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Robert Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol opens today to a chorus of negative reviews and a rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A particularly harsh assessment comes from Joe Morgenstern in The Wall Street Journal: To put it bluntly, if Scroogely, Disney’s 3-D animated version of “A Christmas Carol” is a calamity. The pace is predominantly glacial—that alone would be enough to cook the goose of this premature holiday turkey—and the tone is joyless, despite an extended passage of bizarre laughter, several dazzling flights of digital fancy, a succession of striking images and Jim Carrey’s voicing of Scrooge plus half a dozen...

Moms everywhere are aghast at teen idol Miley Cyrus' recent pole dancing and exaltation of Britney Spears as her hero. The "Hannah Montana" superstar morphed overnight from a bubbly starlet into just another trashy singer, leaving moms feeling betrayed. Many thought they had finally found a " Hollywood type" their daughters could look up to. I visited a friend last year and marveled at the wall-to-wall posters of Hannah Montana that adorned her ten-year-old daughter's room. Like millions of other little girls, Hannah was her hero. From her clothes, music, and dance moves to her hairstyle, this little girl (and...

In an open letter sent today to ABC President David Westin, Media Research Center President and NewsBusters.org Publisher Brent Bozell questioned the ethics of ABC as a "news" network and wondered "how in the world can anyone take ABC seriously" after it was announced that ABC News has hired Democrat donor Dr. Richard Besser to be their new Senior Medical Editor. The letter appears in its entirety below the fold.

June 17, 2009 ABC You Later J.C. Arenas With their decision to broadcast a primetime special that will highlight the Democrats' relentless pursuit towards government-ran health care and exclude the views of those whom oppose their effort, ABC has signaled they no longer believe in the concept of press independence and the public's right to choose. Once upon a time the press wasn't simply an advocate for a particular brand of politics, it was their responsibility to be a watchdog of our government and report the facts and subsequently the general public could weigh those facts and form some sort...

NEW YORK - In a move that could give Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue a run for its money, ESPN The Magazine will publish its first "Body Issue," which may showcase pro, amateur and Olympic athletes posing in the nude. USA Today reports that the issue, slated to hit newsstands on Oct. 19, is hoping to feature athletes posing in the buff in artistic, tasteful ways. Editor in chief Gary Belsky said the magazine has to figure out how to "use equipment and pads and bats and goalposts and soccer nets and pucks and helmets to obscure body parts that...

Earth 2100 on ABC. What a sky-is-falling fearfest. Cast of usual charachters: Academia, Media, etc going year-by-year on how "climate change" is leading to total destruction of everything as we know it. Of course the "American way of life" is to blame.

So, the full-frontal-nudity-enviro proganda assault begins. Are we really surprised by such a one-sided propaganda flick? If an alternative docu-drama was made, care to guess what lame excuse(s) ABC would give not to show it?

"Good Morning America" co-host Diane Sawyer on Tuesday aggressively lobbied for the Obama administration to install a European-style gas tax on the United States. Talking to Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, about Obama's plans for increased fuel standards, she began, "Why not just go to a gas tax, for instance, which would accomplish a reduction in the use of gasoline, dependence on foreign oil right away?" Sawyer would proceed to ask variations on this question six times. Citing calls for a gas tax by New York Times columnist Tom Friedman,

(ANAHEIM, Calif.) — Disney says it will no longer scan riders on Splash Mountain and three other rides for guests who feel the need to flash their breasts for souvenir photos.

A new study shows that the states that consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption.

Los Angeles - Disney confirmed Wednesday that it would not be involved in the third film of "The Chronicles of Narnia" fantasy series, dealing a blow to the franchise based on CS Lewis's classic books. A spokesperson for Disney confirmed in an e-mail that the company had chosen not to exercise an option to co-produce and co-finance the next Narnia film with producers Walden Media. The Hollywood Reporter cited "budgetary and logistical reasons" for Disney's decision, which leaves the third film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader facing an uncertain future. The film was due to...

Paris Hilton wants to play Tinkerbell - not her pet Chihuahua, but the famed fairy from "Peter Pan." A source tells us the celebutard is lobbying for the title role in Disney's live-action version of "Tinkerbell," in which the pixie finally gets a chance at life as a real girl.

