Former BFF dishes on
Martha's love life
Other shorts: GroupM signs digital ad verification deal
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Mar 18, 2010
Former BFF dishes on Martha's love life
Sometimes it just doesn't pay to be Martha Stewart, for all of her celebrity and wealth. People have a way of turning on her, for whatever reason, and now one of those ex-pals has a tell-all book coming out about the doyenne of domesticity that rips her to shreds on a number of levels. We learn from Mariana Pasternak that Stewart, though a woman who needs to be in control, has almost old-fashion notions about marriage and finding the perfect man, such that she was wont to stalk likely candidates. Writes Pasternak: "Each time she met a man she liked, Martha heard wedding bells, and each time she suffered indignities and disappointment." In one instance, it was a wealthy investment banker whose fiancé confronted her. Pasternak, in her book "The Best Of Friends: Martha and Me," writes that Stewart could be totally naive about men, like a little girl, and "had a surprising flexibility when it came to bedding down with a just-met mate." In the end, Stewart would find herself rejected and hurt. "Martha's distress at her failed sentimental escapades made my heart ache," writes her former pal. The two had a nasty split after Pasternak testified against Stewart at her trial over insider trading a few years back, essentially backing up the government's case that Stewart had dumped stock based on an insider tip from her broker. The two had been inseparable for 20 years.
Porn scorn: GroupM signs digital ad verification deal
GroupM has come up with a solution to a problem that has plagued digital media buyers in recent years. Yesterday the agency said it has reached deals with DoubleVerify and AdSafe to verify that its ads have run "in the right place and at the right time." As GroupM explains, the move is to counter a growing problem in the industry, that of publishers delivering impressions "outside the intended parameters of a marketer’s strategic plan." In some cases, that has even meant an ad appearing on web sites with pornographic and other potentially offensive materials, or a campaign that was supposed to run only on U.S. sites appearing overseas. Under the deal, DoubleVerify and AdSafe will notify the agency if their clients' ads run "contrary to campaign specifications." In a statement, GroupM Interaction chief operating officer John Montgomery said that the agency pursued the new deals after proving unable to effectively address the problem with publishers.
Out of left field, a controversial Cubs billboard
The Chicago Cubs’ famed Wrigley Field is one of the best-known stadiums in all of American sports, but that distinction may actually work against the team in its quest to erect a new illuminated and projecting billboard above the left-field bleachers. The Cubs have filed a permit application for the sign, which would be 75 feet high and 360 square feet, but their plan may be thwarted by Wrigley’s status as a historical landmark. Local alderman Tom Tunney is raising a fuss over the proposed signage, saying he's concerned that it could lead to bigger, larger and more frequent billboards adding to urban blight. He told the Chicago Sun-Times, “There's been signage allowed in the ballpark under the landmark ordinance. But this is a different level of advertising that's a lot less discrete.” The proposed billboard, which will block a casino billboard on a nearby building that has given Cubs ownership fits over all the free publicity, will have to pass muster with the Commission on Historical Landmarks before it can be erected.
Programming notes: Old school 'Apprentice' on tap
There’s new hope for the Omarosas of the world. NBC and Donald Trump are reviving the original format of “The Apprentice” this fall, with another edition of “Celebrity Apprentice” to air in spring 2011. “Apprentice,” which hasn’t aired in its original form since 2007, will feature 14 non-celebrities looking for jobs following the economic meltdown, with the winner getting a position in one of The Donald’s businesses. Casting has begun and production will begin this summer. "Celebrity Apprentice" premiered to a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating on Sunday, winning its timeslot though down from last year. Meanwhile, in other programming, CBS has ordered the reality pilot “Beat the Chefs,” a culinary competition show in which contestants compete against professional chefs. Amateurs and a team of family and friends will cook a classic family recipe while the pros try to emulate the dish, with the winner getting a cash prize. Speaking of cooking shows, Fox has greenlighted a third season of “Kitchen Nightmares,” in which chef Gordon Ramsay helps ailing restaurants. On cable, Showtime has set premiere dates for five of its summer series. On June 10 the network will premiere the eighth season of “Penn & Teller: Bulls**t!” at 10 p.m., followed by new series “The Green Room with Paul Provenza” at 10:30. On June 20 Showtime will roll out “The Real L Word,” a reality series based on the original “L Word.” And on Aug. 16 the sixth season premiere of “Weeds” will air at 10 p.m., followed by the premiere of the first-year series “The C Word” at 10:30.
France's 'Game' shows reality show gone wrong
Imagine if PBS ran a documentary about a group of people who get so caught up in a game show that they actually kill another participant. That's essentially what's going on in France, where a film that aired last night on France-2 about a game show in which contestants are ordered to administer electronic shocks to a man in a chair. The man eventually dies, or appears to. He's actually an actor. The game show participants don't realize it's all an elaborate hoax, an excuse television's influence and the human inclination to obey orders. "The Game of Death" has drawn criticism from French newspapers, but producers defended themselves, saying that they are making a greater statement about the power television holds over people. Contestants heard the "executed" actor plead with them to have mercy, yet producers say that 80 percent of them actually applied the maximum jolts they could under the circumstances, at the behest of the show's host and the show's loud studio audience.
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