THE NEW YORK TIMES: Stalking the aisles, microphone in hand, he turned “The Phil Donahue Show” into a participation event, soliciting questions and comments on topics from human rights to orgies.
Phil Donahue, who in the 1960s reinvented the television talk show with a democratic flourish, inviting audiences to question his guests on topics as resolutely high-minded as human rights and international relations, and as unblushingly lowbrow as male strippers and safe-sex orgies, died on Sunday at his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He was 88.
His death was confirmed by Susan Arons, a representative of the family.
“The Phil Donahue Show” made its debut in 1967 on WLWD-TV in Dayton, Ohio, propelling Mr. Donahue on a 29-year syndicated run, much of it as the unchallenged king of daytime talk television.
Almost from the start, “The Phil Donahue Show” dispensed with familiar trappings. There was no opening monologue, no couch, no sidekick, no band — just the host and the guests, focused on a single topic.
At the time, audiences were expected to be seen and not heard, unless prompted to applaud. Mr. Donahue changed that. He quickly realized from chatting with audience members during commercial breaks that some of them asked sharper questions than he did. And so he began his practice of stalking the aisles, microphone in hand, and letting those in the seats have their say. He also opened the telephone lines to those watching at home. Electronic democracy, as some called it, had arrived. » | Clyde Haberman | Monday, August 19, 2024
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Monday, August 19, 2024
Friday, November 10, 2023
Home and Away Actor Johnny Ruffo Dies Aged 35
GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA: Actor and singer was first diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017 and revealed it was terminal last August
Johnny Ruffo pictured in September 2017. The former X Factor contestant has died aged 35.Photograph: Don Arnold/WireImage
Johnny Ruffo, the former Home and Away actor and X Factor contestant, has died aged 35.
Ruffo was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017, and underwent surgery to remove a tumour, but the cancer returned three years later. Last August, Ruffo revealed that his diagnosis was terminal.
His death was announced in a statement shared to his Instagram account on Friday.
“It is with a heavy heart that today we had to farewell our beloved Johnny,” the statement read.
“Surrounded by his partner Tahnee and family, Johnny went peacefully with the support of some incredible nurses and doctors. » | Sian Cain | Friday, November 10, 2023
What a sad end to the life of a successful and handsome young man just coming into his prime. RIP – Mark
Johnny Ruffo, the former Home and Away actor and X Factor contestant, has died aged 35.
Ruffo was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017, and underwent surgery to remove a tumour, but the cancer returned three years later. Last August, Ruffo revealed that his diagnosis was terminal.
His death was announced in a statement shared to his Instagram account on Friday.
“It is with a heavy heart that today we had to farewell our beloved Johnny,” the statement read.
“Surrounded by his partner Tahnee and family, Johnny went peacefully with the support of some incredible nurses and doctors. » | Sian Cain | Friday, November 10, 2023
What a sad end to the life of a successful and handsome young man just coming into his prime. RIP – Mark
Monday, June 21, 2021
James Michael Tyler: Friends' Gunther Reveals Cancer Diagnosis
In an interview with NBC's Today show, the 59-year-old revealed he was diagnosed in September 2018 after a routine physical examination.
The cancer has since spread to the actor's bones and he can no longer walk. He is undergoing chemotherapy.
"Eventually, you know, it's gonna probably get me," he told host Craig Melvin.
Speaking about his diagnosis, he said: "I was 56 years old at the time, and they screen for PSA, which is prostate-specific antigen. » | BBC | Monday, June 21, 2021
Monday, July 01, 2013
Saturday, March 31, 2012
The left-leaning cable network announced just hours before airtime on Friday that Mr. Olbermann’s show “Countdown” would be replaced with a new program called “Viewpoint” hosted by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, beginning that night.
The sometimes volatile Mr. Olbermann came to Current in June as the centrepiece of its new prime-time initiative after a stormy eight-year stint at MSNBC – his second at that network – followed by his abrupt departure in January 2011.
Shortly after, Current announced his hiring – reportedly with a five-year, $50-million contract – as the start of an effort to transform the network’s prime-time slate into progressive talk. His official title was chief news officer, charged with providing editorial guidance for all of the network’s political news, commentary and current events programming.
In a statement, Current TV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt said the network was “founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.” » | Frazier Moore | New York | The Associated Press | Saturday, March 31, 2012
Saturday, October 15, 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Basée à Damas, cette chaîne privée est l’ultime canal de communication de l’ex-dictateur.
Kadhafi a disparu des écrans radars, mais pas du paysage médiatique. Depuis son départ précipité de Tripoli, le 23 août dernier, le colonel continue à défier ses opposants et la communauté internationale sur les ondes d’une télévision syrienne. Inconnue du grand public, Arraï (l’opinion en arabe) focalise l’attention depuis qu’elle diffuse les messages sonores (sept à ce jour) du Guide déchu et de ses proches.
