I Am A TV Junkie

A #PeabodyAward For @CurrentTV, Mariana van Zeller's The #OxyContin Express

Haven't I told you all to set your DVRs for Current Vanguard? Huh?

Now, you must. You should be seeing this stuff when it premieres, not when it wins awards, that puts you right in the midst of the zeitgeist.

Again, from the Peabody Awards site, "With tales of drug-dealing MDs in Florida and Appalachian “pill-billies,” the documentary makes clear the enormity of the prescription-drug epidemic." 

Hey, I wonder if Druggy Limbaugh has seen this? Remember when he used to send his housekeeper Wilma Cline out to the Denny's parking lot to score his Oxy from drug dealers? Ah, good times, huh?

Watch the whole episode by clicking here.

Note to Florida's Governor, Charlie Crist ... how about crackin' down on this shit, huh? Yeah, just get outta the tanning booth (or the bus station bathroom -- allegedly, allegedly, people!) and do something to stop people from abusing this killer drug.

Video -- Futurama Returns! Comedy Central Orders 26 Episodes for Mid-2010

After a move from Adult Swim to Comedy Central and four (was it four? really?) feature length TV specials, the former Fox animated comedy gets an order for what I'm guessing is two years, with the cable channel more than likely giving them to us in two sets of 13, according to this Hollywood Reporter story.

There's been talk about this for a long long time. After the specials I thought maybe it wouldn't happen but apparently the sales of the DVDs and the ratings numbers for on air have been good enough to make the show a viable series again.

I have absolutely no idea how much it costs to make an episode of the show.

Certainly the fact that Futurama has an existing fan base made it a more viable option than greenlighting something fresh.

But I wouldn't worry too much about the freshness thing. If the team regroups completely it's a very talented bunch and I'm sure it'll be as fun as ever. And, there's a whole new group of prominent people that can be written into episodes, a la the head of Al Gore (seen above left).

Speaking of which, is Kristen Gore on staff at a show right now? I hope she comes back to this writers room.

Well, just looked at her IMDB page. I don't think we'll be seeing her. She wrote a feature with, of all people, David O. Russell (infamous for the I Heart Huckabees screaming matches with my Lily Tomlin) and it's in post-production.

(Kristen, what happened? Did you lose a bet and have to pay off by working with a madman?)

Big cast, too, on this film; Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Marsden, that Catherine Keener woman (who I don't like at all) ... and Kirstie Alley as Aunt Rita.

That's right, Kirstie Alley.

So, I betcha no Kristen Gore. And given her current working partner, I hope for her continued safety and sanity.

A clip from the Bender's Game special after the jump.

Obama Abandoning Current TV's Laura Ling, Euna Lee? Must Be Today's RNC Meme to All the Sheep

It must be in the daily talking points that will eventually get downloaded into the very outdated computer mechanism that is Elisabeth Hasselbeck's brain.

First of all, it's not true. Secondly, it probably wouldn't be so much of a problem if the Bush Administration hadn't spent eight years threatening North Korea instead of carrying out the mission, which is diplomacy.

Then again, George W. Bush thought diplomacy was best done at the end of a weapon. Idiot.

So far I've found two instances of this, and I'm most disappointed with former woman's activist and NOW President Tammy Bruce, who after Dennis Miller is the weirdest shift to the hard right that I've ever seen among people who previously employed sense and rationality in their public proclamations.

She has a column these days at the Fox News website and I guess it gets distributed to the best of the bird cage floors too, since I can't imagine what good it is otherwise.

Back in March she called Michelle Obama trash. So she's certainly not operating in the rational sphere. Actually might be pretty standard for her, back in the days of the O.J. trial, the first one, she was censured by NOW and eventually had to leave that post because of racially insensitive things she said about black people during that trial.

Shoulder? Meet chip.

(And this image above left with the revolver? It's one of her publicity photos, believe it or not. Who does PR pics with a gun in their hand? People really trying to boost their NRA credentials, actors on cop shows and ... crazy people!)

About this situation she says (and I apologize in advance for linking to the Fox Noise website, but it's the only place I can find this, her personal site with her columns doesn't seem to be working):

When you abandon Americans held by terrorists, and then reward terrorists who trained with Al Qaeda, some might argue it’s more than priorities that are screwed-up in the White House.

So, why has the Obama administration allowed these kidnappings of Saberi, Ling and Lee to stand? The hostage-taking of these women is no different than the kidnapping of the Maersk Alabama’s Captain Phillips by terrorists on the high seas. Obama’s mob has made pathetic noise about Saberi’s kidnapping, noting Obama was “disappointed” when Iran announced they had found her guilty of a sham crime by a sham trial.

Allowed to stand? What, we can wave a wand and make it go away? Sheesh.

Maybe it's because we don't have any avenue for diplomacy with either of these nations. Might have something to do with that Axis of Evil shit that Bushie was yelling about for all those years.

Yeah, we can get people out of harm's way using ships and guns and Navy SEALS. But Tammy, and you know this (or, you just write with half the information at your grasp, which is just as bad as being stupid when the info is available), North Korea is a nuclear nation that has been testing rockets and spouting all kinds of warning crap.

And in Iran (where Roxana Saberi is being held) we are hamstrung by the Bush administration's failure to prosecute the Iraq War in a way that didn't strengthen the ties between the Maliki government in Iraq and the clerics in Iran.

Moves in either area of the nature you are suggesting would come with bad complications.

So, because of the failures of the Bush administration, who have been gone 101 days today, Tammy Bruce is willing to say that our new President is abandoning women reporters that are held in two nations that make up 67% of her preferred president's Axis of Evil.

Disingenuous, sloppy, ill-informed, and ultimately using those three journalists (two who work for Al Gore, to whom I know she can't have an ounce of good feeling) to advance her own career, which also makes her ... revolting. But, you know, she has books to sell. And if she doesn't have something new to say she can't get those tasty bookings with Bill-O and Manatee on Fox.

Hey, next time you're on with Hannity why don't you also offer to be waterboarded. By then maybe Lee and Ling and Saberi will be back and they'll get to "do you." It's the least we can do for them after all the zazz you're getting from their incarceration.

Update of Current TV Journos Laura Ling and Euna Lee Held in North Korea

It was reported last week that two of Current's reporters, including Lisa Ling's sister Laura and Euna Lee were taken by North Korean authorities while shooting video on the Chinese border and thought to be collecting intelligence for ... well, I'm not sure who Kim Jong Il think they were doing, but he didn't like it, grabbed these young women and is now holding them hostage.

Just got off the phone with Current TV's PR dept. and asked why there was no mention on their website about this situation.

What I got from them is that they can't comment right now.

It's a matter of world diplomacy with a hostile actor in the region, I get that, and I would bet the fact that a former US VP (Al Gore) is the big big cheese at Current, also plays into the delicacy of the situation.

On March 30, HuffPo had this:

Two American journalists detained at North Korea's border with China two weeks ago will be indicted and tried, "their suspected hostile acts" already confirmed, Pyongyang's state-run news agency said Tuesday.

The Korean Central News Agency report did not say when a trial might take place but said preparations to indict the Americans were under way as the investigation continues.

"The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements," the report said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The report did not elaborate on what "hostile acts" the journalists allegedly committed.

Lee and Ling were working on a report for the Vanguard series on Current, which does address very sensitive issues. I started watching the show earlier this year and now it's on my DVR.

During  Sunday's This Week with George Stephanopoulos (via transcript), UN Ambassador Susan Rice said:

RICE: George, we're very concerned about the circumstances of these two journalists. We are communicating directly through the -- a third country that represents our interests in North Korea our concern for these Americans in taking every possible action that we can to ensure their safe and swift release.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And do you have any guarantees?

RICE: Of course we have no guarantees.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And do you believe they're going to put on trial?

