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fredfa

05-27-06, 03:51 PM

TV Notebook
Good Night, Sweet Syd

By Nathan Alderman teevee.org

You’ve got to really think back to recall it, but once upon a time, Alias was the most preposterously thrilling show on television. Sprinting onto screens in the soul-rattling aftermath of the September 11 attacks, J.J. Abrams’ superspy adventure — pitch-style premise: Felicity in the CIA — yanked viewers headfirst into a thrilling world of chases, fights, doublecrosses, and narrow escapes. It was desperately needed escapism, and by God, it worked.

Alias was young, it was hungry, and it had something to prove. As apple-cheeked badass Sydney Bristow, Jennifer Garner did many of her own stunts, and the sheer energy, sincerity, and hustle she brought to the role shone through onscreen. Abrams, then best-known for a cult-hit melodrama nearly derailed by one disastrous haircut, staged inventive action sequences that wrung every last dime from the show’s budget, and somehow never let the show collapse under the weight of its increasingly improbable premise. Best of all, nearly every episode ended with a breathtaking cliffhanger, doled out with a regularity and a malicious glee that even Joss Whedon would envy.

The Alias that lurched a close last Monday was scarcely recognizable from its initial self. The cliffhangers and action scenes were mostly gone, trimmed away along with a hefty chunk of the show’s budget in a previous cancellation-averting compromise. The scenes of Sydney’s ordinary life with her ordinary friends, so essential to the show’s original premise (without them, Felicity in the CIA just becomes, um, The CIA) had dried up and blown away years before. (At least when they left, they took away the Felicity-style sappy Lilith Fair soundtrack with them.) Garner, post-baby, -Elektra, and -Affleck, looked visibly bored and tired, while a long-gone Abrams had already begun and abandoned another series for the cold embrace of Hollywood. Alias had shifted from a show where things happened to a series in which people stood in various small rooms and talked to one another.

So it’s impressive that the show seemed to regain at least a flicker of its former glory in its final two hours. It didn’t get everything right, but at this point even doing things half-right was the equivalent of giving the show a good Viking funeral.

As Agent Tom Grace, Balthazar Getty — hey, Bathazar, when is “Feast” coming out? — has been a cypher all season long, a mumbly pseudo-Vaughn sustained largely by sporadic flashes of charisma and whatever clever lines the writers deigned to toss him. Yet I got seriously choked up by his final quiet moments, talking to Sydney-in-training Rachel (a rapidly improving Rachel Nichols) while waiting out the timer on a bomb he could neither defuse nor escape. The sweetly relieved smile on Tom’s face when he heard Rachel say she would have gone out with him did more to develop his character than the entire preceding season had.

Rachel herself didn’t fare too badly — bonus points for a truly excellent use of an underwire — though I wish she’d had more of a showdown with her deliciously nasty rival, Kelly Peyton (the wondrous Amy Acker). After a season full of superlative villainy, it was a bit anticlimactic to see Acker reduced to a whimpering coward by a single serpent. At least they both came out better than poor Carl Lumbly as Dixon. He was, well, there, as he’d been since the writers completely stopped trying to find anything to do with him. Except this time, he was there in dreadlocks, which was a bad idea for all concerned.

Ubergeek Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman), one of only two characters on the show who never jumped the shark, got some of his best moments in the entire series. TeeVee readers may already know that I love me some Flinkman, but he never seemed braver, more mature, or less twitchy than he did in his final staredown with the evil Arvin Sloane.

And then, of course, there was Jack Bristow. The One True Jack. The Jack Before Whom All Others Must Bow. Victor Garber never stopped being a consummate badass from the moment the series began, and one of the only bright spots in Alias’ later seasons was Garber and the writers’ increasing willingness to have fun with Jack’s gift for flinty, humorless mayhem. Though I initially rooted for Jack to come out of the episode alive — the man is simply too mean to die — the fantastic, entirely-in-character end he met was too good not to cheer for. Oh, sure, 24’s Jack Bauer is a handy man with a set of alligator clips and a car battery, but would he take three shots to the chest, haul himself upright, secure a bandolier of high explosives, give an offer of guaranteed life everlasting the finger, and blow himself right the hell up just to screw over the man who done his little girl wrong? I think not. Jack Bristow, rest in peace. You’ve got a posse.

Even Ron Rifkin’s Arvin Sloane, who’d been a curiously sympathetic and shaded villain since the series began, met what I considered a fitting end. I’ve seen other fans complain about Sloane’s seemingly inconsistent characterization as he yo-yo’d from bad to good and back again, but I somehow bought the gray areas Rifkin operated in. Bringing back his freshly killed daughter Nadia (perpetually hot Mia Maestro) as the ghostly representative of his conscience could have been cheesy, but I liked it nonetheless.

And hey, as a cherry on top, they brought back slippery, sleepy-eyed Sark (David Anders). Sark is always, always awesome. Sark has been awesome since his very first scene in season one. Sark needs his own spinoff series.

So what did Alias’ finale get wrong? Well, it would have been nice for Garner to at least try to come back to life onscreen, or demonstrate any kind of chemistry with Michael Vartan as the back-from-the-dead Michael Vaughn. The former offscreen couple still seemed to have some kind of spark in this season’s first episode, and again when Vartan resurfaced in a clever midseason episode, but that rapport seemed well and truly snuffed by the time Vartan returned a few episodes back.

And most egregiously, the Alias finale did Spy Mommy a serious disservice. In the second season, Lena Olin’s Irina Derevko was a sinuous marvel, never entirely good or evil, but always clearly devoted to her daughter. The series’ dismal third season might have fared better if Olin hadn’t pitched a salary hissyfit and refused to come back. (Yeah, “Hollywood Homicide” was a really smart career alternative, wasn’t it?) Her return at the end of the fourth season helped greatly improve that entire year, and it seemed like she was firmly encamped on the side of the angels. But… uh… no. The writers, desperately casting about for a series-capping archvillain, seized on Irina, shearing off all of the character’s delightful ambiguity in the process. Goodbye, established character development! Hello, unsatisfying end cribbed directly from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade!”

TV won’t be quite the same without Alias. I’ll miss the thrills, the wigs, the head-kicks, and the persistent, effervescent sense of fun. Then again, I’ve been missing them for years, and the series has soldiered on nonetheless. It’s a mercy that Alias is dead, really — especially since it went out on a relatively high note. The miracle’s not that it stayed alive as long as it did after losing its spark, but that it stayed as good as it was for as long as it did.

Sayonara, Sydney. Kick a few heads for me on your way out.

http://www.teevee.org/

fredfa

05-27-06, 04:42 PM

The 2006-2007 Season
Serialized dramas are the hot concept among TV networks this fall

By Gail Pennington St. Louis Post-]Dispatch Television Critic Sunday, May. 28 2006

Get some rest this summer. Next fall, you'll have to work even harder to keep
up with network TV.

Serialized dramas are all the rage in the new season, with programmers
apparently mistaking us for people with too much time on our hands. Blame Fox's
"24" and "Prison Break," HBO's "The Sopranos" and ABC's "Lost," the most-copied
show since "Friends."

Last fall, competitors who tried to clone "Lost" mistook it for a
science-fiction series. Thus we got NBC's "Surface," CBS' "Threshold" and ABC's
own "Invasion."

All failed and, for fall, the great minds of television have decided that
"Lost" is actually a thriller that roped in viewers with its mysteries and
cliffhangers.

Until recently, the broadcast networks tried to avoid serialized dramas because
- in a 200-channel TV universe - they don't repeat well, and repeats are needed
to avoid busting the budget. It's still true that viewers with a multitude of
choices aren't drawn to network repeats of serials such as "Lost" or "ER," and
both those shows have gone so far as to promise repeat-free seasons.

But serialized shows, in which fans want to see every episode, are particularly
popular on DVD, a booming business for television, pegged at $2.6 billion in
2005. Fans of a thriller such as "24" line up to rent or, better still, buy the
DVD boxed set as soon as it comes out, and episodes of "Lost" are among the top
sellers on the download site iTunes.

That's good enough for the networks, so look for serialized thrillers including:

• "The Nine," on ABC, about bank-robbery hostages (including Chi McBride, Tim
Daly, Kim Raver and Scott Wolf) who bond in captivity.

• "Smith," on CBS, in which criminals led by Ray Liotta plot a big heist while
tracked by FBI agents.

• "Vanished," on Fox, about the search for a senator's kidnapped wife, and
"Kidnapped," on NBC, about a businessman's abducted son.

Serialized dramas, both those loaded with action and soapier ones driven by
characters, are among the most satisfying fare on television. That's the good
news. The bad is that a serial canceled prematurely can leave fans - such as
those still mourning Fox's "Reunion" - frustrated and angry, and so less likely
to invest time in a new serial.

What's more, viewers already have plenty of prime-time plots to keep up with,
from "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC to "The O.C." on Fox to
"Gilmore Girls," "One Tree Hill" and "Veronica Mars" on the CW. And that's not
even counting cable. Digital video recorders, which keep recorded episodes in
order and serve them back up on a menu, help a lot - but hard drives are only
so big, and a week is only so long.

Prediction: Only one new serialized drama, at most, will succeed.

The five broadcast networks (down from six, thanks to the merger of UPN and the
WB into the CW) announced their fall schedules during the week of May 15,
unveiling their new shows for advertisers with great hoopla. Here's a
network-by-network look at fall, with sight-unseen evaluations of some of the
new fare.

N B C

No longer the must-see network, NBC began tinkering with its fall schedule
almost as soon as it was announced. The network had pinned its hopes for
rebuilding Thursday night on the new Aaron Sorkin drama "Studio 60 on the
Sunset Strip." Then ABC coldly moved "Grey's Anatomy" into the same 8 p.m.
Thursday slot, already home to TV's top-rated drama, "CSI."

On Thursday, NBC blinked, rearranging five of the seven nights of its fall
lineup. The changes included shifting "Studio 60" to 9 p.m. Monday and bumping
"Medium" to midseason. The problematic 8 p.m. Thursday slot now will be filled
by "Deal or No Deal."

"Crossing Jordan," originally set for midseason, now leads off Friday, with the
original "Law & Order" leaving Wednesday for the 9 p.m. Friday slot.

In addition to "Studio 60," set backstage at a late-night comedy show, NBC also
has Tina Fey's "30 Rock," a sitcom with the same setting. The two series may
sound similar, but they also sound potentially terrific. Together, they're
drawing a lot of the early buzz for fall.

NBC enters the realm of the supernatural with "Heroes," in which ordinary
people across the world learn that they have extraordinary powers. The premise
is fascinating but difficult to grasp, and "Heroes" could be a phenomenon or a
fast flop.

"Friday Night Lights," with Kyle Chandler as a high school football coach, is
like nothing else on the networks and plays to NBC's acquisition of "Sunday
Night Football."

A B C

The worst-to-first network has the most adventurous and interesting new shows
for fall. They include dramas with plenty of quirks and humor: "Brothers &
Sisters," with Calista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths as sisters; "Men in
Trees," from "Sex and the City" writer Jenny Bicks and starring Anne Heche as a
relationship expert who moves to Alaska; and "Six Degrees," from J.J. Abrams
and Bryan Burk ("Lost"), about "five people with intertwined destinies."

ABC plays with time for fall. In "Daybreak," murder suspect Taye Diggs will
live the fateful day over and over. The sitcom "Big Day" will take place on a
single day: Maria Sokoloff's wedding day.

In addition, ABC has the high-concept comedy "Let's Rob...," about crooks
planning to rob Mick Jagger, and "Betty the Ugly," a one-hour comedy adapted
from Spanish-language telenovela about a plain Jane who goes to work for a
fashion magazine.

ABC left "Primetime" off the schedule, and the venerable news magazine will air
only as specials. In fact, news magazines as a whole are out, earning just
three hours on the five networks' fall schedules.

C B S

The last network to drop its Sunday night movie, CBS finally gave the franchise
the ax, with movies, including "Hallmark Hall of Fame," to air only as
specials. Instead, "Without a Trace" moves to Sunday.

With lots of successful shows, including the "CSI" franchise, CBS had few needs
for fall, ordering just one comedy ("The Class," from "Friends" co-creator
David Crane) and three dramas.

The network is most excited about "Shark," with James Woods as a colorful
lawyer, but potentially the most interesting is "Jericho," starring Skeet
Ulrich and Gerald McRaney, about chaos in a small Kansas town cut off by a
nuclear disaster.

Fox

With a season's success built on "American Idol," Fox goes into fall with just
five new series, two comedies and three dramas. But viewers will find something
new on four nights of the week.

"Vanished" is paired with "Prison Break" on Monday; "Standoff," about FBI
crisis negotiators (Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt) who are ex-spouses,
leads into "House" on Tuesday.

The new Wednesday companion to "Bones" is "Justice," a legal drama from Jerry
Bruckheimer. Two new comedies, including a starring vehicle for Brad Garrett
(Robert on "Everybody Loves Raymond"), lead into "The O.C." on Thursday.

None of the premises for the new Fox shows is particularly exciting, so the
execution will be everything. And speaking of execution: The second season of
"Prison Break" follows the escapees as they flee and scatter.

CW

The new network, created from UPN and the WB, had far more shows than could fit
into its 10-hour weekly schedule, not counting repeats or "Smackdown." As a
result, the lineup looks strong, with "Gilmore Girls" paired nicely with
"Veronica Mars," and "7th Heaven" - resurrected from the dead - getting a new
companion in the potentially interesting "Runaway," from "Sex and the City"
creator Darren Star, in which an innocent man takes his family on the run after
being convicted of murder.

The only new CW comedy is "The Game," a spin-off of "Girlfriends" that makes up
a Sunday night block of "urban comedies," TV-speak for shows with primarily
African-American casts. The demise of many former UPN shows, plus Fox's
cancellation of "Bernie Mac," leaves a real dearth of black characters in prime
time.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/emaf.nsf/Popup?ReadForm&db=stltoday%5Centertainment%5Ccolumnists.nsf&docid=62FA889A2CC0A7368625717A003201B6

fredfa

05-27-06, 05:52 PM

TV Notebook
Gary Sinise, a Trouper for the Troops

By Kathy Blumenstock Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, May 28, 2006

He stars in a weekly prime-time crime drama, has directed on Broadway and has appeared in major theatrical films. But it's Gary Sinise's signature role in "Forrest Gump" that sparks recognition wherever he goes.

"A lot of people see my face and don't know my name, but they all know Lieutenant Dan," Sinise said, referring to his role as an embittered Vietnam veteran in the 1994 movie.

Sinise, the new co-host of PBS's National Memorial Day Concert on the Mall, (Monday, PBS, check your local listings) even adopted the character's name for the group of musicians he jams with.

"I had been going on USO tours and I asked if it might be a good idea to take a band with me sometime, and that's how the Lieutenant Dan Band got started," he said.

The band of 12 musicians plays country, rock and blues covers, both contemporary and classic. "We jump around a lot, keep the audience going," Sinise said.

Last year, fresh from a tour overseas, the band arrived in Washington in time to play at the Memorial Day concert. "I think that not enough people really think about Memorial Day, but they need to realize it's there for a reason," Sinise said.

This year, Sinise and co-host Joe Mantegna will be joined by Lee Ann Womack, Colin Powell, Dianne Wiest, Big & Rich, Charles Durning, Frederica von Stade, Daniel Rodriguez, and Erich Kunzel and the National Symphony Orchestra.

The concert will salute pilots who flew during World War II as the Air Force prepares to mark its 60th anniversary next year. Durning, a World War II veteran, will tell the story of Corbin Willis Jr., who flew nearly 80 missions in World War II and Korea and was held in a Berlin prison camp. The concert also salute members of the National Guard and their families at home.

Although he has long been active behind the scenes with disabled veterans' and Vietnam veterans' issues, Sinise said his involvement with the military increased after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He fits his travels around the shooting schedule for "CSI: NY," visiting stateside military bases during the show's run and touring overseas during its hiatus.

"I basically tell the USO my availability and say, 'Where do you need me to go?' I've been to Singapore, Korea, the Netherlands," Sinise said. "Those aren't war zones, but we still have people there. If I can pat someone on the back, sign some autographs, that means a whole lot to an average American who's volunteered to serve his country and whose family is back home, trying to figure out how to pay the bills while they worry about their loved one who's away."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/23/AR2006052300984_pf.html

keenan

05-27-06, 06:37 PM

The 2006-2007 Season
Serialized dramas are the hot concept among TV networks this fall

In other words, be careful about getting too invested in these serialized shows as they may be dumped before anything resembling answers are provided by the writers, how many tanked this season, 5, 6, 7, more..? It's makes me pretty wary about following any of these types of shows in the future.

fredfa

05-27-06, 07:33 PM

The 2006-2007 Season
Fall TV sneak preview

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer Sunday, May 28, 2006

The mercury may be rising, but fall is in the air.

Fall TV, that is.

I know ... summer isn't even here yet. You're probably thinking it's way too early to be writing about new and returning fall shows. Well, it's not. The networks recently rolled out their new lineups to deep-pocketed advertisers in the traditional dog-and-pony show simply known as "The Upfronts."

Now it's time for me to upfront with the 15 things I'm looking forward to this fall.

1. 'Grey's Anatomy' moves to Thursdays: The soapy medical drama is one of ABC's most popular and buzzed-about shows. So, what does the network do? Throw Dr. McDreamy up against those crime-solving fools on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the universe's top-rated drama. Go figure. It's all about the money, people. The mano-a-mano battle should be one of the season's most hotly contested — and watched.

2. James Woods' scary intensity: I'm sorry, but Woods looks nuts. But that's a good thing. Looking crazy is what makes Woods such a top-shelf character actor I can watch over and over. If anyone was born to play a sleazy attorney who decides to become a sleazy prosecutor in CBS' drama, Shark, it's the nutty-looking Woods. Should be fun.

3. Brad Garrett stars in his own sitcom: We all know the hulking funnyman can play second banana to perfection as evidenced by Garrett's brilliant stint as Ray Barone's dopey cop-brother on Everybody Loves Raymond. Now we'll find out if the Emmy-winning actor can carry his own show in 'Til Death, a Fox comedy in which Garrett costars with Joely Fisher as part of an old married couple living next door to horny newlyweds. Hmmm . . . kinda sounds like Garrett is playing a character the crotchety Frank Barone could relate to.

4. Is Calista Flockhart eating? We'll find out soon enough. The last time we saw the former Ally McBeal on TV, she was a well dressed No. 2 pencil who looked as if a light breeze could blow her all the way to Mars. Here's hoping Calista has downed a few cheeseburgers for her new role as a radio-talk-show host with some family problems in the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters. Big question: Will Harrison Ford guest star?

5. Will the 'Friends' curse continue? The Comeback, Lisa Kudrow's awful HBO show, bombed and was quickly canceled after one season. Jennifer Aniston has yet to prove she's a movie star. Matt LeBlanc's Joey crashed and burned. Now it's Matthew Perry's turn to confront The Curse in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, an NBC drama about the behind-the-scenes doings on a Saturday Night Live-like sketch show. At least Perry's in good hands. Studio 60's creator is Aaron Sorkin. You know Sorkin, though. Burnout is always one script away.

6. 'Alias' Spy Daddy is back!: OK, so Victor Garber isn't playing silky smooth, nattily dressed killer agent Jack Bristow anymore. So what? I'm just tickled Garber's in another series so soon after Alias signed off. In Fox's Justice —- the 475th Jerry Bruckheimer TV production — Garber is one of four dream-team attorneys who take on high-profile and controversial cases. Those clients had better be straight with Garber's Ron Turk. We all know Spy Daddy can cut ya — and you won't even know you're bleeding.

7. Tina Fey does more than read the fake news: 30 Rock, Fey's new NBC comedy in which she plays the head writer of a late-night variety show (wonder where they got that idea from?), is getting all sorts of good buzz. That's no surprise. Fey has always been a hoot on SNL's "Weekend Update." She deserves more than five minutes of screen time. Now let's hope viewers won't confuse 30 Rock with the similarly themed Studio 60.

8. 'Kidnapped' may steal viewers: NBC's new drama could have 24 potential. I said could. A rich kid is snatched and everyone becomes a suspect. I like that premise already. The show promises to focus on the cat-and-mouse game between the kidnappers, law enforcement, the FBI and the "seemingly" perfect family we all know won't turn out to be so perfect. Timothy Hutton and China Beach's Dana Delaney play the parents who may or may not know more than they're letting on.

9. Meredith Viera joins 'Today': Unlike it's-all-about-me Katie, Viera will actually listen to the people she interviews. And the move should give nice guy Matt Lauer a chance to shine and step out of Katie's sizable shadow.

10. No more Applewhites on 'Desperate Housewives': The plot that had the loopy Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard) locking her mentally disturbed son in the basement was just plain dumb. And uninteresting. Too bad the writers wasted such a talent in Woodard. Sad to say, she won't be missed next season.

11. I want to learn more about 'Brian': I'm talking about that forever single Brian dude (7th Heaven's Barry Watson) on ABC's instantly likable drama, What About Brian. Low ratings could've sunk this show. But wisely ABC decided to nurture it for a second season. Watch it, people. It's not a by-the-numbers cop show. It's not a generic law show. It's not a routine medical drama. It's not a silly sitcom. It's not a dumb reality show. Brian is a well-written, achingly realistic drama with three-dimensional characters you want to spend time with.

12. 'Veronica Mars' returns: Cheers to The CW — the new hybrid network thingie resulting from The WB-UPN merger — for picking up this little-watched, but thoroughly entertaining detective series for a third season. Clearly the low-rated Mars has friends in high programming places. Either that or the male suits at The CW just like watching the fetching Kristen Bell.

13. Taye Diggs gets another series shot: I still haven't forgiven the now dead UPN for canceling Kevin Hill after only one season. But the hunky bald Diggs is back in Day Break, a midseason, 24-inspired series in which he plays a detective wrongly accused of killing an assistant D.A. The gimmick? Diggs' detective character lives the same day over and over like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. At least he has plenty of time to prove he was framed.

14. Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow should make a good comedic pair: Tambor was a scream on Arrested Development and The Larry Sanders Show. Lithgow was over-the-top hilarious all those years as a crazy alien on 3rd Rock from the Sun. As odd couple buddies on the NBC comedy 20 Good Years, Tambor and Lithgow should make us laugh all over again.

15. No more Marissa on 'The O.C.': The annoying rich chick died in a car crash on the show's season finale. Boo-hoo! Mischa Barton, who played Marissa, said she's happy her character was killed. Not as happy as viewers, I'm sure. Barton's one-note acting was always stiffer than a redwood.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/tv/content/entertainment/arts_entertainment/epaper/2006/05/28/a1j_FEATV_FALLTV_0528.html

fredfa

05-27-06, 07:52 PM

In other words, be careful about getting too invested in these serialized shows as they may be dumped before anything resembling answers are provided by the writers, how many tanked this season, 5, 6, 7, more..? It's makes me pretty wary about following any of these types of shows in the future.

Bullseye!

Suggestion: TiVo them for the first few weeks to see how the ratings are holding up....

keenan

05-27-06, 07:53 PM

Yep. :D

RussTC3

05-27-06, 09:36 PM

11. I want to learn more about 'Brian': I'm talking about that forever single Brian dude (7th Heaven's Barry Watson) on ABC's instantly likable drama, What About Brian. Low ratings could've sunk this show. But wisely ABC decided to nurture it for a second season. Watch it, people. It's not a by-the-numbers cop show. It's not a generic law show. It's not a routine medical drama. It's not a silly sitcom. It's not a dumb reality show. Brian is a well-written, achingly realistic drama with three-dimensional characters you want to spend time with.
It's great to see a few critics have actually seen this show. Hopefully some good word of mouth will help the show. I also hope ABC decides to release the shortened 1st season on DVD, sort of like what they did with Grey's Anatomy.

keenan

05-27-06, 11:05 PM

I like What About Brian as well, I'm a little ticked that ABC dropped Invasion and kept Brian but I imagine cost of production may have played into the decision as Brian looks like it's very cheap to make, especially when compared to Invasion.

DoubleDAZ

05-27-06, 11:36 PM

fredfa

05-28-06, 01:05 AM

RussTC3

05-28-06, 01:26 AM

Actually, I TiVo'd What About Brian and after the disastrous ratings of the first few weeks, I deleted the shows before ever seeing any.

That shows what I know.

I am looking forward to either seeing the shows in repeats this summer, or perhaps getting a DVD.
With so many shows introduced each new season, who could blame you?

It's difficult to get attached to a show and then all of a sudden it gets cancelled and you feel like you've wasted your time watching a show that will never get completed.

I think this is what happened with Brian. Or perhaps many critics only snuck a peak at the first 1 or 2 episodes, figured it was toast so they didn't figure it was worth their time watching what would become a failed show.

Personally, I think the 5 episodes are wonderful, and they are still on my DVR. I'm actually watching them over again.

And about Invasion. It most definitely must be because of cost. Isn't that one of the reasons The CW passed on picking it up (way too expensive to produce)?

keenan

05-28-06, 01:29 AM

I liked Invasion and would have kept watching it, but IMHO it lacked a compelling plot each week, espeically for it's later timeslot. It just seemed like there were a lot of episodes where nothing of any real significance happened. That is okay for a soap opera, but I kind of expected more sub-plots each week to give one the feeling that something had actually happened. It also seemed like there was a lack of suspense, something else I was expecting more of.
Invasion was very serialized in nature and one of the things that contributed to it's downfall was that it took a little too long for the average viewer to stay attentive to it. Once it got going about about 7-9 eps in, it moved along very quickly, but by then, the ratings had already tanked. Invasion had a lot of symbolism and topical relevance going for it much like Battlestar Galactica but high concept and serialism is a tough nut to crack in today's instant gratification-wanting TV audiences.

That's why it's hard to imagine the fall season is coming with more serialized type dramas, like Fred said, this time I'll TiVo them and if it looks like they have a chance I'll watch them, but I'm not going to invest the time I did this season in these types of shows, just to be disappointed when they get cancelled.

fredfa

05-28-06, 01:38 AM

...I think this is what happened with Brian. Or perhaps many critics only snuck a peak at the first 1 or 2 episodes, figured it was toast so they didn't figure it was worth their time watching what would become a failed show.

Personally, I think the 5 episodes are wonderful, and they are still on my DVR. I'm actually watching them over again....

I think this happens a lot, Russ, and to be fair, who can blame the critics? They have to watch so many shows.

I thought a good example of such reviews was "Related" last season., It started out as a terrible program, but quickly -- at least in my mind -- got some good writing and became a very solid and entertaining program.

Dana Delany's appearances, especially in her Thanksgiving week episode, was one of the best hours of TV I saw all year. But by then almost all critics had written the show off, and the viewers were never encouraged to give it another try.

That is one reason I post many reviews of shows here, so that readers can get some different opinions. It doesn't really matter if we all share the same tastes. There are plenty of quality TV shows available, and hopefully we can all find enough to satisfy us.

fredfa

05-28-06, 10:11 AM

The 2006-2007 Season
Networks jockey for top fall spot

Webs shift hit shows to tough timeslots
By Michael Schneider, Josef Adalian Variety.com Sun., May 28, 2006

The pendulum just swung the other way.

After years of preaching stability, several broadcast networks are taking big chances this fall.

To wit: Hit shows are moving into tough timeslots. New sitcoms and dramas are being scheduled back-to-back, as execs cross their fingers that viewers somehow stumble into them. And serialized skeins are back in a big way --even though the genre flatlines when episodes are repeated.

The chiefs at NBC and ABC, in particular, say they had no choice. As the new digital revolution continues to rewrite how viewers get their entertainment, there's no room for complacency.

In the 1970s, programmer Fred Silverman was revered for his "golden gut." These days, webheads are chugging Mylanta to soothe their queasy bellies.

Here's a first network-by-network look at the moves that are calming nerves -- and those that are already triggering dyspepsia:

A B C

Best move: Shifting "Grey's Anatomy" to 9 p.m. Thursdays. In one gutsy stroke, Alphabet execs made the net a player on TV's most financially lucrative night and forced NBC to re-evaluate its strategy. What's more, with CBS shifting "Without a Trace" out of the 10 p.m. Thursday slot, ABC's got a chance to grow a new hit with "Six Degrees."

Riskiest move: Slotting promising laffers "Big Day" and "Notes From the Underbelly" Thursdays from 8 to 9 p.m. Both shows elicited laughs from advertisers at ABC's upfront, and both have a shot to work. But ABC has no history of successful comedies on Thursdays, while rivals NBC and Fox have been programming laffers on the night for years. Still, there's no blockbuster comedy hit on the night, so maybe the Alphabet will be able to break out.

Bottom line: No net is adding shows or shaking up more timeslots. That said, ABC's rookies also have the most buzz coming out of the upfronts. If just one newcomer breaks out, the shuffling will be worth it. Look for ABC to once again be in the hunt for the adults 18-49 crown.

C B S

Best move: Making as few changes as possible. There's nothing sexy about the Eye's fall lineup, but that's a good thing. There aren't any real gaping holes in the CBS sked and, by remaining stable, the net increases its odds of doing well next year. Plus, with NBC and ABC making tons of changes, being the calm anchor in turbulent seas is a good thing.

Riskiest move: Shifting "Without a Trace" to 10 p.m. Sunday, away from its protected Thursday slot. While it was definitely time for the Eye to use "CSI" to grow a new hit, it remains to be seen just how loyal "Trace" viewers are. If they don't follow the show to Sunday, CBS may end up damaging a solid asset and weakening its numbers on Thursdays. If James Woods starrer "Shark" has bite, however, any decline for "Trace" will be worth it.

Bottom line: CBS will once again dominate in total viewers and, thanks to the Super Bowl, it's even got a shot at first in demos.

CW

Best move: Leaving "Smallville" and "Supernatural" together on Thursday nights. Every other net will be tweaking at least an hour of its Thursday lineup, leaving the new CW as the only web with a stable programming block on the night (even if it's from the soon-to-be-dead WB network). If "Superman Returns" is a big hit at the multiplex, that could increase interest in "Smallville," while "Supernatural" is the only spooky show to survive from the frosh class of 2005.

Worst move: Moving signature comedy "Everybody Hates Chris" to 7 p.m. Sundays. Sure, it'll be the only firstrun comedy in the slot during the fall (when Fox airs either football overruns or repeats). But it will be hard for "Chris" to break out into a mainstream hit in a marginalized timeslot surrounded by niche laffers such as "Girlfriends."

Bottom line: The familiar feel of the CW's lineup -- an almost even mash-up of WB and UPN skeins -- could be the ultimate in comfort food for fans of the old netlets. It also could induce giant yawns from folks looking for something exciting from a new player.

Fox

Best move: Keeping its drama darlings in place. Coming off a stellar year, there was no reason for Fox to mess with what's working -- and the net wisely didn't. That means powerhouse "House" sticks with Tuesdays at 9, "Prison Break" remains Monday at 8 and "24" returns once again in January. There's a time to take risks and a time to remain stable -- and Fox execs know it.

Riskiest move: Fox has tried for years to get into the game on Thursday nights -- and next year it will probably be just as difficult, even with broader-appeal laffers. The Brad Garrett comedy "'Til Death" and buddy laffer "Happy Hour" face an uphill battle vs. time period champ "Survivor" and NBC's critically adored half-hours. "'Til Death" and "Happy Hour" also aren't really compatible with "The OC," which continues to perform decently but unspectacularly at 9.

Bottom line: "American Idol." "American Idol." "American Idol." Does it even pay to handicap Fox's fall schedule, when "Idol" will come on in January and blow away the competish anyway?

N B C

Best move: It wasn't a surprise, but landing "Sunday Night Football" helped solve NBC's problems on a night that had become a black eye for the Peacock. Also, by filling four hours of NBC's 22-hour sked, the NFL franchise helped mask the net's holes throughout the week -- and allowed it to hold several vet players ("Crossing Jordan," "Scrubs") back for midseason.

Riskiest move: Originally "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip's" Thursday-at-9 berth, where the show faced certain death against powerhouses "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy." The Peacock quickly nixed the idea, however - reshuffling a huge chunk of its fall sked in the process. Peacock now takes more of a risk in the 10 p.m. slot where it had traditionally dominated. With new shows on Monday ("Studio 60") and Wednesday ("Kidnapped"), not to mention Thursday come midseason ("The Black Donnelleys") and "Law & Order" moving to Friday, NBC may be ceding more of its local news lead-in.

Bottom line: NBC originally touted a strategy of airing new shows in the 9 p.m. tentpole slot, but scrapped it after watching the competish's sked. Placing safer reality skeins like "Biggest Loser" and "Deal or No Deal" there may help limit the bleeding. But NBC's two new comedies will have to self-start on Wednesday. And once football ends in January, the Peacock may be in for a tougher game.

fredfa

05-28-06, 10:23 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Star-spangled salutes light up holiday weekend

By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic May 28, 2006

Washington, the man and the city, take center screen this Memorial Day Weekend. The History Channel profiles George Washington as a military figure, and PBS delivers a concert from the nation's capital.

One program sings, the other doesn't. But the nonsinging one should put you in a patriotic mood.

Washington the Warrior deserves praise for treating the father of our country in human terms. This George W. too often recedes so far into legend that we fail to appreciate his accomplishments as a man.

This two-hour portrait, premiering at 9 PM ET Monday, rounds up enthusiastic speakers. Joseph J. Ellis, author of His Excellency: George Washington, is the standout. Ellis explains how Washington resigned as commander in chief of the Continental Army after defeating Great Britain.

"The most amazing feature of Washington, I think, is his capacity to surrender power," Ellis says. "Napoleon wouldn't do that. Cromwell didn't do it. Caesar didn't do it. Stalin didn't do it. Mao didn't do it. This is an unusual man who comes to embody the revolution but is willing to walk away from power. Washington understands that in America, in a republic, no matter how indispensable, all leaders are disposable. Even him."

The experts include authors Edward Lengel, Bruce Chadwick and Caroline Cox. What they're saying is usually more interesting than what we're seeing. The stumbling block is the program's reliance on re-enactments. These scenes, though elaborate and classy, turn monotonous.

This history lesson looks like a fancy TV movie with commentary instead of dialogue. If you can accept that style, you'll have no problem with Washington the Warrior.

The documentary explains how Washington's mistakes brought him ridicule during the French and Indian War, but he rebounded with heroic and unexpected leadership in the 1755 battle at the Monongahela River.

In tracing the Revolutionary War, the program notes Washington's triumphs and setbacks, celebrates his devotion to his men and salutes his leadership. At its most stirring, Washington the Warrior honors a commander who led from the front and learned from his mistakes.

In the city named for Washington, PBS will offer the National Memorial Day Concert, a live broadcast tonight (check local PBS listings). This year's program will pay tribute to the National Guard as well as Air Force pilots of World War II.

The co-hosts will be Gary Sinise of CSI: NY and Joe Mantegna of Joan of Arcadia. The concert on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol will mix music, dramatic readings and documentary footage.

The lineup is subject to last-minute changes. But the scheduled performers range from opera singer Frederica von Stade to country favorites Lee Ann Womack and Big & Rich. Conductor Erich Kunzel will lead the National Symphony Orchestra.

World War II veteran Charles Durning will share the story of an Air Force pilot who was a prisoner of war in Germany. Sinise and Oscar-winner Dianne Wiest will speak in honor of National Guardsmen from a hurricane-stricken community near New Orleans. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell will talk about the meaning of Memorial Day.

Perhaps someone will invoke the memory of George Washington. He should be remembered for showing the way for his countrymen.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-haltv052806may28,0,5526070,print.story?coll=orl-caltvtop

DoubleDAZ

05-28-06, 10:33 AM

fredfa

05-28-06, 12:25 PM

The problem for "Invasion" was pretty simple, and evident just about from its first week: it kept far too little of the "Lost" audience.

Often fewer than 50 per cent of the 9 PM 18-49 viewers stayed around for "Invasion". That was a killer, and to be frank, I was a little surprised that ABC stuck with "Invasion" for the entire season.

I suspect if it had a suitable replacement available, it wouldn't have hesitated to make have a quicker hook.

cajieboy

05-28-06, 01:00 PM

Now that Invasion just started to get its act together, the networks pull it. Darn! Personally, I preferred "Threshold" as the best of the network's alien shows, but then CBS yanked it too soon as well.

fredfa

05-28-06, 01:10 PM

Welcome to the thread, cajieboy :)

fredfa

05-28-06, 01:52 PM

The 2006-2007 Season
What's the preseason buzz?

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Sun, May. 28, 2006

(Note: All times ET/PT)

At this time last year, three new shows were the consensus picks to be big hits when the fall TV season got under way. The consensus was wrong.

One of the three -- ``E-Ring,'' NBC's Pentagon drama -- didn't even last a full season. ABC's ``Commander in Chief'' went down in the flames of behind-the-scenes turmoil. CBS's ``Out of Practice,'' which was so well-regarded that it got the cushy spot behind ``Two and a Half Men,'' lasted a whole season. But it won't be around for a second.

The new series that had an impact: CBS's ``Criminal Minds,'' which had been dismissed as just another crime procedural; Fox's ``Prison Break'' (``interesting show but it won't last six episodes''); CBS's ``The Unit,'' a midseason series that flew well under the radar; and ``Deal or No Deal,'' the game show that NBC first threw on in December with no great hopes that it would find an audience.

In other words, the parlor game played in TV world this time every year -- call it ``What's the Buzz?'' -- can be an exercise in futility. What looks great in May when the networks announce their fall seasons can be in the recycling bin before Thanksgiving.

Still, as soon as the last network makes its glitzy presentation to advertisers in New York, we play on, trying to figure out what's going to be hot from clips, pilot episodes, scripts and the assessments of media experts who are paid big bucks by advertisers for their advice on where to put their money.

So, let's play!

ABC

`Betty the Ugly' 8 p.m. Friday

The premise: A plain young Latina tries to make it in the world of high fashion, where good looks are everything.

The buzz: Based on ``Yo Soy Betty la Fea,'' one of the most popular and engaging telenovelas of all time, the show comes with a built-in audience and has a charming lead in America Ferrera as Betty Suarez. The issue: Can a show aimed at young women find an audience on Friday nights?

`Let's Rob . . .' 9 p.m. Tuesday

The premise: A guy working a dead-end job comes up with the idea of robbing a celebrity's posh apartment. The celebrity: Mick Jagger.

The buzz: There are four new sitcoms attracting interest, and this one got the biggest laughs of any when shown to advertisers. (The others are CBS's ``The Class,'' NBC's ``30 Rock'' and Fox's `` 'Til Death.'') The clips for the show, created by Jon Beckerman and Rob Burnett of ``Ed,'' are smart and nicely offbeat.

`The Nine' 10 p.m. Wednesday

The premise: The drama follows the lives of nine people who survive a hostage crisis triggered by a botched bank holdup.

The buzz: The show -- from Hank Steinberg, who created ``Without a Trace'' -- looks intriguing, particularly in the way it integrates flashbacks with what happens after the holdup. The cast -- headed by Chi McBride (``Boston Public''), Kim Raver (`'24'') and Tim Daly (``Eyes'') -- is impressive.

CBS

`Jericho' 8 p.m. Wednesday

The premise: The residents of a farm town in Kansas believe they are the only survivors of a nuclear holocaust.

The buzz: The people who have seen the full pilot love this show, most often described as a cross between ``Lost'' and ``Desperate Housewives'' with a mix of soap opera, high drama and a ``Twilight Zone''-style sensibility. But that may make it a tough sell, and CBS didn't have any luck last season trying to build an audience for ``Threshold.''

`Shark' 10 p.m. Thursday

The premise: A slick, hotshot defense lawyer takes his game to the district attorney's office.

The buzz: This drama starring James Woods had the highest scores of any new CBS show from test audiences -- which triggered the network's decision to give it the Thursday slot behind ``CSI.'' It looks a bit like ``House'' in a legal setting, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

`The Class' 8:30 p.m. Monday

The premise: A group of twentysomethings who haven't seen each other since the third grade reunite.

The buzz: You want a sure comedy hit? This may be it. It comes from David Crane (``Friends'') and Jeffrey Klarik (``Mad About You'') and features a huge (for a sitcom) cast headed by Jason Ritter (``Joan of Arcadia'') and the very funny Jesse Tyler Ferguson, one of the stars of Broadway's ``Putnam County Spelling Bee.''

FOX

`Justice' 9 p.m. Wednesday

The premise: Life inside a law firm that only takes on high-profile cases.

The buzz: There's a fair amount of love out there for this drama that has a smart writer-producer (Jonathan Shapiro of ``Just Legal''), a terrific lead (Victor Garber of ``Alias'') and a slick, sophisticated feel to it. The ``but'' -- and it's a big one -- is a time period where it will go up against two established hits: ``Lost'' and ``Criminal Minds.''

` 'Til Death' 8 p.m. Thursday

The premise: A young couple, married for all of 12 days, moves in next door to a husband and wife who have been battling for 8,743 days.

The buzz: A more traditional sitcom than Fox usually goes for, this may be the perfect match of material and leading man -- Brad Garrett of ``Everybody Loves Raymond'' as a dour, cynical husband. The pilot isn't a gut-buster, but it has some very funny moments.

NBC

`30 Rock' 8:30 p.m. Wednesday

The premise: Life behind the scenes of a television comedy.

The buzz: Created by Tina Fey, the head writer and ``Weekend Update'' anchor on ``Saturday Night Live,'' this insider comedy got a big response from some very funny clips. As she proved in the film ``Mean Girls,'' Fey has a way with snappy dialogue and the cast, including Alec Baldwin and Rachel Dratch from ``SNL,'' can crack wise with the best of them.

`Friday Night Lights' 8 p.m. Tuesday

The premise: The culture of high school football as played in the small towns of Texas.

The buzz: There are some folks who think this series -- based on the hit film and created by the film's director, Peter Berg -- could be the stealth hit of next season. The pilot suggests a family drama with a bit of bite.

`Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip' 10 p.m. Monday

The premise: Life behind the scenes of a late-night television sketch comedy show. (Gee, didn't we just say that?)

The buzz: Hard to believe that NBC is putting two shows with almost the same underlying premise on the air at the same time, but it is. ``Studio 60,'' though, may be the most discussed and dissected new show of the season, and it's NBC's biggest hope for a hit. It marks Aaron Sorkin's return to TV after leaving ``The West Wing'' three seasons ago, and his script for the pilot is intelligent and funny in a ``Sports Night'' kind of way. No new series has a stronger cast: Matthew Perry (``Friends''), Amanda Peet (``Syriana''), Bradley Whitford (``The West Wing''), Sarah Paulson (``Deadwood'') and comedian D.L. Hughley, just for starters.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/14688234.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

05-28-06, 02:03 PM

TV Notebook
The Coming Katie Couric News Deluge

If your perky meter starts registering off the chart readings this week, don’t be surprised.

Katie Couric ends her tenure at NBC’s “Today” on Wednesday.

And beginning Thursday – when Katie officially begins working for Les Moonves & company -- CBS executives will contractually be able to talk about their new “CBS Evening News” anchor as much as they would like.

So be prepared for story after story about Katie and how she will tip the balance of power in network newscasts. Or not.

And how her absence next to Matt Lauer will tip the balance of power in network morning shows. Or not.

Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

From now until July, when the networks greet TV journalists for three weeks in Los Angeles, the news can get pretty dull. At least Katie/CBS/the future of morning network shows should give those folks something to write about for a week or so.

fredfa

05-28-06, 02:11 PM

TV Notebook
New Idol ponders the road

By Mike Brantley Mobile Register Sunday, May 28, 2006

So, is your new American Idol -- Alabama singer Taylor Hicks, who has held the title for only a few days now -- going to move to Hollywood?

For a time, after all, when he previously made a major stab at breaking into the recording business, he left Birmingham and moved to Nashville. His big break didn't come while he was in Nashville, but he did catch the biggest possible break by going to Hollywood for a TV show called "American Idol."

Perhaps you've heard of it.

Likely you've seen it, as Wednesday's season finale attracted an audience of 35.4 million viewers on average, according to Nielsen Media Research. Nearly 43 million viewers were tuned in during that broadcast's final half-hour, in which Hicks was named winner.

Back to the question: Where will he call his home? "I probably will live on my tour bus," responded Hicks a few days before the "Idol" finale, during a conference call with journalists.

As a struggling musician before "Idol," the 29-year-old, gray-haired singer said, he stayed on the road quite a bit. He performed in Gulf Coast venues such as the Flora-Bama, Lester's and Monsoons, among others, for example. During his travels criss-crossing the region to small bars and pretty much any venue that would let him perform, Hicks would always spot the buses.

He always wanted to be on one of them, he said.

"I might have some little lake place somewhere, where I can sit on a porch and stare at a tree and some water," Hicks said. "But as far as what I have always wanted to do, I've always wanted to be on a bus."

He'll be on the road quite a bit this next year, that's for sure. Hicks and other fifth-season "Idol" finalists are hitting the highways to take their songs to concert venues across the nation.

The "Idol" tour comes to Alabama Aug. 8, when Hicks and his former competitors will perform at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center. At this writing, some isolated $36.50 tickets (plus $2 facility charge and a $7.35 "convenience charge") for the 7 p.m. show were still available via www.ticketmaster.com. The trick to getting them seemed to be speficying single tickets and not groups of two or more.

Meanwhile, Hicks is thinking hard about his next album. He's released a couple of independent CDs, but this next one will be his first for a major label.

"It's just going to have to be a really good representation of myself as an artist," Hicks said. "There are some things I want to do creatively that I have never been able to get to do before American Idol.'...There are some things in my mind that I think would be cutting edge musically."

While he has recorded his own songs before, he's not married to putting out a collection of all-original songs next.

"A song is a song," he said. "If I can feel a song, it doesn't matter if I write it or somebody else does."

http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/entertainment/114880833044810.xml&coll=3

keenan

05-28-06, 02:20 PM

keenan,

I'm not an instant gratification kind of guy (but I get your point), I just thought Invasion moved too slow in too many episodes without a decent "hook" from one episode to the next and oftentimes left me wondering just what a given episode had accomplished. For that reason, it was placed on my DVR schedule and viewed whenever I got to it. I was ready to give it another season to see where it was going, it was good enough for that, but I can see why it didn't make the cut. IMHO, you simply can't wait for 7-8 episodes before you pick up the pace and make things happen. By then, you've already lost half your audience.

I wasn't implying that you personally were that "kind of guy". :)

Just that for the general TV audience, the one that counts in the ratings, most are that type.

Plus, I think having Invasion right after Lost actually hurt it as 2 hours in a row of serialized and in many cases slow moving TV is far too much for the average viewer to absorb.

Regarding Threshold, that's one of the reasons why I disliked it, it was basically a crime procedural only it was the alien-problem-of-the-week format, that pretended to be serialized. Too bad as I liked some of the actors.

BTW, anyone know if Carla Gugino is coming back to TV in the fall...?

fredfa

05-28-06, 02:22 PM

......BTW, anyone know if Carla Gugino is coming back to TV in the fall...?

Not that I have heard -- yet.

fredfa

05-28-06, 02:27 PM

As we await the Katie Couric deluge, here's another Charlie Gibson story....

TV Notebook
Sunrise, sunset

By Doug Elfman Chicago Sun-Times Television Critic May 28, 2006

When Charlie Gibson -- ABC's new evening news anchor -- was 9, he'd take the bus to the Howard L station, then ride to Wrigley and watch the Cubs in the bleachers for a buck. He was one of those baseball fans some Chicagoans find suspicious, rooting for both the Sox and the Cubs.

"Unlike so many people in Chicago who have to choose one or the other, I liked them both. When I was there, there were great Sox players," Gibson says, then he starts rattling off the names Eddie Robinson, Nellie Fox and a roster of others.

And Gibson's daughter wasn't born here, but she graduated at Northwestern in 1998; Kate's now a TV producer at the Food Network. ("She's a foodie," he says.) Here's where their environmental upbringings differed, he says: He was born in Evanston and grew up in this pleasantville, while she was raised on the edgier East Coast, then found softer environs here.

"Her first boyfriend was an Eagle Scout, and she called and said, 'Dad, he really takes this stuff seriously,' " Gibson says. "She goes [to Chicago] and she finds that cynicism is de rigueur in the East, and it doesn't play in the Midwest."

Of course, that "cynicism" is also attributed to journalists, though "skeptical" is a more accurate, open-minded description of journos like Gibson.

In signing up Gibson to replace Elizabeth Vargas and the wounded-in-action Bob Woodruff for "World News Tonight" -- he begins Monday -- ABC has chosen wisely. Gibson, 63, is objective in interviews. He's smart. And like the late taskmaster Peter Jennings, Gibson seems most capable of cultivating reporters and demanding solid, hard-news stories.

The anchor post is slated to be his until at least the 2008 elections. After that, who knows?

"I'm not a young spring chicken," Gibson says. "At some point, the actuary tables come into play."

Gibson's competitors are springier chickens. NBC's ratings winner Brian Williams is 47. Katie Couric, who takes over for CBS's Bob Schieffer in the fall, is 49. But Gibson believes whichever news operation does the best reporting, not anchoring, will win the day. On this point, Gibson brings up Schieffer, 69, who has boosted CBS' ratings since replacing Dan Rather.

"I ran into Bob at a baseball game Saturday night," Gibson says. "I told him I thought he'd done a remarkable thing. He said, 'All I did was feature the reporters. I tried to get it away from me. I wanted it to be about the news organization.'

"And that's what I want to do," Gibson says, "to try to bring solidity" to the newscast.

The anchor job has been a long time coming for Gibson -- and it's arrived at a crazy time. In a year's span, ABC has seen the lung cancer death of Jennings ("He didn't quit [smoking]; Peter was something of a closet smoker," Gibson says); the bombing in Iraq of co-anchor Woodruff, who's recuperating; and the pregnancy-resignation of co-anchor Vargas.

Gibson's veteran experience and familiarity with news teams is meant to stabilize ABC.

"I've worked for the same company 30-plus years, and I know the crews, and the tape editors, and the reporters. And I've been in bureaus around the world," Gibson says. "I know all these people."

One unfortunate byproduct is ABC losing a chance to have a solo woman anchor in either Vargas or Diane Sawyer, Gibson's "Good Morning America" co-host.

Vargas, 43, has been saying it was her choice to step aside, based on her doctor's orders to take it easier on her second pregnancy. She has not mentioned recent media criticism that suggested she was a goner.

"Every other newspaper she picked up said her job was shot," he says. "Boy, there was a drumbeat about that," but she was making progress, Gibson says.

As for Sawyer, she and Gibson supported each other in their potential to be anchor. Before the Gibson decision was made, he had asked her if she would take the job if she were offered, but she wouldn't commit to him on an answer.

"Even when it was in a discussion stage, I went to her and said, 'What do you think? And she said, 'Oh, do it,' " Gibson says. "That was truly important to me ... to have her blessing in effect, to have her say, 'This is something you should do.' "

"Good Morning America" could suffer when Gibson says goodbye there at the end of June. It's been suggested previously the show could take over first place in the ratings from NBC's "Today," since Couric is splitting. The two-hour "Good Morning America" is one of ABC's most profitable properties, certainly more so than "World News Tonight."

But, like "Today," "GMA" has become a breeding ground for evening anchors. The morning show can't hold onto everyone forever.

Media critics have deemed Gibson to be a potential ratings savior for ABC. Gibson knows that, but I remind him. I tell him many of us are raising expectations for his performance. In a voice made quiet from talking all day on TV, he asks in a calm, Midwesterny way, "Don't do that."

http://www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi?getReferrer=http://www.suntimes.com/output/television/sho-sunday-elf28.html

DoubleDAZ

05-28-06, 02:39 PM

I wasn't implying that you personally were that "kind of guy". :)
I didn't think you were, just making my point clear.
Plus, I think having Invasion right after Lost actually hurt it as 2 hours in a row of serialized and in many cases slow moving TV is far too much for the average viewer to absorb.I totally agree. Problem was that high production costs probably kept them from trying a different night where higher ratings wouldn't have been expected.

Sorry Fred, didn't mean to turn this into an Invasion thread. That's my last $.02 on the subject anyway. :)

fredfa

05-28-06, 02:54 PM

Just about any topic is fair game, Dave.

fredfa

05-28-06, 02:54 PM

Q&A With Mike Duffy
Networks leave us hanging

By Mike Duffy( Disguised as his alter ego “Captain Video”) Detroit Free Press TV Critic

Posted by Doug: "Forget all the implausible plot lines and cool gadgets, '24' ROCKS!! I can't believe I have to wait until January for a new season."

Captain Video says: You're on my killer thriller wavelength, Doug. The sensational fifth season finale of crazy cliffhanger life on the Planet Jack Bauer was the best yet. And how dizzily delightful was it to shockingly discover Chloe O'Brian was once married, and that her ex-hubby Morris sells women's shoes in Beverly Hills?!

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E-mailed by Ed Arbogast, Cadillac: "Sure am gonna hate to see the end of 'Everwood.' I get emotionally involved in these things and hate unhappy endings. I hope Bright and Hanna and Ephram and Amy get back together. But I have to remind myself, it's just a story."

CV says: The bittersweet good news about that cancellation is that the producers had time to film a second ending that will now serve as a two-hour "Everwood" show June 5 on the soon-to-be defunct WB.

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E-mailed by Bloom Taliercio, Troy: "After the nice e-mail I sent you last week about Taylor Hicks, you still don't get it! I'm thinking you are not a native Detroiter, thus you have little appreciation for music that makes you feel good."

CV says: You got me, Bloom. I grew up in Ohio. But all kinds of music that makes me feel good -- Aretha, Bob Seger, Marvin Gaye, the Stooges, the White Stripes and the Dirtbombs -- has a magical Motor City beat that "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks couldn't approximate in his wildest karaoke dreams.

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E-mailed by Kevin S. McMahon, Brighton: "Do you think it was a coincidence that when President Logan, the personification of Evil, was getting on the helicopter that the time on the digital was 06:06:06? I'll bet not, especially in Jack's World."

CV says: Double whammy Satanic whoa! Good catch, Kevin, on that sly little digital clock giggle from the "24" season finale. Oh, those sneaky producers. Maybe the Devil made 'em do it.

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E-mailed by Dennis Blake, Plymouth: "What's up with 'NCIS'?? Is Mark Harmon finished with the show? Is 'NCIS' returning next season? I was caught off guard by the season finale."

