24 Jul 2014

American TV shows might look more diverse, but their writers aren’t

There’s been a lot of talk about the upcoming fall TV season in the US being the most diverse one in terms of casting, from ABC’s new show Black-ish to Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine entering its second season. But behind the scenes, the writers’ room remains largely the domain of white men.

Numbers from the Writer’s Guild of America, West (WGAW), the labor union that represents writers for US TV, movies and other media, indicate that while representation has improved for women and minorities in the decade from the 2001-2002 TV season to the 2011-2012 season, they still make up only a small portion of the industry.

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.: Perhaps it's appropriate, in our binge-watching culture, that the Television Critics Association 2014 Summer Press Tour is the ultimate TV marathon. For more than two weeks, the critics, reporters and bloggers in attendance at the Beverly Hilton Hotel are immersed in all aspects of TV.

We've heard about prestige dramas, raunchy comedies, steamy cable love stories, public television histories and documentaries, cable science series, and idiotic reality shows.

One day, we rode in shuttle buses to studios across the Los Angeles area, getting a preview screening of the new Fox series, "Gotham," and visiting the sets of Fox's comedy, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and Showtime's drama, "Masters of Sex."

BOISE -- Three Idaho families are starring in a new reality TV series called "Way Out West." The show on TruTV promises to show viewers what life is like in the Wild West.

"Way Out West" chronicles the lives of three families who've run rival outfitting businesses for generations, originally out of Garden Valley and the Emmett area.

The Youren, Bullock, and Korell families now live in Gem, Boise, and Custer Counties. TruTV says its cameras follow the families as they compete to lead the best outfitting excursions and survive their own family shenanigans.

"It's reality with a little bit of excitement added in," said Chris Korell, cast member of "Way Out West." "You never know what's going to happen on this show."

Last month, we were alerted to the scientific finding that sitting perfectly still while watching hours upon hours of television could lead to an early death, depriving you of so many golden years of being shamed by scientific studies. Now a new scientific study suggests that this early death could be hastened along by a correlative effect. People who become engrossed in their favorite shows also tend to eat more snacks, thus making them fatter and unhealthier, and far too sated and sleepy to hear the scientists standing over their couch, demanding that they turn the TV off and go outside. “According to our data, it’s such a nice day outside,” these scientists say.

In the study published in the International Journal Of God You’re Disgusting, 120 young adults aged 18 to 35 were invited to spend an hour watching Netflix or playing video games, while a spread of potato chips, chocolate, trail mix, and sodas were laid out before them. Taking a break from giving heroin to junkies to see if maybe they’d use it, the scientists watched to see whether these subjects—who were provided with a “comfortable chair” in a “dim room,” and a big-screen TV on which to watch commercial-free entertainment—might also avail themselves of the unlimited snack buffet. They did, and then the scientists wrote an alarmist study about it, proving the hypothesis that scientists are dicks.

Nat Faxon’s recent FOX comedy, Ben and Kate, was pulled before all of the episodes had aired. Will his new Married sitcom have any better luck on FX? Will it be a ratings success and be renewed for a second season or, will it be cancelled as well? Time will tell.

Married looks at a married couple who love one another but are ultimately feeling stuck and unhappy in their lives. A comedy, the series stars Faxon, Judy Greer, Brett Gelman, and Jenny Slate.

Victor Samuel Mackey is a tough cop. He's responsible for a vast array of drug busts and no one understands the world of California gang culture quite like him. Everyone on the street knows him and more importantly knows not to cross him. He's done quite a bit of good in his career.

Victor Samuel Mackey is a father of three and later four. Two of his children are autistic. His oldest is going through the regular trials of adolescence and his wife does all she can to be a good mother while her husband is earning paychecks for the Farmington Police Department.

Victor Samuel Mackey is a loyal and dedicated friend who leads his Strike Team into some of the worst spots imaginable. The Strike Team bond is unthinkably secure and the four men are effectively family. They bust down doors, bust down gangs, and obliterate drug dealers.

Two Democratic lawmakers plan to ask the Legislature to revamp a $50 million annual cap on tax incentives for film and television production in New Mexico.

