LAWRENCE, Kan. – This week I had the pleasure of interviewing CBS Sports director Bob Fishman for my podcast, “No Relation.” I have known “Fish” for seven years, meeting him by chance as a senior in high school. It didn’t take long for me to see that there is something truly special about him.

He commanded the respect of everyone working with him, but not the kind forced by title or protocol. It was more of a collective fondness and warmth for their leader. I shadowed “Fish” as his unpaid assistant for the SEC Football Championship in December 2002. Surrounded at a round table of camera operators, most of whom were twice my age if not older, they marveled my unique opportunity. “He doesn’t know yet how lucky he is,” one said. I didn’t then. I do now.

Filed under:
Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – I’ve never really loved editing. Something about it always seemed anticlimactic to me, which is largely why I prefer live television over film. There is just something about the adrenaline rush of doing anything live in the moment that you can’t match in an edit room. But it’s a necessary evil and one that is becoming more and more a part of live broadcasting.

For the last six years I’ve been living in college towns: four years in Lawrence and two years in Syracuse. The University of Kansas offers the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications; Syracuse University boasts the prominent S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Whether students in those schools intend to be reporters, producers, directors, writers, announcers, anchors or something entirely different, nearly all of them will take at least one or two classes that require them to edit video.

(Both universities also have separate film departments, KU’s in its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and SU’s in its College of Visual and Performing Arts. In most cases, students do more work with video than actual film, and editing is often required.)

Filed under:
College, Opinion/Editorial by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – With every episode of the current season of Saturday Night Live, it seems as if the show’s production crew has lost its touch.

Part of the problem is Don Roy King, the show’s new director. His qualifications were suspect in the first place, and as each week passes, it has become clear that he has no business directing the long-running variety show. His direction of SNL’s comedy sketches has been subpar at best, and he has done a horrendous job cutting the music performances. But King isn’t the only one to blame.

The show’s producer Steve Higgins has somehow managed to keep his job amid the program’s plummetting ratings, and the timing of this season’s shows has been some of the worst in recent memory. For two straight weeks, there have been issues with how much time is left at the end of the show. The final sketch of last week’s episode hosted by Annette Bening had to be prematurely cut off because the show was going too long. For this week’s show hosted by Justin Timberlake, there wasn’t even enough time for a sketch in the last segment of the show. Instead, the SNL band played on camera before the final commercial break.

Filed under:
Late Night TV, Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Saturday Night Live may have suffered one of the biggest losses in the show’s 32-year history. The show returned last weekend without director Beth McCarthy Miller calling the shots, for the first time in 11 years. Reports from USA Today and Variety have been unclear about who made the decision to end McCarthy Miller’s reign as director, and it’s even more baffling how Don Roy King was chosen as her replacement.

McCarthy Miller came to SNL after rising to the rank of senior director at MTV before leaving to direct The Jon Stewart Show, whose short lifespan perfectly coincided with the late Dave Wilson’s retirement from SNL. Wilson’s departure, however, appeared to have been far more premeditated as a live shot in the control room showed him salute at the close of the 1994-95 season finale. McCarthy Miller had no such curtain call.

Filed under:
Late Night TV, Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. — For the fifth time in her career, Beth McCarthy Miller has been nominated by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for Outstanding Directing for Variety, Music or Comedy programming. McCarthy Miller, nominated for last season’s episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Steve Martin, has never won an Emmy despite past nominations for America: A Tribute to Heroes, Saturday Night Live: The 25th Anniversary and Saturday Night Live. This year, her category consists of fellow veterans Louis J. Horvitz (78th Annual Academy Awards) and Bruce Gowers (American Idol) as well as Chuck O’Neil (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart) and newcomer Jim Hoskinson (The Colbert Report). Unlike in prevous attempts, however, McCarthy Miller is the lone representative of non-cable late-night programming. Her nomination is one of only two for the 31-year-old show; the other went to SNL’s technical crew for the episode hosted by Jack Black.

Filed under:
Music/Variety by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – A new feature produced by SWPnet, “From Allen Fieldhouse to Your House,” aired tonight on Jayhawk Sports Talk: Monday, taking a behind-the-scenes look at CBS Sports’ production of college basketball at Allen Fieldhouse. Conversations with CBS director Mark Grant and announcers Craig Bolerjack and Dan Bonner complement exclusive footage of pregame preparation to provide unprecedented access for college television to take an inside look at network sports production. The premiere coincided with legendary announcer Max Falkenstien’s appearance on the show. Watch Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – After directing 32 shows in just over four months, my first semester as a director for KUJH wrapped up last night with two shows in a span of 90 minutes: the Wednesday edition of Jayhawk Sports Talkand the Jayhawk Sports Talk: Bowl Special. Doing two shows on back-to-back nights takes a lot of energy, but I’ve had the pleasure of working with 15 people, who have made my first foray into studio directing a truly memorable experience.

Filed under:
College, Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer