From the glitzy red carpet to behind the scenes at the biggest awards to the sets of not-so-real reality shows, Adam flips the script on the entertainment biz. Here are his sources. Rated JWA… just as weird and arbitrary as the motion picture ratings system.
Sources
"Or they throw lavish parties where voters meet celebrities."
Fox, Jesse David. "A Brief History of Harvey Weinstein's Oscar Campaign Tactics." Vulture. New York Media, LLC, 29 Jan. 2014. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"One year Sharon Stone's people sent us all gold Coach watches! So, uh, yeah. She got the nom."
Shone, Tom. "In Praise of the Golden Globes." Slate. Graham Holdings Company, 13 Jan. 2012. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Freddy Fields invited me to my first Hollywood Foreign Press luncheon. He said, 'You're gonna take pictures with everybody, you're gonna hold up the magazines, take the pictures, and you're gonna win the award.... I won that year.'"
Jang, Meena. "Golden Globes: Denzel Washington Accepts Cecil B. DeMille Award." The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media, 10 Jan. 2016. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"And all that advertising costs money. To win an Oscar, studios may have to spend up to 10 million dollars."
Buckley, Cara. "Oscars 2016: The Race May Yet Heat Up." New York Times 2 Dec. 2015: C1. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"...One study found that an Oscar nom is worth 20 million dollars at the box office, and 34 million for a win! Even if your movie's a flop, getting nominated is an easy way to make your money back."
Ryzik, Melena. "The Value of the Oscar Bump." New York Times. The New York Times Company, 26 Jan. 2011. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"No one was taking Netflix seriously as a TV network. So we resolved to win us an Emmy. We went to the neighborhoods of Emmy voters and gave people $50 each to put up Netflix lawn signs. We sent food trucks with free lunch all around L.A. We painted this town with money, and that year we didn't just win one Emmy, we won three. So I melted the other two down and made rings. And now Netflix is a TV network."
Andreeva, Nellie. "Emmys: Netflix Uses Lawn Signs in 'House of Cards, 'Arrested Development' Campaign." Deadline. PMC, 24 Jun. 2013. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Movies back then were starting to get a little racy, so the government threatened to censor the movie industry. That is, until William Hays stepped in and created the Hays Code."
The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"The membership of the ratings board is totally secret. All we know is that you have to be a parent who lives in Los Angeles."
MPAA, 2016. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Wrong. PG-13 movies have actually been found to contain more gun violence than R rated movies-- ack!"
Kang, Cecilia. "The Violent 'Taken' movies are rated PG-13. Do ratings make sense anymore?" Washington Post. Washington Post Company, 20 Oct. 2014. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"…No, tripled since 1985. Thanks MPAA, you filthy animals."
Bushman, Brad J., et al. "Gun violence trends in movies." Pediatrics 132.6 (2013): 1014-1018.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Nope! The MPAA often gives different ratings to the very same WORD! For instance—"
"This Film is Not Yet Rated," 2006. Film.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Gets you an NC-17, because the MPAA routinely rates LGBT sex as more objectionable than straight sex."
Child, Ben. "US censors accused of homophobia over restrictive Pride rating." The Guardian. Guardian Media Group, 2 Oct. 2014. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"It's not a science, it's a matter of perception."
Sneed, Tierney. "Don't Expect Any Major Changes to the MPAA Ratings System in 2014." U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report, L.P., 7 Jan. 2014. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Yep. Some reality shows are so scripted they've been unionized by the Writer's Guild of America."
"Reality & Game Show Writers." Writers Guild of America. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"On house-hunting shows they've already bought one of the houses, and just removed all the furniture to make it look vacant."
Friedman, Marcelle. "Why It Matters That House Hunters Is Fake." Slate. Graham Holdings Company, 14 Jun. 2012. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Food competition shows let contestants re-cook fresh plates of food."
Sietsema, Robert. "Iron Chef Boyardee." Village Voice. Voice Media Group, 19 Feb. 2008. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Bachelor producers plan all the dates and tell the Bachelor who to send home when."
Fedotowsky, Ali. "Behind-the-Scenes Secrets You Need to Know About the First Rose Ceremony!" E! News. NBC Universal, 7 Jan. 2014. Web.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Alaskan Bush People actually live in Seattle."
Park, Andrea. "Alaskan Bush People Stars Plead Guilty to Lying About Living In Alaska to Collect Oil Revenue Checks." People. Time Inc., 20 Nov. 2015. Web.
For More on This Topic
This Film Is Not Yet Rated: Kirby Dick's thorough documentary sheds light on the workings of the MPAA ratings board, and what the heck separates a PG-13 from an NC-17.
Meet the Total Randos Who Decide the Golden Globes: Molly Fitzpatrick's deep dive for Vocativ on the eccentrics in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Reality Steve: The indispensable gossip blog by Stephen Carbone, which drops titillating gossip about trashy primetime reality shows and is notorious for spoiling every season of The Bachelor franchise before the first episode even airs.
Watch Adam ruin the red carpet and reality TV.