Latest news with #TVcriticism
CBS News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Gary Deeb, outspoken media columnist who spent many years in Chicago, dies at 79
Gary Deeb, an award-winning media columnist who spent many years in Chicago and was known for his outspoken and sometimes scathing commentary on the TV industry, has died. Deeb died Saturday, May 17, in Charlotte, North Carolina — where he had most recently lived. He was 79 years old. Gary Deeb in an interview with CBS Chicago in 1982. CBS Born Oct. 23, 1945, in Buffalo, New York, Deeb worked for several local radio stations in Buffalo as a teenager and attended the University of Buffalo, according to The Buffalo News. In 1970, he became a radio and TV critic for that newspaper. In 1973, Deeb came to Chicago and joined the Chicago Tribune in the same role. By 1975, the then-30-year-old critic was nationally syndicated — and was profiled in Time Magazine as the "Terror of the Tube." In a Dec. 1, 1975, profile, Time Magazine called Deeb "the sourest, crudest ravager of the medium since [Nixon Vice President] Spiro Agnew put away his thesaurus." The profile noted that Deeb had dismissed that year's prime time TV season as "'devoid of innovation, creativity or diversification,' freighted with 'drivel,' 'sanitized doggerel' and 'phony, rotten garbage.'" Time also credited Deeb as one of a few radio and television critics in American newspapers who did more than rewrite news releases. "Indifferent to the metaphysics of TV as a medium, Deeb tore into the venality that stamped it as a business," the late Michael Miner wrote in the Chicago Reader in 2003. Deeb also covered and criticized local radio and television and the Chicago news business. Specifically regarding CBS Chicago, Deeb was behind a 1976 letter-writing campaign launched when Channel 2 removed beloved weatherman John Coughlin from the evening newscasts and brought on a new weatherman, Tom Alderman, to take his place. After more than 10,000 letters came in, Coughlin was restored as CBS Chicago's chief weatherman in February 1977, published reports noted. In 1980, Deeb switched to the Chicago Sun-Times, where the renowned media columnist Robert Feder worked with him as a legman. While working as a newspaper columnist, Deeb also appeared daily on Fred Winston's WLS-AM radio show, Buffalo Broadcasting noted. In covering and critiquing Chicago TV news, Deeb was especially hard on ABC 7 — and the congenial and sometimes comedic chemistry between that station's anchors Fahey Flynn and Joel Daly and weatherman John Coleman. But in 1983, Deeb moved to television and joined ABC 7, where he spent the next 13 years covering radio, television, and print media on that station's newscasts. Deeb moved on from Chicago in 1996 — returning to Buffalo and later moving to Charlotte, where The Buffalo News said he had lived for nearly 20 years. Deeb was a nine-time Pulitzer nominee and an Emmy Award winner with Channel 7. He was also a member of the U.S. Army Reserve. A memorial service will be held at a future date, according to his obituary.
The Sun
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
The Chase embroiled in ‘fix' row as fans slam ‘ridiculously easy' questions – but would you get them?
ITV has copped criticism from fans of The Chase who slammed questions on a recent episode for being too easy. Hosted by Bradley Walsh, the ITV quiz show sees regular people take on 'Chasers', quiz masters with unending general knowledge. 5 5 5 But during Tuesday's installment, viewers watching at home complained it was too easy for the contestants who were competing against Chaser Jenny 'The Vixen' Ryan. The contestants were Toby from London, Becca from Marlow, Sophia from Liverpool and Neil from Manchester. They all smashed their individual rounds and brought the total prize pool to £20,000. The four players made it to the final round against The Vixen, which is a rare occurrence to see all contestants making it that far. But it was in the final round that viewers became irate and accused the show of fixing the competition. They accused show bosses of putting difficult questions to the contestants, but "ridiculously easy" ones to the Chaser. The players were asked questions such as, "What is the most popular city in Algeria?" and "Pat Rafter Arena is a Brisbane stadium court for what sport?" While The Vixen received questions such as, "In which century was 1812?" and "What UK airport is known as NCL?" Other questions The Vixen had to answer were, "A clumsy person is said to be like a bull in a what?" and "The term 'spousage' refers to the state of being what?" Fans vented their frustration on X, formerly Twitter. The Chase contestant narrowly misses out on £80k "next question to the chaser would have been, how do you spell your name… absurdly easy questions to the vixen… ITV should be ashamed," wrote one person. Another added: "Jenny always seems to get ridiculously easy questions 'What planet is on the Discovery Channel logo?'" And a third commented: "Bradley might just as well have asked Jenny her name address and date of birth - her questions were a joke. ITV you should be ashamed of yourselves!" The Chase is no stranger to receiving accusations of fixing, with The Vixen even defending the show as far back as 2017. She explained in a tweet how the questions, which are written by world champion quiz masters, are chosen for each episode. "It is the team who pick the question set A or B, overseen by independent adjudicator," The Vixen wrote in 2017. "The questions are only 'easy' if you know the answer. Look up 'confirmation bias.' We all answer more quickly/interrupt when we are face high scores, we have to to win." The Chase airs weekdays on ITV1 from 5pm and is available to stream on ITVX. 5 5 The Chase's best moments The Chase has been entertaining ITV viewers for years, here are some of the show's most memorable moments... Bradley Walsh can't stop laughing Every time host Bradley Walsh erupts into fits of laughter on The Chase it makes for pretty entertaining TV. One particularly memorable occasion was when he was asking the question 'The title of which Elvis Presley song was engraved of the inside of Freddie Star's coffin?" As usual the contestant was given four multiple choices but Bradley could get through reading them out before bursting into hysterics. Seeming the idea of the song being option 'B: Way Down' was too much for the presenter to handle. The Double Trouble special To celebrate 15 years of The Chase on screens, ITV launched a special 'double trouble' episode where contestants faced off against not one but two of the show's beloved Chasers. And despite the odds, the contestants managed to go home with some cash! The contestants with famous names Eagle-eyed ITV fans are always quick to spot interesting and sometimes hidden details on the quiz show - but there have been a few times where the names of some contestants have been overtly obvious. For example, one 2017 episode of the quiz show saw Bradley welcome four contestants who were named after Friends characters Ross, Rachel, Phoebe and Joey. Another group of contestants with named from The Simpsons were also grouped together in another episode, much to viewers' amusement. The Beast's anger gets the best of him During an episode from the 2024 season, Mark Labbett let out his inner beast as he exploded in a fit of anger. Close to losing the competition in the Final Chase, Mark then made a silly mistake and incorrectly answered the question, 'Rabbit was a 1980 hit for which Cockney duo?' 'Oh, you idiot!' he yelled at himself while slamming the table in front of him. With seconds left on the clock, the Chaser then admitted defeat, moaning "I don't deserve to win."
