Will Bush at the Olympics really help NBC?
Amid controversy and the threat of certain world leaders boycotting the upcoming Beijing Olympics, the word came out yesterday that President George W. Bush would attend the opening ceremonies. According to the Hollywood Reporter, this is good news for NBC, and the companies that have bought advertising for the Games.
While I can see how a boycott based on human rights abuses in China and Tibet would be a serious problem for the network — and it still may lose viewers who choose to individually tune out rather than give positive sanction to China’s misdeeds by watching — I don’t see how NBC can think a Bush appearance will bolster ratings.
Currently, George Bush has one of the lowest approval rating of any U.S. President ever in the twilight of his second term in office. The CNN/Opinion Research survey on June 26-29, 2008 found that only 30% of the country approved of his job performance, compared to 68% disapproval.
That means only three out of ten people like what W. is doing right now. Even if every one of that 30% tune in to the Olympic opening ceremony, will it really help NBC?
NBC has done some polling, too, and a majority of American viewers haven’t been fazed by the political issues and separate the politics from the competition.
On the other hand, the AP reported that U.S. Representatives from the President’s own party, Chris Smith, New Jersey, and Frank Wolf, Virginia, were in China and said W. shouldn’t attend the Olympics at all unless China’s human rights stance is changed.
As the Olympics draw nearer, the negative rhetoric about China’s human rights violations are likely to grow louder. Will it effect NBC’s broadcast? I wouldn’t be surprised, and an appearance by an outgoing, unpopular president won’t help.
SAG Talks, Not Much Happens
Heading into the holiday weekend, there are no fireworks coming from the Screen Actors Guild.
The union briefly resumed talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers today, but the meeting ended with SAG asking for more time to review the new contract the studios have proposed.
On Tuesday, SAG executive director Doug Allen said the deal as it stands is sorely lacking in the new-media residuals department.
SAG reps said they would contact the AMPTP on Monday, but no other sit-downs have been scheduled. The actors’ previous contract with the alliance expired yesterday at 12:01 a.m.
“On Wednesday, we met at SAG’s request for four hours to answer SAG’s questions about our final offer,” the AMPTP said in a statement. “SAG asked for more time to study our final offer and indicated it will contact the Producers on Monday. We remain hopeful that SAG will advise that it is accepting our final offer.”
SAG has yet to call for a strike-authorization vote and has expressed its intention to keep its 120,000 members working under the auspices of the old contract until a new one can be hammered out.
“Guild negotiators are engaged in, and committed to, the negotiating process and are confident that an equal commitment from management will allow the parties to reach a fair agreement that serves the needs of Screen Actors Guild members, their employers and the industry,” read the statement issued by SAG Wednesday after talks ended.
As of today, cameras were still rolling on 17 major studio films, including the Da Vinci Code sequel Angels & Demons, according to a list compiled by the Hollywood Reporter, which also counted Toy Story 3 and five other animated films in production.
TV: Jason Schwartzman in HBO’s Bored to Death / Tim Roth in Fox’s Lie to Me
Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, Spun, Coconut Records) will play an aging Brooklynite/alcoholic writer who experiences a nasty breakup and finds himself in the position of a Philip Marlowe-ish gumshoe in the new HBO series Bored to Death. Written by former New York Press columnist and novelist, Jonathan Ames, the half-hour comedy will go into production this September. Seth Gordon, director of The King of Kong, will work as a consultant on the show.
Schwartzman’s character “takes out an ad pretending to be a private detective and starts taking cases — solving some and making others worse.” You may remember that back in 2004 Schwartzman starred in the failed Fox sitcom, Cracking Up, from writer Mike White (The School of Rock). Ames also began developing a semi-autobiographical pilot for Showtime the same year, but it was never picked up. Based on the logline, it’s easy to picture Schwartzman making the role and premise into an irreverent hit.
HBO also has the series, Hung, in development from creator/director Alexander Payne and weeks ago I took a look at the pilot script for Cocaine Cowboys, the rumored series for HBO from Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay.
via Hollywood Reporter / Buzz Sugar
The iffier logline belongs to Lie to Me, a one-hour drama for Fox starring Tim Roth as a “scientist/human lie detector, skilled at reading the human face, body and voice to uncover the truth in criminal and private investigations.” Shades of House: the character’s talent/gift makes it difficult for him to maintain personal relationships.
As long as Lie to Me isn’t peppered with computer-generated eyeball schematics of various suspects in the vein of Robocop, we’ll check it out. Variety reports that the material is inspired by the real life science and life long studies of psychologist/deception specialist Dr. Paul Eckman. Brian Grazer is exec-producing the show, which has been picked up for 13 eps, and begins shooting in August.
Helena Bonham Carter Joins Terminator Salvation
Helena Bonham Carter will have a small but pivitol role in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins according to The Hollywood Reporter. Director McG and the cast have been filming in New Mexico for just over a month, and are making sure they get all the exteriors shot before a potential SAG strike.
Helena Bonham Carter is best known for the roles in the Harry Potter movies, as well as every Tim Burton film since 2001.