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War is Good For Prime Time Cable: CNN Shows Rise by a Million or More Viewers During Ukraine Crisis

Roger Friedman
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War is Good For Prime Time Cable: CNN Shows Rise by a Million or More Viewers During Ukraine Crisis

End of the world? Nuclear war? Not such a good thing.

But for CNN, break out the Champagne!

When I wrote the story of Jeff Zucker’s ouster from CNN on February 3rd —  one month ago– CNN’s prime time ratings were shockingly low. All the shows — Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon — were averaging 600,000 viewers a night. Erin Burnett was doing a little better with almost 700.000.  But Fox News was bringing in two-and-three- million at the same time. Things were bleak at CNN.

But then came crazy, evil Vladmir Putin. Mad Vlad threatened to blow up the world. His invasion of Ukraine is no joke. It’s serious and legitimately scary. And when that kind of news breaks, people turn to CNN.

In the last week, all the CNN prime time shows are up by a million or more viewers per night. When the network sent Anderson Cooper to Ukraine last night, his numbers shot up by 2 million! Last night, he scored 2.3 million viewers! It’s kind of amazing that he went there since his second son was born just three weeks ago.

But Cooper live from a catastrophe has always been a hit. Remember when he was standing hip deep in flood waters during Hurricane Katrina? The CNN viewers like a cliffhanger.

The Russian invasion has been good for Fox News, as well. After Trump lost the election in November 2020, their numbers receded as well. But now their prime time block is averaging 4.5 million a night for viewers who want a lot of misinformation and jaundiced views about how Biden is handling this disaster. (He’s done a great job, which Fox News refuses to admit.)

So war is hell, but not for ratings. If only Zucker hadn’t had his other issues, he could be enjoying the fruits of his staff’s labor right now!

War of Oscar Parties Won By Elton John: Lady Gaga Tapped to Co-Host Hollywood Gala with Billy Porter, Eric McCormack

Roger Friedman
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War of Oscar Parties Won By Elton John: Lady Gaga Tapped to Co-Host Hollywood Gala with Billy Porter, Eric McCormack

Which of the two biggest galas will draw the most celebs on Oscar night? I’d say Elton John’s AIDS Foundation.

EJAF has just announced three co-hosts for the annual soiree; Lady Gaga, Billy Porter, and Eric McCormack.

Just to see what Gaga and Porter will be wearing should bring out the A list. McCormack, I assume, will just be in a tuxedo. But he’ll also have his “Will & Grace” contingent. too.

Porter will fetch the Broadway crowd, and drag queens galore from “Pose.”

But Gaga will bring out the music and movie crowd. In droves.

Plus, Brandi Carlile is performing, and David Furnish will be the Foundation’s host for the evening.

Sadly, Elton John will be on tour, performing in of all places Lincoln, Nebaska. But maybe he’ll Zoom in for a duet with Carlile or Gaga.

The EJAF Oscar party usually brings out stars like Sharon Stone, Steven Tyler, Smokey Robinson, and all the Oscar winners from the evening.

In anticipation of the iconic event, Elton John AIDS Foundation will present an Instagram Live conversation with Billy Porter (@theebillyporter) and David Furnish (@davidfurnish) on March 3, 2022 at 8:45am ET/1:45pm GMT. Visit @EJAF’s social media for more details.

And so the Oscar party wars are on! Vanity Fair’s party is much diminished from previous years as the magazine’s popularity has faded. Their current web traffic is less than half of Vogue or New York magazine. Circulation has been dwindling as well.

The annual Academy Awards Viewing Party is aligned with the 30th anniversary of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and also marks its return to live events. Since the event’s inception in 1992, the Viewing Party has supported the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s efforts by raising more than $86 million for its lifesaving work. All funds raised support the Foundation’s network of partners and local experts across four continents to challenge discrimination, prevent infections and provide treatment, as well as influencing governments to end AIDS.

Broadway: James Earl Jones Becomes Only Living Performer to Have Theater Named For Him

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: James Earl Jones Becomes Only Living Performer to Have Theater Named For Him

Luke Skywalker, I am your theater!

The great actor James Earl Jones is getting an amazing honor. The Shubert Organization is renaming  the Cort Theater on West 48th St. the James Earl Jones Theater.

The Tony winning actor will be the only living performer with his name on a Broadway house. He will also be the second Black person to have one, after late playwright August Wilson’s theater on West 52nd St.

