Weekend listening; plus, we rewelcome your comments

The digital TV revolution raises some interesting issues, including some you may not have thought of. Which is why I brought them up this week on the radio.

KCUR - Digital TV Pt. 1 - 5/27/2008

KCUR - Digital TV Pt. 2 - 5/27/2008

As you may have noticed, I have decided once again to accept comments ... but this time I've turned moderation on. I don't think I've moderated comments before, but I realized that soliciting emails just wasn't going to produce the kind of feedback that comments used to. It was something Bob Costas said to me during the whole Buzz Bissinger thing that got me thinking about doing moderated comments. He said that even talk radio hosts have their calls screened, which of course was not news to me, but it was the way he said it that got me thinking.

"If you truly didn't have a bleep button in talk radio," said Costas, "you wouldn't just have the occasional person spewing scurrilous things, you'd have it all the time, more and more ... to the point where it crowded out other voices and brought the whole enterprise down."

So I thought, What if I just removed the posts I personally found obnoxious? How bad would that be? The Keith Olbermann post became an excellent test case. I zapped a handful of comments — including one from a person I know and like — because they served no purpose other than to ventilate in a way you never would in public (except maybe at a rugby bar). Also, I have to say I took great pleasure deleting one comment from some jackass who testily corrected my use of the word "accrued" in the obituary I wrote for Bob. I'd hate to be that guy's stepkid.

What I'm aiming for, through my totally arbitrary pruning efforts, is some freewheeling give-and-take that people can actually read. Not that I'm comparing my blog to the Huffington Post, but does anyone actually read the comments over there? They get thousands, but as a fellow critic noted in an email to me this week, "They just fling crap at each other." I thought that was a hilarious image, and wrote back, "I wonder if the monkeys can control that with their minds?" And my friend replied, "Those robot arms can fling crap a MILE."

Digital TV transition (Part 2)

I was on the Walt Bodine Show this week with two other local experts talking about the digital TV transition that's going to be happening less than a year from now (and, I might add, less than a month after the inauguration of the next president).

KCUR - Digital TV Pt. 2 - 5/27/2008

Digital TV transition (Part 1)

I was on the Walt Bodine Show this week with two other local experts talking about the digital TV transition that's going to be happening less than a year from now (and, I might add, less than a month after the inauguration of the next president). KCUR - Digital TV Pt. 1 - 5/27/2008

Bob Dorn, RIP

My stepfather, Bob Dorn, died this week after a long illness. I met Bob for the first time in the summer of 1974, when he was dating my mom. Over the next 34 years we would not exactly grow close, but I will forever be grateful that he came into my and my mom's lives.

Bob would play an influential role in two of the most important decisions I made in my life.

First off, he married my mother and took care of her. In return, she took care of him -- most memorably on the day she died three years ago while shopping at Albertson's, getting ready a nice Fourth of July supper to welcome him when he came back from the hospital. They were a loving couple, and whatever faults I might have accrued to him at the time as a parent were ultimately redeemed by the stability and support that he and Mom gave me during those years.

Mrs. TV Barn and I just celebrated 13 years of marriage. They have been happy and productive years for us both. And I don't think it's a coincidence that each of us brought to the marriage memories of two parents who modeled what it meant to be well-yoked. Bob deserves a lot of credit for that.

The only thing approaching "self-parody" are these endless attacks on Olbermann

It has been a needlessly bruising week for MSNBC and its most popular anchor, Keith Olbermann. The usual suspects once again screamed about whether it was fair that Olbermann be allowed to attack President Bush on his show. What's different this week is that the screamers drew solace and support from an unlikely corner of the news media establishment: Time Magazine. Its TV critic Jamie Poniewozik, a self-declared Obama supporter, decided that an old-fashioned GOP Keithbash was the perfect time to pile on with his own grievance, and thus, intentionally or not, allow himself to be used as firewood to bring some long-smoldering embers of resentment and partisan hatred roaring back to life.

Recount your blessings

For whatever reason, I had to watch "Recount" like the rest of America did — when it aired, because HBO didn't get a screener to me, or it was intercepted and is selling on eBay right now, or something. Anyway, I found the first hour tendentious but the second hour, when the Florida recount of 2000 just became an old-fashioned political street brawl with 24/7 news coverage thrown in, was much more entertaining.

