Neda Ulaby

An 'Adventure' For Kids, And Maybe For Their Parents Too

Neda Ulaby — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:54:00 +0000

Count plenty of grown-ups among the millions of fans of Adventure Time, a kids' show on Cartoon Network. Some are surely Emmy voters. (It's won three.) Others are very possibly stoners. Still others are intellectuals. Lev Grossman falls in the last category. He wrote two best-selling novels, The Magicians and The Magician King, and he's Time's senior book critic.

Grossman's critique of Adventure Time? "It's soooo smart! It's sooo intelligent!"

Hang on. He's just getting started.

"I am a little bit obsessed with it," Grossman continues.

A Lannister Always Pays His Debts — But Do Too Many Of His Fans Watch For Free?

Neda Ulaby — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:41:00 +0000

For today's All Things Considered story about people sharing their Netflix or Hulu Plus passwords, producer Sami Yenigun latched on to what could've been an ordinary entertainment-business story and front-loaded it with snippets of sound from Game of Thrones — attacking dragons, evil kings, treacherous harlots.

Foster Families Take Center Stage

Neda Ulaby — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:14:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlTGYq-sTwI

'Arrested Development' Leads The Charge For Old Brands In New Media

Neda Ulaby — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:44:00 +0000

Arrested Development returning via Netflix? Just another old-media brand reviving itself on new media.

The TV show, which originally ran on Fox from 2003 to 2006 and unveils new episodes on Netflix next weekend, finds itself in splendid company. Radiohead, Louis C.K., Veronica Mars — all found their audiences with promotion and distribution from big studios and networks. Radiohead was signed to a major music label. Louis C.K. enjoyed HBO specials and TV shows.

Working Women On Television: A Mixed Bag At Best

Neda Ulaby — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:13:00 +0000

When actress Geena Davis was watching children's shows with her daughter a few years ago, she became so troubled by the lack of female representation, she started a think tank on gender in the media. The Geena Davis Institute recently partnered with University of Southern California professors to conduct a study analyzing gender roles and jobs on screen.

The good news?

Video-Streaming Firms Attract Customers With Exclusive Shows

Neda Ulaby — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:07:00 +0000

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Now online streaming is playing a bigger and bigger role in news events. Many people listened and watched the Boston bombing coverage on their laptops. And on Friday as the manhunt came to a close, tens of thousands of people were listening to police dispatches live online. In the entertainment world, video streaming is also having a big impact.

Try this. It's estimated that Netflix alone takes up a third of U.S. bandwidth between 9:00 PM and midnight. That's a lot.

As Audiences Shift To Cable, TV Programming Changes, Too

Neda Ulaby — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 07:18:00 +0000

Mad Men comes back for its sixth season Sunday at an opportune moment for basic cable. Last weekend, 25 million viewers combined watched The Bible and The Walking Dead on basic cable channels. That's more than triple the audience for The Good Wife on CBS that same night.

So are we looking at a convergence between scripted shows on broadcast and cable? It's hard not to wonder, when you see broadcast networks rushing to replicate gruesome death scenes like the ones relished by The Walking Dead's enviably sizable audience.

Why Are TV Remotes So Terrible?

Neda Ulaby — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:23:00 +0000

Let's call it the baby sitter's dilemma.

If you go to someone's house and pick up the TV remote, chances are, you won't know how it works. You know the situation's bad when even a tech writer who also majored in physics at an Ivy League school is confused by her own TV remote.

"It's unbearable to me," moans Ars Technica writer Casey Johnston, of her remote's many cryptic buttons. "Sub.code? Comp/mix?

FCC Chairman Had Trouble Pleasing Interest Groups, Industry

Neda Ulaby — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:56:00 +0000

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

The head of the Federal Communications Commission gathered his staff this morning, 1,700 people, to tell them this...

JULIUS GENACHOWSKI: I'm announcing that I'll be stepping down as chairman of the FCC in the coming weeks.

BLOCK: The FCC regulates your cell phone, your television and the companies that bring you the Internet.

2013 Pritzker Winner Toyo Ito Finds Inspiration In Air, Wind And Water

Neda Ulaby — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:19:00 +0000

Toyo Ito, a 71-year-old architect based in Japan, is the winner of the 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The jury honored Ito for his more than four-decade career, in which he has created architecture that "projects an air of optimism, lightness and joy ... infused with both a sense of uniqueness and universality."

On the phone from his offices in Tokyo — the most densely populated city in the world — Ito says "air and wind and water," are the forces that drive him aesthetically.

