News

Everyone seems to love Clean Slate, the sitcom with “a trans story right when it’s needed the most.” But comedian George Wallace had a very different idea in mind when he first pitched the show to legendary producer Norman Lear — he wanted to update classic ‘70s sitcom Sanford and Son.

“Sanford and Son makes everybody feel good,” Wallace told The Hollywood Reporter. “Just hearing the music, already that smile comes on your face. So I said, ‘Let me go to Norman Lear.’ I had known him for 30 years, and I said, ‘I want to reboot Sanford and Son.’ He says, ‘Are you kidding? You can’t do that show. Get a twist and come back.’”

Lear knew a little something about Sanford and Son — he developed the show as NBC’s answer to All in the Family. While the sitcom doesn’t show up much in syndication these days,...

John Amos has passed away. Born in 1939, Amos began his career in the early 70s, acting in various TV episodes. His first role was in The Bill Cosby Show in 1970, where he played a salesman in one episode of the series. He went on to have a number of roles throughout the 1970s, including in films such as Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and The World's Greatest Athlete, and TV series such as Sanford and Son and Maude.

As per TheWrap, Amos has unfortunately passed away. He was 84.

More to come...

Source: TheWrap...

1980s sitcoms like She's the Sheriff, The New Adventures of Beans Baxter, and Eight Is Enough are now underrated and forgotten. Shows like Sanford, AfterMASH, and Mary tried to capture the success of their predecessors but failed to find lasting popularity. Too Close for Comfort transitioned to a more focused narrative, while Out of This World struggled to find its place in television history.

The 1980s were a groundbreaking era for sitcoms, with numerous shows making their mark on television. However, not all of these series have stood the test of time. Many 1980s sitcoms, despite their initial popularity and unique concepts, have faded into obscurity. These shows, which ranged from family-centric comedies to quirky fantasy series, often struggled with shifting audience tastes and changing TV landscapes.

Shows like Eight Is Enough, She's the Sheriff, and The New Adventures of Beans Baxter are good examples of '80s sitcoms that are incredibly underrated.

Love it or hate it, "Sanford and Son" is one of the most groundbreaking American sitcoms of all time. The NBC series about a widowed get-rich-quick schemer (Redd Foxx) living in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood with his adult son (Demond Wilson) was an undeniable hit during its run. It ushered in a Golden Age of Black family sitcoms thanks to dynamic performances, frank dialogue written from a working-class Black perspective, and its often uproarious scripts. It was such a ratings juggernaut that it's often credited for killing off its much more sanitized competition, "The Brady Bunch."

"It was a groundbreaking series," Eric Deggans wrote in a series retrospective for the official Emmys website, noting that "Before 'Good Times' and 'The Jeffersons' would make TV history with powerful stories focused on Black families, 'Sanford and Son' would explore the prickly relationship between a middle-aged Black man and his son.

Patt Shea, the Norman Lear regular who co-wrote the 1979 series finale of All in the Family and co-created and worked on two spinoffs of the fabled sitcom, Archie Bunker’s Place and Gloria, has died. She was 93.

Shea died April 12 of natural causes on her birthday at her home in Sherman Oaks, her son Michael Shea, a director and assistant director, told The Hollywood Reporter. The family chose to wait until this week to publicly announce her death.

“Patt Shea was a trailblazer in comedy writing,” Michael noted. “Her success as a writer in groundbreaking sitcoms was only matched by her generosity and compassion for people.”

Jack Shea, her husband of 59 years, died in 2013. He directed dozens of episodes of such Lear-connected sitcoms as The Jeffersons, Silver Spoons and Sanford and Son and served as president of the DGA from 1997-2002, part of a half-century of dedicated service to the guild.

Theme songs from the 1970s were catchy and memorable, with iconic musicians adding to their popularity. Shows like Sanford and Son and The Jeffersons used music to convey their themes and messages effectively. The Muppet Show and Mission: Impossible had enduring theme songs that have continued to be loved by audiences.

