English Entertainment
Fourth season of ‘Sex and The City’ launches 12 June
MUMBAI: The tongue ‘n’ cheek comedy series Sex And the City has lent variety to HBO’s fare. Now the channel has announced that the fourth season will air every Sunday from 12 June 2005 after the primetime movie.
A sitcom with soap opera elements, the show often tackles socially relevant issues such as the status of women in society. In the US the show came to a close earlier this year after a five year run. It stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon.
Look out for the return of a newly made-over Aidan, Parkers too-good-to-be-true boyfriend from the last season. While things did not work out previously because Parker’s character cheated on him with Big, now she reaches a new level of understanding with both Big and Aidan.
Meanwhile Davis’ character Charlotte also learns to stand up for herself a lot more and attempts to start life anew with husband Trey, after separation in the last season. Samantha played by Cattrall who is the least inhibited of the lot, continues her wicked ways while Miranda played by Nixon tries to be happy for Steve as he finally sets up his own bar.
Sex And The City executive producer Michael Patrick King says, “I sometimes think the show has evolved in the way a relationship evolves. Season One was like the first meeting, the first date. You notice the way they look or how they dress. You begin to learn a little but about how they react to the world around them and you start having hunches that you might really like spending time with them.
“Season Two is like the early dating period. Now, youre starting to get to know the girls, become friends. We learn about their past relationships and stories you begin to see what they care about. You start to see their feelings and their flaws, and decide to keep dating.
“Season Three marks the beginning of the real relationship. It also echoes the time in a relationship where everything becomes more of a challenge. Some of the surface glitz starts to wear off and you can see unflattering things about the girls underneath. You see how they make mistakes, but hopefully, you appreciate who the girls are, flaws and all.
“Season Four would be the moving on, in big step. Youre sharing your life with that person. It can be scary and awkward but its also deeper and emotional and comforting. Youre risking more, and you have a little more to lose, but you are also growing.
English Entertainment
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve Paramount deal
Investors wave through a $111 billion megamerger but deliver a stinging, if toothless, rebuke over half-a-billion-dollar goodbye packages
NEW YORK: The shareholders said yes to the deal. They said no to the cheque. At a virtual special meeting on Thursday that lasted barely ten minutes, Warner Bros. Discovery investors voted overwhelmingly to approve Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of the company — and then turned around and voted against the lavish exit pay packages lined up for chief executive David Zaslav and his fellow outgoing executives.
Not that it will make much difference. The compensation vote is purely advisory and non-binding. The Warner Bros. Discovery board can, and almost certainly will, pay out as planned.
But the symbolism stings. It is the second consecutive year that WBD shareholders have voted against the executive compensation packages, and this time they had good reason. Zaslav’s exit deal is, by any measure, extraordinary. Under the terms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he is set to receive $34.2 million in cash severance, $517.2 million in equity in the combined company, and $44,195 in continued health coverage — a total of at least $550 million. On top of that, Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to reimburse Zaslav up to $335 million for taxes assessed by the Internal Revenue Service on his accelerated stock vesting, though the company says that figure will decline depending on when the deal closes. As of March 11, Zaslav also held $115.85 million in vested WBD stock awards — and last month sold a further $114 million worth of WBD shares.
Shareholder advisory firm ISS recommended voting against the compensation measure, citing “problematic” tax reimbursements to Zaslav and the full vesting of his stock awards.
Zaslav will be bound by a two-year non-competition covenant and a two-year non-solicitation of customers and employees after the deal closes.
His lieutenants are not walking away empty-handed either. J.B. Perrette, chief executive and president of global streaming and games, is in line for $142 million, comprising $18.2 million in cash severance and $123.9 million in equity. Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer, will receive an estimated $121.5 million, including $18.8 million in severance and $102.7 million in equity. Chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels is set for $120 million, made up of $6.6 million in cash severance and $113.1 million in equity. Gerhard Zeiler, president of international, will get $82.6 million, including $11.9 million in severance and $70.7 million in equity.
The deal itself, clinched in February after Netflix declined to raise its bid for Warner Bros., still needs regulatory clearance from the Justice Department and European authorities. Several state attorneys general are also weighing legal action to block it.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, was unsparing. “The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger isn’t a done deal,” she said after the shareholder vote. “State attorneys general across the country are stepping up to stop this antitrust disaster. We need to keep up this fight.”
If it does go through, the combined entity would be a formidable beast, bringing together Paramount Skydance’s stable — CBS, CBS News, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, BET, MTV and Nickelodeon — with WBD’s portfolio of HBO, Max, Warner Bros. film and TV studios, DC, CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV and Discovery+. Paramount has said it expects $6 billion in cost savings from the merger, which is Wall Street shorthand for mass layoffs on a significant scale.
The ten-minute meeting was presided over by chairman Samuel Di Piazza Jr., with Zaslav, Campbell, Wiedenfels and chief communications officer Robert Gibbs in virtual attendance. Di Piazza was bullish. “We appreciate the support and confidence our stockholders have placed in us to unlock the full value of our world-class entertainment portfolio,” he said. “With Paramount, we look forward to creating an exceptional combined company that will expand consumer choice and benefit the global creative talent community.”
Zaslav echoed the sentiment. “Over the past four years, our teams have transformed Warner Bros. Discovery and returned the company to industry leadership,” he said. “Today’s stockholder approval is another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction that will deliver exceptional value to our stockholders.”
Paramount Skydance struck a similar note. “Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery,” it said in a statement, adding that it looked forward to “closing the transaction in the coming months.”
The shareholders have spoken on the merger. On the pay, they were ignored before the vote was even counted.
