IRS has questions about buying ad time (and they're asking us)

IRS has questions about buying ad time (and they're asking us)

Who does the Internal Revenue Service call when it wants to know how the television business works?

Apparently journalists.

Several Los Angeles Times staffers got an e-mail from the IRS asking questions about how commercial time is sold. Maybe they're poking around the upfronts to see what's taking so long.

Among the things the IRS wants to know: Do advertisers choose what time their ads air? (Sometimes, but not usually, as most ads are sold across a network's schedule.) And, once a buyer purchases a commercial, how certain is it that the ad will air? (Reasonably certain, although there can be preemptions for news, and an ad might be pulled if it would appear to be insensitive in light of a current event).

We don't know who or what the IRS is probing. A spokesman wasn't particularly interested in telling us. But the e-mail, from the Los Angeles office of the chief counsel, says the agency is working on a case that involves how commercial time is sold. I hope they don't audit me now for revealing this.

-- Joe Flint

'Shield' veteran guest stars in a top-notch 'Burn Notice'

Below is a clip from Thursday's "Burn Notice," which features the return of guest star Jay Karnes (who played Dutch on "The Shield") as the sardonic arms dealer Brennen, whom Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) first met in Season 2.

As I said in my Season 3 review of "Burn Notice," Karnes fits into the show's ensemble perfectly. The actor gets the show's tone (which not all "Burn Notice" guest stars do), and his laid-back but precise performance comes in an episode that is as tightly plotted and well-executed as anything "Burn Notice" has ever done.

Of the three Season 3 episodes USA sent for review, this one was by far my favorite, not just because Karnes is great as Brennen but because for Michael, there's something personal at stake, and those are always the "Burn Notice" stories that stay with me longest. "Burn Notice": Come for the explosions and spycraft, stay for the compelling emotional subtext.

Enough from me: Just sample the barbed, spiky rapport between Michael and Brennen (if the clip appears wonky here, you can watch it at Movieweb):

Billy Joel and third wife Katie Lee split
Billy Joel and wife Katie Lee are confirming a split. In a statement, the pair said that they remain "caring friends with admiration and respect for each other.
'Afghan Star' Contestants Risk Lives To Sing

In Afghanistan, a contest similar to American Idol has Afghans voting for the next Afghan Star. But these singers literally risk their lives for a chance at stardom. The film Afghan Star is a documentary about the pop contest.

CHILE: Festival to Showcase Films on Native Peoples
SANTIAGO, Jun 17 (IPS)Thanks to the growing number of films by and about indigenous peoples, over 90 movies, mainly from Latin America, will be screened and voted on by spectators at the First Chilean Indigenous Peoples' Film Festival in the Pacific port city of Valparaíso.