LA Press Club Reveals SoCal Journalism Awards Nominations; Here Are My Three

The LA Press Club's SoCal Journalism Awards nominations are out, and I have three nods in the mix! Here are the categories, which include some of my own Variety colleagues as well!

G8. PERSONALITY PROFILE, Film/TV Personalities
* Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, "Pee-wee Herman’s “Dark” Reboot: Paul Reubens Is Ready to Stage a Comeback"
* Antonia Blyth, Deadline Hollywood, "Kathy Bates On ‘Richard Jewell’ Controversy: 'I Worried It Would Affect How People Would Feel Toward The Film'"
* Daniel D'Addario, Variety, "‘Pose’ Star Indya Moore Reflects on Activism and the Road Ahead"
* Angelique Jackson, Variety, "Man of Action: Tyler Perry on Producing During the Pandemic and Why He’s Weighing in on Politics"
* Michael Schneider, Variety, "Andre Braugher Reexamines His Cop Roles and Urges ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ to Rise to the Moment"

K3A. ENTERTAINMENT NEWS, Broadcast/Film
* Tim Chan, Rolling Stone, "Corey Feldman Names Alleged Abusers in Long-Awaited Film"
* Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, "The Unbridgeable Divide: How True/False’s Celebrated Partnership With an Evangelical Church Imploded"
* Michael Schneider, Variety, "Radio Stations Make Early Flip to All-Christmas Music, Seeking Holiday — and Ratings — Cheer"
* Brian Steinberg, Variety, "Night Shift: Inside Late-Night TV’s Coronavirus Chaos"
* Beatrice Verhoeven and Sharon Waxman, TheWrap, "Hollywood Shuns Jamal Khashoggi Doc ‘The Dissident’ Over Fear of Saudi Backlash, Insiders Say"

K3B. ENTERTAINMENT NEWS, Music/Performing Arts
* Steve Appleford, Los Angeles Times, "Who created Nirvana’s famed smiley-face logo? A legal battle gets a new claimant"
* Jem Aswad, Variety, "How Kamala Harris Built a Power Base in the Music Industry"
* Joel Beers, Voice of OC, "Stages Theatre, a Mainstay for 28 Years on the Local Theater Scene, Closes Its Doors"
* Shirley Halperin and Leena Tailor, Variety, "Jason Derulo Sparks Outrage Down Under for Lifting Polynesian Teen’s TikTok Hit"
* Michael Schneider, Variety, "The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne Hopes to Tour – With the Audience in Plastic Bubbles"

Here's where you can read those three stories: Andre Braugher Reexamines His Cop Roles and Urges ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ to Rise to the Moment

Radio Stations Make Early Flip to All-Christmas Music, Seeking Holiday — and Ratings — Cheer

"The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne Hopes to Tour – With the Audience in Plastic Bubbles

Mike on TV: How I Handle Awards Season

I recently spoke via Skype with Spectrum News 1's Bianca Rae on Feb. 3, 2021, to discuss Golden Globe Awards nominations, and covering this year's awards season in general.

Backstage At The SAG Awards 2018

Another year in the press room at the SAG Awards — check out IndieWire's full coverage here. Most of the film winners didn't bother to come back stage, but TV was in full force, as always. Above, Allison Janney — who won the supporting film actress award for "I, Tonya," but TV can still claim her as one of its own. A few more pics from backstage:

Nicole Kidman, best supporting actress in a TV movie or limited series, for "Big Little Lies"

Gary Oldman, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for “Darkest Hour”

Sterling K. Brown, outstanding drama actor for "This Is Us"

The cast of "This Is Us," best drama ensemble

The cast of "Veep," best comedy ensemble

KCRW's THE SPIN-OFF: Emmy Campaign Season, Binge TV Comes to the Networks , and More

On the latest edition of KCRW's The Spin-Off, Joe and I sit down with Variety's Debra Birnbaum (my former TV Guide Magazine boss!) to talk about TV awards season and more:

It's officially June, which means this year's TV season is over, the upfronts are done and summer programming is upon us. Now that we know which new shows will make it to air this fall, it's time to crank up those Emmy campaigns. In reality, Emmy campaigning has been underway for months already. If that notion seems ridiculous to you -- you're not alone. We talk about the role Emmys and other awards shows play within the TV ecosystem and look at where we are now, compared to years past.

Meanwhile, NBC is the first of the broadcast networks to get into the binging game with Aquarius, the new David Duchovny drama. Wise move or...what were they thinking?

With so much content all available at once, there have been several calls for a return to the days of just releasing one new episode a week, instead of an all at once show dump. Even Netflix, the king of the binge-style delivery, may test out a more traditional model with some upcoming shows.

Listen below!

MIKE ON TV: Discussing Golden Globe Nominees on "Access Hollywood Live"

I was up early on Thursday chatting up "Access Hollywood Live" hosts Billy Bush and Kit Hoover about this year's Golden Globes TV nominations. Watch as I chastise them for not watching "Orphan Black" -- and I let Billy Bush know I'm comfortable enough with my marriage to watch Showtime's "The Affair" with Maria!

Here I am talking about the drama nominees and snubs:



And here I am chatting about comedy -- or the lack thereof.

According to Their TV Ads, "August Osage County" and "Philomena" Are Already Golden Globe Winners

Correct me if I'm wrong, but have any of you seen this in a film marketing campaign before? In TV spots for its movies "August: Osage County" and "Philomena," The Weinstein Company is touting the movies as Golden Globe "winners."



