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FDIC: Protecting Your Finances If a Disaster Strikes: Are You Prepared?

Are your most important possessions insured and your financial documents protected from ruin? And if you had only a few moments to evacuate your home and could not return for several days or even weeks, would you have access to cash, banking services and the personal identification you need to conduct your day-to-day financial life?
U.S. Government News

Tags: Disaster, FDIC, finances, Prepared, Protecting, Strikes

America’s Tv Genius Strikes Gold Again

Something strange is happening on America’s TV screens. In a medium often derided as Hollywood’s less talented little brother, mainstream US TV has suddenly been swamped by an unprecedented wave of critically acclaimed dramas.

TV is now attracting Hollywood stars and directors to produce edgy and sophisticated programmes that used to be the preserve of the movie studios, to the extent that the Emmys may soon start to rival the Oscars as the visual medium’s greatest prize.

The networks are busy unveiling their autumn line-ups of new shows and the dominant themes are unmistakable: complex plots, intense characterisation and sophisticated dialogue. The developments have left critics both delighted and stunned. ‘How did the wasteland get so beautiful?’ asked Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

One reason is New York-born Aaron Sorkin, the man behind the influential political drama The West Wing and whose new programme, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is many critics’ top pick of the flood of new shows. Studio 60, which will hit British screens next year, has drawn rave reviews, with its intense portrayal of life behind the scenes of a top TV comedy show.

‘It is the best new show of the season,’ said John Rash, communications professor at the University of Minnesota and author of the influential Rash Report survey of new American TV. ‘By excoriating its own media form, it actually shows how great it can be’.

Studio 60 stars former Friends star Matthew Perry and Hollywood actress Amanda Peet, which gives it the same sort of A-list cast as The West Wing. It is also a clear sibling of Sorkin’s previous hit, starring Bradley Whitford, who played Josh in The West Wing.

Sorkin’s writing in the new show – so far – has been top-notch and is clearly intended to do for the TV industry what The West Wing did for politics: open up a strange world for all the viewers to explore. ‘I think Studio 60 is a classic example of that kind of show,’ said Donny Deutsch, host of The Big Idea talkshow on CNBC.

Studio 60 seems likely to cement Sorkin’s already massive reputation as a major player in the increasingly powerful world of TV. The huge success of The West Wing, which won a record nine Emmys in its first season, has made him a powerful voice in American culture and one of the leading forces behind the recent torrent of quality programming. ‘All great shows flow from the pen of a writer. Sorkin’s creative vision is what makes this great,’ said Rash.

Predictably, perhaps, Sorkin is now taking on some of the artistic airs and graces normally found only in big shot Hollywood producers and directors. He has almost complete creative control over the show: something that was denied to him on The West Wing. And the funding behind Studio 60 is large – the show is estimated to cost about $3.1m an episode.

The main characters in Studio 60 are clearly based on Sorkin himself. One even has a cocaine problem, mirroring Sorkin’s own real life struggles with drug abuse which once saw him arrested at an LA airport with drugs in his luggage.

In places he uses the show as a vehicle for criticising the TV industry, much as The West Wing would often mirror real-life politics in America. ‘This is a struggle between art and commerce, and art is getting its arse kicked,’ one character laments in the opening episode.

But that analysis might be a little presumptive. Studio 60 is one of many dramatic series just starting that seem to be defending art’s corner quite easily. Some critics are hailing a new ‘golden age’ of challenging US TV, similar to that which hit the movie scene in the 1970s. America’s five networks are bringing out 25 new shows for autumn, of which a staggering 16 are new dramas. And most are dramas emphasising multi-layered plots, moral ambiguity and deep characters. Among them is the new series The Nine, which follows the story of a hostage-taking during a bank robbery through a baffling series of flashbacks. And then there is Six Degrees, which links the lives of six seemingly unconnected Manhattanites. Both shows build on the successful mystery formula of the hit show Lost, as does Jericho, which focuses on the travails of a small Kansas town after a nuclear disaster cuts it off from the rest of America. ‘The enormous success of the dense and literate Lost has stimulated networks to develop more shows of a similar complex nature,’ said Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University.

Others take familiar scenarios and give them a new twist. Heroes features a group of teens gradually discovering they have superpowers, but rather than being a comic book drama, it portrays them in a serious way as they struggle with the experience. The crime show Smith follows a gang of criminals, exploring the same morally ambiguous territory as The Sopranos. Nor is Studio 60 the only drama to attract Hollywood names. Smith is a vehicle for Ray Liotta, a new legal caper Shark stars James Woods and, of course, Kiefer Sutherland led the way by lending his talents to the hugely successful and ground-breaking 24.

The factors behind the outbreak of quality are numerous. Ever since Hill Street Blues in the 1980s, American TV has frequently produced intelligent, high quality shows. But rarely have so many come at once.

One of these factors is the success of cable channel HBO, which brought The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Deadwood to niche American audiences, and made millions doing so.

Then there is the fact that Hollywood’s output has been hit by a declining audience and a focus on young people as older movie-goers prefer to stay at home. That has opened up a quality market for TV while movie studios focus on derivative sequels aimed at a teens and twenties market.

At the same time innovations in production techniques have allowed TV series to produce the same sort of visual effects that used to be the sole preserve of Hollywood movies. As more and more American homes install widescreen TVs and state-of-the-art sound systems, TV is becoming a medium that easily rivals the movies for entertainment. ‘Big-shot film directors are now waiting for the call from HBO, unlike the old days, when TV was simply a means to break into the movies,’ said Thompson.

The vibrancy of American TV is also throwing the situation in Britain into sharp relief. Once hailed as a repository of quality TV, British output now looks poor compared with its American equivalent. Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, the British creative force behind The Office, caused headlines recently when they said that British TV dramas were way behind when compared with American ones. One of the biggest successes of American TV over the past year has been the US version of The Office, which was reshot with an American cast and storylines and is now firmly established as a classic comedy in its own right.

However, there is still plenty to complain about when it comes to American TV. With hundreds of cable channels catering for every possible audience, there are a lot of terrible programmes out there as well.

