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fredfa

12-05-05, 08:40 PM

A Critical View:
Has Larry kicked it to the “Curb”?
The “Enthusiasm” star winds up Season 5, and possibly his series, with an outlandish episode

By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 6, 2005

When Larry David came back to write the "Seinfeld" finale, he decided to leave his four characters to posterity in a jail cell — imprisoning them, finally, for being uncaring and self-involved, dangerous to the social order. This was David's closing argument, a twist that enabled the episode to act as a comment on all the celebrated, much-quoted behavior of nine seasons.

Sunday night, in what was officially the finale of the fifth season of David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" but felt, maybe, like a bigger kind of finale (the episode was called "The End"), Larry finds out he's actually the product of Gentile parents and converts from nettlesome Jew to beneficent Christian. He gives up his kidney to an ailing Richard Lewis, only to discover on the way to the operating room that the private investigator tracking down his birth parents has made an error. A near-death experience finds him on his way to the afterlife, where he's bounced back to Earth after an argument with a heavenly guide (Dustin Hoffman) over the proper system for storing DVDs.

The whole dying process is played as you might imagine Larry David playing it — the weightiest of occasions undermined by petty arguments. In heaven, Larry is berated by his mother, who is played by Bea Arthur ("Who goes around giving their kidney to people? Idiot!" she greets him), while around his deathbed his loved ones haggle over the Blue Book value of a Prius.

It was David throwing the petty fights in which his show has trafficked, the molehills made into mountains, into heightened relief. His whole conversion to the good in himself, followed by the inevitable going-down-with-the-ship of his innate personality, had that "Seinfeld" finale self-awareness to it, even if nobody was saying that this was the end of "Curb."

True, last season ended in grandiose fashion too, with David starring in a Broadway production of "The Producers," but visually and contextually this was a further reach — Larry on a horse in Arizona, Larry hurtling into the afterlife. It didn't entirely work. "Curb" has always been better going for smaller versions of comedic triumph. The show at its best can seem to be about watching David meander from deli to doctor's office to cocktail party, infecting the entire Westside of Los Angeles with his obsession and shame reflexes.

In this, "Curb" became influential, a show that not only lent a certain vogue to the idea of improvising dialogue but also tipped off other comic artists that exploring the obnoxious side of show business personality, in real-time, vérité style, was the way to go. And so you got Kirstie Alley in "Fat Actress" and Lisa Kudrow in "The Comeback," and both proved that what David did looked deceptively easy.

"Curb" has been criticized this season for having played itself out, although the show has essentially remained unchanged — David fantasizing into his id and producing moments, if not entire situations, pitched to articulate the paranoia and social phobias and comical asides that human beings don't otherwise express.

He's the outside voice where most of us would keep it inside, a fact reflected back at him by a strong ensemble cast that plays this well. Having had its debut during HBO's powerhouse Sunday night lineup, coming on after "Sex and the City," "Curb" seems more naked now as the network's fortunes on the night have changed.

Then too, the form of the series has become familiar to viewers, and the same thing that happened to George on the later seasons of "Seinfeld" has happened to David on "Curb Your Enthusiasm": The comedy of him comes across as louder and more obvious.

And yet, it can be hard to determine whether "Curb" has changed or the audience has changed around it. In Season 5, as in Season 1, the smaller predicament builds to the bigger one — like the "Curb" of a few weeks ago, in which Larry tries to curry favor with the head of a kidney transplant consortium and ends up stranded at episode's end on a ski lift with the guy's Orthodox Jewish daughter, who panics that she can't be with a man at sundown.

We know the show's biorhythms by now, so an episode like "The Ski Lift" doesn't play as memorably as, say, "The Doll" from Season 2, in which Larry cuts off the hair of a little girl's doll, causing unimagined repercussions. That life should be good but is fraught with tumult at every turn is the place from which each "Curb" starts.

David took this to a more symbolic place Sunday night; even when we're dying, the other kind of tsimmes doesn't abate. "Curb" was kind of an accident to begin with — an HBO special David did about returning to stand-up comedy post-"Seinfeld" that blossomed into a series — so it would not be out of context for the show to depart on parallel terms.

However far it has fallen off the cultural radar, there's still some kind of touchstone in its complaints.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-ontv6dec06,0,1365741,print.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

fredfa

12-05-05, 08:49 PM

Vargas, Woodruff Share Thoughts About Future of 'World News Tonight'
Anchor Duo Accepting Job With "Enormous Excitement," "Profound Sense of Responsibility"

(ABC News press release and transcript of comments on Monday’s “World News Tonight”)

Dec. 5, 2005 — - ABC News President David Westin announced today that beginning Jan. 3, ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff will co-anchor an expanded version of ABC News' flagship broadcast "World News Tonight."

Appearing on tonight's broadcast, Vargas and Woodruff told viewers the following:

Elizabeth Vargas: Before we leave you tonight, a few words about the future. ABC News announced today that Bob Woodruff and I will be taking over as co-anchors of "World News Tonight" at the beginning of next year. It's a job we accept with enormous excitement and a profound sense of responsibility.

Bob Woodruff: Over the coming months and years, Elizabeth and I will do everything we can to preserve the traditions and standards that have made this broadcast great. You'll see us here in the studio but more often than not you will find one of us on the road. We will cover the world relentlessly and we'll take some chances in how we go about it when we think we can make a difference.

Vargas: We are, as Bob said, committed in every way to maintaining the standard of excellence established by Peter Jennings. We are also dedicated to the idea that this institution exists to serve you. And in order to stay vital it must evolve, which is why we're going to make the program available in some new ways. After the new year we'll begin a separate West Coast edition. It will be broadcast live. The goal: to serve people in that part of the country long after the lights go dark in most major television news organizations. And we're going to make some changes to recognize the inescapable fact that technology has changed our lives. We'll anchor a live webcast every afternoon that will be available pretty much anywhere there's a screen. And you'll be able to find large portions of "World News Tonight" online throughout the day.

Woodruff: It will be "World News Tonight" for the digital age. No longer confined to the evening, and no longer just on television. And yes, we will try to make Peter proud.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=1374555

PJO1966

12-05-05, 08:54 PM

“24" PREQUEL NEWS

This week's Season 4 DVD release of Fox's ”24 “features a "miniepisode," about 10 minutes in length, that bridges the gap between last season, at the end of which Jack staged his death, and the new one, which begins unspooling Jan. 15. Per Variety, the "prequel," set 14 months after the Season 4 finale, kicks off with a clandestine meeting between Jack and Chloe and ends with Kim being devoured by a mountain lion. OK, wishful thinking on that last part.

http://tvguide.com/news/entertainment/

Don't tease us with stories about Kim getting eaten by a mountain lion. It's not right to get our hopes up about such things.

Since I have no desire to pick up the DVDs, I hope they stream that 10 minute clip on-line somewhere.

fredfa

12-05-05, 09:12 PM

That was just the TV Guide guy's sense of humor!

To my mind, Kim should have been offed midway through Season 1. That would have saved lots of groaning throughout the nation since then.

rcman2

12-05-05, 09:25 PM

Don't tease us with stories about Kim getting eaten by a mountain lion. It's not right to get our hopes up about such things.

Since I have no desire to pick up the DVDs, I hope they stream that 10 minute clip on-line somewhere.

Here:

http://24natic.atspace.com/Season5/prequel.htm

or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DIHYI0GJ

Beware the ads from megaupload though. They are everywhere

fredfa

12-05-05, 09:32 PM

Given that there so much in the news lately about the network news programs, I like to post the cable news prime time numbers on occasion.
(Remember that the third-rated "CBS Evening News" gets about 6.5 million viewers each night.)

Cable News numbers
The Scoreboard: Friday, Dec. 2:

Total viewers:
(All are averages at any given moment in the time period)

Total day:
FNC: 948,000
CNN: 408,000
MSNBC: 235,000
HLN: 202,000
CNBC: 179,000

Primetime:
FNC: 1,780,000
CNN: 705,000
MSNBC: 329,000
HLN: 379,000
CNBC: 138,000

25-54 demographic:

Total day:
FNC: 241,000
CNN: 109,000
MSNBC: 84,000
HLN: 87,000
CNBC: 50,000

Primetime:
FNC: 293,000
CNN: 151,000
MSNBC: 103,000
HLN: 129,000
CNBC: 93,000

The hourlies:
(Average of Total Viewers)

7pm:
Shepherd Smith: 1,219,000
Wolf Blitzer: 408,000
Chris Matthews: 364,000
Showbiz: 146,000
On The Money: 117,000

8pm:
Bill O'Reilly: 2,447,000
Paula Zahn: 467,000
Nancy Grace: 563,000
Keith Olbermann: 376,000
Apprentice: 193,000

9pm:
Hannity & Colmes: 1,548,000
Larry King: 885,000
Rita Cosby: 311,000
Prime News: 287,000
Mad Money: 97,000

10pm:
Greta van Susteren: 1,347,000
Anderson Cooper: 763,000
Joe Scarborough: 300,000
Grace repeat: 288,000
Donny Deutsch: 123,000

11pm:
O'Reilly repeat: 1,097,000
Cooper: 490,000
Situation: 124,000
Showbiz repeat: 223,000
Apprentice repeat: 130,000

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ (from FTVlive.com)

dturturro

12-05-05, 10:27 PM

A well-done 30 minute (well, 21 minutes with commercials) network newscast would be a welcome addition. Though I doubt in the current Madison Avenue climate of the 18-49 demo is all-important, that it will happen.

Tried suggesting the BBC news on PBS the other day. It's exactly what you say we don't get: facts, WITHOUT opinions. It's left to you to decide what you think. No bells and whistles, just facts. And yes, they cover American news, not just world news. And, NO commercials! :D

fredfa

12-06-05, 12:01 AM

I guess we will have to (I hope respectfully!) disagree, dturturro.
I have seen the BBC news. It is fine. Ostensibly dry and "fact"-filled.
But one man's "fact" is surely another's opinion.
Having spent a lifetime in journalism (and having seen the BBC's product for much of that time) I can assure you that the BBC of today is a mere shadow of its storied past. Just as CBS is no longer the Murrow network.
IMO the Beeb is no purer than many the American news organizations you apparently disdain. While they do possess cool accents and a certain smarmy appearance of diffidence, I would disagree that they dispense "facts" any better than Bob Schieffer, Tim Russert, Brian Williams or even the brand new team at ABC.
But we are both entitled to our opinions -- which after all - is what they are.
Mine is certainly no more worthy (nor less strongly felt) than yours.

fredfa

12-06-05, 02:33 AM

“SVU” attorney out of hiding for NBC drama

The Hollywood Reporter – After two years in the witness-protection program, Alexandra Cabot is returning to "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf's TV universe.

Stephanie March, who left "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" after her character, Assistant District Attorney Cabot, was shot and sent away with a changed identity in an October 2003 episode, is joining Wolf's new NBC legal drama, "Conviction."

Rounding out the cast are Jordan Bridges and J. August Richards. They join previously cast Anson Mount, Eric Balfour, Julianne Nicholson and Milena Govich.

"Conviction" is described as a fast-paced, character-driven series focusing on young ADAs in New York who often tackle tough, high-profile cases

"Since 'Conviction' will be a 'charactercedural,' we will be dealing extensively with characters' back stories and personal lives," said Wolf, whose three "Law & Order" series largely avoid the personal touch.

http://channels.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?id=2005120523180002446940&dt=20051205231800&w=RTR&coview=

fredfa

12-06-05, 02:45 AM

Holiday Viewing: Tonight 8 PM ET/PT ABC
Schulz's Holiday Special Is Still Going Strong

The beloved "A Charlie Brown Christmas" now fuels a $1.2 billion a year global marketing machine

By Meg James Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

In a twist that might make its round-headed hero exclaim, "Good grief," Charles M. Schulz's "A Charlie Brown Christmas" -- the animated television special about love conquering materialism that airs Tuesday on ABC -- now fuels a $1.2 billion a year global publishing, merchandising and marketing machine.

Millions of Americans will tune in Tuesday, as they have every December for 40 years, to watch Charlie Brown and his gang learn that friendship and faith are more important than presents.

But this year, as every year, advertisers clamored to buy time during the cartoon to hype their holiday movies and toys. So many advertisers, in fact, that ABC had to turn some away.

"They chase us for this show," said Geri Wang, ABC's senior vice president for prime-time sales. "It provides a safe, warm and family-feel-good message."

Those who got into the coveted program paid as much as $200,000 for each 30-second spot, which is more than advertisers have paid for such hot new hits as ABC's "Commander in Chief."

Which is just one reason why Schulz's estate, the Charles M. Schulz Creative Association, earned an estimated $35 million in 2004, according to Forbes magazine. Powered by Peanuts-related products that include clothing, cosmetics, dishes, toys and stationery, Schulz has become the second-most profitable "dead celebrity," Forbes found, with only the estate of Elvis Presley collecting more.

Peanuts now accounts for more than 90 percent of United Media's licensing revenues, according to regulatory filings. Last year, United Media took in $100 million in revenue.

"It is ironic that something so totally noncommercial has become so commercial," said Doug Stern, chief executive of United Media, the licensing arm and syndicator of the comic strip that still runs in 2,400 newspapers five years after Schulz's death.

"The artist's soul shines through, and in a sense, the financial success has been an unintended consequence," Stern said.

Schulz and his creations have had strong ties to Corporate America almost since the beginning.

In 1950, after several failed attempts, Schulz sold his comic strip, "Li'l Folks" to the United Feature Syndicate, which renamed the comic "Peanuts" -- a title Schulz never liked.

The strip was a hit, and within a few years, marketers came calling. Kodak featured the characters in a camera handbook in 1955. The first plastic Snoopy doll was produced in 1958.

The following year, Schulz teamed up with Hallmark Cards, allowing the family-owned Kansas City, Mo., company to produce a line of cards. Since they were first offered, in 1960, Hallmark has sold more than 1.5 billion Peanuts cards.

But it was Schulz's relationship with the Ford Motor Co. that would lead the comic strip characters to make their debut on television, and cement their status as cultural icons.

When the car company first asked to use his gang of innocents in its TV commercials, Schulz -- known as Sparky to his family and friends -- initially resisted the idea. He changed his mind, however, when the J. Walter Thompson ad agency introduced him to Bill Melendez.

A gregarious animator from Los Angeles who had worked at the Walt Disney Co. on such classics as "Pinocchio" and "Bambi," Melendez impressed Schulz by not embellishing his characters, instead taking care to duplicate the flat look and feel of the comic strip. The resulting black-and-white commercial of Linus and Lucy inspecting Ford's line of 1962 Falcons preserved the characters' sweetness, with Linus knocking his little cartoon fist on the Falcon's simulated wood side panels for good luck.

Meanwhile, a young TV producer from San Francisco who had filmed a documentary for NBC about baseball's best player, Willie Mays, wanted to do a sequel about the worst player, Charlie Brown.

The producer, Lee Mendelson, spent much of 1963 working on the project, which featured animation by Melendez. But in the end, no network or advertising sponsors wanted to buy it.

That changed in April 1965, when the Peanuts characters were featured on the cover of Time magazine. Suddenly, an ad agency called Mendelson to say that Coca-Cola wanted to sponsor an animated Charlie Brown Christmas special. Could they do that?

"I said, `Absolutely'," Mendelson, now 72, recalled in an interview. "Once I said it, I couldn't take it back so I called Schulz and said: `I just sold "A Charlie Brown Christmas".' And he said, `What's that?' "

Schulz, Mendelson and Melendez scrambled to draw up an outline for the show, complete with a school play with Nativity scenes, a stubby tree, and an undercurrent of anti-commercialism. Mendelson suggested adding a laugh track, a popular device in the 1960s, but Schulz said no. Schulz also decreed that only children's voices would be featured.

Schulz, a Midwesterner who had taught Sunday School, wanted Linus to quote a passage from the Bible about the birth of Jesus to present the "true meaning of Christmas."

His collaborators worried it might feel preachy.

"I was dead-set against it," Melendez, now 89, recalled during an interview at his Los Angeles office. "It was too religious, too dangerous."

Melendez has never forgotten Schulz's response: "Sparky said, `Bill, if we don't do it, then who will?' "

Coca-Cola approved the story outline, and agreed to cover production costs of less than $150,000. Schulz wrote the script and Melendez got busy on the drawings. For the soundtrack, producer Mendelson turned to a San Francisco jazz pianist, Vince Guaraldi. Mendelson wrote the lyrics for the show's opening number, "Christmas Time Is Here," on an envelope.

When they finished about a week before the show's December premiere, Mendelson and Melendez were disappointed with the show's slow pace.

"We thought that we had ruined Charlie Brown," recalled Mendelson.

CBS executives thought the show was awful, Mendelson said. They complained there wasn't enough action and the jazz soundtrack was all wrong for a children's show. Besides, they asked, what kids would talk in such a grown-up manner?

With the premiere broadcast just days away, it was too late to pull the plug. But as others braced for a flop, there remained one true believer in the little Christmas show.

"Sparky liked it from the beginning," Mendelson said.

In December, 1965, the first viewers tuned in to see snowflakes gently falling on a frozen pond. Charlie Brown and his friend Linus trudge through the snow with ice skates slung over their shoulders. They stop at a brick wall.

"I think there's something wrong with me," Charlie Brown confides, his round head cupped in his hand. "Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I just don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel."

To cure his depression, he consults with Lucy at her 5-cent psychiatric booth. She ultimately tells him: "Let's face it. We all know that Christmas a big commercial racket." Then she lowers her voice: "It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know. "

"Well," Charlie Brown says defiantly: "This is one play that's not going to be commercial."

The exchange was an inside joke for Schulz, who some believe intended the "eastern syndicate" to refer to United Feature Syndicate, which still owns the copyright to his characters. Just as Charlie Brown vowed to direct a non-commercial play, Schulz was vowing to do the same in his Christmas special.

Still, over the years, the Emmy winning show would bring in more than $50 million to the producers, United Media, Schulz and, later, his estate, and the two networks that have broadcast it.

Last year alone, ABC raked in $5.75 million in ad revenue for its two telecasts of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," according to TNS Media Intelligence, which tracks ad spending. More than 13.6 million people watched the show, which won its time slot in all key demographic groups.

More than 30 companies bought ad time, collectively forking over five times the approximately $1 million in license fees that ABC paid to run the show.

ABC is anticipating another big audience Tuesday, and, thus, more happy advertisers. Companies who committed to buying time in the show last summer paid about $170,000 for a 30 second spot. Now, with so much demand, the price tag for latecomers has topped $200,000.

This year, the show attracted some companies that don't typically buy a lot of network prime-time. Like Welch's.

"Kids grew up watching this show, and now they are parents watching it with their kids," said Jim Callahan, spokesman for the Massachusetts grape farmers cooperative. "It brings you back to your childhood, when you were drinking grape juice and getting a purple mustache."

Stacey Lynn Koerner, an executive vice president of Initiative, a major ad buying firm, agreed. "It harkens back to a much simpler time," she said. "Even though we get caught up in the hustle-and-bustle and all of the buying, we hold up that ideal of what the holidays were back then."

What would Schulz think about all this? His widow, Jeannie, said in an interview that over the years, when he received complaints from fans about the commercial exploitation of the characters, he would say, "Once you open the door, it's somewhat out of your hands."

To Jeannie Schulz, the show endures, in large part, because of its "innocence and honesty."

"The things that Sparky felt strongly about are a big part of what made the show a success," she said. Besides, she added, "Sparky said there would always be a market for innocence."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/la-fi-charlie6dec06,0,1170403,print.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

fredfa

12-06-05, 03:15 AM

Holiday Viewing: Tonight 8 PM ET/PT ABC
The Christmas classic that almost wasn't

By Bill Nichols,USA TODAY

When CBS bigwigs saw a rough cut of A Charlie Brown Christmas in November 1965, they hated it.

"They said it was slow," executive producer Lee Mendelson remembers with a laugh. There were concerns that the show was almost defiantly different: There was no laugh track, real children provided the voices, and there was a swinging score by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi.

Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez fretted about the insistence by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz that his first-ever TV spinoff end with a reading of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke by a lisping little boy named Linus.

"We told Schulz, 'Look, you can't read from the Bible on network television,' " Mendelson says. "When we finished the show and watched it, Melendez and I looked at each other and I said, 'We've ruined Charlie Brown.' "

Good grief, were they wrong. The first broadcast was watched by almost 50% of the nation's viewers. "When I started reading the reviews, I was absolutely shocked," says Melendez, 89. "They actually liked it!"

And when the program airs today at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC, it will mark its 40th anniversary — a run that has made it a staple of family holiday traditions and an icon of American pop culture. The show won an Emmy and a Peabody award and began a string of more than two dozen Peanuts specials.

Last year, 13.6 million people watched it, making it the 18th-most-popular show on television the week it aired; CSI was first. One advertiser on the show, financial services giant MetLife, has contracted to use Peanuts characters in its advertising since 1985 and will continue through at least 2012.

Schulz, who died in 2000, never doubted the power of his tale of Charlie Brown's quest for the true meaning of Christmas amid the garish trappings of a commercialized holiday. "It comes across in the voice of a child," says Jeannie Schulz, the wife of the cartoonist, whose friends called him Sparky. "Sparky used to say there will always be a market for innocence."

Peter Robbins, now 49, was the voice of Charlie Brown. "This show poses a question that I don't think had been asked before on television: Does anybody know the meaning of Christmas?"

Parents like Molly Kremidas, 39, who grew up adoring A Charlie Brown Christmas, watch it with their kids. "It's the values in the story," says Kremidas, of Winston-Salem, N.C. She'll watch tonight with daughter Sofia, 6. "Would there be any programs for children on today that could get away with talking about the real meaning of Christmas? I don't think so."

Erin Kane, 36, is eager for her 3-year-old son Tommy to watch the program for the first time tonight in their Boston home. "The Christmas season doesn't start," Kane says, "until Charlie Brown is on."

Hip but wholesome

On paper, the show's bare-bones script would seem to offer few clues to its enduring popularity. Mendelson says the show was written in several weeks, after Coca-Cola called him just six months before the program aired to ask if Schulz could come up with a Peanuts Christmas special.

Charlie Brown, depressed as always, can't seem to get into the Christmas spirit. His friend and nemesis Lucy suggests that he direct the gang's Christmas play. But the Peanuts crew is focused on how many presents they're going to get, not on putting on a show.

"Just send money. How about tens and twenties?" says Charlie's sister Sally as she dictates a letter to Santa Claus.

Charlie goes to find a Christmas tree to set the mood. He returns with a scrawny specimen that prompts his cohorts to mock him as a blockhead. In desperation, Charlie asks if anyone can explain to him what Christmas is all about.

"Sure, I can," says his friend Linus, who proceeds to recite the story of the birth of Jesus from the book of Luke in the King James Version of the Bible. "And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and goodwill toward men,' " Linus says. "And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Scholars of pop culture say that shining through the program's skeletal plot is the quirky and sophisticated genius that fueled the phenomenal popularity of Schulz's work, still carried by 2,400 newspapers worldwide even though it's repeating old comic strips.

The Christmas special epitomizes the nostalgic appeal of holiday television classics for baby boomers raised as that medium gained prominence, says Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University.

Thompson notes that other Christmas specials made during the same era — such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman - also air each year to strong ratings.

"This is the only time in the year when TV programs from the LBJ years play on network television and do very, very well," he says. "For millions of baby boomers, these things became as much a holiday tradition as hanging a stocking or putting up a tree."

What makes A Charlie Brown Christmas the "gold standard" in Thompson's view is that it somehow manages to convey an old-fashioned, overtly religious holiday theme that's coupled with Schulz's trademark sardonic, even hip, sense of humor.

While Schulz centers the piece on verses from the Bible, laced throughout are biting references to the modern materialism of the Christmas season. Lucy complains to Charlie that she never gets wants she really wants. "What is it you want?" Charlie asks. "Real estate," she answers.

"A key element in all of Schulz's work is his sense of man's place in the scheme of things in a theological sense as well as a psychological sense," says Thomas Inge, an English and humanities professor at Randolph-Macon College who edited a series of interviews with Schulz released in 2000. "Then there's this slightly cynical attitude that makes everything work."

Parents say the combination of humor and bedrock values is what draws them and their children to the show. "It does provide a balance, but it's a balance that we as a society have forgotten about," says Patrick Lemp, 43, of West Hartford, Conn. He'll watch tonight with son Brendan, 13.

"This is one of the last shows that actually comes out and talks about the meaning of Christmas. As a society, we're taking religion out of a lot of the trappings of the holiday. This one is different."

A cultural footprint

Much about A Charlie Brown Christmas was revolutionary for network TV, even beyond its religious themes.

The voices of children had not been used before in animation, a technique Mendelson, Melendez and Schulz all wanted to try.

"Lee didn't want to use Hollywood kids. He wanted the sound of kids who didn't have training," says Sally Dryer, 48, who did the voice of Violet — the little girl who mocks Charlie Brown for not getting any Christmas cards. In later specials, she was Lucy's voice.

Mendelson sent tape recorders home with all his employees in Burlingame, Calif. Dryer, then 8, was chosen because her sister worked for the Mendelson crew. Robbins and Christopher Shea, the voice of Linus, were the only children with professional acting experience in the cast.

The show was also novel in that it used no laugh track, an omnipresent device in animated and live-action comedies of the era. Schulz strongly believed that his audience could figure out when to laugh.

Perhaps the most enduring aspect of the show has been its score — a piano-driven jazz suite that was absolutely unheard-of for children's programming in 1965.

Guaraldi, the composer and pianist, was best known for a 1962 hit called Cast Your Fate To the Wind. Mendelson liked it so much that he hired Guaraldi to score a documentary about Schulz that never aired. When the Christmas program was sold, parts of that music were incorporated.

The driving tune that the Peanuts children keep dancing to in the special, called Linus and Lucy, has become a pop staple that's been recorded countless time in the intervening decades.

A new version of the soundtrack was released last month for the 40th anniversary. It features Vanessa Williams, Christian McBride, David Benoit and others.

The song that opens the program, Christmas Time is Here, was written only for piano by Guaraldi, but Mendelson decided to add words to appease other network concerns. When he found his songwriter friends in California were all tied up, Mendelson wrote the words himself on the back of an envelope.

"So now it's a standard," says Mendelson, now 72. "Who knew? I tell people that I'm old and I'm lucky."

Jazz pianist George Winston, recorded a 1996 tribute album to Guaraldi, who died in 1976. He says that when he plays Guaraldi tunes at concerts, young children come up later and say, "Hey, that's the Peanuts music!"

Says Winston: "Vince made a stamp on our popular culture that will never go away. For an artist, that's the ultimate tribute."

A sweet memory

The Christmas special has become a key part of the Peanuts marketing empire, which racks up $1.2 billion in annual retail sales, $350 million of which come in the USA. Millions of VCR tapes and DVDs of the program are in circulation worldwide.

The 40th anniversary has spawned a long list of spinoff products, including a "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" at Urban Outfitters and a paperback version of a book Mendelson wrote, The Making of a Tradition: A Charlie Brown Christmas. And the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif., where Schulz lived, plans a special commemoration on Dec. 17 with Mendelson and several cast members. The museum also has an exhibit on the Christmas show that runs through Jan. 9.

"It's a tradition, along with White Christmas, A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life," says Marion Hull, 77, who toured the exhibit on Friday. "It's simple, it tells a simple story, and it's something that both adults and children can get something out of."

For those who worked to make the program — as well as fans who watch it — its material success seems ancillary. The word that keeps coming up is "sweet."

Robbins, who is single, has no children and manages an apartment building in Encino, Calif., loves that kids of friends squeal with delight each Christmas that "Uncle Pete used to be Charlie Brown."

Jeannie Schulz, who was the artist's second wife when they married in 1973, says their five children, 25 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren see the show as a holiday tradition as well.

"The reason it's endured is because of its simplicity and its very basic honesty to real life," she says. "Who would have thought this would last 40 years? How did that happen?"

For many viewers, it is the speech by Linus from Luke near the end that packs the biggest emotional wallop.

Christopher Shea was just 7 when he did the part and credits Melendez's coaching and his mom's doctorate in 17th-century British literature for Linus' lilting eloquence with a Biblical text.

Shea, who now lives in Eureka, Calif., with two daughters, 11 and 16, answers quickly when asked why the special has proved so enduring. "It's the words," he says.

Shea says that for years, in his teens and 20s, he didn't quite understand his soliloquy's impact.

"People kept coming up to me and saying, 'Every time I watch that, I cry,' " he says. "But as I got older, I understood the words more, and I understood the power of what was going on. Now I cry, too."

Editor's note: USA TODAY reporter Bill Nichols first watched A Charlie Brown Christmas on Dec. 9, 1965. He was 7. This Thanksgiving, he watched a tape of it with his son, Charlie, 3, for the first time.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

How “Peanuts” rate

A Charlie Brown Christmas drew 15.4 million viewers when it first aired in 1965, making it the second-mos t watched program on television that week. The top show: Bonanza.

Ratings last year for three cartoon favorites still airing:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), 14.9 million viewers. Tied for 15th place the week it ran. CBS.

A Charlie Brown Christmas, 13.6 million. 18th place the week it aired. ABC.

Frosty the Snowman (1969), 10.1 million. Tied for 38th place the week it aired. CBS.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-05-charlie-brown-christmas_x.htm#

fredfa

12-06-05, 03:29 AM

Tuesday Morning News Briefs

The Hollywood Reporter

Family 'Life' on FX with Izzard set for '06 drama pilot
FX has selected its class of 2006 drama pilots, including "Low Life." Actor-comedian Eddie Izzard, left, will star as the father of a family of traveling con artists who, after hitting a spiritual and midlife crisis, settles down with his wife and kids in a suburban community.

ABC News: new anchors
Eight months after Peter Jennings signed off for what would be the end of his two-decade run at the anchor desk, ABC News said it would make room for two at "World News Tonight."

NBC Uni, iPod deal
NBC Universal and Apple are set to announce a major licensing pact that will make programs from the NBC broadcast network, USA Network, Sci Fi Channel and other NBC Uni outlets available for download-on-demand viewing on iPod devices.

ESPN eyes iPod, too
ESPN is considering joining corporate sibling ABC in a video iPod distribution deal with Apple Computer Inc., ESPN's chief said Monday.

Chappelle shows
Comedy Central announced Monday that it will air more episodes of the hit "Chappelle's Show" next year using footage shot before Dave Chappelle abandoned the production in May.

'Conviction' for March
Stephanie March, who left "Law & Order: SVU" in 2003, is joining Dick Wolf's new series for NBC, "Conviction."

'Court' in session
Twentieth Television said Monday that it has declared a firm go for its new court strip "Cristina's Court," set to launch in syndication in fall 2006.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/index.jsp

fredfa

12-06-05, 03:36 AM

Tuesday Morning News Briefs

zap2it.com

“E-Ring” Addition

NBC has beefed up the cast of its freshman series "E-Ring," adding former "Dawson's Creek"-er Kerr Smith to the Pentagon drama.

Smith has guest-starred in three episodes of the show already this season and will make his first appearance as a regular after "E-Ring" returns from its holiday rerun cycle. He's the second addition to the cast since the show premiered; Kelly Rutherford joined the series as Samantha "Sonny" Liston earlier in the fall.

Rachael Ray Talk Show a Go

Food Network star Rachael Ray is officially on her way to becoming more than just a TV cook/tour guide.

Syndicated-TV giant King World has given a "firm go" to a daytime talk show starring the "30 Minute Meals" host, multiple cookbook author and now magazine editor for fall 2006. "Rachael Ray" has been sold in all but four of the country's top 50 TV markets, including all of the top 25.

"The demand for this show is unbelievable," King World CEO Roger King says. "To have this much of the country cleared in just a few weeks is a testament to the tremendous talent and popularity of Rachael Ray."

fredfa

12-06-05, 03:41 AM

Holiday Viewing: Tonight 8 PM ET/PT ABC
A “Charlie Brown” Reminder

If you have missed the reviews, features and other "hints” I have posted about “A Charlie Brown Christmas” over the past few days, here’s a chance to catch up.

Most importantly, the show is on ABC tonight 8 PM ET/PT.

So gather the kids around and enjoy a classic TV holiday half-hour. It is one of those rare shows that truly gets better each time you see it.

And if you haven’t got kids?

If you can’t somehow borrow a couple of youngsters for the evening, just settle down in front of the TV, think back to what the holidays were like when you were little, tune to ABC and, at least for 30 minutes, become a kid again yourself.

fredfa

12-06-05, 03:53 AM

NFL lines up Stevie Wonder for Super Bowl pregame show

By SARAH Sarah Karush The Asssociated Press

Motown fans miffed by the NFL’s choice of the Rolling Stones for Super Bowl halftime entertainment are getting at least some satisfaction: Stevie Wonder will perform during the pregame show at Ford Field.

Wonder will play three or four songs during the pregame show before the game Feb. 5, Lori Lambert, vice president of strategic marketing for Universal Motown Records Group, told The Associated Press. At least part of the performance will be televised, she said.

Other artists — still to be announced — also will be featured in the pregame show, Lambert said.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Avis=C4&Dato=20051205&Kategori=NEWS11&Lopenr=51205017&Ref=AR&template=printart

fredfa

12-06-05, 04:10 AM

Post Christmas Nielsen Present: A Longer wait

The Counting of DVR Use to Delay Nielsens: Time-Shifted Data to Arrive Dec. 26
By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com

The November 2005 sweeps is likely to be remembered as the last before the big change.

That's because starting Dec. 26, Nielsen Media Research will begin releasing data on the national measurement of time-shifted, or DVR, viewing.

Incorporating this new data is expected to delay delivery of ratings information, making the process of calling a close sweeps like the one that just ended more drawn-out and difficult. Not only that, at least one expert said the information could play into upfront negotiations as soon as next season.

For years, any Nielsen household with a TiVo was branded a "technical difficulty" and promptly removed from the ratings sample, but the 6 percent to 7 percent of homes Nielsen estimates have DVR devices will, for the first time, become part of the sampled fold.

The addition of DVR information will make figuring out close sweeps results more difficult and longer to call.

"This is the last time we'll be able to get these ratings real time," Brad Adgate, senior VP and corporate research director for Horizon Media said.

At a meeting with television industry reporters last week, Fox research executives went over some of the expected delays in ratings information as Nielsen begins offering "live," "live plus same day," and "live plus seven day" numbers.

"Live" refers to viewers who don't use DVRs or who catch up to a live telecast using a DVR; "live plus same day" refers to viewers who use their DVRs to watch a program the same day it was telecast; and "live plus seven day" refers to viewers who play back a program within seven days of telecast. DVR usage beyond a week from telecast will not be rated.

The introduction of live plus same day numbers will push back by one hour the arrival of Fast Nationals, which are currently available at 10 a.m. (ET). Nationals won't be offered until 4:30 p.m., 90 minutes later than they are currently available.

In a sweep like November 2005, in which the adults 18 to 49 rating was a tie, a conclusive number that takes into account full DVR viewing might not be available until Nielsen releases Final ratings 11 business days after the end of the last report week. In its meeting Fox used the example of the upcoming May 2006 sweeps, in which Final numbers aren't expected to be out until June 12.

At least for now, aside from the inconvenience of getting information later than usual, the impact of the DVR numbers is expected to be limited, Mr. Adgate said. "Initially, it's not going to cause that much of a change because penetration is kind of low," he said.

While the delays will be a source of inconvenience to industry executives who need to process daily numbers, the big ratings picture won't get lost for weeks on end because of DVR measurement, he said.

"The consumers are very habitual," Mr. Adgate said. "You can pretty much make an educated guess on what the final, final rating will be."

Still, the new data could have an impact on business as soon as next season, Mr. Adgate said. "Perhaps by upfront next year it will be interesting to see how that plays into negotiations."

DVRs are only the beginning, Mr. Adgate said. If at some point penetration builds, devices like the video iPod and other technologies will have to be rated.

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=29071

nikkoxyz

12-06-05, 06:48 AM

Carl Jones

12-06-05, 07:50 AM

Is Fox doinmg the Cotton Bowl in HD, Carl?
If so, great news!

Amd George -- do you know if NBC is going to present the Gator Bowl in HD?

Alas...I don't know. I guess I just assumed my beloved Crimson Tide would be in HD along with all the other bowl games.

fredfa

12-06-05, 10:50 AM

NBC Makes “Law & Order”, “Leno” Available on iTunes

Mike Shields MediaWeek.com Dec. 6, 2005

NBC Universal will begin selling 11 of its TV series in Apple's iTunes Music Store, including Law & Order and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, allowing users to views these series on their home PCs or the recently released video iPod.

NBCU's announcement comes less than two month's after Disney and Apple made headlines with the announcement that ABC's hits Desperate Housewives and Lost would be available on the new iPod, released on Oct 12.

NBCU's offering is more wide ranging than ABC's, as it includes a mix of classic and current fare, though is lacking a show with the ratings heft of ABC's two biggest hits. Besides Law & Order and The Tonight Show, current NBC series The Office, Surface, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien will be available starting today for $1.99 each. In addition, USA Network's current hit Monk along with Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica are available, as well as the classic shows Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dragnet, Adam-12 and Knight Rider.

Current shows will be available to purchase one day after they air on their respective networks.

Previously, it was reported that NBC executives had been hesitant to distribute shows via the iPod because of piracy concerns. Apparently, those concerns have been assuaged.

"We are committed to helping viewers enjoy the wide breadth of our programs across an equally wide range of devices and distribution models," said NBCU CEO and GE vice chairman Bob Wright in a statement. "Apple has developed a distribution platform that is attractive to consumers while at the same time providing the safeguards against theft that are so important to us and to every content provider. We are pleased to partner with them in this new venture."

According to Apple, more than 3 million videos have been sold since the video iPod launched.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001614920

fredfa

12-06-05, 10:53 AM

WB to Air 5 Nights of “Supernatural”

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com DECEMBER 05, 2005 -

The WB network will air an episode of its freshman drama hit Supernatural each night for five nights during the week from Dec. 25 to Jan. 1. The show will air from 9-10 p.m. on Sunday, Dec.25, Tuesday, Dec. 27, Wednesday, Dec. 28, Thursday, Dec. 29, and on Sunday, Jan. 1.

Supernatural is averaging a 2.2 rating among adults 18-34, a 2.3 among persons 12-34, a 2.6 among women 18-34 and a 2.7 among women 12-34.

In addition to its regular Tuesday 9 p.m. timeslot, Supernatural also has been airing on Sundays at 9 p.m. The episode on Wednesday will air in the time period where first-year WB drama Related has been airing in repeat, while the Thursday episode will air in the time period now occupied by WB veteran drama Everwood.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001614005

fredfa

12-06-05, 10:59 AM

The TV Column
Latest Comic Episode in Chappelle Saga

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 6, 2005; C01

Comedy Central suits have fired off a popgun in an effort to frighten Dave Chappelle back to the table to talk about the aborted third season of his "Chappelle's Show," announcing that sometime in the second quarter of '06 it will telecast the sketches he shot before pulling a Cat Stevens and dropping out.

"Comedy Central to Premiere Third Season of 'Chappelle's Show' during 2Q 2006," the cable network said yesterday in a news release.

Unfortunately, it contains no other information about the telecast plans for the four episodes' worth of sketches, except that you will be able to get a 2 1/2 -minute "sneak peek" at the material during the network's "Last Laugh '05" on Dec. 11 and, after that, on its new broadband channel, MotherLoad.

"We've tried to get some real definitive response out of Dave and have yet to," Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog told The TV Column about talks to get Chappelle back to work.

He said yesterday's announcement was about Comedy Central trying to find a way to offset the millions it spent this year promoting the launch of a third season that never happened.

"We leave the door wide open for Dave to return at some point," Herzog said, adding, "I don't want to create expectations he's going to; I have no reason to believe he's going to at this point."

"Good call!" says Chappelle spokeswoman Carla Sims. Actually, what she really said was:

"Comedy Central is not going to obtain Dave's return by releasing material that he has not approved or that doesn't meet his standards."

But, she added, "flowers still work."

Late in April, Chappelle vanished from production on the third season of his show, after the network had started to promote it -- to the tune of the millions of dollars to which Herzog alluded.

Chappelle eventually turned up in Durban, South Africa, on what he described to Time magazine as a "spiritual retreat."

Chappelle has said in various interviews that he did not like the direction of the show and decided to take off.

In the Time article, Herzog noted it was the second delay Chappelle had caused in production of the third season. Last December Chappelle, who became a practicing Muslim in the late '90s, tried unsuccessfully to perform the hajj -- a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Chappelle told Time he took that first break because he felt the show had moved from sending up racial stereotypes to reinforcing them.

When he returned, however, that had not changed, according to his writing partner at the time, Neal Brennan. Brennan told Time that Chappelle would like an idea; it would be shot, but Chappelle would then say, "This sketch is racist, and I don't want this on the air."

"He was calling his own writing racist," Brennan said.

Herzog insisted yesterday's announcement was not a ploy to get Chappelle back to the table. "It's not like Dave's Osama bin Laden and we're trying to smoke him out or something," he said.

"We tried to wait for Dave as long as we could. We will see what happens in the next couple weeks. It will not be on the air until well into next year. So we have a lot to figure out between now and then."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/1Latest Comic Episode in Chappelle Saga/05/AR2005120502252_pf.html

fredfa

12-06-05, 11:06 AM

Anchor Duo To Succeed Jennings at ABC News

Bob Woodruff, Vargas Rare Network Pairing

By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 6, 2005; C01

ABC News named Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff as its evening news co-anchors yesterday, opting for a younger and more diverse look for the coveted assignment after failing to reach an agreement with veteran Charlie Gibson.

Four months after the death of Peter Jennings, ABC is gambling on the first dual-anchor and male-female pairing on a network evening newscast since the ill-fated coupling of CBS's Dan Rather and Connie Chung more than a decade ago. ABC executives were clearly reluctant to break up a successful "Good Morning America" team by tapping Gibson, 62, and "World News Tonight" had already been using Vargas, 43, and Woodruff, 44, as temporary anchors.

Gibson wanted the job, but the two sides could not strike a deal.

Vargas, who was raised by a Puerto Rican father and an Irish American mother, said yesterday that she brings a different mix of views to the job because "I'm a woman, I'm a working mother, I'm a minority. Being a mom is the biggest, most important role in my entire life. . . . Especially as a woman, I really, really want to do this well. It's important to have a woman be successful in this role."

Filling in after Jennings's death "has been tough and trying and tragic for everyone here," she said. "Bob and I are taking seriously the legacy he left behind, to do hard news and do it well. We've been really lucky the audience has stuck with us in this time of uncertainty."

Woodruff, who told the staff "this is awesome," said the arrangement will free him to continue his field reporting. "Peter used to say to me, 'Be careful what you wish for, because you're going to end up in a chair and not out on the stories you love.' " In the past, said the lawyer-turned-journalist, "I wanted to become the best damn foreign correspondent in the business. I never really thought about anchoring."

ABC News President David Westin actually offered the job to Gibson last week, but not on terms he could accept, according to two sources familiar with the process who declined to be identified discussing details of personnel matters. Gibson wanted to remain anchor through the 2008 elections, while Westin was offering only a two-year tenure, with duties to be shared with Vargas and Woodruff in a three-anchor arrangement.

"I'm very pleased for them and hoping they'll have a long and successful run," Gibson said, adding that he is quite happy on the morning show. "David and I had long discussions, which simply broke down over the issue of the length of time to do it."

Westin gave the new anchors the news Thursday, with Woodruff in his New York office after returning from Mississippi and Vargas on the phone from New Orleans, where she had just been dispatched. While neither is as well known as Jennings at the end of his life, Westin said, "both Bob and Elizabeth will be earning that relationship day after day with the quality of what they put on the air."

The new duo will be competing with 46-year-old Brian Williams, whose "NBC Nightly News" leads the ratings pack, and possibly Katie Couric, 48, if CBS's aggressive effort to lure her from "Today" to succeed Bob Schieffer is successful. The ABC newscast has maintained its second-place ranking under Vargas and Woodruff.

The anchors plan to remain on duty for an additional three hours each night to deliver two live versions for the western United States -- sometimes with different lead stories -- a first for the broadcast networks. ABC says that both will contribute to a daily blog and that parts of "World News Tonight" will be made available online even before the broadcast. Williams has pioneered anchor-blogging, and both NBC and CBS have been putting their newscasts on the Internet in different forms.

Despite these new wrinkles, the networks seem to be preserving the basic franchise after two decades of eroding audiences and criticism that 6:30 newscasts are anachronisms in an age of round-the-clock news. The programs still reach a combined audience of 25 million, and although the departure of Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Jennings after more than two decades sparked talk of a radical departure, change comes hard.

"The evening news is locked into two things -- a half-hour format and the existing time slot," said Bob Zelnick, a former ABC correspondent who now chairs Boston University's journalism department. "You can talk about ensembles, guys parachuting in from Comedy Central, new formats that appeal to bubblegum-chomping 12-year-olds, but you can't do it."

Steve Friedman, a former executive producer of "Today" and CBS's "Early Show," said the male-female pairing "is what people are used to seeing in local news." Friedman foresees an "indoor-outdoor show" in which Woodruff spends much of his time racing to breaking-news events.

"Anybody who goes in there and tries to reinvent the wheel is going to lose," he said. "You have to put different spokes on the wheel."

Erik Sorenson, a former president of MSNBC, said "there are some real advantages" to being able to dispatch one of the anchors to various hot spots, "but not a lot of benefit with two people sitting within three feet of each other."

Said Sorenson, who was executive producer of the "CBS Evening News" during the failed Rather-Chung experiment of the early 1990s: "The downside is, it's a 22-minute broadcast and you're splitting up the fact time between two people. . . . There's certainly some risk for ABC to do this, but this is the time to take a risk."

During the swirl of speculation about the decision, many industry insiders, including some ABC staffers, expected Gibson to get the nod, even though he and Diane Sawyer have been closing the ratings gap with Couric and Matt Lauer at "Today." As recently as last month, Woodruff explored the possibility of jumping to another network and had a conversation with Sean McManus, the new president of CBS News, who did not make an offer, according to industry sources who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of personnel discussions.

"Charlie has always loved 'World News Tonight' " and would have been "perfectly happy" to take the job, Westin said, praising what he called Gibson's "heroic" double shifts after Jennings's death. Gibson, who initially rotated the evening duties with Vargas, gave way to Woodruff in September after contracting pneumonia.

"Let's be honest, they're younger, they're prettier," Emily Rooney, a former ABC producer, said of Vargas and Woodruff. She said Woodruff has more "gravitas" but that both anchors bring appealing qualities to the job.

"Bob Woodruff is brilliant," said Rooney, who hosts two talk shows on Boston's WGBH-TV. "He can ad-lib and put information out in a seamless manner. Elizabeth, I think, is very serious and studious. She's not the classic prima donna. I don't think anybody will resent her."

Vargas, a "20/20" co-anchor who will continue in that role, is the better-known of the two, having been a substitute anchor for several years, including during the death of Ronald Reagan and the Elian Gonzalez case, which won her an Emmy.

She grew up as an Army brat, in Germany and Okinawa, without a television, and her first job -- while in college -- was Saturday anchor for the ABC affiliate in Columbia, Mo., for $3.35 an hour. After stints in Reno and Phoenix, where her bosses "told me I was a lousy anchor," she joined CBS News in Chicago and later became a correspondent for NBC's "Dateline."

Vargas has handled a range of feature stories not normally associated with an evening news anchor, hosting one-hour "Vanished" specials about missing people, along with programs on same-sex marriage, surrogate parenting and miracles.

Woodruff is better known as a field reporter, having won attention for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami, as well as his reporting from Afghanistan and as an embedded reporter during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

A New York corporate attorney who moved to China to train lawyers in 1988 -- two days after what he calls a "shotgun wedding" -- Woodruff wound up working as Rather's "fixer" and translator in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square uprising.

He "caught the journalism bug," abandoning the law to become an NBC local reporter in Redding, Calif., Richmond and Phoenix. Woodruff joined ABC for stints in Chicago, London and Washington, where he covered the Justice Department during the Clinton administration.

Although the new broadcast doesn't launch until Jan. 3, the two will essentially be co-anchoring next week when Vargas heads for Baghdad to cover the Iraqi elections.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/05/AR2005120502182_pf.html

fredfa

12-06-05, 11:14 AM

The 2005-2006 Season
Few cancellations as midseason nears
By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 6, 2005,

The broadcast networks are gingerly wielding the cancellation axe this season.

Heading into what will likely be a competitive midseason, the broadcast networks are shuffling lineups, but most are also being cautious when it comes to yanking freshman underperformers. Competition is simply too tight in key advertising demographics for the networks to mess with existing programs, say media researchers.

Moreover, with cable television siphoning off viewers, the networks are growing more accepting of modest performers.

“The threshold for what is an acceptable rating level has gone down,” explains Jordan Breslow, director of broadcast research at MediaCom.

“Years ago you needed a 20 [household] share on the major networks, but now they are looking at a 12 to 15 share. Fox maybe needs an 8 to 10 share, while the little guys are okay with a 4 or 5 share. They’ve come to realize that they have to lower that minimum threshold because with so many cable options ratings are generally going down.”

ABC has canceled two shows, but CBS, UPN and the WB have so far axed only one new show apiece.

Even NBC with its sinking ratings has been reluctant to kill off many shows, opting instead to let disappointments such as “Apprentice: Martha Stewart” finish out their runs. “Three Wishes” and “Inconceivable” have been canceled.

Fox alone has been aggressive in canceling new series “Head Cases,” “Reunion” and “Killer Instinct,” while scaling back the orders for others like “Kitchen Confidential.”

Why is Fox different? Credit "American Idol." It can afford to dump underperformers going into midseason in the sure knowledge that its one massive hit is almost certain to boost ratings once it returns in January.

“The networks seem to be a bit more patient with their new series,” says Breslow. “It’s hard to write a new series, and it’s very costly to get a new series on the air. I think they are thinking, ‘Maybe we can stick it out and viewers will find the show,’ rather than pop it on, cancel it and put on repeats of something else.”

This season’s relatively few cancellations are perhaps a sign that most networks feel good about ratings. Why overhaul a lineup of shows when it’s working?

ABC and CBS are tied in the 18-49 demographic with a 4.1 rating for the season through the first 10 weeks.

ABC so far has canceled “Night Stalker” and Friday sitcom “Hot Properties,” while putting “Alias” and “Supernanny” on hiatus. The network’s surprise reality hit from the summer, “Dancing with the Stars,” returns in January.

CBS has only canceled sci-fi drama “Threshold,” while putting Monday sitcom “Out of Practice” on hiatus while it tests out a comedy with Jenna Elfman.

“You can move from first to third with one false move, so there is probably some concern about overplaying your hand,” says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director at Horizon Media. “There aren’t great blockbuster hits like Desperate Housewives" or "CSI: Miami," but there are pretty solid ratings performers.”

Fox is far behind with a 3.3, but it will soon rebound with “Idol.”

NBC is faltering with a 3.2 rating. The network’s performance will slightly improve with the Winter Olympics in February. Rather than kill off dead weight, the network is choosing to shore up weak spots, notably Thursdays, where a four-comedy block will be revived next month.

Meanwhile, the WB is hurting but it remains competitive with UPN in most demographics. The WB earlier this season dropped older-skewing drama “Just Legal” and has sidelined “Living with Fran” and “Blue Collar TV.”

UPN has canceled comedy “Sex, Love & Secrets.”

Both the WB and UPN have a 1.6 adult 18-49 rating. In the 18-34 demographic that both networks target, UPN has a 1.7 and the WB has a 1.6 rating.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_1661.asp

fredfa

12-06-05, 11:22 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Early line on the new “Nightline”: Hopeful

There are flaws, but give change a chance
By Jonathan Storm Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Dec. 6, 2005

What's the new Nightline trying to do with all those jiggling graphics and the lights of Times Square glaring in the background - send viewers to bed with a headache?

With three anchors and a trio of stories to cover each evening, Nightline forges into the 1990s in TV news coverage. Triple the effort provides more to like and dislike, and you can miss Joe DiMaggio all you want, but he's not coming back.

There was no such thing as a cable news channel when Ted Koppel started with Nightline, unofficially on Nov. 8, 1979, with nightly coverage of the Iran hostage crisis, or officially four months later, when the people at ABC realized what a good idea they had stumbled onto.

As CNN unleashed its 24-hour jump-around news later in 1980 and Fox News came along in 1996 to up the ante with an extra dose of the trivial, Nightline soldiered on consistently with in-depth reporting, almost always one topic, one show.

There's danger and opportunity in change, and the new Nightline anchor troika, which officially replaced Ted Koppel Nov. 28, already has flourished and failed after a week on the air.

Friday's special project, a half-hour "town meeting" format from Baghdad that harkened to the Nightline past, may have been the best TV news show last week. Other episodes were inconsistent. You get three strikes, you're going to swing and miss.

Perhaps the show's strongest aspect will be the constant motion of its anchors, traveling hither and yon to report what's going on. But the new Nightline does have organic problems, from a coanchor who has a lot to prove to Americans to those swiveling graphics.

The word Nightline frequently appeared simultaneously in three different places in three different fonts.

Then, there's anchor Cynthia McFadden's post in a window overlooking Times Square, a crazy quilt of blinking colors with plenty of advertising. Are Kodak, Coke and Mr. Peanut paying ABC product-placement fees?

All that visual clutter is supposed to hypnotize the young folks, but, dude, they're not watching in the first place.

ABC veterans McFadden and Terry Moran generally seemed solid last week. She did an interview about Iraq war strategy with Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "How will you judge victory?" she asked.

Moran, who looked to be first among the three supposed equals, got the plum Baghdad assignment. An old-news story on Iraqi manipulator Ahmad Chalabi was hardly his grandest accomplishment: "He just might be the man best positioned to help the U.S. achieve its goal," said Moran. "Or maybe not."

But Moran's moderation of the Iraqi town meeting was probing, and he showed panache in the report on paid-for Pentagon propaganda being placed in the Iraqi press.

ABC's deep network resources worked to great advantage on that one, as Nightline correspondent Chris Bury obtained comprehensive coverage back in Washington and the network got tape of an American general in Iraq lying as he said, "We don't lie."

It was a fine example of what can be done in the six- to eight-minute chunks that Nightline will be featuring.

Anchor No. 3, former BBC and ITV newsman Martin Bashir, did not start strongly. He's supposed to be one of the world's greatest interviewers, but his chat with steroid scandal star Victor Conte, going off to prison for four whole months, revealed nothing.

Though ABC touts Bashir's investigative abilities, the presence, as a full-fledged anchor, of a man who is famously known for revealing chats with Princess Diana and Michael Jackson signals a softness in the Nightline report. He may be miles from Geraldo, but he's a little bit too much of a news personality. I'm not crazy about his Columbo raincoat, and don't take this the wrong way, but, unless it's BBC World Service or Christiane Amanpour, I don't like foreign people giving me my news.

Another problem: Nightline presented months-old tape from Bashir on face transplants and from McFadden on AIDS in India. Old is bad in news.

But Friday's Iraqi town meeting made memories of failure fade away. The news is saturated with Americans bickering about the war. Here was a chance to see what the folks who are really suffering feel. The conclusion was newsworthy: It's hope.

Judging from its first week, there's hope for Nightline, too. Though their approach breaks no ground, the newbies seem committed to trying to perform a balancing act between attracting an audience and providing viewers with at least some important, and factual, information that they won't find elsewhere.

In a media environment where triviality reigns and profit has risen from prince to king to emperor of the universe, that's worthy of encouragement.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13336697.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

12-06-05, 11:31 AM

TV Ratings
Sorry Eagles end hot streak for “MNF”

Seahawks blowout game down 14 percent
By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 6, 2005

During the preseason, it looked as though last night’s Philadelphia Eagles-Seattle Seahawks game could be a preview of the NFC Championship game in January.

Instead, with Philly decimated by injuries and distractions, Eagles-Seahawks was a one-sided blowout, ending ABC’s recent hot streak for “Monday Night Football.”

The game, won 42-0 by the surging Seahawks, averaged a 5.5 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 from 9 p.m.-11 p.m., down 14 percent from the 6.4 overnight “MNF” had averaged in that period so far this season.

As a reminder, fast national ratings are based on timeslot data and not actual program data. They will be adjusted when final ratings come out later today.

The game was down 24 percent from the 7.2 average “MNF” had averaged over its last four weeks, which included two season-highs thanks to games featuring the undefeated Indianapolis Colts.

Last night’s game was a showcase of two teams headed in opposite directions. The Eagles, hampered this season by the Terrell Owens saga and the injury of star quarterback Donovan McNabb, looked nothing like the team that reached last year’s Super Bowl and the last four NFC Championship games.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks, coming off a disappointing playoff loss last season, could be this year’s team to beat in the NFC.

Seattle led 35-0 at halftime, and viewers had seen enough. The game posted a 4.8 overnight rating from 10:30-11 p.m., falling behind a 4.9 for the second half of a “CSI: Miami” rerun on CBS.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1669.asp

JeffU

12-06-05, 11:37 AM

Fredfa,

I believe you have omitted the New Orleans Bowl on 12/20 from your College Bowl Games in HD listing.

fredfa

12-06-05, 11:48 AM

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

fredfa

12-06-05, 12:15 PM

The 2005-2006 Season
Embracing a crime wave

Of top 25 shows, 11 are whodunnits that viewers adore

By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic December 7, 2005

Before the television season began, critics and industry analysts bemoaned a crime-saturated schedule. Ten weeks later, viewers are sending a far different message: We like it.

"NCIS," a Tuesday drama with Mark Harmon, is pulling in 18 percent more viewers this season than last. "Criminal Minds," an intense Wednesday drama about FBI profilers, has emerged as a surprise hit. The Nov. 10 episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" drew more than 29.5 million viewers, the most for any telecast this season.

Eleven of the nation's Top 25 series traffic in mystery, forensics or law. The trend's chief beneficiary is CBS, the most-watched network, which airs "NCIS," "Criminal Minds" and "CSI." Each week, CBS devotes half of its 22 prime-time hours to such series - and draws a few brickbats for that reliance.

The style's the thing

"It's unfair to lump everything into one pile," says Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment. "The big bone I have to pick: There are crime elements in a lot of shows, but each show has a distinctive style. That emanates from producers and writers."

Sometimes the series do share titles. "CSI" is affixed to three CBS series. NBC tried to expand the "Law & Order" brand to four series last season, then retreated to three this fall. That was one indication that TV's crime wave could have peaked. Is there too much? "From a ratings point, perhaps not," says John Rash, who analyzes television as a senior vice president at Campbell Mithun advertising agency in Minneapolis. "From an artistic perspective, absolutely. Viewers vexed by all of these police procedurals have fewer entry points into a network."

Nevertheless, these procedurals continue to flourish for several reasons. They play better in network repeats than serialized stories such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost." The crime programs sell well in syndication. The procedurals fit comfortably with late local newscasts, which are often heavy on crime.

Several producers have excelled in the genre. Dick Wolf bolsters NBC with "Law & Order" and its spin-offs. Jerry Bruckheimer supplies six crime series to CBS, including "CSI," "Without a Trace" and "Cold Case." The storytelling comforts viewers.

"They have the right tonality for the times: certitude in an uncertain world," Rash says.

A different audience

The changing television business also accommodates crime drama. "With the audience so fragmented, there will be plenty of audience to go around, and it doesn't take that much to make a hit anymore," says Horace Newcomb, director of the University of Georgia's Peabody Awards, one of the highest honors for electronic media. "I describe television as different when I started 30 years ago. It's no longer a site where people go to share experiences. It's like a newsstand or a bookstore. Dick Wolf and the 'CSI' people have tapped into it. It's like having a new book come out every week."

Viewers keep putting these televised novels on the Nielsens, TV's bestseller list. CBS crime dominates the national rankings:
No. 1 "CSI,"
No. 3 "Without a Trace,"
No. 6 "CSI: Miami,"
No. 8 "NCIS,"
No. 11 "Cold Case" and
No. 13 "CSI: NY."

NBC, which is struggling this season, places its most-watched series at
No. 14: "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

A few CBS series are showing weakness against stronger competition: "CSI: Miami" is off 13 percent and "CSI: NY" is down 7 percent in viewers from a year ago. But both still place first in their time periods.

And CBS' overall audience has grown slightly, reflecting the network's strength in comedy, reality and newsmagazines. Despite the naysayers, CBS continues to find success in crime.

"Close to Home," about a prosecutor (Jennifer Finnigan) balancing motherhood and work, struggled on Tuesdays after its October premiere. Yet ratings for this Bruckheimer-produced drama improved when CBS shifted it to Fridays for a two-week tryout. Two weeks ago, the network announced it had picked up "Close to Home" for the full season and will keep it on Fridays.

Tassler plays down concerns of a crime overload, saying her programs reach different viewers. "It would be nice if our audience watched every show," she says. "They pick and choose their favorites."

For midseason, ABC is shooting for its own hit procedural. The Disney-owned network will offer "The Evidence" about two San Francisco detectives and "In Justice" about a nonprofit group that helps free those wrongly convicted.

Upcoming genre shows

Also for midseason, NBC has ordered Wolf's "Conviction" about young assistant district attorneys in New York. NBC will try "24"-style storytelling with "Heist," about jewel thieves, and "Kidnapped," about a family's reaction to its 15-year-old son's abduction.

CBS has no new crime series planned for midseason, but the network remains committed to the genre. Tassler says viewers will let CBS know when they've had enough crime.

"The audience is saying they're continuing to respond to the programming we're putting on," Tassler says. "They're telling us they enjoy this form of storytelling."

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel4540872dec07,0,3331110,print.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

fredfa

12-06-05, 12:30 PM

I think this show moved from funny and original and over-the-top in its first season to just tired and "over" last year.
We'll see what season three brings. (The ratings last season spiraled downward.)
But it seems to me the entire show might have been a brilliant "one-joke" idea which feels less than satisfying with constant repetition along with the incredible media over-exposure of the stars.

The 2005-2006 Season
`Queer Eye' turns focus to marriage

By Sid Smith Chicago Tribune arts critic December 6, 2005

Launching a new season with a slight tweak to its formula, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" (10 PM ET/PT, Tuesday, Bravo) turns its attentions to marriage.

The makeover program, in which scruffy, straight shlubs are refashioned by a five-man team of gay lifestyle experts, will now focus on the finer points of marriage proposals and the planning of the perfect wedding. This time around, future grooms, not bachelors, are in the gay eye.

Actually, one of the more touching and successful early episodes of this show involved helping a guy craft the perfect proposal. So, the idea makes perfect sense, and, judging from Tuesday's episode, the new gimmick will be both entertaining and often more moving than typical "Queer Eye" endeavors.

For starters, Joe, Tuesday's target, isn't remotely the kind of slob so bread and butter to the series. He's sweet, well-mannered, sympathetic and sensitive, residing in a spacious, modern town home that may not be a designer showplace, but isn't cluttered with piles of dirty clothes and debris like so many earlier "Queer Eye" targets.

Joe just has a hard time with commitment, not to mention popping the question. His estranged girlfriend, her family and her friends have all been waiting for 10 years now. Earlier, in lieu of a ring, he chickened out and, adding insult to injury, used those funds to buy himself a motorcycle.

So much of the advice here comes in the form of boosting Joe's innate sensitivity just a nudge so he emerges as the ideal groom to be. He agrees first to woo her skeptical parents, reverting to the old tradition of asking them for her hand. He and the fab five, as the gay experts are dubbed, collude to bring in a small army of his own relatives, drafted to make lavish bouquets and gather for an elaborately staged public proposal in the lobby of the office building where, Laura, his beloved, works.

As always, there are still plenty of plugs for products and shops, and caustic gay humor is sprinkled throughout, especially by the show's flamboyant resident humorist Carson Kressley. But just about everybody tears up by the end. Later episodes are set to feature Joe and Laura's wedding and another couple grappling with their families' differing religions.

The bitchy barbs still fly, but "Queer Eye" this season promises to be more cuddly and tearful, more fairy godmother than Cruella de Vil in rescuing the stylistically challenged.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/chi-0512050204dec06,1,933512.story?coll=chi-ent_tv-photo

fredfa

12-06-05, 12:39 PM

Its time again for my periodic reminder of something I think you will really find interesting:

Check It Out!

If you haven’t yet heard AVS Radio, which offers two new shows a week, what are you waiting for? For those of us who are fanatics about PQ, this Thursday's program is especially compelling.

It features Joe Kane, the guy who came up with the “Video Essentials” laserdisc – and later the "VE" DVD. He is one of the fathers of great PQ and certainly worth your time – but only if you’d like to get better pictures from your expensive HD rig.

Joe’s show will air late Thursday aftyernoon, so be sure to check it out!

AVS Radio is produced by The HTGuys for AVS Forum and offers news, interviews, and HT topics that are sure to make you a weekly listener.
Here is all the info you need:

[url[http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/announcement.php?f=34&announcementid=84[/url]

Happy listening!

fredfa

12-06-05, 12:49 PM

If your eyes glazed over with all the recent network prime time programming changes, here is all the information you need in one convenient wrap up story.
N O T E: Time are Mountain (and Central). Eastern and Pacific viewers simply add an hour (thus 7 p.m. in Scott's story becomes 8 PM ET/PT).

The 2005-2006 Mid-Season
Fox, NBC, ABC all make midseason adjustments
Are network schedule changes brave or simply desperate?

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News

Fox chickened out. And NBC is really brave.

Or maybe Fox is really smart and NBC is desperate. It all depends on how you interpret what the two networks are planning with their schedules come January.

As for their competitors at ABC, it looks an awful lot like they're waaaay overestimating how big an appetite there is for "Dancing with the Stars."

After much speculation that Fox might try to take on CBS's Thursday dominance by putting one of two weekly editions of "American Idol" there, the network took a more conservative route — beginning Jan. 17, the competition show will return to Tuesdays at 7 p.m.; on Jan. 18, the results show returns to Wednesdays at 8 p.m.

NBC, which is still struggling mightily in the ratings, is making some big changes and launching perhaps the single riskiest show of the season — "The Book of Daniel," an hourlong drama about an Episcopalian minister named Daniel who — in addition to dealing with his flock and a variety of family issues — often talks to a manifestation of Jesus Christ. The series will air a two-hour debut on Friday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. and then air Fridays at 9 p.m. through Feb. 3. (The Winter Olympics begin on the network the following week.)

Oh, did I mention that "Book" was the single best pilot of any fall or midseason show on any network I've seen this year?

All three networks are making big changes after the first of the year. For Fox, it's becoming an annual event; for NBC, it's a matter of necessity; and for ABC, it's trying desperately to at least make some sort of impact on Thursday nights. Here's what to expect:

FOX will bring back "24" with two hours on Sunday, Jan. 15, and another two hours on Monday, Jan. 16. It begins airing Mondays at 8 p.m. on Jan. 22.

• Really Good News Alert! "Prison Break" will be back sooner than originally announced — which was supposed to be May. The most recent episode repeats Monday, March 13, at 7 p.m.; new episodes begin a week later. Fox Entertainment president Peter Ligouri apparently became the last person in America to realize "it's a fantastic companion for '24'," but whatever the reason, whoo-hoo!

• Really Bad News Alert! The season (and, perhaps, series) finale of "Reunion" will air Thursday, Feb. 2 — and that will cut short by several weeks the plan to have each episode cover a year in this 20-year murder mystery.

• Trading Spouses" returns on Fridays at 8 p.m. on Jan. 6.

• Fox's Rip-off On Ice of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" — "Skating with Celebrities" (really!) — debuts Monday, Jan. 23, and moves to Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Jan. 25.
Of course, Fox ought to be charged with false advertising for the title of this show — calling Dave Coulier, Bruce Jenner, Todd Bridges, Kristy Swanson, Deborah Gibson and Jillian Barberi "celebrities" is, at the very least, stretching the truth.

• "Bones" moves to Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Jan. 25.

• "That '70s Show" and "Stacked" move to Thursday at 8 and 8:30 p.m. on March. 2.

• Shows without a place on Fox's midseason schedule (and, apparently, without a future) include "Arrested Development," "Killer Instinct" and "Kitchen Confidential."

NBC is making a bunch of changes in January and a bunch more after the Olympics end in February. But they're not going to give us all that info until next month's TV critic's press tour. Hmmmmm . . .

Anyway, the announced changes include:

• "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" move to Thursdays at 8 and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5.

• Also on Thursday, Jan. 5, "Will & Grace" (which is in its final season) moves up a half hour to 7 p.m. And the promising new sitcom "Four Kings" debuts at 7:30 p.m.

• "The Apprentice" and "Joey" will return after the Olympics (scheduling TBA), which isn't necessarily a good sign. At least not for "Joey."

• Back-to-back, original episodes of "Scrubs" will air Tuesdays at 8 and 8:30 p.m. beginning Jan. 3. (Which looks at least a little like they're just burning it off.)

• The clip show "Most Outrageous TV Moments," which has been seen as a series of specials, becomes a weekly series on Friday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m.

• "The Biggest Loser" will return as a series of self-contained specials that will air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. for six weeks beginning Jan. 4.

• "Dateline's" Friday edition moves back an hour to 8 p.m. on Jan 15, leaving "Three Wishes" in limbo until (you guess it!) after the Olympics.

ABC is putting an awful lot of faith in a show that probably doesn't deserve it — are we really ready for two hours a week of "Dancing with the Stars"? This is, after all, a cheesy reality show that was a nice diversion during the summer months, but it wasn't that good, and it's ratings weren't that great.

So airing 90-minute editions on Thursdays at 7 p.m. beginning Jan. 5 — with the last half hour going up against ratings juggernaut "CSI" — seems a bit quixotic.

(Oh well, at least it's cheaper than "Alias" and "Nightstalker," which bombed there.)

There's no word yet on what, um, "stars" will actually sign up for the series this time around, but it's hard to imagine a lineup less glittering than the one on "Skating with Celebrities."

ABC is also adding a half-hour "Dancing" results show on Fridays at 7 p.m. on Jan. 6.

• "Crumbs," a promising new sitcom about a fractured family (with a cast that includes Fred Savage, Jane Curtin and William Devane) premieres Thursday, Jan. 5, at 8:30 p.m. The pilot episode is a hoot!

• Also on Jan. 6, "Hope & Faith" moves to Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

• Also on Jan. 6, ABC adds the legal drama "In Justice" on Fridays at 8 p.m. It's about a "group of young lawyers and investigators (who) catch the bad guys and free the good," according to the network.
Their leader is played by Kyle MacLachlan, who, at the age of 46, wouldn't seem to qualify as "young." But there's always makeup.

• "Alias" is off the air for January and February — a planned hiatus to accommodate Jennifer Garner's pregnancy — but will return sometime in the spring. The network has, however, announced that this will be the final season for the show.

• Left in limbo at the moment is "Hot Properties," but its future looks dim. Which is a good thing.

• As previously announced, after "Monday Night Football" ends the network's Monday-night lineup will feature "Wife Swap" at 7 p.m.; the new comedy "Emily's Reasons Why Not" at 8 p.m.; the returning comedy "Jake In Progress" at 8:30 p.m.; and another season of the remarkably tiresome "Bachelor" at 9 p.m.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635166485,00.html

fredfa

12-06-05, 01:00 PM

CBS won the total viewer crown, while ABC claimed the demographics wins. Check out all of last week’s network prime-time ratings which are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the second post in this thread).

(The individual program ratings will be posted a bit later in the day.)

fredfa

12-06-05, 01:14 PM

CBS To Stream 'March Madness' Free.

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

CBS will stream the majority of NCAA Division I basketball playoff games (otherwise known as "March Madness") through a new deal with the NCAA and cable channel College Sports Television, (CSTV) which CBS plans to acquire for $325 million effective January 2006.

CBS, which has the broadcast rights to the games, will Webcast for free out-of-market contests via ncaapsorts.com, which is overseen by CBS SportsLine.com. While the CBS affiliate in each market will get the exclusive coverage of the game of greatest regional interest (a Duke game in Durham, for example), while simultaneous games between other teams will be available in the market.

"For the first time ever, fans everywhere will have an opportunity to see their teams play live, at no charge, on NCAAsports.com via our new broadband channel, no matter where or when that game is being played," said Larry Kramer, President of CBS Digital Media, in a statement.

NCAA March Madness on Demand will include the sweet 16 games (the regional semifinals), but not the final seven games--elite eight, final four and championship games.

Also available will be highlights, interviews, press conferences and more.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6289356.html?display=Breaking+News

bgall

12-06-05, 01:19 PM

How will they keep people from seeing the game online that's on TV? The honor system? :D I guess it does make sense that they'll watch the TV version cause it will have better quality

jim tressler

12-06-05, 02:03 PM

hey fred - anyword on when the apprectice and amazing race finalalies are?? I am assuming it must be soon??!! any word on amazing race for winter / spring?

thanks

jim

fredfa

12-06-05, 02:17 PM

Fred’s Ratings Recap
Nielsen Weekly Ratings Week Ending Dec. 4th

Sparked by the undefeated Indianapolis Colts thrashing over the Pittsburgh Steelers, ABC won last week’s demographic prime-time ratings race, although CBS, as usual, had the most total viewers.

ABC’s #1 Desperate Housewives (25.32 million viewers) led the week, and the network also had #3 Monday Night Football (22.64 million), #4 Lost (21.54 million, #5 “Grey’s Anatomy (20.59), #9 NFL Monday Showcase (18.11), #13 Extreme Makeover (16.46), #21 Commander In Chief (13.66) and the one-time perennial top-10 attraction, now ranking just #24, Barbara Walters 10 Most Fascinating People (12.98.)

For CBS, it’s top-25 programs were led by #2 CSI (23.24 million viewers. Then came #6 Survivor: Guatemala (19.82), #7 CSI: Miami (19.77), the incredibly overlooked #8 NCIS (18.17), #11 60 Minutes with its Howard Stern interview (17.53), #12 Two and a Half Men (16.53), #15 CSI:NY (15.85), #16 Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (15.80), #17 Criminal Minds, the season’s sleeper new hit at (15.56), #19 Without A Trace (15.30), #22 Cold Case (13.32), #23 Out of Practice (12.99) and #25 King Of Queens (12.92.

