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Someone Call 911: Box Office Champ Director Michael Bay Faces Lowest Opening Ever with “Ambulance”

Roger Friedman
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Someone Call 911: Box Office Champ Director Michael Bay Faces Lowest Opening Ever with “Ambulance”

Sirens are wailing all over Hollywood this morning.

Michael Bay, producer and director of blockbusters, is facing his worst opening weekend ever with “Ambulance.”

The Jake Gyllenhaal starring feature made just $2.5 million on Friday. Added to previews, “Ambulance” made $3.2 million for its opening “night.” Another five or six million for Saturday and Sunday means the Ambulance needs to call 911 itself and report a catastrophe.

Bay is known for producing or directing blockbusters, not critically acclaimed films. The biggest numbers in his portfolio are for “Transformers” movies. The last movie he directed, “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” opened to just $16.9 million, a persona low. “Ambulance” will now take its place  on his all time low list.

Granted, the budget for “Ambulance” was about $200 million less than his usual extravaganzas. “Ambulance” probably cost around $50 mil. It was also less poorly reviewed than most of his films, with critics saying basically, it wasn’t as bad as the others. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 69%, which for Bay is the equivalent of an A.

Meanwhile, you’ll be happy to know that “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” made $26 million for Paramount over Thurs-Fri. Hedgehogs never go out of style, especially the sonic kind!

Norah O’Donnell Triumphs Over Naysayers and Tabloids, Signs New Deal to Stay at CBS News

Roger Friedman
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Norah O’Donnell Triumphs Over Naysayers and Tabloids, Signs New Deal to Stay at CBS News

If I were the New York Post, I’d get a new media business reporter.

Three times since last October the Post’s Alexandra Steigrad produced features promising that CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell was on her way out. No one liked her, she had a bad attitude, she spent lots of money, and so on. And her ratings were terrible.

So guess what? O’Donnell — who I think is terrific — has just signed a new deal to keep anchoring the CBS Evening News through the 2024 elections. She’ll host most of CBS News’s other important specials as well. And she’ll keep doing it from Washington, DC, where she moved the show because that’s where she lives, as well.

The Post surmised that O’Donnell would be replaced by CBS Mornings co-host Tony Doukoupil, and that Gayle King would exit “CBS Mornings,” too and go…somewhere else. King signed her new deal to stay in place back in January.

It must be exhausting to be so knowledgeable!

“CBS Evening News” plays on CBS radio every night, and because of that, it’s usually tbe best written of the three nightly network newscasts. It’s my first choice followed by Lester Holt on NBC.

Ratings for all three shows including “ABC World News” with David Muir are less than they were during the tempestuous days of the Biden-Trump election and the early pandemic. But they’re still the go-to half hours when the world is in turmoil, as it is now, and for breaking news. Their demise is greatly exaggerated.

Will Smith’s Severe Punishment Shocks “Civilians,” But What He Did After Slap Was Almost Worse

Roger Friedman
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Will Smith’s Severe Punishment Shocks “Civilians,” But What He Did After Slap Was Almost Worse

The internet is buzzing with shock over the severity of Will Smith’s punishment by the Academy. Ten years suspension, no attending the Oscars for a decade. No participation in Academy activities.

Is it too much? It feels like it. I would have rather seen three years and a joint investigation into what happened, what caused a normally composed person to lose his mind on live TV, a discussion about anger, etc. But right now no one wants to hear that. They just want a pound of flesh.

There’s another element to the whole slap-Oscar ban. What Smith did after the Oscars was almost worse than his act of violence. Having won his Academy Award, Smith skipped the Governor’s Ball completely. That was the first thumbing of his nose. And then he went to Vanity Fair’s celebrity orgy and danced the night away, rapping his greatest hits and really sticking it to the Academy and to Chris Rock.

This part of the evening will haunt him forever, and it should also haunt Vanity Fair. Yes, the Vanity Fair philosophy is that they welcome whoever will get them publicity. It really doesn’t matter what you’ve done.

But by welcoming Smith after this live TV debacle, they affixed their stamp of approval. Smith felt at home in their big drafty tent to do whatever he wanted. They loved it because they were using him. Vanity Fair’s so called leadership has ruined their magazine by having no point of view. This point of view diminishes them in circulation and certainly now editorially.  It’s hard for the magazine to do much more harm to itself, but maybe the remaining readers should consider that Vanity Fair contributed as much to Will Smith’s downfall as he did.

Will Smith Gets 10 Year Suspension from Motion Picture Academy After Infamous Oscar “Slap,” Banned from Show

Roger Friedman
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Will Smith Gets 10 Year Suspension from Motion Picture Academy After Infamous Oscar “Slap,” Banned from Show

Will Smith has received his punishment from the Motion Picture Academy: 10 years suspension. He can’t vote or attend events or get swag.