A newly issued study of the incentives has reignited a debate over whether it makes financial sense for New Mexico to offer tax subsidies to attract film and TV production.

Rep. Brian Egolf of Santa Fe said Wednesday he will introduce a measure in next year's legislative session to remove TV productions from the $50 million subsidy limit. The cap would remain for films.

As they do every fall, the broadcast networks will be unveiling a slew of new pilots for them to pour down your throat like cheap whiskey. While some will undoubtedly be entertaining, the vast majority will be so awful that you'll feel the need to detox afterward. To help you stick with only top shelf programming, here are the 5 best new shows airing this fall on broadcast TV.

5) Marry Me, NBC

There is a new television series about Jesus coming to the Adult Swim network on August 7. Brought to you by Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder, the new show Black Jesus has Jesus living in Compton California and on a “daily mission to spread love and kindness throughout the neighborhood with the help of his small but loyal group of downtrodden followers.”

Watch the trailer:

Jesus is played by Gerald “Slink” Johnson and as the review at the Christian Post complained yesterday, shows Jesus “talking faith and salvation to his neighbors and spearheading efforts for a community garden. “Black Jesus” also shows the faux messiah dropping four-letter expletives and being accused of “smoking all the f—— weed,” in addition to being shot at and getting carjacked.”

A part of downtown Winnipeg will be turned into a drive-in movie theatre on August weekends.

It'll happen in the CityPlace parking lot every Saturday from Aug. 9-30. Shows start at sundown and are free for those who come by bike, transit, or on foot. Admission is $10 per vehicle.

Criticwire's ongoing list of the best indie films of 2014 so far has reached 40 movies, with titles ranging from works of favorite auteurs ("The Grand Budapest Hotel") to films by promising newcomers ("Obvious Child"), hard-hitting, accessible action flicks ("The Raid 2: Berandal") to experimental documentaries that saw as many walkouts at film festivals as it did fans ("Manakamana"). A few trends in this year's best movies:

1. Festival Favorites. As one might expect, the Cannes Film Festival has the greatest number of titles on the list, with a whopping dozen films that premiered at one of the past three festivals including three in the top ten ("Only Lovers Left Alive," "Blue Ruin," "Stranger by the Lake"). But other festivals aren't wanting for representation, either, with Berlin, Sundance and Toronto each claiming six premieres. Both Berlin and Sundance hold two spots in the top ten and one in the top five, with the Sundance premiere "Boyhood" at the top spot.

Many happy returns to Daniel Radcliffe, who celebrates his 25th birthday today (July 23)! He may have made a name for himself as heroic wizard Harry Potter, but in the years since Deathly Hallows - Part 2, he's excelled in small indies and displayed something of a flair for comedy.

Radcliffe will soon be seen tickling funnybones in What If and Judd Apatow's Trainwreck, so ahead of these upcoming roles we take a look back at 6 hilarious moments...

Feast your compound eyes on this: an exclusive look at an Ant-Man image that Marvel Studios will be sharing this weekend at Comic-Con.

The illustration is a piece of pre-production concept art specifically made for San Diego Comic-Con, which kicks off Wednesday night. So expect to see the movie heavily showcased on Saturday in Marvel's always bombastic presentation.

Let’s go back 10 years (a number that seems huge even as I type it) to the summer of 2004. America was busy owning the Olympics over in Athens, Usher had his hands full cementing his name atop the Billboard charts (“Burn” was an instant classic) and I had just finished the third grade. It was a great time for American culture with the whole nation unified behind our Olympic heroes, a beautiful era of art and love.

Just kidding, I was 9 years old. I have no idea what the summer of 2004 was really like. But, looking back on it now, I know it was a huge year for film. Blockbuster wise, there was plenty of money to go around as 2004 became the summer of sequels: Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2, The Bourne Supremacy and Meet the Fockers all made a combined total of more than $125 million.

As summer break winds down, Halle Cultural Arts Center will offer free family movies on weekday mornings this month and next month.

The free movies start at 10 a.m. and run July 28 to Aug. 1 and Aug. 18 to Aug. 22. The center will feature G- or PG-rated movies. Call the center at 919-249-1120 for the exact line-up.

