Three quick items…
I completely agree with Joe Adalian, TV reporter and Vulture editor, who tweeted: “That Andy Lack had no use for Ronan Farrow but spent tens of millions on Megyn Kelly is an indictment of both Lack’s judgement and the generally misplaced priorities of cable news.” He’s referring to Lack, the head of NBC News, refusing last year to run Farrow’s story — later picked up by The New Yorker, where it won a Pulitzer Prize — uncovering the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations. Last night, it was a piece Farrow worked on that led to the so-quick resignation of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over similar charges by four women. That’s the kind of journalism you’d think NBC would want to keep in-house (Farrow was an MSNBC host at one point, then stayed on after losing the show as a reporter until going somewhere that valued true journalism). Instead, Lack lured Megyn Kelly away from Fox News Channel for way too much money to become a drain on the ratings in the third hour of the “Today” show. Misplaced priorities, indeed.
I’ve written several times over the years about what a quack Dr. Oz is, so it’s no surprise that Trump has named him to the President’s Council on sports, fitness, and nutrition. Chalk it up to the “Ocean’s Eleven” rule: con men tend to hire other con men when growing their team. Read Julia Belluz on Oz’s history and why this is such a bad idea. BTW, this is among the reasons why I shuddered at the fleeting thought of Oprah Winfrey running for president — after all, she’s the one who first gave Oz his biggest national platform!
I couldn’t agree more with Clifford Pugh, who writes about the now-ubiquitous standing ovations that follow every public performance. My wife and I have watched the trend grow over the last decade, as every audience leaps to its feet as soon as the final scene ends in a play at The Rep, or a concert at The Sheldon, or a speaker’s presentation at Powell — even when what we’ve just witnessed wasn’t worth the ovation. I blame it on whoever does that warm-up for late night TV shows, who entice the crowd to jump up and cheer every time Fallon, Colbert, Kimmel, or the others merely walk out onto the stage. They haven’t done anything yet, but you’re starting by standing? Knock it off!