Bob Barker's Back!

From Variety:
Bob Barker is coming back down to "The Price Is Right."
Not to host but promote his new autobiography, "Priceless Memories."
Barker, who hosted 6,500 episodes of the venerable gameshow before retiring and handing the skinny mic to current emcee Drew Carey, will take part in Wednesday's taping at the CBS lot on the stage named after him. He'll take part in both Showcase Showdowns and give away the book to all 300 members of the studio audience, as well as it having be part of the prize giveaways.
"Memories" looks back at Barker's life in television as well as his dedication to animals. Episode airs April 16.

The Economy: HaHaHa!

Stampede Injures 'Top Models'

From Reuters:
Six women received medical treatment on Saturday and three people were arrested after what local radio described as a stampede as thousands waited in New York to audition for the reality show "America's Next Top Model."
A New York Police Department official said two women and a man were arrested on charges of inciting to riot and disorderly conduct.
WINS radio reported that chaos erupted outside a midtown Manhattan hotel after a car belching smoke pulled up near the line of women late in the afternoon, leading to a cry of "fire" that sparked panic. Witnesses told the station the situation was compounded when a man leapt from a car and began grabbing women's purses.
The police spokesman could not confirm the details of the radio report. Police said six women in the crowd were treated after complaining of feeling faint. Some of the women had lined all night to audition for the show that airs on the CW network and stars former model Tyra Banks.
Sidewalks were littered with chairs and sleeping bags from those who waited overnight, as well as clothes and shoes abandoned in the rush of screaming women, radio reported.
The auditions were for the show's 13th cycle of competition, for which about a dozen contenders will eventually be selected. More auditions will follow in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles, according to the show's website.

Is It Getting 'Dicey?'

From Jennifer Harper at The Washington Times:
Relations between President Obama and the habitually combative press have gotten dicey as the news narrative "turns bearish" on the president, says a Project for Excellence in Journalism report released Tuesday.
Intense coverage of the economic crisis plus close scrutiny of Mr. Obama's Cabinet choices have combined into a double whammy of sorts.
"Two different stories combined to create one major media narrative last week - a new president off to a shaky start," said Mark Jurkowitz , associate director of the research group.
The economy took up 44 percent of total press coverage last week - with another 17 percent focused on the new administration.
Super Bowl, Iraq and Afghanistan stories weighed in at less than 5 percent each.
"If the storyline seemed to pivot dramatically from a heady inauguration to a rocky transition, that sense was significantly magnified by the two platforms offering instant updates of the Beltway scoreboard, and both of them now firmly ideological," Mr. Jurkowitz said.
"On cable news, a dominant theme among talking heads was Obama stumbling at the starting gate. On talk radio, conservative hosts grew even more aggressive in staking out their opposition to the new president."

'The Thrill Is Gone'

From David Zurawik at the Baltimore Sun:
After watching President Barack Obama's first primetime news conference, I am beginning to think the thrill is gone -- his TV magic and mojo have deserted him. Maybe, folks like me were just a little too quick in elevating him to the pantheon of great radio and TV communicators like Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan as masters of the media of their times. . . .
From the very start of the president's opening statement, it was clear that he was not on his A-game. As opposed to the easy-going, relaxed rhythm of his speeches during the campaign, as well as the news conferences he held as president-elect, he was rushing his words -- talking at a speed that seemed about one-third faster than he normally speaks.
It was almost as if he had too much adrenaline -- or his mouth could not keep up with his mind. Whatever the reason, he stumbled over a few words, and lost the power of that measured, colloquial rhythm he used during the campaign and just after the election to make it sound as if he was talking directly and personally to each and every viewer out in TV Land.
One of the results of his rhetorical shortcomings is that he failed to humanize the people of Elkhart, Ind., whom he had visited earlier in the day. He wanted to hold the suffering of those who had lost their jobs in the Heartland up against what he sees as the indifference of those in Congress who by voting against the plan are, in Obama's estimation, unwilling to do anything to help.
But even though he opened and closed the session with talk of the victims of the economic meltdown who are living in Elkhart, he never managed to make viewers feel their pain. And so, his argument was tremendously weakened.
In general, it is not a good thing on TV to come across as uptight and defensive. And while Obama will never be confused with Richard Nixon in this regard, he did worse on both counts than I have ever seen him do on the tube.
In the end, maybe the worst result of him not being on the top of his rhetorical game is that he was never able to redeem his malaise-drenched message of what a crisis he inherited with any vision of better days ahead -- no matter how far down the road they might be.
Near the end of the session, he called himself an "eternal optimist" and expressed his faith that we will "solve these problems." But he didn't have his TV game together enough to make us believe.