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14 Oct 2010 10:42

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Culture: Coming soon: A TV-series remake of “Romeo & Juliet.” Yuck

  • Directed by the director of Twilight, Maybe? God, even worse! ABC has committed itself to creating not a contemporary version of the classic Shakespeare tragedy, but one set in the time of Shakespeare. And they want Catherine Hardwicke, the director of “Twilight” to shoot it. Good God. Why would anyone do this to the world? Plus, have they even considered how hard it’s going to be to work around the major plot point of the play, you know, that the lead characters offed themselves at the very end? source

13 Oct 2010 11:24

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Culture: Sesame Street: What worked for Old Spice didn’t work for Katy Perry

  • Sesame Street has always used spoofs of popular culture to draw in and connect with its audience. We use spoofs and celebrity appearances to draw in the adult, because research shows that a child learns best when co-viewing with an adult.
  • Sesame Workshop vice president and executive producer of Digital Media Miles Ludwig • Explaining the quick success of last week’s Grover “Old Spice” parody, which has earned millions of views in just a few days. You know what’s funny, though? That’s exactly what another Sesame Workshop employee said about the Katy Perry thing on Good Morning America not so long ago. It seems to us that when they hit it, they hit it out of the park, but when they miss, something like Katy Perry happens. source

12 Oct 2010 11:00

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Culture: Aaron Sorkin explains the women of “The Social Network”

  • I wish I could go door to door and make this explanation/apology to any woman offended by the things you’ve pointed out but obviously that’s unrealistic so I thought the least I could do was speak directly to you.
  • Aaron Sorkin • In a response to a blog commenter critical of the way “The Social Network” portrayed women throughout the film. His explanation? “I was writing about a very angry and deeply misogynistic group of people. These aren’t the cuddly nerds we made movies about in the 80’s.” He also notes that the misogynistic attitudes extend to the not-so-nerdy finals clubs near the beginning of the film. And he claims, out of respect for the more private people involved – Mark Zuckerberg’s putdown queen ex-girlfriend, Eduardo Saverin’s psycho ex – he didn’t use their real names. Good explanation, but will it appease everyone? source

11 Oct 2010 22:23

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Culture: On Banksy, “The Simpsons,” News Corp. and YouTube

  • You can’t be serious. it’s like you’re hiding this. Banksy’s “Simpsons” couch sequence has been the talk of the Web all day. It packs a visceral effect that wears off after the first time, but it mainly works because it’s so out of left field – even for the Simpsons. Anyway, the video that everyone was linking from a YouTube channel called “banksyfilm” – you know, Banksy’s own account. Now it’s been taken down for copyright reasons and people have been told to watch it on Hulu, which, besides the country restrictions, is annoying because they initially didn’t even have the Banksy intro pulled out as a clip. The effect feels akin to censorship, considering the very viral subject matter can no longer be viewed in Asia. (Fortunately, we found another version.) source

11 Oct 2010 20:14

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Culture: Things on their way out: One quickly, one slowly

  • 7 days the amount of time we got to appreciate the constant joy of the new (old) Gap logo
  • 11 years the amount of time David Arquette and Courtney Cox were together before they separated

11 Oct 2010 10:27

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Culture: Banksy comes up with Simpsons couch gag, disturbs us greatly

  • Jesus Christ Banksy. Yeah, we know all this stuff in this couch gag is true about the Simpsons, but did you really have to expose Western audiences to this harsh reality? source

10 Oct 2010 22:24

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Culture: CBS is totally kicking TV ratings butt this season. Here’s why

  • Big-Tent broad appeal Rather than going for the lucrative 18-49 advertising demo, CBS makes an effort to hit everyone. This season, they’re leading every demographic – including 18-49 – and they’re doing better than usual with younger viewers.
  • basic, not basic cable Instead of trying to hone on on specific, profitable demographics on cable, they’ve stuck with their bread and butter. Sure, CBS owns Showtime, but they don’t have a bunch of basic cable niche channels like the other networks do.
  • Building up, bit by bit CBS adds bits and pieces to their programming repertoire year after year that together create a well-oiled machine. And most of it works. (Well, barring “*#@! My Dad Says,” which has decent ratings but awful reviews.) source
 

08 Oct 2010 19:52

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07 Oct 2010 11:07

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Culture: Lady Gaga = Powerful woman. At least that’s what Forbes says

Forget that Michelle Obama is on top of Forbes’ most powerful women list. Some are in disbelief that Lady Gaga beat out Nancy Pelosi (who’s third in line for president). source

05 Oct 2010 12:45

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Culture: Forgotten legacy: Edward R. Murrow High School cuts TV budget

First rule of Edward R. Murrow High School: Don’t shut down the TV studios. Second rule: Don’t break the first rule. Oh crap. source