Another recent trend has been the adaption of the ‘telenovella’ style of drama from Latin America. These soap operas are best known for their hysterical overacting, terrible scripts and outlandish plotlines. They are likely to find success, too, in America’s diverse market of 300 million potential viewers. ‘There’s a lot more everything. There is a lot more great TV. There’s a lot more worse TV,’ said Rash.

Tags: Again, America's, Genius, Gold, Strikes

America’s Tv Genius Strikes Gold Again

Something strange is happening on America’s TV screens. In a medium often derided as Hollywood’s less talented little brother, mainstream US TV has suddenly been swamped by an unprecedented wave of critically acclaimed dramas.

TV is now attracting Hollywood stars and directors to produce edgy and sophisticated programmes that used to be the preserve of the movie studios, to the extent that the Emmys may soon start to rival the Oscars as the visual medium’s greatest prize.

The networks are busy unveiling their autumn line-ups of new shows and the dominant themes are unmistakable: complex plots, intense characterisation and sophisticated dialogue. The developments have left critics both delighted and stunned. ‘How did the wasteland get so beautiful?’ asked Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

One reason is New York-born Aaron Sorkin, the man behind the influential political drama The West Wing and whose new programme, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is many critics’ top pick of the flood of new shows. Studio 60, which will hit British screens next year, has drawn rave reviews, with its intense portrayal of life behind the scenes of a top TV comedy show.

‘It is the best new show of the season,’ said John Rash, communications professor at the University of Minnesota and author of the influential Rash Report survey of new American TV. ‘By excoriating its own media form, it actually shows how great it can be’.

Studio 60 stars former Friends star Matthew Perry and Hollywood actress Amanda Peet, which gives it the same sort of A-list cast as The West Wing. It is also a clear sibling of Sorkin’s previous hit, starring Bradley Whitford, who played Josh in The West Wing.

Sorkin’s writing in the new show – so far – has been top-notch and is clearly intended to do for the TV industry what The West Wing did for politics: open up a strange world for all the viewers to explore. ‘I think Studio 60 is a classic example of that kind of show,’ said Donny Deutsch, host of The Big Idea talkshow on CNBC.

Studio 60 seems likely to cement Sorkin’s already massive reputation as a major player in the increasingly powerful world of TV. The huge success of The West Wing, which won a record nine Emmys in its first season, has made him a powerful voice in American culture and one of the leading forces behind the recent torrent of quality programming. ‘All great shows flow from the pen of a writer. Sorkin’s creative vision is what makes this great,’ said Rash.

Predictably, perhaps, Sorkin is now taking on some of the artistic airs and graces normally found only in big shot Hollywood producers and directors. He has almost complete creative control over the show: something that was denied to him on The West Wing. And the funding behind Studio 60 is large – the show is estimated to cost about $3.1m an episode.

The main characters in Studio 60 are clearly based on Sorkin himself. One even has a cocaine problem, mirroring Sorkin’s own real life struggles with drug abuse which once saw him arrested at an LA airport with drugs in his luggage.

In places he uses the show as a vehicle for criticising the TV industry, much as The West Wing would often mirror real-life politics in America. ‘This is a struggle between art and commerce, and art is getting its arse kicked,’ one character laments in the opening episode.

But that analysis might be a little presumptive. Studio 60 is one of many dramatic series just starting that seem to be defending art’s corner quite easily. Some critics are hailing a new ‘golden age’ of challenging US TV, similar to that which hit the movie scene in the 1970s. America’s five networks are bringing out 25 new shows for autumn, of which a staggering 16 are new dramas. And most are dramas emphasising multi-layered plots, moral ambiguity and deep characters. Among them is the new series The Nine, which follows the story of a hostage-taking during a bank robbery through a baffling series of flashbacks. And then there is Six Degrees, which links the lives of six seemingly unconnected Manhattanites. Both shows build on the successful mystery formula of the hit show Lost, as does Jericho, which focuses on the travails of a small Kansas town after a nuclear disaster cuts it off from the rest of America. ‘The enormous success of the dense and literate Lost has stimulated networks to develop more shows of a similar complex nature,’ said Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University.

Others take familiar scenarios and give them a new twist. Heroes features a group of teens gradually discovering they have superpowers, but rather than being a comic book drama, it portrays them in a serious way as they struggle with the experience. The crime show Smith follows a gang of criminals, exploring the same morally ambiguous territory as The Sopranos. Nor is Studio 60 the only drama to attract Hollywood names. Smith is a vehicle for Ray Liotta, a new legal caper Shark stars James Woods and, of course, Kiefer Sutherland led the way by lending his talents to the hugely successful and ground-breaking 24.

The factors behind the outbreak of quality are numerous. Ever since Hill Street Blues in the 1980s, American TV has frequently produced intelligent, high quality shows. But rarely have so many come at once.

One of these factors is the success of cable channel HBO, which brought The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Deadwood to niche American audiences, and made millions doing so.

Then there is the fact that Hollywood’s output has been hit by a declining audience and a focus on young people as older movie-goers prefer to stay at home. That has opened up a quality market for TV while movie studios focus on derivative sequels aimed at a teens and twenties market.

At the same time innovations in production techniques have allowed TV series to produce the same sort of visual effects that used to be the sole preserve of Hollywood movies. As more and more American homes install widescreen TVs and state-of-the-art sound systems, TV is becoming a medium that easily rivals the movies for entertainment. ‘Big-shot film directors are now waiting for the call from HBO, unlike the old days, when TV was simply a means to break into the movies,’ said Thompson.

The vibrancy of American TV is also throwing the situation in Britain into sharp relief. Once hailed as a repository of quality TV, British output now looks poor compared with its American equivalent. Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, the British creative force behind The Office, caused headlines recently when they said that British TV dramas were way behind when compared with American ones. One of the biggest successes of American TV over the past year has been the US version of The Office, which was reshot with an American cast and storylines and is now firmly established as a classic comedy in its own right.

However, there is still plenty to complain about when it comes to American TV. With hundreds of cable channels catering for every possible audience, there are a lot of terrible programmes out there as well.

