the buzz log
Election Collection, What's Your Affection?
I'm just a bill. Yes, I'm only a bill, and I sit here on Capitol Hill.
If those words have triggered an incessant yet pleasurable hum in your brain, you belong to a generation exposed to Atari video games, Shaun Cassidy, jelly sneakers (when they appeared the first time around), and "Schoolhouse Rock."
Musical cartoon shorts or "educational interstitials," the '70s-era "Schoolhouse Rock" comprised enlightened breaks between Scooby Doo adventures and Bugs Bunny reruns, and put topics like multiplication, grammar, and history to a jazzy uptempo or moody folk beat. Culling from that vast repertoire, Disney (which now owns the cartoons) has repackaged an election special DVD this week, to help a new generation get in tune during a presidential year and induce random lyrical outbreaks among older folks.
Oh, we were suffering until suffrage.
Not a woman here could vote no matter what age,
until the 19th Amendment struck down that restrictive rule.
Oh yeah!
As with all seemingly good acts, ABC's motives to air "Schoolhouse" weren't entirely pure: Consumer activists rebelled against the inordinate advertising time on Saturday mornings targeting kids, and the FCC decreed children's programming had to have an educational component (a ruling lifted during the Reagan years).
Oh, elbow room, elbow room,
Got to, got to get us some elbow room.
It's the west or bust, in God we trust,
there's a new land out there...
After a long absence, rock versions of the songs were released, Disney bought the franchise, and attempts at a musical have been made. While the math and grammar lessons still hold up, Time magazine's TV blog Tuned In took Tuesday's DVD release to muse about these segments as a post-Watergate "kind of socio-political time capsule," and how they couldn't perhaps be made today.
We're gonna elect a president! (No more kings)
He's gonna do what the people want! (No more kings)
We're gonna run things our way! (No more kings)
Nobody's gonna tell us what to do!
All the more reason to brainwash a new generation, although serious reviews suggest getting the comprehensive 30th Anniversary edition, released in 2002. After all, in any good election year, you also got to know some choice interjections.
Hallelujah. Yea.
Filed under: TV, Politics, Videos, Animation, Cartoons, Kids, Animated Characters, Elections
Emmy's Mixed Bag: Overrated Reality, Fey Love, and Rickles' Retort
Emmy has not aged well.
Actually, let's take that back. For a lady who celebrated the big 6-0 on Sunday night, the winged statuette still shone with luster. But the people who threw her the party—for shame. Hollywood Reporter wrapped up the sour and dour critical reaction, and Fresno Bee observed that circus elephants fed on a month-long diet of "rancid chili and rotten boiled eggs ... could not create a bigger stinker."
What elephants deserved to get involved in the fiasco, who knows, but interest for "emmy" keyword searches slacked off 18% compared to last year. Maybe Sally Field should've been made the host to stir things up again.
Could any redemption be found? The comedy "30 Rock" not only got a slew of awards for best show and best actors, but also earned Tina Fey the most Web love out of all the nominees. She even bested hostess Heidi Klum—and Fey didn't need Tom Bergeron and William Shatner to tear her gown off to do so. Meanwhile, castmate Jane Krakowski didn't get a nomination, but her red carpet look of a loaner diamond waterfall earrings and black gown helped boost her online lookups nearly 2,000%.
Among the winners, Jeremy Piven boasted the fastest rising search bump (+780%), more from delivering a biting critique on the ceremony than scoring his third best supporting actor nod ... that and maybe kissing the pregnant bump of presenter Amy Poehler.
Mary Tyler Moore (reuniting with former crewmate Betty White) presented the best comedy award and received her due online respect (+1,132%) as a TV icon. Other salutes went to Steve Martin (+255%), Lily Tomlin (+70%), and the Smothers Brothers (+infinity).
The true buzz of the night though went to ... well, okay, it went to Fey and Klum, but following them was comedian Don Rickles. His appearance garnered look-ups for his bio, age (81), and his Emmy award-winning doc "Don Rickles Project." He also provided the cathartic laughter of the broadcast when presenter Kathy Griffin reminded him about the teleprompter after the octogenarian dared to go off script. Rickles replied dryly, "Oh, because it's a hot show. Let's read these funny lines they wrote for us."
Note to Emmy: Bring back the true funnymen and leave reality behind.
Filed under: TV, Award Shows, Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards 2008
A Supportive Emmy
Let's get this out of the way: Supporting actors and actresses are not second-fiddle. Television history has shown time and time again how a secondary character, or even a cameo, emerges to be bigger than leads or the show itself.
USA Today casts a series of well-deserved "spotlights" on Emmy-nominated supporters, probing Amy Poehler about her pregnancy, John Slattery on his first nomination in a 20-year career, Kristin Chenoweth about her upcoming Christmas album, and veteran Zeljko Ivanek on keeping his name just the way it is.
