Godspeed Peter Jennings

Did you see the 2 hour memorial show for Peter Jennings last night? Let me first say, I liked Peter Jennings and I think he led a fascinating life and had a wonderful career. BUT 2 hours of primetime!?! I watched and it was nicely done, but could have been done and more powerfully in an hour. I think Peter would agree.

The tenets that nightly anchors with 30 minutes to cover the world live by are finding the fewest words and images to fully convey an event. Brevity has power and impact. ABC forgot that last night. If I were Tom Brokaw I'd be on the phone to my NBC cronies laying down the law regarding any posthumous memorials.

The same is true of most movies these days. I LOVE movies. I love going to movies and being immersed in a different world for a couple of hours, but I hate when a 90 minute or 2 hour script gets stretched to 3 hours or more to accommodate the director's colossal ego. Ridley Scott are you listening? He's not the only offender, but he certainly lives by the mantra.

I hope this year's Oscar triumphs for Clint Eastwood help reverse this trend. Million Dollar Baby was tight and spare. It featured the characters and the powerful story. Just what a movie should do.