DOUG BANKS

Pittsburgh, PA-American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) and Doug Banks Media have reached agreement to continue syndicating the Doug Banks Radio Show which airs Monday through Friday from 3 p.m.-7 p.m. ET.  Under the terms of the new contract, AURN will distribute, market and sell the show, one of the longest running urban programs, through 2015.

"The Doug Banks Radio Show has been entertaining urban adult audiences for a long time and with his extraordinarily talented sidekick DeDe McGuire and newly added comedian George Willborn, we expect he'll be entertaining audiences for many years to come" said Jerry Lopes, President of Program Operations and Affiliations.  Lopes says, "Given the most recent landscape changes, we expect more and more stations to turn to the PPM tried and tested Doug Banks Radio Show."

"Doug Banks Media has an aggressive growth strategy to expand the Doug Banks brand and introduce new and innovative media platforms to radio and beyond. Over the past few years, AURN has proven to be a solid and committed partner to the Doug Banks Radio Show, and we feel they're the best fit to be our radio syndication and distribution partner as we move into the future" said Ed Pearson, President of Doug Banks Media.

"I'm excited to have AURN as our network partner. With their history and relationships with radio stations and groups around the country, we look forward to continued strong affiliate growth through the life of this partnership," according to Doug Banks.

AURN has distributed the Doug Banks Radio Show since July of 2010.  "We've seen significant advertiser support and audience growth since that time" said Howard Eisen, AURN President of Sales.  "Doug and DeDe are great pitch spokespersons and our clients love them" Eisen said.

About The Doug Banks Radio Show
The Doug Banks Radio Show is nationally syndicated by American Urban Radio Networks on nearly 30 stations, including its flagship WVAZ-FM in Chicago. The show airs Monday-Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET.

 About American Urban Radio Networks
American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) is the only African-American owned radio network company in the United States. It is the largest network reaching Urban America with nearly 20 million listeners each week. Through four programming networks and its marketing division, American Urban Radio Networks reaches more African-Americans than any other medium in America and produces more programming than all other broadcasting companies combined. American Urban Radio Networks broadcasts 200 weekly news, entertainment, sports and information programs to more than 300 radio stations nationwide. It is the only African-American broadcaster with a bureau in the White House. AURN has offices and bureaus in New York, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

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"The Great Gatsby" stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the glamorous, elusive billionaire; Toby Maguire as his modest, admiring neighbor Nick Carraway; Carey Mulligan as Daisy; and Joel Edgerton as Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan. (CNN Photo: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)

by Tom Charity
(CNN) -- "Great Gatsby" director Baz Luhrmann isn't the type to be cowed by literary pedigree, not even that of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

His movies, including "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet," are like watching a three-ring circus. They revel in surface, spectacle and sensory overload. They're audaciously, passionately artificial and at the same time unabashedly romantic -- post-modern pop medleys aimed at the heart, not the brain.

Perhaps Luhrmann even identifies with Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby; after all, they're both decadents.

But Fitzgerald wasn't Gatsby, and Gatsby could never have written such a novel. It takes an observer like Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) to distill the finer sentiments from this sorry tale of the super-rich, and Luhrmann isn't that. He's an extrovert who wants to thrill us and immerse us in his giddy daring. The last thing he wants to do is sit back and watch.

There are no two ways about it: "The Great Gatsby" is misconceived and misjudged, a crude burlesque on what's probably American literature's most precious jewel.

Warning bells go off right from the first shots of a CGI version of New York's Long Island. The camera is in a state of constant agitation, while the actors -- and they're good actors -- seem to have been instructed to vamp. Either that, or they decided it was the only way to compete with the film's garish hot deco.

But let's give Luhrmann his due: The man does cut a good teaser. The idea to swap Scott Joplin for Jay-Z and ragtime for rap was a bold and brilliant choice. Casting Leonardo DiCaprio as the glamorous, elusive billionaire Gatsby and Maguire as his modest, admiring neighbor was right on.

Carey Mulligan as Daisy wasn't as inspired. She gets the sadness of the character but not the flip side of her personality, and she's just not a bright enough spark to keep Gatsby's torch burning for so long.

And shooting in 3-D? Look at "Hugo" and "Life of Pi": It could have worked.

Yet Luhrmann seems utterly bamboozled by the technique, as if it's thrown off his rhythm. The early scenes especially are likely to induce motion sickness, and not just because Nick is getting drunk on New York's high society. We know Luhrmann can throw a wild party, but the movie doesn't build or grow; it just keeps hitting the same high notes until we go numb to the din.

And if he's lost in the loud revelry, Luhrmann is completely out of his element in the more intimate scenes. The reunion between Jay and Daisy is played for laughs (and it gets a couple, too), but Luhrmann shortchanges whatever it is that pulls these lovers together. For such an elaborate display of courtship, it's a remarkably unsensual affair.

Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" will endure this indignity as surely as it outlasted previous versions with Alan Ladd and Robert Redford. It's a shame, though, since the novel's depiction of a society dancing on the edge of a precipice is so timely. It's hard not to feel angry at the waste.

