Chris Stirewalt, the garrulous political analyst, is best known, perhaps, for his tenure at Fox News Channel. He’s ready to make a name for himself in a new venue.
Stirewalt famously spent time on screen defending Fox News early — and eerily accurate — projection during the 2020 presidential election that then-President Donald Trump would lose in Arizona, a key state. By the time President Biden was ready to take his oath of office, Stirewalt had exited the Fox Corp. news unit after a decade-long run, fully prepared to put his TV news career in the rearview mirror.
On Sunday, he will have to look in the cameras once again.
Stirewalt is set to anchor “The Hill Sunday,” a bid by upstart cable-news player NewsNation to insert itself into the Sunday-news field typically dominated by decades-old programs with strong video imprimaturs. The anchor believes viewers still yearn for something that tones...
Stirewalt famously spent time on screen defending Fox News early — and eerily accurate — projection during the 2020 presidential election that then-President Donald Trump would lose in Arizona, a key state. By the time President Biden was ready to take his oath of office, Stirewalt had exited the Fox Corp. news unit after a decade-long run, fully prepared to put his TV news career in the rearview mirror.
On Sunday, he will have to look in the cameras once again.
Stirewalt is set to anchor “The Hill Sunday,” a bid by upstart cable-news player NewsNation to insert itself into the Sunday-news field typically dominated by decades-old programs with strong video imprimaturs. The anchor believes viewers still yearn for something that tones...
- 2/28/2024
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Kate Bolduan’s next shift on CNN hasn’t started quite yet, but she’s acting as if it has. A group of cameras is flocking around the news anchor in a New York studio that has recently been updated, and she presses producers to let her rehearse a story she needs to have mastered by the time she gets on air. “We don’t want to get this half right,” she tells those listening to her.
Neither does the news network.
Bolduan and five of her on-air colleagues, along with dozens of crew members and producers working in New York, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, are taking part in a major TV-news experiment that is going to play out each weekday for the foreseeable future at CNN. The question the Warner Bros. Discovery network is trying to solve: How to keep viewers watching TV news when they have video...
Neither does the news network.
Bolduan and five of her on-air colleagues, along with dozens of crew members and producers working in New York, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, are taking part in a major TV-news experiment that is going to play out each weekday for the foreseeable future at CNN. The question the Warner Bros. Discovery network is trying to solve: How to keep viewers watching TV news when they have video...
- 4/17/2023
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
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The afternoon email hit some inside CNN like a ton of bricks. The cable news channel, now under Warner Bros. Discovery (its second owner in just a few years) was going to face budget cuts and layoffs. “There is widespread concern over the global economic outlook, and we must factor that risk into our long-term planning,” CNN CEO Chris Licht wrote in a late-October memo.
At a network town hall on Nov. 15, Licht confirmed to moderator Alisyn Camerota that layoffs will hit the division in December. Those cuts are part of an industrywide pivot, as media giants prepare for a difficult winter, seeking to reduce costs however they can. And news divisions will not be spared.
At Disney, CEO Bob Chapek sent a memo to division leaders Nov. 11 outlining a hiring freeze, canceling all travel not deemed “essential” and a new “cost structure...
The afternoon email hit some inside CNN like a ton of bricks. The cable news channel, now under Warner Bros. Discovery (its second owner in just a few years) was going to face budget cuts and layoffs. “There is widespread concern over the global economic outlook, and we must factor that risk into our long-term planning,” CNN CEO Chris Licht wrote in a late-October memo.
At a network town hall on Nov. 15, Licht confirmed to moderator Alisyn Camerota that layoffs will hit the division in December. Those cuts are part of an industrywide pivot, as media giants prepare for a difficult winter, seeking to reduce costs however they can. And news divisions will not be spared.
At Disney, CEO Bob Chapek sent a memo to division leaders Nov. 11 outlining a hiring freeze, canceling all travel not deemed “essential” and a new “cost structure...
- 11/16/2022
- by Alex Weprin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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
The CNN image for the past few years has been embodied by passionate on-air personalities like Don Lemon or Brianna Keilar. These days, it might best be symbolized by beat reporters like Jamie Gangel or Kaitlan Collins.
Gone in recent weeks (for the most part) are what had become the network’s signature red-versus-blue showdowns between hot-talking contributors or segments that hinge on an anchor scolding an interviewee. This is the kind of stuff that typically gives cable-news a viral boost. In its place, CNN is trying something else: the news.
And it could guide what three people familiar with the network say will be some sort of recalibration of on-air talent that could become more apparent this fall.
“CNN seems to be moving back more toward straight news and away from some of the blatant opinion-mongering by its anchors that characterized its past few years,” says Mark Feldstein, chairman...
Gone in recent weeks (for the most part) are what had become the network’s signature red-versus-blue showdowns between hot-talking contributors or segments that hinge on an anchor scolding an interviewee. This is the kind of stuff that typically gives cable-news a viral boost. In its place, CNN is trying something else: the news.
And it could guide what three people familiar with the network say will be some sort of recalibration of on-air talent that could become more apparent this fall.
“CNN seems to be moving back more toward straight news and away from some of the blatant opinion-mongering by its anchors that characterized its past few years,” says Mark Feldstein, chairman...
- 8/3/2022
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety 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
At CNN, breaking news might be broken.
In a memo sent to staffers Thursday, the news outlet’s new chief indicated he felt the too-frequent use of “breaking news” graphics on air had rendered the technique useless, and vowed CNN would scale back use of the phrase on screen. In doing so, CNN will tamp down use of a tactic that has become all but ubiquitous in the realm of cable news.
“Something I have heard from both people inside and outside the organization is complaints we overuse the ‘Breaking News’ banner. I agree,” said Chris Licht, who was recently named chairman and CEO of CNN. “It has become such a fixture on every channel and network that its impact has become lost on the audience.”
While the new policy is likely to be tweaked, Licht said, “This is a great starting point to try and make ‘Breaking News’ mean something Big is happening!
In a memo sent to staffers Thursday, the news outlet’s new chief indicated he felt the too-frequent use of “breaking news” graphics on air had rendered the technique useless, and vowed CNN would scale back use of the phrase on screen. In doing so, CNN will tamp down use of a tactic that has become all but ubiquitous in the realm of cable news.
“Something I have heard from both people inside and outside the organization is complaints we overuse the ‘Breaking News’ banner. I agree,” said Chris Licht, who was recently named chairman and CEO of CNN. “It has become such a fixture on every channel and network that its impact has become lost on the audience.”
While the new policy is likely to be tweaked, Licht said, “This is a great starting point to try and make ‘Breaking News’ mean something Big is happening!
- 6/2/2022
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
The nation’s biggest TV-news outlets have made it increasingly easy for top officials in the White House to have a presence in your house.
If White House press secretary Jen Psaki joins MSNBC as expected, she will be the second Biden official to land at the NBCUniversal-owned network in the space of less than a year. She will join Symone Sanders, a former campaign adviser to President Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, at MSNBC, where she is taking on a weekend show that will also have a streaming presence.
Psaki declined to discuss her negotiations with MSNBC Friday during a White House press briefing, but two people familiar with the matter say she has been weighing potential roles with both CNN and MSNBC and should surface at the latter by autumn.
She isn’t alone in her interest in TV news. Mick Mulvaney, the former Trump administration aide,...
If White House press secretary Jen Psaki joins MSNBC as expected, she will be the second Biden official to land at the NBCUniversal-owned network in the space of less than a year. She will join Symone Sanders, a former campaign adviser to President Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, at MSNBC, where she is taking on a weekend show that will also have a streaming presence.
Psaki declined to discuss her negotiations with MSNBC Friday during a White House press briefing, but two people familiar with the matter say she has been weighing potential roles with both CNN and MSNBC and should surface at the latter by autumn.
She isn’t alone in her interest in TV news. Mick Mulvaney, the former Trump administration aide,...
- 4/1/2022
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Ever since Jeff Zucker seized the reins at CNN in early 2013, the cable-news network has been one of loudest voices in media circles. Now, even though Discovery didn’t push the executive out, there’s a sense the company will, after it buys CNN along with the rest of WarnerMedia, look to turn down the volume.
In the Zucker era, CNN became more swashbuckling, more colorful, and indeed, more opinionated than it ever was under the aegis of its founder Ted Turner, or his successors at the former Time Warner. CNN went from delivering headlines to being in the headlines. It’s hard to imagine previous CNN leaders like Walter Isaacson or Tom Johnson encouraging moments like the one when Don Lemon in 2018 uttered, “This is CNN Tonight. I’m Don Lemon. The president of the United States is racist.” But Zucker pushed CNN to be blunt and unstinting in...
