Artist and animation historian Amid Amidi has a great piece on the Cartoon Brew blog about how focus grouping and executive decisions have ruined the current state of television animation. The main thrust of his piece has to do with the idea of creators pitching their shows, and that sometimes too much energy is put toward making a show seem appealing to a network executive rather than focusing on the actual quality of the show itself and making something audiences will truly enjoy. He points out that lionized directors from the Golden Age of animation such as Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones and Tex Avery were unhindered by such bureaucratic bullshit and allowed to create cartoons on their own terms that are still enjoyable even today. Those old cartoons are not only great works of art, but they transcend generations. My own nieces and nephew enjoy Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny as much as I did as a kid, just as my father enjoyed them long before I was born.

According to the contract Rosie O'Donnell signed when she was chosen to take over Merideth Viera's spot on The View, she will not be able to cut her hair while on the show. If you're wondering what the length of her hair has to do with her ability to perform her hosting duties, well, you can keep wondering because it really has nothing to do with them at all. Apparently they just want to maintain a certain aesthetic on the show, and the chopped look she once sported toward the end of her syndicated talk show's run isn't what ABC executives are looking for. I guess if you're going to yak for an hour about nothing you need to look as glamorous as possible to distract from the fact you're not actually saying anything.

[via Best Week Ever]