“There was a time when nonfiction programming meant slow camera movement, a droll narrator and maybe even the occasional nap — or, on the other extreme, the crass sideshow appeal of specials like ‘When Animals Attack.'” Back then, the object was either ratings or awards. “But today, the lines have been blurred, with networks … recognizing that education and entertainment needn’t be mutually exclusive.”
Tag: 06.08.09
In Suburban Home, Stolen Italian Artifacts Worth Millions
“Berwyn Police Chief William Kushner said he had never seen a home like this in 33 years on the force. ‘There was stuff all over the house in boxes. The most valuable stuff from the Vatican was on the second floor in the attic,’ he said. ‘It just goes to show you, you never know what you’ll find in a bungalow.'” The FBI said the treasures will be sent back to Italy.
The Top 200 Artists Working Since 1900 (At No. 1: Picasso)
“At first glance, the results of this poll may seem rather predictable — but the longer you look, the more telling the quirks and anomalies become. This is precisely its point. It’s not there to agree with. It is there to argue against.” Let the mud-slinging begin.
YA Author’s Teen Memoir Tells Too Much For Publisher
“He’s courted controversy for more than a decade with his bestselling tales of underage sex and teenage heroin addicts, but Melvin Burgess has finally found a story too controversial for his publishers to handle: his own. The Carnegie medal-winning author, whose new novel, Nicholas Dane, tackles the subject of sexual abuse in children’s homes, has found a recently-completed teenage memoir dropped by his publisher over fears that it could provoke costly legal action.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Typist Recalls His Try At A Comeback
“All these years later, Frances Kroll Ring can still see it, the afternoon she filled out an application at Rusty’s Employment Agency on Hollywood Boulevard and drove to Encino to meet a writer who was looking for a secretary.” The writer was F. Scott Fitzgerald, and he needed her help in the last 20 months of his life as he worked on his Hollywood epic, “The Love of the Last Tycoon.”
L.A. Recession Casualties: Eight Major Museum Shows
“As the recession continues to inflict damage in the well-appointed halls of the museum world, one of the most noteworthy side effects — on top of layoffs, ticket hikes and reduced hours of operation — is the cancellation and postponement of major exhibitions. In Los Angeles, some of the biggest (and richest) museums have had to take an ax to their upcoming schedules in an effort to save money as their funding and endowments continue to shrink.”
Surprise! Perennially Awful Tony Ratings Rise 17 Percent.
“In a time of lowered ratings nearly everywhere else, Sunday’s 63rd Annual Tony Awards — capped by 10 wins for the Elton John musical ‘Billy Elliot’ — actually delivered improved numbers. An average of 7.4 million total viewers tuned in to the three-hour Tony telecast, up 17% compared with last year and the best figure since 2006, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research.”
Orwell Swiped Plot Of 1984 — From A Book He’d Reviewed
“Orwell’s novel is consistently acclaimed as one of the finest of the last 100 years … and it remains a consistent bestseller. Should it alter our respect for it that Orwell borrowed much of his plot, the outlines of three of his central figures, and the progress of the book’s dramatic arc from an earlier work?”
Time To Save Our Public Art (And Get A Better Definition Of It)
“The need has arisen in me to ascend my soapbox once again and bang on about public art, by which I mean street art, motorway art, art on the loose, art everywhere – which is where it belongs. Art is not a matter primarily for artists, or even curators and connoisseurs. First and foremost, it involves ways of seeing.”
The New Genre Is No Genre – It’s An Artform Stew!
“In almost every area of the arts, genres are spilling into each other, cross-pollinating, refusing to remain in neat boxes. You go to the theatre expecting actors under a proscenium arch, and you get videos, animation, and intricate dance routines. Go to the opera expecting corsets and coloratura, and you get electric guitars and costumes designed by Viktor & Rolf.”