All The Dirt That’s Fit To Print Or Broadcast Or Browse

If Obama cured cancer, Drudge would find a downside.

As I write this a Chris Shays for Congress ad is on during the Emmys. Even Republicans are running against the Republican Party. Shays is. Everyone’s a rebel.

I’ve read a lot about this presidential race being the meanest, dirtiest ever–and then I’ve read it’s not. Who knows? There’s no shortage of bullshit available on both sides.

This is probably our most partisan election as far as media goes.

There’s Fox–strongly Republican, though publicly in denial. Rupert Murdoch was on Fox last week saying what awful would happen if Obama is elected.

MSNBC has turned sharply Democratic and otherwise left-of-center with Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. It’s a little less comfortable for MSNBC. Unlike Fox, there is an affiliation with a non-partisan news organization (NBC) and no Roger Ailes. They’d do better with a Roger Ailes to run interference.

I am most intrigued with politically slanted coverage on the net. I’ve been a big Drudge reader for years. He is heavily out in support of McCain/Palin. Tonight on Drudge:

OBAMAPELOSI DEMAND ‘OVERSIGHT’ ON BAILOUT…

PALIN DRAWS CROWD OF 60,000 IN FLORIDA

If Obama cured cancer, Drudge would find a downside.

Drudge is now balanced by Huffington Post. Wasn’t Arianna Huffington once a conservative? On Huffington McCain can do no right.

Obama: Bailout Plan Must Address “The Crisis On Main Street And Around Kitchen Tables Across America”

Here’s the problem with all this vitriol. Once the election is over there’s going to be a huge segment of our population unhappy and ready to hatchet whomever wins. No matter what the result, this promises to be the most divisive (and derisive) election I can remember.

Censoring The Emmys

I watched the Emmys tonight. Helaine recorded it, knowing we’d be home after 8:00.

Boy there are a lot of people on TV I don’t know!

With the show over, I have two questions. Is Ryan Seacrest the right guy to be host? And, why were there three obvious edits to censor material?

Seacrest first. I remember him on CNet TV. He was a correspondent on the show Richard Hart hosted. He was fine.

Am I surprised he’s hosting a huge, killer hit like American Idol? Absolutely. But he’s fine as a straight host.

No cheap jokes, please.

The Emmys normally have an entertainer as host. I don’t see Seacrest in that role. In fact, as the show opened up, Ray Romano basically took over the host’s job of doing a monologue.

That brings me to point two. Why was Roman censored? This was more than a beep. The full video feed cut away.

I’ve seen Ray Romano in person. He is not a blue comic. Even if he said a ‘curse,’ I’m convinced it wouldn’t have offended my mom or her mom (though it’s a little late to ask my grandma).

The same cutaway thing happened to Katherine Heigl and Sally Field.

Actually, with Heigl they didn’t cut away soon enough and so America got to see her mouth the word “shit.” Crude and inappropriate as it is, I’ve never understood why shit is considered a curse word. It has little to do with the more sexually oriented words that can get a network fined… or worse.

I believe Sally Field got pulled for saying goddamn. It’s not polite to say goddamn. It’s never been my choice to say that word on TV. But it’s Sally Field for heavens sake.

I must be missing something? What could Sally Field possibly say that would injure me?

I believe it was Letterman’s staff who began the tradition of having weird intros to the comedy writing nominees. That’s something I now look forward to. I enjoy it a lot.

I also liked the nice eulogy for Tom Snyder, pieced together from contemporaneous remarks by late night talk show hosts. Tom liked adulation. He would have enjoyed that genuine emotion.

It’s The Emmys

It’s been a few years since I entered the Emmys. It’s a very weird competition. It’s totally arbitrary. Winning is totally without rhyme or reason. Judges get few guidelines.

Helaine thinks the whole process is ridiculous. She very well may be right.

One year I won. The next year I wasn’t nominated. Honest. Go figure.

I am lucky enough to have seven sitting in a case in my family room. From a practical standpoint, seven is the same as ten or three.

Actually, seven is better than ten. Having ten would make it look too easy.

All of this is the setup for what will transpire Sunday.

Gil Simmons, at my station, has volunteered to coordinate Emmy judging for the San Francisco/Northern California region. I volunteered the location, my house.

It looks like we’ll have six or seven of us watching the DVDs. The more the merrier. I sent a few more emails tonight, trying my best to guilt the last stragglers into coming.

For some of the younger guys&#185, this will be a revealing process. Seeing how the Emmys are judged is helpful when you’re deciding what to submit the next year.

It will be interesting to see how they treat the weather in an area where weather usually isn’t as important. It will also be interesting to ‘take notes’ on how their weather equipment is being used. We mostly use the same, or similar, tools. Sometimes you catch a glimpse of a technique or twist you hadn’t thought of.

Last time I was a judge there were moments when I wondered, “What were they thinking when they sent in this tape?” Hopefully, that won’t be the case again.

&#185 – It has been pointed out, all the weather people in this market are men… white men. That’s becoming more and more unusual.

Seeing One’s Self On TV

I have worked with people who rushed to the VCR as soon as the “On Air” light went off, looking at every appearance on every show. There was probably a time when I did that. I don’t do it much anymore.

I still see an aircheck from time-to-time. I looked at my work when I sent my AMS submission to be judged (early November, still no word) and when I’ve entered the Emmys (not this year or last).

When I was thinking (in a misguided moment) ABC might consider me to replace Tony Perkins on GMA, I looked through tapes, squirreling away what I thought was my best stuff.