But wait, the Golden Globes aren't until January 14. How are the movies already "winners"?



Look closer. They "won" a nomination. So did Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Judi Dench. What the what? How is securing a nomination suddenly a "win"?





I've written plenty of award nomination stories before. Yeah, we have to use a lot of verbs to describe being nominated. You can "score," "earn," "land," "grab," "secure," and "take" a nomination -- and there are many, many other ways to describe it too. Perhaps I've even used "won a nomination," although I don't recall. But to put "WINNER" in big letters in an ad, next to pics of the Globes trophy, when the movies and stars haven't technically won anything yet? Unusual move. But I don't normally follow the feature film award races, so I can't tell you if this is common in that world. Either way, it's... an interesting strategy.

On Set With the Cast of "Scandal," This Year's TV Guide Magazine Fan Favorite

Last week I got to make the cast and crew of ABC's hot drama "Scandal" literally scream with delight. Visiting the show's Oval Office set, I presented Kerry Washington and the show's cast and crew the TV Guide Magazine award for Fan Favorite Drama -- and they were beyond thrilled. It was quite exciting to see their reaction and truly make the day of a hard-working group of people. (Some of the crew members thanked me again as I walked off the set.)

Plus: Watch as Washington gives me a hug (it's documented, people) as I give her the Fan Favorite Award for best actress. The issue is on stands now, pick it up!

Backstage at the Primetime Emmys

Another year covering the Emmys, and this year I was once again stationed backstage to watch the show and also keep an eye on winners as they headed into the press room. A few dull winners, a few surprise choices, and a good night for Showtime's "Homeland" -- as well as for 20th Century Fox TV, the studio behind both "Homeland" and "Modern Family." If you're not sick of Emmy coverage yet, I talked to Jimmy Kimmel's head writers to get the backstory on this year's Emmy gags; read about it here. Below, a few shots from this year's awards.


Amazing Race's Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri outside Nokia, hoping for their 9th Emmy.


Bitter rivals, right next to each other: ET and Access Hollywood press booths backstage.


Guillermo from "Jimmy Kimmel Live," backstage at the Emmys.


Supporting actor winner Eric Stonestreet kicks off "Modern Family's" dominant night at the Emmys.


Supporting actress Emmy winner Julie Bowen.


Comedy actress winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus.


Another win for "The Amazing Race"!


Louis C.K. took home two Emmys on Sunday night.


Sofia Vergara and the cast and producers of "Modern Family."


Emmy winner Claire Danes speaks as she's flanked by the cast and producers of "Homeland."


Winners Tom Berenger and Kevin Costner ("Hatfields and McCoys") back stage.


John Legend performs at Showtime's Saturday night party.

MIKE ON TV: Can Awards Shows Ever Be Good?

I recently sat down with my old Variety boss, Peter Bart, for his new KNBC/Encore show "Movie Talk with Peter Bart." This being awards season, we talked about how dreadful most awards shows still are, and whether or not there's any hope for the genre. (They don't appear to have any clips online, so yes, I recorded this on a Flip camera straight off my TV. Don't judge!)

Grammy Recap: Janelle Monae, The Roots and Yes, Mick Jagger, Own the Night

Maria and I were able to attend last night's Grammy ceremony, and I don't know how it played at home (live music is tough to translate on the small screen), but there were some pretty great performances at the show. The Janelle Monae/B.o.B./Bruno Mars mashup and the acoustic corner led by Mumford & Sons and the Avett Bros. (joined by Bob Dylan) were my favorites, while Maria enjoyed Mick Jagger's tribute to Solomon Burke. And Rihanna's performance with Eminem was standout.

Afterward, we were treated to the Roots, Philly's legendary hardworking crew who put on quite a show for the industry crowd.


The Roots' Black Thought on the mic at the Grammys afterparty.

A few more thoughts, as sent via Twitter last night:

-- "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum beats out some great tracks for record of the year. Sorry, but it's not the best record of the year by a long shot.

--What will it take to make you smile, Eminem?

-- Wow, I guess the "people we've heard of" vote was split between Bieber, Florence, Drake and Mumford. (At least winner Esperanza Spalding put the beat down on Mr. Bieber.)

--So did Gaga grab that ponytail at a Madonna "Blonde Ambition" yard sale?

--This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. This is Lady Gaga wearing your brain while walking the Grammys red carpet.

And yes, here's that KCBS clip of reporter Serene Branson that is flying virally around the world right now. Cue autotune remix in 3, 2...



UPDATE: Here's the KCBS statement on Branson's condition: "Serene Branson was examined by paramedics on scene immediately after her broadcast. Her vital signs were normal. She was not hospitalized. As a precautionary measure, a colleague gave her a ride home and she says that she is feeling fine this morning."

And Now, Some Good News at The Times

After taking them to task last week for what felt like an unusual number of careless errors -- including running the same story twice in Thursday's paper -- it's only fair to point out that the Los Angeles Times is still churning out plenty of kick-ass journalism.

The paper just landed three first-place awards in the annual Scripps Howard National Journalism content, including the web reporting prize for Mexico Under Siege, as well as the photojournalism prize for Michael Robinson Chavez's portfolio and the Washington reporting prize for David Willman's take on the federal investigation of the 2001 anthrax scare.

(On the downside, Willman is no longer with the Times, having left Tribune at the end of last year after its D.C. downsize.)