– Good Friday was a month ago, but it was really a Good Friday for several bubble shows on network schedules as eight shows were officially picked up for next season: NBC’s Parenthood, Chicago Fire, Revolution, Grimm, and Law & Order: SVU; CW’s Hart Of Dixie and Beauty And The Beast; and CBS’ Two And A Half Men, though without […]
On Sunday, New York Times reviewer Rachel Shteir reviewed three Chicago based books. But the reviews were less about the books in question and more about Chicago itself. In her review, Shteir – who is also a professor at DePaul University and moved to Chicago thirteen years ago – talked about “poor Chicago” and used every stereotypical crack associated with […]
Plus: North Carolina media news, Glee is renewed, and somehow Jim Laski gets back on the air – Unlike the fate of The Cleveland Show, this cancellation is confirmed: Comedy Central announced the end of Futurama after seven seasons. The animated comedy from Simpsons creator Matt Greoning ran on Fox from 1999-2003 for 72 episodes, and was picked up by […]
Leave it to wingnuts, trolls, and the FCC Chairman to ruin a feelgood moment. The Boston Red Sox played their first game at Fenway Park Saturday afternoon against the Kansas City Royals after deadly bombings ripped through the Boston Marathon’s finish line Monday, killing three people and injured more than one hundred. Before the game, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz […]
Last week was a heinous one for the news media as the Boston Marathon Bombing took place – not to mention an explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas, which killed fifteen people and injured hundreds. Chicagoans had their own problems to deal with, as heavy rains brought flooding to the area, adding to the workload for already stressed-out […]
Is it in or out? That’s what many in the industry were asking Wednesday when word surfaced The Cleveland Show was canceled. However, Fox strongly denied this assertion. As tweeted by yours truly April 14, a TAG Animation Blog post (a blog for union animation personnel) stated Cleveland was out of production after a source visited Fox Animation Studios a […]
The studio finally comes into the 21st Century. Really. After 76 years – and 12 years after entering a new century, the studio known as 20th Century Fox is embarking on a new name: 21st Century Fox. The name change comes as parent company News Corp. is separating its publishing assets from its entertainment division, announced last June. Rupert Murdoch […]
Usually, this website takes well-deserved shots at Chicago and national media outlets. But the Chicago Tribune’s salute to Boston in Tuesday’s sports section (see the photo to the left – click to enlarge) was the epitome of class. As you certainly know by now, two bombs went off near the finish line at the Boston Marathon Monday, killing three people […]
But several others get the ax, including “America’s Most Wanted” and “Scooby Doo, Mystery Incorporated” – Warner Bros. has renewed syndicated entertainment news magazine Extra through 2017, covering 85 percent of the country, including WMAQ-Ch.5 here, who airs the series weekdays at 4 p.m. The deal includes WMAQ and seven other NBC-owned stations, in addition to outlets in the CBS, […]
Is this legitimate? Or nothing more than an empty threat? Who’d thought something as small as a dime-sized antenna would cause this much trouble? The industry was a buzz about on Monday at the annual National Association of Broadcasters gathering in Las Vegas after comments made by News Corp. president and COO Chase Carey in the opening session, threatening to remove Fox […]
Here we go again. After weeks of speculation, NBC made it official last week: it was handing the hosting duties of The Tonight Show to Jimmy Fallon, replacing Jay Leno in the role. In addition, NBC is moving production of The Tonight Show to New York City, returning to the Big Apple for the first time in 42 years. Excluding […]
There’s a lesson to be learned – The Chicago Way usually doesn’t work outside of City Hall. As first reported by Chicagoland Radio and Media on April 2, Tribune fired Nils Larsen as president and CEO of Tribune Broadcasting. Larsen joined Tribune in December 2008 during the Randy Michaels-Sam Zell era. Typical to how things work in Chicago politics, Larsen […]
Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert unexpectedly passed away Thursday at the age of 70, two days after announcing his cancer had returned and was cutting back on his workload. Ebert had been battling with thyroid cancer, which robbed him of his voice. However, it turned out he also developed cancer in his leg. There were plans to relaunch his […]
On Monday, WVON-AM turned 50 years old. Even though the station went through numerous frequency dial changes (1450 AM to 1390 AM to 1450 again to its current home of 1690 AM), the mission was the same – to entertain and inform Chicago’s African-American community. WVON (which originally stood for “Voice Of The Negro”, now “Voice Of The Nation”) launched […]