HLN: Now With 100% More Helmet Hair!

[Rina99]

Somewhat off-topic, but HLN, which shows reruns of old Forensic Files episodes, has been trumpeting the fact that they will have "All New Never Before Seen Episodes!" starting next week.  Does anyone know if these will actually new unaired episodes, or just episodes that HLN finally got the rights to air?

[Kate the Great]

Because the Nancy Grace thread over on the other site warmed the cockles of my cold black heart (or, as Nancy would bowdlerize it, the '[bleep]les'.)

 

Heaven help us all, the Jodi Arias trial is starting up again, and Nancy and the rest of the vultures are circling. Don't get me wrong; I think (as someone who is just watching the media shitshow, not a jury member or a well-informed outsider) that she's guilty, but I can't stand the slut-shaming and double standards attached to this case, and Nancy's the worst offender. Last night, and the night before, she kept on saying, "Will Jodi take the stand? Or will it be this... [insert sex testimony here]." Because you know what's really bad about the whole thing, not the murder, but the kinky sex.

 

Have at! And feel free to chip in about the other hosts too, be it screechy animal-lover Jane Velez-Mitchell (did you know she had a book, guys?) or chirpy Robin Meade, or used-to-be-levelheaded Dr. Drew, but Nancy is seriously insane.

[slensam]

Somewhat off-topic, but HLN, which shows reruns of old Forensic Files episodes, has been trumpeting the fact that they will have "All New Never Before Seen Episodes!" starting next week.  Does anyone know if these will actually new unaired episodes, or just episodes that HLN finally got the rights to air?

Probably ones they got the rights to air. Still better than "What Would You Do?".

[slensam]

I have no idea what this network is trying to be. It seems like it's attempting some sort of social media/Court TV hybrid. When it focused more on the court cases it was a little more coherent. But Nancy Grace and Jane Velez are now driving that train and they're psychotic. I guess from a male perspective Robin looks pretty good but the chirpiness does get annoying. And they have no live news programming from 5 to 7 p.m. That's kind of weird for a "news" station.

Edited October 23, 2014 by slensam

[tveyeonyou]

Yay for this thread!

Sorry but I've been following this trial since the beginning and can't wait for it to end properly, with CMHodi getting what she deserves. And please let justice be swift. It's annoying that we can't watch this phase, shocking too IMO since CMJA loves the limelight so much.

 

Last night I dreamed Juan Martinez walked through a huge crowd of people outside the courthouse and he was practically doing the Irish jig with a huge grin on his face as if the sentencing part was over and the verdict came back with a unanimous decision for the DP. I've never been a big advocate for the DP but in this case, I really do think it's the only acceptable outcome. Killing someone three times over is the true definition of overkill.

[Tunia]

But Nancy Grace and Jane Velez are now driving that train and they're psychotic. I guess from a male perspective Robin looks pretty good but the chirpiness does get annoying.

 

"Psychotic" is being kind, for sure, but they're the only ones who are covering the JA trial at this point and I'm too heavily invested in it now after watching pretty much every minute of the first trial to just let it go.  They truly fit a "dog with a bone" profile - keep gnawing and gnawing on their focus of the day, so I have no trouble with thinking of them as "bitches" in every sense of the word.

 

Robin used to be OK to me in small doses, but I got tired of listening to her try to read the teleprompter, and only doing it badly.  She's way too mindful of trying to look sexy/cute to let her brain engage.

 

Dr. Drew is less doctor and more rumor-monger with each passing day.  If Harvey Levin ever retires from TMZ, Drew can just roll on into his gig.

 

This network lost the "N" value of "HLN" long ago...very little real news to be seen.  Maybe they should rename it to HLG, the "G" being for "Gossip".  The only reasons to watch HLN now are  A) to keep up with current trials, or B) to watch Nancy's head explode.

[slensam]

They fired Jane Velez. So some of the crazy quotient is going to go down.

[WendyCR72]

With all this slashing, here's a radical thought: Go back to the ORIGINAL moniker of Headline News and...show news! Crazy, I know.

 

(I admit to hypocrisy, however, in that I do like Forensic Files and have since it aired on Court TV/now Tru-TV.)

 

The miracle will be if Nancy Grace ever gets the boot. Now that's crazy!

[stormy]

Jane gets the boot and Drew doesn't?

