HBO to air controversial documentary Outrage Oct. 5, complete with claims Gov. Crist is gay

Looks like HBO has bought the broadcast rights to Outrage, the controversial documentary that purports to expose the private lives of politicians who work against gay rights in public but lead homosexual lives in private.

HBO will air the documentary at 9 p.m. Oct. 5, reairing the show several times that month. The documentary names Florida Gov. Charlie Crist as one of the politicians leading a double life, along with now-retired Idaho Sen. Larry Craig and former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey.

But whereas McGreevey and Craig were at the center of public scandals -- McGreevey admitted having a gay lover and Craig was arrested and accused by police of propositioning an undercover cop in a men's bathroom -- the case the film present against Crist is much less concrete.

Critics argue that many of the politicians named in the film are not conclusively proven to be gay or deny it, and the allegation alone may be hurtful to their careers, family or themselves. 

Here's what HBO's press materials say about Crist:

"Charlie Crist – Running for Florida governor in 2006, Crist reminded voters that marriage is a union between a man and woman.  Yet his opponent, Max Linn, told news outlets that Crist twice said he was gay – an allegation Crist continues to deny, though it has been supported by two sources who talked to Broward-Palm Beach News Times columnist Bob Norman.  According to Norman, two men linked to Crist abruptly left Florida and did not return until after he was elected.  There have been no mainstream press follow-ups.  Crist, who was on John McCain’s short list for running mate, is a front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.  He also recently got married."

HBO viewers will get a chance to decide Oct. 5.

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Fourteen companies create TV ratings coalition which may challenge Nielsen company

After weeks of rumors, it's finally official: 14 different companies across media have created the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, aiming to incubate new methods for figuring out who is watching the world's media.

The list of participants ranges from ESPN, CBS and Disney, to Procter & Gamble, media buying firm MAGNA Global and AT&T. The goal: to find a better way to count who watches media across broadcast networks, cable channels, online sources, mobile media and more.

When news broke of the initiative last month, industry experts wondered whether the coalition might threaten the dominance of The Nielsen Company, which is the sole provider of TV ratings to the industry, using data tabulated at a huge collection facility in Oldsmar.

And while some coalition participants have tried to downplay the threat to Nielsen -- CBS/Paramount television president Nancy Tellem assured "we expect Nielsen, along with other research entities, to be part of the solution" in a statement -- others note that this initiative provides an easy way for other companies to bring new ideas for ratings tabulation to an enormous chunk of the industry at once.

 For many years, TV industry types have complained about the accuracy of media ratings, especially as viewing has become more fragmented by online video, mobile devices and digital video recorders. Recent glitches with Nielsen's data hasn't helped matters, including technical problems earlier this year which stopped the company from releasing overnight TV ratings for days.

In the past, such dissatisfaction has fueled attempts to build new ratings services from scratch; efforts often thwarted when Nielsen adopted its own versions of ideas advanced by competitors.

But this is the first time so many companies in modern media have banded together to seek solutions.

The coalition has a teleconference set for 1 p.m. today; more answers should follow.

As SpongeBob turns 10, voiceman Tom Kenny explains why leading a hit show can be like surviving a terminal disease

Speaking over the phone, Tom Kenny sounds lot more like an overworked middle-aged dad than the hyperkinetic voice behind one of TV's biggest cartoon hits ever, Nickelodeon's Spongebob SquarePants -- now marking its 10th anniversary on air.

 But Kenny -- who also voices the controversial Skids robot in the Transformers movie sequel and a talking toy chain saw under development by Fisher Price -- is always a can of Red Bull and an enthusiastic request away from sliding into the relentlessly upbeat undersea sponge at the center of nickelodeon's gargantuan hit SpongeBob SquarePants, even as he compares starring in a hit TV show to surviving a terminal disease.

“Spongebob has hung on for so long it’s almost like you beat this terminal disease – marketplace malaise," he says, laughing." And every day’s a bonus round.”

Beating the odds, SpongeBob has racked up $2-billion in annual merchandising sales and a regular berth among the most-watched cable shows each week without compromising its eccentric, creative vision.
Nickelodeon  celebrates with 50 hours of programming this  weekend, including 11 new episodes, celebrities’ favorite moments and a documentary Square Roots, airing at 9 p.m. Tuesday on VH1.

Before the madness starts, I spent 90 minutes dissecting SpongeBob SquarePants with the guy -- outside of creator Stephen Hillenburg -- who knows him best:

Can you believe the show has been on for 10 years?

“It’s not like I would have been disappointed that it went away after three or four years – that’s usually the lifespan in the marketplace. You do 52 episodes, which gives them enough to rerun it forever. I always loved the character and loved the show right from the very beginning. I really liked him and his world and the supporting cast of characters – even when they were just drawings on a piece of paper. It’s been nice to watch it flourish. It’s been an interesting sociological experiment.”