CV says: Calm down, Dennis. "NCIS" was renewed long ago for next season and Mark Harmon isn't going anywhere. It was just another of those season finale cliffhanger surprises -- with Harmon's Jethro Gibbs quitting the NCIS team -- to keep viewers guessing until fall. Just another cheap storytelling trick.

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E-mailed by Dick and Joan Rohr, Indian River: "On the 'Desperate Housewives' season finale, we recognized the psychiatrist as someone we had seen before on TV some time ago. Could you refresh our memory?"

CV says: Bree's snide shrink was played by longtime character actor William Atherton ("Ghostbusters," "Die Hard"), who has carved out a special performance niche portraying sniveling twits. Sort of like Captain Video!

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060527/ENT03/605270321/1038&template=printart

fredfa

05-28-06, 03:26 PM

TV Notebook
Katie Couric farewell party seems endless

Ratings figure in long NBC goodbye

By David Zurawik Baltimore Sun Television Critic May 28, 2006

"They say, Katie, you're like a flame/into our lives you came." - lyric from Stone Phillips' "Goodbye to Katie"

The network season ended last week, but there is one very important and public bit of business yet to be taken care of Wednesday morning on NBC: the final farewell to Katie Couric after 15 years as co-anchor of the Today show.

The 49-year-old Couric is not going away forever. She will return to television in September as anchor of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. But that has not stopped NBC from making mornings during the past few weeks of May sweeps into one long goodbye to Couric.

In terms of ratings, the strategy has worked.

Today finished the last full week of sweeps, May 15-21, with an average daily audience of 5.8 million viewers - 700,000 more than are watching archrival Good Morning America on ABC. Today earns more than $225 million for the network annually in the most lucrative news period of the day. It gained 179,000 viewers over the same week last year, while Good Morning America lost 493,000 viewers.

Today is the only network morning news show to have year-to-year growth in overall viewership and key demographics. The farewell-Katie factor has added to that advantage.

But what about the nature of the programming itself? Analysts say there is more involved than just ratings and money. While some media experts see such TV farewells as symptoms of a narcissistic TV culture featuring self-absorbed celebrities, others say the video goodbyes speak to an authentic need in audience members for closure in a long-term relationship that is ending against their will.

"There is something very ritualistic about such television farewells," said Abe Novick, a senior vice president at Eisner Communications, one of the largest independent advertising agencies on the East Coast.

"These patterns of behavior - waking up with Katie Couric on Today and signing off with Ted Koppel on Nightline - infiltrate our lives, becoming a daily ritual, and then, suddenly, we hear that they are going to end. It's bittersweet, but still there is something nice about a congratulatory farewell that speaks to the fondness she's built up - except when TV goes overboard, of course, which TV has been known to do."

Parade of valentines

Despite being called news programs, the morning shows seem to be more about self-help, gossip, celebrity, promotion, time, chitchat and weather than anything else on days when there is not major breaking news. But even by that relaxed standard, the parade of video valentines featuring celebrities saying goodbye to Couric, coupled with the seemingly endless reel of "Katie's Memorable Moments," might be judged excessive by the second or third week.

They're sometimes clever: "Congratulations, Katie, on your 15 years of great reporting on Today. You have taken us to the Olympics and your colon; hardly anyone can say that," U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a New York Democrat, says in one video salute that references a memorable moment in 2000 during which Couric underwent a colonoscopy live on television. "You have been the subject of great media scrutiny for your hair; I can only imagine what that's like," said Clinton, a victim of similar hairdo harassment.

They're sometimes surreal: One clip features Couric interviewing Nancy Reagan, and the next has her chatting up Mr. Rogers - or a Muppet.

And sometimes, the farewell moment is just so over the top that it stops one cold - such as the segment last Monday at 8:53 a.m. headlined "Stone's Goodbye to Katie."

The segment, filmed in Phillips' home, showed the Dateline anchorman at a piano - decked out in a shirt that defines "lounge lizard" - singing and playing: "They say, Katie, you're like a dream/not always what you seem." Even Couric looked as though she might gag when the camera returned to the Today show dais.

Jim Bell, executive producer of Today, chuckled during a phone interview last week when asked about Phillips' ode to Couric.

"Wasn't that fun?" Bell said, explaining that Phillips had made the tape for a "private cocktail party" for Couric and her NBC News colleagues.

"I said, 'There's no way we're not putting that on the air,' when I saw it. And I did call Phillips up just to make sure he was OK with it. And to his credit, he said, 'Absolutely, but one condition: You have to run the entire thing - not just a little clip.'

"And I said, 'Oh, don't worry, Stone, we'll run the whole darn thing.'"

Celebrating her time

Such "fun" moments aside, the farewell is serious business - especially with the shift in fortune that could accompany Couric's departure. Meredith Vieira, formerly of ABC's The View, will replace her starting in September. Good Morning America, meanwhile, is also looking for a new morning co-host with Charles Gibson taking over tomorrow as solo anchorman of ABC's World News Tonight after almost two decades of morning duty.

"The driving force behind this [on-air send-off] is that the institution - the franchise of the Today show - is really the thing that matters here," Bell said.

"She is, of course, a dear, valued member of the family who has decided to move on. And everybody here owes her so much for what she's done for the show, for NBC News, for the company. And everybody wishes her only good things.

"We're not petty. We're not going to sit there and say, 'Well, get out.' We're going to celebrate her time at Today. We're going to throw her a nice party - and invite the viewers to participate. ... I think it feels right for our viewers, it feels right around the halls of NBC, and I'm absolutely certain it feels right to Katie."

'Taking the high road'

One reason NBC has so much Couric-career-related programming ready to air is that the network started preparing in January for a show to mark her 15th anniversary in April. "But about the time we were getting ready to air it, we discovered that she was going to be moving on," Bell said.

What to do now?

"We decided that the effort didn't have to be lost - we could just make it part of an even bigger day that would be her final day on May 31," he said.

"There's no question this could have gone differently, you know," Bell said. "And I'm pleased we're taking the high road. It feels right for the show."

The seemingly endless farewell has become its own kind of television institution - a way of celebrating itself, says University of Maryland media economist and historian Douglas Gomery.

"It's as old as TV. When [Walter] Cronkite retired - same thing. When M*A*S*H had its last episode - same thing. And so on. And so on. ... I'm only surprised that Phillips wasn't crying when he sang about Katie being like a flame or a dream or whatever."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-ae.eye28may28,0,688856.story?coll=bal-artslife-tv

fredfa

05-28-06, 03:52 PM

TV Notebook
'Rescue Me': Life as a five-alarm blaze

By Mark McGuire Albany Times Union staff writer Sunday, May 28, 2006

Tommy Gavin is a drunk, prone to outbursts of anger and extreme violence, a chain-smoking skirt hound who's also a failed husband and wobbly father. He's hostage to his multiple weaknesses, and he knows it.

I still root for this dysfunctional "hero" among heroes, and the rest of the firefighters who populate the world of "Rescue Me" (third season premiere at 10 PM ET Tuesday, FX).

As played by convincing everyman comic Denis Leary, Gavin isn't a great man, but he is a decent one. At least he recognizes his shortcomings.

If you haven't noticed, we're living in the golden age of antiheroes; rooting for the bad guy isn't just tolerated, it's expected. Think of Detective Vic Mackey of "The Shield" (FX), Tony Soprano of "The Sopranos" or Al Swearengen on "Deadwood" (both HBO), or Dr. Gregory House on "House" (Fox).

In a universe John Wayne wouldn't recognize, the villains often get the prettiest gals in town. But that kind of devotion comes with a price: We expect the bad guys, even the ones we root for, to get what's coming to them. Mackey can't walk away with his family and his pension and his stolen loot. Tony Soprano can't depart HBO before he pays for his murderous ways. And Al, the brutal barkeep, can't ride idyllically off into the sunset. (House, who hasn't killed anybody -- at least not yet -- can continue to be a merry jerk, although brief glimpses of humanity are always welcome.)

Tommy Gavin is different: There's flickering hope for him, even as his family turns on him, the pressure of his job threaten to consume him, and his frailty allows him to do what he knows is wrong. The promos for this season of "Rescue Me" features Gavin walking around on fire. As noted in the title of the series, the guy needs help.

Last season, Gavin fared worse than any of the other TV bad boys. Just as Gavin was tentatively stepping into sobriety and reunification with his wife, his son Connor was killed by a drunken driver. So much for the good life.

"You know the only good thing to come out of this is?" asks his soon-to-be-ex-wife Janet (Andrea Roth, "CSI"). "Now I don't have to watch Connor grow up and turn out exactly like you." Ouch.

The first season of "Rescue Me" spun around firefighters dealing with anguish and survivor's guilt following 9/11. (Albany native James McCaffrey plays the ghost of Tommy's cousin, who was killed at the twin towers but periodically drops in to offer Gavin harsh counsel.) The scars linger even as the attacks recede into history, but Gavin's colleagues have developed new issues.

Chief Jerry Reilly (Jack McGee, a former real-life NYFD firefighter) is dealing with his wife's Alzheimer's and financial woes. Meanwhile, single dad and serial dater Franco (Daniel Sunjata) may have found a good mate and mom to his daughter -- except she's much older (needless to say, she's played by Susan Sarandon).

Firefighter Sean Garrity (Steven Pasquale) fears for his life if Tommy finds out he's dating Gavin's sister (Tatum O'Neal). Tommy's cop brother Johnny (Dean Winters) has his own volatile love life issues to deal with.

But challenging Tommy's decline is Lt. "Lou" Shea (John Scurti), who is becoming a drunk (big difference from a drinker) and embittered after losing his wife and being swindled by a prostitute. When a concerned Gavin confronts Lou after he explodes on probie Mike Silletti (Michael Lombardi), the result is one of the finest scenes of the television season:

"What, what are you going to do, Tommy?" Shea says. "You want to help me? Is that it it? You -- who (threw) away his beautiful wife and three kids by crawling into a bottle for three years? You are going to help me?"

If Shea is looking for someone with an exemplary life to save him from himself, he's not going to find him in the universe of "Rescue Me." Gavin's concern is valid; so is Shea's skepticism.

These are men who have great difficulty verbalizing strong emotions, especially fear. Cloaked in guy-speak, the confrontation between Gavin and Shea crystallizes the truth of this series: When someone close to you unravels, you're often powerless to help. And when you're the one unraveling, reaching out can be even more difficult.

"Rescue Me" inhabits a hyper-masculine world that feels genuine. There's much to admire about its denizens, even if their individual and collective shortcomings leave them markedly flawed.

These aren't heroes, merely decent men struggling and bumbling through the day. I root for them, for Tommy and Lou and Franco and the rest, much like I root for Tony and Al and Vic. But it's different.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=486321

fredfa

05-28-06, 04:02 PM

TV Notebook
Where will networks take us from here?

Mark Dawidziak Cleveland Plain Dealer Television Critic Sunday, May 28, 2006

It's that time of the year when we reach the prime-time crossroads. It's a moment to get our bearings, pausing to look both in the rearview mirror and at the crowded intersection in front of us.

First, a brief glance at what is now behind us: the 2005-06 television season. That came to an official ratings end Wednesday night with the much-hyped season finales of Fox's "American Idol" and ABC's "Lost."

The clear heavyweight champion in terms of total viewership is, as expected, CBS. No other network is even close in this category.

But Fox, closing very strong this month, edged past ABC in the neck-and-neck race for viewers 18 to 49 years old. That's the group most sought by advertisers.

ABC can claim a victory of sorts, however, since it was the only network to make gains over last season in the 18-49 category. And CBS finished an extremely competitive third in the so-called primary demographic, so three networks have earned a share of bragging rights.

By process of elimination, that makes the name of the biggest loser as easy as A-B-C -- and it's not ABC. But it is the network that airs "The Biggest Loser." Yes, it was another disastrous year for NBC, the fourth-place network in terms of total viewers and in the 18-49 department.

It was only four short years ago that the Peacock Network was flying high as the top network in almost all significant prime-time ratings categories. That was when NBC had five of the nation's Top-10 shows. This season, NBC had no Top-10 finishers, and only one, "Deal or No Deal" in the Top 20.

By comparison, CBS claimed nine of the Top 20 spots, ABC had seven, and Fox had three (including the top two spots with the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of "American Idol" finishing No. 1 and 2).

So much for looking backward. With the five broadcast networks having announced their fall lineups this month, the quick rundown for the new season looks like this: 26 new shows (15 dramas and 11 comedies).

There were 31 rookie shows introduced last fall. We're down a little bit because of the merger of struggling smaller networks UPN and the WB into the CW, which will be seen in this area on WBNX Channel 55.

Of those 31 freshman series, only 10 will see a sophomore year: four for CBS ("How I Met Your Mother," "Ghost Whisperer," "Close to Home" and "Criminal Minds"), three for Fox ("Prison Break," "Bones" and "The War at Home"), one for NBC ("My Name Is Earl") and one apiece for the WB and UPN on the combined CW schedule (the WB's "Supernatural" and UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris").

This is where ABC had the worst year. None of the five shows debuted last fall by the Alphabet Network will return. That's why ABC will be adding the most number of new shows this fall: nine, as compared to six for ABC, five for Fox, four for CBS and two for the CW.

More trends? Look for:

Serialized suspense dramas influenced by Fox's "24" and "Prison Break." That includes NBC's "Kidnapped," which starts with the kidnapping of a wealthy Manhattan couple's teenage son; ABC's "The Nine," following a group of people caught up in a bank robbery; Fox's "Vanished," with Joanne Kelly as the missing wife of a Georgia senator; and the CW's "Runaway," about a family on the run after the father is wrongly accused of a crime.

Quirky and mysterious dramas influenced by ABC's "Lost." Including "Jericho," a CBS newcomer about a small Kansas town left standing after a nuclear exchange; NBC's "Heroes," about ordinary people who discover they have superhero powers; and ABC's "Six Degrees," which focuses on six New Yorkers drawn together by a disturbing web of coincidences.

NBC series taking viewers behind the scenes at late-night sketch comedy shows. Yes, NBC liked this idea so much, they're trying it as a drama, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," and a comedy, writer-producer-star Tina Fey's "30 Rock."

Shows with numbers in the title. Never mind those "Lost" numbers. How about the sequence 6, 9, 20, 30, 60. They stand for "Six Degrees," "The Nine," NBC's "20 Good Years," "30 Rock" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."

Familiar faces from TV seasons past. Riddled throughout the 26 new shows, including "20 Good Years" (John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor), "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Steven Weber, Timothy Busfield), "The Nine" (Chi McBride, Kim Raver, Tim Daly, Scott Wolf), "Jericho" (Gerald McRaney and Pamela Reed), the ABC drama "Brothers & Sisters" (Calista Flockhart), the ABC comedy "Help Me Help You" (Ted Danson and Jane Kaczmarek), the Fox comedy "'Til Death" (Brad Garrett), the CBS comedy "The Class" (Jason Ritter) and the NBC drama "Friday Night Lights" (Kyle Chandler).

Legal dramas. James Woods in CBS' "Shark" and Victor Garber in Fox's "Justice."

And, finally, reality shows produced by "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell. ABC renewed his "American Inventor" for a second edition; NBC premieres his "America's Got Talent," with Regis Philbin as host, on Wednesday, June 21; and Fox has a four-week order for "Duets," his series teaming celebrities not known for singing with actual singers.

http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/entertainment/114871882512310.xml&coll=2

fredfa

05-28-06, 04:33 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Grades are posted for season finales

By Chuck Barney Contra Costa Times TV critic

The 2005-06 TV season is now in the books, having finished with a flurry of finales that left us suffering from plot-twist whiplash and hanging from cliffs.

Did your favorite show make the grade? Here's a rundown:

"Lost"

• WHAT HAPPENED: Desmond returns. The Others abduct Jack's posse. Locke destroys the hatch computer, unleashing a storm of electromagnetic energy. Desmond realizes this has happened before and might have caused the crash of Flight 815. The Others, led by Henry Gale, reunite Michael with his son, Walt, and free them. But Jack, Kate and Sawyer are kept in custody. Finally, the electromagnetic disturbance may have alerted outside people to the island's existence.

• HIGH POINTS: An intense and absolutely magnetic finale that answered many key questions and punctured a lot of theories.

• LOW POINTS: Also an exasperating experience that provoked even more questions.

• LOOKING AHEAD: Will Season 3 bring help to the island? Will we still care?

• GRADE: A-

"24"

• WHAT HAPPENED: Jack saves the day again and icky President Logan is arrested. But, alas, our hero is captured and beaten to a pulp by Chinese thugs seeking payback for last season when Jack killed one of their own.

• HIGH POINTS: Another taut "24" finale with some hair-raising surprises. The tense scenes between Logan (Gregory Itzin) and his wrung-out wife (Jean Smart), who helped to bring him down, were superb.

• LOW POINTS: What crackpot writer decided to suddenly give Chloe an ex-husband?

• LOOKING AHEAD: Jack's abduction provides an intriguing set-up for next season. Still, "24" may be hard-pressed to keep topping itself.

• GRADE: A-

"Prison Break"

• WHAT HAPPENED: Our inmates get over the wall, but -- wait -- there's dissension in the ranks and the getaway plane leaves without them.

• HIGH POINTS: A fast-paced hour with shockers galore (The president dies! Sara overdoses! Abruzzi chops off T-Bag's hand!).

• LOW POINTS: The episode was more bloated than Bellick's stomach.

• LOOKING AHEAD: The show now shifts into a "Fugitive"-like mode, but will the characters be as captivating on the other side of prison bars?

• GRADE: B-

"Grey's Anatomy"

• WHAT HAPPENED: Denny dies of a broken heart and Izzie quits. Burke survives a gunshot wound. Meredith and McDreamy stop bickering long enough to have torrid sex (in slow motion, no less).

• HIGH POINTS: Emotionally powerful moments delivered by a skillful cast that knows how to wring the most out of them.

• LOW POINTS: The Izzie-Denny story dragged on way too long. By the time he died, we were more relieved than sad.

• LOOKING AHEAD: Are we fed up with Meredith and McDreamy yet?

• GRADE: B-

"The O.C."

• WHAT HAPPENED: The gang graduates. Seth's arrest for arson is swept under the rug. The evil Volchok runs Ryan and Marissa off the road. Ryan emerges scratch-free, but Marissa dies in his arms.

• HIGH POINTS: No sappy grad-day speeches (Yippee!) and the finale lasted only an hour (but felt longer).

• LOW POINTS: Knowing in advance that Marissa was going to die because actress Mischa Barton couldn't keep her big mouth shut.

• LOOKING AHEAD: Can this once-addictive show emerge from its slump? At least we won't miss the wooden performances of Barton.

• GRADE: C+

"Desperate Housewives"

• WHAT HAPPENED: Lynette learns that Tom has a kid from a long-ago one-night stand. Gabby discovers Carlos is sleeping with the maid. Mike buys Susan a wedding ring but withholds it because he thinks she still has a thing for Karl. Zach shuts off Noah's respirator and watches him die. Bree flees the mental institution in order to save Danielle from Matthew, who pulls a gun on Bree, but gets shot by the cops. And -- whew! -- Mike gets run down in the street by Orson.

• HIGH POINTS: Lots of wonderfully over-the-top moments, and Marcia Cross puts the capper on an Emmy-worthy season.

• LOW POINTS: Talk about plot-line overload!

• LOOKING AHEAD: This show needs to regain its Season 1 rhythm and get back to its core group of women.

• GRADE: B

QUICK TAKES:

• "Gilmore Girls" -- Lorelai and Luke in Splitsville? Ugh. (C+)

• "The Office" -- Pam and Jim finally kiss! (A)

• "Veronica Mars" -- One mystery solved and another beckons (B+)

• "CSI" -- Grissom and Sara hook up, How weird is that? (C+)

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/entertainment/columnists/chuck_barney/14682406.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

05-28-06, 08:14 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Unforgettable 'Everwood,' where character matters

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog May 28, 2006

The people on "Everwood" are real to me.

They're not, obviously. They're fictional creations. I get that.

But over four seasons, the writers for this WB drama, which has been canceled by the new CW network and only airs two more Mondays, have managed the trickiest feat in television: They've created characters who are consistent and compelling, yet capable of real change.

Too often on television, the "changes" that characters go through aren't really changes. The characters aren't really evolving -- the writers just alter a show's inhabitants to suit the plot of the week.

Even some often-excellent shows have been incredibly inconsistent in this regard. One week, Lorelai Gilmore of "Gilmore Girls" is sane and wise, the next week, she's spouting the most pathetic, selfish drivel. One week Nate Fisher of "Six Feet Under" is a caring, empathic guy, the next week he's a thoughtless jerk. Don't even start me on "Nip/Tuck"; those poor actors were given such wildly different parts to play each week of Season 3 that it's a wonder the leads didn't suffer from whiplash.

Contrast those people with characters such as Commander Adama on "Battlestar Galactica," Al Swearengen on "Deadwood," Chloe O'Brian on "24" or Pam Beesley on "The Office." If you watch those shows consistently, you come to feel you know who those people are, down to the root of their souls. They're fictional but absolutely real, because the people who create and act these roles are meticulous in their attention to detail and disciplined about every gesture, every nuance, every step the character takes.

Of course, in real life, people don't act consistently. People will surprise you with the good and bad things they're capable of. But it's really tiresome to hear TV writers defend their sloppy writing and erratic characterizations as signs of "growth" and "change."

Characters exhibiting new facets of themselves, and struggling with new issues each week -- that can make for great TV. But characters acting like they've had a personality transplant each week -- that's just weak writing, and it drives me nuts when writers whine that viewers won't accept it when characters evolve. Too often viewers are asked to accept inconsistency and expediency born of bad planning as "evolution."

It's not as though characters have to be likable to keep our interest, either. The writers of "The Shield" have made Vic Mackey into the most compelling character on television partly because many of his actions are so wrong. Some weeks you want to write Mackey off as the murderer, adulterer and out-of-control vigilante that he can be. But then Mackey will do something selfless, something tender. And you can't look away from his struggle to be a better man.

"Everwood" has been refreshing thanks to a similar (though much less violent, obviously) commitment to showing the real messiness of change -- warts, epiphanies and all. In a lot of ways, Andy Brown, the lead character, is the same guy who first brought his family to the small Colorado town. He's often meddling, arrogant, clueless about how he comes off to others and a bit of a control freak. He's frequently made a mess of his dealings with his kids.

And he's also loving, compassionate and willing to forgo his own personal pride and comfort to help someone else out of a tough spot. In other words, he's a completely realistic mixture of good and bad qualities, with the good, as it usually does, outweighing the bad.

Over the past four seasons, Brown's remained that guy -- self-absorbed, clueless, caring and wonderfully sweet -- but he has evolved as well, in ways that make sense. He still spars with his kids, but at least he's willing to admit how wrong he can be. He's seen how being a control freak -- for example, he refused to tell his son Ephram that his girlfriend had given birth to Ephram's child -- rarely works out as planned. And he's opened up the heart that had been adamantly shut when his wife died.

His growth, and that of the other characters on the show, is priceless because every single bit of it has been earned. We've seen it. The writers haven't cheated; suddenly, guarded Andy Brown didn't wake up one morning, ready for an epic love affair to bloom. He is, though, ready to make that leap. Since day one, as creator Greg Berlanti has said, the story of "Everwood" has been, in large part, the story of Andy Brown learning to love again.

The loss of his wife is what made Brown re-examine his life and move his whole family to the mountain town of Everwood. In measured, complicated steps, the writers have moved Brown to the point where he could truly open up his heart once more. It'd be hard to imagine "Everwood" going off the air without Brown settled into a relationship with his next-door neighbor and great, if so far mostly unrequited, love, Nina Feeney.

When that does happen -- when Brown and Feeney do finally make it official -- I'll be watching, and quite probably crying. "Everwood" has made me cry more than just about any other show I've ever watched, aside from the first few years of "Six Feet Under."

But I don't regret a single tear; it's all been cathartic weeping. People (and I know I'm not the only one) cry while watching "Everwood" because the show depicts real people, in really tough situations. It doesn't give these people easy solutions to their problems, and when they triumph, even in a small way, it means something.

It would be easy to rail against the new CW network for not rewarding the complex, detailed and often funny people and stories of "Everwood" with another season. But that would go against the spirit of the show, which is, after all, about forgiveness. Brown learned to forgive his wife for dying, to forgive himself for making huge mistakes, and even the formerly angry Ephram has forgiven his dad for being a dolt at times.

So I choose to forgive the CW (though it's really hard to do so). But I won't forget "Everwood." And I sincerely hope that every new crop of writers in Hollywood rents DVDs of this series to see how quality television drama and compelling character development are created.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/05/unforgettable_e.html#more

fredfa

05-28-06, 09:16 PM

TV Notebook
Reality TV, Ripening In the Heat of Summer

By Bill Carter The New York Times May 29, 2006

Memorial Day means the unofficial start of summer (white shoes permitted). But it also means the official start of another season: reality television season.

The kickoff was last Thursday, when Fox presented the first reality show of the summer, "So You Think You Can Dance," a talent competition for hoofers. That series jump-started the summer reality show monsoon one week early in a successful effort to grab some of the huge audience glued to the latest "American Idol" lollapalooza.

Reality shows play summer after summer because they provide two advantages: higher ratings than repeats and lower costs than new scripted shows. But the real standard for summer reality shows, of course, is making it into the regular season, and here their record is impressive.

Except for the summer of 2004, the four big networks have managed to find at least one reality show every summer since 1999 that could transfer to the more economically meaningful regular season. Some of those have been among the biggest discoveries of recent vintage, including "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" on ABC in 1999, "Survivor" on CBS in 2000, and the Godzilla of the genre, "American Idol" on Fox in 2002.

"We're all looking for the next megahit," said Craig Plestis, the senior vice president in charge of reality programming at NBC, which introduced "Fear Factor" during the summer of 2001. "I just don't want a megahit on the competition again."

ABC had the closest show of that stature last summer with "Dancing With the Stars,"which moved to the regular season and maintained strong ratings. That move turned out to be a masterstroke for Andrea Wong, ABC's top reality programming executive, who was alone in believing that a show about ballroom dancing could be a smash.

Summer is also the season where the networks experiment with unconventional ideas. Perhaps for that reason, the brief history of the summer reality show is dense with offerings that seemed too strange in concept, too narrow in appeal or plain goofy in execution. "It's the time when you can take some quirky shots with shows," said Kelly Kahl, the chief scheduling executive for CBS.

He might have been speaking of "Tuesday Night Book Club," certainly CBS's most offbeat idea for a reality show since "Big Brother." In this one, a group of real-life women from Scottsdale, Ariz. — all members of the same book club — let down their hair on all kinds of intimate topics, from marital problems to extramarital affairs. They even hold a Botox party. Mr. Kahl described it as "something like a real-life 'Desperate Housewives.' "

CBS's book club idea borrows from the segment of the reality genre that turns on real-life relationships, lately exemplified by "Laguna Beach" on MTV. ABC has a couple of shows along the same lines. "How to Get the Guy" follows four single women on a search for romance in San Francisco. Another series, "One Ocean View," will chronicle the adventures of single New Yorkers who leave the city each weekend for a house at the shore.

At NBC, which, Mr. Plestis acknowledged, has an aching need for a hit, the biggest summer hope is "America's Got Talent," not so much for its conventional premise (it is basically another talent show) as for who is behind it. The show is the latest brainstorm of Simon Cowell of "American Idol," except this one celebrates talents that go far beyond singing.

That's the offbeat angle. Mr. Plestis said the show would include conventional performers, like bands and comedians, but also acts like "Johnny Fast Fingers," who plays songs on his hands, and "a pirate act that involves a horse." The winner will get $1 million.

NBC is so confident of "America's Got Talent" — or perhaps in Mr. Cowell — that it has already announced that the show will return in January on Sunday nights. Mr. Plestis, noting that Regis Philbin has signed on as host, said NBC simply believes the show "has a certain magic to it."

Of course if "America's Got Talent" falters, NBC's commitment to bring the show back will evaporate. In that case the network hopes its other new entry, a show called "Treasure Hunters," breaks through. This reality series will send teams of three people around the world, picking up clues to a central mystery. If it does succeed, it will most likely be because of the overt connection NBC is making between the show and a certain popular book.

"It's 'The Da Vinci Code' more than anything else," Mr. Plestis said of the marketing approach.

NBC's other summer reality series is "Last Comic Standing," which had been evolving into a summer staple until the network tried to move it into the regular season. It flopped. Now it is back in the summer.

CBS has always tempered its expectations for "Big Brother," which has remained purely a summer success. According to Mr. Kahl, "it is very profitable."

After finding a breakout hit, making money off summer shows is the second-biggest goal. Reality series still have lower costs than scripted shows, though they no longer qualify as dirt-cheap programming. Most reality series approach a production cost of $1 million an hour, about a third less than a scripted hour.

Networks must shelve summer repeats of scripted series to make room for the reality shows. Since the repeats of scripted shows do not incur additional costs, reality shows that replace them need to generate enough advertising revenue to cover their price tag.

The added benefit of solid summer reality shows is that they increase a network's audience. That allows a network to promote its coming fall shows to more people. CBS, for example, welcomes the steady ratings for the three plays a week of "Big Brother" even though they often displace a series that would repeat well.

The network was also pleased last summer with "Rock Star," a new addition from the "Survivor" producer, Mark Burnett. Although that show did not explode into a hit that could jump to the regular season, it did pull in younger viewers whom CBS does not usually attract.

Mr. Burnett is bringing "Rock Star" back this summer, which holds a weekly audition for a lead singer in a new band made up of artists from big acts like Mötley Crüe (Tommy Lee) and Metallica (Jason Newsted).

That series and "America's Got Talent" fit into an expanding reality category, the talent show. ABC has two summer talent series. One is "The One: Making a Music Star," containing most of the familiar elements of "Idol" except that the contestants will also live together (an element that "Rock Star" added last year).

The other ABC talent series is "Masters and Champions," which sets up weird contests (like interpretive pizza tossing) among professional stunt people.

The fifth ABC summer series falls into a category that the network pioneered, principally with "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" — the "feel-good show." In "Buy It Now," needy families will chase a dream by putting some prized heirloom up for auction on eBay. Others in their extended family or community will also put up valuable possessions, and if enough money is raised on the Web auction, the needy family's dream will come true.

What genres are left? Cooking? That will be taken care of in a second summer of Fox's "Hell's Kitchen," with Gordon Ramsay abusing would-be chefs. Game show? CBS has a prime entry, "The Game Show Marathon," in which celebrities will compete in a series of familiar formats, like "Let's Make a Deal" and "Beat the Clock."

"Looks like a busy summer," Mr. Plestis said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/business/media/29network.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

fredfa

05-29-06, 12:39 AM

Saturday Ratings Delayed

In case you are wondering, Saturday’s network prime-time ratings have (obviously!) been delayed.

When they become available they will, as always, be posted at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the first post in this thread).

fredfa

05-29-06, 12:52 AM

If you care at all about how what you watch on TV makes it to a network schedule this book is a great resource.
Though it reads almost like a novel, it will answer many of your questions about how such seemingly awful shows seem to make network schedules in the first place and how sometimes seemingly bizarre programs get to be Nielsen favorites.

TV Book Review
'Desperate Networks' by Bill Carter

They're changing that dial: Critic goes inside the old-guard networks
By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor Sunday, May 28, 2006
"DESPERATE NETWORKS"
By Bill Carter, Doubleday ($24.95)

Writing a book about the television business is like tossing a pebble into a moving stream -- no matter how current you try to be, whatever you write will be dated by the time the book rolls off the press.

That's especially true of the 2005-06 TV season that concluded this month. It was a revolutionary year, when alternate delivery platforms (DVR, VOD, the Web) changed the broadcasting industry forever.

While "Desperate Networks" is an engrossing behind-the-screen snapshot of the TV biz by New York Times TV writer Bill Carter, one has to accept that some of the questions raised in the book (most notably Katie Couric's decision to leave NBC for CBS) have been answered since its writing. Nor is "Desperate Networks" about the new media age. Instead, it chronicles the last throes of TV as it once was -- a medium for big hits.

Carter focuses largely on the 2004-05 season, when "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" showed it was still possible to score broad-based success on network TV. That approach seems like a rerun itself because ABC's success and what it meant for network television was widely dissected in the press over the past year and a half.

Though he could easily have left out the back-from-the-brink-of-bankruptcy story of "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry, which has been recounted ad nauseam, Carter eventually moves beyond the obvious and focuses on the executives behind what we see on TV.

He builds a case for the impressive network reviving skills of CBS's Leslie Moonves, the credit ABC's Stephen McPherson received that should have been more widely shared with his predecessors as well as the reasons Jeff Zucker continues to ascend within NBC's corporate structure despite his network's flagging fortunes.

As Carter explains the management styles, personalities and histories of these movers and shakers, the decisions they make about TV become more understandable.

Carter commits a few silly errors (using the Kim Delaney spelling for Dana Delany), but easily atones for them with dish:

The names of actresses considered for lead roles on "Desperate Housewives"; Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman whispering a prayer that a contestant not die during the filming of a tacky reality show; a plan to replace Debra Messing on "Will & Grace" if Messing had held out for more money.

Avid television observers will hear their opinions reflected in the words of those who get paid to put on TV (former NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield on what's become of the Peacock network: "There is no vision of what NBC is supposed to be anymore. It's just a collection of programs"), and they'll better understand why TV is the way it is.

Like any sausage-making story, Carter's book isn't always pretty. Some critics have complained that the book doesn't have a strong through-line, a legitimate criticism, though his tendency to jump from network-to-network didn't bother me, but the book is informative and entertaining for anyone interested in what is still our era's most pervasive medium.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06148/693230-148.stm

fredfa

05-29-06, 02:41 AM

The Business of (Satellite) TV
Despite Satellite Policy, Ads Fly

Critics say nonprofit channels lack diversity and a commitment to commerce-free content.
By Sallie Hofmeister Los Angeles Times Staff Writer May 28, 2006

Advertising is the lifeblood of TV networks. But for the 40 or so channels that are reserved for nonprofit programmers on the nation's satellite television services, commercials are a no-no.

At least they're supposed to be.

Under an 8-year-old rule that Congress designed to increase educational fare on satellite, DirecTV and rival Dish Network, owned by EchoStar Communications Corp., must set aside 4% of their channel capacity for nonprofit programmers that serve the common good with ad-free content.

But critics say ambiguities in the guidelines and weak enforcement have resulted in rampant abuses. Several nonprofit channels ignore the rules and air advertisements, according to consumer advocates and industry insiders. Some also sell airtime to programming suppliers, a practice that is not explicitly forbidden but critics say raises questions about whether some channels are wrongly profiting.

In comments this month filed with the Federal Communications Commission in support of a complaint last year, Farm Journal Inc., a for-profit media company, alleged that RFD-TV, a public interest channel about rural living, has aired commercials for bluejeans, lawn mowers, horse saddles and quilting books.

"Such conduct mocks the congressional and FCC requirements," the filing stated.

Patrick Gottsch, the founder of RFD-TV, said, "We feel we are fully in compliance and look forward to this being resolved."

Some public interest programmers complain that those requirements are so fuzzy that compliance is difficult.

"Some of the FCC rules are not as clear as they should be," said Marcus Lamb, chief executive of Daystar Television Network, a Dallas-based Christian broadcaster that is under FCC investigation for allegedly airing commercials and selling airtime on its public interest channel. "We have tried our best to follow the rules, but the FCC is probably not totally clear about their own rules."

Critics also claim that flaws in the guidelines for awarding the channels have allowed one group to benefit more than any other. Today, religious broadcasters occupy about 40% of all set-aside channels despite the fact that both satellite firms were providing similar faith-based programming when those channels were added.

The result: Many educational programmers with no other access to the airwaves have been shut out.

"Congress intended the set-aside channels for people without any other way of getting onto satellite TV, not for broadcasters that are already carried," said Angela Campbell, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and director of its Institute for Public Representation, a consumer advocacy group.

Campbell complained that the FCC had given low priority to most public interest issues.

The slots are highly sought after. Last year, about 60 nonprofit programmers, including the University of California and the L.A. Unified School District, were on the waiting list to be distributed by the nation's biggest satellite provider, DirecTV. The only public interest opening on the El Segundo-based service in 2005 went to National Religious Broadcasters, a powerful lobbying group that represents such televangelists as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

The NRB received its channel in the aftermath of its alliance with News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch in his fight for control of DirecTV.

Religious broadcasters were not necessarily the beneficiaries intended by Congress. The set-aside law was passed to make room on satellite for educational channels that lacked commercial potential. In announcing guidelines for implementing the law in 1998, then-FCC Chairman William Kennard envisioned alternative education programs "for children, senior citizens, distance learning, healthcare applications and for celebrating our diversity."

The FCC — fearful of restraining an emerging industry that promised to break cable's monopoly — gave satellite operators broad discretion in doling out public interest channels. Although then-FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani pushed for a selection process based on a lottery or a survey of subscribers to reduce the chances of bias and corruption, the agency took a more hands-off approach.

To qualify for a slot, a programmer needs only to have nonprofit status and pay a monthly fee equal to at most half the satellite distributor's cost to make the channel available.

The FCC also decreed that public interest channels may not air advertisements from for-profit companies, though they can run ads from nonprofits and take on sponsors.

The agency, however, does not proactively enforce its rules, instead relying on the public to object. As a result, the rules are routinely broken. Some public interest channels are selling airtime to their program suppliers for as much as $14,000 a half-hour, according to industry insiders, media buyers and complaints filed with the FCC.

Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a Washington-based public policy law firm, called the airing of product advertisements "blatantly illegal."

"The FCC is asleep at the switch when it comes to the commercialization," said Schwartzman, adding that in general, the set-aside program's "implementation is not consistent with the intent of the law."

Industry executives privately acknowledge that the program should be overhauled.

"The whole thing is broken," said a longtime satellite executive who requested anonymity. "It was a good public policy on paper but not in practice."

Though loath to say so on the record, satellite executives explain privately that one reason they bestow public interest channels upon religious broadcasters is that they are among the few nonprofit groups that reliably produce quality television.

Even if a nonprofit group has a good idea for a channel, satellite carriers have learned from experience that funding in this realm is often temporary. If it runs out, it falls to the satellite carrier to scramble for a replacement.

By comparison, well-funded religious broadcasters offer stability.

Consumer advocates say EchoStar has been better than DirecTV at divvying up the public interest spectrum to a diverse group. EchoStar, the nation's second-largest satellite TV provider, has awarded five of its 22 public interest channels to religious broadcasters, according to public filings.

Its other channels include a liberal political channel called Free Speech TV, a network from the University of California, the Classic Arts Showcase and the Documentary Channel.

EchoStar would not comment for this article.

For its part, DirecTV has awarded eight of its 14 public interest channels to religious broadcasters. A Los Angeles subscriber to DirecTV could tune in Thursday and Friday to pastors Paula White and Rod Parsley and Bishop T.D. Jakes on four channels, including some categorized as public interest.

Susan Eid, vice president of government relations for DirecTV, said one reason religious broadcasters accounted for nearly 60% of its public interest slots was that they made up the biggest share of applicants, about 40%.

"The reason we have more religious channels is that these groups are better organized, have a higher-quality product and are more efficient about getting in their applications," she said.

A DirecTV spokesman said many of the company's religious channels reached discrete audiences. While Brigham Young University TV serves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for example, the Word is aimed at African Americans. DirecTV says it carries the nation's largest religious broadcaster, Trinity Broadcasting Network, for competitive reasons.

DirecTV acknowledges that some of its other offerings — the NRB Network, Daystar Television Network, World Harvest Television and TCT Network — focus on Christian teachings but said each had a distinct voice, just as Fox News and CNN do.

Eid said DirecTV was not obligated to monitor its public interest channels for advertising. A spokesman said he did not believe that any were doing so.

Yet during Robertson's "700 Club," which airs on the NRB Network, viewers have seen commercials for Curves Fitness Centers and Oreck vacuum cleaners, and "At Home Live" has been crammed with ads for weight-loss remedies, Geico and Colonial Penn insurance, and titanium razors.

NRB executives said the ads were aired in error soon after the channel was launched in December.

"During our start-up phase, some programmers mistakenly gave us their commercial feed," Frank Wright, NRB's chief executive, said by e-mail. "This was subsequently corrected. There are no commercial spots airing on the NRB Network today."

However, NRB aired ads as recently as this month. "CBN Newswatch," a program from Christian Broadcasting Network that runs on the NRB Network, ran commercials for Gem Magic, and a program called "Worship" included ads for Revita, Nature Made and Osteo Renew, all health remedies.

One might think such commercialism would prompt a raft of complaints to the FCC from nonprofits that are seeking their own satellite channels. In fact, complaints are rare.

Schwartzman said part of the reason was that nonprofits feared retribution by DirecTV and EchoStar. Ever since one applicant, the American Distance Education Consortium, was "punished" for complaining to the FCC in 1999, he said, other programmers have been wary of protesting.

The nonprofit group of 70 land-grant colleges and universities, known by the abbreviation ADEC, filed a complaint with the FCC in 1999 alleging that EchoStar was trying to relegate public interest channels to a satellite that reached only part of the country.

The FCC sided with ADEC and ordered EchoStar to change its practices. But the consortium never got the channel it wanted for its distance learning programming.

"When we went to visit the FCC, the commissioners said a loophole lets providers choose what channels get on," ADEC President Janet Poley said. "We didn't have the resources to fight it."

The complaints against RFD-TV and Daystar are among the few to be filed since.

Documents included in the Daystar complaint, filed by a tiny rival of EchoStar's, illustrate how the public interest rule's ambiguity has made it vulnerable to potential manipulation.

One is a sworn statement by Lamb in which the Daystar chief bemoans the loss of revenue from "advertising, donations and … from the sale of airtime" should his public interest channel be removed from EchoStar's service.

In a recent interview, however, Lamb said Daystar did not profit from the revenue but only covered its incidental expenses, as allowed by the law.

Lamb said Daystar had never charged for airtime on its public interest channels. Rather, he said, it was donated to ministries that purchased time on its commercial stations.

"It's part of our giving back," he said.

Critics complain that some religious broadcasters, including Daystar, won channels not on their merits but because of the leverage they wield as station owners.

For instance, Lamb acknowledges that Daystar waived rights that require satellite providers to carry eight of its local TV station signals in exchange for one public interest channel each on EchoStar and DirecTV.

He said this kind of horse-trading "is not some unusual thing."

DirecTV's Eid said it had struck similar trades with Trinity Broadcasting and two other religious broadcasters.

Eid argues that such trades free up valuable space the satellite service can use for commercial purposes. She said it prevented duplication, because most local stations of a religious broadcaster carried the same programming.

The FCC is looking into the legality of these trades as part of the Daystar investigation.

Critic Schwartzman, however, said the religious broadcasters were trading spectrum worth "hundreds of millions of dollars" to DirecTV and EchoStar — far more than the satellite operators are allowed to be compensated for public interest channels under the law.

Currently, DirecTV charges nonprofit programmers $6,350 a month, and EchoStar's rate is $10,000 a month, according to their public filings.

Unlike Daystar, the NRB had no station rights to waive in exchange for being awarded a public interest channel. But according to satellite insiders and religious broadcasting sources, it had something else of value to trade: political capital.

In 2001, News Corp.'s Murdoch — still bruised after losing a heated bidding war with EchoStar for DirecTV — launched a campaign to derail the deal in Washington. His plan was to buy the satellite TV provider if regulators blocked the merger.

To help make that happen, Murdoch enlisted the help of the politically well-connected NRB.

In a meeting with the NRB's executive committee at its convention in Nashville in February 2002, Murdoch agreed to give the ministers a public interest channel if he prevailed in his bid to buy DirecTV, according to people familiar with the discussions. He explicitly asked them to lobby against the deal, those sources said.

The NRB asked EchoStar for the same promise — a guaranteed channel — in exchange for supporting the deal. A representative of EchoStar turned down the executive committee's request, according to a person at the meeting.

Murdoch got his wish: The NRB formally objected to the EchoStar-DirecTV merger, regulators blocked it and News Corp. scooped up DirecTV in late 2003.

NRB's Wright acknowledges asking Murdoch about securing a public interest channel when the media mogul, during meetings in 2001, asked the group about its position toward the merger. But according to Wright, there was no quid pro quo, and a News Corp. spokesman said NRB went through the standard application process.

"NRB's public opposition to the proposed Dish Network-DirecTV merger was based solely on the advice of our communications attorneys," Wright said.

But last year, when DirecTV had a rare opening for a public interest programmer, the NRB got its channel.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-nonprofit28may28,1,2517112,full.story?coll=la-headlines-business

fredfa

05-29-06, 02:46 AM

The Business of TV
NBC's Lead Upfront Spot in Question

Concession Would Mark End of Era; Fox Open to Changing Presentation Days
By Christopher Lisotta and Jon Lafayette TVWeek.com May 29, 2006

NBC, which for decades has kicked off the traditional broadcast network upfront presentations, is considering abdicating the leadoff spot.

In light of NBC's recent and rapid reversal of fortune, the network's entertainment president, Kevin Reilly, told reporters on a conference call last Thursday that he's "discussing" a change in the network's announcement date for next year's upfronts.

Mr. Reilly made the comment on a call in which he elaborated on the extensive changes he is making to the fall lineup. NBC last week was forced to change its schedule after the networks that followed it at the upfronts stacked tough competition against the shows NBC is counting on to pull it up from the cellar.

Mr. Reilly is revising NBC's schedule on five nights and shifting the drama "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" from Thursday at 9 p.m. to Monday at 10 p.m.

Bowing out of the lead spot would represent a huge concession on the part of former market leader NBC and mark the end of an era for the network.

And it very well may happen. For at least two decades NBC has presented first among the Big 4 during upfront week, the four-day marathon in which broadcast network executives gather in New York to pitch their fall schedules to advertisers. Traditionally, NBC was followed by ABC, CBS and then Fox. Over the years, The WB and UPN (this year The CW and MyNetworkTV instead) and Spanish-language broadcasters Telemundo and Univision joined the week's schedule between the bigger networks' presentations.

Jon Nesvig, president of sales for Fox Broadcasting, said in an interview last week that he is open to the idea of Fox no longer presenting last among the networks for upfronts.

"I haven't talked to our programming people, but I wouldn't mind shaking it up," Mr. Nesvig said.

While the impact of the presentation order on ad sales is nebulous, going first served NBC well from a scheduling and momentum standpoint when it was No. 1 in adults 18 to 49 among the broadcast networks. Back then, NBC set the course for the week both in terms of ad sales and scheduling moves. Its challengers followed NBC's lead.

But with NBC ranked No. 4 in the sought-after demo for two seasons in a row, it is at a competitive disadvantage in assembling its schedule. Since the network's executives have no knowledge at that point of their competitors' lineups, they're hamstrung as far as making counterpunch scheduling moves.

""We are normally in the dark by going first,"" Mr. Reilly said, when he suggested NBC might move its traditional Monday upfront presentation to later in the week.

There is no law that says NBC has to go first, said Bill Carroll, VP and director of programming for Katz Television Group.

"Tradition is a good thing, but practicality has to come into play," Mr. Carroll said. "Now they have to decide what's in their best interest, and they have to decide if it helps them with advertisers." ABC, which might want to move up its upfront announcement to better reflect its newfound ratings and programming strengths, is already booked for 2007 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, where it held its presentation this year and in 2005.

The upfronts started many decades ago as casual and intimate gatherings in New York, but over the past 20 years have evolved into choreographed theatrical events that accommodate thousands of attendees. Booking a space that can accommodate the throngs of people, plus handle the networks' staging and media requirements, is tricky and generally requires a year of planning.

Just ask Fox, which this year moved to The Armory to accommodate a bigger audience only to find the space was muggy, uncomfortable and difficult to access, resulting in many annoyed upfront attendees. "Usually it was the No. 1 network that went first, and now we should be first, I guess," Fox's Mr. Nesvig said. "The arguments are you get people when they're fresh, and so something sticks in their minds, or does it all become a blur at the end of the week. This time around they were tired and cranky, and then we made them tireder and crankier.

"In fact, I'd love to just draw straws every year and do it, but you can't do it because of the venues," he added.

Sharing venues such as Avery Fisher Hall doesn't work because the production staff running the upfronts "need 36 to 48 hours to set up, and then they need 24 hours after to strike the set," Mr. Nesvig said. "And if you're going to do them all the same week, you can't really do that."

NBC might want to just accept its fate as the traditional upfront starter, said Jason Maltby, president and co-executive director for national TV at media firm MindShare.

"It will never be perfect," Mr. Maltby said of the upfront schedule. "People are always going to have to adjust somewhat, and that's just life."

The 2006 upfront season was unusual because networks moved so many big shows, Mr. Maltby said. "That doesn't happen every year," he said, "and besides, once we get to December the schedules are not going to remotely resemble what they look like now."

Finding a time later in the week is more difficult than it has been now that advertisers are paying increased attention to Spanish-language broadcasters Univision and Telemundo, whose upfront presentations are becoming more high-profile.

"It's an extremely busy week," Mr. Carroll said.

Morphing Into 'Showbiz'

Instead of moving its presentation to another day, NBC may decide to alter the whole venture to reflect the changing nature of the upfronts, veteran network executive Fred Silverman said. Mr. Silverman remains the only person to have held the top programming jobs at ABC, CBS and NBC.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they do away with all or part of it next year," he said. When Mr. Silverman was running CBS in the 1970s, the network sales department would block out a day when advertisers would come to the network's midtown broadcast center and screen all the pilots.

Back then, CBS would present pilots and go over the season's programming strategy for only a few hundred people, one veteran ad buyer said.

"If you didn't make the list, you were pissed," the buyer said. "It was a very exclusive event, but it was a very full day. You watched the pilots and they explained the schedule."

"I don't think there was a magic to a day," said Bob Blackmore, who was executive VP of sales for NBC in the '70s and '80s. "It was just a question of whoever had the guts to be ready and who could announce a date first. You had to put so many pieces together, and then the other networks had to fit in around it because they couldn't do it the same day."

"One year we thought of a breakfast at the Waldorf," Mr. Blackmore said. "That was really a great deal because you got people in the morning. They have a cup of coffee and everyone's really alert and really watching. It was a great time to have it. Personally, I wouldn't have changed that."

The presentations began to expand to full-fledged productions in the 1980s, after then-NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff "started to try to showbiz it up," Mr. Nesvig said. This was before NBC started its ascension to the top network spot and it had little else to show advertisers, he said.

"Now it's become as much of a press function," he said.

Mr. Silverman described today's upfront as a "three-ring circus," alluding to the speeches, clip packages and performances that have come to define the upfronts. In the current atmosphere, Mr. Silverman questioned whether the presentations are for advertisers, agents, Wall Street or the media.

"I'm not sure who the primary constituent is," Mr. Silverman said. "It's all different masters there."

With the broadcast industry already going through so much transition, a discussion on redefining how and when networks deal with upfronts is overdue, said Marc Goldstein, president and CEO of MindShare North America.

"Do you think that the presentations will take the same form next year that they have taken for the past umpteen years?" Mr. Goldstein asked. "We are in a period of substantial change in our industry, therefore, why wouldn't things potentially change?"

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=29904

fredfa

05-29-06, 08:51 AM

Critic’s Notebook TV
Into The Fire Once More

`Rescue Me' Begins Third Season On FX Tuesday
By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic May 29 2006

From the start, "Rescue Me" became one of TV's top dramas by the chances it took.

First, it focused on the conflicted post-9/11 New York City firefighter with such authenticity that nobody thought it lacked taste when it began fewer than three years after the tragedy.

Then it contrasted its gritty drama with huge chunks of surprisingly potent comedy, some of the most uproarious on TV. Finally, the series by Denis Leary and Peter Tolin allowed itself to get as out of control as its chief character, Tommy Gavin.

As embodied by Leary, the comic and actor with firefighting (and tragedy) running in his family, Gavin's actions and indulgences can be crazily unexplainable.

A recovering alcoholic, Gavin is tried by his complicated life. Last year, his wife had left with the kids, and he was out of his old firehouse. By the end of the season, reconciled with his family (and 62 Truck), his son was struck by a drunken driver and killed.

His out-of-control Uncle Teddy, played with equal Irish gusto by Lenny Clarke, had an excessive response: Shoot the driver before he ever got to trial.

Back in jail, Uncle Teddy is enjoying himself - he's something of a hero inside and out, where Mothers Against Drunk Driving have hailed his vigilante actions.

The death of the boy somehow led Andrea Roth's Janet Gavin to leave again - though this action is not quite explained. Tommy doesn't get it, either.

Still, a schedule is set for visitation of the two daughters, the eldest of whom has decided to become a born-again Christian, sure to be as big a source of ridicule as the firefighter barbershop quartet was last season. In the short term, though, he's glad the teenager's beliefs also include sexual abstention.

But as the anticipated third season starts on FX Tuesday, it's clear that Tommy is part of a firehouse ensemble of characters with problems.

Among the firefighters is sad-sack Lou (John Scurti), who lost his wife and lost his savings to a conniving hooker last season. He is wallowing in debt, becoming little better than a neighborhood drunk.

The hilariously dense Sean (Steven Pasquale) has gotten involved with a woman he dare not tell Tommy about - his blowsy sister Maggie Gavin, played by Tatum O'Neal.

Still the "probie" after three years, Mike (Michael Lombardi) secretly begins trying to transfer to another firehouse where he wouldn't be forever considered on probation. It's one of his few secrets that will surprise the guys this season.

Franco (Danial Sunjata) has ended his relationship with Laura (Diane Farr, who unfortunately went off to network TV's "Numb3rs"). But showing interest in the single father is a rich older woman played by Susan Sarandon.

Also joining the cast this season will be Marisa Tomei, who plays the ex-wife of Tommy's brother Johnny (Dean Winters), who also has a bigger role this year.

Charles Durning is still around, as the Gavin patriarch, but reaching advanced age, he's clearly beginning to need help around the house.

Sheila (Callie Thorne) is enlisted to watch him; she's the widow of Tommy's cousin and best friend Jimmy (James McCaffrey), who died in 9/11 but continues to pop up as a ghost.

She has her own problems - her teenage son is having an improper relationship with one of his teachers. Could Tommy help?

Old age is one of the life problems "Rescue Me" tackles fearlessly. Particularly poignant is the effort of Chief Reilly (Jack McGee) to keep his wife in a costly home for Alzheimer's patients in Connecticut.