America is "dumb" because it remains the most religious country in the western world. This according to Bill Maher, who made such a statement on the September 30 edition of "The View." Appearing to promote his new documentary "Religulous," Maher continued his soapbox rants against organized religion. Elisabeth Hasselbeck set up Maher noting his comparison of President Bush to Osama Bin Laden, and noted that many presidents such as John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, spoke publicly of a higher power. Maher likewise replied "of course, it’s, it’s a religious country, unlike every other civilized western democracy...

Soldiers stood directly behind Raddatz as she queried GI’s walking past. She asked 60 GI’s who they planned to vote for in November. 54 said John McCain, 4 for Obama, and 2 for Hillary. When the story ran, they didn't even mention the 54 that chose McCain.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A new state law went on the books Tuesday saying people could bring guns to work if they kept them locked in their car. Disney, though, said it was exempt from the new law and its 62,000 employees needed to keep their guns at home. Friday, a worker who protested the park’s decision told Channel 9 he was suspended. The worker was well aware that he could end up losing his job when he took the gun to work Friday morning, but said that the principle at stake means enough to him that he was willing...

NEW YORK - Michelle Obama will be a guest host on "The View" on June 18. The popular ABC daytime talk show had invited her to be a guest this month, but she sent back word that she would like to be a host like Cindy McCain did in April, said Bill Geddie, the show's executive producer. "Equal time — that's hard to argue with," he said Wednesday.Being a guest host will allow Michelle Obama to help interview guests and participate in the opening "hot topics," or banter about what's in the news that day. It offers the chance for...

What is the leading breeding ground for tomorrow's role models of degradation and promiscuity? The Disney Channel. On Monday, news broke that Vanity Fair was planning on running "discreet" and "artistic" photos from a topless shoot with pre-teen and tween hero Miley Cyrus. The photos include a shot of Cyrus, barebacked, clutching a sheet to her bosom -- a shot no less pedophilic than the infamous Brooke Shields jeans ads of 1980. Miley Cyrus is the most popular act in the country. Her 3-D concert film from her tour, "Best of Both Worlds," took in an astounding $31.3 million in...

In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House, the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, sources tell ABC News. The so-called Principals who participated in the meetings also approved the use of "combined" interrogation techniques -- using different techniques during interrogations, instead of using one method at a time -- on terrorist suspects who proved difficult to break, sources said. Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al...

MTV offers lyrics to Devo songs on their web page. But they got frightened by the title of Devo's famous "Are we not men" song, and couldn't bring themselves to write "Jocko Homo" on their page. It's no accident. They have a page listing every track on all of Devo's albums — and each of the 11 times "Jocko Homo" was included in a new compilation, MTV changed its name to "Jocko H***". Ironically, I'd been there to research the way Devo's lyrics were being changed by Walt Disney Records...

"The Sept. 11 attacks, the Iraq war and suicide bombings worldwide have changed not only the way we live but the way we look at those around us, especially Muslims. "Islamophobia" has entered the American vernacular, and the anti-Muslim attitudes and prejudice it describes remain common. Content Special Section: What Would You Do?But what if you witnessed "Islamophobia" in action and saw someone being victimized because of someone else's prejudices? What would you do? ABC's production crew outfitted The Czech Stop, a bustling roadside bakery north of Waco, Texas, with hidden cameras and two actors. One played a female customer...

Jamie Lynn Spears, 16, has confirmed to OK! Magazine that she is pregnant. Oh. My. God. A source tells us the interview, which hits stands tomorrow, is six pages and is on the record with Jamie Lynn and her mother. She tells the mag that the father is Casey Aldridge, who she has been dating for some time and first met at church. Brit's younger sister, star of Nick's "Zoey 101," says she's keeping the baby.

