Village Vidiot: TV

ABC has issued a series of statements from its news anchors about the passing of Walter Cronkite Friday night.

ABC News Anchor Charles Gibson:

“Walter Cronkite was and always will be the gold standard. His objectivity, his even-handedness, his news judgment are all great examples. He, as much as anyone, is responsible for developing network television news. He set the standard. He told it ‘the way it is’ and all of us who are privileged to work in this business owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.”


ABC News Anchor Diane Sawyer:

“He was the defining anchor of America’s story – reminding us of what we can be at our best.

He had depth, foreign reporting experience, endless excitement about the news, and an irresistible irreverence.

A call, a note, a compliment from Walter was pretty much the Nobel Prize for a young reporter. I am so lucky to know what it was to be part of the Cronkite team.”


ABC News Anchor Barbara Walters:

“There never was and there never will be another Walter Cronkite. We trusted him and that trust was well founded. He was also a jolly and supportive friend. He will be missed by each of us individually who knew him and by the whole country who loved him.”

Meanwhile, here is a statement from the National Association of Black Journalists:

"Walter Cronkite set a standard for all of us to follow, which was the truth whether it was the struggle of the Civil Rights movement, the travails of the Vietnam War or questioning authority at its highest level," said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. "He was certainly a grandfather of journalism in its infancy and continued to make contributions throughout the rest of his life even into retirement."

It has been 28 years since Cronkite last sat behind the news desk, but his work, which spanned delivering the news from the Vietnam War and the John F. Kennedy assassination to the Apollo 11 moon landing, will forever be remembered for its honesty and integrity.

Word of Cronkite's failing health began to circulate a few weeks ago.

Statements from fellow journalists are pouring in. Here are a few courtesy of his longtime network, CBS:

Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation:

“It is with enormous sadness that we mark the death of Walter Cronkite. His passing is, of course, a major loss for journalism. He was a great broadcaster and a gentleman whose experience, honesty, professionalism and style defined the role of anchor and commentator. For almost two exciting and turbulent decades during the 1960s and 1970s he helped inform our nation, and bring us together. In so doing, he transcended his field to become the most trusted man in America. The legacy he left us all will endure. It was one of the great honors of my career to have had the opportunity to know him.”

Katie Couric, anchor and managing editor, CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC correspondent, 60 MINUTES:

“When I think of Walter Cronkite, I think of his high journalism standards, integrity – but most of all his humanity.  I think he was so trusted because he exhibited a sense of purpose and compassion, night after night.  He was the personification of excellence."

Don Hewitt, executive producer, CBS News, creator of 60 MINUTES and Cronkite's first executive producer on the CBS EVENING NEWS:

“How many news organizations get the chance to bask in the sunshine of a half-century of Edward R. Murrow followed by a half century of Walter Cronkite?”

Andy Rooney, 60 MINUTES commentator:

“I've been proud over the years to see Walter become, not just one of the best known people on television but one of the best known people in the whole world of people. He was proud of me, too and there's no better feeling in life than that. I wouldn't trade Walter Cronkite liking me for just about anything I’ve ever had.”

Mike Wallace, 60 MINUTES correspondent emeritus:

“We were proud to work with him – for him – we loved him.”

Morley Safer, 60 MINUTES correspondent:

“Walter was truly the father of television news. The trust that viewers placed in him was based on the recognition of his fairness, honesty and strict objectivity. …and of course his long experience as a shoe-leather reporter covering everything from local politics to World War II and its aftermath in the Soviet Union. He was a giant of journalism and privately one of the funniest, happiest men I’ve ever known.”

Finally, from CBS News:

"As anchor and managing editor of the CBS EVENING NEWS from 1962 to 1981, Cronkite became the symbol of CBS News and the face two generations of Americans associate with some of the biggest stories of the 20th century.  Speaking in a calm, authoritative voice with a screen presence that exuded confidence and familiarity, Cronkite formed a bond with Americans by bringing stories such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, space launches and the Vietnam War into their living rooms.  The bond was so strong that Americans polled in 1973 chose him – by a 16 percent margin over the nearest competitor – as the “most trusted” public figure in the country.  He still enjoyed that status 22 years later according to a poll published in TV Guide in 1995, nearly 15 years after relinquishing his anchor chair.

No doubt aware of the power that came with such respect, Cronkite never exploited it. Though it was suggested many times that he run for public office, he knew it would be devastating to journalism if reporters decided to capitalize politically on their popularity."

In 2002, Cronkite came to Utah to lead the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in its annual Christmas concert. I briefly got to meet him, and I remember hearing his voice in person was thrilling. The sound was commanding, filling the room with that deep tone that was seemingly laced with history.

