I have tried to email this directly to Ted Hartley, the current head of RKO Pictures, however emails have been returned and phone calls have born no fruit.  Now I’m posting it on my blog.

Mr. Hartley,

I am writing you today because I have an interest and a proposal for RKO Pictures.   

When most movie fans think of RKO Pictures they are thinking about the classics that were produced by your company in the 1930s and 1940s.   Movie fans who know of RKO think of classics like King Kong and Citizen Kane.  However, what most movie fans are not aware that RKO Pictures exists today.

Today the internet is a treasure trove for movie fans.  There is information and content readily available at a moment’s notice.   Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter keep fans in close touch to what is going on with their favorite actors, directors and studios.   Yet, RKO Pictures has yet to utilize any of these free resources.

I personally am a huge movie fan and I have a tremendous appreciation for RKO’s contribution to the movie industry.   Additionally I host an internet radio talk show called The Radio Dan Show that uses the movie business the main part of its show.   Five nights a week I talk about the goings on in the movie business, refraining from getting into gossip about stars.   The show is broadcast on TalkRadioX.com and has been syndicated by several small town terrestrial stations as well.   Additionally each show is archived on TalkRadioX website and available as a podcast.

What I would like to do is to collaborate with RKO Pictures and help spread the word that your company is still here and still relevant.   I would accomplish in several ways.

1.       DVD giveaways – Once a week (or month) I would give away to a listener either a classic RKO Pictures title or a contemporary one.   Under a title such as ‘RKO Spotlight’ I could highlight one film a month to discuss the history of and give one copy away.  Additionally we could also make an RKO Pictures shirt or hat with the classic ‘Transmitter’ logo on it the prize.

2.       Interviews – I would love to do interviews with RKO related talent.  Either people who are involved with new RKO releases or classic ones.

3.       Social Networking – I would run an RKO Pictures Twitter account.  Several studios have accounts that inform of new releases, special screenings, or even DVD sales.  MGM and Screen Gems are two examples of studios who are using Twitter to connect to today’s movie fans.

I would also like to discuss the possibility of hosting screenings in the future of some of RKO Pictures classic movies as well.  That is something that perhaps could be discussed in the future.  I would like to thank you for your time in reading my proposal and due hope that you consider it.

As a lifelong movie fan it would be a thrill to be affiliated with RKO Pictures and I would proudly to whatever I could to help promote it.  If you have interest please contact me at your earliest convenience. 

Thank you,

Dan Delgado

I remember hearing Lionel Richie talking about his smash 1983 album Can’t Slow Down.  He described the title as a description to where he was in life.  Every was going and he had things to do. 

I feel this is the period in my life that I’m in.  I have a feeling that people in their 30s generally feel that way.  It’s reaching that make or break point.

Right now I am working hard on The Radio Dan Show and I do my best to make the show entertaining.  I make sure not to miss shows because I think that you never know who may be listening that night.  

Also I find myself more vested in TalkRadioX more than ever.  I am looking for new shows and new outlets for the ones we already have.  Each day I am waiting on replies from people regarding new possibilities.  Granted, how many of them pan out?  Eh, I’d rather not say. 

I’m also attempting to write something for the radio as well.  I’m just starting out and I don’t want to jinx myself so I won’t get into any details. 

I think that I am 30 days from turning 35 has become a great motivator.  I can feel the sands of the hourglass running, dramatic as that may seem.  I know that I wasted a good part of my 20s creatively.  Granted I did spend the last few years of my 20s writing bad screenplays no one wants to make into movies.  So at least there was an attempt. 

But the truth is that for years I just figured walking around being clever was going to be enough to get over.  It’s ridiculous but it’s true.  Then as I began writing I realized that this was not going to be an easy task.

Starting the radio show three years ago I was able to at least put my efforts into something that would bare at least a little fruit.  While screenplay rejections piled up in my inbox, the radio show has afforded me a slight amount of appreciation.

Regulars are in the TRX chatroom.  People call in here and there.  Someone is actually listening.  And that is nice. 

