RELATED: Did Fred Thompson Call Mike Huckabee A Liar On Fox and Friends?

“I’ve been called a liar by Fred Thompson and John McCain, but I’ve been called worse by Clayton and Dave!” joked Huckabee to hosts Clayton Morris and Dave Briggs, to which the latter replied, “not on camera!”

Huckabee then explained the way things happened has he understood them yet again: that three McCain staffers went to Huckabee campaign manager Ed Rollins and told him that McCain and Thompson were working together. Huckabee called it “brilliant, shrewd, intelligent… I complimented them and congratulated them for a great tactic.” Now, he added confusingly, “I have to go back and apologize for thinking they were that smart!”

The segment via Fox News below:

“John (McCain) certainly encouraged Fred to stay in,” Huckabee said on Thursday’s F&F. “I think everyone understood fred knew he was not going to get the nomination.”

“I don’t blame John, I don’t blame Fred,” Huckabee added. “They were good friends. Many people in the McCain camp have since confirmed, you know, he said ‘Please stay in. I need you in South Carolina.’”

Thompson reacted to the clip, saying, “Minding my own business, having my second cup of coffee, contemplating the election in general terms, and the future, and Mike wanted to revisit the campaign last time. I — you know, what Mike just said is fine except for one thing: there’s not one shred of truth to it.”

He went on to say that neither McCain and he, nor their people, ever spoke about Thomson remaining in the race, or even spoke at all between the Iowa Caucuses and the 2008 South Carolina primary.

Like Thompson, you’re probably wondering why Huckabee and the F&F gang don’t just dig out a quarter, and call someone who cares. The former Senator made it interesting, though, when he politely challenged Huckabee’s truthfulness. With all due respect, of course.

“Mike has been around long enough to know not to inhale all that stuff too deeply,” Thompson began, “and when he says several McCain people have come to him and verified it, I must say, you know, I have nothing at all against Mike Huckabee, but I doubt that. I doubt that. And if they did, he should name the names.”

Perhaps the best moment of the clip, though, was Eric Bolling‘s use of what should be, if there’s any justice, an instant catchphrase. As Thompson assessed Mitt Romney’s campaign in South Carolina (invoking Queensbury Rules, as if we didn’t already know he’s older than sand), Bolling had to wrap things up, using the double-take inducing phrase “We’re gonna get a hard-out in just a couple of seconds here.”

Here’s the clip, from Fox News:

If you don’t know any cool kids, however, you could do worse than the Mediaite staff’s out-of-the-box picks of our favorite Holiday flicks. Now, get thee to Netflix!

While there was very little duplication, one film that shows up twice on our list (once with a handy drinking game!) was also the subject of much background chatter. Love, Actually was the most frequently mentioned, and is probably the runner-up on many of our lists. (Oddly, the other big winner of our rundown is John Amos, who also makes two appearances.) The remaining selections veer from odd to odder, but hopefully, that’s the fun of this list. Let us know your favorites in the comments section.

Coming to America - Mediaite Contributing Editor Frances Martel

It’s not primarily a holiday movie, and I doubt the writers intended it to be interpreted as a full-throated Reagan-era hymn to America, but Coming to America exemplifies the holiday spirit better, to me, than any other “winter in New York” feel-goods out there.

A prince and his brother travel to a faraway land to find the American dream… capture her and present her as the new leader of their country. Ok, so the bright-eyed immigrant analogies don’t 100% work, but good ol’ Prince Akeem does his best to emulate a bootstraps experience of working hard, learning the culture, and rubbing shoulders with an “elite” (small business owners) that calls him “Kunta Kinte” and wears entirely too much product in their hair.

Their shared winter, and Akeem’s love interest’s insistence on treating him well, even at a holiday party, simply because of his drive to “make it,” is all too familiar a story to a kid who grew up sharing her Christmases with recent Caribbean arrivals who were just thankful to be treated as equals, the way Akeem so joyfully expresses. That, and watching Arsenio Hall get rejected never gets old.

