KCRW's THE SPIN-OFF: Comic-Con Recap, Plus Banning TV's Pariahs

On the latest edition of KCRW's The Spin-Off, Joe and I are joined by Give Me My Remote's Marisa Roffman:

Mike and Marisa Roffman are just back from this year's Comic-Con, while Joe opted to once again take it all in from a distance. The gathering has evolved over the years, and while it can still be a great place for genre shows to connect with fans, the convention does have its downsides. For shows, it's expensive to stop production and fly their cast out to San Diego. But if they don't go, they run the risk of media-savvy fans throwing a digital fit. And from the perspective of someone covering the event, it's tough to get any actual news from Comic-Con. The focus seems to have shifted to primarily debuting trailers and sharing some casting news, although even those announcements are increasingly made before the panel discussions and presentations themselves.

Also, It's been a news-filled summer, and a lot of that news has meant networks have had to decide what to do about shows connected to problematic people like Bill Cosby or Donald Trump. Dukes of Hazzard also disappeared from TV Land because of the Confederate flag painted on top of the famous car, the General Lee. Was it necessarily to pull the whole show, or could there have been a way to digitally remove the flag from the car?

Finally, gone are the days when summer was the time to catch up on TV shows you missed last fall. A batch of new, critically acclaimed shows like UnReal, Humans and Mr. Robot are filling the void instead.

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KCRW's THE SPIN-OFF: December Edition (Cosby, Sony and More! Listen Now)

Buzzfeed's Kate Aurthur joins me and Joe Adalian for this month's edition of the monthly KCRW podcast "The Spin-Off." It's a lively talk. Kate was at the forefront of covering the Bill Cosby scandal, so we spend a great deal of time taking stock of what happened, and what's next. Here's a synopsis of this month's show:

The downfall of Bill Cosby following multiple allegations of sexual assault has been one of the biggest news stories of the year, and not just in television. This is an ongoing story, but we take stock of where we are now and what it means for how we view an icon who had been one of the most beloved comedians in television history.

Then, we reflect on the current state of TV news. There have been a lot of changes and anchor shake-ups this year, but how many people have been paying attention? And what's the role of TV news in an increasingly mobile and digitized news environment?

Finally, as 2014 comes to a close and we get all nostalgic thinking back on shows of this past year and years gone by, we look at the way television today tackles social issues. It may seem like network TV is more hands-off when it comes to taking a stand on hot-button issues, but perhaps the overall TV landscape is just approaching these issues in a different way.

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MIKE ON KCRW: Talking Bill Cosby, Sony Hack, "Sons of Anarchy" and More

Another busy week at KCRW. On this Monday's edition of The Business, Kim Masters and I bantered about several topics including:

- A malicious hack attack at Sony that leaked unreleased movies and personal employee information online has left the studio reeling. Could North Korea be behind the hack?
- The Bill Cosby saga continues to unfold, and one aspect people are starting to wonder about is how much NBC executives knew or didn’t know during the heyday of The Cosby Show.

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On last Thursday's Hollywood Breakdown, Kim Masters and I talked all about the Sony hack:

The size and scope of a recent hack at Sony Pictures has shaken the industry and left the company without an operating computer system. It's unknown who's behind the attack, which was carried out by someone or something called Guardians of Peace. There's speculation that the country of North Korea could be involved because of an upcoming Seth Rogen and James Franco movie The Interview, about an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

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On Monday's Press Play with Madeleine Brand, Grantland's Andy Greenwald and I discussed several topics, including the end of "Sons of Anarchy" and Netflix's new "Marco Polo":

The cable television series Sons of Anarchy on FX is known for its rabid fanbase — a fanbase that’s in mourning this week. The final episode airs tomorrow night after seven seasons. But there’s a spoiler out now that is causing all sorts of consternation. That and other small screen news in our weekly TV roundup.

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MIKE ON KCRW: Bill Cosby, DreamWorks, Netflix, More

On this Monday's edition of KCRW's The Business, Kim Masters and I bantered about several topics including:

- Someone behind an anonymous letter is looking to sabotage any possible DreamWorks deal.
- Nielsen will finally start measuring Netflix viewership, but that still doesn’t mean we’ll know how many people are watching House of Cards.
- A settlement has been reached in the Midnight Rider case.

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On last Thursday's Hollywood Breakdown, Kim Masters and I talked more about the Bill Cosby mess:

Throwback Thursday: A Difficult Bill Cosby in 1984's TV Guide Magazine

Beyond the ever-growing mountain of allegations of sexual assault against Bill Cosby, it's also no secret that he's just not that pleasant of a person to interview. That's quickly obvious in this 1984 TV Guide Magazine profile of Bill Cosby -- at the height of his popularity -- when reporter Kathleen Fury couldn't help but describe her miserable experience interviewing the star. ("Our interview was unpleasant," she bluntly writes.) Read on:

Mike on KCRW: Bill Cosby Scandal, DreamWorks Animation Problems, More

Another busy week at KCRW. On this Monday's edition of The Business, Kim Masters and I bantered about several topics including:

- Hasbro and DreamWorks Animation end talk of a merger, DreamWorks Animation's stock falls.
- Bill Cosby stays silent on rape allegations during NPR interview.

Listen by clicking below:





On last Thursday's Hollywood Breakdown, Kim Masters and I talked Sony Playstation Vue, and whether it will change the way we watch TV:





On Monday's Press Play with Madeleine Brand, Vox.com's Todd VanDerWerff and I discussed several topics, including the Bill Cosby mess:

It’s been more than two decades since The Cosby Show went off the air. But for younger generations who didn’t grow up with Cliff, Theo, and the whole Cosby gang, they may only know Bill Cosby for one thing: the rape allegations that have been leveled against him. The accusations could impact the comedian’s plans to launch a new show. We discuss that and more in our weekly television roundup.

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