Jones, who turned 91 in January. has appeared in fourteen Broadway productions at Shubert theatres, including two at the Cort Theatre. Most recently Mr. Jones portrayed Weller Martin across from Cicely Tyson’s Fonsia Dorsey in the 2015 Broadway revival of Donald L. Coburn’s The Gin Game at Shubert’s John Golden Theatre.

The actor has two Tony Awards, an Emmy award, and a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award. He has received a Kennedy Center honor. JEJ deserves all the accolades he can receive, and this one may be the sweetest of all.

Bravo to the Shubert Organization. Plus, the Cort is a little gem on West 48th St., home to a long history of great productions.

Kevin Costner Shows Political Colors, Makes “Yellowstone” Doc Deal with Ultra Conservative Fox Nation

Roger Friedman
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Kevin Costner Shows Political Colors, Makes “Yellowstone” Doc Deal with Ultra Conservative Fox Nation

EXCLUSIVE Kevin Costner was always a rare right wing Republican in Hollywood. But when it didn’t serve his purposes, Costner backed off for a time, at least publicly.

Oddly, now Costner has revealed himself again. It seems like a funny moment, but money talks. Costner has made a deal with Fox Nation, Rupert Murdoch’s ultra right conservative streaming service, to make a documentary about the 150 years of Yellowstone National Park.

The four part doc, called “Yellowstone: One Fifty,”  will be produced by Costner’s company and narrated by him for Fox Nation.

Costner, of course, is having a career revival with the “Yellowstone” TV Series on the Paramount channel. So this seems a little odd. Why isn’t the doc for Paramount Plus or Paramount TV? And why did Costner decide to make a deal with Fox Nation? That is one scary outfit. They are just right of right and down the hall.

But Costner doesn’t do anything blindly, so he’s definitely making a point. And “Yellowstone” fans who didn’t get the message before should now.

The irony, of course, is that conservatives would drill and hunt in national parks if they had the chance. So I’m not even sure how the National Park Service agreed to have a documentary on Fox Nation. Costner’s partner on this, Marc Pierce, owns Warm Spring Productions, home to reality shows about hunting, roping, and shooting. Pierce is a robust Republican donor to many GOP candidates.

Kevin, we see you.

Canadian Justice Scandal: Deleted Emails by Toronto Police in Fraud Trial Suggest Prosecutor Repressed Evidence for a Conviction

“The Batman” Premieres in New York to No Director (He Has COVID) and No Press

Roger Friedman
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“The Batman” Premieres in New York to No Director (He Has COVID) and No Press

Riddle me this: What does The Batman fear more than the Penguin or the Riddler? Why, the press.

Tuesday night’s premiere of “The Batman” at Lincoln Center was followed by a swanky party at Tavern on the Green. Warner Bros. took over the whole place, but no press was invited. Star Robert Pattinson, who previously battled vampires in the “Twilight” series, isn’t ready to field random handshakes from people who might ask him questions about his cowl. (Or did I saw scowl? This guy never smiles in pictures.)

“The Batman” premiere was marred by the absence of director Matt Reeves. He had to Zoom in from parts unknown because he has COVID. But the rest of the cast was present including Zoe Kravitz — who will host “Saturday Night Live” next week — and her stepfather, “Aquaman” star Jason Momoa. (He’s married to or estranged from her mother, Lisa Bonet, depending on which tabloid you read.)

There were scant few other celebrities, according to my spies, except for Ben Stiller, and Kravitz’s boyfriend, actor Channing Tatum. Also spotted was Julia Fox, whose 15 minutes of fame as Kanye West’s girlfriend last week are coming to an end.

“The Batman” starts previews Thursday night and should, from its mostly positive reviews, be a big hit.

Surprise: “SNL” with John Mulaney Draws a Million Fewer Viewers Than Same Date Last Year

Roger Friedman
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Surprise: “SNL” with John Mulaney Draws a Million Fewer Viewers Than Same Date Last Year

Hunh. I’m very surprised.

“SNL” with John Mulaney scored 4.785 million viewers, which isn’t bad but not great. Nothing ro write home about

Indeed, Mulaney’s return, which was excellent, scored 1 million fewer viewers than the same night a year ago when Nick Jonas hosted the show. Jonas debuted two new songs that turned out to be total duds, as well as the album they came from. So who knows?

