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Checking In With Lizzie Grubman | Summer is here, which means Plum TV is back in action, filming the sorts of hard-hitting interviews you just can't find anywhere else. This week, the host of "The Juice," Nick Leighton, files a two-part interview with none other than Lizzie Grubman. More
General Motors Starts Over | If you were a little disturbed when you heard that America's largest automaker had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week, you really need not have worried so much. General Motors didn't really "go out of business," the car company's new commercial explains. It was "about getting down to business." And don't pay any attention to all the negative press the past few months: "The only chapter we're focused on is the first chapter."
Kelly Cutrone's reality show, Kell on Earth, doesn't debut for a few months, but that isn't stopping her from billing herself as a "Bravo reality star" on her "Bluefly video blog." (She described herself as a "star of The Hills and The City" until recently; presumably now that Bravo's paying her big bucks to do a show of her own, the network would prefer she avoid references to the competition.)
Several reviews of Bravo's Project Runway ripoff, The Fashion Show, pointed out that the challenges seemed to be considerably more difficult that the ones asked of contestants on Runway. There's no doubt about that! On the next episode of the Isaac Mizrahi-hosted series, aspiring designers have to put together an outfit for Tinsley Mortimer—on a budget of $40. A preview of the episode—featuring a stilted performance by the Tinz herself—is above.
Cityfile: "So now that your sales are up—27 percent in the first quarter, you report—does this mean you'll be saving struggling media companies by buying airtime and running this commercial on cable?"
Nick Denton: "Funny what happens when a blog company tries to tell its own story. What does it use? Not the blog post, but video."
Bonnie Fuller, the former Star and Us Weekly editor who now spends her days blogging for the Huffington Post, has always had a rep for being a horrible boss. Writers and editors who had the misfortune to work with her never lasted long; the stories recounted by the people who worked for her over the years are legion. So kudos to Samantha Ettus, the host of ObsessedTV, for broaching the subject in a chat with the editrix a couple of weeks ago. More
Did you know that Michael Wolff's unknown, third-rate website is "the fastest growing news site in the country"? Did you know it's putting the New York Times out of business? We sure didn't, and while we have our doubts about the continued survival of the Times, too, we're pretty sure the last thing Arthur Sulzberger Jr. worries about before he goes to sleep at night is the fifth failed media company that Michael Wolff has started over the past two decades. But it is nice to hear him talk about his company's unique ability to take an "incredibly long, incredibly gassy" Times story that's 1,200 words and reduce it to 65-120 words without losing "a thing." Perhaps next Wolff could kindly take his gassy 3,300-word columns for Vanity Fair and reduce them, too? Considering that amid all the gassiness, Wolff rarely has a point to make, a five or ten-word sentence should suffice. A clip from Wolff's appearance on CNBC on Friday night after the jump. More
It's a good thing financier Steve Rattner only (allegedly) invested in movies to (allegedly) bribe state officials, and not because he thought he had a talent for picking quality films. The trailer for Chooch, the movie that Rattner (allegedly) paid $88,000 to obtain the distribution rights for, couldn't be more painful to watch. Of course, Rattner's decision to (allegedly) buy the DVD rights to the movie did help his Quadrangle Group allegedly rope in a $100 million investment from the New York state pension fund, not that means very much now that the (alleged) scheme has been exposed and the payments are under investigation. But it's a good thing they don't prosecute people for crimes against culture or Rattner would really be in trouble right now.
We're not sure why CNBC would have picked Michael Wolff, of all people, to come on to talk about how disgraced CEOs and celebrities can go about restoring their damaged reputations—and it's also a mystery why Wolff would have accepted such an ironic invite—but maybe he was just hoping to pick up a tip or two from the other guests on the panel? Unfortunately for Wolff, just as he got done explaining why a Lindsay Lohan reality show would be a huge rating success—you think?—some sort of technical glitch occurred and kind of ruined Michael's moment. Oh, well. We'll just have to look forward to next week when Wolff appears on camera to talk about what qualities to look for when you're hiring an intern.
Columbia University psychology professor David Buckner appeared on Glenn Beck's show on Fox News this afternoon. Based on the clip above, we're guessing Beck probably won't be inviting him back again any time soon. At least not without a note from his doctor. [YouTube]
Bloomberg Spends $3 Million on TV Ads in Mayoral Race [NYT]
Related: Mayor Mike's New Spanish Language Phrasebook [Cityfile]
Jonathan Zizmor Goes Viral | Television commercials for Dr. Zizmor, the dermatologist who made blanketing the subway with his rainbow-colored ads his calling card? Could it be? Sadly, no. It seems some people are creating unauthorized Zizmor commercials, perhaps in the hope that in so doing the great doctor will follow. We salute you, Layer Cake Productions. Dr. Z would be crazy not to call you the moment he makes plans to branch out. [YouTube via Art Fag City]
Stocks were up big today after regulators agreed to change an accounting rule and world leaders at the G-20 summit pledged more than $1 trillion to revive the global economy. So you know what that means: Jim Cramer now says the depression is over! Feel better now?
