"The Talk" is coming to an End

TV NEWS   CBS  Soaps Talk shows 

        CBS has announced that daytime show "The Talk" will be coming to end in December.  The show launched in 2010, after replacing daytime show "As The World Turns" which ran from 1956 to 2010. It was part of a moment where networks were clearing out soaps.  The Guiding Light was canned in 2009 and replaced by a revival of Let's Make a Deal . ABC would go on to replace two of it's soaps the announcing in 2011.  

        The Talk  was made as a lower cost alternative to making soap opera programming and gave CBS a networked daytime talk show.  In concept, the show was  CBS doing their own version of The View , a few women around a table talking about stuff.  Though, as that show became more political "The Talk" was less political but did talk about issues.  Overtime, it shifted hosts and focus, experienced controversy and weathered the pandemic.   An interesting thing it did more in 2021 was add male hosts to its panel, making it different than "The View".

            Soaps seemed to be on their way down, even more. NBC had moved their only soap Days of Our Lives to the streaming service Peacock in 2022 to make room for more news. Then a surprise news item popped up in  March 2024, CBS had already renewed Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, but there was news that CBS was developing a new daytime soap.    

        That's a surprise because the last new soap that premiered on network TV was 1999's Passions  which ended in 2007, when NBC decided to have another another hour of The Today Show.  The Gates was the title, a soap opera about a wealthy black family.  Of course, that did mean some more speculation.  CBS had just renewed two soaps so those weren't going, this didn't say Paramount Plus, and that meant , either a game show is going or "The Talk" and then thinking, would CBS can the game shows or the weakest link- The Talk? 

            Now it seems that "The Talk" is the one that's going.  CBS hasn't announced officially more about the soap, but December end for "The Talk" seems to make it feel like a January soap premiere. This does make an interesting change as this was a soap being worked on by Procter and Gamble 15 years after a soap being made by Procter and Gamble was canceled , now the talk show that replaced that is being replaced by a soap. It's also an interesting move to make a new soap when speculation was the there could come a time ABC and CBS would either cancel their last soaps or move them to sister streaming services. 

            Days of Our Lives fans did find something nice about new daily streaming episodes, no more having to worry about the network breaking away for either actual breaking news or random things that aren't really news, but the network feels they need to do even though they have a news streaming channel that could cover that. CBS soap fans (and game show fans) have the trouble of times when CBS does the same. Of course, with Paramount+ a viewer could watch there too, and gives P+ another hour of drama daily.

          If that's the time slot holding, "The Talk" airs on CBS at 2pm ET/ 1c,  1 or 2pm  in the Mountain Time zone,  1pm in the west.  After ABC destroyed its 2pm ET slot after the end of "One Life to Life" and a failed talk show took its place, they put "General Hospital" there and gave an hour to local stations. Some stations like ABC owned stations on the East still air GH in the OG slot of 3pm ET, but in some markets General Hospital airs at 2pm/1c at the same time as "The Talk".  Now this could cause a soap race, but maybe not.  NBC did make "Days of Our Lives" flexible in where stations could air it, and that could let markets decide where the show could run and not be affected by running up against another soap. CBS could give this show a flexible slot to allow their stations a space to air it either earlier or later than GH in markets. Though CBS might feel "The Gates" would be a different audience grabber than GH.   That will be interesting to see. 

               The idea of a daily soap in "The Age of Streaming" (TM) isn't a bad one. Compared to a talk show, since we know all network shows end up on streaming, this allows a daily drama to be also on a streaming service and where as a talk show like "The Talk" relies on being current to a point, meaning an episode could become outdated on things quickly, soaps don't.  

          It is nice that CBS is trying something different instead of going with another daytime news department based show. They've done something different in late night and now trying a new daytime idea, or more returning to old format once thought to be on the decline. 

 

Days of Our Lives Leaving NBC After 57 years

NBC Peacock Soaps TV News  Opinion 

            It's been awhile since soap news has been presented here, and really the last big move was in 2011 when ABC announced the ends of One Life to Live and All My Children those soaps then ended up in some development  hell , streamed for a while then ended  after that.  There's only 4 network soaps left. NBC has been down to one soap since the cancelation of Passions in 2007 for a 4th hour of "The Today Show". 

        Wednesday, Vulture reported that Days of Our Lives will be moving from NBC to the  NBC Universals owned streaming service, Peacock, from September 12th. After 57 years on NBC and network TV, this means the show will be moving to an on demand pay platform and that NBC, the network, is out of the soap business themselves. (The chance of them making a new soap is probably higher than winning the lottery, but lower than being struck by lightning)  As of this writing, NBC hasn't said what's happening to the hour long slot.  NBC is replacing it with a new show called "NBC News Daily" 

        Days has had some streaming life, episodes run on Peacock, and it even had a spinoff "Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem" which has had 2 seasons and 10 episodes.  Vulture also notes of the 4 daytime soaps it's the lowest rated.  NBC and Sony, who make the show, have come close in the past few years with nearby cancelations, though it was recently renewed in 2021 for two more seasons.  

     The unknown question is if this will help the soap or will this cause it wither and  eventually just go away? In other words, can the daytime show model work in streaming? That also seems to be test try as Amazon has been trying with another daytime mainstay, the court show and Judge Judy with her new series "Judy Justice".  The idea of a soap was a daytime serial , new episode each day, but at a set time and watched during the day. When Soap Net existed, it did offer a chance to see it again, and with on-demand options as well, but there is something about having a linear slot and space that might not be in the advantage of moving this show. That's hard too tell. I'd hope that there would be something that keeps it going for a long time. 

  

     Will it drive people to the streaming service? Uhhhhh, again unknown. The other thing will this encourage  CBS or ABC or both to decide to move their soaps to their corporate streaming sisters?  That opens the possibility of an idea that could happen, but it's hard to know for the best. On the bright side, there won't be any news preemptions. 

         It's not like NBC, or any other network is going to replace a soap with anything that might be fun to watch or even a new soap, they'll find some cheaper, maybe news or talk based because it's easy and less risk.  ABC has a third hour of GMA as a  daytime show, CBS has The Talk as a replacement to a soap slot. 

   

     I hope the best for  Days and hope it can continue to do well enough to continue, in this "Streaming is the Future ™" world or something.  Anyway, these truly are the Days of our Lives.  

Press release after the jump

Christmas : A Christmas Story

Christmas 

            I've kind of stayed away from writing about this movie, not because I hate it; that would be a lie since I love this movie and watch it every single year and know the lines and scenes by heart. In the case the tile of the post seems abstract, I am talking about the 1983 film, "A Christmas Story". 

            Like  I said, I love this movie, Christmas Eve to Christmas Day 24 hour marathon on one of Ted Turner's channels : my TV is locked on that channel until the 24 hours are over.  The end of the marathon feels like the end of Christmas to me.    

  

        Released on  November 18, 1983; this movie wasn't a big hit (it did make more than it's budget at the box office) it's about  essentially a nine-year-old boy who wants a gun for Christmas, it's a b-b gun, but still. The movie has vignette stories based on stories from  Jean Shepard's "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash" (1966 book)  With Shepard narrating as adult Ralphie. 

    Oh yeah, this post isn't going to be about the movie in linear fashion, because I feel that wouldn't be of service to those haven't seen or to those who have. That's also why I kind of stayed away from writing about it. That and because I think everyone has seen it, because I watch it so much and grew up with it , it just felt normal. 