The 1970s was a great time for TV theme songs and across action, crime, comedy, and family sitcoms, had some of the best music ever heard on television. With a focus on funk, rock, and pop, the best theme tunes of the decade became so entrenched in popular culture that many people today would still recognize them, even without ever having watched the original series. In an age before streaming and the widespread availability of television on demand, a memorable theme tune with a catchy hook was essential to remaining in viewers' memory in between episodes.

From funk instrumentals...

Norman Lear, the writer, producer and citizen activist who coalesced topical conflict and outrageous comedy in such wildly popular sitcoms as All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and The Jeffersons, has died. He was 101.

Lear died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by his family who, according to a statement on his official Instagram account, sang songs until the very end.

“Norman lived a life in awe of the world around him. He marveled at his cup of coffee every morning, the shape of the tree outside his window, and the sounds of beautiful music,” read the post. “But it was people — those he just met and those he knew for decades — who kept his mind and heart forever young. As we celebrate his legacy and reflect on the next chapter of life without him, we would like to thank everyone for all the love and support.

Writer-producer-developer Norman Lear, who revolutionized American comedy with such daring, immensely popular early-‘70s sitcoms as “All in the Family” and “Sanford and Son,” died on Tuesday. He was 101.

Lear’s publicist confirmed to Variety that he died at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes. A private service for immediate family will be held in the coming days.

“Thank you for the moving outpouring of love and support in honor of our wonderful husband, father, and grandfather,” Lear’s family said in a statement. “Norman lived a life of creativity, tenacity, and empathy. He deeply loved our country and spent a lifetime helping to preserve its founding ideals of justice and equality for all. Knowing and loving him has been the greatest of gifts. We ask for your understanding as we mourn privately in celebration of this remarkable human being.”

Lear had already established himself as a top...

Carol Speed, who lit up the screen in the cult blaxploitation film The Mack, died on Jan. 14 in Muskogee, Okla. She was 76 and her family announced her death in a statement published online, but did not specify the cause.

Speed came to filmgoer attention in the 1970s in a series of blaxploitation movies, but broke through in 1973’s The Mack, in which she played the girlfriend and head prostitute of star Max Julien, who died earlier this month. That led Speed to television roles on TV shows, including Julia and Sanford and Son.

Her other big role was in the horror film Abby in 1974, playing the title character, who is possessed by an ancient Nigerian devil known as Eshu. The film was a hit among moviegoers after its Christmas Day release. But Warner Bros. sued, claiming it stole the plot of its film The Exorcist. The litigation led to Abby being pulled from theaters,...

The holiday season is almost here and Amazon Prime is getting in the mood with its list of December 2021 releases. Sure there are the usual Christmas movies to be found but the real gift this month are two big original titles.

The sixth and final season of beloved sci-fi series The Expanse premieres on Dec. 10. Amazon is doing its usual release strategy of three episodes on the premiere day followed by a weekly schedule so there’s still some time to be spent with the crew of the Rocinante. The other big ticket item is the Desi and Lucy biopic Being the Ricardos on Dec. 21. Sure, Aaron Sorkin seems to be completely disinterested in I Love Lucy and Nicole Kidman bears no passing resemblance to the iconic comedienne whatsoever but uh…it’s a movie!

Read more TV The Expanse Season 5 Ending Explained By Michael Ahr Books How Science Fiction...

Marguerite Ray, the actress who played the original Mamie Johnson on CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” has died. She was 89.

Ray, who died Nov. 18 in Los Angeles according to her obituary in the East Bay Times, was best known for her role as the first Mamie Johnson on “The Young and the Restless,” the CBS soap opera’s first Black series-regular character, which she held from 1980-1990.

She also played Evelyn Lewis on “Sanford” and Jane Matthews on “Dynasty,” along with numerous other small-screen credits.

Born in New Orleans in 1931, Ray graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1948 and received a degree in recreation and theater arts from Uc Berkeley in 1953. She served as recreation and entertainment director with the U.S. Special Services in Germany from 1954-59.

In 1969, Ray moved to Los Angeles where she began her TV acting career, also landing theater, commercial, voice-over and modeling roles.

Marguerite Ray, the American actress who had a 10-year stint on The Young And The Restless, has died at the age of 89.

