Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
UDPATE – Sheen’s “Torpedo” is a dud. What will he shoot now?
He’s no Conan O’Brien, Charlie Sheen.
But he did stage a comeback in Chicago.
Update — Following his Detroit bomb, Charlie Sheen did what any respectable entertainer would do. He lived by the credo “the show must go on, ” and revamped his “Violent Torpedo of Truth” with a talk show format. Fans evidently liked it.
What Happened in Detroit? We covered here: Fans of the man with self-diagnosed “tiger’s blood” came to Detroit to cheer their hero in his one-man redemption show “My Violent Torpedo of Truth: Defeat is Not An Option”. They wanted him to prove his “Adonis DNA” and take on the corporate entertainment titans who fired him. They wanted to see if he had kicked his drugs and drinks-fueled lifestyle at his in-home rehab clinic he calls “The Sober Valley Lodge.” They wanted comedy, perhaps a few songs. They wanted the real story behind Sheen’s Hollywood veil.
His show bombed. Read The Hollywood Reporter Review.
At Detroit’s Fox Theater, they got a water-sipping actor at a loss for how to perform live, riffing incoherent lines that must have played well with his entourage but failed to win fans. They got Sheen’s ramblings of how the TV star could lead them to all to personal salvation against the corporate “evil trolls.” His attempt to sound like a philosopher poet with verse such as “The kidnapped fingers of tiny child lose fast the grip of Thorian hammer” stirred only boredom in an audience that had come for a good time.
from MediaFile:
Laugh graph: Conan and the ratings race
The debut of Conan on TBS won its time slot against more established late-night comedy shows. But can the former Tonight Show host keep up the momentum? Reuters is keeping daily track of how O'Brien performs against his rivals; tune in every day for an update.
Related stories: Conan O'Brien's new show draws fans, not critics Conan O'Brien returns to TV in downsized role "War for Late Night" lifts lid on NBC turmoil
UK’s X Factor gets off to rocky start
The X Factor, one of Britain’s most-watched television programmes, has got off to a rocky start this year with its integrity called into question after it came to light that some contestants’ performances had been enhanced using computer software. A spokesman for the show, a pillar of ITV1′s annual scheduling, admitted that post-production work was sometimes necessary due to the number of microphones used during filming. But he also told British media that judges make their decisions during the audition stages based on what they hear live, and that later shows are all genuinely live.
The revelations have prompted negative media comment and online complaints from some fans, although few people expect them to have too much of an impact on viewing figures. The first episode of this year’s series was watched by 11.1 million people, up from last year’s figure of 9.9 million.
Making matters worse, the show’s producers issued a statement on Wednesday explaining why Shirlena Johnson, who sang an oddball version of Duffy’s “Mercy”, was kicked off the talent show aired on ITV1.
“It has been decided by both Shirlena’s GP (doctor) and The X Factor’s own medical experts that it is in Shirlena’s best interests for her not to continue in the competition. The welfare of our contestants is of paramount importance to us — Shirlena was informed of the decision in person by the show executives in the presence of a psychologist.”
It appears the show, which is masterminded by music mogul Simon Cowell, wants to avoid the kind of negative publicity that surrounded the mental condition of Susan Boyle, a contestant in another Cowell project “Britain’s Got Talent” who was admitted to a clinic for emotional exhaustion after surprisingly losing the final last year. Mind you, Cowell presumably made a princely sum from the Scottish singer, whose debut album stormed charts around the world and was one of the top-selling records globally.
slowly but steadily x factor is losing the interest of people. hiphone
Coco in, Charlie out, “Anarchy” ignored at Emmys!?
Revenge, as the saying goes, is a dish best served cold.
And Conan O’Brien must surely be licking his lips with glee at winning an Emmy nomination for his short-lived version of “The Tonight Show,” six months after NBC handed the late night talk program back to frenemy Jay Leno.
O’Brien’s nomination in the variety show category even drew an audible gasp from the group of bleary-eyed journalists and publicists gathered at the Television Academy for the dawn announcement on Thursday.
As one mischievous pundit speculated — how will NBC (which is airing the Emmys ceremony in August) handle a possible win by Team Coco and a potentially scathing acceptance speech on live on national TV by O’Brien…(Music please? Fade to commercial break? — Talk about some real drama!)
Such was the glee over the bumper 19 nominations for “Glee”, that overlooked shows and actors barely got the time of day on Thursday. Except for Charlie Sheen, whose absence from the comedy actor nods was widely seen as a reflection on his ongoing court case on charges of pulling a knife on his wife and threatening to have her killed. Not so funny.
The biggest of the other losers was regarded as motorcycle gang show “Sons of Anarchy” which has been tearing up a storm on FX in its third season, and making a star out of actress Katey Sagal all over again.
You can read here about the shows that did well in the nominations. But what happened to dramas like “Treme”, the final season of “24″, “Grey’s Anatomy” and other names that might been there but were left out in the cold?
Daytime therapist, nighttime filmmaker captures Soviet life
He’s a physiotherapist by day and a filmmaker by nights, weekends and everything in between. Semyon Pinkhasov has captured facets of Soviet life that rarely get shared beyond Russia’s borders, even after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
(For story, click on http://r.reuters.com/qac34m)
The self-taught, self-financed, award-winning amateur documentary filmmaker has seen his films shown worldwide at festivals and on Russian and English-language television channels. Focused on the arts and the sport of fencing (U.S. Olympic Team Coach in 1984), he tells stories about Grigory Fried, who has run a music appreciation club in Moscow for 45 years without taking a kopeck; Tikhon Khrennikov, the first and last secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers; and Boris Efimov, perhaps Stalin’s favorite cartoonist.
