Tuesday, October 21, 2008

A Little Of The Old In And Out



(image via audiencias)

In: Dexter. Really; considering how this blog has been tirelessly boosting Dexter as one of the best shows on TV, Showtime should be advertising on this blog. Still, we promote artistic excellence -- and celebrity malfeasance -- on this blog daily, and we have to tip our hats to the writers and the cast of this magnificently dark program thafrom which we cannot look away. From Alex Weprin of BroadcastingandCable:

"Showtime is giving its top rated drama series Dexter another two seasons. The series, currently in the middle of season three, has been drawing record ratings for the premium cable network, surpassing three million viewers in its premiere week.

"Seasons four and five will consist of 12 episodes each, with production on season four beginning in the Spring.


More here.



(image via lvrj)

Out: Kirk Kirkorian. Is this the end of the American automotive industry? Or, Is it just the beginning of a series of mergers that will lead to a leaner, greener automotive industry? Whatever Senator McCain's picking up and leaving Michigan -- which has the highest unemployment rate in the nation -- means, it was not good news for Kirk Kerkorian's portfolio. From Bloomberg:

"Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian is unwinding his Ford Motor Co. stake after the auto industry recession cut the value of his $995 million holding by two- thirds and put his firm's gambling investments at risk.

"Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. sold 7.3 million Ford shares yesterday for an average of $2.43 each and said it contacted an investment bank about unloading the rest. Tracinda's remaining 133.5 million shares were valued at $311.1 million yesterday.

"Kerkorian, 91, reversed course less than six months after expressing confidence in Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally's turnaround efforts at Ford. Last week, Ford's collapsing stock price forced Kerkorian to pledge another 50 million shares of his MGM Mirage casino company to back the $600 million credit line used to buy into the second-largest U.S. automaker.

"'It was an investment that made no sense,' said Maryann Keller, an independent auto analyst and consultant in Greenwich, Connecticut. 'He's pulling in his horns and concentrating on areas he knows best.'"




(image via commercialappeal)

In: Christopher Buckley on The Daily Show. Be sure to watch Chris Buckley on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight. While Stewart is too much of a gentleman to delve into "the unpleasantness" surrounding the paternity of his child, there are the issues of Buckley's giving up a column of a magazine in which he has a one-seventh ownership as well as his estrangement from Rich Lowry, his father's intellectual heir and who may or may not have longstanding sibling-y issues with "Christo," WFB's biological heir. Drama! And after all, blood is thicker than editor.

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