Media Watercooler

'Idol' Looks for a Boost With Slate of Celebrity Guests

'Idol' Looks for a Boost With Slate of Celebrity Guests

Are you ready for the return of "American Idol"? Fox is, as it started to roll out pictures of new judge Ellen DeGeneres.

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Stories of the Week Offer Crash Course in Notorious News

Stories of the Week Offer Crash Course in Notorious News

News stories that really bored me last week: The White House party crashers and Tiger Woods' car crash.

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Rose Honored for His Past, but What About the Future?

Rose Honored for His Past, but What About the Future?

Last week, the Center for Communication gave its annual Frank Stanton Award to Charlie Rose, whose hourlong chat fest includes an eclectic lineup of politicians, CEOs, world leaders, actors and academics.

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TV's Campiest Mad Woman Makes a Return to 'Melrose'

TV's Campiest Mad Woman Makes a Return to 'Melrose'

Amanda Woodward, the most hard-driving, no-nonsense, get-it-done female ad exec is back. You might know her better as Heather Locklear, who played the microskirted ad exec on "Melrose Place" during its first incarnation on Fox from 1993 to 1999, spinning lackluster ratings straw into gold.

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Show's Back, but NBC Keeps 'Office' Chatter Flowing Online

Show's Back, but NBC Keeps 'Office' Chatter Flowing Online

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The producers of "The Office" have done their best to keep the conversation going about the show while it was on hiatus, thanks to a Facebook fan page (with 824,725 fans), a MySpace page (80,444 friends), and the social network known as Dunder Mifflin.

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NBC's 'Jay Leno Show' Under Pressure to Perform

NBC's 'Jay Leno Show' Under Pressure to Perform

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Jeff Zucker's grand experiment in redefining broadcast-network prime time starts tonight at 10 p.m., when Jay Leno takes the stage for the first time on his new show that is not "The Tonight Show."

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'The September Issue' Opens, Finally, for the Non-Fabulous

'The September Issue' Opens, Finally, for the Non-Fabulous

Despite layers of buzz -- including an appearance by Editor in Chief Anna Wintour on "David Letterman" -- "The September Issue," however frothy and entertaining, doesn't offer much insight beyond what you already know if you've seen the "The Devil Wears Prada."

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Never Can Say Goodbye

Never Can Say Goodbye

Never can say goodbye ... until, that is, you don't get paid as much as Simon Cowell, or Ryan Seacrest, or even Randy Jackson. Then you can tweet about your sadness, your heartbreak at leaving the top-rated show, all because they didn't treat you right.

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Jann and Janice Split! But Bonnie and Jay Make It Work

Jann and Janice Split! But Bonnie and Jay Make It Work

Janice Is Out! Bonnie Is In! Or so one imagines a tabloid headline would read chronicling the latest moves of two editors who helped define the celebrity weekly category over the past decade.

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'30 Rock' Hits Syndication Just in the Nick of Time

'30 Rock' Hits Syndication Just in the Nick of Time

When we heard that "30 Rock" will finally enter syndication in 2011, we let out a little woo-hoo!

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ABC Gets a Bit Forward in Its Push to Get Fall Viewers

ABC Gets a Bit Forward in Its Push to Get Fall Viewers

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Summer hasn't even officially begun yet, but ABC wants you to "Flash Forward" to autumn.

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Operation Iraqi Stephen: Colbert Goes Commando

Operation Iraqi Stephen: Colbert Goes Commando

Last week, the faux-news pundit and blowhard Stephen Colbert took "The Colbert Report" on the road, taping his show in Baghdad.

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Too Much Reality: Why Jon and Kate Need to Pull the Plug

Too Much Reality: Why Jon and Kate Need to Pull the Plug

Jon and Kate are now two names that grace the weekly magazine covers usually reserved for Brad and Angelina. They need to take a cue from the more famous couple and dole out their kids' public exposure in smaller doses -- and start planning an end date.

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Well, Steve, Advertising Did Actually Did Play Big Role ...

Well, Steve, Advertising Did Actually Did Play Big Role ...

When Steve Brill and two other media lifers revealed their new company's plan to help papers charge for some content online, they got some things right. But the first announcement from the company, called Journalism Online, also misrepresented the good old days.

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Market Plunge a Cautionary Tale for Media Companies

Market Plunge a Cautionary Tale for Media Companies

Last week kicked off with a stock-market plunge that returned the Dow Jones Industrial Average to 1997 levels. Newspapers, of course, would be lucky to regain their stock prices from the 1990s.

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President, Oscars Draw More Viewers This Year Than Last

President, Oscars Draw More Viewers This Year Than Last

On Feb. 22, 36.3 million people tuned in to watch Hugh Jackman singing and dancing his way through ABC's telecast of the Academy Awards.

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With Michelle Obama on the Cover, Vogue Gets Real

With Michelle Obama on the Cover, Vogue Gets Real

Ten years after Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, wife of the 44th president, becomes the second first lady to grace the cover of Vogue in the March issue.

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Watch Them All Fall Down: Another Mag Bites The Dust

Watch Them All Fall Down: Another Mag Bites The Dust

Domino is the fifth shelter title to succumb to the poor environment for home furnishing and housewares marketers since the crash of the real estate market.

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Following Anna Wintour Through Last Days Of Luxe

Following Anna Wintour Through Last Days Of Luxe

R.J. Cutler's latest film, out at the Sundance Film Festival, is called "The September Issue." Cutler followed Vogue's Anna Wintour and her team for nine months as they worked to produce the 2007 September issue, one that ended up being the largest in the title's history.

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Is There a Message for ABC in 'Boston Legal' Story Line?

Is There a Message for ABC in 'Boston Legal' Story Line?

ABC and David E. Kelly both painted the decision to end "Boston Legal" as a mutual one. But one wonders if Kelly is harboring some kind of resentment about the way the series is ending its five-year run.

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