Mostly, when I see myself on-the-air, it’s the way I saw myself a few minutes ago – in short snippets, on the topical promos that run during Boston Legal – a show I watch on the DVR.

I’ll be sitting on the sofa, in pajamas, zipping through the show and… oh, there’s Geoff. Reverse. Play. Gaze.

It’s painful. It’s difficult. Four seconds of shear hell.

People come up all the time and tell me they remember me from 10 or 20 years ago. Me too. And, I don’t look like that anymore.

It’s nice when people say, “You haven’t changed.” I have.

I stare at the screen, looking at my own eyes behind the glasses I now wear. In a youth oriented world, I don’t see a kid. It’s depressing.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t feel like an old guy. I’m very lucky to have all my hair, and still with it’s natural color&#185. I just don’t look like I did.

I think I do a good job (Please – no qualitative judgments. This is not a compliment fishing expedition). I am not just going through the motions. I genuinely enjoy what I do, and am very lucky to be at a place where they (more often than not) let me do what I want.

I just wish I was still looking at the young Geoff.

It is difficult to look at yourself on TV. You see every physical fault.

In that way, this is a cruel business.

&#185 – My hairdresser says people still ask if I color my hair. I haven’t gotten one of those emails in a while.

Quick Emmy Observation

I was sitting for a while, watching the Emmys. This show, unfortunately, has less of an appeal to me than it once did. It could be because of how diffuse TV has become.

With 100+ channels, how can any one show be known by all, or even most?

When David Letterman came on to introduce the Johnny Carson retrospective, Helaine turned to ask how Jay Leno must have felt? Good question.

OK, it’s possible to justify this by saying the Emmys are on CBS. Still, it always seems Jay succeeded Johnny but has never really been his successor. Do you know what I’m getting at?

Toward the end of the Tonight Show clips, the famous scene with George Gobel, Bob Hope, Dean Martin and an ascot wearing Johnny Carson came on. It’s the one where Gobel says he feels like life is a tuxedo and he’s a pair of brown shoes.

Whether ad lib or scripted, it’s one of the all time classic talk show lines.

I wondered aloud, how many of those watching knew who these three guys were. Helaine said a lot of them don’t even know who Johnny was.

Not only that, when was the last time a talk show had two “A” list and one “B” list guests out at once (sorry George)? I’ll bet none of them was plugging anything. This was in an era of career enhancement, not product placement.

The class comedian moment of the night was when Jon Stewart’s show won and he came up, saying Letterman was his Carson. Now Jay has a reason to feel bad.

Blogger’s note: A friend, who was actually at the ceremony, told me he watched Jay Leno get up and leave as soon as his category’s winner was announced.

It’s Emmy Time

You’ve probably seen the Emmy’s on TV. All of Hollywood’s glitteratti, decked to the nines, attempting to be humble or gracious (depending on whether you’re a winner or loser) in front of a worldwide audience.

As much as I’d like to go man-to-man in competition with Tony Perkins or Al Roker , I’m not eligible. NATAS, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences nicely compartmentalizes the Emmys with national awards (day, night and technical) and local ones. Here in Connecticut I belong to, and participate with, the Boston/New England Chapter.

Obviously, the statue I go after doesn’t have the same cachet as the one that goes to a David Letterman or Camryn Manheim. It’s smaller, lighter and has a rectangular base as opposed to the circular one on the national award. Still, it’s a great honor to receive one… and I have been lucky enough to get seven, all of which sit in a cabinet in our family room.

If you belong to NATAS, you get a chance to enter the Emmys and an obligation to judge them. I have taken my turn a few times, looking at tapes from broadcasters in other parts of the country. This year I held a judging session in my home, looking at weather tapes from the Midwest.

It takes skill to be nominated and luck to win. It’s a trite phrase but it’s true.

Judging usually takes place over pizza, maybe some beer, and lots of shop talk. You try to be a good and fair judge, but it’s tough. Does tape 8 get the same shot as tape 1? How long do you let a tape that has no chance play? My fear is that some winners are arbitrary winners. That’s not because of a bias but because of human nature.

This year, while I judged, I noticed a ‘syndrome’ among the entrants. They often confused a ‘good’ weather situation with a good weather presentation. In fact, talented broadcasters should be able to get by with a tape from a day with nothing doing… though none ever have the guts to send that. I certainly don’t.

Helaine and I used to go to the Emmy awards religiously. Unfortunately, it tends to be very Boston-centric and the weather category is at the very end. So recently, we haven’t gone. And, over the past few years I haven’t always submitted a tape.

Part of that is because of the ceremony, but it’s probably more because of my scatterbrained, non-organized personality. In order to enter, you have to save some of your work… and I hardly ever do. Then, you have to meet the deadline. Hello! Deadlines are my enemy. I’m terrible when it comes to getting myself motivated and started.

Still, this year I wanted to try. We have two new guys in the weather department, both with a real chance of winning. I’d kick myself if everyone entered but me.

So, last night I pulled together a few airchecks. This morning, I digitized them on the computer in my office and edited together a 7:30 presentation. It’s now on a DVD, but tomorrow it will be dubbed onto a VHS tape and FedEx-ed to Boston – just in time for Friday’s deadline.

Since I have this website at my disposal, I thought I’d throw a copy here too. If you have a Real player and DSL or cable modem, click here and take a look. If you’re on dial-up, don’t even bother – it won’t work.

Later, I’ll let you know if I’m nominated. No promises. There’s more competition than ever before.