From Louisiana To Versailles, Funding 'Vital Stories, Artfully Told'

Neda Ulaby — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:34:00 +0000

The movie Beasts of the Southern Wild is a fairy tale of a film. It might not seem to have much in common with documentaries about evangelical Christians in Uganda or the billionaire Koch brothers. But these films were all funded by a not-for-profit group called Cinereach. It was started by a couple of film school graduates who are still in their 20s.

Toy Fair: Markers That Don't Blot Walls, Sand Without The Mess

Neda Ulaby — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Toy Fair 2013 in New York started Sunday and runs until Wednesday. NPR's Neda Ulaby had the tough assignment of sizing up the acres of fun offerings. She brings us this report:

The venerable industry convention Toy Fair celebrates its 110^th anniversary this week. But it might as well be the 1970s or '80s within the great glassy expanse of New York City's Javits Center.

Vast acres of displays baldly appeal to the nostalgia of today's 30-to 40-something parents.

Reg Presley, The Voice Of 'Wild Thing,' Dies

Neda Ulaby — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:48:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9DVJE_bhVU

Competition, High Bills Hurt Cable Companies

Neda Ulaby — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:33:00 +0000

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

OK. In the next few days, cable companies announce how they did financially in 2012. Most industry watchers expect some negative trends to continue. More people are canceling their cable subscriptions. They are called cord cutters, because they are getting TV from the Internet and over the air, not their cable cords. But they're not the only problem the cable industry needs to worry about. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: Meet Comcast's worst nightmare.

JOE GOULD: Hi.

In A Fragmented Cultureverse, Can Pop References Still Pop?

Neda Ulaby — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:41:00 +0000

On a recent episode of Saturday Night Live when the comedian Louis C.K. played host, one skit parodied his eponymous show on F/X. It riffed on the theme song and the discursive style of his comedy.

But here's the thing: Fewer than 2 million people watch Louie. About 7 million watch Saturday Night Live. That means even optimistically, at least two-thirds of the audience is missing the joke.

Decades ago, Saturday Night Live skewered topics most people in the country knew about: Mister Rogers, Dirty Dancing, who shot J.R.?

'Adventure Hour' Is A New Take On Old-Time Radio

Neda Ulaby — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:52:00 +0000

The creators of The Thrilling Adventure Hour proudly call it "fake radio." It's less an homage to old-time radio and more of a clever update. A live monthly performance at Largo, a 200-seat, scruffy-chic Hollywood nightclub is also available as a popular podcast through Nerdist.

One of the show's episodic heroes is a kind of mashup of Buck Rogers and the Lone Ranger, called Sparks Nevada, Marshal of Mars.

Who's Gay On TV? Dads, Journalists, Investigators And Footmen

Neda Ulaby — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:27:00 +0000

The pop culture gay flavor of the minute? White gay dads.

"We're having a baby, Bri!" croons one of the leads on NBC's The New Normal. "This is our family. You, me and that kid forever."

It's a mini-boomlet, says real-life white gay dad and sociology professor Joshua Gamson.

'Dirt Candy': A Visual Veggie Cookbook With A Memoir Mixed In

Neda Ulaby — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 21:20:00 +0000

The Ones That Got Away series: There were so many good arts and entertainment stories in 2012 that we couldn't get around to reporting on everything as it was released. So this week, our arts reporters are circling back to look at books, movies, TV shows and trends that we should have paid more attention to.

Amanda Cohen's Dirt Candy is a graphic novel, vegetarian cookbook and memoir.

In Rapid-Fire 2012, Memes' Half-Life Fell To A Quarter

Neda Ulaby — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 08:29:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

At A Real-Life Santa's Workshop, Christmas Comes Early

Neda Ulaby — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 21:56:00 +0000

"Everyone calls me Geppetto," announces Lou Nasti. "I mean, look at me: The glasses, the gray hair — and I play with dolls. Come on."

Being with Nasti at his Brooklyn company, Mechanical Displays Inc., is like hanging out in Santa's workshop. The walls are lined with tools and dozens of molds for elf heads, all in different sizes. Dancing mice and snowmen are being prepped in a chorus line for HBO's headquarters in Manhattan. For another display, a plush mother polar bear is being wired to cuddle her baby.

That's So Random: The Evolution Of An Odd Word

Neda Ulaby — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 20:22:00 +0000

Random is a fighting word for young Spencer Thompson. The comedian posted a video to a Facebook page entitled I Hate When People Misuse the Word Random.

