Where's Jerry? Read the MDA press release

WORLD’S TOP TELETHON EMBRACES SHORTER FORMAT
TO INCREASE AUDIENCE AND INCOME

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 6, 2010 – The Muscular Dystrophy Association today announced an important change to its perennial Labor Day Telethon, which for 45 years has galvanized tremendous public support for MDA’s lifesaving mission. The Association will shave more than 15 hours off its previous 21½-hour Telethon format. The move is central to a strategy to increase audience for and income from its 2011 Labor Day telecast. The 2010 Telethon raised $58.9 million.

“Ever since pioneering the Telethon as a fundraising, education and sponsor-recognition program, MDA has enjoyed unparalleled support from television and cable stations across America,” said Gerald C. Weinberg, MDA president & CEO and Telethon executive producer. “Our ‘Love Network’ of some 170 stations annually helps us reach an audience of some 40 million Americans. The stations’ efforts, and those of our national, regional and local sponsors, have been truly outstanding.

“What we’re doing now has amazing potential,” Weinberg added. “The shorter format means every hour of our show will be in the extended prime-time window of 6 p.m. to midnight in every time zone. This means our live, or tape-delayed Sunday broadcast with live local segments, will be even more attractive to stations that otherwise primarily would be running repeats from last season. The talent we’ll be attracting will be even bigger, since every moment of our prime-time show will have a tremendous audience.”

With its unrivaled Telethon track record, the Association could very well experience a net gain in total markets reached by its venerable show in 2011. There are more than 1,200 television stations serving communities across America, and it should be much easier for stations to clear six broadcast hours for proven live programming, than it has been to clear nearly two days of programming for the Telethon.

Weinberg explained, “The combination of buzz surrounding the new MDA Labor Day Telethon, and the tremendous good will that stations, on-air personalities and sponsors have consistently enjoyed by partnering with MDA, are a powerful combination. That’s why we’re so optimistic about the new show’s ability to increase audience reached and income in 2011.”

“There’s nothing like our Telethon,” noted Lee Miller, longtime Telethon producer. “In 2010, some 65 top acts performed, including some amazing production numbers by Tyce Diorio of “So You Think You Can Dance” as well as top Broadway and Las Vegas show segments. Our 2011 prime-time focus should make it easier to fill every moment of the show with the best headline entertainment.”

Rich MDA Telethon History

Over the years, countless megastars have appeared on the Telethon to help families affected by muscular dystrophy. And the surprise Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis reunion organized by Frank Sinatra still is one of the 10 best television moments of all time.

The who’s who of historical MDA Telethon appearances by contemporary stars includes: Jerry Seinfeld, Whoopi Goldberg, Eddie Murphy, Martin Short, Adam Sandler, Nigel Lythgoe, Nancy O’Dell, Donald Trump, Neil Patrick Harris, Larry King, Jimmy Fallon, William Shatner, Alison Sweeney, Wayne Brady, Drew Carey, Regis Philbin, Dr. Phil, Howie Mandel, Jason Alexander, Jann Carl, Woody Harrelson, Billy Crystal, Alan Alda, Tom Arnold, Terry Fator, Carrot Top, Martha Stewart, Bill Cosby and Don Francisco of “Sabado Gigante.”

Consider contemporary musical acts, too, and it’s easy to see why the MDA Telethon is so much a part of Americana. The Telethon audience has enjoyed Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey, Clint Black, Cher, David Archuleta, John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting, Gloria Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, Train, Aretha Franklin, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Elton John, Wynnona Judd, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Paul McCartney, Mindy McCready, John Mellencamp, Reba McEntire, Carlos Santana, LeAnn Rimes, Tom Petty, Dolly Parton, Sugarland, Spice Girls, Stevie Wonder, Donny and Marie Osmond, Clay Aiken, Chicago, KISS, Jon Bon Jovi, Kid Rock, Tracy Lawrence, Billy Ray Cyrus, Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers and the Rolling Stones. Even the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, performed on the MDA Telethon.

About MDA

The Muscular Dystrophy Association pioneered cause-related marketing decades ago, and annually orchestrates thousands of special events in communities across America with the help of outstanding local, multiregional and national sponsors. The first organization with a national Telethon, MDA also is the first nonprofit to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Medical Association (“for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity”).

MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education.

Readers back Donald Duck groper

A woman from Pennsylvania is suing Disney, claiming she was groped at its Epcot Center by a cast member dressed in a Donald Duck costume.

We like the responses the story got from readers of The Daily Mail in England and Orlando's Channel 13 website. Not a lot of sympathy for the plaintiff:

UK:

I would have just smacked his beak and stamped on his webbed feet.
- Sugarbell, Wolverhampton

Did she ever wonder about the cast member inside? Donald is 5"1 at his highest, how many men do you know that are that small, or is she claiming that a woman molested her???? in those outfits you have tunnel vision, and lose most of your senses. Just sombody trying to make a fast buck
- Holly, Northampton

How pathetic, when is this whole 'claims' culture going to end? Flashbacks and 'digestive' problems - come on - who are you trying to kid?!
- Jane, London

He's welcome to touch both of my breasts for £32,000.
- George, Brighton

Naughty Donald!!
Another one on the bandwagon!! Fancy having to stand up in court and accusing Donald Duck of molesting you. This is too funny!!
- Nick, Birmingham

Surely the Duck deserves anonymity until the case is over?
- kerry livermore, London, England


Florida:

jdoe wrote:
What a load. This cant be real. What a white trash low-life to try and say that a guy in a full costume touched you. You can barely see in those things, let alone the fact that most of the disney cast member emloyees are homosexual, not being offensive, it is actually true.

John wrote:
Give me a break, all this woman wants is money for nothing at all. More than likely she thinks Disney will roll over and play dead. I hope they go to court and the judge throws out this frivilous law suit and then puts her in jail for contempt of court! Why 2 years later? This is a SCAM nothing more.

Allie wrote:
Ok who is paying her bill's is she on welfare. or is it just 6 diffrent baby's daddys.

gloria wrote:
Bear ..I doubt if you would've gotten away with decking a Disney character. You must have run away really fast

Ocean wrote: J
ust one more Crock of " _hit" again with someone looking for a payoff. He could sure do alot of groping with those gloves on. The best part is she is so devastated she can't work,GIVE ME A BREAK!

John L. wrote:
Roast that sucker. MAKE HIM WELL DONE.

Thapper wrote:
This case isn't what it's quacked up to be. Sounds like this lady is a little Goofy. Did Huey, Dewie and Louie dress up like Michael Jackson and molest her kids?

Bear wrote:
My wife was groped by one of the Disney Chipmunks in 1980, I decked his butt. He first grabbed her breast while we were taking a posed photo and she thought it may have been an accidental touch until he grabbed her butt before moving away. So I hit him once, really hard. I think he got the message.

Jim wrote:
I hope hippo lady gets what she deserves- a prison sentence for perjury and a bill from Disney lawyers for defending this rediculous lawsuit.

Keep your job wrote:
No freer lonch for you phony. Can't peform your job liar That suit Donald is so big , he couldn't feel an apple in his hands if he wanted to. Did you perform anything else in those two years ? phony.

ric wrote:
What did he do? Rip her breast off so she can't strip anymore?

alice wrote:
HE HAD A PARTNER "DAISY"YOU PEOPLE NEED TO GET A LIFE. POOR DONALD

Cathy wrote:
What a bunch of hooey. Another citizen wanting a FREE LUNCH. Two years and she cannot work. GARBAGE.You and your lawyer should be thrown out of court and charged for the aggravation you caused. Get a life and move on.. You make us all SICK...FREELOADER..You are a disgrace to your family. Steve wrote: Now she can't perform her job? How hard is it to say, "Would you like fries with that?"

Roger Ortkiese wrote:
Two years this women has took to sue the disney corp. Come on lady. Another unwarranted law suit. That will most likely just raise the price of admisson for the rest of us. Like we can afford it now..

Anna wrote:
Has this woman ever worn one of those costumes? You can barely see & there is no way the person could have felt anything. She sounds like a person who has emotional issues and should seek counseling. Donald Duck’ accused of groping woman at Epcot?????????????

Molly wrote:
What a moron.....those characters touch people all day long...she just wants "lifetime passes"!!!

Give Me a Brek wrote:
First of all, Donald is never alone. He is with escorts that watch his every move. Second, Donald is usually a woman because they can't find many men that small. Third, these characters have very limited field of vision and touch. It's next to impossible to 'grope' anybody in these costumes. Third, why did she wait two years?? Why did she not report it immediately? Because it never happened.

AOL News calls on expert for insight into publication of Gary Coleman deathbed photo

Does the Public Benefit
from Celebrity Death Photos?
AolNews.com
by DAVID MOYE

(June 10) -- Photos like the deathbed image of Gary Coleman that Globe magazine is printing on its front page are awful to look at, but do they also tell us a lot about that celebrity ... and our twisted culture?

Depends on who you ask -- and which celebrity is pictured.

Burt Kearns, the former managing editor of "Hard Copy" and "A Current Affair," is the first to admit that deathbed and after-death photos like the ones showing John Lennon at the morgue, Elvis Presley at his funeral or paramedics trying to revive Michael Jackson are "distasteful" and "invasive."