Another recent trend has been the adaption of the ‘telenovella’ style of drama from Latin America. These soap operas are best known for their hysterical overacting, terrible scripts and outlandish plotlines. They are likely to find success, too, in America’s diverse market of 300 million potential viewers. ‘There’s a lot more everything. There is a lot more great TV. There’s a lot more worse TV,’ said Rash.

Tags: Again, America's, Genius, Gold, Strikes

America’s Tv Genius Strikes Gold Again

Something strange is happening on America’s TV screens. In a medium often derided as Hollywood’s less talented little brother, mainstream US TV has suddenly been swamped by an unprecedented wave of critically acclaimed dramas.

TV is now attracting Hollywood stars and directors to produce edgy and sophisticated programmes that used to be the preserve of the movie studios, to the extent that the Emmys may soon start to rival the Oscars as the visual medium’s greatest prize.

The networks are busy unveiling their autumn line-ups of new shows and the dominant themes are unmistakable: complex plots, intense characterisation and sophisticated dialogue. The developments have left critics both delighted and stunned. ‘How did the wasteland get so beautiful?’ asked Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

One reason is New York-born Aaron Sorkin, the man behind the influential political drama The West Wing and whose new programme, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is many critics’ top pick of the flood of new shows. Studio 60, which will hit British screens next year, has drawn rave reviews, with its intense portrayal of life behind the scenes of a top TV comedy show.

‘It is the best new show of the season,’ said John Rash, communications professor at the University of Minnesota and author of the influential Rash Report survey of new American TV. ‘By excoriating its own media form, it actually shows how great it can be’.

Studio 60 stars former Friends star Matthew Perry and Hollywood actress Amanda Peet, which gives it the same sort of A-list cast as The West Wing. It is also a clear sibling of Sorkin’s previous hit, starring Bradley Whitford, who played Josh in The West Wing.

Sorkin’s writing in the new show – so far – has been top-notch and is clearly intended to do for the TV industry what The West Wing did for politics: open up a strange world for all the viewers to explore. ‘I think Studio 60 is a classic example of that kind of show,’ said Donny Deutsch, host of The Big Idea talkshow on CNBC.

Studio 60 seems likely to cement Sorkin’s already massive reputation as a major player in the increasingly powerful world of TV. The huge success of The West Wing, which won a record nine Emmys in its first season, has made him a powerful voice in American culture and one of the leading forces behind the recent torrent of quality programming. ‘All great shows flow from the pen of a writer. Sorkin’s creative vision is what makes this great,’ said Rash.

Predictably, perhaps, Sorkin is now taking on some of the artistic airs and graces normally found only in big shot Hollywood producers and directors. He has almost complete creative control over the show: something that was denied to him on The West Wing. And the funding behind Studio 60 is large – the show is estimated to cost about $3.1m an episode.

The main characters in Studio 60 are clearly based on Sorkin himself. One even has a cocaine problem, mirroring Sorkin’s own real life struggles with drug abuse which once saw him arrested at an LA airport with drugs in his luggage.

In places he uses the show as a vehicle for criticising the TV industry, much as The West Wing would often mirror real-life politics in America. ‘This is a struggle between art and commerce, and art is getting its arse kicked,’ one character laments in the opening episode.

But that analysis might be a little presumptive. Studio 60 is one of many dramatic series just starting that seem to be defending art’s corner quite easily. Some critics are hailing a new ‘golden age’ of challenging US TV, similar to that which hit the movie scene in the 1970s. America’s five networks are bringing out 25 new shows for autumn, of which a staggering 16 are new dramas. And most are dramas emphasising multi-layered plots, moral ambiguity and deep characters. Among them is the new series The Nine, which follows the story of a hostage-taking during a bank robbery through a baffling series of flashbacks. And then there is Six Degrees, which links the lives of six seemingly unconnected Manhattanites. Both shows build on the successful mystery formula of the hit show Lost, as does Jericho, which focuses on the travails of a small Kansas town after a nuclear disaster cuts it off from the rest of America. ‘The enormous success of the dense and literate Lost has stimulated networks to develop more shows of a similar complex nature,’ said Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University.

Others take familiar scenarios and give them a new twist. Heroes features a group of teens gradually discovering they have superpowers, but rather than being a comic book drama, it portrays them in a serious way as they struggle with the experience. The crime show Smith follows a gang of criminals, exploring the same morally ambiguous territory as The Sopranos. Nor is Studio 60 the only drama to attract Hollywood names. Smith is a vehicle for Ray Liotta, a new legal caper Shark stars James Woods and, of course, Kiefer Sutherland led the way by lending his talents to the hugely successful and ground-breaking 24.

The factors behind the outbreak of quality are numerous. Ever since Hill Street Blues in the 1980s, American TV has frequently produced intelligent, high quality shows. But rarely have so many come at once.

One of these factors is the success of cable channel HBO, which brought The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Deadwood to niche American audiences, and made millions doing so.

Then there is the fact that Hollywood’s output has been hit by a declining audience and a focus on young people as older movie-goers prefer to stay at home. That has opened up a quality market for TV while movie studios focus on derivative sequels aimed at a teens and twenties market.

At the same time innovations in production techniques have allowed TV series to produce the same sort of visual effects that used to be the sole preserve of Hollywood movies. As more and more American homes install widescreen TVs and state-of-the-art sound systems, TV is becoming a medium that easily rivals the movies for entertainment. ‘Big-shot film directors are now waiting for the call from HBO, unlike the old days, when TV was simply a means to break into the movies,’ said Thompson.

The vibrancy of American TV is also throwing the situation in Britain into sharp relief. Once hailed as a repository of quality TV, British output now looks poor compared with its American equivalent. Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, the British creative force behind The Office, caused headlines recently when they said that British TV dramas were way behind when compared with American ones. One of the biggest successes of American TV over the past year has been the US version of The Office, which was reshot with an American cast and storylines and is now firmly established as a classic comedy in its own right.

However, there is still plenty to complain about when it comes to American TV. With hundreds of cable channels catering for every possible audience, there are a lot of terrible programmes out there as well.

Another recent trend has been the adaption of the ‘telenovella’ style of drama from Latin America. These soap operas are best known for their hysterical overacting, terrible scripts and outlandish plotlines. They are likely to find success, too, in America’s diverse market of 300 million potential viewers. ‘There’s a lot more everything. There is a lot more great TV. There’s a lot more worse TV,’ said Rash.

