Idiot Box

Boston-based comedian Paul Kafasis has shared a very funny post on his blog One Foot Tsunami. After endlessly watching the “Date Night” TV ad in which Samuel L. Jackson works with Siri to prepare a romantic evening of gazpacho consumption, he decided to cook up a real-world test.

It was bad enough when Kafasis articulated to Siri the words, “Remind me to put the gazpacho on ice in an hour.” But things got really dicey when he then used a recording of Jackson mouthing the dialogue. Kafasis’ Siri responded with:

- Call Mirium Booksbaum
- Call Anna-Genelle Harev
- Call Ron Ridenhour

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Get ready for at least one more day of tears on Fox 11′s Good Day LA.

On Thursday, Jillian Reynolds apologized to the departing Dorothy Lucey for all of the mean things she’s said about her during their 17-year run together.

The real winner in this segment was Steve Edwards, who received a Dorothy-Jillian sandwich hug.

I’m on to you, Steve.

[H/T LA Observed]

For years, actor Billy Bob Thornton was approached by various parties looking to convince him to write a certain kind of memoir. But he had no real interest in writing an autobiography, let alone one that might rate as People’s juiciest.

However, as Thornton explained last night on Tavis Smiley, another rascally son of the American South finally convince him to give the book-writing game a try. As a result, there is this month’s new release The Billy Bob Tapes: A Cave Full of Ghosts:

“People have asked me for years to do it. But they want some gossipy celebrity book and I just wouldn’t do it. But [co-author] Kinky [Friedman] said, ‘Hey, why don’t you tell some of those funny stories about growing up and then give you a couple of chapters to gripe about how our society is crumbling, and, you know, we’ll go from there.’”

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Every once in a while, The Hollywood Reporter publishes an essay about a topical TV-film industry issue written by an anonymous show business insider. The latest such missive, appearing in the June 1 print issue and online today, is one of the best yet.

Right off the bat, the unnamed TV showrunner-author writes that although Community’s Dan Harmon (pictured) had a reputation for being “difficult,” they can neither personally confirm nor, for that matter, be surprised if the characterization is indeed accurate:

Because – and here’s the dirty secret of television – there are plenty of showrunners who are difficult. Some are even truly Machiavellian, hated and feared by all. But as long as their shows are hits, no one would ever think about replacing them.

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As the technical coordinator on Friends from 2000 to 2004, Roger Christiansen also got the chance to direct a couple of episodes – one about Joey messing up a Monica-Chandler adoption-recommendation letter and another involving a Joey-Phoebe double date.

But it is several years later in China that Christiansen nearly made an even bigger Friends mark. The show remains hugely popular there and according to an interview on china.org.cn, a Chinese-language spinoff was extensively developed:

From 2008-2010, Christiansen worked with a Shanghai-based team writing original scripts for a Friends-inspired sitcom that would focus on the lives of a group of expatriate professionals in China and their Chinese friends. Although the project was ultimately shelved because of differences between the writers and production team, Christiansen said he remains open to re-imagining the hit series for Chinese television, albeit with several caveats.

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Get ready for some new faces on Fox 11′s Good Day LA.

Dorothy Lucey is leaving the morning show and Jillian Reynolds is transitioning from a full time employee to a freelancer, according to Deadline.com:

I hear Lucey’s contract was not renewed and her last day will be later this week, possibly on Friday. Additionally, Lucey’s co-anchor Jillian Reynolds will switch from a full-time KTTV employee to freelance status. She will continue in her current duties on Good Morning LA but not always five days a week.

The show will hold on-air auditions in the coming weeks in hopes of finding a replacement for Lucey. This is a huge departure for KTTV as the Good Day LA co-anchor has worked alongside Reynolds and Steve Edwards since 1995.

The Hollywood media was abuzz this weekend over the news that Dan Harmon was being replaced as showrunner of NBC’s Community. Not that the TV execs wanted it that way when they announced the news on Friday evening after most reporters had gone home.

But Harmon’s not the sort of fellow to go quietly. Via Tumblr, he swiftly responded to the network spin with his typical frankness.

On the news he will remain on the show as a consulting producer:

I am technically “signed on,” by default, to be an executive consulting something or other – which is a relatively standard protective clause for a creator in my position.  Guys like me can’t actually just be shot and left in a ditch by Skynet, we’re still allowed to have a title on the things we create and “help out,” like, I guess sharpening pencils and stuff.

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Nationally syndicated sports talk show host Jim Rome rolled the dice earlier this year, walking away from Jim Rome is Burning on ESPN for a deal with CBS Sports/Showtime.

Six weeks after the premiere of Rome on the CBS Sports Network, the “King of Smack” told media reporter Ed Sherman that he has no regrets about his decision to leave:

Do people still say to you, ‘You’re crazy, why did you leave ESPN?

Yeah, little bit. Once in a while. It’s not just the one show. It’s the whole platform. It’s been great. They were very good to me at ESPN. I had a great run there. CBS has been awesome. It’s a great company to work for. They give me a lot of support. I’ve never once looked back.

It’s a big picture thing. I’m not so locked in that it’s just the TV show. I’m reaching so many different places across the platforms. Once I made the decision, once I’m in, I’m all in. It might sound trite, but I’m trying to do the best TV show I can do every single day. That’s what I’m focused on. It’s going to take some time. As long as I can do a TV show I’m proud of, that’s the only thing that matters.

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You can add CBS2 to the growing list of local news stations (NBC4, Fox 11) that have butchered stories during this Los Angeles Kings playoff run.

If you look closely, you will notice B-roll footage of the Sacramento Kings mascot — not Bailey, the LA Kings mascot.

Don’t let me down, ABC7.

Fox 11 anchor Liz Habib lived up to her ranking as the worst sports anchor in Los Angeles Thursday night, stumbling her way through the highlights from Game 3 of the Los Angeles Kings-Phoenix Coyotes series.

I can cut an anchor some slack for butchering names, but confusing the hockey puck for a ball? Really?