Grumpy Editor

Good Friday battles Earth Day for media coverage today

Grumpy Editor figures some newspaper editors faced tough decisions in deciding front-page play today:  focus on Good Friday or Earth Day.

Both fall on the same day this year.  Both are celebrated around the world.

In the end, since this is 2011, Earth Day is getting the nod from eco-minded editors.

As an example, this week's Bloomberg Businessweek in "events of note in the week ahead" lists two items for today:  Italy's retail sales and Earth Day.  

Earth Day started 41 years ago while Good Friday’s originations go back centuries, perhaps to the 4^th century, or earlier.

Good Friday is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  For many, it means going to church.

Falling on the last Friday before Easter, Good Friday dates vary each year, occurring between March 20th and April 23rd.

Earth Day, meanwhile, is designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment.

Some celebrities grab newspaper space and television time by their “green” actions.  Just yesterday, for example, a news release --- in connection with Earth Day --- cites actor and environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. who “chooses to ride a bike when weather and fitness permit and takes public transportation if available to cut down on traffic and pollution and lessen our dependence on foreign oil.”

Noteworthy, however, is that Good Friday gets the edge when it comes to closing non-religious operations to mark the day.

It’s the basis for the U.S. stock market being shuttered today.

In many parts of the U.S., state, county and municipal offices are closed on Good Friday “for the Easter holiday,” giving workers three-days off.

 

L.A. expects major traffic snarls with Obama visit today

With President Barack Obama due on scene, an area from Los Angeles International Airport to Culver City and the west side of Los Angeles is not the place to be driving during late afternoon rush hour and evening today or during heavy morning drive time tomorrow, advises Grumpy Editor.

Closed streets and detours will mess up traffic --- which even during normal times brings aggravation --- as the president, on  a three-day fund-raising tour of the West, makes his way to three Los Angeles events today and departs tomorrow. 

Angelenos recall another trip last August in which a mid-city visit brought traffic to a standstill. 

Kevin Roderick, who keeps his eyes on Los Angeles via his LA Observed Web site, labels the president-triggered congestion “Obamajam.” 

He notes the president and entourage, after a scheduled landing at LAX around 2:45 p.m. today, will head to Sony Pictures Entertainment in Culver City for a late afternoon back lot event with a capacity of 3,000 and ticket prices of $100 to $2,500. 

That will be followed by a dinner for about 60 people with tickets priced at $35,800 a person, then its on to another dinner in Brentwood to greet film moguls and major L.A. figures, adds Roderick. 

Obama and entourage are slated to depart LAX tomorrow around 8:55 a.m.

Then L.A. traffic returns to “normal.”

 

AMC’s ‘Mad Men’ series skips 2011, returns next year

Among ways to agitate viewers of Mad Men, a successful TV series on the AMC channel, is to tamper with it by tossing in more commercials to bring in more money and eliminating two cast members to save money, then skipping a year, observes Grumpy Editor.

That's the rough road ahead as the three-time Emmy Award-winning Mad Men gets the green light from AMC for its fifth season.

Rather than the expected airing as summer fare this year, the series depicting lives of the “ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Ave. advertising” in the 1960s isn't returning until early next year.

Mad Men has been a bright summer TV attraction for the past four seasons.

AMC points to a contract dispute with series creator/executive producer Matthew Weiner, the Emmy award-winning executive producer and writer of  another successful series, The Sopranos.

Weiner has been offered a three-season deal worth about $30 million but no agreement has been reached so far.

AMC would like Weiner to return to the show, reports Broadcasting & Cable writer Andrea Morabito.

But at this stage in the negotiations, a source tells Morabito, the channel is ready to move forward on production with or without him.

Weiner is objecting to cutting several minutes from each episode to allow additional commercials and the trimming of cast members.

Earlier, it was expected that Mad Men would return next month. 

 

Anti-smoke item pitch follows smoky ‘Rango’ ABC report

A top-of-the-hour ABC News radio report that much smoking, frowned on for young children, appears in Rango --- a PG-rated animated feature film that topped the weekend box office with $38.1 million gross --- was immediately followed yesterday morning by a commercial for an anti-smoking product, notes Grumpy Editor.

Coincidence?

Only ABC's ad sales and newsroom know for sure.

Meanwhile, the smoke hasn’t settled in comments from the anti-smoking folks.

Rango, a chameleon, is the star surrounded by multiple characters that puff away on cigars and cigarettes in the Paramount movie aimed at young audiences.

Anti-smoking advocates fear children and youth will be inspired to start the habit after viewing the smoky animated footage.

One anti-smoking supporter claims the frequency of smoking in the film is on par with Cruella’s puffing --- via a long cigarette holder --- in a vintage animated film, Disney’s 101 Dalmatians.

Rango, star of the latest hit, captures attention by swallowing a cigar and breathing fire in a villain’s face.

"While the incidence of smoking in the movies has declined in recent years, the presence of smoking in a youth-oriented cartoon like Rango underscores the need for Hollywood to take stronger, mandatory action to protect our children,” declares Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

“It's time for the Motion Picture Association of America to require an R-rating for movies that depict smoking," he adds.

