Hot Off The Press! The Latest Television News and Info [Text View] - Page 27

fredfa

11-10-05, 11:06 AM

Non Prime-Time Ratings
Snappier Leno, and ahead because of it
”Tonight” is up 4 percent in total viewers

By Abigail Azote MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 10, 2005
Change has always been slow to come on late-night shows, and it would seem the least likely to introduce change would be the longtime leader, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

But in fact "Tonight" has been ungoing a subtle makeover in recent months, with a longer opening monologue and a new, younger-skewing personalities, and the result is a bigger overall audience.

The show this season has averaged 5.64 million total viewers through Oct. 28, up 4 percent from last year. It’s even among 18-49s with a 1.9 rating. What makes that gain even more impressive is that it comes as NBC’s primetime continues to tumble, having fallen 7 percent among total viewers and 13 percent among 18-49s since the season began.

“Tonight” is also up over “Late Show with David Letterman,” whose ratings have declined despite CBS’s stronger primetime, falling 5 percent in total viewers to average 4.3 million viewers this season. Among 18-49s, it’s down 13 percent, to a 1.3 rating.

The changes at “Tonight” are hardly surprising, considering the network's problems. What may be surprising is how long they've been in the works, at least a full year.

Producers realized that unless they moved to liven up the show the network's sliding primetime would eventually take that show down as well. With fewer primetime viewers, there would be that many fewer eyeballs come 11:35. But “Tonight's" producers also know that whatever changes they introduced would have to be suble and gradual, lest they alienate longtime viewers.

“It’s basically an evolution,” says Rick Ludwin, NBC Entertainment executive vice president for late night and primetime series. “You don’t want to reinvent it.”

Leno has extended his opening monologue from seven to 12 minutes, after research found that viewers tune in to late night for the comedy, which is to say the monologue, not the guests.

"Tonight" has also enlisted edgier comedians like Gilbert Gottfried and Steve Bridges, the show’s resident President Bush impersonator, in a trend Ludwin says started several years ago. The show now has about a dozen of these comics appearing in skits regularly. The lineup also includes former Howard Stern sidekick Stuttering John Melendez, who joined the show last spring.

The effect, says one media buyer, is to give "Tonight" greater edge and timeliness.

“I think Leno offers more variety in his show,” says Peter Koeppel, president of Dallas-based agency Koeppel Direct. It helps too, says Koeppel, that Leno often tapes shows on the day they air, as opposed to taping a day ahead, making them feel more timely.

By contrast, Koeppel says, Letterman remains largely unchanged. “Letterman's show is not as cutting edge anymore."

Meanwhile, in other daypart ratings in the week ended Oct. 30:

NBC’s “Meet the Press” continues to lead Sunday morning shows with 4.25 million viewers, up 7 percent from the previous week. CBS’s “Face the Nation” remained the No. 2 program among total viewers with 2.86 million but got edged by ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” among households. “This Week” averaged a 2.1 household rating, down 5 percent from the previous week, while “Nation” dropped 13 percent to a 2.0 rating.

NBC’s “Today” saw a slight decline for the week, down 3 percent to 5.5 million viewers, while No. 2 “Good Morning America” on ABC and No. 3 “Early Show” on CBS were essentially flat. Some 350,000 viewers separate the top two morning programs, down 42 percent from the previous week.

In daytime dramas, ABC and NBC tied among women 18-49 with a 1.8 rating. NBC saw growth in that demo in full day, up 20 percent to a 1.8 rating. Ratings for all networks were relatively stable among total viewers in daytime dramas and full day.

The top four programs in syndication all saw increased ratings for the week. “Wheel of Fortune” was up 5 percent to an 8.2 household rating; “Oprah” up 3 percent to 7.2; “Jeopardy” up 3 percent to 6.4; and “Everybody Loves Raymond” up 3 percent to 6.1. ESPN’s NFL coverage landed at No. 3 in syndication for the week with a 7.1 household rating, up 73 percent from the week ended Oct. 16, the last time it was on the chart.

For the week ended Sept. 18, ABC’s “World News Tonight” was the only evening newscast to decline, down 2 percent to 8.47 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” retained its lead, up 3 percent to 9.77 million, while CBS’s “Evening News” stayed at third, up 2 percent to 7.41 million.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1229.asp

fredfa

11-10-05, 11:24 AM

Wednesdays prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s analysis of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.

fredfa

11-10-05, 11:31 AM

A Chemistry Lesson

By David Kronke Los Angeles Daily News Television Critic

"Bones" creator Hart Hanson is explaining the much-celebrated chemistry between his two stars, Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, when evidence of it comes storming through the soundstage. Deschanel is laughing uproariously at Boreanaz for doing a TV interview in a tight wife-beater T-shirt.

"I'm going to do my interview in my underwear!" Deschanel declares.

For the record, as amusing as it might have been, neither star stripped down for their interviews with the Daily News.

"Bones" stars Deschanel as Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist regularly recruited by the FBI to investigate murders where the corpse has significantly deteriorated. Boreanaz plays Seeley Booth, the agent routinely saddled, initially against his will, with temperamental Temperance, who he's nicknamed Bones. A best-selling novelist, she's withdrawn due to childhood trauma, blithely disinterested in popular culture and endlessly bemused by Booth's machismo.

From the outset, the wittily flirtatious chemistry between Deschanel and Boreanaz won over critics and viewers. "Bones" is a solid ratings performer for Fox and only figures to become a bigger hit when, in January, it will follow "American Idol," which transformed the medical drama "House" into a phenomenon last season.

"When we saw them together, we knew we had some chemistry," Hanson says. "When we saw that, we actually changed the script. It was just a little more earnest before. There was less irony. We made it more about the two of them bouncing off each other, and that actually improved the script."

Their frisson was apparent to everyone - except the actors themselves.

"You don't see it when you're in it," Boreanaz confesses. "For me, it was a girl who came into a room and made me stand up from a chair, and I liked that. She took a chance, and it paid off."

"I don't think you can plan that or figure that out, and I don't understand it myself," Deschanel offers. "When I walked in the room and met David, it just felt right. We have some things that are opposite from each other and some things that are very similar, so we complement each other well. I can resist his goofiness, sometimes, not all. People like to see people who challenge each other, and we challenge each other as characters and as actors every day."

Both stars credit the scripting: "I think the dialogue really helps,too, because we have this bickering back and forth, and it's kind of fiery dialogue," Deschanel says. "You can have chemistry with an actor, but it won't come out if the writing isn't conducive to showing that."

Boreanaz adds, "The dynamic of the dialogue, you can feel that give-and-take and that rhythm; it's like music."

And sometimes the dialogue is pure bewilderment for Deschanel, who laughs at the preponderance of medical jargon. "I'll have a sentence or two or a paragraph where I don't know every other word except 'the' and 'a' and a verb or two," she says. "It's like taking me to Russia and saying, 'OK, now perform in Russian.' "

Though Deschanel comes from a show-biz family (father Caleb is a five-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer, and her sister is actress Zooey), "Bones" is her biggest gig to date, and she's still adjusting. "It's so strange," she marvels, "I have dreams where there's a camera crew in my bedroom filming me as I sleep, and I'm, 'Just give me a moment while I get up!' "

Show biz is new to author-executive producer Kathy Reichs, as well. She created the series of Temperance Brennan mystery novels that inspired "Bones" and may represent Hollywood's strangest hyphenate - executive producer-novelist-forensic anthropologist. (She is, therefore, responsible for much of the vernacular Deschanel finds so mystifying.)

Reichs once found herself testifying at the United Nations on the Rwandan

genocide; today, she's palling around with actors poring over prop skeletons.

"It blows your mind," Boreanaz says of Reichs' job extremes. "How do you separate the two?"

Reichs concedes it's a curious career path, but says, "I've always liked doing more than one thing. I was a university professor doing forensic work, so I had my foot in two worlds there, and then it was forensics and the publishing world. Now, it's in the Hollywood end of the mix. It is a very sharp contrast."

Reichs still does forensics work in Montreal - "I want to keep working in the lab, because that's what gives me my ideas for my stories," she says. She allows that Temperance's struggle for respect on the show is only slightly exaggerated: "It varies as to the attitude of the law enforcement in your jurisdiction. Some avail themselves of your expertise much more readily than others. I've not found that same attitude in my home state of North Carolina, so I've always done overwhelmingly more work outside of North Carolina."

One thing she concedes is pure fiction: Reichs has never carried a gun on a case, whereas Temperance shot a guy her first case out.

"She has the most amazing stories," producer Hanson marvels. "We ask her, 'What did you do this weekend?' We get a lot of good death stories from her, kind of horrifying things in a macabre but funny way."

Temperance's obliviousness to pop culture comes, surprisingly, from Hanson rather than Reichs. Hanson says he thought he was riffing on some physicists he knew but learned otherwise when his sons designed his production company's logo, which features one son asking, "What does that mean?"

"I asked, 'Did you do that because she says it in the series?' And they said, 'No, we did that because you say that all the time,' " he admits. "And I had no idea. Apparently, I ask that all the time, and my kids mock me for it."

Today the cast and crew are shooting "Bones' " Christmas episode, which finds the principal characters quarantined in the laboratory, which is adorned festively if modestly with inflated rubber gloves. Dark personal secrets will be revealed by all involved, including further background on Temperance's loss of her parents and her tour of the foster-care system.

Boreanaz says the episode will greatly affect Booth's relationship with Brennan. "Now that I know the specifics, it will give me better understanding as to why she shuts the outside world out so much," he says.

"A lot of things are going on in this episode that will change our relationship. Now that I know her story, she'll open up to me more. She's sensitive, yet she's not sensitive, which makes her an interesting character to watch."

Which should prove to make TV's current "it couple" cooler - or will they be hotter?

"I don't think we're either," Deschanel says, adding with a laugh, "I would say we're a dorky couple."

http://www.dailynews.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3198588

fredfa

11-10-05, 11:32 AM

More Hot TV Couples
Where the sparks fly

By David Kronke Los Angeles Daily News Television Critic

Other couples with palpable prime-time chemistry include:

Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey – "Grey's Anatomy": (ABC, 10 p.m. Sundays) Never sleep with your boss, particularly if he's married. Unless, of course, he's dreamy Dempsey, then throw out all the rules.

Chris Noth and Annabella Sciorra - "Law & Order: Criminal Intent": (NBC, 9 p.m. Sundays) While original cast member Katherine Erbe constantly regards, reasonably enough, Vincent D'Onofrio as an oddball, the new investigative team actually seem to be interested in each other's secrets.

Denis Leary and Callie Thorne - "Rescue Me": (FX, currently on hiatus): Leary's Tommy Gavin had an affair with his cousin's widow, taboo in the firefighting world, and that's not the only taboo this thorny relationship underwent. The sex was angry, sorrowful, feverish and liquor-fueled. Naturally, the affair was doomed.

Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul - "American Idol": (Fox, currently on hiatus): Abdul can love whoever she wants, and the show can't can her because she and Cowell hate each other so wonderfully.

Stephen Colbert and himself - "The Colbert Report": (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday): Sure, he's riffing on Bill O'Reilly's rampaging narcissism, but here it's at least somewhat palatable.

http://www.dailynews.com/ontv/ci_3198589

fredfa

11-10-05, 11:56 AM

Act-out

By Karen Woodward for Cynthis Turner’s “Cynopsis”, Nov 10, 2005

Can I see some Lost with my commercials? The big business of TV is cutting into the creative side more and more. If you feel like every time you get settled in after a commercial break that it's time for yet another commercial break, it's not your imagination. Television dramas are beginning to be structured differently to add more advertising time.

In the past, shows have been structured into four acts, but now they're being structured as five or even six. The constant breaks are frustrating, but it's more than that - this new structure affects the whole art of storytelling. "Moving to the five-act structure not only cuts the amount of time we have to tell the story, but changes the way we have to tell it," says one writer on a popular drama. "More things have to happen in each act."

In a four-act structure, the 2nd act break (at the half-hour mark) has to have the strongest hook: "That's when they arrest someone," says the writer. "But if you move to five acts, the 2nd and 3rd act-outs would have to both be really strong, which complicates the story." Essentially, the 2nd act break would provide the twist, and then the 3rd act break has to put a twist on that twist. "[For example], at the end of the 2nd act, the person being arrested would end up to be a transvestite, and then at the end of the 3rd act they'd have to die… and you have to do all that in less time then you had before."

Not only does the move to a five-act structure mean more work in less time, but also constant commercial breaks destroy the momentum of the story, which means fighting to get the viewers attention back. "There is a critical mass point where the story can't adapt, and this is being approached," says the writer. "And in this day and age, where attention spans are dwindling, that's risky."

It's a risk the television business is apparently willing to take.

--Karen Woodward is a Los Angeles based writer focusing on the entertainment industry. She is pursuing a master's degree in media studies.

fredfa

11-10-05, 12:02 PM

Stunner: ABC's ”Lost” stunt stumbles
Much-hyped death episode fails to rouse a ratings bump

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 10, 2005

ABC’s “Lost” took two weeks off to build excitement for last night’s November sweeps death episode, but the strategy looks to have benefited CBS rather than ABC.

“Lost” averaged a season-low 8.3 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 last night at 9 p.m. for an episode that many expected to do well since the death had been rumored for months. That was 11 percent off its 9.3 season average for five episodes.

Spoiler! If you don’t want to know who died, skip this paragraph: Shannon was shot and killed on last night’s episode after Ana Lucia mistook her for one of the Others.

Perhaps too many people had already discovered who the death would be on the internet, or perhaps they've found a new favorite show at 9 p.m.

CBS’s “Criminal Minds” earned a 4.3 overnight rating among 18-49s last night, its highest of the season head-to-head against an original episode of “Lost.”

During “Lost’s” time off, “Minds” began to build. The show earned a 4.9 last week, its highest rating on a Wednesday this season, against a “Lost” rerun. The show improved over the past three weeks after a slow start to the season.

The comparison among total viewers was even closer, with “Lost” attracting 19.97 million and “Criminal Minds” bringing in 15.05 million.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=34

fredfa

11-10-05, 12:11 PM

(This column has absolutely nothing to do with HDTV. But it does have to do with our being able to enjoy HDTV. And today – and especially tomorrow on Veterans Day -- is worth thinking about. So before you take off for the holiday weekend, give it a read.)

A Veteran’s Day Story:
Quiet heroes deserve their day

By Terry Frei Denver Post Staff Columnist

A year ago at the Borders bookstore in Eau Claire, Wis., Dave Donnellan's youngest granddaughter raised her hand during the question-and-answer session.

"Were you ever scared?" 8-year-old Monica Hart asked her grandfather.

The question, from one so young and so wide-eyed, got to me. Even before the answer.

"All the time," Donnellan said softly. "Every single day."

Donnellan was sitting with me, plus two other Eau Claire residents who were Donnellan's teammates on the legendary 1942 Wisconsin Badgers.

In World War II, Donald Litchfield was a B-25 pilot and John Gallagher was a Marine.

After the three men answered questions for their fellow Eau Claire residents, we signed copies of my book, "Third Down and a War to Go." When we were done, Dave Donnellan's wife, Jane, gently told me her husband had been too modest.

Donnellan hadn't told me he won the Bronze Star.

Over his objections, I got that in the book's second printing.

I've touched on this before, and I'll say it again: Donnellan's reaction was so typical, because I had heard something similar from my own father, a P-38 fighter pilot in the Pacific, and from so many others in his generation.

After my father's 2001 death, I researched the stories of his team and his Badgers teammates, two of whom were killed in the Battle of Okinawa and many more who heroically served in combat around the world. That also led to many "offshoot" stories for The Denver Post, including two about other football players who served on Okinawa - former Colorado State great Bus Bergman, who also earned the Bronze Star; and Colorado guard Bob Spicer, who lost an eye in the battle, yet returned to school in Boulder and played three more seasons of football and baseball.

With Veterans Day coming up Friday, I'm going to tell you about two more of my father's teammates on the Badgers' 1942 team, which finished third in the final Associated Press poll, and boasted star players Dave Schreiner, Crazylegs Hirsch and Pat Harder. As always, I'm doing this with the stipulation that these two men - Donnellan and Erv Kissling - represent not just football players, but also an entire generation.

In the Battle of the Bulge, Sgt. Dave Donnellan's job as section leader of a mortar platoon was to supervise the placement of guns and the artillery firing. Along the Meuse River, his unit came under heavy German fire, suffered many casualties and was in danger of being wiped out. The Bronze Star citation said that Donnellan "immediately" took stock of the situation, "took charge and kept the mortar in action."

So why hadn't he told me this?

"It wasn't a real heroic thing, but was a gut reaction about what had to be done," he said. "For every guy who has that kind of story, there are 10 guys who can tell a better one. That's why I hesitate telling it."

Donnellan returned to Eau Claire, founded his own real estate firm and still works in the office. "I've got a little sore back, so I can't go out and play tennis, so I figure I might as well work," he said Monday.

Kissling, a reserve Badgers halfback from the Wisconsin town of Monticello, also was a sergeant in the Battle of the Bulge. He made it through heavy fighting, and then his unit attempted to cross the famous railroad bridge at Remagen, again facing heavy artillery fire from the Germans. Only about half his squad remained.

Kissling got across the bridge and felt a burning pain in his knee. "One of the guys said, 'Hey, sergeant, you're bleeding,"' Kissling said. "I looked at it. ... I could hear it, like slush."

Despite the leg wound, he stayed with his unit, but eventually was evacuated.

After the war, Kissling - my mom, Marian, still calls him by his universally recognized nickname, "Booby" - ate a lot of spaghetti at my parents' apartment as my father and the younger Badgers on the '42 team finished up school. Kissling became the longtime football coach at Oregon High School, near Madison. His son, Dan, was a Badgers football captain. After the book came out, I received many e-mails and letters from "Booby's" former students and players who said they had no idea Kissling had been in the war.

"How come I never talked about it?" Kissling asked, when I called him Monday. "I just never was in a position to bring it up."

A likely story. But a typical one. Thanks, guys. All of you.

http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3193190

Xesdeeni

11-10-05, 12:55 PM

With the V-chip, satellite/cable STBs and the onset of digital OTA broadcasting there are plenty of options for parents to be able to restrict their children's TV activities. But that is up to the parents, not congress.Parental control is exactly what we're all after. But the V-Chip is only part of the answer.

The reason the Janet Jackson Super Bowl thing got so many people upset (contrary to the ultra-conservative knee-jerk overreaction) was that it was not appropriate for the show itself, or the rating it was given. Had the Super Bowl, or even the halftime show displayed a message indicating that it had nudity, and had the OTA rating changed so the V-Chip could kick in, it would have been within parents' control.

On the same note, I'm annoyed by advertising for other shows that (in my estimation) exceeds the rating of the show being viewed. Graphics violence/gore and sexuality in those ads is often put in to attract viewers, but when you judge a show appropriate for your four-year-old and these ads come along, it kind of defeats all the parental safeguards.

Xesdeeni

fredfa

11-10-05, 01:48 PM

fredfa

11-10-05, 02:11 PM

No V-Chip problems here ---
"The Wizard of Oz"

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News

I usually avoid writing about theatrical films airing on TV (at Christmas I make exceptions for ``It's a Wonderful Life'' and ``A Christmas Story''), but it's hard to ignore TBS's annual showing of ``The Wizard of Oz'', (Saturday 8 PM ET; Sunday 8 PM ET, 10:15 PM ET).

For one thing, this is a new remastered and digitally restored version that just came out on DVD. For another, the cleanup has improved the look and visual power of the film -- which doesn't always happen when modern technology is applied to older movies. And finally: ``The Wizard of Oz'' is still ``The Wizard of Oz,'' with its great songs, glorious cast and wonderful design. Enjoy it with your kids.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/13129874.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

11-10-05, 02:15 PM

Cameras Could Get Rolling on High Court Sessions
A Senate panel looks at proposals to let federal
and Supreme Court proceedings be televised

By Emma Vaughn Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 10, 2005

WASHINGTON — With the Supreme Court nomination process for Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. on hold until hearings in early January, the Senate Judiciary Committee changed course Wednesday to address whether sessions of the court Alito hopes to join should be televised.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the committee's chairman, told a hearing that opening the Supreme Court to television coverage would be "an enormously useful tool for public understanding" and would allow the American people to properly evaluate how their government functions.

Under his proposal, which he introduced last month, cameras would be removed only if a majority of the justices determined that their presence would undermine the due process of a litigant in a specific case.

The Supreme Court makes audio recordings of its proceedings, but releases them immediately only on rare occasions — such as after the arguments in Bush vs. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 presidential election.

In addition to Specter's legislation, the panel also considered a broader bill first introduced by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) in 2001 and reintroduced again this year.

Dubbed the "Sunshine in the Courtroom Act," Grassley's bill would allow the presiding judge of a specific case to decide whether video devices would be permitted during sessions in federal district and appellate courts.

Coincidentally on Wednesday, the House, by a vote of 375 to 45, passed courtroom security legislation that would give federal judges the option of having proceedings in their courtrooms televised. The White House has already announced opposition to the proposal, contending that televising court sessions could influence the proceedings and compromise the security of witnesses.

Within the California delegation, Democrats Bob Filner (Chula Vista), Barbara Lee (Oakland), George Miller (Martinez), Lucille Roybal-Allard (East Los Angeles), Hilda L. Solis (El Monte), Pete Stark (Fremont), Maxine Waters (Los Angeles), Henry A. Waxman (Los Angeles) and Lynn Woolsey (Petaluma) were opposed; all other delegation members were in favor.

According to the administrative office of the federal court system, appellate courts can set their own policies regarding television coverage, and the ones in New York and San Francisco have voted to permit cameras. No cameras are permitted in federal district courts.

State courts in all 50 states allow cameras, generally at the appellate level, said Henry S. Schieff of the cable network Court TV, which frequently televises trials. In 43 states, he said, cameras are permitted in trial courts — "and of those, 39 states permit cameras in their criminal trial courts…. There is, clearly, a growing consensus that having cameras in courtrooms serves the public interest."

The public affairs network C-SPAN broadcasts gavel-to-gavel coverage of House and Senate floor sessions, and the network's Chairman and Chief Executive Brian P. Lamb told the Judiciary Committee that he had written to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. offering similar coverage of the high court.

"The judiciary has become the invisible branch of our national government as far as television news coverage is concerned — and, increasingly, as far as the public is concerned," Lamb said.

Although there was general support in the hearing for allowing cameras in the Supreme Court and federal appellate courts, there was more resistance when it came to trials in federal district court.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) expressed the strongest reservations, arguing that cameras could significantly undermine the comfort and cooperation of key witnesses in criminal trials.

"Trials are crucibles for truth, not entertainment," Sessions said.

Also opposing coverage of federal criminal trials was U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois of Philadelphia. DuBois expressed concern that the media would not televise entire trials, instead showing brief segments that could potentially distort the actual events.

"In such a setting, the camera is likely to do more than report a proceeding — it is likely to influence the substance of the proceeding," he said.

Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio-Television News Directors Assn., vehemently defended cameras in courts, saying that allowing the public to see what goes on instills greater public trust in the judicial process.

"It is simply not right that Americans form their opinions about how our judicial system functions based on what they see and hear on the latest episode of 'Judge Judy' or 'CSI,' " she said. "Nor does it make sense that the nominees for the Supreme Court are widely seen in televised hearings conducted by this committee, only to disappear from public view the moment they are sworn in as justices."

During his confirmation hearings in September, Roberts told the Judiciary Committee that he didn't have a "settled view" on the issue of cameras in the Supreme Court. But other justices, including David H. Souter and Antonin Scalia, have declared their outright opposition to the idea.

Scalia has asked for the removal of cameras and other recording equipment before making public addresses. And in 1996, Souter told a House Appropriations subcommittee: "The day you see a camera come into our courtroom, it's going to roll over my dead body."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cameras10nov10,0,6290740,print.story?coll=la-tot-promo

fredfa

11-10-05, 02:28 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Thursday, November 10, 2005 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )

Regis Philbin Heads Back to ABC Primetime:

Regis Philbin will return to ABC in primetime as host of a revival of classic reality hour, This is Your Life, in 2006. The series of specials will feature an unsuspecting celebrity who is honored with a retrospective look at his or her life

fredfa

11-10-05, 02:40 PM

(Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star points out on his blog today why you should always be careful what you believe. No matter the source, “facts” are often hard to discern. His case in point, the CBS sitcom “Yes, Dear”, which just this week was used as an example by Broadcast & Cable of a "stealth" show which has millions of viewers and makes lots of money while flying under the radar.)

No thanks, “Yes, Dear”

Broadcasting & Cable delivered a nice pat on the head this week to "Yes, Dear," the much-maligned CBS comedy that has been the butt of many critics' columns over the years:

http://broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6281534.html?display=Feature&referral=SUPP

Much as another trade publication did this spring:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000834662

Unfortunately, CBS just pulled the plug on this incredible hit show, having reconsidered its decision last May to order another 22 episodes for this season.

There had already been 109 episodes made as of the end of last season, the show was already sold in syndication, and it's not like the creative well hadn't run dry ... oh, after about the sixth episode. I liked "Yes, Dear," but I didn't like it 109 episodes' worth, and now as CBS has discovered after blowing a few extra mil on a wasted half-season of shows, neither did much of America.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/

fredfa

11-10-05, 02:55 PM

Fox Shelving “Arrested,” “Kitchen” for Sweeps

By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com November 10, 2005

Fox is pulling its Monday 8 p.m. hour block of comedies "Arrested Development" and "Kitchen Confidential" for the rest of November sweeps and is replacing them with repeats of the drama "Prison Break."

The Emmy-winning "Arrested" has been a critic's darling but underperformed in the ratings during its first two seasons, when it aired on Sunday nights. The move to Monday at 8 p.m. (ET) did little to boost its numbers.

The debuting "Kitchen" also received some favorable reviews, but has so far failed to attract a significant audience at 8:30 p.m. Mondays. On Nov. 7 back-to-back episodes of "Arrested" scored a 2.0 rating in adults 18 to 49, according to Nielsen Media Research, tying for fourth place in the 8 p.m. hour with The WB's "7th Heaven."

Neither "Arrested" nor "Kitchen" is expected to receive a back-nine episode order.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=8893

David_Levin

11-10-05, 03:54 PM

fredfa

11-10-05, 04:24 PM

Thanks for the tip, David.

Is the HD version digitally remastered, too?

fredfa

11-10-05, 04:33 PM

FNC accused of liberal bias

The conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute today complained of liberal bias at the Fox News Channel. Here is a letter it faxed to FNC Chairman Roger Ailes:
Letter to Roger Ailes; President, Fox News Channel

Roger Ailes PresidentFox News Channel
VIA FACSIMILE November 10, 2005

Dear Mr. Ailes:
It has come to our attention that the Fox News Channel will air an admittedly one-sided special on global warming this weekend, “The Heat is On: The Case of Global Warming.”
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a prominent agenda-driven environmentalist and registered lobbyist for green causes, is cited as a “special correspondent” for the show. Further, your producer informs us that Fox intends to run a disclaimer revealing that the network ignored alternative views, including leading scientists who dispute the alarmist position and experts who represent the free-market environmental perspective. Worse, many and possibly most viewers would not even see this disclaimer presented at the show’s beginning.
It is disturbing that a reputable news network would air so blatantly a one-sided program regardless of any disclaimer. It is even more disappointing when the network in question prides itself on being “Fair and Balanced.”
The host for the special, Rick Folbaum, writes in a Foxnews.com article that “the vast majority of the scientific community says we’re witnessing a unique and troubling kind of climate change” and that “no one can argue with this.” Many scientists have gone on record disputing this, many of whom are readily available to tell you that science does not support global warming alarmism, and that no one can credibly predict climate change over the next century.
We sincerely hope, in the interest of fairness and balance, that the Fox News Channel dramatically retools this intentionally biased piece to fairly treat contrary perspectives.

Sincerely,

Fred L. Smith, Jr., President, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Myron Ebell, Director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy
Chris Horner, Counsel, Cooler Heads Coalition and Senior Fellow
Marlo Lewis, Senior Fellow in Environmental Policy
Iain Murray, Senior Fellow in Environmental Policy

http://www.cei.org/gencon/032,04960.cfm

archiguy

11-10-05, 04:43 PM

The words "Fox News" and "liberal bias" in the same sentence?? Good grief, the apocalypse must indeed be upon us! :D

fredfa

11-10-05, 04:45 PM

I did find the item interesting for that very reason :)

In all fairness, if FNC is getting blaset from thee right, perhaps its news coverage isn't as unbalanced as some would have us believe.

fredfa

11-10-05, 04:55 PM

“People’s Choice” nominees

CBS has announced the nominess for this year’s People’s Choice Awards.

Winners will be announced on a Jan. 10 CBS broadcast. The TV nominees are:

FAVORITE NEW TV COMEDY
"Everybody Hates Chris"
"How I Met Your Mother"
"My Name is Earl"

FAVORITE NEW TV DRAMA
"Commander In Chief"
"Criminal Minds"
"Prison Break"

FAVORITE TV COMEDY
"Everybody Loves Raymond"
"That '70s Show"
"The Simpsons"

FAVORITE TV DRAMA
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
"Desperate Housewives"
"Law & Order: SVU"

FAVORITE REALITY SHOW COMPETITION
"American Idol"
"Fear Factor"
"Survivor"

FAVORITE REALITY SHOW OTHER
"Extreme Makeover"
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
"Supernanny"

FAVORITE LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST
Jay Leno
David Letterman
Conan O'Brien

FAVORITE DAYTIME TALK SHOW HOST
Ellen DeGeneres
Regis Philbin & Kelly Ripa
Oprah Winfrey

FAVORITE FEMALE TV STAR
Jennifer Garner
Teri Hatcher
Jennifer Love Hewitt

FAVORITE MALE TV STAR
Ray Romano
Charlie Sheen
Kiefer Sutherland

fredfa

11-10-05, 05:03 PM

ABC Announces Regis to host “This Is Your Life”

(Here is the ABC Press Release)

REGIS PHILBIN SET TO RETURN TO ABC PRIMETIME AS HOST OF "THIS IS YOUR LIFE"

New Generation of TV's Original "Reality" Show Will Return to Television to Surprise Guests As They Are Honored Through the Remembrances of Family and Friends

One of America's most beloved broadcasters, Regis Philbin, star of "Live with Regis and Kelly" and the primetime edition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," is set to make his return to ABC's evening hours as the host of "This is Your Life." The announcement was made by ABC Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, Specials and Late-Night, Andrea Wong, and Fox Television Studios Executive Vice President, Alternative Development, Holly Jacobs. ABC and Fox Television Studios previously announced that they are bringing the original "reality" show, "This Is Your Life," back to television for a series of specials.

"My network needs me! I'm there," said Philbin. "'This is Your Life' was always one of my favorite shows."

"He's perfect, the only man for the job," said Wong. "The show is a roller coaster of emotions - there's comedy, anticipation, tears of joy - and no one can take an audience on that ride better than Regis."

Jacobs said: "Filling the illustrious shoes of Ralph Edwards was a daunting task. We knew we had to find a broadcaster who was both trustworthy and celebrated - an American icon. There was only one place to turn: Regis Philbin. "

Fox Television Studios President and former Buena Vista Productions President Angela Shapiro-Mathes added: "Having worked closely with Regis in the past, I've seen first-hand just how strongly the audience responds to him. I'm thrilled at the opportunity to have him as the 'face' of 'This is Your Life.'"

Created and hosted by broadcasting pioneer Ralph Edwards, "This Is Your Life" premiered on network television in 1952 and was a broadcast staple for nine years. The show was also successful in syndication. In May 2005, 18 of the most popular episodes were released for the first time on DVD.

fredfa

11-10-05, 05:11 PM

Bye-Bye for “Arrested” and “Kitchen”

More details are in on the earlier story about “Arrested Development” and “Kitchen Confidential” being pulled by Fox from the rest of November sweeps.

Broadcasting & Cable is reporting: that Prison Break” reruns will fill the Monday night 8-9 PM ET/PT time slot the rest of November.

“Additionally, Fox has reportedly reduced its episode order on the critically-acclaimed Arrested, just returning from a month-long hiatus this week, from 22 to 13 episodes, with no full-season pickup coming for Kitchen,” B&C says.

“They will finish out their runs in December, with House slated to move as planned into the 8-9 slot in January.”

fredfa

11-10-05, 05:40 PM

Networks huddle up at the half

By Gary Levin USA TODAY

Nearly eight weeks into the season, viewing habits have settled: CBS is winning its fourth straight season; only ABC is gaining viewers; NBC's descent continues; and while Fox's entertainment programming is up, its overall tally suffers from comparisons with 2004's postseason baseball. USA TODAY offers a mid-semester snapshot, with network ratings and comparisons with last year:

The prognosis by network:

C B S #1, 12.96 million viewers (no chg.)
Ages 18-49: 5.19 million (-1%); rank: 2
New series extended for full seasons: Out of Practice, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, How I Met Your Mother
In limbo: Threshold, Close to Home
Biggest gains: Criminal Minds has built into a solid hit, No. 2 in the time slot behind Lost; NCIS has soared to record highs; network wins Fridays.
Biggest challenges: Two and a Half Men is no Raymond, down 13% from that hit's performance in the same time slot last season. Survivor is down 9%; Sunday's movie has weakened further.

A B C #2, 10.76 million viewers (+7%)
Ages 18-49: 5.24 million (+4%); rank: 1
New series extended for full seasons: Commander in Chief, Invasion
In limbo: Freddie, Hot Properties, Night Stalker
Biggest gains: Building on last season's drama success with Commander and Invasion improving key time periods; Lost, Housewives and Grey's Anatomy are climbing.
Biggest challenges: Repeating that success with comedies; no pulse on Thursdays; faces Monday struggle once football ends.

N B C # 3, 9.40 million viewers (-7%)
Ages 18-49: 4.24 million (-15%); rank: 3 (tie)
New series extended for full seasons: My Name Is Earl, Surface
Extended for partial season: Three Wishes
In limbo: E-Ring
Canceled: Inconceivable
Biggest gains: Earl is a bona fide hit, the top new show on any network among young adults; Law & Order: SVU is thriving.
Biggest challenges: Reversing sinking ship on Thursday; rebuilding comedy lineup; overcoming fizzled reality such as The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.

Fox # 4, 8.89 million viewers (-16%)
Ages 18-49: 4.24 million (-17%); rank: 3 (tie)
New series extended for full seasons: Prison Break, Bones, The War at Home
In limbo: Reunion, Kitchen Confidential, Killer Instinct
Canceled: Head Cases
Biggest gains: House nearly doubled last fall's performance; Prison is strong; resurrecting Family Guy a smart move.
Biggest challenges: Friday is a ratings sinkhole; Bones is fading, at least until it gets a berth behind American Idol in January.

WB #5, 3.59 million viewers (-10%)
Ages 18-49: 1.97 million (-9%); rank: 5
New series extended for full season: Supernatural
Extended for partial season: Related, Twins
Canceled: Just Legal
Biggest gains: Smallville's move to Thursday sent young Superman soaring to a two-year high; Supernatural is solid in tough Tuesday time slot.
Biggest challenges: Yanked Living with Fran and Blue Collar TV as the network still struggles on weekends; new hits scarce as veteran dramas age.

UPN #6, 3.56 million viewers (no chg.)
Ages 18-49: 1.94 million (+1%); rank: 6
New series extended for full seasons: Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc.
Canceled: Sex, Love & Secrets
Biggest gains: Thursdays, where Chris Rock's comedy instantly became the network's top series; Top Model is up; WWE's move to Fridays improved that night but sent wrestling ratings down 18%.
Biggest challenge: Finding a true crossover hit: 57% of last week's Chris viewers were black.

Source: Nielsen Media ratings

fredfa

11-10-05, 06:02 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Showing no signs of losing it
The mysteries of "Lost" are only deepening in the show's 2nd season

By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 11, 2005

Wednesday night, in what ABC was either promoting as a night that would change television or a night that would change the way we look at television or a night that would change all of us forever, including our televisions, the producers of "Lost" bumped off a character, the snotty-pouty castaway Shannon.

Character deaths on hit TV shows are events; this one took place during the November sweeps, and promotional tie-ins attached themselves to the episode like barnacles. "Find out what else is in the hatch on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live,' " while another promised a "secret scene" on "Good Morning America." What, no crumbs for "The View"?

Shannon (Maggie Grace), who in the early days of "Lost" sunbathed amid the fuselage of the downed Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 from Sydney to Los Angeles, was a younger, much more thoroughly American version of the entitled beauty in "Swept Away." She's been softened, since, with tragedy (her stepbrother/forbidden lover/fellow castaway Boone was killed last season) and abandonment issues, which "Lost" spelled out this week in flashback — pop-psychotherapeutic emotional mapping being one of the show's trademarks.

On the island, the Internet chatters speculated, Shannon was a dispensable, if regrettable, loss, a pawn in what is emerging as TV-as-elaborate-guessing-game: What actor's going to get kicked off the island next, only to get more work on the show later in flashback? She died in the arms of her lover, Sayid (Naveen Andrews), the former Baathist regime interrogator, after being mistakenly shot in the belly by Ana Lucia, the gun-toting, midriff-baring island militant played by Michelle Rodriguez.

Ana Lucia is new to the show this season, and like other characters she's under tremendous physical and emotional strain but manages to take good care of her teeth. She heads a counter-group of survivors from the tail-end of the plane, whose numbers have dwindled due to an evil presence known as the Others, which announces itself in whispers (last season's shadowy evil, in the form of polar bears, are evidently in plot hibernation).

It's got story moxie, this "Lost." One of the great, and equally vexing, things about the show is that it's a mix-and-match of types and situations from other movies and TV shows you can't quite reference in the moment, although you're pretty certain you've seen this scene before and possibly groaned at it before. Meanwhile, the show is exceedingly democratic in the way it parcels out the gestalt moments; in Wednesday's penultimate beat, Shannon, in deep close-up with Sayid, said: "You're just gonna leave me. I know, as soon as we get out of here, you're just gonna leave me," and Sayid said: "I will never leave you. I love you." Also, it was raining at the time.

But then Shannon ran off into the jungle to chase the ghost of Walt, the kid who went missing in this season's first episode, and was shot by Ana Lucia, in what you sense the other castaways will eventually judge to be involuntary manslaughter. Couldn't Shannon have just stayed in her noble lover's arms and pointed? ("Subtle foreshadowing, thy name is Lost," I read in a chat room later that night. "Oh wait, it's not. Jesus could it have been any more blatant?").

But comments like these only betray deep viewer involvement, the reason "Lost," and not "Freddie," is available for download on your iPod at $1.99 an episode. Nor should it detract from the fact that "Lost" is a live-by-its-own-rules exercise in pulp fiction, dizzyingly so. Yes, it's splintered into disparate story lines and taken on more characters while returning in flashback to existing ones, but all of this, so far, just contributes to the sense of a smorgasbord, never mind where it's all going.

Or should we mind? To be sure, the show has grown a bit headachy with plot points and mythology and embedded clues/red herrings, and new characters keep emerging from the jungle, but you still believe in a master plan. Market forces, as much as dramatic imperatives, are surely what killed off Shannon rather than more popular characters like Sawyer (Josh Holloway), the hunky renegade, or Locke (Terry O'Quinn), the nothing-ventured, nothing-gained Zen-like survivalist. The show's two putative leads, Jack the doctor (Matthew Fox) and Kate the former bank robber/fugitive (Evangeline Lilly), weren't even in the episode.

Shannon's death, in this regard, was the opposite of a slow, dramatic build to a monumental payoff, like the death of Adriana on "The Sopranos," which played as gut-wrenching elegy; despite her mob boyfriend she was an innocent, and yet you understood, from the bad guys' point of view, why she had to be rubbed out.

But "Lost" is more for the brain than the heart; it's an exotic puzzle, a video game with great visuals that could potentially take over your life. Season 1, which captured the Emmy for best drama, grooved along on two basic thematic planks: survival and discovery. With its lush, cinematic approach, "Lost" fed your ability to empathize with two core themes — abandonment and risk.

Understanding who these people were, seeing them in flashback, layered the episodes and deepened the intimacy. Knowing that Locke was a wheelchair-bound office drone pre-plane-crash, and watching him now inhale risk with that dreamy half-smile, makes you want to quit your job or ask out that waitress. I don't know, that's what I hear him telling me with his eyes.

Then came the reveal at the beginning of this season — the underground hatch, with its conspiratorial, sci-fi back story; its an elaborate labyrinth where, as part of a 1970s counter-culture experiment, a code must be entered into a computer every 108 minutes lest the world, supposedly, be blown to smithereens.

The hatch is yesterday's news now, or next week's tease, you don't really know. What you do know is that "Lost" will go right along opening more figurative hatches and parting the jungle foliage for more danger, potentially at the expense of a mass audience's capacity to stay involved with its characters. It's the balancing act now. Wednesday's episode came after three weeks of reruns — a scheduling tease on the part of ABC, and in the episode, I was later informed, Jack made an oblique appearance, brushing past a doctor in Shannon's hospital flashback sequence. I looked at the episode on my TiVo and yep, there he was.

Can I go now?

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-ontv11nov11,0,1199062,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

11-10-05, 06:11 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Live from the '80s, it's 'Saturday Night'
An NBC special looks at a tumultuous decade for the long-running comedy show

By Robert Lloyd Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 11, 2005

"Saturday Night Live in the '80s," which airs Sunday night (9 PM ET/PT) on NBC, continues the story begun in February's "The First Five Years," suffering, as did the series itself, somewhat in the comparison.

It's not so much a lack of available material — it would be a sad story indeed if, from a decade of shows, the producers could not cull enough good sketches to fill two hours (you could do that and more with Eddie Murphy or Jon Lovitz or Phil Hartman alone) — as that the story of how something new and brilliant is created is inherently more engaging than the story of how it lurches along afterward, looking to get brilliant again.

Like the first installment, "SNL in the '80s" is unusually journalistic, honest and forthcoming, even self-critical for what is, on a functional level, a sweeps-month clip show. But having so much more ground to cover — twice as many years, with a constantly rotating cast — it inevitably gives its subject a shorter shrift, to the extent that someone not familiar with the series might have trouble understanding what the fuss is.

The show is not uninteresting or dull. (And Murphy's James Brown parody, "Hot Tub," is here, which is reason enough to hang out.) But though it charts the twists and turns, the comings and goings, pays respects to the major moments, characters and catch phrases, it never really communicates what made the show, the process or the product special.

The story this time is one of confusion, institutional and creative, marked by flashes of brilliance. The question raised by the 1980 departure of producer Lorne Michaels and the whole of the remaining original company — Belushi, Aykroyd, Radner, Murray, et al. — with its inimitable rock-group glamour, was whether "Saturday Night Live" was its cast and crew or its concept? The answer ultimately is "both," but it took years and Michaels' eventual return, to make this clear.

At the time, says second-phase cast member Gilbert Gottfried (appearing with a bird on his shoulder), describing the initial public reaction, "This was an outrage. This would be like telling people that in the middle of Beatlemania you were going to remove the Beatles and have a whole new group of Beatles."

Press was bad, the audience alienated. "I thought the show was a sinking ship," says Mary Gross. There were draconian remakes: the year of the actors (Randy Quaid, Robert Downey Jr., Joan Cusack, Anthony Michael Hall), the year of the older, already established comedy talent (Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Martin Short). In the final sketch of the 1985-86 season, much of the cast was set on fire, spirited away to a waiting car and told not to ask questions.

Lovitz and fellow survivors Dennis Miller and Nora Dunn became the basis of a new cast — along with Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks and Victoria Jackson — that had something of the camaraderie and spirit and cultural relevance of the original.

Says Michaels, "We came back to feeling what we were doing was the show again." And so the special ends on a happy note and manages a kind of dramatic arc. And there are still Mike Myers, David Spade, Adam Sandler, Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell and Jimmy Fallon to come.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-snl11nov11,0,1519775,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

11-10-05, 06:18 PM

fredfa

11-10-05, 06:52 PM

Critic’s Notebook
A 'Law & Order' Spinoff Acquires Some Reinforcements

By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times

There are people, annoying ones, who claim they never watch television. What they mean is that they never watch anything except "Law & Order."

The sun never sets on the Dick Wolf empire - quite literally. It is almost impossible to find a time, day or night, when an original episode or rerun of "Law & Order" or its spinoffs is not on somewhere. The franchise's appeal is lasting and bizarre: a dark, misanthropic police drama that viewers find endearing.

In the vast, jumbled television landscape, the "Law & Order" formula is reliably distinctive and smart, often topical yet most of all familiar and comforting. That could partly be because, like all the best mysteries, "Law & Order" provides cathartic social vengeance: middle-class detectives and prosecutors expose the greed and perversions of the rich, exacting a retribution that the tax code fails to deliver. (It is remarkable how many homicidal psychopaths live in apartments with views of Central Park.)

This season on NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," a new pair of detectives are sharing the caseload with Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and his prosaic sidekick, Detective Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe). The newcomers star in half of the series's 22 episodes. And as a team, they are quite different in style and temperament.

Chris Noth, who left the original "Law & Order" in 1995 and spent a few years as Mr. Big on "Sex and the City," has returned to his old persona, Detective Mike Logan. On the show, Logan joins the major case squad on sufferance after a long, punitive stint on Staten Island, where he was exiled after taking a swing at a city councilman. His new partner is Carolyn Barek, a former F.B.I. agent played by Annabella Sciorra, and the two are more evenly matched than Goren and Eames.

Logan is tough, smart and cynical and, of course, driven by inner demons (his alcoholic mother). His captain tells Barek that Logan is "the kind of cop who is always looking for the crook in the room." Barek is gentler but enigmatic - she has a bruised, watchful manner and mumbles to herself as she works.

Since it began in 2001, "Criminal Intent" has showcased Mr. D'Onofrio as the maddeningly sensitive, eccentric Detective Goren. The series is structured differently from the original or its sex crimes spinoff, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." The focus does not shift to the prosecutors partway through. Instead, the criminal and the detective circle and parry and play each other's psyches - a little bit like the old "Columbo" series, only less playfully. Almost all "Law & Order" detectives have a dark past that may have driven them into law enforcement, but Goren is more richly tortured than most. He has a mentally ill mother whom he visits regularly and a brooding internal life that gives him an empathic bond with even the most twisted killers. He also has an encyclopedic knowledge of small, seemingly irrelevant facts: he's a natural born "Jeopardy" champion.

In the new team, Barek is the one with the tics and sudden flare-ups of arcane knowledge. On this past Sunday's special two-hour episode, which had all four detectives working on the same case (the son of a prominent judge is suspected of sexual sadism and murder), Eames complained that her teenage witnesses could describe a nightclub only as being down a flight of steps with a red bar. Barek replied, "Oh, the Shock and Awe club, on Harrison, between Greenwich and Hudson." As her colleagues stared, she muttered, "There's this D.J. down there I know." She seems to know quite a few louche characters.

When on a different episode Logan bullied a fence into giving information about a suspect's whereabouts, Barek had no trouble identifying a place the fence referred to as Papoose. She told her startled partner that it was a nickname for a "nickel slot casino outside the Atlantic City bus station."

Mr. Wolf, who created the franchise, prides himself on keeping his detectives' back stories in the background. Unlike "NYPD Blue," where the officers' private lives were as much a part of the series as their cases, the law enforcement officials on Mr. Wolf's series are reticent civil servants who live and breathe the job. It was only on her final day on the job on "Law & Order" last January that Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn (Elisabeth Rohm) revealed, somewhat extraneously, that she was a lesbian.

"Law & Order" criminals are more interesting, or morbidly fascinating, than the detectives. The shows leech plotlines from the news, reveling in prep school kids who run pornography and prostitution rings, British au pairs who shake their yuppie employers' babies to death and soldiers who tortured their prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At most, an episode will slip in a hint about the investigators' backgrounds. So far, Barek's is baffling. When Logan asks her what languages she speaks, she replies, "Spanish, Yiddish, Italian, Polish, Creole, some Russian, some Cantonese from when I was working in Chinatown." And she didn't even include the pig Latin she picked up serving as an elementary school crossing guard.

"Criminal Intent" is up against ABC's "Desperate Housewives" on Sunday nights, and lagging behind, so NBC decided to give the show more exposure by rerunning episodes from the current season on Friday nights, and sometimes also on Saturdays. Reruns of older episodes are also shown on Bravo and USA throughout the week.

Amid this rerun cornucopia, the addition of Mr. Noth and Ms. Sciorra is a welcome move. "Criminal Intent" has passionate fans, but Mr. D'Onofrio's overwrought theatrics don't always wear well over the long stretch. The new team of detectives mark a return to the brooding minimalism that has kept "Law & Order" so popular for so long.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/arts/television/11tvwk.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

11-10-05, 07:00 PM

NBC Announces Macy’s Parade Details
Parade Broadcast for First Time in High Definition

(NBC Press Release) NEW YORK -- November 10, 2005 -- NBC kicks off the holiday season with the 79th annual "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" broadcast for the first time in high definition on Thursday, Nov. 24, 9 AM-Noon (all time zones). Hosted by Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Al Roker of NBC's "Today," the broadcast will feature appearances by Adrien Brody ("King Kong"), Harry Connick Jr. ("Will & Grace," "The Happy Elf"), John Krasinski ("The Office"), Rainn Wilson ("The Office"), Peter Reckell ("Days of Our Lives"), platinum-selling recording artist LeAnn Rimes and child-favorites such as Dora the ExplorerTM and Scooby-Doo.

