Category: media

“It has become glaringly obvious that mainstream TV is awash in reboots, remakes and revivals. The reasons for this trend are many and complex. It’s not that everybody in the TV racket has run out of ideas. There is a lot of new and original TV being made. One reason is simply business – in a time of so much TV, a familiar title and concept will get more attention than an entirely new story.”

“For reasons that evaded Japanese film critics at the time, the 1990s TV show about a murder in a small American town was a huge hit in Japan, even after it was cancelled in 1991. … To build on that success – and make some extra cash – co-creator Lynch and some of the core cast reprised their roles in four commercials for Coca-Cola’s Japanese canned coffee brand Georgia Coffee in 1993. … The ads were set in Twin Peaks and told the story of a Japanese man who was searching for his missing wife, with the help of Agent Cooper.” (includes video of all four ads)

In a news release announcing these licence renewals, the CRTC trumpeted its support for “the creation of diverse, compelling and original Canadian content,” but the move to cut spending on programs of national interest seems calculated to do the reverse – and sends an oddly mixed message.

“The film appeared misframed on the big screen, which hadn’t been masked properly, resulting in the top and the bottom sections of the imge being cut off. The tech problems quickly led to boos from the assembled international press corps. Shortly after the film began, the screening was abruptly suspended. The technical malfunction lasted approximately 10 minutes before the film was restarted and correctly projected. The crowd both cheered and booed when Netflix’s logo re-appeared on the screen.”

The writers have to keep track of breaking news alerts, for one thing. For instance, when news broke that the president had disclosed classified info to the Russians, one writer knew he couldn’t continue tweaking an entirely different script. “It was just like, ‘Ahhh — hang on, folks.’ … The first act of their show was rewritten on the fly.”

HBO and the Italian state broadcaster are producing an 8-episode miniseries of the first in Elena Ferrante’s millions-selling Napolitan cycle, “My Brilliant Friend.” They hope to cast two pairs of 8- and 15-year-old girls and all of their friends as from the neighborhood. “The result is an open casting call that has already drawn 5,000 children, the vast majority of whom have never heard of Elena Ferrante, and injected a mix of hysteria and hope into parts of Naples that are poor in resources but rich in real characters.”

And you thought the Oscars were political (and had a lot of speeches): “Many honorees who took the stage garnered loud cheers from the audience when counting themselves among ‘so many other distinguished enemies of the people.’ But above all, truth was the most prevalent message among the 33 acceptance speeches.”

Well, a tax shelter, of course – and an overhaul of that shelter in 2014. “Mandating greater financial transparency, capping the amount outside investors could recoup, and opening the door to further international cooperation beyond the European Union, the reforms broke up what many saw as a creative monopoly, leveling the playing field for all.”

These bunnies “kicked off the breedable boom in earnest.” (Breedables are digital pets that can, well, interbreed.) But they need to be fed. And the company that runs the databases that provided bunny “food” was served a cease & desist order …