The Walking Dead didn’t simply return to AMC last night. It returned to positively ridiculous ratings. The Season 4 premiere of this cable smash garnered 16.1 million viewers and an 8.3 rating among the advertiser-friendly demographic of 18-49-year olds, both series records for the drama and the latter higher than ANY series on network television so far this fall. The previous high for total viewers was a relatively paltry 12.4 million for last spring’s Season 3 finale. The Walking Dead Season Premiere Recap “Sincere thanks to the fans, who have welcomed The Walking Dead back for its fourth season with the highest-rated episode in the show’s history,” said AMC President Charlie Collier in a statement. “We could not be more proud of this show and everyone on both sides of the camera who work so hard to give life to this story of character, leadership and survival. Did you catch The Walking Dead Season 4 opener? Grade it now: A B C D F View Poll »
James Woods went off on President Obama on Twitter this week, despite what he implied was the virtual inevitability of being blacklisted in Hollywood as a result. Conservatives in the entertainment industry are certainly a minority, but is it true that the 66-year-old actor would actually be punished for this? According to Mell Flynn, President of the Hollywood Congress of Republicans, discrimination against Republicans in Hollywood indeed runs rampant. “I have known quite a few people who were let go from a job after they made their political affiliation known. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I doubt it,” he said. “This type of discrimination is hard to prove though, especially where actors are concerned. They just won’t get hired or even called in to read for a part.” Producer Gary Michael Walters noted that “outspokenness can definitely be held against someone’s career prospects” in the largely liberal land of L.A. Another show business insider told Fox News that a director friend won’t take on any conservative-type projects for fear of not getting future work. In other case, one star feels “closeted” in her conservative leanings: “I have a prominent actress friend who lives in holy terror of losing her position on a TV show if she is outed as a born-again Christian and conservative.” Last year, Kelsey Grammer implied that he was surprisingly snubbed for an Emmy nomination for Boss due to his “out-of-the-closet Republican in Hollywood” status. Not long after Obama first won the White House, Rizzoli & Isles ‘ Angie Harmon said she was given the “racist” label for vocalizing her disappointment in him. “The Hollywood names who advocate acceptance are the first to shut the door on a conservative,” observed Angie Meyer Olszewski, who works in PR. “But Republicans are finding their voice. They’ve had enough.” It may not help his cause to go off the way he did, but James Woods is far from alone in the political views that sparked his online outburst this week. To name a few, there’s Gary Sinise, a devout GOP-er who is deemed one of the most respected TV actors as a star on the long-running CSI: NY . There’s Patricia Heaton, who has managed to keep her job on the ABC sitcom The Middle . And of course there’s Clint Eastwood, perhaps the most visible of all. Even after talking to an empty chair , he’s pretty celebrated.
Newt Gingrich: President Obama Is Trying To Form Dictatorship Newt Gingrich likes to stay with a little President Obama slander in his mouth… According to Raw Story: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) argued on Tuesday that the government shutdown stemmed from an attempt by President Barack Obama to create a dictatorship. “The big problem is that President Obama refuses to behave like an American president,” Gingrich said in an interview on The 700 Club. “He refuses to deal with the Congress as equal, which it is in the Constitution.” Gingrich then went into an explanation of the constitutional articles providing for the establishment of all three government branches, accusing Obama of putting himself “above the Constitution, and that’s very dangerous for our freedoms.” Peep video below: Discuss…
News Analyst Says Racism Is To Blame For Republican Opposition To Obamacare The GOP is trying to bring President Obama down because he’s black?? You don’t say. via Mediate On Friday, MSNBC host Ed Schultz insisted that Republicans threatening to pass a budget which defuneds Obamacare, which could possibly result in a government shutdown, is motivated by the fact that President Barack Obama is “other.” Schultz said that the GOP is moved by “hate” and that an “element of serious racism” was clearly evident. “This is all about one thing: obstructing this president,” Schultz said. “To come to the conclusion and to have a big summary to the American people that this president is not legitimate. He is other. We’re not going to let him succeed.” Schultz said that the GOP’s opposition is motivated by the fact that there is a “black man in the White House.” “This is hate,” Schultz asserted. “And now this hate is coming to your doorstep.” “Here is an element of serious racism here,” he concluded. “This isn’t about the deficit. This isn’t about the budget. This is about power and control, and the wrong guy at the wrong place at the wrong time in their mind.” We definitely wouldn’t be surprised if this were the case for sure. Do you agree? Continue reading →
Lifetime has pulled the plug on its longest-running series. The network announced today that Army Wives will not return with new episodes, canceling the drama after seven very successful seasons. A 120-minute retrospective will air some time in 2014. Said Rob Sharenow, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Lifetime, via statement: “There is no denying how special Army Wives has been to both Lifetime and the television landscape. By taking on a very relevant and timely issue, it has brilliantly captured the challenges our military families endure and the bravery they and their loved ones display while serving our country. “It has been an honor to be the home of Army Wives. We also want to thank Army Wives’ passionate legion of fans and everyone involved with the series: ABC Studios, Mark Gordon and Jeff Melvoin, Tanya Biank, every single cast member, as well as the crew and community of Charleston, South Carolina. Without their dedication, effort and loyalty, Army Wives’ seven wonderful seasons would not have been possible; and for that we are very grateful.” The series received many accolades, during its run, including a pair of Gracie Awards from the Alliance for Women in Media, a Sentinel for Health Award from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism’s Norman Lear Center, as well as an NAACP Image Award, NAMIC Award and Prism Award nominations.