"This year's lineup of star-studded performances, unique floats and signature balloons is sure to deliver all the fun and excitement that has made this entertainment event such a time-honored tradition," said Curt Sharp, Vice President, Alternative Programs, Specials and Live Events, NBC.

The star power on Thanksgiving morning will include performances from some of the hottest names in music: LeAnn Rimes, "American Idol" Carrie Underwood, The Beach Boys, Natasha Bedingfield, The Click Five, Aaron Neville, Brian McKnight, Aly & AJ, The Cheetah Girls, Kristin Chenoweth, Rita Coolidge, Michael Feinstein, Brie Larson, Miss USA 2005, Chelsea Cooley, Puffy AmiYumi and Rhianna. Also lending their voices are cast members from Broadway shows such as "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "Jersey Boys," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Sweet Charity" and the world-famous Radio City Rockettes(r).

Also new this year are four giant helium balloons, including children's favorite Dora the ExplorerTM; Healthy Mr. Potato HeadTM; Jojo, from "Jojo's Circus"; and Scooby-Doo. Along for the ride down Broadway will be the first-ever flying art piece in the parade, a creative collaboration between world-renowned artist Tom Otterness and Macy's Parade Studio.

Broadcast on NBC since 1948, the parade has been transformed by television into a national viewing tradition. Now in its 79th year, the parade features more than 1,600 cheerleaders and clowns, 14 giant helium character balloons, 10 marching bands, 27 floats, and a host of celebrities and large performance groups -- all totaling more than 10,000 participants.

"This year's mix of giant balloons, spectacular floats, large groups and celebrities should make for one of our most exciting parades ever," says Robin Hall, Executive Producer of "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade." "There is so much new to delight the eye, and so many returning classics to excite the kids, not to mention one of the best marching band line-ups in the history of our parade."

Representing cities from across the country, the 10 handpicked bands bring their unique musical styles to viewers. The roster includes: Crestview High School, Fla.; Kennesaw Mountain High School, Ga.; Hawaii All-State Marching Band, Hawaii; University of Louisiana at Lafayette, La.; Blue Springs High School, Mo.; The Brooklyn Steppers, N.Y.; Ohio University, Ohio; Pocono Mountain East High School, Penn.; John B. Alexander High School, Texas; and The Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps made up of musicians from all over the United States.

RussTC3

11-10-05, 11:14 PM

More “Arrested” Details

A little more on the story from Variety:

“...Fox wasn't commenting Thursday morning, and for now, nobody's using the word 'cancellation.' But in the case of 'Arrested,' the handwriting appears to be on the wall.

While numbers for 'Arrested' were underwhelming this week, it's worth noting that a number of returning laffers -- including Fox's 'Stacked' -- aren't doing much better."

(Meanwhile, the people at zap2it.com note that neither "Arrested Development" nor "Kitchen Confidential" was part of the January prime-time lineup presented to advertisers last Spring.)
Sad news, it appears the move to Monday nights killed it. Why didn't they place it after AI, like they did with House, and will be doing with Bones this January? They missed a great opportunity there.

And what the hell is up with the premiere numbers for Stacked? I remember it did so much better last year.

fredfa

11-10-05, 11:41 PM

They would need to have another compatible half hour to put with "Arrested" after AI -- unless they put it after the results show on Wednesday.

And in any case, AD only has a certain ceiling (and apparently not very high at that) -- while the Fox thinking seems to be that Bones could be a solid hour-long performer for some years to come.

fredfa

11-10-05, 11:44 PM

Marc Berman must have loved writing the line about the ratings for "Stacked" being flat. :)

But that said, a comedy built almost entirely on Pamela Anderson's breasts -- and jokes about them -- has many built-in limitations. And it has five other comedies to compete with.

A bad sign: if it can make even "Freddie" do well in the ratings, "Stacked" has real problems.

fredfa

11-10-05, 11:51 PM

Dave Marash Leaving “Nightline”

Dave Marash, a superb television reporter and one of the better broadcast news writers ever, apparently is leaving “Nightline”. That is the report from John Eggerton at the Broadcasting & Cable blog.

Marash has been with “Nightline” since 1989. In what seems to be another lifetime, long, long ago, I had the privilege of briefly working with Dave Marash. He is as fine a gentleman as he is a journalist.

The loss of Marash is not a good thing for ABC News, for Nightline, nor for any of us who believe quality journalism is important.

fredfa

11-10-05, 11:57 PM

Critic’s Notebook
More Trouble for ''Development,'' ''Confidential''

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

After bringing back ''Arrested Development'' for a week, and with ''Kitchen Confidential's'' return planned for next week, Fox has again yanked the two comedies.

Well, I guess it didn't yank ''KC.'' Fox just left it in whatever cobwebby corner of the network library it reserves for funny shows it has no confidence in.

''Prison Break'' is Fox's Monday flavor for the rest of sweeps, with back-to-back episodes running through November, and ''AD'' and ''KC'' now slated to return on Dec. 5.

This is an especially big drag for ''Kitchen Confidential.'' ''Arrested Development'' has had several seasons of chances to find an audience, while ''KC'' is struggling to get some traction in its first. Moreover, I have seen the episode that had been planned for its Nov. 14 return, and it was fall-down funny. In fact, a lot of the show is hilarious.

Maybe you'll get to see how hilarious on Dec. 5. But I doubt that it will continue into 2006; Fox will go through its annual January retooling then, with ''American Idol'' and ''24'' returning.

It may not be too soon to start hoping for a ''Kitchen Confidential'' DVD...

http://blogs.ohio.com/beacon_tv/

fredfa

11-11-05, 02:48 AM

Critic’s Notebook
The '80s “SNL” is a real blast from the past

Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found
NBC, Sunday, 9 p.m. ET/PT
* * * * out of * * * *

By Robert Bianco USA TODAY

The farther we get from the Saturday Night Live of the '80s, the better the show looks.

At the time, the era's version of this late-night institution seemed like a chaotic letdown from the fresh, anarchic inventiveness of the opening years. But some incredibly talented people walked across SNL's stage in its second decade, and I can think of no better guide to their successes and failures than Kenneth Bowser's two-hour special, his follow-up to his equally superb examination of the first five years, Live from New York.

Once again, Bowser has created a TV rarity: a salute that is as smart, funny and, at times, caustic as the show it honors. By mixing judiciously chosen clips with insightful interviews, Bowser does more than just remind you of what aired on SNL; he shows you how it got there and what it meant.

Many of the clips look marvelous, from Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat to Jon Lovitz's devil to Billy Crystal's Spanish star. But the real beauty of '80s is that it is as interested in SNL's slips as it is in the show's successes.

Certainly when it comes to slips, SNL never fell harder than it did in 1980, the first season after the departure of the original cast and producer Lorne Michaels. It's the season infamous for the late Charles Rocket's F-word slip and the quick departure of maligned producer Jean Doumanian. That season also established the decade's pattern of instability as cast members came and went with alarming regularity.

In the mid-'80s, Michaels returned and eventually assembled the cast most people remember: Lovitz, Kevin Nealon, Phil Hartman, Victoria Jackson, Dana Carvey, Nora Dunn, Dennis Miller and Jan Hooks.

"There are years where the performers dominate," Al Franken says. "There are years where the writers dominate. And then there are kind of years where there's a great writing staff and great performers. Those are the really great years."

And this is a really great special. I can't wait to see what Bowser has in mind for the '90s.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2005-11-10-snl_x.htm

fredfa

11-11-05, 02:58 AM

Critic’s Notebook
TV Sports Notes

By John Maffei (San Diego) North County Times

• Tonight's "Costas Now" at 9 p.m. on HBO features an interview with Penn State football coach Joe Paterno as well as a look back at the 1963 Army-Navy football game that featured nationally ranked teams playing just weeks after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
• ABC Sports, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360 will carry more than 475 men's college basketball games, a record for that media outlet. ESPN's coverage begins Monday with Boston College vs. Duke in a Preseason NIT contest.
• First-week ratings for NBA games on ESPN and TNT were up 8 percent from a year ago, reaching 100,000 more homes.
• Monday's Colts-Patriots game on ABC drew a 14.3 rating, the best number for "Monday Night Football" since a Rams-Bucs game posted a 15.2 in 2000.
• Last Saturday's Miami-Virginia Tech game on ESPN was the network's third-most-watched college football game, behind the 1994 Florida State-Miami game and last month's Ohio State-Penn State contest.

(all times are Pacific)

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/11/11/sports/maffei/23_09_4111_10_05.txt

fredfa

11-11-05, 11:12 AM

7th Heaven cancelled

Broadcasting & Cable reports the “7th Heaven” will end its production after this year.

The series is finishing its tenth year and has been responsible for many of the WB’s most watched hours. It has been broadcast at 8 PM ET/PT on Monday nights ever since its debut in August, 1996.

fredfa

11-11-05, 11:18 AM

The TV Column
'T' Minus Schwarzenegger and Hamilton
By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Friday, November 11, 2005; C07

Arnold Schwarzenegger may be toast after Tuesday's election, but the Terminator will, as promised, be back.

This time on television.

The producers of "Terminator 3" -- which came out two years ago -- have sold a pilot to the Fox network for a "Terminator" drama series.

Only it's called "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," although according to trade paper Variety that is only a tentative title, which is a good thing because it's way too namby-pamby for an action drama.

"SCC" will follow the much-put-upon Sarah Connor, who was played by totally ripped Linda Hamilton in the first two "Terminator" movies. Sarah is the mother of John Connor, who is destined in the future to save humans from the machines, only not very well if you saw "T3."

The TV series picks up after "T2"; Ahnuld has exterminated evil cyborg T-1000 in a vat of molten metal. The series covers the 10 years or so in which Sarah and her now teenage son do this and that before the start of "T3," by which time poor Sarah has been killed off (leukemia in Mexico) by James Cameron, who played God, so that Cameron could openly date Suzy Amis, aka the Other Woman from "Titanic," in which Cameron played King of the World.

It's confusing, I know.

According to the trades, pretty much nobody from the movies is expected to be involved with the series. Not Schwarzenegger, whose pet initiatives were all terminated by voters Tuesday, putting a serious crimp in his '06 reelection bid.

The producers also have announced plans for a fourth "Terminator" flick, though no details were released, the trades reported.

* * * * * * * *

And speaking of Fox and terminated, the media have begun their vigil for the network's Monday comedies "Arrested Development" and "Kitchen Confidential."

Fox officially yanked the shows for the remainder of the November ratings sweeps in favor of "Prison Break" reruns.

"Arrested Development," a darling of critics but not of viewers, aired during the first three weeks of the season, then got yanked so Fox could air baseball. After that, Fox filled the slot with "Prison Break" reruns for a spell. This week, "Arrested" made what was supposed to be its splashy return to Monday night with two back-to-back episodes, but they averaged only about 4 million viewers, which, in turn, dragged down Fox's 9 p.m. show, "Prison Break," to one of its smallest audiences.

Fox has cut the season order for "Arrested Development" from 22 episodes to 13.

"Kitchen Confidential" has had it even worse. Producers of that show have been told it will not get a full-season order even though it's had only three broadcasts in which to try to develop an audience. In those three outings, it also averaged just 4 million viewers.

On the other hand, the triumphant return of Pamela Anderson's cleavage to the Fox lineup on Wednesday night clocked only about 5 million viewers. The season finale of her "Stacked" last spring had logged nearly 12 million -- of course, that was immediately after an episode of "American Idol."

Fox will plug the Monday hole with reruns of "Prison Break" for the rest of the November ratings derby. "Arrested" and "Kitchen Confidential" will be back in December, but don't get too attached; the network has already said that "House" moves into the time slot come January.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/10/AR2005111001927_pf.html

HDTVChallenged

11-11-05, 11:53 AM

Agreed -- and there are many offenders.
Many of the Fox shows -- for one example -- carry a "parental discretion advised" graphic before they begin. Yet the "highlights" have been shown, repeatedly, during NFL games.

Again, I question whether the NFL (or it's more honest echo - Pro-Rasslin') can ever be considered "safe family fare." If there's a flaw, it's that NFL is not required to have "warning labels." :)

fredfa

11-11-05, 11:55 AM

Thursday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the second post in this thread).

fredfa

11-11-05, 12:44 PM

Thursdays prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s analysis of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.

fredfa

11-11-05, 12:54 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Friday, November 11, 2005 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
November 2005: Week One Sweep Results

Based on the first week of the Nov. 2005 sweep (Thursday, Nov. 3 – Wednesday, Nov. 9), CBS roared past the competition in total viewers, with a 2.09 million advantage over No. 2 ABC (CBS: 14.09 million, ABC: 11.98). The two networks are locked in a race to the finish line among adults 18-49, with the growing alphabet network leading by one-tenth of a rating point in the demo (ABC: 4.5/12, CBS: 4.4/12). Year-to-year, ABC is up by double-digits, while CBS is down by margins of 5 to 6 percent in the two categories.

Although NBC is hoping Sunday specials Penn & Teller: Off the Deep End and Saturday Night Live in the ‘80s: Lost and Found will fuel interest, results in week one placed the network in the distant No. 3 spot, with losses of 11 percent in total viewers and 20 percent among adults 18-49 from the comparable year-ago week. Fox placed fourth in both categories, building by 6 and 3 percent, respectively.

In the battle for the No. 5 spot, UPN inched past the WB in total viewers while the two networks were tied among adults 18-49. UPN was close to year-ago levels, while the WB dipped slightly.

What follows are the first week November 2005 sweep results (with change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses):

Total Viewers:
CBS: 14.07 million (- 5)
ABC: 11.98 (+12)
NBC: 9.79 (-11)
Fox: 6.89 (+ 6)
UPN: 3.60 (- 2)
WB: 3.56 (- 8)

Adults 18-49:
ABC: 4.5/12 (+10)
CBS: 4.4/12 (- 6)
NBC: 3.3/ 9 (-20)
Fox: 3.0/ 8 (+ 3)
UPN: 1.5/ 4 (no change)
WB: 1.5/ 4 (- 6)

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

fredfa

11-11-05, 01:01 PM

''7th Heaven'' Prepares Its Exit

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal

''7th Heaven'' has run far longer than anyone would have expected, replenishing its cast several times along the way. But now it's time to go. Here's the official announcement:

“The WB Network and Spelling Television announced today that 7TH HEAVEN, the longest-running family drama in television history, will conclude its historic 10-year run on The WB at the end of this season.

The debut of 7TH HEAVEN launched The WB's first-ever Monday night broadcast on August 26, 1996, at 8:00 p.m. Remarkably, the series has remained in that timeslot ever since, holding its own against the 92 other series that have aired against it over the past 10 seasons. Recently the series celebrated its milestone 200th episode.

"We're announcing this decision now to ensure a monumental send-off for this series which has become one of the most important shows in the network's history," said David Janollari, President of Entertainment for The WB. "Brenda Hampton has already begun work on scripts for the second half of the season. These episodes will be filled with emotion and life-changing events. We owe a compelling and unforgettable final season to the Camden family and to the millions of viewers who helped grow this program into a huge hit. The WB is eternally grateful to Spelling Television, the producers, cast and crew of the little show that could -- and did."

"7TH HEAVEN is as dear to my heart as any series I have ever produced," said Aaron Spelling, legendary executive producer of the series. "Not many shows make it to 10 years and it's even rarer for a series to go out on top after 10 seasons. That result is a huge testament to Brenda Hampton, who created the series, and the phenomenal cast who have made the Camdens America's number one family for a record-breaking decade. I thank all of them and The WB for putting on a family show when it wasn't very cool to do so and then sticking with it in the same time slot for the entire run of the show. When 7TH HEAVEN launched on this new, little network in 1996, we had no inkling that we would one day make history, but we did and for that I am grateful and very, very proud."

"Although we had anticipated this could be the last season, it was difficult breaking the news to the cast and crew," said Brenda Hampton. "At this point, we're all very much a family. However, just like the Camden kids, I think we've all grown up and it's simply time to leave home. We choose to feel happy and blessed to have been part of this series, and we are very grateful to all our fans."

"7TH HEAVEN has been a gift," said Stephen Collins. "Going to work on something every day that means so much to so many people is pure joy. Working with Aaron Spelling, Brenda Hampton and The WB, plus making a bit of TV history while watching our wonderful cast grow up in real time, has been the experience of a lifetime."
(end WB announcement)

The audience for ''7th Heaven'' is about 5.1 million viewers this year, well below its peak. While it was long the most popular show on the network, it has been eclipsed by the likes of ''Gilmore Girls'' and ''Smallville.'' People also thought of it as a family show -- a notion The WB embraced, but one I'd qualify as ''a really bizarre family show with staggeringly inconsistent values'' -- and The WB has been trying to position itself as a more adult-skewing network.

When people look back at ''7th Heaven'' in a few years, they'll see a show that was in essence The WB's ''JAG'' -- not especially hip, not likely to draw kudos from critics, but something that still had a loyal, week-in/week-out audience regardless of what else the network was doing. ''JAG'' was crucial to CBS as it made the transition to the network it now is; ''7th Heaven'' was important to The WB as it tried to get established.

http://blogs.ohio.com/beacon_tv/

fredfa

11-11-05, 01:04 PM

ABC picks up “Freddie”

Variety reports that ABC has picked up a full season of the comedy “Freddie”. While its ratings haven’t been overwhelming (it finishes 49th in the season to date ratings with an average of 8.15 million viewers) it has managed to build on the important 18-49 demographic from its lead-in, “George Lopez”. This week, for example, ABC won the 8 p.m. hour in the 18-49 demographic with "George Lopez" getting a 2.8 rating, and "Freddie" improving to a 3.5.

Here are its ratings thus far since it’s October 12th debut:

Oct. 12
#45 9.38 million viewers

Oct 19
#50 8.08 million viewers

Oct 26
#56 8.18 million viewers

Nov. 2
#69 (tie) 6.96 million viewers

fredfa

11-11-05, 01:24 PM

Again, I question whether the NFL (or it's more honest echo - Pro-Rasslin') can ever be considered "safe family fare." If there's a flaw, it's that NFL is not required to have "warning labels." :)

I agree.

But I think you and I should be very careful so we are not labeled cultural Neanderthals. :)

RussTC3

11-11-05, 02:24 PM

fredfa

11-11-05, 02:33 PM

The fact that it and George Lopez are winning their hour in the 18-49 demographic probably played a great part in the decision.
I am not a good one to ask about its quality -- I am not, in general, a sitcom fan.

fredfa

11-11-05, 02:49 PM

More “Freddie”

Here is the ABC Press Release on “Freddie”

ABC ORDERS FULL SEASON PICK-UP OF "FREDDIE"

The ABC Television Network has picked up "Freddie" for a full season, it was announced today by Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment. The freshman comedy series joins "Commander In Chief" and "Invasion," which have also received full-season orders from the network.

"Freddie's charm and charisma has made this a real comedy hit for us," Mr. McPherson said in making the announcement.

The popular comedy, which takes a hilarious look at a successful bachelor's life turned upside down when the women in his family move in and take over, airs Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m., ET on ABC.

ABC's "Freddie" ranks No. 1 in its Wednesday 8:30 p.m. time period among Adults 18-49, beating its nearest competition by 9% (3.5/9 vs. 3.2/9 - Fox). Growing from its adult lead-in on each of its 5 telecasts, on average "Freddie" builds on its "George Lopez" lead-in by double-digits across the adult demographics: AD18-34 (+ 21% - 2.9/9 vs. 2.4/8), AD18-49 (+17% - 3.5/9 vs. 3.0/9) and AD25-54 (+11% - 3.9/9 vs. 3.5/9). "Freddie" qualifies as ABC's No. 1 comedy this season in all key adult demographics.

tall1

11-11-05, 03:41 PM

Is Freddie any good? I watched a little of the first episode and thought it was stupid. Has it improved any, or do the ratings reflect the quality of the show?

Just kinda surprised ABC picked up the full year option so soon. Perhaps they have too much invested already?I like Freddie but I also like Stacked so take that for what it's worth. I also love Mädchen Amick in anything..she plays Freddie's boozy sister-in-law.

keenan

11-11-05, 05:18 PM

I also love Mädchen Amick in anything..she plays Freddie's boozy sister-in-law.
Didn't know she was in that show, I'll have to give it a look. Been in love with her since Twin Peaks.

fredfa

11-11-05, 08:08 PM

Ask Matt
(from the Ask (TV Critic) Matt (Roush) column at TVGuide.com

Question: What is CBS thinking? I love Threshold and will follow it whenever it is on, but I am very afraid that if CBS shuffles it around, viewers will give up on it and we'll lose it. Do they think that this swap will be mutually beneficial to Threshold and Close to Home, or is it more geared to one or the other? I can't imagine that this will help Threshold, as it will be up against the very successful Law & Order: SVU, which seems to me to be bigger competition for Threshold than Three Wishes. I really hate this change, as Tuesday already seems engorged with good shows, while Friday was much less crowded. How can I handle three shows at once with only one VCR?! (This is also a problem in the hour before!) PS. Love the column. — Jenny

Matt Roush: Lots of questions prompted by this schedule change. Such as Sam's "Is Threshold permanently being moved to Tuesdays?" The answer: Unclear. For now, the switch has only been announced for the rest of the month, which because of preemptions in the time period this and next Tuesday (for the CMA Awards), covers only the episodes of Nov. 22 and 29 for Threshold.

And Jorge takes the long view in his question: "Do you think Threshold has any chance of being renewed for a second season, or is this moving around just another way for CBS to be able to say that they did all they could, but that they're canceling?" Again: Way too early to project. But this is the downside of being on a network so fat and sassy with hits. If you're seen as not pulling your weight, it could be premature curtains.

The hope in this switch is not that Threshold could beat SVU or even Boston Legal probably, but that its thriller/sci-fi components could help hold on to the younger demographics of its Amazing Race lead-in (which has shrunk a bit given the much heavier competition this season in that killer time period, not to mention the sluggish nature of the family edition).

If Threshold skews young enough, it may not matter so much that this is one of the few 10 pm/ET time periods of the week CBS doesn't win. (But I'm being optimistic here.) With Close to Home, its female-centric leads are seen as potentially more compatible to Ghost Whisperer and the flow is better to fellow crime drama Numbers. Bottom line here: Threshold is unlike anything else on CBS' procedural-heavy schedule, and it may be tough for it to fit in anywhere. But according to Variety, one of the original scenarios when CBS was planning its schedule last May was to put Threshold on Tuesdays and Close to Home on Fridays. So if it does help either or both shows (albeit in different ways and using different standards), maybe it will end up working out after all. But at this point, a second season for either show looks pretty iffy. Not that anyone should give up on them quite yet.

Question: I'm a huge fan of Nip/Tuck, but I have to say I am getting really tired of how something happens one week and the following week there is no mention of it. Is Sean automatically cured because he cut his arm one time and he has no desire to do that or to punch his son in the face again? Did Kit go home the same night Christian apparently fixed her face after her run-in with The Carver? Is she still investigating the case? I understand this show has a lot going on and tons of fires to put out, but aren't you sick and tired of having to wait three weeks or more to find out anything that happened ages ago and you've completely forgotten about? — Penny

Matt Roush: It hasn't been the greatest season for continuity, has it? I forgive the show a lot because it's so blasted entertaining and outrageous, but even I was thrown when after the last few and very powerful Carver-based episodes, it was dropped with nary a mention (except for the financial fallout at work). For several weeks, the slashed Kit may as well not have existed, and it was beyond jarring for the subplot about the instant spa project to momentarily take over the show.

As for Sean cutting himself (in keeping with that episode's theme about pain), he may still be indulging in self-mutilation off-camera, although his fling with Anne Heche may also have put a stop to it. But you have every right to be miffed by these lapses in narrative flow, a common problem with serialized shows that tend to juggle so many stories. All of which leads me to think Nip/Tuck may have been better advised to wrap up The Carver story more quickly, instead of parceling it out in such random doses.

Question: I recorded Nip/Tuck for the first time ever to catch Anne Heche in the first episode of her story arc. I noticed that one of the producers was Jennifer Salt. The Jennifer Salt? Eunice Tate from Soap? Just curious. — Michael

Matt Roush: Yep, one and the same. She's not the only former performer on Nip/Tuck's talented writing/producing staff. Those with good sitcom memories may remember co-executive producer Lyn Greene (then known as Lynnie) co-starring with Bess Armstrong in the 1977 comedy On Our Own.

Question: Well, CBS has done it again. I was interested in watching Category 7: The End of the World tonight (Sunday), but apparently because of a late football game, it started 10 minutes late. This has not only messed up my TV watching for tonight, but how many people have TiVos who are not going to catch the end, since they'll cut off at 11 pm? Also, CBS has sacrificed one hour for four since Category 7 is a two-parter set to finish next week (Nov. 13). If I can't watch the first part, I won't be interested in tuning in for the second part next week. NBC's NASCAR coverage ran over by 20 minutes, but they adjusted Dateline so it ended at 8 pm/ET to accommodate a top-of-the-hour start time for The West Wing. If NBC can do it, why can't CBS? Just another example of the networks not giving a flip about the audience. Your thoughts? — Tom C.

Matt Roush: Rule of thumb when planning to record either CBS or Fox on Sundays during football season, on VCR or DVR: Set ample time on either end, because especially on CBS, it almost never runs in pattern (on the East Coast, anyway). Fox at least has built in the option of airing an animated repeat in the 7 pm/ET half-hour, so new episodes of King of the Hill often get to run intact on time. But CBS makes so much money on its warhorse [B]60 Minutes that, unlike the much more disposable Dateline, it's less flexible when it comes to shrinking the show to fit the original schedule.

You can almost always count on CBS' Sunday shows to begin late. This is not a secret. It's been going on for years. (Here's how I do it when I'm home on Sundays: I wait to see when 60 Minutes starts, and I calculate an hour ahead to set the recorder for Cold Case because it's easier for me to watch West Wing, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy in real time and catch up with the other stuff later.)

Question: I am already predicting the 2006 Emmy win for outstanding supporting actress in a dramatic series will go to Sandra Oh of Grey's Anatomy. The last few episodes showed Oh's wide range and gift for adding levity to grave plotlines without seeming inappropriate or out of place.

From the episode when her character lost her baby, I could identify with the interactions with her mother and snickered at the ways she tried to prove she was OK enough to get back to work, only to be dismissed and ushered back to bed. Then the scene where she is crying uncontrollably while the other interns stand by helplessly watching and she suddenly yells, "Somebody sedate me!" It was a moment that made me want to simultaneously cry and laugh hysterically. And I about fell off my chair when an orderly came running into the trauma room full of train-wreck victims, appendage in hand, and yelled "I found the leg!" And Oh's competitively driven Yang mutters deadpan under her breath "I want that leg." Oh, how I love her! — Selina

Matt Roush: And that's how you write a fan note. Couldn't agree more. She gets funnier and more fascinating by the week. That entire cast is on fire right now. (Are you listening, SAG Awards?) Since she was nominated last year, it's almost a done deal she'll be back in the running next time. And maybe then the Emmy voters won't be swayed by an expensive Showtime campaign and foolishly throw their votes away on Huff again (much as I love Blythe Danner, c'mon).

Question: A couple of years ago you addressed a complaint of mine about Survivor, although I felt that you misunderstood what I was upset about. I was upset that the editing had led the public to believe that one of the finalists was a shoo-in to win the prize. The reality was that the other finalist won by a landslide. Based on what was shown to the public via CBS, this should not have been the case and I was upset. You interpreted my discontent as sour grapes over who actually won. Even though I swore I would not watch any more of Survivor, I got over it (quickly) and have continued to watch. I still think that creative editing can be misleading, but my family and I now try to figure out when we are being punked by the editor. If someone was seeing Survivor for the first time, they would have been convinced (in the Nov. 3 episode) that Jamie was history. Seasoned veterans would still believe that Brandon was doomed, as he was. I still dislike the misleading editing, but have accepted it. Am I the only one to complain about this or is it a common bone of contention? — Paul

Matt Roush: I hope I'm addressing your point better this time, because you make a good one. The reason we classify this genre as "reality TV" and not documentary TV (since it is chronicling something that's actually happening and not, in most regards, scripted) is because of the creative issues involved in sculpting a compelling weekly narrative out of these games, contests, stunts, whatever you call them. It may not be real, but it is reality TV. The suspense in many episodes of Survivor (including the one in which Brandon was evicted) comes from manipulating us into believing the tribe could go one way (the way we'd like, with a jerk like Jamie expelled), though we know the likelihood is that team strategy will win out and good-guy Brandon would be sent home.

Without at least teasing us, the show would likely be a lot more boring. And I was gratified to learn that even while you are not a fan of this often-deceptive storytelling practice, you have come to peace with it because you like the show. I'm pretty much the same way, and I imagine fans of far-lesser reality shows have also made their deals with the devil (although what compels anyone to watch hideous junk like Breaking Bonaduce or My Fair Brady is beyond me).

Question: OK, longtime reader, first-time caller here. I never thought I would have a story to tell, until last night. I was standing in line at Sam's Club buying The West Wing Season 2 on DVD. The lady in front of me notices my purchase, and strikes up a conversation about how exciting the new season has been, between the White House leak story and the election race. I'm noticing other people in the office, many people who last year would not admit to watching West Wing, suddenly start talking about it in the break room or the elevators. Even my wife, whom I love dearly and who has utter contempt for all things political, eagerly anticipates the new episodes each Sunday night.

Now it appears NBC was willing to give West Wing this one last season to wrap up story lines, even though they banished the show to the "Dead Man Walking" time slot on Sunday night. My question is, can the show still survive beyond this season? Would NBC/Universal consider moving the show to another one of their channels, specifically Bravo? Seems to me that the channel does well airing the West Wing repeats all week long. So why not air new episodes next year? I think West Wing may actually do better on a cable channel, where they can push the boundaries of stories in a way they maybe can't on network television. What are your thoughts? — Jerry M.

Matt Roush: Welcome to the forum, my friend. But for the love of God: No! Besides, while you seem to work and live among people of heightened awareness and taste, most of the rest of America has moved on from this show (no help from NBC, or the show's creative team in the last few seasons).

I agree the show has come back to life this year, although I was less a fan than many of the live debate episode but the best the show can now hope for is to bow out with a modicum of dignity while its most loyal core is still watching. For the life of me, I can't imagine the show continuing to ask us to care about the staffs of a Santos or a Vinick administration. Enough's enough. As for Bravo picking it up: Even with belts tightened and original cast shed, the show's way too expensive. And have you seen Bravo lately? Outside of off-network acquisitions like this, the channel's all reality all the time (some good, most bad).

For the record: While I took issue with the debate episode, most who wrote in praised it. And for a final thought on the show for now, here's this from Albert S.: "While I agree that it is not the same show anymore and I miss my many favorite characters, this still remains a vital and not-to-be-missed show because of the weekly "civics" lesson we get. Sunday night's debate show was fascinating to watch, both sides making excellent points and prompting us viewers to ascertain where we stand on the issues. Am I a liberal, am I a conservative — perhaps somewhere in between? Whatever the case, it's stimulating TV that makes you think. Do you not agree that although West Wing has been an entertaining character(s) study, it is still first and foremost an insightful look at the political process?"

At its best, yes. But at its very best, it achieves that goal through character and drama. If I really want a civics lesson, I always have C-SPAN.

Question: I was just wondering if Leslie Hope or Julie Ann Emery will be back on Commander in Chief and what the reasoning behind their departures was. I think both of these actresses are underrated, and I know series creator Rod Lurie was a fan of theirs. Now I fear that Steven Bochco has already influenced the show in a negative light by casting off talented actors like Hope and Emery and bringing in actors like Mark-Paul Gosselaar. — Tyler

Matt Roush: Nothing wrong with our NYPD Blue pal Gosselaar, but the show is going through a fascinating (and unprecedented for a brand-new hit) transformation right now. From a purely story point of view, Hope's and Emery's departure made sense. Hope's character defied the president and was sacked, and Emery's agent made a mistake in handling the president's daughter and was reassigned. If Rod Lurie were still running the show, there's no reason to think he wouldn't have found a way to bring them back in a different capacity. He's famously loyal to actors. (Consider Kristen Shaw, who plays Norah, from the First Gentleman's wing, on Commander. She played David Paymer's wife on Lurie's Line of Fire and has appeared in all of Lurie's projects since his first short film.) With Bochco now running the show, it's unclear who among the recurring characters from Lurie's initial conception will stay in place. It's so weird at this early point of a hit show's life to be discussing fixes for what is far from broken.

Question: What are the chances of the survival of Reunion after the annoying monthlong break on Fox? — Stacy L.

Matt Roush: Judging from the ratings from Reunion's first week back in November, pretty slim. But keep in mind, because of unexpected early preemptions plus the baseball hiatus, only five episodes of Reunion have aired through this week. Not much chance of the show gaining momentum or even showing a pulse given those adverse circumstances. We still don't know if Fox will air an element of American Idol on Thursdays at mid-season, but if so, that (or a move to Fridays) could seal the show's doom. I only hope for the sake of whoever's still watching that Fox and the producers can work together to at least take the story far along enough to reveal the identity of the killer before time runs out.

Question: You are the most hypocritical so-called television critic I have ever read. Your recent remark about Boston Legal straining for cheap shock effect is totally laughable when you practically worship shows that are completely built on cheap shock effect, like Nip/Tuck and Desperate Housewives. If you took the cheap shock effect out of those two shows, you would be left with about 10 minutes of show each week. Is Boston Legal over the top? Of course, but it is not meant to be a serious legal drama that shows us the inner workings of the American judicial system. It is a farcical show about a group of zany lawyers, but for some reason it isn't allowed the leeway and suspension of disbelief you seem to afford all of the completely unrealistic and over-the-top shows that you rave about on a weekly basis. — Joe

Matt Roush: And some people wonder why this column sometimes gets defensive. Perhaps a more charitable word for "hypocritical" would be "inconsistent," which at least makes sense given the nature of television. My problem with Boston Legal isn't that it goes over the top, it's the way it goes about doing it. (The words "straining for effect" may have been a clue.) On Nip/Tuck, which isn't above criticism (that "Frankenlaura" episode about necrophilia was just sick, and I wish they hadn't gone there), the shock value is embedded in the show's DNA and often adds to the twisted psychodramas of these compelling characters. Desperate Housewives, though woefully uneven of late, is a heightened parody of soap opera, which relies on improbable and shocking events to move the story along (if only they would).

My big problem with Boston Legal is that it delivers its so-called shock effect with a frat-boy sniggering smirky cloddishness, as if jokes about horny brain-addled old lechers (like Denny Crane) were fresh and inventive. (I will say that some of James Spader's more perverse moments would be right at home on Nip/Tuck.) The difference here being that what I find sophomoric on one show I find provocative on another. It's a matter of tone and, of course, personal preference.

To tackle this from a less combative angle, here's a thought from Andy: "To quote from your Oct. 31 column: 'It didn't strain for cheap shock effect the way Boston Legal so often does.' Do you really think this is Boston Legal's fault? I have a feeling ABC wasn't thrilled last season when Legal lost so many viewers from its Desperate Housewives lead-in. So how would one retain those viewers? Try to make it more Desperate Housewives-like. Of course, the network has since shifted the show to follow Commander in Chief, so the old Boston would probably have worked better. I just have a feeling that ABC told David E. Kelley to change the show's format because Season 1 wasn't drawing in the viewers. And even though you're so negative about the show, you have to admit Julie Bowen is a huge step up over the weak Monica Potter."

I'm pretty confident Kelley was more than capable of taking this show way into Ally McBeal territory without ABC's prodding. The intention all along appears to have been to make the show essentially comedic, with occasional detours into actual legal drama so the actors have something for the Emmy reel. Finally, yes yes yes on Julie Bowen. She's an enormous improvement and would be on any show.

http://tvguide.com/tv/roush/askmatt/

fredfa

11-11-05, 09:11 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Miss it the first time?

Two critics offer suggestions for DVDs they deem worthy of a spin, or even of a permanent spot on your media shelf

The Los Angeles Times- November 13, 2005

Whether it's a fleeting television series or an enduring cinematic classic, chances are good that you can find it on DVD. The format is also the place to look for specialist fare — rock documentaries, say, or films that set fashion trends in motion, or boxed sets that trace the careers of legendary performers. A dozen Times critics offer suggestions for discs they deem worthy of a spin, or even of a permanent spot on your media shelf.

Paul Brownfield

"Northern Exposure": Why can't they make more like this early '90s gem, set in small-town Alaska and starring Rob Morrow as a New York-educated doctor doing his residency among the kooky denizens of the tundra?

"Lost": If you don't know what all the fuss is about, you can relive last year's first season, from plane crash to discovery of a mysterious hatch.

"Late Night With Conan O'Brien: The Best of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog": Triumph, a creation of writer Robert Smigel, is a foul-mouthed dog puppet/Don Rickles-esque insult comic and regular contributor to "Late Night." This is a must-see for Triumph's visit to costumed fans waiting in line for "Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones."

"Cracker": Great British series, circa 1993, starring Robbie Coltrane as forensic psychiatrist Eddie Fitzgerald. "Fitz," in addition to being savantish about the criminal mind, has a broken marriage and a gambling and booze problem. A so-called procedural at its best before people were throwing that term around.

"Christmas With SCTV": Two Christmas specials, from 1981 and '82, from the Canadian group that included Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara and the late John Candy. It's hit-and-miss, but the hits (Dave Thomas as Liberace, for instance, or the extended parody "Neil Simon's Nutcracker Suite") are still sublime.

Robert Lloyd

"Wonderfalls": A Gen-Y underachiever (a degree in philosophy from Brown, a job in a Niagara Falls souvenir store) is assailed by cryptic messages from wax lions, lawn flamingos and mounted fish, prompting her to do good in this eccentric fantasy with a bit of a bad attitude. Thirteen episodes were filmed, four aired; cult status assured this DVD release. Here is what you missed.

"Freaks and Geeks": This DVD set is exemplary not merely because it preserves the entirety of one of TV's greatest and unluckiest series — a comedy about teens on the margins of high school society in 1980 — but because between its nearly 30 commentary tracks (not only from the creators, writers, directors and actors, but also from network executives and fans) it paints a portrait of a community, and tells you everything you could want to know about how a TV series lives and dies.

"Degrassi Junior High": A show about kids in the '80s actually made in the '80s, "Degrassi" was ardently issue-oriented and crisis-filled without ever compromising its naturalism or the believability of its characters. None of that "after-school special" stuff here. Made with a modesty that somehow says "Canada."

"The Adventures of Pete & Pete": Just released is the second volume of this sui generis, ragtag, independently minded Nickelodeon series about two brothers named Pete, the steel plate in Mom's head, the strongest man in the world and the epic mysteries of ordinary life. Includes the essential "Space, Geeks and Johnny Unitas."

"The Rockford Files — Season One": The best private eye show ever, with James Garner bringing a little Maverick into his Marlowe. If you punched him, he bruised. One of the few TV gumshoes to live within his meager means (in a trailer), where he was routinely bothered by a sublimely quirky supporting cast that included Stuart Margolin as Angel and Noah Beery Jr. as Rockford père.

"Alice in Wonderland": Jonathan Miller's strange and beautiful BBC film is textually faithful — there was no script, they just copied out whatever bit of the book they were to film that day — and attempts to get into the head of a Victorian child. Shot in black and white on period locations in ordinary Victorian dress with a soundtrack by Ravi Shankar and a cast including Peter Sellers, John Gielgud, Peter Cook (as the Mad Hatter) and Leo McKern in drag as the Duchess.

"The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus": Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam and (wonderful) Spam. Plus a dead parrot, Confuse a Cat Ltd., the unexpected Spanish Inquisition, a cheese shop with no cheese, and all the rest.

"The Muppet Show — Season One (Special Edition)": Kermit, Piggy, Fozzy et al bring back vaudeville in this felt-covered variety show, finally getting a chronological release. (Thematically packaged sets of episodes have been available for a while.) Among the special guests in the surprisingly long-ago first season (1976-77) are Charles Aznavour, Candice Bergen, Lena Horne, Vincent Price, Twiggy and Peter Ustinov.

"Cosmos Boxed Set": First broadcast in 1980 and new to DVD (with some updates to reflect subsequent science), Carl Sagan's 13-hour PBS history of everything looks at humans in relation to the universe, and the universe in relation to humans. You will note the disparity in size.

"The Edward R. Murrow Collection": George Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck" is giving broadcast news legend Murrow another moment in the pop-cultural sun. See the genuine item here, in modes ranging from mild (a profile of Grandma Moses) to muckraking ("Harvest of Shame," his landmark report on migrant workers), to the McCarthy reports that inspired the film.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-ca-critics13nov13,0,1837308,print.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

fredfa

11-11-05, 09:45 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Hogeboom’s 15 Minutes of Fame

By Michael Malone BCBeat.com

I’ve heard plenty of former “star” quarterbacks blather on in bars about their on-field accomplishments years before. So I was a wee bit skeptical when Gary Hogeboom, Survivor castmate and former NFL QB, compared his struggle as odd man out of a powerful alliance to a game he played decades before, when his Dallas Cowboys were “down 20-something to Detroit,” and he threw for “close to 300 yards in one quarter.”

OK. For starters, Hogeboom was a career backup. Second, any fan of gridiron goings-on knows that throwing for 300 yards in one game—much less one quarter—is a nifty accomplishment. Further tweaking my skepticism, online research revealed that Hogeboom threw for all of 978 yards in 1985, the year of the fateful game (which, as it turns out, Dallas lost 26-21). Hogeboom’s poor performance in the spear-throwing challenge last night further made me doubt his accomplishments.

Unable to find individual stats from the game online (remember, it was the Luddite days of 1985), I called the Dallas Cowboys. “Jancy” got back to me in minutes, and offered up Hogeboom’s box score: He entered the game with 14:55 left in the fourth quarter. He completed 17 of 24 passes, including two touchdowns and zero interceptions. And he threw for…255 yards!

Not bad, Mr. Hogeboom, and certainly not a stretch to call it “close to 300 yards.”

Recalling his finest football moment last night seemed to light a fire under Hogeboom; a short while after mentioning it, he found the immunity idol that had eluded the castaways for days, and staved off sure elimination.

Now, if only Hogeboom can pick apart the Nakum alliance the way he dissected the Detroit secondary decades before…

http://www.bcbeat.com/

Note: Here are Hogeboom's NFL statistics:
1980 - 1985, Dallas Cowboys
1986 - 1988, Indianaplos Colts
1989 - Arizona Cardinals

79 Games (High: 16, 1984, 1985)
1,325 Passing Attempts (High: 367, 1984)
743 Completions (High: 195, 1984)
Completion Percentage: 56.1 (High: 64.7%, 1983)
9,436 Total Yards (High: 2,591, 1989)
Yards Per Attempt: 7.1 (High 9.5, 1983)
Interceptions: 60 (High: 19, 1989)
Touchdowns: 49 (High: 14, 1989)
Rushing: 83 Attempts, 161 Yards, 4 TDs

fredfa

11-11-05, 10:35 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Four Shows To Watch This Weekend
By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune

“CNN Presents: Undercover in the Secret State,” 8 and 11 PM ET/PT Sunday, CNN: Can technology undermine a dictatorship? This CNN special presents the handiwork of brave North Koreans who fervently hope so. Using digital cameras and cell phones, North Koreans have risked their lives to record dreadful, horrific images from their homeland; one grainy bit of footage on this special features footage of a public execution. Other images: dirty, starving children scrounging food in the streets; political prisoners at a concentration camp (the existence of which is denied by the government); and an average man driven to do the unthinkable in this rigid, totalitarian society - defacing an image of dictator Kim Jong Il. All in all, this important special is a worthy account of citizen journalism at its finest.

“My Name Is Earl,” 9 PM ET/PT Saturday, NBC In the graveyard of drama repeats that the networks usually put forth on Saturday night, here’s an appealing comedic break. Even though its recent review of the show was generally negative (what are they smoking over there?), the New Yorker has declared that “Earl” star Jason Lee is “an amazingly charismatic actor.”
True, but watch this quartet of repeats, and you’ll see that on this sweet show about a lottery winner trying to right the wrongs he has done, the deft, daffy Lee has plenty of fine actors around him, including the wickedly sharp Jaime Pressly as his indomitable ex-wife, Joy. By the way, Tuesday’s episode of "Earl" concerns Joy’s wedding to Darnell, which is, not surprisingly, messed up by Earl. It’s a hoot. Don’t miss it.

“Grey’s Anatomy,” 10 PM ET/PT Sunday, ABC: At the risk of sounding like a broken record - oh, heck, who cares? This bears repeating: “Grey’s Anatomy” is one of the best shows on TV - and, inexplicably, it seems to get better every week. Whether it’s George breaking out of his sad-puppy persona to do a risky operation in an elevator, Alex planting an amazing kiss on Izzy or Meredith’s heartbreak over her romance with Dr. McDreamy, “Grey’s” provides a seemingly never-ending smorgasbord of delights. This week, McDreamy - OK, Dr. Shepherd - and his wife, also a top doctor who has decided to try to patch up their marriage, lock horns over the treatment of one of their closest friends. And, according to the ABC press release, Cristina (the indispensable Sandra Oh) and Burke “try to have a normal date.” Just imagining that is a treat.

“Saturday Night Live in the ’80s: Lost and Found,” 9 PM ET/PT Sunday, NBC: It’s telling that NBC is shoring up its Sunday night lineup with a special about an era of “Saturday Night Live” that’s now two decades past. What does that say about NBC’s present? Still, let’s look at the bright side: This workmanlike retrospective is enjoyable enough; it features interviews with former cast members from the show’s tumultuous ’80s era, when producer Lorne Michaels left for a time and stars such as Eddie Murphy and Dana Carvey came to prominence. The hiring process for new cast members could be brutal; one early ’80s cast member recalls auditioning six times. “I said, if you have me [come] in again, I’m going to charge a cover,” Denny Dillon cracks. And a funny segment from Charles Rocket predates the antics of Andy Milonakis by a few decades. Roaming the streets of New York, Rocket asks a passerby, “You’re on drugs right now, aren’t you?”

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2005/11/5_shows_to_watc.html#more

fredfa

11-11-05, 11:06 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Weekend Shows To Watch

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star

One of the tricks you’ll see on “Penn & Teller: Off the Deep End,” airing at 7 PM ET/PT Sunday on NBC (KSHB-41), is the Harry Houdini classic known as “Metamorphosis,” in which Teller switches places with an assistant locked inside a cage in the blinking of an eye.

Only this time, it — like all the other tricks on this special — is performed underwater. I think we can all agree that just about anything becomes more interesting when you take gravity out of the equation.

That two-hour extravaganza is followed at 9 PM ET/PT by another two-hour special, “Saturday Night Live in the ’80s: Lost and Found,” part of an ongoing effort by NBC to squeeze a few more ratings points out of the seemingly bottomless reserve of “SNL” nostalgia. This one begins where the last one left off: in 1980, as the original “SNL” crew is heading for the exits.

The show almost sinks without them, but then it’s revived and by mid-decade has reinvented itself through talented mimics like Eddie Murphy and Phil Hartman. (The previous special, “SNL: The First Five Years,” is now out on DVD and worth renting because it comes with an additional hour of documentary that never aired.)

TV Barn’s TV Picks: Former “Dawson’s Creek” heartthrob Joshua Jackson resurfaces in a cable TV movie, “Shadows in the Sun” (5 PM ET/PT Sunday, ABC Family), playing a literary agent sent to coax another best seller out of a crusty old author (Harvey Keitel).

And four previously seen episodes of “My Name Is Earl” resurface starting at 9 PM ET/PT Saturday on NBC.

Now that “Earl” creator Greg Garcia’s other show, the much-maligned “Yes, Dear,” has bitten the dust, he’ll have that much more time to devote to extending “Earl” beyond its one-note premise.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/television/13133607.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

11-11-05, 11:49 PM

Critic’s Notebook
TBS starting Christmas way too soon

By Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee TV Columnist

I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one who thinks Veterans Day is a bit early to be celebrating the holidays. Actually, it's way, way early, and those TV commercials loaded with holiday cheer are ticking me off.

So it's with strongly mixed feelings that I bring this up: TBS is airing one of my favorite specials Saturday and Sunday nights, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (at 7:30 both nights). One possible response: Record it, then watch it the day after Thanksgiving, when the season should start.

For fans of Hollywood classics, by the way, TBS also is airing a digitally restored version of "The Wizard of Oz" this weekend (at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday).

TBS says most of us have never seen how vibrant the 1939 movie really is because by the time it made its way to color TV, the gloss had worn off the film. But it's all been refreshed, TBS says, so this time the Emerald City will be the most emerald ever, and the horse of a different color will have, uh, lots of different colors.

________________________________________

In case you missed the announcements, we got a snapshot this week of our TV-watching future. CBS and NBC both said they'll start offering some of their series through what's called video on demand, meaning that viewers can pay a price to watch shows any time they want.

The bigger deal is from CBS and Comcast, who announced that beginning in January, four shows - "CSI," "Survivor," "The Amazing Race" and "NCIS" - will be available through video on demand for 99 cents an episode.

In other words, say you miss a Thursday run of "CSI." After midnight that night, you can order it through Comcast's video-on-demand service without commercials. You're paying for both the control and the convenience, and possibly at some point, extra scenes or comments from producers and stars.

