HILLARY & HEATHER

Most Americans think Hillary Clinton will be successful as Secretary of State.  How successful?  We will see what the next 4 years in the world brings.  However, one should never underestimate Hillary Clinton's future goals, which are no smaller than being the first female President of the United States.  

My friend Dr. Mike pointed out that no Secretary of State had ever ascended to the Presidency.  While that is not true in American history overall, it has been true in recent American history.  But Obama destroyed the "No one has ever..." barrier when it comes to the Presidency, so that's no longer a valid arguement.

I posit that Hillary is actually in what I like to call the "Heather Locklear Paradigm".  Heather Locklear was a very successful TV actress in the 1990's.  She catapulted to fame in TJ Hooker, became even more famous as Sammy Jo in Dynasty.  Locklear was then offered the role of Amanda Woodward in Melrose Place.  

MP had some big problems.  Melrose Place was Darren Star's 90210 spinoff, and was not nearly as successful as it's progenitor series in its first year.  It's 20 something "adult themes" left its 902010 teen audience cold, and it was definitely ratings challenged.  The press turned on the show quickly.  Since MP wasn't as big a hit as 90210, it was rapidly turning into a problem for the producers and the network.  So what to do?  Stunt casting!  

Locklear was offered the Special Guest Star role to see if she could boost the shows ratings.  Was the proverbial weight of the television world was on her shoulders?  Not really.  It was a total win-win situation for Locklear.  If the MP was cancelled, she could say the ship was already sinking, I did what I could, but no one could have saved that show.  But if MP was a success it was a success because of her.  Needless to say, the show was big hit and made her an even bigger TV star than before.

Hillary is in the Heather Locklear Paradigm for 2012 (or 2016).  If Obama rights the economy, gets re-elected and the U.S. goes through another boom period, she can ride his wave into the White House.  If it all goes horribly wrong, she has all this foreign policy experience, relationships with every world leader, and no say over domestic (ie - economic) policy.  So if Obama fails, she can't take any of the heat.  Like Heather Locklear on MP, the Secretary of State position is win-win for our gurl Hillary.

EVOLUTION OF THE PROCEDURAL DRAMA

The procedural drama has been a TV staple for 10 years now.  The reigning champion of the genre remains the original C.S.I. and its 2 spinoffs - Miami and New York.  But the procedural is evolving.  The C.S.I.'s were all about the gagdets, the machines, and the science.  The characters were almost incidental.  All you needed was an inciting incident - a murder, and the digital effects would handle the rest.  I only watch C.S.I. Miami and even then, it's to see my condo on network TV every week in the establishing shots (C.S.I. Miami is filmed in Manhattan Beach California, although they do come to South Florida for a few weeks to shoot exteriors for the season).

Then about four years ago, a new form of the procedural was born in Dr. House.  House is also a procedural drama, but with a new twist on a decade old format.  The difference is that House is "the gagdet".  Whereas the machines have always done the trick, now, House is the "trick".  Two more shows joined this new twist on the procedural.  The new #1 show of the TV season with over 19 million viewers weekly is THE MENTALIST.  And the other new show is FOX's Lie To Me.  Both Thomas Jane (the aforetomentioned Mentalist) and Dr. Cal Lightman (LTM) are also the trick.  Thomas Jane uses his extensive skills in subtly manipulating people and Dr. Cal Lightman analyzes microexpressions (facial recognition techniques), turning him into a human lie detector.  Both shows are a welcomed edition to an evolving genre.

HOW TO WIN YOUR OFFICE OSCAR POOL

It's time for that annual ritual, the time honored tradition of winning your office Oscar pool.  Who doesn't need a little extra cash at the end of every February?

First, you need to tilt the scales in your favor.  It's more difficult to win an Oscar pool on the major categories.  Just voting on the major categories increases the possibility that you will have to split the winning with someone else.   The major categories are where you can make your mistakes.  If you have any pull in your office, use the full Oscar ballot with every category.  The average person has no idea who's going to win Best Costume, but you will.  I have always won in all the minor categories, and therein lies the secret.

