John Spencer


By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Word reached me a little while ago that John Spencer of ''The West Wing'' has died. It's quite a blow. You can see my admiration of his work and his character in my recent ''Journey of Leo McGarry'' post.

(Note: See post #7778 above.)

I also had a chance to talk to John several times over the years, and not just about ''The West Wing,'' and he was one of the nicest guys in the world.

At the moment, I don't know what ''West Wing'' will do without Leo, and I pretty much don't care. Instead, I'm saddened by the loss of such a terrific actor, and glad I had the chance to know him a little.

http://blogs.ohio.com/beacon_tv/west_wing/index.html

TV Review
'Once Upon a Mattress'

The Affable Princess Is Back as Queen
By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times

Remakes are usually the coal in the stocking of Christmas television. For every classic like "Miracle on 34th Street," there is a grotesque adaptation that is irresistibly awful. It used to be that nothing could top "It Happened One Christmas," a 1977 remake of Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," with Marlo Thomas in Jimmy Stewart's role. That was until Tori Spelling played a cold-hearted talk show diva in a 2003 twist on the Scrooge story called "A Carol Christmas."

"Once Upon a Mattress," starring Tracey Ullman as Princess Winnifred on ABC Sunday night (7 PM ET/PT), is the exception. It is just as delightful as the original 1964 television musical that starred Carol Burnett, and maybe even a little more so. This version, after all, offers both Ms. Ullman, a comedian ideally suited to the role that made Ms. Burnett a star, and Ms. Burnett herself as the scheming, son-smothering Queen Aggravain. In towering, bejeweled headdresses, vampy gowns and fake eyelashes that flutter like semaphores, she plays the part the way she once lampooned Norma Desmond and Scarlett O'Hara - hilariously.

And there is probably only one actress who could hold her own against all those smoldering head turns, crossed-eye glares and sudden bursts of basso profundo (Ms. Burnett drops her voice lower than Barry White's to hiss, "You didn't sleep?!!?"). Ms. Ullman, who revived the Carol Burnett-style comedy sketch show in 1987 with "The Tracey Ullman Show" on Fox, is wonderful the minute she climbs out of the moat, wet, brawny and beaming, and belts out, "I'm shy."

The music was composed by Mary Rodgers, the daughter of Richard Rodgers, and the show had its debut in 1959 at a small theater with Ms. Burnett in the lead and went on to a successful run on Broadway. Sarah Jessica Parker played Princess Winnifred in a 1996 revival, but Ms. Ullman would have been a better choice even then: Ms. Parker's looks are too delicate; Ms. Ullman can morph into any form, including that of a princess who can lift more weight than her prince, outwrestle him, and also dance him to death and drink him under the table.

The story is a fractured version of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea," about a queen who tests the blood lines of a girl seeking to marry the prince by putting a pea under her mattresses, figuring that a true princess would be too delicate and sensitive to sleep soundly. In the musical version, the jealous Queen prevents her love-starved son from marrying by putting prospective brides to insurmountable tests, and since in her kingdom there is a strict marriage law ("throughout the land/ no one may wed/ until Dauntless shares his marriage bed"), the entire court is waiting for Princess Right to come along. Queen Aggravain keeps all candidates at bay. "Blood will tell," she trillingly informs one reject. "And yours didn't tell us quite enough."

Ms. Burnett memorably starred in the 1964 television version, which she remade in color in 1972, with Ken Berry as the Oedipally-challenged Prince Dauntless. (Jane White, an African-American actress, played Queen Aggravain on the stage and in both television versions.) This time, Denis O'Hare plays Dauntless, and he is as dim and easily led as Steve Carell in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." Tom Smothers plays the mute, browbeaten King Sextimus, and that was an inspired choice: he brings a woeful sweetness to an otherwise small role. As Lady Larken, Zooey Deschanel is no Bernadette Peters, who almost - but not quite - stole the 1972 show away from Ms. Burnett. But she is lovely and surprisingly funny as the ingénue who is determined to see the prince wed so she can hurry up and marry the knight who knocked her up.

Musicals staged for television do not always live up to memory or legend. Last December, PBS showed for the first time in 47 years the original 1957 CBS broadcast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," starring a very young Julie Andrews. However interesting it might have been to musical-comedy buffs, the black-and-white production, a film of a live performance, was surprisingly, disappointingly slow and static.

It could be tough to coax today's young viewers to sit still and watch the black-and-white 1964 version of "Once Upon a Mattress," or even the 1972 one. The remake has everything that those earlier versions had and something more: Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett together and at each other's throats.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/arts/television/16matt.html?pagewanted=print

The New York Times Obituary
John Spencer, 58, TV Actor Starring on 'The West Wing,' Dies

By Jennifer 8. Lee The New York Times December 17, 2005

John Spencer, the Emmy Award-winning actor who played the shrewd, craggy White House chief of staff on the NBC drama "The West Wing," died yesterday morning in Los Angeles, four days before his 59th birthday.

He had a heart attack Thursday night and was taken to Olympia Medical Center, where he was declared dead shortly after 10 a.m. yesterday, said Ron Hofmann, his publicist.

In an eerie parallel to life, his character on "The West Wing," Leo McGarry, suffered a heart attack last season that forced him to give up his job as chief of staff to President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen. McGarry recovered and, in the season finale, became the running mate of Matt Santos, the Democratic presidential nominee, played by Jimmy Smits. The campaign is a critical plotline for the show, which is in the middle of production for its seventh season. Mr. Spencer had received Emmy nominations for his role every year from 1999 to 2004, winning as a best supporting actor in 2002.

He made his breakthrough in the 1990 film "Presumed Innocent," playing the role of Detective Dan Lipranzer alongside Harrison Ford. "His name, all of a sudden, became at the tip of everyone's tongue," Mr. Hofmann said. Mr. Spencer then solidified his reputation as a character actor, playing a stream of lawyers and government officials, including the fiery New York transplant Tommy Mullaney on "L.A. Law."

By the late 1990's, Mr. Spencer had so deeply ensconced himself as a sharp-witted public servant that he was cited as a model for the chief of staff on "The West Wing." Aaron Sorkin, creator of the series, recalled last night: "I said to the casting director, 'We need someone like John Spencer.' And the casting director said, 'What about John Spencer?' And I said, 'We will never get John Spencer.' " But Mr. Spencer said yes.

Mr. Spencer was born on Dec. 20, 1946, in New York City to John and Mildred Speshock, a truck driver and a waitress, and grew up in Totowa, N.J. He saw acting as an escape from his lower-middle-class upbringing. At 16 he left home to attend the Professional Children's School in New York City, landing his first television role as Henry Anderson on "The Patty Duke Show." After high school, he attended Fairleigh Dickinson University but left without graduating.

In his early career, roles were scarce, and Mr. Spencer worked as a waiter to support himself in understudy and regional theater roles in the 1970's. "People don't know what to do with a character actor who is 20," he said in an interview with TV Guide in 2000.

In 1981 he won an Obie Award for his role as Mark in John Byrne's Off Broadway play "Still Life." He remained committed to live theater, appearing most recently as Martin Glimmer, a worn-out trumpeter in "Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine," in Los Angeles and New York.

Mr. Spencer, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, took solace in his lifelong hobby, gardening. As a child, he earned a blue ribbon from the local 4-H club for tending peas and beans in his family's vegetable garden. At his Bel-Air home, he continued to grow roses, hollyhocks, lilacs and other species common to the Northeast rather than to Southern California. He still thought of himself as a New Yorker, keeping the rental apartment he had lived in while a struggling actor until last year, when he bought an apartment.

Mr. Spencer was married and divorced in the 1970's. There are no immediate survivors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/17/arts/television/17spencer.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1134803642-76nxlol/58bs/3gYYNwefQ&pagewanted=print

TV Review
This 'Mattress' Suits Carol Burnett to a Pea

By Tom Shales Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, December 17, 2005; C01

Lighthearted romps are an endangered species. It's a pity -- especially in such heavy-hearted times. We could use a little more whimsy in the world, and we'll get a little tomorrow night on ABC with "Once Upon a Mattress," (7 PM ET/PT), a new version of a very rompy Broadway musical that has the weight and density of marshmallow mush.

The real glories of the production can be summed up in two words: Carol Burnett. The great comedy star -- who officially reached national-treasure status by receiving Kennedy Center Honors and, this year, the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- appeared in two previous TV productions of the musical, which is loosely based on the classic fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea."

In 1964 and again in 1972, Burnett played the pea-plagued princess. Now, she takes on the role of the cranky, crackpot queen -- Queen Aggravain by name, and mistress of her domain. Queenie doesn't want her simpleton son, Prince Dauntless, to marry and leave home, so she makes sure that every prospective bride fails some preposterous test that the queen herself concocts.

Then comes Fred. Or Princess Winnifred, as she is known to all but her bosom buddies. Fred is so determined to bag the prince that she swims the castle moat and arrives at court a dripping, sopping mess. Inheriting the role from Ms. Burnett, Tracey Ullman is fairly funny and sings the comic-romantic songs with gusto, but you still might find yourself imagining the crazy things that Burnett must have done with the role.

Denis O'Hare is lovably clueless as the prince, who still dresses as if going off to his first day of school. In a less-than-riveting subplot, Zooey Deschanel and Matthew Morrison play Lady Larken and Sir Harry, who long to marry each other but are stymied by "the marriage law," which forbids anyone in the kingdom from getting hitched until the prince does.

One of the quirkier surprises is casting Tom Smothers, half of the Smothers Brothers act and veteran of the great TV censorship wars of the 1960s and '70s, as the king. The Smothers Brothers had a clever and innovative "comedy hour" Sunday nights on CBS, right after "The Ed Sullivan Show," but network censors kept up a steady stream of objections to material written for the show. CBS was pulling the same kind of nonsense that the FCC is pulling today, suggesting we have regressed, not progressed, in this area.

Seeing little Tommy Smothers playing a sweet old man is both evocative and jarring, since he was always the more juvenile member of the act. He didn't have to learn much dialogue for this, because the henpecked king was rendered mute years earlier when a witch threw a curse at him. Smothers is funny in the part, even without speaking; he's the epitome of pixilated charm.

Burnett is magnificent. All roads lead to her. She stands out physically as well as every other way because her costumes -- and only hers -- were designed by Bob Mackie, who worked with the star for years on "The Carol Burnett Show," a classic that is fondly remembered by those of us older than, uhhh, 30. Okay, 40. All right, 41.

Together, Mackie and Burnett scored such triumphs as the dress made from drapes -- with the curtain rods still in them -- in a parody of "Gone With the Wind." Burnett, as Scarlett: "I saw it in the window and I just couldn't resist it." Her comic instincts have not dulled, her brightness of spirit has not dimmed. She alone is reason enough to tune in.

How nice it would be if TV Land could get hold of all those old hour-long Burnett shows and air them weekly, just as CBS used to do. But Scrooge-y old TV Land aims itself more at Gen-X and younger viewers than at baby boomers. Poor old boomers! They're the first real TV generation, and now TV doesn't want them because they're in their fifties and sixties. Talk about ingratitude.

Burnett is resplendent, grand and funny -- a legend full of mischief and mayhem. Strangely, her name is not "above the title" in the opening credits. It should be. She turns a lighthearted romp into a warmhearted hoot.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/16/AR2005121601905_pf.html

TV Review
'Mattress' springs eternal

By David Bianculli New York Daily News TV Editor
* * * (out of 4)

WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY: ONCE UPON A MATTRESS. Sunday night at 7 ET/PT, ABC

I didn't realize how much I missed Carol Burnett on television until I watched a preview of this Sunday's ABC "Wonderful World of Disney" special.

She co-stars in a new production of the family musical "Once Upon a Mattress" - and watching Burnett, cavorting in cartoonish costumes created by Bob Mackie, is like watching "The Carol Burnett Show: The Next Generation."

Young viewers, tuning in to "Mattress" at 7 p.m., won't know what they've been missing. But those who remember spending Saturday nights with Burnett and company will find this a double treat.

(There was a time, boys and girls, when Saturday-night TV not only mattered, but was the place to find the very best and many of the most popular. On CBS in 1973, the Saturday lineup was "All in the Family," "M*A*S*H," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Bob Newhart Show" and "The Carol Burnett Show." Take that, Must-See TV.)

There's even more ancient history associated with this Burnett vehicle, by the way. "Once Upon a Mattress," a musical retelling of "The Princess and the Pea," premiered Off-Broadway in 1959, and moved to Broadway the following year, with Burnett starring as the irrepressible Princess Winnifred. She repeated the part in TV specials in 1964 and 1972; Sarah Jessica Parker inherited the role in a 1996 Broadway revival.

In Sunday's show, Burnett plays the role of Queen Aggravain, the palace matriarch who concocts impossible tests for any princess foolish enough to ask for the hand of the Queen's beloved, pampered and sheltered son, Prince Dauntless (Denis O'Hare).

The Queen's husband, King Sextimus (Tom Smothers), wants his son to break free from his wife's clutches, and he wants the same for himself, but he's been stricken speechless.

Into this dysfunctional royal family steps Winnifred - played, in this new version, by Tracey Ullman, quite arguably the best female sketch comic since Burnett herself. The two women don't have many scenes together, and must by design stick to one character apiece. Yet whether Burnett's queen is singing about her stifling love for her son, or Ullman's princess is singing about her love for her homeland swamp, their showbiz swagger is entirely infectious.

The music (by Mary Rodgers) and lyrics (by Marshall Barer, with one new song, a Burnett solo, written by Ken and Mitzie Welch) aren't terrific - but as fairy-tale musicals go, the spell is maintained throughout. Tony-winning choreographer Kathleen Marshall directs, and certainly makes the most of the dance sequences. To her credit, though, she gets even more out of her actors when they aren't dancing or singing.

O'Hare, who was so great in Broadway's "Assassins," is impish as the prince, and Smothers, as king, gets lots of quiet laughs before he finally finds his voice. Burnett finds ways to milk laughs out of every line or lyric, and Ullman, during her fitful night atop 20 down mattresses and a pea, has a restless sleep that ought to make every viewer laugh, regardless of age.

That doesn't even take into account Zooey Deschanel as Lady Larken, who has an urgent need for a timely marriage to Matthew Morrison's Sir Harry, or Edward Hibbert as the Wizard (and the Nightingale) and Michael Boatman as the helpful Jester. He's the fool in this version, but parents will be the fools if they don't gather the family around for this one.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/col/dbianculli/

Sorry to hear about Mr. Spencer

Interesting about Novak>>FOX.

I had a chance to deal with John Spencer a few times, and as good an actor as he was, he was even more an intelligent, thoughtful, classy gentleman.

It is sad.

A couple of additional notes to the earlier John Spencer obits.

(These are from The Associated Press story by Lynn Elber.)

"...Actress Allison Janney, C.J. Cregg on the series, described Spencer as a consummate professional actor. 'Everyone adored him,' she said.

NBC and producer Warner Bros. Television praised Spencer's talent but did not address how his death would affect the Emmy Award-winning series, in production on its seventh season...."

I started watching West Wing because I liked Martin Sheen, irrespective of actual politics, but quickly realized that it was John Spenser who would keep me tuned in no matter what. I thought he was leaving the show when Leo had his medical difficulites, but was happy that wasn't the case. Last week's episode put Leo right back in the center of things and I look forward to the remaining episodes he will appear in. RIP John!

I was delighted with last week's episode, too, Dave, thinking the show might really be on to something in its story arc.

How sad.

fred, you have met a lot of cool people.. what do you do for a living that puts you in contact with tv folks

jim

I had a chance to deal with John Spencer a few times, and as good an actor as he was, he was even more an intelligent, thoughtful, classy gentleman.

It is sad.

Friday’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.

fred, you have met a lot of cool people.. what do you do for a living that puts you in contact with tv folks

jim

He used to work for Heidi Fleiss out in Hollywood. He might not have been the best, but he was the cheapest and really enjoyed his work. :D

Critic’s Notebook
Fox makes strong showing on season's best, worst list

By Dusty Saunders (Denver) Rocky Mountain News December 17, 2005

I've made a list.

And I've checked it twice. I can't believe it. Fox is there more than thrice.

This gift-oriented jingle is an introduction to my semiannual report about the good and bad on entertainment television.

Each June and December, the industry trade publication Television Week asks the nation's critics for their likes and dislikes, with the December list geared to the fall season.

In recent polls, Fox programs have made my top-10 list with one or two series - maximum. This time Fox claims half the list. A television revolution?

My top 10 from the fall season

1. Bones (Fox): A surprise, since relatively few viewers have seen this freshman series about murder mysteries and forensic anthropology. The writing is crisp and the budding romantic relationship between Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz breezy and sophisticated. Think Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn or Bruce Willis-Cybill Shepherd.

2. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO): Larry David is the most obnoxious, self-serving person on television. Yet his ego-centered misadventures in Beverly Hills provide classic caustic comedy. And there are no commercials to destroy the continuity of his meanderings.

3. Lost (ABC): What started last season as a wild adventure series has evolved into an entertaining psychological suspense show with a variety of provocative characters.

4. Arrested Development (Fox): If you believe Nielsen audience ratings, this "mockumentary" about the dysfunctional Bluth family has never found loyal viewers, despite its critical acclaim. That's a shame. In future years, AD will be considered a comedy classic.

5. My Name is Earl (NBC): White- trash characters and trailer-park humor have never been a hallmark on the peacock network's so-called sophisticated schedule. But this half-hour has an appeal for every comedy taste.

6. The West Wing (NBC): While some critics and numerous viewers have lost interest in this politically-oriented series, the hour remains one of the best-written (exceptional story continuity) and well-acted dramas on the schedule. The fictional politicians are more intriguing than those on Commander in Chief.

7. The Simpsons. (Fox): Every time I tune into this long-running (17 seasons) series I understand why it's always on my top-10 list. The "family values" exist with more than a pinch of sarcasm.

8. Grey's Anatomy (ABC): Anatomy is the key part of this hospital drama, since the romantic stories almost provide a peek at body parts. And viewers care about the characters.

9. House (Fox): What's this? Another hospital series on my favorite's list? Actually this drama is more about the activities of arrogant Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) who gives new meaning to the term idiosyncratic physician. The patients' are nearly always secondary.

10. Prison Break (Fox): I wondered last fall: Who's going to watch a preposterous story line about a man who becomes a convict in an effort to save his brother from death row for a murder he didn't commit? The answer: Millions of viewers (including me) who are caught up in this illogical but ingenious plotting.

Compiling the five-worst list is a difficult assignment, considering all the junk that shows up on a regular basis.

My five worst, with No. 1 being the worst

1. Killer Instinct (Fox): In a season where sexual assault, gruesome murders and carved-up corpses reign supreme, this copycat series (thankfully canceled) was the epitome of the gore that drenches television.

2. The War at Home (Fox): A carbon copy of the '80s series Married . . . With Children, War is predictable daddy-is-a-dope TV.

3. Fear Factor (NBC): The worst of all the network reality shows deserves all the unkind things written about it. Is NBC honcho Jeff Zucker concerned about Fear Factor being on his resume?

4. Head Cases (Fox): Did the network programmers really believe this awful concept about a pair of crazy, mismatched lawyers would find an audience? It was one of the first new fall series canceled.

5. Hot Properties (ABC): Subtitle this raunchy, unfunny comedy about four man-hungry New York real estate women, Bursting Bosoms. Sadly, Gail O'Grady, so elegant as the eloquent mother on American Dreams, got caught up in this humorless mess.

You've undoubtedly noticed Fox's contribution to this worst list. So I'll close with this refrain:.

I've made my list and checked it thrice.
Fox has three bad shows
That are anything but nice.

http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/spotlight_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23962_4320777,00.html

He used to work for Heidi Fleiss out in Hollywood. He might not have been the best, but he was the cheapest and really enjoyed his work. :D
Oh wow..I just about choked on my orange juice, actually sprayed some on the screen... :p :D :D :D

Geez, CP, I thought my secrets were safe with you.

Critic’s Notebook: Best of 2005
Finale stuns even Trump

By Richard Huff New York Daily News TV Editor Dec. 17, 2005

Moments after Randall Pinkett was selected by Donald Trump to be the "Apprentice," he made it clear he didn't want any company.

During the live broadcast, Trump, after hiring Pinkett, asked if he should hire Rebecca Jarvis, too.

"It's not 'The Apprenti,' it's 'The Apprentice,'" Pinkett said, shooting down Jarvis' shot at a gig with Trump.

Trump said yesterday he came up with the idea of hiring both during the telecast, which emanated from Lincoln Center and was watched by 14 million viewers.

"I felt Randall should at least have a say," Trump told the Daily News yesterday.

But then Pinkett shot off the "Apprenti" line.

"I was surprised, because I think most people would have said hire Rebecca, too," Trump said. "It shows he's certainly an independent thinker."

Anyone watching the telecast Thursday night could see Trump was leaning toward Pinkett, who has multiple degrees and a stint at Oxford. During the run of "The Apprentice," viewers also saw his teams win repeatedly. He was also well-liked by his teammates.

Still, the shot at Jarvis in the last final moments of the show was surprising.

"I'm not against what Randall did," Trump said. "He did a brave thing. His line was unbelievable."

Trump said he told Jarvis afterward he was surprised Pinkett didn't vote to hire her.

However, Jarvis won't be out of work long. The folks at Yahoo offered her a job yesterday.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/375408p-319039c.html

Under current regulations, television broadcasters are required to air three hours a week of educational programming for children 16 years and under between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
...
That requirement broadens next month when broadcasters will have to supply three hours of children's programming on each of the up to five digital channels they can multicast using digital technology.Do I read this right? So my local stations that have a weather channel simulcast with their HD must put three hours of kids show on those? They don't schedule anything else on this, so how would I even find these shows to let my kids view them!?

Xesdeeni

Critic’s Notebook: Best of 2005
When You Ride With Jesus, Don't Tailgate

By Felicia R. Lee The New York Times December 18, 2005

It was a cold night in a quiet Staten Island neighborhood, but Christ Episcopal Church, a Gothic Revival marvel of gray limestone and stained glass, was full of people and light and singing. The lights were of the klieg variety, though, and many of the well-scrubbed people had been hired to fill the pews.

The occasion was a recent filming of "The Book of Daniel, " a new NBC drama scheduled to have its premiere on Jan. 6. The show stars Aidan Quinn as the Rev. Daniel Webster, a sometimes petulant, sometimes befuddled, Vicodin-addicted Episcopal minister, husband and father who wants to do right. Daniel not only prays to Jesus, but also talks to a flesh-and-blood, long-haired guy in a flowing robe, a kind of heavenly Dr. Phil no one else sees. Jesus pops up at Daniel's sprawling home (in a prosperous New York suburb) or sits beside him in his car, admonishing him not to tailgate or be so judgmental.

"Have I been chosen?" Daniel asks Jesus in the premiere episode. "No," Jesus replies. "So why do you talk to me, then?" the minister persists. "I talk to everybody," Jesus cheerfully answers.

When NBC announced "Daniel" last summer, there were the expected predictions of controversy in a country that takes its religion seriously. A priest with a monkey on his back who talks to Jesus? "Daniel May Face Lion's Den," said a Dallas Morning News headline.

"Some of the best shows on TV start with the perception of controversy, which is usually not an issue if it's backed by quality," said Kevin Reilly, the president of NBC Entertainment. "The intent with 'The Book of Daniel' is to make a high-quality show that is both highly entertaining and thought-provoking."

Television shows about ministers, angels and the like come and go (and WB's "Seventh Heaven" has lasted 10 seasons), but the right formula is tricky. ABC quickly canceled the critically acclaimed 1997 drama "Nothing Sacred," about an urbane, conflicted Roman Catholic priest, following low ratings and protests over its takes on topics like clerical corruption.

"Lately, a lot of people want to talk about religion," Jack Kenny, the creator and an executive producer of "Daniel" said, in a room away from the tangle of wires and frenetic people preparing the shoot. "I said, let's talk about it in a real way - a family that lives it. It started with Daniel, seeing the world through the eyes of a really faithful man who is flawed. I wanted to explore a family in that backdrop, in the way that 'Six Feet Under' explores a family in the funeral business or 'The Sopranos' explores a family in the Mafia."

A walking, talking Jesus, Mr. Kenny said, simply embodies Daniel's faith.

The Jesus character did not make an appearance the other night in New Brighton, a gracious residential area in Staten Island where the 1905 church stood in for the series' fictional St. Barnabas Church. But with every ornate chandelier lit amid the soaring, wood-beamed ceiling, Mr. Quinn walked to the pulpit, a fake choir bedecked in red and white behind him.

The crew expected to shoot late, wrapping up the seventh of eight episodes. At one point, everyone cleared the set for a flashback scene in which Daniel's 16-year-old daughter, Grace (Alison Pill), sang a melancholy and melodic "Time After Time."

Though Grace was singing in a church, the scene was written in such a way that the reason is unclear. The pilot episode, though, alludes to the death of one of the Webster family's twin sons several years earlier and sets up the swirl of issues in Daniel's world.

The series begins with the minister bailing Grace out of jail after her arrest for selling marijuana. Viewers later meet Adam (Ivan Shaw), an adopted Chinese son who is also 16 and who lovingly lobs racially tinged sarcasm at his family, and some good-natured, homophobic comments at his brother Peter (Christian Campbell), who is 23, gay and still dealing with his brother's death.

Daniel's wife, Judith (Susanna Thompson, from "Once and Again"), is a pretty, moneyed WASP who has nice chemistry with her husband and likes her martinis, too. Daniel also has to handle the simultaneous disappearances of his brother-in-law and his secretary, along with a lot of church money. A body turns up later in a motel room.

The cast includes the Oscar-winning actress Ellen Burstyn as Bishop Beatrice Cosgrove, who in the pilot chides Daniel for preaching that everyone gives in to temptation, and Dylan Baker ("Happiness" and "Kinsey") as Roger Paxton, a senior warden of the parish. Garret Dillahunt (who plays a killer on the HBO series "Deadwood") is Jesus.

Clearly, "Daniel" owes more to "Six Feet Under" than it does to "Seventh Heaven," the earnest, 1950's-tinged WB drama about a minister, his wife and their seven children.

"It's edgier than most network TV shows," Flody Suarez, a "Daniel" executive producer, said with smooth understatement. Mr. Quinn and the producers (John Tinker of "The Practice" is the third executive producer) said they only ask that people watch "Daniel" before judging it.

"For me, it was the idea of the consequences, the strain and the passion with which Aidan's character pursues doing the right thing," said Mr. Suarez, who before "Daniel" was executive producer of the ABC comedy "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" and who as vice president of development at NBC oversaw the production of shows like "ER" and "Just Shoot Me."

Speaking of his character, Mr. Quinn said: "I just see him as a very human, down-to-earth man full of foibles, with a good heart, dealing with modern life. I like his sense of humor, I like his flaws. It allows me not to be some saccharine, unreal priest. I like that he's trying to evolve. He's aware that he has miles to go."

The show's production schedule has been tough, Mr. Quinn said, with 14-hour days not uncommon. A veteran of more than 25 feature films, including "Michael Collins" and "Legends of the Fall," this is Mr. Quinn's first regular television series and his first time playing a priest.

Mr. Quinn, 46, grew up as a Roman Catholic in Chicago and in Ireland (his family moved back and forth). His recent television appearances were on NBC as a police officer in "Third Watch" and as Paul Newman's son in the HBO mini-series "Empire Falls."

Mr. Quinn, with huge light blue eyes and a kindly manner, said he visited a number of Episcopal churches to prepare for his role. He was impressed, he said, with how the sermons always touched on social issues. Mr. Quinn said he imagined Daniel as the kind of guy who has always had a strong connection to Jesus, "that goose-bump kind of thing."

Mr. Kenny took the unusual step of writing "The Book of Daniel" before getting an agreement with a network. He said he was fascinated by organized religion, he said, and the idea of exploring religion through the prism of a family rattled around in his head for two years.

In coming episodes, Daniel will continue to battle his Vicodin problem, and there will be a budding interracial romance between Grace and the housekeeper's grandson.

"They're just struggling to get through life," Mr. Kenny said of the Webster family, insisting that the pills, the drug selling, the missing money - and that's just in the first episode - make them human. After all, Mr. Kenny said, people with problems need a guiding light more than saints do.

"If you have everything together," he said, "what do you need God for?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/18/arts/television/18lee.html?pagewanted=print

Commentary
Wright Aid
By J. Max Robins Broadcasting & Cable 12/19/2005

Just as soon as our story hit the Web last Thursday that NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright had orchestrated a makeover of the executive suites, the industry tealeaf readers started analyzing what it all really meant beyond a press release touting a “newly integrated” operation.

Wright elevated Jeff Zucker to CEO of the NBC Universal Television Group. A handful of key executives who formerly answered to Wright now report to Zucker.

To some observers high up inside NBC headquarters at 30 Rock, the move had corporate parent General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt's fingerprints all over it. Word was, Immelt believes that Wright, in the wake of spending $14 billion to acquire Vivendi Universal Entertainment properties, simply has too much on his plate, from integrating two disparate cultures to keeping peace between key lieutenants.

And Wright has more work to do. According to numbers GE shared with Wall Street, NBC Universal should post 10% revenue growth but zero profit growth in 2006. Not only does Wright face challenges with NBC, where GE warned the Street to expect a continued decline in prime time, he has hurdles at the film studio as well. The reorganization at the TV group came right on the heels of NBC Universal's losing out to Viacom in the strategic acquisition of DreamWorks.

Against this back­drop, the expanded role Zucker is getting clearly designates him as 62-year-old Wright's heir-apparent. Some in the business were incredulous when they learned of Zucker's ascent. There have been bright spots in areas that report to him: The profit machine known as Today seems to have righted itself (although co-host Katie Couric may leave for CBS), there was a smooth transition from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams at NBC Nightly News, and such acquired outfits as the USA Network and Sci Fi Channel have shown significant post-merger growth.

There are also troubles, ranging from NBC's prominent prime time collapse to continued ratings challenges at CNBC, MSNBC and Bravo.

Still, Zucker, who has embraced GE's tough, disciplined management ethos, has earned the trust of Immelt. And Wright, his boss and longtime mentor, apparently thinks the woes in Zucker's empire are more part of the cyclical nature of the business than a case of mismanagement. Some NBC brass note that Zucker is an adroit internal politician, who managed to outmaneuver his main rival in the television group, Randy Falco, who for years has been in charge of operations and ad sales. With the reorganization, Falco, president and COO of the TV group, gets a little more turf but now reports to Zucker instead of to Wright. “Zucker is more articulate, the consummate showman,” says one longtime associate of both men. “Randy is an introvert, more of a thinker and doer.”

For Kremlinologists within the halls of NBC, one of the most interesting elements of the shake-up is the return of Beth Comstock to the executive suites, with the lengthy title of president of NBC Universal Digital Media and Market Development. In contrast to Falco, she will report to Wright. Formerly Wright's top public-relations executive, Comstock moved up to GE, first serving ex-chairman Jack Welch in that role and then becoming the company's chief marketing officer, working closely with Immelt. While she has Wright's trust, she's widely seen as Immelt's eyes and ears. (To see a complete listing of who reports to whom, see the NBC U scorecard, p. 30.)

In announcing the changes, Wright said he was looking for “maximum cooperation and effectiveness.” According to the NBC Universal chairman, it's all about making sure that all his “assets and people are completely aligned.”

Certainly, that is Wright's intent. But even without asking, a lot of the residents of 30 Rock will tell you there's a whole lotta shakin' going on.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6292299

Programming notes:
CNN's Novak will move to Fox News

Suspended since he stormed off a set in August, columnist ends 25 years with network

By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 17, 2005

NEW YORK — Conservative pundit Robert Novak, whose 2003 column identifying a former CIA officer triggered an ongoing federal leak investigation, is leaving CNN at the end of the year, the network announced Friday.

Novak, who is departing at the end of his 25th year at the network, will be taking a job as a commentator for rival Fox News in the beginning of 2006, he said in an interview. Novak hasn't appeared on air since the summer, when he was suspended by CNN after he stormed off the set of a network show.

Novak said that he and CNN officials decided jointly that it was time for him to move on.

"I think there was a mutual agreement on both sides, a desire to terminate the relationship on friendly terms," he said.

"I have a great deal of sentiment for CNN," added the 74-year-old syndicated columnist. "They treated me very nicely and I worked very hard for them. All things come to an end and I have no grievances."

In a statement, CNN/U.S. President Jonathan Klein praised Novak for his "incisive analysis." "We appreciate his many contributions and wish him well in future endeavors," Klein said.

Novak was mostly recently co-host of "Crossfire" and a panelist on "The Capital Gang," both of which were canceled this summer. He continued to offer analysis on other CNN programs until August, when he blurted out an expletive and stormed off the set of "Inside Politics" after exchanging words with Democratic strategist James Carville.

Novak later apologized, but CNN called his behavior "unacceptable" and suspended his appearances.

"I'm sorry that was my last appearance on the network," he said Friday, adding that the incident was not related to his departure.

"All my programs have been canceled that I was part of and my contract was ending, so I had pretty well decided I was going to leave the network, and I think they wanted me to leave," Novak added.

While he plans to scale back his television work, Novak said he decided to take a position at Fox to have "some outlet on television."

"We've had discussions over the years, and I thought it would be a good fit," he said.

A Fox spokeswoman confirmed that Novak will be a general contributor at the network, starting the first week of January, but no specifics were given about what shows he might appear on or when.

Novak said he also plans to continue writing his syndicated column three times a week and finish his memoirs, which are scheduled to be published next fall. As to whether his autobiography will address the most pressing question — who leaked him the name of former CIA operative Valerie Plame — he would only say, "Who knows? It's a possibility."

"I don't think I will ever reveal the source, but somebody else might," he added.

Novak's column set off an investigation by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald that eventually resulted in the indictment of former vice presidential Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on perjury and other charges and the jailing of former New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

Novak backtracked from a statement he made this week during an address to a conservative think tank in Raleigh, N.C., when he said that he is "confident" President Bush knows who his source is. The White House dismissed his claim.

Novak said Friday that he had just been speculating and that he regretted the comment.

"I was very indiscreet and let my mind wander," he said. "It was really a stupid thing to say, because I don't know. I have no idea. I was acting like the last guy at the bar and just mouthing off."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-novak17dec17,0,3260589,print.story?coll=cl-home-more-channels

(I have been out of contact for most of the day, and apologize for playing catch up with some items I normally would have posted far earlier.)

Programming notes:
Novak to leave CNN as commentator

He will start with Fox News in January
By Nick Madigan Baltimore Sun Reporter December 17, 2005

Conservative columnist and commentator Robert Novak, one of the first journalists hired by CNN when it was launched 25 years ago, will not return to the news network after his contract expires Dec. 31.

Novak, a central figure in the Valerie Plame leak scandal, has agreed to contribute to the Fox News Channel starting in January.

CNN and Novak said the decision not to renew his contract had nothing to do with his involvement in the Plame case. Novak was the first to publish her identity as a CIA operative, in a Chicago Sun-Times column July 14, 2003.

"I'm going to be 75 years old in February, and I was working too damn hard," Novak, who will continue his Sun-Times column, said in a telephone interview yesterday. "I'm ready for a softer schedule. It won't be anything like what I was doing at CNN."

Novak said he regretted that several shows on which he appeared, among them Crossfire, The Capital Gang and Inside Politics, are no longer on the air.

"CNN canceled all the shows I was on," Novak said. "They're going in a different direction, but that's their privilege. They own the business."

In a statement issued by his office, Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S., said that through the years, "Bob has offered incisive analysis for much of CNN's programming" and been "a valued contributor to CNN's political coverage."

But Novak's final moments on the network, in August, were anything but cordial. During a discussion with James Carville, Novak's left-wing foil, he cursed and left the Inside Politics set after Carville said Novak had "to show these right-wingers that he's got a backbone."

Novak apologized but has been off the air since. CNN denied reports that he was suspended, saying that it was mutually agreed that Novak take some time off.

With Novak's contract expiring, said Edie Emery, a CNN spokeswoman, "it was a good time to take stock of things."

Novak's reluctance to reveal how he came to publish Plame's name - which prompted an investigation that led to the jailing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and the indictment of I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff - was met with widespread criticism in journalism circles.

Bob Steele, a professor in journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., said Novak's silence "speaks loudly, in some respects, about his questionable ethical behavior in this unsavory story."

"At the least, I believe he owes the public an explanation for why he won't say more about his role, given how significant his actions were," Steele wrote in an e-mail.

Novak has said only that he will discuss the matter when the special prosecutor in the Plame case has completed his probe.

Novak said yesterday that he would have returned to the air on CNN shortly after the August incident had it not been for the Plame case.

"The problem was that it was very difficult to deal with the special prosecutor's investigation of the CIA leak," Novak said. "While it was going on we decided not to put me on the air. After the Libby indictment they extended the prosecutor's term, so I never went back on the air."

Novak said he would likely do a "wind-up" interview on CNN before the end of the year.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-te.to.novak17dec17,1,6343487.story?coll=bal-artslife-tv

This is apparently from the Washington Post’s “Bah, Humbug” file…..
Holiday Viewing
Have Yourself A Maudlin Little Christmas

By Paul Farhi Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, December 18, 2005; N03

It's the most wonderful time of the year for holiday-themed, made-for-TV movies. Well, okay, of course it is. Does any holiday besides Christmas inspire holiday-themed, made-for-TV movies? Not Labor Day. Not the Fourth of July. Not even Thanksgiving. Not even close.

This year, 10 original Christmas-themed TV movies will air on various networks in a nearly month-long made-for marathon. The festivities kicked off with "Silver Bells" (CBS) Nov. 27 and will end on Christmas Day with "Finding John Christmas" (also CBS). Technically, "Finding John Christmas" isn't a new TV movie (it first aired in 2003), but it stars Valerie Bertinelli. Bertinelli is the Cal Ripken of made-for-TV movies. She has been starring in made-fors of all kinds almost annually since 1979. So we are required by law to mention her Christmas movie.

Unless you're a glutton for twinkly soundtrack music, you probably won't get to see all these holiday gems. So herewith we present an all-purpose Guide to Made-for-TV Christmas Movies, 2005 edition:

What They're About . It doesn't matter whether they're romantic comedies ("Recipe for a Perfect Christmas," Lifetime), plain old comedies ("Three Wise Guys," USA Network) or weepy melodramas ("The Christmas Blessing," tonight, on CBS again), all made-for-TV Christmas movies are about one thing: The True Meaning of Christmas (TMOC). Problem is, there's no consensus on what the TMOC is. It varies, which is a weird thing for a "true meaning" to do.

In "Three Wise Guys," the TMOC is about putting aside differences (such as kidnapping, extortion and the threat of murder) to celebrate the birth of a baby. In "Silver Bells," it's about putting aside differences (such as failing to disclose the whereabouts of your would-be paramour's missing teenage son for an entire year ) and learning to love again. In "Chasing Christmas" (ABC Family Channel), it's about learning to enjoy Christmas. In "The Christmas Blessing," it's about donating your liver.

What They're NOT About . Strangely enough, made-for-TV movies about Christmas aren't really about Christmas. Yes, they take place around the holiday. And, yes, they borrow much of the secular commercial imagery of the holiday -- shopping, colorful lights, trees, gift-wrapped presents, etc. But there's very little actual Christmas to be found. The movies never get around to talking about religion, spiritual faith or, um, the birth of Jesus -- which would seem to be the TMOC.

Who's in Them . Okay, so made-for-TV movies aren't the most expensive productions in the TV universe. When it comes to putting the dollars up on the screen, they rank somewhere behind Saturday-morning cartoon series and slightly ahead of infomercials. And when you're watching your budget, you can't afford big-name stars. But you can afford formerly big-name stars, or at least semi-well-known actors. This explains the existence of two TV movies starring Tom Arnold ("Three Wise Guys" and "Chasing Christmas"). Arnold could be turning into the Valerie Bertinelli of Christmas TV movies.

It also might explain the casting of Steve Guttenberg as the lead in "Meet the Santas" (Hallmark Channel), the sequel to last year's "Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus." Guttenberg, a star 20 years ago, plays the son of Santa Claus, who becomes Santa Claus. That Guttenberg, in real life, is Jewish may or may not make this casting problematic (on the other hand, Barbra Streisand put out two Christmas albums).

What They Do . Lead characters in Christmas TV movies tend to have glamorous and/or lucrative jobs. A magazine columnist and a restaurant owner ("Recipe for a Perfect Christmas"). A casino owner ("Three Wise Guys"). A museum curator ("Silver Bells"). A toy designer ("Christmas in Boston"). An advertising executive ("Meet the Santas"). A surgeon ("The Christmas Blessing"). Etc.

What You'll (Almost) Always See . At least one adorable blond child. Many adorable Caucasian people (African Americans and other minority actors play secondary roles, if they appear at all; talk about a white Christmas!). Many single, widowed people, leafing through scrapbooks of old family photos as sad music plays. A stock hardhearted business tycoon who learns charity and forgiveness (TMOC alert!).

And snow. It will always snow in TV movies about Christmas -- but only in the climactic, Christmas Eve scene as the lead characters are tearfully or romantically discovering their TMOC. (The ritual snow ploy is on display in a reviewer's copy of "Christmas in Boston," on ABC Family; during the final smoochy scene, a rough cut includes the on-screen production note "Add Snow to Shot.")

What They'll Say . Count on some character to spout a bah-humbuggish line early on. "Christmas is nothing but high expectations and great disappointment," says the spoiled yuppie daughter in "Recipe for a Perfect Christmas." This inspires a Gentle Rebuke, wherein another character reminds the doubter of the TMOC. "As we all know," says the lovely teacher (Rebecca Gayheart) in "The Christmas Blessing," "holidays are about family and friends."

Look, also, for the Pat Reassurance as a signal that the problems and conflicts raised in the movie are about to be resolved. "I've been around long enough to know these things always work themselves out," the kindly boardinghouse proprietor tells the widowed dad (Tate Donovan) as he anguishes about his missing son in "Silver Bells."

Finally, when all the problems have been set aside and smiles and good cheer abound, it's time for the Tidy Moral. After all, as Arnold, in "Chasing Christmas," reminds his teenage daughter, Christmas is "a time to be kind to strangers and celebrate life."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/16/AR2005121600378_pf.html

Critic’s Notebook: Best of 2005
Supporting roles, done well, elevate a TV show

By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal

They don't get their names above the title. Or in it. But don't try to make a show without them.

They're the supporting actors, the people who react to what the star is doing, who drive the B story while the leading man gets the A, who often get asked to move aside on the red carpet.

But they're also the performers who can take a show from good to great, who can urge less able actors to better work. They can even bring viewers to a show when the star may not.

I recently asked readers of my blog for suggestions of great team players on series -- narrowing the field to shows that premiered in 2005, or actors who joined an ongoing show in that year.

I then heard about Lara Flynn Boyle on Las Vegas and Lauren Holly of NCIS (both suggested by Richard Dervan), John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer on The Office (courtesy of ``JD'') and -- all from Fred Farrar -- Christine Ebersole (Related), Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds), Ryan Hurst (Wanted), G.W. Bailey (The Closer), Ever Carradine (Commander in Chief) and more besides.

But that leaves out still more people who deserve your holiday cheers. So here are some of my favorite back-benchers of 2005.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Lost. Those of us who knew him from Oz felt a clear sense of terror when his Mr. Eko came on the Lost scene. But the writers have made him someone so mysterious and intriguing that you should wonder about him every week -- and he hit it out of the acting park in the storytelling scene.

Leslie David Baker (Stanley), Angela Kinsey (Angela) and Brian Baumgartner (Kevin), The Office. I thought about Krasinski and Fischer, and about Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight. They're all good. But these actors are essential to the show, because they show you how back-breaking and mind-bending an awful workplace can be. And they're funny doing it.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Alumni Society. Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother), Nicholas Brendon (Kitchen Confidential), Charisma Carpenter (Veronica Mars) and David Boreanaz (Bones) are all improving the shows they now work on. (And yes, Boreanaz is promoted as almost a co-lead on Bones. Let me cast my net wide anyway.)

They also collectively remind viewers how important humor was to Buffy, since they all know how to bring laughs to their current roles. One of the season's best moments was Carpenter dueling with Hannigan when the latter guest-starred on Veronica.

Terry Crews, Everybody Hates Chris. While this show is nominally about the young Chris Rock, ably played by Tyler James Williams, it has given considerable life to Arnold's parents, Rochelle and Julius, played by Tichina Arnold and Crews.

Arnold is very funny. But it's Crews' portrayal of a soft-spoken, hard-working, minding-every-penny dad that makes me laugh as hard as anything on the show. In a prime time loaded with bumbling fathers, Crews is a refreshing alternative.

Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother. The former Doogie Howser did a major image makeover in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and it continues on this show, where his philosophical womanizer has become so entertaining that he has his own show promos.

On the down side, Harris and others in the cast demonstrate what Alan Sepinwall of the Newark Star-Ledger has called ``Herskozwickitis.'' The name comes from producers Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz (thirtysomething, My So-Called Life and Once & Again.) They made shows where the supporting cast was more interesting than the star, and series like How I Met Your Mother fall into the same trap.

Erinn Hayes, Kitchen Confidential. Sadly, the showwas yanked from the schedule before you got to see Hayes as Becky, a new chef in Confidential's kitchen. Tough, smart and more than ready to tangle with the men around her, she would have been a vivid new presence in prime time.

Jaime Pressly, My Name Is Earl. Another terrific ensemble, and I almost put Ethan Suplee on this list. But Pressly's performance is more interesting because it seems to play directly on her Maxim-cover-girl image while showing what can happen to selfish party girls. And Pressly gets the joke.

Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy. As you can tell by now, there are a lot of shows where I wanted to name the entire ensemble, and this is one of them. But Wilson, as the dour ``Nazi,'' is someone whom viewers keep talking about. I especially like that her seemingly constant irritation is balanced by tremendous skill at her job. And that recent scene with her and T.R. Knight (as O'Malley) confronting an obnoxious family played beautifully.

I could name more actors and shows, of course. [B]Michaela Conlin, Eric Millegan and T.J. Thyne from Bones come to mind, and all the supporting players on [B]The Closer. But the overall message is still the same. No matter where they are in the credits, supporting actors are often as important as the show's stars.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/13429648.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

News Notes:
“Reunion” Finale, “The Apprentice”


by Matt Webb Mitovich TVGuide.com Sunday, December 18, 2005

UNHAPPY REUNION: Fox's Reunion, which was canceled a few weeks ago but wasn't scheduled to actually bow out until Feb. 2, aired its final episode on Dec. 15. "Yes, it was [the last episode], unfortunately," a rep for the series tells TVGuide.com. Reunion execs recently issued a statement saying that the central murder mystery could not possibly be wrapped up on a truncated timetable. So whodunit? My buddy Michelle thinks it was either Craig or "the crazy girl he had the affair with." (Now stop bugging me, Shell. Because I. Don't. Know.)

ALL FIRED UP: The Apprentice champ Randal Pinkett stands by his decision not to back Trump on the idea of also giving runner-up Rebecca Jarvis a job during Thursday night's live finale. As he tells TVGuide.com, "[Season 1 finalist] Kwame Jackson was an extremely strong candidate, but Bill Rancic was not offered the opportunity to hire Kwame. [U]ltimately, this was not my decision; this was Mr. Trump's decision. All he did was solicit my opinion." In other words, no second thoughts here. "I firmly stand by the fact that the premise was to hire the Apprentice, not the 'apprenti.'"

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

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.

Critic’s Notebook: Best of 2005
Supporting roles, done well, elevate a TV show

By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal


Fred, I see you and your picks made the column. :)

I did my best to get everyone here involved!

For your post-Holiday planning......

Upcoming TV on DVD Releases

December 20
Amazing Race 7, The The 7th Season
Battlestar Galactica Season 2.0
ER The Complete 4th Season
Party of Five Season 2

December 26
Nowhere Man The Complete Series
SeaQuest DSV Season 1
Shield, The Season 4
Tracey Takes On... The Complete 1st Season
Twilight Zone, The Season 5: Definitive Edition

December 27
America's Funniest Home Videos Best of Kids and Animals
Criss Angel Mindfreak The Complete Season 1

January 3

1st & Ten Season 1
1st & Ten Season 2
Alien Nation The Complete Series
All in the Family The Complete 5th Season
Gunsmoke 50th Anniversary Edition - Volume 1
Gunsmoke 50th Anniversary Edition - Volume 2
Gunsmoke 50th Anniversary Edition Giftset
Have Gun Will Travel Season 3
Hunter Season 3
Merv Griffin Show, The 40 of the Most Interesting People of Our Time
Silk Stalkings Season 4

January 10
Andromeda Vol 5.3
Black Books The Complete 1st Series
Flash, The The Complete Series
Hee Haw Collection Vol 5
House of Eliott, The Series 2
Men Behaving Badly (UK) The Complete Series 3
Men Behaving Badly (UK) The Complete Series 4
Nighty Night The Complete 1st Series
Red Dwarf Series 7
Rising Damp Series 1
Strong Medicine The Complete 1st Season
Urban Gothic Season 1
Viva la Bam The Complete 4th And 5th Seasons
Wild Kingdom Hunters Of The Sky
Wild Kingdom The African Wild 2

January 17
Adventures of Superman The Complete 2nd Season
Doogie Howser, M.D. Season 3
Fraggle Rock Vol 5: Down In Fraggle Rock
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman The Complete 2nd Season
Mary Tyler Moore Show, The The Complete 3rd Season
Old Grey Whistle Test, The Volume 2
Titus Season 3

January 24
1-800-Missing Season 2
Allo 'Allo! The Complete Series 4
Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1: Water, Volume 1
Dallas The Complete 4th Season
Saturday Night Live Best Of Alec Baldwin
Saturday Night Live Best Of David Spade
Time Tunnel, The Volume 1
Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, The The Cat's Home But Not Alone

January 31
All-American Girl Complete Series
Archie Bunker's Place The Complete 1st Season
A-Team, The Season 3
Benny Hill Show, The Benny Hill, Complete And Unadulterated: The Hill's Angels Years - Set 4
Dark Shadows DVD Collection 22
Diff'rent Strokes The Complete 2nd Season
Gastineau Girls The Complete 1st Season
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates The Complete 3rd Series
Hill Street Blues The Complete 1st Season
Inked The Best of Season 1
Knight Rider Season 3
Magnum, P.I. The Complete 3rd Season
MI-5 Volume 3
Pink Panther Show, The Classic Cartoon Collection
Rat Patrol, The The Complete 1st Season
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 20: Turtles Against H.A.T.E.
Two's Company Series 4
X-Files, The Season 1 (New)
X-Files, The Season 2 (New)
X-Files, The Season 3 (New)

February 7
Alleyn Mysteries Set 2
Batman, The The Complete 1st Season
Blue Collar TV Season 1, Volume 2
Electric Company, The Best Of
Emergency! Season 2
Grounded for Life Season 1
Growing Pains The Complete 1st Season
Lost World, The Vol 01
Lost World, The Vol 02
One Step Beyond One Step Beyond Collection
Pet Alien Vol 4: Spaced Out
Poltergeist: The Legacy The Complete 1st Season
Sex and the City Sex And The City Essentials: Breakups
Sex and the City Sex And The City Essentials: Lust
Sex and the City Sex And The City Essentials: Mr. Big
Sex and the City Sex And The City Essentials: Romance
Simpsons, The Kiss & Tell
Survivor: Pearl Islands The Complete Season
Teen Titans The Complete 1st Season
Touched by an Angel The 3rd Season - Volume 1
Wire in the Blood The Complete 3rd Season

February 14
Andy Griffith Show, The The Complete 5th Season
Ballykissangel Complete Series 4
Charles in Charge The Complete 1st Season
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The The Complete 3rd Season
Gimme a Break! Season 1
Golden Girls, The Season 4
Grey's Anatomy Season 1
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Season 1, Volume 2
Living Single The Complete 1st Season
Overhaulin The Complete 2nd Season
Pretender, The Season 3
Shaquille Complete Series
Significant Others Season 1

February 21
3rd Rock from the Sun Season 3
Action The Complete Series
Dick Cavett Show, The Comic Legends
Goof Troop Volume 1
Irish R.M., The Series 3
NYPD Blue The Complete 3rd Season
Quack Pack Volume 1
SpongeBob SquarePants Lost In Time
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Season 1, Vol 1
What's New Scooby-Doo? Vol 8: Zoinks, Camera, Action!

February 28
Avengers, The Emma Peel Collector's Edition
Beast Machines: Transformers The Complete Series
Bleak House Bleak House
C.O.P.S. Volume 1
Charmed The Complete 4th Season
Ellen The Complete Season 3
Rumpole of the Bailey Megaset

March 7
Baby Looney Tunes Volume 1: Playday Pals
Baby Looney Tunes Volume 2: Let's Play Pretend
Brady Bunch, The The Complete 5th Season
Cosby Show, The Season 2
Flintstones, The Season 5
Hogan's Heroes The Complete 3rd Season
Lily the Witch Volume 1
Lily the Witch Volume 2
Multiple Shows Star Trek Fan Collective: Borg
Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour, The The Complete Series
White Shadow, The The Complete 2nd Season
Wild 'N Out Season 1

March 14
Babylon 5 The Legend Of The Rangers
Columbo The Complete 4th Season
MacGyver Season 5
Murder, She Wrote The Complete 3rd Season
Naked City Set 3
Simple Life 3: Interns, The Complete Season
Sleeper Cell The Complete 1st Season

March 21
Batman Beyond Season 1
Ed, Edd n' Eddy Volume 2: Fools' Par-Ed-Ise
Justice League Season 1
Mind of Mencia The Complete 1st Season Uncensored
Over There Season 1
South Park The Complete 7th Season

March 28
Dark Shadows DVD Collection 23
Invisible Man, The Season 1
Knots Landing The Complete 1st Season
Northern Exposure The Complete 4th Season
Quantum Leap The Complete 4th Season

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releasesmonth.cfm

I've considered whether to run this or not. But finally decided to include it because Jack Anderson was an important part of the first decade of "Good Morning America", especially in the early 1980s, when the show routinely trounced "The Today Show" in the ratings.

Obituary
Investigative Columnist Jack Anderson Dies

By Patricia Sullivan Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, December 18, 2005; C08

Jack N. Anderson, 83, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who for years was America's most widely read newspaper columnist, died Dec. 17 at his Bethesda home. He had Parkinson's disease.

A crusader in the mold of muckrakers from a century ago, unbounded by contemporary notions of objectivity, Mr. Anderson was highly successful during the 1950s and 1960s, when few reporters actively sought to uncover government wrongdoing. At one point, his column appeared in about 1,000 newspapers with 45 million daily readers.

His influence flagged in recent years, but for decades he had the investigative field virtually to himself. The number of scoops that he had a hand in was amazing: the Keating Five congressional ethics scandal; revelations in the Iran-contra scandal; the U.S. government's tilt away from India toward Pakistan, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize in 1972; the ITT-Dita Beard affair, which linked the settlement of a federal antitrust suit against International Telephone & Telegraph to a $400,000 pledge to underwrite the 1972 Republican National Convention; the CIA-Mafia plot to kill Fidel Castro; the final days of Howard Hughes; U.S. attempts to undermine the government of Chilean President Salvador Allende; allegations about a possible Bulgarian connection to the shooting of the pope; an Iranian connection to the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.

"He had such huge strengths and huge weaknesses," said Mark Feldstein, director of the journalism program at George Washington University, who is writing Mr. Anderson's biography. "He practiced journalism like a blue-collar craftsman with a populist point of view. He was practicing a crusading craft rather than a profession, and [investigative reporting] has lost some of its juice, its verve, its gusto, in trying to be objective. Anderson didn't try to hide his politics or his agenda."

Mr. Anderson and Drew Pearson, his predecessor on the "Washington Merry-Go-Round" column, were among the few investigative reporters working in the mass media after the Great Depression until the technique came back into style during the Vietnam War and Watergate era.

Mr. Anderson was an investigator from the start, when he went to work in 1947 as a "legman" for Pearson's column, which began in 1932. In 1969, Pearson died and left the column to him. Mr. Anderson ran it -- with an ever-changing cast of interns -- until he unofficially retired in 2001, when Douglas Cohn, his writing partner since 1999, and Eleanor Clift of Newsweek took over. The column ran until July 30, 2004, when United Feature Syndicate announced its end.

"Part circus huckster, part guerrilla fighter, part righteous rogue, Anderson waged a one-man journalistic resistance when it was exceedingly unpopular to do so," Feldstein said in a July 2004 article in The Washington Post.

Mr. Anderson's work enraged those in power. President Richard M. Nixon tried to smear him as a homosexual, the CIA was ordered to spy on him, and, according to the Watergate tapes, a Nixon aide ordered two cohorts to try to kill the journalist by poisoning.

"Contrary to popular theology," Mr. Anderson wrote for a journalism history project, "there is nothing that produces as much exhilaration and zest for living as an ugly, protracted, bitter-end vendetta that rages for years and comes close to ruining both sides."

He explained in a Parade magazine article what drove him: "I have tried to break down the walls of secrecy in Washington. But today the walls are thicker than ever. More and more of our policymakers hide behind those walls. Only the press can stand as a true bulwark against an executive branch with a monopoly on foreign policy information. It has all the authority it needs in the First Amendment."

Despite all his scoops and his high profile in Middle America, Mr. Anderson was never the celebrated Washington journalist of the kind found at Georgetown dinner parties or Gridiron Club soirees. The power elite saw him as an uncouth gossipmonger and shameless self-promoter.

Mr. Anderson, a Mormon who eschewed smoking, drinking, cursing and caffeine, was cast from the dissenter mold of journalism. He called himself a muckraker, a term from the turn of the 20th century.

He launched scores of journalists on their careers, employing them as uncredited interns and underpaid associates and teaching them the craft. They included Brit Hume of Fox News, Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg News Service, Howard Kurtz and Jonathan Krim of The Post, Roll Call columnist Ed Henry and novelist Les Whitten. His column ran in The Post until 1997.

Mr. Anderson himself grew into a multimedia personality, penning not only the column but also more than a dozen books and subscription newsletters. He was Washington bureau chief for Parade magazine. He broadcast a syndicated radio show, had a years-long gig on ABC's "Good Morning America" and had his own TV show, "Truth," which featured public figures hooked up to a lie detector.

With his marble gray hair, tranquil blue eyes and rich waterfall of a voice, Mr. Anderson was active on the lecture circuit, and those fees kept the newspaper column afloat.

In addition to the Pulitzer, he won the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Service to Journalism award in 1987 for his role in breaking the Iran-contra story and later was inducted into its Journalism Hall of Fame. He was at the founding meeting in 1975 of Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.

"I have to do daily what Woodward and Bernstein did once," Mr. Anderson told The Post's Tony Kornheiser in 1983. Kornheiser called Anderson's "a column of tweaks, leaks and piques, born of idealism, stoked by cynicism, a brazen, high-risk, righteously indignant antiwaste, anticorruption, anticommunist watchdog of a column that has been called everything from 'gold' to 'garbage.' Sometimes on the same day. Sometimes in the same sentence."

Born in Long Beach, Calif., but raised in a small town outside Salt Lake City, Anderson was interested in newspaper work from an early age. At 12, he edited the Boy Scout page of the Deseret News in Utah and soon advanced to a $7-a-week job with the Murray (Utah) Eagle.

In high school, he was president of the student body, and upon graduation, he joined the staff of the Salt Lake Tribune. He briefly attended the University of Utah, and on Dec. 7, 1941, he became a missionary, a typical rite of passage for devout Mormons, working in the South. Two years later, he enrolled in the merchant marine officer training school. After about seven months, he persuaded the Deseret News to accredit him as a foreign correspondent in China. He was supposed to report hometown, local-hero news, but he soon found that assignment dull.

So Mr. Anderson hitched a plane ride to a secret, behind-the-lines base operated by the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA. Alarmed to find a civilian reporter at their base, the OSS brass sent him to contact a band of Chinese nationalist guerrillas. From them, he found that a Chinese civil war was still raging, but he could not interest any U.S. paper in the news.

His draft board had been looking for him for some time and finally caught up with him in 1945. He was inducted into the Army in the Chinese city then known as Chungking and served with the Quartermaster Corps until 1947, working on military newspapers and Armed Forces Radio.

Upon his discharge, he came to Washington and applied to work for Pearson, who had been exposing government corruption for more than a decade. He was hired immediately, thus starting the column's tradition of employing ambitious, hardworking underlings. In his off hours, Mr. Anderson attended Georgetown University and took a course in libel law at George Washington University, but he did not receive a degree from either school.

His anonymous labor for Pearson finally irked Mr. Anderson enough that in 1957, he threatened to quit. Pearson promised him more bylines and pledged to leave the column to him.

In 1958, a federal investigator invited Mr. Anderson to accompany him while he was spying on Bernard Goldfine, a wealthy industrialist who had given a vicuna coat to presidential assistant Sherman A. Adams. The episode triggered a major scandal in the Eisenhower administration. Mr. Anderson, in violation of traditional journalistic practices, testified before congressional panels and lobbied senators about the issue. The uproar over those actions prepared him for being named, years later, to Nixon's enemies list, for being followed by the CIA, for the FBI's arrest of his partner Whitten for receiving stolen government documents and for numerous IRS audits of his tax returns.

In 1965, he finally achieved full partnership in the column, sharing a byline with Pearson, although he was paid a paltry sum -- about $15,000 in 1969 -- for his work on the most popular column in the nation. Upon Pearson's death, he inherited the column and split the proceeds with Pearson's widow.

Mr. Anderson's columns on misappropriations of campaign donations by Sen. Thomas J. Dodd (D-Conn.) were recommended for the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1967, but the Pulitzer board selected another entry.

