Quick Hits For November 20, 2009; Ms. "O" Says She's Done, Craziness at "The Q" and Other Fun Stuff

Its Friday and time to throw some stories and links at you that may be of interest. from the sublime to the ridiculous, and all points in between, with some QUICK HITS

(1). To those of you who may have been asleep for the past twenty five years and have some catching up to do, you'd better hurry- Oprah Winfrey will be giving up her daily talk show in 2011 after a quarter of a century. She is expected to make the announcement today (Friday 11/20/09) on her show.

I've said in other entries we throw the term "icon" around too loosely- very often it is used regarding a person or thing that is trendy, one which appears to have staying power but often doesn't. There are few true icons, symbolic of an era in our history or pop culture; Lincoln, Elvis, The Babe....both first and last names are not necessary, one will suffice.

Oprah is among that elite, not just because of her place in television history but what she has meant to our culture and to her greater history as a nation. In the 1980's THE COSBY SHOW gave us a middle class African American family that became THE ideal American family of the era. And Oprah Winfrey came on the scene to become America's talk show host. Ms. Winfrey zoomed to the top and has stayed there for 23 years. She broke down barriers in this nation, and became a figure as important in our racial history as Jackie Robinson, Paul Robeson, or Bill Cosby. She came to us when a generation came of age in which color didn't matter anymore, and in doing so she became possibly the most influential person in the United States, and an international mega personality symbolic of an era....in other words, an icon.

For more on this story, click here.

(2). Great moments in TV censorship- Lucy and Desi can't say the word "pregnant" when "Lucy Ricardo" is carrying "Little Ricki"; Mary Tyler Moore's "Mary Richards" character is changed to single woman from divorcee shortly before production starts on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW because CBS was afraid America would reject a divorced woman. MASH takes place in a battlefield hospital with thousands of casualties- but no blood; in ALL IN THE FAMILY the Bunkers couldn't say the word or show a toilet, but we could always hear Archie flushing whenever Mike was looking for him; Barbara Eden couldn't show her naval in I DREAM OF JEANNIE; and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE- the list is too long. There have been chapters of books devoted to the battles SNL's writers and performers have had with NBC's standards and practices people.

And now its time to add another chapter to The Pantheon of Censorship. Its from our Jersey Girl pal Linda Moss on her Homeshoppingista blog. This one involves the folks at QVC. Linda reports that during the NARS cosmetics launch on QVC show host Lisa Robertson was forbidden to say out loud the name of one of the line's blushes.

The name of the product was ORGASM.

To add to the craziness she also reports that the word ORGASM was allowed on the screen, but could not be spoken out loud.

Then there was the fallout from the viewers, with some very interesting stuff happening on the QVC forums....

You can read more about at homeshoppingista.com.

(3). More from Miss Moss. Some have wondered "whatever happened to Judy Crowell?" Judy was a former QVC host who moved on to rival HSN with husband Paul Deasy to rival HSN a few years ago, and then both left HSN a few years ago. Linda is reporting that Judy will be debuting the Judy Crowell Collection fashion line of ShopNBC in the near future. Husband Paul Deasy has already made the move to the Minnesota based electronic retailer with a jewelry line. Check Linda's story by clicking here, and click here for more on Paul and Judy at PaulDeasy.com.

(4) From the world of sports, a sad story. Stefanie Spielman, wife of former NFL and Ohio State star Chris Spielman, has died at age 42, losing 12 year battle against breast cancer. She was thirty years old and pregnant when first diagnosed with the disease in 1998. I remember reading her story years ago, and that Chris left the NFL to stay home to care for her and their kids, and how he shaved his head when Stefanie's hair fell out after chemo.

The irony of her death coming on the heals of this week's mammography controversy involving new guidelines isn't lost on me. Her death was not in vain. Maybe her's is a cautionary tale that all women are vulnerable, not merely those of a certain age.

My condolences go out to the Spielman family.

(5). Just one more item in a parting shot this morning. I wonder if John McCain can relate to Mary Shelly's fictional Dr. Victor Frankenstein just a little more. Both gave birth to an out of control creature- the doctor's became the subject of countless movies, the Senator's is now on a nationwide book tour....and I'm not talking about Meghan.



"Its alive!!!!"