Quick Takes: What’s in Bradbury’s file
The FBI gave Ray Bradbury a mixed review.
According to documents declassified recently through the Freedom of Information Act, the bureau investigated the “Fahrenheit 451” author in the 1950s and 1960s because of suspected communist sympathies.
One informant warned agents that Bradbury, who died June 5 at age 91, wrote stories that were “definitely slanted” against capitalism. The informant added that science fiction itself could so terrify readers that they would succumb to “incompetence bordering on hysteria” and would be helpless during a third world war.
The bureau noted Bradbury’s opposition to Sen. Joe McCarthy and other anti-communists and his support for civil rights. But it concluded that Bradbury had never been in the Communist Party and that interviewing him was unnecessary because he did not have “informant potential.”
—Associated Press
Cheaper than a Warhol work
If you’re planning on stocking up on tomato soup in the next few weeks, you’ll be able to bring home a bit
of Andy Warhol to your pantry.
Campbell’s says that a new limited-edition line of Warhol-themed condensed tomato soup cans will go on sale starting Sept. 2 at most Target stores across the country. The cans, 75 cents each, are intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pop artist’s first paintings of the familiar soup cans.
The soup will come in a variety of intensely colored cans meant to mimic Warhol’s style.
The artist exhibited his soup-can paintings at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles in 1962, and they became one of his signature works.
—David Ng
Night falls on ‘Jersey Shore’
After six seasons, MTV has decided it’s had enough gym, tan and laundry. “Jersey Shore” is coming to an end.
The reality series that gave us Snooki, the Situation and JWoww and followed them from their summer share in Seaside Heights, N.J., all the way to Italy and back, will come to a close at the end of the sixth season, set to begin Oct. 4.
“Jersey Shore” is the highest-rated series ever on MTV, reaching a peak of 8.87 million viewers during the show’s third season. However, the audience had dwindled to roughly half that by the end of the most recent season.
—Patrick Kevin Day
New team for foreign Oscar
“Little Miss Sunshine” producer Ron Yerxa and former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences executive director Bruce Davis have been named the co-chairs of the Oscar foreign language executive committee.
On Thursday, Mark Johnson, who chaired the committee for the last 12 years, confirmed that the men would replace him.
Under Johnson, the committee chose three of the nine shortlisted foreign films. The final nominating decision was then up to a group of 30 voters.
Both of the new co-chairs have expressed their support for the system in the past because it has helped more well-reviewed foreign films secure Oscar nominations.
—Nicole Sperling
A temporary exit from ‘GMA’
Robin Roberts said goodbye Thursday to her “Good Morning America” co-workers and audience. But only for a while.
“See you later. See you soon. I’ll get back as soon as I can,” she promised at the close of her emotional send-off from the show.
The “GMA” anchor was making her final appearance before starting medical leave for a bone marrow transplant.
Her departure had originally been set for Friday, but in a last-minute change of plans she chose to exit a day early to visit her ailing mother in Mississippi, she told viewers.
During her absence, a number of famous faces will be subbing for her, including Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Oprah Winfrey and Chris Rock.
—Associated Press
CW rates highly with GLAAD
The advocacy group GLAAD has given the CW network high marks among broadcast outlets for its portrayal of gay and lesbian characters. Meanwhile, cable networks Showtime, ABC Family, TNT and HBO all were given a favorable rating by the group.
The number of gay and lesbian images on TV held steady this year. But the range of impressions continued to grow, with those representations increasingly presented in a matter-of-fact manner rather than as curiosities, GLAAD found in its annual Network Responsibility Index.
—Associated Press
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