Here's an excerpt from the story I wrote after meeting him at a press conference:

* About working with the world-renowned choir: "I actually had goose pimples as I stood there in front of the orchestra and choir," he said. "To be in the presence of those great talents and to even be able to participate in the program was beyond anything I could ever imagine happening to me." * On the program he narrates at the concert, about World War I soldiers united by Christmas carols: "The first time I read through it, I had tears in my eyes," he said. "It said a lot about human beings in this terrible situation of war." * On growing up with music and his love of military bands: "I played saxophone and clarinet, but I played them so badly that when the band ran out of sousaphone players . . . they figured that anybody could go oommph, oommph, and they taught me to do it, which was a terrible disadvantage," he said. "If you're going to get into a marching band, for goodness sakes, learn to play the piccolo, not the sousaphone." * To be called "The Most Trusted Man in America" in a news poll: "People ask me how do I handle it. Well, you don't do anything that you haven't done before. There is no way to be more trusted. Either you're trusted or you're not. The record stands. I'm pleased to accept the accolade," he said. "I do point out that the pollsters," he added, "did not poll my wife." * His advice to young journalists: "Get a job," he quipped. "I preach the principles of good journalism, which is accuracy, fairness, honesty and the devotion to those principles. "This is what journalism should be all about," he said. "If we practice journalism in this day of large, merged organizations where the management is far removed from anything concerning journalism, we [reporters] have to be the ones who uphold the principles and standards by which the people can trust the media, and that is not an easy job."

No, you're not seeing double in this video clip. There is a guy out there who looks just like Drew Carey, and he was on "The Price is Right" standing right next to the host. I found this hilarious clip and had to share.

Randi Evans, a dancer from Orem (pictured left), was booted from Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" during Thursday's episode.

That now leaves Salt Lake City's Brandon Bryant still in the running.

Here's the blurb that Tribune writer Alicia Greenleigh wrote for today's paper:

Randi Evans, 23, of Springville was eliminated on Thursday's episode of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance?" Evans, who trained at The Dance Club in Orem, was among the show's top 10 dancers specializing in jazz/contemporary genres and will perform in the national tour following the show's finale. This was Evans' first time landing in the bottom two. Judges Mary Murphey and Nigel Lythgoe consistently praised Evans' technique and strength as a performer on the show.

Conan O'Brien has his work cut out for him.

The new host of "The Tonight Show" just came in third place last week. THIRD place, in what essentially is a two-person race.

He not only lagged behind David Letterman, but he also fell behind ABC's "Nightline" because of their Michael Jackson coverage. Is it even possible for a late-night talk show to get worse ratings than "Nightline"? I guess so.

Conan managed a milestone - he got the worst ratings in "Tonight Show" history, according to the New York Times.

"Family Guy," Fox's animated tale of a dysfunctional family (what other family does Fox have?) was the first animated series to be nominated for best comedy in nearly 50 years, not since "The Flintstones" got the nod in 1961. Gee, and after all "The Simpsons" did for television.

The 61st Emmy nominations were announced Thursday morning (July 16), and there's some nice surprises in the package.

First of all, actor Jim Parsons, who was so brilliant the last two seasons as a wacky physicist in "The Big Bang Theory," was nominated for best actor in a comedy. Yeah! Second, "Big Love," which had its best season this last one, was nominated for best drama for the first time. I'm sure the LDS Church and the University of Utah just love that! Also, Farrah Fawcett, who recently died from cancer, was nominated for her video diary, "Farrah's Story," which documented her long battle.

And despite the loving series goodbyes of some of fans' favorite dramas, longtime favorites "ER," "Battlestar Galactica," and "The Shield" failed to get best drama nods. Shed those tears people.

This year, the list of nominees grew to seven in the major categories, which is why "Family Guy" might have had the extra nudge it needed to land the best comedy nomination.

Still, Tina Fey's comedy, "30 Rock," scored 22 nominations, a record for a comedy. HBO's made-for-TV movie "Grey Gardens" got 17, followed by "Mad Men" with 16, HBO's movie "Into the Storm," with 14 and "Saturday Night Live" at 13.

Meanwhile, all the standard fare you've seen before at the Emmy's were nominated for best reality show competition, which include: "The Amazing Race," "American Idol," "Dancing With the Stars," "Project Runway," and "Top Chef."

Here is a list of the top nominations. The awards will be presented Sept. 20 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. For a complete list of nominees, of which there are millions, go here.

Outstanding comedy series

Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
How I Met Your Mother
The Office
30 Rock
Weeds

Drama series

Big Love
Breaking Bad
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men

Lead actor in a comedy series

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Jemaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Steve Carell, The Office
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Lead actor in a drama series

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Simon Baker, The Mentalist

Lead actress in a comedy series

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Sarah Silverman, The Sarah Silverman Program
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Lead actress in a drama series

Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace

Supporting actor in a comedy series

Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson, The Office
Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock
Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

Supporting actor in a drama series

William Shatner, Boston Legal
Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
William Hurt, Damages
Michael Emerson, Lost
John Slattery, Mad Men

Supporting actress in a comedy series

Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Kristin Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds

Supporting actress in a drama series

Rose Byrne, Damages
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
Hope Davis, In Treatment
Cherry Jones, 24

Variety, music or comedy series

The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Late Show With David Letterman
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live

Variety, music or comedy special

Chris Rock -- Kill the Messenger
Kathy Griffin: She'll Cut a Bitch
The Kennedy Center Honors
Ricky Gervais: Out of England -- The Stand-Up Special
Will Ferrell: You're Welcome America

