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

fredfa

11-09-05, 09:24 PM

Full steam ahead for TV babes

By Ed Bark The Dallas Morning News

Giving your all - by posing in next to nothing at all - seems to be catching on with TV actresses intent on selling their shows to that elusive young male audience.

The principal vehicles are FHM (For Him), Maxim and Stuff magazines, where you can say dumb things and strike provocative poses without going all the way - as in Playboy.

Current-month covers display Amanda Righetti of Fox's "Reunion" on FHM, Bonnie Somerville of that network's "Kitchen Confidential" on Stuff and Nicollette Sheridan of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" on Maxim. Megan Fox of ABC's "Hope & Faith" also has a layout in the November FHM.

From the mouths of babes comes stuff like this:

Amanda: "I'll be wearing a lot of skimpy clothes in 'Reunion.' You won't be disappointed."

Bonnie: "I think the hottest woman on the planet is Angelina Jolie. But that's like a universal truth, right?"

Megan: "I'm horrible to live with. I don't clean. My clothes end up wherever I take them off."

It takes an older pro such as Sheridan, though, to impart a quote worth scrawling on your basic bachelor pad's bedroom wall. Billed as the "Hot Mama" of "DH," Sheridan further raises temps by saying, "In the summer my poolside is my office. I can lie out naked and get a good tan and read a good book."

That's multitasking at its best. It's too bad that earlier TV sirens didn't have the advantage, if that's what it is, of showcasing themselves on the covers and in the pages of such slick periodicals. Imagine what Lynda Carter could have accomplished during her "Wonder Woman" glory years. Or Heather Locklear in the days she played Officer Stacy Sheridan on "T.J. Hooker" or frisky Sammy Jo Dean on "Dynasty."

Donna Douglas (Elly May Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies") would have been quite a sight, too. Whee doggies!!!

This is a family newspaper, so we won't show you pictures to back up this prose. Nudity isn't an issue with these magazines, but there's still a little too much that's not left to the imagination.

You're free, however, to gaze at FHM's first-ever full-length book, "Girls of FHM," which has a nice selection of TV stars. "DH 's" Teri Hatcher of course is in it, along with co-star Eva Longoria, Jaime Pressly (NBC's "My Name Is Earl"), Katherine Heigl (ABC's "Grey's Anatomy"), Leeann Tweeden (Fox cable's "The Best Damn Sports Show Period"), Mayra Veronica (Univision's "Don Francisco Presenta") and the redoubtable and inevitable Pam Anderson (Fox's "Stacked").

Longoria asks a fair question as well: "Who doesn't do housework in their underwear?"

Pressly, who plays title character Earl Hickey's gold-digging, Southern-fried ex-wife, Joy, sends out a big wahoo to yahoos with this colorful aside: "My (real-life) brother and I can all recite the pledge from the Budweiser can. That's redneck."

It should be noted - and here comes the redeeming value of this column - that November's FHM has a bit of beefcake, too. Ricky Gervais, in a full-page shot, literally looks a little cheeky in a tennis outfit.

Gervais, star of the BBC's original "The Office" and now in HBO's "Extras," also expresses a fondness for "mature, strong English cheddar. I ingest so much of it in single sittings that if I walked into a room full of mice, I'd be covered in them."

What a word picture. But Univision's Veronica gets the last say.

"Skinny dipping in the ocean is like meditation to me," she says.

Television just got better.

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/tv/articles/1108tvbabes08.html#

DoubleDAZ

11-09-05, 09:58 PM

You guys could be right on the money.

But I suggest we move away from the political realm -- as we probably won't solve the nation's problems -- and get back to TV's fantasy world. :)
Gosh, we never get to have any fun. :)

keenan

11-09-05, 10:07 PM

You guys could be right on the money.

But I suggest we move away from the political realm -- as we probably won't solve the nation's problems -- and get back to TV's fantasy world. :)
Agreed, we have enough trouble just trying to solve television's problems. :p :D

Marcus Carr

11-10-05, 02:09 AM

FYI, Part 3

MGM to Support Blu-ray Disc Format
By Reuters
November 9, 2005

LOS ANGELES (Reuters)—Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. on Wednesday said it would support the new high definition Blu-ray Disc format, created by a group led by Sony Corp.

The MGM announcement marks the latest move in an increasingly heated battle over rival DVD technologies between the Sony-led camp and another group led by Toshiba Corp., which is pushing a format known as HD DVD.

MGM's move was not considered a surprise as the studio behind the lucrative James Bond film franchise was bought in April by an investor group including private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Texas Pacific Group, as well as Sony and Comcast Corp.

MGM said it plans to begin releasing film and television titles from its library of 4,000 films when the new Blu-ray hardware launches in North America, Japan and Europe.

"MGM's library coming to Blu-ray is certainly a nice feature in the Blu-ray's camp," said Gerry Kaufhold, analyst with In-stat.

Last month, Warner Bros., a long time supporter of HD DVD among Hollywood studios, threw its weight behind Sony's rival Blu-ray format, following a similar move by Paramount.

One format will ultimately triumph, industry members said, as in the high-stakes home video battle between VHS and Betamax in the 1980s.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1884554,00.asp

Tabasco

11-10-05, 02:25 AM

I agree to a point (and certainly when it comes to cable/satellite).

But OTA is the public (our) airwaves, and as such the public's representatives, it seems to me, have a right to demand certain standards be met.

But frankly, what I believe personally has little bearing on what gets included in this thread. I posted the story on Sen. Obama's comments because until now, few liberals had openly been critical of the content on television. And far fewer, to my recollection, had ever mentioned federal legislation as a possible cure.

Until now those kinds of remarks have generally (although not always) come from the conservative side of the Congress.

And with Senate hearings set to start later this month, it seemed to me to make sense to at least give readers here a hint of what might be coming.

Sen. Obama has also made threatening remarks toward videogames. I can sort of live with regulation of OTA, as the government owns the airwaves. But any regulation of video games or cable chills me to my bones.

Edit: Not trying to start anything. I was just trying to add addtional context to his comments.

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,