Another random comments post in homage to old Larry King USA TODAY columns.

1. The faux-French-film trailer for B.J. Novak's new book (with guest appearance from a colleague of his) is quite funny: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/01/book-trailer-bj-novaks-one-more-thing.html

2. Hoping that Justin Bieber won't be the Amy Winehouse of his generation.

3. Regarding the current Rob Ford behaving badly video, both Ford's racism and the young man wanting Ford to be Canada's Prime Minister are disturbing.

4. Whatever one may think of Richard Sherman's post-game yelling when being interviewed by Erin Andrews on Sunday, he's certainly right to say afterwards that "thug" is the new white-person euphemism for the n-word.

5. Anderson Cooper, when substitute-hosting on KELLY AND MICHAEL this morning, made reference to Justin Bieber's Miami arrest as being part of his "Rumspringa year."

6. Earlier, I read this profile of actress Thora Birch (who had her most iconic role as Enid in 2001's GHOST WORLD) in London's GUARDIAN.  To me, she's been missed rather than forgotten: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/23/thora-birch-hollywood-darling-disappeared

Time Warner apparently wants CNN to get stupider.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2012/08/cnn-reality-shows-talk-shows-makeover

Guessing that CNN is preparing for what looks to be economic austerity in the USA circa 2013 (regardless of who wins the White House), by lots of cheap chattering opinion shows plus greater doses of fake-reality series.

Some random opinions following today's news about Anderson Cooper.

1. Regardless of timing, it's commendable that CNN's Anderson Cooper decided to join his lesser-known colleague Don Lemon (who came out awhile ago) and declare himself proudly gay in both his public and private lives.
2. The irony remains that Cooper works for an organization (Time Warner) which still is a prime mover in keeping certain gay celebrities tightly closeted--and publishing "he/she is straight with his/her supposedly-straight lover/spouse" fantasies for their print/web readership.
3. No comment about the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes divorce (of which a settlement has now been reached--announced Monday July 9th), except to say that it's interesting that it shares the same news cycle as Anderson Cooper's coming-out e-mail to THE ATLANTIC's Andrew Sullivan.
4. Regarding Number 3, it's safe to say that most closeted thespians will remain that way (as Time Warner's ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY recently mentioned in a cover story, male celebs who are out aren't likely to be cast in straight romantic mainstream movies--or, likely, superhero/fantasy/action franchises, reinforcing a decades-old casting prejudice of the motion picture business)--unless they're outed or choose to out themselves late in their careers when their better days as money-earners in the Industry are behind them.

The bombast/"respectability" schizophrenia of CNN.

http://nymag.com/news/media/68717/

Gabriel Sherman's NEW YORK magazine article brings together a lot of over-the-years anecdotes relating to CNN, FOX NEWS, MSNBC (remembering its brief, John Gibson-powered, imitation of FOX NEWS in the last decade) and HLN and mostly concentrates on their prime-time programming.

And a point is made in the piece that CNN should probably transform into a "class" brand--to the extent of trying to woo someone like Charlie Rose over from PBS.

But, despite who's running CNN, the network tends to be too attracted to bombastic news types like Tom Foreman (the RAW POLITICS guy), Tony Harris and, of course, the now-departed Rick Sanchez.  And it looks like Anderson Cooper's being nudged to take a more confrontational stance (in a sort-of-neutral way) with GOP extremist-types.  But you and I both know that Anderson Cooper wouldn't behave like that around John Boehner and/or Mitch McConnell.

Or there's weekend anchor Fredrika Whitfield, who seems to have been told by consultants to smile just about every time she delivers a line from the prompter.  But at least Ms. Whitfield, at this stage in her career, isn't actively grating.

And I fear that grating-nerves newsjunk, under the "Keeping Them Honest" tag, is the path CNN will travel down with the ex-HLN head honcho at the helm.

Time for another Larry King-esque Random Topics post.

1. Seems to me that CNN, as it heads into Year 31, ought to not listen to media gossips advocating a boost in the amount of "opinion" shows because they seem to be a better short-term fix than the network's usual passive center-right "neutral" retell the Official Story programming. Perhaps more shows like, say, Fareed Zakaria's GPS, might be better--news shows with actual news and analysis. And a de-emphasis on personality-driven shows (which began when dull-but-attempting-to-be-substantive Aaron Brown was deposed for more conventionally-network-friendly Anderson Cooper, who only seems to be truly useful when on location) defintely wouldn't hurt.

2. Am I too sensitive, or is it okay to be offended when SiriusXM considers Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman" part of the "Jukebox of Cheese" on its 70s channel?

Ted Turner decries "fluff" on CNN.

Just read an account of a gee-I-wish-I-were-running-things-now interview with Ted Turner (I believe it was on Bloomberg News) where, among other things, he displayed discontent with the "fluff" on Cable News Network and expressed a wish for more "news" on the channel.

To be absolutely cynical, I don't foresee CNN (along with sister station HLN) decreasing their focus on who-said-that/who-went-too-far.

After all, when corporations run for-profit news channels, there's a ginormous list of news stories that news directors know not to devote their increasingly-less-vast resources to.