The immediate problem in the firehouses, though, is an edict that they become no-smoking areas. The guys find this all pretty ironic, of course - they spend all day eating smoke at local blazes, only to be prevented a few puffs back at the station.

At any rate, every guy agrees to put money in the kitty every time he lights up. And Tommy tries to get everyone to stop saying "kitty" when advised it's a pretty effeminate term.

Early in the season, at least, there is less and less action at actual fires. Their alarms are never the central action of an episode.

Much more fiery are their internal struggles, which threaten one by one to break the bond of brotherhood they've forged. Tommy works hard to keep it all together, though, because with the loss of his own family, it's one of the few bonds he has left.

And when things explode, as they do in next week's second episode, it's the result of pent-up family rage - as believable and compellingly dramatic as the combustion of buildings.

http://www.ctnow.com/tv/hce-rescueme.artmay29,0,4592074.story?coll=hce-headlines-tv

fredfa

05-29-06, 08:57 AM

Critic’s Notebook TV
Leary, `Rescue Me' deserve praise

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Mon, May. 29, 2006

This is inexplicable to me, but as it enters its third season as one of television's top dramas, "Rescue Me'' has yet to win a major award for its blistering dialogue, cracking wit and strong acting.

Perhaps the series about post-Sept. 11 New York City firefighters -- which returns Tuesday (10 PM ET FX) -- is just too raw and profane (and not just the language) for some folks, and its central figure, firefighter Tommy Gavin, a bit too unappealing.

In an era when most of our TV heroes are tremendously flawed human beings -- Tony Soprano, Jack Bauer, Vic Mackey, Greg House -- Denis Leary's acerbic, bitter and self-destructive Gavin may be the most flawed and the most heroic. He also may be the scariest. Heck, I'd rather hit the Bada Bing with Paulie Walnuts than crack open a beer with Gavin.

Still, Gavin (brilliantly played by Leary) is one of the most fascinating and deeply human characters in recent television history, and "Rescue Me'' is a powerful, nuanced study of human frailties. It is dark and often troubling -- the death of Gavin's son at the end of Season 2 was wrenching -- but is never relentlessly grim.

In fact, the show may be one of TV's funniest (the first 15 minutes of this season's second episode are a howl) with wicked humor that sometimes makes Gavin's firehouse seems like the writers' room of a very good sitcom.

This year's opening episodes have the series -- co-created by Leary and his longtime collaborator Peter Tolan ("The Job'') -- at the top of its game. It retains its sheen of authenticity. The work of the ensemble is as strong as ever, with particularly sharp performances by Jack McGee as Gavin's boss and Callie Thorne as his ex-lover. The show's writers are still taking risks (the jaw-dropping final scene in Tuesday's opener).

And there are some stellar guest performances: Tatum O'Neal (back as Gavin's loony sister), Marisa Tomei as his new love interest and Susan Sarandon as a hot divorcee after one of his fellow firefighters. (Sarandon, who knows a thing or two about playing lusty ladies, all but burns down the house in the second episode.)

Some of the elements and attitudes of "Rescue Me,'' and of Tommy Gavin's life, may be hard to take. But this is a series that richly deserves all the praise it gets -- and all the awards it should be receiving.

Remote controls

• We have a major entrance and a major exit this week in the world of network news. Today, Charles Gibson from "Good Morning America'' takes over as solo anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight,''. He replaces the team of Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas, who replaced the late Peter Jennings just six months ago. And on Wednesday, Katie Couric takes her leave of "The Today Show''. In September, she becomes the anchor of "The CBS Evening News,'' replacing Bob Schieffer, who replaced Dan Rather.

• For once, a network has kept its word and is airing the final episodes of a series it already has canceled. "Commander In Chief'' -- axed by ABC two weeks ago -- returns with its final three hours, starting Wednesday (10 p.m., Ch. 7). These are the episodes that the network yanked from the schedule after the White House drama's ratings went into the tank.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/14692873.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

05-29-06, 10:30 AM

TV Q&A
Ask Matt

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

Question: I read the CBS upfront news about moving Amazing Race to Sundays at 8 pm/ET. I don't care that they moved the night — again — but why Sunday night? It will be constantly overrun by football games that go long. People who record the show will get to see half of 60 Minutes and miss the end of Race, and I'm afraid it'll begin to lose its audience. This doesn't seem like a good move to me, but maybe I'm worrying prematurely. It is only May, after all. What are your initial thoughts about the new time slot? — Toni M.

Matt Roush: My biggest concern isn't the football overruns, which have been a factor in CBS' Sunday lineup for years. People are used to this and should be able to adjust accordingly — as in: set extra time on the VCR or manually set the DVR, or (here's a thought) watch it live. The biggest hurdle is that Race will be going head-to-head against another powerful reality series already established in the time period, ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which, like Race, is quite popular with families. There's also the NBC football factor to consider.

I was surprised CBS didn't use Race to kick off its Wednesday lineup. If the risky Jericho doesn't fly (and given how CBS treated Threshold last season, I'd say the odds are against it), Race could be moved away from Sunday if it loses more momentum. But at least it's airing at 8 pm/ET on whatever night, which is appropriate.

Also regarding Race, Mike asks: "I was wondering what your thoughts were on The Amazing Race this year. I have been a huge fan of the show sinceits inception. I, too, stopped watching when 'Romber' and the family edition showed up. However, this season has been a true return to form. The show is just as good as its best seasons and seeing this gives me hope that it's not too late, as the creators have returned to what makes the show great: compelling, 'everyman' teams, as opposed to the seasons with models, actors and 'Jonathan the entrepreneur.' The hippies are my new favorite team since Kevin and Drew."

I really enjoyed this latest season, after having nearly bailed during the family edition. Not only were the teams more enjoyable and relatable (the hippies! the nerds!), but the locations again were astounding and gorgeous. Truly amazing. There's no question the show lost a bit of ratings momentum over the last year, and there may be no safe haven for it in the season to come, but it remains a great franchise, and I'm betting it will be a while before CBS sours on it.

________________________________________

Question: First 24, then Lost. I love that we're going to see more of these high-end productions, but do you think the networks will cause viewer burnout since every major network will have new serialized dramas to tout in the fall? I'm sure that money has everything to do with their breaking into new platforms for these shows. Even Lost will have toy figures for its characters! — Sandy

Matt Roush: It's a fact that just about every network wants to have a show that commands as much media attention, viewer loyalty and branding possibilities as the best of the serial thrillers tend to generate. (It helps when you have breakout stars like Prison Break's Wentworth Miller; you should have heard the screams at the Fox upfront.) It's also a fact that there are going to be a few too many of these continuing mysteries on the fall schedule, more than most will be able to keep up with. Call it a glut. And they sound almost indistinguishable: Vanished. Kidnapped. Runaway. There may well be burnout, and I predict at least one of these will be axed before it gets to the end of its story arc (shades of Reunion last season). I'm just hoping a few turn out to be as provocative as the clips made them look. The key factor for any of them will be the strength and depth of the characters (and the actors who play them). That's the true genius of Lost. Not the mysteries as much as the characters, who are so promotable they're even, as Sandy notes, becoming action figures.

________________________________________

Question: Hey, Matt. I just wanted to get your opinion on the series finale of Alias. I have been a faithful fan from Season 1 and have written in to your column asking about Alias all the time. However, I felt the writers wrote a rather depressing ending. I mean, Renee, Nadia, Tom, Irina and Sloane all were killed, not to mention my favorite, Jack! I thought that Jack's death was totally unnecessary and mean-spirited toward the fans who have loved him from the first season on. And Irina, what's the deal? Why did they make her so evil? I mean, she saved the world at the end of Season 4 and then turned into her evil sister, Elena! It did not sync up and felt rather like a betrayal. Yes, I understand Rambaldi "changes you," but c'mon. I mean, I was happy with Sydney and Vaughn ending up together and Dixon as director, etc. But it was the finale. Make the fans happy all around; what can it hurt? I was waiting for Isabelle to run in and say, "Grandpa Jack!" — Richard

Matt Roush: For my own analysis (one that didn't please a lot of loyal Alias fans because it was so critical), check out my Dispatch column. My main problem with the two-hour finale, and with much of the final season, was that it often lost focus on what really mattered: the characters. I wasn't as upset with Jack dying as with the mechanics and distraction of Sloane and Irina's plot with the ICBMs. And all that Rambaldi nonsense! A little tragedy at the end of a show like this is not altogether a bad thing. Drama is meant to be bittersweet, and the legacy of Jack lives on in his namesake grandson. At least Syd and Vaughn ended up together, and on the beach, no less. That was essential. And Marshall and Dixon carrying on as well. A totally benign outcome might have negated the pain and poignance that was always a part of Syd's life, from childhood on (as the flashbacks revealed). For Jack to sacrifice himself to condemn his nemesis Sloane to an eternity of subterranean solitude was one of the things I most appreciated about the finale. Irina? A lost cause.

Janice wrote in with a similar gripe: "I still felt cheated by the Alias finale. The fans who wanted to see a good resolution to SpyFam were left with a one-dimensional Irina, who is telling her daughter she loves her as she is trying to kill said daughter. So, Alias ends in the tradition of Moonlighting, St. Elsewhere and Newhart, leaving a large group of fans unsatisfied. I realize it is only a TV show, but I fell in love with the characters in the first season. While there have been missteps, I thought that the writers would finally give the fans what they wanted. The way Irina was written, they could just as easily have not had her appear at all and ended with Jack and Sloane in the cave. I could have lived with that."

Fair enough, but the Newhart finale dissatisfying? That's one of the all-time classics! A great joke that was such a well-kept secret and surprise, harking back to Bob Newharts one true TV wife, Suzanne Pleshette. I don't know anyone who took badly the whole the-show-was-a-dream gimmick, because I don't know anyone who took it seriously.

________________________________________

Question: What a marvelous season of The Sopranos, huh? There is so much thematic richness within the season, I almost feel bad only discussing a single strand of it. However, I think it's key to the season and the series, and I wanted your take on it: With Vito and Johnny on either side, it seems Chase and Co. have been contemplating the nature of judgment this season. Should Tony be judged, like the incarcerated Sack, on the acts he has committed in this life? Or, like the banished and deceased Vito, should we look upon his inner self and make our final decision, as the homophobic mobsters dismissed the successful earner Vito? With "Cold Stones," the superb penultimate episode, the question only got deeper. I am reminded of Tony's confession to Melfi way back at the beginning of the fourth season: "There's two ends for a guy like me. Dead, or in the can." As Johnny heads toward the slammer and Vito molders in the grave (and how brutal were the details of his slaying?), more prophetic words were never spoken. Do you think this season is primarily a contemplation of Tony's ultimate destiny, or do other themes overtake this? P.S.: How astonishing is Edie Falco? I could watch her watch Parisian statues until the moon goes blue from cold. — Matt

Matt Roush: Couldn't agree more. I know a lot of fans have been impatient with a season that has been so existential in nature, but I'm glad I can be as entertained by emotional fireworks as by violent ones (and the "Cold Stones" episode was not lacking in violence, not only for poor Vito but for Phil's henchman Fat Dom, who learned that there's only so far you can rib the Sopranos crew with gay jokes).

The fact that Vito's grisly demise (with Phil literally coming out of the closet to supervise his murder) played out against the subplot of Carmela having her own epiphanies about life and mortality in the fabled city of Paris somehow enhanced the melancholy of it all. From the beginning of this season, I've felt the overarching theme is about the corruption of the soul, the sourness that pervades the life of everyone who comes within reach of this criminal family. No one is as happy as they let on, and no one can truly escape.

________________________________________

Question: What are your thoughts on the scheduling of the finales for reality shows? I am sick and tired of watching Survivor every year, only to have to miss the finale because they don't schedule it on the regular day it airs. I'm not giving up Desperate Housewives for the Survivor finale. Nor am I willing to give up The Simpsons, which is still a habit of mine even though it has diminished in quality over the years. Even more frustrating is airing The Amazing Race finale opposite Lost. As if it's even an option to miss Lost for a reality show.

I don't understand why they need to do these bloated two- to three-hour finales for reality shows. Why can't they just air regular one-hour episodes in the shows' regular time slots? I'm seriously considering giving up on Survivor next season. It might be more worthwhile to catch up on my reading than to devote time watching these people, only to be cheated out of the finale by asinine scheduling. The Amazing Race will already be off my radar due to its move to Sunday night. And don't even get me started on the two-hour installments of American Inventor that only contain 45 minutes of new material. — Andrew

Matt Roush: I feel your pain, especially since I'm forced to sit through most of these overextended, supersize finales. (One of the reasons I remain so fond of America's Next Top Model is that it doesn't stretch out its last episode, and this year, the runway finale challenge in Thailand was so visually spectacular you might have thought you were watching The Amazing Race.) But there's a reason that during a sweeps month the finales are positioned like this. It's to give these episodes a feeling of "event," whether justified or not. I'll admit that having to sit through Survivor's finale on Sunday, May 14, (while also watching West Wing's finale and the first of the two-part Grey's Anatomy finale), put me behind on Desperate Housewives and The Sopranos, and it took me nearly a week to catch up. Not fun in the least, and yes, very annoying.

________________________________________

Question: Matt, I keep reading that the numbers are down for Lost this year. While it is normal for a series to show some loss over the yearsyears, I am wondering how much the various venues to watch Lost affect the Nielsen numbers. Now viewers can watch entire episodes the next day via abc.com, download it from iTunes or simply watch it the next day via TiVo. Is there a way to track all this? I feel like the viewers of Lost are pretty techno-saavy and might be using these venues a lot more than people realize. I know for myself I will end up watching Lost on Thursday via abc.com as the American Idol and Amazing Race finales are on at the same time. I can only TiVo so much! Do these venues get counted towards total viewers? — Pam D.

Matt Roush: The good news about Lost is that its success no longer has to be measured entirely in Nielsen numbers, at least where ABC is concerned. (Good thing, too, with American Idol plaguing it the last half of this season.) These alternate delivery systems enhance the show's exposure, in some cases providing new revenue streams (and advertisers must love it when people watch the show on ABC's website, because there's no way, I understand, to fast-forward through the commercials).

This trend of making shows available in other formats will only escalate as time goes on, but as the execs kept saying during the upfronts: It doesn't matter how many places you make a show available for viewing if the show isn't any good. There's a reason Lost is in the forefront of this trend. It deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. (Note to Lost fans: Because of holiday production schedules, I won't be addressing questions and comments about the finale until this Friday's column. But check my Dispatches area for my own take on what happened.)

________________________________________

Question: As a fellow Invasion fan, what did you think of the series finale? I thought it was pretty close to perfect — it would have been perfect if we had a second season to look forward to. So much action, so many questions answered and so left unanswered. The possibility that Larkin would start the second season as a hybrid — along with the subtext I read into Russell and Mariel's relationship — promised more emotion along with the sci-fi for a second year. Now that CW has passed on picking up the series, do you think Shaun Cassidy and company might pull a Joss Whedon and release a feature movie to tie up the loose ends and continue the story? — Ben

Matt Roush: For my analysis of Invasion's first-rate finale, check out my Dispatch from the morning after. As to Invasion's future, it's an awfully long shot. The show would have to do well in the afterlife: in repeat viewings on Sci Fi or wherever, and in DVD sales for sure, which is what helped Joss Whedon make his dream of a movie version of Firefly a reality. This would be an awfully expensive proposition, so I wouldn't count on it. But I'd be even more excited about this than I was about Serenity, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

________________________________________

Question: I was kind of blown away by the season finale of Law & Order. Its predictable format is nice and comforting, sort of like "chicken soup" television but when Alex was abducted and then killed, I have to confess I literally sat up at the edge of my seat from the surprise. It was paced more like a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode and really reminded me what a great actor Sam Waterston is when he has compelling material. I know there is talk about more changes to the whole franchise next year. Is this less-formulaic approach one of them, and do you think that would be a welcome change, or a risky move to mess with their success? — Erin

Matt Roush: From what I understand, the changes to the franchise are primarily cast-related, not so much in actual format or content. What seems to have startled everyone is the violent nature of Annie Parisse's departure, not the fact that she left, given the show's revolving-door history. I wouldn't expect Law & Order to become an action series all of a sudden, although shaking things up might help the show shake off the perception that it's grown stale and less popular. (I've often felt the reason SVU has become the best-regarded of the series is because it doesn't adhere quite as rigidly to formula.)

________________________________________

Question: After looking at CW's plans for programming, I notice there is an hour of reruns of America's Next Top Model. What the heck is that about? I mean, Everwood is an hour, and a rerun is taking a spot? What kind of logic is this? I am not a fan of Veronica Mars, but I was happy for its fan base that it is getting another chance. I would assume Everwood is a stronger-rated show then VM. I am sure you are getting a lot of frustrated folks writing in. Thanks for being the guy who helps heal our pain! (PS: I watched the last episode of West Wing to see how it went out, which doesn't mean I would watch it if it were renewed. So 7 million viewers wanted to make sure the Camdens ended happy and healthy! They will not all be back to watch the show next year.) — Jocelin

Matt Roush: First off, that hour on Sundays was always going to be a rerun of something. Didn't matter what else was being renewed or canceled; that time period just isn't viable for a niche network to program expensive first-run programming. You also have a point that, judging purely from numbers, Everwood probably merited a pickup over Veronica Mars, given the latter's dismal ratings performance last season. But CW is counting on media buzz to sustain it in the early days, and VM has that to spare. As painful as it has been for me to read all the anguished mail from Everwood fans, I can only imagine how unbearable it would have been if Veronica hadn't been given a reprieve.

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Question: One more note on the demise of Deadwood: The difference between HBO canceling these shows before their conclusion versus regular television networks canceling shows is roughly analogous to the difference between a movie theater shutting off the projector two-thirds of the way through the film because the bosses want to save money on their electric bill versus a theatre company canceling a free performance of Shakespeare in the park because not enough people show up. With the free Shakespeare performance, it might make me sad that I wouldn't get to see the full show, but, hey, I wasn't paying for it anyway. But with the movie theatre, I'd be completely outraged — wouldn't you? — because I'd paid for a specific service. I can't imagine going back to a theater that would treat its customers like that — and if they did it twice in a row? Forget about it! Sorry about going on and on about this HBO deal, Matt, but having been burned twice, with Carnivale and now Deadwood, a lot of us are really upset! — Don C.

Matt Roush: Having watched the first month's worth of episodes for Deadwood's third season, I'm more puzzled than ever that HBO is calling it quits for this magnificent series. But having watched one of the extra features on the second-season DVD, revealing the bizarre process of how David Milch actually supervises the writing of the show (making it up on the spot, it often appears), I also understand that if Milch is developing a new project, HBO was right in realizing that Deadwood couldn't continue as is without him. And not being an expert on contracts, budgets and other money matters, I can only imagine how costly it would be to keep this cast and crew, etc., on contract waiting for Milch to be free. (The real question is why HBO couldn't wait to start the new Milch venture until after the fourth season of Deadwood was completed.)

I'm not making apologies for HBO, but I do think it's wise to approach the new season of Deadwood by appreciating and celebrating its unique qualities, not bemoaning the fact that it won't be continuing for that fourth season so many fans were counting on. No show, not even on HBO, lasts forever. And not even a pay service like HBO is immune from having to make unpopular (and at times mystifying) programming and business decisions.

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

fredfa

05-29-06, 11:27 AM

TVNotebook
CBS News Crew killed,
Correspondent Wounded in Baghdad

CBS News Release

A CBS News television crew embedded with the 4th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army came under attack today in central Baghdad.

The journalists were reporting from outside their humvee and are believed to have been wearing their protective gear.

Cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, both London-based, were killed.

Douglas, 48, had worked for CBS News in many countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Bosnia, since the early 1990s.

Brolan, 42, was a freelancer who had worked with CBS News in Baghdad and Afghanistan over the past year. He was part of the CBS News team that had received a 2006 Overseas Press Club Award for its reporting on the Pakistan earthquake.

CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier, 39, sustained serious injuries in the attack and underwent surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad. She is in critical condition, but doctors are cautiously optimistic about her prognosis."

fredfa

05-29-06, 11:45 AM

The 2006-2007 Season
From success to excess

Searching for next season's hits, TV networks land on serial dramas by the trunkload
By Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee TV Columnist Monday, May 29, 2006

Nobody knows nothing. It's an old truth in Hollywood, and those words are never more on target than every May when the fall TV lineups are announced.

In May, the networks are guessing about what shows will work and what trends are actually trends. (Hint on that: not many.) They're even guessing about what their real lineups will be by the time fall rolls around.

Critics are guessing if the new shows are any good, because we haven't seen them yet -- not that we'll let that stop us from passing judgments.

And this year, there's a whole new dimension to knowing nothing. Everyone is trying to get a grip on the suddenly multiple ways to deliver TV -- online, on phones, on iPods, maybe through a convenient chip in our heads -- and what that means for the industry in terms of luring viewers, producing shows and, especially, making money.

That last part seems to be the hitch. Multi-platforming -- which is their sexy little term for it, and that makes you wonder if anyone in TV remembers they're supposed to be entertainers -- is drawing lots and lots of attention, but, so far, only a fraction of the revenue.

It'll probably be a year or two before they sort that out, so for now, let's stick with the actual fall lineups. And here's what I can tell you about that: not much. Haven't seen the shows.

OK, seriously, there are a couple of things. Everyone is doing season-long, continuing mysteries or thrillers. Way too many people are doing them.

Don't bother trying to keep any of these straight. It'll be hard enough after you've seen the shows. But here are some of the new drama series with continuing plots:

"Vanished" (Fox), about a missing wife.

"Kidnapped" (NBC), about a missing girl.

"Jericho" (CBS), about an isolated Kansas town that survives a nuclear holocaust (think "Lost" meets "Mad Max").

"The Nine" (ABC), about strangers who had been hostages in a bank robbery, complete with flashbacks to the stickup (think "Lost" meets "Dog Day Afternoon").

"Six Degrees" (ABC), about strangers whose lives are all connected, possibly by some mysterious force (think "Lost" meets Kevin Bacon).

"Day Break" (ABC), about a cop who gets framed and has to relive that day over and over. Seriously (think "The Fugitive" meets "Groundhog Day").

"Runaway" (The CW), about a family on the lam (think "The Fugitive" meets "The Waltons").

Oh, but that's not all. You'll have comedies with season-long stories, too, including "Let's Rob …," about some blue-collar guys planning to rob Mick Jagger; "Notes From the Underbelly," which follows a pregnancy; and "Big Day," which takes the whole year to roll out a wedding day (sort of like "24" meets, I dunno, a wedding). All are from ABC, which is no big surprise if you remember it's the network that hit big with "Lost."

"Lost," Fox's "24" and, a little, Fox's "Prison Break" are the shows that sparked this. But it's mostly network executives who continue their ever- popular practice of misreading why hit shows become hits.

The nets have decided we're hooked on continuing puzzles and serialized stories, which is about the same level of mistake as last season's read that "Lost" was popular because America wanted sci-fi. (Five sci-fi or horror-style serials launched last fall, only WB's "Supernatural" survived, and that's because it's smart and different.)

"Lost" does have an otherworldly streak, and "24" and "Prison Break" are running thrillers. But that's not the point. Those shows connected, first, because they were smart and different (see: "Supernatural") and because they're well-executed. They also worked, in part, because they infatuated viewers before we knew we were making long-term commitments. Hey, TV is sort of like dating.

But life is busy. People are booked. You can only go on so many dates. TV has lots of competition in the entertainment world. Viewers can't make weekly appointments with nearly a dozen new, can't-miss-an-episode shows.

Plus, the current hits aren't going anywhere. I'm guessing most viewers will have time for one or two new major TV dates. Maybe.

Another note for this fall is the Thursday night face-off between ABC and CBS. (Remember when Thursdays always involved facing down NBC? The times, they keep a-changing.)

ABC is moving its hottest show, "Grey's Anatomy," from Sundays to Thursdays at 9 p.m. to battle CBS' "CSI," the No. 1 scripted show on TV, in what will surely be an hour of high TV usage.

(In Sacramento, because Channel 13 runs an early CBS prime time, the 9 p.m. slot will have a new series called "Shark," starring James Woods as a "supremely confident" prosecutor.)

NBC had scheduled its highest-profile new series, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," the drama from "The West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin, in the same Thursday time slot. But once its execs saw the competition, they moved their rookie show to Mondays at 10 p.m. ("Medium" will get a rest until midseason and likely will return to Sunday nights.)

And by the way, CBS shifted "Without a Trace," a Top 10 show, to 10 p.m. Sundays -- a suddenly easy time slot without "Grey's Anatomy" as competition. (ABC will air a new series called "Brothers & Sisters" starring Calista Flockhart at 10 p.m. on Sundays.)

As long as we're talking programming strategies, let's take this network-by- network.

A B C

For years, ABC executives came to their fall lineup announcements looking sad and wearing name tags that said "Loser." Then, two years ago, everything changed with "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy." Suddenly, they were the cool kids.

But they whiffed on developing new series this past season, and they wrecked one of the most promising dramas, "Commander in Chief." Only reality hit "Dancing With the Stars" and ratings-starved "What About Brian" are returning for a second season.

So ABC is feeling good about its three Top 10 shows and about its aggressive jump into the Thursday night pool, and ABC is worried about some large weak spots (it's the only network without even one semi-decent comedy). Good times; bad times; they've seen a few.

• Best move: ABC promises no repeats and no bait-and-switch recap shows for "Lost." Instead, the series will air for seven straight weeks, take a break, then come back late winter for a sprint to the finish. The reruns and unpredictable schedule irritated fans and damaged the series this past season after it started the fall as TV's biggest buzz show.

• Worst move: Renewed "According to Jim." Yes, ABC needs comedies, but it will introduce nine new series in the fall and at least 15 before the season is done. Can't they just give us all a break?

• Biggest question: With a thin bench already, does ABC have enough passable shows to program Monday nights now that "Monday Night Football" has gone away? Or as Jimmy Kimmel said during the lineup announcements, "Are you ready for no football?"

C B S

CBS marches on as the top network in viewers overall, and as the network with the best development success, again. It's bringing back six of its rookie shows and is launching only four new series in the fall.

If there's any downside to CBS' lineup, it's that the crime procedurals and mainstream comedies, as popular as they generally are, don't get big buzz. So that translates to fewer younger viewers, which translates to less pop with advertisers.

Still, that's mostly picking nits. CBS looks to be in good shape for the next few seasons, at least.

• Best move: Counter-programming ABC by moving "Without a Trace" into that suddenly less competitive 10 p.m. Sunday spot.

• Worst move: Gimme a minute. I'll think of something.

• Biggest question: Will Katie Couric work out as the new anchor of "CBS Evening News"? Will anyone notice?

N B C

Give them points for flexibility. NBC last week rejiggered almost every day in its fall lineup -- just 10 days after announcing it -- to protect some of its valuable new shows and to take advantage of holes in other network lineups.

And NBC needs to be flexible. Or, put another way, NBC has no reason to stand pat. It finished the season fourth in the ratings, and its one big success was "Deal or No Deal," a game show that may have a limited life span. NBC ran "Deal" three times a week this spring, and it scheduled the show twice weekly in the fall. May we just say, remember "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire."

On the plus side, NBC has a few interesting-sounding shows, and it has some A-list creative talent making those series this fall, including Sorkin and Oscar winner Paul Haggis ("Crash").

It will also have the NFL on Sunday nights and two, count 'em, two shows based on the doings at "Saturday Night Live": Sorkin's drama "Studio 60" and a comedy from Tina Fey called "30 Rock."

• Best move: That schedule readjustment. When you're in fourth place, you react to the other networks. They don't need to react to you.

• Worst move: Putting "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" at 9 p.m. Tuesdays, which is a very competitive hour, and sticking the original "Law & Order" on Fridays at 10 p.m., which is a Friday. (Low TV use on Fridays.)

• Biggest question: Can even writers like Sorkin and Haggis and Fey pull NBC out of its slump?

Fox

The 2006 Fox motto: We're the new CBS. That's almost what Fox said when it introduced its fall lineup this month.

"Our strategy," Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori told reporters in a conference call, "is based on stability."

What happened to that wild, boisterous youth? That raucous, irreverent, rebellious Fox we all loved/despised? Gone. Totally gone. Our little Fox is all grown up.

That's what ratings success will do to a network. Besides the huge numbers "American Idol" generated, Fox hit pay dirt with "House," "24," "Prison Break" and even "Bones." It isn't messing with success.

Next season's new shows almost sound like a CBS lineup. There's "Justice," a show from Jerry Bruckheimer (who produces the "CSIs," "Without a Trace" and "Criminal Intent," among others); there's " 'Til Death," a comedy starring "Everybody Loves Raymond's" Brad Garrett; and there's Liguori talking "stability." What's next? Ed Sullivan?

• Best move: I kinda hate to say this, but, um, focusing on stability. Fox has often struggled in the fall, then rebounded when its January shows, including "American Idol" and "24," start up. It's trying to have a more balanced season, as CBS-like as that may be.

• Worst move: Renewed the Sunday comedy "The War at Home." Has anyone at Fox seen this show? It's awful.

• Biggest question: How long can "American Idol" remain so red-hot?

The CW

This is the love child of CBS and Warner Bros., as they folded WB and UPN into one network. But not necessarily a new network. The CW has only two new shows coming next fall -- yet it managed to make one of them a serialized thriller.

Mostly, it kept old series, including "Gilmore Girls," "Veronica Mars" (paired on Tuesdays), "Everybody Hates Chris," "All of Us," "Girlfriends," "One Tree Hill," "Smallville," "Supernatural" and, tragically, "Smackdown." Plus it resurrected "7th Heaven" for an 11th season after WB execs announced the show was dead. (Insert your zombie joke here.)

• Best move: Kept together on Sunday nights "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Girlfriends" and other comedies with largely African American casts. It's a smart counter-programming move for Sundays, but even more, there are few comedies left on TV featuring any people of color.

• Worst move: Canceling "Everwood" and keeping "One Tree Hill" instead. That was a move toward fluff instead of one of TV's most underrated shows (and, yeah, I saw the word "underrated" in there).

• Big question: Where's the zing? Where's the let's-put-on-a-show excitement?

http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/columns/kushman/v-print/story/14261636p-15075160c.html

fredfa

05-29-06, 12:44 PM

CBS News Statement
CBS News crew came under attack in central Baghdad

May 29, 2006

(CBS)---A CBS News television crew embedded with the 4th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army came under attack today in central Baghdad.

The journalists —correspondent Kimberly Dozier, cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan - were reporting from outside their humvee and are believed to have been wearing their protective gear.

Douglas and Brolan, both London-based, were killed.

Dozier sustained serious injuries in the attack and underwent surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad. She is in critical condition, but doctors are cautiously optimistic about her prognosis.

Douglas, 48, had worked for CBS News in many countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Bosnia, since the early 1990s.

Brolan, 42, was a freelancer who had worked with CBS News in Baghdad and Afghanistan over the past year. He was part of the CBS News team that had received a 2006 Overseas Press Club Award for its reporting on the Pakistan earthquake.

Dozier, 39, has been a CBS News correspondent, reporting from Iraq, for the past three years, Before that, she served as London bureau chief and chief European correspondent for CBS Radio News from 1996-2002. Dozier is the recipient of three American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) Gracie Awards for her radio reports on Mideast violence, Kosovo and the Afghan war.

"This is a devastating loss for CBS News," said Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. "Kimberly, Paul and James were veterans of war coverage who proved their bravery and dedication every single day. They always volunteered for dangerous assignments and were invaluable in our attempt to report the news to the American public.”

“Our deepest sympathy goes out to the families of Paul and James, and we are hoping and praying for a complete recovery by Kimberly. Countless men and women put their lives on the line, day in and day out, in Iraq and other dangerous spots around the world, and they deserve our utmost respect and gratitude for the work they do."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/29/iraq/main1663292.shtml

fredfa

05-29-06, 01:14 PM

After the massive injuries to ABC’s Bob Woodruuff earlier this year, USA Today’s Peter Johnson looked at other correspondents who put themselves in harm’s way in Iraq.

One of them was Kimberly Dozier of CBS.

Covering the War in Iraq
Families fear for loved ones

By Peter Johnson USA Today February 5, 2006

CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier arrived back in Baghdad last week, just days after ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and his cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously injured by a roadside bomb.

Dozier's latest six-week rotation in Iraq didn't sit well with her brother, Michael, a retired banker from Franklin, Tenn., who she says e-mailed her with "a couple of paragraphs of stern reprimand."

"He said, 'When is enough enough? Sorry to rail, but when are you going to get out of there?' " Dozier recalls.

"He went on, and then he said, 'OK, now that I got that out of my system, I know you're going to go anyway, so stay safe.' "

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2006-02-05-media-mix_x.htm

fredfa

05-29-06, 01:58 PM

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

(Saturday's overnights remain missing.)

Marcus Carr

05-29-06, 03:38 PM

Thursday network battle seen boosting DVR sales

By David B. Wilkerson, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:55 AM ET May 29, 2006

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The expected Thursday night tussle this fall between ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and CBS's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" could be a catalyst for increased digital video recorder sales and underscore the next step in television's evolution, an entertainment management executive says.

At 9 p.m. Eastern on Thursdays, against the entrenched police procedural drama "CSI," which is entering its seventh season, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC has opted to move one of its biggest hits, "Grey's Anatomy," a medical drama about a group of surgical interns at a Seattle hospital, from its familiar Sunday night spot.

Both shows get more than 20 million viewers each week.

DVR usage is already on the increase, with more than 130 million U.S. homes expected to include the device by 2010, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

However, the appeal of two such popular programs that are on at the same time could induce some people to get one sooner than they might have otherwise, says Mike Kelley, a partner for the advisory practice in the Entertainment, Media, Communications and Technology Sector at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

"These are powerhouse shows," Kelley said in a recent interview. "This is going to propel DVR sales. Customers will say, I can have my cake and eat it too."

The DVR allows users to easily record programs that are stored on a hard drive. They employ full DVD-like functionality, including pause, rewind and fast-forward functions.

While the DVR is generally seen as the enemy of the networks, since users can fast forward past commercials, they also let people watch shows they would otherwise have skipped, and that has its benefits.

Networks may be more patient with new shows if they know that viewers are recording them on the DVR while watching something else live, Kelley said.

"This is why we need strong measurement on DVR viewing, as well as other platforms, like online streaming," said Kelley.

Another potential dilemma for some viewers inclined toward a DVR purchase might occur an hour earlier on Thursdays, when NBC's sitcom duo of "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" square off against "Survivor" on CBS.

Following Kelley's logic, increased time-shifting of "CSI," "The Office" and "Earl" could be a boost for cable operator Comcast Corp. to offer on-demand episodes of the programs as soon as midnight following their broadcast for 99 cents per episode.

Comcast also offers its digital cable subscribers a DVR-equipped cable box for an extra monthly fee.

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid=%7BAB5602F7-E779-4981-A293-F5D94BCA8CE3%7D&keyword=

Xesdeeni

05-29-06, 05:12 PM

I could have sworn that Blue Collar TV was in the list a cancelled shows. But a new episode is listed for Wednesday.

Also, what's the scoop on this "Gameshow Marathon?"

Xesdeeni

RussB

05-29-06, 05:38 PM

May 28, 2006, 8:02PM
By BRIDGET BYRNE
Associated Press

TV FEATURE

History Channel cannot tell a lie: It's goal is accurate portrait of first president

LOS ANGELES - George Washington has one of the most recognizable mugs on the planet. But what was inside that head?

The History Channel documentary Washington the Warrior attempts to answer this and other questions about the formative years of America's first president in a two-hour special airing at 8 tonight (Central Time).

"We all know the Washington on the dollar bill and Mount Rushmore, and we know him as the president. But the more we started thinking about it, the more we realized that there is a vast undiscovered territory about Washington's early life," says Dolores Gavin, the History Channel's director of historical programing.

"One battle at a time," Gavin explains, the program follows Washington through his transformation from a brash young officer, nearly killed during the French and Indian War in the mid-1750s, into the wiser Revolutionary War hero of Yorktown in 1781.

"His gut instinct got him into a lot of trouble as a young man," she adds, "but later he doesn't go down the path of brash action. He thinks it through."

The production is narrated by Stacy Keach, with Shea Patrick and Jackson Bolt portraying the tall, imposing Washington at two stages of his military career. They do so without words, because, as Gavin explains, "We made the decision that we wanted deliberately to stay away from the spoken word. We wanted them to just forward the story."

Patrick was cast because he looks very similar to the first portrait of Washington as a young man. With Bolt, who's had appearances on Nip/Tuck and Deadwood, Gavin says they "went more for the essence of George, as opposed to a strictly physical resemblance."

The battle sequences were re-created in Lithuania, with about 1,500 re-enactors participating.

"At one point, Jackson Bolt was the only person on the set, outside of the crew, who spoke English, so that was a bit of a challenge," says Gavin. "But we had a translator with a bullhorn with one of the loudest voices I've ever heard."

Lithuania provided excellent locations for the battles, and sets were created with great attention to historical accuracy. Computer-generated imagery was used to complete the proper look.

"The story of Washington is an incredibly epic story, and we always took the approach that without CGI done in the appropriate way, we wouldn't really be able to convey the epic landscape in which he maneuvered," says Gavin.

The filmmakers called on the insight of numerous historians, both as behind-the-scenes consultants and on-camera commentators, to help form a fully three-dimensional portrait of this ambitious man, who lost more battles than he won yet managed to found a nation.

Revolutionary War expert Wayne E. Lee of the University of North Carolina, who makes an appearance in the documentary, says there are "mounds and mounds and shelves and shelves" of Washington's writing, but his feelings are rarely exposed.

"One of the primary values of an 18th-century gentleman was reticence, and Washington in particular was very interested in cultivating an image of, not unconcern, but stoicism."

Lee, who has complete confidence in the documentary producers' concern for accuracy, acknowledges experts tend to be very picky.

"Some historians really feel that filmed versions of history are problematic because of all the things they get wrong. To a certain extent I agree, but I also tend to think that any conversation that begins because of a film is better than none at all."

Gavin says a certain amount of speculation is inevitable in trying to "go beyond the top layer," to fully understand the man.

She believes viewers no longer want their history "filtered from a dry textbook" that offers only one-dimensional portraits of historic figures and events.

"I think now we want to pull heroes close," she says. "We want to see their humanness and their mistakes, and most importantly, how they learned from their mistakes, because then it feels like we know them."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3911760.html

RussB

05-29-06, 06:08 PM

May 29, 2006, 1:40AM
Associated Press

NEW YORK - NBC is the first broadcast news organization to offer news programming for sale for viewing on computers and iPods through Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes service.

A variety of current, archival and specially produced material will be available for $1.99 a download through the iTunes store.

"We're leading a trend to put our work and our journalism everywhere our viewers and users want it to be," said Mark Lukasiewicz, NBC News vice president for digital media.

Brian Williams will be host of some specially created Time Capsule programs through the Web. They include interviews with President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, a tour of the White House offered by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and interviews with the rock band U2.

Tom Brokaw has also packaged programming related to his book The Greatest Generation, NBC said.

More recent material includes Williams' narration of his return to Hurricane Katrina-stricken areas and the CNBC special The Age of Wal-Mart.

NBC is also making programming like Tattoos: Skin Deep, Cops Caught on Tape and Extreme Fighting. Lukasiewicz said NBC News won't be tempted to devote more time to marginally news-oriented programming because it sells well on iTunes.

"I don't think we're going to have a situation where something that is in particular demand on iTunes is going to drive our television work," he said.

NBC News is a unit of General Electric Co.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3911761.html

fredfa

05-29-06, 07:36 PM

I could have sworn that Blue Collar TV was in the list a cancelled shows. But a new episode is listed for Wednesday.

Also, what's the scoop on this "Gameshow Marathon?"

Xesdeeni

BCTV was cancelled. There are a handful of episodes being played off during the summer.

Same with "Commander In Chief" which begins to play off its three remaining episodes on Wednesday.

fredfa

05-29-06, 07:58 PM

CBS News Tragedy
2 in CBS News Crew Killed in Violent Day in Iraq

By John F. Burns and Richard A. Oppel, Jr. The New York Times May 29, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 29 — Two Britons working for CBS News were killed today and an American correspondent for the television network was critically injured when a joint American and Iraqi military patrol they were accompanying in Baghdad was hit by a roadside bomb, CBS said.

Two others, an American soldier and an Iraqi interpreter, also died in the attack, the American military command said, adding that six other soldiers were wounded.

CBS identified the two dead employees as Paul Douglas, 48, a cameraman, and James Brolan, 42, a soundman, and said its correspondent, Kimberly Dozier, 39, sustained serious injuries and underwent surgery at an American military hospital in Baghdad.

The network said in a statement that Ms. Dozier was in critical condition, but that doctors were "cautiously optimistic about her progress."

Police said the attack was one of eight bombings and several ambushes in Baghdad that killed at least 33 people and wounded dozens of others, in an upsurge of violence that made today one of the worst days in the capital in several weeks.

At least 15 other people were killed in attacks elsewhere in the country, including 10 Iraqis who died when a roadside bomb hit their minivan near Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad.

An American Embassy spokesman said Ms. Dozier was airlifted to the American airbase at Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad. The spokesman did not say whether Ms. Dozier would undergo further treatment at the American military hospital in Balad. Many American casualties are airlifted directly from Balad to an American military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

Ms. Dozier, a former Jerusalem correspondent for WCBS-TV in New York, has frequently reported from Baghdad in the three years since the American-led invasion.

Among those killed in Iraqi violence, two British soldiers died when an armored Land-Rover hit a roadside bomb in the southern city of Basra on Sunday night, the British military said today, raising the number of British troops who have died in Iraq to 113 since the American-led invasion in March 2003. The Basra attack made May one of the worst months of the war for British troops, with nine soldiers killed, including five who died when their Lynx helicopter was shot down in Basra on May 13.

The American military command in Baghdad said the CBS journalists killed in Baghdad were embedded with a unit of the 4th Infantry Division when they were hit by a car bomb at about 10.30 a.m. local time. A CBS spokesman said the journalists were outside the armored Humvee in which they had been traveling, wearing body armor, when the explosion occurred near Tahiriyat Square in east Baghdad.

That is about a mile east of the American headquarters complex situated across the other side of the Tigris river in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

The statement by the United States command said the four who died were victims of "a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device," or a car bomb.

Iraqi employees of The New York Times who visited the scene after the attack said the bomb exploded on a street just south of an intersection known as Basil Building Square, opposite a compound with two schools. They said the blast had left a crater in the road and a carpet of broken glass as it shattered windows in homes and shops as much as 100 yards from the explosion.

Television footage taken by an Iraqi camera crew shortly after the bombing showed what appeared to be a burning armored vehicle strewn sideways beside the median strip, with an Iraqi fire engine hosing down the wreck. The site of the attack is a few hundred yards west of Tahiriyat Square.

The two CBS staffers killed raised the number of journalists killed in Iraq to more than 70, including at least 45 Iraqis. The attack today marked the second time this year that an American television crew embedded with American troops has been hit by a roadside bomb.

On Jan. 29, Bob Woodruff, the co-anchor of the ABC News program "World News Tonight," and a cameraman, Douglas Vogt, were seriously injured while accompanying a joint American-Iraqi patrol. Mr. Woodruff is still recovering from serious head injuries and broken bones.

"This is a devastating loss for CBS News," Sean McManus, the CBS president, said in a statement issued in New York. "Kimberly, Paul and James were veterans of war coverage who proved their bravery and dedication every day."

Mr. Douglas, the cameraman who died, was a staff employee of the network who was based in London and had worked for CBS since the early 1990's in numerous war zones, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia and Rwanda. Mr. Brolan, the soundman, was a freelancer who had worked for CBS in Iraq during the past year. He was part of a CBS team that had won an award from the New York-based Overseas Press Club award earlier this year for coverage of the earthquake in Pakistan last year.

In the past year, the risks of reporting the war have played a part in the steady decline in the number of Western journalists in Iraq. But the main hazard in the past two years, as the war has worsened, has come not from bombings but from a rash of kidnappings, including the 82 days that Jill Carroll, an American reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, spent as a hostage of an insurgent group before being released earlier this year.

Mr. Douglas and Mr. Brolan were the first members of any American news organization in Iraq to be killed by insurgents while on embed with American troops Saddam Hussein's government was toppled in April 2003.

The first American reporter to be killed in the Iraq war was Michael Kelly, a 46-year-old editor and columnist, who died when his Humvee came under fire in April 2003 and then rolled into a canal after the driver, who also died, tried to take evasive action.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/world/middleeast/29cnd-iraq.html?ei=5094&en=ca75a9c23048acae&hp=&ex=1148961600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

fredfa

05-29-06, 08:01 PM

TV Notebook
Moving past 'Today

Katie Couric shoots down skeptics who think she's too soft for the evening news
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer May 30, 2006

NEW YORK -- "I've always been a serious person, actually."

Katie Couric was talking about what's been Topic A in media circles this spring: Can she make the transition from the mostly frothy mélange that is morning television to the buttoned-down world of network evening news?

The longtime "Today" co-anchor made no pains to hide her exasperation with such thinking.

"Blah, blah, blah," she said. "John Chancellor" — the NBC morning show host who went on to anchor the nightly news for 12 years — "drove a go-cart on the 'Today' show. Get over yourselves, really. I think it's sort of a lemming-like reaction and not very informed, because I think if anybody watches the show, they'll know we do plenty of serious things."

But she wasn't done: "To suggest you can't have fun and you can't talk about fashion and enjoy it and then do a serious story on welfare reform is just limited in your thinking."

Couric, who wraps up her 15-year run on "Today" Wednesday, was careful to keep her thinking to herself for the last year as pundits debated the merits of her making the jump to the "CBS Evening News." But with the decision behind her, the 49-year-old broadcaster is feeling a lot freer to speak her mind.

During a wide-ranging conversation on a recent afternoon, she demonstrated the frank self-assuredness that lies beneath her lighthearted on-air demeanor. Perched on a couch in her publicist's office, she fielded questions with remarkable candor, unhesitatingly addressing her frustrations with the media, her feelings about her public profile and that whole question of "gravitas."

"The notion that you can't wear mascara and a pretty pair of earrings and ask really intelligent, insightful questions at the same time is just so passé," she said firmly.

Couric is the first to admit that making the decision to walk away from "Today" — her home for the bulk of her professional career — to take over the third-place evening newscast at another network was not an easy one. But as she prepared to leave NBC, the broadcaster seemed relaxed, even liberated.

"I do have mixed emotions because I'm going miss everyone I work with so much," she said. "But no matter what happens, I feel really confident that I've made the right decision."

Those close to her say that Couric mulled over her choice for several months in long phone conversations with a "kitchen cabinet" of friends, carefully considering what she wanted at this point in her career.

"It was a tough decision for her to make, and now that it's a done deal and happening, I sense a calmness about her that is really nice to see, because I know she's in a really good place about it," said Wendy Walker, a senior executive producer at CNN and a friend of more than 20 years.

Her move to CBS will no doubt be scrutinized more substantially than the last time she changed jobs in April 1991, when the then 34-year-old was named co-anchor of "Today" alongside Bryant Gumbel, a morning show veteran.

Couric had been at NBC for just two years — as the deputy Pentagon correspondent and then "Today's" national correspondent — but she said she had no hesitation about telling Michael Gartner, then the news division president, that she wanted "a 50-50 split in hard news" with Gumbel.

"Can you imagine?" she recalled with a laugh. "The gall I had. I'm sure they were probably like, 'Who is this person? Where does she come from?' "

Gartner promised her 52-48, and Couric replied, "Well, I'll take that and I'll build from there."

Growing reputation

The young anchor quickly distinguished herself as someone with the right combination of nimbleness and warmth. In an oft-repeated story, Couric cemented her journalistic credentials in the eyes of many critics when she turned a chance encounter with President George H. W. Bush during a tour of the White House into a 19-minute live interview about the Iran-Contra scandal and the impending presidential election.

Under the direction of then-executive producer Jeff Zucker, Couric also brought a new level of intimacy to the program, as she discussed being a young mother of two daughters and then the pain of losing her husband, Jay Monahan, to colon cancer in 1998.

Meanwhile, she and co-anchor Matt Lauer, who replaced Gumbel in 1997, developed a teasing banter that helped keep "Today" the most-watched morning show for 10 years running, a partnership Couric said she's going to miss.

"We've been each other's safety nets," she said.

Couric can't pinpoint a moment when she felt ready to leave "Today."

"It was an evolution, really," she said. "I always would say, 'Would it kill me if somebody else was doing this instead of me?' And when my contracts came up, I always thought, 'I'm just not ready.' But this last time I was.

"So it sort of passed the 'I'm-not-going-to-die-if-I'm-not-doing-the-Thanksgiving-Day-parade test,' " she added with a laugh.

The CBS job — which offered the chance to do long-form pieces for "60 Minutes" as well as anchoring the evening news — "just seemed like a wonderful, if highly public, exciting risk to take."

When she takes over the anchor desk from Bob Schieffer in early September, Couric will be the first woman to officially helm a network evening newscast alone, a fact she called "a nice bonus," but not a driving factor in her decision. But there's no doubt that her influence on the program will be closely watched, as well as her ability to challenge current NBC colleague Brian Williams, who anchors the No. 1 news broadcast, and ABC's recently anointed Charles Gibson, and propel the "CBS Evening News" out of last place. A larger challenge: to prove the vitality of the evening news genre after years of declining audiences.

Couric declined to discuss her plans for the newscast, whose focus she is going to develop in meetings with CBS producers throughout the summer, except to say that it will be a reflection of her sensibilities.

"There's not going to be like a fun quarantine: 'You can't laugh on the evening news,' " she said. "I think viewers are much smarter than TV executives, in a way, because I don't think anyone wants a one-dimensional person. I think they want authenticity. And authenticity means you're a multifaceted individual.

"I'm not going to change who I am or how I relate to people or how I tell stories. Because I do some of the lighter stuff and have a sense of humor at time doesn't mean that I'm not a really serious person, when necessary. So I think it will be a combination of everything that hopefully I have to offer."

Used to the spotlight

Couric is somewhat resigned to the press of publicity that will accompany her move to the evening, even joking about the endless fascination with her appearance. As she entered the room at the beginning of the interview and took off a sequin-detailed, cropped white coat, she quipped: "Now you're going to write, 'As she peeled off her white, sequined jacket ... ' "

It took her a while to get used to the scrutiny that comes along with being one of the best-known broadcasters in the country, she admitted.

"I used to be very hypersensitive when I first started, when people wrote things that weren't nice about me," she said. "I could probably quote back to you articles that were written when I started. They were few and far between — I was really lucky — and I was treated very well. But I remember when someone wrote that I had chipmunk cheeks. Or that I didn't do the right follow-up question for a book that had been written about Cuba. You would have thought that it was the end of the world."

Nowadays, she said she tries to take the attention in stride. But after living through a year of public speculation about her next career move and endless dissection of her skills as a journalist, Couric is somewhat impatient with her media kin.

"There are a lot of lazy reporters out there and I think they rely on Google and don't necessarily do their own thinking," she said.

While noting that there are "a lot of great reporters," Couric added: "I read things with a much more jaundiced eye than I used to because I, from personal experience, have been made aware of the panoply of inaccuracies that go unchecked and unchallenged every day."

It's an experience that she's keeping in mind as she prepares to take up the mantle of a network evening newscaster.

"I think it's made me realize that jumping on the bandwagon is not always the way to go, and it's our responsibility as journalists to take a step back and not necessarily be swept up with not only the story, but the tenor of the story," she said. "I've learned that it's really important to say, 'Wait a second, is this really right, just because it appears here, here and here? Or is there a better way of doing this story, and is there a different perspective?' To me that's really responsible journalism — not following the pack."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-couric30may30,0,7986145,print.story?coll=cl-tv-features

fredfa

05-29-06, 08:18 PM

TV Notebook
2 CBS News crewmen die in Iraq attack; Dozier hurt

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter May 30, 2006

NEW YORK -- Two CBS News crew members were killed and correspondent Kimberly Dozier critically wounded Monday afternoon in a car bomb attack on their convoy in Bahgdad.

Cameraman Paul Douglas, 48, and soundman James Brolan, 42, died at the scene. Dozier, 39, was severely wounded and was airlifted a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad, where underwent surgery later Monday.

"She is in critical condition, but doctors are cautiously optimistic about her prognosis," CBS News said Monday.

A U.S. soldier also died in the bombing, and six others were wounded.

Dozier and her crew were on patrol Monday with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, in the Baghdad neighborhood of Karada. Their armored vehicle had stopped and the journalists had gotten out when a car full of explosives blew up nearby. Brolan, Douglas and the U.S. soldier died at the scene. All three journalists were wearing protective gear, CBS News said.

CBS News said they were only going to be out for a few hours to do a story, or possibly series of stories, about U.S. troops working in Iraq on Memorial Day. CBS News president Sean McManus said Monday that the story had been scheduled to appear on either "CBS Evening News" or "The Early Show." The three planned to return to the CBS News Baghdad bureau to edit the piece.

"(Dozier) is in the hands of the U.S. military, and the good news is that she couldn't possibly be in better hands," McManus said. "The State Department has contacted us. The military has obviously taken care of her since the attack."

The bombing was the second in four months involving U.S. network news personnel. On Jan. 29, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were critically injured near Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded in an Iraqi Army convoy as they worked on a report outside their armored vehicle. Both are recovering.

McManus said he and CBS News has been flooded with calls of sympathy and offers of help from the cable news channels as well as NBC and ABC. The networks have offered resources to help CBS News cover the story until it can get another crew into Baghdad. McManus said that would happen soon, but he declined to discuss specifics.

"Everybody understands in this situation," he said. "We're not competitors, we're colleagues."

CBS News first learned of Monday's attack about 5 a.m. EDT. Crews have been dispatched to Iraq to handle the recovery of the bodies of Douglas and Brolan, who were British citizens, and to help Dozier as best as they can. Other employees are in the U.K. to take care of the dead men's families.

"We're trying to help in every way we possibly can as we continue to report the news," McManus said. "As sad and as tragic as it is, it's still a story. We're working on it with some degree of objectivity, as difficult as it can be when it involves Kimberly Dozier, Paul Douglas and James Brolan. It's not easy, but they'll do it."

He called Monday's attack a devastating loss for CBS News.

"Kimberly, Paul and James were veterans of war coverage who proved their bravery and dedication every single day," McManus said. "They always volunteered for dangerous assignments and were invaluable in our attempt to report the news to the American public."