Tags: Again, America's, Genius, Gold, Strikes

Rudy Strikes Out With a Bad Pitch

It was hailed as a great betrayal that could hamper a powerful bid for the White House. It was a policy flip-flop that alienated supporters and created enough negative headlines to make a political strategist weep.

Was it a spat about the Iraq war? Abortion? The growing crisis with Iran? No, some say it is more important than that. It was about baseball.

The biggest political shock in the 2008 race for the White House has centered on the Republican front runner Rudy Giuliani’s unexpected confession that he is supporting the Boston Red Sox in the World Series against the Colorado Rockies.

Such an admission should not be too controversial, but for Giuliani it is tantamount to heresy. For Giuliani is an avid – and very high-profile – fan of the New York Yankees, whose rivalry with the Red Sox is the most bitter in all of American sport.

So his campaign workers should not have been too surprised to see these headlines last week. ‘Red Coat!’ shouted the New York Post. ‘Traitor!’ blared the New York Daily News. The usually more staid New York Times carried quotes from one prominent Yankee fan suggesting that the former New York mayor’s seat at the club’s stadium should be publicly burnt.

The news even prompted Giuliani’s potential Democratic opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton, to gloat: ‘I have been a fan, and I remain a fan, of the Yankees. No changes. No looking to curry favor with anybody else.’

Never has it seemed that America’s two passions of the moment – the World Series and primaries – have been so entwined. Perhaps this is no surprise: baseball is the quintessentially American sport. It has a long history and its rhythms of endless games played out across the country seem to echo the titanic – and equally endless – debates and town hall meetings of the election campaign. Both baseball and politics also brutally winnow down a huge starting field until just two competitors are left standing.

There is also a long tradition of mixing baseball and politics. Ever since President Taft threw the first pitch of the 1910 season, politicians have sought to use and misuse the sport.

When George W. Bush threw a pitch to start the 2001 World Series in New York, it was hailed as a cathartic moment for a nation still in shock after 9/11. Roosevelt’s decision to keep the baseball season going during the Second World War was seen as vital to boosting national morale.

But few politicians have taken it as far as Giuliani. His support of the Yankees is as well known as any of his political beliefs. He has joked that he would like to pick either Yankees’ ex-manager Joe Torre or their star player Derek Jeter as his ideal running mate.

So what is the explanation for his sudden turnaround? It is surely no coincidence that Giuliani’s confession came in the vital battleground state of New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and whose closeness to Boston makes it a firm part of that part of baseball fandom known as the ‘Red Sox Nation’.

But Giuliani has not been alone in seeking to use baseball as a way of generating support – and also then running foul of outraged fans. Clinton’s jibes against Giuliani last week seemed misplaced after she, too, tripped up in the ‘baseball primary’ last month.

Clinton – who is from Illinois but represents New York as a senator – was asked who she would support if the World Series were between the Yankees and the Chicago Cubs. Clinton, to the delight of those who accuse her of having no firm political beliefs, told the audience: ‘Well, I probably would have to alternate sides.’

Like Giuliani’s gaffe last week, that was hailed as a cynical piece of political dodging that typified the Clinton style of trying to be all things to all people. It also produced a spate of damning headlines and became the butt of late-night talk show jokes.

Yet both Giuliani and Clinton remain the respective leaders of their party’s nomination races, despite fudging their baseball allegiances. Sometimes honesty does not pay. Just look at Barack Obama. ‘I am a [Chicago] White Sox fan,’ he said last week, weighing into the controversy. ‘You don’t want somebody who pretends to be a Red Sox fan to be President of the United States.’

That may be true. But polls suggest America does not want a White Sox fan either. Last week Clinton had opened a near-30-point gap over Obama. Though, as every baseball fan knows, it is not over until the final pitch is thrown.

The political game

US Presidents have long fostered close links with the nation’s favourite sport:

1869 Ulysses S Grant invites the Cincinnati Red Stockings to the White House.

1910 WilliamTaft throws the first pitch of the season, starting a tradition.

1988 Ronald Reagan broadcasts commentary for an innings.

2001 George W Bush throws the first pitch of the World Series in New York, which was still recovering from 9/11.

Tags: Pitch, Rudy, Strikes

America’s Tv Genius Strikes Gold Again

Something strange is happening on America’s TV screens. In a medium often derided as Hollywood’s less talented little brother, mainstream US TV has suddenly been swamped by an unprecedented wave of critically acclaimed dramas.

TV is now attracting Hollywood stars and directors to produce edgy and sophisticated programmes that used to be the preserve of the movie studios, to the extent that the Emmys may soon start to rival the Oscars as the visual medium’s greatest prize.

The networks are busy unveiling their autumn line-ups of new shows and the dominant themes are unmistakable: complex plots, intense characterisation and sophisticated dialogue. The developments have left critics both delighted and stunned. ‘How did the wasteland get so beautiful?’ asked Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

One reason is New York-born Aaron Sorkin, the man behind the influential political drama The West Wing and whose new programme, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is many critics’ top pick of the flood of new shows. Studio 60, which will hit British screens next year, has drawn rave reviews, with its intense portrayal of life behind the scenes of a top TV comedy show.

‘It is the best new show of the season,’ said John Rash, communications professor at the University of Minnesota and author of the influential Rash Report survey of new American TV. ‘By excoriating its own media form, it actually shows how great it can be’.

Studio 60 stars former Friends star Matthew Perry and Hollywood actress Amanda Peet, which gives it the same sort of A-list cast as The West Wing. It is also a clear sibling of Sorkin’s previous hit, starring Bradley Whitford, who played Josh in The West Wing.

Sorkin’s writing in the new show – so far – has been top-notch and is clearly intended to do for the TV industry what The West Wing did for politics: open up a strange world for all the viewers to explore. ‘I think Studio 60 is a classic example of that kind of show,’ said Donny Deutsch, host of The Big Idea talkshow on CNBC.