Still, Kearns thinks that in Coleman's case, the photos may ultimately benefit the actor.

"As ugly as they are, they do serve a purpose," Kearns said. "It's easy to criticize the Globe -- as the hypocritical TMZ is doing -- but the photos do present a fuller picture of the ex-wife who sold them. Not only do the photos show Coleman in a heart-wrenching state, but she's in it! This paints a picture of what he was going through."

Kearns says that in the years after "Diff'rent Strokes" went off the air, Coleman became an "angry, cantankerous young man" who griped that people are bad and that he couldn't trust them.

"This is another example of the exploitation he complained about," Kearns said. "Gary Coleman died for our sins."

Although the Globe is being criticized for purchasing the photos, Kearns says it's telling that the headline reads "It Was Murder!"

"It just raises more attention to the fact that ex-wife Shannon Price pulled the plug on him -- something that she may have not had the right to do."

Still, Kearns is fascinated by the way Globe editors are trying to weasel their way out of controversy.

"There seems to be a dividing line between a 'deathbed photo' or an 'after-death photo,'" Kearns said. "The Globe is claiming it's only publishing the photos before his death."

It sounds terrible that Price would sell out Coleman's dignity for a few bucks, but Kearns says he's not the first celebrity treated in such a humiliating fashion by family members.

"When Elvis Presley died, the Enquirer was able to get the death photos by giving tiny cameras to 20 of his relatives," Kearns said. "The editors expected one or two photos at most -- and they got 20!"

Fact is, a deathbed photo is a true sign of a celebrity's iconic status -- notice the lack of celebrity death photos of Dennis Hopper or Rue McClanahan? Kearns sees another benefit: Proof of death.

"Jim Morrison and Tupac Shakur didn't have death photos and that's why some people feel they're still alive," Kearns said...

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE AOL NEWS ARTICLE,"DOES THE PUBLIC BENEFIT FROM CELEBRITY DEATH PHOTOS?", BY DAVID MOYE

Steve Friess snitches and turns in his uncle

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY SCREENGRAB

Remember Steve Friess?

He's the Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author, concert promoter and comp queen whom we first encountered a little over a year ago when we emailed him to ask why his colleagues were not investigating the recent, mysterious death of local superstar Danny Gans and he responded by going on line and attacking us in a public obscene rant. In the months to follow, he led a campaign to stop our investigation, helped spread disinformation about Gans' death, called us "homophobes" for criticizing him (all the while running a photo on his blogsite showing him lifting former Hefner girl Holly Madison in an over-the-threshold pose while in his second unofficial marriage to a man-- a producer at the local NBC affiliate), attempted to have our site shut down after we posted his photo (we were forced to use approximations), wrote that Michael Jackson's death was the best thing to happen to his music and then, while covering the investigation into Jacko's death for the New York Times, capitalized on the demise by promoting a "tribute" concert to his music-- all the while acting as a mouthpiece for casino mogul and Danny Gans employer Steve Wynn and reviewing musical acts despite a severe hearing impairment-- a morass of conflicts of interest that led him to represent all that was wrong with the lazy, corrupt media of Sin City and led us to name him Tabloid Baby's 2009 Journalist of The Year.


Now, the go-to guy for national media looking for Vegas stories who decides what Vegas events are national news and what are not (see Danny Gans) and uses his column in the Las Vegas Weekly to explain away his transgressions and conflicts, writes this week that he crossed the line again when he helped US Marshals arrest a family member "who could easily pass as my 25-years-older twin brother" and who was on the run to avoid a court plea and sentencing in an Internet kiddie porn case.

Read all about it. You be the judge.

UPDATE!!!


4 pm: Steve Friess reads Tabloid Baby! It appears that he posted a comment on our story-- then changed his mind and deleted it. Please, Steve, have your say! We know you're not shy. Your fellow Tabloid Baby fans want to hear from you!

(And we're not editorializing in referring to Friess as a "snitch." That's the word they use on the Las Vegas Weekly cover.)

Corey Haim and Danny Gans

The autopsy and toxicological test results on Corey Haim are not yet in, but already the death of the former child star is being attributed to prescription drugs and mentioned in the same breath as that of the Las Vegas Strip superstar Danny Gans.

California's Attorney General Jerry Brown has linked Haim to an "illegal and massive prescription-drug ring" and says his office is investigating "an unauthorized prescription under the former child star's name that was found during an ongoing investigation of fraudulent prescription-drug pads ordered from a vendor in San Diego."


Brown said: "Corey Haim's death is yet another tragedy linked to the growing problem of prescription-drug abuse. This problem is increasingly linked to criminal organizations, like the illegal and massive prescription-drug ring under investigation."

