Big Bang Theory en Francais est Magnifique!

Posted on January 3, 2014 at 8:00 am

Salon has an article about the success of American television series in France.

It’s hard to underestimate the impact of “Friends” in paving the way for “The Big Bang Theory” and “How I Met Your Mother,” not just in terms of structure but international appeal. Throughout the ’90s, the show was so popular with viewers abroad that foreign policy advisers felt it was helping warm foreigners’ views toward Americans, furthering American global influence. Harvard scholar Joseph Nye coined the term “soft power” in 1989, arguing that American culture and values “remain attractive,” even when our governments prove internationally unpopular.

“Friends” has been key to the changing marketplace of global television. Research from Kaplan International in 2012 showed that “Friends” was the most popular show in helping foreigners learn English, with 26% of English students saying that watching episodes of the program helped them pick up on American idioms.

The program is so embedded in how foreigners understand English that Kaplan’s Martin Hofschroer claimed he once heard his Arab cab driver use Chandler Bing’s famous catchphrase. While stuck in New York’s infamous auto congestion, his cabbie shouted, “Could there be any more traffic?”

Because “The Big Bang Theory” is similarly popular with French speakers, some professors are even integrating it into the classroom.

I like to think that the idea of brilliant characters who understand the mysteries of the universe but struggle with relationships has universal appeal. And I like even better the idea that it is what we laugh at that brings us together.

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Tribute: James Avery of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”

Posted on January 1, 2014 at 9:12 pm

We mourn the loss of actor James Avery, who starred with Will Smith as Uncle Phil in Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Avery was a Vietnam veteran who became a writer, actor, and voice talent. He was a great foil for Will Smith on “Fresh Prince,” with a commanding presence that suited his role as a lawyer and later a judge. While he was often the straight man, his comic timing was subtle and if you watch closely you can see how much Smith learned from him over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL8VJTCnzgo

Avery also provided voices for animated characters as wide-ranging as The Shredder in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and War Machine in “Iron Man.” He hosted “Going Places,” a popular travel and adventure series on PBS. He memorably played disabled characters, a legally-blind witness to a murder on CSI and a wheelchair-bound medical examiner on “The Closer.”

He died at age 68 from complications following open heart surgery. His last film, aptly named “Valediction,” has been a festival favorite and I hope it will be available streaming or in theaters later this year. May his memory be a blessing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsAw4mDOvOE

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Trailer: 2014 Oscars with Ellen DeGeneres

Posted on December 27, 2013 at 3:53 pm

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Contest: The Best of Jack Hanna

Posted on December 26, 2013 at 3:59 pm

The Best of Jack Hanna follows America’s most beloved animal adventurer and his family as he spends time with nature’s creatures across the continents, over the years, and through two different TV shows. This collector’s edition package includes 30 episodes from Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild, which has garnered 6 Daytime Emmy Nominations and 3 wins to date, plus 30 episodes from Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures. Each episode provides insight into the protection and conservation of some of our planet’s most precious animals and endangered species. The Best of Jack Hanna takes you on an action-packed journey, leaving you with a renewed appreciation for all creatures, great and small.

I have a copy to give away! Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Hanna in the subject line and tell me what country you’d like to visit to see exotic animals. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on December 31, 2013. Good luck!

How 1964 Changed Everything

Posted on December 26, 2013 at 8:00 am

This year, we observe the 50th anniversary of many world-changing events and PBS’s “American Experience” will tell the story on January 14.

1964 was the year the Beatles came to America, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, and three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. It was the year when Berkeley students rose up in protest, African Americans fought back against injustice in Harlem, and Barry Goldwater’s conservative revolution took over the Republican Party. In myriad ways, 1964 was the year when Americans faced choices: between the liberalism of Lyndon Johnson or Barry Goldwater’s grassroots conservatism, between support or opposition to the civil rights movement, between an embrace of the emerging counterculture or a defense of traditional values. Based in part on The Last Innocent Year: America in 1964 by Jon Margolis, 1964 follows some of the most influential figures of the time – Lyndon Johnson, Barry Goldwater, Betty Friedan – but also brings out from the shadows the stories of ordinary Americans whose principled stands would set the country onto a new and different course. “1964 was when, for better or worse, the outlines of the America we live in began to be visible,” says writer/director Stephen Ives.

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