"The word random is the most misused word of our generation — by far," he proclaims to a tittering audience of 20-somethings.

R. Kelly's Queer, Campy 'Closet' Reopens

Neda Ulaby — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:05:00 +0000

There's really been nothing like Trapped in the Closet ever before.

R&B star R. Kelly has been making (and remaking) a series of short music videos that tell a flamboyant narrative in less-than-five-minute installments. The first batch of several dozen appeared online in 2005. Now, there's a total of 40 "chapters" that aired last Friday on IFC, with the latest ones being released online one at a time for the next week.

"He's really an experimentalist and a kind of innovator," says Jason King, a professor of recorded music at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

In North Dakota, A Tale Of Two Ticket-Splitters

Neda Ulaby — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:35:00 +0000

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Voters in North Dakota famously like to mix things up - sending one party to the White House; the other, to Congress. In a closely watched Senate race there, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp narrowly leads the count vote - the vote count. But Republican Rick Berg says he won't concede the race until a recount is complete.

The race hinged on voters like those our reporter Neta Ulaby found.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: It's a tale of two ticket-splitters.

Cultural Historian Jacques Barzun Dies At 104

Neda Ulaby — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 21:57:00 +0000

Jacques Barzun, one of the most influential historians, educators and thinkers of the 20th century, died Thursday, just one month shy of his 105th birthday. Barzun seemed to have a limitless capacity to understand and translate complex ideas — about the evolution of Western culture, what it means to be free, and even the value of American baseball.

The Afterlife Of A TV Episode: It's Complicated

Neda Ulaby — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:43:00 +0000

Have you ever seen a rerun episode that made you want to watch more of a show — even a whole season? With so many TV channels and so many shows to keep up with, it's possible that some of them could completely pass you by.

But there are also many ways to watch a show, even if it's no longer on the air. Take the medical drama House, which ended its run on FOX in May.

To watch an episode today, you could go to Netflix, where you can pay $7.99 a month to stream videos. But it only has House DVDs. So you go to Hulu. It has a few episodes.

Ratings Success? It's All In The (ABC) Family

Neda Ulaby — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 08:33:00 +0000

In a sterile white boardroom in ABC Family's headquarters in Los Angeles, two young women are assiduously ignoring a spread of cookies in favor of two more important things: their laptops and a live broadcast of the show Pretty Little Liars playing on a large flat-screen TV.

Dalia Ganz, 28, is the show's social-media manager. She's patiently teaching one of the beautiful young actors on the show how to live-tweet this episode.

"Include #prettylittleliars in your answers," she instructs.

Jessica Lange, Back In Black For 'Horror Story'

Neda Ulaby — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:34:00 +0000

To speak with Ryan Murphy about his show American Horror Story is to hear this declaration repeatedly: "She classes up the joint."

Murphy is referring to his star, Jessica Lange, who recently won an Emmy for her role in the show's first season. If you've been a fan of Lange's film career, from Tootsie to Frances to Blue Sky, you might wonder why this treasure of the American theater, this two-time Oscar winner, is slumming in a lurid cable TV horror show.

"I was at a low point in my life," Lange laughs, recalling when she decided to take the role.

Nobel-Winning Chinese Writer Inspired By Faulkner

Neda Ulaby — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:47:00 +0000

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel. This year's Nobel prize for literature was announced today. It went to Chinese writer Mo Yan. The Swedish academy praised what it called Mo's hallucinatory realism.

Making A Comedy Pilot? You Might Want To Call James Burrows

Neda Ulaby — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 15:13:00 +0000

"It's staggering."

That's Warren Littlefield, the former president of NBC, talking about the track record of sitcom director James Burrows. Tonight's premiere of Partners is his latest effort, but he's also directed more than 50 other pilots, including Cheers, Friends, Frasier, Taxi, Night Court, 2 Broke Girls, The Big Bang Theory and 3rd Rock From The Sun. As Littlefield puts it, "That's unheard of." Not emphatic enough?

When TV Shows Go To College, They Fail To Make The Grade

Neda Ulaby — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 21:22:00 +0000

I was packing up my recording equipment after interviewing TV executive Susanne Daniels — for a different story — when she said, casually, "Have you ever noticed how there's never been a really great TV show about college?"

I looked at her. Then I started unpacking my equipment again. She had just offered me a story.

Daniels should know. She used to run the WB network, back when it aired one of the most successful college-themed shows, Felicity. And it's true.