EW: Breaking Up is Hard To Do

I've been an Entertainment Weekly girl, well, since I was a girl... since it began in 1990.  Summer Movie Previews, Holiday Movie Previews, 100 Greatest this or that, Best of the Year, Oscar issue, Fall TV Preview issue - I loved them all.    I didn't always get the magazine - It was my favorite "treat" at the grocery store, when I was a poor college student.  But, I did have a subscription for many, many years, then I didn't, then my pop culture soul sister, Rachel gifted me a subscription and I renewed.  In fact, I had a subscription up until a few weeks ago.  I also listened religiously to EW radio since it began on Sirius in May 2013.  I also had a daily habit of visiting ew.com for my daily entertainment news.  I was an EW girl...AND then....

First, there was an article on the best nud (ending in e - I don't want to even type that word for fear of a search engine reading it wrong) scenes.  And the advertisement for this article had a VERY inappropriate picture that appeared in my e-mail, on my facebook feed and on their website.  My PCSS (pop culture soul sister), Rachel was the first smart one to say - Yuck!  I'm writing an e-mail. Well, I followed suit - and although, you read when you send them an e-mail on their contact page that they will respond - they don't.  This article came out MONTHS ago - the offensive advertisement is still on many of their pages - as of a few weeks ago.

Second, EW as part of Time, Inc - began getting rid of (or helped to exit) my long-time favorite writers.  Annie Barrett and Owen Gleiberman.  I had come to love Owen Gleiberman on EW radio.  He has a great radio voice and is an excellent critic with a strong love of movies.  Now, I'm not about to try to figure out the behind the scenes big business of every entertainment website I visit, but these ousters were personal to me.  As I adored their writing and there were long-time writers - and the whole thing sounded very unpleasant.  I still miss them. (Happily, Owen Gleibermans movie reviews are now found on www.bbc.com in the culture/film area.)


Third, EW radio started to streamline in not the greatest ways - while Dalton Ross in the morning, I do consider a TV expert, not all the voices are.  The team EW radio sent to San Francisco Comic-Con knew little to nothing about the shows at Comic-Con - I had to turn off the coverage, because it began to sound embarassing.  They made abrupt changes to radio shows and their personalities.  I just stopped enjoying it as much.

So, I decided to break up with EW.  And I did.  I diligently searched for new entertainment sources, cancelled my subscription, deleted the station from shortcuts and tried a lot of things:  Watching Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood daily (didn't last - not accessible enough - and not enjoyable enough).  Tried lots of websites.  I finally settled on the www.hollywoodreporter.com.  Its the closest in content to EW.  It has a magazine (though I haven't subscribed to it or even checked one out).  It has some great things that I love.  Now - no one tell me any of their office politics - I want to stay blissfully unaware and just enjoy the reporting.

But, then.... Robin Williams died.  Suddenly.  Tragically.  And no one was talking about it continually, but EW radio.  So, I tuned in for the remembrances and the re-played interviews.  Then, I saw the tribute magazine and I read the article and I may have read the website that day.  And then...Joan Rivers died...and I tuned in again.    And now - its coming up on Fall TV - and I may just buy the Fall Preview magazine, but I'm going to check out what the Hollywood Reporter has out first.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.


PS - This entry looks like a massive advertisement for Entertainment Weekly.    What?  I couldn't just pick one cover?  My love for it  has been large.  Seriously - Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.