Mr. Anderson was considered significantly more accurate than his predecessor, although he was not error-free. He admitted he wrongly charged Donald H. Rumsfeld with lavishly decorating his office while cutting expenses on programs of the Office of Economic Opportunity. He also admitted giving covert aid to Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin in the early days of his anti-communist crusade, although he later turned on McCarthy. He also regretted not publishing a scoop about President Ronald Reagan's arms-for-hostages swap.

He was not above flamboyant "Front Page"-style tactics. During Watergate, when the FBI sought copies of grand jury transcripts that Mr. Anderson had obtained, he and Whitten decided to bar their office door and throw the papers out their window. Interns waiting below were supposed to scoop up the falling documents.

"We didn't have to do it because we got an agreement with Judge [John] Sirica," Whitten said. "He said if we'd return the papers and let him get rid of them, he would not pursue contempt of court against Jack. Jack agreed to that, and we took them out of a [hidden] panel in a desk. Jack took them home, what do you think he did? Xeroxed them and buried them in his back yard before he gave them back to Sirica. They're probably still back there."

Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Olivia Farley Anderson of Bethesda; nine children, Laurie Anderson-Bruch of Washington, Cheri Loveless of Provo, Utah, Lance F. Anderson of Germantown, Tina Carmichael of Warrenton, Kevin N. Anderson of Sandy, Utah, Randy N. Anderson and Tanya A. Neider, both of Bethesda, Rodney V. Anderson of Severna Park and Bryan W. Anderson of St. George, Utah; 41 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/17/AR2005121701112_pf.html

I did my best to get everyone here involved!

That was a surreal moment for me...my hometown newspaper's TV columnist references a guy I talk to on the Internet. :D

You should have contributed!

And I have noted before, you are really, really lucky to have Rich Heldenfels.

It is so refreshing to read a critic who enjoys TV, understands its limitations, and doesn't expect great "art" to come flowing out of every channel.

I look forward to his blog notes and his columns about as much as any of the five dozen or so TV writers I try to keep up with.

On the other hand, the two pretentious doofs from the Los Angeles Times whose year-end "conversation" about TV I posted earlier are the kind of world-weary "sophisticates" much of the nation is subjected to. They know their art, and they are really, really intelligent. But it is so obvious that most of network TV is so far beneath their standards that they can hardly be bothered to watch.

The 2005-2006 Season
super leap for WB's timing

The shift of 'Smallville' to Thursday nights has turned out to be a boon for the network, lifting the show's ratings 28% in an otherwise dismal season
By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 19, 2005

When the creators of "Smallville" heard that the WB Network was planning to move their series at the start of this season, they regarded the new time slot much like Superman would a barrel of kryptonite.

"Any time you move a show, it's always dangerous," writer-producer Al Gough said over lunch in Burbank recently. Gough and his longtime creative partner, Miles Millar, co-created the drama, a free-wheeling prequel to the Superman comic series that envisions Clark Kent as a small-town youth with a busy social life and some eye-popping abilities that couldn't be addressed in your typical gifted-student program.

The producers already had had a bad experience with a schedule switch. Ratings for "Smallville" sank after a previous regime at the WB pushed the series from Tuesday to Wednesday, which a still-simmering Millar dismissed as "the dumbest move."

Now WB executives wanted the series to open their lineup on Thursday, opposite CBS' durable hit "Survivor" and two other youth-skewing series, ABC's "Alias" and Fox's hot soap "The O.C." Even UPN was getting pre-season buzz for its new Chris Rock comedy, "Everybody Hates Chris."

It looked like curtains for young Clark.

Instead, in a twist that has surprised the producers and challenged the conventional wisdom of the TV industry, "Smallville" has, in its fifth season, become a standout hit for the WB. The series is having its best season, up 28% compared with last year, with an average of 5.5 million total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

It's also given the WB what it never had before in its 11-year history: a solid presence on Thursdays, the most lucrative night of the week in terms of TV advertising revenue.

"It kind of bucked the odds," Shari Anne Brill, an analyst at New York ad firm Carat USA, said of "Smallville." "Usually in the fifth season, you'd start to see declines" in the ratings.

"It feels to me like arguably our best move of the year," said David Janollari, president of WB entertainment, which otherwise has had a dismal TV season. Previously, the network "didn't really have an identity on Thursday," he added; last year, for instance, the network was running "Blue Collar TV" and "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show."

Despite all the talk of TiVo and other devices that allow viewers to bypass network lineups, scheduling can still be the Hollywood equivalent of no-limit poker. Millar is hardly the first producer to complain of "dumb" time-slot maneuvers; such battles make up a time-honored tug-of-war between series overseers and network "suits."

This season, both Mark Burnett of "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" and Dick Wolf of "Law & Order" have lamented the supposed effect of schedule shuffles on their shows. In recent weeks, industry attention was riveted to whether Fox would move its smash "American Idol" to Thursday nights. NBC executives waited until Fox announced "Idol" would stay on Tuesdays and Wednesdays before revealing their own midseason changes.

The Thursday move seems to have energized "Smallville." This season's debut found Clark transported to the "Fortress of Solitude," an ice palace where he confronts his father, Jor-El, as a meteor shower threatens Earth. The episode required a number of costly special effects, as well as shooting Clark's Tom Welling on an actual glacier.

"Every episode is like this big, great action movie," Janollari said.

The schedule change came about during meetings last spring, when Janollari and his executives were puzzling over a chart for the fall lineup. "As I was staring at the schedule, I just, like, looked at the 'Smallville' card and ... picked it up and moved it to Thursday at 8, and I said, 'What does everyone else think of this?,' " Janollari recalled. "The thinking was, 'Well, let's bring our loyal audience to Thursday nights.' "

Moving the show would rescue it from fierce competition on Wednesdays, where ABC's smash hit "Lost" was attracting many sci-fi fans and UPN's reality hit "America's Next Top Model" was scoring with young women. "Those two shows cut so deeply into the 'Smallville' core audience that it was sort of held down for the last two years," said Peter Roth, president of Warner Bros. Television, which produces the show.

Thursday had long been the domain of NBC, which had a string of top-rated comedies that night including "The Cosby Show" and "Friends." But NBC's streak ended with such flops as the "Friends" spinoff "Joey," leaving room for other shows such as "The O.C." to find an audience.

Still, the schedule transplant carried enormous risks: If "Smallville" faltered, Janollari might have been accused of killing a profitable asset for the network and Warner Bros., its main studio supplier. (The WB is jointly owned by Tribune Co., publisher of the Los Angeles Times, and Time Warner.)

As it has turned out, "Smallville" is giving WB executives a ray of hope in an otherwise brutal season. Despite heavy publicity and some favorable reviews, the new drama "Just Legal," starring Don Johnson, tanked in the ratings and was quickly pulled; two other premieres, "Supernatural" and "Related," have generated better numbers but failed to emerge as breakout hits. Overall, the WB has slipped 12% this season in its key adults ages 18-34 demographic, and lost ground to longtime rival UPN.

The results may call into question the network's recent push to lure more 30-something viewers instead of the teenagers who turned out for past hits such as "Felicity" and "Dawson's Creek."

"They're definitely in a transition mode right now," Gough said of the network. The same could be said for Gough and Millar, who seem surprised and grateful that "Smallville" has done so well for so long but also are eager to move to their next challenge. The pair, who met in the mid-'90s at USC film school, seem unlikely partners. Maryland native Gough is the sort of amiable, rumpled guy at home in a baseball cap and sweatshirt; the British-born Millar is intense and more reserved, the one whose fingers are on the keyboard during their scriptwriting sessions. (In addition to "Smallville," the duo worked on scripts for the features "Spider-Man 2" and "Herbie: Fully Loaded.")

Neither was a comic-book fan before "Smallville." After the series premiered in 2001, they attended their first Comic-Con, the massive comic-book trade show in San Diego. Gough was worried that they'd be viciously set upon by Superman purists, who might disapprove of such story touches as making young Clark friends with young Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), Superman's longtime nemesis.

Instead, fans swarmed the "Smallville" creators seeking autographs — probably to "sell on EBay," Gough said with a laugh.

Millar would prefer to focus on features. "We've been reluctant to do any more TV," he said. "The failure rate is so high. You put all that work into it, and [the series] doesn't work out."

But "Smallville" isn't letting its creators slip away from the medium that easily. In this season's fourth episode, the writers introduced Arthur "A.C." Curry, who saved Clark's friend Lana Lang from drowning.

As comic fans know, Curry is actually the superhero Aquaman, who'll be at the center of a still-untitled spinoff that Gough and Millar are writing, with an eye toward fall 2006. The writers already know their character will have a much more practical bent than the teenage Clark Kent.

"He's got a very real-world agenda: the environment," Gough said of Aquaman.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-smallville19dec19,0,1001487,print.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

The 2005-2006 Season
Scribes face challenge in 'West Wing' star's death

LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Reporter—The death on Friday of actor John Spencer, a cornerstone of the ensemble on "The West Wing" since its 1999 debut, is sure to send the show's writing team back to the drawing board for the second half of what could be the show's final season.

Spencer's character, former Bartlet administration chief of staff turned vice presidential candidate Leo McGarry, has played a key role in the election-year story line of the Emmy-winning White House drama this season as McGarry became the running mate of fiery liberal Democratic congressman Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits, vying to succeed Martin Sheen's President Josiah Bartlet in the fictional Oval Office.

Another complication for "West Wing" writers in dealing with the real-life drama of Spencer's death from a heart attack at age 58 is the fact that his character was seen in a flash-forward sequence set three years in the future in the sixth season "West Wing" opener that aired in September. (In an eerie life-meets-art parallel, Spencer's character suffered a heart attack last season but recovered quickly enough to take on a bruising presidential campaign.)

"West Wing" was on a scheduled production hiatus for the holidays at the time of Spencer's death -- the actor died less than a day after he checked into a Los Angeles hospital with a bad cold, according to his publicist. Writers and producers for the series are expected to gather this week to decide how to handle the remainder of the season, a studio spokeswoman said.

Spencer appeared in seven of the 14 episodes of "West Wing" has completed for its sixth season as of last week, according to "West Wing" producer Warner Bros. Television. Nine of those 14 episodes have already aired; "West Wing" isn't scheduled to air a new episode until January.

At its peak, "The West Wing" ranked among primetime's most-watched series, but the much-praised drama has struggled ratings-wise during the past few seasons. This fall, the show relocated from its longtime home on Wednesday to the Sunday 8 p.m. slot, where it has ranked 50th among network primetime series with an average of 8.2 million viewers and a 2.3 rating/5 share in the adults 18-49 demographic. As such, "West Wing" was already seen as a long shot to be renewed for a seventh year next fall.

The challenge now facing the "West Wing's" creative team recalls the situation producers of "The Sopranos" dealt with in 2000 following the death of Nancy Marchand, who played the pivotal, villainous mob matriarch Livia Soprano. To wrap up her story line, "Sopranos" producers used old pieces of dialogue and CGI techniques to briefly insert Marchand's face on a body double.

In late December 2004, "Law & Order" veteran Jerry Orbach died shortly before the premiere of the NBC spin-off "Law & Order: Trial by Jury." Producers and the network decided to air the episodes in which Orbach was featured, though the show ultimately proved short-lived.

Actor John Ritter died in September 2003 on the eve of the sophomore-season debut of his promising ABC comedy "8 Simple Rules." Producers decided to reflect real life by writing the lead character's shocking death into the story line. "8 Simple Rules" continued for two more seasons but never regained the ratings momentum it lost along with its star.

http://channels.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?id=2005121822360002913948&dt=20051218223600&w=RTR&coview=

Hard Digital Transition date compromise

The Hollywood Reporter late Sunday wrote that a compromise digital transition date has been worked out between House and Senate confrerees.

The new date was expected to be approved by a House vote early Monday morning and a Senate vote later in the day.

According to THR:

“…The votes were expected after House and Senate negotiators reportedly struck a deal over the measure, which includes $40 billion in savings over five years including cutbacks in Medicaid, Medicare, student loans and other programs.

As part of the deal, broadcasters will be required to abandon their analog signals by Feb. 17, 2009, according to industry sources. The budget legislation also includes a $1.5 billion subsidy for digital set-top boxes so people with low income who do not subscribe to cable or satellite will not go without TV when the date occurs…”

Best of the 2005-2006 Season
The perfect 10: The shows weren't all winners, but these episodes were keepers

By Matthew Zoller Seitz Newark Star-Ledger Sunday, December 18, 2005

While scratching out an early draft of my yearly 10 best list (which will appear next wwek), I realized there's no such thing as a TV show that hits a home run each week, or even a triple. In fact, most of TV slides along the spectrum of excellent to competent to awful more freely than critics care to admit. This is surely a byproduct of having to crank out 12 to 24 episodes a season. Under such circumstances, getting it perfect takes a backseat to getting it done.

With that fact in mind, I wrote an alternative list of the year's 10 best individual episodes. It comprises installments of sitcoms or dramas that brushed against perfection in every aesthetic department (writing, direction, acting, photography, editing) while simultaneously reminding us of what makes the series tick.

These criteria had a couple of surprising effects. They forced me to rule out certain shows I adore in spite of recurring flaws and built-in quality control issues (for instance, "Lost" and "Arrested Development," which swing for the fences every other minute, and often miss.) And they forced me to grudgingly honor episodes of series I usually slag.

Drum roll please:

1. "Deadwood: Boy the Earth Talks To." (HBO) Written by Ted Mann. Directed by Ed Bianchi.

The second season finale of HBO's down-and-dirty western underlined the show's central theme: society is built upon alliances. Widow-turned-powerbroker Alma Garret married her good right hand, Ellsworth, and the town piled into the street to celebrate. Alma's adulterous lover, Marshal Seth Bullock, made peace with his long-suffering wife, who decided to stay in town and open a school in a former house of ill-repute. Saloon owner and gangster Al Swearengen forged an alliance with Chinatown boss Wu. Gold mining scout and mass murderer Francis Wolcott met his eternal reward. Swearengen's vicious rival, Cy Tolliver, got knifed in the gut by a man he wronged. We even got to see alcoholic loner Calamity Jane don a dress and mingle with the townsfolk.

This episode was great for so many reasons. There was the joy of seeing so many vivid characters packed into the same frame, and the pleasure of realizing that series creator David Milch and company are patient artists who plant narrative seeds at the start of a season, tend them for weeks, then harvest them at the end. Every five minutes there was a moment so odd yet life-affirming that you wanted to cheer: Doc Cochran showing recovering gunshot victim Mose Manuel how to stretch; Wu slicing off his ponytail, raising it aloft and yelling to Swearengen: "Wu America!" How can such a nasty show be so beautiful?

2. "House: Three Stories." (Fox) Written by David Shore. Directed by Paris Barclay.

Forever to be known as "The one where we find out how House got his limp," this Emmy-winning episode was a high point for a two-season-old series that already seems to have settled into predictable rhythms. This one was actually a mini-anthology in which House lectured to medical students on three fictional cases where patients had similar symptoms. In flashback, we saw House undergo treatment for leg pain and endure the same dehumanizing treatment he dishes out in the present. We came to understand that House's defining trait was not his disability, but his righteous stubbornness, and that the former was in some sense a visible manifestation of the latter. The episode ended with the year's most startling TV image: House tossing a pain pill in the air while the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" played on the soundtrack, catching the pill in his mouth, then breaking the fourth wall by looking right into the camera, as if daring us to pass judgment.

3. "Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus." (Sci-Fi) Written by Anne Cofell Saunders; Directed by Michael Rymer.

The midpoint of the show's second season saw the ragtag, fugitive fleet learning that a second battlestar, the Pegasus, survived the Cylon genocide, only to develop a darker facsimile of civilization than the Galactica's. Because the Pegasus had no civilian fleet to protect, its values were built on the hardest aspects of warrior culture. Discipline and loyalty were bound up with intimidation and paranoia; order was maintained through shockingly casual "interrogations" of suspected enemies that were basically legalized beat-downs and gang rapes. Alternately chilling and inspirational, this episode recontextualized the Galactica fleet's existence and gave its civilian and military members a reason to put aside their differences and reaffirm the values that bind them.

4. "Curb Your Enthusiasm: The End." (HBO) Directed by Larry Charles.

Amazingly, the acclaimed sitcom's depressingly cruddy fifth season ended with a great episode that plunged its hero to new depths of casual selfishness. Larry hectored his wife on the proper system of DVD storage, refused to sit near the emergency exit on a plane, wheedled his way out of donating a kidney to ailing pal Richard Lewis and finally met the people he believed were his birth parents, a clan of polite Arizona Christians. (Line of the year: "Oh, my God ... I'm gentile!") Oh, yeah -- he also died, went to Heaven (where he had a full head of hair) and explained his DVD storage system to a couple of angels played by Dustin Hoffman and Ali G. What's not to like?

5. "Deadwood: Something Very Expensive." (HBO) Written and directed by Steve Shill.

A master class in spiral-of-doom storytelling. Doc Cochran let the long-incapacitated Swearengen re-enter a town whose power structure changed while he recuperated from a bout with kidney stones. Miss Isringhausen, a tutor secretly working for the Pinkerton detective agency, took up with Swearengen's henchman Silas; the prostitute Trixie urged Ellsworth to marry the pregnant widow Garret and raise lawman Bullock's illegitimate baby; Bullock worked through personal issues by beating the tar out of a lynch mob leader. The episode's hellish heart was the sociopath Wolcott's cold-blooded murder of three prostitutes, a rampage sparked not by anything the women said or did, but by an insult against Wolcott by one of the town's most powerful men, Cy Tolliver. More than any other hour of TV this year, "Something Very Expensive" illustrated the trickle-down nature of violence. On "Deadwood," as in life, those who feel they've been wronged by their social equals or betters swallow their rage, then displace it onto people many rungs lower on the ladder.

6. "Everybody Loves Raymond: Finale." (CBS) Written by Phil Rosenthal, et al. Directed by Gary Halvorson.

"Raymond" always prided itself on being modest and uneventful. It truly was the only great sitcom of the last few years you knew you could skip without kicking yourself. This sign-off brilliantly summed up the show's anti-dramatic philosophy, gently spoofing decades' worth of bloated, melodramatic, very special episodes by having Ray go to the hospital to get his adenoids taken out. The episode's emotional peak, if you could call it that, found a doctor gravely inform the Barones that Ray had not awakened from his anesthesia then return 30 seconds later to say everything was fine. The closing image -- the Barones gathered around the kitchen table, eating and arguing as always -- evoked the similarly relaxed "Cheers" finale, which ended with Sam Malone turning out the lights at his bar, signaling the end of just another day.

7. "The Comeback: Valerie Shines Under Stress." (HBO) Written by Heather Morgan. Directed by David Steinberg.

In which aging sitcom starlet Valerie Cherish pushed for a big comic moment on "Room and Bored" that she could use to promote her side project, a reality series about her life as an actress. Star Lisa Kudrow made like a 21st century Lucille Ball, warbling "I Will Survive" as her reality show theme song, pestering her hostile sitcom bosses to write her a spectacular pratfall involving a cupcake outfit even though she's got a rod in her spine, and then ...well, I won't describe the culmination of this gag, because you might be eating. Mixing rude wit, crazed slapstick and genuine empathy for our beleaguered heroine, this episode represented the year's most misunderstood series at the peak of its creative power.

8. "Weeds: The Punishment Light." (Showtime) Written by Rolin Jones. Directed by Robert Berlinger.

In which widowed pot dealer heroine Nancy Botwin turned down the advances of a sweet, divorced dad because she's wasn't ready to get involved again, then had a business-related tryst with a rival drug dealer who she hoped would protect her from competitors. Meanwhile, Nancy's brother-in-law Andy and accountant and client Doug made like anti-drug poster boys, sampling Nancy's stash and then ravaging her house while trying to kill a rat. A comedy that sometimes errs on the side of cutesiness opted for droll precision instead; it called its deluded characters on their hypocrisy and silliness, yet resisted the urge to preen or preach.

9. "Veronica Mars: A Trip to the Dentist." (UPN) Written by Diane Ruggiero. Directed by Marcos Siega.

In which our high school gumshoe heroine pieced together the chain of events the night she was drugged and raped at a party. Arguably the series' best and most representative episode (albeit incomprehensible if you weren't watching from the start), "Dentist" merged the show's foreground and background narratives, and blended dread, mystery, sarcasm and sadness into one irresistible hour.

10. "Desperate Housewives: The Sun Won't Set." (ABC) Written by Jenna Bans. Directed by Stephen Cragg.

As regular readers know, I don't like this show very much; I think it's too slick, shallow and pleased with itself. But this episode -- in which Wisteria Lane formed a neighborhood watch committee, Susan learned the identity of her biological father, and Bree confronted the ugly truth about her suitor/stalker George -- showed me what the series could be, and what fans say it already is. The electrifying blowup in the restaurant -- with George interrupting Bree's dance with an old college chum and trying to force an engagement ring onto her finger -- felt both dreamlike and real. Just thinking about it makes me wince, and I mean that as the highest praise.

http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/zollerseitz/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1134886176232600.xml&coll=1

John Spencer, 1946-2005
By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic

It was a shock to hear of the death of the classy and gutty actor John Spencer, who has been a lynch pin to the success of “The West Wing,” as Leo McGarry, who after serving President Bartlet’s as chief of staff most of his two terms, had to step down from the post in a macabre foreshadowing last season because of a heart attack. C.J. Cregg stepped up to the chief of staff post and McGarry was unexpectedly tapped to be vice presidential running mate for Jimmy Smits’ charismatic character Matt Santos.

That team imitated life, with a former Washington insider with a heart condition picked as vice president. Friday, he imitated the role: Like McGarry, Spencer suffered a heart attack. He would have turned 59 Tuesday

Of all the celebrities networks allow reporters to meet at parties and events, Spencer stood out as one of the most genuine people, grateful and humble in taking compliments for his Emmy-winning work, enthusiastic to talk about his craft.

He had been a standout on TV even before the McGarry role, though, on “L.A. Law” and whatever short-lived series or cameos he scrounged up. A long absence in his resume between the days when he played Cathy’s love interest on “The Patty Duke Show” and the late 80s was due to alcoholism. The challenges of his recovery also informed his acting and McGarry became one of the more real characters in a medium filled with fakes.

Now that the actor is gone, it’s up to “The West Wing” and producer John Wells to step up and culminate a series that probably would have ended after this season anyway, on a high note that honors the memory of one of its strongest cast members.

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2005/12/john_spencer_19.html

The 2005-2006 TV Season
Ask Matt
(from the Ask (TV Critic) Matt (Roush) column at TVGuide.com

Question: I'd like to know why there isn't a sign of life for Arrested Development on another network. Over the past several years, FX and BBC America have made names for themselves with The Shield and The Office purely because of their critical acclaim and, especially, their appearance at the Emmys. Why would a network such as FX not wish to invest in a series that would almost certainly bring them Emmy nominations and critical acclaim while boosting their popularity? After all, Fox's low ratings are highs for basic cable, and I think three years has proven that AD has enough of a dedicated audience to follow it to cable. I've rarely if ever watched FX, Bravo, Trio, etc., but I'd definitely tune in if they resurrected the best sitcom of the decade. What gives? — Shaun L.

Matt Roush: Before anyone starts pounding on Shaun for being behind the curve, let me just say that this question came in long before news started to surface last week that Showtime is mulling over a rescue of Arrested Development once Fox officially cancels it. (ABC is also considering the show, but that seems much less likely to me.) One of the sticking points, according to the trade reports, is the show's hefty price tag, which is why FX in particular would be ill-equipped to pick it up. The reason Showtime is the most logical suitor is the pay cabler's hunger for buzzworthy programming, especially when it comes to launching a hit comedy. Saving Arrested Development and pairing it with the equally cultish suburban satire Weeds would be a PR bonanza, even if the numbers still left a lot to be desired. In the world of cable, it's often all about establishing a brand, and how better than to give a new lease on life to one of the industry's most-worshiped, least-watched masterpieces? Even so, I'm not entirely convinced (until the ink is dry on the contract) that this will come to pass. But how cool if it does.

________________________________________

Question: In light of the recent news of Alias' impending cancellation, I was wondering how you feel the show will be written about in future television-history books. For me, Alias was love at first sight and I have been a loyal follower since the days of double agency and SD-6. While the show has had a glitch creatively in recent years (and I think you would agree), it is still safe to say that Alias is one of my all-time great TV love affairs, if for nothing else than the first two seasons alone. I will be a devoted viewer until the very end. — Jill

Matt Roush: I'm with it from start to finish as well, out of loyalty if nothing else, but here's an idea: Let's start referring to Alias' departure as a "retirement," not a "cancellation," OK? Five years is more than most cult shows get, especially on a major network. The fact that the producers are getting the opportunity to plot out an actual series finale is something to celebrate, not mourn. But to address the larger issue: When we look back on Alias, it will be with fondness and admiration for its creativity, its style (the wigs and creative cinematography convinced us that these characters were literally all over the place), and most especially for the way it threaded emotional subtext about family and loyalty into a rip-roaring spy thriller. J.J. Abrams is one of the top TV auteurs of our time, and Alias (along with Felicity and Lost) is a vivid example of his inexhaustibly passionate love for the medium.

________________________________________

Question: [Quoting from my Dec. 12 column]: "Pasadena's quick fade means that it probably had little to do with the genesis of Housewives, but watching it now, it clearly was ahead of its time. If it were being pitched and produced today, chances are it might actually have succeeded." So why not recast it (or keep as much as the original cast as possible — I bet Dana Delany needs the work) and put it back on the air? Fox could start with a shot-for-shot remake of the original 13 scripts, or a "reimagining" of the original scripts, or completely new scripts that keep the same premise, the same characters and the same tone. Networks pour millions into new shows, most of which fail, so why not bring back Pasadena, which failed before but would likely succeed now? I don't understand why networks only try ideas once. Memo to Fox: Resurrect Pasadena! — Matt A.

Matt Roush: First off, Dana Delany (one of my all-time faves, dating back to the China Beach glory days) is back at work already, cast in the promising-sounding Kidnapped pilot for NBC (sounds like it could be next season's Prison Brea k). Remaking Pasadena without her is unthinkable. But honestly, it's a pipe dream to think that something this far under the radar would get a second life, even if thematically it makes sense. And given the letters I'm still getting in the wake of Reunion's cancellation, the very idea of Fox testing the waters of a risky soap opera would be treated with scorn and skepticism, and probably minimal viewership. Love the idea, though. The most inspired letter of the week.

________________________________________

Question: Please, tell me that the rumors I am hearing are true. Are Topher Grace (Eric Forman) and Ashton Kutcher (Michael Kelso) coming back to That '70s Show? The show really sucks big time without them. — Maak

Matt Roush: Last I checked, the producers were talking to the actors' peeps about a possible return for what I can only presume, and hope, would be the series finale. But no actual word yet. I do, however, agree about the overall suckage. '70s is so '90s. Let it go.

________________________________________

Question: Does CBS even understand the concept of an arc series? Every time somebody on the network comes up with an intriguing ongoing drama (the transformation of a gawky adolescent into a modern Joan of Arc on Joan of Arcadia; a cat-and-mouse game with alien invaders on Threshold), CBS cracks down and insists on "self-contained" episodes. Then the viewers get bored with the formula and go away, and CBS axes the series (usually with the central drama unresolved). Meanwhile ABC gets raves for its ultimate arc series, Lost. What do you think? — Charles B.

Matt Roush: You're right, of course, but look at it CBS' way. It has risen to the top with a solid lineup of crime-drama procedurals (some very good, some not so good), predominantly of the "self-contained" episode variety, albeit with a smattering of continuing elements in most shows. Joan and Threshol d, both notably designated for Fridays, where they would do the least damage to the weekly schedule's flow, went against the grain, and CBS didn't feel the need to exercise the patience required to nurture either of them for the long run. Which is why shows like Lost tend to break out on struggling networks willing to take chances and promote the heck out of these innovative shows, instead of on complacent front-running networks that are willing to milk a formula as long as it works.

________________________________________

Question: I'm writing in response to all the complaining about Prison Break's hiatus. It seems viewers are getting more and more impatient these days. They can't even wait three months for a show to return. Despite the fact that successful shows like 24, Battlestar Galactica and Nip/Tuck go on hiatus for many months, every show goes on hiatus for a few months. Everyone needs to stop complaining and be patient! — Anna D.

Matt Roush: Music to my ears. Add Stephen C. to the Zen squad as well. He writes: "I've got to disagree with David G.'s estimation of Prison Break's returning audience after its three-and-a-half-month hiatus. While I agree that nine-tenths of TV viewers are creatures of habit, I would say that the disciples of Prison Break, 24 and Battlestar Galactica (with its four-month hiatus) are not typical Nielsen families. Not having seen Jack Bauer since May only makes the initial teaser ads that much more tantalizing! The best example I can give is my wife, who, despite having new episodes of most of our favorite shows to watch, has grilled me at least once a week about when Galactica is returning. Appropriately, it's returning on her birthday."

Bottom line here: As nice as it would be to have all of our favorite shows on all the time with new episodes, that isn't the way it works. Fox took a risk putting Prison Break on so early in the season, but it bounced back from baseball hiatus just fine, and I have no reason to think it won't make a splashy comeback in March as well. The points about 24 and Battlestar Galactica (typical of many cable original dramas) are well taken. As long as the shows are worth the wait, we'll be there when they come back.

________________________________________

Question: I read that Charmed, along with What I Like About You, is on the fence as to whether or not it is coming back for another season. I realize that the actresses' contracts are up at the end of this season, and that it was a miracle that it was renewed for an eighth season this year, but their ratings are fairly good for the WB and extremely stable. They've been around a constant 4.3 million viewers each episode, and on the WB that's great. So, I guess what I'm wondering is, why is Charmed on the fence again this year?? Is it just because the ratings aren't quite as good as previous years and because the girls' contracts are up at the end of this season? — Katie

Matt Roush: What, Charmed is still on?

Seriously, if that's even possible where this show is concerned, economics likely has everything to do with it being on the ropes. WB's 7th Heaven is far more popular and viable than Charmed, but it's signing off this spring for reasons more financial than creative — although I'd argue it's time for Heaven and Charmed both to go away, just for the sake of dignity and common sense.

________________________________________

Question: I know you're not a fan of E-Ring, but I wanted to know how it's doing in the ratings and if it's likely to get a second season. — Joshua S.

Matt Roush: It's doing fairly well, especially since NBC moved it away from Lost to kick off the Wednesday-night schedule. But I'd still consider it a pretty mediocre player, especially given the buildup and the Jerry Bruckheimer pedigree. So its chances for a second-season renewal probably depends on the quality of NBC's development for next season.

________________________________________

Question: Which FX show is your favorite? Also, am I the only one who believes that FX should lobby for Julian McMahon receiving an Emmy for his work on Nip/Tuck this season? — Len

Matt Roush: Don't hold your breath about Nip/Tuck and the Emmys. This season was even more over-the-top than usual, and the Emmys are much more likely to favor more mainstream fare. I greatly enjoy Julian McMahon on Nip/Tuck, but if I had to pick one FX show to get all the Emmy love next year, it would have to be Rescue Me, which grew in tragicomic stature in its second season. And I'd lobby for Denis Leary, which is probably a hopeless cause as well, given the reliable myopia of most Emmy voters.

________________________________________

Question: Something strikes me when I watch shows laden with high-schoolers and other underagers: that the writers forget the ages of their characters and the messages that they are sending. I'm not against depictions of teen substance (ab)use or sexual explorations — nature of the beast, and all that. I'm more concerned with images such as Rory Gilmore being able to drink like a fish in public establishments before she's 21 (the same can be said of the Buffy crew in the past). Most recently, there's the compelling and enjoyable relationship between Bright and Hannah on Everwood. Given the former mayor-ness of his mother and the legendary uptightness of his father, it's surprising that neither parent is at all concerned that their twentysomething son is dating a high-school girl. Don't get me wrong, I greatly enjoy the shows I've mentioned, but sometimes the messages about our society, age and the law seem to be forgotten. It's not so much that I want the characters to be paragons of whatever virtues are currently in vogue, but sometimes I think an occasional mention of parental concern (and maybe the ATF pulling a tavern's license) would make things a little more consistent. Or am I the only one noticing this? — C.J.

Matt Roush: The real issue here, and it's been the case at least since Beverly Hills, 90210 and reached a fever pitch on Dawson's Creek and many of the WB shows thereafter (One Tree Hill is the prime offender to me these days), is that, in an attempt to pander to the young audience, these teen characters (often played by actors well into their 20s) are portrayed as verbally and sexually precocious miniadults. It's all about wish-fulfillment fantasy, not the reality of being an actual teen in the real world. Even on a show I like, such as Everwood (and to a lesser extent, The O.C.), I wish the kids got the last say less often.

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

A Critical View:
HEAVEN: WHERE IS IT? HOW DO WE GET THERE?
Reflections on heaven from spiritual leaders

By Mark Washburn Charlotte Observer

(9 PM ET/PT, Tuesday, ABC)

Early on, Barbara Walters makes it clear this isn't your old-fashioned theological discussion of the afterlife. She wants to know:

"Is there sex in heaven?"

Depends on who you ask, and Walters puts it to a range of mortals.

No, says Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Catholic archbishop of Washington. You get God's love in heaven, which is plenty.

Yes, says a failed suicide bomber imprisoned in Israel. Yes, and how. Waiting for him in heaven were 72 virgins.

"The promise of heaven is one of the most powerful and motivational beliefs in human history," Walters says in the opening of Tuesday's two-hour special on the subject. "Some spend their whole lives doing good works to get there. Others kill in the name of heaven."

Walters said the project grew out of an idea on near-death experiences. It turned into a scientific discussion.

"We began talking about how in this day and age, when we're so technically oriented, why there's such a need for a belief in heaven. And maybe it's because we live in an age of fear," she said in a telephone interview.

"Then you go to ABC Entertainment and you say, `Would you mind giving up two hours to do something on heaven?' And they say, `Are you out of your mind?' "

Walters interviews Maria Shriver on her conviction that she'll meet her martyred uncles in heaven, talks to those who have been revived from death and describe go-to-the-light experiences, and explores research indicating the phenomenon is nothing more than chemical reactions in a dying brain.

In a moment of rare access, Walters enters an Israeli prison and asks a suicide bomber -- his failed attempt at age 17 was caught on videotape -- whether he feared dying.

No, replies the man, now 21.

"I thought about it. But I wanted to kill Jews, kill Israelis ... everything you want, it's in paradise."

Then, patiently, he explains to Walters how she is doomed to an afterlife in hell.

The special points out that Islamic theology does not condone suicide or the killing of innocents.

The Dalai Lama, atheists, a Texas evangelist, Richard Gere and Elizabeth Taylor all have a voice in the provocative special. Not surprisingly in a world with 10,000 distinct religions, they all have a different take.

As for Barbara Walters, she never says what she thinks of heaven and won't say now. "The one thing I did say is, `Heaven is the one place you are happy.' "

And if there is sex in heaven, I asked, who's high on your list?

You can't fluster Barbara Walters. "I don't know," she replied. "What do you look like?"

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/television/13428515.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Sports On TV
'06 Olympic Ad Sales Set Record

Sponsors Buy Turin to Position for '08 Summer Games
By Jon Lafayette TVWeek.com December 19, 2005

NBC Universal says it has sold a record $900 million worth of Winter Olympics advertising for the Turin, Italy, games.

The network said that since Thanksgiving it has closed several deals that brought the Winter Games up from 80 percent sold to 90 percent sold, giving some of the credit for the uptick in demand to bubbling interest in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

The Beijing games are already 45 percent sold, said Peter Lazarus, senior VP of NBC Universal Olympic sales and marketing. Some of the marketers buying into those games also decided to buy the 2006 games in order to begin their association with the Olympics earlier, he said.

Mr. Lazarus said marketers were also becoming interested in the Olympics because of reports of the strength of the American team, which includes such stars as World Cup champion ski racer Bode Miller, speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno and figure skaters Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan.

Among the clients making deals for Olympics time are AT&T, DHL, Lenovo, Target, Choice Hotels and ExxonMobil. All of those companies except ExxonMobil are Olympic "ring" sponsors, which means they have marketing deals in place with the games, but still had to negotiate with NBC for television time.

Some of those advertisers have integrated aspects to their deals with NBC. Lenovo, for example, is providing computers that will be used in the International Broadcast Center and seen on-air. Choice Hotels is the exclusive hotel chain for the games.

Sales are posting 5 percent to 8 percent ahead of the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, when NBC sold $740 million in advertising, Mr. Lazarus said.

NBC planned a launch today of NBCOlympics.com, a joint venture with Internet Broadcasting. The site will feature video, real-time results and media counts, an interactive television viewer's guide, an OlympicZone section for local affiliates, e-mail boxes for Olympic athletes and commentators and blogs fed by NBC staffers and others close to the games.

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=29132

Hard Digital Transition date compromise according to industry sources. The budget legislation also includes a $1.5 billion subsidy for digital set-top boxes so people with low income who do not subscribe to cable or satellite will not go without TV when the date occurs…”

Great...now my tax dollars are going to pay for people to be able to watch TV and not miss the latest episode of Survivor or Desperate Housewives. :mad: $1.5bil could be used in much more useful ways, such as trying to get our public schools back on track.

As part of the deal, broadcasters will be required to abandon their analog signals by Feb. 17, 2009, according to industry sources.

Right in the middle of sweeps month. Should be interesting.

I'm hoping there are no "sweeps" by 2009.

G4 network grabs 'Star Trek'
If deal goes through, cable station to get original series, 'TNG'

Monday, December 19, 2005; Posted: 9:27 a.m. EST (14:27 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- G4 is about to boldly go where many networks have gone before.

The Comcast-owned cable network is close to acquiring the syndication rights to the original "Star Trek" and one of its spinoffs, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" from Paramount Domestic Television, sources said. "Trek" has been a syndication fixture since the first edition blossomed there after its brief network run in the late '60s.

Sources also suggest that "Trek" will be part of a Comcast effort next year to reposition the channel brand of G4, which struggled to establish itself as the TV home for video gamers, in a broader play for young male viewers. A name change also is being considered.

A spokeswoman for G4 declined comment on the acquisition but issued a statement regarding the channel's positioning. Paramount declined comment.

"Video games are the core of G4's programming strategy," the spokeswoman said. "They are the foundation and basis of our network. Any programming we add to our slate will be attractive to a gamer audience and serve the male 18-34 demographic."

Financial terms of the acquisition were unavailable, but G4 is believed to be double-running both series weekdays, including a primetime window.

"Generation" starts January 8 on G4; it will continue to run on Spike TV as well with time-period restrictions keeping the programs from running in the same daypart. Spike TV will continue to run other "Trek" spinoffs including "Deep Space 9." "Trek" will begin on G4 in the second quarter.

"Trek" is the latest acquisition G4 has made for a program that isn't overtly about video games. The short-lived Fox series "Fastlane" and Comedy Central franchise "The Man Show" are other recent purchases. The network also has had success with the anime genre, a leftover from G4's merger with a Comcast acquisition, TechTV.

In terms of G4's channel positioning, Comcast has to walk a fine line lest it violate affiliate agreements for G4 with other cable operators that specify the channel focus on video games. However, video games will likely still be part of the mix at G4 given how popular they are with the young males the channel targets.

"Trek" isn't exactly alien to the gamer world; the brand has generated more than 70 video game titles.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/12/19/television.startrek.reut/

Sunday’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.

Right in the middle of sweeps month. Should be interesting.

LOL ... I guess waiting until after the traditional end of the "season" would make too much sense ... Oh well :D

House Passes Compromise DTV Bill

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable
The House very early Monday morning passed a compromise DTV hard date bill as part of the omnibus budget reconciliation package.

According to the new bill, the date for turning off analog and switching to all-DTV broadcasting would be Feb. 17, 2009 (the Senate Commerce Committee had set April 7, 2009, the House Commerce Committee Dec. 31, 2008).

The bill also sets a date of Jan. 28, 2008, for the auction of the analog spectrum.

Gone are House Commerce-passed provisions on allowing cable to convert an HDTV signal to standard DTV, or DTV to analog, for its customers.

Money for first responders was bumped up to $1 billion from the $500 million the House Commerce Committee passed.

There is $5 million that can be set aside for a consumer awareness campaign, and New York gets $30 million to help it get up to speed after 9/11 (the World Trade Center was a TV transmission hub).

The new subsidy for DTV-to-analog converter boxes will be $1.5 billion. Senate Commerce had set aside $3 billion, the House only a little under a $1 billion.

Under the compromise, $990 million would go to the subsidy, but an additional $510 million could be allocated if the Commerce Department determines that the initial outlay was insufficient to cover the program.

The bill assumes that spectrum auctions will raise $10 billion--some estimates say it will be double that.
According to the bill, $7.363 billion will go to the Treasury, with the remainder divided as follows (the language is directly from a Senate Commerce breakdown of the funding):

• 1) $1.5 billion for a converter box subsidy program

• 2) $75 million for a program to transition Low Power TV stations and TV translators to digital

• 3) $1 billion for state and local interoperability grants

• 4) $156 million to fund programs in the WARN Act, which establishes national alert and tsunami warning systems

• 5) $43.5 million in funding to improve E-911 communications under the Enhance 911 legislation sponsored by Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) passed last year

• 6) $30 million available for the Essential Air Service program

• 7) $30 million to the Metropolitan Television Alliance, an organization of New York City broadcast stations, for additional digital broadcast equipment needed to provide an adequate digital signal from the Empire State building until the Freedom Tower is completed. As a result of the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers in connection with the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, there is no longer an adequate digital broadcast location to cover all of the New York metropolitan area.

Now, the bill must go to the Senate, where the Democrats are widely expected to filibuster. That could mean it will be Wednesday or Thursday before final passage, if then.

Still to be voted on are the FCC nominations of Democrat Michael Copps to a second term and Republican Tennessee utility regulator Deborah Tate to the unexpired term (through 2007) of former Chairman Michael Powell.

Cloud of death over 'The West Wing'
Show's fate seems that much more uncertain

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 19, 2005

The death on Friday of actor John Spencer, best known for his role as former White House chief of staff and current vice presidential candidate Leo McGarry on NBC’s “The West Wing,” presents a major dilemma for both the series and NBC.

Spencer, who died of a heart attack, was a longtime fixture at NBC, also appearing on the drama “LA Law” from 1990 to 1994. Like his “Wing” character, he was a recovering alcoholic, and he was one of the show’s most popular characters for his honest portrayal of that problem.

His death could not come at a worse time for the show, now in its seventh season, with its future already very much in doubt because of sinking ratings and rising salaries.

The real-life death of such an integral character could well spell the official end for “Wing,” a show that was once among TV’s most-watched dramas and is now mustering just 8 million total viewers, barely half of what it averaged in its prime years.

"Wing" was renewed last season at about half the cost of the previous year, forcing many regulars into recurring roles.

Spencer would ostensibly have played a major role in the show’s season-long election storyline as the vice presidential candidate. In fact, his selection last spring was the show’s season-ending shocker, and one focus this season has been presidential candidate Matt Santos’ seeming distaste for McGarry.

Without McGarry, whose character was a mentor to many of the younger White House staff and the closest confidante of president Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen), the show will lose its wise old sage. And one of the great joys of “Wing” was watching McGarry advise them correctly while he himself dealt often unsuccessfully with private demons.

Just how “Wing” will deal with Spencer’s death is unclear. His character suffered a heart attack last season, and during his recent campaign questions about his health arose.

It would not thus seem surprising for McGarry to die of a fatal heart attack, but the writers won’t be able to do that without rewriting history. The first episode of the season showed a scene three years in the future where Spencer appeared.

Unless “Wing” sets that as a fantasy sequence, it can’t very well write McGarry out.

Past shows have lost key characters as well, and most did not last long afterward. The most famous, and most recent, instance was John Ritter’s death during the second season of ABC’s “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” in fall 2003.

The show incorporated Ritter’s death into the plotline and enjoyed a short ratings surge before falling way back last year, bringing wife Katey Sagal’s character to the center of the show. “Rules” was canceled last spring.

Nearly 20 years ago, actor Freddie Prinze committed suicide while starring in “Chico and the Man.” Though his role was recast, the show was canceled soon after.

In 2000, “Sopranos” actress Nancy Marchand, who played Tony’s mother, passed away. She was not a focal point of the storyline, and HBO used scenes she had already shot as well as computer tricks to set the scene for her on-screen death.

Spencer was 58 years old. He got his start on television at age 16, when he played the boyfriend of one of the twins on “The Patty Duke Show.” He had extensive stage experience and appeared in many movies, including “Presumed Innocent,” “Copland,” “Black Rain” and “Albino Alligator.”

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1920.asp

NBC Bets on “Deal or No Deal”

By A.J. Frutkin MediaWeek.com Dec. 19, 2005

This week's launch of NBC’s game show ”Deal or No Deal” marks broadcasters’ first concerted effort to revive the genre since ABC’s spectacular flameout with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? And success could spawn a network-wide resurgence.

Craig Plestas, senior vp of alternative programming and development at NBC, said the network had been searching for a game show for several months. He added that after Millionaire, “no one really wanted to do a game show. No one believed it would work.” But enough time has passed where NBC “felt the trend would come back,” he said.

Created and produced by Endemol USA and hosted by Howie Mandel, the show calls up one contestant to choose from among 26 briefcases, each of which contains a dollar figure ranging from $1 to $1 million. Without opening the case, the contestant essentially bets against the house that his or her dollar amount is larger than those in the other cases. Along the way, the contestant is given several chances to cash out.

The show originally premiered in the Netherlands in 2002 and has since run in more than 30 other countries, according to David Goldberg, president of Endemol USA. Goldberg added that, like the other versions, the U.S. installment has been tweaked for local appeal. NBC’s version boasts 26 fetching models, each attending to one of the cases. Goldberg said it’s a unique element that “is part of the show’s grandness.” The U.S. Deal also allows contestants to be guided by friends and family who are present in the studio.

In an unusual scheduling maneuver, NBC will run Deal as a five-night event, with each one-hour installment airing at 8 p.m. Because most networks broadcast repeats this close to the holidays, Plestas said, “it gives word of mouth a chance to build throughout the week.” What’s more, given NBC’s weakened position, pre-empting its regular programs for this event “can only mean an uptick,” Plestas added.

But even if Deal makes a splash this week, some advertisers said it won’t give the network the long-term lift it needs. “Is there potential for a quick-hit high rating? Absolutely,” said Sam Armando, vp, director of national TV research for Starcom. “But advertisers want something that makes everything else around it stronger. What NBC needs is a solid show to start building a night. And I just don’t see this being that show.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001700105

Sunday overinights
Big crowd tunes in for Bush's speech

Some 36 million watch Big Four networks

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 19, 2005

President Bush hasn’t made a primetime speech since September. After this weekend’s revelation that Bush authorized domestic spying on suspected terrorists in the aftermath of Sept. 11, everyone wanted to hear from the president.

Last night’s 20-minute presidential address about the Iraq War on the Big Four broadcast networks averaged 36.5 million total viewers from 9-9:30 p.m., according to Nielsen fast affiliate ratings. Final viewership numbers, measuring just Bush’s speech, will be out tomorrow.

The 36.5 million total viewers were a 15 percent increase over the 31.8 million who tuned into Bush’s post-Hurricane Katrina address in September. In April, 32.8 million people tuned into the Big Four to watch another Bush address on Iraq, his most-watched address of the year on broadcast before last night. Both those speeches came on Thursday night.

CBS led the Big Four during the 9 p.m. half hour with 13.1 million total viewers, according to overnights. ABC was second with 9.8 million, Fox third with 7.1 million and NBC forth with 6.5 million.

The speech drew a 12.0 adults 18-49 rating among the four networks, with ABC leading with a 3.5 rating and Fox just behind at a 3.4.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1943.asp

Belated Congratulations

Apparently some time on Friday or Saturday, AVS Forum welcomed its 200,000th member. (No one is sure of the exact time or the specific member.)

The membership njw is at 201,100+ and growing by about 400 a day.

Way to go, David and Alan!

G4 network grabs 'Star Trek'
LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- G4 is about to boldly go where many networks have gone before ... The Comcast-owned cable network is close to acquiring the syndication rights to the original "Star Trek" and one of its spinoffs, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" from Paramount Domestic Television, sources said ... Sources also suggest that "Trek" will be part of a Comcast effort next year to reposition the channel brand of G4, which struggled to establish itself as the TV home for video gamers, in a broader play for young male viewers. A name change also is being considered...

Four words: Watch your cable bill.

LOL ... I guess waiting until after the traditional end of the "season" would make too much sense ... Oh well :D

The February 17th date was simply a split-the-difference compromise between the House version (Jan 1st) and the Senate version (early April, the day after the NCAA championship game).

The 2005-2006 Season
With More Misses Than Hits, a Shake-Up at WB Network

By Elizabeth Jensen The New York Times December 19, 2005

When it introduced its slate of fall programs, the WB Network had a clear-cut mission to broaden its audience beyond teenage girls. But executives weren't really looking for 50-year-old women.

That, however, turned out to be the audience tuning in to see the veteran actor Don Johnson in the show "Just Legal." The program was canceled after three episodes.

Meanwhile, 13 weeks into the season, the network has lost ground among the younger audiences that it is courting.

Over all, through Dec. 13, the network has attracted an average 3.5 million prime-time viewers of all ages, down 8 percent compared with the same period last season. It is off 9 percent to 17 percent in the 12- to 34-year-old and 18- to 34-year-old demographic groups it is aiming at. Among the six broadcast networks, the WB finished last in the November sweeps ratings period that local stations use to set ad rates.

In this climate, the senior WB executives overseeing comedy development, scheduling and casting lost their jobs on Dec. 9, part of a round of work force reductions that also extended to other parts of the Time Warner empire. (The Tribune Company, which owns 22.5 percent of the WB, has also been carrying out companywide layoffs.) In total, WB executives said, about 50 jobs have been eliminated at the WB Network, its TV station group and its Kids' WB! unit.

"They were just smart business moves to make," Garth Ancier, the WB's chairman, said in an interview. "This network is a bit more agile and competitive when it is a smaller group."

Of the four WB shows introduced in September, only "Supernatural," about two brothers who confront evil apparitions while on an extended road trip, has made a mark with viewers. "Related," an hourlong show that follows the lives of four adult sisters, started poorly but has picked up some viewers since moving to Monday nights. "Twins," a comedy starring Melanie Griffith that is broadcast on Fridays, continues to run but has not caught on. And "One Tree Hill," a promising two-year-old show, has declined in ratings.

That leaves the 11-year-old network with a stable of aging shows, including the still-strong "Gilmore Girls" and "7th Heaven," which will end its 10-year run this year. A spinoff is being discussed but is not yet a certainty.

Despite the bad numbers, not everyone is ready to write off the network's fall programming strategy, the first schedule under the full direction of David Janollari, who was hired as president for entertainment in the summer of 2004.

One risky change - the move of the top-rated "Smallville" from Wednesday to Thursday, which is a more competitive night - has paid off. The ratings for this Superman prequel have improved, even up against CBS's "Survivor," nearly doubling the WB's audience on the lucrative night, with its abundance of movie ads.

Steve Sternberg, executive vice president at Magna Global media research, said that the network could still turn its numbers around with just one success. He said the bigger problem was the WB's heavy reliance on reruns to pad its schedule throughout the week. "So far this season, roughly 40 percent of its schedule hours have been repeats, versus about 25 percent last year at this time," Mr. Sternberg said.

The WB deliberately chose to put reruns up against the ABC hits "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," Mr. Ancier said. Still, he added, "there is no question we went past a certain line in repeats this year." He said the network was considering no longer supplying programming for two hours on Sunday evening, from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern time, where reruns have always been broadcast, dragging down the networks' numbers. If that happened, it would be up to local stations to supply programs for those hours. A decision will be made in May, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ancier said the network was preparing new material to help reduce reruns. New episodes of last season's sitcom "Living With Fran" will start Jan. 13, replacing a "Reba" repeat. "Beauty and the Geek," a summer elimination reality program in which beautiful women and nerdy men team up, will return Jan. 12.

In March, the WB will introduce "Pepper Dennis," starring Rebecca Romijn as a Chicago news anchor. Also set for later in the year is "The Bedford Diaries," a one-hour show from the producer Tom Fontana ("Homicide," "Oz") that is already generating controversy because of its provocative storyline, which follows college students who keep video diaries for a human sexuality class.

"Supernatural" and, most likely, "Related" will return next fall, Mr. Ancier said, noting that the network had succeeded in the past by being patient with shows it believed had potential. "I feel like there are building blocks there going forward. It simply takes a while when you put something like 'Supernatural' on and replace an aging show," Mr. Ancier said.

Shari Anne Brill, a vice president who analyzes programming for Carat USA, an advertising agency, agreed. "Strategy shifts have to begin night by night, show by show," she said. "I don't think you can transform yourself in a season."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/19/business/19warner.html?pagewanted=print

Four words: Watch your cable bill.


It would probably be cheaper just to buy the DVDs, (well easier, perhaps -- they are far from inexpensive as I recall.)

Cable One, Nexstar Settle

By Allison Romano Broadcasting & Cable

Cable One Inc. and Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. have settled their year-long retransmission-consent dispute. The Phoenix-based cable operator will resume carrying Nexstar and Mission Broadcasting stations across its systems. Last year, Nexstar, which operates midsize and small-market stations, pulled its signal for NBC affiliate KSNF and ABC affiliate KODE Joplin, Mo.; NBC affiliate KTAL Shreveport, La.; and NBC affiliate KAMR Amarillo, Texas, off Cable One systems.

It is the third carriage dispute that Nexstar has settled in as many months. In October, the company reached a new deal with Cox Broadcasting to carry Nexstar’s analog and digital signals and any future multicast channels. The following month, Nexstar inked a new multiyear deal with Insight Communications to carry analog and digital signals in nine markets and offer local news on the cable company’s free video-on-demand platform.

Nexstar has taken a hard line in negotiations with cable operators, demanding that systems pay cash for the right to retransmit their broadcast stations. When cable operators resisted, Nexstar pulled its stations’ signals. Cable operators pay license fees to carry most cable networks but have been reluctant to pay direct cash for carriage of broadcast stations.

Financial terms of the Nexstar-Cable One deal were not disclosed. But the Nexstar dispute did cause Cable One to be fined by the FCC. In November, the commission handed down a $20,000 fine for “failure to provide” market protection to Nexstar Broadcasting-owned NBC affiliate KSNF in Miami, Okla., part of the Joplin, Texas, TV market. After Nexstar pulled its KSNF signal, Cable One customers in Miami, Okla., could still watch NBC because the cable operator was carrying Tulsa affiliate KJRH, and Nexstar petitioned the FCC, asserting the imported signal violated its market rights. The cable company can appeal the fine.

And according to Multi Channel News:

"...The Phoenix-based cable operator and the broadcaster signed a retransmission-consent deal Friday. That afternoon, the four stations involved -- NBC affiliate KSNF and ABC affiliate KODE in Joplin, Mo.; NBC affiliate KTAL in Shreveport, La.; and NBC affiliate KAMR in Amarillo, Texas -- were back on Cable One’s lineup, according to Nexstar executive vice president Duane Lammers.

Lammers and Cable One spokeswoman Melany Stroupe declined to comment on whether the MSO had finally agreed to the broadcasters’ original demands -- being paid cash for carriage of its TV stations. Nexstar had originally sought a 30-cent monthly license fee per subscriber for its stations.

While declining to discuss any specific terms, Lammers said, “If we wouldn’t have gotten the value we wanted, then we wouldn’t have done the deal.”

Nexstar had reached about 30 retransmission-consent renewals this year, according to Lammers. Some cable systems are paying cash for carriage, he said.

“We have changed the industry,” he added. “We are getting paid cash from a lot of operators, so from that standpoint, it’s mission accomplished. I can’t talk about any of our deals specifically, but I can just tell you that it has been a fruitful period for us.”

Right in the middle of sweeps month. Should be interesting.
But after the Super Bowl and before the NCAA BB playoffs.

TV This Week
The art of the “Deal”, NBC's latest bet

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 18, 2005, 20:01

Six years ago, during a slow summer period, ABC debuted a new game show airing over consecutive nights with lots of dough up for grabs. That show, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” became the year’s biggest and most surprising hit.

NBC hopes to hit on that same formula tonight when it premieres “Deal or No Deal,” a game show hosted by Howie Mandel with a top prize of $1 million. The game is based on chance. Contestants choose one of 26 briefcases filled with cash prizes ranging from a penny to $1 million.

The other briefcases are unsealed one by one, and contestants may trade their original pick in for other cash prizes or play the odds and hope for the million bucks.

The hour-long show will air Monday through Thursday nights this week at 8 PM ET/PT, an hour where NBC has been weak most weeknights this year, and if it does well it may return next year.

But based on the competition it faces tonight, “Deal’s” prospects don't appear too bright. CBS has original episodes of “King of Queens” and “How I Met Your Mother,” a combination that usually wins the hour, and ABC has a new “Wife Swap,” which gets a boost from the pre-“Monday Night Football” audience.

Certainly, NBC has nothing to lose by trying the show out, and lots to win if it catches with viewers. What its chances are is the big unknown. Is this the next "Millionaire" in waiting?

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_1915.asp

To answer the above question: No.

"Millionaire" had questions Americans had fun (often with entire families) trying to answer. It also had a warm, friendly, likeable host in the vastly underrated Regis Philbin.

Howie Mandel has certainly shown he can be funny. But warm, friendly and likeable? Not really and that absence will, I suspect, severely limit the appeal of this show.

Remember the Fox dud "Greed" of a few seaons back?

I can't see why this would have any more appeal.

”American Idol” Invades Thursday, Briefly

(zap2it.com)--So as it turns out, "American Idol" will be airing on Thursdays after all -- at least for a little while.

Fox has unveiled its full schedule for the fifth season of the talent competition, which will adhere to the format it adopted last year: After the auditions and the Hollywood training camp, the 24 semifinalists will split along gender lines, with the male and female singers performing separately each week until only six of each remain.

It's during that round that the show will make its way onto Thursdays. Starting Tuesday, Feb. 21, (Note: while NBC is showing the Winter Olympics Womens’ Figure Skating final) the semifinalists will sing in performance episodes on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the results of fan voting revealed in hour-long shows on Thursday.

Before FOX released its midseason schedule, there was widespread speculation that the "Idol" results show would move to Thursdays full-time. That didn't happen, as the network decided to keep the familiar Tuesday-Wednesday schedule for the bulk of the season, including the finals.

The Thursday results shows will run at 8 p.m. ET for three weeks, with the 12 finalists being revealed on March 9. FOX hasn't finalized its 9 p.m. schedule for those weeks, but if it sticks to its previously announced plan -- in which "That '70s Show" and "Stacked" fill that hour starting March 2 -- "The O.C." will likely get a couple of weeks off. That would allow the show to remain in original episodes for much of the rest of the season.

"American Idol" premieres Tuesday, Jan. 17. The audition and Hollywood rounds will air Tuesdays and Wednesdays through Feb. 15, when the semifinalists are announced. Following the three weekly semifinal rounds, the final 12 will perform on the same stage for the first time Tuesday, March 14.

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/utils/tve_article_print/1,1144,,00.html?current_url=271|99156|1|&search_id=1&cntn_id=99156

Sports on TV
With the Colts, CBS could score again

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer

The Indianapolis Colts’ winning streak helped CBS end a very long losing streak the weekend prior to this one. The issue now is for how long.

For the first time since 1998, when the network regained rights to the NFL after a four-year layoff, CBS’s pregame show beat Fox’s long-dominant pregame show. Though the Colts’ first loss of the season yesterday will likely cool CBS’s ratings somewhat, it will still finish the season closer to Fox than it has in years.

CBS holds the rights to games in the AFC, the conference where the Colts play. CBS’s “NFL Today,” which airs from noon to 1 p.m. Sundays, averaged a 3.9 household rating Dec. 11, a half-point better than the competing “Fox NFL Sunday,” according to Nielsen ratings.

“Today” was up 56 percent over its season average of 2.5, and it’s pretty obvious why. The show led into the Colts-Jacksonville game in most of the country, and many fans tuned in early to hear analysis of a game many thought the Jaguars could win.

Ratings for “Today” were up among adults 18-49, too, where CBS averaged 2.5 million viewers, 1 million above its average, while Fox averaged 2.3 million, 100,000 below its average. CBS also held a 70,000 advantage among men 18-49.

CBS's ratings for yesterday's pregame, before the San Diego Chargers beat the Colts, could well help "Today" beat "Sunday" again.

But the bigger question is, after Fox’s 132-week unbeaten streak, is it in danger of falling behind CBS on Sunday?

While CBS is certainly gaining--the 0.8 gap among households is the smallest ever between the two shows, according to CBS--the concern for Fox is that “NFL Sunday” has cooled since last year.

Through 14 weeks last year, Fox averaged a 3.7 household rating. This year it’s down 11 percent in households, 12 percent in 18-49s, to 2.4 million, and 12 percent in men 18-49, to 1.9 million. CBS, meanwhile, is essentially flat.

Though on-screen chemistry between the in-studio teams certainly affects the ratings, and Fox’s foursome seems more comfortable together than CBS’s, the big problem for Fox is that the once-mighty NFC is faltering.

The NFC has one very good squad, the Seattle Seahawks, one good one, the Chicago Bears, and a bunch of middling teams that could nonetheless make the playoffs with a .500 record. It makes for dull football analysis, and it’s even duller compared with the Colts chasing history.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_1918.asp

My guess about the NFL Sunday shows:

As long as the brilliant Scott Ackerson runs the Fox program, it will do substanitally better than the NFC ratings do against the AFC games of CBS.

