Rooting for the Underdog: Ann Curry Edition

I'll admit, the closest thing I watch to morning TV is when SNL does that skit with "Hoda and Kathy Lee." But I couldn't help but brush up on my awareness of happenings before 10am when I saw Ann Curry trending on Twitter a few weeks ago.

Along with her Emmy's, Curry was also voted "hottest news personality" a few times.

It's hard to get the entire story on what happened to Ann Curry, because...well who can get the entire story on anything these days. I mean, I live totally alone and half the time I can't remember who ate the last apple...it must have been me, but when was that? See? It's hard to know, really KNOW something. But from what I can gather, based on really snarky blogs I read, Ann Curry was fired from Today because Matt Lauer doesn't like her. Or NBC doesn't like her. Or maybe, her ratings were bad. But mostly because Matt Lauer doesn't like her. In fact, part of his contract renewal negotiations involved promises that NBC would get rid of her as his co-host on Today.

Remember when Matt Lauer was cool? He was like the young, hot, hip, counterpart to grumpy Katie Couric? He used to actually leave the studio...remember where in the world is Matt Lauer? Now what hair he has left is too short and he's actually a little...well...to quote Tom Cruise...glib. Also, he's 54 now and goes to bed by 9:30. Snooze fest. But Matt Lauer is NBC's golden boy. And so what Lauer wants, Lauer gets. He just renewed his contract for 25 million a year. 25 million to deliver the "news." Ridiculous. 

So...back to Ann. She's been the co-host for less than a year. Hardly enough time to perfect her chemistry or style in the position. But that became irrelevant for possible reasons stated above, and NBC dropped the bomb that her time was up. Except, they didn't drop it to her. Similar to the case of Dan Harmon, it seems that the most popular way to be fired in entertainment these days is through back handed and passive articles rather than a direct conversation with the person being fired. The New York Times released an article announcing that Ann would be let go, only unlike Dan Harmon who fled to L.A. upon hearing of his firing, Ann SHOWED UP TO WORK THE NEXT DAY!  

I love this woman. No hints taken here. She made them come out and say it to her face, enter negotiations with her, and give her a chance to make a public announcement. If you haven't seen the video of Ann's last few minutes, warning, it's really hard to watch.  

Matt Lauer makes a comment that I believe is probably very true about Ann Curry. He says that she has "the biggest heart in the business." Compared to his, I am sure it seems huge. But seriously, her resume of stories does point to that being true. While Ann is still working at NBC with some new "fancy titles" and a team of her choosing, I can't help but think of a few other possible ventures for Ann Curry as she moves on in her career.

Emcee of the Hunger Games: CEO Edition

Let's take all of those out of touch money hungry suits and put them in an arena together. Heck, let's just put them in the middle of South Dakota, it won't take much to get them uncomfortable. Forget competing with ratings. Let's watch a death match to see who can survive things that even just normal people do. Driving yourself somewhere. Or ordering food at a McDonald's. And let's see Ann Curry emcee the whole thing. I am sure with that big heart of hers, she will be very gracious. 

Host of 2016 Olympics

It's a little late to give her the responsibility for London at this stage in the game, but she will be there, as well as the rest of the NBC crew. Except, Ann has a knack for finding the heartwarming story behind the news. And there are few things that we like more than heartwarming stories combined with sports. With her emotional intelligence, her segment ratings will soar leaving Lauer and his psuedo-news summaries in the dust, and NBC will have no choice but to put her in as host for the next go round.

Jack's Love Interest on 30 Rock

Now THIS would be fun. Things are rocky with Jack and Avery. And even though my preference has been that he end the series back with Nancy (Julianne Moore), I think it could be fun to have Jack and Ann interact in light of her real life situation with NBC. Can't you just see the last episode, Jack retiring and packing his bags to go meet up with Ann in Iraq, setting out on his new quest to prove that Bush was right about weapons of mass destruction!

