Regis Philbin’s announced retirement, after 28 years, from the syndicated Live franchise that he shared first with Kathie Lee Gifford and then with Kelly Ripa, hasn’t exactly set the industry trade papers on fire. At age 79, it’s safe to say that Philbin already peaked as an entertainer. His oft-parodied mannerisms have long since passed […]
Articles by Patrick Howley
The Tube: Breakfast Bland
Regis Philbin’s announced retirement, after 28 years, from the syndicated Live franchise that he shared first with Kathie Lee Gifford and then with Kelly Ripa, hasn’t exactly set the industry trade papers on fire. At age 79, it’s safe to say that Philbin already peaked as an entertainer. His oft-parodied mannerisms have long since passed […]
The Tube: No Rating Points for Trying
When CBS president Les Moonves hired Katie Couric for a $15 million-a-year anchor gig at the Evening News back in 2006, he was riding a mandate from the Corporate Board and loving every minute of it. His primetime lineup was a star-studded Nielsen #1. Local affiliates were showing record profits. CBS News, with all those […]
The Tube: No Rating Points for Trying
When CBS president Les Moonves hired Katie Couric for a $15 million-a-year anchor gig at the Evening News back in 2006, he was riding a mandate from the Corporate Board and loving every minute of it. His primetime lineup was a star-studded Nielsen #1. Local affiliates were showing record profits. CBS News, with all those […]
The Tube: Football Fallout
As the NFL lockout lurches on and throws the upcoming season into question, it’s important to draw attention to the real victims of this bitter labor dispute. Through no fault of their own, television executives stand to lose their top prime-time moneymaker. FOX will lose close to $1 billion in ad revenue if the football […]
The Tube: Football Fallout
As the NFL lockout lurches on and throws the upcoming season into question, it’s important to draw attention to the real victims of this bitter labor dispute. Through no fault of their own, television executives stand to lose their top prime-time moneymaker. FOX will lose close to $1 billion in ad revenue if the football […]
The Tube: March 2011
Conservative producer Joel Surnow’s eight-hour miniseries, The Kennedys, will now premiere in April on something called “ReelzChannel” after being rejected by the History Channel, the nework that originally commissioned it. Its citation-free depiction of Kennedy’s sexual shenanigans (including a scene in which Joseph Kennedy gropes his secretary while advocating U.S. compromise with Hitler) sparked preemptive outrage from prominent historians and inflamed the nation’s ever-growing pundit class. Despite … […]
The Tube: March 2011
Conservative producer Joel Surnow’s eight-hour miniseries, The Kennedys, will now premiere in April on something called “ReelzChannel” after being rejected by the History Channel, the nework that originally commissioned it. Its citation-free depiction of Kennedy’s sexual shenanigans (including a scene in which Joseph Kennedy gropes his secretary while advocating U.S. compromise with Hitler) sparked preemptive […]
The Tube: Carell vs. Sheen
Steve Carell’s decision to leave The Office in April, after seven marginally-rated but well-Tivoed seasons, has surprised the entertainment industry. Its producer, Paul Lieberstein, hopes that the show will continue even after Carell graduates to the full-time big screen roles, but I’d rather see it pink-slipped, and not because it’s outlived its creative potential or […]
The Tube: We're Never Going to Like You, Governor
Since October, CNN has filled its 8 p.m. weeknight time slot with a program called Parker Spitzer, co-hosted by conservative columnist Kathleen Parker and infamously-humbled former New York governor Eliot Spitzer. The show seems virtually indistinguishable from other split-screen partisan debate-fests but for one novel, ratings-courting feature: unlike, say, Crossfire or Hannity and Colmes, Parker Spitzer happens to employ a man who, in 2008, undid years of populist crusading and election night triumphs with some “personal failings” of the hooker-in-a-hotel room variety. […]
The Tube: We're Never Going to Like You, Governor
Since October, CNN has filled its 8 p.m. weeknight time slot with a program called Parker Spitzer, co-hosted by conservative columnist Kathleen Parker and infamously-humbled former New York governor Eliot Spitzer. The show seems virtually indistinguishable from other split-screen partisan debate-fests but for one novel, ratings-courting feature: unlike, say, Crossfire or Hannity and Colmes, Parker […]
