Today In Entertainment

JANUARY 21, 2021

What's news: Joe Biden and his White House promise the "truth," how the inauguration played on TV news, praise for "words," poet Amanda Gorman rockets to the top of Amazon charts, how they pulled off the virtual parade and primetime special, President Trump's last act as president has a Fox News connection. Plus: What do James Murdoch and Uday Shankar have in store for India?, Alex Trebek's last Jeopardy! episode draws big ratings, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom wins big at the Black Film Critics Circle Awards. --Alex Weprin

 Biden's Pledge: To Tell The Truth

The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States dominated the news cycle Wednesday, with wall-to-wall coverage on television and online, and with star power rivaled only by the biggest Hollywood awards shows. Striving for a contrast to President Donald Trump and his administration, in his inaugural address Biden spoke of the need for "truth," a not-so-subtle jab at Trump and his enablers in Congress and conservative media.

--"There is truth and there are lies. Lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders – leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and to defeat the lies," Biden said, adding that "we must reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured." The story.

+It was a theme that continued into the first White House press briefing, held Wednesday by press secretary Jen Psaki, who told the assembled media that she and Biden wanted to bring "truth and transparency back to the briefing room." "There will be times when we see things differently in this room… that's okay," Psaki added. "That's part of our democracy and rebuilding trust with the American people will be central to our focus in the press office and in the White House every single day."

--And coming from an administration which would go months withour a formal press briefing, Psaki ended her first presser by telling the journalists in the Brady Briefing Room "thank you everyone, let's do this again tomorrow." The story.

+How it played on TV news: Fox News' Chris Wallace called Biden's speech "the best inaugural address I have ever heard," while on ABC, Byron Pitts said that in addition to taking on the role of commander in chief, Biden was also "the papa in chief" for his talk of the nation coming together to face its challenges. Here's what the covrage looked like.

+Critic's notebook: "But more than images — and I'm a TV critic, so I try to pay attention to images — President Biden's inauguration was like a welcome back party for 'words,' and his supporters embraced them like one of those heartwarming viral videos of a devoted dog pouncing on a beloved owner returning after time overseas in military service," Dan Fienberg writes. "We climbed over ourselves to devour those words like Roberto Benigni running to the stage for an Oscar (or like I'm gonna hit the crab legs line at a Las Vegas buffet if such a thing ever exists again)." The column.

+ A standout moment from the inaguration: A poem from Amanda Gorman. At 22 years old, the Los Angeles native became the youngest inaugural poet ever as she recited her original work “The Hill We Climb,” a poem completed Jan. 6 following the violent attempted siege of the United States Capitol. More.

--By Wednesday evening, Gorman's two upcoming books became the number one and two best-sellers on Amazon.

+Also: Garth Brooks, Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez brought star power and powerful performances to the inauguration... Kerry Washington, Rihanna, Dan Levy and more respond to a history-making inauguration day: "The decency of it all"...

+Inaugural fashion: Ralph Lauren produced the suits worn on Wednesday by both President Joseph R. Biden and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff. For her inaugural look, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden chose to work with Alexandra O’Neill of New York-based label Markarian on a custom dress and coat in ocean blue with peacock-hued details and embellished with Swarovski pearls and crystals. The look was produced in New York City’s Garment District. More.

 The Spectacle

►Inaguration day closed with a primetime TV special and concert, hosted by Tom Hanks from the Lincoln Memorial. America United, a 90-minute production produced by Glenn Kirshner and directed by Glenn Weiss (helmer of the virtual Emmys and Democratic National Convection) kicked off with a performance by Bruce Springsteen. Other performances included John Legend, Bon Jovi (from Miami), Justin Timberlake with Ant Clemons (from Memphis), Yo-Yo Ma, Tyler Hubbard with Tim McGraw (from Nashville), the Foo Fighters (from Seattle), Demi Lovato (from L.A.), the Black Pumas (from Austin), and a medley featuring Broadway stars, among others.

--"In the last few weeks, and in the last few years, we’ve witnessed deep divisions and a troubling rancor in our land, but tonight, we ponder the United States of America, the practice of our democracy, the foundations of our republic, the integrity of our Constitution, the hope and dreams we all share for a more perfect union," said Hanks in the opening. "Inauguration day is about much more than the swearing-in of our next national leaders. This day is about witnessing the permanence of our American ideals." The story.

►Earlier in the day, Scandal actor Tony Goldwyn hosted a virtual "Parade Across America." Jon Stewart kicked off the parade, talking about the "unsung heroes" who have kept the country going amid the discord of the last year. One viral moment: Today co-anchor Al Roker fist-bumped Joe Biden along the parade route in Washington, a repeat of a similar moment between the two men in 2013. Here's what happened.

+Related: Both the parade and primetime special used a high-tech cloud-based workflow. Hollywood postproduction facility SIM handled the post for the Glenn Weiss-helmed Kirshner Events production--what SIM's vp engineering and technology Paul Chapman described as "getting the band back together" as it was a similar team and way of working that was assembled last summer to produce a virtual Democratic National Convention. More.