The East Bay Times posted an obituary for Ray disclosing that she died in Los Angeles on November 18.

She was born in New Orleans in 1931, graduating from Berkeley with a degree in Recreation and Theatre Arts before breaking into acting for screen with roles in Bewitched, The Bill Cosby Show, Ironside, and The Odd Couple.

She appeared in Sanford And Son and its sequel Sanford, as well as three episodes of Dynasty, before landing her key role as Mamie Johnson in The Young And The Restless, which she acted in from 1980 to 1990.

She leaves behind her sister, Jacqueline Jackson, and sister-in-law, Cynthia Ray.

Robert Garland, a Hollywood screenwriter who began his career writing episodes of such popular sitcoms as That Girl and Sanford and Son before going on to pen the big-screen hits The Electric Horseman and No Way Out, died Nov. 21 in Baltimore. He was 83.

His son, Michael Garland, said the cause of death was complications from dementia.

Born in Brooklyn, Garland got his first job in television as a talent coordinator for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1969, when the program was based in New York. He quickly rose to writer status and helped prepare Carson’s nightly monologues.

Throughout the early 1970s, Garland wrote scripts for That Girl; The Bill Cosby Show; Love, American Style; The Bob Newhart Show;and Sanford and Son.

In 1979, Garland wrote the screenplay for The Electric Horseman, starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. A year later, he was a writer on Steve Martin’s...

Raymond Allen, an actor who had memorable recurring roles on classic ’70s sitcoms Sanford and Son and Good Times, died Monday of a non-covid respiratory illness at a long-term care facility in California. He was 91.

Allen’s death was announced by his daughter, Ta Ronce Allen, in a Facebook post.

The actor was best known for his Sanford and Son character of Uncle Woodrow “Woody” Anderson, brother-in-law of Redd Foxx’s Fred Sanford and long-suffering husband of Lawanda Page’s Aunt Esther. On another Norman Lear-created series, Good Times, Allen played Ned the Wino, a neighborhood street character and friend of the series’ central Evans family. Both Woody and Ned showcased Allen’s comic depiction of cheerful intoxication.

Nathaniel Taylor Dies: ‘Sanford And Son’ Sidekick Rollo Was 80

Born on March 5, 1929, in Kansas City, Mo, the youngest of 12 children, Allen also appeared in ’70s series What’s Happening!!, Starsky and Hutch,...

Rashida Jones’s sanitised bio-documentary about her father, the musician and producer Quincy Jones, fails to exploit her access to her subject

Has any person made as indelible an imprint on African American culture as Quincy Jones? This new bio-documentary makes a compelling case for the point, though that’s the only compelling aspect of this paint-by-numbers film.

Directors Alan Hicks and Rashida Jones (one of the seven children Jones fathered across five celebrated loves) require two hours merely to account for his eclectic accomplishments. Now 85, Quincy Jones produced career-high records for greats such as Ray Charles and Michael Jackson, and recorded plenty of his own. In Hollywood, he composed the Oscar-nominated scores for In Cold Blood and The Wiz, and on TV, the immortal themes for Roots and Sanford and Son. He shepherded Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of The Color Purple and Will Smith’s launchpad The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air through production.

“Sanford & Son,” the classic ‘70s sitcom starring legendary comedian Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson, will take over TV One with a three-day marathon beginning tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. Et. Celebrating the series’ 45th anniversary, the network is… Continue Reading →...

Casting actors for biopics, where they will, by necessity, play people who actually exist, or at least existed, is a tricky proposition. Steve Jobs recently proved that you don.t necessarily need to cast someone who looks like the person in question, but they at least have to be able to capture the spirit of the individual. And all things considered, the Richard Pryor biopic that.s been in the work for some time, may have found the perfect person to play legendary comedian Redd Foxx. Foxx was a groundbreaking, not to mention foul mouthed as all hell, comedian most known for his explicit comedy albums and the sitcom Sanford and Sons. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock alum Tracy Morgan will play him in the as-yet untitled movie. In a statement, Morgan said: Mr. Foxx, I hope I do you justice! It will be an...

