Noteworthy People/Things/Events of 2009

The Notes from the Asylum list of noteworthy people, things and events of 2009, in no particular order . . .

Barack Obama inaugurated. That moment of national pride upon seeing the first African-American president sworn into office seems like a very long time ago. Since that cold January day in Washington, D.C. we’ve seen the president highlighted in the news for:

• The First Family’s search for a dog
• The Professor Gates imbroglio
• The question of whether Obama and the French president actually checked out a teenager’s booty in full view of the media
• A congressman shouting, “You lie” at the president during his address to Congress about the health insurance reform legislation
• The swine flu vaccine debacle (not enough vaccines despite government promises) and nationwide H1N1 scare (aided and abetted by Vice President Joe Biden’s I-wouldn’t-put-my-family-on-an-airplane-right-now comment on the Today Show)
• The contentious debates and town hall meetings about the health care legislation
• A controversial stimulus bill, with federal money being spent on some, um, controversial items
• The likes of AIG honchos getting mega-bonuses while unemployment numbers climb into the double-digits
• The federal government’s attempts to help revive the ailing U.S. automotive industry inspiring the nickname “Government Motors”
• The massacre at Fort Hood
• Tens of thousands of US troops being sent to Afghanistan
• The president killing a fly on camera.

Yes, it’s been a very long, weird freshman year for President Obama.

Sarah Palin, the former VP nominee who resigned the Alaska governorship this year. Hey, who says books are dead? Palin’s autobiography and well attended book tour events says books aren’t quite dead yet. At least all the attention paid to her book and her Oprah interview took the immature daddy of her grandson off out of the news, for a little while.

The season finale of Mad Men. Coupled with “The Gypsy and the Hobo” episode -- where Don finally confessed almost all of his dirty little secrets to his wife Betty -- these two episodes set the bar impossibly high for what it means to deliver intelligent, riveting, quality television. Completely. Besotted.

Morning Joe. The MSNBC talk show, which is always on in the kitchen as I get the kids ready for school on weekday mornings, boasts a lively mix of liberal and conservative ideologies, smart discussion and bar room humor all in one. It has had a great year and has earned my viewer loyalty.

Jon Hamm on SNL. Take note other celeb would-be Saturday Night Live hosts: Jon Hamm may have made being funny in the unevenly written sketch show LOOK easy when he hosted, but it’s not. Just ask his Mad Men co-star, January Jones. Oh, and those two actors being photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair earlier this year . . . those images constituted my favorite photo shoot of the year.

The Gosselin saga. Eight is enough apparently . . . especially when you throw some girlfriends into the mix. This was a sad, sad chapter in American pop culture lore where parents put their eight cute children in front of TV cameras for TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8 and were then dismayed when those cameras wound up capturing the disintegration of their marriage. One might’ve hoped that this private-moment-made-public would’ve caused other parents to reconsider putting their kids on reality show programs. Alas, it didn’t.
 

Former High-Priced Escort Turns Relationship Columnist

We've all read the grim news, day after day as more professionally trained journalists and columnists are losing their jobs in the mainstream media, particularly in the newspaper business as newspapers close or go online only, shedding jobs along the way.

So when I saw that former high-priced escort Ashley Dupre -- whose dalliances with former New York governor Eliot Spitzer made her famous (and cost him his office) -- had landed a gig as a columnist for the New York Post to write about relationships it made me so very sad for my journalist colleagues.

If newspapers are going to go this route, maybe they should consider giving Bernie Madoff a column where he can answer readers' questions about investments/finances from his jail cell? Maybe Tiger Woods could be the male counterpoint to Dupre, writing a relationship column for the Post? Jon Gosselin could write a parenting column.

Poor Silda Spitzer.

Image credit: Victoria Will/New York Post.

What Will the Gosselins Do With Their Free Time Now that ‘Jon and Kate Plus 8’ Has Suspended Filming?

The New York Post reported this week that, in the wake of Jon Gosselin’s demand that his kids no longer be featured in a TLC reality show (the one that made the Gosselin's a household name), it's entirely likely that we've seen the last original episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. "This is the last episode for which we have completed filming," a TLC spokeswoman told the Post. "We remain suspended."