Love, Actually – Mediaite Contributing Editor Jon Bershad

Jingle All the Way – Mediaite Editor Matt Schneider

Love, Actually – Mediaite TV Editor Mark Joyella

The Sound of Music – Mediaite Editor-at-Large Rachel Sklar

Ordinary People – Mediaite Managing Editor Colby Hall

Die Hard and Die Hard 2: Die Harder – Mediaite Political Editor And White House Correspondent Tommy Christopher

]]> http://www.mediaite.com/online/mediaite-presents-our-favorite-christmasholiday-themed-movies/feed/ 20 http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sean-hannity-would-spend-time-with-fred-thompson%e2%80%99s-wife%e2%80%a6-but-not-in-a-bad-way/ http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sean-hannity-would-spend-time-with-fred-thompson%e2%80%99s-wife%e2%80%a6-but-not-in-a-bad-way/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:24:57 +0000 Frances Martel http://www.mediaite.com/?p=161851 Sean Hannity tried to wish many happy returns to his guest, Fred Thompson, at the end of a segment. Thompson makes it a point to note that he is spending the night of his birthday with Hannity, to which Hannity quips, "I'd spend it with your wife." Oops! Happy birthday, Fred Thompson!]]> Well, this is awkward. Sean Hannity tried to wish many happy returns to his guest, Fred Thompson, at the end of a segment. Thompson makes it a point to note that he is spending the night of his birthday with Hannity, to which Hannity quips, “I’d spend it with your wife.” Oops! Happy birthday, Fred Thompson!

This conversation already starts comically enough as Hannity congratulates Thompson on his “thirty-sixth” birthday, to which Thompson replies “says a lot about my life that I’m spending it with you, Sean.” Hannity agrees: “If I had the choice– I’d spend it with your wife– I, I’m fond of Jeri… go spend the rest of the night with her!”

Thompson’s wife Jeri, for the record, is really pretty (see above), so Thompson is probably used to it. And Hannity obviously meant no harm and was rather embarrassed about the way he phrased that (“that didn’t come out right,” he cedes). Nevertheless, it’s a pretty great impromptu awkward TV moment for a slow news day in August.

The clip via Fox News below:

Unlike the warlike intent behind the aforementioned domain names, Maddow didn’t quite explain why she bought the site, though there doesn’t seem to be the kind of mischief that makes Carlson use keith@keitholbermann.com as his personal address. In fact, it might just be a plain attempt to make a point. She explains:

“Fred Thompson being in any story makes it inherently more fun to cover. Note to all Republican political operatives out there: if you are looking for coverage of your cause, liberals will talk about anything that involves Fred Thompson. Because anything Fred Thompson does, anything he says, at some level is inherently funny. Fred Thompson is inherently funny. If you would like to learn more, please go to our new website which we purchased today, FredThompsonIsInherentlyFunny.com. Seriously, we own it now.”

They do, but have yet to do anything mean (or anything at all) with it, and Maddow didn’t announce any plans, but the sky’s the limit with a new domain name.

Video below:

In discussing the current tension between the Obama administration and the Israeli government (of which Hannity does not approve), Hannity pitched Lt. Col. North a standard, almost rhetorical question on his program: “Is President Obama emboldening America’s enemies?” North responded with a scathing critique of President Obama‘s foreign policy:

“This president is willing to be obsequious to our adversaries, to denigrate our allies, and essentially to walk away from the only real democracy in that part of the world. And no one can say he’s big on oil, because he’s not in the oil business, so what is it? It is his core philosophy of being anti-American.”

Watch the clip below:

Alex Pareene

Thompson began the interview allowing the governor to indulge in some typical Blago fare (“I’m the anti-Nixon,” “play the tapes”), even going as far as calling Attorney General Patrick Fitzgerald‘s handling of the situation “totally inappropriate,” but choosing to quickly switch gears with Blagojevich to ask about his impression of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Blagojevich often cites Emanuel as a source supporting his claim that he did nothing illegal in his deliberations to appoint a successor to President Barack Obama, and did his best to defend Emanuel’s honor against Massa’s accusations of harassment:

“The idea that Rahm Emanuel would be in the house gym… lobbying another congressman, whether he had clothes on or not, is the reason why I wanted him to be the guy to cut the deal to make the attorney general senator in exchange for jobs and health care and no taxes. Rahm is a tough guy, and he knows how to get things done, and that’s precisely the reason why he was the one I wanted… that story about him in the shower with Congressman Massa sure sounds like the Rahm I know!”

With friends like these,who needs enemies? There is no indication in his tone that Blagojevich was trying to incriminate or hurt Emanuel in any way, and yet he manages to confirm that even if Massa is lying, Emanuel is precisely the kind of person who would intimidate a congressman while in the shower naked, anyway. And that’s why we love him!