He's totally unwatchable

[Rina99]

Yes, they're just new to the HLN rotation. The promo I saw last night on HLN said these had not been seen before on HLN. I believe the series has been out of production for a few years now, and all the episodes have been seen somewhere.

 

That's kind of what I figured.  Thanks.

[junemeatcleaver]

Nancy Grace is being sued again.

 

How many times has she been sued now?  HLN is on its last legs, they should cut Ms. Nancy loose and let her be Fox News's or ABC News's problem.

[WendyCR72]

Nancy Grace is being sued again.

 

How many times has she been sued now?  HLN is on its last legs, they should cut Ms. Nancy loose and let her be Fox News's or ABC News's problem.

 

While I despise Fox and thus think Nancy Grace would be perfect there, it's still a chance to show her mug on a TV screen. Maybe she can go write for the tabloids even beneath the National Enquirer. Remember Weekly World News? Headlines like "I married Bigfoot" or "Boy Eats Own Foot To Survive" or whatever. That's about her level of "journalism".

[auntjess]

Wendy, I loved the reading the headlines on Weekly World News.
I'd never bought one, but was so entranced by "Man Gets Virus from His Computer," that I went back to buy it, but alas it was sold out.

[WendyCR72]

Wendy, I loved the reading the headlines on Weekly World News.

I'd never bought one, but was so entranced by "Man Gets Virus from His Computer," that I went back to buy it, but alas it was sold out.

 

Oh, those headlines were always good for a laugh, weren't they? Back in the mid '90s or so, before NBC bought USA and it was still independent, it even had a "Weekly World News" TV show on Saturdays. Hee.

[PRgal]

Anyone watching Growing America?  My husband, who is an MBA grad and in marketing is watching it with me.  We like it and we criticize some of the businesses the students are working with.  For example, one of the businesses featured was a small restaurant in Arkansas featuring local fare.  We both were really shocked that the owners, who are young, didn't think to update their website, which looked like it was from circa 2005 at the latest (it was pretty much on the top of the improvement list for the MBA students).  Seriously, if you want people to visit, you need to have a fairly decent site - unless your target are people who don't go online much (Toronto area Chinese restaurants, I'm looking at you!!).

[junemeatcleaver]

HLN to run movies in primetime

 

Another nail in the coffin?  Nothing has worked for them, besides Forensic Files, since they ditched the trial coverage for whatever reason.

 

Airing movies couldn't be any worse than HLN's original programming.  The Daily Share is unwatchable and the less said about Miz Nancy Grace the better.

[smittykins]

I hope they keep FF, though.

[stormy]

I don't know how Nancy and Dr Drew have survived.  They're both irrelevant.

FF is good, but not for so many hours 7 days a week.

The Daily Share? What is it other than unwatchable?

Movies might be a good thing but sometimes I wonder why the plug isn't just pulled altogether.

[WendyCR72]

Or, and here's a wild idea, go back to its roots and do...HEADLINE NEWS! Crazy, I know.

[Egg]

I don't normally watch this network, but today it was blaring in my gym locker room, and I caught who I think was Robyn Mead and an entertainment reporter. One of them intro'd a story with "I wonder if this has ever happened before" (a film getting nominated for both an Oscar and a Razzie). Can't they do research on that? We don't watch the news to hear their anchors wonder about matters of fact.

As if that wasn't enough, they played the "news" that Jimmy Fallon apparently does a great Bob Dylan impression. Cool. Great headline news. But then they referred to Dylan as "the Boss." What??

Seriously, what is the point of this network?

[slensam]

I don't normally watch this network, but today it was blaring in my gym locker room, and I caught who I think was Robyn Mead and an entertainment reporter. One of them intro'd a story with "I wonder if this has ever happened before" (a film getting nominated for both an Oscar and a Razzie). Can't they do research on that? We don't watch the news to hear their anchors wonder about matters of fact.

As if that wasn't enough, they played the "news" that Jimmy Fallon apparently does a great Bob Dylan impression. Cool. Great headline news. But then they referred to Dylan as "the Boss." What??

Seriously, what is the point of this network?

It's a very silly network. They're supposedly going for the millennials; the social media generation. I hope its not working. I remember watching this when I was younger back in the 80's and 90's. It wasn't like this at all.

[junemeatcleaver]

http://money.cnn.com/2015/11/24/media/hln-albie-hecht-cnn/Albie Hecht, the guy who wanted to turn HLN into the Millennial network, quit a few months ago[/url]

 

They're ratings seem to have stabilized a little and Robin Meade is somehow pretty popular, so it's not all doom and gloom for HLN.  But the problem to me is that HLN doesn't seem to know what it wants to be.  They want to appeal to Millennials but have crazy auntie Nancy Grace railing against marijuana legalization and Making a Murderer. 

 

I don't get it, they had a good thing going on with the trial coverage and they threw it away for YouTube stars whose shows flopped.

[slensam]

http://money.cnn.com/2015/11/24/media/hln-albie-hecht-cnn/Albie Hecht, the guy who wanted to turn HLN into the Millennial network, quit a few months ago[/url]

 

They're ratings seem to have stabilized a little and Robin Meade is somehow pretty popular, so it's not all doom and gloom for HLN.  But the problem to me is that HLN doesn't seem to know what it wants to be.  They want to appeal to Millennials but have crazy auntie Nancy Grace railing against marijuana legalization and Making a Murderer. 

 

I don't get it, they had a good thing going on with the trial coverage and they threw it away for YouTube stars whose shows flopped.

Nancy Grace really sticks out like a sore thumb on this network. It made me kind of sad to read that it gets good ratings amongst the younger demographic. They like this stuff? It's just so lightweight and silly.

[Vivigirl10]

I hope this is the right place to post.....did anyone see Nancy's update to Making a Murderer, promising all this evidence that the documentary withheld and proving Steven's guilt?  What an absolute waste of time!  She only managed to re-show portions of the documentary (completely out of context) and produce Donny Wahlberg as some sort of "expert" on the case?  Huh?  Plus Steven's ex-girlfriend, Jodi, a known jailbird and alcoholic.  Nancy succeeded in making herself look like an absolute fool.....yet again.    

[WendyCR72]

So HLN has taken to showing special one-hour Forensic Files episodes said to have been on TLC in 2001 per the TV listings. (These, I don't recall, so sort of new to me!) Alas, for these special versions, Peter Thomas is not the narrator, and it really loses something to me.  :-(

 

First-world TV problems, right?

[auntjess]

I started to watch one, about the Buddhist temple massacre in Phoenix.
It seemed to go off in all directions, so I googled it.
Who else does this, when something is either too long, or it appears to be that a whodunit looks to be yet another husband/boyfriend did it?
 

[WendyCR72]

Damn, Peter Thomas, a.k.a. the narrator of Forensic Files, died on April 30th! His voice was so soothing. But he lived to 91. That's a long life.  :-(

[auntjess]

I only lasted a couple of minutes into the 60 minute Forensic Files, with guy who killed prostitutes.  Too gory for me.

[stormy]

 HLN has cancelled Nancy Grace and Dr. Drew.

Ashleigh Banfield is taking over Nancy's spot.

Edited August 28, 2016 by stormy

[NewDigs]

Hooray!! Both of 'em! Wow.

[Jaded]

10 hours ago, stormy said:

 HLN has cancelled Nancy Grace and Dr. Drew.

Ashleigh Banfield is taking over Nancy's spot.

^My reaction to both of them finally being shown the door.

[junemeatcleaver]

Showing Dr. Drew and Nancy Grace the door is part of yet another rebrand.  HLN wants to be more newsy and more of a sister network to CNN.

HLN went from news, to Court TV clone, to social media focused and, now, back to news.  Why would anyone want to advertise on HLN when they don't know what they want to be?

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, junemeatcleaver said:

Showing Dr. Drew and Nancy Grace the door is part of yet another rebrand.  HLN wants to be more newsy and more of a sister network to CNN.

HLN went from news, to Court TV clone, to social media focused and, now, back to news.  Why would anyone want to advertise on HLN when they don't know what they want to be?

The branding issue is problematic, but I am kind of glad to see HLN at least sort of take a turn back towards its roots. (I'm under no illusions that this brand of news will not/may still be shallow, but...progress?)

Maybe the re-branding can ease up on the glut of Forensic Files shown! (And this comes from someone that likes/liked that show! But there are no new episodes, they are all from the Court TV days, and Peter Thomas' recent death at 91 basically says there won't ever be more unless someone new is found to narrate [and since the last "new" episodes were those special hour-long episodes from 2001, the odds are zilch], so why bother?)