The Post reporter read between the lines and offered this: "It's believed that, behind the scenes, neither the network nor Kate are pushing Jon to rescind his ban on filming the kids."

That leaves the separating/divorcing Gosselins with some extra times on their hands. What should they do with that time?

While one of Jon’s girlfriends, 22-year-old Hailey Glassman, has told The Insider that Jon already spends a good bit of his time having “mantrums” (man tantrums), taking his temper out on her and lying (“Sometimes he has trouble with the truth and he will dance and dance around his lies,” Glassman said), it’s being rumored that Jon will go out on a date with the Octomom as part of a reality show. (And if they brought all their kids along on the date, they'd have the equivalent of the population of Rhode Island in tow.)

Meanwhile, Kate has told the media that she doesn’t think anyone would want to marry into her situation and is contemplating returning to her nursing career. (Wonder how her bedside manner would compare to Edie Falco's Nurse Jackie?)

In case Jon and Kate are looking for something to help them to fill their days, which were once spent in front of TLC cameras and promoting the show and their "happy" family, I've got some suggestions for them:

Jon could try to improve his reputation as a devoted father of eight young children by writing a book about how challenging it is to be a divorced father while in the glare of media spotlight (at the same time he's courting said spotlight . . . but he doesn't need to mention that.). When he’s done, he can have his publicist arrange to hold his book launch party poolside at a Las Vegas hotel next to svelte bikinied women, seeing as though “hosting” a party at a similar locale earlier this year did so much to boost his loving daddy image.

Or Jon could take a page from the father of Sarah Palin's grandson and give a tell-all, scathing interview about his soon-to-be ex-wife to Vanity Fair, pose for photos while holding a photo of Kate’s head on a stick with the eyes cut out (as Levi Johnston did with a photo of Palin),  then offer to pose naked for Playgirl, continue to give interviews where you taunt the person who you now loathe (in Jon’s case it would be Kate who he’s already trashed on ABC by saying he “despises” her) and say that you’ve got “huge” stories about that person that you've yet to reveal, as Johnston did on CBS' Early Show this week.

Given that Kate has told the media that she feels comfortable in front of the camera, maybe she could consider becoming a third co-host of the 47th hour of the Today Show, accompanying Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. Kate and Kathie Lee can take turns rolling their eyes, cracking wise and making exaggerated arm motions as they discuss the news of the day.

Do you have any suggestions as to the next career moves for Jon and Kate?

Image credit: TLC via the Examiner.

Kate Shows Her Sense of Humor on 'Leno,' Jon Not So Much

THIS is the way the Gosselins should go. Forget the whining on ABC News about how you "despise" your estranged spouse. Forget about complaining to the Today Show about the status of the joint bank account. Forget endorsing milkshakes or cupcakes or Twinkies or whatever the heck Jon was shilling the other day.

Go on a CHARM offensive. The Gosselins have heard of charm, right?

Kate's appearance in the video spoof on The Jay Leno Show -- of "paparazzi" hounding her, and her treating them like children -- is exactly the kind of thing Jon and Kate need to start doing to distract from the whole mess o'ugly they've been dishing out to the national media. This video makes her look like she at least gets how the public sees her and indicates that she's got some kind of a sense of humor.



If Jon appeared in a similar kind of spoof, maybe I'd warm back up to him too (though he's committed so much self-inflicted damage to his image that he's got his work cut out for him, rebuild-wise). Instead of doing some comedy, Jon agreed to be interviewed by Nancy Grace. Bad move dude. Seriously. She smoked you.



Do you think Kate's appearance in a Leno spoof was a good idea or a bad one? Should both Gosselins do more of this or just keep a low profile for the time being?

Trashy Celeb Dirt: The Dueling Gosselins, Jon Makes TLC Show Stop Filming

Production on Jon & Kate Plus 8 -- which TLC had announced would be renamed Kate Plus 8 -- has ground to a halt because Jon Gosselin is steamed. And his estranged wife Kate wants the show to go on. Here's what various news outlets have to say about the power struggle going on between the dueling Gosselins:

TV Guide reported on Jon's lawyer's statement:

"Jon Gosselin sees TLC as a 'monster' that has greedily cashed in on his family and even partially caused the breakdown of his marriage with Kate, his lawyer says.