Friend to Rachel Maddow

Recently Maddow came clean about her own feelings of depression/failure due to low ratings from time to time. While I personally enjoy everything about Maddow's delivery and handling of guests, it's no secret that her show is consistently beaten by others on various channels. It seems to me that if nothing else, Ann and Rachel could go have a beer together and talk shop, you know, encourage each other.

Professor of Journalism at ANY University

I don't know where she should go to teach. But she should go teach journalism! And if we get down to brass tax, maybe this is really the problem with Ann Curry and NBC. She actually practices real JOURNALISM. Petty news stories about celebrities being pregnant and the world's fattest woman wanting to gain more weight are not her gig. But that's what Today often presents in an attempt to appeal to the dumbed down American audiences. It's no wonder that Ann couldn't hang with that. Because she actually wants to talk about news. So before we end up with another graduating class of ignorant pundits with unfounded opinions, let's get Ann Curry in there to teach students what journalism really is. After all, it's quite possible that she might be the last professional media personality out there who actually remembers.

Good Luck Ann Curry! We're rooting for you!

Advanced Course in Ruining A Good Thing: The Firing of Dan Harmon

I love noticing connections between seemingly random things. For example, (confession time) yesterday I was Twitter-stalking (Twalking? Stittering?) someone who had posted a picture of a morning glory growing in their yard. For the rest of the day, the words morning glory continued to show up. I decided to put my iTunes on shuffle, which I rarely do, and the first song that played was "Morning Glory" by Oasis. One of my Chinese students asked me what we in America, call the flower that closes up every day? I Googled around and found the most common answer was morning glory. And I blogged about Annie Hall, which starred Diane Keaton and in my brief research on Keaton's filmography, I noticed that one of her more recent movies was called...drumroll please.....Morning Glory.

This thing will not leave me alone!

I like to call this synchronicity.

In writing, I think it's called a theme. I have glanced back over the last week of events, and ladies and gentlemen, I think we have ourselves a theme!

The Theme for the 3rd Week of May, 2012 is...Firing.

Not only did I just celebrate my personal 2 year anniversary from losing a job and write a few blogs about it (Blog 1, Blog 2), but firing happened all over TV last week! Phil had to fire Mitchell on Modern Family. Owen Hunt fired Teddy on Grey's Anatomy. Were there others that I missed?

I think the most notable and detrimental firing last week came from a real life situation. Dan Harmon, the brilliant creator and executive producer behind the recently renewed, Community, got fired from the show last Friday. Here is what he had to say about it. I think he was pretty gracious, considering. The idea is that he gets to stay on as a consultant...but I think you can gather from his statement, that he's not interested. And why would he be? That's like firing Steve Jobs and saying...thanks for making Apple awesome, and also, you stick around to help us pick a good color for the next iPod!

Harmon's reaction to "consulting" on Community.

It's rumored that Harmon is tough to work with. That he's demanding and fights in a "my way or the highway" style. In his thoughts on the firing, he doesn't bother to deny that. Because he knows...that's how amazing TV gets made. Someone is fighting for it! Look, you know I love Shonda Rhimes, but at this point, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, and the new Scandal all look very similar. It's entertaining TV but it's not doing a whole lot that's brilliant or new. It's character driven and she can write good characters, but it's not clever. It doesn't make me smarter or more culturally aware. And go on, I dare you to play a Shonda Rhimes drinking game where you watch one (or all) of her shows and every time someone passionately exclaims, "You don't GET to..." take a drink. You will be PASSED OUT before anyone even pouts or makes out.

(Note to self: Come up with Shonda Rhimes Drinking Game.)
(Note to reader: Stay tuned for Shonda Rhimes Drinking Game coming Friday!)

Abed did not anticipate this timeline.

My point is, you don't get excellent TV by doing what everyone else is doing! And let's face it, Community is EXCELLENT. Sure it's been called out on being meta for meta's sake, and sometimes for trying to out meta itself by meta-ing the meta. (If you don't know what meta is, I can't help you right now.) If there's one thing fans hate more than seeing their favorite TV show end, it's seeing it ruined before it ends. Harmon birthed and persisted through the impending doom of cancellations and slow to warm fans, to singlehandedly make Community into the fan favorite it is today. Without him its just one bad episode away from being a shorter version of The Breakfast Club, one laugh track away from being Friends. Thanks NBC, in the words of Dan Harmon, and so many who have blogged before me, "You Britta'd it!"

