A lot has happened in Hollywood this week. We had the first presidential debate where many tuned in to watch Big Bird get bullied by presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Then earlier in the week Oprah and Tyler Perry announced their collaboration together. Plus female directors get ignored and not one is hired to direct for the majority of prime time dramas, comedies, or reality series airing on ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, and NBC? So we will revisit these events and ask you to share your thoughts.
Essential Stories:
- BIG BIRD GETS A PINK SLIP
- OPRAH & TYLER PERRY TEAM UP
- WOMEN DIRECTORS IGNORED BY MAJOR NETWORKS
BIG BIRD MAY GET A PINK SLIP:
Many watched the presidential debates between President Obama and Mitt Romney. Given our poor educational system. Mit Romney believes it’s more important to fire Big Bird and cut funding to PBS. Many Americans have relied on PBS to stay informed. Here’s a clip from the debates. Do you agree that PBS and Big Bird need to go?
OPRAH & TYLER PERRY TEAM UP:
OWN has partnered with Tyler Perry to bring original developed shows to the network. Tyler Perry was in talks with Lionsgate to launch his own cable network but since this announcement it is no longer happening. It’s believed after witnessing how difficult it was for Oprah to start her network Perry decided to partner with Oprah instead according to Shadow & Act. [1]
“And in exchange, for his part, Perry will get “a small equity stake” in OWN, according to the New York Post today, in addition to a guaranteed future home for his new TV projects; likely seen as a much lower risk proposition than investing in the restructuring of an existing network.”
WOMEN DIRECTORS IGNORED BY MAJOR NETWORKS:
The female Television audience is one of the biggest consumers. So it’s shocking to see women not directing for television. On 9/18/2012 it was reported 90% of American broadcast television programs employed no women directors during 2011-2012. [2]
Women have contributed to almost every industry in America except Hollywood. Why is Hollywood more difficult than any other industry?
Here’s what Women & Hollywood stated
“Many women, simply because of the absence of opportunity, have cobbled together careers by directing shorts, independent films, theater, creating graphic novels, webisodes and teaching. Some resumes have gaps created by having babies and raising children. Many more women toil in the trenches as Assistant Directors and Unit Production Managers, yearning to move up with few opportunities”
comicreleaf
comicrelief2
Comic Relief
parisienne
littlebells
Lurker
ozzie20
Open Book
LIH
linkedinhollywood.com 
I think Big Bird will do just fine. http://sesamestreet.tystoybox.com/ In addition to making loads of money from product sales, SS is also underwritten by some very big companies and they have tons of fundraisers. With all the toys I see from SS in the store, I’m actually shocked that it still gets public funding.
I’m still shocked that he wants to cut funding to PBS. I understand why he wants to but he needs to find a more CREATIVE solution to the issue instead of taking quality programming away from the American public.
Paris-U Said: “……taking quality programming away from the American public.”
Me: Exactly! Just like 4string has so eloquently stated above. SS can easily make more money in the private sector than in the public. Yet, they choose to stay on public television so parents don’t have to worry about their kids being bombarded with advertising while getting good quality programming. It’s awful the word “public” has to equal low quality in this country. To cut PBS budget will force them to be like the other conventional networks that cater to advertisers. Almost all news stations today cater to advertisers instead of the American people. That to me is scarier then worrying about Big Bird.
P.S. It’s nice to see u back 4string!