Blog Archives
Weekly TV Update: May 21
Each week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
The Wall Street Journal reports that network “TV Embraces Its Dark Side” with new shows inspired by the success of The Walking Dead and Dexter.
For more news on the upcoming Fall season, check out Philly.com.
Less than a week since Dan Harmon was fired, Community has new showrunners.
Kristen Wiig leaves Saturday Night Live.
The series finale of House is tonight. The Tampa Bay Times has some observations about the show.
NBC’s Community Loses Dan Harmon
NBC’s Community officially lost its creator Dan Harmon. Earlier today on his blog, Harmon announced that Sony Pictures Television fired him from his position as showrunner. While Dan Harmon is still a consulting producer, his role with the creative aspects of Community is over.
Head over to Vulture for the full story.
Time magazine’s James Poniewozik has an analysis of Dan Harmon’s impact on Community.
Brandon Tartikoff’s Last Great Ride
Brandon Tartikoff was NBC’s entertainment president from 1980 to 1991. This is a book review of his memoir The Last Great Ride, which was published in 1992.
During the 1980 and early 1990s, NBC was “Must See TV”. It was also a time, as Brandon Tartikoff points out in his memoir, where a “27 share was the dividing line between renewal and cancellation.” Nowadays, the highest rated show on television, American Idol, does not even get close to a 27 share. American Idol only gets a 14 share due to the increasing number of niche audience, the fact that most homes have more than one television, and everyone can watch almost anything whenever and wherever they want. Brandon Tartikoff knew this in 1992, which was the year his book The Last Great Ride was published and VCRs were the only commonly found television-recording devices.
Logopalooza: Lifetime Edition
On May 2, Lifetime introduced a new yin yang logo with the tagline “Your life. Your time.”
In a press release, Lifetime’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Time Nolan said, “Great experiences build successful brands. Expanding on Lifetime’s 28 year legacy, our vision balances the equity the network built while breathing new life into the viewers’ experience. This new logo marks the next step with a distinctive new look and attitude. Embracing everything we love about life, Lifetime strives to be as brash as it is honest and always entertaining.”
While I applaud Lifetime for taking more steps away from its former image as the channel with movies about battered women, my initial reaction to the logo was that it would not seem out of place on a feminine hygiene product and seemed borderline ridiculous. The pink yin yang would fit perfectly on a package of Poise, which was probably not what the Lifetime executives intentions. As I thought more about the logo, I realized that Lifetime was probably going for the balance between work and having a family, the yin and yang in a woman’s life. The problem is that a network logo should not require someone to analyze and get existential.
I prefer the old logo because it did not have an unnecessary symbol and got straight to the point in feminine script. You knew you were watching Lifetime. There was no glancing at a irrelevant symbol before you read the print underneath it. The channel name was the logo.
My dislike of the new logo definitely has a lot to do with the fact that it is new. Since 1995, Lifetime’s logo has deviated little until the most recent change, so I grew up with one variation of the above logo or another gracing the lower right-hand corner of my television screen. Maybe the pink yin yang will become Lifetime’s thing, an iconic logo for an iconic network. The yin yang may end up like the NBC peacock, forever associated with a network despite having nothing to do with the content of what the network airs.
What to know what more of Lifetime’s former logos look like? Business Insider takes a trip down memory lane with this slideshow.
Welcome to Wait! What’s A Dial?
At Wait! What’s A Dial?, you will read a twenty-something year old’s opinion on TV. As someone who is studying radio/television/film and journalism in college, I hope to give the opinion of a young person, who actually knows what they’re talking about.
I have a particular fondness for late night television. I love Jimmy Fallon, Conan, David Letterman, Johnny Carson, and Steve Allen. (Yes, I’ve actually watched the latter two men.)
My favorite shows are anything with Steve Allen, David Letterman Hogan’s Heroes (don’t judge), The Monkees (cute boys), Burns and Allen, The Jack Benny Program, Good Eats, and British panel shows.
Current shows that I watch are America’s Got Talent (because it reminds me of the Gong Show, again don’t judge), Law & Order, and sometimes 30 Rock.
-Allison Lips
Wait! What's A Dial? 