Richard Leibner, the prominent talent agent who transformed the TV news business by guiding the careers of such renowned broadcast journalists as Dan Rather, Diane Sawyer, Mike Wallace, Andy Rooney and Norah O’Donnell, has died. He was 85.
Leibner died Tuesday at his home in New York, UTA vice chairman Jay Sures announced. The agent started out in the 1960s at New York-based N.S. Bienstock, which was acquired in 2014 by UTA.
Leibner also signed and represented the likes of Morley Safer, Ed Bradley, Bob Simon, Steve Kroft, Bill Whitaker, Chuck Scarborough, Paula Zahn, Brian Stelter, Daniel Schorr and Fareed Zakaria before he retired in December 2021 after 58 years in the business.
“Decades ago, he made it his personal mission to see that big name news stars should be treated and compensated like traditional movie and television stars,” Sures told staffers in a memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
Born in Brooklyn,...
Leibner died Tuesday at his home in New York, UTA vice chairman Jay Sures announced. The agent started out in the 1960s at New York-based N.S. Bienstock, which was acquired in 2014 by UTA.
Leibner also signed and represented the likes of Morley Safer, Ed Bradley, Bob Simon, Steve Kroft, Bill Whitaker, Chuck Scarborough, Paula Zahn, Brian Stelter, Daniel Schorr and Fareed Zakaria before he retired in December 2021 after 58 years in the business.
“Decades ago, he made it his personal mission to see that big name news stars should be treated and compensated like traditional movie and television stars,” Sures told staffers in a memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
Born in Brooklyn,...
- 4/9/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Richard Leibner, a celebrated talent agent who represented some of the best-known anchors in TV news, first at a firm he helped build and then for UTA, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 85 years old.
In his time, Leibner served as an agent and adviser to Dan Rather, Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, Morley Safer, Bob Simon, Steve Kroft, Bill Whitaker, Diane Sawyer, Chuck Scarborough, Paula Zahn, Brian Stelter and Fareed Zakaria, among others. He was a passionate advocate for clients, and was never been shy about delivering his opinion of the latest goings-on in the ever-churning news sector.
Leibner firmly believed that top news anchors should be treated akin to Hollywood royalty. “Decades ago, he made it his personal mission to see that big name news stars should be treated and compensated like traditional movie and television stars,” said Jay Sures, UTA’s vice-chairman, in a memo to staffers Tuesday.
In his time, Leibner served as an agent and adviser to Dan Rather, Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, Morley Safer, Bob Simon, Steve Kroft, Bill Whitaker, Diane Sawyer, Chuck Scarborough, Paula Zahn, Brian Stelter and Fareed Zakaria, among others. He was a passionate advocate for clients, and was never been shy about delivering his opinion of the latest goings-on in the ever-churning news sector.
Leibner firmly believed that top news anchors should be treated akin to Hollywood royalty. “Decades ago, he made it his personal mission to see that big name news stars should be treated and compensated like traditional movie and television stars,” said Jay Sures, UTA’s vice-chairman, in a memo to staffers Tuesday.
- 4/9/2024
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Turner Classic Movies, the leading authority and definitive home of classic film, will celebrate its 30th anniversary on April 14, 2024. To honor the milestone, TCM will present on-air programming salutes featuring TCM staff who were there from the very beginning, as well as a 24-hour marathon of films with historical introductions from TCM’s first host and champion, Robert Osborne.
“How many other channels on television celebrate their anniversary? How many other channels’ fans know where they were the day a network launched?” says TCM Primetime Host Ben Mankiewicz. “I’m not sure either of those things are true without Robert Osborne. He’s the Walter Cronkite of TCM. The Johnny Carson. The Alex Trebek. With these intros of Robert’s, we’re celebrating his impact and his continued influence. Plus, as we do with the movies we show, we’ll put Robert into context. Additionally, we’ll also look back...
“How many other channels on television celebrate their anniversary? How many other channels’ fans know where they were the day a network launched?” says TCM Primetime Host Ben Mankiewicz. “I’m not sure either of those things are true without Robert Osborne. He’s the Walter Cronkite of TCM. The Johnny Carson. The Alex Trebek. With these intros of Robert’s, we’re celebrating his impact and his continued influence. Plus, as we do with the movies we show, we’ll put Robert into context. Additionally, we’ll also look back...
- 3/14/2024
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Turner Classic Movies will turn 30 on April 14, 2024. That’s right: It’ll be 30 years since Ted Turner flipped the switch — flanked by Old Hollywood legends Arthur Hiller, Arlene Dahl, Jane Powell, Celeste Holm, and Van Johnson — right in the middle of Times Square to turn the network “on.”
Also with Turner that day was the man who’d become TCM’s longtime host, Robert Osborne, then just 61. A veteran columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, Osborne had become known as a close friend to many of the surviving stars of yesteryear ever since he was photographed kissing Bette Davis’s hand during a Golden Globes broadcast in the late ’70s. He’d go on to host the intros and outros for most of TCM’s primetime lineup for close to 23 years after that launch date, until he died in March 2017 at 84.
For so many TCM fans, Robert Osborne was the network.
Also with Turner that day was the man who’d become TCM’s longtime host, Robert Osborne, then just 61. A veteran columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, Osborne had become known as a close friend to many of the surviving stars of yesteryear ever since he was photographed kissing Bette Davis’s hand during a Golden Globes broadcast in the late ’70s. He’d go on to host the intros and outros for most of TCM’s primetime lineup for close to 23 years after that launch date, until he died in March 2017 at 84.
For so many TCM fans, Robert Osborne was the network.
- 3/14/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, TCM on April 14 will present a 24-hour marathon of films with historical introductions from Robert Osborne and throughout the month feature programming with other staffers who started with the channel, it was announced Thursday.
For more than 22 years until his death in March 2017, the revered Osborne served as TCM’s primetime host, bringing millions of viewers into the world of classic cinema he knew as an actor mentored by Lucille Ball, as an Oscar historian and as a longtime The Hollywood Reporter reviewer and columnist.
“How many other channels on television celebrate their anniversary? How many other channels’ fans know where they were the day a network launched?” Ben Mankiewicz, who took over for Osborne, said in a statement. “I’m not sure either of those things are true without Robert Osborne.
“He’s the Walter Cronkite of TCM. The Johnny Carson. The Alex Trebek.
For more than 22 years until his death in March 2017, the revered Osborne served as TCM’s primetime host, bringing millions of viewers into the world of classic cinema he knew as an actor mentored by Lucille Ball, as an Oscar historian and as a longtime The Hollywood Reporter reviewer and columnist.
“How many other channels on television celebrate their anniversary? How many other channels’ fans know where they were the day a network launched?” Ben Mankiewicz, who took over for Osborne, said in a statement. “I’m not sure either of those things are true without Robert Osborne.
“He’s the Walter Cronkite of TCM. The Johnny Carson. The Alex Trebek.
- 3/14/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chicago – At 12:30pm Central Time on November 22nd, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin’s bullet. The shots that echoed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, has resonated now for 60 years, but beyond the actual event there was a treasure trove of TV and radio coverage that was recorded.
David Von Pein (Dvp) has collected this coverage and it can be found on his comprehensive YouTube channel. Click JFK Channel to start browsing. November 2023 Update: Since our 2021 interview, Dvp has uncovered some 11/23 & 11/24/63 radio coverage from (click link) Fort Wayne, Indiana and 11/22/63 TV coverage from ITV United Kingdom.
Walter Cronkite Delivers the ‘News’ on November 22nd, 1963
Photo credit: CBS-tv
Not only has David Von Pein found high quality as-it-happened video from the three major networks at the time – CBS-tv, NBC-tv and ABC-tv – but the channel also contains the local Dallas coverage (TV and radio) and a collection...
David Von Pein (Dvp) has collected this coverage and it can be found on his comprehensive YouTube channel. Click JFK Channel to start browsing. November 2023 Update: Since our 2021 interview, Dvp has uncovered some 11/23 & 11/24/63 radio coverage from (click link) Fort Wayne, Indiana and 11/22/63 TV coverage from ITV United Kingdom.
Walter Cronkite Delivers the ‘News’ on November 22nd, 1963
Photo credit: CBS-tv
Not only has David Von Pein found high quality as-it-happened video from the three major networks at the time – CBS-tv, NBC-tv and ABC-tv – but the channel also contains the local Dallas coverage (TV and radio) and a collection...