In the Zucker era, CNN became more swashbuckling, more colorful, and indeed, more opinionated than it ever was under the aegis of its founder Ted Turner, or his successors at the former Time Warner. CNN went from delivering headlines to being in the headlines. It’s hard to imagine previous CNN leaders like Walter Isaacson or Tom Johnson encouraging moments like the one when Don Lemon in 2018 uttered, “This is CNN Tonight. I’m Don Lemon. The president of the United States is racist.” But Zucker pushed CNN to be blunt and unstinting in...
- 2/8/2022
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
The team behind the blockbuster Michael Jordan docuseries “The Last Dance” are now taking their jam to space. Netflix has picked up “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space,” from producer Connor Schell and director Jason Hehir, which will chronicle this September’s SpaceX Dragon mission Inspiration4, in which four civilians will travel into space on a three-day trip.
Unlike the recent suborbital flights led by billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, Inspiration4 will reach an altitude higher than that of the International Space Station and make history as the first all-civilian mission to orbit. “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space” will have exclusive access to the mission, and will be produced and uploaded to Netflix in five parts leading up to and following the mission. It’s the first Netflix documentary series to cover an event in near real-time.
Schell (through his Words & Pictures shingle), Hehir and their “The Last Dance” team...
Unlike the recent suborbital flights led by billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, Inspiration4 will reach an altitude higher than that of the International Space Station and make history as the first all-civilian mission to orbit. “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space” will have exclusive access to the mission, and will be produced and uploaded to Netflix in five parts leading up to and following the mission. It’s the first Netflix documentary series to cover an event in near real-time.
Schell (through his Words & Pictures shingle), Hehir and their “The Last Dance” team...
- 8/3/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has greenlighted Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, a near real-time docuseries following the September launch and mission of the first all-civilian flight crew aboard the SpaceX capsule. The docuseries hails from Time Studios, The Last Dance director Jason Hehir, Known and Connor Schell and Chernin Entertainment’s Words & Pictures. Additionally, Netflix will premiere StoryBots Space Adventure, a hybrid live-action animation special for kids and families to watch together before the mission.
The privately chartered space flight funded, led and commanded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, is also intended to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Isaacman, the 38-year-old founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, will be joined by Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude and pediatric cancer survivor; Christopher Sembroski, a former member of the U.S. Air Force who served in Iraq and now works as a Lockheed Martin engineer, and Sian Proctor,...
The privately chartered space flight funded, led and commanded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, is also intended to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Isaacman, the 38-year-old founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, will be joined by Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude and pediatric cancer survivor; Christopher Sembroski, a former member of the U.S. Air Force who served in Iraq and now works as a Lockheed Martin engineer, and Sian Proctor,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix has ordered a docuseries that will follow the Inspiration4 all-civilian mission to space this September in “near real-time” before and after the mission launch, the streaming service said Tuesday.
“This September, four civilians will launch into space for a three-day trip orbiting Earth and reaching an altitude higher than that of the International Space Station (Iss),” per Netflix’s description for the project. “The SpaceX Dragon mission, dubbed Inspiration4, is the most ambitious step to date in the rapidly-developing age of civilian space exploration, making history as the first all-civilian mission to orbit.”
“Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space,” which hails from “The Last Dance” director Jason Hehir, “will take viewers behind the scenes with the four crew members — from their unconventional selection and intensive months-long commercial astronaut training, through the intimate and emotional moments leading up to liftoff. The final episode, which premieres just days after the mission is completed,...
“This September, four civilians will launch into space for a three-day trip orbiting Earth and reaching an altitude higher than that of the International Space Station (Iss),” per Netflix’s description for the project. “The SpaceX Dragon mission, dubbed Inspiration4, is the most ambitious step to date in the rapidly-developing age of civilian space exploration, making history as the first all-civilian mission to orbit.”
“Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space,” which hails from “The Last Dance” director Jason Hehir, “will take viewers behind the scenes with the four crew members — from their unconventional selection and intensive months-long commercial astronaut training, through the intimate and emotional moments leading up to liftoff. The final episode, which premieres just days after the mission is completed,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
TV news is latching on to an old standby to help it gain attention in a new — and often less flashy — news cycle.
Coverage of the court trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with causing the death of George Floyd, will surface Monday across many mainstream TV outlets. Some of it will be gavel-to-gavel, the sort of thing that echoes the news media’s fascination with the O.J. Simpson murder trial of 1995.
Many TV-news outlets have seen key ratings tumble as the nation emerges from the coronavirus pandemic and in the wake of the end of President Donald Trump’s term in office. The looming trial could serve as new means of winning audiences. “There’s always pressure in television news to find stories that bring in ratings, but especially now because viewer numbers have dropped so much without Trump in the White House,” says Mark Feldstein,...
Coverage of the court trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with causing the death of George Floyd, will surface Monday across many mainstream TV outlets. Some of it will be gavel-to-gavel, the sort of thing that echoes the news media’s fascination with the O.J. Simpson murder trial of 1995.
Many TV-news outlets have seen key ratings tumble as the nation emerges from the coronavirus pandemic and in the wake of the end of President Donald Trump’s term in office. The looming trial could serve as new means of winning audiences. “There’s always pressure in television news to find stories that bring in ratings, but especially now because viewer numbers have dropped so much without Trump in the White House,” says Mark Feldstein,...
- 3/25/2021
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Chris Cuomo held up a giant cotton swab on TV last May and poked fun at his brother, the governor of New York, during an interview. Now journalism observers wonder if CNN must clean up a lapse in journalism ethics.
Cuomo anchors what has become CNN’s most-watched program, a 9 p.m. hour that in the not-too-distant past served as home to Larry King, the master of the genial celebrity interview. Cuomo can be amiable, too, but he is also master of a tough, on-air style that can veer from interview to interrogation, and guests on occasion can grow combative. His show, “Cuomo Prime Time,” is often viewed as a signature element of the Jeff Zucker era at CNN, during which the executive has helped foment a more lean-in attitude from a cable outlet once viewed as a vanilla dispenser of facts and stories.
At the height of coronavirus chaos,...
Cuomo anchors what has become CNN’s most-watched program, a 9 p.m. hour that in the not-too-distant past served as home to Larry King, the master of the genial celebrity interview. Cuomo can be amiable, too, but he is also master of a tough, on-air style that can veer from interview to interrogation, and guests on occasion can grow combative. His show, “Cuomo Prime Time,” is often viewed as a signature element of the Jeff Zucker era at CNN, during which the executive has helped foment a more lean-in attitude from a cable outlet once viewed as a vanilla dispenser of facts and stories.
At the height of coronavirus chaos,...
- 3/2/2021
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
If it’s good wi-fi, it’s “Meet The Press.”
Chuck Todd, who has moderated NBC News’ Sunday-morning public affairs program since the fall of 2014, and worked a weekday version of the show on MSNBC since 2015, will now expand the series to streaming video. With the maneuver, NBC News is taking a new swing at breaking down walls in the TV business that have kept the best-known news anchors from taking on more duties in the industry’s newest spaces.
Starting in September, Todd will launch a weekly political program on both live-streaming outlet NBC News Now as well as NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming-video hub, just in time to dovetail with what is likely to be rising interest in the 2020 presidential election. Todd will also start anchoring pre- and post-event programming around big political-news nights, starting with the Democratic and Republican conventions later this month, and, in coming weeks, around debates and Election Night.
Chuck Todd, who has moderated NBC News’ Sunday-morning public affairs program since the fall of 2014, and worked a weekday version of the show on MSNBC since 2015, will now expand the series to streaming video. With the maneuver, NBC News is taking a new swing at breaking down walls in the TV business that have kept the best-known news anchors from taking on more duties in the industry’s newest spaces.
Starting in September, Todd will launch a weekly political program on both live-streaming outlet NBC News Now as well as NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming-video hub, just in time to dovetail with what is likely to be rising interest in the 2020 presidential election. Todd will also start anchoring pre- and post-event programming around big political-news nights, starting with the Democratic and Republican conventions later this month, and, in coming weeks, around debates and Election Night.