My name is Max Kardashian, and I am so much more famous than you. Well, at least in Kim Kardashian's mobile game.

If the game achieves its projected yearly earnings, Kim Kardashian will make 85 million dollars in profits, a sum that would cost you more than $48,500 of real money to purchase as in-game money.

See also: We Played 'Kim Kardashian: Hollywood' So You Don't Have To

After having lived and breathed in the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood universe for several days, a few disturbing details have come to light. The world of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood isn't the world you and I live our daily lives in. It's some kind of darkest timeline future, in which photo shoots and Twitter feuds decide your success in life.

We've compiled ten of the weirdest things about the game below.
1. The Kardashian family name sits upon Mount Lee, having apparently taken the place of the iconic Hollywood sign.

Remember in the first Planet of the Apes film, when Charlton Heston discovers the fallen Statue of Liberty? It's like that.
2. There are zero unattractive people.

What happened to all of the homely people in this universe? Where are they being held?
3. It exists in some dystopian future in which you need to be of a certain social standing to travel to cities.

As you level up, new cities open to you. So, what, we couldn't enter them before? Who is policing the borders? How are these laws enforced?
4. You have to compliment Kim Kardashian and give her free clothes.

Conversations with the in-game Kim don't come with many options. You can either compliment her or, well, turn the game off, I guess.
5. Dating is a social construct that exists only to gain you more fans.

Works like a charm too, assuming you can stand your significant other, who constantly berates your outfits.
6. Money can buy you happiness. Also dates, success and things.

Throw all of your archaic ideas about relationships and hard work out the window. They no longer matter.
7. In this future, there are bracelets that cost in upwards of $300.

The value of a dollar has depreciated to a jarring degree.
8. But flights between Miami and Los Angeles are $15.

Imagine the airspace. Imagine.
9. When it comes to your career, parties > working.

Going to parties is always more beneficial. Can't network or flirt at the office, right?
10. Having charm in your personality and knowing Kim Kardashian are equal things.

Who needs a personality these days anyway?

BONUS: Let's Play Kim Kardashian: Hollywood

Italy's new theme park brings Hollywood to Rome

Cinecittà World hopes to pull in 1.5 milion visitors by 2015 and in turn reboot the Italian film industry

Rome’s latest attraction attempts to undo the economic slump facing Italy’s most famous movie studio.

With investment down on film production, Cinecittà Studio is hoping that this cinematic adventure park will bring back the glory days of the silver screen era and reboot the Italian film industry.

Hollywood Welcomes Obama Anew for More Fundraisers, Traffic Nightmares

No matter how many scandals rock his administration, President Barack Obama will always feel welcome in Hollywood. And the industry, in turn, will open up its coffers for him.

The President is back in the entertainment capital this week for a fresh round of fundraisers. Next week, he'll honor a man who wrote some very large checks for his presidential campaigns.

The major Hollywood studios have received a slap over their collective wrists over the way they present – or, rather, don’t – gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters. Not, we hasten to add, that there isn’t anything wrong with that.

The second annual survey of “LGBT images” conducted by GLAAD (the US lobby group formed in 1985 as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) gave fails to Paramount and Warner Bros, a mark of “adequate” to 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Universal and Disney, and its first ever “good” score to Sony.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Are movie audiences suffering from superhero fatigue?

That’s the diagnosis from some industry analysts as Hollywood languishes through its worst summer movie season in 8 years, with no film crossing the $300 million mark in the U.S. for the first time since 2001.

Despite the release of big-buzz sequels like “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and “Transformers: Age of Extinction”, the summer box office is expected to finish down 15 to 20 percent compared to 2013, marking the worst year-over-year decline in three decades, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Most everyone knows about the Hollywood blacklist of the late 1940s, about how it drove progressive filmmakers into self-imposed exile in Europe. What happened next, what those people did once they settled in overseas, is considerably less known, and the films they made while there can be almost impossible to see. A significant new series from the UCLA Film & Television Archive is poised to change all that.