    

            For me, there is a nostalgia in the movie, just because I grew up with someone who loved the movie dearly.  Then I have grown to love it as much as say  a "A Charlie Brown Christmas".  The part of the movie that happens on Christmas Day, feels like Christmas Day when I was growing up. I'd wake up early, run down the stairs for Christmas, open a gifts in a mass, and kind of just spend the day playing with the new gifts and day drifts on.  

  

     The movie takes place in I guess before the War. (World War II)  Sometime between the late 30's and not December 1941; that or a parallel world where the war doesn't happen.  The move isn't really about the 1940's (30's) it's a time setting of nostalgic Americans in the late 70's early 80's , like how the 90's are now. (Unless you are reading this in 2053 and then I don't know, I'm  glad someone survived enough and is reading this post)  The movie is A Christmas story, one kid's Christmas story time , but that many can relate themselves.  

   There has always been the one gift that was truly wanted for Christmas, and you'd find ways to make sure you would get it. The whole Christmas season of anticipation where the days leading up are exciting and hopeful.   Ralphie hopes that he gets that one gift, his Red Ryder B-B Gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing that tells time,  but there's a limit but instead of the classic line of "it's too expensive" or "well see", it's "You'll shoot your eye out." a better line for a comedy movie.   It makes you want to root for him,  because maybe you've had your own "you'll shoot your eye out" for something you really wanted.  Ralph Parker's whole mission in the movie is to get his gun.  He tries to convince Mom, notice it's her and not Dad, and she throws out that line, he tries to write a paper, since the teacher does a cool assignment of writing what would you want for Christmas? (That sounds fun)  He gets a C+ and he takes it as a slight against him being able to have his dream gift , instead of the formatting. (Would be weird if she was grading everyone's gift choices)  The final solution was to ask Santa, the mall one, and gets told the same line. When it hits Christmas Day, you kind of hope he gets the gift, and the movie makes you wait to see if you were expecting it or not. 

More after the jump

Do Watch Elliott From Earth

Cartoon Network  Opinion 

     I was going to do a blog post about each episode, and give my thoughts on episodes one by one, that was my intention before the series premiered.  Then the series premiered, and I watched each day it came on the air (all 10 days straight).  Watching the show, I wasn't sure what to expect first, but now that I've watched it, I think this is a better way to a post about this show. 

       "Elliott From Earth" is a Cartoon Network series made from Cartoon Network's European Studios the same studios that made " The Amazing World of Gumball". You can see they might have a similar aesthetic to the series.  It is a different creator and writing staff. 

Copyright Cartoon Network Studios Europe 

  The very thing is called "Chapter One: The Journey Begins" and this chapter is 4, 11-minute episodes called "Wednesday" .

    

     The show starts with a very thematic feel to it start, we meet Elliott who is 11-years-old and seems to be on the quest to make friends. His mother a geologist named Frankie and live and travel in a R.V where she goes around trying to prove...aliens are real. She has this particular rock that she says came from outer space and might be a clue, she's also  been made fun by other geologists.  From the start, you can see Elliott is an optimistic character but long for stability and friends. He also likes dinosaurs, as noted by his toy dinosaur, that he introces to another boy with the same name.   

       

    The show sets up the characters well and I do like how it's the parent who thinks aliens are real  and it's not a kid trying  to have to convince his parent.  The art style is already amazing, and I like the designs, but more on that later. 

       

  The show is called "Elliott from EARTH" but he's still on Earth. We have to get to from part.  That means the meteorite.  So the meteorite is activated  sends them to another world. This is like a world like a forest/jungle/swap area. Strange frogs, which you will be seeing in future episodes as the little intro cards. I'm going to do this spoiler free, but do watch the show (heh the title of the post) and notice the little nuggets and details, this show rewards those who rewatch after the first time, you'll love it. 

      They also lose the meteorite, because we need our characters to stay from Earth not on Earth, or we have no plot. A dinosaur is met, a good boy, they name him Mo. They speak dinosaur and somehow the dino speaks their language, it's weird, but it's alright.  

      It's still Wednesday, we go to part 3, they find out, yes they are in a different world, but they were actually in a biosphere.  They are taken out of the biosphere because they aren't supposed to be there. This is the start of where you get to see the different alien creature-folk as the world building comes alive.  Already, we had some cool world building going on, and this makes it even better. 

    Episode 4 is the conclusion of Chapter One and the "Wednesday" arc. We meet the world of the show ,now we are in this beautiful city.  I won't give too much, as I promised but this episode does a good message of don't judge a book by its cover and it's actually the Mom who has to learn that. These four episodes set up the series well and it seems like it will be an interesting journey.  It is story-driven show, if you like that type of thing, like you can't watch it out of order really at all, so mind that for this part and the rest. 

           This show does have comedy and it's some great moments, that don't want to explain because this a post making a pitch to you to watch and enjoy this series yourself.   Episodes 5 and 6, I love how the tiles of these episodes are alliterative. I do love episodes and stories that take place at the same time but from different sides. I think case: episode 5 is same time focused on what Elliott and Mo are doing, while Episod 6 is with Frankie. That's fun.  Elliott goes to a school like place and is apprehensive about joining because we get some more backstory about how his constant moving made him not able to make friends. It's a nice touch, and the episode works well. Episode 6 drives the plot along with Frankie trying to learn more about this world and getting help with finding the meteorite.  

      Some episodes in the series are characters experiencing this world.  Pause. I'm going to mention it here the theme intro is awesome, I'm also surprised it was longer than 5 seconds, or at least allowed to air on tv and be longer than 5 seconds.  Gumball's theme is short for example on Live TV. Un pause. (what?)  I like these episodes where you learn about different characters, creatures and strange things in this world. Because it is a not a grounded our Earth world, there's stuff to play around with. Episodes 5 to 16 are Chapter 2, this book is little bottom heavy. (slight joke?) 

 

   What are some episodes that stood out to me between 5-10?   "Chaotic Clumping" is fun because of Mo and Elliott getting combined. It's also good example of a strength of this show, it takes plots we've seen and gives them twists.  The endings are especially great. 

   Episodes 11-15 have a great strength to them as well.  "Parallel Paradox" (episode 11) does a great job of  taking a plot we've seen before of character has to be in two places at once and executes its own style , spin and humor on it.  It's a funny episode just as much as anything else.   "Temporal Tedium" is a well done episode, the twist  of end is just perfect. This show has a dark humor it works well. 

  Episode 16 is the  Chapter 2 finale and, so far, the last episode that has aired. It ties stuff together from the other episodes and explains the deep the question of Mo learning what happened to dinosaurs. Which um well that's not good.  It feels like it's going to be an episode with one thing but that one thing ties it together and makes it a good episode that also wants you to want more. That's all I'm going to say.  

  

       This post is mostly me just saying I really love this show. It's not completely perfect, but it's a enjoyable ride. You can watch all the episodes in one sitting or as I did watched them when they premiered day by day.   

   

        Since this is a cartoon, the thing you notice is the art work . The colors have a neon look to them, it is a very colorful program, with the different alien species they have unique designs and colors and bring a whole lot to the look of the show.  As the title says, do watch this show, it's has fun characters, environments and stories to tell.  

  That's it for now, tune in next time when we figure out what this message from aliens telling us not to open this box means.  

