Stars Say Goodbye To Letterman

Wingnuts Furious With CBS For Correctly Calling FRC An Anti-Gay Hate Group

Teabagistan has been in an uproar all week after CBS' Face The Nation host Bob Shieffer correctly called the Family Research Council an anti-gay hate group in the opening to his interview with Tony Perkins last Sunday. Yesterday Todd Starnes posted the below rant, bringing in foaming hater Brent Bozell to denounce CBS. Bozell, you may recall, is most known here for calling President Obama a "skinny ghetto crackhead."

Laverne Cox Cast For CBS Pilot

Via Entertainment Weekly:

In what could be another milestone role in broadcast TV diversity, CBS has cast transgender actress Laverne Cox in its legal procedural pilot Doubt. The Orange is the New Black actress will play a transgender Ivy League-educated attorney, described as “competitive as she is compassionate. She’s fierce, funny and the fact that she’s experienced injustice first hand makes her fight all the harder for her clients.” The Doubt role was always conceived as a transgender character, and it’s tough to imagine a better catch for the part – Cox made the cover of Time magazine last year in a story about the transgender movement. While there have been plenty of transgender characters on broadcast TV shows in the past, they are often short-term parts or comedic roles.

Cue the wailing OMMites!

One Million Moms Vs 2 Broke Girls

Just in via email:

Dear Joe, Unfortunately, CBS continues to air the program "2 Broke Girls" on Monday evenings and this season it airs earlier than ever at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and 7:00 CT. The 14-DLS rated show is full of sexual innuendos. The show's primary dialogue consists of sexual references and it airs during primetime. The unacceptable content in just the most recent thirty-minute episode included: one-night stands, not knowing the names of sexual partners, child neglect, drug abuse, sexual encounters, disgusting dialogue, graphic sexual descriptions, sexual innuendos, disrespect to parents, and extremely foul language. This is just the tip of the iceberg and only sums up the nasty content of this program. The sponsors and CBS network are being irresponsible in promoting such a vulgar program. Take Action: Contact Toys 'R' Us and politely ask them to pull their advertising support from the CBS program "2 Broke Girls."

Politely? That's a switch.

Corporations To SCOTUS: Uneven Marriage Laws Are Burdening Our Business

Thirty major corporations have filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to hear AFER's challenge of Virginia's same-sex marriage ban. On the list: Amazon, CBS, Deutsche Bank, eBay, Intel, General Electric, Levi Strauss, Nike, Oracle, Pfizer, Staples, Target, and Viacom. In general, the brief argues that the nation's uneven patchwork of marriage laws places an undue burden on corporations. An excerpt:

Amici include technology, materials, financial services, pharmaceutical, apparel, and entertainment companies; hoteliers and restaurateurs, service providers, consultants, and designers. Amici all share a desire to attract and retain a talented workforce. We are located or operate in states across the country, some of which recognize marriages of those of our employees whose spouses are of the same sex, and others that prohibit marriages between same-sex couples and refuse to recognize existing same-sex marriages. This dual and continuously shifting regime uniquely burdens amici. This legal uncertainty exposes us, as employers, to unnecessary cost, risk, and administrative complexity. In addition, this irresolution hampers our efforts to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible, placing us at a competitive disadvantage. Our success depends upon the welfare and morale of all employees, without distinction. The burden imposed by inconsistent state laws of having to administer complicated schemes to account for differential treatment of similarly situated employees creates unnecessary confusion, tension, and ultimately, diminished employee morale.

Hit the link for the full list of corporations.

Two & A Half Men Stars Kutcher & Cryer To Gay-Marry In Upcoming Episode

ABC News reports:

Two people will tie the knot during the 12th and final season of CBS' "Two and a Half Men," and you may be surprised who they are and why they're getting married. CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler confirmed to ABC News that Ashton Kutcher's character Walden will pop the question to Jon Cryer's Alan. Tassler confirmed that Walden will have a health scare that causes him to make the commitment. "Walden, in having kind of an existential crisis, he has a near-death experience and he is evaluating the meaning of life. He wants to adopt a child and it is particularly challenging to do so as a single male. So he decides that he and Alan should get married and they will adopt a child as a gay couple," Tassler said Thursday, while at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills.

Didn't we already go through this with I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry?