A damn shame. Man Uses Food Stamps To Eat Lobster And Sushi This guy said phuck the people who actually work for their meals. According to Mail Online A California ‘beach bum’ has no job, surfs and drinks when he wakes up every afternoon and has no intentions of finding employment anytime in the near future – yet, he eats lobster or gourmet sushi everyday. Jason Greenslate, 29, owes his successful culinary mooching to one thing: food stamps. Greenslate recently was profiled on Fox News for a special segment about the abuses of the nation’s food stamp program. And despite mooching off American taxpayers for a living, Greenslate is remarkably unapologetic, nor does he feel any shame for abusing a system designed to help people who truly are in need. During the segment, Greenslate is seen driving expensive cars, drinking beer and grilling lobsters with his friends. Before the cookout, cameras followed Greenslate into a grocery store and watched him purchase the food with his government-issued Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) card. With the card – which only needs to be renewed once a year – Greenslate is given $200 a month for food. There is no requirement that he even look for employment. Previously, there were stipulations that food stamp recipients with no family could only receive food stamps for three months every three years unless they had part time employment or were involved in a jobs program. The goal was to help people who couldn’t make ends meet, not supplement income so people could surf and drink beer. Really? Many of those types of restrictions were eliminated when President Barack Obama signed the 2009 stimulus bill, which allows people like Greenslate to abuse the system. On Thursday, Congress passed a bill that would reduce food stamp spending by five percent. Prior to the vote, Congressional leaders were shown the video featuring Greenslate. ‘You can no longer sit on your couch or ride a surfboard like Jason in California and expect the federal taxpayer to feed you,’ Congressman Tim Huelskamp said following the vote. Republicans in Congress have used Greenslate as the poster-child for the need for entitlement reform. But Democrats have cast aside that notion, claiming that he doesn’t represent the majority of the people who receive assistance. ‘I don’t give a damn about surfer dude,’ Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern said. ‘As far as I’m concerned, he can walk off the nearest pier. To suggest that he’s the face of SNAP is offensive.’ As for the Congressional vote, Greenslate noted, ‘I don’t think that one person should be the decision for 47 million people.’ SMH.
NAACP President And CEO Ben Jealous To Resign Ben Jealous , NAACP President and CEO, has announced that he will no longer lead the civil rights organization. According to USA Today: The man who has become the face of the NAACP — from marches protesting the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin to vigils for death row inmate Troy Davis in Georgia — is resigning effective Dec. 31. In an interview with USA TODAY, Benjamin Todd Jealous said the constant travel as president and CEO of the nation’s largest civil rights organization has kept him away too much from his wife, civil rights lawyer Lia Epperson, and children, daughter Morgan, 7, and Jack, 13 months. He said he plans to make a formal announcement to his staff Monday morning. “Leadership knows when to step up and when to step down,” Jealous said. “This day I can say with pride that I’m prepared to step down and make room for the next person who will lead this organization to its next chapter.” Jealous, 40, said he is talking to a handful of schools within commuting distance of metropolitan Washington about teaching. He plans to continue work with civil rights colleagues toward raising money for a fund to promote black participation in politics. In a separate interview with USA TODAY columnist DeWayne Wickham, Jealous detailed plans to create an “EMILY’s list for people of color.” The civil rights leader said he’s satisfied that he will leave an organization in much better condition than it was when he took over five years ago. Back then, the Baltimore-based civil rights group was financially shaky and shouldering constant criticism that its aging leadership was out of touch. Now, the organization is solvent, social media savvy and its staff seems to be part of a new cadre of leaders — headed by President Obama — who are diverse, well-educated and visible. “In the last five years, we’ve had double-digit revenue growth, we’ve spent five years in the black,” Jealous said. Under Jealous, the donor base has grown from 16,422 in 2007, just before he started, to 132,543 last year. Revenue has grown from $25.7 million in 2008 to $46 million in 2012. Out of a total score of 70, independent non-profit reviewing organization Charity Navigator gives the NAACP 51.42 for finances and 70 for accountability and transparency. When Jealous came in at age 35, he was hailed as the youngest leader of the organization in its history, although some questioned whether he was old enough to serve, and the board vote approving him was close. As a lifelong activist, he was known in the civil rights community but not by the general public. Over the years, he changed that, appearing in public constantly, often alongside other civil rights leaders. If there was a major regional or national civil rights event, Jealous was often there with rolled-up sleeves. Other civil rights leaders credited Jealous for reaching out beyond the groups that have traditionally worked with the NAACP and stretching old boundaries. Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a group that advocates for gay and lesbian rights, said that when he assumed his role a little more than a year ago, Ben Jealous reached out and met with him on his first day on the job. Jealous was insistent that both groups work together, and Griffin credits Jealous with pushing the marriage equality measures that have passed in recent years, as well as strengthening previously weak activist ties between the black and lesbian and gay communities. “Many times I’ve called him a modern-day civil rights visionary, and I truly think that is the only description that captures him,” Griffin said. “He led the NAACP to embrace marriage equality but also transformed the national conversation of civil rights.” Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union, said Jealous helped expand what’s considered the civil rights agenda from the expected voting rights and death penalty cases to issues surrounding the closure of dangerous power plants, early childhood education and health care. “He’s been incredible in re-energizing the NAACP and taking the national operations to the next level,” said Henry, whose group worked with the NAACP to create a fund to advance black participation in politics. Because Jealous does not leave for four months, the organization does not yet have a plan in place for his replacement, Brock said. Jealous suggested the 104-year-old organization might be looking at a woman president. Thoughts on this sudden resignation?