          

Joshuaonline's 10's: When TV drifts

Editor's note:  This post was made back in 2016, but it never made it to post and just lingered as a draft all this time.  Part of a plan that didn't come together as well as previously thought, so we are here to post it now. This post hasn't been changed from it's  original premise in 2016, minus this note being added on top.  Some things have changed since this post, thanks to streaming, especially.  Thankyou for reading.   

      As part of our 10th anniversary , we take this time to take a look at TV stories or things in TV that happened in the past 10 years or maybe something that happened before but effects TV to this day. We take a look at topics in television or media that have an interesting or important element to what television brings us.     

  You can read our past posts here in our 10 years section   

   

         Have you ever gotten mad at the History Channel for airing non-history factual programming?  Did you know that Bravo used to be an arts channel , hence the name Bravo? 

                                                    
      Honestly , Yes Names should mean something! (Don't look us like that)  The phrase of what to call a channel that has gone off their launch mission is called Channel Drift. It can also be called network decay.  Let's say Joshuoanline had tons of money  and we launched a TV channel called Car-Repair TV (no relation to any real Car Repair TV's that might be out there) that aired how to shows on how to repair cars. Our target audience people with cars maybe ages 18-49 ,which is basic for advertisers. We do pretty well ,viewers love finding out how to fix their cars and we even start adding programs for people who want to  modify their cars.  Our concept goes so well that other companies launch their own versions , some fizzle away be cause nobody can beat Car Repair TV.  A few years later we  start adding programs that have nothing car repair  but may fit with those watching, Our channel's biggest audience is Men ages  30-50 in fact we beat ESPN in the audience so we find programming that we think they would like besides car repair , let's say we pick up rights to NASCAR races. It has cars so it fits and we might get some viewers who weren't watching who might stay after the race to watch  Stick Shifts with Buck.  Have we drifted ? Yes ..but in a small percentage.  Reality Shows are hot , so we add a reality show that fits with our channel though , called  Can you Fix it ? Where our contestants are compete to on who can be the best mechanic.  We rename the channel to an acronym  of CRTV (Car Repair TV)  and we continue. Well there's in wrench in life later as people have found other ways to have car repair info , they can go on the internet for it ,and now there's a video site that you can look it up, and in fact we start doing the same. Our  TV channel  needs to survive so we do the unthinkable we decide to cut back on our Car Repair TV programming and refocus our name as  CRTV and decide to keep Nascar , make some reality shows about cars , we pick up other car racing  groups . Our older programming is shoved to mornings and our website.   Our channel drifted, slowly, but times caught up to us and our management felt we had to change.

     The Biggest name brought up in a channel drift is MTV , formerly MTV : Music Television.  MTV was part of the early days of cable , which was an inventive time and possibly at it's best. (hang on)  There were many single program style program channels, Want Sports and Sports news 24/7 : ESPN (1979) , want News all day live ?  CNN (1980) , are you a kid tired of not being able to watch children's shows at 5pm on a Saturday ? Nickelodeon (1979). Music videos did air on TV but there was not an outlet of MTV's scale and they changed out music videos were done.  But then in the  mid 2000's they cut back on music videos and few other music programs like TRL , to focus on other things in the demo they were attracted. Today they air dramas, sitcoms, and  reality shows this is a definitely a drift. Is this a bad drift ,good drift ? Maybe a survival drift. MTV to stay on the air felt they ad to adapt to the changing market place like our fake CRTV had to do. This makes people ,who grew up with MTV doing Music and music videos (as of this writing they are going to do some music programs starting soon) , though if MTV was to put back music videos, there's  a chance that you might not watch. They are not going to air the same music videos that you remember because MTV Always did current music videos. MTV Hits , which was an extra channel on cable airs music videos all day of current songs not songs from the 80's and 90's  also with the internet you can find tons of music videos from the past right there and watch anytime you want, or watch  MTV Classic which airs older music videos all day. 

     The another drift offender, the most outrageous  one  is TLC.  If you were to tell someone that didn't grow up in the 90's or before that TLC's letters used to mean The Learning Channel , they would be shocked or not , what do we know?  Not to make this a history lesson so we are going to make this short. TLC was launched in 1972 by the  Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and NASA as the Appalachian Community Service Network. It was a way to provide educational and instructional programming using television. In the 80's the name was changed to The Learning Channel and it did what the name was on the tin and it was privatized when it was renamed.  A competitor launched called Discovery Channel ,think about that channels competing for viewers over programming about nature, science, history ,and other educational programs.  In the 90's Discovery bought TLC , that's who owns them today. Discovery must have felt that having two learning channels would be a bit redundant.  In the late 90's they went for a new focus the slogan I remember the most "Life Unscripted" was started, this brought in programming like inetior design shows , guess to compete with the HGTV market. Shows like Baby Story and  crime shows and etc.  So in this period was the decay? I would say no , was it drift , yes?  Though I guess you are learning about how crimes are solved or how to do some D.I.Y  is some type of learning.  They did started focusing on the name TLC and less on  The Learning Channel , like when our fake channel focused on CRTV , it lets the channel have more flexibility.  TLC then started finding success in reality shows but their focus instead of competition shows like the networks , or whatever the heck Bravo is doing , they went for "real people" well many call this lowest common denominator programming.

    But why did they do it ?  Well ratings , were high yep and that equaled that they felt you wanted more. People watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 .. well hey here are some other big families with maybe some drama added in.  Do you like Cake Boss... well let's make more.   TLC is now having to find some other direction they will be adding some scripted programming soon though.  So our question was this good drift or bad drift. Well  it was good for Discovery who had lots of viewers watching TLC more than watching the learning programming or even the  D.I.Y/ home programs  (which apparently were a fad), it was bad for everyone else , unless you were the new viewers watching. This one is subjective in answer isn't it?

more after the jump  or come drift was us / wait that was awful

First Watch: WGN America does News in Primetime

WGN America News Nation  Cable TV News  Opinion 

     From 1978 to 2014,  WGN America (known of a few years as Superstation WGN) beamed WGN TV channel 9 from Chicago to America.  It aired Chicago sports and WGN News. During the last decade of that time it aired WGN's  last hour of Midday news and the nine pm news. You even got the lottery.  WGN America pulled that in 2014.   Viewers who missed WGN Chicago news could watch online as modern world had allowed for that, but it was a change.

    In 1980, Ted Turner launched CNN, the first 24 hour cable news channel, over time though the idea of a cable news channel being there just for the news has kind of died.  In 2014,  Al Jazeera America tried and put on a good product , but it had low  ratings and when oil prices dropped AJ thought it would be better to cut loses and give up in 2016.  (AJ is owned by the Qatari government)   Most  American cable news is more about how to keep viewers watching with excessive use of breaking news, debates and annoyance.   MSNBC started as a news channel with NBC News and Mircosoft found success in not doing that and instead having opinion shows that lean politically left, doing the mirror of FOX News leaning to the right. 

              Cable news has  an average of 700,000 viewers watching their daily prime time programming, FOX news leans towards the 2 million mark, MSNBC in the 1 million. CNN tried middle of the road and doing the news, but their prime time has filled with panels or the anchors being talking heads themselves.    The prime time programming has become more join a camp you like and get daily affirmation.  It does make the country look more divided and like Twitter, doesn't offer a full picture of society because  they are fighting for a small amount of viewers compared to the population.  Most Americans trust local news over any  other media, with The Weather Channel  being the highest in trust for a national news channel.

