We have an ill pet who needs me to spend my time caring for him for the next week or so. I’ll keep on watching TV, so I should be back soon with all sorts of fun thoughts about the state of pop culture.
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | 
March 29, 2010 10:11 am | 
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Typically, actors who get their start on daytime dramas move on to primetime and movie roles. Think Judith Light, Demi Moore, Meg Ryan, James Earl Jones, Kathleen Turner, Julianne Moore, and John Stamos, among others.
I’ve noticed lately, though, that a lot of former CW actors are popping up on the soaps. (Jensen Ackles is the exception here. He went from Days of Our Lives to shows on Fox and then WB/CW.)
Michael Muhney (Sheriff Lamb, Veronica Mars): After Veronica Mars, Muhney did a few small movies. He has since popped up as Adam Wilson on The Young & the Restless.
Brett Claywell (Tim Smith, One Tree Hill): When Claywell’s character was written out of One Tree Hill, he had a brief guest stint on Dollhouse. Now he is on One Life to Live.
Amanda Setton (Penelope Shafai, Gossip Girl): She was actually the first ex-CW actor that I noticed on a daytime drama. Setton is also on One Life to Live.
I know that soap operas are steady work with good pay, even at the lower levels. And they are an amazing way to build skills such as learning lines fast and working with few opportunities to re-film for mistakes. But there is a stigma attached to the daytime dramas.
What do you think? Does this mean that the CW is on an even lower echelon than the soaps? Are people just taking the work they can get? Or will actors begin to move back and forth between primetime and daytime?
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | March 23, 2010 6:13 am | Comments (2)
Want your Supernatural-related posts included in this week’s pop culture roundup? If so, please email a link and short description to popculture AT jennifer-roland DOT com.
It’s been a while since the last episode, so recaps and posts to help us get caught up will be especially appreciated.
Tags: supernatural
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | March 22, 2010 6:17 am | Comments (0)
I’ve been enjoying the returns of Chuck and Gossip Girl so far, but there are still so many other shows I need back on my screen. Here’s my countdown.
What shows are you awaiting?
Tags: Chuck, flash forward, gossip girl, supernatural, true blood, united states of tara
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | March 16, 2010 6:14 am | Comments (2)
Welcome to this week’s collection of fun pop culture stories.
Losing a Lost Boy
Yesterday morning, I was saddened but not surprised to hear that 80s teen heartthrob Corey Haim had died of an apparent drug overdose. I had a huge crush on Haim after The Lost Boys and License to Drive. It is too bad that he was never able to get is substance abuse under control. Read another personal reaction here.
Merlin Olson, Football Star, Commentator and Actor, Dies at 69
Little House on the Prairie was one of my favorite shows (and book series) as a young girl. I remember the calming influence Johnathan Garvey often played. I am saddened to hear that he suffered from mesothelioma, a cancer often caused by exposure to asbestos. Find out more about the disease.
Behind the Scenes of “The Runaways”
I am typically not a theater-goer these days. I used to work in a theater (for five years in high school and college), so I am well aware of the joys of the crowd, the isolation, and the overall theater experience. But, I don’t always like the crowds, and I’d rather watch a movie on my big screen with my home theater system and with my dogs sitting on the couch with me. But this little movie about Runaways is almost enough to lure me out of my cocoon. I LOVE the Runaways. Are you planning to see it, either in the theater or on DVD? (Compare the movie girls with the real thing here.)
The MPAA Says the Movie Business Is Great. Unless Its Lousy.
The MPAA released a report about the state of the movie industry. Grosses are up. More technology is in theaters. But, of course, they never want to talk about the fact that grosses are only up because of inflation.
Comedy Leads the Way among 86 Pilots for Fall TV Season
It never fails. When one show succeeds, the copycats come out of the woodwork, and the networks bite. With the success of the ABC comedies this season, everyone wants to make a new 30-minute comedy. Hopefully, they won’t try to rip off Modern Family too much or focus on the things that don’t matter to viewers. (Really, do you care whether the show is a one-camera or multi-camera comedy?) Make good shows, and people will watch them.
The Mouse That Roared: Turning to the Internet to Catch a Favorite Show
I still think this is the way of the future, even though it is challenging now. For network shows, it’s easy. Pay cable, possible. Sports, nearly impossible. And the lack of easy access to sports online is why we keep the DirecTV subscription for now. Mr. Pop Culture Curmudgeon will not go without his sports.
Exclusive: Co Co a-Go-Go: Conan Tour Starts April 12!
The rumored Conan O’Brien tour is a go. And it is starting in my old place of residence, Eugene, OR. That is weird to me. Are you gonna go see Conan live?
BTW, only two weeks until a new episode of Supernatural.
Tags: cable, conan o'brien, corey haim, internet, merlin olson, movies, pilot season, the future of television, the runaways
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | March 11, 2010 5:58 am | Comments (0)
When I saw the awful E-trade commercial with the talking babies and the “milkaholic,” the first thing I thought was how gross and annoying the talking baby commercials are. My second thought was how stupid this particular one was. Not once did I think of Lindsay Lohan.
When I saw news of her lawsuit against the company saying that they copied her in creating their milkaholic character, my only thought was “What a pathetic way to solve your money problems.” Of course, I’m only assuming she has money problems because she hasn’t so much been acting and her fashion design career has not taken off. I’m sure self-tanner sales are just fine.
Do you think E-trade violated Lohan’s privacy?
Tags: lindsay lohan
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | March 10, 2010 6:31 am | Comments (0)
I read an article the other day that discussed dropping profits in the porn industry, which has always been recession-proof. The writer blamed free Internet porn for cutting into profits.
It made me think about how porn is less important as an economic force. I was sure that HD would beat Blu-Ray in the recent format wars simply because Sony didn’t license Blu-Ray for porn producers. (That was the final nail in the coffin for Beta back in the 80s. Porn movies were released on VHS, thus Beta dies a slow, painful death.) But Blu-Ray beat the odds and succeeded without porn. This is likely because the Internet is now the main distribution channel for porn, both free and pay.
Now that the free sites have become so popular, people are cutting their porn budgets and enjoying the freebies. I personally don’t understand why people would release amateur porn pictures and video without expecting people to pay for it, but I guess a lot of people enjoy the thought of millions of Internet users … um … enjoying the view a lot more than they like the thought of making tons of money off those people.
What do you think? Are people crazy not to charge for their porn vids? Will porn become less of an economic force as more and more freebies abound?
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | March 9, 2010 6:21 am | Comments (0)
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