But it’s not enough.  And I have more work to do.

Currently I am sitting in the computer room of my mother’s house in Viera, FL about two hours away from my home.   This morning I woke up, brushed my teeth, had some coffee and was looking at Twitter updates on my phone when I saw one from Turner Classic Movies.  The Jack Benny flop, The Horn Blows at Midnight was coming on and this was just a simple programming note to let people know.

Being a Jack Benny fan and having never seen it (Benny would poke fun of it on his show) I was really happy to be able to spend my morning watching it.  I had no idea it was coming on and I don’t know if i would have bothered to look at the guide this morning.  Yet, I didn’t miss it.  And this was thanks to TCM itself. 

The thing about this is that it’s not unusual.  With so many networks on cable and satellite these days, each on catering to a more and more niche audience, TCM is still the one that truly stands out.  Not only do they present classic films, but there is a feeling of genuine love and appreciation of them as well.  Quite often if I see something that is coming on that I have no interest in, I will still watch the time leading up to it.  Why?  Because TCM packs in that time with brilliant advertising, short movies, behind the scenes infomation, classic trailers, and just about anything else they can think of that a movie fan would like.

I can’t speak highly enough about the marketing department at TCM.  Granted, I’m not sure if that is who is making those wonderful montage commercials that highlight the films, actors, actresses, and filmmakers who are responsible for the films they show, but if that is from their marketing department, it just might be the best marketing department I’ve ever seen. 

August marks TCM’s annual Summer Under the Stars month long theme.  And in typical TCM fashion they have come up with something absolutely brilliant to go with it.  They will unveil 31 new movie poster designs for classic movies, one for each day.  Some of them are already up.  It’s just another example of all that TCM seems to give.

There are many other examples I could site, screenings, exhibits, and other events they are behing all in the name of classic movie watching, but I don’t have all day to write it and you don’t have all day to read it.

I can tell you that TCM’s living mascot/host/film historian/all around good guy Robert Osborne seems more like a wise uncle as he appears before the movies start and give you interesting tidbits about them.  I was fortunate enough to interview Mr. Osborne on my show once, and I can tell you it was most nervous I’d been talking to someone.  Fortunately for me Jessica was way more nervous (and it showed) and it took the focus off me.  At the time I was secretly hoping it would lead to a relationship with the network.  TCM calling me up for interviews to promote whatever they had going on.  Or maybe hiring me to do an official podcast for them.  It was a nice thought but pure fantasy on my part.

I remember the first time I took note of TCM was thanks to Bill Cosby.  He was/is such a fan of the network that in the 1990s he did some commercials for them at allegedly no cost.  He just wanted to promote something he thought was great.  At the time I didn’t have TCM on cable system but I remember thinking that it was something I should pay attention to.

Already having been disappointed by American Movie Classics lame selections, commercial interruptions, and overall lack of theme, I was ready to embrace a classic movie network that knew what it was doing.

It wasn’t until a few years later that I was able to watch TCM for myself. And I haven’t stopped watching since. 

**I tried to find a link to the Bill Cosby commercials where he played a private eye encouraging people to call their cable companies to get TCM.

Nothing like a good idea, especially when it’s not yours. 

A while back I was listening to a podcast that is co-hosted by TV blogger (and occasional Radio Dan Show guest) Amrie Cunningham where the topic was to program your own station and you can use any tv show in history.  It was a neat idea and I enjoyed hearing Amrie’s choices as well as her co-hosts (who I’m sure have names but they haven’t appeared on my show so I can’t really remember them).

Truth be told I can recall reading the same concept being done in Brandon Tartikoff’s book The Last Great Ride.  I remember this because even though Tartikoff programmed NBC in greatness in the 1980’s, his lineup didn’t really impress me that much.  Little House on the Prairie was on that list I think. Yawn!

So after hearing this show I decided to write down my ideal lineup of a seven days of tv programming.  And a months later I think I’m finished.  Really, today is July 21st and I started this nonsense on June 24th.  Just ridiculous.  I’m still not sure I have things perfect but I’ve grown tired of changing it.  So here is my ideal television lineup, Sunday through Saturday.  Free free to rip the hell out of it.

