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November Sweeps Ends
November 30, 2006
This year’s November sweeps came to an end last night. And it’s hard to say who’s coming out ahead. One thing’s for sure – it was a lot of fun.
This year’s sweeps had every imaginable form of entertainment, including what was arguably the best "Saturday Night Live" in ten years (Alec Baldwin and Christina Aguilera), the death of Mr. Eko on “Lost,” as well as plenty of exciting schedule shuffles. And who could forget the near miss of OJ Simpson talking about how he would have killed his former wife?
There are winners to be announced.
Everybody Loves Chris
Last night in Beverly Hills, the Association of National Advertisers handed out their eighth annual awards for family-friendly programming. We’re not totally sure what “family friendly” means anymore, but the honors went to shows that we’re all pretty fond of.
The CBS crime drama ''Numb3rs'' and CW network comedy ''EverybodyHatesChris'' took top honors, while ABC’s ''Dancing with the Stars'' took reality show honors and ''Ugly Betty'' won the new series award.
The Family Friendly Programming Forum, which includes advertisers representing 43 companies, created the awards to promote the development and airing of family-oriented television programs during prime-time viewing hours.
Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister
Oh Canada.
In a fascinating twist of Canadian pop culture magic, four Canadian ex-prime ministers are set to appear as judges on a new reality show from the CBC entitled: ''The Next Great PrimeMinister.''
Comedian Rick Mercer will host the one-hour special in which the former prime ministers will grill five finalists before a live audience March 18. The ex-leaders and members of the audience will then have an equal vote to pick the winner.
The CBC has set a Dec. 15 deadline for Canadians aged 18 to 25 to submit short videotaped speeches about why they should become primeminister and what they would do once in office.
Where Are My Shows?
November 29, 2006
You may have noticed that a few of your favorite shows have been airing what is being called a “Fall Finale.” We’ve had a lot of questions about it on the Community Board, so we looked into it for you.
Here’s the deal: : November sweeps is over and viewing traffic plummets. (People are shopping and going to holiday parties... so they aren't watching a lot of TV.)
So the networks put their best episodes forward at the beginning of December and then everyone goes on vacation. This generally happens every year, a week or two before the holidays get under way, for several reasons.
1.) The networks have holiday programming they play to adjust to the shifting holiday schedules of it’s viewers.
The Sopranos on Wednesdays
You may have heard that A&E recently purchased the re-run rights to "The Sopranos" for a cool 2.5 million dollars PER EPISODE!
It sort of escaped our radar for a little while until they released the dates that they'll begin showing the episodes. May we suggest you mark your calendar because this is your chance to watch the show that everyone talked around you about. (That is, if you don't have HBO, or didn't have it...)
A&E will be showing two episodes back to back on Wednesday nights, starting at 9pm, on January 10th. They're starting with season one, and they're just going to plow through to the end. (or until they run out of money, whichever comes first).
Hugh Jackman: TV Producer
Here's an odd little piece we saw over at Variety.com. Apparantly, Hugh Jackman is going to produce a show for CBS that is a "dark" version of "The Love Boat."
Wha? Huh?
What CBS means by "dark," is pretty unclear. They are saying that the show will have a "Rashomon"-style format. Yeah, we didn't know what that meant either, so we looked into it. Turns out -- this is a reference to Kurosawa movie from 1950 where the same events were shown from different perspectives.
Wikipedia has this to say: (Rashomon) has an unusual narrative structure that reflects the impossibility of obtaining the truth about an event when there are conflicting witness accounts. In English and other languages, Rashomon has become a byword for any situation in which the truth of an event is difficult to verify due to the conflicting accounts of different witnesses.
"Arrested Development" Stars Online
November 28, 2006
Michael Cera, who played George Michael Bluth on the brilliant but cancelled “Arrested Development” has struck a ground breaking deal with CBS. Cera will lead an online series on Innertube called “The Good Life,” about a pair of TV producers who think they’ve hit on the biggest hit of the century.
The deal is significant because it is the first time a network has inked a deal for a scripted online series with a talent agreement attached to it. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Cera will write, produce and star in the shortform series.
Civil War?
NBC News announced on Monday that it would begin referring to the Iraq conflict as a civil war, adopting a phrase that President Bush and many other news organizations have avoided.