NBC had just three Top 25 reasons to smile and they were the usual old faithfuls: #10 Law and Order: SVU (17.54 million viewers), #14 Biggest Loser 2 finale (15.95) and #18 ER, the old Thursday warhorse ER (15.44).

Fox had a single program in the top 25: #20 House (14.91 million viewers). In fact Fox had only four programs in the week’s top 56 (#30 Prison Break, #39 The Simpsons and #51 Bones being the others).

In the “What Were They Thinking” category, the WB’s canceled 7th Heaven was its top-rated show at #75 with 5.93 million viewers. (On the flip side, same category, CBS’s Knots Landing Reunion was the network’s lowest rated program at #62 and 6.89 million viewers.)

For UPN, America’s Next Top Model 5 was the most watched show, ranking #80 with 5.23 million viewers.

For the week in total viewers:
CBS 12.9 million viewers
ABC 12.4 million
NBC 10.3 million
Fox 7.0 million
UPN 3.6 million
WB 3.1 million

In the 18-49 Demographic:
ABC 5.8 million
CBS 5.3 million
NBC 4.6 million
Fox 3.8 million
UPN 1.9 million
WB 1.5 million

In the 25-54 Demographic:
ABC 6.3 million
CBS 6.2 million
NBC 5.1 million
Fox 3.7 million
UPN 1.7 million
WB 1.1/3, 1.4 million

Source: Nielsen Media Services

fredfa

12-06-05, 02:36 PM

hey fred - anyword on when the apprectice and amazing race finalalies are?? I am assuming it must be soon??!! any word on amazing race for winter / spring?

thanks

jim

Jim:

“The Apprentice” ends with a two-hour live (East Coast) finale from NYC’s Lincoln Center 9=11 PM Dec. 15th

Amazing Race finishes next week, Dec. 13th

fredfa

12-06-05, 02:53 PM

TV Tonight:
“Fear Factor'” back, and bigger than ever

By Ann Oldenburg USA TODAY

Bigger. Badder. Better.

That's how NBC is hyping the sixth season of Fear Factor which starts Tuesday at 8 ET/PT.

But one surprise: It's not grosser. The show made a name for itself in reality TV by challenging contestants to eat pieces of pig rectum, maggoty cheese and rats in a blender. Is it really toning down the grossness?

"I don't want to say toning down," says Matt Kunitz, executive producer. "What I want to say is you won't just see someone eating an animal part. You'll see even more outrageous, gigantic stunts."

Kunitz promises that there are still some stomach-churning stunts, but they're not the primary focus. "There are only so many animal parts you can eat and bugs you can eat that won't kill you," Kunitz says. "One thing about our show: It's no Price Is Right. You will not see Plinko again and again."

After 125 episodes, the show took a break and left the air in May. After a peak of more than 18 million viewers in early 2004, Factor averaged 10.2 million viewers last season. That's still a success, and it regularly won its time period among young adults.

So now, after its break, Factor has been retooled. Producers have brought in a new stunt team headed by Pat Romano, a veteran film stuntman and coordinator.

"They've come up with some bold, creative stuff," host Joe Rogan says. Also new for this season: a segment called Home Invasion, in which Rogan roams the country challenging fans to do stunts to win a $5,000 debit card.

Factor also is changing from single contestants to teams this season to provide more emotional drama. And the shows will be themed:

Tuesday's premiere is dubbed Heist Fear Factor. Contestants compete to reach a submerged armored car filled with $1 million.

Reality Stars Fear Factor will play out over multiple episodes with teams from The Apprentice (Craig Williams and Tana Goertz), The Amazing Race (Jonathan Baker and Victoria Fuller), Survivor (Twila Tanner and John "Johnny Fairplay" Dalton), American Idol (Carmen Rasmusen and Anthony Fedorov) and Real World (Trishelle Cannatella and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin).

Family Fear Factor was shot at Universal Studios Orlando, featuring Shaquille O'Neal co-hosting a stunt in which parents drop from a helicopter into the water and their kids fly down a zip line.

Psycho Fear Factor pits two-person teams against each other in the house from the classic film Psycho and the Bates Motel on the Universal Studios Hollywood back lot.

Military Fear Factor features male and female teams, all of whom have served in Iraq. Contestants compete in military-themed stunts on an aircraft carrier.

Kunitz says the crew has been shooting for about seven months and is just about done for the season. Now, he says, "we're starting to think about how we're going to one-up ourselves for next season."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-05-fear-factor_x.htm

fredfa

12-06-05, 03:14 PM

Fredfa,

I believe you have omitted the New Orleans Bowl on 12/20 from your College Bowl Games in HD listing.

Thanks for your eagle eye, Jeff...it must have gotten accidentally deleted during an edit.

All is well now.

fredfa

12-06-05, 03:37 PM

Katie's topic for 'Today': Credibility

By Richard Huff New York Daily News TV Editor Tuesday, December 6th, 2005

If the reports are to be believed, CBS News bosses are seriously making a run at Katie Couric to become the new anchor of the "CBS Evening News."

But, before they sign the undoubtedly massive contract with Couric, CBS News executives might want to think about this: There are folks who think she has a credibility problem.

Well, actually, Couric and her "Today" cohort Matt Lauer. However, let's just focus on Couric for a moment, since she's the one being spun for the CBS gig.

I wasn't aware of the Couric-Lauer animosity until I recently wrote that NBC left them twisting in the wind by not informing them of the balloon crash during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which they were hosting on NBC. The move, I believe, risked their credibility as journalists.

"What I thought was interesting was that they were considered newscaster anchors," wrote Jimmy Hiler, one of the readers who responded. "I had never thought of them that way. Their program seems more entertainment than news, and the news points during the program are usually covered by someone else."

That was one of the few nicer notes.

"These two have absolutely no credibility to lose," wrote Allan Jones.

"With regard to losing credibility with viewers, that would require Katie and Matt actually having credibility. Unfortunately, that was lost loooooong ago," wrote Allen Shaver.

"The idea that Couric and Lauer are newscasters, rather than in the entertainment business, is an insult to real newscasters," added Claudia Brown.

I could go on and on with the letters, which were surprising in nature, considering the No. 1 ranking of the "Today" show. A show doesn't do that well for so long without millions actually finding the hosts endearing.

Still, whether it was a coordinated letter-writing attack by an anti-Couric/Lauer faction, or just people reacting to my column, the reactions revealed that there were some negative feelings toward the "Today" duo.

Before Couric became the morning-show host, she earned her stripes reporting for NBC News. She rose to national fame during the first Gulf War, when she was stationed at the Pentagon.

Since then, she's interviewed world leaders, celebrities and occasionally wore feather boas to interview a relationship expert. Recently, she sang with Bette Midler.

This is not to say Couric couldn't make the transition to evening news anchor. She could - it's been done before. As everyone knows, Tom Brokaw made the jump from "Today" to "Nightly News" years ago.

There is a difference, though, and this may be fueling the anti-Couric wave: I can't recall Brokaw ever wearing a Halloween costume on air.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/v-pfriendly/story/371951p-316423c.html

fredfa

12-06-05, 03:39 PM

Beauty and the Geek Returns to WB
By John Consoli MediaWeek.com DECEMBER 06, 2005 -

The WB will bring back its summer reality hit show, Beauty and the Geek, on Thursday, Jan. 12, at 9 p.m. The show will air for 8 episodes in that time period, in which veteran WB drama Everwood is currently airing. That show will go on hiatus.

Beauty and the Geek is produced by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, who also produce MTV's Punk'd. The second installment of the show will follow the first one's format with contestants being 8 beautiful, by academically-challenged women, paired up with 8 smart but socially-challenged men, competing for a $250,000 prize.

During the summer, the show aired in the 8 p.m. Wednesday time period and ranked first among adults 18-34 (2.2/8), persons 12-34 (2.0/8), females 12-34 (2.5/9), teens (1.7/8), and female teens (2.5/11).

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001615040

dturturro

12-06-05, 04:14 PM

fredfa

12-06-05, 04:32 PM

I didn't mention CNN or MSNBC, either! :)

dturturro

12-06-05, 04:37 PM

Left, right, they're all CORPORATE sponsors :-)

fredfa

12-06-05, 04:49 PM

Television executives rethink ratings system

By Jube Shiver Jr. Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 6, 2005

WASHINGTON — In a bid to head off a government crackdown on television indecency, top TV and cable industry executives met Monday to discuss ways to improve TV's decade-old ratings system.

The meeting came amid growing concern by lawmakers about shows containing sex, violence and profanity. It also followed the Open Forum on Decency last week in Washington in which Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) threatened to pass legislation to crack down on TV indecency unless the industry policed itself better.

Monday's meeting was organized by former Motion Picture Assn. of America President Jack Valenti. One participant, who declined to be identified because participants promised not to talk about the meeting publicly, called it a "spirited discussion" among media executives with "very different views."

At last week's decency hearing, Stevens expressed some interest in improving the current ratings system, which was developed in 1996. Under that system, producers label their shows with content descriptions that are recognized by an electronic V-chip embedded in most TVs manufactured after 1999.

But some executives at the meeting expressed concern that tinkering with the ratings system might produce further confusion among parents about how to use the content-blocking technology.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin hasn't focused on ratings as a solution either. Instead, he has urged cable companies to offer packages of family-friendly programming or allow consumers to purchase only the channels they want. His view was echoed by many consumer advocates and TV watchdog groups.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/ratings/cl-fi-decency6dec06,0,5735173,print.story?coll=cl-tvratings

PJO1966

12-06-05, 05:13 PM

Jim:

“The Apprentice” ends with a two-hour live (East Coast) finale from NYC’s Lincoln Center 9=11 PM Dec. 15th

Amazing Race finishes next week, Dec. 13th

So for Amazing Race, we have one episode tonight, and then the two-hour finale next week.

fredfa, what about the next season... any word on when it starts? I thought I had read that it was coming in the spring, but I'm not sure.

fredfa

12-06-05, 06:09 PM

I posted the Amazing Race next season info some time ago -- I'll have to go find it -- it might take a while though. :)

fredfa

12-06-05, 06:22 PM

After looking through my files, all I can find from CBS is that Amazing Race 9 will be shown "in the Spring".

I would assume CBS would time it to begin after the Winter Olympics end on NBC (final ceremonies are on Sunday February 26) and to end during the May sweep.

PJO1966

12-06-05, 08:01 PM

Thanks for doing the research. This thread is a monster. Are you going to start a new thread in 2006 or will you just continue this one?

fredfa

12-06-05, 08:17 PM

CPanther95

12-06-05, 08:25 PM

Unless it became a burden on the system, there's really no point in starting a new one - it will only grow quickly anyway - plus it's nice to have the historical reference without digging in the archives. JMO.

We do the same thing you said in the local forum. As long as the first post(s) are kept up to date, members are one click away from the start and finish for quick access to info - how deep they want to go beyond that is up to them.

fredfa

12-06-05, 08:30 PM

This is the cover story in this week’s MultiChannel News, a trade publication for, basically, the cable industry.
If, as it reports, the chairman of the FCC is looking for ways to implement a la carte, the game has changed dramatically in just a few months.
Until last week, no one thought there was any chance of getting a la carte rules, regulations, or laws enacted.
But now, with FCC Chairman Martin’s staff pouring through obscure FCC regs and federal law, and legislators on both sides of the sides supporting a la carte (though for very different reasons) there is cause for the cable companies – and the conglomerates who make lots of $$$$ from forced bundling – to be very, very worried.

The fight over a la carte
Martin Digs for Legal Leverage

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com

Washington— Kevin Martin not only thinks that cable systems should sell programming by the channel, in a menu of a la carte choices — he’s also looking for legal grounds that could force the issue on cable.

The Federal Communications Commission staff is now looking into whether existing law provides any opening that could compel cable systems to adopt some form of a la carte pricing, according to an aide to chairman Martin.

Martin’s staff — in a preliminary way, the aide stressed — is focused on a provision of the 1984 Cable Act that gives the agency discretion to “promulgate any additional rules that may be necessary to promote diversity of information sources.”

The FCC’s authority to adopt rules is tied to the penetration of high-capacity cable systems — specifically, when operators with 36 or more channels pass 70% of U.S. households, and 70% of households passed by those systems are subscribers.

“If you hit 70/70, other options become available,” the Martin aide suggested.

The FCC’s look at the 21-year-old provision was an effort partly designed to debunk the widely reported view that the agency has no legal authority to impose a la carte on cable, the Martin aide said.

News that Martin’s staff is scouring telecommunications statutes for possible new leverage over cable came in the same week that Martin announced at a Senate hearing on indecent television programming that a year-old FCC report on a la carte pricing was flawed — a statement that caught D.C. cable lobbyists by surprise.

Martin ordered his staff to revise the first study, approved by former chairman Michael Powell in November 2004, to show that unbundling tiers of cable programming could save consumers money without losing access to their favorite channels.

The first FCC report said a la carte was a loser for consumers and industry, claiming subscribers would pay the same monthly amount or more than they do now to receive far fewer channels.

The agency’s new study is expected to include findings that run counter to conclusions of a U.S. Government Accountability Office study in October 2004 that fell short of endorsing a la carte as an across-the-board panacea for cable subscribers.

GAO REPORT DEBATED

A Martin aide said the GAO’s report has been mischaracterized. “The GAO doesn’t say that a la carte would be bad for consumers — that’s what the FCC said, and everyone just picked that up,” the Martin aide said. “I don’t feel like we need to refute the GAO report because the GAO report does not say it’s likely that [prices] could go up for some. It says it may not even change the economics.”

Martin’s office is expected to release the new 60-page study, largely the work of new chief economist Leslie Marx, this week.

The issue of a la carte pricing is tied to the question of sex, profanity and other offensive programming on cable. Family and religious groups that backed Martin for FCC chairman claim that cable’s bundling of indecent channels with family and educational programming is wrong.

A la carte pricing would allow customers to better regulate what they or their families see on pay TV, the groups and chairman Martin contend. But mandating such pricing could upset the economics of cable and satellite programming, which until now have built their businesses on selling programming in packages of dozens of channels.

Operators such as Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable argue such bundles provide consumers with the most choice at the lowest per-channel cost.

Last Thursday, Cablevision Systems Corp. chairman Charles Dolan applauded Martin’s view that a la carte “would be in the best interest of consumers.” Cablevision, though, does not sell the national networks owned by its Rainbow Media Holdings subsidiary — AMC, Independent Film Channel and WE: Women’s Entertainment — on an a la carte basis.

At one time, it sold the regional Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network a la carte because Cablevision insisted that unaffiliated YES was demanding an excessive license fee.

A Cablevision spokesman said the company would implement a la carte if the entire industry did.

PRYOR LIKES A LA CARTE

Martin already has the support of some in Congress for mandating a la carte pricing, especially if it helps block indecent networks at the door.

“More often than not, we’re forced to take MTV,” Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said at the same Senate Commerce Committee forum where Martin revealed his new a la carte report.

“We don’t want it in our household because there’s so many images on there, especially at certain times of the day, and so many messages on there that we just don’t want our children exposed to.”

But Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said last week that he hoped pay TV providers would act voluntarily, because he’s worried that a federal law regulating indecent cable content would get struck down in court on First Amendment grounds.

The cable industry might react by coming to a consensus on how to deliver a family tier of programming that includes no offensive programming.

A cable lobbyist in Washington, D.C., who spoke on condition of anonymity, predicted that before Christmas, Comcast and Time Warner would volunteer to establish a family tier to appease Martin.

Those two companies have agreed to acquire the assets of operator Adelphia Communications Corp. But that merger review is moving slowly at the FCC. Last Thursday, the agency’s self-imposed 180-day merger review period expired.

A Comcast official, who asked not to be identified, denied the company had a family tier initiative in the offing.

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association remains steadfastly opposed to indecency regulation based on economic and First Amendment concerns, even though the industry’s main lobbying group has been shopping a plan that would allow regulation of basic and expanded basic tiers of programming for indecent programming, subject to court approval.

A REVEALING DECEMBER

Before Christmas, the FCC is expected to reveal in its annual video competition report whether the 70/70 test has been met.

In prior years, the agency has concluded that the first, but not the second, prong of the test had been met. In last year’s competition report, the FCC concluded that “subscribers to systems with 36 or more channels as a percent of the homes passed by such systems is 58.8%.”

In the past, the NCTA has said that when both prongs of the 70% test have been met, FCC authority is restricted to regulating the rights of third parties to rent channels, also called leased access. The agency has not addressed its authority under section 621(g), said a Washington, D.C., cable attorney who asked not to be indentified.

A Martin aide cautioned that a review of the 70/70 test was just starting. “Every year, we look at the 70/70 provision, and every year the conclusion has been that we are not there yet,” the aide said.

“It is difficult to find direct legal authority” anywhere in federal law to impose a la carte on cable, said Blair Levin, a cable and telecommunications analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, though he conceded that the 70/70 test just might be expansive enough to get the job done.

“That is a rule that is so broad, but you could argue that it is appropriate authority,” said Levin, a former FCC chief of staff under chairman Reed Hundt.

Martin dropped his a la carte bombshell — first reported by The Wall Street Journal — at the front end of the Senate panel’s day-long indecency forum.

Because the FCC withheld the new report, it was impossible to vet what Martin said were flaws with the analysis in the agency’s 2004 study, which relied in part on an NCTA-funded study conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm.

MARTIN KEPT QUIET

Until last week, Martin had not said a negative thing in public about the first report.

“I had some concerns, but I wanted to have some help trying to look through the rest of it to make sure that I understood completely the methodology and I didn’t have time to do that before the report was released by the chairman,” Martin told reporters last Tuesday.

NCTA president Kyle McSlarrow said Martin beefed about the first study in private.

“He said it to me in the past that he did not agree with the staff report,” McSlarrow said.

Still, the Beltway’s cable lobbyists were surprised when they found out that Martin had commissioned a secret report.

“It was sneaky,” said a Washington-based lobbyist for a major cable operator. “He was a sitting commissioner. He had plenty of chances to do things. He chose not to.”

trbarry

12-06-05, 08:39 PM

I don't know -- I'll check with CPanther and Ken H -- I'd be happy to have them archive this one and get a clean start.
I think the easy way to maneuver around it is to go to the first page and check out ratings, etc., if you are interested in them.
Then just hit the last page and start scrolling until you either fall asleep or run into stories you have already read. :)

I always come into AVS by a bookmark to my user CP. That in turn shows all subscribed threads with new posts, which invariably contains this thread. But clicking on the "first unread post" icon for this thread on that screen works rather well. I can later go back to post #1 and check ratings easily when I choose to.

- Tom

fredfa

12-06-05, 08:41 PM

fredfa

12-06-05, 08:46 PM

Mel Gibson Plans TV Miniseries on Holocaust

By David M. Halbfinfer The New York Times December 6, 2005

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6 - Mel Gibson, whose "The Passion of the Christ" was assailed by critics as an anti-Semitic passion play - and whose father has been on record as a Holocaust denier - has a new project under way: a nonfiction miniseries about the Holocaust.

Mr. Gibson's television production company is developing a four-hour miniseries for ABC based on the self-published memoir of Flory A. Van Beek, a Dutch Jew whose gentile neighbors hid her from the Nazis but who lost several relatives in concentration camps.

It is not expected that Mr. Gibson will act in the miniseries, nor is it certain yet that his name, rather than his company's, will be publicly attached to the final product, according to several people involved in developing it. Nor is it guaranteed yet that the project will be completed and broadcast.

But Quinn Taylor, ABC's senior vice president in charge of movies for television, acknowledged that the attention-getting value of having Mr. Gibson attached to a Holocaust project was a factor.

"Controversy's publicity, and vice versa," Mr. Taylor said.

ABC brought in Mr. Gibson's company, Con Artists Productions, after an independent producer, Daniel Sladek, pitched the network on Ms. Van Beek's story. With her husband, Felix, Ms. Van Beek survived the sinking of a passenger ship by a German mine, followed by three years in hiding during the German occupation of Holland, before emigrating to the United States in 1948.

The network chose Mr. Gibson's company when it learned of Ms. Van Beek's tale shortly after ABC had rejected a separate pitch by Con Artists' president, Nancy Cotton, for another Holocaust-related subject, Mr. Taylor said.

"This has the middle, the love story, that the other one didn't have," he explained.

Mr. Sladek said ABC's calculation in engaging Mr. Gibson was to win the largest possible audience. "I think that what ABC wants out of this is to build the biggest billboard imaginable in order to get everyone logically interested to tune in and watch this," he said.

Ms. Van Beek's book, "Flory: Survival in the Valley of Death" (Seven Locks Press, 1998) is a wide-eyed account of her and her husband's abbreviated courtship; their attempt to sail to safety in Chile; the sinking of their ship, and their rescue and recuperation in England; their return to Holland in 1940; and their suffering in hiding as the deportations of Jews began. They were liberated by Canadian troops, but only 5,200 of Holland's 140,000 Jews survived the war, according to Mr. Sladek's research.

Mr. Gibson, who is currently filming "Apocalypto," an adventure set before the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America, could not be reached. His spokesman, Alan Nierob, did not return repeated phone calls today. Ms. Cotton did not return repeated telephone calls to her office over several weeks.

Mr. Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, has repeatedly denied that the Holocaust happened, saying before the release of "Passion of the Christ," for example, that accounts of the Holocaust were mostly "fiction" and asserting that there were more Jews in Europe after World War II than before. Mel Gibson has declined to disassociate himself clearly from his father's views, according to Rafael Medoff, director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies in Melrose Park, Pa., and the author of an annual study of Holocaust denial.

"For him to be associated with this movie is cause for concern," Mr. Medoff said. "He needs to come clean that he repudiates Holocaust denial, and that he understands the Holocaust was not just another atrocity that occurred in World War II along with other atrocities."

Reached at his home in West Virginia today, Hutton Gibson declined to discuss his views on the Holocaust. As to his son's project, he said, "I have no idea what he's doing, and frankly, it's none of my business."

Mr. Sladek, 40, whose own father survived the Holocaust as a child hiding in Slovakia and is a friend of the Van Beeks, said Mr. Gibson's involvement could help attract a larger Christian audience for the project. The Van Beeks were sheltered by three different families of Dutch Christians.

"It is a tremendous nod to the non-Jewish partisans, the citizens of Holland, who helped this couple along the way again and again and again, without any reason other than being human, doing the right thing," he said. "It's a great bow to the compassionate Christians, the non-Jewish community. And there's a definite link to that community, through Con Artists, because of 'Passion.' "

Mr. Taylor, who likened "Flory" to ABC's critically acclaimed 2001 miniseries, "Anne Frank," cautioned that Mr. Gibson's level of involvement would not be determined until the miniseries is completed - which at this stage of any project is still a long shot - and he has seen it. "If it happens to be produced by Mel's company, it doesn't mean he's going to be out there flogging it like he did 'Passion of the Christ,' " Mr. Taylor said.

The producers, who include Jaffe/Braunstein Films, recently signed a writer, Cynthia Saunders, the creator of the series "Profiler," but a script is not expected until spring.

Reached at her home in Newport Beach, Ms. Van Beek, who said she was in her early 80's, said she had not seen Mr. Gibson's last movie because it seemed "too traumatic."

"I don't know him, all I know is he's a staunch Catholic, and the people who saved our lives are Catholic," she said. "I respect everybody's beliefs."

"I know his father doesn't believe in the Holocaust - but maybe when there's money involved, maybe they don't care," she added. "His father will probably say this is not real, this is a novel."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/arts/television/06cnd-gibson.html?ei=5094&en=5c7469338f8f51e3&hp=&ex=1133931600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-06-05, 08:56 PM

“Triangle” starts strong for Sci Fi
From an NBC/Universal press release:

NEW YORK, NY--December 6, 2005--The premiere of Night One of SCI FI Channel's Original Miniseries 'The Triangle' averaged a 3.7HH rating and over 4.3 million viewers (P2+) in its 9-11pm block! Night One of 'The Triangle' is the highest-rated program to air on SCI FI since 2003 and is the Channel's highest-rated and most watched miniseries premiere night since the Emmy Award-winning 'Steven Spielberg Presents TAKEN' (12/2/2002, 4.9 HH/6.1 million P2+).

SCI FI's audience of over 4.3 million bests the #2 entertainment program of the day, Nickelodeon's 5pm telecast of Spongebob, by nearly half a million viewers. 'The Triangle' also delivered more total viewers than Fox's 'Arrested Development' (4.1 million P2+) and 'Kitchen Confidential' (3.1 million P2+), as well as all programs on the WB and UPN.

'The Triangle' was the #1 non-sports program on cable Monday--second only to WWE's 'Monday Night Raw' on USA--in HH ratings and P2+ audience delivery.

fredfa

12-06-05, 08:58 PM

Reading the above, can anyone still be surprised that "Arrested Development" has gotten the axe at Fox?

More viewers on Sci Fi than on Fox?

And for a three-part series (it continues tonight and tomorrow) that frankly didn't get all that much press attention.

Wow!

fredfa

12-06-05, 09:03 PM

Jack attack
What’s on that 10-Minute “24” Prequel?

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune December 06, 2005

A note from Spoilie McSpoilerson: Do NOT read this if you don’t want to know anything about Season 5 of “24,” which premieres Jan. 15.

In other words, spoiler alert!

Season 4 of Fox’s “24” came out on DVD Tuesday, and the 7-disc set contains lots of goodies that you’d expect (commentaries with actors, producers and writers, featurettes on the making of the show and so forth). But it also contains something of a novelty for a TV-on-DVD box set: A 10-minute prequel for Season 5.

Movie previews on DVDs are pretty common (children’s videos are especially infested with them), but this appears to be one of the first times a lengthy preview of an upcoming TV season was released on the DVD boxed set of the show’s previous season.

I’ve watched the prequel (I just couldn’t resist. I know, I’m weak) and here’s what I gleaned from it:

The first snippet from the new season is set in Chicago, and a Chicago Tribune newspaper-vending box can be seen early on. If only I’d known Jack Bauer was in town! I’d have bought the guy a hot meal and/or a haircut. Bauer, who faked his own death at the end of last season, looks pretty scraggly and shaggy and beat-up. The new season takes place a year after the last finale ended, long enough for Bauer to have acquired some nasty-looking hair extensions.

Chloe arrives in the lonely Chicago parking lot where he’s hiding out to help Bauer. She says that someone has figured out (from trolling her computer hard drive) that Bauer is not really dead. Soon enough Jack is running... running for his life! Well, he’s not really running, he’s driving for his life.

And it just so happens that in this car-chase sequence, Bauer’s driving a Toyota, the company that “presented” the Season 5 prequel. This chase scene eats up quite a few minutes of the 10-minute prequel.

Bauer’s fine in the end (what a shocker!). The bad dude in the BMW is not so lucky. But there’s a mysterious figure on a motorcycle who sees the whole chase go down. Could it be Nina Myers in disguise? Now that would be cool.

Anyway, that’s about all that’s on the prequel. Tick… tick… tick… only 40 more days until Season 5 of “24” premieres

http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/

PJO1966

12-06-05, 09:11 PM

I caught this on-line last night. To me it was a 10 minute Toyota commercial. The above spoiler forgot to mention that Chloe showed up in a brand new Prius and that Jack's Toyota took tight turns while a BMW was fishtailing through the same turns.

Edited to correct stupidity. Sorry if anyone saw something they didn't want to know.

fredfa

12-06-05, 09:16 PM

It would figure then that a scene in a parking lot and a car chase would be prominent in the "prequel". :)

fredfa

12-06-05, 09:34 PM

The 2005-2006 Season
Like TV schedule? Sorry, time to change

By Peter Ames Carlin The (Portland) Oregonian Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Just when you were getting comfortable with the new fall season, it's time to strap in, buckle up, hunker down and just basically gird yourself for everything to change again. We're talking midseason, baby, and it's closer than you think. And if you're not feeling the magic just yet, you can definitely smell the desperation. It's been more than two months since the fall season began, and some of those new shows haven't been cutting it. And you know what that means.

Bloodshed! And not the phony, prettied-up-for-TV kind, either.

Network hit men pulled the trigger on WB's "Just Legal," Fox Broadcasting's "Head Cases," that UPN show about the pretty young people in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles who have sex a lot (does the title even matter anymore?) and a couple of others before the leaves had even fallen from the trees.

Now that the tinsel is going up, well, keep your head down -- and say goodbye to ABC's sex-laced sitcom "Hot Properties," CBS' spendy sci-fi serial "Threshold," Fox's gore-flecked cop show "Killer Instinct" and the ensemble murder mystery "Reunion." While you're at it, you might prepare for the nearly inevitable demise of NBC's "Friends" spinoff "Joey" and Fox's acclaimed (and smash-hit . . . but only in Portland) sitcom "Arrested Development."

So that's sad. But even if those shows left too soon, remember that they died that others may live. Or at least move from one time slot to another, the better to mortally wound the shows on another network.

Are you ready to hear all about the new shows already headed your way? 'Cause even if you're not, here they come!

ABC: Hoping to extend its ratings comeback through the end of this season and into the next (and perhaps even the 22nd century), the alphabet network executives will strike up the band for a new season of "Dancing With the Stars" at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5. "In Justice," a legal procedural that focuses on the appeal of previously botched cases, will take the oath at 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, with Kyle MacLachlan ("Sex and the City") playing the ego-fueled crusader at the center of things.

A new sitcom starring Heather Graham, "Emily's Reasons Why Not," hits the air at 9 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, followed by the season premieres of the John Stamos sitcom, "Jake in Progress," at 9:30 p.m. and "The Bachelor" (in Paris) at 10. And at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, the network unleashes "Crumbs," a sitcom starring Jane Curtin ("Kate & Allie," etc.) as the deranged (I'm not kidding) mother of grown sons who must devote themselves to keeping her out of trouble. Psychotic disorders are always so funny, right?

CBS: Things are also looking good over at Black Rock, the sleek Manhattan home of the Tiffany Network. Still, who couldn't use some younger viewers? Hence the 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, premiere of "Love Monkey," an hourlong dramedy based on the novel by Kyle Smith (full disclosure: He's a former colleague from my People magazine days; I'm also friendly with the guy who edited his book at HarperCollins) about a 30-ish record company exec looking for love in New York City. "The Jenna Elfman Show," a more traditional sitcom on more or less the same theme, debuts at 9:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23.

Wait until March and you can also meet the guys in "The Unit," an action drama about a covert team of Special Forces operatives, including Dennis Haysbert ("24") and Scott Foley ("Felicity"). Julia Louis-Dreyfus of "Seinfeld" is set to try the sitcom market again with "The New Adventures of Old Christine," in which she plays a woman juggling the demands of business, an ex-husband and his new girlfriend.

Fox Broadcasting: This network has had a tough go of it the last season or two. This fall's "Prison Break" gave Fox a moderate hit, but now that show's headed into the hole until March to make room for a new season of "24." Fortunately, "American Idol" starts a new season at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, and the reality show "Skating with Celebrities" debuts at 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23.

NBC: Talk about networks in need of renovation! Without "My Name Is Earl" you almost would expect Ty Pennington and crew to come marching in to give the Peacock a feathers-down rebuild. But maybe they're bootstrapping their way back to glory? Time, and the fate of its midseason shows, will tell.

Here, the new year starts at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3, with the season debut of "Scrubs," another sitcom that never does quite as well with viewers as it does with critics. A cheesier new sitcom, "Four Kings," stars Seth Green (the "Austin Powers" movies) as one of several groovy NYC guys living in an elegant, inherited apartment. It debuts at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5.

A bit more promising is "The Book of Daniel," a quirky drama that premieres at 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6. Aidan Quinn stars as an Episcopal priest who seeks and receives advice on his many problems (family, faith, etc.) with Jesus, who in this case is played by Garret Dillahunt.

NBC's gutsiest move will be moving its one certified new hit, "My Name Is Earl" (aka its first new hit sitcom of the millennium), to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, where it will go mano a mano with the juggernaut that is "CSI." This strategy will either start the process of returning Thursday (the most lucrative ad night of the week, thanks largely to movie studio advertising) to the Peacock column, or kill "Earl" just as it was busy being born. Stay tuned.

UPN: The bratty younger corporate sibling of CBS (both are Viacom's corporate kinder) talks a good game about growing up. But when the programming rubber hits the road, what we see is "South Beach," the glossy drama about groovily troubled NYC youth who pack up their problems for the bikini-clad climes of Miami. It debuts at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11.

Also new is "Get This Party Started" at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24. The reality show teams Kristen Cavallari (who became the star of MTV's reality show, "Laguna Beach") with Ethan Erickson ("Extra") to throw elaborate, Hollywood-style parties for deserving folk. Like "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," only with an open bar and a DJ.

And here's hoping they party hard and well because, as the ex-stars of so many ex-shows can attest, you never know when the fun is going to come crashing to a halt.

http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/living/1133828705153400.xml&coll=7

fredfa

12-06-05, 09:40 PM

ABC News Anchor Choices Reflect a Strategist's Deft Touch

By Bill Carter and Jacques Steinberg The New York Times December 6, 2005

For David Westin, the last four days provided one more twist in a very long road toward the future of ABC News.

On Friday, Mr. Westin, the president of ABC News, firmed up the decision that his department, and much of the television news business, had been speculating about for months: who would follow the late Peter Jennings into the anchor chair of the ABC newscast "World News Tonight."

Reflecting what had been a protracted, delicate juggling act of high-price news talent and egos, Mr. Westin first offered the job short term to Charles Gibson, 62, the well-established anchor of "Good Morning, America." But Mr. Gibson rejected the offer last Thursday because it would have denied him the chance to lead ABC News through 2008 and into the next presidential election year.

That left Mr. Westin free to turn to the two much younger journalists, Bob Woodruff, 44, and Elizabeth Vargas, 43, whom he had planned to name, at the same time as the Gibson announcement, as Mr. Jennings' ultimate heirs.

After a weekend that one participant described as "intense, nonstop negotiations," in which new contracts for Mr. Woodruff and Ms. Vargas had to be worked out from scratch, Mr. Westin achieved his goal of putting new lead faces on the network's news programming.

Whether a haphazard result of months of waffling about what would be the best direction for ABC News, or some acutely deft maneuvering, the outcome was a coup of sorts for Mr. Westin.

He got his anchors in place without opening himself to accusations that he had passed over the most respected senior newsman in his shop. And he also managed to avoid threatening the popularity of ABC's most profitable news program, "Good Morning, America - which might have had the unwelcome result for Mr. Westin of discomfiting another important constituent: the leading lady of ABC News, Diane Sawyer.

For Mr. Westin, who has overcome rocky moments in his news career - including a low point when his network bosses left him in the dark about their plans to try to hire David Letterman away from CBS and drop the news division's other signature program, "Nightline" - the solution to the anchor question brought to an end a testing 12 months, marked by unexpected and painful losses, professional and personal.

In a 48-hour period in March, Mr. Westin got twin doses of stunning news about the two figures who had dominated his news organization for a generation. That Monday, he had a conversation with Mr. Jennings, where he heard for the first time that his chief anchor was going to have a biopsy performed on his lungs to determine the cause of a persistent cough.

Then, on Tuesday, he received a call from Ted Koppel, the longtime anchor of "Nightline," telling him that the deal they were about to conclude for Mr. Koppel to continue at ABC News was not going to happen. He was leaving the network.

A day later, Mr. Westin recalled in a recent interview, "Peter did not come back to work after his CAT scan, which made me think something is terribly wrong."

That Friday, Mr. Jennings returned to the office and tried to work on his newscast. "His voice was terrible," Mr. Westin recalled. "He was very shaky. I remember thinking, 'I'm live on the East Coast; what can I do? I don't have an anchor? What if he can't do the second block?' " With others in the studio coming up and asking what was wrong with Mr. Jennings, Mr. Westin held out as Mr. Jennings improved and got through the program.

But Mr. Westin recalled that he turned to one of his assistants and said, "I think we may have seen Peter do his last broadcast."

He was right. A week later, Mr. Jennings made a brief announcement on the air that he had lung cancer. He never returned to the news program.

The period of Mr. Jennings's illness did not immediately open doors to uncomfortable speculation about whom ABC would turn to in his place, because Mr. Westin said he refused to permit it. "I began to hear rumblings that people were almost starting to lobby for people," Mr. Westin said. "I concluded very early on there would be none of that."

But one door was opened: Mr. Westin was able to build a closer friendship with his sometimes prickly anchor. "We ended up emotionally close," Mr. Westin said.

Dr. Tim Johnson, the ABC medical reporter who is an ordained minister and was a close counselor to Mr. Jennings during his illness, said: "David was dealing with a person who was a friend and colleague. He also had to think about what all this meant for the news division. My observation is that he always erred on the human side of his role, and his job to be a friend to Peter."

Mr. Westin acknowledged that it had not been easy to develop that relationship. "Peter was a hard sell on just about anybody," Mr. Westin said. "It took a fair number of being in the trenches and working on things with him before he came around to say, O.K., you're part of the good team here."

That reluctance dogged Mr. Westin - the longest-serving leader currently at any network news division - during much of his early tenure at ABC News, where he succeeded a legend of the business, Roone Arledge.

Jon Banner, a longtime ABC News man who is now executive producer of "World News Tonight," said that if someone had observed Mr. Westin eight years ago at ABC News, "when he came, and the amount of criticism he received, you never would have thought he would be the survivor."

But Mr. Westin has outlasted his network contemporaries Andrew Heyward, who was ousted as the president of CBS News in October, and Neal Shapiro, who resigned as president of NBC News in September.

The turnaround moment for Mr. Westin was his successful effort to persuade Ms. Sawyer and Mr. Gibson to team up to save "Good Morning America" in 1999, when the program was in free fall in the ratings. The two first restored the program to respectability and ultimately to the level of serious challenger to NBC's "Today" show for morning leadership. That decision generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profit for ABC.

The Letterman matter was humiliating, Mr. Westin said, and he suffered another embarrassment when ABC News enlisted Leonardo DiCaprio in 2000 to interview President Bill Clinton for a report about Earth Day.

"There have been two or three low points," Mr. Westin said. "I learned from every one, I benefited from every one." Bigger concerns, he said, were grievous blunders like calling the 2000 presidential election wrong, twice, and the failure to challenge assertions that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

"You talk about DiCaprio and Letterman," Mr. Westin said. "You look back and think: Who cares? It's not like calling the presidential election wrong. It's not like failing to press hard enough on weapons of mass destruction when you're going to war. Those for me are the things I really regret."

Whether he ultimately regrets his selection of Mr. Woodruff and Ms. Vargas will be determined over the next several years. Mr. Westin said the decision was made based on a calculation that network news would be compelled to change in rapid and unpredictable ways and that ABC News needed a fresh approach to anticipate those changes.

But Mr. Westin also knows that the judgment of success or failure will be determined by an older standard: ratings. The expectation for ABC News, he said, is "doing interesting television that really gathers an audience."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/business/media/06westin.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-06-05, 11:52 PM

The Digital Revolution
NBC to Sell TV Shows for Viewing on Apple Software

By Saul Hansell The New York Times December 7, 2005
NBC Universal said yesterday that it would start to sell downloadable versions of 11 of its current and older television shows through the iTunes Music Store of Apple Computer.

NBC is the second major television network to distribute programming through Apple. In October, Apple started to sell episodes from five current programs on the ABC network, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. Those programs can be watched both on Apple's latest generation of iPod portable players and on Apple and Windows-based personal computers running Apple's iTunes software.

NBC will sell episodes of some current shows, including "Law & Order," "The Office" and "Surface." The arrangement also includes some cable programs, including "Monk" from USA Network and "Battlestar Galactica" from the Sci Fi Channel. And there will be some older shows like "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Dragnet" and "Adam-12"; NBC owns the rights to all of them.

In addition to full programs - which will not have commercials - NBC will sell video excerpts from some programs, like the headlines feature of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

All of these programs will sell for $1.99, the price for the ABC offerings.

Steven P. Jobs, the chief executive of Apple, said in an interview that he hoped that his company could create the same market for $1.99 video that it did for 99-cent song downloads. "We are doing the same thing with video we did with music," Mr. Jobs said. "We need to add more shows from more sources." He pointed out that Apple introduced the iTunes Music Store with 200,000 songs and now has two million.

Striking deals for video has been more complex than for music, however, because of the complex relationships among production companies, networks, affiliate stations, cable networks and various other rights holders.

Mr. Jobs argued that these conflicts will work out because of consumer demand.

"People forget we all work for the viewers," he said. "And consumers are demanding different services and different options."

And indeed, the apparent success of Apple's move with ABC is starting to draw interest. Apple has sold more than three million video downloads in the last two months. In addition to the ABC content, Apple sells music videos and some short films from Pixar, the animation company that Mr. Jobs also runs.

NBC started talking to Apple last spring about distributing programs through iTunes, but it decided to proceed only after seeing the initial result, said Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group. One important factor is that the Internet distribution does not seem to affect the viewership of the broadcast programs, he said.

Ratings of ABC's "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" have increased since they have been available for sale on iTunes. Similarly, Mr. Zucker said, the audience for "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams" has grown since the network started making a Webcast of the program available at 10 o'clock Eastern time each night.

Jack Myers, editor of Jack Myers Media Business Reports, an industry newsletter, said that affiliates might complain privately about these deals but that "they are taking a wait-and-see attitude to see if they can get a piece of the action." He added, "There is so much going on right now it's hard for them to make heads or tails of any of it to see if they should get upset."

More broadly, Mr. Zucker said NBC had decided to offer its programming in many new formats rather than trying to protect its existing distribution arrangements. Last month, it announced a deal to let viewers watch episodes of some of its programs on DirecTV the day after broadcast for 99 cents.

"A year from now, you will see us on ever more platforms," Mr. Zucker said. "Whether it is a cellphone or an iPod or a computer, we don't care what screen it is."

While Apple and NBC are looking to profit from old television programs by selling downloads, without commercials, America Online and its corporate cousin Warner Brothers have moved to let people watch older programs from Warner Brothers' library free, supported by advertising. That service, called In2TV, which will start next year, does not allow watching programs on portable devices or even laptop computers that are disconnected from the Internet.

Mr. Jobs said Apple was not interested in offering video downloads supported by advertising.

"Never say never," Mr. Jobs said, "But we are not in the ad business now."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/07/technology/07apple.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-06-05, 11:58 PM

ABC freshens news for Pacific

By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 7, 2005

When ABC named its new anchor team for "World News Tonight" on Monday, the network also announced a new initiative aimed at freshening the evening news for West Coast audiences, who usually see a broadcast that has been taped three hours earlier in New York.

Currently, all three networks update developing stories for the West Coast feed and, in the case of breaking news, have their anchors stay on for live newscast. But ABC said that it is goingto air three broadcasts.

Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff will anchor all three as well as an earlier online newscast in the afternoon.

The new rundown, beginning Jan. 3:

6:30 p.m. ET — The traditional newscast for East Coast and Midwest viewers.

8:30 p.m. ET — A second broadcast aimed at West Coast affiliates that show network news at 5:30 p.m. PT.

9:30 p.m. ET — A final broadcast for cities where audiences will get a live "World News Tonight" at 6:30 p.m. PT.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-west7dec07,0,7661796,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:02 AM

Another Catwalk for Fashion Series

By Kate Aurthur The New York Times

In Wednesday's premiere of the second season of "Project Runway," a young woman from Atlanta shows her portfolio to the show's judges during an open audition in Miami. Printed on its inside-cover page are the words "I so want to be 'IN,' " a reference to the signature catchphrase of Heidi Klum, the show's host. "In fashion, one day you are in, and the next day you are out."

When "Project Runway" had its premiere on Bravo a year ago, the ratings for the fashion reality competition were so low that a second season was inconceivable - and the idea that Ms. Klum's flatly delivered in-out pronouncements might ever be repeated outside the show would have been laughable. Jane Lipsitz, the executive producer in charge of the casting, filming and editing of "Project Runway," called that initial tally of 354,000 viewers "particularly devastating." Her producing partner, Dan Cutforth, said, "I don't want to pretend that we cried ourselves to sleep at night, but it was really quite depressing."

But by its finale in February, its audience was about five times as big, and the show was Bravo's highest rated of this year. A month later, the channel announced that the show would have a second season. And in July, "Project Runway" was nominated for an Emmy in the outstanding reality-competition category.

These days, television shows have the equivalent of movies' opening weekends, and executives are quick to pull a flop from the schedule. So how did the show's fortunes reverse, becoming a rare word-of-mouth hit? Lauren Zalaznick, the president of Bravo, gave a simple, but counterintuitive, explanation. "The worse it did," she said, "the more I played it."

Its premise was a standard reality template: get a group of aspiring fashion designers to live together in New York City and make clothes. Before the show began filming, Ms. Lipsitz was worried. She asked, "Can you possibly make people sitting around sewing interesting?" So the challenges - design a wedding dress, make an outfit from grocery store items - were created to demonstrate the designers' stylistic differences strikingly. Ms. Klum; Michael Kors, the designer; and Nina Garcia, of Elle magazine, were the judges, and eliminated a contestant after each challenge. The three finalists got to show a line during New York's Fashion Week; the winner received $100,000 to start a collection, and other prizes.

Ms. Zalaznick took over Bravo in June 2004. She inherited "Project Runway" from the previous regime - led by Jeff Gaspin, now president of the cable arm of NBC Universal, including Bravo - which had bought the show from Miramax. "Project Runway" was the first show to make its debut under Ms. Zalaznick's new Bravo team. "Everyone believed in 'Runway,' " she said recently on the telephone. "We really shot this flare into the sky."

It fizzled. But Ms. Zalaznick said she continued to be confident in the show, with its clever design challenges and its visibly talented cast. The group included heroes - the foppish Austin Scarlett, the unflappable Kara Saun and the riotous, wily Jay McCarroll, who was the contest's eventual winner - and one villain, in the form of the unhinged, backstabbing Wendy Pepper.

"If people can just see this show, they're going to fall in love with it," Ms. Zalaznick recalled thinking. So Bravo played the first three episodes in a marathon format over the Christmas and New Year holidays. "My goal is to get people to not leave their house on Saturday and Sunday morning," Ms. Zalaznick said. "Morning turns into afternoon, and they don't ever make it to the gym, and they curse me." Her strategy was meant to induce viewers to tune in to the new episodes. "And that is exactly what happened," she said. The ratings for the postholiday "Project Runway" showed that it had found an audience.

Even in success, a second season was not a given. With Harvey and Bob Weinstein's Miramax undergoing an ugly divorce from Disney, all of the two companies' shared assets had to be negotiated. "I guess we heard rumors," Mr. Cutforth said, "but it just doesn't make sense for a show as successful as 'Project Runway' to go away because of something like that." Now both the newly formed Weinstein Company and Disney's division Miramax share ownership.

The legal wrangling behind "Project Runway" may not be completely over. On Nov. 22 a man named Joel Lamontagne filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court that said the idea for "Project Runway" was stolen from him by a producer who was then working on "Project Greenlight," the filmmaking reality show, for Miramax. He is suing Miramax, Bravo and Ms. Klum, along with Banana Republic, a sponsor of the show, Elle magazine, and many others.

Despite all those hurdles, Season 2 is here. Ms. Lipsitz said: "It drew an exceptionally high talent pool. There isn't an outlet or an opportunity like this that exists in the world for designers on a national scale like this." Since it was a hit the first time around, did the show's budget increase? "Slightly," Ms. Lipsitz said. "Not much," Mr. Cutforth said.

The second edition, the producers say, will not be a copy of the first. "I was really proud of the fact that we had a very different group of designers who were still really interesting characters," Mr. Cutforth said. "But they felt like a new cast. I don't think you sit there wishing you had Jay back."

Jay McCarroll is living proof of what winning the show gets you. And where is he now? "I'm making a slow transition to New York because I don't have enough money for an apartment," Mr. McCarroll said. He called his reasons for wanting to be on the show "more internal" and said, "It definitely did a great deal for me."

One thing it yielded was "Project Jay," his reality spinoff series on Bravo. "It chronicles this apparent move to New York," he said, speaking on the telephone from Lehman, Pa., where he lives most of the time.

Professionally, and perhaps more hazily, he is trying to formulate a business plan, working out terms of production, marketing and distribution for his line of clothes. "I'm shooting for February," he said. "But it's the holidays, and I like to make wreaths."

Mr. McCarroll will also make a few appearances on "Project Runway," he said: "Because those contestants are duds! No, I'm just kidding."

About his actual impressions of Season 2, he said: "These kids, apparently, rumor has it, are very guarded. Which is smart, you know? Because you have to be a bit careful, maybe, of how you're being perceived." He sighed. "It will be different," he said. "But that's what makes it interesting, I guess."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/arts/television/06runw.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1133931671-K5VP7HEQTaYGEuCgl7AOUQ&pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:08 AM

Sorry, I almost missed this one. It sounds pretty interesting….
A Critical View:
A thriller of the remarkable kind

By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic December 6, 2005

Another thriller, another serial killer -- and the whole saga unfolds in subtitles spread over 13 hours.

Epitafios ("Epitaphs") is going to scare away a lot of viewers. Pity them. They will miss out on the year's finest miniseries and the biggest surprise of the TV season.

With this addictive drama from Argentina, starting at 9 p.m. Wednesday on HBO Signature, the small screen delivers its Silence of the Lambs. And that description only hints at this drama's greatness.

Unlike so many thrillers, Epitafios gains intensity after it reveals the killer's identity. Even then, the drama steadfastly refuses to turn the killer into a charming or likable figure as he goes about his grisly rounds and delivers threats by phone.

Unlike so many police dramas, Epitafios puts its crime fighters in believable jeopardy. Because these actors aren't widely known in the United States, their characters seem to be in greater danger. These people are damaged, flawed, uncertain.

Unlike so many whodunits, Epitafios avoids predictability with flair. The last of six hours made available to critics delivers one of the greatest twists ever committed to film. Think of your favorite thriller: This one will stand up with it.

This story plays out with the breadth and feeling of a top-flight novel. Epitafios stands in the glorious tradition of 24 and Lost as a show that demands marathon viewing.

So if you don't have HBO Signature, look forward to the DVD to enjoy the maximum Epitafios experience. Spanish-speaking viewers could know what a pleasure this is: The drama aired first in Latin America and later (without subtitles) on HBO Latino in the United States.

The killing spree starts in response to a disaster five years before at a Buenos Aires college. Four students, who had been taken hostage, died in a fiery accident. Warnings start coming, in the form of epitaph drawings and artworks, that people will suffer for their connections, no matter how slight, to that catastrophe.

Renzo Marquez (Julio Chavez), a former policeman left guilt-ridden by the students' deaths, joins the investigation as he continues to drive a taxi. Laura Santini (Paola Krum), a psychiatrist, frets about threats to her young son and reawakens her awkward feelings for Renzo.

Along the way, Renzo amazes and annoys Martin (David Masajnik), an officer who brings him into the case. Renzo clashes with Commissioner Jimenez (Luis Luque), a stubborn boss.

In a touching subplot, Renzo draws expert advice from his father, Marcos (Villanueva Cosse), a retired homicide detective who was shot in the spine. The affection between Marcos and Renzo helps balance the bleakness.

The less said about the killer, the more you will be riveted by Epitafios. That actor, however, is brilliant. The character arranges some graphic murder scenes, yet the gore matters less as the drama continues.

Epitafios is a thriller about redemption that has an almost operatic quality to its grand passions.

In a golden age for crime drama, Epitafios stands out as an extraordinary addition to a crowded genre.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/orl-epitafios05dec06,0,1567553,print.story

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:11 AM

A Critical View:
'Project Runway's' stylish return

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune December 06, 2005

“Project Runway” (10 PM ET/PT Bravo), which returns for a second season Wednesday, shares many qualities with TV’s finest reality shows: drama, tears, nail-biting deadlines and telegenic egos.

But the instantly addictive series has something else most reality shows -- even the really good ones -- don’t have: demonstrations of distinctive creativity. Sure, another Bravo series, “Project Greenlight,” offers a credible look at the filmmaking process, but that series, for the most part, chronicles the artistic challenges of one person -- the director of “Greenlight’s” indie movie.

“Runway,” on the other hand, juggles the dressmaking skills and sometimes barbed interactions of 16 aspiring designers, and the combination of frock creation and behind-the-catwalk drama is truly inspired.

Certain Season 2 personalities jump off the screen early on: Santino Rice, one of many fashion professionals competing this time around, clearly came to win and doesn’t care who knows it. His bravado is contrasted by the cerebral cool of Emmett McCarthy, who plans his designs with almost inhuman calmness, given the chaos that usually surrounds him in the studio that the contestants share.

The memorable Daniel Franco, who was ejected early last season, returns for another go-round; there are also brief returns from Austin Scarlett, Kara Saun and “Runway” winner Jay McCarroll, all of whom sat in on audition sessions for Season 2.

Tim Gunn, head of the fashion design program at New York’s Parsons The New School for Design, is also back, thank goodness. As each challenge unfolds, the unflappable Gunn looks over the works in progress, critiquing garments without making the harried designers lose their cool or their often wavering confidence. “Make it work,” was Gunn’s pragmatic mantra last season; it’s good advice, given the time and budget constraints the contestants operate under.

The weekly challenges are refreshingly low-tech, yet difficult. Before the 16 competitors (four more than last year) arrived in New York for filming, they were sent a few yards of fabric and $20 for trim. From those paltry materials, each designer was expected to create a dress that expressed his or her fashion aesthetic. In the Season 2 premiere, the judges, who once again include host Heidi Klum, fashion editor Nina Garcia and designer Michael Kors, are justifiably withering toward those who didn’t give the assignment their very best effort.

There are some slight tweaks in the show’s format this season (it’d be mean to give them away), and celebrated guest judges, such as Diane von Furstenberg, will once again visit. But for the most part, the producers of “Project Runway” left the core of this well-paced, well-crafted show alone -- which is understandable. As it is, “Project Runway” has the “creative reality” category all sewn up.

http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:16 AM

A Critical View:
Heaton likes keeping engaged

Mark Dawidziak Cleveland Plain Dealer Television Critic

Patricia Heaton talked about slowing down and taking it easy after "Everybody Loves Raymond" ended its ninth and final season earlier this year. She talked about it.

But her "Raymond" co-star Brad Garrett didn't believe that talk for a Hollywood second. When Heaton stated this goal before a group of TV critics in January, Garrett's incredulous and booming response boiled down to, "Who are you kidding, Patty?"

Heaton isn't the take-it-easy type, Garrett told critics, and she'll undoubtedly have more projects going than the rest of "Raymond" cast combined. Well, let's see.

She already is in development for a new half-hour comedy. Four Boys Films, the company Heaton founded in 2001 with her husband, actor David Hunt, has a documentary, "The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania," making the rounds of film festivals.

Heaton's both the executive producer and the star of "The Engagement Ring," a cable movie that premiered at last week on Turner Network Television.

"There's no time like the present," she said of life after "Raymond." "I know a lot of people sort of disappear for a while after starring in a long-running show. The idea, I guess, is to let the character you played subside in the public consciousness, but there's so much good stuff out there.

"I'm still young and feeling great and feeling at the top my game. This is a good time not to rest. This is a good time to keep going."

Score one for Brad Garrett. Who was she kidding?

Everybody loved Heaton as Debra Barone, the role that won her two Emmy awards during the CBS run of "Everybody Loves Raymond." The Bay Village native hopes viewers will keep the love flowing for "The Engagement Ring," a romantic comedy set in California's Napa Valley wine country.

"It's a sophisticated kind of comic drama, but there's nothing in it that would make parents uncomfortable if the kids were in the room," Heaton said. "I think we need more movies like that. The country is struggling with a lot of things right now, and I think people want to watch movies and not only have a good laugh, but to be touched."

The Christmas film begins with the troubled history of two Napa Valley families: the Di Cenzos and the Rosas. Nick Di Cenzo (Tony Lo Bianco) tried to propose to Alicia Rosa (Lainie Kazan) when he was overseas in the Army. He mailed her an engagement ring, but it never arrived.

A hurt Nick thought her silence meant she had rejected him. A heartbroken Alicia believed Nick had found someone else.

About 40 years later, Alicia's daughter, Sara (Heaton), and her fiance (Hunt) are trying to negotiate a deal that will unite the two families and their vineyards. That's when the long-delayed ring and marriage proposal finally get delivered.

TNT is using a three-word phrase with a familiar ring to promote "The Engagement Ring": 'tis the season. Yet the overworked line has three meanings for this story.

It refers to the Christmas season, the wine season and a season for romance.

"The movie really is about family and your history and the importance of that," Heaton said during a telephone interview. "My character says, at one point, 'All I know is, if you don't have roots, you die.' It's very much about that. And it's about, how do you know what true love is? How do you know it when you find it?"

Heaton often credits those Cleveland roots with keeping her grounded in Hollywood. She is sharing that history with her sons, the four boys in the name of her company.

"As time goes by, you realize the value of those roots and of the importance of family," she said. "You try to give your kids the sense that they come from somewhere and that people have sacrificed for them. Starting our own company was kind of about taking charge, but it also was about leaving a legacy for the kids.

"It's also really thrilling to see the Four Boys logo up on the screen for projects like 'The Engagement Ring' and 'The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania.' It really gives you a sense of accomplishment. You feel like you're contributing something in a positive way."

Heaton is no newcomer to TV movies. During the long run of "Raymond," she starred in the CBS film "A Town Without Christmas" and TNT's remake of "The Goodbye Girl." Still, she's looking forward to returning to the regular hours a sitcom schedule permits.

"After doing 'The Engagement Ring,' which I loved, another comedy is looking pretty good to me right now," she said. "Those 12-hour days were a little too much like work. It's very hard to be a wife and a mother and keep up that kind of schedule. That's the downside. The upside is that you get a wonderful story like 'The Engagement Ring,' which I think is going to be a wonderful addition to the holiday season."

The sitcom is being developed for ABC, which is riding high on the success of "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Commander in Chief." Despite the rush of success, however, the network remains challenged in the half-hour comedy form.

"Well, I'm going to fix all that," Heaton said. "ABC is very good at taking chances, but, even so, it has to be the right idea coming along at the right time. Sometimes you can have a great show in the wrong year. The idea we're working on is very much in the infant stages, so we're not at all sure what it's going to look like."

She's also no stranger to hits and misses in the sitcom realm. Heaton had three failed sitcoms - "Room for Two," "Someone Like Me" and "Women of the House" - before "Raymond" became a hit.

"It was sad to leave the 'Raymond' family, but I really felt like we didn't leave any stone unturned," Heaton said. "That made it easier to walk away from 'Raymond.' You feel like you've really done everything you've wanted with the character. And nine years is a great run, but it's also a long time, and it's nice not to have the schedule of that pressure for a little while.

"So I put all this other pressure on myself by producing movies and developing series and starring in them."

Uh-huh. Somebody cue Brad Garrett.

http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/entertainment/1133170508316170.xml&coll=2

fredfa

12-07-05, 01:15 AM

Week 11:
Ratings Notes

'MNF,' 'Loser' are winners

By Gary Levin USA TODAY

•Manic Monday. It was a good night for three networks: ABC's Monday Night Football scored 22.6 million viewers, its biggest total in nearly five years, Fox's "fall finale" of Prison Break had a series-high 12.2 million viewers, and a Ray Romano guest spot on CBS' The King of Queens (12.9 million) boosted that show to its best numbers since March 2004, giving lead-out How I Met Your Mother a series-high 12.3 million.

•Not such a loser. The season finale of diet contest The Biggest Loser gained poundage with a series-best 16 million viewers and helped NBC to an easy nightlong win. The show returns next month as a series of six weekly specials.

•Felicity not felicitous. Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, the second WB movie based on a doll, was weak with 4 million viewers, below the network's typical Tuesday and the 6 million who tuned in for last year's Samantha movie.

•Season's greetings. CBS perennial Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer pranced with a big 15.8 million viewers Wednesday, the last night of the November sweeps period, while NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center trailed far behind with 9.5 million. On Friday, ABC's Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (8.7 million) easily edged NBC's The Happy Elf (5.7 million).

•Pope no draw. Dueling pope biopics fizzled, as ABC's Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II sank with 6.7 million viewers Thursday, and Part 1 of CBS' Pope John Paul II (7.5 million) was CBS' lowest Sunday movie this season.

•Knotty Knots. Friday's Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again special fell short with 6.9 million viewers, losing to America's Funniest Home Videos.

•Curbed. The fifth-season finale of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm averaged 1.1 million viewers Sunday, capping the comedy's lowest-rated season. That same night's premiere of Showtime terrorist miniseries Sleeper Cell averaged 296,000.

•Grey's grows. While Desperate Housewives (25.5 million) dipped slightly, ABC's Grey's Anatomy climbed to a season-high 20.6 million Sunday.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-06-nielsen-analysis_x.htm

fredfa

12-07-05, 02:07 AM

Eclectic approach suits Gordon and company

By Cynthia Littleton The Hollywood Reporter

The fictional worlds inhabited by the sex-addled medical residents of "Grey's Anatomy" and the high-strung FBI behavior analysts of "Criminal Minds" couldn't be much different.

Those two shows have about as much in common as the Franklin D. Roosevelt biopic "Warm Springs" has with such action flicks as "Speed" and "The Day After Tomorrow" or a big-budget war movie a la "Saving Private Ryan" or an offbeat historical drama like "And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself."

But the one thing all of those productions have in common is a producer, Mark Gordon, who has made a name for himself in the past decade with an eclectic output of features and high-end telefilms. And while his movie career has gone into overdrive -- his slate during the past year includes two upcoming Lasse Halstrom features, "Casanova" and "The Hoax," the dark comedy "The Matador" and the Zooey Deschanel starrer "Winter Passing" -- Gordon decided not too long ago that it was time to get into the television-series business in a serious way.

"Sometimes I still feel like a student in film school," Gordon says. "I've always loved all kinds of different movies -- I'd go see 'Lawrence of Arabia' and then turn around and love a small intimate foreign film. I've always liked all different kinds of TV. I just try to pursue whatever it is that I'm interested in."

After just two years in the primetime development fray, the Mark Gordon Co. and its studio partner, Touchstone TV, has hit a bona fide home run in ABC's medical drama "Grey's," a late midseason entry in March that has exploded into a top three Nielsen hit this season.

"Grey's," the critically embraced ensembler from writer-producer Shonda Rhimes, seized the opportunity provided by its "Desperate Housewives" lead-in but also has proved beyond any doubt that it is a big draw all on its own. The Gordon Co. also has fielded a promising newcomer for CBS this fall with Mandy Patinkin as an FBI agent in "Criminal Minds," which has been heading in the right direction, Nielsen-wise, posting better numbers than anyone could have reasonably expected in the killer 9 p.m. Wednesday slot opposite Touchstone's own "Lost." (On the flip side, the company had a less-than-charmed experience last season with the Heather Locklear-Blair Underwood NBC drama "LAX.")

Last year, Gordon recruited former Showtime executive Deborah Spera to help oversee the company's push into television. In so doing, Gordon says he has operated by the credo that has served him well in features, which is to pursue only those projects that genuinely interest him. With the heat of "Grey's" and "Criminal Minds," and an Emmy win in September for HBO's "Warm Springs," the Gordon Co. has no shortage of networks knocking on their door.

"The only commonality you'll find in the shows we have on the air is great writing and great characters," says Spera, who met Gordon a few years ago when the two developed projects together at Showtime.

Gordon's newfound success in primetime brings him full circle to his roots in the 1980s as a producer and director of afterschool specials for Highgate Pictures in New York. The immediacy and tremendous impact that TV series have -- in just a few months, "Grey's Anatomy" has become appointment television for 20 million-plus viewers every Sunday night -- is awe-inspiring, Gordon says.

"You have such a tight deadline in TV, and there's something challenging and exciting to know that no matter what happens, you don't have time to mess around," he says. "The work has to be done. The show must go on."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/tv_reporter_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001613816

fredfa

12-07-05, 03:25 AM

The TV Column
The Week’s Winners and Losers

For CBS, It's 'Rudolph,' by Much More Than a Nose

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 7, 2005; C07

CBS racked up another weekly ratings win, but ABC was on its heels with the four hottest shows among young viewers and four of the top five among all viewers -- in both cases, "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost" and "Monday Night Football."

Here's a look at the week's most and least:

WINNERS

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." On the final night of the November ratings sweeps, the 41-year-old holiday special really brought home the bacon for CBS, snagging its biggest crowd since 1999 -- nearly 16 million viewers -- making mincemeat out of what passes for a holiday special these days on NBC -- "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" starring "Today" show weatherman Al Roker (9.5 million viewers) as well as everything on any other network Wednesday at 8 p.m.

"Biggest Loser." NBC's fat-to-fit reality series wrapped its second season with its biggest audience ever (16 million) and NBC's strongest non-Olympics results in that Tuesday slot in four years. Among women 18 to 34, it was No. 3 for the week, tied with ABC's "Lost."

"Prison Break." The "fall" finale of this freshman drama clocked its biggest audience yet, 12.2 million. Fox recently decided to launch the remaining episodes early -- in March.

"Monk." The NBC-owned USA Network's blowout Christmas special, in which Mr. Monk goes undercover as Santa, copped the show's biggest audience (5.5 million) since its fourth-season debut in July, beating NBC's own "Dateline" Friday at 10.

"Monday Night Football." The battle between undefeated Indianapolis and Pittsburgh brought in the franchise's biggest crowd (nearly 23 milion) in nearly five years.

"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." The animated holiday special, which had not appeared on a broadcast network since the '80s, logged nearly 9 million viewers for ABC Friday -- considerably better than the 6.1 million "Supernanny" average. Among kids it posted ABC's best performance in the hour in three years and finished the week ranked No. 2.

LOSERS

NBC holiday specials. There may always be, as last night's "A Charlie Brown Christmas" creator Charles Schulz said, a market for innocence, but there doesn't seem to be much of a market for NBC marketing parading as holiday specials. Wednesday, the Roker and Megan Mullally-hosted "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" -- aka plug for "Today" and "Will & Grace" -- got stomped by Rudolph; Friday, "Happy Elf" -- aka plug for DVD by frequent NBC guest Harry Connick Jr., now available on NBC's Web site, got smashed by ABC's "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town."

"Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again." Remember how, same time last year, we called CBS's "Dallas" reunion special a Loser because it logged 12.7 million viewers? Of course you do! Well, never mind. CBS's "Knots Landing" reunion special Friday mustered 7 million, which just goes to show that everything's relative.

Pope John Paul II flicks. You knew ABC and CBS were having second thoughts about their pope flicks when they scheduled them outside a sweeps period. Good call. It appears about 7 million people are interested in the subject; ABC's logged 6.7 million viewers on Thursday and Part 1 of CBS's logged 7.5 million on Sunday.

Babs Walters. You may think the boring list of done-to-death-ers like Tom Cruise and Kanye West (and, really, Camilla Parker Bowles is the most fascinating person of 2005?) caused Walters's 10 Most Fascinating People to plunge from last year's 16.3 million viewers to Tuesday's 13 million. But actually it's because last year Babs had a "Lost" lead-in of nearly 19 million viewers; this year's "Commander in Chief" lead-in snagged under 14 million.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/06/AR2005120601651_pf.html

fredfa

12-07-05, 03:33 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Vargas-Woodruff team has a shot, Chung says

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

Arranged marriages never work on network news.

But Connie Chung, whose forced partnership with CBS's Dan Rather went down in flames a decade ago, has high hopes for Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff, new coanchors of ABC World News Tonight. They debut Jan. 3.

Because Vargas, 43, and Woodruff, 44, are starting out together, they have better odds to succeed, Chung, 59, says.

"She and Bob have the opportunity to kick off a coanchor team equally, and with equality, as a real partnership... . It's very difficult to join a work in progress."

Difficult? It was painful to watch Chung and Rather on CBS Evening News from 1993 to '95. When Chung began, Rather, almost 15 years her senior, had been going solo for a dozen years.

"It's very difficult to ask someone who has held the chair to move over a few inches to make room for another person," Chung says. "... It would have been difficult for anyone - man, woman, beast."

Barbara Walters knows. When she joined ABC's crusty Harry Reasoner in '76 to become the first female evening news anchor, he waged an on-air war for two years before ABC mercifully pulled the plug.

Like Walters and Reasoner, Chung and Rather "were oil and water," says Steve Friedman, 59, former boss of NBC Nightly News and Today .

"I don't think Dan wanted Connie on the show. He was clearly upset off the air. These people are not actors, except [ex- Good Morning America host] David Hartman. How it's going off-camera ultimately seeps on the air."

Straining to be diplomatic, Chung denies there was any tension on the set with Rather.

"Dan welcomed me with open arms," she says, laughing. "He was very congenial about it... . I can barely remember what it was like. I don't think it was that bad. I don't think I was miserable at all."

Returning to reality, "I don't know why it didn't work," Chung says. "... I wish they had given it more time. It was only two years."

Vargas and Woodruff are both friends of Chung's. Woodruff is a different animal from Rather, she says. Anchoring "is not a job he's been dreaming about since he was a child."

Coanchoring with Rather vs. Woodruff "is like the difference between marrying your father or marrying the person you went to college with," Chung says. (See "Complex, Electra.")

Chung's only advice for Vargas: Don't overextend yourself. Vargas will continue to coanchor 20/20. Chung juggled Evening News with her weekly[B] Eye to Eye.

"It's just too much," says Chung, who launches a weekly show with her hub, syndicated talker Maury Povich, on MSNBC next month.

No matter. Chung is "thrilled" for Vargas, whom she labels "the best I've seen at covering live events." In a global sense, she's thrilled for "all women in TV news."

"How many years have we had evening news broadcasts and not had a woman on? Elizabeth has a chance to be there a long, long time. That is obviously ABC's intention."

P.S. The only successful network anchor pairing was the first, NBC's Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. The legendary Huntley-Brinkley Report ran from 1956 to 1970.

ABC Evening News launched a tri-anchor format in '78, with Peter Jennings, Frank Reynolds and Max Robinson.

It didn't do very well and ended with Reynolds' death in '83. Jennings took over, and World News Tonight was born.

No respect.

Poor Jim Bell.

NBC's Today this week celebrates a 10-year, 520-week winning streak, and all anybody wants to talk about is whether Katie Couric is headed for CBS Evening News when her contract expires in May.

"When I signed on, I realized this was a high-profile show with high-profile anchors," says Bell, 38, named executive producer in April.

"They were in the press when I got here. They're always in the press. It doesn't faze me. It's been expected."

As for the possibility of losing Couric, Today's coanchor since 1991, Bell is playing it cool.

"Katie and I have talked. I think she's really happy with the way Today has been going, and we'll make every effort to keep her here." Bell describes their relationship as "excellent."

In May, ABC's Good Morning America, with Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer, came within 40,000 viewers of Today, with Couric and Matt Lauer.

Since the season began Sept. 19, however, Today has averaged 5.8 million viewers, compared with GMA's 5.3 million and CBS Early Show's 2.8 million.

Back to Couric (what else?). Bell is not involved in her contract talks.

"Those negotiations are happening upstairs [by top NBC management], where they should be," he says.

Will Couric go? It may be too close to call.

"It comes down to what she wants to do and where she wants to do it," says Steve Friedman, Couric's former e.p. "I don't think there's anything else involved."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13344963.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Marcus Carr

12-07-05, 10:11 AM

Time Warner Details Adelphia Integration

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Mike Farrell 12/6/2005 5:44:00 PM

New York -- Time Warner Cable chief operating officer Landel Hobbs offered some more details on the cable giant’s integration plans for Adelphia Communications Corp. at an investor conference Tuesday.

Hobbs, speaking at the Credit Suisse First Boston Global Media Week conference here, said Time Warner has six regional operating teams, 13 functional teams and about 200 employees working on the integration.

Time Warner and Comcast Corp. jointly agreed to purchase Adelphia’s 5.2 million subscribers in April for $17.6 billion in cash and stock. As part of the deal, Time Warner will receive about 3.5 million Adelphia subscribers.

At the conference, Hobbs said the Adelphia-integration team is primarily working on back-office and billing issues. It is prohibited by federal law from actually running the Adelphia systems until after the close of the deal, which is expected in the first half of 2006.

Hobbs added that Time Warner will carry on its history of cutting-edge innovation, citing its “Start Over” service (which allows viewers to jump back to the beginning of a program that has already started), and plans for switched-digital service and digital simulcast.

He said Time Warner has rolled out digital simulcast in Raleigh, N.C., and New York to strong results, adding that digital simulcast should be fully deployed across its footprint in 2006.

Switched-digital video is currently being tested in Austin, Texas, and Hobbs said about one-third of the MSO’s divisions should have that capability by the end of 2006.

Hobbs also pointed to interactive-television initiatives, focusing on tests that center on customer care. He said Time Warner has already rolled out the ability for customers to upgrade service and pay their bills through their TVs in seven divisions, and that deployment will continue in 2006.

As an example, he said, the Austin market received 7,500 upgrade requests through the interactive component in 60 days, or more than one-third of all upgrade requests during that period.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6289593.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

12-07-05, 10:49 AM

FCC Wants More Adelphia Merger Data

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com

Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable have until Dec. 19 to answer a batch of detailed questions from the Federal Communications Commission on their proposed acquisition of Adelphia Communications Corp., the bankrupt cable operator with 5.2 million subscribers.

The FCC's 11-page questionnaire requests new and extensive company information about the merger, covering such topics as regional-system consolidation, sports-programming contracts, carriage of unaffiliated programmers and potential evasion of program-access rules.

Many of the questions were broad and involve disclosure of competitively sensitive information, including programming contracts between the MSOs and Fox News Channel, Cable News Network, TV One and eight other networks.

"We will work to respond expeditiously to the FCC so the commission will be fully informed about the benefits of these transactions, including the widespread deployment of competitive services, and it can complete its review in a timely manner," Comcast spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick said.

The FCC's informal 180-day merger-review period expired last week. The MSOs have said they expect the deal to close before July 2006. The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing the deal for antitrust problems.

Some have argued that the $17.6 billion Adelphia deal will leave Comcast and Time Warner with excessive power over new and established programmers and the ability to punish Internet-based voice and video providers that represent competitive threats.

In that regard, the FCC asked if programming distribution over national fiber networks could allow Comcast and Time Warner to evade rules that ensure that satellite-TV companies have access to program networks owned by cable companies.

