The new voice of the news

When it comes to gravitas, there are few entertainers that even can be considered on the list. When it comes to being an icon of entertainment, the list gets smaller.

Just think about it. What are the voices that you can always recognize, even without seeing a face? James Earl Jones, Orson Welles, Walter Cronkite, William Shatner, top the list of course. They are men that without question are immediately recognized. But, as much as I was sure that Darth Vader had to be Black (I was very disappointed when he wasn't), as much as I respect Cronkite for his reporting, I don't imagine those men with the reserved dignity and impact of one other voice.

Morgan Freeman.

Perhaps it is the fact that this one actor has such a voice, a voice that just seems to fit as a stand-in for God or Presidents, that CBS has decided to use it for it's news program. It is perhaps the one voice that can replace the heralded Cronkite as a voice of familiarity and trust when it comes to the news of the day.

It's quite the move for a man that most my age remember initially as Easy Reader (from the original Electric Company on PBS). Freeman has gone from Mississippi to the heights of Hollywood. He is respected and sought after. And his voice compels the audience to just listen.

At 72, Freeman is possibly one of the most momentus actors of several generations. Which is interesting as his movie career didn't start until he was 43, and didn't take off until he was 50. He is more in demand now than most actors are in their 20's, or ever.

Something that CBS news viewers might not know, Morgan Freeman can dance, which he did for the 1964 World's Fair. He can sing, as he did as a memeber of the Opera Ring in San Franscico. And like many men of the past, he served in the military - the Air Force.

Considering that back in 1937 when Freeman was born African Americans were not accepted on radio and only in movies as caricatures of people (there was no television), and now he is the voice and image of trust, sobriety, gravitas, and the sanctified. It's a thought that is both warming to me and inspiring.

Bravo Mr. Freeman, and bravo to CBS for their good taste.

Samuel L. Jackson - producer again

Of the many thing that I think Samuel L Jackson has done right, I'm not sure his next 2 upcoming projects will fall into that category.

Jackson has just signed a deal with CBS to try out 2 new shows. This will confirm the executive producing credits that Jackson gained from the Afro Samurai program that was wildly successful on Spike TV. But unlike the Afro Samurai, I think Jackson has passed his limit.

One of the unnamed shows is about what happens after a U.S. Congressman dies while in office, and his wife inherits his seat. It may not sound like it but this is proposed to be a comedy. When I first heard of this I thought of a West Wing like program. But considering that the main writer is the same from 3rd Rock From The Sun, this will not be serious.

Will it be a serious laughfest? Somehow I doubt it. There are few comedies about politics that I can recall, and of the ones I do recall - like Benson in its later years - they failed. Americans don't laugh about politics often, so this will be a huge hurdle. Especially once you consider that most viewers of CBS are older and take their politics far more seriously.

The other show, is a medical drama (yes, yet another) focusing on an emergency room doctor (but it's not ER) who uses unconventional methods to treat his patients (ever heard of House?).

Obviously I find that one to be an overused idea. Then again the writer of that program is responsible for Cold Case - a show that rips off Law & Order, CSI, and several other old cop-format television shows. Still in Hollywood there is no greater sign of success than copying. No greater way to get paid either.

I like Samuel Jackson. I think he's a great guy to have a beer with, and from what I can tell, he seems to have tastes that are similar to myself and a lot of other guys I know. Somehow, I don't see these shows, as described, as being in that vein. He's just out for the money. Which I don't fault him for, I just won't watch them a second time if I am right.

If I could advise Jackson, I would remind him why Afro Samurai worked. It's a subject he has a passion for, and a medium he understands. If he sticks to those principles, he will likely make more money and find greater success.

Now watch these both become great shows and I have to eat my words. We will see.

Wayne Brady is back

You do recall who Wayne Brady is right? If you don't you really should.

He is one of the most talented performers working today. While most have only seen him on television in re-runs of Whose Line Is It Anyway, it is that program that presents how diverse this entertainer is.





But don't think he is only a comedian. As the above skit presents, he can sing. So well in fact that he was nominated for a Grammy.



Brady has done Broadway, appeared on multiple television shows,and several movies as well. He is a great entertainer, in the old meaning of the term. He is not a superstar, he is not an idol or mega-actor. He just provides the audience a show worth watching. Which is rare these days.

In fact how many entertainers do you think could spontaneously break into song and sound half this good these days.