- 11/21/2023
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD is set to receive the TV Academy’s 2023 Governors Award, which will be presented during the Primetime Emmys telecast on Jan. 15.
President and CEO of GLAAD Sarah Kate Ellis will accept the award on behalf of the organization.
GLAAD is being recognized for its “work over nearly four decades to secure fair, accurate and diverse representation of the LGBTQ community in the media and entertainment industries and to advocate for LGBTQ equality,” according to the TV Academy.
“Television shapes our society and influences dialogue that increases understanding and acceptance, making GLAAD’s work so important to the LGBTQ community to legislative bodies and to the public,” TV Academy chairman Frank Scherma said in a statement. “Through its education and advocacy programs, it has had a culture-changing impact.”
Each year, the TV Academy’s Board of Governors chooses “an individual, company or organization that has made a profound,...
President and CEO of GLAAD Sarah Kate Ellis will accept the award on behalf of the organization.
GLAAD is being recognized for its “work over nearly four decades to secure fair, accurate and diverse representation of the LGBTQ community in the media and entertainment industries and to advocate for LGBTQ equality,” according to the TV Academy.
“Television shapes our society and influences dialogue that increases understanding and acceptance, making GLAAD’s work so important to the LGBTQ community to legislative bodies and to the public,” TV Academy chairman Frank Scherma said in a statement. “Through its education and advocacy programs, it has had a culture-changing impact.”
Each year, the TV Academy’s Board of Governors chooses “an individual, company or organization that has made a profound,...
- 11/15/2023
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
GLAAD — the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer media advocacy organization — has been named the recipient of the Television Academy’s 2023 Governors Award. The honor will be presented during the 75th Annual Primetime Emmys telecast, set to be broadcast live on Fox (after a lengthy Hollywood strikes delay) on January 15.
According to the TV Academy, the org was recognized for its “work over nearly four decades to secure fair, accurate and diverse representation of the LGBTQ community in the media and entertainment industries and to advocate for LGBTQ equality.” Sarah Kate Ellis, who serves as president and CEO of GLAAD, will accept the award on the organization’s behalf at the ceremony.
“Television shapes our society and influences dialogue that increases understanding and acceptance, making GLAAD’s work so important to the LGBTQ community to legislative bodies and to the public,” said TV Academy chairman Frank Scherma.
According to the TV Academy, the org was recognized for its “work over nearly four decades to secure fair, accurate and diverse representation of the LGBTQ community in the media and entertainment industries and to advocate for LGBTQ equality.” Sarah Kate Ellis, who serves as president and CEO of GLAAD, will accept the award on the organization’s behalf at the ceremony.
“Television shapes our society and influences dialogue that increases understanding and acceptance, making GLAAD’s work so important to the LGBTQ community to legislative bodies and to the public,” said TV Academy chairman Frank Scherma.
- 11/15/2023
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
In many ways, John F. Kennedy was the first made-for-tv president. His youthful charisma during the first televised presidential debates in 1960 against a less polished Richard Nixon is considered a turning point in that historic and generation-defining election. When glamorous first lady Jackie Kennedy conducted a televised tour of the White House (another first) in 1962, it was a worldwide sensation, propelling the Camelot couple to the status of American royalty. Which is why, 60 years after his shocking assassination in Dallas on the afternoon of Friday, November 22, 1963—one of the first “You remember where you were” moments in the still-young medium of TV—JFK’s death continues to resonate, as do the images from the four days of national mourning that followed. From the moment CBS anchor Walter Cronkite interrupted an episode of daytime soap As the World Turns to announce the shooting, the grieving nation was transfixed, using the TV...
- 11/4/2023
- TV Insider
The Beatles played a killer set of songs during their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Some of those songs are still famous and some are not. George Harrison discussed the band’s mindset leading up to their set.
The Beatles played a show tune on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’
According to Kiro 7, The Beatles made their first Ed Sullivan Show appearance on February 9, 1964. The Fab Four started their set with their classic love song “All My Loving.” While The Beatles played the tune during this seminal moment in their careers, the tune is mostly forgotten in the United States and rarely receives play on rock radio.
Then, the band performed a show tune called “Till There Was You.” For context, musical theater had a much bigger influence on popular music during the early 1960s than it does now. The first half of the band’s set closed with “She Loves You,...
The Beatles played a show tune on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’
According to Kiro 7, The Beatles made their first Ed Sullivan Show appearance on February 9, 1964. The Fab Four started their set with their classic love song “All My Loving.” While The Beatles played the tune during this seminal moment in their careers, the tune is mostly forgotten in the United States and rarely receives play on rock radio.
Then, the band performed a show tune called “Till There Was You.” For context, musical theater had a much bigger influence on popular music during the early 1960s than it does now. The first half of the band’s set closed with “She Loves You,...
- 10/10/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Sean Penn knows what you think of him.
Several minutes into the two-time Oscar winner’s new film, Superpower, ostensibly a documentary about the battle-hardened president of Ukraine, Penn’s gravelly voice answers a question posed in interviews past: Who do you think you are, Walter Cronkite? You have a savior complex?
“I’ve been lucky enough to be able to travel,” Penn answers in a voiceover, “and, weathered though it is, my famous face gets me access to places and people I may otherwise not have known. And sometimes...
Several minutes into the two-time Oscar winner’s new film, Superpower, ostensibly a documentary about the battle-hardened president of Ukraine, Penn’s gravelly voice answers a question posed in interviews past: Who do you think you are, Walter Cronkite? You have a savior complex?
“I’ve been lucky enough to be able to travel,” Penn answers in a voiceover, “and, weathered though it is, my famous face gets me access to places and people I may otherwise not have known. And sometimes...
- 9/23/2023
- by Miriam Elder
- Rollingstone.com
It seemed like he'd be with us forever, but the iconic game show presented and primetime TV mainstay Bob Barker has died at the age of 99. Barker was best known as the long-running host of "The Price is Right" revival, which premiered on CBS in 1972. Barker told contestants to "Come on down!" and ushered them through the fabulous Showcase Showdown innumerable times during his tenure as host through 2007. But even before those three-plus decades of television excellence, Barker had already hosted the popular game show "Truth or Consequences" for 21 years, between 1956 and 1975.
Barker is perhaps the most prolific game show presenter in American broadcast history, but his eminence extended beyond daytime TV. His trademark combination of unflappable reliability, chivalrous old-school charm, and slight underbelly of mischievous caddishness lent itself to a remarkable ability to send up his own persona in cameo roles in films and scripted television series. Barker appeared...
Barker is perhaps the most prolific game show presenter in American broadcast history, but his eminence extended beyond daytime TV. His trademark combination of unflappable reliability, chivalrous old-school charm, and slight underbelly of mischievous caddishness lent itself to a remarkable ability to send up his own persona in cameo roles in films and scripted television series. Barker appeared...
- 8/26/2023
- by Ryan Coleman
- Slash Film
The SAG-AFTRA strike will affect tens of thousands in the industry, but one part of the union’s membership will not be part of the walkout: news and broadcast members.
There has been a bit of confusion over just who will be impacted, but news industry agents have been sending out SAG-AFTRA fact sheets on the impact to journalist clients, who may be questioning what happens to them when the strike begins on Friday.
The short answer: SAG-AFTRA news and broadcast members will not be on strike, as member reporters, anchors. hosts and producers work under individual station or network contracts, not the TV and theatrical agreement. For those broadcast and news members, the terms and conditions of their employment remain the same and are not affected, according to SAG-AFTRA. “Scripted dramatic live action entertainment production that is covered by the SAG/AFTRA TV/Theatrical Contracts would be considered struck...
There has been a bit of confusion over just who will be impacted, but news industry agents have been sending out SAG-AFTRA fact sheets on the impact to journalist clients, who may be questioning what happens to them when the strike begins on Friday.
The short answer: SAG-AFTRA news and broadcast members will not be on strike, as member reporters, anchors. hosts and producers work under individual station or network contracts, not the TV and theatrical agreement. For those broadcast and news members, the terms and conditions of their employment remain the same and are not affected, according to SAG-AFTRA. “Scripted dramatic live action entertainment production that is covered by the SAG/AFTRA TV/Theatrical Contracts would be considered struck...
