Obama And Blagojevich; SAG Talks; Census Data And The Southland; Leno Goes Prime Time
Obama And Blagojevich
News that Illinois' Governor Blagojevich is charged with corruption has right wing radio and TV hosts sounding off that this taints Barack Obama. Is this guilt by association, or will Obama forever be tainted by the corrupt political reputation of Illinois. Larry finds out with Ron Elving, Senior Washington Editor for NPR.
SAG Talks
Larry Mantle opens the phones to actors and others in the industry to discuss the recent town hall meeting and to sound off about a strike authorization vote. Joining Larry is Doug Allen, National Executive Director and chief negotiator for SAG.
Census Data And The Southland
New census data shows Southern California is growing more integrated, with a large number of Latinos and Asians moving into middle-class neighborhoods. This shows a breakdown in past housing discrimination. But the change is not uniform, with Santa Monica, for example, showing a decline in diversity--it is now 72 percent white. Larry talks with Dowell Myers at USC, and Hans Johnson of the Public Policy Institute of California about the trends and numbers and what they mean for the Southland.
Leno Goes Prime Time
NBC is announcing that Jay Leno will stay at NBC and that he will be given his own, hour-long, prime-time talk show instead. The program will be shown at 10 p.m. each weeknight beginning next fall, and will likely have the same format as "The Tonight Show." Holding a talk show in prime time--opposite dramatic series on other networks -- could be risky for NBC. But if NBC is able to generate enough advertising revenue, the move could bring the network substantial savings. Larry Mantle talks with Variety's Brian Lowry about the surprising announcement, and about the ongoing transformation of prime-time programming.