Criminal Minds

I received an email today informing me that Watching Criminal Minds has been ranked #35 (out of about 1200, so I’m happy!) among entertainment blogs in the category of Movies (I’m not sure why it’s movies) at Show Hype, which is a relatively new entertainment site. You can search for your favorite shows and movies and other entertainment news. You can also vote on stories you like. It’s a very cool site. Here’s a quote from louisgray.com: Silicon Valley Blog:

The latest “Hype” in the family aims to take the mantra of “The best stories, the biggest fans” and apply it to a world where people are more familiar with movie scripts than JavaScript, and the box office is more closely watched than the NASDAQ. ShowHype users can log in to view the most popular entertainment news, videos and blogs of the day, submit new articles or even create unique ShowHype stories for what’s sure to become a focused audience trading in the latest Hollywood dirt.

Check out ShowHype and find out even more about your favorite stars and shows.

Other good places to check out info is TV Bender, Watching Bones, or another one of 451’s great tv sites.

The National Post of Canada has an article today about the WGA strike. Both sides have indicated that they will resume talks next Monday. The strike started on November 5, and viewers haven’t felt the impact for the most part. The strike has, however, affected the thousands of people who are employed in the entertainment industry. This ranges from costume designers to hair stylists to maintainance people. It overflows into the community as well. Coffee shops, restaurants, and stores lose business when these employees cut spending. The entertainment industry pumps a lot of money into the local economy, and that lack of money is hard felt by the citizens.
In the face of this economic hardship, it behooves both sides to end the strike quickly from a PR standpoint.
The writers have been supported by actors and even politicians. Barack Obama has publically sided with the writers, and CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been calling for a quick end to the strike so the effects his state aren’t as profound.
Economic effects are also being felt in Canada. About twenty US shows, including Criminal Minds and Bionic Woman, are made in Vancouver, Canada, where production has shut down.
The full article is at The National Post.
The Vancouver Sun also has a good article about the effects of the WGA strike on Canada.

(Writers of America’s Next Top Model held their own strike in July of 2006. They weren’t represented by WGA-West and in November the writers on strike were taken off payroll.)

The writers strike has been getting a huge amount of attention, and rightly so. The issues they are fighting for are groundbreaking - a bigger cut of digital and internet revenues. The actors are also affected by the strike. A lot of shows have already shut down production - the AP reports that at least seven sitcoms, including The Office, and popular shows like Desperate Housewives have stopped production.

The writers strike not only affects the writers and the actors. There are hundreds of support personnel whose livliehoods are at stake. Gary Gentile of the AP writes:

They’re not on screen or on strike, but somewhere way behind the scenes in Hollywood, legions of workers are off the job as writers strike against studios.
A growing number of caterers, hairdressers, set builders, crew members and people who rent everything from trucks to portable dressing rooms have been idled in this industry town, as filming shuts down and studios yank funding from production companies.
With no deal is sight, the toll will only mount.

There are people being harmed by the strike that we would never think of. The entertainment industry contributes $80 million a day to LA’s economy. Without the money pouring in, spending on restaurants and shopping will decrease. The cost of the strike in 1988 was $500 million, and I assume that it would be much more now.

Gentile writes:

A study commissioned in 2001 by then-Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan concluded that a possible walkout of several months by writers would put 130,000 people out of work. Nearly one-third of those jobs would never return, the study concluded.

That is an enormous amount of people thrown out of work, and some of them have doubts about the strike. While they want to support the writers, many of them wonder if they’ll get the deal they want. More importantly, will production resume in time for these support people to go back to work?

There is a lot of support for the writers - deservedly. They create the shows, and give our favorite characters life. Some other sites have suggested sending donations to buy the writers pizza as they strike. This is a nice idea, but I have to wonder about the hairdressers, costume designers, cooks, and everyone else who contribute to the shows we watch. What about them? They are out of the spotlight and out of work. When the actors and writers go back to work, what will happen to them?
To see what’s happening with your favorite shows, check out 451 Press.