Actor Blair Underwood from "Ironside" attends the NBC Network 2013 Upfront at Radio City Music Hall, Monday, May 13, 2013, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

by Frazier Moore and David Bauder

NEW YORK (AP) —NBC is updating the '70s cop drama "Ironside" and ordering up a new comedy for next season from "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence.

The revived "Ironside" will star Blair Underwood as the paralyzed lawman who uses a wheelchair. That memorable character was originally played by Raymond Burr.

 NBC on Sunday became the first of the major broadcasters to announce its plans for next season, and its executives said they had ordered a staggering 17 new series. Only six of them are on fall's schedule, however, with another six to join in midseason when NBC hopes to get a burst of attention from its telecast of the Winter Olympics.

 The struggling network is also taking a risk by moving two of its young and promising dramas to new nights: "Revolution" will switch from Monday to Wednesday, and "Chicago Fire" from Wednesday to Tuesday.

 After an encouraging start to the current season last fall behind Sunday Night Football and "The Voice," the bottom fell out in midwinter when those two shows went away. NBC had some historically bad ratings, even falling behind the Spanish-speaking Univision in the February sweeps. Its executives were not made available to speak about the plans on Sunday.

 Thursday used to be "must-see TV" on NBC in the 1990s but its decline symbolized the network's troubles. NBC's new emphasis for Thursday will be on broader-based, family comedies instead of shows like "The Office" which was a hit with critics but not the audience.

 NBC will seek a turnaround with "Sean Saves the World," starring Hayes as a divorced gay dad who juggles work with raising a teenage daughter. Fox's show mirrors his life — he plays a character getting back to work after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. The third new Thursday comedy is "Welcome to the Family," about a White high school graduate impregnated by her Latino boyfriend.

 Amy Poehler's "Parks and Recreation" will be back to open NBC's Thursday schedule. The network announced that the quirky "Community" had been renewed, but it hasn't found a spot on the schedule yet.

 The drama "Parenthood" will air Thursday at 10 p.m.

 NBC has canceled several of its shows, including the newsmagazine "Rock Center," the Matthew Perry comedy "Go On" and the quickly forgotten comedies "The New Normal," ''Up All Night," ''Guys With Kids," ''1600 Penn" and "Whitney."

 The network said no decision has been made on the future of the low-rated serial killer drama "Hannibal" or the durable Donald Trump game "Celebrity Apprentice."

New fall dramas include "The Blacklist," which stars James Spader as fugitive who volunteers to help the FBI catch a terrorist; and "Ironside," with Blair Underwood as a New York City detective who uses a wheelchair.

 NBC said two new comedies will replace "The Biggest Loser" on Tuesdays in midseason. And when football goes away, the network will try two new dramas on Sunday nights: "Believe," a J.J. Abrams series about a girl coming to grips with superpowers, and "Crisis," about a bus full of children of Washington elite who are kidnapped.

Bob Greenblatt, president of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement that "this is the most robust and highest-testing slate of new shows we have had in years."

Still, odds are in television that more new shows fail rather than succeed, and the newly ordered programs that don't yet have a spot on NBC's schedule will surely replace some of the failures.

 Here are NBC's other new shows:

 —"About a Boy," based on the Nick Hornby novel of the same name, is a comedy about single man who bonds with the 11-year-old son of a woman — played by Minnie Driver — who moves in next door. It is scheduled to air Tuesday nights in midseason.

 —"The Family Guide," a sitcom about a divorced family, is already looking for a new lead: actress Parker Posey dropped out in the past few days. NBC has time to recast it, since the show is scheduled for Tuesdays in midseason.

 —"Undateable," from "Scrubs" producer Bill Lawrence, another comedy in a long line of "Friends"-inspired shows about young people and romantic entanglements.

 —"Chicago PD," a companion to "Chicago Fire," by veteran producer Dick Wolf. A drama about the rivalry between uniformed cops and the intelligence unit.

 —"Crossbones," with John Malkovich as the 18th Century pirate Blackbeard. On the schedule for Fridays in midseason.

 —"Dracula," a drama beginning in the fall about the iconic character. It airs Friday in the fall, replaced by "Crossbones" in midseason.

 —"The Night Shift," a medical drama focused on the overnight crew in a San Antonio hospital.

 —"The Million Second Quiz," a trivia game show that unfolds over 12 consecutive days.

 —"Food Fighters," a cooking game hosted by Adam Richman that has professional chefs trying to outdo amateurs offering a much-beloved family recipe.

 —"American Dream Builders," a home renovation show hosted by Nate Berkus.

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Jasiri X talks about grassroots activism in the Obama/Tea Party Era at Columbia College in Chicago. (Courtesy Photo Bakari Kitwana/Andrew Bryce Photography)

Members of the Black intelligentsia let out a collective victory cry last week when hip-hop artist Lil Wayne lost a multi-million dollar endorsement deal with Mountain Dew as a result of lyrics comparing the beating of murdered teenager Emmett Till in 1955 to female genitalia.