Craig Ferguson To Leave The Late Show

Via the Associated Press:

A few weeks after David Letterman announced he'd be retiring from the CBS late-night television lineup, Craig Ferguson did the same. Ferguson, host of "The Late Late Show" since 2005, told his studio audience during Monday's taping that he will step down at the end of the year. Ferguson's show airs after Letterman's, at 12:35 a.m. on weekdays. The move was no surprise after CBS announced that Stephen Colbert will replace Letterman next year. There was a time that Ferguson, whose show won a Peabody Award in 2009, was considered a strong contender for that job. But "The Late Late Show" has faded in the ratings, particularly with the arrival of Seth Meyers in February as competition in the same time slot. "CBS and I are not getting divorced, we are consciously uncoupling," Ferguson said. "But we will still spend holidays together and share custody of the fake horse and robot skeleton, both of whom we love very much." He told the audience it was his decision to leave, adding, "CBS has been fine with me."

Rush Limbaugh Attacks CBS For Hiring Stephen Colbert To Replace Letterman

"CBS has just declared war on the heartland of America. No longer is comedy going to be a covert assault on traditional American values [and] conservatives. Now, it's just wide out in the open. What this hire means is a redefinition of what is funny and a redefinition of what is comedy. What this hire means is a redefinition of what is funny and a redefinition of what is comedy, and there’s blowing up the 11:30 format under the guise that the world’s changing. It’s media planting a flag here. Maybe even media’s last stand. It’s a declaration. They've hired a partisan, so-called comedian, to run a comedy show." - Rush Limbaugh, speaking yesterday on his radio show.

Colbert To Replace Letterman

Stephen Colbert will succeed David Letterman when the Late Show host retires some time next year.

When Colbert sits behind the desk of the CBS program, as he is set to do at a currently undetermined date in 2015, he will likely do it in unvarnished fashion, not as the right-wing caricature he plays in his current perch on Comedy Central. CBS said creative elements, producers and even the location of the show will be announced at a later date. And yet, it is that inventiveness CBS is likely banking on to help it gain in the ongoing late-night wars. Indeed, Colbert will be the Eye’s entry into a race that has already started. Both ABC and NBC have already turned their latenight programming over to younger hosts – Jimmmy Kimmel for the Alphabet and Jimmy Fallon at the Peacock. Colbert will have to hit the ground running, mastering a new format while trying to maintain the current fan base that has made his “Colbert Report” a mainstay for the Viacom-owned network.

Colbert has issued a statement: “Simply being a guest on David Letterman’s show has been a highlight of my career. I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave’s lead."

TV's Longest-Running Late Night Host David Letterman To Retire After 33 Years

This afternoon David Letterman told his Times Square studio audience that he will retire in 2015 after 33 years as a late night television host.

Letterman, who survived an emergency five-way bypass surgery in 2000, is the longest-serving late-night host in TV history and last year he surpassed his friend and mentor Carson when he hit 31-years on the air. He got his start in showbiz as a weatherman before hosting a short-lived morning show. His version of NBC’s “Late Night” debuted in 1982 and he left the network for CBS 10 years later following a nasty behind the scenes struggle with Leno to host the "Tonight Show” when Carson retired. He owns the production company, Worldwide Pants, which produces “The Late Late Show,” currently hosted by Craig Ferguson, a potential successor. In Thursday’s announcement, Letterman gave the audience a bit of rare emotion. “I just want to reiterate my thanks for the support from the network, all of the people who have worked here, all of the people in the theater, ... everybody at home, thank you very much.”

Letterman's first guest in 1982 was Bill Murray. Many expect that Murray will be the final guest next year.

There are more than 10 reasons #DavidLetterman will be missed. pic.twitter.com/UoLVRZduF7
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 3, 2014

CBS: We Didn't Avoid Grammy Kissing

CBS has issued to a testy response to a Buzzfeed post which wondered why there no shots of the couples kissing after their wedding vows at the Grammys.

CBS reacted defensively to the suggestion, and said that there had not been a decision to avoid showing same-sex kisses or any others. “It was a groundbreaking and inclusive moment on television and for all who were in the room last night. It’s hard to believe that this is BuzzFeed’s takeaway from this event,” said Phil Gonzales, senior vice president of communications. When asked separately if a decision was made in the control room at the show to not include the kisses — or if any such decision was made — Gonzales simply said, “No there wasn’t.”