Reality program

Antiques Roadshow
Dirty Jobs
Dog Whisperer
Intervention
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
MythBusters

Reality competition program

The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef

Host for a reality or reality-competition program

Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars
Heidi Klum, Project Runway
Jeff Probst, Survivor
Padma Lakshmi (host) and Tom Colicchio (co-host), Top Chef

Miniseries

Generation Kill
Little Dorrit

Made for television movie

Coco Chanel
Grey Gardens
Into the Storm
Prayers for Bobby
Taking Chance

If you haven't jumped on the blu-ray craze, what are you waiting for?!?! Blu-ray is the high-definition version of DVDs, offering up to six times the resolution of a regular DVD movie. If you have a high-definition TV set, then you're wasting all that technology if you haven't hooked up a blu-ray player to it. Then there is the quality of the sound, which also is a form of high-definition fidelity. If you have a stereo system that supports HD audio - and the receivers that do are a lot cheaper now and very affordable - then you'll heare audio in your home that at least equals what you can hear in state-of-the-art movie theaters. And prices on the blu-ray players also are dropping fast. Wal-mart is apparently selling a player now that has hit the below-$100 mark.

With all the talk about movie downloads from Netflix or on Hulu.com or the Xbox 360, high definition movies on blu-ray are far, FAR superior-looking. Downloadable movies are laughable compared to real high-res on disc.

And some of these movies are going for outrageous prices: Best Picture winner "Unforgiven" for $11.49; the classic "2001: A Space Odyssey," which looks incredible in blu-ray, for $10.99; "Band of Brothers," one of the greatest miniseries ever produced, for $50. And the ultimate blu-ray title, the astonishing documentary series, "Planet Earth," is on sale for $45, $54 off the regular price.

I personally picked up one of the other great miniseries, "Generation Kill," for $46. I also bought "Dr. Strangelove" for $22 and the five-disc set of all of the Harry Potter movies for my kids for an incredible $57, $72 off the regular price!

If you're a movie fan and have an HDTV set, blu-ray is the ultimate way to see movies at home. Plus you don't have to deal with the loud obnoxious guy who always seems to sit behind you in the movie theater.

The "So You Think You Can Dance" tour is coming to West Valley City on Nov. 7, which only makes sense since two of the top 10 dancers from this season are from Utah.

Randi Evans of Orem and Brandon Bryant of Salt Lake City will be in the tour. Most tickets are available at Ticketmaster locations, online at AEG Live.com or ticketmaster.com. Here are the dates:

Date                            City                                         Venue           

SEPT  20                    Manchester, NH                      Verizon Wireless Arena

SEPT  22                    Boston, MA                              Agganis Arena at Boston University

SEPT  24                    Newark, NJ                              Prudential Center

SEPT  25                    Mashantucket, CT                   MGM Theater - Foxwoods

SEPT  26                    Trenton, NJ                             Sovereign Bank Arena

SEPT  29                    Toronto, ON                            Air Canada Centre

OCT    1                      Columbus, OH                        Nationwide Arena

OCT    3                      Detroit, MI                                Joe Louis Arena

OCT    4                      Champaign, IL                         University of Illinois Assembly Hall

OCT    6                      Chicago, IL                              United Center

OCT    7                      Minneapolis, MN                      Target Center

OCT    9                      Milwaukee, WI                         Bradley Center

OCT    10                    Toledo, OH                              Lucas County Arena

OCT    11                    Indianapolis, IN                        Conseco Fieldhouse

OCT    14                    Long Island, NY                       Nassau Coliseum

OCT    15                    Baltimore, MD                         1st Mariner Arena

OCT    17                    Richmond, VA                         Richmond Coliseum

OCT    19                    Charlotte, NC                          Time Warner Cable Arena

OCT    20                    Duluth, GA                               Arena at Gwinnett Center

OCT    22                    Miami, FL                                American Airlines Arena

OCT    23                    Tampa, FL                              St. Pete Times Forum

OCT    24                    Tallahassee, FL                      Tallahassee-Leon Co Civic Center

OCT    26                    Houston, TX                            Reliant Arena

OCT    27                    Austin, TX                                Frank Erwin Center

OCT    28                    Grand Prairie, TX                    Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie

OCT    30                    Tulsa, OK                                BOK Center

OCT    31                    St. Louis, MO                          Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis University

NOV    1                      Kansas City, MO                     Sprint Center

NOV    3                      Omaha, NE                             Qwest Center

NOV    5                      Colorado Springs, CO            Colorado Springs World Arena

NOV    7                      West Valley City, UT               The E Center

NOV    9                      Los Angeles, CA                     Nokia Theatre LA LIVE

NOV    12                    San Diego, CA                        San Diego Sports Arena

NOV    13                    Glendale, AZ                            jobing.com Arena

NOV    14                    Las Vegas, NV                        Orleans Arena

NOV    16                    Sacramento, CA                     ARCO Arena

NOV    17                    Fresno, CA                              SaveMart Center

NOV    18                    San Jose, CA                          HP Pavilion at San Jose

NOV    20                    Portland, OR                           Rose Garden

NOV    21                    Everett, WA                             Comcast Arena at Everett Events Center