Any chance we have to ooh and ahh at our favorite celebs and over our favorite entertainments is welcome, particularly as we recover from the cavalcade of distressing news we got this week. Enter the Emmy award nominations.

But these noms should also inspire some amount of awe for putting on display the tremendous shifts happening on the boob tube.

First, we have the talk of the town: Netflix. The one-time snail mail DVD service (and Qwikster… remember that?) has made history with a best drama nomination for its original series House of Cards. In fact, it earned a total of nine nominations, including recognition for acting. It helps when you’ve got Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright in the cast. The fact that a Netflix series can attract that kind of talent speaks to the depth of broadcast entertainment and the willingness out there to try something new.

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This week the Syfy Channel aired its much-hyped, campy B-rate movie Sharknado, which triggered a social media feeding frenzy that included 318,000 tweets on Twitter (for a laugh check out #sharknado).

As PR professionals we’re intrigued by anything that garners the public’s interest on this level. The obvious appeal of Sharknado is the creative genius behind the idea of combining one of the most feared creatures on earth with one of its most devastating natural disasters. It’s stoner level brilliance mixed with meteorological whim and a touch of Jacques Cousteau. The concept is simply hilarious.

It’s been a rough several years for the public. The deep recession, two costly wars, political infighting, international upheaval, strained race relations, and a general WTF? vibe have taken a toll on the American public. We’re tired of being serious. We’re worn out. We need a break. As all PR experts know, timing in this industry is everything, and the timing for Sharknado could not have been better. Flying sharks attacking Los Angeles as Tara Reid and Ian Ziering defend the human race?

Yes please. Read more

“It was a moment of elation. I’d been waiting for six and a half years. I’d worked hard, waited so long and rehearsed it in my head, so I was impatient.” That’s how tightrope performer Philippe Petit described his experience when he first ventured out onto the wire that extended between the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center (WTC) in August 1974. He traversed the span between the towers for 45 minutes, making spellbinding history that’s never been repeated.

Petit was speaking outside at the Bryant Park Reading Series in New York on Wednesday about his latest book, Why Knot?: How to Make More Than Sixty Ingenious, Useful, Beautiful, Lifesaving and Secure Knots. True to form, he turned the session into a lively performance, complete with magic tricks. He imparted his knotting knowledge to audience members and enlisted their help with demonstrations.

Petit has personified his brand since the age of five when he taught himself the art of tightrope walking. He said it was “a way to escape authority”. Starting in the 1970s, the Frenchman set his sights on world renowned landmarks, including the towers of Notre Dame in Paris, and the pylons of Australia’s Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Petit’s gravity-defying promenade across the World Trade Center towers was his biggest “coup”. In order to gain access to the site, he pretended to be a journalist at an architectural magazine. After his widely publicized risky stunt and subsequent arrest, (charges were later dropped), he gained worldwide fame. He was even feted at WTC’s Windows on the World restaurant, (on the same evening as this PRNewser contributor was celebrating a birthday!)

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Earlier this week, I had the chance to see an advanced screening of the film Fruitvale Station, a dramatic telling of the real-life events that led to the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant by police officers shortly after the San Francisco Bay area rang in the New Year in 2009. Powerful and devastating, a quick scan of the theater lobby after the movie finished clearly demonstrated the effect it had on viewers. It was a sea of puffy eyes and balled up tissues.

Director Ryan Coogler, himself a 26-year-old from the East Bay area, does a masterful job of showing you that while not perfect (the film notes that Grant spent time in prison, for instance), he was a man looking optimistically to the future whose life was senselessly cut short. You’d have to be heartless to walk away from the movie without having six different kinds of feelings, all of them leading to at least one shed tear.

So enough gushing about the film… Well one more: See it! It’s great! And your whole summer movie-going itinerary can’t be popcorn movies. Really, pass on The Lone Ranger, which looks terrible, and watch this instead. I got the idea from a screening buddy to take a look and see how Bay Area police and other groups have responded to the incident in the years since.

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What fuels The Man of Steel himself as he heroically defends truth, justice and the American way? Why, burgers, of course!

Well, okay, so technically –according to these new Carl’s Jr.’s and Hardee’s ads– the burgers are fueling the average joes who have to clean up after Superman’s heroics, but Mr. Kent himself (played by “Man of Steel” star Henry Cavill) does make an appearance.

Even though we are well aware that blockbuster superhero movies are hotbeds of product placements and endorsements, we are often still surprised (somehow) when we catch our first glimpses of our costume-clad heroes in primetime ads for cars, clothes, and restaurants. We must admit though: at least we find these burger ads marginally more plausible than the Iron Man Audi spots — the man has a flying suit, out of which he manages to step looking fresh as a spring daisy…why drive?

It seems the only people who can upstage their own bizarre antics are the ones who initially staged them. It turns out that infamous reality TV food show couple Amy and Samy Bouzaglos, co-owners of Amy’s Baking Company (aka ABC Bistro), have both served time in prison for different offenses. Their restaurant, the subject of a surreal episode of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares show, recently reopened amid ongoing controversy, with curiosity seekers as patrons and full waitstaff turnover.