. . . 'Jon is resolved not to allow the TLC corporate machine to devour his family and promote the monster's best interests over those of his family,' Jon Gosselin's lawyer, Mark Jay Heller, said Thursday in a statement.

. . . The attorney claims that TLC 'failed to designate the appropriate compensation to be allocated to the children' and 'it may ultimately be determined that TLC has not provided for compensation for the eight children over the past four years.' Heller also alleges the network 'never secured location permits' to film on the Gosselins' property."


The New York Times reported on TLC's reaction: "In a statement on Thursday, TLC said, 'We are aware of Jon Gosselin’s recent statements and remain deeply disappointed at his continued erratic behavior.'"

The Associated Press relayed Kate's response:

"I'm saddened and confused by Jon's public media statements. Jon has never expressed any concerns to me about our children being involved in the show and, in fact, is on the record as saying he believes the show benefits our children and was taping on Friday with the kids.

. . . I do the show for my family because I believe it provides us opportunities we wouldn't otherwise have. Jon used to share that belief until as recently as the day the network announced the name change of the show and indicated that Jon would have a lesser role in the show."


Bottom line: I think this is an attempt by Jon to dig himself out of the pathetically desperate PR debacle he created for himself with his highly public womanizing, frat boy behavior, hosting a Las Vegas pool party with bikinied babes and mouthing off to the media (including telling ABC News that he "despises" Kate). He's suddenly acting like he wants to "save" his family. Why else would he, during the same week, also say he wants to suspend the divorce and then tell In Touch Weekly (via Huffington Post) that, "'I regret my conduct since Kate and I separated [on June 22],' Jon tells In Touch exclusively. 'I used poor judgment in publicly socializing with other women so soon.'"
 
I'm sorry, but I'm not buyin' it. Are you?
 
Image credit: INFphoto.com via this web site.

Jimmy Kimmel's 'Jon & Kate' Spoof

Jimmy Kimmel Live this week featured an amusing spoof of a phony Lifetime original movie, "Kate is Enough," starring Kathy Griffin as Kate Gosselin.

For those who have chosen sides -- Team Kate or Team Jon -- this is an equal opportunity satire, lampooning both Jon and Kate.

Column in Which I Tell Jon Gosselin and Levi Johnston to "Man Up and Shut Up"

I went a little nutty this week in my Pop Culture & Politics column over on Mommy Track'd.

You see, I was more than a tad annoyed, by Levi Johnston, who dumped all over his kid's family in the October issue of Vanity Fair, and by Jon Gosselin, who has whined to ABC News' Primetime, telling the world that he "despises" the mother of his eight children and that he lost his 20s to childrearing. Cry me a river Jon. None of the pregnancies were accidents. I used to be sympathetic to you, dude. No more.



And as for Levi, the 19-year-old tattletale, what a portrait of class and chivalry, dumping all over his son's grandparents to a national magazine, dishing dirt about Sarah and Todd Palin's sex life and complaining about THEIR parenting, or lack thereof. Yeah you're gonna be a great specimen of parental excellence Levi.

Trashy Celeb Dirt: Kate Gosselin Speaks Out on 'Today'

Enough with the stories about which twentysomething is Jon Gosselin dating today. Now Kate Gosselin, his soon-to-be ex-wife, has taken hold of the PR nightmare that is their divorce and went on the Today Show to provide her side of the story. And the Today Show pulled out all the stops to try to get Kate to cry because crying makes for good TV.

When Meredith Vieria asked Kate why she was still wearing her wedding ring, Kate said, "For them," meaning her children, who she said she's trying to gradually ease into the new situation. Her eyes welled with tears that didn't quite fall down in a shower, though Meredith did pointedly, dramatically, hand her tissue. "I don't want to upset them."

"This is not what any mother sets out for for her children," Kate said of the divorce. "This does not feel like the best for my children, but it's necessary."

Vieria asked Kate about a post-break-up interview Jon had given in which he said Kate was the one who gave up on the marriage last year. To her credit, Kate replied, "Clearly, we both have completely different takes on what happened between us but I feel like the details of that, for the sake of my kids, need to remain private."

"Clearly, his goals are not my goals," she added.