That video of a hanging chad getting flattened by a machine counter, however, was the highlight of the movie. Why didn't CNN hire a visual effects lab to cook up one of those during the recount? They had a whole month to work with.

Anyway, I told Chip Franklin on the radio this morning who I thought the film benefitted most right now. Here's a hint: Someone should've asked her husband for help eight years ago.

KOGO - 5/27/2008

Not that I would've had time to write about "Recount," what with writing about The New Summer Shows (Kansas City Star) and the Kansas memoirists and "KC's Most Wanted," which is still airing on various stations in town, and "Idol" and "Sex and the City," which is the makeup movie thousands of men are going to be watching as payback for dragging their dates to see that hideous "Indiana Jones" sequel this weekend.

I'll be on 10 today on KCUR as part of a "Walt Bodine Show" panel discussing the digital TV transition, or as I'm calling it, Y2K II.

"Recount," "The Wire"

Chip Franklin and I have trouble turning the page, so we go back and yak about two recently aired HBO programs. And I reveal which political candidate benefits most right now from HBO reviving the whole Florida election 2000 recount mess.

KOGO - 5/27/2008

"Fox is advertising a 'mature' show during American Idol"

Has there ever been any talk from the FCC regarding ratings on TV commercials? Fox is advertising a "mature" show during American Idol. It makes it difficult as a parent to do anything during a commercial break without turning the TV off first. You never know what is going to pop up. It would be nice if they rated commercials also and only allowed similar rated commercials during a similar rated show.

Bryan Harris

(Actually, that's a very common-sense idea. Unfortunately, the TV ratings are a joke because they are completely self-regulatory. Talk about the fox in the henhouse!--AB)

Sunday funnies

This entertaining interview podcast with Paul Shirley -- basketballer, author, cynic, Kansan -- accompanies my review of his book Can I Keep My Jersey? in Sunday's (May 25) Kansas City Star.

Paul Shirley - Can I Keep My Jersey author

Also, in case you missed it in Saturday's paper, here's a delightful piece from Erin Carlson framing the "American Idol" final as teen magnet versus soccer-mom fantasy guy. This story, with its excellent quotes (starting with that sign "Cougars 4 Cook"), confirms that David K. Li was on to something when he reasoned that David Archuleta's fan base had earlier bedtimes than Cook's legions. And it explains why "Idol's" audience grew toward the end of the season even as its median age crept upward (but still comfortably within the 18-49 demographic).

Fascinating. Who knew 40-something women could text and speed-dial as obsessively as their daughters?

It never ends....

KMBC AND KUDL ANNOUNCE CASTING CALL FOR THE NEW SEASON OF ‘THE BACHELOR’

This hit reality show is coming to Overland Park on MAY 28TH to find next season’s stars

KANSAS CITY, MO (May 23, 2008) - The search is on for eligible women who are ready to find true love on the new season of "The Bachelor" on ABC. One lucky man is given the opportunity to find the woman of his dreams -- and hopefully his bride-to-be -- in the popular primetime romantic reality series. Those who feel they possess the charm, style, class and culture to become America's next leading lady are invited to:

Trolley’s Downtown Bar & Grill
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
From 5pm-8pm
9100 W. 135th
Overland Park, KS 66221

To download your application, go online to http://thebachelor.warnerbros.com/.

Hosted by Chris Harrison, "The Bachelor" is produced by Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television. Mike Fleiss, David Bohnert and Martin Hilton are executive producers.

"Normally I talk politics but Cook has taken over the discussion"

I had to smile when I saw this excerpt from your latest post on David Cook:

"The best line I heard during the day came from the New York Post's David K. Li, who after seeing the DialIdol tally shared with me his theory: "David Cook's voters have later bedtimes."

This is exactly what I said to a friend of mine tonight when we were talking about David Cook winning. Tuesday night after the show I was bummed by what Simon had said but my kids and I called all night while monitoring Dial Idol. It consistently had David Cook ahead all night and by a large margin so I figured it would be hard for them to be that far off. It gave me a lot of hope and I was ecstatic when he won.

I am a huge David Cook fan and have talked about him a lot on my blog. Normally, I talk politics but Cook has taken over the topic of discussion this week. Tonight was an exciting night!!

Dee Vantuyl
Conservatism With Heart

It's the Kay Barnes Sodomite Dance Party Mix!