Julia Louis Dreyfus supports the writers.

WGA members and networks couldn’t reach an agreement, so the writers have gone on strike. WGA - East is set to strike Monday in front of NBC headquarters. LA writers will stand on the picket line from 9-5 protesting until a deal is reached. Negotiations with a federal mediator failed to resolve the big issue - a bigger cut of digital revenue. After 11 hours of talks, writers were informed that there was to be a strike.
Check out the full story on yahoo.

Writers are ready to strike. They decided Thursday night that they would strike if they didn’t negotiate a contract agreement with the networks. They put it off, leaving the networks and tv lovers in suspense. Will they strike tomorrow?
There were last-ditch effort talks on today to see if an agreement could be reached. Writers want a bigger cut of the revenue that is brought in from dvd and also from shows and movies streamed over the net or cell phones. Their contract expired November 1, and it was four years old. It gave the writers 1.2% of revenue for shows streamed online for one-time viewing. The don’t get anything for shows or movies downloaded from sites like iTunes.
AFP reported on the possible strike and gave an example of this:

…if an entire blockbuster film supported by ads is shown free of charge on the Internet, writers get no money because studios label the display “promotional.”

A writers stike could cost the entertainment industry as much as a billion dollars. First affected woud be late-night talk shows, like David Letterman, who depend on writers for content. TV shows would be affected if the strike lasted longer. This means a lot of game shows, news shows, and reality shows, which aren’t covered by the Writers Guild.
A federal mediator was called in to help with negotiations. If they don’t reach one, WGA leaders and network officials expect a long strike.

Yesterday I wrote about Wednesday night ratings. Today, Contact Music.com is saying that Criminal Minds was the top rated show of Wednesday night, beating out Private Practice. Hmmmm….guess it depends on the ratings area? In Australia, Private Practice won out over CM by 9%.
Media Week.com also reports CM as having won the night. So congratulations, Criminal Minds. It’s a solid show, consistently in the top twenty for the week.

On the potential writers strike: The New York Times reported this morning that union leaders will inform members whether or not they are striking by Friday afternoon. As an entertainment lawyer said yesterday, the Writers Guild has two weapons. A strike and the threat of a strike, so this could very well continue to be unsettled for days. We’ll see by this afternoon what they decide to do.

Today, the AP is reporting that a writers guild strike could happen as soon as Friday - tonight, members will meet to discuss whether to keep working without a contract or walk out.
The writers and networks haven’t reached an agreement on payment for dvd sales, digital revenue, and shows shown online. Writers get paid pennies on the sale of dvds. They want a cut of the advertising revenue when shows and movies are streamed over the internet for free (right now, they’re getting nothing).
The networks counter by saying that dvd sales offset the increased costs of production, and they don’t want to committ to paying more money in an uncertain economic climate.

John Handel is an entertainment lawyer who once served as counsel to the WGA. He says that delaying a strike benefits the writers.

The writers guild has two weapons: one is a strike, the other is the threat of a strike. It has no reason to toss that weapon away without using it for a bit.

If writers do strike, primetime shows and movies would not be affected immediately. The first ones to feel the strike’s effects would be late-night talk shows, which depend on writers for monologues and skits. They depend on current events and there will be no one to write them up. After the shows ran out of scripts, they’d have to run reality shows, reruns, and game shows to fill up the gaps.

So writers are meeting tonight and may decide to strike tomorrow. Or they could postpone the decision for a few days. It doesn’t seem like they’re going to get what they want from the networks - which is money from digital/dvd sales. Let’s see what happens.

Check out 451Press for more on your favorite shows - which hopefully will continue showing new episodes!

