Amy's Robot

If It Ain't Broke, Break It

This has been a bad week for media fixtures:

• Bob Edwards was fired from NPR's Morning Edition after 25 years.
• Jerry Orbach is apparently leaving Law & Order.
• Ashleigh Banfield has been officially let go by NBC.

In each case, the people making the decisions have re-arranged the deck chairs while their ships sink. NPR has many weak points, but Edwards is not one of them. His calm manner brings a simultaneous seriousness and lightheartedness to the news that is almost impossible to pull off. Edwards is able to shift tones in a way that is barely detectible, but almost always pitch-perfect. It's a shame to see him go. (But let's not forget that NPR honchos ditched Linda Wertheimer from ATC a few years ago, too, another mistake, although she was coughing a bit too much on air towards the end there.)

Just yesterday, before the Orbach rumor got out, a friend and I were discussing our deepest fears about the future of the show. She presciently observed:

Anyway, my concern is that they are eventually going to fire Jack [McCoy, played by Sam Waterston] just for the sake of bringing in someone new-- though I certainly hope they don't.

I responded that casting-wise, the biggest problem with the show is Elizabeth Rohm as Serena Southerlyn (the blonde one), who I think is usually okay, but a lot of people can't stand. But beyond this, the show has bigger problems, namely the plots are so twisted and nonsensical, many of the recent shows end up being foolish. The wooden acting of recent cast additions Rohm and former Senator Fred Thompson don't help. Given these factors, Orbach and Waterston are the show's greatest assets, and it's idiotic to let either of them leave. There's no word yet on whether Briscoe is choosing to leave or is being asked to, but if they asked him to leave, we'll have to wonder if Dick Wolf has lost it.

Finally, Banfield is not nearly as much of an institution as Edwards or Orbach, but she's one of our favorite reporters, and we'll miss her. She's gotten the shaft ever since she charged the media with being complicit in presenting a sanitized view of the war. She's a better reporter than NBC ever let us believe, and she doesn't deserve to be put out to pasture like this. Hopefully, another network will pick her up and give her the post she has earned.

But, speaking of breaking things that aren't broke, and fixing things that are, the NYT reports (or reminds us?) today that Condoleezza is resigning at the end of the year.

categories: Media
posted by adm at 1:47 PM | #