Creative Arts Winners

Last week, I chose my predictions for the Creative Arts Emmys. I got 47 wrong. However, I got 22 right. They are below:

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series

John Lithgow as Arthur Mitchell, Dexter (Showtime)

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series

Betty White as Host, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program

Jeff Probst as Host, Survivor (CBS)

Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media: Nonfiction

The Jimmy Fallon Digital Experience (LateNightWithJimmyFallon.com)

Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program

Robot Chicken (Cartoon Network)

Outstanding Children's Nonfiction Program

Nick News With Linda Ellerbee - The Face Of Courage: Kids Living With Cancer (Nickelodeon

Outstanding Reality Program

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (ABC)

Outstanding Art Direction For Variety, Music, Or Nonfiction Programming

The 82 Annual Academy Awards (ABC)

Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series

Modern Family (ABC)

Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series

Mad Men (AMC)

Outstanding Cinematography For Reality Programming

Survivor (CBS) ["Slay Everyone, Trust No One"]

Outstanding Commercial

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (Old Spice Body Wash)

Outstanding Short Form Picture Editing

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (NBC) ["6-Bee (Episode 226)"][/i]

Outstanding Picture Editing For A Special (Single Or Multi-Camera)

The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Concert (HBO)

Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or A Special

Dancing With The Stars (ABC) ["902A"]

Outstanding Hairstyling For A Miniseries Or A Movie

Emma [Masterpiece] (PBS)

Outstanding Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie, Or A Special

The Pacific (HBO) ["Part Five"]

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One-Hour)

Glee (FOX) ["The Power Of Madonna"]

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety, Music Series, Or A Special

The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Concert (HBO)

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special

The Pacific (HBO) ["Part Five"]

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Series

Dancing With The Stars (ABC) ["Episode 909A"]

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Miniseries, Movie, Or A Special

The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Concert (HBO)

When Did Torture and Rape Become OK Mainstream Fare?

Here's what I knew walking into "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." Hot A-list actresses were clawing themselves trying to get into the lead role of the remake of this Swedish film. David Fincher, whose "Social Network" movie, about Facebook, is already drawing raves, is going to be directing this remake. And this Swedish movie seemed to come and go without much fanfare, and was now playing at a second-run theatre. One of my friends, who had already seen it, said it was "brilliant."

That was the sum total of what I knew about it. I assumed there was a girl in it who had a dragon tattoo. That's pretty much it.

Now, I realize that most people really know a lot about a movie before they watch it. But this is Hollywood, and I had lived through screener season with this same friend last year, where we saw countless movies without knowing any part of the plot. Most of these were great experiences.

So, at first, as I settled in to this Swedish movie, it seemed like a stylish caper movie. Don't get me wrong, it's exceedingly well done: great writing, great direction, great acting.

But here's the thing. When did it become ok to show violent rapes in movies? Or brutal sadism? Or torture? (In the latter, I'm thinking of the TV show "24" which brought up these same issues with me this season. It has always walked a fine line with exhibiting torture, but this season went especially far. Luckily, with TV I can fast forward through these scenes. In "24," they were trying to extract information, and of course, the only way to do this is through torture. In one scene, one character CUTS OFF another man's hand to get him to talk. Later, one bad guy is attaching electrodes to our hero, Jack Bauer's body. Of course, Jack, being the hero, escapes before he dies from this, but not before serious pain is inflicted. Later in the season, I'm told, Jack comes back to exact revenge and does so by torturing his torturer the same way, but worse.)

When did this become an acceptable mode of dealing with problems? Is it just that we've seen it all, as jaded moviegoers, that we must up the ante by inflicting pain on each other? "No, this guy is REALLY REALLY bad. See how brutally he's raping this woman?"

CAN WE STOP NOW?

Can we please just stop the incessant rape-torture-violence-revenge schematic we seem to be all embroiled in, and perhaps examine an alternate route?

One of the reasons I was (and am) pissed about seeing most of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (I walked out in one of the many "victim is tied up and about to have horrible things done to them" scenes.) is that I consciously and vigorously try to keep this negativity and brutality out of my consciousness. I studiously avoid "serial killer" movies and TV shows, even if that means missing, for example, one of the Best Drama contenders of the year, "Dexter." I don't care how ingeniously some character devises a way to kill someone. The fact is: they are KILLING SOMEONE.