The Writers Guild of America has voted to strike as nearly as Thursday, November 1, if an agreement with networks is not reached - which seems unlikely at this late date. CNN reports that networks have enough scripts in stock to last through New Year, and possibly into February. After that, it’s reality shows, game shows, or reruns. The writers strike could also affect next season’s shows.
The AP reports that “[p]ilots for next fall are being written now and the development process, which includes rewrites and casting, extends through the spring.” If the writers aren’t working, the process is stalled.
The impending strike would affect networks, and advertisers as well. If not as many people are watching tv, because they’re sick of reruns and reality, much less money is being generated. The writers and their families, though, are the ones who have to deal with the uncertainty of their futures: their jobs are in jeopardy, and they’re not getting paid their usual salaries.

For more info on the Writers Guild strike, click on the CNN link above, or visit an earlier post I did that is in a little more detail.

It’s a harsh world we live in when television shows are awarded because of their portrayal of torture. Human Rights First chose to create their Excellence in Television award because of the prevalance of torture on tv. According to their statistics, incidents of torture on tv have increased greatly since 2000.

I became aware of this because of its connection to Criminal Minds. Of course, the episode that was recognized was “Lessons Learned,” in which Gideon interviews a Guantanamo Bay detainee. Also nominated were The Closer, The Shield, Lost, and Boston Legal. On HRF’s website, you can view clips of each of these shows, as well as a 14 minute feature on torture in television. (This is very interesting.)
What I found equally as interesting was all the criticism surrounding 24 and torture. I should say that I have never seen 24 - in which a season follows the course of events of one single day- so this was surprising to me. Everytime I would read about torture and television, 24 inevitably showed up.

Joel Surnow is the executive producer of 24. In his office is an American flag that once flew in Iraq. It was presented to Surnow by soldiers who had shared a collection of 24 DVDs.
In a recent New Yorker article, Surnow says:

The military loves our show. People in the Administration love the series, too. It’s a patriotic show. They should love it….Isn’t it obvious that if there was a nuke in New York City that was about to blow—or any other city in this country—that, even if you were going to go to jail, it would be the right thing to do?

24 creates a sense of urgency - each hour of the show represents an hour in the lives of the characters. Without a digital countdown clock, split screens, and immenent disaster, tension builds until it seems logical, patriotic, and even necessary to torture information out of people.
Surnow acknowledges that the show is formed from people’s anxieties, their fear of being attacked. “America wants the war on terror fought by Jack Bauer. He’s a patriot.” Of course he always saves the day. Why wouldn’t we want someone like him working on our side?
This attitude reaches all the way up - as Surnow says, the Bush Administration loves the show.
From the New Yorker: “Not long after September 11th, Vice-President Dick Cheney alluded vaguely to the fact that America must begin working through the ‘dark side’ in countering terrorism.”
This dark side is sanctioned by the Bush administration. Through secret memos and decisions, harsh interrogation tactics have been authorized. They found that “combined effects” were allowed. This means that the interrogators could use physical measures along with psychological ones to extract information. Among the physical tactics are head slapping, simulated drowning, and frigid temperatures. “Enemy combatants” are sometimes short-chained to the floor or in a fetal position with out food or water. Sleep deprivation and extremely long interrogations are also allowed. The New York Times has an extensive article on this.
But still, if a little sleep deprivation and a day without food or water is necessary to prevent an attack, why not? Professional interrogators agree that it does not work. It is not an effective means of getting information. And, oh yeah, it is inhumane. But concentrating on the effacacy: even the co-creater of 24, Bob Cochran, acknowledges that the situations in the show are not true to life.

Most terrorism experts will tell you that the ‘ticking time bomb’ situation never occurs in real life, or very rarely. But on our show it happens every week

Col. Herrington, a veteren interrogator, said on NPR that in his entire career he’d never come across a “ticking time bomb” type of situation. They simply do not happen, he says.