Reynaldo Rey has died at the age of 75, CNN reports. The actor and comedian passed away on Thursday, May 28, following complications from a stroke he suffered last year. Rey was born in Sequoyah County, Okla., and began his acting career with an appearance in the TV series Sanford in 1981. Some of his other small screen credits include The Bernie Mac Show, The Royal Family, The Wayans Bros, Everybody Hates Chris, and 227. "Rest in peace to my dear friend and 227 co-star, Reynaldo Rey," actress [...]...

Reynaldo Rey, an actor and comedian whose dozens of credits include big-screen comedies Friday and White Men Can’t Jump and a recurring role on TV’s 227, died today in Los Angeles of complications from a stroke last year. He was 75. His manager Vanzil Burke confirmed the news. The Oklahoma native got a late start to his screen acting career, earning his first credit at 41 for the Sanford & Son spinoff Sanford, starring Redd Foxx. He appeared in the 1982 gigglefest Young Do…...

Reynaldo Rey, an actor and comedian whose dozens of credits include big-screen comedies Friday and White Men Can’t Jump and a recurring role on TV’s 227, died today in Los Angeles of complications from a stroke last year. He was 75. His manager Vanzil Burke confirmed the news. The Oklahoma native got a late start to his screen acting career, earning his first credit at 41 for the Sanford & Son spinoff Sanford, starring Redd Foxx. He appeared in the 1982 gigglefest Young Do…...

Some may say that television hasn’t been too good to senior citizens in terms of their stereotypical depictions. Regardless of the unflattering portrayals there had been some memorable oldsters (in this case over 60) that have given us equal shares of both laughs and cries. In “For Mature Audiences Only”, let’s take a look at some of the more mature characterizations that had an impact on our daily doses of entertainment on the glorious boob tube.

Instead of doing a typical top ten or top twenty listing let’s go in between with a top fifteen selection, shall we? The “For Mature Audiences Only” choices are not necessarily a tasting that everyone will agree on. Perhaps you have your own preferences that were omitted or something that you feel should be added? Anyway, here are the candidates in alphabetical order…

Now for our pop cultural Pepto Bismol personalities:

1.) Doc Galen Adams,...

Fully realizing its underdog appeal, the cheeky musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder slayed the competition this morning with a whopping 10 Tony nominations, including nods for both of its tireless leading men, Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham. Neil Patrick Harris’ return to Broadway after a decade yielded him his first-ever Tony nomination for the celebrated revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which netted an impressive eight nods. (Had it been eligible as a new musical, Hedwig probably would have easily tied Guide, as score and book would have been slam dunks). Trailing these shows with seven...

From classic cartoons to modern-day dramas, there’s one holiday gift that keeps on giving: Plots inspired by A Christmas Carol. (Even Arrow sort of got in on the fun this year.)

In these very special episodes, one of the series’ regulars — usually the group’s designated grouch — gets grumpy around the holidays and is subsequently visited by a series of ghosts. They warn that character to mend the error of his or her ways before it’s too late. Things tend to end on a happy note, with the newly cheerful Scrooge stand-in giving gifts to the rest of...

Dennis Burkley, a character actor whose heavyset build and equally heavy Southern accent made him a memorable standout in a variety of roles in movies and on TV, has died of a heart attack at 67. Burkley made his movie debut in the 1973 grindhouse horror thriller Bummer, then landed smaller roles in Bob Rafelson’s Stay Hungry (1976), Heroes (1977), and Laserblast (1978), as well as a slew of guest spots on TV series, often playing redneck toughs. For a few months in 1980 and 1981, he had a steady job playing sidekick to Redd Foxx on Sanford, a ...

Director, producer, writer and former DGA president Jack Shea, died yesterday of complications from Alzheimer’s in Tarzana, according to his wife Patt Shea. He was 84. Shea, a New York City native, served three terms as Directors Guild of America president from 1997 to 2002. Under his watch, the DGA addressed runaway production, encouraged diversity in hiring, formed an Independent Directors Committee and negotiated landmark deals, including the historic “blended contract.” One of the original organizers and a past president of the Radio and Television Directors Guild (Rtdg), the precursor to the DGA, Shea encouraged the merger of the Rtdg with the Screen Directors Guild in 1960 to form the DGA. In 1992, Shea was awarded the DGA’s Robert Aldrich Award for “40 years of extraordinary service.” His 40-year television directing and producing career included episodes of The Jeffersons, Silver Spoons, The Ropers, Sanford & Son and Designing Women for which he received an Emmy nomination.