- 8/3/2020
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Over the course of his presidency, President Donald Trump has hurled invective at any number of TV journalists, whether it be Don Lemon, Arthel Neville, Neil Cavuto, Nicolle Wallace, Brian Williams, Chris Cuomo, Leland Vittert, Peter Alexander, Yamiche Alcindor, Weija Jiang, Jon Karl or Paula Reid. But he seems to launch his worst material at Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
Trump’s continued efforts to stir up debunked conspiracy theories about a former staffer in Scarborough’s Florida congressional office represent just his latest attempt to smear the news hosts. In 2018, some people may recall – it’s hard to do given the sheer volume of White House name-calling – Trump prompted shock when he made remarks about Brzezinski’s appearance. “Crazy Mika” and “Psycho Joe” are phrases he has tried to make common, even though the hosts have with Willie Geist maintained one of the longest-running anchor teams on a national morning-news program?...
Trump’s continued efforts to stir up debunked conspiracy theories about a former staffer in Scarborough’s Florida congressional office represent just his latest attempt to smear the news hosts. In 2018, some people may recall – it’s hard to do given the sheer volume of White House name-calling – Trump prompted shock when he made remarks about Brzezinski’s appearance. “Crazy Mika” and “Psycho Joe” are phrases he has tried to make common, even though the hosts have with Willie Geist maintained one of the longest-running anchor teams on a national morning-news program?...
- 5/27/2020
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
The people who like to flash “breaking news” across your TV screen are also working on breaking new ground.
The swirl of the Trump White House had already set the nation’s news media at the apex of a cycle. Now, the spread of the coronavirus pandemic has been like an adrenaline shot on top of an adrenaline shot: every week, it seems, a TV-news outlet scraps an already established hour of programming to launch something entirely different.
Walt Disney’s ABC has gone so far as to cut its flagship late-night program, “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” to half an hour so viewers can get more news about the contagion earlier from “Nightline.” Thursday nights at CNN have become “town hall” nights, with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta conjuring up everyone from Dr. Anthony Fauci to Alicia Keys to discuss this new era of U.S. dystopia. NBC has devoted...
The swirl of the Trump White House had already set the nation’s news media at the apex of a cycle. Now, the spread of the coronavirus pandemic has been like an adrenaline shot on top of an adrenaline shot: every week, it seems, a TV-news outlet scraps an already established hour of programming to launch something entirely different.
Walt Disney’s ABC has gone so far as to cut its flagship late-night program, “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” to half an hour so viewers can get more news about the contagion earlier from “Nightline.” Thursday nights at CNN have become “town hall” nights, with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta conjuring up everyone from Dr. Anthony Fauci to Alicia Keys to discuss this new era of U.S. dystopia. NBC has devoted...
- 4/29/2020
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Some TV doctors seem to be ignoring the real-world Hippocratic oath.
In recent weeks, a trio of popular dispensers of lifestyle advice – Drew Pinsky, Mehmet Oz and Phil McGraw – have appeared on media outlets or via digital video downplaying the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, with remarks that undermine their credibility and urge people to take steps that could cause harm. Pinsky in sundry February and March appearances suggested to followers that the coronavirus would be “way less virulent than the flu.” Oz told viewers of Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” in a guest segment earlier this week that having children go back to school might be “appetizing” despite the fact it could potentially help spread the contagion.
Backlash to the appearances was so severe that Pinsky apologized, noting his comments were “incorrect.” Oz this week admitted that he “misspoke.”
McGraw appeared Thursday night on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle,...
In recent weeks, a trio of popular dispensers of lifestyle advice – Drew Pinsky, Mehmet Oz and Phil McGraw – have appeared on media outlets or via digital video downplaying the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, with remarks that undermine their credibility and urge people to take steps that could cause harm. Pinsky in sundry February and March appearances suggested to followers that the coronavirus would be “way less virulent than the flu.” Oz told viewers of Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” in a guest segment earlier this week that having children go back to school might be “appetizing” despite the fact it could potentially help spread the contagion.
Backlash to the appearances was so severe that Pinsky apologized, noting his comments were “incorrect.” Oz this week admitted that he “misspoke.”
McGraw appeared Thursday night on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle,...
- 4/17/2020
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Every Friday evening, Steve Hartman takes “CBS Evening News” viewers “On The Road,” in an end-of-show segment that was originally devised by the legendary Charles Kuralt that has the correspondent journey around the country. These days, Hartman can’t even get out his front door.
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic means travel is limited, even for CBS News personnel. So Hartman, who has been delivering the heartwarming vignettes about life in the United States since 2011, has had to adapt. For one of his most recent stories, about a man and a woman in New York City who went out on a date while social distancing, he relied on interviews conducted via Zoom and some video shot by the subjects of the story. “We’d normally never do that,” he says. “But desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Tens of thousands of viewers who typically would not have time to...
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic means travel is limited, even for CBS News personnel. So Hartman, who has been delivering the heartwarming vignettes about life in the United States since 2011, has had to adapt. For one of his most recent stories, about a man and a woman in New York City who went out on a date while social distancing, he relied on interviews conducted via Zoom and some video shot by the subjects of the story. “We’d normally never do that,” he says. “But desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Tens of thousands of viewers who typically would not have time to...
- 4/15/2020
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
74 journalism professors and journalists signed an open letter addressed to Fox News’ Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch on Thursday, criticizing the network they oversee for its coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
The letter stated, in part, “The Viewers of Fox News, including the president of the United States, have been regularly subjected to misinformation relayed by the network — false statements downplaying the prevalence of Covid-19 and its harms; misleading recommendations of activities that people should undertake to protect themselves and others, including casual recommendations of untested drugs; false assessments of the value of measures urged upon the public by their elected political leadership and public health authorities.”
It went on to declare Fox News’ coverage a “danger to public health,” citing various statistics. One survey cited, for instance, came from Pew Research and revealed that 79% of Fox News’ viewers felt the media was overstating the potency of Covid-19, or the coronavirus.
The letter stated, in part, “The Viewers of Fox News, including the president of the United States, have been regularly subjected to misinformation relayed by the network — false statements downplaying the prevalence of Covid-19 and its harms; misleading recommendations of activities that people should undertake to protect themselves and others, including casual recommendations of untested drugs; false assessments of the value of measures urged upon the public by their elected political leadership and public health authorities.”
It went on to declare Fox News’ coverage a “danger to public health,” citing various statistics. One survey cited, for instance, came from Pew Research and revealed that 79% of Fox News’ viewers felt the media was overstating the potency of Covid-19, or the coronavirus.
- 4/3/2020
- by Lindsey Ellefson
- The Wrap
As the company celebrates a major milestone, Variety asked Brad Roth and Mark Feldstein to pick their favorite campaigns or projects since the launch of Stun Creative 20 years ago.
“One of our career highlights was working with Larry David for a campaign around ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’,” Roth says. “We had come up with an idea that Larry loved where an interview junket with him would go off the rails. Larry at the start of the interview felt the clapboard came precariously close to his nose and he wouldn’t answer any of the interviewer’s questions. The spot was intended to blur the line between real Larry and ‘Curb’ Larry. Larry loved it so much, he asked us to take a picture with him.”
“Getting to shoot with Larry David and then spend the next day in the edit room together eating corned beef sandwiches, check that off the bucket list,...
“One of our career highlights was working with Larry David for a campaign around ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’,” Roth says. “We had come up with an idea that Larry loved where an interview junket with him would go off the rails. Larry at the start of the interview felt the clapboard came precariously close to his nose and he wouldn’t answer any of the interviewer’s questions. The spot was intended to blur the line between real Larry and ‘Curb’ Larry. Larry loved it so much, he asked us to take a picture with him.”
“Getting to shoot with Larry David and then spend the next day in the edit room together eating corned beef sandwiches, check that off the bucket list,...
- 3/27/2020
- by Thomas K. Arnold
- Variety Film + TV
You wouldn’t expect anything less: Stun Creative, one of Hollywood’s top marketing agencies and production companies, is celebrating its 20th birthday with a three-way merger that has led to the establishment of Known, a modern marketing company that says its creative work going forward will be equal parts analytics and art.
The new company was formed in February and combines Stun Creative with the data science, research and strategy of Schireson Assoc. and Blackbird. Known is headed by Kern Schireson as chairman and CEO. Schireson recently returned to the company that bore his name after five years as chief data officer at Viacom, where he was hailed for having led the transformation of advanced advertising for television.
“There’s an explosion of platforms and opportunities to reach consumers, but we also have an increasingly sophisticated population out there that expects their time and attention to be treated with respect,...
The new company was formed in February and combines Stun Creative with the data science, research and strategy of Schireson Assoc. and Blackbird. Known is headed by Kern Schireson as chairman and CEO. Schireson recently returned to the company that bore his name after five years as chief data officer at Viacom, where he was hailed for having led the transformation of advanced advertising for television.