Radio Disney spokeswoman Patti McTeague insists the script change had nothing to do with censoring God. She told WND it was done to make the text understandable and because corporate policy requires including the name of the production company in any ad. The line "Chosen by God" was replaced in the 30-second spot with the line "From Promenade Pictures." Asked to respond to Disney's explanation, Yablans said, "They're saying that now because they got caught with their fingers in the cookie jar." The non-profit Christian legal group Liberty Counsel announced today it has launched a petition drive to ask Radio...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Are U.S. television networks gay enough? Not yet, but ABC is getting close, according to a gay-rights group. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has given the Walt Disney Co.-owned network the highest marks of any of the five major broadcast networks in the group's first-ever report rating depictions of gay, lesbian and transgender characters and issues on prime-time TV. The study assigned grades of "excellent," "good," "fair" or "failing" based on the number of "impressions," or occurrences, of gay characters, discussions or themes counted during 4,693 hours of programming examined from June 2006...

ABC's "World News Now," a news program that airs at 3:30 am Eastern, when most people in the U.S. are fast asleep, replayed Jake Tapper's earlier "World News" report on the war of words between Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards, and Ann Coulter during its broadcast on Thursday.At the conclusion of the report, hosts Taina Hernandez and Ryan Owens had a brief exchange, in which Owens proposed an "Ann Coulter blackout," similar to a "Paris Hilton blackout" that the program apparently has, and Hernandez, as a counterproposal, joked, "Or we can pit them together in...

In a candid web video, Rosie O'Donnell tells why she left "The View" after a spat with her co-host.

Disney opens Fairy Tale Weddings to gay couples Thu Apr 5, 2007 7:11 PM ET By Gina Keating LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Walt Disney Co. has changed its policy to allow same-sex couples to participate in a popular Fairy Tale Wedding program it runs mainly at its two U.S. resorts and cruise line, a Disney spokesman said on Thursday. Disney previously had allowed gay couples to organize their own weddings or commitment ceremonies at rented meeting rooms at the resorts, but had barred them from purchasing its Fairy Tale Wedding package and holding the event at locations at Disneyland...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Walt Disney Co.'s 1946 film "Song of the South" was historic. It was Disney's first big live-action picture and produced one of the company's most famous songs _ the Oscar-winning "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." It also carries the story line of the Splash Mountain rides at its theme parks. But the movie remains hidden in the Disney archives _ never released on video in the United States and criticized as racist for its depiction of Southern plantation blacks. The film's 60th anniversary passed last year without a whisper of official rerelease, which is unusual for Disney, but President and CEO...

ESPN has just announced that the NASCAR Busch Race from Mexico City will be in Spanish on ESPN and in English on ESPN2.

For the MSM, there's nothing like the occasion of a natural disaster to challenge the faith of religious believers. On today's Good Morning America, Kate Snow interviewed the Rev. Larry Lynn, Pastor of the Lady Lake Church of God, whose buildings were totally levelled by the tornadoes that recently struck central Florida. A minute or so into the interview, Snow asked a question that challenged the core of the pastor's religious belief: "How do you reconcile your faith with the enormity of this tragedy?" Pastor Lynn answered in a manner consistent with the most basic Christian principles: "This is just...

ABC News is trying to assure us that young girls who have a "fascination with itsy-bitsy clothing, misogynistic hip hop music and porn star-esque celebrities " is just behavior that "isn't cause for alarm". Some Say It's OK for Girls to Go Wild -- Though Teens Are Expressing Their Sexuality More Than Ever, Some Say It's Just Part of Growing Up, Not Cause for Alarm Gee, I feel better already. Wearing short-shorts and belly shirts, grinding to hip-hop hits, and posting provocative pictures of themselves on the Internet — the behavior of many teen and tween girls has parents...

Rosie O'Donnell Will Probably Leave 'The View' Wednesday, January 10, 2007 By Roger Friedman Rosie Will Probably Leave 'The View' Rosie O'Donnell — quite rightly, I believe — has had enough of Barbara Walters and "The View." I am told that she is not likely to renew her one-year contract when it ends in June and will leave the crazy talk show after boosting its ratings higher than ever. Sources say that Rosie feels that the backstage antics at "The View" "are completely dysfunctional." O'Donnell, who's got plenty of money and lots of outside interests, simply doesn't need to be...

HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Former U.S. vice president Al Gore was named winner of the "Celebration Honor" this week by Hollywood's Jim Henson Company. While Gore and celebration might not often be linked in the minds of most people, the Henson firm said in a release that the 2000 Democratic presidential nominee was chosen as the person who in 2006 "makes the world a better place by inspiring people to celebrate life." Gore was cited specifically for his tireless campaigning on behalf of slowing global warming.