'SNL' DELIVERS SEASON-HIGH OVERNIGHTS

(NBC Press Release)

BURBANK, Calif. Dec. 18, 2005 -- Saturday night's edition of "Saturday Night Live" delivered the show's highest average rating so far this season in the local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research.

The telecast, featuring host Jack Black and musical guest Neil Young, averaged a 6.1 rating, 14 share in the metered markets, the highest local-market score for "SNL" thus far in the 2005-06 season. The Dec. 17 "Saturday Night Live" also featured surprise appearances by Johnny Knoxville and "SNL" alum Tracy Morgan. Note that averages currently include 52 markets, with Miami, New Orleans, Providence and Greenville-Spartanburg currently excluded from Saturday's overnight ratings.

The last time "SNL" generated a higher average in the local markets was May 21, when Lindsay Lohan hosted and Coldplay performed as musical guest for the show's 2004-05 season finale (6.2/15).

National ratings and demographic results for last night's "Saturday Night Live" are due from Nielsen Thursday, Dec. 22.

NBC Olympics Web site

With less than two months to go before the start of the Turin Olympic Games, (Feb. 10) NBC today fired up its Olympics web site.

Any questions about coverage?

http://www.nbcolympics.com/index.html

NAB comments on the new DTV transition date

(National Association of Broadcasters Press Release)

Early this morning, the conference report for the budget reconciliation bill was approved by the House in a 212-206 vote. The bill establishes a February 17, 2009 "hard date" for the transition from analog to digital television. It also allocates up to $1.5 billion in assistance for the 73 million television sets that rely exclusively on over-the-air broadcasting and will need a converter box in order to continue receiving television signals in the digital era.

Of major importance to NAB member stations and to consumers, the bill strips out a provision that would have permitted cable operators to down-convert HDTV signals into a "standard definition" signal, thus denying consumers the opportunity to view the highest-quality digital programming. This was NAB's number one priority.

STATEMENT FROM NAB PRESIDENT AND CEO DAVID REHR

"NAB is pleased that the House included many pro-consumer DTV provisions in the budget reconciliation bill. We are especially encouraged that the legislation thwarts the cable industry's desire to degrade delivery of HDTV pictures to consumers. We strongly urge Senate adoption of this legislation."

More scary research for those of us who care about HD:

For HDTV Viewing, the Set Is Just the Start

By Alex Mindlin The New York Times Dec. 19, 2005

Only about half of the homes in the United States with HDTV sets are able to watch high-definition television, according to a study by Jupiter Research and a separate study by Scientific-Atlanta, a maker of set-top devices. The main reasons are that the HDTV set owners either are not signed up for HDTV service or are not using the proper equipment.

The finding suggests wide confusion among consumers about HDTV technology. Watching high-definition television requires not only a special set, but in most cases a set-top box as well as a high-definition signal.

As an example, 23 percent of HDTV set owners who did not receive HD content were confused by a message at the beginning of some TV programs that describes the shows as "broadcast in HD," according to the Scientific-Atlanta study. These people assumed that meant they were watching high-definition TV, even though the broadcast message appears regardless of picture resolution.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/19/business/19drill.html?pagewanted=print

I'm hoping there are no "sweeps" by 2009.

I am pretty sure your hope will be realized.

Starting next week, for example, Nielsen will begin counting DVR use for the first time.

It will still report traditional overnight ratings, but add two more categories: people who recorded and watched the shows within 24 hours, and those who watched them within a week. It'll take a while for the system to get into full swing, but clearly the upgrading of the ratings system probably spells doom for the archaic sweeps.

But I am not sure that will be such a plus. At least now the networks are forced to come up with three months of their best programming.

With sweeps gone, I suspect we may see even fewer "original" episodes and networks will be filling the holes with repeats, retreads, or other cheap filler programming.

'Idol' schedule is set

By Bill KeveneyUSA TODAY

With less than a month until the premiere of Fox's American Idol it's not too early for fans to start making viewing plans.

Idol premieres Jan. 17 (8 p.m. ET/PT), with the first of seven audition episodes from San Francisco, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Denver and Greensboro, N.C. Two-hour episodes air Jan. 17 and 24, with one-hour shows Jan. 18, 25, 31 and Feb. 1 and 7 (8 p.m. ET/PT).

Singers who win the judges' approval will move on to Idol's Hollywood round, airing Feb. 8, 14 and 15 (8 p.m. ET/PT). The semifinalists — 12 men and 12 women — will be announced Feb. 15. The men will perform Feb. 21; the women, Feb. 22. The two men and two women with the fewest viewer votes will be eliminated in a Feb. 23 results show (8 p.m. ET/PT).

The top 12 finalists will be announced March 9, with the finals round starting March 14 (8 p.m. ET/PT).
Judge Randy Jackson says the best male and female singers appear to be balanced in ability this season.

"The kids this time probably want this worse than ever," he told reporters in a conference call. "There's quite a bit of interesting fighting and dialogue amongst the contestants."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-18-idol-schedule_x.htm

There will be many, many stories similar to this one in the next couple of weeks…..

Sports on TV
Not just game, 'MNF' is a U.S. institution


Curtain nears for ABC show, but memories, from humble start onward, will live on
By Bill Ordine Baltimore Sun reporter December 19, 2005

The simple name says it all.

Monday.

Night.

Football.

For 36 years, it has given hundreds of millions of Americans someplace to be on the first night of the workweek and often something to gab about the next day. It has been a town square where the bandstand featured touchdowns, sacks and occasional appearances by rock stars and political luminaries.

Tonight's game featuring the stumbling Green Bay Packers against the equally reeling Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium is one of the final curtain calls for a television show that has been ABC's unfailing prime-time anchor since 1970. With the NFL moving its Monday night showcase to ESPN next season, the farewell tour of MNF, as the nation has come to know it, has just a handful of bows left to take.

As with other modestly ambitious enterprises that take on a greater cultural significance -- say, like the first strains of rock 'n' roll -- no one involved with Monday prime-time football in its formative years had any clue that the show would achieve such popularity or become an institution.

"We were stunned," said Don Ohlmeyer, who was just 27 when he started as the show's producer during its heyday in the 1970s. "When you went into a city ... they would have parades and they would have a lunch with thousands of people and every media outlet wanted to talk with you and everyone associated with the broadcast. It was startling."

Ohlmeyer was part of MNF"s early behind-the-scenes brain trust that included creator Roone Arledge and director Chet Forte, both now dead.

The breakthrough genius of the show, Ohlmeyer said, was its departure from familiar approaches, which had appealed strictly to the hard-core enthusiast. And, of course, there was the casting magic of the series' second season that brought together straight man Frank Gifford and his dueling partners, good ol' boy Don Meredith and acerbic Howard Cosell.

Ohlmeyer said the theatrical device of introducing a story line for each game was meant to heighten drama and draw in the casual fan.

"The mind seeks to create order out of chaos, and we accommodated that with a story line," Ohlmeyer said. "A lot of it had to do with Chet's experience on Wide World of Sports and Roone's theory that what good television was all about is story telling. ... And Howard and Don were terrific for each other; it was Martin and Lewis. They were complementary personalities because it led to the conflict."

Must-see TV early on

The familiar MNF broadcasting triumvirate was together for just 11 of the show's 36 seasons and yet that group remains the show's signature ensemble, with John Lennon and Ronald Reagan among the celebrities who made appearances.

"We called it The Tonight Show effect, because people were afraid to turn off that program because Johnny [Carson] was the master of surprises. Bob Hope might walk on or Don Rickles would do something outrageous and the next day everyone was talking about it," Ohlmeyer said. "On Monday Night Football, there was this same level of the unexpected. Particularly with Howard and Don, the unexpected was the normal occurrence."

And sometimes the unexpected was tragic -- or awkward. During a Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots game in 1980, Cosell broke in with the announcement that Lennon had been killed. Three years later, Cosell -- who consistently brought attention to the absence of African-American head coaches in the NFL -- referred to diminutive Washington Redskins wide receiver Alvin Garrett, an African-American, as a "little monkey."

Cosell's critics -- and there were plenty -- leaped on the remark as a sign of latent racism. The announcer, whose support for civil rights had never been in question, said the term was meant in a complimentary fashion to point out the receiver's elusiveness.

Once the Gifford-Meredith-Cosell team broke up for good after the 1983 season, ABC tried several combinations, including an ill-fated one with Joe Namath and O.J. Simpson in the booth. Then, in 1987, the network hit on the Al Michaels-Gifford-Dan Dierdorf team that lasted 11 seasons. There was less theatrics and more nuts-and-bolts football.

"You have to be what you are," said Dierdorf, a former star offensive lineman with the St. Louis Cardinals. "We're not actors. We can't say, 'Let's do football,' one week and be cut-ups the next. I'm not Tom Hanks.

"But I think the American football fan, moving from the 1970s and into the '80s, had become much more sophisticated and knowledgeable about the game. And I believe we were giving them what they wanted, which was more football. ... The fans changed, and Monday Night Football was changing with them."

Gifford left after 28 years following 1997, Dierdorf stayed just one more season and Michaels has been with the show for 20 years.

Along the way, MNF introduced or advanced techniques that are now commonplace, such as statistical graphics that focused on key trends in the game. Meanwhile, Forte loved showing shots of fans in the stands and of players on the sidelines. In that way, the players -- with helmets off -- became familiar personalities, still another attempt to reach beyond the traditional fan base.

"The idea of showing freeze frames of players' faces was an effort to appeal to women," Ohlmeyer said. "The first one we ever did was Golden Richards of the Dallas Cowboys, who was the best-looking man in the history of America. We used his face in the opening and we still had it on slow-motion and on the first or second play when he made a great catch, I noticed we hadn't recorded over it. So we put it up and it worked so well, we kept doing it."

In the past decade, as cable and satellite television have fragmented the TV audience, Monday Night Football has become less a common experience for viewers. Lately, only on the rare occasion -- such as the risque intro to a game last year when actress Nicollette Sheridan tempted Philadelphia receiver Terrell Owens by supposedly dropping her towel in the locker room -- does MNF become water-cooler material.

In an attempt to boost the show in 2000, ABC lured back Ohlmeyer, who hired comedian Dennis Miller for the broadcast.

"Thomas Wolfe was right; you can't go home again," Ohlmeyer said of the failed experiment.

The past few seasons, the show has been a straightforward telecast featuring play-by-play man Michaels and analyst John Madden.
Big plans at ESPN

With the show moving next year to ESPN -- like ABC, owned by Disney -- the sports-oriented cable network hopes to use its powerful niche position on the ever-expanding TV dial to its advantage.

Its Monday Night Countdown show will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the host city to hype the coming contest. The game broadcast, with Michaels and former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann in the booth and Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya on the sidelines, will begin at 8:30, with kickoff 10 minutes later.

Then there will be follow-up on SportsCenter. In all, it will be at least a six-hour seamless barrage of MNF, not counting the midday promos on ESPN.

"We want this to be an immersive experience," said ESPN senior vice president John Wildhack. "This is going to be a spectacular road show coming to your city. We want every game to feel like the Super Bowl."

Ohlmeyer said he chuckles these days when he thinks about how he and his colleagues believed themselves to be cutting-edge more than 30 years ago and how so "prehistoric" those telecasts appear now. But the effects were lasting and perhaps, he reasons, even beneficial.

"They entertained America," Ohlmeyer said of the early Monday Night Football veterans. "And they brought a little catharsis so that people could forget about the job they didn't like, or whether their kids were getting good grades, or if they could make the next mortgage payment. ... And that's a big service, a little national psychological therapy."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-sp.mnf19dec19,1,1360257,print.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines

NBC Olympics Web site

With less than two months to go before the start of the Turin Olympic Games, (Feb. 10) NBC today fired up its Olympics web site.

Any questions about coverage?

http://www.nbcolympics.com/index.html
Well, yeah, just a few. :D

For starters there is nothing listed other than the fact that The Olympics are being carried on your local NBC station(something we've known for years :p ). Nothing about what, when and where. Also, I'm curious if the USA broadcasts(which there are no listings for either) will be simulcast on Universal-HD as I don't see any mention of UHD, or any mention of HD in fact, anywhere in the site.

There will be many, many stories similar to this one in the next couple of weeks…..

Sports on TV
Not just game, 'MNF' is a U.S. institution



Regardless of what the ratings may be, I think there is going to millions of folks bummed to find out the there is no football on TV Monday nights anymore. Not everyone has or wants ESPN.

90 millions homes have it (out of 110.2 million TV homes).

I think vast majority of those who don't have access to ESPN probably don't care much about pro football or, (and I know this sounds cruel) simply aren't much valued by the NFL and more specifically its advertisers.

Regardless of what the ratings may be, I think there is going to millions of folks bummed to find out the there is no football on TV Monday nights anymore. Not everyone has or wants ESPN.

I agree and thought the article was great. I have to say that Monday Night Football was much better back when Cossell, Merideth, and Gifford were doing it. I just think it had atotally different feel to it and glad I was able to experience it. I hardlywatch anymore as ABC has ruined something that was at one time must see TV I think the games start to late and with all the commercials it just isn't the same. I hope ESPN can bring it back to where it once was but I doubt I think the best years of MNF are behind us and I am just glad that I witnessed it.

I am glad you guys liked the MNF article. As I noted there will most likely be many more to come over the next couple of weeks -- I'll post the more interesting ones.

Nextstar, Mission Ink Cable One Retrans Deal Orbit

Katy Bachman MediaWeek.com Dec. 19, 2005 -

Nextstar Broadcasting and Mission Broadcasting Monday ended a one-year stand-off with Cable One, signing a new retransmission agreement for four stations.

The new pact allows the cable operator to immediately carry KODE, Mission’s ABC affiliate in Joplin, Mo.; KSNF, Nexstar’s NBC affiliate in Joplin; KTAL, Nexstar’s NBC affliate in Shreveport, LA.; and KAMR, Nexstar’s NBC affiliate in Amarillo, Tex. All four stations have been unavailable on the cable system since Dec. 31, 2004.

While the parties did not disclose terms, Nexstar and Mission were asking Cable One to pay 30 cents per month per subscriber to carry the stations.

“We are very happy to have reached a mutual agreement with Nexstar,” said Jerry McKenna, vp of strategic marketing for Cable One, the cable division of The Washington Post Co. “Cable One, Nexstar and Mission will be able to work together in a business relationship for many years with the agreement.”

This is the third retransmission tussle Perry Sook, CEO of Nexstar has resolved in the past couple of months. The TV group recently announced deals and settled disputes with Insight Communications and Cox Communications.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/tvstations/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001700646

"Analog Hole" legislation introduced (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051218-5797.html) by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).

Huge news for anyone using an iPod, Tivo, or any other digital recording device.

Please read the story and do what you deem necessary to fight this legislation.

Another one rides the bus

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star

The bus departing with "Nightline" old-timers, that is. This time, it's Robert Krulwich, the irresistibly listenable reporter who specialized in making science, technology and -- above all -- economics sound interesting. He's going back to NPR, where no doubt they're as eager to get Krulwich back as ABC was to unload him.

If there was any doubt that ABC wants "Nightline" to break all ties with public broadcasting, this is it. It is unlikely that Martin Bashir will ever set up a documentary unit for PBS, as Ted Koppel once did, and it is equally unlikely that another NPR or PBS personality will ever be recruited to service "Nightline" again. I'm not saying this is an appalling development (though you might). I'm just saying it's a definitive milestone, perhaps even more so than Dave Marash's departure.

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

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

And here’s an earlier Aaron Barnhart “Nightline” item I neglected to post three weeks ago:

So long, Dave Marash

I've been remiss in not linking to this tribute, one that every TV critic in the country should have written, saluting the true hero of ABC's "Nightline" -- Dave Marash, a guy who could report every conceivable type of story and lend exactly the right amount of gravitas/humor/poignancy to it ... pretty much using the same tone of voice. Now there's a gift if ever a broadcaster had one, and Dave Marash has it.

Link: http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-ettel4514566nov17,0,5045216.column?coll=ny-news-columnists

Or "had it," at least as far as ABC was concerned. Marash won't be part of the new "Nightline," and that's not just a shame, that's ridiculous. It's almost as though ABC executives want the new "Nightline" to fail, getting rid of their best correspondent just because he happens to look like your dad. What, viewers don't listen to Dad? Maybe when they were 16 they didn't, but now that they're in the 18-49 demographic, I think most people have figured out that older guys have something to say worth listening to.

ABC is doomed.

Read more about and by Dave at his wife's website:

http://www.marash.tv/blog/

And here's an eyewitness essay Marash wrote after visiting the Balkans in 2001:

http://www.carnegie.org/reporter/02/balkans/

Critic’s Notebook
''Chris''-Mas

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

My friend and colleague Diane Werts has written a new book about Christmas on television. It's one of those ''gee, I wish I thought of it'' ideas, and one that Diane has been working on for years, and a topic that could call for regular, newly updated editions of the book.

When she gets around to a new edition, I hope she gives all praise to the Christmas episode of ''Everbody Hates Chris,'' which was about as realistic a portrayal of the holiday season as you can find in a TV show.

For those of you who missed it -- and you have a second chance to see it at 8 p.m. Monday -- it has Chris wanting a special gift for Christmas. But the family has an unexpected expense and can't afford it. Gifts have already been bought for Chris's brother and sister, so they won't suffer, but Chris has to be satisfied with an explanation of why he won't get his gift.

So what happens? Chris handles it. He accepts his situation, even puts on a positive face for the rest of the family. And -- this may be the best part -- he still doesn't get the gift. There's no phony-baloney, present-from-heaven ending on this. He just doesn't get it. In fact, the show ends with a moment of charity that is so wrong-headed to Chris's family, you can see that they don't mind doing without some things; they're still proud of what they have managed.

It's great stuff. There are also some laughs along the way, and a subplot about Chris's sister that is nicely handled, but I keep coming back to how well the show deals with Chris not getting the gift. (The replay on Monday is also the first of four ''Chris'' replays this week, at 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, so you have several chances to see the show if you haven't already.)

In doing so, it avoids a mistake a lot of shows make. They assume that there has to be a big, sentimental payoff, a gratification of a wish, a reward for a good deed. Life doesn't always work that way. We have to find our happiness in the life we have, and in the emotions we feel, and not in the stuff we get.

There's an old Richard Pryor routine about -- as well as I can remember it -- a mean dog. And one day, when Pryor is feeling bad, the dog actually feels Pryor's pain and is momentarily sympathetic. But the dog also warns Pryor that, the next day, he's going to be back on Pryor's case. Christmas is like that, too. We get a day that should be warm and fuzzy, but the next day, we're back to our old lives. So we have to forget about the stuff and hold onto those feelings that will carry us through the day after Christmas, and the day after that.

I mean, ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is the best Christmas movie ever made, and it has that happy ending, but like a lot of Frank Capra's work, it doesn't pretend that the world is suddenly all better. George Bailey has gotten out of a jam, but the savings & loan will still struggle. Potter is still out there, spinning his webs (and now he has some of the Bailey money to spin them with). George's vision of his impact on the world is also a reminder of how easily things can fall apart for people. But George has a good heart, and a strong will, and they will help him get through any struggle.

Chris's family is also strong and good. Their life is not perfect, but they have the hope, love and determination to get through bad times -- and to make even the bad times feel pretty good.

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

Holiday Alternative Viewing Suggestions

By John Leonard New York Magazine (all times are eastern)

For those of you overmedicated on reruns of Jimmy Stewart, Charlie Brown, and yet another version of A Christmas Carol, here’s some alternate holiday viewing.

Yellow Brick Road (December 21, 7 p.m., Cinemax) is what documentarians Matthew Makar and Keith Rondinelli saw when they watched a cast of handicapped New Yorkers rehearse for a one-night performance of The Wizard of Oz. Scarecrow, needing to keep a job more than he does his role, proves to be more worrisome than a wheelchair-bound Tin Man who likes to sing Barry White as much as Harold Arlen. Opening (and closing) night is a wicked wonder.

The Nightingale (December 21, 8 p.m., PBS—check local listings for your area) is what filmmaker Christian Chaudet has made from Hans Christian Andersen’s Danish fairy tale, Igor Stravinsky’s Chinese opera, French soprano Natalie Dessay, the Paris National Opera Chorus, and computer animation—a delightful Great Performances that invites us to wonder, like the dying emperor, if computer animation is the mechanical nightingale or the real one.

Seamless (December 26, 9 p.m., Sundance) introduces us to four young designers as they compete for a $250,000 prize co-sponsored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue. You may find that Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is easier on the eyes than are any of the designs, and certainly much more interesting than the novels she’s been stuck in.

http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/tv/15343/

Have they said anything about the methodology of how they will obtain their data? I will always be skeptical of their numbers.


I am pretty sure your hope will be realized.

Starting next week, for example, Nielsen will begin counting DVR use for the first time.

It will still report traditional overnight ratings, but add two more categories: people who recorded and watched the shows within 24 hours, and those who watched them within a week. It'll take a while for the system to get into full swing, but clearly the upgrading of the ratings system probably spells doom for the archaic sweeps.

But I am not sure that will be such a plus. At least now the networks are forced to come up with three months of their best programming.

With sweeps gone, I suspect we may see even fewer "original" episodes and networks will be filling the holes with repeats, retreads, or other cheap filler programming.

"Analog Hole" legislation introduced (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051218-5797.html) by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).

Huge news for anyone using an iPod, Tivo, or any other digital recording device.

Please read the story and do what you deem necessary to fight this legislation.


Happily this legislation won't get any action at all until after the Christmas break.

And then it faces committe hearings and an increasingly distracted Congress as November elections near.

I would suspect it is an uphill battle.


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

By the way, dogday, while I appreciate (and encourage) submissions here, and commentary is always most welcome, many of the "facts" cited in the posted story are -- at the very least -- subject to interpretation.

I'd prefer, when possible, to at least post a more dispassionate version of a story before getting to the strong partisan appeals.

Then we can have a nice, amicable, though sometimes heated, discussion here.

(I say all this while agreeing wholeheartedly (well maybe 85% heartedly) with the views reflected in the post.)

In my vhere needs to be some protection for those who hold copyrights. I think this proposed version of that protection is probably far too stringent. But the creators of any kinds of entertainment surely deserve to be compensated for the use of their work, don't you agree?

I need to know if I need to look for anything special when buying a television to go in the bathroom. We already have a recepticle in the bathroom up in a corner. I am thinking about a 14" television to get my husband for Christmas but don't know the first thing about it. I really just want to make sure that any television that I could get at Circuit City or something would be okay. I just don't know about the steam and how that could affect things. We do have a heater and an exhaust fan that we keep on when we are in the bathroom, but I need to know!
Thank You!!!

Welcome to the AVS Forum -- and the thread -- brt!

I am assuming that HD is not a concern, and I would guess a nice LCD flat screen might work best. But I don't know how high humidity and moisture might effect it.

Any reader have any ideas?

On second thought, bathroomtelevisi, you would probably get faster (and more accurate) answers from the folks who populate the Plasma and LCD thread.

Try asking your question here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=40

Good luck. (And let us know what they recommend!)

Have they said anything about the methodology of how they will obtain their data? I will always be skeptical of their numbers.

TV Braces for DVR Ratings
New Nielsen service offers buyers, networks choice of formats
By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable 12/5/2005

The television industry may be talking in different ratings languages in the coming weeks, say TV executives, when Nielsen begins to include programs recorded on digital video recording devices (DVRs) in the viewing it tracks for networks and advertisers.

Beginning Dec. 26, the ratings company will report three separate data streams: 1) “live,” viewing excluding any DVR playback; 2) “live plus same day,” live viewers and those who played back programs on a DVR within one day of their initial airing; and 3) “live plus seven,” live viewers and those who played back programs on a DVR within a week of their initial airing.

Says Sara Erichson, general manager of national services for Nielsen Media Research, “With regard to the different flavors of data, it was pretty clear that different clients had different needs and different priorities.”

Changes in Nielsen ratings, the basis upon which networks and advertisers negotiate the value of ads, threaten to drastically alter how advertising deals are structured. Many ad buyers, not surprisingly, don’t like the new streams and say they won’t include DVR viewers in deals they make during next spring’s upfront; more viewers mean more money that advertisers could be asked to shell out.

Viewers often use DVRs because the devices allow them to skip through ads, and buyers don’t want to pay for viewers who aren’t going to watch their spots. DVR viewers skip through as much as 90% of ads, according to research from Magna Global USA, Interpublic’s media-buying unit.

In making these changes, Nielsen is responding to a long-voiced industry desire for more-accurate measurement of how many people are watching TV. DVRs have been around for almost a decade, and networks and advertisers still do not take into account viewers who record programs on the devices. Only about 7% of U.S. TV homes have DVRs now, according to Nielsen. But that percentage could jump to 37% by 2010, according to Forrester research.

The broadcast networks have united in favor of the new rating streams. Preliminary Nielsen research shows that network programming as a whole registers 4% more viewers when DVR users, who are proven to watch more television than non-users, are factored in. That means more viewers for the networks to tout when they ask media-buying agencies for more money for advertising.

“What we are seeing is that DVRs are going to increase viewership to major network programming and commercial exposure in those programs,” says David Poltrack, executive VP, research and planning, CBS Television & UPN.

Nielsen has been incorporating programs recorded on VCRs into its “live” sample for years, says Steve Sternberg, Magna executive VP/director of audience analysis. That includes all VCR-recorded shows, he adds, not necessarily those that have been viewed. Until Nielsen removes VCR-recorded programs from its live sample, Magna does not want to include DVR-viewed programs in the sample upon which it bases negotiations of upfront ad fees for next year.

Cable networks may not benefit as much as broadcast from incorporation of DVR viewing; they tend to rerun shows multiple times, lessening the likelihood that viewers will record them.

So far, the cable industry has taken a wait-and-see stance toward Nielsen’s changes. The Cable Advertising Bureau recently issued a statement to its members saying that, while “all TV exposures hold value, without enough empirical data to support any one data stream as the platform to value playback, we should not set any market precedent for future commerce.”

Nielsen is allowing its clients to choose which streams to use; the players—broadcast and cable networks, media buyers, individual advertisers—will have to decide which is most advantageous and try to negotiate deals accordingly after they analyze the DVR-inclusive numbers over time.

Have they said anything about the methodology of how they will obtain their data? I will always be skeptical of their numbers.

(A second article)

Nielsen Hatches Plan For Fourth Set Of Ratings
by Joe Mandese MediaPost.com editor Oct 19, 2005

Ii what is likely to create further confusion if not outright anarchy in the TV ratings business beginning late this year, Nielsen Media Research is finalizing a plan that would add yet another stream of ratings data to an already convoluted plan for dealing with digital video recorders, MediaDailyNews has learned. Nielsen, which previously said it would provide three streams of conflicting ratings data beginning in late December to deal with the lagging effects of DVR playback, will now add a fourth for journalists who track the TV ratings season. The original plan was already confusing enough, with buyers and sellers jostling over which set will be used as the currency of TV advertising deals as they begin planning for 2006 post-buys and for the 2006-07 upfront advertising marketplace.

Because Nielsen will wait a full week before finalizing ratings estimates for DVR households, the TV audience researcher has already decided to release ratings data in three streams: One of live-only viewing minus any DVR playback, a second set that would provide live viewing plus the first day of DVR playback, and a third set that would provide live viewing plus seven-days worth of DVR playback. Playback beyond seven days is deemed negligible and will not be included in Nielsen's official counts.

Since advertisers and agencies are unsure how much of the DVR playback might be fast-forwarding through commercials, media buyers are emphasizing live viewing data, while TV sales executives want to cut deals based on ratings that include seven days of DVR playback.

"It's going to become a problem when it comes down to negotiating in the next upfront: which is the one to use," acknowledges Steve Sternberg, executive vice president-director of audience analysis at Interpublic's giant Magna Global TV negotiating unit.

Adding to that confusion, Nielsen now plans to create a fourth set of "hybrid" data for journalists who track the results of the TV season and for programmers who tout their season-to-date results in trade ads and press releases.

Since it is unlikely that many if any journalists are likely to wait an additional week for the live-plus seven days of DVR data to be compiled, Nielsen's new season-to-date ratings would be comprised of the average of all ratings data for all but the last week, which would be based only on live viewing minus any DVR playback.

While DVR penetration is still relatively low--somewhere between 7 percent and 10 percent depending on estimates--and the data disparities are not likely to be significant across the data sets, the prospect of having four sets of data circulating in a marketplace that already is prone to spin and distortion is raising new concerns among Nielsen clients.

"There's already tons of confusion on the information we give our clients now," acknowledged Karen Kratz Gyimesi, vice president and chief press officer at Nielsen, ticking off the multitude of data TV outlets dish out each Tuesday to the press when they are spinning their ratings results for the past week: "First there's the 56-metered market averages. Then a few hours later, the fast affiliate numbers come out, but they just include the network affiliates. Later in the afternoon, the full national numbers are released." Gyimesi said Nielsen has not fully vetted the new season-to-date ratings plan yet, but has begun discussing it with some of its national broadcast and cable network clients. She acknowledges that there is no ideal solution to the dilemma, but that Nielsen has no other choice if it was going to begin including DVR ratings, which start with its December 26 ratings reports.

"We're discussing this now with our editors," Gary Levin, a TV reporter at USA Today told MDN, adding that the newspaper, known for its coverage of Nielsen's stats, has not yet decided which data it will use. "My personal inclination is to go with live-plus same day DVR numbers," said Levin, adding, "The change isn't significant now, but in a few years it could be a big deal, so we might as well make the change now."

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=35325

Unpsoken is the fact that Nielsen has been gathering date for a couple of years using a database of 10,000+ DirecTV TiVo homes.

I think the research has been made available only to a very select few clients. I have never seen much mention of it in the press, but I know the sample has been available for at least two years.

Until recently USA Today ran a monthly chart of the top network prime-time programs based on that TiVo viewing sample. I haven't seen it since October, however.

Didn't you used to post a list of the top 10 TiVo'ed shows each week?

Once a month, when USA Today ran it.

This will probably drive The WB and UPN down a notch in the weekly Nielsens. I suspect many people will be stunned at how well Univision will do.

More on the new Nielsen Ratings
Univision to Become First Spanish-Language Network in NTI

By Michele Greppi TVWeek.com December 19, 2005

Univision is to become the first Spanish-language TV network be included in Nielsen Media Research's national TV ratings sample, the Nielsen Television Index, with data provided for all the major American networks, effective Dec. 26.

"This is a historic step for Univision, which firmly plants us among the mainstream broadcasters," said Ray Rodriguez, president and chief operating officer of Univision Communications. "Univision will finally be measured alongside its main competitors, the major English-language broadcast networks, and for the first time, advertisers and media buyers will be able to see the audience Univision delivers in the national charts. We're confident that this move will validate Univision's ability to successfully compete against any network in the country and provide us with a powerful tool to attract marketers that had previously been reluctant to advertise in Spanish."

As part of the agreement Univision will maintain its subscription to the National Hispanic Television Index until September 2007, when the National People Meter sample, upon which NTI is based, will become the sole sample for both English-language and Spanish-language media. The NPM sample, comprising approximately 10,000 households, is subscribed to by broadcast networks, cable networks, syndicators, advertisers and agencies nationwide.

"As we move toward one comprehensive ratings system, we will continue to work with all of our clients to ensure that the NPM sample appropriately represents the growing U.S. Hispanic population," said Sara Erichson, senior VP and general manager of Nielsen's national services. In the meantime, NHTI is still the largest, most representative national sample of Hispanic audiences currently available."

Univision went to court in June 2004 in an attempt to stop the rollout of Nielsen's Local People Meter, which it claimed underrepresented Hispanic viewing. Univision withdrew the suit in November 2005.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9073

Critic’s Notebook
Save 'Nip/Tuck': Cut out the Carver

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune TV blog December 19, 2005

We only feel truly upset when a show that has been terrific in the past goes really wrong.

And that’s why “Nip/Tuck,” which has a two-hour season finale Tuesday at 10 PM ET/PT on FX, has been so frustrating this year. The plastic-surgery drama has been many things in the past: moving, gory, intense, funny, sexy, outrageous and even sad. But in its first two seasons, “Nip/Tuck’s” audaciousness was married to a deep commitment to the emotional life of its characters, especially surgeons Christian Troy and Sean McNamara, which is why viewers went along with the show’s more over-the-top antics.

But this season, the show has been relentlessly dark and seemingly obsessed with making each and every character (except the lovely anesthesiologist played by Roma Maffia) as unlikable as possible.

The lowest of many third-season low points was an episode a few weeks ago in which slick surgeon Troy (Julian McMahon) had joyless sex with a patient -- after he made the woman put a paper bag over her head. Maybe we were supposed to see this as Troy’s emotional fallout from being ditched at the altar, but the whole tawdry episode smacked of shallow, sensationalistic writing -- pure shock value for the sake of shock value. Troy (not to mention the fine McMahon) deserves much better.

At the end of Tuesday’s season finale, there will be some resolution to the show’s most troublesome story line: We’ll find out who the Carver is (and rumor has it that the slasher will be drawn from the show’s pool of eight lead actors).

Since the end of the second season, the Carver has grown into a needless distraction. A psycho who goes around carving up the faces of Floridians, he’s no fan of plastic surgery and has a particular grudge against the surgeons at Troy/McNamara.

A few Carver episodes here and there might have been fine, but unfortunately the Carver plot has morphed into a cheesy, ongoing melodrama that this show would be better off without. Things started going seriously downhill when Rhona Mitra had a wooden guest run early in the season as a cop investigating the Carver crimes. Since then, in an effort to prove that any one of the show’s leads could be the Carver, “Nip/Tuck” has worked overtime to make all of them seem almost ridiculously unlikable at times.

There have been many wasted opportunities this season as well, including Bruno Campos as a plastic surgeon brought in to help out the Troy/McNamara practice (intriguing at first, his character turned out to be a garden-variety sleaze) and Brittany Snow as Matt McNamara’s shrill, racist girlfriend (honestly, everything involving Matt has been nearly unwatchable all season).

But just as I was about to write off the show, figuring it was heading down the path of “Six Feet Under”-style toxic shrewishness and sloppy character manipulation, the most recent episodes of “Nip/Tuck” made me think that perhaps the show hadn’t had its heart surgically removed (last week’s “Joy Kringle” episode, for example, was an excellent return to form).

If “Nip/Tuck” could just excise the Carver once and for all, and implant some more character-driven stories into the meat of the show, this stylish, thought-provoking program -- which is really about inner wounds, not outer appearances -- would look a lot better.

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

Nielsen to add DVR habits

Posted by Daniel Terdiman news.com December 19, 2005

Since television networks make their money on advertising, it has always been crucial that there be a good way of measuring what people watch.

For what seems like almost as long as anyone can remember, the measurement everyone uses has been that of Nielsen Media Research.

But in the last few years, with the advent of digital video recorders, the Nielsen ratings haven't counted a small but growing portion of the audience pie: those who time-shift most of their T.V. watching via Tivo or any other DVR provider.

Now, however, Nielsen said it is ready to adapt to modern times. According to the Associated Press, the T.V. ratings measurement king plans on Dec. 26 to begin including audiences' DVR habits in its valuable reports.

The technology will work, said the AP, by adding the ability to monitor the programs that people record on their DVRs and note when they watch that episode of "Survivor," "Nova" or "Rome."

Even better, from the networks' perspective, Nielsen will be able to tell when someone is fast forwarding through commercials. It's all possible, reported AP, because Nielsen's "active/passive meters" are able to follow digital codes implanted in programs by the networks.

"The most significant impact that it will have is that it will show the top-rated television shows will have a higher audience with a significant amount of playback," David Potrack, the top researcher for CBS and UPN, told the AP.

At the same time, measurements of people's DVR watching proclivities will also likely expose a tangible example of the so-called "long tail," the phenomenon in which services like Amazon, Netflix, eBay and the like bring much more traffic to lesser known content than would have been possible in the pre-digital era.

Thus, programs that don't do that well in the Nielsen ratings but which develop cult followings, will likely do better in the new world of the ratings, as tests have shown that those kinds of shows have disproportionately larger audiences among DVR users, said the AP.

http://news.com.com/2061-10802_3-6001733.html

Nielsen Unveils Holiday 'Recovery Plan,' Predicts Big Uptake In New Technology

By Joe Mandese MediaPost editor Dec 19, 2005

As Nielsen prepares to make one of its biggest shifts ever in the way it measures and reports television ratings, chinks in its data reporting systems have begun to grow apparent. In recent weeks, Nielsen's so-called "overnight" ratings have been released hours later than they are supposed to be, and some observers believe that is a harbinger for even greater problems as Nielsen plans to release a multiplicity of data streams to both clients and the media--creating the opportunity for more spin, confusion, and data management issues than ever before in its history.

The timing of the plan, which begins with the release of ratings data on Dec. 28, reflecting ratings for Dec. 26--the day Nielsen begins reporting multiple streams of ratings related to digital video recorders--couldn't be worse, as it coincides with a traditionally disruptive holiday season.

The holiday season--when many people in Nielsen's TV ratings sample move around, or have their TV viewing patterns significantly disrupted--always is a strain on Nielsen's systems, but last week Nielsen released a so-called "Sample Recovery Plan" to clients that looks more like a battle plan. In it, Nielsen concedes that the six-week period will "test our editing rules like no other time of the year."

Aside from the displacement of people in its ratings sample, the holiday season marks a time when Nielsen "households" get a wide range of new consumer electronic devices that traditionally affect the way they use television. This year, Nielsen predicts major uptakes in the following technologies:

• DVD players
• Dual-deck DVD and VHS players
• DVD recorders
• Low-cost TVs and combination TV/VCR and TV/DVD units
• Video Games
• DBS satellite TV systems

One thing Nielsen does not predict a significant uptick in is standalone DVR units, the device that is sparking the major change in Nielsen's measurement and reporting systems beginning in about a week. At that time, Nielsen will begin issuing three streams of data for clients: "live," "live" plus same day of DVR playback; and "live" plus seven days of DVR playback.

Meanwhile, Nielsen has confirmed a plan to release yet another stream of data to journalists who cover the TV ratings business.

"...During the past several weeks we have met with clients to discuss how best to produce weekly and season-to-date national averages for the press," the company said in a notice to clients last week. "Based on those conversations, we have decided that once we begin providing the three streams of national data ('live,' 'live plus same day,' and 'live plus seven day') the default stream of data posted on the weekly ratings section of the press website will be 'live plus same day."

Season-to-date estimates will be based on a combination of 'live plus same day' for the current two weeks and 'live plus seven days' for all weeks prior. News media that prefer to base their rankings on 'live' or 'live plus seven' will be able to do so through additional links on the website."

Nielsen has scheduled a briefing with journalists for this week to help explain the new data streams, and how they can use them in their reporting.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=37643

This will probably drive The WB and UPN down a notch in the weekly Nielsens. I suspect many people will be stunned at how well Univision will do.

More on the new Nielsen Ratings
Univision to Become First Spanish-Language Network in NTI


What about Telemundo...?

Critic’s Notebook
''Nip/Tuck''

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

I know the Carver is supposed to be revealed tomorrow night and, since I haven't seen the season finale, I'm mildly interested in finding out who it is. (My upset special: Liz.) I've been watching the show closely for the last few weeks, but feeling bad about doing so.

''Nip/Tuck'' is capable of great shocks, and nervy scenes. Last week's Christmas episode showed that when it had the African-American nativity figure being dragged by a car. How many buttons was that pushing? But it's also a show that gets weak-kneed at crucial moments, or that ADD-like drops a topic and moves on without a glance back. In last week's telecast, it abruptly dismantled the story of Matt's white-supremacist girlfriend by just deciding to have her go completely bonkers. She was much more frightening, and interesting, when she was bringing Matt ever closer to her way of thinking. The sudden fit of madness just cut the story short.

Think, too, of Christian's recent relationship with the self-described masochist. She's there, he's involved with her, she's gone. Huh? And then there was the biggest cop-out of the season, the death/not-death of Julia's mother. I watched that unfold, thinking that they couldn't kill her off because she has been such a good character (not to mention that you get to watch Vanessa Redgrave work, and opposite her real-life daughter, no less). And, of course, they couldn't.

Oh, I still watch, more than I like to admit. And the next day or so at work, I'm going over plot twists with a ''Nip/Tuck''-watching co-worker. But the show is so full of misery and its characters' self-loathing that it often leaves a bitter feeling behind, usually without any redeeming uplift. In the Christmas episode, I found myself snarling at the screen as Sean again and again did his hesitation-instead-of-action bit; when he sat in the clinic, I was almost screaming, ''Oh, be a man!''

And then he acted. And I should have felt great about it. Instead, I was thinking that it took him long enough to get off his duff. And ''Nip/Tuck'' is too often like Sean -- on the verge of something great, then pulling back. I even suspect something along those lines about the Carver. As I said to a reader earlier today, revealing the Carver's identity is not the same as getting rid of the character.

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

Critic’s Notebook
Save 'Nip/Tuck': Cut out the Carver


I agree, resolve The Carver storyline, and yes, this show has been very dark this season, the spark it's had in the past has seemed like a cold-burning ember this season, almost every episode has been a funeral procession of depression.

I need to know if I need to look for anything special when buying a television to go in the bathroom. We already have a recepticle in the bathroom up in a corner. I am thinking about a 14" television to get my husband for Christmas but don't know the first thing about it. I really just want to make sure that any television that I could get at Circuit City or something would be okay. I just don't know about the steam and how that could affect things. We do have a heater and an exhaust fan that we keep on when we are in the bathroom, but I need to know!
Thank You!!!


I took your question overf to the folks at the flat screen forum and posted this:
Header: Advice for a small bathroom flat screen?

This was posted over the the “Hot Off The Press” Thread in the HDTV Programming Forum.

You guys are far better equipped to answer it.

Can anyone help this lady?


”…I'm a girl with no clue...
________________________________________
I need to know if I need to look for anything special when buying a television to go in the bathroom. We already have a recepticle in the bathroom up in a corner. I am thinking about a 14" television to get my husband for Christmas but don't know the first thing about it. I really just want to make sure that any television that I could get at Circuit City or something would be okay. I just don't know about the steam and how that could affect things. We do have a heater and an exhaust fan that we keep on when we are in the bathroom, but I need to know!
Thank You!!! …”


Thanks in advance!

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

You can check out any answers on this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6753568#post6753568

Here for your amusement, (or maybe somethig far less than that) is one of the more snarky and condescending TV reviews I have read in a long time.
(Maybe that is because to me, at least, the show seems like something out of the ordinary for TV. And how many clothes changes Ms. Walters goes, or a rather cheap shot about back-lighting don’t seem as important as the topic. Maybe its just me, but I would have thought the a generally respected and oh-so-correct Los Angeles Times critic would be ashow just a little more restraint when it comes to criticizing a 70-ish woman on TV. Especially one with a ground-breaking 40+ year track record in television. It would be, after all, just the polite thing to do. But then again, maybe there's a reason his picture doesn't accompany his column).

As Brownfield continues to pummel Barbara Walters with put-down after sly jab, it appears obvious he is more interested in making sure we notice his own glib one-liners than actually getting a true feel for the show. Or even for the somewhat amazing fact that a major network is devoting two hours of prime time (albeit in a dead holiday week) for the exploration of an issue many humans have thought about for thousands of years.

OK, enough about me – now here’s Paul:

A Critical View:
Barbara Walters ponders heaven
Celebrities (natch) have opinions as to where is it and how we can get there, as do terrorists and theologians

By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 20, 2005

Assuming heaven exists, it might look awfully familiar to Barbara Walters — a place where you wear many different designer clothes and you're always backlit and no celebrity ever refuses an interview.

I counted 16 different outfits (not including the flashback interview with Elizabeth Taylor) for Walters in her ABC holiday special tonight, "Heaven: Where Is It? How Do We Get There? “(Tuesday 9-11 PM ET/PT. These are big questions, big questions demanding answers. Answers from celebrities. Walters cobbles together Maria Shriver, Richard Gere and Mitch Albom — a B-ish team, come to think of it, given that none of them is as big, quite, as Walters herself. There's no Tom Cruise filling us in on Scientology and the afterlife, although Walters had Cruise as one of her "10 Most Fascinating People of 2005."

Specials are what Walters does now, having left her role at "20/20" nearly two years ago. She positions the two-hour "Heaven" as a journey, an exploration — into life as "an interlude between two great mysteries: Why we are here and where we are going?"

For the fairy godmother of the celebrity sit-down, the road leads to the Dalai Lama ("Are you a god?" she asks. "No," he laughs.), to a failed suicide bomber ("Had you thought about maybe having a girlfriend, getting married, having children?"), to Shriver ("When you go to heaven, will you be meeting Uncle Jack Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Rose Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy?").

There is a certain comfort one can still derive from a Walters special; her interviews bathe you in celebrity patronage and the coziness of the faux heart-to-heart (again, it could be the lighting). In "Heaven," Walters comes onstage in this green brocade two-piece number, hands clasped primly before her; she's apparently in a cathedral. The whole mood and lighting of the scene have the effect of making you feel as though perhaps you're already in heaven, Walters narrating the brief "Welcome To" video, complete with gift shop hours.

Quickly we're swept back in time — to the Romans, to Mariah Carey's song about heaven — and soon it's like Walters is shopping for the best package tour to that better place, querying religious Jews, Catholics, Muslims (peaceable and not), evangelical Christians, atheists.

"I must ask you a delicate question," she says to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, D.C. "If when you go to heaven you are reunited with your loved one, let's say with your wife or husband — is there sex in heaven?"

Cardinal McCarrick indicates that what awaits the faithful is on another plane. But Feisal Abdul Rauf, Islamic scholar and imam of the Masjid Al-Farah mosque in New York, paints a fleshier picture of heaven, filled with "servants, lovely servants, young youths to regale you, Barbara, residing in gardens...."

Unsatisfied, or perhaps because she has the miles, Walters eventually travels to holy sites in Jerusalem; while in Israel she stops at a maximum security prison to mingle with members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and sits down with the attempted suicide bomber. "Would you like me to go to hell?" she asks him. It's out of my hands, but try giving yourself over to the Prophet Muhammad first, seems to be his answer.

Then she sends a postcard from the edge of the Himalayas in northern India, where we see Walters strolling mountainside backstreets with Tibetan monks before arriving to chat with the Dalai Lama (he has a very nice place, I don't mind telling you).

They chat about the Buddhist concept of heaven as a weigh station for reincarnation, and Walters leaves understanding that if you do bad things on Earth, you could come back as a cow.

We get the Hollywood Buddhist version of things when she talks to Richard Gere.

Walters: "Do you come back as someone else or something else?"

Gere: "I'm someone else every breath. I really believe that."

Walters: "Do you try to live your life in a particular way?"

Gere: "I'm here to serve. I'm here to serve."

He's a little abstract, in other words. Mitch Albom, author of "Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven" (coincidentally last year's ABC holiday movie offering), puts it more plainly: "We're all souls on this earth, and when we get to heaven what movie you were in or how much money you earned when you were here isn't going to be the barometer as to whether or not you were a worthy soul."

Can that be true, and if so, why did Albom put his name on the title of his own TV movie based on his own book? Here, Walters doesn't probe. "Heaven" finds her in a familiar place — perched on the love seat of inquisitiveness, staring meaningfully.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-heaven20dec20,0,7087002,print.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

Right in the middle of sweeps month. Should be interesting.

I'll bet there will be no February sweeps in 2009 because of the turmoil that this will cause. The results of that period would be meaningless throughout the industry, local or national.

The turmoil will start next week with the new Nielsen ratings (although we won't get the first result until January 4th).

The DVRs and the Univision measurements will make life very, very interesting.

I suspect some shows (perhaps "Arrested Development" in the forefront, will do a lot better than they have so far.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Univision doesn't challenge one of the traditional networks for fourth place in some weeks.

And foxeng, I am really glad to see you posting again!

Do you really think we'll still have the traditional sweeps -- as we have known them -- by 2009?

I need to know if I need to look for anything special when buying a television to go in the bathroom. We already have a recepticle in the bathroom up in a corner. I am thinking about a 14" television to get my husband for Christmas but don't know the first thing about it. I really just want to make sure that any television that I could get at Circuit City or something would be okay. I just don't know about the steam and how that could affect things. We do have a heater and an exhaust fan that we keep on when we are in the bathroom, but I need to know!
Thank You!!!


The first two replies from the flat screen Forum:

[B]”We use a Sharp LL-171MU 17" widescreen. Really nice. Looks great. Lots of options. Stay with a good name, tier 2 at worst. Stay away from the no-name cheap models. You'll just get frustrated with them. You will appreciate the quality set in the long run and they are all pretty inexpensive nowadays.”


“I have a small sharp aquos hanging in my bathroom. It is nice while shaving.”

New media will get Emmy of their own
Daytime awards adds a category for podcasts, video blogs, even original content created for cellphones

By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 19, 2005

NEW YORK -- Calling all makers of mobisodes, podcasts and video blogs: For the first time, original content being produced for platforms such as computers, cellphones and BlackBerry devices will be eligible for an Emmy award.

The New York-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will announce today that it is creating an award for Outstanding Achievement in Content for Non-Traditional Delivery Platforms — and the first one will be handed out at the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on April 28, airing on ABC.

It will be the first time that content produced for new platforms will be honored with the traditional television award — a sign of how rapidly the media landscape is changing and the revolution in TV presentation and programming that the industry is just starting to comprehend.

The award will recognize excellence in entertainment programming created specifically for viewing online or via cellphone, Ipod or video-on-demand. (In other words, no repackaged episodes of "Desperate Housewives.")

Peter Price, president of the television academy, said the organization decided to create the new category after watching the speed with which content has been migrating to new platforms.

"The timeline of going from our analog world to the digital world has collapsed into months rather than years," Price said. "The question is, 'How do we as an academy respond to that?' "

Independent content producers welcomed the announcement, calling it a sign of how the industry is embracing the new technology.

"Mobile media has arrived — in a limo," said Frank Chindamo, president of Fun Little Movies, a Los Angeles-based company that produces comedic sketches for mobile phone viewing.

"The real question is, 'How is the public going to take to this?' " he added, saying that a relatively small number of consumers have video-enabled devices.

The Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, an affiliated organization that presents the general Emmy Awards for prime-time programming, has not decided whether to incorporate a new media category into its fall awards ceremony.

But the national academy, which presents the awards for news, documentaries, business, sports and daytime programs, decided to launch a category on its own.

Officials originally planned to hand out the award for the first time in May 2006 at the annual Sports Emmy Awards to recognize the best sports-related new media program. Entertainment content for new media wasn't going to be judged until the 2007 Daytime Emmy presentations.

But shortly after publicizing the new category last month, academy officials were flooded with inquires from content producers about submissions. Within days, the new award was generating 850,000 hits on Google, Price said.

"We realized there was something much larger and more immediate going on," he said.

In response, the academy decided last week to reopen the entry period for the 2006 Daytime Emmy competition to take submissions for the new media award.

The category is open to all entertainment video — not just soap operas, game shows and talk shows that traditionally air during the day.

Anyone in the world can enter, but submissions must be produced for distribution in the U.S. and must be available for viewing in at least 50% of the national market. Entertainment video content distributed from Jan. 1, 2005, to March 1, 2006, will be eligible for consideration. The category is open to video blogs, website programs, mobisodes (short episodes made for viewing on phones), video-on-demand or other content delivered digitally or on wireless devices.

Though the academy plans to offer only one category at each awards ceremony to recognize new media, officials said the competition could expand based on the response in its first year.

"One way to do it would be to have a whole mirror world of every category we have," Price said. "But I think the Emmys go on long enough as it is."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-emmy19dec19,0,4363156,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

Transition to Digital Gets Closer

By Stephen Labaton The New York Times December 20, 2005

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - The House of Representatives moved early Monday to provide millions of households with coupons to buy equipment to keep their television sets working after broadcasters switch from analog to digital signals. But consumer groups warned that the new law would still impose significant costs on viewers.

The House measure, including a mandate to complete the transition to digital television by early 2009, was included in budget legislation approved shortly before sunrise by a vote of 212 to 206. The provisions, awaiting Senate approval, are of enormous importance to the television, cable and wireless telephone industries.

As part of the transition, the legislation would provide each household with up to two coupons worth $40 each for converter boxes to attach to analog television sets so they are not obsolete once broadcasters surrender their analog licenses on Feb. 17, 2009, as the new law would require. Not coincidentally, the date was selected to fall two weeks after the Super Bowl and a month before the widely watched National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament.

Supporters of the legislation said it would allow enough time for a smooth transition and would raise billions of dollars for the Treasury from the sale of analog spectrum licenses that will have to be surrendered by the broadcasters and are being sought by wireless telephone and broadband providers. The legislation would also set up a $1 billion program for emergency workers to upgrade their communications systems.

"A great technical revolution that has been in the making for years will finally be complete," said Representative Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas, who heads the Energy and Commerce Committee. "We will have three years to prepare for the transition.

"That is more than enough time for manufacturers and retailers to move low-cost digital televisions and converter boxes into the market, for the Federal Communications Commission to complete the channel allocation process, for broadcasters to finalize their digital facilities, and for government and industry to prepare consumers for the transition."

But consumer groups said the money allocated for the program, $990 million to $1.5 billion, would not be nearly enough for all of the analog television sets and that, in any event, many consumers would still need to pay $20 or more to upgrade each television set in their home that is not connected to a cable or satellite service. (The converter boxes are expected to cost about $60 apiece, and the coupons cannot be combined for a single purchase.)

"This is the government making your TV go black and then only paying part of the costs for some of the people to make it work again, and none of the costs for others," said Gene Kimmelman, public policy director at Consumers Union.

An estimated 70 million to 80 million television sets now in use are analog and are not attached to cable or satellite services, though experts say that by the completion of the transition, consumers will be using many more digital sets and fewer analog ones.

The consumer groups and some Democrats had preferred a version of the measure adopted by the Senate Commerce Committee two months ago that would have provided $3 billion for converter boxes.

The conversion to digital signals will not affect consumers who own digital television sets or subscribe to satellite services or digital cable services. But analysts and cable company executives said additional legislation might be required to enable cable companies to alter their broadcasting feeds so that the more than 50 million customers who subscribe to analog cable services would be unaffected.

The cable companies have sought legislation that would allow them to convert digital signals back into analog signals before transmitting them into homes, which would be far less expensive than replacing set-top boxes in each residence.

The House legislation will raise billions of dollars for the federal Treasury from auctions for spectrum licenses that must be surrendered by broadcasters. Those licenses are desirable because of their special characteristics - they cover large distances and the signals easily penetrate buildings.

As a result, wireless telephone companies and others have been urging the quick auction of those licenses to expand their broadband and other services. The government estimates that those auctions, which will begin in 2008, could raise at least $10 billion for the Treasury as it faces growing deficits from the war in Iraq, hurricane damage in the South and the new program to produce vaccines for the avian flu.

As a practical matter, the existing did not encourage a speedy transition to digital television because it required broadcasters to surrender their analog licenses at the later of two dates - Dec. 31, 2006, or when 85 percent of households receive digital signals.

Experts said the 85 percent requirement threatened to delay the transition for many years, although broadcasters have lobbied against setting a more immediate deadline.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/technology/20digital.html?pagewanted=print

Critic’s Notebook
Spencer's role mirrored life

By Dusty Saunders (Denver) Rocky Mountain News December 20, 2005

John Spencer seemed to be aware that life imitated art or vice versa.

I was sitting with him during an NBC Hollywood cocktail party in January of 2004 when the subject turned to alcoholism.

Sipping a club soda, Spencer recalled the first time he looked at background material about Leo McGarry, his character on The West Wing.

"It was weird," Spencer said.

"Leo McGarry is an alcoholic and so am I.

"When we began shooting the series, it felt, at times, like I really wasn't acting, particularly during scenes that dealt with Leo's battle with alcohol."

Spencer recalled a vivid flashback episode when McGarry's alcoholism almost ruined his political career.

Spencer said that his acting career "saved my life."

"Acting, rather than alcohol, became my drug of choice.

"And I always feel that Leo's driving career in politics was his life saver."

Spencer's death on Friday, four months short of his 59th birthday, produced another parallel.

Last season on The West Wing, McGarry, President Jeb Bartlet's chief of staff, suffered a heart attack and had to leave his high-profile position.

A heart attack killed Spencer.

Spencer's portrayal of McGarry has been one of many outstanding, ongoing performances on the NBC political drama in its seventh and probably final season.

Spencer gave McGarry a definitive "old pol" personality that so many identify with Democratic politics.

Combative and fiercely loyal to his president, McGarry never backed away from a verbal brawl.

And underneath this tough demeanor was a sentimental, often lonely man.

Spencer's portrayal earned him a 2002 Emmy as best supporting dramatic series actor. He was nominated four other times.

The strong onscreen bond between McGarry and Bartlet seemingly extended to real life.

When notified of Spencer's passing, Martin Sheen (who portrays Bartlet) said: "He was my brother."

Spencer injected a feisty personality into every role he played.

Before The West Wing, he was a key performer in L.A. Law, the honored NBC series, playing tough lawyer Tommy Mullaney for four seasons.

And here's an item for trivia buffs:

Spencer was the main guest star in the first episode of Law & Order, aired Sept. 13, 1990, portraying a distraught father who believed his daughter died in a New York hospital because of medical malfeasance.

Spencer was not the first key actor to die while a popular TV series was being filmed.

John Ritter, star of 8 Simple Rules , died during the 2003 season and Jerry Orbach, the former star of Law & Order , passed away a year ago after filming two episodes of Law & Order Trial by Jury .

Nick Colasanto, the funny, dense bartender on Cheer s, passed away in 1985.

And loyal Hill Street Blues fans will recall the 1984 death of Michael Conrad, who portrayed Sgt. Phil ("Let's be careful out there") Esterhaus.

While such passings produced obvious production problems, the death of Spencer creates a more significant one in the story line.

Leo McGarry is the vice presidential running mate of Democrat Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits), with the election being the key part of the winter and spring episodes on The West Wing.

Five future episodes already have been filmed, with the series scheduled to return on Jan. 8 with an hour titled "Running Mates," in which Spencer's character has a key role.

The production staff, on a holiday hiatus, faces a story revamping, perhaps even major editing of the completed episodes, depending on the presence of Spencer.

Many story lines probably will be rewritten with the Santos political camp searching for a new running mate.

The death of Spencer obviously will produce more than an aside mention in future episodes.

Look for an hour detailing the passing of Leo McGarry.

In a sadly ironic twist, Spencer's death will lead to an infusion of new, dramatic story lines and possibly higher ratings for the series, which has not found audience success in its early Sunday-night time period.

I'm left with the feeling that Spencer would appreciate the fact he made such a contribution.

http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_84_128,00.html

Tuesday Morning TV headlines
(The Hollywood Reporter)

“American Idol” semifinal results show set for Thursdays
This season, "American Idol" will air on Thursdays after all. After announcing late last month that it would keep the reality series in its original Tuesday and Thursday slots, Fox said Monday that during the three-week semifinal round, the live results show will air Thursdays.

Watching DVRs
Starting next week, Nielsen Media Research will also follow what they record on DVRs to watch later.

House OKs DTV date
The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Monday to complete the country's transition to new, higher-quality digital television by Feb. 17, 2009.

Nielsen pioneer
Univision Communications will become the first Spanish-language network measured by Nielsen's National TV Ratings Service.

TV bill on hold
A bitter squabble over oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is threatening a year-end Senate meltdown that could stall legislation containing requirements that broadcasters end their analog TV transmissions.

'Wing' challenges
The death on Friday of actor John Spencer is sure to send "The West Wing's" writing team back to the drawing board for the second half of what could be the show's final season.

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

BURBANK, Calif. Dec. 18, 2005 -- Saturday night's edition of "Saturday Night Live" delivered the show's highest average rating so far this season in the local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research.

I credit the lovely and talented Kristen Wiig, recently added to the show's "Featured Players". :D She sure got ME to watch that show again.

Nielsen Bows to Latino Viewers
The ratings firm will include Univision's Spanish-language shows on its main survey

By Meg James Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 20, 2005

Nielsen Media Research will include in its national ratings shows aired by Univision Communications Inc. starting next week, a move that is expected to better measure the nation's growing Latino audience.

Nielsen has long been criticized for failing to provide a complete picture of television viewership by using a system that excludes the preferences of millions of Spanish-speaking Latinos when it calculates the size of TV audiences and the most popular shows.

Executives at Los Angeles-based Univision, controlled by billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio, anticipate that next week's change will eventually translate into tens of millions of dollars in additional ad sales. Last year, the company took in nearly $1.3 billion in TV revenue.

"Univision will finally be measured alongside its main competitors, the major English-language broadcast networks," Ray Rodriguez, Univision's president and chief operating officer, said Monday.

Since 1992, Nielsen has estimated the audiences for Spanish-language shows through a separate audience panel, releasing those numbers with little fanfare. In Nielsen's National Hispanic Television index, Univision typically delivers most of the top 20 Spanish-language shows.

Those separate ratings have led some advertisers to overlook Univision when deciding how to divvy up their dollars among the different media outlets, ad buyers say. For example, the computer program that helps most media planners come up with their budgets for ad time doesn't even include shows on Spanish-language networks. Rival Telemundo, owned by NBC Universal, also is expected to join the service.

"The fact that the research has been segregated has been an excuse for some general market advertisers to focus only on the general market networks," said Monica Gadsby, chief executive of Tapestry, a specialty unit of media buying giant Starcom MediaVest Group. "But it shouldn't be thought of that way any longer. Spanish-language media is part of the new general market."

If audiences for prime-time shows broadcast by Univision had been measured along with its English-language rivals, Univision often would be the fifth-most popular network among viewers under age 50, behind CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox Broadcasting. Among the 18-to-34-year-old crowd, Univision frequently would finish second, behind Fox.