- 7/13/2023
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
The winners of this year’s recipients of the Walter Cronkite Awards had a common theme: Combating misinformation.
So when award sponsor USC Annenberg’s Norman Lear Center held a National Press Club luncheon for the honorees last week, there was a bit of reminder of the stakes: During the ceremony news unfolded of the unsealing of former President Donald Trump’s federal indictment.
Many of the winners reported on Trump and his false claims of a stolen 2020 election, something that he has repeated during his current election campaign. He’s also called the indictment itself the “boxes hoax.”
Martin Kaplan, director of The Norman Lear Center, said, “Disinformation is an apt focus in particular for the Cronkite award, not only because it feels like disinformation is everywhere all at once, but because the namesake of this award is Walter Cronkite” who was known as “the most trusted man in America.
So when award sponsor USC Annenberg’s Norman Lear Center held a National Press Club luncheon for the honorees last week, there was a bit of reminder of the stakes: During the ceremony news unfolded of the unsealing of former President Donald Trump’s federal indictment.
Many of the winners reported on Trump and his false claims of a stolen 2020 election, something that he has repeated during his current election campaign. He’s also called the indictment itself the “boxes hoax.”
Martin Kaplan, director of The Norman Lear Center, said, “Disinformation is an apt focus in particular for the Cronkite award, not only because it feels like disinformation is everywhere all at once, but because the namesake of this award is Walter Cronkite” who was known as “the most trusted man in America.
- 6/12/2023
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
In the ever-evolving youth-culture carnival that was MTV in the late Eighties and Nineties, MTV News anchor Kurt Loder was the one constant, as well as the network’s only indicator that being a grown-up might actually be cool. With MTV News officially ending its 36-year run last week, Loder — also a longtime Rolling Stone writer — looks back on covering Kurt Cobain’s death, interviewing Prince, Madonna, and Axl Rose, and much more.
(The full conversation, including Loder’s thoughts on his Rolling Stone work, along with interviews with John Norris and Tabitha Soren,...
(The full conversation, including Loder’s thoughts on his Rolling Stone work, along with interviews with John Norris and Tabitha Soren,...
- 5/16/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
The following article contains spoilers for season 4, episode 8 of "Succession."
Atn has always been one of the jewels in the Waystar Royco crown, but we haven't spent much time getting to see how it operates on a day-to-day basis. Sure, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) has been the head of Atn for quite a while, but other than potentially being a fall guy for the Roys, the role didn't seem to give Tom much to do. That all changed in "America Decides," in which the election storyline that's been building slowly over the series finally comes to its potentially disastrous conclusion. It's the night of the election and there are three candidates: Democrat and front-runner Daniel Jiménez (Elliot Villar), far-right Republican Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk), and Independent idiot Connor Roy (Alan Ruck).
Atn stands for American Television Network, and it's the "Succession" world's version of CNN or, more aptly, Fox News,...
Atn has always been one of the jewels in the Waystar Royco crown, but we haven't spent much time getting to see how it operates on a day-to-day basis. Sure, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) has been the head of Atn for quite a while, but other than potentially being a fall guy for the Roys, the role didn't seem to give Tom much to do. That all changed in "America Decides," in which the election storyline that's been building slowly over the series finally comes to its potentially disastrous conclusion. It's the night of the election and there are three candidates: Democrat and front-runner Daniel Jiménez (Elliot Villar), far-right Republican Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk), and Independent idiot Connor Roy (Alan Ruck).
Atn stands for American Television Network, and it's the "Succession" world's version of CNN or, more aptly, Fox News,...
- 5/15/2023
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
Former ABC News/Disney exec Marie Nelson has been named president of Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.
Starting June 1, Nelson will oversee North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market, as well as the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Toronto. “For me, having the chance to link arms with Hot Docs was an unequivocal swipe right. From my first trip to Toronto for the festival and its legendary pitch forum, it was love at first sight,” Nelson said in a statement on Monday.
Nelson has completed many executive stints at American networks, including Wgbh in Boston, National Public Radio and Viacom/BET Networks.
“Marie is a dynamic leader with a proven track record of supporting filmmakers, growing and diversifying audiences and lifting powerful and yet often unheard voices into national discussion, which makes her ideally suited to lead Hot Docs into its next chapter,” Lalita Krishna, co-chair...
Starting June 1, Nelson will oversee North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market, as well as the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Toronto. “For me, having the chance to link arms with Hot Docs was an unequivocal swipe right. From my first trip to Toronto for the festival and its legendary pitch forum, it was love at first sight,” Nelson said in a statement on Monday.
Nelson has completed many executive stints at American networks, including Wgbh in Boston, National Public Radio and Viacom/BET Networks.
“Marie is a dynamic leader with a proven track record of supporting filmmakers, growing and diversifying audiences and lifting powerful and yet often unheard voices into national discussion, which makes her ideally suited to lead Hot Docs into its next chapter,” Lalita Krishna, co-chair...
- 5/1/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Beginning this Sunday on MGM+, director Jack Riccobono will take horror-loving fans on a journey into the origins of The Amityville Horror.
The four-episode docuseries studies how the film captured the zeitgeist of the era as interest in the paranormal increased and how the real-life crime that occurred in the house fed into the lore.
Through never-before-seen interviews with people with first-hand relationships to the murders and the film, Riccobono offers viewers a stunning inside look at how the film impacted us for generations to come.
We had a chance to talk with Riccobono about the series, what inspired him to take the journey, and what surprised him most about what he learned along the way.
Please enjoy the interview below, which has been edited for clarity and content.
What got you interested in documentary filmmaking?
I'm trying to understand other people's worlds. So I think I was drawn to...
The four-episode docuseries studies how the film captured the zeitgeist of the era as interest in the paranormal increased and how the real-life crime that occurred in the house fed into the lore.
Through never-before-seen interviews with people with first-hand relationships to the murders and the film, Riccobono offers viewers a stunning inside look at how the film impacted us for generations to come.
We had a chance to talk with Riccobono about the series, what inspired him to take the journey, and what surprised him most about what he learned along the way.
Please enjoy the interview below, which has been edited for clarity and content.
What got you interested in documentary filmmaking?
I'm trying to understand other people's worlds. So I think I was drawn to...
- 4/22/2023
- by Carissa Pavlica
- TVfanatic
Jackie Gleason never won an Emmy. Neither did Ed Sullivan. Or Andy Griffith. Or Fred Rogers. Or “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry. Or “Rocky & Bullwinkle” genius Jay Ward. Bob Newhart’s sole Emmy win was as a guest actor on “The Big Bang Theory” in 2013.
Yes, the 74 years of Emmy history are chock full of surprises spanning both winners and non-winners. That extends to the Emmy’s Governors Award as well. The TV academy describes that Governors Award – bestowed generally but not always annually since 1978 – as follows: “The Board of Governors of the Television Academy may, when warranted, recognize an individual, company or organization that has made a profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution to the arts and/or science of television by presenting them with the Governors Award.”
SEE2023 Emmy Predictions: Gold Derby Predicts the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards
The first Governors Award in ’78 went to CBS founder William Paley.
Yes, the 74 years of Emmy history are chock full of surprises spanning both winners and non-winners. That extends to the Emmy’s Governors Award as well. The TV academy describes that Governors Award – bestowed generally but not always annually since 1978 – as follows: “The Board of Governors of the Television Academy may, when warranted, recognize an individual, company or organization that has made a profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution to the arts and/or science of television by presenting them with the Governors Award.”
SEE2023 Emmy Predictions: Gold Derby Predicts the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards
The first Governors Award in ’78 went to CBS founder William Paley.
- 3/31/2023
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
Kiefer Sutherland returns to TV on Sunday with his new Paramount+ series Rabbit Hole — the actor’s latest thriller following Fox’s iconic 24 and his ABC/Netflix series Designated Survivor. The 56-year-old Sutherland delivers his trademark mix of charm, intensity and desert-dry humor as he plays John Weir, a morally shady corporate spy who finds himself framed for murder by conspiratorial forces. The show tackles the rather timely theme of misinformation and campaigns of organized public deception
Yet for all the intimidating hardness of his characters, Sutherland came across exceedingly pleasant in real life. When our original audio interview file for this story was lost in a recorder meltdown (every reporter’s nightmare), Sutherland gamely offered to chat for this story a second time, and couldn’t have been nicer about it (at the end of our do-over, the actor joked, “I hope to talk to you again, brother, but just about something else!
