Some News About The News And The People Who Report It

It’s been an interesting week in television.  If rumors are any indication of anything – there will be one less female anchor hosting a network newscast in the not too distant future.  There have been rumors this past week – although no official confirmation – that CBS would like to buy out the remainder of Katie Couric’s contract with CBS News and replace her as anchor.  Would it surprise me if something like that happened?  Not really – especially with all of the rumors swirling around the internet and news blogs of some sort of deal being worked out to combine CBS News and CNN.  The other question is – who would CBS hire to fill the anchor chair if something like that did happen?  I dunno!  Maybe the news and entertainment division could work up a new program and call it something like “Who Will Be The Next CBS Evening News Anchor?” and have a bunch of reporters competing against each other for the position.  You could even have CBS/Viacom’s Chairman Sumner Redstone in the boardroom telling one reporter each week that they can “turn in your reporter’s notebook and go home’. 

Along with the talk of CBS wanting to buy out Katie Couric’s contract is the report that NBC’s Jeff Zucker (the man responsible for Jay Leno at 10) would like to have Katie Couric back home on NBC’s “Today Show”.  C’mon Jeff – do you really think that Katie is going to come back and be the perky one on the “Today Show” with Matt and Al after she has being the evening news anchor at CBS?  Jeff – Katie coming back to the “Today Show” wouldn’t exactly be a forward career move – that’s unless you have another brilliant idea – maybe something like “Today At Night” – a prime time hour of news and information and can use every Monday through Friday at 10pm.  Jeff Zucker could try and convince the affiliates on how cost effective a move having the “Today Show” on at night would be.  It would be less expensive that those pesky hour long dramas that you have to buy and schedule and what’s a more perfect lead-in to the late night local news that a network newscast.  Katie could report the news and do those hard-hitting interviews (like asking Sarah Palin what she reads) and the premiere show could feature one of Katie’s always entertaining colostomies.  Hell…maybe Zucker could be the one that the person that Katie chooses to insert a camera to go where cameras aren’t meant to go.  I know it all sounds pretty far-fetched – but nothing is impossible or far-fetched in the TV news business these days.

When I say noting is impossible or far-fetched in the TV news business these days – all you have to do is look at what’s happening at CNN.  Once known as the most trusted name in news -- CNN is quickly becoming the most desperate cable channel in America today.  When Campbell Brown resigned, CNN finally came to the realization that they couldn’t compete against the other channels with news and nothing but the news.  So, what does CNN do?  They are about to combine the news that you need to know with the equivalent of the kind of theater you’d expect to see on a prime time wrestling show.  If a bell is going off in your head that it sounds vaguely like “Crossfire”— the old CNN show where they pitted a liberal against a conservative and let them go at it – then you get a gold star for your forehead for having a good memory.  But they don’t stop there…the hosts that they have hired for this new program will be conservative columnist Kathleen Parker and Eliot Spitzer, who was once the governor of New York until news came out that he like to hire hookers.  Don’t expect a lot of respectable polite political discussions on this show – be prepared for a lot of shouting and attention getting theatrics or, in other words, a reason for you to tune in to CNN instead of the other cable “news” networks.

And the hits don’t stop there – CNN is looking to replace Larry King – who’s turning in his suspenders after twenty-five years of softball questions to some of the most powerful people in the world.  It’s pretty much a forgone conclusion that CNN will hire British TV personality and hack journalist Piers Morgan to fill the 9pm slot.  Most Americans know Piers from the Simon Cowell produced “America’s Got Talent” and from his appearance on “Celebrity Apprentice”.    Hiring Morgan will be the dumbest thing that CNN has ever done.  Trust me – before six months time – Piers Morgan will do something and say something to embarrass the network and give CNN critics fuel to burn the whole house down.  Piers Morgan is an ass and there’s no way in hell that he should be allowed to do an interview with a serious newsmaker – if my memory serves me right – Morgan once asked a British Prime Minister if he and his wife are members of the “mile high club”.  So, brace yourself for CNN’s new prime time line-up of Parker and Spitzer followed by Piers (I know Sharon Osborne) Morgan.  It’s a line-up like that that might have Anderson Cooper seriously consider taking the evening news spot on CBS.