►DOJ argues Supreme Court should vacate "harmful" Trump Twitter decision. The DOJ argues that the opinion is "deeply problematic" and President Joe Biden, along with future presidents and other government officials, shouldn't be bound by a decision the Supreme Court may have struck down had it not become moot on Inauguration Day. The story.

+Michael Pack, the controversial CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, resigned Wednesday, at the request of the Biden administration. Pack, a conservative documentary filmmaker (Hollywood vs. Religion, Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in his Own Words) and confidante of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, had only been CEO of the agency since June of last year, but during his short tenure he fired the heads of its news outlets, and replaced veterans of the agency with conservative loyalists. More.

+It's fitting that President Trump's very last action in office has a Fox News connection. Just a half hour or so before Biden became president, Trump pardoned Albert Pirro, who was convicted on conspiracy and tax evasion charges in 2000. Pirro is the ex-husband of Fox News host Jeanine Pirro.

 What Are Murdoch and Shankar Thinking?

►What are James Murdoch and Uday Shankar planning for their media venture? India's streaming space will not be a target for the new enterprise, Murdoch has said, but a range of other digital sectors that have undergone growth are all on the table, including digital media, online education and health care delivery, Patrick Brzeski and Georg Szalai report. The story.

►Alex Trebek's last week as host of Jeopardy! drew the game show's biggest ratings in eight-plus months, and his last episode gathered the largest audience in more than a year and a half. The long-time host, who died on Nov. 8, had taped his final episodes in late October. The syndicated game show ran those episodes the week of Jan. 4. More.

+NFL ratings: The divisional round of the NFL playoffs drew a somewhat smaller TV audience than it did a year ago — but also rebounded some from a wild card round that fell by double digits. The numbers.

►Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was the big winner in voting for the 10th annual Black Film Critics Circle Awards. George Wolfe's film, which was adapted from August Wilson's 1984 play and is streaming on Netflix, won best film, best actor (the late Chadwick Boseman), best actress (Viola Davis) and best adapted screenplay (Ruben Santiago-Hudson's script). The winners list.

►End of an era for Technicolor as it sells postproduction business. Technicolor plans to stay in the entertainment business with a principal focus on its visual effects and animation companies MPC, The Mill, Mr. X and Mikros Animation, which service film, TV, advertising, gaming and live events and are not part of the deal, Carolyn Giardina writes. The story.

►SPAC of the day: Isos Acquisition Corp., founded by former WWE co-presidens George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, is seeking to raise $200 million to merge with a company in the media and entertainment space. Forme Telemundo COO Jacqueline Hernandez is on the board, as is former Fandom CEO Perkins Miller and Facebook's head of global sport and media partnerships Dan Reed.

►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews The CW's Walker, writing of the reboot "being a total failure as a remake of Walker, Texas Ranger doesn't necessarily mean that Walker is a total failure as a TV show. It's just something different, and I wish it had just committed to being that different thing entirely." The review.

►Reality TV’s overburdened, and underrepresented, workforce. Story producers, most of whom are freelancers without union protections, are leaned on for much of the unheralded editing tasks on unscripted formats — an increasingly unsustainable setup, writes unscripted producing veteran Toni-Ann Lagana in a guest column. The column.

In other news...

--WME has signed business news agency Bloomberg Media for representation.

--Religion of Sports, a media company co-founded by Tom Brady and Michael Strahan, is expanding into scripted film and TV, led by Manchester-by-the-Sea producer Ryan Stowell.

--The U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival — one of the biggest and best known music events on the planet — has canceled its 2021 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

--Lesley Manville is set to star in the upcoming adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's crime novel Magpie Murders for PBS Masterpiece and Britbox UK, with Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) attached to direct.

--Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday received his COVID-19 vaccination and encouraged others who were eligible to do the same. "Come with me if you want to live!" 

--How Da 5 Bloodz re-created Saigon for the screen.

--Danny Masterson on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of rape, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

--Walter Raney, a onetime Fox casting director who ran a Los Angeles repertory company and mentored actors including Jason Patric, Amy Jo Johnson and John Larroquette, has died. He was 79.

What else we're reading...

--"the media can be glad for the Biden White House's return to normalcy. But let's not be lulled" [Washington Post]

--"The future of live events could look like Friends" [Bloomberg]

--"Spotify is paying podcasters tens of thousands of dollars to buoy its own sponsorship tool" [The Verge]

--"Tiger King star Joe Exotic complains he was ‘too innocent and too gay’ for Trump to pardon him" [The Daily Beast]

--"How a media startup is using animated influencers on Instagram and TikTok to drive millions of dollars in toy and apparel sales" [Business Insider]

Today's birthdays: Geena Davis, 65, Billy Ocean, 71, Placido Domingo, 80, Jack Nicklaus, 81, Jeff Koons, 66.

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JANUARY 21, 2021

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