The Morning Fix: ‘Playboy’ membership pulled. Icahn not gone yet.
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
After the coffee. Before tossing my ‘Playboy Club’ spec script.
The Skinny: I like waking up to rain. I just don’t like getting out of bed to rain. Wednesday headlines include the shocking cancellation of NBC’s ‘The Playboy Club,’ an analysis of why News Corp. might be better off without new episodes of ‘The Simpsons’ and Disney is going to re-release some more of its old animation movies in 3-D.
Not rid of me yet. The exit strategy designed to get investor Carl Icahn out of production company Lions Gate may have hit a bump in the road. Lions Gate is putting on hold plans to sell 22 million shares of stock held by Icahn because the stock has seldom traded at the agreed upon $7-per-share sale price. Details from the Los Angeles Times and Reuters.
Membership cancelled. NBC has yanked ‘The Playboy Club’ from its lineup after just three airings. The period-piece drama about life inside Chicago’s flagship club for men failed to generate a lot of excitement among viewers. Going into its 10 p.m, time slot in a few weeks will be a news magazine featuring anchor Brian Williams. NBC also picked up comedies ‘Up All Night’ and ‘Whitney.’ More from Variety and its TV columnist Brian Lowry.
That’s creative. With the 3-D release of ‘The Lion King’ doing big business, is it really a big surprise that Walt Disney Co. is deciding to release a bunch more of its animation flicks, including some Pixar films. Hey, why bother creating new franchises when you just milk the old ones for more money? Reporting from the Wall Street Journal.
Her? Hulu has emerged as a candidate along with Netflix to buy rights to any future episodes of the much loved, long gone Fox series ‘Arrested Development,’ according to Vulture. Mitch Hurwitz, the creator of the quirky Emmy-winning sitcom that never really broke through during three seasons on Fox, said at a recent panel celebrating the show that he wanted to do more episodes and eventually a theatrical. As much as I loved ‘Arrested Development,’ if it never had the audience to sustain itself on broadcast television, I have to question whether the economics are there to support an online play.
Delay of game. It’s been almost a decade since the National Football League launched its own cable network devoted to hyping the sport and Time Warner Cable still refuses to strike a deal for the channel. The New York Times looks at the long-running feud and whether an end is finally in sight.
There goes the neighborhood. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have found a home for a museum devoted to moviemaking. The spot is the old May Company store on Wilshire in the Miracle Mile district, which is right around the corner from my place. Great, more parking and construction hassles. More on the plans from the Wrap.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Believe it or not losing ‘The Simpsons’ might make financial sense for Fox and its parent News Corp.
-- Joe Flint
Don’t be a quitter. Follow me on Twitter. Twitter.com/JBFlint
