Gawker: defamer, anchorwoman

'Anchorwoman' Insiders Bemoan The Predictable Sexist Demise Of Their Actually Good Reality Show

Moe — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:20:11 EDT

Last Wednesday Fox premiered a much-hyped new reality series, Anchorwoman, to reviews so savage — and ratings so mediocre — it was essentially killed before the first episode even finished airing. The premise — a blonde WWE pinup named Lauren Jones tries to make it as a small-town hard news anchor as a colossally self-serious brunette producer (Annalisa, whom we highlighted with her own clip show last week) tries sometimes not hard enough to conceal her disdain — was blamed. But it was good! And not just, like, unintentionally good or absurdist guilty pleasure good — it was actually good by design, according to someone who worked on it. "You rarely get to work with footage that good," she said. "And everyone who worked on the show was really smart; [Production studio Fox 21] kept saying "This could be something really different, really unusual, no music, sort of like 'The Office'... with traces of Mary Tyler Moore and WKRP" We can totally see that! But then..

"They basically decided they wanted 'The Simple Life' ... it was literally like, on Friday they loved it, and on Monday they wanted all these changes: more music! More manipulation! This happens all the time, of course, but not such a 180 like this." Sigh. The promos were changed, and yes — blond Lauren was "made to seem stupid — she's not stupid!" as raven-haired Annalisa was made into something "manipulative and ridiculous." Why, how very fresh, network execs! The most poignant thing: Annalisa's parting wish to the producers was apparently that they "Be kind." We suppose she got her wish, but we have one of our own: that next time a reality show decides to try and document the attempts of one woman to break out of the mindless blond bimbo ideal the reality shows like to promote so much, don't pussy out.

Also: put the extra episodes shows on Fox website as promised, thanks.

The Paris Hilton Workout

Mark — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:31:16 EDT

· Paris Hilton goes to the WOW Report's gym, where her workout is monitored by both bloggers and sneaky paps: "Then, across the way, I notice a guy sitting down on the Pectoralis Major machine dressed in jeans and black shoes. He pretends to pump some iron. This is suspicious as everyone knows the Pectoralis Major machine has been out of commission for the last six months. Suddenly, the dude pulls out a telephoto lens camera from his backpack and starts snapping away at Paris while she's mid bench-press! A couple of gays shriek and point at the photographer, and within a few minutes he is escorted from the gym by a staff member."
· Here's a list of things you can do in the same amount of time Nicole Richie spent in jail.
· Anchorwoman almost definitely would have lasted longer than one episode if Steven Spielberg's name was attached to it.
· It's truly the end of an era: Jenna Jameson undergoes a sure-to-be controversial de-bazooming procedure.

'Anchorwoman' Sent Back To WWE Divas After Just One Episode

Seth — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:43:53 EDT

And almost as quickly as it began, it's over: Anchorwoman, Fox's bold reality TV experiment in which they sought to find out what happens when a busty L.A. bimbo with zero broadcast journalism experience is placed behind a local news anchor desk (instead of some other busty bimbo plucked from the state beauty pageant circuit), has been pulled from the network's schedule after posting "dismal" ratings its premiere night. In its place will be Til Death reruns. As sad as the news is, no one can say the writing wasn't always right there on the wall—or, more specifically, the Fox Fall Preview '07 website: "How will it all turn out? Only the ratings will tell, so stay tuned for the next ANCHORWOMAN: Lauren Jones." (On a personal note, we watched, and actually enjoyed it—particularly potential breakout star Stormy the Weather Dog, who is infinitely funnier than Brad Garrett, and at the very least should get a talent holding deal out of this.)

Fox Cancels Anchorwoman [Broadcast and Cable]

Trade Round-Up: Emmys Continuing Brave Battle Against Producer Credit Inflation

Mark — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:02:41 EDT

· The TV Academy continues cracking down on "the rampant proliferation of the producer credit" by capping comedy series Emmy nominations at 11 and drama nods at 10 for a second straight year. How bad had things gotten? "Business affairs execs and studios were giving people producing credits just because they could," says one nameless Academy official. This outrage ends now. [Variety]
· The Toronto Film Festival officially surrenders to Hollywood. [THR]
· We hate to do this after just one episode, but when the trades are throwing around words like "dismal" to describe a new show's ratings, the CancellationWatch must begin: Fox's Anchorwoman draws only 2.7 million viewers and a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic, less than half of the numbers pulled by competition on NBC and CBS. [Variety]
· Buy your tickets now: Rosie O'Donnell will be opening the New York Comedy Festival. You won't want to miss what she's got planned for that giant photo Elizabeth Hasselbeck this time! [THR]
· In a much-clamored-for reunion of Shrek the Third castmates, Justin Timberlake is joining the cast of Mike-Myers-doing-a-funny-accent-comedy Love Guru. [Variety]

'Anchorwoman' Takes The Reality Bimbo Out Of The Hot Tub And Puts Her Onto The Evening News

Seth — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:41:19 EDT

Tonight, the evil-genius minds of Fox's alternative programming department unveil their latest reality show creation: Anchorwoman (promo above), which seeks to mine the implied comedy gold in transplanting a blonde, spokesbimbo bikini model from L.A. to the anchor desk of the local news in a small Texas market. The LAT's review, however, remained thoroughly unamused—offended even:

If you hate women, men, Texas, Los Angeles, television news and any of the social progress made by Americans in the 20th century, then "Anchorwoman" is the show for you.
On the new Fox reality series, Phil Hurley, owner of the struggling KYTX in Tyler, Texas, has hired Lauren Jones, L.A. model, WWE spokeswoman and general bombshell, to anchor the news, despite the fact (or because of it) that she has no previous news experience. [...]

Jones is not part of the joke, she is the joke, because she is blond, busty and wears short skirts. Which is somehow supposed to be funny. If [series creator Brian] Gadinsky had any courage at all, he would have simply made her a drag queen — that at least would have been interesting — because that is what she is: a female drag queen, her femininity exaggerated, her intelligence diminished.

Maybe we're revealing too much about ourselves by admitting that, on paper at least, the concept seems to have some potential. For one thing, it's hard to get too riled up about how the contrived scenario might compromise the integrity of local TV news—that branch of the fifth estate devoted almost entirely to covering car chases, salmonella scares, supermodel dating habits, and Paris Hilton. Further, the review's suggestion that the just-stupid-seeming-enough Jones be replaced with a drag queen—perhaps a compelling pitch for a limited series on Logo—would quickly grow tiresome drawn out over an entire season on a mainstream network such as Fox, where audiences have likely already had their fill of a mirror-obsessed TelePrompter reader droning on about eyebrow waxing and hair-highlighting tips simply from watching Ryan Seacrest.

'Anchorwoman' is shallow — film at 11! [LAT]