Gotta love the way the folks at Vulture.Com think. Oh, and we like the pic a lot too:
Has NBC Passed the Point of No Return?
by Josef Adalian
It’s impossible to exaggerate just how bad a 2013 NBC is having. Over the last four weeks, the network has debuted three new series (1600 Penn, Deception,Do No Harm) and watched as viewers rejected each of them. New Tuesday comedies Go On and The New Normal, which seemed to be finding an audience in the fall, have seen their demo ratings cut nearly in half since losing their lead-in of The Voice. And then there’s Smash, which NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt last summer called “an unqualified success” and top lieutenant Jen Salke labeled “highly anticipated by its fans”: It returned this week down nearly 40 percent from its May 2012 finale, and more than 70 percent versus its premiere a year ago. In less than 30 days, whatever slow momentum NBC seemed to be building since Greenblatt’s January 2011 arrival has almost completely vanished. Once again, NBC seems destined to finish the season an also-ran, just as it has every year since Friends went away in 2004. It’s time to ask the question: Is it possible to save NBC, or has it passed the point of no return?
Invisible Mikey: Remembrance of Television Past
JOHN OSTRANDER: Story Telling
In which the writer behind Grimjack, one of the finest anti-heroes in comics, gives up a few of his writerly secrets so that we can run wild with our own stories too.
by John Ostrander (ComicMix.Com)
I love stories. I love reading stories, I love hearing stories, I love telling stories.
THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE – A Lesson in Economics
We’ve always loved this little show, not merely because it was brought to TV by an old friend of LB’s (Rick Sigglekow: Hi, Rick!) but also because of the important life lessons it teaches. Including this one about – cronyism?
The Baffling Economics of the Island of Sodor
by Alex Knapp
Being the father of a toddler, I spend a lot of time watching Thomas the Tank Engine. As a writer for a business magazine, my mind can’t help but be puzzled by how the economy of the Island of Sodor actually functions. It seems to me to be dreadfully inefficient, and for the life of me I can’t figure out how anyone on the Island turns a profit – especially the railways. Here’s just a few questions I’ve had while watching the show:
Will Marathon Viewing Become the TV Norm?
We think this is an issue worth discussing. We also think that the answer to the question will be “no,” at least in terms of the general – as in casual – audience. But true believer fans have always been marathon viewers. And now it’s become so much easier!