 

Poll finds unfitting TV, movie fare yields negative impact

Do you squirm at some of the material viewed on the big and small screens?

You're not alone.

Most Americans (57 percent) feel there is too much inappropriate content on television and radio while just over half (51 percent) believe movies and the motion picture industry have an impact on society in a negative way, notes Grumpy Editor.

The figures come from a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted Jan. 26 and 27.

Other findings:

• 62 percent say violent movies lead to more violence in everyday life while 21 percent think films’ influence is positive.

• 40 percent point to sexual content as the biggest problem with movies.

• 10 percent cite profanity as the top problem in movies.

• 76 percent say adults are responsible for making sure young movie-goers are not exposed to inappropriate content, while 14 percent say it’s the film industry’s job and 4 percent pin the duty on the government.

• Among those with children at home, 80 percent mention parents are more responsible for screening out inappropriate material.

 

Obama's visit to L.A. snarls traffic, angers drivers

Grumpy Editor finds that when a power transformer blows and impedes traffic flow in Manhattan, newspapers, wire services and television (often with airborne camera shots) jump on the coverage for national consumption but when President Barack Obama snarls Los Angeles traffic during peak evening hours, coverage of the effects --- other than in the L.A. area --- is virtually nil.

Such was the situation Monday night when the president visited Los Angeles, one of his stops in a fund-raising swing through several states this week.

His motorcade from Beverly Hills to the home of “West Wing” TV producer John Wells took 10 minutes. 

But traffic was snarled for several hours leading to thousands of angry bottled-up drivers, some demanding an apology from the White House.

Reports indicated the fund raiser took in about $1 million.  Security costs, including use of  Beverly Hills, Los Angeles police and other agencies, was estimated at about $2 million.

Stuck-in-traffic Hunter Walker, writing TV Hunter at The Wrap Web site, provided an on-scene report with, “I  am coming to you live from the center of the worst traffic jam I have ever seen in my life. I've been trapped here for over three hours because President Obama and a group of Hollywood insiders are having a fancy fundraiser.”

He suggested that “if the president was unable to get to John Wells' house without causing this level of disruption, then perhaps he should have done his fundraising somewhere else --- like somewhere accessible by helicopter.”

Up-to-the-minute TV traffic reports were missing as news helicopters were grounded because of a no-fly zone in effect over a wide area.

A morning-after story on the Los Angeles Times Web site said the massive traffic jam resulting from the president’s motorcade and fund raiser “is prompting calls for an investigation from some residents, who say they were caught in traffic for hours.”

Earlier, The Times reported that with traffic snarled for hours, “many people simply abandoned their cars and tried to walk home.”

But another report mentioned even foot traffic was banned on some streets.

Read more about upset L.A. area residents in today's Los Angeles Times under the headline:  It's unanimous, president's visit leaves L.A. boiling.

Pretty, young actresses fail to hypo Vanity Fair sales

Vanity Fair magazine’s  March issue with a cover shot by noted photographer Annie Leibovitz showing a gathering of "pretty, thin, female and white” (as some described it) young actresses did not bring an expected uptick in single sale copies, notes Grumpy Editor.

In fact, it was the worst seller of the year, based on just-released  figures.

Newsstand sales reached 300,000, compared with 435,000 for the January issue with actress Meryl Streep on the cover.

The March cover included Kristen Stewart, Amanda Seyfried, Carey Mulligan and Anna Kendrick among nine actresses in the photo shoot for the magazine. 

 "The Hollywood cover was made up of the next wave of young actresses, faces that the public is just beginning to recognize," Vanity Fair spokeswoman Beth Kseniak informed Esther Zuckerman of the New York Observer.

Top-selling issue of 2010 with Streep on the cover led to a feature on the mystery of how, at age 60, the veteran actress “has become the industry’s new box-office queen.”

Vintage Kerouac, Monroe, Hepburn items attract buyers

Grumpy Editor is ready to dust off a vintage Underwood manual typewriter stored in the garage after noting that another brand from the same era yielded $22,500 at a Christie’s, New York, auction last week.

Meanwhile, other items associated with movie stars a half century ago brought in big bucks at other auctions.

The typewriter --- a working, seafoam-green Hermes 3000 manual --- was used by Jack Kerouac, father of the Beat Generation, from 1966 until his 1969 death.

He typed out his last novel, “Vanity of Duluoz,” on the machine.

More unusual was the sale on Sunday of three Marilyn Monroe chest X-rays from a 1954 hospital visit.

Those different shots of the Hollywood actress, noted for her (exterior) chest in publicity photos and on the screen, fetched $45,000 at a Hollywood Legends auction in Las Vegas.

A chair used in Monroe’s last photo session went for $35,000.

Another item that attracted a buyer at the same auction was a dress worn by actress Audrey Hepburn in the 1957 movie musical, “Funny Face,” when she starred opposite Fred Astaire.

It brought $56,250.

Meanwhile, anyone looking for a working “green” Underwood?

It saves energy because no electricity is required in typing messages --- or writing novels.  No batteries needed, either.  So it can be used anywhere:  at the beach, by the pool, in a mountain cabin or at the park.