Dozier has been one of the network's correspondent in Iraq for three years. Before that, she was London bureau chief and chief European correspondent for CBS Radio News from 1996-2002. She has won three Gracie Awards from the American Women in Radio and Television for reports on the Mideast, Kosovo and the war in Afghanistan.

McManus said Dozier had been in New York last week and had just returned to Baghdad. He said she is a devoted reporter who didn't want to leave Iraq.

"While she was away, all she thought about was getting back to Iraq," McManus said Monday. "She has an enormous passion for covering that story. She was so energized and devoted to telling that story."

Douglas worked for CBS News in many war-torn countries since the early 1990s, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Bosnia. He is survived by his wife, Linda; two daughters, Kelly, 29, and Joanne, 26; and three grandchildren.

Brolan was a freelancer who has worked for the past year with CBS News in Baghdad and Afghanistan. His work on a report on the Pakistani earthquake helped CBS News win an Overseas Press Club award this year. He is survived by his wife Geraldine and two children, Sam, 17, and Agatha, 12.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002577037

fredfa

05-29-06, 08:30 PM

TV Notebook
Buyers: NBC Show Shifts a Smart Strategy

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com MAY 29, 2006 -

Media buyers were for the most part supportive of the bevy of scheduling changes NBC announced last week for its new 2006-07 season. Expectations were that NBC would move its new Thursday 9 p.m. drama, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It did, to Monday at 10. But no one expected changes on every night of the week except for repeat-laden Saturday.

Buyers seemed willing to accept NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly’s rationale of, “Let’s just launch our new shows in the most opportunistic time periods.”

Said one media buyer, who did not want to speak for attribution, “We are talking about the fourth-rated network here. NBC needs to be reacting to what the networks ahead of it do&hellipso it can try to improve its ratings.”

Donna Speciale, president of U.S. broadcast and programming at MediaVest, was not surprised by NBC’s adjustments. “With Studio 60, in particular, the show has a better chance to succeed where it was moved,” she said.

Marc Goldstein, MindShare CEO, echoed Speciale. “No one is surprised by these changes. If this was done once the season started, it would be bad. But the viewers really are not going to even be aware of this,” he said.

Goldstein argued that shifting Studio 60 out of the 9 p.m. Thursday time slot and replacing it with game show Deal or No Deal makes sense, because Deal will now be the only nonscripted show up against four dramas. Likewise, he added, moving The Biggest Loser to 9 p.m. on Wednesday makes it the only nonscripted show up against four dramas. Goldstein also said moving Law & Order: Criminal Intent to 9 p.m. Tuesday, leading into Law & Order: SVU creates a natural audience flow, and moving 20 Good Years and 30 Rock to the 8 p.m. Tuesdays, makes them the only two sitcoms in that hour. “We are not going to penalize NBC for making these changes,” Goldstein said. “These were changes NBC had to make to be more competitive.”

Lyle Schwartz, executive vp/director of broadcast research at Mediaedge:cia, called the new NBC schedule “not bad,” adding it will “not produce a significant evaporation of audiences.” But Schwartz does not think Studio 60 on Monday versus CBS’ veteran drama CSI: Miami will fare much better than it would have on Thursday. “It might have worked better on Tuesday night at 10, against [new CBS drama] Smith, and [ABC drama] Boston Legal, which has slipped a bit.”

Reilly defended moving Law & Order to 10 p.m. Friday from Wednesday at 10, even though audience levels dip on the night. “[CBS drama] Numb3rs has had a free pass on the night,” Reilly said. “Law & Order fits the audience profile for the night, female 35-plus. We think we can win that time period.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002576790

fredfa

05-29-06, 09:09 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Got a burning desire for more 'Rescue Me'? You're in luck

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog May 29, 2006

It might blow the show’s macho image to say this, but “Rescue Me,” which returns 10 PM ET Tuesday on FX, is really just one long public service broadcast.

If, as a woman, you’ve ever wondered how men act when they’re together, how they talk to each other, how they deal with rage and confusion and lust, there’s no better guide than this show, which may just be hitting its stride in its third season.

Tommy Gavin, the New York City firefighter played by Denis Leary, is relatively together at the start of this season, considering that at the end of the show’s second year, his son died, an event that split Gavin and his wife, Janet, for good.

But Gavin’s sticking to his newfound sobriety -- with the booze, that is. He has a harder time finding any kind of permanent emotional hookup, but the point of the show is to explore whether the troubled Gavin is truly capable of that.

That may be the dark heart of the series, which depicts the danger and stress and even strangeness of being a firefighter with unflinching reality. Yet there’s so much that’s funny about the show that it’s tempting to call it a comedy.

At a birthday party, Gavin and his A.A. sponsor, Mickey, are chatting about how to remain sober at stressful family gatherings. Gavin asks how Mickey does it.

“I smoke a lot of weed,” Mickey replies.

At one point, one of Gavin’s daughters wants to talk about her dead brother, and Gavin gives her some weak dialogue straight out of “7th Heaven.”

“That’s really lame, Daddy,” she replies.

“Rescue Me” doesn’t have a lot of time for platitudes; its cutting wit and its jittery energy are refreshing as well. And there are so many standouts in the ensemble cast that there’s hardly room to list them all: John Scurti is invaluable as the gruff, struggling Lt. Lou O’Shea; Charles Durning is believably selfish as Gavin’s dad; even a small role, such as Gavin’s Uncle Teddy, is done to perfection by Lenny Clarke.

The rock-solid Daniel Sunjata, as the ladies’ man Franco Rivera, gets and deserves a meaty story line this season; he becomes involved with a rich older woman (played by Susan Sarandon), who sees past his ever-ready line of smooth talk. Let’s hope that female character, as so many on “Rescue Me” do, doesn’t turn out to be a clingy, whiny turnoff -- Sarandon and “Rescue Me’s” many female fans deserve better.

“Rescue Me” is a little too addicted to closing montages set to music; it’s a little too fond of depicting Gavin as a sexy bad-boy icon, even when his behavior verges on irritatingly repetitive; and so far I’m not seeing the wisdom of casting Tatum O’Neal as Gavin’s firecracker of a sister.

Never mind. The firehouse gang -- a group that has all the alternately gossipy, secretive and supportive drama of a sorority, or of most fraternities for that matter -- and the intimacy that they are forced into by living together much of the time feels absolutely real.

You may not want to live in that all-male hothouse, but visiting it once a week is a must.

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

fredfa

05-29-06, 09:52 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Risky 'Rescue Me' back to cooling the emotional fires with laughs

By Tim Goodman San Francisco ChronicleMonday, May 29, 2006

Having taken viewers to hell and back last season, the risk-taking, acidic and darkly humorous firefighter drama "Rescue Me" returns to FX (10 PM ET/PT) for its third season Tuesday, managing to step away from the pain and mine life's (sometimes brutal) absurdity for a few laughs.

Well, at least temporarily.

Created by and mostly written by Denis Leary and Peter Tolan, "Rescue Me" has been in the upper echelon of television's greatest dramas since it premiered. It got there with a storytelling technique wholly unique right now on television -- walking the razor line of human emotion sprung from tragedy and milking humor from the daily degradations of ordinary lives. There's a reason that few writers and producers try to pull off that trick: It's nearly impossible.

But "Rescue Me" has always been a risky series. Leary, who started the Leary Firefighters Foundation after a 1999 blaze killed his cousin (and five other firefighters), also set up the Fund for New York's Bravest after the Sept. 11 attacks. That he created a drama about firefighters wasn't surprising, but his decision to make it so aggressively hard-edged was. Leary took the idea of post-Sept. 11 heroes in the New York Fire Department and decided to tell a less fairy-tale, more realistic set of stories. It was daring and also a real dramatic coup. He was able to show that the work firefighters do on a daily basis really is dangerous and often heroic, but the actual firefighters, like everybody else, are flawed.

Leary and Tolan, two colorful, expletive-spewing characters in their own right, managed with "Rescue Me" to extend an idea they started with "The Job" on ABC: the lovable louse. That was especially tricky on a broadcast network, and though they made "The Job" one of the best-kept secrets on TV for a short time, working on FX has allowed them to flesh out the idea. But on "Rescue Me" they didn't merely take the main protagonist, Tommy Gavin (Leary), and make him cable-TV nuanced, they took an artistic leap forward and dared to create an antihero whose charm was in deficit while his dysfunction was in excess -- pretty much a tough sell on any channel.

The daring in that alone earns "Rescue Me" serious points as a television drama, but the jarring mix of humor and pathos that defines the series (and Tommy's life) wasn't enough for Tolan and Leary, so they shot through the rest of the characters with a sometimes unlikable, politically incorrect streak and then, for salt, added talking dead people. Result: challenging television. In case you forgot, it's in these times when critics say, "Thank God for FX."

And yet, by the tail end of Season 2, watching "Rescue Me" was like volunteering to be the punching bag at a Bronx gym. Tommy's alcoholism, which had nearly destroyed him through both seasons, led to visions of Jesus (who talked, naturally -- just like the vision of Jimmy, Tommy's dead firefighter cousin who perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks). But as the demons began to relent and Tommy reconciled with his combative wife, Janet (Andrea Roth), their young bike-riding son, Connor, was killed by a drunken driver. A series already heavily laden with anguish and death, guilt and anger, suddenly took on a crushing sense of sorrow.

The season ended with Uncle Teddy (Lenny Clarke) killing the driver at point-blank range.

One of the most rewarding aspects of "Rescue Me" is the daring tonal changes the series attempts. Not all of them are successful, but Leary, one of the most fearless stand-up comics (before morphing, with not enough credit, into an accomplished actor), isn't the flinching type. And so he and Tolan are relentless as they concoct more wince-inducing emotional moments and then attempt to leaven them with humor -- some of it base and dumb and some of it whip-smart and searing. It's like two madmen slashing their way with machetes through a jungle of television convention.

If you value grown-up drama, what's not to applaud? That said, the start of Season 3 is a bit of a relief, because the crackling dialogue that was rife with so much bitter hilarity eventually gave way last season to mere bitterness. Right out of the gate in Season 3, the laughs are back. Of course, they invariably lead to more drama, but nothing on the level of losing a child, one of the most difficult emotional stories to tell and tell well. Though "Rescue Me" steps off the gas a bit at the start, even that much of a break is welcome. And the drama that ensues is going to hurt and rivet at the same time.

Leary and Tolan have managed to put in two significant twists this season (don't worry, no spoilers here) and they set up a firehouse in transition. Last season, Laura (Diane Farr) transferred out of the firehouse (there was some great subtly in her departure). This season, Franco (Daniel Sunjata) is studying for the lieutenant's exam in hopes of giving his daughter a better chance. If he passes, it would probably mean he'd have to switch stations. Mike the Probie (Michael Lombardi), is about to lose his probationary status -- but he, too, might have to transfer to get some respect.

Others in the crew continue to be weighed down with daily woe. Lou is nearly broke because "former" hooker Candy played him for a rube, and the cost of care for Jerry's wife's Alzheimer's is pushing him to the brink. Of course Tommy hasn't completely steadied himself. His father (the superb Charles Durning) has moved in and seems to be heading downhill. Also look for the women of "Rescue Me" to ratchet up the drama. Janet is going down a very dangerous road, as is Tommy's sister Maggie (Tatum O'Neal).

Plus, there will be two extended story arcs featuring Susan Sarandon and Marisa Tomei.

The thing to remember about "Rescue Me" is that even when it can't fully recover from its own ambition (an awful lot has happened to poor Tommy and his family, and adding a talking Jesus last year was beyond bold), it never shrinks from the task of surpassing its own brilliance. Even when it fails in its attempt to knock you out, "Rescue Me" keeps swinging, and that engenders a whole lot of admiration in a medium choking on its own safety.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/29/DDGCHJ35JK1.DTL&type=printable

fredfa

05-29-06, 10:06 PM

TV Notebook
Couric dodges the hype as she exits 'Today'

By Peter Johnson USA Today

NEW YORK — Morning news superstar Katie Couric, who bids adieu Wednesday to NBC's Today after 15 years, does not view her next gig — anchoring The CBS Evening News —as a "second coming" of network news.

"I don't have a lot of control over the hype. I'm just trying to keep my blinders on," Couric says. "I don't think anyone expects me to come in riding a white horse and save the day. I'll just try to be part of a terrific team of journalists and do as much as I can in the role I have."

Couric begins banking stories for The Evening News and 60 Minutes in July. "Obviously, we'll be having a lot of brainstorming sessions about some things we may want to do. It'll be fun."

Her first day as anchor of the third-place News is Sept. 5 in what is bound to be a closely watched race, with dollars and prestige on the line among the Big Three network news divisions.

Couric, 49, will square off against No. 1-rated NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, 47, and Charles Gibson, 63, who was named last week to succeed Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas on ABC's ill-fated two-anchor experiment with World News Tonight.

"I've always cared about quality first and ratings second," says Couric, who at about $15 million a year will be the highest-paid network news anchor. "I know other people focus on ratings. I understand that: It is a business."

Conservative bloggers have pegged Couric as a liberal — something that dogged News anchor Dan Rather for years until he stepped down in 2005.

"I'm going to be tough but fair, what I've always been," Couric says. "People have very strong opinions. You just have to do the best job you can."

Couric says she'll bring sensitivity and empathy with her. "Even as a child I had a good ability to gauge what other people were going through, and I think I brought that to the Today show."

She says she had "led a charmed life pretty much until I was 40. Things were easy and pretty much went my way."

But the death of her husband, Jay, in 1998, from colon cancer, and then her sister, Emily, in 2001, from pancreatic cancer, "reminded me how much suffering is going on in the world."

On days "when you wake up and you feel good and your children and people you love are healthy and you're in a good situation in terms of a job and being able to care for your family, I think that a little gratitude is called for. You sometimes forget how lucky you are."

Calls, letters and flowers have been flowing in since Couric announced April 5 that she was leaving Today. Muhammad Ali and his wife, Lonnie, sent flowers, "which meant a lot to me"; actor Michael J. Fox "sent flowers and a sleeping mask"; and Bush White House aide Karen Hughes called to say that Couric's move to CBS represented "what a woman could be."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-05-29-couric-main_x.htm

fredfa

05-29-06, 10:32 PM

TV Notebook
Couric's good mornings — and some bad ones, too

By Peter Johnson USA Today

Katie Couric, who has interviewed thousands of newsmakers on NBC's Today, signs off Wednesday with memories galore after 15 years on the top-rated morning show. She talked with USA TODAY about some of her greatest hits.

Who made you sweat (or glow?)

•Ross Perot: "He's very pugnacious."

•Henry Kissinger: "He's so knowledgeable."

•Any president: "Especially if I did it at the White House. That's enough to get your adrenaline going."

Funniest

•Robin Williams: "I would like to spend a day inside his brain. He's just so quick. It's like watching a cerebral pinball game going on. I would always marvel at him and completely lose control of the interview."

Toughest interview

•David Duke (the Louisiana gubernatorial candidate whose racist views Couric challenged in 1991): "It was a very contentious interview. I read his quotes and he denied them. My dad (John, a journalist) said at the time, 'Sometimes you do have to stand against views that are so repugnant.' "

Toughest day on the air

•9/11: "On a personal level, I was trying to understand the enormity of what was unfolding before my very eyes, watching that plane on live television crash into that tower. That's something that none of us should have seen and hopefully will never see again."

Stories that resonate

•Columbine school massacre: "The scene was so stark and the emotions were so raw."

•Oklahoma City bombing, the one-year anniversary: "Mind-boggling, the death and the destruction that had taken place there."

•Reginald Denny (the white construction worker who was dragged from his truck and beaten nearly to death during the 1992 Los Angeles riots): "He was so full of compassion and forgiveness after he'd had the living tar beat out of him."

Favorite stars

•Bette Midler: "Funny, smart, caring and spontaneous. You just feel she says what's really on her mind. You don't feel it's sanitized in any way or there's any internal V-chip going on."

•George Clooney: "Always charming."

•Nicole Kidman, Sheryl Crow: "Fantastic women."

•Emma Thompson: "So smart. I really love talking to smart people. That is so exciting for me. The smarter the better, unless they're so smart I don't understand a word they're saying."

Favorite politician

•Bill Clinton: "He would wag his finger at me when he got mad at my questions. I enjoyed the intellectual challenge of interviewing him because he's so sharp and so good at seamlessly answering questions. You have to pay close attention because he does a good job of appearing to answer the question and not really answering."

Favorite interview

• The live, 19-minute surprise chat with President George H.W. Bush at the White House in 1992 as Couric was talking to Barbara Bush on the 200th anniversary of the Executive Mansion. "It was so spontaneous. For the viewer it had that kind of 'oh-my-gosh-the-president-has-walked-in, here-we-go, fasten-your-seat-belts, let's-give-this-a-try' feel. It was exciting."

Goofiest moments

• Interviewing comedian Bobcat Goldthwait years ago. "I missed it in my notes that he screams, so I kept asking him why he was yelling, and everyone thought I was such a moron. I remember interviewing (high-wire act) The Flying Wallendas and getting monosyllabic answers to everything I asked."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-05-29-couric-memories_x.htm

fredfa

05-29-06, 11:13 PM

Critic’s Notebook
The heat is on as 'Rescue Me' gets back on track

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Many series ask viewers to join them in their misery, but only "Rescue Me" puts it right out there in its title. Here it is, a drama about New York firemen whose personal lives are flaming out around them. Come watch!

Perhaps that's the reason "Rescue Me," returning tonight at 10 on FX, has only managed to attract and hold a modest audience over the course of its two seasons.

The other is probably simpler -- when most people see Denis Leary onscreen, they expect laughter. Numerous dramatic roles over the years have not stopped people from quoting bits from "No Cure for Cancer" back to him. Now this, a series about firefighters? A post-9/11 drama about a guy dragging around ghosts? It's a natural, and it's one of the best pieces of work, in front of the camera and behind, that Leary has ever done.

Besides, unless you're talking about "Nip/Tuck," which careens between disgusting and sensual, FX's dramas all trade in misery. "Rescue Me" simply does a better job of making light of them, largely through the power of combative wry humor and face-slapping machismo.

On the job, the guys at New York City's Truck 62 are all business at a fire, and Leary's Tommy Gavin, who channels his self-destructive impulses into acts of heroism, is the brother they look up to most.

That is, when his raging alcoholism doesn't have the best of him. Amazingly, as the third season starts, he's been able to keep his urges at bay even after his son Connor was killed by a drunken driver, and his wife, Janet (Andrea Roth), has decided to abandon their attempts at reconciliation.

The trouble with Tommy is that his demented behavior only entertains to a point; the rest is simply sadness. And Leary and writer partner Peter Tolan, who co-created last summer's series, pressed the tragic half of the tragicomic equation too heavily.

While a few episodes can't be a completely accurate indicator of how well things will go, it looks as if it has found its way again in this third season. The women aren't as shrill as they've been in the past, and even Sheila (Callie Thorne), the histrionic widow of Tommy's dead cousin has become a decent comedic foil. Better yet, Susan Sarandon steps up to the plate this season as a confident, rich woman -- not a girl, a woman, Tommy points out -- who wants to seduce Franco (Daniel Sunjata). Marisa Tomei is set to appear later in the season.

Under these trimmings, though, "Rescue Me's" third go addresses dependability and dependence in Tommy's world. Pressure weighs down on him from every side, and it's all he can do to keep from downing the bottle of vodka in the freezer.

With his father's health rapidly deteriorating, his wife and daughters gone and his son dead, Tommy has hard facts to face. Some are ridiculous, like the insistence that he find a male heir to replace him, as if the Gavin legacy of drunkenness, brawling and adultery is too precious to cede to obscurity.

Uncle Teddy (Lenny Clarke), who gunned down Connor's murder in the finale, has acclimated to prison a little too well, and his brother, Johnny (Dean Winters), is acting as Tommy and Janet's go-between. And Tommy's ghosts are still with him, although now his son has joined cousin Jimmy (James McCaffrey) in haunting him.

What a great time for everyone in the firehouse to quit smoking, cold turkey.

The series has always driven home the idea that the guys of Truck 62 were more of a family to one another than their wives and children could ever be. In a pinch, they could always turn to one another.

This, too, has changed. Now the guy have secrets eating away at them. And if their houses aren't falling in on them outside of work, they're thinking of making changes that would break apart the crew.

Of course, none of them knows what's really going on with one another, and that's where tensions flare.

The series quickly reminds us within a few episodes that nobody gets to choose his undoing.

The smoking ban illustrates this to perfection. They're free to risk their lives and to destroy themselves emotionally, but a cigarette is punishable by an escalating fine.

And by taking away one more element of self-destruction, they're robbing themselves of one more avenue to comfort and pleasure.

"A firehouse is no place for sensitive souls," Lou tells the Probie, after catching him reading "The Tao of Pooh." And we know he's right.

But to back that up, he nearly rips the rookie's head off while trying to take the book from him -- only to steal another copy from a bookstore after work.

Yes, making tragedies of this scale laughable is tough. But it looks like "Rescue Me" has recovered enough to do that once again. Light it up, guys, it has been too long.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/271809_tv30.html

fredfa

05-29-06, 11:21 PM

The Business of Cable and Satellite TV
Cable Stocks, Subs Grow as Satellite sees Softening

By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com MAY 29, 2006 -

They’re still a long way from the hearts-and-flowers stage of the relationship, but it appears that after years of studied indifference, Wall Street has begun to cozy up to the major cable operators. The change of heart comes on the heels of a record quarter for the industry, as the top multiple-system operators reversed a six-year trend by adding basic video subscribers in the first quarter of 2006.

All told, cable added more than 220,000 basic subs in the quarter, thanks in large part to aggressive pricing initiatives that some observers said are designed to boost share prices. “Cable is clearly responding to Wall Street,” said Bruce Leichtman, principal analyst and president at Leichtman Research Group, who added that while the MSOs have their eyes on bigger game, meeting analysts’ demands was easier than arguing the point any further. “There’s nothing to it. They just give it away.”

And while cheap bundles are boosting the rolls—introductory packages of low-end video, high-speed Internet and voice are now widely offered at price points of $100 and under—reversals at two cable operators in particular have had a profound impact on the overall numbers. “Around 75 percent of the [basic sub] losses in the last few years were from two companies: Charter and Adelphia. So once you stop bleeding at those companies, the whole industry begins to level off,” said Leichtman. As recently as the fourth quarter of 2004, both Charter and Adelphia combined for a net loss of 186,000 subs, Leichtman said. In first quarter 2006, Charter added more than 29,000, while Adelphia dipped slightly (2.1 percent) versus a year ago.

While cable put the brakes on its sub declines, its DBS rivals went retrograde. DirecTV added 255,000 net new subs in the first quarter, only half the 505,000 increase of a year ago. EchoStar’s DISH Network saw its growth slow by 31 percent, adding 225,000 net subs versus 325,000 in first quarter ’05.

As was the case with the MSOs, the satellite providers were merely following Wall Street’s marching orders. “DirecTV got a little choosier. They made sure the subs they added were a better credit risk,” said Kagan Research senior analyst Ian Olgeirson. “They’re not bottom-feeding as much.”

EchoStar is also chasing more valuable subs, initiating stricter credit policies designed to minimize the number of non-paying customers. “If we’re turning customers who don’t pay us much or don’t pay their bills, that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” said EchoStar chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen during the company’s recent quarterly earnings call.

Long the exception to the rule, Cablevision enjoyed its eighth consecutive quarter of basic sub growth, adding 39,000 new customers in first quarter. Once they take the bait, Cablevision subs tend to sign on for more advanced digital services. The company’s digital penetration is a whopping 68 percent, and average monthly revenue per basic sub for first quarter was $104.24, up 14 percent over ’05 (both figures are industry highs).

Cablevision will have to continue to outperform if it’s to withstand pressure from DBS foes and the emergent telco players moving into its turf. Verizon has been particularly aggressive in targeting Cablevision, landing video franchises in four Long Island, N.Y., towns, including one in Hempstead, just nine miles down the road from the MSO’s Bethpage headquarters.

Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge said he thinks the Verizon threat is overstated. “I think on a national basis they have between 3,000 and 6,000 video customers,” Rutledge said. “So they have between 1 percent and 2 percent penetration across their activated footprint.”

If Wall Street is enthusiastic about cable’s basic subs turnaround, it’s even more jazzed about advanced digital services. “There’s no single magic bullet for why they did so well, although the broad availability of phone on the three-product bundle probably helped,” Olgeirson said.

At any rate, cable’s been rewarded on the trading floor—MSO stocks have risen by about 20 percent since the end of last year.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002576792

fredfa

05-29-06, 11:24 PM

TV Notebook
Bee spells reality for ABC

The network hopes that the dramatic final rounds of the National Spelling Bee will hook viewers Thursday, just as "American Idol" does
By Johanna Neuman Los Angeles Times Staff Writer May 30, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Now that "American Idol" has bowed out for the season, ABC is betting that the show's formula — nervous civilians performing live — will turn the once-stodgy National Spelling Bee into the latest reality TV phenom.

For the first time in its 79-year history, the Bee is going live in prime time with the final rounds on Thursday. Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America" will host the event, broadcast for the first time in high definition with 5.1-channel surround sound.

"We're really excited about this," said Andrea Wong, ABC's executive vice president for alternative programming. Wong, who brought the British hit "Dancing With the Stars" to the U.S. audience last year, said she's been eyeing the Bee as a network television prospect for years.

"These are amazingly determined kids who have spent hours and hours every day practicing for this one moment of the year," she said. "They're all incredibly likable kids that you're rooting for. These aren't nerds; they are intellectual athletes."

The emotional angst of youngsters sweating in the floodlights as they try to conjure the language root or meaning context of a word to divine its correct spelling has already drawn Hollywood's attention. The 2002 Oscar-nominated documentary "Spellbound" kicked things off, followed by a Broadway musical and this year's film charmer "Akeelah and the Bee," which tracks a Los Angeles girl as she overcomes adversity to compete in the event.

The Bee has also attracted its share of writers. Myla Goldberg's 2000 novel "Bee Season" was made into a movie last year starring Richard Gere, and Rodale Press has just released a nonfiction book by pop culture writer James Maguire called "American Bee: The National Spelling Bee and the Culture of Word Nerds."

Maguire, author of a biography of Ed Sullivan, said he is drawn to "all the odd subcultures that make up American culture." He went to his first Bee in 2003 and was struck by the event's natural drama.

"These are 'tween spellers and it adds an emotional component," he said. "The audience gets so involved, they cheer when the kids get it, and when they strike out, they sigh with them. It adds an extra element of vulnerability."

For much of its life, the bee was an acquired taste, the ultimate niche talent contest. Then in 1985, Balu Natarajan, a 13-year-old son of Indian American parents, beat out all comers by spelling the word "milieu." He became an overnight sensation and many first-generation Americans came to see the Bee as a passport to acceptance in U.S. culture, encouraging their kids to compete. As a result, the list of competitors is often as much of a spelling challenge as the words.

When ESPN began broadcasting the two-day finals in Washington, D.C., in 1994, the allure of television did the rest, cementing the bee as a cultural right of passage.

"When ESPN picked it up, they really dressed up the image," Maguire said. "There's nothing glamorous about spelling, but there is something glamorous about being on television."

This year ABC notched things up even further by asking the Bee's organizers to move the final few hours to 8 p.m., and rolled the dice that it could manage the production woes of handling some 10 to 15 kids juggling words, expectations and parental pressure live in prime time (although it will be tape-delayed on the West Coast). Sponsors were thrilled.

"ABC's decision to move the Scripps [Howard] National Spelling Bee to prime time affirms for us how deeply this unique event is ingrained in the American psyche," Kenneth W. Lowe, president and CEO for the E.W. Scripps Co., said in a statement. "Now, with a wider national network television audience, more people than ever before will have an opportunity to share in this extraordinary celebration of academic excellence and experience the remarkable intensity of competitive spelling."

For real-time television, the gambit is not without risk. The bee is an unscripted pyramid. Some 10.5 million school students participated in bee competitions in their home towns this year, but only 275 are being summoned to Washington. On Wednesday, they will begin a spelling marathon to winnow down the elite even further, leading up to the championship on Thursday night.

The problem for television is that, like any live sports event, there is no way to predict the ending. After the spellers are winnowed down to the last 10 or 15 Thursday (with ESPN on hand beginning at noon Eastern time), bee officials will stop the daytime event and delay what ABC is calling "the title rounds" until 8 p.m. Once the lights dim and the cameras zoom, anything could happen. A lot of kids could fade early. Or two could keep battling off words such as "logorrhea" (excessive wordiness) and "smaragdine" (the color of emeralds) until long past the network's planned 10 p.m. signoff.

"It's going to be tricky," Wong said. "We're going to have to pace it to try to predict the ending."

The network, which owns ESPN, has stockpiled some features, as with the Olympics. There are taped packages on likely finalists, such as Samir Patel, a voracious reader who tied for third place in 2003 when he was only 9 years old and is back again this year. And the network has on hand some taped segments about the Bee itself, including a profile of the man who reads the words to the kids.

"These things will accordion the live show," Wong said. "Like the American Music Awards, we'll have a rough idea of timing."

As for the audience, neither ABC nor ESPN will offer predictions, but Wong is optimistic. "We want to feel creatively about this show," she said. "The ratings are not that important. We're building a franchise, and that will require momentum over time."

Take that, Simon Cowell.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-spelling30may30,0,3263056,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

05-30-06, 01:15 AM

TVNotebook
Pair made for last episodes of 'Sopranos'

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter May 30, 2006

"The Sopranos" co-stars Michael Imperioli and Vincent Curatola have closed deals to appear in the final eight episodes of HBO's mob drama.

Following HBO's decision in the summer to extend the final sixth season of "Sopranos" to 20 episodes -- 12 to air this year and eight in 2007 -- the cast of the Emmy-winning series began negotiations for the final batch of episodes.

Stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco were the first to close new deals.

Meanwhile, other key players, including Tony Sirico and Steve Van Zandt, are still in discussions.

Imperioli won an Emmy for his role as Christopher Moltisanti on "Sopranos." In his breaks from the show, he has been moonlighting on another crime drama, NBC's "Law & Order," with a series of guest-starring appearances.

Curatola plays New York boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni on "Sopranos." His series credits also include arcs on NBC's "Third Watch" and "Law & Order."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002577041

RussB

05-30-06, 07:06 AM

TV FEATURE

PBS documentary The Age of AIDS serves as a reminder that the disease remains a very real health crisis

By HAL BOEDEKER
Orlando Sentinel
May 29, 2006, 6:46PM

Bird flu generates headlines these days, overshadowing a more familiar pandemic. PBS' Frontline corrects that trend with The Age of AIDS, an epic, four-hour documentary.

This extraordinary program stands out for its depth and reach (it was filmed in 16 countries). The documentary airs 9-11 p.m. today and Wednesday (Note: Houston - Central Time, check your local listings).

In an age when the sound bite defines television news, The Age of AIDS offers context and detail in explaining how HIV has infected 70 million since it was diagnosed for the first time 25 years ago. Of those patients, 30 million have died.

New medicine combinations have given hope, but The Age of AIDS ends as a warning against complacency. Dr. David Ho, Time magazine's 1996 Man of the Year, says there will be about 5 million new HIV infections per year worldwide.

"To me, it's clear that I'm not going to see the end of this pandemic," Ho says. "I think we've won a few battles. I think most of the time HIV wins."

The Age of AIDS should fascinate anyone whose life has been touched by HIV. The documentary explores how confusion, politics and morality have shaped the response to the pandemic — a war characterized by many missteps.

The 25-year marker is a bit misleading. The first confirmed death from AIDS occurred in Congo in 1959, as a sample of frozen plasma revealed. Hunters came in contact with the virus while preparing chimpanzee meat.

Virologist George Shaw says it's "incontrovertible" that the epidemic began with a single transmission from one chimpanzee to one human.

The documentary's starting point, however, is 1981, when a mysterious new disease afflicted gay men in Los Angeles. Tuesday's program charts how HIV spread among hemophiliacs and intravenous-drug users, how Haiti was shaken by the disease and how activism has made a difference in Uganda and Thailand.

In Uganda, Noerine Kaleeba watched as her husband died of AIDS. Appalled by health-care workers' poor treatment of him, Kaleeba formed the AIDS Support Organization.

Politics stalled action elsewhere. A bureaucratic battle at the World Health Organization in Geneva reduced the staffing on AIDS from 250 to four.

In the United States, officials at the Centers for Disease Control complained that budget cuts limited their work. Margaret Heckler, Ronald Reagan's secretary of health and human services, disagrees. "This was not a problem that money could solve," she says. "It was a problem for scientists to solve."

Yet Reagan made just one speech on AIDS during his presidency. Elizabeth Taylor invited him to deliver that address at a dinner in 1987.

"One of the most difficult things for us at the CDC was feeling like the communities that were at greatest increased risk didn't trust us, because we worked for an administration which wouldn't mention the word AIDS," says James Curran of Emory University.

In the second half, The Age of AIDS notes that Nelson Mandela barely mentioned the disease when he was South Africa's president, and his son recently died of AIDS. Mandela's successor, Thabo Mbeki, denied that HIV had anything to do with AIDS.

"HIV became the new apartheid in South Africa," says Dr. Glenda Gray. "We discriminate not on race anymore but on HIV status."

The program contrasts the different responses to the crisis in Brazil, China, India and Russia. In the United States, Christian evangelicals, such as the Rev. Franklin Graham, have taken up the cause.

Major support has come from rock star Bono, who has called AIDS "the biggest health crisis since the bubonic plague." He successfully lobbied U.S. officials, such as President George W. Bush and one-time Sen. Jesse Helms, for stronger responses.

"We are fighting one of the great tragedies of human history," Bush has said.

The documentary lays out clashing battle plans, from abstinence to condoms.

"AIDS is a hot political issue in the beginning in a lot of places where people are uncomfortable talking about how it's communicated," says former President Bill Clinton, who has dedicated himself to the issue. "Denial only makes it worse, everywhere."

Few programs these days have the breadth or ambition of The Age of AIDS. It is a stupendous achievement.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3913310.html

fredfa

05-30-06, 09:26 AM

TV Notebook
Elizabeth Vargas, Exiting Stage Center

By Paul Farhi Washington Post Staff Writer

Elizabeth Vargas says she's at peace with her decision to walk away from one of the highest-profile jobs in America. But not everyone is so thrilled about it, especially some women.

Vargas, 43, stepped down as the co-anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight" on Friday, three days after ABC announced that she would leave the broadcast and be replaced by "Good Morning America" co-host Charles Gibson starting Monday. ABC and Vargas said her unexpected departure was a result of the demands of the job -- and the demands of being the mother of a 3-year-old, with another child due this summer. "For now, for this year, I need to be a good mother," she said in an interview on Friday, a few hours before anchoring her last newscast.

But the announcement has been met with a mixture of disappointment and skepticism in some quarters. Some observers found the news curious, given that Vargas will return to another demanding, but less visible, job -- co-anchor of the weekly newsmagazine "20/20" -- after she gives birth to her second child.

What's more, critics question whether Vargas's departure after less than six months as an anchor was entirely voluntary, given declines in "World News Tonight's" ratings and considering that Vargas already had experienced the challenges of balancing work and family years before she became pregnant a second time.

"It seems unlikely to me, having survived and thrived through her first pregnancy, that she would logically give up the top job in TV a few months out, anticipating she couldn't handle it," said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women. "It just doesn't strike me as a logical explanation. I don't think there are too many men who would be happy to be removed from the anchor chair."

Gandy added that ABC, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co., "doesn't look like a very woman-friendly or family-friendly workplace."

An ABC News spokesman defended the network, saying it has accommodated several mothers of young children, including anchors Cynthia McFadden of "Nightline," Kate Snow of the weekend edition of "Good Morning America" and Vargas herself.

NOW has joined with two other prominent women's organizations to protest Vargas's departure. In a letter that will be sent today to ABC News President David Westin and Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney, the organizations call Vargas's status "a clear demotion" and characterize it as "a dispiriting return to the days of discrimination against women that we thought were behind us."

In addition to Gandy, the letter is signed by Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Susan Scanlan, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, an umbrella group that represents organizations with about 10 million members.

The letter suggests Vargas's job change is parallel to ABC's cancellation of "Commander in Chief," a fictional program featuring Geena Davis as the first female president. The network has "now managed to eliminate two of the country's most visible women role models and high achievers from your television lineup," the letter says. It urges ABC to create work arrangements that would enable Vargas to continue as the network's "World News Tonight" anchor and as a mother, perhaps by pairing her in a job-sharing or co-anchoring role with Diane Sawyer. Sawyer, the co-host of "Good Morning America," reportedly was passed over for the "World News Tonight" anchor job last year.

"This seems like a big march backward" for women in the workplace, said Kathy Bonk, an adviser to the women's groups. "Something has to give here. There are job-sharing options, there are many ways to accommodate women. This workforce has to change."

Vargas said she appreciates the work of the women's groups in general, but that her situation was unusual and complicated -- and not only because she's the first person to become pregnant while serving as a network's lead anchor.

Her circumstances changed dramatically in January when her co-anchor, Bob Woodruff, was severely injured during a reporting trip to Iraq. (Woodruff hasn't returned to work and will also be replaced by Gibson.) This forced Vargas to shoulder all of the anchor duties.

Her pregnancy, she said, was another unexpected event. Vargas said her first child was delivered after an emergency Caesarean section three years ago; she'll undergo a scheduled C-section for her second ("I know -- too much information!"). That will mean at least six to eight weeks of maternity leave, which Vargas said creates a long period of discontinuity for viewers and for "World News Tonight's" staff.

As a practical matter, anchoring the news five days a week demands more time and more unscheduled travel than co-anchoring the weekly "20/20," which has a more predictable pace, she said.

Asked if her situation is comparable to Katie Couric's, Vargas said no because Couric's children are older, 11 and 13 years old. "It's a very different set of circumstances," Vargas said. Couric, who will take over as anchor of "CBS Evening News" in September, continued to co-anchor NBC's "Today" show after her husband's 1998 death left her a single mother.

Vargas acknowledged that it's "a struggle" for working mothers to balance work and family obligations, but added, "I don't think there are a lot of lessons to be drawn from my example because this is a unique job. You can't leave the audience wondering who's in charge for weeks or months, and you can't not give 150 percent to a staff and a team who are so enormously dedicated."

But that still leaves NOW's Gandy unsatisfied. "If she can't have it all," she said, "who among us could?"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/28/AR2006052801129.html

fredfa

05-30-06, 09:36 AM

TV Notebook
FCC Is Set to Take Fresh Look At Media Ownership

By AMY SCHATZ The Wall Street Journal May 30, 2006; Page A4

WASHINGTON -- With Republicans in the majority at the Federal Communications Commission for the first time in 14 months, the agency is poised to begin tackling a host of contentious issues, including changes to media ownership limits.

Senate confirmation Friday of Republican Robert McDowell to fill an empty commission seat marks the beginning of a more active phase at Chairman Kevin Martin's FCC, which has been idle on several fronts while deadlocked 2-2 between Republicans and Democrats.

Mr. McDowell's arrival is likely to have an immediate impact on one issue: consideration of Time Warner Inc.'s and Comcast Corp.'s deal to split Adelphia Communications' assets. Commission Democrats had hoped to impose several conditions, including tougher Internet protections than those required of AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. in their respective mergers last year.

Even before Mr. McDowell was confirmed, the FCC chairman had begun circulating proposals among the other commissioners to reopen two issues: media ownership limits and a requirement that cable operators carry multiple channels from local broadcasters after the transition to digital television instead of just one.

A vote to reopen the debate of media ownership limits may occur at the FCC's regularly scheduled meeting next month, agency officials said. The FCC will take a comprehensive look at what changes should be made, but the review isn't expected to be completed this year.

Even the whiff of possible FCC action has been enough to prompt a stir. Mississippi Republican Senator Trent Lott and Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota last week sent a letter asking Mr. Martin to have the commission address the issue of local broadcast content before acting on new media ownership rules. An FCC task force was created in 2004 to study the issue, but no report has been issued.

Meanwhile, the cable industry is gearing up to oppose Mr. Martin's must-carry proposal, which has been on broadcasters' wish-list for several years.

"The FCC has twice rejected multicasting and Congress also rejected it during the last session, so there's no evidence that it should be approved," said Brian Dietz, a spokesman for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114894537770865776-PFn8PVB3J3lrYK6qSaBiQpYElnw_20060606.html?mod=blogs

slocko

05-30-06, 09:44 AM

does anyone know how i can find out when they might begin repeating invasion from the beginning?

i know i can setup a wishlist in tivo with the word invasion, but sort of wanted a confirmation of when it might be re-run this summer. i wish i hadn't missed that marathon a month ago.

Fred, thanks to one of your posts I was able to record "Into the West" marathon on HD-TNT. I missed it the first time around so it's going to be a treat. Thanks.

fredfa

05-30-06, 09:54 AM

TV Notebook
'Rodney,' so long, we hardly knew ye

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer May 30, 2006, 23:02

When a show is still airing new episodes nearly a week after the TV season has finished, it’s a pretty good indication that the network is remaindering discountinued merchandise. And so it is with ABC’s “Rodney,” which was finally canceled after barely earning a renewal last year and getting preempted during much of the second half of the season.

Tonight at 8 p.m. the show returns after a three-month hiatus to burn off the remaining episodes of the show, which follows the classic ABC comedy pattern: unattractive, clueless male comedian paired with a way-too-hot, infinitely understanding wife.

But there’s actually a possible reason more viewers than its disappointing season average of 7.9 million could tune in to the show tonight: Nostalgia. Besides being the only new show on the broadcast networks tonight besides WB’s flailing “Pepper Dennis,” it also features the return of two beloved TV actors from past.

John Ratzenberger, who played trivia-spouting mailman Cliff Claven on NBC’s “Cheers” from 1982 to 1993, and John Schneider, who portrayed Bo on “Dukes of Hazzard,” play themselves in tonight’s episode, in which Rodney takes part in a celebrity golf tournament.

Though both actors are years past their primetime prime, they've lingered on in various roles. Schneider played Clark Kent’s father, Jonathan, for years on the WB’s “Smallville” before being killed off this season, and Ratzenberger has his own Travel Channel show.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_4999.asp

fredfa

05-30-06, 10:12 AM

TV Notebook
Wounded CBS Reporter Flown To Germany

(CBS/AP) May 30, 2006

CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier - critically wounded Monday by a bomb that killed cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan – arrived Tuesday at the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, for treatment at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a U.S. military hospital.

Dozier is in critical, but stable condition and is being treated for multiple injuries with wounds to her head and legs, CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reports.

At a press briefing in Germany Tuesday, Col. W. Bryan Gamble said Dozier was moving her toes on the flight to Landstuhl and "was responsive, opening her eyes to commands."

"She was critically wounded from the ... blast, but right now she is doing as well as can be expected," he said, adding that Dozier was expected to stay in Landstuhl for several days and undergo several other routine operations.

Medical officials are awaiting the arrival of her family, expected Wednesday, to decide when she would be transferred to the United States, Gamble said.

The three journalists - embedded with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division – were doing a Memorial Day story about what life is like for the troops in Baghdad when an explosives-packed car nearby suddenly blew up.

Dozier, Douglas and Brolan had been riding in an armored humvee but at the time of the blast - in the Karada section of Baghdad - they were outside on the street, accompanying troops who had stopped to inspect a checkpoint manned by the Iraqi Army. They were wearing helmets, flak jackets and protective eyeglasses when the bomb went off.

Douglas, 48, and Brolan, 42, died at the scene of the explosion, which also killed a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi interpreter and wounded six U.S. soldiers.

Kimberly Dozier, 39, was flown to a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad a mile away from the scene, where she underwent two surgeries for injuries from the bombing and was stabilized enough to be able to make the trip early Tuesday to Germany.

CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports that at one point Dozier's pulse stopped.

"She didn't have a heartbeat. She was as sick as you get," a doctor told Palmer.

"Her blood pressure dropped to a point where we could barely see what it was anymore, we could barely assess it. Basically, it means that she was going down, and she did pretty hard. But we were able to get her back by giving her fluids and medications," Captain Tiffany Fasco told Palmer.

"She's lucky she got here when she did. If it had taken longer for her to get to the hospital, it may not have come to this outcome at this point," a doctor at the military hospital told MacVicar.

According to a man who answered the phone at the home of Dozier's mother in Maryland, the family is flying to Germany to be by her side at Landstuhl.

CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports doctors in Iraq were able to remove shrapnel from Dozier's head but her more serious injuries are to her lower body. Doctors have said that they are cautiously optimistic about her prognosis.

MacVicar adds that given Dozier's condition when she arrived at that first hospital in Baghdad, when she was very, very seriously wounded, "she is doing about as well as we could hope for at this point."

Douglas, who was British, leaves a wife, Linda; two daughters, Kelly, 29, and Joanne, 26; and three grandchildren. Brolan, who was also British, leaves a wife, Geraldine, and two children, Sam, 17, and Agatha, 12. The bodies of Douglas and Brolan are being flown to Kuwait where they will be met by their families, Martin reports.

The attack was among a wave of car and roadside bombs that left about three dozen people dead before noon Monday, including one explosion that killed 10 people on a bus. Nearly all the attacks occurred in Baghdad.

"This is a devastating loss for CBS News," said CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus, in a statement calling the three journalists "veterans of war coverage who proved their bravery and dedication every single day. They always volunteered for dangerous assignments and were invaluable in our attempt to report the news to the American public."

"Our deepest sympathy goes out to the families of Paul and James, and we are hoping and praying for a complete recovery by Kimberly," said McManus. "Countless men and women put their lives on the line, day in and day out, in Iraq and other dangerous spots around the world, and they deserve our utmost respect and gratitude for the work they do." McManus said.

Douglas, 48, had worked for CBS News in many countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Bosnia, since the early 1990s. He leaves behind a wife, two daughters and three grandchildren.

CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips describes Douglas as "one of those people you wanted around when things got dicey."

"He could charm his way through hostile country. He could defuse the belligerent tension at an armed roadblock. He could get the reluctant to tell you their story," Phillips said.

CBS News' The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith said Douglas was "one of our really amazing CBS colleagues, who any of us would want to be with in any trouble spot anywhere. He's an extraordinary, extraordinary person. And that smile on his face belies exactly what was at the root of his personality."

Brolan, 42, was a freelancer who had worked with CBS News in Baghdad and Afghanistan over the past year. He was part of the CBS News team that had received a 2006 Overseas Press Club Award for its reporting on the Pakistan earthquake.

Brolan was "the funniest single person I had ever met." Smith said.

"He was a terrible, terrible cheater at Scrabble, which we gave him eternal grief for. And (he was) just an amazing, amazing character who spent months and months in Iraq over the last three years," Smith says.

"James was the best dad, the best husband and the best mate to be with in a tight spot out in the field," Brolan's family said in a statement. Before turning to journalism, Brolan served in the British Army, in the Royal Green Jackets infantry regiment, an experience that served him well in his chosen profession. His family says he "had a natural way with people and was always in demand as the person to go with to the world’s trouble spots; always putting the locals at ease, winning friends everywhere he went and always putting in his best effort."

Brolan is survived by his wife of 20 years, Geri, and two children: 18-year-old Sam and 12-year-old Agatha.

Dozier, 39, has been a CBS News correspondent reporting from Iraq for the past three years. Her previous assignments include the post of London bureau chief and chief European correspondent for CBS Radio News from 1996-2002, and as chief correspondent for WCBS-TV's Middle East bureau. Dozier is the recipient of three American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) Gracie Awards for her radio reports on Mideast violence, Kosovo and the Afghan war.

In addition to being notably fearless, fast on her feet, insightful and accurate, Dozier has a lifelong interest in world events and the academic credentials to back it up. She has a University of Virginia master's degree in foreign affairs, specializing in the Mideast, and graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College, where she majored in human rights and Spanish.

Smith said Dozier "loves this story," referring to the war in Iraq.

"She loves the world. She loves the politics of it, the geo political implications. She's a smart, smart, smart woman. It meant a lot to her to be able to be in a place like that," Smith said.

An average of six news teams a day go out on patrol with the 4th infantry division in Baghdad, like the CBS journalists, Martin says.

So far this year, insurgents have planted more than 3,000 roadside bombs in Baghdad alone. Nearly half of them are discovered before they go off, but they remain the number one killer of American soldiers and now, of the CBS journalists, Martin reports.

Scores of journalists – nearly 75 percent of them Iraqis - have been injured, killed or kidnapped in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the government of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

"These brave journalists risked their lives to tell the world the story of a courageous people and a proud nation," said U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. "The terrorists who committed this evil crime have shown themselves for who they are. They do not want the world to see the truth of what is happening in Iraq, where a determined people are fighting for freedom and liberty. That story must and will be told."

"The news profession has lost nearly 100 people in this devastating war—71 journalists and 26 support staffers," said Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, in extending sympathy to the Douglas and Brolan families and expressing concern for Dozier. "Dozens more have been injured or kidnapped in one of the most dangerous conflicts that journalists have ever covered."

Another group, Reporters Without Borders, voiced "deep sadness" at the news of the CBS News crew deaths.

"The security situation is becoming more and more alarming for the press in Iraq. Although better protected, embedded journalists are not completely isolated from the dangers," the group said, noting that only six of the journalists killed in Iraq were embedded with U.S. forces.

Smith says the incident "also underscores the lethality of day to day life for Iraqis who have died there and the tens of thousands. They're not there in humvees. They're not there in flak jackets and helmets. They live with this day-to-day danger in every minute of every day."

In January, ABC News cameraman Doug Vogt and anchor Bob Woodruff were injured while covering the war in Iraq. They were standing in the hatch of an Iraqi mechanized vehicle, reporting on the war from the Iraqi troops' perspective, when a roadside bomb exploded. Both were wearing body armor, which doctors say likely saved their lives.

Vogt has returned home to France for rehabilitation. Woodruff, who co-anchored "World News Tonight" with Elizabeth Vargas, is also still on the mend, recovering from serious head injuries and broken bones. ABC News announced last week that Charles Gibson will take over as "World News Tonight" anchor.

Another high profile casualty among journalists came in April 2003, when NBC News correspondent David Bloom, 39, died from an apparent blood clot while embedded with U.S. troops near Baghdad.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/30/iraq/printable1664012.shtml

fredfa

05-30-06, 11:00 AM

TV Notebook
ABC's consolation: A season of gains

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer May 30, 2006

ABC did not win the season. In fact, it faltered alarmingly down the stretch, losing what was at one point a substantial lead to an “American Idol”-fueled Fox, which came back from 0.6 points behind in January.

But despite ABC’s late collapse, it may have had the most impressive year of the Big Four Networks, and it is actually positioned quite well for next season.

ABC was the only network to rise year to year among adults 18-49. It jumped from third last year to second this year in the demo, albeit with the always-potent Super Bowl giving it a boost.

ABC finished at an average 4.0, up 8 percent over last year’s 3.7. Fox was even at a 4.1, CBS down 5 percent to a third-place 3.8 from last year’s 4.0, and NBC down 6 percent, from a 3.5 to a 3.3.

And among adults 25-54, ABC challenged CBS for No. 1, averaging a 4.6 to the latter’s 4.8. Again, it showed the biggest gains in the category, up 7 percent over last year’s 4.3. CBS was down 2 percent, from a 4.9 to 4.8, Fox rose 2 percent to a third-place 4.4, from last year’s Super Bowl-fueled 4.3, and NBC fell 7 percent to a fourth-place 3.9, from a 4.2.

The question now, following ABC’s second-half troubles, is whether the network can avoid those woes next fall. It had three main troubles, all of which seem to have been addressed with the season’s end and the schedule announced at its upfront presentation two weeks ago.

The first and most dire problem was certainly the late-year slide of hit programs “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” “Housewives” proved particularly worrisome, with its May sweeps average down more than 20 percent from last year after critical and viewer backlash over this year’s juiceless storylines.

But last May “Housewives” was peaking, averaging well over an 11.0. “Housewives’” season finale was still the highest-rated of the year among scripted series, and it remains the No. 3 show on broadcast despite the dropoff, ahead of CBS hit “CSI” and even way-hot “House” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“Extreme Makeover’s” falloff is certainly tied to lead-out “Housewives,” while “Lost” actually performed quite well considering it faced Fox’s “Idol” during its final four months. Its season average is up from last year, despite declines since January, and it’s one of the most TiVo-ed and downloaded shows on television.

Another second-half problem for ABC was the absence of “Commander in Chief,” which gave the network a fall boost, and “Dancing with the Stars,” which helped it win the February sweeps.

ABC has certainly learned its lesson from the “Commander” debacle, and that is don’t mess with success. If its freshman series show promise, the network won’t likely tinker with them lest they alienate 16 million viewers, as they did with the now-canceled “Commander.”

As for “Stars,” though it would have been tempting to add another edition to the schedule before May, ABC smartly scheduled the show several months apart so as not to oversaturate the schedule with its hit a la “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” The show will return instead in the fall, when ABC can launch new shows out of it.

And finally, after failing to schedule a new hit this past season, with only the tepidly received “What About Brian” surviving its first year, ABC’s programming slate looks more promising for fall.

“Six Degrees,” “The Nine” and “Brothers & Sisters,” dramas of the sort that have lifted ABC the past two years, were better received by buyers than any of last year’s shows.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5001.asp

fredfa

05-30-06, 11:12 AM

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

fredfa

05-30-06, 11:58 AM

TV Notebook
Katie Couric, Thinking About Tomorrow

After 15 Years at 'Today,' CBS-Bound Host Is Ready to Begin Her Next Chapter
By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, May 30, 2006; C01

For Katie Couric and "Today," this has been the long goodbye.

The images flicker across the screen: Katie with Nancy Reagan. Katie at Ground Zero. Katie singing with Tony Bennett. Katie meeting Elmo and hugging Mister Rogers. Katie flying through the air as Peter Pan. Farewell messages from Hillary Clinton, Karen Hughes, Bill Gates, Ben Affleck, Paula Abdul.

"Obviously, it's bittersweet for me," Couric says. "I also feel that 15 years is a long time. You don't want to be the guest who never leaves. It feels time for a new chapter for the show and for me."

As the entire civilized world knows, Couric's new chapter, after her final "Today" appearance tomorrow, will be as the anchor of the "CBS Evening News." And given the tidal wave of publicity surrounding her move -- far greater than last week's ripples over ABC naming Charlie Gibson to lead "World News Tonight" -- she is careful not to ratchet up expectations even higher.

