"Gossip" (2021 release; 4 episodes of about 50 min each) is a new documentary mini-series that looks at the big business ticket item that are the gossip columns in New York newspapers. As Episode 1 opens, we are introduced to Cindy Adams, the legendary gossip columnist from the New York Post who, now age 90, is still going at it. We then go back in time to the mid-70s when a then-unknown Australian media mogul named Robert Murdoch bought the struggling New York Post, which he promptly shakes up with the eventual introduction of the page Six gossip column... At this point we are 10 min into Episode 1 of "Gossip".
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from longtime producer-director Jenny Carchman, whose previous work includes, among many others, the acclaimed series "The Fourth Estate". Here she takes a look at the origins and rise of the gossip column in the New York newspapers. Carchman takes Cindy Adams' life story as the basis for the series. Let me state upfront that (i) I don't live in New York, and (ii) I had never heard of Cindy Adams before in my life. Turns out she had quite the life, finding herself in the circles of higher society at a young age, and then never looked back and built a career out of it, regardless of whether it was politically correct (building friendships with the Shah of Iran and with Imelda Marcos, among many other controversial if not detested public figures). But the series is of course also a look at New York City, from the dark days in the 1970s to its rise in the 80s and 90s. I find it all quite amusing. Besides Cindy Adams, many other talking heads from the New York scene provide their insights. This is nothing like Carchman's hard-hitting series "The Fourth Estate". Instead it is a light-hearted look at the cold, competitive (not to mention lucrative) business that is the gossip column.
"Gossip" premiered recently on Showtime, and I binge-watched it on SHO On Demand just the other night. I can't really call this must-see TV but on the other hand I certainly didn't mind spending the time to watch this. If you are in the mood for an inside look at the origins and rise of gossip columns in New York that is light-hearted yet entertaining, I'd encourage you to check this out, be it on Showtime On Demand, on Amazon Instant Video and other streaming platforms, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from longtime producer-director Jenny Carchman, whose previous work includes, among many others, the acclaimed series "The Fourth Estate". Here she takes a look at the origins and rise of the gossip column in the New York newspapers. Carchman takes Cindy Adams' life story as the basis for the series. Let me state upfront that (i) I don't live in New York, and (ii) I had never heard of Cindy Adams before in my life. Turns out she had quite the life, finding herself in the circles of higher society at a young age, and then never looked back and built a career out of it, regardless of whether it was politically correct (building friendships with the Shah of Iran and with Imelda Marcos, among many other controversial if not detested public figures). But the series is of course also a look at New York City, from the dark days in the 1970s to its rise in the 80s and 90s. I find it all quite amusing. Besides Cindy Adams, many other talking heads from the New York scene provide their insights. This is nothing like Carchman's hard-hitting series "The Fourth Estate". Instead it is a light-hearted look at the cold, competitive (not to mention lucrative) business that is the gossip column.
"Gossip" premiered recently on Showtime, and I binge-watched it on SHO On Demand just the other night. I can't really call this must-see TV but on the other hand I certainly didn't mind spending the time to watch this. If you are in the mood for an inside look at the origins and rise of gossip columns in New York that is light-hearted yet entertaining, I'd encourage you to check this out, be it on Showtime On Demand, on Amazon Instant Video and other streaming platforms, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.