The year 2006 was a fascinating one, and Barbara Walters is looking back at the people who influenced, inspired, entertained and surprised us over the past 12 months. The list includes some of the year's most prominent names in entertainment, politics, sports and business. Andre Agassi: A Good Sport When it comes to sports, we tend to focus on the winners. But on Sept. 3 at the U.S. Open, the most fascinating person on the court was Andre Agassi, the one who lost. It was perhaps the year's most memorable moment in sports: a four-minute standing ovation -- unprompted, unexpected...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday said it took "appropriate action" against employees at its Paris theme park who were caught simulating sex while dressed as Disney characters in a digital video that has received wide attention on the Internet. Disney would not say whether it had dismissed any of the costumed employees featured in the grainy video, which appears to have been shot with a hidden camera at a backstage dressing room at Disneyland Resort Paris. "The behaviour shown on the video is unacceptable and inexcusable," Disney said in a statement. "The video was taken...

A posting of an unredacted instant message sessions between Rep. Mark Foley and a former congressional page has apparently exposed the identity of the now 21 year-old accuser... ABC RELEASED TRANSCRIPT OF ONE CHAT BETWEEN FOLEY AND A MAN WHO WAS 18 AT THE TIME OF THE INSTANT MESSAGE EXCHANGE.... NETWORK STATED THE MESSAGE WAS TO 'UNDER AGE' TEEN... DEVELOPING... ABC ONLINE GLITCH LEADS TO IDENTITY OF FOLEY ACCUSER; FEATURED IM EXCHANGE WAS WITH 18 YEAR OLD

With virtually no questions asked, an undercover ABC News team was able to purchase a half ton of one of the world's most dangerous bomb-making materials and move it into a storage shed only a few miles from the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Despite its use in the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building, there are still no federal laws restricting the purchase of ammonium nitrate, a chemical fertilizer, widely sold at farm supply stores. The ABC News undercover team made the purchases, in cash, at farm supply stores in North Carolina and Virginia and were never...

The wigs and faces have come off on morning television -- and the nails are out! It isn't pretty. Barbara Walters coldly ripped into outgoing VIEW talker Star Jones this morning on ABC-TV. Walters announced that Star would no longer be permitted to appear on the show -- effective immediately -- after Star strayed from script during an exit that's turned ugly. Transcipt: WALTERS: "And then there were three. This is, truthfully, a very difficult day for us, and it is a sad day for us. If you were watching the program yesterday, you would have heard Star announce that...

Comedienne Sandra Bernhard appeared on the show and, amidst a discussion about Laura Bush, characterized the First Lady, with her typical acidity as "heavily medicated." Co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck, a vocally ardent Republican, took acute exception and tried to defend Mrs. Bush's work on childhood education, whereupon Bernhard called Hasselbeck "honey" – and then the sparks really flew. It was all a bit too much for Joy Behar to bear, apparently.

Good Morning America weekend producer John Green has been suspended by ABC News for one month without pay following the release of years-old emails that he sent in which he remarked that President Bush "makes me sick" and that former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright "has Jew shame." After the emails were posted on the Drudge Report, Green promptly apologized, saying in a message to ABC News staff, "I want all of you to know how much I regret the embarrassment this story causes ABC. It was an inappropriate thing to say and I'm deeply sorry." The Washington Post reported...

March 23, 2006 — Over the last 24 hours, ABC News has been reading hundreds of messages sent in by viewers in response to President Bush's claim that the media are undermining support for war in Iraq. Viewer opinions ran the gamut, but the vast majority believed the media were biased in their Iraq coverage.

The FBI translator who supplied the 12-hours of Saddam Hussein audiotapes excerpted by ABC's "Nightline" Wednesday night now says the network discarded his translations and went with a less threatening version of the Iraqi dictator's comments. "What you heard on ABC News was their translation," former U.N. weapons inspector Bill Tierney told ABC Radio's Sean Hannity on Thursday. "They came up with something different on a key element regarding terrorism in the United States," Tierney insisted. In the "Nightline" version of a 1996 recording, Saddam predicts that Washington, D.C. would be hit by terrorists. But he adds that Iraq would...

