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Bill Prady, THE BIG BANG THEORY, TV sitcom co-creator: Mr. Media Interview
2008-06-09 13:34:00
Bill Prady is having a pretty good year, writers? strike and all, thanks to the success of ?The Big Bang Theory ,? the hit CBS sitcom he co-created with Chuck Lorre.If you haven?t seen ?The Big Bang Theory,? it co-stars Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons as a couple of super-nerds named Leonard and Sheldon, an ?in? joke for those of us who remember a sitcom master of old, the late Sheldon Leonard. Leonard produced everything from ?Make Room for Daddy? with Danny Thomas to ?The Dick Van Dyke Show? and ?The Andy Griffith Show.? He was also a director, a writer, and a frequent guest star, including appearing on an episode of HBO?s ?Dream On.?More about that later.Sheldon and Leonard, the lead characters in ?The Big Bang Theory,? have absolutely nothing in common with their namesake that I can figure, except that he?d probably be proud of the tribute because they are smartly-drawn, literate, and most importantly, damn funny.Click here to READ the transcript of this interview!You can also LIS...
More About: Media , Interview , Sitcom , Creator

Eye of the Longneck, Baby! (Blender)
2008-06-08 13:14:00
"For the last decade, I've supported myself with commercial work. I've sung on 230 of Bud Light's Real Men of Genius ads. My favorite is the Mr. Giant Pocketknife Inventor one."-- Dave Bickler, lead singer of the band Survivor (remember Rocky III? "Eye of the Tiger"? That's him), telling Blender 's Dan Reilly what he's been up to since the band broke up.
More About: Baby , Blender Magazine

Crystal Dull
2008-06-08 03:27:00
Did it really take 20 years for the minds of Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas , and Harrison Ford to come up with the plot and dialogue for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?OMG! It's awful. Can we get that 2-1/2 hours of our lives back somehow? Why didn't somebody warn us? Makes JarJar Binks seem intellectual by comparison.
More About: Karen Allen , Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Scott Miles, LITTLE CHICAGO actor, writer, producer: Mr. Media Audio Interv
2008-06-07 14:46:00
There?s a certain risk ? some might call it insanity ? to producing true indie films. They?re costly, especially relative to the return on investment, time, and aggravation.But still they get made.Scott Miles made his. It?s called Little Chicago , and it's about a young man who returns home after college hoping his dad will stake him the money to get into the bar and restaurant business. Of course, if his dad were to do that, this would be a short, not a full-length motion picture.Miles wrote, produced, and starred in Little Chicago.But if you haven?t seen Little Chicago, maybe you know him from some of his other film roles, including Remember the Titans, The Patriot, or October Sky. On television, he was in episodes of ?NCIS? and ?Star Trek Voyager.?I think you'll find what he has to say about producing indie films quite interesting.You can LISTEN to this interview by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!Open in your default playerDetach into a separate window© 2008 b...
More About: Media , Audio

A Tisket, A Tasket (GQ)
2008-06-06 19:57:00
"I've always been the type of fellow to put all my eggs in one basket and then promptly take a dump in the basket."-- Robert Downey Jr ., the resilient actor and star of Iron Man , reflecting on his roller-coaster ride through fame and misfortune. He was featured in GQ's May 2008 cover story, "The Man in the Irony Mask," by Matthew Klam.
More About: Q Magazine

You Said It! (St. Petersburg Times)
2008-06-05 13:41:00
"Eventually, you start to find your own voice, and each correspondent kind of settles into a niche. It's an organic thing that I try not to analyze too much, because I worry that it will go away."-- Aasif Mandvi, a correspondent on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ," discussing his role on the Comedy Central show in an interview with Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times .

It's All About Me (Playboy)
2008-06-04 13:00:00
"'The Daily Show' gained credibility because I left. The only bright side of leaving was I hated everyone involved with the show - (Stephen) Colbert in particular. He seems to be very intelligent on TV, but trust me, it's all smoke and mirrors. Everything is written for him. His scripts need to be spelled out phonetically. I just got tired of carrying him. He has no idea what he's talking about. He can hardly spell his own name."-- Steve Carell , former correspondent on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," remembering the good times on that show in the June 2008 Playboy Interview conducted by Eric Spitznagel. Carell, who currently appears in "The Office ," stars in the summer film Get Smart .
More About: Jon Stewart , Stephen Colbert