My Name Is Rich Frost And I Didn't Watch The Super Bowl

I think the newspaper reports said that some 108 million people watched the Super Bowl on Sunday evening. The newspaper stories go on to say that this was a record breaking Super Bowl with more people watching the game than had watched the final episode of “M*A*S*H”. That’s a whole lot of people – and believe it or not – I wasn't one of them. Yup, My name is Rich Frost and I didn't watch the Super Bowl – I didn't go to any Super Bowl parties – and I didn't have a bet on the final score or who was going to win. Incredible, huh?

If you think that it’s easy to be out of the “Super Bowl” loop – think again. If you don’t believe me – next year I want you to try avoid the Super Bowl hype and influence that is all around you during those last couple of weeks leading up to the game. You pick up a newspaper – there’s all of the Super Bowl stories and next to the stories are ads with people trying to associate their products and services to the big game. When are retailers going to realize that you can have a Super Bowl Sale on Super Bowl Sunday? People want to watch the game – they don’t want to shop…oh well.

Not only was I not one of the 108 million eyes tuned to the Super Bowl – I also didn't get to see or even hear one minute of a half-time show featuring “The Who”. Did I miss anything? I don’t think so. There’s nothing really sexy about a sixty-plus lead singer in a rock n’ roll band swinging around a microphone singing, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” and shouting that “We won’t fooled again!” C’mon!!!! Who are the Who singing about – they’re all old enough to have oatmeal mush and drool coming out of their mouths in some rock n’ roll nursing home – why are they doing a half-time show at the Super Bowl?

How did I avoid not getting caught in all of the hype on Super Bowl Sunday? Well…you can have your year and a half and three year old grand children spend the day with you. The little ones are good teachers for adults when it comes to things to not give a damn about. You see, grand children are more concerned about whether Grandma and Grandpa have a pantry that’s well stocked with chocolate donuts and cheese puffs; and they’d rather be watching “Dora the Explorer” or “Sponge Bob Square Pants” than watch a overpaid jock readjusting his cup in between plays. I’m sure that once they get older – they’ll change their views about the Super Bowl…but for right now…you could douse John Madden with gasoline and set him on fire on the sidelines and the grand kids wouldn't bat an eye.

There’s another way to avoid the hype of Super Bowl Sunday….you could grab a book and sit in your favorite chair and get lost in some of the great works of the classic authors. J. D. Salinger died recently – you could crack open a copy of “Catcher in the Rye “and read it – while 108 million other people are tuned into the football game on CBS. You could…and like me…you probably didn't.

I shouldn't admit what I was doing when the Super Bowl was being played – because you’ll only laugh --- and dare I say – call me the biggest pussy on the planet earth. Yup, while the Super Bowl was being played – my girlfriend and I were sitting comfortably in front of the television set watching an episode of “Chopped” that I had recorded off of the Food Network on the DVR. After a new “Chopped” champion was crowned – our attention went to a two-hour movie – not HBO, Showtime or Starz – nope – we sat and watched a totally unforgettable two-hour movie about a woman with amnesia who was having some doubts about her “fiancé” that aired on the Lifetime Movie Network. (I told you that you’d call me a pussy.) It was one of those bad movies that you had to sit through to the conclusion, because you know that the people making it knew it was as bad as you thought it was.

Yup…I totally avoided the Super Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday. And all of the commercials that aired during the Super Bowl game – I didn't get to see any of those either – including the controversial abortion ad. Well, life goes on, they say. They’re will be other Super Bowls. I’ll have my chance next year to join the millions who get taken in by all of the hype and hoopla and maybe I’ll even give a damn about the game….but this year wasn't going to be one of those years.

