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Al Michaels
As CBS preps its upcoming broadcast of eight Thursday night football games, NBC’s lead NFL analyst Al Michaels addressed the overexposure question.
“That’s been talked about for years,” said Michaels, addressi… Continue Reading
The unrest in Israel has thrown production of USA’s Jerusalem-set Dig into question. The drama, which is something of a Da Vinci Code murder mystery set in present-day Jerusalem, is currently on a pre-planned hiatus between the pilot and production on the series. Executive producer Gideon Raff, who also is a producer on FX’s Middle East-set Tyrant, admitted that the violence in Israel and Gaza “caught us off guard.”
But he said the studio (Keshet and BermanBraun) and the network are “assessing the situation” and “looking at all of our options.”
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He did not elaborate on what those options might be. Dig stars Jason Isaacs and Anne Heche and is co-executive produced by Heroes’ Tim Kring. Like Tyrant, production is based in Tel Aviv, which boasts a thriving film community. But the Dig pilot did considerable location filming in Jerusalem.
“Hopefully everything will calm down and we’ll go back to working there and if not we’ll sort it out,” said Raff.
Raff, who grew up in Jerusalem, added that the holy city “is a key element in our show. We wanted to and chose to shoot in Jerusalem because of all the history there. Our hearts go out to everyone in Israel and in Gaza for what is happening there right now, and hopefully it will be resoled very soon.”
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Israeli commandos mounted a raid of the Gaza Strip in the early morning hours Saturday, destroying Hamas rocket-launching sites. Israeli Defense Forces also issued warnings to residents of the northern Gaza Strip — via thousands of leaflets dropped from planes — that they had until noon to leave their homes, signaling more air strikes.
The Israeli Defense Forces launched its offensive July 8 after weeks of rocket assaults from Hamas. Since then, the IDF have engaged in air strikes targeting Hamas’ rocket-launching sites in Gaza. The violence already has scuttled many events associated with the Jerusalem Film Festival, including the fest’s opening-night gala.
Sportsman Channel has picked up a second season of Amazing America with Sarah Palin, the network will announce Monday. Palin’s program, which has her introducing viewers to the great outdoors as well as the country’s unsung heroes, has brought significant attention to the niche cable channel propelling Sportsman to triple-digit year-over-year growth in households and key male demographics. And network executives are counting on Palin to be their linchpin in an ongoing effort to launch more original programming.
“Sportsman Channel has experienced tremendous growth this year and Sarah Palin’s involvement has proved to be a tremendous boon for our network and programming initiatives,” noted Marc Fein, executive vp of programming and production.
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Those new programs have included America Unplugged, about people living off the grid, and Saving Private K-9, which is hosted by Full Metal Jacket‘s R. Lee Ermey and spotlights military and law enforcement dogs.
And last week, Sportsman Channel, which is in a little over 36 million homes, announced a new program hosted by Penn Jillette. Premiering July 17, Camp Stew is a Talk Soup-like clip show that will have the illusionist commenting on outdoor bloopers and caught-on-camera mishaps.
Amazing America will once again be produced by Craig Piligian‘s Pilgrim Studios with the second season of 12 episodes scheduled to begin production later this year for an early 2015 premiere. Pilgrim also is producing the Jillette series.
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In an email interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Palin opened up about her favorite episode from season one, Hillary Clinton‘s new memoir, whether she has aspirations to host her own political talk show and why she finds today’s political system “incorrigibly disastrous.”
What was your favorite show from season one?
It’s hard to pick just one because they all told such interesting and inspiring stories! But based on a lot of positive feedback, many viewers agree with me that recording my time with [Marine Sgt. and Medal of Honor recipient] Dakota Meyer was most special. He is such a remarkable young man. He’s a true hero. My military son, the rest of our family, and a bunch of buddies with us during Dakota’s visit were so encouraged by his patriotism and work ethic, and we all had a blast because his sense of humor fit right in with the fun motley crew that we are.
What are some of the activities/places you want to explore in season two?
We’re really excited about the second season of Amazing America! We’re working on stories about people that go above and beyond to help others, really inspirational stuff that will encourage the entire nation. We’ve also got some amazing craftsmen lined up as well. I love showcasing skill and work ethic that deserves to be rewarded. It’s going to be a great season, families will love it together. I guarantee it!
What television shows do you like to watch with your family?
Amazing America! Getting outside to experience our amazing America is better than watching pretty much any show, other than our own.
Any interest in doing a political talk show, either on TV, radio or the Internet?
Maybe. But the politics would have to be interspersed with a whole lot of fun and real life and inspiration showcasing American work ethic, because those topics are all pretty much the antithesis of today’s politics, which I find incorrigibly disastrous! It’d be so much fun to shake it up taking on issues that make audiences objectively consider all sides, and I’d do it with my own real-life groundedness, candor and commonsense that I’m known for. Media needs that today, versus the condescension that oozes from TV and radio. I hear everyone recently got canned from The View, maybe a show like that needs a punch of reality and a voice of reason from America’s heartland to knock some humble sense into their scripts. You know, someone willing to go rogue.
Have you read Hillary Clinton’s book Hard Choices?
So far just the passage about me because an attorney sent the passage to me. Hillary wrote about the 2008 campaign when the Obama camp asked her to basically engage in their familiar “politics of personal destruction” just hours after I was announced as the GOP’s first female VP candidate. They couldn’t attack my record as an executive, a Mayor, a Governor, an energy resources commissioner, nor a wife and mother, so ratcheting it all down she surmised the attacks would be based on gender! How passé. How mighty hypocritical. Hillary refused to engage. I appreciated her boldness in explaining that behind-the-scenes campaign tactic of Obama’s. I’ve since pointed out there’s no “war on women” if one doesn’t react to that immature shot across the bow from the Liberal Left like America saw during that entire campaign. Don’t retreat from such a shot. Just reload like I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to do. And hey, I’m still standing! So flipping proud to be an American where I know first hand that anything is possible if you work hard, put your life in God’s hands, serve something greater than self, and live life vibrantly!