Viewers have 24 hours after they've ordered the episode to actually watch it - meaning they can pause and come back - and the episodes will remain available for ordering for months.

And NBC announced it struck a deal with the satellite service DirecTV to show "Law & Order: SVU," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "The Office" and "Surface," plus USA's "Monk" and Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica" also for 99 cents an episode.

NBC's deal is more limited - for now - because it requires people to order the DirecTV Plus digital video recorder being introduced this month.

Both of those moves come after last month's start of the ABC/Disney deal with Apple Computer to offer a few series, including "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," for download on Apple's iPods for $1.99 a shot.

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to tomorrow. This is where television is going. Fairly soon - maybe in just a couple of years - the technology will be there so most, or all, of our TV will get delivered in ways like this.

All of CBS' shows, all of ABC's, NBC's and everyone's shows will be available to order for a price, and we'll receive them in our cell phones, our iPods, or computers and, maybe, on small headsets that will be just as annoying as the tiny ear-piece phones that have people walking through your supermarket talking into space.

The good news is - probably - that this will seriously cut down on the commercial load (and, I'm hoping, will let us filter out holiday ads when they're launched too early).

The bad news is 1) we'll have to pay for it, and 2) some advertising is helpful.

It's a new world a-comin.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/columns/kushman/story/13839597p-14679781c.html

fredfa

11-12-05, 12:55 AM

The time for broadcasters to fully embrace HD is now

In recent days, CBS has made a deal with Comcast for VOD delivery of some of its top shows.

NBC has made a deal with DirecTV for VOD delivery of some of its top show.

Disney has made a deal for with Apple’s iPod for VOD delivery of some of its top show.

And Thursday NewsCorp took a billion dollars as an accounting charge to write down the value of its TV broadcasting licenses.

Coincidences? I think not.

These are not the golden years for people owning broadcast TV licenses. If it weren’t for hundreds of millions of dollars in local political advertising in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco, along with some smaller markets around the nation, this would be a much worse year for broadcasters.

In addition, the slow erosion of prime time viewing among the Big Six networks continues this season.

It seems to me that something, (aside from the silliness of legislated multi-casting) must be done soon for broadcasters to regain any momentum. But while then networks, which already own the biggest stations in the biggest markets, speed up their exploration of alternate delivery systems, other broadcasters seem paralyzed.

In the past they managed to delay FM for decades; UHF for decades; they slowed the introduction of VCRs and most recently managed to keep HD on the back burner for close to a decade.

Now they are pushing hard for mandatory multi-casting. That's brilliant. As the nation converts to HD, figure out a way to send a half dozen SD signals to each home. That's the kind of thinking that got them in this mess.

Since the vast majority of cable networks are not ready to go HD yet, why don't broadcasters beat them to it, by going full-bore into HD.

They could promote HD endlessly, broadcast it 24/7, and do everything they can to get viewers hooked, and hooked fast. We certainly know how addictive HD is: how many of us watched hour after hour of Discovery Channel, or PBS loops, or Rudy Maxa's "Smart Travels" in the first months we had our HDTVs? Most of us still will watch marginal shows in HD rather than popular SD programs. And there are tens of millions of households going through that same experience in the coming several years.

And many broadcasters apparently think multicasting six SD channels will save them.

Broadcasters better stop standing trying to hold back the tide of technology. They must come up with something before that rising HD tide floods them out. And that tide -- and technology -- is beginning to rise higher and higher. And this time they are not going to be able to stop it.

They don't have much time left. And ever day that HD tide rises higher and threatens their financial model more and more.

It is time for some forward thinking by broadcasters. Who will be the first to do some imaginative leading?

fredfa

11-12-05, 01:12 AM

This story is so amazing, I thought you might find it inspiring this holiday weekend– despite its lack of relevance to either TV or HDTV. (Thanks to Matt Drudge at drudgereport.com for the heads up.)
The story is on the front page of Saturday’s New York Times:
Musical Really Does Go On as Star Is Treated for Cancer

By Jesse McKinley The New York Times November 12, 2005

Maria Friedman, the star of the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "The Woman in White," stood at the center of the stage of the Marquis Theater on Thursday night, accepting a sustained standing ovation for her performance as the show's plucky Victorian heroine.

While the applause was no doubt for her performance, the fact that she was onstage at all was more remarkable. Just 10 days before, breast cancer had been diagnosed in Ms. Friedman, 45. Since then she had undergone surgery to remove a malignant lump the size of a marble from her left breast.

"I found the lump on a Monday, and two hours later I had a mammogram," Ms. Friedman said. "And three days later, I was in surgery."

And a week after that, with an $8.5 million musical just days away from its opening night, Ms. Friedman - bruised, bandaged and with a doctor in the wings - sang and danced for almost three hours in a preview performance, nearly bringing much of her cast and crew to tears.

"I was just proud to be onstage with her," said Michael Ball, who plays the show's villainous Count Fosco. "It's just proper old-school theatrical heart."

Perhaps no one was more moved than Sonia Friedman, the actress's sister, who is a producer of the show and thus in the unenviable position of deciding whether to delay the opening - set for Thursday - or see her ailing sister perform so soon after surgery.

"To open a show on Broadway is bad enough," she said. "But then to have this?"

For her part, however, Maria Friedman, an accomplished British actress who is making her first appearance on Broadway, said it was never a question of whether to go on.

"We have a deadline, a committed company, a lot of people's livelihoods riding on this show," she said. "And I felt I dropped the baton at the last hurdle."

Sonia Friedman and Bob Boyett, another producer, were with Ms. Friedman on Oct. 31 when doctors took a biopsy and diagnosed Stage 1 breast cancer. The actress had found the lump that morning, and both producers considered delaying or even canceling performances to allow their leading lady to recuperate.

But by early this week, Maria Friedman had signaled that she would not only be back onstage soon - she rehearsed on Tuesday afternoon - but that she would also make opening night.

"What kept me going is that Maria is not going to let this thing get in the way of her Broadway debut," said Sonia Friedman. "She'd be damned before she'd let that happen."

Similarly, Maria Friedman said she drew strength from her sister's determination to get the musical, which had its premiere in London last year, to Broadway.

"I wouldn't do it, except for I've watched Sonia work round the clock for a year to get this show here," Ms. Friedman said. "I'm not going for hero status. I'm doing what I can do, with enormous support."

That the offstage drama involved sisters was all the more apt considering that "The Woman in White," based on the 1860 Gothic novel by Wilkie Collins, tells the story of two sisters fighting for their lives in Victorian England. Ms. Friedman plays Marian Halcombe, the show's heroine, who is onstage in almost every scene, with lengthy vocal solos in each act. Her role requires ample dancing, running and even fighting, as Marian does battle with a group of street thieves and, in one case, Count Fosco, a lustful Italian doctor.

Ms. Friedman, who created the role in London, had performed just five previews in New York before her surgery, which left her dark, painful bruises on her chest, a still raw incision and extremely tender ribs. "It's like a large elephant sat on me," she said.

For Thursday night's performance, Ms. Friedman had a bandage tightly wound around her upper torso, a medical dressing that she said made it hard to breathe during the show's first act. So, at intermission, the dressing was reapplied by Dr. Abraham Pollack, the radiologist who first detected the tumor and who monitored Ms. Friedman's condition during the show.

"I'm not an avid attendee of the theater; I usually fall asleep," he said. "But I didn't fall asleep in this one."

Ms. Friedman and the show will face critics next week; the musical received mixed notices when it opened in London. Mr. Boyett said that news of Ms. Friedman's illness had not affected ticket sales, for good or ill, and that the decision to publicize her disease was hers. "She felt that if it leaked out, people would see it as a negative for the show," he said. He said the musical had no insurance if Ms. Friedman's illness were ever to cause performances to be canceled. (Lisa Brescia, Ms. Friedman's understudy, played the previews that she missed.)

Of course, the theater, where "break a leg" is a good-luck cheer, has a long tradition of bucking personal malady for the good of the show. And while critics will no doubt know of Ms. Friedman's condition, there is no indication that they will pull their punches.

Barry Weissler, a Broadway producer whose lead actress, Christina Applegate, broke a bone in her foot just weeks before opening in "Sweet Charity" in May, to mixed reviews, said critics were no easier on his production because of offstage turmoil. "It certainly didn't help me," he said. "I don't know how they'll treat a thing like this. I only hope they treat her professionally and with sympathy for what she's going through."

Ms. Friedman said her goal was simply to "get to the finishing post."

"We can reassess after that," she added.

But as is often the case with cancer, it is uncertain exactly where that finishing post is. Next week, Ms. Friedman will receive word on whether chemotherapy is necessary. Dr. Pollack said yesterday that the success rate for treating the type of cancer Ms. Friedman has is excellent, and that her particular tumor seems not to be highly aggressive.

Regardless of whether chemotherapy is necessary, Ms. Friedman will begin radiation treatments next month, a seven-week cycle that will certainly tax her energy, but she said she planned to perform throughout. "And if I have to do chemo, I already said they can stick a wig on my head," she said.

In off hours, she has been kept busy by her two children, Alfie, 3, and Toby, 10, who are living in New York during the run of the show, and spending time with her boyfriend. Ms. Friedman said she would stop performing if her health suffered at any point. Until then, however, just like the show she is in, she just wants to "get to the next week, and then the week after, and then the week after that."

"Right now, I'm cancer-free," she said. "I don't have cancer; they cut it out. Until I do again, why waste my time?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/theater/12maria.html?ei=5094&en=b126b6cf66539762&hp=&ex=1131858000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

fredfa

11-12-05, 12:54 PM

Friday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the second post in this thread).

RussTC3

11-12-05, 01:00 PM

fredfa

11-12-05, 01:03 PM

Critic’s Notebook
From Country Dame to Brand Name
By Kathy Blumenstock Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, November 13, 2005; Y05

"Reba" started out as "Sally."

"I auditioned for the part twice," said Reba McEntire, the country-western-singer-turned-actor who has a new album out next week. "And when we shot the pilot in 2001, I said, 'Why don't we change it to "Reba"? There are some loyal fans out there.'"

The title change stuck, and five seasons later, "Reba," the show about a blended Houston family, is a staple of WB's Friday night lineup.

McEntire plays real estate agent Reba Hart, a divorced mother of three. Her dentist ex-husband Brock (Christopher Rich) cheated on her with his dental hygienist, Barbra Jean (Melissa Peterman). Barbra Jean's pregnancy coincided with that of Reba's then-unmarried teenage daughter Cheyenne (JoAnna Garcia), who struggles with alcoholism.

"It's one dysfunctional family, isn't it?" said McEntire, who sings the show's inspirational theme song, "I'm a Survivor." "But what I enjoy most is to laugh, and this show, the people in it, entertain me. ''

Many of the comic sparks stem from the give-and-take of Reba, as the first wife, and Barbra Jean, as her replacement.

"You've got this kinda kooky gal who took Reba's husband, so of course [Reba] feels angry about that," McEntire said. "But because of the kids she's still got to deal with her ex and his new wife." And she understands that relationship, she said, because in real life she's friendly with her husband's ex-wife.

The show has lasted, said executive producer Kevin Abbott, because its characters are "fighting the small battles and getting through them."

Cast chemistry also is a key to the show's longevity, Abbott said. Cast members "enjoy being with each other offstage, and that translates to the screen," he said. "It works for us because this show is about people not in the best situation."

At McEntire's urging, the show recently devoted an episode to Hurricane Katrina survivors. In it, Reba Hart shelters a dog displaced by the disaster. Then she invites a grandmother and grandson to stay -- but winds up sharing her home with more than 20 extra people. The crowd makes Reba cranky, which in turn leaves her feeling guilty.

McEntire closed the show with a reminder urging viewers to help with hurricane relief efforts.

"So many people watch TV and they think what they see is the truth," she said. "Sometimes it is, sometimes it's fiction, but if they see something on TV and think they can help [the situation], then I am proud that we can encourage that."

Besides her sitcom schedule, McEntire still performs in concert, and her new two-disc CD set, "Reba #1's," will be released Nov. 22 (MCA Nashville, $19.98). It includes the sitcom's anthem, some new tracks as well as hits such as "The Greatest Man I Never Knew" and "Little Rock."

Her name also is on a line of clothing, which her character wears on the show.

"Rebawear has casual and some fancy things that I could even wear on stage," she said, chuckling at her involvement in fashion. "I grew up wearin' hand-me-downs from cousins and an older sister."

And she remembers that once, for a rodeo competition, "I had a pair of cowboy boots with duct tape wrapped around the soles, and I won enough money at the rodeo to buy new boots and spurs."

McEntire no longer rides; her big hobby these days is taking photos and e-mailing them to friends and family.

"I don't have time to ride or ski, and I have way too many people depending on me being able to walk and talk and sing," she said.

Co-star Peterman, who enjoys hearing McEntire singing on the set between takes, called her "an incredible energy force."

"You ask her what she did on hiatus and she says she did an album, worked on her clothing line, did some concerts," Peterman said. "And you're happy if you got the bathroom grouted."

McEntire would like the show to stick around -- at least for the short term. "If it went three more years, it would be great," she said. "Five more would be too much fun."

Already a star from her music, she said the sitcom has brought her even greater recognition.

"TV has such a broad audience, you think you know the people you see on the screen," McEntire said. "I've done it. I went up to the postman on 'Cheers' [John Ratzenberger] and hugged his neck. I said 'I'm sorry, but I feel I know you.' I grew up watching Andy Griffith raising Opie, and he helped me raise [son] Shelby. When I first met Carol Burnett, I felt I knew her from years of watching her. There are no boundaries with television."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/08/AR2005110801048_pf.html

foxeng

11-12-05, 01:23 PM

And many broadcasters apparently think multicasting six SD channels will save them.

Broadcasters better stop standing trying to hold back the tide of technology. They must come up with something before that rising HD tide floods them out. And that tide -- and technology -- is beginning to rise higher and higher. And this time they are not going to be able to stop it.

They don't have much time left. And ever day that HD tide rises higher and threatens their financial model more and more.

It is time for some forward thinking by broadcasters. Who will be the first to do some imaginative leading?

Some broadcasters HD will and some it will not. I think you need to specify which broadcasters you are talking about. If you mean the networks, then yes, they need to move toward HD. That may not be as much true for local broadcasters.

The local stations can do something the networks and cable channels can't. That is called localism. What started out on TV in the beginning was localism because there wasn't enough content so stations did a lot of local stuff to stay afloat. To be different stations will have to go back to that to keep eyeballs. I think you will start to see that happen again to combat the 500 channel universe. Will HD be apart of the localism. I believe yes. But if a station hangs its hat on HD only and no local content to go along with it, they will fail. Content is ALWAYS king no matter what the picture format is. That is fact that goes back years no matter what we the small minority who live, breath and eat HD think.

fredfa

11-12-05, 01:45 PM

re: "...Content is ALWAYS king no matter what the picture format is...."

I guess you don't remembver the changeover from B&W to color. The value of B&W programs in syndication dropped precipitously and immediately

As for localism, that is a given. (Of course stations should be practicing localism now. In fact, as you well know, that is what their FCC license expects them to do and that one of the major things they claim to do in order to get that license renewed.)

But history itself tells us localism by itself won't work. A little over a decade ago each market had its highly-rated talk radio stars. Now, they are mostly gone, replaced by Rush and Sean and Laura and others. The same thing happened in TV, where strong local programming thrived through the 80s. But in this era of cheasp syndicated fare, no more.

But that is not my point. I was assuming an already strong local effort by stations. (Obviously that is hindered dramatically when so many stations are owned by so few corporations. But that is a different story.)

My point is local+HD [/B]might[B] equal some kind of prosperity for local stations. Because as the nation rapidly adopts HD, few people are going to want to watch anything in SD.

Just as black and white was back in the 60s, SD viewing will be hit hard. If you think a station can hang its hat on "localism" and remain in SD without losing large chunks of its audience (and, by the way, the most affluent chunks) to stations putting almost anything out in HD, I think you are fooling yourself.

Once people have HD, that is all they want to see. As we all know from personal experience that "HD high" last for a minimum of several months -- and causes major changes in a household's viewing patterns. Some people virtually refuse to watch SD at all. And in two to three years most households will have access to HD. It is an explosion, and broadcasters still have time -- though barely -- to prepare.

You might note (advertisers certainly do) that in the season-to-date Nielsen ratings for households with 100k incomes and above, only two SD programs "Survivor: Guatemala" and "The Apprentice: 4" make the top 20. And each has a significantly lower upscale 18-49 or 25-54 number than total household rating. That means, very simply, the best demographics watch less SD than HD.

If you think localism will trump HD for broadcasters, you are welcome to that belief. But, in my opinion, that kind of thinking, rooted in the past, will lead to sure doom for local broadcasters.

By the way, as you well know, the networks are there: close to 80% of prime time is in HD, the cash cow morning shows have started to convert, the biggest cash cow late night shows are already in HD, the vast majority of biggest money sports (NFL/NASCAR) is already in HD and it will be extremely rare for any major network sporting even to be in SD by 2007 at the latest.

Given all that, you truly believe a local station can compete with local SD content? Good luck! :)

fredfa

11-12-05, 02:07 PM

Sunday Night Television
“SNL in the '80s”: The Last Laugh On a Trying Decade

By Tom Shales Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, November 12, 2005; C01

If you can remember Doug and Wendy Whiner, Terry and Julia Sweeney (no relation) and the squirrelly nerd who married a monkey, you qualify as a truly devoted fan of "Saturday Night Live." Those and other memories -- dumb, dim or dimmer -- will come creeping back from the past tomorrow night when NBC presents "Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found," an entertaining talkumentary about the venerable comedy show's second decade (Sunday, 9 PM ET/PT, NBC).

The two-hour special, a procession of talking heads, sketch snippets and remnants of vintage musical numbers, is a sequel to a special that aired in February and celebrated the show's first five years -- its best period, partly because the show was so fresh and feisty.

By contrast, "SNL" began the '80s with a complete breakdown, its original cast and producer having doused the "On Air" light and walked out -- hence the "Lost" in the title of the special, which airs at 9 p.m. on Channel 4. Having reached rock bottom, "SNL" could sink no lower, and as the decade lurched on, it heaved and ho'd, ebbed and flowed, and was regularly pelted with the proverbial critical brickbats.

"SNL" was pulled apart at the seams, reinvented, deconstructed, recast, briefly canceled by programming genius Brandon Tartikoff and, finally, reclaimed its place as TV's funniest and bravest hardy perennial.

At this point, I have to interrupt myself. Even more than the first special, "Lost and Found" conspicuously covers much of the same backstage lore as recounted in "Live From New York: An Uncensored History of 'Saturday Night Live,' " published in 2002. The authors were James Andrew Miller and -- me.

For this reason, many, if not most, of the stories in the documentary have a certain familiarity to me. Kenneth Bowser, who produced, wrote and directed, ran into the same big roadblock that frustrated the book's authors: Eddie Murphy, the biggest star ever to emerge from the show, declined to participate. He's talked about but does no talking of his own.

In addition to having others laud Murphy, Bowser includes micro-moments from great Murphy sketches -- Murphy as Gumby, Murphy as Buckwheat, Murphy as "Mister Robinson," and Murphy as James Brown prancing around a hot tub. Murphy's inspired exuberance easily survives the intervening years; the camera didn't just love him, it worshiped him. Murphy and pal Joe Piscopo are credited with saving the show from cancellation.

Jean Doumanian, the unlucky and underqualified young producer who took over from Lorne Michaels as executive producer of the series, is also absent from the documentary. Although everyone agrees she failed, Doumanian has her defenders, among them wacko comic Gilbert Gottfried, who complains that the media attacked her too viciously. The great Bill Murray also has kind words for Doumanian and, gentleman that he is, dared to defy the other old-timers and returned to host Doumanian's show.

In one excerpted sketch, he talks about mean things critics wrote. "My favorite . . . is, 'Vile From New York,' " Murray says. Thank you, Bill. I wrote that when reviewing the premiere of the Doumanian version in 1980 (she lasted 10 months).

Dick Ebersol, now president of NBC Sports and mastermind of its Olympics coverage, took over from Doumanian, having been present at the creation of "SNL" in the '70s. He was the NBC executive in charge of late-night at the time and, given a mandate to create a weekend comedy series, he hired Michaels. Bowser, however, made a strange editorial decision in telling this part of the story. While someone is saying that Ebersol had a knack for keeping network brass away from the show, we see photographs of NBC executive Tartikoff hanging around Ebersol's office, as if to contradict what's being said.

"SNL" continued to attract bright young talents even when its reputation foundered, although those talents weren't always given a chance to shine. Writer Larry David (not interviewed) couldn't get a sketch on the air, and actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, recruited from a Chicago improv group, recalls her three seasons on "SNL" as confused and frustrating. In later years, David would co-create, and Louis-Dreyfus would co-star in, "Seinfeld," the series that proved that even a sitcom can be a masterpiece.

Ebersol decided to go for broke with the 1984-85 season, putting together a high-priced all-star team that included Billy Crystal, Martin Short and Christopher Guest. That version lasted one funny-but-peculiar season. Then Lorne Michaels returned, in 1985, and eventually turned it back into "Saturday Night Live."

Strangely, the documentary doesn't deal with the death of "SNL" founding father John Belushi in 1982. And how odd that in a two-hour survey of the '80s and a show that satirized them, there's ne'er a glimpse of Ronald Reagan, or of Phil Hartman's slick and witty impression of him. The ultra-versatile Hartman would meet a tragic end in the '90s.

Considering that the '80s were thought to be a bad decade for the show, one sees a great many comedic gems: Francis Ford Coppola spoofing himself by directing his own auteurist version of the program; Short as the babbling Ed Grimley, worshiper at the shrine of Pat Sajak (who even knew he had a shrine?); Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, as a burned-out Elton John and as Dennis Miller while sitting next to Dennis Miller at the Weekend Update desk; and Crystal as gossipy lounge lizard Fernando (mercifully minus the still-tired "You look mah-velous" catchphrase).

We briefly see the ultra-talented Damon Wayans, but he isn't mentioned; nor do we hear the legendary tale of how Michaels, who recoils in horror from firing anybody, loudly fired Wayans one night while the show was on the air. Bowser's problem was, obviously, an excess of good stuff, even from a decade widely considered bad. Thus one of the encouraging, amazing things about "Saturday Night Live": Even in its darkest, dankest hours, even when it teetered on the brink of extinction, "Saturday Night Live" never ceased to surprise.

And when it did, it wasn't just funny. It was joyous.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/11/AR2005111102037_pf.html

fredfa

11-12-05, 02:14 PM

Whoa! You think the Tuesday to Friday Night switch for Close to Home worked? lol

Pretty impressive, now hopefully Threshold can maintain a good lead-out, if not in total viewers, hopefully in the A18-49. I don't want that show to end.

The only thing I don't understand is why CBS executives didn't see this earlier. Perhaps they were afraid of making Fridays too middle American, but the switch (which seems like it will work on Fridays) most likely will bump Tuesdays a bit, too. And then maybe CBS is able to save both "Close To Home" and "Threshold" when just a few days ago both seemed certain to be headed for the scrap heap.

For whatever reason, it seems like a great, great move by CBS.

fredfa

11-12-05, 03:13 PM

"Arrested Development,'' "7th Heaven'' depart

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News

There was no official announcement -- there rarely is when the networks wield the ax -- but after two and half wonderfully funny seasons, Fox's Emmy-winning "Arrested Development'' is dead.

Network TV's best comedy has been abruptly pulled from the Fox schedule for the rest of November sweeps and has had its "order'' for this season cut from 22 episodes to 13. The episodes that have already been filmed will be burned off in December and, as of January, "Arrested'' will vanish, the victim of low (really low) viewership.

Also wacked: "Kitchen Confidential'' -- one of the season's better new comedies -- which followed "Arrested'' on Monday nights. It has also been pulled from November schedule (the two sitcoms will be replaced by repeats of "Prison Break'') and its final installments will also show up in December. "Confidential'' only got to air three episodes but its audience was even smaller than the one for "Arrested.''

(In a bit of irony, the news about the two Fox comedies comes on the same day that ABC announces it has picked up "Freddie,'' its lame Wednesday sitcom, for a full season. There's something wrong -- really wrong -- about that.)

And in the last bit of cancellation news from Black Friday: the WB has pulled the plug on "7th Heaven'' after 10 seasons. The Monday night family drama still does good ratings but, after a decade on the air, it has become too expensive to keep around.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2005/11/arrested_develo.html

fredfa

11-12-05, 03:22 PM

Sunday Night Television
“Saturday Night Live’s” first revival

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Staff

"When it was announced that 'Saturday Night Live' was going to be continuing with a whole new cast, this was an outrage. This would be like telling people that in the middle of Beatlemania, you were going to remove the Beatles and have a whole new group of Beatles."

These words of wisdom come from Gilbert Gottfried, who knows of what he speaks. Gottfried was a member of that whole new cast, the ill-fated bunch who replaced Bill Murray, Gilda Radner and company in 1980 and spawned the first of several thousand "Saturday Night Dead" headlines.

Yeah, "SNL" has been given the media last rites for a quarter century now, and the excellent new documentary "Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found" (Sunday at 9 PM ET/PT, NBC) chronicles exactly how the show kept rising from the ashes, either despite or thanks to constant personnel changes in front of and behind the cameras.

The current "SNL" may still be struggling to replace Will Ferrell, who had the uncanny ability to make one-joke sketches funny for five to seven minutes (think "More Cowbell"), but this season has nothing on that '80-'81 fiasco, which featured awful sketches like "Leather Weather," where Denny Dillon and Charles Rocket donned S&M bondage gear to discuss the day's forecast. (Sadly, there's no "Leather Weather" clip, but the ones you'll see are almost as bad.)

The problem, everyone agrees, is that NBC declined to replace creator Lorne Michaels with one of his lieutenants like Al Franken. Instead, they chose the show's talent booker, Jean Doumanian, who would be fired after 12 episodes, along with the entire cast, save Joe Piscopo and a promising newcomer named Eddie Murphy.

Jean "always struck me as the type of woman who would watch a Marx Brothers movie and say, 'Well, I liked Margaret Dumont, but who were those weird gentlemen running around?'" observes Gottfried, who calls Rocket's use of the F-word at the end of the 12th show "an excuse" for NBC to start chopping heads, while admitting "the show sucked."

Doumanian would be replaced by Dick Ebersol, an NBC executive during the Michaels years (and today the head of NBC Sports), who moved quickly to bring back as many classic "SNL" writers as he could while surrounding Piscopo and Murphy with veteran Second City performers like Tim Kazurinsky and Robin Duke.

Murphy, who still refuses to discuss the show or even utter the words "Saturday Night Live," dominated that period, but Kazurinsky remembers him as a team player who always wanted to give his co-stars more to do. ("He was a mensch.")

When Murphy left to do movies, Ebersol broke the bank to bring in name-brand comics like Billy Crystal, Martin Short and Christopher Guest, but none of the stars wanted to do the show for more than a year. By that point, Ebersol was getting tired of the grind himself, so re-enter... Lorne Michaels.

Michaels describes his thought process about taking over the show again as, "Well, I enjoyed being me," and though he fumbled with his initial new cast -- Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey Jr., Joan Cusack, Randy Quaid and Damon Wayans all were fired after only a year -- he eventually found the right combination, leading to arguably the series' most consistently funny period ever, the Phil Hartman/Jon Lovitz/Dana Carvey/Jan Hooks/Dennis Miller cast.

Director Kenneth Bowser was also responsible for last season's "Live from New York: The First 5 Years of 'Saturday Night Live,'" and he employs the same stylistic devices here, notably the smart use of "SNL" musical performances from the era as his soundtrack. When the Doumanian cast gets dumped, for instance, we see Bruce Hornsby singing the "get a job" verse from "The Way It Is."

The movie's story arc is the return of Michaels as the conquering hero, but Bowser isn't shy about revealing how merciless the show's culture can be to newcomers, some of whom would go on to bigger and better things in saner environments.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, for instance, joined the cast midway through the Ebersol years along with idealistic improv partners Gary Kroeger and Brad Hall. Needless to say, everyone treated them like dirt.

"They came in all shiny and spanking new and thought it was going to be beautiful, like socialism," recalls Kazurinsky. "It wasn't even communism."

"The way to get ahead on that show was to think about yourself only, and to really look out for number one," says Louis-Dreyfus, who found a partner in frustration in a writer who only succeeded in getting one sketch on the air during his season on the show. You may have heard of him: Larry David.

"Lost and Found" runs the same length as "Live From New York," even though the period it covers is twice as long, and a lot of characters and anecdotes get skipped. There's an allusion to John Belushi returning to the show in the Ebersol years, but not to the on-air riot that took place when Belushi talked Ebersol into booking his favorite punk band, Fear. Harry Shearer's unhappy departure in the middle of the all-star season isn't discussed, nor is Ben Stiller's brief tenure with the show at the end of the decade.

What the documentary does best of all is to nudge those '80s seasons out from the shadow of the original Not-Ready-For-Primetime Players. The Coneheads and Samurai Delicatessen and Nick the lounge singer were great and all, but so were Mr. Robinson, Velvet Jones, Gumby, Sinatra (both the Piscopo and Hartman versions), Fernando, Church Lady, Hans and Franz, Master Thespian, The Liar and Mr. Short-Term Memory.

"Lost and Found" explains how, with lots of bumps along the way, "SNL" went from an outlaw phenomenon to an institution. It may have its good years and its bad, but it's always there, and at the end of these two hours, you'll understand how and why.

All TV Bits

• After initially agreeing to guest star on a trial basis, Lauren Holly has joined the "NCIS" cast full-time as Mark Harmon's boss.

• On "Desperate Housewives," newcomer Nashawn Kearse is replacing Page Kennedy (who was fired, allegedly for improper conduct toward a member of the crew) as the mystery man in Alfre Woodard's basement.

• Lots of cable renewals: MTV wants to spend another season in "Run's House," Comedy Central has ordered a third edition of "Drawn Together" only a few weeks into season two, Court TV is doing another year of "Parco, P.I." and E! is going ahead with a third season of "Dr. 90210."

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/columns-0/1131602456109930.xml&coll=1

fredfa

11-12-05, 03:41 PM

“7th Heaven” signing off

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News

It's not hard to imagine the WB's Monday night lineup without "7th Heaven"; it's darn near impossible. Because it's never happened.

But those days are about to end. The network has announced that this season will be the last for the family drama, which will sign off in May at the end of its 10th season.
"I don't think I had any expectations about how long the show would run," said creator/executive producer Brenda Hampton. "And certainly not that it would go for 10 years."

The cast of "7th Heaven" way back in 1997.

Heck, when "Heaven" premiered, nobody was sure if the WB would last 10 years, let alone the show. But it's been on Mondays at 7 p.m. on the network's schedule since Aug. 26, 1998 — the first time the WB put a show on Monday night — while 92 shows on the other networks have come and (mostly) gone.

"Maybe we should learn from this," said WB executive Brad Turrell. "It's never moved. . . . I think it is one of the secrets of its success — that it's just been an institution there."

While others have gotten more notice, "7th Heaven" was the most-watched show on the network through most of its run. But, as is the case with TV, shows tend to lose some of their ratings power as the seasons pass and costs tend to rise, and "7th Heaven" has become expendable.

But no one expected a 10-year run for a show about a minister and his family — albeit not a show about religion.

"The show is not a religious show," Hampton said. "It's a family show."

And one that will get a "monumental send-off" in May, WB Entertainment president David Janollari promised. The announcement comes early enough so that the series can get a wrap-it-up, say-goodbye series finale.

Which is what both the show and its fans deserve.

REGIS PHILBIN WILL RETURN to ABC's prime-time schedule sometime relatively soon, but not as a game-show host. The former star of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" will host a new version of "This Is Your Life," which ran from 1952-61 on NBC.

Considering pop culture's obsession with celebrities, you almost wonder why somebody hasn't already revived this series, which surprised famous folk with people from their past and mini-biographies.

Whether anyone will be surprised this time around remains to be seen. There's no word on the format of the new "Life" — only that 74-year-old Philbin will be hosting it.

YOU DON'T HAVE to be good or talented to be successful on network television.

Case in point — ABC has renewed Freddy Prinze Jr.'s sitcom "Freddie" through the end of the season.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635160606,00.html

Woodrow

11-12-05, 03:46 PM

think "More Cowbell"
Oh, I am baby, I am...

:)

fredfa

11-12-05, 03:55 PM

Saturday Night Television
Tune-In Reminder: ''My Name Is Earl''

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal

If you haven't watched this NBC comedy starring Jason Lee, tonight would be a good time to do it. NBC is airing four episodes from 9 - 11 PM ET/PT. (Lee is also hosting ''Saturday Night Live'' tonight (11:30 PM ET/PT), although I'm not making any recommendation for that given the subpar quality of ''SNL'' so far this season.)

Or, if you're going out, this is a good night to set the DVR for ''Earl,'' since Tuesdays -- when the show usually airs -- have so many choices that you can pack your recorder in very short order.

For those of you tuning in late, ''Earl'' involves a loser (played by Lee) who has decided that he can improve his own life by righting all the wrongs he has done. He has a long list of wrongs, and some are not as easily fixed. But the process of fixing them can often be hilarious.

Episodes are usually named after wrongs on Earl's list. Tonight's telecasts, in order, are ''Faked His Own Death'' (he tries to make up for a woman he dumped by faking his death), ''Teacher Earl'' (which finds him, among other things, teaching an English-as-second language class), ''Broke Joy's Fancy Figurine'' (where he has to deal with his troublesome ex-wife) and ''Stole Beer From a Golfer'' (which requires more than giving the golfer beer, and which -- like ''Teacher Earl'' -- demonstrates the impact of Earl's new way of life on the people from his past). I have seen all but ''Broke Joy's Fancy Figurine'' (which awaits in MY DVR) and laughed at all three.

''Stole Beer'' just aired on Tuesday, and it was funny, odd and endearing; the whole bit about Earl, his brother and ''Smokey and the Bandit'' let us understand the characters better -- but didn't sneer at their taste. Although ''The Office'' was also very good that night (and gave us a fresh view of its main character), I actually liked ''Earl'' better. Maybe that's the sentimentalist in me; ''The Office'' is consistently a harsher brew than ''Earl.'' But it made me even happier that both shows are on, especially as some other good comedies, including ''Arrested Development'' and ''Kitchen Confidential,'' are in trouble.

(Note: Rich Heldenfeld's thoughts about "Arrested Development" and "Kitchen Confidential" can be found on his blog, or here, where they were post #6581).

So watch tonight. Then start figuring out a way to put ''Earl'' and ''The Office'' in your Tuesday lineup. It might even be worth a second DVR.

http://blogs.ohio.com/beacon_tv/

fredfa

11-12-05, 04:37 PM

Critic’s Notebook
'Survivor' Is Doing More Than Surviving -- It's Thriving

By Kevin Thomspon Palm Beach Post Television Writer

Today I was on the phone with Ted Koppel for an upcoming story I'm writing on his final Nightline appearance as the show's anchor. Koppel recalled how Tom Shales, The Washington Post's television critic, trashed Nightline after just one airing. Koppel called Shales personally the next day and chastised him for not watching a few more broadcasts before writing such a scathing review.

I couldn't agree with Koppel more. As a tough, but fair-minded critic, I try hard not to judge any series after a single episode. That's why I continue watching bad shows even after I've trashed 'em. I want to see if they'll get better.

That brings me to Survivor: Guatemala. As many of you already know, I've been down on Survivor. The game has lost much of its appeal because, well, CBS has aired about 68 editions. But I keep watching 'cause when Survivor has the right mix of contestants and the right amount of game-changing twists, the show can be just as entertaining as it was when it debuted.

I've been having a blast watching Survivor: Guatemala. As as Survivor watching veteran, I've learned that watching Survivor is a lot like watching an NBA game -- it doesn't become really interesting until the final few episodes.

(Thursday) night's episode was a doozy. Gary, Mr. Former NFL Dude and the guy I'd love to see take home the million smackeroos, threw a Hail Mary right before tribal council and connected by finding the hidden immunity idol. That ugly little statue sure saved his hide. And the befuddled look on Judd's face was priceless. Serves him right for foolishly lying about the immunity idol's location instead of just keeping his big New Joisey trap shut.

Survivor has been enjoyable all season, much to my surprise. From Bobby Jon's and Jamie's Macho Caveman Shouting match to Judd's hilarious tirades to Amy's gutty performances to Gary's fibbing about his NFL past, Survivor is clearly surviving -- and thriving.

The TV Critic has spoken.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2005/11/today_i_was_on.html

fredfa

11-12-05, 04:46 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Even with a “Category 7,” there's no earthshaking TV newcomers

By Robert P. Laurence San Diego Union-Tribune

What a difference a year makes.

At this time last fall, the hottest shows on TV, the ones surrounded by breathless, high-pitched buzz, were the brand-new "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," even though the veteran "CSI" actually stood atop the ratings.

Today, with the season seriously under way and the November ratings sweeps period beginning its first full week, the most talked-about shows are "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost." And "CSI" is No. 1.

And that's the difference.

Last year, we had a couple of newly minted hits, brash, audacious shows that woke up the world of TV like cool, fresh air wafting through an open window. Those hits that refreshed the TV landscape in 2004 are still standing, but 2005 looks at best like a season of modest success.

Several new series are doing moderately well, but none are leaping ahead of the pack. The folks loitering around the water cooler are talking about the same shows they were talking about last year.

Even this month's sweeps lineup looks pretty paltry by historic standards. The big effort from CBS, "Category 7: The End of the World," is a blowhard, a mere sequel to an earlier hurricane movie. NBC is remaking the 1972 kitsch disaster flick "The Poseidon Adventure" (Nov. 20, presumably sans Shelley Winters swimming underwater). After that, it's "The American Music Awards" with the Rolling Stones (ABC, Nov. 22)

Remembering that sweeps once meant "Roots," "The Thorn Birds" and "Shogun," this month's lineup reminds me of one of my favorite character actors – Slim Pickens.

As for the new weekly series of 2005-06, results are mixed.

Only one, the ABC woman-as-president drama "Commander in Chief," stands in the Top 10, now at No. 7. Comedies are still struggling. CBS's Monday night "Out of Practice" is the highest-ranked new comedy at No. 21, but largely because it inherits viewers from "Two and a Half Men." Among viewers 18-49, the ones most valued by advertisers, NBC's "My Name Is Earl" is the highest-ranked new comedy.

CBS leads the networks in total household ratings, followed by ABC, NBC and Fox. But ABC holds a narrow lead in viewers 18-49, followed by CBS, with NBC and Fox tied for third.

But Fox could still repeat last year's season win in 18-49. That victory was fueled by World Series ratings, the Super Bowl and "American Idol." World Series ratings were down nearly 30 percent this time around, and Fox won't have the Super Bowl in January.

It will have "Idol" again in the spring, though. And Fox's regular weekly series are doing better. One of those is the new Monday night "Prison Break," which will leave the air after a cliffhanger Nov. 28 to make room for the return of "24" and return in May.

Only four of the season's 31 new series have been canceled: NBC's "Inconceivable," Fox's "Head Cases," UPN's "Sex, Love and Secrets," and WB's "Just Legal."

"I'm optimistic about the new shows," said Marc Berman, who pores through ratings in his daily "Programming Insider" column in MediaWeek.com. "I would guess we'll see about half of them coming back for a second season.

"Each network has at least one new show that's doing well. That's a real positive. There's not a single network where everything bombed."

Said Shari Anne Brill, vice president and director of programming at the ad agency Carat U.S.A., "Moderate successes are good, because if they do better than the shows they replaced, it's still a success for the networks."

Both noted the success of "Everybody Loves Chris," based on the childhood of Chris Rock, particularly seeing it airs on perennial No. 6 network UPN. "I knew 'Chris' was going to be just phenomenal for UPN," Brill said. "Even though there's been some erosion, it's still holding its own."

One species of shows, curiously, has failed to produce a major hit. Those are the half-dozen science fiction and fantasy programs that debuted in September to so much fanfare.

Berman called ABC's "Invasion," which follows the superhit "Lost" at 10 p.m. Wednesdays, "the most disappointing. Nobody expected 'Invasion' to hold the 'Lost' lead-in. But it's losing a good 30 (percent) to 40 percent of the lead-in. That's a lot."

But "Ghost Whisperer," at No. 32, has proved surprisingly successful for CBS on Fridays, usually a slow night for the network TV business. "It's doing better than I thought it would be doing," Berman said.

"The sci-fi, supernatural genre has a more selective appeal," Brill reasoned.

That window is still open, but not much fresh air is coming in.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/entertainment/remote/20051107-9999-1c07remotem.html

fredfa

11-12-05, 05:01 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Lipstick on a Pig ...

By Chase Squires St. Petersburg Times television critic

Folks, it don't matter how they dress this announcement up, it's not a good sign ....

Fox announced yesterday in a celebratory email that the network would be airing back to back episodes of dimwitted pretty-man vehicle "Prison Break" throughout the November ratings sweeps ....

That's wonderful if you're on Prison Break (one of those "back to back" episodes each week is a repeat from the week before)

But gee, didn't something used to be in that time period?

Uh, yeah. Lame-o newcomer "Kitchen Confidential", based on the absurd premise that watching cooks womanize and grouse about their jobs is amusing, and critically-acclaimed but viewer despised "Arrested Development".

Both are benched during sweeps, to return ... however briefly ... during December when the nets turn over the tube to cable, like in the summer.

Arrested Development and Kitchen Confidential should be considered under the Fox "Program Protection Program" for now, but if they don't sing soon, they'll be sleepin' with the fishes.

http://www.sptimes.com/blogs/tv/

fredfa

11-12-05, 05:07 PM

Jerry Rice On The Dance Floor?
Some “Dancing” Hints

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star

I interviewed Kevin Nealon …(who)…figures prominently in (Sunday’s) NBC prime time special, "Saturday Night Live in the 1980s: Lost and Found." In fact, a routine he once did involving a road map is the motif for the two-hour special (get it? lost?). Not that Nealon will be watching -- he'll be performing at the Improv through Sunday night.

The real news, though, came at the end of our interview, when he revealed that he's contemplating an offer to be part of the next "Dancing with the Stars" when the celebrity ballroom series returns to ABC in January:

“So far I think they have Jerry Rice, Robert Wagner, Lisa Rinna and Nick Lachey, he’s got a brother, Drew Lachey. So if it’s a lot of people like that, I’m not sure I want to be part of it. ... It’s like when I play “Celebrity Poker Showdown.” I don’t want to be the first one out. I don’t want to look like an idiot. Or clumsy. But I think it’d be fun.”

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/

foxeng

11-12-05, 07:28 PM

re: "...Content is ALWAYS king no matter what the picture format is...."

I guess you don't remembver the changeover from B&W to color. The value of B&W programs in syndication dropped precipitously and immediately

I guess you never heard of a show called "I Love Lucy"? I think you can STILL see that in glorious black and white in many markets today (KTTV in LA for example). The Andy Griffith Show was mostly shot in black and white and it too is in many markets today. "The Honeymooner's" another black and white classic. Then you have the many series that started out in black and white and then converted to color such as "Gilligan's Island", "Beverly Hillbillies," "Bewitched," "I Dream of Jeannie" that also show their black and white seasons along with the color episodes. Last I looked all of those shows do well in syndication and many have been in syndication since they left network television in the 1950's and 1960's. TVLand lives on those series and their black and white episodes and that is a cable channel I doubt you will see in HD any time soon and I also doubt it will hurt them for not being in HD.

There is no doubt that HD will be important for the future, but again, if you think that just because it is HD it will sell, I have some land to sell you when the tide goes out.

fredfa

11-12-05, 10:46 PM

Critic’s Notebook
“CSI” digs deeper this time

By Diane Holloway Austin American-Statesman

“CSI” and I are only polite acquaintances, not loyal friends. It’s not appointment television for me. If I have nothing better to do and happen to channel-surf my way onto it, I’ll give it a look.

I prefer my prime-time dramas with more character and less procedure. Too many lingering shots of no-name folks peering into microscopes, too many computer graphics of evidence being tested.

But last night’s “CSI” was remarkable. A gun battle between Las Vegas cops and a gang of drug dealers erupted in the opening and seemed to go on forever. The scene was chaotic, with the cameras flashing from good guys to bad guys until you could barely tell the difference.

Which, presumably, was the point. In the aftermath, a cop was dead, two members of the Latino gang were dead and an innocent bystander — a teenager on a bike — was dead.

Cops, gangsters, eyewitnesses and angry neighborhood residents all came away with different interpretations of what went down. Who really shot whom? Memories are muddied from shock and chaos, and it’s up to the crime scene investigators to come up with evidence that doesn’t call for interpretation.

The episode — a two-parter that concludes next Thursday on CBS — reminded me of recent police shootings in our own community, and the portrayals rang true.

It was a rare display of emotional depth on “CSI,” and next week the conclusion will be appointment television for me.

“Saturday Night Live” — The way it was

It may be a risky decision to remind viewers how funny “Saturday Night Live” used to be. Or maybe it’s a good think because it reminds people the show has rarely been as lame as it is right now.

Most experts still believe the first few years of “SNL” in the late ’70s were the best, with the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players busting our guts on a regular basis. But the subsequent decade had its moments, too.

Check it out Sunday at 8 p.m., when NBC presents “Saturday Night Live in the ‘80s: Lost and Found.”

Highlights include the many characters of Eddie Murphy (19 but already amazing), Billy Crystal’s schmoozing Fernando and Dana Carvey’s Church Lady. It’s mahvelous, dahling.

http://www.austin360.com/television/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/tvblog/index.html

fredfa

11-12-05, 10:55 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Still 'Desperate' to see real women on TV newcomers

Neal Justin Minneapolis Star Tribune November 13, 2005

"Turn it up! Turn it up!"

Nancy Keyes, a corporate concierge in her 60s, has just spotted a teaser for "Desperate Housewives" on the TV at Louis XIII, part of Southdale Center's chic restaurant row, and she doesn't want to miss a millisecond of her favorite program.

She's one of about 20 women who have showed up for the regular Sunday night screening party, most sipping champagne-splashed cocktails, digging into plates of calamari and engaging in "Bimbo," a politically incorrect version of your grandma's church-basement game in which you mark off squares such as "pill bottle" and "handcuffs" when they pop up on any given episode.

The event could use a little makeover, however. The menu features a drink named in honor of "Brie," a misspelling that would cause Marcia Cross' anal-retentive character to launch into a lecture about the rudeness of confusing humans with creamy cheese.

The server, one of only a few men in the bar, stumbles through trivia questions during the commercials. His body language suggests he might lunge for the remote at any second and switch to "Sunday Night Football."

But there's a bigger problem lurking in the room.

These professional, smart, classy women are all gaga over a show that isn't very good.

In last week's episode, Susan, played by the Incredible Shrinking Teri Hatcher, performed another hysterical fit, this time in a wedding dress. Bree suffered a rash every time she made out with the creepy pharmacist, a picture that would make anyone itch. Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) stripped to her underwear to seduce her husband's lawyer, a move that appeared to have less to do with the show's plot than with her desire to continue her reign as Maxim's Hottest Babe Alive. Oh, and then there's that guy locked in the basement. What did he do wrong? Write this season's scripts?

Nonetheless, "Desperate Housewives" remains the top-rated show among women 18 to 49.

Why? Are they stupid? Of course not. They're, um, desperate.

TV has done such a poor job of reaching out to this demographic over the years that anytime it comes even a little close to reflecting their lives on the screen, fans come running.

That theory helps explain the early success of "Commander in Chief," which has less political savvy than "Survivor," and "The Ghost Whisperer," in which people come back from the dead to tell Jennifer Love Hewitt that she can't act.

It also explains why "Sex and the City" and "Ally McBeal" struck such a chord, even though neither had the depth of such "manly" shows as "The Sopranos,"The West Wing,"Seinfeld" or "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

I shared my theory with local lawyer Linda Holmes, a regular contributor to the addictive blog called TelevisionWithoutPity.com and the only woman I know who hates "Ally" as much as I do.

"Shows in which women's experiences are central are rare enough that it's possibly true that the quality doesn't have to be as high," said Holmes, better known on the Web as Miss Alli.

Then Holmes shared a theory of her own that was even more insightful: Women on hit shows get progressively dumber.

Her favorite example is "Cheers."

"Look at Kirstie Alley," she said. "When she started, she was tough. By the end of the series, she was totally inept."

So who's to blame? Try the entire industry, one in which female producers are about as rare as a hit on Pax TV.

It's no coincidence that all of the aforementioned shows were created by men and that two of TV's finest "women" shows, "Gilmore Girls" and "Grey's Anatomy," were created by women.

I don't want to spoil the "Housewives" party. I get why Kim Johnson, a 41-year-old sales representative from Minneapolis, comes to Louis XIII on Sunday nights to celebrate a show that isn't about twentysomethings.

"On 'Friends,' Jennifer Aniston had a job with Ralph Lauren," she said during a commercial break. "How does someone that age get that job? This is more credible."

I get why Tina Bess, a 43-year-old day-spa worker from Eden Prairie, got such a kick out of watching Bree lift her husband from his casket and change his tie in front of a packed church.

"I live vicariously through the characters," she said. "You could never do that in real life."

I get it, I get it.

I just wish they could lift their champagne glasses to something better.

http://www.startribune.com/dynamic/mobile_story.php?story=5717721

fredfa

11-12-05, 11:38 PM

(Per request from RussTC3)

SYNDICATION NIELSEN RATINGS
Ranked By Households For Week Ending October 30, 2005
# / Programs / Households (000)
1 Wheel Of Fortune 9,089
2 Oprah Winfrey Show (AT) 7,971
3 ESPN NFL Regular Season 7,812
4 Jeopardy 7,096
5 Everybody Loves Raymond -SYN (AT) 6,753
7 Seinfeld 5,717
8 CSI-SYN (AT) 5,712
8 Dr. Phil Show(AT) 5,552
9 Seinfeld-WKND (AT) 5,440
10 Entertainment Tonight (AT) 5,402
11 Friends (AT) 5,233
12 Judge Judy (AT) 5,123
13 That 70s Show-MF-SYN (AT) 4,384
14 Everybody Loves Raymond-WKD 4,286
15 Wheel Of Fortune WKND 3,853
16 Inside Edition 3,816
17 Live With Regis and Kelly 3,758
18 Warner Bros Vol 3,604
19 Judge Joe Browne (AT) 3,365
20 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (AT) 3,260
21 Entertainment Tonight WKD 3,170
22 People’s Court (AT) 3,134
23 King Of Queens (AT) 3,052
24 Insider (AT) 2,985
25 Access Hollywood (AT) 2,843
Source: Nielsen Media Research

RussTC3

11-13-05, 12:03 AM

Thanks fredfa. :)

The lasting power of Seinfeld is amazing.

fredfa

11-13-05, 01:12 AM

You bet.
But how about "Wheel Of Fortune" and "Jeopardy"?

RussTC3

11-13-05, 02:14 AM

Yup, ditto for those two as well. Just think it's crazy that even with the DVD's being released, which sold well, the show is still doing great business in the syndication market.

fredfa

11-13-05, 11:55 AM

Critic’s Notebook
"SNL" ups, downs of 1980s exposed

By Joanne Ostrow Denver Post TV Critic

Give "Saturday Night Live" and NBC credit for willingly reliving the bad times.

Following the ecstatic special that documented the launch and comedic heights of "SNL," the network tonight offers a sequel: the off years.

"Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost & Found," (Sunday, 9 PM ET/PT), is engaging mainly for the period's creative misfires. There is plenty to learn from the sketches that bombed and the careers that didn't ignite.

Sure, the period gave us memorable vernacular ("Isn't that special?") and the careers of Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal and Julia Louis-Dreyfus always will carry an "SNL" footnote.

But the decade was mostly a come-down for the comedy showcase that previously defined a certain hip sensibility. The musical acts spotlighted in this chronology - the Bangles, Queen, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt - fared better than most of the comedy bits.

Inevitably, some seasons the writers are strong, other seasons the cast carries the weight. Occasionally the two parts come together to create genius, as in the hallowed heyday, 1975-80, when Lorne Michaels invented the format, stocked it with Second City improv actors, comedy club stand-ups and Harvard Lampoon writers, stood back and ran interference with the network censors.

The revered cast members from that golden era - John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Laraine Newman, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Garrett Morris - reinvented television for a certain New Bohemian mind set. They are forever heroes. Any awful sketches, moments that truly bombed, are long forgotten.

As tonight's retrospective illustrates, the original cast was an impossible act to follow. Their immediate successors are remembered as the ones who got "SNL" canceled, briefly. The Jean Doumanian era, which lasted 10 months, is recalled in stark terms. After Michaels departed, along with the original cast and writers, the show fell apart under the reign of producer Doumanian. It wasn't exactly her fault, but the backstage atmosphere was so fractious and the expectations so high, a cultural institution nearly died.

Critics were not kind. Even on the air, sketches made fun of the show's decline. Give Doumanian credit for finding Eddie Murphy, however.

Luckily, Dick Ebersol and then-NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff decided to keep the franchise going. After a five-year absence, Lorne Michaels returned in 1985 to fix the mess. The show went off the air for a period and the rest is overbaked history.

Picture Joe Piscopo doing his Sinatra shtick; Martin Short as Ed Grimley; Billy Crystal as Sammy Davis Jr., Jon Lovitz as the Pathological Liar, Harry Shearer and Short as synchronized swimmers.

Those bits "killed," as they say. And then there was a writer who couldn't get any of his material on the show, who was constantly rejected by Ebersol, who simply did not fit in. His name? Larry David, whose time on "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was yet to come.

Among those reminiscing sourly is Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who couldn't get much airtime, she says, because she was young and didn't understand the backstage politics. By not cozying up to writers, she claims, she missed having sketches written for her.

Drugs, impossible hours, pressure and exhaustion all share blame for the mess.

"SNL's" creative lull is intriguing because the flops reveal how various working parts of a comedy must be in synch. The casting of Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey Jr., Nora Dunn, Joan Cusack, Terry Sweeney and Danitra Vance was a telling chapter in the show's evolution. An immensely talented group, they never jelled as a cast. They and the writers recall their frustration as the clips chart the occasional humor.

Pop historians continue to parse the ups and downs of "SNL," a series that's often gotten more ink than it has ratings. But in the early '80s, the lows were jaw-droppingly bad and few expected a revival.

Those lows make for poignant, sometimes embarrassing reminiscences now, adding to our appreciation of the live behemoth when it clicks.

Expect more sequels. NBC has renewed "SNL" until 2012.

http://www.denverpost.com/ostrow

fredfa

11-13-05, 12:12 PM

Critic’s Notebook
It's no surprise: Backlash begins
By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News

Let the backlash begin! Actually, it already has.

It isn't hard to find criticism of "Desperate Housewives"— a lot of it coming from the same people who fell all over themselves praising the show last season. It's all decidedly predictable.

Everyone involved in the show — from the stars to creator/executive producer Marc Cherry — had seemingly steeled themselves against it before the show's second season even began.

"As long as we keep the quality up, I don't worry about backlash," Cherry said. "The moment the quality drops the vultures will come swooping in."

Well, vultures can now at least be seen in the distance. But do they have reason to be eying the show if not swooping in and picking it apart?

No. At least not yet.

Predicting that "Desperate Housewives" was going to be criticized in this, its sophomore season, was about as bold as predicting that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. Any time a show is a breakout hit in its first year, this sort of thing happens. Particularly when a show's stars are plastered all over magazines and entertainment TV shows.

An obvious comparison can be made to "Friends," which went through exactly the same thing. As did its stars. And — while some seasons of that show were better than others — the show remained popular and successful for a decade.

The fact is that, for a lot of people, the only thing more popular than building something up is tearing it down. And nitpicking has become a way of life.

I am reminded yet again of what Matt Groening said when his series "Futurama" launched in 1999 — that "The Simpsons" would still be in production 1,000 years from now "but the fans on the Internet are complaining that the past 500 years aren't as good as the first 500 years."

Perhaps some of those criticizing "Desperate Housewives" right now have never watched prime-time soap operas before. Looking all the way back to shows such as "Dallas," "Dynasty" and "Knots Landing," they spent the first few weeks of each season setting up the plot lines that would carry through the end of the season. That's what Cherry and his team have been doing on "Housewives."

Which is not to say that they're immune to criticism or that their show is perfect. If you look back at Season 1, there were flaws — most notably that some plot lines were left hanging, suddenly all but disappearing. Like . . . what about those threats Bree's son made to get back at her last spring? For that matter, what about Bree's son, who has disappeared altogether the past couple of episodes?

A former sitcom writer, Cherry's soap inexperience shows. As it has from the beginning.

But that's nitpicking. "Housewives" is still fresh, funny and entertaining. Let's send the vultures after shows that really deserve to be picked apart.

Like "Lost.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635160247,00.html

fredfa

11-13-05, 12:16 PM

Frenzy over indecency cools off
Group that orchestrated campaign aimed at FCC now more 'judicious'

By Jube Shiver Jr. Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 13, 2005

Washington---In the month after Janet Jackson's breast was bared on CBS during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, the Federal Communications Commission was deluged with 13 indecency complaints per second, on average.

That flood hasn't exactly become a trickle. About 70 complaints a day come in, but the frenzy over on-air indecency has cooled.

The main reason is the lack of a high-profile incident. In addition, broadcasters say they are more cautious, radio shock jocks are being told to tone it down or are moving to satellite radio, and anti-indecency groups aren't flooding the FCC with as many complaints.

"As long as there isn't another Janet Jackson-type Super Bowl incident, the public's already short attention span will remain focused in other places," said lawyer Alex N. Vogel, a lobbyist for CBS parent Viacom Inc.

Much of the plunge in complaints stems from a drop in filings by the Parents Television Council, the public interest group that helped push the number of complaints to 1.4 million last year.

It has been estimated that the Los Angeles group accounted for 90 percent of the complaints to the FCC.

Council officials say the group hasn't made a conscious effort to scale back indecency complaints but that it is turning its attention to issues such as television violence.

"We are just being more judicious about what we complain about," said Dan Isett, the council's director of corporate and government affairs.

Critics of the council contend that its orchestrated campaign created the misimpression of a widespread uprising among viewers, noting that many of the shows the group lambastes, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Desperate Housewives, command huge ratings.

"This assumption that everybody jumped in lock step to some moral value that took over America is false," said Jim Dyke, executive director of the industry-financed Web site TV Watch (televisionwatch.org).

"There are tens of millions of people who are watching these shows that a handful of people complain are indecent," he said.

Martin Kaplan, associate dean of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication, said the indecency frenzy lost momentum.

"Historically, the bulk of indecency complaints have been the consequence of campaigns by a handful of organizations rather than a spontaneous outpouring of individuals," Kaplan said. "It's hard to sustain a moral panic in the context of real natural disasters like the tsunami, the Iraq war and political corruption."

Nonetheless, broadcasters are monitoring their material more closely. Last year, the FCC recommended a record $7.7 million in fines, including a $550,000 penalty for the Super Bowl incident that CBS is appealing.

This year, the FCC has recommended none, although the agency is expected to act soon on pending complaints and could levy substantial penalties. Complaints being looked at include one involving shock jock Howard Stern and an obscenity allegedly uttered during a Live 8 concert broadcast on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC.

Florida lawyer Jack Thompson, who has filed hundreds of indecency complaints in the past decade, said the fines succeeded in gaining the attention of broadcasters.

"If you put up a speed trap in a community and the word gets out that the cops are there, people eventually slow down," Thompson said.

Thomas Mandel, president of Rubber City Radio Group in Akron, Ohio, said he has been more active in policing potentially offensive broadcasts.

Mandel ordered his staff to review every album in the station's music library for lyrics that might offend listeners. When one of his stations aired a syndicated radio program from Fox Sports Net Inc. that made reference to white women having sex with Shaquille O'Neal, a black National Basketball Association star, Mandel complained to a Fox Sports executive.

"I told him that this was inappropriate, that there was a line that needs to be drawn," he said.

Another reason for the decline in complaints is that some of the raunchiest radio personalities are moving away from broadcast stations. Stern is taking his show to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., and the duo Opie and Anthony air on XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.'s system.

A single documented complaint to the FCC triggers an indecency review. The agency defines broadcast indecency as "patently offensive" material that depicts "sexual or excretory organs or activities."

Shows aired between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children are likely to be in the broadcast audience, are subject to enforcement. Stations can be fined as much as $32,500 for each violation.

Last year, Bill Wippel, a 70-year-old public relations consultant in Normandy Park, Wash., filed a complaint after the Jackson incident, which he said inappropriately blindsided viewers with offensive material.

The amount of indecency on the air has declined, he said, but only because the big media companies are pragmatic.

"Indecency will lay low for a while because it's a political football now," Wippel said. "The big conglomerates don't want to make any waves."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-bz.fccdecency13nov13,1,352241,print.story?coll=bal-business-headlines

fredfa

11-13-05, 12:34 PM

“TV is about to go through a profound reinvention"
Brave new worlds: When TV viewers decide what's prime time
An array of options being offered to those who want control over show times

By Timothy McNulty and Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sunday, November 13, 2005

With downloadable "CSI" episodes coming tor local Comcast customers for 99 cents a pop in January, the long-standing rules of television programming are being thrown out the window.

Instead of network executives deciding what shows fill the prime-time slots, viewers are getting to be their own programmers, watching shows at their convenience.

"We're crossing over from 50 years of a mass media world dominated by television to a brave new world of personal media," said Paul Saffo, the director of the Palo Alto, Calif., think tank Institute For The Future.

TV will still be a major part of people's lives -- in the past year, Americans were tuned in for a record eight hours and 11 minutes a day, according to ratings service Nielsen -- but the way they experience it is changing, right before our eyes.

"Mass media and television delivered the world to our living room, but all we could do is press our nose against the screen and watch," Mr. Saffo said. "Personal media, in contrast, is very much a two-way trip. We can more easily talk back."

Some viewers already watch shows on their own terms and times, aided by an explosion of technology. VCRs are heading toward extinction as TiVos and other digital video recorders allow viewers to watch shows whenever they want and to skip commercials. They also can trade shows online, using ********** cooperative distribution software.

Networks saw that fast-moving train rushing by them, explaining why they finally agreed to jump onto the 99-cent download model.

ABC started it Oct. 12, allowing Apple to offer $1.99 downloaded episodes of "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" for use on its new video iPods.

Last week, the two other major networks followed suit: CBS allowed Comcast to offer digital cable users shows, including "CSI" and "Survivor," while NBC agreed with DirectTV satellite on such shows as "Law & Order: SVU" and "The Office."

The CBS and NBC shows will cost 99 cents each, the same amount iTunes charges for music at its popular download site.

A flood of similar deals are sure to follow, ultimately dwarfing last week's announcements, making more and more shows available, through varied platforms.

"The iPod video player doesn't matter. Downloading episodes of 'Lost' and 'Desperate Housewives' to computers barely matters. What does matter is the crack in the traditional television business model," analysts at Cambridge, Mass., tech firm Forrester Research, said Monday.

Some networks already have skipped the traditional television model and started shipping shows, some of which are produced for online audiences only, directly to the Web. With the growth of broadband, up from 25.3 million households in 2003 to an estimated 42.3 million this year, watching the shows on computers has become easier.

CBS streams episodes of its sci-fi drama "Threshold" after they air along with Web-only extras, including a blog by show writers. Web sites for MTV and Comedy Central, both owned by Viacom, as is CBS, also feature online extras, which viewers can e-mail to friends, sparking virtual watercooler talk and giving the programs second life online.

Scripps Networks is rolling out some 10 broadband-only TV channels, as well as a Web-only cooking show on the Food Network's site. Disney is unveiling a Web channel featuring clips by its cartoon characters that is aimed, of course, at kids.

With few exceptions, such as an ABC News online package that costs $39.95 annually, the Web content is free. In most cases, viewers have to sit through commercials to watch the shows, making the computer-bound viewers a viable new customer base for advertisers and helping to fuel the move to downloadable shows.

As more network programming becomes available for on-demand use, analysts expect that the 99-cent charges for watching "Survivor" or other shows will be dropped, and that they, too, will be offered for free, as long as the monthly cable bill is paid, that is.

Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, hopes that is the case.

"It's a bit of a test for Viacom to see if this makes sense. They actually are charging us for these shows and we are passing the cost on to our customers," Doug Sansom, Comcast's senior vice president for the Western Atlantic region, said of their 99-cent download deal. "We prefer to give our content away for free."

And how could they offer shows for free? Just like broadcast television does, through ads.

"Obviously, our business is built on advertising revenue," Mr. Sansom said. "We've got to keep advertising involved in these programs or, frankly, there's just not enough money out there to continue to pay for great content."

Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at Horizon Media in New York, said these new technologies open up more opportunities for advertisers to reach consumers.

"It just creates more fractionalization of the viewing source that has been around for the past 25 years," Mr. Adgate said. "There are issues, of course. One is attentiveness and who's going to measure this stuff, but, that aside, I think it's going to be more hyper-targeting. You're going to see more relevant commercials to consumers that will get them more engaged in the products."

Mr. Adgate doesn't expect the 30-second commercial to disappear overnight, but it's possible broadcast network ad sales have peaked. In May, networks saw modest gains for sales of advertising purchased before the start of the TV season, an indication of the coming changes, Mr. Adgate said. "They didn't get the humongous increases in ad rates, and part of that had to be coming to grips with the other opportunities advertisers have to spend their dollars."

So what does the future hold?

Just like the fights over copyrighted music, there will be long fights over free digital video content. Some will insist on watching shows without fees or ads, while others will press hard, probably through the courts, to get paid.

Networks will have to negotiate deals with their affiliates, which are sure to want a slice of on demand revenue. (It's important to note that CBS's deal with Comcast is applicable only in markets where CBS owns stations, limiting the objections from non-owned-and-operated affiliates.)

Online television will grow, and new networks will grow up around it. The crossbreeding has started with a deal that will let TiVo users get Yahoo! content through their computers, plus Google's nascent attempts to allow searches for TV programming, which probably would include search-based ads, just like their regular searches.

Programming itself has started changing to fit different technologies, as shown by the Web-only shows some networks are doing. That will continue, along with shows produced with television sets in mind, some for personal computers and others for mobile use.

Screens on iPods and other mobile players are small and largely used during commuting or other short bursts of attention, so programming for them will follow suit. People will use them to watch snappy music videos and eye-catching ads, not "The Sorrow and the Pity."

"Traditional TV does not go away. We still have two screens in our lives and we've just added a third," said Mr. Saffo, the Institute For The Future director.

"No old media form ever disappears. They get reinvented into a new purpose. TV is about to go through a profound reinvention."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05317/605730.stm

fredfa

11-13-05, 12:50 PM

Saturday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the second post in this thread).

SVonhof

11-13-05, 01:25 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Weekend Shows To Watch

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star

One of the tricks you’ll see on “Penn & Teller: Off the Deep End,” airing at 7 PM ET/PT Sunday on NBC (KSHB-41), is the Harry Houdini classic known as “Metamorphosis,” in which Teller switches places with an assistant locked inside a cage in the blinking of an eye.

Only this time, it — like all the other tricks on this special — is performed underwater. I think we can all agree that just about anything becomes more interesting when you take gravity out of the equation.

After seeing Penn and Teller live in Las Vegas, I will avoid any chance of seeing them again, I don't care if it is on TV or in person. Las Vegas is a place people go to spend money and have a good time. My wife and I have been to many shows while on various trips there and this was the worst of any. I had several problems with their show:
1) They were not funny. It was a very dry humor that I just didn't care for.
2) some of their acts were more morbid than anything, like the bleeding rose thing. What was that?!
3) When I go to a show in Vegas, I go for the glitz and glamour and showiness of it. They didn't have any of this.
4) I go to be entertained, not preached to on their political views. Politics is one of those things that can go wrong when not done carefully in a large audience. This was totally wrong. Not to say I am totally political, but my friends that were with us, well, he is in politics and it was a total turn-off for all of us.

We walked away from there wishing we had our 2 hours and $71.50 per person back. We would rather have lost that money at the gambling tables than give it to them after that lousy show.

Just my opinion. Take it as you wish, but I will be avoiding their show.

fredfa

11-13-05, 02:52 PM

The TV to DVD Boom
Some Television Reruns Hit Their Prime on DVD

Both vintage and recent series crowd stores, changing the way shows are made and marketed

By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 13, 2005

The TV studios love guys like Mike Moore.

A die-hard television fan, the 22-year-old Boston resident has a burgeoning DVD library of favorite series, including "24," "Family Guy" and the short-lived "Freaks and Geeks." He rented "The Shield," an FX cop drama he initially wasn't crazy about, and on second viewing was "blown away by how good the program is," he said. He has barely had time to dip into his first-season DVDs of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Third Rock From the Sun."

"The more [the studios] pump out, the better chance I will be able to buy a show I love," Moore wrote in an e-mail. Tops on his wish list: '80s shows such as "The Wonder Years," "Family Matters" and "Perfect Strangers."

Moore's enthusiasm may sound extreme to some, but there's little doubt that the tremendous success of the television series-to-DVD category is changing the way television programs are made, marketed and consumed.

Cult shows, for instance, that yield unspectacular ratings by network standards often have surprising clout, thanks to high DVD sales. In several cases — such as Fox's spy drama "24" and animated sitcom "Family Guy" — DVDs have helped keep on the air shows that otherwise might have been headed for cancellation. "Family Guy" has sold more than 5 million DVD units (in four separate editions); typically a TV series would be considered successful if it sold 500,000 units.

"DVD has been the savior of '24,' where the consumer can control the experience," said Howard Gordon, the executive producer who is running the show this season. The series' strong performance in stores, he added, has helped offset some of the problems the show, featuring Kiefer Sutherland as an unconventional and sometimes unlikable secret agent, has had in building an audience in prime time.

Studio spokesman Chris Alexander pointed out that, although its ratings have improved over time, "24" was relatively expensive to make. "DVD revenue is a key component to the show's overall profitability," he said. "Without it, the show's economics might be harder to justify."

The DVD results encourage studios to produce other "high-concept grabbers," Gordon said, citing Fox's new drama "Prison Break" as an example.

Indeed, DVDs are altering the financial model that has governed the TV business for generations. Now, industry veterans say, series no longer need to survive for at least 100 episodes before entering the lucrative syndication market on local stations.

Television DVDs are expanding the nation's collective pop-cultural memory as well, as long-forgotten shows are resurfacing (anyone up for a double marathon of Buster Crabbe's "Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion" and Jeff Altman's "Pink Lady and Jeff"?).

"Television on DVD is becoming part of the movie-viewing experience," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix, the online DVD rental service that has 3.6 million subscribers. "This blurring of lines between television and film was something video stores were never able to do" when VHS tapes reigned supreme. "It used to be that [some] video stores wouldn't even carry HBO shows because [they] were considered second-tier."

Robert J. Thompson, founding director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, noted that at the dawn of commercial television in the late 1940s and early '50s, programmers often didn't bother recording their telecasts. "In half a century, we've gone from TV being live, completely disposable programming to [consumers assembling] libraries of these things."

For major hits such as ABC's dramas "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," DVDs have become a vital extension of the studio marketing machine.

TV shows are also giving a boost to the DVD market generally, which can no longer count on spectacular growth from feature film titles, especially as box office interest has dipped this year and some film DVDs have registered lower-than-expected sales. Earlier this year, DreamWorks Animation and Pixar said DVD sales of their respective animated titles "Shrek 2" and "The Incredibles" would be weaker than predicted.

This year, for the first time, the 499 new releases of multi-disc sets of TV series on DVD through October will outnumber those of recent theatrical films, at 441, according to the trade newsletter DVD Release Report. In the last three months of this year, studios will be churning out TV-related titles at the rate of 18 per week, according to Ralph Tribbey, the newsletter's editor. TV series on DVD have become the fastest-growing segment of the overall DVD business, netting $1.5 billion in estimated consumer sales so far this year, up 34% compared with the same period last year, industry executives say.

TV-to-DVD "is a business that essentially didn't exist 3 1/2 years ago," said Ron Sanders, president of Warner Home Video, which will release the 10th and final season of "Friends" on DVD Tuesday. But "for the foreseeable future, it's going to be a big and growing business."

Yet there are those who think the business might be getting a bit too big for its own good. Some studio executives grumble that the flood of TV titles is crowding retail shelves, making it harder for top shows to stand out.

"There's a limit to how much the market can absorb," Tribbey said. "You reach diminishing returns…. I don't see [retailers] knocking holes in the side of the building to accommodate more DVDs."

For the moment, that's a minor worry. To kick off the Christmas buying season, the major studios are planning another wave of heavily promoted releases, including the fifth and sixth seasons of "Seinfeld" (Nov. 22), season five of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (Nov. 29) and the seventh season of "The Simpsons" (Dec. 13).

The series-to-DVD category has come a long way since 1999, when Wal-Mart began offering digital videodisc players (the DVD format had been officially introduced four years earlier, but the early machines were too pricey for many consumers).

Because television series had seldom sold particularly well on videotape — after all, a 22-episode season required a half-dozen or more bulky and hard-to-navigate plastic cassettes — many experts believed feature films and special-interest titles would dominate the new format, just as they had on VHS. In 2000, 28 multi-disc TV titles were released on DVD, compared with 334 recent theatrical features.

But in the spring of that year, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment experimented with the first-season DVD of its sci-fi hit "The X-Files." The seven-disc package was initially priced at $149.98, a king's ransom by today's standards, when season packages often go for $40 or less. Sales were surprisingly strong, and Fox quickly brought out the second season that November.

Other studios took notice: Viewers would buy not just individual episodes but entire seasons of their favorite shows.

These days, certain series seem almost tailor-made for DVDs. That's especially true of serialized science fiction and adventure dramas, which typically feature complicated story lines that bear repeated viewing. Those kinds of shows also often appeal to young men, a key audience for DVDs. "Lost," ABC's ratings-challenged spy drama "Alias" and even Fox's short-lived sci-fi series "Firefly" have all appeared in recent DVD bestseller lists.

A desert-island mystery-thriller with a large ensemble cast, "Lost" "would have been almost impossible to do before" the arrival of DVDs, Syracuse University's Thompson said. "It practically begs you to go back and look for clues. It's a game — a spectator sport."

To promote the second season of "Lost" this fall, ABC executives worked closely with their counterparts at Buena Vista Home Entertainment (both are units of Walt Disney Co.), according to Bruce Gersh, senior vice president of business development for ABC Entertainment.

The first-season DVD was released Sept. 6, which gave fans and neophytes alike time to bone up on the characters and the complicated story lines before the second season premiered two weeks later — to huge ratings.

DVDs are having a big effect not only on which shows get made but also on which get remembered. "Family Guy" was dumped by Fox in 2002 after 50 episodes, several time-period switches and a ratings downturn. But strong DVD sales, plus a berth on Cartoon Network's hip "Adult Swim" programming block, persuaded the network to revive the series this year. Experts say that's a unique case, but it illustrates the power that DVDs have to tap niche markets.

Fans understand this. Not content with his current library, Moore is chasing other series-to-DVD holy grails, including favorites from his childhood — the sitcom "Small Wonder" and Nickelodeon shows such as "Salute Your Shorts" and "Kenan and Kel."

"Everyone my age would know and would buy [those shows] in a second," he said.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-na-dvdimpact13nov13,0,910703,print.story?coll=cl-tv-features

fredfa

11-13-05, 03:05 PM

The TV to DVD Boom
You thought that series was history?
Classic TV programs are being revived on disc at a robust clip

The Los Angeles TimesNovember 13, 2005

Just in time for the Holiday season, here are some TV shows with DVDs either recently release or soon to be on sale. You can either give them as gifts, or let oithers know you would love to have one (or more!) under your tree.

Comedy

Cheers: The Complete Seventh Season. The Boston bar and its patrons in TV history. Paramount: four discs, 22 episodes, $39.99, Tuesday.

Crank Yankers: Season 2, Volume 2. Puppets and rude phone calls. Paramount/Comedy Central: two discs, 15 episodes, includes audio calls from Jimmy Kimmel and Eminem, $26.99, Nov. 29.

The Dukes of Hazzard: The Complete Fifth Season. NASCAR, the Duke cousins Vance and Coy … and Daisy. Warner Bros.: eight discs, 22 episodes, $39.98, Dec. 13.

Everybody Loves Raymond: The Complete Fifth Season. Ray Romano plays Ray Barone, a sportswriter married to Patricia Heaton and son to meddlesome parents who live across the street. HBO: five discs, 25 episodes, including commentaries, deleted scenes and bloopers, $44.98, Dec. 6.

Family Guy: Volume 3. The Griffin clan and their outrageous adventures. Fox: three discs, 13 episodes, includes deleted scenes and featurette on "Family Guy" fandom, $39.98, Nov. 29.

Frasier: The Complete Seventh Season. Kelsey Grammer is Dr. Frasier Crane, a psychiatrist with a radio show and a wacky home life with his brother, father and father's physical therapist. Paramount: four discs, 23 episodes, $39.99, Tuesday.

Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fifth Season. A single mother and her incredibly close relationship with her daughter. Warner Bros.: six discs, 22 episodes, includes featurette and commentaries, $59.98, Dec. 13.

Golden Girls: The Intimate Portraits Series . Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty are profiled. Warner Bros.: $14.98, Tuesday.

The Golden Girls: Season 3. This particular season earned the show three Emmys. Buena Vista: three discs, 25 episodes, including "Golden Moments," and a collection of clips from each "Golden Girl," $39.99, Nov. 22.

Green Acres: Season 3. Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor star as an urban married couple facing the challenges of country life. This is the season things turned a bit strange with Arnold the pig. MGM/Sony: four discs, 30 episodes, $29.95, Dec. 6.

Home Improvement: Season 3. Tim Allen is "The Toolman," host of "Tool Time," a television show for do-it-yourselfers, husband to Patricia Richardson and father to their three sons. Buena Vista: three discs, $39.99, Nov. 22.

Jackass: The Box Set. Johnny Knoxville and his crew torture themselves for our entertainment. Paramount/MTV: includes unreleased segments, commentaries, $59.98, Dec. 6. (Vol. 1 can be bought separately, $20.)

King of the Hill: Season 5. The successful animated show continues with Hank, Bobby and Peggy Hill and their survival in Texas suburbia. Fox: three discs, 20 episodes, $39.98, Nov. 22.

Leave It to Beaver: Season 1. One of the archetypal 1950s American families, with Jerry Mathers as the hapless Beaver. Universal: 39 episodes, $49.98, Nov. 22. (Also available as a gift set with lunchbox and photo album, ($69.98.)

Once Upon a Mattress. Carol Burnett and Tracey Ullman star in this retelling of "The Princess and the Pea." Buena Vista: includes featurette, outtakes and filmed rehearsal, $19.99, Dec. 20.

P. Diddy Presents the Bad Boys of Comedy: Season 1. Two discs of new stand-up comics. Rapper Doug E. Fresh serves as MC. Paramount: $29.99, Tuesday.

Roseanne: The Complete Second Season. Roseanne and John Goodman star as the Conners, just ordinary folks. Anchor Bay: four discs, includes uncut episodes and interview with Goodman, $39.98, Dec. 6.

Scrubs: The Complete Second Season. Who knew a hospital could be so much fun? Buena Vista: three discs, 22 episodes, includes outtakes, deleted scenes, commentaries, $39.99, Tuesday.

Seinfeld: Seasons 5 and 6. Jerry, Kramer, Elaine and George: their lives, their loves, their pathologies. Sony: four discs each, 22 episodes from Season 5 and 24 from Season 6, includes deleted scenes and bloopers, $49.95 each, Nov. 22. (Gift set of both plus puffy shirt and handwritten script, $119.95.)

Sex and the City: The Complete Series. Four single women in Manhattan experience the peaks and valleys of romance and sex. HBO: 20 discs, 94 episodes, video jukebox with dating advice, a guide to New York restaurants, $299.99, Already released.

That '70s Show: Season 3. Ashton Kutcher, Topher Grace, Wilmer Valderrama and others as high-schoolers. Fox: four discs, 25 episodes, includes commentaries and featurette, $49.98, Tuesday.

Tracey Takes On: The Complete First Season. Tracey Ullman assumes a variety of roles with each episode. HBO: three discs, 10 episodes, includes featurettes, commentaries, $34.98, Nov. 22.

Drama

Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.0. Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell star in this celestial drama to save the dwindling human race. (This is not the full season.) Universal: three discs, 10 episodes, includes extended episodes, $49.98, Dec. 20.

Combat!: The Complete Series. 32 discs of Vic Morrow leading his platoon through the European WWII landscape. Image: 32 discs, includes documentary and featurettes, $299.99, Dec. 6.

The Count of Monte Cristo. Miniseries starring Gérard Depardieu as Edmond Dantès in the Dumas classic. Koch Lorber: two discs, $29.98, Dec. 6.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Complete Fifth Season. The show that began a franchise focusing on the forensic sciences. Paramount: seven discs, 24 episodes, with commentaries and featurettes, $99.99, Nov. 29.

CSI: Miami: The Complete Third Season. High-tech criminal investigation show set in steamy Miami, starring David Caruso. Paramount/CBS: six discs, 24 episodes, many featurettes and commentaries, $55.99, Nov. 22.

Easy Sex. A burnt-out college professor jumps from one fling to another until he meets a woman he falls in love with, then becomes obsessed. Showtime: $26.99, Tuesday.

Empire. A miniseries set in Rome after Caesar's assassination, starring James Frain, Jonathan Cake, Colm Feore and others. Buena Vista: two discs, $29.99, Nov. 29.

ER: The Complete Fourth Season. The rapid, stress-inducing activity in a Chicago hospital emergency room. Warner Bros.: six discs, 22 episodes, outtakes, gag reel, featurette on "live" season opener, $49.98, Dec. 20.

Fantasy Island: The Complete First Season. Fantasies come to life with Ricardo Montalbán, Hervé Villechaize. Sony: four discs, 15 episodes, includes the 1977 pilot and the 1978 "Return to Fantasy Island," $49.95, Tuesday.

Four Minutes. The story of Sir Roger Bannister, the man who broke the four-minute mile. Buena Vista/ESPN: includes original footage of Bannister's feat, interviews, outtakes, featurette, $29.99, Dec. 6.

Law & Order: The Fourth Year. The first season to feature S. Epatha Merkerson as Lt. Anita Van Buren and Jill Hennessy as assistant D.A. Claire Kincaid. Universal: 22 episodes, includes deleted and extended scenes, $59.98, Dec. 6.

Magnificent Seven: Season 1. Seven men protect an Indian village from ex-Confederate soldiers. MGM/Sony: two discs, nine episodes, $29.95, Dec. 6.

Miami Vice: Season 2. Innovative '80s crime show defined a new genre. Universal: three discs, 22 episodes, $59.98, Dec. 13.

Murder One: Season 2. From creator Steven Bochco, the original season followed one murder case through an entire season. Season 2 has three cases. Fox: five discs, 18 episodes, featurette, $59.99, Tuesday.

Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Second Season. Angela Lansbury as sleuth Jessica Fletcher. Includes "Widow Weep for Me," the episode introducing Len Cariou in a recurring role. Universal: three discs, 22 episodes, $49.98, Dec. 6.

Naked City: Box Set 2. One of the original crime drama shows (1958-63) and constantly featuring top actors. Image: three discs, 12 episodes, $29.99, Nov. 22.

North & South. The story of a woman moving from her comforts in southern England to life in a northern mill town during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century. BBC: two discs, includes commentary and deleted scenes, $29.98, Nov. 22.

Nowhere Man: The Complete Series. Bruce Greenwood is Thomas Veil, a man who must seek to reidentify himself after his past ceases to exist. Image: nine discs, 25 episodes, includes commentaries, interviews and deleted scenes, $69.99, Dec. 27.

Party of Five: The Complete Second Season. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Matthew Fox, Neve Campbell, Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert all had careers launched by this show. Sony: five discs, 22 episodes, includes interviews, $49.95, Dec. 20.

Rockford Files: Season 1. James Garner, a laid-back private investigator, lives in a mobile home in Malibu from which he ventures to solve crimes. Universal: three discs, 23 episodes, includes Garner interview, $39.98, Dec. 6.

SeaQuest: Season 1. A Spielberg underwater vehicle, captained by Roy Scheider as Nathan Bridger, a man who must police the newly populated seas. Universal: four discs, 23 episodes, $59.98, Dec. 27.

Sexual Life. Eight people and what love and sex mean to them as they jump from one bed to another. Cast includes Anne Heche, Tom Everett Scott, Elizabeth Banks and Steven Weber. Showtime: $26.99, Nov. 29.

Shelter Island. Ally Sheedy and Patsy Kensit are trapped on an island in a storm when Stephen Baldwin arrives to complicate things. Showtime: $19.99, Dec. 27.

The Shield: Season 4. The cop drama that pushes all envelopes and wins all awards, starring Michael Chiklis and Glenn Close. Fox: four discs, 13 episodes, includes deleted scenes, commentaries, $59.98, Dec. 27.

Stargate Atlantis: Season 1. Scientists seek to uncover the mysteries of Atlantis, a city in the Pegasus Galaxy, but they have to find a way to return home and battle the Wraith. MGM/Sony: five discs, 20 episodes, includes featurettes and commentaries, $59.95, Tuesday.

Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume 2. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the events that led directly to last year's "Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith." Fox: includes galleries of concept art, storyboards and sketches, featurette, commentary, $19.98, Dec. 6.

Their Eyes Were Watching God. Halle Berry stars as a woman seeking love and fulfillment. Co-produced by Oprah Winfrey. Buena Vista: $29.99, Nov. 29.

Tru Calling: The Complete Second Season. Eliza Dushku is Tru Davies, a woman who can manipulate time and thwart disasters. Fox: two discs, five episodes and one unaired episode, featurette, $26.98, Tuesday.

24: Season 4. Kiefer Sutherland is Jack Bauer, head of a unique counterterrorist team, who saves the world against the clock. Fox: seven discs, 24 episodes, includes deleted scenes, commentaries, music video, $69.98, Dec. 6.

The Twilight Zone: The Definitive Edition — Season 5. The last season included several famous episodes: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," "The Last Night of a Jockey," "Living Doll," "Uncle Simon," "The Masks." Image: six discs, 35 episodes with new high-definition transfers, commentaries and interviews, $99.99, Dec. 27.

The West Wing: The Complete Fifth Season. The government temporarily moves from a Democratic administration to the Republican speaker of the House. Stars Martin Sheen, Joshua Malina, Stockard Channing and more. Warner Bros.: six discs, 22 episodes, $59.98, Dec. 6.

The X-Files Mythology: Super Soldiers. A selection of episodes depicting a government plan gone awry to create "super soldiers" and Scully and Mulder's investigation into it. Fox: four discs, 14 episodes in a collector's set, $39.98, Nov. 22.

Animation and Children

The Adventures of Spin and Marty. Originally ran on "The Mickey Mouse Club" in 1955-56. Two summer campers have adventures at a boys' ranch. Buena Vista: 25 episodes, includes interviews and tour of filming site, $32.99, Dec. 6.

Aeon Flux: The Complete Animated Collection. (Parental discretion advised) Sexy secret agent fights a corrupt world in the future. Inspired upcoming film with Charlize Theron in title role. Paramount/MTV: three discs, 10 episodes with featurettes, shorts and production art, $39.99, Nov. 22.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume 4. Short, smartly absurd episodes involving Frylock, Master Shake and Meatwad; including those involving the Mooninites, "Robositter" and "Gee Whiz." Warner Bros.: two discs, 13 episodes, $29.98, Dec. 6.

Elfego Baca and the Swamp Fox: Legendary Heroes. Robert Loggia is the former and Leslie Nielsen the latter in two shows highlighting courage. Buena Vista: three episodes each, interview with Loggia and featurette, $32.99, Dec. 6.

Felicity: An American Girl Adventure. A young girl in the American colonies amid revolutionary tremors. Warner Bros.: includes interviews, tour of Williamsburg, Va., $19.97, Nov. 29. (Gift pack available with bracelet featuring Felicity's horse, Penny, and foal, Patriot, $24.90.)

The Flintstones: The Complete Fourth Season. The "Honeymooners" of Bedrock. Warner Bros.: four discs 24 episodes, including Ann-Margrock (voiced by Ann-Margret) visiting Fred and Barney and how Fred and Barney met Wilma and Betty, $44.98, Tuesday.

Gargoyles — Season 2: Volumes 1-3. Statues come to life at night to protect New York City. Buena Vista: three discs, 26 episodes, includes commentary and featurette, $39.99, Dec. 6.

Home Movies: Season 3. Features a family with young filmmaker Brendon Small. Features episodes "Shore Leave," "Guitarmageddon." Shout Factory: three discs, 13 episodes, includes interactive game, featurette, $34.98, Tuesday.

The Huckleberry Hound Show: Volume 1. The blue dog with the Southern drawl. Warner Bros.: four discs, 26 episodes, $44.98, Tuesday.

Little Rascals Collection III. Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and the gang in 10 episodes, including "Free Wheeling," "Mike Fright" and "Washee Ironee." Lions Gate: $14.98, Tuesday.

Scooby-Doo in Where's My Mummy. Egyptologist Velma stumbles upon Cleopatra's tomb, and Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. team unleash an army of mummies. Warner Bros.: $24.98, Dec. 13.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Where's Gary? Gary runs away from SpongeBob to downtown Bikini Bottom. Paramount/Nickelodeon: one disc, five episodes, with two bonus episodes, $16.99, Tuesday.

Superman: The Animated Series — Volume 2. The man with the red cape battles Lex Luthor and other baddies. Warner Bros.: two discs, 18 episodes, includes commentary and featurette, $26.99, Dec. 6.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Volume 3. The super turtles in action in 12 episodes. Lion's Gate: one disc, 12 episodes, DVD comes in yellow Amaray case, $14.98, Dec. 6.

Thundercats: Season 1, Volume 2. Lion-O leads the Thundercats to a new life on Third Earth. Warner Bros.: two discs, 32 episodes, $64.92, Dec. 6.

Timeslip. A cult show from the '70s in which two children have the ability to travel back to different time periods. Commander Traynor mysteriously seems to appear in each period. A&E: four discs, 26 episodes, $79.95, Nov. 29.

The Tomorrow People: Set 2. A '70s British series in which three teens with extraordinary powers save the universe. A&E: four discs, 26 episodes, $59.95, Nov. 29.

The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: Fun With the Cat. Jim Henson puppetry with 3-D animation of Cat and friends Sarah Hall-Small, Yertle the Turtle and others in three adventures. Sony: $9.95, Tuesday.

The Yogi Bear Show: The Complete Series. Yogi (and Boo-Boo) on the loose in Jellystone National Park. Snagglepuss ("Exit, stage right!") makes appearances. Warner Bros.: four discs, 35 episodes, $44.98, Tuesday.

Reality shows

America's Funniest Home Videos: Best of Kids and Animals. Puppies, tykes, etc. in comic situations. Shout Factory: three discs, one hosted by Bob Saget, two by Tom Bergeron, $29.98, Dec. 27.

Criss Angel Mindfreak: Complete Season 1. Master of Illusion Criss Angel makes "Jackass" stunts look like playing checkers. A&E: two discs, 15 episodes, $26.95, Nov. 29.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Ty Pennington cheerleads his team into transforming people's homes. Buena Vista: two discs, includes bloopers, featurette, $29.99, Nov. 22.

Family Bonds: The Complete First Season. Reality show on the Evangelista family, who make their living as bounty hunters. HBO: two discs, 10 episodes, includes commentary and a barbecue with the family, $29.95, Dec. 13.

Oprah Winfrey Show: The 20th Anniversary DVD Collection. The successful talk show host in top form. Paramount/Harpo/King World: six discs featuring interview highlights, featurettes, $40, Tuesday.

Project Runway. Model Heidi Klum hosts this show in which designers compete to win a contract. Buena Vista: three discs, $39.99, Nov. 29.

Documentary

A Complete Battle History of the Armed Forces. A historical review of the five branches — Marines, Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard — of the armed services. A&E: five discs, includes biographies and battles, $79.95, Dec. 27.

A Time for Burning. The tensions of the civil rights era 40 years ago are exposed in this vérité confrontation in a Nebraska Lutheran church. A&E: includes commentaries and historical updates, $26.95, Nov. 29.

Discovery Channel's Jane Goodall: Return to Gombe (Animal Planet). The primatologist goes back to the site of her initial research 40 years later. Sony: one disc, $14.94, Tuesday.

The Execution of Wanda Jean. Wanda Jean Allen, given a lethal injection in 2001, was the first black woman to be executed in 50 years. Film investigates the events leading up to her execution. A&E: $26.95, Nov. 29.

Life in the Freezer. 1993 International Emmy Award winner on life in Antarctica with Sir David Attenborough leading a crack camera team. BBC: one disc, $14.98, Nov. 22.

The Secret Life of Geisha. Companion piece to the upcoming Steven Spielberg-produced "Memoirs of a Geisha." A study of the real 400-year-old tradition of the geisha in Japan. A&E: $19.95, Nov. 29.

SlamNation. Performance poets engage in a verbal joust at the National Poetry Slam. A&E: includes versions of excerpted poems (viewable during the movie), deleted scenes, outtake poems, $29.95, Nov. 29.

Unknown Chaplin. Documentary on the great comedian includes footage Chaplin had wanted destroyed. A&E: $24.95, Nov. 29.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-ca-dvdlisttv13nov13,0,5816730,print.htmlstory?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

11-13-05, 03:15 PM

Its time again for my periodic reminder of something I think you will really find interesting:
Check It Out!
If you haven’t yet heard AVS Radio, which offers two new shows a week, what are you waiting for?
It is produced by The HTGuys for AVS Forum and offers news, interviews, and HT topics that are sure to make you a weekly listener.
Here is all the info you need:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/announcement.php?f=34&announcementid=81

fredfa

11-13-05, 03:20 PM

SVonhof

11-13-05, 03:39 PM

Scott: Personally, I tend to agree with you regarding "Penn and Teller".

But as you know, I try to present an eclectic summary of what is available on TV in hopes that some readers may find something of interest to watch they hadn't known about or considered.

I am sure some find them funny, while you and I will find other things to do with our time. :)

I totally understand and was simply stating my view on them. And of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and not everyone will agree with those of us that are right! :D

fredfa

11-13-05, 03:41 PM

FSN Goes HD for College Football

FSN NW will broadacst next Saturday’s Washington State-Washington football game in HD at 3:15 PM ET. I don’t yet know if it will receive distribution through DirecTV or any other provider outside of the Pacific northwest. But --and I could be wrong – I believe it is FSN’s first HD college football offering, so it is good news.

fredfa

11-13-05, 03:47 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Chemistry on “Boston Legal” is pure luck

By Mark McGuire Albany Times Union staff writer November 13, 2005

On last week's "Boston Legal," courtroom legends Denny Crane (William Shatner) and Alan Shore (James Spader) sat down for drinks and stogies on their law office balcony, a tradition that closes each day, and episode.

These bombastic lions, full of pomposity, rarely let down their guard, and only to each other. In this episode, Crane is realizing that his incipient Alzheimer's, which he tells everyone is mad cow disease, is getting worse. Shore has a bucketful of neuroses, the latest manifestation being an abject fear of clowns.

Who cares? As Shatner's character tells everyone, I'm Denny Crane!, as if the exclamation is enough.

"It's fun being me," Crane surmises. "Is it fun being you?"

"Most of the time, yes," Shore responds.

It's fun watching both of them, all the time. On "Boston Legal" (10 PM ET/PT Tuesdays on ABC), Shatner's Crane makes Captain Kirk look like a pillar of modesty, and Spader's Shore is quirkier than ... than ... well, Spader himself. Together, they are the most dynamic comedy duo on television today.

When "Legal" creator David E. Kelley cast Shatner and Spader in these roles, which originated on "The Practice," he didn't know how they would click.

"You just always try to find the best available actor, and chemistry isn't anything an executive producer or writer can orchestrate or plan; you just hope for it," Kelley told TV critics last summer. "(With) these two, that was just luck."

Sure, there are funnier individual performers, from Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") to Jason Lee ("My Name is Earl"), but no pair gobbles up the screen with such delightful excess as these lawyers with demagnetized moral compasses.

"They were seemingly from two different worlds, and -- who knew? -- they connected right away," Kelley said. "The balcony scene ... was never designed to be a staple of the show that we would revisit week after week. That was something that these two sort of brought to life."

It's not surprising that both won Emmys this year, Spader for lead actor and Shatner for supporting actor. But in the drama category? (They also won Emmys for the same characters on "The Practice.")

While there are traditional legal story lines in the spinoff, they are usually so skewed (a woman seeks an annulment because her husband cheated on her with a cow; a clown appears in court in full makeup, scaring the snot out of Shore) that they fall clearly into the realm of farce.

"I enjoy the most that Alan seems to be the happiest the stranger that it can be," Spader said. "I don't think it ever can be strange enough for him."

Spinoffs are usually natural extensions of their progenitors. (See story at left.) Anyone on one of the "CSI" or "Law & Order" shows can appear on an offspring series without jarring the audience.

There are few examples where the spinoff show is different in tone and style from the original. "Lou Grant" was a drama, and much different than "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Same could be said for "Trapper John, M.D" ("M*A*S*H"), "The Muppet Show" ("Sesame Street") and "Beverly Hills Buntz" ("Hill Street Blues").

"Boston Legal" is another notable exception. This child of "The Practice" is different in substance and style, even if it has Kelley's quirkiness written all over it. It's more rooted in the real world than his "Ally McBeal," but much more of a comedic romp than "The Practice."

Last season, the show was pulled from ABC's Sunday-night lineup in favor of fellow rookie "Grey's Anatomy," which became a hit.

"We weren't very pleased with (the switch). It was tough," Kelley said. "... We felt we were just coming into a run of our best shows of the season." Those episodes, including one in which Crane and Shore go on an epically bizarre Canadian fishing trip, rank among the best hours on TV this season.

Kelley said he got lucky with Spader and Shatner. Truth is, we all did.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=418474

fredfa

11-13-05, 07:45 PM

'WWE Smackdown!' star Guerrero dies

MINNEAPOLIS (Associated Press)—A World Wrestling Entertainment star was found dead in his hotel room Sunday in Minneapolis, where he was scheduled to appear that evening in a WWE show.
Eduardo Gory Guerrero, 38, didn't respond to a wake-up call Sunday morning, authorities said. His nephew, fellow WWE wrestler Chavo Guerrero, and hotel security at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center forced their way into the room and found him.

Guerrero was a featured star on the UPN series "WWE Smackdown!" and son of Mexican wrestler Gory Guerrero. Last year, he became the second wrestler of Hispanic heritage to be WWE champion, though he lost the title four months later.

"This is a huge loss," said WWE chairman Vince McMahon. "Eddie was a wonderful, fun-loving human being. Eddie was a consummate performer."

UPN also aired a special last year on his life, "Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story." The program chronicled Guerrero's childhood and his struggle with drug addiction that almost cost him his job, family and life.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/television/13159751.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

11-13-05, 07:57 PM

Who Says the BBC Has More Class than US Networks?
They sexed up my Roman orgy, says glum director

By Richard Brooks The Times of LondonArts Editor

The director of ”Rome”, the BBC’s swords and sandals epic, is accusing the corporation of sensationalising his work by over-playing the sex and violence and cutting out key political narrative.

Michael Apted, whose film credits include Gorillas in the Mist and The World Is Not Enough, said he was “pissed off” and “grumpy” about the BBC’s handling of the series, the first episode of which went out last week.

He said he had not been told the BBC was squeezing the first three episodes — the ones he directed — down to two. They were shown at full length in America by HBO, the BBC’s partner in the production.

The corporation maintained that the cut scenes were unnecessary because British audiences “already knew” the historical background of the struggle between Julius Caesar and Pompey and did not need as much information as Americans.

Apted was engaged to film the first three episodes of the £60m series, a joint project between the BBC and HBO, the American cable channel.

But, says Apted, a funny thing happened on the way to the studios. HBO has shown all three of his 50-minute episodes in full, but the BBC has cut and spliced them into two programmes and removed much of the back-stabbing between Caesar and Pompey.

Some reviewers have compared the finished product to Caligula, the notorious 1979 film produced by Bob Guccione, the Penthouse publisher, who spliced sex scenes into the story without telling his cast.

“The BBC has not only sold this series on sex and violence, but now, in the way it has edited and cut the first episodes, it has made sex scenes more important than the senate scenes,” said Apted.

“I’m really pissed off with the BBC for bringing down my first three episodes to two and, in doing so, taking out much of the vital politics.”

“It has also made it confusing for viewers to follow. The balance is all wrong now. They’ve cut out vital scenes between Caesar and Pompey. Scenes which show the dirty tricks each tried. The political context has been lost.”

Apted, who has also directed the iconic ITV documentary series Seven Up, only saw the BBC’s edited version of Rome very recently. He is currently in Britain shooting the movie Amazing Grace, which tells the story of William Wilberforce and his attempts to ban slavery.

“What also makes me very grumpy is that I was told that the cuts had been introduced by the BBC because they thought British viewers already knew the historical background. But all that’s happened as far as the viewer is concerned is that it has made Rome hard to follow.

“I’m also annoyed because it makes me look as if I’m at fault with my directing. It reflects poorly on me.”

Apted, who, though British born and bred is also president of the Directors Guild of America, believes the BBC over-sold the programme on sex and violence. “I watched a discussion about it on BBC Breakfast the other morning and they were cooing about the sex.”

Apted also claims that he was never told in advance that the BBC had cut his first three episodes into two 50-minute ones. Other directors filmed the rest of the series.

“I only found out by chance a couple of weeks ago when one of the actors told me.”

By then the BBC, which has the contractual rights to edit as it wishes, had made its mind up.

Apted’s dismay is shared by Robin Lane Fox, a professor of history at New College, Oxford, and author of The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian. “The BBC is a victim of the delusion that if you dumb down you will get a bigger audience,” said Lane Fox, who was the historical adviser to Oliver Stone’s film Alexander.

However, if that was the intention, it seems to have worked. The 6.6m viewers who watched the opening episode of Rome on BBC2 last Wednesday was the biggest audience for the channel for more than five years.

“Sadly, when compared with the brilliance of I, Claudius, Rome trivialises, particularly the relationship between Caesar and Pompey,” said Lane Fox. “The real story should be that of the battle among the senators. But BBC viewers have not been given this. The amounts of sex and violence in episode one are absurd. It’s a shame as the acting is very good.”

Rome has received mixed reviews. While some praised it as entertaining, A A Gill, the Sunday Times television critic, writes in today’s Culture that it was “a mess of confusing storylines. Almost every utterance had to move great marble slabs of plot. It looked like a case of too many producers re-writing editing and patching up, which might well be an appropriate metaphor for the end of the republic, but it made for confused television”.

The BBC says it cut the first three episodes to two as “British viewers did not need so much back-story”.

The BBC blamed newspapers for concentrating on the sexual and violent content and said that its historical consultant maintained that ancient Rome was portrayed accurately.

On BBC1’s Points of View today, Roly Keating, BBC2’s controller, will say “Ancient Rome was a very violent society with utterly different moral values from ours. The series has been written to give the audience an authentic and unsparing portrayal of life in that era at all social levels.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1859513,00.html

DoubleDAZ

11-13-05, 09:21 PM

Leave It to Beaver: Season 1. One of the archetypal 1950s American families, with Jerry Mathers as the hapless Beaver. Universal: 39 episodes, $49.98, Nov. 22. (Also available as a gift set with lunchbox and photo album, ($69.98.)Maybe 39 episodes in a single season is why those were the "golden" years of television. :)

fredfa

11-13-05, 09:45 PM

You bet.
If they could produce that number instead of just 22, the migration from the networks to cable might never have started.

DoubleDAZ

11-13-05, 10:39 PM

They probably could if salaries were commensurate with that period. I liken Beaver to DH with regard to production costs and the only glaring difference IMHO is today's salaries. Pine Street and Wisteria Lane are very much alike, so outside high-definition and color, salaries have got to account for far more of today's cost than they did back then. And, I'd be willing to bet that DH, et al, will not be around in syndication 40 years from now like Beaver still is. I was 10 when it started and I still get a kick out of it, though for different reasons now. ;)

fredfa

11-13-05, 11:06 PM

The Digital Revolution
Internet Service to Put Classic TV on Home Computer

By SAUL HANSELL The New York Times November 14, 2005

Looking for "The Fugitive?" Didn't get enough "Eight Is Enough?" Would you like to "Welcome Back, Kotter" one more time?

Warner Brothers is preparing a major new Internet service that will let fans watch full episodes from more than 100 old television series. The service, called In2TV, will be free, supported by advertising, and will start early next year. More than 4,800 episodes will be made available online in the first year.

The move will give Warner a way to reap new advertising revenue from a huge trove of old programming that is not widely syndicated.

Programs on In2TV will have one to two minutes of commercials for each half-hour episode, compared with eight minutes in a standard broadcast. The Internet commercials cannot be skipped.

America Online, which is making a broad push into Internet video, will distribute the service on its Web portal. Both it and Warner Brothers are Time Warner units. An enhanced version of the service will use peer-to-peer file-sharing technology to get the video data to viewers.

Warner, with 800 television programs in its library, says it is the largest TV syndicator. It wants to use the Internet to reach viewers rather than depend on the whims of cable networks and local TV stations, said Eric Frankel, the president of Warner Brothers' domestic cable distribution division.

"We looked at the rise of broadband on Internet and said, 'Let's try to be the first to create a network that opens a new window of distribution for us rather than having to go hat in hand to a USA or a Nick at Night or a TBS,' " Mr. Frankel said.

Warner's offering comes at a time when television producers and networks are exploring new ways to use digital technology to distribute programs.

Many of the recent moves include charging viewers for current programs. ABC has started selling episodes of some programs to download to Apple iPods for $1.99. And NBC and CBS announced last week that they would sell reruns of their top new shows for 99 cents an episode through video-on-demand services. CBS is working with Comcast and NBC with DirecTV.

(The CBS programs to be sold on Comcast include commercials, but viewers can skip them. The NBC programs on DirecTV and the ABC programs from Apple have no commercials.)

Of the media companies' new experiments, Peter Storck, president of the Points North Group, a research firm, remarked, "They are saying let's take the plunge, put the content out there, and figure out how to monetize it." Programs on In2TV will range from recently canceled series like "La Femme Nikita" to vintage shows like "Maverick" from the early 1960's . Other series that will be available include "Chico and the Man," "Wonder Woman" and "Babylon 5."

The company will offer a changing selection of several hundred episodes each month, rather than providing continuous access to all the episodes in a series, Mr. Frankel said, so as not to cannibalize potential DVD sales of old TV shows.

And in the future, when Warner negotiates with cable networks to syndicate popular programs, Mr. Frankel said, the price will be higher if the network wants it kept off the Internet.

For AOL, the In2TV deal is part of a broad strategy to create a range of video offerings to attract people to its free AOL.com portal. It already offers some video news and sports programs from CBS News, ABC and CNN.

At the same time, it is creating programming aimed at women and young people, including an online reality series called "The Biz," giving contestants the chance to become a music producer, in conjunction with the Warner Music Group (which is no longer owned by Time Warner).

Next month AOL will introduce TMZ, an entertainment news service, in a joint venture with another Warner Brothers division, Telepictures Productions. TMZ, named for the 30-mile zone around Hollywood that is mentioned in some film-union contracts, will mix breaking entertainment news and gossip with a database of information and video about celebrities. It will be run by Harvey Levin, former executive producer of "Celebrity Justice," a syndicated program about the legal woes of entertainment figures, which Telepictures canceled last spring.

TMZ and most of AOL's programming effort, so far, have been built largely around short video segments, reflecting the conventional view that Internet users are less likely to want to watch full-length programs on a computer screen.

Yet a recent survey by the Points North Group of 1,098 Internet users found that 28 percent said they wanted to watch regular television shows on their PC's or laptops, Mr. Storck said.

Full-length TV shows on the In2TV service responds to that demand, particularly as more people hook their computers up to their television sets.

AOL will offer a version of the service meant to be watched on a television set connected to a Windows Media Center PC, and it is exploring a similar arrangement to link the Internet programming to television through TiVo video recorders.

For those who want to watch on a big screen, AOL is introducing optional technology that it says will produce a DVD-quality picture. Even with a broadband connection, most Internet video looks grainy at full width on a computer monitor, let alone a big TV set. The new option, called AOL Hi-Q, will require the downloading once of special software, and the program may not start for several minutes, depending on the speed of the users' connection.

There is a catch. To use the technology, viewers will have to agree to participate in a special file-sharing network. This approach helps AOL reduce the cost of distributing-high quality video files by passing portions of the video files from one user's computer to another. AOL says that since it will control the network, it can protect users from the sorts of viruses and spyware that infect other peer-to-peer systems.

AOL is using file-sharing technology from Kontiki, a Silicon Valley company providing a similar system to the ambitious Internet video program of the BBC.

Warner is also adding shorter segments and interactive features for users who do not want to watch entire episodes. Each month, there will be a series of one- or two-minute excerpts drawn from the full-length episodes, featuring funny scenes or segments showing famous actors when they played bit parts on TV. (Brad Pitt, for one, had a small role on "Growing Pains" in 1987.) These excerpts can be sent to friends by e-mail or instant message, and will eventually be offered on mobile phones.

Other programs will be accompanied by interactive features that can be displayed side by side with the video, like trivia quizzes and video games related to the shows. One feature, to accompany "Welcome Back, Kotter," will allow users to upload a picture of themselves (or a friend) and superimpose 1970's hair styles and fashion, and send the pictures by e-mail to friends or use as icons on AOL's instant-message system.

"This is great goofy stuff that fans are going to love," Mr. Storck of the Points North Group said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/business/14warner.html?pagewanted=print

Marcus Carr

11-14-05, 10:14 AM

Dropping set prices boost HDTV figures

Jeff Baumgartner, CED

Spurred by dropping equipment prices, the number of high-definition-capable television sets jumped to 12 percent at the end of Q3 from 7 percent a year ago, reported Leichtman Research Group (LRG), in a new report.

LRG, citing a survey of 1,300 U.S. households, noted that the mean purchasing price of new HDTV sets bought in the past year was about 33 percent lower ($1,600) than a year ago ($2,400). About 11 percent of non-HDTV owners said they'd be more likely to purchase an HD set in the next year if the cost was lowered to $1,000 - about the same price cited a year ago.

Men remain the primary purchaser, representing 82 percent of those who were considered the primary HDTV set purchase decision-makers.

LRG added that about 18 percent of current HDTV owners are "likely" to buy another one in the next year.

"HDTV has certainly grown beyond the early adopter stage. While the cost of HDTV sets has declined, prices still remain out of the range of the average U.S. household," said LRG President and Principal Analyst Bruce Leichtman.

http://www.cedmagazine.com/cedailydirect/2005/1105/cedaily051111.htm#2

fredfa

11-14-05, 11:32 AM

Readers Ask Questions; Tim Goodman Answers
Die-hard “Arrested Development” fans already feeling sting of loss

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Monday, November 14, 2005

You couldn't call it unexpected.

This edition of the TV 101 Q & A got a late rush of letters all about the alleged cancellation of the best sitcom on television -- in fact, one of the best series period -- "Arrested Development" on Fox. (Alleged? Yes, more on that later.) Many of the letters were from die-hard fans -- their concerns cobbled together in the coming questions -- and most of them knew that "Arrested Development" was one of my favorite shows and that I have been a longtime ardent champion of the series. Therefore, kind readers that they are, they were concerned about me. (I know -- a rare emotion.) So, to answer one of the more common and personal queries is easy.

Question: How's your mental state in all of this?

Tim Goodman: Not good. There's anger -- no real surprise there, given that I fired off a Cranky Pants column Friday -- there's optimism, there's a sense of being mystified by the decision even when I knew it was coming, and there was also, just a wee small portion, of understanding and appreciation directed at Fox. No, really.

Because there were all kinds of similar emotions and multipart questions in each of the e-mails, I'll cherry-pick the most common and important as follows:

Question:: Did Fox just really cancel "Arrested Development"? Say it ain't so!

Tim Goodman: Well, technically, it's not so. Fox will air the first 13 episodes, but it decided last week not to pick up the "back nine," as they say in the business. That's different from being canceled. (There was some confusion earlier as to whether Fox had ever promised a full 22 episodes to "AD." It hadn't. The network waited to see if the ratings were good before committing to the back nine. The ratings were not good, settling in at roughly 4 million viewers compared with about 6 million, on average, the last season. Either year you measure it, not good.

Now, when a network cuts, or doesn't extend, your season order, that's usually a terrible sign. That's usually death. But remember, "AD" was cut from 22 to 18 last year and still returned.

Question: How could this happen? Doesn't Fox care about a show that has won Emmys?

Tim Goodman: It happened primarily because "Arrested Development" and freshman sitcom "Kitchen Confidential" -- also benched -- were dragging down the ratings for what amounts to the network's only bright spot, "Prison Break." Fox wanted to keep "Prison Break" surging ahead, and the lead-in hour with those two comedies was, essentially, costing it viewers.

Now, let's get serious here for a minute as it concerns Fox's alibi. The fact is, Fox has never known what to do with "Arrested Development," which has won six Emmys, including outstanding comedy. On-air promotions for the series have been sporadic at best and incompetent, never selling the humor of the series. The network made an argument that switching "AD" off Sunday nights and finding a "companion" series for it was a lifesaving plan. Well, we can see how that turned out: two deaths, as it appears "Kitchen Confidential" is doomed as well. You can argue all night whether "Kitchen," which was getting funnier, was a good fit or not. But there's no argument that slotting them both on Monday nights was a disaster. A terrible decision.

On top of that, Fox shouldn't kid itself about helping "Prison Break" or any of its other freshman series, all faring from bad to mediocre in the ratings. This was not a good development season for Fox, and none of these shows are likely to break out. Besides, at best, "Prison Break" is a one-season wonder. In a season of disappointment, why scuttle one of your best quality series? Fox is in no shape to be discarding Emmy winners. One look at its history of Emmy winners (slim) should prove that.

Question: Can anything be done to save the show?

Tim Goodman: Yeah, find some Nielsen friends and start watching when the show returns to finish its run Dec. 5.

Other than that, not much. But listen, there are people inside Fox who adamantly believe (perhaps foolishly) that a miracle could happen. And here's the scenario for that: No freshman series is a bona fide hit, and shows like "Stacked" are tanking. Come May, when Entertainment President Peter Ligouri assembles his executives and puts the pieces together for next season's schedule, he just may look down the bench at "Arrested Development" and decide to keep it as a gem that can be shifted to a better night (DVD sales and Emmy lustre helping to offset the dire ratings).

Ligouri, former head of FX, should look to his former head of programming there, Kevin Reilly, who is currently in charge at NBC. Reilly recently renewed "The Office," a low-rated, critically-acclaimed series that bleeds millions of viewers after "My Name Is Earl." Why renew it? Because Reilly knows "The Office" is a great show, despite not finding a massive audience. Ligouri, too, loves "Arrested Development" and should stick with his gut on this one. Why? Because Fox, outside of animated series, hasn't launched a good sitcom in ages.

Then again, Ligouri and Fox have apparently given approval for creator and executive producer Mitch Hurwitz to shop the series elsewhere. Which brings up the most frequently asked question:

Question: What are the chances someone else will pick up the series and save it?

Tim Goodman: Not good. "Arrested Development" would be a lovely addition to HBO, but the pay cable channel has said it will take no one's "sloppy seconds." Given the poor ratings and expensive per-episode price tag, no network or basic cable channel is likely to make a play for it. However, there is an intriguing rumor of a suitor: Showtime.

This idea actually makes sense. Showtime has been making great strides in its programming department, but the audience is still lacking. A name series that might prompt die-hard fans (are there any other kind left for "AD"?) to subscribe would be an enticing option. The idea is that "AD" might pair well with "Weeds." And no matter how you get it -- by developing it yourself or snatching it fully built off the discard pile -- a great series is a great series, period.

Whatever happens -- and though there's some lingering resentment on how the series was handled -- Fox should get some credit. The network believed in "Arrested Development" and stuck with it through lean times. Loyal fans have two nice DVD packages to choose from and will get, in the not too distant future, a 13-episode third season box.

If this is the end, it was a brilliant run of finely crafted hilarity. The writing was the best that television has seen and the acting, though ridiculously ignored by Emmy voters, was both inspired and passionately great. The cast clearly believed in the material and had a blast delivering it to the masses.

Well, a part of the masses, anyway.

And let's make this clear: Genius has no relationship whatsoever to popularity.

Give me 13 episodes of "Arrested Development" over five years of soul-sucking lameness like "According to Jim" any day.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/14/DDG4NFMUAI1.DTL&type=printable

fredfa

11-14-05, 11:45 AM

The 2005-2006 TV Season
Stewart's 'Apprentice' fired
By Cynthia Littleton The Hollywood Reporter

It's a fade out for "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" after next month's finale.

Sources said that NBC has passed on ordering another round of episodes of the Stewart-hosted edition of "The Apprentice" from Mark Burnett Prods. The spinoff has struggled for the peacock on Wednesday nights since its Sept. 21 premiere. A spokesman for NBC stressed Sunday that the show always had been scheduled to run for only one cycle.

NBC and "Apprentice" executive producer Burnett tapped Stewart to helm the spinoff in an effort to capitalize on public curiosity about the lifestyle maven after her release this year from a five-month prison term for lying to investigators in connection with an insider-trading stock probe. Plans for Stewart to host the spinoff were announced in February while Stewart was behind bars in West Virginia (HR 2/03).

Like the original "Apprentice" and its gregarious entrepreneur host Donald Trump, Stewart's version of the show set up a competition among 16 would-be executives to win a $250,000 prize and a year-long "apprenticeship" job at Stewart's Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia company. Stewart's panel of judges each week include Charles Koppelman, chairman of the board at MSLO, and her daughter, MSLO consultant Alexis Stewart.

While Trump's "Apprentice" was an instant hit last year on its debut, Stewart's opened with little sizzle, drawing just 7.1 million viewers and a 2.3 rating/7 share of the adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the season-to-date, the show has pulled in an average of 6.8 million viewers and a 2.6/6 in 18-49.

"Apprentice: Martha Stewart" opened the season for NBC in the Wednesday lead-off slot, then shifted to 9 p.m. in the line of fire of one of primetime's biggest hits, ABC's "Lost," as of Oct. 5. The show's two-hour live finale is set for Dec. 21.

http://www.sptimes.com/blogs/tv/

fredfa

11-14-05, 11:55 AM

Sunday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the second post in this thread).

fredfa

11-14-05, 12:00 PM

The 2005-2006 TV Season
NBC to Martha: You just don't fit in
Axes the return of 'Apprentice: Martha Stewart'

By Dan Weil MediaLifeMagazine.com Nov 14, 2005

Martha Stewart was widely savaged leading up to and during her criminal trial as the uber-bitch, and the bitch the media then portrayed might have made a wonderful host for the spinoff of NBC's "Apprentice."

Certainly, the network was looking for someone with Donald Trump's power to galvanize.

What NBC got was a nice lady.

The nice lady, Stewart, lacked Trump's bristle, and viewers were far less interested, with ratings weak from the first and never really climbing, despite early signs that viewers might be warming to the domestic divia.

Result: NBC won’t pick up “Apprentice: Martha Stewart” for a second season.

An NBC Universal spokeswoman tells Media Life this morning that the show always had been scheduled to run for only one season and will not return next year. That's of course contrary to what the network led the world to believe when the show was first announced. Stewart was being groomed, it appeared, to step in for Trump as his show began to fade.

"Stewart" will continue through its Dec. 21 finale.

“Stewart” has struggled since its Sept. 21 debut. It is averaging a 2.5 rating among adults 18-49 on Wednesdays, well below NBC’s overall season average of 3.3.

The show premiered at 8 p.m., and the first episode garnered a disappointing 2.5. On Oct. 5, it moved to 9 p.m., and since then ratings have improved slightly, despite the fact that the show airs against one of the top primetime shows, ABC’s “Lost.”

Season-to-date, the show has averaged 6.8 million viewers, barely a third of what Trump averaged in his first year.

Stewart’s version of the show is similar to Trump’s, with 16 contestants vying to win a $250,000 prize and a yearlong apprenticeship job at Stewart's Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia company. Stewart's weekly panel of judges include Charles Koppelman, chairman of the board at MSLO, and her daughter, MSLO consultant Alexis Stewart.

Media people expected much more from Martha. One agency predicted that NBC would win Wednesday nights on the strength of her show, and others expected her to at least be on par with The Donald’s third-season ratings.

NBC seems determined to downplay the cancellation by saying the show was only supposed to last one season, but many thought Stewart would supplant Trump if her show became popular.

While Donald Trump’s "Apprentice" was a wild success in its early days, thanks largely to the Donald’s gruff and blustery demeanor, Stewart was reluctant to play the heavy. After a stint in jail for lying to investigators about suspicious stock trades, the domestic doyenne was eager to rehabilitate her image.

So instead of the “You’re fired” line that losing contestants received on Trump’s "Apprentice," departing participants on Stewart’s show were told “You just don’t fit in.” And she wrote thank-you notes to the losers as opposed to Trump, who just glared at his losers as they slinked out of his conference room. That made for very dull television, and not at all what NBC was expecting from a woman known for her often ruthless business style.

NBC and "Apprentice" executive producer Mark Burnett planned a show around Stewart to capitalize on public curiosity about the domestic diva after her release earlier this year from a five-month prison term. Plans for the show were made in February, while Stewart was still incarcerated in West Virginia.

Yet the public was not as fascinated by Stewart as the media. While the press publicized all things Martha from her release to the start of her new syndicated daily talk show, regular folks didn’t care. They either liked Stewart, and happily bought her Kmart wares, or were disgusted by her and paid no attention to her new life. Neither group was obsessed.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1263.asp

fredfa

11-14-05, 12:04 PM

Imperfect storm for CBS's 'Category 7'
Sweeps sequel scores well below original

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 14, 2005

Perhaps CBS waited too long to trot out the sequel to last year’s very successful November sweeps miniseries “Category 6.” By the time “Category 7,” about a natural disaster, aired this month, viewers had apparently forgotten about it.

Part two of “Category 7” averaged a 4.1 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 last night, down 26 percent versus a 5.5 for part two of “Category 6” last year.

Last night’s conclusion was also down 18 percent versus part one, which averaged a 5.0 overnight rating among 18-49s last Sunday. It was a disappointment for CBS, which is in a dead heat with ABC for the November sweeps lead among adults 18-49.

Last year part two of “Category 6” aired on Wednesday. CBS was no doubt hurt by airing the miniseries against ABC’s dynamic Sunday lineup two weeks in a row. The network’s top show, “Desperate Housewives,” showed its first week-to-week increase in over a month, and “Category 7” aired opposite it at 9 p.m.

But the other problem for CBS was that it waited too long to run the sequel. A year may not be much for a motion picture, but on television it’s an eternity. Also, the movie faced tougher competition from Fox this year than last, when “Family Guy” had not yet returned to the schedule at 9 p.m.

Too, the miniseries may have hit too close to real life, with this year's devastating hurricanes still fresh in viewers' minds.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1282.asp

fredfa

11-14-05, 01:20 PM

The New York Post has finally caught up with a story posted here (#6621) (on Saturday afternoon at 2:07 PM Pacific time). It is just another reminder why you need to keep checking here for all the latest TV news. (First today’s NY Post item – followed by Saturday’s posting from the KC Star’s Aaron Barnhart.)

Another Example of Why You Should Check This Thread!
NEW 'STARS' WALTZING IN

The New York Post--- Names of probable contestants on the next "Dancing with the Stars" — including former NFL great Jerry Rice — are starting to leak out.

Robert Wagner, soap star Lisa Rinna and Nick Lachey's younger brother, Drew, are among the stars said to be on board already.

Kevin Nealon, the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian, says he's been asked to join the new cast but hasn't decided yet.

"It's like when I play 'Celebrity Poker Showdown,' " he told the Kansas City Star over the weekend. "I don't want to be the first one out. I don't want to look like an idiot. Or clumsy."

The sensation of last summer, "Dancing with the Stars" partners celebrities with real ballroom-dancing champions in an "American Idol"-like competition.

Each week, the couples create and perform a dance routine before a panel of eccentric judges.

A voting formula that combines judges' scores with results of viewer phone-ins decides which couple is eliminated each week.

In July, "General Hospital" star Kelly Monaco won the first "Dancing with the Stars" competition, beating John O'Hurley (J. Peterman of "Seinfeld") in a controversial finale.

The dance show's second run starts Jan. 5.

ABC has made no official announcement of the new cast.

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/pfriendly_new.php

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(And now the item posted here on Saturday)

Jerry Rice On The Dance Floor?
Some “Dancing” Hints

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star

I interviewed Kevin Nealon …(who)…figures prominently in (Sunday’s) NBC prime time special, "Saturday Night Live in the 1980s: Lost and Found." In fact, a routine he once did involving a road map is the motif for the two-hour special (get it? lost?). Not that Nealon will be watching -- he'll be performing at the Improv through Sunday night.

The real news, though, came at the end of our interview, when he revealed that he's contemplating an offer to be part of the next "Dancing with the Stars" when the celebrity ballroom series returns to ABC in January:

“So far I think they have Jerry Rice, Robert Wagner, Lisa Rinna and Nick Lachey, he’s got a brother, Drew Lachey. So if it’s a lot of people like that, I’m not sure I want to be part of it. ... It’s like when I play “Celebrity Poker Showdown.” I don’t want to be the first one out. I don’t want to look like an idiot. Or clumsy. But I think it’d be fun.”

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/

CPanther95

11-14-05, 02:06 PM

Imperfect storm for CBS's 'Category 7'
Sweeps sequel scores well below original

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 14, 2005

................But the other problem for CBS was that it waited too long to run the sequel. A year may not be much for a motion picture, but on television it’s an eternity. Also, the movie faced tougher competition from Fox this year than last, when “Family Guy” had not yet returned to the schedule at 9 p.m.

Too, the miniseries may have hit too close to real life, with this year's devastating hurricanes still fresh in viewers' minds.

Three, maybe it was because it sucked.

fredfa

11-14-05, 02:39 PM

Media critics too often overlook the obvious, CPanther95! :)

fredfa

11-14-05, 03:04 PM

A NASCAR squabble and a ratings boost
Up 5 percent for season-ending Chase series

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer

There’s nothing like a brewing rivalry to spike ratings, even if it does seem a little forced.

Two weeks ago, the crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, the No. 2 driver in the NASCAR points standings, took a shot at No. 1 driver Tony Stewart when he knew Stewart’s crew was listening in on Johnson’s radio frequency.

Since then the two drivers have traded snippy barbs and bad-mouthed each other in the media. It’s tacky and it’s been drawn out way too long, but it’s working very well. Their tiff has helped boost ratings for the sport’s season-ending 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup over last year.

Through eight races, the Chase is up 5 percent over last year, its first, from a 4.3 household rating to a 4.5. That’s not a huge boost, but considering the caliber of competition NASCAR faces on Sundays--pro football--any increase is notable.

With one race to go and Johnson and Stewart seemingly assured a one-two finish, it’s no wonder that NASCAR isn’t discouraging their childlike fighting.

NASCAR fans are passionate about their favorite driver, and just as passionate about hating anyone who attacks him. They’re more apt to watch when they think their guy is being attacked.

The sport needed something to rev up interest in the Chase after last year, when fans complained about the new format. The Chase limits the number of drivers contending for the season title to the top 10 points leaders with 10 races to go.

The new format was supposed to spike viewership. This year, with the Stewart-Johnson soap opera, ratings are up. Last weekend’s Dickies 500 rose 4 percent to a strong 5.1 household rating.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1257.asp

fredfa

11-14-05, 03:10 PM

Critic’s Notebook
PBS series on Las Vegas has unseemly sponsor

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Nov. 14, 2005

Call this a tale of two sin cities, a small contemplation on the vice capitals of modern day America (Las Vegas) and the ancient world (Rome.)

In one case, we have a four-hour, two-night"history'' of Vegas on"American Experience'' (check local listings, tonight and Tuesday, PBS) from one of TV's better documentary filmmakers, Stephen Ives (``Seabiscuit,'' ``Reporting America at War.'')

"Las Vegas: An Unconventional History'' is well-produced, brightly written and entertaining in its breezy recounting of Las Vegas' first 100 years. It covers a lot of ground -- from the days when Vegas was a dying railroad town to its place as a"recreational'' nightspot for workers building the nearby Hoover Dam to its place as a garish fantasyland for adults. Along the way we get glimpses into the iconic figures who have dotted the city's history: mobster Bugsy Siegel, the Rat Pack, modern-day resort entrepreneur Steve Wynn.

This all sounds pretty good, right? Respected filmmaker, interesting topic, good production. What's not to like?

Well, there's some small print on ``Las Vegas'' that might elude you if you're not paying close attention. Turns out that one of the sponsors of this"American Experience'' installment is . . . the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (the"what happens here, stays here'' folks.) If you drill down even further, you'll discover that this is the ``official'' documentary of the Las Vegas Centennial Commission. And Wynn and Harrah's get credit for their"promotional and advertising support.''

I know PBS is stretched for cash, and this questionable funding doesn't seem to have affected Ives' work. (Las Vegas, after all, revels in its image as a seamy, steamy city.) Yet, taking bucks from people with a vested interest in how a documentary comes out creates an unpleasant smell. Certainly, that's the case when it involves the highly regarded"American Experience,'' one of PBS's signature series.

* * * * * * * *

Speaking of seamy and steamy, it's time to revisit "Rome,'' the opulently produced drama about the rise of the Roman empire that airs its season finale Sunday (9 PM ET/PT, HBO.)

Fans of the show have been bugging me for weeks to rethink my initial lukewarm reaction to"Rome.'' They were so passionate that I curled up the other day with a batch of recent episodes and had a good, ol' wallow in the sex, sin and political maneuvering in the times of Julius Caesar.

But sorry, guys,"Rome'' still doesn't do it for me. The problems I had with the series when it debuted in August are still there: the lack of a singular vision that marks great storytelling, and characters whose lives, loves and lusts don't really grab me.

The acting is still wonderful, particularly the performances by Polly Walker as Atia and Lindsay Duncan as Servilia. (The women tend to outshine the men in "Rome".) Ciaran Hinds has really grown into the role of Caesar, giving him a larger-than-life presence Hinds' performance was lacking in early episodes. The production remains lush, and you can practically feel the grit and grime of ancient Rome.

Still, for all its virtues,"Rome'" remains good television -- not the great television HBO was trying to achieve. And you have to judge a series partly on what it strives to be.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/13146338.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

11-14-05, 03:16 PM

And, Kolchak, we hardly knew ya ...
“Night Stalker” Canceled

By Chase Squires St. Petersburg Times television critic

Frank Spotniz, creator of ABC's remake of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, confirmed on his blog last night that The Night Stalker has been canceled.

Mr. Spotniz, the former executive producer of The X Files, never did find an audience for his Night Stalker.

He wrote: "It is with regret that I confirm Night Stalker has been canceled.

"While I’m disappointed the series has come to an end, I am enormously grateful for the experience and the opportunity given me by the network and Touchstone Television.

"I would like to thank our amazingly talented cast, wonderful crew, killer post-production department, terrific writing staff, producers and partners in crime Daniel Sackheim and John Peter Kousakis, the incredible Jana Fain, and all of you who watched and enjoyed the show. It was a blast."

And still ... Freddie lives on?

http://www.sptimes.com/blogs/tv/

fredfa

11-14-05, 04:02 PM

The Digital Revolution
DVR Changing Ad Model, Say Execs

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

One nontraditional delivery mechanism that is making a dent in the advertising model is the digital video recorder.

According to a new poll of industry execs, more than half (58%) "have changed or expect to change their ad buys in response to DVRs," and 80% say the recorders, which allow viewers to bypass commercials, will have a "significant" impact on the 30-second spot.

About one in five executives (22%) went so far as to predict the death of the 30-second spot and a "dramatic transformation" of TV advertising.

One unnamed exec cited in a pull-out quote to accompany the survey had cut TV spending "considerably, with more to come unless rates come down to reflect lost viewership."

All that is according to 75 media industry "leaders" polled by the American Advertising Federation for its third annual "Industry Leaders" survey on advertising trends.

Blogs, podcasts, and Web-enabled cell phones are still "relatively weak" nontraditional ad vehicles, they say, while the single-sponsor buyouts, like American Express of the West Wing live debate, get highest marks.

But those same execs suggested, unprompted, that the industry was dividing itself into traditional and new media (online) platforms and that attention must be paid to both. AAF characterized the execs as "concerned but tentative" about new media options.

The execs were generally bullish on the ad industry recovery, with only 7% saying they saw an indefinite decline, 34% saying it was slowly recovering, 24% saying it was recovering well, and even 6% saying they saw strong growth, all well above last year's numbers.

The execs were cooler on product placement, with this year's respondents giving plugs a 2.7 on a scale of 1 to 5, vs. a 3 last year. Cell phone text message advertising improved from a 2.8 on that same scale last year to a 3 this year.

Online advertising projections for 2006 are already outstripping earlier estimates for 2007, with an 18.7% increase compared to the 17% increase predicted for 2007 in AAF's previous survey.

The executives said it was even more important to target ethnic markets, compared to last year's survey, while the good news is they thought it was getting easier to do so. the Hispanic market continued to be the highest priority, but the race is closer. Reaching Hispanics got a 4.2 out of 5 in terms of priority this year, compared to a 4.1 last year. Reaching African Americans got a 3.9, compared to a 3.6 last year.

What did these 75 leaders say were the top five ad campaigns of 2004-2005:
1. Apple iPod; 2. Burger King; 3. Target; 4. Mini Cooper; (three-way-tie) Hewlitt-Packard, UPs, and Verizon.

The most admired brands, order, were Coke, Apple, Nike, Google and Fed Ex BMW (tied).

The study is being released Tuesday to coincide with AAF's presentation of its Advertising Hall of Achievement awards in New York, which go to movers and shakers under 40.

The pie chart of execs polled broke down this way: agency, 39%; media, 31%; advertiser/client, 14%; academia, 12%; other (trade association, PR, consultants), 12%.

fredfa

11-14-05, 04:46 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Put your money where your show is

By Diane Werts Newsday Staff Writer November 14, 2005

Now there's hope for the cult shows, the ones the networks said not enough people watched, and canceled.

Now there's hope for adult shows, the ones the networks shied away from supporting for fear the morality police would make their lives miserable.

Now there's hope for programs that don't repeat well, and there's hope for shows taking political stands or espousing "unpopular" positions.

Pay-per-show is here. And it just might be TV's salvation as the medium forges into its swirling second half-century.

The deals have been coming fast and furious. ABC struck first Oct. 12, making available $1.99 episode downloads of hot hits "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," plus Disney Channel tween faves, for portable viewing on Apple's new video iPod.

Last week, CBS and NBC jumped into the game. CBS plans to offer 99-cent aired episodes, including "CSI," "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race," for on-demand viewing by digital cable customers of Comcast, the nation's largest multisystem operator (serving much of New Jersey). NBC has allied with DirecTV's satellite service to offer "Law & Order" series, "The Office," "Monk," "Battlestar Galactica" and other of the week's shows to homes with the new DirecTV Plus digital recorder, through which viewers can "rent" an episode for 24 hours for 99 cents.

These announcements are just the first volley in what should become a wild war of video delivery platforms, formats, prices and options. Expect it to shake up network TV even more than when cable grew into a formidable competitor in original production.

"The Sopranos," anyone? Around-the-clock news? TV targeted specifically at kids, cooks, toon-heads, golfers or soap nuts? Those notions sounded crazy once, and not so long ago, either. Cable innovations such as CNN and ESPN are only 25 years old, and big-time scripted series such as "The Sopranos" have been around less than a decade.

Now it's time for the next step: where consumers drop their $$$ not on a chosen channel such as HBO, but on specific series they want. While the networks recently agreed only to the per-episode purchase of existing hits - to catch that "Survivor" twist you missed or study clues in "Lost" - the real promise here is direct viewer support of programs themselves. And not through mass ratings that translate into ad rates, a system that's oblique at best and rewards such creatively indifferent attributes as "tonnage" (total eyeballs watching) and "demographics" (specific kinds of viewers).

Imagine being able to put your money specifically where your viewing passions are. "Farscape" fans bought trade paper ads last year, pleading for their beloved show's renewal after Sci Fi dropped it. Suppose they'd been able to pledge that money directly to the show itself. If a million devotees agreed to pay $1.99 per episode, that show could keep right on existing. Now FX isn't renewing its critically acclaimed Iraq war drama, "Over There," because the series couldn't build beyond its audience of two million. As a clearly saddened FX chief John Landgraf noted, "While we are passionately committed to fostering great television, we are an advertiser-supported network, and the size of our audience is vital to our bottom line." But what if even half those viewers found "Over There" rewarding enough to pay for, directly? Especially with fewer or no commercial interruptions?

We just might see great TV expand and explode in all kinds of surprising ways. The pay-per-show model is something I've touted before, but from a sort of "Gee, I wish" attitude. Suddenly, it's real and burgeoning, thanks to digital cable's on-demand ease, the ability of cable/satellite to "push" programs directly onto homes' digital-video-recorder boxes, broadband's increasingly speedy downloads and a host of new personal/portable viewing devices.

A future era might let us subscribe to shows on a seasonal basis or test-drive pilot episodes. It could let us buy at a basic price that includes ads or a premium price to eliminate them. Episodes might be of flexible lengths, rather than trimmed or stretched to fit a specific time slot. There could even be G-rated versions for the easily offended and R-rated versions for more daring adults. Think of the music model, where new songs debut on the radio at the same time you can buy them in CD or MP3 form for listening however you want.

But I'm still dreaming, to some extent. The number of shows being offered per episode in these new applications is seriously limited. All the series are owned by the network corporations that air them. Throw other studios into the mix, not to mention industry unions and other parties to the perceived proceeds, and a lot has to shake out before pay-per-show is widely possible.

The gates are open, though. The networks know their model has to adapt to today's more fragmented viewership, reduced rerun tolerance and commercial-skipping technology. Rather than dragging their heels and stubbornly clinging to old ways, the networks have just leaped into the cauldron of change. Let's follow 'em and see what bubbles up.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel4512235nov14,0,1814609,print.column?coll=ny-television-headlines

Whitearrow

11-14-05, 07:00 PM

WASHINGTON — With the Supreme Court nomination process for Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. on hold until hearings in early January, the Senate Judiciary Committee changed course Wednesday to address whether sessions of the court Alito hopes to join should be televised.

Huh. Interesting.

I agree that trials would probably be inappropriate, but that those concerns would not apply to appellate proceedings. There have been audio recordings of the Supreme Court sessions on the Internet for a while now, and they don't seem to have raised any issues or difficulties.

OTOH -- even for lawyers, observing appellate court arguments without the context of having read the briefs -- or even knowing what the case is about -- is generally not particularly interesting. For it to be meaningful, whoever is doing the televising would have to exert some real effort beforehand to provide context. And even then, only a small percentage of cases -- even at the Supreme Court -- would probably be interesting to most people. But I guess that's why Court TV and CSPAN are not big ratings grabbers :)

Whitearrow

11-14-05, 07:03 PM

Jerry Rice On The Dance Floor?
Some “Dancing” Hints

“So far I think they have Jerry Rice, Robert Wagner, Lisa Rinna and Nick Lachey, he’s got a brother, Drew Lachey. So if it’s a lot of people like that, I’m not sure I want to be part of it. ... It’s like when I play “Celebrity Poker Showdown.” I don’t want to be the first one out. I don’t want to look like an idiot. Or clumsy. But I think it’d be fun.”

Is this a joke? You'd think that after it was such a big hit in the summer, they'd manage to entice some actual.... you know... STARS to be the stars part of Dancing with the Stars. Robert Wagner? Is he, like, 70? Nick Lachey's brother? That makes him a star? Are they serious? (Am I supposed to know who Jerry Rice is? Sports guy of some type?) Sheesh... they did better the first time.

fredfa

11-14-05, 07:51 PM

The "stars" in the first go-around were not exactly "A list", either.

I would major stars are terified of being embarrassed. The others would probably gamble on becoming at least far better known to the general public, like John Hurley, or even Kelly Monaco -- who was virtually unknown out of soap opera circles.

fredfa

11-14-05, 08:03 PM

Could this be a sweeps stunt?
Raymond Returns..For a Night

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable

CBS has come up with another way to spark its Monday night comedy block in the post-Everybody Loves Raymond world: by bringing Ray Romano back for a night.

Romano will reprise his Everybody Loves Raymond character, Ray Barone, in a guest appearance on The King of Queens on Monday, Nov. 28. Romano has made guest appearances on the show as Ray Barone several times, but not in more than five years.

In the episode, Romano's Barone and Kevin James' lead character, Doug, go on the town for a guy's night out after Doug's wife Carrie (Leah Remini) goes on a trip with her father.

fredfa

11-14-05, 08:13 PM

ESPN HD College Football Addition

Bad news: ESPN/ESPN2 has dropped its regular Saturday night HD game this week (which was tentatively scheduled to have been LSU (#5 BCS) at Mississippi).

Good news: ESPN has added the 4 pm (ET) Penn State at Michigan State (5-5) game. Penn State (9-1, #4 BCS ) gains the Big ten title outright, and keeps its hopes alive for the (Rose Bowl) National Championship game if it wins.

That gives ESPN an HD tripleheader – Virginia Tech (#6 BCS) at Virginia at 12 Noon ET, followed by Penn State-Michigan State at 4 PM ET, and concluding with Georgia Tech (#35 BCS) at Miami (#3 BCS) at 7:45 PM ET.

The entire upcoming HD football schedule is at the top of this thread.

fredfa

11-14-05, 08:20 PM

More news on TV news? Blogs go behind camera
Websites offer feedback from employees and viewers on what was aired and why. But is it too much information?

By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 15, 2005

NEW YORK — Why has broadcast television devoted relatively little coverage to the recent South Asia earthquake? Should the networks have done more stories about President Bush's troubled swing through South America earlier this month? And just what do viewers gain when television reporters deliver live reports while standing outside in the middle of raging hurricanes?

Those are just a few of the questions that have been raised on blogs in recent weeks, but not by outside critics of broadcast news. In each case, the queries have been posed by network employees — including those as prominent as NBC anchor Brian Williams — on the network's own websites.

Spurred by declining viewership, the growing prominence of the Internet and the public's increasing skepticism of traditional media outlets, the broadcast networks are now pulling back the curtain in an attempt to preempt criticism and burnish their reputation. In recent months, all of the network news divisions have adopted online features aimed at providing more transparency about their operations and decision-making.

Their efforts come at a time when the news media as a whole have been engaged in substantial public introspection. Those assessments — such as the New York Times' recent examination of the role played by now-retired reporter Judith Miller in the CIA leak investigation — have increasingly become part of the story itself, sometimes leading to even more controversy.

The network blogs, while often remarkably candid and self-critical, have not yet generated a public debate comparable to those instigated in print. Some media critics, though, question whether such in-house productions offer true accountability or mere promotional efforts.

Certainly, the online forums signal a new era of self-scrutiny in broadcast television, which has never formally instituted the equivalent of newspaper ombudsmen to publicly handle viewer complaints. In the wake of the searing fallout from last year's CBS piece that questioned President Bush's National Guard service, the networks are now moving to head off viewer dissatisfaction by providing information about news-gathering ahead of time.

"There are way too many examples lately of how human foibles can intersect with journalism," Williams said. "I think if we can show our processes, if we can show how a bill becomes law in terms of television news ... we become more approachable, more human in people's eyes, less of a monolith."

Williams has tried to change that perception through daily dispatches on his MSNBC.com blog, the Daily Nightly, in which he previews the pieces being considered for the evening newscast, answers viewer criticism and offers mea culpas when the network misses a story.

Over on CBSNews.com, Public Eye Editor Vaughn Ververs plays a slightly different role. Working independently of the news division, Ververs functions more as a go-between for viewers, posting video of editorial meetings, soliciting answers from news executives about coverage and examining charges of bias. (While similar to an ombudsman, Ververs notes that Public Eye does not seek to be the final arbiter in disputes between viewers and the network.)

For its part, ABCNews.com launched a half-dozen new correspondent blogs this fall, including a feature called the Blue Sheet, which promises a behind-the-scenes look at the making of "World News Tonight." Eventually, the new anchor (or anchors) named to replace Peter Jennings will file postings as well, executives said.

Meanwhile, PBS went one step further than its commercial brethren and hired former Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler last month to serve in a similar capacity at the taxpayer-supporter network, the first such ombudsman position created at a broadcast network.

"I do think it tells the public that we are willing to open ourselves up," said Getler, who begins his post today and will regularly post his commentaries on PBS.org.

Jeff Jarvis, who writes about media and technology on his blog BuzzMachine, called the networks' efforts at transparency "significant and overdue."

"It's a reaction both to what's happening in journalism and the fact that the public can now do its own acts of journalism and can check these guys," said Jarvis, a former TV critic and newspaper columnist. "The irony of journalism is we expect everyone else to be transparent and we're not. That's not going to fly anymore."

Decision-making process

The power of the blogosphere to shape public perception was underscored last year when conservative bloggers posted harsh critiques of CBS' piece on Bush's Vietnam-era service just hours after it aired. Questions posed on the websites about memos purportedly written by Bush's commander were picked up by the rest of the media, and the network eventually acknowledged that the documents could not be authenticated.

Now television broadcasters are turning to the Internet to provide the context they cannot cram into a 22-minute newscast.

"We want to be where all the traffic is," said Michael Clemente, executive producer of ABCNews.com. "I think the more people know about how not only we figure out what to highlight but how we get there and the forces brought to bear on those decisions, the better off we're all going to be."

Those involved in the network blogs believe viewers are responding. "I think they're getting a feeling that their concerns, suggestions and comments are being listened to," Ververs said. "And in this age of personal relationships that you find on the Internet, that's the expectation that's growing out there."

Public Eye has sought to strip away the mystique about network news through behind-the-scenes features that explain how stories are reported and newscasts pieced together. One recent posting including a 27-minute video of the action inside the control room during the broadcast of the "CBS Evening News." Another detailed the lengths that "60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley and his producers went through to obtain an interview with an underground eco-terrorist, which culminated in a secret meeting with two masked men in a Harlem brownstone.

On the Daily Nightly, Williams — whose blogs postings are written in a more casual, droll style than he uses on the air — explains what stories were discussed at the 2:30 p.m. editorial meeting and why they are in contention to lead the broadcast. He also devotes a substantial amount of space answering charges of bias, such as a recent spate of messages that accused the NBC anchor of being disrespectful to the president by referring to him as "Mr. Bush."

Since it began in May, the Daily Nightly (which also includes postings from a range of NBC correspondents) has generated considerable e-mail to the website and the show's main e-mail address — as many as 750 on a recent day, Williams said. Many writers said that reading the blog had persuaded them to watch the 6:30 p.m. broadcast.

"What a brilliant idea," wrote Orlando, Fla., viewer Morrison Vogt. "What I am learning is that the Daily Nightly needs to go along with the evening news, not simply as a stand-alone tool. When you watch the news and then read the Daily Nightly, you have this great feeling of being part of it all. They fit so very well together. It all becomes much more personal."

Media observers praised the networks' efforts but warned that monitoring oneself is a difficult task.

"I think this whole thing is going to be a short-term phenomenon," said Bob Garfield, co-host of NPR's "On the Media," which examines journalism trends. "There will be too many incidents cropping up in which the bloggers will be at cross-purposes with their employers."

Indeed, some of the postings have already highlighted internal matters that the networks wouldn't be keen on promoting.

In a recent entry on Public Eye, Ververs criticized CBS' initial response to the furor over the Bush story, saying that the network's immediate focus on bolstering the story's credibility instead of examining its underpinnings was "a lesson in how not to practice journalism."

On his ABC blog Down and Dirty, correspondent Jake Tapper detailed the challenges of getting a story about Bush's South America trip on "World News Tonight" earlier this month. "Pieces are often killed at the last minute, with extreme prejudice and a certain bloodlust," he wrote in another post. "News can be a nasty business."

For his part, Williams offered his regret recently about not airing a piece on the Bush trip after seeing a segment on a rival network. "We dropped the ball," he wrote, adding that correspondent Kelly O'Donnell had pitched the story but that executive producer John Reiss didn't agree it merited a segment.

Such airing of internal newsroom debate may make executives cringe, but Williams said he has not received any chastising from the front office.

"By its nature, the blog is promotional, and if I'm going to make a fuss and tell people how good our work is, I probably owe it to them to admit when we mess up," he said.

At CBS, the inception of Public Eye in September was met with some initial wariness from network employees who feared it would unfairly single out CBS for criticism. But the blog's focus on broad media issues and its ability to offer producers a chance to quickly dispute charges of bias have been welcomed.

"I'm a big believer in the more we tell people about how we gather the news and decide what is news, the better it is," said Bob Schieffer, interim anchor of the "CBS Evening News. However, Schieffer said he hopes the blog will use caution in showcasing internal editorial discussions, noting that the kind of glib language bandied about in newsrooms could be easily misinterpreted.

"We should be judged about what we put on television, not about what we were thinking about or what was going through our minds," he said.

For all the revelations in the network blogs, some media experts said that true accountability can only come by appointing an independent outsider to evaluate coverage.

"The issue that may evolve in the process of this is the question about the independence of the bloggers and whether this actually has an impact on increasing the standards of the organization," said Jeffrey Dvorkin, National Public Radio's ombudsman and the immediate past president of the Organization of News Ombudsmen.

"It might be perceived as a public relations gesture. In my experience, the public actually wants to know how independent we are."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-blogs15nov15,0,4370127,print.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

fredfa

11-14-05, 08:23 PM

When is a commercial not a commercial?
Show Product Pushing Chided

Writers Guild and SAG say the growing practice of placing goods in TV scripts hurts stories

By Meg James Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 14, 2005

On the UPN hit "America's Next Top Model" this year, glamorous beauties walked a runway at a Kmart. On NBC's "The Biggest Loser," contestants vying to lose the most weight struggled to break open padlocked Jell-O-branded refrigerators.

And on the WB's "Gilmore Girls," Lorelai toasted her engagement by drinking a malt beverage and saying: "Let's drink Zima and have sex every night."

For TV producers and studios, Hollywood's growing reliance on such "product integration" helps pay the bills. For the unions representing writers and actors, however, it detracts from the art of storytelling.

Today, the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America are expected to propose that Hollywood needs a "code of conduct" to set guidelines for the insertion of products into movies and TV shows. If the networks and studios fail to draft such a code themselves, the guilds say, it may be time for the Federal Communications Commission to clamp down on the practice.

"In their race to the bottom line to create the so-called new business model, network and advertising executives are ignoring the public's interest and demanding that creative artists participate in stealth advertising disguised as a story," said Patric Verrone, president of the Writers Guild's western division, which details its concerns in a report.

The report, which is expected to be released today, argues that creativity and compelling story lines are suffering as producers constantly squeeze in references to products. Guild members say they are in effect being drafted against their will to pitch products. At the same time, they complain, networks and studios have built this lucrative $1-billion-a-year business without paying actors and writers their fair share.

SAG President Alan Rosenberg said the practice "too often takes place without any compensation to the very performers that are expected to push those products."

As the Writers Guild report puts it: "It used to be that a writer would be asked to weave a love interest into a story. Now, that writer is being asked to weave in potato chips, or soft drinks or building-supply stores."

Joe Davola, executive producer for such WB shows as "Smallville," "One Tree Hill" and "What I Like About You," defended the practice as a financial necessity in today's tight-fisted TV business. In an interview, he noted that budgets were especially tight at smaller networks, such as the WB, which still want first-rate production levels.

"I don't pimp Pringles," Davola said. "My arm is not being twisted to do this."

But the writers and actors guilds contend that viewers are unwittingly being sold products, potentially violating government rules if not properly disclosed.

The guilds say there should be strict limits on the use of product integration during children's programming. They are also demanding disclosure of any deals at the start of each program, rather than a mention during the closing credits. Contracts with the studios should also stipulate that writers, actors and directors have input in how products are integrated.

In addition, the guilds contend that any regulation of embedded advertising should be extended to cover cable TV, where the report says "some of the most egregious abuse is found."

The Writers Guild report details several examples of dialogue about product that was shoehorned into programs. A story producer on the short-lived TBS reality show "Outback Jack" said they were on location at a natural hot springs filming "eight girls in bikinis, and the producer takes out a basket of Skintimate shave gel … and tells them to start shaving."

A producer on UPN's "America's Next Top Model," said the contestants were unhappy about their fashion show being staged at discount retailer Kmart, a unit of Sears Holding Corp. The report said disparaging comments by the aspiring models were deleted, and that the women were asked to dub in complimentary lines such as "I shop here all the time."

Ken Mok, executive producer for "Top Model," disputed that account.

"That's completely wrong and erroneous," Mok said in an interview. "We never put words in the girls' mouths. We don't tell the contestants what to say about any of the products."

Scott Miller, a story producer for "American Dream Derby," a horse racing-themed show which ran on the Game Show Network, said in the report that the show's producers seemed more concerned about showcasing Diet Dr. Pepper than the horses. Miller said that at times he stood behind the camera, slipping cans of soda to the cast.

"The contestants would be crying or conspiring or strategizing or screaming at one another, and we would have to stop to get sound bites about Diet Dr. Pepper," Miller said in an interview.

Although some producers acknowledge that product integration can at times seem forced and even crass, they contend that when it's done right, writers and actors benefit. WB executives noted that Campbell's Soup's sponsorship of three episodes this month of "7th Heaven" allowed for the hiring of three minority writers for the Spelling Television-produced show. The WB is owned by Time Warner Inc. and Tribune Co., owner of The Times.

Davola, television president at Tollin/Robbins Productions, said using products tastefully also lent a real-life feel to his shows.

"What I Like About You," with stars Amanda Bynes and Jennie Garth, has a deal with Procter & Gamble Co. The characters use the company's Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo, Swiffer dust mops and Pringles potato chips.

In WB's "Smallville," Davola said the show's characters drive Fords because of a similar arrangement. "One Tree Hill," he said, features Sunkist soda.

"With TiVo out there, commercial messages are being obliterated," Davola said, referring to digital video recorders. "So this is genius for the commercial people because they are getting their products embedded in a show, and it will be there for the repeat, for the syndication run and on the DVD."

Producer Jonathan Prince, creator of the canceled NBC drama "American Dreams," which featured Oreo cookies and Ford Mustangs, said the TV business has always been about giving companies a vehicle to advertise their products.

"My job is to sell soap and soda and cars," Prince said in an interview. "Who will pay our high-paid writers and actors if not for some of these brands?"

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-fi-wga14nov14,0,5924472,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

11-14-05, 08:52 PM

Ask Matt
(from the Ask (TV Critic) Matt (Roush) column at TVGuide.com

Question: The only new show of the season I watch and love is Everybody Hates Chris. Tichina Arnold is awesome as Chris' mother and the soundtrack completes the show. My question is: How is the show doing in the ratings? I know the first week it did great and the following week they went down, but how are things going now? What do you think of the show? — Carita

Matt Roush: Consider the time period, one of the week's most competitive. Then consider the UPN network, one of the industry's least competitive (most nights). By those standards, Everybody Hates Chris is a huge success. The show was never meant to win the time period or some such miracle, but for UPN, it's a home run. The show hasn't sustained the early breakthrough numbers (a result of the preseason hype, since viewing habits like Survivor are hard to break), but Chris still does so much better than any of the comedies that follow it, plus it has great media buzz. And it put UPN in the game on Thursday nights, which is easier said than done. I still find the show a complete delight, in no small measure thanks to both parents: the ferocious Arnold and the equally wonderful Terry Crews as Chris' hardworking, family-loving dad (one of only four live-in dads on the Bed-Stuy block). The family scenes are without doubt the most lovable aspects of Chris, but it still seems to me the freshest family comedy since early Malcolm in the Middle.

________________________________________

Question: I've recently joined the Grey's Anatomy bandwagon after more or less writing off the show last year. I've been pleasantly surprised to discover that the show gave me the feel-good emotions I haven't felt since Ally McBeal's heyday. What do you think? Is Grey's Anatomy just a revamped version of Ally McBeal? — Angelo

Matt Roush: I'm not sure that's being fair enough to Grey's, and that's no slam on Ally, either. The mix of romance and humor in the workplace (one a law firm, the other a hospital) is reminiscent of Ally at its best, and the triangle of Meredith-McDreamy-Addison may recall Ally-Billy-Georgia a bit, but as wacky as things sometimes get on Grey's Anatomy, the tone isn't quite so dutifully absurdist at Seattle Grace Hospital. And the male characters are way less obnoxious and bizarre. I guess what I'm saying is that Grey's isn't as stylized as Ally with its musical and fantasy interludes (and thankfully, no unisex bathroom in scrubs), and I don't think it suffers for that at all. Many of us remember how tiresome Ally got by the end, and even early on, it was always something of a love-hate relationship with that show. Grey's has a long way to go before it starts working our nerves in any way, shape or form.

________________________________________

Question: I know that I may be in a minority here, but I'm really enjoying Twins! Any chance of the show getting picked up for a full season? And if not, do you think Melanie Griffith will do Gilmore Girls like she was supposed to last year? — Robin

Matt Roush: Earlier this week, WB confirmed that Twins was given a back-order to fill out the season, albeit (for business reasons) only for five additional episodes. Still, that doesn't mean that Twins is going away anytime soon. And that also means that Melanie isn't likely to be popping up in Stars Hollow in the near future — but really, isn't that for the best?

________________________________________

Question: You haven't mentioned the new show Related. I was never a fan of — and never even watched — Sex and the City, but I was a huge fan of Friends, and now I just love this new show. How is it doing? It is on Monday and Wednesday nights now, and I am afraid it isn't getting the attention it deserves. What do you think? — Jackie

Matt Roush: I wish I shared your enthusiasm, but I don't. As I note in an upcoming Rant in my Review column, these four sisters are so cutesy and incessantly chirpy they make my teeth ache and my blood curdle. It's doing terribly on Mondays in first run, losing up to half of the 7th Heaven lead-in some weeks, and matters are even worse on Wednesdays with the replay. And yet WB is encouraged enough by the female demographics the show attracts that it has given the show a back-order for six additional episodes. I'm always loathe to refer to anything as a "chick show" because of the inevitable accusations of sexism that follows. And I am a huge fan of female-centric shows like Gilmore Girls and WB's beloved Felicity — when they're written and performed well. This show, however, screams to me of "girls only," and after watching the first three episodes, I felt like the only guy (and an unwelcome one at that) at a screechy slumber party. I'm glad you enjoy it, but Related is dead to me.

________________________________________

Question: With all this talk about Fox's schedule and how there isn't enough room for The Simple Life to return and how Prison Break won't return until May, don't you think it's time Fox got with the program and became the real fourth network, after 18 years (truly an appropriate age to finally grow up and be an adult). Shouldn't the network move the local 10 pm/ET news to 11 to make way for original programming? — Chris

Matt Roush: This question has come up a lot lately, especially in the wake of the Prison Break situation, so this is a good time to remind everyone once again of the "business" side of the TV equation. In Fox's early days, it programmed a limited number of hours for regulatory reasons (most of which no longer exist). But even if Fox desired to program a 22-hour weekly schedule, which many months of the year (when American Idol is absent, say) would seem to be more than this network of The Swan, Stacked and Killer Instinct could handle, it's a fact that Fox's local affiliates, especially the owned-and-operated stations, make a fortune off the local news at 10 (ET). It's not in Fox's economic model to expand at this point, although it is true that some of Fox's better dramas would benefit by being able to air in the 10 pm/ET time period. (If the network could dump the 8 pm/ET hour and program shows at 10, how cool would that be?) But the short answer to a tricky, complex question is that Fox isn't going there in the foreseeable future.

________________________________________

Question: Really enjoy your column during the week and after reading your answer to the comments about Prison Break's possible (to use a bad word) "hiatus," I had a follow-up question. The networks announce their schedules in early to mid-May and if Prison Break hasn't resumed airing yet, is it likely to return after its summer airing for a second true season? I had heard that the producers were pleased with the success of the show and it could go more than one season (possibly to a more Fugitive-like format). Here is one person who would like to see the momentum continued, despite having a busy schedule in which it's hard to fit another edge-of-your-seat serialized show. I still hope Fox considers better alternatives. — Rick

Matt Roush: Fox won't need to wait to see how the spring/summer episodes perform (whenever they air) before deciding to go forward with a second season. I'm betting that's already a done deal. The question is, I guess, if Prison Break [/B]airs the final episodes of this season into the early summer, will the second year start (as happened this fall) so shortly afterward, in late August/early September? Whatever happens, this is one show whose future I'm not worried about — although I am deeply curious to see how the momentum continues once the guys are no longer in prison (if that's the scenario).

________________________________________

Question: Last Monday you had a letter in which the writer decried the quality of today's comedies. He noted that the networks are at a disadvantage compared to HBO because of censorship. Here's my problem. The writer noted great comedies from the past 20 years, like Seinfeld, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, The Cosby Show. I can add other great comedies: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, M*A*S*H, Taxi, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy and many more. None of these great comedies needed a lack of censorship in order to be funny. Why do so many people think there has to be foul language and sex in order for a show to be good? All that's needed is quality writing, truly funny situations that people can relate to and some good acting, and you know what? You have a classic sitcom. What do you think? — John D.

Matt Roush: I think you're right, of course. But try convincing today's generation of tone-deaf program executives to go with class over crass. You'd think the enormous success, to the very end, of Everybody Loves Raymond might have convinced these development hacks that a show that many weeks merits a G-rating isn't by necessity dated or without appeal. It just has to be funny, feature amusing folks well played in situations that reveal and reinforce character, and you've got it made. But dream on. (That said, just because a show is edgy in content and daring in execution doesn't make it less funny or valuable. There simply should be room for both.)

________________________________________

Question: With Desperate Housewives muddling through its sophomore slump, do you think the American audience is ready to take a tip from the telenovelas? Spanish soap operas have a hard beginning and a definitive ending, telling a whole story in about six months. I think American audiences are ready to see a 24-hour miniseries that doesn't struggle to come up with a new hook just to keep the characters around for another adventure and then fade into mediocrity. How great would it have been to bask in the afterglow of that first season of Housewives? Will Michael Scofield be asked to break out of another prison? — Mike O.

Matt Roush: At first I thought your final line was a non sequitur, then I got your point. (Although it's still unclear to me what the future of Prison Break holds post-break.) It's a provocative idea, to start over from scratch after a successful season-long soap wraps up its initial big story. But to be blunt, neither the American audience nor the TV networks are built this way. (Look at the resistance to the premise of Fox's Reunion, which, if it were to survive — doubtful — would use the same format next season to tell a mystery story about an entirely new group of friends.) When you have a casting miracle like the women of Desperate Housewives, no one is going to suggest scrapping these characters and this setting and introducing a whole new set of wacky suburbanites merely out of fear that the next season won't measure up. I'm still hopeful Housewives will pull out of this slump, but I do wonder if it might require some soap veterans (from telenovelas or any source, whatever it takes) to get their hands dirty on the show and bring some narrative juice back into these fabulous characters' lives. Right now, the show is looking more and more like a sitcom straining to fill an hour of serialized dramedy; it isn't pretty, though it is still mighty popular.

________________________________________

Question: A thought hit me a few weeks ago about the show Reba. Perhaps you and other critics should recommend this show to the more conservative viewers. While the humor isn't always top-notch, it is a comedy that has values. The WB should stick it after 7th Heaven instead. To me, Reba is similar to Touched by an Angel in that the show quality isn't always superior, but it does entertain and have values. Would critics such as yourself be able to suggest this show to those viewers seeking shows without the trash found in many popular shows? — Janna

Matt Roush: Consider that message spread — but by you, not by me. I like Reba well enough, but I wouldn't go out of my way to praise it for its "values." I don't judge shows that way, and I certainly don't intend to skew my opinions for a conservative or nonconservative mind-set — although I guess it's pretty evident that many of us champion shows that push the envelope. Besides, there are those who would no doubt take offense at Reba because it deals with divorce, adultery, teen pregnancy, etc. You never know who'll be offended by what, so I'd just as soon deal with a show like Reba on the basis of it being a likably mainstream but unexceptional sitcom (while noting the enormous appeal of its title star).

________________________________________

Question: Two weeks ago on Criminal Minds, an episode ended with Mandy Patinkin's character pumping gas in Virginia then going into the adjacent store to pay for it. He sees pictures behind the attendant, played by Lucas Haas, of various people but does not draw attention to it. The next moment Gideon leaves and the attendant follows shortly after with a shotgun pointed at Gideon's back. Will this story line come up again? — Christy S.

Matt Roush: What you saw was a rerun of the pilot episode, which ended on that preposterous cliff-hanger. The situation was ludicrously resolved in the following episode (which CBS did not repeat, I guess), so it isn't likely to be revisited in future episodes. I will say, for those who keep asking what I have against it, that try as I might to make it through an episode of this show from time to time (like when Lost and/or Veronica Mars are in repeats), Criminal Minds still seems to me to be the least original, least entertaining and most exploitative of all of CBS' too-many procedurals (and I like most of them). The primary characters are paper-thin, mannered, pretentious and boringly or annoyingly played — even Patinkin, whose sour grimaces make it look as if every line-reading sparks a toothache. There's no question Criminal Minds gives me a migraine.

http://tvguide.com/tv/roush/askmatt/

fredfa

11-14-05, 09:53 PM

“Close To Home”

Based on its strong (first-place) rating of last Friday, and based on the fact that its lead-in allowed “Numb3rs” to get its highest numbers of thew season, I’ve taken “Close To Home” off the shows in danger list in the first post of the thread.

Barring a sudden ratings collapse this week, I believe we can expect a back-end pickup from CBS fairly shortly. And that "temporary" move to Friday will be made permanent.

Now, for the other half of the time-slot shift, we'll have to wait until Nov. 22nd to see hoiw "Threshold" does on Tuesday. But for the moment, of course, it remains on the endangered list.

fredfa

11-15-05, 01:24 AM

The 2005-2006 TV Season
“E-Ring” picked up

NBC has ordered nine more episodes of the Jerry Burckheimer-produced Pentagon action series “E-Ring” to fill out the season’s order of 13 shows.

The program opened to very poor ratings, but has picked up a bit since being moved from its original 9 PM ET Wednesday time slot to an hour earlier at 8 PM ET.

“Variety” says in its Tuesday edition that NBC has more pressing problems and has decided to see if “E-Ring” can continue to improve its numbers.

It was announced Monday that the network had decided “Apprentice: Martha Stewart” would not be renewed.

Marcus Carr

11-15-05, 10:00 AM

IBM unveils 3D television technology
Nov 14, 2005 1:26 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter

IBM’s display laboratories last week demonstrated a low-cost way to get high-resolution 3-D images from an existing large-screen television or home-cinema projector. The demo occurred at the 22nd annual Flat Information Displays conference in San Francisco, CNET News reported.

The technology could be built into a standard DLP television for less than $20. The computer maker configured a Texas Instruments 50in flat screen DLP set with its own hardware and software, which takes 3-D content and splits it into two images that are later translated as a stereophonic image with the help of passive glasses such as those one would find in an IMAX theater.

Jim Santoro, a technology license program manager from IBM’s office in Poughkeepsie, NY, told CNET that IBM is looking for a manufacturing partner to bring the technology to market.

Santoro wouldn’t release all the specifics of the IBM technology, which does not yet have an official name, but he did say the software is compatible with all OpenGL and Direct3D applications, which are widely used in PC video games.

The technology is still being tested, but many sports broadcasters have expressed an interest in showing live games in 3-D.

http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/bth/20051114/#3D

jim tressler

11-15-05, 10:43 AM

Hope this is ok to post.. sounds like a sad story...

http://www.suntimes.com/output/television/cst-nws-dead15.html

Prison Break' producer found dead at Drake Hotel

November 15, 2005

BY LISA DONOVAN AND FRANK MAIN Staff Reporters

A producer for the Fox network television series "Prison Break," which is filmed in a former state prison in Joliet, was found dead in his North Michigan Avenue hotel room Monday afternoon, the victim of an apparent drug overdose, according to authorities.

Matthew Houbrick, 42, of Calabasas, Calif., was found dead about 3:30 p.m., in his 6th floor room at the Drake Hotel.

Some white powder, believed to be cocaine or heroin, was also found in the room, a source close to the investigation told the Chicago Sun-Times.

It was unclear how long Houbrick had been dead, but a police source said a Hollywood producer was concerned about the man and asked hotel staff to make a well-being check. Police officials obtained the information about his job title, but Fox network spokesmen did not confirm Houbrick's death late Monday.

Worked on '7th Heaven'

The drama "Prison Break," currently in its first season, tells the tale of a man who robs a bank in order to get caught. This allows him to be sent to the same prison where his older brother wrongly sits on Death Row for an assassination. The younger brother plans a breakout for the both of them.

The series is filmed at the former Joliet Correctional Center, where generations of hard-core criminals served time.

Houbrick's credits include working as supervising producer for the WB's "Charmed" from 1999 to 2000, as well as other production work on "7th Heaven," the 1990s' series "The Love Boat: The Next Wave" and "Pacific Palisades," according to the Internet Movie Database.

Contributing: Michael Sneed

fredfa

11-15-05, 11:23 AM

The TV Column
Martha Stewart's “The Apprentice”' Is No Perennial

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Tuesday, November 15, 2005; C01
The Reporters Who Cover Television have got NBC's undies in a very big bunch by writing, five weeks before the final episode of "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," that the network will not do a second edition of the reality series starring the ice queen domestic diva.

Really, did anybody think this show would be back for a second season? It's averaging only 6.7 million viewers a week. It's third from the bottom on the list of NBC shows this season when it comes to audience size, ahead only of "Inconceivable" -- which already has been canceled -- and the Saturday movie, which is just another way of saying "burn off that movie inventory."

Martha was quoted recently in Fortune magazine as saying she thought the numbers on her Wednesday edition of the reality series franchise were a Good Thing. (Actually, she said "damn good.")

Which, once again, just goes to show you how very different the parameters are for success in various businesses.

Nearly 7 million people is huge for a woman whose Martha Stewart Living had a paid circulation of 1.93 million in the six months ending June 30; however, an average of nearly 7 million viewers for a prime-time series on a major broadcast network generally spells cancellation.

But NBC insists that "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" was not canceled and that the plan from the get-go was to produce just one round starring the queen of domesticity. In fact the NBC rep was very aggressive about that yesterday.

This would seem to fly in the face of Stewart's quote to Fortune in which she said that when she was offered a starring role in "The Apprentice," "I thought I was replacing The Donald," and that it was only shortly before she "got home" from her five months in the pen that she learned Trump's version of the NBC reality show would stay on the air.

"The plan from the very beginning was always to produce only one cycle of 'The Apprentice: Martha Stewart,' " the network rep said. "We look forward to the remaining five episodes and Martha's choice for her apprentice during the December 21 finale," the rep said, reading a prepared statement in a shameless attempt to turn a response to a serious journalistic inquiry into a free plug for the finale in this newspaper. Wait a minute -- it worked. Hate when that happens.

Then NBC put "Apprentice" executive producer Mark Burnett on the phone. Love when that happens.

"They're wrong," Burnett told The TV Column regarding news reports that NBC had decided not to bring back Martha and her Finishing School Smile.

He, Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, Digital Content & Cross-Network, and NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly "sat down before the first episode and jokingly talked about how . . . if it did 'Desperate Housewives' numbers it would be a little embarrassing because there won't be a Season 2," Burnett said.

When he first talked to Stewart about headlining "The Apprentice," he said, there was talk about doing more than one edition, but once he and NBC Universal signed her to a daytime syndicated talk show there was no way she could do both on an ongoing basis.

This is probably news to Tyra Banks. She created and executive-produces and stars in UPN's "America's Next Top Model" and stars in a syndicated daytime talk show and still finds time to strut her stuff down the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

But Martha's no Tyra, for which we are thankful.

In a statement -- which I'd like to mention was neither gracious nor sent on sumptuous linen stationery -- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia said, "From the time we knew we would be producing a live daily TV show with Martha as the star, it was clear that we could only do one round of 'The Apprentice.' "

The show, Burnett explained, isn't as a big a financial gain to Stewart's public company. Her daytime show "is a profit-making enterprise that transacts product for her public company."

"The Apprentice," he said, was "really more a reintroduction, more of a marketing and publicity tool" for Martha.

"In the very beginning we thought about doing more than one, but the minute it was decided to do the daytime show it was never ever on the table."

The Martha Stewart edition of "The Apprentice" was shot over 7 1/2 weeks of 16-hour days, according to a source familiar with the production, which is pretty grueling -- not that Martha is on air all that much.

Her syndicated daytime show is scheduled to give her a 2 1/2 -month hiatus over the summer, which, if she did do another edition of "The Apprentice" would leave her no time to make velvet ribbon mirror frames or hone her mirror-grouping skills: "Paint your selections an acrylic hue that complements the color of your wall. Start by laying the frames out on the floor and fiddling with their positioning until the arrangement is to your liking."

While Trump's "Apprentice" is doing better than Martha's, it's still not doing as well as last year's fall version. It's down to about 10.5 million viewers each week, compared with about 15.5 million viewers at the same point in the competition last year.

Trump has been quoted recently as saying he was never a fan of the Stewart version, on which he's listed as an exec producer, and that it has hurt the numbers on his.

In retrospect, Burnett told The TV Column, a Wednesday "Apprentice" followed by a Thursday "Apprentice," with more than three dozen players involved between the two, was "a little too much to ask" of viewers.

"They probably split viewership," he said.

* * * * * * * *

Nighty-night, "Night Stalker."

ABC confirmed it has pulled the plug on its things-that-go-bump-in-the-night series, effective immediately.

This week's episode has been replaced with a two-hour "Primetime."

ABC has been planning for a while to air "Finding Nemo" for most of prime time on Thanksgiving, and its pope flick "Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II" on Thursday, Dec. 1.

After that, it's a mystery what the network will do in the slot where six episodes of "Night Stalker" have aired this season, averaging a scary 5 million viewers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/14/AR2005111401597_pf.html

fredfa

11-15-05, 11:30 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Note to NBC: Make a move with 'Earl'
By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005

MY NAME IS EARL. 9 PM ET/PT tonight, NBC.

'I'’ve made a list of all I've done wrong. Now I want to make it right. This may take a while."

That's the mission statement for Earl Hickey (Jason Lee), the karma-challenged title character of NBC's "My Name Is Earl."

But it might work even better for NBC's Jeff Zucker, the entertainment-challenged president of NBC Universal Television Group, who, while climbing the corporate ladder, has presided over the network's transformation from "must-see TV" to must-flee TV.

(Highlights of his list: spun off "Joey," cloned "The Apprentice," killed "Boomtown," remade "Coupling.")

Now, along with entertainment president Kevin Reilly, Zucker needs to figure out how to make it right.

One obvious idea: capitalize on the Peacock's one genuinely promising new series.

That would be "Earl," which tonight tackles No. 261 on Earl's list, "Ruined Joy's Wedding."

Seems that Earl's ex, Joy (Jaime Pressly), is finally going to make an honest man of Darnell (Eddie Steeples), the guy she'd been cheating on Earl with for much of their marriage. She's scheduled the wedding - to which Earl's not invited - for Earl's birthday.

That's Joy.

Earl being Earl, he tries to help out and screws up. But the bad feeling won't be allowed to linger, and the laughter's only beginning.

Despite serious competition from ABC's "Commander In Chief," Fox's "House" and CBS' "The Amazing Race," the first two of which draw more viewers than "Earl's" 12.8 million average, the NBC comedy regularly cleans up among the 18- to 49-year-olds advertisers crave.

Which is why there's been talk of the network maybe moving "Earl" to Thursdays, where the stench of death can hardly be blamed on CBS' "CSI."

(Me, I'd start the search in the Donald's hair.)

Moving "My Name Is Earl" won't solve NBC's problems, though, unless the experience of succeeding with a show that can't be said to resemble anything else on NBC's schedule actually hits home with the suits.

In other words:

• No spinoffs (especially, no "Joy").

• No ordering three more sitcoms about lovable ne'er-do-wells making life changes.

• No "My Name Is Donald."

If NBC's going to have a chance at the kind of comeback that ABC's been experiencing, it's going to have to overcome the tendency to drive its successful shows into the ground and instead open itself up to new ideas.

Or, at the very least, to karma.

And speaking of karma...

Sunday's "Penn & Teller" two-hour sweeps special on NBC, which this week pre-empted "The West Wing," didn't exactly conjure up big numbers.

In its second hour, from 8 to 9, it averaged about 6.3 million viewers, according to the preliminary Nielsens. "The West Wing," which has lost about a third of its audience since NBC moved it to Sundays, has nevertheless been averaging 8.36 million.

'Close' to a move?

One show that's been scouting out a new home is CBS' "Close to Home."

The Jerry Bruckheimer legal drama averaged 11.86 million viewers Friday in the first week of a two-week trial move to Fridays.

That's about 2 million more than "Close to Home" had been drawing on Tuesdays, and 4 million more than "Threshold's" been averaging there.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television/13169923.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

11-15-05, 11:35 AM

Whatever Happened to….
Aaron Brown? He'd 'absolutely' take a Big 3 seat
By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

He's not looking, but CNN exile Aaron Brown would be "hugely interested" in the vacant anchor jobs at ABC or CBS.

"No one who does what I do for a living would say no to one of those jobs," Brown said yesterday, in his first interview since leaving CNN Nov. 2. "I would absolutely want to do it."

Brown, 57, hired as CNN's signature anchor in 2001, left the network after his 10 p.m. NewsNight slot was given to 7 p.m. anchor Anderson Cooper, 38.

Doomsday predictions for the broadcast network evening newscasts "are a bunch of nonsense," says Brown, an ABC staffer from 1991 to 2001.

"You still have 23 million people watching every night. They are serious news programs produced by serious people with serious goals in mind. In the history of the business, they're important."

No. 3 [B]CBS Evening News has been without a permanent anchor since Dan Rather was forced to step down in March. Peter Jennings of No. 2 ABC World News Tonight died of lung cancer in August.

The ever acerbic Brown acknowledges that his chances of being offered either post are about the same as becoming "the tooth fairy, if that job opened up. That would be kind of cool, giving kids money."

Brown's in no hurry to return to work. He's being paid for his estimated $1.5 plus-million contract, which runs until July '07. And he's loving the time off.

"I feel really good. I'm relaxed. I'm excited about the 'tomorrows' of my life. I'm spending a lot of time chatting with people - friends, people in this business. Mostly, I'm just enjoying it all."

And doing lots of lunches. "I feel like the king of lunch."

He broke bread yesterday with Rather. The CBS ex-anchor has been "unbelievably helpful and generous" since they met in '86, when Brown was a local star in Seattle.

"We chatted about things I should think about, and how to think about them," Brown says. "We talked about should I write, should I teach, should I do this, should I do that."

"Mostly, we talked about life. He's helping me focus on things I should focus on in the months ahead."

There are several subjects Brown won't discuss: his feelings about CNN and its president, Jonathan Klein; whether the move caught him by surprise; if he and Cooper have spoken.

"I'm not unaware that in the TV universe, something big happened," Brown says. "I get that. In terms of my life, I'm just enjoying this phase - being Dad and the family cook, and dreamer of the next great dream."

For the last 13 years, Brown rarely had dinner with his family - daughter Gabby, 17, and his wife, Charlotte.

The prospect of his being around "freaked out" his daughter a bit, he says. " 'Dad's going to be home? Oh my God!' I said at one point, 'What time do you guys eat dinner out here?'

"They said, '5 or so.' I said, 'That's going to change.' We eat when I decide to cook, around 7... . I'm a cookbook cook. I just pull recipes. Any idiot can do that, and I'm any idiot."

Along with cooking and lunching, Brown has been cleaning out his home office and answering some of almost 4,000 e-mails he has received. "I haven't been bored."

His family will enjoy having him around "less and less, probably," Brown says with a chuckle. "Now, I think they're kind of tickled by it all... . Dad seems really comfortable at home."

His 10 p.m. NewsNight "was the job I always wanted. I never thought I'd do it until the day I died. I got to do things that were incredibly satisfying. I have no reason to look back on it as anything but joyful."

One of the things Brown will miss most: his nightly newspaper segment, in which he held up the next morning's front pages from papers around the country. (Including The Inquirer.)

"I brought a love of the material. Sometimes the only way to really feel news is to hold it in your hands and let the ink kind of sink in."

The segment "was a chance to do jokes, on one level. It was also a way to say, 'Your local paper matters.' "

Coop clobbered.

Speaking of CNN's Anderson Cooper, his first week at 10 p.m. was lukewarm, ratings-wise.

Cooper's two-hour 360º averaged 593,000 viewers from 10 to midnight last week, compared with 1.47 million on Fox News Channel for Greta Van Susteren's On the Record and reruns of Bill O'Reilly's The O'Reilly Factor.

In the first hour, Cooper clocked 730,000 viewers to Van Susteren's 1.75 million. From 11 to midnight, Cooper had 455,000 viewers; O'Reilly, 1.20 million.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13168428.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

11-15-05, 11:53 AM

Monday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the second post in this thread).

fredfa

11-15-05, 11:54 AM

This week’s complete HD college and pro listings football been updated at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the first post in this thread).

fredfa

11-15-05, 11:58 AM

Critic’s Notebook
On TV: These ratings are no laughing matter
By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Two and a half seasons into "Arrested Development's" difficult life on prime-time television, it looks like Fox has dropped the guillotine. Not officially, mind you. Last Thursday the network pulled it for sweeps although it will return Dec. 5 along with its Monday night companion, "Kitchen Confidential." But the Hollywood Reporter indicated Fox decreased "Arrested's" season order from 22 episodes to 13.

Although there's a glimmer of hope it might return on a future schedule, the safer, sadder bet is to assume no amount of critical acclaim or six Emmys or begging will stop it from passing into that afterlife of DVD sales and ********** downloads.

The very same day that happened, though, ABC picked up "Freddie" for a full season.

That's one critics couldn't have predicted in September.

The pilot for "Freddie" was awful enough to land it on many a critic's "worst of the season" list. Wisely, ABC skipped it, airing the much better second episode in the premiere slot and scaring up a respectably sized audience in the process. Even so, "Freddie" (8:30 p.m. Wednesdays on KOMO/4) can at best be described as surprisingly not boring.

You get the comedy network programmers believe you deserve, ladies and gentlemen, based on the ratings you give it. If you think watching Brian Austin Green running after bimbos while Freddie Prinze Jr. mopes is high-larious, expect more of the same mediocrity in slightly different packaging.

Tempting as it may be to skewer Fox for shelving "Arrested," even if we did love it, and even if Fox bounced it around the schedule, we simply can't. Last season, it got the best lead-in possible when it followed "The Simpsons." Few of you stuck around to watch.

And, in all honesty, new entertainment president Peter Liguori likely gave "Arrested" a third season so he wouldn't go down in the books as making the murder of a struggling, critically acclaimed show one of his first acts.

What would you do? More than 8 million viewers watched "Freddie" last week. The previous Monday's "Arrested" got about half that. That's a cable-size audience. Problem is, cable probably can't afford to save the show. FX may be looking for a good comedy, but it can only spring for the likes of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," which costs almost nothing to produce.

What's worse, though, is knowing Pamela Anderson's "Stacked" raked in 5 million viewers. That qualifies as a failure but also gives credence to the theory that "Arrested" was simply too smart for broadcast television.

"Stacked's" larger draw also implies that "Arrested's" subtly blue humor and the elaborate way it set up each episode's outlandish punch line, like last week's Godzilla spoof, was too much of an imposition on our brains. If you don't want to be insulted like that, stop tuning in to watch Anderson's sweater puppies wiggle.

Little wonder that "Freddie" lives. The bar's set fairly low -- ABC hasn't been home to a hit sitcom in eons -- and the Wednesday night 8:30 competition is pretty dumb. Without a "Two and a Half Men," a "My Name Is Earl" or even an "Everybody Hates Chris," "Freddie" is the best hope ABC has for a turning around its half-hour fortunes.

Ah, but at least "Everybody Hates Chris" and NBC's "My Name Is Earl," (which airs tonight at 9 on KING/5) are beacons of hope in this season's comedy fog. And neither relies on the Pavlovian cue of a laugh track.

We will never know if UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" (8 p.m. Thursdays on KSTW/11) would outperform, say, "Love, Inc." if the jokes, scripts and actors were the same and there was no such person as Chris Rock. Who cares? The humor get heartier by the week.

"Earl's" serendipitous combination of heart, intelligently rendered stupidity, and star Jason Lee's uncanny appeal -- and the wider reach of NBC -- is what's really winning the comedy lottery this season. One can only hope both will be more of an influence on comedies yet to be pitched.

Otherwise, pedestrian sitcoms will reign evermore. Having shunned award-worthy innovation in comedy, we may see fewer imaginative leaps into territory explored by "Arrested," NBC's low-rated but miraculously still surviving "Scrubs," or even the best episodes of "The Office."

In the spirit of adversity breeding excellence, though, Fox may learn a lesson here too. Before NBC and UPN picked them up, Fox turned down "Earl" and "Chris."

Should it decide to pink-slip "Arrested" while keeping "Stacked," "Malcolm in the Middle" and, heaven forbid, "That '70s Show," then it too is living with the comedies it deserves.

Channel surfing

Low on the list of last Thursday's TV news was NBC's announcement that Mandy Moore is appearing in two episodes of the next season of "Scrubs" as a love interest for J.D. (Zach Braff) and, we're guessing, a lure for young audiences.

But "Scrubs" fan Peter Orr takes no comfort in this guest star coup. Can you blame him? "Scrubs" has been NBC's least-respected child. The network has moved it around, underpromoted and underappreciated it throughout its four seasons. Season five doesn't even have a premiere date yet. Instead of merely fuming, Orr has launched www.SupportScrubs.com, a letter and e-mail writing campaign to let NBC know there are viewers who want the show back ... now. Start bothering the network pronto, "Scrubs" fans, because no series can ever be considered safe.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/248304_tv15.html

fredfa

11-15-05, 12:00 PM

Hope this is ok to post.. sounds like a sad story...

http://www.suntimes.com/output/television/cst-nws-dead15.html

Prison Break' producer found dead at Drake Hotel....

Good catch, jim. Thanks

fredfa

11-15-05, 12:04 PM

TV Tonight:
"Gilmore Girls''

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News

Finally, we have reconciliation on "Gilmore Girls'' (8 PM ET/PT, tonight, WB.) Or at least the start of it.

In a very good episode that should calm fans complaining about how long the estrangement between Rory and Lorelai has lasted, mother and daughter start to make peace with each other. That's fine except other complications arise: the return of Rory's dad, Christopher (David Sutcliffe, right with Lauren Graham as Lorelai), who never fails to complicate Lorelai's life, and the sudden appearance of someone from Luke's (Scott Patterson) past who creates more than a few problems.

Written and directed by creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, the episode is ""Gilmore Girls'' at its best.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/charlie_mccollum/index.html

fredfa

11-15-05, 12:27 PM

TV on DVD News
I Want To Wear Tattoo's Tux ...

By Chase Squires St. Petersburg Times television critic

If you've been waiting for it ..

At long last, out today: Fantasy Island -- Season 1

The 1977-78 classics -- tuxes, tiny henchmen, has-been stars, goofy fantasies, and all the rest -- are in stores today.

You know, I always wondered, paying all that dough that the Roarke must have charged to indulge a fantasy, and it was always something like, "I want to be a 1930s torch singer," or equally dumb.

For my money, we're talking about about something involving nekkid women, a mysterious fat man, ice cream and a mischievous talking monkey.

A quick check of www.deadoraliveinfo.com

Ricardo Montalban ... ALIVE! 84 years old.

Herve Villechaize ... alas, he passed in 1993 at age 50.

Guests in the landmark first season included Ed Begley Jr., Alan Hale, Jerry Van Dyke, Maureen McCormick (Marcia, Marcia, Marcia), Leslie Nielsen, Don Knotts, Bernie Kopell (Love Boat's Doc), Foster Brooks, Adam Rich (Eight Is Enough's mop top Nicholas), Rich Little, Dick Butkus, Arte Johnson, and Desi Arnaz Jr.

http://www.sptimes.com/blogs/tv/

fredfa

11-15-05, 12:30 PM

The 2005-2006 Season
A stake in the heart for “Night Stalker”

First of the “Lost” wannabes to be killed off

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 15, 2005

When six supernatural shows debuted to strong ratings this season, following the path tread by ABC’s “Lost,” it seemed doubtful that viewers would sustain their interest in all six.
Now the casualties have begun.

Yesterday ABC yanked “Night Stalker” after already preempting the Thursday 9 p.m. show for much of sweeps. The show averaged a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating in the very competitive timeslot and hit a season low 1.4 last week.

That came after a promising debut. The revival of the 1974 cult classic averaged a 2.6 in its Sept. 29 premiere but competing against CBS’s “CSI” and NBC’s “The Apprentice” proved too much.

The show focused on reporter Carl Kolchak and his obsession with the grim underworld of monsters that he thought killed his wife. Unlike the somewhat punchier original, ABC’s remake was very dark.

“'Stalker' is so heavy on realistic tragedy, anguish and violent death that it entirely wrings out what little escapism the storyline offers,” wrote Steven Rosen in a Media Life review of the show when it debuted.

The question now is which supernatural-themed shows will follow “Night Stalker” off the air? It’s doubtful the five remaining will survive through next spring, as their storylines often seem interchangeable and viewers move past the sampling stage.

Least likely to continue would seem to be CBS’s “Threshold,” which has not received a full-season order and which the network recently moved to Tuesdays at 10 p.m. for a two-week trial.

“Threshold” premiered well in September but has been losing about 30 percent of hit lead-in “Ghost Whisperer’s” audience Friday night. In an ominous sign, Friday replacement “Close to Home” held nearly 100 percent of that 18-49 lead-in last week.

Another show that has lost its shine is ABC’s “Invasion.” The show airs out of “Lost” Wednesdays at 10 but has been slipping ever since its debut, losing 53 percent of “Lost’s” lead-in last week.

ABC gave the show a full-season order, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the network try a different show in its prime timeslot. “Invasion” has already shown it can’t survive without “Lost,” falling to pulseless levels when that show’s in reruns.

And NBC’s “Surface,” after a decent premiere, has also been declining. Last week’s episode averaged a 2.7, down 16 percent from its season average of 3.2. Though it has received a full-season order, prospects for next season look quite dim.

“Whisperer” and the WB’s “Supernatural,” the season’s other spook shows, have been doing well and should make it to next season.

“Night Stalker” was the sixth new show of the season to be canceled, joining NBC’s “Inconceivable,” UPN’s “Sex, Love and Secrets,” Fox’s “Kitchen Confidential” and “Head Cases” and the WB’s “Just Legal.” NBC is also dropping “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart,” though the remainder of the season will be aired.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1287.asp

fredfa

11-15-05, 12:37 PM

“CSI:Miami” Gives a bonus to web fans

Immediately after next Monday’s episode of CSI:Miami”, the CBS website will show an exclusive scene to those checking online.

According to The Hollywood Reporter the network says the scene is crucial to the show’s storyline.

"This exclusive Web scene between Ryan Wolfe and Erica Sikes contains a dramatic revelation about someone in our lab -- a revelation that threatens to tear the team apart, and will lead to a shocking conclusion at the end of our season," "CSI: Miami" executive producer Ann Donahue told THR.

This should make affiliates, already grumbling about the CBS VOD deal with Comcast, even happier.

fredfa

11-15-05, 12:40 PM

The 2005-2006 Season: Ratings for Week 8
Fox in a sweeps revival after baseball fans
Network up 4 percent, offsetting stinker Series

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 15, 2005

Things don’t look nearly as bad for Fox as they did three weeks ago, after the conclusion of the lowest-rated World Series in history.

The network will still probably finish fourth during the November sweeps and carry a fourth-place finish into January, when “American Idol” returns. But it won’t be in as deep a hole as anticipated after the Series bombed.

That’s because Fox is one of only two networks seeing gains during the November sweeps compared with last year. The other is ABC.

Through the first nine days of sweeps, the most recent numbers available, Fox is averaging a 2.8 adults 18-49 rating, up 4 percent over last year’s 2.7. When Sunday night’s ratings are factored in later today, Fox should rise another 0.2 to a 3.0 average, according to Media Life calculations, for a year-to-year increase of 11 percent.

The network’s year-to-date average is a 3.3. If Fox can maintain that average through the end of sweeps with several upcoming ratings-boosting stunts, that would put it just 0.3 behind where it was last year at the same time. Three weeks ago the network was 0.7 behind its year-ago average.

That puts somewhat less pressure on “Idol” when it returns in January. With a stronger schedule in place around the reality show than it had last year, as well as “24” returning to the lineup, Fox should be able to bounce back more quickly than it did last season.

Media buyers said before the season began that Fox’s fall schedule looked stronger than last year. Indeed, factoring out baseball, Fox is well ahead of where it was last year.

Its ratings should only grow through the final two and a half weeks of sweeps. The network spiked two of its lowest-rated shows, “Arrested Development” and “Kitchen Confidential,” for the remainder of the month, which will give a big boost to Monday night.

“Family Guy” is providing some welcome assistance to “The Simpsons” on Sunday night that Fox did not have last year. “Guy” returned from a three-year hiatus last May, and this year Fox’s Sunday night average is up over last year.

New shows “Bones,” “The War at Home” and “Prison Break” are all showing gains over last year’s timeslot averages. Even Friday’s dismal lineup, which consistently ranks fifth among the six networks, is bettering last year’s numbers.

And Fox still has several sweeps stunts left, most notably the first-half finale of “Prison,” set for Nov. 28, and Bruce Willis on “That ‘70s Show” tomorrow night.

As for the other networks, CBS pulled ahead of ABC on the strength of its Thursday lineup, with a 4.7 average through Friday night. ABC had a 4.0, but the two will be back in a dead heat once averages for Sunday, ABC’s highest-rated night, are calculated later today.

NBC remains in a distant third with a 3.3 average, down 23 percent from last year.

And UPN, though trailing the WB 1.5-1.4 in 18-49s, has pulled ahead in total viewers with 3.66 million to the WB’s 3.57 million. Both are down from last year.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1285.asp

fredfa

11-15-05, 12:46 PM

Last week’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the second post in this thread).

deArgila

11-15-05, 02:52 PM

Is the FOX Thanksgiving football game not going to be in HD?

fredfa

11-15-05, 03:02 PM

Last week’s prime-time program ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS -- the second post in this thread. (Because in the past some of you have expressed an interest in Pax ratings, I have added them this week only.)

fredfa

11-15-05, 03:31 PM

Week Ending Nov. 13th
Top 10 Cable Programs
# / Program / Net / Viewers (000s)
1 NFL REGULAR SEASON L (BROWNS/STEELERS) ESPN 9,820
2 SPONGEBOB NICK 7,934
3 SPONGEBOB NICK 5,473
4 SPONGEBOB NICK 5,607
5 COLL FTBALL-SAT PRIME L (AUBURN/GEORGIA) ESPN 4,850
6 SPONGEBOB NICK 4,695
7 SPONGEBOB NICK 5,410
8 FAIRLY ODD PARENTS NICK 4,735
9 NFL PRIME TIME L ESPN 4,497
10 SPONGEBOB NICK 4,577
(L=Live)
Source: Nielsen Media Research

fredfa

11-15-05, 03:43 PM

The season to date prime-time program ratings have been updated through last week and are now at the bottom of RATINGS NEWS -- the second post in this thread.

fredfa

11-15-05, 03:50 PM

Is the FOX Thanksgiving football game not going to be in HD?

yes it will be in HD. Atlanta at Detroit. 12:30 PM ET.

It's no excuse, but Fox releases its "official" HD list pretty late and, frankly, I was busy with the weekly Nielsen numbers and forgot to add it to the list. Thanks for reminding me.

GregF

11-15-05, 03:55 PM

I'm a little confused, is that in other words 9.8 million viewers for NFL at #1?

How is it that Spongebob still rules? Every adult *and* kid I know is sick of that show, as great as it was.

fredfa

11-15-05, 04:01 PM

Because SpngeBob is there five nights a week -- (apparently forever!)
But yes the NFL was (and almost always is) tops for the week.

deArgila

11-15-05, 04:02 PM

yes it will be in HD. Atlanta at Detroit. 12:30 PM ET.

It's no excuse, but Fox releases its "official" HD list pretty late and, frankly, I was busy with the weekly Nielsen numbers and forgot to add it to the list. Thanks for reminding me.

No problem. Thanks.

fredfa

11-15-05, 04:05 PM

Actually, I am glad to see someone reads that list! It is a pain in the ass to keep updated.

Xesdeeni

11-15-05, 04:16 PM

Sometimes I suspect a bit of masochism in you, Fred.

:-)

Xesdeeni

blizz

11-15-05, 04:28 PM

Does anybody know the latest estimate of what percent of the viewing audience is HD capable?

larrytw

11-15-05, 04:30 PM

fredfa

11-15-05, 04:41 PM

Sometimes I suspect a bit of masochism in you, Fred.

:-)

Xesdeeni

Just a bit? :)

By the way, since you were one of the first posters to the site, it is good to see you still here!

fredfa

11-15-05, 04:44 PM

Does anybody know the latest estimate of what percent of the viewing audience is HD capable?

The numbers are all over the place...anywhere from 7% to 17% of homes. I am not sure who or what to believe.

We do know how many HD capable sets have been sold (although I can't put my fingers on the number at the moment) but the problem seems to be that a fairly sizable portion of folks buy the set, and then think they are getting HD -- without an STB or cable or satellite connection. (But they say their DVDs look better!)

In the next couple of days I'll call Nielsen and see what those folks might suggest.

fredfa

11-15-05, 04:45 PM

Fredfa, I believe there is a problem with your football listings on the first page. You list Miami twice on Thursday November 17th and again on Saturday November 19th. I think the Saturday listing is the correct one. On Thursday November 17th, there is a basketball game between Florida and Wake Forest at 7pm but I don't believe there is a football game between Miami and Wake Forest on that date.

Thanks for catching the goof Larry. (And welcome to the thread! By the way, I am always looking for suggestions -- as well as referrals so that more people will join us here.)
Miami is in HD this Saturday night hosting Georgia Tech.
And after last week's thumping, the Demon Deacons must be happy not to have to see the Canes for a while.

Xesdeeni

11-15-05, 04:51 PM

By the way, since you were one of the first posters to the site, it is good to see you still here!Once a TV-aholic, always a TV-aholic. :D

Xesdeeni

fredfa

11-15-05, 04:52 PM

Once a TV-aholic, always a TV-aholic. :D

Xesdeeni

Is there a 12-step program? Help!

archiguy

11-15-05, 04:54 PM

Put down the remote and back away slowly. :D

fredfa

11-15-05, 04:57 PM

I don't think I know anyone who has ever seen "Laguna Beach". (Which could say more about me and my friends than I should admit.) But if it is your cup of tea....(warning: there are spoilers galore)

The “Laguna Beach” finale
By Remi Flaishman bcbeat.com

Last night marked the much-anticipated commercial-free Season Two finale of Laguna Beach. Was it me or did the half-hour actually seem shorter than usual without the commercials? Or maybe it was just because MTV ended the show almost ten minutes early in order to make the “surprise” announcement about spinoff show The Hills. But I guess it was all worth it, as we were treated to a sneak preview of The Hills, starring Laguna heroine L.C. (Lauren), and Season Three of Laguna apparently starring L.C.’s little sister. Nepotism anyone?

I can’t really make up my mind about The Hills yet. The show follows L.C. to LA where she lives in what looks to be “Melrose Place,” meets new LA friends and works as an intern at Teen Vogue. According to L.C. “life in the city is no day at the beach.” Unless you live in LA where it kinda is.

I picked up on a Models Inc. vibe, and we all remember what happened to that short-lived ‘90s Melrose spin-off. Exactly.

Aside from the big announcements, the actual Laguna finale was pretty anti-climactic. In atypical Laguna fashion, the finale was virtually drama-free, instead tugging at viewer’s heartstrings with teary goodbyes and musical montages featuring highlights of the past season. Jason, Laguna’s philosopher-in-residence, summed it up well: “Its just gnarly to see everyone going their own way.”

Even the normally unemotional Kristin spends most of the episode in tears. Apparently she’s smarter than I gave her credit for. She knows her glory days are behind her. You know what they say about the popular kids in high school…it’s all downhill from here biyatch! so enjoy it while you can.

Over all, the Laguna finale was slightly disappointing (as there was little drama) but emotionally satisfying. However, I still have a few remaining questions…

• Did Talan ever graduate? Or did he forgo such inconsequential things in lieu of post-reality show stardom

• How long did LC last in college? A week? That’s just sad.

• Don’t these people know what happens to former MTV reality stars? Do they even watch The Gauntlet.

• What happened to Lo? Loved her. Obviously, she must have watched The Gauntlet and wisely moved on to college after Season One.

• And finally - How come no one dates Cedric? He’s hot, according to my roommate, Amanda.

http://www.bcbeat.com/

KenA

11-15-05, 04:58 PM

fredfa

11-15-05, 05:03 PM

Quick question Fred. On the first page, if the viewers are listed in millions, shouldn't there be a decimal point in those figures?

Show / Network / Viewers (in Millions)
Rank Program Net Viewers
1 CSI CBS 29,546

Should that be 29.546 million? 29,546 million = 29.546 billion, right?

Not to be picky, I was just wondering...

You are right.

I've changed the ","s to "."s and all is right with the world.

(And I really appreciate picky readers. They are the only ones to save me from my typos -- and more serious errors. If you can't trust the information here, you'll stop reading. So corrections are always happily made and suggestions are always welcome.)

fredfa

11-15-05, 05:17 PM

Critic’s Notebook
What is NBC thinking?
By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune November 15, 2005

NBC has plastered a banner ad trumpeting "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" as "The No. 1 comedy hour on television" all over the Internet. Well, who knows what numbers they spun in order to make that claim, but they're both good shows and "Earl" is doing very well in the ratings (by the way, don't miss Tuesday's episode of "Earl").

The only question is, if NBC is that high on that comedy block (one of the few bright spots on its schedule), why not move it to Thursdays? Honestly, what are they thinking? At this point, wouldn't a test pattern, let alone two really buzz-worthy shows, get a better number than "Joey"?

http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/

fredfa

11-15-05, 05:35 PM

Critic’s Notebook
'Gilmore Girls' still great
By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News

At the risk of repeating myself, "Gilmore Girls" is one of the best things on TV. Still.

Let's see . . . my original review of the show (Oct. 4, 2000) was headlined "Gilmore Girls" is great. Since then, there have been updates headlined, "Gilmore Girls' is truly great TV. And Gotta love the "Gilmore Girls.' " And several other uses of the word "great.”

OK, so I need to consult the thesaurus more often. But that doesn't change the fact that, in its sixth season, "Gilmore Girls" is as, well, as great as it ever was.

The event we've been waiting for is finally going to happen tonight (8 PM ET/PT., the WB). After months of estrangement — nine episodes, actually — mother and daughter Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Bledel) are finally going to reconcile.

Their estrangement was a risky move for creator/executive producer/writer Amy Sherman-Palladino and her team. This is a show built around the relationship between Rory and Lorelai, and having them not on speaking terms was a huge departure.

But, like just about everything else they've done since the show premiered, it worked. (Hey, even the fourth season — by far the series' weakest — set up the exceptional fifth and now sixth seasons.)

"Gilmore Girls" has also been about Rory growing up, and she's done a lot of that in those nine episodes. She's had to toughen up a bit, and she's seen people — including both her grandmother and her boyfriend — for who they really are.

And, I must say, Lorelai may be the greatest TV mother ever — she resisted the urge to order Rory to straighten up. (In her place, I would have done a lot of yelling about how my child better get herself back to Yale this very minute!)

Not that this means everything is smooth sailing in Stars Hollow, however. Also in tonight's episode, Luke (Scott Patterson) gets a big surprise that will affect his relationship with Lorelai.

But without conflict, there's no show. And "Gilmore Girls" is a great show.

Where's that thesaurus?

http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635161249,00.html

fredfa

11-15-05, 05:48 PM

Week Ending Nov. 6th
Top Syndicated Programs
# / Program / Viewers in millions
1 WHEEL OF FORTUNE 12.453
2 ESPN NFL REGULAR SEASON 12.426
3 OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT) 9.306
4 EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN (AT) 9.419
5 JEOPARDY 9.115
6 SEINFELD (AT) 8.223
7 SEINFELD-WKND (AT) 7.729
8 DR. PHIL SHOW (AT) 6.831
8 ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT) 7.153
10 FRIENDS (AT) 7.351
11 CSI-SYN (AT) 6.708
12 JUDGE JUDY (AT) 6.214
13 THAT 70S SHOW-MF-SYN (AT) 6.405
14 WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND 5.907
15 EVBDY LVS RAYMOND-WKD-SYN 5.793
16 INSIDE EDITION 4.686
16 LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY 4.523
18 BUENA VISTA VI 4.733
19 JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT) 4.049
20 MILLIONAIRE (AT) 4.141
21 ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WKD 3.783
21 INSIDER (AT) 3.749
23 KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT) 4.076
24 PEOPLE'S COURT (AT) 3.518
24 MAURY (AT) 3.553
Source: Nielsen Media Research

rcman2

11-15-05, 06:12 PM

Week Ending Nov. 6th
Top Syndicated Programs
# / Program / Viewers in millions
3 OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT) 9.306
4 EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN (AT) 9.419

Source: Nielsen Media Research

Either the shows or numbers need to be changed.

fredfa

11-15-05, 06:37 PM

Either the shows or numbers need to be changed.

There are a number of other "out of order" listings, too.

Here is the reason:

Nielsen ranks the shows by households, but I -- to try to make things a little easier to understand -- only user the total viewer numbers, which sometimes have fairly minor variations.

But the total viewers numbers seem to me to be more informative than the households.

rcman2

11-15-05, 07:44 PM

There are a number of other "out of order" listings, too.

Here is the reason:

Nielsen ranks the shows by households, but I -- to try to make things a little easier to understand -- only user the total viewer numbers, which sometimes have fairly minor variations.

But the total viewers numbers seem to me to be more informative than the households.

Thank you for the explanation. I'll try to remember that from now on.

fredfa

11-15-05, 07:56 PM

Don't worry about remembering such arcane stuff (that is what I'm here for) -- if you ever have a question about it, just ask! :)

fredfa

11-15-05, 07:58 PM

I n additon to this Sunday's HD schedule, Fox hnas also released its HD schedule for NEXT week.
So the HD football schedule -- in the first post of this thread -- has now been updated through the Thanksgiving weekend.

fredfa

11-15-05, 08:11 PM

Will anyone notice?
MSNBC Disconnects “Connected Coast to Coast”

(Perhaps this item should be filed under the “if a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it… category).

The MSNBC weeknight program “Connected Coast to Coast” along with weekend shows “MSNBC At The Movies” and “MSNBC Hot List” have all be cancelled. “Connected", hosted by former Fox News Analyst Monica Crowley and Ron Reagan, had a ninth-month run at the beleagured cable news network. The two weekend entertainment shows had run for 10 months.

Don't worry if you have neither seen nor heard of them. Neither has almost anyone else. The shows received minimal ratings as MSNBC continues to lag far behind CNN and leap years in back of cable news leader Fox News Channel.

Anne Becker of Broadcasting & Cable reports that the is “no word yet on what will fill "Connected’s" noon timeslot, but an internal staff memo from MSNBC President Rick Kaplan promised 'exciting new programming at noon' would be announced soon.

The moves come after MSNBC’s recent announcement of a new news/debate program from Maury Povich and Connie Chung. The show, per the staff memo, will double MSNBC’s ‘live or topical’ weekend news programming, which will now run from 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (the Connie/Maury show will be live-to-tape).

Staffers from the canceled shows will be reassigned to other programs and Reagan and Crowley will remain at MSNBC in a yet-to-be-determined capacity, said a network representative. ‘It’s all a game of musical chairs,’ he said of the staffing.”

It seems hard to believe that anyone at MSNBC would use any kind of chairs reference – it kind of makes you think of the Titanic.

fredfa

11-15-05, 08:17 PM

Goodbye to “Nightline”
A late-night staple signs off

Ted Koppel's sober style guided 'Nightline' for 25 years. His final appearance is Tuesday
By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 16, 2005

As he gears up for his final "Nightline" appearance Tuesday, it's time to pay tribute to Ted Koppel, late-night funnyman.

Asked last week how ABC News, his employer for the last 42 years, plans to mark his departure from the network, the anchor deadpanned, in the steady, sonorous tones that are parodied on "Saturday Night Live," that the going-away party will be "huge. Elephants. Trapeze artists. Semi-naked women. It's gonna be wild."

It's fair to say most news junkies seldom have seen the lighter side of the 65-year-old Koppel, but it certainly exists. He's been known to amuse colleagues with wicked off-camera impersonations of Richard Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger (who, during Koppel's stint as ABC's diplomatic correspondent in the 1970s, offered him a job as assistant secretary of state). And there was that time he performed his own stupid human trick, balancing a dog biscuit on his nose during an appearance on David Letterman's show.

Instead, viewers mostly know the public Koppel, who has prided himself on bringing a strong dose of gravitas to the 11:35 p.m. time slot, where usually the frivolous runs free. Over the last quarter-century, "Nightline" has carved out a unique spot in television news, devoting a highly focused half-hour (and sometimes an entire week's worth of shows) to a single topic: prison life, AIDS, African famine, the Iraq war.

Part newsmagazine, part interview show, "Nightline" has maintained a loyal audience amid brutal and seemingly ever-increasing competition, thanks largely to Koppel's sober presence and famously probing style. And even though the program will continue in his absence — with three hosts (Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran) instead of one — many are already ruing the change.

"It's a monumental moment in the history of American television news," Orville Schell, dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, said of Koppel's departure. "Nightline" "was the gold standard on television of good serious world affairs.... This is the program all my students wanted to work at" after graduation.

Following the August death of ABC anchor Peter Jennings, Koppel's departure does carry the sense of an era's passage, perhaps for the news business generally as well as the network. Koppel himself, who hasn't formally announced his next move but bristles at any hint that he's retiring, says as much.

"After a while, anticipating departure, you just want to get it over with," Koppel said. "On the other hand, I've spent my entire adult life here; when I joined ABC, I was 23. So I'm leaving a lot of memories behind. But most of my good friends, with three or four notable exceptions ... have passed on, either literally, or passed on to other phases of their lives. Barbara Walters and Sam Donaldson and Charlie Gibson and I are four of the last survivors here."

Acknowledging the diminished role of network news divisions in a world crowded with cable and Internet competitors, he added: "It's clearly not the same kind of operation that it used to be, and that's in large measure because the corporations that all of these news divisions work for — CBS, NBC, ABC — have put the squeeze on their news divisions, even though they're making tons of money."

Koppel has felt the squeeze personally. He was incensed when ABC executives, hoping to boost their late-night ratings, secretly wooed Letterman in 2002 to host a talk show that would take over "Nightline's" time slot; Koppel found out about the overture when a reporter called. After Letterman declined the offer, Koppel and the network patched things up, but some damage was already done. "They've been looking to off-load ['Nightline'] for some time," Schell said.

Even so, "Nightline" has kept making headlines. Proof of the show's continuing influence came again in September, when Koppel's grilling of then-FEMA director Michael D. Brown over the government's response to Hurricane Katrina made headlines and helped establish the tone of subsequent news coverage of the catastrophe. Just last year, the program was at the center of controversy when Sinclair Broadcasting instructed its ABC affiliates not to air a telecast in which Koppel read the names of U.S. service members killed in Iraq.

"I think we can take some pride in the fact that we never lowered our standards over the past 25 years," Koppel said.

As it happened, the show owed its creation to a bit of business opportunism on the part of Roone Arledge, the executive who built ABC News into an industry powerhouse during the 1970s and '80s. As he recounted in his memoir "Roone," Arledge (who died in 2002) wanted a late-night news program that could help promote the lucrative early evening newscast — and maybe steal some viewers from NBC's "Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."

When Iranian militants took hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, ABC began offering nightly updates on the crisis after the late local news. Within months the updates became "Nightline."

Some ABC affiliates initially complained bitterly that the new show was cutting into their lucrative ad revenues from late-night syndicated fare. And the critics weren't much kinder; the Washington Post's Tom Shales ridiculed "Nightline" as "a great leap sideways" for network news. But the naysayers changed their tune as the show began threatening Carson in the ratings. Soon Koppel, who had toiled for years in relative obscurity as a foreign correspondent and bureau chief, was one of the biggest stars in news.

Koppel will devote his final program Tuesday to Morrie Schwartz, who was the inspiration for Mitch Albom's bestseller "Tuesdays With Morrie" and was one of Koppel's favorite interview subjects.

Beyond that, he's refusing to discuss his plans until he has officially left ABC's payroll. "I have this funny old-fashioned view of things," he said, "that until the divorce is final I don't talk about the next wife."

Some reports have him going to do documentaries for HBO. Longtime "Nightline" producer Tom Bettag — who's leaving the network with Koppel — said no such deal is in place yet. "Do we think there's a lot that would be terrific about an HBO base? You bet. But we're not there yet," Bettag said.

Koppel said he was pleased the new "Nightline" will retain Chris Bury and John Donvan, two correspondents who have occasionally substituted for Koppel behind the anchor desk. Still, he's wary that executives will eventually find ways to break up the famously close-knit "Nightline" staff — "I am never confident of what my friend David Letterman calls 'those weasels in management' will do," he said — but he's hoping the program inextricably linked with his name and persona can somehow thrive without him.

"I hope they make it hugely successful," Koppel said. "Nothing would please me more than to come back someday and attend the 50th anniversary of 'Nightline.' "

He paused, and then let loose once more.

"By which time I would be 90 years old, and someone would have to feed me a cup of lukewarm broth. But I would still enjoy it."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-koppel16nov16,0,1746448,print.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

fredfa

11-16-05, 12:52 AM

More bad news for “Surface”

NBC's “Las Vegas” craps out big-time

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 15, 2005

Killing a main character doesn’t provide quite the sweeps magic it would seem to promise.

Despite next week’s impending demise of one of the show’s leads, NBC’s “Las Vegas” posted just a 3.5 overnight rating last night among viewers 18-49, a 17 percent drop versus the 4.2 overnight rating the show averaged over its first seven episodes this season.

It was the second-lowest rating of the year for the show, just ahead of last week’s season-low 3.3 overnight rating.

Perhaps viewers are fed up with shows killing off their favorites, as death has not been kind to the networks this sweeps. Last week ABC’s “Lost” suffered its lowest-rated episode of the season among 18-49s after killing off one of its leads.

There are other reasons why “Las Vegas” is in a ratings slide. First, the 9 p.m. show’s 8 p.m. lead-in, “Surface,” has also slipped, last night averaging a 2.9 overnight rating among 18-49s, 6 percent below its 3.1 season average.

“Surface” premiered to a 3.7 overnight rating among 18-49s in September. Many of those who stuck around for the third-year “Las Vegas” after “Surface” are now gone.

Also, ABC’s competing “Monday Night Football” has approached season highs the last two weeks, bolstered by intriguing matchups between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots last week and the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles last night.

Casual “Las Vegas” fans may be switching over to “MNF” or taping “Vegas” to watch football live.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1302.asp

fredfa

11-16-05, 01:21 AM

Weekly Nielsen Notes
Shows get sweeps boost

By Gary LevinUSA TODAY Nov. 16, 2005

• Sweeps rewards. The November ratings derby drew more attention to several shows, earning season highs last week for CSI (29.5 million) and Grey's Anatomy (19.7 million). Others include Survivor (19 million), Cold Case (17.4 million), ER (15.4 million), [B]Numb3rs (12.4 million), The Apprentice (11.1 million), 48 Hours Mystery (10.1 million), Biggest Loser (10.1 million), E-Ring (9.9 million) — which earned a full-season pickup — and Joey (8.1 million).

• Crossover appeal. CBS' CSI spinoffs also showed muscle with a crossover episode: After CSI: Miami drew 18.4 million viewers Monday, CSI:NY's 19.2 million Wednesday crowd marked that show's biggest audience since its second episode in September 2004.

• '70s beats '80s. Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found averaged 7.9 million viewers Sunday, well below its regular-series averages — and the 12.2 million for precursor documentary SNL: The First Five Years last February. Elsewhere Sunday, Desperate Housewives (25.9 million) ended five weeks of consecutive declines; CBS' Category 7: End of the World (13.9 million) fell slightly from last Sunday's opener; and NBC's Penn & Teller: Off the Deep End was low with 5.7 million.

• ”Stacked” slumps. The season premiere of Fox's Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked scored a series-low 5 million viewers Wednesday. Also registering historic lows: Fox's The O.C. , ABC's Alias and The Night Stalker, which was subsequently canceled.

• Closer to home. CBS drama Close to Home set a series-high 11.9 million viewers with a trial run in a new Friday slot. It improved by 4 million over Threshold, which gets a Tuesday tryout next week.

• ”Beach” wears well. MTV's Laguna Beach averaged 3.3 million viewers Monday and was the week's top cable program among the 12-to-24 crowd.

• Go, Gary! A SpongeBob SquarePants special episode, in which SpongeBob's snail-pal Gary goes missing, drew 7.9 million viewers to Nickelodeon Friday and was the No. 2 show among kids this year, behind the Super Bowl.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-11-15-nielsen-analysis_x.htm

fredfa

11-16-05, 01:36 AM

Chase Squires, the respected St. Petersburg Times TV Critic, has done some thinking about that CBS.com broadcast of “exclusive” story material from “CSI: Miami.” As in so many TV stories, if you just follow the money trail you can find answers. And CBS isn't even trying to cover any of it up.
Critic’s Notebook
More on that CSI: Miami CBS.com broadcast

By Chase Squires St. Petersburg Times television critic

Speaking of Hmmm ..

Ever wonder why those crime scene types drive around big, expensive, gas-sucking Hummers on CSI: Miami? Could there be some kind of advertising gig going on here?

This just in, a news release from CBS:

"Marking another example of traditional media and new media working together, CBS will produce original content of its hit drama CSI MIAMI that will be presented exclusively on CBS.com. .... A "bonus scene" that will complement an existing storyline on the series' Network broadcast will debut immediately following the east coast broadcast of CSI MIAMI, Monday, (10:00-11:00 PM, ET), Nov. 21 on the CBS Television Network.

"Viewers will be able to log on to CBS.com to view the original video material that will influence the course of events this season on the hit crime drama. The bonus material featured on CBS.com will be sponsored by HUMMER, the official crime scene vehicle for the CBS drama series. CBS and HUMMER will support the unique broadcast/online storyline with spots on the network and advertisements on CBS.com.

"Our Miami fans have been with us since the beginning and it's nice to reward them with a special bonus scene only on CBS.com. This exclusive web scene between Ryan Wolfe and Erica Sykes contains a dramatic revelation about someone in our lab -- a revelation that threatens to tear the team apart and will lead to a shocking conclusion at the end of our season," commented Ann Donahue, executive producer of CSI MIAMI.

"In the exclusive CBS.com web scene, a major secret will be revealed that has the potential to unravel the tight knit team of CSIs. In the scene, local news reporter Erika Sykes (Amy Laughlin) shares a crucial piece of information with Detective Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) that will lead to an undercover investigation that will unfold this season on CSI MIAMI.

"CBS.com will also produce bonus material on the website sponsored exclusively by HUMMER.

"In the episode that will air Nov. 21, titled "Urban Hellraisers," Delko (Adam Rodriguez) witnesses a bank robbery and the CSIs soon discover that the culprits are playing out the action from the destructive and brutal videogame "Urban Hellraisers" on the streets of Miami and keeping score for killing cops, raping women and stealing evidence. Now, the CSIs must discover what consists of getting to the next level in the game in order to stop the culprits before they strike again."

http://www.sptimes.com/blogs/tv/

(The highlight and colors are from Squires, not me.)

Marcus Carr

11-16-05, 10:13 AM

Comcast ready for some football?

Comcast Corp. is one of the top candidates to land a new eight-game National Football League broadcasting package, the New York Times reported Wednesday. If the company wins the bidding, it would be a boon to Comcast's OLN cable network, which the company is transforming from a network solely for outdoor enthusiasts into something that could compete at times with ESPN.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), owner of the Fox broadcast and cable networks, is another top candidate, the Times said. The league is also considering keeping the games for itself and showing them on its NFL Network.

The league is selling rights to broadcast eight games on Thursday and Saturday nights during the latter part of the NFL season starting next year. The new package is the last piece of a shakeup for NFL broadcasts in 2006 that will have "Monday Night Football" moving from ABC to ESPN and the NFL's Sunday night games moving from ESPN to NBC. CBS and Fox will continue showing Sunday afternoon games.

Based on what networks are paying for other packages, rights to the Thursday- and Saturday-night games could cost about $400 million a year, the Times said.

The OLN network got a boost earlier this year by buying the rights to broadcast National Hockey League games for three years.

A Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK) representative could not be reached for comment. Comcast of Philadelphia is the nation's largest cable company, with 21.4 million subscribers.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2005/11/14/daily23.html

fredfa

11-16-05, 11:48 AM

Tuesday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the second post in this thread).

fredfa

11-16-05, 11:52 AM

The short and abrupt life of” Inside TV”
By Dan Weil MediaLifeMagazine.com Nov 16, 2005

As recently as a year ago, amid reports that the UK's OK! was coming to the U.S., the thinking was that there was still lots of room left for super-hot celebrity newsstand magazines.

Yesterday buried that presumption with word that Gemstar-TV Guide International was killing off Inside TV, a title launched just eight months ago to snag a share of the glitz.

Consider the category now closed. Most likely other, newer celebrity titles will follow Inside TV to its death, likely in the coming months, even as the established celebrity titles such as People and Us Weekly continue to thrive.

Inside TV lost $24.1 million during its brief existence. And now the company, partly owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., will take another hit of $2 million-$5 million to shut the publication down.

In a statement released this morning, Gemstar-TV Guide chief executive officer Rich Battista said, “We are now pursuing a more focused strategy of building upon our company’s considerable core assets, including the TV Guide brand ... Inside TV is not central to this strategy, and it has not been performing as well as we had initially expected.”

Inside TV's death hardly comes as a surprise, its suffering already widely reported.

Perhaps the bigger curiosity was why it was launched in the first place. Inside TV as initially presented aspired to stand above the muck of many of the celebrity titles, such as Star, but the feeling was that the higher ground was already the province of People and Us.

Indeed, at the time, media people were not quite sure what to make of Inside TV, though at least some saw it as a stalking horse to determine what kind of changes Gemstar needed to make in its sagging flagship, TV Guide.

In July, Gemstar announced a major revamp of TV Guide, slashing its rate base to 3.2 million from 9 million, dumping the magazine’s extended TV listings and replacing them with editorial content. The new, larger version of its TV Guide looked a lot like Inside TV, including some of its content.
There was even talk that TV Guide would ultimately be folded in to Inside TV or vice versa.

But the magazine just never caught on with readers. The weekly’s average newsstand sales of fewer than 130,000 copies per issue made its promise of 400,000 circulation by year-end appear quite dubious.

At Gemstar, all of Inside TV’s 40 full-time staffers, including editor-in-chief Steve LeGrice, former editor of In Touch and Star, will lose their jobs. Sarah Pyper, who previously worked at In Touch and Us Weekly and was brought in by Gemstar to remake Inside TV, will be kept on as a consultant. The original plan was for Pyper to guide a shift in the magazine’s focus from gossip to service.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1326.asp

fredfa

11-16-05, 11:59 AM

The TV Column
The Week’s Winners and Losers
CBS Cruises, but SpongeBob Sops Up Viewers

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Wednesday, November 16, 2005; C07

CBS has posted an across-the-board ratings victory for the fifth straight week, with "CSI" scoring the largest audience of any . . .

We interrupt this tedious TV ratings report to bring you an important bulletin about SpongeBob SquarePants, whose search for his beloved pet snail -- missing-and-presumed-escargot on the mean streets of Bikini Bottom -- attracted a colossal 8 million mollusk lovers to Nickelodeon. That's nearly 6 million more than caught Greta Van Susteren's effort to find missing white chick Natalee Holloway in Aruba on Fox News Channel and more than 7 million more than watched Nancy Grace shed big crocodile tears for the missing Holloway on CNN Headline News in July.

Here's a look at the week's found and lost:

WINNERS

"SpongeBob SquarePants. " Friday's "Where's Gary?" episode became the most watched television program this year among kids 2 to 11 years old on any network, broadcast or cable (excepting Super Bowl coverage). Nearly 5 million of them tuned in to find out whether SpongeBob would find his runaway pet snail. For comparison's sake, last week's No. 1 broadcast show among kids 2-11 was ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." It clocked 1.75 million kids in that demographic.

"Monday Night Football." ABC's coverage of the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts averaged nearly 22 million viewers, the franchise's biggest crowd in nearly five years.

"Freddie." ABC picked up this lame sitcom for the rest of the season after it flattened the return of Pamela Anderson's "Stacked" on Wednesday
"E-Ring." NBC picked up this nutty drama for the rest of the season because, although it averaged only 10 million viewers last week (which, granted, was its biggest audience yet), it's from Jerry Bruckheimer.

"ER." After getting cleaned for the past couple of weeks by CBS's "Without a Trace" among the 18-to-49-year-olds that advertisers covet, NBC's doc drama beat "Trace" in the golden age bracket on Thursday. That's probably owing, we are shocked and awed to report, to the guest appearance of -- John Stamos.

"CSI: NY." Thanks to a crossover episode with "CSI: Miami," "NY" copped more than 19 million viewers on Wednesday -- up more than 30 percent compared with this season's average.

"Close to Home." CBS moved this new Bruckheimer drama to Friday, after "Ghost Whisperer," and scored nearly 50 percent more viewers in the time slot than it had this season to date, while "Close" snared about 2 million more viewers than in its old Tuesday slot, battling NBC's "Law & Order: SVU."

LOSERS

"Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found." In February, we learned that more than 12 million are interested in the first five years of "SNL"; this month, we learned that only 7.9 million care about "SNL" in the 1980s. Which means I'm not alone and millions like me think this show hasn't been so interesting since the '70s.

"7th Heaven." The week that "7th Heaven" logs its season high is the perfect time to announce its cancellation. Though this show is down about 20 percent compared with last year, averaging a little more than 5 million viewers each week, it's still one of WB's stronger shows. But it's an older series and older means "more expensive" because, naturally, people expect raises. Sounds like cost-cutting time at WB.

"Arrested Development." Virtually canceled.

Martha Stewart . Good thing Martha's version of "The Apprentice" is doing such a lousy number -- 6.4 million viewers on Wednesday -- because no way was NBC going to bring back this show for a second edition, according to the network and exec producer Mark Burnett.

"Night Stalker." For the second time in 30 years, ABC has canceled "Night Stalker." In the mid-'70s, it was gone in one season; this time it's gone after six episodes -- last week's falling to just under 4 million viewers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501517_pf.html

fredfa

11-16-05, 12:04 PM

Comcast ready for some football?

I posted the NY Times article last night. (It does not zero in solely on Comcast at all, by the way.)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6541177#post6541177

Marcus Carr

11-16-05, 12:10 PM

Comcast was in the title on the web page I found. I just copied it.

I thought I had seen a post about this but couldn't find it.

fredfa

11-16-05, 12:13 PM

Texas Town Renames Itself 'DISH'
Each DISH Resident to Get 10 Years of Free DISH Network Programming

News Release from EchoStar Communications Corp. 11/16/2005
________________________________________

DISH, Texas, Nov 16, 2005 -- EchoStar Communications Corporation, its DISH Network(TM) satellite TV service and the town of Clark, Texas, announced today that the town of Clark has accepted DISH Network's challenge to re-brand itself as part of the DISH City Makeover.

As of today, Clark, Texas, a small tight-knit bedroom community located a half hour north of Fort Worth, Texas, has legally changed its name to DISH, Texas. In exchange, DISH Network has agreed to provide every household in the town of DISH 10 years of free basic satellite TV programming, including equipment and standard installation. DISH Network introduced the DISH City Makeover as part of recent re-branding efforts and a new advertising campaign trumpeting "Better TV for All."

"We are thrilled that the town of Clark has accepted the DISH City Makeover challenge," said Michael Neuman, president of EchoStar's DISH Network. "By officially changing the town's name, the residents of DISH will experience first hand what 'Better TV for All' truly means, while at the same time saving hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next decade."

The Clark Town Commissioners voted to rename the town DISH Tuesday evening at a packed town hall meeting. Clark, first incorporated as a town in 2000, is located 25 miles north of Ft. Worth and has a population of 125. The town of Clark is a rural agricultural and ranching community as well as a bedroom community for commuters who work in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

"We are all very excited about our new relationship with DISH Network," said Bill Merritt, Mayor of DISH, Texas. "We accepted this challenge because we believe this relationship will give us a unique opportunity to put our town on the map, and we hope it will help us attract new people and businesses so that our town can grow in the right direction. With free DISH Network satellite TV, we'll become a place people are proud to be a part of."

Under the terms of the agreement, DISH Network agrees to provide every household within the city limits America's Top 60 programming package for 10 years, free standard installation and a free digital video recorder satellite TV receiver. In return, the town of Clark will legally change its name to DISH. Town signs will be changed to reflect the town's new identity, including the signs at the town hall, the town entrance, and all of the city limit signs.

http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=dish&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=783464

fredfa

11-16-05, 12:16 PM

Tuesday’s Ratings
CMAs' give CBS a sweet sweeps edge

Three-hour country awards average a 5.4 in 18-49s

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 16, 2005

Country music may not be as hot as it was at this time last year, but it could still help CBS to a November sweeps victory.

CBS’s three-hour coverage of the 39th annual “Country Music Awards” averaged a 5.4 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 last night, up 35 percent over CBS’s season-to-date average on Tuesday nights.

CBS usually averages a 4.0 in the demo on Tuesdays. That big bump gives CBS an edge over ABC as the two head into the final two weeks of sweeps in a dead heat among viewers 18-49. Through Monday night, CBS led with a 4.4 average rating and a 12 share, just ahead of ABC’s 4.3/12. ABC averaged just a 3.2 last night.

Last night’s 5.4 rating for the “CMAs” was actually down 8 percent from a 5.9 rating for the awards show last year, probably because the night is much more competitive than last year.

Since then, two highly rated shows among 18-49s, Fox’s “House” and NBC’s “My Name is Earl,” have started dominating the 9 p.m. timeslot. That means a tougher time for any sweeps stunts that may have aired there in the past.

In fact, next Tuesday ABC has a stunt of its own lined up, the “American Music Awards.”

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1344.asp

CPanther95

11-16-05, 12:35 PM

Can't believe House hasn't gone ahead of CIC in the ratings. :confused:

fredfa

11-16-05, 01:56 PM

Comcast was in the title on the web page I found. I just copied it.

I thought I had seen a post about this but couldn't find it.

No problem -- always happy to have more information here. I'd expect a Comcast-centric take on the story from the Philadelphia Business News.
In Australia they are probably playing up the Fox possibility, and in Atlanta the interest of Turner most likely is the lead. :)

fredfa

11-16-05, 04:18 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Stop with the "Lost"-bashing!

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune November 16, 2005

Why you gotta hate, Eric?

The Tribune's Eric Zorn has joined the list of folks looking for reasons to hate on "Lost." And I gotta tell you, I'm so sick of people looking for reasons to bash good shows.

Eric, if you or anyone else just doesn't like "Lost," fair enough. There's no law (yet) that says you have to watch the show. But the comparisons to "Twin Peaks" are completely off-base. Those folks never had any idea where they were going, and that was obvious, and for a while, I didn't mind, because the atmosphere was so great and the characters and cast superb.

Clearly, the creators of "Lost" have succeeded in avoiding "Peaks' " most obvious pitfalls.

But what I sense behind the rumblings of negativity about the show this year is the desire to tear something down, just because. It's bashing for its own sake.

I don't think there's any way that "Lost" could ever top the excitement and sheer adrenaline of its first season. It reminds me of when Liz Phair's second album came out; I hated it at first because it wasn't "Exile in Guyville." Given time, I realized it was actually pretty good on its own merits –- and it didn't rate a bashing just because it wasn't that one-time work of genius.

"Lost" faces a similar dilemma: It has to satisfy fans who ravenously devoured the first season, while keeping up the suspense and not giving away too many answers in the second year. It also has to try to stem the flood of leaks about the show (I can't imagine how mad I'd have been if the insanely good Locke episode that aired a year ago had been spoiled for me). Trying to do all that is an almost impossible task, and, truth be told, I'm not going to sit here and say that every single episode this season has been an A-plus outing.

Still, why can't we show a little faith? Why can't we just trust the writers who have brought us this far with exceeding skill? Some questions on "Lost" will never be answered, and that's fine, as long as some are, and new questions make the show's mythology ever more intriguing. And as long as the character journeys -– both on the island and in flashbacks -– continue to be interesting (and let's hope they're not as repetitive going forward), I'm on board with those as well.

If you don't think the show is worth your time this year, by all means, stop watching. As for me, I'm going to put some faith in the show's creative team, who brought me 22 hours of sheer pleasure last year, and another group of solid episodes this year. So Shannon's death was a little "eh" and some of the backstories are getting somewhat repetitive. So what? I'd watch Terry O'Quinn read the telephone book, and the writers are giving him much, much better material than that.

Let's face it, an episode of "Lost" that is not among that show's best is so much better than almost anything else out there. Given that I have two TiVos, I don't always watch shows the night that they air, but you'd better believe that I'll be glued to the couch tonight, watching all 65 minutes of tonight's episode about the first 48 days of the tail-section survivors.

The "Lost" crew has earned my faith in their powers. I trust them to tell another compelling tale. I'm glad they care what fans think and try to engage us through Web sites and lots of online interaction. But I hope they ignore fans, when it comes down to it, and continue to pursue their own creative vision. I, for one, am not going to speculate as to whether the show has, ahem, lost it.

When the show gets into "The X-Files" Season 6 territory, believe me, I'll be the first to screech my displeasure from the rooftops.

But for now, I still believe.

http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/

fredfa

11-16-05, 04:26 PM

TV Notes

(TVGuide.com)

REGIS HAS '06 PACT: Regis Philbin has been tapped by Fox to ring in 2006 as host of New Year's Eve Live, a direct competitor to ABC's long-running and Dick Clark-fronted New Year's Rockin' Eve. "I'm very happy to be asked to welcome in the new year on TV," says Philbin. "It's a one-of-a-kind show" — if you don't count ABC's long-running and Dick Clark-fronted New Year's Rockin' Eve.

HOUSEWIVES RUMOR REBUFFED: Page Kennedy, who was recently and abruptly let go from the role of Desperate Housewives' Caleb, denies the "crushing" and "damaging" rumor that he was dismissed for exposing himself to female crew members. "The truth is they decided to go in a different direction and bought out my contract," he tells The Detroit News. "Anything you've heard that's contrary is false." DH's cellar dweller has since been recast with newcomer Nashawn Kearse.

LIFE LOST: Broadcasting pioneer Ralph Edwards, who hosted such shows as the original This Is Your Life and Truth or Consequences, died of heart failure on Wednesday. He was 92. This Is Your Life is returning to television next year in an update hosted by Regis Philbin

http://tvguide.com/news/entertainment/

fredfa

11-16-05, 04:33 PM

OBITUARY
“This Is Your Life” host Ralph Edwards dead in Los Angeles at 92

JEFF WILSON Asssocuated Press

LOS ANGELES - Broadcasting pioneer Ralph Edwards, who spotlighted stars and ordinary people as host of the popular 1950s show "This Is Your Life," died Wednesday of heart failure. He was 92.

Edwards, whose career as producer and host included "Truth or Consequences" and "People's Court," died in his sleep at 9:13 a.m. with his family at his side in his West Hollywood home, publicist Justin Seremet said.

Edwards first hit it big in radio in 1940 with "Truth or Consequences," a novelty show in which contestants who failed to answer trick questions - the "truth" - had to suffer "the consequences" by performing some elaborate stunt.

Then came television. The Federal Communications Commission approved commercial broadcasts beginning on July 1, 1941, after a few years of experimental broadcasts, and NBC's New York station was the first to make the changeover.

"Amazingly enough, I did 'Truth or Consequences' on television in July 1941. It was the first commercial show for NBC," Edwards recalled.

"A 10-second commercial was $9," he said.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/13183532.htm

fredfa

11-16-05, 04:39 PM

For “Close to Home”, a likely reprieve
Timeslot switcheroo boosts the CBS drama

By Abigail Azote MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 16, 2005

It’s rarely a good sign when a new show that's still short of a full-season pickup gets bumped from a prime mid-week slot to the graveyard that is Friday night. But for CBS’s “Close to Home” it may be the move that saves the series from cancellation.

Last week, CBS swapped “Home” with Friday's “Threshold,” moving "Home" from 10 p.m. Tuesday to Friday at 9. It was billed as a temporary maneuver to see whether the switch would invigorate one or both of the two fading shows.

Look for that move to be permanent.

In its first night in its new Friday timeslot, “Home” averaged a 3.2 18-49 rating, up 10 percent from the 2.9 it averaged in its old timeslot. More important, it held onto 98 percent of hit lead-in “Ghost Whisperer’s” audience, drawing 4.18 million 18-49s. Among total viewers, “Home” actually outpaced “Whisperer,” averaging 11.9 million versus the latter’s 11.4 million.

“Home” also dramatically outpaced “Threshold's” performance in that timeslot. Since its premiere, that show had averaged a 2.3 18-49 rating and lost much of “Whisperer’s” lead-in. In the week prior to the scheduling move, “Threshold” averaged a 2.5 18-49 rating, down 31 percent from “Whisperer’s” 3.6.

In terms of compatibility, "‘Home’ is a far better fit with the ‘Whisperer’ lead-in because they attract the same audience—older women," says Jordan Breslow, director of broadcast research at MediaCom. “If ‘Home’ can maintain these levels, it will be an improvement on the entire night for CBS.”

Media people don’t anticipate a dropoff, and they expect CBS to make the move permanent within the next week or so.

In the case of "Threshold," its first airing in the new timeslot is next week, so it can't be said how well it will do. But in terms of compatibility, it is better fit with Tuesday's "NCIS" and "Amazing Race" with their stronger male following, says Bill Carroll, director of programming at Katz Television Group. “It also makes [the show] counter-programming to ‘Boston Legal’ and ‘Law & Order: SVU.’

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1313.asp

Inundated

11-16-05, 04:39 PM

He's headed to Sirius Satellite Radio in January, and, starting Friday, fans can see him at work -- raw, uncensored, uncut and without commercials -- on iN Demand Networks' "Howard Stern On Demand," a subscription video version of Stern's radio show.

Umm...I could have sworn I saw on a radio trade site this past week that they were delaying the debut of Stern's new TV venture. They were concerned that it would confuse people if it launched at the same time as his satellite radio show.

Maybe Ms. McCoy had this "in the can" and didn't check before it ran.

Sure enough, here it is (AllAccess.com, Monday of this week):

HOWARD STERN's return to TV on IN DEMAND has been put on hold until MARCH. The video-on-demand service's President ROB JACOBSON tells MULTICHANNEL NEWS that the debut is being delayed to avoid consumer confusion with STERN's JANUARY 9 debut on SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO.

fredfa

11-16-05, 05:05 PM

Good catch, Inundated.

I've deleted the original story to avoid confusion.

But I have a problem with the "official" reason for the delay.

"To avoid confusion"? Come on, it would be daily free advertising for the new Sirius venture -- the kind of free advertising that will disappear isoon when Stern ends his Infinity run.

There may be a business reason for the delay, but "to avoid confusion" surely isn't it.

Windom Earle

11-16-05, 05:09 PM

Neither howardstern.com nor the indemand website confirm the delay and both are still listing November 18th as the start.

fredfa

11-16-05, 05:11 PM

Perhaps I deleted too soon.

If anyone else has input I'd be more than glad to hear it.

fredfa

11-16-05, 05:15 PM

More on Howard

Here is what the InDemand website is saying right now: (2:15 PM Pacific Nov. 16th)

We know you want the details like what you get, how much it costs, and will it be available in my area. So here they are…

What exactly is Howard Stern On Demand?
Howard Stern On Demand is a subscription Video On Demand package that will be available through your local cable company. You will be able to see your favorite uncensored Howard Stern shows whenever you want. And, with Video On Demand, you can also pause, fast forward and rewind.

How much?
The monthly subscription will be available for a great introductory price of $9.99 (SRP*).

When will it be available and how do I get it?
The package will be available through many local cable companies beginning November 18th*. Register now to find out if it’s available in your area. We will also send you ordering information as soon as it’s available. Plus, you will get to see an exclusive never before seen video selected by Howard himself. Click here to register.

Will it be available with satellite?
No. Currently, only cable offers the kind of Video On Demand technology needed to deliver Howard Stern On Demand.

What will I be able to see when I subscribe?
You will be able to enjoy unlimited access to more than 35 hours a month of uncensored footage from your favorite Howard Stern E! shows and his new Howard Stern Sirius Radio Shows when they become available in early 2006. The selection of shows will be updated every week!

When I subscribe, will everyone in my house be able to see it?
You can choose to activate the parental control feature that your television provider offers to limit access to the programming by young kids and others in your household for which it might be inappropriate. For more information on this feature, please visit http://mytv.controlyourtv.org/setup

Register now to be kept up-to-date on the latest Howard Stern On Demand information.

*Introductory price is available from 11/18/05 - 3/31/06. Monthly subscription price will be $13.99 beginning 4/1/06. Price and availability date may vary locally.

http://www.indemand.com/HSOD/index.jsp

Windom Earle

11-16-05, 05:19 PM

Perhaps the confusion is that I believe the Sirius radio shows won't be broadcast on InDemand until March of 2006. Until then they will be showing uncensored E! shows as well as some original material.

fredfa

11-16-05, 05:25 PM

OBITUARY
Radio-TV Pioneer Ralph Edwards Dies at 92

By Dennis McLellan Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 1:41 PM PST, November 16, 2005

Ralph Edwards, the pioneer radio and television host and producer who created the landmark audience-participation show "Truth or Consequences" and the long-running sentimental favorite "This Is Your Life," died today. He was 92.

Edwards, a three-time Emmy Award-winner whose broadcasting career began on radio as a teenager in 1929 and spanned more than seven decades, died in his sleep of natural causes at his home in West Hollywood, said publicist Laura Calliari.

The one-time radio announcer who was responsible for thousands of hours of radio and television programming as a producer received a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2001.

At 90, Edwards, the head of Ralph Edwards Productions in Hollywood, was still putting in time at the office. Over the years, he produced more than 20 television shows, including "It Could Be You," "Place the Face," "$100,000 Name That Tune" and "The Cross-Wits." Ralph Edwards Productions and Stu Billett Productions continues to co-produce "The People's Court," which debuted in 1981.

"There's no doubt that Ralph Edwards was a giant of radio and television," Bob Barker, the longtime host of "The Price Is Right," told The Times today. In 1956, Edwards hired Barker to host "Truth or Consequences," which he did for 18 years.

"I stole things from him I still use," said Barker, who watched Edwards when he hosted the show. "I think he's one of the finest hosts who ever worked."

Edwards, Barker added, was "a most unusual man in that, in addition to being so talented as a host, producer and writer, he was adored by everyone who worked for him."

Edwards had broken out of the ranks of announcers as the host of "Truth or Consequences," which he created for radio in 1940. As host, he asked contestants silly, generally tricky questions and made them "pay" the consequences for answering incorrectly by performing unusual and often elaborate stunts.

The program, which became radio's No. 1 audience participation show, aired for 38 consecutive years on radio and television. It was so popular that residents of Hot Springs, N.M., voted in 1950 to rename their small resort town after the show to cash in on the free publicity the unique name would bring it.

The publicity-savvy Edwards had let it be known that he was looking for an American town that would be willing to change its name as a promotion for the show's 10th anniversary on radio, and Edwards proceeded to conduct a live "Truth or Consequences" broadcast from the show's new civic namesake.

"Truth or Consequences," which debuted on TV in 1950 with Edwards as host the first season, is credited with being the first show recorded on 35 millimeter film before a live audience on a regular basis, although it was not the first program filmed using multiple cameras. The three-camera, live-on-film system was later used on "I Love Lucy," which debuted in 1951, and the system is still used for sitcoms.

But the role for which Edwards undoubtedly will be best remembered is as the genial, smiling host of "This Is Your Life," whose surprised subjects had their life stories recounted by Edwards, punctuated by the voices of long-lost friends and relatives, who then joined Edwards and the honored guest on stage.

The Saturday Evening Post once called it "the weepiest show on television."

Launched on radio in 1948 as a spinoff of "Truth or Consequences," "This Is Your Life" moved to television in 1952 and ran for nine years on NBC. Edwards hosted a syndicated version that ran from 1971-73, and another syndicated version, hosted by Joseph Campanella, ran from 1983-84. That was followed by several "This Is Your Life" specials.

Although best known for its celebrity guests of honor, "This Is Your Life" also presented the life stories of less-well-known people who had contributed to their communities -- "unknown American heroes," Edwards called them.

People such as educator Laurence C. Jones, who had struggled for 50 years to establish Piney Woods College in Mississippi. His appearance in the 1950s generated more than $700,000 in contributions to the small college's endowment after Edwards suggested that viewers each send Jones a dollar for the fund.

During a "This Is Your Life" broadcast at Pearl Harbor in 1958 honoring Rear Adm. Samuel G. Fuqua, the last man to swim off the sinking USS Arizona, an on-air appeal resulted in viewers contributing the seed money for the USS Arizona Memorial.

But celebrities were the show's big draw and the original version of "This Is Your Life" honored a virtual who's who of old and new Hollywood, including Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Nat King Cole, Boris Karloff, Lou Costello, Rock Hudson, Myrna Loy, Debbie Reynolds, Mack Sennett, Frank Capra and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

The trick was to make sure that the honorees were truly surprised when Edwards and his camera crew approached them.

"Usually, we'd go through the spouse -- and we went as deeply as you could go this side of Scotland Yard," Edwards once recalled.

Early on, the honored guests were given some pretext to show up at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, where the show was broadcast live. Jeanette MacDonald, for example, was asked to appear on stage to present Edwards with an Optimists Club plaque.

But "This Is Your Life" became so popular that more elaborate schemes had to be hatched in order to surprise the celebrity honorees.

Roy Rogers was told he was to appear on the show as part of the life of the minister who had married him and Dale Evans.

Maureen O'Hara had just arrived at the nearby Pantages Theater for the Academy Awards when Edwards and his camera approached her.

A surprised Robert Stack was standing in front of the famous Paramount Studios front gate when Edwards suddenly stepped out of the guard booth and greeted him.

The guest would be rushed to the nearby theater and the waiting audience.

Although secrecy was crucial to "This Is Your Life," which won Emmys in 1953 and 1954, Edwards made a few exceptions.

Eddie Cantor, for example, was tipped off because he had a heart condition. And Edwards felt torch singer Lillian Roth's story, which included a long battle with alcoholism, was too personal not to forewarn her.

Not every honoree relished being surprised by the gentlemanly Edwards.

Lowell Thomas, the famed broadcast journalist, was serving as master of ceremonies at an event in the old Astor Hotel ballroom in New York when Edwards, with his "This Is Your Life" book under his arm, walked in with an NBC cameraman.

"Tonight, Lowell Thomas, this is your life!"

Thomas took one look at the grinning Edwards and muttered, "This is a sinister conspiracy."

The show, Edwards recalled to the New York Times in 1987, went downhill from there. "As I took him up toward the stage, I said to him, 'You're going to enjoy this.' He said, 'I doubt it very much.' And he didn't."

Edwards and "This Is Your Life" were ripe for satire. On "Your Show of Shows," an enthusiastic, bow-tie-wearing Carl Reiner as Edwards had to deal with a reluctant subject (Sid Caesar): After being forcibly carried on stage by the ushers, he was greeted by his sobbing Uncle Goopy (Howard Morris), who became so overwrought he threw his arms and legs around his nephew and had to be pealed off him by Reiner.

In 1960, while appearing on the "Dinah Shore Show," Reiner himself was shocked when Edwards suddenly appeared to announce, for real, "This is Your Life, Carl Reiner!"

Although "This Is Your Life" went after all the big names, there was one major exception: Edwards himself. He reportedly informed his staff that he would fire every one of them if they ever tried to surprise him.

Born near Merino, Colo. on June 13, 1913, Edwards grew up on his parents' farm until he was 12 and his family moved to Oakland, Calif.

By high school, Edwards had developed an interest in writing and in 1929, while a high school junior, he wrote and appeared in a school skit that was broadcast locally.

The impressed manager of an Oakland radio station hired the 16-year-old Edwards to write 15-minute shows -- at $1 per script -- as well as work as a part-time announcer and actor.

Edwards continued to work at radio stations in Oakland and San Francisco -- as a combination actor, announcer, producer, writer, sound effects man and janitor -- to help pay his way through UC Berkeley, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in drama in 1935.

After moving to New York City, where he initially "ate 10-cent meals and slept on park benches," Edwards beat out more than 60 competitors and was hired as a CBS Radio announcer in 1936.

Within two years, he was announcing as many as 45 shows a week, including "Major Bowes' Amateur Hour" and Fred Allen's "Town Hall Tonight."

In 1940, inspired by a parlor game, Edwards created and sold to NBC what came to be called "radio's dizziest quiz show."

"Truth or Consequences" was an immediate hit. The fun for listeners came when contestants failed to answer Edwards' questions and had to perform their "consequences."

Two male contestants, for example, had to crouch in a doghouse and bark and sing "The Curse of the Aching Heart." And a woman contestant had to alternately drink a glass of milk and eat a cream puff while skipping rope and singing "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush."

Some of the show's "consequences" made national headlines, including the time Edwards ordered a contestant to do something about getting pennies back into circulation, and he suggested listeners send her the coins to buy War Bonds for her son in the Marines. In one week, the show received 300,157 pennies, earning Edwards praise from the director of the U.S. Mint, who thanked him for "jarring so many pennies out of pig banks and people's pockets."

During the war, Edwards went on cross-country Bond Tours for the Treasury Department and became the only person to raise more than a half-billion dollars worth of War Bonds. He also raised nearly $1.5 million for the March of Dimes and, with various contests on the show, helped launch the American Heart Assn. as a national organization.

One Edwards-created stunt is said to have helped put Hollywood on the map: On a cross-country trip, a "Truth or Consequences" contestant gathered more than 500,000 signatures on a petition to the Postmaster General requesting recognition for Hollywood. That result was the creation of the Hollywood, Calif., postmark in 1948.

Edwards' wife, Barbara, whom he married in 1939, died in 1993. He is survived by his children, Gary Edwards, Lauren Lenhart, and Christine Tandy; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service for Edwards will be held at 11 a.m. Dec. 1 at the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, 505 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills.

Instead of flowers, his family requests that donations be made to: American Parkinson's Disease Assn., Juvenile Diabetes International or any breast cancer research association.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-111605edwards_lat,0,4729129.story?coll=la-home-headlines

fredfa

11-16-05, 05:45 PM

Wednesday’s Tightest TV Race

By Lily Oei The Wall Street Journals

One of the tightest ratings races in prime time is being waged on Wednesday at 10 p.m., among CBS's "CSI: NY," NBC's "Law & Order" and ABC's "Invasion." For CBS and NBC, the rivalry is carried over from last season. Then, "CSI: NY" eked out only 600,000 more viewers than its fellow New York crime drama. This fall, the three series were separated by fewer than three million viewers heading into November sweeps.
But with those all-important November episodes now under way, it is "CSI:NY" that has pulled ahead -- last week it attracted nearly twice the audience of its rivals, and is already up 13% from last year. Meanwhile, once-dominant "Law & Order" is showing its age -- literally. Off 4% from last season, it is also the time slot's least-popular show among younger audiences. Aliens-among-us drama "Invasion," meanwhile, sits in third place. But ABC can take comfort from the fact that "Invasion" is leading the pack among viewers age 18-34, who seem to have a preference for things that go bump in the night. -- 11/16/05

High Drama
(Average audience, in millions, through week of 11/9/05 )
PROGRAM / VIEWERS / AGE 18-34
CSI: NY (CBS) 15.3 2.6
Invasion (ABC) 11.6 2.7
Law & Order (NBC) 12.5 2.2
Ratings source: Nielsen Media Research

fredfa

11-16-05, 05:53 PM

Since INDemand says it will begin carrying the Howard Stern TV show on Friday, I'll report the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story. Personally I have no idea which stiry is accurate, so believe which ever source you wish. :)

Stern on subscriber video

By Adrian McCoy Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Howard Stern keeps finding new ways to command the airwaves.

He's headed to Sirius Satellite Radio in January, and, starting Friday, fans can see him at work -- raw, uncensored, uncut and without commercials -- on iN Demand Networks' "Howard Stern On Demand," a subscription video version of Stern's radio show.

Both Comcast and Adelphia digital cable subscribers here will be able to order the service through their cable companies for $9.99 a month. On April 1, the monthly fee goes up to $13.99. On Demand is an added feature on digital cable that allows viewers to request a specific episode of a show at anytime and watch it within a 24-hour period.

Initially, "Howard Stern On Demand" will feature material from the archives of his E! network TV show. Those who watch the nightly program, which features excerpts from Stern's daily radio show, will remember countless scenes of disrobed women blocked out by a pixilated screen; but the rough language and mature-audience-only images that were censored on E! will be restored here. Some segments that were too objectionable for TV also will be aired here for the first time.

When Stern moves to Sirius in January, "Howard Stern On Demand" will start taping new shows. Because of contractual stipulations, the Sirius shows won't be available through On Demand until mid-March. Eventually, new episodes will be available the day after they air on Sirius.

"Howard Stern On Demand" executive producer Doug Goodstein says some people have misconceptions about the On Demand show. "I keep hearing, 'You're just going to run the [E!] show without the pixilation.' We went back to the source tapes and started from scratch, with repackaged graphics and music and format. It's a whole new experience, completely.

"It's not just all girls getting naked, although there's plenty of that. There's weird stuff, there's outrageous stuff. It pretty much covers the whole spectrum of Howard Stern's world."

Segments that were cut for time constraints will also be shown in their entirety. "It will be a much longer-form show -- closer to what actually went down in the studio," Goodstein says.

There will be around 50 on-demand episodes available by the end of this month, with new ones added to the lineup weekly.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05320/606850.stm

fredfa

11-16-05, 06:21 PM

ABC Fills Post-“MNF” Lineup

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

ABC will slate two sitcoms and two reality shows on Monday night after Jan. 9, the last Monday Night Football game on ABC. The Monday game will move to ESPN in fall 2006.

Wife Swap remains at 8 PM ET/PT followed by two sitcoms. The new Emily's Reasons Why Not stars Heather Graham as a young single city gal in the publishing business. Jake in Progress returns with John Stamos as a young, single city guy in the agent business.

The Bachelor will follow at 10-11 PM ET/PT.

fredfa

11-16-05, 06:27 PM

Note: The ABC Monday night schedule change is not good HD News.

ABC has in the past said it would put “The Bachelor” at 8 PM ET/PT, the two comedies from 9-10 and follow with “What About Brian” in HD. Neither “Wife Swap” nor “The Bachelor” is broadcast in HD. So that will be an hour less of HD than had been previously announced.

fredfa

11-16-05, 06:34 PM

So what is the future for “What About Brian” on ABC?

Zap2it has these thoughts:

“ABC hasn't settled on a home for "What About Brian." There's a chance that it could wind up in the 10 p.m. Monday spot anyway, as "The Bachelor" is slated to run for only eight weeks. The network will also have to fill the 9 p.m. Thursday hour following the cancellation of "Night Stalker."

ABC also has two more dramas -- "The Evidence" and "In Justice" -- and comedies "Crumbs" and "Sons and Daughters" on its midseason roster, plus returning sitcom ‘Less Than Perfect’.”

In my mind, the network might be trying to save "Brian" until after the Winter Olympics end in February on NBC. That kind of competition might not be good for a new show trying to establish itself.

DoubleDAZ

11-16-05, 07:24 PM

Bring back "Eyes"! :)

fredfa

11-16-05, 08:01 PM

How about "Karen Sisco"?

fredfa

11-16-05, 08:05 PM

The New York Times Obituary
Ralph Edwards, Who Made Lives Into Shows, Dies at 92

By RICHARD SEVERO The New York Times November 16, 2005

Ralph Edwards, the broadcast pioneer who was the creator and master of ceremonies of two of the most popular programs in entertainment history, "Truth or Consequences" and "This Is Your Life," died today at 92.

Mr. Edwards, whose career in radio and television spanned more than seven decades, died in his sleep this morning surrounded by relatives at his West Hollywood home, his publicist, Justin Serement, told The Associated Press.

"This Is Your Life," which began as a radio program in the late 1940's, was originally seen on television from 1952 to 1961, and was reprised for years after in syndication, becoming something of an American institution. Not only did viewers watch it every week, but they also imitated it: for generations variations of "This Is Your Life" have been part of many family reunions, anniversary celebrations and theme parties.

"This Is Your Life" laid bare the lives of unwitting ordinary people whom the producers judged worthy of profiling as well as the lives of celebrities, but it is the celebrities who are most remembered. Every installment followed a tried-and-true formula. Mr. Edwards would approach a subject, who happened to be not far from the program's studio in Hollywood, and exclaim, "Tonight, this is your life!"

Maureen O'Hara was arriving at the theater for the Academy Awards ceremony when she was surprised. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were in a hotel suite meting with a producer when they were startled by hidden cameras. An unsuspecting Robert Stack was strolling through the gate of Paramount Pictures when Mr. Edwards stepped out of the guard booth.

During a commercial break, the celebrity guest would be taken to the studio, where Mr. Edwards would be waiting with a "This Is Your Life" scrapbook. He would read from the scrapbook as the life of the guest unfolded. From time to time a voice would be heard describing some event or anecdote from the subject's past and then the mystery voice would materialize in the form of a lost friend, school teacher, relative, Army buddy or old sweetheart. He or she would embrace the guest and tears would often flow.

Secrecy, surprise and sentiment were at the core of each program, but occasionally exceptions were made.

Eddie Cantor was told of his appearance in advance because he had a serious heart ailment. The singer Lillian Roth was also told beforehand because the tale of her long fight with alcoholism was considered too intimate to tell without her permission. The Roth program was so popular it was rebroadcast several times and recreated in the acclaimed 1955 film "I'll Cry Tomorrow."

"This Is Your Life" was the subject of endless parodies. The most famous send-up was by Sid Caesar, who played an unwilling man dragged from the audience by ushers and forced to watch his untidy life pass before his eyes. Most of what was related was excruciatingly embarrassing, but there was one compensation. At one point a beautiful blonde woman appeared from the wings and was embraced passionately by Mr. Caesar. Ralph Edwards (played by Carl Reiner) asked Mr. Caesar to identify the blonde woman from his past. Mr. Caesar confessed that he never saw her before and then returns to kissing her.

Not every one admired "This Is Your Life." Jack Gould, the television critic of The New York Times, found it nothing more than "embarrassing sentimentality." He wrote several columns denouncing the show over the years, saying in one that Mr. Edwards "is just waiting for his guests to break into tears."

Some guests agreed.

When Mr. Edwards surprised the celebrated broadcast journalist Lowell Thomas in 1959, a dismayed Mr. Thomas said on the air that he saw it as a "sinister plot" to pry into his past. Mr. Edwards later recalled: "The show went downhill from there. As I took him up toward the stage, I said to him, 'You're going to enjoy this.' He said, 'I doubt it very much.' And he didn't."

"This Is Your Life" began as a spin-off of Mr. Edwards' famous show "Truth or Consequences," which made its debut on radio in 1940 and lasted 17 years as one of America's most popular audience-participation programs. Mr. Edwards got the idea for "Truth or Consequences" from the old parlor game of "Forfeits."

Contestants were asked absurd questions supplied by the studio audience. If they answered correctly, which few did, they received $15 in War Bond stamps. Players who gave wrong answers or who failed to respond before "Beulah the Buzzer" sounded - and most contestants wanted to give the wrong answer - had to pay the consequences by performing goofy stunts in public places.

They were required to do things like bray, bark, crawl on their bellies, push a walnut with the nose, bathe an elephant, get into a doghouse and, in one instance, sell an icebox to an Eskimo housewife. Mr. Edwards once rented Town Hall, in New York, took out advertisements saying a great European violinist, Yiffniff, would play there, then required a New Jersey housewife to appear before more than a thousand people (who had gotten free tickets) with a violin she couldn't play.

"Truth or Consequences" tried to supply the sort of warm feelings that Americans were looking for during the darkest days of World War II. Mr. Edwards suggested one Saturday night that listeners might want to send a penny to a Staten Island woman whose son was in the Marines and who wanted to save some money for his homecoming. In the first week after that show, the woman received 300,157 pennies and NBC had to send 15 clerks to her home to help her open the mail and count the change.

"Truth or Consequences" had its network television premiere in 1950 and appeared off and on in daytime and prime-time versions and in syndication until 1988. Among the hosts of the program, in addition to Mr. Edwards, were Jack Bailey, Steve Dunne and Bob Barker, who appeared on the program for 19 years.

Mr. Edwards took charity work very seriously and always found time to do programs that benefited various causes. After World War II, he received the Eisenhower Medal for his efforts in selling half-a-billion dollars worth of war bonds. He was also credited with helping launch the Jimmy Fund, named after a pseudonymous young cancer patient for whom the charity was created in 1948.

Ralph Livingstone Edwards was born on June 13, 1913, in Merino, Colo., the son of Henry Livingstone Edwards, a farmer of modest means, and the former Minnie May Brown. The Edwards family moved to Oakland when he was 13; three years later, when he was a high school junior, Mr. Edwards wrote a skit that attracted the attention of the manager of radio station KROW, who hired him to write scripts at $1 each.

In 1931, after graduating high school, Mr. Edwards entered the University of California at Berkeley, where he majored in English. He thought he might like to become an English teacher. But he continued to be drawn to broadcasting and after he completed his undergraduate education, he worked as an actor, writer, announcer and producer for two San Francisco stations.

In 1936, he made his way to New York, where he freelanced as an announcer for both CBS and NBC. By 1939, he was announcing 45 shows a week. His was the voice heard on "The Fred Allen Show," "The Lucky Strike Hit Parade," "Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour" and "Life Can Be Beautiful." He was also the familiar voice on programs featuring Emily Post and Phil Baker, the comedic accordionist.

After he sold the idea for "Truth or Consequences" to NBC in 1940 and masterminded its huge success, he did no more staff announcing. In 1941, he did a trial performance of "Truth or Consequences" for the fledgling NBC Television. It was broadcast at a time when few people had television sets, but it did carry a commercial for Bulova watches ($9 for a 10-second spot). So popular was the show over the years that in 1950, the community of Hot Springs, N.M., changed its name to "Truth or Consequences," after Mr. Edwards invited small towns around the country to consider such a name change to mark the program's 10th anniversary.

In 1945, Mr. Edwards moved "Truth or Consequences" from New York to Los Angeles because he had been signed by RKO to appear in a movie, "7 Days Leave." He also did some acting on radio shows during this period, including "Stars on Parade" (1947), "Bamboo Blonde" (1948) and "Beat the Band" (1949).

Mr. Edwards was regarded as one of the most successful creators of radio and television shows and he remained active until late in his life. Among his many other well-known shows were "Name That Tune," "Superior Court" and "The People's Court."

Mr. Edwards was married to the former Barbara Jean Sheldon of Redding, Conn. She died in 1993. He is survived by his son Gary; two daughters, Christine Tandy of Salem, Oregon, and Lauren Lenhart of Los Gatos, Calif., and four grandchildren.

In all the years that he was the producer and host of "This Is Your Life," Mr. Edwards's staff never prepared a surprise show about their boss.

"They know they'd better not," Mr. Edwards said. "It would mean instant dismissal for everyone."

He did say, however, that he loved the life he led: "It's the greatest life of anybody I know."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/16/arts/television/16cnd-edwards.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1132189385-9S6MZ3UTtK/LLCVjGwC/YA&pagewanted=print

DoubleDAZ

11-16-05, 08:16 PM

How about "Karen Sisco"?Was that on ABC too? How soon I forget. :)

Marcus Carr

11-16-05, 08:21 PM

Was that on ABC too? How soon I forget. :)

How soon indeed - The star of that show already has a gig. :)

fredfa

11-16-05, 08:23 PM

“Miss America” Moves to Vegas
PAGEANT WILL AIR LIVE ON CMT, SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2006
(Miss America Pageant Press Release)

LAS VEGAS, November 16, 2005 - "The 2006 Miss America Pageant" will take place in Las Vegas, it was announced today by Paul Villadolid, vice president, programming and development, CMT; Art McMaster, president and CEO of the Miss America Organization; and Michael Mecca, president and CEO for the Aladdin Resort and Casino. The two-hour telecast will originate from the Aladdin in Las Vegas, and will air live on CMT, Saturday, January 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

"Las Vegas is the perfect host city to bring new energy to The Miss America Pageant as we continue to grow our brand," said McMaster. "It will truly be exciting to take our contestants there. It should make for a fantastic pageant and great television."

"By bringing Miss America to Las Vegas, we are coming to a top-rate production town with excellent promotional opportunities," said Villadolid. "The Aladdin Resort & Casino helps us create a glamorous new vision of the pageant and gives us an inspiring venue for the crowning of the next Miss America."

"We are thrilled to host the Miss America Pageant at the Aladdin, future home of Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino," said Mecca. "This event belongs in Las Vegas, and where better in Las Vegas to hold it than on this property. We have the most central location on The Strip and we are home to the most beautiful theatre in the city."

http://www.missamerica.org/news/press-releases.asp

Note: The pageant was founded in 1921 by the Atlantic City, NJ, Chamber of Commerce as a way to add tourist dollars to the city’s economy. It had been held in Atlantic City ever since. Though it now sems hard to believe, the pageant was once one of each season’s most widely-watched events on television, on a par with the Academy Awards. Back in 1961, on CBS, it got a 41.8 rating and an astounding 75% of those watching TV at the time watched it.

Even though the eras are vastly different, just as a comparison, this year’s Super Bowl got a 41.1 ratings and a 62% share of audience.

fredfa

11-16-05, 09:09 PM

DirecTV finally got its long-delayed satellite up today.

And within hours D* announced it would not only be providing HD LIL to the top 24 markets -- as it had long promised by mid-2006 -- but that it will provide HD LIL to 36 markets by early 2006.

That would cover close to 60% of the nation's TV households. Several markets will get the service this month, more in December.

CPanther95 has posted the press release here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604495

fredfa

11-16-05, 09:17 PM

Our Ratings Keep Tanking….
…But Don’t Worry, You’re Doing A Great Job!
Zucker Broadens Reilly's Responsibilities

By Jon Lafayette TVWeek.com November 16, 2005

In what could be interpreted as a vote of confidence in embattled NBC Universal Entertainment President Kevin Reilly, his boss, Jeff Zucker, said Wednesday that Mr. Reilly is being given additional responsibility for reality programming, specials and long-form programming on NBC.

Those areas had been under the purview of Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, digital content and cross-network strategy. Mr. Gaspin now is spending more of his time working on NBCU Television's digital platforms.

Mr. Zucker, president of NBC Universal Television Group, called digital and cable the company's two growth areas. While NBC's prime-time schedule under Mr. Reilly remains a trouble spot, Mr. Zucker said Mr. Reilly's job is secure. He added that NBCU expects a turnaround to take up to three years.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=8927

fredfa

11-16-05, 09:19 PM

DoubleDAZ:

If I am not mistaken, it seems to me there are a handful of "Eyes" episodes which never aired.

Too bad Disney couldn't find as home for them. Maybe Mark Cuban will slide them into his HDNet schedule somewhere.

DoubleDAZ

11-16-05, 10:46 PM

Fredfa, you are exactly right, but I enjoyed every one of them, though I would defer to Karen Sisco. ;) Unfortunately, many in the casts have moved on to other things and are not available to reprise their roles.

PJO1966

11-16-05, 10:57 PM

Execs: People with DVRs watch more TV

By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) - Even though nine out of 10 people with digital video recorders say they usually fast-forward through commercials, broadcast executives argued Wednesday that doesn't mean the death knell for advertisers.

Full article here. (http://apnews.excite.com/article/20051116/D8DTR9004.html)

fredfa

11-17-05, 12:19 AM

Wow, what an interesting development!

"...Researchers from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN and the WB..." say DVRs won't devalue commercials!

Hard to believe!

Anecdotal evidence is always very, very suspect, but (courtesy of TiVo) we enjoyed five shows in a little over three hours the other night.

We have yet to see a single commercial.

I can name only two sponsors so far this entire season -- one was Phllips, and we consciously watched a couple of its commercials during "60 Minutes" a few weeks ago where it bought the whole show and cut the commercial load by half. We felt it was paying Phillips back for a good deed.

The other is American Express -- and we did watch the opening monologue(?) or whatever it was for AE by Ellen DeGeneres before the debate on "The West Wing". It was stunningly, gaggingly awful.

So there you have our anecdotal rebuttal. Take it for what is worth --which is not a lot.

It would be news, it seems to me, if the researchers from the six networks faced the media and agreed that DVRs are lessening the impact of commercials which prop up the entire network system.

Can anyone who has started using a TiVo or DVR in the past year or so honestly say that commercials have as much impact now as before he or she began using a DVR?

fredfa

11-17-05, 12:34 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Case solved: 'CSI' tracks crime best

By Robert Bianco USA TODAY

What could be better than watching a good show do well?

In its sixth season, CBS' CSI has not just strengthened its grip on the top spot in the rating, it also has solidified its position as one of TV's most reliably entertaining hours. And it has done so by improving its scripts and finding interesting new ways to tell its stories.

Thursday's unpreviewed episode (9 ET/PT) follows this year's CSI pattern of breaking established patterns. It concludes a two-part story (a rarity in itself) that so far has been more politically/socially charged and less techno-tricked-out than thenorm.

Leaving the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip far behind, the episode deals with the consequences of a fatal gun battle between the police and a carload of hoods in an underprivileged Latino neighborhood. The residents suspect the police of using excessive force. And the CSI team suspects that the cop who lost his life may have been killed by one of his own.

To judge from last week's first half, this two-parter is a good example of CSI's emphasis this season on plots that can stand on their own without undue bootstrapping from some sensationalistic, voyeuristic twist. Yes, the show is set in Vegas, so sex still plays its part — from an actor who died of auto-erotic strangulation to a husband caught trolling for Internet vampires. But you don't get the sense, as you sometimes did last season, that the murder plots are just an excuse for a roll in the titillating hay.

Indeed, the actor's over-sexed death anchored one of this season's best-structured episodes, an upstairs/downstairs story that contrasted his suite-life existence with the struggles of a murdered Laotian laundryman. Like tonight's episode, it represented the season's grittier tone and an expanded interest in the life of the poor on the Las Vegas fringe.

CSI also has learned how to work character development into its plots without making the effort feel forced. Instead of tossing off Warrick's surprise wedding, the show built a touching, revealing scene around Catherine's reaction to it — a moment that benefited from skillful underplaying by Marg Helgenberger and Gary Dourdan. And the writers continue to explore Nick's (George Eads) reaction to his burial-alive last season, most recently in an excellent episode about his search for a missing little girl.

Is that enough to make CSI the best show on TV? Not quite. For my money, that title goes to Lost. But it does make CSI an excellent, well-cast, well-produced series that millions of Americans wouldn't dream of missing each week. This year, count me among them.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2005-11-16-csi_x.htm

Marcus Carr

11-17-05, 01:05 AM

Can anyone who has started using a TiVo or DVR in the past year or so honestly say that commercials have as much impact now as before he or she began using a DVR?

Commercials have never had much impact on me.

Besides, I skipped commercials BEFORE I had a DVR - by using a VCR or channel-surfing.

fredfa

11-17-05, 02:01 AM

Me too, to a great extent, but DVRs make it so much easier --and faster!

trbarry

11-17-05, 08:29 AM

I think they are in denial. I tend to pause shows at the first commercial and not pick them up again until there is enough slack for the whole show. So I'm skipping commercials even on live TV.

- Tom

archiguy

11-17-05, 10:27 AM

The article does make some sense. Even though I've programmed 3-minute and 30-second skip buttons on my universal remote, I usually just FF through commercials at the intermediate speed in case there's something there I want to see; often there is. I like movie trailers for example and usually stop to watch those. And some commercials are so well done and/or humorous, that they crack me up every time I see them (well, up to a reasonable limit, of course) and I've been known to stop and watch them for the entertainment value alone. Still others may reference something I want to buy, so I'll stop and watch them as well. In short, the new world of TV advertising in the age of DVR's is not as bleak as commonly believed. Bernoff and Poltrack are closer to the truth, I believe.

fredfa

11-17-05, 10:49 AM

Deep in this story is a ighlighted area in which HBOs chief indicates the renewal of "Rome" might not be such a sure thing aftar all. Interesting.

HBO Takes the ABC Sunday Challenge

By Bill Carter The New York Times November 17, 2005

Chris Albrecht, the chairman of HBO, does not buy the widely heard argument that something has undermined his channel's former hold on viewers on Sunday nights at 9, something in the form of an ABC show called "Desperate Housewives."

For one thing, he dismisses the notion that HBO plays by the programming rules of the broadcast networks. "We can't get distracted by somebody's else's rules or scorecard," he said in a recent interview in his New York office. HBO, he says, judges the success of its shows by criteria other than one night's rating, criteria that include subscriber totals (up this year), video-on-demand orders and even number of awards won.

For another, he points to what he feels is a deeper lineup of distinctive series on HBO, everything from the comedy "Entourage" to the dramas "Deadwood" and "Rome" to the coming, sure-to-be-talked-about "Big Love." All of these, he insisted, have the stuff to emerge as worthy successors to HBO's hugely popular and award-laden shows like "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City."

But that doesn't mean he hasn't been paying attention to how "Desperate Housewives" has altered the Sunday night landscape. Looking forward to the return of HBO's biggest gun of all time, "The Sopranos," in March, Mr. Albrecht said he had been pondering a potential marketing plan, to center on a photograph to be shot by Annie Leibovitz, which would play off the billboard ad HBO used two years ago. That ad featured the "Sopranos" cast in a rowboat surrounded by the ghosts of the dead characters who had been rubbed out over the years.

"Wouldn't it be funny," Mr. Albrecht said, "if we did the same thing, and all the dead people in the water were the women from Wisteria Lane?" - a reference to the lead characters of "Desperate Housewives." He added: "And the headline would be: 'They're back!' "

HBO was clearly elated (and relieved) when it concluded a deal with David Chase, the creator of "The Sopranos," to extend that show beyond what had been expected to be its final 12 episodes, starting in March, to an additional mini-run of eight episodes, beginning in January 2007. As usual with "The Sopranos," it has now been off the air a long time. "Two years later can 'The Sopranos' be as big as it was?" Mr. Albrecht asked, another way of asking the broader question that he acknowledged had been thrown at HBO in the past year or so: Can HBO be as big as it was?

The question has arisen mainly because of ratings comparisons, which is how broadcast network shows are measured. By that standard, there is no question that HBO is off its best results for Sunday nights, when episodes of its series have their first showings. That powerhouse ABC series at 9 p.m. has to be a factor.

But Mr. Albrecht disputes any notion that HBO is off its game. "I feel like we've done the job we needed to do in programming," he said. "Our audience has certainly moved off Sunday nights to other points during the week." As for "Rome," he said, HBO has been encouraged by the series' growth among viewers and by a second round of critical comments, which largely moved from tepid to enthusiastic.

In strict viewer terms, HBO calls "Rome" a success because, while its Sunday totals are not overwhelming, it accumulates more than 7 million viewers a week during its multiple showings.

Mr. Albrecht announced only a couple of weeks into its run that he was renewing the series for another season. But in the interview he said, "That ship hasn't entirely sailed yet."

The reason, he said, has nothing to do with how well "Rome" turned out. Mainly, the issue has been money. "Rome" was wildly expensive, costing an estimated $100 million. It initially experienced debilitating production delays, fueling rumors that it was a troubled show. Once it was on the air and was seen to be a quality production, Mr. Albrecht said, those rumors subsided.

But he said those delays meant he had only a short window of time to retain a hold on the actors, which was why he renewed the series so quickly. For now, that means ordering scripts, which will be difficult to write because they need to cover the complicated period following the fall of Caesar.

"The real reason why, even though I ordered the show, we haven't formally gone into production, is how long it's going to take," he said. " 'Rome' won't be back until, at the earliest, March of 2007. Which makes you say to yourself: When I bring the show back, can I build an audience?"

Long interruptions have never cooled viewers' ardor for "The Sopranos," but Mr. Albrecht acknowledged that those layoffs had not been ideal for scheduling. "Part of the challenge for us is to figure a way to be a little more flexible," he said.

He is already demonstrating a bit of that flexibility, rethinking his plan to bring back the western drama "Deadwood" in March at 10 p.m. on Sundays following "The Sopranos." Now, Mr. Albrecht said, he thinks the best move for the HBO's future would be to slot its new drama, "Big Love," in that position to direct some of the hordes of "Sopranos" fans to what he says he hopes will be HBO's next significant cultural phenomenon.

"Big Love," a family drama like none other on television, deals with a regular American dad who happens to have three wives and families. The issue of polygamy in the show, set in Utah, is sure to stir debate, and HBO will be only too happy to be in the middle of it.

HBO loved the chatter that accompanied the run of the Hollywood comedy "Entourage" this year, a sign, HBO executives suggest, that the show may be about to take off the way "Sex and the City" did after a couple seasons. Mr. Albrecht has ordered 20 more episodes of "Entourage."

In the meantime, Mr. Albrecht defends HBO, saying it still sets much of the agenda for quality television. "You have seen the supposed successor to 'Sex and the City' be on a broadcast network," he said, "if indeed 'Desperate Housewives' is the successor, which I don't believe creatively it is - maybe from an audience point of view it is."

For Mr. Albrecht, even that may be giving too much credit to the ABC show that has sucked up so much audience during the hour formerly owned by HBO. Re-emphasizing just how unconcerned he really is about that competitor, he noted the critical reaction to "Desperate Housewives" this season. "Anybody who knows anything about television," he said, "could look at that show and say: two years, maybe three."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/arts/television/17hbo.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

11-17-05, 11:02 AM

Sci Fi Renews “Battlestar”
Remainder of Season Two Begins Jan. 6

By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com

Sci Fi Channel has picked up ”Battlestar Galactica” for a third season, ordering 20 new episodes of the show, which goes back into production in February 2006.

The renewal comes on the heels of the network’s announcement that it had also picked up new seasons of “Stargate SG-1” and ”Stargate Atlantis”, which along with Galactica, form the nucleus of Sci Fi’s highly-rated Friday night lineup.

The entire principal cast will return for season three, including Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell. Also returning are executive producers David Eick and Ronald Moore, who developed the show based on the template established by the '70s-era ABC space opera of the same name.

Meanwhile, the net also announced that it will begin airing the remainder of Galactica’s season two beginning Jan. 6, as part of a specially branded “Sci Fi Friday” package. Little wonder Sci Fi has shown such enthusiasm for the series; it generally lures more than 3 million viewers each week and its adoption by the 18-49 demo has helped the net own Friday nights in that category.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/cabletv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001523546

fredfa

11-17-05, 11:05 AM

The TV Column
Fox Gets Philbin -- And Even -- for New Year's

By Lisa de Moraes Thursday, November 17, 2005; C07

Because hell hath no fury like a TV executive beaten to the punch, Fox has signed ABC star Regis Philbin to host its New Year's Eve show, three months after ABC signed Fox star Ryan Seacrest to host its New Year's Eve show.

Dick Clark, whose name is synonymous with "New Year's Rockin' Eve," is recovering from a stroke that kept him from hosting the show last year. He is scheduled to appear with Seacrest this year, though Seacrest's deal calls for him to take over as solo host down the road. Last year Philbin, who headlines ABC's "Regis & Kelly" and who hosted ABC's monster hit "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" until the network ran it into the ground, filled in for Clark on Dec. 31.

But in August, ABC announced it had signed Seacrest, not Regis, to host this year's "New Year's Rockin' Eve" with Clark, and to host the program alone after that.

Seacrest is host of Fox's most important series, "American Idol," and for the past three years has hostedthat network's New Year's Eve special.

The development was a rare situation: Usually it is Fox that sticks it to the other networks -- as when ABC announced "Wife Swap" would join its prime-time lineup, only to have Fox slap "Trading Spouses" together and get it on the air first.

Or when, almost immediately after ABC said it had sealed the deal to broadcast the reality series "Supernanny," reports surfaced that Fox was talking to Granada about picking up rights to make "Nanny 911" -- which Fox got on the air first.

And who can forget when NBC announced with fanfare that it was doing a reality series called "The Contender" with Mark Burnett, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sylvester Stallone, then watched in horror as Fox went into overdrive developing "The Next Great Champ" and got that show on the air first?

So yesterday it was no surprise, but kind of sad, when Fox announced it had recruited Rege for the latest round of this slugfest. He's been signed to host Fox's New Year's Eve program even though he hasn't been in Fox's target demographic since more than a decade before Ryan Seacrest was born.

The trade papers yesterday quoted Mike Darnell, Fox's executive vice president of alternative programming, as saying he was surprised that ABC didn't try to get Philbin for "New Year's Rockin' Eve."

Darnell, an aging juvenile delinquent -- and we mean that in the best possible sense -- is, as Willy S. liked to say, the guy who caused the knotted and combined locks to part on the heads of suits at the other networks and each particular hair to stand on end, like quills upon the fretful porpentine, with those guerrilla reality-series strategies.

Darnell told Variety that "age doesn't matter around the holidays" because "Dick Clark slaughters everyone in 18-49 and 18-34" demographics on New Year's Eve

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/16/AR2005111602049_pf.html

fredfa

11-17-05, 11:15 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Sweeps madness fading
By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News Nov. 17, 2005

There was a time not so long ago that any kind of televised madness could be explained in two words:

"It's sweeps."

Local news stations would overturn hotel mattresses and major networks up-end their entire schedules, all in the quest for more viewers during February, May and November, the months in which Nielsen Media Research "sweeps" most local markets for the kind of demographic data in which advertisers are most interested.

Here in Philadelphia and a number of other major TV markets, that's changing, as Nielsen-installed "people meters" now churn out that kind of information - including the sex, age and household income of the people watching - all year round.

And though most of the country still has to do things the old-fashioned way, with families filling out Nielsen "diaries" and sending them back, sweeps isn't the frenzied festival it once was at the network level, either. Instead of massive miniseries, we see an occasional two-nighter like CBS' cheesy "Category 7: The End of the World," whose not-quite-apocalyptic finale drew only a bit more than half the number of viewers who watched this week's "Desperate Housewives" on ABC.

In fact, if there's one sure way to tell it's sweeps, it's that TV's most popular series aren't in reruns (though less-popular shows are suddenly missing in action).

The hype seems to be dying down at last.

Oh, NBC's flagging "ER" is still flogging its usual can-we-top-this disaster, and UPN inflicting "Next Top Model" wannabes on nearly all its other shows, but for the most part, TV seems to be going about its business.

What's intriguing is that it appears to be working.

Most of the popular shows are even more popular during sweeps, as if we're now so conditioned to tune in in November that we no longer need much prodding.

Of the top 10 shows in total viewers in last week's Nielsens, all were regularly scheduled programs, and all but one outperformed its season-to-date average, often by a million viewers or more.

Sunday's "Desperate Housewives" may have drawn a larger crowd than usual for any number of reasons, but those who tuned in were rewarded with an episode that not only threw the "housewives" back together but finally focused on Lynnette's (Felicity Huffman) "missing" twins (whose alter-egos, Brent and Shane Kinsman, had been gone earlier in the season, filming "Cheaper by the Dozen 2").

Oh, and OK, someone got offed.

The scene that resonated with me, though, was the conversation between Bree (Marcia Cross) and Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) about becoming a mother. It's the kind of quiet display of - dare I say it? - sisterhood that I've been missing in the show this season.

Some shows will continue to shout louder to get heard this month, as NBC's "Medium" appears to be doing with next week's 3-D episode, but a few might actually get quieter.

Tonight, CBS' "Without a Trace" takes the less-traveled road with an episode that focuses more on the family of the missing person than on the investigation of his disappearance.

"A Day in the Life" stars Matt Craven and Laurie Metcalf as the parents of a 15-year-old who goes off to an arcade on his bicycle and fails to return home.

Compared with some of the fiendishly clever cases Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) and his fellow FBIers have tackled in the past, this one's almost stupidly simple, the characters profoundly normal.

What happens to these people could happen to any of us.

And there, of course, lies the terror that makes this a sweeps episode.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television/13188637.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

11-17-05, 11:25 AM

Wednesday’s prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s analysis of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.

Kracko

11-17-05, 11:34 AM

fredfa

11-17-05, 11:36 AM

(From Marc Berman’s Thursday, November 17, 2005 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Freshman Series Scorecard: Primetime Recap

What follows is the updated status of the 31 new primetime series.

ABC
Commander in Chief: full season renewal.
Freddie: full season renewal.
Hot Properties: on the fence.
Invasion: full season renewal.
Night Stalker: canceled.

CBS
Close To Home: expected full season renewal.
Criminal Minds: full season renewal.
Ghost Whisperer: full season renewal.
How I Met Your Mother: full season renewal.
Out Of Practice: full season renewal.
Threshold: three additional scripts ordered.

NBC:
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart: canceled.
E-Ring: full season renewal.
Inconceivable: canceled.
My Name Is Earl: full season renewal.
Surface: full season renewal.
Three Wishes: additional order for six episodes canceled.

Fox:
Bones: full season renewal.
Head Cases: canceled.
Killer Instinct: three additional episodes ordered.
Kitchen Confidential: canceled.
Prison Break: full season renewal.
Reunion: on the fence.
The War at Home: full season renewal.

UPN:
Everybody Hates Chris: full season renewal.
Love, Inc.: renewed.
Sex, Love & Secrets: canceled.

WB:
Just Legal: canceled.
Related: six more episodes ordered.
Supernatural: full season renewal.
Twins: five more episodes ordered.

fredfa

11-17-05, 12:22 PM

The Digital Revolution
Nasty showdown coming over DVRs
Buyers say they won't pay for households with recorders

By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov 17, 2005

There is a potential faceoff brewing between media departments and the broadcast networks.

Next month, Nielsen will begin providing ratings that include time-shifted viewing, or viewers who watch shows on delay through digital recording devices and can thus fast-forward through commercials.

At issue is whether these ratings should be used to negotiate prices. Many agencies are fiercely opposed to paying for rating points picked up in DVR homes because it is unclear what percentage of these viewers watch commercials.

But the networks insist that time-shifted ratings more accurately reflect their audience. They attempted to sell media people on that assertion yesterday when the six broadcast networks presented research claiming that DVRs can actually benefit advertisers rather than harm them.

Their main argument is that homes with DVRs such as TiVo watch more TV overall, so they ultimately have more opportunity to see commercials than homes without them.

DVR users watch TV an average 5.7 hours each day, according to the networks' research, compared to 5.1 hours for homes without DVRs. Those findings are based in large part on Nielsen Media Research data from seven markets where DVR usage is measured.

Media buyers reacted warily to the findings.

“We’ve done custom research that has shown that homes with DVRs watch about 10 percent more TV than those without DVRs,” says Steve Sternberg, executive vice president of audience analysis at Magna Global. “But at the same time more than 90 percent of those who’ve had a DVR for more than a year say they often or always fast-forward through commercials.”

Several media buying agencies have told the networks that they will not negotiate using the new ratings. Nielsen will make three types of ratings available on Dec. 26, based on live viewing, live viewing plus seven days of time-shifted viewing, and live plus one day of time-shifted viewing.

Without actual data of the sort Nielsen will provide, the best sense as to how commercials are viewed in DVR homes has been based on self-reported data, meaning DVR users estimating how often they watch recorded programs and skip past commercials.

But the networks believe that method is flawed. “People always over-estimate the commercial skipping they engage in,” says Alan Wurtzel, president of research and media development at NBC. “The reality is that no one knows because Nielsen isn’t measuring this and won’t until they start their national DVR measurement on Dec. 26.”

The networks also contend that the majority of DVR users watch commercials even when fast-forwarding.

Referring to independent research that is not based on Nielsen data, the networks found that 58 percent of DVR users pay attention to commercials, including those watched in fast-forward. And 53 percent sometimes rewind to watch skipped commercials.

Nielsen estimates that DVRs are in 8 percent homes and it is projecting penetration will reach 18 percent by January 2007.

“I don’t know what the value of a commercial on a DVR is, but I know that it’s more than zero,” says Wurtzel. “That is the assumption that a lot of people have made, that people aren’t watching commercials anymore. It’s just not true.”

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1362.asp

David_Levin

11-17-05, 12:24 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Thursday, November 167, 2005 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Freshman Series Scorecard: Primetime Recap

What follows is the updated status of the 31 new primetime series.

Threshold: three additional scripts ordered.
OK, call me confused, but why order more scripts for a show that's of questionable survival.

(of course if they want to Cancel it and give Carla back to Karen Sisco....)

fredfa

11-17-05, 12:46 PM

Because if the time shift to Tuesday works, they need to have shows in the pipeline.

And it just an order for scripts -- the go-ahead has not been given to shoot them. Yet.

The ratings on the 22nd, the first night "Threshold" is on Tuesday may tell the story.

fredfa

11-17-05, 12:54 PM

The 2005-2006 Season
“Wishes” Changed at NBC

NBC, which a couple of weeks ago ordered six new episodes of the Amy Grant hosted feel-good series ”Three Wishes” has canceled that order.

The ten shows already produced should run through December.

“Variety” speculates that the success of the CBS switch of “Close To Home” to the “Wishes” time slot on Friday made NBC nervous about the future of the show. Variety also says that cost concerns at the ratings-challenged network figured into the decision.

humdinger70

11-17-05, 01:35 PM

I don't know if this belongs here, but it looks like there's (apparently) some sort of squabble going on between the San Diego ABC affiliate (KGTV) and Time-Warner Cable. There's a threat that the affiliate will "pull the plug" on all ABC programming affecting 220,000+ TWC customers.

(Hi-def effective Dec 1, 2005; all programming effective Jan 1, 2006).

Here's a web site with info - http://timewarnerdoesnotcare.com

I don't know if it's real or someone's idea of a sick joke/prank.

archiguy

11-17-05, 01:39 PM

Agreed Archiguy. 3-minute skip?

Yes, it's just a macro on my MX-800. Using a combination of ff button pushes and time-delay's you can make one any interval you wish, although it requires a lot of trial and error adjustment 'till you get it just right. I just picked 3 minutes because that seemed to be the most often used commercial interval. Now that was more than a year ago; since then the ad breaks have gotten longer. May have to change it to a 4 minute skip now. But, as I said above, most of the time I just use the intermediate ff setting on my SA8300 so that I can see the commercials I'm skipping in case I want to back up and actually watch one - which happens with some frequency.

fredfa

11-17-05, 02:39 PM

The “Nightlne” Changes
Marash, and beard, say goodbye

By Verne Gay Newsday Staff Writer November 17, 2005

Ted, Ted, Ted: Enough with Ted already. In this period of transition at "Nightline" - Koppel's last day is Tuesday - there is another person who is leaving the program after a long and fruitful tenancy.

You may know him by the beard, or as The Beard, but if memory serves, and if taste and discrimination remain intact, you may also recall him as one of TV's finest reporters, who filed dozens of stories for the program from hot, dusty, dangerous and violent places, with names like Kosovo or Zimbabwe or Kazakhstan.

Or, maybe you remember just one domestic story - the one that aired in 2001 that became one of the most popular and repeated broadcasts in recent "Nightline" history. This was the one about a young jazz singer named Eva Cassidy who died in 1996 from cancer and gained posthumous fame because of her haunting renditions of some standards. That piece ended with these words: "Eva Cassidy's favorite songs, 'Over the Rainbow,' 'Bridge Over Troubled Water,' 'People Get Ready,' were about how it isn't over when it's over, that death doesn't always get the last word. It turns out, that wasn't just her songs, it was her story.

"What a wonderful world. I'm Dave Marash, for 'Nightline,' in Washington."

And so today, it is time to say goodbye to another genuine TV classic. Marash, 63, was "disinvited" - his euphemism for dismissal - from the new version of "Nightline," which has become the standard indignity suffered by people of a certain age in this business who do not work for "60 Minutes."

Born in Atlanta, and raised in Richmond, Va., during the civil rights era, Marash came to New York as a sports reporter for CBS Radio before heading to WPIX/11, and then WCBS/2 in 1973 as the 11 p.m. anchor with Rolland Smith. Marash would have come to TV sooner, but "when I started out there were literally no other beards on television," he recalls. "I was told, 'We will hire you if you shave.'" (What does a clean-shaven Marash look like? "You don't want to know.")

Marash joined a contender - other notable Ch. 2 reporters at the time were John Stossel, Joel Siegel, Linda Ellerbee and Jim Bouton - and helped it become a champ. Before long, the bearded Marash and mustachioed Smith were the top-rated anchor team in New York and remained so for a third of the decade. Smith, now at WWOR/9 and clean-shaven, attributes their success to "the contrast. There was Dave - scruffy, bearded, shirt sleeves, and coffee cup in front of him - and there was I ..." Marash, he adds, was "one of the best co-anchors ... I ever worked with."

Marash was a rare anchor-reporter who did investigative pieces and who lived and breathed the New York fiscal crisis before getting hired by "20/20" as an investigative reporter in 1978. He would return to Ch. 2 after a few years, then segue over to WNBC/4. That gig ended badly. The station slashed his investigative work, he sued to get out of his deal and escaped only after he was shunted to Washington's WRC to replace a local anchor legend who had gone into drug rehab. Luck would have it that Koppel actually watched the late local news, and when Marash's WRC run was over, he then got to "spend the next 16 years, without any irony, in professional heaven."

To longtime "Nightline" viewers, the signature Marash piece usually came with an overseas byline - he spent nine years covering the Balkan wars - and always seemed to have a certain calm at its center. Maybe it was the voice (deep, sonorous) or the beard (gray, Talmudic) or the blunt fact that the guy did his homework. A Marash piece had the sheen of authenticity about it.

His closing thoughts on the business that has employed him for a lifetime are not limned with optimism. "On Sept. 12, , there was absolute unanimity that the American news media had failed its audience by not paying enough attention to news outside the United States," he says. "And promises were made: 'We learned our lesson. We need to cover the world. The borders don't protect us.'"

But, he adds, "I'm devastated to say that four years later, those promises are not only unfulfilled but [we're] going in the opposite direction. American TV has fewer people abroad and less coverage abroad than the days after 9/11. That's an intellectual mistake and a moral mistake in really the true meaning of the word."

The reason, he adds, is "Money, money, money, money."

Will he be invited back to TV news? "The honest answer is, I don't know."

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel4514566nov17,0,2465380,print.column?coll=ny-television-headlines