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Stargate Universe: The Trailer

Fyi:

Twitter Skewers SyFy Channel Over Name Change

In case you haven't heard: after a year of deliberation (apparently), SCI FI settled on a brand new name: SyFy.  No, seriously.

 

Immediately, Livejournal users started pronouncing the new name as "Siffy." My tweeps free associated..never mind.

It's reminiscent of the ancient insult - Skiffy - often employed in the old days by Usenet members.  I think, but am not certain, that the scathingly funny and prolific Gharlane of Eddore may have coined the term. (Gharlane, god rest his soul.)

At any rate, Syfy is currently a hot topic on Twitter.  Users are having a lot of fun today skewering the choice.  I'll try to post the "best of" as they flow into my own Twitter page.

Here's one that just came up with a link to an IO9.com post:

@dloehrFavorite SciFi Channel headline yet: "SciFi changes its name to typo." http://tinyurl.com/d429mo2 minutes ago from TweetDeck

CNBC: The Controversy Still Burns

The fallout from the CNBC Santelli rant which lead to the Jim Cramer/Jon Stewart smackdown on The Daily Show continues to burn and fester.  A petition campaign, slamming CNBC, erupted on my Twitter page this morning.

Petitioners are urging users to sign their names to the following:

FixCNBC! CNBC: Hold Wall Street Accountable

Dear CNBC —

“You knew what the banks were doing, and yet were touting it for months and months. 

The entire network was.” — Jon Stewart

These now-legendary words were a wake-up call. We’re asking you to wake up.

Americans need CNBC to do strong, watchdog journalism – asking tough questions 

to Wall Street, debunking lies, and reporting the truth.

Instead, CNBC has done PR for Wall Street. You’ve been so obsessed withgetting “access” to failed CEOs that you willfully passed on misinformation to the 

public for years, helping to get us into the economic crisis we face today.

You screwed up badly. Don’t apologize – fix it!

CNBC should publicly declare that its new overriding mission will be responsible journalism

that holds Wall Street accountable. As a down payment, we ask you to hire some new economic voices – people who have a track record of being right 

about the economic crisis and holding Wall Street executives’ feet to the fire.

Please show us that you hear our voices loud and clear.

Sincerely,

your name, email etc. here.

Careful What You Wish For: Jon Stewart Delivers Body Blow to CNBC Reputation, with Assist from NBC

CNBC's reputation has taken a beating lately. Damage from the much anticipated Daily Show smackdown between Jon Stewart and CNBC's Jim Cramer may be slow to heal. 

CNBC left the ring bruised and battered. The question is: when will audiences trust the network's coverage again, if ever?

It's been a public relations disaster and NBC Universal execs have only themselves to blame. 

The controversy really started a looooong time ago (in television/24 hour news cycle time) with CNBC's Rick Santelli and his meltdown, live, from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade. 

To recap: Santelli went OFF on a rant about the Obama Administration's plan to save desperate homeowners from foreclosure. He compared Obama's effort to Cuba under Castro. Santelli trashed homeowers as nothing more than a bunch of reprobates who borrowed money to add "an extra bathroom" to their now underwater homes.

Yet, the Wall Street investment firms and bankers responsible for the big mess in the first place had secured close to a cool trillion - just in time to pay out billions in staff bonuses, and, ironically (in the case of Merrill Lynch's John Thain), renovate their corporate bathrooms with $35,000 commodes.

Santelli's rant was oddly self-serving and tone deaf in a "let them eat cake" way.

Instead of allowing the rant to fizzle, NBC Universal cross-promoted the Santelli breakdown. Sister network NBC featured Santelli's moment in the sun at the top of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

Users stampeded to the CNBC website, after Drudge posted a link. But be careful what you wish for. The blow-back from that brief flare of attention has been intense. 

What was NBC Universal thinking?  How did they not grasp the obvious blow-back potential of the Santelli rant?

Enter Jon Stewart:

Stewart picked a fight with this now famous frontal assault on CNBC. He unloaded on Rick Santelli after Santelli canceled a scheduled appearance on The Daily Show. (It's never a good idea to cancel an appearance.  John McCain, for instance, learned the hard way after he bailed on David Letterman.)

Stewart capped his remarks with a rousing "F*ck you!"  Ouch.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Then, Jim Cramer - who resides in the most delicate of all CNBC glass houses - complained his remarks were taken out of context by Stewart.  Uh, oh.  Stewart was all over that one.  Here, he eviscerates Cramer and invites someone - anyone! - from CNBC to guest on his show.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

In Cramer We Trust

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Thus, the stage was set for the Jim Cramer/Jon Stewart smack down.  

The day after was brutal.  The media was ABUZZZZZZ - and I mean ABUZZZZZ - about the meet-up.  Competing networks used the opportunity to stomp on NBC Universal. 

This is just some of the coverage that I happened to watch live on Friday, March 13.

ABC Nightly News featured a brief analysis by Washington Post's media columnist Howard Kurtz (@howardkurtz on Twitter).

CBS Evening News with Katie Couric gave the smackdown extensive coverage with a lengthy commentary by Jeff Greenfield reminiscent of the old news days a la Walter Cronkite. Stewart, noted Greenfield, "was like a prosecutor bearing down on a decidedly clearly uncomfortable witness."

KRON 4, a local San Francisco station, flayed CNBC.  The on-air host asserted that the 

producer for Jim Cramer's CNBC show Mad Money was formerly a producer for Jerry Springer. 

"For real business news," said KRON 4, "read BusinessWeek or watch Bloomberg."  

Like I said, it may be awhile, if ever, until CNBC regains audience trust.

Two Things about Breaking Bad, Season Two/Episode 2

I have only two things to say about Breaking Bad, Season Two, Episode 2 "Grilled" which airs tomorrow, March 15, at 10p.  

1.  In this episode you will meet "Tio," the uncle of Tuco (Raymond Cruz), the psychotic drug dealer. Tio (Mark Margolis) is confined to a wheelchair. He's completely paralyzed except (pretty much) for one, intense beady eye and a single forefinger. Even so, Tio is a force to be reckoned with. Watch the amazing Margolis (Oz) make the most of his limitations.

2.  Hank (Dean Norris), Walt White's DEA agent brother-in-law, kicks ass!

That is all.  Don't miss Breaking Bad tomorrow night at 10p.m.

  

Tomorrow Is Pi Day on Science Channel

Tomorrow, March 14, is Pi Day on Science Channel! How did I remember? I found a hot, fresh pizza pie sitting on my front porch yesterday, along with a nice note from Science Channel reminding me.  

Lunch! A totally memorable, consumable press kit. 

Science Channel salutes Pi on their website.  Immerse yourself in the "mysterious digit that's held the world captive for thousands of years. Numerically, it's 3.14159265 .... on to infinity.  It is an irrational number that never ends....It has been calculated out to over a trillion digits, but it does not  repeat."

Click here to jump to the Science Channel Pi page for vids, quizzes, and more.   

Breaking: Daily Show Ratings

This just in from Comedy Central:

“THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART”

DIGITAL

On Friday, March 13, TheDailyShow.com posted its highest traffic day in 2009. 

TheDailyShow.com attracted the largest audience and also streamed the most videos in a single day in 2009

 RATINGS:

Last night’s episode (Thursday, March 12, 2009) of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” featuring guest Jim Cramer from CNBC, drew 2.3 million total viewers, making it the second most-watched episode of the year and one of the top 10 most-watched episodes in show’s history. 
Only the Inauguration Day episode from Tuesday, January 20, 2009 drew more viewers this year with 2.6 million total viewers.
The strength of these episodes propelled “The Daily Show” to record heights for the second time this year, alongside Inauguration Week.  These were the most-watched weeks of the year and two of the top 10 weeks in the show’s history.
The series drew an average 2.1 million total viewers for the week of March 9^th overall.  
Source: Nielsen Media Research (3/12/09) Live + Same Day data  
  

ETA: Also, thanks to my tweep @dbferguson at No Fact Zone for posting this vid, and others, of Stewart's UNEDITED interview with Cramer.  

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Heidi Klum Says: "Demonstrate In Front of Harvey Weinstein's House"

The legal tiff over which network - Lifetime or Bravo - has the legal right to broadcast Project Runway continues, with suits and countersuits.  

Just a few moments ago, in response to Jimmy Kimmel's question about the show's fate, PR's Heidi Klum said she doesn't know, but Klum half-quipped that "people should be demonstrating in front of Harvey Weinstein's house."

(The Weinstein Company produces Project Runway.)