       In 2019, Nexstar, a large local media conglomerate, bought the Tribune Company, which owned WGN and WGN America.  Nexstar owns mostly local TV stations whose main thing is local news. They have alot of them, the largest owner in the country. They have reporters at stations who work in the television markets  most national stories are someone's local story.

more after the jump

A Look at What Killed Weekday Cartoons

Joshuaonline's Essays

              There has been much said on what "killed" off the Saturday Morning network children's television programming block,  so much you can find them on Youtube and other places easily, but we are going to a different side of this, what caused the end of Weekday children's programming (that is not PBS) on over the air television?

The Animaniacs  were a weekday cartoon during their run. 

       The Early Days 

       Weekdays, after school, was the prime time for children and teens because they had just gotten out of school and television stations hope that maybe they would spend a little tile watching their channel instead of doing other things.  Kind of like, how networks felt that daytime television was a way to target housewives.    Weekday mornings , before school, was also a prime time location for children targeted programming.    

     NBC used to offer children-targeted programming on weekdays from the start of their television broadcasting to 1956, yes they gave up really early on Weekday cartoons.   Alot of the NBC, ABC, CBS affiliates did their own local children's shows around this time as well. "Captain Kangaroo" ran CBS weekday mornings from 1955 until the 80's it was the only consistent thing about CBS' morning programming in their history. 

    With daytime television for the affiliates being mostly done by the networks (though local stations could preempt for what they wanted to do)  Non affiliated, also known as - independent stations, saw an market they could go for, Children's TV.  WGN-TV had the famous Bozo's Circus. So programs that were targeted to the children's market were strong on weekdays as much as Saturdays. 

  

     I would still say that focus for makers of programs for Children were weekends, more than weekdays, meaning they'd the more "quality" or newer programming on Saturdays and weekdays was for repeats and lower budget programming.   Independent stations  would sometimes compete against other one or two doing the same kinds of programming. (In many television markets in the 50's to 80's they had more than 3 commercial stations and could just as many indies. )   

  The 80's

        The peak for syndication market , would have to be the 1980's probably the best time  there ever will be for syndicated television in the United States.  This in general , but the children's television market also got a boost in the 1980's.  One thing that happened in the late 70's and 80's was that there were more independent stations popping up , in mid-sized and smaller markets.  That means there was more market for syndication to try to get some audience it needed.   

   Afternoon cartoons were those traditional things like "Tom and Jerry" , "Looney Tunes", and more but there was something coming to add to this.  In 1983 the first cartoon series made just for syndication started.  "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" was made by Filmation in conjuction with Mattel (more on that in a second). Another series, by DIC also started this same year, "Inspector Gadget" 

     These shows were made with weekday in mind, instead of the network model where they seemed to let a show run for 13 episodes (13 Weeks) then give up and repeat them until the new season and maybe that series would return or they just finished up and went on to something, these series were made with 65 episode target.  65 episodes means you could do 5 new episodes a week for 13 weeks, then repeat them.    "He-Man" proved popular enough to have two seasons and 130 episodes. "Gadget" had two seasons reaching 83 episodes. 

     When I mention Mattel ,this is important, the 80's also started a trend that wasn't allowed before,  Cartoon series based off toys.  Mattel made the He Man toys and a great way to promote them is a TV series,  She-Ra too.  In the 1950's alot of children's programming , like alot of television at the time in general was run by the sponsor companies. Later there were regulations placed to not allow this.  But the 1980's meant alot of deregulation and one of  the things deregulated was children focused television. I  may talk about that in some more detail at some later point.  

     So the idea of a program that could be based off a toy line was able to be added to television in the 1980's.  The main 3 networks were kind of iffy on allowing these kind of shows on their Saturday Morning line up, but an independent station who is more in need for content, and reruns of "My Mother the Car" doesn't do it, this became a match made.   Hasbro made TV series based off their toys like "My Little Pony". These programs became successful and this may have seed something that I will to later. 

    A new broadcast network was launched in 1986 , called FOX, most of it's early stations were these independents but since Fox has limited scheduling (as a nice work around the rule against having a broadcast network and a production company being co-owned) the former indie stations still had alot of time to program themselves including the afternoon, and they could continue with their children's programming. 

1987 Changes Everything 

       I personally think the success of shows based off toys showed Disney the syndication market can be a viable way of making getting into television making. Disney had made their first animated TV Series, "Gummi Bears" in 1985, but that was for NBC, this was something different.  In 1987 they launched "Ducktales".  "Ducktales was different than other series in this market, it wasn't there to sale Ducktales toys, or based of a toy line (though there may have been toys after because of the popularity).   Disney putting their hat in the weekday animation game was the beginning of a big change.  Ducktales proved popular where Disney made a whole new syndicated block - The Disney Afternoon. (Which I've written about before) 

  Like a FOX 

      FOX decided to jump into the weekday and Saturday game in 1990 ,with FOX Kids (I've written about before)  FOX affiliates didn't really have to dip into the syndication market as much , Disney Afternoon could have stayed on their stations but in many markets it moved to the remaining indies. and any remaining syndicated programming could have moved off these stations as well.  Fox provided by 1993 , 3 hours a weekday of programming  there were some who also had morning blocks.   Thanks the removal of the regulation that FOX worked around in the 80's  a production company could now own a network, so Warner Brothers and Paramount saw and opening, this is also how Disney could buy ABC.  In 1995 Warner Brothers launched the WB network and Paramount/ Viacom launched UPN.  Most of these affiliates were former indies and they incorporated their children's blocks time slots for their own uses of launching Kids WB and UPN Kids. This included weekday afternoons and mornings.  

  Now the what killed part , after the jump

Opinion : Brady Bunch Episodes I do Like

Opinon Lookback Reviews 


    Back in 2015 I did a list of 4 episodes of the Brady Bunch I didn't like , yet didn't return to the topic , so let's do episodes I do like this time.    Like last time these are my opinions and if you don't like these then that's alright. There are more than 5 episodes I like, but keeping the list simple. Oh, and these are done in particular ranking.

1. "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" Season 1 Episode 4
    Plot :   Alice is used to taking care of the Brady boys, so with Carol around the dynamic changes,  She encourages the boys to ask Carol for help with their problems instead of her after she sees Carol looking a little left out by the boys going to Alice.  When the Brady's start asking Carol more for help she begins to fell left out herself and decides to leave.  The Bradys are unhappy that she is leaving so they make a plan up to show that she is still needed  and of course she decides to stay.

Evening Wear? It's  2 in the afternoon!  /Copyright Paramount 

Why I like this Episode:  The early episodes of the  Brady Bunch were showing the growing pains of this new family being put together , something that disappeared  in season 2.  Alice was the house keeper with the Bradys (Meaning Mike and the boys ) so  they were used to her being there and having her assistance and not going to Carol . Alice felt for Carol so she tried to help but ended up feeling un needed herself.  Alice , besides Bobby, is my favorite character on this show that's another reason to include an episode focused on her in this list.  I like it shows the her caring for this family and the way they consider her  family is very sweet.

