . . . a sacrosanct entity that needs to be protected from those with unchecked political motives.

Remember these kinds of television ads before they were banned from the airwaves?

We came across this vintage cigarette commercial embedded within an old 1950s television show,  so in the interests of continuing education, we thought we'd show those too young to remember what these kinds of commercials looked like back then.

What's most significant, however - - - besides what they said and how they tried to market them to us - - - was the fact that this was an era both before the on-package warning labels were made mandatory and before cigarette commercials were actually banned from advertising on either television, radio or print.

And speaking politically, that even after those legislative efforts - - - and now with smokers being banned by individual States from smoking inside apartment buildings, hotels, restaurants and bars and coffee shops - - - trying to force people to stop smoking through Big Government intervention has obviously failed, 'cause Big Government always fails, as evidenced here because people are still . . . smoking.

What that legislation did do was protect the rest of us from so-called second-hand smoke, a dangerous carcinogen as well, and that's a good thing.

BTW, listen for the commercial melody in this video below and see how many of you remember that tune.

Rapidly mucking-up our future: what students don't know - and maybe some of the reasons why

Something's very wrong, 'ya think?

EDITORIAL

Just saw this past week's Top 20 television shows in the U.S., and we were curious as to what kinds of shows Americans were most interested in and how many were reality-based versus news-based versus scripted.

There were eleven (11) drama (crime or medical or whatever), six reality/game shows and three news-based, reflecting 55%, 30% and 15%, respectively, as the most viewed television programs in America.

But the really disturbing trend is the 30% for so-called reality programming, and it's been happening for almost ten years on American and British (longer there) television. It's been so successful, they've not only put a ton of very skilled writers out of work - but turned millions of Americans and Brits into avid, mindless voyeurs rather than thinkers or puzzle solvers or learners or anything else quality programming does to elicit the use of our minds.

Now, we're all for escapism and watching mindless programs that help us relax and forget, but when we're approaching 1/3 of all Prime Time programming - within a window of only two to three viewing hours per night - that percentage is then greatly misleading and considerably underreported as to its penetration and saturation impact.

Combine this with our nation's growing interest in what and who is online via the Facebook, MySpace, YouTube phenomena, it shouldn't then be surprising to read what Britain's The Independent is saying today:

Children have lost touch with the natural world and are unable to identify common animals and plants, according to a survey.

Half of youngsters aged nine to 11 were unable to identify a daddy-long-legs, oak tree, blue tit or bluebell, in the poll by BBC Wildlife Magazine. The study also found that playing in the countryside was children's least popular way of spending their spare time, and that they would rather see friends or play on their computer than go for a walk or play outdoors.

We're sure as well that if parents were to also ask their kids about history or the arts or geography, they would be appalled at what the kids don't know, as in totally clueless, thanks to America's chronically broken public school system.

In sum, between the chronic failures of public education, reality television and the irresponsibility of the suits who program the networks - - - and of course, the lack of parental controls or interest or participation - - - our nation is rapidly mucking up its future, dontcha think?

Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Bill Cosby & Anthony Newley

Our nation's rich entertainment history, thanks to the Internet, YouTube & DVDs

This week, a couple of my wife's work friends from recent past drove up from New York City to spend a few days together playing tourist here in Boston. I was invited to join them, but could only connect for dinner Thursday night.

As expected, the conversation was terrific. But Kathleen, a divorced mother of two great kids whom she adores and talks about constantly - - - without boring her friends - - - brought up Jerry Lewis and the fact that she introduced his films to her kids, who loved them enough to want them in their DVD collections. She and I then began talking about our favorite scenes as we each connected the name of the film to that scene.

It was then I happily realized that if not for the Internet, if not for YouTube, DVDs and mothers like Kathleen, our best artists, our best films, would be lost to all subsequent generations. And if we were still living in the world I grew up in where we had to wait for a re-release to the theaters to re-visit them, then those shared moments Kathleen had with her kids would never have been possible.

So, in the spirit of educating subsequent generations, we at [: neon :] will continue to re-introduce the greats from our nation's entertainment past.

The video below is an episode from Hugh Hefner's Playboy after Dark, circa 1969. And uh, forget it, it's Family Rated, with the great Sammy Davis, Jr. front and center as guest, comedian Bill Cosby, songwriter/singer Anthony Newley and two surprise drop-in guests, Rat Pack member Peter Lawford and Jerry Lewis himself, giving us a perfect sense of the "cool and groovy" world of Hollywood at the end of the 1960s. I think there's also a quick shot of another Rat Pack member as well, comedian Joey Bishop.

Oh, and watch for one of them to actually use the word "groovy" in a serious, for-real sentence a couple of times.

Enjoy.

In Loving Memory: The Golden Age of TV Land the network is long gone

REVIEW

A simple question to the suits at TV Land.

Are you out of your minds?

Even the best programs can get tiresome real fast when repeated over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over . . .

but you're jamming this She's Got the Look down our throats again and again and again, just like you do with every other Original Programming feature.

