• by October 17, 2003

CURSING THE BAMBINO ONCE AGAIN - So the Cubs-Red Sox World Series we thought might happen turns out to be another pipe dream. The Yankees roll to the World Series. Again. Sox fans from Caribou, Maine, to Norwalk, Conn., spend another winter wondering what might have been. Again. The world is back in balance. Again. So it goes.

MOST FOUL - Does Fox have to show closeups of every major league pitcher swearing after giving up extra bases? It's true that Riff learned to swear by watching minor league managers argue with umpires, but kids still do watch baseball don't they? Or is it now an exclusively 18-49 demo that either adds or detracts from the sweeps, as reading some of the trades would have you believe? Yankees pitcher David Wells unhappy after throwing a first-pitch home run ball to Red Sox slugger David Ortiz? Yeah, we get it. Don't show us more than that, OK?

A PURE COINCIDENCE, WE WOULD ASSUME - First the Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association (that's YPIMA for the syllabically challenged) unveils plans to take on the role of advertising sales rep with its new BuyYellow.com directories auction site and now some observers are wondering whether another media trade group might now also be looking to assume a direct role in the business of its membership. No, the Magazine Publishers of America isn't launching a new Web site to auction off unsold magazine ad pages, but based on a presentation it will be making during the American Magazine Conference, one has to wonder whether the MPA is considering launching a title or two of it's own. As part of its massive "Reader Experience" initiative, the trade group mocked up a few pseudo titles to illustrate how editors, circ managers and even magazine advertisers might utilize the study's findings to motivate magazine readers in a better way. Still, it's hard to imagine any of the young reader prospects in the Generation Y group would be interested in a magazine entitled GenWhy, but that mock-up will be used to show the AMC crowd just how magazine cover lines can be modified to enhance the interest of readers in the younger set. But another mock title looked to the Riff, anyway, to be one that might have legs with the African American community. AF/AM Life looked like it had been flushed out enough to actually make it on the newsstands. While the MPA has no immediate plans to actually publish any of these titles, the presentation also features a fictitious consumer brand that ironically became an actual brand since the Reader Experience research and presentation were put together by the project's team at Northwestern University. The brand, called "Pure," is a bottled water that Northwestern developed to the impact of reader experiences on ads for a generic brand. "Interestingly enough, several months after we came out with it, someone brought a Pure product to market," says Northwestern's Abe Peck. "So, we're waiting for our royalties checks."

MARTHA LIVES ON, BUT WILL KMART? - If recent spin is any predictor, the Riff is expecting a full exoneration of style diva Martha Stewart. The latest character endorsement comes from Kmart, a somewhat beleaguered character in its own right, which has opted to continue featuring Stewart in a high profile ad campaign that will break during the second game of the World Series. It is the first ad effort to come from the discount retailer since it emerged from bankruptcy and since it named Grey Global and its MediaCom unit to be its new ad agency. While Stewart herself may not necessarily appear in the campaign, her brand association will be there in spots featuring her Martha Stewart Everyday line. It must have been a tough decision for the mass merchandiser, as those co-branding decisions needed to be made before Stewart could stand trial on federal charges of insider trading and obstruction of justice. But Stewart has had several recent positive developments, including a judgment that threw out a shareholders suit against her company's board for failing to deal with the insider trading charges in a responsible way. A federal judge also recently chastised prosecutors in their criminal pursuit of Stewart. Now if the legal momentum would only carry over into Stewart's business operations. Advertising sales and circulation continue to decline at flagship Martha Stewart Living magazine and the company reported weak second quarter earnings due to legal costs surrounding her defense. Third quarter earnings will be reported Oct. 30, the day before Halloween, and only the company's accountants have any idea whether it will lead to a trick or a treat.

A MAVERICK MOVE - Details are emerging about how ABC plans to transition the mourning period for "8 Simple Rules" back into laughs following the death of John Ritter. After running Ritter's last three episodes - the first of the sitcom's second season - the show went into hiatus while ABC and the "8 Simple Rules" writers tried to figure out what to do about a sitcom that lost its star and its comedy. The Hollywood Reporter writes that "Rockford Files" and "Maverick" star James Garner will play co-star Katey Sagal's TV father, who comes to help his daughter and three grandchildren to deal with the death of Ritter's character. It apparently still isn't clear how things are going to play out, either with Garner's four-episode arc or the rest of the show, since the scripts are still being written. And the cast returns Monday, the Reporter said, a little more than a month following Ritter's death Sept. 11 on the set. It will be interesting to see what happens to a sitcom when it's no longer funny and whether it can return when tragedy takes its big star.