Scenes from Miami Beach and the NATPE Convention

Above, it's the sunrise from the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach. I was back there for a second year in a row, as this week's National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) convention took place. Once upon a time, NATPE was the place where local TV station executives came to buy syndicated programming for their lineups. Those days are gone (because of consolidation, most TV shows are sold with one or two phone calls to mega station groups) but NATPE is still a great place to meet up with industry execs and take stock of the business. This year NATPE also focused heavily on the reality TV community, and it was an opportunity to sit down with execs and producers from that world too. And by the way, the Fountainbleau is quite a nice hotel to stay at, even if I never got the chance to play tourist. Here are some pics from my Three Days in Miami.


On-stage selfie: About to moderate a "Shark Tank" panel at NATPE with executive producer Clay Newbill and judges Daymond John, Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary and Mark Cuban.


And then, a post-panel "Shark Tank" selfie, with NATPE CEO Rod Perth joining us.


It was kind of weird walking by this sign all day Tuesday.


"Elvis" is in the building.


Workers set up for NATPE's opening night party.


Back in the 1990s, NATPE was all about the massive convention floor. It was like Comic-Con -- every syndication company had a massive booth, where they'd bring in talent and even hire celebrity chefs like Wolfgang Puck to serve lunch. I remember being well fed at the Sony booth, where Puck would walk around serving you pizza. NATPE is quite different now. Most of the distributors still come, but work out of hotel suites. Some actually have small cabanas around the Fountainbleau pool -- as you see above, where CBS, NBC Universal and Debmar-Mercury execs are hanging out.


Spotted in Miami Beach. I guess the name of this store says it all.


Dan Harmon and I share a moment after our one-on-one NATPE panel on Wednesday.

Celebrities Mug for the Arclight

Charlie Sheen takes his place next to Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra... and Lenin in a new art exhibit at the Arclight Hollywood.

Artist Rachel Schmeidler is behind "Hollywood Most Wanted + Co.," which remains on display through April 28.

The works consist of mixed media mug shots on paper of various celebrities, musicians, and politicians.

Works include depictions of Charlie Sheen, Paris Hilton, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown, along with politicos such as Sen. Larry Craig, radio host Rush Limbaugh and James Traficant. Lenin, Trotsky, Castro and Stalin are interspersed in the exhibit as well.

"Political pundits cast aspersions on candidates and incumbents by labeling their policies and beliefs 'communist' or 'socialist,'" Schmeidler said. "I have noticed many of these exchanges recently and wanted to bring them to light in a humorous way by placing them here alongside Hollywood celebrities and musicians. We are all ultimately the same before the flash of the mug shot bulb."

More info at HollywoodMostWanted.com. Exhibit is found on all three floors of the Arclight.

Retro Friday: KNBC's 1972 Chat with Elvis

As the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death approaches (funny how, as a kid, it didn't dawn on me that Elvis was actually quite young when he died -- but I guess at that point, 42 was ancient to me), here's a find I happened to stumble across on YouTube.

It's a 1972 piece by KNBC entertainment reporter Jim Brown, reporting on (and interviewing) Elvis. Wow, does he look bad. Check it out.