The Morning Fix: Google grilled. Zooey shines. Oscar party over.
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After the coffee. Before seeing how ‘The X Factor’ did.
The Skinny: Should I watch ‘Prime Suspect’ or ‘Charlie’s Angels’ or catch up on ‘Breaking Bad.’ Send me your vote on Twitter. In the headlines Thursday are recaps of Google’s Eric Schmidt facing the heat on Capitol Hill, new rules for Oscar season, and lots of talk about vaginas.
Us too big? Google Chairman Eric Schmidt bobbed and weaved around senators at a hearing Wednesday that was investigating whether the search engine giant has been abusing its power. ‘You run the racetrack. You own the racetrack. For a long time, you didn’t have any horses. Now you have horses ... and your horses seem to be winning,’ said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) of Google. Coverage of the hearing from the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.
The party’s over. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is changing the rules on receptions, screenings and other events for movies that have been nominated for Oscars. How the new rules will change awards season is looked at by the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood. Meanwhile, USA Today says there were few Oscar contenders released this summer. You mean ‘Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star’ won’t be in the running. What a gyp!
The vagina dialogue. This fall, the word vagina is getting its day in the sun on broadcast television. Some new TV shows -- two of which coincidentally involve raunchy comedian Whitney Cummings -- are throwing the word around like its going out of style, notes the New York Times. While I too noticed this trend watching pilots last month, I was more struck by some pretty raunchy references to orgasms in the new CBS comedy ‘Two Broke Girls.’
Hola! NBCUniversal’s Telemundo has named Emilio Romano its new president, replacing Don Browne, who exited the Spanish-language network in June. Romano, who has some television experience but is best known for his stint as chief executive of Grupo Mexicana de Aviacion, will need a lot of time and patience to try to make Telemundo into a real rival to Univision, which dominates among Spanish channels. Coverage from the Los Angeles Times and Miami Hearld.
New hit. Fox’s new sitcom ‘New Girl,’ starring Zooey Deschanel, had a big opening, drawing about 10 million viewers and a 4.8 rating among adults 18-49. Although the numbers are strong, it is kind of sad that hitting 10 million viewers now qualifies as a hit in today’s fragmented media world. On the downside for Fox, ‘Glee’ was down and even fell behind CBS’ ‘NCIS’ among adults 18-49. Ratings analysis from Variety.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: John Horn on ‘Machine Gun Preacher’ and ‘Dolphin Tale.’ Mary McNamara on the remakes of ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and ‘Prime Suspect.’
-- Joe Flint
Follow me on Twitter. It’s like watching me graffiti the media landscape. Twitter.com/JBFlint