Haim, of course, is only the latest celebrity prescription drug-related death in the time since last May 1st, when Gans died suddenly at the age of 52 due to an overdose of Dilaudid. Michael Jackson and Brittany Murphy's prescription-related demises contributed to Brown's interest in the prescription racket. Those deaths, however, were scrutinized and investigated by a responsible media as well as law enforcement officials.


The death of the Born Again family man Danny Gans has gone unexamined by a beholden news media in Las Vegas, where, according to local news nabob and New York Times stringer Steve Friess, "when left to our own devices, we do things a little differently."

It has been reported that Gans did not have a prescription for the drug that led to his death, and that he was an owner of a pharmacy supply house. There has been no investigation into either aspect of his life or death, and one would suspect that an honest investigation and accounting into the details of the pain and struggles of Gans' life and circumstances of his death would set him apart from the show business losers and freaks to whom timing and similarity have linked him so unfortunately.

Farrah Fawcett Oscar® snub was deliberate

The man in charge of Sunday night's Academy Awards® In Memorium sequence has apologized for omitting actress Farrah Fawcett, yet says the decision was deliberate and insists he stands by it, comparing the show business icon to Gene Barry.

Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, responded to the outrage expressed on this website, saying: "There's nothing you can say to people, particularly to family members, within a day or two of the show that helps at all. They tend to be surprised and hurt, and we understand that and we're sorry for it."


Davis (above) claimed the academy considered adding Farrah t0 the tribute, but decided her "remarkable television work" made her more suitable for the Emmy Awards, making room for an unusual number of "extremely distinguished screenwriters" who'd died in the past year.

"Think of all the blogging
we would have gotten
if we had left
Michael Jackson out."

Davis said Michael Jackson was included because he'd recently appeared in a popular theatrical film. That would probably be This Is It, the posthumous documentary focused on Jacko's singing and dancing.

He added (and get a load of this!): "Think of all the blogging we would have gotten if we had left him out."


Farrah's survivors joined Tabloid Baby in protest of the Oscar omission. Tatum O'Neal, Oscar®-winning daughter of Farrah's on-off lover Ryan O'Neal, said in a statement following our postings:

“On behalf of myself, my father Ryan O’Neal and my entire family, we are deeply saddened that a truly beautiful and talented actress Farrah Fawcett was not included in the memorial montage during the 82nd Academy Awards®.

“We are bereft with this exclusion of such an international icon who inspired so many for so many reasons. Beautiful, talented Farrah will never be forgotten by her family and amazing fans.”

Academy shrugs off Farrah Oscar® snub

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has responded to Tabloid Baby's complaint that Farrah Fawcett was unjustly left out of the In Memorium segment of the Academy Awards® show, and their answer is "tough luck."

"I would not say that it was an oversight," says spokeswoman Leslie Unger. "No matter how carefully and how conscientiously people address who is included, there are people who just simply can't be.

"Every year there are many difficult decisions that have to be made and not everybody who passed during the year can be included. That's the unfortunate reality."

Unger addressed our specific complaint that Michael Jackson, who died on the same day as Farrah yet had scant film credits, was honored.

"In any given year there will always be some people that other people think should have been included and that there's more justification for one person versus another. It is impossible to include everybody."


Meanwhile, the men who are fighting over Farrah found common ground in their disgust over the omission.

Speaking through his publicist, Ryan O'Neal said, "We were disappointed that she was not included."

Farrah's producing partner Craig Nevius said: "I think this is what Farrah struggled with her entire career. She struggled with respect and told me many times she felt she was put in a box.

"She loved television, and she was primarily a star on TV, but she was also a star on stage and film. You know, how you can discount Extremities (for which Farrah earned a Golden Globe Globe nomination), The Apostle (ditto an Independent Spirit nomination) and Dr. T and the Women, I don't know.

"I think it would be very big of them to own up to the mistake, but I also think it might set a dangerous precedent for them, which is why they probably won't do it."

Farrah Fawcett snubbed at The Oscars®

The image of Patrick Swayze led off the tributes and Karl Malden seemed to generate the loudest applause, but Farrah Fawcett was for some reason excluded from last night's Academy Awards® "In Memorium" segment. Farrah may be better known for her television work, but she also starred in classic films including Myra Breckenridge, Logan's Run, Sunburn, The Cannonball Run, Extremities, The Apostle and Dr. T and The Women.


(Michael Jackson, who died the same day as Farrah and whose film bio is far less substantial than Farrah's, was included.)

Captain EO: A child molester in Disneyland?

A little over an hour ago, Captain EO returned to Disneyland.

The 17-minute science fiction musical starring Michael Jackson opened for a "limited engagement" at the Tomorrowland Theatre at 10 a.m., replacing Honey I Shrunk the Audience, which closed Jan. 3.