However the heartless Vieria kept pressing -- trying to get Kate to full-on weep perhaps? -- asking Kate how she felt about the fact that Jon was dating the daughter of the plastic surgeon who did Kate's tummy tuck which was televised on Jon & Kate Plus 8. How the heck do you think she felt Meredith? "It's got to be hurtful," Meredith goaded. She then proceeded to ask Kate what she did to contribute to the downfall of the marriage saying, "Marriage is a two-way street. Divorce is a two-way street. What role do you think you played, if any, in what happened?"

I actually felt badly for Kate while watching this interview and got the distinct impression that she was being used to goose up Today's ratings, as the words "Exclusive" were plastered on the screen. This is one reason (among the many) why I stopped watching the Today Show. The interviews started to feel too exploitative.

But certainly Kate knew that this would happen before she set foot on the set. Her live interview had been promoted for days. So perhaps she was simply trying to eek out some sympathy, acquire more people to side with her on Team Kate, as opposed to with her immature husband. Meanwhile, their children are the ones who'll really suffer the most.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Trashy Celeb Dirt: Jon . . . Plus Galpals, Jack Bauer is Free, Mouthin' Off May Make Izzie Sick Again & Arnett Channels Judy Blume

Jon . . . Plus Galpals

I tried to give Jon Gosselin the benefit of the doubt. Really I did. I tried to sympathize with him and his soon-to-be ex-wife Kate Gosselin and the terrible predicament they're in. I imagined that, years ago, the money dangled in front of them by the cable network to follow them and their eight children with cameras must've been a lot, must've offered their family with some financial security in an insecure world. I imagined that the Gosselins thought the TLC folks would be kind to them, treat them like family, not exploit them or any difficulties that might crop up in the future. (Jon and Kate likely never imagined when they started this thing that they'd be getting divorced.) Then I further tried to put myself in their places -- marriage falling apart while the world is watching and judging, the paparazzi in ruthless pursuit -- and that Kate realized that if she and Jon divorced, they'd still need an income to support all these kids.

Then Jon "I'm only 32 and I just want a life so I can screw around and act like I'm not the father of eight," started appearing in public with different, much younger women, including a woman who says she wants to work with him to launch a children's clothing line and who told People Magazine about the cool, fun things she and Jon do together. The New York Daily News has even taken to calling the new Gotham resident, the "octodad playboy."

Jon Gosselin, man, you're freakin' tryin' my patience. Is it too much to ask that you just be discreet for a little while? For a guy who didn't seem to like being in the spotlight, it doesn't appear as though you're doing much to turn off those klieg lights.

Jack Bauer is Free

Assault charges against Kiefer Sutherland for head-butting of a fashion designer in New York were dropped this week. Jack Bauer fans -- who feared the probationing Sutherland could do more jail time following the months he spent incarcerated after his DUI conviction -- breathed a sigh of relief. However fashion designers were left quaking in their boots, forewarned never to commit any wrongdoing in the presence of Jack Bauer.

Mouthin' Off May Make Izzie Sick Again

*Spoiler alert for Grey's Anatomy's new season*

Kathering Heigl will be back as Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy, after a 12-hankie, manipulative season finale that left it unclear whether she and T.R. Knight's character George O'Malley had died. It appears as though Izzie did not die. And Heigl -- whose famous complaining about the lack of juicy, Emmy-worthy material for her character was believed to have led to her character developing a near-fatal case of skin cancer -- was on David Letterman this week complaining about her first day back on the Grey's set. "It was -- I'm going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them -- a 17-hour day, which I think is cruel and mean." She was snarky about the working conditions and joked that they're "very Oliver Twist." Apparently Heigl's angling for Izzie to be massively disfigured in a sudden, brutal car crash. No wait, that was Knight.



Arnett Channels Judy Blume

I don't know how Jimmy Fallon convinces celebs to do these things, but he got comedian Will Arnett -- hubby to the awesome Amy Poehler -- to read aloud a section of Judy Blume's classic, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (Reminded me of when he got Michael Emerson -- aka, Ben Linus -- to recite an ominous rendition of Little Boy Blue.)



Image credit: INF photo via ABC News.

Salon's Satirical Spoof of the 'Jon & Kate' Debacle

Saw this video on the Salon web site by Scott Bateman and laughed, in spite of myself. (Contrary to popular opinion, I feel badly for everyone in the Gosselin family about what's happened to the Gosselin marriage.)