What have you learned from the show's success?

“You can’t try to sit down with test tubes and beakers and try to create a gigantically worldwide popular show. You never know what’s going to resonate. SpongeBob was created in a resolutely unscientific way – without regard to demographics of flow charts or marketshare. It was an artistic, funny guy with an interest in oceanography and comedy, trying to make a funny seven-minute short. It’s inspiring for younger people and kids out there – be passionate about what you’re passionate about, because you never know about how it call can come together to enrich your life.

I love the way the show recalls earlier landmark cartoons like Ren and Stimpy.

"When Ren and Stimpy came along, all the funny cartoons that were on were old. Looney Tunes is funny, but it’s old, Bullwinkle is funny, but its old,. And then you turns on new cartoons and its Care Bears and stuff. Ren and Stimpy made it okay to be funny again. It was an animators show...(it) had the fingerprints of its creator all over it. It was funny like those old cartoons, and it was new. It really intensified my desire to work in animation.

You once said you get paid for doing stuff that used to get you kicked out of class.

“It’s that weird job that as fun as you think it would be when you were a kid. When you grow up, you might realize that actually being a fireman or being an astronaut is nothing like the reality of it. But I can't think of anything I’d rather do. I don’t need to date any more, I’ve find my soulmate. I'm able to make a living doing what I always want to do – being creative and funny and artistic. For me, as a voice over person it’s like being a session musician. Today I’m playing on a soul record, yesterday, I played on a country record – you’ve got to make your instrument play the right stuff for that gig. You’re just always out there trying to keep all the plates spinning as much as you can.”

Is there a difference between the stereotypes in Bruno and Transformers 2?

It's easy to look like a poor sport when you're talking about negative stereotypes in film and TV.

The latest flap along those lines involve two of summer's most anticipated movies: Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno and the whiz-band action film Transformers 2.

Some critics have already taken aim at Bruno, denouncing Cohen's in-your-face mockumentary centered on a cartoonishly effeminate and hyper-sexual fashionista as a gay minstrel show.

Writing in Salon, David Rakoff provides a typically caustic review, calling the Bruno character "an open hydrant of empty, venal ignorance" and denouncing the film as "bad for gays" over its too-broad attempts to provoke homophobic reactions from unsuspecting people.

Other critics have lodged similar complaints against Transformers 2, noting that two new robot characters, Skids and Mudflap, talk in a patios normally associated with young black people and are mostly ineffective, foul-mouthed characters used almost entirely for comedic effect.

Director Michael Bay shrugged off the criticism, saying ""We're just putting more personality in. I don't know if it's stereotypes — they are robots, by the way. These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it."

Which raises an interesting question: When is such stuff considered stereotypical?

When Tracy Morgan voices a jive-talking hamster in the new animated movie G-force, is that a stereotype, or Morgan just doing what he does? Does that verdict change when you watch the commercials, where his character struts in front of the camera like he's doing a modern-day pimp walk?

 I'll be discussing these ideas at about 9:30 a.m. this morning, appearing on National Public Radio's Tell Me More. My verdict, as someone who has seen Transformers but not Bruno: It seems tough to lay the stereotype label on Bruno, which is specifically crafted to pile on all those gay stereotypes in one character to satirize how we all react to them.

That's a lot different than creating two stereotypical fictional characters -- like Star Wars' Jar-Jar Binks -- purely for comic relief in a movie focused on a totally different subject.

In this game, I think, you get points for intent. Tune in at 9:30 and see if anybody else agrees with me.

Who is your pick for the most awful celebrity of our time?

The wonderfully catty gossip columnist for E! online, Ted Casablanca, recently held a vote on his blog The Awful Truth for showbiz’s Most Awful Celebrity of All Time.

Of course, attention spans being what they are in the gossip world, the list of contenders read more like Showbiz's Most Awful Celebrities in the last week or so.

Which inspired me to try a little harder. So I've included Ted's finalists in a post listing my contenders for Most Awful Celebrity of OUR Time -- cutting out the obvious historical heavyweights like Hitler, Mussolini and Anita Bryant, but allowing for a little context beyond last week's edition of Us Weekly.

For pity's sake, I also factored out people whose awfulness mostly springs from conventional substance abuse issues -- so Lindsay Lohan, Courtney Love, Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse and the cast of all editions of Celebrity Rehab are in the clear.

Here's my list. Who would you nominate, and who do you think won Ted's poll?

Nadya “Octomom” Suleman: Took fertility drugs when she already had six kids.

