Category: Uncategorized

Some thoughts about Tuesday’s announced merger of The WB and UPN into a new fifth network — the CW. First — the name is lamer than i (the new name of Pax — the former seventh network).

The CW seems to stand for the new dynamic duo of CBS and Warner Bros. But come on — CW? I tried coming up with good jokes about the new name all day and didn’t do so hot. How about CU — as in “C-U on some other channel”? People, including moi, quickly wondered if this new network follows “Conventional Wisdom” or if it will offer “Country Western” shows.

I’ll bet that we’ll see a better name when the new network launches in the fall. Here’s hoping.

(BTW, i apparently stands for “infomercials”, which is what they air in primetime.)

The deal seemed surprising because there didn’t seem to be any public word that it was coming — right now. At the same time, you could see that the “netlets” would need to do something — both WB and UPN were struggling to keep their own schedules filled with shows worth watching and getting people to watch.

Back at the 1995 launch, pundits said both networks couldn’t make it and that at least one would have to die. They were right — neither of them will make it intact to the fall.

There’s a lot of talk about which of the current roster of shows airing on both networks through the spring will survive. I don’t think it’s a big issue although I hope that my favorites (UPN’s “Veronica Mars” and “Everybody Hates Chris”) makes it through.

The new network will have to get serious about what it wants to be. Both have tried, with varying levels of success, to reach young adults, black families and the like. Both networks have stumbled when they try to switch gears on the audiences they’re trying to attract. I don’t know what the studios will do with The CW, I just hope they do.

There’s been a lot of chatter about what will happen to the local stations airing WB or UPN programming. Just to keep things clear regarding local broadcasters. This deal involves the networks at the national level. The networks own only a handful of the local affiliates that broadcast their programming (and they seem to have priority for the new network).

So WB 4 in Anywhere, USA may air WB programming, but the local station is owned by Smithco Broadcasting.

We still need to see what the fallout is at the local level. This deal might leave Smithco and the other station owners scrambling (especially if their UPN/WB rival station is owned by CBS or WB-partner Tribune).

Considering that local broadcasting stations are highly valued ($100,000s to tens of millions), they aren’t going to go away. I’ll bet some of them will go back to syndicated programming and do all right. They’ll probably be able to sell more local ads instead of airing national ads in primetime.

I think this merger may be an ideal time for many local stations to jump to ethnic-language programming. Spanish language programming is growing and getting increased recognition (this season, Nielsen started listing Univision’s ratings alongside the Big 4 plus UPN, WB and i).

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Parts of this commentary were first posted on the TrekBBS

Apple’s announced its first Intel-based computers at the MacWorld Expo. The computers include an upgraded iMac at the same price and a MacBook Pro. I’m impressed by the announced specs for the MacBook, but the name leaves something to be desired.

On first blush, the name “MacBook” doesn’t seem to roll over the tongue. It seems less sexy or impressive than “Powerbook” or even “iBook.” I don’t know why Apple wants to abandon the Powerbook name. Aside from some gaffes with the first Power PC-based ‘books (silly overheating batteries), Powerbook has had a pretty strong reputation for more than 10 years.

Time will tell if “MacBook” will catch on, but I wonder if it’s the best name out there.

Well, folks. I’m pulling the plug on my nascent project to document examples of people excluding the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from their maps. I’ve been told I’m wrong and I now heartedly admit the error of my ways.

Steven Colbert, of “The Colbert Report,” took a phone call from a Mustard County, Mich. resident last Monday. The resident pointed out that the show’s map of every congressional district omitted the U.P. (which is part of Michigan’s 1st). Colbert denied the allegation and told the caller that if it isn’t on his map, those people live in Canada.

Thanks for straightening that up, Steven.

Word is that Pat Morita has died. While I pretty much only recall Morita in his memorable roles as Mr. Myagi in the Karate Kid films and Arnold in “Happy Days,” this CBC Arts story revealed parts of his career that I didn’t know about. I didn’t even know he was nominated for an Oscar for Karate Kid.

I last saw him playing himself on the Adult Swim series “Robot Chicken.” It was funny that he was poking fun at himself.

He will be missed.

Just got back from seeing Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices at the Pageant Theater. It was an interesting film — they had a lot of ground to cover and I don’t know how effectively they navigated it.

Before landing on some towns that successfully fought off the discount retailer, the film bounced around from how Wal-Mart is against small-town businesses, the employees, the customers and the workers making their goods. They were interesting in their own rights, but they could’ve been tied better into the film’s overall message.

Anyway, there were at least two errors in the film that I’m interested in.