It's not nice, it's not pretty, it's not even humane. I don't care what nice lighting you use to stylize it.

Also, in the case of "24," thankfully finished with its run, the fact of the matter is: Torture doesn't work. People will say anything when they're being tortured. It rarely extracts any kind of useful information.

Worst of all, and back to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," I really think that spiritually, as a nation, as a world, we need to really, whatever we have to do to get there, walk back from the concept of Revenge as a viable option. The premise being that when someone hurts you, and you come back and hurt them WORSE, the audience cheers.

How about this? How about starting to inform our books and our TV shows and our movies with some humanity?

One of the reasons I continued to watch "24" was that (most of the time anyway, except for that little 'torture' thing) Jack Bauer was a man firmly grounded in morals. He did what was right, for the country, for the world. He might've had to break a few rules along the way, but he was seeing the big picture, so you could look the other way.

What is most disturbing to me, this on the heels of a report that I spoke about in my latest "Whispered Pearls" (WP162*), about the pervasiveness of violence toward women in porn, is that the violence quotient that I'm seeing out there does seem to be increasing. The two men I was seeing "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" with also had no problem at all with the violence exhibited on screen. Images of which I'm still having trouble exorcising from my brain, now days later.

Are men and women different on this? Are men developing an increasingly sadistic, brutal image of their sexuality? Is this really the way men see the world? That revenge and hurting others is the best way out of a bad situation? That is really what's most disturbing to me. Your feedback on this issue would be appreciated. Thanks.


*Whispered Pearls back episodes


PS--One of my readers/viewers just alerted me to the fact that the Swedish book series by Steig Larsson, is actually called: "Milennium: Part 1 - Men Who Hate Women." Boy, is it ever!

Thank you for that update.
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Miche's Creative Arts Emmys Predictions

What are the Creative Arts Emmys, you ask, and why should we care?


Well, lots of people put in a lot of time and effort in their jobs, and it deserves to be recognized. Plus, they can't fit ALL of these awards into one night. They HAD to split it into two. But to me, these Emmys are just as important as the other ones.


Congratulations to everyone who was nominated (and those who weren't). Best of luck to you all.


Here then, are my predictions for the big night (Saturday, August 21, airing on E!).

THE 62ND ANNUAL PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS: CREATIVE ARTS WINNER PREDICTIONS

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series

Mike O'Malley as Burt Hummel, Glee (FOX)

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series

John Lithgow as Arthur Mitchell, Dexter (Showtime)

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series

Betty White as Host, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series

Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet Burke, Lost (ABC)

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program

Jeff Probst as Host, Survivor (CBS)

Outstanding Voice-Over Performance

Hank Azaria as Moe Syzlak & Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, The Simpsons

Outstanding Animated Program

South Park (Comedy Central)

Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media: Nonfiction

The Jimmy Fallon Digital Experience (LateNightWithJimmyFallon.com)

Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media: Fiction

Glee Hyperpromo And Superfan (Fox.com)

Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program

Robot Chicken (Cartoon Network)

Outstanding Variety, Music, Or Comedy Special

The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Concert (HBO)

Outstanding Special Class Program

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (ABC)

Outstanding Children's Program

Hannah Montana (Disney Channel)

Outstanding Children's Nonfiction Program

Nick News With Linda Ellerbee - The Face Of Courage: Kids Living With Cancer (Nickelodeon)

Outstanding Nonfiction Special

By The People: The Election Of Barack Obama (HBO)

Outstanding Nonfiction Series

American Masters (PBS)

Outstanding Reality Program

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (ABC)

Exceptional Merit In Nonfiction Filmmaking

Patti Smith: Dream Of Life (PBS)

Outstanding Directing For Nonfiction Programming

Bertram van Munster, The Amazing Race (CBS) ["I Think We're Fighting The Germans, Right?"]