Jonathan Riggs, PRISM COMICS LGBT GUIDE TO COMICS editor: Mr. Media Intervi
2008-06-03 13:01:00
Jonathan Riggs is my guest for this hour of Mr. Media . I began the show with some trepidation - I was late getting back from the bank for one thing and almost missed the show entirely! - and I know absolutely nothing about the narrow market for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered comics.Hell, when I was a teen reading comics, I didn't know there was any such thing as "gay." And it was only a few years ago someone told me the backstory on the name of the band "Queen."What planet am I on, anyway?But this was actually a fascinating interview and Riggs - the editor of both the 2008 Prism Comics : Your Guide to LGBT Comics and Instinct magazine - made for a great guest.Prism Comics, incidentally, is a nonprofit organization that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) comics, creators, and readers. Besides publishing the annual resource guide, Prism Comics hopes to acquaint comics readers with a wide range of creators who present good stories that readers can real...
More About: Jonathan , Editor

Robert Schimmel Returns, CANCER ON $5 A DAY author, standup comedian: Mr. M
2008-06-02 13:31:00
Robert Schimmel was my guest on Mr. Media recently and despite an hour of conversation, I felt like we barely began talking when time ran out.And based on listener response, it seems many of you felt the same way, so I?ve invited Robert back to pick up where we left off. So please welcome back to Mr. Media one of the best stand-up comedians in America and the author of Cancer on $5 a Day, Robert Schimmel.You can LISTEN to this interview by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!Open in your default playerDetach into a separate window© 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved.
More About: Comedian , Howard Stern , Author , Robert

Pow! Bam! Splat! (Starlog)
2008-06-01 13:35:00
"I honestly thought my life was going to be full of bar fights after playing the Batman. I really did! When I was on Batman Begins , I would say to the martial arts guys, 'I need to not only learn this for the movie, but for my life as well, because I'm sure there are lots of people who are going to get a kick out of bragging, "I took the Batman"'"-- Christian Bale , star of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight , opening the door to a lifetime of ass-kickings in an interview with Starlog magazine's Kim Howard Johnson. Amazon.com Widgets

Should Have Kept Padma Under Lock 'n' Key (New York Times)
2008-05-31 14:10:00
"All the people I've been associated with are not true. I'm totally eligible, single and available."-- Salman Rushdie, describing his social life to New York Times reporter Patricia Cohen ("Now He's Only Hunted By Cameras") after "Top Chef" beauty Padma Lakshmi left him via email. (That is so cold.) Poor bastard. At least he's got a new book out: The Enchantress of Florence. So at least he's got that going for him.
More About: New York Times

Wonderful Little Perks (Venice Magazine)
2008-05-30 13:39:00
"While I haven't seen my action figure for Crystal Skull, I have seen the Lego one they've come up with as a tribute to Raiders, and I get a kick out of it. I mean, to see myself as a Lego figure! That's incredibly cool. Still, I'm actually glad that my son is no longer playing with Legos, because it would be a little weird to have him playing with mine!"-- Karen Allen , co-star of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, discussing her toys and boy with Daniel Schweiger in the stories "Return of the Great Adventuress" in Venice magazine.
More About: Magazine , Wonderful , Perks

Alan Levy, BLOGTALKRADIO.com founder: Mr. Media Audio Interview
2008-05-29 14:46:00
I?m a lucky guy.Last December, I received an email from a woman named Amy Domestico, inviting me to bring my podcast, Mr. Media , to a relatively new media site called Blog TalkRadio . We exchanged some emails and finally talked on the phone.Up until that point, I recorded my interviews over the telephone on a digital tape recorder and uploaded them to the Internet and my web site, www.mrmedia.com. The system worked, but it was clunky and excluded listener participation.I agreed to try one interview on BlogTalkRadio ? on one-day notice. It was with the producer of a small indie film called Nemesis. I told him about BlogTalkRadio and said if it didn?t work, we could do a do-over.Not only did it work, but he even convinced the star of his film to call in as a surprise guest.I don?t think I?ve done an interview the old-fashioned way, ever since.That?s why joining me today is one of my heroes, Alan Levy, founder of BlogTalkRadio.com.You can LISTEN to this interview by clicking the BlogTalk...
More About: Audio , Founder

C'mon, Baby, Light My Fire (Conde Nast Portfolio)
2008-05-29 13:41:00
"Any book, in any language, ever in print should be available in less than 60 seconds."-- Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon .com, explaining the appeal of the company's electronic book device, the Kindle. The interview, by Kevin Maney, appears in the June 2008 issue of Conde Nast Portfolio .
More About: Baby , Fire , Light

Trading Spaces (AARP Magazine)
2008-05-29 04:06:00
"I saw a picture of me in a tabloid where they had actually given my weight. I was like, 'How dare you--I'm not 161 pounds!' I was indignant. I got home and I went on a scale and I was 161pounds."-- Jamie Lee Curtis, owning up to her weight - and age - 50 - in an AARP magazine interview with Nancy Griffin. Amazon.com Widgets
More About: Magazine , Trading , Spaces

