The Smithian

April 22nd, 2013

'...the networks...have broken faith with viewers.'

September 10th, 2012

Kaling is…filming a world of her own making…The Mindy Project, the new Fox comedy she created, writes, produces, and stars in. When it debuts this month, it will make Kaling one of the only women of color to be both the face of and the creative force behind a network TV show…

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Kaling is…filming a world of her own making…The Mindy Project, the new Fox comedy she created, writes, produces, and stars in. When it debuts this month, it will make Kaling one of the only women of color to be both the face of and the creative force behind a network TV show…

more.

April 29th, 2012

thesmithian

Zoom

The show, which will be shown on Telemundo.com, will feature actors from Spanish-language telenovelas and English-language reality shows in what the network is calling its “first-ever bilingual branded entertainment series.” Mia, the lead character’s name, is also a play on words for the type of female viewer the show is intended to attract—the Modern Independent Achiever. “The MIA essentially is the new Latina…she’s career-driven, she’s very proud, she’s an achiever.”

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art: Jacqueline Márquez, who portrays “Mia.”

The show, which will be shown on Telemundo.com, will feature actors from Spanish-language telenovelas and English-language reality shows in what the network is calling its “first-ever bilingual branded entertainment series.” Mia, the lead character’s name, is also a play on words for the type of female viewer the show is intended to attract—the Modern Independent Achiever. “The MIA essentially is the new Latina…she’s career-driven, she’s very proud, she’s an achiever.”

more.

art: Jacqueline Márquez, who portrays “Mia.”

April 19th, 2012

thesmithian

This month in 1978, Max Robinson became the first African-American to anchor (ABC’s World News Tonight) network news.

April 13th, 2012

thesmithian

Sometime this fall [BET] will start “Don’t Sleep With T.J. Holmes,” a Monday-through-Friday series that will compete with the likes of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, “Chelsea Lately” on E! and “Conan” on TBS…The show…will include news commentary and satire…

more.

Sometime this fall [BET] will start “Don’t Sleep With T.J. Holmes,” a Monday-through-Friday series that will compete with the likes of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, “Chelsea Lately” on E! and “Conan” on TBS…The show…will include news commentary and satire…

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April 2nd, 2012

thesmithian

March 29th, 2012

thesmithian

…both AMC and Showtime are developing shows about Native Americans.

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March 26th, 2012

thesmithian

…the research firm SNL Kagan raised the possibility of OWN’s demise, predicting that it could soon be doomed if its ratings don’t improve. It projected that OWN could lose $142.9 million this year.

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…the research firm SNL Kagan raised the possibility of OWN’s demise, predicting that it could soon be doomed if its ratings don’t improve. It projected that OWN could lose $142.9 million this year.

more.

March 26th, 2012

thesmithian

'...The limitations of those characters, by necessity, become the show’s—there are no meaningful black characters with sustained story arcs in Mad Men because none of the show’s main characters have meaningful and sustained relationships with black people that recognize the full humanity of African-Americans. It appears that could change in Mad Men’s fifth season, though not because the show’s characters are any less solipsistic or any more inclined to reach out beyond the limits of their own experience (unless it’s to add new power dynamics to their sex lives). Rather, it’s because the African-Americans who live in New York and Connecticut, and whose communities and worldviews have been evolving beyond the notice of the people at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, have decided to finally take these powerful men in their gorgeous buildings at their stated words.'

March 12th, 2012

thesmithian

Zoom

President Obama is hosting U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron this week, and…the pair will be giving only one joint interview. It won’t be NBC, ABC or CBS, nor will it be Fox News or CNN…the pair will be speaking to CBS Sports and Turner Sports during halftime of the first game of the NCAA playoffs Tuesday evening…For Obama and Cameron, doing the interview during halftime ensures a much larger and more diverse audience…

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President Obama is hosting U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron this week, and…the pair will be giving only one joint interview. It won’t be NBC, ABC or CBS, nor will it be Fox News or CNN…the pair will be speaking to CBS Sports and Turner Sports during halftime of the first game of the NCAA playoffs Tuesday evening…For Obama and Cameron, doing the interview during halftime ensures a much larger and more diverse audience…

more.

March 5th, 2012

thesmithian

‘Current…will soon add two radio show simulcasts to its weekday lineup…’

…giving it live political programming in the mornings for the first time. Beginning sometime early this spring, it will show “The Bill Press Show”…and “The Stephanie Miller Show”…By turning to radio talk shows, Current is mirroring the start-up strategy of MSNBC, which occupied its morning hours with a simulcast of the “Imus in the Morning” radio show for eleven years.

more.

March 1st, 2012

thesmithian

Well, first of all, I don’t watch network news or cable news.

President Obama, in an interview with Bill Simmons.

February 27th, 2012

thesmithian

'...According to a new study commissioned by Comedy Central, what Millennials, especially Millennial men, value most is humor. “Comedy is so central to who they are, the way they connect with other people, the way they get ahead in the world,” [said] an executive from the network’s parent company...“One big takeaway is that unlike previous generations, humor, and not music, is their No. 1 form of self-expression.”'

February 20th, 2012

thesmithian

Zoom

Sean Combs, known as Diddy, will announce on Tuesday his plans for a music-oriented cable channel called Revolt.

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art: illustration by Jason Horning

January 29th, 2012

thesmithian

But there are facts King admits to being baffled by. One big one—the mere idea she’s a rarity on prime-time television. Thirty years after appearing as 10-year-old Brenda on the sitcom 227, King says she can’t believe she’s one of the few of women of color with a starring role on an hour-long drama.

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But there are facts King admits to being baffled by. One big one—the mere idea she’s a rarity on prime-time television. Thirty years after appearing as 10-year-old Brenda on the sitcom 227, King says she can’t believe she’s one of the few of women of color with a starring role on an hour-long drama.

more.