Yet for all the intimidating hardness of his characters, Sutherland came across exceedingly pleasant in real life. When our original audio interview file for this story was lost in a recorder meltdown (every reporter’s nightmare), Sutherland gamely offered to chat for this story a second time, and couldn’t have been nicer about it (at the end of our do-over, the actor joked, “I hope to talk to you again, brother, but just about something else!
- 3/24/2023
- by James Hibberd
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“If I may quote God on Judgment Day, I’d like to start with Fox News Channel, the network that answers the question, ‘What was on TV when Grandpa died?'”
Indeed, John Oliver took one of his least favorite networks to task — again — Sunday night during the latest episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight. Specifically, he brought up more revelations from Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News related to the 2020 election fraud claims. It’s a topic he also addressed last month during his show’s 10th-season premiere.
Dominion, which sells electronic voting hardware and software, is suing Fox News and parent company Fox Corporation, claiming some of the network’s employees deliberately hyped up false claims of election fraud against Dominion, suggesting that its machines had changed votes from Trump to Biden in the 2020 election, and that Fox News allowed guests to make false...
Indeed, John Oliver took one of his least favorite networks to task — again — Sunday night during the latest episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight. Specifically, he brought up more revelations from Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News related to the 2020 election fraud claims. It’s a topic he also addressed last month during his show’s 10th-season premiere.
Dominion, which sells electronic voting hardware and software, is suing Fox News and parent company Fox Corporation, claiming some of the network’s employees deliberately hyped up false claims of election fraud against Dominion, suggesting that its machines had changed votes from Trump to Biden in the 2020 election, and that Fox News allowed guests to make false...
- 3/13/2023
- by Kimberly Nordyke
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gayle King, co-host of “CBS Mornings” and editor-at-large of Oprah Daily, received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism from Arizona State University on Tuesday at a ceremony in Phoenix.
Since 1984, the honor has been reserved for accomplished journalists who have demonstrated exemplary leadership skills. The award is named after the late Walter Cronkite, who anchored CBS Evening News for nearly two decades. Previous recipients include Al Roker, Anderson Cooper, Bob Woodward and more.
“Gayle King’s career and accomplishments are remarkable, and her professionalism embodies everything that Walter Cronkite valued in journalism,” said Battinto L. Batts Jr, dean of Asu’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “Her approach to covering important events and interviewing politicians, leaders and celebrities is unparalleled. It’s an honor to present Gayle with this prestigious award.”
The three-time Emmy winner’s work has led her to cover pivotal moments in national history,...
Since 1984, the honor has been reserved for accomplished journalists who have demonstrated exemplary leadership skills. The award is named after the late Walter Cronkite, who anchored CBS Evening News for nearly two decades. Previous recipients include Al Roker, Anderson Cooper, Bob Woodward and more.
“Gayle King’s career and accomplishments are remarkable, and her professionalism embodies everything that Walter Cronkite valued in journalism,” said Battinto L. Batts Jr, dean of Asu’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “Her approach to covering important events and interviewing politicians, leaders and celebrities is unparalleled. It’s an honor to present Gayle with this prestigious award.”
The three-time Emmy winner’s work has led her to cover pivotal moments in national history,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Katie Reul and Julia MacCary
- Variety Film + TV
The death of Charles Kimbrough, known for his role as Jim Brown on the hit sitcom Murphy Brown, was confirmed by his son Jim Kimbrough. He was 86 years old.
Kimbrough his breakout role as Harry in Stephen Sondheim‘s Company, a role that won him a Tony Award nomination in 1971. He appeared in another Sondheim production, Sunday in the Park with George, five years later.
In Memoriam 2022: 100 Great Celebrities Who Died In 2022
The famous stage actor has also appeared beside Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker in Sylvia in 1995 and also acted in Leonard Bernstein‘s Candide, followed by The Merchant of Venice and Accent of Youth. His most recent work was in 2012 opposite Jim Parsons in Harvey.
He went on to land the role of Jim Brown on Murphy Brown, a CBS hit series that ran for 10 seasons and ended in 1998. Kimbrough revisited his beloved character...
Kimbrough his breakout role as Harry in Stephen Sondheim‘s Company, a role that won him a Tony Award nomination in 1971. He appeared in another Sondheim production, Sunday in the Park with George, five years later.
In Memoriam 2022: 100 Great Celebrities Who Died In 2022
The famous stage actor has also appeared beside Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker in Sylvia in 1995 and also acted in Leonard Bernstein‘s Candide, followed by The Merchant of Venice and Accent of Youth. His most recent work was in 2012 opposite Jim Parsons in Harvey.
He went on to land the role of Jim Brown on Murphy Brown, a CBS hit series that ran for 10 seasons and ended in 1998. Kimbrough revisited his beloved character...
- 2/15/2023
- by Isabeau Newman
- Uinterview
Charles Kimbrough, the Emmy-nominated actor best known for his splendid decade-long portrayal of staid network anchor Jim Dial on Murphy Brown, has died. He was 86.
Kimbrough died Jan. 11 in Culver City, his son, John Kimbrough, told The New York Times.
A veteran of the stage, Kimbrough received a Tony Award nomination in 1971 for best featured actor in a musical for playing Harry in the original production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company. He then appeared as two characters in another acclaimed Sondheim musical, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park With George, which debuted in 1984.
Kimbrough also starred in 1995 in the original off-Broadway production of the A.R. Gurney comedy Sylvia opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and appeared on the Great White Way in Candide, Same Time, Next Year, Accent on Youth, Hay Fever, The Merchant of Venice and, most recently, with Jim Parsons in a 2012 revival of Harvey.
The Minnesota native also...
Kimbrough died Jan. 11 in Culver City, his son, John Kimbrough, told The New York Times.
A veteran of the stage, Kimbrough received a Tony Award nomination in 1971 for best featured actor in a musical for playing Harry in the original production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company. He then appeared as two characters in another acclaimed Sondheim musical, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park With George, which debuted in 1984.
Kimbrough also starred in 1995 in the original off-Broadway production of the A.R. Gurney comedy Sylvia opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and appeared on the Great White Way in Candide, Same Time, Next Year, Accent on Youth, Hay Fever, The Merchant of Venice and, most recently, with Jim Parsons in a 2012 revival of Harvey.
The Minnesota native also...
- 2/5/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cecilia Vega, who has been with ABC News for more than a decade, will jump to a new correspondent role on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” leaving behind an influential role covering the White House for the Disney-backed news operation.
Her move marks a rare effort to expand the hub of on-air personnel devoted to “60 Minutes.” In the recent past, executive producer Bill Owens has worked to augment his staff, elevating correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Jon Wertheim to full-time status and trying to develop a team devoted to a separate streaming effort tied to the show, an initiative that was ultimately scrapped. Pluto, the ad-supported streaming site operated by parent company Paramount Global, does feature a channel that features curated and archival material from the long-running program.
In an interview, Owens said he has been impressed by Vega’s range of reportorial experience as well as her time spent in print journalism.
Her move marks a rare effort to expand the hub of on-air personnel devoted to “60 Minutes.” In the recent past, executive producer Bill Owens has worked to augment his staff, elevating correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Jon Wertheim to full-time status and trying to develop a team devoted to a separate streaming effort tied to the show, an initiative that was ultimately scrapped. Pluto, the ad-supported streaming site operated by parent company Paramount Global, does feature a channel that features curated and archival material from the long-running program.
In an interview, Owens said he has been impressed by Vega’s range of reportorial experience as well as her time spent in print journalism.
- 1/19/2023
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Bernard Kalb, a veteran television journalist that worked at CBS and NBC News, has died. He was 100.
News of Kalb’s death was confirmed by The Washington Post which reported that he died on January 8 at his home in North Bethesda, Maryland following “complications from a fall.”
Kalb was born in New York City on February 4, 1922. His career in journalism started at The New York Times at the end of World War II and after serving in the Army. Kalb would later become a TV correspondent for CBS and NBC covering foreign affairs and based internationally.
In 1984, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs during the Ronald Regan presidency. He would later quit due to the “disinformation campaign” during the Reagan presidency against Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.
Kalb would join CNN’s Reliable Sources in 1993 as the host of the talk show and would remain there until...