Studio 60 seems likely to cement Sorkin’s already massive reputation as a major player in the increasingly powerful world of TV. The huge success of The West Wing, which won a record nine Emmys in its first season, has made him a powerful voice in American culture and one of the leading forces behind the recent torrent of quality programming. ‘All great shows flow from the pen of a writer. Sorkin’s creative vision is what makes this great,’ said Rash.

Predictably, perhaps, Sorkin is now taking on some of the artistic airs and graces normally found only in big shot Hollywood producers and directors. He has almost complete creative control over the show: something that was denied to him on The West Wing. And the funding behind Studio 60 is large – the show is estimated to cost about $3.1m an episode.

The main characters in Studio 60 are clearly based on Sorkin himself. One even has a cocaine problem, mirroring Sorkin’s own real life struggles with drug abuse which once saw him arrested at an LA airport with drugs in his luggage.

In places he uses the show as a vehicle for criticising the TV industry, much as The West Wing would often mirror real-life politics in America. ‘This is a struggle between art and commerce, and art is getting its arse kicked,’ one character laments in the opening episode.

But that analysis might be a little presumptive. Studio 60 is one of many dramatic series just starting that seem to be defending art’s corner quite easily. Some critics are hailing a new ‘golden age’ of challenging US TV, similar to that which hit the movie scene in the 1970s. America’s five networks are bringing out 25 new shows for autumn, of which a staggering 16 are new dramas. And most are dramas emphasising multi-layered plots, moral ambiguity and deep characters. Among them is the new series The Nine, which follows the story of a hostage-taking during a bank robbery through a baffling series of flashbacks. And then there is Six Degrees, which links the lives of six seemingly unconnected Manhattanites. Both shows build on the successful mystery formula of the hit show Lost, as does Jericho, which focuses on the travails of a small Kansas town after a nuclear disaster cuts it off from the rest of America. ‘The enormous success of the dense and literate Lost has stimulated networks to develop more shows of a similar complex nature,’ said Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University.

Others take familiar scenarios and give them a new twist. Heroes features a group of teens gradually discovering they have superpowers, but rather than being a comic book drama, it portrays them in a serious way as they struggle with the experience. The crime show Smith follows a gang of criminals, exploring the same morally ambiguous territory as The Sopranos. Nor is Studio 60 the only drama to attract Hollywood names. Smith is a vehicle for Ray Liotta, a new legal caper Shark stars James Woods and, of course, Kiefer Sutherland led the way by lending his talents to the hugely successful and ground-breaking 24.

The factors behind the outbreak of quality are numerous. Ever since Hill Street Blues in the 1980s, American TV has frequently produced intelligent, high quality shows. But rarely have so many come at once.

One of these factors is the success of cable channel HBO, which brought The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Deadwood to niche American audiences, and made millions doing so.

Then there is the fact that Hollywood’s output has been hit by a declining audience and a focus on young people as older movie-goers prefer to stay at home. That has opened up a quality market for TV while movie studios focus on derivative sequels aimed at a teens and twenties market.

At the same time innovations in production techniques have allowed TV series to produce the same sort of visual effects that used to be the sole preserve of Hollywood movies. As more and more American homes install widescreen TVs and state-of-the-art sound systems, TV is becoming a medium that easily rivals the movies for entertainment. ‘Big-shot film directors are now waiting for the call from HBO, unlike the old days, when TV was simply a means to break into the movies,’ said Thompson.

The vibrancy of American TV is also throwing the situation in Britain into sharp relief. Once hailed as a repository of quality TV, British output now looks poor compared with its American equivalent. Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, the British creative force behind The Office, caused headlines recently when they said that British TV dramas were way behind when compared with American ones. One of the biggest successes of American TV over the past year has been the US version of The Office, which was reshot with an American cast and storylines and is now firmly established as a classic comedy in its own right.

However, there is still plenty to complain about when it comes to American TV. With hundreds of cable channels catering for every possible audience, there are a lot of terrible programmes out there as well.

Another recent trend has been the adaption of the ‘telenovella’ style of drama from Latin America. These soap operas are best known for their hysterical overacting, terrible scripts and outlandish plotlines. They are likely to find success, too, in America’s diverse market of 300 million potential viewers. ‘There’s a lot more everything. There is a lot more great TV. There’s a lot more worse TV,’ said Rash.

Tags: Again, America's, Genius, Gold, Strikes

Clean-up for World’s Largest Cruise Ship As Virus Strikes Again

The world’s largest cruise ship was due to sail out of Miami yesterday after workers spent two days trying to scrub away all traces of a gastrointestinal virus that had made hundreds of people ill on two earlier voyages.

The cleansing of the Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas came after the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) recommended special sanitising of all high contact areas. Two doctors and 45 extra cleaning staff will also be on board as the ship sails the Caribbean.

Health experts said the cleaning included any surface that regularly comes into contact with human hands. “It could be everything from door handles to elevator buttons to poker chips, from the money itself that changes hands to the railings on staircases,” said David Forney, who heads the Vessel Sanitation Programme at the Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta. “It just goes on and on and on.”

The first outbreak on Freedom of the Seas occurred last month when more than 380 passengers became ill. Although the ship was cleaned before its next sailing, more than 100 passengers and crew were infected by the virus last week.

Other cruise lines have also been affected. Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess underwent a special cleansing after calling at Port Everglades, Florida, at the weekend with 97 infected passengers. On Monday Holland America’s Zaandam arrived in San Diego, California, carrying 68 stricken passengers and crew.

Norovirus, the US version of the winter vomiting disease, takes its name from Norwalk, Ohio, where the first outbreak was identified at a school in 1968. It is a complex of viruses that cause vomiting, cramps and diarrhoea. It spreads through contaminated foods and liquids as well as surfaces, and is unusually hardy, lingering on surfaces.

Incidence of the disease is up across the US, with recent outbreaks at nursing homes in the Miami area, a biker bar in upstate New York, wedding parties in South Dakota, and a high school in Virginia.

Cruise ships are vulnerable because of the large number of people in a relatively small place – Freedom of the Seas carries a total of 5,370 passengers and crew. While cruise operators discourage patrons from sailing while unwell, offering refunds if they reschedule, many travellers are loth to give up a trip booked months ahead.