Nielsen's new policy is more than a decade in coming. In the late 1980s, Nielsen wasn't sure how to measure the nascent Spanish-language TV industry, and the broadcast networks were unwilling to change the system under which they had long prospered.

So Spanish-language networks, including Univision and Telemundo, agreed to pay for a separate service. But as the U.S. Latino population swelled to more than 40 million, the Spanish-language networks and media planning groups complained that Nielsen's segregated system was hopelessly out of date, resulting in the latest change.

"For the first time, a Spanish-language television network will be included in the national sample," said Sara Erichson, Nielsen's general manager of national services.

Nielsen's move comes five months before one of the most popular events in Spanish-language broadcasting, soccer's World Cup. Univision has the Spanish-language broadcast rights to the games in the U.S. and is expecting a big audience.

During the last World Cup, in 2002, Nielsen's method for calculating Univision's audience excluded as many as 15 million viewers, Rodriguez said. That's because the system Nielsen used recognized Latino homes only if the "head of household" was a Latino, not if other family members were.

The change is one of two that Nielsen is making next week to better measure TV viewing habits. It also will begin Monday to measure shows watched by consumers who have digital video recorders such as TiVo.

Nielsen spent the last 18 months, and more than $10 million, to modify its equipment so it could work with more sophisticated electronics and recruit new members to the panel who have DVRs. Nielsen estimates that about 7% of the 110 million homes in the U.S. with televisions are equipped with DVRs. That percentage is expected to rise to about a quarter of all homes with televisions within two years.

Nielsen plans to release three batches of figures daily, including the "overnight" numbers that will include the number of homes and viewers who watched a prime-time show at the time it was broadcast, a second batch that includes the size of the audience that watched a show live along with those who watched it in the play-back mode, and lastly, a week's worth of data on shows that people watched after they recorded them.

"Our job is to make sure that we can keep up with measuring their content as it moves to an increasingly diverse array of platforms," Erichson said. "There will certainly be an impact on viewing patterns as more people begin to watch television differently."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-fi-nielsen20dec20,0,6302923,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

A Critical View:
Barbara Walters goes in search of heaven

By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News

’Tis the season when TV news divisions try to think happier, or at least higher, thoughts.

So CBS' "48 Hours Mystery" (10 PM ET/PT, CBS) tonight takes a break from its usual tales of homicidal spouses to examine "The Mystery of Christmas" - and no, it's not how Santa Claus delivers presents to homes with no chimneys - while ABC News employs Barbara Walters in a not particularly hard-hitting investigation of life after death in "Heaven: Where Is It? How Do We Get There?" (9-11 PM ET/PT, ABC).

I know: So many jokes, so little time.

But while it may be hard to take Walters, who thought the former Camilla Parker-Bowles was the most fascinating person of 2005, entirely seriously on the subject of what's going to happen to the rest of us when we die, I'm not sure that viewers in a country as multicultural as ours can ever have too much information on what the people whose beliefs they may not share are up to.

Even if those people include Richard Gere, Maria Shriver, Jackie Mason and Elizabeth Taylor.

Yes, celebrities, too, apparently have something to say about the possibilities of heaven. And perhaps they have no less information than Washington, D.C.'s Catholic archbishop, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick or Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, who primarily disagree on whether there's sex in heaven.

But if your particular vision of an afterlife doesn't include People magazine in God's waiting room, Walters' interviews with religious leaders may hold more meaning than anything an entertainer has to say (even if, like Mason, the entertainer is also a rabbi).

Still, while her signature fawning over a charming (and giggly) Dalai Lama - she asks for and receives permission to kiss him on the cheek, and he subsequently rubs noses with her - doesn't diminish the Tibetan leader, I'm not sure what it does for the reputation of ABC News, which might consider instituting a no-kissing policy with regard to religious figures, lest some sects feel left out.

There really is information, if not quite news, in this two-hour special, but to get to it, you'll have to wade through a lot of Walters. Her interviews, particularly one with a failed suicide bomber whom she presses on the question of just how many virgins he might have been able to expect in paradise - his answer, 72, is contradicted by the same Muslim cleric who'd argued there's sex in heaven - make it feel at times as if the "Saturday Night Live" parody had already aired.

Missing the man and actor

Friday's news that actor John Spencer had died of a heart attack came as sort of a double shock, as I find myself at once mourning the actor and the character he played.

Spencer, like Leo McGarry, his splendid alter-ego on NBC's "The West Wing," was a recovering alcoholic, and as we now know, they apparently shared heart problems.

But more importantly, they also shared a love of, and deep belief in, the work they did. Spencer, like most members of what's probably one of the brightest casts on television, knew how to communicate that.

One of my fondest memories in this job is of an evening several years ago in Pasadena, Calif., after a Television Critics Association function, when the chain-smoking actor talked with some of us about Leo, the work and why he'd chosen to return to the stage - in a play, "Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine" that his Variety obit reminds me had him playing an aging jazz musician with addiction issues of his own - while filming "Wing." It was a schedule that probably should have killed him right there.

My sense, then and now, was that he couldn't help himself.

And television, richer for his addiction to the work, will be poorer without him.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13446989.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

And foxeng, I am really glad to see you posting again!

That is what happens when you have to work for a living! ;) ;)

Do you really think we'll still have the traditional sweeps -- as we have known them -- by 2009?

Who knows? One would think that how sweeps are done would be different, but as slow as Nielsen moves, they are ALWAYS behind the curve. Look how long it has taken them to get a way to measure DVRs and they still don't have a reliable way to measure DTV on a mass scale yet.

A Critical View:
Walters looks to stars for 'Heaven'

By David Bianculli New York Daily News TV Editor Tuesday, December 20th, 2005

Give credit to Barbara Walters. She has outlasted her peers and continues to produce programming - and entertainment - long after those who dismissed her early on faded away.

It's that experience, and reverence, that allows Walters to pursue specials like tonight's "Heaven: Where Is It? How Do We Get There?" (2 ½* out of four) 9-11 PM ET/PT, where she asks weighty theological questions of everyone from Islamic suicide bombers to the Dalai Lama.

The answers depend upon whom she's asking.

"Is there sex in heaven?" she asks, echoing the less seriously posed lecture title by Marshall Efron way back in the days of "The Great American Dream Machine" on PBS. (The rest of the speech was a single word: no.) According to the people Walters interviews, Christians say no, Muslims say yes.

Walters isn't out to break ties or offer solutions, but to point out similarities and differences between various faiths in the way they depict heaven. This is territory covered previously, and more intellectually, by Bill Moyers with his conversations with mythologist Joseph Campbell on PBS.

Walters, though, is aiming for, and playing to, a wider audience.

Two portions of Walters' "Heaven" are quite strong, and more than justify the devotion it takes to tune in. The initial segment, summarizing the Hollywood theology of heaven, is not only entertaining but thought-provoking, in the way it juxtaposes so many clips from so many films and TV shows.

From "It's a Wonderful Life" to "Ghost," from "Field of Dreams" to "Angels in America," and from "Bruce Almighty" to "The Simpsons," we see heaven, angels and God as painted by film and TV through the ages.

Later, Walters' interview with the Dalai Lama ranks instantly among her best unique conversations with newsmakers - the kind of exchange that no one would be likely to have. (She gets him to joke and laugh repeatedly, even to genially laugh off his own divine status. At the end, she kisses his cheek, and they briefly rub noses.)

Elsewhere, though, some interviews (Mitch Albom, Maria Shriver) are better than others (Jackie Mason, Richard Gere), and Walters misses a juicy followup question - a rarity for her - after Anthony DeStefano, author of "A Travel Guide to Heaven," tells her of the glorious leisure activities on the roster in his version of the afterlife.

"There's no reason," he says, "why we shouldn't be able to go fishing with Ernest Hemingway, or take painting lessons from Michelangelo, or piano lessons from Mozart, as long as those folks made it to heaven."

One reason, Walters might have pointed out, is that giving piano lessons for eternity might be closer to Mozart's idea of hell.

Coincidentally, the second hour of "Heaven" competes directly with tonight's "48 Hours Mystery" on CBS (at 10 PM ET/PT), in which, for "The Mystery of Christmas," (one * out of four) correspondent Maureen Maher entertains the often contradictory accounts of the birth and birthplace of Jesus Christ.

When a Kentucky professor, touring a cave in Bethlehem, points to a stony nook and claims that's the exact spot where Jesus was born, his insistence is more impressive than persuasive.

Against Barbara Walters and "Heaven" on ABC, "48 Hours Mystery" on CBS doesn't have a prayer.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/col/dbianculli/v-pfriendly/story/376156p-319586c.html

Critic’s Notebook
Losing best of the 'West'

By David Hinckley The New York Daily News Tuesday, December 20th, 2005

John Spencer's Leo McGarry wasn't the star of NBC's "The West Wing."

He was more than that.

He was the show's connective tissue, the man who linked the President to everyone else and who, as the President's chief of staff, had to figure out where good ideas and hard, cold political reality could intersect.

Because "West Wing" at its best explored precisely that idea - politics as the art of the possible - Leo seemed in many ways its most irreplaceable character.

Now, with John Spencer's tragic death last week at the age of 58, we'll find out - and find out at a time when "West Wing" has dropped so far from its ratings heyday that it was already considered a long shot for renewal beyond this season.

Personally, I still like "West Wing." I'm willing to tolerate its missteps, like the terrible idea of a live debate between presidential candidates Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda, because it still does a number of things well.

But if the show was facing third-and-13 before, the loss of Leo moves that back to third-and-20.

"The West Wing" worked from the beginning because it illustrated how power works.

Because Martin Sheen's Jed Bartlet has a country to run, he cannot be friends with those who work for him. When Jed played chess with Richard Ziff's Toby Ziegler, they were separated by a gap the size of Greenland - because Toby understood exactly who the President is.

So Jed had Leo, and while Leo, too, respected Jed's position, he was grandfathered in as a personal friend. Jed could chat with Leo and Leo could relay his messages and directives to the staff, whose subsequent efforts to implement them created the core of the show.

Looking over the current cast, there's no other Leo in sight.

Bradley Whitford's Josh Lyman might get there someday, but he's still got mistakes to make. He also still has to have that affair with Janel Moloney's Donna, who's been drooling all over him for six years.

Alison Janney's C.J. Cregg, while likable enough, was already tossed into water way over her character's head when she got named to Leo's old chief of staff position.

The idea that any press secretary could step right into high-level international policy decisions is the kind of credibility-sapping move that explains why "West Wing" viewership has dropped by half from the better years.

Spencer's death may not leave the same hole in "West Wing" that John Ritter's death left in "8 Simple Rules," or Freddie Prinze's in "Chico and the Man." But it may be just as hard to fill.

When your challenge is to illustrate the art of the possible, John Spencer made Leo McGarry into exactly the guy you wanted holding the brush.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/v-pfriendly/story/376103p-319589c.html

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.

The Overnights: 18-49
Promising start for NBC's new 'Deal

Game show wins timeslot in 18-49s with a 3.9 rating

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 20, 2005

NBC’s new game show “Deal or No Deal” is no “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” but it got off to a good start last night as it embarked on a four-night run.

Airing in the 8 p.m. timeslot, “Deal” averaged a 3.9 Nielsen overnight rating among viewers 18-49. The show finished first in its timeslot, and even more encouraging for NBC, it grew as the hour progressed. “Deal” averaged a 3.4 during its first half hour but jumped 26 percent to a 4.3 during its last half hour.

Overall, the game’s 3.9 average was a substantial 39 percent increase over the 2.8 overnight rating NBC had averaged over the last four weeks in the timeslot, with two episodes of “Surface,” a repeat of “Las Vegas” and last week’s Elton John concert special.

The show also drew 11.6 million total viewers, NBC’s best showing in the timeslot in more than a year. The 3.9 was its best Monday 8 p.m. 18-49 average since May 2, when “Fear Factor” aired in that slot.

Hosted by funnyman Howie Mandel, “Deal” lets contestants choose one of 26 briefcases that could have anything from a penny to $1 million inside. As other briefcases are eliminated, a bank offers the contestants cash prizes in exchange for the briefcase they hold. Contestants then ponder “Let’s Make a Deal”-style whether they should keep their mystery case or take the bank’s sure thing.

NBC has scheduled “Deal” episodes for tonight, tomorrow and Thursday night at 8 p.m. as well. If it continues to show promise, it may return later this year.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1972.asp

CBS swept to easy wins in all categories for the week ending Dec. 18th.

Last week’s network average prime-time ratings are at the top of RATINGS NEWS the second post in this thread.

But, in the spirit of the holidays, I'll save you a mouse click:

Weekly Averages: Week of Dec. 12-18
Average rating, share and audience in each category

TOTAL VIEWERS
CBS 4.4/11, 12.2 million
ABC 3.1/8, 8.7 million
NBC 3.0/8, 8.3 million
Fox 2.4/6, 6.7 million
UPN 1.2/3, 3.5 million
WB 1.2/3, 3.4 million
(Each rating point equals 2.81 million viewers)

ADULTS 18-49
CBS 3.7/10, 4.8 million
ABC 2.9/8, 3.8 million
Fox 2.9/8, 3.8 million
NBC 2.8/8, 3.6 million
WB 1.4/4, 1.8 million
UPN 1.4/4, 1.8 million
(Each rating point equals 1.30 million viewers)

ADULTS 25-54
CBS 4.7/12, 5.7 million
ABC 3.4/9, 4.2 million
NBC 3.3/8, 4.1 million
Fox 3.0/8, 3.6 million
WB 1.4/3, 1.7 million
UPN 1.3/3, 1.6 million
(Each rating point equals 1.22 million viewers)

Season-to-date averages
(Through 13 weeks, one third of the 39-week season)
Average rating, share and audience in each category

TOTAL VIEWERS
CBS 4.8/12, 13.4 million
ABC 3.9/10, 10.8 million
NBC 3.3/9, 9.3 million
Fox 2.9/7, 8.2 million
UPN 1.3/3, 3.6 million
WB 1.2/3, 3.5 million
(Each rating point equals 2.81 million viewers)

ADULTS 18-49
CBS 4.1/11, 5.3 million
ABC 4.0/11, 5.2 million
NBC 3.2/9, 4.2 million
Fox 3.2/9, 4.1 million
UPN 1.5/4, 1.9 million
WB 1.4/4, 1.9 million
(Each rating point equals 1.30 million viewers)

ADULTS 25-54
CBS 5.2/12, 6.3 million
ABC 4.7/11, 5.7 million
NBC 3.9/9, 4.7 million
Fox 3.3/8, 4.1 million
WB 1.4/3, 1.7 million
UPN 1.4/3, 1.7 million
(Each rating point equals 1.22 million viewers)

Source: NBC and Nielsen Media Research

The Nielsens: Week 13
CBS swamps rivals

CBS, with nine of the week’s top 10 prime-time programs (and 14 of the top 20) easily overpowered the week 13 Nielseon ratings. All three members of the CSI franchise finished in the top 10, even though only CSI: NY had a fresh episode.

A repeat of CSI led the week’s ratings list with 17.7 million viewers. A new NCIS was #2 (17.11 million) followed by CSI: NY with 16.69 million viewers. The rest of the top ten was:
# 4 Without A Trace (Repeat) 15.25 million
#5 Criminal Minds 15.23
#6 Cold Case 15.22
#7 House (Fox) 14.65
#8 Two and a Half Men (Repeat) 14.25
#9 CBS Sunday Movie 13.85
#10 CSI: Miami (Repeat) 13.79.

The NFL Monday Night Football game (#11) was ABC’s top show with 13.57 million viewers. The NFL Monday Showcase was 18th (11.27 million), The Wonderful World of Disney repeat was #22 (10.02 million) and a Boston Legal original episode was #24 with 9.86 million viewers.

NBC’s highest ranked show was The Apprentice 4 finale at #13 (12.81 million); a repeat of Law and Order: SVU was #19 (11.20) and a repeat of the war horse Law and Order was #26 (9.37 million).

House was Fox’s best hour. The NFL overrun finished 11th for the week (11.89 million viewers) and a new Simpsons was #23 with 9.93 million.

The Fox comedy slate continued to stagger: # 86 Stacked (4.32 million); #88 Arrested Development (3.91) and #94 Bernie Mac (3.52) all with new episodes, all came in at about normal levels.

As usual, 7th Heaven (#67, 6.48 million viewers) led The WB. UPN’s top show, Everybody Hates Chris, was #83 (4.95 million.)

CBS also easily outdistanced the other networks in the 18-49 demo.

2005: Year In Review
2005 TV: Out with the old

By ED Bark and Manuel Mendoza The Dallas Morning News

The changing face of television resembled a Picasso painting by year's end. News divisions embraced new faces and formats after old hands waved goodbye in ever-growing numbers.
NBC tumbled from its longtime lofty perch as the go-to network for advertiser-courted younger viewers, with Fox, ABC and even elder statesman CBS attracting more dudes and dude-ettes. The early days of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath put wind in the 24-hour cable news networks' sails while the Big Three broadcasters initially clung almost obliviously to their regularly scheduled entertainment programming. America needed a few laughs after the storms finally died down, and TV at last seemed equal to the task with a bracing new wave of quality half-hour comedies.
But we'll mostly remember 2005 for its big exits: Dan Rather from the [B]CBS Evening News , Ted Koppel from [B]Nightline and Peter Jennings and Pope John Paul II from life as we know it. Enter 2006, the year of new people striving to fill big shoes. What impressions will they make? As always, another new painting is nearing its first brushstroke.
Bark's Top 10
• Out with the old, out with the old ...
Broadcast news accelerated its transition from generation-spanning fixtures to younger guns and new modes. Peter Jennings' sudden death last August left evening newscasts without any of their longtime father figures after Dan Rather left the CBS Evening News in the wake of "Memogate" and Tom Brokaw made his long-planned exit last year from NBC's Nightly News. Add Ted Koppel's surprise decision to call it a day at Nightline and stir in Barbara Walters' semiretirement from ABC News. Who's left? Larry King signed a new contract with CNN, Jim Lehrer still flies the NewsHour flag and Mike Wallace somehow keeps ticking on 60 Minutes. Eat your vegetables, boys.
• Storm troupers
Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans and the Gulf Coast devastated, and some reporters emboldened. Geraldo Rivera made an unsightly spectacle of himself as usual, but eyewitness correspondents such as Shepard Smith, Brian Williams and Anderson Cooper legitimately huffed and puffed on behalf of the newly homeless. Television's pictures spoke even louder, at last forcing the federal government's hand. Images of rooftop rescues and desperate evacuees remain rooted in the collective consciousness, as does rapper Kanye West's unscripted telethon assertion that "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
• Joking matters
After several years of serious neglect, half-hour comedies returned to the living with NBC's My Name Is Earl and the network's Americanized version of The Office; UPN's Everybody Hates Chris ; CBS' How I Met Your Mother; HBO's breakthrough second season of En tourage and even Fox's crudely cartoonish The War at Home. On cable, Comedy Central's The Colbert Report instantly became a perfect sidekick for The Daily Show, while cartoonist Aaron McGruder threw caution for a loop in taking his Boondocks strip to the Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim bloc. Comedy isn't king yet, but a coup is finally in play.
• News flushes
CBS News began the year in a ditch by sharply discrediting its 60 Minutes Wednesday report on President Bush's Texas Air National Guard Service. The network's long-awaited internal investigation resulted in the dismissals of four CBS staffers, most notably Dallas-based producer Mary Mapes. She fired back in November with her own account in the book Truth and Duty. Its publication came just two weeks after CBS News president Andrew Heyward was replaced by Sean McManus, who also still helms the network's sports division. The search continues for a permanent Evening News anchor, with Bob Schieffer now in his 10th month of interim duties.
• Martha's stew
Newly freed from the slammer, domestic diva Martha Stewart went directly to jail with her new version of The Apprentice. Downtrodden NBC envisioned a ratings smash but instead got an opening-night smoosh that instantly sealed the show's fate as fall's biggest flop. Most of the year's new reality shows took tumbles, although one big notable exception came from out of nowhere this past summer. That brings us to...
Sole train
ABC's Dancing With the Stars paired apprentice semicelebrity hoofers with professionals to become a surprise ratings hit in a big o'hurry, thanks in large part to contestant John O'Hurley. Copycats ensued, with Fox planning to put stars on ice early next year while ABC will open January with a second edition of Dancing on Thursday nights.
• Trip, stumble, fall
NBC plunged from first to fourth place with advertiser-craved 18- to 49-year-olds while a Sopranos -less HBO saw its Sunday night audiences slowly slip-slide away. The failure of NBC's Friends spinoff Joey epitomized the Peacock network's problems; HBO's lavish but sometimes plodding Rome series flunked the water-cooler buzz test.
• On a scale of one to 450 ...
Excess weight became the stuff of excessive TV series and specials. NBC made the most gains with The Biggest Loser, a modest ratings hit. Kirstie Alley flopped in Showtime's heavily hyped Fat Actress, comedian Monique launched her inaugural Fat Chance beauty pageant on Oxygen and a small army of TV personalities donned "fat suits" to showily document mistreatment of the obese.
• Papal pageantry
Telecast live in the U.S. during pre-dawn hours, the April funeral of Pope John Paul II was both majestic and moving. Three made-for-TV movies followed, in August on the Hallmark Channel and earlier this month on ABC and CBS. All had dispiriting Nielsen ratings for the networks involved.'
• Moving 'Wheel'
After a dominating 18-year run at 6:30 p.m. on WFAA-TV (Channel 8), Wheel of Fortune relocated in September to the same time slot on KTVT-TV (Channel 11). Aiming younger, Channel 8 replaced it with Entertainment Tonight, which ran third in the November "sweeps." Wheel lost viewers but remained No. 1 at 6:30 by a slim margin over runner-up Extra on KXAS-TV (Channel 5).

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

Mendoza's Top 10
• Deadwood/Entourage (HBO)
Two No. 1's? What a cheater. The common bond between the late-frontier drama and the inside-Hollywood comedy is that their greatness is tied to content freedom. On HBO, they can go wherever their creators' imaginations lead without worrying about the mind police. Both topped their inaugural seasons, especially Entourage, which moved from hit-and-miss to dead-on in its sharp exaggeration of celebrity lifestyles, as well as its feel for the nature of male friendship. Deadwood was brilliant from the start, but in its second season, the richness of the storytelling put it in the pantheon with The Sopranos .
• The Colbert Report/The Daily Show
Again with the double entry? Helping me sleep at night, this one-two punch of "fake" news reminds me that what I think of the state of the world isn't crazy. In particular, word to "The Word," Stephen Colbert's nightly unmasking of the "no-spin zone." The Report has made leaps in just a few weeks while The Daily Show remains must-see TV for lefties.
• Intervention (A&E)
Speaking of fake, there's nothing phonier than most reality TV. Intervention is a gritty exception. Cameras follow an addict or two as they behave badly. They've been told they're the subjects of a documentary series. What they don't know is that their friends and family are planning to intercede. With no need for cheap sensation, Intervention simply chronicles. It turns out to be educational and emotionally satisfying, free of easy happy endings.
• Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)
He used to bug me to no end, and I can't even remember why. That's because his retooling of late-night conventions, from the monologue to the guest list, is so fresh. It's as if you've been invited to his house to shoot the breeze. And has any TV host ever had a more talented inner circle, from Cousin Sal to grade-school buddy Cleto?
• Las Vegas: An Unconventional History (PBS)
The American Experience documentary captures the reason why we should pay attention to what's happening in the Nevada desert. It's where American culture, good and bad, is constantly distilled.
My Name Is Earl (NBC)
Executive producer Greg Garcia has come up with the winning formula to lead a minor comeback of the network sitcom. His ways-mending petty thief (Jason Lee) is a beautiful mix of edgy and poignant. But the big laughs come from tiny bits of business usually involving Earl's sweetly sociopathic brother (Ethan Suplee).
• American Idol (Fox)
I can't bring myself to buy the Fantasia or Bo Bice albums, and not just because it would be uncool. Outside the cocoon of competition – and without Simon's brutal if somewhat strained honesty – it's hard to care. On the other hand, as a TV show that allows the audience to develop rooting interests and see talent rising, it's unparalleled.
• Late Show With David Letterman (CBS)
Dave was turning into a crank before fatherhood mellowed him. But he makes the list because his ambition hasn't receded. The political clips, the bear that had to be put away every night, his rants about whatever's bugging him that day more than balance interviews that are occasionally too serious, and bits – Biff's excursions and those into the audience – that are overly silly.
• The Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson (Comedy Central)
Pam was a great sport, and Courtney Love was, well, Courtney Love. Jeffrey Ross, Sarah Silverman, Lisa Lampanelli – you're @!#$% brilliant. The Friars would be proud.
• Weeds (Showtime)
The comedy about a suburban, single-mom pot dealer has deep flaws, starting with its cartoon depiction of African-Americans. But it also goes where no series has dared to before, depicting a Hobson's choice that's as heartbreaking as it is discomforting. Mary-Louise Parker, who has in recent years left her good-girl persona behind, nails the conflicted role. Plus any show that reveals Kevin Nealon's previously hidden talents deserves kudos.

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

Flashpoint: A la carte programming

Pay-per-view: the sequels. Tell a friend that the word "television" may soon seem as archaic as "gramophone." The year brought a wealth of new and costly ways to watch broadcast TV programming that initially is free on your friendly living room appliance.
Upon further review, though, maybe you'd rather feel free to watch a missed episode of Lost on your computer or new video iPod. Or how about catching some riotous segments from NBC's Tonight Show on your pocket-sized cellphone? And if that old-school TV set still feels like home, you'll soon be able to catch fresh episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation at any time of day or night via Comcast digital cable's On Demand service.
ABC, NBC and CBS all are thrilled to charge a price for these privileges. Commercial-free episodes of selected ABC and NBC shows can be downloaded via iTunes.com for $1.99 an episode. Beginning in January, CBS' On Demand option will cost consumers 99 cents a pop.
CBS chairman Leslie Moonves heralds what he hopes will be a brave new world of untapped profits.
"This is an incredibly exciting evolution for CBS and network television," he said when the network announced its On Demand partnership in November. "Video on demand is the next frontier for our industry. ... We're confident the lure of watching these shows at one's own convenience will make this feature wildly popular."
Talk is cheap, though. Will extra-cost TV be a deep new revenue stream or just a puddle? After all, the reasonably intrepid consumer can still TiVo or record programming for later viewing. Then again, it's not as transportable as watching a Law & Order episode while riding the rails or walking the dog.
NBC Universal, in a Dec. 6 news release, claims that consumers already have downloaded more than 3 million videos since its iTtunes catalog opened for business on Oct. 12. A 16-show menu includes current NBC series such as Law & Order and The Office and past hits ranging from Alfred Hitchcock Presents to Knight Rider .
The new year likely will bring rapid expansions in pay-per-view choices amid growing concerns that local network stations will see their lifeblood slowly drained from them.
If out-of-home or a la carte viewing goes up, up, up, will appointed-hour Nielsen ratings go down, down, down? Somehow, someway, we'll see.

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

TOP 10s
Here are the top 10 shows for the year so far, in millions of viewers.

DRAMAS
1. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS) – 28.03
2. Without a Trace (CBS) – 20.43
3. Lost (ABC) – 18.62
4. Grey's Anatomy (ABC) –18.47
5. CSI: Miami (CBS) – 18.09
6. NCIS (CBS) – 16.77
7. Cold Case (CBS) – 16.66
8. Law & Order: SVU (NBC) – 15.55
9. CSI: NY (CBS) – 14.85
10. Commander in Chief (ABC) – 14.73

COMEDIES

1. Desperate Housewives (ABC) – 24.89
2. Two and a Half Men (CBS) – 15.15
3. My Name Is Earl (NBC) – 12.61
4. Out of Practice (CBS) – 12.12
5. King of Queens (CBS) – 10.73
6. The Simpsons (Fox) – 10.51
7. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) – 10.25
8. Family Guy (Fox) – 8.60
9. Will & Grace (NBC) – 8.290
10. George Lopez (ABC) – 8.289

UNSCRIPTED
1. Survivor: Guatemala (CBS) – 18.30
2. Monday Night Football (ABC) – 16.89
3. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC) – 15.56
4. 60 Minutes (CBS) – 15.16
5. The Apprentice 4 (NBC) – 10.69
6. The Amazing Race 8 (CBS) – 10.66
7. Biggest Loser 2 (NBC) – 9.84
8. America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC) – 9.44
9. 48 Hours Mystery (CBS) – 8.36
10. 20/20 (ABC) – 7.99
SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research. Ratings are for the first 12 weeks of the season (Sept. 19 to Dec. 11).

http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/television/stories/121905gltv.21fdd371.html

Compromise is near on digital TV

If Senate approves, analog signals will end in early 2009

By Sudeep Reddy The Dallas Morning News

Congress has neared a compromise for completing the nation's transition to digital television, aiming to end the use of analog signals by early 2009 and allocating up to $1.5 billion to help consumers with the switch.

Critics of the agreement say it's unfair and forces consumers with older TV sets to jump through bureaucratic hoops and shell out cash to continue watching television.

But backers say the deal will finally move the U.S. to higher-quality broadcasts that have been envisioned for years.

It would also free up spectrum long sought by emergency responders and raise at least $10 billion from auctions for commercial wireless services and other technologies.

"A great technical revolution that has been in the making for years will finally be complete," Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, said in a statement.

Mr. Barton, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the legislation "strikes the right balance" among government, industry and consumer interests.

Tech companies have sought a precise date for completing the transition so they can plan for a new era of advanced technologies.

Industry groups such as the Consumer Electronics Association have already launched marketing campaigns about digital television and plan to expand those efforts once a final date is set.

But the debate is focused on the precise date of the changeover and the amount of funding to allocate for consumers who wouldn't be able to receive the higher quality digital TV signals.

Televisions with cable or satellite service are expected to be unaffected by the change.

But consumers who still receive over-the-air broadcasts on older sets in their homes would need to purchase a converter box, which is expected to start at $50 or $60, to continue watching television.

The legislation that cleared a House-Senate conference committee over the weekend – and passed the full House Monday – provides $990 million to fund up to two $40 coupons per household to purchase converters. The total could be increased up to $1.5 billion if needed.

The compromise would end analog signals on Feb. 17, 2009. The full Senate still needs to vote on the measure, which is part of a larger budget bill.

An earlier Senate version of the legislation backed an April 7, 2009, transition and $3 billion in funding for converters. The earlier House version supported a Dec. 31, 2008, end date with $990 million in funding.

Consumer groups say consumers should get a larger share of the $10 billion expected from the government auction of airwaves because they would be forced to buy converter boxes.

Consumers Union says that 80 million sets in 42 million U.S. homes – including older secondary sets – could need converters.

The funding in the legislation would cover less than half those sets, leaving consumers to foot $2 billion for a government-mandated transition.

"The irony here is that the people who cared the least about digital television" – those who aren't early adopters of new technology – "are going to be the ones that are most affected," said Jeannine Kenney, a senior policy analyst at Consumers Union.

The legislation allocates just $5 million to consumer education about the transition.

"The end result is on February 18 you're going to have a lot of TV sets that are going to stop working, and a lot of unhappy consumers," Ms. Kenney said.

http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/bi/gold_print.cgi

Nielsen will include DVR use in ratings

By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Nielsen is finally entering the TiVo age.

Starting Monday, the TV ratings service will expand its national sample of TV homes to include users of digital video recorders, reflecting the increased popularity of devices from TiVo, Replay, cable systems and satellite providers that store programs on a hard drive for later viewing.

But the change will bring a bigger revolution: In a first, Nielsen will simultaneously begin offering three separate sets of TV ratings for each program, reflecting:

Live, real-time viewing, the same rating system used currently.

Live viewing plus ratings for programs recorded and played back the same day.

Live viewing plus playback of recorded programs within seven days of its initial airing.

Nielsen has measured VCR recording — though not playback — for several years. But until now it has been unable to monitor the more complicated process of viewing in homes with DVRs, which allow users to pause, record and play back shows as they air or much later.

While the number of homes with the devices remains small — only 7% to 9% of U.S. homes have them — forecasters predict 10% to 25% will in five years.

As cable systems and satellite providers aggressively market new boxes with DVR functions, "it was inappropriate to bypass those homes," says Sara Erichson,. Nielsen's general manager of national services. "This is a big change for the industry."

TV networks — and especially major broadcast networks — have been angling to include them, and claim Nielsen has left out their most avid, loyal viewers.

Research shows that "people who have DVRs are watching more television and watching proportionately more network television, particularly the top shows," says CBS research chief David Poltrack. "Their exclusion has been hurting the broadcast networks, and we're obviously anxious to get them in the sample."

Initially, the change will go nearly undetected. Next week, just 100 homes with DVRs will become part of Nielsen's sample of 9,000 homes from which national ratings are projected. (Separate samples are used to estimate local ratings). By the start of the new TV season next fall, the national sample will include at least 800 DVR homes, enough to match their proportion of the general population.

In a handful of test cities, the most-often recorded programs in October were Desperate Housewives, Lost, CSI, Grey's Anatomy and Survivor , all top-10 shows, while awards shows and sports are mostly watched live. In that early research, including recorded shows boosted overall ratings for top series by an average of 4%, CBS says.

But the new ratings data adds more wrinkles to the business of selling TV ad time: The networks will seek to charge advertisers for all viewers, but advertisers say they will try to halt increases by arguing many DVR users fast-forward through commercials. Advertisers are now focusing on ratings for commercials rather than the programs that surround them.

"It's definitely needed," says Sam Armando, VP and director of TV research at media buyer Starcom, of the shift. "But how it's used, what we agree to use, is still a gray area."

Nielsen in June also plans to begin measuring viewing of video on demand services.

The move by Nielsen Media Research is a reflection of how the traditional notion of watching TV is changing. And if Nielsen's numbers show that new technology is also changing what people are watching, it has the potential to profoundly disrupt a multibillion-dollar business.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-18-nielsen-dvr_x.htm

What about Telemundo...?

Apparently another year or so down the road.


Edit: OOPS! Telemundo announced Wednedsay that it too, was to be rated in ther Nielsen NTI. See post # 7938

Didn't you used to post a list of the top 10 TiVo'ed shows each week?

Not each week.

USA Today used to post the TiVo ratings about once a month, and when they did, I posted them here.

They haven't printed those numbers in a while. I guess I could call TiVo and see if I could get them directly.

A nice, well-written obituary, with good quotes, that I missed the other day
Jersey-reared John Spencer, 'West Wing' actor, dies at 58

BY Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoeller Seitz Newark Star-Ledger Staff
Saturday, December 17, 2005

John Spencer's art drew heavily from his life. His death, sadly, was predicted by his art.

Spencer, who drew on his years of drug and alcohol addiction to win an Emmy as White House chief of staff Leo McGarry on "The West Wing," died yesterday morning of a heart attack, similar to the one that nearly killed Leo two years ago. Spencer was 58.

"John was an uncommonly good man, an exceptional role model and a brilliant actor," "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin and producer Thomas Schlamme said in a statement. "We feel privileged to have known him and worked with him. He'll be missed and remembered everyday by his many, many friends."

Born John Speshock on Dec. 20, 1946, the son of a dumptruck driver and a waitress, he grew up in Totowa and left his home at 16 to pursue an acting career. He landed a recurring role as Henry Anderson, boyfriend to English cousin Cathy on "The Patty Duke Show." When the series moved to California after two seasons, Spencer and the other New York-based actors found themselves out of work.

"When you look at who he was," said U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8th Dist.), "the fact that he came from working-class origins is the thing that jumps out at you. From 'Patty Duke' all the way up to the present movies, he was always somebody down to earth, two boots on the ground. I think it had a lot to do with the parts he played."

He spent two years at Fairleigh Dickinson University, then enrolled briefly at NYU before finding work in regional theater and on the New York stage, where he often worked with playwright and director Emily Mann. He played the gentleman caller in her production of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie," a Vietnam vet in her "Still Life" and political assassin Dan White in her "Execution of Justice."

Mann, now the artistic director of the McCarter Theatre Company, recalled that Spencer was struggling with a "Still Life" scene where his character delivered a confessional monologue. So for one rehearsal, "I invited (everyone in New York theatrical production that he knew). He looked out there and used it. The tears were flowing and the snot was going. ... He did that every single performance. He was never dry, and that was over a two- year period. It was a lesson in acting."

Though he began working in movies in the 1980s, his addictions held him back. His grandfathers were both alcoholics, "and I was well on my way by the time I was in high school," Spencer told People magazine in 2000. By the late '80s, "I was experimenting with everything: coke, booze, pot."

He entered rehab in 1989 and, newly sober, got his big break as Harrison Ford's detective sidekick in "Presumed Innocent." The role caught the attention of "L.A. Law" producer David E. Kelley, who hired Spencer to liven up the aging series as streetwise Tommy Mullaney. In his first episode, Mullaney wins a lawsuit against a tobacco company and celebrates with a cigarette -- Spencer's last vice. (He eventually quit those, too.)

In 1999, after supporting roles in movies like "The Rock" and "The Negotiator," he was the first actor cast on "The West Wing." Martin Sheen and Rob Lowe were the stars, but Spencer was the series' emotional center and moral compass.

"Leo, I think, is a better man than me," Spencer told the Associated Press in 2000. "I often say to Aaron, 'You're writing the man I'd like to be.'"

Sorkin wrote Spencer's history with addiction into the character, and a 2002 episode depicting Leo's campaign trail fall from the wagon won him an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series. Backstage, he said, "I'm a very lucky man. Anything in the last 13 years since I've become sober, I consider extra innings. These are innings I was not going to play."

Early in his run on "West Wing," Spencer split his time between the show and Warren Leight's play "Glimmer, Glimmer, and Shine," where he played ex-junkie jazz man Martin Glimmer.

"Like Leo, I've always been a workaholic, too," he told AP. "Through good times and bad, acting has been my escape, my joy, my nourishment. The drug for me, even better than alcohol, was acting."

It's unclear at this time how the show will address the absence. A flash-forward early this season featured former White House staffers attending the dedication of the Bartlet presidential library; Leo was noticeably absent from the scene, which gives the writers some latitude.

During a 2002 visit to England, Spencer told The Express, "I had British politicians coming up to me saying, 'I don't want to gush too much but I think meeting you could be one of the greatest moments of my life.' It was just amazing. They're people in power and I'm just John Spencer from New Jersey."

Mann, who was supposed to discuss her new play with Spencer over dinner tonight, remembered that when she saw him on "West Wing" for the first time, "I was sort of thrilled. This is not a just world but I always knew that's what he wanted, to work with good actors and good writing, and he had that on 'West Wing,' which was at the level of fine theater."

But despite his TV fame, Mann's mother always remembered Spencer from "The Glass Menagerie."

"My mom said, 'I thought he's aged a bit, but he'll always be my gentleman caller.'"

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-0/1134798348237110.xml

Fox quietly announced today that starting January 12, two episodes of "That 70s Show" will be broadcast (beginnjing at 8 PM ER/PT on Thursdays.
At 9 PM "The O.C." will follow.

"Stacked" seems to have been lost in the shuffle. Maybe that is because last wek it ranked 86th with a paltry 4.32 million viewers. And the veiwers have been eroding quickly -- last week was sharply down from the previous "Stacked" average of 5.14 million viewers.

What about Telemundo...?

Don't forget about Azteca or Telefutura either. There's a lot of Spanish language broadcast networks.

Don't forget about Azteca or Telefutura either. There's a lot of Spanish language broadcast networks.

Azteca, Telemundo and Telefutura (along with Univision) have been rated for years now by Nielsen in the NHTI (National Hispanic Television Index.)

Starting Monday, Univision will join the traditional networks in the NTI -- but will continue to be ranked in the NHTI, until September of 2007, when the two will be combined into one.

So advertisers have access to Nielson numbers fo the Hispanic networks.

Univision, as both a public relations and a business move, wanted to be counted sooner, and so (as I understand it) is paying a substantiasl fee to Nielsen to be included in the NTI.

They haven't printed those numbers in a while. I guess I could call TiVo and see if I could get them directly.

They are available each week on the TiVo web site:
http://www3.tivo.com/tivo-tco/top25.do?show25=seasonpass

for the week ending 12/18/2005

Most Recorded Shows
Rank Name Prev +/-
1 Desperate Housewives 1 0
2 Lost N/A
3 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation N/A
4 Grey's Anatomy N/A
5 House 4 -1
6 ER N/A
7 Medium N/A
8 The West Wing N/A
9 Family Guy 4 -5
10 Commander-in-Chief N/A
11 24 N/A
12 My Name Is Earl N/A
13 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit N/A
14 Boston Legal 10 -4
15 Las Vegas 11 -4
16 Without a Trace N/A
17 Numb3rs 12 -5
18 The O.C. 13 -5
19 Law & Order: Criminal Intent 15 -4
20 Invasion 14 -6
21 Will & Grace 16 -5
22 Two and a Half Men 19 -3
23 The Simpsons 17 -6
24 Monk N/A
25 The Office 20 -5

Critic’s Notebook
The ''Joey'' Thing

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

There are shows that can drive you crazy if you look at them long enough. The ones that you keep thinking, ''There is probably something really good in the middle of this, but no one has any idea how to get to it.'' Or, ''That was a great laugh there, and I wish there had been eight or 10 more in this episode.'' Or, ''This actor is quite accomplished, and I would like to see him/her in something better than this.''

I have felt all those things watching ''Joey.'' I am a fan of Jennifer Coolidge's work, and she is fine here. Drea de Matteo isn't bad, either, although I still don't think the show has figured out a good way to write for her. Andrea Anders has fared much better, both by getting a chance to play a lot of notes, and by playing the daylights out of them. She is the real find on ''Joey,'' and I hope she gets a great showcase somewhere once this thing is done.

Which will probably be by the end of the season. NBC made that seem even more likely with its decision not to include ''Joey'' in either its Thursday or Tuesday comedy blocks in January. The network has said the show will be back after the Olympics, but that's not exactly an endorsement.

After watching the show more than once, including an hour-long telecast last week, I can see why NBC is not that interested. You have to work really hard just to watch ''Joey.'' You have to hope that there's a big laugh around the corner, or feel incredibly grateful for a little laugh. And watching a comedy just shouldn't take a lot of effort.

Especially not ''Joey.'' It's undemanding by design, much the way ''Friends'' was. And, as I think I've said before, it's a very traditional comedy stylistically in a period when it has to compare to some more daring sitcoms that are also funnier. (Do I need to go through the list again?)

I have wanted to like ''Joey.'' I really have. I would rather watch it than ''Hot Properties'' or ''Out of Practice'' or ''Rodney'' or ''Freddie'' or ''Stacked.'' (Although a ''Stacked'' producer told me before this season that it was going to get better, I haven't been able to care enough to find out for myself.) At the end of the day, though, I don't like ''Joey'' enough to watch it except for professional curiosity -- and Andrea Anders. When there are a lot of reruns on, that can get me to tune in. When the DVR is overloaded with other, better shows, it can't.

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

The best tabloid correction ever .
By Ben Wasserstein Slate.com

Correction: Teri Hatcher does not have a passion wagon.

Buried on Page 30 of the National Enquirer is a small-type "apology" to the Desperate Housewives star: "A cover story we ran entitled 'Teri Hatcher—Amazing Bedroom secrets' was based on an interview sold to us by an experienced freelance journalist who we now believe never actually conducted the interview. … Ms. Hatcher has never engaged in sexual relations with men in a van parked on her property, nor does she leave her child alone in her house while having 'steamy romps' with men in a 'passion wagon.' …

We also published a story suggesting that Ms. Hatcher … had become 'desperately thin' and was 'wasting away.' … We now know that during the past seven years, her weight has fluctuated by only three pounds—a result of healthy diet, moderate exercise and a good metabolism. Ms. Hatcher is fit and looks great, and her healthy appearance is nothing new."

http://www.slate.com/id/2131912/

(thanks to Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star for the tip)

They are available each week on the TiVo web site:
http://www3.tivo.com/tivo-tco/top25.do?show25=seasonpass

for the week ending 12/18/2005

Most Recorded Shows
Rank Name Prev +/-
1 Desperate Housewives 1 0
2 Lost N/A
3 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation N/A
4 Grey's Anatomy N/A
5 House 4 -1
6 ER N/A
7 Medium N/A
8 The West Wing N/A
9 Family Guy 4 -5
10 Commander-in-Chief N/A
11 24 N/A
12 My Name Is Earl N/A
13 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit N/A
14 Boston Legal 10 -4
15 Las Vegas 11 -4
16 Without a Trace N/A
17 Numb3rs 12 -5
18 The O.C. 13 -5
19 Law & Order: Criminal Intent 15 -4
20 Invasion 14 -6
21 Will & Grace 16 -5
22 Two and a Half Men 19 -3
23 The Simpsons 17 -6
24 Monk N/A
25 The Office 20 -5



Thanks KenW! That is great to know.

Do you have any idea what time they post the numbers on a weekly basis?

No More “Jenna Elfman Show”

(Don't worry about the headline, keenan, it was just a teaser.) :)

CBS has changed the name of the sitcom, which debuts on Monday January 23rd to “Courting Alex”.

Sports On TV
The Return of Frank Gifford and “Dandy Don” .

Familiar faces return for last “Monday Night Football” on ABC
By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter Dec. 21, 2005

NEW YORK -- "Dandy" Don Meredith and Frank Gifford will return to ABC a final time Monday to bid farewell to "Monday Night Football" in its last game on the broadcast network.

Neither Meredith nor Gifford, who were part of a three-man broadcasting team with the late Howard Cosell, will appear live when the New York Jets play host to the New England Patriots at 9 p.m. ET Monday. They will appear in taped segments that will air at the opening of the game.

Gifford, the former New York Giants star who appeared on "Monday Night Football" from 1971-97, appeared in a retrospective on the show's 500th program. But Meredith -- part of the original on-air team with Cosell and Keith Jackson -- has continually declined to come out of retirement.

"Don Meredith hasn't been seen much" on TV since he left "MNF" at the end of the 1984 season, said Norby Williamson, executive vp studio and remote production at ESPN/ABC Sports.

It was Gifford, who remains friends with the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, who urged Meredith to appear one last time, said Fred Gaudelli, executive producer of "Monday Night Football." Meredith wasn't able to attend the game because of family commitments in New Mexico, but he agreed to tape a segment, Gaudelli said.

ABC won't present a stand-alone tribute to "MNF" before its last game after 36 years on the network. Instead, the broadcast will present favorite moments from its storied history.

"Within the game, there are going to be moments, we're going to have vignettes," Williamson said. The halftime show also will feature some noted "Are You Ready for Some Football?" moments from the past.

Williamson and ESPN/ABC Sports executive vp content John Skipper also spoke about the future of "MNF," which will move to ESPN beginning next season. Skipper said that the aggregate audience for "MNF" across ESPN's many platforms -- from the Sunday night "SportsCenter" to the "NFL Countdown" show as well as ESPN Radio and elsewhere -- will be larger than it is for this year.

"We don't think of it as a simple three-hour window rating to a three-hour window rating comparison," Skipper said. He said that ESPN's research has shown that 90% of the people who watch "MNF" now will be able to watch it next year on ESPN "without any changes to their television set."

There will be overall changes on ESPN, however. While the signature music will remain the same, ESPN will unveil during the Super Bowl a new on-air look for "MNF." And only Al Michaels will remain of the two-man booth; John Madden will move to NBC to become an analyst for the peacock's "Sunday Night Football."

Skipper bristled at NBC's efforts to make the Sunday night game -- which now is the third of three windows on Sunday that start at 1 p.m. ET -- the premier game of the week.

"The last time I checked, we're still on the Roman calendar," Skipper said of Monday night.

"Monday night is the only night that still has the exclusive window. ... We think that will resonate more with fans," he said.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001701320

Critic’s Notebook
Love is no longer color-coded on TV .

By Ann Oldenburg USA TODAY (Contributing: Bill Keveney)

One of the sweetest scenes to unfold on recent television was the long-awaited reunion of Bernard, the scruffy old survivor from the tail section of the downed Lost plane, with his calm and loving wife, Rose.

Rose is black. Bernard is white.

And one of the spiciest relationships on TV right now is blossoming between feisty, attractive Grey's Anatomy doctors Cristina Yang, who is Asian, and Preston Burke, who is black.

Interracial pairings suddenly are integral to several of today's top-rated TV shows, including Grey's, Lost, My Name Is Ear l and ER .

But these on-screen pairings no longer draw the kind of attention and reaction they did in the '60s and '70s. Romances between people of different colors are being handled more offhandedly, with race being neither an issue nor much of a plot point.

"Honestly, we really don't even talk about it or consider that it's an interracial couple," ER executive producer David Zabel says of characters Neela Rasgotra, who is of Indian descent, when she married Michael Gallant, who is black.

Younger people today don't see the couple as different races, he says. "They don't draw those lines. Watch MTV, and you'll see videos with all kind of people interacting."


On Grey's Anatomy, the race difference between the lovers has not been addressed. Instead, other differences have been highlighted. Sandra Oh's character is messy; Isaiah Washington's character is tidy. She's Jewish; he's not; he's spiritual; she's not.

The pairing stems from "casting whoever we thought was best for the part," says creator/executive producer Shonda Rimes.

Washington, who plays Dr. Burke, didn't want to talk about his character's romance, saying through his publicist that drawing attention to the races takes away from the fact that it's quietly and happily existing without being an issue.

His sentiment echoes that of Morgan Freeman, who said on Sunday's 60 Minutes that the whole idea of a month for black history is "ridiculous" because it separates black history from American history and is part of a labeling process that abets racism.

But does this reflect a real maturing of public opinion, or is it the view through Hollywood's rose-colored glasses?

"The reality is that interracial couples still deal with discrimination and hate," says Carmen Van Kerckhove, co-director of New Demographic, a diversity training company. "It's a positive thing that we're seeing less of a tragic element. Television models for us what we should think about people, really determines our taboos and what's acceptable. The more people see positive and normal representations, that will lessen the fear and taboo."

Although the television industry long has been accused of not casting and portraying enough actors and actresses of different races and ethnicities, Zabel says that has slowly been shifting, and ER has been a front-runner.

Mixed couples have been on at least since black Dr. Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle) and white Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) were hot and heavy in the late 1990s. "This show has always tried to have a broad range of backgrounds — ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds," Zabel says.

Parminder Nagra, who plays Neela, says it would be more of an issue if ER suddenly cast an Indian man for her to love. Her story line with Gallant works, she says.

"Why wouldn't these two people get together? They're very passionate about life and each other. On a bigger level, it gives people hope." And the romance, she says, sweeps viewers away, making them forget about race.

What will come later might be a story line that addresses race through family, Zabel says. That's where a clash may come as tradition is broken, and race will play a role.

"I knew certain people would look at it and go, 'An Indian girl is going out with this black guy.' "

But what they should notice is the passion, Nagra says. "It's important to have this on screen. There are so many mixed relationships. I don't think it's portrayed enough on television."

Racism is often reflected on television through hate crimes and other violent stories, Nagra says. "We know racism exists. Let's show people getting on. Let's be positive about it."

Mixed-race romances on television have never been plentiful, as the mass medium has been fearful of alienating viewers and advertisers.

In 1957, on Alan Freed's weekly rock 'n' roll show, black singer Frankie Lymon was seen dancing with a white woman. ABC promptly canceled the show.

On Star Trek , when Lt. Uhura and Capt. Kirk kissed (against their will) in 1968, it was heralded as the first interracial smooch on television.

And when Norman Lear featured a black woman and a white man as married neighbors to 1975's The Jeffersons , it was considered groundbreaking.

In real life, the gap slowly is narrowing. According to the most recent Census, interracial marriages grew from less than 1% in 1970 to nearly 6% in 2000. And as more of the world becomes a melting pot, interracial relationships have popped up more frequently on TV as well, though often tangentially. Some examples:

• Debra Messing's Grace dated guest star Gregory Hines on Will & Grace in 2000.

• David Schwimmer's Ross character fell for Aisha Tyler's Charlie on Friends in 2003.

• Gary Dourdan's Warrick has a history with Marg Helgenberger's Catherine on CSI .

So as the TV landscape has evolved, the issue now is less of whether mixed couples are featured on top shows, but when, how and if the writers will make their race part of the story line.

As Lost's Hurley observed soon after he saw Bernard, in the show's sole comment, "So Rose's husband's white. Didn't see that one coming." Jack, annoyed, quickly changed the subject.

The producers decided that acknowledging the couple's racial differences was necessary.

"The thing we love most about Hurley is he's somehow able to say what people are saying in their living rooms just about the time people are saying it," says Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse. "We thought everyone's expectation would be for her to have a black husband. We wanted to confound everyone's expectation. Everyone would be looking for the 50-year-old black guy."

In the case of Rose and Bernard, a story line of an older black/white couple could provide an interesting back story as they coped with segregation and civil rights issues. Executive producer Damon Lindelof says, "That's something we're planning," but it won't be before next season.

L. Scott Caldwell, the actress who plays Rose on Lost, says she didn't want to see or meet her on-screen husband for the sake of the authenticity of the reunion scene, so she and the actor, Sam Anderson, took pains not to ride in the same van to and from the set and avoided having their paths cross while filming in Hawaii.

"At this point, because I didn't know that Bernard was white, I was only playing a woman whose husband was missing and what that would be like. In my mind, I was using my real husband, who is 6-foot-5 and a black man. I was playing from my own reality."

When she found out, "I wasn't shocked, but I was surprised."

Viewers "immediately responded to it," she says. "Mostly it's been positive. There have been people who say, 'What's up with that?' "

She thinks that not having any nod to it in the show's dialogue would have been unrealistic. "Because the idea of an interracial relationship still matters somewhere to somebody, it is ultimately much better to explore it than ignore it."

Hurley's remark made sense, she says, "because if you're looking at Lost as a microcosm of society, somebody in that society is going to make note of it. It would be odd if nobody did. It still is an important issue."

Anderson says, "It was perfect that Hurley said it. It was perfect that Jack ignored him."

To him, personally, fans have been positive. "People respond to the humanity of it. People don't stop me to say, 'Oh, my God, you have a black wife.' They say, 'If they didn't let you two get back together, I was going to turn off my television set forever.' That supersedes anything else."

In the NBC sitcom Earl, race is treated with irreverent humor. Earl's ex-wife, Joy, is white and has just married Darnell, who is black. She didn't want her father to find out, fearing he'd be furious. As it turns out, he loves black women — literally.

Greg Garcia, executive producer/creator, says the characters simply fit the situation. "They're calling it like they see it and talking like real people talk."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-20-interracial-couples_x.htm

Breaking boundaries
(USA TODAY)

Grey's Anatomy
ABC, Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT

The couple: Dr. Cristina Yang,
played by Sandra Oh; Dr. Preston Burke, played by Isaiah Washington.

Their relationship: Top surgeon
falls for intern. Opposites attract.

Lost
ABC, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT

The couple: Bernard, played by Sam Anderson; Rose, played by L. Scott Caldwell

Their relationship: Viewers didn’t know Rose’s husband was white, but they did know she had unwavering.

ER
NBC, Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT

The couple: Dr. Neela Rasgotra,
played by Parminder Nagra; Dr. Michael Gallant, played by Sharif Atkins.

Their relationship: She’s an ER
doc; he’s just back from Iraq. Was the quickie wedding a good idea?

My Name Is Earl
NBC, Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT

The couple: Earl’s ex-wife Joy,
played by Jaime Pressly; Darnell, played by Eddie Steeples.

Their relationship: He works in
the Crab Shack; she’s after Earl’s lottery winnings. Earl and “Crabman” remain best buddies.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-20-interracial-couples_x.htm

Ailes Cashes In
The man who beat CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC gets rewarded .

Nine years ago, perhaps frustrated by GE bureaucracy, (but certainly energized with a massive new undertaking) Roger Ailes left CNBC-- and his own creation “America’s Talking” -- and went across the Hudson River to work for Rupert Murdoch.

The idea was to start a cable news network. The "experts" snickered (when they were trying to be polite).

Literally no one believed he, or theFox News Channel, would survive. Executives at both CNN and NBC giggled when reporters asked them about Ailes and his new news channel.

While Ailes gathered a small team to put Fox News Channel on the air in October of 1996, he spoke openly about going after CNN and dethroning them sooner rather than later.

Despite the talk, NewsCorp had to pay many cable systems, including the crucial Time Warner Manhattan operation, to get FNC carried. If it couldn't be seen in Madison Avenue advertising offices -- and in the homes of media buyers, it would be almost impossible to sell -- or to have FNC taken seriously. To get carriage, NewsCorp payments of as high as $10 a subscriber was reported to be the going rate.

How things have changed!

You know the details – Fox routinely outrates CNN, Headline News, CNBC and MSNBC combined. It has become a money cow for NewsCorp – and as its contracts run out with cable and satellite companies -- it is reportedly going to ask for carriage fees of about $1 a sub – up from some 22 cents a sub now.

Ailes, and his single-minded vision, has made Fox News an incredible success story.

Compare it to the constant changes in direction and cocnepts and programming at both MSNBC and CNN in the past five years.

Like them or not, Ailes and his since retired chief deputy Chet Collier picked Bill O'Reilly, Brit Hume, Neil Cavuto for key shows. They paired little known conservative Sean Hannity with little known liberal radio host Alan Colmes. And they, slowly at first, but always steadily, began to make headway.

By 2001 the wave had become a tsunami and entire villages of CNN and NBC executives, talent and shows have been swept away in wave after wave.

Meanwhile, the Fox News Channel lineup remains pretty much as it was when Ailes and Collier put it on the air on October 6, 1996.

In hindsight, the key seems simple: unlike CNN and its meddling Time Warner hierarchy, or MSNBC and its layers of NBC executives, Ailes is able to move quickly. And his vision, honed by a lifetime of producing, is almost unbelievably on target.

And now, as Variety reports in its Wednesday edition, for the payoff:

“Christmas came early Tuesday for Fox News topper Roger Ailes, who received a massive pay package for his expanded domain at News Corp.

Ailes, 65, reupped to the tune of $6 million per year for the next five years, but he may earn as much as double that if certain earnings targets are met, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He will also receive a one-time grant of 333,333 shares of News Corp. stock, which vest in five annual installments.

As part of his deal, Ailes will serve not only as chairman and CEO of the News Channel, which he helped found in 1996, but also as chairman-CEO of the Fox Business Channel, a spinoff in development that could launch as early as next spring.

Deal also reflects Ailes' promotion to chairman of Fox Television Stations Group, 20th Century Fox Television and editor-in-chief of FoxNews.com…”

There are literally thousands of examples in business (and many in TV) of executives being paid far more than they are worth. In this case you can make a really good case that Rupert Murdoch found himself a real bargain.

If you have kept checking in with “Hot Off The Press” the past 24 hours, none of these stories will be new to you. Buit if you want a brief recap of news in the world of television, here’s a quick list:

Wednesday Morning TV Headlines .
From The Hollywood Reporter

Familiar faces return for last 'MNF' on ABC
"Dandy" Don Meredith and Frank Gifford will return to ABC a final time Monday to bid farewell to "Monday Night Football" in its last game on the broadcast network. Meredith and Gifford were part of a three-man broadcasting team with the late Howard Cosell.

Strike bites NYC
A crippling bus and subway strike forced millions of people to stream into Manhattan on foot or in packed cars Tuesday, causing headaches for film producers on tight schedules. Live TV productions in New York, however, were mostly unaffected.

CBS wins speech night
More than 36.6 million people tuned in Sunday night to watch President Bush's speech about the progress of the war in Iraq, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. Among the broadcast networks, CBS was the clear winner for the speech.

Fox moves 'O.C.'
Fox has reshuffled its midseason Thursday schedule, sliding teen soap "The O.C." to 9 p.m.

'Apprentice' strong
NBC's "The Apprentice" hit its highest marks of the season with Thursday's live two-hour finale, but CBS still won the rerun-dominated week ending Dec. 18 by a comfortable margin.

ABC's last 'MNF'
"Dandy" Don Meredith and Frank Gifford will return to ABC a final time Monday to bid farewell to "Monday Night Football" in its last game on the broadcast network.

'Men' makes its mark
CBS delivered its most-watched Monday of the season, with "Two and a Half Men," "Out of Practice" and "CSI: Miami" hitting their highest marks of the season in total viewers.

Watching DVRs
Starting next week, Nielsen Media Research will also follow what they record on DVRs to watch later.

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

Weekly Ratings Notes
Bush speaks, nation listens .

By Bill Keveney USA TODAY

•Presidential prime time. President Bush's Oval Office address regarding the war in Iraq attracted a total of 36.6 million viewers Sunday on four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) and three cable-news networks (Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC).

•Winning M.O. CBS took nine of the top 10 spots in Nielsen viewership for the week, including the top six, all crime procedurals: CSI, NCIS, CSI: NY, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds and Cold Case. In a week where most scripted offerings were reruns, no show broke 20 million viewers; CSI drew 17.7 million. Without a new Desperate Housewives on the air, CSI also was able to grab the top spot among young adults, attracting 7.5 million. CBS won the week not only in overall viewership but also among young adults; ABC and Fox tied for second in young adults.

•Goodbye for now. The fourth-season finale of The Apprentice, in which Randal Pinkett beat out Rebecca Jarvis (and then spurned Donald Trump's suggestion that she also be hired), earned the NBC series its biggest audience of the season, 12.8 million, but it was the smallest finale audience to date. Although it didn't make the top 10 in viewers, the finale finished second for the week among young adults.

•Not quite so Amazing. The finale of the eighth edition of CBS' The Amazing Race, a family version that was criticized by some as too pedestrian, attracted 11.5 million. That's down from last spring's record 16 million.

