The Desk of the Assistant Without Portfolio: 2.43

Isn't that a nice way of saying 'unemployed'? 'Without portfolio'?

BREAKING NEWS . . .

John Rogers talks rights regarding the Global Frequency [via email with Atlas], then I get a hot tip on one of the Variety editors I'm chasing for the GF [Via Tiffany]. Next, the WB kills its mascot. Viva Variety! Well, that's one step in the right direction, I guess. Lastly, I get 'kinky' with my resume.

First up, John Rogers clarifies the Global Frequency's legal rights. This is a direct email quote from him, nothing altered in any way, even his British spelling of 'behavior' [silly John, there's no 'u' in American behavior]. He told me to quote liberally, so here I go:

"GLOBAL FREQUENCY was, as far as I know, done for WILDSTORM, making it a DC therefore Time/Warner owned property. It's up to them to do whatever they hell they want with both the property and the pilot that was actually shot -- and as that pilot's what's got mad tech buzz, international fans popping up and is starting to attract major mainstream press, I'd guess that'd be what they'd want to do something with.

Even now I'm talking to some fine folk at Warner Brothers, trying to hash out some way to give the thousands of fans a legal way to get a show they want. And, might I add, the fan mail and buzz has all been ABOUT getting a legal copy. These are not pirates flipping us off, these are fans who are offering to pre-buy the box set for a show WHICH DOESN'T EVEN EXIST. If we're going to ride so hard on punishing bad behaviour, we ought to reward good faith behaviour.

If some network wants to show they're the hip guys to the new media and scoop up a project with a built in audience and international buzz, yippee. Lacking that, if the folks at Warner Brothers are kind enough to consent to any release of the current pilot, the success or failure of that release will most certainly determine the ultimate fate of the show.

Regardless of what happens here, I think this is an incredibly valuable lesson: our relationship with the audience is changing. We treat them with more respect, stop treating them like a metric to be won and they'll rally behind shows in numbers and inensity you could never buy. We all know viewership's going down. We need to stop pretending we can keep making TV like it's 1985."

John added: "Thanks, kiddo."
You're welcome, Mr. Rogers-- actually, that's weird, can I call you John?

You know, him being an icon and all?

NEXT: Remember Variety TV Editor Michael Schneider? Of course you do, you read every word of that Global Frequency post below. Well, he's a "Mike" and here's his blog. I like it--his blog. It looks nicer than mine and the writing's all clean and pretty. I do merit an oblique mention in his "Hollywood Walk of Fame Demystified" post part-way down via Kevin & Bean's mockery of the shame that is Ryan Seacrest's star--which you and Wikipedia remember I helped as best I could with my "Poop on Ryan Seacrest's Star Contest".

Remember we're emailing him nicely at his work, which is mschneider@reedbusiness.com Also, there's TV editor Josef Adalian at jadalian@reedbusiness.com there at the lovely "Variety", which I read every day. And love. Immensely. One story, guys, one, friggin' story and I've already done all your research for you.

Hey, look, synergy. . . or something. It's our friend Josef Adalian who wrote the story entitled "WB Seeks Bigger Aud, Commits Frogicide". Well, at least we know he's not too busy to report one of the most potentially-groundbreaking stories of the year. I still love you both, though. No word yet on whether Chad Michael Murray will replace the departed frog mascot as a temporary figurehead in an effort to attract demographically-desireable 18-35-year-old women, gay men and bloggers.

The WB's Temporary Mascot

Now, the kinky resume part I'm going to skip for now, until I actually do it. Of course, I may not feel like blogging that then. I may just start drinking. And doing a couple of lines. [smile] The funny thing is, you have no idea if I'm serious. Well, actually, you knew that. But the real funny is that I have no idea if I'm serious.

I'll try to do something funny with it, but after the Todd/Seth Mc/Mac/Farlane mix-up [still sorry] and dubious nick-naming fiasco, I'm treading more lightly when it comes to blogging while under the influence of anything but caffeine and cigarettes.