Even if She's Got the Look was originally a worthy programming consideration for the social value it served, you have once again destroyed any remaining vestige of goodwill by so abusing your schedule - and taking your normally devoted viewers so for granted.

And then this next week, the normally wonderful George Foreman will also be jammed down our throats with his new show on TV Land through disproportionate and abusive repetition until we won't be able to stand him, name our next son George - or buy another Grill!

That's it, I'm done.

Goodbye, TV Land.

I'll buy the TV on DVDs instead.

In Loving Memory, The Golden Age of TV Land is long gone - and so am I.

posted by Head Geek, iwatchneonATgmailDOTcom

Carnac the Magnificent: Martha Stewart, TVLand, Reality Programming

Name three things on television that can really piss us off

REVIEW

Paying homage to and taking a respectful page from Carnac the Magnificent (Johnny Carson's Tonight Show), we've been pushed to the limits of patience and right into the depths of annoyance from two situations on television, and quite frankly, we need to vent.

First up, Martha Stewart.

Has anyone ever counted how many times she, Martha Stewart, does the Bob Dole thing where she says her own name over and over and over and over again on her television show when referring to a collection, to her magazine, to her website, to her this, her that, even what she says in the Macy's ad to Usher, on and on and on and on . . . she's an endless and offensively blatant machine of self-promotion where, if they were all commercial spots for other sponsors - there wouldn't be enough time for content.

Now for TVLand (again, sigh) and their most recent attempt at capturing ratings from an increasingly painful slate of what they term Original Programming.

She's Got the Look, their current and now almost concluded (thank you God) reality contestant program, is once again beset with the drama queen approach (emotional, breathless pauses) to reality television that has plagued other reality productions, e.g., So You Want To Be A Millionaire, Dancing with the Stars (1, 2, 3), Design Star and actually one of our favorites, So You Think You Can Dance, to name just a few.

But more importantly - you guys at TVLand know what WTF means, right? - TVLand so over does the re-broadcasting and then the promotion of the re-broadcasts that forces the regular viewer to endure no fewer than four announcements per viewing hour and at least two re-broadcasts per day for weeks on end!

So, rather than struggle with this any further, and in the interests of world peace, we'd like to offer this suggestion to TVLand - and all other reality shows using the same formula.

Submit every new episode of the Original Programming you've aired so far this year, maybe even throw in a little Farah, - along with your current schedule of hourly promotions for the re-broadcasts and then the re-broadcasts themselves - right down to the CIA in Langley, Virginia.

If Bush really wants to find Bin Laden, force the terrorists to watch one of TVLand's Original Programming marathons - and we''ll have that son-of-a-bitch in custody within 24-hours.

Leno, yes, Conan no - and Larry King, when, when!

REVIEW

In this article about Jay Leno, written by James Hibberd and Paul J. Gough for The Hollywood Reporter, a number of post-Tonight Show scenarios were posited for him.

But one particular line in one small paragraph of this 3-page article stood out, jumped out and made a number of us . . . smile very broadly.

Leno already has surfaced on various lists of replacements for King, whose recent contract renewal through 2010 has done little to scotch rumors that CNN is searching for his successor.

It's not because we're upset that Larry King may be destined for retirement sooner rather than later, we're actually quite happy about that prospect - and only wonder what's taking CNN so long.

And it's not because we want to see Jay on CNN. We don't. He deserves much better.

No, Jay deserves a chance to compete with NBC's late-night schedule to prove that the peacock's decision - actually, then President Jeff Zucker's monumentally tactless and, from a corporate perspective, financially irresponsible decision back in 2004 - to not only guarantee Conan O'Brien a date-certain to replace Jay, but to guarantee that announcement with a $40 million penalty in the event the network changes its mind.

Jay is an intelligent and entertaining class act whose material is both current and timeless, respected by a wide demographic, perfectly matched to the long-profitable late-night franchise. Conan is also highly intelligent and entertaining, if you're struggling with acne or trying to make it to first period class on time. Otherwise, his material gets real old, real fast - as you keep hoping he's gonna become a grown-up . . . someday.

Anyway, this article is a fine read, especially for the insights they provide as to the status of the various nets and the different scheduling combinations each must consider.