Captain EO was launched at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland in 1986, when Jacko was calling himself "The King of Pop," and had the power to rope in Francis Ford Coppola as director and executive producer George Lucas-- a few years before he became better known as a freakish oddity and alleged child molester.

The $30 million 3-D film closed in 1997, but after Jacko's death last summer and the subsequent wiping clean of his pedophiliac slate, the Disney people decided to listen to the fans asking for its return, dust off the film canisters and rake in some more dough.

A Disney spokesman says the film will run "as long as it remains popular."

Will Farrah Fawcett's death be included in the sequel to "Farrah's Story" now being produced by Ryan O'Neal?

Ryan O'Neal has begun production on a sequel to the maligned and Emmy-nominated Farrah's Story television special, and the question left hanging is whether Farrah Fawcett's death will be included.

Farrah's Story was a revamped version of Farrah's cancer journal documentary that aired to high ratings in May 2009, a little more than a month before Farrah's death. Cameras continued to roll through the final weeks of Farrah's life, however, and there have been whispers that cameras were there as Farrah passed.

Ratings-hungry NBC has not been shy in showing the moment of death, as demonstrated last week of in its constant replaying of the brutal luge accident death of an Olympic athlete.

As we reported exclusively in June, the sequel was in the works even before Farrah was buried, as camera crews filmed Farrah's funeral services for the project.


The sequel is being billed as a "tribute" to Farrah, whose death on June 25th was overshadowed by that of Michael Jackson hours later.

RadarOnline.com reports that a producer for the project arrived in Texas earlier this month to shoot interviews with Farrah's friends, although at least one person (not Greg Lott) has refused to participate, in protest of O'Neal's involvement.

Farrah's Story began as a video journal produced by Farrah and her production partner Craig Nevius, who sued O'Neal, Alana Stewart and business manager Richard B. Francis for pushing him out of the project and turning a serious medical documentary into a maudlin exploitative show. As the battles continue to rage behind the scenes, Francis sued Nevius on behalf of Farrah's estate, accusing him of mucking up the doco and even stealing her money.

Joey Voices is another next Danny Gans

In shying away from investigating the life and death of Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans, members news media, both local and national, hide behind the argument that "no one outside of Las Vegas ever heard of him."

If that is indeed the case, why then are so many aspiring entertainers in so many different parts of the country inspired by Danny Gans' work or aspiring to take his place in the show business pantheon?

In the months since Danny Gans' tragic death on May 1st, we've shined the spotlight on musical impressionists like Rick A. Ludwig and Larry G Jones, Paul Tanner and Frank Caliendo, all of whom cite Danny Gans as The Man they can only try to equal. Now we can add to that list the name of Joey Voices of Malden, Massachusetts.


Like Danny Gans, Joey Voices (aka Joey Noone) is a corporate entertainer and a man of many voices, from Joe Cocker to Michael McDonald to Cher to Dave Matthews to Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson. Not only that, he is a self-described "Proud, Baptized, Born Again Believer in Jesus Christ"- and, as it turns out, was inspired by Danny Gans to follow his dream.

Joe Viglione found out when he interviewed Mr. Voices in The Malden Observer:

Malden Observer: How long have you lived in Malden?

Joey Voices: 37 years

MO: When did you start your career as “Joey Voices?”

JV: I started Joey Voices back in 2001 and for two years pieced together the show that I wanted to take on the road across America for corporate and private events. I got my first big corporate show in January of 2005 with Aflac in Indiana, and it was a great experience for me.

MO: What was the inspiration for this endeavor?

JV: I would do impressions of singers at my friend/neighbor/dentist’s office (Dr. Mark Gianatassio in Melrose) for his patients, and he told me I reminded him of Danny Gans out in Las Vegas. I had never heard of Gans before Mark mentioned his name. So I went out and saw him perform, and knew instantly that I could do that. So I put my own act together and continue to build on it.

Find more about Joey Voices at JoeyVoices.com.

LOL! TMZ.com now claims this morning's story "originally went up last night"

We knew it would only be a matter of time before the slugs at the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com tried to cover their asses after we pointed out an embarrassing mistake. The sewer site posted an item this morning at 9:09 a.m. claiming that Phil Harris, star of Discovery's Deadliest Catch, had died "about an hour ago"-- even though the mainstream news media had reported on the sad and tragic passing the previous evening.

In the past, as with its Michael Jackson timeline hanky panky, TMZ's shaved bronzed midget frontman and his lost boy contingent have been known to shift posting times, change headlines and other ploys to avoid looking foolish or downright wrong. But this time, they knew we'd nailed them on the time stamp. So what did they do?