While CBS News coverage of the State of the Union speech showcased the bombast of New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, the ABC News coverage was the most hostile to Bush and conservative policies with its analysis delivered through a liberal prism. Anchor Elizabeth Vargas began the evening by emphasizing Bush's low approval rating fueled by "an inept response to Hurricane Katrina, and the indictment of a high ranking White House official and, of course, growing dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq." She resurrected Watergate as she highlighted how Bush's 42 percent approval level "is the worst for a President...

Check out the promotional ad for this Thursday evening's (December 29, 2005) episode of ABC's Primetime. The promo is for the story, "On the Trail of Pope Joan" (audiotape on file; emphasis mine): "Diane Sawyer takes you on the trail of a passionate mystery. Just as intriguing as The Da Vinci Code. Chasing down centuries-old clues hidden even inside the Vatican. Could a woman disguised as a man have been Pope? Thursday night. One astonishing Primetime." It doesn't get much uglier than this, folks. Quite simply, there was never a female pope, or "Pope Joan." The tale is a complete...

ABC Pulls 'Neighborhood' Reality Series LOS ANGELES -- "Welcome to the Neighborhood," an ABC reality series that pushes hot buttons of racism and anti-homosexuality, was pulled by the network before its debut. The program had drawn criticism from groups claiming it risked fostering prejudice.~snip~ ... three families in Austin, Texas, who are given the chance to choose a new neighbor for a house on their street. Each family initially wants someone similar to them _ white and conservative. Instead, they must choose from families that are black, Hispanic and Asian; two gay white men who've adopted a black child; a...

"Nurse Nasty," "Wicked Doctor," "The Prison Matron" … not the usual way to introduce yourself, but in the leather-clad world of sadomasochism, naughty is nice. And pain is pleasure. "I need stimulation and get a terrific high from playing rough," said Allena Gabosch, 52, a Seattle-based "bottom," meaning she's the one on the receiving end of spanking. The buxom, tattooed, alternative sex activist finds pain play very seductive but, "I still ask for Novocain at the dentist's office." While most couples don't need whips, paddles or ropes to get in the mood, a minority find sadomasochism, or S&M, erotic. They...

We're living in a post-Nipplegate world -- and apparently it's only going to get worse. In case you haven't heard, Fox has already rejected a Super Bowl ad starring Mickey Rooney for Airborne, the natural cold remedy. Why? Well, in the ad, the 84-year-old Rooney is in a sauna. Someone behind him coughs. He overreacts, jumps up, screams, heads for the door, and drops his towel. His bare bum is exposed for two seconds or so. Clearly scandalous. Who doesn't want to see Mickey Rooney's bare behind? Turns out the Mickey Rooney commercial isn't the only new ad that's already...

Mommy, have I done something wrong?            Andrea Yates was the mother of five beautiful, innocent children. She drowned them all in a bathtub and we are supposed to feel sorry for her. When her seven year old son saw his baby sister lying lifeless on the floor of the bathroom, he asked if she was all right, to which Andrea answered, “get in the tub”, Noah ran, but not far enough or fast enough. The last words he spoke just before his mother drowned him in the bathtub was: “Mother, have I done something wrong?”          I say we are...

Is anyone else trying to watch the Christmas programming on "ABC Family"? There are several good programs on, many of them are the old Clay-mation Christmas shows that I remember from my childhood. And before I get bashed for not knowing that Jesus is the reason for the season, I do. But I also know that these are good, wholesome classics and are a Christmas tradition in my family. The problem is: nearly every commercial break contains a plug for the "ABC Family" show "Degrassi High", which appears to be aimed at teenagers and has at least one positively-portrayed gay...

The nation's chief media regulator expressed disappointment Wednesday over the steamy locker room opening to ABC's "Monday Night Football" broadcast. AP Photo "I wonder if Walt Disney would be proud," said Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites). ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. The opening, which has generated complaints to ABC and the FCC (news - web sites), featured actress Nicollette Sheridan in the locker room, supposedly dressed only in a white towel. She drops the towel and jumps into the arms of Philadelphia Eagles star Terrell Owens. Sheridan was shown only...