DramatistDreamer

It's ridiculous that people like Tom Brokaw are so focused on assimilation when we are constantly seeing reports of maladjusted young white men shooting people in schools, churches and banks. Where is the introspection and serious discussion on that? Most of us knew that Trump has been/is wrong on most everything, including and especially, foreign policy. Wrong on North Korea. Wrong on Iran. Wrong on ISIS.

I was just reading that James Ingram's (RIP) duet with Michael McDonald Yah Mo B There was used in a scene during an episode of The Young & The Restless that aired in 1984. Does anyone remember this?

Facebook is unconscionable, which is why, although I have watched and posted video (bad enough), I will never actually join. Can another company with a better conscience come along and just put FB out of business already?

Kamala Harris has an anti-lynching bill. She mentioned it while talking about Jussie Smollett.

How did this scoreline even happen??

Speaking of ad-supported streaming. And I even hear that Sinclair (*barf*) is looking to launch their own streaming service.

Oops wrong thread.

I'm sure the cable/satellite companies are hoping for this, which is why I've always been dubious of the motives of HBOGo, Showtime and ESPN who do both. It is well known that ESPN has benefited mightily from the fees per subscriber (the highest on non-premium cable) that they force the cable providers to charge. They've been one of the biggest losers in the cord-cutting era. And the 'jury is still out' on the financial profitability of their standalone ESPN+ service. Surely Netflix must know that a great number of their subscribers share accounts and split the cost. No doubt, is why they feel justified in raising the fee. Still, it's interesting that Hulu has just lowered their subscription fee. And with Disney, Universal and others launching their own streaming services soon, with various fee based or ad-supported models, I wonder how many shows will get pulled from Netflix, which makes me wonder whether, in a few years, we could see a price drop from Netflix, as we're seeing a price drop now from Hulu.

Just ouch! I imagine, struck with enough force, even a child's hula hoop could leave a mark. I totally want a hula hoop now, his relentlessly cheerful disposition makes me think I can overcome my winter "blahs" by hula hooping it. Funny but I could actually picture NLG playing Margo. Apparently some deplorables/toxic males are claiming that they plan to boycott Gilette and Procter & Gamble after those ads criticizing toxic masculinity ran on social media, over the past week or so. IMO, those ads were the most interesting thing P&G has done creatively since their soaps went off the air.

Sadly, this is all too real for tennis. It just looks like the ATP is corroding from the inside out! I'm a bit embarrassed to ask but what time and channel does this show come on? Because...LOL.

Boy am I glad I didn't stay up to see that Men's Final! I slept soundly and got up when I was good and ready and watched the match On Demand. The Women's Final was far more entertaining. Ironically, the Women's final lasted longer too. One would think this would drive a stake in the heart of the anti-equal pay argument but knowing the stubborn sexist streak endemic to tennis punditry, I doubt it.

Wow.

OMG. Remember the character Hey You, one of the kids from the Earl Mitchell Center, around 1989? Jean Wolfman who played Hey You apparently, was beaten up in 2017...with his own Hula Hoop. Nope, it's exactly as I just said.

Oh, I see where the Capriati stat comes from- it is the last time a first-time GS champ followed up immediately with a second GS title. Venus did the same in 2000 with Wimbledon/U.S. Open.

Oh, the past 8 years, okay, I see.

I'm glad I don't follow Rothenberg. At this point, I even find myself avoiding 90% of anything he writes. I know he wants shorter men's matches to meet/beat his deadline but he's run out of talking points already. As for the women's final, I found it to be pretty entertaining. Up until they started playing, I thought it'd be a tossup but I think somewhere in the midst of the 1st set, it just seemed like Naomi was driving the action. Great fight-back in the second by Petra, though but even after she won the 2nd set, I just had the feeling that if put in a winning position again in the 3rd, Osaka would not falter and that's what happened. I'm glad the match went to three sets. Petra didn't give the match away by any means, she made Naomi earn it and it has to be more satisfying to win the #1, rather than get it by process of elimination or by computer "math" and everyone questioning how the player got #1 without having won a major title. It's been fascinating to see Osaka's entry to and rise through the pro-rankings and increased confidence levels. It will be equally fascinating to see now how she handles the #1 position. He must've corrected himself, but they kept mentioning Capriati when I watched the playback. Capriati was 17 years ago.

Ad-supporting streaming makes a lot of sense because not every subscription-based service will work, in fact, many are likely to fail because there is only so much disposable income that consumers have to spend on streaming services and most "cord-cutters" are, by nature, on the frugal side. Services like Crackle seem to be finding a decent mix of vintage movies from their Sony catalog, classic TV shows, as well as original series (the only original series I actually watch is StartUp, which I find to be pretty interesting, tbh). It's a smart way for a company to make use of their back catalog. If a OTA, antenna-supported network like BounceTV can find a way to stream some of their programs, I think that there is no excuse for some of these other companies to sit on the fence. Niche audiences abound! If Procter & Gamble were smart, they would try to partner up again with AOL, or OATH, or whatever they're calling themselves these days...and use their streaming platform for ad-supported streaming of some of their back catalog of shows. PGP could even run some of their commercials for their own products during ad-breaks. The problem with the soap industry and every aspect connected with that industry is that they have shown a failure of imagination as well as a failure to innovate. One look at today's soaps tells you everything you need to know about the state of that industry. If only they could get out of their own way!

This article was talking about the original L&O series, not any of the spinoffs, which are still available on streaming platforms. I think it mentioned maybe one OTA network showing it but I think the article was talking about the lack of streaming options, in particular. I remember L&O used to be available on networks like USA, is this still the case? I haven't watched much network TV in forever but there used to be a NY based network that showed it every weekend but I'm not sure whether it still does.

Another interesting aspect that the article mentions is that Dick Wolf, could also be somewhat of an obstacle (for lack of a better word) because he is fiercely independent and he owns a significant stake in the L&O universe, so they'd have to work out a deal with him. Compare that to Irna Phillips, who has been gone for over 40 years now. It does make me curious about whether a T.V., like a book or movie, ever enters the public domain, and if so, under what circumstances? For instance, does Procter & Gamble own the rights to its shows in perpetuity? Such a fascinating and thought-provoking article. Thanks for posting, @Faulkner. And those are series that had shorter runs, so they should be more manageable in terms of presenting them on a streaming platform. With ABC and NBC, I'm surprised that they're not already an option on their respective streaming services. It wouldn't be that hard to stick them on there.

According to this article, L&O's lack of serialized story arcs may make it less desirable than shows that do. That is what makes L&O's situation distinctly different from soaps, which are all about a continuing story that aims to make audiences want to tune (click) into the next episode. "What’s more, while sitcoms such as Friends and The Office have lightly serialized story arcs (think Ross and Rachel, or Pam and Jim), Wolf deliberately created his drama to be as self-contained as possible, focusing every episode on cases and offering little to no exposition regarding the lives of its regular characters. As such, streaming-industry insiders say the original L&O might not be as valuable as a show where audiences feel compelled to click ahead to the next episode." The sheer breadth of episode numbers, OTOH, is something resembling a similarity between soaps and the L&O series.

EDT: Also, if the delays spread to the Atlanta airport, the chaos it will spur will dwarf what's going on at LaGuardia, Newark and Philly airports.

It sounds like something I would say, lol. IRL conversations I've had over the past week or so, I have mentioned that perhaps a strike/sick-out was the only way to force the issue. Seeing people in Depression-Era food lines apparently, wasn't enough to generate action so perhaps tangling up a business-class travelers connection to Silicon Valley or Davos might be the answer to ending this ridiculous shutdown.