Dernière missive en date? Le 6 octobre. Dans un enregistrement – à peine audible – l’ancien maître de Tripoli a appelé le peuple libyen à descendre dans la rue pour faire entendre sa voix «contre les collaborateurs de l’OTAN». Quant à Aïcha, la fille de l’ancien leader réfugié à Alger, et son grand frère Seif al-Islam, le SDF du clan, ils ne se privent pas d’utiliser cette tribune pour relayer les discours de leur père. » | Yannick Van der Schueren | Samedi 15 Octobre 2011
Saturday, May 07, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A political author whose face Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to "smash in" over claims Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was a "maneater" has seen his state television show shelved, sparking claims that the French president was involved in the move.Last month, Franz-Olivier Giesbert, 62, director of the weekly magazine Le Point, released a biography on Mr Sarkozy called M. Le President, which today tops France's bestseller list.
In it, he branded Mr Sarkozy a "child king" who is "drunk on himself", "immature" and a "weathervane" who is "tyrannical" with his entourage and above all his friends. He recounts being subjected to a 40-minute telephone tirade by [the] Mr Sarkozy sparked by an article offering "24 tips to the President ahead of his marriage to Mademoiselle Bruni".
One piece of advice was: "Do not introduce your new wife to your sons, Barack Obama or any handsome men."
Mr Sarkozy told Mr Giesbert: "This article is filth and I should smash your face in."
"You'll see what I'm going to do to you, you'll see," he threatened. Mr Giesbert said the president subsequently sought to pressure Le Point's owner, the luxury goods billionaire François Pinault, into firing Mr Giesbert, to no avail. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Friday, May 06, 2011
Friday, May 06, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Television bosses across China have been ordered to clear their schedules and broadcast improving 'Red' television as the country gears up to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Communist Party this July.Popular low-budget crime sagas, romantic soap operas and spy thrillers that entertain millions of Chinese every night have been ordered off the airwaves by central government TV regulators to be replaced by improving, patriotic content.
The decision, which has caused widespread disgruntlement, is the latest example of a concerted attempt by China's ruling Communist Party to use so-called "Red" propaganda to bolster what it calls "social unity" and old "revolutionary values" in modern Chinese society.
The news of the three-month ban on what authorities have labeled frivolous or vulgar television has provoked a wave of discussion on China's online bulletin boards and discussion forums.
The issue had generated more than 20,000 comments on 163.com, one of China's leading internet portals, with many contributors largely taking a weary "don't care" attitude and promising to find other diversions or download American programmes from the internet.
"So the red songs and red movies are promoted national-wide from now on," said one comment, "It doesn't really matter as I only watched American TV soaps anyway since I started to have access to the internet". » | Peter Foster, Beijing | Friday, May 06, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Pope has spoken about the tsunami in Japan, conflict in Iraq, the civil war in Ivory Coast and victims of multiple sclerosis in an unprecedented television appearance due to be broadcast in Italy on Good Friday.For the first time in the history of the papacy, Benedict XVI agreed to take part in a programme in which he took questions from ordinary Catholics.
More than 3,000 questions were submitted after the initiative was announced a month ago, of which seven were chosen and put to the 84-year-old pontiff.
One of the most moving was put by the parents of a 40 year old man who has suffered from multiple sclerosis since 1993 and has been in a vegetative state for the last two years. » | Nick Squires, in Rome | Friday, April 22, 2011
Related »
THE GUARDIAN: Good Friday broadcast will make him the first pontiff to take part in a televised question-and-answer sessionThe Pope will take a small but significant step into the modern media age this afternoon when he becomes the first pontiff to take part in a televised question-and-answer session.
It will not, however, be a Today programme-style grilling on controversial issues for the Catholic church such as child abuse. The pre-recorded Good Friday broadcast will show Benedict XVI answering a small number of pre-selected questions about Jesus and the Christian thinking behind world events.
The 80-minute programme, In His Image – A Good Friday Special, on Italy's publicly owned RAI channel, will begin at 2.10pm local time (1.10pm BST) so it can be on TV at 3pm, the moment that Jesus is traditionally thought to have died on the cross, the Catholic news agency CNA said. » | Peter Walker | Friday, April 22, 2011
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
MAIL ONLINE: The question of whether it is acceptable for an African-American person to use the 'n' word in a workplace but not a white person is to be decided by a federal jury.U.S. District Judge Barclay Surrick has ruled that former Fox29 reporter-anchor Tom Burlington's claims against the station of double standards and racial discrimination will go to trial on January 18.
But the judge ruled out Burlington's claim of a hostile work environment.
Burlington, who is white, was dismissed after using the 'n' word during a staff meeting in June 2007.
He made the comment while discussing a story about about the symbolic burial of the word by the Philadelphia Youth Council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Burlington, who is now working as a real estate agent, was suspended within days and then fired after the incident was published in the Philadelphia Daily News. White TV reporter fired for using the ‘n-word’ accuses station of racial discrimination >>> Daily Mail | Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Related >>>
Friday, September 10, 2010
AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVE: WASHINGTON – Imagine the shock that some viewers must have felt when they first clicked on their public TV station’s new digital sub-channels expecting to see more shows like Big Bird or Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, only to find programming more attuned to the views of Osama bin Laden and Vladimir Putin.