2. "Law and Disorder"  Season 4 Episode 14

     Plot :  Bobby at first hates the idea of being a school safety patrol because other kids at school don't want to  talk to him because I guess safety patrolling is bad or something.  There is also a sub plot of the family repairing a boat to go boating.  Bobby's parents convince him that being safety monitor   is actually a good thing and he takes it heart.  Bobby starts like the power he has  and takes it too far at school and starts seeping into home.  He starts reporting his brothers and sisters to his parents for breaking rules.  One day , Bobby is walking home when he stopped by a girl who needs help to get her cat, so Bobby decided to help her until he finds out that the cat is in a condemned house but he reluctantly decides to go in and help the find the cat.   He does but his good clothes have gotten dust and ash all over them , so he gets home and tries to wash them before his parents get home and of course that classic sitcom plot of putting too much stuff in the washing machine causes a mess.  His parents explain that rules  are meant to be followed but within reason.  Also, the boat is finished.

Did she bring her cat to school?/ Copyright Paramount

    Why I like this episode :  Bobby is one of my favorite Brady Bunch characters so that's a factor.  This episode is a classic sitcom plot where a character gets some authority and it goes to their head. Bobby didn't mean it with any malice or ill intent  he was trying to do his best and let it get to his head. He learns that rules are important ,yes but sometimes doing something right may require bending a rule. Cindy learns that if you have someone you know in power that doesn't put you above the rules. It also makes me laugh and that works for a comedy to me.


3. "The Voice of Christmas"  Season 1 Episode 12

  Plot:  It's Christmas time and Carol has been practicing  for her solo at church for Christmas service but she then contracts laryngitis. The family helps her and they worry she can't sing. Cindy asks a mall Santa if he can give her mom her voice back for Christmas. The kids on Christmas Eve feel down that Carol's voice isn't back and they want to postpone Christmas but Alice convinces them that that's what their mom would want.  On Christmas Carol's voice comes back.

Sorry, we got the tree in installment plans/copyright Paramount 

Why I like this Episode :   I put this in a list of good Christmas sitcom episodes ,that is on this blog somewhere. I think it's a good episode because it shows things that Christmas can be about. Cindy's faith and the idea that she asks for something for someone else than herself. The family hoping that Carol gets better before Christmas and the happy ending.

4.  "A Fistful of Reasons"  Season 2 Episode 8
       Plot :  Cindy comes home distraught after a bully named Buddy Hinton makes fun of the way she talks.  Her parents offer her help to fix her lisp. When she's practicing   her s sounds at school, Buddy makes fun of her some more. Peter over sees this and tries to stop Buddy from picking on her ,but Peter refuses to fight him and gets called chicken.  The next time, Peter tries and stop him from picking on her and ends up getting a black eye.  Mike decides to talk to Buddy Hinton's father and that goes nowhere. Carol decides to talk to Mrs. Hinton but this also goes nowhere.  Peter  practices  his hitting.   Peter tries and reason with Buddy again that doesn't work so he puts up his fists and Buddy tries to hit him but  Peter gets him and knocks a tooth loose.  When he starts talking funny the other kids that were watching start making fun of Buddy but Peter stops him . Cindy asks why, and he explains that she didn't like it when Buddy was making fun of him. He tells the other kids to get going. Buddy comes by the Brady house  He asks to see Cindy so he can borrow her tongue twister book to help with  lisp from the loose tooth.

Wonder if his face cooks evenly? /Copyright  Paramount 

    Why I like this episode: There have been hitting moral stories on sitcoms before and after this episode and sometimes they are executed badly.   This episode doesn't explicitly say hitting is bad , it says that it shouldn't the first response to a problem, which is more realistic.  Peter tries to resolve his problem with words   and only hits back when he has to.  When Peter tells the other kids not to make fun of Buddy for sound funny after being hit, he again shows a maturity.  It has it's funny moments as well  and  Buddy learns his lesson and is redeemed. 

5. "The Hero" Season 1 Episode 21 

   The plot:  Peter saves a little girl at  a toy store from a falling shelf  and her mother hails Peter as a hero.  Peter ends up in the newspapers and  lets it all go to his  head when he gets free stuff and tons of attention.  When Peter wants to hold a party  for his heroism and since everyone was annoyed by the way he was acting no one shows up. He learns his lesson  and the brady's hold his party. 

Peter-party /copyright Paramount 

     Why I like this episode :  If this episode was written  in today's TV he would have been a Twitter trending topic  and splashed over every TV show  and website in the country. (Including click bait ones)   But episode is timeless anyway, as to show what happens when a person gets in the limelight gets a little to out of hand. Peter though , learns his lesson before any real damage is done.   This is a good episode for anyone really , it shows that someone can get caught up in the limelight and at the same time , people can have the ability of  making someone be under the limelight who may not be able to handle it. Which is even worse in today's times.  

       That's the episodes I do like, there are more ,but I am stopping at five, what ones do you like or dislike?  That would be nice to know. 

Tune in next time when Cindy is saved by Superman. 

.

A DCOS Review : Andi Mack as Disney tries something new

Opinion  Disney Channel 

                                                                   Disney 

        The last Disney Channel original series I wrote about was "Girl Meets World" in 2014, and they've done other shows past that and GMW ended last year after 3 seasons, but I've not done any other series for review.   But a new series that is set to come out in April  caught my eye, because it was created by the same person who did "Lizzie McGuire" one of my favorite all time sitcoms from any channel.

     The series was promoted with this :



      The main character , Andi Mack (played by Peyton Elizabeht Lee)  says that her sister Bex is coming home for her birthday and she has big surprise.  It's a hook alright, to find out what the secret is.   This is  a Disney Channel series though , what could the surprise be?    

 Disney Channel has released the first episode to their youtube channel (free to view ) and on their watchdisneychannel website / app, along with the 2nd episode (watch with cable sign in) both parts to air on TV April 8th at 8:30pmet.    So I watched the first episode  when it was released on March 10th and well here's a little synopsis.

      Much like a series that came to Disney Channel in 2016 , called "Stuck in the Middle"  it doesn't have laughter either a live studio audience or laugh track to laugh or make a wooing sound , or other sounds.    We are introduced to Andi and her two friends, Cyrus and Buffy.   She rides in on a new motor scooter that she bought with some money from trading in her bike and watching a neighbor's cats.  Her mother doesn't know she bought the scooter and from Buffy and Cyrus' statements it seems she's the kind of person who wouldn't want her twelve almost thirteen year old daughter to have such a thing.  Also, tomorrow is her birthday.   When she and her friends walk over to  Andi's house a motor cycle shows up  and its rider is her older sister,  Bex (played by Lilan Bowden ). Bex seems toe be the cooler older sister who hasn't been around much.

       Also points go to the "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" reference. (Also makes you feel something when Buffy says a Television series from the last century) Bex is there by surprise and from Andi's questioning , it seems their mother might not like surprises.   The father seems to be very happy his oldest daughter has showed up , the mother seems a bit shocked and annoyed. Bex announces that she is staying for a while trying to get her life back on track.
   
    The show's intro  kind of gave me a clue about something in Andi's character where she is able to craft and Bex sees that her sister can make bracelets out of anything.  Bex has a box that she keeps it's like a diary to her. Her mother doesn't want Bex to show the box to Andi because there are things she doesn't need to see or know.  Bex of course shows her the box anyway it seems to be filled with pictures and objects of Bex's life.   The next day, Andi's birthday  Bex gets Andi a gift -an afternoon learning ultimate Frisbee  with a boy Andi has a crush on named Jonah Beck. (He's in the opening intro credit so he will be important )  When Andi finds out that Jonah has a girlfriend , who's in Highschool (9th grade) she gets mad at Bex and goes home. Jonah sends her a text and that changes her mood.