I Get Knocked Down: The Art of Being Fired

This weekend is my 2 year anniversary of being fired from a job that I loved. I have an entire OTHER BLOG that will explain how I got from there to Weekend Fat. But in honor, in memory, and in celebration of losing a job, here are 3 of my favorite firings on film.

Jerry Maguire

If there's anything I learned in my experience, it's that when you feel convicted or passionate about something at work that doesn't line up exactly with what your company is already doing you should stay quiet about it. Maguire learned the same unfortunate lesson. His night sweats and bad dreams led him to write a manifesto that would put people back at the center of the organization. Sounds like a brilliant idea. Peoplework not paperwork! And yet just a few hours after the manifesto makes the rounds, his mentee takes him to lunch and fires him. The scene itself is pretty uneventful except that it solidified my dislike for Jay Mohr. It's what happens after the firing that stands out. Maguire hustles back to the office and fights for his clients, making calls and failing miserably with the exception of one, Rod Tidwell. As if Maguire isn't feeling exposed enough after pouring his heart out on paper, he is further humiliated as he screams at the top of his lungs that famous line, "Show me the money" to convince Tidwell that he is really all in. The scene hits an all low when Maguire has to make his walk of shame out of the building, punctuating it with a hopeful and desperate challenge for anyone to come with him. Only one secretary, Dorothy Boyd, joins him in the awkward exit and the rest is movie history.

Take the fish, leave the clients.

Vindication: Jerry becomes a becomes a better person, learns to invest in the lives of his client(s), and falls in love with Dorothy.

Dream Girls

You can't help but root for Effie White. Especially when played by Jennifer Hudson against Beyonce's, Deena. All firings are justifiable, at least to the one doing the firing. With Effie's convictions (there's that word again...) and refusal to play by the "rules," her presence becomes divisive even if her actions are completely founded. As much as you might despise the money hungry, player, Curtis, he knows that Effie's Diva behavior is only going to hurt the group's chance for stardom. But Effie IS a Diva, and her greatness cannot fit into the canned white box that Curtis and the record labels want to put her in. Rather than continue to fight her, she is dismissed. But before Effie is thrust into poverty and single motherhood, she gets to make the most memorable solo exit in film, by singing "I'm Telling you, I'm not going."

Vindication: Effie has to endure a few more struggles before humbly rebuilding her life. Eventually the wrongs between her and others get forgiven. At the end of the movie, Deena calls her up to sing with the group and as Effie looks out at the crowd, eyes on her daughter, Curtis realizes that it is his daughter, and sees a part of life he has missed out on because of what he did to Effie.

You're gonna love her.

The Nanny Diaries

When you're fired, it's imperative that you write a tell-all book exposing the segment of society you were once a part of, which is exactly what two New York nannies did. The result was a controversial best-seller. (My book is in progress.) Because I can barely stand to talk about Scarlett Johansson, from here on out I will just refer to her as Nanny. Truthfully, Nanny does two things wrong. She doesn't listen to her mother and she loves a kid too much. The one thing that mothers on the Upper East Side hate more than having to parent is watching someone else do it better than they can. Nanny's relationship with the kid is eventually accompanied by the father of the kid making a move on her, and before long, it's all over. With a few cutting words, Laura Linney, who plays the mom/boss, cuts her off without even giving her a chance to say goodbye to the kid. As the car takes her away, the kid chases it, crying for Nanny. It's a truly devastating scene.

Money can't buy you class.

Vindication: As Nanny is packing her things, she has an opportunity to vent her months of frustration into a teddy bear/hidden camera. Her words are not meant to be hateful, but the truth in this situation is ugly. The tape gets played in front of Laura Linney's peers and inspires her to write a letter of "apology" to Nanny, giving her the best gift of all, validation.