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Hope Davis to play Hillary Clinton
'Supercon' pays tribute to creators of Superman
Malcolm X Abram: Rosanne Cash coming back to Kent Stage
'Bruno' quickly goes out of style in one-note film
Parents, teens won't love 'Beth Cooper'
Now showing - Movies week of July 9
Family Views - "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs;' 'Public Enemies'
Most Read Stories
Akron police investigate teen mob attack on family
Woman, 75, charged with beating fawn to death
Akron woman found dead at Brimfield Township store
Man shot in back near Akron park
Man shot outside his Akron home during robbery attempt
Man admits repeatedly biting 2-year-old
Tragic day puts man on path to be Pinnacle owner
Blogs:
Pets:
Dogs' Bark: Not fair! Study shows pups get jealous
The Heldenfiles:
Who Will Get the Michael Media Treatment Next?
Patrick McManamon:
More on Varejao
Akron Zips:
Opponent outlook: Kent State
Browns Bulletin:
Quick thought on Browns rookies
Tribe Matters:
Wedge challenges relievers
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth test showed marijuana
Kent State Sports:
Men's Basketball Scheduling update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Andy’s Signed According to ESPN
All Da King's Men:
Does Medicare Have Lower Administrative Costs ?
Blog of Mass Destruction:
CIA Did Mislead Congress
Akron Law Café:
Breaking Story: CIA Lied to Congress about Secret Program
Varsity Letters:
East basketball update
See Jane Style:
Oh Baby!
Car Chase:
Where do We Go from Here?
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Closings….Not the Good Kind!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Margy inquires-when is a Taste of Hudson?
Sound Check:
LeVert II live performance Saturday night — "Dedication" album due July 13,
HRLite House:
DDI One of Best Places to Work
Akron Gamer:
First 24 'Guitar Hero 5' songs announced
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Wednesday, Dec 31, 2008
With 2008 almost over, it's time to look back at some of the events on the big, small and computer screens in the past year. It's not a complete list, but it's a reminder of some of what we endured or enjoyed.
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The writers strike. Long and bruising, the three-month strike to a great degree dismantled TV in early 2008, as scripted shows faced delays that kept some off the air until the following fall or later. (24 will have gone more than a year between seasons when it returns.) Already fighting a souring economy, the entertainment industry and its workers piled on still more financial losses from the strike, and some viewers never returned to shows when they finally resumed production.
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Akron-Canton newscast ends. The recession and the struggles facing news media were evident in the cutbacks at organizations (including the Beacon Journal). But one of the more painfully symbolic changes came in May when the locally based Akron-Canton newscast anchored by Eric Mansfield ended a seven-year run. The newscast, which was originally on broadcast and later only on Time Warner Cable, was meant to provide audiences a more focused alternative to the Cleveland-based news programs. But it never produced the expected revenues and was finally ended.
''''It's not that everyone didn't try over seven years,'' said Brooke Spectorsky, general manager of WKYC (Channel 3), which produced the news. ''From every major company here to the mayor to the head of Time Warner Cable — everybody put a yeoman effort forward. But as things tighten up [economically], something has to give. You can't keep trying to make something work that we don't have support for, in the sense of advertising dollars.''
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Taylor Goes Dancing. University of Akron graduate Jason Taylor, famous for his play with the Miami Dolphins and more recently the Washington Redskins, finished in second place on Dancing With the Stars. (Skating star Kristi Yamaguchi won.) That was the closest he got to a championship this year, as the Redskins failed to make the NFL playoffs.
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Russert, Newman, Score Die. In a year with a lot of show-business deaths, three that stand out involve people with Northeast Ohio ties: actor Paul Newman in September, newsman Tim Russert in June and broadcaster Herb Score in November.
Newman, ailing long before his death, left behind a considerable legacy as an actor and benefactor (the latter especially through his Newman's Own-funded charitable work).
Russert was an affable, probing presence in TV news, and one who was much missed during the historic election he did not live to witness. Tom Brokaw, who filled in on Meet the Press after Russert's death, said in October that ''Several times every day, I say aloud, 'Timmy, where are you? We need to talk.' ''
While Score had his moments on the mound before injury derailed his career, he became part of local broadcasting history as an Indians announcer. As I said not long after moving to Northeast Ohio, ''To hear him through the pop and crackle of a radio on a hot July night is to make a link to the community and history of baseball.''
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There Was Good TV Out There. Even with the strike, you had things like the superb second season of Mad Men, and the current run of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which has ably set up the departure of Grissom, the character played by William Petersen. Lost rebounded in a dazzling way, and Friday Night Lights' latest season — shown first on DirecTV, and coming soon to NBC — was a good recovery from the previous season. 30 Rock and The Office had some wonderful moments, including The Office's dinner-party episode and 30 Rock's use of Midnight Train to Georgia.
But two shows saying goodbye also provided TV highlights. The Wire and The Shield had powerful concluding seasons, capped by final episodes that showed how very powerfully a show can end.
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TV Had Fun With Politics. Tina Fey parodying Sarah Palin. David Letterman excoriating the no-show John McCain. Hillary Clinton citing a Saturday Night Live sketch during a debate. Television comedy was often effective both at generating laughs and making the public think in other ways about candidates and campaigns.
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But Wait, There's More. Akron's Ray Wise has had one of his best roles as the Devil on The CW's Reaper. Online viewers delighted in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, with Neil Patrick Harris, now on DVD.
Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate had a golf battle for the ages at the U.S. Open. How I Met Your Mother offered the hilarious Sandcastles in the Sand video.
Will Smith came to Cleveland. So did Dennis Quaid. Big-screen joys included The Dark Knight. And even with these memories still fresh, we have to start looking ahead — to a new year, a new president, new possibilities.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
With 2008 almost over, it's time to look back at some of the events on the big, small and computer screens in the past year. It's not a complete list, but it's a reminder of some of what we endured or enjoyed.
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