TNT has a potential programming problem. If Fred Thompson decides to campaign for president this summer they have a tough choice to make. Thompson is a mainstay on LAW & ORDER, a show that TNT runs 23 hours a day. With equal time laws they must offer every other candidate equal air time or stop airing his episodes thus reducing their inventory to the Juice Man infomercials. Oh, if only the NBA playoffs lasted till October instead of merely June.The alternative is to air the shows other candidates have starred in. Hillary Clinton played Screech’s mom for several seasons of SAVED BY THE BELL but fans will concede those weren’t the great years. Congressman Tom Tancredo was a contestant on THE CELEBRITY FIT CLUB but left after only a couple of episodes following an altercation with fellow dieter, Bizarre.
Who can forget Rudolph Giuliani as the neigborhood crank on BECKER? Or Joe Biden tripping the light fantastic with Paulina Porizkova on DANCING WITH THE STARS?
Does TNT really want to show all the never aired episodes of EMILY’S REASONS WHY NOT just because Mitt Romney played Heather Graham’s love interest? And what kind of numbers could they draw reprising WHO’S YOUR DADDY hosted by Wesley Clark?
Al Gore was on the popular SURVIVOR: PEARL ISLAND but was voted off week two because his tribe mates just got so sick of hearing about the environment. Barack Obama recurs in flashbacks on LOST as the brother Kate never talks about but those appearances are sporadic. And John McCain lasted only three weeks on ALL MY CHILDREN after his character was killed for sleeping with Babe, Di, Colby, Brooke, Erica, Krystal, Myrtle, and Opal.
But there is some hope for TNT. Considering the amount of residuals Fred Thompson would lose by having his L&O episodes preempted he may realize that even if he won and became president of the United States he’d still be taking way too big a pay cut. His agents (always looking at the “big picture”) are working feverishly to get him to drop out of the race.
Coming Monday: My gala Summer Movies Preview
IIRC, Bill Clinton's brother Roger once guested on "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," playing one of Aunt Zelda's (mortal) dates.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not mistaken (and I might be), cable companies are responsible only for their own original programming for the purposes of the Equal Time law -- meaning it wouldn't apply to repeats of old programs that were originally produced by another source.
ReplyDeleteI've been seeing rumors over the past week Ken, to the tune of Law & Order (but neither of the spin-offs) being canceled at the upfronts.
ReplyDeleteIt may end up being a moot point.
Maybe Kelsey Grammer can take all of Fred Thompson's future acting gigs.
ReplyDeleteHow hypocritical is it of the GOP to rail about Liberal Hollywood, then consistantly put up actors to run for office. How many Democratic actors run? Almost none.
ReplyDeleteConservatives only attack Actors when they do not share the same positions.
>>Conservatives only attack Actors when they do not share the same positions.<<
ReplyDeleteUh, right. You have a tremendous grasp of the obvious. And Democrats attacked Ronald Reagan for years, but are lining up to support Al Franken.
Fred Thompson, BTW, has proven time and again that he is not part of "liberal hollywood". Actors who
We Democrats attacked Reagan for having ideas contrary to our beliefs. Many Democrats who attacked Reagan's policies grew to respect him for his ability to connect with the common American. One of Reagan's fiercest critics, Ted Kennedy, was often a speaker at dinners honoring him.
ReplyDeleteThe Conservative mantra is that Hollywood is evil because some actors are Liberal.
Where is the ground swell of support for Franken? If Al wants to run for Senate, he is entitled to do so. Fred Thompson is entitle to run for President.
didnt Tommy Thompson play the lovable, cantankerous homophobic Mr.Roper on Three's Company?
ReplyDeleteYour thinking of Norman Fell who is no longer with us.
ReplyDeleteI think rob! meant that in jest, mike.
ReplyDeleteThe president of the United States makes $500,000 a year.
ReplyDeleteTom Cruise makes $30 million a movie.
<3 capitalism. :-)
President Bush is way overpaid!
ReplyDeleteHe should be repaying America all the money, not to mention lives, that he's cost us.
Tom Cruise is certainly overpaid, but he's never killed anyone to my knowledge, just ruined some evenings at the movies.
Wow, Mike, you're just twisted inside out about conservatives. A few quick points:
ReplyDelete1. Actually, Hollywood is liberal. And what's wrong with that?
2. I don't quite fathom why you think it's "hypocritical" for GOP candidates to come from acting as much as from any other walk of life. The GOP isn't angry when they're "actors" -- it's angry when they're liberal.
3. Thompson hasn't even declared that he's running yet, let alone been selected by the GOP as its nominee. Al Franken, on the other hand, has said he's been running since the day after the election in November.
4. The GOP isn't so much "putting up" actors to run as it is that the public is electing them. Arnie, for instance, became the governator by overcoming a conservative challenger, and did it without having to go through a primary season -- which, based on his politics, he almost certainly would have lost.
5. In fact, I'd say that conservatives are probably more upset that liberal Hollywood actors DON'T run for office -- because, they believe, the actors are just playing off their celebrity (important because they're famous, rather than famous because they're important); and that if they actually put their views up for a public vote, the electorate would repudiate them.
Just my 2 cents, spend 'em as you will.
Andrew, I thought your comments were well stated. I don't mind debating a Conservative that will bring something to the table.
ReplyDeleteLiberal actors rarely run for office, but Heath Shuler, a standout quarterback for Tennesse was elected to congress, and Bill Bradley, an old New York Knick is a former Senator.
My favorite was Astronaut John Glenn.
Tom Cruise is certainly overpaid, but he's never killed anyone to my knowledge, just ruined some evenings at the movies.
ReplyDeleteHmm. How matter how we feel about Tom Cruise's personal life, he always delivers in his movies.