So far this year, the CDC has registered outbreaks on 33 cruise ships, compared with 18 last year. “At this time of year, we will probably continue to see increased levels of illness on the ships, just because we are seeing that on land,” Mr Forney said.

Tags: Again, Cleanup, Cruise, Largest, Ship, Strikes, Virus, World's

America’s Tv Genius Strikes Gold Again

Something strange is happening on America’s TV screens. In a medium often derided as Hollywood’s less talented little brother, mainstream US TV has suddenly been swamped by an unprecedented wave of critically acclaimed dramas.

TV is now attracting Hollywood stars and directors to produce edgy and sophisticated programmes that used to be the preserve of the movie studios, to the extent that the Emmys may soon start to rival the Oscars as the visual medium’s greatest prize.

The networks are busy unveiling their autumn line-ups of new shows and the dominant themes are unmistakable: complex plots, intense characterisation and sophisticated dialogue. The developments have left critics both delighted and stunned. ‘How did the wasteland get so beautiful?’ asked Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

One reason is New York-born Aaron Sorkin, the man behind the influential political drama The West Wing and whose new programme, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is many critics’ top pick of the flood of new shows. Studio 60, which will hit British screens next year, has drawn rave reviews, with its intense portrayal of life behind the scenes of a top TV comedy show.

‘It is the best new show of the season,’ said John Rash, communications professor at the University of Minnesota and author of the influential Rash Report survey of new American TV. ‘By excoriating its own media form, it actually shows how great it can be’.

Studio 60 stars former Friends star Matthew Perry and Hollywood actress Amanda Peet, which gives it the same sort of A-list cast as The West Wing. It is also a clear sibling of Sorkin’s previous hit, starring Bradley Whitford, who played Josh in The West Wing.

Sorkin’s writing in the new show – so far – has been top-notch and is clearly intended to do for the TV industry what The West Wing did for politics: open up a strange world for all the viewers to explore. ‘I think Studio 60 is a classic example of that kind of show,’ said Donny Deutsch, host of The Big Idea talkshow on CNBC.

Studio 60 seems likely to cement Sorkin’s already massive reputation as a major player in the increasingly powerful world of TV. The huge success of The West Wing, which won a record nine Emmys in its first season, has made him a powerful voice in American culture and one of the leading forces behind the recent torrent of quality programming. ‘All great shows flow from the pen of a writer. Sorkin’s creative vision is what makes this great,’ said Rash.

Predictably, perhaps, Sorkin is now taking on some of the artistic airs and graces normally found only in big shot Hollywood producers and directors. He has almost complete creative control over the show: something that was denied to him on The West Wing. And the funding behind Studio 60 is large – the show is estimated to cost about $3.1m an episode.

The main characters in Studio 60 are clearly based on Sorkin himself. One even has a cocaine problem, mirroring Sorkin’s own real life struggles with drug abuse which once saw him arrested at an LA airport with drugs in his luggage.

In places he uses the show as a vehicle for criticising the TV industry, much as The West Wing would often mirror real-life politics in America. ‘This is a struggle between art and commerce, and art is getting its arse kicked,’ one character laments in the opening episode.

But that analysis might be a little presumptive. Studio 60 is one of many dramatic series just starting that seem to be defending art’s corner quite easily. Some critics are hailing a new ‘golden age’ of challenging US TV, similar to that which hit the movie scene in the 1970s. America’s five networks are bringing out 25 new shows for autumn, of which a staggering 16 are new dramas. And most are dramas emphasising multi-layered plots, moral ambiguity and deep characters. Among them is the new series The Nine, which follows the story of a hostage-taking during a bank robbery through a baffling series of flashbacks. And then there is Six Degrees, which links the lives of six seemingly unconnected Manhattanites. Both shows build on the successful mystery formula of the hit show Lost, as does Jericho, which focuses on the travails of a small Kansas town after a nuclear disaster cuts it off from the rest of America. ‘The enormous success of the dense and literate Lost has stimulated networks to develop more shows of a similar complex nature,’ said Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University.

Others take familiar scenarios and give them a new twist. Heroes features a group of teens gradually discovering they have superpowers, but rather than being a comic book drama, it portrays them in a serious way as they struggle with the experience. The crime show Smith follows a gang of criminals, exploring the same morally ambiguous territory as The Sopranos. Nor is Studio 60 the only drama to attract Hollywood names. Smith is a vehicle for Ray Liotta, a new legal caper Shark stars James Woods and, of course, Kiefer Sutherland led the way by lending his talents to the hugely successful and ground-breaking 24.

The factors behind the outbreak of quality are numerous. Ever since Hill Street Blues in the 1980s, American TV has frequently produced intelligent, high quality shows. But rarely have so many come at once.

One of these factors is the success of cable channel HBO, which brought The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Deadwood to niche American audiences, and made millions doing so.

Then there is the fact that Hollywood’s output has been hit by a declining audience and a focus on young people as older movie-goers prefer to stay at home. That has opened up a quality market for TV while movie studios focus on derivative sequels aimed at a teens and twenties market.

At the same time innovations in production techniques have allowed TV series to produce the same sort of visual effects that used to be the sole preserve of Hollywood movies. As more and more American homes install widescreen TVs and state-of-the-art sound systems, TV is becoming a medium that easily rivals the movies for entertainment. ‘Big-shot film directors are now waiting for the call from HBO, unlike the old days, when TV was simply a means to break into the movies,’ said Thompson.

The vibrancy of American TV is also throwing the situation in Britain into sharp relief. Once hailed as a repository of quality TV, British output now looks poor compared with its American equivalent. Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, the British creative force behind The Office, caused headlines recently when they said that British TV dramas were way behind when compared with American ones. One of the biggest successes of American TV over the past year has been the US version of The Office, which was reshot with an American cast and storylines and is now firmly established as a classic comedy in its own right.

However, there is still plenty to complain about when it comes to American TV. With hundreds of cable channels catering for every possible audience, there are a lot of terrible programmes out there as well.

Another recent trend has been the adaption of the ‘telenovella’ style of drama from Latin America. These soap operas are best known for their hysterical overacting, terrible scripts and outlandish plotlines. They are likely to find success, too, in America’s diverse market of 300 million potential viewers. ‘There’s a lot more everything. There is a lot more great TV. There’s a lot more worse TV,’ said Rash.

