Author: Brian

Whitewashing Gay History

Brian

http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/gay-marriage-2012-3/

When the news came last June that the New York State Senate had voted to legalize same-sex marriage, I was at a dinner party that felt like New Year’s Eve, only with genuine emotions. Everyone at the table—straight, gay, young, old—was elated. Later, as my wife and I headed home past an Empire State Building ablaze in the rainbow colors of Pride Week, we were still euphoric at having witnessed one of those rare nights when history is made. Same-sex-marriage adversaries constantly proclaim that gay unions threaten “traditional” marriage. But in truth, it’s a boon to discover that a right you’ve taken for granted is so treasured by others that they’ll fight to get their fair share of its rewards—and its trials.

Fran Lebowitz is correct to remind us that not all gay people (any more than all straight people) are beating down the doors to what she calls “the two most confining institutions on the planet, marriage and the military.” But for those who have been, the dawning of marital equality and the demise of “don’t ask, don’t tell” are twin peaks in the checkered cavalcade of American social justice.

Tom Freston’s $1 Billion Revenge: Ex-Viacom Chief Helps Vice Become the Next MTV

Brian

So how did a cadre of Williamsburg hipsters blow off the worst economy for media companies since the Great Depression? Part of it was great instincts. Vice made big bets on original Web video years ahead of giants like Google and Yahoo, which are racing to license as much of it as they can now. Part of it was luck. Who could have foreseen that the neighborhood where Vice set up shop in 1999 would be the taste-making capital of the world a decade later? But the real secret weapon was a seriously connected grayhair, Tom Freston.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2012/01/03/tom-frestons-1-billion-revenge-ex-viacom-chief-helps-vice-become-the-next-mtv/

OWN Shifting Attention to Its African-American Viewers

Brian

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/own-shifting-attention-to-african-american-viewers-271469

Updated: Executives think they may have found a way to salvage Oprah Winfrey’s struggling network.

Executives at OWN think they may have found a way to salvage Oprah Winfrey’s struggling network: By catering more to an African-American audience. That may help ratings, but it would mean a dramatic shift, and one that could put the channel at odds with Winfrey’s own brand.

According to OWN president Erik Logan and Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav, the silver lining in an otherwise bleak performance record for the network since its launch last January is that it’s performing particularly well among its African-Americans audience members—especially with a reality show calledSweetie Pies that premiered in October.

Boys Swimming on Girls Teams Find Success, Then Draw Jeers

Brian

Higgins, a senior, and Rodriguez, a sophomore, are among roughly two dozen boys competing on girls teams in Massachusetts because their schools do not have boys swimming programs. They are able to do so because of the open access amendment to the state constitution, which was voted into law in the 1970s and mandates that boys and girls must be afforded equal access to athletics.

Boys have been members of girls swim teams since the 1980s, but until recently they were mostly a sideshow. It has only been in the last year or two that boys have swum well enough to draw attention — and people’s ire. The epicenter of the debate is the 50-yard freestyle, an event in which strength can trump talent or technique.

‘Cougar Town’ Boss Bill Lawrence Reveals How to Pitch a TV Show

Brian

It comes down to confidence. half the battle is selling yourself as a creator of a show.

You’re not just going, “Hey, I’ve got a really funny idea that I wrote on a napkin”; you’re saying, “I’m super-passionate about this; I can execute it week after week; this is why I think it goes beyond just a two-line idea.”

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bill-lawrence-cougar-town-263648

Hulu Is Also Making a Play for the Arrested Development

Brian

In a move to outflank fierce rival Netflix, Hulu has jumped into the bidding war to exclusively distribute a new batch of Arrested Developmentepisodes, greatly increasing the chances of a Bluth family reunion. On Sunday, AD creatorMitch Hurwitz told a crowd of assembled fans at the New Yorker Festival that he and producer Ron Howard were planning “to do a limited-run series” that would set up an Arrested Development movie.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/10/arrested_development_tv_show_h.html

Gate Cuisine: America’s new gourmet airport restaurants.

Brian

I’m in Terminal 5 at New York City’s Kennedy airport, the first of four stops I’ll be making on a coast-to-coast tour of America’s best new airport restaurants. As the in-flight meal goes the way of the go-go-booted stewardess, airports are filling the void with dining options that are considerably more ambitious than the usual eat-and-run-to-the-gate fast-food and snack spots. It’s about time: As ballparks, music festivals and street carts have haute-ified their food in recent years, American airports have been stuck in a rut of cellophaned sandwiches and restaurants with names ending in “Xpress.” (Everyone’s in such a hurry, these places seem to say, that there’s no time even to spell out the names.)

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food_wine/2011/11/airport_fine_dining_what_are_america_s_best_airport_restaurants_.single.html