New York - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. will see a financial windfall from technology giant Cisco's announcement Thursday that it will acquire pay TV technology firm Nds Group, in which the conglomerate owns a 49 percent stake, for $5 billion. "We believe the Nds sale is good for News Corp. shareholders," said Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker. Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger said the price tag, $4 billion in cash and $1 billion in debt, means a "significant premium to book value." And Michael Morris, analyst at Davenport & Co., echoed that the successful sale "would be upside"

read more...

Every Friday night, my kids, my wife and I boot up the TV and watch a week's worth of our favorite shows. We don't all like everything the same. Personally, I feel like Glee has jumped the shark, and it took a while for my kids to warm to the pitch black humor of Louie. Still, we watch it all, together (usually over Thai food). It's an important time for our family in which issues arise that normally would not. Sometimes my wife and I must answer questions we'd rather not, and sometimes my kids get questions they'd rather avoid. But after a long, rushed, hectic week apart, this "TV Time" brings us closer. Unfortunately, in this digital age, this is a rarer occurrence than you might think.

Once upon a time, in "the days before the 'Net," families all over America gathered together, in front of an electronic hearth,...

Like it or not, the Hong Kong Phooey movie is moving forward. Based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon TV series, the new movie will combine live-action with animation.

Eddie Murphy has been announced as the voice of the title character. He'll follow in the footsteps of another African-American comic actor, Scatman Crothers. He voiced bungling Hong Kong Phooey in the 16 episode animated series back in 1974.

The two performers also share a connection in that they both worked with Redd Foxx. Crothers appeared on Foxx's Sanford & Son and Murphy has said that he idolized Foxx. Murphy also directed and acted with Foxx in the Harlem Nights feature film. Crothers died in 1986 at the age of 76.

Here's the press release:

Los Angeles, CA, August 10, 2011 -- Eddie Murphy will give voice to the animated...

Today, Sandford & Son made history in 1972 when it debuted. It was the first show since The Amos and Andy Show to feature an all-African-American cast. The show was actually based on a popular British sitcom called Steptoe and Son. Television producers Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin “Americanized” the show by recasting the leads with African-Americans. During four of its six seasons, it garnered higher ratings than any other NBC prime-time series.

The sitcom starred Redd Foxx (whose real name was John Sanford) as Fred Sanford and Demond Wilson as his son, Lamont Sanford. Fred worked as a junk dealer, and Lamont was dedicated to helping his father.

The show marked the beginning of many black cast shows to follow including The Jeffersons, Good Times and What’s Happening. You can catch old episodes of the show on the TVLand cable channel.

Below is a clip of Fred meeting one of his all-time favorites,...

Cable is still king when it comes to driving the revenue and profits of Hollywood's entertainment giants -- and the degree to which they do will become clear as the conglomerates report first-quarter earnings in a few weeks.

Thanks to their dual revenue streams, many cable units held up better than other media businesses during the recession. Plus, several, including the divisions at Time Warner and Viacom, have managed costs closely and shifted money from overhead into program development.

Still, parts of the cable channel universe have faced ratings challenges. A look at where the congloms and their units stand:

Time Warner

The cable channel unit -- with such brands as TBS, TNT, Cartoon, HBO and CNN -- edged out the film unit $11.7 billion to $11.1 billion in 2009 revenue after the latter was on top of the conglom's remaining content businesses in 2008. A 3% ad decline was more than offset by 10% in subscription revenue growth,...

New York -- Media conglomerates hadn't seen revenue growth for at least a year, relying on cost cuts to boost their bottom lines. But the current quarterly earnings season has brought a return to at least slight growth at several sector biggies.