So he is back on television. But I think that the venue is truly a waste of his abilities. he will be showcasing the new Let's Make A Deal. A cute show for sure, and few can do it like Monty Hall, but hardly worth of the talent that Brady embodies.

Adding to the difficulty is the fact that this revamped prize show will be replacing Guiding Light. The soap opera has been running for 5 decades, and it's loss will definitely have some negative reaction. Which says nothing of the fact that this is CBS we are talking about.

Still anything that gets Wayne Brady more exposure makes me happy. Though I'd love to see him doing something more involved.

But if you think he doesn't realize the fickle nature of Hollywood, just watch this skit done after his talk show was canceled.

Should David Letterman be fired?

When I first wrote about the inexcusable comment that David Letterman made about the daughters of Gov. Sarah Palin, I was firmly entrenched in the thought that it was political. And an insult to all women. It was more than just a “bad joke”.

To say it was merely a bad joke is to say that inferring lewd sexual acts between a young woman and a man 2x her age is occasionally good natured. Which I do not agree with. To also have that joke be ambiguous such that it can be related to a 14 year old minor is even worse.

But that is part of my problem with this whole situation. Letterman continues to insist that the joke is about an 18 year old young woman. As if that excuses the whole thing. As if everyone had understood that he was directing the joke at this young woman, as he now claims, that it would have been ok. No, it does not become ok just because one daughter is of legal age and another is not.

But the people now calling for Letterman to be fired are solely focused on the 14 year old. Because it adds fire to the flame. Inferring that an 18 year old is fair game. Which I beg to differ on.

If the calls for Letterman to be fired were solely based on the repulsive nature of the comment, and the fact that it was driven by Letterman’s barely held back hate of Conservatives and Republicans, then I can see its merit. There is little difference in what Letterman said and Don Imus.

After Don Imus publicly insulted the Rutgers basketball team, I was among those calling for him to be fired. Because he attacked a group of young women, without cause, who were non-public entities. In addition the attack by Imus was the kind of racial commentary that led to lynchings in the (not very distant) past.

A public figure, lashing out at non-public figures in a manner that is solely meant to denigrate the attacked is always wrong. And I support the removal of that public figure for such actions. It doesn’t matter if that person is White, Black, Hispanic, Male, Female, or whatever. The public airwaves are a sacred ground with protections that only mean something if we enforce them.

The Palin daughters are not public figures. The Governor of Alaska is. So just in the same way that attacks against the Obama daughters are insanely wrong, or attacks on college teams, or against your family, to attack the Palin’s is the same thing. Something that I find extreme Liberals like Letterman, and much of the major news media, fail to comprehend.

So that reasoning is worthy of firing Letterman. It is the same reason that Embassy Suites pulled their advertising from his show. Insulting women, because of a political belief of the attacker, just to be cruel and vile is hardly worth defending, or supporting with advertising.

Thus the focus really should shift from the claim that this was about a minor. This was a political attack and an attack that covered ANY young woman in a manner we would like to believe does not exist in the 21st century.

So does Letterman deserve to be fired?

Well this was done on public airwaves. It took a week before enough pressure hit Letterman to force him to make a barely sincere apology. In fact in reading his apology it becomes clear that this is more of a tactic to preserve his job than remorse over what was said, or the motivation for what spurred it.

Given how well this lines up to the reasons that Don Imus was rightly fired, I would have to say yes. David Letterman deserves to be fired. It is a terrible way to end a 30 year career, but Letterman knew what he was doing, and he didn’t care as long as he got to grandstand his hate of Conservatives and Republicans – especially in the case of Gov. Sarah Palin.

Will Letterman be fired? I doubt it. He has a huge following. He is a huge political supporter. He has the general support of Hollywood and the media in this political climate. His contempt of Conservative views is lauded across the internet and major media. He will more than likely weather this storm.

But I say again, David Letterman is the same as Don Imus in this situation. Thus I support the same end result. CBS should fire him now.

Janet Jackson: Intelligence, success, and fame are not enough

Over the weekend I noticed something and I doubt many have spoken on it. Janet Jackson was in the news again about her Super Bowl costume issue. It seems that after years of comments and threats by the FCC, the whole thing is now passed over as if it never happened.

Isn’t that interesting. CBS will receive no fine

“This is an important win for the entire broadcasting industry because it recognizes that there are rare instances, particularly during live programming, when it may not be possible to block unfortunate fleeting material, despite best efforts," the CBS Network, which had the misfortune of unwittingly broadcasting the Super Bowl debacle, issued in a statement.”

