Now, here’s the video of my MSNBC appearance, which my boss Keith at TV Squad was kind enough to encode so I could embed it (the embed is at TVS; I have an AVI copy of the video here). I thought I did OK; I even made anchor Contessa Brewer laugh a couple of times. Will I do anything different when (if) I get asked back? Sure. But, at least I didn’t choke under the glare of the cameras; I thought I was going to pull a Cindy Brady and freeze up, but I just ignored the cameras and talked to Contessa. Seemed to work. Watch if you dare:
Looks like my pundit career is “taking off.” Tomorrow, I’ll be on MSNBC, around 2:10 PM ET, representing TV Squad. I’ll be interviewed for their special “Super Tuesday” political show, discussing a new TV Guide article that finds out the shows the presidential candidates like to watch. They’re asking me to have fun with the topic; after having seen a press release that lists some of the candidates’ choices, I don’t think that will be much of a problem.
Other stuff:
Just posted: A TV Squad interview I did with David X. Cohen, executive producer (along with Matt Groening and others) and show-runner of Futurama, on the DVD release of Bender’s Big Score and the show’s return to TV.
Also: In the December issue of New Jersey Monthly, I wrote two articles for their Music Issue package: One on Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, and a lengthier one on Robert Randolph. Neither piece is online yet, but it should be on the stands as we speak.
Whew, October went in a flash, didn’t it? So much so that I didn’t realize that I hadn’t posted for the entire month until I looked at the blog yesterday.
I’m not much of a union guy, but I completely support the TV and movie writers in this dispute. As a freelance writer myself, I know what sort of constant struggle it is to be properly paid for the use of my words in various media. Publishers are increasingly putting in wording in their contracts that give them the right to use our stories on “every medium that will be created in the known universe for infinity plus one” or other such CYA nonsense. But at the very least, we get to keep the right to resell our material on our own (in most cases). TV and movie writers don’t get that choice; a long time ago, they traded the right to own their work for the union protection the WGA gives them. But they still should be compensated for every use of their work, whether it be on TV or DVD or online.
No TV show has been more impacted by online distribution than The Office, so I’ll let them explain why the WGA is on strike, in this video, which contains the same wry humor familiar to fans of the show. Enjoy!
