Katie Couric does the best newscast, says RTNDA
While viewership continues to slip and all that “Katie is leaving after the election” talk still swirls, it looks like the industry actually likes her show.
The CBS Evening News won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast from the Radio Television News Directors Association the other night. ABC won the most awards, including Best Overall, Documentary, Hard news, Spot News Coverage, and Videography. Not really sure what the difference is between Best Newscast and Best Overall, but maybe Best Overall combines all facets of a TV network’s news division while Best Newscast just focuses on the 30 minute nightly show that the network does. Either way it’s something I’m sure you’re going to see in ads for The CBS Evening News.
CBS News also won for Best Web Site (I’d link to the full list of awards but the RTNDA site seems to be down right now.)
Naomi Adds Star Wattage to Scent
Thierry Mugler is turning up the star power.
Giving the 17-year-old brand an Oscar-nominated shot in the arm, Naomi Watts has signed on to be the face of the designer's Angel scent and, starting in October, will be featured in a global print campaign and "glamorous and magical" commercial shot by Dreamgirls director Bill Condon.
According to the release explaining the rationale behind the pairing, Watts was the perfect choice to front the perfume, which comes in a star-shaped bottle, because "the actress projects a personality that blends sensuality, voluptuousness and evanescence to evoke the many facets of Angel."
That, plus her "blond fragility…natural tenderness" and "emotional seductiveness," sealed the deal.
And drew attention to the fact that Watts is apparently a celestial being.
ABC obtains rights to new Mike Judge animated series
Mike Judge has not created a new animated series since 1997. I guess 10-plus years is long enough because he’s entered a deal with ABC to create a new series called The Goode Family.
The series has a 13 episode order and is being produced by indie studio Media Rights Capital. It is the result of an independent deal between the studio and the writers so it’s not affected by the WGA Strike.
Judge is best known for MTV’s Beavis and Butthead cartoons. He also created King of the Hill for Fox. According to the article, The Goode Family “centers around a do-gooder family that tries to do the right thing in all facets of life”.
While I’m not a die-hard Judge fan, I have enjoyed his previous works as well as his movie Office Space (and I even got a chuckle or two out of Idiocracy). I hope ABC treats this show better than Clerks, its last attempt at an adult animated series.