As a reference, here are 2 interesting articles on Oscar voting, which makes sense of how all these relatively unknown people end up in the major nominations:  http://www.variety.com/VR1117998897.html

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117978689.html

Suffice to say that each branch of the Academy gets to vote only in their branch, Actors vote for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress.  Actors do not vote on Best Cinematographer, the cinematographers do.  And so it goes for each branch.  Everyone in the Academy gets to vote on Best Picture, which explains why there are so many "surprise" Best Picture winners.  What almost no one outside of Hollywood knows is that each of the Academy branches are part of a larger union inside of Hollywood.  In the busy time between when the nominations are announced and the Oscar telecast, each of these branches hold their own private, non-televised award show for the recipient of, for example "Best Costume" according to the Costumers Guild.  Also within these union award shows (they are really more like dinners held in hotel ballrooms with 1 celebrity presenter for the winner of the evening. Can you imagine the pressure of showing up at the Costumers Award show in a bad outfit?  You might never work again in Hollywood, and that's a lot of pressure if you're a costumer just starting out in the business, I digress).

So 2 days before the Academy Awards, go to either:  http://www.variety.com/  or http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/index.jsp and using their search tools, search for the DGA winner (Director's Guild), PGA (Producers Guild - usually picks the Best Picture winner), WGA (Writer's Guild) for the Best Adapted and Best Original Screenplay award, etc.  Costume, Make Up, Set Designer, etc.  You can also try Googling the winners.  But use those winners to populate the minor categories so you can focus on the majors.  It will take you some time and effort, but the pay off is worth it.  How else are you going to correctly pick Best Special Effects other than sheer guesswork?  The SAG Awards, which are televised, usually correctly pick all the Best Acting category winners.

A couple of notes.  There is usually 1 surprise in the major categories.  Ususally one of the Best Supporting Actor winners is a complete unknown.  So make at least 1 wild guess that upends the conventional wisdom you're reading in the newspapers for major categories.  And this system is be no means foolproof.  The winner of Best Director for the Academy Awards may not have won Best Director from the Directors Guild.  Why?  Well, the Directors Guild is a much larger guild with many more voting members, as opposed to the Academy Directors branch with a much smaller voting membership.  

Good luck and while I do not endorse gambling, I do endorse an opportunity to look smart in front of your co-workers while make a little scratch on the side.  And do what I do when I win, use some of the money to buy donuts or bagels  for your co-workers, so everybody feels like a winner.

GREAT, A CHECKLIST

http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/civil_rights/

Fantastic.  Click on the link and scroll down to the LGBT section.  I must say, I'm impressed.  Now let's see how much of that agenda he is able to pass and how much Congress will let him pass.  

On a completely separate issue, the redesign of Whitehouse.gov is very impressive.  Simple, clean site navigation.  Improvement #642 (and counting) over the previous administration.

This website has been up for 2 days.  Why hasn't HRC, Equality, or anyone else sent a link and discussed their strategies for helping pass all this legislation?

UPDATE:  At the end of February 2009, HRC sent out a newsletter highlighting the White House Civil Rights link above.  Took them long enough.....

2 FAVORITE QUOTES OF THE WEEK

The first is CBS' Nancy Tellum at the TCA press tour this week slamming Ben Silverman and Jeff Zucker.

From Daily Variety:  Network rival NBC has clearly given up on storytelling in the 10 o’clock hour with its move of bringing in Jay Leno five nights a week. Business-wise it might make sense but writers, actors and agents are, obviously, unhappy. Her thoughts on a primetime talkshow? And would that effect what CBS airs in the hour?

 ‘My first reaction was to say thank you. Our 10 o’clock programs do extremely well. It’s a coveted time period. The creative community was shocked. So many top tier talents vie for that time period,” she said, while adding that she didn’t see the need to rebuild the hour’s template because of the Peacock’s past errors. “Why should one network’s failure in development redirect an entire schedule strategy?”

 And the second one is from my dear friend Dr. Mike.  For those of you who do not have a friend who is a doctor, I cannot recommend enough having as many doctor friends as possible (not just for the obvious second opinion). I have 3, 2 anesthesiologists and 1 resident, and they all have great stories to tell.  No wonder doctor shows never run out storylines.  Dr. Mike is a first year resident at Jackson Memorial here in Miami.  Dr. Mike has become a very good friend since we first met early this summer.  Anywho, this is the time of year when everyone gets a cold (at least everyone who doesn't live in Florida).  And here's Dr. Mike perspective on cold & flu season:

“Oh, I hate it when people get sick.  It means I have to work more.”

