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Janet Jackson: Good Times and a bunch of Diff'rent Strokes
11-year-old Jackson's talent was spotted by legendary TV producer Norman Lear, who was looking for someone to help gain back ratings in one of his groundbreaking shows, the family sitcom, "Good Times". Casting her as an abused child named Penny, Janet easily stole the show from the show's biggest star, Jimmie "J.J." Walker was the apple of Penny's eye every time she saw him. Her dramatic and comedic acting talent helped land her a role as a starring member by the end of the 1977-78 season and she would remain in the show until it cancelled for good in 1979.
Jackson continued her acting career appearing briefly in a short-lived sitcom titled "A New Kind of Family", which was cancelled in early 1980. In 1981, she landed a recurring role on another family sitcom, "Diff'rent Strokes" playing Charlene Duprey. With her love interest played by Todd Bridges, who played Willis on the show, Janet, now 15, officially became a teen idol. She would leave the show in 1982 after her music career began to take off. But she would soon find herself back in the TV field by 1984 after her father ordered the 18-year-old to take the role of Cleo Hewitt in "Fame". She left the show in 1985 and closed the door of her TV career.
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LiteratureArts, Inc: how the DMCA, Clear Channel and copyright extension are killing culture
William James Ivey sez, My new book, Arts, Inc.: How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights, is just out (May 10). The idea for Arts, Inc. hit me when I was chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, during Bill Clinton?s administration. I became convinced that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, copyright extension, and Clear-Channel-style media consolidation were undermining our basic rights to an arts system that really serves the public. Things have only gotten worse. Congress and the FCC might think it?s important to institute hefty fines when Janet Jackson?s breast pops out during a Super Bowl telecast, but it?s shrinking Fair Use, globalized record companies and film studios ? they serve shareholders, not art -- left-behind citizens who lack quality Internet access, and Viacom against Google and Microsoft stalking Yahoo that are the real threats to the vibrant cultural scene that?s essential in our democracy. Arts, Inc. is on sale now. Look for interviews and reviews; I?ll be making the case around the country ? at a performing arts conference in Denver next week, and at the Center for American Progress in DC in mid-July. Link...
Published: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:27:09 GMT - Source: Boingboing.Net - Read the article
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