“There’s an explosion of platforms and opportunities to reach consumers, but we also have an increasingly sophisticated population out there that expects their time and attention to be treated with respect,...
- 3/27/2020
- by Thomas K. Arnold
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Fox has put in development a single-camera workplace comedy from writer-comedian Scott Eckert, Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald and Hayden Schlossberg and their Counterbalance Entertainment, Stun and Sony Pictures TV, where Counterbalance is based.
Written by Eckert, the Untitled Scott Eckert Comedy is a workplace comedy centered around the misfit crew of a nuclear submarine.
Eckert executive produces with Brad Roth, Mark Feldstein, Jeremy Colfer for Stun (The Writers Room), and Schlossberg, Hurwitz, Heald and Dina Hillier for Counterbalance. The project is a co-production between Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment.
Eckert is a New York Television Festival Best Writing Award winner and a two-time Fox Comedy Script Contest finalist. He created the web comic Roger Christ, about Jesus’ deadbeat brother. Before moving to Los Angeles, Eckert performed improv and sketch in New York. He starred in Scott & Ellie, a two-person sketch...
Written by Eckert, the Untitled Scott Eckert Comedy is a workplace comedy centered around the misfit crew of a nuclear submarine.
Eckert executive produces with Brad Roth, Mark Feldstein, Jeremy Colfer for Stun (The Writers Room), and Schlossberg, Hurwitz, Heald and Dina Hillier for Counterbalance. The project is a co-production between Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment.
Eckert is a New York Television Festival Best Writing Award winner and a two-time Fox Comedy Script Contest finalist. He created the web comic Roger Christ, about Jesus’ deadbeat brother. Before moving to Los Angeles, Eckert performed improv and sketch in New York. He starred in Scott & Ellie, a two-person sketch...
- 11/19/2019
- by Denise Petski and Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper operate in different lanes at CNN. Cooper is the affable primetime newsman; Tapper is the Washington anchor focused on government and the White House. What circumstances might get them to join forces?
The duo held forth at 11 p.m. on CNN for a few nights last week — not the normal offering at that time — to guide viewers through all the news related to the burgeoning impeachment inquiry in the U.S. House into a whistleblower’s complaint that President Trump pressured Ukraine to interfere in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Reaction by the president was also discussed. The “special” hour “is a good wrap up,” says Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington bureau chief and a senior vice president. “It just makes sense to put it all together” at the end of particularly hectic days.
Chaotic news cycles have been the norm during the Trump...
The duo held forth at 11 p.m. on CNN for a few nights last week — not the normal offering at that time — to guide viewers through all the news related to the burgeoning impeachment inquiry in the U.S. House into a whistleblower’s complaint that President Trump pressured Ukraine to interfere in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Reaction by the president was also discussed. The “special” hour “is a good wrap up,” says Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington bureau chief and a senior vice president. “It just makes sense to put it all together” at the end of particularly hectic days.
Chaotic news cycles have been the norm during the Trump...
- 10/1/2019
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
TruTV will keep the laughs coming with orders for its first animated series and a sports-themed studio show from comics Clayton English and Noah Gardenswartz. Ahead of its first WarnerMedia upfront next week, the cable net also renewed At Home with Amy Sedaris, Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks and The Carbonaro Effect, and ordered more episodes of Adam Ruins Everything
New series This Functional Family and Game Changers (working title) will bow in 2020, with the new seasons of returning shows premiering this year or next
“With our longstanding franchises to more recent successes like Tacoma Fd, we’ve curated an original portfolio at truTV that consistently delivers on telling distinct comedic stories from amazing talent that is resonating with fans and advertisers alike,” TruTV president Chris Linn said. “As we look ahead to the 2019-20 broadcast season and WarnerMedia’s expansion into new platforms, we’re excited about our unmatched...
New series This Functional Family and Game Changers (working title) will bow in 2020, with the new seasons of returning shows premiering this year or next
“With our longstanding franchises to more recent successes like Tacoma Fd, we’ve curated an original portfolio at truTV that consistently delivers on telling distinct comedic stories from amazing talent that is resonating with fans and advertisers alike,” TruTV president Chris Linn said. “As we look ahead to the 2019-20 broadcast season and WarnerMedia’s expansion into new platforms, we’re excited about our unmatched...
- 5/9/2019
- by Erik Pedersen and Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Washington — CNN, the network whose motto is “Facts First,” gave airtime on Monday evening to the notorious conspiracy theorist, Jerome Corsi, as well as his lawyer.
The eight-minute, primetime interview on Anderson Cooper 360° — one of CNN’s most-watched programs — devolved into an argument between Cooper, Corsi and right-wing lawyer Larry Klayman over the veracity of Barack Obama’s birth certificate and whether the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee was an “inside job” by murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich. (Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence agents last year for...
The eight-minute, primetime interview on Anderson Cooper 360° — one of CNN’s most-watched programs — devolved into an argument between Cooper, Corsi and right-wing lawyer Larry Klayman over the veracity of Barack Obama’s birth certificate and whether the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee was an “inside job” by murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich. (Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence agents last year for...
- 3/5/2019
- by Andy Kroll
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Stun, the Los Angeles-based content studio and commercial production company, has launched Digital 360, a new division that will focus on cross-platform branding. It has hired industry veteran Renee Samms to head the unit, which will work with industry clients that include Fox Searchlight/Fox Home Entertainment, Warner Bros, the NFL, HBO Social, NBCU Snapchat Integrations, WarnerMusic Group, Sony Theatrical, Universal Theatrical, Dreamscape Vr and #SeeHer.
“Our goal for this year is to launch our Digital 360 division in a big way,” Stun principals and co-founders Mark Feldstein and Brad Roth said. “Our philosophy is that content alone is no longer king, but Content + Context are king. Our plan with Digital 360 is to keep scaling our Digital division, and continuing to integrate it within the full Stun suite of existing creative services providing our clients one, true, 360-degree creative marketing agency.”
Samms, a 13-year industry veteran, had been a consultant...
“Our goal for this year is to launch our Digital 360 division in a big way,” Stun principals and co-founders Mark Feldstein and Brad Roth said. “Our philosophy is that content alone is no longer king, but Content + Context are king. Our plan with Digital 360 is to keep scaling our Digital division, and continuing to integrate it within the full Stun suite of existing creative services providing our clients one, true, 360-degree creative marketing agency.”
Samms, a 13-year industry veteran, had been a consultant...
- 2/6/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Susan Zirinsky is a veteran hand at CBS News, having worked there since the days of Watergate. But the actions she takes over the next few months will have more to do with the future of one of the nation’s best-known news outlets, not its past.
CBS on Jan. 6 said Zirinsky would become president and senior executive producer of CBS News, a title that comes with challenges as well as the usual glory. She will assume duties in March, replacing David Rhodes and becoming the first woman to run the storied division. But she takes command of CBS News after more than a year’s worth of turmoil related to fallout from the departure of former anchor Charlie Rose and former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, both ousted after sexual misconduct allegations that both have denied.
During that time, some of CBS News’ top properties — “CBS This Morning,” “Face the...
CBS on Jan. 6 said Zirinsky would become president and senior executive producer of CBS News, a title that comes with challenges as well as the usual glory. She will assume duties in March, replacing David Rhodes and becoming the first woman to run the storied division. But she takes command of CBS News after more than a year’s worth of turmoil related to fallout from the departure of former anchor Charlie Rose and former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, both ousted after sexual misconduct allegations that both have denied.
During that time, some of CBS News’ top properties — “CBS This Morning,” “Face the...
- 1/9/2019
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Megyn Kelly arrived at NBC News with a vow to shed the hard-news focus and political coverage that had defined her success at Fox News.
“I’m kind of done with politics for now,” Kelly told the audience for her 9 a.m. talk show, “Megyn Kelly Today,” during her first broadcast in September 2017. Instead, she urged viewers to use her show to “get yourself through the day, to have a laugh with us, a smile, sometimes a tear — and maybe a little hope to start your day. Some fun! That’s what we want to be doing.”
In the end, her tenure at NBC News was extremely political — and anything but fun.
NBCUniversal canceled Kelly’s talk show Oct. 26, and she is likely headed toward a split with NBC less than two years after she was recruited from Fox News with a rich $17 million-a-year contract. Her downfall was hastened by...