Mulaney’s show was also packed with guest stars including Steve Martin, Candice Bergen, Paul Rudd, Tina Fey and so on. But maybe LCD Soundsystem, which I heard as discordant noise, wasn’t much of a draw. Or maybe it’s just that total viewership has gone down over the last year.

It’s not like Mulaney isn’t popular. Tickets for his shows are selling very well. A head scratcher for sure. I thought this episode was going to be up around 6 million.

Workers Unite: 100 Employees of Gizmodo, Jezebel, Other Unionized Sites Go On Strike

Roger Friedman
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Workers Unite: 100 Employees of Gizmodo, Jezebel, Other Unionized Sites Go On Strike

If you read the websites Jezebel, The Root, Lifehacker, Kotaku, Jalopnik or Gizmodo the workers there are asking you not to click on them. Or even think about them.

One hundred of the unionized employees at G/O Media have gone on strike as of midnight last night.

In a statement, the GMG Union said, “In 2015, this union broke new ground when it organized the first digital media union. Now, GMG Union will break ground yet again: We are the first digital media shop to go on an open-ended strike for a fair contract.”

You can read all about the Union’s demands here. They’re part of the Writers Guild East, and nothing they’re asking for is unreasonable.

G/O Media is owned by Great Hill Partners, an odious private equity firm from Boston. (Watch “Billions.” you’ll understand everything.) They used to be Gawker Media. with Gawker, Univision bought them, and tried to destroy the whole shebang. (Remember that Isaac Lee? I’m still waiting for a return phone call from him from two years ago at least.) Since becoming G/O they sold off the Gawker site. Then employees started coming and going like crazy. One guy who went to work there last week quit on the same day. Sounds like a fun place!

 

Pretty Pretty Bad: Larry David HBO Documentary Set for Tonight Surprisingly Cancelled By HBO

Roger Friedman
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Pretty Pretty Bad: Larry David HBO Documentary Set for Tonight Surprisingly Cancelled By HBO

HBO has abruptly cancelled the Larry David documentary that was supposed to play tonight and tomorrow in two parts.

They’ve even pulled the trailer from YouTube. It’s gone.

Larry Charles directed the doc. But if Larry David pulled it, he obviously wasn’t satisfied with the outcome.

On the poster, the tag line was “He remembers everything.”

This is pretty pretty pretty bad. Whoops!  And there is no explanation other than Larry “wants to do it on stage” whatever that means. Maybe at the last minute Larry decided to go out and do a one man show on stage. But why kill the film?

The doc was described: ​For over three decades, award-winning producer/writer/comedian Larry David has been one of TV’s defining talents. Now, this insightful two-part documentary finds the 74-year-old sitting down with friend/director Larry Charles for a peek behind the proverbial curtain, as David gets candid about his personal and professional highs and lows, from his humble beginnings as an unfunny Brooklyn kid to becoming America’s favorite misanthrope. In between reflecting on his bumpy road to success – and hit series “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” – David shares his thoughts on everything from metaphysics to parenthood. Genuine, hilarious, and eye-opening, THE LARRY DAVID STORY shines a new light on the infamous cynic who remains a singular voice in comedy today.

Ratings: “SAG Awards” Score About 1.8 Mil Viewers, “Euphoria” Rises to 6.6 Million For Finale

Roger Friedman
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Ratings: “SAG Awards” Score About 1.8 Mil Viewers, “Euphoria” Rises to 6.6 Million For Finale

The Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night were a kind of private affair.

About 1.8 million people tuned in on a combination of TNT and TBS. What they saw was a well produced show but devoid of much entertainment. It was really for insiders.

Well, it’s cable, and there were a lot of other things going on. But still…it’s not a good omen for this Sunday’s Spirit Awards on the IFC channel. They never get more than 100,000 and sometimes as little as 65,000. Will anyone be watching? I doubt it.

Also on Sunday night cable, “Euphoria” had its season 2 finale. On HBO prime the number was 625,000. HBO says the real number was 10 times that– 6.6 million — because “Euphoria” fans don’t watch HBO, they watch HBO Max on their phones or other devices. There is no way of knowing this is true, but we’ll take their word for it.

