The Morning Fix: Google’s love of the arts; `Hangover’ still high; `Daily Show’ better farm team than `SNL’
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After the coffee. Before you realize you forgot to charge the Blackberry.
Not much shine for artists on Google’s Chrome. Many illustrators think Google’s efforts to put their work on the search giant’s new browser Chrome are a little, well, sketchy. In a front page story, The New York Times finds many artists angry that Google wants their work for (big surprise) free. ‘You’d think that if anyone can afford to pay artists and designers it would be a company that is making millions of dollars,” one artist said. For the record, Google makes billions, not millions.
Repeat! Warner Bros. ‘The Hangover’ finished at the top of the box office for two weeks in a row, the first big summer release to accomplish that feat. The booze romp flick pulled in $33.4 million in ticket sales while Disney/Pixar’s ‘Up’ ended up in second place with $30.5 million. Sony’s remake of ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’ cruised to third with $25 million. The Hollywood Reporter.
Better farm team? As ‘The Hangover’ continues to dominate the box office with a cast that has a few alumni from Jon Stewart’s ‘Daily Show,’ Variety’s Brian Lowry notes that the fake news show has become a better ‘incubator’ of big and small screen talent than NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live.’
Where are they now? Hollywood has hit the pause button on web video after several high profile efforts, says the Los Angeles Times. Among the departed: Disney’s Stage 9, 60Frames, which counted talent agency UTA among its backers, NBC’s Dot Comedy and Turner’s Super Deluxe. Why didn’t they work? YouTube, for starters.
But will he go on ‘I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here.’ Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch and his wife Suzy are doing an online reality show for Microsoft’s MSN in which the couple will offer business advice. Just keep Suzy away from offering journalism advice. Variety
Moving On. Sharon Waxman’s The Wrap has tapped veteran reporter Joe Adalian as TV editor. Adalian had most recently been writing pretty much all of TV Week’s new website.
In the Los Angeles Times: MGM is hoping to take advantage of the digital transition by selling old library product to TV stations that have created new channels with their digital spectrum. A new independent studio start-up hopes to beat the odds. NBC Sports forms a partnership with Profootballtalk.com.
-- Joe Flint