News of Kalb’s death was confirmed by The Washington Post which reported that he died on January 8 at his home in North Bethesda, Maryland following “complications from a fall.”
Kalb was born in New York City on February 4, 1922. His career in journalism started at The New York Times at the end of World War II and after serving in the Army. Kalb would later become a TV correspondent for CBS and NBC covering foreign affairs and based internationally.
In 1984, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs during the Ronald Regan presidency. He would later quit due to the “disinformation campaign” during the Reagan presidency against Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.
Kalb would join CNN’s Reliable Sources in 1993 as the host of the talk show and would remain there until...
- 1/9/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
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Nearly 15 years since first hitting shelves, Barbara Walters’ hit memoir is once again topping bestseller lists following the beloved journalist’s death last week. In the 2008 book, titled “The Audition: A Memoir,” Walters, who was 79 years old at the time she wrote it, recounts some of the most formative years of her life. She starts off with stories from growing up in Miami Beach, including personal details about a slew of friendships and relationships before, of course, delving into her extraordinary career that saw her become the first female host of “Today” and then the first female co-anchor of the evening news in 1976.
“Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: ‘I want to be you,’ Walters wrote in the prologue. “My stock reply is always: ‘Then...
Nearly 15 years since first hitting shelves, Barbara Walters’ hit memoir is once again topping bestseller lists following the beloved journalist’s death last week. In the 2008 book, titled “The Audition: A Memoir,” Walters, who was 79 years old at the time she wrote it, recounts some of the most formative years of her life. She starts off with stories from growing up in Miami Beach, including personal details about a slew of friendships and relationships before, of course, delving into her extraordinary career that saw her become the first female host of “Today” and then the first female co-anchor of the evening news in 1976.
“Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: ‘I want to be you,’ Walters wrote in the prologue. “My stock reply is always: ‘Then...
- 1/3/2023
- by Anna Tingley
- Variety Film + TV
Barbara Walters, the Emmy-winning TV personality and a trailblazer in a male-dominated broadcast journalism, has died. She was 93.
“Barbara Walters, who shattered the glass ceiling and became a dominant force in an industry once dominated by men, has died,” ABC News tweeted Friday night.
Related Story Barbara Walters Remembered: 'The View’ Co-Hosts, Oprah Winfrey & Others Pay Tribute To Late News Anchor Related Story Barbara Walters To Be Remembered In Two ABC News Specials Related Story Barbara Walters "Was A True Legend, A Pioneer," Bob Iger Says After Broadcast Icon's Death
Walters was the first woman to co-host a major network morning show, NBC’s Today, and later to co-anchor an evening newscast, albeit in an ill-fitting and ill-conceived attempt to pair her with Harry Reasoner on ABC in the mid-1970s.
Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths 2022: A Photo Gallery
But that setback was just a prelude to a career as...
“Barbara Walters, who shattered the glass ceiling and became a dominant force in an industry once dominated by men, has died,” ABC News tweeted Friday night.
Related Story Barbara Walters Remembered: 'The View’ Co-Hosts, Oprah Winfrey & Others Pay Tribute To Late News Anchor Related Story Barbara Walters To Be Remembered In Two ABC News Specials Related Story Barbara Walters "Was A True Legend, A Pioneer," Bob Iger Says After Broadcast Icon's Death
Walters was the first woman to co-host a major network morning show, NBC’s Today, and later to co-anchor an evening newscast, albeit in an ill-fitting and ill-conceived attempt to pair her with Harry Reasoner on ABC in the mid-1970s.
Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths 2022: A Photo Gallery
But that setback was just a prelude to a career as...
- 12/31/2022
- by Ted Johnson and Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Barbara Walters, the glass-ceiling-shattering newswoman whose intimate television interviews with celebrities and world figures blended show business and journalism and induced many a tear, has died. She was 93.
Walters, the first female co-host of the Today show, the first evening news anchorwoman in broadcast history and a co-creator and co-host of The View, died Friday evening at her home in New York, ABC News announced.
Walters revealed in May 2013 that she would retire from journalism upon the conclusion of The View season in 2014. “I thought it was better to go when people are saying, ‘Why is she leaving?’ than, ‘Thank goodness she’s leaving!’” she said.
Yet Walters soldiered on with exclusive interviews, like one with Peter Rodger, the father of Elliot Rodger, the Uc Santa Barbara student who killed seven people in May 2014.
Walters also was known for co-hosting the ABC news...
Barbara Walters, the glass-ceiling-shattering newswoman whose intimate television interviews with celebrities and world figures blended show business and journalism and induced many a tear, has died. She was 93.
Walters, the first female co-host of the Today show, the first evening news anchorwoman in broadcast history and a co-creator and co-host of The View, died Friday evening at her home in New York, ABC News announced.
Walters revealed in May 2013 that she would retire from journalism upon the conclusion of The View season in 2014. “I thought it was better to go when people are saying, ‘Why is she leaving?’ than, ‘Thank goodness she’s leaving!’” she said.
Yet Walters soldiered on with exclusive interviews, like one with Peter Rodger, the father of Elliot Rodger, the Uc Santa Barbara student who killed seven people in May 2014.
Walters also was known for co-hosting the ABC news...
- 12/31/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Jon Wilkman, a documentarian who received two Emmy nominations for writing and producing Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood, an acclaimed seven-hour miniseries for TCM in 2010, has died. He was 80.
Wilkman died Nov. 30 of kidney cancer at his Beachwood Canyon home in Los Angeles, a family spokesperson announced.
A founding member and three-term president of the International Documentary Association, Wilkman also wrote and produced a Jane Pauley-hosted 1991 NBC special that celebrated the 100th episode of L.A. Law and Chicano Rock! The Sounds of East Los Angeles, a 2008 documentary narrated by Edward James Olmos.
Moguls & Movie Stars, narrated by Christopher Plummer, examined the industry from the invention of film to the birth of the New Hollywood movement in the early 1970s.
Born in Los Angeles, Wilkman, the son of an architect, graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1964.
He began his career...
Jon Wilkman, a documentarian who received two Emmy nominations for writing and producing Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood, an acclaimed seven-hour miniseries for TCM in 2010, has died. He was 80.
Wilkman died Nov. 30 of kidney cancer at his Beachwood Canyon home in Los Angeles, a family spokesperson announced.
A founding member and three-term president of the International Documentary Association, Wilkman also wrote and produced a Jane Pauley-hosted 1991 NBC special that celebrated the 100th episode of L.A. Law and Chicano Rock! The Sounds of East Los Angeles, a 2008 documentary narrated by Edward James Olmos.
Moguls & Movie Stars, narrated by Christopher Plummer, examined the industry from the invention of film to the birth of the New Hollywood movement in the early 1970s.
Born in Los Angeles, Wilkman, the son of an architect, graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1964.
He began his career...
- 12/8/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Anchors and TV-news producers have long looked to Nielsen ratings to measure the success of their programs. What if another yardstick became available?
NewsGuard, a company that got its start examining the veracity of news content on digital sites and the ways in which it is produced, is making a move to gauge the quality of TV news programing as well. After licensing its reports exclusively to Interpublic Group’s Magna, a large ad-buying firm, for 2022, the company now is in talks with other big Madison Avenue media agencies and advertisers about using its services to determine how accurate and informative big news programs ranging from “CBS Evening News” to “Morning Joe” really are. NewsGuard’s brand safety ratings for 140 cable, streaming, and network television shows and networks will be available to advertising agencies, marketers, and others starting January 2, 2023.
The news genre “has gotten complicated in a way that it...
NewsGuard, a company that got its start examining the veracity of news content on digital sites and the ways in which it is produced, is making a move to gauge the quality of TV news programing as well. After licensing its reports exclusively to Interpublic Group’s Magna, a large ad-buying firm, for 2022, the company now is in talks with other big Madison Avenue media agencies and advertisers about using its services to determine how accurate and informative big news programs ranging from “CBS Evening News” to “Morning Joe” really are. NewsGuard’s brand safety ratings for 140 cable, streaming, and network television shows and networks will be available to advertising agencies, marketers, and others starting January 2, 2023.
The news genre “has gotten complicated in a way that it...
- 12/1/2022
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
One of the most talked-about unmade superhero movies of all time is Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 4." Raimi planned to reunite with Tobey Maguire for one last ride to see Peter Parker off in style following the disappointment that was 2007's "Spider-Man 3." Unfortunately, disagreements with Sony ultimately led Raimi to depart the project, paving the way for "The Amazing Spider-Man" reboot starring Andrew Garfield soon after. But what exactly did we miss out on? We have gained a tiny bit of insight into what could have been.
