Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Start It Up
Thursday
February 13, 2003
Finally had a chance to see the proof for the BTLS promo pack today. And... it looks really nice. A few minor adjustments, and we'll be all set to go.
So far, the new job is working out very very well. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the sales aspect of it, but with it being such a specialized and unique brand of sales it's something I've actually relished. Plus I've had the chance to talk and interact with some influence people in the world of radio. It's been interesting, to say the least.
Last night I cleaned out my desk at Channel 10. It was a very bizarre scenario; last Thursday I was ordered to leave immediately. Then they scheduled me to come back (when most of the crew was on break). And it's not as if they rifled through my stuff; the desk was locked and nothing appeared to be disturbed. Not like there was anything vital in there anyway though; I worked as a TV news producer, not a private investigator or anything.
I left behind the Bucs' Super Bowl championship articles from the paper that I had hung up on the wall. I mean, I knew I was on my way out at that point, but still I thought it'd be fun to put it up. It's Randy Rauch's desk now, so if he wants it gone then it'll be gone. And I left behind the picture of Edward R. Murrow.
The new season of Survivor is underway. I hardly followed the last one (except having to write about how "Tampa area native Jan Gentry made it through another week"). And boy, those show tie-in stories really stretch the credibility of news operations. It's like that at every station in every market in the country, though. The nature of the beast.
One really nice by-product of this free time is being able to work out everyday. I feel great as a result. Of course now I feel freaking ravenous from the extra energy spent, but so it goes. I had this delicious parmesan rice and chicken combo for dinner at 7 PM, which normally would be really pushing it for one serving. But after a workout it hit the spot, and now here at 10 PM as I type this I feel hungry again.
I watched the first 15 minutes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigator tonight. And you know, I never really watched that show much before, but it's actually really good. I'm not much into blood and medical investigations and dead bodies and what not, but the show is really well-written and put together extremely well.
During commercial breaks on Survivor, I saw some of the new ABC show "Are You Hot?". It stole many elements from American Idol, right down to the three-judge panel (with Lorenzo Lamas playing the harsh judge role a la Simon Cowell). But, it showed alot of attractive, scantily clad women. Looks like a winner to me.
Over at the gym today I saw ESPN's "Around The Horn", where they derided the show as the latest degeneration of American society. Please. Fellas, stick to sports there and save the grandstanding for another time, eh? This from the same show that tried to emulate parts of Survivor in one of the all-time bad show retoolings. My friend Scott Massey originally alerted me to this, and I share his outlook that this was a very poor decision. A great example of how "producing it up" can backfire.
I bought a ticket to next month's Counting Crows show... I can't wait. Should be a very fun concert...
| 
