Fan Fare

In rerun of 2008, top Emmys go to “30 Rock” and “Mad Men”

For those of you watching the other channel, or otherwise indisposed, here’s what happened at the 61st annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

5:01 p.m. Host Neil Patrick Harris takes the stage with a cabaret number extolling us to “put down the remote … don’t touch the dial … don’t hit the loo.” 

5:06 p.m. ”Here’s hoping Kanye West likes ’30 Rock,’” Harris jokes, referring to the rapper’s wee contretemps with Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards last Sunday.

5.12 p.m. BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS: KRISTIN CHENOWETH (“PUSHING DAISIES), her first win. 

5:13 p.m. “I’m unemployed now, so I’d like to be on Mad Men. I also like ‘The Office’ and ’24,’” says the co-star of the canceled show, which picked up three Emmys at the “creative arts” portion of the Primetime Emmys last Saturday. 

5:21 p.m. BEST WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES: MATT HUBBARD (“30 ROCK”). His “Reunion” episode beat three other “30 Rock” episodes.

5:25 p.m. BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR: JON CRYER (“TWO AND A HALF MEN”). His first win after four Emmy nominations. “I used to think that awards were just shallow tokens of momentary popularity,” he said. “But now, I realize they are the only true measure of a person’s worth as a human being.”

from Africa News blog:

At last: a positive look at Africa on U.S. TV

American television audiences were treated on Sunday night for the first time to the show "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency", which is based on the best-selling series of novels set in Botswana by Alexander McCall Smith.

The series, being aired in the United States by HBO, has already been broadcast by the BBC in Britain. Like the novels, it follows the light-hearted adventures of Precious Ramotswe as she seeks to solve mysteries with her keen intuition and big heart.

My colleague Rebekah Kebede did an advance story on the U.S. premier which you can read here.

I have read most of the novels, and the TV premier seems to stick to the spirit of the books. African problems, such as AIDS or the use of body parts from kidnapped children to make traditional medicine, or "muti," are not swept under the carpet. But many of the tales woven by McCall Smith are uplifting or deal with profound ethical dilemmas that his intrepid lady detective always resolves.

And it takes place in Botswana, a sparsely-populated land of great beauty and spectacular wilderness -- I've seen elephant herds crossing the highway there -- long regarded as a beacon of good governance and democracy in Africa.

It provides a pleasant change from the entertainment industry's often negative portrayal of Africa. For example, the current season of the Fox thriller "24" features terrorists from a genocidal African state taking over the White House and threatening the U.S. president.

“Big Love” endowment ceremony — relief or dismay?

After all the pre-broadcast anguish,  the  ”Big Love”  episode depicting a Mormon endowment ceremony went ahead as planned and appears to have generated more relief than outrage.

The TV show about a polygamous family has long been a thorn in the side of the growing Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ  of  Latter-day Saints, although the Church refrained from getting drawn into a battle with cable channel HBO over the particularly controversial March 15 episode.

For those who did not cancel their subscriptions to HBO, and who watched Sunday’s episode, many thought it portrayed the sacred Mormon ritual with respect. “I think (actress) Jeanne Tripplehorn did a great job of showing how important this ceremony is to Mormons. She really hit a home run with that scene, ” wrote “Marigoldmama” on HBO’s “Big Love” forum.

One HBO forum poster admitted signing up to the premium cable channel service just to see Sunday’s episode, although that person seemed to object more to the “contrived and dumb writing on the show” than the endowment ceremony scene.

Over on lds.net — the social networking forum for Mormons and those interested in learning more about the religion — “aspenmgy” judged the episode “pretty lame” adding “they got it right but it still felt so wrong.”

Did you boycott the show, drop your HBO subscription,  or did you make sure you tuned in on Sunday? And can any TV show accurately portray the complexities of any religion?

“Sex and the City” fans can shop Carrie’s closet

Fans of “Sex and the City” rejoice — Patricia Field, stylist for the hit television series and movie, has created a clothing collection based on the wardrobes of characters Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte.

And Field says breaking to the closets of the “Sex and the City” ladies won’t break your bank. Prices range from $39 to about $200. “You don’t have to get a mortgage to afford them,” she told Reuters . “Money doesn’t make style.”

Field showcased her Destination Style New York collection, which will be available on the Home Shopping Network, at a catwalk show during New York Fashion Week.

“Sex and the City” chronicled the lives of four single women living in New York City and ended in 2004 but returned with a blockbuster hit movie this year. For six seasons American women tuned into HBO to see what Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, and her friends were  wearing, from expensive Manolo Blahnik sling-back shoes to apparel from high-end designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier.

(Reporting by Jan Paschal; picture: Fabrizio Bensch, Reuters)

HBO eager for more big-screen ‘Sex in the City’

Ladies, get ready to gulp more Cosmopolitans. Enthused by the box office success of the recent “Sex and the City” movie, HBO executives are working with distributor Warner Bros. to lay the groundwork for a big-screen sequel. That word from HBO’s programming president, Michael Lombardo, who told a group of TV critics yesterday that interest in a follow-up film at Warner Bros. is “enormous.” Think Mr. Big.

“They’re trying with our help to put that together now,” he said. “Everybody associated with that project was really heartened by the enthusiasm from fans …  so absolutely — there’s a lot of energy behind thinking about another ‘Sex and the City’ movie.” As for when the film might materialize, he added, “I can’t say.”

Warner Bros. had nothing official to add, though a studio insider said plans for a “Sex” sequel were only in their infancy. The first film is still playing at the multiplex.

Coming to theaters four years after ending their six-season run on HBO, columnist Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) and her gal pals unleashed a frenzy among the show’s female fans, who organized large catherings to catch up with their heroines’ exploits. The movie also proved a marketing bonanza for designer merchandise. Since its May 30 release, the film has grossed nearly $345 million worldwide, easily ranking as one of the biggest chick flicks of all time.