"I'm going to give it my best shot," she says. "I'm not going in there saying I'm going to change the face of the evening news or I'm going to be a huge success. Right now it's a question mark. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to contribute something positive."

Asked about critics who don't like her style and foresee a rocky transition from freewheeling morning personality to sober evening journalist, Couric says: "I've grown a proverbial thick skin. I think it's just part of being in such a highly visible position. If everyone likes you and you're so white bread, you kind of stand for nothing." She has dismissed questions about whether she has the requisite experience to be a nightly anchor, noting the hundreds of interviews she has done with presidents, prime ministers and corporate leaders.

The seriousness of this issue, with which Couric will be grappling in her new job, was underscored yesterday when two members of a CBS News crew were killed in a car bombing in Iraq and correspondent Kim Dozier was seriously injured.

Couric's ascension to the chair once occupied by Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather has tended to overshadow what she and her co-host, Matt Lauer, accomplished at "Today": a decade-long reign as the top-rated morning show.

"She filled this role as well as anyone has ever filled this role," Lauer says. "This job requires a very versatile performer, a little bit like a variety show."

Lauer likens their long relationship to that of a married couple. "Nobody writes about the days you get along well," he says. "There are times in the past when we've gotten on each other's nerves a little bit, but they've been blown out of proportion."

Couric, 49, who grew up in Arlington and graduated from the University of Virginia, initially had a hard time getting an on-air job. She worked as a CNN producer and fill-in correspondent before becoming a local reporter in Miami and for Washington's WRC and then a Pentagon reporter for NBC. When she was introduced as "Katherine Couric" in her 1991 debut as the "Today" co-host, she had never anchored a program.

"She had such natural raw ability that she could do it, but clearly she had a lot to learn," says NBC chief executive Jeff Zucker, who was Couric's first producer at "Today." Over the years -- especially after the 1998 death of her husband, Jay Monahan, and her on-air colonoscopy to raise awareness about the colon cancer that killed him -- "she dealt with many high moments and many low moments, and had to deal with it in front of a national audience," Zucker says. "That made her a lot more vulnerable."

Couric says she simply tried to be herself. "When I was a sports moron with Bryant Gumbel," her first co-host, "I would just be honest and say, 'I have no idea what you're talking about.' I made mistakes on the air and laughed about it, and that made viewers relax a little bit."

In her first years, Couric says, the program was "a little newsier" than it is now. "It was a little more serious in tone. It was a lot of pretty serious newsmakers, at least for the first hour, hour and a half, with less of a premium on lifestyle pieces." But television, and "Today," evolved in the direction of infotainment.

"At times I've wished we had done a little more harder news or serious issues," she says. "At certain times in my career, it's vacillated -- the balance has shifted somewhat -- but then came back to a really good mix."

Steve Friedman, a former "Today" executive producer who now works on CBS morning programming, describes Couric's role this way: "You have to be able to interview, you have to be able to read and you have to be able to ad lib -- and in doing so, let people inside your soul. She did all of that very well."

On Halloween and similar occasions, Couric, like her colleagues, dressed up in funny costumes. "It always felt a little cringe-worthy for me," she says. But whether it was dancing, cooking or just gallivanting about, "I've always tried to embrace what I've been asked to do and be a good sport. Nothing's worse than someone having a bad attitude on a segment."

When the program has hit rough spots -- especially last year, when ABC's "Good Morning America" came close to overtaking "Today" -- Couric drew flak for everything from her increasing blondness to her on-air high jinks to her relations with colleagues. Jim Bell, who was brought in as executive producer after a management shake-up last year, says Couric is always pushing for the right guests, latest information and strong graphics.

"She's pretty relentless about it," Bell says. "When some less than flattering articles were written about Katie, I questioned whether the same articles would have been written if she weren't a woman."

Among her favorite moments, Couric says, was the time Barbara Bush was giving her a White House tour, the first President Bush walked in and Couric turned the impromptu encounter into an extended live interview.

But morning television also features the usual parade of celebrities promoting their wares. "In an era of publicity-driven junkets," Couric says, she enjoyed chatting with certain stars who had something to say, such as Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, rather than those who have moved on to their next movie and are not engaged in the interview. She says she also likes talking to authors, especially historians such as David McCullough and Doris Kearns Goodwin, because they are energized about their work.

Then there were the tragedies that unfolded on her watch, such as the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, when Couric interviewed the parents of some of the young victims.

"That had a big impact on me personally," she says. "To be there with people so emotionally raw and who have been through this life-shattering and earth-shattering event. A lot of those stories are just horrifying on the surface, but when the shock wears off, they're just fascinating to cover."

Says Friedman: "It's very difficult to get the person at the flood, the parent at Columbine, to talk to people on television in the middle of this crisis, and that's where she is at her strongest."

Couric and Lauer were on the air on Sept. 11, 2001, and believed, with most of the country, that it was some kind of bizarre accident when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. When the second plane struck, Lauer says, "I remember vividly looking at Katie and Katie looking at me. It was a very emotional moment. The next couple of hours were very hard to get through. We were New Yorkers, Americans, our families were worried about us, and we worked in a landmark building. We went purely on instinct."

Bell recalls Couric calling in from vacation and volunteering to go to Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. In one case, she helped a father reunite with his family. "Big players play in big games," says Bell, a former sports producer. "She just has an insatiable curiosity about things."

Fifteen years in the limelight have made Couric a gossip-column fixture, her every date or charity outing photographed and chronicled. But for two months she has been in a strange limbo. As NBC has choreographed her big send-off, it is also publicizing the woman who is taking her star power, and $15-million-a-year contract, to CBS.

"Obviously it's a little awkward when someone is going to work for the competition," Zucker says. "But there's no acrimony here, and a great deal of fondness for Katie. The fact is, she's been an incredibly important part of 'Today' and NBC. . . . I think even she is sometimes embarrassed by the amount of attention that she and similar people get in these positions."

NBC executives say they are well positioned in the morning, having hired Meredith Vieira from "The View" the day after Couric confirmed the rumors that she would be Bob Schieffer's successor. "Good Morning America," meanwhile, will be grappling with its own transition. Gibson's move to evening duty dissolves his successful partnership with Diane Sawyer, who will be paired with co-host Robin Roberts.

"We've all lived with the knowledge that one day Katie would leave," says Lauer, who signed a five-year, $13-million-a-year contract with "Today" soon after Couric's announcement. "The show tends to be bigger than the sum of its parts."

Couric, who assumes the CBS anchor duties in September, also has her eye on another program, "60 Minutes," where she plans to contribute a half-dozen pieces a year. Television newsmagazines have not been faring well lately, she says, "and here I was given an opportunity to go to the best and longest-running and most respected newsmagazine. That was really appealing."

But as Couric well knows, her reputation will rise or fall on her evening showdown with Gibson and her longtime NBC colleague Brian Williams. "Just to be able to help shape an evening newscast is a great opportunity," she says. As an aging genre, says Couric, "I think they're probably ripe for a little retooling."

As a single mother of girls 14 and 10, stepping into an unaccustomed role -- the face of a news division -- Couric is periodically reminded that she is more than just a famous journalist switching jobs.

"I am surprised by the reaction from women -- total strangers -- who come up to me and say, 'We're so proud of you, congratulations, this is great for women.' You kind of forget that the evening news has been a bastion of maleness for as long as it has. It's been surprising and overwhelming."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/29/AR2006052901102_pf.html

fredfa

05-30-06, 12:21 PM

TV Notebook
Surviving Summer

Marc Berman MediaWeek.com

I am bored already.

Although the recent week of upfront presentations was a rush, it also means the traditional September-to-May TV season is coming to a close. And the arrivals this week of a new season of The Last Comic Standing on NBC, Game Show Marathon on CBS, E!'s The Simple Life: Till Death Do Us Part, and the burnoff episodes of canceled Fox sitcom Stacked tells me it could be a long, dull summer.

While there is some hope courtesy of new seasons of FX's Rescue Me, TNT's The Closer and HBO's Deadwood and Entourage plus a handful of original scripted network and cable series, it won't be enough to cure the typical summer doldrums.

And the start of the new fall season is -- gulp -- three-and-one-half months away.

But instead of whining like I do every year, here are some proactive suggestions on how to cure the pending summer depression. If you're not out enjoying a warm summer breeze or taking a dip in the pool, here is what you should do:

1. Catch up on what you missed. Discover gems that you might not have watched this past season. Although it may be a repeat, it's not necessarily a repeat to you. So sit back and enjoy unsung heroes like CBS' Ghost Whisperer and Close to Home, the WB's Gilmore Girls, Fox's Bones and UPN's Everybody Hates Chris, Girlfriends and Veronica Mars. You won't be disappointed.

2. Check out Saturdays. Saturday may be considered a death trap in the traditional season, but three nonscripted shows that keep on ticking in the summer are CBS' 48 Hours Mystery, and Fox's Cops and America's Most Wanted. If you have not experienced 48 Hours Mystery, you are missing the true "must-see" forensic crime-solving drama. And, let's be honest, there is something addictive about the scantily clad, lowlife trash populating Cops, and seeing a fugitive or two being caught on America's Most Wanted.

3. Buy DVDs. Catch up on some of your favorites, past and present, via DVD. But take it easy. Don't sit through three, four or five episodes at a time. Instead, savor the shows, one episode at a time. Here are some good ones to catch: The White Shadow, Fame, Northern Exposure and Hill Street Blues. For fans of classic sitcoms, season one of Hazel ("Hi'ya, Mr. B!") was just released. And, for Seinfeld lovers, you have the first seven seasons to choose from.

4. Revisit ABC's Lost. Even a repeat of the best hour of TV is worth watching again because you will discover new clues that were subtly hidden the first time around.

5. Head to cable. In addition to season two of The Closer, TNT will unveil Saved, the story of a conflicted paramedic (Tom Everett Scott) in Portland, Ore., struggling to find his place in life. It debuts on Tuesday, June 13 at 10 p.m. out of The Closer. And Showtime is kicking off Brotherhood on July 9. It's the tale of two brothers—one a gangster and the other a politician—determined to protect their Irish neighborhood. Fans of science fiction, meanwhile, may want to check out Eureka on July 9. It centers around a U.S. Marshal (Colin Ferguson) who uncovers a mysterious scientific creation unleashed by two towns of eccentric inhabitants. And HBO comedy Lucky Louie, premiering on June 11, features comedian Louis C.K. as a perennially out-of-work middle-aged auto mechanic emasculated by his more successful breadwinning wife.

6. Give original summer programming a try. Dig deep and you will find some original shows on the broadcast networks. Although the long delay of NBC's Windfall (which focuses on a group of lottery winners and debuts June 13 at 10 p.m.) might seem like nothing more than a burnoff measure, it is new. So give it a shot.

7. Original nonscripted is synonymous with summer. Mark your calendars for new seasons of CBS' Big Brother (an all-star edition) and Rock Star: Supernova, NBC's The Last Comic Standing (and leftover episodes of Fear Factor) and Fox's Hell's Kitchen and So You Think You Can Dance. New options in reality include ABC's romantic-themed Get the Guy on June 12, NBC's The Amazing Race-like Treasure Hunters on June 18, CBS' Desperate Housewives-like The Tuesday Night Book Club, and NBC's America's Got Talent, hosted by Regis Philbin, on June 21. Also look for ABC's Buy it Now, Master of Champions, One Ocean View and The One: Making a Music Star.

fredfa

05-30-06, 12:24 PM

TV Notebook
Fox Gives "24" Summer Run

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 5/30/2006

Fox is giving its heavily serialized drama 24 a second run this summer beginning June 16 on the network. Fox will air back-to-back episodes every Friday night from 8-10.

The show continues to be a strong asset for Fox, even as the counter-terrorism drama starring Kiefer Sutherland just concluded its fifth season.

The show saw a 12% increase this season over last in the advertiser-coveted adult 18-49 demographic, a 15% bump in adults 18-34 and was up 14% in total viewers.

fredfa

05-30-06, 03:56 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Promising basketball bounce for ABC

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer May 30, 2006, 23:39

Ratings for the NBA playoffs have been way up on cable thus far this postseason. It looks like the same trend will hold for ABC’s primetime basketball playoffs.

Last night the network’s coverage of the Eastern Conference finals game between the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat averaged a 3.0 adults 18-49 overnight rating from 8:30 to 11 p.m., up 25 percent over its 2.4 rating for the San Antonio Spurs-Phoenix Suns Western Conference final on the same night last year.

As a precaution, overnights measure only timeslot data and not the entire performance of the game. The two numbers compared are for ABC’s 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. lineup, and final ratings will change when Nielsen releases them later today, since the game lasted past 11 p.m. But the upward trend will likely hold.

In its final hour at 10, the game tied for first in its timeslot with a 3.5 rating. That’s up 1 full point, or 40 percent, over the final hour of Spurs-Suns last year.

ABC also rose 20 percent in households for the evening, from a 4.1 for the night last year to a 4.9 last night. The Heat won 89-78 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

NBA playoff ratings on ESPN and TNT are both up by some 20 percent this year after a somewhat lackluster 2005.

Meanwhile, NBC’s mostly original lineup won the night among 18-49s with a 3.3 rating and 9 share. ABC and CBS tied at second with 2.8/8, followed by Fox with 2.3/6, Univision with 1.4/4, and the WB and UPN, each with 0.8/2.

NBC started the night in the lead with a 4.0 at 8 p.m. for a new “Deal or No Deal.” ABC and Fox tied at second with a 2.1, the former for NBA pre-game and the start of the Heat-Pistons game, the latter for the first hour of the movie “2 Fast 2 Furious.” CBS was fourth with a 1.7 for repeats of “King of Queens” (1.9) and “How I Met Your Mother” (1.5) and Univision fifth with a 1.5 for “La Fea Mas Bella.” Repeats on the WB and UPN tied at sixth with 0.7, the former for “7th Heaven” and the latter for “One on One” and “All of Us.”

At 9, NBC was first with a 3.7 for an original “The Apprentice” followed by CBS with a 3.0 for repeats of “Two and a Half Men” (3.2) and “Old Christine” (2.9), ABC with a 2.9 for Heats-Pistons, Fox with a 2.5 for “Fast,” Univision with a 1.5 for “Barrera de Amor,” WB with a 1.1 for “Everwood” and UPN with a 0.9 for “Girlfriends” (0.8) and Half and Half” (0.9).

At 10, ABC and CBS tied for the lead with a 3.5 for the NBA game and a repeat of “CSI: Miami” respectively. NBC was third with a 2.4 for a “Medium” repeat.

NBC won the night among households with 6.2/10, followed closely by CBS with 6.1/10. ABC was third with 4.9/8, Fox fourth with 3.7/6, Univision and WB tied at fifth with 1.7/3, and UPN seventh with 1.2/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5025.asp

fredfa

05-30-06, 04:00 PM

Washington Notebook
Martin Tees Up Multicast Must-Carry

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 5/30/2006

Some key issues may finally start moving at the FCC now that it stands to have a full complement by next month.

Lacking a fifth commissioner--and third Republican--FCC Chairman Kevin Martin last month reiterated to broadcasters at their national convention that he supported multicast must-carry, but could not yet move on that feeling without a full complement of commissioners.

That seat was filled late Friday with the confirmation of Robert McDowell, a former phone company lobbyist.

Now that he has that fifth, an industry source close to the chairman says Martin could early as next month. McDowell could be in place by the end of the week.

According to an FCC source, Martin is circulating a notice of proposed rulemaking mandating multicast must-carry as well as seeking comment on how to implement the obligation, which would come after the February 2009 switch to digital, and dealing with such issues as signal downconversion--"signal degradation"--and who should bear the cost for set-top boxes, cable operators or subscribers.

One source familiar with the workings of the FCC said that the 2-2 tie at the commisision has been a major bottleneck, and that Copps' statements about the lack of agenda items, including in this week's B&C cover story, may have helped spur the swift action on carriage, though Martin has been working on that and other issues, and could prompt more movement. "I think you will see a number of things happen," he said.

Martin had been the lone dissenter in a February 2005 decision reaffirming that Congress had meant to grant broadcasters only mandatory cable carriage of a digital replication of their primary analog signal, not all the programming that could fit on their DTV channel.

Martin had called "a missed opportunity," the failure of must-carry to gain traction in Washington--specifically on a DTV hard date bill and more recently as part of a rewrite of the telecom bill," but had said he did not expect to push a revisit of the issue in his commission until an open seat on the five-member panel was filled.

If Martin does believe he could have three votes for multicast must-carry, the news will be music to the ears of relatively new--since November--National Association of Broadcasters President David Rehr, and a sour note for the cable industry, which already faces a Martin-backed effort promoting a la carte cable.

The two Democrats, who both voted against granting multicast-must carry are still on the commission, while the Republican chairman, Michael Powell, and Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, have since left.

Religious TV stations, and the Christian Coalition, the latter a strong backer of Martin on the crackdown on indecency, have also been strong in their support of multicasting must-carry, arguing, as the coalition did in an alert to members last fall, that religious stations might not lose out. "Without this 'Multicast/Must-carry' law," the coalition argued, "the cable and satellite companies could possibly not add new Christian channels."

fredfa

05-30-06, 04:29 PM

One of the drawbacks of a long holiday weekend is that many TV writers take a few days off. (How dare they!)
But now they are beginning to return.
So here is the post-holiday reappearance of one of my very favorites, Rich Heldenfels of the Akron Beacon Journal:

TV Notebook
A Long Weekend, Fall Pilots, Desmond Dekker

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

It's Tuesday morning and I am sitting here laughing -- yes, laughing -- at ''30 Rock,'' the Tina Fey sitcom premiering this fall on NBC.

Please note that my laughter is purely a visceral reaction based on a casual viewing of a ''30 Rock'' and not a review. Networks hate it when you review a fall show based on the pilot sent out in May. After all, they may change the title, the cast, the basic premise, the time slot and everything else that made them want to put the show on in the first place -- because, well, they can. Sometimes, too, they stick to the original vision of the show. Either way, you could end up with ''Emily's Reasons Why Not.''

Anyway, as I said, the networks don't want too early reviews of their pilots and even put warnings on the review, er, preview copies of the shows they send out in May -- so we can see them before interviewing the cast and producers, who will then tell us how they've changed the title, cast, basic premise and -- well, you've already heard that.

So when I tell you that this is fall-down funny and Fey is charming and Alec Baldwin is hilarious, I'm not reviewing ''30 Rock.'' I'm just saying, as if we were chatting at a party, that you might want to mark your calendar for this one.

Also giving you a hint of what the days ahead will be like.

The 2005-06 television season is over. This does not mean television is over, since the networks fill their summer time with new programs (reality mainly) and the cable folks bring out some of their goodies (''Rescue Me,'' ''Entourage,'' ''Deadwood,'' for example). But I won't be spending every night trying to figure out what to record and what to watch of the four or five shows that are on that night's must-check list. And I might actually be able to get caught up on all those episodes of ''The Unit'' sitting in my DVR.

And I will have time for the fall pilots. So far I have gotten through CBS's four new shows, and some of Fox's, and the CW's two new shows await, and this morning brought a very big box containing NBC's. While there has been some interesting stuff here and there -- Brad Garrett on Fox's '' 'Til Death,'' for one -- ''30 Rock'' is the first show that has me saying, yes, I want much, much more of it.

But that's not a review. And I'll have some more not-reviews as things go along.

As for the weekend, it was pretty good. Although it was too hot by far, we found ways to work in the morning and late-afternoon, to trim some shrubs and hang some flower baskets and plan what else the yard will need before fall. Cleaned up the grill, then put it to use Monday night.

Not much TV in those days, other than some pilots and about half of the Matthew Broderick-Nathan Lane version of ''The Producers,'' which didn't really work for me. That may be because seeing the original, with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, was such a big experience for me when I saw it at the movies in New York City in 1967. If memory serves, my mother and sister went shopping, and my dad and I were looking for something to do. I have no idea how we picked ''The Producers'' -- but I watched it with shocked, choking awe. (I can't remember my father's reaction, but I suspect he was amused.)

I have cherished the movie ever since, and the newer version is never going to top that. (I watched Broderick do lines I had mentally stored with Wilder's inflections, and it just didn't work.) Also, my father has been dead for 10 years now, I like to hold to the memories I have of him. ''The Producers'' is one.

Though it doesn't remotely match what I feel about my father, I did feel some sadness over the weekend about the passing of Desmond Dekker. Dekker made the infectious, if at times incomprehensible, recording ''Israelites,'' which went Top 10 on the U.S. charts not because of its social message but because of its fabulous beat and variety of stick-in-your-head phrases (''Oh, oh, oh -- the Is-uh-raelites, suh,'' ''I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde,'' ''Gets up every morning, slavin' for bread ... so that every mouth can be fed''). I ended up buying a Uni records LP of ''Israelites'' and other Dekker songs and played it often. After hearing about his passing, I dug out my CDs of '"This Is Reggae Music: The Golden Era 1960-1975.'' In his cultural context, Dekker sounded as fine as he did all those years ago coming out of the radio.

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

fredfa

05-30-06, 04:46 PM

Washington Notebook
FCC Asked to Vote on Must-Carry, Ownership

By Todd Shields MediaWeek.com May 30, 2006 -

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is prodding the agency to vote in less than three weeks on two major issues: media ownership and cable operators’ obligations to carry broadcasters’ digital programming.

Details of Martin’s proposals have not been made public. His earlier public statements indicate he likely would move toward reversing the FCC’s order last year that limits broadcasters to mandatory cable carriage of one digital channel.

Martin has said an obligation to carry multiple channels would bring more free programming to the public without posing an undue burden to cable.

Broadcasters view the issue as crucial, saying their planned multiple digital channels will starve for lack of audience if not carried by cable. Cable operators contend worthy programs will attract commercial deals for carriage, and call it unfair for government to force them to give up anything more than the space for one programming stream.

On media ownership, Martin told reporters in March that he wants to begin a neutral inquiry on how to reply to a federal court that in 2004 rejected the agency’s loosening a year earlier of media ownership rules.

He has spoken in favor of eliminating the rule barring common ownership of a daily newspaper and nearby broadcast stations. The agency’s rejected rules also eased restrictions on owning multiple TV stations in smaller markets.

Agency officials said Martin asked fellow commissioners to consider voting on the matters last Thursday, a day before Robert McDowell won Senate confirmation to become the five-member agency’s third Republican. The timing indicates Martin is seeking a centrist course that could attract the agency’s two long-serving Democrats.

Martin is aiming to have both items considered at the FCC’s next regular monthly meeting on June 15th, said agency officials speaking on condition of anonymity. Rather than an immediate, decisive vote, the proposals likely will call for a period of study over several months leading up to a vote.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002577372

fredfa

05-30-06, 05:04 PM

TV Notebook
Can 'Studio 60' overcome insider curse?

By Brian Lowry Variety.com May 30, 2006

At a Writers Guild Foundation seminar last week, David Milch was asked the age-old question whether writers should write about what they know or that which they think will sell. The "Deadwood" creator responded in customarily thought-provoking fashion, saying scribes could only gain satisfaction developing that which engages them, which is usually what sells, anyway.

Milch, of course, resides on the privileged side of the creative aisle and thus possesses the latitude to counsel passion over profit, unlike someone hoping to pen something, anything, that will pay a few bills. As usual, though, he zeroed in on a larger truth regarding the Hollywood condition -- namely, the tendency not to trust others to embrace the projects we like.

The latest example of this guessing game surrounds "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," NBC's fall entry from "The West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin. After initially making the show the linchpin of its Thursday lineup, the network shuffled its schedule last week to spare this fragile hatchling from being trampled by "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy."

ALREADY, HOWEVER, speculation around town is whether Sorkin's backstage examination of the TV biz -- punctuated with personal flourishes, including a writer recovering from a drug problem and network suits at best indifferent to quality -- is "too inside" and can pass muster with what Bill O'Reilly likes to call "the folks."

Conventional wisdom says the series won't work. As evidence, skeptics can point to an elephant graveyard of canceled series set against a showbiz backdrop, with "Action," "Grosse Pointe," and pay TV entries like "The Comeback" and "Fat Actress" among the casualties. Even "The Larry Sanders Show" was never an audience hit despite HBO's less-exacting standards, so it's likely that duly beloved series wouldn't have survived as long today.

Hollywood stories, after all, lack the life-or-death stakes associated with primetime's most popular dramas. TV execs don't put away bad guys (in fact, they often help put them in multimillion-dollar estates), and they don't save lives or cure the sick (this summer's unscripted onslaught threatens to destroy brain cells at an alarming clip).

"Studio 60" engages viewers intellectually, which already places the show in rarefied territory. And while that sounds like a long shot, NBC will doom the show from the get-go if it shies away from its strengths, which include challenging the audience to contemplate their media consumption and the state of TV in general. After that, it can be about characters and casting -- at which point Sorkin's latest becomes a big workplace ensemble soap, albeit one peppered with TV terminology instead of scientific or legal jargon.

GIVEN THAT MOST shows fail, it's hardly bold to predict that one will. Yet if NBC wants "Studio 60" to stand apart from the fall herd, proudly saying "It's smart" is a place to start, and fears of being labeled "too inside" be damned.

Grant Tinker, who led NBC out of the desert once before, was fond of telling his programming team, "First be best, then be first" -- a mantra that's quoted more frequently than it's followed.

As for writing about whether that's the surest path to fame and fortune, sorry, but that's not really something I know.

fredfa

05-30-06, 05:12 PM

Washington Notebook
FCC’s Martin Preparing Must-Carry Push

New Republican Majority Boosts Agency Chief's Clout
By Doug Halonen TVWeek.com May 30, 2006

Cable TV operators would be required to carry all of the programming streams from digital broadcast TV channels under a new proposal that is being circulated at the agency by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, FCC and industry officials said Tuesday.

In addition, Mr. Martin has told his fellow commissioners that he plans to launch a separate proceeding soon to determine whether to further relax agency media ownership rules, the sources said.

Last year the FCC, under then-Chairman Michael Powell, rejected a proposal that would have forced cable providers to carry the multiple broadcast programming streams. But Mr. Martin, who cast the sole dissenting vote at the time, told reporters earlier this year that he would try to overturn the Powell-era decision if he thought he could win the support of a majority of the agency's commissioners.

Two of the commissioners who voted against the rule during Powell's chairmanship-Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein-are still at the agency.

Since the 2005 vote, one new commissioner, Republican Deborah Taylor Tate, has joined the agency. Robert McDowell, another Republican, received Senate confirmation for a third Republican seat late last week and is expected to officially join the agency as soon as this week. The new lineup offers Mr. Martin the possibility of a 3-2 majority.

With a Republican FCC majority coming into line, Mr. Martin is also planning to launch proceedings as soon as next month to determine how the agency should respond to a 2004 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia that threw out a Powell-era effort by the FCC's Republicans to loosen rules that bar owners of daily newspapers from buying broadcast stations in their markets and limit how many stations a company can own in an area.

Mr. Martin tried to get the ball rolling against the media ownership restrictions last year but dropped the effort because he couldn't reach a consensus at the agency-deadlocked politically with two Republicans and two Democrats-on how to proceed.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10094

AFH

05-30-06, 05:19 PM

Anyone know when 'Weeds' on Showtime is scheduled to appear for it's second season?

fredfa

05-30-06, 06:26 PM

Showtime has not yet announced the second season premiere date, Antonio.

fredfa

05-30-06, 06:31 PM

Washington Notebook
FFC Chairman Martin Tees Up June 15 Multicast Must-Carry Vote

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com 5/30/2006

Cable operators would need to comply with so-called multicast-must-carry rules in a proposal sponsored by Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin that would reverse agency policy established in 2001, according to FCC and industry sources.

Under Martin’s proposal, if a digital-TV station demands cable carriage of multiple programming streams, the cable operator would be required to carry them. Existing FCC rules require cable carriage of just one programming service per must-carry station.

Martin, who circulated the item last Thursday, is hoping to pass the rules at the agency’s June 15 public meeting in Washington, D.C., an FCC source said. The agency won’t release the meeting agenda until June 8.

Last Friday, the Senate confirmed Robert McDowell to serve at the FCC, giving Republicans a 3-2 majority for the first time in Martin’s tenure as chairman and perhaps providing him with the margin necessary to prevail.

Since joining the FCC in July 2001, Martin has been an outspoken advocate of multicast must-carry. McDowell and FCC Republican Deborah Taylor Tate have not staked out public positions. FCC Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein have refused to endorse multicast must-carry without rules forcing TV stations to air more public-interest programming.

In April, Martin said he wouldn’t raise the issue if it couldn’t pass.

“I would bring it up if there was a majority of the commission who wanted to end up addressing it. If there’s not a majority, then I wouldn’t,” he told reporters in Las Vegas following remarks to the National Association of Broadcasters convention there.

Federal law entitles every full-power commercial and noncommercial TV station to cable carriage so long as the set-aside does not exceed one-third of a cable system’s channel capacity. The independent affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox generally don’t elect must-carry, opting instead to negotiate cable carriage.

In 1997, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold must-carry under the First Amendment in the context of an analog distribution system that assumed one programming service per station. No court has ruled on the constitutionality of multicast must-carry in the digital context.

Digital-TV stations have the capability to divide their bandwidth and provide five or six programming services. Led by the NAB, TV stations have urged the FCC to expand the must-carry requirement to include all digital-TV signals that consumers can view over-the-air free-of-charge.

The FCC rejected the idea in February 2005 in a 4-1 vote, affirming the same decision in 2001. The agency found that multicasting mandates would impose a First Amendment burden on cable without advancing important governmental interests, such as the preservation of free, over-the-air local TV or advancement of the digital-TV transition.

“I believe that reading the statute now as expansively as broadcasters urge would likely wither before a First Amendment challenge,” said then-FCC chairman Michael Powell

Martin, the lone dissenter, disagreed, saying that the burden of digital must-carry would be “significantly less” than analog must-carry due to compression technology. Cable, he added, would not have to set aside more than one-third of its channel capacity for must-carry obligations.

“The burden on cable capacity … is capped by statute, a cap that has been upheld by the Supreme Court,” Martin said.

If the FCC adopts rules under Martin, cable operators and programmers are highly likely to wage a court battle by arguing that multicast must-carry would violate First Amendment freedoms and take private property without just compensation under the Fifth Amendment.

"The FCC already has twice rejected a multicasting mandate, and no new evidence has been presented that justifies a different result. In fact, working directly with local broadcasters, cable operators have added hundreds of digital-broadcast channels to their lineups nationwide and have effectively implemented a privately negotiated agreement with public television to ensure broad carriage of digital public TV stations across the country,” National Cable & Telecommunications Association spokesman Brian Dietz said.

harley1

05-30-06, 06:39 PM

TVNotebook
Pair made for last episodes of 'Sopranos'

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter May 30, 2006

"The Sopranos" co-stars Michael Imperioli and Vincent Curatola have closed deals to appear in the final eight episodes of HBO's mob drama.
.

Curatola plays New York boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni on "Sopranos." His series credits also include arcs on NBC's "Third Watch" and "Law & Order."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002577041

Interesting that Vincent Curatola gets another contract after his character Johnny "Sack" just got 15 years in jail.

After his allocation at trail,he seemed to anger everyone in NY and NJ.

I wonder how they will include him back into the show.

fredfa

05-30-06, 06:45 PM

TV Notebook
Dozier Is "Resting Comfortably"

Will Remain At Landstuhl For Several Days
(From mediabistro.com's TVNewser)

CBS News released this statement at 5:30 PM ET:

"CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier is resting comfortably today after receiving further treatment for injuries to her head and legs at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

We are encouraged by reports from Dozier’s doctors about the outcome of her recent surgeries. She will continue to be evaluated and is expected to remain at Landstuhl for several more days."

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

AFH

05-30-06, 07:12 PM

Showtime has not yet announced the second season premiere date, Antonio.

Thanks Fred.

PJO1966

05-30-06, 07:13 PM

Anyone know when 'Weeds' on Showtime is scheduled to appear for it's second season?

There's no specific date, but the ads say August.

keenan

05-30-06, 07:37 PM

There's no specific date, but the ads say August.
Just before harvest time. ;)

fredfa

05-30-06, 08:05 PM

But after the Emmy deadline.

fredfa

05-30-06, 08:33 PM

TV Notebook
Moonves Seeks to Make Showtime More "Commercial"

By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com MAY 30, 2006 -

CBS Corp CEO Leslie Moonves last week said he’s going to shake things up at Showtime, saying the premium network isn’t delivering nearly enough eyeballs.

Speaking at Morgan Stanley’s annual media investor conference, Moonves said Showtime needed to take a page out of HBO's book, programming to large audiences and not the nation's army of television critics.

“One of things we’re going to do with Showtime … is make it more commercial,” Moonves said. “There’s no reason Showtime can’t have the next Sopranos. HBO has made their bones with Sopranos and Sex and the City, [while] Showtime is a little bit too much of an off-off broadway play. They’re interested in critics more than audiences.”

Moonves said that while the network is profitable, HBO rakes in three times as much cash. Showtime has approximately 14 million subscribers to HBO’s 29 million.

Fans of Showtime’s niche dramas like Weeds and The L Word may be in for a surprise once Moonves begins poking around in the network’s programming guts. “Anybody who knows me knows that audiences are the thing,” Moonves said. “I’m a populist. You can take your reviews and stick ‘em––just give me big audiences.”

CBS took over governance of Showtime in the beginning of the year after splitting off from Viacom.

Moonves also gave investors his take on the à la carte issue, saying that CBS had little to fear from a system that allowed customers to select their own channel lineups. “If somebody is only going to buy 10 channels, I guarantee you that CBS would be one of those 10. They can do without the Food Network; they can’t do without David Letterman, the NFL, 60 Minutes or CSI."

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002577234

CPanther95

05-30-06, 08:51 PM

TV Notebook
Moonves Seeks to Make Showtime More "Commercial"

By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com MAY 30, 2006 -

Moonves also gave investors his take on the à la carte issue, saying that CBS had little to fear from a system that allowed customers to select their own channel lineups. “If somebody is only going to buy 10 channels, I guarantee you that CBS would be one of those 10. They can do without the Food Network; they can’t do without David Letterman, the NFL, 60 Minutes or CSI."

Amazing the freedom to speak now that CBS has separated from Viacom. Something tells me Viacom has a different outlook.

keenan

05-30-06, 09:07 PM

But after the Emmy deadline.
Moonves says he doesn't care about that.. :D

So, HBO is already going downhill and I guess Showtime is going to as well. Somebody needs to bring back Z-Channel. :p

fredfa

05-30-06, 10:25 PM

Sometimes, sadly all too rarely, good things happen to good people.

This happened far too slowly, in my opinion, when Charles Gibson finally was seated permanently in the anchor chair at ABC’s World News Tonight.

TV Notebook
Charlie Gibson Greets WNT Viewers

(from mediabistro.com)

Charles Gibson said hello to World News Tonight viewers on Tuesday's broadcast:

"I'd like to add a personal word tonight.

I don't know if I'm a new old face or an old new face on this broadcast.

I've been a part of ABC News for more than 30 years. And I've watched this broadcast every night for more than forty.

I have enormous faith in the hundreds and hundreds of ABC News employees around the world. Every one of them cares so much about what we do - these are more than just jobs for all of us. And we feel we share a bond of trust with those of you who watch each evening - trust that we have to earn every day by giving you a summary of important news - and by getting it right.

I follow in this job - Peter Jennings first and foremost, Frank Reynolds, Howard K. Smith, Harry Reasoner, Barbara Walters, Max Robinson, and most recently Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff. It is an honor to be part of that continuum. I'm going to be around every night. And I hope you will be too.

That's our report for tonight. I'm Charles Gibson. For all of us at ABC News...Good night."

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

fredfa

05-30-06, 10:32 PM

TV Notebook
Cowell Blasts Prince

(from contactmusic.com) May 30, 2006

“American Idol” judge Simon Cowell has turned his famous barbed comments on Prince after being appalled by the pop superstar's surprise performance at the show's finale last week.

The Purple Rain hitmaker took to the stage at the Kodak Theatre for a quick run through two new songs before dashing off, refusing to meet the Idol contestants or greet the audience.

Idol host Ryan Seacrest has since reported that he feared Prince would be a no-show - because he appeared just minutes before he was due to hit the stage.

And Cowell insists Prince's attitude isn't one he'd like Idol winners to display at any time in their career.

He says, "It just tells you how selfish he is. He comes on, not a word - 'I'm not gonna sing with anybody else, I'm not gonna say goodbye.' Thank you for your generosity, Prince."

http://www3.contactmusic.com/news/index40.htm

Inundated

05-30-06, 10:41 PM

Sometimes, sadly all too rarely, good things happen to good people.

This happened far too slowly, in my opinion, when Charles Gibson finally was seated permanently in the anchor chair at ABC’s World News Tonight.

I'd definitely have to agree with you on that. I haven't regularly watched a network evening news broadcast in ages, but I'm gonna drop in on Charlie Gibson from time to time.

I think he also has a chance to grab some of that audience Bob Schieffer got, when Katie Couric takes over at CBS...with perhaps a little younger skew than Bob has over there.

fredfa

05-30-06, 10:52 PM

I agree.

I am sure Katie will get a big initial tune in, but I would suspect that Charlie and Brian will do very, very well in the long run.

But we'll see.

fredfa

05-30-06, 10:54 PM

TV Notebook
CBS' Dozier stable after blast

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter May 31, 2006

CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier was described as "responsive" Tuesday after being flown from Iraq to a U.S. Air Force base in Germany for treatment of wounds suffered Monday in a car bomb attack in Baghdad that killed two other CBS News staffers.

Dozier was in critical but stable condition after arriving at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany for treatment at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a U.S. military hospital.

At a press briefing at the base Tuesday, Col. W. Bryan Gamble said Dozier was able to move her toes and "was responsive" to doctors. She was expected to remain at the hospital in Germany for at least a few more days.

"We are encouraged by reports from her doctors," CBS spokesman Sandy Genelius said. "Generally, it's positive in that she's certainly stable and the doctors are feeling more positive than they have been."

Gamble said it was too soon to speculate on Dozier's recovery. "It's really hard right now to ascertain how much of a recovery period she will need and what the extent of her rehabilitation will be," Gamble said.

Dozier suffered shrapnel wounds to the head and more serious injuries to her lower body, according to CBS News. Cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan were killed at the scene of the explosion that also claimed the life of one U.S. soldier, an Iraqi interpreter and wounded six U.S. soldiers.

Dozier underwent two operations at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad before she was stable enough to make the trip to Germany early Tuesday.

Dozier's life was likely saved by the fact that she was transported quickly after the blast to the military hospital in Baghdad. At one point, her pulse stopped, doctors told CBS News.

"She's lucky she got here when she did. If it had taken longer for her to get to the hospital, it may not have come to this outcome at this point," a doctor at the military hospital told CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar.

Medical officials are awaiting the arrival of her family, expected Wednesday, to decide when she would be transferred to the United States, Gamble said.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002577592

fredfa

05-30-06, 11:10 PM

Filling in for Jerry Ohrbach was not an easy assignment.
Personally, I thought Dennis Farina did far better than anyone had a right to expect.

TV Notebook
Dennis Farina To Leave “Law & Order”

By Michael Schneider Variety.com May 30, 2006

"Law & Order" star Dennis Farina won't be back next fall, the show's producers confirmed Tuesday.

Farina spent two years on the skein as Det. Joe Fontana; he becomes the second actor to depart before the "L&O" mothership returns for a 17th season. Fellow cast member Annie Parisse's character, Assistant D.A. Alexandra Borgia, was killed in the show's season finale.

Farina was tapped two years ago to fill the void upon the departure of longtime "L&O" star Jerry Orbach (who left to join "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," but passed away soon into his run there).

"Law & Order" exec producer Dick Wolf called Farina "the consummate professional."

"Dennis and I have known each other since the mid-1980s and we'd been trying to figure out a way to work together for almost 20 years," Wolf said. "Dennis had been reluctant to work on a weekly series, but when the opportunity arose to join the cast of 'Law & Order,' it was an easy yes."

Wolf has promised to make some cast changes this fall on "L&O." The show departs its longtime Wednesday night home for a Friday 10 p.m. slot next season.

keenan

05-30-06, 11:32 PM

Filling in for Jerry Ohrbach was not an easy assignment.
Personally, I thought Dennis Farina did far better than anyone had a right to expect.

I thought he did surprisingly well also.

fredfa

05-30-06, 11:33 PM

Cable TV Notebook
TNT Grows Key Adults Demos

By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com May 30, 2006 -

Thanks in large part to the heroics of throwback ballers like Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, TNT wrapped up May Sweeps by growing its key adults demos and beating broadcasters UPN and The WB.

According to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research, ratings for TNT’s coverage of the NBA Western Conference playoffs were up 11 percent versus last year, when the network carried the Eastern Conference matchups. Among adults 18-34, TNT grew 11 percent, averaging 986,000 viewers in the category over its 40-game slate. The male 18-34 demo grew 13 perecnt (714,000). The net grew its 18-49 audience by 7 percent, averaging 1.86 million per game; males in the category increased 8 percent to 1.36 million.

Basketball drove TNT past UPN and The WB among total viewers, as the cable net delivered an average of 2.93 million in prime time during Sweeps, outdistancing The WB (2.73 million) and UPN (2.66 million). TNT also beat those broadcast nets in delivery of adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and households, as well as men 18-34, men 18-49 and men 25-54.

“Beating two broadcast networks during their most crucial month of the year...is a strong achievement for TNT and marks the continued shift in viewers from broadcast to cable,” said Steve Koonin, executive vp and chief operating officer for TNT and TBS.

Turner’s analysis of the Nielsen data found that Fox stood alone among broadcasters as the only net to make gains during May Sweeps, growing households 8 percent, and upping its share of the 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 demos (10 percent, 7 percent and 9 percent, respectively). The WB and UPN were both down 22 percent in total households in prime during Sweeps, while ABC and NBC slipped 3 percent, and CBS fell 8 percent.

This is the third consecutive year that cable bested broadcast in May Sweeps, taking a 53 percent share of the period’s overall household viewing in prime, versus broadcast’s 44.7 percent.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002577529

fredfa

05-30-06, 11:35 PM

TV Notebook
Life after death

`Grey's Anatomy's' Morgan sees his career reborn after Denny dies
By Mary McNamara Los Angeles Times Staff Writer May 31, 2006

He did not go gently, neither was he proud. Jeffrey Dean Morgan hoped, prayed, schemed and finally begged for life; at one point, he marched into show runner Shonda Rhimes' office, turned those big shining eyes on her and pleaded: "Please, please, just let me live."

Rhimes was sympathetic, but Rhimes was firm, and on the season finale of "Grey's Anatomy," Morgan's beloved character, Denny Duquette, survived a difficult heart transplant, asked Izzie to marry him, got her to say yes and then, in the last few minutes of the show, had a stroke. While no one was watching, save the 19.9 million viewers sobbing in their homes, Denny quietly breathed his last.

"It was a grim day, let me tell you," Morgan says of shooting his death scene. "A dark, grim day. I'm still not over it. It broke my heart to leave that show."

The show, which follows the exploits of a group of Seattle surgeons-in-training, including Izzie and main character Meredith Grey, is one of the biggest hits on television. It has a devoted following, many of whom were apparently holding out hope that Denny, a long-ailing patient, would somehow pull through. After his death, countless fans lighted up the ABC switchboard in their sorrow and outrage; a few have circulated petitions in hopes that somehow Denny can be resuscitated.

"I don't think so," Morgan says with a grin. "I mean, I was blue."

But death does not trump fame; in some cases, it fosters it. After working as an actor for more than 15 years, after having guest appearances on "pretty much every TV show you can think of," Morgan has suddenly found himself a posthumous celebrity. Weeping women approach him in the supermarket, long-lost friends are falling out of the woodwork and, most important, producers and directors who wouldn't have given him the time of day a year ago are suddenly on the phone.

"It's very weird," he says, shaking his head with another one of those heartwarming grins "Grey's" fans would recognize at once (Morgan may well have the whitest teeth in television). "I mean, I've been kicking around this town for years. And for an actor, it's usually just about paying the mortgage and keeping the dog fed. But now I can actually think about the kind of projects I want to do. Now I can actually say no if I want."

Leaning back behind an iced coffee and an iced tea in a café near his home in Toluca Lake, Morgan has the look of someone who can't quite believe he's saying what he's saying.

But, in fact, he said no to an audition that day — because he had just agreed to do a movie starring Lisa Kudrow and Teri Garr that begins shooting in Austin, Texas, in a week.

"It's a small part," he says, "but can you imagine, Lisa Kudrow? And Teri Garr? I mean, 'Tootsie,' that's just amazing."

Of course, if he had been able to choose precisely what he wanted to do, he'd be back on "Grey's."

"Oh, I came up with lots of ideas for how I could come back," he said. "I mean, what if Denny had a twin brother named Lenny, who was a pediatric surgeon? They need a pediatric surgeon in that hospital."

Yet he went into the Denny gig knowing he was a goner. Rhimes had seen him as Mary-Louise Parker's dead husband on "Weeds" — "It has been the year for me to play the dead and dying," Morgan admits — and asked him to come in for an audition. "I almost didn't go because I wasn't feeling well, but when I heard she asked for me …"

Rhimes is so secretive about her plots that Morgan was given only the barest information — that he would be in multiple episodes but that the narrative arc of his character would end eventually in his death. Which at the time was fine with Morgan.

He thought for a moment he might be brought in as a romantic diversion for lead actress Ellen Pompeo. It wasn't until after he took the job and got a script that he realized his love interest would be Izzie, played by Katherine Heigl.

"No one knew how much the story would take on a life of its own," Morgan says. "I don't think even Shonda knew how the fans would be drawn to the romance. It was pretty incredible."

Meanwhile, Morgan was experiencing what it was like to be a pivotal character in one of the hottest dramas on TV. And although to an outsider it might seem like an easy role — Morgan was in a hospital gown and in bed for virtually every one of his scenes — the confines of disease were quite a challenge.

"I definitely give it to the writers that they created a guy who could charm a room without moving, but it took a lot of effort sometimes," he says.

In fact, Denny was seen out of bed only twice, once in his first episode — "the only time you see him in clothes" — and then toward the end, when a surgical procedure makes him a bit more mobile.

"I cannot tell you how excited I was to see a scene with him walking," Morgan says. "I started thinking, 'oh maybe he'll be able to go outside, maybe we'll get to go to Seattle.' Then I turn the page and nope, he's falling down the stairs and back to bed."

Still, it was the best work you could get flat on your back, he says.

"I had no idea what it would be like," he says. "How attached I would get. To Denny and everyone there. It is such a great show, such a great group of people. It was the only time in my career when I didn't mind getting up at 5:30 in the morning, didn't mind the 16-hour days. I couldn't believe it. So … yes, I fought to stay."

He fought, other cast members fought and even the network put in its two cents.

"We didn't get the final pages till, like, a day before shooting," he says. "And at the table reading, I can't bear to look, but I'm sitting next to [Patrick] Dempsey, and he's flipping through to the end, and he's saying, 'I don't see it, man, I don't see a death scene. I think you're going to live.' "

That was partly because the actual death of Denny occupied about three lines of the script. When he got to it, Morgan says, he literally fell off his chair onto the floor. "And poor old Katie's just sitting there looking at me. It was very emotional."

And, it turns out, technically difficult. Although Denny's death was as simple as him looking puzzled, then leaning back, a following scene had Izzie literally prostrate with grief, lying next to his corpse while her friends tried to talk her out of the room.

"Everyone's saying, 'What we really need is for you not to breathe, Jeff,' " Morgan says, "and I'm like, 'It's a four-minute scene, man.' And Katie's right beside me, crying, bless her heart, but the tears are hitting me on the neck and," he writhes in memory, "that was driving me crazy."

Still, he pulled it off and suddenly it was over, a fact he still can't quite believe.

"I have definitely been laying low for the last few weeks," he says. "I mean, how can they do the show without me? What's going to happen to Izzie? Who did Denny leave his money to? Are they going to have a funeral? They should definitely have a funeral."

But as distraught as he is over his own demise, Morgan realizes he is standing on the ledge of one of those infamous windows of opportunity — the choices he makes next could whisk him, and his asking price, up into the local firmament or relegate him to a bit of "Grey's Anatomy" trivia. He would like to do movies, but television's good too.

"I'm just looking always for characters that change, because I want to get better, as an actor and as a person. But basically," he adds, "I'd really like to work with Shonda again; I would follow that woman anywhere."

As indeed he is. He recently became the first actor to be cast in a pilot that Rhimes will shoot this fall. Who is he playing?

"I don't know," he says. "She just told me it was the best character she'd ever written, and that's good enough for me."

Meanwhile, he's trying to take advantage of this moment while still having fun.

"I am really going to try hard not to screw up," he says. "But in the end it's a crapshoot — you never know what's going to take off and what isn't. It's been great, though," he says, with another shake of his head. "I mean, it is great. Really great."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-morgan31may31,1,6290606.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews

fredfa

05-30-06, 11:50 PM

TV Notebook
"She Looked Pretty Good, Given Everything That She Has Been Through"

(From Mediabistro.com) Tuesday, May 30

Tuesday's CBS Evening News included an update on correspondent Kimberly Dozier's condition. CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar, who saw Dozier in the intensive care unit shortly after the injured reporter arrived at Landstuhl, told Bob Schieffer: "It's a difficult time. It's a terrible time for all of us. But if there's comfort to be had, I took some in seeing that she looked pretty good given that everything that she has been through."

Baghdad producer Kate Rydell was with Dozier on the flight to Germany. In MacVicar's package, she said: "I put my hand on her shoulder, and I said, 'Kimberly, we're on our way to Germany.' She blinked her eyes and nodded her head in -- very slightly, and then I knew that she, you know, received what I was trying to tell her and there was something going on inside, which I took to be a very good sign."

Transcript:
DATE: May 30, 2006 TIME: 6:30-7:00 PM NETWORK: CBS
PROGRAM: CBS EVENING NEWS WITH BOB SCHIEFFER

BOB SCHIEFFER, anchor:

Kimberly Dozier was flown overnight from Iraq to an American military hospital
in Germany. She is now receiving more treatment for her injuries to her head
and legs. CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar was there to meet her.

SHEILA MacVICAR reporting:

Less than 24 hour after the vicious bomb blast in Baghdad which killed four,
including a CBS News camera team, correspondent Kimberly Dozier arrived in
Germany this morning, her condition critical but stable. She was on board a
US military C-17 equipped as a flying intensive care unit. Also on the
flight, a US soldier critically wounded in the same blast. Baghdad producer
Kate Rydell was with Kimberly on the flight and talked to her as she briefly
regained consciousness.

Ms. KATE RYDELL (CBS News Producer): I put my hand on her shoulder, and I
said, `Kimberly, we're on our way to Germany.' She blinked her eyes and nodded
her head in--very slightly, and then I knew that she, you know, received what
I was trying to tell her and there was something going on inside, which I took
to be a very good sign.

MacVICAR: At the US regional medical center in Landstuhl, Kimberly is in
intensive care. She had surgery twice yesterday on injuries to her legs and
on her head to remove shrapnel from her skull. She was able to wiggle her
toes as she was admitted. Tonight she remains sedated and faces more surgery.

Colonel BRYAN GAMBLE (Commander Landstuhl Regional Medical Center): They
typically will go back every 24 to 48 hours for what we call wash outs,
unviable tissue or an infection or any debris that might be remaining in
there, to clean that out.

MacVICAR: Kimberly, CBS News cameraman Paul Douglas and sound recordist James
Brolan were embedded with the US patrol in Baghdad yesterday, reporting a
Memorial Day story on soldiers' lives. They had left their armored humvee
when the car bomb exploded. Investigators believe it may have been triggered
by remote control. All three were wearing the protective vests, helmets and
goggles that are now essential items for journalists working in conflict
zones. In Kimberly's case, that made the difference.

Bob, I was in the intensive care unit earlier today shortly after Kimberly
arrived here at Landstuhl. I was able to see her. At that time there were
teams of doctors, a crowd of people around her bed, working on her, assessing
her, trying to see what she needed next. It's a difficult time. It's a
terrible time for all of us. But if there's comfort to be had, I took some in
seeing that she looked pretty good given that everything that she has been
through.

SCHIEFFER: Sheila, I guess if there's any one thing we can take some comfort
in, it is that the people who are treating her are absolutely the best in the
world at this sort of thing.

MacVICAR: Absolutely, all of the teams that have cared for Kimberly all the
way along, the people in Baghdad who literally saved her life, who got her in
shape to get on that plane, the people who looked after her on the plane, the
people here, the specialist teams that are caring for her here and now, these
are the best at their jobs. And I know that her family and her boyfriend will
take some comfort from knowing that she is getting the best care that she can
under these circumstances.

SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, thank you very much, Sheila.
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cbs/she_looked_pretty_good_given_everything_that_she_has_been_th rough_37675.asp#more

cgh3rd

05-31-06, 12:17 AM

fredfa

05-31-06, 01:33 AM

Feel free to post lots more, Chuck.

(And thank you for the kind words.)

fredfa

05-31-06, 01:36 AM

TV Notebook
Deaths of 2 in CBS Crew Lead to Painful Reassessments

By Bill Carter The New York Times May 31, 2006

The roadside blast in Baghdad on Monday that killed two CBS News crew members and seriously wounded a third has deepened concerns among television network executives about the risks their crews face trying to cover the Iraq war, some arguing that television reporters may be even more exposed than those in print journalism.

Kimberly Dozier, the wounded CBS reporter, remained in intensive care yesterday at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, CBS reported on its evening news program. Ms. Dozier "had surgery twice yesterday on injuries to her legs and on her head to remove shrapnel from her skull," said the reporter, Sheila MacVicar, and Ms. Dozier was able to wiggle her toes. "Tonight she remains sedated and faces more surgery," Ms. MacVicar said.

CBS executives said the injuries to Ms. Dozier's head were not as serious as feared and that the immediate threat to her life was past. Her doctors say they are most concerned about trying to save one of her legs.

Ms. Dozier's cameraman, Paul Douglas, and her soundman, James Brolan, both from Britain, were killed in the bombing.

The imperative to keep journalists safe has affected all the news coming out of Iraq. The story, television executives concede, has become almost impossible to cover comprehensively because of safety restrictions.