Outstanding Directing For A Variety, Music, Or Comedy Series

Chuck O'Neil, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) ["Episode 15054"]

Outstanding Writing For Nonfiction Programming

Jenny Ash & Ed Fields, America: The Story Of Us (HISTORY) ["Division"]

Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music, Or Comedy Series

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)

Outstanding Art Direction For A Multi-Camera Series

The Big Bang Theory (CBS) ["The Gothowitz Deviation" and "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency"]

Outstanding Art Direction For A Single-Camera Series

Lost (ABC) ["Ab Aeterno"]

Outstanding Art Direction For A Miniseries or A Movie

Georgia O'Keeffe (Lifetime)

Outstanding Art Direction For Variety, Music, Or Nonfiction Programming

The 82 Annual Academy Awards (ABC)

Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series

Modern Family (ABC)

Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series

Mad Men (AMC)

Outstanding Casting For A Miniseries, Movie, Or A Special

Georgia O'Keeffe (Lifetime)

Outstanding Choreography

Dancing With The Stars (ABC) [Routines: "Futuristic Paso Doble/Living on Video" & "Quickstep/Anything Goes"]

Outstanding Cinematography For A Half-Hour Series

Hung (HBO) ["Pilot"]

Outstanding Cinematography For A One-Hour Series

Breaking Bad (AMC) ["No Mas"]

Outstanding Cinematography For A Miniseries Or A Movie

The Prisoner (AMC) ["Checkmate"]

Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming

Whale Wars (Animal Planet) ["The Stuff Of Nightmares"]

Outstanding Cinematography For Reality Programming

Survivor (CBS) ["Slay Everyone, Trust No One"]

Outstanding Commercial

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (Old Spice Body Wash)

Outstanding Costumes For A Series

Glee (FOX) ["The Power Of Madonna"]

Outstanding Costumes For A Miniseries, Movie, Or A Special

Emma [Masterpiece] (PBS)

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series

Breaking Bad (AMC) ["No Mas"]

Outstanding Picture Editing For A Comedy Series (Single Or Multi-Camera)

Modern Family (ABC) ["Family Portrait"]

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Miniseries Or A Movie

The Pacific (HBO) ["Part Five"]

Outstanding Short Form Picture Editing

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (NBC) ["6-Bee (Episode 226)"][/i]

Outstanding Picture Editing For A Special (Single Or Multi-Camera)

The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Concert (HBO)

Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming

Whale Wars (Animal Planet) ["The Stuff Of Nightmares"]

Outstanding Picture Editing For Reality Programming

Survivor (CBS) ["Tonight, We Make Our Move"]

Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series

Glee (FOX) ["The Power Of Madonna"]

Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or A Special

Dancing With The Stars (ABC) ["902A"]

Outstanding Hairstyling For A Miniseries Or A Movie

Emma [Masterpiece] (PBS)

Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic, Multi-Camera) For Variety, Music, Or Comedy Programming

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (ABC)

Outstanding Main Title Design

Human Target (FOX)

Outstanding Makeup For A Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic)

Glee (FOX) ["The Power Of Madonna"]

Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or A Special (Non-Prosthetic)

Dancing With The Stars (ABC) ["901A"]

Outstanding Makeup For A Miniseries Or A Movie (Non-Prosthetic)

Georgia O'Keeffe (Lifetime)

Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries, Movie Or A Special

True Blood (HBO) ["Scratches"]

Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score)

Lost (ABC) ["The End"]

Outstanding Music Composition For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special (Original Dramatic Score)

When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story [Hallmark Hall Of Fame Presentation] (CBS)

Outstanding Music Direction

Celtic Woman: Songs From The Heart (PBS)

Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics

Treme (HBO) ["This City"]

Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music

Human Target (FOX)

Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series

Breaking Bad (AMC) ["One Minute"]

Outstanding Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie, Or A Special

The Pacific (HBO) ["Part Five"]

Outstanding Sound Editing For Nonfiction Programming (Single Or Multi-Camera)

The Amazing Race (CBS) ["I Think We're Fighting The Germans, Right?"]