7:30 The Honeymooners

8pm Pushing Daisies

9pm Moonlighting

10pm House

8:30 The Simpsons

9pm Cheers

9:30 Taxi

10pm Quantum Leap

8:30 The Jeffersons

9pm Mary Tyler Moore

9:30 Good Times

10pm The Rockford Files

8:30 Police Squad

9pm Night Court

9:30 Sledge Hammer!

10pm Lost

8:30 The Office

9pm 30 Rock

9:30 Arrested Development

10pm Shannon’s Deal

8:30 Lucky

9pm Burn Notice

10pm Starsky & Hutch

9pm 24

10pm Dexter

Maybe I should be blogging about Michael Jackson or even Billy Mays but I’m a pretty inconsistant blogger.  So instead I will just share my relief that the NHL Draft is over and the Mission Tavares has been a success.

I’m not sure when I decided it would be best to root for an awful season, sometime last October I believe.  However after suffering all those loses I believe the Islanders will be better off.  Well, I HOPE they will.  Things haven’t gone according to plan in Islander Town in a very long time.  And while on paper Taveres now teamed with other kids on the team full of potential (Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey, etc) seems like a proper blueprint, there’s no guarantee for anything.

So now that this is over there’s still plenty to cross the fingers about.

There’s a number of things that I should be blogging about, however tonight is the night of the NHL draft. And truth be told I’m only interested in what the New York Islanders do.

If you scroll down on this blog you’ll see I was hugely in support of finishing last in order to get that number one overall pick. Now they have it and the consensous is that they should use it on John Tavares, a guy I’ve been hoping for all year.

However these are the Islanders so while the choice may be obvious there is no guarantee they won’t do something completely bizarre.

So 7pm EST tonight I will be crossing my fingers.

The serial tv show is a tricky sell to me.  If you aren’t in on the ground floor then you’re playing catch up.  Quite franky, who the hell wants to do that?

So many shows that are serialized have gone by the wayside for me.  Naturally number one on the serialized tv show list (at least these days) is Lost and naturally I don’t watch it. 

My brother Joey swears by the show, but having missed that first season back in 2004 I was not interested and I was okay with that.  Best dramatic show ever? If you say so.  Now leave me alone so I can see the latest Prison Break.

All that has changed however.  And all because my step father got lymphoma.

A few months back my step father Luis was diagnosed with lymphoma and he started radiation treatment (he’s going to be fine, thankfully).  This was naturally very stressful for my mother who worries about everything under the sun as it is.  So my brother Joey sent her for her birthday season one of Lost.  “It will take your mind off things,” he said.  He was right.

The next time I visited my mother she had just finished season one.  And eager to talk about. How exciting it was.  How different it was.  The enthusiasm she had was not something I’d expect coming from my mother.  But it was there and it was undeniable.  So that weekend I got her season two.  The reaction she had when I gave it her was priceless.  It was as though I had giver her a gold bar. 

So when I left my mother’s that weekend she had made sure that I took season one home with me.  She insisted I watch it,  Okay, sure.  I mean, I knew it was good but you know…

Getting home putting the DVDs in and sitting down with Jessica to watchLost I would not have guessed that only a few weeks later I’d be starting season three (my mother is currently working her way through season four).

Yes Lost IS all it’s cracked up to be.  Tremendous writing, great acting, and exciting fun stuff.  A truly great show.  Me and Jessica breezed through season one in a week.  Season two in a week and a half. 

Now I’m onto season three and here comes the dilemma. I realize that the end of Lost DVDs is coming up.  Soon enough I’ll be caught up and then it will still be until fall before that final season starts.

Starting season three tonight me and Jessica watched three episodes in what seemed like 30 minutes time.  It just flew by.  So now I realize that I have to slow it down.  Make it last.  Cut it down to maybe…two episodes a night? It’s rough because I’m so far behind that the things that are going on with the show are completely irrelevent right now.  Jessica has tried to bring it up on the show as a topic but honestly, talking about a five year old cliffhanger seems just a wee bit lame.

