Disney’s announcement that it will be replacing cable channel Soapnet with a new preschool channel has generated serious concerns for U.S. soap viewers.
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Archive for May, 2010
Losing SOAPnet
Being Gary Coleman
Friday, Gary Coleman passed away after what appeared to be, by most accounts, an incredibly difficult 42 years, many of which were spent in an unsuccessful attempt to stay out of the spotlight and live as normal a life as humanly possible.
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Egregious Product Placement: Sex & the City & HP
What does it mean to have a beloved character's tastes change in favor of product placement opportunities? Fan backlash to product placement might disrupt the narrative, but it's probably not a bad thing for the advertiser.
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DVR vs. Twitter
Is the virtual watercooler making timeshifting impossible? Can you have your DVR and Twitter too?
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The New Reality of The Hills
It appears that in season six the world inside The Hills has effectively merged with the world outside The Hills. For this jaded fan, The Hills is once again must-see TV.
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Blame Your HVAC
How often this season have we seen ‘tween girls, and their forty-something moms, blamed for the sorry state of American Idol?
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Glee’s Theatrical Identities and Other Bad Romances
The themed episodes often bury narrative and character development, but this week saw a powerful blending of Lady Gaga’s music and persona and the storyline. Her promotion of both over-the-top performance and being a “freak” allowed the show to return to one of its favorite themes.
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Some Thoughts on the Upfronts
It is not that I harbor ill will toward the television industry—far from it. Rather, I’d hoped that some of the desperation of recent years might be enough to create the momentum needed for some real change. This remains a seriously strange way to allocate billions of dollars.
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That Other Jack
24 crosses the finish line with a return to form - and further resources to question and negotiate its assumed reactionary politics.
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Lost Monday: The End
It's time to let go.
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What Are You Missing? May 9-May 23
Ten (or more) media industry stories you might have missed recently.
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The Empire Strikes Back?: NBC at the 2010 Upfronts
The upfronts may seem like a vestige of a dying regime. However, given that this is also an era of brands - i.e., hot shows, and in theory, hot networks - the upfronts also serve to launch anticipation on multiple fronts. Derek Kompare takes a look at the NBC upfronts in this media context.
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Official Eclipse Trailer: For the Boys
What Summit Entertainment fails to see is that by courting male viewers, they are devaluing Twilight’s devoted female fans and missing an incredible opportunity to develop the terms for future female franchises.
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Media Studies, Have We Lost Our Feminism?
I came away from Console-ing Passions with ongoing questions regarding why feminism seems lost at times in contemporary media scholarship and the place of feminism in my own work and life.
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Using Its Voice: Glee Shows Us What Kind of Musical(s) It’s Made of
Joss Whedon and Neil Patrick Harris come to Glee; the results may not be what you think. Last week the glee club found its voice; this week Glee shows us its own.
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