More random comments about Andrew Sarris, Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, Joy Behar and Al Gore.

1. RIP film critic and auteurist Andrew Sarris--read his reviews in THE VILLAGE VOICE and THE NEW YORK OBSERVER and consider his books THE AMERICAN CINEMA and THE JOHN FORD MOVIE MYSTERY essential reading for those interested in film studies. 2. As Keith Olbermann mentioned on Twitter, it's sad that Ann Curry is enduring public humiliation by NBC/Comcast (news leaks) regarding her forced departure from the TODAY show. Yes, Savannah Guthrie might evoke (to Matt Lauer at least) the Lost Era of Katie, but Lauer and NBC News majordomo Steve Capus should have the sense (they're being paid enough)to realize that any alleged "chemistry" between anchors doesn't necessarily raise ratings or paper over the essential problem of TODAY doing too much wading in the shallow end of the news pool. 3. Al Gore and his partners at Current TV are now focusing on the Hail Mary pass of getting mild-to-moderate progressive comics to join the channel. John Fugelsang (who can be pithy on Twitter) is subbing for "rock star" Jennifer Granholm on THE WAR ROOM and Joy Behar is getting a five-night tryout before officially debuting this fall. If you see the Joy Behar ads, the impression is given that she'll be Politically Direct and free of any restrictions on content she had on her HLN series or may still have on THE VIEW. So last night, amid the horse race election-coverage stuff, Ms. Behar felt compelled to do a tabloid crap story about Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey and Kris Jenner. Fine for ABC and HLN, but it was woefully stupid for Current TV--even considering them having Cenk Uygur do an on-bended-knee interview of Hugh Hefner, which the channel probably justified due to Hef having some progressive views.

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.