I recently spoke with storyboard artist Jeff Henderson, who worked on "Spider-Man 4" before it was scrapped. During our conversation, he revealed that yes, Vulture would have been part of the film, as has been revealed in the past. But he admits there was never a definitive version of the story, as things were constantly evolving in the development stage. One version,...
I recently spoke with storyboard artist Jeff Henderson, who worked on "Spider-Man 4" before it was scrapped. During our conversation, he revealed that yes, Vulture would have been part of the film, as has been revealed in the past. But he admits there was never a definitive version of the story, as things were constantly evolving in the development stage. One version,...
- 11/28/2022
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Carly Simon is in mourning after both of her sisters — the Broadway composer, Lucy Simon, and former opera singer, Joanna Simon — died this week just one day apart of each other.
According to multiple reports, the “You’re So Vain” singer’s two sisters — whose father, Richard Simon, was the publishing magnate and co-founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster — died from cancer. Joanna died Wednesday from thyroid cancer and Lucy on Thursday following a long battle with breast cancer. Joanna was 85 and Lucy 82, respectively. It’s been reported that Joanna died in a Manhattan hospital while Lucy died at her home in Piedmont, New York.
Lucy and Carly got their start in music as the folk singing duo The Simon Sisters. They would go on to release the song “Wynken, Blynken & Nod,” which charted at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. Carly’s career would eventually take off, and she...
According to multiple reports, the “You’re So Vain” singer’s two sisters — whose father, Richard Simon, was the publishing magnate and co-founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster — died from cancer. Joanna died Wednesday from thyroid cancer and Lucy on Thursday following a long battle with breast cancer. Joanna was 85 and Lucy 82, respectively. It’s been reported that Joanna died in a Manhattan hospital while Lucy died at her home in Piedmont, New York.
Lucy and Carly got their start in music as the folk singing duo The Simon Sisters. They would go on to release the song “Wynken, Blynken & Nod,” which charted at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. Carly’s career would eventually take off, and she...
- 10/22/2022
- by Sarah Curran
- ET Canada
In a very sad development, Carly Simon lost both of her sisters this week, with Broadway composer Lucy Simon dying of breast cancer Thursday and former opera singer Joanna Simon passing from thyroid cancer on Wednesday.
Both deaths were confirmed by a source close to pop superstar Carly. Lucy Simon was 82, Joanna Simon was 84.
Born into wealth and a rarified atmosphere of celebrity and literati to Simon & Schuster publisher Richard Simon and wife Andrea, the Simon sisters – their brother Peter was the youngest sibling – would all find their ways to success in professional music careers.
Lucy entered show business in the early 1960s when she and Carly formed the folk singing duo The Simon Sisters, performing in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and New York City’s Greenwich Village. In 1964, the sisters recorded and released the song “Wynken, Blynken & Nod” to moderate success.
Within 10 years Carly Simon would become one of pop music...
Both deaths were confirmed by a source close to pop superstar Carly. Lucy Simon was 82, Joanna Simon was 84.
Born into wealth and a rarified atmosphere of celebrity and literati to Simon & Schuster publisher Richard Simon and wife Andrea, the Simon sisters – their brother Peter was the youngest sibling – would all find their ways to success in professional music careers.
Lucy entered show business in the early 1960s when she and Carly formed the folk singing duo The Simon Sisters, performing in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and New York City’s Greenwich Village. In 1964, the sisters recorded and released the song “Wynken, Blynken & Nod” to moderate success.
Within 10 years Carly Simon would become one of pop music...
- 10/21/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
CBS News’ latest election-night coverage feature won’t be as colorful or dynamic as one of the popular electronic boards that have propelled the careers of people like MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki or CNN’s John King. But it may be exponentially more essential.
CBS will introduce a new “Democracy Desk” to its coverage of the 2022 midterm elections. Norah O’Donnell, Gayle King, John Dickerson and others may narrate the proceedings on the evening of November 8, but three correspondents will be on standby to call attention to hiccups in voting procedures; how candidates who have denied the results of the 2020 presidential election are faring in their races; and whether law-enforcement authorities are seeing any threats to poll workers.
“I don’t think we are going to shy away from leaning into this early in the evening, and I think we will check in all night,” says David Reiter, executive producer of special events for CBS News,...
CBS will introduce a new “Democracy Desk” to its coverage of the 2022 midterm elections. Norah O’Donnell, Gayle King, John Dickerson and others may narrate the proceedings on the evening of November 8, but three correspondents will be on standby to call attention to hiccups in voting procedures; how candidates who have denied the results of the 2020 presidential election are faring in their races; and whether law-enforcement authorities are seeing any threats to poll workers.
“I don’t think we are going to shy away from leaning into this early in the evening, and I think we will check in all night,” says David Reiter, executive producer of special events for CBS News,...
- 10/20/2022
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Chris Wallace, the CNN Anchor and host of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? on HBO Max, had a startling confession during his segment on Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher.
During a conversation between Maher and Wallace lamenting today’s conservative/liberal polarization of the news, Wallace traced the problem back to the golden days of three major channels and the world tuning in at 6:30 Pm to hear about the world from Walter Cronkite or Huntley-Brinkley.
Those programs drew audiences of as much as 29 million, but they weren’t profit centers. But the men who ran the networks at the time saw news as a public service, and if it didn’t lose an enormous amount of money, they were fine with that.
But when Chris Wallace’s father, Mike Wallace, and his 60 Minutes team started in 1968, things shifted. That show began making money, “and suddenly, the executives in television said,...
During a conversation between Maher and Wallace lamenting today’s conservative/liberal polarization of the news, Wallace traced the problem back to the golden days of three major channels and the world tuning in at 6:30 Pm to hear about the world from Walter Cronkite or Huntley-Brinkley.
Those programs drew audiences of as much as 29 million, but they weren’t profit centers. But the men who ran the networks at the time saw news as a public service, and if it didn’t lose an enormous amount of money, they were fine with that.
But when Chris Wallace’s father, Mike Wallace, and his 60 Minutes team started in 1968, things shifted. That show began making money, “and suddenly, the executives in television said,...
- 10/8/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
News junkies this week are agitated over the disappearance of CNN’s Reliable Sources, but cable news network chiefs have a deeper concern: the disappearance of reliable anchors.
Ratings of news shows continue to plunge as programmers struggle to figure out what sort of host (and ideology) would appeal to their once formidable audiences. Power players like John Malone have proposed that viewers might welcome a return to centrist personalities rather than shrill advocates like Sean Hannity.
Skeptics counter that there is no “middle” in America anymore: Witness the list of missing hosts like Brian Williams, Chris Wallace or Chris Cuomo. Or Brian Stelter, the abrupt, speed-talking host of Reliable Sources, who tried to find fragments of truth amid the rhetorical debris.
Centrist personalities like Michael Bloomberg increasingly find themselves drawn into firestorms like Florida’s “Stop Woke Act”; witness his fiery attack of Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Wall Street Journal‘s op-ed pages.
Ratings of news shows continue to plunge as programmers struggle to figure out what sort of host (and ideology) would appeal to their once formidable audiences. Power players like John Malone have proposed that viewers might welcome a return to centrist personalities rather than shrill advocates like Sean Hannity.
Skeptics counter that there is no “middle” in America anymore: Witness the list of missing hosts like Brian Williams, Chris Wallace or Chris Cuomo. Or Brian Stelter, the abrupt, speed-talking host of Reliable Sources, who tried to find fragments of truth amid the rhetorical debris.
Centrist personalities like Michael Bloomberg increasingly find themselves drawn into firestorms like Florida’s “Stop Woke Act”; witness his fiery attack of Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Wall Street Journal‘s op-ed pages.
- 8/25/2022
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
At the start of “Alex’s War,” a documentary about Alex Jones, we see the infamous talk-news conspiracist guru of InfoWars described by various media outlets as “a performance artist,” a purveyor of “paranoia porn,” and — in the words of John Oliver — “the Walter Cronkite of shrieking bat-shit guerrilla clowns.” All of which, of course, is accurate. Yet none of it fully captures what an important figure Alex Jones has become, even as he’s been systematically deplatformed.