Jules Feiffer, EXPLAINERS cartoonist, author: Mr. Media Audio Interview
2008-05-29 04:05:00
The word that comes to mind when I think about the comic strips of Jules Feiffer is this: soliloquy.My Microsoft Word dictionary - hey, it's convenient! - defines it as ?the act of speaking while alone, especially when used as a theatrical device that allows a character?s thoughts and ideas to be conveyed to the audience.?That sounds about right to me, because the best of Feiffer?s strips ? known, incidentally, as ?Feiffer? ?usually consisted of one character looking at the reader ? breaking the so-called fourth wall - and going on for six or eight panels. The results weren?t always funny, but they were always sure to be thought provoking.This month, Fantagraphics published Explainers, the first of four dense collections of Feiffer?s entire run of weeklies in The Village Voice. This volume of 500 strips is from 1956 through 1966; the strip ran through 1998.Oh, and he won a Pulitzer Prize for his comic strip, too.Jules Feiffer is one of comics? great characters himself. He famously ...
More About: Media , Audio , Robin Williams , Interview , Author

At Least They're Not Cheeseheads (Wired)
2008-05-27 13:58:00
"One of the things I like about our version is that the Galactica isn't one of the best ships in the fleet. If you tell stories about the elite, they have to be paragons. We said the ship was going into retirement and the crew were all castoffs and knuckleheads. To me that's an interesting show."--Ron Moore, re-creator of the Sci-Fi Channel series "Battlestar Galactica ," discussing his show's merits with Adam Rogers in the June 2008 issue of Wired magazine. (You can read an extended version of the interview here.)
More About: Star Trek , Star Wars

Babs Wules! (The Feed)
2008-05-26 18:15:00
?With Quaddafi, I said ?Do you know there are some people who think that you?re mad?' I don?t say that I think you?re mad. He laughed and more or less answered the question. With Yeltsin, I asked 'You know about the rumors -- I?m sure you?ve read them sir -- that you drink too much.' There are ways of couching it. Often I?ll ask 'What?s the biggest misconception about you?' and they?ll bring the (controversial) matters up.?-- Barbara Walters, promoting her new autobiography, Audition, in an interview with Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times.
More About: Feed

I am Indy Jr. (Nick Magazine)
2008-05-26 14:29:00
"The other day I was at a convenience store picking up a bag of chips, and some guy challenged me to a sword fight duel and I had to show him what was up."-- Shia LaBeouf, co-star of the new movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , telling Nick Magazine how he applied some of the skills he learned for the movie in real life.
More About: Indy

So That's What "Sweet Caroline" Means? (Spin)
2008-05-26 02:05:00
"I must've been smoking something when I said that."-- Neil Diamond , upon being reminded by Spin magazine's David Marchese in the June 2008 issue that the singer said he once dreamt of doing as much musically as "Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Robert Frost ." (But have any of those guys ever been a special guest on "American Idol "?)
More About: Sweet

Taxi! (Newsweek)
2008-05-25 14:07:00
"I was thinking of naming my kid Doctor if I have one. Doctor Fallon. Then whatever he does, he's set."-- Newlywed comedian Jimmy Fallon, explaining to Newsweek 's Brian Braiker what he'll name his first-born child. Fallon was recently named to succeed Conan O'Brien as host of "Late Night ."@import url(http://www.google.com/cse/api/brandin g.css); Custom Search
More About: Taxi

Gloria Steinem Would Be So Proud (Esquire)
2008-05-24 13:42:00
"Equal opportunities for everyone on the planet. If women are going to prostitute themselves, men should as well. There should be more male hookers. And eighteen-year-old women should demand satisfaction from their men."-- Actress Radha Mitchell, explaining to Esquire 's Matthew Belloni, what she means by saying she's a feminist. She is one of the magazine's "Women We Love" in the June 2008 issue.Her new movie is The Children of Huang Shi. Amazon.com Widgets
More About: Proud , Gloria

Links for 2008-05-23 [Digg]
2008-05-24 07:00:00
Tom Farley, Jr., THE CHRIS FARLEY SHOW co-author: Mr. Media A lively podcast interview with the late SNL comedian Chris Farley's older brother, Tom. Tom co-authored the new biography, "The Chris Farley Story," and is chairman of the Chris Farley Foundation.
More About: Links , Digg , 2008

