Adalian Column: Polishing Up the Crystal Ball

I should know better. A year ago at this time, while working for Daily Variety, I joined my colleague Michael Schneider in coming up with a list of eight predictions for 2008. Among our in-print forecasts: The Olympics would be a pop-culture bust, fans of “Lost” would revolt over an absence of answers to their burning questions, a hosting change would rile “The View” and one of the network entertainment presidents would be fired or quit. Oops. I’d like to say our other four predictions fared better, but alas, the morning show wars didn’t really heat up, networks haven’t starting making their shows available via cable’s on-demand platform and there wasn’t a new reality hit along the lines of “Survivor” or “Dancing With the Stars.” We did, however, correctly call the rise in international co-productions (Go, “Flashpoint”!). Common sense would dictate that I quit while I’m behind and just get out of the crystal-ball business altogether. Instead, pride compels me to try once more, if only to prove ... (link)