NBC Universal and Viacom are the exceptions so far with 4% and 3% revenue declines, respectively, and Disney already had returned to revenue growth in the third calendar quarter of 2009 and eked out another slight uptick in the fourth.

Most have cited better ad momentum in fourth-quarter 2009 as a key reason for the revenue gains, and Time Warner even predicted it would record revenue gains for full-year 2010.

But News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch was the most vocal about touting his conglomerate's quarterly revenue boost that at 10% outperformed the gains of its peers.

"Our strong top-line revenue growth demonstrates that News Corp. is emerging from this recession with renewed vigor and strength,...

New York -- Several media and entertainment analysts returned to work Monday and shared their thoughts on cable carriage fee disputes that rang in the new year.

News Corp. and Time Warner Cable avoided a loss of Fox stations and various News Corp. cable networks in systems operated by the second-largest U.S. cable firm with a new carriage agreement that included retransmission fee payments for the Fox network. But with both firms having remained mum on financial details, analysts argued the math is largely up to each side.

"We expect the companies negotiated a multi-channel, multi-platform agreement which included the Fox broadcast network, and several cable channels," said Collins Stewart analyst Thomas Eagan in a note to investors, adding that the deal likely also included digital rights and possibly even the relinquishing of several minutes of advertising time by Fox.

Addressing reports of a 50 cents-plus per subscriber per month...

It's as much of an annual tradition as turkey, football, and awkward family dynamics -- the Thanksgiving weekend TV marathon. With Thursday behind you, why not go to the fridge, get some leftovers, and settle in to that nice groove in the sofa. And look, we've already done the hard part for you. Here's our guide to the best marathon programming for Friday, Nov. 27. *Bravo is running The Real Housewives of New Jersey all day long. I don't know why exactly this qualifies as "special" holiday programming since they pretty much air the various Housewives incarnations all the time anyway.

Acclaimed Musical To Launch 2009-2010

Broadway Across America-miami Subscription Series

For A Limited One-week Run, October 27- November 1,

Presented At The Sanford And Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House By Florida Theatrical Association And The Adrienne Arsht Center For The Performing Arts Of Miami-                                            Dade County 

(Photo By Paul Kolnik)

Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders and the producing team of the Broadway smash hit The Color Purple, The Musical about Love, are proud to announce that Mia mi will host the first North American touring production of The Color Purple from Tuesday, October 27-Sunday, November 1 at the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House in the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. The show will launch the 2009-2010 Broadway Across America subscription series presented by Florida Theatrical Association and the Adrienne Arsht. Tickets are on sale now!  

Nominated for eleven Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, The Color Purple...

New York -- The latest economic data Thursday suggested that the U.S. recession is over, news that comes just ahead of key quarterly earnings reports in which investors will focus on just how much improvement big media and entertainment CEOs see in the advertising market.

U.S. gross domestic product rose at a better-than-expected 3.5% annualized rate during the third quarter, the first gain in a year. The bump comes after recent reports from media analysts talking up improving ad trends and boosting earnings predictions for this year and 2010.

"We expect third-quarter ad results to show an improvement in trends from the second quarter," Ubs analyst Michael Morris said. But year-over-year ad comparisons will remain down in many cases, and cost cuts will continue to play a key role.

Industry watchers will listen closely for how bullish CEOs sound, with CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves so far the...

New York -- As publicly traded entertainment giants report their quarterly results during the next two weeks, Wall Street will read the tea leaves even more than usual as investors try to get a better handle on how fast to expect a more tangible recovery of the economy and the advertising market.

Given a rally in many media and entertainment stocks since the market's lows in March, a growing number of people have argued that real evidence of -- rather than just talk of -- improvement is needed now for stocks to continue the upward push.

During the previous quarterly earnings season, many sector CEOs highlighted that advertising seems to have bottomed out and could gain momentum in the back half of the year. But ad conglom CEOs suggested in recent days that ads will return to growth mode only next year.

"We're still down year-over-year even as ad comparisons get easier,...

Award-winning screenwriter and playwright Judi Ann Mason has died after suffering a ruptured aorta. She was 54.