Tags: Again, America's, Genius, Gold, Strikes

America’s Tv Genius Strikes Gold Again

Something strange is happening on America’s TV screens. In a medium often derided as Hollywood’s less talented little brother, mainstream US TV has suddenly been swamped by an unprecedented wave of critically acclaimed dramas.

TV is now attracting Hollywood stars and directors to produce edgy and sophisticated programmes that used to be the preserve of the movie studios, to the extent that the Emmys may soon start to rival the Oscars as the visual medium’s greatest prize.

The networks are busy unveiling their autumn line-ups of new shows and the dominant themes are unmistakable: complex plots, intense characterisation and sophisticated dialogue. The developments have left critics both delighted and stunned. ‘How did the wasteland get so beautiful?’ asked Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

One reason is New York-born Aaron Sorkin, the man behind the influential political drama The West Wing and whose new programme, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is many critics’ top pick of the flood of new shows. Studio 60, which will hit British screens next year, has drawn rave reviews, with its intense portrayal of life behind the scenes of a top TV comedy show.

‘It is the best new show of the season,’ said John Rash, communications professor at the University of Minnesota and author of the influential Rash Report survey of new American TV. ‘By excoriating its own media form, it actually shows how great it can be’.

Studio 60 stars former Friends star Matthew Perry and Hollywood actress Amanda Peet, which gives it the same sort of A-list cast as The West Wing. It is also a clear sibling of Sorkin’s previous hit, starring Bradley Whitford, who played Josh in The West Wing.

Sorkin’s writing in the new show – so far – has been top-notch and is clearly intended to do for the TV industry what The West Wing did for politics: open up a strange world for all the viewers to explore. ‘I think Studio 60 is a classic example of that kind of show,’ said Donny Deutsch, host of The Big Idea talkshow on CNBC.

Studio 60 seems likely to cement Sorkin’s already massive reputation as a major player in the increasingly powerful world of TV. The huge success of The West Wing, which won a record nine Emmys in its first season, has made him a powerful voice in American culture and one of the leading forces behind the recent torrent of quality programming. ‘All great shows flow from the pen of a writer. Sorkin’s creative vision is what makes this great,’ said Rash.

Predictably, perhaps, Sorkin is now taking on some of the artistic airs and graces normally found only in big shot Hollywood producers and directors. He has almost complete creative control over the show: something that was denied to him on The West Wing. And the funding behind Studio 60 is large – the show is estimated to cost about $3.1m an episode.

The main characters in Studio 60 are clearly based on Sorkin himself. One even has a cocaine problem, mirroring Sorkin’s own real life struggles with drug abuse which once saw him arrested at an LA airport with drugs in his luggage.

In places he uses the show as a vehicle for criticising the TV industry, much as The West Wing would often mirror real-life politics in America. ‘This is a struggle between art and commerce, and art is getting its arse kicked,’ one character laments in the opening episode.

But that analysis might be a little presumptive. Studio 60 is one of many dramatic series just starting that seem to be defending art’s corner quite easily. Some critics are hailing a new ‘golden age’ of challenging US TV, similar to that which hit the movie scene in the 1970s. America’s five networks are bringing out 25 new shows for autumn, of which a staggering 16 are new dramas. And most are dramas emphasising multi-layered plots, moral ambiguity and deep characters. Among them is the new series The Nine, which follows the story of a hostage-taking during a bank robbery through a baffling series of flashbacks. And then there is Six Degrees, which links the lives of six seemingly unconnected Manhattanites. Both shows build on the successful mystery formula of the hit show Lost, as does Jericho, which focuses on the travails of a small Kansas town after a nuclear disaster cuts it off from the rest of America. ‘The enormous success of the dense and literate Lost has stimulated networks to develop more shows of a similar complex nature,’ said Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University.

Others take familiar scenarios and give them a new twist. Heroes features a group of teens gradually discovering they have superpowers, but rather than being a comic book drama, it portrays them in a serious way as they struggle with the experience. The crime show Smith follows a gang of criminals, exploring the same morally ambiguous territory as The Sopranos. Nor is Studio 60 the only drama to attract Hollywood names. Smith is a vehicle for Ray Liotta, a new legal caper Shark stars James Woods and, of course, Kiefer Sutherland led the way by lending his talents to the hugely successful and ground-breaking 24.

The factors behind the outbreak of quality are numerous. Ever since Hill Street Blues in the 1980s, American TV has frequently produced intelligent, high quality shows. But rarely have so many come at once.

One of these factors is the success of cable channel HBO, which brought The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Deadwood to niche American audiences, and made millions doing so.

Then there is the fact that Hollywood’s output has been hit by a declining audience and a focus on young people as older movie-goers prefer to stay at home. That has opened up a quality market for TV while movie studios focus on derivative sequels aimed at a teens and twenties market.

At the same time innovations in production techniques have allowed TV series to produce the same sort of visual effects that used to be the sole preserve of Hollywood movies. As more and more American homes install widescreen TVs and state-of-the-art sound systems, TV is becoming a medium that easily rivals the movies for entertainment. ‘Big-shot film directors are now waiting for the call from HBO, unlike the old days, when TV was simply a means to break into the movies,’ said Thompson.

The vibrancy of American TV is also throwing the situation in Britain into sharp relief. Once hailed as a repository of quality TV, British output now looks poor compared with its American equivalent. Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, the British creative force behind The Office, caused headlines recently when they said that British TV dramas were way behind when compared with American ones. One of the biggest successes of American TV over the past year has been the US version of The Office, which was reshot with an American cast and storylines and is now firmly established as a classic comedy in its own right.

However, there is still plenty to complain about when it comes to American TV. With hundreds of cable channels catering for every possible audience, there are a lot of terrible programmes out there as well.

Another recent trend has been the adaption of the ‘telenovella’ style of drama from Latin America. These soap operas are best known for their hysterical overacting, terrible scripts and outlandish plotlines. They are likely to find success, too, in America’s diverse market of 300 million potential viewers. ‘There’s a lot more everything. There is a lot more great TV. There’s a lot more worse TV,’ said Rash.