“I’m kind of done with politics for now,” Kelly told the audience for her 9 a.m. talk show, “Megyn Kelly Today,” during her first broadcast in September 2017. Instead, she urged viewers to use her show to “get yourself through the day, to have a laugh with us, a smile, sometimes a tear — and maybe a little hope to start your day. Some fun! That’s what we want to be doing.”
In the end, her tenure at NBC News was extremely political — and anything but fun.
NBCUniversal canceled Kelly’s talk show Oct. 26, and she is likely headed toward a split with NBC less than two years after she was recruited from Fox News with a rich $17 million-a-year contract. Her downfall was hastened by...
- 10/30/2018
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
President Donald Trump may not like CNN, but a lot of officials at the White House certainly seem to be watching the network intently.
The President earlier this month disparaged the At&T-owned cable-news outlet while holding a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Teresa May. In the aftermath of that event, CNN anchor Jake Tapper revealed the White House canceled an appearance by National Security Adviser John Bolton on his Sunday public-affairs program, “State of The Union.” Just this week, the White House told a CNN reporter, Kaitlan Collins, that she would not be allowed to attend an event after she asked questions of President Trump while serving as a pool reporter for White House press.
In that vein, one could even look at a recent decision to give Jeff Glor of CBS News an interview with Trump as a shot at CNN, which now stands as the only mainstream U.
The President earlier this month disparaged the At&T-owned cable-news outlet while holding a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Teresa May. In the aftermath of that event, CNN anchor Jake Tapper revealed the White House canceled an appearance by National Security Adviser John Bolton on his Sunday public-affairs program, “State of The Union.” Just this week, the White House told a CNN reporter, Kaitlan Collins, that she would not be allowed to attend an event after she asked questions of President Trump while serving as a pool reporter for White House press.
In that vein, one could even look at a recent decision to give Jeff Glor of CBS News an interview with Trump as a shot at CNN, which now stands as the only mainstream U.
- 7/27/2018
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Jeff Glor journeyed all the way to Singapore to get closer to his audience across America.
When the anchor of “CBS Evening News” holds forth from the southeastern Asia metropolis this evening as part of the network’s coverage of a historic summit between Kim Jong-un of North Korea and President Donald Trump of the United States, he will do so with a bit of a twist. All five feeds of the venerable newscast sent across the country will include live updates, so that viewers in Denver, Seattle and Los Angeles can get the latest information on what is transpiring.
“It’s not the norm, but we don’t live in normal times,” says Mosheh Oinounou, who was named executive producer of the newscast in January. “We are in an environment where we need to be relevant to digital viewers and to viewers who have access to 24/7 cable networks. We...
When the anchor of “CBS Evening News” holds forth from the southeastern Asia metropolis this evening as part of the network’s coverage of a historic summit between Kim Jong-un of North Korea and President Donald Trump of the United States, he will do so with a bit of a twist. All five feeds of the venerable newscast sent across the country will include live updates, so that viewers in Denver, Seattle and Los Angeles can get the latest information on what is transpiring.
“It’s not the norm, but we don’t live in normal times,” says Mosheh Oinounou, who was named executive producer of the newscast in January. “We are in an environment where we need to be relevant to digital viewers and to viewers who have access to 24/7 cable networks. We...
- 6/11/2018
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Tough news for Rick Santorum, Joan Walsh, Jack Kingston and the dozens of CNN analysts and contributors who often hold forth during the network’s primetime “panel” discussions: Chris Cuomo wants little to do with you.
When Cuomo launches a new CNN show in primetime next week, he intends to rely largely on one-on-one interviews with newsmakers, and less on the large and often unruly roundtables that have become a staple on the Time Warner-owned network’s air since before the 2016 election. Doing so, he says, was one of the conditions he sought in exchange for taking the new gig.
He got it. “I don’t need to sit there and listen to all of these outsized voices with competing banter,” Cuomo says during a recent interview. “I think there’s enough of it.”
And so, CNN will make a new bid in what is perhaps cable news’ most heated fray.
When Cuomo launches a new CNN show in primetime next week, he intends to rely largely on one-on-one interviews with newsmakers, and less on the large and often unruly roundtables that have become a staple on the Time Warner-owned network’s air since before the 2016 election. Doing so, he says, was one of the conditions he sought in exchange for taking the new gig.
He got it. “I don’t need to sit there and listen to all of these outsized voices with competing banter,” Cuomo says during a recent interview. “I think there’s enough of it.”
And so, CNN will make a new bid in what is perhaps cable news’ most heated fray.
- 5/30/2018
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
TruTV has unveiled its 2018-19 programming slate ahead of the Turner upfront presentation next week, including renewals for “Adam Ruins Everything” and “Hack My Life,” and new projects from Ken Jeong and “Super Troopers” duo Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme.
The network has given a series order to “Tacoma Fd,” which will see Heffernan and Lemme reunite as firefighters who spend most of their time tackling the less glamorous elements of the job. The new show is set to premiere with 10 episodes in 2019.
Two pilots have also been picked up, a medical advice show from “Dr. Ken” alum Ken Jeong, and an animated family comedy from comedian Jo Koy.
Also Read: Doj Argues At&T Should Sell DirecTV or Turner if Time Warner Deal Goes Through
In addition to “Adam Ruins Everything” and “Hack My Life,” truTV has also picked up 12 additional episodes of the stand-up comedy show “Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks,” which will air in the fall.
See the complete list of premiere dates and full descriptions for the new shows below, all of which are in truTV’s own words.
Also Read: Time Warner Tops Q1 Earnings Forecasts Despite Rising TV Costs
New Series & Projects in Development
“Tacoma Fd” (wt) – 10 Scripted Half-Hour Episodes – Series Greenlight
On the heels of the breakout theatrical release of “Super Troopers 2,” co-creators and stars Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme will be donning new uniforms in “Tacoma Fd,” a new half-hour comedy set in a firehouse in the wettest city in America. Light on blazes that need extinguishing, they are fire fighters who are always ready to fight fires… but in this wet city, they find themselves tackling the less glamorous elements of the job. Leading the fire house crew are Chief Terry McConky (Heffernan) and Captain Eddie Penisi (Lemme). The series, which will go into production later this year and will debut in 2019, is co-created and executive produced by Heffernan and Lemme alongside David Miner and Greg Walter from 3 Arts Entertainment and Kyle Clark from Silverscreen Pictures.
“Untitled Ken Jeong Project” (wt) – New Unscripted Pilot
When it comes to medical questions, real life doctor turned comedian, Ken Jeong, is your first, second and funniest opinion. In this half-hour, comedic medical advice show, Jeong dispenses his expertise while also performing related comedy bits in front of a studio audience. Jeong and his team of correspondents tackle all aspects of health and wellness, from general medicine to that weird rash that’s starting to really burn. Created by Jeong, the series is produced by Hazy Mills Productions and Mission Control Media, with Jeong, Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, Dwight D. Smith, Michael Agbabian and Brett Carducci serving as executive producers. Jeong is represented by ICM and Carducci of Aligned Entertainment.
“This Functional Family” (wt) – New Animated Series in Development
At the center of a fractured, patched-up, multi-racial, dysfunctional family is comedian Jo Koy: a guy who just wants to be a good son, a better dad, a decent brother, and a solid ex-husband. Oh, and maybe get his career and dating life on track if his family would just leave him the hell alone. Drawing upon real-life experiences and characters featured in Koy’s popular stand-up tour, this half-hour animated scripted series asks: what if the most real family on television was also a pretty weird cartoon? Created by Koy and Kirk Rudell, “This Functional Family” (wt) will be produced by Stun with Koy, Rudell, Jeremy Colfer, Mark Feldstein, and Brad Roth serving as executive producers.
Also Read: 'Billy on the Street' to Leave TruTV
Returning Series and Premiere Dates
“The Carbonaro Effect” – 16 Episodes – Season Four Premieres May 17 at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt
Magician by trade but prankster at heart, Michael Carbonaro performs ingenious tricks on unsuspecting people, all caught on hidden camera. Whether posing as a coffee shop barista, museum curator or seemingly unremarkable store clerk, Carbonaro’s effect on people leaves fans laughing out loud with his bewildering and thrilling illusions. The series is produced by Fields Entertainment with Simon Fields and Carbonaro serving as executive producers.
“Paid Off with Michael Torpey” – 16 Episodes – Series Premieres July 10 at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt
The student loan crisis is ridiculous, so comedian Michael Torpey (“Orange is the New Black”) is solving it in the most ridiculous way possible – a comedy game show. “Paid Off with Michael Torpey” gives three lucky college grads – all saddled with student debt – the chance to test the depth of their degrees with fun, fast paced trivia questions. In the end, one lucky winner will get the chance to have their student debt paid off. The series is co-created by Torpey and Cowboy Bear Ninja, who also produces. Michael Melamedoff and Adrian Selkowitz serve as executive producers for Cowboy Bear Ninja alongside executive producers Torpey, Ethan Berlin and Leigh Hampton.
