The Morning Fix: It’s preview time! Who will replace Sawyer? Writers take a beating.
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After the coffee. Before figuring how early you can cut out of work today.
Reading material. The Wall Street Journal offers up its fall movie preview and notes that lots of books are being made into movies. It doesn’t say more books than usual are being made into movies or note that books have been made into movies since, oh, the start of movies, but whatever. The actual news in the story is buried further down, and that is that there will be 32% fewer movies released this fall and winter compared with last year. There might be a business book in that. And if I can sell the rights ...
Fall TV. It’s preview time in TV as well. The Wall Street Journal offers its take on what shows will be hot and who has the most to lose. Also, USA Today critic Robert Bianco makes his top 10 picks for the fall season. We’ll cut to the chase for you. Everyone loves ABC’s ‘Modern Family’ and thinks it’ll work. Everyone loves Fox’s ‘Glee,’ but isn’t so sure it’ll work.
Time for Leno. Time plunks NBC’s Jay Leno on its cover (how’s that feel, Conan?) and offers a lengthy piece on what it means for broadcast television if his show succeeds. Let’s just say if you’re a scriptwriter of dramas, it’s probably not good. Just as interesting, of course, will be what happens to NBC and its top brass if Leno doesn’t succeed.
Morning work. Now that Diane Sawyer’s leaving her day job, ABC News has a big hole to fill on ‘Good Morning America,’ and The New York Times takes a look at who could fill the chair. Among the outsiders mentioned are CNN’s Campbell Brown (really, CNN numbers are that strong?), Ashleigh Banfield (remember her?) and Fox Business Network’s Alexis Glick (who now finds herself working at the same network as Don Imus so who knows what she’s thinking). Meanwhile, Slate columnist Jack Shafer offers his views on why Sawyer is making a mistake.
Finke’s new look. Nikke Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily has finally gotten its makeover under its new owner MMC. First, the name has been tweaked to Deadline.com. That will become the brand name for several MMC sites covering various elements of media and entertainment, according to PaidContent.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: The Writers Guild of America says income for writers fell 18% last year. Courteney Cox’s journey from dancing in the dark with Bruce Springsteen to ‘Cougar Town.’
-- Joe Flint