RETURN OF THE SITCOM?

Last week ABC announced that it is leaving no stone unturned in finding the next Roseanne or Home Improvement.  The theory in television, which is largely being played out weekly at the multiplex, is that in economically depressed times, American's seek more laughter and escapism.  This trend started at the end of 2008 when FOUR CHRISTMASES was #1 at the box office for 2 weeks in a row.  And then repeated when Jim Carrey's YES MAN was #1 on its' opening weekend.  And again this weekend with that Mall Cop movie.  The American public was sending a clear message to Hollywood.  We're miserable, a $10 movie ticket is cheap entertainment, give us something to laugh at.  Give us comedy, make us forget our troubles for 2 hours please. (Hollywood is largely a recession proof business, although as part of larger corporate America, even Hollywood is not immune in this downturn).

The U.S. television sitcom has not dominated popular culture since FRIENDS went off the air in 2004.  Before FRIENDS there was Seinfeld.  Although the great U.S. TV sitcom is not dead, it has been in hibernation.  However, I have discovered 2 great sitcoms already on the air.  I say this with no hesitation, THE BIG BANG THEORY is the funniest show on TV.  It is the television sitcom at it's finest.  The writing is great and the cast is even better.  As a special treat, pause your DVR at the end of every episode for Chuck Lorre's vanity cards:  http://www.chucklorre.com/index.php

There's is one more sitcom gem hiding among the TV rubble.  THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE with Julia Louis Dreyfus is another funny sitcom just waiting to be discovered.  Now in its fourth season, JLD is true standout talent in the world of sitcoms.  Again, great chemisty and timing among the cast and very funny.

I will be curious to see if network TV development can revive the sitcom to it's monster cultural status in these depressed economic times.  TV needs the genre to return as strong as before, and the audience is there waiting for it. In the meantime, I'm going to watch every episode of BBT that I can.

MY THEORY ON SECOND TV SHOWS IS WRONG

For years I've had a theory that a TV network or TV studio should never greenlight a writer's 2nd series idea. It was the TV writer's 2nd concept that became a hit TV series. If the first idea for a show was any good, then that would have become the hit TV show. Inevitbly, once their second series was a hit, everything they must have written prior will also become a hit. Because lightning always strikes twice on network TV. Now, there is a new generation of TV producers who second series after their first hit show is actually a far better series and a bigger hit than the first hit show.

My first example is GOSSIP GIRL. Neophyte TV producers Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage had a huge hit show on their hands right out of the box with THE O.C. in 2003. Like 90210 before it, the show was a hit on FOX, and made all of its young actors into TV stars (which had not happened to teen actors without a WB Network show). Unfortunately THE O.C. was not done in by storylines, but by scheduling. FOX tried the series out in a new day and time period every year, and always had baseball getting in the way of audience flow. Sadly, it's fickle teen audience could never find it and online viewing had yet to gain any traction with teen consumers. Then in 2007, after the demise of THE O.C., the same duo came back with 2 new series GOSSIP GIRL & CHUCK. (I'm sure CHUCK is a good show, it's just not my type of show). GOSSIP GIRL 's first season, like THE O.C. before it, made TV stars out of its unknown cast. The writing on the first season was compelling, but in the second season, the writing has only gotten better. GG was very good last season, this season, they're making it great television.

My second case is my new favorite TV show, THE MENTALIST. It's another well written, compelling, often times comical procedural drama, with a great cast. THE MENTALIST is TV producer Bruno Heller's second series, the first being HBO's ROME. ROME was epic HBO television at its best. In fact, in an interesting TV paralell, when it cancelled ROME and THE SOPRANOS went off the air, HBO has never fully recovered the TV crown it lost since then. THE MENTALIST is the only new hit series of the 2008/2009 season. For those of you who are fans of the show, I think Red John is really the head of the CBI unit, Minelli. This episode he "conveniently" went to visit his sick sister, he can break into the DOJ's computer system, and he does seem to always be on step ahead of Patrick Jane. Red John is a serial killer for the 21st century.

I consider writers to be artists of the highest caliber. I love it when they are able to not only be successful, but to build on that success. That is the heart of true talent. Anyone can be a one hit wonder, but can you be a 2 hit wonder? GG & THE MENTALIST have built on their already successful predecessors. Without hesitation I would produce Mr. Heller or Mr. Schwartz's next series. Let's see if lightning can strike 3 times.