•Let's play two. ESPN's NFL prime-time coverage, a regular No. 1 in weekly cable rankings, took the week's top two spots. The regular Sunday night game, the Atlanta Falcons vs. the Chicago Bears, drew 10.5 million viewers, while a special Saturday contest between the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills attracted 6 million.

•Canceled Reunion. The low-rated Fox drama Reunion, canceled before it could finish its story of high school friends followed over 20 years in 20 episodes, went out with a whimper in its final broadcast. It attracted just 3.5 million viewers, tying a series low.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-20-nielsen-analysis_x.htm

Weekly Ratings Notes
Top Cable Shows
(Week of Dec. 12-18)
USA TODAY
Rank Show title Network Viewers in millions
1. NFL Sunday Night Football: Falcons/Bears ESPN 10.5
2. NFL Football: Broncos/Bills (Saturday) ESPN 6.0
3. WWE Raw (10 p.m.) USA 5.1
3. WWE Raw (9 p.m.) USA 5.1
5. Law & Order: SVU (Sun. 9 p.m.) USA 4.7
6. Forrest Gump TBS 4.5
7. Law & Order: SVU (Sun. 10 p.m.) USA 4.3
8. Law & Order: SVU (Sun. 7 p.m.) USA 4.0
9. Law & Order (Tue. 9 p.m.) TNT 3.9
10. NFL Prime Time ESPN 3.8
10. Law & Order: SVU (Sun. 8 p.m.) USA 3.8
12. Meet the Santas Hallmark 3.6
13. Law & Order: CI (Tue. 9 p.m.) USA 3.5
14. Rugrats Nick 3.4
14. WIlly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ABC Family 3.4
Note: Only first airings of movies shown
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/nielsen-more.htm

Weekly Ratings Notes
Top broadcast shows: 18-49 demographic
(Week of Dec. 12-18)
USA TODAY

Rank Show title Network Viewers in millions
1. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CBS 7.5
2. The Apprentice 4 NBC 7.4
3. CSI: New York CBS 7.2
4. House Fox 6.8
5. NFL Monday Night Football: Saints/Falcons ABC 6.6
6. The Simpsons Fox 6.3
6. NFL Sunday Postgame Fox 6.3
8. Without a Trace CBS 6.2
9. The Amazing Race 8 CBS 6.1
9. Criminal Minds CBS 6.1
9. CSI: Miami CBS 6.1
9. Two and a Half Men CBS 6.1
13. NCIS CBS 5.5
14. Family Guy Fox 5.3
15. NFL Monday Showcase ABC 5.2
16. The War At Home Fox 5.0
17. American Dad Fox 4.9
17. Cold Case CBS 4.9
19. Desperate Housewives ABC 4.7
19. Grey's Anatomy ABC 4.7
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/nielsen-more.htm

One in Four U.S. Households Expect to Have HDTV Within in 2006
Tuesday December 20, 8:00 am ET
But Who Holds the Purse Strings? Panasonic Survey Suggests Men and Women May Have Opposing Views


SECAUCUS, N.J., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey from Panasonic reveals that one in four (26 percent) of U.S. households either owns or plans to own a high-definition television by the end of 2006. This is up from 15% one year ago, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

"As people gain a better understanding of what HD offers at prices that are increasingly affordable, we're seeing an incredible surge in sales," said Panasonic Display Group Vice President Andrew Nelkin.

But who owns the purchasing decision? Historically, the decision on what kind of television to buy has apparently rested with men, and nearly two- thirds (66 percent) of those recently surveyed by Opinion Research Corporation said the decision was still theirs. However, these men may face some opposition from their significant others, since nearly half (46 percent) of the women surveyed said the decision was up to them rather than their partners.

And the debate doesn't end with the decision to buy, according to Panasonic's survey. Most men (70 percent) are interested in purchasing an HDTV with either large (51 inches and above) or medium (37 to 50 inches) screen sizes, while 76 percent of women lean more towards a smaller size screen.

To help couples reach a decision on what to buy, Panasonic recommends they consider the lighting in the room they plan to watch their new HDTV. The 80 percent of respondents who are watching TV in typical home lighting or even in a home theater-like environment should consider a plasma HDTV, which operates best in those conditions.

According to Steve Kovsky, senior analyst at Current Analysis market research, the color contrast and richness of detail on plasma TVs make for excellent viewing, and plasmas offer the best value among large televisions currently on the market. "As a technology, plasma provides one of the richest viewing experiences from a contrast ratio standpoint and from its ability to show the fullness of detail in fast-motion video," Kovsky said. For the 28 percent of men that associate HDTV most with sports watching, a plasma HDTV would be an ideal choice.

Happily, the Panasonic survey also identified a few areas where men and women can agree, making decision-making moments such as where to place the new HDTV and what to watch a bit easier. When asked what programming respondents most associate with HDTV, the largest group responded any programming (47 percent of men and 61 percent of women). Additionally, men and women equally (53 percent and 52 percent respectively) reported that the living room is where they would most likely watch their new HDTV.

This survey was conducted nationwide by phone with 1061 adults aged 18 to 65. The margin of error is plus or minus five percent. For additional information on the survey, please contact Panasonic.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051220/nytu017.html?.v=36

On Showtime, 'Sleeper' was just that

By Abigail Azote MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 21, 2005

In this time of raised terror alerts and airport security screenings, the threat of another terrorist attack has become part of day-to-day life. Except, it seems, when it comes to TV viewing.

Shows examining this all-to-real worry have been more misses than hits, and the latest example is Showtime’s “Sleeper Cell.”

The 10-hour miniseries was perhaps more intense than any terror-themed show that’s aired since 9/11. It stars a black Muslim FBI agent who goes undercover to stop a terrorist plot and is told from the point of view of terrorists plotting an attack on a major American city.

But despite its unique approach, “Sleeper” failed to find viewers. Sunday’s two-hour finale at 8 p.m. delivered 309,000 viewers, up just 4 percent from its premiere. That brought the miniseries’ average to just 207,875 for its limited run. Even considering Showtime’s modest 13 million subscribers, those numbers are disappointing.

Compared to other Showtime series, “Sleeper” was a stinker. Last spring’s “Fat Actress” premiered to 942,000 viewers, compared to “Sleeper’s” 296,000. “Actress” fell sharply thereafter and was canceled after one season. Showtime’s “Huff” averaged nearly double “Sleeper’s” audience in its debut last season.

But perhaps the better comparison is to FX’s “Over There” which, like “Sleeper,” dramatized an ongoing and very real problem, the war in Iraq. “Over There” was canceled after its ratings slid sharply from its debut. FX executives blamed the ratings slide on audiences’ reluctance to watch a real-life issue play out on television. They were most likely right.

With “Sleeper's” poor showing, it's unlikely it will be extended. Showtime did not return Media Life calls for comment on the show’s future.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_1975.asp

One in Four U.S. Households Expect to Have HDTV Within in 2006


I guess that makes sense.
15% a year ago.
Apparently about 20% now (according to Kagan and others)
26% next year.
So where is the big increase in HD interest?
Do we have to wait until February of 2009?

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.

Behind the ratings
Truth be told, 'Chris' is a big letdown

By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 21, 2005, 09:20

Media buyers fancy themselves astute handicappers of new TV shows, often picking future hits from the slew of new series debuting each year. But sometimes they blow it, and one such instance is UPN’s “Everybody Hates Chris.”

Created by comedian Chris Rock, the sitcom is certainly a hit for UPN, but it's falling well short of expectations among media buyers. "Chris" is easily this season’s most-hyped letdown.

Some media pundits were building it up over last summer to become a mini “Cosby,” another sitcom with an African-American cast that two decades ago not only lifted NBC's Thursday lineup but helped catapult the network out of last place and eventually to No. 1.

"Chris" is no “Cosby,” lacking its mass appeal across a range of demographics and generating nowhere near its ratings.

Last week, “Chris” pulled a 2.1 adult 18-34 rating in its Thursday 8 p.m. slot, well off its premiere rating, a 3.0. Meanwhile the season's other most-talked about new show, NBC’s “My Name is Earl,” has been a huge success, averaging a 5.6 in 18-49s.

While "Chris" remains a favorite of critics, like Fox’s Emmy winning “Arrested Development,” and recently landed a Golden Globe nomination for best comedy, it is not helping UPN much. Thursday night is down in all age groups from the ratings generated last year by wrestling.

“The pre-premiere hype definitely indicated that the expectations were that this would be a broad-appeal show, but it has not turned out that way,” observes Susan Hajny, broadcast research manager at GSD&M.

“The majority of UPN programming appeals to the African-American audience. [‘Chris’] fits in with that audience flow. It has not proven to be strong enough on its own to broaden that appeal, even though it is certainly the best performer UPN has right now.”

UPN estimates that 52 percent of “Chris’” audience is black and 39 percent is white. That makes the audience for “Chris” more diverse than the network’s other sitcoms and comparable to the audience for reality hit “America’s Next Top Model.”

“Everybody Hates Chris” is a top-five program this season among African Americans in virtually all age groups, according to an analysis of Nielsen ratings released last week by Magna Global.

Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director at Horizon, says that “Chris” is doing okay when leaving hype out of the equation.

“UPN has a successful African American comedy block that skews heavily toward African Americans and probably heavily promotes [‘Chris’],” he says.

Still, “Chris” isn’t the ratings juggernaut that many had hoped it would become. It’s not boosting the network much.

UPN’s 18-34 rating this season through Dec. 4 is up two-tenths of a point over last year, to a 1.7. The network’s total audience and 18-49 rating are flat to last season.

Much of the problem for “Everybody Hates Chris” is that the hype preceding its premiere grew well beyond realistic expectations. And none of the other networks were rolling out new shows that did much to distract attention from the looming promise of “Chris.”

UPN executives sensed the buzz was getting out of control and worked to rein it in but with little success.

But the show’s bigger problem may simply be that it has too much competition.

Unlike “Cosby,” which debuted in a time slot where its only competition was ABC’s forgettable “People Do the Craziest Things” and CBS’s “Magnum P.I.,” then in its waning days, “Chris” came into the season facing “Survivor” on CBS, the faltering but higher-rated “Joey” on NBC, “The O.C.” on Fox, “Alias” on ABC and, perhaps most surprising, stiff competition from “Smallville” on the WB.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_1993.asp

(From Marc Berman’s Wednesday, December 21, 2005 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )

Behind the ratings
National Ratings in Primetime: Week of Dec. 12, 2005

In another landslide victory, CBS roared past the competition for the week of Dec. 12, besting the No. 2 network (NBC in households, ABC elsewhere) by 42 percent in households, 4.4 million viewers and as much as 41 percent in the three surveyed demos. CBS finished the week with 9 of the top 10, and 15 of the top 20 most watched-shows; and 6 of the top 10 highest rated among adults 18-49.

Year-to-year, the growing Eye net was up by margins of 2 to 7 percent. Also on the plus-side was No. 5 ranked UPN, with growth in four of the five surveyed categories, and as much as 21 percent among adults 18-34. The absence of original episodes of Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey’s Anatomy cost ABC, which slid by as much as 10 percent over the year-ago week. Fading NBC suffered similar losses, while Fox (which was down by 13 to 24 percent) is counting the days until the return of American Idol and 24. Last-place the WB was close to year-ago levels.

In a week populated with the season-finales of NBC’s The Apprentice 4 and CBS’ The Amazing Race 8: Family Edition (see below rankings), holiday specials and tons of repeats, worthy of accolades was Sunday CBS made-for, The Christmas Blessing, at 13.85 million viewers (#9 overall) and a 3.2/ 8 among adults 18-49 (#26). Less successful was Once Upon a Mattress on ABC’s The Wonderful World of Disney, at a not-so-wonderful 8.41 million viewers (#34) and a 2.1/ 6 among adults 18-49 (tied for #69) in the Sunday 7-9 p.m. block.

Here are the final national ratings for the week of Dec. 12, 2005 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses).

Households:
CBS: 8.8/14 (+ 6)
NBC: 6.2/10 (- 5)
ABC: 6.0/10 (-10)
Fox: 3.5/ 6 (-24)
UPN: 2.4/ 4 (+ 4)
WB: 2.1/ 3 (no change)

Total Viewers:
CBS: 13.95 million (+ 7)
ABC: 9.55 million (- 7)
NBC: 9.37 (- 3)
Fox: 5.73 (-19)
UPN: 3.57 (+ 8)
WB: 3.12 (- 2)

Adults 18-49:
CBS: 4.4/12 (+ 2)
ABC: 3.4/ 9 (- 8)
NBC: 3.1/ 8 (-11)
Fox: 2.6/ 7 (-13)
UPN: 1.5/ 4 (+ 7)
WB: 1.2/ 3 (- 8)

Adults 25-54:
CBS: 5.5/13 (+ 6)
ABC: 3.9/ 9 (- 9)
NBC: 3.8/ 9 (-10)
Fox: 2.4/ 6 (-20)
UPN: 1.3/ 3 (- 7)
WB: 1.2/ 3 (- 8)

Adults 18-34:
CBS: 3.3/10 (+ 6)
ABC: 2.8/ 9 (-10)
Fox: 2.8/ 8 (-13)
NBC: 2.5/ 8 (-17)
UPN: 1.7/ 5 (+21)
WB: 1.3/ 4 (no change)

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

This Just In
DTV Transition Passes Senate

The $39.7 billion budget bill, which among many items contains the February 17, 2009 digital transition date, passed the Senate this morning.

But it wasn’t easy. It took Vice President Dick Cheney to cast the tie-breaking vote for a final tally of 51-50.

The Associated Press reports the bill iusn't headed up Pennsylvania Avenue for President Bush's signature just yet, though.

"...In maneuvering in advance of the final vote, Democrats succeeded in forcing minor changes. That meant the House, which approved the measure on a party-line vote in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, will have to do so again before it can be sent to President Bush for his signature. Passage is all but certain, but the timing remains in question, since most House members have returned home for the holidays..."

TV Week EXCLUSIVE:
E! Poised to Sign Ryan Seacrest


'Idol' Host in Talks to Become New Face of E!,
Take Over News and Awards Coverage

By James Hibbard TVWeek.com

In what would be the biggest talent deal in E!'s 15-year history, the entertainment network is poised to sign "American Idol" host and radio personality Ryan Seacrest to a multiyear contract to take over anchoring of the daily "E! News," host the network's awards coverage and produce new original series.

The deal, which is not yet complete, would not only reshape the "E! News" weekday series but also overhaul the network's signature red carpet coverage and programming development, as the network plans to have Mr. Seacrest develop new shows targeting his youthful, music-driven fans. Mr. Seacrest would effectively become E!'s new brand personality.

Details are still in flux, since the deal is currently under negotiation by Mr. Seacrest's representatives at the William Morris Agency. Mr. Seacrest likely will co-anchor "E! News" along with current anchor Giuliana DePandi, sources said. Mr. Seacrest would also executive produce and host E's red carpet coverage.

Representatives for E! and Mr. Seacrest declined to comment.

Though E!'s ratings have recently begun to recover from a longtime slump, the celebrity-news-driven network is in need of a personality infusion. E! is reportedly moving quickly to close the deal, since the next major awards ceremony, the Golden Globes, is next month and the network plans an unprecedented publicity campaign to trumpet its catch.

But the network has also shown a willingness to leave such deals on the table.

In the past two years E! has let two high-profile personalities walk out the door during negotiations: red carpet queens Joan and Melissa Rivers, who departed for rival TV Guide Channel in 2004 for a reported $8 million contract, and radio talk king Howard Stern, who took his top-rated televised show to a video-on-demand format.

Both deals were lost, sources said, due to E!'s reluctance to spend top dollar for veteran personalities with aging demographic appeal.

To replace Joan and Melissa Rivers, Ted Harbert, president and CEO of E! Networks, tapped Star Jones, whose gushing interview style proved celebrity friendly but some critics and viewers found her self-aggrandizing. After the Emmy awards in September, her contract was not renewed.

Still, paired with a super-size awards coverage production team, viewers for E!'s Emmy coverage rose, despite increased competition, from 1.2 million in 2004 to 1.8 million this year.

To help replace Mr. Stern, Mr. Harbert signed party girl Tara Reid for the travelogue "Taradise," which failed to draw the male viewers who frequent E's late-night block and was canceled.

Though E!'s viewership declined in 2004 and in early quarters this year, ratings have recently turned around despite the loss of original episodes of Mr. Stern's program: For the fourth quarter to date the network is up 7 percent among total viewers and 18 to 49 in prime time and has slight growth for the year, up 2 percent, according to Nielsen Media Research. "E! News," however, is down 10 percent year to date among total viewers.

For Mr. Seacrest, who is best known for hosting Fox's "American Idol," the deal comes on the heels of an extraordinarily active three years.

Though his much anticipated syndicated daytime show, Twentieth Television's "On-Air With Ryan Seacrest," was canceled due to low ratings in 2004, the setback hardly slowed the 30-year-old personality, who has signed a series of high-profile hosting deals: taking over "America's Top 40" countdown from Casey Kasem in 2003, replacing longtime L.A. morning show host Rick Dees at KIIS-FM in 2004 and last August signing a multiyear agreement to executive produce and host ABC's "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" (Mr. Clark, who was absent from last year's program because he was recovering from a stroke, will continue to co-host the program).

In October Mr. Seacrest made a deal to host several editions of "Larry King Live," taking on youthful interview subjects such as Jessica Simpson and Ashton Kutcher. Last summer Mr. Seacrest launched his own line of clothing, "The R Line."

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9081

Dropping Of Cable Provision May Spur Another DTV Bill


By Drew Clark NationalJournal.com

While rival industry groups praised House passage of a firm deadline for the nation's transition to digital television broadcasts, the dropping of another digital TV-related provision from the budget reconciliation measure might spark further debate.

At issue is the absence from the final bill of a section that would have authorized the cable industry to "down-convert" high-definition digital signals into standard-definition analog signals.

The lack of such a provision might jeopardize the vast majority of cable TV customers -- exposing them to the possibility that their televisions will also go dark after Feb. 17, 2009, the day set by the reconciliation bill for broadcasters to relinquish use of the analog spectrum.

That, in turn, might rachet up the pressure on Congress to consider a follow-on digital television bill in the near future.

The House included a section to address the down-conversion issue in its version of reconciliation. But Senate negotiators insisted that it be stripped for fear of running afoul of the Byrd rule, designed to prevent non-budgetary matters from being attached to budget reconciliation measures.

About 85 percent of households in the United States receive television via cable or satellite service. Because they do not use broadcasting frequencies to receive television over-the-air, it was not anticipated -- at least until the dropping of the down-conversion provision -- that these households would need to purchase digital televisions or acquire set-top converter boxes to view digital broadcast programming after the analog cut-off.

Households receiving television signals over the air -- estimated to number up to 20 million around the country -- will need new sets or converter boxes after the analog cutoff.

The budget reconciliation conference report, which cleared the House early Monday and is being considered by the Senate this week, allows a household to receive up to two voucher coupons, each worth $40, to purchase set-top converter boxes.

The boxes are expected to cost about $60, and the reconciliation bill creates a $1.5 billion fund to subsidize their purchase by consumers.

National Cable and Telecommunications President Kyle McSlarrow has promised Senate and House leaders that, for cable customers, television viewing options the day after the digital transition would be the same as they had been the day before the transition, and that viewers would not need to make new purchases.

From a technological standpoint, that is indeed the case for the 26 million homes that subscribe to "digital cable." But the remaining 39 million cable-subscribing homes currently use analog cable systems.

Once broadcasters shift from analog to digital transmissions, cable systems will no longer be authorized to transmit those signals over their analog systems without an agreement from the broadcaster. As a result, a subscriber would have to upgrade and pay more for digital cable service or potentially be deprived of the digital television signal from that broadcaster.

"NAB is especially encouraged that the legislation thwarts the cable industry's desire to degrade delivery of HDTV pictures to consumers," said David Rehr, the newly installed president of the National Association of Broadcasters.

But NCTA Vice President Brian Dietz said that association officials "were not disappointed that [down-conversion] was not included." The bill "was a victory for consumers because it did not include a multicasting requirement that the broadcasting industry had been seeking," Dietz said.

Because digital broadcasting allows a single station to broadcast multiple signals, the NAB had been seeking a provision to force cable stations to carry such multicasts.

Due in part to Byrd rule concerns, a multicasting provision did not make it into the reconciliation bill, but could become a subject of intense debate if there is a follow-on DTV bill.

Meanwhile, further details from the reconciliation conference report reveal, that, on top of $1.5 billion for set-top box subsidies, another $1.3 billion is made available in the legislation for telecommunications-related purposes.

Included is $1 billion for communications grants to help first responders communicate with each other; $30 million for New York City's transition to digital television; a total of $75 million to enable low-power television stations and translators to upgrade to digital TV; $156 million to fund a national alert and tsunami warning system, and $43.5 million to fund an enhanced 911 emergency support system that was approved in 2004.

The above, along with the set-top box subsidies, would be funded by a government auction of the analog spectrum for commercial purposes.

Public safety officials also would benefit from the DTV transition because they would get exclusive access to 24 megahertz of spectrum -- nearly a quarter of the 108 megahertz that will be cleared by television broadcasters.

http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-XSII1135113513585.html

Senate OKs 2009 DTV Date


By Todd Shields MediaWeek.com DECEMBER 21, 2005 -

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved a budget bill that sets an end to the digital TV transition in 2009, giving the date all-but-final congressional approval.

For procedural reasons the budget bill, with its DTV date of Feb. 18, 2009, must return for another vote to the House, which already has approved the legislation. Timing was uncertain since representatives have left the capital for the holidays. President Bush is expected to sign the measure.

On Wednesday, Vice President Dick Cheney cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the budget measure, which was a priority for conservatives because it trims federal spending plans by nearly $40 billion.

The DTV bill was included in the budget bill because the federal treasury could gain $10 billion or more from auctioning spectrum that broadcasters will relinquish as they cease the analog transmissions they have used for decades.

The legislation leaves unsettled such secondary but important issues as whether cable operators can be required to carry all of a broadcasters' multiple digital signals, and whether cable operators may provide subscribers with pictures containing less detail than the high-definition digital signals broadcasters provide.

After the transition consumers with legacy analog sets that rely on over-the-air reception will need conversion equipment to receive pictures.

Satellite and cable services are expected to handle conversion for analog equipment for the 85 percent of TV households that subscribe to such pay services.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001736276

Overnight Ratings: the 18-49 Demo
Real “Deal”: NBC gamer builds smartly

Second outing pulls a 4.6 in adults 18-49
By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 21, 2005

NBC definitely has a hit with the new game show “Deal or No Deal.” The next question is, just how big a hit can it become?

In its second episode, the Howie Mandel-hosted “Deal” averaged a 4.6 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 in its 8 p.m. timeslot last night, a 24 percent increase over the 3.7 NBC has averaged in that timeslot this season. “Deal” was up 18 percent over a 3.9 for Monday’s debut.

It was NBC’s second-highest-rated outing of the season in the timeslot, behind only last month’s “Biggest Loser” finale. As it did in its first outing, “Deal” grew throughout the hour, up 19 percent from its first half hour to its second.

“Deal” was the night’s highest-rated show among 18-49s, according to overnights, though it came against little competition. Only ABC’s “Rodney” was an original during the 8 p.m. hour last night.

The real test for NBC and “Deal” will be how the game show performs in its next go-round. NBC is sure to bring it back later this season, perhaps after February’s Olympics, when it can really hype the show.

It remains to be seen if “Deal” is just a phenomenon of the moment or if NBC can leverage it against first-run programming like ABC did with “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.”

“Deal” actually compares favorably with “Millionaire,” which debuted in the summer of 1999 and then became a huge hit during the regular season. “Millionaire” averaged a 4.2 rating among 18-49s in its second episode, and “Deal” bettered that by 10 percent.

Meanwhile, in other overnight ratings last night, ABC’s two-hour Barbara Walters special “Heaven. Where is It? How Do We Get There?” averaged 3.9 overnight rating among 18-49s, an 11 percent increase over what ABC had averaged in those two hours over the last month. The second hour of the special was the second highest-rated hour of the night among 18-49s, behind NBC’s “Deal.”

“Deal” led NBC to a first-place finish for the night among 18-49s with a 3.9 average rating and an 11 share. ABC finished second at 3.5/10, Fox third at 2.7/8, CBS fourth at 2.4/7, UPN fifth at 1.1/3 and the WB sixth at 1.0/3.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_1999.asp

GeorgeLV: it didn’t take long (just two days) for Telemundo to join Univision by contracting with Nielsen to be included in the National Television Index ratings.

Telemundo to join Nielsen Television Index


(Telemundo and Nielsen press release) December 21, 2005

MIAMI, Fla. -- December 21, 2005 -- Telemundo Communications Group, Inc. and Nielsen Media Research announced today they have entered an agreement to include Telemundo in Nielsen's National Television Index (NTI). Prior to this announcement, the Telemundo network only subscribed to Nielsen's National Hispanic Television Index (NHTI), which measures only Hispanic audiences.

"This agreement is a great step forward. The inclusion of Telemundo in NTI is a sign of the maturation of Spanish language television and a clear recognition of a robust, healthy and growing market. From now on, as marketers target their audiences, they will now have a vehicle that will transparently evaluate audience delivery in Spanish side by side with English language networks," said Don Browne, President, Telemundo. "From a consumer perspective, it's a great day for the Hispanic consumer, as this agreement acknowledges the power of this audience by providing a more sophisticated tool to track their viewership."

"We are delighted to have Telemundo join our roster of NTI networks." said Sara Erichson, General Manager of Nielsen's national services. "This is an important moment for Spanish language media and we look forward to working with them."

Telemundo will maintain its current subscription to NHTI until September 2007, when the National People Meter (NPM) sample, upon which NTI is based, will become the sole sample for both English-language and Spanish-language media. The NPM sample, comprised of approximately 10,000 households, is subscribed to by broadcast networks, cable networks, syndicators, advertisers and agencies across the country.

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S !

H A P P Y C H A N U K A H!

Or, if you prefer:

H A P P Y H O L I D A Y S!

It is my hope that however you celebrate this season you will find joy, warmth, comfort and love with family, friends and those who are special in your life.

As usual, this “Hot Off The Press” thread will continue to be updated throughout the holiday season, so I hope you will make it a point to check in periodically to see what is going on in the world of television. I get really depressed when the page views drop off dramatically!

So please take a moment, now and then, between egg nogs, football, or any other festive obligations, and check out the thread.

GeorgeLV: it didn’t take long (just two days) for Telemundo to join Univision by contracting with Nielsen to be included in the National Television Index ratings.


Makes sense, couldn't see NBC/Uni standing by while a competing network was with Nielsen. :)

But signing on with NTI is not cheap. I am sure NBC/U wishes Univision had waited until 2007.

And I am really positive The WB and UPN wishes that both the Spanish nets had waited a couple of more years!

Univision is routinely the highest rated programmer here in Los Angeles, and does well in a host of major cities: New York, Miami, Houston and a number of prominent others among them.

Shonda Rhimes, creator of 'Grey's Anatomy'

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune
December 21, 2005

The following article on Shonda Rhimes, creator of "Grey's Anatomy," will appear in Sunday's Arts & Entertainment section, which focuses on Chicagoans of the Year in the arts. )

Everybody’s been searching for the next “Friends.”

Shonda Rhimes found it.

Rhimes, who was born in Chicago and grew up in south suburban University Park, is the creator of “Grey’s Anatomy,” a show that features a group of friends whose relationships and romances are intense, moving, silly, unpredictable and, most importantly to the network that airs the program, inspire obsessive devotion from tens of millions of fans.

Sure, there are a few differences between the massive NBC hit “Friends” and the massive ABC hit “Grey’s Anatomy” -- we never saw Chandler do open-heart surgery, for one thing -- but Mark Gordon, executive producer of the show and head of the production company behind “Grey’s,” thinks the comparison is apt.

“It’s the closest thing out there to `Friends,’” says of “Grey’s,” which debuted in March to stellar ratings, which have only gotten more impressive since the show returned in September. “These are a group of people living very contemporary, modern lives that you can relate to.”

What makes it even more contemporary than “Friends,” Gordon adds, is the fact that “Grey’s” features a “cross-section of racial and ethnic characters -- it’s culturally diverse.”

So what’s behind the success of Rhimes, who grew up constantly penning her own tales but never thought being a writer was “a real job”?

Betsy Beers, another “Grey’s” executive producer, attributes Rhimes’ success to some very Midwestern qualities: An appetite for hard work and an ability to learn fast, without a lot of diva behavior. Without any diva behavior, in fact.

Beers uses a slew of un-Hollywood terms when describing Rhimes, with whom she and Gordon worked on an earlier pilot that didn’t get picked up: “loyal,” “down to earth,” “generous,” “great fun,” “protective of the people she works with,” “has a real solid backbone.”

“There’s a functional desire to simply get the job done, and be proud of the job you do,” says Beers. “She’s very practical … There’s a real no-nonsense quality about her, which is a relief.”

Rhimes, a Dartmouth grad who also wrote the Britney Spears vehicle “Crossroads” and the HBO biopic “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” does think her roots in the Midwest do show through on “Grey’s,” where the mantra in the writers’ room is “no crying, no hugging, no secret pain.”

“`Suck it up and move on, grin and bear it,’ ” is the general outlook at “Grey’s” Seattle Grace Hospital, Rhimes says. “That’s very Midwestern - that grit-your-teeth mentality. You just keep going.”

Coming from a non-coastal region had other benefits as well; it’s allowed Rhimes and her motley characters to connect with an incredibly broad swath of viewers, from cosmopolitan career types to minivan-driving suburbanites.

“Growing up in the suburbs, in the middle of the country, my taste might be more normal than someone who grew up in New York or Los Angeles,” Rhimes adds, “maybe less snooty.”

Speaking of Midwestern influences, Rhimes just recently made the mental link between her stint as a high-school candy striper at a south suburban hospital and the medical mischief and drama on “Grey’s.”

“I definitely think that affected my view of hospitals. Not in the sense of gorgeous interns racing around having sexual relations,” she says with a laugh. “But my comfort level with medical environments really came from that job.”

But if there’s any one quality that Rhimes and her fellow producers attribute to the show’s success, its her fierce defense of the her singular characters.

“What makes her character so special, particularly the women,” says Gordon, “is that they’re real. They’re not a type.”

“The more time you spend with them,” Beers says of the “Grey’s” interns, “the more you’re rooting for them. It’s intense. You just want it all to go OK.”

Rhimes, who has the entire run of “Grey’s” already mapped out in her head, is indeed protective of her characters - mixed-up intern Meredith, conflicted Derek (a.k.a. Dr. McDreamy), plus Izzie, Cristina, Alex, George and the rest of the staff at Seattle Grace.

“I really try to make a show that I would want to watch,” says Rhimes, who says she loves “Friends,” “The O.C.,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Weeds” and “Lost.” “If I don’t want to watch it … it doesn’t go in the show. Part of that is [creating] very specific characters -- great, interesting personal stories. And a large part of that is romance. We all want the fantasy.”

What about Rhimes -- does she want the fantasy?

“I’m single and looking for McDreamy,” she says with a throaty giggle. “Tell him to call me.”

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

Shonda Rhimes, Q&A

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune tvblog

(Below is the full transcript of my interview with Rhimes. )

Question: Were you born in Chicago?

Shonda Rhimes: “Yes, I was born in the city of Chicago, we lived there until I was three and a half, then we moved to Park Forest South, now it’s called University Park.”

Question: And did you do Catholic schools the whole way?

Shonda Rhimes: “I went to public school first, until fourth grade, then to St. Mary’s. Then I went to Marian Catholic High School, and Dartmouth for college.”

Question: Do you think being from Chicago, being from the Midwest affected your worldview?

Shonda Rhimes: “I definitely think so. Being from the middle of the country… I’m a TV watcher. Growing up in the suburbs, in the middle of the country, my taste might be more normal than someone who grew up in New York or Los Angeles, maybe less snooty. It makes it possible for me to constantly be amazed that I’m doing this show.”

Question: Your mantra for the show is “No crying, no hugging, no secret pain.” That philosophy just seems so ultra-Midwest.

Shonda Rhimes: “It’s very Midwestern. Suck it up and move on, grin and bear it. That’s a very Midwestern, that grit-your-teeth mentality. You just keep going.”

Question: And the interns on the show certainly have to keep going. They don’t get many chances to go off and have a pity party.

Shonda Rhimes: “Yeah. You know, I was a candy striper at a hospital in Chicago Heights for years. I definitely think that affected my view of hospitals. Not in the sense of gorgeous interns racing around having sexual relations [laughs]. But my comfort level with medical environments really came from that job. I loved volunteering there.”

Question: What did you do as a candy striper?

Shonda Rhimes: “Lots of times you’d bring flowers from the gift shop to the patients, bring people their trays. You’d ask if people needed anything and report back to the nurse, ‘He says he’s in pain’ or ‘He wants to see his daughter.’ Sometimes you’d spend time with newborns, helping visitors there. You can’t really have too much time with newborns, as our interns are finding out. It’s hard to be sad when there’s so much new life around you.”

Question: Did it strike you at the time that the hospital was a rich place for drama?

Shonda Rhimes: “I don’t know that it struck me at the time, I just really enjoyed it. I hadn’t really made the connection between working at the hospital and writing this show until just a few weeks ago. I told someone, ‘Oh, I used to be a candy striper,’ and they just looked at me. And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah.’ I just went into all this detail about it and so many things from that world are in the show.”

Question: Do you still have friends and relatives in Chicago?

Shonda Rhimes: “My best friend is still there, I just came back to throw her a baby shower. We’ve been friends since we were eight. I have some relatives, some cousins there. There are still connections, a lot of the friends I went to high school with, my best friend. But my parents are in Ohio now.”

Question: Did you know growing up that you wanted to be a writer or an artist?

Shonda Rhimes: “I was always writing, but I don’t know that I necessarily thought that being a writer was a real job. I always wrote, I always read, I would have done that no matter what. It didn’t cement in my head until later. For a while, I thought I wanted to be a doctor, an attorney, a psychiatrist. But really, I wanted to write about those jobs, not do them. [laughs]”

Question: And now you do.

Shonda Rhimes: “Exactly.”

Question: What do you think you bring to “Grey’s” that separates it from everything else that’s on TV right now?

Shonda Rhimes: “I really try to make a show that I would want to watch. If I don’t want to watch it, if it doesn’t feel right, if I’m not interested, it doesn’t go in the show. Part of that is very specific characters, great, interesting personal stories. And a large part of that is romance. We all want the fantasy. There’s something lovely about the small world of a hospital, it heightens everything.”

Question: Part of it is the way the characters speak. They speak in a way that makes you feel they really know each other.

Shonda Rhimes: “Yeah, they don’t speak in TV speak -– in dialogue you hear only on TV. Some of the things they say are transcripts of conversations I have with my sister or my friends. They don’t talk as characters talk, they talk like people talk. It’s a generational thing. We were all raised on ‘The Breakfast Club.’”

Question: I have this theory that “Grey’s” is sort of like the new “Friends” – which, at the heart of it, was about a group of people in tangled but caring personal relationships. Do you think that’s a weird analogy?

Shonda Rhimes: “That’s not out of left field. It’s not something I consciously set out to do or planned for, but I loved ‘Friends.’ I watched ‘Friends.’ I’m still not over the loss of that show, or of ‘Buffy,’ which was a show that at its heart was about relationships.”

Question: Talk about influencing how people speak, I think Joss Whedon is probably the most influential writer on people of our generation.

Shonda Rhimes: “Yes. He’s amazing. I still miss ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel.’”

Question: What do you watch?

Shonda Rhimes: “Right now were in this weird landscape of shows, I’m not saying there aren’t great shows, but a lot of the new shows this season didn’t stick. I’m still stuck on shows like ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’ and ‘Friends,’ shows you can got back to now on DVD.

“I love ‘Lost.’ I think it’s genius. I bother Damon Lindelof to get inside information from him, but he won’t give it to me. It’s so annoying. [laughs] You’d think I’d have a little in with him, but I don’t. He doesn’t cut me any slack.

“I just got the first season of ‘The O.C.’ on DVD and I’m obsessed with it.

“I really like ‘Weeds’ on Showtime, and I was really into ‘Starved’ on FX, but that’s been canceled.

“They’re all shows that have a point of view and a sense of humor and a definite worldview.”

Question: In terms of ‘Friends’ comparison, “Grey’s” is really funny sometimes. Do you try to go for the big laughs in the show, or do you pull back from going over the edge into too much humor?

Shonda Rhimes: “I don’t feel like we want to stuff as much humor into the show as possible, but we tip into, at times, a little bit of sitcom [flavor] -- a little. I don’t mind the big funny from time to time, I think that’s fine.

“Coming up we have this competitive eater in the hospital, so the interns have a competitive eating contest. They are having this discussion while they jam all these hotdogs into their mouths. It just sounds like something my friends and I would do, it’s something that’s incredibly stupid but we’d do it anyway. I actually enjoy doing the really funny, over-the-top thing once in a while.”

Question: You’ve said that you have the characters and the overall direction of their journeys really mapped out. Has that changed at all?

Shonda Rhimes: “The big picture has not changed, luckily enough. It remains very much the same. A few things have changed simply from watching the chemistry [of various actors together]. Burke and Christina has changed a little bit, but those are just smaller arcs not the big moments. I know exactly where they are headed. This is really mapped out for me.

“I posted on the ‘Grey’s’ [writers'] blog on the ABC Web site that it was not my fault that Meredith and Derek broke up. Some people got really annoyed and said, ‘How can you say it was not your fault? You write the show!’ And I was like, ‘That’s just what Derek would do. That’s how he would act. He would not walk away from his wife. He’s an honorable guy. He could not possibly do that. That’s just not who he is.’ It’s been great to feel like I know them that well.”

Question: That’s such a good thing, because so often, I feel that writers think up a plot twist, then force the characters through it, whether or not it makes sense for those characters.

Shonda Rhimes: “Yeah, they force them into a mold of some kind. I just really want to watch what happens to these 10 people over the next four years. That’s what’s exciting to me. The hospital is not going to suddenly move to Hawaii [or have some other big plot twist]. It’s just really nice to focus on the characters and watch them develop.”

Question: Where do you see yourself in the future, will you still be running the show day-to-day at “Grey’s Anatomy,” or will you take on other projects as well?

Shonda Rhimes: “I definitely want to do other TV stuff. I’m supposed to do two more movies for Disney. But I love this show, I would never walk away from it unless it’s in really great hands, not that we don’t have great hands on staff now.”

Question: But taking on other projects and having a more supervisory role on “Grey’s,” that wouldn’t happen this season, right?

Shonda Rhimes: “No, not this season. Not next season. Eventually. I’m still having too much fun with this.”

Question: So regarding your personal life, are you married?

Shonda Rhimes: “No, not married. I’m single and looking for McDreamy. Tell him to call me. [laughs]”

Question: And you have a child, right?

Shonda Rhimes: “Yes, I have a three year old daughter.”

Question: So you’re tired…

Shonda Rhimes: “All the time.”

Question: Anything else you want to share?

Shonda Rhimes: “Keep watching, it’s going to get really, really good in the second half of the season.”

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2005/12/shonda_rhimes_a.html#more

Fox NFL Schedule for Saturday

Here is what Fox game you will get in your market this Saturday. Only one Fox game will be televised in each market. (Games #1, #2, #3 and #6 are expected to be in HD.)
GAME SUMMARIES:
1=Giants @ Redskins, 1 p.m. - 43% — Dick Stockton, Daryl Johnston
2=Cowboys @ Panthers, 1 p.m. - 19% — Joe Buck, Troy Aikman
3=Falcons @ Bucs, 1 p.m. - 11% — Kenny Albert, Brian Baldinger
4=Lions @ Saints, 1 p.m. - 5% — Matt Vasgersian, Jesse Palmer
5=49ers @ Rams, 1 p.m. - 7% — Curt Menefee, J.C. Pearson
6=Eagles @ Cardinals, 4:05 p.m. - 14% — Ron Pitts, Tim Ryan

NOTE: Sunday's Christmas special between the Bears and Packers (called by Sam Rosen and Bill Maas) will be broadcast to 100% of the FOX audience.

MARKET STATE GAME
Abilene TX 2
Albany GA 3
Albany NY 1
Albuquerque NM 2
Alexandria LA 4
Amarillo TX 2
Anchorage AK 1
Atlanta GA 3
Augusta GA 3
Austin TX 2
Bakersfield CA 1
Baltimore MD 1
Bangor ME 1
Baton Rouge LA 4
Beaumont TX 2
Bend OR 1
Billings MT 1
Biloxi MS 4
Binghamton NY 1
Birmingham AL 3
Boise ID 1
Boston MA 1
Buffalo NY 6
Burlington VT 1
Butte MT 1
Casper WY 2
Cedar Rapids IA 1
Champaign IL 5
Charleston SC 2
Charleston WV 1
Charlotte NC 2
Charlottesville VA 1
Chattanooga TN 3
Cheyenne WY 2
Chicago IL 1
Chico CA 5
Cincinnati OH 6
Clarksburg WV 1
Cleveland OH 6
Colorado Springs CO 2
Columbia MO 5
Columbia SC 2
Columbus GA 3
Columbus MS 1
Columbus OH 1
Corpus Christi TX 2
Dallas TX 2
Davenport IA 1
Dayton OH 1
Denver CO 2
Des Moines IA 1
Detroit MI 4
Dothan AL 3
Duluth MN 1
El Paso TX 2
Elmira NY 1
Erie PA 1
Eugene OR 1
Eureka CA 5
Evansville IN 1
Fairbanks AK 1
Fargo ND 1
Flint MI 4
Fort Myers FL 3
Fort Smith AR 2
Fort Wayne IN 1
FOXNET 1
Fresno CA 5
Gainsville FL 3
Grand Junction CO 2
Grand Rapids MI 4
Great Falls MT 1
Green Bay WI 1
Greensboro NC 2
Greenville NC 2
Greenville SC 2
Harlingen TX 2
Harrisburg PA 6
Hartford CT 1
Honolulu HI 1
Houston TX 6
Huntsville AL 3
Idaho Falls ID 1
Indianapolis IN 1
Jackson MS 1
Jacksonville FL 6
Johnstown PA 6
Joplin MO 2
Kansas City MO 6
Knoxville TN 3
La Crosse WI 1
Lafayette LA 4
Lake Charles LA 4
Lansing MI 4
Las Vegas NV 1
Lexington KY 3
Lima OH 1
Lincoln NE 2
Little Rock AR 2
Los Angeles CA 1
Louisville KY 1
Lubbock TX 2
Macon GA 3
Madison WI 1
Marquette MI 4
Medford OR 5
Memphis TN 2
Meridian MS 1
Miami FL 6
Milwaukee WI 1
Minneapolis MN 1
Minot ND 1
Missoula MT 1
Mobile AL 3
Monroe LA 4
Monterey CA 5
Montgomery AL 3
Myrtle Beach SC 2
Nashville TN 3
New Orleans LA 4
New York NY 1
Norfolk VA 1
North Platte NE 2
Odessa TX 2
Oklahoma City OK 2
Omaha NE 2
Orlando FL 3
Ottumwa IA 1
Paducah KY 5
Palm Springs CA 1
Panama City FL 3
Peoria IL 1
Philadelphia PA 6
Phoenix AZ 2
Pittsburgh PA 6
Portland ME 1
Portland OR 1
Providence RI 1
Quincy IL 5
Raleigh NC 2
Rapid City SD 1
Reno NV 5
Richmond VA 1
Roanoke VA 1
Rochester MN 1
Rochester NY 1
Rockford IL 1
Sacramento CA 5
Salt Lake City UT 2
San Angelo TX 2
San Antonio TX 2
San Diego CA 6
San Francisco CA 5
Santa Barbara CA 1
Savannah GA 3
Seattle WA 1
Shreveport LA 2
Sioux City IA 1
Sioux Falls SD 1
South Bend IN 1
Spokane WA 1
Springfield IL 5
Springfield MO 5
St. Louis MO 5
Syracuse NY 1
Tallahassee FL 3
Tampa FL 3
Terre Haute IN 1
Toledo OH 4
Topeka KS 6
Traverse City MI 4
Tri-Cities TN 3
Tucson AZ 2
Tulsa OK 2
Twin Falls ID 1
Tyler TX 2
Utica NY 1
Victoria TX 2
Waco TX 2
Washington DC 1
Watertown NY 1
Wausau WI 1
West Palm Beach FL 1
Wichita KS 2
Wichita Falls TX 2
Wilkes-Barre PA 6
Wilmington NC 2
Yakima WA 1
Youngstown OH 1
Yuma AZ 2
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/1659716?print=true

Too much to do, too much to see

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger (on his TV blog) Wednesday, December 21, 2005

The only new TV of note was the "Nip/Tuck" finale, but I gave up on the show again five or six episodes into this season, and after listening to my friend Rich describe all the contortions of the finale ("And did I mention that Quentin doesn't have a penis?"), I feel comfortable with that decision.

Instead, I want to talk about the problem of too much TV -- or, rather, too much TV bonus content. There was an article by Matthew Gilbert in the Boston Globe a few days ago that summed up one of my growing concerns about this job:

“…In the coming months, you and your TV addiction are going to be reeled into an expanded ''environment" of your favorite network show, one that may require a cover charge for entry into certain exclusive zones.

You'll be invited to visit characters' blogs at MySpace.com, or pay for mobile phone episodes (known as mobisodes), or buy DVD packages and video games containing new and additional plot information. Your once-simple affair with your TV ''story" could have as much to do with your PC, your cellphone, and your DVD player as it does with your TV set….”

I've always prided myself on keeping up with as much TV as I possibly can on this job. In the 10 years I've been doing it, that mission has become exponentially more difficult. When I started, there were six broadcast networks, one of which (UPN) could pretty much be written off every season after I watched the pilots, and maybe a half-dozen cable shows of any real note. Now there are dozens of channels with original programming that interests me (or that I feel I should be watching because of general reader interest), and there aren't enough hours in the day to see them all.

And now I not only have to keep up with all these shows, but their assorted podcasts, blogs and web and mobile phone episodes? Does someone want to give me one of those time-travel gizmos like Hermione has in Prisoner of Azkaban just so I have a prayer of getting to it all?

I'm actually in favor of all these new bonuses. If I was an average TV viewer with two or three shows that I absolutely loved, I'd be in heaven to be able to extend my entertainment beyond those two or three episodes a week. But as a professional TV watcher, I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

I just spent two days jumping through ginormous logistical hoops to replace our two broken cell phones, and I'm pretty sure the new ones we got aren't capable of downloading and playing video, so unless I want to shell out several hundred bucks to upgrade, I won't be able to watch any mobisodes until our new cell contract ends in two years and we can get cheap new phones.

I love that Ronald Moore does podcast commentaries for every "Battlestar Galactica" episode, but it feels wasteful to me to watch each episode twice (once without commentary, then with) when there are so many other things I need to get to.

I usually like to think I'm staying close to the leading edge of entertainment technology, but for my own selfish reasons, I feel like I'm turning into a Luddite. "In my day, we didn't need no fancy podcasts! We got 22 episodes a year, with lots of reruns in December, March and April, and we liked it! We loved it! Flibble-dee-floo!"

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/

Cable Ratings

'Nip/Tuck' Finale Carves Out Ratings Records for FX

(zap2it.com)--The season finale of "Nip/Tuck," which saw the Carver finally take off his mask, brought in record numbers of viewers for FX.

An average of 5.7 million viewers watched the two-hour finale, in which it was revealed that Dr. Quentin Costa (Bruno Campos) did most of the Carver's work, with an assist from his sister, Kit (Rhona Mitra). That makes it the most-watched episode of an original series in FX's history, passing the 5.2 million people who tuned into last season's finale.

About 3.9 million of those viewers were adults 18-49, making the finale the No. 1 episode among the key advertising demographic of any cable series in 2005. It's also the largest demographic number for any single telecast in the network's history.

"FX took a huge risk moving 'Nip/Tuck,' our most popular series, against the full barrage of fall network competition," says John Landgraf, president of FX. "Once again, [the cast and crew] were more than up to the task -- we couldn't be more proud of 'Nip/Tuck's' extraordinary originality and success. We're also grateful to the fans of this show, whose passion is arguably unmatched relative to any other show on basic cable."

For the season, "Nip/Tuck" averaged 3.9 million viewers per week, tying for third among basic-cable original series with USA's "The 4400." TNT's "The Closer" (5.4 million viewers) and USA's "Monk" (5.1 million) finished ahead of it.

The show leads the adults 18-49 rankings, however, drawing an average of 2.7 million of those viewers per week. MTV's "The Real World" was second with 2.1 million.

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/utils/tve_article_print/1,1144,,00.html?current_url=271|99210|1|&search_id=1&cntn_id=99210

Fox has announced its final two HD games for Saturday (thanks to hdsportsguide.com) and I've added them to the HD Football schedule at the top of the very first post of this thread.

Sinclair reaches Columbus deal


According to The Evening Bridge….

“ Sinclair Broadcast Group said it reached a binding retransmission consent agreement for analog and digital carriage of WSYX-TV (ABC 6) and WTTE-TV (FOX 28) in Columbus OH by cable overbuilder Wide Open West. The multi-year deal also provides for the carriage of multicast channels, Sinclair said.”

WOW had not been offering either station in HD in Columbus

All I Want For Christmas Is...

By Kevin Thomspon Palm Beach Post Television Writer

Dear Santa,

It’s me again — the pesky TV critic who writes you every year at this time. I know you receive tons of letters and requests. But I would like to think my letter, er, blog, gets bumped to the “high priority” list because I’ve been a good TV critic and sat through a year’s worth of crummy shows, movies and specials.

That has to count for something, right?

Anyway, you know why I’m blogging. Once again I’m giving you my TV Wish List — a few things I’d like to see you magically change on the small screen on this very special day. As always, thanks for listening and give my love to the missus.

Make Nick shave his moustache on CSI: For crying out loud, why does the hunky crime scene investigator wanna look like a 1975 porn star? Perhaps Nick needs to moonlight because the CSI pay ain’t so good. Sorry. That’s not a good enough reason. Some guys need to stay cleanshaven. Nick is one of those guys. Lose the ‘stache, dude.

Put Fox programmers on your naughty list: Reunion was one of my favorite new shows. But since it got an early pink slip (bah! humbug!), Samantha’s twisty murder will never be solved. Talk about a crime. Punish ’em, Santa. Punish ’em all!

Keep annoying background music to a minimum: Is it just me, or is the music on some shows (yeah, I’m talking about Alias) so loud, it drowns out the characters’ voices? And on a dense spy drama like Alias, you can’t afford to miss a single word of dialogue.

Force NFL games to end on time: I’m sick and tired of Cold Case airing at 8:34 p.m. during football season ’cause the lousy Dolphins (I’m a Jets fan, by the way!) took forever to lose yet another game.

Bribe Ted Koppel to return to Nightline: It’s been only a few weeks, but ABC’s revamped news program looks more like Dateline than the old Nightline. Remember when Nightline was a cutting-edge news show. Me neither.

Give Alexis Gleick a brain: Sure, Today’s correspondent is cute and perky, but she’s no Mensa candidate. When you have trouble pronouncing “Panama Canal,” well, then you’re in trouble. And when you think online shopping is the next big thing (it’s been that way for a few years, honey), then, well, you’re in even more trouble. Cute and perky can take you only so far in the rough-and-tumble morning news game.

Tell Star Jones to stop losing weight: The View’s resident you-go-girl mama is starting to look like the black version of Lindsay Lohan. Scary. Very scary. It’s OK to have a Happy Meal every now and again, baby.

Cancel Boston Legal: David E. Kelley’s law series has become a ridiculous farce. It makes Ally McBeal look like Macbeth. The TV universe would be better off without it.

Keep The Apprentice in New York: NBC announced the next edition will be taped in Los Angeles. But part of the show’s charm is watching The Donald looking for tough candidates in the toughest city in the world.

Make Jeff Probst sleep in the jungle for 39 days: I don’t care which jungle. It could be any jungle. I just wanna see how Mr. Starched Shirt Survivor Host responds when he has to eat rice, bathe in icky water and go without brushing his teeth for over a month. It probably won’t be pretty.

Remind HBO how to make a good drama again: I’m sorry, but shows like Carnivale, K Street, Rome and Deadwood just didn’t cut it for me.

Give the new Saturday Night Live chick a bunch of skits: Kristen Wiig is hilarious. Her spot-on impressions of Megan Mullally and Judy Garland were a scream.

That’s all I have for now, Santa. Again, thanks for taking the time to read my list.

Merry Christmas!

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2005/12/all_i_want_for.html

NBC Continues Atop News Ratings
(NBC Press Release)

NEW YORK -- "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" continued to top ABC's "World News Tonight" and CBS' "Evening New" by double digits, and winning all five nights during the week of December 12 ? 16, 2005. For seven straight weeks, the Williams-led newscast has outperformed the ABC team of Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff by over one million viewers. For the week, "Nightly News" averaged an impressive 9.985 million, 16% more (+1,394,000) than ABC's 8.591 million, and a 27% advantage (+2,114,000) over CBS' 7.871 million.

The NBC broadcast has now placed first for 75 of the last 76 weeks.

In homes, "Nightly News" was also top-rated, posting a 7.0 rating and a 13 share. ABC placed second with a 6.1/11 and CBS had a 5.5/10.

Among women, men and adults 25-54, the NBC program was No. 1 in each category. In the key demographic adults 25-54, "Nightly News" placed first each night, averaging a 2.6 rating, 8% more than ABC's 2.4, and 24% more than CBS' 2.1 rating.

"Nightly" has now placed first in adults 25-54 for 11 of the last 13 weeks this season (one tie), for 84 of the last 108 weeks (21 ties), and for 191 of the last 221 weeks (27 ties).

Time to Go?
Preparing for that final curtain

By Matt Roush TV Guide

Knowing when to leave, and then executing that exit strategy with dignity and creative energy intact, is possibly the toughest task in all of TV. (Everybody Loves Raymond pulled it off better than most.) In the year ahead, quite a few longtime faves are heading toward the finish line, even if some — like the fading West Wing — have yet to make it official.

Here's my take on how these swan songs are playing out. While watching them, I also started wondering which ones are most likely to live on in spin-offs and which are best suited for nostalgic reunions somewhere down the road.

The West Wing Sundays, 8 pm/ET, NBC
Season: 7
Showing its age? By definition, a lame duck is no spring chicken. Moving this once-majestic show to Sunday was a death blow, but the Bartlet gang had already grown stale. The campaign episodes pitting Vinick (Alan Alda) against Santos (Jimmy Smits) have the old spirit, but once the prez passes the torch, it’s over.
Spin-off? Impeach the very thought.
Reunion? Ditto.

Alias Returns in spring to ABC
Season: 5
Showing its age? Syd is showing, all right, but with baby. This flashy spy caper is still great fun, though it’s starting to repeat itself — Prophet 5 the new Covenant? And as new agents take the spotlight while Syd’s on the sidelines and Vaughn plays dead, it really is time to go out with a bang.
Spin-off? A long shot, but the bad guys could carry it.
Reunion? On the big screen would be nice.

Will & Grace Thursdays, 8 pm/ET (in January), NBC
Season: 8
Showing its age? Sad but true. Even this season’s guest stars (Jason Biggs?) lack oomph. Like champagne left open, there are glimmers of the old fizz and bite, but the aftertaste is sour and flat. Still, Will and Jack’s friendship has grown lately beyond bitchy quips. There’s hope this faded classic can go out with pride.
Spin-off? Puh-leeze!
Reunion? If The Golden Girls can do it…

That 70s Show Wednesdays, 8 pm/ET, Fox
Season: 8
Showing its age? More than most. Eric (Topher Grace) is away in Africa. Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) is in Chicago. Those left behind in Wisconsin don’t merely suffer from empty-nest syndrome, they’ve got empty-show disease. Whatever they’re still smoking, the show is no longer on a high.
Spin-off? Doubtful. That '80s Show was a dud.
Reunion? If only to check out the hairdos.

7th Heaven Mondays, 8 pm/ET, WB
Season: 10
Showing its age? Yes, as any old-fashioned family drama does. Even good-for-you things must come to an end, and once the Camden kids graduated from growing pains to labor pains, some of the early charm was lost. (And not everyone’s acting has matured over time.) Still, there’s a big appetite for comfort food like this.
Spin-off? Likely.
Reunion? Isn’t that what families do?

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

“West Wing” has options to deal with tragedy

By Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee TV Columnist

It's sadly ironic that the death of John Spencer last week might be something "The West Wing" is positioned to handle.

Spencer, who died at age 58 after a heart attack, played the tough but beloved Leo McGarry on the NBC series, and he was a lot like his character, particularly the beloved part.

Even before his death, cast members and producers regularly talked about Spencer as one of the nicest, most generous actors they knew. And as the show's creators, Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme, said in a statement, he was, simply "an uncommonly good man."

Spencer and McGarry also shared a history of health problems and alcoholism. Last season, in an early episode, McGarry suffered a heart attack, which is why speculation around Hollywood, as tragic as it sounds, is that the producers may decide to explain Spencer's sudden absence by giving Leo another, this time fatal, attack.

Warner Bros. Television, which produces "The West Wing," would not comment on plans, but a spokeswoman said the show is on a break and executive producers John Wells and Lawrence O'Donnell were not scheduled to start production meetings until the first week of January.

They have five unaired episodes already shot, Warner Bros. said, although the first new "West Wing" episode is not scheduled until Jan. 8. Because NBC will carry the Winter Olympics in February, those finished episodes will last until mid-March.

"The West Wing" and NBC face a number of decisions, and it starts with whether the show will end after this season. Its ratings have been down after a move to Sunday nights - it ranks in the low 50s, averaging about 8.2 million viewers - and the series was on thin ice before Spencer's death.

The loss of a critical - and popular - character is always hard on a series, although as a candidate for vice president on the ticket with Democrat Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits), McGarry was less critical lately to the story line.

Wells and O'Donnell said they haven't decided who will win the fictional election - Santos or his Republican opponent, Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda). But the show spends most of its time with Santos and his people, and it's hard to believe they would opt for Alda to star in future seasons when they have the younger-appealing Smits.

However, if Wells and his crew are convinced NBC won't renew the series, that might change their decision on the election. The story stands now with Santos a bit behind Vinick and the election a few weeks off.

Producers could write in McGarry's death as something that brings sympathy to Santos and puts him over the top. Or they could construct it as a hardship for the Democrats, one that brings Santos' judgment into question because he picked a vice president who already had concerns about his health.

But the truth is, no one right now wants to be thinking about plot turns. Spencer was as respected and as liked as any actor in Hollywood, and people on the show have said there is no way to describe how much he will be missed.

Over the years, I've seen Spencer in news conferences and on "The West Wing" set, and he was never anything but humble, open and kind. He seemed to always have a slight grin during media sessions, as if he got a kick out of the questions and the media interest in a show that he was on.

I watched him on the set a couple years back, on a day he had a long, somewhat complicated scene. It was also a day when, for some reason, there was a steady parade of visitors, including a couple of people who, I think, won the visit in a radio contest.

Everyone was nice - that's the kind of crew on "The West Wing" - but Spencer, who was probably working the hardest that day, went out of his way to engage the visitors. He made them feel like his friends.

It is sad for "The West Wing" to lose such a quality actor. It is even sadder for all the people who knew John Spencer to lose such a quality man.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/columns/kushman/v-print/story/14000324p-14833481c.html/

(Anyone who believes TV stars have to be anything less than warm, caring and thoughtful has, sadly, never gotten the chance to know Neil Cavuto.)

TV Notebook
MS part of Cavuto's world

By Kathleen Fackelmann USA TODAY

Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto had already survived a near-fatal bout with Hodgkin's lymphoma when he suddenly started to suffer episodes of blindness, tingling and other strange symptoms back in 1997.

He thought the cancer was back, but he was wrong.

Doctors told Cavuto that he had multiple sclerosis. "In a way, it was worse," he says now. "With MS, there is no cure."

About a decade earlier, Cavuto had fought a deadly tumor with chemo and radiation. He won that battle, but the MS diagnosis left him with a host of unpredictable symptoms and the prospect of getting far worse.

MS is a disease of the central nervous system that can cause episodes of blindness, tingling, numbness and loss of balance. In advanced cases, the disease can cause paralysis. About 400,000 people in the USA suffer from the disorder.

No one knows for sure what causes MS, but it is thought to be an auto-immune disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own tissue — in this case myelin, the protective coating surrounding nerves. That damage interferes with electrical signals traveling down the nerve fibers, says John Richert, vice president for research at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in New York.

Cavuto remembers that the diagnosis left him in shock. "I kept asking, 'Why me?' " He says he didn't want to put his family through another medical ordeal. And his doctors painted a grim picture of his prognosis.

Cavuto suffers from secondary progressive MS, a type of the disease that steadily gets worse.

He dealt with that initial shock by facing the disease. He told his boss at Fox News and others about his illness. And to this day, he has to acknowledge what might happen if the disease progresses. "I really don't want to end up in a wheelchair, but that might happen," he says.

Eight years after getting his diagnosis, the 47-year-old TV journalist is still walking — most days without a cane. He suffers from balance problems, weakness and back pain, but he's still the anchor of the popular cable business show Your World with Neil Cavuto. And he manages to make it all seem easy despite the fact that on a bad day, he'll have a sudden loss of vision that makes reading the teleprompter impossible.

"The first time it happened, his staff freaked out," his wife, Mary Cavuto, says. But now Cavuto simply prepares for any sudden loss of vision by going over and over the script so that he's got it down cold.