[auntjess]

I'd miss the Forensic Files, because they do put different ones into the mix, although they're older ones, from the late '90s.
 

[jumper sage]

Nancy Grace can't leave soon enough.  Just caught her trying to say that John Walsh's son was kidnapped feet from his mother........

NO!  She left him in the toy department and went to another part of Sears.  He was put out of the store by store employees............

[junemeatcleaver]

1 hour ago, jumper sage said:

Nancy Grace can't leave soon enough.  Just caught her trying to say that John Walsh's son was kidnapped feet from his mother........

NO!  She left him in the toy department and went to another part of Sears.  He was put out of the store by store employees............

What a weird thing to exaggerate and sensationalize.  The Adam Walsh kidnapping was so shocking because it was common for parents to leave kids in the toy section or an arcade while they went shopping back then.

Tonight while I was flipping through the channels Nancy was hollering about Jodi Arias's "embarrassing" prison job.  Who gives a shit what her job is?  She's in prison, why are we still talking about her?

The Nancy Grace show started out okay when they spotlighted a couple of missing persons cases a night.  The show seemed like it really wanted to help back then and Nancy wasn't such a shrill asshole at the start.  Now it's garbage like what color blouse did Casey Anthony wear or celebrity news.  This show has long outlived it usefulness.

[jumper sage]

On 9/6/2016 at 9:33 PM, junemeatcleaver said:

What a weird thing to exaggerate and sensationalize.  The Adam Walsh kidnapping was so shocking because it was common for parents to leave kids in the toy section or an arcade while they went shopping back then.

Tonight while I was flipping through the channels Nancy was hollering about Jodi Arias's "embarrassing" prison job.  Who gives a shit what her job is?  She's in prison, why are we still talking about her?

The Nancy Grace show started out okay when they spotlighted a couple of missing persons cases a night.  The show seemed like it really wanted to help back then and Nancy wasn't such a shrill asshole at the start.  Now it's garbage like what color blouse did Casey Anthony wear or celebrity news.  This show has long outlived it usefulness.

I heart you.

[novhappy]

Since CNN no longer covers general national news just major stories in depth (22 hours a day of election, 2 hours of everything else) I'd like to see HLN go back to broad national news coverage. You know, headlines. 

[stormy]

Chris Cuomo why? Interviewing Lyle Menendez from prison?  Who's next Charles Mansion?

I did watch about 20 minutes but honestly I was pissed off at myself so I don't know how the rest went.

[novhappy]

I'm watching the multi hour Menedez brothers special. Ummmm commercials much?  I wish I had timed it. Has to be 50% commercials. 

[hoosiermom]

Anybody watching "How it really happened "? New HLN series on Friday nights.

[stormy]

I watched the Mendez brothers.  It was well done but I think the whole premise of this series is a waste.  I think the only other one is on OJ?

I had forgotten that there were two trials and how much I disliked Leslie Abramson.

[hoosiermom]

I think there are going to be several. I'm trying to remember the ad for them. Anna Nichole Smith is one and several others. I like that we are getting a little more behind the scenes stuff. And yes, Leslie Abramson was something else! I'm so over those brothers. If their father really did abuse them I feel bad about that but they are still murderers.

[stormy]

Exactly. Both were old enough to move on with their lives and never see or speak to their parents again if either was abused. I don't believe it at all and at the end of the show someone said they were just spoiled and greedy. 

[hoosiermom]

Oh, and OJ is innocent. OJ was second in series. I will try and find all of them.

Edited February 6, 2017 by hoosiermom

[stormy]

:)

[hoosiermom]

http://www.cnn.com/shows/how-it-really-happened. 

[novhappy]

Did anyone watch Ashleigh Banfield last night? What was the point of the story about the high school kids on Minnesota?  So a bunch of kids got in a fight off campus, the police are considering serious charges and the school can't release any disciplanry actions because minors. 

Ashleigh positioned itvvery dramatically as bullying  that the school wasn't addressing  it was a fight off campus. Bullying? Is that the new word for crimes committed by adolescents?

even the victims mother was like I don't know what I want the school to do. 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I didn't see it but can only imagine how dramatic Banfield was!!  LOL. When there is nothing newsworthy try to create it! 

Edited February 9, 2017 by Foghorn Leghorn

[novhappy]

Thank you!  There was nothing to the story. I was confused by it waiting for the point!  Maybe the producers thought they could do more with it. Fail