UPDATE: TRUE BLOOD is the second show from SIX FEET UNDER creator Alan Ball.

MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON RIVER

Publicly, I'm not openly religious or patriotic, but I have a deep abiding faith of both in private.  What happened yesterday on with US Airways Flight 1549 was nothing short of a miracle.  The fact that all 155 persons on board that flight were all successfully rescued is just incredible.

From a patriotic standpoint, I find it amazing that so much of New York City's finest moments happen from airline tragedy.  The 9/11 parallels were eerie.  There is not a city in the world I would rather be in more than New York City if I was in life threating danger.  The resident of New York City, and by extension the citizens of the United States, are filled with compassion and are incredibly heroic.  U.S. citizens rush to save complete strangers in the harshest of circumstances, with less regard for their own personal safety, and the highest priority for saving someone they do not know, if they can.  To watch a city come together with such speed makes me feel so proud inside, and so thankful that no lives were lost.  Yesterday could have been a heartbreaking tragedy during a week when the nation prepares for a historic celebration for a New American 21st Century.  A better second decade than first.  

UPDATE:  60 Minutes Katie Couric profile of the captain, crew and passengers stories in February 2009 was great:  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/08/60minutes/main4783580.shtml

DATING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Unfortunately, dating seems to be turning into a forgotten artform.  I don't know what it's like in the straight world, if this is a urban versus rural phenomenon, or that in the 21st century, dating is becoming, well, outdated.  Here in Miami and in most of the major cities I have lived, people really don't date that much.  You meet in a bar or club, you meet on a social networking site, you meet at a party, and that's it.  When I meet someone I like and ask them if they want to go on a date, more and more I get this perplexed look, and then he repeats the question, "You want to go out on a date?"  Like I had asked them for their grandmother's home phone number.

Personally, I really like going out on dates.  I think I'm a pretty good dater.  I keep the conversation light and moving, dress nicely but not too casual, be polite, chose an appropriate restaurant or setting.  (Some dating Don'ts - Don't go to a movie.  A movie isn't a date, it's sitting next to someone in the dark silently for 2 hours.  You can do that when you're in a relationship.  Don't bring your date to a gay bar or club.  It's too distracting for the both of you, not to mention the worse case scenario where your date leaves with someone else they met at the bar on your date).

The hardest part of any date is selecting the right venue (no, not chosing the right outfit, you should have that down).  And yes, a restaurant, going to the beach, a mutually agreed upon concert, a Broadway show, these are all nice dates.  However, I like to try to do different things to really make the date stand out in their mind.  Kind of like putting my signature on an evening.  Steal this idea.  Last night I took my date out for drinks.  Rather than just going to 1 bar, basically, we did a high class pub crawl.  We had 1 drink at 1 hotel bar and then onto the next hotel bar.  This date can work really well in Miami, New York or London, since you can walk or take public transportation.  Drunk driving is never a good way to end a date.

Miami Beach has the perfect area for this.  We started off with 1 drink at the Rooftop Bar of the Gansavoort Hotel, then we had 1 drink at the Setai, then 1 at the Shore Club, and then 1 at the Raleigh.  Along we way we walked, talked, discussed whether we liked the bar, the service, the patrons, which bar we like better......it was a really nice date.  Unique, original, and not terribly expensive (you can alternate who pays for drinks at each bar). Our date ended with a fully moonlite walk on the beach under the stars at low tide.  Perfect.

A REAL POWER LUNCH

A little bit of U.S. history happened in 2009 (they'll be a lot more U.S. history made later on in the month, but more on that later.....).  Today, all 5 of the living Presidents had lunch at the White House.  It was quite an extrodinary sight to see.  First of all, you have to give Obama props for throwing George Bush a bone with this photo op.  And you have to give Bush props for recognizing a good idea and implementing it.

If I was Barak Obama, I would make this a yearly luncheon event.  Only these 5 men have an actual perspective on this job.  Their counsel and advice would definitely be helpful to any sitting President.  And like any other piece of advice you receive, he can take it or leave it.

Of all of the things they discussed, what I want to know is did they discuss how to handle it when the press and the citizens turn on you and you become an unpopular President?  At one time, every one of those Presidents was beloved, and in every case they were later vilified.  Comes with the job I guess......