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One-Hour)

Glee (FOX) ["The Power Of Madonna"]

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Miniseries Or A Movie

The Pacific (HBO) ["Part Nine"]

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation

The Office (NBC) ["Niagara"]

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety, Music Series, Or A Special

The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Concert (HBO)

Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming

Spectacle Elvis Costello With... (Sundance Channel) ["Spectacle Elvis Costello With Bruce Springsteen - Parts 1 & 2"]

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series

V (ABC) ["Pilot"]

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special

The Pacific (HBO) ["Part Five"]

Outstanding Stunt Coordination

24 (FOX) ["6:00 PM - 7:00 PM"]

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Series

Dancing With The Stars (ABC) ["Episode 909A"]

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Miniseries, Movie, Or A Special

The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Concert (HBO)

Adding Friends in Social Media: A How-To

After my recent Twitter etiquette guide, the question came in: what about following people? How does one do that properly?

Well, I've talked about this on my podcast a bit, but let me explain my theories a bit further here. Mind you, they are only my theories. Everyone does Twitter the way it works best for them.

I really think it's different, depending on which form of social media you are using. For example, on Facebook, which I use mostly for friends and family and business colleagues, I don't just add people helter-skelter (1,268 friends). Remember, Facebook has a max cap of 5000 friends, but this includes friends AND things you are fans of. So if you have a lot of fan pages, those add into your 5000 total.

So on Facebook, I evaluate each new Friend Request carefully. Is this person friends with people I know? Someone I do business with? What are their interests? Similar to mine? Politics? Etc. What compels me to add this person? I can promise you that someone with no profile (barely a profile) and/or no picture in their avatar is someone I will Ignore. I've also taken to ignoring people from India and the Phillippines because for awhile, it seemed like the spammy stuff was coming from these kinds of profiles.

I take nearly the opposite approach on my MySpace profile (20,000+ friends). I pretty much add anyone that asks (http://www.myspace.com/michebel). I don't add people who don't even take the time to put a picture in to represent themselves. Nor do I add obvious advertisements, instead marking them as Spam. I don't add people who look crazy or have violent avatars. Other than that, you're pretty much in with me, no matter who you are. That said, I would say that 90% of the people who request friendship are bands, asking me to listen to their music. I don't. I'll add them, but that's it.

Blocking is my friend. If bands take the proper approach and send their music to me through the MySpace email, wonderful. If they spam my comments with it (and people do this a lot when you have 20,000 friends), they get ONE chance to do that, and then I block them. I have more people on my block list on MySpace than many people have friends (2000+).

The dealbreakers for me in comments are: people who post self-playing music players, anything at all that looks like an ad, people who post every other day to your comments section (Happy Thursday!). Other than that, they can post as they like. If you check my comments section, there is some pretty trippy stuff. You should see the stuff I delete! Man!

But as a social media site, I spend the least amount of time on MySpace. I never check my mail there (since it is all bands). I never devote any serious time there anymore. It's been usurped by Facebook and Twitter.

Which brings us to Twitter. Twitter is somewhere in the middle. Initially, I added everyone (a MySpace approach), and quickly reached the (unmarked anywhere) limit of 2000 people followed (http://www.twitter.com/michebel). If you follow 2000, you can't follow anymore. Period. That proved very counterproductive. Since I hadn't known this when I started, my only option was to start another Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/michebella). I wouldn't recommend this. I learned the hard way. It's much better to have one account and use it well.

So hopefully you can use my hard-learned advice in building your Twitter profile. 

For me, a good Twitter following list is well-crafted. Add people you know you want to follow (friends, family, colleagues). From that point, you want to build up a good strong list (at least 100 people, IMHO). On my Michebel account, I'm following 2,667 (I had over 3000 before they instituted the cap on followers.) On Michebella, I hover right around my max: 2,001. Can't add any past that.

Here's the situation with that. You can add up to 2000, basically, with no problems. You can add more when others start following you. For example, someone like Ashton Kutcher, who has 5,149,830 followers as I write this, COULD add that many that he is following. That would be a bit crazy, but would sure make for a lively Twitter stream.

Someone like Conan O'Brien, who famously is following ONE person, is an idiot who doesn't know how to use Twitter properly. No ONE person is fascinating enough that all you want to read is their Tweets. No one.

So you want a mix. What I look for in my stream is a combination of things I'm interested in (entertainment, music, comedy), people who are funny, people who are inspirational, political people, people up on current events, people who get Twitter.