 This is a spoiler territory so if you haven't watched the episode : watch it here :
 and then come back or if you already watch you can continue after the jump , or you need the spoiler as way to get you to watch then sure move on.  (It's also on the app and website along with episode 2)

Opinion : 4 Episodes of the Brady Bunch I don't like

Opinion  Lookback Reviews 

      Hello, I am personal fan of The Brady Bunch, I have watched every episode more at least 30 times , though some episodes  I feel were not this show best at all. Instead of a normal lookback ,  I review 4 sidesteps of the Brady Bunch  I think fits the category.  So yes , this is subjective and this not to attack any episodes you like , plus as I said I am a fan of the show and still watch it alot.

 4.  "You're Never Too Old" Season 4 episode 21
   This episode  , I don't hate as much as I wonder if it only exists to see Robert Reed  and Florence Henderson wearing make up to look like grandparents. (Marcia ! )
 Premise :  Carol's Grandmother  (played by Florence Henderson ) and  Mike's Grandfather  (played by Robert Reed)   come for a visit and the kids try to get them together because they both are single  and they are there.   After some work they get eloped in Vegas.

Why I don't like it:  What is this episode?  Why did the kids want to get their great-grandparents married and married to each other?   It really seems as an episode to get  Robert Reed  and Florence Henderson  to dress up like older people  and the plot was thrown in for some odd fun.

"Next time , we marry  Bobby and Cindy muahhaha" / Copyright Paramount 

     3."Top  Secret" Season  5 Episode 19 

 Premise ;  Oliver (and no it's not because of Oliver) and  Bobby think that Sam the butcher is passing information to the Russians  So then they capture him in a meat locker. Though it was all an understanding.  

                                             

 We have nothing against Oliver,/ Copyright Paramount 

Why I don't like it :  Ok , I could see this episode working better if it was Just Oliver, he's  7-years-old so maybe he could get confused like that , but why nearly 12 year-old Bobby ?  How come  he  also gets  in this scheme it seems less realistic. (as much as Brady Bunch episode could be)   

2.  "The Snooperstar" Season 5 Episode 20 

    Premise :  Cindy is snooping in Marcia's Diary , so Marcia creates fake entries  about a Hollywood agent  wants to make  Cindy the next Shirley Temple . (not the drink)  Cindy then thinks that Mike's new client is  a talent agent. Marica tries to tell her that it was all a fake  but Cindy does an act and actually charms Mike's client into the contract. 

Mike has odd clients  / Copyright Paramount 

   

Why I don't like it : First , Cindy snooping in a Diary seems like an episode you would have in season 1 or 2 when Cindy was 6 or 7  ,not when she's near 12. Even being the next Shirley Temple who started younger than say Cindy would be.   It really doesn't fit with her being older.  Also  if Cindy was meant to learn a lesson , I think she learned in a past episode  then why does it end up with  a good ending  ,where her act helps  Mike get a contract.   It's like the episode knows the plot was too old for Cindy so much they ran something else with it. 

1.  "Hair brained Scheme"  The Final Episode 

    Premise : Series Finale , Greg is graduating in a few days , meanwhile  Bobby and Cindy decide to get into  business.  Bobby gets hair tonic to sell ,and Greg buys some and it turns his hair orange.

                     

                                     "Guess it's to late for us to drop out of this episode too"/ Copyright Paramount 

Why I don't like it:  Mike is not this episode because Robert Reed  got in fight with derangement because he didn't like the plot line of the episode.   The episode kind of makes no sense  as to why Bobby and to an extent , Cindy were doing get-rich quick schemes , as if the plot was only put together to do something goofy (gosh ) to Greg's hair before graduation.  It's also sad as a graduation episode because Mike is not there at the time of his first born's  biggest moment in life so far.  

That's our review of these 4 episodes   ,next time when we look at the worst episodes of "My Mother the Car"hmm (nevermind) 

Things to Look at for the TV and the Media in 2015

Opinions  TV Media 

   Goodbye 2014,  and that means that are are entering a new year  and that means a whole new year in anything can happen in world of TV and the media, we are taking a look at things that could possibly happen in the new year.

1. Cable Company Mergers 
  After the installation of  Tom Wheeler as head of the FCC last year, Comcast saw their chance to buy another cable company , Time Warner Cable, (no relation to Time Warner)  , the deal was announced early 2014 , but since it's a huge deal , even with a "friend in FCC" it's taking along time. If Comcast is allowed their prize it would be the biggest Cable company in the Untied States. There is also another deal up ... AT&T wants sat caster Direct TV, this deal was announced a few weeks after the Comcast one , this deal is also still be looked at.
         AT&T and Direct  TV have a better chance of their  marriage happening compared to  the other , though.   If Comcast-TWC is approved it would be a shock if AT&T -Direct TV is denied. If it's the  other way around , there's a better chance both would be denied.
   
2. Stand Alone TV 
     The Idea of al-a-carte Cable is a hard one ... but  that is not stopping CBS from launching a pay version  of CBS online where you can watch CBS programs on demand all you want and in areas where they own a TV station you can watch Live. HBO announced they are launching a streaming service for you folks with out the cable wires.
   What about the other networks?  Well , I don't See ABC doing that yet, but it could  , they currently have a deal  where you can go to Watch ABC sign in with your cable company (makes sense for a network TV doesn't it?) and watch their programs on demand and in markets where they own a station ,watch live online.  While ,they could launch a stand-alone service , that's not been announced yet.   NBC , well  they are owned by Comcast , would be interesting if NBC launched something like CBS all access  , but then again NBC would be getting money .   FOX ... is also  a network that could possibly launch one too.    In speaking of CBS, they are the owners of Showtime so maybe expect a stand-alone Showtime before stand-alone NBC.   Wait , a second  ... they are.
    Interesting , if everyone does it ... you might as well pay for cable.

3. Late Night TV 
  Apparently after ABC and NBC decided to switch up line ups in late night ,CBS hopped into the fun.  David Letterman is leaving the "The Late Show " and being replace by Stephan Colbert. While "The Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson is leaving and being replaced by a man named James Cordon.
    So now CBS , which has been the stable of the networks ,  ( sorry NBC)  is in a through of change at late night.  Some questions happen  will  Stephen Colbert ( who be playing himself and not the guy on Comedy Central)  be good  at a late night  talk show format  or will viewers leave to watch "Friends" reruns on the local CW /Mynetwork/ FOX/whatever station?  It's always gamble to change hosts at late night and hard to predict. (That's our way of weaseling out of a question, also we watch  Friends repeats anyway)

4. Cable Fights  
   Two words , expect more.  Cable fights we mean  are the ones between a network or company and a cable or sat caster.   There have been many for the past few years, I say expect more and the fun blame game.  Company A owns TV channels wants more money , even if some of their channel suck  Company B  is a provider worried about losing you as their  money feeders (that's a word)  and they fight even if it's a penny. In many cases channel(s)  get pulled  and it's a wait and see between who will give up first. Company B who  keeps getting angry calls , or Company A who is losing viewers.     There should be  a way to stop this , but apparently nobody is trying hard.   Many times in a fight there are multiple channels  pulled . Example : Time Warner vs Dish Network  :  Cartoon Network, CNN, HLN , TCM ,and Tru TV were pulled. If some one hates all these channels  they probably didn't mind then  as long the they weren't being charged for them .  But if someone hates Tru TV but loves TCM (Turner Classic Movies) ,they  felt bad.   Will these stop? No , unless someone figures out a better system.  (Don't shout NetFlix , that's not what we mean)

5. Easy Prediction ... the rest aren't  
     The Simpsons Won't be canceled...  well that got your attention .  Will "American Idol" be canceled?  The show has been  going down on ratings ... but if It makes Fox  money , it could go on until the ratings are really bad or it has a red year.    Today Show won't be  #1 in 2015, the Today Show on NBC probably won't be  the #1 morning show (national average) in 2015 either  the "Good Morning America" time in the #1 sun for maybe another year.  CBS This Morning , on the other hand , could maybe tie 2nd ( this is an outlier , and a maybe a crazy one   ).
  "ABC World News Tonight " (or the softest of the Evening News on the networks)  will either be fighting for 1st with NBC Nightly News or beating by the end of 2015.  CBS Evening News will continue  to grow though.
    Anyway these were some predictions most of them  were cop-outs (Cough American Idol) , others were  crazy  and one was easy.

