The response to our initial "Find The Good" blog entry was gratifying - you do want more than gossip about stars' hookups, breakups, meltdowns and arrests! I can't promise we'll feature such stories daily, or even weekly, but your feedback was great - including some questions which deserve answers.
– Why aren't there entire shows dedicated to "Good News"? Because, sadly, most attempts to do so have failed. Yes, there are local stations with small "good news" segments, and a growing number of Web sites that highlight these kinds of stories, but on a bigger scale, they just don't get the ratings. (That's a challenge to you, the viewers and Web surfers who create the ratings!)
– Why don't you spotlight the good work done by athletes/churches/"regular" people? For the same reason you don't see stock quotes in the sports section of the newspaper: because I'm an entertainment producer, writing for an entertainment blog. Stories here have to have some connection to the entertainment world.
– Why did you write about something that happened nearly three weeks ago? Yeah, sorry about that one. I didn't hear about it until a week or so after it happened, and then we were prepping for Emmy coverage, and frankly I forgot about it until yesterday, when the flood of disturbing showbiz-related stories got so bad, I actually asked myself aloud "isn't anything good happening I can write about today?" And then I remembered, and "Find The Good" was born.
But since you asked, yes, there is more good stuff happening:
– Last week, comedian Eddie Izzard completed an astounding task: running more than 1,100 miles in seven weeks for charity. Now, I've run a few marathons, and each time, I spent months training, and then weeks afterward recovering. Izzard, who has a history of charitable work but not athleticism, trained for about five weeks, then ran 43 marathons in 51 days, jogging through England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. He blogged along the way, raising awareness and money for projects in poverty-stricken areas of Africa and elsewhere. Simply amazing.
– In keeping with the theme of pushing physical limits, Jessica Biel, Lupe Fiasco, Isabel Lucas, and possibly Justin Timberlake reportedly are planning to climb 19,000-foot-plus Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, to raise awareness for the need for clean water worldwide. Singer and producer Kenna, whose father suffered from waterborne diseases while growing up in Ethiopia, came up with the idea for the "Summit on the Summit" expedition, set for January.
– And proving you can have fun and do good at the same time, there's Band From TV. No, that's not a typo: it's a musical group composed of TV actors who play rock 'n' roll for charitable causes. The group includes Greg Grunberg and Adrian Pasdar from "Heroes," James Denton and Teri Hatcher from "Desperate Housewives," Hugh Laurie and Jesse Spencer from "House," and "Bachelor" Bob Guiney. Their shows are a blast, and knowing you're helping a good cause in the process just adds to the fun.
Okay, celebs! These stars - and our readers - have thrown down the gauntlet: use your fame for something besides getting into exclusive clubs, tony restaurants, and gossip magazines. We're watching ...