RICE: We don't have any reason to be certain that they'll put on trial. We remain hopeful that their release may be possible swiftly and safely.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But they're safe?

RICE: To the best of our knowledge, George.

I will continue to follow this. 

Ling pictured with her sister Lisa above right.

Today's Important Al Gore-Related Opera News? Indeed

Yes, really.

Variety:

William Friedkin has inconveniently pulled out of directing "An Inconvenient Truth" at Milan's La Scala opera house.

Friedkin cited "irreconcilable creative differences" with poet and librettist J.D. McClatchy.

La Scala is now looking for another director to work with composer Giorgio Battistelli and McClatchy, whose previous librettos include Lorin Maazel's "1984" and "Grendel," co-written with Julie Taymor. The production, backed by Participant Media, which financed the Oscar-winning Al Gore doc, is still aiming to debut May 11, 2011.

Wait just a minute, an opera version of An Inconvenient Truth? Yes, and I am not high, thank you very much. It's 9:30 in the morning, I usually don't meet Michael Phelps for "coffee" until after lunch.

From Mark Caro's Pop Machine blog at the Chicago Tribune:

It is scheduled to open May 11, 2011.

I can’t wait to hear the aria that soars as high as Al Gore on that crane showing us the graph about carbon dioxide emissions.

Which other documentaries should be adapted for the opera stage? "Bowling for Columbine"? "Hoop Dreams"?

Hmm, docs that would translate to the opera stage ...

1. March of the Penguins could have some great choral settings, hire a gay men's chorus for this leading role, tuxedoes for everyone
2. The Fog of War would have two great male leads, one as Robert McNamara and the other as director ERrol Morris from off stage
3. The People Speak, based on Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States and Voices of a People's History is probably the one, however. Lots of emotion and passion, and makes the case for more characters on stage than An Inconvenient Truth

Of course, none of them pack the punch of Tosca diving off the roof.

That's right, I know (a little about) opera.

Except for the Return of Manbearpig, South Park's Three-Parter Was a Bit Lame

Of course, I enjoyed the fact that Al Gore was right, that manbearpig does exist, but this concept of terrorists attacking our imaginations and having to nuke our imaginations because they were "running wild" after terrorists attacked our imaginations just dragged and dragged over three episodes.

By the end of last week, I was pretty finished with it all, but I had already missed two episodes of Dirty Sexy Money that I eventually ended up watching online and I felt like they might pull something out that would completely astound and confound me, sending me into fits of hysterical, knowledge-tinged laughter about the state of our society and the effect this War on Terror is having not only on us but the rest of the world.

Not a chance.

Of course, with Jesus and God hanging out with the characters from Imaginationland, I gotta believe that William Donahue from the Catholic League is still not a fan of the show.

Well, I'm gonna show you the highlight reel from the episode so that we can all at least see that Al was right.

LINK

Al Gore on The Daily Show, Both Parts -- Video

LINK

LINK

Now, go back and watch the beginning of the second part when Gore talks about the Court Jester. I'm going to bring up the issue of the Court Jester later today or tomorrow. Yes, I once again have something to say. You can yawn now.

Could Al Gore Announce A Presidential Bid at the Oscars?

From CNN:

"There's even some speculation that he would use his Oscar as the occasion to announce that he's running," Martin Kaplan, director of the University of Southern California's Norman Lear Center, told CNN. "Imagine that: a billion people worldwide! Take that Jay Leno, as an announcement venue!''

Could it happen? Gore's producer thinks a potential Gore speech would be  a historic moment, but not the way Kaplan envisions.

"It's electrifying, not politically, because is Al Gore going to run or not going to run. There's nothing going to happen like that," Bender told CNN. "It's electrifying because the man who is responsible for solidifying the forces around global warming is going to'' be acknowldged.

But could an Oscar start the momentum for a draft-Gore movement? USC's Kaplan thinks it could.

It certainly would be very exciting. He would immediately get my support.

Oh, and here's something to whet your whistle. It's perfect for this blog because it's animated and socially conscious: