hopelessly devoted to deconstructing popular culture and conventional wisdom, one blog at a time

Gobble Gobble Bloggle

Published Wednesday, November 22, 2006 by seanlmccarthy.

Getting ready for a Thanksgiving break...

So today on my other blogs:

In Jokers Wild, find out why Michael Richards won't be playing the Comedy Connection anytime soon, watch Richards in an unfortunate 1986 blackface movie performance and see how Comedy Central finally learns that providing the embed codes for video is a great idea.

In The Messenger, I offer an update on how various TV networks love AND hate YouTube, with examples including an NBC clip promoting tonight's televised Madonna concert, and two CBS clips (one promoting a show, the other a clip CBS yanked from YouTube because it spotlighted a major goof on Monday's evening news).

Have a happy Turkey Day everybody. See you Friday! Gobble gobble!

Dan Kennedy says I "gets it"

Published Tuesday, November 21, 2006 by seanlmccarthy.

If Dan Kennedy mentions me in a blog post, I best be updating my blog -- otherwise you might think something is amiss.

But first, work calls. Today on Jokers Wild, watch comedy videos that brighten your Tuesday after Michael Richards messed up your Monday (and perhaps your vision of Kramer forever). Zebro's "Love Corner" is a month old, but amusing and has slick production values thanks to help from Friends executive producer (and Emerson College alum) Kevin Bright. The other video is from Robby Roadsteamer, and even though I never owned a Nintendo, I can tell you that the music video for his "Duck Hunt" song could only be better if it featured a Dick Cheney cameo. Then again, Cheney hunts quail.

I've got a couple of megaposts in the works that I've been procrastinating, so maybe Kennedy's mention will get me motivated tonight. Wish me luck!

Another new work blog

Published Wednesday, November 08, 2006 by seanlmccarthy.

Last night I took part in the debut of a new Boston Herald blog called Messenger -- it's named for the media column our paper has published in print for years. We kicked it off last night by liveblogging the election night TV coverage across the dial (I managed to catch NBC, Comedy Central and FOX News, so how's that for some variety!).

Today and beyond, the Messenger Blog will examine and report on all sorts of media issues.

The team blog coverage includes myself, reporters Jessica Heslam and Jesse Noyes, business editor Greg Gatlin and TV critic Mark Perigard. Check us out!

The pulse of Boston: The New York Times?

Published Monday, November 06, 2006 by seanlmccarthy.

For some reason, the good folks at The New York Times Co. (no relation) decided yesterday morning to paper-bomb my corner of the South End with complimentary copies of the Sunday New York Times. Complimentary, as opposed to free, because the papers greet you at the doorstep with a fine, "Good morning, stranger, how'd you like a big hunk of newsprint to occupy your Sunday?" Not sure what our neighborhood did to deserve all the free papers. Curiously, all of the NYTs arrived in plastic bags touting the Globe's catchphrase, "The Pulse of Boston." Alas, no Globes. Which, of course, is even more curious since we all learned last week that circulation for Boston papers is down, down, down. An odd time for the NYTCo. to be steering potential readers away from the Boston product, but there you go. Then again, if the Globe is indeed for sale, why not pretend it's already gone? Then again again, that wouldn't help the sales price.

Related reading: Both the Herald and Globe saw circulation drops in the past six months. Read about that here. Or rather, don't read it there, because by reading the news online instead of buying a paper, you're contributing to the problem. Read what Dan Kennedy had to say about that. The news for newspapers, however, isn't quite as bad in New York City, where both the Post and Daily News posted gains despite the Internet and competition from freebies.

Info: The 25 largest daily newspapers, by circulation, as of October 2006.