The Morning Fix: ‘Avengers’ to rule world. Pilot buzz picks up.
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 seeing if your pilot got picked up.
The Skinny: Is it too late to get tickets for a Saturday matinee of ‘The Avengers’? Get my assistant on that. Friday’s headlines include a look at the weekend box office, a peak at pilot buzz at the networks and yet another story about the woes of Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications’ OWN.
Daily Dose: It was three years ago Saturday that the first ‘After the coffee’ appeared in this space. While the Morning Fix’s actual anniversary is a few weeks earlier (exact dates are hard to find in the archives), it was the ‘After the coffee’ phrase that was the start of the column finding a voice. So to see how far this space has come, take a look back at the May 5, 2009 column. It looks pretty primitive.
All around the world. ‘The Avengers’ opens Friday in the United States but it’s already a blockbuster thanks to the $250 million the movie has raked in overseas. Here, it is expected to take in about $150 million this weekend. The record opening for a movie in North America is the $169.2 million for ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.’ Box office preview from the Los Angeles Times.
Take that! Samuel Jackson, star of ‘The Avengers,’ took to Twitter to bash New York Times critic A.O. Scott, who didn’t give a totally glowing review of the blockbuster. ‘Avengers fans, NY Times critic AO Scott needs a new job! Let’s help him find one! One he can ACTUALLY do!’ Jackson tweeted. Hope Jackson at least tweeted a thanks to the paper for the glowing profile it ran of the actor in its Sunday magazine earlier this week. More on Jackson’s tweet and the reaction from The Wrap.
Let the buzz begin. With just over a week until the broadcast networks unveil their new schedules to advertisers at the upfront presentations, executives are all locked away in pilot screenings deciding what new sitcoms and dramas will make the cut. Once that work is done, the schedulers jump in and try to figure out what show will go where. Then, in a final act of madness, the networks will premiere most of these shows in a two-week period in the fall and wonder why so many flopped. A look at how pilot season is wrapping up from Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood.
Finding that special look. With period pieces on the rise in television, it is creating a lot of challenges for the wardrobe folks who have to come up with authentic yet still stylish outfits for actors. The Wall Street Journal looks at the lengths wardrobe people will go to find that look that just screams 1864!
Still not tired of reading about OWN? Business Week weighs in with its piece on the bumpy road Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications have been on with the cable network OWN, which has struggled to find an audience.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Betsy Sharkey on ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.’
-- Joe Flint
Follow me on Twitter and stay ahead of the curve. Twitter.com/JBFlint