About 30 non-commercial TV stations around the U.S. are airing “MHz Network Worldview,” which includes programs from Al Jazeera English, the Kremlin’s “Russia Today” and other foreign state-controlled instruments of propaganda. MHz Worldview is also available in the Washington, D.C. area.
MHz Networks’ slogan is “Many voices. One world.” A non-profit entity, it is designed for “globally-minded people.”
One of the controversial programs broadcast on MHz1 WNVC-DT every Sunday is titled, “Living Islam in America,” described as “a thirty minute discussion-magazine formatted television series with a primary goal of educating the general population about the faith & culture of Islam and the burgeoning Muslim communities throughout America.”
The host, Johari Abdul Malik, is described by his supporters as an advocate of non-violence. However, the Investigative Project on Terrorism says that he supports radical and political Islamic causes. It reports, “At a 2001 conference hosted by the Islamic Association of Palestine, a now defunct propaganda branch of the Specially Designated Terrorist organization Hamas, he called for attacks against Israeli infrastructure to show Muslim displeasure with Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.”
Abdul-Malik said, “I am gonna teach you now. You can blow up bridges, but you cannot kill people who are innocent on their way to work. You can blow up power supplies… the water supply, you can do all forms of sabotage and let the world know that we are doing it like this because they have a respect for the lives of innocent people.”
Abdul-Malik has also been quoted as saying, “before Allah closes our eyes for the last time you will see Islam move from being the second largest religion in America—that’s where we are now—to being the first religion in America.” Continue reading and comment >>> Jerry Kenney | Thursday, September 02, 2010
Monday, August 02, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has invited Barack Obama, his US counterpart, to face him in a televised one-on-one debate to see who has the best solutions for the world's problems.
The provocative proposal came as Iran dealt with a new wave of international sanctions - driven by Washington - aimed at pressuring the Islamic Republic over its nuclear programme."Toward the end of summer we will hopefully be there for the (UN) General Assembly and I will be ready for one-on-one talks with Mr Obama, in front of the media of course," Mr Ahmadinejad said in an address broadcast live on state television. >>> | Monday, August 02, 2010
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama became the first sitting US President to appear on a daytime chat show as he attempted to reach out to ordinary Americans following a slump in his opinion poll ratings.
During the unprecedented appearance he was hoping to appeal to so-called "soccer moms" who are being heavily courted by the Republican and answered questions on family life and even the misfortunes of the actress Lindsay Lohan.
Critics have accused Mr Obama of demeaning the office of President by appearing on the sofa of ABC's "The View" alongside the veteran interviewer, Barbara Walters, and Whoopi Goldberg[.] >>> Robert Winnett, Washington | Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursday, June 03, 2010
YAHOO! TV: Rue McClanahan, who was best known for her role in 'The Golden Girls', has died at the age of 76.
The actress played man-eater Blanche Deveraux in the hugely popular US sitcom for seven years between 1985 and 1992.
Before finding worldwide fame in the series, McClanahan had acted on Broadway and later co-starred with future 'Golden Girl' Bea Arthur in the US series 'Maude'.
Her manager told People magazine that she passed away earlier today with her family by her side following a massive stroke.
Her death comes just over a year after that of her former co-star Bea Arthur, who played Dorothy in the series. Estelle Getty, who played Dorothy's mother Sophia, died in 2008.
Rue McClanahan's death leaves 88-year-old Betty White the only surviving star of the series.
Leave your tributes to the actress... here >>> Paul Johnston | Thursday, June 03, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Google has launched 'smart' TV, a service that unites surfing on the internet with surfing TV channels.
The technology company has joined forces Sony Corp., Intel Corp. and Logitech International.
Google wants to turn televisions into giant monitors for internet browsing so it can make more money selling ads. The company generated nearly $24 billion in revenue last year, mostly from internet ads displayed on computer screens.
Although Google began selling ads for regular television programming three years ago, analysts say that has yielded paltry dividends so far.
"I think this is going to be the biggest improvement to television since colour," Intel CEO Paul Otellini said. >>> | Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: You might think that French officials would have raised their glasses in celebration of a project to create the first Gallic television channel dedicated to wine.
Instead, they appear intent on driving the station into exile, possibly to Britain, after deciding that it will fall foul of the toughest laws on alcohol promotion outside the Muslim world.
Edonys, a private group which hopes to start broadcasting later this year, has been warned by France’s Higher Audiovisual Council that it will receive authorisation only if it drops plans for programmes featuring wine-tastings and expert discussions. The broadcasting authority deemed these illegal under a law that prohibits “all direct or indirect propaganda in favour of alcoholic drinks” on television.
However, the station is refusing to amend its schedule and executives are now looking for a base outside France. Britain, Luxembourg and Belgium are among the options.
“France is the world reference when it comes to wine and yet we are the only non-Muslim country where you cannot talk about wine on the television,” said Jean-Michel Peyronnet, an eminent wine journalist, who is among the founders of Edonys. “It’s not just surprising, it’s a scandal.” >>> Adam Sage, Paris | Thursday, March 18, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)