Emboldened Media Matters expands its campaign to control speech. From Hollywood Reporter: Glenn Beck, it turns out, was just a warm-up for Media Matters. This week, the progressive watchdog group launched a campaign targeting all companies that advertise on Beck’s TV home, the Fox News Channel.
Headquarters for the campaign is a website called DropFox.com that was unveiled Monday. Front and center at the site is the group’s first targeted advertiser: Orbitz Worldwide.
Next to the Orbitz logo on Wednesday was a photo of Beck above the tagline, “Buyer Beware: Why Advertisers Should Still Be Wary of Financially Supporting Fox News.”
Click Beck’s photo and it takes you to charts and data designed to show that a boycott of his TV show organized by Media Matters led to advertisers fleeing and Fox News ditching him, despite high ratings.
Orbitz is a target at DropFox because the online travel company has embraced lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders, a community Media Matters says Fox News maligns.

Meanwhile, some gays are taking offense at Chaz Bono (formerly Chastity Bono, the daughter of Sonny & Cher) for undergoing sex change surgery. Andrea Peyser of the New York Post offers this disapproving quote from the gay site datalounge.com: “Whatever your opinion of her recent surgeries and hormone intake, Chaz Bono says that she is no longer a gay woman, but is, rather, a straight man. Congratulations!…”Her presence will do nothing but confuse and alienate. For example, we are fighting to be allowed to get married. She can get married. Our agenda is no longer hers, but, because she likes the attention and the catering, she’s not gonna go anywhere. What can we do?” Meanwhile, some of the comments at the site are nastier still.

Perhaps Media Matters should organize a boycott against datalounge for being anti trans-gender. Where does it end? Conservative Christians could boycott Fox Broadcasting Network because of some of the sucker punches they feel they receive from shows like Glee and Family Guy.

Ideally, everyone would respect everyone else’s lifestyles and belief systems and not go out of their way to insult people. Simple human kindness should always the carry the day. And, while advertiser boycotts are legitimate way for consumers to voice their beliefs, I believe they should be reserved only for extreme cases of persistent and deliberate vitriol. Otherwise, free speech itself becomes a casualty of political power plays.

If you’re curious what all the fuss is about, here’s the trailer for Becoming Chaz, airing this month on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network.

CBS’s Fall Schedule (New shows in CAPS)

Click here for show details.

MONDAY
8:00 – How I Met Your Mother
8:30 – 2 BROKE GIRLS
9:00 – Two and a Half Men
9:30 – Mike & Molly
10:00 – Hawaii Five-O

Comment: Solid as CBS.

JWK Alternative: 8:00 – How I Met Your Mother, 8:30 – Mad Love, 9:00 – The Big Bang Theory, 9:30 – Mike & Molly, 10:00 – THREE MEN AND A BEACH HOUSE, 10:30 – Rules of Engagement
I’d go for wall-to-wall comedy, keeping the canceled Mad Love (which had a following), launching the revamped Ashton Kutcher-led Two and a Half Men at a later time and under a new name (really, going into its 9th season the “half man” of the original title is closer to a full man), and including the consistently popular Rules of Engagement as part of the network’s premiere comedy lineup (rather than shipping it off to occupy a lonely outpost on Saturday night).

TUESDAY
8:00 – NCIS
9:00 – NCIS Los Angeles
10:00 – UNFORGETTABLE

Comment: Again, solid as CBS.

JWK Alternative: 8:00 – NCIS, 9:00 – NCIS Los Angeles, 10:00 – Hawaii Five-O
I think Hawaii Five-O is a better way to cap off a night of male-driven action than the more female-centric crime show Unforgettable.

WEDNESDAY
8:00 – Survivor
9:00 – Criminal Minds
10:00 – CSI

Comment: CBS is always solid in its programming strategy.

JWK Alternative: 8:00 – Survivor/The Amazing Race (Mid-Season), 9:00 – Person of Interest, 10:00 – Criminal Minds
It seems to me that Amazing Race was beginning to fade a bit on Sunday night. It’s an excellent show but I’d give it a little rest and let it share the Wednesday opening slot with Survivor.  Person of Interest is an intriguing series from J.J. Abrams (Lost) which would fit neatly between the reality shows and the crime drama Criminal Minds (which, given its frequent focus on violent crimes and serial killers, I think should be moved to a later time).

THURSDAY
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory
8:30 – HOW TO BE A GENTLEMEN
9:00 – PERSON OF INTEREST
10:00 – The Mentalist

Comment: Ditto. Say what you want about CBS, they know how to build lineups.

JWK Alternative: 8:00 – The Mentalist, 9:00 – CSI, 10:00 – What Happens in Vegas (aka Defenders)
The Mentalist is strong enough to kick off a night of crime and legal dramas. CBS canceled Defenders but I think the Vegas-set legal drama was actually pretty solid. I’d just change the name to keep it from being confused with a classic lawyer of the sixties that itself might be worth remaking. Also, the Vegas setting screams for a two-hour crossover with CSI.

FRIDAY
8:00 – A GIFTED MAN
9:00 – CSI: New York
10:00 – Blue Bloods

Comment: Again, solid.

JWK Alternative: 8:00 – SOUTHERN EYES, 9:00 – The Good Wife, 10:00 – I REMEMBER
A night of female-driven crime and legal dramas begins with Southern Eyes (AKA Hail Mary) starring Minnie Driver as Atlanta-based “suburban single mom-turned-private investigator who teams up with her murdered son’s best friend to solve crimes.” The original title of the thus-far unsold pilot was questionable but the concept sounds CBS solid. The Good Wife would anchor the night followed by I Remember (aka Unforgettable) about a female cop who remembers everything that ever happened to her except, strangely, details that would help her solve her sister’s long-ago murder.

SATURDAY
8:00 – Rules of Engagement
8:30 – CBS Comedy Encores
9:00 – CBS Drama Encores
10:00 –48 Hours Mystery

Comment: CBS deserves credit for re-introducing scripted programming on the Saturday schedule but dropping Rules of Engagement before 90 minutes of reruns looks more like its trying to kill off a show it brass seems not to like.  Also, what does the “48 Hours” in 48 Hours Mystery really mean? It’s a remnant of the shows original concept which no longer applies. Change that title to something like CBS News: Mystery.

JWK Alternative: 8:00 – Undercover Boss, 9:00 – CBS NEWS: PROFILES, 10:00 – CBS News: Mystery
If you’re gonna rerun programming on Saturday night, how about re-purposing some of those excellent profiles from CBS Sunday Morning into Prime Time.

SUNDAY
7:00 – 60 Minutes
8:00 – Amazing Race
9:00 – The Good Wife
10:00 – CSI: Miami

Comment: Solid again. 

JWK Alternative: 7:00 – 60 Minutes, 8:00 – AFTERLIFE, 9:00 – Blue Bloods, 10:00 – FAMILY PLAN
Afterlife (aka A Gifted Man) is about a doctor whose late wife visits him from beyond to help him see what’s really important. It seems to have a bit of a Touched by an Angel vibe and, therefore, seems a logical candidate for that show’s old slot. Blue Bloods, the Tom Selleck drama about a family of Irish-Catholic cops did quite well for CBS on Friday nights. I think it could do well in a higher-profile Sunday slot. Family Plan (aka The Doctor) is a thus-far unsold pilot starring Christine Lahti (Chicago Hope) as the matriarch of a family of doctors. From a family of cops to a family of doctor. I like the theme.

Tomorrow: The CW.

Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11