Tags: Again, America's, Genius, Gold, Strikes

America’s Tv Genius Strikes Gold Again

Something strange is happening on America’s TV screens. In a medium often derided as Hollywood’s less talented little brother, mainstream US TV has suddenly been swamped by an unprecedented wave of critically acclaimed dramas.

TV is now attracting Hollywood stars and directors to produce edgy and sophisticated programmes that used to be the preserve of the movie studios, to the extent that the Emmys may soon start to rival the Oscars as the visual medium’s greatest prize.

The networks are busy unveiling their autumn line-ups of new shows and the dominant themes are unmistakable: complex plots, intense characterisation and sophisticated dialogue. The developments have left critics both delighted and stunned. ‘How did the wasteland get so beautiful?’ asked Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

One reason is New York-born Aaron Sorkin, the man behind the influential political drama The West Wing and whose new programme, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is many critics’ top pick of the flood of new shows. Studio 60, which will hit British screens next year, has drawn rave reviews, with its intense portrayal of life behind the scenes of a top TV comedy show.

‘It is the best new show of the season,’ said John Rash, communications professor at the University of Minnesota and author of the influential Rash Report survey of new American TV. ‘By excoriating its own media form, it actually shows how great it can be’.

Studio 60 stars former Friends star Matthew Perry and Hollywood actress Amanda Peet, which gives it the same sort of A-list cast as The West Wing. It is also a clear sibling of Sorkin’s previous hit, starring Bradley Whitford, who played Josh in The West Wing.

Sorkin’s writing in the new show – so far – has been top-notch and is clearly intended to do for the TV industry what The West Wing did for politics: open up a strange world for all the viewers to explore. ‘I think Studio 60 is a classic example of that kind of show,’ said Donny Deutsch, host of The Big Idea talkshow on CNBC.

Studio 60 seems likely to cement Sorkin’s already massive reputation as a major player in the increasingly powerful world of TV. The huge success of The West Wing, which won a record nine Emmys in its first season, has made him a powerful voice in American culture and one of the leading forces behind the recent torrent of quality programming. ‘All great shows flow from the pen of a writer. Sorkin’s creative vision is what makes this great,’ said Rash.

Predictably, perhaps, Sorkin is now taking on some of the artistic airs and graces normally found only in big shot Hollywood producers and directors. He has almost complete creative control over the show: something that was denied to him on The West Wing. And the funding behind Studio 60 is large – the show is estimated to cost about $3.1m an episode.

The main characters in Studio 60 are clearly based on Sorkin himself. One even has a cocaine problem, mirroring Sorkin’s own real life struggles with drug abuse which once saw him arrested at an LA airport with drugs in his luggage.

In places he uses the show as a vehicle for criticising the TV industry, much as The West Wing would often mirror real-life politics in America. ‘This is a struggle between art and commerce, and art is getting its arse kicked,’ one character laments in the opening episode.

But that analysis might be a little presumptive. Studio 60 is one of many dramatic series just starting that seem to be defending art’s corner quite easily. Some critics are hailing a new ‘golden age’ of challenging US TV, similar to that which hit the movie scene in the 1970s. America’s five networks are bringing out 25 new shows for autumn, of which a staggering 16 are new dramas. And most are dramas emphasising multi-layered plots, moral ambiguity and deep characters. Among them is the new series The Nine, which follows the story of a hostage-taking during a bank robbery through a baffling series of flashbacks. And then there is Six Degrees, which links the lives of six seemingly unconnected Manhattanites. Both shows build on the successful mystery formula of the hit show Lost, as does Jericho, which focuses on the travails of a small Kansas town after a nuclear disaster cuts it off from the rest of America. ‘The enormous success of the dense and literate Lost has stimulated networks to develop more shows of a similar complex nature,’ said Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University.

Others take familiar scenarios and give them a new twist. Heroes features a group of teens gradually discovering they have superpowers, but rather than being a comic book drama, it portrays them in a serious way as they struggle with the experience. The crime show Smith follows a gang of criminals, exploring the same morally ambiguous territory as The Sopranos. Nor is Studio 60 the only drama to attract Hollywood names. Smith is a vehicle for Ray Liotta, a new legal caper Shark stars James Woods and, of course, Kiefer Sutherland led the way by lending his talents to the hugely successful and ground-breaking 24.

The factors behind the outbreak of quality are numerous. Ever since Hill Street Blues in the 1980s, American TV has frequently produced intelligent, high quality shows. But rarely have so many come at once.

One of these factors is the success of cable channel HBO, which brought The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Deadwood to niche American audiences, and made millions doing so.

Then there is the fact that Hollywood’s output has been hit by a declining audience and a focus on young people as older movie-goers prefer to stay at home. That has opened up a quality market for TV while movie studios focus on derivative sequels aimed at a teens and twenties market.

At the same time innovations in production techniques have allowed TV series to produce the same sort of visual effects that used to be the sole preserve of Hollywood movies. As more and more American homes install widescreen TVs and state-of-the-art sound systems, TV is becoming a medium that easily rivals the movies for entertainment. ‘Big-shot film directors are now waiting for the call from HBO, unlike the old days, when TV was simply a means to break into the movies,’ said Thompson.

The vibrancy of American TV is also throwing the situation in Britain into sharp relief. Once hailed as a repository of quality TV, British output now looks poor compared with its American equivalent. Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, the British creative force behind The Office, caused headlines recently when they said that British TV dramas were way behind when compared with American ones. One of the biggest successes of American TV over the past year has been the US version of The Office, which was reshot with an American cast and storylines and is now firmly established as a classic comedy in its own right.

However, there is still plenty to complain about when it comes to American TV. With hundreds of cable channels catering for every possible audience, there are a lot of terrible programmes out there as well.

Another recent trend has been the adaption of the ‘telenovella’ style of drama from Latin America. These soap operas are best known for their hysterical overacting, terrible scripts and outlandish plotlines. They are likely to find success, too, in America’s diverse market of 300 million potential viewers. ‘There’s a lot more everything. There is a lot more great TV. There’s a lot more worse TV,’ said Rash.

Tags: Again, America's, Genius, Gold, Strikes