Justin Timberlake, who committed the act of infamy, has walked away from this scandal without ever being touched by it. The fact that he may have caused the problem in the manner he removed the cloth was never his fault. His career, whatever you may think of it, has continued unabated.

But Janet Jackson has been mired with this scandal. She has effectively become blackballed by the media and entertainment industries. Did anyone notice that she had an album out recently? Now Janet Jackson has had so-so albums, and mega-hits, but in her entire career I have never known her to release an album and not hear any of the songs, nor see/read commentary about it. Her worst album (before the latest) sold more records than most entertainers on a good day.

The media just can’t let go of less than 15 seconds of footage. The mostly bare single breast of this Black woman is just that powerful I suppose. I have to imagine that were both breasts to have been bared, half the population of America would have died. I mean that’s the way the media and a few fringe fanatical groups seem to act.

But is that fair?

Hmmm, CBS promotes the UFC – which is a violent sport. Unlike boxing it has no elegance, it’s just about raw power. That has to be good for the kids. I'm sure the soap operas that were the staple of CBS and broadcast television, with more breasts and ass appearing than some soft-core porn, really has to be good for kids in the afternoon.

And the entertainment media loves women. I mean look at the attention poured all over Britney Spears as she has desperately tried to implode. She went to rehab for as long as it take me to piss, then cuts off her hair. Mega-news story. I’m sure it inspired many drug addicts, and more than a few young girls, to try a new fashion design. That’s positive.


There is the insanely untalented Paris Hilton. Bad porno tape, can’t act, can’t sing, can’t even open her glove box to see the letter telling her she can’t drive. But she is insanely rich. So rich that she almost pulled off a get out of jail card. If she has a positive to impart on the American public I am still unaware of it.


Anna Nicole Smith, drug addict (possibly while pregnant), promiscuous, arguably lecherous, with a sole talent being she had a great body. Months were devoted to her death at the near exclusion of all other news and facts at the time. Literally I do not recall another story that has been on the news that much – hours of news hours dedicated to a woman that was about as important as wet paper. Seriously, even Britney Spears has more talent. Message to kids – if you have the right curves you can get money and no one will care how many drugs you take. If you are a guy, either make a lot of money for this kind of girl to take, or be sleazy enough to leech money from her drug-addled ass.


Lindsey Lohan, the drunken party girl that was desperately trying to end her movie career. After years of building up a host of fans that were not old enough to appreciate talent, Lohan was more than happy to drink herself into oblivion. Her quick trips to rehab were only slightly longer than Spears, but thankfully she had her mom to lean on while she drank and did drugs.

Amy Winehouse, the reported crack addict with a voice. So deep into drugs and alcoholism that she couldn’t perform and has been arrested multiple times. And she doesn’t care what anyone thinks because she told us that. At least her man is just as deranged and besodden as her, so it’s a match set in love and not money.

I could go on, but what are the similarities of these women?

They are all White, they all are being promoted and covered by the media (thus making them all money), and they all have been filmed, photographed and discussed ad nausea since Janet Jackson was at the Super Bowl.

So was the outrage that Janet Jackson’s accidental exposure occurred, or was it something else. None of the women I mentioned have half her talent or longevity in entertainment. Janet is not on drugs, does not cover magazines drunk or in scandals (other than the one event). She has never been linked to anything negative that I can recall. And no one questions her ability to think and do business – she broke all records for an artist contract that even her brother did not match at one time.

In fact she should be a role model for young women, proving that women (especially Black women) beside Oprah and Maya Angelou can succeed on their own doing what they are best at. Yet she his blacklisted and blackout by the media in favor of women who are such messes I can’t imagine most of them surviving to be 35.

So what’s wrong with the major media? What’s going on in the entertainment industry? What the hell are Hollywood and music execs thinking?

I tell you what, if I had a daughter – or were it one of my nieces – and the worst moment in a career she made that garnered her tens of millions of dollars, fame, and comfort over decades was the momentary equivalent of her dress slipping I’d be happy for her. No drugs, no scandals, no court taking away her children because she is unfit as a mother, no drunken binges and car accidents that could kill innocents, no crimes, no whispers of anorexia, never selling her body for money.

Seriously ask yourself this question, which woman would you want your daughter, sister, niece, or mother to emulate? Then ask why being Black, successful, talented, and intelligent is worthy of a media excommunication?