Matt Lauer said on the ''Today'' show that ''after careful consideration, NBC News has decided that a change in terminology is warranted, that the situation in Iraq with armed militarized factions fighting for their own political agendas can now be characterized as civil war.''
This, of course, opened up plenty of debate on just what a “civil war” actually is. Webster's New World College Dictionary defines it simply as ''war between geographical sections or political factions of the same nation.'' Some political scientists use a threshold of 1,000 dead, which the current conflict has long since passed.
Trans Chase on All My Children
November 27, 2006
We jest, but seriously. Because it’s cooler than hell that once again, ABC's ''All My Children'' is breaking ground. This week the soap will introduce a transgender character who is beginning to make the transition from a man into a woman.
The character, a flamboyant rock star known as Zarf, kisses the lesbian character Bianca and much drama ensues. The storyline begins with Thursday's episode of the daytime drama.
There have been a handful of post-surgical transgender characters in television shows, including a college professor in the 2001 prime-time CBS series ''The Education of Max Bickford'' and a model in the short-lived ABC soap opera ''The City'' in 1996, according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Showtime's ''The L Word'' currently features a character changing from a woman into a man.
''All My Children'' was looking for something new, and knows its audience is always interested in anything to do with sexuality, said Julie Hanan Carruthers, the show's executive producer.
Ken Burns Loves Statistics
The director of all things documentary is pushing his own limit – and the limit of TV watcher’s patience. His new doc is 14 hours long!
Ken Burns thought he was done with war movies after his series ''The Civil War.'' But he says two troubling statistics fueled the creation of ''The War,'' a 14-hour documentary about World War II.
''It was really a couple of statistics that got me,'' Burns said. ''One was that we're losing a thousand (World War II) veterans a day, and the other is that our children just don't know what's going on.''
Burns said he was astonished at the number of high school graduates who believe the United States fought with the Germans in World War II.
Six Feet Under Hollywood Stardom
Freddy Rodriguez has gone from undertaker to A-lister. The 31-year-old actor, who played embalmer Frederico ''Rico'' Diaz on the “Six Feet Under” (now replaying on our mamma’s site Bravo) has two movies opening this month.
Rodriguez plays the best pal of a former Army ranger gone wrong in the gritty crime drama Harsh Times. In Bobby, about the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, Rodriguez plays Jose, a compassionate busboy who came to the aid of the fallen senator. Both films are in theaters now.
TV Turkey Day Extravaganza
November 22, 2006
Thanksgiving brings out the worst in some families. And some television shows, too. But then there are those moments that capture it all. Bravo (our mothership) has a slew of Thanksgiving content HERE. But we want to give a shout out to Brilliant But Cancelled's "TV Lover" blog who has written about TV's Best Turkey Day Moments. Check it out HERE.
Politician Loses to Lenny & Squiggy
Well, at least Lenny. Actor Michael McKean, best known for his stellar work on “Laverne & Shirley” came in first place on “Celebrity Jeopardy.”
He beat Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
Placing third was actor Hill Harper, from the television show "CSI: NY."
"I think I held my own," Spellings said in an interview Tuesday, hours before the show aired. She noted McKean had an edge, having been on the show before.
Now Kelly Rip(a)s Rosie!
We reported yesterday about Kelly Ripa's budding feud with Clay Aiken.
So yes, Clay put his hand over her mouth on television, and that's just poor form. But then this happened:
On yesterday's "The View" Rosie O'Donnell took Ripa to task for saying that Aiken was being disrespectful. But Rosie's comments might have crossed a line:
"Now listen, to me that was a homophobic remark. If that was a straight man, if that was a cute man, if that was a guy that she didn't question his sexuality, she would have said a different thing," O'Donnell said.
Kelly Rip(a)s Clay
November 21, 2006
Seems Kelly Ripa didn’t enjoy co-hosting “Live With Regis and Kelly” with Clay Aiken last Friday. According to Kxan.com Ripa complained to Regis about the experience saying "I don't think he was respectful in any way."
She then said the gelfling-like singer was even “hostile” toward her. She especially despised the way he cupped his hand over her mouth during an interview. Which actually, probably was bad form. It's Kelly's show, she's not to be shushed.
