Assistant Editor / Co-moderator: Terence Nuzum
Established A.D. 2000, March 19. Now in our eleventh calendar year! Number 512 (Vol. 11, No. 3). This edition is for the week of January 11--17, 2010.
This is an especially tragic story. Tuesday afternoon, the island of Haiti experienced a 7.4 earthquake that struck just 10 miles southwest of its capital, Port-au-Prince. That city is now in ruins, the local hospital unusable. It is their worst earthquake in 200 years.
-- THE FIRST DECADE --
Crazed Fanboy's Most Memorable Moments, 2000--2009 As submitted by PCR writers, compiled by Chris WoodsTHE DEBUT OF RADIOACTIVE TELEVISION
The debut of Radioactive Television on Public Access in 2000 featuring The Horror Writer.
This is a country that is already dirt poor, now they don't even have what little they had before. The loss is staggering, the death toll is still being counted. I don't know what else to say except to encourage everyone to help with relief efforts.
I feel bad for Conan O'Brien. Yes, he posted an update on his website saying not to feel sorry for him, but I do anyway.
The great experiment of moving former Tonight Show host Jay Leno to 10:00pm and giving Tonight Show hosting duties to Conan O'Brien has proven disastrous for NBC, so the reports go. Instead of the anticipated ratings jump putting Leno on before the news, the already fourth-place network experienced two ratings drops, one for the 10 O'clock spot with Leno and the other with The Tonight Show with Conan O' Brien at the traditional 11:30pm spot, following the local news.
Their solution? Move Leno's show back to 11:30pm and bump the Tonight Show to midnight. The now 30-minute Leno offering would act as a "lead-in" to Conan O'Brien. Which, of course, also knocks Jimmy Fallon back a half-hour as well.
I can barely imagine how humiliating this has been for O'Brien, whose life-long dream it was to host The Tonight Show, seeing this crumble after only six months on the air (but also following many years on his own successful late-night talk show). On the aforementioned post, O'Brien, with typical self-effacing humor, very cordially accepts his career as "lucky", but also seems bitter that NBC did not give him the time to develop the show as they had Leno before him. And...that this move to delay The Tonight Show until after midnight is, basically, unacceptable. Since Leno, O'Brien, and Fallon all have contracts with NBC, all three must agree to these moves.
I imagine David Letterman must be laughing to himself right now, albeit sardonically. Long-time TV fans may remember the late-night wars that ensued after the retirement of the legendary Johnny Carson. Letterman pretty much assumed he'd earned the position, only to see it go to Jay Leno.
OTHER STUFF
POSTED BY NOLAN B. CANOVA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14. 2010
The new season of American Idol started Tuesday: Don't care. Simon Cowell quits American Idol after this season: Don't care. Racist remarks made by Harry Reid toward Barack Obama in 2008: Unfortunately-chosen words, already apologized for, gives Repugs unnecessary ammunition.
The past two weeks' record cold temperatures have sorely tested everyone's mettle, to be sure, and in Florida where I am, even more so, and in Tampa, it's just been ridiculous. We've set new records for prolonged cold -- the past two weeks' lows have been in the mid-20s to low-30s every single day -- and many of us have older homes just not designed for this. Space heaters have sold out everywhere, and people have gotten dangerously creative trying to come up with ways to stay warm (you know who they are, you see their tragic tales on the news). Counties north of Hillsborough are routinely in the teens, and forget about adding wind chill factors.
Ye Olde Editor's delicate constitution has not held up well during this and my output has slowed considerably. Features meant to be installed on PCR earlier in the year have been delayed until I can thaw out.
Fortunately, the freak condition that spawned this -- the high pressure system over Greenland that's funneled Arctic air over the central and southern US for weeks -- is expected to weaken and move off and this weekend promises highs at or around 70 degrees in Central Florida. Much more conducive to productivity!
That's all for today. I'll have much more to talk about later in the week, but at the moment, I have one more log to put on the fire.
Please consider making a donation to help support Crazed Fanboy! Click on the "donate" link below and give whatever you can. I sincerely thank you for any and all consideration.---Nolan
Crazed Fanboy.com is a Tampa-based fan outlet for many creative endeavors, including, but not limited to, independent film, video, music, original artwork, and media commentary.
To send me anything like books, posters, VHS tapes, CDs, or DVDs for review or to simply correspond non-electronically through regular mail, please send all relevant material to:
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Otherwise, if you have any questions, email me at nolan@crazedfanboy.com. I appreciate your support.
Sincerely,
Nolan B. Canova