By using talking and nonviolent techniques, and by treating the detainee as a person, information is more forthcoming. This may sound naive but it’s said again and again by military interrogators who have done this for decades.
It is true that it is entertainment - it’s a television show. But the harm comes when young soldiers or recruits watch 24 and shows like it and think that’s the way the world works. And they do watch it, as Surnow proudly states. In Rachel Thomas’s TV Dramas blog, she writes:

Some U.S. soldiers have even gone so far as violating the Geneva Convention, citing the entertainment industry as the catalyst.

U.S. Army Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, the dean of the United States Military Academy at West Point, flew to California in November to meet with the producers of 24. He believes that the show adversely affects American soldiers.

The kids see it, and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about “24”?’ ” The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do.

Another interesting point that I read was that extremists will not talk. If they are willing to die for their cause, they will not break down during torture.
Jane Mayer, in her New Yorker article writes:

Cochran (24’s co-creator) demanded to know what the interrogators would do if they faced the imminent threat of a nuclear blast in New York City, and had custody of a suspect who knew how to stop it. One interrogator said that he would apply physical coercion only if he received a personal directive from the President. But Navarro (an FBI expert on questioning techniques), who estimates that he has conducted some twelve thousand interrogations, replied that torture was not an effective response. “These are very determined people, and they won’t turn just because you pull a fingernail out,” he told me. And Finnegan argued that torturing fanatical Islamist terrorists is particularly pointless. “They almost welcome torture,” he said. “They expect it. They want to be martyred.” A ticking time bomb, he pointed out, would make a suspect only more unwilling to talk. “They know if they can simply hold out several hours, all the more glory - the ticking time bomb will go off!”

This is why, in “Lessons Learned,” Gideon has to lie to the detainee. He knows that he will not give up any information otherwise. Not through talking, and definatley not through torture.

There is a lot of information out there on this topic - it’s so important. How the US treats detainees influences the rest of the world’s opinion of us. It seems like the current administration thinks that life is a tv show and that they have to get the bad guys before they get us - and so they can use whatever method they want, including severe physical and emotional pain to get answers to their questions. It’s a scary world that we live in and we live in fear of a terrorist attack. We should also fear losing our humanity.

I read an essay in college on why torture should be allowed in certain situations. Say the suspect has a victim who will die unless the police get information from him. Or if a bomb will go off and kill many innocent people. If it can prevent a larger loss, why not? The essay was persuasive, and I found myself thinking, “Yeah, why not, if it will save people?”
Why not? Because it doesn’t work. This year Human Rights First created an award for awareness of human rights and torture on television. This award is intended to combat the image of torture we get from tv. Mentioned specifically is 24. In shows like this, torture is almost glamorized. The good guys need information and a few minutes of torture gets this for them so they can save the day. In reality, this intense, agonizing pain lasts and lasts.

Nominated are:
Criminal Minds episode “Lessons Learned.” In this episode, Agents Gideon, Prentiss, and Reid travel to Guantanamo Bay to interrogate a detainee who has information on an imminent terrorist attack. The CIA had been unable to get the detainee to even speak to them, even though they used violent measures. Gideon talks to the man, and by using his intellect, is able to get the man to talk to him.
Human Rights First nominated “Lessons Learned” because it depicts sophisticated techniques garner more information than torture.
The Closer is also nominated for this reason.

On the flip side, The Shield is nominated for depicting torture in a realistic way. Vic Mackey, the show’s main character, is a cop who on occasion bends the rules (by “bends,” I mean he kills people and works with drug dealers and stuff). Anyway, he is torturing a man whom he believes has information on who killed his partner. He beats him with a chain. I haven’t seen this episode, but The Shield can be very disturbing, so I’m sure it’s hard to watch.

The winner of this award will be named on October 15, so I’ll update you on who wins. Among the judges are two former interrogators: Joe Navarro (formerly with the FBI) and Tony Lagouranis (formerly with the Army). So when they say that the nonviolent techniques are more effective, they have the experience and knowledge to know what they’re talking about.

The Human Rights First website is very informative - and they have a section called “Take Action,” where you can read about Human Rights issues and actually do something about them.

