From Team Coco:

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Which begs the question: if they’re telecommuting anyway, how long until U.S. soldiers get outsourced to save more money?

Cross has been more than vocal about how much he hated both filming the new kiddie flick as well as the finished project. But when he sat down on the Team Coco couch last night, Cross found a new way to insult the film’s executive producer.

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“In all honesty it was the most miserable experience I’ve ever had in my professional life.” The star, who was raised Jewish but now identifies as an Atheist, then made a comment that could raise a firestorm — if he weren’t a comedian and crossing a line weren’t his job.

Complaining that he was forced “at legal gunpoint” to spend a week on a cruise ship to film scenes in which he is covered, head to toe, in a pelican mascot costume, Cross called the exec behind the awful ocean ride “The personification of what people think about when they think negatively about Jews.”

The Huffington Post’s account of the exchange tried to do some damage control on Cross’ behalf:

“…then made a comment that could raise a firestorm — if he weren’t a comedian and crossing a line weren’t his job.”

That didn’t prevent Tracy Morgan from getting slapped around by GLAAD, did it? How about Michael Richards? Anyone seen him lately?

Cross’ liberal bona fides and hard-left stand-up shtick should be all the protection he needs against anyone riled by those comments. Just look at Bill Maher, who makes offensive statements almost weekly via his HBO series “Real Time with Bill Maher.” The PC Police never so much as knock on Maher’s door even when he mocks Sarah Palin’s youngest child. Maher’s value to the Left  likely offers him all the protection he’ll ever need.

Morgan and Richards may be liberal, but neither is known for his political identity.

Kermit the frog is green, not red, Bill O’Reilly!

The folks over at The Huffington Post turned a sensible critique of how the new “Muppets” movie maligns the oil industry into an attack on Fox News. And, wouldn’t you know it, a late night talker took the bait.

Conan O’Brien was only too happy to keep the dishonest story alive on last night’s episode of his TBS talker “Conan.”

Why not trot out a few late night gags rather than address the real issue – children’s movies repeatedly peddle left-of-center messages to viewers? And if you think that doesn’t have an impact, you haven’t been around a toddler recently. They absorb everything.

This is how the liberal pop culture network operates. One bit of misinformation is fed into the system, and suddenly comedians are using it as joke fodder. The regular viewers just think it’s Fox News being it’s usual crazy self, a notion unfairly created by the press in the first place.

After all, isn’t it worth discussing what messages are being implanted in kiddie programming? Why would George Miller, the director of two “Happy Feet” films, go out of his way to insert environmental themes into his films if they had no effect?

The Left and its media allies would rather stifle that conversation rather than let audiences consider the consequences for themselves.

But with Bialek’s tale of how Cain allegedly came on to her years earlier coming to light, celebrities have a new reason to smite him. A gaggle of famous folks rushed to Twitter this week to share 140 characters worth of disdain for Cain:

Bette Midler:
“Herman Cain was never vetted About the women he had petted Will all accusers form a line? We have to stop at 999.”

Warren Leight, Showrunner for Law and Order: SVU:
“Memo: to Herman Cain/ From SVU Writers Room: This is the moment in the story when your lawyer should ask about cutting a deal.”

Joy Behar:
“Next Godfather’s Pizza promotion: if Herman Cain doesn’t harass you within 30 minutes, your pizza is free”

Holly Robinson Peete:
“NOBODY is happier than Herman Cain that the #conradmurray trial verdict is in…time to get his story tight. How do u think he will respond?”

Steve Martin:
“Just realized that Herman Cain is an anagram for Reachin’ man.”

Conan O’Brien:
“With all this negative attention on Herman Cain right now, I’ll bet Little Caesar is grabbing boobs like there’s no tomorrow.”

Perhaps the only celebrity of note rallying to Cain’s side of late is Clint Eastwood, who called Cain’s life story inspiring and applauded his straight-talk approach.

Now, late night talk show hosts have taken the bait.

Last night, the majority of the comedy elite had fun at the expense of Herman Cain, the popular GOP presidential candidate accused of sexually harassing two women during the 1990s. The wobbly reportage was condemned by not only conservatives but the left-leaning Pro Publica media outfit. But it proved too irresistible for the usual comic suspects (source: The daily Hotline roundup):

David Letterman: Now (businessman) Herman Cain when he was the chairman of the National Restaurant Association back in the ’90’s is saying there was a claim of sexual harassment. I looked it up. … Here’s what happened: he was just listing the specials. (‘The Late Show with David Letterman,’ CBS, 10/31).

Jimmy Fallon: “Herman Cain was accused of sexually harassing two women in the ’90s. Which explains his new campaign slogan, ‘did somebody order a pizza with extra sausage?’” (‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,’ NBC, 10/31).