"He knows the issues inside and out," says a producer at Fox News, Gresham Striegel. Striegel say that Cavuto drives himself and others to perform at a high level.

Cavuto leaves his Chester, N.J., home at 4:30 a.m. every day to get to the studio in Manhattan about an hour later. Most days that means he can get to the gym for a quick workout. While he's on the treadmill, Cavuto starts to prepare for his day by boning up on the day's business news.

At 8, he's firing questions at staffers in a meeting to plan the upcoming show. As a Fox vice president, Cavuto also is responsible for four other business shows, so the rest of the day is taken up with research, meetings and phone calls to try to get influential guests to appear on his show.

At 3 p.m., Cavuto is in the studio rehearsing the script. He's on the air an hour later. To hear him sparring with experts, you'd never know that Cavuto has an illness that causes fatigue. "I do get tired," he admits.

Sometime after 5, Cavuto heads back to Chester and his family, including two young boys he and his wife adopted a year ago.

"If you have MS, it's hard to be an adoptive parent," Cavuto said in a speech he gave last month to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society meeting in Atlanta. He and his wife had to answer a lot of questions about MS in addition to going through the usual red tape associated with adoption, he says.

"But they're great kids," he says about the boys: Bradley, age 3, and Jeremy, age 4. Their daughter Tara, who is 20, is attending college.

Cavuto manages to make it all seem easy, despite the fact that he's dealing with the unpredictable symptoms of MS. Experts such as Richert say the symptoms can vary from day to day. For Cavuto, that means some days he can walk fairly normally. Other days he has to use a cane to maintain his balance. And a few times a year, he has had flare-ups so bad that he has landed in the hospital.

"This disease is like a ride on a roller coaster," Mary Cavuto says. "You never know how the symptoms are going to play out."

But Cavuto knows that his situation could be worse: He developed MS at a time when doctors have several drugs to treat the disease. He takes Avonex, one of five drugs thought to reduce flare-ups and slow the progression of the disease.

And while there is no cure now, scientific research will almost certainly offer advanced treatments in the near future, Richert says. The National MS Society has just given four MS centers $15.6 million to develop drugs aimed at repairing some of the damage done to the central nervous system.

The disease has made Cavuto more appreciative of life's simple pleasures, like taking his two boys out trick-or-treating for the first time this fall. He says he puts a much higher priority on spending time with his family. "I know what it is like to go through some really bad stuff," he says. "So I focus now on what really matters."

People say he's crazy, he says, "but I am grateful for having this disease."

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

The Cavuto file

Age: 47
Occupation: Anchor of Your World with Neil Cavuto and vice president and managing editor of business news at Fox News Channel. The author of two books, including Your Money or Your Life.
Education: St. Bonaventure University, 1980, and master's from American University 1982.
Hobbies: Reading and studying history; collecting old books; hiking in the woods.
Family: Wife, Mary, 45, and three children.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-20-cavuto_x.htm

Too much egg nog, I guess. I have no other excuse for completely missing this Lisa de Moraes column earlier today. And I don't even drink egg nog.

The TV Column
The Week’s Winners and Losers

Not a Creature Was Stirring, Except to Watch 'House'
By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 21, 2005; C07

Sentimental holiday viewers gobbled up procedural crime dramas like sugarplums last week. Here's a look at the week's naughty and nice:

WINNERS

CBS. Finished first for the 13th week in a row -- last week with nine of the week's top 10 shows, including seven procedural crime dramas. Packed with the most procedurals, the network has bagged the largest average audience every week this season.

"The Sound of Music." Owing to the millions of women between the ages of 18 and 54 who are at home Saturday nights and who have not yet tired of watching the von Trapp Family out do-re-mi the Nazis, ABC copped the largest audience of the evening -- and its most watched Saturday of the season to date.

"House." As we pause to count our blessings this holiday season, let us remember that Fox's excuse to watch Hugh Laurie for an hour each week clocked 14.7 million viewers on Tuesday of last week -- more than double the crowd Laurie attracted on the same night last year.

LOSERS

"Once Upon a Mattress." ABC's remake of the remake of the remake of the Broadway retelling of that old Princess and the Pea fairy tale, starring ratings magnet Carol Burnett as evil Queen Aggravain and ratings poison Tracey Ullman as a forty-something Princess Winnifred the Woebegone, died mightily in the network's old "Wonderful World of Disney" Sunday time slot to the tune of just 8.4 million viewers. (This season, "America's Funniest Home Videos" has averaged more than 9 million viewers and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" a whopping 15.6 million in that same block of time.) Later that night, CBS's latest installment of its annual Christmas treacleflick, "The Christmas Blessing" -- sequel to hit 2002 Christmas treacleflick "The Christmas Shoes" -- delivered a hefty 13.9 million viewers.

Elton John. The NBC special "Elton John: Red Piano" got beaten in its time slot by a rerun of CBS's "King of Queens." Oh, the irony.

"The Amazing Race." That whole "family" thing didn't go so well for CBS's "Amazing Race" finale; fewer than 12 million bothered to watch the wrap-up -- "AR's" smallest finale crowd in more than two years.

"The Apprentice" Fourth edition of The Donald's NBC reality series cashed out with just under 13 million viewers on Thursday -- compared with 14 million for "TA3," nearly 17 million for "TA2" and 28 million who watched "The Apprentice" that started it all. Meanwhile Martha Stewart's version of "The Apprentice" fell, in its penultimate episode, to a series low 5.7 million viewers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/20/AR2005122001516_pf.html

2=Cowboys @ Panthers, 1 p.m. - 19% — Joe Buck, Troy Aikman
3=Falcons @ Bucs, 1 p.m. - 11% — Kenny Albert, Brian Baldinger


There is a Santa Claus. Albert and Baldinger move to the ATL/TB game from the CAR games! (No matter who CAR plays, they always pull for the other team. Not my opinion, but those who follow thends like this. I listen to the radio play-by-play team when I watch the games so it doesn't bother me :) ;) ) Of course Buck and Aiken will be pulling for DAL, that is a given.

It will be interesting to see what DAL does. Historically DAL beats CAR early in the season and CAR beats DAL late in the season and CAR is undefeated in post season play against DAL.

WHAT A GREAT SPORT!

Nielsen gearing up to track DVR viewers
By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News Dec. 22, 2005

On Monday, as some struggle to figure out how to get that just-unwrapped flat screen to actually stay on the wall - or download "Desperate Housewives" to a new iPod - Nielsen Media Research will start using some new equipment of its own.

That's the day the ratings-information company's due to start measuring the use of digital-video recorders in Nielsen-metered homes.

Up until now, Nielsen's pretty much ignored the whole time-shifting phenomenon. Programs taped on VCRs have been counted - and will continue for the moment to be counted - as if they'd been watched live, while DVR use wasn't noted at all.

Starting in early January, Nielsen will release three different "streams" of ratings information: "live" (basically the early numbers you most often see quoted), "live plus same day" (people watching in real time plus any who watched what they'd recorded by 3 a.m. of the following day) and "live plus seven" (the second number plus the number who watched a show they'd recorded within a week of its airing).

With an estimated 7 percent of the country's TV households already equipped with DVRs, whether standalone units like TiVo or in set boxes from their cable or satellite companies, advertisers have been pressuring Nielsen to tell them how people are using them, and starting next month, they should be able to tell them.

Sort of.

Only 60 households with DVRs will be included at first - that's six-tenths of a percent of Nielsen's national sample - according to Nielsen Media Research officials who spoke with reporters in a conference call yesterday.

"During the first few months... we really don't expect to see much change in the ratings" because the sample is so small, said communications vice president Anne Elliot.

By sometime next summer, the company said it hopes to have added enough DVR households to match the penetration rate in the country (which some experts, a company spokeswoman said, have predicted might be 25 percent by 2007).

While advertisers are expected to use those numbers to negotiate ad rates - and maybe even to figure out how many people fast-forward through the ads - what's it mean to the rest of us?

Most likely we're going to find out that a lot of people watch even more television than we'd thought.

And if the numbers that TiVo already tracks of the top 25 prime-time network shows are any indication, we may discover that DVR users tend to watch fewer shows in real time than they do on their own schedule.

Notable exceptions from the most recent week's TiVo numbers: CBS' "Survivor: Guatemala" and "60 Minutes," ABC's "Monday Night Football" and NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and "Joey" (sigh), all of which were predominantly watched in real time.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13462748.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Holiday Ideas
Need more gifts? Just think inside the box

By David Bianculli New York Daily News TV Editor Thursday, December 22nd, 2005

Have a few people left on your holiday shopping list? If they've got a DVD player, consider some of these recent entries in the TV series boxed-set arena.

[SIZE=4]•"24: Season Four DVD Collection." With season five not starting until Jan. 15 on Fox, recipients of this compete fourth-season "24" set will have a few weeks to work through all the action and get up to speed for the new year.

The set also includes a big bonus: an exclusive, made-for-DVD prequel segment, intended to bridge events between the disappearance and faked death of Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer at the end of season four, and his resurfacing (under an alias) to start the coming season. He fields one last call from President Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) and has a rendezvous with Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub), then tries to outdrive a pursuer in an extended car chase - a sequence apparently intended to showcase not only Jack's driving skills, but the design and handling of the Toyota he's handling. The carmaker sponsors the segment, and its logos are prominent throughout. Fox Home Entertainment, seven discs, $69.98.

[SIZE=4]• "Barbra Streisand: The Television Specials." If there's a Streisand fan on your gift list, this would make a wonderful gift, whether or not the recipient was around to see these five TV shows when they aired originally.

"My Name Is Barbra," from 1965, is in black and white, and is a stylish stunner. The next year's "Color Me Barbra" (yes, in color) is more boisterous. "The Belle of 14th Street," from 1967, is flat-out strange (it's her re-creation of vaudeville, and she doesn't even appear until almost 10 minutes in, to sing "Alice Blue Gown." Then comes "Barbra Sreisand: A Happening in Central Park" from 1968, beating Simon & Garfunkel to the outdoor concert venue by 13 years. Finally, from 1973, there's "Barbra Streisand ... and Other Musical Instruments," one of which is Ray Charles.

It's an excellent set - and the TV shows it presents are of the kind that, simply and truly, are rarely made anymore. Warner Strategic Marketing, five discs, $59.99.

[SIZE=4]• "Leave It to Beaver: The Complete First Season." The reasons for choosing this as a gift are plentiful. The first season of this 1957-63 sitcom is as enjoyable today for its '50s nostalgia as it was then for its modern, understated humor. Jerry Mathers, as the Beaver, was one of the most natural child actors around; Tony Dow was very believable as big brother Wally, and Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley were the model suburban parents - the now-archetypical Ward and June Cleaver.

The stories are small but sweet: a self-inflicted bad haircut, the capture of a rabbit, the misuse of Dad's power tools. It's all addictively watchable, and buttressed by an exciting extra: the show's original pilot, called "It's a Small World," which features a different dad (Casey Adams, much stuffier), a different Wally (Paul Sullivan, much scruffier), and, in the prototypical Eddie Haskell role, a young Harry Shearer. Universal, three discs, $49.98; limited-edition gift set, $69.98.

[ [SIZE=4]• If you're looking for something more obscure, or less likely to be given by someone else, here are two quick candidates. Both seasons of the British series [SIZE=4]"Footballers Wive$," about British soccer stars and their trophy wives, are out now.
Capital Entertainment, two discs, $34.95 each season.
And if you know someone who knows the words to "Muskrat Love," "Captain & Tennille: The Ultimate Collection" is out, just in time for the holidays. The marriage didn't last, but the videotapes of their variety show did. Respond 2, three discs, $49.95.

[SIZE=4]• "Scrubs: The Complete Second Season." Brilliant comedy, starring Zach Braff and including so many great jokes, repeated viewing is almost required. Buena Vista, three discs, $39.99.

• "Miami Vice - Season Two." Finally, there's the second, and most popular, year of this series, with original music (by Phil Collins, who also guest-stars, and the Who and U2), and '80s fashions that dominated trends for the next several years. Universal, three discs, $59.98.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/376709p-320054c.html

DirecTV's DVRs run into snags

By David Lieberman USA TODAY

NEW YORK — DirecTV appears to have hit some speed bumps with the rollout of its new digital video recorder — one of the company's most important initiatives.

Following at least dozens of consumer complaints to the company and on Internet sites about sluggish and occasionally idiosyncratic performance, DirecTV on Tuesday upgraded the software for the second time since the DVR was introduced last month.

"Some things are not as intuitive as we thought, and we're polishing it," says DirecTV Chief Technology Officer Romulo Pontual. "It's the kind of thing we do for a living."

It's important for DirecTV, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., to get things right: The new DVR — with software from Murdoch's NDS Group — will enable the No. 1 satellite company to offer video on demand and other services that it considers crucial to help it compete with cable.

But sales could stall if consumers still prefer the models it has marketed for years featuring TiVo.

About 15% of DirecTV's nearly 15 million subscribers have TiVo-equipped receivers.

DirecTV has stopped marketing those units — and is offering a full rebate on the $100 new receivers with the DirecTV Plus DVR.

Sanford C. Bernstein's Craig Moffett says DirecTV should sell at least 500,000 receivers this quarter with either TiVo or its own DVR.

Yet several people who have used both say that DirecTV still has to work out some kinks.

The interface "is not intuitive, and it's not consistent in the way it performs," Gartner analyst Van Baker says. "There's a 'back' button on the remote, but it doesn't always go back. Sometimes, it takes you to a screen you haven't seen before."

And Jim Jeffrey, an information technology manager in St. Paul, says he finds it hard to use the fast-forward feature. "I can't figure out how to skip through commercials," he says. "When I hit 'play,' I'm either too fast or not fast enough. So I go back and forth and waste a lot of time."

Others say that the DirecTV units failed to record shows they had scheduled.

DirecTV says it hasn't found that problem: "We do not have this bug in our system," Pontual says.

He adds that the new software download should make it easier to control the fast-forwarding. But it won't mimic a TiVo feature which goes back as much as a second when users stop fast-forwarding.

"Some people want it to stop where they press and not try to read their minds," Pontual says. "It's a choice."

Despite some of the early problems, Pontual says, DirecTV's DVR launch is "an outstanding success" and should gain momentum in early 2006. That's when DirecTV will automatically place movies, sports clips and other forms of programming onto the DVR for viewers to watch when they want.

"If you're new to DVRs, you'll love this product," he says.

TiVo declined to comment.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2005-12-21-directv-dvr-issues_x.htm#

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.

DirecTV's DVRs run into snags


"If you're new to DVRs, you'll love this product," he says.


http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2005-12-21-directv-dvr-issues_x.htm#


That is code for, "If you have Tivo, you will hate ours." :)

"Some people want it to stop where they press and not try to read their minds," Pontual says. "It's a choice."

Yeah, most people like to FF until they see the show and prefer the unit to start playing just a little bit past that point. :rolleyes:

Until reading that article, I always thought the HMC benefits would offset the lack of Tivo - now it really makes it easy to visuallize what a PITA TV watching could be. I'll hang onto my HD-Tivos as long as possible - then jump ship after 12 years if I have an option for Tivo service elsewhere.

That is code for, "If you have Tivo, you will hate ours." :)

You don't need the smiley. That's exactly what it means.

Yeah, most people like to FF until they see the show and prefer the unit to start playing just a little bit past that point. :rolleyes:

Until reading that article, I always thought the HMC benefits would offset the lack of Tivo - now it really makes it easy to visuallize what a PITA TV watching could be. I'll hang onto my HD-Tivos as long as possible - then jump ship after 12 years if I have an option for Tivo service elsewhere.

I might go for MPEG4, depending on what I'll miss if I don't have it.

But -- if it is possible -- it looks like the best best is to keep a second dish and my HD TiVos connected to it. Although, in fairness, we haven't seen what the Directv HD DVR wil be capable of, and the SD version was never in the cards for me.

You don't need the smiley. That's exactly what it means.
It also means they are creating a new generation of DVR users that will accept a mediocre product because they have never used a TiVo. Just like new HD customers who never saw full rez HD, 1280x1080i will probably be just fine for them. I fear we quality-HD purists are going to become a dying breed... :(

I might go for MPEG4, depending on what I'll miss if I don't have it.

But -- if it is possible -- it looks like the best best is to keep a second dish and my HD TiVos connected to it. Although, in fairness, we haven't seen what the Directv HD DVR wil be capable of, and the SD version was never in the cards for me.
MPEG4 is already in my market but I'm holding off until the HD-DVR comes out and I don't want to take the chance of losing my 4 DNS-HD feeds by getting the locals now.

Top 24 U.S. ISPs by Subscriber: Q3 2005

Pundits note that after a slow Q2, ISP subscriber growth rebounded in Q3, but some ISPs grew faster than others.

by Alex Goldman
ISP-Planet Managing Editor
[December 22, 2005]

([in] millions)
1 America Online (all U.S. AOL brand accounts)
20.1 [November 2, 2005]

2 Comcast (cable broadband)
8.1 [November 3, 2005]

3 SBC (DSL only)
6.5 [November 4, 2005]

4 EarthLink (DSL, dialup, cable, satellite, PLC, and webhosting—SK EarthLink and some other business lines not included) 5.3 [November 9, 2005]

5 Road Runner (cable broadband)
4.8 [November 2, 2005]

6 Verizon (DSL only) 4.5 [November 8, 2005]

7 United Online (counting paid dialup only)
3.0 [November 9, 2005]

8 Cox (cable broadband) 2.9 [December 1 , 2005]

9 BellSouth (DSL only)
2.7 [October 25, 2005]

10 Charter (cable broadband) 2.1 [November 2, 2005]

11 Cablevision (cable broadband) 1.6 [November 15, 2005]

12 Qwest (DSL only) 1.3 [November 1, 2005]

13 Sprint (DSL only) .64 [November 9, 2005]

14 Covad (broadband only) .58 [November 9, 2005]

15 Mediacom (cable broadband, dialup, and SMB broadband) .45 [November 9, 2005]

16 Insight BB (cable broadband) .44 [November 7, 2005]

17 ALLTEL (DSL only) .36 [November 8, 2005]

18 Citizens (DSL only) .29 [November 2, 2005]

19 Hughes DIRECWAY (satellite broadband) .26 Jupiter Research preliminary
20 LocalNet (dialup) .26 [December 19, 2005]

21 RCN (Cable broadband and dialup, including Starpower JV) .24 [November 9, 2005]

22 CenturyTel (DSL only) .21 [October 27, 2005]

23 Cincinnati Bell (DSL only) .15 [November 8, 2005]

24 GCI (cable broadband and dialup in Alaska) .10 [November 14, 2005]

25 Other U.S. ISPs 27.0

http://www.isp-planet.com/research/rankings/2005/usa_history_q32005.html

MPEG4 is already in my market but I'm holding off until the HD-DVR comes out and I don't want to take the chance of losing my 4 DNS-HD feeds by getting the locals now.

I am more concerned with losing the 4 SD DNS feeds, but I have become resigned to the fact they they will probably disappear some time soon anyhow. The time DirecTV offered both east and west coast net feeds in HD (even HD lite) was wonderful.

I guess I'll just have to eventually get a Springbox (or whatever technology is available by then) and connect to a friend's set back east. And there always is the Canadian option.

Festivus isn't just for the 'Seinfeld' faithful anymore

By DARLA ATLAS Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News December 22, 2005

Can you believe it? Just one more shopping day until Festivus!

Luckily, the only thing you have to buy is an aluminum pole, and that's assuming you don't already have one. And some would also say there's no such thing as Festivus, anyway. But they would be wrong.

The holiday was made famous by a 1997 Seinfeld episode, in which George's dad, Frank Costanza, describes the traditions he created as a comeback to commercialism. There is the Airing of Grievances, in which family members get to describe the many ways others have wronged them that year; the Feats of Strength, a wrestling tournament that ends when the head of the household is pinned; and the aluminum pole, upon which tinsel is forbidden.

Jerry Stiller, who played Frank Costanza, says he's constantly reminded of his Seinfeld days by strangers on the street.

"You get a lot of people screaming at you, 'There's a Festivus for the rest of us!' " he says in a phone interview from New York.

But if there's a deeper meaning behind Festivus, he's happy to be associated with it.

"We send gifts, wait for a thank-you – why not just put up an aluminum pole with no tinsel or thought to it and leave it alone? I have nothing against giving, but sometimes, a phone call is just as good."

Still, even he can't always embrace the true spirit of Festivus.

"I want to tell you: Right now I'm on a show [CBS' The King of Queens] and I'm sending gifts to everybody that walks on the set," he says. "The grips, the costume people, the hair, the makeup – I have such a need for their love and for them to laugh during the course of rehearsing. It really wrecks me, and I haven't licked it yet."

The holiday – officially celebrated on Dec. 23 – has its roots in real life. Seinfeld writer Daniel O'Keefe's dad is the true father of Festivus. In 1966, as legend has it, the elder Daniel O'Keefe created the holiday to commemorate the first date with his wife, and the family continued celebrations each year through the 1970s. When young Daniel grew up and mentioned it one day at work, the concept was put into the script.

Now Mr. O'Keefe's vision is being adopted by the masses. According to the book Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us (Warner Books, $14.95), there's a Festivus disc-golf tournament in Oregon, a Festivus wine in Oklahoma and Festivus parties across the country, all of which have creative ways of interpreting the rituals. In Missouri, for example, partygoers write down their grievances and put them inside a cardboard, silver-painted pole, which is broken like a piñata at the end of the night so the complaints can be read aloud.

As for local bragging rights, the book notes that the first "O Festivus!" song was overheard last year at Dick's Last Resort in Dallas. Sung to the tune of "O Canada!", the book recites the lyrics, which include:

"Thy feats of strength are glorious to me.

Frank Costanza, we tip our hat to thee.

O Festivus, we'll pin you first, you'll see."

No holiday is complete without commercial tie-ins, of course, so a Milwaukee company has begun selling Festivus Poles. A 6-foot floor model is $38 plus shipping at www.wagnercompanies.com.

Like "yada yada yada," double dipping and sparing a square, Festivus is a Seinfeld gift that keeps regifting. Mr. Stiller says his time on the show "was the freest form of theater I've ever in my life experienced. ... I love basketball, and at its best, that's what the show was like. We passed from one guy to another; it didn't matter who scored the points."

And what are Mr. Stiller's Festivus plans for this year? He chuckles and says, "I think we're going to just let it pass."

Seinfeld's Festivus

9 PM ET Thursday, TBS. 2 hrs. “Seinfeld “mini-marathon, starting with Festivus episode.

http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/television/stories/DN-festivus_1222gl.ART0.State.Edition1.10288c55.html

It also means they are creating a new generation of DVR users that will accept a mediocre product because they have never used a TiVo. Just like new HD customers who never saw full rez HD, 1280x1080i will probably be just fine for them. I fear we quality-HD purists are going to become a dying breed... :(Cable has already done that with their DVRs and you are a dying breed that has always been severely limited in numbers. :)

I'm one of those who never used a Tivo and am quite happy with my SA8300HD. Granted, there are things I wish it could do, but all I really need is the ability to record 2 shows while I watch a 3rd and a wireless laptop with this thread and TitanTV reminders to keep track of what programs are coming beyond the supplied IPG data. Other than some software features that would make life a bit easier, particularly the Wishlist, Tivo offers nothing for me that isn't already available. I've never missed a recording, I don't record based upon actors/directors/etc, the PQ is the same as watching live, the price is right, and I don't need to worry about what happens as the technology changes.

Senate Confirms Tate, Copps Nominations to FCC

By Doug Halonen TVWeek.com

The Senate Wednesday night voted to confirm the nominations of Deborah Taylor Tate and Michael Copps to seats at the Federal Communications Commission. Ms. Tate, a director of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, is a Republican. Mr. Copps, an incumbent Democrat at the agency, is getting a new term.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9090

given their recent track record with products and the declining customer service.. my hopes are not high :(


Although, in fairness, we haven't seen what the Directv HD DVR wil be capable of, and the SD version was never in the cards for me.

http://www.cmcsk.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=147565&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=798663&highlight=
Comcast - Press Room - Press Release

Comcast Announces Family Tier

New Programming Package Will Offer 35-40 Family-Friendly Channels

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), the country's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services, today announced it will launch a Family programming package with an average of 35-40 channels beginning in early 2006. The new Family Tier will include 16 family-friendly programming networks of primarily G-rated content as well as all local/national broadcast channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, UPN, WB, FOX and PBS), religious broadcast programming and significant Hispanic programming, including the Univision and Telemundo networks, and public access programming.

In addition to the 20-25 channels that customers receive on the Basic Cable Tier, Comcast's Family Tier will include:

* Disney Channel * HGTV
* Toon Disney * Food Network
* PBS KIDS Sprout * DIY
* Discovery Kids * CNN Headline News
* Science Channel (Discovery) * The Weather Channel
* Nickelodeon/Nick Too * National Geographic
* Nickelodeon GAS (Games and Sports) * C-SPAN
* TBN (Trinity Broadcasting) * C-SPAN 2

"Offering a Family Tier to our customers is one more step in Comcast's efforts to provide a broad array of family-friendly programming," said Steve Burke, Chief Operating Officer of Comcast. "The Family Tier will include some of our most popular children's, Hispanic and religious programming, as well as broadcast networks and local access channels."

These channels primarily feature TV-G content and:

* have limited "live" entertainment programming
* encompass a broad range of general entertainment and family programming
* are widely distributed across Comcast cable systems
* meet existing contractual programming agreements

Customers who select the Family Tier programming package will pay an average of $31.20 per month. The pricing and channel lineup will vary by market and will be based on the cost of Comcast's Basic Cable Tier at a national average price of $12 (locally regulated), the 16 Family Tier channels for $14.95, and a digital cable set-top box with a national average price (also regulated) of $4.25.

The Family Tier will be launched throughout Comcast's national footprint in markets that have Digital Cable service (about 99 percent of Comcast's markets). Customers will need a digital cable set-top box that also offers an on-screen interactive program guide and easy-to-use parental control features. All 16 channels in the Family Tier also will continue to be available as part of other existing packages.

Holiday thoughts from a “Grey’s Anatyomy” writer

From Krista Vernoff, writer of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer"

(Episode Airdate: 12/11/05)

So here’s a funny thing: we were never going to do a “Holiday episode” of Grey’s Anatomy. Shonda, in particular, (though many of us agree) is not a big fan of Santa Claus in the E.R. and elves in the operating room and the kinds of things you most often see on medical show holiday episodes. So, the mandate was: we can have a tree, we can acknowledge the holiday, but we’re not doing a “holiday episode.” And then Harry and Gab walked into the writer’s room and pitched this: “A cranky, angry little boy needs a heart transplant because his heart is TWO SIZES TWO SMALL.”

Come on. That’s brilliant. The Grinch boy? How do you not make a holiday episode now? So that’s how this episode was born. We all sat around the writers’ room and watched the old animated “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (one of my favorite days at work yet) and talked about all the ways we could work subtle references to the Grinch into the episode. Now, if you watched? You may have noticed that the whole “heart too sizes too small” thing fell out – and that the little boy who played Justin was not at all Grinch-like (he was, in my humble estimation, maybe the sweetest kid in the history of the world.) Which is frankly, part of why the Grinch thing fell away – because we cast this kid – and he had these amazing eyes, and this amazing presence but when he said of Santa Claus “Tell the fat-ass to give it someone else, I don’t want it” – it still somehow managed to be sweet. Add that to the fact that we were having trouble making the medicine work, and the whole original inspiration for the episode was gone. (Though you may have noticed a Cindy-Lou Who quality to Izzie’s enthusiasm in the opening scene, and a Grinch-like quality to Cristina’s stealing the Christmas tree from Justin’s room.)

I don’t know why I’m telling you all this… Maybe because I’m so often asked “How do you guys come up with this stuff?” The answer is, we come up with it in a largely convoluted, fabulously meandering, highly collaborative way where bad ideas lead to good ones and good ideas lead to other ones and nothing is set in stone until about a week before you see it on TV. Which is why I love working in TV.

Okay….so…after the way you brutalized Mark last week for the leech stuff (which I personally found fascinating), I know what it is y’all want to hear about – and it isn’t Grinch boy…

Yep, Derek told Addison he fell in love with Meredith. Brutal, right? I know. It felt brutal when I wrote it – actually made me feel a little nauseated (which is when you know it’s going well) because my God, do I love my husband and I cannot even begin to imagine hearing something like that from him. Then again, I can’t imagine SLEEPING WITH HIS BEST FRIEND. And here’s the thing – I think that Derek coming clean to Addie could be the very best thing to bring about a healing of their marriage, because I don’t think a marriage can survive without honesty. When we decided to get married, my husband and I made a deal that if we ever found ourselves with a crush on someone else– not a “hey, that guy/girl’s hot” crush, but a “I can’t get my mind off that guy/girl” crush, we would come home and tell on ourselves and go immediately into couples counseling. Because crushes like that don’t happen for no reason – they happen because something else in the marriage is seriously amiss. And Addison didn’t sleep with Mark for no reason, she did it because something in the marriage was seriously amiss. And Derek didn’t turn around and get on a plane to Seattle and fall in love with someone else for no reason – he did it because the marriage was in bad shape WAY before he walked into that bedroom. So – yeah, I think his confession here is the most mature and potentially healing thing that either of them has done for a long time. That said, I also think it could ultimately end them. Because, seriously, how do you recover from that kind of information?

Man, relationships are complicated…

Anyway, here’s some things I loved watching last night’s episode: I loved the runner with the interns helping Alex study, culminating in Izzie having to embrace the true spirit of Christmas. I loved it because as snarky as they are, as cranky as they are, as exhausted as they are and as harsh as they can be, they are a family, these interns. And when push comes to shove, they show up for each other -- because in the best of all worlds, that’s what family does.

I also loved that Justin decided to live in the end and that when he did, his health took a turn for the better. I loved that while Cristina wasn’t interested in coming around to Burke’s spirituality, she was desperate to save Justin’s life. And she was the right person to do it, because ultimately, she and Justin shared a belief-system, so she was the one who could say what he needed to hear. Which is another kind of family, isn’t it? It’s the “Tribe” thing I referenced in the end -- Cristina and Justin are in one another’s tribe. Whether or not the same can be said of Burke and Cristina remains to be seen, because as relationships go, I think Cristina was right – it’s easy to differ in terms of cleanliness or age or experience and still have a relationship – but to differ on fundamental philosophical/spiritual beliefs is much, much harder. I’m not saying they can’t overcome it, I’m just saying that when Cristina asked “What are we doing? I don’t know what we’re doing…” that was rooted in a real and valid fear.

Finally, I loved, loved, loved watching Bailey have to deal with her growing family during one hellish day in the O.R. I loved it because there isn’t a career-woman I know who doesn’t struggle with how and when to have kids: how do I be the kind of surgeon (writer, ad-executive, architect…) I want to be and have kids? How do I be the kind of Mom I want to be and have a career? Bailey’s struggle is just beginning, but I just loved that she’s already communicating with her child in a way that makes me know she’s gonna be an amazing Mom.

So I guess that’s it for now, except, well: Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas… May you find joy in some version of family this season – even if your own is making you a little nuts.

Wishing Peace and Joy to You and Yours,

Krista

http://www.greyswriters.com/

DirecTV's DVRs run into snags

By David Lieberman USA TODAY

NEW YORK — DirecTV appears to have hit some speed bumps with the rollout of its new digital video recorder — one of the company's most important initiatives.

Following at least dozens of consumer complaints to the company and on Internet sites about sluggish and occasionally idiosyncratic performance, DirecTV on Tuesday upgraded the software for the second time since the DVR was introduced last month.

"Some things are not as intuitive as we thought, and we're polishing it," says DirecTV Chief Technology Officer Romulo Pontual. "It's the kind of thing we do for a living."

It's important for DirecTV, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., to get things right: The new DVR — with software from Murdoch's NDS Group — will enable the No. 1 satellite company to offer video on demand and other services that it considers crucial to help it compete with cable.

But sales could stall if consumers still prefer the models it has marketed for years featuring TiVo.

About 15% of DirecTV's nearly 15 million subscribers have TiVo-equipped receivers.

DirecTV has stopped marketing those units — and is offering a full rebate on the $100 new receivers with the DirecTV Plus DVR.

Sanford C. Bernstein's Craig Moffett says DirecTV should sell at least 500,000 receivers this quarter with either TiVo or its own DVR.

Yet several people who have used both say that DirecTV still has to work out some kinks.

The interface "is not intuitive, and it's not consistent in the way it performs," Gartner analyst Van Baker says. "There's a 'back' button on the remote, but it doesn't always go back. Sometimes, it takes you to a screen you haven't seen before."

And Jim Jeffrey, an information technology manager in St. Paul, says he finds it hard to use the fast-forward feature. "I can't figure out how to skip through commercials," he says. "When I hit 'play,' I'm either too fast or not fast enough. So I go back and forth and waste a lot of time."

Others say that the DirecTV units failed to record shows they had scheduled.

DirecTV says it hasn't found that problem: "We do not have this bug in our system," Pontual says.

He adds that the new software download should make it easier to control the fast-forwarding. But it won't mimic a TiVo feature which goes back as much as a second when users stop fast-forwarding.

"Some people want it to stop where they press and not try to read their minds," Pontual says. "It's a choice."

Despite some of the early problems, Pontual says, DirecTV's DVR launch is "an outstanding success" and should gain momentum in early 2006. That's when DirecTV will automatically place movies, sports clips and other forms of programming onto the DVR for viewers to watch when they want.

"If you're new to DVRs, you'll love this product," he says.

TiVo declined to comment.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2005-12-21-directv-dvr-issues_x.htm#

Maybe this was an honest mistake. Perhaps they gave out E*-921s by accident :rolleyes:

Gee, software glitches? Who ever would have thought there would be glitches?

Is that something really new?

My Windows XP is getting fixes all the time -- and its been out for years.

I have no intention of getting near a DirecTV non-TiVo until they come out with their HD version -- and then I'll probably sit back and wait a bit until the second or third software upgrade.

I'm not as concerned with the glitches as I am with the interface they apparently are shooting for. Sounds like even when working as intended, it's crap.

Gee, software glitches? Who ever would have thought there would be glitches?

Is that something really new?

My Windows XP is getting fixes all the time -- and its been out for years.

I have no intention of getting near a DirecTV non-TiVo until they come out with their HD version -- and then I'll probably sit back and wait a bit until the second or third software upgrade.

Now Fred, we all know about the Windows updates! ;) They can do more harm than good. ;)

Critic’s Notebook
Merry Christmas from the Cylons

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune TV blog December 22, 2005

• Merry Christmas from outer space! Sci Fi Channel is offering a “Sci Fi Inside” behind-the-scenes special about “Battlestar Galactica” on iTunes right now -- for free. The special doesn’t air on the channel until Jan. 2, but it’s available as of Thursday on iTunes, for the low, low price of nothing. Thank you, Cylon Santa!

• Another reason to take the week after Christmas off, if you hadn’t planned on that already: HBO is stuffing your TV stocking every night next week with a marathon of the first season of "Rome." Three episodes air Monday evening, starting at 7 p.m.; two episodes air each night after that.

• A great site for Grey’s Anatomy fans: The “Grey’s” writers’ blog, where the show’s scribes explain their writing and filmmaking processes. Did you know that the genesis of the holiday episode was an homage to “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” complete with a character who was supposed to have a heart that was two sizes two small? No, I didn’t either. (Note: I posted this blog entry, and the link, above.)

• Sundance Channel will start airing Season 2 of “Slings and Arrows,” the delicious theater-life satire, on Feb. 19 (a marathon of the entire first season also will air that day). The second season will revolve around semi-loony director Geoffrey Tennant’s decision to mount a production of “Macbeth.”

• My new almost-favorite “How I Met Your Mother” character: Ranjit the limo driver (who was Ranjit the cab driver earlier in the season).

• The new Tim Gunn catchphrase from Season 2 of “Project Runway” is, all together now: “I’m really concerned.”

By the way, can I just say that Daniel Franco’s ejection Wednesday’s “Project Runway” was so sad? I honestly thought him getting eliminated was bogus. Daniel Vosovic had a decent idea for his "menswear" lingerie collection, but I thought his execution was underwhelming (one outfit was just a black bra and panties. Come on!). And Santino Rice’s over-the-top "Heidi" collection was obviously inferior to Franco’s –- and I truly don’t even think Franco’s collection deserved to be in the bottom two in the first place.

Well, Franco exited with his usual grace. I hope he goes on to great things, he certainly has the talent.

• So. The “Nip/Tuck” season finale. What can I say? Except that, if you took it as “Mommie Dearest”-style camp comedy, it was actually mildly entertaining. Poor Bruno Campos, though –- he got saddled with so much nonsensical exposition meant to explain how Quentin and his sister, Kit, were both the Carver. How he said all that bizarre dialogue with a straight face is beyond me.

I don’t know about you, but after a while I lost track of who did what to whom and why. I mean, after a while, it all just started to sound like the most twisted game of Clue ever, but instead of “Col. Mustard in the library with a candlestick,” it was “Quentin in the sorority house with a sex toy, and then Kit shoots Quentin who’s about to make Christian cut off his own hand, but Quentin’s not really dead and he’s the Carver and so is Kit and they're brother and sister and were born with bizarre deformities and blah blah blah.”

The whole thing was way beyond Gothic -- nonsensically so. Actually, the finale was so over the top that I was a little disappointed that Kit and Quentin didn’t run into Ava at that pool in Spain. Then again, it’s only a matter of time before “Nip/Tuck” puts those three together. Don’t you think?

Anyway, let’s just hope the Carver is gone, at least for a while, and that Matt starts dating a nice, sweet girl (pre-op, post-op or no op) from Boca Raton. Come on, I can dream, can’t I?

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

Digital Transition Bill Blocked In House

An effort by House Speaker Dennis Hastert to get approval of a $40 Billion appropriations bill (which included the hard digital transition date) failed Thursday when Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi objected to its consideration.

Most House members are gone for the holiday recess, and Hastert will have to get action on the measure when they return in January.

The bill, as passed by the Senate, contained some minor changes form the previously-okayed House measure and thus needed new action from the House.

Hey, it is the holiday season and many trade publications have shut down and a number of TV columnists are vacationing.
So to in an attempt keep your interest, I am digging a little deeper for items that might catch your fancy -- as they did mine.
Here are some interesting thoughts about how the new technology will change how we get TV programs. Mark Cuban posted this on his never-dull blog back in October.

How Bob Iger Saved Network TV
By Mark Cuban at blogmaverick.com

On the ITunes Store, you can buy the latest episode to Lost and some other shows the day after they air on Network TV. in this case ABC, for $1.99. Sounds simple and reasonable. Not anything earth shattering right ?

Content has been available for download for years and years. That content could be played on any number of devices, from computers to DVD players to PDAs. Being able to playback a video from the new Video Ipod just like you can play a song from a current IPod, certainly is not a technical marvel.

It is a business marvel. Bob Iger has gone contrary to what every current and previous TV network head has and would have done had Bob not turned the industry on its head with his announcement with Apple yesterday. Bob Iger has saved Network TV.

How ?

By completely changing the economic model.

When a show is produced for primetime network TV, its traditionally sold to a network at a given license fee. More often than not, particularly for non reality shows, that license fee is less than what it costs to produce the show.

The hope by the production company is that if they can produce good ratings for the network, not only can they increase the license fee after the first deal ends, but they can also sell the episodes in the future as part of a syndication deal and maybe even make some money back with DVD sales.

So for instance, shows like Law and Order, CSI, and all their different versions can fetch more than 1mm dollars per episode. Most other shows fall in mid six figure price ranges and can go as low as 50k to 75k for hit reality shows like Survivor. The reality shows go for far less because everyone knows the winner already.

But what if CBS sold Survivor episodes the day after it aired like ABC is with Lost ? What if they sold them not just on ITunes Store, but through CinemaNow, MovieLink, Netflix, Walmart Online, wherever.

Think some people would buy them to keep up with the action ? Possibly to sample the show ? Think they might sell more than 75k downloads at $1.99 each ?

Could this move have created a new market that could be comparable in size for some shows and more money for others than the current syndication market ?

ABSOLUTELY. No question about it.

This is far far better than syndication because it can apply to all shows. For a bunch of reasons, most shows do not make it into syndication. Those that dont, typically just sit on the shelf collecting dust. Most dont get DVD releases. They just rot.

And this is far easier and safer than releasing a DVD. No extras. No inventory. No shipping. No Returns. No shelfspace issues. You ship a file to Apple and boom, the sales begin. Whats more, Apple was incredibly smart to set the price tag at $1.99. That means few if any movies. Just TV and video. You have all the shelf space to yourself for at least a little while. And if the demand appears, you know which titles to invest in for a DVD release

Even the worst primetime television shows have on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox get millions of viewers. If the network can convert a couple percentage points of viewers into downloaders, it can turn into decent money. 2 bucks a pop. 50k downloads per eps. Thats more money than a hit reality show like Survivor earns in syndication.

And for some shows, the conversion rate could be much, much higher. A show like Lost could have hundreds of thousands of downloads per episode. Thats real money.

Which leads to how Bob Iger saved network television.

The entire TV industry is scared shitless about how advertising will evolve. Will the 30 second commercial survive ? Will PVRs eliminate commercial watching in a material percentage of homes ? What impact will HDTV have on TV viewing and advertising (besides the obvious rush to HDNet & HDNet Movies:) ? The answers to these questions are pivotal to the programming side of the equation because without enough advertising revenue for the networks, how are they going to pay for programming ?

Bob Iger has enabled a new revenue stream which if it grows, could definitely be the revenue stream that saves primetime network TV.

Its not inconceivable that just as DVDs have surpassed box office in revenues and the theatrical release has become a commercial for the DVD sale, the network TV broadcast could become the commercial for the download sale. I dont see download sales surpassing advertising revenue, but I do see it as likely that the download sales could more than compensate for any advertising market weakness brought on by ratings erosion and / or changes in how ads are delivered on TV. I also think it wont be long before we see an ad or two in front of the show that will further increase revenue.

How big a revenue stream could the two combined be ? Big enough to matter.

But wait, there’s more…

Its possible that the ABC offering NightStalker , which because it hasnt had stellar ratings, with 7mm viewers in its premiere could be the most important pay per download in internet history !. Why ?

What if NightStalker turns out to be a hugely popular download ? Would ABC keep it on the air for that reason ? What if the show is cancelled ? Will ABC sell any unaired episodes ? And how many downloads will be sold of those ? If the show is cancelled, are enough downloads being sold so that when combined with a license fee from a cable network, the show could live on ?

Since ABC will be able to see the sell through numbers on a daily basis, will that impact programming decisions ?

Of course Nightstalker will be replaced each season as the most important download in internet history by other shows as the market grows and data exists to better understand just what impact the downloads are having on network economics.

All of this isnt going to happen overnight.

Distribution must expand beyond Apple, and it will. It will be interesting to see how fast MicroSoft, Yahoo, Google, Sony (If sony had an ITunes and an ABC deal for the PSP..wow !), AOL and even retailers like Walmart Online and Best Buy respond. Which they will. They arent going to let Apple run away with this market like they did music. Im not saying they can stop them, but I think they learned a lot from what Apple has done with the Ipod. The competition in turn, should help the economics for the networks.

And this isnt about watching video on VideoIpod screens. Its about downloading video to ITunes software and its competitors, and all the places it does and will reside. All will be playback devices.I expect that either a 2nd tier of pricing will come along from Apple for full screen quality that is designed to play on a TV rather than an IPod or half screen on a Laptop or PC, as competitors compete by enabling higher quality and full screen playback. All of which will further expand the market.

The future of network television got immediately brighter yesterday. All because Bob Iger had the brilliance to say yes to giving consumers his content , where , how and when they want to consume it.

Just one suggestion Bob. How about letting us show digitally Lost in theaters ? Its a great show. How cool would it be to see it on a big screen in a theater ? Just show it in one 300 seat theater. Not enough to impact ratings, but enough to give hard core fans a unique experience that bonds them further to the show.

Im happy to offer Landmark Theaters as a place to test it out :)

http://www.blogmaverick.com/entry/1234000617063228/

Waiting for the new “24” Season?
( Use Extreme Caution: Kim Is Returning! )

'24' gets almost that many new faces

By Joanne Weintraub Milwaukee Journal Sentinel TV critic

When the speeding train that is Fox's "24" returns next month, more than a dozen new passengers will be on board or waiting somewhere down the line.

Among them are Sean Astin, Jean Smart, Connie Britton, Jayne Atkinson, Thomas Kretschmann, Peter Weller, Brady Corbet, JoBeth Williams and Julian Sands.

The returnees, I'm happy to report, include CTU intelligence specialists Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and Edgar (Louis Lombardi), the most endearingly odd office employees outside of NBC's "The Office," as well as the seriously smokin' Tony (Carlos Bernard) and Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth), who have remarried after realizing that it takes two - at least - to fight terrorism.

I'm less thrilled to note that, after a blessed absence of one whole season, Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) will rejoin the series.

Who can forget Kim's near-fatal encounters with three seasons' worth of murderous kidnappers, to say nothing of the psycho boss, the would-be rapist, the gonzo survivalist, the bear trap or the mountain lion? Who hasn't tried?

Even Kim herself tried, with the old amnesia ploy.

Leave it to Kim to drag in a plot device that was old when "Guiding Light" was in its freshman year.

But Kim is of less immediate concern than her father, Jack (Kiefer Sutherland), who most people believe is dead but who three or four CTU insiders and 10 million "24" fans know is just lying low.

Being Jack, though, he's not lying that low. As 10,000,003 or 10,000,004 of us are aware, after Jack was supposedly fatally shot in the last hour of Season 4, back in May, he was revived, smuggled out of town in the back seat of a car and last seen walking off into the sunrise.

According to information liberally leaked by Fox, Jack will reappear at the start of Season 5 as one Frank Flynn, a Bakersfield, Calif., oil-fieldworker living with a woman named Diane (Britton) and her teenage son, Derek (Corbet).

Bakersfield? Oil fields? A significant other with a kid? OK, how long do you give "Frank" before he's back in action as Jack, fighting terrorists as routinely as the rest of us fight off colds in winter or mosquitoes in summer?

I give him two or three hours, four at the outside. Jack fighting terrorism is a given in "24."

So is a flinty female superior - Atkinson this season, Alberta Watson last season.

And a bad guy with a foreign accent - Sands this time, far too many to count in past seasons, though Dennis Hopper's cold-blooded Victor Drazen in Season 1 stands out.

And a president - first Dennis Haysbert, now Gregory Itzin - with a wife who has her own subplot. Or do you think they've hired the formidable Smart to play a first lady whose chief role is to gaze admiringly at her husband during press conferences?

Oh, and in addition to this year's love interest, played by Britton, last season's love interest, Audrey (Kim Raver), is scheduled to appear. This could prove to be almost as terrifying as the terrorists.

All that, and the deliciously daft Chloe and Edgar, too.

Let the clock start ticking. I'm ready.

http://www.jsonline.com/enter/tvradio/dec05/379471.asp?format=print

Critic’s Notebook
That “Nip/Tuck” Finale

By Matt Roush TV Guide December 22, 2005

Maybe it was because I'd been anticipating the season finale so intensely.

Maybe it's because FX scheduled ‘B]Nip/Tuck'[/B]s overdrawn, overdone season finale on a week of distractions (including a transit strike and pre-holiday madness) in late December — for the record, I am not a big fan of original programming, especially episodes this pivotal, in the week before Christmas.

Maybe it's really, and seriously, because I once thought The Carver was more than a deliriously lurid stunt on a lurid show, but a haunting and bone-chilling metaphor of retribution against "the tyranny of beauty" (a phrase uttered again during the story line's preposterous denouement this week).

But the sad fact is that, once I caught up with the finale, I wasn't so much disappointed as I was deflated. I'm now beginning to wonder what I ever saw in this show. This could be one of those turning points (like when Frasier began doing crass Daphne fat jokes during Jane Leeves' pregnancy) when the magic suddenly vanishes, leaving me unsure if I'll ever be able to return to the show's devoted fold.

Yes, I saw the ad for Ryan Murphy's all-star movie adaptation of Running With Scissors that ran during the finale. I'm impressed. He has more than earned his shot at the big time. But you couldn't help wondering, as he returned to write and direct the final ludicrous hour of the season, if he now feels a mere TV show is beneath him, given how he punished us with an hour that wasn't so much audacious as insultingly ridiculous.

They might as well have called the finale "Of Inhuman Bondage" given how many characters found themselves trussed up and threatened with mutilation, castration or worse. Like we haven't been there before.

I actually didn't mind the big reveal, in which it became clear that obvious suspect Quentin (who turned out not to be the prick, so to speak, we'd always thought he was) and the much less obvious Kit were a brother-sister Carver tag-team. Their Gothic backstory of incest, genetic disorders and a childhood spent in a convent in northern Maine was worthy (and geographically resonant) of Stephen King.

But by the time the show began cross-cutting between its gruesome cliffhangers — Sean and Christian being threatened and tortured by the verbose Quentin, while Matt and pre-op trannie Cherry were being tormented by Ariel's racist/homophobic dad — I wasn't cringing because of the suspense. I was recoiling from the cartoonish stupidity and self-indulgent perversity of it all.

Did Quentin really slice off Sean's finger? Did Matt really chop off Cherry's you-know-what? You know what? I don't really care.

Nip/Tuck has always been a show that lives on a precarious critical limb, with a terrific and glamorous cast bringing emotional and psychological depth to even the most flagrantly bizarre, graphic and provocative twists. Thankfully, it has never taken itself particularly seriously — in fact, going over the top and over the edge is something we've come to expect and appreciate, which means we may have gotten what we deserve here. But even in its early excesses (remember the fat flying during the operation-room massacre in the first season?), I rarely felt Nip/Tuck had cheapened itself the way it did with these most recent climactic showdowns.

The upside to all of this: There's always a good, long break between seasons. I'll probably get over my disillusion by the time the show returns sometime next year. And I am very curious about what medical secret Julia is concealing about her pregnancy, as she prepares to give Sean a second chance at a life together.

I'll be there for whatever Nip/Tuck serves up next. But for now I'm with Matt, who came home for family dinner in the final scene, saying, "I could use a little boring right now."

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

Assorted TV News Notes

by Matt Webb Mitovich TVGuide.com Thursday, December 22, 2005

RICCI KEEN: Grey's Anatomy has tapped film vet Christina Ricci to guest-star on the Feb. 5 episode — an all-important one, as it airs immediately after ABC's broadcast of Super Bowl XL. Although the plot is being kept under wraps, the network has revealed that Ricci, who in my opinion once delivered an underappreciated turn on Ally McBeal, will visit Seattle Grace Hospital "not as a patient, but in a life-and-death situation." Uh-oh, is something wrong with Pugsley?

IN A TOE-PICKLE: Skating legend Scott Hamilton may have to forfeit a gig covering the Winter Olympics for NBC because of his new job as host of Fox's Skating with Celebrities, which debuts Jan. 18. Per the New York Daily News, the precise conflict is the night of Feb. 13, when Hamilton ostensibly would appear on both networks — something NBC, which has yet to officially announce its on-air skating teams, is not comfortable with. Hey, Scott, if things get rough, I know this girl Tonya who can probably help you out....

KILLER FINALE: The third-season finale of Nip/Tuck, in which the Carver was revealed to be (SPOILER ALERT FOR ANY LAZY TIVOERS) the brother-sister tag team of Quentin and Kit, drew 5.7 million viewers and set a record as the most-watched episode of any FX original series ever. Just as impressive, the outing attracted 3.9 mil in the coveted 18-to-49 demo, a tally unbeaten by any cable series this year. Lastly, in an unquantifiable measure, it was also just really creepy.

STUPID LEGAL TRICKS: David Letterman's legal team is out to snuff a restraining order granted to Colleen Nester, who claims that the Late Show host has been sending out coded messages, which have caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994. One of Letterman's lawyers, deeming the Santa Fe woman's claims "obviously absurd and frivolous," says the restraining order is "an unfortunate abuse of the judicial process." On Earth it is, sure.

I-POTUS: ABC's Commander in Chief is the latest television series to make episodes available for day-after downloads via the iTunes Music Store, at a cost of $1.99 each — a portion of which goes to the President MacKenzie Allen reelection fund.

PILOT WATCH: Per Variety, ABC has inked a deal with Sex and the City creator Darren Star to develop two pilots, one of which is a half-hour comedy set in the New York City modeling world.... ABC has also ordered a drama pilot based on the hit Colombian sudser Betty La Fea, to be executive-produced by Salma Hayek.... NBC has ordered 13 episodes of Heist, a comedy-drama that will chronicle a group of thieves' plan to simultaneously rob three Rodeo Drive jewelry stores. The cast includes Dougray Scott (Mission: Impossible 2) and Steve Harris (The Practice).

NO LAUGHING MATTER: Reverend Al Sharpton says that his talks with CBS to develop Al in the Family, a TV series based on his life, have ended. "I haven't done the things I've done to be in a sitcom," he tells the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C. "I'm not interested in being Archie Bunker, I'm looking forward to becoming George Bush." [Insert your own Meathead joke here.]

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

Holiday Programming
Ralphie's bull's-eye: Former flop is perfect “Christmas Story”

By Bill Goodykoontz The Arizona Republic

We live in a snap-decision society, one where winners and losers are chosen in an instant.

Take movie box office, for instance. With only a few exceptions, a movie that opens on a Friday is declared a hit or dead in the water by the next Monday, with no regard for such things as lasting appeal. It's now or never, baby. When you're gone, you're gone for good.

Except for “A Christmas Story”.

Once again this year, it'll be featured in a 24-hour marathon on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, (starting at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT on TBS) the ultimate there-if-you-need-it holiday salve. And if you've ever found yourself pulling the Santa Claus-assist shift late on Christmas Eve (or, more likely, early early Christmas morning), or drinking away your holiday sorrows on the couch with a shaky glass and a shakier spirit, or neither of these things but something else entirely, know this:

You will need it.

"You start getting, in the middle of the month, the viewers calling and writing in saying, 'Hey, you still doing it this year?' " said Ken Schwab, senior vice president of programming for TBS and TNT. "It's come in there with Frosty and Rudolph as one of the signs of the season."

If anything, it has gotten more popular. Last year's broadcast attracted the most viewers yet, Schwab said: "41 million unduplicated persons," in his terms. Translation for those who don't study ratings for a living: a great big bunch, at a time of year when television is about as popular as whooping cough.

Yet A Christmas Story seems, at first glance, the most unlikely of holiday classics. It opened to decent reviews - "There are a number of small, unexpectedly funny moments in A Christmas Story," Vincent Canby wrote in the New York Times upon its 1983 release, "but you have to posses the stamina of a pearl diver to find them" - and a tiny box office. The phrase "straight to video" probably would be bandied about if it were made today.

But the slow build and TV-rerun ubiquity has worked for more than one holiday classic. Perhaps you've heard of It's a Wonderful Life, another film that didn't exactly blow the doors off the competition in its theater release, yet through near-constant TV airings came to be as closely associated with the holiday as candy canes, eggnog and fruitcake.

"That thing became the legend that it is those years that it was in public domain," Robert Thompson, a media and popular-culture professor at Syracuse University, said of It's a Wonderful Life. "That movie became the Christmas classic it is not on the (big) screen. It became that on television."

Still. Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, an angel getting his wings. Come on. In hindsight, that's a classic from the start.

A Christmas Story is, well, a different story. Crusty ol' Darren McGavin stars as a father with an entertainingly short fuse, Peter Billingsley as a wide-eyed true believer hoping for the ultimate under-the-tree payoff, and a cast of never-heard-ofs before or since populate what's little more than a series of skits based on vignettes from In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, by Jean Shepherd, (who's the narrator in the film).

So how did A Christmas Story worm its way, deservedly, into the hearts of holiday revelers? There are additional reasons, but a good place to start is quality. Thompson is certainly willing to go out on a limb.

"I would go so far as to commit the ultimate blasphemy and say that A Christmas Story exceeds It's a Wonderful Life as the masterpiece of American Christmas cinema," he said.

No! Yes! He's right! Sort of.

Great as A Christmas Story is, it's hard to say any Christmas movie is better than It's a Wonderful Life. The great thing is, no one has to. The way the films are structured makes for two different viewing experiences, and makes A Christmas Story just right for 'round-the-clock viewing. Because there's no linear story to it, really, you can drop in just about any place and not feel lost. It's snowing, it's cold, the lights are up, it's Christmas. Not too hard to decipher.

"It's so modular," Thompson said. "It's little slices of holiday life, symbolism, iconography, which means it's the perfect wallpaper for Christmas Eve. You can just turn it on and let the thing play. It's like a Christmas decoration. You've got the Christmas tree on one side of the living room. You've got A Christmas Story playing on a color television on the other. It's like a decoration by itself."

Anything backhanded implied by that particular compliment is purely unintentional.

"Viewing habits are so disrupted," TNT's Schwab said. "You never know around the holidays. They may be coming back from midnight Mass and they're not ready to go to bed."

Thus, the drop-in-anytime quality of the film is key.

"As a television programmer who deals with and acquires a lot of movies, that's a value in a film that we really put weight on," he said. "Some films are unbelievably complex. Some are harder than others for the TV experience. This one is kind of perfect."

It really is. Like a fire in the fireplace or the twinkle of lights on a tree, just knowing that A Christmas Story is on is a comfort, even if you don't necessarily watch it 12 times straight. Of course, you could.

"I think there's some people who leave it on," said Schwab, who was talking to one of them.

Why not? The film is famous for its classic scenes: the triple-dog dare, Flick getting his tongue frozen to the flagpole, the Old Man's tapestry of obscenity, the "queen mother" of dirty words, Santa with his boot in your face at the department store, the Bumpus hounds, dinner at the Chinese restaurant on Christmas night. And, of course, the now-famous refrain (all together now): You'll shoot your eye out.

It's like revisiting the Christmas you wish you remembered but can't, because it never really existed anywhere but on the screen, and for almost everyone who has grown to love A Christmas Story, the small screen, at that.

But it exists now, again, for another 24-hour shot this Christmas, a full-on holiday tradition eight years after the first marathon started.

"Leave it on," Thompson advised. "Let it be pretty. Let it be its little thing."

Just let it be there, all day and all night, a quick hit of Christmas cheer on tap when the moment calls for it, the beneficiary of a journey Dickens would be proud of. It has made a Scrooge-like conversion: When A Christmas Story opened, after all, it was a holiday flop.

Now it's hardly Christmas without it.

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/tv/articles/1218goody18.html#

Richard Hatch loses on 3 motions
The Survivor winner faces trial on charges including tax evasion and fraud. Jury selection begins Jan. 10

By Tom Mooney Providence Journal Staff Writer Thursday, December 22, 2005

PROVIDENCE -- Richard Hatch didn't win any immunity challenge in court Wednesday.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Ernest C. Torres denied three motions filed on behalf of the 44-year-old Newport man, whose sometimes-naked TV performance on the first Survivor show won him a $1-million prize -- and tax troubles.

Hatch was named in a 10-count indictment in September charging him with failing to pay taxes on his TV winnings, as well as income from a radio program, rental income and charitable donations he allegedly used for himself.

Hatch has pleaded innocent to the charges.

Yesterday Torres denied Hatch's motions to continue his court case, to separate some of the counts against him and to have the government specify how much in taxes he owes, said court spokesman Tom Connell.

Jury selection in the case is scheduled to begin Jan. 10.

Hatch is charged with two counts of tax evasion, one count of filing a false income tax return, two counts of wire fraud, four counts of mail fraud and one count of bank fraud.

The U.S. Attorney's Office moved forward with the case after Hatch walked away from a plea agreement. He said that they wanted him to serve two years in prison.

The grand jury alleges that Hatch failed to report about $1,037,000 from Survivor in 2000 and 2001, including a Pontiac Aztec valued at $27,074 that was given to him as part of his prize.

It also alleges that Hatch failed to report $326,540 that Entercom, Boston, LLC, paid him in 2001 for appearances on The Wilde Show, a radio program on WQSX-FM; $28,104 in rental income in 2000 and 2001 from his property at 21 Annandale Rd., Newport; and $36,500 in charitable donations to Horizon Bound.

Hatch allegedly set up Horizon Bound as a charity to help troubled teenagers and accepted those donations, but the indictment said he used the money for his personal expenses.

http://www.projo.com/cgi-bin/bi/gold_print.cgi

Give the new Saturday Night Live chick a bunch of skits: Kristen Wiig is hilarious. Her spot-on impressions of Megan Mullally and Judy Garland were a scream.

God bless you, Mr. Thompson.

:D

Holiday Programming
What to watch this weekend — for Grinches and elves

By Maureen Ryan and Sid Smith Chicago Tribune TV blog December 22, 2005

Sid Smith and I came up with two lists this weekend: One for those who say "Bah humbug" to the idea of watching any more holiday-themed TV offerings, and another list for folks who want a last blast of Christmas-oriented tube fare. (Note: All times are Central.)

What to watch this weekend (for holiday-obsessed elves)

Sure, the holiday-fare glut can give you that feeling you get when you’ve consumed too much of Aunt Edna’s special eggnog -- you know, that creeping, nutmeg-flavored nausea -- but Christmas only comes once a year, and only the most hardened Scrooge could resist tuning in to these holiday specials. Can you really say you won’t laugh at Ralphie’s Christmas adventures, sing along with Mr. Hankey or peek at Clarence’s wing-getting? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

1--"Creature Comforts: Merry Christmas Everybody," 10 p.m. Friday, BBC America: A hilarious explanation of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," enacted by animals created by "Wallace & Gromit" genius Nick Park and voiced by average (but dryly witty) members of the British public. In Park’s hands, dogs discussing partridges in pear trees and bats making small talk while hanging around with champagne flutes in their claws becomes the stuff of enjoyably deadpan comedy. A great holiday treat.