I hear that Certain Readers are a little cranky at picking up the Kansas City Star day after day and having the fresh-scrubbed face of "American Idol" David Cook and/or his fans, friends, family, former teachers and other acolytes stare out at them on page one.

Hey, leave the kid alone! At least he's putting KC on the national map in a good way. It could be worse. Kansas City could be known solely as the home for Campaign 2008's Stupidest Attack Ad:

This amazingly tawdry spot comes out of Missouri's 6th District, where the former mayor of Kansas City, Mo., is challenging the four-term congressman Sam Graves. I'm told this ad was only running in St. Joseph, a mostly-rural market adjacent to the Kansas City DMA.

But then the Star noticed. And so did the TV news stations in town. As did the national media.

"Worst Political Ad Of the Year," wrote TNR Politics, a blog run by The New Republic, which most righties think of as a lefty rag but generally speaking is about as left-wing as a contra reunion. The blogger added the weasel phrase "...so far," but something tells me this one's got legs all the way to awards season.

The Washington Post's Chris Cilizza not only spotted the ad, but decided to use it to launch a new feature on The Fix, his popular website, called "Ad Wars." Cilizza also quoted a GOP operative who said, "If this is the best hit they have then Sam Graves is in real trouble."

Talking Points Memo featured it as a "Wacky GOP Attack Ad" (and linked to the Barnes rebuttal ad). And I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Politico, Huffington Post, CNN and the rest of the blogosphere pile on.

In defense of the ad, though, it's got a great beat you can dance to! I give it an 83.

There's been some attempt by Graves operatives to limit the damage by focusing on one station's coverage of the ad. Apparently a local radio talk show screamer spent much of his program on this today. It was the least he could do, seeing as how he used to work for the congressman who placed the ad. (Hopefully he wasn't paid to spell-check Sam's speeches.)

Well, good luck crucifying one station while your story is going viral. Basically, every political junkie who loves to rubberneck a good old-fashioned train wreck will be slowing down to click on that ad in the coming weeks, and LOL at the cut-outs of Kay Barnes and a leading liberal Democrat superimposed over video of gays of color dancing (and we all know what dancing leads to).

Only time will tell if such bottom barrel communications are more effective for Sam Graves than they were for Greg Davis. But I have a feeling we're going to see this ad again on Election Night, as the cable news pundits use it as either a vivid demonstration of why the GOP campaigns were so successful ... or why they crashed and burned so spectacularly.

Full disclosure: I don't give a crap who wins the 6th District, or any congressional district for that matter. So please don't mail me your "tips" (unless, of course, you know when "The Shield" is coming back).

TOLDJA! Cook takes "American Idol"

Tell me if you've heard this before. A frontrunner seems virtually assured of victory early in the campaign, only to watch as a cool, confident newcomer steals the mantle away. Desperate to make changes, the new underdog banishes a meddlesome family member and begins changing its image seemingly every week. Finally, the onetime all-but-assured winner, now trailing hopelessly, makes a shameless attempt to win over American hearts and minds ... but it's too late. The cool dude has got his voter base locked up. It's over even before it's over.

I'm just sayin'. I think I've seen this reality show play out this season already.

Still, it's wonderful to see David Cook overcome the media, the pundits and all the doubters (myself included) and score an incredibly decisive (56% to 44%) victory to be named the seventh "American Idol." I didn't really "toldja" he would win: DialIdol.com gets credit for that. However, I did spend part of this afternoon reassuring skeptical readers that DialIdol almost certainly had enough data — given that Tuesday was the heaviest voting night of the year — to make its unambiguous prediction of a Cook victory.

The best line I heard during the day came from the New York Post's David K. Li, who after seeing the DialIdol tally shared with me his theory: "David Cook's voters have later bedtimes."

UPDATE: More from LA from Tim Finn

(Here's a picture I loved so much I had to post it. Taken moments after the finale, it shows Cook with two tall Fox executives and Mike Darnell, its actual sized chief of reality programming. Think of this as a passing of the mantle. TAKE IT AWAY, LIL GUY! BRING ON THE LIE DETECTORS AND BREAK DANCERS! QUALITY IS LEAVIN' THE BUILDING!)