One of the most vocal opponents of the merger, a start-up programmer called The America Channel, has complained that without a carriage deal with Comcast, it won't be able to gain a toehold in the market.

The FCC asked Comcast and Time Warner to explain why they have reached carriage deals with affiliated networks but provide unaffiliated channels like TAC with so-called hunting licenses, which permit networks to seek distribution from regional and local managers.

"There is no question that the acquiring parties employ disparate standards with respect to carriage decisions of affiliated and independent channels. We plan to continue to shed light on this market dysfunction, which plays out to the detriment of consumers and the industry," TAC CEO Doron Gorshein said.

fredfa

12-07-05, 10:53 AM

CBS's stealth sweeps weapon: 'NCIS'

Naval copper up 17 percent among 18-49s

By Abigail Azote MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 7, 2005

In the down-to-the-wire tie for November sweeps, much talk is over the last-minute boost CBS got from its annual showing of "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer." But a closer look at sweeps numbers points to a CBS show that hasn't gotten nearly as much attention: "NCIS."

After two so-so seasons, this year the naval copper has become one of the network’s top-rated programs and a key player in its race for No. 1 among 18-49s. Though lacking the cachet of a “CSI” or “Desperate Housewives,” it has outpaced both as one of the fastest-growing shows on television.

"NCIS" ranked No. 9 among returning primetime series in November, averaging a 10.8 household rating while seeing the second-highest percentage growth over the 2004 sweeps period, up 10 percent, behind only “Monday Night Football” and tying “Lost.”

In comparison, “CSI” was down 4 percent in November compared with the same period last year.

Among 18-49s, “NCIS” averaged a 4.2 rating in the Tuesday 8 p.m. timeslot last month, up 17 percent from November 2004. Season to date, the show is averaging a 4.1 18-49 rating, a 32 percent improvement on its 3.1 season average last year.

“NCIS,” which stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is the third-year spinoff of CBS’s “JAG,” which ended last season. Mark Harmon plays Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who leads a team of special agents investigating crimes involving Navy and Marine Corps personnel.

The show got a lot of press over the summer after killing off one of its leads, Sasha Alexander, and bringing in former “Picket Fences” star Lauren Holly. Ratings began climbing for summer reruns, and media people credit the switch for some of its rise.

“I think it’s a well-done show,” says Peter Koeppel, president of Dallas-based agency Koeppel Direct, who sees it as having the pacing of “ER” with the investigative angle of “CSI.” “The storylines are good and it keeps your interest.”

But Koeppel also notes the show’s lack of timeslot competition as a possible reason of its recent growth. So far this season the show has been a solid No. 1 in the timeslot, airing opposite Fox’s so-so “Bones” and the recently concluded “Biggest Loser” on NBC, which did not perk up until the final weeks.

How “NCIS” holds up going forward against tougher competition is the puzzler. Its true test will come when it faces NBC's “Fear Factor,” which returned this week, and Fox’s “American Idol,” airing again in January. “NCIS” will surely lose some viewers. Just how many will speak to the true strength of the following it has built up.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1671.asp

fredfa

12-07-05, 11:03 AM

note to clapple: If I deleted every post of mine with a misspelling, the thread would shrink to 10% its size.
:)

fredfa

12-07-05, 11:33 AM

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

fredfa

12-07-05, 11:37 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Tom Goodman is grumpy…(and funny) this morning.

Brace yourselves for a bunch of Bob Woodruff
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, December 7, 2005

Everything we know we learned from television:

• ABC News on Monday named Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff co-anchors of "World News Tonight." In related news. CBS launched an investigative piece titled, "Who the Hell Is Bob Woodruff?"

• And here we were hoping that ABC, the Disney-owned network, would instead announce that two desperate local news anchors from the Midwest had volunteered to read the news while hidden inside Mickey and Minnie Mouse costumes.

"My kids don't know that it's me giving them the Iraq headlines," said "Mickey," who is contractually obligated by ABC to remain anonymous. "On the other hand," he said, "at least now they hug me."

• Al Sharpton may get his own sitcom on CBS. To which we say: So, all that other stuff we've been laughing about was actually real?

Depending on the physique of Sharpton's TV wife -- and we're going to guess she'll be a 4 or under -- he will no doubt continue the TV trend of "hot wife, fat husband."

• This just in: Bob Woodruff was set free today after an entire country couldn't pick him out of a line-up.

• To all the people who wrote in at the beginning of the season saying we were too preoccupied with what might happen to Fox's serialized "Reunion"[/B] series -- where every episode is one year in the life of some high school graduates, concluding with them all being murder suspects in 2005 -- how about some trust?

Fox canceled it after nine episodes. And now the producers have said they can't tell people who invested nine hours into this woeful series what actually happens to the characters because, well, they don't really know. We told you that in September! Consider that punishment for not listening.

• Of course, we also said the creators of "Lost" knew what they were doing and where they are going. Sorry about that.

• CNN is reporting today that Woodruff is not -- repeat, not -- Judy Woodruff's husband.

• You know how the record companies always end up turning out a new Jimi Hendrix album or a Miles Davis album long after the artist has died? Now it appears comedian Dave Chappelle will put a new twist on the dead-cows-can-be-milked phenomenon. Chappelle, who is still alive, famously walked away from a $50 million Comedy Central contract for a third season of his show. Now Variety is reporting that the cable channel will soon begin airing skits from the aborted third season online and will air actual episodes in 2006. It used to be they never found the "lost tapes" until you were dead, so keep your head on a swivel, Dave.

• Remember Brandy -- the singer and actress who starred in "Moesha" on UPN? She's making a series for the WB about a woman trying to figure out life in her 20s. Apparently nobody told her that if you're in your 20s on the WB, you're either playing 15 or playing the mother to someone who's 15. Good luck with that.

• Apparently trying to spark a media sensation with an Oprah-like boycott, Bob Woodruff has announced that he will not, in the foreseeable future, appear on David Letterman's show. The unidentified news reader playing "Minnie," however, has just been booked on Leno.

• Hey, here's some news you can use: Ricky Gervais, star of the original version of "The Office" and on HBO's "Extras," will have a weekly podcast on the Web site of the British newspaper the Guardian. You can get there here: www.guardian.co.uk/ rickygervais/0,,1652674,00.html.

• We apologize to Bob Woodruff for gently mocking his Q rating. Granted, had the last bit about Letterman actually been funny, we'd still be doing it. But that's it. We're tapped out.

• In case you were curious, no, we're not mourning the loss of "Alias," which will go ugly and late into that good night at season's end. Are you kidding? This show hasn't made sense for like five years.

No, what worries us is that what we love about "Lost" right now is what we hate about "Alias" right now, too. Let's hope someone pays attention to the details.

• NBC has announced that it will create an entire series out of not-so-subtle product placements. There will be no plot, just marketing. The only redeeming part of the whole series is that in the last commercial-free minute, all the actors currently doing those asinine radio commercials for NBC will be pushed onstage and beaten for your delight.

That was sarcasm. And it was brought to you by Peet's fine coffees and teas.

• - One of the big ideas in the Vargas-Woodruff announcement is that ABC will air the newscast live to the West Coast. This will be a tremendous opportunity for viewers who are stuck in their cars on their commute home.

• NBC announced some of the new players on "Saturday Night Live." To which we say: Is that still on?

-- We're not sure about this whole dancing/skating with the stars thing. It seems so -- what's the word here? -- pointless. And boring. Oh, and stupid. But anyway, the real annoyance is this idea, perpetuated by "American Idol," that you have a contest of some sort on one night, then come back the next night for the "results" show. How about, instead, a bunch of "stars" actually do a real TV show, you know, with acting? There will be writing, a plot, various performances, etc. Then the next night they can all come back out and America can vote on how they did. "I thought the addition of Ana Lucia to 'Lost' was particularly heinous. She sucks." Or, "I'm not sure the dream sequence finale on 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' was up to par. How about a do-over -- and don't take 16 months to get it on the air this time."

• "Hello everyone, I'm Bob Woodruff. Tonight, a sneak peek at how a television column goes completely sideways. Our 'World News Tonight' cameras caught TV critic Tim Goodman hacking his way through a column and then secretly trailed him as he walked to the post office and literally mailed it in. Later, my eight-minute report on battle fatigue in Iraq will be cut down to two minutes and bordered by denture and erectile dysfunction commercials. Fortunately, you viewers on the West Coast will not see any of this tragedy."

• Bring me the head of Mickey Mouse.

• The High Fives: 1. Ricky Gervais podcasting. 2. "A Charlie Brown Christmas." 3. "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." 4. "Olive, the Other Reindeer." 5. "It's a Wonderful Life," but not the NBC version, which is always hacked to ribbons.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/07/DDG9QG3CAH1.DTL&type=printable

fredfa

12-07-05, 11:43 AM

TV Notes
By Richard Huff New York Daily News TV Editor Wednesday, December 7th, 2005

Two years after she was shot and written off a Dick Wolf series, Stephanie March is returning to the small screen in a show produced by Wolf.

March has been cast in Wolf's latest NBC legal drama, "Conviction." And, to boot, she'll play Alexandra Cabot, the character she portrayed on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" until 1993 when her character was shot and sent into the Witness Protection Program. "Conviction" co-stars Eric Balfour, Milena Govich, J. August Richards, Julianne Nicholson and Anson Mount. The show is scheduled to launch early next year.

Dots all...
NBC's "Today" this week marks its 10th consecutive year as the No.1 show in the morning news race. That's 520 straight weeks. The closest morning streak? A mere 87 weeks set by ABC's "Good Morning America" in 1990-1991.

(Note from Fred: Actually, "GMA" beat “Today” for more than 200 straight weeks in 1981-1985, but NBC’s publicists seem to have either conveniently forgotten that, or never bothered to look it up in the first place). Now back to Richard Huff….

Speaking of "Today," host Katie Couric tells TV Guide's Steve Battaglio she hasn't made a decision about her future - yet. "I'm very fortunate to have some opportunities," she says in the Dec. 12 issue. "It's something I'm thinking long and hard about." ...

Ahmad Rashad will host and executive-produce a new "NBA Access" for ABC. The show, which debuts Jan. 28, will look at the lives of the NBA's biggest stars. ...

NBC's "Nightly News" was No.1 last week, followed by ABC's "World News Tonight" and CBS' "Evening News." It's worth noting, the Bob Schieffer-led CBS effort has been up six of the past seven weeks compared to the previous year.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/372223p-316626c.html

fredfa

12-07-05, 11:54 AM

Overnight Ratings Notes
Push-em up letdown: 9M for 'Victoria'

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 7, 2005, 10:48

Victoria’s Secret remained pretty much intact last night after a one-year hiatus for the scanty-panty show.

The latest edition of the “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” averaged just under 9.2 million total viewers last night, according to Nielsen overnight data. If that number holds when final ratings are released, it would be the least-watched entry in the special’s four-episode run over five seasons.

“Secret” didn’t air last year after indecency madness took over on Capitol Hill following Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl halftime nipple flash on CBS early in the year. But CBS decided to bring the show back after the indecency flap cooled following the 2004 elections.

The show has fallen off quite a bit since its first much-publicized episode. The special first aired on ABC in 2001, drawing 12.4 million total viewers. The next year it moved to CBS and slipped 15 percent to 10.5 million viewers. In 2003 the show aired again on CBS, falling another 10 percent to 9.4 million viewers.

Last night’s 9.2 million total viewers was down 2 percent from 2003’s 9.4 million viewers, but down 26 percent from that initial airing on ABC. The show was an 8 percent increase over the same Tuesday 10 p.m. time period last week, however, when a repeat of “Criminal Minds” averaged 8.5 million viewers.

But even nearly two full years after Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, indecency concerns still linger. Salt Lake City’s CBS affiliate KUTV preempted “Secret” last night. In a poll on the station’s web site, 44 percent of respondents indicated that the show was tame enough to air in primetime, though 29 percent said it wasn’t appropriate to air at any time.

Last night’s special averaged a 3.8 overnight rating among viewers 18-49, good for second place in its timeslot behind NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU,” which dominated the competition with a 5.9 18-49 rating and 16.3 million total viewers.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_1701.asp

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:09 PM

Critic’s Notebook
For Alias,' end is near

By Mike Brantley Mobile Register Wednesday, December 07, 2005

The best ratings for the ABC spy-thriller series "Alias" came when the show aired on Wednesday nights.

After fading this season in a tough Thursday slot, the show moves back to Wednesdays for a couple of weeks beginning tonight. But, at this point, it matters little to the show's long-range prospects whether the ratings climb, fall or stay the same.

You see, "Alias" fans already are in mourning over the network's recent announcement that this season -- the show's fifth year -- will most definitely be its last.

The series starring Jennifer Garner as superspy Sydney Bristow will conclude its run in May.

It may be more fair for me to say that some fans are mourning the program's imminent demise. Others have figured out that the show already has played most all the creative cards its premise was dealt. It boasted a strong creative hand for a while there, but now other programs seem to be holding better cards.

At any rate, a measurable amount of the "Alias" resurgence last season probably had a great deal to do with the series airing immediately after the red-hot new drama "Lost," which coincidentally was created by "Alias" mastermind J.J. Abrams. Now, however, even on Wednesday night, "Alias" will not enjoy the luxury of following a new installment of "Lost." The latter show, don't you see, is temporarily in reruns -- with a repeat airing at 9 PM ET/PT tonight .

A new "Alias" follows at 10. -- the first since Nov. 17, and the first since ABC's announcement that the program's end is at hand.

This season, with Garner's pregnancy playing its part on camera and behind the scenes, the focus has shifted away somewhat from Sydney and to new character Rachel Gibson (Rachel Nichols). Tonight's episode has Rachel and Sydney joining forces with Julian Sark (David Anders) to prevent a micropulse bomb from falling into the hands of a dangerous mercenary.

Ranked 75th out of 139 prime-time shows for the season, according to Nielsen's numbers, "Alias" has slipped. It never was the kind of unqualified hit that the once-struggling network eventually found with such programs as "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," but at one point it was the single best show the network had to offer.

ABC has improved, mostly across the board, and the current season seems sadly -- but appropriately -- the right time for "Alias" to go.

The silver lining for the fans who have stuck with the series is that its producers have been given enough advance notice to plan a fitting series finale. We'll see, at season's end, what they come up with on that score.

"Alias" executive producer Jeff Pinkner offered this in a network press release: "This news, and its timing, is a mixed-blessing. Though we're obviously very saddened to face the reality that Alias' is coming to an end, the lasting quality of every good story is determined by its conclusion--this news gives us the freedom to end the series in the climactic way it deserves."

http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/entertainment/113395050213220.xml&coll=3

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:15 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Why Katie Couric Should Leave 'Today'

By Kevin Thomspon Palm Beach Post Television Writer

In TV Land, the vast television universe, not the cable network, everyone loves to gossip and tawk. What's on everyone's lips these days is whether Katie Couric will jump ship and leave Today to anchor The CBS Evening News.

Couric hasn't exactly quieted all the tawk by saying she's not sure what she's gonna do when her contract expires in May.

I used to like Couric. A lot.

The Extremely Perky One has great chemistry with Matt Lauer. And she's able to handle both tough and not-so-tough interviews with aplomb.

But over the last few years, Couric has become too self-absorbed. She monopolizes practically every interview by talking too much. Guess that's where Ann Curry learned how to gab incessantly.

And Couric always manages to make any topic about her. She obviously suffers from Kathie Lee Gifford Disease. Is there a cure? I dunno.

The Extremely Perky One has become very annoying and tiresome to watch. Which is why I hope Couric leaves the top-rated Today for Dan Rather's old gig.

Three hours of The Extremely Perky One (well, it's really two, since Couric is practically non-exsistent for Today's third hour), is too tough to stomach while I'm still trying to wipe the sleep from my eyes.

Watching Couric yap for 30 minutes (no, wait, it'll be more like 18, what with commercials and correspondent reports) on the CBS Evening News sure beats listening to her yap for a few hours every morning.

C'mon, Katie. Aren't ya ready for a career change?

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2005/12/why_katie_couri.html

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:23 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Point of no return

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Wednesday, December 07, 2005

And now, an open letter to "Survivor" propaganda minister Mark Burnett:

Mark, you know I've been a fan of the franchise ever since Richard Hatch climbed into that tree to pout about organizational dynamics. I even toughed it out through this latest edition in Guatemala, and what started out looking like another "Survivor" fall bore has turned out to be surprisingly decent.

So know that I'm writing this with affection, not malice, when I ask you, for the love of all that is good and decent in this world, please, please, please never bring back another former contestant to compete a second time, because it always makes me like them less.

I understand that Jersey girl Stephenie La Grossa was absurdly popular for the way she responded to being on the most pathetic team in "Survivor" history last spring. At the time, I even wrote that her "pluck, raw athleticism and grace in defeat have made her a great underdog."

She's doing a lot better in Guatemala, where she seems to have a power position as we go into the last two episodes. But her behavior throughout this season has been so appalling that it actually has me wondering whether I was giving her too much credit the last time. When her team in Guatemala went on a familiar losing streak, Stephenie's response was of the "Why does this always happen to me?" variety, and there's been an air of whiny entitlement to everything she's done and said here.

The same thing happened when you did the All-Star season, when Richard sexually harassed Sue Hawk, Lex from Africa went all Travis Bickle on us and Rupert's self-confidence began to look more like megalomania.

Traditional celebrities stay in the public eye for so long that it's impossible not to find flaws. On paper, reality show contestants are supposed to be in our living rooms for a few months, then go far, far away before we get sick of them.

If you'd let Stephenie head back to Toms River, her legend as the best player on the worst team of all time would be secured. Instead, we're going to remember her just as much for the way she bullied Lydia about the food competition, or how she became the ruthless leader of an alliance nicknamed "The Axis of Evil" by one of its own members.

And now I'm hearing rumors that you're actually considering her as a replacement if Jeff Probst gives up hosting the show. Do you really want to make a woman who's not the best public speaker (her favorite insults are "retarded" and "gay") the public face of the show?

Frankly, you should do whatever you have to to keep Probst around. But if he goes and you're dead-set on bringing in an ex-player to replace him, I can think of plenty of stronger choices.

To name just two, Rob Cesternino knows so much about the game, and was lively and funny in his interviews, that he was essentially the second host of "Survivor: Amazon." And Hunter Ellis from "Survivor: Marquesas" is a handsome, athletic, charming guy with experience with both real survival (he's an ex-Navy SEAL) and TV hosting (he does a fine job on History Channel's "Tactical to Practical"). Plus, because he got voted out early (by nemesis Boston Rob, whom you absolutely shouldn't hire), so he'll spare future contestants from a lot of boring "You know, back in my season, we walked uphill through the jungle both ways to get the treemail" stories.

If you insist on picking a woman, the pickings are slimmer, since the show's strongest personalities have tended to be men. Do you want Jerri Manthey or Jenna Morasca trying to explain the obstacle courses?

Since Elisabeth Hasselbeck isn't about to quit "The View," the most promising female alum would be Colleen Haskell from the first season. She was such a natural on camera that she was deluged with film offers. But after her unfortunate appearance in a Rob Schneider movie, she dropped out of sight and even declined the All-Star invitation.

Colleen remains one of your more beloved contestants, and it's not just because of her dimples or how she looked in a bikini. It's because she realized that both she and America would probably be much happier if she returned to obscurity.

Try to keep that in mind before you hire Stephenie as host, or contrive an excuse to let her stick around until she finally wins the million bucks.

Your pal,

Alan Sepinwall

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/columns-0/1133937305318250.xml&coll=1

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:36 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Forever Everwood

WB heart-warmer a great place to visit

By Matt Roush TV Guide

Two of the most rapturously romantic lump-in-the-throat moments I've seen on TV this season have taken place in a mountain town called Everwood, home to TV's best-written, best-acted and most touching family drama (Thursdays at 9 pm/ET on WB).

Both scenes involve the endearing odd couple of Bright Abbott (Chris Pratt), a former jerk and not-quite-reformed slacker, and Hannah Rogers (Sarah Drew), a bookish mouse who blossoms in his presence. In a show bursting with lovably empathetic characters caught up in turbulent family and personal relationships, the Bright-Hannah combo has sent Everwood into heights of sentimental transcendence.

Last month, fearing his girlfriend was leaving town for good (she didn't), Bright surprised Hannah with a private senior prom, a gesture made more delightful by its out-of-character chivalry. Then, in a scene that plays out on opposite sides of a bathroom door in the Dec. 8 episode, he forces Hannah to look at herself in a mirror while he describes through the door what he finds so beautiful about her: "You need to see what I see when I look at you."

Sappy? Maybe. Satisfying? You bet. Everwood is rarely preachy and sometimes gets a bit edgy as its characters stumble and fumble tragicomically through life. That juicy Dec. 8 episode delivers major turning points for nearly every Everwoodian, including Andy and Ephram Brown (Treat Williams and Gregory Smith), the father and son whose fractious bond fuels many of the key story lines.

Buried on Thursday nights but still thriving and growing creatively, Everwood is one of TV's hidden treasures.

A Royal Snore

I'm all for ABC making musicals for TV, but the remake of Once Upon a Mattress (Dec. 18, 7 pm/ET) is a miscast misfire.

This retelling of The Princess and the Pea is heavy-handed when it should be light-footed.

As brassy Princess Winnifred, Tracey Ullman is overripe, lacking the adorably gawky sparkle Carol Burnett brought to earlier versions. Burnett has more success mugging as the mean queen, but it's all so inert you may pine for your own mattress.

ROUSH RAVE

It takes one to appreciate one, which is why TV Land's new talk show Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg (Wednesdays, 10 pm/ET) is such a treat.

Steinberg, a celebrated comic turned director (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm), conducts genial, low-key chats with the likes of a self-effacing Mike Myers (in the Dec. 14 premiere) and the neurotic Larry David (Dec. 21).

Apologizing to Myers for his lack of research, Steinberg says, "I'm not quite James Lipton." Thankfully. It's refreshing to watch an interview in which the guest needn't worry about sharing the spotlight.

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

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:41 PM

CBS to Produce “CSI”, “Survivor” Clips for Verizon

By Mike Shields MediaWeek.com DECEMBER 07, 2005 -

Tribal councils, top 10 lists, and bloody crime scenes will all soon be available in the palm of consumers' hands.

CBS has announced that several of its top shows, including CSI and Survivor, will begin producing video clips for the Verizon VCast mobile video package. Besides its top prime time hits, CBS is releasing video snippets from The Late Show with David Letterman, Entertainment Tonight, CBS Evening News, and several other shows to the burgeoning mobile video on demand service starting this month.

This is the first CBS content to appear on VCast, which launched early last year with clips from CNN and ESPN, along with specially produced "mobisodes" of the hit series 24. Like the majority of VCast content, CBS' content will be edited into short form clips, which are generally considered as most appropriate for the mobile environment.

Additional shows producing content for VCast include: CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, The Amazing Race, The King of Queens, The Early Show, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. The clips will include some original content, such as behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the casts of several shows.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001655997

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:47 PM

CBS to Produce “CSI”, “Survivor” Clips for Verizon
(CBS Press Release)

LOS ANGELES and BEDMINSTER, NJ – CBS News, “CSI,” “Survivor,” David Letterman and “Entertainment Tonight” are coming to a Verizon Wireless V CAST phone near you this month.

Television’s most watched broadcast network and the nation’s leading wireless provider are bringing many of CBS’s most popular content brands – across prime time, late night and syndication – to Verizon Wireless’ V CAST multimedia service.

This marks CBS’s first venture presenting its content on cell phones.

Throughout December, V CAST subscribers will begin receiving video news segments from both CBS News and Paramount TV’s “Entertainment Tonight” – produced specifically for mobile phones – as well as preview clips of many of CBS’s top series including “CSI,” “CSI: Miami,” “CSI: NY,” “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “The King of Queens” and “Late Show with David Letterman.” The CBS News segments for V CAST will include breaking stories, as well as features from broadcasts such as “CBS Evening News” and “The Early Show.”

V CAST will carry clips from Letterman’s monologue and Top 10 list as well as highlights from “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” CBS and Verizon Wireless also plan to present behind-the-scenes footage, such as making-ofs and interviews with the casts of shows from the CBS prime time lineup.

“At the intersection of the mobile phone and the television lies tremendous programming, promotion and brand extension potential,” said Cyriac Roeding, vice president of wireless, CBS Digital Media. “This deal with Verizon Wireless represents a major step for us into mobile entertainment and another point of contact with the consumer to promote our great content brands.”

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:51 PM

Cable companies consider family tier

By Leslie CauleyUSA TODAY

NEW YORK — Bowing to growing pressure in Washington, Comcast and Time Warner are considering offering cable-TV customers a special "family tier" including Disney, Discovery and other family-friendly offerings, say people with direct knowledge of the companies' plans.

The plans, which are still being finalized, are expected to be announced within the next few weeks, these people say. They declined to be identified, because negotiations among various parties are confidential and ongoing.

Comcast and Time Warner are the USA's No. 1 and No. 2 cable operators, serving 33 million subscribers. Any move they make is likely to influence other cable operators.

By offering programming that is free of sex, violence and rough language, Comcast and Time Warner would address the Federal Communications Commission's increasing concerns about offensive cable content and surging rates.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said last week cable companies should make channels available on an individual, or a la carte, basis, so people only have to pay for what they want to watch.

The cable companies' motivation isn't entirely altruistic: Comcast and Time Warner, which are buying Adelphia for $18 billion, need the FCC's blessing to close the deal.

Their initiative might pay off for them in another way. Customers would need a digital cable box to subscribe to the family tier, so Comcast and Time Warner could further drive their digital TV business while meeting the FCC's warning call on giving consumers more choice and flexibility.

Gene Kimmelman, senior director of public policy for Consumers Union, says he is encouraged: "It's wonderful to see the big cable companies finally responding to the concerns of customers."

The success of such a tier, he says, will depend on what channels are included and how much it costs.

Disney and Discovery — whose channels would likely be included — have tentatively signed off on the family-tier plan, according to the same sources. But Fox and Viacom are balking, arguing that the tiers could hurt them financially.

As envisioned by Comcast and Time Warner, the family tiers would contain at most 30 or 40 channels. The same channels would still be offered on other tiers.

The tiers probably won't include Fox — known for its racy content — or Viacom's MTV and VH1, for years the source of complaints by parents.

Time Warner, Comcast and Discovery declined to comment. Disney, Viacom and Fox representatives did not return calls.

Programmers reject the idea of selling channels on an à la carte basis. They also oppose special tiers, seeing them as a slippery slope to à la carte.

Why so wary? Cable programmers make their money from fees per subscriber and advertising. Fewer subscribers means reduced fee revenue and fewer viewers, threatening advertising rates.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-12-06-cable-family-tier_x.htm

CPanther95

12-07-05, 12:56 PM

FCC Wants More Adelphia Merger Data

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com

[b]Many of the questions were broad and involve disclosure of competitively sensitive information, including programming contracts between the MSOs and Fox News Channel, Cable News Network, TV One and eight other networks............

"There is no question that the acquiring parties employ disparate standards with respect to carriage decisions of affiliated and independent channels. We plan to continue to shed light on this market dysfunction, which plays out to the detriment of consumers and the industry," TAC CEO Doron Gorshein said.

Good a la carte ammo.

dturturro

12-07-05, 12:56 PM

Cable companies consider family tier http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-12-06-cable-family-tier_x.htm

Does that mean we can finally stop hearing these people cry about what's on TV?!

fredfa

12-07-05, 12:58 PM

Critic’s Notebook
“Law & Order” Leaves The Nest

By Don Kaplan The New York Post December 7, 2005

Whatever it is, don't call "Conviction" a "Law & Order" spin-off.

That's the message from sources close to the new series — even though the show features a former main character from "Law & Order: SVU" and is written and produced by "Law & Order" staffers, including franchise creator Dick Wolf.

It stars, among others, Ste phanie March, who will reprise her former "SVU" role as legal- eagle Alexandra Cabot. The assistant district attorney was last seen in and out of witness protection after an attempt on her life a few seasons ago. In real life, the actress is married to New York chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay.

The new show, which began filming this week (ahem, in Astoria, Queens on the former set of "Law & Order: Trial by Jury") follows "young assistant district attorneys in New York who are confronted with tough, high-profile cases that often challenge their limited experience," according to NBC press materials. It is scheduled to debut in 2006.

Wolf says the show will be "dealing extensively with characters' back stories and personal lives."

But don't call it "Law & Order: Lost." That would be bad, too.

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/58467.htm

fredfa

12-07-05, 01:12 PM

Dana Delany nabs “Kidnapped” pilot on NBC

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter

Emmy winner Dana Delany has been tapped to star in NBC's drama pilot "Kidnapped".

Delany joins Linus Roache, Mykelti Williamson, Delroy Lindo, Carmen Ejogo and Boris McGiver, who previously were cast in the project penned by Jason Smilovic and to be directed by Michael Dinner.

Described as a blend of suspense thriller and family drama, "Kidnapped" revolves around a wealthy New York family whose 15-year-old son is kidnapped and held for ransom, with the story being told from multiple points of view.

Delany will play the mother of the kidnapped boy, the silver-spooned daughter of a top banker.

Smilovic, Dinner and 25C's Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly are exec producing the pilot, which is being filmed in New York.

Delany's stint on "China Beach" earned her four consecutive Emmy nominations and two wins, in 1989 and 1992.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001615464

fredfa

12-07-05, 01:19 PM

Note: The NASCAR broadcast contract described below contract doesn't take effect until the 2007 season. In 2006, NBC will continue to broadcast NASCAR races -- unless, of course, it were to sell its deal to ESPN to allow NBC to fully prepare for its Sunday Night Football coverage.

Eight-year, multi-network TV deal announced

NASCAR Press Release

December 7, 2005

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR on Wednesday announced the completion of comprehensive broadcast agreements that will benefit the industry and its fans for years to come.

Under the new eight year agreements NASCAR races will be broadcast on a combination of networks that includes FOX, SPEED, Turner's TNT and ABC/ESPN beginning in 2007.

"NASCAR's new network agreements mark a historic moment for the entire NASCAR community," said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. "This is a major accomplishment for the NASCAR drivers, teams and track operators that have made this sport what it is today. It represents a significant reward for the competitive side-by-side racing our fans have come to expect. It also validates the marketing and production enhancements our current media partners have brought to the sport.

"The new broadcast partnership is also good for the fans because they will have so much more NASCAR content from a variety of media and new media sources," said France.

"NASCAR is proud to continue its relationship with FOX, SPEED and TNT, while welcoming back ABC/ESPN into the family of broadcasters," said NASCAR Vice President Dick Glover. "By signing deals with three of the largest and best media companies in the world, NASCAR will meet the growing nationwide fan demand for more NASCAR content into the next decade," Glover said.

NASCAR expands its relationship with News Corp as FOX becomes the official home of the Daytona 500. FOX's broadcast agreements for the NFL playoffs, the Super Bowl, the Bowl Championship Series and American Idol provide an excellent opportunity for cross promotion around the Daytona 500 held each year in mid-February. The deal also includes a brand-new comprehensive multi-media distribution program which includes Internet, wireless and broadband platforms.

"FOX is extremely excited to extend its relationship with NASCAR for another eight years, and come 2007 be known as the official television home of the Daytona 500, by far the most watched auto race in this country," said FOX Sports President Ed Goren. "Our production team has done an amazing job over the last five years to put NASCAR broadcasts on par with America's most popular sports, and we look forward to pushing the production envelope further as we move forward."

SPEED will increase NASCAR programming as the continuing exclusive home for the Craftsman Truck Series as well as the new home for the Gatorade Duels, Nextel Cup Series Pit Crew Challenge and Nextel Cup Series All-Star Challenge.

"This new television package solidifies the evolution of NASCAR TV on SPEED," said Hunter Nickell, SPEED executive vice president and general manager. "Building on our signature Daytona Speedweeks coverage, the viewership growth of the Craftsman Truck Series since moving to SPEED and the success of popular SPEED programs like NASCAR This Morning, Trackside and Inside Nextel Cup, the network is excited to have the opportunity to elevate fan-favorite events, including the Gatorade Duels, the Nextel Cup Series Pit Crew Challenge and the Nextel Cup Series All-Star Challenge."

ABC and ESPN will provide comprehensive coverage of NASCAR on their numerous outlets. The final 17 Nextel Cup Series events will be broadcast on ABC or ESPN with the last 10, the Chase for the Nextel Cup, on ABC. All Busch Series races will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN or ESPN 2. In addition, ESPN will bring NASCAR coverage to its full suite of media including its cable TV networks, ESPN360, Mobile ESPN, ESPN.com and affiliated international networks throughout the world.

"This agreement totally embraces NASCAR's multimedia future," said George Bodenheimer, ESPN Inc. and ABC Sports president and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks. "NASCAR is a strong and growing property, and the ESPN of the 21st century -- an array of new media platforms and content outlets reaching fans wherever and however they consume sports -- will take the sport to even higher levels of exposure and growth.

"ABC Sports first exposed sports fans to the racing excitement of NASCAR in the 1960s, and ESPN and the sport grew up together in the 1980s and '90s. Our tradition is rich, and our future is bright. To NASCAR, its drivers and fans we say, 'Welcome back."

"NASCAR thanks NBC for its stellar coverage and commitment to the sport for the past five years and looks forward to another great year in 2006," Glover concluded.

About the agreements:

Beginning in 2007, each NASCAR season will be launched on FOX with the telecast of the Daytona 500. FOX will also carry NASCAR "Speedweeks" events including the Budweiser Shootout and Daytona Pole Qualifying. FOX will also broadcast the 12 Nextel Cup races following the Daytona 500.

TNT will broadcast six consecutive Nextel Cup Series races (races 14 through 19).

The final 17 Nextel Cup Series points races will be broadcast on ABC or ESPN. The final 10 races, the Chase for the Nextel Cup, will be broadcast on ABC. The Busch Series will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN or ESPN 2, with no less than four events on ABC.

SPEED will be home to the Craftsman Truck Series with the exception of two events, which will be broadcast by FOX.

Nextel Cup Series qualifying practice and "happy hours" will be broadcast on a combination of SPEED Channel, ESPN and ESPN2.

SPEED will broadcast the Gatorade Duels held each year during "Speedweeks" to determine part of the Daytona 500 starting order.

SPEED will also broadcast the Nextel Cup Series All-Star Challenge and its companion all-star event, the Nextel Cup Series Pit Crew Challenge.

ESPN will launch specially NASCAR-branded news and information programming.

All broadcast partners will have new interactive rights, special "season preview" and "season end review" programming rights and other ancillary content.

NASCAR fans will be able to receive NASCAR coverage from an expanded range of outlets including highlights and live streaming, content from and on each network's Web pages, datacasts and newly-developed multimedia programming.

http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/official/12/07/tv_deal/index.html

fredfa

12-07-05, 02:38 PM

Sports On TV
NASCAR Revs UP TV Rights Fees

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable
NASCAR is getting a nearly 40% boost in rights fees from its new TV package. As expected, for eight years beginning in 2007, Fox Sports, TNT and ABC/ESPN will split the NASCAR Nextel Cup season.

The three deals are worth nearly $4.5 billion over eight years, up nearly 40% from the $400 million annual price tag on the current eight-year deal that expires after the 2006 season, which was shared by Fox and a partnership between NBC and TNT.

Sources close to the networks put ABC/ESPN’s portion of the deal at $270 million annually, Fox’s at $208 million and TNT’s at $80-$85 million.

Fox Sports returns as a partner and will carry the first 13 Nextel Cup races of each season.

While that number is down from 17 races in the current deal, Fox was awarded rights to carry the season-opening Daytona 500 every year.

The Daytona race previously switched back and forth between Fox and NBC each year. The deal also includes cable network Speed Channel picking up additional programming.

Turner’s deal puts six consecutive races per year on TNT from 2007 to 2014, continuing the cable network’s relationship with NASCAR, which began in 1984.

Turner’s six races will fall between Fox’s first portion of the TV schedule and Disney’s coverage of the end of the season.

As part of the new deal, TNT will use its own production and talent teams. In the current deal, it partners with NBC for the second half of the NASCAR season, sharing talent and production costs.

Turner’s deal also includes new-media rights, including the ability to distribute highlights across the Time Warner family of properties.

The ABC/ESPN will give the Disney networks the final 17 Nextel Cup races annually, including the last 10 races of the season that make up the “playoffs” known as the “Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.” ABC will carry at least 11 of the races, with ESPN picking up the others. The entire “Chase” will be on ABC.

Disney also gets multimedia rights including simulcasts and highlights on all new-media platforms, as well as opportunities for interactive television and e-commerce.

The wide-ranging deal also includes exclusive TV rights to the affiliated minor-league Busch series, as well as other programming including a daily news show and a reality series.

fredfa

12-07-05, 02:50 PM

Turner Withdraws Bid For NFL Games

Turner Broadcasting Senior VP/Communications Greg Hughes said that Turner “‘withdrew’ its bid Tuesday for a proposed new television package of late-season Thursday and Saturday night games being shopped by the NFL to various networks,” according to Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Constitution.

fredfa

12-07-05, 04:21 PM

CRS Study Pans Cable Indecency Rules

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com

Applying broadcast indecency rules to cable would likely violate the First Amendment, according to a nonpublic research report recently released by the Congressional Research Service.

Broadcast rules enforced by the Federal Communications Commission would, in theory, require cable to ban indecent content from 6 a.m.-10 p.m. In 2000, the Supreme Court struck down indecency regulation of sexually explicit cable channels in a case involving Playboy Channel.

In the 14-page study, the CRS concluded that in the wake of the Playboy decision, "It appears likely that a court would find that to apply the FCC's indecency restriction to cable television would be unconstitutional."

As the public-policy arm of Congress, the CRS prepares reports for the exclusive use of Capitol Hill lawmakers and committee personnel. Its work is confidential and nonpartisan.

The Dec. 1, 2005 cable indecency report was posted on a Web site sponsored by the Center for Democracy & Technology in an effort to broaden public circulation of CRS reports.

In a bid to reach a compromise with Congress and the FCC, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association offered to let legislation pass that would apply broadcast indecency rules to cable's basic and expanded-basic tiers on condition that the law not take effect until the courts had upheld its constitutionality. The proposal did not gain much traction on Capitol Hill.

In its analysis questioning a cable indecency law, the CRS said courts would demand that the law serve a compelling state interest and represent the least restrictive means of advancing that interest.

"It seems uncertain whether the [Supreme] Court would find that denying minors access to ‘indecent’ material on cable television would constitute a compelling governmental interest," the CRS said.

In the past, the courts have said that shielding children from pornography was a compelling state interest. The CRS said cable indecency regulation was problematic because "not all indecent material is sexually explicit."

The CRS said the Supreme Court might accept that the 6 a.m.-10 p.m. ban was the least-restrictive means but still strike down the law as a First Amendment violation because the government "may not reduce the adult population … to … only what is fit for children."

The CRS added that its analysis also applied to direct-broadcast satellite providers.

An NCTA spokesman declined to comment on the CRS study. Last week, NCTA president Kyle McSlarrow told the Senate Commerce Committee that indecency regulation of cable was unconstitutional under Supreme Court precedents.

------------------------------------------------

Note: You can read the entire study here:

http://opencrs.com/rpts/RL33170_20051201.pdf

fredfa

12-07-05, 04:58 PM

An observation about the above story.

(But first, in the interest of full dislcosure, I am sure most of you know that I think la carte cable/dba/telco delivery is very desirable.)

I am a big fan of MultiChannel News. Its coverage of the cable industry is extensive, and often its in-depth stories have information you can't easily find anything else.

That being said, it sometimes, at least, gives the impression that it prefers to report news with a decided slant toward what cable operators want to hear.

In my mind, the story above falls into that category. (I am still waiting, for example, in the MultiChannel News coverage, for any mention of Charles Dolan saying he is in favor of a la carte.)

As with anything else on the net, read stories on this thread with a skeptical eye and always consider the point of view of the source material.

That is one reason I try to post several (some would say far too many!) articles covering the same basic information. The more points of view you can consider, the more likely you are to come to a decision based on fact and not just someone else's opinion.

End of lecture. :)

fredfa

12-07-05, 05:02 PM

Does that mean we can finally stop hearing these people cry about what's on TV?!

Well, they would be hard pressed to argue that they can't find a family-friendly tier of programs.

And the solution has been (relatively easily) available to cable operators for a long time.

But they see it as an inevitable first step toward a la carte, which they (with the exception of Egren at Dish, Dolan and Cablevision, and some of the telcos) are totally opposing.

On the other hand, those opposed to what they consider "indecent" probably will always moan about it, no matter how it is delivered.

fredfa

12-07-05, 05:05 PM

Good a la carte ammo.

You and I read that the same way, CP.

And maybe the FCC will just follow the precedent it set in the NewsCorp/DirecTV case where it made delivery of NewsCorp programming on a non discriminatory basis a condition for approval of the takeover.

If it extended that porecedent in this case, that could free up Comcast RSNs -- specifically in Philadelphia but with more apparently to come -- for DBS carriage.

fredfa

12-07-05, 05:55 PM

Ratings News
'Charlie Brown' Wins Big

By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com December 7, 2005

ABC's Dec. 6 40th anniversary rebroadcast of the animated holiday classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas" won the 8 p.m. (ET) hour in total viewers, all key adult demographics, teens and kids.

"Charlie Brown" garnered 15.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research fast affiliate ratings, and a 5.5 rating in adults 18 to 49. The special, which began airing on ABC in 2001, had its best network delivery ever in viewers and the demo and outperformed its nearest time period competition, CBS's "NCIS," by 1.1 million viewers and by 62 percent in adults 18 to 49 (5.5 versus 3.4).

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9014

fredfa

12-07-05, 06:10 PM

This, despite the fact is in SD, looks like it might be worth putting on the TiVo or DVR.....

A Critical View:
'Epitafios'

A Killer Is on the Loose, and the Message Is Clear

By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times

How is an Argentine detective series different from all the rest?

Everybody smokes. And nobody calls for backup.

"Epitafios," (HBO Signature, tonight at 9PM ET/PT), a 13-episode mystery that begins tonight on HBO Signature in Spanish with English subtitles, is film noir with a tango beat: even when a deranged killer is holding a police detective hostage, the cops saunter to the rescue.

This is a stylish thriller, self-consciously so - dark, moody, suspenseful and more than a little silly. But it is also addictive and hard to resist. The story begins with a headless corpse and keeps twisting itself around a bizarre trail of murders, creepy subplots and byzantine personal relationships.

The hero is Renzo (Julio Chávez), a depressive former detective turned taxi driver whose reasons for quitting the police force are revealed in grainy flashbacks: a few years earlier, he bungled a hostage negotiation, accidentally causing the death of four teenagers who were being held captive by a disgruntled teacher, Santiago Peñalver (Luis Machin). Renzo, who is small and slightly balding, is not a typical romantic lead, but he has sad, brooding eyes (and open shirts) that suggest a Latin version of Jean-Louis Trintignant.

His former partner, Benítez (Lito Cruz), calls Renzo as soon as he finds the dismembered body, which was ritually laid out next to two open graves: one with Benítez's name on it, the other, with Renzo's and that of Laura Santini (Paola Krum), a beautiful psychiatrist who was treating Peñalver when he launched his killing spree.

Perhaps unwisely, given the doctor's track record, Renzo became Laura's patient to deal with his post-traumatic stress, and fell in love with her. She returned his passion (transference, schmanference) but remained loyal to her husband and child.

The three are brought together again by the serial killer, who seems intent on exacting slow, torturous revenge on them for their collective role in the death of the teenagers. He commits a string of grisly murders that are all somehow connected to the original crime and then taunts Renzo and Laura with menacing words delivered over the phone through a voice-scrambling device.

Yet when Laura first looks over the crime scene where the police found the headless body, she is impressed, deducing that the killer is "sensitive, with a sense of elegance." She adds, "He created a symbolic space full of metaphors and symbols."

And unlike the police, the killer seems to be everywhere - leaving a chilling message scrawled on a balloon of Laura's young son, setting fire to lighter-fluid outlines of dead bodies outside the door of the elderly school administrator whose refusal to give the teacher more money may have set off his crackup. Still, the psychopath is not without a lighter side. To get in the proper homicidal mood, he plays the "Toreador Song" from "Carmen."

"Epitafios" is the first dramatic series produced by HBO for the Latin American market. It was so popular there that HBO decided to show it to North American viewers. And Buenos Aires is a good place to start. Argentina has a long, rich tradition in detective novels, notably several novels by Jorge Luis Borges. But except perhaps for the torpid pace of law enforcement, there is not much that is distinctively Argentinian about "Epitafios." (One of the few identifiable landmarks is Recoleta Cemetery, where Evita Perón is buried.)

The plot unfolds in abandoned houses; dark, empty streets; and solitary apartments in a major city, a rolling landscape of neon and skyscrapers that could be any place where smoking is permitted. The hero doesn't even eat steak; he lives with his elderly father, who prepares pasta with tomato sauce for dinner. It's a lack of specificity that matches the series's sinister, enigmatic tone. "Epitafios" is foreign in the best sense of the word, strange and strangely familiar without being predictable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/07/arts/television/07stan.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-07-05, 06:19 PM

The a la carte debate:
Study: 'A La Carte' Programming Offers Potential Value to Consumers and Operators

(BearingPoint press release)

MCLEAN, Va., Dec. 7 -- The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) recent decision suggesting that consumers should be able to buy cable channels individually through "a la carte" pricing holds a silver lining for cable and satellite TV service providers, says Gerard Keane, a managing director with BearingPoint, Inc., a leading global management and technology consulting firm.

"'A la carte' programming is an inevitable and natural evolution for multichannel operators based on commoditization and customization trends in other industries, as well as from the possible competition from Internet protocol TV (IPTV)," said Keane. "The move could lead to more efficient programming, re-negotiating channel fees, improving market segmentation, as well the opportunity to enter other revenue areas including voice-over IP (VoIP), high speed data, and targeted interactive advertising."

Keane believes multichannel television operators, such as cable TV and satellite TV operators, should also strongly consider launching mobile converged services, or "quad play" opportunities to exploit "a la carte" programming and bring their service directly to individual user devices such as personal computers, cell phones or PDAs.

http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?CCT=SPITVN.story&STORY=/www/story/12-07-2005/0004229679&EDATE=WED+Dec+07+2005,+11:09+AM

keenan

12-07-05, 06:22 PM

This, despite the fact is in SD, looks like it might be worth putting on the TiVo or DVR.....

A Critical View:
'Epitafios'

This does look interesting but I wonder if it is going to be letterboxed. Whenever possible I scale SD sources to fill a 16x9 screen, but with sub-titles I may lose them when scaled. I guess I will find out tonight.

fredfa

12-07-05, 06:29 PM

No new “Arrested” episodes for FX

Kay McFadden of the Seattle Times reports this afternoon that new episodes of “Arrested Development” will not air on FX, as had been widely hoped for by the series’ fans.

The reason, McFadden reports after talking about the possibility with an FX official, is simple: the series is “too expensive”.

As McFadden notes: “An episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" costs about $400,000 an episode; "Arrested Development" costs four to five times as much.”

PJO1966

12-07-05, 06:31 PM

Now new “Arrested” on FX

Kay McFadden of the Seattle Times reports this afternoon that new episodes of “Arrested Development” will not air on FX, as had been widely hoped for by the series’ fans.

The reason, McFadden reports after talking about the possibility with an FX official, is simple: the series is “too expensive”.

As McFadden notes: “An episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" costs about $400,000 an episode; "Arrested Development" costs four to five times as much.”

I think you meant "No new", not "Now new".

fredfa

12-07-05, 06:45 PM

An online Q&A
What do you love or hate this fall on TV?

Q&A with Kay & Pam: TV sweeps

Seattle Times TV critic Kay McFadden and Serattle Times TV Addict writer Pamela Sitt answered questions during a wide-raning live lunchtime Q&A Wednesday, Dec. 7th.

Here is an edited version of their session:

Thanks to all who participated!

Hi guys, how do you feel about "Nip/Tuck," one of the most racy and daring shows on TV in terms of sex, gore and black humor/drama content? I thought its writing improved considerably in its second season, but has tapered off a little in its third. — Peter, Seattle

Kay McFadden: "Nip/Tuck" always has been predicated on pushing the envelope. In earlier seasons, that was accomplished through finding new angles in people and relationships. Now, however, creator Sean Ryan is relying on external gimmicks -- and they're growing outlandish and unbelievable. The action seems to be disconnecting from the characters. I agree with your perception of third-season "tapering off."

Pam: I lost interest in the Carver storyline, and the thought of Christian getting married makes me want to cry my eyes out.
________________________________________

Something's bugging me. Why are all these sitcoms and shows developed for Freddie Prinze Jr. — and none of them is ever any good — but his incredibly talented wife, Sarah Michelle Geller, is unemployed? She's more than proven she can carry a great show. What the heck is UP with that? — Laurie K., Seattle

Kay: Well, Sarah made it clear after "Buffy" that she was ready for movies and not interested in another TV series. That kinda leaves it up to Freddie — who's actually a much smarter guy than his TV characters turn out to be. I can't figure out how Freddie became "Freddie."
________________________________________

Pam, I seem to remember you're a big "Gilmore Girls" fan. But I feel like this season it's kind of treading water. Now Luke has a kid? Where do you think the show is going? I'm still committed but I don't love it as much as I did last year. Waaah! — Sallie T., Redmond

Pamela Sitt: I think the season got off to a slow start because of the Lorelai/Rory separation. But since they made up and Rory is back at Yale, things are picking up. The Luke having a kid thing makes me nervous, but so did Lorelai having a dog at first and now I love Paul Anka.
________________________________________

One of my favorite new shows this season has been "How I Met Your Mother"? While it hasn't gotten the critical acclaim of "Earl" or "Chris," I really feel that it's a great sitcom with funny writing and wonderful characters. Am I off base or has it slipped under the radar? (also Neal Patrick Harris' character is absolutely hilarious). — Frank, Seattle

Kay: It got critical acclaim from me, but I see your point. My sense is that many critics automatically look for something edgy and "How I Met Your Mother" is more of a classic sitcom. But Neil Patrick Harris ("Doogie" forever!) actually has gotten quite a bit of buzz. He made Entertainment Weekly's list of break-out stars this fall.

Pam: Barney rules. Suit up!
________________________________________

I'm a fan of the big three new sci-fi shows that the networks put out this year. I've heard that Invasion and Surface have been at least picked up for a full season. Is there any way "Threshold" could still be saved? — Jonathan, Issaquah

Kay: I'm afraid not. "Threshold" was pretty expensive to produce and CBS feels it gave the show a good shot in two different time slots. Too bad.

And I think we have to still wonder if ABC's equally pricey "Invasion" will make it past this season. My hunch is it would do better separated from "Lost" and put on another night. Right now, it's a little too much of the same thing.

As to "Surface," NBC seems to be happy with its Monday night lineup and that show's performance -- partly because fourth-place NBC has slightly lower expectations these days.
________________________________________

Kinda unrelated to what you're talking about, but I would appreciate your advice. Should I get TiVo? Is it worth it? — Soula, Portland

Pam: YES. TiVo changed my life. And the remote makes a pleasant bubble-popping noise.
________________________________________

I love "Arrested Development"! Are there going to be new episodes, or is it going to be canceled? It doesn't seem to be getting the air time it deserves.
— Michelle Johnson, Seattle

Kay: Fox never announces cancellations — the shows just kind of disappear from the schedule. But I do know Fox just cut this season's "Arrested Development" episode order from 22 to 13. By my count, that means you'd better revel in the last couple of episodes this December. Alas.
________________________________________

About this time last year I asked about the potential fate of three of my favorite shows, "The Wire," "Arrested Development," and "Veronica Mars." Since then "The Wire' was picked up for a fourth season and "AD" got the axe, but I haven't heard anything about "VM's" potential for a third season...any news? — Chris, San Antonio

Pam: No official word from UPN until May, but it seems likely "Veronica Mars" will return since it's one of the few buzzworthy shows the network has. I just hope they move it to a friendlier timeslot because right now it is wreaking havoc on my Wednesday nights!
________________________________________

I have to be honest: I don't recall the reviews either of you gave to "Related." The first few episodes seemed confused, (perhaps trying to be a "Sex In The City" ripoff?) with little character development. But lately the writing seems to have improved immensely, and the recent Thanksgiving dinner episode with flashbacks to Dana Delany as the sisters' late mother was one of the finest examples of quality episodic TV I have seen in a couple of years. Have either of you revisited the show (which seems to be slowly, very slowly, getting slightly better ratings lately)?
— Fred, Los Angeles

Kay: Hey, Fred, your take reads like my review. This series was oddly scattered out of the gate, but by Episode 3 had become a firmly updated tribute to family series like "Eight Is Enough." My bet is The WB will give it a ride for the rest of the season. And ain't it great that the SOAP-net channel's decision this fall to re-run the prematurely canceled Fox series "Pasadena" has reminded network casting executives of Dana Delany's talent?
________________________________________

I can't believe that "Arrested Development" gets less viewers than any one showing of a show on FX ("The Shield," "Rescue Me") or, for that matter, cost more per episode. Why couldn't Fox move "AD" to FX and show it numerous times, at least to give us a full season 3? — Larry Davenport, Seattle

Kay: I think that's a brilliant idea. Or how about HBO or Comedy Central, both places where edgy, anti-nice comedies have comfortable homes? Seriously: I'll ask Fox president Peter Liguori, who used to be president of "FX," about this possibility when I see him in January.
________________________________________

What do you ladies like for kids shows — ones that grownups won't barf while watching (please, please don't say "Bratz"). Is "SpongeBob" the only one out there? — Pat Schmidt, Seattle

Kay: Pat — I need a little more information here because (as you know) there's such a vast difference between two-year-olds versus four-year-olds versus six-year-olds. And "SpongeBob" doesn't quite clear up the picture because I watch it. What age is your child?
________________________________________

Re: "How I Met Your Mother." I love the show but wish they would drop the opening set in the future. I would rather not know at the end of the episode that the girl Ted goes out with is NOT the future mother of his kids. What do you think? — Larry Davenport, Seattle

Pam: I like hearing Bob Saget's soothing Dad voice. I think it would be funnier if Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were the kids.
________________________________________

I saw a preview saying that "Scrubs" was coming back. I've always thought it was a brilliant show but still wildly underrated. I'm a little confused as to why a tanking NBC would push it to the winter break when it was a moderately successful rates keeper. — Garrett, Bellevue

Kay: Amen, brother! The short answer is that NBC is tanking precisely because it doesn't support some of its better shows, apparently preferring crap like "The Apprentice" and "Joey," which got twice as much promotion as either "Scrubs" or "West Wing."

On the other hand, at least "Scrubs" is coming back.
________________________________________

What's the longest amount of time either of you have gone without watching TV? Be honest. — Tom, Seattle

Kay: I go every year to a swing dance camp in New Hampshire that has no TV, which I usually follow with a little touring through New England. So -- two weeks is my answer, unless an errant glance in a Boston sports bar turns me into a pillar of salt.

Pam: When I was growing up in the country and my parents made me read books instead of watch TV. Mean!
________________________________________

If you worked at ABC, what would you do to fix either "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" or both? Also I love "My Name Is Earl," so why aren't more people doing sophisticated sitcoms? — Sam Southern, Seattle

Kay: The S.S. "Housewives" may be OK again when creator Marc Cherry returns. Meanwhile, the series desperately (ha!) needs depth in its characters. The cartoonishness of these ladies was fun when the show was a spoof — now that it's morphed into soapy melodrama, it requires more psychological dimension. Felicity Huffman manages convey this with acting alone, but the rest of the team needs and deserves support from the writers.

Pam: The storylines on "Housewives" give me whiplash. The characters have all become caricatures of themselves. It's exhausting to watch. I think "Lost" is in danger of spreading itself too thin with the introduction of the Tailies. Both shows need to just calm down.

Kay: In other words, perhaps there's no way to fix "Lost," because it's succumbing to its own many-splendored premise.
________________________________________

Who do you consider to be the best anchor people working now — whether on the national broadcasts, cable news or locally? Do you have favorites? — Josh Bell, Seattle

Kay:, I'm partial to Soledad O'Brien of CNN, who is quick on her feet as an interviewer, an excellent synthesizer of news and a genuinely warm human being. Sounds awfully basic, but seldom does the combination comes together. Other faves are Lou Dobbs of CNN, CBS's Bob Schieffer, Fox News' Shepard Smith and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who's really a pundit. But good.

Had you asked me this question six months ago, my unhesitating answer would have been ABC's Peter Jennings. He had a global point of view and an unsurpassed ability to analyze — along with arrogance and good looks. I'm now sort of waiting to see how NBC's Brian Williams and others settle in without a hurricane to cover.
________________________________________

Katie Couric — pro or con? — Ursula K., Seattle

Kay: Not a fan, but what do I know? "Today" has been a ratings leader for a decade. Clearly it has something to do with Katie Couric — perhaps her non-threatening, girl-next-door, I'm-just-like-anyone-who-makes-$17-million-a-year persona.

Pam: Ew. Con.
________________________________________

How did cable TV news get so shrill? Where do you see all that madness going in the next, say 5 years? — Terri Poe, Seattle

Kay: I think cable TV news has a more seismic reaction to whatever trends are sweeping the country. When rude political discourse was the order of the land, it followed suit. Now, viewers are enthusiastic about all the verbal hand-wringing from coverage of Hurricane Katrina, so we're seeing a rise in emotive types like Anderson Cooper.

Why is cable like this and not network news? The average amount of time a viewer watches any given stretch of cable news is 12 minutes. It's like some forlorn kind that doesn't get enough love and has to scream for attention.
________________________________________

Best bonding shows to watch with relatives over the holidays? My wife and daughters do "Gilmore Girls" but what else, for guys, for older parents? — Bob Tyler, Seattle

Pam: For guys: "Entourage." You can get the first season on DVD and the second might still be on HBO On Demand. That show almost makes me want to be a dude.

Kay: I love "Entourage," but I'm not sure my dad and grandfather would bond over it. Now "Curb Your Enthusiasm," yes — if your male relatives are as ornery as mine. And I find that men actually bond over a lot of those CBS police procedurals that feature the older head of the squad and some younger dudes: "Without A Trace," "NCIS."
________________________________________

America is demanding an exit date and strategy. No, not for the war in Iraq — for PARIS HILTON. Why did she deserve a TV show to begin with? Please, networks of America, have a heart and cancel her forever. — Tim Bonder, Seattle

Pam: Bad news, Tim. Paris and Nicole's "The Simple Life" just got picked up for a fourth season on E! The wife swap-style premise is subtitled "Till Death Do Us Part," so I'm hopeful that indicates some kind of fight to the death between the former BFFs, and then it will be over once and for all.

________________________________________

Favorite guilty pleasure TV, girls? — Peter Bowlen, Kirkland

Pam: MTV's "Laguna Beach." I'm not even ashamed anymore. And "Gastineau Girls," which just started its second season on E!

Kay: Bull-riding on Outdoor Life Network. Seriously.
________________________________________

My favorite dinner and party game is to play "Who's the most annoying person on TV?" I'm curious what you ladies would respond to that. My own answers change a lot, especially since Doris Roberts THANKFULLY left the air, but Nancy Grace is right up there, along with those nitwits who are living with Hugh Hefner. Do you have any personal "worsts"?
— Viviane, West Seattle

Kay: You must throw big parties indeed with a game like that. Who doesn't have an annoying TV person?
Nancy Grace is only No. 2 on my list. She's surpassed by MSNBC's hyperventilating, thought-interrupted news anchor Rita Cosby, whose voice patterns seem to have been separated at birth from that handicapped kid on "Malcolm in the Middle." But Ms. Cosby is not playing it for laughs and not projecting as much intelligence.

Pam: Star Jones. 'Nuff said.
________________________________________

If you could fix public television, what would you do? There are some great shows buried there but if I see Peter, Paul and Mary or that bloody Roy Orbison special again, I'll scream and NEVER renew. — Roberto P., Seattle

Kay: Nationally, PBS faces the big challenge of gradually letting go its age 60-plus viewer base and trying to find new audiences. It seems to work best with news and information programs like "Nova" and "Frontline," but the network just hasn't figured out how to do pure entertainment for people that don't want to sing along with the Bee Gees.
________________________________________
For my money, "The Office" is the best show on TV. I hear NBC is moving it (and "Earl") to Thursday. I'm hoping both make it, and don't end up like Arrested Development in the great shows that no one watches heap. Thoughts? — CD, Seattle

Kay: My thought is that NBC should have moved "Earl" and "The Office" to the 8 and 8:30 slots Thursday rather than pit them against "CSI" at 9 p.m. Who'd miss "Joey" and (at this point) "Will & Grace?"
________________________________________

I actually like those police procedurals but what I don't get is the appeal of the gory ones — like "CSI" and worse. Why do you think people watch that and sacrifice plot, character, etc? — George Rasa, Woodinville

Kay: I think we live in an age where technology has insulated us from so much that is physical, people are turning to gory TV for the visceral sensation. But there never is a good reason to sacrifice plot and character; I just won't watch or recommend those shows. I find "Without A Trace" infinitely superior to "CSI" for that very reason.
________________________________________

Whatever happened to Roseanne? You always see her in magazines as kind of a professionally unemployed celebrity. But her show was great. Why isn't she back on TV? — Wendy Rochman, Seattle

Kay: Roseanne's last TV effort, a syndicated series, failed. The great TV show "Roseanne" just may have been that once-in-a-lifetime convergence of fine writing and a talent at her peak. It really is rare to have more than one hit. P.S. I love "professionally unemployed celebrity." If there was such a job as "professionally unemployed columnist" that paid, I'd wear the badge proudly.
________________________________________

What do you think the chances are of the Roddenberry estate flogging "Star Trek" one more time?
— Janine Fallows, Seattle

Kay: I'd say they are excellent, especially since Brannon Braga is out of work with the cancellation of "Threshold."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2002660655_qa_tvsweeps07.html

fredfa

12-07-05, 06:46 PM

I think you meant "No new", not "Now new".

No.
Thanks for pointing it out!

fredfa

12-07-05, 06:48 PM

This does look interesting but I wonder if it is going to be letterboxed. Whenever possible I scale SD sources to fill a 16x9 screen, but with sub-titles I may lose them when scaled. I guess I will find out tonight.

I agree Jim. Without reading some of the reviews -- the guy from the Miami Herald was effusive with his praise -- I never would have considered watching it. But it does sound very proimising, especially in a month devoid of much except reruns and holiday shows.

PJO1966

12-07-05, 06:50 PM

No.
Thanks for pointing it out!

Just trying to keep you on your toes!

fredfa

12-07-05, 07:07 PM

In case you missed it….
VS Fashion Show: Agan

UPN to Air Victoria Secret's Fashion Show

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com DECEMBER 07, 2005 -

UPN on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 9 PM ET/PT will air the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which was originally broadcast on sister network CBS on Tuesday.

The broadcast produced a solid 3.8 rating in the adult 18-49 demo on CBS. The rebroadcast will lead out of UPN's America's Next Top Model, targeting a similar audience.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001656276

fredfa

12-07-05, 07:12 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Brett Butler Is A Hoot on 'My Name Is Earl'

It's way too early to be handicapping Emmy nominations, but that's not gonna stop me from saying Brett Butler earned one last night for her hilarious guest-starring spot on ”My Name Is Earl”.

I hadn't seen the former ”Grace Under Fire” star for a long time, so I was a bit surprised to see how much weight she had gained -- especially in her face. To be honest, I didn't even recognize her at first.

But the Southern twang was unmistakable. Despite the added pounds, however, it was immediately obvious that Butler hadn't lost her comedic touch. She was a stitch as Joy's scheming mom.

Now we know why Joy is the way she is.

"Don't judge me!" is all Joy's loopy mom kept pleading as she stole Earl's new car, lied about needing a wheelchair and hid her insatiable gambling habit from her equally duplicitous hubby who, we later learned, has a down low thang for ample-rear sistas.

Well, Joy's mom may not have wanted to be judged, but I'm more than ready to judge Butler's kooky performance.

It was top-notch. A laugh-out-loud hoot.

Let's hope we haven't seen the last of Joy's fiendishly funny mom.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2005/12/its_way_too_ear.html

fredfa

12-07-05, 07:17 PM

Critic’s Notebook
35 years of Safer's finest hours

By Verne Gay Newsday Staff Writer December 8, 2005

These days when the subject turns to TV news, a terrifically popular word heard frequently is "transition." This means: "Pushing the old guys out for the new guys." Transition is everywhere, and there's no need to recite the list again. But what makes this particular day unique is that one of the best, rarest - and let's be honest, most senior - of TV birds will celebrate his 35th anniversary on "60 Minutes." And while there is some "transition" in Morley Safer's life, it's not of the variety that will toss him out the door.

Of course, Safer - who just turned 74 - is not the force he once was. His longtime producer and right-hand man, Johnny Tiffin, retired some years ago. He's down to about eight pieces a year for "60" and six for "Sunday Morning." He's certainly far from being the world-class traveler he once was (a recent piece on McMansions drew him no further than a couple points south of Manhattan).

While Safer chokes on the word "retirement" as though it were a poorly executed dish of celery root rémoulade - he does remain a world-class gourmand - he also speaks of stepping away from the show for a period of time. He wants to write another book (his only other, "Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam," was published in 1990), and he may do a fellowship. "A year and a half ago," he says, "I decided that for a couple of reasons, I'd like to cut back while I still had the legs and my brain was still ticking." He says he might also leave "60" "for a couple months and do a fellowship in either Italy, Germany or Britain."

Of the possible book: "I really wanted to be able to step back and think about what else I want to do ... . There is that germ in all of us to do something that's more substantial, that might last a little longer than the ephemeral stuff we do for television."

For Canadian-born Safer, another book should present no problem, at least in theory. Even before joining "60 Minutes" on Dec. 8, 1970, he was one of network TV's pre-eminent correspondents, who had two tours of duty for CBS News in Vietnam. After opening the network's first Saigon bureau in 1965, Safer promptly established a secure spot for himself in TV history with the report on Marines burning the thatched roofs of villagers' huts in Cam Ne with Zippo lighters. That was one of TV news' first openly critical stories on the war and would earn the messenger the everlasting enmity of President Lyndon Johnson. Safer and producer Joe Wershba would also famously produce the 1971 piece "What Really Happened at the Gulf of Tonkin?," which suggested the United States and Johnson had trumped up a 1964 attack on two destroyers as a pretext to launch the war. His 1983 story, "Lenell Geter's in Jail," led to the release of an engineer wrongly convicted for armed robbery; "60's" longtime exec producer, Don Hewitt, would often call that piece "'60 Minutes' finest hour."

In the years since, the Safer style evolved into something more observational than confrontational. It is also a wry style that is most often defined by an economy of words - an arched eyebrow here or the slightest of smiles there that are worth a hundred, or a thousand words. It is impossible to imagine "60 Minutes" without them.

Safer says of this style that he would rather "talk to people" than talk about them, and that "I'm a little fed up from watching television with people screaming at times and then holding back their tears while bearing witness to some national disgrace. That kind of overengagement drives me a little nuts, like on Katrina. I'm not suggesting that people weren't touched beyond measure, but then they made a racket of being touched beyond measure."

Safer's work from Vietnam helped erect the current wall in Iraq between the press and the military. Safer says that, despite the restrictions, "reporters are doing a terrific job, but it's a story they can't cover." He notes that the publishers and networks "didn't question the war and the premises of the war early on, [so] the real dereliction" was by them. "I would," he adds, "include us , sure."

Maybe there's your book, Morley.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel4542339dec08,0,3200039,print.column?coll=ny-television-headlines

fredfa

12-07-05, 07:24 PM

Ratings Notes
“Triangle” Scores Again For Sci Fi

THE TRIANGLE' BUILDS ON NIGHT ONE RATINGS WIN

(NBC Universal Press Release)

NEW YORK, NY--December 7, 2005--Night Two of SCI FI Channel's Original Miniseries “The Triangle” averaged a 3.7HH rating and 4.3 million viewers (P2+) in its 9-11pm block, growing +8% in P25-54s and +2% in HH ratings from Monday's premiere. Night Two of ;The Triangle; surpassed Night One's record-setting ratings win, and is the highest-rated program to air on SCI FI since the December 2003 finale of the Channel's 'Battlestar Galactica' miniseries. The highly anticipated final installment of 'The Triangle' airs tonight at 9pm PM ET/PT..

• 'The Triangle' was the #1 program on cable Tuesday in HH ratings, P2+ audience delivery and for the second consecutive night SCI FI was tops in cable prime (8pm-11pm) for P25-54s in ratings and delivery.

• For the second night in a row, 'The Triangle' delivered more total viewers than any program on the WB and UPN.

• SCI FI bested an original airing of FX's 'Nip/Tuck' by nearly 1.3 million viewers (4.3 million vs. 3 million P2+). 'The Triangle' also out did 'Nip/Tuck' in HH ratings (3.7 HH vs. 2.6 HH) and P25-54 (2.5 million vs. 2.0 million).

fredfa

12-07-05, 08:00 PM

If you have watched or even become a fan of this sweet TV show, you might want to check out the finale this Friday: (You might also note that, as is the custom in network PR, the fact that the show is airing its final new episode is never mentioned in the release.)

A very Special “Three Wishes” Finale

(NBC Press Release)

BURBANK, Calif. -– December 7, 2005 –- NBC's "Three Wishes" will give an aspiring actress, a wanna-be astronaut and a 10-year-old boy who wishes to be Bill Gates for the day the chance to experience their dream jobs in a special episode airing Friday, December 9 (9-10 PM ET/PT).

The "Three Wishes" team – Amy Grant, Carter Oosterhouse, Eric Stromer and Diane Mizota – grants ten-year-old Kiyaan a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet his hero and inspiration -- Bill Gates -- and the chance to try doing his job. Kiyaan, who lives in Simi Valley, CA and recently did a report at school about the Microsoft Chairman, gets to visit with Gates and to step into his shoes at Microsoft for the day at the company's Redmond, WA headquarters.

Eighteen-year-old Jenna, who recently moved to Hollywood from Marshall, MI, refuses to let the physical challenges brought on by scoliosis keep her from her dream of pursuing an acting career. Her dream comes true when "Three Wishes" gives Jenna the full star treatment and some incredible surprises, including her television debut on NBC's hit daytime series "Passions" opposite Harmony's hottest new couple -- Emily Harper and Dylan Fergus (who play Fancy Crane and Noah Bennett).

Twelve-year-old Stevie Moon, a seventh grader from Westerville, OH, dreams of being an astronaut. His wish is granted when "Three Wishes" sends Stevie to space camp in Huntsville, AL and then on a high-flying adventure he'll never forget in a zero-gravity aircraft.

Plus, "Three Wishes" will follow up with Bill Logue, the terminally ill father whose wishes for his family were granted in an earlier episode from Brookings, SD, and see what miraculous event has taken place in his life since his appearance on the show.

fredfa

12-07-05, 08:16 PM

Which Cable Net Do You Like?

Beta Releases “Subscriber Evaluation Study”

Multichannel.com---Beta Research Corp. released the results of its “2005 Beta Research Cable Subscriber Evaluation Study.”

Among the findings reported by the research firm:

• Discovery Channel was the top-ranked basic-cable network as far as percent of respondents mentioning the service unaided in their top five. Here is the top 10 lists:
Discovery27%
ESPN 24%
The History Channel 20%
Home & Garden Television 19%
Cable News Network 18%
Fox News Channel 18%
Food Network 17%
Lifetime Television 17%
Turner Network Television15%
TLC (13%).
Among the midsizd networks it was
Hallmark Channel 8%
National Geographic 7% at ther top of the list.

• For men, the top-ranked major networks were ESPN, Discovery, History and Fox News, while Speed Channel and OLN were the top-ranked midsized networks.

• For women, the top-ranked major networks were Lifetime, HGTV, Food and Discovery, while Hallmark and WE: Women’s Entertainment were the top-ranked midsized networks.

• Among adults 18-34, the top-ranked major networks were ESPN, Discovery, MTV: Music Television and Comedy Central, while ESPN Classic and OLN were the top-ranked midsized networks.

• As far as percentage of viewers who were “very satisfied” with networks, Beta’s list was: The Weather Channel 68%
ESPN 65%
Discovery 64%
HGTV 64%
ESPN2 63%
History 62%
Food 61%
CNN 59%
Fox News 59%
Animal Planet (58%)

The top three midsized networks were
NGC 62%
Speed (56%
Discovery Health Channel 55%

Beta said it conducted 703 interviews from Aug. 1-Sept. 24.

CPanther95

12-07-05, 08:20 PM

fredfa

12-07-05, 08:25 PM

I agree.
It must drive the folks in Atlanta nuts, too. :)

DrDon

12-07-05, 08:29 PM

It's a bit odd that CNN & FOX News both ended up with the exact same position in overall mentions and satisfaction - and they were alone together (forgive the oxymoron) in their spots in both. :confused:Well, it's a satisfaction survey, right? So the score is a referendum on cable news, regardless of channel choice. I'd have to see the raw data, but I'd kind of expect them to be very close since they serve the same purpose in the lives of the viewers who choose them with respect to the other channels they watch. It appears HLN and MSNBC either weren't in the survey, or weren't significant enough to be included in the results (not surprising).

fredfa

12-07-05, 08:34 PM

I am still, almost decade after it started, trying to figure out NBC's game plan for MSNBC.

I think most viewers have just given up.

fredfa

12-07-05, 08:35 PM

TV a la Carte

The FCC wants pay-TV operators to let you choose your own channels instead of offering packages. Would that raise your bills?

By Anush Yegyazarian PC World

Television is undergoing a fairly major evolution: First, it's going high-def and digital. On top of that, telephone companies will soon be joining cable and satellite vendors with their own TV services. And video on demand will eventually do away with TV schedules, a process already in progress as digital recorders such as TiVo make such schedules irrelevant.

These transitions have not escaped the notice of Congress and the federal government, which have in fact promoted some of them--especially the switch to digital TV. More recently, the government has also started the process of putting telephone companies on an equal footing with cable and satellite operators, as these companies increasingly compete with each other at every level. Now, the Federal Communications Commission is preparing to release a study that reverses its own previous conclusions, and that could lead to federal regulations that would encourage or force cable and satellite operators to give us all more control over which channels we subscribe to.

One of the main arguments for an a la carte system--one in which pay TV customers would be able to choose which channels they pay for and receive--is to give parents greater control over the programming that is beamed into their homes, and in turn, made accessible to their children. The impact of such choice, however, would extend far beyond parents and kids.

Right now, you and I must sign up for a tier of service that includes a pre-set number and selection of channels. The more you pay, the more channels you get--but we don't get to pick individual channels. In fact, even when we choose premium movie or sports packages we may end up with more than we actually want. For example, the various HBO channels are often bundled with Cinemax channels that you pay for and get whether you want them or not.

I receive 200-plus channels with my DirecTV service, but I actually watch only about 30 or 40 of them, tops, over the course of a year--far fewer on a regular basis. The rest are dead air as far as I'm concerned. I'm only paying for those 200 because there were two or three of them that I really wanted, but couldn't get with a more basic bundle.

I'd love to trade some of the channels I do have for others that aren't available unless I pay even more per month, but no cable or satellite company gives me that option.

If the FCC has its way, I soon might have mine. But even if I get to shed a few dozen unwanted channels and gain a couple I'd prefer, there's no guarantee that I would be paying any less per month than I do now. When the government first examined the issue in mid-2004, plenty of people argued that prices would rise, not fall--and that we'd get fewer programming options.

It's a basic assumption that we make every day: If you go for the bundled deal, odds are good that you're paying less than you would for the individual items purchased separately. Restaurants work that way with their prix-fixe meals, as do computer vendors that offer a great deal on a printer and digital camera if you buy them along with your new PC. Cable and phone companies have been working hard for years to convince us that we save on bundled phone, TV, and Internet services.

The same principle applies to those 200 channels on my satellite box. As they're bundled now, I pay something like a quarter per channel. What do you want to bet that the price would be significantly higher if I were to create a lineup of my own? Customization costs.

Both the older FCC study and a separate contracted study by Booz Allen Hamilton indicate that, in many cases, prices would rise under an a la carte model. This finding held true regardless of whether that model was a complete free-for-all, where customers would always pick all channels; a partially restricted scenario, where users would supplement a basic offering with a themed selection of channels (family, kids, sports); or a hybrid scheme in which customers would get to choose between a la carte or bundled service-tier pricing.

Judging from FCC chairman Kevin Martin's remarks to a Senate Committee at the end of November, the new unreleased study may dispute some of the calculations and assumptions that went into the earlier document. The new study focuses on some analyses within the 2004 Booz Allen Hamilton study that showed that under certain conditions, digital cable subscribers might experience a nearly 2 percent decrease in their bills with an a la carte option. Since all these calculations are still theoretical, I'm betting someone will come along and dispute the new numbers as well.

What's harder to dispute is that the current economic models underpinning most broadcast and cable networks depend on broad viewership to get advertising revenues. If stations don't appear in markets at all because no service carries them, they can't make enough money selling ads, and they won't be able to cover their costs, which in turn affects their ability to produce programming. Some stations may fail altogether. Others may raise their licensing rates to cable/satellite companies in order to recover their lost revenue--increases that cable/satellite vendors may well pass on to you and me. Moreover, allowing customers to create their own bundles may require new equipment on the pay TV operator side, such as networking gear and set-top box upgrades, along with software to enable and bill for customer choice.

Another disturbing potential consequence of getting rid of today's channel bundles: We might lose narrowly focused stations altogether. My service tier includes all sorts of specialty channels--some ethnic, some theme-oriented (such as science, country, kids), some educational--that might not survive the financial shakeout if a la carte critics are correct. The argument goes that not enough people would be willing to pay for these channels to keep them afloat outside a bundle. If my personal choices are any indication, I would say that's a fair prediction: Some of those specialty stations definitely would not make the cut if I could prune my channel lineup, or exchange some of the channels I get for others that I would prefer.

Are there channels we should protect based on merit even if, in a more open market, they would not survive? We've chosen to protect industries before (farming and airlines, to name two), and we certainly have rules and guidelines about how broadcast stations should meet their government-mandated obligation to operate in the public interest. Should we use tax dollars to ensure that ethnic, religious, or gender-themed networks remain viable while allowing food networks to duke it out and live or die by the market?

We all have our own answers to these questions; coming up with a consensus may be practically impossible. I believe, however, that customized programming choice is inevitable based on the other current trends--primarily video on demand, Internet video, and IPTV.

We won't know actual costs until some company starts offering customizable pay TV. But it seems highly unlikely that I would end up paying the same amount for the same number of channels I now get in a bundle. That doesn't bother me much, though: I would rather pay more and get exactly those channels I want than get a discount on 100 channels I never watch. Your bottom line may vary.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/print?id=1380439

CPanther95

12-07-05, 08:39 PM

Well, it's a satisfaction survey, right? So the score is a referendum on cable news, regardless of channel choice. I'd have to see the raw data, but I'd kind of expect them to be very close since they serve the same purpose in the lives of the viewers who choose them with respect to the other channels they watch. It appears HLN and MSNBC either weren't in the survey, or weren't significant enough to be included in the results (not surprising).

Yes, but the first question was naming the Top 5 cable networks, and despite a huge disparity in viewers/ratings, exactly 18% mentioned each.

In the final question, exactly 59% were "very satisfied" with both channels.

Just seems a bit hinkey, but then again, I'm a skeptic by default. :)

fredfa

12-07-05, 08:49 PM

It is only 703 interviews, so the survey wasn't exactly of monumental size.

fredfa

12-07-05, 11:10 PM

Amid Rumors, 'Today' Marks 10 Years as Weekly Ratings King

By Bill Carter The New York Times December 8, 2005

In late 1995, when the "Today" show on NBC started beating ABC's "Good Morning America" with regularity, the expectation was that NBC could count on a run of three years, maybe a bit more, before some factor would change the morning ratings equation again.

Surely some talent adjustment, some star coming or going, or some production advance, like NBC's decision to return to a street-level studio in Rockefeller Plaza, would rearrange the competitive balance.

But it didn't happen. Not after three years. Not after six. Not after eight. "Today" continued to win over "G.M.A." not just regularly, but always - as in every single week (though the gap certainly shrank in the most recent years).

Last week, "Today" somewhat quietly marked the achievement of an improbable feat: 520 straight weeks in first place, a nice, round 10 years' worth of winning, a streak that could reasonably be labeled DiMaggioesque.

(And since many people, including the show's weather personality, Al Roker, openly compare the "Today" show to the New York Yankees, in terms of both status and expectations of winning, the comparison seems especially apt.)

One reason the feat was initially observed somewhat modestly was a bit of uncertainty about exactly which week made it 520 weeks in a row. Throw in three leap years and confusion can prevail.

But another reason for some of the deflection of attention was the media feeding frenzy in the last several weeks over the plans of the show's central personality for that entire decade-long run, Katie Couric.

Reports of her impending flight from "Today" to sign on as Dan Rather's successor as evening-news anchor at CBS have dwarfed most other talk in the television-news business, even the official designation this week of Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas as the anchors of ABC's newscast, succeeding the late Peter Jennings.

Rumors have floated out of CBS and elsewhere about potential offers of $20 million a year for seven years, and about some unusual window in Ms. Couric present contract that would allow CBS to snatch her up this month, long before her deal ends on May 31. But in an interview yesterday Ms. Couric herself dismissed most of that - especially the rumor of a contract window, which she said was false.

"Obviously my contract is up in May; that's the one thing that is actually true," she said. "I am in the process of figuring out what I want to do."

She did not deny that CBS News might be in the mix of that decision. "I am really fortunate and flattered that I have some opportunities, a variety of opportunities," she said. "I am trying to make a thoughtful decision while being in the middle of this media spotlight, which I am trying to ignore."

The bottom line on Ms. Couric's future is not likely to be known until next spring. CBS executives cannot legally make her an official offer until around May 1 - although of course they are allowed to be as ardent as they like in private conversation, telling Ms. Couric how much they admire her talents.

While she mentioned that "Today" could be "extremely demanding" and that the job did have a "burnout factor," Ms. Couric also said she remained excited by her current job.

"Every day I get jazzed about this show," she said. And she acknowledged that "Today," which asks her to take on roles as varied as interviewing victims of terrorist bombings and singing duets with Bette Midler, is a show that fits her many talents

"I do think my personality in many ways seems tailor-made for this format," she said. But she added that she believed the broader television news business was changing. "People don't want to see robo-anchors regurgitating whatever is on the teleprompter in front of them. They want people to be natural, people who feel things, who react to things."

Those comments may be music to the ears of Leslie Moonves, the CBS chief executive, who has openly discussed his desire for a news anchor who would break the old "voice of God" model of network news.

Whatever Ms. Couric decides, it could be the next turning point in the morning competition, which has seen "Today" most recently glide back comfortably in front of "Good Morning America," after a period last spring that "Today's" new executive producer, Jim Bell, called "some dark days."

Last May, after a series of weeks when "G.M.A.," led by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson and riding on the wave of fascination with the new ABC entertainment hit "Desperate Housewives," had whittled the "Today" lead down to a sliver, all the people involved with "Today" could feel the hot breath of an outright weekly loss on their ever more exposed necks. Nobody wanted to blow the streak so close to the 10-year mark.

"Psychologically, it would have been disappointing, devastating," Ms. Couric said.

Matt Lauer, the program's other host, went home on Friday, May 13, knowing that for the first time in his tenure on "Today" he was going to wait nervously for a call "about those little instant overnight ratings" and whether they might indicate the streak was over, done. "There are a lot of egos involved, a lot of pride involved," Mr. Lauer said in an interview last week.

NBC had already replaced Tom Touchet as executive producer with Mr. Bell, a move that Mr. Lauer said he felt was unfair. Jeff Zucker, the "Today" executive producer who initiated the streak and who now supervises NBC News as president of NBC Universal Television Group, said the program had grown stale under Mr. Touchet. Mr. Lauer said he did not agree, although he said, "Yeah, we needed a kick in the rear."

Mr. Bell and Phil Griffin, who was installed as the supervising executive on "Today," said they felt the pressure of the "Good Morning America" challenge, knowing full well how important "Today," the most profitable show in television, is to NBC.

Even after escaping by a whisker last May, the program faced a fall when it seemed likely, with new episodes of "Desperate Housewives" on tap, that "G.M.A." would finally zoom on by.

The "Today" staff considered what might be done. Already, Mr. Lauer said, the staff had come to think it had done too much reacting to what "G.M.A." was doing. "There was a subtle change in momentum, and it took our breath away for a while," he said. It knocked "Today" off its game, Mr. Lauer said.

Mr. Bell and Mr. Griffin echoed that, saying that sticking to harder news with live interviews with newsmakers in the show's first half-hour was the game "Today" should be playing.

By fall, some factors seemed to be turning the tide back toward "Today." For one, "Desperate Housewives," while still a huge hit, was no longer quite the talked-about phenomenon that it had been. For another, a series of compelling news events, from the terror bombings in London to Hurricane Katrina, seemed to steer more viewers back to "Today."

Of course, Mr. Bell and Mr. Griffin also highlighted what they argued was the continuing advantage of "Today": its personalities, whom they did not hesitate to label "the family."

The show's group of four, Ms. Couric, Mr. Lauer, Mr. Roker and Ann Curry, the program's news anchor, have been together for 9 years of the 10-year run. That, of course, sets the program up for some reaction should elements in that unit change. "Whenever this group breaks up, it will be a sobfest," Ms. Curry said.

It may also be an opportunity to finally break the "Today" hold on the morning. With the 10-year streak secured, a new date to be reckoned with looms: May 31.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/arts/television/08toda.html?pagewanted=print

dturturro

12-07-05, 11:49 PM

The more points of view you can consider, the more likely you are to come to a decision based on fact and not just someone else's opinion.

End of lecture. :)

Ah, but a wise man once said: "one man's fact is another man's opinion" :D

fredfa

12-08-05, 12:50 AM

I think I remember that !

Of course, whatever "facts" you decide to use, will help you to your decision :)

fredfa

12-08-05, 01:10 AM

A Critical View:
Bodies in Motion

“Bones" is a sexed-up “CSI” and
the best new drama of the season

By John Leonard New York Magazine Dec. 12, 2005

As veteran Buffies—Buffers? Buffedayeen?—already know, when David Boreanaz thinks, his whole head frowns. This is part of his pickled charm. Back when he was Angel, a vampire with a soul, he managed to be dark, dangerous, sensitive, and sexy, but sentimental, introspective, and self-deprecating too, even occasionally clownish.

As Seely Booth, a former Army sniper turned FBI agent on Bones, he’s puffed up a bit, but he still has about him too much low chortle, mean street, and muddled sincerity ever to pass for a Cary Grant or a Pierce Brosnan. He is less nightclub, more laundromat. I didn’t believe him the other Tuesday when he told us at a dirty crime scene that he was wearing a $1,200 suit.

Whereas Emily Deschanel as Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist by day and a mystery novelist by night, seems to step into her lab directly out of the pages of a glossy fashion mag, between scratch-and-sniff ads for bulimia. We know her hardscrabble backstory—parents who disappeared when she was a child, durance vile in foster care—but what we see is so together, it shuts us out. All snap, crackle, and pop.

Brennan, whom Booth calls Bones, is one of those women who doesn’t know she’s lovely. Incapable of flirting, she lacks every other social skill as well. (In one episode she fails to notice that every male in a small town is hitting on her, after they have given up on the blonde veterinarian who turns out not to be a cannibal after all. In another, she almost causes a riot at a hip-hop club by talking way too much about a “tribal” beat.)

She suggests a zebra on the African veld, ready to bolt at the first whiff of predator, except that Brennan is also a lethal kickboxer, part Lara Croft, part Wesley Snipes, and as casually indifferent to other people’s soft body parts as she is to their feelings and opinions. She is fixed entirely on her own job, a vocation if not a mission, and guided wholly by her own principles, on which she hops up and down as if they were a pogo stick.

Have you noticed that it’s okay these days for women to be nerds, at least on television and sometimes at the movies, like Sarah on “CSI” or Hermione in Harry Potter? Whether this has anything to do with gender confusion on the Internet, I will leave to the professionals.

But Bones, the best drama of the new network season, has established the terms of its screwball romantic comedy inside a procedural cop show: The FBI cares about people, both vic and perp. The forensic-science lab-rat “squints”—holographic artist Angela (Michaela Conlin), child prodigy Zack (Eric Millegan), and trust-fund entomologist and conspiracy theorist Hodgins (T. J. Thyne)—care only about “distal phalanges,” “epiphysis fusions,” “sphenoid fragments,” and “Dermestes maculates.”

Nevertheless, even as Booth and Bones team up in our nation’s capital to identify the bodies and track down the killers of congressional interns, Middle Eastern non-terrorists, deaf children at a prep school, 6-year-olds abducted from a mall, D.J.’s mummified in methamphetamine, a girl in an abandoned fridge, and a guy in the stomach of a bear, it is the erotic chemistry that transforms matter into “Moonlighting”.

That said, there is more to the mix. Bones is a sexed-up variation of all the “CSI”s. What makes these programs about anal swabs, toenail clippings, and poisoned nipples so popular, in spite of David Caruso’s self-righteousness, portentousness, and semaphoric shades? Acting and writing, yes. But also work.

We like to see people do something besides insult their family members. In Las Vegas, Miami, and New York, as at the Jeffersonian research laboratory in Washington, D.C., professionals play well with one another, and their sandbox is a functioning collective. It’s not just expertise that appeals; it’s collegiality, group dynamics, and morale. For the same reason in the earlier days of television we welcomed sitcoms that got out of the house. Mary Tyler Moore’s TV newsroom, like Alan Alda’s M*A*S*H unit, was more interesting and somehow more textured than the den at home where we sat, at once hollow and besieged.

Add to this sense of inside info and shared endeavor the Technicolored elegance and obscene magnifications of sneaky medical machines that can see through bones, hear blisters, snapshoot ghosts, and fingerprint regret—the Peeping Tomism of the camera and the lab—and what we get is omniscience, when we aren’t grossed out.

http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/tv/reviews/15227/

fredfa

12-08-05, 01:44 AM

How News Coverage Has Changed
”Yesterday”

25 years ago Thursday, John Lennon was murdered.
The coverage gave us time to reflect. Not any more

By Bill Goodykoontz The Arizona Republic

Howard Cosell - how's he for a bearer of bad news?

Cosell's voice is how millions of us watching a Monday Night Football game between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots on Dec. 8, 1980, heard that John Lennon had been shot to death.

It was an odd bit of synchronicity - a few years earlier, the former Beatle had appeared as a goofy guest of Cosell on Monday Night Football - that gets to the heart of the ubiquity of Lennon's influence and reach.

There were pop-music superstars before the Beatles (Lennon's famous quote: "Before Elvis, there was nothing."). However, the Beatles shaped not just music, but the popular culture around them in profound, meaningful ways - ways that go far beyond bangs and Beatle boots.

Lennon's death was a tragic, perfect end, occurring on the cusp of a comeback, the singer killed by an obsessive fan in a shocking murder, robbing a self-obsessed generation of one of its heroes. Coming as it did before the explosion of cable news and its practice of running the story of the moment into the ground, his murder was a remarkable convergence of legitimate importance and gooey nostalgia that not only won't be repeated, but for all the reasons above, can't be.

This was John Lennon. Twenty-five years after his death, Lennon's musical achievements and celebrity status have in some circles been reduced to a pair of round wire-frame glasses that symbolize peace, love and, if you want to press things, unusual taste in women. Others have taken a revisionist tack: that Lennon was a musical genius but a personal ogre.

Wherever the truth lies, you'd be hard pressed to find any fan of popular music who doesn't agree that Lennon and Paul McCartney were the most influential songwriters of the second half of the 20th century. If you want argument on that front, you'll have to seek it elsewhere (and good luck finding a quorum).

But there's more to the Beatles than theoretical discussions about whether I Am the Walrus is a better song than Fake Plastic Trees. They weren't the first band to capture young people's imaginations and drive parents crazy, but they changed the way people looked at popular music, dragging it into the mix of (cough cough) Serious Art. They gained a legitimacy by writing their own songs, now pretty much a requirement if you want your music taken seriously. Their harmonies and chord changes still influence songwriters. Their look - the long hair, the suits morphing into electric colors, the bangs and later the beards and on and on and on - their sound, their interests, their love lives, their drug use, their fights, all of it became grist for an expanding media just getting a feel for saturation coverage of pop-culture figures.

You can trot out all sorts of bromides about how the band provided a soundtrack for a generation; in this case they're probably true. At least the generation that grew up listening to them thinks so, and good luck talking a baby boomer out of anything.

So when Cosell broke the news about Lennon's slaying, it wasn't just a rock star dying. It was, for a huge number of people, the death of an icon, not so much youth lost - Lennon was only 40 - as a reminder of youth ripped away and destroyed for no reason.

Think back to 1980. Typically, this is still how people got their news: newspapers, the evening news on three networks and radio broadcasts. CNN was barely 6 months old; the Internet was, to all but scientific types, meaningless, unheard of. You got your news, you talked about it, you waited for more.

But this was stunning. This was crazy. This didn't make any sense at all. This was Howard Cosell telling us that John Lennon was dead. How can that be?

And then, the agonizing wait. Who did it? Why? What were the circumstances? There was an anticipation, a hunger for more information, that can no longer exist. Now we could check constant updates on the Internet. Cable news channels would devote hours of non-stop coverage, the depth and integrity of which you can just imagine: "Beatles fan John Smith is sad."

And it would . . . not . . . stop. Saturation coverage now turns quickly to oversaturation. Could Wolf Blitzer corral Ringo for The Situation Room? McCartney on The O'Reilly Factor? Rita Cosby, live from Liverpool?

This isn't to say we should go back to the way things were when they were better, because they weren't better. Despite the flaws and shortcomings in today's media coverage, and they are legion, more knowledge obtained faster is unquestionably an improvement. It's not as if the coverage then was perfect. After waiting all day for news, as my family sat around the kitchen table during dinner, my parents allowed the radio on while we ate. At the end of a tribute, the host talked about Lennon's comeback from a self-imposed absence from the public eye to raise his son. But, he said in summation, that was . . . yesterday. And played, of course, Yesterday - a Beatles song Lennon famously had nothing to do with.

But the gaps allowed for something that a 24-hour news cycle no longer does: time to think. Time to reflect. In this case, time to be sad, and it was a sad time, indeed.

Twenty-five years later, it's difficult to think of anyone in popular culture whose sudden death could produce as big a shock. It's hard to think of John Madden breaking into a Monday Night Football game to report it. And it's impossible to think of the media coverage being anything less than constant and overheated.

That night was different. Soon enough the way we gather and report information would change, accelerate, streak along in such incredible leaps and bounds that the next one is impossible to predict.

But on Dec. 8, 1980, and the days that followed, for one last time we were allowed a little space, a chance to breathe, the opportunity to grieve.

Imagine.

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/tv/articles/1204lennon1204goody-CP.html#

Sigwolf

12-08-05, 01:49 AM

Ratings Notes
TV a la Carte

We won't know actual costs until some company starts offering customizable pay TV. But it seems highly unlikely that I would end up paying the same amount for the same number of channels I now get in a bundle. That doesn't bother me much, though: I would rather pay more and get exactly those channels I want than get a discount on 100 channels I never watch. Your bottom line may vary.

]

Unless I am reading this incorrectly, this has to be one of the dumbest statements I have seen in a long time. This idiot (the original author, of course, not Fredfa, would rather pay *more* money just to avoid hitting the channel up button a few times??

As someone else noted, possibly in this thread, I rather like knowing that if something is broadcast, I can tune in if I chose to. I chose to have the most inclusive package my cable company offers, which includes all the premium movie channels and a decent price on broadband access. If the price for that package is substantially increased to cover the cable companies margin for this "a la carte" pricing scheme, let's just say I am not a fan at this point...

GeorgeLV

12-08-05, 02:00 AM

It is only 703 interviews, so the survey wasn't exactly of monumental size.

That sounds about the normal size for a random statistical sample with a 95% confidence level.

fredfa

12-08-05, 02:04 AM

I agree George.

But having seen so many political samples be off by 15 percentage points in one day (from Monday to Election Day) I never really trust samples -- especially those that are small. The + or - three percentage points caution always makes me chuckle.

But the research does give us some point of reference. I wish I had last year's to compare it with.

fredfa

12-08-05, 02:06 AM

Unless I am reading this incorrectly, this has to be one of the dumbest statements I have seen in a long time. This idiot (the original author, of course, not Fredfa...

It shouldn't take you reading this thread for too long Sigwolf before I join that dumbest statements club of yours.

I am sure some of the regulars could cite more than a few of their favorites examples! :)

fredfa

12-08-05, 02:18 AM

Some Thursday “Variety” Headlines

Ka-Ching! for “CSI” creator

The new CBS Corp. is holding on to one of its biggest writing stars, with "CSI" creator Anthony Zuiker inking a rich new overall deal with the Eye's Paramount Network Television unit.

Three-year pact is valued in the low-eight-figure range over the life of the deal. Zuiker will continue as exec producer of all three "CSI" series while also developing projects for the studio.

HBO and ESPN Go Extra Rounds

HBO has expanded its "World Championship Boxing" and "Boxing After Dark" series and ESPN has engineered its second live prizefight with a contestant from the "Contender" series.

Promising to lay out "the most consistent and regular schedule of live boxing in the network's 34-year history," HBO said it would take "World Championship Boxing" from 10 broadcast dates this year to as many as 14 in 2006.

"Boxing After Dark," now in its 10th season, will ramp up from five dates this year to a monthly format in 2006

ESPN and "The Condender" have selected Feb. 12, from the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., as the setting for a live middleweight bout between Peter Manfredo Jr., a "Contender" finalist, and Scott "The Sandman" Pemberton.

Sigwolf

12-08-05, 02:35 AM

It shouldn't take you reading this thread for too long Sigwolf before I join that dumbest statements club of yours.

I am sure some of the regulars could cite more than a few of their favorites examples! :)

True enough, as I've since seen since reading through the dedicated thread further down a little more closely. ;)

Let it be said, however, that (somewhat obviously) not everyone shares your somewhat utopian view of what will result from this a la carte "revolution". Let's just say my tastes are somewhat "off the beaten path", as evidenced by the very short lifespan of some of my favorite all-time shows (such as "Space:Above and Beyond, Firefly, and Over There). Now let's corelate this to what will happen to channels I may enjoy that might not have the "popularity" to sustain themselves under an "a la carte" pricing scheme. One such channel, Discovery Wings, disappeared under the current package pricing... I foresee this problem intensifying under ALC for niche programming. For myself, I can see some clear advantages to all of this talk of "evil" subsidized channel selections. I have acknowledged "eclectic" tastes. I see my choices disappearing in an ALC world. For what it's worth, I am one of those FNC people and I enjoy having the ability to tune to CNN or MSNBC, and don't mind at all having to "pay for them".

I could well be wrong in all of this. My fears could be unsubstantiated. The point is we don't know yet because it hasn't happened. I do, however, see a very large *potential* downside to the ALC changeover that the shield-banging proponents don't acknowledge nor seem to recognize, perhaps because it won't necessarily affect them.

A change this big is going to have wide affects, it just needs to be recognized that it's might not be all peaches-and-cream for everyone.

trbarry

12-08-05, 04:58 AM

True enough, as I've since seen since reading through the dedicated thread further down a little more closely. ;)

Let it be said, however, that (somewhat obviously) not everyone shares your somewhat utopian view of what will result from this a la carte "revolution". Let's just say my tastes are somewhat "off the beaten path", as evidenced by the very short lifespan of some of my favorite all-time shows (such as "Space:Above and Beyond, Firefly, and Over There). Now let's corelate this to what will happen to channels I may enjoy that might not have the "popularity" to sustain themselves under an "a la carte" pricing scheme. One such channel, Discovery Wings, disappeared under the current package pricing... I foresee this problem intensifying under ALC for niche programming. For myself, I can see some clear advantages to all of this talk of "evil" subsidized channel selections. I have acknowledged "eclectic" tastes. I see my choices disappearing in an ALC world. For what it's worth, I am one of those FNC people and I enjoy having the ability to tune to CNN or MSNBC, and don't mind at all having to "pay for them".

I could well be wrong in all of this. My fears could be unsubstantiated. The point is we don't know yet because it hasn't happened. I do, however, see a very large *potential* downside to the ALC changeover that the shield-banging proponents don't acknowledge nor seem to recognize, perhaps because it won't necessarily affect them.

A change this big is going to have wide affects, it just needs to be recognized that it's might not be all peaches-and-cream for everyone.

Well, I do mind having to pay for them when I don't watch them. And I think that under a la carte even those with "advanced eclectic tasts" will be able to subscribe to channels they want to watch.

Imagine that many mediocre channels go away. Then there is suddenly greater available channel capacity to be filled. Market forces will attract content to put there, if you let them.

If not, then the capacity can instead be used for downloading stuff.

- Tom

jpco

12-08-05, 08:18 AM

Unless I am reading this incorrectly, this has to be one of the dumbest statements I have seen in a long time. This idiot (the original author, of course, not Fredfa, would rather pay *more* money just to avoid hitting the channel up button a few times??

I'm not the original author and I'm not an idiot (name calling not needed here), but I would pay a little more right now to choose my channels if it meant I could keep any of my money going to MTV networks. Once everyone chose, the market would correct, some stations would fold, and the lineup would truly represent what those paying the bills would like to see. A year or two of slightly increased fees would be a small price for me to pay.

bluestar48

12-08-05, 08:29 AM

With the announcement of the new broadcast deal, is there any word on whether TNT will continue their HD broadcasts? And will ABC/ESPN also be showing theirs in HD?

Tony

DoubleDAZ

12-08-05, 08:36 AM

It shouldn't take you reading this thread for too long Sigwolf before I join that dumbest statements club of yours.

I am sure some of the regulars could cite more than a few of their favorites examples! :)
FWIW, I think the original author was trying to say he'd rather pay more 'per channel' for fewer channels and a lower total bill. If not, then I too will join the Dumbest Statements Club. :)

I've always said that as long as my current 'all inclusive' bill doesn't change, I don't care what they do. If it does turn out that I can save some money by deleting a bunch of channels I 'never' tune in, all the better, but I don't think that is what will happen.

Then too, I always wonder what happens when I see a new show adverised for a channel I don't get. I then have to subscribe to the channel to even check it out. I do think they could offer a number of new tiers, especially family-oriented tiers, that would satisfy the majority of folks who complain about their bills.

SVonhof

12-08-05, 09:03 AM

A-La-Carte options:
Since the cable companies as well as the dish companies have everyone using a decoder box, how about they take a look at what people are watching already and start paring down the channels before we even get to the a-la-carte option?

Or, they could base each person's billing off of the channels watched instead of ordered. That way, you could see what is on each channel by using the guide feature and if you want to watch something, it gets tuned to that channel and you in turn, get a bill for that month for that channel? That way, you can watch everything you want to and will only get charged for the channels you choose to watch that month? May take smarter boxes, but it could work. It would be like the Nielsen ratings system built into everyone's bills.

CPanther95

12-08-05, 09:58 AM

It's a dumb statement (assuming he truly meant more net money for less channels) if you don't take it to the next logical step. Right now paying $60 for 30 channels is dumber than $50 for 100 channels (that includes the 30) - but not so dumb if the trend takes us to the point that we are paying $95 for 150 channels 2 or 3 years from now.

That's where I think we are heading, which is why I'm willing to pay more initially if it results in a major correction in the marketplace long term.

fredfa

12-08-05, 10:51 AM

With the announcement of the new broadcast deal, is there any word on whether TNT will continue their HD broadcasts? And will ABC/ESPN also be showing theirs in HD?

Tony

I haven't seen the contracts, and HD still doesn't get mentioned often by the press, but since all the races are now shown in HD, I would presume everyone wpould continue to show them in HD.
It would be difficult to imagine TNT committing all that money (well over $10 million a race) and not showcasing the races in HD.
Dumber things have happened, I guess (and remember, we are talking 2007 here) buit I just can't see any NASCAR races in SD only ever again.

fredfa

12-08-05, 10:57 AM

The TV Column
Viewers Are Scanty for 'Victoria's Secret Fashion Show'

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 8, 2005; C07

The triumphant return of "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" to the airwaves?

Not so much.

All but about 8.9 million Americans found themselves able to resist the lure of pouty girls in candy-coated and crystal-caked undies, prancing between two of Paul Bunyan's albino teddy bears to strains of "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and possibly "Song of the Volga Boatmen," though it's been years since we took that Music Appreciation class so don't hold us to that.

And, although CBS ran a parental warning in large letters across the screen no fewer than four times at the start of the skivvies show, a mere half-million teenagers and only about 350,000 children watched the one-hour holiday special, which was taped last month at the Lexington Armory in Manhattan.

That's about the same number of kids 2 to 11 who were over at NBC enjoying Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni as they investigated the case of the bruised, bloodied and severely injured 12-year-old boy who'd been dumped outside a hospital -- but that's another story.

It was the first "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" broadcast in two years. CBS suits took a breather last year, rightly figuring it would be hard to top the national TV debut of Janet Jackson's right breast on their own air in February '04.

After such a long dry spell, you'd think a boatload of those 2 billion people who, according to chatty model Heidi Klum, have seen the runway show since its inception a decade ago would have been glued to the CBS broadcast. Not so. The event's return to broadcast TV fell short of even '03's disappointing 9.4 million, and was laps behind the 12.3 million who'd caught its television debut on ABC. (Note to self: Find out where on Earth Heidi got those stats.)

And this is sad because history was made Tuesday night when Tyra Banks performed her very last march down a fashion show runway. And Klum's bod just two months after giving birth to a baby Seal is nothing short of a Christmas miracle.

(Fortunately you're going to be given a second chance. UPN, which is headed by the same guy who runs CBS, announced yesterday it will rerun the fashion show on Tuesday at 9.)

It's hard to know why the show failed to cop a bigger crowd. Yes, it's true that when the models were out there giving a hard sales pitch on the crystal-caked ensembles, to Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot," they were wearing a shocking amount of clothing.

Perhaps there was also just a wee bit too much time spent backstage as girls in very high heels stomped clumsily down a set of stairs to the dressing room, looking like knock-kneed giraffes in pushups and thongs. Kind of killed the mood, you know what I mean?

And there's no denying that there was way too much blah, blah, blah from models, who, sadly, appear to have IQs even teensier than their dress sizes -- excepting the fabulous Banks, of course. "Look at their butts!" is not the kind of trash talk you want to hear from the mouth of your come-hither holiday fantasy.

But there were wonderful moments, too. Like the opening, in which jazz trumpeter Chris Botti performed a gorgeous version of the romantic George Gershwin song "Embraceable You" (or, as one of the contestants on the next "American Idol" is sure to call it, "Rod Stewart's 'Embraceable You' ") while the words "Please Be Advised This Program Contains Adult Content" moved liltingly across the screen, again and again and again.

And it was so good to see Ricky Martin, all grown up and filled out, in his modified mohawk, performing his new hit single "Drop It on Me," from his new album "Life." Martin has added hip-hop to his repertoire, at least the crotch-grabbing part, which CBS coyly cut away from each time his hand headed south. So beguiling.

And who can forget Seal singing "Crazy" in the dark and then blowing a kiss to a blinding white Electric Bra and Panties that turned out to be his wife, Ms. Klum. I know! -- you have to pay to get stuff this good on HBO.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

People in Hollywood used to joke that the TV networks would buy a show from Hitler if they thought it would get a 30 share.

Of course, that's just crazy talk.

But, would they recruit a guy whose dad insists the Holocaust is mostly fiction, who has been somewhat waffly himself on the subject, whose box-office hit "The Passion of the Christ" was blasted by some critics as anti-Semitic, to a four-hour miniseries about a Holocaust survivor because it would stir up controversy and, hopefully, 30 percent of households watching TV at that time?

You betcha.

ABC has brought in Mel Gibson on the miniseries it's developing based on "Flory: Survival in the Valley of Death," the memoir of Flory A. Van Beek, a Dutch Jew who was hidden by Catholics and survived the Nazis, but who lost family members at concentration camps.

Gibson, former hunky guy action actor, is not going to act in the project; he may not even get an executive producer credit. But his name is being waved over the miniseries, and that's gotten it attention.

Lots of attention.

The project was brought to ABC by independent producer David Sladek, son of a Holocaust survivor. ABC brought in Gibson's production company, which had pitched a Holocaust movie earlier, according to ABC's guy in charge of movies and miniseries, Quinn Taylor.

Sladek, who said he's been "besieged with calls from all over the world" since word of Gibson's involvement got out yesterday, is "delighted" that Gibson's company was brought in, calling it a "formidable force in the industry, a major player in its own right."

"I find it great that [Gibson's company] is willing to put their muscle and their name behind a project about the Holocaust. . . . And, because of their success in the marketplace with 'Passion of the Christ' they will . . . aid greatly in attracting the largest possible audience to the project. That's the goal."

Rafael Medoff, director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of an annual study on Holocaust denial, said he's disturbed by that thinking.

"It's troubling to hear a subject as important and sensitive as the Holocaust reduced to simplistic questions of whether or not a TV network will gain more viewers," he told The TV Column. He suggested ABC should focus not on "how many viewers can they rope in by association with Mel Gibson" but rather whether they want the miniseries "to be associated with someone who has minimized the Holocaust."

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, on the other hand, told Reuters the project would give "Gibson a chance to redeem himself from the controversy over 'The Passion of the Christ,' which did not portray Jews fairly."

The miniseries would also "provide a first-class education for his father, who is a Holocaust denier," he added.

But Deborah Cohn, assistant professor of marketing at New York's Yeshiva University, thinks otherwise. "I think his aim is to portray Catholicism in the best possible light and to show the good deeds of Catholics in those times," she told Reuters. "Families did step up and those stories should be highlighted. I think this film is not going to address the things his father is denying."

Gibson has said in interviews he believes the Holocaust happened. Gibson is in Mexico filming a flick; his rep at Rogers & Cowan declined to comment on the ABC project or his client's participation.

Having Gibson attached to a Holocaust project is a big plus, ABC's Taylor told the New York Times in a report published yesterday: "Controversy's publicity, and vice versa."

But yesterday, he told The TV Column he was surprised by the reaction. In fact, his thought was, "Wow, must have been a slow news day."

Then he said that people's concerns about Gibson's involvement are "all important to listen to. But at the end of the day it's all about the product and are we telling a good story. It's about the story, not about the filmmakers' politics," said Taylor, who bought the project because "I'm a sucker for a love story."

Sladek compares the story of Van Beek and her husband to " 'Dr. Zhivago' or 'Reds.' "

"It happens to take place during the Holocaust, it happens to take place in Holland, and I think there is a great deal of focus being put on the player and the historical time period without fully recognizing what the story is about," he told The TV Column.

He noted that four of the six executive producers attached to the project are Jewish.

"I have every faith in our combined capability to champion development of this project through completion with the utmost respect not only for the Jewish community but the global community at large. We will be extremely responsible -- period. We're filmmakers -- this is Hollywood. If our decisions . . . to work with one another . . . were predicated on people's individual beliefs, political, religious or moral, nobody would get anything done. That's the real world," Sladek said.

The project is in the very early stages: A scriptwriter has been hired, it has yet to be greenlit to production, and the earliest it could be on the air is the 2006-07 season, Taylor said.

"I'm a bit taken aback when they are talking about something that is so far down the road I don't even know how to respond," he told The TV Column.

A day earlier, he told Variety that he would tell those critical of the move to bring in Gibson to "shut up and wait to see the movie and then judge."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702460_pf.html

fredfa

12-08-05, 11:07 AM

ABC gets NASCAR in place of football
Joins Fox, TNT, ESPN and Speed in eight-year deal

By Dan Weil MediaLifeMagazine.com
Dec 7, 2005

When ABC decided not to renew “Monday Night Football” earlier this year, it was left without a major fall sports franchise but ahead a few extra hundred million dollars because of it. It seemed all but certain from the moment that “MNF” moved to ESPN that ABC would go after NASCAR to fill that hole.

And yesterday, ABC confirmed what had been rumored for weeks: It’s taking over NBC’s fall racing slate starting in 2007 as part of an eight-year deal.

The $4.48 billion deal includes ABC and ESPN, as well as Fox, TNT and Speed Channel. That’s a 46 percent increase over the racing circuit’s six-year, $2.4 billion deal that ends next year. Soaring ratings and increased interest from advertisers and sponsors helped fuel the gain.

NBC, which broadcast fall NASCAR races with TNT since 2001, is out. ABC and ESPN, which will pay a combined $270 million per year, are back after a five-year absence. Fox will pay $208 million per year, up 4 percent over its $200 million annual payment under the old deal. TNT will pay $85 million per year.

Under the new deal, News Corp.’s Fox will broadcast the first 13 Nextel Cup races, beginning in February with racing’s highest-rated event, the Daytona 500. Under the previous contract, Fox alternated coverage of Daytona with NBC.

Time Warner’s TNT will carry races 14-19, and ESPN and ABC will split the final 17 races, including the 10-race championship Chase for the Nextel Cup on ABC.

Speed won’t televise any races but will carry the annual Gatorade Duels, which help determine the starting order for the Daytona 500, in addition to the Nextel Cup Series All-Star Challenge and the Nextel Cup Series Pit Crew Challenge.

ABC had been interested in NASCAR since before it dropped out of “MNF.” Last spring, ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer said NASCAR was a major missing cog in his networks’ coffers.

By the time rumors popped up last month that some deal had been reached, everyone expected that ABC and ESPN had closed it. NASCAR reportedly delayed announcing it until a deal with Fox was finalized yesterday.

For ESPN, which like ABC is owned by Disney, the addition of NASCAR means it now carries all four of the country’s highest-rated professional sports: football, basketball, baseball and NASCAR. ESPN dropped the NHL this season.

NBC, meanwhile, no longer had a need for NASCAR. It takes over the “Sunday Night Football” franchise next year, and NASCAR races also air on Sundays. There simply wasn’t room for both, and racing reportedly has lost money for the network during its four years.

NASCAR ratings have been up this year. NBC and TNT averaged a 4.7 household rating and 10 share for coverage of Nextel Cup racing, their best-ever ratings.

For 13 Nextel Cup races, Fox averaged a 6.0/14 and 9.6 million viewers, a 7 percent increase over 2004 (5.6/14 and 9.0 million viewers) and a new record for NASCAR on any network, according to Nielsen Media Research.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1708.asp

fredfa

12-08-05, 11:12 AM

Rival of ABC News wonders: Why not Charlie Gibson?

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

Add another name to the Charlie Gibson fan club - NBC News president Steve Capus.

Like many of Gibson's colleagues, Capus was surprised that the respected Good Morning America cohost was passed over for the ABC World News Tonight anchor chair left vacant by Peter Jennings' death in August.

Elizabeth Vargas, 43, andBob Woodruff, 44, were announced Monday as WNT's new anchor team beginning Jan. 3. Gibson, 62, a 30-year ABC veteran, will stick around at GMA with Diane Sawyer, who turns 60 this month.

"Charlie Gibson strikes me as somebody born to do a job like that [anchor WNT]," says Capus, a Warminster native and Temple grad promoted last week to news division chief.

"He did a terrific job as the face of ABC News through the death of Peter Jennings. I thought he had cemented his role in the future. I don't know what led them to come to this decision. There's no question he's done a better job for them from a ratings point of view."

From April 4 (the week of Jennings' last appearance) until Sept. 25, WNT averaged 8.17 million viewers with Gibson, Vargas and Woodruff filling in. (Gibson did at least two nights a week.) No. 1 NBC Nightly News, withBrian Williams, had 8.54 million viewers.

Since Sept. 26, without Gibson in the rotation, WNT has increased to 8.58 million viewers, but NBC has gone up, too, to 9.73 million. Minus Gibson, WNT's gap with NBC went from 4 to 14 percent, according to NBC.

ABC News vice president Jeffrey Schneider exploded over Capus' remarks.

"He's right that Charlie is a great anchor, and he could teach Steve a lot about how to be a gentleman," Schneider said, adding that WNT consistently beat "the extravagantly promoted anchor of Nightly News" among advertiser-friendly 18- to-49-year-olds during Jennings' illness and death.

"With an anchor threatening to jump ship [Katie Couric] you'd think that's where Steve's focus would be right now."

Capus, ever the politico - he was elected township auditor in Bucks County in the early '80s as a Republican - says, "One way or another, ABC will be a worthy competitor. We're happy the playing field is coming into focus."

Still out of focus: CBS Evening News, with no permanent anchor after nine months.

By going with two relative unknowns instead of an established star with gravitas, ABC is "writing off" the evening newscast to focus its resources on GMA, some say.

Morning shows are the big cash cows for the networks. With GMA making strides against 10-year leader Today of NBC, ABC may be hesitant to upset the delicate chemistry of the anchors.

"ABC is putting the most emphasis on the morning battle," Capus says. "They've been saying it with every action they've taken for a long time. We'll happily engage them there."

Trading faces.

Do not adjust your set. FX is going to black and white.

A black family and a white family will "trade" races in Black. White, a six-part documentary series from (white) producer R.J. Cutlerand (black) actor-producer Ice Cube. It debuts in March.

We're not making this up.

Every day for six weeks over the summer, the African American Sparks family (from Atlanta) and Caucasian Wurgel family (Santa Monica, Calif.) spent three to five hours getting made up to look like the opposite race by Oscar-nominated Keith VanderLaan(The Passion of the Christ).

Then they went out in the world. (The world was L.A., where the families shared a house.) The black father (now white) gets a bartender job in a white neighborhood. The white daughter (now black) attends all-black slam-poetry classes.

A new race awareness ensues, Fox says.

At the end of the day, the makeup comes off and the families discuss their experiences over dinner at home.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13354350.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

12-08-05, 11:22 AM

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

fredfa

12-08-05, 12:46 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Good news team

By Matthew Zoller Seitz Newark Star-Ledger Thursday, December 08, 2005

WHEN A LONG-running TV program changes formats, it's customary for critics to grouse that it was better the old way. But after watching the new, post-Ted Koppel version of ABC's "Nightline" (weeknights, 11:35 PM ET/PT ABC) which debuted Nov. 28, I'll instead pose a question: What's not to like?

Some longtime "Nightline" boosters might never get over the shock of seeing the broadcast's single-host, single-topic format replaced by multiple topics and three anchors (Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran, Martin Bashir). Some feared the format change would ape personality-driven 24-hour cable programs, a la Anderson Cooper or Keith Olbermann: part news roundup, part talk radio bluster, part "sincerity."

But so far, the new "Nightline" has offered no smirks, no politicians regurgitating talking points and no fake-righteous pontificating, just a new version of old-school network TV journalism. The debut program offered strong pieces on the possibility of a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and the Catholic church's decision on gay priests. Bashir contributed a feature on an all-deaf high school football team in Riverside, Calif., that was honestly emotional rather than manipulative.

Ensuing broadcasts have examined AIDS in India and WMD alarmist Ahmad Chalabi's bid to be elected president of Iraq. And correspondent Jake Tapper turned what might have seemed like a corporate logrolling piece -- on "A Charlie Brown Christmas," a CBS creation that now airs on ABC -- into an amusing admission that Charles Schulz's first special has become part of the same commercialization of Christmas that the little round-headed kid once decried.

Last Friday, "Nightline" even broke with its new format and did a single-topic episode, a town hall meeting of Iraqis debating the U.S. occupation. Tomorrow, the program plans to do another single-topic, Iraq-centric town hall meeting, this one gathering 29 mothers of active duty U.S. service members.

I like the program's reflexive fascination with Iraq. I like the constant reminders that the program, which was taped in Washington every afternoon for years, now broadcasts live from Times Square; it reminds viewers that whether they're awake or asleep, the world keeps turning. This is not the same "Nightline," but it's "Nightline."

Skin game

We've all seen conversations about race get shut down when somebody declares, "If you were black, you wouldn't be saying that." Only FX would look at that sentence and see a pitch for a new series: "Black. White," a six-parter from documentarian R.J. Cutler and rapper/actor Ice Cube that's set to air in March.

The premise finds a Caucasian family, the Wurgels, and an African-American family, the Sparks, donning sophisticated makeup that makes the Wurgels black and the Sparks white. (The makeup artist is Keith VanderLaan, whose credits include "The Passion of the Christ.") In addition to posing as members of another race, the families share a house.

This concept is part of a long pop culture tradition, one that includes white journalist John Howard Griffin's book "Black Like Me" and a notorious 1970 Superman comic titled "I Am Curious (Black)," in which the Man of Steel changed Lois Lane's race for a day to teach her about bigotry in Metropolis. Despite this history, it's still jarring to see a major cable network and an influential nonfiction filmmaker develop the idea as a series, blurring genre definitions as they go.

"Black. White" can't be considered a traditional documentary, because the premise rests on a drastic social intervention. And you can't call it a "reality show" because it lacks a competitive aspect. In an interview yesterday, Cutler likened it to another FX nonfiction series he produces, "30 Days," and called both series "experiential journalism." But even that description seems inadequate.

Cutler said FX entertainment president John Landgraf came up with the idea. Cutler seized on it because he believed "the single most important topic in this country is, and always has been, race," yet it had become hard to discuss the subject on TV because Americans have been trained to hide behind politically correct clichés.

"There is a single and yet significant contrivance within the core of this show," Cutler said. "The subjects are using makeup to create new identities. But what you see after that is what really happened."

All TV bits

After being accused of anti-Semitism for some scenes in "The Passion of the Christ," Mel Gibson's next project may be about ... the Holocaust? According to Daily Variety, Gibson's production company is working with ABC on a miniseries called "Flory," based on the true story of a Jewish woman whose Dutch boyfriend protected her from the Nazis.

More Thursday night scheduling gamesmanship: ABC is going to extend "Dancing with the Stars" to 90 minutes when it returns on Jan. 12, and follow it at 9:30 with the Jane Curtin/Fred Savage family comedy "Crumbs." The same night at 9, the WB will bring back "Beauty and the Geek."

Coincidence or blatant product placement? On Tuesday morning, NBC announced a number of current and past shows from its catalog -- including "The Office" -- will be available for download through iTunes, just like ABC's deal with Apple. That night, an episode of "The Office" -- which was filled with logo bugs advertising the iTunes deal -- featured a video pod as a major plot point.

"Law & Order" mastermind Dick Wolf is in full-on recycling mode for his upcoming, non-"L&O" NBC drama "Conviction." Not only will the show use many of the leftover sets from "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," but "Special Victims Unit" alum Stephanie March will reprise her role as ADA Cabot.

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/columns-0/1134023869126220.xml&coll=1

fredfa

12-08-05, 12:57 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Out with the not-so-old, in with the new

By Joanne Ostrow Denver Post TV Critic

Midseason is a time of promise.

Quirky, smart new shows debut away from the rush of September, favorites return, and television seems fresh again.

But first, the pink slips.

This year, it seems, more marginal fare is hanging on while the networks introduce fewer new projects in January through early spring.

Bye-bye

Fox nixed "Head Cases" and "Reunion," and curtailed production for "Kitchen Confidential" and, lamentably, "Arrested Development."

NBC yanked "Inconceivable" and "Three Wishes" and won't continue Martha Stewart's "Apprentice." In January, the disappointing "Joey" will be pulled at least until after the Winter Olympics in February. (Might as well put it out of its misery now.)

ABC canceled "Night Stalker" and "Hot Properties" and put "Alias" and "Supernanny" on hiatus.

CBS axed "Threshold" and pulled "Out of Practice" out of the lineup for the forseeable future.

The WB jilted "Just Legal." UPN dumped "Sex, Love & Secrets."

The best explanation for the continuation of middling performers like the WB's "Related" and NBC's "E-Ring" is that keeping them going is safer and cheaper than launching something new. In today's intensely competitive entertainment environment, networks favor a known quantity.

The race for demographics is so tight, nobody wants to mess with modest success.

There are sometimes extenuating, political reasons why undistinguished shows stick around. CBS' "Close to Home" is such a case. As a product of the Jerry Bruckheimer factory, it's not going away.

At this point, it's safe to assess the trends of the season: There were no breakout hits on the order of "Lost," procedural dramas are losing steam, reality TV is in decline (finally), and cable's original series ("Rome," "Weeds," "Sleeper Cell," "The Triangle") continue to draw viewers away from the broadcast networks.

Except for ABC, the commercial broadcast networks are down in audience numbers. NBC in particular is losing viewers. UPN has a good story to tell, especially versus the WB. Broadcast TV in general has hit a plateau. While part of the audience watches cable, another must be hibernating with Netflix until January when "Dancing With the Stars," "American Idol" and "24" return.

Now then. If we can just get past the forced, pretaped merriment and prefabricated styrofoam snow of TV's holiday "specials."

Hello

Midseason will bring four new CBS series: "Love Monkey," with Tom Cavanagh ("Ed") as a single 30-something record executive in New York, and a Jenna Elfman comedy, both in January. "The Unit," a David Mamet action drama with Dennis Haysbert, and a Julia Louis-Dreyfus comedy, "The New Adventures of Old Christine," are slated for March. (CBS is also working with Al Sharpton on a sitcom, tentatively titled "Al in the Family," with no premiere date set.)

NBC will debut "Book of Daniel," starring Aidan Quinn as a pill-popping Episcopalian priest, and the comedy "Four Kings," about four guys who were childhood friends, now toying with adulthood (from the creators of "Will & Grace"). "Book of Daniel" will launch with back-to-back episodes on Friday, Jan. 6, and go through Feb. 3 as a "limited run" series. It will be benched during the Olympics but a strong following would ensure the drama's return. "Four Kings" starts Jan. 5. "Scrubs" returns, not a moment too soon, on Jan. 3.

ABC is readying the Monday night comedy "Emily's Reasons Why Not," starring Heather Graham. "In Justice," a procedural drama starring Kyle McLachlan, begins Jan. 6; "Crumbs," a Fred Savage comedy about estranged brothers, with Jane Curtin and William Devane, begins Jan. 12.

Fox has a promising comedy for March called "The Loop," about a recent college grad in Chicago who, unlike his pals, has a job.

And in March the WB will introduce a bright, likable drama called "Pepper Dennis." Remember this name: Rebecca Romijn (pronounced "Romaine," like the lettuce). She plays the show's title character, a TV news reporter.

http://www.denverpost.com/ostrow

fredfa

12-08-05, 01:10 PM

Commentary
The Future Face Of Network News

By Tina Brown Washington Post Op-Ed Columnist Thursday, December 8, 2005; C01

Joe Gillis (William Holden): You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.
Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson): I am big. It's the pictures that got small. -- "Sunset Boulevard," 1950

There's nothing inherently wrong with ABC anointing Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff as the new anchor-couple of "World News Tonight." It's just another Norma Desmond moment. This time, it's the networks that got small.

The two of them look as if they were spawned in the same electronic petri dish. Perhaps somewhere in Korea there is a lab where they farm raise these made-for-TV faces. (Or maybe excessively craggy-faced correspondents can go to Paris to have a new one grafted on from a brain-dead French game-show host.) David Westin, the ABC News chief, is smart to avoid betting the store on a solo anchor monster. It's the King Kong theory of success. If you don't overspend on one big star, there's more money for the juicy special effects.

Anyhow, Vargas is hot, especially when artfully filmed from the side in her jeans on hurricane gigs. She has market-tested appeal. "I'm a woman, I'm a working mother, I'm a minority" was her positioning statement. As Emily Rooney, a former ABC executive producer, put it to The Post's Howard Kurtz, "She's not the classic prima donna. I don't think anybody will resent her."

No one could resent Bob Woodruff either. He's as clean-cut and wrinkle-free as a Pixar animation. Soon, perhaps, the networks will find a way to do without correspondents altogether and digitally insert their anchors into mountainous terrains or howling hurricanes. Now that anchors have to produce for so many "delivery platforms" at once, wouldn't that be less expensive and physically demanding than hurtling them to far-off places for fleeting stand-ups? It would certainly cut the cost of the indefatigable Matt Lauer's seasonal "Journey to Ernie"-like "Where in the World Is Matt Lauer?" stunt. Last month, it required him to pop up smiling in Easter Island, the Panama Canal, Innsbruck, Shanghai and Dubrovnik in the space of five days, just for a bit of sweeps-week cuteness.

It's hard to get wound up, either, about the possible Katie Couric career move to CBS from "Today." The stakes (except for Katie's rumored $20 million payday) are so small. It's all about whether Ms. Couric can stanch the "CBS Evening News" audience hemorrhage while Viacom's Co-President Les Moonves simultaneously undermines NBC's morning cash cow and adds to his rival Jeff Zucker's daily diet of despair. (Moonves's favorite occupation.) It's been pleasing, however, to see Couric's image rehab. She's used her protracted negotiation dance with the opposition to exact just revenge for a season of bad diva press leaked from disloyal NBC colleagues.

Tom Brokaw looks more of a genius every day for the timing of his exit from NBC and for handpicking news machine Brian Williams as his successor. It was only a year ago, and it already feels like the Cretaceous era. Peter Jennings was still alive. Dan Rather was having his King Lear moment. Anderson Cooper was still a promising albino-haired gimmick who hadn't started to emote yet. It was fashionable to make fun of Rather for overdoing the trench coat "I'm just a reporter" routine, but you did feel his experience was experience rather than his experience was television.

Even in the past turbulent five years, alpha anchors still had their clout, but most of it was left over from the days when they had enormous audiences. They were the godlike frontmen of Olympian organizations. Gravitas-building structures of authority stood behind them -- all those globe-spanning bureaus and authoritative correspondents and deep pockets.

In the hectic pace of news there was also, compared with now, time. When the broadcast was done, they could call a source, check out a story, read something that hadn't just been ripped out and handed to them. Today, the broadcast is never done. It's a nightmare perpetual Truman Show. When they're not webcasting or cable-guesting or promoting or stunting or blogging they're what? Sleeping, I guess. Screaming. Their reality is so thin they're like the window-wraiths in Adam Gopnik's new kids' book "The King in the Window." If Katie leaves NBC, her place will probably be filled by weekend window-wraith Campbell Brown. She is bright and easygoing and unthreatening, with a face you can't pin down.

Cable news, not the broadcast network evening news, is now the basic electronic news utility. The nightly news shows still attract much bigger numbers -- 10 times as much, in their time slots, as even the biggest cable shows -- but what's scary is the way they continue to decline. And the anchors who command real loyalty and enthusiasm are no longer the stentorian network newsreaders but the excitable cable table pounders -- the Matthewses, the Nancy Graces, the O'Reillys and the Hannitys.

The unflagging Brian Williams, we are told, is always fighting for more time for hard journalism -- but that riff is getting old hat now, as sepia-toned as "Good Night, and Good Luck." A morning-show producer I know spoke with a straight face of the heroic struggle she'd waged (and lost) to get a Tony Blair interview last year up from two minutes and thirty seconds to a comprehensive four minutes. (That kind of length is reserved for Brad and Angelina.) The New York Observer pointed out recently that according to Andrew Tyndall, a media analyst who tracks network news, ABC, CBS and NBC combined have averaged 166 minutes a month on Iraq this year -- which works out per network to roughly 55 minutes a month or less than 120 seconds a day. Two-minute managers have given us the two-minute war.

That's why all the network TV journalists I talk to have moved from defeatism to a sort of frantic, hopeful alertness. It's final: The Internet rules. Platform snobbery is over. Cable news 24/7 trumps scheduled network news, and TiVo trumps both. Stubborn news junkies at the networks are like greyhounds scenting the winds of change, straining to be let off the leash in whatever new media format they can. They really don't care anymore if it's network, cable, webcast or iPod, for heaven's sake, as long as someone is willing to invest in them doing something in depth. As one well-known CBS News figure said to me this week: "We are never going to get the mass audiences anymore. Ever. We just want to get on and do real journalism in whatever form we can and hope someone somewhere figures out how to pay for it. Soon."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702626_pf.html

(from infoplease.com) “After working as a reporter for several publications, (Tina Brown) was named editor of the Tatler magazine at the age of 25. Brown rejuvenated the publication, vastly increasing circulation. In 1984, she became editor of the American monthly magazine Vanity Fair. During her eight years as editor, Brown pioneered celebrity journalism and became one of the most visible magazine editors in the country. In 1992, Brown was asked to revive the flagging fortunes of the venerable literary magazine, The New Yorker. Brown introduced photography and used shorter articles, increasing circulation. The magazine still lost money. In 1999 Brown launched Talk magazine, but had to close it down in 2001. She hosted a show on CNBC, Topic A with Tina Brown and writes a column for The Washington Post Style section.”

fredfa

12-08-05, 01:28 PM

Subs Leaving Cable

Multichannel.com12/8/2005

More American households are receiving subscription-TV programming via an alternate delivery system, according to an analysis of Nielsen Media Research data for November 2005 by the Television Bureau of Advertising.

The TVB said MSOs lost 1.4 million subscribers and wired cable's penetration percentage hit a 13-year low.

The advertising trade group added that national ADS penetration reached 20.8% in November, up from 19.2% in November 2004, while over the same period, wired-cable penetration fell from 66.4% to 64.8%.

The last time wired cable was any lower was in February 1992, the TVB said.

Direct-broadcast satellite, the largest component of ADS, is now estimated at 20.2%, up (about 1.5 million homes) from 18.9% in November 2004, the trade group said.

fredfa

12-08-05, 01:55 PM

NASCAR agrees to eight-year TV deal

By Michael Hiestand USA TODAY

NASCAR made it official Wednesday: Starting in 2007, its TV carriers will be ABC, ESPN, Fox and TNT — collectively paying TV rights for an eight-year contract at least 40% above current rates.

In recent years, NASCAR chairman Brian France says, there was "always a question of whether we could be a franchise sport" for networks — "and we've proven that."

NASCAR's ratings have moved up. Races on broadcast networks averaged 5.2% of U.S. TV households in 2000, and this year they averaged 5.8%. On cable networks, races averaged 3.9% of cable TV households in 2000, and 4.8% this year.

Still, Fox has openly acknowledged that it lost millions on its current deal. And NBC, the other broadcast network now showing NASCAR through next season, didn't get a new deal to continue covering the sport.

The major change in the new deals is that ABC and Disney corporate cousin ESPN will return to NASCAR action. According to the networks, here is the deal:

•ABC/ESPN: Disney's outlets will pay about $270 million annually for 17 races, up from the $200 million that an NBC/TNT joint venture now pays for 20 races.

But ESPN also gets the Busch Series races, which mainly air Saturday nights and whose ratings often top 2% of TV households. Says George Bodenheimer, president of ABC Sports and ESPN: The Busch Series "is a jewel in the rough and will instantly become the highest-rated series on ESPN2. ... We're going to build that series like its never been built before."

And ESPN, keeping with its overall goals for all its TV deals, acquired various other media rights, such as the rights to show races on its Spanish-language Deportes network and on its new ESPN cellphones.

Says France, "I can't tell you how excited we are to get Disney."

•Fox: The network will pay about $208 million annually to get 13 races in the first half of NASCAR's season, down from the 17 it, along with its cable channel FX, now pays for $200 million annually.

But there's a big change: Fox gets the Daytona 500, which it now alternates with NBC, every year. This season's Daytona 500 drew 10.9% of U.S. TV households — tying the all-time ratings high for the race that NBC produced in 2002.

Fox would seem to have done pretty well. But Fox Sports president Ed Goren won't gloat, saying NASCAR's TV deals are "a win-win for everybody."

•TNT: The cablecaster stays in the sport with a new midsummer package of six races, starring the Pepsi 400, which is staged at Daytona over the July 4 weekend. Turner Sports president David Levy says that race is especially big, given "Daytona is the sacred ground of NASCAR."

TNT will pay at least $80 million annually. Levy doesn't think NASCAR has peaked as a TV attraction: "There's still a lot more growth on the ratings side."

• Speed Channel: The Fox-owned cable channel, which doesn't now have NASCAR races, will get the NASCAR All-Star Challenge.

Of the national TV money, which will total at least $4.4 billion over eight years, about 65% will go to tracks, with teams splitting about 25% and NASCAR itself getting 10%.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2005-12-07-tv-deal_x.htm

fredfa

12-08-05, 02:22 PM

Ousted “60 Minutes” Producer Lands at CNBC

By Jacques Steinberg The New York Times

Josh Howard, a longtime CBS journalist who was forced to resign as executive producer of the Wednesday edition of "60 Minutes" over its disputed segment about President Bush's National Guard service, has been hired by the financial news channel CNBC to preside over its documentary unit.

Mr. Howard, who worked at CBS News for 23 years in a variety of roles, including deputy to Don Hewitt, the creator of "60 Minutes," will be CNBC's vice president for specials and long-form programming, said Mark Hoffman, president of the cable channel.

In that job, a new post that he assumes on Monday, Mr. Howard will oversee the expansion of a unit that has produced several documentary-length specials in recent years.

At CBS, Mr. Howard won 18 Emmy Awards for segments he produced or supervised.

But his departure was tumultuous. Mr. Howard became executive producer of the weeknight edition of "60 Minutes" in the summer of 2004, not long before the program broadcast a report that sought to raise new questions about Mr. Bush's Vietnam Guard service.

After initially defending the documents on which the report was based, the network said it could not vouch for their authenticity.

After an outside panel found that the broadcast had been rushed under competitive pressure, CBS fired the producer of the segment, Mary Mapes, and demanded that Mr. Howard and two colleagues resign. Of Mr. Howard's role, Mr. Hoffman said: "He paid with his job. But there's a couple of decades of tremendous work that preceded that."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/arts/television/08arts.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-08-05, 02:27 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Thursday, December 8, 2005 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
National Ratings in Syndication: Week of Nov. 21, 2005

Fueled by Oprah’s 20th Anniversary follow-up and an appearance by upcoming talk show host Rachael Ray, King World’s Oprah roared to the winning finish line in syndication, with a whopping 9.0 household rating for the week of Nov. 21, 2005. Comparatively, that was Oprah’s highest national rating since the week of Feb. 17, 1997. Oprah also ranked No. 1 in all key women demos, with its highest rating among women 25-54 (6.8) since the week of May 9, 1994 and best among women 18-49 (5.9) since the week of Feb. 17, 1997. Also at King World was Inside Edition with a season-high in households (3.8) -- its highest in over one year.

Over at NBC Universal, freshman Martha perked up to a 1.9 in households -- its best performance since premiere week. Martha also scored a series-high among women 25-54 (1.2). Elsewhere, Maury (3.1), Blind Date (1.2) and three-year-old Starting Over (1.2) all hit season highs, while Access Hollywood Weekend scored its season best in households (2.3) and women 18-34 (1.2).

Paramount’s The Insider continues to pick up steam with a series high 3.0 in households for the second consecutive week, while parent Entertainment Tonight (5.5) tied its season high, ranking first in the magazine genre for 490 straight weeks. Paramount’s Judge Judy (4.6), Judge Joe Brown (3.4) and Montel (2.3); and Twentieth gaveler Judge Alex (2.4) also reached a new zenith in households this season.

Warner Bros. also had some crowing points, with freshman talker The Tyra Banks Show gaining momentum with a series-high performance in households (1.9), women 18-34 (1.7), women 18-49 (1.4) and women 25-54 (1.3).

What follows are the top 30 rated programs for the week of Nov. 21, 2005 in households (with change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses for all established series):

Oprah: 9.0 (+27)
Wheel of Fortune: 8.3 (+ 1)
Jeopardy: 6.5 (-10)
Everybody Loves Raymond: 6.1 (- 5)
Entertainment Tonight: 5.5 (+ 2)
Seinfeld: 5.4 (- 8)
Dr. Phil: 5.3 (-10)
Judge Judy: 5.0 (- 2)
Friends: 4.8 (-13)
That ‘70s Show: 4.2 (+35)
Inside Edition: 3.8 (+15)
Live With Regis & Kelly: 3.8 (+ 9)
Judge Joe Brown: 3.4 (- 3)
Maury: 3.1 (+ 3)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: 3.1 (-16)
People’s Court: 3.0 (+20)
Divorce Court: 3.0 (+ 7)
The Insider: 3.0 (+ 3)
King of the Hill: 2.9 (no change)
Judge Mathis: 2.7 (+17)
Ellen DeGeneres: 2.6 (+18)
King of Queens: 2.6 (no change)
Malcolm in the Middle: 2.6 (-16)
Access Hollywood: 2.5 (+ 9)
Cops: 2.5 (-17)
Judge Alex: 2.4
Montel: 2.3 (- 4)
Bernie Mac and My Wife and Kids: 2.2 each
Extra: 2.2 (no change)

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (AA – average audience – household rating)

fredfa

12-08-05, 02:57 PM

Overnight Ratings
UPN's 'Top Model' in grand exit strut
Fashion reality show ranks No. 1 in 18-34s

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 7, 2005

Last night’s season finale of “America’s Next Top Model” wasn’t great for runner-up Nik Rhodesea, but it was pretty good for winner Nicole Linkletter, host Tyra Banks and UPN.

Last night’s finale earned a 3.6 average overnight rating among viewers 18-34, UPN’s target demo, its highest rating of the season and a 24 percent boost over the 2.9 overnight rating the show had averaged so far this season.

The show finished first in its 8 p.m. timeslot among 18-34s, and was also a competitive second place among 18-49s, with its 2.9 rating falling just short of the 3.2 ABC averaged during the hour with “George Lopez” and “Freddie.”

If “Top Model’s” 3.6 rating among 18-34s holds, it would make it the highest-rated finale the show has had since it moved to the Wednesday 8 p.m. timeslot in 2004. Last spring, season four’s finale earned a 3.4 final rating among 18-34s, and last winter season three’s finale posted a 3.5.

The “Top Model” finale finished third in its timeslot among total viewers, averaging 6.3 million.

Some of this season’s success can be traced to the popularity of host Tyra Banks’ new syndicated talk show, which has helped build buzz for both Tyra and “Top Model.” Banks also got additional exposure on Tuesday’s “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” on CBS.

Meanwhile, in other ratings last night, the two-hour finish of the “Pope John Paul II” miniseries averaged just a 1.4 overnight rating among viewers 18-49, including a 1.3 during the 8 p.m. slot, dropping CBS to last among the six broadcast networks that hour.

On the strength of a “Lost” rerun, ABC finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 3.3 average rating and a 9 share. Fox was second at 3.1/8, NBC third at 2.1/8, UPN fourth at 2.1/6, CBS fifth at 2.0/5 and the WB sixth at 1.2/3.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1706.asp

fredfa

12-08-05, 04:19 PM

UPN's Justine Bateman to Star on “Arrested Development”

By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com December 8, 2005

Justine Bateman will guest star on one of the final episodes of Fox's comedy series "Arrested Development," which stars her brother Jason Bateman. Ms. Bateman begins shooting her episode this week, which is scheduled to air Monday, Jan. 9. In the episode, Michael (Mr. Bateman) investigates the possibility that he may have a long-lost older sister named Nellie Bluth (Mr. Bateman).

The critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning "Arrested" has struggled in the ratings since it premiered in fall 2003. This season the show moved from Sundays to Mondays, where it has continued to underperform. "Arrested" was pre-empted for much of November sweeps, had its production order cut and is not expected to return next season.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9019

fredfa

12-08-05, 04:57 PM

This just in…..
Probst Sticks with “Survivor”

By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable

Ending widespread speculation that Survivor’s Jeff Probst would walk away from the show he has hosted since its inception in 2000, CBS Thursday confirmed to B&C that he has renewed his contract.

“We have a new agreement with Jeff Probst to continue as host of Survivor,” a CBS spokesman said.

Sources said it is a two-year deal that will take him through the hit show’s 16th edition in 2008.

Executive Producer Mark Burnett produces two cycles of the series each season for CBS.

The 42-year-old Probst’s current contract was reportedly set to expire in the first-half of 2006, when the upcoming 12th edition of Survivor ends.

Probst has been vocal about his desire to eventually settle down and start a family, which led to questions about whether he would want to make another long-term commitment to the program or simply leave.

But despite a flurry of speculative press reports questioning whether Probst would go, and who might replace him, he had never declared his intentions.

The Associated Press had quoted Probst as saying, “There’s the inevitable point where you go, ‘Do I want to do other things?’ But … I’ll never have as good a job as Survivor.”

fredfa

12-08-05, 05:16 PM

Oprah Makes Dave’s Week

By Rebecca Stropoli Broadcasting & Cable

Boosted by Oprah Winfrey’s Dec. 1 appearance on the show, Late Show With David Letterman bested The Tonight Show in ratings and viewers for the week ending Dec. 2, its first such win since the week ending Feb. 25, 2000, when Letterman resumed his hosting duties following heart surgery.

The show posted a 4.6 rating/12 share in households (versus The Tonight Show’s 4.2/11) and attracted 6.5 million viewers (versus The Tonight Show’s 5.99 million). Late Show garnered a 2.4/9 in adults 25-54 (versus The Tonight Show’s 2.4/9) and a 2.1/9 in adults 18-49 (compared to The Tonight Show’s 2.0/8).

Oprah’s appearance on Letterman was its fourth-most-watched episode ever.

fredfa

12-08-05, 05:22 PM

Late Night Ratings
Oprah Makes Dave’s Week II

NBC spins the late night numbers
(from an NBC Press Release)

JAY LENGTHENS HIS LEAD IN THE NOVEMBER SWEEP, WINNING BY A 30 PERCENT MARGIN IN 18-49, UP FROM 16 PERCENT LAST YEAR

DESPITE A MUCH-HYPED OPRAH APPEARANCE ON LETTERMAN LAST WEEK, JAY WINS THE WEEK IN THE VALUABLE ADULT 18-34 CATEGORY AND PULLS WITHIN A TENTH OF A POINT OF #1 IN 18-49

JAY FINISHES #1 ON 19 OF 20 NIGHTS IN THE SWEEP IN 18-49, CONAN WINS 20 OF 20

BURBANK, Calif. -– December 8, 2005 –- NBC's late-night lineup ruled the November sweep, with "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" increasing its lead over CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" from a 16 percent margin one year ago to 30 percent in November 2005. In total viewers, Jay stretched his lead from last year's 15 percent to 29 percent this year. "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" won the 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET hour by a 48 percent margin for the sweep, which extended from Nov. 3 to Nov. 30.

For the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 2, Jay defeated "Late Show" in the valuable adult 18-34 demographic and pulled within a tenth of a point of first place among adults 18-49 despite Letterman's big Thursday numbers with guest Oprah Winfrey. While "Late Show" easily won that night, "Tonight" was #1 on Monday, Tuesday and Friday and tied for #1 on Wednesday night in 18-49. In total viewers, "Tonight" was #1 outright on four of five nights last week. For the season, Jay has finished #1 on 53 of 55 nights in both 18-49 and total viewers against regular competition (including one tie in 18-49).

Conan won the week over CBS' "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" in 18-49 (1.0 rating vs. 0.9) and total viewers (2.386 million vs. 2.360 million), despite a significant boost for the Thursday "Late "Late Show" due to its lead-in from the Oprah Winfrey edition of Letterman. For the season, Conan has finished #1 on 54 of 55 nights versus regular competition in 18-49 (including a tie) and 52 of 55 nights in total viewers.

Even with last week's results figured into averages, Jay continues to enjoy significantly bigger season-to-date leads over Letterman versus his year-ago margins. The "Tonight" advantage in 18-49 viewers through 11 weeks of the season is 34 percent, up from 22 percent at this point last season, and Jay's lead in total viewers is 29 percent, up from 22 percent. For the season, Jay is averaging 2.529 million adult 18-49 viewers and "Late Show" is averaging 1.886 million.

Including the November 2005 sweep, Jay has won 39 sweep months in a row and Conan is undefeated and has won 44 sweep months in a row.

Jay won 19 of 20 nights in the sweep among adults 18-49 and 20 of 20 nights in total viewers (note that the Oprah Winfrey edition of "Late Show" aired outside of the November sweep, which concluded last Wednesday). Conan won 20 of 20 nights (including a tie) in 18-49 and 19 of 20 in total viewers.

"Last Call with Carson Daly" tied ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and CBS' Ferguson in adult 18-49 rating for the November sweep. In adults 18-34, "Last Call" out-rated Ferguson and Kimmel, though "Last Call" airs 90 minutes later than Kimmel and an hour later than Ferguson in much of the country.

WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of Nov. 28- Dec. 2)

ADULTS 18-49

NBC "Tonight," 2.0 rating, 8 share
CBS "Late Show," 2.1/9
ABC "Nightline," 1.0/4*
ABC "Kimmel," 0.7/4*

NBC "Late Night," 1.0/6*
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.9/5

NBC "Last Call," 0.6/5*

TOTAL VIEWERS

NBC "Tonight," 6.0 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 6.5 million viewers
ABC "Nightline," 3.4 million viewers*
ABC "Kimmel," 1.7 million viewers*

NBC "Late Night," 2.4 million viewers*
CBS "Late Late Show," 2.4 million viewers

NBC "Last Call," 1.4 million viewers*

* "Late Night" and "Last Call" aired encore episodes on Monday and "Kimmel" aired a rebroadcast on Thursday. Monday results for "Nightline" and "Kimmel" were delayed by football and the Monday "Nightline" is excluded from these averages.

NOVEMBER SWEEP AVERAGES

ADULTS 18-49

NBC "Tonight," 2.0/8
CBS "Late Show," 1.5/7
ABC "Nightline," 1.2/5
ABC "Kimmel," 0.7/4

NBC "Late Night," 1.1/7
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.7/4

NBC "Last Call," 0.7/5

Each rating point equals 1.30 million viewers

TOTAL VIEWERS

NBC "Tonight," 6.0 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 4.6 million viewers
ABC "Nightline," 3.7 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 1.7 million viewers

NBC "Late Night," 2.5 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 2.0 million viewers

NBC "Last Call," 1.5 million viewers

SEASON-TO-DATE AVERAGES

ADULTS 18-49

NBC "Tonight," 1.9/8
CBS "Late Show," 1.5/6
ABC "Nightline," 1.1/4
ABC "Kimmel," 0.6/4

NBC "Late Night," 1.0/7
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.7/4

NBC "Last Call," 0.7/5

Each rating point equals 1.30 million viewers

TOTAL VIEWERS

NBC "Tonight," 5.8 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 4.5 million viewers
ABC "Nightline," 3.5 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 1.6 million viewers

NBC "Late Night," 2.4 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.9 million viewers

NBC "Last Call," 1.5 million viewers

fredfa

12-08-05, 05:28 PM

Sports Ratings
ABC Sports College Football Up 7%

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com DECEMBER 08, 2005 -

ABC Sports' coverage of college football this season averaged 4.5 million households and a 4.1 rating, up 7 percent in households and 5 percent in ratings compared to last year, according to Nielsen Media Research data released by the network.

ESPN, this year, averaged 1.72 million viewers for its college football telecasts, up 4 percent, and the most viewers since 1999.

And ESPN2 averaged 928,000 viewers, up 7 percent from last year, and its highest total ever. Ratings for ESPN's College GameDay also were the highest ever, reaching a 1.6, up from 1.4 last year, a 14 percent increase. GameDay averaged 1.4 million viewers per telecast, up 18 percent from last year's 1.2 million.

Between Dec. 20 and Jan. 4, ABC Sports, ESPN and ESPN2 will air a combined 25 college football bowl games.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001657468

fredfa

12-08-05, 05:43 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Theme songs? What theme songs?

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune December 08, 2005

Don’t you just love "Lost’s" theme song?

Oh, wait. It doesn’t have one.

Ditto for "Invasion," "Reunion" and "Supernatural."

"Commander in Chief’s" title song is a whopping eight seconds long; "E-Ring’s" is about 14 seconds.

And if you’re looking for a classic, storytelling sitcom theme in the tradition of "Friends," "M*A*S*H" or "Cheers," don’t look to recent sitcoms. "Out of Practice" boasts a six-second tune, and "How I Met Your Mother’s" wordless theme clocks in at a whopping 12 seconds.

Whatever happened to all the great TV theme songs? They got cut to make way for advertising.

"A lot of sitcoms used to have full-on songs, now they’ll use just four bars of music, if that," says film and TV composer Joel Goldsmith, whose dad, "Star Trek" composer Jerry Goldsmith, introduced him to the trade. "Networks view that as commercial time. If they shorten theme songs and end-title sequences, they can sell more ads."

And the money broadcast networks can get from just one extra ad "is astronomical, especially on a hit show," Goldsmith notes. Hence the short or missing theme songs, and the rollout of show credits during the program’s early minutes.

In quite the musical irony, Goldsmith’s title theme for Sci Fi Channel’s "Stargate Atlantis" was nominated for an Emmy in 2005 — the same year that Sci Fi cut the title music on "Atlantis" and "Stargate SG-1" from one minute to 10 seconds. Fans protested, and the longer themes will return to the shows in January.

Scene-setting title sequences that run a minute or more aren’t quite gone yet; they can still be found on shows such as "The West Wing" and "Everwood," among others. But with many shows trimming or eliminating originally composed theme songs, gone are the days when everybody knew the most popular TV tunes.

The recently released CD compilation, "Tee Vee Toons Presents: All-Time Top 100 TV Themes," has only one tune from a post-2000 show: the "Six Feet Under" theme. The majority of the songs on the discs are from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

And though many TV shows are increasingly using tracks from rock bands within the programs themselves, gone are the days when popular TV themes ascended the music charts.

"Songs bring you back to a time and an age in your life in the same way your sense of smell can take you back," Goldsmith says. "We’re kind of losing that on television."

Songs that became hits

Here are just a few of the TV theme songs that hit the pop-music charts:

• "The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)" from "The Greatest American Hero"
• "I’ll Be There for You" from "Friends"
• "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" from "Cheers"
• "Welcome Back" from "Welcome Back, Kotter"
• The "Miami Vice" theme
• The "Ally McBeal" theme
• The "Bonanza" theme

http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/

fredfa

12-08-05, 07:22 PM

ABC Announces New “Dancing” Contestants

(ABC Press Release) December 8, 2005

A NEW GALAXY OF STARS TAKE TO THE DANCE FLOOR ON THE SECOND SEASON OF ABC’S HIT VARIETY SERIES, “DANCING WITH THE STARS”

An NFL legend, a Hollywood icon, a Platinum-selling rap singer and even an Academy Award-winning actress are among the performers who will strut their stuff when the second season of the sensational dance series, “Dancing with the Stars,” premieres THURSDAY, JANUARY 5 (8:-10 pm ET/PT) on the ABC Television Network.

Hosted by Tom Bergeron, the new season boasts an expanded lineup with even more celebrities than before. Preparing to waltz, fox trot and cha cha cha their way into living rooms across America are:

• TIA CARRERE – Television and movie star known for her stunning beauty. She will be partnered with professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

• GISELLE FERNANDEZ – Emmy Award-winning journalist. She will be partnered with professional dancer Jonathan Roberts, who returns to the series from last season.

• GEORGE HAMILTON – Actor and international bon vivant. He will be partnered with professional dancer Edyta Sliwinska, who makes her second appearance in the series.

• STACY KIEBLER – WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) diva. She will be partnered with professional dancer Tony Dovolani.

• DREW LACHEY – Recording artist and former member of the pop group 98 Degrees. He will be partnered with professional dancer Cheryl Burke.

• KENNY MAYNE – One of ESPN's most-recognized personalities, known for his dry wit and a former college quarterback. He will be partnered with professional dancer Andrea Hale.

• TATUM O’NEAL – Academy Award-winning actress. She will be partnered with professional dancer Nick Kosovich.

• JERRY RICE – Three-time Super Bowl champ and considered by many to be the greatest wide receiver to ever play in the NFL. He will be partnered with professional dancer Anna Trebunskaya.

• LISA RINNA – Actress, entrepreneur and host of SOAPnet’s “Soap Talk.” She will be partnered with professional dancer Louis van Amstel, who returns to the series from last season.

• ROMEO – Teen rap star and performer since age eleven. He will be partnered with professional dancer Ashly Delgrosso, who also returns to the series from last season.

The pairs will perform choreographed dance routines which will be judged by a panel of dance experts: Former dancers Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and dancer/choreographer Carrie Ann Inaba. The viewing public also gets to weigh in, by phoning in or voting online for their favorite performers.

The scores are combined and the outcome will be announced during a results show which will be televised the following evening, with one couple being eliminated each week. The “Dancing with the Stars Result Show” show premieres FRIDAY, JANUARY 6 (8:00-8:30 p.m., ET).

“Dancing with the Stars” was last summer’s most successful series, averaging 16.8 million viewers weekly. Dazzling costumes, popular music performed by a spectacular 15-piece orchestra and electrifying performances offer glitz, glamour and spectacular fun.

fredfa

12-08-05, 08:14 PM

What percentage of homes in each market subscribe to cable? How about satellite?

The TVB has just updated its figures for 210 Nielsen DMA markets. I have linked to it in Post#4 at the top of the thread for your future reference.

You can check out this very useful information at:

http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/markettrack/Cable_and_ADS_Penetration_by_DMA.asp

fredfa

12-08-05, 08:55 PM

It may be hard for many of us Southern California to imagine, but it is already wintery in Chicago.
So the Tribune’s resident TV watchers have some suggestions for your weekend viewing.
(Please note: all times are Central.)

Weekend TV
Special snowed-in edition: nine things to watch this weekend

By Maureen Ryan and Sid Smith Chicago Tribune

Snowed in this weekend? No worries. Sid Smith and I have a special bumper crop of shows to watch this weekend. So put on your fuzzy slippers and enjoy.

“Nick Jr.’s Frosty Friday,” 11 a.m. Friday, Nick Jr.: The children’s channel unveils a few presents for the little ones, as it kicks off its “Frosty Friday” series of special holiday versions of much-loved kids shows. This Friday’s block consists of Christmas outings of the animated “LazyTown,” the interactive kid favorite “Blue’s Clues,” the sweet and gentle “Max & Ruby” and the perennially popular adventure series, “Dora the Explorer.”

“C.S. Lewis: Beyond Narnia,” 7 p.m. Friday, Hallmark Channel: As a big-budget “Chronicles of Narnia” movie hits movie theaters, the life of the Oxford professor who penned the fantasy tales is examined in this docudrama. Filmed on location in England, it examines Lewis’ life, work, friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien and the children who were the models for the main Narnia characters.

“Reba,” 8 p.m. Friday, The WB: One of the unsung but steady pleasures of the TV schedule, “Reba” doesn’t get enough shout-outs, but here’s one. Friday’s amusing episode concerns Reba’s not-so-subtle workplace rivalry with her rather dim (but quite funny) son-in-law. Another story line involving “sleep rage” is more broadly played and “sitcom-y,” but star Reba McEntire is a canny comic performer, and this show generally gives her more than enough to work with.

“Miami Vice,” 5 a.m. Saturday, TV Land: If the snowy, freezing weather and holiday-shopping madness are just too much for you, soak up some hot Florida rays and smokin’ ’80s fashion from TV Land’s 24-hour Crockett and Tubbs marathon.

“CodeBreakers,” 8 p.m. Saturday on ESPN: Back before most people had ever heard of steroids, a now all-but-forgotten scandal swept the West Point athletic program, thanks to 1951 revelations of systematic cheating. This provocative, well-crafted film doesn’t opt for simplistic answers and steadily raises provocative questions about friendship, sportsmanship and honor.

“Three Wise Guys,” 4 p.m. Sunday on the USA Network: Tom Arnold is the kingpin, and Judd Nelson, Nick Turturro and Eddie McClintock are his trio of gangland toughs who wend their way through modern-day biblical echoes in Las Vegas. Mary is a pregnant woman trying to outwit the mob and, the desert notwithstanding, a shepherd shows up in one scene to offer assistance. Damon Runyon is cited “for special recognition” as a source.

“Painkiller Jane,” 8 p.m. Saturday, Sci Fi: This solid Sci Fi movie is sort of a military variation on “Alias,” with a little “Bionic Woman” thrown in for good measure. Army captain Jane Browning is a standard-issue gung-ho Special Ops soldier until a mysterious encounter with a bioweapon makes her heal incredibly fast and gives her other super-abilities. On a night when original TV fare is hard to come by, this well-made movie is a reasonable option for action-adventure fans. Richard Roundtree and “The O.C.’s” Tate Donovan are able supporting players for Jane, who’s played by “Saw 2” star Emmanuelle Vaugier.

“Survivor: Guatemala” finale and reunion special, 7 p.m. Sunday, CBS: The final group on “Survivor: Guatemala” is pretty charisma-free this time around, but at this point, we’re so addicted to the show and its attendant displays of the best and the worst of human nature, that we simply must see this version through until the end. We’re just especially glad that the blathering neurotics Jamie and Judd didn’t make it to the final four, man. As it is we’ll probably have to hear a few rambling diatribes from them, but we’ll try to survive.

“Comedy Central’s Last Laugh ’05,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Comedy Central: This special won’t just have Lewis Black, Jon Stewart, Sarah Silverman, David Spade and many other comic talents assessing the past year’s celebrity mishaps and political misfires, it will also have a musical appearance from Death Cab for Cutie and a preview of the upcoming (abbreviated) season of “Chappelle’s Show.”

http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/

fredfa

12-08-05, 09:15 PM

The sports writers all seemed to gush over the new NASCAR TV contract. But Wall Street investors and analysts were not at all impressed.

Motorsports Companies Down After NASCARTV Deal Disappoint

By MARY ELLEN LLOYD Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

CHARLOTTE -- Shares of motorsports companies fell Thursday after NASCAR’s new television rights package fell short of some expectations.

International Speedway Inc. dropped $5.50, or 10%, to $47.50 a share, and Speedway Motorsports Corp. fell $2.90, or 7%, to $36.07 a share after NASCAR announced an eight-year package of contracts valued at $4.48 billion on Wednesday with Walt Disney Co.'s EPSN and ABC, News Corp.'s Fox and Speed Channel networks and Time Warner Inc. Turner Sports.

The industry's average annual fee of about $560 million for television rights under the latest contract represents a 40% increase over the current average of $400 million, A.G. Edwards said in a note to clients downgrading the stocks. The firm had expected a six-year-deal with a total value of $3.91 billion, or about $652 million annually on average. "We believe our expectations were one of the more conservative on the Street," analyst Tim Conder wrote.

Annual increases over the eight-year period of 3%-5% also fell below his forecast for a 5% escalator and below the 7% annual escalator in the National Football League's new television agreement, he said.

Conder lowered investment ratings on International Speedway, Daytona, Fla., and Charlotte-based Speedway Motorsports to sell from hold. The lower-than-expected revenue means per-share earnings contributions to track operators from the new TV rights contract won't reach 2006 levels again until 2011 at the earliest, Conder said. He expects 2007 earnings to be lower than 2006.

fredfa

12-08-05, 09:39 PM

Weekend TV
Alec Baldwin Going 'Live' a 12th Time

By Jacques Steinberg The New York Times December 9, 2005

Like Barry Bonds closing in on Hank Aaron's home run record, Alec Baldwin is on track to reach an unlikely milestone tomorrow.

When he sprints onto the stage of Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan just after 11:30 p.m., he will be the guest host of "Saturday Night Live" for the 12th time. For those viewers who treat the TV grids like baseball box scores, Mr. Baldwin's achievement places him in rarefied comedic company: it ties him with John Goodman (who, during one hot streak, was host of "SNL" once a year for 11 straight seasons) and moves him just one rung behind the all-time champ, Steve Martin.

During a rare break in production this week, Mr. Baldwin - at ease in a long-sleeve black Lacoste shirt and, at 47, slimmer than usual thanks to a juice fast required for his role in a Robert De Niro movie - said that even he had lost track of how many times he had welcomed viewers to "Saturday Night" since his first appearance, on April 21, 1990.

"Is this 12?" he said, exuding nonchalance. "I thought it was 11."

And yet, a few minutes later, even he could not resist finding out where he stood in the annals of an iconic program he has watched since its inception, 30 years ago, when John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd were Killer Bees and he was a high school junior in Massapequa on Long Island, dreaming of becoming a lawyer.

"So how many does Steve have?" he asked a reporter.

Told that it was 13, Mr. Baldwin said: "So Goodman and I will have 12. And Hanks has how many?"

Tom Hanks, he was told, served as host seven times, which seemed surprisingly low to Mr. Baldwin.

His next question: "Who's the biggest after me and Goodman?"

The answer: Buck Henry, a mainstay of the early seasons, at 10.

If this were indeed a race being charted in the sports pages, a reporter would seek out Mr. Goodman, who, barring technical difficulties, will wake up Sunday morning in a dead heat with a younger (by six years) and more handsome (even Mr. Goodman concedes that) rival.

"I wish him the best of luck," Mr. Goodman said, speaking by cellphone Wednesday night, between bites of chicken pot pie, from backstage at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, where he was preparing to go on as Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." "God bless the kid."

Mr. Goodman's streak as host ended in November 2001, and except for a cameo two years ago, he has not been back. On Wednesday, he made clear that he missed the show terribly - "For me, it was the week of the year, always" - and that it saddened him to contemplate his future as a host.

"I think my best days are over on the show," he said. "I'm too old to run around like that."

"The kids are a lot younger than I am," he added. "Chris Walken" - who has been host six times, most recently in 2003 - "he always gets the specialty material. Me, I just don't fit in anymore."

Those lucky enough to have been given one-week guest passes as members of the "Saturday Night" cast, even once, will tell you that it is a high-wire act unlike any other.

Not only does the show require every host to channel his or her inner Johnny Carson - for a monologue that is usually still being written just hours before airtime - but then there are those sketches. Within the span of a costume change, it is not unusual for a host to have to sing like Tony Bennett (perhaps serenading Liza Minnelli and David Gest), kiss a cast member of the same sex on the mouth (to say nothing of a dog) and try to keep a straight face as a condescending French teacher with linguistically challenged students.

All of which Mr. Baldwin has done, including kissing not only Phil Hartman (during Mr. Baldwin's very first sketch, a drawing-room farce) but also Adam Sandler, during a classic 1994 sketch, "Canteen Boy," in which Mr. Baldwin was an amorous scoutmaster crawling into the sleeping bag of a dimwitted young charge.

For Lorne Michaels, the show's longtime executive producer, Mr. Baldwin has become one of those go-to hosts whose presence serves, among other purposes, as a rite of passage for young cast members. Mr. Baldwin's appearance this year, his first since November 2003, comes at a time of transition, when Mr. Michaels is breaking in four featured players and preparing to say goodbye to several mainstays, whom he will identify sometime next year. Meanwhile, two cast members have had babies. One, Maya Rudolph, is on leave; the other, Tina Fey, is back working part time.

Though the show's ratings are down - it has attracted about 6.3 million viewers on average this fall, about 600,000 fewer than last year, according to Nielsen Media Research - it remains one of the most valuable franchises on television, not only because of the many young viewers it attracts but also because it is usually among the most-watched shows on Saturday nights, including those in prime time.

"You're never worried when Alec is out there," Mr. Michaels said. "When the new cast members, particularly this season, see someone who is as good at it as Alec is, it's inspirational."

Which prompts a question: how did an actor who is arguably best known as a leading man - Jack Ryan in "The Hunt for Red October" (1990) - and, more recently, for his supporting roles (an airline executive in "The Aviator" last year) vault to the top of the wish list for a show that tries to be as outrageous as the censors will allow?

First and foremost, because he has shown he can be funny, not only on the big screen (he played a philandering husband known as the Cucumber in "Married to the Mob" in 1988) but also off camera, where he is invariably instructing his "Saturday Night" colleagues to "make it dirtier," said Marci Klein, a producer on the show since 1989.

"Who knew that it would turn into this?" said Ms. Klein, who is the show's chief booker. "I think I remember Lorne saying, after that first show, 'Just have him every year.' "

To Rachel Dratch, a cast member since the fall of 1999, Mr. Baldwin "seems kind of fearless."

"He's willing to look foolish," she said. "Which maybe is good, because it goes against his leading-man look."

Seth Meyers, who joined the cast in 2001, said: "He goes for the reality of the performance, no matter how absurd the character. And he does it without winking at the camera."

To that end, among the sketches under consideration earlier this week - there are typically 40 in all, which will ultimately be winnowed to 8 before show time - were these: a takeoff on "Brokeback Mountain" (the working title was "Brokeback Goldmine") in which Mr. Baldwin would play an old, gay prospector; a spoof of Take Our Daughters to Work Day, in which he would play a father who gets fired as his child looks on; and a reprise of his dead-on Tony Bennett, who would interview Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden or maybe Dick Cheney.

"We just feel the pressure to have better ideas for him," said Ms. Fey, who serves as both head writer and co-anchor of "Weekend Update." (Among the few subjects the writers do not tend to broach is Mr. Baldwin's personal life; he is divorced from the actress Kim Basinger. The exception was a bit in April 2001 in which he got postmarital counseling from Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton.)

Mr. Baldwin has also grown comfortable pitching his own ideas. Among those he proposed this week was a knockoff of "Dancing With the Stars" in which B-list celebrities would engage in competitive plastic surgery.

"There are two types of hosts," Mr. Baldwin said. "You either send up your own persona or you become part of the company. And if you become part of the company, you just make an ass of yourself. You do whatever they ask you to do."

"I'm the latter," he said.

Though Mr. Baldwin claimed that when he was asked to do this week's show he "wasn't sure I had another one in me," no one associated with the production expects this to be his last.

Which does not necessarily mean Mr. Martin's record is in jeopardy. Though Mr. Martin declined, through the show's representatives, to comment on Mr. Baldwin's pursuit, his next appearance as host, the first since 1994, is scheduled for February.

"Then he'll leave Alec in the dust," Mr. Michaels said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/arts/television/09bald.html?pagewanted=print

DoubleDAZ

12-08-05, 09:53 PM

What percentage of homes in each market subscribe to cable? How about satellite?
Very interesting info, but IMHO not all that surprising. Cable started out as a monopoly and was expected to grow to a certain point. It's only natural that as more delivery systems are added, some with added features (aka NFL/ST), those systems will take some cable subs away. How much further the erosion goes is anyones guess, but I can certainly see why cableco's would be worried. We all know that satco's are not really very happy with the numbers either, regardless of what they say publically, because they've backed themselves into a corner with all the discounts they've given to get the numbers where they are. The big question in my mind is whether or not the cableco's can hold out long enough before the satco's have to stop the discounts/raise rates and how many subs they will lose as a result.

fredfa

12-09-05, 12:33 AM

I think we'll start getting some answers in the next year, Dave, as DirecTV finds out how effective its HD LIL initiative will be.

And IMO had cable done a much better job with customer service over the years, it wouldn't have lost nearl.y as many customers to DirecTV and Dish. Remember that fewer than one in seven D* subs takes the NFL ST. So while it is important it is far from the most crucial factor in DirecTV's growth.

fredfa

12-09-05, 12:38 AM

Can Couric be a 'serious' $20M journalist?

By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News

For days now I've been reading - everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Post (which quoted TV Guide) - that a) Katie Couric would like to be seen as a serious journalist; and b) for $20 million a year she might be willing to practice that serious journalism at CBS.

I probably should be laughing at this point, because, really, how often do we get to place the words "serious journalist" and "$20 million a year" in the same sentence?

But I'm not even giggling.

Because I think Couric, who actually used to be a news person, back before all the stunting and the makeover and the endless need to feed the "Today" show beast turned her into a packaged "personality," would like to be taken seriously again.

I'd kind of like to see that myself.

And while I continue to think that we're all making way too much fuss about who'll anchor the networks' evening newscasts, NBC's Brian Williams goes out in what appears to be a well-starched shirt and makes a strong old-fashioned argument that who's reading the news still counts, if only because that person has something to say about what is news on any given night.

I don't know how much they're paying him to do that, but Williams has always impressed me as one of those people who'd be willing to do it for far less, however much his agent might disagree.

For all I know, Couric feels the same about her work, and views that $20 million as just a sign of respect, which is how many well-compensated people view their salaries, assuming they're getting enough to pay the mortgage and care for their families decently.

The problem, though, is that $20 million starts to sound like real money, even in a business where they throw it around pretty freely.

According to the Journal, Couric's "Today" show, which reportedly pays her more than $16 million a year, brought in $422 million in the year through September. But that's more than the paper says all three evening newscasts have brought in for the year to date.

Which suggests that if Couric goes to CBS, something's going to give.

Will it be the news-gathering capabilities of CBS News, an operation that's at least as important to an anchor's credibility as whether he or she dresses up for Halloween?

Or will it be Couric herself, who for $20 million a year might not be able to say no to CBS honcho Les Moonves' apparent hopes for a brighter, more entertaining half-hour, one that's probably not going to guarantee her a mention in the same breath with Walter Cronkite?

For that kind of money, in America, you're usually expected to be able to defend the Earth from alien invaders (and open No. 1 at the box office doing it).

At the very least, someone might ask you to hit a hanging curve ball.

For Couric, the hanging curve ball is "the get," those high-profile but ultimately meaningless interviews that she, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters all vie for.

It's also being "Katie," not Couric.

If she's serious about this getting serious thing, maybe it's time to take those CBS negotiations in a different direction.

Even consider a small pay cut.

Instead of demanding respect in the form of money, she could trade away a few million for control - and win real respect.

As they might say on those credit-card commercials:

"Reading the news a half-hour a night: $8 million.

"Contributing to '60 Minutes': $5 million.

"Never having to interview another runaway bride or 'reality' show castoff: Priceless."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13356031.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

12-09-05, 12:52 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Shake and stomp: It's the midseason shuffle

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Friday, December 9, 2005

My home office has become the Valley of Death. As I write this, Don Johnson and Jay Baruchel are staring at me from the cover of "Just Legal's" pilot, their smiles looking sad because, well, The WB dumped it months ago.

Fox canceled "Head Cases" in what must be record time -- two weeks! -- yet for some reason, the DVD remains in my house. Nearby is "Killer Instinct," another Fox failure, in the same pile as ABC's axed "Night Stalker." They are sorrowful evidence that 2005-2006 isn't quite what couch potatoes hoped it would be.

It must be said, however, that the current television season has more pep than most would have predicted even a season ago. Among the freshmen, full-season pickups outnumber the cancellations (if only by a thread), and the midseason looks active on at least four networks.

Sweeps shook out in the usual fashion, with CBS on top, although ABC tied with it in the 18-49 demographic. So yes, things can change.

Don't kid yourself, though; the situation is still touch-and-go. With a few exceptions, the networks are settling, and they know it. Every one but ABC lost viewers in comparison to last year -- bringing us to the poster child for audience hemorrhaging.

N B C

Sick pigeons look better than the Peacock does right now. "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" tanked, "Three Wishes" is being shelved, and "Inconceivable" is long gone. As for the survivors, "E-Ring" and "Surface" may do well enough against the competition, but they score pitiful ratings.

Only "My Name Is Earl" can be counted as a victory. Starting Jan. 5, it moves to Thursdays at 9, with "The Office" at 9:30, while "Joey" gets yanked until March. (See? Wishes do come true!) "Will & Grace" moves to 8 p.m. followed at 8:30 by its creators' (David Kohan and Max Mutchnick) new series, "Four Kings," starring Seth Green.

And before you even start in about "Scrubs, " it returns Jan. 3, with back-to-back episodes in the 9 o'clock time slot. Due Fridays in January: "The Book of Daniel," starring Aidan Quinn as a pill-addicted pastor, with a two-hour premiere on Jan. 6 and a small window to find an audience, running until Feb. 3.

A B C

Why is "Desperate Housewives" still on top, thumbing its nose at all the bloggers and critics struggling to find original ways to call it craptastic?

For the same reason that "Commander in Chief" and "Grey's Anatomy" are (deservedly) performing well -- ABC's audience skews female.

Programmers are crossing their fingers that women respond to Kyle McLachlan, who returns to the air with the Friday night drama "In Justice" on Jan. 6. Actually, they're hoping at least one comedy can come up a winner, because "Freddie's" barely doing it, and the canceled "Hot Properties" sure wasn't.

Heather Graham's comedy "Emily's Reasons Why Not" premieres at 9 p.m. on Jan. 9, followed by the return of "Jake in Progress," renewed by the skin of John Stamos' pearly whites after it flopped last spring. Then, to counteract the effects of Jake's witty writing, "The Bachelor" returns to dull your faculties at 10 that very same night.

A few days later, Fred Savage's vehicle "Crumbs" arrives at 9:30 on Jan. 12. It'll have a good lead-in from "Dancing With the Stars," which has its second season's two-hour debut Jan. 5. After that, each Thursday night performance show will run for 90 minutes, making one muse about killing geese that lay golden eggs. But what can ABC do? Thursday is a gaping black hole with a sucking force powerful enough to hold back the network's momentum. And the center of that black hole happens to be "Alias," which will be shelved along with "Supernanny."

"Lost," by the way, returns on Jan. 11, with a story focused on Eko.

C B S

Sitting pretty as always, there's not much to report on the CBS front other than the demise of "Threshold," a fine show but a terrible fit for a network whose bread-and-butter is crime, punishment, built-to-last comedies and ghost whispering.

Instead of taking chances, the Eye's bolstering its strong points, which this year seems to be light half-hours about young romance. "Love Monkey," based on Kyle Smith's best seller, arrives Jan. 17 at 10 (regular time period is 9 Tuesdays thereafter) and follows a thirtysomething single record executive through his work and love lives. It sounds a lot like "Jake in Progress," only on a network that has a better sitcom batting average; still, one wonders.

Later, "The Jenna Elfman Show" gets a shot in "Out of Practice's" time slot, at 9:30 Mondays starting Jan. 23. She's single, cute, successful and looking for love, and we've heard this tune before -- just not from Elfman. Yet to be scheduled: "The Unit," starring Dennis Haysbert, and Julia LouisDreyfus in "The New Adventures of Old Christine."

Fox

Phew! What's that smell? Oh, just "Reunion," cut before we could find out who murdered the curly haired chick. Not that many people care about it or most of Fox's fall slate; out of seven premieres, only three have officially made it, and another, "Kitchen Confidential," is barely breathing.

The good news is "Prison Break" is a bona-fide hit (returning March 13, with new episodes beginning March 20). "Bones" is a decent fit with "House," the best series on the network. And "The War at Home" is a comedy that isn't terrible enough to boot from the air. Sadly, it outperforms the likely to be executed "Arrested Development."

Never mind. January means "American Idol," which Fox begins milking for all it's worth Jan. 17, with a two-hour premiere, followed by an hour on Jan. 18 at 8.

That night brings us the premiere of Fox's "Dancing" rip-off, "Skating With Celebrities" at 9 (regular time period 8 p.m. Mondays starting Jan. 23). Oh yeah, and that other show -- what's it called? -- "24" returns over two days and four hours Jan. 15 and 16, before settling into Mondays at 9.

Another sitcom, "The Loop," is still awaiting a premiere date.

UPN and The WB

Even if a number of The WB's veteran series, including "7th Heaven," "Smallville" and "Gilmore Girls," are having good seasons, and even if UPN has three performers (WWE wrestling, "Everybody Hates Chris" and "America's Next Top Model") doing well, nobody expects the weblets to come out of the corner anytime soon.

So give them credit for continuing to try. UPN, which crashed and burned with "Sex, Love & Secrets," is giving it another go with "South Beach," a Miami-set soap starring Vanessa Williams with a two-hour premiere Jan. 11.

To spice things up, The WB returns "Beauty and the Geek" to the schedule starting at 9 on Jan. 12, as "Everwood" takes its midwinter bed rest.

By the end of "Geek's" run, you may miss "Everwood" enough to welcome it back -- unless you've found something else. From what we've seen so far, how likely is that to happen?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/251373_tv09.html

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:10 AM

The 2005-2006 TV Season
Ask Matt

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

Question: I want to know your thoughts on NBC's mid-season moves. While Fox seemed to play into NBC's hand by not moving American Idol (and moving less-than-stellar comedies to the Thursday 9 pm/ET slot), NBC seems to have given us a mixed result. While I like that they're trying to rebuild the Thursday-night comedy block, it is obvious that they still don't respect what they have with Scrubs, particularly because they will probably be pairing it with Joey. While there aren't any real strengths in the NBC schedule, is this really a make-or-break time for both Joey and, as a result, Scrubs? Along the same vein, does this move really serve as a vote of confidence for The Office and Four Kings? — Cory

Matt Roush: This question presumes that NBC will pair Scrubs with Joey after the Olympics, but that hasn't been determined, and would be a tremendous insult to the already much-aggrieved Scrubs. But it does seem like the beginning of the end for Joey, regardless of when and where it returns. As for Scrubs, airing new episodes back-to-back on Tuesdays with the repulsive Fear Factor as a lead-in looks like the show's being burned off as well. But would it do any better on Thursdays? Hard to say. NBC faces an uphill battle in resurrecting a comedy block on Thursday, given CBS' dominance and so much other competition, so it's hard to know if any of the shows joining Will & Grace, even the breakthrough hit My Name Is Earl, will do much damage. Still, given the promotion NBC is bound to do to reestablish the night, you'd think the shows NBC has picked for Thursday represent NBC's best hopes for the future (save for Will, which is on its last legs but is still more viable than Joey). Four Kings reminds me of countless forgettable NBC comedies that aired at the half-hour in earlier "must-see" lineups. Scrubs would be a better fit either there or at 9:30 pm/ET after Earl.

Speaking of which, a number of readers wrote in with questions remarking on my preference for Scrubs over The Office. Richard asks: "How is Scrubs better suited with My Name Is Earl? All three of these shows have wacky, eccentric humor. Or don't you think The Office would go better with Scrubs since the two shows are workplace sitcoms? Or is it because Earl has flashbacks, as does Scrubs? And for the record, the BBC Office is dead. I loved it, too, but can't the U.S. version be loved for what it is? The Jim-and-Pam story line, the background workers... and don't you think the show has flourished in its second season and hit a stride?"

Maybe when I called Earl and Office "incompatible" in my Dispatch, I overstated the case, but not so much when you factor Scrubs into the equation. The reason I'd love to see Earl and Scrubs paired is because, tonally, they'd complement each other so well. Both are irreverent, fast-paced and innovative in their use of quick-cut rapid-fire gags to break up narratives. The Office has absolutely improved — although I felt the recent episode in which Michael invited himself to Jim's party after invading company e-mails was another case of the show (and the Michael character) overplaying its hand to the point of excruciating obviousness. I run hot and cold on the show, although Jim and Pam (and frumpy Phyllis and many of the other non-Dwight coworkers) can do no wrong. Still, given the once-upon-a-time prestige that being on NBC on Thursday nights conveys, I'd rather the dubious honor go to Scrubs, especially considering how shabbily it has been treated this Emmy-nominated year.

________________________________________

Question: After most networks have released their mid-season plans, it seems plenty of new offerings will be coming on the air. Which ones would you say are worth viewers' time? I remember hearing good things about Love Monkey and The Book of Daniel, but haven't heard much buzz about The Jenna Elfman Show. Is Emily's Reasons Why Not as cutesy as Related? Is In Justice simply another procedural? Are comedies Crumbs, The Loop and Four Kings as shrill as the likes of Joey? Also, whatever happened to shows scheduled for mid-season that had already generated buzz back in May (J.J. Abrams' What About Brian and ABC's Sons and Daughters)? Can a network completely abandon a show it's made a commitment to? Although that's probably a silly question after seeing how horribly networks are capable of treating their shows, I hope you can answer it for me. — T. Paul

Matt Roush: I don't want to get ahead of myself in issuing opinions on the mid-season crop this far in advance, especially since I saw some of these pilots back in the summer and my memory has faded, and since some (such as Jenna Elfman's still-untitled show) have yet to be seen at all. But I will say that Love Monkey and Daniel left me with the strongest positive impressions, and I can't wait to see more. Also, Emily is nowhere near as annoying as Related (at least as far as I remember). As for the shows that have yet to be scheduled, keep in mind that mid-season comes in at least two waves: one in January and (following sweeps and the Olympics) one in March that can extend to early April. (Remember that Grey's Anatomy didn't even premiere until March 27.) There's plenty more to come before this roller-coaster season is over.

________________________________________

Question: Has Invasion been canceled? Is ABC moving Alias to its time slot? — Lisa

Matt Roush: Without a doubt, the most-asked question of the last week. It's beyond aggravating that ABC would trumpet the two-week-only move of Alias to Wednesdays as its "new time" instead of as a "special time." Alias will be on hiatus until spring after these two Wednesday airings, and Invasion will be back in its regular time slot (I presume) with new episodes (eventually) in the new year. I would like to think ABC regrets the confusion (while I applaud giving Alias the more visible time period for these last episodes before Jennifer Garner's maternity leave kicked in). But I'm not sure the networks ever truly regret anything they do.

________________________________________

Question: What are the chances that there will be an Alias spinoff with the new characters? I agree that the show has run its course (sadly), but really like the new additions this season. Rachel and Tom are growing on me and could, I think, carry a show. Is there any chance that this will happen? — Sally

Matt Roush: There's always a chance, and some possibilities for life after this season are discussed in the Breaking News section of the new issue of TV Guide (Dec. 12-18, on stands now). As is usually the case where past-their-prime series are concerned, I favor the approach of a dignified exit as opposed to milking a franchise beyond reason. And while I like Rachel (Tom seems underdeveloped to me), I don't think the new characters are nearly strong enough to keep this franchise aloft. Best to just let it go and enjoy these last episodes, especially now that the producers are gearing up for a grand (we hope) finale.

________________________________________

Question: How about some nice words about the late Wendie Jo Sperber, who recently lost her battle to cancer? I remember first seeing her in an Afterschool Special and, of course, came to love her on Bosom Buddies. Wendi Jo was talented, funny and helped broaden the standard definition of "sexy" or "attractive" for a whole generation. Like Dana Hill, she was a great talent who still had a lot more to give as a person and a performer when we lost her. — Rick

Matt Roush: Thanks for that tribute. She was one of those great go-to gals (Kathy Najimy is another) who was not just a terrific comedic character actress, but a character as well who often made a show seem funnier than it really was. Just thinking of that acerbic, wry voice makes me smile. By all accounts, she was loved both on and off screen, and I'm only sorry Wendie Jo Sperber never got a show to call her own that would have made Wendie Jo Sperber the household name Wendie Jo Sperber so deserved to be.

________________________________________

Question: Any comments on Judd making a complete jerk of himself after getting booted off of Survivor? I think it was terrible! I know he was blindsided and, of course, he wanted the money, but that poor sportsmanship was right up there with Susan's "snake and rat" speech. I've never liked the guy and I'm glad he didn't win, especially after he said he didn't lie when we know he blatantly did. On another note, I have recently become a Gilmore Girls fan and in a recent letter someone said they did a spin-off of Jess' character. What was that show called? — Ken

Matt Roush: First off, the Jess show never happened. There was an episode within the series (the one Gilmore Girls episode I've never seen, by the way) that was intended to launch the spin-off, but wiser heads thankfully prevailed. As for Judd: His blustery rant was nowhere near as memorable as Susan's climactic tirade at the first season's final reckoning (one of the great moments in reality-TV history). And Judd will not go down as one of the classic Survivor players for the very reason that he reacted so belligerently and childishly — not that you can really blame him, I guess. (Though we do, don't we?) I love the moments in Survivor in which a player realizes, after the vote has been counted, that he or she didn't see it coming and can appreciate the game for what it is: a game. At least Judd has a beautiful wife to go home to. That was nice to see.

________________________________________

Question: Why, oh, why does McDreamy keep hitting on Meredith? They did not know each other that long and he has a wife he should be trying to work things out with. It makes him look like a sleaze. — Ashley

Matt Roush: For the uninitiated, this is a question about Grey's Anatomy, my new obsession. (It just keeps getting better, more entertaining and often more moving, by the week.) In the spirit of fan gossip, let me add my two cents: I don't think Dr. McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) looks sleazy at all. He looks conflicted, upset, miserably caught between an ex-wife he feels allegiance (if not affection) toward and an ex-girlfriend/colleague he should never have fooled around with in the first place, but they're stuck in each other's lives because of work, and who can resist chemistry this strong, anyway? This is one of the juiciest triangles in a romantic comedy-drama in some time, and I hope they can keep the tension going for as long as possible.

________________________________________

Question: Why did NBC abandon the terrific Three Wishes? There was talk of moving it to Wednesday nights at 8 pm/ET, which made perfect sense. But then nothing happened. Friday nights at 9 makes no sense, especially without a lead-in. This is the type of show that could run for years — at 8. My family loves watching it. Is it too late for another network to save it? — John

Matt Roush: Probably. (Rule of thumb: Once a network cancels a show, the likelihood of anyone else picking it up is minuscule at best.) You're right on one count: This is the type of show that could run for years at 8 pm/ET. Another example is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I doubt Three Wishes was actually less enjoyable, and certainly it was not less public-spirited, than Makeover: Home, but it was ineptly scheduled (NBC has a real gift for that), and what an outrage that it's being replaced by something called Most Outrageous TV Moments. (This may qualify as one.)

________________________________________

Question: There isn't going to be another new episode of [B]Lost until January, a six-week wait. I think it is a little much, but since I love the show so much, I'll be there waiting for a new episode. It was only a month ago that we had to wait three weeks for a new episode, and now it has doubled. Do you think that ABC executives are taking advantage of the loyal viewers by making us wait that long? The show is such a hit, it seems like they are going to do whatever they want. Other shows spread out the new episodes, so it doesn't seem like such a gap. What are they thinking? And are they worried about losing viewers? — Melissa

Matt Roush: Déjà vu. I seem to recall going down this same whiny road last year. Face it, most network shows take periodic breaks, some longer than others, for repeats, in this case acknowledging the fact that viewing levels go down in December as people's lives get busier in advance of the holidays. (I know mine does.) Six weeks is a long time, but with Lost, I think it's fair to say that absence makes the heart grow fonder and the anxiety for the next episode grow stronger. I would also argue a show like Lost may actually play more effectively when its new episodes are lumped together in batches, instead of the one-week-on, one-week-off pattern you might find among CBS's stand-alone procedurals. This means longer breaks, but it also can mean longer periods of sustained originals. No question this is an imperfect system, but if Lost is to be on the air from September to May — and it's in ABC's best interests to schedule it that way — these breaks are inevitable and not a case of the network "taking advantage" of a captive audience, whatever that means. And while I'm sure ABC is always worried about losing viewers, regardless of the circumstance, with Lost I don't think it's that big of a problem. Yet.

Also on the Lost beat, this from Seanna, and I'm happy to note there were others like it in this week's e-mailbag: "Thank you sooo much for speaking on behalf of those of us who love the fact that Lost does not talk down to its audience by patronizingly having to tie everything up! There are those of us who love 'not knowing' and I have almost had it with those who gripe that things are not nicely explained in a couple of shows. Its the rough edges that count in life and make quality television. When they actually felt they had to apologize to the fans at the Emmy awards for not 'explaining everything,' I was saddened to think that they might change the show to dumb it down. Happy to see that they have not. I love not knowing — it's just like life!!"

I'm not sure I watch Lost because it's "like life," but I appreciate the sentiment.

________________________________________

Question: Now that Reunion's producers have announced that there is not going to be a resolution to the murder, or any of the other story lines, why is Fox going to bother airing the rest of the 13 episodes? I like the show and will be sorry not to see how it unfolds, but what is the point of airing six more episodes of a show that is going nowhere? It seems more logical to either let the show run the whole season or to cut their losses and air something else. The audience certainly isn't going to increase after an announcement like this. I'm very disappointed in Fox for not giving the show a chance (not that I'm surprised), but even more disappointed with the writers and producers who can't come up with a bone to throw to those of us who have been watching. — Beth

Matt Roush: I think I got mail from every single Reunion fan out there in the wake of the cancellation and the producers' statement that they weren't going to be able to wrap up the whodunit by the 13th and final episode. This letter seemed to sum up the frustration most concisely. Many wrote in, as always, to slam Fox for continuing in the tradition of John Doe, Wonderfalls, Firefly (too many to count, probably) and jerking viewers around by drawing them into a high-concept premise only to pull the show before a suitable resolution can be presented. But I side with those who also hold this show's creative team responsible. Whatever made them think they'd actually make it beyond 13 episodes, given the time period and other variables? This isn't Proust, for crying out loud. Or even Dickens, for that matter. And while I am usually a proponent of people maintaining loyalty toward a show as long as it airs, I have to agree with Beth and many others who wonder why Fox is continuing to air episodes of a story that we now know will have no satisfying finish. It's one thing to have hope, however flimsy — it's another way to simply torture yourself. This is just a mess, no matter how you look at it.

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

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:21 AM

Couric staying put at NBC, denies CBS anchor talk

NEW YORK (The Hollywood Reporter) - Katie Couric on Thursday doused persistent rumors that she plans to jump NBC's "Today" to anchor the "CBS Evening News" -- or go anywhere else, for that matter. At least for the time being.

Couric and the rest of the "Today" crew conducted a conference call with reporters to celebrate the morning show's 10 years at the top. But as rumors persist that CBS has been doing some heavy-duty wooing to bring Couric to the Tiffany Network, Couric stepped in quickly during the call to make sure the call would be more about "Today" than her future.

"There's been a lot of things out there; I don't know where people are getting them, but I wanted to let you all know that so we didn't have to play games with this call, because there's really nothing to announce and nothing to report," Couric said.

She declined to address reports that, at CBS, she would become the anchor as well as get a starring role on "60 Minutes." Her current contract ends in May, and it's likely that whichever she decides upon will have to pay upward of $15 million-$20 million a year for five to seven years.

"I know there's a great deal of speculation, and while I appreciate the interest, kind of, my contract ends in May and I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do," Couric said. "I'm fortunate to have a couple of opportunities to think long and hard about."

Despite a sometimes tumultuous time at the top, "Today" has been there -- with most of the current on-air crew -- most of that decade. But it has been a revolving door of executive producers who have paid the price for a strong challenge by ABC's "Good Morning America" as well as other on- and off-air doings. "Good Morning America," with co-hosts Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson, had strong months earlier this year but has been unable to pass "Today."

Couric and her co-host, Matt Lauer, credited executive producer Jim Bell with providing the hosts some time to maintain chemistry as well as doing more hard news.

"I think the content has gotten better. I think for a while there we were emulating the competition," Couric said. She said that she felt that, for a while, "Today" was doing Laci Peterson and Michael Jackson stories "because, quite frankly, it was the easiest thing to do."

Al Roker agreed: "For a while, I think we were reacting more to what people were doing, and we forgot that we lead and others follow us. We have gone back, under Jim, and reasserted our leadership, and I think you'll find other people are following us."

Lauer said that when Bell arrived in April, he took the time to learn the show and the staff. In looking at tapes, Lauer said, he discovered something that he changed quickly.

"It had become a little too scheduled, and he took a step to allow us to breathe," Lauer said
.
Couric and Lauer didn't seem as thrilled about another one of their duties: hosting NBC's coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Neither Lauer nor Couric had been told that one of the floats had been involved in an accident that injured spectators; NBC aired file footage of the float.

While Lauer said that a lot more was made of it than he felt should have been, Couric said that the situation had been embarrassing.

"I think it would have been helpful for us to be more informed. We weren't aware that the video they were using was a year old until after the broadcast," Couric said.

She added: "We might have second thoughts about doing it again. It puts us into an awkward situation."

http://channels.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?id=2005120822530002785807&dt=20051208225300&w=RTR&coview=

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:25 AM

Holiday Programming
Maya Angelou Invites Us Over For A Holiday Dinner And Carols Tonight

By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic December 9 2005

As a holiday special from a poet, "Celebrate! Christmas with Maya Angelou" (Hallmark, 7 PM ET/PT) must surely rank up there with "a lower-case christmas with e.e. cummings," "Robert Frost Nipping at Your Nose" and "T.S. Eliot's Winter Wasteland."

For the low-key special at her North Carolina home, her family gathers at the table, hired cooks prepare a traditional meal, and Ashford and Simpson blend carols with their own songs, such as "Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand." It's kind of weird, actually.

Meantime, the grand lady, now 77, reminisces about her holidays past and says things like "to celebrate any day is wise" and "'Tis the season to be all of that" in a voice slightly lower than that of James Earl Jones.

http://www.ctnow.com/tv/hce-tveye1209.artdec09,0,4893371,print.column?coll=hce-utility-tv

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:30 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Kudos, brickbats for Fox

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News

Some people want me to jump all over Fox for its (apparent) cancellation of "Arrested Development."

I'm not going to do it.

Not that I don't enjoy jumping all over Fox. And, generally, the network makes that easy for TV critics.

But, in the case of "Arrested Development," even the show's most ardent fans (including me) ought to be sending the network thank-you notes for keeping the show on the air as long as it has. Fox tried everything it could think of — including using "American Idol" as a lead-in — to make the show a hit, but the public just wasn't interested.

However, Fox deserves to get its brains beaten in by loyal viewers of "Reunion," which the network has canceled after 13 episodes. This is the sort of move that infuriates viewers and makes TV skeptics of us all.

Not that "Reunion" is better than "Arrested Development," but it's a different kind of show — a murder mystery that follows a group of friends over 20 years. One of them was murdered in 2005; we flash back to successive years beginning in 1986; the plan was that at the end of 22 episodes, we'd find out whodunit and why.

Well, we're only going to get 13 episodes. In Episode 5, at least we found out who the victim was — Samantha (Alexa Davalos). But, according to the show's creator/executive producer, Jon Harmon Feldman, we're not going to find out whodunit in Episode 13.

"The show was intricately plotted over 22 episodes to tell the full story of our characters' lives," Feldman said in a prepared statement. "Because the events of Samantha's murder are partially reliant on characters we haven't met yet — and events we haven't yet seen — there is no way to solve the mystery of her murder without being able to complete the full arc of our story through present day."

Gee, let's compare that to what Feldman told a roomful of skeptical TV critics last summer: "If I get a call that says, 'You're only doing 13 (episodes),' will I tie (the story) up? Absolutely."

I'm not naive. I know that network television depends on ratings and advertiser dollars. And "Reunion" wasn't doing well in the ratings.

But if you're not going to commit to playing out a story like this from beginning to end, don't buy the show at all. And maybe part of the reason "Reunion" didn't do better in the ratings is that viewers, having been burned like this before, were less inclined to commit to something Fox hadn't fully committed to.

More than 4 million viewers who tuned in to "Reunion" every week will be left hanging, and Fox deserves every iota of their ire.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,635167038,00.html

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:34 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Courting of Couric shows her drawing power

CBS's reported $20 million a year offer to lure anchor from NBC puts her only behind Oprah as an on-screen economic force
By David Zurawik Balitmore Sun Television Critic

Today show co-host Katie Couric and her bosses at NBC News Thursday tried to slow mounting speculation about her possible defection to CBS for an annual salary of $20 million to become network TV's first solo anchorwoman for the nightly news.

It didn't work.

The all-out pursuit of Couric that started with Sean McManus taking over as president of CBS News last month has cast new light on the dollars and cents of network news and revealed Couric to be an economic engine whose decision in May when her contract with NBC expires could affect the flow of tens of millions of dollars.

No man in TV news -- including Brian Williams, who was picked over Couric to succeed Tom Brokaw when he retired last year as the anchor of the NBC Nightly News -- can drive earnings the way it now appears that Couric can.

Part of that power derives from Couric's good fortune at being the first and only major newscaster with a contract ending just as McManus and his boss, CBS chairman Leslie Moonves, begin a campaign to try and buy CBS News out of the ratings basement.

But whatever the mitigating factors, only the pop culture phenomenon known as Oprah Winfrey appears to be a greater on-screen economic force than Couric -- and that is in part a function of her owning and producing her show and selling it on a city by city basis through syndication.

"I know there's been a great deal of speculation in the press, and while I appreciate the interest, kind of, my contract ends in May, and I'm trying to figure what I'm going to do," Couric said at the start of Thursday's telephone news conference.

"I'm fortunate to have a couple of opportunities that I'm thinking long and hard about. But, in terms of any imminent announcement, there won't be one. There have a been a lot of things out there that I don't know where people are getting them. There really is nothing to announce and nothing report."

But there is much to report in terms of money and gender as Couric does her thinking, analysts say. And nothing Couric said at the press conference NBC held to celebrate 10 years of Today being No. 1 in the morning -- along with trying to remind the press that the 48-year-old newswoman still belongs to the peacock network and not CBS -- is going to slow the story one bit.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-artslife-couric1208,1,2025120,print.story?coll=bal-features-headlines

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:48 AM

Critic’s Notebook
TV Guide: News Notes

by Matt Webb Mitovich TV Guide Friday, December 09, 2005

YO, MALLORY!: It will be a family reunion when Family Ties alum Justine Bateman guest-stars on kid brother Jason's Arrested Development. In the Jan. 9 episode, Justine will play Nellie Bluth, a woman Michael suspects may be a long-lost sister of his, so he hires her to consult at the family biz. Then, says Fox's press release, Nellie's "hands-on" tactics catch Michael off guard, leading me to worry that we're gonna have some Angelina Jolie-and-her-brother thing happenin', but I could be wrong. Let's just hope Justine doesn't forego the underwear these days.

COME DANCING: ABC has released the list of celebrities it will be fox trotting out for Season 2 of Dancing with the Stars, premiering Jan. 5, and they are: Wayne's World's Tia Carrere, TV journalist Giselle Fernandez, the forever-tan George Hamilton, WWE diva Stacy Kiebler, Drew "Don't Ask Me About My Brother's Divorce" Lachey, ESPN's Kenny Mayne, Oscar winner Tatum O'Neal, NFL vet Jerry Rice, Soap Talk's Lisa Rinna and rap star Romeo. OK, I'll say it: Tatum O'Neal?!

WHO WANTS CHIPS?: Warner Bros. Pictures, having already delivered Starsky & Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard to the big screen, will next bring moviegoers a feature version of that '70s show CHiPs — appropriately tapping That '70s Show's Wilmer Valderrama to fill Erik Estrada's distinctively snug motorcycle cop pants. Somewhere, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Mario Lopez are sobbing.

Notes By Michael Ausiello

SEVEN HEAVEN: All signs are pointing to a seventh (and likely final) season of Gilmore Girls. As reported in this week's Ask Ausiello, Scott Patterson, aka Luke, has extended his contract for another season. Leading Girls Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel are already onboard for Year 7, so that leaves husband-and-wife show runners Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino as the only key holdouts.

LO' SORRY: Lindsay Lohan has apologized to Live with Regis and Kelly's hosts for bailing on her scheduled Tuesday appearance at the last minute. In a mea culpa directed to Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa via Access Hollywood, Lohan says, "I'm really sorry, because I love you guys. I know it came across really bad. I'll make it up to you, I swear!" Tuesday morning, minutes after Live went live, Lohan's reps said she'd be a no-show, forcing the talker to rejigger its lineup. "I'm not going to name any places I went to eat or anything," says Lohan, "but I had some food poisoning, which wasn't really fun." And yet, it's better than acid reflux, I hear..

A VERY MAYA CHRISTMAS: On Friday at 7 PM ET/PT, the Hallmark Channel presents Celebrate! Christmas with Maya Angelou, which Jack Myers' MediaVillage.com touts as "an uncommonly thoughtful special that should calm anyone suffering from holiday stress, or anxiety of any kind." As if. I mean, do you know how many nieces and nephews I have to buy Abercrombie gift cards for?! Going into that store makes me feel so old.

http://tvguide.com/news/entertainment/

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:56 AM

Personalities
At 87, Wallace still tells it like it is

By Suzanne C. Ryan Boston Globe Staff December 8, 2005

Mike Wallace and his hard-hitting brand of journalism have been synonymous with ''60 Minutes" since CBS introduced the program in 1968. Now 87 years old, Wallace, who has interviewed everyone from Malcolm X to Johnny Carson, has written his second memoir. Wallace was in Brookline, his hometown, recently to talk about ''Between You and Me." He managed to squeeze in trips to his old house on Osborne Road and to his elementary school, Edward Devotion, before answering a few questions.

QUESTION: President George W. Bush has declined to be interviewed by you. What would you ask him if you had the chance?

MIKE WALLACE: What in the world prepared you to be the commander in chief of the largest superpower in the world? In your background, Mr. President, you apparently were incurious. You didn't want to travel. You knew very little about the military. . . . The governor of Texas doesn't have the kind of power that some governors have. . . . Why do you think they nominated you? . . . Do you think that has anything to do with the fact that the country is so [expletive] up?

QUESTION: What do you think about American journalism today, with its plagiarism scandals, layoffs, and conglomerate ownership influencing newsrooms?

MIKE WALLACE: It's different, isn't it? The days of Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley are gone. People still do watch, but it doesn't have the clout that it used to have. I don't know what's going to happen or if there will be an evening news 10 years from now. It's a very expensive operation to keep up.

QUESTION: How do you relate to contemporary media? Do you read blogs, play video games, consult your Blackberry?

MIKE WALLACE: No. I feel as though I'm out of it. I chide myself. But I'm not doing that much day-to-day coverage now.

QUESTION: What do you think of Fox News?

MIKE WALLACE: Well, my son [Chris Wallace] works for them. . . . [Fox News chairman and CEO] Roger Ailes is a man I admire very much. He understood there was a market that was not being served. He was right.

QUESTION: Given the competition today, how do you think ''60 Minutes" is faring?

MIKE WALLACE: In the '70s, '80s, and '90s, we were always in the top 10. . . . Now, it's different. But I think we've held onto our standards remarkably well, no thanks to me because I don't do the kinds of stuff I used to.

QUESTION: Of all the people you have interviewed, whom do you admire most?

MIKE WALLACE: Martin Luther King. . . . Despite the gratitude he felt for what Lyndon Johnson did about relations between the races, Martin had the guts during the Vietnam War to say this is the wrong war, the wrong time, the wrong place.

QUESTION: You have a reputation for being a bulldog reporter. Any regrets about how you've treated people?

MIKE WALLACE: I determined when I started back in 1956 . . . there's no such thing as an indiscreet question.

QUESTION: You said recently that you thought Dan Rather should have resigned after his producers lost their jobs over the infamous story last year about President Bush's military service record.

MIKE WALLACE: When everybody who helps you put together a piece like that gets fired, don't you think it ought to cross your mind?

QUESTION: Why didn't you resign from ABC in 1957, when the network president apologized on air for an interview you did with another journalist who said that then-Senator John F. Kennedy was not the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning ''Profiles in Courage"?

MIKE WALLACE: You know something? It wouldn't have caused a stir at all if I had. No one would've paid any attention. I was no one.

QUESTION: How long do you plan to keep working?

MIKE WALLACE: Until my toes turn up.

QUESTION: You attended the same elementary school as John F. Kennedy and Robert Kraft. What do you remember about those days?

MIKE WALLACE: I graduated from Brookline High in 1935. I used to come [into Boston] and ride the swan boats. My dad started a grocery business in Boston in the late teens. It was called Frank Wallace & Sons. Everybody loved Frank. He was really warm. My mother, Zina, was a homemaker and rather humorless.

QUESTION: In your book, you describe meeting Kraft a few years ago when he told you that your alma mater had hung pictures of its three famous graduates. Kraft's picture was supposed to be on top, because he had the best grades. Today you discovered there aren't any pictures.

MIKE WALLACE: Can you imagine? I felt bad when I got to the school and said, 'Where are the pictures?' I was told by the headmaster, 'Don't be mean to Mr. Kraft.' You'd better believe I'm going to call Kraft.

http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2005/12/08/at_87_wallace_still_tells_it_like_it_is?mode=PF

fredfa

12-09-05, 02:07 AM

Q & A
“Prison Break” producer refuses to spill the beans

By Virginia Rohan Bergen Record Staff Writer

You can ask, beg or plead with writer-producer Nick Santora for details about what's ahead on "Prison Break," but the response is always the same. Polite and funny - but not about to divulge classified information.

"I'd like nothing more than to run off at the mouth. I wish I could start a blog and print it. People would jump out of their skin with the twists and turns and bombs dropping," Santora says. "Huge, massive revelations with respect to some of our characters. People we never thought we'd see we'll see."

"Prison Break," which had its fall finale a week ago, is returning to Mondays on March 13 but will air at 8 p.m., leading into "24." Says Santora, "I think it's going to be a powerful couple of hours of television."

The native New Yorker, who's married to a "Maywood girl," by the way, is good at being discreet. He worked as a lawyer before going Hollywood several years back.

Though Santora couldn't discuss specifics - of course, he won't say if Lincoln will actually get fried - he happily chatted about the show he calls his "most fun job" ever.

QUESTION: Is it possible to conceal a razor blade under the tongue like T-Bag?

ANSWER: We got that out of a true prison story. All we do is read books and articles about prison, prison escape, corrections.

QUESTION: But how real is the prison life?

ANSWER: We hear a lot that [people] find the show at times to be so, for lack of a better word, outlandish. We try to make all efforts to keep the show as realistic as possible, with the understanding that sometimes you have to take some liberties. We are constantly in contact with people in the corrections system ... to make sure we're legitimate.

We actually are physically breaking out of that [inactive] prison that we're shooting at. Every producer and writer on the show, we have been in the steam pipes, the tunnels, bowels, catacombs, cells, administrative buildings at Joliet Prison [which passes for Fox River Penitentiary]. The hole that these guys are digging in the guard's room to escape - that's not a set. We're smashing through concrete in Joliet Prison and going underground.

QUESTION: What's the prison's scariest nook or cranny?

ANSWER: The creepiest part of the whole prison is the prison cell that actor Dominic Purcell stays in when he's portraying Lincoln. That was the cell that serial killer John Wayne Gacy was in. It's eerie. There's a strange vibe.

QUESTION: How can the inmates move about so freely? Especially Burrows, a condemned man?

ANSWER: Some prisons do allow for an open time during the day where cell doors are open and these guys can walk out along the tier and share cigarettes. ... Death-row inmates working on PI probably is not a common occurrence. However, some of these guys are on death row 15, 20 years. They're not asked to sit in their cell 24 hours a day.

QUESTION: Michael Scofield seems closer to the edge, psychologically, no?

ANSWER: He had a rough, very difficult childhood, and it definitely affected the person he is today. Over the next few episodes, we learn a lot about Michael Scofield's family background and his relationship with his brother.

QUESTION: Will we see Abruzzi again?

ANSWER: Possibly.

QUESTION: Will we ever see them on the outside?

ANSWER: This break in the season shouldn't leave the viewers to think that anything with respect to the structure of this show changes. When we come back, we pick up with the same exact excitement. What happens to these guys when they are in a room and find the pipe had been replaced, and there's a guard who has heard them? I can assure the fans that the writers are not going to let them down.

QUESTION: If the inmates did break out, what would happen to characters like the doctor and the warden?

ANSWER: We know where the show's going through Season 4, and we have ideas through Season 5. We spent the first few days after Thanksgiving breaking out details for the end of [several] episodes of Season 2 and doing the story arcs for Season 3 in great detail. We know exactly where it's going.

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNzcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cW VlRUV5eTY4Mjk0MDMmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3

fredfa

12-09-05, 02:16 AM

Weekend TV
Recapturing West Point, With Help

By Richard Sandomir The New York Times December 9, 2005

There is cinematic symmetry to Thomas Del Ruth being the director of photography for the ESPN film "Code Breakers," about the cheating scandal at West Point that in 1951 led to the dismissals of 90 cadets, including 37 members of the Army football team.

Del Ruth's late father, Roy, directed "The West Point Story" (1950), a frothy James Cagney-Virginia Mayo musical filmed partly on the Army campus while the scandal was still a conspiracy among the cadets. "It's amazing," Del Ruth said this week by telephone. "My dad regretted that it happened."

Two years before, Roy Del Ruth directed "The Babe Ruth Story," a low point in sports cinema.

Thomas Del Ruth, now 63, went to the West Point location when he was about 8 years old; 55 years later, the old Warner Brothers musical helped him capture the look of West Point. From his Oregon home, he said, "My dad went there to see what it looked like, and we used that film as a pattern of what West Point looked like in the 1950's."

The ESPN production, which will make its debut Saturday (9 PM ET/PT), was shot in Toronto, where two colleges stood in for West Point. But ESPN did not seek the military academy's permission to make the film or to shoot on location, said Ron Semiao, senior vice president of ESPN Original Entertainment.

The film's premiere comes a week after Army's 42-23 loss to Navy, which ended the Cadets' four-game winning streak. It will be shown after the Heisman trophy presentation. Navy's 14-2 victory against the Black Knights in 1950 is re-created early in "Code Breakers." That game wrecked Army's hope for a third consecutive unbeaten season.

Del Ruth said his father's West Point musical - in which the hoofer Cagney directs the annual cadet show - did not persuade him to oversee the cinematography of a film about the breaching of the honor code and the subsequent decimation of the Army football team, which went 8-1 in 1950.

"There is a code of ethics personified by the cadets of West Point that could be followed in other business avenues today, and it's a startling revelation that the pressure on them caused them to cheat," said Del Ruth, whose memories of his Hollywood childhood include sailing on Cagney's boat, a two-masted square-rigger that resembled a pirate ship, and dropping by the nearby homes of great cinematographers like James Wong Howe.

"Code Breakers" hinges on the dilemma of a running back named Holbrook, whose need for more academic help than a tutor can provide leads him into the ring of cheaters, among them Bob Blaik, the quarterback and son of the head coach, Col. Earl (Red) Blaik, played by Scott Glenn.

A great deal of the film, in which the players and other students pass test questions and answers to each other, is shot in subdued light. "The conspiracy is part of the visual style," Del Ruth said. "Conspiracy in my view is never done in broad daylight, but in a darker environment." If "Code Breakers" is in part a sports film, it stands as Del Ruth's first as a cinematographer since "The Mighty Ducks" (1992), the Disney film that lent its name to the National Hockey League team.

"The Babe Ruth Story" (1948) was Roy Del Ruth's only foray into sports cinema. William Bendix, then in his 40's and bereft of athletic skill, played Ruth (from his late teens to his death) like a dopey comic mug. The sappy, maudlin script was an exercise in fiction, not biographical drama.

The script was credited to Bob Considine, who collaborated with Ruth on his autobiography, and George Callahan. But Del Ruth said that his father, who made the film independently, probably helped shape it. A Hollywood veteran since he went to work for Mack Sennett in the 1910's, Roy Del Ruth "wouldn't allow anyone else around him to guide him," his son said.

The younger Del Ruth was about 6 years old in 1948 when, he said, he visited the dying Ruth during the filming. "The hospital room had little letters taped to the wall, and two or three I noticed were from kids," he said. "He was surrounded by kids, which the film brought out."

Del Ruth said that his father had been displeased with the final result, one of his regrets being Bendix, whom he hired after he couldn't get his first choice, Paul Ford, a character actor.

There was, he added, some pressure on his father to release the film before Ruth died, "but I don't know if he resisted it."

"The fact that he dies was more dramatic than an open-ended thing," Del Ruth said.

Because his father was not certain how dire Ruth's condition was, two endings were shot: the one we know, and one that was less definitive. The film presents a wacky scenario in which the same doctor who saves the life of a dog injured by a foul ball hit by Ruth decades later presents the dying Ruth with an experimental cure. "It so happened that he died just before the picture was in the can," Del Ruth said.

A sickly Ruth left Memorial Hospital for the premiere on July 26, 1948, at the Astor Theater in New York, managing only a wan smile for spectators. He died three weeks later.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/sports/ncaafootball/09sandomir.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-09-05, 02:46 AM

NBC “Nightly News” Report
Would you like your cable TV a la carte?

One FCC commissioner wants to stop the expensive practice of ‘bundling’

Reported by Bob Faw, Correspondent NBC News

WASHINGTON - Seventy percent of American households subscribe to cable. Many, like the Daniels family in Kathleen, Ga., applaud the variety. What annoys them is having to pay for channels they consider unwelcome, even offensive.

“The cable company,” says Cliff Daniels, “is forcing us to pay for all the channels we never use.”

It's called “bundling” — packages of cable channels offered by cable operators. Consumer advocates insist it's a big reason your cable bills have soared, up 59 percent since 1996, three times the rate of inflation.

Consumers would pay much less, says FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin, if they could sign up for individual channels, the so-called “a la carte” approach. A la carte, though, makes the operators of some small cable channels shudder. Without bundling, they'd get fewer viewers and less advertising revenue.

If unconventional programs weren't bundled, they wouldn't attract viewers who surf — and who later become ardent fans.

“I think it is highly likely many of the established brands, not just the newcomers, will have a real rough time in an a la carte model,” says Oxygen Channel CEO Geraldine Leybourne.

While most cable companies oppose the change, the eighth biggest system endorses it, arguing it is un-American to make customers pay for programs they don't want.

“When you go into a grocery store to buy a quart of milk,” says Cablevision Chairman Chas Dolan, “you're not told by the grocer, ‘Well, you can't have the milk unless you also buy a dozen eggs or a pound of cheese.’”

The proposed change faces an uncertain fate in Congress and, if passed, certain court challenges. Until then, the channel switching will go on — and so will the grumbling.

“I'm not watching it,” Christine Daniels asks, “so why should I have it?”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10340020/

fredfa

12-09-05, 02:55 AM

ABC News Reports…
'A La Carte' Cable Turns Subscribers into Programmers

Picking Your Own Channels Could Save Money, Restrict Racy Content

By LAURA MARQUEZ ABC News

Dec. 7, 2005 — - If you are like most Americans who have cable TV, you get about 100 channels or more, but watch only a handful of them. But cable customers still have to pay for all of them, even if they would rather not even have the other material coming into their house.

That's how Meggen Wilson, a mother of three young daughters, feels about the content on her family's television.

"Ninety percent of it is garbage," she says. "I mean, I'm never going to let my kids watch MTV. I'm never going to let my kids watch 'The Sopranos' or 'Sex in the City.'"

That may change if the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission gets his way. Kevin Martin recently shocked cable operators when he reversed course on the federal agency's policy regarding "a la carte" cable.

Martin said he thinks consumers should be able to pick and choose which cable channels they want to pay for, rather than have to pay a lump sum for a package. Martin contradicted a study done under his predecessor at the FCC that said a la carte cable could drive up the cost of cable bills. He said the study was flawed.

Would It Help or Hurt Cable Customers?

Consumer advocates applauded Martin's position.

"When you buy magazines, no one makes you go and buy Time and Newsweek but also buy Sports Illustrated and Playboy and Guns and Ammo, or says you have to pay for all of them even if you don't want one," said Gene Kimmelman, a director with Consumer's Union.

The industry fears it could lose revenue if people buy fewer channels, but also claims consumers could be worse off as well. Popular, expensive channels like ESPN and TNT could become costly stand-alones that would add up on a cable bill, they argue.

In a break with the industry, Cablevision founder Chuck Dolan supports the move toward a la carte cable.

"Like Chairman Martin, we do not believe in the long term that selling programming a la carte will be detrimental to either programmers or cable operators," he said.

Some cable operators warn a la carte cable could decrease the diversity of programming on television. They say smaller channels, often foreign language channels, would have trouble attracting big advertising dollars, so they could be forced out of business without the guaranteed revenue of subscriber rates.

Some lawmakers call the FCC chief's support of a la carte programming a warning to the industry that it had better address parents' concerns about too much sex and violence on TV, or it will be forced to step in.

It's likely any policy change to cable programming would have to be passed by Congress.

Parents do have the option of blocking objectionable programs with the V-chip. Five years ago, the FCC required the V-chip on all TV sets 13 inches or larger, but the technology has failed to catch on.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=1383193

fredfa

12-09-05, 04:28 AM

Cable TV Pressured to Clean Up Offerings

By Sallie Hofmeister Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 9, 2005

The Federal Communications Commission has warned the nation's two leading cable TV companies that unwanted conditions could be imposed on their proposed acquisition of a rival if they do not agree to curb the proliferation of sexually explicit programming, according to company sources.

Faced with what some are describing as an ultimatum, Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. have sought to satisfy FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin's demands by pressuring the rest of the industry to come to a consensus on how to respond, said these sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the regulatory approval process.

Martin has made clear in closed-door meetings that he would like Time Warner and Comcast to help advance his anti-indecency agenda. The companies are seeking to acquire Adelphia Communications Corp. for $17.6 billion.

Through a spokesman, Martin declined to comment. So did representatives of Time Warner and Comcast.

Cable operators are not eager to pick a fight with the FCC. Although the agency lacks the authority to make new rules, it does have the power to rein in the industry on several fronts. For example, it will determine the speed at which phone carriers can enter the pay-TV business.

Phone companies, seeing this as an opportunity to build political capital in Washington, have seized on the indecency issue by agreeing to allow customers to subscribe only to channels they want.

"There are a lot of places Martin can squeeze cable operators and indecency is a pet peeve of his that's not going away," said one cable executive. "We have to live and work with him until his term ends in 2009."

Although reluctant to anger Martin, many cable programmers quietly complain that he is trying to extract concessions from an entire industry using leverage from a single transaction — the Adelphia deal — that stands to benefit only two companies.

So why would they go along? The cable industry fears that if it doesn't agree to a voluntary solution, policymakers could soon force an alternative on them that would be far more restrictive.

Martin publicly called last week for all cable operators to offer channels a la carte instead of in bundled packages, reversing the agency's position under Martin's predecessor, Michael K. Powell. A la carte pricing would allow subscribers to have only the channels they wanted.

Meanwhile, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who is contemplating legislation on the issue, held hearings last week to debate solutions for protecting children from objectionable TV content.

One option discussed is a la carte pricing, which the industry says would wreak havoc with its current delivery systems, driving up rates. Eager to avoid such a radical overhaul, Comcast and Time Warner have been lobbying their programming suppliers in recent weeks to adopt the indecency standard that now applies to broadcasters.

Several suppliers, however, object to the broadcast standard, which restricts such programming between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. They argue that imposing the same rules on cable and satellite that apply to networks that use the public airwaves is logistically impossible and would be particularly disruptive to any channels that air uncut theatrical movies or racy shows.

Comcast and Time Warner are now actively promoting the creation of a family-friendly tier of channels, despite resistance from some of their suppliers and the limitations posed by existing contracts.

"If there's a need for a family tier and it could be accommodated with programming contracts, we can meet those concerns," John Alchin, Comcast's co-chief financial officer, told investors Thursday at a conference in New York.

Even voluntary measures, however, could face court challenges. A voluntary "family viewing hour" that the FCC tried to impose on broadcasters in the 1970s was found by courts to amount to coercion and to violate the 1st Amendment.

Congress also would face a legal challenge if it forced an indecency standard or a family tier on the industry. The Supreme Court in 2000 upheld the cable industry's right to air sexually explicit content, noting that technology allowed subscribers to block unwanted shows.

Even so, Time Warner is now reviewing its contracts to determine what channels it could offer in a family tier without running afoul of its contracts with programmers, according to company sources. The nation's second-largest cable operator, which would become the largest provider in Southern California if the Adelphia acquisition is approved, has determined that 30 to 40 channels could be part of a family package.

On the list are obscure digital channels such as Boomerang and Toon Disney. Some of the most popular children's channels, such as Nickelodeon, may not be included because of contracts that prevent such tiered delivery and adult-themed shows in the evening.

And cable executives say families wanting the tier would have to use a digital cable box. That could add $7 or $8 to monthly cable bills.

That still could be cheaper than an a la carte pricing plan, which several government and industry studies over the last few years have concluded would be more expensive for cable customers than the current bundled approach.

For example, HBO, which already is sold separately, charges about $15 a month or more for a subscription. Other channels with high programming expenses such as ESPN probably would cost a comparable price. Ten channels could quickly run up a monthly bill of $40, cable industry executives say — about the same that subscribers now pay for, say, 100 channels.

Also, channels with narrow audiences could disappear because too few people would order them, the industry warns.

Consumer advocates, however, say that might not be such a tragedy.

"Maybe you won't have 100 channels, maybe you'll only have 20," said L. Brent Bozell, the president of the Parents Television Council, which floods the FCC with indecency complaints every year. "But good programming is going to survive, and you will get rid of some waste."

At the indecency hearings last week, Martin denounced as flawed an FCC study last year that concluded that a la carte pricing was economically unfeasible. He said the results of a new FCC study on a la carte pricing would be released in the coming weeks, showing that cable subscribers would benefit.

But many industry executives believe that Martin is using the threat of a la carte pricing to try to scare the industry into accepting the broadcast standard or a family tier.

"Martin and Stevens have been very effective in communicating to the cable industry that their lives would be better if they agreed to a family tier," said Blair Levin, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in Washington.

Washington insiders say the indecency debate has highlighted the political savvy and hardball tactics that are characteristic of the baby-faced 38-year-old FCC chairman. As a commissioner, for example, Martin, a Republican, shot down Powell's attempts to deregulate the regional phone companies by allying with two Democrats on the panel. A conservative from North Carolina, Martin was a chief lieutenant in President Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. Bush appointed him to the FCC in 2001, and named him chairman in March. His wife, Catherine, is the chief public affairs strategist for Vice President Dick Cheney.

The last time the FCC attempted to hold an entire industry's feet to the fire using a single transaction was in 1995, when then-FCC Chairman Reed Hundt used Westinghouse Corp.'s acquisition of CBS to force all the broadcasters to agree to air three hours of children's programming per week on their TV stations.

This time around, the cable and satellite industries are divided on how to satisfy Martin's demands. For instance, Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC, ESPN and the Disney Channel, has for about a year urged the industry to go along with the broadcast indecency standard arguing that it is the least disruptive option.

Under that standard, indecency is defined as material that depicts "sexual or excretory organs or activities" or that is "patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards." Because their programs are not sent into homes over the public airways, cable and satellite providers are not currently held to this standard.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-adelphia9dec09,1,547544,print.story?coll=la-headlines-business

fredfa

12-09-05, 11:38 AM

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

fredfa

12-09-05, 12:00 PM

She's got 'em on the list: some renewed, others dissed

By Kay McFadden Seattle Times TV Critic

To paraphrase Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner, I've got a little list of shows that never would be missed — and others here to stay.

With midseason nigh, it's time for an update on how the new fall shows have fared, from hits to flops.

The tally below is compiled in top-down order of ratings.* Each entry includes the series' status and a brief overview, with copious apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan.

1. "Commander in Chief" (picked up). That singular anomaly, the lady president, was truly heaven-sent. ABC's only challenge is to add male-viewer appeal to a show that skews very female; enter veteran producer Steven ("Over There," "NYPD Blue") Bochco.

2. "Criminal Minds" (picked up). As some day it must happen that a victim must be found — or at least one every night on TV — CBS has shown an uncanny ability to constantly reinvent the police procedural with distinctly different casts and atmosphere.

3. "My Name is Earl" (picked up). Who says the funny fellows, comic men and clowns of private life never would be missed? The sitcom roared back, and an emboldened NBC is moving "Earl" to 9 p.m. Thursdays, accompanied by "The Office" at 9:30. Let's hope "Earl" doesn't wind up on rival "CSI's" dissection table.

4. "Out of Practice" (going on hiatus). Then again, maybe W.S. Gilbert was right. This wheezy, dyspeptic comedy owed its high ratings mostly to lead-in "Two and A Half Men." CBS will bump it in January to try out a new Jenna Elfman show in the same slot.

5. "Ghost Whisperer" (picked up). Jennifer Love Hewitt can't act and it doesn't matter.

6. "Invasion" (picked up). Anyone who goes missing on "Invasion" becomes a story line. This pricey series still needs a bigger audience for its aliens-in-our-midst premise. Hey ABC, how about moving it away from "Lost" and over to Mondays once football is done?

7. "How I Met Your Mother" (picked up). Of society offenders who might well be underground, none is funnier than Neil Patrick Harris' integrity-challenged hound.

8. "Close to Home" (picked up). The nisi prius nuisance just now is rather rife; TV has too many law shows. But CBS smartly moved this female-starring legal thriller from Tuesdays to an audience-compatible slot after "Ghost Whisperer."

9. "Surface" (picked up). When I wrote "Surface" was sinking, an angry producer let me know it was doing fine in the ratings. So no aquatic metaphors pertaining to creativity here — let's just say "Surface" is a good pairing with the lukewarm "Las Vegas."

10. "E-Ring" (picked up). After suffering from lead-in "Martha Stewart: The Apprentice," producer Jerry Bruckheimer's well-done "E-Ring" moved to an opening slot at 8 Wednesdays — and it's beginning to catch on. Good news for NBC.

11. "Prison Break" (picked up). Fox continues to wrestle with its let's-revise-the-schedule-every-three-months plan. The terrific "Prison Break" will return in March while "24" arrives in January; I wonder if Kiefer Sutherland will look as good as Wentworth Miller.

12. "Freddie" (picked up). Why? I mean, he's a nice guy in real life, but why?

13. "Threshold" (canceled). Despite a sci-fi boom, the speculative type didn't do as well (see "Invasion"). "Threshold" also fell on the promise of its dandy pilot. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, I deserve to have my eardrums split by alien software.

14. "Three Wishes" (production stopped). OK, here's something on my little list: tear-jerking magical transformation shows backed by product placements. But I can see why that would appeal to advertiser-challenged NBC.

15. "The War at Home" (picked up). Fox has turned Sunday night into a nonstop battle between parents and their wise-ass kids — and in this age of over-coddled offspring, that's a relief.

16. "Bones" (picked up). Judging by e-mail, there's a little list with my name and the warning: Thou shalt not criticize David Boreanaz. I still don't like this sour forensic drama and doubt "Bones"" will do much better when it's moved to Thursday nights next month as part of Fox's revamping.

17. "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" (canceled). So many ifs. If the show hadn't been a direct imitation of the Donald Trump version. If the Donald Trump version wasn't already sagging. If Martha had been a pizzazz-y, nighttime kind of star.

18. "Everybody Hates Chris" (picked up). This little UPN success story has become cozy rather than hilarious. I love the cast, but the writing lately is soft instead of sharp; it needs more Rock and a bit less Chris.

19. "Hot Properties" (canceled). This trashy riff on "Sex and the City" returns us to our theme: And the real-estate executive who dresses like a slut / And who never holds an open house, then coyly adds a "But."

20. "Inconceivable" (canceled). I barely remember what this show was about.

21. "Night Stalker" (canceled) and 22. "Supernatural" (picked up). Why the two different outcomes for shows ranked so close and both about horror? Ratings and taste are relative. ABC had major-network expectations that the poorly done "Night Stalker" failed to reach; a better "Supernatural" exceeded The WB's modest ambitions for it.

23. "Killer Instinct" (canceled). A lurid police thriller set in San Francisco couldn't find an at-home audience; maybe deviant crime fans are out on Friday nights.

24. "Kitchen Confidential" (canceled). A fictional version of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain just couldn't match the real one.

25. "Reunion" (canceled). The one about six college friends and a murder. And believe me, they'll none of them be missed.

Also canceled: "Sex, Love and Secrets," "Head Cases," "Just Legal." Still around, albeit not in the Top 25: "Twins," "Love Inc." and "Related," a WB family show that deserves a look-see.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002672513&zsection_id=2002119662&slug=kay09&date=20051209

fredfa

12-09-05, 12:15 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Peeking now would spoil the surprise

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Friday, December 9, 2005

I am listening to Clem Snide as I write this -- one of my favorite bands. And one of my favorite songs of theirs is getting the repeat play treatment -- "I Love the Unknown." Why? Because in no other part of my life but my job do I love the unknown. I love the possibility of greatness, the chance that some series I have sitting on my desk will be something I will TiVo religiously and, later, buy as a boxed set.

I bring this up now because this is the part of the television season where there's a slight exhalation. We have moved past the November sweeps stunts ("The Poseidon Adventure" -- why?), settled into some holiday chestnuts (long live "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "A Christmas Story") and killed off the meek: "Head Cases," "Hot Properties," "Inconceivable," "Sex, Love & Secrets," "The Night Stalker," "Just Legal," "Killer Instinct," "Reunion," "Kitchen Confidential," "Threshold" and probably several others best left unmentioned.

Before some of those series were known to me -- meaning, before I actually watched them -- there was mystery and potential and hope. For example, I eagerly anticipated "The Night Stalker." Other than featuring a rote -- but still lovely -- exterior shot of Pierre Koenig's famous hillside Case Study House, this series was terrible. In fact, a friend of mine (a fellow TV critic who should know better) kept watching it to the bitter end, the only person in America left standing, one would assume.

I ended up liking "Kitchen Confidential" the more I watched it, but Fox -- now dangerously out of touch with its own instincts -- botched it. The more I watched of "Threshold" the more I wanted "Karen Sisco" to come back.

So there's this lyric in "I Love the Unknown" that goes like this: "They asked him, 'Hey, where is this bus going?'/And he said, 'Well, I'm really not sure.'/ 'Well then how will you know where to get off?'/And he said, 'The place with the most allure.' "

See, the place with the most allure in television is the unaired new series, the one that sounds fantastic on paper and has a clever premise and enticing casting and is brought to us by proven professionals. Very rarely does all of that promise pay off and give viewers an exceptional series. I suppose knowing greatness is better than wishing for it, but there are a lot more shows like "Killer Instinct" than, say, "The Sopranos."

Which means what I'm trying to do now -- before the onslaught of new midseason series coming the first couple of weeks in January -- is admire the outside of the Christmas present before unwrapping the letdown. In the TV critic business, this may be a bit odd. Normally, we get sent series well in advance and stick them right into the DVD player. What have you got? Let's see the goods.

I'm not like that. I know there's buzz about CBS' forthcoming "Love Monkey" series. And HBO's "Big Love." But I'd rather not peek. I watched a quirky ABC midseason sitcom called "Sons and Daughters" back in June and was stunned into silence. It was fantastic. It got me thinking about ... "Arrested Development." And a lot of good that did me. Now I'm absolutely convinced nobody will watch "Sons and Daughters" and ABC will cut the order and then cancel it and then, well, you know the drill.

Then again, the second episode could be lousy and I'd just be, as Bruce Jenkins says, dead wrong in public. Once you cross the line into knowing, things tend to go sideways. For example, I saw clips of NBC's "The Book of Daniel" with Aidan Quinn as a priest keen on prescription pills who sees and converses with a very mod Jesus (who's invisible to everyone else). Hopes rose. Result: NBC has already slashed the order.

See?

Loving the unknown does not apply, by the way, to reality shows. While I like my share of reality television, there's just no escaping the overkill, the copycat nature, the sleaze and the willful stupidity of much of it. Also, too much reality is pointless. The genre is hopelessly fixed, or at least tampered with, and ultimately it's candy -- and not the good kind of candy you might like to shovel down.

So forgive my lack of jittery anticipation of what Bravo has to offer, or some gimmicky thing from A&E. In a world where counting hours lost in life is part of the ledger-keeping and sanity-saving, I'd rather watch "Deadwood" than something about those Gotti brats.

On the other hand, I am looking forward to "Project Runway." I had avoided it in the early stages last season until Jon Carroll repeatedly prompted me onto it. I know, you think he spends his time reading arcane books and studying rare birds, but he's merrily doing the backstroke in the dross even I won't watch. It's a strange world.

I'm well aware of all the pilots being contemplated by the networks for next season. Big stars, high-concept premises, early buzz -- it all seeps in and works magic on me. This kind of magic: turning jadedness into anticipation. Part of being successful in this job is maintaining hope, a belief system that tells me quality will rise, hit percentages will increase, something magnificent will spring from the lowbrow muck. The moment you stop believing, the crankiness goes from partly endearing to boring annoyance.

Of course, I also love the known. From "The Wire" to "The Sopranos," the anticipation rarely ebbs. And here's the exquisite twist: Sometimes the known -- the despised known -- evolves. You might recall I've been off the "24" bandwagon since the third season. But someone at Fox recently told me what's going to happen this year and it's such a stunner that, well, I'm loving the unknown again, now that I know.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/09/DDG9QG4GL91.DTL&type=printable

fredfa

12-09-05, 12:25 PM

Ratings Report
Wet beach blanket for Fox's 'The O.C.'

Ties a season low of 3.3 among 18-34s

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 9, 2005

This year Fox debuted its new seasons before the Major League Baseball playoffs began, reversing its longstanding policy of starting shows later in the season, after the World Series.

That strategy may have hurt “The O.C.,” which since its baseball-induced hiatus has been dropping off steadily.

Last night the show averaged a 3.3 overnight rating among viewers 18-34, tying a season low set last week.

In four episodes before the baseball playoffs started, “O.C.” averaged a 3.9 overnight rating among 18-34s. But in the five episodes since, including last night, it has averaged just under a 3.5, a 10 percent decrease. Last night’s 3.3 was down 11 percent from the show’s 3.7 18-34 overnight average.

Even NBC’s about-to-go-off-the-schedule comedy “Joey” is catching up to “O.C.” among 18-34s, last night coming within half a ratings point in the demo, the closest it’s been all season.

There are a few likely reasons for “The O.C.’s” slide. While “O.C.” was out for baseball, the WB shifted “Smallville” to the same Thursday 8 p.m. timeslot, where it has been stealing some of the night’s younger viewers. Last night “Smallville” averaged a 2.6 overnight rating among 18-34s, fourth in the timeslot.

Also, fans have griped over this season’s “O.C” storylines. Whether it be Ryan and Marissa’s on-again-off-again relationship or the ridiculous Jeri Ryan con lady storyline, fans have filled many message boards with complaints.

Meanwhile, in other ratings last night, among the slightly older 18-49 demo, CBS finished first with an 8.2 average rating and a 22 share. NBC was second at 5.0/13, Fox third at 2.2/5, ABC and the WB tied for fourth at 1.9/5 and UPN sixth at 1.1/3.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1760.asp

fredfa

12-09-05, 12:55 PM

Ratings Report
Cable's big break: Winning in 18-49s

Now beating broadcast in the desired demo

By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writerDec 9, 2005

The broadcast networks are accustomed to the drill by now, but familiarity certainly doesn’t make this latest setback any easier.

Having lost its dominance in household ratings to cable television nearly four years ago, network TV is now losing its dominance in the 18-49 demographic that broadcasters rely on for a good chunk of revenue.

Ad-supported cable TV for the first time ever at this point in the season is beating broadcast in 18-49s.
Cable has been ahead of broadcast for a week or two early in the season, but it’s never held onto that lead this late in the fall before.

Cable TV’s share of the 18-49 audience in primetime through the first 11 weeks of the season is 42.3 percent, compared to network TV’s 41.7 percent, according to a year-end ratings analysis issued on Wednesday by Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting. Cable is up from 40.5 percent the same time last season while the broadcasters have dipped from 42.8 percent.

What makes it all the more troubling is that it comes at a time when network TV is going through what some media people call a renaissance.

ABC’s ratings, of course, are rebounding with hits like “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” CBS trails No. 1-ranked ABC by only one-tenth of a point in the demographic it had long struggled to attract. Fox had its first season-long win in 18-49s in 2004-'05 and, with “ American Idol” returning next month, may very well do the same this year.

Even NBC, with its dramatic ratings declines, has come out of a sitcom drought with hit “My Name is Earl.”

But, no matter, cable TV is continuing to chip away at the broadcast audience.

“This does not surprise me, particularly the aggregate [ratings], because cable has a lot more programs for people to surf around within than the big six broadcast networks,” says Susan Hajny, broadcast research manager at GSD&M.

“The younger demographic is more apt to be a channel-surfing demographic and it’s also more apt to be a program viewer as opposed to a network viewer.”

Cable’s climb has been steady and dramatic. In fact, at this point in the 2000-'01 season, cable’s share in the demographic was 33.9 percent to the networks’ 49.1 percent.

Meanwhile, Turner reports that cable’s most-watched networks among adults 18-49 for the year so far are TNT, USA, TBS, ESPN, Spike, Lifetime, FX, MTV, Sci Fi and Comedy Central. Each network except ESPN and MTV is up from last year.

Still, the broadcast networks can take consolation in remaining the dominant of the two in ad revenue.

While the broadcaster’s share of the household audience in primetime this year is 42 percent, its share of ad revenue is 69 percent. Ad-supported cable’s household share is 55 percent, but Turner estimates that its share of advertising is only 31 percent.

That is directly linked to the continuing disparity between top-rated network and cable shows.

Advertisers have few options outside of network TV to reach many millions of 18-49s in one shot. Individual cable programs aren’t making much headway in generating comparable numbers.

As a point of comparison, network’s most-watched show in 18-49s is “Desperate Housewives,” reaching an average 14.3 million people for the week ending Dec. 4. Cable’s top original series so far this year is FX’s “Nip/Tuck,” which averaged a sizeable but relatively paltry 2.6 million viewers.

“There are exceptions, there are cable programs that pop, but for the most part the networks are still providing the reach vehicles,” says Hajny. “And they have the big-rated shows like ‘Desperate’ that provide potential for reach and that have a higher dollar value than several smaller networks.”

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1735.asp

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:01 PM

''Kitchen Confidential,'' R.I.P.

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal

I was looking up something else on the Fox Web site today and saw that ''Kitchen Confidential's'' return proved horribly brief.

After bad ratings for Monday's telecast, the network has yanked the show for good. It will double-run ''Arrested Development'' this Monday to fill the ''KC'' time slot.
What a bummer.

If this weren't the holiday season, when people's schedules are overflowing, I would set up a screening/wake for the show at work and show you a couple of episode that haven't aired. Oh, well. I guess we really do need to hope for a DVD...

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

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:17 PM

A Critical View:
How Army honor once took a hike

By David Bianculli New York Daily News TV Editor Friday, December 9th, 2005

ESPN's new telemovie "CodeBreakers" (Saturday at 9 PM ET/PT),is about athletes who cheat - but unlike such films as "Eight Men Out," on the fixed White Sox World Series of 1919, it isn't about competitors who cheat on the field of play.

It's about young men who cheat in order to be able to play.

Written by G. Ross Parker (one of the writers of the CBS miniseries "Hitler: Rise of Evil"), "CodeBreakers," airing tomorrow at 9 p.m., is about Army football players who defied the honor code at West Point in order to get grades that were high enough to stay on the squad.

The scandal erupted in 1951, when Army was a dominant team, Vince Lombardi was a young assistant coach, and the head coach, Earl (Red) Blaik, was a no-nonsense, no-excuses taskmaster. "We don't just play for West Point, gentlemen," he tells his incessantly hardworking players. "We play for the American people."

Lombardi, played by Richard Zeppieri, might be expected to have a prominent role in this fact-based drama, but he doesn't.

He's strictly on the sidelines, in more ways than one. From the faculty side of things, the real star is Scott Glenn as Blaik, who brings every inch of imposing strength and authority the role requires.

From the student side of things, the major players include Jeff Roop as Holbrook, a gifted young running back with borderline grades; Zachery Bryan as Nolan, Holbrook's roommate, and Corey Sevier as quarterback Bob Blaik, the coach's son.

Director Rod Holcomb, a TV veteran whose credits stretch from "Hill Street Blues" and the pilot of "ER" to episodes of "Lost" and "Invasion," does justice to the muddy, rudimentary college football conditions of the early 1950s - a must for the ESPN audience.

Most of the action and drama in "CodeBreakers," though, takes place off the field, and concerns the conflict and consequences when one cadet decides to uphold the honor code and inform on his teammates.

The story is a serious one, and a laudable one for ESPN to present. Executive producer Orly Adelson, a sort of one-woman drama factory (her credits include the network's original series "Playmakers" and "Tilt," and the Pete Rose docudrama "Hustle"), is presenting a period story about ethics - not the easiest of sells.

Yet this telemovie doesn't fully involve or surprise the viewer, and the real payoff doesn't arrive until the "American Graffiti"-style postscript, when we learn the post-scandal fates of some of the players.

Similarly, some of the more potentially exciting parts of the story - especially on the field - are minimized, to the detriment of the overall project. Toronto stands in passably for West Point, but there's no stand-in possible for some of the missing action and drama.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/col/dbianculli/

fredfa

12-09-05, 01:25 PM

A Critical View:
Laugh Tracked

"Comedy Central's Last Laugh '05" (Sunday, 9 PM ET/PT)

By Linda Stasi The New York Post

Let’s face it, 2005 was no laughing matter.

In fact, it was a downright crying shame between Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami, the earthquake, the fires, the bird flu and Michael Jackson possibly having to file for Chapter 11 — well, you get it.

Leave it then to Comedy Central to come up with a year-end disaster show so funny, you'll laugh till you cry. Or something.

Opening with William Shatner as Lucifer, who sings (this guy's like your horrifying Uncle Albert, who insists on singing with the band at every wedding), and going on to some very, very hilarious stand-up, this show is exactly what we need to kick this lousy year to the curb.

Like all really good comedy, almost none of the comedians on the show take prisoners.

Here's a sampling:

• Lewis Black on abortion and the Terri Schiavo case: "We're the greatest country on earth, and we don't know when life begins or when life ends!" His solution? Put all the know-it-alls in a room together and if they can't figure those questions out, we should kill them. (Sounds reasonable to me.)

• David Spade on 50 Cent being named "GQ's" Man of the Year: "That man's moved more rock than Fred Flintstone!"

• Jon Stewart on the new pope: "I've always found being a Hitler Youth to be a real resume killer!"

• Happily, and maybe surprisingly, there are some hilarious clips from the missing Dave Chappelle for the much-in-doubt third season of "Chappelle's Show." I can only tell you that he's in bed with Susan Sarandon!

• My favorite was, of course, the most political — David Cross, who does a bit on the government's shoot-to-kill-looters stand during Hurricane Katrina that is not only the funniest thing on the whole show, but perhaps the very truest thing you may hear on television — well, ever.

Also hilarious are Greg Giraldo, Lisa Lampanelli (although I would have liked more about the year and less about her sex life with black guys — it's getting tired), Carlos Mencia, Andy Dick (Diet-Coke-out-the-nose funny as the wedding planner for Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise).

Stopping the action very short, however is Stephen Colbert, doing the defending W bit again (snore, bore), and then perhaps the most bizarre performance in the world by the normally hilarious Sarah Silverman.

In fact, it's so strange and so unappealingly ugly that it's a real-life "Springtime for Hilter" moment. Are you ready? If you've never seen anyone sing "Amazing Grace" with microphones at her mouth, her crotch and her butt (making a trio), you may want to tune in. Me? I wanted to tune right out.

You have to wonder what the hell was going through her mind that would make her think that such a thing during the Christmas season — or anytime, really — would be a million laughs. And this opinion comes from someone who gave up organized religion for Lent.

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/pfriendly_new.php

Marcus Carr

12-09-05, 01:49 PM

LodgeNet, Lions Gate To Heat Up Cold Nights With First-Run, High-Definition Movies In Hotel Guest Rooms

“Lord of War” Scheduled To Premiere On SIGNETURE HDTVSM Systems In December 2005; “Saw II” Coming In January 2006

SIOUX FALLS SD, and SANTA MONICA CA -- LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: LNET), the world’s largest provider of interactive television and broadband solutions to hotels, and Lions Gate Films today announced an agreement that authorizes LodgeNet to distribute high-definition versions of first-run Lions Gate titles over LodgeNet’s SIGNETURE HDTV systems. Lions Gate Films is the motion picture acquisition, production and distribution arm of Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE and TSX: LGF), the premier independent filmed entertainment production and distribution studio.

These Lions Gate feature films have been recently released in theaters and have not yet been made available for consumer purchase or rental in HD resolution. Currently LodgeNet is the only way to view this content in a high-definition format. The agreement will enable the high-definition premiere of “Lord of War” in December 2005, followed in January 2006 by “Saw II”, which has already grossed more than $80 million at the North American box office.

“Staying in for a movie will become more appealing as colder weather settles over much of the country,” said William M. Coleman, Vice President Studio Relations & Film Licensing Worldwide for LodgeNet. “By adding titles from Lions Gate to our high-definition video-on-demand (VOD) selections, we will be making the in-room entertainment experience that much richer in hotels featuring our SIGNETURE HDTV platform.” Coleman added that LodgeNet will enhance high-definition Lions Gate titles with its PowerPlaySM media playback controls, providing Pause, Skip and Save functionality to bring guests a better than home theater experience.

“In LodgeNet we have found a hotel entertainment provider that shares our vision for the future of digital entertainment and understands the importance of absolutely protecting digital content in the hotel environment,” said Lions Gate Executive Vice President, Jon Ferro. “This is another example of Lions Gate’s commitment to first mover status in adopting new technologies and entering new markets to add value to its content. We are pleased to join LodgeNet in blazing new trails across the in-room entertainment landscape.”

LodgeNet has distributed high-definition programming to select hotel guest rooms since 2003. LodgeNet’s SIGNETURE HDTV systems integrate Pro:IdiomTM, an open standard security solution developed by LG Electronics to protect the integrity of premium digital content at every point in the distribution chain. This innovation has directly resulted in a series of industry-first distribution agreements through which LodgeNet delivers high-definition satellite programming from such premium content suppliers as ESPN HD and HBO HD, as well as high-definition, first-run VOD titles from Paramount Pictures and VOD features originally produced for IMAX® Theaters.

http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4025594.html

fredfa

12-09-05, 02:00 PM

A Critical View:
Best tube bets this weekend

TV This Weekend (all times ET/PT)

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer

FRIDAY

Best bet on broadcast: NBC, “Three Wishes,” 9 p.m. Series finale. A 10-year-old Bill Gates fan meets the man who made Microsoft and proves that there are 10-year-olds who know who Bill Gates is.

Best bet on cable: TLC, “What Not to Wear,” 8 p.m. A model-turned-political science major tries to make her wardrobe a little more appropriate for her new field.

Top sporting event: ESPN, “NBA Basketball,” 10 p.m. The struggling Knicks travel to Phoenix to take on the purple-hot Suns.

SATURDAY

Best bet on broadcast: NBC, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” 8 p.m. Frank Capra’s 1946 classic, where Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey gets to see what it would be like if he was never born.

Best bet on cable: Sci Fi Channel, “Pain Killer Jane” 8 p.m. Emmanuelle Vaugier stars in this sci-fi hero movie based on the comic book.

Top sporting event: ESPN, "2005 Heisman Trophy Presentation,” 8 p.m. Sometimes these are hard to call, but USC’s Reggie Bush seemed like a lock after the Fresno State game.

SUNDAY

Best bet on broadcast: ABC, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – Happy Holidays,” 8 p.m. Two-hour extravaganza unveils one of the show’s biggest and most tear-inducing good deeds to date.

Best bet on cable: HBO, “Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team,” 8 p.m. Another in the line of excellent sports documentaries produced by HBO.

Top sporting event: ESPN, "Sunday Night Football,” 8:30 p.m. Two of football's worst teams meet as the Detroit Lions take on the Green Bay Packers in an NFC North rivalry game.

A look at this some of weekend’s other top TV draws
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9
7 a.m. NBC “Today” Former “American Idol” contestant Bo Bice guests.
8 p.m. Fox “Dear Santa” Real letters to Santa are selected, and their wishes granted.
8 p.m. ABC “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown” Linus and Lucy’s brother ReRun hangs out with Snoopy and his brother Spike.
8 p.m. CBS “Ghost Whisperer” A dead woman won’t crossover until her son makes amends with his dad.
9 p.m. NBC “Three Wishes” Season finale. A 10-year-old wants to meet Bill Gates.
9 p.m. HBO “Costas Now” The winner of Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year is announced.
10 p.m. CBS “Numb3rs” The FBI looks into the murder of a Native American woman.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10
1:30 p.m. CBS “College Basketball” It’s very, very early, but could Duke versus Texas be a championship game preview?
8 p.m. Fox “Cops” The cops find heroin in a truck with a child as a passenger.
8 p.m. CBS “Ice Wars: Battle of the Sexes” Men versus women in a figure skating exhibition.
8:30 p.m. ABC “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (M) The 200 Jim Carrey movie, directed by Ron Howard.
9 p.m. Fox “America’s Most Wanted” Searching for Ithaca, N.Y.’s “Collegetown Creeper.”
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11
8 p.m. CBS “Survivor: Guatemala” Season finale. Two-hour season-ender will award $1 million to the winner.
8 p.m. Fox “The Simpsons” The Simpsons travel to Italy and run into Bart’s nemesis, Sideshow Bob.
8:30 p.m. ESPN “Sunday Night Football” Lions versus Packers ought to be entertaining, but basically meaningless.
10 p.m. NBC “Crossing Jordan” A past case comes back to haunt Jordan.
10 p.m. CBS “Survivor: Guatemala Reunion” The 18 castaways reunite and, hopefully, talk a little trash to each other.
10 p.m. ABC “Grey’s Anatomy” Addison and Izzie are the only ones feeling Christmas, too bad they aren’t getting along.
http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_1733.asp

fredfa

12-09-05, 02:11 PM

Sports Media:
Rating NFL TV coverage

By Barry Jackson Miami Herald

Fortunately, CBS is giving Ch. 4 Indianapolis-Jacksonville instead of New England-Buffalo on Sunday -- especially because next week's Colts-Chargers game likely won't be televised here. While we're on the topic of the NFL, some thoughts on how each network has handled coverage:

• ABC: In its final year of Monday Night Football, ABC continues to squander halftime. Who came up with the lame idea of Tim McGraw singing over rapid-fire highlights -- mixed with fan shots and video of McGraw? And Jimmy Kimmel's weekly monologue, designed to promote his late-night show, has been consistently underwhelming.

ABC should be using halftime to interview NFL newsmakers, report breaking league news and reflect on memorable moments in MNF history. . . .

Yes, John Madden is verbose, but he remains among the best at mixing thoughtful analysis with offbeat musings. ''You know how you can tell a running back is tired?'' he noted recently. ``When he doesn't pull up his socks.''

Enjoy Al Michaels and Madden together for three final telecasts. Next year, Michaels teams with Joe Theismann on Monday nights on ESPN, and Madden joins an undetermined partner on NBC's Sunday night games.

• ESPN: Our biggest beef this season has been the overkill on Terrell Owens coverage. Did we really need to hear what every NFL analyst on ESPN's payroll thought of the subject? . . .

Studio analyst Michael Irvin -- who returns Sunday after his one-week suspension for not divulging his arrest to his bosses -- has capitalized on his unique access to newsmakers such as Owens, getting information others can't. But Irvin, who has overcome his own demons, must be careful about appearing too sympathetic to misbehaving players. . . .

ESPN consistently produces the most creative features of all three pregame shows, including Andrea Kremer's typically first-rate report last Sunday on Falcons RB Warrick Dunn seeking counseling to deal with the shooting death of his mother, who was a police officer. And Kenny Mayne's whimsical pieces are far better than Kimmel's. . . .

• CBS: The network lost one of most candid analysts when Brent Jones abruptly resigned in September. Second-year analyst Steve Beuerlein and rookie Rich Gannon show promise, but both need to be more forthcoming about the weaknesses of players -- many of whom they competed against.

Analyst Shannon Sharpe has become the star of CBS' pregame, its most entertaining and outspoken presence. Some of his lines make you roll your eyes, but give him credit for creativity. Too bad CBS' pregame is otherwise dull, predictable and too reliant on a prediction segment.

• Fox: Though Troy Aikman makes cogent points, the No. 1 announcing team misses the biting candor of Cris Collinsworth, who's working only for HBO this season before joining NBC's studio in 2006. . . .

Too clownish earlier in his career, Tony Siragusa has offered a unique perspective as a sideline analyst and injected personality into the Dick Stockton-Daryl Johnston No. 2 team. Fox's No. 3 team continues to be dragged down by Bill Maas' know-it-all bluster. . . .

More assertive than ever, Jimmy Johnson is enjoying his best year in Fox's studio, tweaking coaches such as Nick Saban (''he's doing a good job . . . can't say great job'') and Brian Billick (listing him among people who think too much of themselves). Johnson surprised us by saying LaDainian Tomlinson is on pace to be a better running back than Emmitt Smith, who starred for J.J. in Dallas. . . .

What's with the ridiculous questions in Terry Bradshaw's ''10 Yards with T.B.'' segment? Do we really care who's Jon Gruden's favorite among the Three Stooges? And you also have to wonder how much of Bradshaw's analysis should be taken seriously after he said last month that he wouldn't criticize Detroit GM Matt Millen because he's a friend, and that, ''I do have some friends in this league and I'll protect them.'' Hmm. . . .

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/13365454.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

12-09-05, 03:50 PM

Religious Broadcasters Favor Choice

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

Trinity Broadcasting is not one of the participants that was asked to join in the Dec.12 follow-up to the Senate Commerce Committee's Nov. 29 indecency forum; the Motion Picture Association of America's Jack Valenti and the NCTA's Kyle McSlarrow were asked.

Not to worry. Trinity and a number of other religious broadcasters already followed up with the committee in a letter, almost immediately after the first forum. The letter spelled out just what they did and did not want to happen.

"Choice is key in determining how indecency standards should apply to non-broadcast television distributors," they said, but it has to be the right kind of choice.

What they want: more viewing choice if it is mandated cable carriage of broadcasters' digital broadcast signals. What they don't want: a "pure" a la carte cable scenario that lets viewers pick and choose among program offerings.

The broadcasters are not dead set against the choice afforded by a family-friendly programming tier, which FCC chairman Kevin Martin has proposed and at least one cable operator, Cablevision, has backed. But they write that "such a package is NOT a subsititute for must-carry."

In an a la carte world, they are afraid their niche channels would be a la carted out of existence. They fear the same of their multicast channels in a scenario without must-carry, given that they have little leverage to negotiate such carriage.

The letter, to Co-Chairmen Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), was signed by 16 broadcasters, with the best-known being Trinity's Paul Crouch.

In addition to considering indecency legislation, the Senate Commerce Committee plans to address DTV issues like must-carry in an upcoming bill, though when it is upcoming is unclear.

fredfa

12-09-05, 04:48 PM

Rock Slide

The Associated Press reports that Chris Rock won’t be back as host of next year’s Academy Awards ceremony, scheduled to be telecast March 5 on ABC. It said Rock's publicist confirmed that Rock wouldn't return to host the Oscars in an email today.

Rock’s irreverent barbs at some of Hollywood’s stars (Jude Law, Tobey Maguire and others) cause some discomfort – to say the least – to some members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

According to the AP, “a spokesman for the Academy declined to comment about the hosting duties. Longtime Academy Awards producer Gil Cates is expected to announce his selection in the next few weeks.

Frequently mentioned candidates include four-time host Whoopi Goldberg, two-timer Steve Martin and late-night hosts Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. “

fredfa

12-09-05, 05:41 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Rafe, Lucy, Veronica and the worst reward ever

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune

• Quote of the week: Rafe on the Dec. 10 episode of “Survivor” -- “In the hardest ‘Survivor’ ever, it’s the gay guy and the four women in the final five.”

• Another quote of the week -- Anderson Cooper discussing his love for the TV news biz on “The Colbert Report”: “I’m gonna do this ’til I turn gray.”

• A notable program for Friday that missed the deadline for Sid and my’s usual Friday list: “Nightline” on Friday will air a one-hour discussion, moderated by host Cynthia McFadden, among Ohio mothers who’ve lost children in Iraq.

From the ABC press release: “Twenty-nine mothers from Ohio participated in the discussion at the Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, a suburb of Cleveland and near the base of the Third Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, which lost six Marines last August in a suspected ambush by insurgents. Days later, Ohio suffered another blow when several Marines, nine of whom were from the Lima Company based in Columbus, were killed in the most devastating roadside attack on U.S. troops in the war.” “Nightline” airs at 10:35 p.m. on WLS-Ch. 7.

• Wednesday’s typically meaty “Veronica Mars” episode, “One Angry Veronica,” concerned Mars’ stint as the forewoman of a fractious jury in Neptune. Whaaaa? I wondered, as did a few readers, how a high schooler could serve on a jury. The explanation from a UPN representative: “She is 18.” OK, but isn’t that a stretch? If she is 18 the year before she graduates from high school (the episode takes place in December), then she will turn 19 the year she graduates. Does that mean Mars was held back a year at some point? If any “Veronica Mars” fanatics have any insights or facts they can share on this topic, I’d appreciate hearing them. Because if anything, I’d have expected our smart gal to have skipped a grade, not been held back in school. But maybe there’s another, perfectly reasonable explanation I’m not aware of for the one-year gap between Veronica and her high school classmates.

• The good news: Justine Bateman, the star of “Family Ties” and the sister of “Arrested Development’s” Justin Bateman, will guest on “Arrested” in an episode that began shooting this week. According to the Fox press release, “in the episode, Michael (Jason Bateman) investigates the possibility that he may have a long-lost older sister named Nellie Bluth (Justine Bateman). In an effort to get to the bottom of things, Michael tracks Nellie down and hires her as a consultant for The Bluth Co. Unfortunately, Nellie’s hands-on approach is more than Michael bargained for, and he discovers that she may not be who he thinks she is.” The bad news: The episode is schedule to air Jan. 9. A show of hands from those who think Fox actually will air “Arrested” episodes in 2006. I’d like to think we won’t have to wait for the Season 3 DVD boxed set to see Justine Bateman’s turn as Michael Bluth’s “sister,” but I’m not counting on seeing it over the airwaves. I’m just sayin’.

• A reader named Diane wanted to know who came up with the original holiday music heard on Tuesday’s episode of “Earl.” An NBC rep said the tunes were “a collaborative effort between [executive producer and creator] Greg Garcia, [director] Marc Buckland, Kim Hamberg (associate producer) and Kevin Adelman (music supervisor).” The holiday episode of “Earl” will re-air on Dec. 20, by the way.

• The invaluable TV Gal, Amy Amatangelo, came up with an excellent list of worthy TV characters http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,276|98922|1|,00.html; I agree with most of them (well, I’ll have to take her word for it regarding Donna on “The West Wing”). Also don’t miss her previous column, a funny rundown of “Prison Break’s” more implausible elements. All very true, but like her, “I just don’t care!”

• It’s been a while since I watched “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” but now that my rugrat is old enough to appreciate such fare, we sat down to enjoy the classic the other night. My first thought was not just that it’s still great, and that the music by Vince Guaraldi is even better than I remember it – no, my first and most striking thought was, geez, Lucy is a nightmare! She’s just awful. She’s basically a pint-size combination of the meanest sides of Emily Gilmore, Julie Cooper-Nichol and Atia of the Julii.
Actually, all the kids are so mean to Charlie Brown, it’s no wonder he’s seriously depressed. I just kept thinking, can you imagine that special getting made in this day and age? Every kids’ TV show nowadays – with the best of intentions – wants to have an uplifting message, a story in which everyone learns something and no one is called mean names and everyone hugs at the end. Honestly, Lucy would never make it into any script greenlighted by a modern TV executive. Just one more reason to love her and the rest of the televised Peanuts gang.

• Another show of hands: Who’s still watching “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart”? I’m still checking in occasionally, mainly to see what the manic Jim is up to. He was in fine form Wednesday night, jumping around and literally acting like a monkey hopped up on latte, but you could barely understand him at times. He’s such a motormouth that he’s become seriously hoarse and sounds like a croaking (and loopy) frog. I don’t really care who wins this edition of “The Apprentice,” but in a weird way, I hope it’s Jim. Martha would surely hate working with Mr. Spaz, and he’d end up going on coffee runs and doing filing at Martha Stewart Omnimedia – and loudly complaining about it the whole time.
Speaking of The Martha, the reward in last Wednesday’s episode was laughably awful. The winning team’s “reward” was going to her country estate, riding horses, then playing Scrabble. Oh, joy! At least with Trump, contestants get fancy meals or really cool treats such as hitting tennis balls with Anna Kournikova at the U.S. Open stadium. The Martha reward was frankly like the most awkward company outing ever. Playing Scrabble with your boss? Please! That’s not a reward, not when Martha's criticizing your every word choice. It was excrutiating to watch. Give me a boozy Trumpian reward every time.

• Finally, a timely question from the latest edition of “Is It Just Me?,” Rochell D. Thomas’ hilarious weekly column in TV Guide: “Doesn’t it seem like Rose is always doing laundry? I hate to take it there, but why did the black woman have to be the one obsessed with cleaning clothes the old-school way?”

• One more thing: Speaking of "Lost," there's now an exhaustive Lostpedia http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Main_Page (which I found out about via TVTattle.com).

http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/

fredfa

12-09-05, 05:46 PM

Funny how this news breaks just before the Sunday's finale of this season's “Survivor”, isn’t it?
Jeff Probst to Remain “Survivor” Host

By Stephen M. Silverman People.com

Forget Jeff Probst's escaping to some exotic isle – he already does that for a living.

And the host of Survivor for the past 5 1/2 years intends to keep doing it, according to an announcement on Thursday. Probst has signed a new multiyear deal to remain with the CBS reality series, the Associated Press reports.

"I was thinking about retiring and spending my time traveling to exotic locations around the world, meeting new and interesting people. Then I realized, uh, wait a second, I'm already doing that with Survivor and getting paid for it, as well," Probst, 44, said in a statement.

With his contract due to expire with the current 11th season finale (to air this Sunday), Probst let it be known in October that he was weighing whether to continue with the gig – which, besides fame and fortune, has also yielded him a partner, former contestant Julie Berry.

In a statement expressing his delight with Probst's decision to stay (financial terms have not been disclosed) Survivor producer Mark Burnett said: "I consider him a friend and look forward to continuing to keep Survivor fresh with Jeff for many more seasons."

CBS has already announced that it will air the 13th and 14th versions of Survivor during the 2006-07 season. That 12th edition, being filmed at an undisclosed location, is to be broadcast next spring.

http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1139396,00.html

fredfa

12-09-05, 06:40 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Where Are The New Holiday Classics?

By Kevin Thomspon Palm Beach Post Television Writer

I wrote the following blog last year at this time. But since we have more people reading these fun little journals, chances are many of you didn't see it the first time. So I decided to post it again for a new generation of bloggers. For those who did read it, well, hopefully you'll enjoy it once more. My sentiments on the subject certainly haven't changed.

The other day, I was sitting in my optometrist's chair, patiently waiting for my first eye exam in, well, five years. I know, I know. Five years is ridiculous. Really ridiculous. I agree. I'm gonna be better. I promise.

Are you reading this, mom?

Anyway, before checking out my painfully strained 42-year-old peepers, my eye doctor, as always, wanted to briefly chat about the boob tube.

"It must be real busy for you right now," he said.

"Not really," I replied while squinting to read an absurdly blurry line that looked like hieroglyphics scrawled by a toddler. "During this time of year, all you see are reruns and Christmas specials."

And that got me thinking on the short drive back to my office -- Why doesn't television make animated Christmas shows anymore?

Back in the '60s and '70s, TV was churning out all sorts of wonderfully memorable specials that became instant holiday classics. Rankin/Bass, the stop-motion animated production company, led the way with such family-friendly shows as Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without A Santa Claus, Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, The Little Drummer Boy and Frosty the Snowman.

Of course, Christmas wouldn't be the same without such old favorites as Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas -- the best holiday special ever. I still get a tad misty when a Scripture-quoting Linus breaks down the true meaning of Christmas to the Peanuts gang.

The last great Yuletide special to become a classic was 1991's A Garfield Christmas, which was laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly poignant. Remember disco-dancing, life-of-the-party grandma fondly remembering her dead husband with Garfield in her lap?

So, the question remains: why don't we see great animated holiday specials anymore?

To be perfectly honest, TV doesn't really care. Yes, network programmers are a bunch of bean-counting Scrooges. What a surprise. Let's face it: animated specials don't pull in the kind of ratings, say, a CSI repeat would. When Rudolph and all the rest started airing 30, 40 years ago, network TV was a three horse town -- ABC, NBC and CBS. The competition wasn't as fierce -- and cutthroat -- as it is today.

TV has become a 52-week season, folks. No network ever wants to concede any ground -- even if that means not airing new holiday cartoons that would entertain millions of kids for generations.

That's why instead of seeing new animated specials, we're getting holidays shows featuring Clay Aiken, Nick and Jessica (no last names are needed, I'm sure) and sappy holiday movies starring the likes of Peter Falk, Joe Mantegna, Steven Weber and Tom Cavanagh.

The thinking is more people will watch the big-voiced Aiken belting out holiday tunes than some unknown actor voicing an animated character.

TV has tried making new holiday cartoons. The results, however, have been disastrous. Last week, for instance, ABC Family aired Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Island of Misfit Toys, a follow-up to the classic cartoon that featured the voices of Rick Moranis, Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Dreyfuss.

What a dud. Even my 10-year-old daughter didn't stick around to watch it. For starters, the show featured none of the original's charm, humor and toe-tapping tunes. And the computer generated animation made Rudolph look more like a scary alien creature than a cuddly reindeer who saves Santa's hide year after year.

Once again, instead looking forward to new animated Christmas specials, I'll dust off my trusty VHS tapes (yes, I have all my favorites on two tapes) and pretend I'm 8-years-old again as Rudolph's fire engine red nose cuts through a nasty Christmas Eve storm. I'll pretend I'm 8 as the mean 'ol Grinch shamelessly tries to keep Christmas from coming in Whoville and as Fred Astaire narrates the timeless tale of Kris Kringle in Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town.

Forget those Grinch-like network programmers who don't seem to care that young, wide-eyed kids still live in the world. I have my precious Christmas tapes that are filled with ageless holiday classics. Network TV may not think animated holiday specials in prime time are a big deal. I do.

And I bet many of you do, too.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2005/12/where_are_the_n_1.html

fredfa

12-09-05, 06:55 PM

Schedule Update
New Premiere Date for ABC’s “In Justice”
ABC Press Release December 9, 2005

A FORMER JUNKIE IS IMPRISONED FOR MURDERING HER FATHER, ON THE PREMIERE OF ABC’S “IN JUSTICE,” SUNDAY, JANUARY 1

The ABC Television Network will air the premiere of its new midseason drama, “In Justice,” on SUNDAY, JANUARY 1 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET), it was announced today by Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment. The premiere will immediately follow an all new “Desperate Housewives” recap special entitled “All the Juicy Details.”

“In Justice” will have its regular time period premiere Friday, January 6 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET).

“In Justice” is a completely new take on the procedural drama. Focusing on cases of justice run amok -- sloppy police work, false testimony and biased juries -- the National Justice Project is a high-profile, non-profit organization made up of hungry young associates who approach their work like a puzzle… a puzzle that’s been put together wrong. They fight to overturn wrongful convictions, liberate the falsely accused and discover the identity of those really to blame. They’re led in their task by modern-day heroes, David Swain, a blustery but charismatic attorney of questionable ethics but undeniable talent, and his chief investigator, Charles Conti, a former cop.

“Our aim is to use the valuable real estate following ‘Desperate Housewives’ to introduce viewers to this compelling new drama,” McPherson said. “Because ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ would have been a repeat on that night, fans of that show won’t be missing out. It’s a win-win.”

In the premiere episode, “Brothers and Sisters,” the National Justice Project takes on the case of a 32-year-old former junkie imprisoned for murdering her father while robbing his house.

“In Justice” stars Kyle MacLachlan as David Swain, Jason O’Mara as Charles Conti, Marisol Nichols as Sonya Quintano, Constance Zimmer as Brianna and Daniel Cosgrove as Jon Lemonick.

Guest starring in “Brothers and Sisters” are Rebecca Pidgeon as Charlotte, Harry Johnson as Henry McDermott, Marin Hinkle as Jane McDermott, Ben Messmer as Andrew McDermott, Frankie Ingrassia as Lisa Debrizzi and Sabra Williams as Sondra.

“Brothers and Sisters” is written by Tom Szentgyorgyi and directed by Paul Holahan.

Executive producers on “In Justice” are Robert King, Michelle King, Stu Bloomberg and Jeff Melvoin. The series is from Touchstone Television.

“In Justice” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1-channel surround sound and Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate.

fredfa

12-09-05, 06:56 PM

As a result of the preceding announcement, ABC's prime time January schedule has been updated in the third post at the top of this thread.

fredfa

12-09-05, 07:40 PM

Chris Rock Will Not Return as Oscar Host

By Sharon Waxman The New York Times December 9, 2005

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 9 - The comedian Chris Rock, who gave the often staid Academy Awards a jolt this year by mocking movie stars and taking a camera crew into a black neighborhood to talk to moviegoers, will not be returning to host next year's Academy Awards, his spokesman said.

"He didn't want to do it in perpetuity," said Matt Labov, Mr. Rock's publicist. "He'd like to do it again down the road."

Gil Cates, who is producing the awards program for the 13th time, would not confirm the decision, saying only that he had not yet chosen a host and that Mr. Rock did a "great job" this year. He said he would announce his choice for the March 5 broadcast on ABC before the end of the year.

The irreverent, often profane Mr. Rock has a mainstream television hit this fall, "Everybody Hates Chris," a UPN show based on his childhood. But he was considered a bold choice as an Oscar host, hired to bring a youthful, more energetic pace to the sometimes plodding ceremony, which can run close to four hours. He did so, bringing the show to a close in just three hours.

The ratings for the Academy Awards dipped by about five percent from 2004, according to Nielsen Media Research, but that was far less of a decline than a year earlier; the 2004 broadcast had 21 percent fewer viewers than in 2003, earning its lowest rating since Nielsen began keeping score in 1974. It was also less of a decline than experienced by other award shows in 2005, including the Golden Globes, whose ratings plummeted by 40 percent.

But if Mr. Rock held the audience steady, he also ruffled the sensibilities of some members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by calling the ceremony "idiotic" in an interview before the program, and then skewering such movie stars as Jude Law and Colin Farrell when he took the stage.

"They like to say there's over 100 stars out tonight," said Mr. Rock, to a hall filled with Hollywood's upper crust and a worldwide television audience. "No, there's not. There's only four real stars. The rest are just popular people. Clint Eastwood is a star. That's a star. Tobey Maguire is just a boy in tights."

Mr. Rock also took a camera crew to a Magic Johnson theater in Los Angeles, where he asked patrons if they had seen any of the five Best Picture nominees; most had seen none of them. In the aftermath of the show, some Academy members - a notoriously solemn bunch - complained that Mr. Rock had focused on stand-up comedy more than the movies. At the awards, Sean Penn was moved to defend Mr. Law as "one of our finest actors" when he came to the stage to present an award.

Sid Ganis, president of the Motion Picture Academy, acknowledged that some members complained about Mr. Rock, but said that others praised his performance. This year "we want to do the right job in honoring the artist, and to make an entertaining show," he said.

The decision not to go with Mr. Rock leaves a small pool of other likely candidates, among them Billy Crystal, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg, all former Oscar hosts. Whoever takes the job does so after a year in which the industry has been shaken by a declining box office, and when no one movie is expected to dominate the awards.

Among the movies considered likely to win major nominations are "Brokeback Mountain," starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger; "Munich," starring Eric Bana; "Walk the Line," starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon; and "Memoirs of a Geisha," starring Ziyi Zhang.

On the whole, Academy Award viewership has been on the decline since 1998, when the blockbuster "Titanic" helped draw 55 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That year, "Titanic" won 11 Oscars. Even so, the Oscar broadcast remains one of the highest rated network shows of the year and a valuable magnet for ad dollars.

Mr. Cates said whomever he chooses as host will need to reflect the mood of the country.

"I'm trying to get a handle on what it is this year, and it's a tough year to get a handle on," he said. "The movies are broad - there are big movies, small movies. I have to get my hands around what this year is like."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/movies/redcarpet/09cnd-academy.html?ei=5094&en=6b8e743dae735511&hp=&ex=1134190800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-09-05, 07:47 PM

Hmmm, I am not sure what criteria the New York Times uses to declare "Everybody Love Chris" "a mainstream hit", but it can't be the number of viewers.

Through the Nov. 27th Nielsen ratings, "Chris" ranked 85th of this season's prime time shows and its numbers have been slowing sinking for weeks.

Admittedly its 18-39 ratings have been higher. But to call it a "mainstream hit" seems like a bit more than a stretch. But since the Times quotes Rock's publicist, perhaps that is where the notion of the show as a "mainstream hit" originated.

(As always, be careful trusting what you read, no matter the source.)

fredfa

12-09-05, 08:09 PM

The media conglomerates keeping getting bigger and bigger....

Viacom Gets Dreamworks

The Wall Street Journal reports tonight that DreamWorks executives have told officials of NBC Univeral that they won’t pursue that bid.

Instead, the Journal reports, “Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures has forged a deal to acquire DreamWorks SKG after the live-action movie company ended negotiations with rival bidder General Electric Co., according to people familiar with the situation.

DreamWorks has been in on-and-off talks with Universal for several months, but of late the two sides have faced disagreements on various issues.

Paramount made a bid after winning approval from the board of its parent company, Viacom, to make an offer for DreamWorks.

fredfa

12-09-05, 09:31 PM

Viacom's Paramount to Buy DreamWorks for $1.6 Billion

By Geradine Fabrikand and Sharon Waxman The New York Times

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 9 - Moving swiftly after negotiations bogged down with a rival, Viacom Inc. closed a deal on Friday to pay $1.6 billion for DreamWorks SKG, the Hollywood studio founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, according to an executives involved in the negotiations.

Viacom and its studio division, Paramount Pictures, sealed the acquisition at a meeting on Friday between Mr. Geffen, Mr. Spielberg, Tom Freston, Viacom's chief executive, and Brad Grey, Paramount's chairman. More than half of the money will come from private equity investors, the executives involved in the talks said, and the price includes the assumption of about $400 million in DreamWorks' debt.

DreamWorks had been in advanced talks with General Electric's NBC-Universal, but told Universal on Friday that if it could not meet Viacom's price, DreamWorks would break off negotiations, according to an executive close to those discussions. Shortly thereafter DreamWorks confirmed the purchase by Viacom.

For Paramount, the move is a logical one. Mr. Grey recently took charge of the studio and it still has a relatively thin production slate of 11 films for next year. DreamWorks has nine completed films for release next year, among them "Flags of Our Fathers," directed by Clint Eastwood, though one of those includes a film co-financed with Paramount, the musical, "Dreamgirls."

The Paramount purchase also provides a new home for Mr. Spielberg, one of the most powerful and prolific directors in Hollywood, whose Amblin Productions is located on the Universal lot. Mr. Spielberg is not required to make his movies at DreamWorks, but he has generally made DreamWorks a partner on his projects. These included the recent "War of the Worlds" and the coming "Munich," about the hunt to assassinate the Palestinian killers of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. His presence at Paramount would lend the studio his great prestige.

Paramount and Universal recently dissolved the international distribution company, UIP, that they owned jointly, which distributed films by DreamWorks and DreamWorks Animation, the animation division recently spun off as a public company. Until each company can build separate international distribution companies, Paramount and Universal have divided up various countries for distribution of DreamWorks films, but the prospect of losing this distribution income made DreamWorks an enticing purchase for either company.

The board of Viacom on Thursday approved the purchase of DreamWorks. Last fall, the board rejected a request by Paramount executives to open negotiations with DreamWorks. The difference this time was that private investors would share the risk of the purchase, said several people close to the company.

The final private equity partners have not yet been determined,, said an executive at Paramount, added that several firms were interested. The Quadrangle Group, an investment firm that specializes in media, is a likely contender. Quadrangle declined to comment.

The executive close to the talks said that private equity investors would put up $800 million to $1 billion, while Viacom would put up $600 million to $700 million.

This offer trumps a previous bid by NBC-Universal, which had been in serious negotiations with DreamWorks since mid-October. But Universal had been offering far less for DreamWorks, $700 million plus an assumption of an estimated debt of $400 million, according to an executive close to those talks.

For months Universal had been the only suitor wooing DreamWorks, which many in Hollywood and on Wall Street considered a logical fit. Universal co-financed movies with DreamWorks and had a lucrative agreement to distribute all of DreamWorks' DVD's and theatrical movies worldwide, which added millions of dollars to Universal's bottom line.

Sharon Waxman reported from Los Angeles for this article, and Geraldine Fabrikant from New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/business/media/09cnd-dream.html?ei=5094&en=2dafce10c35327d6&hp=&ex=1134190800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-09-05, 09:37 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Vargas brings charisma to news role

By Jeanne Jakle San Antonio Express-News

Elizabeth Vargas seems such a fabulous fit with ABC's "World News Tonight" that my first thought was she should have been hired to anchor the broadcast alone.

Wouldn't that have been an announcement heard 'round the world! Not only would she have been the first solo woman to take the chair of one of the Big Three's flagship evening news shows, but the first person of Hispanic descent — her dad's Puerto Rican — to grace the post as well.

Did you watch Vargas solo anchor "World News Tonight" on Tuesday, the day after ABC proclaimed she and Bob Woodruff would succeed Peter Jennings on the 5:30 p.m. telecast?

Sure, she's subbed on the show before, but I for one watched her with new interest now that I knew she would be there permanently come Jan. 2.

OK, so the half-hour seemed more feature-heavy than it did under Jennings' watch. Vargas herself, however, didn't bring to the show any of the TV newsmagazine attitude she displays on "20-20."

She was direct, credible, smooth and, yes, charismatic, an asset the milquetoast Brian Williams of NBC lacks.

If you didn't catch the Vargas sneak-preview, you're out of luck — at least for a couple of weeks. ABC reports that she's leaving for Iraq on Saturday and will deliver reports from there next week.

Meantime, Woodruff will be anchoring "World News Tonight" for the rest of the week. I'm also interested, of course, in how he handles the post.

As I said before, though, making Vargas the solo anchor would have been a bigger coup, something I'm sure CBS realizes in its pursuit of Katie Couric. That is, if the older-skewing network actually has the guts to put her on alone.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/columnists/jjackle/stories/MYSA120805.5P.jakle.155a52d2.html

Marcus Carr

12-10-05, 02:37 AM

Hmmm, I am not sure what criteria the New York Times uses to declare "Everybody Love Chris" "a mainstream hit", but it can't be the number of viewers.

Here's my guess at what they meant:

main·stream
adj.
Representing the prevalent attitudes, values, and practices of a society or group: mainstream morality.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=mainstream

As opposed to the usually "irreverent, often profane" nature of his comedy.

"Hit" is probably used relative to other UPN shows.

fredfa

12-10-05, 02:37 AM

You are probably right, Marcus. I just thought it was, at best, sloppy reporting.

fredfa

12-10-05, 03:20 AM

Q & A
The Secret of CBS's Success

Just how is CBS breaking ratings records this season?

TVGuide.com’s “The Biz” Column By Stephen Battaglio

For the second year in a row, ABC has the most talked-about shows: Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy. But guess what? CBS has been No. 1 in viewers every week. It's the first time since 1988 that a network has opened with 11 consecutive weekly ratings wins.

CBS has been on ABC's tail in the race for advertiser-coveted viewers in the 18-to-49 age group, too. (They were tied for first place during November sweeps).

One CBS show after another has been scoring all-time highs this season. The Biz talked with Kelly Kahl, senior executive vice president of programming operations for CBS, to get some insight on why the Eye has it this year.

TVGuide.com: You have two shows that are in their third season and scoring their best ratings ever. How do you explain that?
Kelly Kahl: Yes, Cold Case and NCIS. I think some shows benefit from simply being on. It's a highly fragmented TV audience, and it takes time, in some cases three years, for people to check out shows. By virtue of being on, you increase the odds of people coming across it who might not otherwise be attracted to a show like that.

TVGuide.com: But at the other networks, hit shows seem to burn bright right away.
Kelly Kahl: Part of it is the quality of the shows. A lot of shows get a lot of promos thrown at them. They burn very brightly to begin with, but then the quality doesn't sustain. Good shows get better and evolve, and I do think we manage that very well.... I think CSI: NY is an excellent example of us staying with a show. The commitment to making it work doesn't stop the minute the show goes on. CSI: NY never disappeared from the face of the earth. We all felt it could be doing better.

TVGuide.com: What do you think made it more successful this year?
Kelly Kahl: Something we saw last year, which led us to the scheduling of Criminal Minds in front of it — we saw that putting a drama in front of CSI: NY always helped it in the ratings. As [executive producer] Anthony Zuiker said, there were certainly requests from the network to lighten it up a little bit. I think that's helped.

TVGuide.com: Is there anything different about the CBS shows that have brought younger viewers in?
Kelly Kahl: How I Met Your Mother is a younger show on its face. Ghost Whisperer might not have a younger star than Joan of Arcadia had, but it still has wildly popular young talent in it. Even Criminal Minds can be viewed as a traditional CBS show but is actually pretty edgy and racy. It's clearly not Murder, She Wrote. If you look at the overall age of the cast on something like a Criminal Minds or a NCIS, it's younger-looking than a lot of our shows have been in the past.

TVGuide.com: Why do you think NCIS is breaking out?
Kelly Kahl: There are elements of the show that appeal to a bimodal audience. You don't have a well-known star in the lead. You have an older character, and then you've got a Goth criminologist. That's another one of those home-run shows for us that play on a lot of different levels. There's a lot of humor in it, which I don't think you get from watching a promo or two, but then you watch the show. It's an entertaining hour no matter what your age.

TVGuide.com: How are you feeling about the new competition on Thursday night with NBC's move of My Name Is Earl to 9 pm?
Kelly Kahl: We've got the No. 1 show in TV in the time period with CSI. There's not much we're going to do. We like the fight as much as anybody, and we'll come to play.

TVGuide.com: Threshold was obviously a disappointment. Are you concerned that there is only a certain type of CBS show that works, and you're prevented from doing something different, like a sci-fi show?
Kelly Kahl: Not at all. Ghost Whisperer is clearly working. How I Met Your Mother is a pretty different kind of comedy for us. We got that off the ground nicely. I look at those as two examples of different shows for us that are doing quite well. Threshold got lost in a three-show sci-fi logjam with NBC's Surface and ABC's Invasion. I'm not sure whether any of them did a great job of breaking out... in the public's mind. I think that has less to do with us.

TVGuide.com: Put on your UPN hat for a minute. A lot of TV Guide readers are passionate about Everybody Hates Chris. Clearly, it's not the breakout hit a lot of us thought it would be, but is it sustainable at its current ratings level?
Kelly Kahl: Oh, yeah. It's a critically important show for UPN on several levels. Creatively, I think it means a lot to show that UPN can do an unbelievably well-received show. It's kind of the comedy equivalent of Veronica Mars. It lets people know inside and outside the creative community that UPN can really do quality programming. It got advertisers to sit up and take notice of UPN. Advertisers who weren't talking to UPN before are coming to UPN now.

TVGuide.com: Those are all positives, but will that be enough to keep it on the air?
Kelly Kahl: Yes. I think the key is to build some stronger programming around it. Then we'll have a truly successful night. It's a beachhead on a very important night. Taking a page out of the CBS playbook, it's something that we still hope to build.

http://tvguide.com/news/thebiz/

keenan

12-10-05, 03:21 AM

This, despite the fact is in SD, looks like it might be worth putting on the TiVo or DVR.....

A Critical View:
'Epitafios'

Yup, caught the first episode of this Friday night, and IMO, it's definitely worth a viewing and a spot on the DVR. It's letterboxed so scaling up to fill the screen would work but the subtitles for the non-audio translations run a little low.

My only complaint is the somewhat literal translation leaves a bit to be desired in comprehension sometimes. I knew I should have kept up with my Spanish.. :D

fredfa

12-10-05, 03:23 AM

I'll have to check it out, Jim. But I forgot to TiVo it...do you know if there is a repeat scheduled?

fredfa

12-10-05, 03:33 AM

TiVo says it is on Wednesday at 6 and Friday at 9:10. I'm recording both and hoping the Wednesday episode is a repeat of tonight's.

fredfa

12-10-05, 11:53 AM

Friday’s overnight network prime-time ratings have just been posted at the top of RATINGS NEWS the second post in this thread.

fredfa

12-10-05, 01:28 PM

Q & A
NBC's Zucker on Anchors and iPods

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable12/12/2005

NBC Universal last week became next in line to make its TV content available via Apple's iTunes, which follows an earlier deal it had made with DirecTV to supply programming for video-on-demand.
And while NBC U Television Group President Jeff Zucker is busy trying to anticipate the next step in the medium's evolution, he is also facing ongoing rumors that a longtime asset, Katie Couric, is considering a move to the CBS Evening News.

He spoke to B&C's Ben Grossman about what may happen on both fronts.

Q: Many predicted GMA would get closer to Today based on the strength of ABC's prime time lineup—and that's not the case. How have they pulled it off?

Jeff Zucker: The Today show has pulled away surprisingly strongly. The race isn't close at all. I know it's not a sexy story to report, but the Today show is basically as dominant today as it has been in many years.

So is the franchise bigger than Katie Couric?

Jeff Zucker: I've said this forever—I've always believed the Today show is more than the sum of its parts. Nobody stays forever, and I don't mean you to read anything into what I'm saying. At some point, Katie will move on, and so will Matt and Al and Ann, just as Tom Brokaw and Jane Pauley and Bryant Gumbel did, and each time the Today show remained incredibly vibrant and strong. The show is in a complete zone right now, and I feel as confident about it today as I ever have.

Do you think Katie is going to leave?

Jeff Zucker: I certainly hope that she doesn't.

Is this a good time for her to try something new?

Jeff Zucker: I won't talk for Katie. Obviously, she will make her decision in due time. This is all incredibly speculative at this time. There is nothing imminent.

Can you put the Apple iPod deal into perspective?

Jeff Zucker: It is part of our overall digital strategy, something Bob Wright had laid out for us for more than a year now, which is to make our content as ubiquitous as possible, to have it be available on as many screens as possible. We want it to be on all the platforms.

Will you expand your offerings on iTunes?

Jeff Zucker: Over the next couple of weeks, in fact, we will have many more announcements about many more shows there. We see it as a brand-new business, and it will be run like any television network, with new material refreshed and replenished all the time. I don't think there's a limit as to how many shows we can have available.

Do people want to watch 30- and 60-minute shows on smaller screens?

Jeff Zucker: Every week there are 436,000 illegal downloads of Battlestar Galactica. Clearly, someone is downloading it and watching it on a smaller screen. Ever since iTunes went online with video, there have been 500,000 downloads per week. It's pretty clear people want to watch this stuff. Now, given that we are selling Battlestar Galactica for $1.99, there is finally a legitimate model in place.

How much of a priority is the cellphone as a distribution channel?

Jeff Zucker: That's a huge priority for us, and we are obviously looking to use existing NBC content and program it with original programming. Right now we are delivering news and information as well as Jay Leno's monologue, and we are looking to deliver original content as well. It will be a big part of our world.

How do you find out how kids are viewing content?

Jeff Zucker: We do a lot of market research, and it's something that's critically important for us to understand. By the way, I just have to go home and look at what my 5- and 7-year-old are doing. That's the cheapest focus group there is.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6290479

fredfa

12-10-05, 02:09 PM

Just like auld times!

By Marisa Gutherie New York Daily News Staff Writer Saturday, December 10th, 2005

More than a year after Dick Clark suffered a stroke that caused him to miss the ABC New Year's Eve celebration he's been presiding over for more than 30 years, the legendary TV host has yet to make a full recovery.

"I'm not going to tell you he's 100%," said Larry Klein, longtime producer of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" on ABC.

But Clark, 76, will be in Times Square this year to count down the last hours of 2005 with co-host Ryan Seacrest. And the fact that he has not appeared publicly since his illness does not mean he is not ready to return to the annual event that has become synonymous with his name.

"It was important, I think, in Dick's mind that his first appearance back would be on his own show," Seacrest said yesterday.

Seacrest said he has talked to Clark over the phone but has not seen him in person. Indeed, the ABC publicity photos have an old picture of Clark obviously digitally inserted into the frame with Seacrest and Hilary Duff, who will host the portion of the show that originates from Los Angeles.

Clark's spokesman, Paul Sheffrin, said rumors that Clark's condition is dire are exaggerated.

"Dick walks," he said. "Let's not get into where those stories have started. He's not tied to bed as some people want to picture him. What he actually physically does on the show [will be worked out]. I don't think he's going to be running around the block in 12 degree weather."

Clark will co-host the 90-minute portion of the show that airs from 11:35 p.m. to 1 a.m., said Klein. This year's lineup also will feature a live performance from Mariah Carey.

Seacrest said discussions on his joining the show this year began about six months ago. But Klein and Clark have been mulling a long-term replacement for the last two years, said Klein.

"Of course, when Dick had the stroke," said Klein, "the discussion got more serious."

Last year, Regis Philbin stepped in to do it. But Seacrest's long-term deal to host "Rockin' Eve" sets him up as Clark's New Year's Eve heir apparent.

"This has been Dick's baby for so many years," said Seacrest. "And as far as we're all concerned, Dick will do it and can do it for as long as he wants to do it. I'm thrilled to step in and host the show with him. But you can't replace Dick Clark. It would be stupid to try."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/v-pfriendly/story/373432p-317477c.html

fredfa

12-10-05, 02:16 PM

Weekend TV
Remembering a soccer dream team

HBO recalls the '99 U.S. women's team that lifted a sport and captivated a nation

By Peter Ames Carlin The (Portland) Oregonian Saturday, December 10, 2005

T he image is indelible.

Brandi Chastain, her fists clenched in triumph, her face turned skyward, celebrating the goal she'd just scored to give the U.S. women's soccer team the 1999 World Cup championship.

She's jerseyless, having whipped her uniform top off in exultation (or perhaps, for the cynical among us, to promote the brand of athletic bra she's wearing). But it's the look on her face -- the unrestrained jubilation -- that sticks with us. There's a purity there. A joy that transcends anything money or publicity could buy.

This feeling is precisely what "Dare to Dream," (sSunday, 8 PM ET) HBO's 80-minute documentary about the women who came together to form that championship team, attempts to capture.

There's nothing particularly daring about the film -- it sticks with the traditional sports documentary combination of off-field tribulation and on-field disappointments to illuminate the team's inevitable march to glory. But as that famous image of Chastain implied, she and her teammates approached their game with an enthusiasm so pure it's more or less irresistible.

And, for those of us in the Northwest, impossible to watch without drawing parallels to the University of Portland's women's soccer team, still riding high from last week's triumphant march to a national championship. Particularly when you noted how ESPN2 kept cutting away from the actual game in order to get up-close-and-personal with the players' fans, friends and moms.

Even now, the mainstream sports world doesn't believe that anyone really cares about women's soccer.

Certainly, soccer has always been a tough sell in the United States. The game may be the most popular sport in the rest of the world, but on these shores its appeal is less as a spectator sport than a weekend activity for school kids. And perhaps it's this realization that inspired Anson Dorrance, the founding U.S. women's soccer coach, to draft high school-age players for his squad back in the late '80s.

The women he found -- including 15-year-old Mia Hamm -- were unseasoned, but talented. They surprised the world in 1991 by defeating Norway for the women's World Cup championship in China, and returned home in triumph -- which they shared with the three fans who greeted them at John F. Kennedy International Airport a few days later.

The film moves swiftly through the next few years, describing Joy Fawcett's decision to have children even as she trains and competes internationally. Ultimately, her three kids become regular companions of the team. Michelle Akers, the team's biggest and toughest player, deals with a serious bout of chronic fatigue syndrome. Hamm loses her cherished big brother to a rare blood disease.

Meanwhile, the whole team has to confront the U.S. soccer federation's lack of interest in their exploits. Heading into the 1996 Olympics, the women get so fed up with the disparities between their program and the men's (particularly when it came to money), they decide to boycott the competition. Still, they work out a deal in time for the Games, and when the women win the gold medal, they begin to capture the nation's attention. Hamm becomes a media star, thanks to a couple of high-profile advertising campaigns that featured her as a model.

The team's public profile peaks just in time for the 1999 World Cup, which was held, happily enough, in the United States. Momentum builds, and despite some initial skepticism from the media, the tournament ends up attracting sellout crowds to the nation's biggest football stadiums. "We put more people in (Giants stadium) than the Giants ever had," event chairwoman Donna de Varona notes in the film.

The team's victory in the final game -- in a dramatic overtime shootout, no less -- seemed to propel the entire sport to an entirely new level in this country. But even if that moment of glory was more a high-water mark than the start of a new era, Chastain, Hamm and the other team members continued playing through another half-decade of victories and failures with no complaints about their relative obscurity.

Ultimately, this is just as inspiring as the team's victories. For while so many other elite athletes seem focused on the external rewards of their game -- the money, the attention, the lucrative endorsement market -- these women played entirely for the game. To see them in action, even to hear them talk about it, is to remember precisely what sports are supposed to be: A proving ground for character, determination, raw ability and friendship. The victories on the field are wonderful. But it's the warmth and intelligence these athletes bring to the rest of their lives that feels like a triumph.

http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/living/1134172504286411.xml&coll=7

fredfa

12-10-05, 02:25 PM

Peter Jennings's Final Report

By Kathy Blumenstock The Washington Post Sunday, December 11, 2005; Y03

In his final report for ABC News, Peter Jennings, who died Aug. 7, is seen "out in the field reporting, doing what he does best," said Tom Yellin, executive producer of the special. "His passion for knowing was what made him so good. He wasn't just asking; he really did want to know the answer."

"Peter Jennings Reporting: Breakdown: America's Health Insurance Crisis" (Thursday, Dec. 16, 10 PM ET/PT, ABC) was a work in progress when Jennings was diagnosed with lung cancer in March. Jennings continued working on the program throughout his illness.

Jennings and Yellin had wanted the program, the first of four they'd planned on health insurance, to air in June.

"Peter wanted this to go forward. We talked during his illness about how to handle things, like what if he couldn't narrate it," Yellin said. "We'd bring him screeners and we had his comments. He was just being Peter, who cared deeply about the work."

Charles Gibson introduces the special but, at press time, plans for narration were undetermined.

The health-care system "is hopelessly complex," said Yellin. "It's not nearly as simple as your insurance company not paying for something."

After Jennings's death, Yellin said he talked with ABC executives about the show. "I said, 'I think it is something we should put on the air, but if you tell me that somehow it's not right, then we won't,' " he said. "But there is a kind of profound appropriateness, that the last time you will see Peter Jennings in an original moment, he'll be asking the questions you would ask if you could talk to that person yourself."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702086_pf.html

fredfa

12-10-05, 03:04 PM

How here is a guy who doesn’t have to worry about a la carte. His programming bill is probably lower than ours -- he pays less than two cents a month per channel – and gets 250 times as many channels as most of us.

The 5,000-Channel Man

By Linda Moss Multichannel.com 12/12/2005

Al Jessup has rather eclectic taste in television. He doesn’t care much for movies on the boob tube, but he loves viewing TV stations and networks from not only across the country, but around the world, from Russia to the Mideast. He enjoys watching camel racing, for example.

Jessup, who lives in Beckley, W. Va., found a low-cost way to get the kind of programming he wants. The disabled former ice-cream salesman has a virtual garden of satellite dishes — a dozen of them, to be exact — sprouting from his home.

At last count, more than 5,000 TV and radio stations and channels were being beamed to Jessup’s house.

“It’s cool to watch a camel race,” he said.

His bill for all this content: just $80 a month.

“Why pay for it when I have it for free?” said Jessup, a savvy satellite shopper.

While he subscribes to both DirecTV Inc. and EchoStar Communication’s Dish Network, Jessup reserves his kudos for the “free-to-air” programming he picks up from satellites with less-familiar names than those two branded services. That includes birds such as Galaxy 10, Telstar 5, Telstar 6, Telstar 13, AMC 2, AMC 4, AMC 5, AMC 15, Nimiq 1 and Nimiq 2, among others.

Jessup, 54, first signed up for DirecTV in 1998.

“I hate cable: Cable will not give you what you want,” he said.

But even the offerings that DirecTV and Dish provided didn’t satisfy Jessup’s TV taste, namely his desire to get TV stations from around the country and beyond.

“Most people get on satellite to get movie channels,” he said. “Not me. I just like the local channels and the faraway foreign channels.”

A friend suggested that Jessup get a dish for Telstar 5, which had some foreign stations. “I said I want more,” he said. And Jessup did get more, ending up with a dozen dished at this stage.

In some cases, his neighbors and friends passed on their old dishes to him.

Jessup, who spent 25 years as an ice cream man, gets stations from places such as Colorado, Georgia, California, New Jersey, Texas, Wyoming, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Vietnam, Canada and Poland, and many more.

“It’s just neat to watch,” Jessup said. “I’ve got friends in Kuwait. Well, I can see what’s going on in Kuwait. … I love the world. I like to watch camel racing, horse racing.”

Jessup has five receivers in his house, and uses six remote controls to navigate through his deluge of programming.

“In the morning time I just check what’s on each satellite every day,” Jessup said. “Then I know what to watch. They have guides.”

Only one of his three TV sets gets all the programming from his 12 dishes.

The Register-Herald in Beckley, W. Va., first wrote about Jessup in its Nov. 27 edition, and the story was picked up by media from around the country and the world. So far, Jessup has done 16 interviews, including one with a Swedish radio station and KROQ-FM in Los Angeles. People have even offered him a couple of additional dishes after hearing about his collection.

Jessup also has his eye on a powerful new dish, a Toroidal 90.

“I just might point that to the east,” he said. “There’s a lot of eastern satellites running around … a whole slew of them.”

keenan

12-10-05, 03:46 PM

TiVo says it is on Wednesday at 6 and Friday at 9:10. I'm recording both and hoping the Wednesday episode is a repeat of tonight's.
I think you missed the first ep. Wednesday is Ep 02. I'm not sure what day my TiVo recorded it, only that I watched it last night(now I remember, the power went down for 2 hrs Wed, so I reset it to record last night).

It's available on HBO OnDemand if you have access to that.

http://www.hbo.com/apps/schedule/ScheduleServlet?ACTION_PAGE_LIST=PAGE&PAGE=1
HBO Schedule: Search Results: epitafios

fredfa

12-10-05, 03:54 PM

The “Father of Television” Remembered
TV icon Farnsworth gets Eagle — finally

By Jerry Spangler (Salt Lake City) Deseret Morning News Saturday, December 10, 2005

BOUNTIFUL — Of all the honors and accolades bestowed upon Philo T. Farnsworth, the one that escaped the famed Utah inventor was that of Eagle Scout.

Elma "Pem" Farnsworth accepts an Eagle Scout award on behalf of her late husband, Philo T. Farnsworth, at Avalon Nursing Home in Bountiful. His original paperwork was lost in Idaho.

"He fulfilled all the requirements," said Kay Godfrey with the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America. "But the paperwork was lost."

On Friday, the Boy Scouts rectified the oversight, awarding a posthumous Eagle Scout award to Farnsworth's widow, Elma "Pem" Farnsworth, during ceremonies at the Avalon Care Center in Bountiful.

"Oh my word, it's lovely," Pem, now 97, said of the framed badges and accompanying eagle sculpture. "Isn't that gorgeous?"

The ceremony corrected an oversight that resulted when Farnsworth, a teenager at the time, moved with his family from Idaho to Utah. The Eagle Scout paperwork remained behind in Idaho, and it was eventually lost.

"He was always disappointed he never received his Eagle Scout award," said Daniel Farnsworth, a great nephew of the man credited with inventing television, as well as things as diverse as baby incubators and electron microscopes.

A crowd of about 50 family members, nursing home residents and officials from the Boy Scouts of America were on hand to mark the occasion.

Although he never got to enjoy the award while alive, "He's looking down with appreciation," said Paul Moore with the national office of the Boy Scouts of America, who praised Farnsworth as a man "who demonstrated all the virtues of an Eagle Scout."

Farnsworth passed away in 1971 at the age of 64, leaving behind a legacy that was not fully appreciated at the time — at least not outside of the world of inventors. Today, he is widely acknowledged as one of the pre-eminent inventors of the 20th century.

Born in Beaver, Farnsworth was a gifted thinker who began envisioning his inventions as a child on the family farm in Rigby, Idaho. At age 11, he worked on developing an electronic washing machine for his mother. At 14, while looking at long rows of crops, the concept of television transmissions was born.

That was the same year Farnsworth entered a national invention contest hoping to win a $25 prize. He won with something designed to prevent car thefts — an emerging problem in 1921.

In 1927, at the age of 21, Farnsworth demonstrated "electronic television" for the first time in San Francisco. The first image ever transmitted by television was that of his wife, Pem.

At least five books have been written about Farnsworth, many of them chronicling his bitter battle with electronic giant RCA Victor for his early television patents. He did not prevail until a 1939 verdict required RCA to pay him $1 million for his patents — the only time that RCA had ever paid a patent fee to an outside inventor.

The father of television was honored after his death with a Farnsworth stamp, induction into the Inventors Hall of Fame, recognition at the Emmy Awards and a statue in the U.S. Capitol, Utah's second contribution alongside Brigham Young.

But the Eagle Scout award was one lost to him in life and death.

"Today we are writing a final chapter in getting recognition for Philo T. Farnsworth," his great nephew said, commenting on the award.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635167788,00.html

fredfa

12-10-05, 09:19 PM

I gone back and forth over posting this story, which ran a few days ago. In some ways it seems so very local. But the questions it poses are ones we have all had about local TV news at one time or another. It is interesting, to me at least, to ponder them as we watch TV news.

Report stirs debate: News or exploitation?
Local television newsrooms handled a child's call to 911 in sharply different ways.

By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic

WFTV-Channel 9 anchor Martie Salt suffered an unusual on-air moment last week: She choked up during Wednesday's 5 p.m. newscast.

"I couldn't read the next story," she says. "I was crying. Bob [Opsahl] took over. He picked up where I left off. I had to get my composure over the next few minutes. He had tears in his eyes too, but he could read."

Listening to a 911 tape stunned Salt. In a conversation with a dispatcher, a 7-year-old Melbourne girl told of watching her mother's fatal shooting. The girl identified her 18-year-old half brother as the gunman. Matthew Wayne Almand was later arrested in the slayings of his father and stepmother.

Salt's tears reflected the strong reactions the tape provoked in local television newsrooms, which handled the call in sharply different ways.

WESH-Channel 2 and WOFL-Channel 35 decided against airing the call.

"This tape takes advantage of a distraught 7-year-old girl at the worst moment in her life,'' says Ed Trauschke, news director at WESH. "We still covered the story. I don't think it [the tape] added anything.''

At WOFL, news director Bob Clinkingbeard listened to the tape and consulted colleagues.

"We made the editorial decision that it would have been exploitative of the little girl," he says.

But along with WFTV, WKMG-Channel 6 and Central Florida News 13 ran portions of the girl's call.

"To us, that was the extraordinary news value: that a 7-year-old was composed and able to call 911,'' says Skip Valet, news director at WKMG. "She was newsworthy. The killer spared her life."

Robin Smythe, general manager at Central Florida News 13, says her newsroom gave careful consideration to the 911 call.

"The availability of that call tells the story better than any journalist could," she says. "This one is particularly tough to listen to, but we report these stories, and we can't sugarcoat what happened."

WFTV ran portions of the call during its 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts Wednesday.

"It was a terrible crime. It was made more terrible because a child witnessed it,'' says news director Bob Jordan.

The station received no complaints about anchor Salt's reaction, Jordan adds. Rather, dozens of viewers sent her sympathetic e-mails.

"Martie's reaction was spontaneous and human," Jordan says. "She had read the script but hadn't heard the sound bites. It's nothing we foresaw.''

Don't get overwhelmed

Journalists' emotions are not irrelevant to their work, but they shouldn't overwhelm them, says Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a Washington think tank.

He notes that reporters' outrage elevated early coverage after Hurricane Katrina. Journalists from Paula Zahn and Soledad O'Brien to Anderson Cooper and Ted Koppel riveted the public's attention with tough questioning of officials.

In personal moments, anchors have logged some of the most memorable bits in television history. CBS anchor Walter Cronkite paused after announcing President John F. Kennedy's assassination. ABC anchor Peter Jennings talked movingly about reaching his children after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"But if your emotions tell you something is too intimate and invasive and that you can't listen to it, that should be a red flag," Rosenstiel says. "If you're having trouble, imagine how the audience is going to react. They may think the use of this material is exploitative and manipulative."

Despite her tears, Salt says she doesn't question WFTV's decision to air the girl's call.

"It illustrates the gravity of that situation," she says. "To hear the anguish in her voice lets people know of situations that exist out there."

When WFTV repeated the story at 6 p.m., Opsahl handled it. Salt says that Jordan told her afterward not to be embarrassed by her reaction.

"I didn't know the intensity of that report," Salt says. "I was just overcome with what I was hearing. It was an instant reaction."

A 'balancing test'

Salt's inability to go on and the girl's call generated discussion about what's appropriate in coverage.

"There's a balancing test that journalists should engage in: Does the public good of using the tape outweigh any harm to the person on it?" Rosenstiel asks. "Would you traumatize this child? Usually the people on these tapes are innocent bystanders."

The traditional journalistic stance would be that if the tapes are public, the press should use them, he adds.

"If you think a little more about it, most people when they are calling 911, the last thing they're imagining is this could be public to the media one day," Rosenstiel says. "They're in a moment of personal crisis."

WKMG's Valet welcomes the debate about the 911 tape.

"We have those discussions on an hourly basis," he says. "I'm glad that people who have differing points of view take part in the conversation. It keeps us honest and reflective about what we do. Every story we cover will impact someone mightily. We take that seriously."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/orl-salt05dec04,0,217590,print.story

fredfa

12-10-05, 09:25 PM

(More on the local TV news exploitation debate)
Exploiting A Child's 911 Call

By Paul Harris KMOX Radio, St. Louis Wednesday, December 07, 2005

There were debates in Florida TV newsrooms earlier this week about whether to broadcast the 911 call of a 7-year-old girl who had seen her mother shot dead by her half-brother. Two TV stations decided against airing the audio, but three stations put it on the air.

Those three were wrong.

There's no news value in that tape, just exploitation. You can tell the story well enough without exposing the horrible moment in this child's life to the viewing public.

I have some experience with this. In 1987, I was doing the morning show at WCXR in Washington, DC. About halfway through the show one day, I was talking on the phone with a listener about something silly when she suddenly stopped in the middle of a sentence. Half a second passed before I heard something that sounded like a thud. I said, "Hello?" a couple of times before hearing a little girl's voice in the background saying "Mommy??"

It was obvious something was wrong. I immediately took the call off the air and went to a commercial break. Then I picked up the phone and tried to talk loudly enough to get the girl to pick up the receiver, which she did. She sounded like she was about five or six as she told me that her mommy was lying on the floor and wasn't moving. I asked if there was anyone else in the house. She said no.

I said we'd try to get her help and asked if she knew her address. She did, and with an eerily calm voice told me where she lived. I handed the info to my producer, who called 911 and told them to get police and an ambulance out to that house.

The commercial break was ending, and I knew my listeners were wondering what was going on. I had no intention of putting the girl on the air. I explained to the audience that we were dealing with a situation involving the woman who'd called and asked for their patience while we played a song. The other members of my morning team scrambled to help in any way they could while I continued to talk with the girl off the air.

When I could hear sirens approaching the house, I asked the girl if she could see police officers outside. She said yes and I told her to let them in, which she did. Soon, a police officer picked up the phone and explained that they were dealing with an unconscious woman and the EMTs were working on her. Not wanting to be in the way, I got off the line and let them do their job.

We found out later from a family member (who was nice enough to keep me informed on the aftermath of the incident) that the woman had died instantly of a brain aneurysm. No particular health problem, nothing genetic, just one of those awful flukes of nature. When the police contacted her husband at work, he rushed home to take care of their daughter who was, as you'd expect, having a hard time dealing with what had happened to mommy.

Obviously the tone of my show that morning was drastically changed, as we were no longer in the mood to be funny. None of us had kids at the time, but we all hoped that, if it ever came down to it, our child would be as helpful as this little girl. At some point, my producer reminded me that we had the whole thing on tape -- we recorded every call on 10" reels in a rack right next to me. No one on the show objected when I took that tape and locked it in the desk in my office.

When we got off the air, all of the other local media wanted to talk to me and it became a big story -- they wanted to play me up as a hero. I deflected that angle and told them the truth, that it was the little girl who had acted heroically, not me.

They all wanted copies of that tape. They were furious that I refused to give it to any of them, from the TV stations to the Washington Post to a couple of news radio networks. Dave Marash, who was the anchor at the local NBC affiliate, seemed to be one of the few who understood when I explained my reasons to him during a live shot.

I also never played it on the air myself. To this day, no one has ever heard the tape of that little girl -- which I still have in my basement -- and no one ever will.

Why? Because to put it on the air would be to exploit the tragedy for shock value. Listeners (and viewers) didn't have to hear it to understand the drama of what happened that morning, or to realize the real horror of a woman dying in front of her little daughter. Releasing that tape would do nothing to further the story -- and there was the family to think of, too. You'll notice I haven't mentioned the name of the mother or the daughter here, even though they are burned into my memory. You don't have to know them to get the story.

This was a no-brainer decision for me. Shame on those Orlando news directors whose standards and desire for ratings made them stoop so low that they made the wrong decision and aired that 911 tape.

http://www.harrisonline.com/2005/12/exploiting-childs-911-call.htm

fredfa

12-10-05, 09:29 PM

Thoughts On A Passing:
Richard Pryor

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal

Richard Pryor probably won't be thought of as a TV guy. He was a brilliant standup, and the big-screen releases of his standup routines could set movie theaters rolling. He was a very good actor, also mainly in the movies. But let's not forget his TV legacy, which was sporadic but important.

I have to think that the first place I saw Pryor was on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' or one of the other variety series of the day. It was not the best place to see him, of course. At least one biographer has noted that in his early years he was a second-tier Bill Cosby, and an uncomfortable one at that. Cosby was at ease with mainstream rules, where Pryor was not. Pryor's beauty was in his rawness, in his embrace of painful emotion, risky content and harsh language, and broadcast television was no place for that.

He would later find a more congenial place in ''Saturday Night Live'' but that, too, wasn't going to allow the sort of talk Pryor was by then offering onstage. (The closest he probably got was the Chevy Chase/job interview sketch, still one of the greatest moments in ''SNL'' history, but one where the harshest word comes from Chase -- although the magnificent, utterly convincing reply is Pryor's.)

His prime-time ''Richard Pryor Show'' tried to take risks, but that just led to misery for Pryor as he fought with network censors. While his children's show, ''Pryor's Place,'' was thoroughly charming, no network was going to be comfortable for long with the idea of Pryor talking to kids.

So why should we think of him as a TV guy? Three letters: HBO.

In the days when HBO was making its mark as a place for uncensored content and unfettered comedians, Pryor and Robin Williams were two of the guys who made HBO appointment viewing. Sure, Pryor's contribution was mainly his concert films, but who wouldn't want to watch those again and again? Whether Pryor was talking about sex, his changing racial attitudes or his nightmarish addiction (and brush with death), you had to stop and listen, and laugh, and know you were hearing something that regular TV just wasn't able to try.

That ends the thoughtful, serious-critic portion of this post. Because I also have to say simply that I loved this guy. The closest I ever got to him was seeing his image on a movie screen or a TV set. But I loved the guy.

Pryor lines still pop into my head at odd moments. I smile just thinking about him and Gene Wilder in the bathroom scene in ''Silver Streak,'' or walking into the jail cell in ''Stir Crazy.'' I remember how good he was in ''Lady Sings the Blues,'' and how great and terrifying he was in ''Blue Collar'' (another piece of Pryor that I discovered through pay-cable). And how funny and sad simultaneously he could be in ''The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings.'' I remember sitting in a theater for one of his concert films, and watching him talking about the pipe and Jim Brown, and feeling sheer awe.

Pryor bridged generations. My 16-year-old, too young to have seen Pryor in his prime, still knew enough of Pryor's work to be thunderstruck by his death. And as long as video and audio preserve his work, people will continue to find him. Hearing he died, knowing he had been sick, I still felt the urge to use one of his choicer epithets to express my dismay. But there are rules about language here.

So let me just say, with huge regret, Richard Pryor is dead.

Damn. Damn. Damnit.

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

fredfa

12-10-05, 09:32 PM

The New York Times Obituary
Richard Pryor, Iconoclastic Comedian, Dies at 65

By Mel Watkins The New York Times December 11, 2005

Richard Pryor, the iconoclastic standup comedian who brought the biting, irreverent humor of the black ghetto into mainstream America's living rooms, movie houses, clubs and concert halls, died Saturday. He was 65.

Mr. Pryor, who had been ill with multiple sclerosis, suffered a heart attack and died at a hospital near Los Angeles, his wife, Jennifer Lee Pryor, told CNN.

Mr. Pryor's health had been in decline for many years. Episodes of self-destructive, chaotic and violent behavior, often triggered by drug use, repeatedly threatened his career and jeopardized his life. "I couldn't escape the darkness," he acknowledged, but he was able to put his demons at the service of his art.

Mr. Pryor's brilliant comic imagination and creative use of the blunt cadences of street language were revelations to most Americans. He did not simply tell stories, he brought them to vivid life, revealing the entire range of black America's humor, from its folksy rural origins to its raunchier urban expressions.

At the height of his career, in the late 1970's, Mr. Pryor prowled the stage like a restless cat, dispensing what critics regarded as the most poignant and penetrating comedic view of black-American life ever afforded the American public. He was volatile yet vulnerable, crass but still sensitive, streetwise and cocky but somehow still diffident and anxious. And he could unleash an astonishing array of dramatic and comic skills to win acceptance and approval for a kind of stark humor that before him had mostly been hidden in the most unassimilated parts of the black community.

"Pryor started it all," the director and comedian Keenen Ivory Wayans said. "He made the blueprint for the progressive thinking of black comedians, unlocking that irreverent style."

For Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor was simply "better than anyone who ever picked up a microphone." The playwright Neil Simon called him "the most brilliant comic in America."

An Innovative Approach

Mr. Pryor's body language conveyed the ambivalence - at once belligerent and defensive - of the black male's provisional stance in society. His monologues evoked the passions and foibles of all segments of black society, from working-class, church-going types to prostitutes, pimps and hustlers.

He unleashed a galaxy of street characters who traditionally had been embarrassments to most middle-class blacks and mere stereotypes to most whites. And he presented them so truthfully and hilariously that he was able to transcend racial parameters and capture a huge audience of admirers that comprised virtually every ethnic, economic and cultural group in America.

Mr. Pryor's crossover appeal derived largely from his innovative approach to comedy - what Rolling Stone magazine called "a new type of realistic theater." It was essentially comedy without jokes - re-enactments of common human exchanges that not only mirrored the pretensions of the characters portrayed but also subtly revealed the minor triumphs that allowed them to endure and even prevail over the bleak realities of everyday living.

"Comedy," he said, "is when you are driving along and see a couple of dudes and one is in trouble with the others and he's trying to talk his way out of it. You say, 'Oh boy,' they got him, and you laugh. I cannot tell jokes . . . My comedy is not comedy as society has defined it."

In his autobiography, "Pryor Convictions," written in 1995 with Todd Gold, he allows Mudbone, the down-home raconteur who was perhaps Mr. Pryor's most unforgettable character and in many ways his alter ego, to comment, "the truth is gonna be funny, but it's gonna scare . . . folks."

In fact, Mr. Pryor's often harsh observations and explicit language did frighten and offend some audiences. But he insistently presented characters with little or no distortion. "A lie is profanity," he explained. "A lie is the worst thing in the world. Art is the ability to tell the truth, especially about oneself."

A Childhood of Characters

Richard Pryor, the only child of Leroy Pryor and Gertrude Thomas Pryor, was born in Peoria, Ill., on Dec. 1, 1940, and raised in a household where, as he wrote, "I lived among an assortment of relatives, neighbors, whores and winos - the people who inspired a lifetime of comedic material." His parents and grandmother ran a string of bars and bordellos that catered to a constant influx of transients who moved in and out of town, which was such an important stop on the black and white vaudeville circuits that it inspired the expression, "Will it play in Peoria?"

A frail child, he learned how to use his quick wit and belligerent humor to gain respect from street gangs and bigger, more aggressive peers. But the antic behavior that served him well in the streets did not translate to the classroom, and he was expelled from school in the eighth grade despite his obvious talent and intelligence. During the remainder of his teens, he worked as a truck driver, laborer and factory worker, then joined the Army, where he served in Germany until he was discharged after stabbing another serviceman during a fight.

He returned to Peoria, married, became the father of a son, Richard Jr., and, inspired by the television appearances of Redd Foxx and Dick Gregory, began performing in local nightclubs. In 1962, a variety act offered him a job as a master of ceremonies; leaving his wife and child behind, he began touring, appearing at small black nightclubs in East St. Louis, Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Youngstown.

In 1963, after honing his craft on the "chitlin" circuit," Mr. Pryor decided to take a crack at New York City. He felt ready to compete with the "big cats" and to try to emulate the success of Bill Cosby, the comedian he most admired. Soon, he was appearing regularly at such Greenwich Village clubs as Cafe Wha?, The Living Room, Papa Hud's and the Bitter End.

Mr. Pryor made his national television debut on Rudy Vallee's "On Broadway Tonight" in 1964. He had, in his own words, "entered the mainstream," presenting the kind of "white bread," nonoffensive humor that freely copied the styles of other comedians, particularly Mr. Cosby. He worked the Catskills resort hotels and opened for singer Billy Eckstine at the Apollo theater in Harlem. Big-time television appearances followed on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." Two years after his arrival in New York, he had a national reputation.

Despite his growing popularity, Mr. Pryor was frustrated. "I made a lot of money being Bill Cosby," he recalled, "But I was hiding my personality. I just wanted to be in show business so bad I didn't care how. It started bothering me - I was being a robot comic, repeating the same lines, getting the same laughs for the same jokes. The repetition was killing me."

In 1967, Mr. Pryor stormed off the stage of the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, shouting, "What am I doing here? I'm not going to do this anymore!"

In his autobiography, he recalled: "There was a world of junkies and winos, pool hustlers and prostitutes, women and family screaming inside my head, trying to be heard. The longer I kept them bottled up, the harder they tried to escape. The pressure built till I went nuts."

Despite resistance from club owners, booking agents and advisers, he began listening to those voices, developing new material during the next few years served straight from the black experience, even embracing the street vernacular use of the word "nigger."

His first comedy record album, "Richard Pryor" (1967) revealed his new direction with such routines as: "I always wanted to go to the movies and see a black hero. I figured maybe on television they'll have it - Look, up in the sky! It's a crow. It's a bat. No, it's Super Nigger. Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound; faster than a bowl of chitlins."

Becoming Himself

By 1970, he had gone underground to reassess his life and his comic approach. When he returned to show business in Los Angeles, his comedy had changed radically. After seeing his revised act, Mr. Cosby said: "Richard Pryor took on a whole new persona, his own. Richard killed the Bill Cosby in his act, made people hate it. Then he worked on them, doing pure Pryor, and it was the most astonishing metamorphosis I have ever seen. He was magnificent."

Some of his new material appeared on his second album, "Craps (After Hours)" (1971), which was originally recorded at the Redd Foxx Club in Hollywood. The nonracial material that had catapulted him to fame was gone, replaced by hard-edged satire and profane black voices and observations. He boldly engaged sensitive racial topics, mocking police harassment of blacks and exploring differences between white and black sexual attitudes.

Although "Craps" is considered one of Mr. Pryor's best comedy albums, initial sales were dismal. Even the black audience for whom it was intended largely ignored it.

Mr. Pryor persisted, however, developing his act and building a new following by returning to the small black clubs that he had abandoned with his initial success. He also appeared at better-known and challenging venues like the Apollo in Harlem and more cutting-edge comedy clubs downtown like The Improv.

The routines developed on those dates provided material for his next album, "That Nigger's Crazy" (1974), which surprised record- industry executives with its appeal to young whites as well as blacks. Despite its X-rating because of its explicit language and sexual content, the record sold more than half-a-million copies and went gold and won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album of the year. It was followed by another X-rated album, " . . . Is It Something I Said" (1975), which also went gold and won another Grammy.

Appearances on television boosted Mr. Pryor's career. He was a popular host on "Saturday Night Live" in 1975 and two years later, he agreed to do a series of television specials for NBC. Mr. Pryor's impact was not limited to comedy performance on records and the stage. He wrote for Red Foxx's popular television series "Sanford and Son" and for "The Flip Wilson Show"; he also collaborated with Lily Tomlin on her television specials, receiving an Emmy award for best comedy writing for "Lily" in 1974.

After returning from a trip to Africa in 1979, Mr. Pryor told audiences he would never use the word "nigger" again as a performer. While abroad, he said, he saw black people running governments and businesses. And in a moment of epiphany, he said he realized that he did not see anyone he could call by that name.

He appeared in 40 films during a career that began with "Busy Bodies" in 1969 and concluded with a role opposite his frequent co-star Gene Wilder in "Another You" in 1992.

His first starring role, in 1976, was as a race car driver in "Greased Lightning," and he costarred with Gene Wilder in "Silver Streak." Although he would dismiss "Silver Streak" as a "stupid film," audiences loved his performance and he became one of Hollywood's hottest box-office draws.

Comedy Sets a Standard

Mr. Pryor probably reached the pinnacle of his career in 1979 with his first concert film, "Richard Pryor, Live in Concert," a movie, filmed during an appearance at Long Beach, Calif., that more than a quarter of a century later remains the standard by which other movies of live comedy performances are judged.

The film, which was to inspire others to make their own comic performance movies, caught Mr. Pryor at peak form. He reflected often about his own tumultuous life, with monologues about a domestic quarrel in which he shot his wife's car, the death of his pet monkeys and a near-fatal heart attack, which ended with: "I woke up in the ambulance, right? And there was nothin' but white people starin' at me. I say . . . I done died and wound up in the wrong heaven. Now I gotta listen to Lawrence Welk the rest of my days."

But if he used his misadventures to earn fame and fortune, Mr. Pryor also frequently undercut his career and his life by his self-destructive behavior. In 1974, for example, he was sentenced to 10 days in jail, fined and put on probation after pleading guilty to a charge of willful failure to file an income tax return.

In 1978, a court fined him $500, placed him on probation again and ordered him to seek psychiatric care and make restitution after a New Year's Day incident in which he rammed his Mercedes into a car containing friends of his wife and then shot at it with a pistol.

In 1980, after a marathon drug binge, he set himself afire in a suicide attempt.

Mr. Pryor was critically burned in an explosion that the police said was caused by the ignition of ether being used in conjunction with cocaine. Fire Department paramedics found him walking in a daze more than a mile from his home outside Los Angeles with third-degree burns over the upper half of his body. He was hospitalized for almost two months while undergoing a series of skin transplants.

Recovering, Mr. Pryor remained a top-box office attraction during most of the 1980's. He appeared in numerous movies and released two more films of live comedy performances, but he continued to be bedeviled by drug and health problems.

In 1986, he was found to be suffering from multiple sclerosis, a disease that strikes at the central nervous system, and as the years passed he experienced its cruelest symptoms: vertigo, tremors, muscle weakness and chronic fatigue.

His performances in "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" (1989) and "Another You" (1992) with Gene Wilder revealed a frail, hesitant actor who struggled to deliver his lines. In 1998, Mr. Pryor received the Kennedy Center's award for humor, the Mark Twain Prize.

Mr. Pryor is survived by six children: Richard Jr., Rain, Elizabeth, Steven, Kelsey and Franklin. He was married and divorced six times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/arts/11pryor.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-10-05, 09:34 PM

The Los Angeles Times Obituary
Comedian Richard Pryor Dies at 65

By Lynell George Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 10, 2005

Richard Pryor, whose blunt, blue and brilliant comedic confrontations confidently tackled what many stand-up comic's before him deemed too shocking—and thus off-limits—to broach, died this morning. He was 65 .Pryor suffered a heart attack at his home in San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles early Saturday morning. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

The comedian's tremendous body of work, a political movement in itself, was steeped in race, class, social commentary, and encompassed the stage, screen, records and television. He won five Grammys, an Emmy and was an Academy Award nominee for his role in "Lady Sings the Blues" in 1972.

At one point the highest paid black performer in the entertainment industry, the highly-lauded but misfortune-dogged comedian inadvertently became a de facto role model—a lone wolf figure whom many an up-and-coming comic from Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock to Robin Williams and Richard Belzer—have paid due homage. Pryor alone kicked stand-up humor into a brand new realm.

"Richard Pryor is the groundbreaker," comedian Keenan Ivory Wayans once said. "For most of us he was the inspiration to get into comedy and also showed us that you can be black and have a black voice and be successful."

Pryor had a history both bizarre and grim: self-immolation (1980), heart attack (1990) and marathon drug and alcohol use (that he finally kicked in the 1990s). Yet Pryor somehow—oftentimes miraculously it seemed—continued steady on the prowl, even after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986, a disease that robbed him of his trademark physical presence.

Both verbally potent and physically eloquent, Pryor worked as an actor and writer as well as a stand-up comic throughout the '70s and into the '80s. He won Grammys for his groundbreaking, socially irreverent, concert albums "Bicentennial Nigger" and "That Nigger's Crazy." And in 1973 he walked away with a writing Emmy for a Lily Tomlin television special.

Pryor starred in more than 30 feature films—from "Lady Sings the Blues" and the semiautobiographical directing turn in "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling," to the less memorable "The Toy" and "Superman III." He also co-starred with comedian Gene Wilder in the highly popular buddy films "Silver Streak" and "Stir Crazy."

It was however his concert films—particularly "Richard Pryor—Live in Concert" (1979)—which many critics consider to be his best work.

Called genius by some, self-destructive madman by others, Pryor, throughout the tumult of a zigzagging career, remained an inclement force of nature.

"He was actually one of the rare people of that era who was a product of the chitlin' circuit, and the white, liberal, coffee shop thing," said journalist and culture critic Nelson George. "Where Bill Cosby immediately made it into the crossover realm . . . Pryor was a product of both. He was able to draw upon his kind of raw black experience through his storytelling skills, and that was accessible to a hipper white crowd. He mixed all of those things—but always had a singular vision. I think it's why he became such a huge star."

In 1975, Pryor appeared on "Saturday Night Live," at the time considered to be among TV's most irreverent shows. But it wasn't until Pryor went on the air that "SNL" instituted for the first time a five-second delay to ensure that Pryor did not ruffle the NBC censors. (Pryor also had his own short-lived series, "The Richard Pryor Show," which was axed after only four episodes in 1977, the victim of head office scrutiny and low ratings—he was pitted against the hugely popular "Laverne and Shirley" and "Happy Days".)

In later years, Pryor's life was a blur of bad choices and reckless acts. Scarred by drugs, violence, quadruple bypass surgery, broken marriages and estranged children, Pryor, submerged in personal chaos, tried to take his own life.

The initial reports of June 9, 1980 were that the comedian accidentally set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine. Pryor finally revealed the truth in his autobiography "Pryor Convictions and Other Life Sentences" (Pantheon, 1995 and co-written with Todd Gold): "After freebasing without interruption for several days in a row, I wasn't able to discern one from the next . . . Imagining relief was nearby, I reached for the cognac bottle on the table in front of me and poured it all over me. Real natural. Methodical . . . I picked up my lighter . . . I was engulfed in flame. I was in a place that wasn't heaven or earth. I must've gone into shock because I didn't feel anything."

The freebasing incident, like many of Pryor's more dramatic mishaps, turned up as encore-worthy centerpieces of his stage routines. Among them, the much talked about New Year's morning in '78 when he repeatedly fired a .357 magnum revolver into his then wife's car. In incident after incident, the public repeatedly walked along side him, standing in full view of the wreckage, marveling at how many lives this mercurial man appeared to have.

But Pryor was best known for his searing analysis about the state race relations. He was honored by the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts with the first Mark Twain Prize for American humor. "I feel great about accepting this prize," he wrote in his official response, his familiar edge glinting through, "I feel great to be honored on a par on with a great white man—now that's funny!"

The comedian was poignant in his remarks to a Washington Post reporter shortly after winning the honor. "I'm a pioneer. That's my contribution. I broke barriers for black comics. I was being Richard Pryor; that was me on that stage. But I was on drugs at the time."

Born in Peoria, Illinois in 1940, Pryor grew up in one of his grandmother Marie's string of whorehouses that catered to various black entertainers and vaudeville performers. Pryor developed and honed his comedic skills at an early age as class clown, and later was tapped by mentor, Juliette Whittaker, director on the Carver Community Center in Carver, Illinois as a "fourteen year old genius." She helped to develop his stage and dramatic skills.

A father by 14 and Army vet by 17, Pryor already had a wealth of material from which to draw.

Pryor worked the Midwestern chitlin circuit until the early 1960s when he took his show on the road to New York's Greenwich Village, which was in the throes of sociopolitical transition.

"A tentative but innovative rapprochement had been established between white audiences and a select group of black comedians," explains journalist and historian Mel Watkins in his book, "On the Real Side" (Simon & Schuster, 1994). "The transitional comics of the fifties (Timmie Rogers, Slappy White, and Nipsey Russell) had made inroads and in varying degrees Dick Gregory, Bill Cosby and Godfrey Cambridge all had bridged the racial impasse."

At the time, many black comedians eschewed not only social commentary, but they also tended to mute any fury, or at the very least sanded the edges of the country's racial realities. Pryor, however, dove head first into the deepest of uncharted waters. "African Americans were accepted as clowns and jesters," wrote Watkins, "but were expected to avoid satire and social commentary—the comedy of ideas."

Pryor's breezy act had been modeled upon a then up-and-coming stand-up named Bill Cosby. But with one gesture, in 1967 during a performance at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, he willfully shattered that mold into tiny, irreparable pieces. He—as the story goes—had an epiphany.

Walking off stage mid-act, he went into a self-described exile: "For the first time in my life I had a sense of Richard Pryor the person," he wrote in his autobiography. "I understood myself . . .I knew what I stood for . . . knew what I had to do . . . I had to go back and tell the truth."

And he told it to America's face.

"Richard was always upset with Bill Cosby," comedian and friend Paul Mooney told The Times in a 1995 interview. "I think he wanted to be Bill . . . But I always like Richard's stuff better. Bill didn't wow me. He wowed white people . . . Black people sank into Pryor's material like an easy chair . . . That's what his talent was—talking about black people to black people."

Much of the entertainer's bottomless font of searing observations—social, political, racial—was attributed to his own wrestling with personal demons: a dramatic push-me-pull-you relationship with success within a predominately white industry and his own racial allegiance.

"Richard basically blazed a trail for black comedy. He defined what it is. As a young black man he was saying what he felt—and was shocking," comedian Damon Wayans once said.

In his 30 years as a performer, Pryor recorded more than 20 albums, and appeared in more than 40 films, including, "Wild in the Streets" (1968); "You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose that Beat" (1971); "Hit," "The Mack" and "Uptown Saturday Night" (1974); "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings," "Car Wash (1976); "Greased Lightning" and "Which Way Is Up?" (1977); "Blue Collar" and "California Suite" (1978); "The Muppet Movie" (1979); "In God We Trust," and "Wholly Moses" (1980); "Bustin' Loose" (1981); "Some Kind of Hero" and "Brewster's Millions" in (1985); "Critical Condition," (1987); "Moving" (1988); "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" and "Harlem Nights" (1989) and "Another You" (1991).

Pryor became the highest paid black performer at the time in 1983 with his $4 million paycheck for "Superman III."

Along with his Grammys, and Emmy, and the Oscar nod, his script for the comedy satire, "Blazing Saddles" written with Mel Brooks, won the American Writers Guild Award and the American Academy of Humor Award in 1974.

In those small oases of calm which periodically dotted his life, Pryor was ever changing, reconsidering himself, his choices: A trip to Zimbabwe in 1980, for example, led him to excise his frequent use of "N-word." "There are no niggers here," he wrote in his autobiography. "The people here, they still have their self-respect, their pride."

Struggling with his own sense of pride in another realm, Pryor found himself slowed and increasingly incapacitated in later years as MS took hold. And though he traveled around in a motorized scooter, he continued to write and perform throughout the 90s — one-nighters in the Main Room at Sunset Boulevard's Comedy Store and an episode about MS on CBS' hospital drama "Chicago Hope" which he helped to write and co-starred with daughter, Rain.

Pryor, who married six times, is also survived by sons Steven and Richard and daughters Elizabeth and Renee.

Even with the help and therapeutic sparring of ex-wife Jennifer Lee, the disease left the once physically inexhaustible and seemingly insurmountable Pryor immobilized and imprisoned.

"The drugs didn't make me funny. God made me funny," he told the Washington Post in 1999. "The drugs kept me up in my imagination. But I felt . . . pathetic afterward . . . . Drugs messed me up."

It was musician Miles Davis who once gave Pryor a key piece of advice during his Village days—"Listen to the music inside your head, Rich. Play with your heart." He did. Until his instrument just wore out.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-pryor11dec11,0,5830750,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines

fredfa

12-10-05, 09:38 PM

The Washington Post Obituary
Richard Pryor, 65

With Humor and Anger About Black Life, Comic Inspired a Generation

By Matt Schudel Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, December 11, 2005

Richard Pryor, the outrageously raunchy and uproariously funny comedian and actor who defied the boundaries of taste, decency and race to become the comic voice of a generation, died yesterday at a Los Angeles hospital, where he had been taken after a heart attack. Pryor, who was 65, had been in deteriorating health for years because of multiple sclerosis.

Throughout the 1970s and early '80s, Pryor rode his uninhibited and foul-mouthed comedy to the heights of stardom, notching one hit movie after another, selling millions of albums and drawing huge audiences to his one-man show, which treated some of the most volatile social issues of the time with a penetrating, unsparing comic eye. In 1998, he was the first person to receive the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American humor.

After beginning his career with relatively tame, race-neutral comedy, he delved deep into his experiences and anger as a black American and adopted a fresh, daring approach that put race, sex and obscenity -- and all the anxieties these once-taboo subjects evoked -- at the forefront of his almost stream-of-consciousness comedy.

He drew his humor straight from the lives and speech of working-class black Americans in an overt, unapologetic way never before seen. In so doing, he helped bring black customs and language into the American mainstream and exerted a lasting influence on American humor and cultural life. He assailed the nation's inequities, unabashedly used the n-word and adopted a variety of exaggerated facial expressions to touch on some of the deepest and unspoken fears of all Americans.

Once forced off a Las Vegas stage for obscenity, Pryor saw his ribald routines adopted as the standard comic fare of a later generation of comedians. Without his bold example, the careers of Eddie Murphy, Whoopi Goldberg, Damon Wayans and Chris Rock would scarcely be possible.

An article in Ebony magazine in the 1970s said Pryor "mirrors the black condition without exploiting it" and called his comedy "a major step forward in the evolution of a true black humor in the United States."

In 1998, Wayans told The Washington Post that "Richard basically blazed a trail for black comedy; he defined what it is. As a young black man he was saying what he felt -- and that was shocking."

Pryor had his first gold record in 1974 with the provocatively titled, "That Nigger's Crazy." He followed that a year later with an album whose cover showed him questioning a group of Ku Klux Klansmen about to burn him at the stake, under the title "Is It Something I Said?"

He recorded more than 20 albums in a period of 14 years, including the landmark "Live on the Sunset Strip" (1982), which distilled his acerbic, lacerating style.

During his prime, almost every joke included a spate of blue language that can't be printed in a newspaper but induced uncontrollable laughter in his audiences. Beneath the humor, though, there lay a raw edge of barely tempered anger. Nothing was too sensitive for his barbs. In a joke about black men in prison, Pryor said: "You go down there looking for justice; that's what you find: just us."

Pryor's humor reflected the turbulence and anger in his life, which was marked by arrests, outbursts of violence, failed marriages and a long history of drug abuse. On June 9, 1980, he almost died when he was freebasing cocaine at his Los Angeles home, set himself on fire and received severe burns on half his body. While ablaze, he jumped out a window and ran down the street.

As usual, he turned the episode into humor: "You know something I noticed? When you run down the street on fire, people will move out of your way."

Early in his career, Pryor modeled himself after comedian Bill Cosby, who in turn became an ardent admirer of his protege.

"For Richard," Cosby once told People magazine, "the line between comedy and tragedy is as fine as you can paint it."

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was born Dec. 1, 1940, in Peoria, Ill. Much of his youth is murky or mired in contradictions. His parents were not married when he was born. Pryor variously claimed that his mother was a prostitute or worked as a bookkeeper in a brothel. Little is known about his father except that he was a boxer and had little to do with Pryor's upbringing.

Pryor was largely raised by his grandmother, and as a preteen he was apparently molested -- the perpetrator later asked for an autograph, Pryor said. He dropped out of school at 14, but by then he was already entertaining friends with jokes and improvised skits.

He enlisted in the Army at 18 and participated in amateur shows in Germany. By 1960, he was back in Peoria, working in small clubs, modeling his act on Cosby and, to a lesser extent, Redd Foxx and Jerry Lewis. He made his way to New York in 1963 and had his major national break in 1966, when he appeared on the network shows "On Broadway Tonight," "Kraft Summer Music Hall" and "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Pryor wrote for "The Flip Wilson Show" in the 1960s, all the while polishing his stand-up act and pushing his humor toward the outer reaches of acceptable taste.

"Back between '65 and '68, I had a metamorphosis," he told The Post in 1978. "I found out who I wanted to be. And who I wanted to be was the same guy who used to rap on the street corner back on North Washington Boulevard in Peoria."

In his 1995 memoir, "Pryor Convictions and Other Life Sentences," he wrote: "There was a world of junkies and winos, pool hustlers and prostitutes, women and family screaming inside my head, trying to be heard."

He invented a series of exaggerated characters, often brought to life with goggle-eyed mugging and liberal use of obscenities, including the n-word.

"I decided to take the sting out of it," he told The Post in 1998. "As if saying it over and over again would numb me and everybody else to its wretchedness."

After a trip to Zimbabwe in the 1980s, he renounced the word and never used it in his act again.

In addition to his comedy act, Pryor became a busy actor, appearing in more than 40 films between 1968 and 1991. In 1972, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his dramatic role as a musician in "Lady Sings the Blues."

He continued to write for others, including the TV series "Sanford and Son," and won an Emmy Award in 1974 for his work in writing "Lily," a comedy special for Lily Tomlin. Pryor helped Mel Brooks with the script of "Blazing Saddles" (1974) and was credited with two of the most memorable parts of the movie: the bean scene around the campfire and Madeline Kahn's gasped exclamation, after a private moment with the black sheriff, "It's twue, it's twue!"

By 1974, when he appeared in the film "Uptown Saturday Night," Pryor had found a comic acting formula that led to a string of box office hits over the next decade. From "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings" (1976) to "Car Wash" (1976) , "Silver Streak" (1976) "Which Way Is Up?" (1977), "California Suite" (1978) and "Bustin' Loose" (1981), he seemed to take over the screen with outsized yet finely honed characters that were often elaborations of his stand-up personas.

"Richard Pryor works directly with the life around him, and he digs deeper into fear and lust and anger and pain than many of the novelists and playwrights now taken seriously," David Denby wrote in New York magazine.

"Like any great actor, he dramatizes emotion with his whole body, but his mind is so quick and his moods so volatile, he's light-years ahead of any actor delivering a text."

In 1983, Pryor was given a five-year contract with Columbia Pictures for $40 million. But as his fame increased, so did his troubles. In the 1970s, he had been charged with failing to pay income taxes from 1967 to 1970, and he was convicted of marijuana possession.

He had a heart attack in 1978 and the same year was charged with firing a gun at his wife's car. Then came the freebasing episode in 1980, which Pryor later half-admitted was a suicide attempt.

In 1986, he made "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling," an autobiographical film about a comedian looking back on his life after nearly dying. That year, after noticing physical weakness, Pryor received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

He attempted a comeback as a stand-up comedian in 1992, but by then his failing health was evident.

Upon receiving the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain award in 1998, Pryor said, "Like Mark Twain, I have been able to use humor to lessen people's hatred."

He was married and divorced six times. Survivors include at least six children and an unknown number of grandchildren.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/10/AR2005121001406_pf.html

fredfa

12-11-05, 12:04 AM

“It’s a Wonderful Life”
A message of hope at center of Capra classic

By Chuck Barney Contra Costa Times Sat, Dec. 10, 2005

OK, so maybe Frank Capra should have scrapped those hokey voices-amid-the-galaxy sequences. Perhaps he could have poured on a tad less syrup here and there. But the marble-hearted, Mr. Potter-like cranks who dismiss "It's a Wonderful Life" as nothing more than a big tub of sentimental goo have got it all wrong.

The truth is, when you separate the film from all the nostalgia that has built up around it, it becomes clear that Capra's beloved parable is a finely acted, handsomely crafted piece of cinema bolstered by Dickens-like density and an uplifting message of hope. Yes, that message may be overly idealistic, but the director and his actors deliver it with such conviction that it's difficult to resist.

Ah, but then we have the joyless cynics who do resist it, and/or just don't get it. How sad. There's nothing we can do but express our sympathy and try really hard not to catch what they've got.

Capra often spoke of striving to make movies that "exalt the worth of the individual." Nowhere does he pull it off with more gusto than with "It's a Wonderful Life." In Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey, he gives us a likable everyman who sinks to such horrendous depths of despair that he contemplates suicide. It isn't until he is shown the extent of his influence on his family, his friends and his small town of Bedford Falls that he realizes -- yes -- his is a life worth living.

And isn't that what we all desperately want to believe -- that each of us possesses the power to make a difference? That the true measure of a man has absolutely nothing to do with how many zeroes are attached to his bank account, or how many times he's appeared on the cover of People magazine?

But while the film so honorably celebrates the individual, it also exudes a sense of community that takes on an even deeper resonance during a year that has delivered some extraordinary levels of human hardship. It will be difficult to watch those feel-good closing scenes, where his fellow citizens rally to George's aid, without reflecting on America's hurricane victims -- and on how a society truly only works when we maintain reciprocal obligations to one another.

As with most enduring forms of pop culture, "It's a Wonderful Life" seeps deeply into our consciousness. It pokes certain emotional buttons and provokes earnest moments of personal introspection ("What have I contributed to society?" ... "Where would I now be had I done things differently?"). It certainly didn't become an annual TV tradition for millions because it lacks heft.

Which brings us to the actual cinematic nuts and bolts of "It's a Wonderful Life." The joyless cranks tend to put forth a bogus argument that there's scant creative substance to Capra's production, while pigeonholing it as schmaltzy holiday drivel. But such assertions fail to acknowledge the breadth of its agile script, or the power of its performances.

Let's not overlook, for example, the film's cleverly rendered comedic moments. The scene at the high school hop, where the dance floor opens over a swimming pool and George and Mary (Donna Reed) unwittingly dance their way into it, is always good for a few laughs. So is the scene that finds Mary taking refuge behind some shrubbery after accidentally losing her bathrobe on the way home from the dance.

Speaking of Mary, the woman is a goddess. This is simply not open to debate. Who in their right mind doesn't absolutely love her? "It's a Wonderful Life" provided Reed with her first starring role and what an astonishing debut it was. She's such a vision of innocence and purity that she shimmers on the screen.

And she's no caricature. Reed brings not only heart to the role, but plenty of backbone. Also incredible amounts of heat. The famous telephone scene, where she and Stewart wind up in a passionate embrace, crackles with intense urgency and romantic electricity. It's one of the sexiest moments in movie history and, yet, not a stitch of clothing is shed.

Then there's Stewart, delivering what is perhaps the finest performance of his remarkable career. It's certainly a complete performance -- one that requires him to steadily shake off the golly-gee demeanor and evolve into a tortured soul seething with volcanic anger and indignation. When his character is faced with financial ruin late in the story, Stewart must shift again, into a state of utter anguish.

That he does so without any crunching of gears says a lot about the skills of Stewart and the steady hand of Capra. The scenes of George's downward spiral, bursting as they are with so much raw emotion, plunge the viewer into a palpably gut-wrenching experience that stays with you long after the credits roll. They also significantly temper any saccharine moments that preceded them.

In the years before NBC gained exclusive television rights to the film, "It's a Wonderful Life" fell into the public domain and became an almost ubiquitous fixture on the airwaves. This was a good-and-bad situation -- good because it introduced the film to new generations of viewers and elevated it to the status of holiday heirloom; bad because familiarity breeds contempt.

Now, even some heretofore fans of the movie undoubtedly are sick to death of it. Like an old song that you've heard ad nauseam on the radio, it's pretty easy to tune it out and forget what it was about it that made you love it in the first place.

But that in no way diminishes the fact that there remains very much to love about it -- no matter what the joyless, marble-hearted cynics say.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/entertainment/columnists/chuck_barney/13371151.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

12-11-05, 12:11 AM

Critic’s Notebook
ABC's “Commander in Chief” troubled by too many saints

By David Hiltbrand Philadelphia Inquirer Sat, Dec. 10, 2005

Can this administration be saved? We're talking about the presidency of that Connecticut Yankee played by Geena Davis in ABC's ”Commander in Chief."

The show started with massive approval ratings. Thanks to the 16 million viewers who tuned in for the debut, "Commander in Chief" was the only new series this season to crack the Nielsen Top 10. But the polls, um, ratings, have been trending down.

On Nov. 29, the massively promoted addition of Mark-Paul Gosselaar to the cast swelled the audience back up to 13.6 million. But "CiC" still finished third in its 8 p.m. time slot behind NBC's "Biggest Loser" finale and Fox's "House."

So what's the rub? It's obvious people were drawn to the concept of a female chief executive. They wanted to like the show. But the weekly serving of hokum and sanctity is proving tough to swallow.

After a gripping pilot in which Mackenzie Allen (Davis) inherited the Oval Office, "CiC" devolved into a dull and predictable mix of international and very domestic affairs. "How do you expect me to root out that terrorist camp in Lebanon when my teenager just got caught cribbing his history paper off the Internet?"

The show's creator, Rod Lurie, clearly envisioned "CiC" as an exploration of a woman trying to balance her career and her home life on the world's largest stage. But making her such an involved mom also makes her a rather implausible leader.

How does she find time at the end of the day to check on the kids' homework and boost her daughter's self-esteem? Shouldn't she be sitting next to the sultan of Bhutan in the East Room, listening to Yo-Yo Ma saw away on the cello?

The other sticking point is that President Allen and her staff all seem so faultlessly noble and principled. That simply doesn't jibe with the Washington we know, where if you're not under indictment, you're clearly not trying very hard.

Maybe the saintly quality of her character explains why Davis seems to be having trouble getting a handle on the role. She delivers her lines so stiffly, it sounds as if she just underwent a dental procedure requiring novocaine.

Meanwhile, the show was failing on two fronts. Neither the political nor the personal stories were very interesting. After a handful of bland episodes, ABC deposed Lurie and replaced him with veteran TV producer Steve Bochco ("Hill Street Blues").

The most salient change was bringing in Gosselaar as political consultant Dickie McDonald. (Think James Carville without the swampy Nosferatu vibe.) When your audience is 61 percent female, as "CiC's" is, it makes sense to augment the stud quotient.

Let's hope they give Gosselaar more to do in subsequent weeks.

Other changes include moving the stories involving the first children onto a remote back burner and inviting the president's battle-ax mother (Polly Bergen) to live at the White House.

A number of flaws have yet to be addressed. The president is still too good to be true.

And the whole show needs to be opened up to reflect the complexity of Washington and the constant demands on the president. As it is now, the entire federal government consists of Donald Sutherland. One man, a thousand votes.

The next fresh episode isn't scheduled until Jan. 10.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/television/13372481.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

12-11-05, 12:14 AM

Critic’s Notebook
ABC's Oldies but goodies out on DVD

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal

The DVD pick of the week usually comes from titles that are hitting stores next Tuesday. But after going through some already-issued titles that I had not yet watched, I have to give all due praise to a couple.

Start with Captain & Tennille: Ultimate Collection (R2 Entertainment, 11 episodes, three discs, $45.98).

The set comes as the duo has reissued its CDs and a new, terrible Christmas single. I'm not a big fan of them or of the television show, which ran for one season in the 1970s, but the DVD still contains some of the most hilarious demonstrations of musical miscalculation you are likely to find.

Use the ``video jukebox'' feature on the third disc to cue up their rendition of the Spinners' Rubberband Man, and the costumes and choreography will make you giggle. Then try out Superstition -- yes, the Stevie Wonder song -- and you'll probably be on the floor by the time Toni Tennille appears in a Spider Woman-like costume.

R2 showcases another team in Tony Orlando & Dawn: The Ultimate Collection (11 episodes, three discs, $53.98), which is also making a CD comeback.

The selection from the 1974-76 variety show includes some amazing kitsch, including their tackling the theme from Shaft or I Shot the Sheriff (the latter in cowboy outfits). The extras include an appearance by Dawn (minus Orlando) on the sketch-comedy series Fridays, where they backed up Father Guido Sarducci (also known as Northeast Ohio's Don Novello).

As for the new DVD pick of the week: Gilmore Girls: The Complete Fifth Season (Warner, 22 episodes, six discs, $59.98) collects the 2004-05 season, which ended with Rory in trouble and Lorelai proposing to Luke. Good stuff, with some decent extras, including a sampler from the show's often-amusing dialogue.

Also of note on Tuesday is Miami Vice: Season Two (Universal, 22 episodes, three discs, $59.98), which shows how sensational the series had become after a single season. The second-season premiere, which sent the Vice guys to New York, by itself is loaded with style, guest stars including Gene Simmons, Penn Jillette, Charles Dutton (with hair!) and the great Pam Grier, and music.

I had hopes for Long Way Round (Goldhil, seven episodes, two discs, $19.98), a documentary series chronicling a motorcycle trip by actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from London to New York by way of Russia. But I kept finding myself bogged down in scenes about preparation for the trip or a stop for a sketch by a sidewalk artist.

For those who liked the show, the DVD promises a ``complete uncut series'' as well as previously unseen footage.

Getting back to shows that are already in stores, I fell under the spell of the British soap Footballers' Wives, whose second season is now on DVD (Capital Entertainment, eight episodes, two discs, $34.98). The drama about soccer players and their women goes beyond American-broadcast limits in language and nudity while offering up plenty of scheming and plotting. It's wildly implausible, with a character named Chardonnay Lane-Pascoe, but kind of entertaining; maybe the English accents make it seem less tawdry. (The DVD includes a slang dictionary.)

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/television/13366891.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

12-11-05, 12:28 AM

Phone Carriers Set Sights on Cable Television's Turf

AT&T and Verizon are girding to grab viewers as giants such as Time Warner increase prices

By James S. Granelli Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

As cable companies roll out their annual rate hikes, telephone carriers are seizing the opportunity to tout their video services as a cheaper alternative — the first salvo in what's expected to be a nasty, high-stakes fight for the nation's television viewers.

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. are upgrading their phone networks to deliver high-quality video and challenge the dominance of cable and satellite operators. Meantime, cable giants Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp., along with Cox Communications Inc., are leading their industry's aggressive push to sell phone and Internet service.

Cable companies have picked up 5 million phone customers in recent years, but it will be a while before the phone industry's TV technology catches up to its rhetoric.

"There's no doubt consumers want choice," said AT&T spokesman John Britton, noting cable increases as high as 6% for 2006. "They're tired of increases year after year from cable. We're in the wings. We think we will come into the market and provide the choices."

Countered Time Warner Cable Inc. spokesman Keith Cocozza: "Outside of test markets in Texas, I don't think anybody in the country has seen what their video service looks like. And what does it look like? It looks like what ours looked like years ago."

The turf battle comes 10 years after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed the industries to cross boundaries and opened the door to consolidations.

Branching out is key to the potential growth of cable and phone companies. There's little room to expand in their core markets — TV for cable, voice for phone carriers — and they are beset by new competitors. Cellphones are starting to offer video clips, and an array of young firms offer cheap phone service over high-speed connections.

That pressure has helped to put name brands on the block. Time Warner and Comcast are awaiting regulatory approval to take over Adelphia Communications Corp. AT&T was bought by SBC Communications Inc., which took the AT&T name, and Verizon purchased MCI Inc.

"The competitive landscape is shifting," said Theodore Henderson, a cable industry analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. "That's why folks are cautious about telephone, cable and satellite stocks. If you look at them, Wall Street is saying there isn't going to be a winner."

Cable and phone companies have battled to a draw in offering high-speed Internet connections, which are becoming the foundation for most new and improved telecommunications services. Although better technology is lowering costs in both industries, investors aren't seeing the returns they expected.

Cable firms spent $90 billion since 1996 to get their networks ready for phone service, digital TV and faster Internet connections, and they are spending more than $10 billion more for further upgrades for such service as high-definition television. Phone carriers have invested billions more to provide better high-speed Internet access and to install fiber-optic lines.

Fiber is the gold standard in speed, quality and reliability for voice, video and data, and it has nearly unlimited capacity for such bandwidth hogs as video programming.

Within a month, AT&T expects to launch its U-verse video service over an upgraded fiber and copper network in San Antonio, where the company is based. It expects the service to be available in half of its 13-state territory by mid-2007.

Verizon rolled out its initial video service over an all-fiber network in Keller, Texas, in September, charging $43.90 a month for 180 TV channels and $34.95 for a high-speed Internet connection.

Anticipating the move, cable operator Charter Communications Inc. slashed prices there to offer 240 channels plus the connection for $50. Previously, Charter charged $69 just for the TV package.

The two phone giants also have contributed a total of $150,000 to fund an advocacy group called Consumers for Cable Choice to beat the drum for more competition.

"We'll try to keep the facts of the matter in front of the customer," Verizon spokesman Eric W. Rabe said. "That's what competition is all about."

But even Rabe acknowledges that competition will arrive slowly.

Said Henderson of Stifel Nicolaus, "The two phone companies are a long way from having critical mass in video. It's not an overnight thing."

The key technology driving the changing landscape is called Internet protocol, or IP. It was designed for the Internet but now is being used separately. Some of the free and cheaper voice over IP, or VOIP, services go over the Internet, but others don't.

AT&T and Verizon also are using IP to deliver video, giving viewers instantaneous channel changes and freeing up the network. IPTV sends only the channel the viewer selects; cable television broadcasts all channels at the same time.

IPTV still has some glitches, especially in delivering live programming. In Keller, Verizon is using cable technology to deliver those programs until Microsoft Corp., the software company behind the video delivery, can fix it.

While the phone companies iron those issues out, continue installing fiber and sign programming contracts, cable companies will be pushing into new areas, Cocozza said. "We're a moving target."

In October, for instance, Time Warner introduced Start Over, a free service that allows customers who tune in late to push a button and start a show over. Launched in South Carolina, the service can be used by digital TV subscribers on programs from 60 networks.

The company expects to bring that technology to Los Angeles sometime after the deal to acquire Adelphia is final. As part of swaps of territory with Comcast, Time Warner will take over all of Comcast's Southern California market.

By March, Time Warner expects to get court and federal approvals to serve 98% of the nearly 600,000 Los Angeles cable TV subscribers and a total of 1.9 million customers throughout Southern California.

Adelphia recently notified Los Angeles that it planned to raise equipment rental rates on expanded services in two of five districts it covers. It has until Jan. 3 to file for increases in the other districts. The city can regulate only basic prices.

Time Warner has said it doesn't plan to raise rates as a result of the acquisition and swaps, but it said it would seek an increase of about 2% in basic cable prices for routine business reasons. Cocozza noted that programming costs rose 12% last year and that fuel for the company's fleet of trucks rose 60%.

No other cable company has applied for a rate hike in L.A., although city officials expect one from Cox Communications Inc., which serves about 9,600 residents in San Pedro.

In the Bay Area and other parts of the nation, Comcast is seeking a 6% hike in basic cable rates. Other firms are asking for increases in parts of their territories of 2% to 4%.

AT&T's Britton said his company's average bill had dropped 25% in the last five years to $43.90 a month, and he expects the same will happen in the pay-TV market once the phone companies get going.

Said Verizon's Rabe : "It's going to be different with competition in the marketplace. The service will be better; there will be more channels and lower prices."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-fi-cable10dec10,0,1902342.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

12-11-05, 12:43 AM

Every year Akron Beacon-Journal TV writer Rich Heldenfels spends weeks researching and compiling a list of TV shows celebrating the holiday season. I posted this list when it was originally published a couple of weeks ago.
I’ve pared it down to incude just the shows remaining to be broadcast.

In the case of the PBS programs, I have generally left them on the days they are appearing in the Akron-Cleveland area, but noted you should check your local listings. If one particularly appeals to you, call your local PBS station to determine if and when it will be shown

Also check your local listings for independent stations in your area and holiday shows they will be broadcasting.

All times are Eastern. Any errors or omissions are mine in the editing of this massive list.

(I have found Rich Heldenfels to be one of the most consistently good TV writers in the country, which is why I post so much of his work. You can check out his blog here:
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/television/13231144.htm

And as for this holiday season TV list, thanks for all the work creating the great resource, Rich!)

Holidays Shows Through Christmas

Here's the annual rundown on network and cable through Christmas Day

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal

Sunday, Dec. 11
Christmas in Connecticut --2 p.m., TCM. 1945 comedy with Barbara Stanwyck.
A Christmas Story --4 p.m., TCM. The 1983 film classic, commercial-free and widescreen.
Holiday Windows 2005 --5 p.m., HGTV. Looks at department-store windows and how they are made.
Andre Rieu: The Christmas I Love --7:30 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Dutch conductor and violinist Andre Rieu.
12 Ways of Merrymaking --8 p.m., Fine Living. Creative ways to celebrate.
TV Land's Top 10 Holiday Moments. 10 p.m., TV Land. Bing sings with Bowie and other TV hallmarks. Airs during TV Land's ``Merry-thon'' of holiday-themed show episodes, which begins at 6 a.m. Dec. 11 and runs until 6 a.m. the next day.
White House Christmas 2005 --10 p.m., HGTV. Grand tour of the historic home.

Monday, Dec. 12
Noggin's Warm and Fuzzy Holiday Party --10 a.m., Noggin. Four hours of holiday-themed episodes of Blue's Clues, Miffy and Friends and other shows.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas --8 p.m., Cartoon Network. The original animated classic.
Deck the Halls --9 p.m., Lifetime. Movie about a woman thinking her new neighbor is Santa. Gabrielle Carteris.

Tuesday, Dec. 13
Holiday Classics Marathon --7 p.m., ABC Family. Three hours of animated specials.
Noel --9 p.m., Lifetime. Movie. New Yorkers' lives intertwine on Christmas Eve. Penelope Cruz, Susan Sarandon, Alan Arkin, Robin Williams.

Wednesday, Dec. 14
Happy Holidays: The Best of Andy Williams' Christmas Shows --6 a.m., PBS, check your local listings
The Legend of Frosty the Snowman --7:30 p.m., Cartoon Network. Frosty teaches fun to the town of Evergreen.
Christmas in Boston --8 p.m., ABC Family. New movie with childhood pen pals (Marla Sokoloff, Patrick Adams) meet as adults.
Christmas in Washington --8 p.m., TNT. Annual concert special, hosted again by Dr. Phil. Repeats at 11 p.m.
Andre Rieu: The Christmas I Love --9 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Dutch conductor and violinist Andre Rieu.
Recipe for a Perfect Christmas --9 p.m., Lifetime. Movie. Food critic's mother arrives for the holidays. Carly Pope, Christine Baranski.
A Christmas Carol --9 p.m., TNT. The 1999 version, with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge.
The Shopping Bags: Holidays --10 p.m., Fine Living. Tips from shopping experts Anna Wallner and Kristina Matisic.
John Tesh's Christmas in Positano. 10:30 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Christmas classics performed in Italy.

Thursday, Dec. 15
The Santa Clause. 8 p.m., ABC. Tim Allen gets turned into Santa.
Snow --8 p.m., ABC Family. Young Nick (Tom Cavanagh) takes over the family business. Movie.

Friday, Dec. 16
``Nick Jr.'s Frosty Fridays'' --Noon, Nickelodeon. Two hours of holiday-themed installments of Dora the Explorer, Little Bill, Blue's Clues, Miss Spider.
Arthur's Perfect Christmas --3:30 p.m., PBS, check your local listings
Recipe for a Perfect Christmas --7 p.m., Lifetime. Movie. Food critic's mother arrives for the holidays. Carly Pope, Christine Baranski.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas --8 p.m., Cartoon Network. The original animated classic.
Jingle All the Way --8 p.m., ABC Family. Movie. The future governor of California stars as a man seeking a hard-to-find toy for his son.
On the 2nd Day of Christmas --9 p.m., Lifetime. Romantic comedy. Mark Ruffalo, Mary Stuart Masterson.

Saturday, Dec. 17
``Deck the Halls'' marathon --7 a.m., FX. Twelve hours of holiday-themed episodes of Dharma & Greg, Spin City, Married With Children, King of the Hill, Fear Factor.
The Sound of Music. 7 p.m., ABC. The Julie Andrews musical, which feels pretty Christmas-y to us. My Favorite Things is a holiday standard.
Frosty the Snowman --8 p.m., CBS. The jolly, happy soul visits once again.
Christmas in Boston --8 and 10 p.m., ABC Family. Movie. Childhood pen pals meet as adults.
Frosty Returns --8:30 p.m., CBS. Animated sequel with the voices of Jonathan Winters, John Goodman.
Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire --9 p.m., CBS. Animated special from Britain (with American voices substituted).
Meet the Santas --9 p.m., Hallmark. Sequel to Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus (which aired on Dec. 10).
Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost Tribe --9:30 p.m., CBS. More Robbie adventures.

Sunday, Dec. 18
Davey and Goliath's Snowboard Christmas --7 a.m., Hallmark. Animated special.
Meet Me in St. Louis --Noon, TCM. 1944 movie. Judy Garland sings Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 5:30 and 8 p.m., ABC Family --The Jim Carrey, live-action version.
Christmas Dinosaur --7:30 p.m., Cartoon Network. A Christmas egg hatches a dinosaur.
The Christmas Blessing --9 p.m., CBS. New sequel to The Christmas Shoes (based on the song), with Neil Patrick Harris and Angus T. Jones.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation --8 p.m., NBC. One of the better Lampoon movies. Chevy Chase.
Three Godfathers --8 p.m., TCM. 1948 version of tale about three outlaws and a baby. With John Wayne.

Monday, Dec. 19
Arthur's Perfect Christmas --6:30 a.m., PBS, check your local listings Arthur and friends plan for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
Christmas Dinosaur --7 a.m., Cartoon Network. A Christmas egg hatches a dinosaur.
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas. 11 a.m. and 8 p.m., Disney Channel. Three animated holiday stories.
Going My Way --8 p.m., TCM. Bing Crosby is an unconventional priest in this 1944 comedy-drama.
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town --7 p.m., ABC Family. Animated.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. 8 p.m., ABC Family --Sequel to the holiday film.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 8:30 p.m., Cartoon Network --The original animated classic.
2005 Radio Music Awards --9 p.m., NBC. With holiday songs.
His and Her Christmas --9 p.m., Lifetime. Movie. Rival journalists write Christmas columns, find love.
Holiday Lights: Crane Candlelight Concert 2003 --10 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Carolers join with the musicians from Crane School of Music.
The Bells of St. Mary's --10:15 p.m., TCM. Movie. Bing Crosby as a priest again, this time dealing with a tough nun (Ingrid Bergman).

Tuesday, Dec. 20
We Wish You a Merry Christmas --7 a.m., Cartoon Network. Three orphans cheer up a town by creating Christmas carols.
Tangerine Bear --8 a.m., Cartoon Network. Animated feature with voices of Tom Bosley, David Hyde Pierce.
Barney's Christmas Star --1 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Barney and friends mark Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
A Very Barry Christmas --7 p.m., ABC Family. Man swaps lives with Santa.
Eloise at Christmastime --8 p.m., ABC Family. Movie based on the Eloise stories.
Mystery of the Three Kings --9 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Origins of the wise men.

Wednesday, Dec. 21
Thomas and Friends: Thomas' Winter Tales --11:30 a.m., PBS, check your local listings
Bob the Builder, Snowed Under: The Bobblesburg Winter Games --12:15 p.m., PBS, check your local listings
Chanukah Stories --3:30 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Animated special with two holiday tales.
Arthur's Perfect Christmas --4 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Friends celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
The seventh annual A Home for the Holidays --8 p.m., CBS. Stories of adoption, with songs. Sheryl Crow, Toni Braxton, Goo Goo Dolls.
A Very Brady Christmas --8 p.m., ABC Family. Holiday movie with the Brady Bunch cast.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas --8:30 p.m., Cartoon Network. The original animated classic.
Christmas With the Mormon Tabernacle Choir --9 p.m., PBS, check your local listings With Audra McDonald, Peter Graves.
Sing We Now of Christmas --9 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Choirs from First Presbyterian Church of Davenport, Iowa.
A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway --10 p.m., PBS, check your local listings. Musical special.
O Christmas Tree --10 p.m., PBS, check your local listings History of the tree.

Thursday, Dec. 22
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas --11:30 a.m., Cartoon Network. The original animated classic.
O Christmas Tree --2 p.m., PBS, check your local listings History of the tree.
Rudolph's Shiny New Year --7 p.m., ABC Family. Animated.
Lighting the Way: Young People Celebrate --8 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Children show how their families celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, La Posada and Kwanzaa.
A Christmas Story --8 p.m., TCM. Ralphie. A rifle. The kid's tongue stuck to the pole. The leg lamp. Commercial-free, widescreen telecast.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 8 p.m., ABC Family --Jim Carrey version.
Chanukah Stories --8:30 p.m., PBS. Fran Drescher hosts.
Cantors: A Faith in Song --10 p.m., PBS. Three cantors, orchestra, choir.
Christmas With the Mormon Tabernacle Choir --10 p.m., PBS, check your local listings With Audra McDonald, Peter Graves.
Holiday Affair --10 p.m., TCM. Movie. Widow must choose between two men. Janet Leigh, Robert Mitchum. 1950.
Fitzwilly --11:30 p.m., TCM. 1967 movie with Dick Van Dyke as a butler plotting to save his broke employer.

Friday, Dec. 23
Meet John Doe --1:15 a.m., TCM. Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck in a great 1941 drama.
Masters of Illusion Christmas Special --1:40 a.m., WEWS (Channel 5).
Barney's Christmas Star --9:15 a.m., PBS, check your local listings
Bob the Builder, Snowed Under: The Bobblesburg Games --Noon, Channel 25.
Olive the Other Reindeer --Noon, Cartoon Network. Animated special, with the voice of Drew Barrymore.
``Nick Jr.'s Frosty Fridays'' --Noon, Nickelodeon. Two hours of Franklin's Magic Christmas, Blue's Clues, LazyTown's Surprise Santa.
O Christmas Tree --10 p.m., PBS, check your local listings History of the tree.
A Christmas Carol --10 p.m., TCM. 1938 version with Reginald Owen as Scrooge.
Little Women --11:15 p.m., TCM. 1949 version with June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor.

Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24
Since You Went Away --1:30 a.m., TCM. World War II drama about a serviceman's wife. Claudette Colbert.
Arthur's Perfect Christmas --6 a.m.., PBS, check your local listings Friends celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
Noggin's Warm and Fuzzy Holiday Party --8 a.m., Noggin. Four hours of holiday-themed episodes of Blue's Clues, Miffy and Friends and other shows.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas --9:30 a.m. and 10 p.m., Cartoon Network. The original animated classic.
Olive the Other Reindeer --10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Cartoon Network. Animated special, with the voice of Drew Barrymore.
Holiday Affair --10 a.m., TCM. 1950 movie with Janet Leigh, Robert Mitchum.
Cartoon Alley --11:30 a.m., TCM. Three Christmas-themed cartoons.
Three Godfathers --Noon, TCM. 1948 version, with John Wayne.
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol --Noon and 5:30 p.m., Cartoon Network. The Jim Backus animated special.
Holiday Classics Marathon --6 p.m., ABC Family. Five hours of animated specials.
24 Hours of A Christmas Story --8 p.m., TBS. The annual replay --and replay and replay --of the holiday perennial about Ralphie, his dream of a rifle, the kid with his tongue stuck to the pole and the leg lamp. With commercials.
It's a Wonderful Life --8 p.m., NBC. The greatest Christmas movie ever made. With James Stewart.
White House Christmas 2005 --8 p.m., HGTV. Grand tour of the historic home.
I'll Be Home for Christmas. 9 p.m., ABC. Jonathan Taylor Thomas stars in this 2002 movie.
A Boyfriend for Christmas --9 p.m., Hallmark. Movie with Kelli Williams, Charles Durning.
Recipe for a Perfect Christmas --9 p.m., Lifetime. Food critic's mother arrives for the holidays. Carly Pope, Christine Baranski.
Handel's ``Messiah:'' Independence Messiah Choir --10 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Annual performance of the Handel composition.
Great Things About the Holidays --10 p.m., Bravo. Four-hour telecast combining the Dec. 1 and 2 shows into one big celebration.
Christmas in Connecticut --10 p.m., TCM. 1945 movie with Barbara Stanwyck.
A Bucknell Candlelight Christmas --11 p.m., Channel 25. Songs on central Pennsylvania campus.

Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25
Meet Me in St. Louis --Midnight, TCM. Judy Garland sings Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Love Finds Andy Hardy --4:30 a.m., TCM. Christmas-linked 1938 movie in the Hardy series, with Mickey Rooney.
``Merry-thon'' -- 6 a.m., TVLand. The cable network presents holiday-themed show episodes, which run for 24 hours, until 6 a.m. Dec. 26.
Barney's Christmas Star --6 a.m., PBS, check your local listings The purple one and friends mark holidays.
Bob the Builder, Snowed Under: The Bobblesburg Winter Games --6:45 a.m., PBS, check your local listings
Thomas and Friends, Thomas' Winter Tales --7 a.m., WVIZ (Channel 25), and7:30 a.m., PBS, check your local listings
Arthur's Perfect Christmas --8 a.m., PBS, check your local listings
Sing We Now of Christmas --8:30 a.m., PBS, check your local listings Iowa choir performs.
Great Performances: Renee Fleming: Sacred Songs and Carols --9:30 a.m., Channel 25. Soprano performs.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas --9:30 a.m., Cartoon Network. The original animated classic.
Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade --10 a.m., ABC. Julie Andrews, Lonestar, Fantasia, Tiger Woods, others. Regis Philbin, Kelly Ripa host.
Quo Vadis --10:30 a.m., TCM. Roman falls for Christian woman. Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr. 1951.
A Very Brady Christmas --Noon, ABC Family. Brady Bunch special.
Noggin's Warm and Fuzzy Holiday Party --Noon, Noggin. Four hours of holiday-themed episodes of Blue's Clues, Miffy and Friends, others.
The Raleigh Singers: One Winter Evening at Meyman --12:30 p.m., PBS, check your local listings
A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway. 1 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Voices from St. Olaf College.
Celebrate Christmas With Maya Angelou --1 p.m., Hallmark. The poet and storyteller, with musical guests.
Ballet Internationale: The Nutcracker --1:30 p.m., PBS, check your local listings
King of Kings --1:30 p.m., TCM. Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus. 1961.
Christmas at Belmont --2 p.m., Channels 45/49, and 6 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Country singer Josh Turner hosts.
A Mom for Christmas --2 p.m., ABC Family. Movie.
Great Performances: Renee Fleming: Sacred Songs and Carols --3 p.m., PBS, check your local listings
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol --3:30 p.m., Cartoon Network. The Jim Backus animated special.
Mr. St. Nick --4 p.m., ABC Family. Kelsey Grammer as a reluctant heir to Santa.
The Greatest Story Ever Told --4:30 p.m., TCM. Max von Sydow as Jesus.
Christmas at the Hollywood Palace --7 p.m., PBS, check your local listings Highlights from the variety show.
The Christmas Secret --6 p.m., ABC Family. Richard Thomas as a professor trying to prove reindeer can fly.
O Christmas Tree --7 p.m., PBS, check your local listings. History of the tree.
Borrowed Hearts --8 p.m., ABC Family. A Christmas angel helps an uncaring man.
Finding John Christmas --9 p.m., CBS. Valerie Bertinelli, Peter Falk. Woman seeks her missing brother.
A Tennessee Ernie Ford Christmas --8 p.m., PBS, check your local listings.
TV Land's Top 10 Holiday Moments. 10 p.m., TV Land. Bing sings with Bowie and other TV hallmarks. Airs during TV Land's ``Merry-thon'' of holiday-themed show episodes, which begins at 6 a.m. Dec. 25 and runs until 6 a.m. the next day.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/television/13231144.htm

fredfa

12-11-05, 01:04 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Extreme makeover: Network newscast edition

By Gail Pennington St. Louis Post-Dispatch Television Critic Sunday, Dec. 11 2005

Will two heads in fact be better than one? Or will reinventing the network news
require more dramatic steps?

Since Dan Rather stepped down in March, CBS has been toying with various ideas
to shake up the staid "Evening News" format, toying with everything from
scattering multiple anchors around the world to doing away with an anchor
altogether to luring Katie Couric away from NBC.

But it was ABC, faced with replacing the late Peter Jennings years earlier than
expected, that took the first step toward reshaping the nightly news as we know
it. On Monday, ABC News president David Westin named Elizabeth Vargas, 43, and
Bob Woodruff, 44, as Jennings' replacements.

CBS paired Rather with Connie Chung in a failed 1993-95 experiment, and from
1978-83, ABC split anchor duties among Frank Reynolds (in Washington), Max
Robinson (in Chicago) and Peter Jennings (in London). But for most of two
decades, the face of network news has been male, white and unchanging.

In fact, just two years ago, pundits predicting the demise of the networks'
nightly newscasts were pointing fingers at the stagnant anchor desks. Tom
Brokaw at NBC, Rather at CBS and Jennings at ABC had each been in place as long
as most viewers could remember, and with audiences slipping away, many
observers wondered whether the younger Americans now getting their news
elsewhere could be lured back while three aging men remained at the helm.

But change, when it did come, was uncomfortably fast. Brokaw anchored his last
"NBC Nightly News" on Dec. 2, retiring at age 64. As long planned, he was
replaced by Brian Williams, 46.

Then, in March, Rather stepped down from "CBS Evening News" at age 73, his
reputation tainted by an inaccurate report about President George W. Bush's
military service.

That left only Jennings - and in April, the "World News Tonight" anchor
announced that he had lung cancer. He died just four months later, at 67.

Dwindling audience

Long before the anchors' departures, though, the broadcast networks had been
weighing the future of their news. With information increasingly available
instantly and around the clock via cable and the Internet, viewership of a
traditional network had dropped and was continuing to drop.

In 1982, when Brokaw and Jennings began anchoring, 72 percent of Americans
regularly watched a network newscast. Last year, that figure was just 30
percent, with younger viewers reporting that they got their news everywhere
from late-night comedy shows to cable to Internet blogs and podcasts.

Westin called Vargas and Woodruff, the primary fill-ins since Jennings'
departure, anchors "for this new broadcast and digital age" and "the right team
to take us forward for the next generation."

"Listen to the ABC News shuffle podcast," a headline on ABCNews.com urged the
day after the announcement. The "shuffle" will also include additional steps to
keep "World News Tonight" as fresh as possible. Beginning in January, the
newscast will air live on the West Coast, with changes and updates as
necessary, as well as in the Eastern and Central time zones. Reports will be
available in advance on the Web site, and Vargas and Woodruff will anchor a
daily Webcast.

For his part, Williams is helping to lead NBC News into the future via his
popular blog, "The Daily Nightly," on MSNBC.com. In addition, he introduces a
Netcast version of "Nightly News" (available after 9 p.m. St. Louis time) that
he helped to initiate.

CBSNews.com offers news on demand, allowing users to view any story at any
time, just by clicking on it. But for the time being, CBS has stuck with
tradition for "Evening News," installing veteran Bob Schieffer, 68, on the
anchor desk while discussing and debating at length what might be required to
lift the newscast out of third place. This summer, network interns were
reportedly even assigned to think up new ways of drawing viewers their age to
the news.

Apparently, however, new CBS News president Sean McManus, also president of CBS
Sports, thinks landing the right personality could be key. By most accounts,
he's focused on Couric, a perky but polarizing figure whose contract with NBC
(at least $10 million a year) expires in May. In addition to anchoring the
"Today" show, Couric's most recent high-profile assignment was as co-host of
the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade telecast.

What will it take?

Whether that change would elevate CBS (or in fact be a sign of the apocalypse)
is a matter for debate. But the larger question is whether any number of
changes and any amount of reinvention could resurrect the network newscast.

Williams, for one, believes reports of the demise of "NBC Nightly News" and its
competitors are premature. Network newscasts are "still the No. 1 single source
of news for Americans," he pointed out in an interview shortly after taking
over for Brokaw. "It's still a very, very large audience" - cumulatively, more
than 25 million people nightly.

The networks know they can no longer sit still and wait for viewers to gather
around the set in the early evening, as baby boomers and their parents did in
the days of Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley. The changing of the guard
at the anchor desks, as well as the departure of Ted Koppel from ABC's
"Nightline," is the most visible sign that the evening news isn't what it used
to be.

Maybe just a few tweaks, such as a male-female anchor duo, will turn out to be
all it takes to hold the line against sliding viewership. Or maybe major
reinvention will in fact be necessary.

As CBS boss Les Moonves joked when discussing Rather's eventual replacement:
"We're almost starting from ground zero. Anything can happen. We may bring in
the cast of 'Friends.'"

Who's watching network newscasts?
Week of Nov. 28-Dec. 2
"NBC Nightly News" - 10.52 million viewers
"World News Tonight" on ABC - 9.10 million viewers
"CBS Evening News" - 7.98 million viewers

fredfa

12-11-05, 01:24 AM

Critic’s Notebook
When bad TV happens to good people

How to cope when former favorites start to flail, fail

By Karla Peterson San Diego Union-Tribune

If words were weapons, J.J. Abrams would be one eviscerated Emmy winner right now.

In most circles, the fact that Abrams co-created the massively successful "Lost" makes him a hero. But for devotees of "Alias," which Abrams created before launching "Lost," he is less a TV visionary than an absentee landlord who has let their paradise go to pot.

Last week, ABC confirmed the "Alias" fans' worst fears by announcing that the show will not be coming back for a sixth season. So while J.J. Abrams is off fiddling on the "Lost" island, the stranded "Alias" tribe is at home doing the slow burn.

"I blame the writing and J.J. Abrams who abandoned this show for 'Lost.' "

"The producers are beyond contempt and beyond incompetent."

"This is the first cancellation of a show I still watch that actually made me happy."

So go the postings on the "Alias" forum on the Television Without Pity Web site, where betrayed viewers gather to poke e-mail pins in their J.J. voodoo doll. Because they are in the midst of a Bad TV Breakup, and somebody has to pay.

Whether you were sucker-punched by the post Larry David years of "Seinfeld," abandoned by "Friends" in the wasteland of Season 3, or still reeling from the last traumatic seasons of "The X-Files," you know how the "Alias" faithful feel. Sexy star Jennifer Garner got pregnant, hottie hero Michael Vartan appears to have gotten the ax, and the new co-stars didn't begin to fill the charisma gap. The show has been in a funk for months, and now it won't be getting a second chance to get it right.

Anyone who loves TV has been hurt by TV, and if we have learned anything from "Alias," it is this: When a show is going down the tubes, you have to cut it loose before it drags you down with it.

There is still a lot of good TV out there, but with "The Apprentice" failing, "Desperate Housewives" flailing a bit and even the delightful "My Name Is Earl" looking intermittently iffy, tube fiends need to have an evacuation plan in the works. Here is a guide to getting out if (or when) your favorite show goes bad. Free yourself while you still can.

Read the signs

A solid show doesn't fall to pieces overnight. And while you can't stop the slide once it starts, you can avoid viewer heartbreak by keeping an eye out for the telltale signs of the decline to come.

Is the leading lady pregnant? Did the leading man record an album during summer hiatus? Has the star left the show to pursue a film career? Have the polar-opposite hero and heroine hooked up? Are the cast members appearing on way too many magazine covers? Did the entire last season turn out to be a flashback? Or worse, a dream?

You say your show hasn't jumped the shark. We say it hasn't jumped the shark yet. These signs are a warning that another "Jaws" sequel could be in the works. Consider bailing out soon, before the blood in the water is yours.

Face the facts

Have you been making excuses for your misbehaving characters? ("Bree was only tolerating George because she's still in mourning!") Are you putting a positive spin on misguided plot developments? ("I'm glad they put families on 'Amazing Race'! It's so . . . family friendly!") Are you pretending to like new cast members more than you actually do? ("Does that new 'Alias' chick have great hair or what?") Are you trying to convince yourself that the special live episode will be a total blast?

Well, stop it. You know your show has lost its mojo, and no wishful thinking or frantic rationalizing is going to bring it back.

When characters start behaving uncharacteristically, it's because the writers have forgotten what makes them tick. Or the stars are getting too big for their characters' britches. When shows tweak previously successful formulas, it's because the suits are getting nervous. When the scripts start slipping, either the inspiration well is running dry, or the show was never as inspired as we thought it was.

Character mood swings. Plot disasters. Cast shake-ups and very-special guest stars. These are symptoms of an ailing show, and nothing you can do will make it better. Get out of the ICU now, or else that sucker on the slab will be you.

No second thoughts!

Diehard fans insist that "The West Wing" is getting good again, but for all the viewers who defected during the dark Kumar Years, it's too little fun too late in the game. They are bitter and jaded, and they intend to stay that way.

You can learn a lot from them.

"Friends" and "Survivor" weathered their slumps, and "Seinfeld" wisely saved its worst seasons for last. But "Northern Exposure" and "Twin Peaks" went south and stayed there. So did "The X-Files." And "Frasier." And "Will & Grace." And the whole "Bachelor"/"Bachelorette" franchise.

So if your heart was aflutter over the news that the deliciously evil Julian Sark would help "Alias" flame out in style, take a chill pill right now. When a show starts to go, it almost never comes back. Not when a favorite villain returns to the fold. Not when a dead character turns out to be alive. Not even when the writers get their act together for two or three whole episodes in a row.

Don't be fooled by these fleeting signs of life. They are just the last gasp of your fallen TV angel. Once you have decided that your show is a goner, you need to get gone, too. Grab your remote and don't look back.

Let the healing begin

You feel abandoned. Betrayed. Dissed. You are a viewer scorned, and the best thing you can do with your fury is spread it around.

Invite disgruntled friends over for a slagging session. (It's OK to watch your bad show in order to mock it. It's cathartic!) Find your online comrades and gripe until your griping fingers grow numb. Run the show's Entertainment Weekly cover through the shredder and send the pieces to the network.

Once you've cleared all the bile out of your system, it's time to fill the void with positivity. Think of all the things you could do with the time you used to devote to that ridiculous TV show! You could learn Italian! Crochet a poncho! Bake a low-carb cherry pie!

But whatever you do, make it fast. Because "Lost" is on Wednesday, and there is no way you're missing that.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/peterson/20051205-9999-1c05karla.html

fredfa

12-11-05, 01:30 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Networks reinvent TV news for a digital age

It will take more than new anchors to find fresh viewers, networks agree.
But will it take Web logs? Cell phones? IPods?

By Chase Squires St. Petersburg Times television critic Published December 10, 2005

TV networks hungry for more and younger viewers have introduced ripples of change in recent months that are turning into a wave extending far beyond the tube.

While 27-million viewers tune in one of the major network nightly news shows, their ranks are aging and dwindling. So the TV news business is realizing it will need far more than just the nightly news to survive in the digital age.

In the year since NBC's anchor Tom Brokaw became the first of the three longtime anchors to step down, networks have raced to provide more live broadcasts, Internet feeds, Web logs, and cellular phone video bites.

[B ABC's World News Tonight[/B] this week replaced the late Peter Jennings with two anchors charged with multitasking their way around the digital world. Announcing the appointments Monday of Elizabeth Vargas, 43, and Bob Woodruff, 44, ABC also acknowledged the decades-old way of delivering the news has to change.

"This announcement is about ensuring the future of World News Tonight for the next 20 years," the show's executive producer Jon Banner said in a phone interview. "More and more people are gathering and getting information online on digital devices, on cell pones, on PlayStation Portables, on iPods. We have to adapt to that world. ... At the moment we need to be in as many places and as many devices as possible."

CNN this week began live streaming news broadcasts to the Internet. CBS on Wednesday announced its first venture into cell phones, sealing a deal with Verizon's V CAST service to deliver entertainment, breaking news and bits from the CBS Evening News and The Early Show.

Top-rated NBC, helmed since Brokaw's retirement by Brian Williams, 46, has found success with Williams' popular blog. On Tuesday, Williams' blog post exemplified the personal, intimate contact with news consumers allowed by the new media.

In apparent exasperation over a tough news meeting, he leveled with readers about how hard it is to design a nightly newscast: "This intended-to-be-humorous delusion of grandeur on our part has some truth to it: I can't think of the last broadcast we did that exactly equaled on the air what was agreed to at 2:30 p.m."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After they start their new jobs Jan. 3, Vargas and Woodruff won't only be on from 6:30 to 7 p.m. The new model has the anchors delivering daily Web casts and three broadcasts in succession to deliver live news to most of the country, including the West Coast, which has relied on taped feeds from New York. There are plans for frequent travel, blogging, splitting the anchors between the field and the studio, plus special reports and Vargas' continued work hosting the prime-time newsmagazine program 20/20.

Not everything will stick, Banner said. No one at any network can predict what will catch on, but like others, ABC isn't about to risk missing the next big thing: "We've got to be in it to win it," he said.

Banner said his network isn't making changes just to lure younger viewers. But the commercials for prescription medications aired during any network's nightly news is a good gauge of who's still watching: seniors.

How bad is it? Evening news ratings have dropped 59 percent in the past 30 years, and the average viewer is 60 years old, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

ABC and the rest are hunting for youthful eyes.

That's solid thinking, said Richard Wald, a professor of media and society at Columbia University and a former ABC News senior vice president. Young people have never been the main viewers of the evening news, but in the past, they could be relied on to tune in once they got old enough to care more about politics, the economy, world affairs and other evening news fodder. Today, viewers still may care about such matters, but they can turn to the Internet or cable TV for their information, when it's convenient.

"The problem today is that young people don't watch television news, and as they get older, they don't watch television news. It's a real hard-to-disguise problem," Wald said. "What is the solution? It isn't simply to do more of the same, you've got to do something slightly different. Exactly what is it? Nobody's perfectly sure (but) if the audience isn't where they are producing the news, go to where the audience is."

As technology advances, finding the audience is not as easy as the old choice between print, radio or television.

"If we all knew what device was going to be the most effective way of getting content five years from now, we could retire," Banner said. "Everybody is competing to get the attention of people and get them to use their device to get content."

Even TV itself is providing competition nobody could have anticipated just a short time ago - unlikely player Comedy Central delivers a form of news through its Daily Show that many young adults swear is all the news they want or need.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So how well are those ripples of change meeting their target audiences so far? Melinda McAdams, a University of Florida professor of journalism technologies, adores Williams' NBC blog, called The Daily Nightly. But otherwise, she and her students have been unimpressed with most of what the networks and the big cable operations put on the Internet.

Streaming old-style TV news onto the Internet changes the delivery mode, but not the content, making it pointless, she said.

Her students, young news consumers, still want someone behind the scenes to gather, organize and present news in clear, easy-to-access packages. What they don't want is reporters and anchors inserting themselves between viewer and story.

"You have the subjects of the story talk in their own voice. (Students) like that. They think it's so cool that there's not one of these geeks with a microphone talking to us," McAdams said. "They feel involved when they hear this person tell their own story. These kinds of stories actually reach you on a human level."

An anchor's role could be to provide background context and explain how stories were gathered and how the organization made its editorial decisions, McAdams said.

The news content also has to be constantly updated, said University of Florida professor David Ostroff, head of the school's telecommunications department. Waiting until 6:30 p.m. to hear what happened in the past 24 hours isn't good enough for today's news consumer, who wants immediacy, but also wants it organized and prioritized.

And that, Ostroff said, is why traditional news organizations are still so important. They just have to update their methods.

Wald recently moderated a Stanford University panel on the future of network news, featuring the heads of ABC, CBS and NBC news. He said he felt encouraged, because he saw they understand they must change their methods in order to keep delivering the news. Now, they have to figure out how.

"There may be a 15-year-old girl in a garage in Wisconsin who has figured out how to take instant messaging and combine it with photographs from a cellular phone, but until she has a business model and delivers that product, we don't know about it," he said.

"You're in a world where the unusual is happening on a fairly regular basis. ... Maybe we are all groping, (but) I think people have a reasonable sense that things are in flux right now, but they won't stay in flux forever. We will wind up being the children of a different way of doing things."

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/12/10/news_pf/Artsandentertainment/Networks_reinvent_TV_.shtml

fredfa

12-11-05, 01:49 AM

Local TV News In Trouble, too

In looking at a recent column by Ed Bark of the “Dallas Morning News”, I was struck by the rapid decline of the local TV news numbers in Dallas during the just-completed November sweep.

I haven’t done a city-by-city ratings comparison, but I suspect the Dallas market is fairly representative of many cities.

And if it is, local TV news, long a major reason for viewers tuning in, is in bigger trouble than perhaps many of us thought.

In just one year, the four 10 PM newscasts in the market lost 10 per cent of their viewers – falling from a 33.8 total rating to a 30.7

At 6 PM, the drop was even more stunning: almost 20 per cent of the homes tuning in in 2004 didn’t bother this year.
The total four-station ratings fell from 23.5 to just 18..

The drop at 5 PM wasn’t quite as bad, just a 15 per cent fall off from a 20.4 total rating to a 17.6.

I don’t know the Dallas-Forth Worth market well enough to know if there was some special reason for these stunningly bad numbers this November. Ed Bark didn’t mention any in his column.

And this will be the last “sweep” with the traditional Nielsen rating system in place. Starting next month Dallas will be one of many cities using the controversial new “People Meters” (PPM) you will be hearing about in the next month or so.

And that could be even worse news for the major stations in each market.

Some researcher say people like to record in their diaries that they watch news -- even if they don’t. It makes them feel good. The PPM system is much more attuned to what people actually watch than what they would like to think they watch.

The overriding problem here is simple: if local stations can’t rely on news to get viewers to tune in, what can they rely on?

fredfa

12-11-05, 02:00 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Sit-Down Comedy

Veteran comedian-director David Steinberg goes one-on-one with fellow funnymen in a new TV Land miniseries

By Dave Walker New Orleans Times-Picayune TV writer

One of Johnny Carson's favorite comedians, David Steinberg was positioned for a while there in the late 1960s and early 1970s as the funniest man in the counterculture who also could play mainstream.

A regular guest on both "The Tonight Show" and "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," Steinberg later drifted from the performance spotlight but not from making people laugh.

He's now considered a first-call TV comedy director, with his tube credits including episodes of some of this generation's best sitcoms, including "Newhart," "It's Garry Shandling's Show," "Seinfeld," "Friends" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

He's the perfect guy, in other words, to conjure laughs from a conversational partner, especially if an audience happens to be present and the partner is funny, too.

In the premiere episode of "Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg," his weekly interview miniseries for TV Land, (9 PM ET Wednesdays) Steinberg starts the conversation with Mike Myers by noting that both he and his guest are Canadians.

Reserved. Polite. Deferent to a fault.

Yet Canada's more funny per-capita (Steinberg, Myers, Candy, Aykroyd, Short, the list goes on) than any other country or principality.

What's up with that?

"We make the Swiss look sexy," says Myers. "If we had a national motto, it would be, 'Sorry.' "

The Myers hour isn't quite chronological. Steinberg starts in Canada, then moves to Myers' start as a standup, then his work as a child actor (Gilda Radner played his mother in one commercial), then his love of English comedy (all things English, actually, from which Austin Powers was hatched), his personal life, his work on "Saturday Night Live."

A lot of background is unstated. Both Steinberg and Myers assume the audience knows that Myers' "SNL" character Linda Richman is based on his mother-in-law. The "Shrek" movies don't even get a mention.

But the tales are terrific, as is the telling.

Myers' first standup gig was working with a punk rock band. He'd ask for suggestions from the audience and hear, "Yeah, start bleeding!"

He had a crush on Radner and cried on the last day of work on the commercial. He realizes now that the ability to recite Monty Python bits by heart was a kind of birth control. Music sparks his ideas ("The Look of Love" in the case of the Powers character, Aerosmith tunes for Wayne Campbell of "Wayne's World").

Week two brings Larry David, the implosion-prone "Seinfeld" co-creator and "Curb" star.

In his show, David reveals that he used to start his standup act with a joke pegged to Latin grammar.

No wonder audiences instinctually turned against him.

No wonder David's act usually ended with him enraged at the paying customers.

"You people," David would say to them. "Can you be any dumber?"

No wonder his standup career foundered. That, and he didn't like to travel.

"I don't like packing," he says.

Print or broadcast, it's the best interview I've ever seen with David, who's enthused and engaged here and clearly at ease in the presence of someone he considers a peer.

A highly entertaining mutation of Bravo's "Inside the Actors Studio" (minus the host smarm), IFC's "Dinner for Five" and AMC's "Sunday Morning Shootout," with even a touch of PBS' "The Charlie Rose Show," Steinberg's show this season will also play host to Bob Newhart, Martin Short, Jon Lovitz and George Lopez.

The wish list of guests for subsequent seasons, and there should be many, is infinite.

http://www.nola.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/living-0/1134110123218830.xml

fredfa

12-11-05, 02:18 AM

ESPN Scrambles for Rights to NFL Highlights

By Simon Applebaum CableWorld.com

ESPN is huddling with National Football League management about keeping NFL Prime Time, one of cable's highest-rated fall series, alive in another time slot in fall 2006.

The talks come as the popular pro football post-game hour, which draws between 4-5 million viewers an episode, exits its early Sunday eve time slot on ESPN at the end of the regular season after 18 years. When NBC takes over Sunday night games from ESPN next fall, NBC gets first rights to the Sunday afternoon game highlights at the heart of Prime Time. Those highlights will appear on NBC's planned pregame hour.

ESPN is talking with the league about running Prime Time after NBC's game at around 11 p.m. ET, the slot in which SportsCenter now appears, according to an ESPN spokesperson.

If the NFL doesn't let them use game highlights in that slot, ESPN may move the show to Mondays next fall, before an expanded Monday Night Countdown, which will precede its airings of Monday Night Football.

NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy says he hasn't fielded any complaints yet from cable operators or NFL Prime Time fans about the possible demise of the show. "You won't hear anything, if you hear anything, until next season," he adds. "We would not reconsider if they did protest."

http://www.cableworld.com/cgi/cw/show_mag.cgi?pub=cw&mon=120505&file=espnscramblesfor.htm

fredfa

12-11-05, 12:14 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Last writes: Comics skewer celebs' books

By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic December 11, 2005

Brad and Angelina don't enthrall you? Jennifer and Vince haven't earned your friendship with their teasing? Tom and Katie didn't have you at hello?

Anyone weary of star preening -- and the media's slavish attention to it -- will find delirious relief in ”Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words” ( premieres Thursday, 10 PM ET/PT, Bravo). This adult special punctures performers' pomposity with stinging success.

Celebrity Autobiography started seven years ago when Los Angeles comedians transformed vapid memoirs into zany theater. Bravo's fast-moving TV version, also performed before an audience, carries on the wacky tradition but requires frequent bleeping.

With Andrea Martin, Fred Willard and Jay Mohr offering inspired readings, you can't help but wonder: Why did these authors commit such idiotic or personal observations to paper? The delusions of Norma Desmond, fictional star of Sunset Boulevard, thrive in the real world.

The readings are either uproarious solos or more elaborate group readings. In the show's standout solo, Mohr delivers a jaw-dropping rendition of David Cassidy's intimate thoughts about Partridge Family co-star Susan Dey. You'll never look at a Partridge Family rerun the same way again.

SCTV alumna Martin exposes Ivana Trump as a pushy mother who forced her children to ski down hills at age 2. Willard drives home the point that Mr. T did not have ghost-writing help on a wretched autobiography. Yes, you'll pity the fool.

In florid style, Doris Roberts explains that Zsa Zsa Gabor found hope in jail by recalling Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan. Kevin Nealon skewers the bewildering psychobabble of Kenny Loggins.

Cheryl Hines of Curb Your Enthusiasm reminds everyone why chirpy Kathie Lee Gifford comes in for frequent ridicule. Julie Brown reads Madonna's brief but dumbfounding recollection of a sexual liaison. The Material Girl offered weak material in her book Sex.

Comedian Eugene Pack, who dreamed up Celebrity Autobiography, shares George Takei's insipid thoughts about landing the role of Sulu on Star Trek. Takei, the lone target in attendance, proves he's a good sport by laughing heartily.

The group readings are even more entertaining for mingling voices or books. A hilarious segment contrasts goofy insights from Sly Stallone (Pack) and Tommy Lee (Jack Plotnick). A look at 'N Sync features Willard as Justin Timberlake revealing, "I do something embarrassing every day."

Celebrity Autobiography brings to life the saga of Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor. Even though this love triangle once mesmerized the country, these reminiscences underscore the foolishness of that fascination. It makes you wonder what we'll know years from now about power couples Pitt-Jolie and Cruise-Holmes.

The funniest group reading features the words of Loni Anderson (Hines), Burt Reynolds (Willard) and Elaine Blake Hall (Martin), Reynolds' former assistant. In their books, Anderson and Reynolds supply wildly different versions of their sexual intimacy. Reynolds knocks Anderson's acting ability and complains, "It's scary to see your life turn into a TV movie."

But less scary than seeing your life spoofed in this special. Any targeted performer witnessing this program should be saying: Stop me before I write again. Still, because delusion is rampant in show business, sequels to Celebrity Autobiography are likely.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-haltv1105dec11,0,4813222,print.story
http://www.bravotv.com/Events_&_Specials/

fredfa

12-11-05, 12:25 PM

More a la carte main stream media coverage.

The fight over a la carte
Television Indecency, unbundling: cable TV's battle front

The war over unwanted or racy content escalates from rhetoric to rules

By Joanne Ostrow Denver Post TV Critic

Cable TV is like a restaurant that forbids substitutions. You don't want fries with that? Sorry, that's how it comes.

A la carte menus are appealing if you think you'll pay less and you won't be tempted. You usually end up spending the same for your smaller, pickier portion. (And sometimes you want a nibble of the fries anyway.)

OK, enough with the metaphor, but it does make a point about infotainment: These days everyone wants something a la carte.

Consumers expect customized selections in everything from iPod playlists to on-demand news. So no one should be surprised that a battle is brewing over cable-TV offerings that is drawing in consumer activists, Christian groups, children's advocates, Congress, cable companies and those concerned about whether government should exert any control over cable content.

With monthly cable bills rising and with four separate pieces of legislation in Congress aimed at extending broadcast indecency regulations to cable, the rhetoric is escalating. So far, it's just rhetoric. The government isn't pushing new rules about a la carte yet, a constitutionally suspect move, right now, just sabre-rattling. Still, some say the industry could be forced to move channels like MTV, FX and Comedy Central to a premium tier to satisfy regulators.

At a Senate panel on indecency, the Federal Communications Commission recently reversed itself on a la carte pricing, the option of paying for individual networks instead of the "bundle" that includes the big ad-supported ones like USA, TNT, CNN, ESPN and Discovery. Suddenly, the FCC is pushing a la carte.

Under such an approach, consumers would be able to order only what they want, and shield themselves and their children from what they don't want. (Never mind that the V-chip is already available and useful. Some folks resent paying for what they consider objectionable programming beaming into their homes.) According to FCC number-crunching, a la carte pricing might actually reduce monthly cable bills.

The prospect of a la carte terrifies cable programmers. They'd rather fight than unbundle.

Beyond arguments about sheltering children from sexual or violent images on television, or giving customers the choice of gardening shows or celebrity poker, this is a long-standing conflict about money and programming contracts. The debate makes strange bedfellows of consumer advocates and conservative and Christian groups, pits certain cable companies against others, and - if you believe some activists - marches in lockstep with the conservative Republican political agenda. The debate has raged for decades, but the FCC intends to settle it now.

For, against - and why

So who is who in the battle over a la carte? Here's a rundown of who's for, who's against, and why:

Most cable companies hate the idea of a la carte pricing for financial reasons. Afraid of the unknown, they dread taking down the working economic model. The big networks like Discovery, ESPN and USA are quite content to be part of 60-channel packages as they exist. Both the big, expensive networks and the little upstarts like that model.

One estimate says ESPN might have to charge $15 per month as a standalone network to cover its major-league contracts. Small niche networks without advertising or marketing money would have trouble getting noticed. Cable's lobbying group, the National Cable Television Association, is adamantly against a la carte, maintaining that government shouldn't regulate private marketplace negotiations.

A few companies, like EchoStar, AT&T and Cablevision, are on record supporting a la carte. They say they're at the mercy of big media (Viacom, Disney and others that charge them for the right to beam their programs), and could do better if freed from those contracts.

In testimony before the Senate panel, EchoStar chief David Moskowitz said the pay-TV company would consider a la carte, or a "family tier," but cannot because of contracts that require bundling.

Minority and niche networks are wary of a la carte, saying it poses a threat to diversity in cable. As currently constructed, the big cable networks financially support the little cable networks in the bundle. You want Time Warner's TNT? You're going to get its Cartoon Network too. The promise of cable, the operators say, is to let a thousand channels bloom, not to filter out unpopular choices.

Consumer advocates favor a la carte. "It's about allowing the marketplace to reflect what consumers want," said Jeannine Kenney of the Consumers Union in Washington, D.C. "A la carte is a good and necessary thing for consumers, not only because it will offer more choice but it will reduce the overall cost of cable for most consumers." She's not afraid of diminished diversity. In fact, "if consumers were able to choose their channels one by one, cable companies would know what people want to see."

The Parents Television Council, the activist group that hates MTV, wants a la carte cable as part of a crackdown on indecency.

Programmers despise the idea because it threatens ad rates. Program producers such as Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and Murdoch's News Corp. fear they'll lose their dual revenue stream - the license fees from cable operators and the advertising income (they'll get less money for fewer eyeballs).

Quid pro quo

Media analysts suggest the FCC might back off its threat to require a la carte if cable programmers voluntarily agree to police themselves according to the same guidelines that apply to commercial, over-the-air broadcasters. That could force Murdoch's FX and its racy shows like "Nip/Tuck" and "The Shield" to become a premium channel.

For casual viewers, there's reason to dread the loss of random channel surfing that sometimes turns up surprising offerings. You may not actively subscribe to the Outdoor Life Network. Then again, you may be tickled to find a grand slalom on OLN on your way through the channel lineup.

A more cynical view finds a censorious political agenda at work behind the scenes.

Jeff Chester, head of the Center for Digital Democracy, is concerned about the impact the a la carte policy is meant to have on programming diversity at the behest of religious conservatives.

"Sure, TV deserves to be roundly criticized for the coarsening of the culture. However, this will be passed not because Congress wants to finally offer consumers relief, but because of a powerful constituency at the core of the Bush administration's political support, that it wishes to reward as a way of bolstering the GOP's political standing."

In this view, consumer groups have made a pact with the conservative Parents TV Council and Concerned Women of America who want to see "The Real World," "The Shield" and the rest off basic cable.

Yes, the big media companies have been lining their wallets for years, Chester says. On the other hand, "how did this issue get to be on the front burner of politicians? Because religious conservative groups embraced this strategy as a way of punishing media companies because of content."

Brent Bozell, head of the Parents Television Council, testified before the Senate forum that, "the incessant sleaze on MTV presents the most compelling case yet for consumer cable choice." MTV has carried programs about AIDS, safe sex, homosexuality, condoms and the youth vote.

In his view, "MTV is a subsidized network. As it now stands, parents have no choice but to take - and pay for - MTV if they want basic cable in their homes. Given a choice," Bozell said, "how many parents now being forced to take and pay for MTV as part of a basic cable package would continue to do so?"

"There's a social agenda to change television," Chester said. "Under the guise of fair rates for consumers, this is likely to be a major victory for the right against media."

The Consumers Union dodges the political point but agrees "it's galling to conservative groups that they have to pay for programs they don't want and then take extra steps to block it," Kenney said.

To her, it's as if Time magazine required its subscribers to take Field & Stream too, or go to extra trouble to stop it from arriving in their mailboxes. "From an intuitive standpoint it is completely unfair," Kenney said. "From a First Amendment standpoint, we don't see a problem with a la carte. It doesn't tell you what you have to air."

Defining a "family tier"

What is a problem for consumer activists, the Parents Television Council and First Amendment advocates is the creation of a "family tier" of unobjectionable networks, a compromise floated by the cable industry.

"The problem with a family tier is, who's going to define it?" Kenney said.

The family tier solution "doesn't accomplish the fundamental goal," said Dan Isett, director of corporate and government affairs for the Parents Television Group. "If you're not comfortable with content on 'The Shield' or 'Nip/Tuck,' those channels are in the basic or expanded-basic tier, not something you can select individually."

Because forces are converging, it may be that the time for a la carte has arrived. Viewers want customized services like video-on-demand and video

iPods. The new FCC chair is on the indecency bandwagon. And several cable competitors have conceded they want the option of a la carte as a way to break free of the big media companies.

The FCC's report is expected the next month. After that, Congress may enter the fray.

http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3292654

fredfa

12-11-05, 12:34 PM

A remembrance
Richard Pryor

Attitude, edge gave his humor extra bite

By David Hinckley New York Daily News critic at large Sunday, December 11th, 2005

Richard Pryor never made it easy on either himself or his audience.

The standup comedian, movie star and brief television host was a virtuoso of drawing the uneasy laugh - the one that acknowledges a joke was hilarious at the same time it doesn't let the audience forget it is built on a disturbing truth.

Although Pryor was known for his copious use of the N-word and obscenities, it was the context of the words that set him apart. Comedians like Redd Foxx had used those words for years, but Pryor fired them right into his audience's face.

Not using the N-word, he explained, was a tacit suggestion that the attitudes behind it were no longer a problem - and being a black man in 20th century America, Pryor suggested, still presented serious problems that everyone would have to confront before we could move on.

Not that Pryor needed any outside sources to supply him with demons. He almost died after setting himself on fire in a cocaine-induced stupor in 1980, and his standup material mined embarrassing and sometimes sordid parts of his personal life, from the drug abuse to his genitalia.

In later years, he would light a match on stage and say, "What's this? ... Richard Pryor running down the street."

Pryor came along in the 1960s as a middle-of-the-road comedian in the style of Bill Cosby, and in some ways he remained in the Cosby tradition, spinning hilarious tales about people he knew.

He also had a side that was straight out of vaudeville - the character whose overconfidence in his bravado set him up for the moment when the world would deflate him. That character was honed in a string of hit movies like "Silver Streak" and "Stir Crazy."

Where he would have taken this blend of outrage and humor past the '80s is hard to tell, because by then he had contracted multiple sclerosis. Although he continued to perform for a number of years, he eventually could no longer do either physical or spoken comedy.

By then, however, there were plenty of disciples to carry on, because Pryor influenced virtually everyone who came after him, like Woody Guthrie with folk singers or Michael Jordan with basketball players.

Everyone - from Eddie Murphy to Chris Rock, the Wayans brothers, David Letterman and 95% of any Def Jam Comedy show - owes much to the stories, the jokes and the attitude of Richard Pryor. Morning host Star of WWPR (105.1 FM) has often explained his own frequent use of the N-word by saying a country this fond of Richard Pryor can hardly object.

Like Malcolm X and any number of black folks with unflinching messages, Pryor eventually became more revered in his absence than he was during his active bad-man years.

But the durability of his message and his material attests to the truth it delivered and the fact so much of it was just plain funny. Either one of those legacies adds up to a pretty good life for a comedian. Both of them add up to Richard Pryor.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/col/v-pfriendly/story/373872p-317783c.html

fredfa

12-11-05, 12:51 PM

Saturday’s network prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest Prime Time Ratings news which is the second post in this thread.

fredfa

12-11-05, 03:38 PM

Critic’s Notebook
“Reunion” ends at a cliffhanger

By Virginia Rohan Bergen Record Staff Writer Sunday, December 11, 2005

Who killed Samantha?

"Reunion" fans may never know. And as it stands now, they almost certainly won't ever get to actually see the mystery's solution acted out.

Over one season, "Reunion" was to span from 1986 to 2006, but ratings for this critically acclaimed show were dismal. And so Fox did not pick up the "back nine" episodes of the serialized drama, which is halting production after the 13th of its intended 22 episodes. The killer was to have been unmasked in No. 22.

That unlucky 13th installment, slated to air in January (unless Fox pulls the plug entirely), leaves the characters in 1998 - eight years before the murder took place. Fox had asked the producers to expedite the big reveal, but in a statement last Monday, "Reunion" creator Jon Harmon Feldman explained why he could not: "The events of Samantha's murder are partially reliant on characters we haven't yet met - and events we haven't yet seen," Feldman said.

On the telephone Thursday, he elaborated. "The story was arced out over 20 years, and there was no way to tie it up so quickly," Feldman said, as "Reunion" was wrapping production on its next-to-last episode. "I don't know what the plan is. We're going to finish our first order of 13 episodes, and see what we can do, if anything."

In short, "Reunion" fans are in limbo.

Shame on someone. But who exactly is to blame? That's where things get really complicated.

Ratings for "Reunion" are unquestionably poor - averaging a measly 4.3 million viewers per week, the series struggled to hold the audience from its Thursday night lead-in, "The O.C." - but those who have been watching are addicted. And they've been signing an online petition urging Fox to reconsider. By Friday, there were more than 15,000 "signatures."

"We the viewers made a commitment to watch all 22 episodes, now you, Fox, have to do the same," one poster railed. Some proposed solutions, such as these: "As loyal viewers, we should at least be provided with a conclusion. Just tell us!" and "Just show all 22 episodes on FX."

What about those ideas? This fall, after all, we've been hearing about all sorts of new deals that will involve networks downloading shows to iPods and the like. In this day and age, surely something can be worked out.

Apparently, one problem is that such deals work far more smoothly when there's corporate synergy (think ABC and Touchstone, for example) and a network owns the content of the programs it airs. In the case of "Reunion," the network (Fox) and the producing studio (Warner Bros. Television) are not in the same corporate clan.

As for why "Reunion" couldn't just finish out its run on FX - we see those sister-network arrangements all the time - or even an unrelated network, that might be viable if all 22 episodes of "Reunion" were in the can. But nobody wants the expense of producing those missing nine episodes, it seems.

What's more, the production budget and license fees for network shows are much higher than for basic-cable series. (Apparently, Fox's 2001 mystery/soap "Pasadena" was a fluke. Though Fox aired only four episodes, "Pasadena" continued in production and resolved the core mystery in 13 episodes, which SOAPnet began televising this fall.)

Alas, as one person in the know put it last week, "Reunion" is a perfect storm of unfortunate conditions. Still, I can't accept that there isn't some sort of compromise to be worked out. Here are a few proposals:

1. Do a follow-up TV movie that solves the mystery. That's 90 minutes of story to shoot, as opposed to nine whole hours. The money invested will pay off in good will.

2. Tack an extra 15 minutes onto the 13th "Reunion" episode and have someone tell who killed Samantha. It could be Feldman or a cast member, maybe even Alexa Davalos, who plays Sam.

3. At the very least, post the mystery's solution online (the way Fox did when it prematurely killed off Dominic Purcell's serialized "John Doe").

"I kind of feel that those are network decisions," Feldman said Thursday, when asked about those options. "I would love to do a special or a TV movie to tie it up."

By the same token, he's not optimistic that that will happen. "Maybe if our ratings are good enough tonight. The more people that can sign the petition and the more that can watch us when we're on ... It's hard for me to say," Feldman says.

Neither the folks at Fox nor those at Warner Bros. were speaking on the record last week, with Fox directing all inquiries to the studio and the producers.

If viewers are losing out because of this stalemate, so is television, because "Reunion" took a refreshingly different approach. When Fox announced its lineup in May, the network boasted that it "marks a groundbreaking concept in series television as it chronicles the lives of a group of six friends over the course of 20 years - all in just one season," adding that the series would "build toward answering two important questions raised in episode one: Which of the friends is dead? And how did that death occur?"

Some people, who set aside an hour every Thursday to watch "Reunion," may be loath to ever again invest in a serialized drama, especially if they haven't experienced successful examples, such as "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Prison Break."

It's small wonder that network television is overrun with procedural dramas.

"I hope that the genre is not punished for what I think is a less than stellar launch that the show was given," says Feldman, who believes "Reunion" suffered from poor promotion and the fact that it was launched, then taken off the air for a month because of Fox's baseball coverage. "There is a lot of good programming in this genre, and when shows are launched properly, like 'Prison Break,' they catch on."

Through the years, we've seen many examples of heartbreaking cancellations - some beloved shows had so little warning they ended with cliffhangers - and other cases where the resolution disappointed. "Twin Peaks" fans eventually got fed up with all the red herrings in the "Who Killed Laura Palmer?" mystery. But at least David Lynch and Mark Frost eventually did identify the murderer.

Maybe someday Detective Lilly Rush will take on the unsolved "Reunion" murder as a cold case. In the meantime, it's just another cold-hearted case of Hollywood's indifference to the little people.

But who's the real villain? Like Sam's killer, that may never come to light.

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNzYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cW VlRUV5eTY4MzM0ODEmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3

Inundated

12-11-05, 04:12 PM

I have found Rich Heldenfels to be one of the most consistently good TV writers in the country, which is why I post so much of his work.

Indeed, he's quite good, and we're lucky to have him in Northeast Ohio.

For whatever reason, he goes by "R.D." in print, though his first name is on the blog and is not a secret...

fredfa

12-11-05, 04:29 PM

I use the rich byline because it sounds more personal :)

fredfa

12-11-05, 06:27 PM

Critic’s Notebook
What Men Want: Neanderthal TV

By Warren St. John The New York Times December 11, 2005

There was a heart-wrenching moment at the end of last season's final episode of the ABC series "Lost" when a character named Michael tries to find his kidnapped son. Michael lives for his child; like the rest of the characters in "Lost," the two of them are trapped on a tropical island after surviving a plane crash. When word of Michael's desperate mission reaches Sawyer - a booze-hoarding, hard-shelled narcissist who in his past killed an innocent man - his reaction is not what you would call sympathetic. "It's every man for hisself," Sawyer snarls.

Not so long ago Sawyer's callousness would have made him a villain, but on "Lost," he is sympathetic, a man whose penchant for dispensing Darwinian truths over kindnesses drives not only the action but the show's underlying theme, that in the social chaos of the modern world, the only sensible reflex is self-interest.

Perhaps not coincidentally Sawyer is also the character on the show with whom young men most identify, according to research conducted by the upstart male-oriented network Spike TV, which interviewed thousands of young men to determine what that coveted and elusive demographic likes most in its television shows.

Spike found that men responded not only to brave and extremely competent leads but to a menagerie of characters with strikingly antisocial tendencies: Dr. Gregory House, a Vicodin-popping physician on Fox's "House"; Michael Scofield on "Prison Break," who is out to help his brother escape from jail; and Vic Mackey, played by Michael Chiklis on "The Shield," a tough-guy cop who won't hesitate to beat a suspect senseless. Tony Soprano is their patron saint, and like Tony, within the confines of their shows, they are all "good guys."

The code of such characters, said Brent Hoff, 36, a fan of "Lost," is: "Life is hard. Men gotta do what men gotta do, and if some people have to die in the process, so be it."

"We can relate to them," said Mr. Hoff, a writer from San Francisco. "If you watch Sawyer on 'Lost,' who is fundamentally good even if he does bad things, there's less to feel guilty about in yourself."

Gary A. Randall, a producer who helped create "Melrose Place," is developing a show called "Paradise Salvage," about two friends who discover a treasure map, for Spike TV. He said the proliferation of antisocial protagonists came from a concerted effort by networks to channel the frustrations of modern men.

"It's about comprehending from an entertainment point of view that men are living a very complex conundrum today," he said. "We're supposed to be sensitive and evolved and yet still in touch with our Neanderthal, animalistic, macho side." Watching a deeply flawed male character who nevertheless prevails, Mr. Randall argued, makes men feel better about their own flaws and internal conflicts.

"You think, 'It's O.K. to go to a strip club and have a couple of beers with your buddies and still go home to your wife and baby and live with yourself,' " he said.

The most popular male leads of today stand in stark contrast to the unambiguously moral protagonists of the past, good guys like Magnum, Matlock or Barnaby Jones. They are also not simply flawed in the classic sense: men who have the occasional affair or who tip the bottle a little too much. Instead they are unapologetic about killing, stealing, hoarding and beating their way to achieve personal goals that often conflict with the greed, apathy and of course the bureaucracies of the modern world.

"These kinds of characters are so satisfying to male viewers because culture has told them to be powerful and effective and to get things done, and at the same time they're living, operating and working in places that are constantly defying that," said Robert Thompson, the director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.

Consequently, whereas the Lone Ranger battled stagecoach robbers and bankers foreclosing on a widow's farm, the enemy of the contemporary male TV hero, Dr. Thompson said, is "the legal, cultural and social infrastructure of the nation itself."

Because of competition from the Web, video games and seemingly countless new cable channels, television producers are obsessed with developing shows that can capture the attention of young male viewers.

To that end Spike TV, which is owned by Viacom and aims at men from 18 to 49, has ordered up a slate of new dramas based on characters whose minds are cauldrons of moral ambiguity. They will join antiheroes on other networks like Vic Mackey, Gregory House, Jack Bauer of "24," and Tommy Gavin, the firefighter played by Denis Leary on "Rescue Me" who sanctions a revenge murder of the driver who ran over and killed his son.

Paul Scheer, a 29-year-old actor from Los Angeles and an avid viewer of "Lost," said that not even committing murder alienates an audience. "You don't have to be defined by one act," he said.

"Three people on that island have killed people in cold blood, and they're quote-unquote good people who you're rooting for every week," Mr. Scheer said. The implication for the viewer, he added, is, "You can say 'I'm messed up and I left my wife, but I'm still a good guy.' "

Peter Liguori, the creator of the FX shows "The Shield" and "Over There" and now the president of Fox Entertainment, said that most strong male protagonists on television appeal to male viewers on an aspirational level. Those aspirations, though, he said, have changed over time.

In the age of "Dragnet," "everything was about aspiring to perfection," Mr. Liguori said. "Today I think we thoroughly recognize our flaws and are honest about them. True heroism is in overcoming those flaws."

Part of the shift to such complex and deeply flawed characters surely has to do with the economics of television itself. Cable channels, with their targeted niche audiences, are no longer obliged to aim for Middle America, and can instead create dramas for edgier audiences.

The financial success of networks like FX and HBO has also opened the door for auteurism that has embroidered scripts with dramatic complexities once reserved for film and literature, where odious protagonists - think of Tom Ripley, the murderous narcissist protagonist in Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" - have long been common.

Still the morally struggling protagonist has been evolving over time, Mr. Ligouri said, pointing to Detective Andy Sipowicz on "NYPD Blue." Sipowicz was an alcoholic who occasionally fell off the wagon, and he often flouted police procedure in the name of tracking down criminals. Like all good protagonists, Sipowicz was also exceedingly good at his job.

Mr. Liguori took the notion of the flawed protagonist to new levels in the creation of Vic Mackey on "The Shield." At the end of the pilot for that show, Mr. Liguori said, Mackey turned to a fellow cop he knew to be crooked and shot him in the face.

"There was a great debate at FX about how the audience would react," he said. "I thought 50 percent would say that's the most horrible thing, and 50 percent would say he was a rat." Mr. Chiklis, who plays Vic Mackey, won an Emmy for his performance in that episode, which was the highest rated at the time in the history of the network.

"The ability to let the audience make that judgment was my 'aha' moment," Mr. Liguori said. "I think that moral ambiguity is highly involving for an audience. Audiences I believe relate to characters they share the same flaws with."

Mr. Liguori added that in a world where people are increasingly transparent about their own flaws - detailing them on blogs, reality TV, on talk shows and in the news media - scripted TV drama had to emphasize characters' weaknesses.

"The I.M.-ing and social Web sites, they're all being built on being as open and honest as possible," he said. "You cannot go from that environment to a TV show where everyone is perfect."

With the success of shows featuring deeply flawed leads, the challenge for networks is to rein in the impulse to create ever more pathological characters. Pancho Mansfield, the head of original programming for Spike TV, said he could see network television going the route of "Scarface."

"With all the competition that's out there and all the channels, people are pushing the extremes to distinguish themselves," Mr. Mansfield said. But for now, he argued, the complexity of characters on serialized TV shows is a kind of antidote to the increasingly superficial characters in Hollywood films, which he said, have come more to resemble the simplistic television dramas of yore.

Dr. Thompson agreed. "On one level you could see the proliferation of these types of characters as an indication of the decline of American civilization," he said. "A more likely interpretation may be that they represent an improvement in the sophistication and complexity of television." If you accept that view, he added, "Then the young male demographic has pretty good taste."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/fashion/sundaystyles/11MEN.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

12-11-05, 06:41 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Love fills the air in predictable, but fun, holiday tales

By Jeanne Jakle San Antonio Express-News 12/11/2005

Christmas isn't only a time for giving; it's also a time for forgiving.

Viewers have to be in that tolerant mode, believe me, to let in the schmaltzy — at times, silly — TV movies about love, hope and happiness that dominate schedules during the holidays.

Two such yuletide yarns — "Christmas in Boston" and "Meet the Santas" — air this week on ABC Family and the Hallmark Channel, respectively. Get a load of their premises: In one, longtime pen pals finally get a chance to meet. Scared out of their wits, the two reticent lovers send their best friends in their place.

My 12-year-old even rolled his eyes at that one. The other movie? The son of Santa, who's on the verge of inheriting Christmas Eve duty from his dad, falls in love with a widow and her boy. They find a new life together in — where else? — The North Pole.

OK. We know situations don't have to be altogether plausible in a Christmas movie. Think "It's a Wonderful Life." Of course, I wouldn't mention these two flicks in the same breath with that timeless classic.

Still, if they're not taken the least bit seriously, both films can provide a bit of fun and froth during this December week. Details:

"Christmas in Boston," premiering on ABC Family (Wednesday at 9 PM ET/PT) introduces us to two young attractive people who have carried on a cross-country, letter-writing relationship for years. Aspiring journalist Gina (Marla Sokoloff, who played Lynette's nanny in "Desperate Housewives"), lives in Boston. She scores an assignment at a toy convention and discovers that her long-distance pen pal Seth (Patrick Adams, "Old School"), a toy executive, will be there.

Panicking, the very-serious Gina entreats her flamboyant friend Ellen (Lindy Booth) to fill in; Seth, also insecure when it comes to personal matters, sends his easygoing buddy Matt (Jonathan Cherry) in his place. Alas! The two impostors fall for each other, leaving the real couple fuming.

Don't worry though. As is usually the case with these TV romances, everything is resolved in the end. The strengths of this tale? The attractive young players, particularly supporting actors Booth and Cherry who play the overheated masqueraders.

As for "Meet the Santas" — airing on Hallmark (Saturday at 9 PM ET/PT) I can't preview that one as no tape was available. However, I did see its predecessor, "Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus," which also has Steve Guttenberg playing Nick, alias Santa Jr., and Crystal Bernard portraying single mom Beth, who's destined to become his wife. (Catch this original at 6 p.m. Saturday on Hallmark.) As that one heavily depended on the charms of its co-stars, I imagine they're equally as important in the sequel. Santa and Beth's big wedding — on Christmas Eve, natch — is the big event of "Meet the Santas," and a new main character is added. Mariette Hartley portrays Beth's prim society mother, a frosty woman whom Santa might not even have the power to melt.

You can bet on one thing, however: a pretty-as-a-picture ending that doesn't mirror real life. But heck, at Christmas, anything is palatable.TV's gooey fairy tales are no exception. Am I right?

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/columnists/jjackle/stories/MYSA121105.0Z.jakle.17aa9bb9.html

fredfa

12-11-05, 07:04 PM

Critic’s Notebook
On the set of “Surface”

Our TV writer goes on location with the cast and crew in Wilmington, NC

Danny Hooly Raleigh News & Observer Staff Writer

Sean Donnelly drives his Ford Explorer slowly through the gates of the EUE Screen Gems Studio. To his right, construction workers mount a 9- by 13-foot poster for the NBC series "Surface" on the commissary building -- right next to the one for the WB's "One Tree Hill."

"It's about time," says Donnelly, an assistant to a producer of "Surface" who is assigned to show me around.

The poster, coming five months after the start of production and two months from the sci-fi series' premiere, is a small but significant sign of respect. They probably wouldn't hang a poster unless they thought the series was here to stay, right?

Of all the series filmed in Wilmington, "Surface" has had to fight the hardest for love. "Matlock" had North Carolina's favorite son Andy Griffith. The short-lived "American Gothic," created by Hardy Boy Shaun Cassidy, remains a mid-'90s cult horror favorite. "Dawson's Creek" became the Gen-Y "Beverly Hills, 90210," and "One Tree Hill" is its worthy successor. "Surface" has yet to find that kind of cachet.The series, a sea-based sci-fi thriller created by North Carolina natives Josh and Jonas Pate, taps the mysterious something's-out-there vein of "Lost" and "X-Files." It debuted Sept. 19 with critics sniping at the snail pacing, the characters' stock familiarity and some hokey dialogue. But the 3.3 average ratings were decent enough that NBC commissioned a full season of episodes.

The network's faith seems justified by the series' improvements, thanks to three appealing lead actors (Lake Bell, Jay Ferguson and Carter Jenkins), the computer-generated effects and cliffhangers that get your attention. In one recent episode, Bell and Ferguson get stranded on the ocean floor in a submersible bathysphere, watching huge monstrous creatures lay glowing green eggs.

Having dutifully watched each episode, I've started to root for the show. Maybe it's because I like to get some payoff from my investment, so I need to see where this thing is going. Or maybe it's my desire to see an underdog make it. Or maybe the show has finally gotten me hooked.

Then comes an invitation to visit the studio and watch a little location shooting. How could I pass up the chance to meet Lake Bell? Or take an up-close look at that bathysphere?

Shoot and reshoot

In this city by the sea, dubbed Hollywood East for its two-decade history in the film industry, "Surface" producers can find countless spots that will pass for coastal California, where much of the series' action takes place. And for once, Wilmington itself is a setting.

The way the story goes, Laura Daughtery (Bell), an oceanographer based in Monterey, discovers a breed of sea creatures that when fully grown are gigantic, able to devour any air or sea craft devised by humans. They emit electrical charges that look like lightning and have self-healing powers that make them nearly invincible. To make things more complicated, the incandescent green goo that runs through them heals humans, too, which means they could revolutionize medicine.

Louisiana fisherman Rich Connelly (Ferguson) finds out about the species when one of them kills his brother. And adolescent Miles Bennett (14-year-old Carter Jenkins), a science nerd who lives in Wilmington, adopts one: an ugly-cute baby monster named Nimrod. Meanwhile, for some sinister reason, the government is trying to hide the creatures' existence from the public.

For this November afternoon's shoot, Donnelly drives me to the corner of Eastwood Road and Racine Drive. The locations department has rented the AlphaGraphics copy center for a short scene, just half a page of dialogue.

Bell, wearing a knit cap and a floor-length dark coat, enters. She's smiling, but she looks a bit paler than the tan and athletic Laura. And she appears tired. Donnelly, the assistant producer, chalks it up to the previous night's shoot. It wrapped with a post-rescue scene in which Lake's and Ferguson's characters chow down at McDonald's.

"They had to pretend it actually tasted good, too," Donnelly says. "That's acting."

In today's scene, Bell and Ferguson walk into the store and ask a rude, disinterested clerk (played by 36-year-old Charlotte actor Steve Fortner) if they can upload footage from the tape they made of the creatures to DVD. Fortner fiddles with a BlackBerry and, following director Michael Robison's instructions, barely looks at the other actors.

The scene is run over and over. There is much discussion about whether the term should be "download" instead of "upload." They've settled on "upload," but Bell accidentally says "download" in one take. Exasperated, she marches back outside with a sigh for another entrance.

The retakes are tedious, but Bell maintains her friendly demeanor. She jokes around and cracks up at a human beat box performance by a crew member.

Ferguson stays more in his acting zone, although he loosens up as takes go by. When Robison asks him to put more of his shoulder into the shot, he replies: "Absolutely, sir, I'll give you any piece of my body you want." Then he realizes what he just said: "Well -- whoah, whoah, whoah."

During a break, Bell, who characterizes her life in Wilmington as "wonderfully blinkered" away from the distractions of L.A., says she's pleased with the way the show is going.

"We know that it's only the tip of the iceberg in this epic tale, or this saga that we're telling," she says. "We're not going to show you everything in the beginning if there's not more to come. You know -- like the 'Harry Potter' series. You've got many books in 'Harry Potter,' and a lot happens in each chapter. Well, that's how our show is."

The Screen Gems studio, built in 1984 by Dino De Laurentiis, sits just outside town. With nine soundstages and a 32-acre film lot, it bills itself as the largest motion picture facility east of California.

Stage 3 is the smaller of the two stages used for "Surface," but everything's relative. With its 40-foot-high ceiling and metal sliding door, the leaf-strewn floor and the boxes and lighting rigs that line the sides all around, the studio looks like a cross between a shed and an airplane hangar. Sitting in the rear is the lonely little bathysphere, looking as though it was left behind and forgotten.

Onscreen, the bathysphere would seem to be a bad place for somebody with claustrophobia. Donnelly lets me climb inside, where it's even smaller and more claustrophobia-inducing than it appears on television. The details, such as the Motorola gauges along the walls, seem comically mundane.

Donnelly, a stocky, fast-talking former L.A. punk musician, grumbles about the sci-fi fans and sea buffs who fill Internet message boards with chatter about the implausibilities they see in the show.

"Good," he says. "That means they're watching." He is clearly annoyed.

At the AlphaGraphics shoot, Ferguson, a sci-fi fan who reads a lot about undersea life, shrugs off the "sci-fi tag" for the show. To him, key elements of the plot seem more commonplace than most people think.

"There's not a time where the scientist puts a submersible down in the dark murky depths and doesn't come up with a picture of some new fish, or some new species we've never seen or heard of before," he says. "The idea that that could happen, or that there could be something even larger lurking down there we've never seen, is very realistic and possible."

Computer-generated images are a key element of any sci-fi show these days, and the ones produced for "Surface" are first-rate. Miles' pet Nimrod -- or "Nim" -- grew from being a silly, unconvincing blob in the first episode to a lovable but scary presence later on -- capable of reacting affectionately to a stroke of Miles' hand in one scene, then eating a snooty girl's dog in another. And a sky-perspective scene in which one of the grown-up creatures swallows a yacht was every bit as terrifying as intended.

But the special effects that involve the actors are surprisingly low-tech. And grueling.

On a recent shoot, the crew used a shallow water tank in Stage 4 to simulate the ocean. While the Bell and Ferguson characters floated in a waterlogged inflatable lifeboat, off-camera crew members agitated the water with buckets and their feet. Ferguson vomited from exertion afterward. Bell was simply worn out.

"It's just exhausting because we had to do so many days of it," she says. "And it's high-stakes and also physically demanding. There's a crazy thunderstorm going on with lightning and buckets of water sort of being thrown at us. And we're wearing our normal clothing. And so you have shoes wearing you down. It was really exhausting. And crying and yelling and carrying on and yelling for each other."

Unfolding story

Carter Jenkins makes himself at home. He's lounging on the sofa in the living room set of his fictional family's house, a replica of the one in Brentwood, Calif., that was shot for the pilot, as he talks about the series.

"I've heard Josh Pate say it's like a novel: It introduces characters who are really separate in the beginning, and you know eventually that they're going to meet," he says. "I look forward to that day." His character, Miles, hasn't met Rich and Laura yet.

Having finished a tutoring session that morning, he's waiting here until time to leave for a scene being shot at a local gas station.

"I'm with ... a friend ... who's a girl," he explains about the scene as I settle into an armchair.

Carter has been in the business since age 7, and he knows about the uncertainties of a freshman series.

"It's funny to even buy furniture," he says. He has asked "One Tree Hill" cast members for advice about whether it would be smart to buy a house and move out of the apartment he shares with his father. Even if the show survives, that doesn't mean his character will.

"Maybe second season, if the ratings are good -- and I'm not going to get eaten," he says.

Speaking of getting eaten, that's pretty much what happened at an Oct. 1 charity softball game. The "Surface" gang played the "One Tree Hill" crew to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. No one seems to recall the score.

"Actually, we almost came back, and then we lost," says Carter. "I did OK. I got on base, like, three or four times."

Maybe the series will do even better. Maybe it will score. I hope so.

http://www.newsobserver.com/308/story/376822.html

fredfa

12-11-05, 07:24 PM

Q & A
Shonda Rhimes, “Grey’s Anatomy” Creator and Executive Producer

QUENTION: Were you surprised that Grey's Anatomy was such a huge hit?
SHONDA RHIMES: I was very surprised. I knew I liked the show. I knew my family liked the show. But it never occurred to me that 18 million people who aren't related to me would like the show.

QUENTION: Why did you want to create a medical drama as opposed to another kind of show?
SHONDA RHIMES: I'm a medical junkie. Which means I love to watch those surgeries on the medical channels. It also means that I am a raging hypochondriac. But, to me, Grey's isn't a medical drama. It's a relationship drama with some great surgeries thrown in for fun.

QUENTION: What kind of research do you or your writers do for each episode?
SHONDA RHIMES: As writers, we all dig through the news to find interesting or bizarre medical stories that can relate to the theme of each show. But we don't really do the research -- we have a Director of Research, Elizabeth Klaviter, who is in charge of the medicine for each episode. She's a genius at what she does. She sits in the writer's room and listens to us brainstorm ideas. She then takes those ideas, researches the surgeries, and works with our medical consultants (Dr. Karen Pike and Dr. John Hiatt), our Medical Producer (Linda Klein, RN) as well as with various other medical specialists to make sure we have accurate information.

QUENTION: Tell us about the movie you've written and are going to direct. When will that happen?
SHONDA RHIMES: I wrote a movie called When Willows Touch. It's a small Southern gothic drama about a body rotting in a cornfield. Not exactly warm and fuzzy but I love it. I'm not sure when it will get made; we're in the process of gathering financing to produce it independently. That can take a long time.

QUENTION: Best advice you ever got?
SHONDA RHIMES: Never let anyone outside the family know what you are thinking. It's from The Godfather and I didn't get it so much as I heard Don Corleone say it to Sonny. But it has come in handy in every difficult situation I've ever been in.

QUENTION: What's your favorite website?
SHONDA RHIMES: throwingthings.blogspot.com. It's a brilliant, funny blog that discusses everything pop culture. I love it. I'm also obsessed with this site called Post Secret that invites people to anonymously send in their secrets to be posted on the web for everyone to read. It's completely addictive.

QUENTION: What's in your iPod?
SHONDA RHIMES: Music from Grey's Anatomy, music I'm considering using in Grey's Anatomy plus Gwen Stefani, Annie Lennox, Sam Cooke, the soundtrack to Annie, The Roots and this course in quick and easy Russian that I keep for when I want to pretend to myself I'm deeply intellectual.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/greysanatomy/qa/shonda.html

fredfa

12-11-05, 07:58 PM

What Do Americans Watch?

With all the debate over a la carte, maybe t is time to take a look at what people watch most. It might surprise you to learn that only six of the top 100 programs appeared on cable networks.

Here, courtesy of TVB, is a look at last week’s top 100 household ratings:
Top 100 Programs on Broadcast and Subscription TV:

(Based on Primetime Household Ratings Week ending December 4th, 2005)
Week 11 of the 2005-2006 Broadcast Season (Subscription TV programs are in bold)
# / Program / Network / Household Rating
1 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES ABC 15.74
2 NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
Steelers at Colts ABC 14.81
3 CSI CBS 14.49
4 GREY'S ANATOMY ABC 13.01
5 CSI: MIAMI CBS 12.92
6 LOST ABC 12.30
7 60 MINUTES CBS 11.57
8 SURVIVOR: GUATEMALA CBS 11.45
9 NCIS CBS 11.26
10 LAW AND ORDER:SVU NBC 11.15
11 TWO AND A HALF MEN CBS 10.60
12 WITHOUT A TRACE CBS 10.16
13 E.R. NBC 10.13
14 CSI: NY CBS 10.08
15 CRIMINAL MINDS CBS 9.85
16 BIGGEST LOSER 2 NBC 9.70
17 EXTREME MAKEOVER:HOME ED. ABC 9.54
18 COLD CASE CBS 9.03
19 HOUSE FOX 9.01
20 BARBARA WALTERS:10 MOST FASCINATING PEOPLE '05 ABC 8.96
21 COMMANDER IN CHIEF ABC 8.80
22 LAW AND ORDER NBC 8.74
23 OUT OF PRACTICE CBS 8.59
24 RUDOLPH-RED-NOSE-REINDEER CBS 8.57
25 MEDIUM NBC 8.31
26 CROSSING JORDAN NBC 8.26
27 KING OF QUEENS CBS 8.20
28 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER CBS 7.87
29 LAW AND ORDER:CRIM INTENT NBC 7.83
30 APPRENTICE 4 NBC 7.48
31 LAS VEGAS NBC 7.45
32 PRISON BREAK FOX 7.22
33 INVASION ABC 6.39
34 CHRISTMAS-ROCKEFELLER CEN NBC 6.31
35 LAW & ORDER:SVU-SAT-RPT NBC 6.26
36 SURFACE NBC 6.13
37 GHOST WHISPERER CBS 6.01
38 20/20-FRI ABC 5.95
39 CRIMINAL MINDS TUE SPC CBS 5.74
40 AMER FUNN HOME VIDEOS ABC 5.65
41 NFL RAIDERS/CHARGERS ESPN 5.60
42 WIFE SWAP ABC 5.57
43 AMER FUNN HM VIDEOS-12/2 ABC 5.48
44 DATELINE SUN-7PM NBC 5.47
45 GEORGE LOPEZ ABC 5.44
46 AMAZING RACE 8 CBS 5.43
47 SIMPSONS FOX 5.39
48 FREDDIE ABC 5.27
49 POPE JOHN PAUL II, PART 1 CBS 5.20
50 KNOTS LANDING REUNION CBS 5.10
51 ACCORDING TO JIM ABC 5.07
52 RODNEY ABC 5.04
52 WILL & GRACE NBC 5.04
54 ACC CHAMPIONSHIP ABC 5.02
55 40TH ANNVRSRY OF THE ACMS CBS 4.89
56 JOEY NBC 4.85
56 WEST WING NBC 4.85
58 MEDIUM 12/3 NBC 4.71
59 HAVE NO FEAR:LIFE-POPE J. PAUL ABC 4.62
60 SANTA CLAUS COMIN' TO TWN ABC 4.60
60 BONES FOX 4.60
62 PRIMETIME ABC 4.59
63 FAMILY GUY FOX 4.49
64 TRADING SPOUSES FOX 4.38
65 THAT '70S SHOW FOX 4.37
66 PRISON BREAK ENC-MON 8P FOX 4.31
67 WAR AT HOME FOX 4.26
67 AMW: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK FOX 4.26
69 APPRENTICE:MARTHA NBC 4.24
70 AMERICAN DAD FOX 4.00
71 CROSSING JORDAN 12/3 NBC 3.97
71 THREE WISHES NBC 3.97
73 COPS FOX 3.96
74 O.C. FOX 3.91
75 7TH HEAVEN - WB WB 3.88
76 KING OF THE HILL FOX 3.84
77 INTERROGATION ROOM SP FOX 3.83
78 AMERICA'S NXT TOP MODEL 5 UPN 3.60
79 DATELINE FRI 12/2 NBC 3.57
80 MONK USA 3.52
81 STACKED FOX 3.46
82 HAPPY ELF NBC 3.45
83 WWE ENTERTAINMENT USA 3.21
84 NFL PRIME TIME L ESPN 3.05
85 KILLER INSTINCT FOX 2.92
86 EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS UPN 2.88
87 REUNION FOX 2.82
87 WWE SMACKDOWN! UPN 2.82
89 FELICITY AM GIRL-WB WB 2.49
90 GIRLFRIENDS UPN 2.45
91 WWE SMACKDOWN! SP- 11/29 UPN 2.36
92 AVATAR: SIEGE OF THE NORT NICK 2.29
93 ALL OF US UPN 2.26
93 HALF AND HALF UPN 2.26
95 AMER NEXT TOP MODEL 5-ENC UPN 2.21
96 ONE TREE HILL - WB WB 2.19
97 BERNIE MAC FOX 2.17
98 7TH HEAVEN-11/28-WB WB 2.13
99 MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE FOX 2.12
99 MOVIE, USA USA 2.12

Source: Nielsen Galaxy Lightning 11/28 - 12/4/05
Programming under 25 minutes excluded
Ad-Supported Subscription TV only