Surface - NBC needs to seperate news division from entertainment

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The news division of NBC really should not be on fictional shows. Actors
should only be used to play news media. Keith Olbermann had no place on
the show especially not MSNBC or Countdown.

wdstarr...

I am *so* proud of the fact that while I was watching this episode I
had no idea at all that any of those tv news people were played by
real-world tv news people and not just random actors, or that this
"Countdown" thing is -- I assume from aalucard's posting -- a real
tv news show.

ANIM8Rfsk...

No, it's not a real tv news show. It's an MSNBC show.

Michael Bowker...

Me too!

ANIM8Rfsk...

It's not like MSNBC is a real news division or anything.

To me it denigrates a news division especially putting fake news on it.

ANIM8Rfsk...

Denigrate MSNBC? That's like denigrating Dateline. How?

Ken from Chicago...

Calling it "Fox News"?

elf...

I think there's a fine line between having newscasters play newscasters
using their real names vs. using the newscaster as a defacto plug for the
news organization. Had Olbermann appeared simply as "Keith Olbermann" and
not as "Keith Olbermann, host of 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' on
MSNBC" I think it would be more acceptable.

Steven L....

MSNBC has now returned the favor. They've now mentioned Surface favorably:

I don't think that's a coincidence.

It comes down to whether the newscasters is being used for dramatic
effect, since a real-life newscaster can add immediate gravitas that a
fictional newscaster can't, vs. the spot being a lame plug. A show like
surface certainly does not need to use a real newscaster, so let's just go
with cheap plug here.

On the bright side, they didn't use Rita Cosby...

There are always, of course, exceptions. For any Arrested Development fans
out there who may not be aware of this, John Beard, who plays the
newscaster named "John Beard" on the show, is a real-life newscaster at
KTTV-11, the Fox affiliate in Los Angeles. (Beard was also one of the
'celebrity guests' at the Bluth's party on last night's episode.) He's
anchored their 10pm news for what seems like a decade, perhaps more.
Before that he was with KNBC-4 in Los Angeles as well. He also played the
newscaster on the animated Spider-Man series of the early 90's. I don't
recall if the cartoon newscaster was given a name, but it looked exactly
like Beard did at the time, mustache and all.

And then there's the KTLA Morning News team in Los Angeles, where the
anchors and weatherman frequently showed up in movies and TV shows like
Independence Day, Speed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and others.

Even if they used the Countdown set but called it Tickdown and instead
of MSNBC called it ChatNBC would have been better.

ABC is good about this - having a hard wall in between ABC dumping
Anderson Cooper from the news division for hosting a reality show was
smart. NBC needs that same wall between entertainment and news.

Now when the creatures start causing havoc will we see an episode with
Keith apologizing and having it as the lead story? I hope not but the
genie is already
out.

ANIM8Rfsk...

That's the best part -- they showed their news division tricking people and
putting out fake stories. I wish they'd had Sandoval standing behind the
news director.

Ken from Chicago...

But unless the director is 2 feet tall you wouldn't see Sandoval.

It also came across too much like a desperate plug for MSNBC.

Mojo...

You have obviously never watched "The West Wing". lol

Btw, John Stewart and Stephen Colbert are now frantically searching for
Laura Daughtery.

It could have been worse, you know. They could have had Daughtery appear on
"The Situation with Tucker Carlson". Then she would have had a snarky, wussy
host, no viewers, and, most imprtantly, no downloads at MSNBC.com.

Actually, if Daughtery wanted to generate some real buzz, she should have
told the interviewer she found a pod of the animals just off the coast of
Aruba last May. Rita Cosby would have trampled, neigh, stampeded over Keith,
Tucker, and everyone else at MSNBC to get the interview.

ANIM8Rfsk...

I thought for sure when inbred hick guy said 'oh, we've already put it on
the web' that he had blown the deal, but apparently MSNBC was already too
far along setting them up.

Ken from Chicago...

Why is it any worse when movies have actual news reporters in movies
covering fictional events? to same nothing of ye olde spinning cover of
Time, Life, New York Times with a cover of said fictional news event?

bklyntv...

I don't think it IS any better than having news reporters play
themselves in movies. I think the OP has an excellent point. Edward R.
Murrow would never have done it. It is symptomatic of the news
industry's inability to grasp the importance of maintaining an air of
creditability. But they've almost all lost all public trust at this
point for a million OTHER reason. So playing themselves on a
enteratainment show is small potatoes.

As for fictional covers? they have to be done with the publication's
permission. I think the fictioness is never in doubt, and no specific
person is cut a paycheck, whereas Ken Olbermann risks people being
confused as to whether he is an actor or a newsman, and when he IS
reporting he risks people wondering if this is yet another time he's
being paid to say fiction someone else has written for him.