OJ Hush Money?
OJ Simpson had these big plans to go on the television with Judith Regan. They were going to discuss how OJ would have killed his wife and her boyfriend, “If he did it.” They threw a book together, and started shopping for houses. Oh, the money they were going to make by pandering to the American public’s need for blood and spectacle.
And then, yesterday, the shocking news came from Rupert Murdoch, over at Fox, that the show and the book were being shut down. Because the whole thing is in bad taste.
Michael Richards, aka Kramer, Slurs
November 20, 2006
They say the audience was stunned. But really, at a comedy club, is shouting racial epithets at the audience that crazy?
Yes, probably. It’s never good to shout bigoted remarks. (See Mel Gibson.)
But the 57-year-old actor-comedian, best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld's neighbor on ''Seinfeld,'' was performing at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood Friday night when he launched into the verbal rampage.
The tirade apparently began after two black audience members started shouting at him that he wasn't funny.
A little sensitive, Krame-y?
Emmy to Steven Spielberg
The International Emmy Awards typically honor the top television programs produced outside of the United States, but two Americans were among the honorees selected this year.
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences selected Steven Spielberg to receive its Founders Award for his ''long and distinguished career in television.''
Yeah, the guy who made E.T. and Jaws is getting kudos for television work. But insiders know that TV is where he got his start.
Midwest Hotels Drops CNN
November 17, 2006
They should call this one “All About That Sniper Video.”
Conservatives have been complaining about the patriotism of CNN for weeks because they showed footage of Iraqi snipers shooting at American troops.
So now Stoney Creek Hospitality Corp is pulling CNN from it’s hotel rooms.
Oh, whatever! It’s called Journalism, you numskulls!
The broadcast, which aired Oct. 18 on both CNN and CNN Headline News, featured edited portions of a tape the network said it obtained from a rebel group called Islamic Army of Iraq.
The video crossed the line into propaganda, said James Thompson, president of the Iowa-based Stoney Creek Hospitality Corp.
''It was shocking and repulsive,'' he said. ''Their actions supported terrorism.''
Oh, yeah. You know… CNN, that evil Atlanta-based terror organization! What are you, an idiot?
UK Combats Fat Kids
Broadcasting and Cable is reporting on the latest in the fight against childhood obesity.
The UK has decided to ban all TV ads for any food that has too much sugar, salt, or fat in any programming that is specifically targeted at children.
Those responsible for marketing food to children in the US met earlier this week to discuss and decide on a few standards of compliance for healthier eating. But the UK has really gone all-out on this one, banning the commercials altogether.
The UK has even gone so far as to say that any fatty, sugary, or overly-salty food products can not use celebrity endorsements, liscensed cartoon characters, or any free gift promotions as part of their marketing to children.
That’s the other interesting part. Originally, the ban was supposed to be in effect for children under 9, but UK officials recently upped that number to age 16.
Although critics say that the United States should adopt similarly strict standards, Adonis Hoffman of American Association of Advertising Agencies had this to say: "In America, food companies are rapidly re-tailoring their approach so that the food is more healthful and the messages are more responsible. Their pro-active self-regulation obviates the need for any government regulation.”
As much as we’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt here, we’re going to wait and see.
O.J. Simpson Book, Show Blasted
November 16, 2006
Relatives of the victims in the Simpson slayings case are speaking out against at the planned publication of a book by O.J. Simpson in which he discusses how he would have committed the killings of his ex-wife and her friend ''if I did it.''
Surprised? We’re not either. The idea is repulsive. Offensive. And stupid.
''He destroyed my son and took from my family Ron's future and life. And for that I'll hate him always and find him despicable,'' Fred Goldman said in an interview broadcast Thursday on ABC's ''Good Morning America.''
The book, ''If I Did It,'' is being published by ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. It goes on sale Nov. 30. Fox, which like Harper Collins is owned by News Corp., is airing a two-part TV interview of Simpson on Nov. 27 and 29.
Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, accused publisher Judith Regan of ''promoting the wrongdoing of criminals'' and commercializing abuse.
She added: ''It's unfortunate that Simpson has decided to awaken a nightmare that we have painfully endured and worked so hard to move beyond.''
