Reality TV shows have proliferated this year. But their time may be coming to a close. “Advertisers, in fact, have done what critics and cultural warriors couldn’t – namely, chase the so-called reality genre into temporary retreat, leading to at least a short-term resurgence of scripted sitcoms and dramas.” This fall’s new schedule reveals a changed landscape. “Of the 39 new programs scheduled, 20 are comedies and 17 are dramas, leaving staged reality on the sidelines because many of those shows create an environment for commercials that makes sponsors uncomfortable.”
Tag: 05.17.03
Are Universities Selling Their Souls?
A former president of Harvard writes in a new book about the dangers to academia by the profit imperative. Increasingly schools are chasing money at the the expense of… standards? Integrity? “How colleges and universities relate to the marketplace and the world beyond their walls is not merely an academic issue. These institutions are an engine of prosperity, training specialists and the workforce, advancing scientific discoveries and moving people up the ladder of socioeconomic advancement. It is increasingly difficult, though, to meet higher education’s insatiable financial demands through conventional means. The hunt for profits is not a new story.”
Boston Ballet Raises The Barre
The troubled Boston Ballet is finishing up its first season under director Mikko Nissinen. The company has improved considerably during the season, even while it had to cut back because of budget constraints. Nissinen improved the company’s repertoire and its preparation.
Dispensing Argument Over Judgment
The new literary magazing The Believer doesn’t believe in the Thumbs Up/Down approache to criticism. “This is the editorial caveat I deliver when I assign a new piece: I tell the writer that you certainly can be displeased with what you’ve read, but your essay should still be titillating and intriguing enough to make people want to go out and read the book to see who they agree with, basically. An interesting ambitious book, whatever its flaws, should still be written about in an interesting and fair way.”
Screenplay Nation
Used to be that writing programs at universities turned out plenty of eager young writers who dreamed of getting a story published in the New Yorker. These days they’re still eager, but they’re increasingly cashing in with big screenplay and book contracts. “The growth of these programs is a function of the amazing number of first-book contracts and film options that are making some young writers rich. About 40 percent of the 600 to 1,000 manuscripts we receive each quarter come from students in these programs.”
Boston Symphony Sues Group Over “Jewish Tanglewood”
The Boston Syhmphony has filed suit against a Connecticut arts group who has been billing its event as the “Jewish Tanglewood.” “A New England Jewish Music & Arts Festival spokesman said yesterday the title was really a nickname of sorts, given to the six-year-old event by a New York reporter who called the two days of music ‘the Jewish Tanglewood’ in a story a few years ago.”