“Hack My Life” – 10 Episodes – Season Four Premieres July 10 at 10:30 p.m. Et/Pt
In “Hack My Life,” hosts Kevin Pereira and Brooke Van Poppelen provide comedic step-by-step instructions for eye-popping shortcuts and cheats guaranteed to save today’s busy adults a lot of time, effort, and money. The series is produced by Truly Original with Glenda Hersh, Steven Weinstock, Todd Hurvitz and Shari Ortner serving as executive producers.
“Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters” – 8 Episodes – Series Premieres July 11 at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt
From the Sundance award-winning writer-director, “Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters” is a genre-hopping scripted anthology comedy series. Each standalone episode delivers a satire of the world we live in and exploits the awkwardness of its flawed characters to tell socially-relevant stories with imaginative twists. Guest stars throughout the season include Michael Ian Black, Bridget Everett, Dave Foley, Seth Green, Melissa Joan Hart, David Koechner, Danny Pudi and more. The series is produced by Left/Right with Goldthwait, Banks Tarver, Ken Druckerman, Olivia Wingate and Michele Armour serving as executive producers.
“Impractical Jokers” – New Episodes Return with Season 7 Mid-Season Premiere in Summer 2018
Earlier this year, truTV announced a significant extension of its wildly-successful “Impractical Jokers” franchise with a commitment for an eighth season of the top-rated series, plus the production on the brand’s first-ever feature-length film directed by Chris Henchy and produced by Funny Or Die. One of cable’s longest-running and top-rated original comedies, “Impractical Jokers” centers on James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn, Joe Gatto and Sal Vulcano – collectively known as The Tenderloins – four lifelong friends and comedians who compete to publicly embarrass each other with a series of hilariously outrageous hidden-camera dares and punishments. “Impractical Jokers,” which is a top-5 cable comedy among adults 18-34 and 18-49, is produced by NorthSouth Productions with Charlie DeBevoise, Pete McPartland Jr., Gatto, Murray, Quinn, and Vulcano serving as executive producers. The series will premiere new episodes from its seventh season this summer, with an eighth season slated for premiere in 2019.
“Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks” – 12 Additional Episodes – Season One Continues in Fall 2018
Prolific DJ and comedian Cipha Sounds hosts “Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks,” an inventive series that flips stand-up comedy on its head and introduces viewers to the next generation of great comedians. In each half-hour episode, Cipha welcomes a rotating cast of comedians who perform hilarious stand-up routines. In a playful reinvention of the standard stand-up format, each joke is heightened with actors bringing them to life in over-the-top visual recreations. At the end of each episode, Sounds introduces the “Joke of the Night,” with one final comedian bringing down the house with the biggest laughs of the episode. The series, which premiered on truTV earlier this year, will return this fall for an additional 12 episodes of its first season. It is produced by Rotten Science with executive producers Matthew Vaughan and Eric Abrams, along with Laff Mobb Entertainment’s Bob Sumner and Arthur Spivak.
“Adam Ruins Everything” – 10 Episodes – Season Three Premieres in Fall 2018
In “Adam Ruins Everything,” creator and host Adam Conover embarks on a comically inventive and relentlessly factual quest to reveal the hidden truths about everything we know and love. Tackling a broad range of topics in the upcoming third season, Conover delivers both fun facts and compelling information, encouraging viewers to see the world in a whole new way. Created by Conover, the series is produced by Big Breakfast, an Electus company, with Conover, Sam Reich, Jon Cohen, and Jon Wolf serving as executive producers.
“I’m Sorry” – 10 Episodes – Season Two Premieres in Late 2018
Created by and starring Andrea Savage, the half-hour scripted comedy “I’m Sorry” follows seemingly confident comedy writer, wife and mom Andrea who comically exposes her inner immaturity and neuroses through unexpected life situations. Delivering consistent ratings growth, social buzz and critical praise in its premiere season, the breakthrough series – which also stars Tom Everett Scott and Olive Petrucci – was 2017’s fastest growing ad-supported cable comedy. “I’m Sorry” is executive produced by Savage, Joey Slamon, A24’sRavi Nandan, Gloria Sanchez’s Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, and Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer.
“Jon Glaser Loves Gear” – 10 Episodes – Season Two Premieres in Late 2018
Actor and comedian Jon Glaser (“Parks and Recreation”) still loves gear – and this one-sided love affair continues with the debut of the second season of this half-hour comedy. Season two picks up where season one left off, as Jon conquered his demons and unraveled the meaning of what gear truly meant to him. Thankfully there’s an endless amount of new gear out there for Jon to love, all while being supported by his real family, his fake family, his phone, and his ‘Spurt. The series is produced by Pffr with Vernon Chatman, John Lee, and Alyson Levy executive producing alongside Glaser, Dave Becky, Richard Korson and David Miner.
“Those Who Can’t” – 13 Episodes – Season Three Premieres in Late 2018
Later this year, truTV’s first scripted series “Those Who Can’t” returns for a third season that is more unhinged and hilarious than the last. Denver-based comedy troupe The Grawlix (Adam Cayton-Holland, Andrew Orvedahl and Ben Roy) return as three trouble-making teachers who, joined by librarian Maria Thayer, are more inept than the kids they teach and are out to beat the system as they struggle to survive each day on their own terms. The series is executive produced by Tracey Baird and Krysia Plonka of Thank You, Brain! Productions; Michael Rotenberg and Josh Lieberman of 3 Arts Entertainment; Richard Korson, and Andrew Weinberg, who also serves as this season’s show runner.
Read original story TruTV Renews ‘Adam Ruins Everything,’ Orders ‘Tacoma Fd’ Series From ‘Super Troopers’ Pair At TheWrap...
The network has given a series order to “Tacoma Fd,” which will see Heffernan and Lemme reunite as firefighters who spend most of their time tackling the less glamorous elements of the job. The new show is set to premiere with 10 episodes in 2019.
Two pilots have also been picked up, a medical advice show from “Dr. Ken” alum Ken Jeong, and an animated family comedy from comedian Jo Koy.
Also Read: Doj Argues At&T Should Sell DirecTV or Turner if Time Warner Deal Goes Through
In addition to “Adam Ruins Everything” and “Hack My Life,” truTV has also picked up 12 additional episodes of the stand-up comedy show “Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks,” which will air in the fall.
See the complete list of premiere dates and full descriptions for the new shows below, all of which are in truTV’s own words.
Also Read: Time Warner Tops Q1 Earnings Forecasts Despite Rising TV Costs
New Series & Projects in Development
“Tacoma Fd” (wt) – 10 Scripted Half-Hour Episodes – Series Greenlight
On the heels of the breakout theatrical release of “Super Troopers 2,” co-creators and stars Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme will be donning new uniforms in “Tacoma Fd,” a new half-hour comedy set in a firehouse in the wettest city in America. Light on blazes that need extinguishing, they are fire fighters who are always ready to fight fires… but in this wet city, they find themselves tackling the less glamorous elements of the job. Leading the fire house crew are Chief Terry McConky (Heffernan) and Captain Eddie Penisi (Lemme). The series, which will go into production later this year and will debut in 2019, is co-created and executive produced by Heffernan and Lemme alongside David Miner and Greg Walter from 3 Arts Entertainment and Kyle Clark from Silverscreen Pictures.
“Untitled Ken Jeong Project” (wt) – New Unscripted Pilot
When it comes to medical questions, real life doctor turned comedian, Ken Jeong, is your first, second and funniest opinion. In this half-hour, comedic medical advice show, Jeong dispenses his expertise while also performing related comedy bits in front of a studio audience. Jeong and his team of correspondents tackle all aspects of health and wellness, from general medicine to that weird rash that’s starting to really burn. Created by Jeong, the series is produced by Hazy Mills Productions and Mission Control Media, with Jeong, Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, Dwight D. Smith, Michael Agbabian and Brett Carducci serving as executive producers. Jeong is represented by ICM and Carducci of Aligned Entertainment.