On Tuesday, some executives argued that the risks are even greater for television personnel because of the equipment they must carry — including cameras that are sometimes mistaken for weapons — and how visible they must be to convey the story.

Ms. Dozier and her crew, while working on a piece about the job American soldiers were doing on Memorial Day, had to get out of their armored vehicle to shoot video in the street, leaving them exposed to the car bomb.

"Camera crews are very much more easy to target," said Steve Capus, the president of NBC News.

Mr. Capus said he was shaken when he first heard of the attack. "Of course your first reaction is to say: is this worth the costs?" Mr. Capus said. "The answer is: nothing is worth losing someone's life.

"But this a very tough call. You can't deny this is a big story."

Network executives acknowledged that the millions of dollars spent covering Iraq and the increasing risks to personnel have led to almost daily reassessments of their coverage.

"It is as difficult a story to cover as I have ever seen," said Paul Slavin, the senior vice president for worldwide coverage at ABC News. Like other television news executives, Mr. Slavin conceded that the difficulties of moving around Iraq, of talking freely to people, and of keeping staff members safe had impeded the reporting by the networks.

"Is what we're getting worth the risk?" asked Chris Cramer, the managing director of CNN International. "I think it's a fair question. On balance, I believe it is."

Sean McManus, the president of CBS News, the latest journalism organization forced to deal with a tragedy in Iraq, said, "I think the quality of the coverage in Iraq has by and large been extremely worthy."

Some other television news executives offered more tempered assessments. John Stack, the vice president of news gathering for Fox News, said: "We are getting the best story we can under the circumstances. It's still better than taking wire service stories."

While many news organizations have already decided the risks in Baghdad are no longer worth it, the American networks remain there, with staffs of 30 people or more.

"I respect the decision of many news organizations to pull out," Mr. Cramer said. "In some ways we are just hanging on by our fingertips, but we have to keep hanging on. The stakes are very, very high on this story."

Despite the attack on the CBS crew, and less than five months after the ABC anchor Bob Woodruff suffered serious head and neck injuries in a similar attack, no network said it was contemplating cutting back its coverage, much less pulling out of Iraq. Mr. Woodruff is improving, but still recovering.

"We will cover this story as long as we are humanly capable of doing it," Mr. Slavin said. But he could not say ABC would never pull its staff members out of Iraq. "I can never say never because the situation has deteriorated there in ways we couldn't have anticipated," he added.

Several executives said criticism by conservative commentators that the networks were playing it safe and not trying to cover the full story of Iraq was unjust — and offensive.

"One thing I don't want to hear anymore," Mr. Capus said, "is people like Laura Ingraham spewing about us not leaving our balconies in the Green Zone to cover what's really happening in Iraq." Ms. Ingraham made that comment on the "Today" news program on NBC.

Mr. Cramer said that when played against the injury to Ms. Dozier and the deaths of her colleagues, "for people to criticize what we do is just monstrous."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/31/world/middleeast/31network.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

05-31-06, 01:41 AM

Critic’s Notebook
''Studio 60'': Do Not Adjust Your Set

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Among the recurring complaints I get about television, one is that some TV shows just look too dark -- that it's difficult to figure out who's there and what's going on because the artists making TV shows love shadow and muted light far more than viewers do. They're making shows for people who watch TV theater-fashion, while many viewers still prefer to have a light on.

If the pilot is any indication, you might be better off dimming the lights for ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' the drama set behind the scenes at a live TV variety show.

It has an impressive cast, it has a significant pedigree (Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme of ''The West Wing''), it will have people wondering which real-life performers and executives were the basis for the fictional ones here, and it will spark a lot of talk about how close the Sorkin-Schlamme relationship is to the one here between Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford.

I did not like it anywhere near as much as I did the other behind-the-scenes show on NBC's schedule, ''30 Rock,'' which I wrote about in my last post. In fact, during ''Studio 60,'' I kept saying to myself, ''Hey, I had a lot of problems with 'The West Wing' when it started, too.'' But ''West Wing'' at least had that Bartlet scene at the end -- the one where he dismantles some right-wing evangelicals -- that said, there's stuff going on here. ''Studio 60'' also takes on conservative Christians, though not as artfully as ''West Wing,'' and ...

Well, at this point I need to remind myself that this is not a review. (See my previous post for why.) So I'll get back to the topic at hand, which is that ''Studio 60'' is really dark. Not in the cynical sense. In the sense of, it's often hard to see what on earth is going on onscreen.

As I've said, some TV shows like going dark because it feels artsy and theatrical. ''Studio 60'' is also harking back to the movie ''Network,'' both in a scene done in explicit homage to the movie (which proves that homage is not always successful -- but TINAR) and in a look that recalls ''Network's'' visual style, which also embraced the darkness of its compressed little world of control booths and conference rooms.

Now, the fall is a long way off, and NBC and ''Studio 60'' could decide to lighten this thing up in all sorts of ways. Let's hope so. Since the show's fictional network resembles NBC, maybe its corporate owner could send over a few boxes of light bulbs.

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

Scott Gammans

05-31-06, 06:39 AM

Filling in for Jerry Ohrbach was not an easy assignment.
Personally, I thought Dennis Farina did far better than anyone had a right to expect.
I agree, and I'll go even further--I really liked Dennis Farina and was intrigued by his Det. Joe Fontana character. I was really hoping that Dick Wolf would do something radical (for Law & Order) and have it turn out that Fontana had mob connections or something--it would explain the Mercedes sedan, the expensive clothes, etc. (And yes, I remember what they did with John Fiore's character in the Exiled movie, but Det. Profaci was a supporting player, not a major character.)

*sigh* This really sucks... not even a sendoff episode for Fontana? Grr... I can't stand it when major characters get unceremoniously shipped off to Mandyville. :mad:

And UGH--call me a male chauvinist pig but I do not like the idea of Green getting a female partner... especially one that looks like an underwear model (http://www.flyingfistranch.com/albums/celebrity/MilenaGovich2_001.sized.jpg). :rolleyes: Reuters is reporting (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2006-05-31T025910Z_01_N30135457_RTRUKOC_0_US-LAW.xml) that Milena Govich, who played Lou's prostitute girlfriend on Rescue Me last season, will be teaming up with Jesse L. Martin as Law & Order's lead detectives. Now don't get me wrong--I thought Govich was terrific on Rescue Me (and I hope her character shows up again this season), but it's going to take a lot of convincing for me to believe her as a hardened NYPD detective. Blech. :mad:

steverobertson

05-31-06, 06:49 AM

Scott,

I agree this to me is a huge loss I really liked his charcter in the show. I guess we will have to wait and see how it plays out with new cast members but to me this is very disappointing.

fredfa

05-31-06, 09:28 AM

Here is the story Scott referenced:

TV Notebook
Govich gets 'L&O' badge; Farina exits

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter May 31, 2006

LOS ANGELES - Dennis Farina is leaving "Law & Order" after two years, and will be replaced by Milena Govich, who played one of the assistant district attorneys on series creator Dick Wolf's short-lived drama "Conviction."

The moves are part of a major talent overhaul on NBC's 16-year-old crime drama. Also exiting, after a similarly short stint, is Annie Parisse, who played Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Borgia.

The show, which lost 1.8 million viewers last season, is being moved from its longtime Wednesday berth to Fridays in the fall, to Wolf's chagrin.

Farina played the snappy dresser Detective Joe Fontana, who investigated crimes and apprehended suspects with partner Edward Green (Jesse L. Martin).

"Dennis is the consummate professional, and I respect his decision to pursue other opportunities, and he will be sorely missed," Wolf said. "I genuinely hope we work together again."

Farina had succeeded longtime "L&O" star Jerry Orbach, whose character on the show, Detective Lennie Briscoe, transitioned to Wolf's short-lived "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" until Orbach's death in late 2004.

Govich, a 29-year-old Oklahoma native who guest-starred on "L&O" in 2005, also had a recurring role on FX's "Rescue Me."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002577620

fredfa

05-31-06, 09:32 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Prime Time For Drama

By Tom Shales The Washington Post TV Critic Tuesday, May 30, 2006; C01

Perhaps we have entered the third great era of television drama, partly because the next great era of television comedy simply refuses to begin. None of the broadcast networks can seem to come up with a sitcom to challenge "Seinfeld," which retired undefeated (and prematurely) in 1998 and still haunts the airwaves in reruns. It may have constituted a "great era" all by itself.

Drama is another story. The 2005-06 TV season probably boasted more solid hours of good drama than television has seen in many years.

The networks showed what could be done when they let producers dare to stray from the familiar and formulaic -- from the old cops-and-robbers and doctors-and-nurses templates. You know: the sick and the dead.

There was so much good drama it reminded me of years long ago when I religiously watched every episode of "L.A. Law" and was first struck by something I call the 10:50 syndrome.

The 10:50 syndrome involves anxiety, dread, maybe even a hint of panic, but is by no means a negative state. It's a simple thing: You try hard not to look at the clock during a great show such as "The Sopranos," because you just want to sit there undistracted and enjoy it. You simply don't want it to end.

Anyway, no matter how hard I tried not to, I'd often glance at the clock in the fourth quarter of "L.A. Law" and discover to my dismay that 10:50 had either come or passed. And that meant only a few more minutes, and maybe only one or two more scenes (a bedroom scene was usually among the last few) until the "executive producer" credit appeared on the screen, that immutable signal that another episode was over.

"L.A. Law" was so rich and relished that it was a jab in the eye (or, maybe, a slap to the back of the head) to have it end. Television had seen dozens and dozens of courtroom shows come and go in the years since it began, but "L.A. Law" was something different. And though some complained that it was too slick and polished when compared to its grungy "Hill Street Blues" predecessor, "L.A. Law" was Drama Deluxe, a preview of the movie-quality TV series that now, in TV's current drama renaissance, have grown fairly common but shouldn't be taken for granted.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is responsible for much of this, with the exceptionally gorgeous luster applied like a final coat of car wax to the "CSI" dramas he makes for CBS. It could be argued that the home audience doesn't consciously give a hoot about "production values," as the trade papers refer to them, but viewers notice them nevertheless. If you put a drably overlit, statically shot, hideously designed episode of "Dynasty" up against a stylishly shot, briskly edited episode of "CSI: Miami" -- replete with the kind of dazzling special effects that are still relatively new to prime-time TV -- the two shows would look like they were from different planets, not just different eras.

Complexity has replaced simplicity in these shows, both in terms of plot and character development. Some producers take the new liberty and go cuckoo with it, with the results snazzy but implausible. But for the most part, it's resulted in first-class, high-gloss television, this liberation-born-of-desperation (broadcast networks were steadily, annually leaking audience to basic cable, but that hemorrhage has at least temporarily been halted -- in part because the new-age dramas are so addictive).

It's only a guess -- though one based on the evidence of the weekly prime-time schedules -- but it seems that network executives, those perpetually vilified philistines and clods who supposedly like to shoot down new ideas the way Dick Cheney shoots down, er, whatever, are more receptive now to concepts that are off-the-wall, out of left field, even radically nuts. Neither the audience nor the TV Academy appears to know with absolute certainty whether ABC's "Desperate Housewives" is a comedy or a drama, but whatever it is, people love it (wobbles in its ratings this season may be largely because HBO put "The Sopranos" up against the housewives on Sunday nights).

Whatever the precise or mercurial causes, it does seem that the 10:50 syndrome has returned -- that there are a larger number of 10 o'clock dramas that one hates to see end than there have been in years. And since the Fox network stops programming an hour earlier than its predecessors, there are shows that prompt the 9:50 syndrome as well -- none more proficiently or artfully than "House," perhaps the most recklessly ambitious variation on medical drama ever -- although "Grey's Anatomy," on ABC's Sunday nights, runs a close and provocative second.

"House" is distinguished, elevated and made riveting not only by superior writing and a top-notch supporting class but, especially, by Hugh Laurie in the title role -- no, not that of a building but of a doctor whose last name is House. TV has seen cantankerous antiheroes before, but Laurie's House may be the most uncompromised and least sentimentalized ever. He can have you on the edge of your seat just waiting for a smile, even a half smile, just the merest hint of a twinkle in one eye (of course, that could be the symptom of a disease picked up from a patient).

"House," with its graphic displays of hospital gore, can be difficult viewing, but the show has consistently placed among Nielsen's Top 10 or 20 this season. Of course, a skeptic would be justified in pointing out, it can't hurt "House" that it follows "American Idol," the most talked-about sensation in all of prime-time television (and after five seasons yet!). But the fact that a huge percentage of those who watch "Idol," the epitome of all that's (relatively) bright and shiny in television, stick around for "House" is an awe-inspiring tribute to the power of the show and, particularly, Laurie's ferocious performance.

One of the sadder soap operas of the year was the backstage story of how "Commander in Chief," ABC's drama about the first woman president, eroded in both popularity and quality as the weeks wore on. ABC booted the show's creator, Rod Lurie, and brought in Stephen Bochco, the Aaron Sorkin of his era (which brings to mind a somewhat related problem: Aaron Sorkin seems to have turned into the Aaron Sorkin of another era, too. Can someone be the "poor man's version" of himself?).

Perhaps there are just too many faux presidents on the airwaves. Thus it's hard to get very weepy over the demise of "The West Wing" on NBC. Fox's "24" continues to be can't-miss TV for its fans, but you'd think even the loyalists would get tired of having hero Kiefer Sutherland save the world from destruction every single season. And I knew from the first glimpse of the first episode of the new season that the president was going to turn out to be the bad guy, if only because the actor cast in the role always plays bad guys.

And who, after all, could follow actor Dennis Haysbert, previous occupant of the White House in "24" but assassinated as the new batch of episodes began. But Haysbert would bounce back in a big way, as star of "The Unit," an extraordinary military drama created by playwright David Mamet for CBS -- a combination of "Platoon" and "Desperate Housewives."

As for HBO, which arguably kind of set the new age of drama in motion with David Chase's spellbinding "Sopranos," things are not looking so peachy. The old "it's not TV, it's HBO" smugness is definitely inappropriate when such hugely imperfect projects as the muddled (and muddy) "Rome" and the bloated "Big Love" are passed off as daring departures. "Entourage" remains titillating and scintillating escapist fun (though the show is hurting itself with too much predictable and repetitious shtick by Kevin Dillon) and will be warmly embraced by fans when it returns on June 11, but otherwise HBO has logged another season less stunning than so-so.

There are even widespread industry rumors that HBO chief Chris Albrecht, having failed to fill the shoes of predecessors Michael Fuchs and Jeff Bewkes, may be on his way out. He deserves some sort of punishment for failing to renew "The Comeback," a delightful comedy-drama starring Lisa Kudrow as an actress bravely refusing to face certain facts of life and weathering humiliations that would sink most mere mortals. Kudrow and Michael Patrick King, the creator-producer, came up with a series that was truly, even in a time of hard-to-define genres, uncategorizable -- bitterly funny one minute, crazily moving the next.

Was it comedy? Was it drama? Whatever. Like the TV season itself, I hated to see it end.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/29/AR2006052901103_pf.html

fredfa

05-31-06, 09:40 AM

TV Notebook
Goodbye, morning; hello, evening

Katie Couric talks about her 15 years at "Today," and her hopes for tomorrow
By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist May. 31, 2006

We laughed with her. Grieved with her. Watched her fly like Peter Pan on Halloween. We even met her colon.

After 15 emotionally intimate years as coanchor of NBC's top-rated Today, Katie Couric today says goodbye to the kaleidoscopic world of morning television.

Perkiness be damned. At 49, she's all grown up and ready to play with the big boys.

For those who've been away from planet Earth, Couric debuts in September as anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News - the first woman in TV history named solo anchor of a Big 3 weeknight newscast.

After addressing the CBS affiliates' meeting tomorrow in Las Vegas, Couric plans a month's R & R "to take a deep breath and just enjoy the down time with my girls," Elinor, 14, and Caroline, 10.

But first, there's this morning's three-hour Today lovefest. Executive producer Jim Bell predicts it will be "a multi-hankie affair."

Couric's parents will be there. So will her daughters. Oh, and Tony Bennett and Martina McBride and the cast of Broadway's Jersey Boys.

"Hopefully, it won't be too embarrassing," Couric says. "I'm sure it's going to be hard for me on a lot of levels. It's a big watershed moment for me, a big passage... . I started when I was 34 and pregnant with Ellie. So much has happened in my life since then, good and bad."

There was some talk of limiting the tribute to 7 to 9 a.m., but Couric and the producers decided to go all the way, to 10. (Not that size matters, but Bryant Gumbel's farewell show in '97 was two hours. Today didn't add its third hour until Oct. 2, 2000.)

"It struck everyone as odd to say goodbye at 9, then say, 'Coming up, summer fashions and the best barbecue recipes in North America,' " says Couric. "The feeling was that there was enough material. Nobody's going to watch all three hours except my parents."

Since her four-year, estimated $60 million CBS deal was announced April 5, Couric has made it her goal "to conduct myself in a professional, classy way." And by all accounts, she has.

Publicly, she hasn't said one word against NBC. With Brian Williams dug in at No. 1 NBC Nightly News, the network simply couldn't offer Couric the one position that would have kept her at 30 Rock.

"It was really important to me that this be handled appropriately, with a lot of decorum and class on everyone's part," she says. "We didn't want any gloating comments from CBS or 'No, we didn't want her anymore' from NBC. We didn't want it to get ugly and personal.

"You never know in the crazy world of network news. It can be a pretty tough environment out there. Sometimes people shoot from the hip or go into all sorts of posturing. It's unbecoming and ungracious."

NBC Universal TV czar Jeff Zucker, Couric's longtime protector and pal, has known Couric since '90, when she was Today's newly named national correspondent, based in Washington, and he was a fast-rising Today producer in New York.

"I wanted a producer from Washington and [then-e.p.] Tom Capra said I was getting Jeff Zucker," Couric remembers. "I said, 'Who the heck is he?' "

When the two ran into each other in the hall at NBC's New York headquarters, "here was this kid, with jeans and a big gray sweatshirt and these sneakers," she says. "I had heard he was a cocky son of a gun. I wanted to deflate his ego ever so slightly."

So she did.

Zucker, 25 at the time, recalls: "She looked at the white Keds I was wearing and said they were girl's shoes. My first impression was, 'I like this woman.' "

Through Zucker's two bouts with colon cancer and the death of Couric's husband, Jay Monahan, from the disease in '98, the two became soul mates. "We were incredibly simpatico, professionally and personally," he says. "We saw eye to eye on virtually everything. We just clicked."

For all Couric's hard-hitting interviews with presidents and prime ministers, it was the grace with which she shared her personal pain that resonated most strongly with viewers.

When Monahan died, America's sweetheart became a young widow. Two years later, in March 2000, her colonoscopy on live TV led to a 20 percent increase in testing for colon cancer. Researchers at the University of Michigan dubbed it "the Couric Effect."

The following year ('01), she lost her sister Emily to pancreatic cancer.

As CBS anchor, Couric wouldn't hesitate to undergo another on-air colonoscopy "if I thought it would save lives, absolutely. I'm really proud of what I did, for all the jokes."

Couric's daughters encouraged her to take the CBS plum, but some of her friends advised her to stay at NBC, she acknowledges.

"It's a big leap, and quite frankly a big risk. There were a few people who thought my life would be easier if I stayed put. I don't want an easy life. I want an exciting, challenging one. It's good to be nervous and scared sometimes."

And if the girls had voted no?

"I would have used my high school debating tactics and worked on them a bit. As the parent, I usually make the decisions in our house, even though they think they might."

According to Wendy Walker, senior e.p. of CNN's Larry King Live and a member of Couric's "kitchen cabinet," Couric's decision was never in doubt.

"I think she always knew she would do it," says Walker, who shared a Georgetown apartment with Couric when they were both newbies at ABC's Washington bureau in '79. (Fun fact: They filled out their job applications the very same day.)

"The whole time, I knew it was what she wanted. It was a no-brainer. I don't think she had a choice. What an honor to be asked to fill that seat. She needed a new challenge."

As Couric's former roomie, Walker says her challenge was trying to live with Couric's sloppiness. They were Oscar and Felix, Walker says. Walker was Felix, the neat freak. To this day, she organizes all her clothing - and her 300-plus pocketbooks - by color or fabric.

"Her mom was so funny," Walker says. "She said, 'Wendy, just be patient with her.' She was always nervous I'd be upset by it."

Mom was right. One night, after a particularly grueling shift at CNN (they both had joined the then-new network in '80), Walker came home to find Couric sitting on Walker's bed atop her 50 or so strewn sweaters. And holding a cup of coffee!

"She threw them on the bed just to get my reaction," Walker says. "I was freaking out. After I calmed down, we just laughed."

Couric's neatness has improved, Walker says, but like any good girlfriend, "I still like to go in and straighten up her bathroom."

Comfortable, content and looking forward to her future, Couric's life needs no straightening.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14702559.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

05-31-06, 09:45 AM

Critic’s Notebook
June looks like a good time to sit on the porch

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Everything we know we learned from television:

• The good thing about May going into the books is that the television season is over, at least for the broadcast networks, and we can go on vacation. The bad thing about May going (meekly) into the books is that, well, does anyone really want to watch television in June? It's too hot outside. Despite some great stuff from HBO, most of the series can be skipped in favor of, say, not working at all. And worse, June is when the networks send their new fall programming. Even with the sun out, that just sends a shiver down our back.

• We are down on record -- this record right here -- as being 50-50 on NBC completely revamping its fall schedule mere days after announcing it. The practical part of us, the part that actually understands the business, believes that entertainment president Kevin Reilly shouldn't be held out for industry mocking just because he flinched on Thursday nights in the face of "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI."

Just because said flinching then resulted in outright convulsing -- shaking up five different nights of programming and possibly tinkering too much with the "Law & Order" franchise -- doesn't mean change is bad. It just means change is ... practical. See, NBC is the fourth ranked network out of the Big 4. Translation: It's in some serious trouble.

And yet, launching first during the annual unveiling of the schedules put NBC in something of a bind. Like this: "Oh, really? You're putting THAT show on, right THERE? Well, that looks bad for us." So after everybody else set their schedules, Reilly and NBC rethought the whole thing and tinkered. That is, if "tinkered" means "massive changes at the last second."

Perhaps -- says 50 percent of our massive head -- this is wise. Why be prideful and get the bejesus rattled out of you in the Nielsens? What, so you can be more of a man when you're out to dinner and politely wave across the room at Les Moonves (CBS) or Steve McPherson (ABC)? What about that discretion and valor thing?

So NBC took Aaron Sorkin's upcoming, hotly anticipated "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and moved it off of Thursday nights, where it would have been pummeled like a new kid at school with a bow-tie and a T-shirt that said, "I Heart Opera," and moved it to Mondays at 10. The show formerly in that slot -- "Medium" -- is now on the bench until midseason (do you think Patricia Arquette saw that coming? Oh, sure, she can talk to dead people, but apparently not network executives who are dying in their jobs.)

Moving "Studio 60" was like pulling a lemon from the bottom of the pile at the supermarket -- a whole bunch of lemons fell on the floor. (Not that "Studio 60" is a lemon. We haven's seen it. We'll leave snap judgments based on partial evidence and no critical faculties to the New York Times and its ill-advised blog postings.) But anyway, series spilled, shows scattered. If for some reason you have a schedule at home for the new fall season, rip it up. Reilly certainly did.

NBC will now take "Deal Or No Deal" off of Friday nights and put it on Thursday nights. That works great for us, because if "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI" can kill it, the world will be a better, lovelier place. (Of course, "Deal" also runs on Mondays. To which we say: "Damn you NBC!")

Upon further review, NBC decided to take two new dramas on Tuesday night -- "Friday Night Lights" at 8 p.m. and "Kidnapped" at 9 p.m. and separate them. It took "Kidnapped" and put it -- Holy Dick Wolf! -- on Wednesday nights at 10. Now, we could be wrong about this, but one of the questions on that exit exam for high school kids is a real softball, to help offset that stuff about dead presidents and how bills get passed. Anyway, the easy question is this: "Which Dick Wolf series ALWAYS airs at 10 p.m. on a Wednesday?" See? Too easy. "Law & Order." Cue the music.

But now "Law & Order" -- the aging original -- moves to Fridays at 10 p.m. Cue Paulie Walnuts from "The Sopranos": "Oh!" And yet, it gets better. That Friday spot was the recent home of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" -- hey, pay attention! -- which is now moving to Tuesdays at 9 p.m. Yep, and if you're at home jumping up and down saying, "But wait! That's right before 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' " -- two things. 1) You're right. How very perceptive of you. 2) Get. Out. Of. The. House.

Back-to-back "L&O" spin-offs? Are you out of your mind? Whatever. We've spent far, far too long talking about this, no? Let's just end by revealing what the other part of our lame brain has to say about the other 50 percent of this equation:

Total junior varsity move. You can flinch, but you can't flinch that much. Announcing your fall schedule to advertisers and press at a lavish party and then blowing it up and starting over again days later is such a bad look. Again -- just a thought.

• Have we mentioned this idea about not wanting to watch TV in the summer and especially not wanting to watch new pilots? Yeah, well now I really want to watch "Studio 60." If it's worth taking the intricately placed chess pieces of your fall schedule and kicking over the table where they sit, it better be damned good.

• Today was Katie Couric's final appearance on the "Today" show before heading to "The CBS Evening News." Some people think this is a big deal. But for us, it only means this: Now we'll vomit at night instead of in the morning.

• Just for the record, we don't give a (bleep) about Taylor Hicks.

• Then again, it doesn't bother us one bit that "American Idol," a reality show -- a game show, if you want to be all high-brow about it -- is the No. 1 show on television by a really, really long shot. Consider this: A week ago, the season ended. And on that Wednesday night, "American Idol" and "Lost" -- in the 9 p.m. slot -- were being watched by more than 57 million people in this country. That's just two of the many TV shows that were on that night at that time. Now, take any feature film at the box office and see if 57 million people watched it. Answer: No. Not even remotely close. So television remains, as it always does, dominant in the culture.

• Which is probably why Kevin Reilly is frantic about getting NBC's schedule right. People care, apparently. And nobody more so than his bosses.

• Bring me the head of Howie Mandel.

• The Absurd Haiku: There is no such thing/Law, order -- does not exist/Our idol: the gun.

• The High Fives: 1. "The Sopranos." 2. Sunshine, the thrill of the grass, a crack of the bat. 3. Sitting on an Adirondack chair, having a cold beer, instead of watching TV indoors in June. 4. HBO series in June. 5. Kevin Reilly, not afraid to go his own way.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/31/DDGF3J37G81.DTL&type=printable

keenan

05-31-06, 10:13 AM

fredfa

05-31-06, 10:33 AM

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

fredfa

05-31-06, 10:49 AM

.....what's the scoop on this "Gameshow Marathon?"

Xesdeeni

TV Notebook
With summer here, so is 'Game Show Marathon'

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer May 31, 2006

NBC’s “Deal or No Deal” has revived the game show genre once again after the rise and fall of ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” several years ago.

Now CBS becomes the first to roll out a post-“Deal” summer game show with the premiere of “Game Show Marathon.”

Hosted by Ricki Lake, “Game Show” combines seven classic game shows with the always-reliable formula of featuring has-been celebrities as contestants. Tonight at 8 PM ET/PT the series debuts with the six contestants competing on “The Price is Right.”

The show will run twice a week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, for its first two weeks and then run once a week on Thursdays during its final three weeks. Tomorrow's episode features “Let’s Make a Deal,” followed by “Beat the Clock” and “Press Your Luck” the next week.

The final three episodes focus on “Card Sharks,” “Match Game” and “Family Feud.” A winner will be chosen after “Feud,” and viewers can enter via text message during each episode to win a separate prize.

The list of semi-celebrities competing conforms to the “Dancing With the Stars” model, including an older actor, Leslie Nielsen, a former boy band member, ‘N Sync’s Lance Bass, and a former cable star, “Trading Spaces’” Paige Davis. Six total will compete in different combinations each week.

Viewers showed lots of interest in sampling celebrity-driven shows last summer when NBC’s “Hit Me Baby One More Time” and ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” both premiered to strong ratings. And with “Deal” making game shows hip again, this could be one of the summer’s solid performers.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5026.asp

fredfa

05-31-06, 11:11 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Pilot Watch: Studio 60 vs. 30 Rock

The Newark Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall TV blog Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Can two TV shows set backstage at a faltering live sketch comedy series co-exist on the same network without driving each other crazy? Maybe, yeah. Having watched both "30 Rock" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," I could see both working -- assuming either can overcome the public's usual apathy to behind-the-scenes in Hollywood shows. (People in the entertainment industry always think the public is much more fascinated with the inner workings of the entertainment industry than we actually are.)

The usual caveat: these are not reviews. Many, many things about these shows will change, from music to casting to deleted and added scenes. These are just early impressions, keeping in mind that I've seen many shows get better or worse between now and when the final version debuts in the fall. More after the jump...

"30 Rock"

Who's In It: Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, Rachel Dratch

What It's About: Tina Fey plays the Tina Fey-esque head writer of a "Saturday Night Live"-esque live sketch comedy show, where she has to deal with the neuroses of leading lady Dratch, the craziness of new castmember Morgan and the unhelpful suggestions from new boss Baldwin.

Pluses: When you get Fey away from the institutionalized weekly grind of the real "SNL," she can be a very sharp writer (see also "Mean Girls"), and she has intimate knowledge of the world she's satirizing. I get to have Baldwin being funny on my TV every week. Morgan does a pretty good impression of Kit Ramsey from "Bowfinger."

Minuses: The comedy is hit-and-miss, though the hits (Morgan takes Fey to a Bronx strip club) are worth sitting through the misses. Fey hasn't quite figured out how best to exploit Baldwin's gift for being impossibly handsome and weird at the same time, though there are hints she's on her way. With the show and Fey so closely tied to "SNL" (I think Fey's even staying as Weekend Update anchor), will she wind up pulling her punches to avoid offending Lorne or anyone else?

"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"

Who's In It: Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet, Sarah Paulson, D.L. Hughley, Tim Busfield, Steven Weber, Evan Handler and a cast of thousands.

What It's About: When a thinly-disguised version of Lorne Michaels has an on-air meltdown during the live telecast of a thinly-disguised "SNL," thinly-disguised versions of Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme are brought in to save the show.

Pluses: It's Sorkin and Schlamme
, so you know it's going to look and sound great. The meltdown sequence is riveting, even if it's cribbed from "Network" (which the script almost gleefully cops to). As the new head of the network who has to fix this mess, Amanda Peet finally gets to display the star quality everyone's claimed she had for years. (Either that, or she just looks amazing in an Audrey Hepburn-esque get-up for the entire episode.)

Minuses: This is one of those cases where it's hard for me to separate my knowledge of the people involved from the work itself. Perry and Whitford are so clearly playing mix-and-match aspects of Aaron and Tommy, just as Peet is Jamie Tarses, Paulson is Kristin Chenoweth, etc., that the Mary Sue-ishness of it makes me uncomfortable. (On the plus side, the Maureen Dowd character from the pilot has had virtually all her lines cut, and for all I know, she's no longer a national newspaper columnist who used to date Aaron, but just some woman out on a date with the Whitford character.) When Judd Hirsch (as "Lorne") delivers his rant about the evils of television, Marian turned to me and said, "Boy, Aaron really had a lot to say after his time away, huh?" For a show about a classic sketch comedy series, there aren't a lot of laughs. There's also a smugness to it; I think Aaron believes the "I have no reason to trust you and every reason not to." "Why?" "You work in television" exchange that's in all the promos is a lot funnier than it actually is.

The verdict: At the moment, I plan to watch 'em both.

Yes, there are problems with the "Studio 60" pilot, but there were also problems with the original version of the "West Wing" pilot (the scene where Leo meets with Al Caldwell and we learn that not all the Christians in the meeting with Josh and Toby are fire-breathing cartoons was added much later). And Aaron and Tommy are so talented that I'll put up with a lot of trash (most of "West Wing" seasons three and four) to get to the treasure ("Bartlet for America," "Red Haven's On Fire").

And "30 Rock," frankly, made me laugh, and that quality is in precious short supply in primetime these days.

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2006/05/pilot-watch-studio-60-vs-30-rock.html

fredfa

05-31-06, 11:16 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Katie Couric: Yesterday, 'Today' and tomorrow

In her tenure as morning host, she was perfectly suited to the demands of the job
By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Wednesday, May 31, 2006

From the moment Katie Couric entered my mornings, there was only one thought in my mind:

"She's a robot, right?"

I didn't mean that as a dig, honestly. It's just that Katie was so perfectly suited to each and every demand of being the co-host of "Today" that I figured she had to be the end product of some artificial intelligence collective like the one that gave David Hasselhoff a snooty Trans Am on the series "Knight Rider."

That, or she was birthed by some eugenics lab that had studied the DNA strands of Barbara Walters, Tom Brokaw, David Hartman, Jane Pauley, Dave Garroway, and Corky Sherwood from "Murphy Brown" and combined the best of them to create the ultimate morning show personality.

Hosting a morning show is the TV equivalent of racing the Indy 500: If you can't change gears quickly, you're dead. Better than anyone at least since Walters, Katie was able to gun her way through cooking segments and fluffy celebrity interviews, then downshift to go over heavier news stories. She could grill a head of state in one segment, then come back from the commercial break and gab with Matt, Ann and Al about the latest episode of "Survivor."

She was perfection from the start, and perfection is what NBC needed when she was hired 15 years ago. "Today," which had been the dominant morning show for most of its existence, was in a tailspin after the ugly, "All About Eve"-like transition from Jane Pauley to Deborah Norville.

Pauley wasn't a revered figure when she sat on the couch next to Bryant Gumbel, but when NBC nosed her out the door in favor of the younger, allegedly sexier Norville, viewers reacted like their father had just left their mother for a bikini model.

By being less sexpot than cute kid sister, Couric was already considered an improvement over Norville. But behind that pep squad grin lay a pair of razor-sharp fangs. Politicians and corporate big shots who had learned to be wary of the Mike Wallaces of this world didn't expect this petite young woman with the dimples to be able to keep up, let alone call them on their mistakes.

When Couric joined "Today," Gumbel was considered the show's star, even though many viewers found him aloof. (Unlike Couric or Matt Lauer, he was never able to hide his disdain for the fluffier parts of the job.) But he struggled after leaving to work at CBS, while the Katie & Matt version of "Today" continued to dominate as the competition strove to catch up.

"Today" opened up its studio so tourists could be seen through the windows; suddenly CBS and ABC were building elaborate windows-to-the-world studios. "Today" introduced a Friday concert series; suddenly, musicians became de rigeur at "Good Morning America" and "The Early Show."

But the more successful "Today" -- and, by extension, Katie -- became, the further away she got from the person America liked so much in the first place. The hair got blonder and the skirts got shorter. Her husband, Jay Monahan, died in 1998 of colorectal cancer -- leading to one of Katie's most famous pieces, her on-air colonoscopy -- and soon she became a fixture on the gossip pages. Where she had once been the girl next door, now she was the blonde bombshell in the Blahniks.

And though she was still game to be silly on occasion (a couple of Halloweens ago, she dressed up like Donald Trump to interview a fired "Apprentice" contestant), you could see her tiring of that part of the job. After the embarrassing incident last November where Katie and Matt, hosting NBC's annual Thanksgiving parade coverage, failed to report on the runaway balloon that injured two onlookers, her gritted-teeth responses to questions about it suggested she wasn't long for the job.

And, sure enough, she's leaving "Today" after this morning's show to take over CBS' evening newscast, where she'll be heralded as the first solo female anchor in network news history.

(Never mind that Walters co-hosted ABC's news more than a quarter century ago, or that Elizabeth Vargas has been flying solo ever since Bob Woodruff was injured earlier this year. Vargas will be out of the anchor chair by the time Katie replaces Bob Schieffer in September, and in TV, it's out of sight, out of mind.)

How will she do in the job? She has good news credentials, but the versatility that made her so special will be hidden behind that anchor desk along with her shoes. Morning show and evening news viewers aren't necessarily overlapping sets, and the CBS audience was starting to take a shine to Schieffer's folksy minimalism. Will they take to Katie, or will they just change the channel to watch Charles Gibson on ABC?

In leaving "Today," Katie is doing two huge favors for NBC. First, she's allowed the network, as only it can, to flog her farewell for weeks and weeks and weeks to drive up viewership. And second, by leaving instead of being pushed, she's sparing replacement Meredith Vieira from the scorn her own predecessor got. Although it helps that Vieira, who is older than Katie, has worked for both "60 Minutes" and "The View."

She may not be able to shift gears quite as fast as Katie, but she should be okay. And if she has trouble steering, maybe she can call the same engineers who built Katie. Worst comes to worst, they can get her a snooty Trans Am.

http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/sepinwall/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1149050629256250.xml&coll=1

fredfa

05-31-06, 11:26 AM

Obituary
"Topper's" Robert Sterling, 88

The Associated Press reports that Robert Sterling, the handsome star of 1940s movies who appeared with his wife Anne Jeffreys in the television series Topper, died Tuesday at his Brentwood, CA home. He was 88.

Sterling died of natural causes following a decade-long battle with shingles, said his son, Jeffrey. His wife and other close relatives were at his bedside.

Although he appeared in dozens of movies, Sterling was best known for the 1953-1956 TV series Topper, based on the Thorne Smith novel, and the 1937 film starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett.

fredfa

05-31-06, 01:08 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
A big laugh for 'Last Comic Standing'

Returning reality show pulls a 3.7 in 18-49s
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer May 31, 2006

Perhaps the time away did “Last Comic Standing” a bit of good. In its return after nearly a two-year absence, the NBC show helped the network win the night as the networks begin rolling out their summer schedules.

“Comic” averaged a 3.7 adults 18-49 overnight rating from 8 to 10 p.m. last night, winning its timeslot handily. It also led NBC to No. 1 for the night, well ahead of rerun-laden CBS, with a 3.5 average to the latter’s 2.6.

“Comic” was down about 8 percent from its summer 2004 premiere, which averaged a 4.0. That was for the second edition of the program. NBC canceled it after a fall 2004 edition of the show flopped against strong broadcast competition, but resurrected it earlier this year for summer.

That was likely a wise move. The show was a strong performer in its first two seasons, and it dominated the otherwise weak competition last night. Over its two hours, “Comic” doubled up Fox, UPN and the WB and nearly did the same to ABC, which averaged a 1.9. CBS averaged a 2.4 over the two hours with “NCIS” and “The Unit” reruns.

“Comic” pits standup wannabes against each other to vie for an NBC talent deal. This year “Yes, Dear” star Anthony Clark replaces Jay Mohr as host.

NBC took the night with a 3.5 rating and 10 share among 18-49s. CBS was second with 2.6/7, Fox and ABC tied at third with 1.8/5, Univision fifth with 1.4/4, WB sixth with 0.7/2, and UPN seventh with 0.6/2.

NBC started the night in the lead with a 3.2 at 8 p.m. for “Last Comic Standing.” CBS was second with a 2.5 for “NCIS,” ABC third with a 1.9 for “According to Jim” (1.8) and “Rodney” (1.9), Fox fourth with a 1.7 for the movie “Shanghai Knights” and Univision fifth with a 1.6 for “La Fea Mas Bella.” WB and UPN tied at sixth with a 0.8 for “Gilmore Girls” and “America’s Next Top Model,” respectively.

At 9, NBC held on to its lead with a 4.2 for “Comic” followed by CBS’s 2.3 for “The Unit,” Fox’s 2.0 for “Knights,” ABC’s 1.9 for “Jim” (2.0) and “Less Than Perfect” (1.8), Univision’s 1.5 for “Barrera de Amor,” WB’s 0.7 for “Pepper Dennis,” and UPN’s 0.4 for “Veronica Mars.”

At 10, NBC and CBS tied with a 3.1 for “Law & Order: SVU” and “48 Hours Mystery” respectively. ABC was third with a 1.6 for “Boston Legal.”

CBS won the night among households with a 6.7/11, followed by NBC’s 5.5/9, ABC’s 3.5/6, Fox’s 3.2/5 and Univision’s 1.8/3. WB and UPN tied at sixth with 1.3/2.

• Ratings courtesy Nielsen Media Research. Ratings information is taken from fast national data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change, especially in the case of live telecasts.

fredfa

05-31-06, 02:48 PM

TV Notebook
Crix pick hits

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In”Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Whenever anyone tries to crow about how out of touch television critics are, I just point them to the Nielsen ratings: The list of top-rated shows and most acclaimed series are usually pretty identical, as this year's Television Critics Association Awards nominations show.

(Full disclosure: I'm currently TCA president, which means I just have a lot more work to do.)

The Television Critics Association represents more than 220 journalists writing about television for print and online outlets in the United States and Canada.)

Here's this year's list of nominees:

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
"Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
"Lost" (ABC)
"The Office" (NBC)
"The Sopranos" (HBO)
"24" (Fox)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
"The Daily Show" (Comedy Central)
"Everybody Hates Chris" (UPN)
"My Name is Earl" (NBC)
"The Office" (NBC)
"Scrubs" (NBC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
"Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
"House" (Fox)
"Lost" (ABC)
"The Sopranos" (HBO)
"24" (Fox)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT MOVIES, MINI-SERIES AND SPECIALS
"American Masters: Bob Dylan: No Direction Home" (PBS)
"Elizabeth I" (HBO)
"Masterpiece Theatre: Bleak House" (PBS)
"Sleeper Cell" (Showtime)
"Viva Blackpool" (BBC America)

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
"Big Love" (HBO)
"The Colbert Report" (Comedy Central)
"Everybody Hates Chris" (UPN)
"My Name Is Earl" (NBC)
"Prison Break" (Fox)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Steve Carell ("The Office")
Stephen Colbert ("The Colbert Report")
Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls")
Jason Lee ("My Name Is Earl")
Jon Stewart (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart")

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Alan Alda ("West Wing")
James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos")
Hugh Laurie ("House")
Kiefer Sutherland ("24")
Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer")

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING
"Dora the Explorer" (Nickelodeon)
"Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" (Cartoon Network)
"High School Musical" (The Disney Channel)
"Nick News" (Nickelodeon)
"Sesame Street" (PBS)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION
"American Masters: Newhart" (PBS)
"Broadway: The Golden Age" (PBS)
"Frontline" (PBS)
"Frontline: Country Boys" (PBS)
"60 Minutes" (CBS)

HERITAGE AWARD
"Hallmark Hall of Fame" (CBS)
"The West Wing" (NBC)
"Will & Grace" (NBC)

http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin/

fredfa

05-31-06, 02:56 PM

Last week’s complete network average prime-time results (with demographic averages) are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS the first post in this thread.

RussB

05-31-06, 03:04 PM

TELEVISION

By MIKE MCDANIEL
May 31, 2006, 11:01AM
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Summer television keeps getting bigger and bigger. We count more than 100 shows that, during the next three months, will either debut or return.

We haven't seen everything, nor have we run across a surefire hit among the many tapes and DVDs we've sampled. But we did find a few shows definitely worth your time.

Best of the bunch

Lewis Black: Red, White and Screwed, June 11, HBO. Armed (with new material) and dangerous, the comedian weighs in on President Bush and Dick Cheney while visiting Washington, D.C. This one-night special is blistering and can't-miss.

Blade, June 29, Spike TV. Newcomer Kirk Jones is the sword-wielding half-human/half-vampire trying to save man from vampires intent on domination. The jury's still out on Jones, but the comic-book story works. Beware: The series pilot was blood-soaked, and the mayhem depicted is for mature audiences.

Brotherhood, July 9, Showtime. Jason Clarke and Jason Isaacs play brothers on opposite sides of the moral divide in this new drama series. One is a senator; the other's a mobster just released from prison.

Treasure Hunters, June 18, NBC. Ten three-person teams face brain teasers and physical challenges as they search cross-country for hidden treasure. Of the reality series available for preview, this one holds the most promise.

Saved, June 12, TNT. Tom Everett Scott is an adrenaline junkie, hooked on life as an EMT for part of his day, hooked on Texas Hold 'Em poker the other part. He also has daddy issues and an ambulance partner, played by Omari Hardwick, with daddy issues of his own.

Lovespring International, Monday, Lifetime. From producer Eric McCormack comes a hit-and-miss improvisational sitcom set at a dating service in Tarzana, Calif., run by people with relationship issues. Jane Lynch (Best in Show) stars.

The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, June 6, Oxygen. The woman who claims to have invented the word "supermodel" takes a break from Tyra Banks' show to start her own business. In Episode 1, she chooses models she wants to represent. Sexy.

America's Got Talent, June 21, NBC. From Simon Cowell comes another star-making reality show featuring talent of all kinds. Could this be the oddball hit of the summer?

Master of Champions, June 22, ABC. Contestants face such challenges as "interpretive pizza tossing," "amazing drift diving" and the "extreme unicycle obstacle course." Maybe this is the oddball hit of the summer.

Windfall, June 8, NBC. What happens to 20 people who play the lottery and win? If you're in the middle of a divorce or younger than 18, it can be a trying time, as this sometimes-wooden drama series shows.

Psych, July 7, USA. A young man (James Roday) with amazing cognitive abilities cons police into thinking he's a psychic by solving a complex crime. He teams up with a buddy (Dule Hill) and opens Psych, a detective agency posing as a medium's parlor.

Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, July 12, TNT.

Rock Star: Supernova, July 5, CBS. Reality show co-hosted by Dave Navarro in which members of Supernova — Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), Jason Newsted (Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (Guns N' Roses) — find a new lead singer.

Worth a peek

Tuesday Night Book Club, June 13, CBS. Reality show about middle-class suburban life as seen through the eyes of a group of female friends.

Kyle XY, June 26, ABC Family. About a smart teen with no belly button.

Returning faves

Rescue Me, debuted Tuesday, FX;
Celebrity Poker Showdown, debuted Wednesday, Bravo;
Footballers Wive$, Sunday, BBC America;
The Simple Life, E!;
The 4400, Sunday, USA; Deadwood, June 11, HBO;
Entourage, June 11, HBO;
Hell's Kitchen, June 12, Fox;
The Closer, June 12, TNT;
The Dead Zone, June 18, USA;
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, June 29, FX;
Big Brother: All-Stars, July 6, CBS;
Monk, July 7, USA;
Weeds, August, Showtime.

Best to avoid

Last Comic Standing, debuted Tuesday, NBC;
Gameshow Marathon, bowed Wednesday, CBS;
My Life on the D-List, June 6, Bravo;
Dog Bites Man, June 7, Comedy Central.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3915845.html

Note: The web site has a couple of pictures with descriptions.

fredfa

05-31-06, 03:06 PM

TV Notebook
Crix pick hits

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In”Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Whenever anyone tries to crow about how out of touch television critics are, I just point them to the Nielsen ratings: The list of top-rated shows and most acclaimed series are usually pretty identical, as this year's Television Critics Association Awards nominations show.

(Full disclosure: I'm currently TCA president, which means I just have a lot more work to do.)
[SNIP]

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION
"American Masters: Newhart" (PBS)
"Broadway: The Golden Age" (PBS)
"Frontline" (PBS)
"Frontline: Country Boys" (PBS)
"60 Minutes" (CBS)

OK, Frontline, I can agree. 60 Minutes, too. (But give PBS either a specific Frontline nomination or a generic one. Not both.)

But there was no broadcast of ABC News or NBC News or CNN or CNBC (which does some really solid financial reporting) or Fox News or MSNBC worth including?

American Masters: Newhart? Give me a break.
Broadway: The Golden Age? Come on.

I love Rob's columns and his blog is very, very useful to those who enjoy TV.

But this TCA awards list is replete, it seems to me, with the same old effete, snobbish picks. These people watch far too many network-supplied DVDs and spend far too little time on the shows most of us watch.

No CSI or Law & Order nominations? No Without A Trace? No Cold Case?

And there was not one, single special or mini-series on the networks worth nominating?

At the same time the critics continue to heap praise on Steve Colbert and Jon Stewart for their critically-loved (but not really watched) work.

Sorry, Rob, you guys are out of touch.

Way out of touch.

That's my opinion, anyway.

CPanther95

05-31-06, 03:13 PM

I'm disappointed in any "Top 5 Drama" ranking that excludes Battlestar. IIRC it made Rob's Top 10 list of shows last year, and Season 2.5 was phenomenal.

slocko

05-31-06, 03:18 PM

any idea how long after BG premiers that UHD begins airing new episodes? next season i think i will wait for it to appear on UHD, rather than watching the premier on sci-fi. it's going to be hard, but worth it.

fredfa

05-31-06, 03:20 PM

I don't know, slocko, perhaps CP95 has the answer.

fredfa

05-31-06, 03:25 PM

TV Notebook
Today Says Goodbye to Katie

By Stephen M. Silverman People.com Wednesday May 31, 2006
NBC's Today show said goodbye on Wednesday to its co-anchor of 15 years, Katie Couric.

"Farewell, friend," co-host Matt Lauer said at the opening of the special three-hour edition, citing Couric's "more than 15,000 interviews, millions of laughs and countless cups of coffee."

Plunking a box of tissues on the desk, Lauer said to Couric, "This isn't for you. It's for me."

"I'm feeling happy and sad and completely out of control, and you know how much I like that," Couric told Lauer, who noted that his outgoing partner is "a control freak."

This fall, Couric will assume her new role as anchor of the CBS Evening News. Meredith Vieira will take her place on Today in September, while Rosie O'Donnell fills Vieira's seat on ABC's The View.

For weeks, VIPs from Julie Andrews and former President Clinton to Condoleeza Rice and Sting have been issuing video farewells to Couric. Dateline co-anchor Stone Phillips even sat at his piano and played a song about her, set to the tune of the Ray Charles's "Ruby": "They say Katie, you're like a flame/ Into our lives you came/ And in your eyes we see/ Heartache for NBC."

"You've held America's hand during a lot of difficult times," news anchor Ann Curry told Couric on Wednesday while Lauer gave his partner a kiss on the cheek.

Al Roker struggled to keep his emotions in check during the tributes to the loved ones Couric lost to cancer (her husband, Jay Monahan, and her sister Emily). He also cited the number of lives she may have saved by encouraging viewers to get checked for colon cancer.

When it was Couric's turn to return the compliments, she said of her colleagues, "They're not just coworkers. They're lifelong friends." Then, turning to Lauer, she said, "And I know I'll never have a partner like you – because I'll never be working with a partner again."

Among the images during the send-off was a message in lights on Chicago's Wrigley Field: "We will miss you Katie. Good luck."

http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1199381,00.html

fredfa

05-31-06, 03:28 PM

TV Notebook
Michelle Rodriguez Gets Out of Jail Early

(REALLY Early)
By Ken Lee People.com

Call it a lucky break for Michelle Rodriguez: The former Lost actress was released from Los Angeles County Jail on Thursday after serving a mere four hours and 20 minutes of her two-month jail sentence.

"Needless to say, our prosecutors are not happy about this," says a spokesperson for the L.A. City Attorney's office. "But the sheriffs have a policy to let some nonviolent offenders go early, in part due to jail overcrowding."

Rodriguez, 27, must perform 30 days of community service and is on two years probation.

The night of her release, the actress was spotted at the Tropicana Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel, and on Monday night at the Hollywood club Shag.

"Michelle's happy with the way things turned out," her friend, designer Anand Jon, tells PEOPLE. "She knows this wasn't a literal get-out-of-jail-free card. Michelle's taken responsibility for the past and now she's ready to focus on her career."

On May 22, Rodriguez was sentenced to 60 days in jail for violating probation due to her DUI arrest last December in Hawaii.

In New York City the week before her sentencing, she told PEOPLE, "I'm a gypsy. I can see beauty in a jail cell."

In April, Rodriguez was sentenced to five days in an Oahu jail for her December 1, 2005, DUI arrest on the island. She served just 65 hours because the time she'd spent in custody after her arrest counted toward her sentence.

http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1199184,00.html

fredfa

05-31-06, 03:44 PM

TV Notebook
Ad sales bonanza for NBC in Katie's farewell

By Phyllis Furman New York Daily News Business Writer Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

Advertisers are coughing up big bucks to say goodbye to Katie.

NBC charged last-minute ad buyers about $110,000 for a 30-second commercial in today's "Today" show farewell to Katie Couric, sources told the Daily News.

While that's a fraction of the $2 million a spot NBC got for its massive "Friends" finale, it's more than double what the network charges for "Today" during its upfront sales. NBC execs declined to comment.

About 25% of the show's inventory was sold at the premium "Katie price," the sources said.

Advertisers who rushed to get in after Couric announced her departure for the anchor desk at the CBS Evening News in April include Hollywood studios, travel companies, and electronics and appliance advertisers.

They're banking on an audience spike. Media insiders say the bye-bye show - which will include a career retrospective as well as performances by Tony Bennett and Martina McBride - could see eyeballs jump anywhere from 10% to 40%.

"Most will be CBS and ABC (morning show) loyalists who will switch allegiances for the day," said Brad Adgate, director of research at media buying firm Horizon Media.

Viewers are expected to come on board, even though NBC didn't promote the farewell show in the same way it pitched Tom Brokaw's departure from the evening news anchor chair.

The expected ratings jump would be a win for the advertisers who paid the going rate for the "Today" show long before they knew about Couric's exit.

Those advertisers, advertising sources said, include Procter & Gamble, Nestle, MasterCard, Toyota, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson and Glaxo SmithKline.

Fox is advertising its Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway film "Devil Wears Prada."

After Katie's send-off, NBC has to be worried about keeping viewers and advertisers tuning in to its prized a.m. show, which generated $600 million in advertising revenues last year.

"It's the most profitable daypart," said Pattie Garrahy, CEO of ad buying firm PGR Media. "I think ('Today') is a little vulnerable."

But other ad buyers said the show will likely hold on to its audience.

"Katie did not carry the 'Today' show on her own," said Horizon CEO Bill Koenigsberg. "Matt Lauer has a huge following."

Meredith Vieira takes over for Couric in September.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/v-pfriendly/story/422258p-356403c.html

fredfa

05-31-06, 03:47 PM

I'm disappointed in any "Top 5 Drama" ranking that excludes Battlestar. IIRC it made Rob's Top 10 list of shows last year, and Season 2.5 was phenomenal.

I can agree with that.

But which of the nominees would you drop for BG?

(For me, it would "The Sopranos", which despite the swooning of most critics, has seemed less than consistently top-notch this season.)

fredfa

05-31-06, 03:50 PM

WOW!!!
AVS Now Has 250,000+ Members!

