The Seamless Web: A Blog on Law, Popular Culture and Related Issues

BBC1 Legal Drama Silk Renewed

The BBC 1 legal drama Silk is returning for a second season. It stars Maxine Peake as Martha.

Hey, Bart (Chilton, Not Simpson)

The Commodity Futures Trading Corporation (CFTC) has a pop culture admirer in its Commissioner, Bart Chilton. Mr. Chilton likes to use pop culture references in his talks and interviews. He made a reference to the Star Trek episode "The Changeling" in a March 14 talk. On May 3, he cited the Dixie Chicks, Lao Tzu, and and Mr. Peabody. (Mr. Peabody?) Go, Mr. Chilton, and Power Rangers, go.

New CBS Legal Drama Already Renamed

The newly ordered legal drama, "Baby Big Shot," (CBS) has a new name: Made in Jersey. I think I like "Baby Big Shot" better. It stars Janet Montgomery (Entourage) as a working class attorney who wants to impress her colleagues.

Academiks. Srsly.

Katie Miltner (Candidate No. 31304) received her master's degree from the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science recently, and submitted a thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements. The title of her thesis? Srsly Phenomenal: An Investigation Into the Appeal of LOLCATS. Read it here. LOLCATS are doing it here and here (well, some are trying, anyway). LOL. Srsly. And to Ms. Miltner, congratulations. Srsly.

The University Press of Kentucky's Free Book of the Month Promotion

Last year I discovered the University Press of Kentucky's (UPK) free book of the month promotion, designed to encourage interest in the press's various publications. UPK made it really easy to sign up for a free copy of whatever book the Press was offering for free that month--just sign up on a form available on the Press's blog, and if copies were still available, the Press's staff would send you a copy within a couple of weeks. Such a deal! The books were always really interesting.

Over the past few months, however, getting copies of the new titles has become so complicated that the program seems to have ground to a halt. At least, I cannot figure out how anyone is supposed to be able to sign up, and I have abandoned my efforts. Up until January, the blog seemed still to offer the option of signing up via a form. But after that, the Press's blog seemed to "lock" the form. In February, things seemed to start to go wrong. In March, you needed a password to order the book (and lots of instructions), but where were you supposed to get the password and the instructions? I searched the 'net, and finally figured out that the program had somehow migrated to Pinterest, although why anyone would post this program to Pinterest, I just don't understand. Interested persons have to sign up for Pinterest and then get the password? But why? Suppose you're not interested in Pinterest? Suppose all you want is the free book? I got the password and entered it into the form, but I have to say I still haven't received the free book for April, so I don't know if I've figured out how the new system is supposed to work.

I wrote to Cameron Ludwick, who is listed as the person in charge of the blog, and asked for an explanation of the changes, and said that with such an explanation I would be happy to post a description of the program on the Law and Humanities Blog, which I also edit. I really do think UPK has an excellent thing going with its free book promotion, and it offers a variety of titles, from nonfiction by Joe Nickell to a book on the history of the tabloid. What I don't understand is why the Press seems to have made it so hard for interested people to order the books.

So far have I have had no response. So I am still in the dark as to why UPK would make what seemed to be a really good idea and really easy way for promoting its publications into a really complicated system. Does anyone understand these changes?

 

 

 

 

 

ABC Orders Pilots For Two Shows, Both Law-Related

From the Hollywood Reporter: news that ABC is ordering two pilots for dramas. One involves an as-yet unnamed series about a DA who pursues a "sensational murder case." The second is a cop show, "Low Winter Sun," which features "cops and criminals." More here.

Actor Peter Falk, Wife Shera Danese, Fund Scholarships For UCLA Students

Peter "Lieutenant Columbo" Falk left enough money in his estate plan to set up a scholarship fund to send some lucky students to UCLA free of charge. He and wife Shera Danese set aside the hefty sum of $3 million for the educational futures of young people they don't even know. That's very, very generous. More here from the UCLA Newsroom.

Howard and Bernadette's Wedding Plans

The Hollywood Reporter teases us with this "will they, won't they" story about "The Big Bang Theory"'s Howard and Bernadette's upcoming wedding. The suggestion is that the plot hinges on NASA's decision to change the launch date for Howard's upcoming shuttle mission, thus throwing the wedding planners into a tizzy. Of course, I would be remiss if I failed to point out that the couple could actually get married via a kind of proxy (actually "subspace radio marriage," as the Star Trek people would have it). See for example Adam Candeub and Mae Kuykendall, Modernizing Marriage, 44 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 735 (Summer 2011) at 783; Andrea B. Carroll, Reviving Proxy Marriage, 76 Brooklyn L. Rev. 455 at 458 (discussing a Russian cosmonaut's radio marriage celebrated aboard the International Space Station and at the Houston Space Center; it was re-solemnized in Russia when the groom returned to Earth because while the marriage was legal in Texas it was not recognized in Russia). In Howard and Bernadette's case, the marriage could be held either at the Houston Space Center (or anywhere in the US, where marriage by proxy is recognized where the couple chooses, for that matter, as long it is willing to take steps to register the marriage properly with US authorities), though not in California, which does not allow marriage by proxy.

New Detective Series Set In Louisiana May Be Headed For Cable

News of a possible detective series starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. The pair would play two detectives on the trail of a Louisiana serial killer. The series is being offered to cable networks. More here from the Hollywood Reporter.

2 Broke Taxpayers

The April 16th episode of 2 Broke Girls really stretched credibility, not that the show doesn't usually. Caroline decides to help Earl from the diner and Max with their tax forms. Now, notice that much of this show's storyline is premised on the notion that Caroline has to work at the diner because she has "no marketable skills" and/or cannot find a job, even though she's a Wharton graduate. Yet, she clearly has skills, including the ability to fill out tax forms. She understands the tax code, which few of us do. That's a pretty marketable skill. Why can't she find a job, at the least, at one of those chain tax prep outfits? Why isn't she working on her CPA exam? She's obviously got ambition. 

Now, please understand that I am not denigrating the work of wait staff. They work hard, and they work long hours, and can make a good and satisfying living. But Caroline didn't like the job at first and clearly doesn't plan to stay there. So, if she has skills that could allow her to move on, why doesn't she use them? If the problem is (as she has said before) that her name prevents her from getting an interview at a firm, why doesn't she set up her own firm, working out of the apartment? I just don't understand why she's working so hard on the "cupcake business" and not on a business that she could control herself.

But never mind. Let's move on. As the story unfolds, it's April 17th, and Caroline and Max are making a mad dash to the Post Office (the Post Office?) to file Earl and Max's taxes. Actually, they need to file Earl's completed taxes and Max's extension. Really? Clever Caroline doesn't know that one can file an extension online via the IRS website? She doesn't tell Earl that cheap software can help him find those deductions? And if the idea is that you need the main office to stamp the envelope to show that Earl's tax return was received on time, why does Caroline tell Max that she is going to post Earl's return "outside in the box"? It won't get a time stamp that way unless a Post Office employee comes out to get the mail in the box at midnight and stamp the mail in the box. The Post Office clerk in the episode doesn't seem any too likely to do so and seems rather mean, although I have to say that the Post Office employees in my city who are open until midnight on Tax Day actually do stay open until everyone who shows up to drop off tax forms has the opportunity to do so, and they do go and get forms dropped off in the boxes. They are extremely nice people. The Post Office clerk in the episode does unbend at the end and provides a stamp for Max's envelope (it's a running joke). Now, that's unlikely.

Of course, if Caroline had a more lucrative position, she'd be making more money, and perhaps she wouldn't be living with Max in that walk-up. Alternatively, they might still share an apartment, but might be making quicker progress toward that cupcake fund.

All in all, a disappointing episode.