“This Functional Family” (wt) – New Animated Series in Development
At the center of a fractured, patched-up, multi-racial, dysfunctional family is comedian Jo Koy: a guy who just wants to be a good son, a better dad, a decent brother, and a solid ex-husband. Oh, and maybe get his career and dating life on track if his family would just leave him the hell alone. Drawing upon real-life experiences and characters featured in Koy’s popular stand-up tour, this half-hour animated scripted series asks: what if the most real family on television was also a pretty weird cartoon? Created by Koy and Kirk Rudell, “This Functional Family” (wt) will be produced by Stun with Koy, Rudell, Jeremy Colfer, Mark Feldstein, and Brad Roth serving as executive producers.
Also Read: 'Billy on the Street' to Leave TruTV
Returning Series and Premiere Dates
“The Carbonaro Effect” – 16 Episodes – Season Four Premieres May 17 at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt
Magician by trade but prankster at heart, Michael Carbonaro performs ingenious tricks on unsuspecting people, all caught on hidden camera. Whether posing as a coffee shop barista, museum curator or seemingly unremarkable store clerk, Carbonaro’s effect on people leaves fans laughing out loud with his bewildering and thrilling illusions. The series is produced by Fields Entertainment with Simon Fields and Carbonaro serving as executive producers.
“Paid Off with Michael Torpey” – 16 Episodes – Series Premieres July 10 at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt
The student loan crisis is ridiculous, so comedian Michael Torpey (“Orange is the New Black”) is solving it in the most ridiculous way possible – a comedy game show. “Paid Off with Michael Torpey” gives three lucky college grads – all saddled with student debt – the chance to test the depth of their degrees with fun, fast paced trivia questions. In the end, one lucky winner will get the chance to have their student debt paid off. The series is co-created by Torpey and Cowboy Bear Ninja, who also produces. Michael Melamedoff and Adrian Selkowitz serve as executive producers for Cowboy Bear Ninja alongside executive producers Torpey, Ethan Berlin and Leigh Hampton.
“Hack My Life” – 10 Episodes – Season Four Premieres July 10 at 10:30 p.m. Et/Pt
In “Hack My Life,” hosts Kevin Pereira and Brooke Van Poppelen provide comedic step-by-step instructions for eye-popping shortcuts and cheats guaranteed to save today’s busy adults a lot of time, effort, and money. The series is produced by Truly Original with Glenda Hersh, Steven Weinstock, Todd Hurvitz and Shari Ortner serving as executive producers.
“Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters” – 8 Episodes – Series Premieres July 11 at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt
From the Sundance award-winning writer-director, “Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters” is a genre-hopping scripted anthology comedy series. Each standalone episode delivers a satire of the world we live in and exploits the awkwardness of its flawed characters to tell socially-relevant stories with imaginative twists. Guest stars throughout the season include Michael Ian Black, Bridget Everett, Dave Foley, Seth Green, Melissa Joan Hart, David Koechner, Danny Pudi and more. The series is produced by Left/Right with Goldthwait, Banks Tarver, Ken Druckerman, Olivia Wingate and Michele Armour serving as executive producers.
“Impractical Jokers” – New Episodes Return with Season 7 Mid-Season Premiere in Summer 2018
Earlier this year, truTV announced a significant extension of its wildly-successful “Impractical Jokers” franchise with a commitment for an eighth season of the top-rated series, plus the production on the brand’s first-ever feature-length film directed by Chris Henchy and produced by Funny Or Die. One of cable’s longest-running and top-rated original comedies, “Impractical Jokers” centers on James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn, Joe Gatto and Sal Vulcano – collectively known as The Tenderloins – four lifelong friends and comedians who compete to publicly embarrass each other with a series of hilariously outrageous hidden-camera dares and punishments. “Impractical Jokers,” which is a top-5 cable comedy among adults 18-34 and 18-49, is produced by NorthSouth Productions with Charlie DeBevoise, Pete McPartland Jr., Gatto, Murray, Quinn, and Vulcano serving as executive producers. The series will premiere new episodes from its seventh season this summer, with an eighth season slated for premiere in 2019.
“Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks” – 12 Additional Episodes – Season One Continues in Fall 2018
Prolific DJ and comedian Cipha Sounds hosts “Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks,” an inventive series that flips stand-up comedy on its head and introduces viewers to the next generation of great comedians. In each half-hour episode, Cipha welcomes a rotating cast of comedians who perform hilarious stand-up routines. In a playful reinvention of the standard stand-up format, each joke is heightened with actors bringing them to life in over-the-top visual recreations. At the end of each episode, Sounds introduces the “Joke of the Night,” with one final comedian bringing down the house with the biggest laughs of the episode. The series, which premiered on truTV earlier this year, will return this fall for an additional 12 episodes of its first season. It is produced by Rotten Science with executive producers Matthew Vaughan and Eric Abrams, along with Laff Mobb Entertainment’s Bob Sumner and Arthur Spivak.
“Adam Ruins Everything” – 10 Episodes – Season Three Premieres in Fall 2018
In “Adam Ruins Everything,” creator and host Adam Conover embarks on a comically inventive and relentlessly factual quest to reveal the hidden truths about everything we know and love. Tackling a broad range of topics in the upcoming third season, Conover delivers both fun facts and compelling information, encouraging viewers to see the world in a whole new way. Created by Conover, the series is produced by Big Breakfast, an Electus company, with Conover, Sam Reich, Jon Cohen, and Jon Wolf serving as executive producers.
“I’m Sorry” – 10 Episodes – Season Two Premieres in Late 2018
Created by and starring Andrea Savage, the half-hour scripted comedy “I’m Sorry” follows seemingly confident comedy writer, wife and mom Andrea who comically exposes her inner immaturity and neuroses through unexpected life situations. Delivering consistent ratings growth, social buzz and critical praise in its premiere season, the breakthrough series – which also stars Tom Everett Scott and Olive Petrucci – was 2017’s fastest growing ad-supported cable comedy. “I’m Sorry” is executive produced by Savage, Joey Slamon, A24’sRavi Nandan, Gloria Sanchez’s Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, and Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer.
“Jon Glaser Loves Gear” – 10 Episodes – Season Two Premieres in Late 2018
Actor and comedian Jon Glaser (“Parks and Recreation”) still loves gear – and this one-sided love affair continues with the debut of the second season of this half-hour comedy. Season two picks up where season one left off, as Jon conquered his demons and unraveled the meaning of what gear truly meant to him. Thankfully there’s an endless amount of new gear out there for Jon to love, all while being supported by his real family, his fake family, his phone, and his ‘Spurt. The series is produced by Pffr with Vernon Chatman, John Lee, and Alyson Levy executive producing alongside Glaser, Dave Becky, Richard Korson and David Miner.
“Those Who Can’t” – 13 Episodes – Season Three Premieres in Late 2018
Later this year, truTV’s first scripted series “Those Who Can’t” returns for a third season that is more unhinged and hilarious than the last. Denver-based comedy troupe The Grawlix (Adam Cayton-Holland, Andrew Orvedahl and Ben Roy) return as three trouble-making teachers who, joined by librarian Maria Thayer, are more inept than the kids they teach and are out to beat the system as they struggle to survive each day on their own terms. The series is executive produced by Tracey Baird and Krysia Plonka of Thank You, Brain! Productions; Michael Rotenberg and Josh Lieberman of 3 Arts Entertainment; Richard Korson, and Andrew Weinberg, who also serves as this season’s show runner.
Read original story TruTV Renews ‘Adam Ruins Everything,’ Orders ‘Tacoma Fd’ Series From ‘Super Troopers’ Pair At TheWrap...
- 5/9/2018
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
TruTV is out with its 2018-19 programming slate, highlighted by a series pickup for its Tacoma Fd pilot from two of the Broken Lizard guys, a pilot greenlights for a new comedic medical advice show from Ken Jeong and an animated project in development from stand-up comic Jo Koy. The moves were announced during the net’s upfront presentation in New York.
The scripted Tacoma Fd, created by and starring Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme, co-writers and stars of the Super Troopers movie franchise, was greenlighted to pilot on January. It’s set in a firehouse in the wettest city in America, which is light on blazes that need extinguishing. The crew always is ready to fight a fire — but in this wet city, they find themselves tackling the less glamourous elements of the job. Exec produced by Heffernan and Lemme alongside David Miner and Greg Walter and Kyle Clark,...
The scripted Tacoma Fd, created by and starring Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme, co-writers and stars of the Super Troopers movie franchise, was greenlighted to pilot on January. It’s set in a firehouse in the wettest city in America, which is light on blazes that need extinguishing. The crew always is ready to fight a fire — but in this wet city, they find themselves tackling the less glamourous elements of the job. Exec produced by Heffernan and Lemme alongside David Miner and Greg Walter and Kyle Clark,...
