E.M. PIO RODA / CNN
Roland Martin is set to be host of a public-affairs show on cable network TV One. The program is to premiere Sept. 27.
Sideshow: Dead heat: Autobots, dinos
It all comes down to Sunday. Prehistoric creatures and robots were in a photo finish for the Fourth of July box-office crown yesterday, with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs tied with $42.5 million each.
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Final numbers today will sort out which movie - both of which were critically drubbed - actually was first. Weekend estimates are based on studio projections for Sunday.
The crime saga Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, debuted at No. 3 with $26.2 million.
Martin to anchor new show
Roland Martin will anchor a new Sunday public-affairs show aimed at a black audience that will debut in September on the TV One network. Washington Watch aims to tap into a new interest in politics and government due to the election of President Obama, said Johnathan Rodgers, TV One's president and chief executive officer. It debuts at 11 a.m. Sept. 27, and will be repeated each week at 5 p.m.Martin, also a CNN commentator, will interview newsmakers and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. April Ryan, White House correspondent for the American Urban Radio Networks, and Robert Traynham, Philadelphia Tribune columnist and Comcast host, will be regular panel members. TV One is in about 48 million homes, a little less than half of the nation's TV homes.
Rodgers said something dawned on him when TV One covered last year's Democratic convention and Rogers saw Black Caucus members trudge up to the network's temporary rooftop studio for interviews: These politicians have few outlets to talk about their issues, and people have few places to hear them.
"I hope to get smart, intelligent, entertaining conversation," Rodgers said, "but I put this under the public-affairs arena. It doesn't have to be a ratings success."
Not a small matter
The group Little People of America called yesterday for the Federal Communications Commission to ban the use of the word midget on broadcast TV. Leaders of the group said the word, prominently featured in an episode of NBC's Celebrity Apprentice, is as offensive as racial slurs."Historically, the word midget has been used to objectify people, like in the circus," said Clinton Brown III, cochairman of the 52d Annual National Conference of Little People of America, which is taking place this week in New York. "We're in the 21st century. We're beyond that."
In the April 5 Celebrity Apprentice episode, contestants including Joan Rivers created a detergent ad called "Jesse James and the Midgets." The contestants suggested bathing little people in the detergent and hanging them up to dry.
Members of Little People of America responded by filing a complaint with the FCC. "This is not just a complaint, but a kickoff to educate Americans unaware that the M-word is offensive to little people," said Michael Petruzzelli, whose 6-year-old son is a little person.
Calls to the FCC and Celebrity Apprentice host Donald Trump were not returned Sunday. NBC Universal representatives did not immediately respond to e-mail messages, and the telephone rang unanswered at their Los Angeles office.
Contact "SideShow" at sideshow@phillynews.com.
This column contains information
from the Associated Press.
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