Then they took some stabs at Senator Dick Durbin– Thompson called him a “profile in courage;” Blagojevich noted that his loyalty to the Cardinals, White Sox, and Cubs is an apt metaphor for his politics– and departed with Blagojevich meekly requesting some legal help from the host. All in a day’s work for the newly-minted star of Celebrity Apprentice.

Listen to the bizarre Blagojevich interview below:

There’s no other show on television that draws both nursing moms at 3 a.m. and college students at 3 p.m. And that’s something that the writers, producers and actors who make “Law & Order” consider when putting together scripts and shows. They revel in their series’ universal appeal and mass audience.

The NBC show is celebrating its 20th season which executive producer Dick Wolf said “feels more like five or six.” That’s because not much has changed in the world in the past few decades — the show still bothers both sides when it has controversial episodes that deal with abortion, Wolf joked.

In some ways, though, a lot has changed over that period. Just ask Rene Balcer who acknowledged that storylines from the 90s no longer hold up as well because New York City grew out of the “crack war” the show sprouted inside. Balcer and his team do whatever they can to make the show’s storylines feel real to viewers, famously ripping ideas from the headlines. It’s the educational elements of the show that make Wolf proudest. Cast member S. Epatha Merkerson is particularly satisfied when an episode provokes thought and sparks debate among viewers after the show ends. The panel said they’ve done their job best if people throw their shoes at the TV as the credits roll.

In fact, because the show’s issues are so heated, it’s not uncommon to find actors arguing the merits and morals of scripts at read-throughs. Both Merkerson and Sam Waterston stated that one of the great perks of working for “Law & Order” as opposed to other series is that Wolf and Belcer give them authority to question their roles and lines. Wolf said that actor Steven Hill was the first actor he ever met who would routinely ask for fewer lines.

It’s the creators and actors embracing of their roles as publicly perceived legal experts that make shooting the show so much fun for them. Waterston appears in jury duty video overviews; Wolf can talk about the difficulties that large, media-heavy trials have in finding jurors; and Merkerson is occasionally addressed as “Lieutenant” by strangers. Merkerson admitted that, despite playing the head of police for 16 years, she doesn’t know anything about law. A woman near us, surprised, whispered to her friend, “She’s got to know as much as we do.”

What They Said
“I don’t know many people involved in television who were thrilled to lose the 10:00 hour. No, I didn’t ask for Friday at 8.”
- Dick Wolf questions NBC’s decision to have Jay Leno air five nights a week in primetime

“I have never done anything smart except by backing into it.”
– Sam Waterston said he was at first resistant to the idea of having his character, Jack McCoy, take a promotion but eventually warmed up to the idea

“The show has to be available online so people don’t have to get up to go see it.”
– Does Rene Belcer only know people whose televisions have a crank to power them?

“Fred is a terrific guy and his politics are interesting.”
– Dick Wolf chooses his words like a politician, when talking about actor and politician Fred Thompson

“What I’ve found is each person who came on, they came into a family. We all get along really well.”
– S. Epatha Merkerson lists pretty much everyone she works with as the “person” she likes the most

What We Thought

• Pat Mitchell ran this panel well. She tied together ideas, moved the discussion along, and motioned to play clips with perfect transitions that didn’t interrupt or sidetrack the conversation. She was obviously prepared and seemed to be a veteran of these types of events.
• Belcer said that the show has credited 6,000 actors over the show’s 20 years on the air. Wolf joked that the evidence is in the playbills of every Broadway show. The two seemed happy they could reward so many talented actors with chances to show what they could do, even in small, insignificant parts.
• Wolf wonders how cable shows can afford to make shows at the level they do. He said that the season two finale of “Mad Men” cost $1.6 million to make, which the networks would never sign off on.

PANEL RULES!
Some audience behavior seems to repeat itself panel after panel. We’ll be updating a running list of “PANEL RULES!” that will help ensure that you are not the dweeb of the Panel Nerds.

Panel Nerds don’t like… Look Unlikes
You think that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. resembles the character of Jack McCoy. You even suggest that Vance got elected because the public agrees with this comparison. Unfortunately for you – and your question – Waterston doesn’t see the resemblance. We’re just happy you didn’t tell Dick Wolf he looked like Nathan Lane.