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Signs of the Apocalypse Roundup “ June 2009 “ Week 3

Sony takes ‘Celebrity’ to India
MidiTech, Silverback to co-produce show
Sony Entertainment Television in India has commissioned a Bollywood version of ITV reality skein “I’m a Celebrity¦Get Me Out of Here!” Ten celebrities will relocate to Malaysia’s Taman Negara rainforest, reputed to be the world’s oldest jungle, where they will undergo a series of challenges.

ABC puts a twist on ‘Dance’
Network picks up comedic reality show
Like “Dancing with the Stars,” “Let’s Dance” centers on celebrities learning moves on the dance floor. But “Let’s Dance” takes a much more comedic approach, as the stars are brought on to re-enact a famous dance routine — think Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze in “Dirty Dancing” or Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain.”

Axelist site eyed for TV series
Prometheus to bring complaint site to smallscreen
Axelist.com, which calls itself “America’s Complaint Department,” lets users vent about their bosses, spouses, neighbors and other people in their lives, as well as bad experiences they’ve had with businesses and service providers. Half-hour concept would center on someone’s complaints, and then investigate both sides of the conflict before coming up with a resolution.

VH1 picks up ‘OCD Project’
3 Ball to tackle disorder in new series
VH1 has picked up a new unscripted series that centers on people battling obsessive compulsive disorder. The still-untitled “OCD Project” will follow a group of participants suffering from severe forms of the disease. They’ll live together for several weeks in a treatment facility and undergo both individual and group treatment.

CBS gets more of ‘I Get That a Lot’
Network orders three more editions of special
CBS has ordered three more editions of “I Get That a Lot,” a hidden-camera special that follows celebs as they work regular jobs. The celebs attempt to trick their co-workers and other everyday folk into thinking they’re simply look-alikes and not who they really are.

Business of the Business

Change afoot among the TV set
Study: Nonbusiness online use surging with boomers
Baby boomer professionals are spending 12.9 nonbusiness hours each week surfing the Internet and 11.8 watching TV. 51% of respondents maintain profiles on social networking sites, with LinkedIn slightly more popular than Facebook. Classmates, Twitter and MySpace come in a distant third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Asked which subscription service they’d be most likely to give up, 44% of the group said cable and satellite TV. About 69% of those surveyed have watched online video during the past 90 days. 30% of those surveyed said they watch less TV now than they did a year ago, and only 6% watch more. 26% said they watch less TV because they surf the Internet more.

Study: Devices distract kids
Kids tuned in to even more gizmos
Some 46% of kids using cell phones are text messaging or sending photos. When it comes to digital music, 30% of kids own a personal digital music player like an iPod or Zune, vs. 6% in 2005. Use of instant messaging is on a decline because of texting on cell phones and more time spent on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. For gaming, more than 37% of kids own a portable gaming device like a Nintendo DS or PlayStation PSP, while 26% own their own videogame console like Nintendo’s Wii, Xbox 360 or a PlayStation. They’re spending less time playing software-based games on their computers, opting for online and virtual games instead.

Luc Besson to build mega studio
Facility to lure Hollywood blockbusters to Paris
With nine soundstages, including one at 23,680 square feet, Paris Studios will be part of the ambitious La Cite du Cinema film complex, located at a former power station in Saint Denis, northern Paris.

Milos Forman flays Web pirates
Filmmakers speaks out at World Copyright Summit
“Pirates see themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. But they are in fact robbing from thousands of regular people, many of them poor, who depend on the creative industries for a livelihood. Pirates also think everything on the Internet should be free. But that is like going into a department store or supermarket, and just because you got a shopping basket for free, everything in the basket should be free, too.”

Global home entertainment biz falling off
Report says figures are in line with overall consumer trend
Internationally, last year consumers spent $26.4 billion on video software, with $18.1 billion of that spent on buying DVD discs. The overall figure represents a 3.6% drop on 2007 spend and a 4.7% drop on disc sales alone, the research shows.

Planet of the Odd

Six Flags declares bankruptcy
Theme park files for Chapter 11
In the first three months of this year, Six Flags’ net loss fell 7%. But the recession is taking a toll, bringing revenue down 24% during the period as consumers spend less on merchandise. Bankruptcy restructuring would help Six Flags cut its debt by $1.8 billion and wipe out more than $300 million in preferred shareholder stock. Bill Gates, through his Cascade Investment group, is one of the company’s major shareholders, with an 11% stake. In fact, Gates is the largest holder of voting securities through Cascade, according to the bankruptcy filing.

Sarah Palin on Letterman: ‘It’s not funny’
Governor appears on ‘Today,’ seeks apology for joke
The CBS “Late Show” host made a joke earlier this week that Palin’s daughter got “knocked up” by New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez during their recent trip to New York. Letterman has said his joke was about Palin’s 18-year-old daughter Bristol, who is an unwed mother (no name was used in the joke). Problem was, the Alaska governor was traveling with 14-year-old Willow. “I would like to see him apologize to young women across the country for contributing to kind of that thread that is throughout our culture that makes it sound like it is OK to talk about young girls in that way, where it’s kind of OK, accepted and funny to talk about statutory rape,” she said. “It’s not cool. It’s not funny”.

Letterman apologies for Palin joke
‘Late Night’ host expresses regret for ‘coarse’ gag
Sarah Palin charged Letterman with “sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity.” David Letterman said his joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter was a lousy joke, no matter how you cut it, and he’s sorry. Letterman explained that the risque joke thought by some to have targeted Palin’s underage daughter, Willow, was actually referring to 18-year-old daughter Bristol

Russia ‘South Park’ case dropped
2X2 in the clear for airing toon series
A Russian court has dropped the case against adult cartoon channel 2X2 for screening the series “South Park,” which religious groups allege stirs up national hatred. The case was brought last year by the Russian Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith, which said one episode — “Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics,” broadcast in early January — “insulted the feelings of religious believers and incited religious and national hatred.”

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

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About The Author

Scott From LA

Scott is an art director, writer and comics creator living in Los Angeles. He has been a pop culture maven from a very young age. His very first job was as a manager of a comic book store. He spent several years working in a video store, and yes, we are talking VHS tapes. A student of literature and Writing, he brings his obsessive love of comic book trivia, movie history and science fiction/fantasy writing to bear on the work he does for CoolShite.

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