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If one thing remains true
in the rapidly changing
world of television, it’s that
viewers love a medical mys-
tery. The Patient With the
Obscure Ailment That Baf-
fles Physicians has been a
fixture on hospital dramas
for as long as they’ve existed.
Unexplained illnesses fueled
eight seasons of the Fox se-
ries “House,” which starred
Hugh Laurie as a brilliant
but misanthropic diagnosti-
cian, not to mention daytime
talk show segments and sen-
sational reality series.
Two shows, “Diagnosis”
on Netflix and “Chasing the
Cure” on TNT/TBS, put a
new spin on the old question
“What’s ailing me, doc?” by
using crowdsourcing to di-
agnose people suffering
from unexplained illnesses.
While the shows differ
dramatically in tone, style
and format, both operate
from the same basic as-
sumption: that finding an
answer for these patients
means bucking standard
medical practice and pre-
senting their cases to a mass
audience. Premiering within
weeks of each other, the
shows arrive at a moment
when mistrust of the medi-
cal establishment, negative
views of the U.S. healthcare
system and the use of crowd-
funding sites such as Go-
FundMe to pay for health-
care are increasing.
But leveraging the per-
ceived wisdom of the crowd
— most of whom are not
medical professionals — and
sharing sensitive medical
information with potentially
millions of strangers also
raise a number of ethicalCan
viewers
solve
medical
riddles?
Two new TV shows
use crowdsourcing —
and raise practical
and ethical issues.
By Meredith Blake[SeeMedical shows,E5]‘Ready or Not’
aims at the 1%
The horror film has
more on its mind than
bloody mayhem. E4What’s on TV..........E5
Comics...................E6-7Disney theme parks in recent years have been undergoing grand
transformations, welcoming large-scale lands based upon acquisitions and partnerships. Mov-
ie-inspired areas such as Cars Land, Toy Story Land, Pandora — the World of Avatar and Star
Wars: Galaxy’s Edge are in, while the topic-based lands of yore — Adventureland, Frontierland,
Tomorrowland — are no longer in vogue with theme park designers.
It’s a pivot that’s influencing the compositional purpose of the lands. Walt Disney Imagi-
neers are increasingly emphasizing interactive elements and play-based experiences, and in
the case of Galaxy’s Edge and the in-development Avengers Campus coming to Anaheim, a
more plot-focused design approach. The increased cinematic influence is also gradually tweak-
ing the very mission statements of the parks.
The past decade has seen a rethinking of the theme park’s role and in turn how many of us
consume mass entertainment. More than 150 million people last year took part in Disney-
branded endeavors, said Bob Chapek, the senior Disney executive who oversees the company’s
parks, on stage Sunday as part of Disney’s three-day fan focused event,AN EARLYartist’s rendering of the planned Avengers Campus beginning in 2020 at Disney’s California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.
Disney / MarvelA de-theming of
our theme parks
At D23, Disney continues pivot toward branding
BYTODDMARTENS>>>[SeeD23, E3]When former CBS Corp.
Chairman and Chief Execu-
tive Leslie Moonves was
fired over sexual harass-
ment allegations a year ago,
many media analysts be-
lieved the company had lost
an indispensable impre-
sario who kept it vital in a
turbulent TV industry.
His departure cleared
the way for the company’s
controlling shareholder,
Shari Redstone, to reunite
CBS with Viacom — home of
MTV, Comedy Central and
Paramount Pictures — in a
deal announced Aug. 13.
It also meant an uncer-
tain future for Joseph Ian-
niello, a loyal Moonves lieu-
tenant who was being
groomed to take over. Ian-
niello, 51, did not get the topHe has eye on CBS’ future
Joseph Ianniello is
helping the network
with Viacom merger,
but challenges await.
By Stephen BattaglioJOSEPH IANNIELLOis staying on as chairman and chief executive of CBS,
thanks to his ability to calm turbulent waters at the longtime media company.Christina HouseLos Angeles Times[SeeIanniello, E2]Well, it’s no wonder she
nixed that dopey lyric telling
kids that spelling is fun: On
“Lover,” Taylor Swift turns
out not to be speaking to
the children who made her
one of pop’s biggest stars.
When she released “Me!,”
her seventh studio album’s
oppressively cheerful lead
single, the song contained a
much-maligned bit in which
Swift and her duet partner,
Brendon Urie of Panic! at
the Disco, made like a pair
of Nick Jr. hosts dispensing
hollow after-school encour-
agement. Yet listen to “Me!”
as the 16th of 18 tracks on
“Lover,” which hit streaming
services Thursday night,
and you’ll find that the line
has quietly disappeared;
now you hear a marching
band doing its best to thump
the memory out of your
head.
The change does only
a little to improve the still-
saccharine “Me!” But at
least it brings the song into
closer alignment with the
rest of the very impressive
“Lover,” which wastes no op-
portunity for Swift, 29, to
demonstrate that she’s,
y’know, a grown-up.
“I’m drunk in the back of
the car,” she sings in the
pulsating “Cruel Summer,”
one of many references to
booze along with those in
“Death by a Thousand Cuts”
(“I get drunk, but it’s not
enough / ’Cause the morning
comes and you’re not my
baby”) and “London Boy”
(where a cute British guy
is like a magnet pulling her
ALBUM REVIEW
Swift is
growing
up with
‘Lover’
MIKAEL WOOD
POP MUSIC CRITIC
[SeeSwift, E4]