Kirstie Alley: Seemingly unable to distinguish between fearless honesty and unhinged, self-centered gushing.

Jon and Kate Gosselin: Built a living for their family of eight on a TV show about their lives, then complained when their marriage breakup became big news on TV and tabloids.

Naomi Campbell: Volatile model has assaulted underlings with a cell phone, more than once.

Michael Jackson: Duuh!

The Hogan Family (Hulk Hogan, Brooke Hogan, Linda Hogan, Nick Hogan): Status as reality TV mainstays and local celebrities keeps us riveted to their ongoing family dramas.

Donald Trump: Allows Miss California to keep her crown in his beauty pageant despite her failing to live up to appearances required by the pageant and flouting of rules for disclosure about past activities; apparently, thinks beauty pageant should run on same rules as Celebrity Apprentice.

Rihanna: Sings songs about her independence, than takes back boyfriend who beat her bloody.

Spencer Pratt: Can’t stop looking like a creep on The Hills, even with the best editing MTV provides.

Gwyneth Paltrow: Is a movie star married to a rock star, but can’t help squabbling with Iron Man 2 co-star Scarlett Johansson.

Rush Limbaugh: Because he's smart enough to know that much of what he says is a) hurting the country, b) not true and c) hurting the causes he claims to support. But he does it anyway to line his own pockets and build his own legend.

Bill O'Reilly: See above.

Bret Michaels: Because daring to perform at the Tony Awards earned the Poison frontman and Rock of Love star some serious Karmic blowback (at least he gave new meaning to the term "Headbanging!" see below)   

ABC selling optimism with Kelsey Grammer, Courteney Cox, six dramas and four comedies on 2009-10 schedule

If there's a crisis in network television, somebody forgot to tell ABC.

Despite a brutal current season which laid waste to promising new shows (Cupid, The Unusuals, Life on Mars) and hopeful sophomores (Samantha Who?, Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies), the alphabet network announced a fall schedule this morning featuring six new dramas, four new comedies and a new reality show.

There's big stars such as Courteney Cox as a new-school Mrs. Robinson (Cougar Town), Kelsey Grammer as a laid off corporate executive (Hank), Patricia Heaton as a middle-class Indiana mom (The Middle) and Billy Zane as the head of a cutthroat Los Angeles law firm (The Deep End). There's remakes of old movie and TV shows (Eastwick reworks The Witches of Eastwick, while V retells the old '80s-era miniseries about an alien invasion of the same name.) St. Petersburg Times book editor Colette Bancroft weighs in on Eastwick, vis-a-vis John Updike.

There's even a full night of new shows lined up on Wednesday nights, as if audiences had never heard of Criminal Minds or American Idol's results show.

It's all ABC's attempt to sell advertisers on the notion that, more than a year after the Hollywood writers strike has ended, it's business as usual in the network TV business. Nevermind all the technology and changing audience tastes that are disintegrating the industry.

"It's been about two years since we had a normal pilot season, and it's great to be back to doing TV with a full slate of pilots," said Steve McPherson, president of ABC entertainment group, on a conference call with reporters this morning. "I think there's going to be an optimistic mood out there -- much more optimistic than is being written about."

Of course, one reason ABC has a full slate of pilots, is because so many new and returning shows failed this season. And even some of the shows renewed for next season, including the quirky comedy Scrubs, returning for a ninth season, and equally eccentric corporate comedy Better Off Ted, performed badly enough to be cancellation candidates right down to the wire.

Some highlights from McPherson's talk:

-- Jim Belushi is finally out of a job. According to Jim, the mediocre zombie spawn of a show that never seems to die, draws its last breath June 2 after eight (?!) seasons. We think.

-- ABC will not confirm whether actors T.R. Knight or Katherine Heigl are returning to Grey's Anatomy; the finale left both characters' fates in the air.

-- Star Zach Braff is expected to appear in six of the first 13 episodes of Scrubs' next season. Despite the fact that executive producer/creator Bill Lawrence is also working on Cox's Cougar Town, he's trying to decide if he will totally reinvent Scrubs or just introduce a new cast to the hospital.

-- Lost star Elizabeth Mitchell may appear on that show and the V remake (left), even though her character appeared to die in the Lost season finale.

-- Ugly Betty moves to Fridays,  which may be a disastrous move for the show.

-- True Beauty, that awful reality show about inner and outer beauty, was actually renewed.

-- Scrubs, Better Off Ted, Lost and True Beauty are all held over until midseason.

Click below to read capsule descriptions of all ABC's new shows.

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For Mother's Day, the gift you wish she'd gotten

A rare Sunday post, with a hat tip to pal Robert Philpot from the Fort Worth Star Telegram, for first posting a   clip of the device I wish my mom had while I was growing up . . .