A couple of decades ago, when he was on the rise as the ranting scourge of “globalism” and other evils, most of us dismissed Alex Jones as an outlier and a self-promoting blowhard who was ultimately a trivial voice shouting from the wilderness of his extreme beliefs. There was no denying that he had the charisma of a right-wing fire-breather like Michael Savage. But the defining quality of Alex Jones was a willingness — more than that,...
A couple of decades ago, when he was on the rise as the ranting scourge of “globalism” and other evils, most of us dismissed Alex Jones as an outlier and a self-promoting blowhard who was ultimately a trivial voice shouting from the wilderness of his extreme beliefs. There was no denying that he had the charisma of a right-wing fire-breather like Michael Savage. But the defining quality of Alex Jones was a willingness — more than that,...
- 7/30/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
The 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in is today, the “third rate burglary” that ultimately brought down a presidency, and all this week Washington, D.C. has been in a bit of nostalgic mode.
At the DC/Dox Festival, producer Debra McClutchy and director Anne Alvergue screened their new Netflix documentary The Martha Mitchell Effect, focusing on the life of the celebrity Nixon-era figure whose importance in blowing the whistle on the scandal has only recently gotten its due. At the National Portrait Gallery, there’s an exhibition of key portraiture and illustration from the scandal.
But it’s nearly impossible to flashback without comparing the scandal to what’s going on now, via the January 6th Committee hearings, and what may be ahead, as a conservative judge warned on Thursday of the ongoing “clear and present danger” to democracy.
On Friday, The Washington Post gathered Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein,...
At the DC/Dox Festival, producer Debra McClutchy and director Anne Alvergue screened their new Netflix documentary The Martha Mitchell Effect, focusing on the life of the celebrity Nixon-era figure whose importance in blowing the whistle on the scandal has only recently gotten its due. At the National Portrait Gallery, there’s an exhibition of key portraiture and illustration from the scandal.
But it’s nearly impossible to flashback without comparing the scandal to what’s going on now, via the January 6th Committee hearings, and what may be ahead, as a conservative judge warned on Thursday of the ongoing “clear and present danger” to democracy.
On Friday, The Washington Post gathered Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein,...
- 6/17/2022
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
CNN is breaking up with an old habit that has defined cable news for decades.
Erin Burnett, Jim Sciutto and Don Lemon are still talking about the latest headlines on CNN, but their new boss thinks they can do so without the visual aid of a longtime TV news crutch: a graphics block on-screen that tells viewers they are hearing about “Breaking News.”
The words appear frequently during all kinds of news broadcasts, whether they be of the cable, evening or morning variety — and even when the news is not breaking at all. Chris Licht, installed by Warner Bros. Discovery as CNN’s new chairman and CEO, thinks the chyron needs a rest.
“It has become such a fixture on every channel and network that its impact has become lost on the audience,” he told CNN staffers in a memo last week. “This is a great starting point to try...
Erin Burnett, Jim Sciutto and Don Lemon are still talking about the latest headlines on CNN, but their new boss thinks they can do so without the visual aid of a longtime TV news crutch: a graphics block on-screen that tells viewers they are hearing about “Breaking News.”
The words appear frequently during all kinds of news broadcasts, whether they be of the cable, evening or morning variety — and even when the news is not breaking at all. Chris Licht, installed by Warner Bros. Discovery as CNN’s new chairman and CEO, thinks the chyron needs a rest.
“It has become such a fixture on every channel and network that its impact has become lost on the audience,” he told CNN staffers in a memo last week. “This is a great starting point to try...
- 6/9/2022
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Stephen Colbert is very, very excited for the Jan. 6 committee hearings, which will air in primetime, beginning later this week. In fact, he’s so excited, he announced “The Late Show” will be going live each night just after they finish.
“I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait for the Jan. 6 committee’s live hearings. On Thursday. In primetime,” Colbert said as he opened his Tuesday night monologue.
“They’re destined to go down in the annals of live TV like the Watergate hearings, the moon landing and the time Walter Cronkite was swallowed by a python,” he continued, showing a photoshopped pic of the late newsman exactly as he described. “It’s going to be an historic event, which is why ‘The Late Show’ will be going live. Right here, baby. After the hearings. Thursday night. Come on. You can’t keep us down. You go live,...
“I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait for the Jan. 6 committee’s live hearings. On Thursday. In primetime,” Colbert said as he opened his Tuesday night monologue.
“They’re destined to go down in the annals of live TV like the Watergate hearings, the moon landing and the time Walter Cronkite was swallowed by a python,” he continued, showing a photoshopped pic of the late newsman exactly as he described. “It’s going to be an historic event, which is why ‘The Late Show’ will be going live. Right here, baby. After the hearings. Thursday night. Come on. You can’t keep us down. You go live,...
- 6/8/2022
- by Jolie Lash
- The Wrap
Colin Cantwell, whose design work on the Star Wars spacecraft thrilled generations of moviegoers, died Saturday at his Colorado home. He was 90 and his death was confirmed by Sierra Dall, his long-time partner
Cantwell’s film credits include special photographic effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey, technical dialogue for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and computer graphics design for WarGames. His Star Wars design and construction credis include the prototypes for the X-wing, Tie fighter, Star Destroyer, and the Death Star.
Born in San Francisco, Cantwell graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in animation. He then was personally invited by Frank Lloyd Wright to attend his School of Architecture.
Before he made his way to Hollywood, Cantwell already had an amazing career. Cantwell worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA, creating educational programs for the public to better understand space flights.
That...
Cantwell’s film credits include special photographic effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey, technical dialogue for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and computer graphics design for WarGames. His Star Wars design and construction credis include the prototypes for the X-wing, Tie fighter, Star Destroyer, and the Death Star.
Born in San Francisco, Cantwell graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in animation. He then was personally invited by Frank Lloyd Wright to attend his School of Architecture.
Before he made his way to Hollywood, Cantwell already had an amazing career. Cantwell worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA, creating educational programs for the public to better understand space flights.
That...
- 5/22/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Richard Wagner, whose three-decade career as a correspondent for CBS News included covering the war in Vietnam and numerous other conflicts around the world, has died. He was 85.
His wife, Donna Lewis-Wagner, said that he died at his home in Charlottesville, Va. No cause of death was given.
During the 1960s, 70s and 80s, Wagner appeared frequently on CBS Evening News when Walter Cronkite and then Dan Rather were in the anchor chair.
Starting at CBS News in 1964, Wagner was based for a time in Saigon, as he was among the correspondents who covered the war in Vietnam, at a time when the military had yet to establish the parameters of access to operations. Vietnam was dubbed the “living room war,” as it was a new concept for television for evening news correspondents to deliver regular first hand-accounts and images from the battlefield.
On a podcast in 2018 with other correspondents who covered the war,...
His wife, Donna Lewis-Wagner, said that he died at his home in Charlottesville, Va. No cause of death was given.
During the 1960s, 70s and 80s, Wagner appeared frequently on CBS Evening News when Walter Cronkite and then Dan Rather were in the anchor chair.
Starting at CBS News in 1964, Wagner was based for a time in Saigon, as he was among the correspondents who covered the war in Vietnam, at a time when the military had yet to establish the parameters of access to operations. Vietnam was dubbed the “living room war,” as it was a new concept for television for evening news correspondents to deliver regular first hand-accounts and images from the battlefield.
On a podcast in 2018 with other correspondents who covered the war,...
- 5/12/2022
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Among the 100 top-grossing domestic movie releases, there have been three occasions when two of those films opened on the same weekend.
“Dr. Zhivago” and “Thunderball” shared Christmas 1965; “The Exorcist” and “The Sting” were Christmas 1973. And on Memorial Day Weekend 1977 there was “Smokey and the Bandit”… and “Star Wars.”
George Lucas’ film, of course, is second only to “Gone With the Wind” in tickets sold. But “Smokey” is #79 all-time, grossing $520 million (all figures here adjusted to 2022 values).
And for that first weekend, “Smokey” was actually #1. All-time, it’s a bigger hit than any “Harry Potter” film, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “West Side Story,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” all the “Hunger Games” films, and “Rocky.”
In May 1977, I was in my second year as a film buyer for a local Chicago exhibition chain. At that point, wide releases were not the rule and while Memorial Day was a desirable date, it wasn’t considered summer.