Even we had to laugh along with our readers at such unprecedented amateurish egregious assholery in attempted ass-covering as the disclaimer they added to the post after our mention:

"*This post originally went up
last night at 11:45 PM EST"

Never seen that one, before Harvey! What can we say? Except maybe

"Hahahahahahahaha... (breath) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."


Meanwhile, we'll let our readers join in the fun TMZ-humiliating:

Anonymous said...

Go back and check it out
They put a disclaimer on it saying it was originally posted last night
Covering their exposed asses

Anonymous said...
The others posted at 10:02 PM and 10:59 PM and TMZ is NOW claiming in their updated post that:
"*This post originally went up last night at 11:45 PM ET"
If you "Originally" posted at 11:45 PM and he died about an "Hour ago" that would make it 10:45 PM
Then how do the others post BEFORE you, even by your own admission, how can you claim "EXCLUSIVE" ???
Get your act together TMZ otherwise people might not take you seriously
LOL

Beware the TMZ timeline!

As we demonstrated when we exposed its premature exclamation of the death of Michael Jackson, the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com plays fast and loose with facts because of its ability to manipulate the time and date stamps of its posts, quickeroo switcheroos of headlines and the fudging of factoids when it's caught out.

Still, the mouldy catch basin of celebrity and basketball flotsam insists on creating its own reality, as in the reportage of the tragic passing of Phil Harris, star of Discovery's Deadly Catch series. Most major news outlets reported the sad news last night before 11 p.m. (as demonstrated below by the Los Angeles Times and Reality Blurred sites:



TMZ however, waking up to the "scoop" this morning, once again created its own reality at 9:09 am, stating that "sources" said Captain Harris died "about an hour ago."

And mainstream news organizations use these morons as a source? Just becuase they pay for court papers?

We'll await the correction...

Charge against Michael Jackson's doctor leads MSNBC to invoke cases of "Heath & Anna Nicole & Danny Gans"

The death of Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans by overdose of a powerful opiate called hydromorphone at the prime of his life and career raised few, if any red flags among the members of the Las Vegas news media. The mysterious and untimely passing of the injury-riddled Born Again Christian athlete, corporate entertainment favorite and longtime Steve Wynn showpiece in the middle of the night, and all the strange occurrences before and after his tragic last breath rated little more than cursory coverage and police report transcribing, and the acceptance of one of Danny Gans' doctor's claims that the star may have died from the ingestion of a single hydromorphone (also known as Dilaudid or "drugstore heroin") pill left over from an unused five-year-old prescription.

The willful and shameful avoidance of the Gans story and all its many avenues, including Gans' ownership of a pharmacy supply house, was made more obvious when compared to the national media's vigilant and responsible coverage of the death of entertainer Michael Jackson.


Now, the manslaughter charge lodged yesterday against Conrad Murray, the doctor who allegedly administered the fatal dose of drugs that Jackson ordered up, has again brought the Gans case into the national spotlight.

An item on the MSNBC.com website titled Murray's case up stakes in world of celeb drugs notes that

"...the state of California, weary of growing number of celebrity prescription drug deaths, is seeking some control over a festering doctor-patient dynamic that has taken bold-faced names from Heath Ledger to Anna Nicole Smith to Danny Gans."

While those among the Las Vegas news media would claim that Gans is an unimportant figure, known to few outside the market, others know better. In this case, the musical impressionist is mentioned in the same sentence as two legends, in a story about a fellow legend. Of the four cases, his is the only one that was closed along with all its mysteries left hanging. Yet, according to the MSNBC report, Gans' death, coming weeks before Jackson's, may have been a factor in the decision to prosecute in the Murray case-- "to put a dent into Hollywood's pill pipeline."

Danny Gans' tragedy may, in the end, help future celebrities. But most important: Will there ever be justice for Danny Gans?

Surely, some of the curiosity will spread. After all, they cared about Farrah's hair...

Rumor Rat's sweat lodge death guru jailed

Oprah-endorsed New Age guru James A. Ray, who led a sweat lodge ceremony in Arizona last year in which three people died, is being held tonight on $5 million bond on three charges of manslaughter.

Kudos are in order for our pal The Big Cheese and the other busy newsvermin at Hollywood's Rumor Rat, who were on the story from the start and led the way in coverage of the scandal even before it was recognized as such and, while the morons at the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com chase around interchangeable basketball players nabbed on drunk driving or gun raps or keep posting bum information on Michael Jackson's doctor until they get it right, showed how an entertainment site can expand its scope and cover serious news to great effect.

So what about the Masturbating Bear?