Rather than go on and on about the finale, I just want to point out one moment. OK, two moments. That George Michael song was amazing. But I was actually going to point out that when Carrie Underwood took the stage, she took OVER the stage. I don't know if it was the song or the fact she's totally resculpted her body or what, but if Tuesday's appearance of Reuben Studdard marked a sad coda to the sing-off, serving as a cautionary tale for how quickly your star can fade after winning "Idol," Underwood was strutting proof of how it could serve as a launchpad. The trajectory depends on a few if's: If you are independent minded and know what you want in a career. If you are in the right genre of music to exploit your talent. If you hook up with the right people (hopefully not connected to "Idol").

David Cook is poised for liftoff. I hope he achieves it.

EARLIER POST: Hold the phone! DialIdol is calling it for Cook

Paul Harris Online: "Idol" finale

We talked about what we saw on Tuesday, and on the end of the tV season Wednesday.
Paul Harris - 5/21/2008

Walt Bodine Show, Part 1

Walt and I talked about the end of the TV season and why it was a year to forget in the first segment of our KCUR conversation.

Download walt_bodine_show_05202008_1.mp3

Hold the phone! DialIdol.com is calling it for Cook

Amazing!

DialIdol.com, the tracking service that measures busy signals from people who use their special speed-dialing software, is reporting a clear and unambiguous victory for our boy David Cook in "American Idol" final round voting.

DialIdol began predicting "Idol" winners in season 4. For the past two seasons DialIdol has determined a clear vote leader beyond the margin of error — and both times it was dead-on.

Of course, Taylor Hicks and Jordin Sparks seemed like clear winners, and the finale wound up to be an anticlimax. This year's prediction, by contrast, throws a huge monkeywrench into the impressions left by last night's sing-off.

If DialIdol is right, then Cowell was wrong. I was wrong. We were all wrong!

Cook wins!!

EARLIER UPDATES:

• The Star's Tim Finn reports from inside the Nokia Theater.

•The Star's Tim Finn writes that Archuleta was given "ballads to clobber."

• Paul Harris and I discussed the "Idol" finale this morning. See link at the bottom of this story.

I've never been one to disagree too strongly with "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell. His judgment is very sound, and he has the track record to back up his opinions. So, even though I was rooting for the home team, frankly I can't take too much umbrage at Cowell for short-circuiting the overnight voting process. After all, the show was clinging tenaciously to its boxing motif from start to finish, and Cowell is a judge, so if he wants to declare David Archuleta the winner by "knockout," who am I to argue?

Besides, he's right. The kid from Utah has likely won "American Idol" thanks to his performances Tuesday night.

Cowell's snap judgment — which, as we all now know, is actually acquired throughout the day as the judges listen in on the dress rehearsals — may have been harsh toward Cook, but Archuleta absolutely picked better songs than Cook and performed them with great emotion. They may not be better songs to launch a career with, but they certainly were better songs to wow 30 million people watching at home with.

Earlier today, on various radio outlets, I said that Archuleta would have to shamelessly sell himself to America in order to overcome Cook's polished, confident arena-rocker presentation (for instance, here on "The Walt Bodine Show"):

KCUR - Walt Bodine Show 5/20/2008 - excerpt

To my genuine surprise, that's just what Archuleta did. They should've run his father off the set months ago!

PODCAST: Paul Harris and I talked about the "Idol" finale this morning.
Paul Harris - 5/21/2008

Walt Bodine Show, Part 2

David Cook etc.

Download walt_bodine_show_05202008_2.mp3

Walt Bodine Show, Part 3

The lightning round!

Download walt_bodine_show_05202008_3.mp3

Walt Bodine Show, Part 4

The lightning round continues on KCUR.

Download walt_bodine_show_05202008_4.mp3

Attention "Sopranos" fans! This doctoral student wants YOU

Niki Caputo Wilson writes: "I am a Ph.D student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. I am writing my dissertation on 'The Sopranos'; the working title is A Multiperspectival Analysis of Gender and Ethnicity in 'The Sopranos.' A multiperspectival approach analyzes the production, the text itself, and its reception by the audience.

"I am looking for participants who are at least 18 years of age and willing to visit http://iea.fau.edu/surveys/snap/thesopranos.htm to fill out a questionnaire about their viewing habits, interpretations, and fan activities in relation to 'The Sopranos.'

"My research should result in a completed dissertation, and possibly one or two conference presentations that will include anonymously counted, characterized, and/or quoted responses from fans (or not!) of 'The Sopranos.'"

Good luck with your education, Meadow! Er, I mean Niki!