TV networks aimed at women all too often neglect the cross-dressing men

Below is an odd promo for a new French TV network called June. The channel is aimed at women 20-30 years old, but apparently they don't want to exclude all the cross-dressing (and potentially cross-dressing) men out there. The slogan is: "June. The channel that makes you want to be a girl." Perhaps Lifetime could try something similar here in the U.S., now that Project Runway's ratings have begun to sink.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Michael Jackson is not still alive, despite what you may see on YouTube

Who says the Germans have no sense humor? First they gave us bratwurst, then Heidi Klum, and now this great Michael Jackson hoax video. German TV station RTL produced the clip, which shows a King of Pop imposter exiting a coroner's van. The station tells CNN: "We sent out a press release before we did the video to alert everyone that it was fake, but once posted it spread really fast." Yeah, big surprise there. The video has well over 1 million views on YouTube, and people are still energetically debating its merits, even though it was uploaded under the user name "michaeljacksonhoax." RTL says it was just an "experiment" to warn the public not to believe everything they see on the Web. Well, I read that explanation on the Web and I'm not believing it. I suspect the desire for free publicity also played a part. Jim Morrison agrees with me. He works here in the mailroom. Man, that old guy likes to party. Not much of a singer, though.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Host of Brazilian crime show accused of murdering to boost his ratings

In a bizarre and tragic commentary on our times, a Brazilian television host is accused of killing drug traffickers, among other offenses, in order to be the first to report the misdeeds and boost his show's ratings. According to local police: "Crimes were committed in order to create news for the group and for the program." There are plenty of ironic, nearly too-good-to-be-true plot points here that should have Hollywood screenwriters salivating. The guy's a former cop, and as a legislator in the Brazil's Amazonas region, he has immunity from prosecution. He's even got a boffo catchphrase, ready-made for movie trailers: "Nowadays everyone is killing."

—Posted by David Gianatasio