DANNY BOYLE AND FILM DIRECTORS

The Best Pictures of the Year is SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.  I guarantee it will be one of the Top 5 Best Picture Nominations when the Academy Awards are announced on January 22nd. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is a great film by one of my all time  favorite directors, Danny Boyle.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE MILK and MILK is a great film, but it's the 2nd best film of the year.  SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the Best Picture of 2008.

I remember being riveted by the first Danny Boyle film I saw.  It was a little foreign movie from the UK called SHALLOW GRAVE.  It was the first film in what would be some of the overriding themes prevelant throughout Mr. Boyle's work....What happens to people when they are forced together in a confined space where the circumstances give you no way out.  In this case, it was a roommate situation gone horribly awry.  SHALLOW GRAVE was followed up by the brilliant, TRAINSPOTTING....(which also launched my screen love affair, and great respect for the actor Ewan McGregor - whom I actually met when he was doing a guest starring role on ER).

Honestly, directing is A LOT harder than it sounds.  It's managing a company of potentially 400-600 people, or 1,200-1,500+ if you're Steven Spielberg or Michael Bay.  The coordination is just unbelievable with the all egos, talent, and details....not to mention actually shooting the movie on time and on budget.  It's a balancing act that literally 200 or so people can do on the entire planet.  Directors are some of the most intelligent people I have ever met.  

I definitely can direct a film or TV show.  Give me enough money, a great cinematographer, and an amazing editor and I could direct a film.  But what astounds me is when I go to a movie and I see a film and I think, "No matter how much money you give me or what cinematographer I get, or whomever edits the film, and with all the time in the world, I could NEVER, EVER have shot the movie the way they did."  And that is what inspires me about directors and films.  I could never have shot GOODFELLAS, or THE USUAL SUSPECTS, or ALIENS, or THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, or NATURAL BORN KILLERS.

Some go to the movies for actors, but for me, my total respect goes to the Directors.  In my humble opinion, the best director shooting today is Martin Scorsese.  My other favorite directors (in no particular order) are:  Danny Boyle, Bryan Singer, Steven Spielberg, Paul Greengrass, Oliver Stone, James Cameron, Tony & Ridley Scott, and Quentin Tarantino.  David Fincher is rapidly climbing onto the list (if only he could direct a film that comes in at 2 hours instead of 3).

What I like about Danny Boyle is that all of his films have been so radically different.  Most directors stick to what they know and rarely stretch themselves artistically (or if they do stretch themselves artistically, it ends up being a big mess....).  Not Danny Boyle, every film is so distinct.

SHALLOW GRAVE is a murder/dramedy, TRAINSPOTTING is a tragicomic drug/road movie, THE BEACH is an escape from civilization and create your own society/cult movie, 28 DAYS LATER is a zombie movie with a LORD OF THE FLIES twist, SUNSHINE is a scifi ALIENS movie about human isolation and desolation, and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is a Bollywood romance film.  Every film stretches across every imaginable genre.  It's almost as if Danny Boyle never wants to repeat himself....as if repeating yourself is too easy, too safe and far too boring.  (I confess to not having seen A LIFE LESS ORDINARY, MILLIONS, or ALIEN LOVE TRIANGLE).  

See SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.  If you can get through the first 15 minutes, you'll enjoy the film.  It does what all good films do....it transports you to a world on film that you never want to leave in your mind's eye.

UPDATE:  Slumdog Millionaire won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2008 and Danny Boyle won an Academy Award for Best Director.

SUMMERTIME IN DECEMBER

Of the 4 years I have lived in Miami, this December (and so far January 2009) have been the most beautiful.  The weather has been in the upper 70's, or 80 every single day!  Just unbelievable!  There wasn't a day over the 2 week holiday vacation when the weather hasn't been great. (Especially since most of the rest of the United States has been in a deep freeze all winter).  This is the first December that I remember actually going to the beach and having a winter tan.

I remember my first December in Miami (2004).....I invited 2 friends on mine, Anthony & Robin to visit me in my new condo.  It was a "cold" December with temperatures in the 60's.  Granted, warmer than London in December by 30-40 degrees, but it was not quite the warm weather we were all hoping for.

For the next 3 years (2005-2007) it was in the 70's.  Nice, pleasant weather, and again, certainly nothing to complain about with the rest of the country freezing.  But this December it is like summer all over again.