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Gov. Charlie Crist named by blogger and the film 'Outrage,' citing closeted gay politicians

As Florida Gov. Charlie Crist considers whether to enter the competitive race to replace Sen. Mel Martinez, some public talk has turned to the issue of his sexuality, thanks to Outrage, an independent film focused on politicians who are accused of hiding their sexual orientation.

During this appearance on an Arlington, Va., cable newschannel, Crist's name surfaced during a conversation on Outrage. The film names Crist among several political figures alleged to be hiding their sexual orientation, using comments from people who claim to be past lovers in addition to other material.

The newschannels' segment featured blogger Mike Rogers, whose blogActive site features similar reports on political figures, and host Doug McKelway in a heated argument that distracts from some key questions which deserve an answer:

Does the movie make a strong case for its allegations against each subject, and were the subjects given a chance to respond?

Is it ethical to reveal a politician's private sexual orientation, just because someone feels their policies are anti-gay?

Is there a difference between a politician who does not reveal his/her sexual orientation and a politician who creates a public image different than his/her private life?

Is it fair to a require a politician who may be gay or bisexual to publicly acknowledge their sexual orientation when they are involved with legislation impacting gay or bisexual issues?

I'm not sure how I feel about these issues; there seem to be strong arguments on both sides. Making all this tougher to navigate is the GOP's longstanding demonization of gay people in electoral politics and the damage a politician can receive just by having his/her name included in these discussions.

Here's the clip.

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One more Star Trek movie nerd's surprising list of the franchise's best moments

As J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie debuts today, this longtime Trekhead is embarrassed to admit I had mostly given up on the franchise.

My turning point came not long after the last Trek series, Enterprise, debuted on TV and I realized that the guys entrusted with guiding all things Star Trek were strangling the concept with a too-narrow view of what was possible on the show.

At a time when movies were bursting with eye-popping effects and shows such as Lost and the reimagined Battlestar Galactica were redefining the shape of science fiction on television, even this longtime Trek nerd felt the whole universe was a bit dated and out of step; a pair of parachute pants in an iPod world.

So I'm looking forward to today's debut of Abrams' Star Trek reboot with purposefully lowered expectations. With luck, he'll have crafted a glittery thrill ride with a bit of the charm from the old series rolled inside.

As with any great TV series, Trek worked best when it focused on the characters -- this amazing collection of personalities topped by the coolest alien and most intrepid captain in science fiction history. That Trek producers managed to clone that vibe again in the syndicated Next Generation series was a feat too often unappreciated.

Anyways, as Abrams takes the franchise to a new frontier, here's this Trek nerd's list of his favorite  moments.

Next Generation: Chain of Command
For me, the best Trek episode ever. Enterprise Capt. Jean-Luc Picard is taken prisoner and tortured, while his ruthless replacement turns over the ship's happily efficient family to get Picard released. Best-ever performances from both Patrick Stewart and Ronny Cox as the new captain.

Next Generation: Best of Both Worlds 1 and 2
Renowned for Trek fans as the episodes where super-baddies The Borg nearly destroy Earth, it's also the episode where Picard becomes a Borg and his Enterprise family attempts to kill him to stop the enemy. (I seem to love the episodes where the family is turned against itself.)

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
One of the thee Trek films I can still stand to watch in entirety, this is the last hammy gasp from both William Shatner and Ricardo Montalban as classic rivals James T. Kirk and Khan.

 

Star Trek Classic: Amok Time
Everybody picks the Tribbles or interracial kiss episodes when talk turns to classic Trek. But this episode packs in all the reasons we really liked the show. Spock gets to kick butt when his mating instincts kick in, there's a hilarious fight scene complete with badly edited stuntmen sequences and Kirk's inexplicable ability to beat a guy stronger than him. And the classic fight music = Trekkie heaven.  

Publicity photos

R.I.P. Dom DeLuise: chef, comedian and pop culture icon is dead at 75

It started with a report last night on TMZ, now rocketing across cyberspace; Dom DeLuise, the beefy character actor who lit up everything from Burt Reynolds' Cannonball Run movies to Mel Brooks satires like Robin Hood: Men in Tights has died.

A cookbook author, actor and much more, DeLuise died in his sleep last night after a long illness, according to his son Michael.

He leaves behind a world much less funny, especially for those of us who grew up on his antics with old-school show biz legends such as Reynolds, Brooks, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Carol Burnett and many more.

Along with Bea Arthur, DeLuise's death marks the beginning of another era passing in comedy; a cadre of performers you might see anywhere from feature films to Dean Martin roasts, masking prodigious talents with a clown's instinct for the laugh line.

Here's some clips from some of his coolest performances to remind us all why he was so beloved.
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