So NBC is finally wrapping up the Conan O'Brien debacle and, after a break for the Olympics, will head into another three months of critical headlines about the mediocrity of Jay Leno when he gets the timeslot back. Conan and his people played it well-- a lot better than he played as host of The Tonight Show, which we all stopped watching after the first week (he never should have brought back Andy Richter-- it was a retreat to the infantile comedy he did in the early days of The Late Show, not even Letterman does the hip "irony" thing anymore, and Conan didn't click as a full-fledged talent until after he dumped the playacting sidekick and went solo). The only question that matters is whether NBC gets to keep the "intellectual property rights" to his sketches which would mean it's the last anyone will ever see of The Masturbating Bear.

One thing the saga did demonstrate was how the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com is consistently wrong in its reporting and how dangerous it is for lazy paid mainstream journos to use it as a source. From its ever-shifting details of the contents and timing of the settlement, the site and its shaved bronzed midget frontman made it clear that, as when they rolled the dice in reporting the death of Michael Jackson prematurely, they make shit up, and as long as they have supporters like Brian Stelter at the New York Times to give them attribution and feature stories whenever they happen to be correct, they're golden.

Orianthi: Pick hit for 2010

We heard this song on KISS-FM on the radio last night and figure it will be a big hit in 2010. It's "According To You" by Orianthi Panagaris, the blonde girl who was supposed to be the guitarist for Michael Jackson's comeback concerts, the one who was featured in that shaky "last rehearsal" clip they issued right after he died.

Good hook, garbagey Steve Vai guitar, Hoku-Lavigney sounding, it jumped out of the dashboard and somebody's got to clean up in Jacko 's wake. In its fourth week on the Billboard Hot 100, it's moved up to #36. We'll see.

Tabloid Baby's 2009 Journalist of The Year

Steve Friess

We had our first encounter with Steve Friess a week after the death of Danny Gans. He'd written a column in the Las Vegas Weekly explaining why the sudden, mysterious passing of the Strip superstar was not a story worth covering. We emailed him to ask why he and his fellow Vegas journos were not doing the basic legwork on what, to all appearances, was a major cultural, economic and news story.

Within minutes, he emailed back:

""Uh, because until the toxicology reports come back it would be irresponsible and inappropriate for legitimate reporters to write baseless speculation? Because a man is dead and a family is in mourning and the state of the nation is not dependent upon exacerbating their grief? Because Pulitzer Prize winning newspapers have better uses of their resources than to 'investigate' something that public documents will reveal soon enough anyway?

"I looked over what you've been 'reporting.' It's all beneath contempt. Ginning up Robin Leach's 'rumors' when the rumors he's referring to have nothing to do with Gans' death, implying an inappropriate relationship with Alicia Jacobs, attacking the local press for having a modicum of dignity and restraint on a story that will come out anyway ... I need to go take a shower now. Blech.""

Then he whipped off a blog post that referred to our editor as an "asshole" and "vermin."

And so began our relationship with the Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, hearing-impaired music reviewer, Gay Vegas author, comp queen and concert producer that culminates in our naming Steve Friess Tabloid Baby's 2009 Journalist of The Year.

In the weeks and months to follow our first correspondence, Steve Friess made an attempt to close down our site because we ran his photo (forcing to use fascimiles), began a disinformation campaign to lead us and other journos off the track, and was revealed to have close ties to many figures in the Gans story, including Gans' boss Steve Wynn and Alicia Jacobs, the beauty queen-turned-local entertainment reporter who was Gans' close friend and the first person informed by Gans' manager of his death.

Then there was the Michael Jackson story. After writing that "Michael Jackson’s untimely death was the best thing that could ever have happened to Michael Jackson’s music," and while covering the Vegas angle of the criminal investigation into Jacko's death for The New York Times, Friess inexplicably announced that he was producing and promoting a Jacko birthday "tribute" concert at the Palms Hotel, where he and his local NBC producer husband had honeymooned.

“In Las Vegas, when left to our own devices,
we do things a little differently.”
--Steve Friess, Las Vegas Weekly

In both the Gans and Jackson cases, Friess attempted to cover his tracks with unintentionally hilarious apologias in the Las Vegas Weekly.

So why does it matter?

Steve Friess, with his tendency to hurl insults, hold grudges and get himself into local gossip columns, is not merely a Vegas combination of Perez Hilton and Louella Parsons.

He is perhaps the most powerful journalist in Las Vegas.

As a freelance correspondent for major news organizations including The New York Times and USA Today, he is the filter through which distant editors can determine whether a story in Las Vegas is worth covering. In the case of Danny Gans, Friess made it clear that the story was not worth covering. And if his relationship with Danny Gans' boss Steve Wynn, or his even closer relationship with staffers on the local NBC affiliate (including his second "husband" and their BFF Alicia Jacobs) created a conflict of interest, so be it.