Most of all, I think it's important that YOU not be bored with your Twitter stream. If you are sitting there, following only 10 of your closest friends and family, and no one's Tweeting anything, you're just staring at a blank screen, saying, I sure don't get this Twitter thing, you might wanna add some more folks.

Here's what I suggest. Take someone that you respect, whose Tweets are interesting/topical/funny to you, someone with a lot of friends, but someone who TWEETS. Don't use Oprah as an example. Love her, love her show, but she's terrible as a Twitter user. She still doesn't get it. Take, for example, someone who, when you look at their profile, you like or find funny or are interested in nearly every one of the things they Tweet. Use THAT person. Go to their list of people they are following, and cull from there.

And yes, it is more time-consuming, but I would suggest, especially initially, going through and reading, or at least glancing at, every profile of everyone you add. Look at that first page, and see if you are amused, then add them.

My former roommate was really struggling with Twitter, and she pretty much found everyone boring. I worry about her, and she's probably still not on Twitter. Twitter is an engagement medium, though. You give and others give back to you. If you're not interested in that, don't waste your time there.

But if you stay, you are looking for people you'd want to be friends with, hang out with, date, get to know socially, get a job from, just like in real life. If someone is a sports fanatic, and you loathe sports, you probably don't want them in your stream. No harm, no foul. It's your place, you craft it.

Personally, I banish Republicans and mommy bloggers from my stream. I'm sure they are wonderful people. I'm sure they have nice things to say, I just don't wanna hear "Joey just threw up" one more time. Some people take it very personally if you don't add them, or worse, unfollow them. Too bad.

It's your stream, you're reading it, it's gotta be vital to you. VITAL. And you're the one who makes it so. Today I rely on Twitter for my most current news, my sports scores, earthquake stats, news about celebrity deaths, all sorts of things I get there first before anywhere else.

I also make it a practice not to add companies that you know are going to spew ads at you, radio stations that just spew their playlist, things that in general are annoying. In fact, if you add someone that you think is fine, then they start spewing a bunch of crap, unfollow them. Without hesitation. Or if you read a bunch of Tweets from someone and they bore the crap out of you, unfollow them.

I cull my Twitter list now every day. Since I'm at my max of 2001, I add and delete people constantly, and keep a list of those I hear about that I want to follow, when I'm able to. It used to be proper Twitter etiquette that anyone who followed you, you could automatically follow, but that's fallen out of fashion (in my case, only because of the Twitter limits). There was talk of Twitter possibly adding a feature where you could automatically add those who followed you, but it hasn't happened so far.

People sometimes ask if it's difficult to read the stream of 2001 people. No, because not everyone's every Tweet shows up. I wish they had the Facebook feature where you could highlight those you REALLY want to read every Tweet from, and let others fall where they may.

I will say this, with 2001 people, there is always an interesting mix of stuff coming over Twitter. I have people on my list from all over the world, so my Twitter never sleeps (if you only add people in your area, your Twitter will be dead for eight hours a night). I personally think you need to be following at least 1000 people to have a good mix, but everyone's view on this is different.

Would I follow 25,000 people if I was able to? Certainly.

Also, if you are tired of culling through profiles one by one, and just want a bunch of suggestions of who to follow, try these things. 

1. Lists

Good Twitter users have developed lists for the people on their stream. This is really good for job hunters, as many people have lists about job possibilities. But while you are culling through people's profiles, if you see that they have lists, check them out. Add people from them that you find interesting. Especially if there are people who have the same interests you do.

2. Follow Fridays

You'll hear about this a lot. Here's what I know. People who participate in Follow Friday are good Twitterers, period. In short, it's people on Twitter recommending a group of people for others to follow. In my case, I recommend people who either have made that week fun for me, or people who I know always have good Tweets that I think others would benefit from. I don't do it every week anymore (depends how busy I am), but it's an important part of Twitter culture. Look to those who do it, and do it yourself. I also do a "Celeb Follow Friday" occasionally. (By and large, celebs on Twitter are a waste of time, but there are those worth following sometimes.)

The people who are good Twitterers are those who are active and engaged. Who thank you for RTing them, for FollowFridaying them, for responding. Good citizens, good netizens, people with good hearts. That's why I love Twitter. To find so many like that all over the world. You have 2000. Choose them wisely.

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Miche's Twitter Etiquette Guide for Celebrities and Others

Many people offer their suggestions at how to do Twitter better, more effectively, in a way that's better for your "brand," whatever. Basically, I've shied away from such stuff. Everyone can do Twitter however works best for them. In general. But recently, I've come across several annoying things that I wanted to bring up so we all could be better Twitter citizens. So, forthwith, the Miche Etiquette for Twitter manifesto:

1. If it's automatic, don't do it.
Any application that "automatically" does anything related to Twitter, avoid like the plague. This includes, but is not limited to, apps that automatically spam people's inboxes, apps that automatically add new followers, and recently most heinous of all, the automatic posting of a new horoscope each day.

a. The horoscope item is particularly annoying because, first off, you may be a Capricorn. I'm not. Therefore, I don't give a crap what is happening with Capricorn today. (Assuming I even care about horoscopes at all.) You are automatically alienating 11/12ths of your audience.

b. If the app puts it in your Twitter stream for you, how do I know that it has any value for you anyway? You can't tell me that each and every day this app drops pearls of wisdom into your Twitter stream.

Let's revisit.

Twitter, when used properly and to best effect, is like when you have something that you just can't wait to tell your best friend, neighbor, sister, significant other. Some witticism or life event or fascinating link. It is REALLY only these things that people want shared. Something that, at minimum, is of value to you.

Now, if you want to get your inbox spammed with your Capricorn horoscope, knock yourself out. But why should I, or anyone else be subjected to it? It's just rude and insensitive, and I will unfollow you for it.

2. Celebrities, get a grip.

Celebrities, God's gift to the world, after all, think we revolve around them, hang on their every word, and breathlessly await each bit of info and concert posting. Well, in short, we don't.

a. Keep your concert calendar to your fan pages, please. Those who really do seek out this information, will seek it there. Twitter is your connection to the world, and the world's connection to you. AS A PERSON. Not as a celebrity.

b. Think again of "info I just have to share with my best friend, etc." Would you breathlessly tell your best friend that you're playing in Tahoe on July 28? And here's where you can buy tickets? Probably not if you want to keep that friend. Think of Twitter as one big friend. PLEASE.

c. Twitter is not the place to try out your latest bits, Conan O'Brien. Comics who don't talk in real words, just drop jokes in their Twitter stream are also unfollowed by me. If I want to see your comedy, I'll just watch you on... wherever it is you are now.

d. You wanna see how real celebrities act on Twitter, don't look to Ashton Kutcher. Check out Rainn Wilson, Alyssa Milano, people who are truly giving back. That's how you do it.

e. Don't use your Twitter stream to answer fan questions. This is also what a website is for. I do understand that those of you (Conan O'Brien) who are only following, oh, say ONE person, think that the stream is your list of responses from fans, um, it's NOT. Try following more people and find out what the Twitter stream really is. All this You, You, You stuff may be how traditional media works. It is definitively not how Twitter works.

f. Maybe there should be a rule that Celebrities Have to do a Follow Friday at least once before they can post anything. That would be useful.

3. Be positive, be uplifting, be helpful.

a. People want to be lifted up by the power of Twitter. They don't want to hear your bitching about your husband, your coworker, your boss. Negativity is on the fast track to an unfollow, trust me. I'm not saying that everyone can be cheery all the time, but really people don't wanna read a bitch session. I recently had someone that I value on my Twitter stream go off because a food truck kept pinging him with messages that he found to be inane. So he let loose about TEN Tweets about how rude and disrespectful this truck was to him. And when people tried to call him on it, his answer was, "if you don't want to hear me bitch, unfollow me." I was way ahead of him, but he got his wish. And I kept the offending truck ON my Twitter stream.

In short, personal vendettas of any kind belong in an email, or a DM. Don't let this loose on the rest of us. Being angry in public only makes you look bad, and this is as true on Twitter as anywhere else.

b. I don't wanna hear how your husband is sleeping around and with whom. These are private conversations. (Remember those?) Remember, anything you post on Twitter can be seen by ANYONE. And remains, long after you're done with it.

c. Helpful, kind words go a long way on Twitter as in life. Use them.

4. Selling still doesn't work for me on Twitter.

a. More and more, especially in the mornings, I see people trying to sell or market this or that: seminars, websites, classes, products. They almost always rate an unfollow from me. Mind you, an occasional website or blog mention is fine. If I look at your profile, and it's all selling, or even 3/4s selling, it's an unfollow.

b. Twitter is a people place. Chat, conversation, getting to know one another. If you wouldn't rush home to tell your sister: Buy this DVD from me!, don't do it in your stream either.

5. If someone bugs you, UNFOLLOW.

a. I regularly purge my Twitter stream of people who've committed any of the above egregious crimes. Life's too short to have angry people venting, or self-important celebs preening, or marketers selling their crap at you.

b. A good part of really enjoying Twitter is getting people on your stream that you truly want to hear from. For some people, this means only following 10 people. For me, it means having a lot, but purging frequently (daily).

c. Whatever you do, ENJOY. Twitter is a blissful experience to me. I don't know how I lived without it.

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On the new TV genre staple: Families

What else is there to churn out in TV that's reliable, and constantly has stories? We've done crime procedurals to death. Medicine/doctor shows have had their day. Lawyers? Yawn. Oh, I know! Families!

There's something everyone can relate to. To me, it was annoying enough when Brothers & Sisters brought us too many family members, all yammering and in each other's business, constantly gossiping on the phone with each other. But there were some situations that Brothers & Sisters did well. And it is still on the air, after all.

So let's trot out that formula. 

In catching up with potential Emmy contenders, I've just sat down with two of the talked-about shows: one comedy, one drama; both about families. Maybe I was spoiled because I watched the good one first.

"Modern Family," on ABC, is a genuinely funny comedy about a typical (by today's America standards) family. The gay son, the sex-crazed daughter, the father who marries an insanely hot younger woman (what is it with men in Hollywood constantly presenting this stereotype? This doesn't happen in middle America, you know...). But I digress.

"Modern Family" (though about families, and I admit, the topic of families kinda makes me wanna throw up) has a lot of funny lines and situations. Julie Bowen, way better here than in her last ABC show ("Boston Legal") is warm and you wanna know her story. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, as her brother, is also warm and kind.

The pilot of this show made me want to see more. Ed O'Neill is the penultimate father after his long "Married with Children" run, and they had to work hard to make such a truly sexy man (IRL) look so old and frumpy for this show.

The other family show, the NBC drama "Parenthood," has an absolutely stellar cast. This is why I managed to TiVo nearly every show this season, telling myself it just had to be good. Craig T. Nelson is their father. In fact, nearly everyone in this show you've seen somewhere else on TV. For Monica Potter, it's a good thing you probably don't remember her from "Boston Legal."

For others, it's not so good. After all, how can anyone ever wipe away Nate Fisher or Lorelei Gilmore from our minds when watching Peter Krause and Lauren Graham, respectively? It's really truly hard to see Lauren parenting these two kids, when you know she should be off somewhere taking care of Rory. And we all know Nate's dead.

That said--and for me, it still hangs over every frame of this show so far--it's really great to have them both back in our living rooms, where they belong. And if it can't be Rory, Mae Whitman is feisty and compelling enough to want to watch what she does as Lorelei...AHEM, SARAH's daughter.

But, dear God, the family around the dinner table where everyone is talking at once dynamic is so played out. I'm so over it. It's bad enough we have to listen to that crap in our real lives. I don't wanna see it in my art.

I was just about ready to give up on this show, when Lauren Graham has a date (with the ubiquitous Mike O'Malley). And there, the first moments of poignancy that tug at your heartstrings. Peter Krause has a few of them later in the pilot episode too.

So, my jury is still out on this show. At least the living room scene where the brothers and sisters are yammering at each other played better than any episode of Brothers and Sisters I've ever seen. You felt the natural rapport amongst them, and the love. It was really beautiful.

Although I hate to say it, I'm going to be giving both of these shows more chances. Families. Who knew?

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