National Public Radio also had a story on this subject, with the producer of The Shield episode which was nominated, Adam Fierro, as well as intelligence expert Col. Stuart Herrington. If you go to the NPR website, you can hear the story (just click on National Public Radio above). One interesting thing on this program was when they talked about shows like 24. In them, there is always an emergency and they need the info right away, so they have to resort to torture. Col. Herrington said that he had never been in a situation like that during his entire career. It just didn’t happen like that, he said, but young recruits watching the shows get the idea that is exactly how it happens. That’s another reason Human Rights First created this award - in reality, talking and nonviolent strategies will get more information than torture.

(I had no intention of insulting 24 - check out Watching 24 for more info on the show)

Shemar Moore had some thoughts for TMZ the other night. Shemar is leaving what I assume is a club while the TMZ cameraman follows him. When he finds out it’s TMZ, Shemar gets angry and makes some weird statements about them trying to ruin him. Very weird, but kind of funny. The only way I can see that TMZ tried to “ruin” him was by posting stories of his arrest for DUI.
And this picture taken just days after he was arrested:

For more info on your favorite alcohol-challenged celebrities, check out these sites:
Britney Spears Watch, Lindsay Lohan Watch , Nicole Richie Watch and Paris Hilton Watch.

Hal Boedeker - the TV Guy- reports that CBS was #1 in ratings Wednesday night. Power of Ten, hosted by Drew Carey pulled in the most viewers for the eight o’clock hour at about 8.7 million people. Rerun Criminal Minds episode “Lessons Learned” was also the top ranked show for 9:00, averaging 8.3 million viewers. Pretty impressive when a rerun generates that many viewers.
“Lessons Learned” first aired on November 22, 2006, and has agents Gideon, Prentiss, and Reid traveling to Guantanomo Bay, Cuba, to try to stop a chemical terrorist attack on the U.S. In this episode, Prentiss shows why she’s in the unit. Her knowledge of the Arabic language and culture is key in trying to prevent the anthrax attack that jihadists have planned. (For an episode recap go to TV.com) This episode was written by real BAU agent Jim Clemente.
Here’s a clip of Clemente talking about his job as a profiler. He specializes in cases involving children, particularly internet crime.

No, Harvey Keitel won’t be replacing Mandy Patinkin on Criminal Minds. Ed Bernero, CM’s executive producer, announced Friday that the job had gone to Joe Mantegna. Apparently, Keitel was almost a lock when negotiations fell through because he demanded to have creative control and perks that the producers weren’t willing to give him.
So, Joe Mantegna. I was kind of hoping for Harvey Keitel. I can’t get past Joe Mantegna playing a cheesy mafia don-wanna be in The Last Don. This is kind of disappointing. I’m definately going to watch the new season of Criminal Minds, but I have to admit that it’s going to be hard for me to change my mind about Joe Mantegna. He just doesn’t seem like he’ll blend into the show.

Just a little update: Shemar Moore, who plays Agent Derek Morgan, on CBS’s Criminal Minds was sentenced to 36 months of probation and community service after he pleaded no contest to charges that he was intoxicated while driving and going over 65 miles per hour on a city street.
Shemar has made the news quite a bit recently with his arrest, as well as the revealing pictures of him taken at a nude beach in Hawaii (yes, those photos are available somewhere online).
Well, at least he gave me something else to write about other than Mandy Patinkin - no, no news there yet.

I was hoping to find some news about what the actors are up to in their off time from the show, but this wasn’t the kind of news I was hoping for. According to TMZ, Shemar Moore was arrested on Friday due to a suspicion of DUI. It occurred in L.A.

The details of the arrest report stated that officers pulled him over for speeding, and then arrested him after he “displayed signs of alcohol impairment”. He was taken in and booked after taking a breathalyser test.

He was eventually released on $5000 bail. His reps have not made any public statements yet.

I hope everything goes well!

(Arrest report here in PDF format. Photo source TMZ.)