Jimmy Kimmel: “Cain says it’s a misunderstanding, he never sexually harassed anyone. He owned a pizza place, he just asking them if they wanted extra sausage and — it happens.” (‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!,’ ABC, 10/31).

Conan O’Brien: “Herman Cain is having to respond to claims that he once sexually harassed women. Did you hear that? Apparently a German woman kept telling him nein-nein-nein!” (‘Conan,’ TBS, 10/31).

Jon Stewart: “In Herman Cain’s defense, there’s very little in the pizza world that’s not sexually suggestive. ‘Hey, you want sausage on your pie?’ ‘Hey, you want me to stuff your crust?’ ‘No, no, I told you, I guarantee I will come in 30 minutes or less. I told you.’ By the way, that is a very optimistic — I think the key phrase there is ‘or less.’ … If he’s telling the truth, he’s just a nice church-going guy and everything he does now is tainted by these allegations. … That clip of Herman Cain smiling at the end of his political ads. That’s just dirty. That commercial is always going to play with different music in people’s heads now. (Sexy music playing) Hey, stop looking at my black walnuts.” (‘The Daily Show,’ Comedy Central, 10/31).

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It would be ridiculously easy for our so-called political satirists to use Obama’s teleprompter addiction as a way to define him for the fool he really is…

Which is why our so-called political satirists refuse to do so.

It ain’t about the funny. It’s about the politics.

These people aren’t satirists, they’re left-wing partisans disguised as satirists.

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More at Fox Nation.

Everyone,

Over the past decade, we have set our sights on growing TEN’s business by demonstrating that our programming and marketing are valid substitutes for broadcast TV. Generations of Americans have switched their viewing choices to cable TV in news, sports, kids programming and, in the last few years, original series.

Broadcast’s last stronghold has been morning and late-night television. But our sister network, Adult Swim, proved that there is a viable audience outside of broadcast for young adult viewers. Just six months ago, TBS entered the fray to steal viewers and revenue from broadcast with the launch of Lopez Tonight.

Now I am pleased to share news that will accelerate our growth in making late-night TV the territory of Turner Entertainment Networks.

Conan O’Brien has agreed to bring his Emmy-winning comedy to TBS. Starting in November, Conan will take over the 11 p.m. time slot on TBS.
George Lopez, who assisted in our recruitment of Conan, will follow at midnight. The combination of these two hosts – with their core audiences of young, diverse viewers – should lead TBS to a leadership position in late-night television.

Please see the attached press release. I am very proud that Conan chose TBS. As you’ve surely read and heard, Conan could have gone anywhere – broadcast, pay cable or syndicated TV networks – for his new home. Conan chose TBS because of our brand, programming compatibility, marketing process and people.

Getting a deal like this done quickly and confidentially is a difficult task. I especially want to recognize our business affairs leaders, Pat Kelly and Sandra Dewey, for their expert handling of the deal terms and negotiations. Business affairs is akin to an umpire in a baseball game: If you don’t notice them, they have done a great job. Sandra literally worked all week while she was on vacation to make this crazy idea a reality. It’s a reminder that our people make TEN such a fun and exciting place to work.

Steve Koonin

The once and now returning host of NBC’s Tonight Show has incited hostility and outright hatred for many years, simply by virtue of being more commercially successful than rivals David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. In particular, fans of his competitors have derided Leno for being overly conventional and failing to challenge late-night viewers by pushing the boundaries of taste. 

That, however, has almost certainly been a primary reason for Leno’s success: he amuses viewers without overwhelming them with sensational material such as O’Brien’s masturbating bears and potty-mouthed dog and Letterman’s aggressive non sequiturs. Leno is clearly out to amuse, not to change the world, and that is exactly the sort of programming most people seem to want in that 11:35 time slot. 

As a result, Leno returned to his Tonight Show helm last night after a hiatus of several months in which NBC tried moving him to primetime and shifting O’Brien from The Late Show at 12:35 a.m. to the Tonight Show at 11:35. As has been well-documented, the change was a predictable disaster both for NBC’s primetime ratings and for the Tonight Show. O’Brien toned down his comedy for the earlier audience, which didn’t work, and Leno could not make a nightly show consistently special enough to draw viewers at 10 p.m. 

Thus O’Brien was given a gigantic golden parachute and sent on his way, and Leno was returned to his former perch at the Tonight Show. Last night’s show was vintage Leno, as if he had never left. That means, of course, that his detractors will remain unhappy and his audience will likely return over time. 

Last night’s episode brought a good many curiosity seekers, with overnight ratings indicating nearly six million people watched the Tonight Show, nearly double the total for rival David Letterman’s Late Night, which drew 3.3 million. Although one must expect Leno’s ratings to decrease considerably, last night’s show certainly indicated that if you liked the Tonight Show before, you’ll like it now. And yes, if you disliked it before, your opinion is unlikely to change. 

