NB: The FCC, Miss USA 2006, and Grey’s Anatomy
The FCC Continues to *uck
Gotcha! I don’t mean the f-word, but the s-word. The FCC continues to suck, as its deputy general counsel, Eric Miller, showed during his recent appearance on behalf of the commission before a New York Court of Appeals panel. The matter of the day was the FCC’s latest ridiculous practice of fining networks when they are unable to prevent someone’s profane language from slipping past the censors during live broadcasts. Apparently, their panties got all in a twist after both Cher and a not-so-emaciated Nicole Richie let loose with a few choice *ucks during the 2002 and 2003 live broadcasts of the Billboard Music Awards on Fox. [This time I do mean the f-word, incidentally.]
I don’t know what’s funnier: expecting businesses to pay actual money when they fail to censor every single person who utters a word that takes all of a nanosecond to say (how much damage can that possibly do to anyone if it’s only once or twice?) or imagining FCC reps cursing like sailors themselves in public (C-SPAN broadcast live coverage of this monumentally boring event) while repeating what twisted their panties so. Let me think a moment. … Hmmm. … Yeah, I guess the last one is definitely funnier.
Trump Chooses Not to Dump Wild Child Miss USA
Oh, how much histrionics can one person take? Donald Trump, the money man famous for pretending to be The Man while firing contestants for all sorts of ridiculous reasons on his ridiculous reality series The Apprentice, elected not to tell the one person who most needed to hear it to take a hike. Yes, incessantly drunken, drugging, and partying Tara Conner is still Miss USA 2006 today because Trump decided not to give her the heave ho after her recent very public troubles. I have two words for anyone scratching their heads over this unbelievable development: publicity stunt. Guess when the next season of The Apprentice debuts? That’s right—immediately after the holidays, on Sunday, January 7. There’s nothing like a prolonged public confrontation with a nubile party girl to drum up interest in a fading TV show.
Grey’s Anatomy Tops 2006 for Entertainment Weekly
Whiny lead character Meredith Grey aside, Grey’s Anatomy has enjoyed stunning success since its auspicious debut three years ago. Who knew the entire cast would rise this quickly to teeter atop Entertainment Weekly’s list of 2006′s “brightest stars”? The fans did, that’s who, and now our predictions are fabulously confirmed.
Photos courtesy of the Associated Press and CBS
