Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2008 > January > 23 > Entry
Prime-time Laura Hall truly creepy
If Laura Hall and her attorneys thought her prettied-up appearance on “48 Hours” last night was going to stir up sympathy for the former University of Texas student, they were wrong-wrong-wrong!
From those ridiculous swimsuit scenes to that maniacal laughter to the big ol’ crocodile tears (“Of course I was afraid of him!”), Hall came across as a major sociopath — not to mention bad actor. What was that huffing and puffing about before she launched into her description of that fateful night in 2005?
Now we know why her attorneys didn’t want her testifying, either during Colton Pitonyak’s trial for murdering Jennifer Cave or for her own trial for “tampering with evidence” and then helping the murderer escape to Mexico. The “tampering,” you might recall, had something to do with one or both of the suspects sawing off Cave’s head and arm.
CBS had promoted this “48 Hours” in such a way that it looked like Hall was going to get a sympathetic portrayal. The end result, however, was just plain creepy, and if Hall and her attorneys were hoping this PR coup to help her get the new trial she’s asking for, I’m betting they’re wrong — again.
It was a fascinating hour, but I really needed a hot shower and a strong disinfectant when it was over.
A small sliver of hope …
Could it be? Hollywood directors have nudged Hollywood producers and writers to bring an end to the crippling writers’ strike?
On the heels of the Directors Guild of America negotiations, the writers and producers are meeting today in an attempt to restart formal negotiations.
The writers apparently have dropped a demand that reality show writers be unionized, but that wasn’t the major sticking point to begin with. At issue are Internet revenues, so we’ll just keep our digits crossed that this one is settled, too.
A few good signs that our long entertainment nightmare will end: The writers’ guild announced it will not picket the Feb. 10 “Grammy Awards.” And the “Screen Actors Guild Awards” will take place this Sunday, as planned.
The new urgency, of course, is pegged to “The 80th Academy Awards,” scheduled for Feb. 24. If the Oscars ceremony is canceled over this industry madness, fans may be so ticked off they stay away from movies and television for a while.
We love us some spitfire in our debates
Monday night’s Democratic debate featuring Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards was an enormous hit on CNN. The network says nearly 5 million people tuned in for the fireworks and were rewarded with rabid barking between Clinton and Obama that left moderator Wolf Blitzer, possibly for the first time in his life, speechless.
The political warfare this week was the most-watched debate ever shown on cable, beating out a Nov. 28, 2007, Republican debate that drew 4.5 million viewers.
As evidence of the extreme interest in this presidential campaign, ABC’s prime-time debate — featuring two hours of Democrats and two hours of Republicans on a Saturday night (Jan. 5) — drew a whopping 9.4 million viewers.
Now if we could just get more than 50 percent of Americans to vote!
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By Dan
January 23, 2008 12:26 PM | Link to this
"Reality show writers"...I've long suspected those shows were partially scripted.