lane bryant bias?

what’s this? bias against full-figured girls, that’s what!

if you own a TV, you’ve been subject to one-too-many racy victoria’s secret commercials. you know, the ones with almost-naked stick figures with wind and silk and lace and… well, you get the picture.

those were fiiiiine for TV networks FOX and ABC. but when lane bryant came out with a lingerie commersh, the brakes were pumped! the plus-size retailer claims their above commercial was banned from ABC’s dancing with the stars and FOX’s american idol because they have a bias against full-figured models.

FOX and ABC’s rebuttal? it flashes too much flesh for the family-oriented shows. oh, and VS commercials don’t? uh huh.

the ad in question shows a curvy (and SEXY!) woman trying on various articles of lingerie, about to go “meet dan for lunch,” according to her smartphone appointment. she then heads out in a trenchcoat on, with nothing underneath but a bra and panties. presumeably for some lovin’!

a little racy for the family hour? perhaps, but it’s not too different from any other lingerie ad on TV, except that the model is voluptuous, not skinnier-than-skinny. what do you think? did FOX and ABC act out of line?

door #1, 2, or 3?

unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re aware that nbc is ousting conan o’brien from his ‘tonight show’ spot to give it up for their golden child, jay leno. they only gave him 3 months! 3 months to prove himself is frankly not a fair enough shot. but, nbc doesn’t care.

what they should care about is that they are in a bit of a pickle with conan’s contract. by trying to move the time of his show to after jay’s time slot, nbc is in breach of its agreement. which means, conan’s got a decision to make. according to tmz and their sources, he has three options:

1) get outta the biz & collect some checks… some BIG checks. if conan quits, nbc would have to pay him the value of his contract, up to $80 million bucks over the next 4 years.

2) check out the view from other networks’ late-night lineups. fox? abc? i’m sure they’ll all come a-callin’. but if conan were to make a deal with a competing show, nbc would still have to pay him! let’s say fox paid him $10 mil/year. nbc would then have to ante up the reamining $10 mil to equal his original nbc contract. sounds good to me, mr. o’brien!

3) orrrr, he could once again come second to jay leno and take the shortened 12:35-1:05am time slot.

so, what’ll it be, sir?

texty tv

TFLN_header_oliv

i gotta say, this could be kind of funny. fox is developing a tv adaptation loosely based on the website ‘texts from last night.’ when was the last time we had a comedic sitcom based on the lives of those of us in our 20′s? perhaps this will help fill the void.

writer steve holland (‘the big bang theory’) is set to pen the script with sony pictures & happy madison producing. the tv version of the show will be based on “the whole idea of racy – and sometimes embarrassing – communication, particularly among the twentysomething set.”

while this may be hard to translate into a 30-minute show, it definitely has potential. people tend to do some funny things under the influence! case in point, the ‘texts from last night’ website. readers log on to post texts they’ve sent or received from friends in the midst of intoxication or during a late-night stupor. let’s see if the writers can use the popularity of the website to give fox the hit that they’re looking for.

glee-less

gleeslider

last may, fox was convinced they had a hit with their latest tv show, ‘glee.’ viewers were ecstatic over the preview of this musically-inclined sitcom. naturally, fox jumped for joy over the ratings & fast-tracked the show into a fall premiere. but they might want to wait on the congratulatory champagne.

the next set of reviews are in. and variety has ripped the hopeful hit to shreds! “talk about one-hit wonders,” the mag writes, ”the promise & energy associated with the debut of ‘glee’ last spring largely evaporates.” the review purports that the series will be short-lived, to say the least.

did ya miss the preview last spring? lemme catch you up. it’s a look at romance through a high-school glee club. misfit singers, star quarterbacks, cheerleaders & awkward teachers fill the cast – with the group occasionally bursting into song & dance. variety says that while the cast has a whole lot of talent, it seems to be crushed alongside the show’s “jokey, cartoonish, wildly uneven tone.” we’ll see if audiences buy into the new show come this season. ‘glee’ premieres on fox sept. 9th at 9pm. i’ll leave you with this parting shot from variety: in order for the show to last, “they’re gonna have to croon a tune helluva lot better than this!”

a time & a place

  

last week, i was tuning in to some good ole american idol when BAM. we were all treated to a monstrous opinion over-share. performer katy perry likely went against the wishes of producers to show her affection for finalist adam lambert by fashioning his sequined name on her costume.

while i’m sure adam lambert’s fans – or “glamberts” – were thrilled, FOX wasn’t quite as enthused. each performance on AI is edited after the fact and featured for purchase on iTunes. this little number, however, was edited so as not to show perry’s shout-out. TMZ has put together a split-screen of the live performance & the edited iTunes bit so you can see the diff. i guess they thought we wouldn’t notice?! keep your opinions to yoself on the stage, katy!