Here’s what they say. If they’re happy, we should be happy:

  • The season 2 finale of EUPHORIA drew a series high 6.6 million viewers across all platforms, 30% above last week and 5.5x above season 1 finale night viewership in 2019. 
  • Season 2 episodes are now averaging 16.3 million viewers, the best performance for any season of an HBO series other than GAME OF THRONES since 2004. Viewership for the season 2 premiere is approaching 19 million viewers in the U.S. 
  • According to Twitter, EUPHORIA is now the most tweeted about show of the decade so far in the US with 34M Tweets. It was also the #1 most social series across all of TV throughout its season, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. (Talkwater Social Content Ratings)
  • EUPHORIA ranked as the #1 title on HBO Max in the U.S. for the 7th week in a row, as well as the top series for the week in both LatAm and Europe.  

Oscars: Apple’s “CODA” Wins Hollywood Critics Award for Best Film. Leaps Ahead in Streamers’ Race for Gold

Roger Friedman
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Oscars: Apple’s “CODA” Wins Hollywood Critics Award for Best Film. Leaps Ahead in Streamers’ Race for Gold

If “CODA” were a racehorse it would be on its way to the Triple Crown.

Last night Sian Heder’s beautiful film won the Hollywood Critics Association award for Best Film. That’s just a day after winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble.

“CODA” is shaping up as a potential Oscar winner for Best Picture very quickly now in the last leg of the long race to the Academy Awards.

Ironically, “CODA” comes from Apple, a streaming company. It’s had no presence in theaters. As a streaming studio, Apple has leapt ahead of its competitors like Netflix and Amazon in the quest to become the first streamer to get a Best Picture statue.

This season, Amazon Studios offered Aaron Sorkin’s “Being the Ricardos” as an entry. The film didn’t get a nomination but three of the four lead actors advanced to the Oscar finals. One of them, Nicole Kidman, may yet be pronounced Best Actress.

For Netflix, the stakes are higher. They had a handful of films in the Oscar competition, primarily “The Power of the Dog.” That film’s director, Jane Campion, has long been tipped for Best Director. But last night Campion tied with Denis Villeneuve of “Dune” for Best Director, which means there may be some erosion of Campion’s following.

If Apple does manage to pull off this Best Picture coup with “CODA,” Netflix may have to re-evaluate how their quest is going. Valiant efforts have been made in the recent past with films like “Roma” and “The Irishman,” without achieving the goal of gold.

Netflix can take some solace in Andrew Garfield winning Best Actor for “Tick Tick Boom” last night.

Best Picture – “CODA”

Best Actor – Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick … Boom!”

Best Actress – Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”

Best Supporting Actor – Troy Kotsur, “CODA”

Best Supporting Actress – Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”

Best Cast Ensemble – “Belfast”

Best Director *Tie* – Denis Villeneuve, “Dune” and Jane Campion, “The Power of The Dog”

Best Original Screenplay – Fran Kranz, “Mass”

Best Adapted Screenplay – Siân Heder, “CODA”

Best Animated or VFX Performance – Stephanie Beatriz, “Encanto”

Best Action Film – “The Harder They Fall”

Best Animated Film – “The Mitchells vs. The Machines”

Best Comedy or Musical – “Tick, Tick … Boom!”

Best Documentary – “Summer of Soul”

Best Horror – “Last Night in Soho”

Best Indie Film – “Pig”

Best International Film – “Drive My Car”

Best First Feature – Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Tick, Tick … Boom!”

Best Short Film – “Us Again”

Best Score – Hans Zimmer, “Dune”

Best Original Song – “Be Alive,” “King Richard”

Best Cinematography – Greig Fraser, “Dune”

Best Production Design – Tamara Deverell, “Nightmare Alley”

Best Film Editing – Paul Machliss, “Last Night in Soho”

Best Stunts – “Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings”

Best Costume Design – Jenny Beavan, “Cruella”

Best Hair & Makeup – Justin Raleigh, Linda Dowds, and Stephanie Ingram, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”

Best Visual Effects – Brian Connor, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Tristan Myles, “Dune”

 

Honorary Awards

Acting Achievement Award – Nicolas Cage

Artisan Achievement Award – Greig Fraser

Artisan on the Rise – Alice Brooks

Excellence in Artistry – Kenneth Branagh

Filmmaker on the Rise – Natalie Morales

Filmmaking Achievement Award – Guillermo del Toro

Game Changer Award – Simu Liu

Inspire Award – Aunjanue Ellis

International Icon Award – Javier Bardem

Newcomer Award – Jude Hill

Spotlight Award – The Cast of “CODA”

Star on the Rise – Saniyya Sidney

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