6. Buying Up  less 
     After a couple years of Big TV deals like Sinclair Broadcast group buying Allbritton in 2013 (took  late summer 2014 for the deal to be official) , Granett Buying Belo, and in 2014,  Media General merging with Lin and  Scripps buying Journal . 2015, could mean a quieter year on that front, there may still be some buyings of stations and smaller groups, unless another big company wants to quit the world of local TV ownership or something.  Also in the bigger world ,there is probably not another chance of Murdoch  trying to buy Time Warner but anything can surprise.  AMC networks did buy a stake in BBC America,  hopefully that means BBC World News in the US can expand and maybe the HD channel more available soon.

 7. More Internet TV 
  It's been a good time for Netflix , Hulu and the others as they release programs , in some cases the whole season at one time, to  their paying subscribers to watch  anytime they want ( Friday at 8:43:22 AM)  well , expect more of that , Amazon is even in that game.    On the other side,  since the Aereo case , don't expect anybody wanting to try the live stream local tv online deal anymore, unless a station group and or the networks  make a deal to stream online. ABC and CBS do ... but you have to live in a city where ABC and CBS own that station , hopefully other station groups could and will make a deal.

Al Jazeera America : 1 year later

NEWS  MEDIA

Written By Skyler
 Editor of Mychiller

     On , August 20, 2013  Al Jazeera America launched  replacing  Current TV.  So now we have reached one year since launch and how  is it doing?
   Well ratings wise, not to well   there could be an assortment of reasons .  1) Cable : This reason has two, on many cable systems  ,including mine , it's on a higher channel  , while Fox News , MSNBC, and CNN are right to next other  AJAM is out there.  HD rights , it's not available in  HD on many cable systems unlike , FOX News , MSNBC, and  CNN. Many HD viewers may want to watch but be not wanting too.  2) The Name:  The hard thing this channel has it's name . I don't hold  it's name against it I mean most names on American cable tv don't mean anything , look at History Channel , where's the History?  Or Discovery , what I am to discover ?  Or BBC America, not much  BBC to the Americans there.  But many people in America do because of it's foreign sounding name and logo and maybe to an extant it's ownership , the ruling family of the Qatari government.  The company has stated they aren't thinking of changing the name ,because Al Jazeera is the name of the company and the channel is part of the company.  Which makes sense , BBC World News is owned by the BBC (BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC) and the BBC News name is a respected trusted news organization  so why change the name?
     I am kind of glad they didn't just plop Al Jazerra English and say "here you go" , they do simulcast AJE at points of the day. AJAM's  US based newscasts cover alot of international stories and stories here in US.  Unlike MSNBC , which most of it's programming weekdays are opinion programming , and Fox News Channel , which has alot of opinion programming, they don't that you won't see (insert liberal /conservative here) hosting a prime time show on the channel . Instead you get a 8PMET / 5PM PT   News cast anchored by former NBC News anchor  , John Seigenthaler. Yes, a full hour of news from around the world and the US. Not a program telling me why I should  hate republicans or democrats  or CNN  squeezing some random story out any juice they can get.  At 9PMET/6PT you get a news magazine show "America Tonight"  that  gives interesting stories  not constantly focusing on crime like the network news magazine shows , 60 Minutes not in that group of crime laden shows.  At 10PM/7pt   you get a conversation and current affairs show , "Consider  This", which sometimes has some interesting topics. At 11PM/8pt they give another live newscast anchored by Seigenthaler , because we have a west-coast time zone .     The reason why I said I am glad they didn't just plop AJE in  and try to give some American news programming , as well  is because it is kind of lacking. We have a confused CNN  , MSNBC, which has lot of opinion programming ,especially between 2PMET until 5AMET.  Fox News has a mix . I am a person who watches all the news channels , just not all day (that would be crazy). Do find that  Al Jazeera America's un-flashiness , not  having the word breaking news  on all day for no reason , or telling me why insert celeb here has been arrested, married, having a baby,moved to somewhere ,said/did something stupid...etc.  a nice chance of pace. It's a style that I l like about "CBS Evening News" (when I do watch an evening newscast) and a reason why  I don't watch "ABC World News".
       As it hits one year  it has not changed much even though low ratings, which I say is good thing  I would hate that it jumped around got crazy and started copying other channels ideas or programming.  I am also glad we have  more news channels on our systems like AJAM , BBC World News, One America News  , and some have France 24 and I24.  

Happy 20th Birthday! Turner Classic Movies

Turner Classic Movies   TV 
          April 14th , 2014  marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of Turner  Classic Movies  ,  here at Joshuaonline we are wishing  this channel a Happy anniversary.   Unlike other cable channels that launched with a purpose  then changed it's focus sometimes ( We are looking at you AMC, TV Land, Nick at Nite,  The Weather Channel , FXM , HLN (at least they changed the name) ,  Tru TV ( at least they changed the name ) , MTV , etc. )  Turner  Classic Movies has stayed true to it's mission to air  classic movies from the silent movies to early talking to 30's, 40's and 50's  and stayed  commercial free    showing  different generations of  viewers classic movies  and classic stars  that help make the movies something  people enjoy to watch even now. With so many movies and types from the past you will also find a treat .
          Turner Classic Movies   has for the past 20 years been a great movies network  that even their presentation makes things feel special.  They have hosts that give you  information on the movies, the actors and other interesting facts ,they air original trailers for movies that will be airing on the channel.
         For it's 20th anniversary we are glad that they have stayed  doing it's classic movies format  , after AMC gave up in 2002, and  Fox Movies was  remade as FXM airing newer movies ,still airing classics from 3AMET-3PMET (for now).  It's also stayed commercial free and has always something to view. It's a great thing to see movies from the earliest age of movies when they didn't know what they were doing but did something good. It's also good to see the "bad" classic movies that still are a treasure.
     So with that  we say Happy Birthday TCM! , Thanks for airing the classic movies and let's hope that continues for the next 20 years.

