FACT AND FICTION: At least someone still thinks there’s glamour in the Old Media — TV and the movies. First there was “The Devil Wears Prada,” with perhaps a TV version down the road, then “Ugly Betty.” Now there are two new attempts to bring the magazine world to the small screen, one fictional and one reality, both of which will bow in the first week of January.
On FX’s upcoming drama “Dirt,” which premieres Tuesday, Lucy Spiller, played by Courteney Cox, edits a magazine she describes as “People magazine with a healthy dose of ‘Screw you.'” She is the type of editor who deems the headline “Pass the Cottage Cheese” too “abstract” for a spread on celebrity backsides — “Dis-ASS-ter” being more her speed. Whether its Bonnie Fuller-esque protagonist will hold mainstream America’s fascination week to week remains to be seen, particularly given the occasional — and obscure — real-life media touches on the show. Does most of America even know who former New York Times movie critic Elvis Mitchell, who is referenced in one early episode, is? When the owner of the magazine complains about being “snubbed at the ASME awards,” will anyone get it? (Of course, nitpicky media insiders might point out that they’re actually called the National Magazine Awards — and that everyone feels snubbed in one way or another.)
The cable channel has ordered 13 episodes of the series. Staff writers include former People assistant managing editor Albert Kim and fellow Time Inc.-er Rebecca Dameron, and perhaps they contributed the “inside baseball” content. Regardless, the FX team helpfully included a glossary for terms like “rate base” and “copy flow” in the press kit, which is in a magazine format. No word on whether viewers get one, too.
Meanwhile, the reality show “I’m From Rolling Stone” premieres Jan. 7 on MTV, during which six painstakingly telegenic twentysomethings will vie for a contributing editor’s spot at the magazine. (Of course, this isn’t the first time MTV has delved into the magazine world — remember the unrenewed “Miss Seventeen” featuring now-departed editor Atoosa Rubenstein?)
Related Articles
You May Also Like
In the first episode, Rolling Stone editor and publisher Jann Wenner‘s calls to the six finalists provide a glimpse at what music magazines mean to the Internet generation: very little. Hearing Wenner introduce himself on the call, Krishtine repeats, “Ian? Is it Ian?” and asks the famed magazine editor to spell it. “You’d better learn it,” Wenner laughs awkwardly. “That will be tattooed on your arm before we’re done with the summer.”
Bad boy finalist Russell sasses the editor. Told by Wenner that he’s heard Russell is a good writer, the contestant retorts, “Google me!”
But there’s always hope in Krystal, a nostalgia tripper who gets fashion and music cues from the era of Rolling Stone’s heyday and tells Wenner, “This is better than getting a call from the President.” The Bush-bashing Wenner responds, “He’d just send you to Iraq.”
Saddled with the task of actually editing the contestants’ copy, executive editor Joe Levy seems to be desperately trying to keep a straight face. No surprise, given the finalists’ more clueless moments (“Boho — isn’t that short for Brooklyn?” asks contestant Colin).
Despite their obvious enthusiasm and early episode cameos by Nelly Furtado and other stars, there are moments in which the mystique of the magazine world seems like a hard sell. Walking through the aisles of the magazine’s New York offices, one contestant remarks, “Dude, this looks like Enron.”