However, this is great satire, particularly the line about the sextuplets possessing nuclear weapons.

Kate: 'The Show Must Go On' . . . Despite Divorcing Jon

There was a stark black screen with plain white lettering which said the following:

"On Monday, June 22, 2009, legal proceedings were initiated in Pennsylvania to dissolve the ten-year marriage of Jon and Kate Gosselin."

We knew it was coming. We knew they'd be calling it quits, but Jon and Kate kept it under wraps until the night the episode, "Houses & Big Changes" aired. They didn't even file their divorce papers until very late on the day on which the episode was slated to air in order to preserve the surprise and boost the ratings. But nonetheless, there was something deeply sad about watching the one-hour "special" episode of Jon & Kate Plus Eight where Jon and Kate confirmed that they were splitting up.

Here are a few observations:

-- It seems as though Jon is psyched to move on to a new phase of his life, noting that he's only 32 years old. Why else would he say, "I'm excited and hurt." Excited? Excited to have to live elsewhere and swap custody of eight kids? He said he was proud of himself for standing on his "own two feet" and not letting Kate "rule the roost" any longer.

-- Kate, by contrast, seemed deeply devastated. "Jon has a lot of anger toward me and I'd love to discuss it with him but he won't discuss it with me," she said, adding that she'd recently sobbed harder than she'd ever sobbed. Denying that this reality program and their careers associated with the show played any role in the disintegration of her marriage, Kate said that their "goals are different now."

-- "We've always done the show for the kids to be able to provide for them . . . The show must go on," Kate declared. Viewers will now get to see what it's like to be a single parent caring for eight kids. If we thought it seemed tough caring for eight kids when there were TWO parents at home, imagine how much more difficult it'll be for Jon on his own or Kate on her own, even with a babysitter. "I know there are many families out there going through this," Kate said.

-- Other assorted questions: Are the cameras going to follow Jon and Kate into divorce court? Are they going to follow them on dates? How will they handle the kids' reactions to seeing Jon move out?

What'd you think?

Image credit: TLC.

TLC Using Gosselins' Marital Turmoil for Ratings: Monday's 1-Hr Special

This just in . . . TLC will be giving Jon and Kate Gosselin -- the parents of sextuplets and a set of twins who all star in their own reality show, Jon & Kate Plus 8 -- a whole hour of primetime TV. For a Jon & Kate Special. And they'll make "an announcement."

As I've written before, I feel badly for the Gosselins, who clearly didn't bargain that their marriage would collapse in front of national TV cameras. They likely needed the money the show affords them (plus the new house, the ability to snare book deals, etc.) to pay for the care of eight kids under the age of 10. (I don't know the details of their contract with TLC and whether they have the ability to get out of this show if they wanted, given the turmoil in their home.)

But what I do know is that many media outlets, like TLC and Us Weekly (which put a Gosselin-related story on the cover for seven consecutive weeks) have been reaping the benefits while this family is falling to pieces. What will happen during Monday night's Jon & Kate special? One thing's for sure, TLC will likely pull in monster ratings while the Gosselins' hearts, and marriage, are breaking. (Link to TLC promo here.)

Is TLC Exploiting the Disintegrating Jon & Kate Marriage for Ratings?

A couple with eight children is going through an incredibly emotionally wrenching time . . . and this difficult period is being crassly exploited by a national network for ratings. I speak, of course, about Jon and Kate Gosselin, of Jon & Kate Plus 8, the parents of twins and sextuplets who star in a TLC reality show about their lives. For the past several months, the Gosselins have been besieged by paparazzi and have denied reports of marital infidelities and rumors that they're living separate lives as they teeter on the brink of divorce.

After I watched the season premiere of the fifth season of their show last night -- which garnered 9.8 million viewers, a series' high -- I felt like I needed to take a shower. I was heartsick thinking of what those eight kids will think when they grow up and realize that their parents' marriage fell apart in front of a national television audience, never mind if it gets ugly with regards to child custody issues. The premiere felt incredibly manipulative as it pushed the couple way beyond their comfort zones because, as we need to keep remembering, the TLC folks are not on the Gosselins' side. They're on the side of ratings.

I muse about the sadness that is now Jon & Kate Plus 8 in this week's Pop Culture & Politics column on Mommy Track'd.