LIVE BLOGGING 6th Annual TVLand Awards

REVIEW

• Vanessa Williams, who has such incredible talent, had to sing a truly stupid opening (with even worse choreography around her) that had the likes of Barry Williams from The Brady Bunch harnessed to fly across the theatre, along with Jimmie Walker from Good Times, Allison Arngrim from Little House, Dawn Wells from Gilligan's Island, Bernie Kopell from Love Boat and Jerry Mathers from Leave it to Beaver.
• Seeing The Golden Girls, Betty White, Bea Arthur and Rue McLanahan was a little sad for how fragile they each now seem to be. But God Bless them, they've still got their incredible senses of humor.
• The very best segment so far was where Robin Williams introduced a cane-dependent Jonathan Winters for a special TVLand Award. What brilliant minds these two men have, but some of Jonathan's personal comments reflected a certain sadness.
• And now Kim Alexis and Beverly Johnson show up. Their show, She's Got the Look is part of TVLand's disastrous array of original programming and has so terribly altered what TVLand is all about. The Big 4-0 was absolute crap. Haven't seen the ratings on any of them, (although High School Reunion wasn't bad) we nevertheless truly hope they're not where they want them to be. Stick with your original mission, TVLand.
• And now Kathy Griffin. Why is she even working comedy? And by the sounds of the audience reactions, she shouldn't have been on now.
• This TMZ Hollywood gossip spoof is getting so unreal, but thankfully they have appearances by Phyllis Diller, Sherman Hemsley, Florence Henderson. LOVED the Vicki Lawrence as Momma flashing the paparazzi as she was exiting a limo, but the bit, as is TVLand's fashion with this awards show, was too long.
• Dick Van Dyke, yesss, now we're getting somewhere. He looks terrific for 82 and he's there to pay tribute to Garry Marshall. Now introducing Jack Klugman from The Odd Couple. Now they bring on Cindy Williams and Garry's sister, Penny Marshall, from Laverne and Shirley. From Happy Days they now have Henry Winkler, whose hair looks like a silver fox. Fonzie with silver hair. Yikes. They're now presenting a lovely montage of Garry's television and film credits. Most impressive. Garry's best quote, "If you laugh today, it will make tomorrow better."
• Samuel L. Jackson is now on to honor Lionel Richie. Sorry, Lionel, loved your stuff years ago, heard it way too much over the airwaves back then and, although not your fault, a ton of bad memories from that era come flooding back when I now hear your music. Now he's actually doing one of my favorites, All Night Long, with really bad choreography once again. Hey, could TVLand hire dancers that don't upstage everyone? Every year they each seem to mug for the camera, jockeying for position. One male dancer in the back even looked like he was having trouble lifting a lady dancer. Wow, Lionel now slams his daughter Nicole, saying, "Forget about surviving 40 years in the music business. Just surviving 27 years of Nicole Richie has been a struggle, I wanna tell 'ya. I stand here as a survivor, I want you to know for all the parents out there."
• Ed Asner and William Shatner are now on stage, with a cameo shot from the audience of Barbara Feldon who played Agent 99 in the original Get Smart. TVLand is labeling The Office as a Future Classic and the entire cast is now going up on stage to accept the award presented by Asner and Shatner. The entire cast is up there, but Steve Carell eats up all the time and no one else gets to speak. Was this him staying in character as Michael Scott . . . or life imitating art?
• Now Justin Timberlake is introducing another TVLand award, this time for Mike Myers. Timberlake is surprisingly good at impersonations and being pretty laid back, a good presenter and potential host. LOVE Mike Myers and all of his characters shown in this montage. Mike looks painfully shy.
• Teri Hatcher is now introducing the cast of Roseanne. What was TVLand thinking to ever give that show any kind of an award?
• Vanessa Williams, stunning to look at, wonderful to hear sing and absolutely delicious to watch dance, but thank God the show is over.

For Mr. Doug Herzog, President of Spike TV, Comedy Central and TV Land, Mr. Larry W. Jones, President of TV Land and Ms. Jaclyn Cohen, Senior Vice President of  Programming and Acquisitions, please consider the following quality programs to put into your programming mix. We understand you need to play the age demographics game, and you have an outstanding track record of enhancing your brand, its recognition and the number of cable households you're now in.

But you target the TV Generation, and having so much of your original programming now over-crowding your on-air schedule, they're preventing some quality, indeed, some classic programs from being seen by other generations.

You have taken on the responsibility of educating and entertaining multiple generations, allowing them to enjoy some great shows. Please don't forget that responsibility.

from the 1960s, The Avengers, The Saint, Secret Agent Man, Hawaii Five-O , It Takes a Thief or Mannix;

from the 1970s, any of the Quinn-Martin productions, or Baretta, Kojak, The Rockford Files, Starsky and Hutch, WKRP in Cincinnati;

from the 1980s and 90s, Newsradio.

A look back at Mrs. Olson in Stepford and the messages they were sending

We were looking for a particular theme song from an airline commercial when we ran into this 1960's era black and white commercial for Folgers Coffee with . . . Mrs. Olson.

Of course, and especially from a feminist pov (point-of-view), what stands out in the video below - besides the easily parodied aspect of the script - are the messages they were sending their audiences at the time  . . . and in just thirty seconds:

• that it was a wife's responsibility to make her husband's coffee in the morning
• that it was her responsibility to make it good
• that she served him, called him sir, while he was in the bathroom shaving
• all to please him.

Then after he thanks her, after he sips the coffee, the now ungrateful Neanderthal opines sarcastically about its lack of quality. But the real capper comes when, in an obviously intended ha-ha moment to endear him to the male audience, associates that coffee failure with his wife's attractiveness, by saying How can such a pretty wife make such bad coffee, (emphasis spoken) as if there is some sort of natural connection between a wife's looks and her particular skill sets in making coffee.

It certainly represents a time capsule of a hopefully long gone era while also serving to illustrate the attitudes that initially drove feminism - an easily understandable need to be respected and appreciated in a then world that offered little, if any of that.