While all are loved, here are the supporting crew ranked in order of searches during the Emmy eligibility period (July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008).
| Top Searched Supporting Actress Nominee, Comedy | Top Searched Supporting Actor Nominee, Comedy | |||
| 1. | Vanessa Williams ("Ugly Betty," ABC) | 1. | Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother," CBS) | |
| 2. | Kristin Chenoweth ("Pushing Daisies," ABC) | 2. | Jeremy Piven ("Entourage," HBO) | |
| 3. | Amy Poehler ("Saturday Night Live," NBC) | 3. | Rainn Wilson ("The Office," NBC) | |
| 4. | Jean Smart ("Samantha Who?," ABC) | 4. | Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men," CBS) | |
| 5. | Holland Taylor ("Two and a Half Men," CBS) | 5. | Kevin Dillon ("Entourage," HBO) | |
| Top Searched Supporting Actress Nominee, Drama | Top Searched Supporting Actor Nominee, Drama | |||
| 1. | Sandra Oh ("Grey's Anatomy," ABC) | 1. | William Shatner ("Boston Legal," ABC) | |
| 2. | Rachel Griffiths ("Brothers & Sisters," ABC) | 2. | John Slattery ("Mad Men," AMC) | |
| 3. | Candice Bergen ("Boston Legal," ABC) | 3. | Ted Danson ("Damages," FX) | |
| 4. | Chandra Wilson ("Grey's Anatomy," ABC) | 4. | Michael C. Hall ("Dexter," Showtime) | |
| 5. | Dianne Wiest ("In Treatment," HBO) | 5. | Zeljko Ivanek ("Damages," FX) | |
Filed under: TV, Actors, Award Shows, Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards 2008
Emmy Leaders
And the predictions are in. The approach of the 60th annual Emmy Awards has let loose a critical wish list of what and who should win. Not surprisingly, people agree to disagree. A TV Guide and USA Today face-off, for instance, reaches accord only about 60% of the time.
As critics and viewers well know, the Emmy Awards isn't always a popularity contest. It isn't always about quality either, although some (as the San Francisco Chronicle does) continue to cry injustice over shunned worthies. The iniquity partly lies in the rules, which specify that the Academy only judges a series' season from six select episodes. Unlike hot-blooded fans, members don't cultivate an affectionate long-term relationship.
But, if the Emmy's were about commitment from day one, which nominees would deserve to hold the winged statuette? Here are the leading actor and actress nominees pulling in the most Web interest during the 2007-08 Emmy eligibility period (July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008). Check later for the most popular supporting actor and actress nominees.
| Top Searched Leading Actress Nominee, Comedy | Top Searched Leading Actor Nominee, Comedy | |||
| 1. | Tina Fey ("30 Rock," NBC) | 1. | Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock," NBC) | |
| 2. | Christina Applegate ("Samantha Who?," ABC) | 2. | Charlie Sheen ("Two and a Half Men," CBS) | |
| 3. | Mary-Louise Parker ("Weeds," Showtime) | 3. | Steve Carell ("The Office," NBC) | |
| 4. | Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("The New Adventures of Old Christine," CBS) | 4. | Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies," ABC) | |
| 5. | America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty," ABC) | 5. | Tony Shalhoub ("Monk," USA) | |
| Top Searched Leading Actress Nominee, Drama | Top Searched Leading Actor Nominee, Drama | |||
| 1. | Holly Hunter ("Saving Grace," TNT) | 1. | ¹Hugh Laurie ("House," Fox) | |
| 2. | Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC) | 2. | James Spader ("Boston Legal," ABC) | |
| 3. | Sally Field ("Brothers & Sisters," ABC) | 3. | Gabriel Byrne ("In Treatment," HBO) | |
| 4. | Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer," TNT) | 4. | Michael C. Hall ("Dexter," Showtime) | |
| 5. | Glenn Close ("Damages," FX) | 5. | Jon Hamm ("Mad Men," AMC) | |
Filed under: TV, Actors, Award Shows, Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards 2008
A Very Buzzy Schedule: Planning Out the Rest of 2008
Amateur athletes and professional politicians have taken up a chunk of summer, but as fall draws nigh, people are figuring out how to maximize leisure, work, and holiday time for the rest of 2008. Many have been consulting different "schedules" on the Web. Not surprisingly, college and professional sports dominated searches in the past 7 days, as the following top 20 (non-convention-related) list reveals:
Fall TV and transportation timetables also cracked the national priority list. The Great Writer's Strike of 2008 has made for some mighty skimpy programming, and viewers have also been seeking out cable fare on HBO (+43%), while the CW and CBS make up the most freebie broadcast queries. As for transportation, the new school year may likely be driving these lookups, as students return to college and parents reschedule their day around their children's activities.
The holiday time crunch doesn't loom that far off, and indeed an obsessed many began gathering ideas for halloween costumes since early August. True advance planners scheme even now for Yuletide joys, such as "christmas ornament crafts" (+209%), "christmas songs" (+89%), and "christmas trees" (+21%).
More current, of course, are the holiday queries for Ramadan, including the "ramadan fasting schedule 2008." The Islamic holy month started Aug. 30 through Sept. 2, depending on how celebrants calculate the beginning of the lunar month.Expect a busy fall: The professional politicans aren't going away anytime soon (at least, not until November 5), and another round of amateur competition comes after the Beijing Paralympics holds its opening ceremony on Sept. 6. This may be no time to miss out on historical moments, but history definitely has a way of pre-empting regularly scheduled lives.
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oddest Jobs | Breakout! |
| 2 | Vivienne Marcheline And Knox Leon | Breakout! |
| 3 | Shwayze Song | Breakout! |
| 4 | Cell Phone Etiquette | Breakout! |
| 5 | Your Home Page | 17280% |
| 6 | W Magazine | 8647% |
| 7 | Christie Brinkley | 8361% |
| 8 | Selma Blair | 5953% |
| 9 | Nashville Star | 2758% |
| 10 | Neiman Marcus Christmas Book | 1365% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leryn Franco | +244 | 456 |
| 2 | Holly Madison | +288 | 351 |
| 3 | Halloween Costumes | -17 | 222 |
| 4 | Hi-5 | +8 | 220 |
| 5 | Kellie Pickler | +101 | 200 |
| 6 | Jamie Lynn Spears | +80 | 180 |
| 7 | NFL | +0 | 136 |
| 8 | Barack Obama | -1 | 119 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.