Regan refused to say what Simpson is being paid for the book, which is being offered for $16.47. She said he came to her with the idea.
''This is an historic case, and I consider this his confession,'' Regan told The Associated Press.
Well then what does that make you, Ms. Publisher, a fraud? An accessory?
Dancing With Teddy Bears
In case you missed it –and we’re not sure how you could have – the finale was promoted like a presidential election. The darn thing was on every television at the gym.
But teddy-bear Emmitt Smith won “Dancing With the Stars.”
Don’t die.
Return of Comic Relief
November 15, 2006
Just when the serious issues of the world feel completely overwhelming: Comic Relief is coming back to lighten the mood – and raise some cash.
The show marks the ninth major telecast of Comic Relief, a 20-year-old institution that held its last major event in 1998. Participating this year are Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, George Lopez and Sarah Silverman. Wayne Brady will host the show's satellite location in New Orleans. It will be broadcast live from Caesars Palace on HBO and, with an 8-second delay for content, on TBS.
After an eight-year hiatus, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg will take the stage to cap the weeklong Comedy Festival that began Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Funds raised will go to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
O.J. Simpson Could Have Killed
Or is it “would have”? It all depends on how desperate you are to sell books.
Fox is desperate to get viewers so they are airing a two-part interview between O.J. and his publisher Judith Regan about his new book, “If I Did It.”
Gross? We think so.
The two-part television interview, titled ''O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened,'' will air Nov. 27 and Nov. 29 on Fox, the TV network said Tuesday.
Al-Jazeera Speaks English
Ten years after starting Arabic-language broadcasts that angered leaders in the region and Washington, Al-Jazeera on launched an English-language news channel available in more than 80 million homes but lacking major U.S. distribution.
But web-savvy folks can watch online at >http://english.aljazeera.net
Al-Jazeera English went on the air at 3 p.m. (8 a.m. EST) today broadcasting from the station's headquarters in Doha, capital of the tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar.
A screen graphic with a clock ticking down the minutes gave way to a photo montage of the biggest news stories of the past decade and an announcer saying the new channel would be ''setting the news agenda.''
''It's Nov. 15th, a new era in television news,'' its anchor said.
Lara Flynn Boyle: Insatiable
November 14, 2006
She’s hungry like the wolf. Okay, Ms. Flynn Boyle isn’t that old that we should flaunt a Duran Duran lyric at her. But her new show sounds about as silly. “Insatiable” on Showtime co-stars Andie MacDowell and Andrea Martin, all of whom have “insatiable” addictions.
Damn, that sounds like exciting television. Who is addicted to sex?
Katie Couric Boots Free Speech
Not completely, but she kicked it away from her nightly news at least three times a week.
The news from Black Rock (CBS HQ) is that they’re cutting the unwanted segment down to twice a week and will use people whose opinions are unfamiliar.
Oh, great. Let’s see. So now...
Laura Bennett Dresses Boston Legal Star
Julie Bowen of “Boston Legal” fame (if one can be famous for being on that show…) hired “Project Runway 3” star Laura Bennett to make her maternity clothes.
"I called her up,” Bowen explains, “and asked her to make me a dress. I love her style, she dressed herself very well pregnant. So I asked her to send me a dress. [Finding maternity clothes] definitely is not my favorite thing in the world, because you're stretching around a whole new body. What's up with that? It's like I'm 14 and have to figure out how to dress."
Andy Griffith Sues Andy Griffith
November 13, 2006
So here’s how it goes:
A Wisconsin man named William Fenrick was running for sheriff of Grant County. In order to win more votes, he changed his name to TV’s most beloved sheriff, that lovable guy from Mayberry -- Andy Griffith. He lost the election, and then the real life Andy Griffith decided to sue the pants off of him.
To be fair, the names are sort of different. The second Andy Griffith (whose name used to be William Fenrick) chose Andrew Jackson Griffith, and the actor’s name is Andrew Samuel Griffith.
Still, the lawsuit alleges that there were copyright and trademark laws violated, as well as violation of privacy upon Andy Griffith, who also starred in “Matlock.”