He will not have to return his new Oscar, however. And he can still be nominated for one, although it’s unlikely. He’s banned from attending the Oscar ceremony for 10 years, too.

As I reported last week, Smith has been hanging out in Dubai with the crowned prince and not dealing with the consequences of his infamous Oscar “slap.”

His projects, however, are in limbo. And his business deals with his new financial partners are sketchy.

But Smith is wealthy beyond belief. He could take off two years and not notice it. Or more, really.

Here’s the Academy’s statement:


The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage.

During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room. For this, we are sorry. This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short — unprepared for the unprecedented.

Today, the Board of Governors convened a meeting to discuss how best to respond to Will Smith’s actions at the Oscars, in addition to accepting his resignation. The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.

We want to express our deep gratitude to Mr. Rock for maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstances. We also want to thank our hosts, nominees, presenters and winners for their poise and grace during our telecast.

This action we are taking today in response to Will Smith’s behavior is a step toward a larger goal of protecting the safety of our performers and guests, and restoring trust in the Academy. We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted.

Will Smith Exclusive: Fresh Prince Rescued By Crown Prince of Dubai Days After Oscar Slap Flap

RIP Kathryn Hays, Great Star of “As the World Turns,” Famous for “Star Trek” Episode, Dies at 87

Roger Friedman
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RIP Kathryn Hays, Great Star of “As the World Turns,” Famous for “Star Trek” Episode, Dies at 87

Very sad news: Kathryn Hays, who played Kim Hughes on “As the World Turns” from 1972 til the show’s last episode in 2010, has died at age 87. She was immensely popular first as a heroine and then as a matriarch. Hays played the character with wit and humor, and was legendary for calling her favorite people on the show “Toots” on screen.

When Hays came to “As the World Turns” she already had a long resume and was famous to “Star Trek” fans for an  episode called “The Empath.” Other credits included “Hawaiian Eye,” “Dr. Kildare,” “Route 66,” “Bonanza,”and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Hays also appeared in three Broadway productions. She came to the soap opera in 1972 after famous Hollywood marriage, to movie star Glenn Ford, from 1966 to 1969. (Sadly, he suffered from alcoholism and depression.)

In a statement, ATWT co-star Don Hastings, who played her husband, Bob Hughes, from 1985 to 2010, said, “Our relationship as Bob and Kim was as close as Kathryn and my relationship, except we were not married. We were more like brother and sister and we were great friends. Our biggest squabble was that she always wanted to rehearse and I wanted to take a nap. This is a huge loss to all who knew her.”

In the 1980s, Meg Ryan played Hays’s stepdaughter and Julianne Moore played her daughter on the long running soap.

Hays had been living near her daughter and her family in Illinois during the pandemic, but died where she’d lived for decades in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Hays, Hastings, and Eileen Fulton and all the stars of the Procter & Gamble New York based soaps live on, on YouTube. Hays will always be remembered fondly.

Star Trek:

Kid Rock’s Bid for Right Wing, Redneck Fans Falls Flat as His “Bad Reputation” Album Flops

Roger Friedman
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Kid Rock’s Bid for Right Wing, Redneck Fans Falls Flat as His “Bad Reputation” Album Flops

Kid Rock claimed he had a bad reputation. But no one cared.

Bob Ritchie released his “Bad Reputation” album a month ago, hoping to cash in one beer swilling, truck driving right wing rednecks.

But Ritchie is a Richie Rich, a private school kid from a wealthy Detroit suburb who grew up in mansion. The whole thing is a fraud, as I and others pointed out. And for the fans he wanted who could read, that scotched the deal.

“Bad Reputation” has been a sales bust — just 25,000 copies including CDs, downloads, and streaming. And you can see the failure on You Tube. The Kid Rock You Tube channel has 1.78 million subscribers. But the title track’s video has had only 213K plays. Ouch!

 

ABC Kicking “Dancing with the Stars” to Disney Plus in Favor of NFL Football Games of All Kinds

Roger Friedman
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ABC Kicking “Dancing with the Stars” to Disney Plus in Favor of NFL Football Games of All Kinds

Say goodbye to “Dancing with the Stars.”

ABC is sending the long running series to Disney Plus for two seasons beginning this fall. The older viewers who watch it will never be able to find it, and we’ll never know if they do.

In its place comes football, football, football. ABC will show more NFL football games, especially from ESPN, and they have a plan for some kind of NFL Football competition game. Maybe the players will dance in the off season!

The jettisoning of “Dancing with the Stars” shouldn’t come as a surprise. The network dumped popular host Tom Bergeron a couple of years ago. They replaced him with Tyra Banks. And the whole enterprise collapsed. Without Bergeron and Erin Andrews, “DWTS” lost its sense of community to its niche followers.