Mason, who became one of the first female African-American sitcom writers, died on 8 July in Los Angeles.

She was just 19 when she penned her first successful script, Livin' Fat, produced off Broadway in 1976 by the Negro Ensemble Company and the winner of a comedy award sponsored by the Kennedy Center and television producer Norman Lear.

As a playwright, her works were seen on the New York stage in several off-Broadway productions, including The Daughters of the Mock, Jonah & the Wonder Dog, and A Star Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hole in Heaven - the first winner of the Kennedy Center’s Lorraine Hansberry Award for plays about the African-American experience.

More success followed after Lear hired Mason as a writer for hit U.S. TV series Good Times, starring Esther Rolle, John Amos and Jimmie Walker. She also wrote for popular TV series including Sanford, A Different World, the Cosby Show, Beverly Hills 90210, and I’ll Fly Away. Mason's film credits include Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Emmy Award nominated Sophie And The Moonhanger.

She is survived by her daughter Mason Synclaire Williams and a son, Austin Barrett Williams.

New York -- Wall Street is trying to assess the impact of the General Motors bankruptcy on media companies, and at least one analyst's conclusions might surprise you.

Although headlines about the U.S. car industry have sounded dire, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Michael Nathanson on Wednesday increased his fiscal-year 2010 earnings-per-share estimates on CBS Corp., Walt Disney and News Corp. and his price targets across sector stocks. He even upgraded CBS shares to "market perform."

"Consumer demand for new autos has rarely been this weak and at some point in 2010 will strengthen, which will strengthen local ad markets -- most notably local TV stations," he noted in a report.

Based on a 21-year regression analysis, Nathanson said growth in auto sales has explained 39% of the growth in auto advertising.

Auto ads declined 17% in 2008, with TV stations seeing an outsized 33% drop. "As a result, auto was knocked from its perch as...

"Up" is not just Hollywood's latest blockbuster-in-waiting, it's also the direction media stocks -- and, many hope, the overall fortunes of studio congloms -- are headed after a decidedly downbeat period.

This earnings season, U.S. entertainment execs have started to sound cautiously bullish on the ad market and the overall economy. No doubt that's because stocks have been so buoyant since early March, in many cases outpacing gains in broader markets.

"Commentary from management on second-quarter calls was virtually unanimous that the bottom is in for the economy and advertising growth," says Steve Birenberg of Northlake Capital Management and SNL Kagan's media blogger.

The key questions now are: Is the stabilization for real, and how can the congloms best position themselves for the stock rally to continue?

Indeed, the bounce might be a temporary bear-market rally, as evidenced by declines this week and persistent skepticism from European and Canadian execs at ad-reliant media companies.

We were forced to say goodbye to several veterans of the TV shows from the past. Some are well known to the public and some are not. Either way, the medium of television wouldn't be the same without their contributions.

They include Ron Silver (Chicago Hope, Law & Order, Crossing Jordan, Rhoda, and The West Wing), Alan Livingston (creator of Bozo The Clown), Morton Lachman (The Red Skelton Show, Sanford, All In The Family, Gimme A Break, and Kate & Allie), Millard Kaufman (Mister Magoo), Harry Harris (Fame, Gunsmoke, Kung Fu, Lost In Space, Hawaii Five-o, Falcon Crest, and 7th Heaven, and Andy Hallett (Angel, Buffy The Vampire Slayer). Here are the details...

Ron Silver, 62, passed away on March 15th after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. A veteran of many movies (Reversal Of Fortune) and Broadway plays (Speed the Plow), television audiences know the talented actor from Chicago Hope, Law & Order,...

New York -- The slump in auto advertising may take a while to turn around, and that's bad news for media companies, most notably those owning TV stations.

The auto sector has reduced media spending for 12 consecutive quarters, and once third-quarter figures are out in early December, it will be 13, according to Jon Swallen, senior vp research at Tns Media Intelligence.

Annual auto ad declines have accelerated from 2.9% in 2005 to 6.4% in 2006 to 6.9% in 2007, according to Tns data. For the first half of 2008, auto spending was off 11.2% to $6.48 billion. October was particularly weak because of the financial crisis, meaning the typical year-end spurt could turn into a year-end crawl.