The new Griffith had this to say, 'During this campaign I never sold or profited even one nickel from the use of the name Andy Griffith or any item bearing the name Andy Griffith. Everything was a promotional item, and everything was given away for free,'' he said.
Here’s the part that makes it all genuinely absurd. After admitting to changing his name to garner (free) publicity for the race, the-also-ran-formerly-known-as-Fernick had this to say about Andy Griffith: 'For such an American icon, it's a pretty un-American thing to do to me.”
Really. You think grubbing votes by playing on the nostalgia of a long-cancelled TV show – that’s the act of a real American?
Dan Rather Returns
Dan Rather used to reach 7 million people a day, on a network that had access to 111 million homes. One hundred and eleven million homes.
This week, he returns to television with ''Dan Rather Reports,'' his new weekly magazine. His audience will be considerably smaller. Four million satellite and cable homes can watch the show on Mark Cuban’s network, HDNet.
''We are broadcasting to a tiny audience,'' Rather acknowledges, while staying upbeat, ''I want us to be right up on the balls of our feet, able to shift in a nanosecond if we have to,'' he says.
The show will focus on investigative stories, in-depth interviews, and what Rather is calling ''hard-edged field reports.'' Favorite subjects are likely to include the nation's fighting forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economic squeeze on middle-income families and politics.
''I see this as a pioneering experience,'' Rather says. And he could be right.
''When I first talked to Mark Cuban, he told he that he was prepared to give me total, complete and absolute editorial and creative control,'' Rather says. ''Now stop and think about that for a moment: do you know any journalists past and present (with such an arrangement)? Let's face it,'' he reasons, ''over the length and breadth of a career, I've gotten a whole lot more than I ever deserved on the upside. So if I got some things I didn't deserve on the downside, I can't and won't complain about it.''
Good for Dan. Brilliant. Cancelled. Back on the air.
Survey Says: DVRs Increase Viewing
November 10, 2006
It’s a “No-duh!” factoid for us ordinary viewers. But the media chatter-ers think these findings are surprising.
When Nielsen ratings include shows watched within two days of air, the number of viewers for a given show skyrocket.
For example (thanks to Media Life magazine) when “The Office” airs during its regularly timeslot: the “rating is 3.7 in all homes. But the show generates an 8.7 rating in DVR homes when time-shifted viewing is counted” (meaning the following few days).
That's double the rating.
NASA Broadcasts From Space
NASA makes history with the first live broadcasts from space in High Definition television (HDTV) on November 15. NASA, in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Discovery HD Theater and Japanese broadcast network NHK will produce the broadcasts. More info HERE.
What will we see? Black sky? Blue earth? Flying saucers! Heaven knows. (pun intended)
Lost Until February
November 09, 2006
So little to say about the hi-jinks over at ABC. The network has turned “Lost” from a show-we-love to a show-we-dread.
Last night’s “mid-season finale” was no exception. So dreadful. So many flashbacks. So many "faith vs. fate" moments. Excuse us while we gag.
And now that the show is "gone" for the next zillion weeks ... we have to ask: Why? What? Huh?
Does ABC, and the creators of "Lost," really think they gave us ANYTHING to look forward to when “Lost” returns?
No. And No.
Ed Bradley Dead at 65
The award-winning ''60 Minutes'' correspondent who we felt like we knew … whom we loved, has died.
Bradley grew up in the tough streets of Philadelphia, was wounded while covering the Vietnam War and later became CBS's first black White House correspondent.
The earring. Oh, so many milestones.
Bradley died of leukemia at Mount Sinai, CBS News announced. He joined ''60 Minutes'' in 1981, 10 years after he started with the network as a stringer in Paris.
Comedy Central Scoops White House
We've gotta send props out to Comedy Central's blog, for scooping all the major media sources on the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Broadcasting and Cable reported that the channel's "token conservative" posted the story as a rumor in the middle of the night.
"The buzz I'm hearing from a friend, and a totally unconfirmed White House source (remember Comedy Central doesn't have journalistic standards), is that Rumsfeld will be out of the administration tomorrow. This is a shocker even to the totally unnamed source in the White House. Already, we are seeing reports of a White House Press conference scheduled for tomorrow at 1 p.m. Could this be it?"
