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How “The Wire” Changed Television Viewing

Unlike the then-popular CSI-style investigative American cop show, The Wire embraces the cold-hearted nature of ancient Greek tragedy. - The Conversation

Adult Swim At 20: How The Cartoon Network’s Cheapo Experiment Made Good

"By all accounts, it was a minor miracle that Adult Swim ever made it off the drawing board. … It seems right that one of modern TV's most consistent generators of bizarro humor — and cult followings — had origins that were, themselves, pretty freewheeling." - The New York Times

The Motion Picture Academy’s Museum Is Opening Way Past Schedule — Thank Goodness

"After spending more time in development hell than any other project in Hollywood, the museum was plagued by more production and budgetary setbacks than Apocalypse Now." Yet, argues Mary McNamara, the delays have allowed the museum to offer things it couldn't have otherwise. - Los Angeles Times

How Will Hollywood Know What Movies To Make With The Box Office So Screwed Up?

The result is a film industry in a fog, in many cases unable to even ascertain whether a movie is a hit or a miss. How do you assign value if you don’t know? - The New York Times

In Search Of A New Frame For 9/11

Was it the beginning of something or a continuation? You can divide most of the anniversary specials between those that focus closely on the day that the towers fell and those that pull back, way back, to look at what emerged from the dust. - The New York Times

After Decades, Francis Ford Coppola Is Set To Shoot His Passion Project — With Or Without The Studios

Megalopolis is "an ensemble piece involving an architect rebuilding New York City after a financial crisis cripples the metropolitan hub. … And he seems prepared to entirely self-finance the movie's $100 to $120m budget with the money made from his winery." - The Guardian

On Facebook, Misinformation Gets Six Times As Much Engagement As News

A new peer-reviewed study shows that "from August 2020 to January 2021, news publishers known for putting out misinformation got six times the amount of likes, shares, and interactions on the platform as did trustworthy news sources." But what's the solution? - Washington Post

How A Canadian Actor’s Movie Got Burdened With Carrying Marvel

The first Asian-led Marvel film "has been transformed into an unwilling test case for the future of box office blockbusters, fans' commitment to the increasingly bloated Marvel universe, and superhero movies in general." - CBC

How Netflix Took A Flop And Turned It Into A Global Phenomenon

In its first iteration on Spanish TV, Casa de Papel, known as The Money Heist in English, started strong and then massively flopped. Then Netflix picked it up, recut it, and ordered more seasons. - Washington Post

Study: Crowd-Sourced Fact-Checking Is Pretty Accurate

The study found that with a group of just eight laypeople, there was no statistically significant difference between the crowd performance and a given fact checker. - Wired

China Bans “Effeminate Men” From TV

Previously, the regime has expressed official concerns and cracked down on youth online gaming, boy band culture, gambling, cryptocurrency and sports. The moves are part of discouraging what it sees as unhealthy attention to celebrities and certain distracting activities. - Deadline

SAG-AfTRA Elects New Leaders

Fran Drescher has been elected president of SAG-AFTRA and, in a split decision, her opponent’s running mate, Joely Fisher, has been elected national secretary-treasurer. - Deadline

A New Resource We Didn’t Realize We Needed: The Black Film Archive

Maya Cade, by day the audience development strategist at The Criterion Collection, built up a full register, with synopses and links, of about 250 Black films dating from 1915 to 1979 that are available to stream — a body of work that's often forgotten today. - Vulture

Now Amazon’s Even Moving Into Live Audio

"The effort, led by Amazon's Music division, includes paying podcast networks, musicians and celebrities to use the feature for live conversations, shows and events. … The feature is being built to focus on live music, but the tech giant is also eyeing talk radio programs and podcasts." - Axios

Nielsen’s Accreditation For National TV Ratings Suspended

"The suspension is the latest salvo in a months-long joust between TV networks and the company that has long tabulated (their) viewership, … (as the) industry (seeks) a new yardstick as its audiences light out for new digital territory." - Variety

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