Steve Friess has no qualms about swinging his conflicts of interest in public, whether it's his political activism, favoritism, foul insults or kneejerk shouts of homophobia against anyone who questions his intentions or positions.

When local Greenspun Media laid off many reporters, editors and columnist earlier this month, Steve Friess, who attends fancy openings of hotels, gets himself and his family members free admission into any show on the Strip whenever he wants, squirrels away opening night mementos and souvenirs that one day will be worth thousands on eBay, kept his job. But then again, Steve Friess, who poses as a brave, independent journalist, is the ultimate courtier to the powerful whose blogsite always displays a link to his interviews with Steve Wynn.

Read our coverage of Steve Friess here.

Story of The Year:The Death of Danny Gans
Mystery of The Year:What ever happened to Down Charleston Blvd?
Top Trend: Dying

The Review-Journal's #6 local story of 2009

"Throughout the paper today you'll find our annual Top 10 lists --
top news, top sports, top business and entertainment.
It is that time of year. Time to reflect on the past
and contemplate its lessons for the coming New Year."

--Thomas Mitchell, Las Vegas Review-Journal editor

Around a week before the end of every year, newspapers fill space left vacant by vacationing reporters with the year's Top 10 lists, ranging from notable deaths to top stories-- lists almost always written even farther in advance of the end of the year, and always missing some major passing or event that takes place in the weeks after the space-filler was written.

The Las Vegas-Review Journal is no exception. This morning's Sunday edition would have gone directly into the fireplace, if not for a bizarre anomaly among its list of the Top 10 Local Stories of 2009: The #6 story is one they barely covered and never investigated!

Yes,

6. DANNY GANS DIES

"Impressionist Danny Gans had been a fixture on Las Vegas marquees for more than a decade when his wife found him unconscious and not breathing in their bed in the early morning hours of May 1.

"Despite the efforts of his wife and paramedics to revive him, the 52-year-old never regained consciousness.

"Entertainers and fans mourned Gans, who had just begun a run at Encore after eight years at The Mirage, while medical examiners tried to determine what killed the star.

"Five weeks later, the coroner's office blamed the accidental death on a combination of heart and blood diseases along with a powerful prescription painkiller used to treat chronic pain, hydromorphone. Gans had battled a painful chronic shoulder injury that required surgery five months earlier."

Odd that editor and McCloud impersonator Thomas Mitchell, (who doffed his Stetson in respect to the holidays and womenfolk for this edition) would choose for the Top 10 a story that his rootin' tootin' team avoided covering or investigating in such a deliberate and embarrassing manner. The paper's obvious complicity in a coverup was even made public when the Review-Journal's publisher, Stephens Media, made a deal with Gans' family within a week of the local superstar's death to publish his autobiography!


Odd as well that "The King of Pop"-- the death of Michael Jackson --would rank two slots above Gans' death on the list. Not only was Jacko's passing an international story, but the initial coverage in the hours and days after he died showed how good, hardworking journos can investigate and answer questions about a celebrity's (and in Gans' case, business and religious leader) unexplained death without having to wait for a coroner to sort out the official story-- in direct contrast to the lax coverage of Gans' death led by Mitchell and his crew.

In the Las Vegas media, the Danny Gans story was the great unexplored story of 2009, and for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, whose publisher Stephens Media made a deal with Gans' family days after the tragedy to publish his autobiography, the great conflict of interest and missed opportunity.


From the morning Gans' death was announced by his manager Chip Lightman and boss Steve Wynn, the Review-Journal (and other local media outlets) remained at a distance from the story, as if the unexplained death of a seemingly healthy, athletic, prominent Born Again Christian family man who was a decade-long major economic force and most unique Vegas showman was somehow a private matter that did not even warrant a chat with the responding paramedics.

Just click here and peruse the past seven months of Tabloid Baby coverage to get an idea of the Review-Journal and cowboy editor Thomas Mitchell's crimes of omission.

So why would it make the Top 10?

And then we get to that problem of compiling Top 10 lists while there are still weeks left in the year, because the Review-Journal's neat encapsulation of the story misses the latest, explosive chapter: Lightman's recent interview, in the "competing" Las Vegas Sun, in which he contradicts the official timeline of what occurred on the morning of May 1st and opens the door to the possibility of a new inquest and investigation.

It was a timeline that the Review-Journal took at face value. It will be interesting to see whether the journalists at the paper will follow this latest lead, or if the Review-Journal is even in business to compile next yar's Top 10 list.

Read the FBI's files on Michael Jackson

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released 333 pages of files on Michael Jackson (holding back 219 pages "to prevent duplication of material already released or to protect personal privacy"). Contained within are the familiar child molestation accusations, extortion threats, his drivers license and other Jackoana.

Read the FBI files here.