One film about German fencing legend Helene Meyer, whose half-Jewish heritage provided Adolf Hitler with political cover to stage the 1936 Olympics, won for best screenplay at the 2009 International Festival of Sports Films in Moscow. But what drives someone with no background in film, journalism or the arts to dive into movie making? Roll the video:
Photo: Documentary Filmmaker Semyon Pinkhasov is shown in his Manhattan apartment on June 21, 2010. REUTERS/Daniel Bases
from UK News:
Do you have a favourite Monty Python sketch?
Nothing was sacred to "Monty Python's Flying Circus" -- and that is probably why the comedy troupe's television show became so popular.
The irreverent programme starring John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman first aired 40 years ago in 1969.
Among Monty Python's most popular TV skits are those that mock unworkable aspects of Britain's authoritarian class structure, including its famously intractable rules, monumental political bureaucracy and befuddling misrepresentations.
After several seasons the show stopped airing in Britain, but played on in North American television re-runs.
Python members widened their scope in such Hollywood films as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and the controversial "Life of Brian," considered blasphemous in some circles because of its comedic references to Jesus Christ.
Monty Python will receive a BAFTA at a special ceremony in New York on October 15 as a tribute to their contribution to British comedy.
Do you have a favourite Monty Python sketch?
Emmy winners line-up looking like a repeat
They’re rolling out the red carpet in Los Angeles for television’s prime time Emmy Awards on Sunday but some experts are already predicting a winner’s line-up in the main categories that looks much the same as last year.
That means that popular favorites like hospital drama “House”, animated comedy “Family Guy” and the “Law&Order” actress Mariska Hargitay could again lose out to shows like “Mad Men”, “Damages” star Glenn Close and the Tina Fey comedy “30 Rock”.
With the exception perhaps of “30 Rock” and the reality series category that acknowledges the mass appeal of shows like “Dancing With The Stars” and “The Amazing Race”, the Emmy awards seem to be moving away from mainstream viewing in the same way as the Oscars has done with mainstream films in recent years.
Public opinion polls are showing big differences between what the vast American public would like to see win, and the shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Little Dorritt” that are winning lots of prizes but small audiences. Yet, the Emmys are supposed to honor the best of the best, rather than the highest-rated shows and the stars that appear most on celebrity websites.
So on Sunday, will you be paying more attention to the winners on the podium, the red carpet fashion, or the entertainment which will be hosted by “How I Met Your Mother” actor Neil Patrick Harris and includes a live band for the first time since 2004, as well as a dance segment?
Which stars are you most excited about seeing? And is there anyone, in your opinion, who shouldn’t be there at all?
from MediaFile:
The fall TV season, beyond Jay Leno
What's that? Jay Leno is moving to prime-time? You don't say!
Frankly, it's hard to remember the last time there was such hubbub about a TV show. It was, after all, the cover story in Time magazine. Not to be outdone, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, AP, and probably every local news outlet between New York and Hollywood had a story about the talk show host -- more often than not raising the question of whether he's going to save network TV.
(You've got to give it to the public-relations machine on this one. They really worked the story. Of course, their spinning was augmented by a huge marketing effort. Stuart Elliott of the New York Times today estimated that NBC put out more than $10 million in promoting the show).
But there is more to the fall TV season than Jay Leno. The media buyers and planners over at RPA offer a useful road map to the season in a recent report.
Their take on the fall season is fairly upbeat (maybe network TV doesn't really need Leno to save it).
"For the first time in two years, network fortunes will not be held hostage to the industry's labor problems, but will be determined, as they used to be, by content quality and scheduling... Based on what we've seen, the overall quality of that content looks better than it has in the past two seasons," the report says.
Here, according to RPA, are some things to keep in mind heading into the season:
Michael Jackson “alive” hoax video came from German TV station
German television station RTL has admitted to producing that video that emerged last month and appeared to show Michael Jackson alive and getting out of a Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office van, which spread quickly after it was posted on the Internet.
The station told U.S. news outlet CNN on Tuesday that the video was produced to show how easily rumors can spread online, such as the rumor that Jackson faked his death, used a coroner’s van as his private, incognito “taxi” service and then emerged in the bowels of a building, where he no doubt is hard at work cutting another album for later sale, Tupac-style.
Well, Jackson is definitely dead, in fact sadly his family will gather for his burial on Thursday in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale. But until then, his fans can always pretend he is alive by watching this German production. The video is below. In the meantime, do Fan Fare readers believe the German station was acting in good faith by producing this video, and claiming it was all for the good of public experimentation?
How horrible it is that someone would make a about someone who is deceased to prove a point for their own enjoyment….i hope hes ashamed of himself.
Watch TV’s Emmy Awards live instead of on TV
American TV fans are being offered the chance of a seat “next to some of the biggest stars in Hollywood” at the annual prime time Emmy television awards next month.
CBS, which will broadcast the Emmy ceremony live from Los Angeles on Sept. 20, has invited fans to enter a “best seat in the house” contest by submitting a 30-second video explaining why they are “TV’s Number One Fan.”
One prize winner, over the age of 18, will attend the Emmy Awards and will be seated among the stars for the glitzy three-hour award ceremony.
Bill Binenstock, vice president of CBS.com, said the contest was a “great way to get fans involved” in the TV industry’s biggest night. Actor Neil Patrick Harris, star of the TV comedy “How I Met Your Mother”, will host the ceremony, and comedy “30 Rock” and drama series “Mad Men” are expected to be be among the big winners.
Why, it’s working for him so far is it not? Can’t deny the attention he is getting and in Hollywood that’s all that matters.