Ah, citizen journalism. All the news that's fit to speculate about.
Bow Down, Comrades. American Idol Returns
November 07, 2006
It's the moment singing-in-the-shower stars and their admirers have been waiting for. The sixth season of "American Idol" is set to save FOX -- we mean, premiere -- January 16, 2007.
Hold your pants on fan-atics: The first episode will be a spine-tingling two-night, four-hour special on the 16th and 17th from 8-10pm.
America Loves Football
Really... you might be saying with your most sarcastic sneer.
And you’d be correct to be so skeptical of our notation. But NBC’s Sunday Night Football has not been the home run, er, touchdown, that it was planned to be.
When the games haven’t been must-see-match-ups, then no one watched. Well, not no one, but not that many people.
Until this week, when a hard-fought Sunday night football matchup between rival powerhouses Indianapolis and New England brought nearly 22 million people to NBC. That was well above Sunday-night football's season average of 15.5 million going into last week.
Kirstie Alley: Swimsuit Model
We’re not happy that Ms. Scientologist felt the need to show up in a bikini to the Oprah Winfrey show. But hell, if she wants to, we support her. Watch a clip HERE.
It’s a woman’s right to choose -- what she wears!
The ''Fat Actress'' donned a bikini to show off her new shape on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show,'' fulfilling a pledge she made about a year ago.
Winfrey said Alley, who is 5-foot-8, has lost 75 pounds, after hitting a high of 220 pounds. Her weight gain was documented in various unflattering paparazzi photos.
And the actress had some inspiring things to say making this, once again, a must-see Oprah episode.
Watch TV On Your Xbox Live
Microsoft Corp. is teaming up with a handful of Hollywood studios to sell TV shows and movies that can be downloaded through the software maker's Xbox Live online video-game service and beamed straight onto television sets.
Confusing, it sounds. But supposedly it’s going to be a snap.
The company announced Monday that beginning Nov. 22, Xbox Live users with the latest console will be able to choose from shows including ''South Park,'' which airs on MTV's Comedy Central, and CBS Corp.'s ''CSI,'' and movies including Warner Bros.' ''V for Vendetta'' and Paramount Pictures' ''Mission Impossible III.''
Yeah, okay. But how is this better than Netflix? Or iTunes?
Legal Trouble for Bill O'Reilly
November 06, 2006
When he bragged about knowing private details regarding what goes on at a family planning clinic, Bill O’Reilly should have known he was asking for trouble.
Now an abortion doctor plans to ask for an investigation of both the state attorney general and O'Reilly over comments by the Fox television host that he got information from Kansas abortion records.
Dr. George Tiller said he will ask the Kansas Supreme Court on Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and take possession of the records of 90 patients from two clinics.
Attorney General Phill Kline obtained the records recently after a two-year battle that prompted privacy concerns. He has said he sought the records to review them for evidence of possible crimes including rape and illegal abortions.
And now it looks like he shared the records -- illegally -- with the TV host.
Ellen Burstyn: It’s Your Problem
That’s what she said when the actress was nominated for an Emmy for a 14 second, 38 word performance.
She says she was just as flabbergasted as everyone else when she heard she'd been nominated for an Emmy this year for her blink-and-you-miss-it role in the TV movie ''Mrs. Harris.''
The 73-year-old Academy Award winner spoke publicly for the first time about her Emmy nod: ''When they told me I was nominated for that I went, 'What, are you kidding?'''
Williams and NBC Beat Couric and Co. at CBS for Evening News Ratings Game
Williams' ''Nightly News'' was knocked from its first-place perch for two weeks by Couric's ''CBS Evening News'' upon her early September debut, falling perilously close to third. But NBC returned to the top during Couric's third week, and hasn't been beaten since.
Hmm… But why aren’t CBS folk crying? (Because their ratings are already higher than they were before Couric came.)
New Stars on TV. Who Is Tawny Cypress?
November 03, 2006
A month or so in to the new TV season and folks are already picking winners and losers. Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen aren't TV stars, but Tawny Cypress and America Ferrera are. Ordinary people with extraordinary powers are interesting. Hostage dramas? Boring! Stephen McPherson's big gamble paid off, Aaron Sorkin's hasn't and we're still looking for laughs.