My name is Rich Frost and I didn't watch the Super Bowl.

2009 -- Who Cares -- A Year In Review

We’re approaching the end of another year and you know what that means – a lot of people and their lists of what they thought was the best and what was the worst (fill in the blank) of the year. I’m not going to some best or worst list – mine is going to be a little different – so allow me to present to you:

Rich Frost’s Who Really Cares List for 2009

News bulletin -- Michael Jackson is dead. Who cares! I have no desire whatsoever to rush out to my local movie theatre to see “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” or even rent a DVD of the movie when it’s released; and I could care less about seeing with any member of the Jackson family talk about their brother Michael in exclusive interviews with Larry King, Barbara Walters or Anderson Cooper.

A lot of people are wondering if I am I going to read Sarah Palin’s book? Here’s a quick answer -- Hell no! Sarah Palin wrote a book -- Who fucking cares! It’s incredible how someone as stupid has gone so far doing so little in such a short amount of time and in the process has managed to attract people who not only support her, but will seriously defend her to the end of the earth. Has the pool of legitimate political candidates hit rock bottom or what? How can one take Palin seriously when she actually says that CBS’s news anchor Katie Couric does “gotcha interviews”? Having watched Palin on the talk shows during her recent book tour has only reinforced my opinion that one day historians will proclaim the Sarah Palin era of American politics as “the ultimate dumbing down of America”. Whether we're talking about the book or the politician -- when it comes to Sarah Palin -- all I have to say is "Who cares!!!!"

The movie “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” has taken in some $230 million in at the box office in its first ten days. Who cares? The phenomenon surrounding the “Twilight” movies and the books is crazy. ‘Twilight Fever’ has even affected people who I never would have expected to get hooked by a hokey vampire/love story series, and what’s even more amazing, these people aren't afraid to make public their love for the Twilight series. Me? I could care less.

It was announced five years ago that Conan O’Brien would become the host of the “Tonight Show” on NBC in 2009 and it took the brain trust at NBC a few months in 2008 to finally figure out what to do with Jay Leno to keep him in the fold. What was their solution? Get rid of scripted dramas and move Jay Leno to 10 o’clock. NBC network brass will be the first to admit that Leno at 10 saves them lots of money not having to produce those expensive dramas – but you’d be hard pressed find anyone at NBC that will admit to the show being a colossal failure for the network and the affiliates who carry it. Jay Leno has always been a lousy interviewer – now combine those lousy interview skills with such audience attention grabbers such as “Earn Your Plug” (where celebrities have to do something to earn the right to plug their new movie); or where celebrity guests are timed doing two laps around a race track in an electric car and you can easily see why people are tuning out Jay Leno at 10 in droves….Who cares!!!

Remember when there were just a couple of reality shows on television and we either watched them or didn't? Those were the days – now we can’t get away from these damn reality shows. We have literally have people bumping into other people for their fifteen minutes of fame. We have housewives and chefs, drug addicts, sex addicts and people wanting to be the next superstar model or top forty idol. It has gotten to the point that in 2009 reality TV stars are bumping into one another just so they can get a taste of that elusive fifteen minutes of fame that Andy Warhol warned us about. I say, “WHO CARES!!!!!”

This last past year – we have had to deal with Kate and Jon and all of their kids and the freak show known as “the Octomom”. Then there’s the parents of the ‘balloon boy’ who were so desperate to become reality TV stars that they perpetrated a hoax that captured the attention of the cable news networks eager to fill up air time and had the nation worrying about whether or not a little boy was floating in the air aimlessly in what looked like a Jiffy Pop popcorn like flying saucer.

We can't forget about the tiff that went on between Miss California and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton about gay marriage and now we have a reality TV star wannabe couple crashing a White House state dinner that raises the bar on what people will do to become famous. I would like to say “Who cares” about this incident – but it would only challenge the dumb to do even dumber things for us to write about in 2010.