It’s been nearly three weeks since the meltdown during the show, where the owners exhibited such severe dysfunction that the celebrity chef threw in the towel. The couple fought with each other and with patrons, denied the waiters’ tips, and fired a waitress on the spot. They also provided slow service and offered questionable ingredients, such as frozen ravioli. But that didn’t stop the owners from acting out further. In response to rampant social media criticism, the couple responded with profanity laced tirades, and later said their social media accounts were hacked.

Now the twists in the tale continue. The restaurant recently re-opened, but they haven’t been able to retain any employees. There have been so many gawkers and reporters attempting to gain access that the couple have hired security guards. According to the Arizona Republic, Amy has served time in prison for misusing a social security number when she applied for a bank loan. Samy may be deported after covering up a past history involving drug distribution in Europe.

Samy, an Israeli citizen born in Morocco, recently had an immigration court hearing, continuing a removal process lasting more than two years. He is under ICE investigation for failing to disclose his past history involving drug distribution, threats and extortion on his U.S. immigration petition. International records show he’d served time in prison and is banned from entering France and Germany.

This PRNewser contributor paid a brief visit to the scene of the action in Scottsdale this past Sunday, while spending Memorial Day weekend nearby. After all, one of Samy’s posts urged people to “come to Arizona”, and here’s what we found. The bistro is located in a shopping area in a residential section of Scottsdale. The temperature neared 100 degrees. It was midday and the restaurant wasn’t open yet, so there were no guards on the premises. Still the signs in the window and other passers-by provided clues.

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As fans of “The Office” prepare to say a fond farewell to their beloved Scranton-dwelling characters on tonight’s series finale, the real-life Dunder Mifflin paper company, launched in 2011 via a licensing deal between Quill.com and NBC Universal, is preparing to ramp up business with a well-placed ad.

The spot, created by PR agency Olson and crowdsourcing platform Tongal, will run tonight in five Dunder Mifflin “branch” markets (Scranton, Utica, Akron, Albany, Syracuse).

While back in 2011 some thought that the concept of reverse product placement in the form of an entire company was sure to be a failure, the real-world Dunder Mifflin has grown into a multi-million dollar brand that is now among the best-selling brands in the office-supply category. We guess having sales geniuses like Dwight in your corner can make all the difference, especially when he delivers nuggets of marketing gold like, “To me, success is simply the opposite of failure.” Indeed.

Princess Merida, the young Scottish girl who broke tradition and took a decidedly feminist stand against being married off to the winner of an archery competition in Disney’s “Brave” (by using her kick-ass marksmanship skills to win her own hand) has officially been inducted into the sacred sisterhood of the Disney Princesses, taking her place alongside the likes of Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel.

But before Merida could join the ranks of her more mature counterparts, she had to undergo quite a makeover. First, her dress — a functional frock, suitable for her outdoor adventures, was replaced by a much brighter, frillier, more low-cut number, reminding young girls that looks trump comfort. And because there’s nothing feminine or damsel-like about packing heat, her beloved bow and arrows were apparently confiscated.

Equally disturbing were the changes that were made to her previously young-girl-like figure: her waist had clearly been cinched and her bust noticeably increased, she was given flirtatious lashes and rosier cheeks, and her adventurous, slightly defiant-looking smile gave way to a sultry smirk. After critics lambasted the made-over Merida for over-sexualizing what was supposed to be a young girl to whom real young girls could relate, Disney quietly pulled the image from their website and replaced it with the Pixar original.

We’re not surprised the backlash was so intense, because while we agree that the over-sexualization was a major problem, we think it went beyond that. Read more

Clearly, the promoters of the soon-to-be-revived cult classic “Arrested Development” did not “make a huge mistake” when they organized yesterday’s NYC giveaway of “Bluth’s Bananas”, a frozen treat featured on the show.

Diehard fans waited as long as 30 minutes in lines that stretched nearly two blocks for a chance to get their own chocolate-dipped frozen bananas from the authentic-looking replica of the Bluth family’s stand.

“I am such a major fan,” 21-year-old Sharah Stanley told the New York Daily News as she waited in line. “When I found out it was going to be here, I raced up. I hope the line doesn’t take too long because I’m on my lunch break.”

Stanley is not alone in waiting on bated breath for new episodes of her beloved show. Arrested Development, which originally ran from 2003 to 2006, will be reborn with a new season scheduled to be released by Netflix on May 26.

Photo via Imgur

Fans dressing up as their favorite movie characters while attending opening weekend film showings is nothing new. However, costumed moviegoers who partnered with Capital 8 Theatres in Missouri to promote the premiere of Iron Man 3 recently caused a panic, for which the theater is now apologizing.

Had the cosplayers been dressed as Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, we imagine no one would have been particularly alarmed, but some group members donned S.H.I.E.L.D agent costumes — complete with fake firearms — which, given last year’s tragic shooting at an Aurora, CO movie theater (and the current high-alert mentality when it comes to guns), might not have been the best idea.

Moviegoers, understandably frightened by the sight of people dressed in what appeared to be body armor and carrying assault rifles, called the local police. Once the dust settled, the complaints began rolling in and the theater was skewered on social media, some even accusing Capital 8 of intentionally causing the kerfuffle as a publicity stunt. In response, the company issued the following apology:

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