So I shall suck it up and pace it out because that season opener is just around the corner.  And I can’t wait.

Just a quick note to mention that now The Radio Dan Show two hour extravaganzy will move to Thursdays. Mondays are now even lamer.

Sorry about that.

Today I have a great experience at the movies.  I dragged Jessica kicking and screaming to see State of Play, a thriller that is set in the world modern world of newspapers.

State of Play stars Russell Crowe as a rumpled reporter looking for facts in a story that concerns some dead people, a congressman (Ben Affleck) he happens to have been friends with, a political sex scandal, a private agency of mercenaries potentially replacing homeland security, and probably a few other things that I’m forgetting.  There’s a lot going on here, people.  Certainly enough to jam into its two hours and 12 minute running time.

Crowe is teamed up with his papers online reporter (Rachel McAdams), who he naturally does not really respect.  After all she is a BLOGGER!  Honestly it does ring true, especially with the decline of the newspaper business as a whole.  One of the aspects of State of Play that I enjoyed was the fact that they acknowledge that the paper is dying out and sometime soon the Rachel McAdams of the world will be the heroic rumpled reporters in future stories.

State of Play is a movie that more than delivers on its promises.  There’s a great story here, well played by everyone (including Helen Mirren as the Editor in Chief, Jeff Daniels as another congressman, and Jason Bateman as a weasely guy who knows something about what’s going on), and a great job by director Kevin Mcdonald to take this big mess and make it all easy to follow.  The thrills actually thrill here.  Novel idea, really.

I am not the first person to heap praise on this movie.  In fact State of Play has a very impressive 85% fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com, the website that gives scores to films to reflect the critical reception.  State of Play cost $60 million to produce and after three weeks of release is currently sitting in 10th place as I type this out.  It has grossed $30 million and will not break even when it is all said and done. 

To me this almost feels like another nail in the coffin for the adult (not porno!) minded movie.  Movies today seem to be aiming mainly at that Gen Y demographic and younger.  It’s less cinematic art and storytelling as it is amusement park rides and nonsense. 

Consider that if you took all the movies that debuted at number one at the box office and averaged it out, the rottentomatoes score would be 42%.  And no, this does not include this week’s number movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which would drop lower once you averaged in it’s ugly 37% fresh rating.

What are the successes we’ve had in 2009 at the box office?  Let’s look first at Paul Blart: Mall Cop which took in $145 million at the box office, has a 31% fresh rating.  Other box office hits in 2009 include Fast & Furious ($149 million, 28%), Knowing ($77 million, 34% fresh), Friday the 13th ($65 million, 26% fresh), and current ly in the top ten is Obsessed ($47 million, 20% fresh), and 17 Again ($48 million, 56% fresh).  

On paper a movie like Watchman ($107 million, 64% fresh) seems like a good case for the idea that a smart, well made movie (yes that is my opinion of Watchmen) can be a hit.  But once you consider that this was a film that opened big with $55 million in it’s opening and barely crossed the coveted $100 million mark AND it’s way too high budget of $150 million and you realize that this type of film is a gamble that Hollywood will now NOT make in the future.

State of Play now can be added to the list of Hollywood films that tried to appeal to a grown up audience and found there were no grown ups left out there.  Add this to the list of films of 2009 that have been ignored like Adventureland ($15 million, 88% fresh), Duplicity ($40 million, 67% fresh), and Sunshine Cleaning ($10 million, 71% fresh).

I will still head out to the theaters each weekend, since it is my favorite thing to do.  I will still hold out hope that Hollywood (or someone) keeps making quality movies that will appeal to adults.  And I hope that eventually people will start showing up to see them.

Recently one of TalkRadioX’s loyal listeners, Creeto (his blog is linked on the right hand side of this page), made a commercial for my show.

It’s very strange that someone would just do this, but I must admit I do keep watching this.  And it gets more bizarre each time.