2--"A Christmas Story," 24-hour marathon begins 7 p.m. Saturday, TBS: "You’ll shoot your eye out!" "I triple-dog dare you!" "It’s a fra-gee-lay!" If you’ve watched this movie 4,000 times (and enjoyed it every time), reciting classic lines from this movie is half the fun of the Christmas season. Not just the story of Ralphie’s quest to obtain "an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle," "A Christmas Story" is a deranged (but gently sweet) holiday saga for the ages.

3--"It’s a Wonderful Life," 7 p.m. Saturday, NBC: Obvious, inevitable and unavoidable, this annual holiday film is nevertheless as moving and deep as any Christmas yarn from Hollywood’s golden days. It’s got Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed and a Scrooge-like Lionel Barrymore at their finest, and, as always, Clarence the angel gets those wings, accompanied by a good cry by all.

4--"Christmas in South Park," 9 p.m. Saturday, Comedy Central: In this two-hour block of holiday "South Parks," Mr. Hankey and the Colorado kids attempt to bring Christmas cheer to Iraq; the classic that introduced Mr. Hankey will also be aired. If you need to ask who Mr. Hankey is, this probably isn’t the holiday special for you.

5--Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade," 9 a.m. Sunday, ABC: If you can take Regis Philbin first thing Christmas morning, this parade should spread holiday cheer (or at least occupy the kids while bleary-eyed adults clean up mountains of shredded wrapping paper).

What to watch this weekend (for "Bah humbug" Grinches)

The networks have shoved as much manufactured holiday cheer as they possibly could at us this Christmas. Every time you turned around, another animated special about an adorable elf or heartwarming telemovie about a Christmas miracle was on the dang tube. Enough! Bah humbug to holiday fare! It’s time to start holiday detox early -- with some weekend TV options where ho-ho-ho’s are no-no-no’s:

1--"Con Air," 6 p.m. Friday on Starz: Tough, gritty, manly action and terrific performances by John Cusack and an evil-doing John Malkovich distinguish this 1997 action thriller about a group of dastardly cons who take over an airliner. No Santas, Christmas trees or good cheer anywhere in sight.

2--"Close to Home," 8 p.m. Friday on WBBM-Ch. 2: A repeat, but a good chance to check out this sober crime series if you’re in a non-holiday mood. Friday’s episode deals with Annabeth (earnest, spunky Jennifer Finnigan) and her agonizing decision to free a suspected kidnapper in the hopes he’ll lead police to his missing victim. Though set in nearby, hearty Midwestern Indianapolis, this one’s anything but merry.

3--"Bozo, Gar and Ray: WGN TV Classics," 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, WGN-Ch. 9: This two-hour special on the much-loved "Bozo’s Circus," "Garfield Goose and Friends" and "Ray Rayner and His Friends" is a must for any fan of Chicago kids’ TV, and worth watching just for bloopers such as a kitten attacking Bozo and an angry Chelveston the duck going after Rayner’s leg with a vengeance. Plus, there are "Clutch Cargo" clips!

4--"Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle," 7 p.m. Saturday, BBC America: Timothy Spall ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire") stars in the affecting story of a teacher leading a bunch of British high schoolers on an near-disastrous outing to Salisbury Cathedral. What the unruly kids don’t know is that the cathedral is where Mr. Harvey proposed to his now-dead wife.

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

Questions answered on `Lost,' `Scrubs' and `Gilmore Girls'

A branch on Clooney family tree

By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal

If it's Thursday, this must be the TV mailbag...

Question: Nick Clooney and the late Rosemary Clooney are brother and sister, right? George Clooney is Nick Clooney's son, right? Who is George Clooney's mother?

R.D. Heldenfels: Nina Warren Clooney, who has been described as a writer, TV host and inventor, is the mother of the former ER star.

Question: I see that NBC is changing the Thursday night lineup of comedies and that "Joey'' is not part of that lineup. Will "Joey'' be moved to Tuesdays with the returning "Scrubs,'' or is it being canceled?

R.D. Heldenfels: It is going on the bench. In early January, NBC will run back-to-back episodes of Scrubs in the 9 p.m. hour on Tuesdays while moving My Name is Earl and The Office to Thursdays. Things will get bounced around again in February, when NBC has the Winter Olympics. But the network has said that Joey and The Apprentice will be back after the Olympics.

Question: My wife and I became interested in the series "B]"Lost'' [/B]this fall. We rented videos of the previous year's episodes and now we are current with the show. My wife claims we watched six different DVDs. I only remember that we rented four, with four or five episodes on each. That would bring the total to 16 or 20 episodes. Isn't it common for a series to do 13 episodes for one season? Were there more for ``Lost?''

R.D. Heldenfels: The first-season DVD of Lost has 24 episodes on six discs, along with a seventh disc of bonus material. That's not an unusual total for a prime-time, broadcast network series that lasts an entire season. (A flop may be gone much sooner.) But some nonbroadcast shows do far fewer; cable shows like The Sopranos and Rescue Me do about 13 episodes each season.

Question: There has not been a new episode of "Gilmore Girls'' on Tuesday night for several weeks now. Do you know why, and when we will ever get to see this season's new shows? My daughter and I watch it faithfully.

R.D. Heldenfels: With TV series running 22 to 24 episodes in a season that lasts more than 40 weeks, there have to be points where shows are either rerun or pre-empted. December is one of those points. Look for a new episode Jan. 10.

Question: In your article about supporting actors, how could you possibly have omitted James Marsters for his role as Professor Fine on "Smallville'' this season?! Talk about elevating a show and helping other actors rise to their best performances! Not only is he doing that now on ``Smallville,'' but Marsters was the epitome of that for all his years on both "Buffy'' and "Angel!''

R.D. Heldenfels: Two words: I forgot.

When I was putting together a list of Buffy alumni on prime-time shows this year for the supporting-actors piece, I kept thinking I had left someone out. But I couldn't figure out who it was, and I watch Smallville rarely. But at least Marsters is getting your kudos here.

By the way, another Buffy vet, Seth Green, will be back in prime time on the NBC comedy Four Kings beginning Jan. 5.

Do you have a question or a comment for the TV mailbag? Write to me by regular mail to the Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309, or by e-mail to rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/columnists/rd_heldenfels/13463649.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Sports On TV
MNF ready to turn out the lights

By John Maffei (San Diego) North County Times Staff Writer

Monday night, ABC turns out the lights on Monday Night Football, the network's signature show for the past 36 years.

The No. 1 package in professional sports, the first prime time sports network series, moves to ESPN next season.
And while ABC and ESPN are both Disney properties, ABC executives plan to go out in style.

The game itself ---- Patriots at the Jets ---- doesn't mean much. The Patriots have already clinched their division. The Jets have struggled through a rough season.

But the extra features the network has added may fill the void.

Don Meredith, one of the original voices of MNF along with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell, will make his first appearance on a game since leaving in 1984 after 13 seasons.

Plus, Frank Gifford, who worked more than two decades on MNF, will be featured.

"Al Michaels taped different segments with Frank and Don, and we'll show those before the kickoff," said John Skipper, ABC's executive vice president for content. "Don lives in New Mexico now and didn't really want to do this, but Frank was instrumental in getting him.

"Monday Night Football is the most-significant property in the history of sports, and we want to give it the respect it deserves."

Monday Night Football is the second-longest running series in prime-time TV history, behind only "60 Minutes" on CBS.

Over the years, MNF has been a gathering spot for fans of professional football.

And while ratings have slipped over the years, it still rules Monday nights.

Norby Williamson, ABC's executive vice president for studio and remote production, expects that will stay the same when MNF moves to ESPN.

"The move will be almost invisible," Williamson said. "I'd say that 90 percent of the people who watch Monday Night Football now can watch it next year. I believe the audience next year will be greater because it will cover all of the ABC and ESPN platforms."

Skipper said ESPN will use the same MNF music fans have come to enjoy. There will, however, be a different graphics and animation package.

There will be an announcement on changes and innovations sometime in January.

Until then, the focus will be on Monday's game with an emphasis on history.

"During the game, we'll have tributes to our past," Skipper said. "And there will be a special halftime."

ABC will certainly pay homage to Roone Arledge, the man who convinced NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle that the NFL would fly on Monday nights on network TV.

Hopefully, ABC won't forget the contributions of the late Chet Forte. Forte, who fell out of favor because of a gambling addiction and would up as a talk-show host on XTRA Sports 690, was the innovative producer/director of MNF for more than a decade. His quick-shot face-in-the-crowd style is still used today.

Some of the special MNF packages include:

• Highlights from the greatest games in the series, including the 1985 Bears-Dolphins contest in which the Bears entered with a 12-0 record and suffered their only loss of the season. It was the highest-rated MNF football game.

• Several of the famous faces that visited the booth over the years will be shown, including President Reagan and John Lennon.

Don't be surprised if, at the end of the game, Don Meredith sings his signature "Turn Out the Lights, the Party's Over."

The NBA on ABC

ABC will tip-off its coverage of the 2005-2006 NBA season with a Christmas Day doubleheader. Both games will be presented in HD.

The first game at 12:30 PM ET features an NBA Finals rematch of San Antonio at Detroit.

The second game, at 3 PM ET, is the Lakers at the Heat ---- Kobe Bryant vs. Shaquille O'Neal.

"It's a pretty good day when last year's finalists are the undercard," Skipper said. "The second game features the league's two most-prominent players."

Bryant is coming off a 62-point performance Tuesday night against Dallas.

Mike Tirico and Scottie Pippen host ABC's NBA studio show.

Mike Breen, Bill Walton and Mark Jones work the early game. Al Michaels, Hubie Brown and Lisa Salters work the night cap.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/12/23/sports/maffei/21_31_1112_22_05.prt

Sports On TV
'MNF' on ABC: One last drive

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter Dec. 23, 2005

NEW YORK -- Turn out the lights, the party's over.

After a 36-year run, "Monday Night Football" will air its last touchdown Monday night on ABC. A change in the broadcast rights will move the second-longest-running primetime series to ESPN, leaving behind a legacy of memorable moments, high drama and well-known characters that will live on in TV history.

In its heyday, it seemed like everyone was watching. Not only did it showcase the best of America's most popular sport, it did it with style and drama. "MNF" revolutionized the way sports were shown on television -- but not just that: "MNF" revolutionized when sports were shown on television. Long before ESPN, "MNF" propelled them from weekend afternoons to primetime.

And just as important, it was must-see TV for the complex, combustible relationship among superstar commentator Howard Cosell and his two co-stars, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith and New York Giants halfback Frank Gifford. On Tuesday morning, Americans talked about the game, the highlights from the weekend's other matchups and what Meredith and Cosell had said the night before.

"Just those words, 'Monday Night Football,' and America knows what you're talking about," said Fred Gaudelli, who has been executive producer for five years.

For many reasons, "MNF" was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. And just as surprising, no one wanted it when it then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle shopped the idea to the three networks in 1969.

CBS and NBC preferred to stick with such existing hits as CBS' "Gunsmoke" and NBC's "Rowan & Martin's Laugh In." ABC, long the third-place network, wasn't happy about the idea, either. But it had more to lose. It was only after the league threatened to give the rights to the fledgling Hughes Television Service -- which could potentially steal ABC's affiliates, much like Fox would do to CBS 20 years later -- that ABC agreed.

"They didn't think it would fly in primetime," said Dennis Lewin, a longtime ABC Sports executive who was a producer on the first "MNF" on Sept. 21, 1970. "It took the vision of Pete Rozelle and Roone Arledge to make it happen."

Arledge wrote a new playbook on how to televise football, pairing with NFL Films for highlights and convincing reluctant owners to let ABC Sports install cameras all over the field, two at the 50-yard line, one on each 25-yard line and at least one in each end zone, as well as several hand-helds. That, along with a groundbreaking association with NFL Films, gave ABC a clear edge in drawing not only the die-hard fan but the casual viewer.

"ABC showed the game in a much more intimate manner. It wasn't just close-ups, and it wasn't just slow motion," said Michael Maccambridge, author of "America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation." "It was a sense that this game is an event, and it (was) worth caring about. And if we care about it as a game, we can also care about and understand it as a drama."

That first game, between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets, showed just what kind of drama could be seen onfield for the first time. The cameras zeroed in on Jets quarterback Joe Namath, whose late-game rally ended in an interception and the loss of the game, 31-21. Namath -- hands on hips, head down, dejected -- personified the loss.

"Even if you weren't a sports fan, there were things on 'Monday Night Football' that you could care about," Maccambridge said.

The drama went on in front of and behind the camera in the interplay between Meredith and Cosell, who had chucked a law practice for a broadcasting career and had gained notice as a boxing announcer. But he became a megastar on Monday nights, when he held court on football, sports and the virtues of their host city as well as sparring with country boy Meredith.

"There's no question they were an instant hit. It became, as they like to say in later years, water-cooler conversation," Lewin said. "People couldn't miss what Meredith and Cosell, and later Gifford, would say."

It didn't take long for "MNF" to take off, earning an 18.5 rating/35 share in its first year. Restaurants close early on Monday, bowling leagues suffer, the movie business softens as Americans stay home on Monday nights. Tuesday, which many games spilled into on the East Coast because of the late starting times, becomes more popular than Monday for Detroit autoworkers to call in sick.

"MNF" even became an integral part of an episode of "The Bob Newhart Show" in the early 1970s, even though it aired on rival CBS, Maccambridge recalled.

There has been no shortage of action on the field, either. Not all of the games have been as superlative as the 45-3 Dolphins blowout of the Jets in 1983, or this year's 42-0 drubbing of the Philadelphia Eagles at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks, or the Washington Redskins' 48-47 loss to the Green Bay Packers in 1983, which also is the series' highest-scoring game.

There's the triumphant, embodied in Phil Simms' final pass to Lawrence Taylor in the same 1995 game in which the Giants retire his jersey. Or the Jets fourth-quarter comeback on Oct. 23, 2000, from a 30-7 deficit to tie and later win the game in overtime. Name an NFL star of the past 36 years, and he has been here, often many times.

"Monday night is really your chance to shine. Your peers are watching, you know the nation is," said Joe Theisman, analyst for "Sunday Night Football" on ESPN who has played on "MNF" and appeared on the broadcast crew. "Careers have been made and not made on Monday night television. It carries that kind of significance."

It was one of those games, on Nov. 18, 1985, that carried significance for Theisman, then the star quarterback for the Washington Redskins. He suffered a career-ending compound fracture in a tackle that was shown, in gruesome detail, live on "MNF." Theisman said he has never seen it despite it being replayed over and over on TV.

"It's probably one of the most unbelievable things to ever happen on Monday night, and it's one that most people remember," Theisman said. "I've never seen the shot. I've chosen not to look at them, and I haven't changed my mind."

Another dramatic moment occurred Dec. 22, 2003, when Packers quarterback Brett Favre, a day after his father died, led his team to a 41-7 victory with 399 yards and four touchdowns. Gaudelli said that in his five years on "MNF," that's his most memorable game.

There have been some misfires as well. Comedian Dennis Miller joined the broadcast team in 2000 in a bold experiment in mixing humor and football; but after Sept. 11, Miller had less to do and was replaced when play-by-play announcer Al Michaels was paired with analyst and former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden.

Cosell generated controversy wherever he went before quitting the broadcast in disgust in the early 1980s. And the always outspoken civil rights activist, a strong supporter of Muhammad Ali in his draft resistance in the 1960s, was excoriated after calling a black player "a little monkey."

Last year saw "MNF" in the news again, with a controversial opening sketch featuring Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens and "Desperate Housewives" co-star Nicolette Sheridan.

Ironically, while "MNF" became famous in the three-network world of the 1970s, it wasn't until the early 1980s when it cracked the top 10 for the season. And it wasn't until the '90s when it regularly took up residence there as overall broadcast network ratings declined. But "MNF" ratings have fallen in recent years, and earlier this year, ABC decided it wasn't ready for football anymore.

Next year, ESPN will have "MNF." For the first time, Sunday night will be the broadcast primetime identity for the NFL, on NBC. It just made more sense for ESPN, with its dual-revenue streams of advertising and subscriber fees, to get "MNF."

And it's true that "MNF," like most things on network TV, has been diminished by the 300-channel universe. It remained a tradition, but not as groundbreaking as it had been.

"When everybody starts broadcasting games the way 'Monday Night Football' did, then 'Monday Night Football' is not as exceptional and unique as it once was," Maccambridge said. "You can turn on ESPN 2 now and see the same techniques being used for the Kent State-Akron game."

Meredith used to sing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over," in the broadcast booth during games that weren't even close. And while Meredith won't be there in New York for the last broadcast, he and Gifford will both be a part of it.

While the loss of "MNF" on ABC is the end of an era, ESPN executives believe that it's just embarking on a new tradition.

Maccambridge believes that one of the show's lasting legacies is to give a higher profile to sports. Before "MNF," most sporting events on TV were relegated to weekend afternoons. But the NFL's success gave rise to baseball, the Olympics, the NCAA men's basketball championship in primetime and, eventually, ESPN and its revolution.

"The conventional wisdom on Madison Avenue was that pro football, or for that matter any sport, was too male, too marginal, too parochial to succeed on primetime network television," he said. "Then we see what happens: It's an instant hit, becomes a cultural phenomenon, Howard Cosell is this national icon and Don Meredith is much more popular retired than he ever was playing."

ESPN executive vp content John Skipper agrees.

"The NFL moving a game to primetime was clearly one of the catalysts of the revolution of sports being available everywhere, all the time, when you wanted it," he said. "I think you could point to it as one of the spots where all that started, where you proved that sports was social currency and mattered around the clock and around the dial."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001737122

The 2005-2006 TV Season
Ask Matt

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

Question: I am sure this is your one millionth e-mail regarding the shocking death of John Spencer. I have enjoyed his work since L.A. Law. I know it may be premature and difficult to speculate, but how do you think The West Wing will deal with this? I would like to see them show respect for his death and pay tribute to Leo in a meaningful way. Simply recasting him may be better for the story line, but it would be a shame if the show did not address this loss. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this could be turned into a powerful episode? The loss of Mrs. Landingham paved the way for a very heartfelt performance from Martin Sheen. Thoughts? — Bridget

Matt Roush: There was quite an outpouring of mail over this very sad situation, and I don't envy the West Wing producers as they deal with this crushing blow, since the show is already limping off into the sunset. John Spencer was the epitome of a character actor, and Leo McGarry was his crowning role, a character of great authority and moral heft whose friendship with President Bartlet was at the core of the glorious early years of the series. However, I don't think Leo the character ever recovered from the misbegotten plot twist that had him suffer a heart attack in the woods at Camp David and lay there undiscovered for a ridiculously long period of time. Even if it reflected the real world, I also never bought him becoming the vice presidential candidate, nor did I buy press secretary C.J. assuming Leo's post just because she's played by a formidable Emmy-winning actress. All of which is a prelude to my gut reaction that The West Wing has an opportunity now to pay homage to this actor and this great character by acknowledging the death and giving Martin Sheen in particular (who has been grievously underused lately) a chance to rise to the occasion. This can also help The West Wing achieve some closure to the show's main story of the Bartlet presidency, which has certainly frayed since Leo, Josh, et al split from the White House to participate in the campaign. Those who think they can just recast, because of the effect Leo's death will have on Santos' campaign, are very much misguided. This is a major actor, a major character, a major event. And the analogy to Mrs. Landingham's death is appropriate, although that was a very calculated plot twist. (Thankfully, Kathryn Joosten is still with us, and doing marvelous character work wherever she goes.) This crisis of John Spencer's unexpected death is a true tragedy, but there is a possibility of great drama resulting from this. Which no doubt would've pleased this hardworking actor to no end.

________________________________________

Question: What'd you think of the latest episode of Alias (the last one before the break for Jennifer Garner's maternity leave)? I've been rather critical of the show (even if I'm still horribly addicted and would never give it up), but this episode, featuring flashbacks to "classic" Alias moments, blew me away. For the first time this season, I'm excited to see the next episode —which is, naturally, months away. Kudos to the producers for keeping the secret of who is behind Prophet 5 so well kept (at least Lena Olin wasn't credited). Can we expect the same quality for the last 13 episodes of the series? Wouldn't it be great for Alias to go out on top, after these years of hailing its past brilliance? — Rob F.

Matt Roush: That really was a terrific episode — creatively structured, suspenseful, harking back to the show's emotional core. And the Lena Olin reveal was remarkable, on its own merits and also because I didn't have a clue it was coming. In this age of spoilers, that really is a refreshing change. I wish that would become the norm, not the exception. (I promise to keep entirely mum regarding the twists in the first four hours of 24 until after the two-part opener goes off the air Jan. 16. And I'm not kidding.) And here's Kari's assessment of the same episode, which I pretty much agree with, final speculation aside, so I'll let it go without comment: "I thought it was the best ep of this season. Why? Mainly, because we got back to what made Alias the gem it is: Syd (and Vaughn), Mama and Papa, SD6 (now connected to Prophet 5), and the episode cliff-hanger. What a nice payoff/treat for the loyal fans who got to see the key/poignant moments in Syd and Vaughn's lovely relationship in flashbacks. And Lena Olin — need I say more? And what about Papa Bristow on the warpath? And a bit of hope that Vaughn is still alive (not just in Syd's head) with the memorable and often-quoted (though maybe too often in this ep) line: 'I'll find you. We always find each other.' I say it's Mama who snatched Vaughn away to bring him back for the finale's happy ending."

________________________________________

Question: : I've just about had it with people who religiously read the Lost message boards and search the Internet for any scrap of spoilers they can find, and then complain that the episodes are predictable! Of course they are, if you insist on knowing in advance what will happen. Why can't people just enjoy watching the show as it unfolds? — Kristen

Matt Roush: I can tell you from experience: It's much more fun watching this way, without ruining things in advance. I'm all for giving readers broad outlines of where a story is heading. I'm excited, for instance, to know that Mr. Eko will be getting his own Lost flashback soon, but beyond that, I don't want to know more until I see it. My favorite is when people read a rumor or a spoiler and then ask me to comment on it in advance. My rule is: Don't judge until you've actually watched. And it helps if you give it a moment's, or maybe a day's, thought before you rush to judgment.

________________________________________

Question: I just wanted to get your opinion on the whole American Idol thing. Going into, what, the 23rd season now, the show has produced, I would argue, only one real talent: Kelly Clarkson. I can't even remember most of the runners-up. But with millions of others, I will watch again this year in January. INXS' reality show had better talent and music, but not many people watched it. So my question is: What do we see in American Idol? — Chris

Matt Roush: It's funny — as I started typing this response, the name of last year's winner (Carrie Underwood) went right out of my head. There must be a reason for that. But beyond the individual merits of the contestants — always a merrily mixed bag — there is something irresistible about American Idol, especially (to me) once they move past the tedious and sensationally contrived audition episodes. It's a classic talent competition, with all of the corn and cheese associated with such things. The INXS show may have featured a higher level of talent, but the range of appeal was limited (and I would argue that the search for an INXS lead singer lacks the mythic aura of what American Idol connotes). American Idol is unapologetically mainstream, and the masses eat it up without apology.

________________________________________

Question: CBS is doing a great job counterprogramming American Idol with NCIS. So my question is: Now that the season premiere of Fear Factor tanked in the ratings against repeats, why don't they try The Book of Daniel in that time slot instead? In my book, giving it Dateline as a lead-in on Fridays at 10 pm/ET shows zero faith in the show. And on another matter, what do you think of NBC's new two-hour comedy block on Thursdays? — Harry

Matt Roush: If NBC had put The Book of Daniel on Tuesdays at 8 pm/ET, in the teeth of Idol, just as many complaints would likely pour in that NBC is trying to kill it there. (Wednesday at 8 would have been a better option. A night of Daniel leading in to West Wing, which deserves to move back to Wednesday for its final episodes, leading in to Law & Order would be the sort of high-quality night NBC generally lacks nowadays). The Friday time period will not be easy for Daniel, which is probably going to be a tough sell to begin with. (I'd love to be surprised.) But I'm not sure where the show would get an easier ride. As for NBC's comedy block, moving My Name Is Earl to Thursday as the 9 pm/ET anchor makes sense, but I would have paired it with Scrubs, although I concede that The Office has enough cult fans, as well as supporters in the critical press, that putting it on a night once designated for the networks' best comedies at least sends a message. Will & Grace, however diminished it may be, has earned its place on the night to play out its final season, but pairing it with the generic Four Kings is business as usual at NBC, which squandered years of "must-see" capital by scheduling mediocre sitcoms between Friends and whatever hit aired at 9 pm/ET. All in all, Earl aside, it is not a lineup to give up CBS for.

________________________________________

Question: Whatever happened to sitcoms with a real bite to them? Looking at today's slate of sitcoms, I can't help but compare them to Roseanne, Married... with Children, and M*A*S*H: all shows with an edge that made them compelling to watch. The reason I ask is because recently I watched the marvelous show Titus on DVD and began to miss the show even more. So once again, whatever happened to the dark comedies, the shows that gripped you tightly and brought you along for the ride? — Geoff

Matt Roush: I'm not sure I'd put Married... with Children in the pantheon of edgy sitcoms. It was noisy and brash, but too crude to achieve the realistic sting of a true classic like Roseanne. I would argue that Everybody Hates Chris carries on the tradition pretty well, grounding a memorable TV family in an urban milieu of racial tension and economic deprivation. And while much lighter in tone, My Name Is Earl depicts a scruffy white-trash sensibility rarely seen on TV anymore. So while sitcoms in general, and "edgy" sitcoms in particular, are struggling, I'm kind of encouraged that Earl and Chris have come along to show us that comedies can have character (the essential element in Roseanne-style "edge") and still succeed. That said, I miss Titus, too. But just having "edge" isn't enough. It helps if the show is funny, and that's where most of today's sitcoms (especially on ABC) are lacking.

________________________________________

Question: I wonder if you have the same experience watching The Office that I do. I absolutely love it; it's so funny and original that I can't wait to watch it. However, the scenes with Michael Scott (which, ironically, are my first and middle names) make me wince. His total lack of awareness of the rest of the world is amusing, but it still makes me cringe. I understand that continually asking how someone who is such a buffoon could keep a job is part of the joke, but still! Do you think this could doom the show in the ratings (despite the great relationship that wasn't between Pam and Jim)? I certainly hope not, since I hate being a fan of NBC's great comedies because of their originality while having to wonder if they'll be on next season (or if NBC will forget to start making new shows, as with Scrubs, and forget to advertise that fact). — Mike

Matt Roush: I am, as always, ambivalent toward the NBC Office, but your wincing and cringing at Michael Scott's behavior is exactly the reaction the show wants you to have, so in that regard, it's a success. The fact that the show makes people uncomfortable may, however, limit its long-term commercial prospects, but NBC seems committed to it. And I'll keep watching for Jim and Pam and for many of the recurring coworkers who bring such hilarious realism to the workplace, a realism that is often disrupted when Dwight, in particular, and Michael go too over the top (like giving the temp an iPod during the Christmas gift exchange). I don't wince or cringe. I merely sigh and wish it were better.

________________________________________

Question: I am still annoyed at the network and also at the writers for canceling and not wrapping up the murder mystery on Reunion. I seem to remember a quirky show that was on ABC on Thursday nights back when NBC ruled the night. The show was about an IRS agent sent to investigate a murder in a desert town. It was odd, like Twin Peaks, but was canceled mid-season. The writers gave the audience a quick conclusion to the story. Yes, it was not developed and it was thrown together as the IRS agent was being chased from this crazy town, but at least it was closure for the audience who invested time in watching. What are your thoughts, and do you remember the show on ABC? Thanks. — Kath

Matt Roush: You're thinking of Push, Nevada, which aired for eight self-indulgently unwatchable weeks in 2002. I didn't care much for it — for my taste, this was a case of a show way too in love with its own quirkiness— but at least when the boom was lowered, the writers rushed an ending into place, no matter how nonsensical it inevitably turned out to be. The Reunion situation is much more aggravating, on both the network and producer fronts. My New Year's resolution: considering Reunion a dead issue. I won't be bringing it up again.

________________________________________

Question: Maybe you've had your heart broken too many times by shows that looked to be on the brink of salvation and then got canceled anyway, but my heart sank when you remarked that Arrested Development was "essentially over" now. The exciting recent news that AD was being courted by both ABC and Showtime (and that, despite the probable inevitability of it, news reports announcing that it had been "canceled" were in fact inaccurate since Fox hasn't technically canceled it yet) should at least allow fans of the show a feeling of hope that it might not be over yet. Count me as one who was disappointed in the Golden Globes snub, and although I know that obviously these things are subjective and completely personal, I have to admit I was saddened that AD didn't make your Top 10 in the magazine last week, while the nice-but-not-as-ingenious My Name Is Earl (which I like but feel is a watered-down kind of AD) made the cut. It's hard not to suspect that media buzz has influenced the paring-down of these lists, just as much as it does with the GG nominations! — Ryan J.

Matt Roush: Because this is the time of year to think positive thoughts, I'll remain hopeful that Arrested Development has a future beyond this season and beyond Fox. And I will tell you I struggled about how and whether to include AD on my Top 10 list, but my slot for innovative comedy went to Earl , and I'm not second-guessing it. Earl is consistently funny, wonderfully original and truly appealing, and as the weeks go on, it's creating a world of wonderful subsidiary characters (Beau Bridges as Earl's dad, Brett Butler as Joy's mom) whom I look forward to revisiting in future episodes. I wasn't willing to sacrifice any of the dramas on the list for AD, and I'm also a big believer in what Everybody Hates Chris stands for. I also want there to be just enough balance on a list like that, so it doesn't give the impression that my only concern is going to bat for critics' darlings, and it is important to include shows that have made a fresh impact on this particular year. I'm not about to parse this season's creative ups and downs on Arrested Development (the Rita story line in particular not playing out as hilariously as it must have looked on paper), because I still believe in the show. But whether it's Fox's or my fault, it hasn't lodged itself into my consciousness lately the way most of the other shows on this list did.

________________________________________

Question: Taping my shows and watching them later, I saw three Christmas-themed episodes in a row: The Dead Zone, Monk and Smallville. My first question is: Why does every episode have to end with someone yelling: "Look! It's snowing on Christmas day! Yeeeaaaahhhhh!"? I thought The Dead Zone was nearly unwatchable, the worst of the bunch, though the hot female psychic was wonderful to see — I hope she does more guest appearances in the future. Monk was a little better, though I figured out the mystery right after the crime was committed. I'm not sure if it is bad writing or the fact that I've seen so many Monks that I am starting to think like him. Finally, Smallville was the best of the bunch, and it was heartwarming to watch Lex actually figure out the true meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas! — Lyle

Matt Roush: If there wasn't an element of predictability in the way Christmas episodes play out, we'd probably be disappointed. (And I'd be surprised if the female psychic is back much, since Jennifer Finnigan appears to have a hit show in Close to Home. But you're right — that Dead Zone episode was pretty sickeningly schmaltzy.) With that, I wrap my last column for this calendar year with a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Spectacular New Year wish for all, as well as a hearty and genuine thanks for all of the provocative questions I get each week that make doing this column a challenge and a pleasure. Here's to more great shows in 2006!

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

Thursday’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.

Sports on TV
NFL dominates TV during holidays
By Jim Sarni South Flordia Sun-Sentinel Dec. 23, 2005

The NFL is the King Kong of sports television. It roams wherever it wants and all the other sports get out of the way.

With Christmas and New Year's Day falling on Sundays this year, the NFL made its schedule first and the bowls and the NBA waited to fill in the blanks.

This is what it looks like: (Note: all times are Eastern)

Saturday (Christmas Eve): The NFL is playing the bulk of its games, all with 1 p.m. kickoffs to give fans the night and Christmas Day free. CBS has a doubleheader with the Titans-Dolphins at 1 p.m., followed by the Colts-Seahawks at 4 p.m. The Hawaii Bowl (UCF vs. Nevada) is the only bowl game at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Sunday (Christmas): The traditional NBA doubleheader was moved up to avoid a confrontation with the NFL. The Spurs-Pistons game is at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Lakers-Heat game at 3 p.m. The NFL takes over with a twi-night doubleheader, focusing on the NFC Central: Bears-Packers at 5:30 (Fox) and Vikings-Ravens at 8:30 (ESPN). No bowl games.

Monday: The Patriots play the Jets in the final Monday Night Football game on ABC. ESPN will kick off the Motor City Bowl (Memphis vs. Akron) at 4 p.m. as an appetizer.

Dec. 30: The best bowl day with four games, ending with Miami taking on LSU in the Peach (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

Dec. 31: The NFL has two Saturday games with playoff implications: Broncos-Chargers at 4:30 p.m. (CBS) and Giants-Raiders at 8 p.m. (ESPN). Three bowl games start early: Meineke Car Care (South Florida vs. N.C. State) at 11 a.m. (ESPN2), Liberty (Tulsa vs. Fresno) at 1 p.m. (ESPN) and Houston (TCU vs. Iowa St.) at 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2).

Jan. 1: New Year's Day belongs to the NFL. The Dolphins end the season at New England at 1 p.m. Rams-Cowboys close the regular season at 8:30 p.m. (ESPN).

Jan. 2: The Jan. 1 bowls -- including the Outback (Florida vs. Iowa) at 11 a.m. (ESPN), the Fiesta (Notre Dame vs. Ohio St.) at 4:30 p.m. (ABC) and the Sugar (Georgia vs. West Virginia) at 8:30 p.m. (ABC) -- slide over a day.

XL Super Bowl specials

The Super Bowl turns 40 in 2006 and ESPN is celebrating the milestone birthday with a series of seven ambitious programs.

A look at the shows that promise to be must-see TV for Super Bowl fanatics.

Jan. 26: The Ultimate Super Bowl 40-Man Roster A voting panel will select 18 offensive players, 18 defensive players, a kicker, a punter and a kick-returner, as well as a head coach. The 40th player will be selected through fan voting.

Feb. 2: 40 Minutes That Define the Super Bowl This program identifies a collection of 25 key moments that have defined the Super Bowl. From Joe Namath's post-Super Bowl III NFL Films slow-motion victory wave (19 seconds) to Lynn Swann's four catches in Super Bowl X (36 seconds) and Whitney Houston singing the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXV (1:57 minutes), all 25 moments will be weaved together, adding up to exactly 40 minutes.

Feb. 4: Hidden Images of the Super Bowl This program features some of the unique, but rarely-seen Super Bowl images captured by the lenses of NFL Films cameras, as well as personal insights from the photographers and others who were behind the shots.

Feb. 4: Suzy Kolber's Super Bowl XL Interview Special Kolber hosts an informal roundtable with NFL studio analysts Mike Ditka, Michael Irvin, Tom Jackson, Mark Schlereth and Steve Young.

Feb. 4: 40 Things You Didn't Know About the Super Bowl Unusual and entertaining anecdotes, stories and informative items from past Super Bowls. Topics include the only "seven-footer" to appear in a Super Bowl game, the player who dressed for the big game in his hotel room and the wife of a famous coach who needed help with the coin toss.

Feb. 4: Sounds of the Super Bowl The best wireless, in-game Super Bowl audio culled from the archives of NFL Films.

Feb. 4: Super Bowl Top 10 Ten different Top 10 lists from the history of the Super Bowl, including: games, teams, drives, offensive plays, defensive plays, records, individual performances, coaches, controversies and bloopers. All Top 10 lists will be based on voting by the special panel of experts who have covered every Super Bowl.

Football announcers have double duty

Some ABC and ESPN football announcers will be calling bowl games on both networks.

Keith Jackson and Dan Fouts will do the Holiday Bowl on ESPN and the Rose Bowl on ABC.

Ron Franklin and Bob Davie will call the GMAC and Champs Sports bowls on ESPN and the Capital One Bowl on ABC. They will also do the Rose Bowl radio broadcast for ESPN Radio.

Brent Musburger and Gary Danielson will do the Insight Bowl on ESPN and the Fiesta Bowl on ABC.

Brad Nessler, Bob Griese and Lynn Swann will do the Peach Bowl on ESPN and the Sugar Bowl on ABC.

Mike Tirico, Kirk Herbstreit and reporter Erin Andrews will do the Alamo Bowl on ESPN and the Orange Bowl on ABC.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC are offering 24 of the networks' 25 bowl games (all but Hawaii) in high-definition.

ESPN rocks the New year

ESPN's New Year's Eve bash is shaping up to be a lot of fun.

The two-hour telecast from the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square will be co-hosted by Stuart Scott and rocker-actor Steven Van Zandt. The show will feature several top athletes and six music acts from Little Steven's Underground Garage.

The bands: The New York Dolls, The Troggs (Wild Thing), The Mooney Suzuki, The Chesterfield Kings, The Woggles and The Charms.

"This special will capture the celebratory feeling of sports not only because it's New Year's but because it combines the best in sports and entertainment," said Ron Semiao, senior vice president, ESPN Original Entertainment. "Just as ESPN continues to search for new ways to serve its viewers, Little Steven's Underground Garage strives to bring new talent to the music scene; it's a great fit."

ESPN will review the year in sports: Images of the Year, MVP Seasons, Great Finishes, Sports Spectacular (amazing displays of pure athleticism), Foot-in-Mouth, Against All Odds, Big Hits and the Not-So-Top Ten.

Tickets for the concert are available to the public at www.undergroundgarage.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

O'Neal featured on new NBA series

Shaquille O'Neal will be one of the stars featured on NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad, a new real-life drama television series that will chronicle the lives of today's NBA stars. The first episode airs Jan. 28 on ABC.

"It is part ER and part Real World as we will follow the characters throughout the season and allow fans to become invested in their stories, told from their first-person perspective," Rashad said.

In addition to O'Neal, main characters include New Jersey Nets forward Richard Jefferson, Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, Orlando Magic forward-center Dwight Howard and New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets rookie Chris Paul.

Also featured in the series will be the Maloof brothers, the owners of the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni.

Rashad will also go behind-the-scenes with two teams throughout the season: the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets.

In its Saturday afternoon timeslot, NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad will replace NBA Inside Stuff, which will move to NBA TV as part of the network's Sunday morning kids block. Inside Stuff co-host Summer Sanders will take over the hosting duties for the show when it moves to NBA TV.

The notebook: Tafoya returns

Monday Night Football reporter Michele Tafoya will return to the sideline Monday for the first time since giving birth to her first child last month.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-sarni23dec23,0,917639,print.column?coll=sfla-sports-front

Just over a decade after the NBC-Microsoft marriage was announced, and after faikure after failure on TV, NBC and Microsoft have agreed to drastically change their MSNBC arrangement.
Ironically, the move comes the same week as NewsCorp announced a new contract for Roger Ailes who had been in charge of CNBC/America's Talking when the Microsoft/NBC deal was made. While NBC was taking pieces from NBC and trying to make them fit into MSNBC, Ailes built Fox News Channel literally from the ground up.
Now NBC and Microsoft, after almost a decade on the air with MSNC, (which has been nothing less than a ratings disaster) are able only to speak positively about very narrow gains in some demographics -- and the popularity of the MSNBC web site.

NBC Gets Control of MSNBC
NBC U and Microsoft Agree to MSNBC Cable News Channel Restructuring

(NBC U Press Release) Published: December 23, 2005

NBC Universal and Microsoft today announced a restructuring of the MSNBC cable news channel. Under the terms of the new agreement, NBC Universal has acquired a controlling interest in MSNBC and an option to acquire 100% of the cable channel within two years. NBC Universal and Microsoft have also reaffirmed their strong commitment to MSNBC.com, which will remain equally owned by both parties. Terms were not disclosed

"Acquiring a controlling interest in MSNBC will allow us to fully integrate the channel into our News operations and our overall cable platform. MSNBC is a critical component of NBC News' success and has made some key viewership gains in recent months," said Steve Capus, President, NBC News, NBC Universal.

"Our partnership in the nation's leading cable and broadcast news website, MSNBC.com, keeps us on the leading edge in the online world. This combination of assets is unrivaled in network news, and we look forward to continuing a productive relationship with Microsoft for many years to come."

"Together, Microsoft and NBC Universal have grown MSNBC.com to the No. 1 news site," said Bruce Jaffe, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft. "We are totally committed to taking MSNBC.com to even higher levels of success through our unparalleled marriage of technological innovation and news content."

MSNBC has been increasing its share of the cable news audience in the target demographic over the last half of 2005. In November MSNBC had a 20 percent share of the audience in the evening hours, only 4 share points behind CNN. This represents the smallest gap in nearly three years.

The Associated Press view:

“…MSNBC, which was launched in 1996, has consistently lagged in viewership ratings, trailing a distant third among the all-news cable channels behind News Corp.'s Fox News Channel and CNN, a unit of Time Warner.

NBC's head of news, Steve Capus, says he expected the deal to allow NBC to make a fuller integration of MSNBC into NBC's news operations.

For Microsoft, the move to exit the cable network marks the latest pullback from the traditional media business following its sale of the online opinion journal Slate to The Washington Post Co. a year ago…”

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


And the Wall Street Journal explains:

“NBC Universal has acquired a controlling interest in its MSNBC television venture with Microsoft Corp., with the option of acquiring 100% of the cable channel within two years. Terms weren't disclosed.

NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., and Microsoft will continue to own equal stakes in MSNBC.com, one of the top news sites on the Web.

MSNBC has long been the laggard of the cable-television news business. Earlier this year, it slipped to fourth place in the ratings -- trailing Time Warner Inc.'s CNN Headline News -- from its longtime third-place slot behind News Corp.'s top-rated Fox News Channel and CNN's flagship channel, which is No. 2…”

UPN: nothing( until KCOP begins broadcasting in HD).



Any idea when this will happen?

I haven't talked with anyone at KCOP in a while.

The last time I did I was told they had no plans for HD.

But plans can change, I assume.

Sports on TV
“MNF” just won't be quite the same

By Jay Posner San Diego Union-Tribune December 23, 2005

"Turn out the lights, the party's over. They say that all good things must end. Call it tonight, the party's over. And tomorrow starts the same old thing again."
–Willie Nelson, "The Party's Over"

Anyone who heard Don Meredith warble Willie Nelson's words every Monday night during football season knew that "Monday Night Football" was different.

It just was.

It was Dandy Don and How-wuhd and the Giffer and the celebrities – John Lennon, who probably didn't know a touchdown from a touchback, was just one of many to visit the booth – and the halftime highlights and, well, you just had to be there. From its debut on Sept. 21, 1970, it wasn't just a football game, it was an event, a happening.

It's been something less than that for several years now, but there's still a certain ring to the words, "Monday Night Football." And it's still been the one game available in prime time to all fans.

That's why Monday marks the end of an era. No longer will "tomorrow starts the same old thing again" ring true.

"MNF" is moving to ESPN in 2006, which means ABC's last Monday telecast will be three days from now. (The crew still will do a wild-card playoff game and Super Bowl XL.) It's an all-too-typical crummy late-season game between the playoff-bound New England Patriots and the pathetic New York Jets, but it should be worth watching because ABC is treating it as a chance to look back at the past 36 seasons.

"There will be a lot of reminiscing and retrospectives inside the telecast," said Fred Gaudelli, who will conclude his fifth and final season as "MNF" producer at the Super Bowl.

It will start with three familiar faces – Al Michaels, the play-by-play man since 1986; Frank Gifford, who worked in the booth from 1971 through 1997; and the reclusive Meredith, who was with "MNF" for 13 seasons (1970-74 and 1977-84). The "Danderoo," as the inimitable Howard Cosell (who died in 1995) used to call him, has been out of sight for the past two decades, but he agreed to participate in Monday's telecast via two taped segments from his home in New Mexico.

Gaudelli said there will be a two-minute opening with the three announcers "that will show people who weren't around in the 1970s and '80s what 'Monday Night Football' came to mean to television, what it came to mean to American culture and what it came to mean to the NFL."

A halftime feature (which will include Gifford live at Giants Stadium) will focus on the celebrity aspect of "MNF," and near the end Meredith once again will sing "The Party's Over," followed by a recorded piece by Hank Williams Jr., who became the musical "voice" of "MNF" thanks to his famous question, "Are you ready for some football?"

There also will be clips shown coming in and out of commercial breaks, highlights from on-and off-field events.

"It's a TiVo game. There's a lot of history in this," Gaudelli said.

It might be difficult for some people to believe, especially now when there's a bowl game broadcast every night and a basketball game every 20 minutes, but there was once a time when sports was not available on your television every night. That was before "MNF."

"It was one of the catalysts for the revolution of sports being available all the time, anywhere, whenever you want it," said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president of studio and remote production. "It proved that sports was social currency, that it mattered 'round the clock, 'round the dial."

Said John Skipper, ESPN executive vice president of content: "The legacy is extraordinary. The legacy is immense."

Williamson said ESPN "owes a certain debt" to ABC and the NFL and people such as Roone Arledge and Pete Rozelle. Those two, who created "MNF," probably never dreamed of a day when the NFL's top TV franchise would move to cable, but that's what will happen next year. Skipper said the difference between broadcast and cable "is sort of an old-fashioned artificial distinction to us," but even he conceded about 10 percent of sports fans will not be able to see "MNF" next year.

For those who do get the network, though, ESPN "will promote it like nothing else," said Gaudelli, who produced Sunday night games for the cable giant for 10 years. "They will throw every resource they can throw at this."

In other words, starting with the Sunday night edition of "SportsCenter," you won't be able to turn on ESPN or ESPNews or ESPN Radio or read ESPN.com without seeing or hearing something about Monday night's game.

But no matter what happens, there was only one "Monday Night Football." Next year it's likely to feel more like football on Monday night.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051223/news_1s23media.html

NBC ups MSNBC stake

The Hollywood Reporter---NBC Universal has acquired a controlling interest in MSNBC, ending speculation about the fate of Microsoft's interest in the perennially third-place cable news channel.

An executive familiar with the deal said Friday that NBC Universal will now own 82% of MSNBC, while Microsoft will own 18%.

Critic’s Notebook
Go ahead and protest!

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News Dec. 23, 2005

If you haven't already heard of the new NBC series "The Book of Daniel," (which debuts Friday, Jan. 6, at 10 PM ET/PT on NBC) you will. Unfortunately, you might hear about it because I'm positive that certain groups will be protesting it.

This is, to be blunt, just plain stupid. And not just because "Daniel" looks like the best new show of the season.

Not that everyone will like this show, or that you're stupid if you don't. But the goal of people who protest shows is to get them off the air so the rest of us can't make up our own minds.

Why may people be offended? For one thing, the title character is an Episcopal priest (Aidan Quinn) who we often see talking to Jesus.

Clearly, Jesus is a manifestation of Daniel's imagination. More accurately, we're seeing him talk to his own conscience.

But this is the sort of thing that is going to push some people's buttons. In part because some people so enjoy having their buttons pushed and getting upset and offended.

We're going to hear from groups — and you know the kind I'm talking about — that won't like the portrayal of the clergy in "The Book of Daniel." They're going to point out that:

• Daniel is hooked on prescription painkillers.

• His boss, the bishop (Ellen Burstyn), wants him to share the painkillers with her.

• His father, another Episcopal bishop, is an uptight, hard-nosed guy . . . who, as it turns out, is committing adultery.

• When money is embezzled from his church, Daniel turns to his Roman Catholic priest buddy. And the Italian-American priest turns to the mob.

You can see where this is going. How dare they portray the clergy like this!

This is, to be blunt, just plain stupid. These are characters on a show. They don't represent all clergy any more than did Father Guido Sarducci on "Saturday Night Live."

"The Book of Daniel" is fiction. Fiction! It's designed to entertain. Sure, it tackles tough issues, including racism, disease and homophobia, as well as the toughest issue of all — family dynamics. But it does so in a way that's sly, witty and wonderfully entertaining.

At no time does it state, imply or even hint that it represents all members of the clergy. Or even all members of the Episcopal clergy. Or even all members of the Episcopal clergy whose fathers are bishops, mothers have Alzheimer's, wives drink too much and who have children who are (a) selling drugs, (b) gay or (c) adopted from China.

Bill Cosby used to be unfairly criticized because the family on "The Cosby Show" was considerably more upscale and affluent than average African-Americans. Hey, they were considerably more affluent than most Americans. He rightly rejected that criticism, pointing out that his characters didn't represent anything other than themselves.

Do all lawyers shoot their clients the way Denny Crain did on "Boston Legal"? Do all doctors sleep with their bosses the way both Meredith and Cristina have on "Grey's Anatomy"? Does every minister have children who get in as much trouble as the Rev. Eric Camden's kids have on "7th Heaven"?

Are all sportswriters as dimwitted as Ray Barone on "Everybody Loves Raymond"?

No. Not all of them.

They're characters. They don't represent all lawyers, all doctors or all ministers.

There is a flip-side, of course, to the protests that shows like "Married . . . With Children," "NYPD Blue" and "Desperate Housewives" have prompted — all that publicity helped turn those shows into hits.

So, come to think of it, if people in those groups — and you know who your are — want to launch a big protest against "The Book of Daniel," go ahead. Get the show as much publicity as you can.

As long as most of you — the reasonable majority — don't take any of it seriously.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635170806,00.html

Critic’s Notebook
The plot thickens

Now it's not enough to watch your favorite TV show
-- you may soon have to pay to get the full story

By Matthew Gilbert Boston Globe Staff

Madly in love with ''24," or ''Invasion," or ''Prison Break," or ''Family Guy"?

Then get ready to spend more, a lot more, time with it.

In the coming months, you and your TV addiction are going to be reeled into an expanded ''environment" of your favorite network show, one that may require a cover charge for entry into certain exclusive zones.

You'll be invited to visit characters' blogs at MySpace.com, or pay for mobile phone episodes (known as mobisodes), or buy DVD packages and video games containing new and additional plot information. Your once-simple affair with your TV ''story" could have as much to do with your PC, your cellphone, and your DVD player as it does with your TV set.

In other words, your relationship is starting to get complicated. Network TV is becoming only the first step in what is known as a ''TV series." It's becoming an entry point to show-o-spheres, where you not only watch ''24" on Mondays on Fox but you purchase a ''24" DVD set that contains clues to the season's big mysteries.

You not only watch ''Lost" on Wednesdays on ABC but you check into the weekly podcast to hear, say, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje talk about playing Eko. You don't just laugh at ''The Office" on Tuesdays; you laugh at Dwight's blog entries on the NBC site and on MySpace. Recently, ''Invasion" even included a plot in which paranoid Dave was abducted because of his blog, which actually exists on ABC's site. And Neil Patrick Harris's Barney on ''How I Met Your Mother" frequently refers to his blog, which is on the CBS site.

Extras such as commentary and deleted scenes have been with us for years on DVDs, and of course T-shirts and knickknacks are Marketing 101. But now timely information and integral plot and character developments are also becoming available outside of the televised mothership. Last week, for example, Fox announced plans to create new episodes of its animated hit ''Family Guy" exclusively for the Web next year, for a fee.

''Audience viewing habits are evolving," says Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment. ''And to that end, we want to be there with them when they want to view elements of their favorite TV shows." She says viewers are showing increasing loyalty and commitment to their top series, so that they're now more willing to explore beyond what comes to them free from the network.

''We're doing it in drama, comedy, and alternative," Tassler says about CBS's plans to expand on its shows. ''But right now a lot of the stuff is under the cone of silence in the development world."

Last week, the network did announce a deal with Verizon Wireless' V Cast multimedia service that will offer cellphone users previews and original behind-the-scenes material. The price for these snippets has yet to be announced, but in the past, mobisodes, including a series based on Fox's ''The Simple Life," have sold for 99 cents apiece.

Fox's ''24" has been a pioneer of these new content delivery methods. The growing fan loyalty that Tassler mentions is most obvious in a dramatic serial like ''24," as well as ''Lost," ''Invasion," and ''Prison Break." These shows succeed in getting mass audiences to scrutinize every detail on a weekly basis and to go to all ends -- including, now, their video-equipped iPods -- to stay up-to-date. They foster an Internet culture where guesswork, spoilers, and misinformation thrive, and they breed the kinds of viewers willing to pay to know all.

Increasingly, their audiences may divide into circles of knowledge -- old-schoolers who solely rely on the weekly ad-driven freebie; those who pursue free plot and character news in other media; and those who pursue with their wallets open.

''I'm personally very interested in this re-forming television model, that things are happening technologically that are changing . . . the way we consume our entertainment," says Howard Gordon, one of the ''24" executive producers. ''And '24' is particularly right for [experimentation] both in terms of its serialized nature but also because it is a high-tech kind of show, so that the gadgetry and the feeling of it lends itself to things like mobisodes and [video] games."

The new season four DVD set of ''24" offers a prequel to season five that will not air on TV, even while it illuminates Jack Bauer's story line. (Season five premieres with a two-hour special on Jan. 15.) The short, about 12 minutes long, gives us Kiefer Sutherland's Bauer in a scruffy mullet a year after season four ended and a few months before season five will begin. Skulking around Chicago, supposedly dead, he secretly meets with former CTU colleague Chloe and gets chased by a BMW. You may have been obsessed with ''24" for four seasons, and plan to stay glued to the fifth, but you don't fully know Jack unless you've got the DVDs.

A new ''24" Playstation 2 product, ''24: The Game," will also include exclusive plot information, although in this case the action is set during the interim between seasons two and three. Due in stores on Feb. 28, the game will explain how President Palmer recovered from the attempt on his life, how Jack got involved with the Salazar drug ring, and how Chase came to CTU. This new plot material will be mostly unimportant to those who've kept up with the series; but it may matter to those just now catching up with the show on DVD. Unlike fan fiction, which finds loyal watchers posting their own TV show-related stories online, the game material will be officially authorized.

The makers of ''24" have also put together a series of 24 mobisodes that last a minute apiece and follow a ''24"-like adventure in counterterrorism. The mobisodes, also now available on the season four DVD, take place in Washington, D.C., while the TV series is set in LA. And they only include actors not seen on TV's ''24" -- something that won't change until a business model is developed with acting and writing unions in mind. Producers still haven't determined what fee a TV show's actors and writers would make for participating in mobile material, especially since mobisodes are so new to the market.

''We were very, very specific that the mobisodes had nothing to do with the series," Gordon says, ''except as a feeling, and as a marketing tool more than anything else." But the mobisodes do contain references to the TV plot, with lines such as ''We think this is tied into what happened to Secretary of Defense Heller in Los Angeles this morning."

Are TV viewers about to feel betrayed by their shows? Will their direct and intimate relationship to the narratives of ''24" and ''Family Guy" be tested in the coming years? Mobisodes are in their early stages, both technologically and in terms of public awareness; TV viewers have only recently gotten used to the idea of text voting for reality shows. According to Linda Barrabee, an analyst at the Yankee Group research firm in Boston, ''It's still pretty early in the adoption of these kinds of service on a phone." Of the 194 million cell subscribers in the country, she says, ''under a million are actually watching video on a phone."

But still, the format could evolve into something significantly more than a novelty, Barrabee says, particularly as users can get news and sports on their phones: ''That's what resonates first." She says networks can easily see the great potential of mobile video, since two-thirds of the market already has cellphones and because phones are such personalized items. ''My phone is about me," Barrabee says of our relationships with our cellphones, ''so I should be able to get what I want on my phone."

CBS's Tassler says the network is sensitive to viewers who don't choose to explore their TV shows beyond TV. ''At the same time, we want to make sure that those members of our audience who want to watch more and more content feel satisfied as well, and that we continue to provide them with a fulfilling viewing experience. If there are additional elements online, if there are additional elements on a mobisode, they all have to complement each other but at the same time they have to be stand-alone."

Gordon of ''24" says he is careful not to ''blackmail" the viewer. In his opinion, he says, ''the DVD prequel was never really anything anyone had to hunt down and see to enjoy or understand the season."

''People who go to the trouble of spending money on a DVD are entitled to something more than what everybody got the first time around," he explains. ''So I have no objection in principle to the idea of having something that's exclusive to the DVD. But I think we are very mindful of not leveraging the people who are entitled to see the show for free, of course -- as long as they watch the commercials.

''But the show should stand on its own. That's where all our efforts are. We never do anything that's going to take away from the show."

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/12/18/the_plot_thickens?mode=PF

The TV Column
A Sweet 'Deal' For NBC's Stocking

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 23, 2005; C01

The biggest thing on TV this holiday season?

A new game show on NBC.

In its first three broadcasts, "Deal or No Deal" jumped from just fewer than 12 million viewers Monday to more than 14 million viewers Wednesday.

Hairless, soul-patched, handshake-phobic Howie Mandel hosts the U.S. edition of the European hit, brought to us by Endemol, the company behind "Fear Factor" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." NBC ordered just five episodes of "Deal" and has aired one each weeknight this week at 8.

Competing against holiday fare, "Deal" already has outstripped the 13.8 million viewers of CBS's tear-jerky Christmas flick "The Christmas Blessing" and ABC's weep-fest "Holiday Wishes" episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (13 million).

But "Deal" has a ways to go to beat some of the more traditional Christmas offerings. This year's run of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" clocked nearly 16 million viewers; another CBS Christmas flick, "Silver Bells," scored more than 16 million; and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" had more than 15 million.

That said, the first three nights of "Deal" opened bigger than the first three nights of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" back in the summer of '99.

Unlike "Millionaire" -- an ABC game show that also launched big during a low-wattage time of year -- contestants on "Deal" don't even have to know their left hand from their right. They only need to know how to tell the number 1 from 26 to be able to identify which of 26 sealed briefcases -- containing cash in varying amounts from one penny to $1 million -- he/she wants to select.

The player then tries to eliminate the remaining 25 briefcases, which are opened and the cash amount inside revealed. As each case is opened, the likelihood of the player's case containing big bucks increases or diminishes. After a certain number of cases are opened, "The Bank" offers cash in exchange for the chosen briefcase, and Mandel asks the player, "Deal or no deal?" -- which certainly is no "Is that your final answer?"

As befits a show of this dollar count, each briefcase is guarded carefully by a pretty young thing from the Hooters Modeling Agency, with pouty, come-hither looks and such names as Bonnie-Jill, AJ, Angel and Kristal (and who, in their video bios on NBC's Web site, offer up their ideal first dates, including: front-row tickets to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, "making a connection with someone," and of course: "I'm a wino, I love wine. . . . I don't need a big production, I don't need a movie").

Already, "Deal" has been a Christmas miracle for NBC. Its unveiling delivered an audience increase of about 25 percent, compared with the network's season average at 8 on Mondays.

Tuesday's crowd was up nearly 40 percent, and Wednesday's haul posted an increase of more than 60 percent at 8 for NBC.

Wednesday's audience is, in fact, the network's top non-Olympic result in the hour in nearly four years.

One cautious NBC suit predicted yesterday that last night's rebroadcast of the formidable "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" would slow "Deal's" ratings march. (Note: And he was right: the Thursday ratings were down slightly from Wednesday.)

To which we say: Bah, humbug.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR2005122202152_pf.html

"MSNBC" Becoming "NBC News Channel"?
More MSNBC details

From Michael Learmonth Variety.com

“…Microsoft and NBC created MSNBC as 50-50 joint venture in 1996 and Microsoft spent nearly a billion to help the channel get off the ground and fund its operations through the 1990s.

Negotiations to unwind the complex deal had been ongoing for the past few years. Microsoft was looking to get out of its non-strategic media investments; NBC Universal wanted to more closely integrate the channel into the operations of NBC News.

Microsoft sold online magazine Slate to the Washington Post earlier this year, but by retaining its 50% stake in MSNBC.com, it retains ownership in the faster-growing part of the NBC deal, which gives it a pipeline of exclusive news content for the MSN Web portal…

Under the restructured deal, the cable channel may get a new moniker: NBC News Channel.

The channel has languished in third and sometimes fourth-place in the cable news ratings behind Fox News Channel, CNN and, on occasion, Headline News, but it has made some ratings gains this fall and is now at its closest position to CNN in the 25-54 demographic in three years.

By agreeing to take a controlling stake, NBC Universal also takes on full financial responsibility for the channel, which recently turned profitable.

"This is a huge vote of confidence in the channel," said MSNBC topper Rick Kaplan and NBC News prexy Steve Capus in a memo to staff.

Eager to get a foothold in media in the 90s, Microsoft agreed to an overwhelmingly pro-NBC deal that required that Microsoft finance what became a great asset to NBC -- a fully-distributed cable channel and 24-hour news operation…

Both sides been unhappy with the arrangement over the last few years, but the deal was so complex and iron-clad it took more than a year to come to an agreement on how to undo it.

With full control of the channel, NBC will be able to make moves, such as creating and canceling shows, without consulting Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft…”

NBC Takes Control of MSNBC

By The New York Times December 23, 2005

NBC Universal announced today that it has reached a deal to acquire majority control of MSNBC, the 24-hour cable television news network, from Microsoft.

The transaction could be the first step in ending a nine-year partnership between the companies, and puts NBC squarely in control of the network, which has lagged behind the Fox News Channel and CNN in the ratings race for years. NBC said it has an option to acquire 100 percent of the cable channel within two years.

The deal comes after nearly a year of negotiations to undo the partnership, in which each side was increasingly frustrated with the other. Within NBC, executives complained that they did not have enough control of the network's budget to hire the right talent and market its programs.

Executives at Microsoft have worried that media business is outside their primary mission and may be a black hole. Microsoft sold its stake in Slate, the online magazine, to The Washington Post last year.

Without Microsoft, NBC may change MSNBC's direction as well as its name, analysts have said. Earlier this year, executives at NBC had talked about the prospect of renaming the network. NBC, which is 80 percent owned by General Electric, said today it plans greater integration between MSNBC and NBC News.