"Hollywood Exiles in Europe," a 14-film retrospective starting Friday at the Hammer Museum's Billy Wilder Theater, shows us a selection of these films, some as familiar as the Jules Dassin noir double bill of "Rififi" and "Night and the City," yet most unheard-of and rarely screened, and all of them benefiting from being viewed in the context of the fraught personal situation of their key creators.

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Liverpool are ready to revive their interest in Chelsea's Ryan Bertrand, 24, as manager Brendan Rodgers steps up his search for a left-back. Daily Mail
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus, 25, and Southampton defender Dejan Lovren, 25, are among the other names Rodgers is chasing. Daily Mirror
Everton are closing in on 21-year-old midfielder Muhamed Besic, who starred for Bosnia at the World Cup. Daily Mirror

Liverpool have sealed a deal for Atletico Madrid right-back Javier Manquillo, according to Marca.

They claim the 20-year-old will play on loan for the Reds for the next two seasons, with a purchase option in the region of €6m.

However, the terms of the deal will include an option which allows the Madrid club to recall Manquillo if he makes the kind of progress at Anfield they expect.

Arsenal have been quite active in the transfer market already this summer, but it is clear Arsene Wenger and company are far from finished.

After signing Alexis Sanchez to upgrade the attack and Mathieu Debuchy to provide an impact on defence, the club is continuing to look for ways to improve heading into the English Premier League season. Considering the various other moves from around the league, it is clear that more will be needed in order to contend for a title.

The good news is the squad is already looking at a few potential options who could either crack the starting 11 or provide depth going forward. Here are the latest players tied to Arsenal through the rumour mill.

Most days the transfer gossip is all about which players the big clubs are going to buy, but occasionally it becomes about which players are set to leave their illustrious employers. Wednesday is one of the latter.

The day's gossip columns are littered with stories about players who are surplus to requirements at their Premier League clubs, with speculation about where they might end up. For Matija Nastasic that could be elsewhere in the Premier League, whereas for Fernando Torres that looks likely to be further afield.

There is some talk about incoming deals, however, with Arsenal narrowing down their options and Manchester United keen to spend some of their growing war chest.

Fox News is using anonymously-sourced claims from anti-Clinton authors to inject the rumor that Bill Clinton has a mistress into the media, claims which the network has apparently made no effort to confirm.

Weekly Standard online editor Daniel Halper pushed the rumor in his new book, Clinton Inc.: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine based solely on anonymous sources, who he claimed told him the former president was engaging in "reckless" behavior with a mistress. On July 21, The New York Post gossip section Page Six reported that conservative author Ronald Kessler will make similar claims in his forthcoming The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of The Presidents, apparently also based on anonymous sources.

While the rest of the media has largely ignored the anonymously-sourced gossip, Fox has been using interviews with Halper to promote these claims. Fox apparently has not attempted to confirm the gossip before promoting it on the network's airwaves.

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Southampton are set to launch a second bid for Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster after having an initial offer turned down. Daily Echo
Dundee United have rejected an improved £2m-plus offer from Hull City for Scotland left-back Andrew Robertson, but Tigers manager Steve Bruce has not given up on signing the 20-year-old. The Sun (print edition)
Ross County are in talks with Parma about a loan deal for left-back Uros Celcer after the 25-year-old Slovenian set up one of the Scottish Premiership side's goals in a 4-0 friendly win over Clachnacuddin. Daily Mail (print edition)

Adapted from a recent online discussion.
Question: Yesterday, I was putting my son down for a nap in my in-laws' guest room. Through the magic of their HVAC system, I could hear my mother- and sister-in-law tearing me apart - everything from my shyness (they think I'm cold) to the value of my work ("I can't believe people get paid for that!") to my mother's health ("such a drama-queen hypochondriac" - my mother has had cancer twice) to my haircut (I agree, but I can't control how fast my hair grows).

I've always done my best to maintain a good relationship with my in-laws and had a feeling they talked about me behind my back (because they talk about everyone else), but I never thought it would be this hurtful and bad.

I haven't talked to my husband about this yet. Should I confront them (making me an eavesdropper in their eyes)? Just let it go? Let my husband confront them? Start repeating their exact words back to them in a seemingly innocent manner?

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