Word: form
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...think our format takes better advantage of the strength of comedy than just a clip channel," says Tom Freston, head of MTV Networks. "Comedy has traditionally been character driven and story driven. It takes time to work." HBO executives snicker. "Why should their channel succeed in doing original long-form comedy?" says Fuchs. "The three networks spend hundreds of millions of dollars trying to do original comedy, and one show succeeds every two years...
...vocal opposition from the city's archbishop and other religious leaders -- a proposal entitling gay couples to register their relationships with the county clerk. In Washington and Los Angeles, task forces have been set up to investigate whether denying gay couples the benefits enjoyed by married people is a form of discrimination. It is all part of a growing national debate over whether gay couples should be allowed to declare themselves "domestic partners," or even become legally married, and thus be eligible for some of the rights accorded to married couples...
Since as much as 40% of a worker's compensation comes in the form of fringe benefits, the issue is partly one of economic equity: Is it fair to provide more for a married employee than for a gay colleague who does the same work? There is also a larger moral issue. Health plans, pension programs and inheritance laws are designed to accommodate the traditional family. But nowadays, only 27% of U.S. households consist of two parents with children, down from 40% in 1970. Is the goal of encouraging traditional families therefore obsolete? Is it discriminatory...
Despite this public resistance, legalizing some form of marriage for gay couples is probably the logical outcome of the drive for domestic-partnership rights. "Given the fact that we already allow legal gay relationships," writes Andrew Sullivan in the New Republic, "what possible social goal is advanced by framing the law to encourage those relationships to be unfaithful, undeveloped and insecure?" Marriage involves the obligation to support each other both in sickness and in health and to share financial benefits and burdens. It implies, at least in theory, a commitment to a long-term and monogamous relationship. The advent...
...truncated and unrevised form, The People will add little to Malamud's reputation, which hardly needs embellishment in any case. His novels, including The Natural and The Assistant, and books of stories such as The Magic Barrel and Idiots First long ago established his place among the best postwar American writers. This triumph was not easily won. Malamud never catered to popular tastes or expectations. His fiction was often as grim as it was enchanting. He wrote, and rewrote, slowly, with consummate care...