Katy Chevigny, ELECTION DAY, DEADLINE documentary filmmaker: Mr. Media Inte
2008-05-24 01:50:00
Katy Chevigny makes award-winning documentary films such as Arctic Son, Innocent Until Proven Guilty, Nuyorican Dream, Brother Born Again, and Outside Looking In: Transracial Adoption in America. Her credits also include the acclaimed film Deadline , an investigation into Illinois Governor George Ryan?s commuting of death sentences. After premiering at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, the film was broadcast on NBC. Quite honestly, I know you may not recognize the titles, but if you?re interested in independent film and documentaries, she?s the kind of woman whose work and thoughts you?ll find quite interesting.Chevigny's latest project is called Election Day. It documents the 2004 U.S. elections, from 11 locations, including a Native American reservation in South Dakota and polling stations in Florida. It will debut on the PBS series "P.O.V." on July 1.She is currently in post-production on The Dishes, the story of a punk rock band that juggles family and careers in Chicago. Through...
More About: Media , Documentary , Katy

Tom Farley, Jr., THE CHRIS FARLEY SHOW co-author: Mr. Media Audio Interview
2008-05-22 22:05:00
Losing a family member at the tender age of 33 is incredibly tough. It?s even more complicated when that young person lived his existence in a bigger-than-life way, like Chris Farley ? and his trials and tribulations are witnessed by millions.In his new book, The Chris Farley Show , Chris?s older brother, Tom Farley, Jr. ? with help from co-author Tanner Colby - pieces together his late brother?s life in the form of an oral history with interviews from most everyone who encountered Chris. This includes family and friends from his youth, on through the ?Saturday Night Live? family, and people from his hit movies, including Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, and Beverly Hills Ninja.The book is an easy, breezy read, and was excerpted last month in Playboy.You can LISTEN to this interview by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!Open in your default playerDetach into a separate window Amazon.com Widgets
More About: Media , Audio , Interview , Author

Hot Girl in the Comics Shop
2008-05-22 04:56:00
Amazon.com Widgets
More About: Comics , Girl , Shop

Richard Brody, EVERYTHING IS CINEMA: THE WORKING LIFE OF JEAN-LUC GODARD bi
2008-05-19 21:42:00
I studied French New Wave cinema in college. Took it twice, in fact, in Professor Robert Ray?s class at the University of Florida. Little-known fact ? my degree is actually in Film Studies.Anyway, I loved the French New Wave films from the late ?50s and early ?60s. What I didn?t care for was the over-inflated discussion that followed each screening.I?d watch the movies, in awe of the storytelling, the jump cuts, the women, the casual sex ? you get the idea. But when the lights came up, Professor Ray always insisted on going deep into the meaning and motivation of the filmmaker.So here I am, Mr. A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep, about to welcome the esteemed film critic of The New Yorker magazine and author of the new book, Everything Is Cinema : The Working Life of Jean Luc-Godard. It?s a fascinating look at the best of the best of French New Wave, the auteur behind Breathless, A Woman is A Woman, La Chinoise, King Lear, and many more. And it made me wish I was more patient back in Profe...
More About: Brody

David Hajdu, THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE author: Mr. Media Audio Interview
2008-05-17 22:20:00
Run for your lives!Hide the women and children!There?s a Ten-Cent Plague loose upon this fine land!My guest today, David Hajdu, is the author of a new book that ? at the very least ? probably has the best title of the year, The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America.In this book, Hajdu looks back at a hysterical period in American history ? one of many, to be sure ? when comic books were considered such a threat to our way of life that the industry nearly vanished.Hajdu is also the author of Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, and Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina. He teaches at the Graduate School of Journalism with another friend of the Mr. Media podcast, Sree Sreenivasan ? and is the music critic for The New Republic.You can LISTEN to this interview by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!Open in your default player Amazon.com Widgets
More About: Audio , Interview , Author

The O'Reilly Factor - Somebody is F-ing with Bill O'Reilly
2008-05-17 22:00:00
(Thanks, DigDog!) Amazon.com Widgets
More About: Bill O , Fox News , Bill , Factor , The O

A Beautiful Thing, But Outlawed in Most States
2008-05-16 13:29:00
"I?ve played a lesbian like three times and I?ve been the most asexual lesbian in history. I wouldn?t sign up for that experience if I wasn?t ready for every aspect of that character. When you sign up to play a character, you sign up to play every aspect of that character?s life. And if she?s going to have a love interest, what?s the point of having two gay characters if you don?t get to see them for who they are. If that means kissing, making out, or making love, let?s show it!"- Gabrielle Union , co-star of the summer movie Meet Dave and guest star on recent episodes of "Ugly Betty ," answering Men 's Fitness interrogator Elizabeth Sanchez's curiosity about her willingness to get into a little girl-on-girl action in the movies. Amazon.com Widgets
More About: Beautiful