The auto category provides about 12.5% of overall U.S. ad spending, making it one of the biggest categories of all, according to a recent Sanford C. Bernstein report based on Tns data.

Local TV stations are particularly exposed, because they get, on average,...

New York -- The economy will be front and center when the big publicly traded entertainment companies start reporting their latest quarterly earnings next week.

Management teams will provide updated guidance that investors hope will shed more light on the level of economic pain they should expect.

Case in point: Viacom Inc., which will be among the first sector biggies to report its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday.

CEO Philippe Dauman shocked investors in late May by lowering his U.S. cable network ad growth estimate for the latest quarter from 7% just a few weeks earlier to 3%- 4% citing a weak scatter ad market.

"Despite a solid upfront at Viacom and across the cable network industry, investors are increasingly concerned about Viacom's growth prospects," Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield said.

Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Michael Nathanson expects 13.3% revenue growth at Viacom for the quarter to $3.38 billion but a 3.5% profit decline on higher costs. However, this estimate came before the disappointing boxoffice for "The Love Guru," which may push the film division below expectations.

A day after Viacom, Disney will step up to the plate, and Ubs analyst Michael Morris predicts that fiscal third-quarter results "should reflect tough comparisons." He particularly cited the firm's theme parks unit, which faces an unfavorable Easter timing comparison, and studio division, which last year got a major boost from "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

And like in the case of Viacom, "financial trends at economically sensitive businesses should be a focus for investors," Morris predicted.

The parks have held up well so far this year, but analysts are concerned that the negative impact of a weak economy will only hit Disney with some delay. For example, Lehman analyst Anthony Diclemente recently downgraded Disney shares to "underweight," arguing that "the deteriorating U.S. economic trends are likely to begin to impact results at the parks segment as we move into Disney's fiscal year 2009."

Nathanson said he expects a 10.4% decline in film unit revenue and a 46.2% decline in profit, while Disney's cable networks unit should grow its revenue and bottom line around 9% each. Overall, he sees revenue ending up 2.8% in the quarter and profit rising from $1.18 billion to $1.20 billion.

For CBS Corp., the analyst projects a minimal revenue gain but a 13.4% profit decrease to $340.4 million as costs for new radio initiatives and other factors weigh in.

Analysts are looking for signs of how the company is managing its TV and radio assets amid economic weakness, which many have suggested will hurt it more than its peers and has already led to staff reductions.

Wall Street also will ask for more color on the plans for recently acquired CNet, which has elevated CBS Corp. into the top echelon of online players.

News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch has played amateur economist more regularly than other media moguls, so one can expect comments from him on where the U.S. and world economy is going when News Corp. reports its fiscal fourth-quarter results on Aug. 5 and gives its initial growth outlook for its new fiscal year.

"News Corp. should be able to grow organic operating income at least 7% in fiscal 2009," Greenfield said. However, amid Murdoch's past gloomy predictions, "the risks to achieving that growth are escalating," he said.

Nathanson eyes a whopping 14.8% quarterly revenue gain from News Corp. thanks to its acquisition of Dow Jones, its satellite TV arms and cable networks. Profit could decline 7.6%, though, amid higher interest and tax costs.

Time Warner will wrap up this quarterly earnings season, and again the outlook will be a key focus.

Morris warns that Tw's "film segment faces tough comparisons in the second half" of 2008. Luckily, " 'The Dark Knight' outperformed our expectations and should improve Tw's ability to meet full year guidance," he added.

AOL and the Time Inc. publishing unit should see lower quarterly revenue and profit, most analysts expect. Nathanson expects overall revenue to rise 2.7%, but profit to decline 3.2%.

Interestingly, Miller Tabak + Co. analyst David Joyce recently raised his earnings per share estimate by a penny, "reflecting continued strong demand for advertising at Turner and better than expected film performance" despite a likely writedown for "Speed Racer."

On Tw's conference call, investors will, of course, also look for updates on the spinoff of the cable unit, planned for later this year, and a possible sale or merger of AOL.