Ventriloquists Speak Up for Themselves

Quarter of schedule devoted to comedy

(NEWSER) - NBC is looking to comedy to help it climb the ratings ladder: Nearly 25% of the network's fare next season will consist of sitcoms, up from just 14% last fall. Execs are aiming to recapture the highly-educated young adults that helped propel Seinfeld and Friends, the Los Angeles Times reports. And "audiences have been very receptive to comedy and light fantasy drama the past couple of seasons," says chairman Bob Greenblatt. More»

10- to 12-hour documentary will air in 2016

(NEWSER) - Ken Burns' next project will wade into the quagmire known as America's "war of lost illusions:" Vietnam. PBS announced the project, already in production, yesterday, reports Time, and expects to air it in 2016. Burns mentioned a Vietnam project in 2007 when promoting The War, but said he wanted to wait until veterans were "at the age where their advancing age will provide them with the kind of perspectives that we've been able to tap into for this film." More»

Film includes 'outright falsehoods:' letter

(NEWSER) - It's not uncommon for industries to try and discredit documentaries that harm their image, but this time, an energy group is appealing directly to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Energy in Depth wants to make sure the Academy knows that Gasland should not be considered for an Oscar because of its "many errors, inconsistencies, and outright falsehoods," according to a letter from the group. More»

They involve rented animals, M&Ms

(NEWSER) - Swimming with sharks, camping with wolves, blazing through the Everglades—nature documentaries get us so close to the animal kingdom they seem unreal ... and they often are, according to a new tell-all book. Chris Palmer, an executive producer who has spent more than 25 years in the wildlife film industry, tells Nightline that "too many" documentaries "involve deceptions, manipulations, misrepresentations, fraudulence, and the audience doesn't know." More»

Documentary follows four infants in four countries

(NEWSER) - Critics are generally won over by Babies, a documentary that follows four infants' first years in San Francisco, Mongolia, Tokyo, and Namibia. Some samples:

• Wesley Morris, Boston Globe : "As an advertisement for the wonders of figuring out how to be alive, the movie is an engaging proposition."
• Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times : "The 'awww' without the 'shock' definitely makes Babies a very huggable movie experience, just not a primer on parenthood."