Will Don Imus pay his due? Part 2 - 8.15.2007.2

Continued from Will Don Imus pay his due? Part 1...

Some might say the team deserves the 20 million dollars that Imus just won. Some might say that Imus is a multi-millionaire and won’t miss the money. They would be right that he is rich, but they would be wrong in presuming that his contractually obligated pay is due these women. The pain and suffering they are currently undergoing will not follow them for the rest of their lives. The embarrassment while severe is not going to prevent them from becoming a successful lawyer or doctor or scientist or President of the United States. It will make life in college during the near term harder to get dates, or study or not be the butt of a joke by a drunken frat kid. So I do believe they deserve monetary reimbursement but not excessive amounts.

In America today money determines almost everything. It determines where you live, what job you get, the friends you can have or do keep and so much more. In this case money in the form of Imus’ job was the reason for an unprovoked attack. It should be money that sends the same message to Imus, CBS, and the media industry across the nation. Impacting the bottom line will stick in the memory of all those individuals far longer than comments from Reverend Al Sharpton, newspaper articles, and a huge number of angry bloggers. Take profits away from the shareholders and changes happen over night. Its one of the great things about the American economy and business environment.

I think that it would be a great slap in the face to Don Imus and his former employers that these women take their money and achieve certificates representing their attainment of prominence in various intellectual fields. CBS told Imus to insult people for a living, create controversy, and be mean. Imus decided to be mean and pushed the envelope many times in his career; finally creating enough of an uproar with this last act. Perhaps the best way to prove this corporation, this man, and those listeners and supporters wrong is the realization of success these women can do. But to just throw money at them and take away one of the motivations why they went to college serves them no good nor their communities nor America as a whole.

There is an Ancient saying:

“You can feed a man a fish and he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish he will feed himself for a life time.”

These women should have every opportunity to be taught how to fish and not be given a boat full of fish.

This is what I think, what do you think?

Will Don Imus pay his due? - 8.15.2007.1

The sky is blue, earth is the third planet in the solar system, fire burns, and Don Imus is getting sued. Do you notice that in each and every one of those statements the facts are as obvious as they are true?

Finally what everyone should have expected is starting to happen Don Imus is getting sued for his actions in Aprill which I wrote about several times [Imus, Rutgers basketball, and Rev. Al Sharpton, Don Imus is a symptom]. I’m not amazed nor should anyone else be. I don’t think it needs to be said that Imus was wrong for his comments against the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team. Anyone with a basic brain should understand that (should does not mean everyone does).


So far there is only one player that is suing Imus, Ms. Kim Vaughn, but I don’t expect that she will be the only one to sue him. Shortly I expect to see several of the members of the Women’s basketball team to file similar suits. They will likely be combined into one class action suit. While some may want to defend Imus I have no doubt that Imus will lose on the basis of defamation of character and slander. So the only real question is what they win and how much the major media will defend Imus.

Already we are hearing various pundits step up and say that Imus has been punished too much or was punished too excessively for his comments. Already there is a rally cry going out to lessen the impact that this lawsuit is making. Likely because this lawsuit comes at a time right after Imus has won 20 million dollars in a contract dispute with CBS and his on going negotiations with ABC for a new radio job.

I don’t care that Imus is getting a new job, by that I mean that I stand by my initial calls for him to be fired. He needed to be punished and made an example of for what he said. That was done in part with his being fired. That does not mean that he can never work again. I would not deny anyone the ability to make a living in their career after they have paid a price for that offense. That said Don Imus has not finished paying for his actions. Let’s not forget these were actions that he made with out cause for the mere desire to inflict pain on innocent citizens.

So what would I like to see as the final part of his punishment for his wrong doing? I think that Imus should come out publicly and offer ALL the women of the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team their tuition paid until they have finished their bachelor degrees and half, at least, of their masters degree tuitions and a one thousand dollar per month stipend during that same period.

Now let me tell you why. There is no question that what he said inflicted pain. There is no question that what he said was an insult. There is no question that he has no defense against his own actions. So he’s wrong and therefore liable to these women. The women did not go to Rutgers to be defamed or denigrated. They went to Rutgers not to become basketball stars (I hope not, especially with the salaries of the WNBA), but to become educated successful women in what ever field of endeavor they chose. That should be acknowledged supported and publicly praised. In my view there is no better vindication of their ability, talent, and future than to stand up and provide them a head start in their life choices.

Continued in part 2...