There were several references to Leno’s return and the controversy surrounding it, as was inevitable. These included a funny opening sequence with Jay as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz awakening after journey to a very strange place. 

Leno then delivered the same type of monologue as usual. There were jokes about Tiger Woods, the Olympics, former president George W. Bush, former vice president Dick Cheney, Leno’s return to the Tonight Show, the Wall Street bailout, airplane ticket prices, Toyotas, and the like. The perspective of the humor was just left of center, as has been typical of Leno over the years. 

One highlight: Leno mocked the California legislature for passing a statewide ban on swearing. There was also a brief, amusing video segment called The World’s Tightest Pants, the sort of thing often found on YouTube. 

After the commercial break, Leno appeared in an extended video segment in which he went door-to-door in search of a new desk, trying out various post-monologue comedy bits at desks found in people’s homes, with their permission and bemusement. Here, too, Leno didn’t try anything ambitious or earthshaking, just amiably jokey. 

After another break, Leno introduced his first guest of the night, actor/comedian Jamie Foxx. Foxx brought a great deal of energy, bouncing around the set and pumping up the audience with much enthusiastic cheerleading for Leno. Foxx even opened a bottle of champagne and gave it to the audience. 

During the interview segment he congratulated Leno on his homecoming and made several other laudatory references to Leno’s return to the show. Leno seemed rather embarrassed by this attention, and tried to get the interview onto sounder footing with a conversation about Foxx’s family life and his fondness for actress Kirstie Alley. 

The second guest, skier Lindsey Vonn, brought her Olympic gold medals and talked about her experiences at the Vancouver games. Vonn spoke appealingly about how her husband helps her keep her perspective when the pressure of competition threatens to overwhelm here. She was clearly nervous during the interview, and Leno asked good questions and made her feel more comfortable as the segment progressed. His skills as an interviewer were quite evident. 

In the show’s final segment, musical guest Brad Paisley performed before a large backdrop painted as an American flag, and he sang a song praising the United States as a land of opportunity and a place that accommodates a wide variety of ethnic traditions, “American Saturday Night.” He also played the guitar surprisingly well (surprising to me, at least, as I had never seen him perform before). 

That scene was emblematic of what makes Leno appealing to many people and a figure of hatred for many others. It’s difficult to imagine O’Brien or Letterman presenting such an unabashedly, un-ironic patriotic segment, and particularly on a special occasion such as last night. Leno’s attachment to bourgeois values and popular traditions derided by many as corny or even socially damaging are what make him both popular and controversial. If there is a culture war in the United States today, Leno and his rivals are at the forefront.

So the guy makes a big stink and demands that if he is going to be replaced the bank has to buy out his contract.

The bank offers him 30 million dollars to take a hike.

“That isn’t good enough,” the guy says. Not only does he want his money but since he is being let go a lot of his staff will also lose their jobs. So he demands another 12 million so they all enjoy a soft landing.

The bank says “ok” and pays out the money.

How do you think the Obama Administration would have reacted? What do you think the coverage of this event would have been in the mainstream media? I think there would have been all sorts of outrage in the press and on TV. I also think every leftie from President Obama to Nancy Pelosi to David Axelrod would be screaming about getting our money back from these thieves.

So why is nobody screaming about the huge failure-bonus being paid with our money to Conan O‘Brien? Because that is exactly what the money NBC paid to O’Brien is; a huge golden parachute for failing on The Tonight Show. More importantly, it’s money from the people of the United States. I wish I had a blackboard so I could go a little Glenn Beck on you, but follow me for a minute.

NBC, National Barack Communications, and its other so-called news outlets like MSNBC, are a part of General Electric. General Electric is run by Obama loyalist and advisor Jeffrey Immelt, who until recently allowed GE to continue to do business with Iran through middlemen, as documented by Bill O’Reilly. General Electric, as part of the economic bailout, received billions in loan guarantees for its GE Capital division. So why no Obama outrage over a company that took our money and paid out huge dough to an under-performer? Why no Tim Geithner or Larry Summers demanding that salaries at GE and its subsidiaries be kept to $500,000?

Imagine if Conan had a real job, perhaps at a bank or one of those evil health insurance companies the current administration loves to demonize, and he dropped the business by half when he took over. Would the President and his friends be alright with him walking away with a huge payout? Why is it cool to honor Mr. O’Brien’s contract but not the contracts of hundreds of bankers and other Wall Street employees who at one time actually made money for their employers?

My theory is that like AIG and GM, Conan was too big to fail!

Side Note: Why is it that Mr. Obama wants to make sure there are no banks that are too big to fail but doesn’t feel the same about car companies? Could it be that car companies have union employees whose bosses funnel hundreds of millions from their members’ dues to the Democrat Party?