- 5/9/2018
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Fox News Channel executives said they would give primetime host Sean Hannity the network’s “full support” despite being blindsided by news that he may have had a business relationship with Michael Cohen, the controversial Trump Organization attorney, that he did not disclose even as he offered commentary on the network about current events involving the lawyer.
“While Fox News was unaware of Sean Hannity’s informal relationship with Michael Cohen and was surprised by the announcement in court yesterday, we have reviewed the matter and spoken to Sean and he continues to have our full support,” the 21st Century Fox-owned network said in a statement.
The ties between Hannity, the most-watched host on cable-news, and Cohen, a longtime Trump associate and lawyer, were revealed Monday in U.S. District Court in New York, where Cohen was ordered to appear after the FBI raided his office last week. Among...
“While Fox News was unaware of Sean Hannity’s informal relationship with Michael Cohen and was surprised by the announcement in court yesterday, we have reviewed the matter and spoken to Sean and he continues to have our full support,” the 21st Century Fox-owned network said in a statement.
The ties between Hannity, the most-watched host on cable-news, and Cohen, a longtime Trump associate and lawyer, were revealed Monday in U.S. District Court in New York, where Cohen was ordered to appear after the FBI raided his office last week. Among...
- 4/17/2018
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Republican presidential candidates beat up CNBC journalists like so many pinatas at Wednesday night’s debate, railing against what they called media bias and unfair questions – a technique that could succeed in intimidating moderators in future debates. “You will see pulling of punches from some reporters,” veteran investigative reporter Mark Feldstein told TheWrap on the heels of the Rnc and Gop pundit pool voicing outrage against CNBC for what they saw as biased questions. The debate was highlighted by anti-media rants from Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Chris Christie, reigniting a war against a favored opponent– the liberal media conspiracy.
- 10/29/2015
- by Jordan Chariton
- The Wrap
It’s Donald Trump’s world, and Roger Ailes is just living in it. That’s the message Trump sent the Fox chairman on Monday when he ended his ceasefire with the de facto king of conservative media. Trump’s latest round of figurative shots fired at network star Megyn Kelly — and Roger Ailes’ bold, forceful response — sets up what TheWrap previously reported as the real 2016 campaign: Trump vs. Ailes. “It’s always hard to get inside the head of Donald Trump,” veteran reporter Mark Feldstein told TheWrap. “The irony is he’s almost taking a page from the Murdoch-Ailes...
- 8/27/2015
- by Jordan Chariton
- The Wrap
Are journalism students going soft or getting sloppy under the onslaught of 24/7 news and the social media echo chamber? Journalism professor Mark Feldstein wondered about this when he led a heated debate in his University of Maryland classroom about the Charlie Hebdo massacre, when many high-profile media outlets grappled with showing the publication’s controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Many of Feldstein’s students argued, “‘If you’re going to upset people, why do it?'” he recalled. “Most of them are conditioned by society to be deferential or polite. One of the things I teach them is not to be deferential and.
- 8/26/2015
- by Jordan Chariton
- The Wrap
The publicly-funded PBS network is suffering harsh criticism over the revelation that it censored Ben Affleck‘s past in a show about ancestral roots. “It’s outrageous that PBS censored such vital information from its program and a reminder that public broadcasting, no less than its commercial counterparts, is too often deferential to those with money and power,” Mark Feldstein, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Merrill College of Journalism told TheWrap on Monday. “If we’re taking this series seriously as revealing all these different narratives about people’s backgrounds, and choosing to go to one story as opposed to another…...
- 4/21/2015
- by Jordan Chariton
- The Wrap
CW Seed might be less than a year old, but they have already found success in the world of the Internet. The online platform has announced 6 new series that will kick off this summer, as well as the return of a few fan favorites. Perhaps some of the biggest new series will be the Veronica Mars spin-off series Play It Again, Dick and Whose Line Is It Minis.
We will also see the return of series The P.E.T. Squad Files, CelebTV on CW, Husbands, and Very Mallory. Those series will air new episodes later on this year.
CW Seed will mark their one year anniversary in August as a new platform of shorter seasons of series that are all online. It the CW’s attempt to compete with the likes of other networks/companies starting their own online series. So far they have found success with the platform and...
We will also see the return of series The P.E.T. Squad Files, CelebTV on CW, Husbands, and Very Mallory. Those series will air new episodes later on this year.
CW Seed will mark their one year anniversary in August as a new platform of shorter seasons of series that are all online. It the CW’s attempt to compete with the likes of other networks/companies starting their own online series. So far they have found success with the platform and...
- 5/8/2014
- by Sarah Peel
- Boomtron
The Young and the Restless tallied 23 nominations as honors were announced this morning for the 40th annual Daytime Emmy Awards. Restless’ impressive take helped CBS lead all networks with 50 overall nominations. PBS and ABC followed, with 44 and 38 nods, respectively.
General Hospital, which earned 19 nominations, joined Restless in the race for Outstanding Drama Series, and Sesame Street received 17 nods, including three for Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo who faces allegations of sexual misconduct.
Good Morning America and Today will bring their ratings rivalry to the Emmys, where they’ll be joined by CBS Sunday Morning in the Outstanding Morning Program category.
General Hospital, which earned 19 nominations, joined Restless in the race for Outstanding Drama Series, and Sesame Street received 17 nods, including three for Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo who faces allegations of sexual misconduct.
Good Morning America and Today will bring their ratings rivalry to the Emmys, where they’ll be joined by CBS Sunday Morning in the Outstanding Morning Program category.
- 5/1/2013
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside TV
Here are the Daytime Emmy nominations in the technical categories.
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design For A Drama Series All My Children ABC Production Designer James Jones Art Director Bryan Langer Set Decorator Kay Dee Lavorin The Bold and the Beautiful CBS Production Designer Jack Forrestel Art Directors Fabrice Kenwood Charlotte Garnell Scheide Set Decorator Elsa Zamparelli General Hospital ABC Production Designer Chip Dox Art Director Daniel Proett Set Decorators Jennifer Elliott Andrew Evashchen One Life To Live ABC Production Designer Roger Mooney Art Directors Ruth Wells John Kenny Martin Fahrer The Young and the Restless CBS Production Designer William Hultstrom Art Director David Hoffmann Set Decorators Joe Bevacqua Andrea Joel Fred Cooper
Outstanding Achievement for a Casting DirectorFor A Drama Series All My Children ABC Casting Director Judy Wilson General Hospital ABC Casting Director Mark Teschner One Life To Live ABC Casting Director Julie Madison...
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design For A Drama Series All My Children ABC Production Designer James Jones Art Director Bryan Langer Set Decorator Kay Dee Lavorin The Bold and the Beautiful CBS Production Designer Jack Forrestel Art Directors Fabrice Kenwood Charlotte Garnell Scheide Set Decorator Elsa Zamparelli General Hospital ABC Production Designer Chip Dox Art Director Daniel Proett Set Decorators Jennifer Elliott Andrew Evashchen One Life To Live ABC Production Designer Roger Mooney Art Directors Ruth Wells John Kenny Martin Fahrer The Young and the Restless CBS Production Designer William Hultstrom Art Director David Hoffmann Set Decorators Joe Bevacqua Andrea Joel Fred Cooper
Outstanding Achievement for a Casting DirectorFor A Drama Series All My Children ABC Casting Director Judy Wilson General Hospital ABC Casting Director Mark Teschner One Life To Live ABC Casting Director Julie Madison...
- 5/11/2011
- by We Love Soaps TV
- We Love Soaps
Stun Creative released the third episode (above), "Crotch Bomb," of their animated spoof web series Obamourage today on Atom, commemorating President Obama's first year in office. The series, created by Brad Roth and Mark Feldstein follows the day-to-day life of President Obama and his cabinet—Rahm, Joe, Hillary, and Bo, the dog—as they all roll, "Obama-style." [Atom.com] Crackle's Woke Up Dead from Electric Farm Entertainment has scored showcase.ca as Canadian online distributor of the comedy web series starring Jon Heder, Krysten Ritter, Josh Gad and Wayne Knight. Woke Up Dead's 22 episodes will roll out on showcase.ca three times a week starting February 1, 2010 through the end of March. [Channel Canada] Blue Movies rolled out a slick-looking Streamy Awards "For Your Consideration" site along with a video (below) showcasing the talent behind the indie comedy series like writer-director Scott Brown, and lead actors Jareb Dauplaise, Beck Bennett and Sascha Alexander.
- 1/20/2010
- by Marc Hustvedt
- Tubefilter.com
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