It was official at 4:22 ET May 31, 2006!

Threads: 657,414, Posts: 7,570,863, Members: 250,000
Average New Registrations Per Day (30 day average): 243
Welcome to our newest (250,00th!) member, Eldrewski

A quarter of a million members.

Congratulations to Alan and David and all those who have worked so hard for so many years!

fredfa

05-31-06, 03:58 PM

Washington Notebook
Governors Protest National Franchise

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com 5/31/2006

The nation’s governors want a pending House bill changed to give states the option to take control of the cable-franchising process from the Federal Communications Commission.

The call for change came in a bipartisan letter by the National Governors Association in connection with a House bill (H.R. 5252) that would federalize cable franchising for new video providers and, in some circumstances, for cable incumbents.

“Governors strongly support amending [H.R. 5252] to include provisions that would allow states to opt out of the national-franchising framework,” Govs. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) and Janet Napolitano (D-Ariz.) said in a letter Tuesday to Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and John Dingell (D-Mich.).

Under H.R. 5252, the FCC would take control of cable franchising of new entrants, such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., across the country. Cable incumbents are eligible for national franchises in certain cases, including if new providers enter their video markets under FCC licensing.

The bill -- which Barton is sponsoring but Dingell is opposing -- would continue to allow any cable-service provider to rely on a local or state franchise in lieu of a national franchise.

But Huckabee and Napolitano argued that the Barton bill would interfere with efforts by states to adopt statewide cable franchising in order to promote cable competition in a manner that does not ignore local needs. Texas, Virginia and Indiana have enacted statewide franchising.

The Barton bill, Huckabee and Napolitano said, “eviscerates these efforts with a federal framework that does not reflect the priorities and prerogatives of states.”

The Barton bill, passed by the Energy and Commerce Committee in late April, is awaiting full House action.

Huckabee and Napolitano also objected to provisions that would allow local governments to offer cable, information or telecommunications service without state authorization.

They called the provisions “an unwarranted federal intrusion into state affairs … which preempts states’ ability to manage broadband deployment in its political subdivisions.”

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleid=CA6339554

keenan

05-31-06, 04:04 PM

I can agree with that.

But which of the nominees would you drop for BG?

(For me, it would "The Sopranos", which despite the swooning of most critics, has seemed less than consistently top-notch this season.)
The Sopranos or 24 could be dropped in my mind. 24 is great TV , fun to watch and all, but Outstanding Achievement In Drama..? While there have been some outstanding acting jobs, the show is basically a graphic novel, cartoon-ish if you will.

I think this season of The Sopranos exemplifies what's wrong with HBO in general, they're just a little too full of themselves. This season probably plays great inside Hollywood, but the HBO audience in general..? I don't think so. If the Sopranos thread here at AVS is any indicator, it seems as if there is more displeasure being posted about this season than any other that I can remember.

I like The Sopranos, always have, but honestly, I'm ready for it to be over.

fredfa

05-31-06, 04:13 PM

Last week’s top 10 prime-time program ratings are now near the top of RATINGS NEWS -- the first post in this thread.

archiguy

05-31-06, 04:18 PM

The Sopranos or 24 could be dropped in my mind. 24 is great TV , fun to watch and all, but Outstanding Achievement In Drama..? While there have been some outstanding acting jobs, the show is basically a graphic novel, cartoon-ish if you will.

I agree with this. The time for '24' to receive such honors has passed. Each year is basically a carbon copy of the previous years with only the faces of the villains changing. I found this year, the highest rated in the series history, the least compelling so far. It's become paint-by-numbers TV.

But I still like The Sopranos and have enjoyed this year nearly as much as any other. It's always been a thinking-man's show, despite the veneer of brutality, and this year is no different.

Battlestar Galactica, however, is simply brilliant, and no show on TV is more topical or relevant. And they manage to achieve such brilliance week after week on a basic cable timeframe and budget. It deserves to be in anyone's top-five dramatic series list.

RussB

05-31-06, 04:29 PM

TV FEATURE

Series creator turns down offer for final season

By DAVID KRONKE
Los Angeles Daily News
May 31, 2006, 11:02AM

In an episode of the upcoming third season of HBO's acclaimed Western Deadwood, Al Swearengen, the town's saloon/brothel owner with the soul of a poet but the mouth of a sailor, declares, "Change ain't looking for friends."

Particularly if it's the change HBO has in store for fans of Deadwood.

Though series creator David Milch envisioned the program, which focuses on the denizens of the roughest community America had to offer in the late 1800s, to run for four seasons, HBO offered him a truncated, six-episode final season. Milch declined.

And, just as Swearengen notes later in the aforementioned scene, "Change calls the tune we dance to," HBO decided the song and dance were over.

Milch, in an event sponsored by the Writers Guild of America West last week, said, "I'm not competent enough to assess what combination of circumstances appears today to have curtailed (the series)," but he admitted that each episode of the series required "15, 16 days (of shooting) — maybe that's why we're speaking in the past tense." Most TV dramas film an episode in half that time, and Deadwood cost an estimated $5 million per episode, more than twice that of most hourlong dramas.

"I don't make (set) deadlines," Milch conceded with a shrug. He added that when a show becomes highly successful, a network will trumpet, "It's a hallmark of this network that we are brave enough to allow a certain idiosyncrasy in work schedules."

Not anymore, apparently. No contract extensions have been offered any Deadwood cast members. Their contracts conclude June 10, the day before the third season premieres.

Viewers who e-mail HBO about the show receive a form statement saying: "There has been no decision for the future of the series, and conversations regarding a fourth season are ongoing. (We've) granted our beloved 'Deadwood' cast the latitude to pursue other projects, for the time being."

Earlier on HBO's Deadwood message boards, cast member W. Earl Brown reported that the show's sets were being dismantled.

"I don't know where they are headed after the dismantling — to storage or to the dump," Brown continued. "I don't think (HBO chairman) Chris (Albrecht) has some personal vendetta against either us or anyone on the show. He can't base a decision solely on 'art' when his bottom line is suffering."

Still, Deadwood remains one of HBO's most popular original series, as well as a critical darling and an awards magnet.

In two seasons, it's won the prestigious Peabody Award, five Emmys and a Golden Globe for Ian McShane, who portrays the profanely scabrous Swearengen.

The HBO series Rome was renewed even though its viewership didn't approach Deadwood's and its first 12 episodes cost a reported $100 million (though the network split the costs with the British Broadcasting Corp.). HBO has been extravagantly promoting Entourage, which also returns for a third season June 11 but boasts a fraction of Deadwood's fan base.

Chip Collins of Boston, who admits he wasn't even a fan of Westerns until the series came along, created a Web site, savedeadwood.net, and within a few days rustled up $6,000 to place an ad in Daily Variety imploring HBO to allow Milch to give his creation proper closure.

"Its writing is so much different than anything else that's on TV," Collins enthused by phone, "and the composition of particular shots is up there with the best of anything I've ever seen. I'd even call them Kubrickian."

Still, Collins conceded, "It's hard to think of many fan campaigns to save shows that have worked. But we really went into this with the idea that we want to make a statement. We want to go down fighting."

For his part, Milch will begin shooting a new HBO series, John From Cincinnati, which he describes as "surfer-noir," in July, and professed no ill feelings toward the network.

"My collaboration has been a uniformly positive one," he said.

Milch expressed the hope that fans could view the third season outside the context of Deadwood's early cancellation.

Noting that he had been editing the season's ninth episode earlier in the day, Milch recalled watching a scene be formed in the editing bay.

"I thought, 'Gee, that's nice,' and then I thought, 'Boy, I'm going to miss it.' And that 'Boy, I'm going to miss it' takes me out of the scene.

"Everything can take on a new meaning," he continued. "Your experience of the meaning of Deadwood — the betrayal of the artist by an unfeeling corporate organism — you can let that be what you take from the show; that is there.

"But if that's all you take from this season, you will be deprived. Just let Deadwood be Deadwood."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3915840.html

Note: The web site has a picture of David Milch, Deadwood creator and producer.

RussTC3

05-31-06, 04:37 PM

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to respectively disagree with most of you when it comes to Battlestar Galactica.

The show is a shadow of it's former wonderful, unbelievable 1st season self. I pretty much hated season 2's change in style and it's desire to do more soapy elements and move away from the sci-fi angle (is it any surprise that the creators are planning a spinoff "Caprica"?).

If we were talking 1st season, I would fully get behind the terms used for the show such as "brilliant", but I'm sorry, the second season was a major letdown for me in both quality and substance. There was more filler than usual, and it seems like they've lost focus, or simply don't "have a plan" like the teaser tells us the Cylons have.

I won't be watching season 3.

They try TOO hard to give character to these characters and in the end, they come out to be too fake.

However, EJO is brilliant in the part of Adama, and I would love to see him get at least a nod for Best Actor.

Sorry, just thought I'd share my feelings. :)

fredfa

05-31-06, 04:48 PM

fredfa

05-31-06, 05:04 PM

TV Notebook
To Be Frank

By Michael Starr The New York Post

May 31, 2006 -- 'Sopranos" co-star Frank Vincent, aka Phil Leotardo, wants to return next January for the final eight episodes of the HBO mob drama.

"I'm in negotiations as we speak," he said yesterday. "I don't know who else is signed. That's their business."

Michael Imperioli (Christopher) and Vincent Curatola (Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni) have already inked deals for the final season, according to trade reports, along with series stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco.

Vincent did promise that this Sunday's sixth-season finale will be, well, memorable.

"You're going to see a great finale - let's just say it's explosive, how's that?" he said. "On Monday you'll thank me for saying that to you."

Vincent has had a breakout season on "The Sopranos," with Phil running the New York "family" in lieu of imprisoned mob boss Johnny Sack - and dealing directly with Jersey counterpart Tony Soprano (Gandolfini).

"I think the juxtaposition between Tony and Phil is interesting. Tony is a different generation than Phil, who's an old mob guy who lives by the old rules, by the way it was 40 years ago," he said.

"Phil is just the acting boss while Tony is already the boss - so they started out with a lot of baggage to begin with.

"And Tony was very close socially with John," he said. "It's been a tough thing for Tony to take orders from Phil."

Vincent, who joined the show last season, saw his role expand this season.

"Johnny is still the boss, but he has to filter everything through Phil, because Phil is in the trenches," he said. "Phil has been built up, and he's more involved with the storylines, on the mob side of the stories. He's got a wife, he's got a crew, and now you're seeing more of him."

A note of disharmony crept into "The "Sopranos" family recently when Curatola intimated that unnamed cast members were unnecessarily shining the show's spotlight on themselves, rather than on the show as a whole.

Curatola's comments came just days after both Vincent and Joseph Gannascoli, who played outed gay mobster Vito Spatafore, publicly expounded on their screen time.

"I don't think Vince meant what the press said he meant," Vincent said. "I know him very well, and we're good friends.

"I'm not going to comment because I wasn't there, but it's just a positive thing to be with the people on this show," he said.

"It's been great for my career, and that's why I love doing it."

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/66778.htm

AFH

05-31-06, 05:16 PM

It is very hard to sustain the surprising excellence of a show's first season, Russ.

I think too often we (and most especially, the TV critics) allow the memories of the early brilliance of show cloud our judgment.

I suspect I was guilty of that a bit with "The West Wing" and some others.

I think to an extent, a lot of the critics were guilty of this with Desperate Housewives. Granted, the Applewhites story and unconnectedness the women seemed to have from each other this season are legit complaints, but the critics were killing it to the point were it just seemed like everyone was making fun of the cute girl b/c she had a giant spot on the back of her dress. They just piled on and continued thru out the season. They couldn't get pass season one and let the show settle into what it could be.

fredfa

05-31-06, 05:20 PM

Cable TV Notebook
NBA Drives TNT in May

By Linda Moss Multichannel.com 5/31/2006

Enjoying a lift from the National Basketball Association playoffs, TNT was the top-ranked champion in primetime for cable in May, according to Nielsen Media Research data released Wednesday.

TNT scored a 2.6 household rating, up 8% from May 2005, according to a Disney ABC Cable Networks Group analysis of Nielsen data. TNT was followed by second-place USA Network, which garnered a 2.1 rating, up a whopping 17% over last May. Disney Channel was No. 3 with a 1.9, a 12% gain over last May.

In fourth place was ESPN, which, like TNT, saw a ratings spurt because of its NBA playoff coverage, paired with Major League Baseball. ESPN had a 1.7 rating, up a supersized 55%.

Cartoon Network and Nick at Nite each registered 1.4 ratings in primetime. Cartoon saw a 7% dip from last May, while NAN slid 18%, according to Nielsen.

Also in a tie were Lifetime Television and FX, each with a 1.3. Lifetime slipped 7% from last year, while FX saw a double-digit gain, up 18%.

TBS and Fox News Channel tallied the same primetime rating, a 1.2. Both networks were down 8% from last May.

Hallmark Channel posted a 1.1 rating, up a sizable 38% from last year.

CNBC, ESPN Classic and OLN saw the largest gains in primetime in the month of May, with each up 100% from last year. CNBC and ESPN Classic each posted 0.2 ratings, up from 0.1. OLN registered a 0.4, up from a 0.2.

The biggest losers included Fuse, down 100% from a 0.1 last year, and Style, down 50% to a 0.1, according to Nielsen.

archiguy

05-31-06, 05:20 PM

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to respectively disagree with most of you when it comes to Battlestar Galactica.

Sorry, just thought I'd share my feelings. :)

No need to apologize; that's what makes a horse race. :) But enough folks in high places disagree with your assessment of Season 2 that BSG was able to win one of those prestigious Peabody Awards for best drama series. That's a pretty significant recognition of the quality of this show.

I certainly saw no drop off in quality or a thematic change for the worse in S-2. And it looks like they're taking a big risk in S-3 as well, shaking things up even further. I, for one, can't wait until October! ;)

fredfa

05-31-06, 05:46 PM

I think to an extent, a lot of the critics were guilty of this with Desperate Housewives. Granted, the Applewhites story and unconnectedness the women seemed to have from each other this season are legit complaints, but the critics were killing it to the point were it just seemed like everyone was making fun of the cute girl b/c she had a giant spot on the back of her dress. They just piled on and continued thru out the season. They couldn't get pass season one and let the show settle into what it could be.

Agreed, Antonio.

fredfa

05-31-06, 06:11 PM

Cable TV Notebook
HBO and Three Key 'Sopranos' Reach Pact to Conclude Series

By Brooks Barnes The Wall Street Journal May 31, 2006

The mob takes care of its own, and apparently so does HBO.

Time Warner Inc.'s premium cable channel has closed deals with three actors who play key characters on "The Sopranos" to appear in the final eight episodes of the groundbreaking series. HBO had been trying to avoid renegotiating for the remaining episodes by characterizing the final 20 episodes of the show as a single "season," even though they would be shown over two years.

The trio that secured varied raises, according to people familiar with the matter, are Michael Imperioli, who plays mobster Tony Soprano's hothead nephew Christopher; Lorraine Bracco, who plays Tony's shrink; and Vincent Curatola, who plays New York boss Johnny Sack. James Gandolfini, who stars as Tony Soprano, already signed a new pact taking him through the series finale that pays him in the neighborhood of $1 million an episode, as did Edie Falco, who plays his wife. Although more key characters in the show remain unsigned, with each new contract HBO's leverage increases

fredfa

05-31-06, 06:13 PM

Washington Notebook
FCC Denies Janet Jackson Appeal Series

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 5/31/2006

As expected, the FCC has denied CBS' challenge to the commission's half a million dollar fine of the CBS stations for broadcasting the 2004 Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime reveal, rejecting CBS' assertion that the broadcast was not indecent.

CBS response, essentially, was: "See you in court."

"The Commission affirms its finding that CBS’ violation was willful and declines to reduce the forfeiture imposed upon CBS," the FCC said in a statement. "Finally, the Commission rejects CBS’ argument that the FCC’s indecency framework is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, both on its face and as applied to the halftime show."

CBS, which has now exhausted the appeals process and can take the decsion to court if it chooses, intimated that course of action in its statement: "”CBS has apologized to the American people many times for the inappropriate and unexpected half-time incident during the 2004 Super Bowl," the network said, "and we have taken steps to make certain it will never happen again. But we continue to disagree with the FCC’s finding that the broadcast was legally indecent.

"We will continue to pursue all remedies necessary to affirm our legal rights, and so today’s decision by the FCC is just another step in that process.”

fredfa

05-31-06, 06:15 PM

Washington Notebook
FCC Not Backing Down on Super Bowl Fine

By Todd Shields MediaWeek.com MAY 31, 2006 -

Federal regulators on Wednesday said they would not reconsider their decision to fine CBS stations $550,000 for the 2004 Super Bowl display of Janet Jackson’s breast, sending the incident that enflamed the debate over televised indecency one step closer to a possible court date.

The Federal Communications Commission in a 16-page order concluded it was correct to decide laws against indecent broadcasts were violated by “the offensive spectacle of a man tearing off a woman’s clothing on stage” during the most-watched program of the 2003-2004 season.

CBS said it continues to disagree with the FCC’s finding. “We will continue to pursue all remedies necessary to affirm our legal rights, and so today’s decision by the FCC is just another step in that process,” the network said in a statement.

The development comes with CBS and the other three major networks, along with their affiliate organizations, already in court seeking to overturn a fresh batch of penalties proposed by the FCC in March.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002611287

fredfa

05-31-06, 06:19 PM

TV Notebook
Dozier's Family Arrives In Landstuhl

She Remains In Critical But Stable Condition
Mediabistro.com

CBS News released this update today: "Kimberly Dozier's parents, sister, brother and sister-in-law and boyfriend arrived at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center today (31), and she responded to their presence.

Kimberly's doctors are continuing to treat the injuries to her head and legs. She is under heavy sedation, but is responding to treatment. She remains in critical but stable condition.

The families of CBS News cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, who were killed while reporting a story in Baghdad, will accompany the bodies of their loved ones to London on Thursday."

fredfa

05-31-06, 07:26 PM

TV Notebook
Katie Says Goodbye to 'Today'

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer May 31, 2006

Around the 18th hour into Today's big, fat wet kiss to Katie Couric, the chirpy anchor with the gummy smile looked into the camera and said of her farewell what millions of viewers were probably thinking: "It's a celebration of moi -- ad nauseam."

I know it was only three hours. But after hour two, it felt more like 30. I'm talking days, not hours. I'm sure Katie felt the same way. Then again, perhaps she didn't. Katie, after all, has never been one to shy away from hogging the spotlight. This morning was all about her. Much like Today has been all about Katie for many of the 15 years she's been on the show.

On today's very special Today, we got the usual clip job of Katie interviewing presidents, politicians, celebrities, kings, queens and average folks with extraordinary stories to tell. We saw Katie front and center at such history-making stories as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Princess Di's death, the Clarence Thomas hearings, the Gulf War and Saddam Hussein's capture. We saw a young Katie making her broadcast journalist bones at CNN in Atlanta and affiliates in Miami and Washington, D.C.

Good stuff. But I most enjoyed watching the segment on Katie's various hairstyles and hideous '90s wardrobe. My how both have changed over the years. Thankfully Katie ditched those awful "tablecloth" jackets -- jackets, as Joan Rivers hilariously observed where "you're waiting for the ants to be coming over your shoulder." Rivers also noted that Katie's hair color has changed so much, her head looked like a "mood ring."

I howled.

I also enjoyed Matt Lauer's heartfelt toast at the end of the show during which he called Katie a "great colleague" and a "terrific friend." What a classy guy -- and funny, too. Matt said he never thought of himself and Katie as co-anchors. They were more like partners..."in every way possible."

Ooooooooooh. I'm sure that was news to Matt's wife and Katie's significant other. My jaw was on the ground for a split second. Was Matt giving us the juiciest morning show scoop in the history of morning shows to keep the folks at ABC's Good Morning America from nipping at Today's ratings heels?

No such luck as Matt eventually added, "Not that way. That would've been a little weird."

Katie had a great 15-year run on Today. Despite her incessant yakking and annoying inability to let interview subjects talk, she owned the joint like no one's business. But fifteen years is a long time.

So is three hours to say goodbye. See ya in the fall, Katie.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2006/05/katie_says_good.html

keenan

05-31-06, 07:56 PM

No need to apologize; that's what makes a horse race. :) But enough folks in high places disagree with your assessment of Season 2 that BSG was able to win one of those prestigious Peabody Awards for best drama series. That's a pretty significant recognition of the quality of this show.

I certainly saw no drop off in quality or a thematic change for the worse in S-2. And it looks like they're taking a big risk in S-3 as well, shaking things up even further. I, for one, can't wait until October! ;)
I agree, I thought S2 was even better than S1. I think some folks get stuck at the door with the scifi/space aspect of it. It's really so much more than that, the scifi/space part is a minor character in the overall scheme of the show for me.

I think Fred is one who may have been dis-interested in BG initially, probably due to it's heritage, the 70's version. I don't know if he's watched any of yet, but I'll bet if he did, he would like it.

fredfa

05-31-06, 08:02 PM

I keep putting it off, Jim, but you are probably right.
Maybe I'll get the DVD and watch the first season.

fredfa

05-31-06, 08:29 PM

The Business of Cable TV
Burke: Non-Video Subs to Take Lead

By Gary Arlen Multichannel.com 5/31/2006

Carlsbad, Calif. -- Comcast Corp. will have “more non-video customers than video subscribers” within the next five years, chief operating officer Steve Burke said Wednesday.

The nation’s largest cable-system operator expects to have 25 million Internet and voice accounts, significantly larger than its current base of 21.5 million video subscribers, Burke said.

For instance, the number of Comcast high-speed-Internet customers is growing 15% annually, compared with 1% growth industrywide of multichannel-video customers, Burke said at the “D: All Things Digital” conference here hosted by The Wall Street Journal. Burke was substituting for Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.

Burke also predicted that Comcast’s number of HDTV customers could double within the next 18 months, although he cautioned that growth will depend on more networks delivering programs in HD.

He added that Internet TV is part of cable’s future, with Comcast seeking “to make our portal more compelling than the competition,” referring to telephone companies’ Internet services.

Burke said, “It is a good thing” to put more shows on the Internet. He suggested that content suppliers should consider “slicing and dicing shows” and making these segments available online -- even before they run on cable networks.

Such an approach should be useful to producers that are exploring new schedules for releasing new programs, he added.

Done right, the use of the Internet should not threaten existing revenue, Burke said, adding, “Fear of Internet bypass is not a realistic fear for us.”

fredfa

05-31-06, 08:44 PM

TV Notebook TV
CBS Correspondent's E-Mail Before Blast Haunts Co-Workers

Dozier told of plans for a story about "fighting on in memory of those who have fallen."
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer May 31, 2006

NEW YORK — When producers of the "CBS Evening News" arrived in the newsroom Monday morning, there was an e-mail waiting from correspondent Kimberly Dozier.

In a note written Sunday night, she detailed a Memorial Day story she planned to do about a U.S. soldier wounded in Iraq who insisted on going back to the battlefield, a piece about "fighting on in memory of those who have fallen."

Her words now haunt her colleagues.

"That's what we're doing now," said Rome Hartman, the newscast's executive producer.

Dozier, cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan were traveling with the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the Army's 4th Infantry Division in central Baghdad for just a few hours early Monday to get material for the story when a car bomb exploded nearby, killing Douglas and Brolan and seriously wounding Dozier. A U.S. soldier and Iraqi interpreter were also killed, and six soldiers were hurt.

On Tuesday, Dozier remained in critical but stable condition at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, to which she was airlifted after undergoing two surgeries in Iraq. She is being treated for shrapnel wounds to her head and extensive injuries to her legs and is expected to remain there for several days.

Army Col. W. Bryan Gamble, commander of the American military hospital, told CBS that the 39-year-old correspondent was doing "as well as can be expected," noting that she was moving her toes and was responsive to commands.

"The doctors seem pleased with the progress that she's made and the outcome of the surgeries she had," Hartman said Tuesday, while noting that Dozier "has a long ways to go."

Back in New York, the CBS News staff struggled to absorb the blow of losing two colleagues amid fear for the health of a third.

"It's been a very painful experience, obviously," Hartman said. "I have to say I've been inspired by the way in which the organization has responded. The instinct that I witnessed yesterday was to just do everything we can to care for the families of our colleagues."

On Tuesday, employees shared memories of Douglas, Brolan and Dozier in postings on the CBS News website, noting their dedication to covering the story, no matter the risks.

"Paul, James and Kimberly were not thrill seekers, 'cowboys' or war junkies," wrote Rome-based correspondent Allen Pizzey. "They were two good men and a good woman doing a job they liked, and which they believed served a higher purpose. None of us who cover wars are so vain as to think we can change the world. But we believe we can make a difference."

Dozier joined CBS as a correspondent in 2003 and spent the bulk of her time reporting from Iraq after an extensive journalism career that took her to some of the world's most dangerous regions.

Former anchor Dan Rather said that Dozier was "as close to fearless as anyone, man or woman, that I know."

"She would jump a buzz saw if she thought it would get her a story," Rather wrote on CBSNews.com.

"Besides her courage, her work ethic has become a rightful legend. She works harder than a lumberjack or oilfield roughneck. This is one strong woman. People rarely think of a woman as pretty as Kimberly as being strong. She is. Strong of body and spirit."

Cameraman Douglas, 48, had worked for CBS News for more than a decade in hot spots such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Brolan, 42, was a freelancer who had worked for the network for a year, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bodies of both men, who were British, are being flown to Kuwait, where they will be met by their families.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-et-cbs31may31,0,5749214,print.story

fredfa

05-31-06, 09:01 PM

TV Notebook
Katie Couric says goodbye to 'Today'

By David Kronke Los Angeles Daily News Television Critic 5/31/2006

Katie Couric's final day on ``Today's'' couch was an occasion for tears, laughs and a look back at a lot of hairstyles.

Montage after montage of Katie moments filled Wednesday's three hours of ``Today.'' The first began as a sequence establishing Couric's journalistic credentials, showing her asking tough questions of politicians and public figures, before dovetailing into images of her dancing (badly) and singing (even worse).

Presumably, she'll be doing less of those last two things when she takes over the anchor's chair at ``The CBS Evening News'' in September.

After watching one of the montages, Couric marveled at ``some of the weird things I've done.''

Co-host Matt Lauer responded, ``We could do a three-hour show on that.''

Couric later one-upped Lauer, telling him, ``I'll never have a partner like you again because I'll never be working with a partner again.''

Early on, Lauer brought out a box of tissues ``Those are for me,'' he said. Couric first teared up in the first hour, after watching a montage of some of the most emotional interviews she had conducted, including the Central Park jogger and survivors of 9/11 and the Columbine High School massacre.

By the third hour of what she called ``This celebration of moi ad nauseum,'' Couric's eyes seemed perpetually misty and she was routinely clutching a tissue as she traversed ``Today's'' outdoor area in Rockefeller Plaza. ``I'm starting to feel embarrassed,'' she said of all the hagiography at one point and that was before the montage focusing on her fashion sense.

Another emotional moment came when Couric interviewed survivors of colon cancer who sported T-shirts reading ``Thank You Katie! You Saved My Life.'' After losing her husband, Jay Monahan, to colon cancer in 1998, Couric made awareness of the malady a top priority, even once receiving a colonoscopy on the air.

But it wasn't all treacle. Recalling that she was pregnant when she first debuted on ``Today,'' Couric reflected, ``I got up, threw up, and went to work.''

Lauer, declaring he ``hate(d)'' the term ``co-anchor,'' announced, ``We've been partners in every way possible,'' before reconsidering:

``Not that way.'' Lauer, dubbing Couric ``the perfect combination of Edward R. Murrow and Lucille Ball,'' fondly recalled the laughs he had shared with his colleague, ``everything from giggles to belly laughs.''

Musical guests included Tony Bennett, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood and the cast of the Broadway musical ``Jersey Boys.''

Concluding her final morning broadcast with a Champagne toast with the show's entire staff, Couric enthused, ``I couldn't ask for a nicer, better send-off.

``Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it,'' she told Lauer and ``Today's'' cast and crew. ``I leave not with a heavy heart but with a very full heart, filled with gratitude.''

http://dailynews.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3883557

fredfa

05-31-06, 09:37 PM

Last week’s top 20 prime-time program ratings are now near the top of RATINGS NEWS -- the first post in this thread.

fredfa

05-31-06, 10:24 PM

Cable News TV Notebook
May, 2006 Cable News Ratings

Here, courtesy of mediabistro.com (and Nielsen Media Research, of course) are the May, 2006 Cable News ratings.

fredfa

05-31-06, 10:31 PM

Nielsen Notebook
'Idol' pulls in big numbers

By Gary Levin USA Today

•Idol 's away. Top-rated American Idol didn't disappoint Fox (or Taylor Hicks). Wednesday's two-hour, fifth-season finale averaged 36.4 million viewers, the series' most-watched episode yet, and beat last year's finish by 6 million viewers. Tuesday's hour averaged 31.8 million, the show's top performance episode.

•Finale fever. Lost solved some of its mysteries for 17.8 million viewers, its best number since February, though the drama was down 3 million from last spring's finale. The clock stopped for a fifth year of Fox's 24 Monday with 13.8 million, capping its most-watched season overall with the show's second-biggest finish, behind Season 2's 14.2 million. And the series finale of ABC's Alias Monday garnered 6.7 million viewers, its lowest finale yet, and down from last year's 10.1 million.

•House rules. The second-season finale of Fox's House, behind Tuesday's Idol, was off the charts with 25.5 million viewers, a series high that easily topped last May's finish (19.5 million).

•Modest specials. Fighting for leftovers, ABC fizzled Tuesday with Stephen King's Desperation (third place, 7.5 million) while NBC faced similar shrugs for Part 2 of 10.5: Apocalypse (6.5 million), down from 8.3 million for Sunday's Part 1. That same night, CBS' Academy of Country Music Awards was about average with 12 million but did slightly better than in the previous two years.

•Daytime to prime time. ABC's Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball averaged 11.6 million viewers Monday, modest by Oprah-special standards, while CBS' Dr. Phil: Escaping Addiction succumbed Wednesday with 5.2 million.

•Dance dance revolution. Helped by promos during Idol, the season premiere of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, which ushered in summer's reality wave, averaged a series-high 10.7 million viewers Thursday. Last summer's opener drew 10.3 million.

•Cable corner. The season finale of Bravo's Top Chef carved out 1.5 million viewers Wednesday; VH1's Sunday premiere of My Fair Brady snagged 824,000.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-05-31-nielsen-analysis_x.htm

fredfa

05-31-06, 11:35 PM

Today Show Notebook
A Sentimental Send-Off for Katie Couric, With a Touch of Sendup

By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times June 1, 2006

Willard Scott put it the least delicately, but his tribute was perhaps the most apt. "You may have been a headache," Mr. Scott, the retired NBC weatherman, sang to Katie Couric yesterday, her last morning as a co-anchor of "Today," "but you never were a bore."

Throughout her record 15-year tenure, Ms. Couric was easy to love and at times fun to hate, but she was always the most vibrant personality on network television. Her popularity helped keep NBC's "Today" the top-rated morning program for more than a decade, and it is still the most profitable show on television. NBC, a network that has no shame when it comes to milking finales and farewells, pulled out all the stops yesterday. The three-hour Katiefest, which even she described as a "celebration of moi, ad nauseam," was by turns maudlin, mocking, touching and over the top.

All that excess was quite fitting: Ms. Couric, who is moving to CBS to become the first female solo anchor of a network evening news program, is a dominant force in television and for many viewers has been the first face they saw in the morning. America watched her morph from sassy reporter to working mother and widow, and most recently to glamorous diva. Those who question whether she can curb her ebullient persona to fit the more sober role of news anchor were given a clue yesterday: all those highlight reels of Ms. Couric's career revealed just how tough-minded and flexible she is behind the carefree, girlish facade.

The farewell could have turned unbearably cloying but didn't, mainly because Ms. Couric reined in her emotions and did not exit in a puddle of tears. NBC seemed determined to make her fall apart, but her goal was to stay in control, the first step toward turning herself into a serious news anchor.

One thing about television tributes is that there is a wealth of taped material to mine: the extravaganza was preceded by a two-week countdown in which every broadcast included taped encomiums from celebrities ranging from Condoleezza Rice to George Clooney (Bill Clinton praised her "bright smile, serious reporting and playful sense of humor"), as well as clips of her "memorable moments."

Those high points were shown again, and they included her first day on the "Today" set in 1991 as a tomboy-next-door who stole the show from Bryant Gumbel, her 19-minute ambush interview with former President George H. W. Bush in 1993 and her live broadcast on Sept 11, 2001. Throughout the morning "Today" paid homage to her on-air colonoscopy in 2000, which she did to promote cancer prevention. She called that her proudest contribution.

After her husband, John Paul Monahan III, died of colon cancer in 1998 at 42, Ms. Couric became a crusader for early screening. And as part of the tribute, the network assembled a group of colon-cancer survivors who wore T-shirts that read, "Thank you Katie" on the front and "You saved my life" on the back.

The subjects of her most emotionally wrought interviews were also brought back onstage, including Trisha Meili, better known as the Central Park Jogger, who was severely beaten in 1989. And when Tony Bennett sang her wedding song, "The Way You Look Tonight," Ms. Couric's eyes misted a few times, and she dabbed away a tear or two, but never broke down.

Her colleagues' parting words were glowing and gracious, and only a few seemed a bit strained. (When Ann Curry, the "Today" show news reader, said in a husky tone, "Don't be a stranger, because if you do, I'll come calling," Ms. Couric replied with a laugh, "You're starting to creep me out, Ann.")

Her co-anchor, Matt Lauer, kept a balance between sentimentality and mischief. And there was a lot of teasing and many shots of Ms. Couric clowning in costume, from Marilyn Monroe to Peter Pan to Donald Trump. One highlight was a slightly malicious montage of her hairstyles and many outfits (3,421) over the last 15 years. Joan Rivers provided the commentary, describing one red-checked jacket as a tablecloth. "You're just waiting for the ants to come over her shoulders," Ms. Rivers said.

Anybody can look foolish in old pictures, but the many looks back mostly showed how expertly natural Ms. Couric was as morning host, even in her earliest days. Given how prudently she handled her last day at NBC, it is hard to believe she will be less credible as the anchor of the "CBS Evening News."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/arts/television/01watc.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

06-01-06, 12:30 AM

TV Notebook
A Summer 'to-view' List

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Thursday, June 1, 2006 (All times ET/PT)
Thursday, June 1
• "Gameshow Marathon," 8 p.m. CBS
Friday, June 2
• "Beyond the Break," The N, 5:30 p.m. (time-period premiere, 5 p.m. June 16)
Sunday, June 4
• "Falcon Beach," 8 p.m. ABC Family (regular time, 9 p.m. Mondays)
Monday, June 5
• "Lovespring International," 11 p.m. Lifetime
Tuesday, June 6
• "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List," 9 p.m. Bravo
• "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency," 10 p.m. Oxygen
Wednesday, June 7
• "Dog Bites Man," 10:30 p.m. Comedy Central
Thursday, June 8
• "Hex," 7 p.m., BBC America
• "Windfall," 10 p.m. NBC
Sunday, June 11
• "Deadwood," "Entourage," "Lucky Louie," 9-11 p.m. HBO
• "The 4400," 9 p.m. USA
Monday, June 12
• "The Closer," "Saved," 9 and 10 p.m. TNT
• "How To Get The Guy," 10 p.m. ABC
• "Hell's Kitchen," 9 p.m. Fox
Tuesday, June 13
• "Tuesday Night Book Club," 10 p.m. CBS
Sunday, June 18
• "Treasure Hunters," 8 p.m. NBC (regular time: 9 p.m. Mondays)
• "The Dead Zone," 10 p.m. USA
Wednesday, June 21
• "America's Got Talent," 9 p.m. NBC, results show 8:30 p.m. Thursdays
starting July 13
Thursday, June 22
• "Master of Champions," 8 p.m. ABC
Sunday, June 25
• "The Venture Bros," 10:30 p.m. Cartoon Network
Wednesday June 28
• "Blade: The Series," 10 p.m. Spike TV
Thursday, June 29
• "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," 10 p.m. FX
Friday, June 30
• "Whistler," 9 p.m. The N
Saturday, July 1
• "Hustle," 10 p.m. AMC
Wednesday, July 5
• "Rock Star: Supernova," 8 p.m. CBS
Thursday, July 6
• "Big Brother 7: All-Stars," 8 p.m. CBS
Friday, July 7
• "Monk," "Psych," 9 and 10 p.m. USA
Sunday, July 9
• "Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes," 9 p.m.
• "Reno 911!," 10 p.m. Comedy Central
• "Brotherhood," 10 p.m. Showtime
Wednesday, July 12
• "Project Runway," 10 p.m. Bravo
• "Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King," 9 p.m. TNT
Friday, July 14
• "Stargate SG-1," "Stargate Atlantis," 9 and 10 p.m. Sci Fi
Sunday, July 16
• "Angela Eyes," 9 p.m. Lifetime
Monday, July 17
• "Driving Force," 9 p.m. A&E
Tuesday, July 18
• "Eureka," 9 p.m. Sci Fi
Wednesday, July 26
• "Who Wants To Be a Superhero," 9 p.m. Sci Fi
Monday, Aug. 14
• "Weeds," 10 p.m. Showtime
Already premiered:
• "Last Comic Standing," airs 9 p.m. Tuesdays, NBC
• "Rescue Me," airs10 p.m. Tuesdays FX;
• remaining episodes of "Commander in Chief," 10 p.m. Wednesdays ABC
• "So You Think You Can Dance," 9 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, Fox
• "Gameshow Marathon," 8 p.m. Wednesdays, CBS
Yet to be scheduled
• "Buy It Now," ABC
• "One Ocean View", ABC
• "The One: Making a Music Star," ABC
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/272285_tvside01.html

jim tressler

06-01-06, 08:15 AM

Whats the "N"?

TV Notebook
A Summer 'to-view' List

• "Beyond the Break," The N, 5:30 p.m. (time-period premiere, 5 p.m. June 16)

CPanther95

06-01-06, 09:34 AM

Whats the "N"?

NOGGIN at night (for teens).

http://www.the-n.com/

fredfa

06-01-06, 09:35 AM

It is on starting at 6 PM ET/ 3PM PT.

fredfa

06-01-06, 09:40 AM

The TV Column
Katie Couric's Farewell Tour

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 1, 2006; C01

It was the day we'd all been dreading. After 15 years, America's Sweetheart Katie Couric is leaving us to fend for ourselves in the morning, heading off to the "CBS Evening News" to replace the shown-the-door Dan Rather.

Yesterday morning, however, "Today" was All About Katie:

The show's Other Person, Matt Lauer, pulls out a box of hankies. "This is not for you; it's for me," he says, and off we go on the Cash-Lined Road to the Land of CBS.

"It's going to be a great day, Katie. We're all excited for you," says Ann Curry, better known as the "Today" newsreader who was passed over as Katie's replacement, before flicking back her beautiful black hair and interrupting the KatieFest with news of car bombings, the mounting death toll from the Indonesian quake and the finding of an 8-year-old boy who was missing for four days in the wild of Colorado.

"Gosh, I'm feeling happy and sad, and completely out of control, and you know how much I like that," Katie tells Matt.

Matt tells Katie they've got some surprises in store for her. Katie says she doesn't think so; she thinks she's been able to ferret out most of the morning's planned surprises.

"I can't believe they filled the position of CIA chief and you weren't on the list," Matt shoots back.

See Katie's alarm go off at 4:59 a.m. See Katie's driver calling her from the limo downstairs, which means he has to get up way earlier than she does. Hear Katie telling him on his cellphone to knock it off and try back in 15 minutes. See Jolly Weatherman Al Roker confirm that Katie arrives at work about 10 minutes before the show starts at 7 a.m. weekdays. But she hits the ground running, Matt says, anxious not to leave viewers at home with the wrong impression.

Katie's first stop on the Cash-Lined Road: The Land of Tough Interviews. This is for all you non-Katie fans out there who slam CBS News for hiring a lightweight best known for dressing up as Peter Pan and having a Celebrity Colonoscopy.

See Katie make important people squirm, including President Bush the Elder, Bob Dole, Pat Robertson, Colin Powell, Wacky White Supremacist Guy, Laura Bush.

(Yes, Laura Bush -- it was a question about abortion. She doesn't actually squirm; she gives Katie the First Lady Frozen Smile.)

"When I look at the list of people I've interviewed . . . it's really quite amazing, and astounding to me," Katie says after watching that clip job.

Then it's on to the Valley of Ordinary People. Katie on tape talking to the woman who was raped and beaten in Central Park; a boy who survived the Columbine High School shooting; a woman who survived the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center; the parents of a boy who met Katie before dying of brain cancer; a high school principal who has an incredible record of getting troubled students into college, who says she received more than $33,000 -- about what Katie makes between commercial breaks -- when she appeared on "Today" and Katie told viewers they should each send the principal a buck.

"Meeting her and talking to her, I felt it helped heal me as well," says Lauren Manning, the Sept. 11, 2001, survivor who was badly burned.

"One of the most profound and even spiritual experiences I've ever had," Studio Katie says of an image showing the Columbine-shooting survivor holding the hand of a parent of one classmate who did not make it out and Katie clutching the parent's other arm.

"It's amazing; you've held America's hand through a lot of difficult times -- that's why we are celebrating. . . . You deserve your day today," Ann gushes.

All along this three-hour trip, Katie and the Gang make many stops to hug each other.

"I know I'll never have a partner like you, because I won't be working with a partner," Katie says to Matt.

For his part, Matt tells Katie: "They call us co-anchors and I hate that; we're partners in every possible way.

"Not in that way!" he quickly adds.

"I hope our friendship transcends geography," Jolly Weatherman Al tells Katie, who is moving from Rockefeller Center to West 57th Street.

"You made me love you . . . and don't be a stranger because I'll come calling," chimes in Ann who, did we mention?, did not get Katie's gig.

"You're starting to freak me out," Katie responds.

She has been saying "so long" since April 5, which marked her 15th anniversary on the show. That was when she announced on air that she'd accepted CBS's offer to take over the evening newscast, replacing Bob Schieffer, who has been filling in since Rather stepped down to pursue other interests.

Thanks largely to Katie's toothy-grinned charm, "Today" has not lost a week in the ratings race in more than a decade and is one of the most profitable TV series in terms of ad revenue.

Meredith Vieira of ABC's "The View" was picked to replace Katie; NBC is redoing the "Today" studio to erase the last traces of Katieness before Meredith starts in the fall.

Having thoroughly mined the Valley of the Ordinary, it's time for the House of Katie's Bad Hair and Clothing, where the Good Witch of Stretched to Within an Inch of Her Life, Joan Rivers, and winged monkey/celebrity haircutter Jonathan Antin actually find nice things to say about her looks over the years.

Katie, to her credit, is more honest:

"Why didn't you guys stop me?" she asks rhetorically. "Why wasn't there someone saying: "No! You can't go out like that."

Finally, Katie and her merry band of "Today" Show On-Air Talent make it to the Castle of Celebrity Singers, where all song choices are chockablock with Katie Couric Meaning.

"Because I knew you, I have been changed for good," sings Trisha Yearwood and Idina Menzel, who won a Tony playing the Wicked Witch in Broadway's "Wicked," from which the song comes. Katie dedicates the performance to those Ordinary People who appear on the show today, whose lives she has touched.

Tony Bennett sings "The Way You Look Tonight," which was performed at Katie's wedding to her husband, Jay Monahan, who died of colon cancer in 1998, while in his early forties, prompting Katie to undergo the very first televised Celebrity Colonoscopy, which this morning she calls her proudest accomplishment.

Then Bennett sings "The Best Is Yet to Come." As in CBS News.

"Tony's got a new duet CD out this fall; we look forward to that," Matt tells viewers.

And, finally, the cast of Broadway's "Jersey Boys" sings a reworked version of "Bye Bye Baby":

Bye bye Katie,
Katie goodbye.
Bye bye Katie
Don't make us cry.
From the moment that I first saw you,
Girl I realized that I adore you,
Gee, you did it for me
Why oh why do you have to leave-oh?
You're the one girl that we TiVo,
Bye bye Katie, Katie goodbye.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/AR2006053102296_pf.html

fredfa

06-01-06, 09:44 AM

TV Notebook
'Sopranos'season: From bang to whimper

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Thu, Jun. 01, 2006

If there’s a down side to HBO's pattern of generally uninterrupted seasons - the very thing that "Lost" fans have been longing for - it's that a "season" can go by very quickly.

That's particularly true of "The Sopranos," which ends what's either the first chunk of its final season or its sixth and penultimate season this Sunday (9 PM ET).

Not even "Sopranos" creator David Chase, who's promised to wrap up the story of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his intertwined families in eight episodes next year, seems to know what to call them.

"I look at it as there was a story, and we're telling that story over this amount of time," Chase told reporters in January. "And you know, it takes time to produce them, and that's the way they'll sort of roll out. But is it a 2007 season? I guess."

I don't really care what the wrap-up's called, either, as long as there is one. But as we await "Kaisha," the last episode of 2006, I don't think I'm the only one asking: Is this all there is?

For a season that started off with a strong point of view (not to mention a bang), this sixth whatever-you-want-to-call-it seems to have degenerated into a fair amount of whimpering.

Sure, there's been whacking. But if all you're in it for is the whacking, you might as well save money and watch Fox's "24," where the body count's higher and you're never, ever forced to sit through a dream sequence, much less ponder Purgatory.

Chase, who set out six seasons ago to tell a story about a middle-aged mobster whose mother never really loved him, knew that story cold, and in those first 13 episodes, he gave it a beginning, a middle and an end.

He and his writers have told some excellent short stories since then, but none has demonstrated the mastery of the ending contained in Tony's first-season exhortation to his children to remember "the little moments that were good - like this."

Not that I'm expecting to see "The Sopranos" live happily ever after, mind you.

But while Chase & Co. have hammered home the point this season that Tony and just about everyone in his life are in some way trapped, that any alternate futures they see for themselves are illusions and that their choices were narrowed long ago, they seem to be dawdling over whatever ending would reward this many years of viewer devotion.

As Tony's therapist, Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), might point out, revisiting the same issues over and over could be a way of avoiding that ever more pressing one.

Maybe "Kaisha" will move things forward. Maybe not.

Either way, with only eight to go after this, the pressure's on.

Feeling the 'Love'

Sunday also brings the season finale of "Big Love," (10 PM ET) a splendidly oddball series about polygamy that deserves a second look.

I'm still surprised by "Sopranos" watchers who tell me they can't quite cotton to Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and his three wives (Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin), because the word "creepy" keeps coming up.

As if most of what goes on in Sopranoland weren't plenty creepy.

Since when does watching a show about a subculture outside the mainstream constitute an endorsement?

In any case, things on "Big Love" take a mildly "Sopranos"-esque turn Sunday as Bill learns something surprising - and OK, a little creepy - about a member of his all-too-extended family.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14712952.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

06-01-06, 09:52 AM

TV Notebook
Things you might want to know about, part IV

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic in her TV blog

Ah yes, the never-very-famous recurring lame feature on this lame-o blog returns after a brief hiatus, with a little warning: This blog has contracted Summeritis.

Then again, so has the world of television. Yes, a ton of summer series are coming our way -- the networks gotta pay the electric bill somehow, right? -- but the odds that you genuinely care about any of them beyond "Project Runway" and "Rescue Me" are slim.

And entertainment niblets? Not much in the way of those either.

So, between the slim pickings and several upcoming jaunts out of town, be aware that blog contributions are going to be fairly intermittent until the Television Critics Association press tour comes up in July. Then things will really get cooking.

However! A couple of items of interest ...

• Best news first: The fifth and finest season of "24" is going to re-air this season in back to back episodes on Friday nights beginning June 16 at 8 p.m with "Day 5: 7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m.," in which Jack almost consumes pancakes and orange juice before heading out on a President Palmer-avenging rampage. At 9 p.m. comes "Day 5: 8:00 a.m. -9:00 a.m.," followed at 10 p.m. by our collective re-run afterglow and a mojito.

• A number of readers wondered if Joe Fontana would be returning to "Law & Order" next season, since the finale left things hanging. Guess what? He's not. Dennis Farina, who has played Fontana on "L&O" since 2004, has informed a number of outlets that he's leaving the series to -- what else? --pursue other projects.

Of course, did Farina's dance card seem to be full before he signed onto "L&O"? Not so much. And given the way that the series' audience has declined, we wonder if his departure has less to do with a reignited career than Farina jumping off what looks like a sinking ship. Between losing him and Annie Parisse (who played the now-deceased ADA Alexandra Borgia), the "L&O" cast has some patches to fill.

• And while we're on the subject of NBC, I certainly hope you all taped "Today's" massive Katie Couric farewell hoedown. This morning's final telecast with Couric, a combination of looks backward at her Halloween costumes over the years, Ann Curry's gushing adieu, frickin' Harvey Fierstein's farewell-o-gram and oh so much more, was freakish and astounding.

In fact, I would call it the safest emetic since Ipecac, and certainly a gentler way to induce vomiting than ingesting the innards of a cigarette. So if you did record it, keep that thing around in case your kid swallows something harmful.

• Finally: I have contemplated doing some sort of "Rescue Me" deconstruction here because I love the show, and it begs to have someone blog about it. If my Summeritis doesn't get the best of me -- and if I get back from the East Coast before 10 p.m. next week -- I may start it then. But, for the sake of all our psyches, please hang on to your low expectations.

And for heaven's sake, enjoy the warm weather! We'll have plenty of time to bury ourselves in TV in July, and after that, when the rain comes back!

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/print.asp?entryID=103876

fredfa

06-01-06, 09:58 AM

TV Notebook
'Scrubs' EP plans ahead

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In” Thursday, June 1, 2006

NBC's "Scrubs" is scheduled to return at midseason on NBC, probably sometime after next January. I chatted with "Scrubs" executive producer Bill Lawrence by phone this week about the show's past and future.

Rob: So I gotta ask: Was the "I'm pregnant" scene at the end of the season finale last month added on once you felt confident about renewal?

Bill: We knew we were getting picked up earlier in the year, we just didn't know which network. [ABC Entertainment president]Steve McPherson was the guy who developed the show at Touchstone [the studio that produces "Scrubs"] and he basiclaly told us, and through Touchstone, that if NBC doesn't pick up the show, ABC will.

Rob: Were you surprised by the NBC pick up?

Bill: I know it's an expensive show and I think Steve ended up in a lot of ways really helping us [by saying he'd take the show if NBC dropped it]. ... Also, it helped that we did fairly well last year considering the state of NBC.

Rob: What made you want to take the show in the J.D.-knocks-up-a-woman-on-their-second-date direction?

Bill: We had started the show last season with Turk and Carla trying to have a kid. My wife [who plays Dr. Cox's better (?) half, Jordan] is pregnant in real life, so we had to put that on the show. So many shows do pregnancy and what it means. What we try to do on "Scrubs" is take the familiar story and twist it. One couple is trying to have a baby, one couple thought they were done and one couple on their second date sleep together and what happens with that.

Rob: Will Elizabeth Banks, who plays J.D.'s new girlfriend, be back next season?

Bill: She will, but she won't be a regular. We're certainly not pursuing the J.D. and new girlfriend/pseudo-wife, we're dealing with the pregnancy which gives us different issues and a chance to tell different stories.

Rob: Will she have an abortion?

Bill: We're going to talk about and consider everyting. "Maude" did that a long time ago. I doubt you'd be able to do it now.

Rob: So, miscarriage then?

Bill: I'm not going to tip it.

Rob: There was some talk about NBC putting "Scrubs" on at 9 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday against "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy." How would you have felt about that and did you make those feelings known to NBC executives when you heard that speculation?

Bill: I got to talk to them about it. It would hot have bothered me. The strength of the show is that its small core audience watches it no matter what. I, personally, would have been surprised if we didn't do the same [ratings] number we always do. It's not like being on against a two-hour "American Idol" special or "House" is that much different.

Rob: Do you expect this upcoming season will be the end for "Scrubs"? Are you approaching it as if it is?

Bill: I'm going to write it like it's the last year, but I've been told by people [at the studio] that because the show is sold into syndication if it keeps the same [ratings] number there will be a will to go beyond this. Up until 200 episodes, every show makes money for the studio that owns it. And everybody but Zach [Braff, who plays narrator J.D.] is signed through the year after this one.

Rob: Have you started thinking about what comes next for you career-wise?

Bill: Only in general terms. It's a very weird time for comedy right now. There were 52 comedies last year, including mideason. This year there will be 36. It's horrifying for comedy writers on the one hand, and on the other hand, it's ultimately great for comedy. In the absence of strong comedies, there will grow a stronger desire for comedy to come back. That's how the cycles work. I think the next thing in danger after comedy is that people will start to lose interest in procedural shows. I love studying that stuff. People are watching every "CSI" and "Law & Order" and "Cold Case" and eventually someone will go, "Enough already."

http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin/

fredfa

06-01-06, 10:04 AM

TV Notebook
This season's real winners and losers
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 1, 2006

It’s not hard to spot broadcast’s major winners and losers this season. Fox’s “American Idol” finished No. 1 among adults 18-49 for the third straight year, boosting the network to its second consecutive season win in that demo.

On the flip side, the horrendous flop of “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart” set the tone for another awful season for NBC, which finished dead last among 18-49s for the second year in a row.

But there were also some not-so-obvious winners and losers that made big differences this season. Below, our take on the year’s most valuable show for each network, the one that really defined the season, as well as the show that cost them the most.

A B C

Biggest winner – “Dancing With the Stars,” Thursdays 8 p.m. While “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives” were the network’s highest-rated programs, “Stars” was the most important. It was the difference-maker in ABC’s improbable February sweeps win against NBC’s Olympics, and it proved that with the right show ABC can be a factor on Thursday, precipitating “Grey’s” move next season.

Biggest loser – “Commander in Chief,” Tuesdays 9 p.m., Thursdays 10 p.m. Quite simply the biggest hit to miss in recent network history, going from 16 million viewers to fewer than 8 million after the network booted its original show runner.

C B S

Biggest winner – “Criminal Minds,” Wednesdays 9 p.m. It’s not one of TV’s top 20 shows, but it managed to thrive in a brutal timeslot that included ABC’s “Lost” (No. 19) and Fox’s “Idol” (No. 1). “Minds” earned a second season with 12.6 million average viewers, tied for No. 28.