1 – What U.S. map were they using? It looked to me that the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula was missing. Not cool, especially because the map looked pretty good otherwise.

2 – During the segment where the film detailed the number of violent crimes occurred in store parking lots, they listed a number of crimes that they said happened in the “first 7 months of 2005” (which drew a response from the audience).

Unfortunately, one of the listed crimes may not be accurate. I saw a knife assault at the Houghton, Mich. Wal-Mart listed. I remember when the assault happened and it wasn’t in 2005.

According to a Jan. 27, 2005 item from The Associated Press, the knife assault on the 92-year-old man occurred on Sept. 28, 2004. I recall the assault’s brutal details — the man’s throat was allegedly slashed in broad daylight (the man survived).

So if these details are inaccurate, how reliable are the film’s other details?

UPDATE – I was checking the list of parking lot crimes on WalMartMovie.com. Houghton isn’t currently on the list. I distinctly recall seeing it on the big screen (and I’m fairly certain I saw it on the on-screen list).

Interesting.

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I’m also seeking a better name for this “Missing U.P.” segment. I would welcome ideas for something catchy and memorable. Drop me a line, ryan -at- rtomedia.com

In a post last month, I commented that I wasn’t able to view Adult Swim’s “Friday Night Fix” online streaming episodes. I couldn’t even easily determine what technology Williams Street used to for the service.

I tried to get the “fix” on my work computer Friday. I was able to tell that [as] wants a newer version Windows Media Player. That’s something I’m not going to be able to get until I upgrade my home computer. Bummer.

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Another bummer is that “Arrested Development” had its full-season order cut to 13 episodes — again. Many critics see the writing on the wall for this show, which is a bummer.

It looks like the show is “monday-d” for good. At the same time, it’s nice the show got three seasons.

This is something I’ve been meaning to start for a long time. For four years, I lived on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Michigan is a state consisting of two large peninsulas jutting out into the Great Lakes. The Lower Peninsula is more well-known because the bulk of the population lives down there (including Detroit).

Map from Google Local

Now, one thing that I’ve noticed in recent years is that some people don’t include the Upper Peninsula in maps of the United States or Michigan. Sometimes they clump it with Canada or associate it with Wisconsin.

I don’t know why they do it — whether it’s an oversight, design error or just plain ignorance.

Here’s an example from FOX’s “Family Guy”:

The screen cap is from Planet Family Guy. I didn’t see the episode in question, but the character of Ollie Williams is clearly in front of a U.S. map missing the Upper Peninsula.

Some Yoopers get offended by these errors, and I think I can understand where they’re coming from. The U.P. isn’t a relatively tiny island like Long Island (which is often dropped from maps of New York). This is a large landmass about a third of the state andthe size of Denmark.

So to chronicle these goofs, I’ve decided to create a special section on my.RTOmedia.com. Under the “More” section, you’ll shortly be able to find examples from the Internet and TV of the missing Upper Peninsula.

I’ve got a ton of examples saved on my computer from The Los Angeles Times, TextAmerica, the U.S. Weather Service and more. I can’t wait to share them with you.

If you’ve got some examples, zip a message to ryan -at- rtomedia.com

My two friends currently living in Connecticut happened to be in the audience of the episode of “Late Show with David Letterman” that aired Friday.

I was trying to spot them in the audience throughout the episode, and I quickly grew anxious. The show was dragging quite a bit.

Who cares about whatever the heck guest Billy Crystal was talking about? Where’s the handsome — and possibly sexy in places — audience? Show more of them.

After the broadcast, I went back to the one (one!) time the audience was shown on the screen and spotted them.

The show was recorded a week prior and it showed — the delaying tactics were really obvious. How can they do a “Week in Review” segment and not talk about Supreme Court nominee Alito? No Scooter Libby mention either, but they had plenty of time for the “wacky” antics of Letterman and his cast.

It also seemed like Crystal’s segment lasted 700 Sundays. OK, it wasn’t that bad, but it seemed much longer than it needed to be — the whole show did.

I also wish I was a bigger Ryan Adams fan, but nyeh. I just got very anxious during the song too and took a short break. I did tap my feet watching the segment the next day, but only a little.

However, it would be fun to be in a live television studio audience one day. I can either sit quietly or use my patented guffaw (patent pending).

My pro blog has received a much-needed infusion of a couple of posts, including a brief word about two ex-Gazetters moving on in the world.

I was browsing around on Comcast’s On Demand service last night. I was surprised to discover they have a karaoke section where people can sing along to the same songs one might find at the local taverns.

So what’s scarier — that Comcast has such a section for its viewers or that I tried to sing along to some of those songs in the darkness of night?