Turner Classic Movies  promo 1995  - Youtube 

Sunday Talks : It's a boy

Sundays Talks , The Media 
  Written by Skyler  M
   
     The Big news this week  in the media perspective was the new royal baby , named  Prince George Alexander Louis ( 3 great names for boys by, the way) as the new heir the throne is born  to wait until it will be his time.   The US media even got the bug to cover  the UK royals , as they like to do. The coverage of things like this do get a little weird, the media reporters were sent to stand infront of a hospital door to say the same thing they said 5 minutes ago "No baby yet".   By Monday afternoon in the US time scale  ,we found out that baby is born and it's a boy.  Now many could be bothered by the coverage , but I do say  that at least it's a positive story in the news. Sometimes you need a positive story sometime  and this was.  
                                     
                                  image: Channel 4 News/ Tuesday
     The  media sent reporters to stand infront of a door to tell everyone that their hasn't been a baby yet  and repeat that about 10  minutes later.   The one thing that happens in coverage is that news likes to stick to coverage instead of also going to other things in the news.   CNN found the oddest way to cover a royal birth, they went to a birth.     But after the reveal and the name came out the coverage did , as it should, winded down.  
     
       Al Jazerra America  is set to launch in a few weeks, it's replacing Current TV ( which I was surprised to see was still doing it's live political programming ).  They have announced their new president  former ABC News executive Kate O' Brian.  The channel says they will be doing news 24/7 LIVE.    Most cable news channels  , give up the live  programming plot at 11PMET or 8pm for the west coast .  MSNBC goes into opinion programming starting around 3PMET (so no news there really)  , Fox News channel goes into opinion first at 5pmet going back to news at 6 and 7pmet ,then returning back to opinion after 8pmet.    The 24/7 strategy  makes wonder if they will be simulcasting AJ English at points in the day.  We used to have Channels that run news live 24/7 CNN used to and HLN (when it was Headline News) used to.  We will update you on them when they launch.
      I do hope that Al Jazerra America won't go into tabloid , opinion, trails all day , junk that  CNN and many other US channels have gone into. Hopefully the keep that promise they won't.

    How much do you care about Anthony Weiner?   Most of the national media seems to think you should care alot about him. The story is not as important unless  you live in New York City and will be voting in the election.  If a story is leading Inside Edition or Entertainment Tonight ... maybe the nightly news shouldn't lead with it?  CBS didn't lead with it, so it is possible to do.  The media loves it because of the sexting part and  his name it works well that way.  

                                               
   

CBS This Morning , 11 months later

Straight Forward Reviews CBS Morning Shows
 By Skyler
     It's  about a year  since CBS  changed to their new morning show , "CBS This Morning " , I gave a review the first day it aired,  in which I gave it a high marking.  Now it's 11 months later, the almost 1 year mark, what are my thoughts as the show has settled in.  I still think that it's a good quality program for morning television , the formatting and content has not really changed since  , there was a host change with Norah O' Donnell taking Erica Hill's spot.  As compared to "Good Morning America" and "Today Show" ,the CBS approach has been more news and discussion  and less on  why Lindsey Lohan keeps getting arrested or how to make a cake. They still have your local weather person doing your local weather instead of a national weather person being wacky and using a low scale map , then toss over to your local station.
   Over all CBS has done a good job , fixing the problem the Early Show from 1999-2011 had trying out soften the other two national network shows, and built upon Early Show of 2011-2012 with more news. Giving viewers a different choice , which was needed.  CBS has always struggled in the Morning show world but I think this show gives them proper footing  The show hasn't got alot or press it's first year , probably because the "Today Show" story is so juicy not to cover ,but that maybe a good thing as long as CBS doesn't have exceptions of getting first  in 3 years ( It look GMA 16 years) , they will be good to go.
    In the morning the content on "This Morning" is much for rich and the news doesn't stop because the clock says 7:30AM.  and it's interviews are pretty good.  The hosts click very well together each bring a style and personality to the program, Norah O Donnell with her news background, Charlie Rose with his interview style, and Gayle King with her energetic and  good interview style.  It also shows the best of CBS' journalism.
    The ratings still have it in 3rd place but anything can happen , if "Good Morning America" now beats "The Today Show" then  CBS could move on up a few years time.

"CBS This Morning" airs on CBS Mondays-Saturdays  7-9AM ET ,taped-delayed to other time zones.
website : http://cbsnews.com/thismorning 

[Opinion] 5 things I think CNN needs to do

Straight Forward  
written by Skyler
        Former NBC Universal Chief and Current EP for "Katie" , Jeff Zuker, has been announced as the new president of CNN-WorldWide. CNN has not had the best of ratings in the past couple years , it slipped from being 2nd place to 3rd place behind MSNBC. That very much concerns the network, and it wants to at least get back to 2nd behind the 10 year high rated Fox News Channel. To point , MSNBC moved up to 2nd by changing it's core. and instead of being an unbaised news channel it moved to being a home for liberal talk  and Joe Scarborough , with a few news programs squished inside at odd places , while Fox News Channel targets a more right leaning audience, usally between  6-9AMET, 4-6PMET,8-11PMET, on weekdays.  I don't think it would  be good for CNN to try to "out-liberal" MSNBC or "Out Conservative" Fox News  and so far they been trying to be the channel that focuses on news unbiased. During the elections they plainly said they were the only news channel to not pick a side. I also don't think they should go the route of their sister news channel HLN, which lives it's own paralleled  universe.
     1. There is more than politics.   CNN , during the election season covered it like there was nothing else as much as they could. CNN seems to have a love for political stories , that's probably why Wolf Blitzer is on for 3 hours (sometimes 2 hours or 4 hours depending on the year).  But there is a whole bunch of other news out there.  Maybe CNN should have a show focused on the west coast  , that's a large segment of the country that usually gets jipped.  Or get more news updates for the west coast use that live across the whole country thing to an advantage.  There's more than what D.C is doing. We also don't need to see every stump speech or rally, that's not news.
   2. Give me the world .   CNN has a great channel , for rest of the world called CNN International , it focuses  well... on the world. CNN has started , the 12PMET/9AMPT hour of CNN NEWSROOM , does that , I would love to hear more international stories not just about the middle-east  but the world the good , not just the bad. Give Americans something more to understand the world. CNN I has shows  about international business, travel, food, and issues, and I think that would a good thing to give the American audience, something the networks don't care about as much and use those CNN I resources they have.
 3.Don't Lean Forward. Like I said before ,CNN shouldn't go the routes of the other 2 channels, because it would not help it.  Be a  News Channel that a democrat, Republican, anyone else can trust  and sometimes be offended by. Be an honest channel , try to get the facts  and if they aren't facts don't use them . Better to be last on a  story and correct, than first and wrong and it's better that you don't have a horse in the race in politics and other stories you are covering.
4. Balance the News.  Make sure there is a good mixture of  Hard news topics and softer news topics we don't need  tons of time devoted to whatever celebrity says or does, just as much as we don't need to hear the same political nothingness for time on end.  Nothing can be "Breaking News" all day , that's not breaking any news if it's all day,it defeats the purpose. Seeing that yellow banner all day for the same story or everything you go back to that story has no sense.  15-16 live hours of news a day means you have time  do stories that other's don't do for an assortment of reasons.  
  5.Somethings are working ok.   CNN is not bad set up right now,  they have many good programs and hosts, my favorite being Erin Burnett and her program. I also think that it's good they don't cover car-chases , that's a policy that should stay and other channels should pick up that idea car chases are important to a national news. If someone lives in Dallas, why the heck would they need to know about a car-chase in LA? That's not going to affect their trip home, there are some local news stories that don't belong national. So it's good that CNN doesn't cover car-chases.
   I don't work in TV, or claim to be, I am person who watches the cable news and always has questions and think about what could be different.