It sure seemed like they purposely cut away.

CBS Apologizes For Benghazi Report

Fox Ignores Discredited Benghazi Report

One Million Moms Vs CBS

Via email:

"Dear Joe, If possible, try to imagine the worst possible characteristics a mother could have. Then multiply that by ten, and you have the entire plot to one of the new TV shows airing this fall. The premiere of "Mom" aired this week, and it was shocking. The character playing the mom and actress playing the part of her mother both set terrible examples and are the farthest from a positive role model for women today. Children will also see this program - which airs entirely too early for the content presented - and they will be effected negatively by this broken television family. Offensive content in the program included two teen pregnancies, an affair, sexual innuendos and crude language."

CBS Developing Show About Trans Teen

Deadline reports:

The CW is taking on a controversial subject with ZE, a drama project centering on a transgender teenager. Written by Brooklyn-based writer-playwright Kyle Jarrow and executive produced by Michael London (Milk), ZE is described as a raw, quirky family drama about a FTM (female-to-male) teen and his family. A personal choice takes on controversial public significance when a Texas teenager announces she is transgender and will be living life as a boy.

As his dysfunctional family spirals into identity crises of their own, he discovers that he might be the most well-adjusted of them all. CBS TV Studios is producing ZE, whose title represents a non-gender-specific reference (like he or she). While there have been a handful of transgender characters on broadcast series, most notably one played by Rebecca Romijn on ABC’s Ugly Betty, this is the first time a transgender person would be the lead of a primetime show.

I cannot wait for you-know-who to begin screeching.

CBS & Time-Warner End Cable Feud

But not before everybody missed the US Open. Just in via press release:

CBS Corporation and Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks have reached an agreement for carriage of CBS owned stations on Time Warner Cable systems across the country, as well as Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network and Smithsonian Channel, it was announced today by representatives for the companies. Programming on all networks will resume at 6:00 PM ET today. Though specific terms of the deal are not being disclosed, the agreement includes retransmission consent, as well as Showtime Anytime and VOD, for CBS stations on Time Warner Cable systems in New York (WCBS and WLYW), Los Angeles (KCBS and KCAL) and Dallas (KTVT and KTXA.)

The blackout began one month ago today.

CBS Reporter Bruce Dunning Dies At 73, Possibly Posthumously Outed In Obituary

If, like me, you grew up during the Vietnam War, you'll remember the gripping nightly reports by CBS journalist Bruce Dunning, who died yesterday at the age of 73.  In an obituary published yesterday by CBS, they note that he is survived by his "life partner," renowned artist Tetsunori Kawana. I wasn't aware that Dunning was gay and cannot find any mentions of that online, so this may be another posthumous outing as we saw with Sally Ride. More from the CBS obituary:

He is best remembered for his award-winning and dramatic report on March 29, 1975 aboard a 727 World Airways jet attempting to rescue refugees from the airport in Da Nang, South Vietnam. The five-and-a-half-minute report -- long even then for a television evening news segment -- was broadcast on the "CBS Evening News" Saturday edition anchored by Dan Rather, who introduced Dunning's segment with the words "Da Nang has become a Dunkirk." His report, dubbed "Back from Da Nang," won the Overseas Press Club's "Best TV News Spot from Abroad" award and was recently named to the Columbia University Journalism School's 100 Great Stories list. Dunning also shared in a collective OPC award for CBS News radio coverage of the last days of the war.

Last night CBS ran the below tribute which focuses on the above-cited report made as things fell apart for South Vietnam.

Time Warner - Thanks For Your Patience

The CBS blackout is in its third week.  If it continues into the start of the NFL season, people are really going to start losing their shit.

Time-Warner Cable: We Don't Want A War

Time-Warner Cable Vs CBS

All Time-Warner Cable customers got this email yesterday:

CBS Corporation, the owner of several TV networks and broadcast TV stations, has made outrageous demands for the right to continue delivering their programming to our customers. As a result, several CBS-owned channels have been removed from your lineup while we continue to negotiate for fair and reasonable terms. We deeply regret being forced into this position by CBS, but we're prepared to stand by our customers and do what it takes to fight these unreasonable demands.

The removed channels include CBS, Showtime, the Movie Channel, and Flix.