“Dr. Zhivago” and “Thunderball” shared Christmas 1965; “The Exorcist” and “The Sting” were Christmas 1973. And on Memorial Day Weekend 1977 there was “Smokey and the Bandit”… and “Star Wars.”
George Lucas’ film, of course, is second only to “Gone With the Wind” in tickets sold. But “Smokey” is #79 all-time, grossing $520 million (all figures here adjusted to 2022 values).
And for that first weekend, “Smokey” was actually #1. All-time, it’s a bigger hit than any “Harry Potter” film, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “West Side Story,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” all the “Hunger Games” films, and “Rocky.”
In May 1977, I was in my second year as a film buyer for a local Chicago exhibition chain. At that point, wide releases were not the rule and while Memorial Day was a desirable date, it wasn’t considered summer.
- 5/4/2022
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Many of us know parts of the story of President Richard Nixon’s fall from grace, leading to his 1974 resignation. Two years before, Nixon’s paranoid streak had led to greenlighting the 1972 so-called White House Plumbers break-in at Democratic Party offices in DC’s posh Watergate Hotel, orchestrated by Attorney General John Mitchell. As a tween, I watched the political scandal unfurl on the nightly news over family dinners, with my outraged lefty father screaming at the TV and broadcaster “Uncle” Walter Cronkite while we booed Nixon alongside him. But, as I picked my way through adolescence, I didn’t know the epic details of the story “Gaslit” reveals.
Based on the first season of Leon Neyfakh’s granular “Slow Burn” podcast, with “Mr. Robot’s” Robbie Pickering as showrunner, the eight-part limited series flips the script. It puts Mitchell’s wife Martha at its center and reexamines the scandal...
Based on the first season of Leon Neyfakh’s granular “Slow Burn” podcast, with “Mr. Robot’s” Robbie Pickering as showrunner, the eight-part limited series flips the script. It puts Mitchell’s wife Martha at its center and reexamines the scandal...
- 4/23/2022
- by Thelma Adams
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Biotech entrepreneur Jonathan Lim, M.D. is moving into the realm of film production and financing with the launch of City Hill Arts.
Lim’s start-up will acquire IP, develop, package, produce and fund projects, while investing in those that meet its criteria, via exceptional writing, talent and collaborators. Executives joining him at the company include Participant Media and MGM veteran Jeff Ivers, who will serve as COO; Robin Jonas, a 10-year veteran of Miramax Films and former President of Kevin Costner’s Tig Productions, who will serve as President; Alcon Entertainment’s former head of production Steven P. Wegner, who will serve as EVP Production; and Mike Kolko, who brings broad experience in production accounting and tax incentives to his role as VP of Physical Production.
Lim says his goal with City Hill Arts is to “revitalize people, planet and perspective”—to spotlight “stories of transformation, or everyday...
Lim’s start-up will acquire IP, develop, package, produce and fund projects, while investing in those that meet its criteria, via exceptional writing, talent and collaborators. Executives joining him at the company include Participant Media and MGM veteran Jeff Ivers, who will serve as COO; Robin Jonas, a 10-year veteran of Miramax Films and former President of Kevin Costner’s Tig Productions, who will serve as President; Alcon Entertainment’s former head of production Steven P. Wegner, who will serve as EVP Production; and Mike Kolko, who brings broad experience in production accounting and tax incentives to his role as VP of Physical Production.
Lim says his goal with City Hill Arts is to “revitalize people, planet and perspective”—to spotlight “stories of transformation, or everyday...
- 4/19/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Who is the best male TV star of all time? Our photo gallery above takes on the tough task of ranking the 50 greatest actors and performers. Agree or disagree with our choices?
With over 70 years of television to consider, we had to provide ourselves with a few rules to help simplify things. One of those was that every man in our gallery must have been an ongoing leading star at some point, preferably more often than not. That’s why you will not see such classic supporting actors as Art Carney, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Peter Dinklage and more. We also do not include any news/sports anchors or journalists such as Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell since they are not performers.
In order to place them in the rankings, we were looking at a combination of quality (top rated shows with the public or critics...
With over 70 years of television to consider, we had to provide ourselves with a few rules to help simplify things. One of those was that every man in our gallery must have been an ongoing leading star at some point, preferably more often than not. That’s why you will not see such classic supporting actors as Art Carney, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Peter Dinklage and more. We also do not include any news/sports anchors or journalists such as Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell since they are not performers.
In order to place them in the rankings, we were looking at a combination of quality (top rated shows with the public or critics...
- 4/17/2022
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Wendy Rieger, longtime anchor and reporter for NBC 4 Washington, died Saturday morning after a battle with brain cancer, the news station reported. She was 65.
Last July, Rieger announced that she underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor, and was undergoing treatment after being diagnosed with Glioblastoma. Several months later, she had open-heart surgery to fix two heart conditions. She announced her retirement in December. Following news of her retirement, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared Dec. 17, 2021, Wendy Rieger Day in the District.
I’m heartbroken over the passing of one of DC’s most beloved anchors, Wendy Rieger.
Wendy delivered the news honestly — with humor, heart, & expertise and she will be missed dearly. Our hearts are with Dan, her @nbcwashington family, and the many, many people who loved Wendy. pic.twitter.com/BAWSJJK3U9
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) April 16, 2022
Rieger was an actress in her hometown of Norfolk, Va...
Last July, Rieger announced that she underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor, and was undergoing treatment after being diagnosed with Glioblastoma. Several months later, she had open-heart surgery to fix two heart conditions. She announced her retirement in December. Following news of her retirement, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared Dec. 17, 2021, Wendy Rieger Day in the District.
I’m heartbroken over the passing of one of DC’s most beloved anchors, Wendy Rieger.
Wendy delivered the news honestly — with humor, heart, & expertise and she will be missed dearly. Our hearts are with Dan, her @nbcwashington family, and the many, many people who loved Wendy. pic.twitter.com/BAWSJJK3U9
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) April 16, 2022
Rieger was an actress in her hometown of Norfolk, Va...
- 4/16/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded the Television Academy Foundation a 350,000 grant for the preservation of its online archives documenting the history of television.
Founded in 1997, the archive now known as The Interviews: An Oral History of Television is among the world’s largest online archives of its kind and includes thousands of hours of interviews with more than 900 legends.
The grant is funded in part by the Neh’s “A More Perfect Union” initiative, which is designed to honor the role of the humanities in U.S. history and invest in the preservation of projects like The Interviews. Out of 205 eligible applicants, 36 were chosen.
“We are deeply honored by this Neh recognition and grateful for this very special grant,” said Television Academy Foundation chair Cris Abrego. “As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of this unique collection, we are committed to further represent all of the diverse talent...
Founded in 1997, the archive now known as The Interviews: An Oral History of Television is among the world’s largest online archives of its kind and includes thousands of hours of interviews with more than 900 legends.
The grant is funded in part by the Neh’s “A More Perfect Union” initiative, which is designed to honor the role of the humanities in U.S. history and invest in the preservation of projects like The Interviews. Out of 205 eligible applicants, 36 were chosen.
“We are deeply honored by this Neh recognition and grateful for this very special grant,” said Television Academy Foundation chair Cris Abrego. “As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of this unique collection, we are committed to further represent all of the diverse talent...
- 4/14/2022
- by Sasha Urban
- Variety Film + TV
Who is the best male TV star of all time? Our photo gallery above takes on the tough task of ranking the 50 greatest actors and performers. Agree or disagree with our choices?
With over 70 years of television to consider, we had to provide ourselves with a few rules to help simplify things. One of those was that every man in our gallery must have been an ongoing leading star at some point, preferably more often than not. That’s why you will not see such classic supporting actors as Art Carney, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Peter Dinklage and more. We also do not include any news/sports anchors or journalists such as Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell since they are not performers.
In order to place them in the rankings, we were looking at a combination of quality (top rated shows with the public or critics...
With over 70 years of television to consider, we had to provide ourselves with a few rules to help simplify things. One of those was that every man in our gallery must have been an ongoing leading star at some point, preferably more often than not. That’s why you will not see such classic supporting actors as Art Carney, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Peter Dinklage and more. We also do not include any news/sports anchors or journalists such as Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell since they are not performers.
In order to place them in the rankings, we were looking at a combination of quality (top rated shows with the public or critics...
- 4/14/2022
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
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