Good luck to these streaming shows. Older viewers simply don’t engage with Roku or Apple TV or Amazon Prime the way they do regular TV. For most it’s another remote control to think about. And there are no ratings reported for streaming. So now all of these things depend on subscriptions. Just ask Judge Judy. Her IMDB Channel show is a mystery to her syndication fans who are still watching 10 and 20 year old reruns rather than figure out Smart TV.

Thursday Overnight Ratings: ABC Narrowly Beats NBC, “SVU” Takes “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Organized Crime” in Trouble

Roger Friedman
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Thursday Overnight Ratings: ABC Narrowly Beats NBC, “SVU” Takes “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Organized Crime” in Trouble

The biggest take away from Thursday ratings is that “Law & Order Organized Crime” is in trouble.

Never a ratings success on its own, “OG” fell below 3 million viewers to just 2.89 mil last night. It still beat “Blue Sky” on ABC, but you and I could do that with a puppet show. “OG” has gotten a new showrunner and hopefully it will revive itself with better story telling and characters — and a mission. But right now, Chris Meloni’s Elliot Stabler is needs actual stabilizing.

Lucky for Meloni, NBC is betting on the full Thursday night “Law & Order” schedule. “SVU” last night beat “Grey’s Anatomy” by a nose, which kept NBC competitive.  They have a rock solid following at “SVU” and don’t play crazy chess games with their characters and actors a la “Grey’s.” But the new “L&O” classic revival and “OG” each need to rev it up. ABC beat NBC slightly for the evening.

Both ABC and NBC were lucky CBS’s “Ghosts” was off and “Young Sheldon” was in rerun mode. Don’t worry, they’ll be back.

 

Exclusive: Alicia Keys Eyeing Free Agent Status, Leaving Sony-RCA After 22 Years

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Alicia Keys Eyeing Free Agent Status, Leaving Sony-RCA After 22 Years

Alicia Keys is key to this generation of singer-songwriters. Her track record and list of hits is top of the heap after two decades.

But like John Mayer, I’m hearing Keys is also considering leaving the label home she started with and stuck with for the last two decades.

Keys’ career started with being signed to Columbia Records at Sony. But when nothing materialized there, Clive Davis signed her to his new J Records. The result was “Fallin'” and the album “Songs in A Minor,” which sold 12 million copies worldwide in 2001.

Since then Keys has from success to success. But a new chapter is about to begin. The multi talented singer-songwriter-musician has fulfilled her last contract, signed in 2018, and is looking to make a new deal. Or who knows? Mayer left Sony a few weeks ago, and I’ve heard he may just go album by album to the highest bidder.

Life with record labels is changing, especially for established artists. Money isn’t always the only consideration. (Look at Verve Records, home of the newly minted Grammy winner Jon Batiste. He was signed there during a previous administration by former chief Danny Bennett.) So stay tuned. Meantime, Keys released a new video this week for the track “City of Gods (Part II).”

Paul Simon Honored by Grammys with TV Special Tribute Starring Stevie Wonder, Sting, Dave Matthews, and…Paul Simon!

Roger Friedman
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Paul Simon Honored by Grammys with TV Special Tribute Starring Stevie Wonder, Sting, Dave Matthews, and…Paul Simon!

While a huge chunk of the music business at Clive Davis’s 90th birthday extravaganza in New York, another big event was going on in Los Angeles.

As I told you first last week, the Grammys filmed a TV tribute to legendary singer songwriter Paul Simon. The show, produced by Ken Ehrlich and written by David Wild, will air on CBS sometime this spring or summer.

Among the artists who performed Simon’s songs were Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews, Billy Porter, Brad Paisley, Rhiannon Giddens, Angélique Kidjo, Little Big Town, Trombone Shorty, Shaggy, Take 6 and the great New Orleans legend Irma Thomas.

And Paul Simon himself. The 195 minute taping concluded with Simon performing “Graceland,” “American Tune” with Giddens, and “The Sound of Silence.”

Other artists also included Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, the Jonas Brothers, Eric Church, Jimmy Cliff, Ledisi, the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, and Eric Idle of “Monty Python” fame. Not in attendance: Art Garfunkel, because he was in New York singing at the Davis birthday.

Presenters included Oprah Winfrey, Dustin Hoffman (who introduced “Mrs. Robinson”), Woody Harrelson, and Herbie Hancock. Sting and Bonnie Raitt each contributed videos that were rolled into the live show.

Not all of this will make a two hour special on CBS. But it would be swell to see it all on Paramount Plus one day.

How did it all turn out? We’ll have to wait until the producers do their magic and we see the finished product. But it sounds amazing. Bravo, Paul Simon!

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