"Acquiring a controlling interest in MSNBC will allow us to fully integrate the channel into our News operations and our overall cable platform," Steve Capus, president of NBC News, said in a statement. "MSNBC is a critical component of NBC News' success and has made some key viewership gains in recent months."

But the companies said msnbc.com will be unaffected by the transaction and Microsoft and NBC, which is 80 percent owned by General Electric, will continue to equally own the Internet site.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/23/business/media/23cnd-nbc.html?pagewanted=print

Critic’s Notebook
New CBS anchor: What about Bob?

By Richard Huff New York Daily News TV Editor Friday, December 23rd, 2005

CBS need not look far for a permanent evening news anchor.

They've already found their man - Bob Schieffer.

At least that's what readers of this column said in a highly unscientific poll. They voted overwhelmingly for Schieffer to become the anchor of the flagship CBS broadcast.

"I like Bob Schieffer," wrote Christopher Jusino. "I feel he has been doing an excellent job. I enjoy watching him every night. I actually started watching Ch. 2 just after he started. I hope they keep him on."

Schieffer has been filling in as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" since when Dan Rather stepped down this year. Interestingly, in the past couple of months, the show's viewership has gone up.

"As a longtime NBC/Tom Brokaw man, I have recently switched to watching Bob Schieffer and the CBS news," wrote Dave Field. "He gives the news in an easy, matter-of-fact manner

and seems to be very comfortable and sincere, like he's in my living room talking to me."

Field and others were responding to a question here last week asking who they'd pick for anchor: Schieffer, Lara Logan, Katie Couric or Shepard Smith.

Nearly 75% went for Schieffer. Logan, who has earned her stripes covering Iraq and is my personal favorite, was the runnerup with 13% of the vote.

Couric, who has been mentioned as a successor to Schieffer, was a no-show, as was Smith. John Roberts - who wasn't on the list, though in the past he's been described as a candidate - got a few votes.

And former CNN anchor Aaron Brown also got a vote. But it's Schieffer who has the following.

"Bob Schieffer represents the consummate news professional; he's concise, authentic and credible," wrote Michael Tate.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/377031p-320305c.html

Staying on topic with the “CBS Evening News”…..

Critic’s Notebook
On a roll

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

CBS Evening News will be No. 2 in the ratings by the end of February, (former) executive producer Jim Murphy boldly predicts.

"If they stick to the broadcast the way it is, it will happen. People like the program, they like Bob [interim anchor Bob Schieffer], and they're doing it right."

Murphy's 12-year CBS tenure - the last six as Evening News boss – (came to a close Friday). Rome Hartman of 60 Minutes takes over Jan. 9.

Evening News has lived in the Nielsen basement for almost a decade, behind ”ABC World News Tonight” and No. 1 ”NBC Nightly News”.

But CBS has the Big Mo. Evening News' average of 7.2 million viewers is up 290,000 from last season, CBS says, and the newscast has posted increases for eight of the last nine weeks.

Brian Williams' Nightly News, still tops this season with 9.8 million viewers, is down 590,000. WNT, at 8.7 million viewers, has dropped 480,000.

"I knew this broadcast would work out," says Murphy, 45. "I stuck to my guns about staying with the plan laid down months ago, despite a lot of pressure to keep changing things."

Murphy says he turned down another job from new CBS News president Sean McManus "because I need to do more than this place could offer me... . I'm ready for something else. I've got bigger fish to fry."

In his gut, Murphy says he believes Today's Katie Couric will be CBS's next anchorstar.

"I don't know how she tops what she's done already at NBC. This is one place where she could. She's very capable and smart and good on TV."

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/13461187.htm

What – or Who -- Would You Pick?
The “Hot Off The Press” Best of 2005

It is the end of the year, and the TV columnists have been busy putting together their best and worst lists of 2005.

Why should they have all the fun? Let’s join them.

So, please post your favorites in as many of the the following categories as you would like. (And don't feel obligated to enter any picks in a category which doesn't interest you.)

Your favorite three new network prime-time shows which debuted in antyime in 2005:

Your favorite three new prime-time cable shows:

Your favorite three veteran prime-time shows:

Your favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows:

Your favorite three TV actors:

Your favorite three TV actresses:

Your favorite TV sports production:

Your favorite TV news program or (cable net) as the case may be:

The show the critics most overlook:

The show the critics most over-hype:

The actor who makes you cringe

The actress who makes you cringe

The one show you would hate most to miss – or for your DVR or TiVo to screw up:

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season:

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?


Feel free, if you like, to stay anonymous by sending me a PM – and I’ll be happy to post your choices without your name attached.

Your guilty pleasures will be safe with me!

Holiday Programming
Still Gunning For Action

By Michael Kane New York Post

'You’ll shoot your eye out, kid."

In the beloved holiday movie "A Christmas Story," poor little Ralphie Parker heard those disappointing words over and over from his mom, his school teacher, even from a not-so-jolly department-store Santa.

All 9-year-old Ralphie wanted was an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model BB rifle. Is that so much to ask?

Yet the answer was always the same: "No, kid. You'll shoot your eye out."

By now, you've probably heard that line at least 100 times if your holiday tradition includes the nostalgic 1983 family classic which will again air on TBS on a 24-hour loop beginning at 8 PM ET Saturday.

But just imagine how many times that "shoot your eye out" line has been quoted back to the one-time child star who played the lovable Ralphie, the now 34-year-old Peter Billingsley.

"Especially around this time of year," jokes Billingsley, still a pudgy-cheeked grown-up but much less recognizable, since he swapped his Ralphie glasses for contact lenses. "You'd think I'd be sick of hearing it, but really I'm just thankful I'm known for a good movie not as the kid who ate Pop Rocks and his stomach exploded."

Billingsley will forever be known for the Red Ryder BB gun, and for flipping out on school bully Scut Farkus and for the triple-dog dare scandal at Harding Elementary School, when his pal Flick got his tongue stuck on a frozen flagpole.

But there's a lot you may not know about Billingsley.

Like, did you know he's the great-nephew of TV's June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley) who began acting at age 21/2 in a Geritol commercial before moving on to a string of Hershey spots as Messy Marvin?

Or that when Billingsley was 9 years old, shooting a scene at Madison Square Garden for the film "Paternity," he rubbed Burt Reynolds' head and said, "Hey, big guy" knocking off Reynolds' toupee?

Or that he's now a movie producer and frequent collaborator with close friend Jon Favreau on films like "Zathura," "Made" and the Vince Vaughn-Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy "The Break-Up," due out in June?

Or that in the '90s, the semi-recognizable Billingsley used to get then-struggling actor pals Vaughn and Favreau past the velvet ropes at L.A. nightclubs where all their skirt-chasing glories went directly into Favreau's breakthrough screenplay "Swingers"?

Yes, it's true. In the parlance of "Swingers," Billingsley was "the guy behind the guy behind the guy."

"We'd go up to the bouncers, like seven dudes," he remembers, "and Vince would be like, "Perhaps you know Peter Billingsley from 'A Christmas Story,' and they'd look at each other and then let us through. We worked that scam for a while."

Billingsley was roommates in a house of five that included Vaughn, whom he met shooting an after-school special called "The Fourth Man." Billingsley was the fourth man on a high-school track relay team who (gasp!) took steroids to keep up, and Vaughn played his star teammate.

"There was a whole thing where my dad liked him more than me, because I took after my mother and I was a science kid," laughs Billingsley. "So I started taking steroids to impress my dad."

And the tidy moral of the after-school special?

"I, of course, got the heart condition and the four-page diagnosis from the doctor about how my n - - s were gonna fall off."

Billingsley also soon became a working partner with Favreau, with whom he's also co-produced the roundtable "Dinner for Five" chat show on IFC, and the two became close friends.

"He's an ace in the hole," Favreau says "We went to a USC [football] game this year, and he got us into the coaches' parking lot. The guy at the gate didn't know me, but he recognized Peter. People get a kick out of him."

Although he occasionally pops on screen for cameos, like in the Favreau- directed "Elf," Billingsley says he's most comfortable these days editing and producing.

"It's good to have new challenges," he says, citing the recent sci-fi fantasy "Zathura" in which, by the way, Favreau paid homage to "A Christmas Story" by planting a tacky leg lamp in one background shot.

" 'Zathura' was my first time working with kids," Billingsley says. "And we had sets that were tilting and shaking, and the kids were hanging upside-down from wire harnesses.

"I think that maybe because I was once a kid on set, that gave their parents some comfort. You know, like hey, I turned out OK so they'll turn out OK, too."

Sure, so long as they don't shoot their eyes out.

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/pfriendly_new.php

What – or Who -- Would You Pick?
The “HOTP”Best of 2005

It is the end of the year, and the TV columnists have been busy putting together their best and worst lists of 2005.

Why should they have all the fun? Let’s join them.

So, please post your favorites in as many of the the following categories as you would like. (Please don't feel obligated to enter any picks in a category which doesn't interest you.)

Your favorite three new network prime-time shows Medium, Surface, My Name Is Earl

Your favorite three new primte-time cable shows: Over There, The Closer

Your favorite three veteran prime-time shows: Lost, House, 24

Your favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows: Battlestar Galactica, Rescue Me, The Shield

Your favorite three TV actors: Hugh Laurie, James Spader, William Shatner

Your favorite three TV actresses: Patricia Arquette, Maura Tierney, Mariska Hargitay

Your favorite TV sports production:

Your favorite TV news program or (cable net) as the case may be:

The show the critic’s most overflook: NCIS

The show the critics most over-hype: Commander In Chief

The actor who makes you cringe David Caruso

The actress who makes you cringe Lara Flynn Boyle

The one show you would hate most to miss – or for your DVR or TiVo to screw up: Lost

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season: Alias

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors: Lost

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD? Battlestar Galactica


Feel free, if you like, to stay anonymous by sending me a PM – and I’ll be happy to post your choices without your name attached.

You guilty pleasures will be safe with me!
I have no doubt I'm forgetting something..

Best of 2005
Many Happy Returns: My Other 10-Best List

James Poniewozik Time Magazine TV Critic Friday, Dec. 23, 2005

The dirty secret of my annual top 10 TV shows list is that it is not really a top 10 TV shows list. Like TIME TV critics before me, I concentrate on new shows and series, on the theory that a list of the straight-out best shows would include, say, Lost or South Park every year, and thus be insufferably boring. Not too boring for a blog, though!

In the interest of completism, here are 10 more reasons for you to believe I know nothing about TV, a.k.a., my Top 10 Returning Shows of 2005:

Lost (ABC)
By rights this show should have jumped the shark. (An underground doomsday machine? Sawyer pulling a bullet out of his arm?) Instead, it leaps onto the shark's fin and back, daring the damn thing
to bite. It's the TV equivalent of The Lord of the Rings: with a vast cast and branching story, it invites obsession while also entertaining casual viewers. It's the biggest little cult show on TV.

Deadwood (HBO)
Still great the second time around, David Milch's poetic saga of the brackish pool in which the West was spawned reached new heights of intrigue and poetry, as it explored the incursion
of big business into the frontier gold trade and gave new depth to peripheral characters like Joanie Stubbs (Kim Dickens).

Arrested Development (Fox)
Its third, attenuated, and, without divine (or Showtime's) intervention, last season has been uneven (the Charlize Theron subplot was too much hooey for an admittedly funny payoff), but this is still the bust-a-gut funniest sitcom going. Going, gone?

Veronica Mars (UPN)
A worthy, more minor-key successor to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this high-school mystery is a suspenseful study of how all the unfairnesses of life -- class divides, bigotry, corruption -- play out both in the larger world and in the microcosm of school. It also features the best, most believable father-daughter relationship in primetime.

Entourage (HBO)
Largely because the producer realized this is really The Ari Gold Show and let Jeremy Piven run with his character, the second season went from decent diversion to addiction. Week after week, it corrupts me expertly, making me root for Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) to sell out and make that crappy Aquaman movie I'm sure I'd never actually watch in real life, so I can keep tagging along on his
trip through movie-money Babylon.

American Idol (Fox)
The producers are probably starting to exhaust the talent of America's amateur singers -- no one has yet outdone Kelly Clarkson from season 1 -- and yet it doesn't matter. Raising the age limit was a good move, however, allowing in the more interesting likes of Bo Bice, who could soing a Lynyrd Skynyrd song and make you believe he had heard the band once or twice in his life.

Six Feet Under (HBO)
This series sometimes meandered, wallowed, and detoured down fruitless cul-de-sacs, but the last few episodes utterly redeemed it, taking vviewers through the same mourning process that this
about the funereal Fischer family was based on. Burying not only Nate (Peter Krause) but every other major character in an over-the-top, but haunting, elegiac coda, SFU joined the ranks of the few TV series to go out at their peak.

Rescue Me (FX)
In its second season Denis Leary's comedy-drama went from being just That 9/11 Show to a funny, poignant, searing look at what men do to screw themselves up. Offensive, scathing and soaked in
guilty Irish Catholicism, few shows as well embody their creator's voice as Rescue Me does Leary's.

The Shield (FX)
Casting a big movie star is a stunt that aging shows will sometimes use to revive interest. This time, it worked not just commercially but creatively. As a principled, bull-headed and un-PC police captain, Glenn Close was a perfect complement--and foil--to Michael Chiklis' loose cannon Vic Mackey. Anthony Anderson stood out too, in an against-type villain role that, any other season, would have
stolen the show.

South Park (Comedy Central)
The Daily Show gets all the buzz nowadays, but this is still Comedy Central''s funniest and most incisive parody of current events. Each season, its satire not only gets sharper, its characters become better drawn. If a cartoon sitcom can leave me genuinely moved over an episode involving a leather-bound masochist named Mr. Slave, something is deeply right with it. Or deeply wrong with
me. Take your pick.

(For James Poniewozik's "other" list, see below.)

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

Best of 2005
Best New Shows of 2005

James Poniewozik Time Magazine TV Critic

CBS makes our television critic's list this year with How I Met Your Mother

-1-Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi)

Most of you probably think this entry has got to be a joke. The rest of you have actually watched the show. Adapted from a cheesy '70s Star Wars clone of the same name, Galactica (returning in January) is a ripping sci-fi allegory of the war on terror, complete with religious fundamentalists (here, genocidal robots called Cylons), sleeper cells, civil-liberties crackdowns and even a prisoner-torture scandal. The basic-cable budget sometimes shows in the production, but the writing and performances are first-class, especially Edward James Olmos as the noble but authoritarian commander in charge of saving the last remnants of humanity. Laugh if you want, but this story of enemies within is dead serious, and seriously good.

-2-The Office (NBC)

Last year I put the finale of the BBC's The Office on my top 10 list, after putting the original series on my list in 2003. "NBC is working on an adaptation for next year," I wrote. "If they can find the American equivalent of this comedy of quiet desperation, it'll be welcome on next year's list too." They did, and it is. Naysayers who complained that this version wasn't as dark as the British one, or that Steve Carell's boss wasn't as tragicomic as Ricky Gervais', missed the point. Producer Greg Daniels created not a copy but an interpretation that sends up distinctly American work conventions (the staff party at Chili's, the mandated diversity seminar), with a tone that's more satiric and less mordant. We Americans are different that way; sorry if that bugs you. The new boss is different from the old boss, and that's fine by me.

-3-Weeds (Showtime)

When you're slinging pot in your suburban neighborhood to support your kids on your dead husband's meager insurance payout--that's when you can call yourself a desperate housewife. Mary-Louise Parker gave a performance so human and conflicted, you could practically see the needle of her moral compass spinning. Creator Jenji Kohan's writing put the new in nuance, as she drew not only Parker but her various upscale associates (including a surprisingly appealing Kevin Nealon as a stoner accountant) in a way that neither judged nor let them off the hook. The best comic suburban soap on TV, ounce for ounce.

-4-Sometimes in April (HBO)

Next time someone tells you TV is a poor cousin to the movies, show them Hotel Rwanda, then this harrowing, complex story of the same genocide--if they can stand it. Don Cheadle's performance notwithstanding, Hotel Rwanda ultimately fell back on the Schindler's-List template of one-good-man-against-the-world Hollywood uplift. April was unsparing, without being gratuitous, in showing how horrific yet casual the violence was, and Idris Elba (The Wire) was stunning as a Rwandan officer who came to see the light too late to save his mixed-ethnicity family. Equally important, this movie explored the important -- if sometimes impossible -- process of reconciliation and justice in present-day Rwanda. I doubt I could bear watching this movie a second time, but I'm grateful to have seen it once.

-5-Project Runway (Bravo)

One of the hardest things to portray in fiction is the creative process; it's more interesting to watch, say, Jackson Pollack empty a whiskey bottle than a tube of paint. But somehow, this gimmicky, bitchy, wonderful reality show pulled it off, by challenging a set of aspiring fashion designers to do things like make a garment out of products from a grocery store (the corn-husk dress won). Unlike so many reality game shows, Runway actually cast intelligent, interesting creative people interested in doing good work in their field rather than media whores out to become future Style channel hosts. If you missed the first season, the second is just getting started. As model/host Heidi Klum would say, this show is een.

-6-Wonder Showzen (MTV2)

What does it take to get a person on the street to tell a cute hand puppet to ____ off? This and other imponderables were answered by this twisted kids'-show parody, inexplicably relegated to MTV's satellite channel, orbiting the frozen outer reaches of digital cable. From man-on-the-street interviews by an obnoxious puppet to an adorable child asking a butcher, "Who's going to pay for these steaks... I mean, spiritually?" this show is a hilarious, disturbing trip far away from Elmo's World.

-7-The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)

By rights, this spinoff of Stephen Colbert's supercilious Daily Show correspondent character should have have one good week in it, two, tops. But sharp writing and Colbert's wholehearted inhabiting of his blowhard alter ego showed that there's as much potential in mocking cable opinion shows as in the news itself. Like The Daily Show, the show is uneven -- between the pair, you've got 14 minutes of solid comedy every night -- but it's worth catching for Colbert's nightly editorial, "The Wørd," in which his bluster is counterpointed by commentary from the on-screen graphics. This is a worthy second half to a media-savvy Daily Double.

-8-How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

Five witty, good-looking young people dating, hanging out and trading quips in Manhattan. It's a revolutionary idea for a sitcom--in 1994. Overshadowed by more distinctive sitcom debuts this fall (see #10), Mother does for the young-urbans comedy what Everybody Loves Raymond did for the bickering-in-laws genre: proves that originality isn't everything. The gimmicky hook--narrator looks back on his courtship from 25 years in the future--is a distraction; what stands out is the crackling dialogue and rapport among the ensemble cast. (When Neal Patrick Harris isn't slipping the show into his tailored breast pocket, Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan are so cute you could sprinkle powdered sugar on them and pop them in your mouth.) Mother feels like it's been on for years, and I mean that in a good way; you sense that, just a few epsiodes into the show's run, the writers know these characters inside and out. I can't pretend this is anything but a well-executed Friends ripoff. But I'll be there for them anyway.

-9-Prison Break (Fox)

Breakout drama, indeed. The most addictively cockamamie new show of the year, this thriller is paranoid and far-fetched enough to make 24 play like the 9/11 commission report. Combining an old-fashioned escape story with a timely story of oil, lies and conspiracy in the government, Prison Break takes your sense of skepticism and plunges a shank into it. The drama knows how to build and maintain suspense, and nowhere is that better embodied than in star Wentworth Miller--an inmate with his escape plan tattooed in code on his torso--who after 13 episodes seemed tense enough to crack walnuts behind his ears. With the titular breakout under way on the show (it returns in March to resolve its cliffhanger ending), it's unclear where it can go in a second season. But for now I'll follow wherever Miller's tattoo leads.

-10-Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) & My Name Is Earl (NBC) [tie]

Why a tie? Because I don't have 11 slots and can't make a damn decision. But also because these sitcoms deserve to be considered together. Both shows proved a network sitcom could be both good and popular. Each show had a distinctive voice: on Earl, that of a good-at-heart petty crook (Jason Lee) trying to make his life right, on Chris, the hard-edged nostalgia of narrator Chris Rock, looking back on his childhood in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. They share another, less fortunate attribute: neither show has developed its characters much beyond their hilarious but cartoony pilots, and if they had, they'd be higher on this list. But after years in which sitcoms have been either bad or cancelled, I'll take my laughs however I can get them.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/printout/0,8816,1141640,00.html

Best of 2005
Best Bew Shows of 2005

James Poniewozik Time Magazine TV Critic

CBS makes our television critic's list this year with How I Met Your Mother

-1-Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi)


Where has this guy been? BG premiered with the mini-series 12/03, with the regular episodes starting 10/04.

P.S. I knew I would forget something, don't know how I could have left "The Wire" off my list.

Your favorite three new network prime-time shows which debuted in anytime in 2005:
My Name is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris, and Prison Break

Your favorite three new prime-time cable shows:
Closer, Over There, Always Sunny in Phili

Your favorite three veteran prime-time shows:
Veronica Mars, Arrested Development, NCIS

Your favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows:
The Wire, The Shield, Rescue Me

Your favorite three TV actors:
Hugh Laurie, Jason Lee, Zack Braff

Your favorite three TV actresses:
Kristen Bell, Jenna Fisher (Pam from the Office), Sandra Oh

Your favorite TV sports production:
NHL on HDNet

Your favorite TV news program or (cable net) as the case may be:
CBS Evening News

The show the critic’s most overlook:
How I met your mother

The show the critics most over-hype:
desperate housewives

The actor who makes you cringe
Matt Leblanc, William Shatner, Jeremy Piven

The actress who makes you cringe
Jill Hennessy, Debra Messing, Jennifer Love Hewitt

The one show you would hate most to miss – or for your DVR or TiVo to screw up:
veronica Mars

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season:
Lost

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:
Most sports, NFL, NHL, MLB.

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?
veronica mars

Microsoft Quits MSNBC TV, but Web Partnership Remains

By Bill Carter The New York Times December 24, 2005

Ending a partnership that soured long ago, Microsoft and NBC announced yesterday that they would dissolve their joint ownership of the cable news channel MSNBC, with NBC taking control.

NBC has completed a deal to assume majority control of the channel immediately, with an 82 percent stake, and it will become the sole owner within two years, NBC executives said yesterday. The two companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal.

But the partners will continue their 50-50 ownership of the MSNBC Web site, which, partly as a consequence of its affiliation with Microsoft, is the most-used news site on the Internet.

The news channel, which began in 1995, has always been more of the problem child in the partnership, almost always trailing the other two news channels, Fox News and CNN, in audience ratings.

More seriously, the financial arrangement that set the channel up in 1995 had become a bone of contention between the partners, with Microsoft feeling it had paid, and was continuing to pay, far too much.

With this dissension as a backdrop, the dissolution of the mutual ownership of the cable channel has been anticipated for some time, though NBC executives on occasion tried to put down rumors that a breakup was imminent.

The less-than-celebratory nature of the breakup seemed to be underscored by the timing of the announcement. NBC and Microsoft released the news at 8 a.m. yesterday, the Friday before Christmas, when the offices of both companies were already closed for the holiday weekend.

Of the two contacts listed on the release, one, from NBC, had a message on her office phone number saying she would be gone until Tuesday, and the other, from Microsoft, was at an airport with two toddlers ready to fly home for the holiday.

That spokeswoman, Kristen Batch, from a public relations firm, Waggener, Edstrom, said Microsoft executives would have no comment anyway, beyond what was said in the official news release.

In the release, a Microsoft executive, Bruce Jaffe, mentioned only the continuing partnership on the Web site and said nothing about the decision to walk away from the cable channel.

Microsoft has made no secret of its lack of enthusiasm for the cable channel. In 2002, Steven A. Ballmer, the company's chief executive, said publicly that if Microsoft had an opportunity to turn back time, it would never have gone through with the deal for MSNBC. Microsoft agreed to a 99-year partnership, put up a reported $500 million, and then committed to paying NBC about $30 million a year in license fees.

Reached at home yesterday, Julie Summersgill, a corporate spokeswoman for NBC, said that despite the timing, the companies were not trying to bury the news on the slowest news weekend of the year. It simply worked out that way, she said.

"Ideally, we would have put this out on Tuesday," Ms. Summersgill said. The deal was completed late Wednesday night, but neither company could apparently manage to prepare an announcement in time to be released Thursday.

Executives at NBC News professed enthusiasm about the opportunity to run the channel on their own. Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, said in a statement that the deal would permit NBC to "fully integrate the channel into our news operations." But NBC executives have said for years that Microsoft never had any editorial control of the channel.

NBC News executives have said they were encouraged lately by some ratings gains, especially in prime time. And they have said they continued to believe that the news channel gives NBC a sizable advantage over CBS News and ABC News, neither of which has a 24-hour cable news channel.

One looming question is whether the channel's name will be changed, now that MSNBC has no association with Microsoft. The Web site will retain the name.

Ms. Summersgill said, "Nobody is talking about things like a name change for the channel right now."

Microsoft sold Slate, its online magazine, to The Washington Post last year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/24/business/media/24msnbc.html?pagewanted=print

Critic’s Notebook
A Game Show for the Probabilities Theorist in Us All

By Virginia Heffernan The New York Times December 24, 2005

A fascinating spectrum of both magical and strategic thinking about numbers has been on display this week on "Deal or No Deal," NBC's mind-bending nightly game show. As trembling contestants have made bird-in-the-hand gambles for high stakes, viewers have been treated to opinions about probability that range from the simple-minded to the grandiose. One man in the audience shouted, "Eight is my lucky number!" while another declaimed, "The race is not won to the swift, but he who endures to the end!"

"Deal or No Deal" is the invention of Endemol, the Dutch production company behind "Big Brother"; versions of the glitzy and ingenious show appear in some 38 countries, including, now, the United States, where the week's run was ably supervised by Howie Mandel as its host. After strong ratings, NBC has ordered more episodes.

Numbers fiends of every variety should take a look: the exact logic of the game is maddeningly elusive. Whether it might even be a perfect game, in fact, was a subject of real dispute when I watched; some at my house proposed that it might genuinely reward intelligence, being the product of a probability calculus that a sharp contestant might actually divine. Others believed that the game advanced with the goal only of being entertaining, that it had psychological - but not logical - coherence.

By now "Deal or No Deal" needs to be explained, which can only detract from the fun. Here we go: Twenty-six briefcases are distributed to 26 models before the show begins. Each case contains a paper listing a different dollar amount, from one penny to $1 million. At the start of the game, a contestant chooses one case, which becomes his; he is then allowed to see the sums in six of the remaining cases. After these have been disclosed, a mysterious figure known as the Banker calls the set, offering to buy the contestant's case for a sum derived, somehow, from the cash amounts that are still unrevealed.

The contestant can take the offer and cash out, or move on to the next round, during which he's allowed to open five more briefcases before the Banker's next offer. The second offer might exceed or fall short of the first offer, but it clearly reflects the newly adjusted odds about what the contestant is holding. If the contestant refuses it, he requests to see the contents of four, three, two, and then one more case, with offers from the Banker coming at the end of each round. Each time the contestant can accept and end the game, or proceed to the next round. If he doesn't accept any of the offers, he is left with the sum in his own case.

How the Banker arrives at his offers is the mathematical mystery of the game. As in many games, the offers seem based on the principle of mathematical expectation: the price of a given chance at winning a given amount. But mathematical expectation is a specific calculus: if your chances of winning $1 million are one in a million, for example, it is reasonable to pay $1 for a lottery ticket, but not $2. And the Banker does not appear to use that exact equation.

Is it wise to take a bank offer when it's below the mathematical expectation, as it always seems to be? As the game goes on, the offers asymptotically approach mathematical expectation; maybe contestants should wait. Or maybe there's another calculation involved, one that, if you could do it in your head, would allow you to outthink the Banker.

Alternatively, it's possible that the bank offers are not strictly mathematically derived, but made with a view to the contestant's psychology. After all, the Banker can be seen in silhouette, surveying the proceedings. Maybe he's just trying to jack up suspense to make the game more fun to watch.

This suspicion typically hovers around sloppier reality competitions: Did those aspiring models/designers/apprentices genuinely "fail" their challenges, or were they eliminated merely to make the show more engaging? On "Deal or No Deal," where the challenges appear more objective, the question is: Can this game be, if not beaten, at least played with the head and not solely with the heart?

So far, no game theorist from the Institute for Advanced Study has appeared to try his hand at "Deal or No Deal," and play as a cool-headed rationalist. Instead, the players on the American show are, like most game-show contestants, hysterics. They scream and jump around, tearfully consulting with loved ones who are ceremoniously called to the stage. In general, they claim to make their selections on good feelings or lucky numbers or all manner of superstition.

The show encourages this woolly numerology, personifying the numbers of the suitcases by identifying them with the scantily dressed models holding them. Contestants implore the models, by name, to be "good" to them by revealing the low numbers that lead the Banker to increase his buy-out offer. They also form attachments to the cases they select in the beginning, seeing "faith" in that case as something to be cultivated.

On the other hand, these people aren't stupid. And they're not immune to the lure of a sure thing. As one contestant's mother told her, looking at a decent six-figure offer: "The million dollars is a great American dream, but America was made by working hard, and that's four years of wages and salary!" (The girl proceeded to gamble anyway.)

Fittingly, the American contestants on this international show reveal themselves to be pragmatists, willing to change creeds based on what works. The man who had initially counseled endurance eventually begged his brother to cut and run - take the Banker's $67,000 offer. The brother refused, announcing that risk-taking was in his genes. The next time around, he was offered $99,000 to quit. Emotions ran high.

"I am my father's child!" the contestant shouted proudly. Then he hesitated. "But I'm no damn fool!" he cried.

He smiled broadly. "Deal," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/24/arts/television/24heff.html?pagewanted=print

Where has this guy been? BG premiered with the mini-series 12/03, with the regular episodes starting 10/04.

P.S. I knew I would forget something, don't know how I could have left "The Wire" off my list.


It is my fault -- as he explained, the list tends to be new shows only. I am responsible for the headline in this case.

(I added The Wire to the tally)

:)

Holiday Programming
It won't roast chestnuts, but the TV log catches fire

First televised in 1966, the Christmas Day video wallpaper inspires a host of imitators

By Aimee Picchi Bloomberg News December 24, 2005

This is the year Kevin Tietjen, a New York City native living in Connecticut, plans to introduce his 5-year-old son to a Christmas tradition from his childhood: opening presents in the glow of a crackling fire beamed into homes by television station WPIX.

"You turned this thing on, they had Christmas carols playing in the background," remembers Tietjen, 38, a risk consultant in New York. "And because we didn't have a fireplace, the whole concept of the Yule Log was pretty cool."

The televised Yule Log, a recurring seven-minute video that debuted on the station in 1966, is gaining renewed popularity since returning to the air in 2001 after a 10-year hiatus. Last year's four-hour broadcast drew a bigger audience than WNBC's Christmas Mass at Washington National Cathedral, according to New York-based Nielsen Media Research.

Success has spawned knockoffs. More than half a dozen DVD imitators, such as "The Happy Holiday Hearth," are sold on Amazon.com. In Demand Networks, a high-definition cable broadcaster, will air an eight-hour broadcast of a digitally enhanced fireplace on its INHD2 network.

Other TV stations around the country are following suit, including KCAL-TV Channel 9 in Southern California, which will be burning the log from 6 to 10 a.m. Sunday.

WPIX brought back the log after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that leveled the World Trade Center in Manhattan, says Bob Marra, the station's director of sales.

"We said, 'What can we do to get people feeling good about themselves?' " Marra says. "It's all about tradition."

The biggest issue for In Demand was the music backing the burning log. The network switched to orchestral arrangements of Christmas carols last year after using synthesizer music during the Yule Log's debut in 2003, says Jason Patton, vice president of business development.

"There is a passionate group of Yule Log fans, and on Dec. 25, 2003, we got all sorts of comments on Internet message boards saying, 'I loved the Yule Log, but the music [was terrible],' " he says. Of WPIX's broadcast, Patton says, "They are the most famous, but we think we have the best."

While hypnotic TV isn't limited to burning fireplaces — Amazon.com sells DVDs of fish tanks, waves crashing on beaches and snow falling — the Yule Log holds a special place for viewers such as Robert Thompson, popular culture professor at Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y.

"There are a lot of people who grew up in New York City who don't recall a world without the Yule Log on their TV set at Christmas," says Thompson, who taped the show with his first VCR in the 1980s. "There's something as ancient about it as an actual log in a fireplace. I find it extraordinarily soothing."

Christmas television viewing tends to be lower than on other days, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. About 50.7 million people watched TV in the U.S. on Dec. 25, about 7% fewer viewers than on a typical day.

Although holiday staffing at WPIX is lighter than usual, "if anything, the log requires extra care and attention on Christmas morning," O'Neil says. The station prepares multiple backup tapes in case of problems, she says.

"Maybe the allure of the Yule Log is that it's not overproduced," Tietjen says. "If they could figure out a way to throw off heat, it'd be perfect."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-yulelog24dec24,0,7823760.story?coll=cl-tvent

Download a portable yule log to your iPod:
http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-wpix-yulelog-download,0,1340707.htmlstory

Here come the telenovelas
Spanish-language shows will get an English translation

By Suzanne C. Ryan The Boston Globe Saturday, December 24, 2005

Three years ago, media advocacy groups blasted the Spanish-language television networks Univision and Telemundo for broadcasting cheesy prime-time soap operas, or "telenovelas," to American viewers, rather than creating the kinds of dramas and sitcoms found on English-language TV.

At the time, Univision and Telemundo said the sexy telenovelas, which date back to the '50s, were a cultural phenomenon, too successful to give up.

Now, in a surprising turn, some English-language networks have decided telenovelas might work for them, too.

CBS confirmed this week that it's developing five English-language telenovela projects with the objective of broadcasting one in prime time this summer. That one-hour program will be closed-ended, concluding in 13 weeks. Like all telenovelas, it will air multiple times each week, CBS said.

"We're mixing up the format, looking to do something different," said CBS spokesman Phil Gonzalez. He said no air dates or cast members have been selected yet.

Twentieth Television also is developing a franchise of telenovelas called "Desire," which will use scripts from established programs in Latin America. Those dramas will be rewritten in English and edited to reflect American culture. They'll air next fall as syndicated programs on Fox owned-and-operated stations, the production company said.

"Table for Three," which airs in Colombia, will follow the story of two brothers in love with the same woman. The siblings will engage in murder and deceit and eventually a family will be destroyed.

"Fashion House," a program popular in Cuba, will explore the ugly side of the fashion industry.

Other telenovelas are in the works. Twentieth Television said it hopes to produce at least three per year. The stories will consist of 65 one-hour episodes, airing Monday through Friday over 13 weeks.

Bob Cook, the production company's president, said the telenovela has a "stellar track record in securing a passionate and loyal audience. We feel the U.S. market for English-language telenovelas presents a unique opportunity ... to establish a foothold in this exciting and emerging genre."

Telenovelas are literally novels on television, said Tomas Lopez-Pumarejo, author of "Aproximacion a la Telenovela" or "Approaching the Telenovela." Unlike American soap operas, telenovelas often air five nights a week and always conclude over a given period, he said.

Their outrageous stories typically revolve around two or three people and a host of side characters. Telemundo, for example, has "El Cuerpo del Deseo" or "The Body of Desire," which follows the tale of a young woman who marries a rich man for money. She and her lover murder the husband, but the husband is reincarnated in the body of a younger, sexier man who seeks revenge.

Sometimes, the story lines can be very political, said Lopez-Pumarejo, who is a professor of economics at Brooklyn College in New York. "Telemundo produced one focused on Mexican immigrants," he said. "It showed characters watching a clip of President Bush talking about immigration policy on television."

How the other major networks will approach the English-language versions isn't known. But CBS's embrace of the genre comes months after Univision made headlines last summer when it outpaced all English-language broadcast competitors in the coveted 18-to-34-year-old demographic. That ratings high lasted just one week, June 27 to July 3, and it came during a time of heavy reruns in the industry. Nevertheless, it was unprecedented.

During the summer, networks traditionally have relied on reality shows to fill their schedules, in part because they're cheaper to produce, and because historically some have become hits, including last year's "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC.

As the reality genre fades, however, and melodramatic programs such as "Desperate Housewives" create buzz, telenovelas have become appealing, said Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, a Los Angeles-based advocacy group.

" 'Desperate Housewives' is a telenovela, essentially," he said. "Viewers are already used to outrageous things happening within the hour. ... CBS and other networks are looking at the fact that the telenovela is king in Mexico and other countries south. CBS is saying, 'Hey, if it works there, let's do it.' "

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/253246_tvtelenovelas24.html

Remembering 2005 in TV
Death, controversy caught television's lens

By Dusty Saunders (Denver) Rocky Mountain News December 24, 2005

It's a sign of our violent times when a look back at the 2005 broadcasting year concentrates on death.

Television, particularly cable, continued to concentrate on the bloody war in Iraq.

But even that controversial conflict was relegated to secondary status in August when Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and other southeastern gulf areas.

The death of Pope John Paul in April, while not unexpected, produced several days of ongoing coverage.

Death also was the major headline in stories about two notable personalities - Johnny Carson, 79, who died of complications from emphysema in January, and ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, who succumbed to lung cancer in August.

Jennings' death headlined a year of changes at the network anchor desks, with CBS News' Dan Rather departing in March and Ted Koppel leaving ABC News' Nightline after 25 years in November.

In the entertainment arena, NBC, for the first time in 20 years, finished fourth behind CBS, ABC and Fox in key audience ratings.

CBS became the most- watched network, based, to a major degree, on the popularity of cadaver-cutting CSI-type series.

ABC bounced out of the doldrums with the continuing popularity of major hits Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy.

When American Idol was aired, the Fox talent show was the most-watched program on all the networks.

Reality programming chugged along without a major new hit. Survivor remained the most popular of the genre.

The year brought the end of two long-running series, ABC's NYPD Blue (12 seasons) and CBS' Everybody Loves Raymond (nine).

HBO again dominated the Emmy awards (27), with films like Warm Springs, The Life and Death Peter Sellers and Lackawanna Blues producing statues to go along with strong audience support.

On basic cable, FX became the most-talked-about network with push-the-envelope drama series The Shield, Rescue Me, Nip/ Tuck and Over There.

The major news on the crowded sports scene was the decision to move Monday Night Football, an ABC staple since 1970, to ESPN, starting next September.

NBC, out of the NFL picture for eight seasons, will produce Sunday Night Football, beginning in the fall.

Behind the scenes, the "family values" debate, started in early 2004 with the Janet Jackson fiasco during the Super Bowl, continued with various groups pushing for more federal policing of TV content.

Among the numerous proposals: an a la carte cable-TV schedule for households not wanting violent or sexually-oriented programming.

Anchors away
Who's the "dean" of network news anchors? Brian Williams of the NBC Nightly News, who holds that distinction after having the job slightly more than a year. After two decades of stability, network news underwent major changes in 2005.
• CBS' Dan Rather, under heavy criticism for a 60 Minutes II report about President Bush's national guard service during the Vietnam War, was replaced in March after 24 years. His temporary replacement: Bob Schieffer. A rumored full-time replacement: Today's Katie Couric.
• ABC's Peter Jennings, a victim of lung cancer in August, will be replaced in early January by the weeknight duo of Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff.
• ABC's Ted Koppel signed off on Nightline in November after 25 years as the main anchor of the late-night news half-hour. His future: Probably as a news documentary anchor with HBO. His replacements: the trio of Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Martin Bashir.
• NBC's Williams replaced Tom Brokaw in December 2004.
http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_84_128,00.html

“Monday Night Football" Announcers Through the Years

• 1970: Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, Howard Cosell
• 1971-73: Frank Gifford, Meredith, Cosell
• 1974: Gifford, Cosell, Alex Karras, Fred Williamson
• 1975-76: Gifford, Cosell, Karras
• 1977-78: Gifford, Cosell, Meredith
• 1979-82: Gifford, Cosell, Meredith, Fran Tarkenton
• 1983: Gifford, Cosell, Meredith, O.J. Simpson
• 1984: Gifford, Meredith, Simpson
• 1985: Gifford, Simpson, Joe Namath
• 1986: Al Michaels, Gifford
• 1987-93: Michaels, Gifford, Dan Dierdorf
• 1994-96: Michaels, Gifford, Dierdorf, Lynn Swann
• 1997: Michaels, Gifford, Dierdorf, Lesley Visser
• 1998: Michaels, Dierdorf, Boomer Esiason, Visser
• 1999: Michaels, Esiason, Visser
• 2000-01: Michaels, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller, Melissa Stark, Eric Dickerson
• 2002: Michaels, John Madden, Stark
• 2003: Michaels, Madden, Lisa Guerrero
• 2004: Michaels, Madden, Michele Tafoya
• 2005: Michaels, Madden, Tafoya/Sam Ryan #
# — Replacement during Tafoya's pregnancy/maternity leave
Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/mccarthy/2005-12-23-mccarthy-mnf_x.htm

With both major holidays coming on the same day this year, let me wish you all a

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S !

H A P P Y C H A N U K A H!

Or, if you prefer:

H A P P Y H O L I D A Y S!

It is my hope that however you celebrate this season you will find joy, warmth, comfort and love with family, friends and those who are special in your life.

As usual, this “Hot Off The Press” thread will continue to be updated throughout the holiday season, so I hope you will make it a point to check in periodically to see what is going on in the world of television. I get really depressed when the page views drop off dramatically!

So please take a moment, now and then, between egg nogs, football, or any festive family obligations, and check out the thread.

haha thanks Fredfa

“Monday Night Football" Announcers Through the Years

• 1970: Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, Howard Cosell
• 1971-73: Frank Gifford, Meredith, Cosell
• 1974: Gifford, Cosell, Alex Karras, Fred Williamson
• 1975-76: Gifford, Cosell, Karras
• 1977-78: Gifford, Cosell, Meredith
• 1979-82: Gifford, Cosell, Meredith, Fran Tarkenton
• 1983: Gifford, Cosell, Meredith, O.J. Simpson
• 1984: Gifford, Meredith, Simpson
• 1985: Gifford, Simpson, Joe Namath
• 1986: Al Michaels, Gifford
• 1987-93: Michaels, Gifford, Dan Dierdorf
• 1994-96: Michaels, Gifford, Dierdorf, Lynn Swann
• 1997: Michaels, Gifford, Dierdorf, Lesley Visser
• 1998: Michaels, Dierdorf, Boomer Esiason, Visser
• 1999: Michaels, Esiason, Visser
• 2000-01: Michaels, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller, Melissa Stark, Eric Dickerson
• 2002: Michaels, John Madden, Stark
• 2003: Michaels, Madden, Lisa Guerrero
• 2004: Michaels, Madden, Michele Tafoya
• 2005: Michaels, Madden, Tafoya/Sam Ryan #
# — Replacement during Tafoya's pregnancy/maternity leave
Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/mccarthy/2005-12-23-mccarthy-mnf_x.htm

I liked 2000-2001 the best, but I guess I was in the minority.

I thought there was nothing like Gifford, Meredith and Cosell, myself.

Holiday Programming
Our holiday evergreens

By David Bianculli New York Daily News TV Editor

Forty years ago, when CBS broadcast for the first time, Charles M. Schulz's animated special drew 15.4 million viewers and was the second-most popular show of the week.

When ABC rebroadcast the same special earlier this month, it drew 15.3 million viewers, and was ranked eighth for the week. In other words, a TV special first shown during the Lyndon Johnson administration is as popular now as it was then.

Why?

One, because it's great - the single best holiday special ever made, with wonderful music and a wonder-filled message.

At an overly sensitive time, when Amy Poehler, on[B] "Saturday Night Live," notes wryly that "There are just seven more shopping days till holiday," the meaning of Christmas as explained by Linus is as welcome on TV as it is rare.

But "A Charlie Brown Christmas" also endures because it's always been available, shown annually by either CBS or ABC since its inception. Yesterday's kids, now parents and grandparents, show it to their own young ones in one of the few remaining TV rituals. The show's longevity is a holiday treat - and a relative rarity.

"Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" deserves to be treasured almost as much, but the 1962 animated classic is rescued from oblivion just once this year - Saturday at noon ET/9 AM PT on Cartoon Network. And while "It's a Wonderful Life" gets its second of two annual NBC showings (Saturday) at 8 PM ET/PT, that 1946 movie, starring Jimmy Stewart, is less of a network holiday fixture than it once was. For a while, "Wonderful Life" was shown by any station that owned a print, once the copyright lapsed in the mid-'70s.

"Suddenly," writes Diane Werts in her new "Christmas on Television" book, "a crazy quilt of local network stations, PBS affiliates, and anybody else with a video signal was throwing the James Stewart feature onto its schedule, seemingly for days and nights on end throughout the Christmas season."

The modern equivalent to that kind of overexposure, in a more concentrated dose, can be seen on cable. Beginning (Saturday) night at 8 PM ET, TBS repeats 1983's "A Christmas Story" for 24 straight hours. That allows people to tune in and have it on the background, like a video Yule log.

And that glowing memento, by the way, is back again from 7-11 a.m. on WPIX/Ch. 11. It's another fine, and warming, holiday TV tradition.

(InHD2 will also broadcast eight hours of a yule log (in HD!) Christmas morning, and KCAL in Los Angeles is among dozens of other stations doing the same.)

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/col/dbianculli/

I saw an ad last night on TV for the National Geographic HD channel. Any new news about D* carrying this channel?

Friday’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.

I saw an ad last night on TV for the National Geographic HD channel. Any new news about D* carrying this channel?

Nothing official, but both companies have NewsCorp bloodlines.

Sports on TV
ABC prepares for last call of 'Monday Night Football'


By Michael McCarthy USA Today

As "Dandy" Don Meredith would sing, turn out the lights, the party's over for ABC's Monday Night Football.

The finale is Monday after a 36-year run, though ABC's MNF crew will handle Super Bowl XL on Feb. 5. ESPN takes over Mondays with the 2006 season, and NBC returns to the NFL broadcast team with Sunday night games.

When ABC Sports maven Roone Arledge and director Chet Forte brought football to prime time in 1970, they thought they would blend sports and entertainment. They ended up changing the way we view sports — and creating the first reality show.

The celebrated trio of Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Meredith became bigger than the games they called. The bombastic Cosell influenced a generation of sportscasters with his machine-gun delivery of "Halftime Highlights." MNF popularized the three-person booth, multiple cameras and microphones, extreme close-ups of players and fans, instant replays and graphics and Wide World of Sports-type storytelling. All those tools are still employed, if not overused, today. "It was a milestone in TV sports coverage," ABC's Jim McKay says.

Influential? Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter rescheduled their 1980 presidential debate around MNF. The show aired so long it has its own records: The Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys are tied in wins (39); Dan Marino and Jerry Rice dominate individual stats. The infighting among Cosell, Gifford and Meredith inspired a book and a movie, both titled Monday Night Mayhem.

MNF is the latest in a long line of sports properties to migrate from free to pay TV. ABC was losing $150 million a year on its annual $550 million package. Armed with dual revenue streams from subscribers and advertisers, sister Disney network ESPN will pay double that amount, or $1.1 billion annually.

With MNF games averaging a 10.9 rating this season, the show's numbers are half of what they were at their peak of 21.7 in 1981. While the name Monday Night Football will continue, it's still the end of an era.

As Monday Night Mayhem co-author Bill Carter told Bernard Goldberg of HBO's Real Sports, ESPN's new version won't be Monday Night Football. It will be "football on Monday night."

Magic memories made on Monday

Before the gun sounds on ABC's Monday Night Football, let's go to a videotape of some highlights and lowlights of its 36 seasons:

• Most memorable game: The Miami Dolphins stop the Super Bowl Shuffle in its tracks and end the Chicago Bears' 12-0 season-opening run with a 38-24 upset victory on Dec. 2, 1985. Twenty years later it remains the highest-rated game in MNF history with 29.6% of U.S. homes watching.

• Saddest news: Howard Cosell breaks the news of the murder of John Lennon, who had visited the MNF booth, to a stunned country on Dec. 8, 1980. Said Cosell: "John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous perhaps of all the Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival."

• Lowest moment: Cosell refers to African-American wide receiver Alvin Garrett as a "little monkey" on Sept. 5, 1983. Despite his strong support of civil rights, the resulting controversy forces him off the show before the 1984 season.

• Best coming-out parties: Los Angeles Raiders running back Bo Jackson outruns the entire Seattle Seahawks defense for a 91-yard touchdown on Nov. 30, 1987 and doesn't stop until he's halfway up the tunnel.

Bears defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry becomes a star Oct. 21, 1985 by lining up at running back and wiping out a defender on a touchdown run by Walter Payton, then rushing for a TD.

• Best comeback: Trailing 30-7 against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 23, 2000, New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde fires four fourth-quarter touchdown passes to lead a 40-37 overtime victory.

• Toughest run: New York Giants tight end Mark Bavaro catches a pass from Phil Simms, then drags seven San Francisco 49ers, including safety Ronnie Lott, 20 yards.

• Pack attack: The Green Bay Packers figure in three memorable moments: a day after his father dies, Brett Favre throws four TD passes Dec. 22, 2003; quarterback Lynn Dickey outduels Joe Theismann 48-47 on Oct. 17, 1983 in the highest-scoring MNF game; and Antonio Freeman makes a miraculous, sliding TD catch Nov. 6, 2000.

ESPN to have earlier kickoff, Theismann

Are you ready for a new Monday Night Football? ESPN hopes so, as the franchise moves from ABC in 2006.

While the Hank Williams Jr. opening theme will stay, the on-air feel, including new graphics, will resemble that of ESPN's Sunday Night Football, says incoming analyst Joe Theismann.

Among other details:

• Earlier kickoff: In the biggest change for viewers, ESPN's show will start at 8:30 ET, with kickoff at 8:40 vs. the current 9 o'clock start and 9:07 kickoff on ABC.

• Lower ratings: MNF's shift to cable from broadcast will mean smaller audiences. About 20 million U.S. homes that currently get ABC do not get ESPN because they don't have cable or satellite service (MNF will be on free TV in the home markets of the participating teams).

• New faces: Theismann will move to Monday after 18 years on Sunday night, replacing John Madden, who is heading to NBC. Al Michaels will handle play-by-play for a 21st year. Michele Tafoya will return to the sideline after a maternity leave and be joined by ESPN Sunday night vet Suzy Kolber.

• All MNF, all Monday: ESPN will build a six- to seven-hour programming block around the game. Monday Night Countdown will air from 6:30-8:30. After the game, SportsCenter will originate live from the game site. Chris Berman's NFL PrimeTime will shift to Monday from Sunday nights (it cannot be on when NBC has NFL programming); the start time is undetermined.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/mccarthy/2005-12-23-mccarthy-mnf_x.htm

(In case your ballot got lost in the Holiday mail pile.)
By the way, feel free to fill in as many – or as few – of the categories as you would like.
What – or Who -- Would You Pick?
The “Hot Off The Press” Best of 2005
It is the end of the year, and the TV columnists have been busy putting together their best and worst lists of 2005.
Why should they have all the fun? Let’s join them.
So, please post your favorites in the following categories:

Your favorite three new network prime-time shows which debuted in anytime in 2005:

Your favorite three new prime-time cable shows:

Your favorite three veteran prime-time shows:

Your favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows:

Your favorite three TV actors:

Your favorite three TV actresses:

Your favorite TV sports production:

Your favorite TV news program or (cable net) as the case may be:

The show the critic’s most overlook:

The show the critics most over-hype:

The actor who makes you cringe

The actress who makes you cringe

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season:

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?

If you would prefer anonymity, note your picks and send a PM – I’ll be happy to post your choices without your name attached. Your guilty pleasures will be safe with me!

Commentary
Cable TV withdrawl takes its toll

By Bobby Bryant Knight Ridder Newspapers

I had cable TV every day for 21 years.

Almost every day. I won't count the two-day 2004 ice storm or the occasional thunderstorm outage or the odd ``service disruption`` caused by a squirrel jumping into a bank of non-squirrel-proof equipment. I had cable for 21 years, and it worked. Dozens, scores, hundreds of channels.

God bless America.

Then I lost my cable for two months and became a caveman with rabbit-ear antenna.

It's a small thing, I know, in a world of terrorism and disease and war and poverty. A TV cable is nothing more than a little black bundle of wiring, piping in signals from satellites to entertain you, to help you pass the time, to sell you the complete works of Kenny Rogers. Mostly, it's just video wallpaper.

But when you tumble from 200 crystal-clear channels to six blurry ones, you go back in time. Back to a scary place. Back to when families watched TV based not on what they wanted to see, but what they could see best. (``Mawma, if you tie a coat hanger on the antenna and point 22 degrees northeast with your left arm pointing 18 degrees southwest, we can just pull in the last half of `Hawaii Five-0.''') For two months, I went back to that place. Here's what I learned.

Nothing just happens out of the blue. My cable had been going weird for a long time. It would go out for a few hours when it rained hard. HBO would ``freeze,'' as if the cable couldn't keep up with the signal. ``The Sopranos'' would dissolve into little digital bits in mid-curse. Freaky.

The cable finally died in September. I called Time Warner Cable. ``No signal,'' the technician reported. ``The cable line in this apartment is like 30 years old. It's died from old age. It can't carry the signal load. Gotta be replaced.'' He unhooked the cable line from the converter box -- not unkindly, sort of like a vet pulling the plug on a terminal pooch. ``Sorry,'' he said.

The rest is a little hazy. Wait for more technicians to come by weeks later. Watch the technicians examine the way the cable line had been cleverly run up through the closet, the second-story ceiling, the high attic, some decades before. Listen to the technicians say there's no way they can get at the line to replace it -- they're going to have to rig a new line, drill holes in the walls. Listen to the landlords say they're really, really against the idea of anyone drilling holes -- you'll have to apply to maybe have one of their contractors do it and pay X amount for each hole -- I decide to move.

Not the only reason to move, but can you think of a better one? Move.

Forget the cable for weeks, months during the interim. Just go wireless.

Unplugged. Back to basics. A tiny set with rabbit ears. Free TV! Six channels off the air! They won World War II without cable. They put a man on the moon without cable. You can do it.

I soon realize that all the broadcast networks are the same. Same programming each night:

1) Sitcom about a Smart-Mouth Guy, His Long-Suffering Wife, His Smart-Mouth Kids and His Smart-Mouth Neighbors.

2) Cop Show with Lots of Acronyms (``L&O: SVU,'' ``NCIS,'' ``CSI,'' ``CSI: NY'').

3) Medical Show about Doctors Who Just Care Too Much for Their Own Darn Good.

4) Newsmagazine Show About Things You Don't Know That Can Hurt You. (``Is your dog secretly plotting to kill you?? Is your cat conspiring with him?? Can you trust any of your household pets?? LET'S TAKE A LOOK!! That's up next! But first -- ``)

5) Reality Show About People Trying To Sing, Survive or Have Sex.

But the biggest problem with broadcast TV is that it has no memory. It lives only in the dumbed-down present. If you want to see TV's glorious past (and yeah, ``Three's Company'' was glorious compared to ``Fear Factor''), you need to be in Cable World. About 66 percent of American households live there, according to the cable industry.

Cable World. It's only a bandwidth away, but it might as well be light years distant if your cable isn't able.

Think about what you're missing: No big news means no news at all on broadcast. (If a nuclear war started on a Thursday night, would NBC really interrupt ``ER``?)

AMC? The movie's over.

The History Channel? It's history.

The Cartoon Network? It's tooned out.

HBO? The box office is closed.

Everyone else is plugged in. Everyone else lives in Cable World. At the office, co-workers talk about something great they saw on cable last night. I glare at them like the Hunchback of Notre Dame glared at his tormentors. ``I -- DON'T -- HAVE -- CABLE -- FOR -- PITY'S -- SAKE!'' So this goes on for a while. I move, but for some perverse reason, reconnecting the cable is the chore I get around to last. Some twisted desire to show that I am in command? That I don't need to get down on my knees and beg Time Warner to reconnect me NOW NOW NOW?

I just wanted to see how long I could go. Just wanted to find my limit.

(It's two months exactly.)

I have cable back again. Larry King! I have cable back again. Maria Bartiromo! I have cable back again. Nancy Grace! I have cable back again. TNT!

You complete me.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/13476702.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Holiday Viewing
ABC will march out the parades

By Kathy Blumenstock The Washington Post December 24, 2005
(Note: all times are Pacific; check your local listings)

Put aside the presents and step away from that eggnog: It's time for a TV holiday tradition, as Walt Disney World's annual parade celebrates Christmas.

The 22nd annual Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade will be hosted by Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa in Orlando, Fla., with "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest at Disneyland in Anaheim. It airs Sunday at 2:30 p.m. PST on ABC.

Familiar costumed Disney characters share the stage with human celebrities such as Julie Andrews — whose Oscar-winning role as Mary Poppins easily qualifies her as a Disney character in her own right — and Vanessa Williams. Even President Bush will weigh in with seasonal wishes.

And John O'Hurley, now better known for his dancing prowess than his acting, will sing and dance in a production number.

"I'm doing 'Be Our Guest' with the whole dancing chorus from the show they do there," he said, referring to the park's "Beauty and the Beast" performance. "About 40 of the dishes and candles are in it. I've never danced with flatware before."

O'Hurley calls the parade "just such a lot of fun, with all these big special numbers and all the Disney characters and the songs." He still recalls his first visit to Disney World, the day after his senior prom in 1972, in which he walked up the steps of Cinderella's Castle.

O'Hurley, who has a dance instructional video due out in January and recently released an album of his piano compositions that he described as "large John Tesh," looks forward to spending Christmas at home in Los Angeles.

His parade appearance was taped in early December, "and we still had an audience of at least 7,500," O'Hurley said. "You have to tape those production numbers in advance. The park is so crowded during Christmas week, I couldn't imagine how you'd get them in."

The two-hour broadcast also will feature segments from the international Disney parks in Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-tvparade24dec24,0,4451878,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

Novak 'Probably' Regrets Plame Column

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

In an interview on CNN's Situation Room Friday, Robert Novak said he "probably" regrets writing the column that revealed the name of CIA employee Valerie Plame.

Conservative commentator Novack, who had not been on CNN since the summer, when he walked off after an argument with Democrat James Carville, is leaving the network after his contract was not renewed.

"I probably do [regret writing it]" he told anchor Wolf Blitzer, "because it's caused me so much trouble. I don't think I did anything wrong, but as a practical matter, it wasn't a big scoop. You know, I think it was in the seventh paragraph of a 13-paragraph story or 11-paragraph story.... And so it was just a throw-away line."

Blitzer said he had been prepared to explain his role in exposing the name, which prompted a government investigation into the leak. "I was set to go on CNN at the time of the indictment of [Scooter] Libby and tell about my role of the case, things I haven't disclosed on the grounds that the case was over. And to my amazement the special prosecutor continued the case and late summoned a new grand jury."

He said he still plans to explain, but "unfortunately, I won't be with CNN anymore."

• Lower ratings: MNF's shift to cable from broadcast will mean smaller audiences. About 20 million U.S. homes that currently get ABC do not get ESPN because they don't have cable or satellite service (MNF will be on free TV in the home markets of the participating teams).

Any word if that includes the hd feed? Will the home market feeds preempt the local ABC or will they be carried on a local WB/UPN/independent?

However it works now for the ESPN Sunday Night game, I believe.

But the NFL was pretty adamant about getting HD starting next year. It would be hard to imagine the NY market, for example, being stuck with just an SD broadcast.

Ratings N ews
“Nightline” Holding Steady

(The Wall Street Journal)---When Ted Koppel signed off from "Nightline" last month, he asked viewers to give the new anchor team "a fair break." Luckily for ABC News, audiences appear to be heeding his request, at least for the time being.

On Nov. 28, the network launched a flashier, multi-segment version of the news show, with Cynthia McFadden, Martin Bashir and Terry Moran sharing anchor duties. While some critics have bemoaned the venerable news program's zippy new format, "Nightline" has held onto its average of 3.5 million viewers since the changeover. Still, that's a fraction of the more than six million viewers that were tuning in to "Nightline" a dozen years ago, and well below the audience levels drawn by late-night rivals Jay Leno at NBC and David Letterman at CBS.

But ABC News chiefs must be crossing their fingers that the audience goodwill is contagious, having decided to adopt the strength-in-numbers strategy to replace the late Peter Jennings on [B]"World News Tonight"[/B[: On Jan. 3, Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff together will take their seats at the evening news anchor desk

Come on folks, vote! [

It is your civic duty!

You needn't fill out favorites in all the categories -- if you'd like, just vote in categories that interest you.

What – or Who -- Would You Pick?
The “Hot Off The Press” Best of 2005
My Choices:

Your favorite three new network prime-time shows which debuted in anytime in 2005:
Grey’s Anatomy
Law & Order: Trial By Jury
Related


Your favorite three new prime-time cable shows:
The Closer
Wanted
Weeds

Your favorite three veteran prime-time shows:
Cold Case
NCIS
The West Wing

Your favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows:
Monk
The Sopranos

Your favorite three TV actors:
Gary Sinise
Hugh Laurie
David Boreanaz

(Posthumous Mentions)
John Spencer
Jerry Orbach

Your favorite three TV actresses:
Dana Delany
Melina Kanakaredes
Stephanie March

Your favorite TV sports production:
HDNet MLB (I have a long memory)

Your favorite TV news program (or cable net) as the case may be:
CBS Evening News

The show the critics most overlook:
NCIS
Related (even after two horrible first episodes)

The show the critics most over-hype:
Arrested Development

The actor who makes you cringe
David Caruso/William L. Peterson

The actress who makes you cringe

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season:
Alias

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:
CSI:Miami
SEC Football: CBS
Smart Travels, PBS and HDNet

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?
Grey’s Anatomy (often watch the SD East Coast feed)
The West Wing (often watch the SD East Coast feed)