''The shows that the networks were highest on creatively were not the shows that people flocked to,'' said Jeff Bader, head of scheduling at ABC.
Oh, surprise, surprise: the execs don’t know their own audience.
Witness NBC on Monday nights: Creator Sorkin's much-anticipated return to TV, ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' studded with stars like Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford and Amanda Peet, is struggling to hang on. ''Heroes,'' littered with unknowns like Cypress, is a hit. The last time they ran back-to-back, the ''Heroes'' audience was nearly twice as big.
SNL star Maya Rudolph Has Bedbugs
Just to prove that not all publicity is good publicity – unless she turns bedbugs into a skit on “Saturday Night Live” – the whole world knows that Ms. Rudolph has an infestation of bedbugs is embarrassing.
A $450,000 lawsuit says that immediately after Rudolph, movie director Paul Anderson and their baby moved into the third-floor condominium loft apartment they were renting in SoHo last month, something began chewing on them at night.
''The plaintiffs were bitten over portions of their bodies by bedbugs,'' the court papers say. ''Apparently unbeknown to plaintiffs, the premises were infested with bedbugs.''
Dancing Stars, Battling Biceps
November 02, 2006
The ladies are O.U.T. Monique Coleman, the last woman standing on the ABC dance contest, was voted off after she and professional partner Louis Van Amstel received the lowest combined score from judges and viewers.
That left a trio of hunks: actors Mario Lopez and Joey Lawrence, both of whom obviously have been working out and wear shirts that prove it, and Emmitt Smith, who retired from football in January 2005 but remains in fighting form.
Is anyone complaining about this, er, show of "fitness"?
Move Over Barney, Kids Like Reality
Finally, after all that whining about sex, violence and explosive car crashes ruining their children’s lives (as parents dump their youngin’s in front of the telly)… A parents' watchdog group says they like Reality Shows!
Of the current crop, ''American Idol,'' ''Dancing with the Stars'' and ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' are the most suitable, said the Parents Television Council.
''When we think of reality shows, we tend to think of offensiveness,'' said L. Brent Bozell, the PTC's president. ''And yet, reality shows have gotten better.''
Really? Who thinks of Reality TV as offensive? These kinds of statements are why groups like this drive us mad!
Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place
What will we do once all our favorite shows are on DVD? (Certainly they’ll come out with a new format that then makes us buy everything again … like 8-track tapes to cassette tapes to CDs.)
But until then, we’ll put on our Sunny Southern California Happy Face and pick up new sets of ''Beverly Hills 90210'' and ''Melrose Place.''
''Beverly Hills 90210: The Complete First Season'' packs 22 episodes into a six-disc set that includes behind-the-scenes footage and commentary by series creator Darren Star. ''Melrose Place: The Complete First Season'' is an eight-disc set containing 32 episodes and featurettes on each of the residents of trendy Melrose Place.
The DVD collections will be released Tuesday.
Bodies, Babes, Baywatch
November 01, 2006
Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff together again, beach side, half-naked. Awesome. At least for those of us willing to admit that "Baywatch" was our guilty pleasure for so many years.
Good news: Now we're getting the DVD!
The former ''Baywatch'' stars were in a Santa Monica hotel, just off the Pacific Ocean, on Monday night for an event trumpeting the release of DVD box sets of the first two seasons of their long-running series.
They were joined by Traci Bingham, Jeremy Jackson and Donna D'Errico, among others.
In the crowd were throngs ogling how much the actors have changed. 15 years is a long time. Body parts sag, wrinkles develop. Those lifeguards should have worn more sunscreen.
Bob Barker Says Price is NOT Right
The silver-haired daytime-TV icon is retiring in June.
No, we don’t believe it either. Or maybe we’re in denial. Sick days at home will never be the same!
''I will be 83 years old on December 12,'' he said, ''and I've decided to retire while I'm still young.''
He'll hang up his microphone after 35 years as the host of ''The Price Is Right'' and 50 years overall in television.
Though he has been considering retirement for ''at least 10 years,'' Barker said he has so much fun doing the show that he hasn't been able to leave.
''I've gone on and on and on to this ancient age because I've enjoyed it,'' he said. ''I've thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm going to miss it.''
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