Biggest loser – “Amazing Race,” Tuesdays 10 p.m. and Wednesdays 8 p.m. Coming off its best year ever, “Race” made a serious error by messing with its formula. Last fall’s family edition was very unpopular, and CBS hurt it further by bumping the family-friendly show to 10 p.m. A move to 8 p.m. two months ago came too late, and it will have a tough time rebounding next season when it switches to Sundays.

Fox

Biggest winner – “House,” Tuesdays 9 p.m. With ratings up nearly a third in its second season, “House” will be Fox’s fall tentpole, the show it hopes to build a successful lineup around. The drama set a new series best in 18-49s three times in its final month.

Biggest loser – “The O.C.” Thursdays 9 p.m. Ratings fell 13 percent among 18-49s, from a 3.1 to a 2.7, for the show, which was supposed to help Fox establish a Thursday presence. Instead it began dragging the network down.

N B C

Biggest winner – “Deal or No Deal,” Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 8 p.m. This, not “My Name is Earl,” was NBC’s most valuable new show. It boosted the timeslot performance on all three nights, gave NBC a presence it hasn’t had on Wednesday in years, and actually bettered “Earl” among 18-49s.

Biggest loser – “Conviction,” Fridays 10 p.m. Dick Wolf struck out a second time with this series about young district attorneys, meaning none of NBC’s new dramas return next year.

The WB

Biggest winner – “Supernatural,” Tuesdays and Thursdays 9 p.m. This smart, scary show proved that the WB still knew how to reach its target audience of 12-34s, after two years of decline in that demo. It was one of only two first-year series from the WB or UPN to make the CW schedule.

Biggest loser – “Bedford Diaries,” Wednesdays 9 p.m. On the flip side, this showed what happens when you underestimate your audience with a show that lacks anything but sex. It became one of the network’s least-watched shows ever, fizzling out last month with fewer than 1 million viewers for its finale.

UPN

Biggest winner – “America’s Next Top Model,” Wednesday 8 p.m. “Everybody Hates Chris” got more buzz but “Model” was once again UPN’s top-rated show. Tellingly, it was the first program to be picked up by the CW.

Biggest loser – “Get This Party Started,” Tuesdays 8 p.m. The season’s lowest-rated show on any of the six networks, averaging just a 0.5 in 18-49s.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5062.asp

fredfa

06-01-06, 10:10 AM

Obituary
Robert Sterling, 88

Played Ghost in 1950s TV Sitcom 'Topper'
By Dennis McLellan Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 1, 2006

Robert Sterling, the dashingly handsome actor who co-starred with his wife Anne Jeffreys as a stylish pair of fun-seeking ghosts in the 1950s TV sitcom "Topper," has died. He was 88.

Sterling, who had a decade-long battle with shingles that kept him bedridden the last five years, died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Brentwood, said his son, Jeffreys Sterling.

A budding star at MGM in the early 1940s who appeared in dozens of films over the years, Sterling achieved his greatest fame on television in "Topper," in which he and Jeffreys played George and Marion Kerby, a married couple who were killed in an avalanche while on a European skiing vacation.

The Kerbys, along with their would-be rescuer — a brandy-swilling St. Bernard named Neil — returned as ghosts to their former home, since occupied by dignified banker Cosmo Topper (Leo G. Carroll) and his wife, Henrietta (Lee Patrick).

The situation comedy, which was based on a novel by Thorne Smith and a 1937 film starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett, aired on CBS from 1953 to 1955, followed by a year of evening reruns on ABC and NBC.

A onetime clothing salesman who attended the University of Pittsburgh, the black-haired, blue-eyed Sterling was signed by Columbia Pictures in 1939. Two years later, he moved to MGM, where he was groomed as a potential successor to Robert Taylor.

At MGM, Sterling appeared in "Two-Faced Woman," starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas; "Johnny Eager," starring Taylor and Lana Turner; and "Somewhere I'll Find You," starring Clark Gable and Turner.

He also starred in the 1941 romantic drama "I'll Wait for You" and the 1941 crime drama "The Get-Away."

"I was dazzled by his good looks," Ann Rutherford, who co-starred with Sterling in the 1942 romantic comedy "This Time for Keeps," told The Times on Wednesday.

"You just never caught him acting," added Rutherford, a close friend of Sterling and Jeffreys. "He was such a good actor and a delightful person. I was so shocked when I discovered later that he was also a singer. He had it all. He had a beautiful wife and a wonderful family."

During his time at MGM, Sterling appeared as a young boxer in the 1941 film "Ringside Maisie," starring Ann Sothern. They were married in 1943 and had a daughter, actress Tisha Sterling, before divorcing in 1949. Sterling's movie career at MGM was interrupted by World War II, during which he served as an Army Air Forces flight instructor and was stationed in London.

After the war, Sterling resumed his movie career in "Bunco Squad" and the westerns "Roughshod" and "The Sundowners." He was in director George Sidney's 1951 movie version of the Broadway musical "Show Boat."

Sterling was playing the romantic lead in the Broadway play "Gramercy Ghost" at the Morosco Theatre in 1951 when he met Jeffreys, who was starring in the Cole Porter musical "Kiss Me Kate" across the street at the Shubert Theatre.

Show business columnists dubbed the Sterling-Jeffreys pairing "The Romance of Shubert Alley."

They were married the same year and, in addition to their son, Jeffreys, had two other sons, Dana and Tyler.

After "Topper," Sterling and Jeffreys co-starred in the short-lived 1958 sitcom "Love That Jill," in which they played the heads of rival Manhattan model agencies. Sterling also starred in "Ichabod and Me," a situation comedy that ran from 1961 to 1962 in which he played a New York City reporter who buys a small-town newspaper.

After appearing in the movies "Return to Peyton Place" (1961), "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1961) and "A Global Affair" (1964), Sterling began winding down his acting career except for occasional TV guest shots through the '70s and '80s; he occasionally appeared with Jeffreys, with whom he also had a successful nightclub act in the '50s.

The son of a professional baseball player, Sterling was born William Sterling Hart on Nov. 13, 1917, in New Castle, Pa. After signing with Columbia Pictures, his name was changed to Robert Sterling to avoid confusion with silent western star William S. Hart.

In the 1970s, Sterling was a vice president and the spokesman for a company that implemented the software for one of the first supermarket barcoding and computer inventory systems. He later launched Sterling & Sons, a Santa Monica company that manufactured custom golf clubs.

In addition to his wife and children, Sterling is survived by six grandchildren.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-me-sterling1jun01,0,6186884,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

06-01-06, 10:26 AM

TV Notebook
Ebert to undergo cancer surgery again

By Robert Feder Chicago Sun-Times Columnist June 1, 2006

It's the sequel no one wanted to see: Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert, who battled back from cancer three times before, will be undergoing cancer surgery again.

The Pulitzer Prize winner and host of the nationally syndicated movie review show "Ebert & Roeper" said Wednesday he will have surgery June 16 -- two days before his 64th birthday -- to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland.

"It is not life threatening, and I expect to make a full recovery," he said. "I'll continue to function as a film critic during this time."

Ebert had surgery to remove a malignant tumor on his thyroid gland in 2002 and two surgeries on his salivary gland in 2003.

Unlike those earlier procedures, Ebert is not expected to require radiation therapy this time.

"This is known as a slow growing and persistent cancer," he said. "You live with it."

Ebert, who returned this week from the Cannes Film Festival in France, said he plans to tape enough shows in advance with his co-host, Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper, to keep him on the air during his recovery.

Ebert has been movie critic at the Sun-Times since 1967. He was honored last year with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and with a sidewalk medallion under the Chicago Theatre marquee.

http://www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi?getReferrer=http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder01.html

fredfa

06-01-06, 10:46 AM

TV Notebook
Networks, advertisers at impasse over pricing

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter Thu Jun 1, 2006

NEW YORK - Sales negotiations between the networks and media buyers for the bulk of advertising slots next season remained stalled Wednesday amid a dispute about calculating viewership.

The broadcast networks, most prominently ABC, have come out strongly in favor of basing ad rates on data that include DVR (digital video recorder) viewing of programs up to a week after the premiere telecast. Advertisers say DVRs allow viewers to skip commercials.

"Paying for something that people aren't watching is a real issue for our clients," a media buyer said.

The so-called "Live Plus 7" ratings became available in December as one of two new ratings formats to incorporate viewing from DVRs. As of December, Nielsen Media Research issues ratings in a format called Live Plus Same Day, which incorporates DVR viewing of shows viewed by 3 a.m. the next day, and Live Plus 7, which incorporates DVR viewing done up to a week after the premiere telecast.

Media buying agencies say they haven't had enough experience with the Live Plus 7 ratings to make them the basis of long-term advertising sales decisions. Moreover, Nielsen still is adding DVR homes to its national sample to make them proportional to the roughly 9%-10% of U.S. homes that have them.

Agencies have pushed back from negotiations with broadcast networks, saying they aren't interested in doing any deals until the issue has been settled. So far neither the networks nor the agencies have shown any sign of budging, according to network and buying sources. Representatives for ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox declined comment on the situation Wednesday.

"Quite frankly, it's a quagmire," one media buyer said Wednesday. "It's a swamp."

That is a big change from last year, when ABC had finished its advance sales for the 2005-06 season, and CBS and Fox were close to being done as well. But while ABC and Fox have had some solid ratings successes, and CBS has been the very picture of consistency, no one has done any dealing at all because of the uncertainty.

Thursday marks two weeks after the broadcast networks finished their programming presentations; in most recent years, activity would be going full throttle or would have been concluded already.

fredfa

06-01-06, 10:51 AM

Washington Notebook
Wire Under Fire?

By John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable at bcbeat.com

The cable industry seems to be having its version of a bad hair week, regulationwise.

First there was the dual Kevin Martin/John McCain pitch for cable a la carte. Watch out Time Warner and Comcast, could per-channel offerings be the price of divvying up Adelphia.

Then there was the news that Martin wants to reverse the FCC's multicast decisions and require cable to carry TV station's multicast, must-carry signals. When the gridlock breaks up at the FCC, the Porsches go into overdrive, apparently.

Now, word has it that Martin wants to boost cable's payments to the Universal Service Fund, which underwrites telecommunications service to underserved areas.

Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

http://www.bcbeat.com/

fredfa

06-01-06, 10:57 AM

TV Notebook
Peacock to pump '4400'

NBC to air USA sci-fier
By Denise Martin Variety.com

NBC will, for the first time, air original product from sister network USA.

Peacock has slated a one-hour clip show of USA sci-fi drama "The 4400" for Saturday. "The 4400: Unlocking the Secrets" will recap the past two seasons' events, aiming to draw new viewers to the show's third-season premiere on June 11.

Previously, NBC has aired promotional runs of Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" and Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

"The 4400: Unlocking the Secrets" will repeat Sunday on USA and later in the week on corporate sibs Sci Fi Channel and Bravo. Yahoo! TV has been streaming the clip show for the past eight days.

Skein concerns a group of alien abductees mysteriously returned to Earth.

fredfa

06-01-06, 11:17 AM

TV Notebook
Study Shows More Brand Than Wagon

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/1/2006

The winner of the commercial load award for 2006 had only a little more than 10 minutes per hour of ad-free show, according to a media market research firm.

Combining the duration of brand appearances (i.e. how many seconds a brand [plug] appeared onscreen) with the number of commercial minutes, ABC's Oscar Countdown, pre-awards show reigned as the most commercial-loaded show of 2006 so far with a whopping 49 minutes and 18 seconds devoted to either plugs (31:28) or ads (17:50). That left only 10 minutes and 42 seconds for non-ad related programming.

That 31:28 in plugs was almost ten times the average plug load for network prime time of 3 minutes, 22 seconds, though only about four times the unscripted average of 7 minutes and 39 seconds worth of Coke cans, Ford cars, Cingular phones, etc., per hour.

Late night has the biggest load at 8:41 seconds of brandwagoning per hour, for a total of more than 31 minutes per hour of plugs/spots or, put another way, more ad-related speech than show in any average hour.

That is all according to media marketing tracker TNS Media Intelligence, which measured network TV prime time and late night. The plug figure represents the amount of time a brand appears on screen, which TNS says is a more accurate measure than simply counting appearances since some may be fleeting.

The top four network offerings in commercial/plug loads were all unscripted shows, with CBS' Price is Right prime time million-dollar showcase spectacular in second place at 44:33 (28:08 plugs, 16:25 spots) out of its 60:00.

NBC's Biggest Loser was a winner in the ad-load category, taking third place at 40:44 total, 22: 48 worth of plugs, while American Idol came in fourth (the only place that show finishes that low) with 40:26, 21:29 in plugs.

fredfa

06-01-06, 11:23 AM

TV Notebook
Next, please

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Thursday, June 01, 2006

Get ready to spin! It's time to play Wheel! Of! "Law & Order"!

The longest-running current drama in primetime has earned that distinction in part because creator Dick Wolf has never been afraid to jettison cast members. That keeps the cost down and keeps the audience from losing interest.

And since this season's dipping ratings suggested creeping boredom, it's time for another spin of the casting wheel. When NBC president Kevin Reilly announced he would be sentencing the original "L&O" to a potentially fatal Friday at 10 p.m. timeslot, he said he and Wolf hoped to "reinvigorate" the old warhorse with "at least two" cast changes.

Annie Parisse, who played Jack McCoy's latest stylish sidekick, had already announced she was leaving, and yesterday Daily Variety reported Dennis Farina, who has played lead cop Joe Fontana the last two seasons, is giving Wolf his badge and gun.

Parisse's leaving is one of those blink-and-you'll-miss-it changes; other than Jill Hennessy and Angie Harmon, no one's made a real impression in that thankless job. Farina's exit, on the other hand, opens up some real possibilities. Since the late Jerry Orbach left the mothership, Jesse L. Martin has essentially become co-lead of the cop half of the show, but there's room to draw new viewers (or, at least, bring back old ones) by giving him the right partner.

And I have a sneaking suspicion Farina and Parisse will not be the only ones leaving. Those two changes alone wouldn't "reinvigorate" the show -- but Sam Waterston's exit might.

Think about it: The lead DA is the real star of the show and the only member of the cast who really gets to flex a few acting muscles every week. If NBC wants to liven up the show, replacing Waterston is the only change that wouldn't be cosmetic.

But whether Sam stays or leaves, whether Wolf decides to go younger and/or female with Martin's new partner, whether he finally breaks the cycle with the other DA spot, here are some casting suggestions -- some serious, some not:

• Mickey Rourke: "Sin City" made him respectable again, and while he's not the best actor alive, he's one of the most interesting -- on camera and off. Rourke out on the town after hours would turn the show into a gossip-lover's paradise.

• Matt LeBlanc: He can do a New York accent, and he needs the work. If Matthew Perry can star in an Aaron Sorkin drama, why can't LeBlanc try to quash bail applications?

• Rebecca Romijn: My real dream is that she'll replace Kiefer Sutherland whenever he tires of "24" (if you've seen the "X-Men" movies, you would totally buy her as a woman who would shoot you in the kneecap to find out where your bomb is), but since Kiefer just signed a contract extension, she needs something to keep her busy for a few years. Knocking on doors and trading morbid one-liners with Martin before the opening titles would be a steady paycheck, if nothing else.

• Jaleel White and/or Mario Lopez: Because why should Steven Bochco be the only cop show producer who likes to rehabilitate former child stars?

• Geena Davis: If you believed her as the president of the United States, would it be that big a leap to being an NYPD detective or a hotshot DA? And if you didn't believe her, you can look forward to her mangling law-enforcement jargon the way she struggled to say words like "Defcon."

• Jeff Goldblum: Like Rourke, he's weird and compelling even when he's having an off day. Yes, he's signed to play the lead in an NBC midseason cop show called "Raines." But when Reilly was asked when it might air now that "Medium" has taken its place on the January schedule, he said it could air at any day or time in a tone that implied 3 a.m. on Bravo wouldn't be out of the question.

• Andre Braugher: But only if Waterston's job is open. It'd be a waste of his talent otherwise. And speaking of which...

• Any "Deadwood" cast member: HBO let its options on all the actors lapse, effectively killing the show, and I'm not ready for them all to leave my TV screen. Like Braugher, Ian McShane would be wasted as anything but the new DA (probably even there), but Tim Olyphant already has experience playing a cop who rarely gets to emote. And if Fred Dalton Thompson ever leaves, Jeffrey Jones could recycle some of his "Ferris Bueller" lines as the new head of the DA's office. "I did not achieve this position in life by having some snot-nosed punk leave my cheese out in the wind," anyone?

• Don Johnson and/or Chris O'Donnell: Both tanked with lawyer shows last fall, but Johnson has starred in two hit Friday dramas, and O'Donnell's station in life seems to be to play second fiddle to a better, more experienced actor. If that doesn't sound like the job description for replacing Parisse, I don't know what does.

http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/alltv/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1149139267306060.xml&coll=1

keenan

06-01-06, 11:52 AM

fredfa

06-01-06, 12:07 PM

NBC doesn't have a blockbuster lineup at any time

keenan

06-01-06, 12:16 PM

I know, I forgot to put a sarcastic smiley. :D

slocko

06-01-06, 12:21 PM

agreed about 4400. it should be broadcast in hd either on nbc or UHD. thanks for the article about unlockig the secrets. i was wondering what that was about and why it appeared on so many differnt channels.

Scott Gammans

06-01-06, 12:22 PM

NBC doesn't have a blockbuster lineup at any time
Me-OW! Harsh! Do you kick puppies in your spare time, Fred?! ;) :D

fredfa

06-01-06, 01:52 PM

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

fredfa

06-01-06, 01:55 PM

Me-OW! Harsh! Do you kick puppies in your spare time, Fred?! ;) :D

Scott, I love puppies! :)

NBC's season ratings for 2005-2006 were a disaster, even by its own lowered standards of the past few years.

It's top-rated (by total viewers) scripted show was #25 Law & Order:SVU.

The only other two top-30 shows it had were two versions (#13 and #20) of Deal Or No Deal.

Given those facts, I would argue my statement, while perhaps a bit glib, was not harsh at all!

fredfa

06-01-06, 01:59 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
A ho-hum for 'Gameshow Marathon'

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 1, 2006, 11:02

Apparently the game show craze of 2006 will be limited to NBC’s “Deal or No Deal.” The series premiere of CBS’s “Gameshow Marathon” last night ranked a distant second in its timeslot, certainly not what the network was hoping for out of the year’s first new summer show to debut.

“Gameshow” averaged a 2.3 overnight rating among adults 18-49, placing 0.4 behind timeslot winner “Dateline” on NBC at 8 p.m. last night. Two other returning summer shows, Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” have already debuted, to much higher ratings.

“Gameshow” ticked up slightly, by 0.1, during its second half hour, when it finished less than a point ahead of low-rated repeats of ABC’s “Freddie” and Fox’s “Bones.”

In fact, “Gameshow” was CBS’s lowest-rated program of the night. At 9 p.m., a “Criminal Minds” rerun averaged a 2.5, and a repeat of “CSI: NY” at 10 p.m. built to a timeslot-winning 2.9.

“Gameshow” was well behind the night’s other summer reality offering, Fox’s second episode of “Dance.” That averaged a 3.6 at 9 p.m., easily winning its timeslot.

The networks’ summer strategy this year seems to be tossing out low-risk reality shows and seeing what will stick. “Gameshow” may not. Combining has-been celebrities and game show formats of the past such as “Price is Right” and “Let’s Make a Deal,” “Gameshow” is hosted by Ricki Lake. It has six more episodes scheduled, including one tonight.

Elsewhere last night, the return of ABC’s “Commander in Chief” from a late-season hiatus did quite poorly, averaging just a 1.5 in 18-49s despite being the only original show in the 10 p.m. slot. It drew a series-low 5.4 million total viewers.

Meanwhile, NBC led for the third straight night with a 3.0 rating and 9 share, followed by Fox with 2.6/8, CBS with 2.6/7, ABC with 1.5/4, Univision with 1.7/5, UPN with 0.8/2 and WB with 0.7/2.

NBC led at 8 p.m. with a 2.7 for “Dateline” followed by CBS’s 2.3 for “Gameshow,” Univision’s 2.0 for “La Fea Mas Bella,” Fox’s 1.7 for “Bones,” ABC’s 1.5 for “George” (1.4) and “Freddie” (1.6), WB’s 1.0 for “Blue Collar TV” and UPN’s 0.8 for the movie “My Baby’s Daddy.”

At 9, Fox led with a 3.6 for “So You Think You Can Dance,” followed by NBC with a 3.5 for a repeat of “Deal.” CBS was third with a 2.5 for a “Criminal Minds” repeat, Univision fourth with a 1.7 for “Barrera de Amor,” ABC fifth with a 1.5 for a “Lost” repeat, UPN sixth with a 0.9 for the second hour of “Daddy” and WB seventh with a 0.4 for a “One Tree Hill” repeat.

At 10, CBS led with a 2.9 for a repeat of “CSI: NY.” NBC was second with a 2.7 for a “Law & Order” repeat and ABC third with a 1.5 for “Commander.”

Among households, CBS and NBC tied for the win with 6.2/10. Fox was third with 4.6/8, ABC fourth with 3.1/5, Univision fifth with 2.0/3, WB sixth with 1.3/2 and UPN seventh with 1.2/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5088.asp

fredfa

06-01-06, 02:07 PM

TV Notebook
NBC’s “Today” (Finally) Goes HD in “the fall”

(NBC Press Release)

NBC NEWS' "TODAY" TO MOVE INTO A SUMMER HOME

NBC NEWS' "TODAY" TAKES IT OUTSIDE THIS SUMMER –
BROADCASTING LIVE DAILY FROM AN OPEN-AIR SET ON ROCKEFELLER PLAZA

NEW YORK - May 30, 2006 – NBC News' "Today" will be taking it to the streets – well, the plaza this summer when it heads to the great outdoors into an open-air set housed directly on Rockefeller Plaza. The set, serving as "Today's" summer home until September, will allow for "Today" to undergo a studio facelift as 1A gets ready for its high definition debut this fall. The show will begin broadcasting from the set this Thursday, June 1.

The open-air set is the studio "Today" used during the past two Olympic games in Athens, Greece and most recently Torino, Italy. Its placement on the plaza will allow for Matt, Al, Ann, Campbell and Natalie to host their segments in various locations throughout the plaza, utilize all that summer in New York City has to offer, and have increased audience interaction throughout the show.

Yes, there will be air conditioning.

Fans and visitors are encouraged to join "Today" on the plaza daily. Viewing is on a first-come, first-served basis. The set is situated directly in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

fredfa

06-01-06, 02:14 PM

TV Notebook
Katie's Goodbye: Overnight Ratings

Mediabistro.com

Update: 1:35pm (ET): NBC adds: "Based on Nielsen fast cume data approximately 6.9% of Americans, or almost 19 million viewers, watched the 3-hour block of yesterday's farewell to Katie on Today."

"Today delivered 8.440 million viewers yesterday [from 7 to 9am], ranking it as the fourth highest Today audience for a single telecast since at least 1987 (the start of People Meters)," NBC said this afternoon. "Only the mornings following the 2000 election (12.270 million), 2004 elections (9.002 million) and the 1989 San Francisco earthquake (8.479 million) ranked ahead 1-2-3 respectively."

Katie's goodbye beat Bryant Gumbel's 1997 farewell (8.034 million) and Jane Pauley's 1989 farewell (5.619 million). In addition, Today II, from 9 to 10am, averaged 7.550 million viewers yesterday, and it ranks "as the most-watched Today II single telecast ever."

> For the week of May 15, Today averaged 5,840,000 viewers...

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

fredfa

06-01-06, 02:18 PM

TV Notebook
NBC Tops Online Thanks to Deal or No Deal

By Mike Shields MediaWeek.com JUNE 01, 2006 -

While ranking of distant fourth in ratings, NBC rules the network race on the Internet. Though ABC has made the most headlines of late by offering of full-length episodes of its top shows on ABC.com during sweeps, NBC drew the most Web traffic last month, in part by virtue of its hit Deal or No Deal.

Among the four major broadcast networks' Web sites, NBC.com dominated in market share during the four-week period which ended on May 27, pulling in 43 percent of total visits, according to a new report from Web researcher Hitwise. Visits to the site increased by 100 percent year over year.

A big chunk of NBC's traffic is being driven by fan interest in Deal or No Deal. According to Hitwise Search Intelligence data, 30 percent of search traffic to NBC.com during could be tied to the Howie Mandel-hosted game show.

ABC.com ranked number two last month, accounting for 27 percent of visits. Interestingly, while executives have reported strong interest among fans in streaming full length episodes of shows such as Desperate Housewives and Lost, just 14 percent of the traffic to the site converted to ABC's video content, according to Hitwise- though visits to the site did increase by 25 percent versus the previous month.

CBS.com was third in terms of share, pulling in 21 percent last month, while Fox.com was a distant fourth with just under 9 percent of all visits in the category. Of course, Fox's mega-hit American Idol, which was the most searched for TV show for the week ending May 27, according to Hitwise, operates its own distinct Web site, AmericanIdol.com.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002611870

fredfa

06-01-06, 02:57 PM

TV Notebook
Katie's Goodbye: Morning Papers

A mediabistro.com compilation:

• NYT's Alessandra Stanley: "The farewell could have turned unbearably cloying but didn't, mainly because Ms. Couric reined in her emotions and did not exit in a puddle of tears. NBC seemed determined to make her fall apart, but her goal was to stay in control, the first step toward turning herself into a serious news anchor."

• LAT's Paul Brownfield: It was "basically one of those office-cake ceremonies. You know, everyone standing around in awkward repose as the guest of honor promises to come visit so much 'you guys'll be sick of me' and eventually everyone trudges back to their desks to resume surfing the Net and wonder what exactly it is they're doing with their own lives."

• Richmond Times Dispatch: "Let's put it this way; if you weren't a huge Katie Couric fan, yesterday's edition of Today must have been next to unbearable."

• Rocky Mountain News: "The punch line of the latest TV industry joke is that the farewell to Katie Couric on Today has lasted longer than her 15-year tenure." Dusty Saunders says the three-hour tribute was one hour too long...

• Palm Beach Post blogger: "I know it was only three hours. But after hour two, it felt more like 30. I'm talking days, not hours."

In all the Katie hoopla, this line in Matea Gold's must-read was overlooked. Katie said: "There are a lot of lazy reporters out there and I think they rely on Google and don't necessarily do their own thinking." It leads an e-mailer to ask: "Wonder what all the lazy reporters who spilled gallons of ink on her have to say about that today?"

• WP's Lisa de Moraes has a great play-by-play of All About Katie day. A sample: "Then Bennett sings 'The Best Is Yet to Come.' As in CBS News..."

• Baltimore Sun: "American presidents have left the Oval Office with less fanfare and ritualistic pomp than Katie Couric's monthlong departure after 15 years from NBC's Today show..."

• Boston Globe: "Note to the CBS publicity department: It's OK to pare down that budget a bit. Katie Couric's farewell on the 'Today' show yesterday was, in effect, a giant advertisement for the 'CBS Evening News...'"

• NY Daily News: "Katie Couric's gala farewell to 'The Today Show' yesterday could have produced a very nice soundtrack album. It was less interesting as TV..."

• USA Today: "Wednesday's farewell, capping off weeks of testimonials from diverse public figures, 'shows how deeply the roles of reporter and celebrity have blended together in today's high-profile media world,' says Fordham University communications professor Paul Levinson..."

• Orlando Sentinel: "Was the Couric send-off excessive? Undoubtedly. But NBC wanted to thank her for making the network a lot of money..."

• Detroit Free Press headline: "Tomorrow, Katie gets to sleep in..."

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

fredfa

06-01-06, 04:41 PM

You may remember that yesterday I posted the nominations for this year's TCA Awards.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7749313&&#post7749313

But something bothered me about them.

CPanther95 wrote that any nominations without "BattleStar Galactica" mentioned somewhere seemed bogus.

I thought there were more problems than that, to be honest.

So I did a bit of homework and wrote the following to Rob Own, TV critic for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and president of the TCA. I hope it is not too self indulgent to post the note here:

Hi Rob:
I am a fan of your work (not that I always agree, but you do get me to think about my TV choices).

But I must say your blog statement yesterday regarding the TCA nominations ("...Whenever anyone tries to crow about how out of touch television critics are, I just point them to the Nielsen ratings: The list of top-rated shows and most acclaimed series are usually pretty identical, as this year's Television Critics Association Awards nominations show...") was really off the mark.

To wit (all #s are Nielsen Complete Season total adults 2+ 2005-2006 ratings through May 24) :
PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
"Grey's Anatomy" (ABC) (Correct, # 5 STD total viewers)
"Lost" (ABC) (#15)
"The Office" (NBC) (#73)
"The Sopranos" (HBO) ratings down this year
"24" (Fox) (#24)
So where were: #3 CSI, #4 Desperate Housewives, #6 Without A Trace, #9 CSI:Miami, #10 House. So, in sum, the TCA nominated one of the possible six scripted top-10 shows.
Hardly identical, in my mind.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
"The Daily Show" (Comedy Central) ratings are fine for cable, but horrible in the network world.
"Everybody Hates Chris" (UPN) Ratings declined almost week by week, ended up #153
"My Name is Earl" (NBC) #42
"The Office" (NBC) #73
"Scrubs" (NBC) #113

Pretty identical? I know critics get bored of the same old stuff, but #17 Two And A Half Men (the season's top-rated comedy), # 30 Old Christine (the only other comedy in the top 30) were both (rightfully in my mind) snubbed. But again, the list is not even close to being pretty identical with any example of what people actually watch.

More examples?

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT MOVIES, MINI-SERIES AND SPECIALS
"American Masters: Bob Dylan: No Direction Home" (PBS)
"Elizabeth I" (HBO)
"Masterpiece Theatre: Bleak House" (PBS)
"Sleeper Cell" (Showtime)
"Viva Blackpool" (BBC America)
Let me get this straight: there wasn't one single movie, mini-series or special on any of the networks that could beat out a BBC American entrant (seen by almost no one?)
Sleeper Cell was so poorly received it wasn't renewed and Masterpiece Theater seems like a nomination for the "Anything British is better than America TV" crowd.

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
"Big Love" (HBO) ratings far below those of its lead-in "The Sopranos"
"The Colbert Report" (Comedy Central) negligible by network standards
"Everybody Hates Chris" (UPN) #153
"My Name Is Earl" (NBC) #42
"Prison Break" (Fox) #59

No #7 Dancing With The Stars, #14 The Unit, #23 Unan1mous, #29 Criminal Minds (a show I believe far too many of your group trashed unmercifully last fall), #30 Old Christine, #33 Out of Practice or #36 Courting Alex. All new shows, and all with higher season ratings than the highest-rated (#42) nominated show.

Here is a category which really frosts me:

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION
"American Masters: Newhart" (PBS)
"Broadway: The Golden Age" (PBS)
"Frontline" (PBS)
"Frontline: Country Boys" (PBS)
"60 Minutes" (CBS)

Talk about out of touch. Why a specific nomination for a Frontline show and also a generic one? Why no specific 60 Minutes nomination? The second nomination is almost laughable. Broadway well rated? How about those solid Tony ratings each June? So there was nothing at all from Iraq -- where journalists risk their lives 24/7 -- worth nominating?

And beyond that, PBS getting four of five nominations? So the TCA is saying there was no quality work on NBC, CNN, ABC, CNBC, Fox News, or MSNBC? Nothing on Discovery, History Channel or any other outlet that would dissuade you all from giving PBS four of five nominations? Please.

You critics can be as elitist as you want. I probably would be too if I were forced to watch DVD after DVD of really horrible programs.

Yet I agree with Tom Shales who wrote this week that we may well be in a Golden Age of TV drama. (By the way, I personally don't watch it, but no mention of Battlestar Galactica?)

Of course you TCA people can nominate which ever shows you wish. And we have grown to expect to see elitist lists like the one released yesterday. You all just don't (generally) like what Americans do. That is OK.

But please, please, Rob, don't try to tell us these nominations are even close to what most Americans watch, not to mention anywhere near "pretty identical".

Thanks for reading. And I repeat that I think your body of work is great, and your Tuned In Journal is always a fun read. (Except maybe for your comments preceding the TCA nominations yesterday!)

fredfa

06-01-06, 04:55 PM

TV Notebook
Katie Couric

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

If you haven't read enough about Katie's farewell, you can find my column for today's Beacon Journal right here: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/columnists/rd_heldenfels/14713871.htm

Because I had school carpool yesterday morning, as well as a deadline for my weekly mailbag column, I watched the ''special edition'' of ''Today'' in an odd fashion -- watching it live from about 7:45 to 9 a.m. while I was finishing the mailbag, then watching the 7-8 and 9-10 a.m. portions on Wednesday afternoon, from a recording I had made. (I also revisited some of the sections I had seen live.) As is often the case with recordings, this made it much easier to watch, since I could fast-forward through the ads, news and weather updates, closeups of Joan Rivers and parts of the (many) songs.

Some things I didn't get to in my column: Harvey Fierstein, whom I like, repeatedly saying ''only for you'' to Katie about his rising so early to pay tribute; the real affection she felt for Gene Shalit and the signs of strain in her dealings with Willard Scott (who was apparently not Katie's biggest fan); the blandness of Katie's musical taste based on what we heard -- although Tony Bennett's timeless, and seemingly unfazed by singing outside in the morning; the way that, for all the talk about Katie's hair, she seems to have had numerous lipstick issues over the years, too. Or is it lip gloss? Beats me. Women's cosmetics are a mystery.

But, as should have been clear in the column, there's no mystery about why so many people love Katie, and why she could really turn ''The CBS Evening News'' into something interesting. She just doesn't dare become a news reader, or a too somber field reporter. Instead, she needs to react to the news the way she has reacted to stories on ''Today'' over the years -- through real emotion bonded to a certain coolness of delivery.

I know, some of you are muttering about the resulting decline in TV news. Come on, folks, that fight's been over for years. (Paddy Chayefsky insisted that ''Network'' was NOT satire.) A newscast built around Katie won't send anyone another few yards down the slippery slope. She may even prove to be a protector of news, using her personality to bring people information they would not seek out otherwise.

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

fredfa

06-01-06, 05:06 PM

TV Notebook
Tom Shales Accepts Washington Post “Buyout

Pulitzer-Prize winning TV critic Tom Shales of the Washington Post has accepted a buyout offer from the paper.

The Post, like most daily newspapers, is hemorrhaging readers, and it announbed in today’s paper “About 70 reporters, editors, photographers and newsroom administrators have taken early retirement offers from The Washington Post Co., as the company's flagship newspaper works to contain costs while circulation continues a slow slide.”

Shales will not disappear immediately from the pages of The Post, however. According to today’s story he will continue writing for a period of time under contract.

The Post Article notes that “daily circulation at The Post peaked at 832,232 in 1993. The Post's daily circulation for the first three months of this year averaged 690,700, the company reported last month.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/AR2006053102206.html

fredfa

06-01-06, 06:14 PM

TV Notebook
CBS News' McManus in London for Return of Slain Newsmen

By Michele Greppi TVWeek.com June 1, 2006

CBS News and CBS Sports President Sean McManus on Wednesday cut short his trip to Las Vegas, site of a two-day meeting of network executives and CBS affiliates, to fly to London. He wanted to be at Heathrow Airport when the bodies of CBS News cameraman Paul Douglas and CBS News sound man James Brolan were returned to their native England Thursday morning.

The two were killed Monday in Baghdad in a bomb blast that also injured CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier.

"CBS Evening News" anchor Bob Schieffer gave an update on Ms. Dozier to the affiliates in Las Vegas that he said came straight from her father at the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where Ms. Dozier was flown Tuesday for treatment.

Mr. Schieffer said Ms. Dozier had been brought out of a medically induced coma. He said she was unable to speak because of a breathing tube but was able to write questions. Her first question was about her crew.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10107

fredfa

06-01-06, 06:27 PM

Washington Notebook
McDowell's Entrance Tips FCC to Republican Majority

By Todd Shields MediaWeek.com JUNE 01, 2006 -

Robert McDowell was sworn in Thursday as a member of the Federal Communications Commission, giving Republican Chairman Kevin Martin his first partisan majority since taking office 14 months ago.

McDowell, a telephone association executive until joining the commission, could cast major votes on media ownership and cable carriage rules at his initial FCC monthly meeting, on June 15.

Until Thursday, Martin has contended with a commission split 2-to-2 between Democrats and Republicans, and for a few months was even the sole Republican on the agency.

Now, Martin is asking commissioners to reverse last year’s FCC decision limiting broadcasters’ mandatory cable carriage rights to a single digital channel. The chairman also wants to launch a review asking whether to liberalize media ownership rules.

McDowell’s term runs until June 2009.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002612157

dturturro

06-01-06, 06:29 PM

So the TCA is saying there was no quality work on NBC, CNN, ABC, CNBC, Fox News, or MSNBC?

Is that a trick question? :D

fredfa

06-01-06, 06:42 PM

I didn't think so :)

archiguy

06-01-06, 06:44 PM

Sleeper Cell was so poorly received it wasn't renewed.......

I think you're wrong about this one Fred; I understand Showtime has renewed it (although it's hard to see where it can go with the chief baddie captured and the undercover chief goodie exposed). And "poorly received" seems to cover just about any original series on Showtime, even the very clever 'Weeds'.

Personally, I thought this series was intense and gripping, and quite a bit more realistic and topical than anything seen on '24'. One of the better efforts I saw on the small screen this past year, for sure.

fredfa

06-01-06, 07:27 PM

You are correct archiguy, I mis-spoke (or mis-wrote in this case).

"Sleeper Cell" was renewed.

fredfa

06-01-06, 07:38 PM

TV Notebook
DirecTV Uncovers Sleuth

By Linda Moss Multichannel.com 6/1/2006
DirecTV Inc. Thursday debuted Sleuth, NBC Universal Cable’s crime and mystery network, according to officials.

The network will be available to the direct-broadcast satellite provider’s more than 15 million subscribers as part of the “DirecTV Total Choice” programming package, on channel 308.

"You don't have to be a clever detective to figure out that this network will generate a huge following among our customers," DirecTV executive vice president of programming Dan Fawcett said in a prepared statement.

Previously, DirecTV and NBC U Cable reached a multiyear agreement that will give the DBS provider primetime on-demand rights to NBC U TV programs and pay-per-view, in addition to deals in place for the programmer’s other networks, including USA Network, Sci Fi Channel, CNBC and MSNBC.

(from an NBC/U Press Release)

“…In June, Sleuth has every day of the week covered from Murder Mondays and Action Wednesdays to Sleuth Summer Vacation weekends. Sleuth kicks off the month by celebrating Mark Wahlberg's 35th birthday with a look back at his break out role as the bad boy after Reese Witherspoon's heart in "Fear" on June 2 followed by the 2002 remake of the spy thriller "The Truth About Charlie," June 3.

Jet set this summer with globetrotting adventures every weekend from London and Moscow to New York and Las Vegas. Beginning June 9, Sleuth will take viewers on a European Vacation featuring films like "The Black Windmill," starring Michael Cain as a British agent who takes matters into his own hands by tracking down his kidnapped son. Additional films include "The Ripper," "Fierce Creatures," "The Champagne Murders," and international thriller "The Jackal" with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere.

Travel back to the U.S. on Las Vegas Night on June 17 with "Casino" and Las Vegas themed episodes from "Knight Rider," "The A-Team" and "Miami Vice." June 23 and 24 is Sleuth's New York Stakeout marathon with "Coogan's Bluff" starring Clint Eastwood as a straightforward Arizona lawman sent to New York City to extradite a captured murderer and Sylvester Stallone attempts to rescue commuters in a collapsed tunnel in "Daylight."

Mondays at 9pm and 12am (ET) is Sleuth Murder Mondays showcasing a variety of murder mysteries including "Coopersmith," "Marked for Murder," "Profile for Murder," "The Chippendale's Murder," "The Public Eye," "Ghost Story," and "Dead in the Water." And Wednesdays are Sleuth Action Wednesdays at 9pm and 12am (ET) featuring "The Real McCoy," "Thick as Thieves," "Renegades," "Singapore Sling," "Wild Card," "The Take," "Birds II," and "The Last Hit."

fredfa

06-01-06, 07:55 PM

TV Notebook
`The Sopranos' gets ready to pull the trigger

Sunday's season finale marks the beginning of the end for creator David Chase's highly acclaimed mob drama
By Greg Braxton Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 2, 2006

The end is near. Seriously.

But after Sunday, is there a possibility for a stay of execution?

Fuhgeddaboutit.

The season finale of HBO's "The Sopranos" will conclude the drama's penultimate season and HBO spokespeople say creator David Chase is sticking to his creative guns that next year's shortened season of eight "bonus" episodes will close the curtain on the acclaimed series. Though Chase has changed his mind before about when to end the series, those in the know insist another reversal is out of the question.

"It's over, it's done, put a fork in it," said one executive this week.

Chase and the network this week are typically tight-lipped about cliffhangers or other situations in this year's finale, which will cap off a season filled with dramatic and emotional upheavals, including the shooting of mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) by his dementia-stricken uncle and the brutal murder of closeted gay gangster Vito Spatafore (Joe Gannascoli).

Production for the final season is expected to start this month, and the show is scheduled to return in January.

The current sixth season of 12 episodes was supposed to be the last for "The Sopranos," which returned in March after a two-year hiatus. But Chase announced as he was writing the episodes that he felt he had more stories to tell, which delighted network executives.

Despite a slight dip in ratings this season, "The Sopranos" has been perhaps HBO's most valuable property and firmly established the pay cable network as a TV powerhouse as it attracted top talent. HBO's current dramas, including "Big Love," "Rome" and "The Wire," are critically acclaimed but have not had the popularity or the cultural impact of the mob drama.

The show also made stars out of Gandolfini, Edie Falco and Michael Imperioli, who were all relatively unknown when the series began.

Chase last January hinted that he had an idea how the series would end, joking that the characters would not all explode "in a nuclear cloud." But he said he hoped that fans would feel that the entire story of "The Sopranos" would be told while leaving the feeling that the lives of the characters were moving on.

Gandolfini has said he felt a bit somber as the show nears its conclusion, and Falco said she had a "sort of gravity" about the end, adding, "But it's inevitable."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-sopranos2jun02,0,3082256.story?coll=cl-tv-features

fredfa

06-01-06, 08:02 PM

TV Notebook
Kimberly Dozier Update

Dozier "Has A Very Tough & Long Road Ahead Of Her," But McManus Is Encouraged

(Mediabistro.com)

CBS News President Sean McManus sent this note to the staff of CBS News this evening:

"You will all be very pleased to hear that I just left Kimberly and she is really doing well. She is talking well, hasn’t lost her sense of humor, and was disappointed that we had to meet in Landstuhl, Germany instead of over a drink in New York City. Kimberly obviously has a very tough and long road ahead of her, which she understands, but I’m confident that she will come through this and will again be one of the best reporters CBS News has. She very much understands and appreciates all the love and support from her colleagues at CBS News, and I know that this outpouring has been very instrumental in her recovery.

I also spent some time with her mother, father, brother and sister-in-law and they seem to be holding up remarkably well, and are also incredibly appreciative of the way the entire CBS News family has cared for them in every way.

We will continue to give you updates on Kimberly’s condition, but the news here is really very encouraging."

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

fredfa

06-01-06, 08:45 PM

TV Notebook
'The Sopranos' runs out of steam in Season 6

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog

Sad to say, but I almost wish the series finale of “The Sopranos” aired Sunday.

It’s not quite the end; after Sunday’s episode, another set of “Sopranos” outings will air in 2007. But if they’re anything like much of the past season, by the time the show actually does close up shop, the end will be long overdue.

Though the first episode of this season started things off with a bang -- literally -- when Uncle Junior shot Tony, the majority of episodes have been painfully slow and drawn out since then.

And this is not just the result of the show entering a contemplative, reflective phase, as the famiglia’s accrued sins begin to catch up with them. That would be an admirable tone to cultivate, and that melancholy flavor has seeped in effectively from time to time.

But too many Season 6 stories on this once-great show are stone-cold boring, insignificant or glaringly obvious. Too many times this season, I’ve looked at my watch during an episode, wondering when it would be over. That shouldn’t happen.

“Luxury Lounge” was probably the show’s worst episode ever; did the writers really mean to satirize the fact that rich celebrities are gifted with endless amounts of swag during awards season? Please. The entitled, gimme-gimme attitude from actors and the frantic marketing and product placement from consumer-products firms -- all of that parodies itself in the pages of any celebrity tabloid. Whatever its intent, the sour “Luxury Lounge” and several other episodes this season were, quite simply, stretched out and padded with filler, often to the point of absurdity.

For instance, during “The Ride,” in a conversation with Tony, Christopher obliquely referred to the time he came over to tell Tony that Adriana was talking to federal agents. Not only did we get a replay of that confession scene from a previous episode, but then we got several minutes of a present-day, distraught Christopher, high on heroin, stumbling about and nodding off.

Christopher is using drugs and the patina of responsibility to escape his grief over Adriana. Got it. No need to hit us over the head with anvils for 10 minutes to make the point. Do the writers really think that we’re all that dim -- that every single thing on the show needs to be spelled out ad nauseam? Or are they just looking to fill out the hour any way they can?

The trouble with this season is that though there have been various things at stake -- Vito’s life, for one thing -- so little of it has had any real impact. When Vito was murdered in “Cold Stones,” it was a horrific, terrible act, but at least in the resolution of that story, there was some dramatic tension at play.

But too often Season 6’s moribund pace and many pointless plots that went nowhere frustrated the creation of any dramatic payoff. Where’s the enthralling “Sopranos” of previous years, the show that had us on the edge of our seats over poor Adriana’s plight? Have we really been reduced to watching a show about credit card fraud and celebrity greed?

There have been some bright spots: Anything involving Carmela, including her gripping hospital scenes and her intermittently evocative trip to Paris, has been worth watching, thanks to the terrifyingly good Edie Falco.

As Johnny Sacramoni, Vince Curatola electrifies the screen in his all-too-rare appearances -- but also indirectly demonstrates that as Johnny Sack’s acting replacement, the increasingly prominent Phil Leotardo, actor Frank Vincent isn’t in the rest of the cast’s league.

If this is how things continue next year when the show finishes its run, it'll be a shame. Tony Soprano deserves to go out with a bang, not a whimper.

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

fredfa

06-01-06, 09:17 PM

TV Notebook
What Makes Me Laugh? NBC's 'Last Comic Standing'

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer

American Idol is gone. So is Survivor. Dancing with the Stars won’t return until the fall. With summer only a few weeks away, once again the networks are looking for the next big reality show that will keep viewers glued to their couches and out of the multiplexes.

In the coming weeks we’ll see everything from Big Brother 7: All Stars (good grief!) to another Bachelor-like reality show on ABC called How To Get The Guy (give me a break!) to Sci Fi Channel’s Who Wants to Be a Superhero (are they kidding?) in which contestants pitch their own superhero to comic book God Stan Lee.

One old summer reality show that doesn’t get a lot of buzz but is very funny is NBC’s Last Comic Standing. Basically, it’s American Idol for stand-up comics with a little bit of Big Brother thrown in as the finalists live together in a house. This time, however, the house is the Queen Mary. So, I guess you can say some of The Love Boat has been tossed into the mix, too. But since these cutthroat comics are all vying for the title of Last Comic Standing (the winner gets an exclusive talent contract with NBC and their own comedy special on Bravo), there probably won’t be much lovin’ going on.

Now, most of the comics stink in the early rounds much like the Idol wannabes. But that’s all part of the fun. Even when you stink, you can be funny and make for good reality show television. Like the guy on Tuesday who oddly liked slathering I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter all over himself while wondering why the product isn’t used as a shampoo.

Let’s hope NBC allows Last Comic Standing to finish its run this time. If you recall, the network unceremoniously bumped the show to Comedy Central right before the finale was supposed to air. For the show’s fourth season, Jay Mohr is no longer hosting. Now doing the honors is Anthony Clark, who isn’t very funny and who probably wouldn’t fare very well if he was competing on the show. But Clark has a gig, so he doesn’t have to worry about impressing no stinkin' judges.

Last Comic Standing will never reach American Idol-like heights. I don’t care. For me, the show serves an important purpose. After a long, deadline-filled day at the office, laughing my head off at a bunch of no-name comics is the perfect refresher I need before hitting the sack.

Well, that, and a few glasses of white Merlot.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2006/06/post_3.html

fredfa

06-01-06, 09:52 PM

TV Notebook
Cable Has Sizzling Summer Start

By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable 6/1/2006

Cable networks are starting the summer strong – new episodes of original series for several networks are besting their last-year averages.

The third season premiere of Rescue Me on May 30 did 10% better than its season-two premiere with total viewers and 15% better than its season-two average. The original drama’s season-three premiere averaged 3.21 million total viewers. The show also did better with adults 18-49 than it did last season, averaging 2.05 million viewers in the demo, up 7% from the season-two debut and 13% from the season-two average. That was also 6% better than its season-one average.

The second-season premiere of A&E’s Criss Angel Mindfreak May 31 – back-to-back episodes at 10 and 10:30 p.m. – bested its season-one premiere with total viewers and adults 18-49, among other demos. The two episodes averaged 2.3 million total viewers – 34% more than the season-one premiere – and 1.6 million adults 18-49 – up 34% from last season. The 10:30 episode pulled in the series’ best ever ratings in total viewers and adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.

The second season of A&E’s Inked at 9 p.m. also bested its last-year numbers with its season-two premiere Wednesday night. The episode averaged 1.1 million total viewers – 16% better than last season’s premiere – and 770,000 adults 18-49 – up 25% from last year.

Separately, Sci Fi said Thursday that 13 new episodes of its reality series Ghost Hunters will premiere in October (six in October and the rest in early 2007) after the series posted solid numbers for its 90-minute season finale Wednesday (May 31) – 1.2 million in adults 18-49.

fredfa

06-01-06, 10:25 PM

TV Notebook
Pilot Watch: NBC & Fox errata

By Alan Sepinwall in the Newark Star-Ledger’s TV blog

A funny thing has happened since I started watching pilots last week: I haven't seen a bad one yet.

Now, I don't know that I've seen a great one, either, but in the luck of the draw, the pilots I've watched (almost exclusively dramas) have all achieved a level of competence suggesting that, even if I'm not the audience, someone will be.

Same caveat as always applies: these are not reviews. Too many things are going to change between now and when these things air. These are just first impressions.

"Friday Night Lights"
Who's In It: Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, a bunch of newcomers and/or bit players from the movie
What's It About: The movie transplanted to a fictional Texas town where Chandler is the new coach of the most-hyped high school football team in the state.
Pluses: Peter Berg is back in the director's chair, and he knows what he's doing, both in depicting the town's hopelessness and multi-tasking between the stories of all the players and their hangers-on. I've always liked Chandler, and he's a good choice here as the untested rookie. I'm a sports movie nut, so this pushed all my buttons; even though I could predict everything that would happen in the big game before it happened, I still practically cheered by the end. Could be the first successful sports-centric drama since "The White Shadow."
Minuses: Again, I'm a sports movie nut -- to the point where if I stumble across "The Air Up There" (a movie in which Kevin Bacon teaches Africans how to play basketball) on cable, I'm unable to change the channel until the end -- so I'm not an unbiased observer. As I said, you will see every plot development coming before it does, and if you don't have my undying affection for the genre, I don't know whether you'll be willing to go with the predictability the way I was.

"Heroes"
Who's In It: Milo Ventimiglia, Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar, Hayden Panettiere, Greg Grunberg and many, many more
What's It About: People all over the world begin developing superhuman abilities -- a cheerleader who can't be hurt, a Japanese cubicle drone who can bend the space/time continuum, an artist whose paintings depict the future -- in advance of a coming apocalypse.
Pluses: Given the resume of creator Tim Kring ("Crossing Jordan," "Providence"), this is much more interesting than I was expecting. Just as "Friday Night Lights" appealed to the sports nut in me, this played to my inner comic book geek. The idea of "What would happen if people got super powers in the real world?" has been done plenty of times before, from "Watchmen" to "Unbreakable," but Kring has a nice spin on it: not nearly as solemn and pretentious as "Unbreakable," but serious enough that it doesn't seem like camp. I particularly liked Masi Oka as the Japanese hero (named Hiro, of course) and Sendhil Ramamurthy as an Indian genetics professor obsessed with proving that humans can evolve into superhumans. Also, director David Semel finds a way to shoot certain scenes as if they were comic book panels without cribbing the visual style of Ang Lee's "Hulk."
Minuses: It's a huge cast (Grunberg and a few other castmembers aren't even in the pilot) and, like "Surface" before it, so sprawling that I'm not sure what a typical episode might look like. Despite the avoidance of spandex and other comic book tropes (though Panettiere's cheerleader uniform sort of qualifies as a costume), you really have to be a geek like me to appreciate it, I think.

"Standoff"
Who's In It: Ron Livingston, Rosemarie DeWitt, Gina Torres, Michael Cudlitz
What's It About: Hostage negotiating partners for the FBI are secretly, then not-so-secretly, dating.
Pluses: Ron Livingston is awesome. He just is. The man was in "Swingers," "Office Space" and "Band of Brothers," and he has a likable Everyguyness that will make me watch him in just about anything. He and DeWitt have nice chemistry. Most of the pilot has the light tone a premise like this needs to work. Glad to see Gina Torres have a regular job again, and to see Cudlitz (who was also in "Band of Brothers") essentially reprising his sniper role from "The Negotiator." (Say it with me: "I want Chris Sabian!")
Minuses: Torres is wasted in the Disapproving Minority Captain role. The slightly goofy tone of the early scenes that allowed me to buy that Livingston and DeWitt would be allowed to work together turns uncomfortably dark in the final scenes.

"Vanished"
Who's In It: Gale Harrold, Ming-Na, John Allen Nelson, Rebecca Gayheart and many more
What's It About: A Senator's wife goes missing, and the FBI investigation suggests there's a conspiracy afoot that goes way beyond a simple kidnapping.
Pluses: Brisk pace, good cast (John Allen Nelson's come a long way from "Hunk"), a mystery that might potentially make me want to follow the entire case for a whole season.
Minuses: The key word is "might." "Prison Break" has made me very wary of this format (though, given the conspiracy angle, the senator's wife could reappear quickly without derailing the story arc), and I'm also tired of TV shows with elaborate conspiracy mythology.

"Justice"
Who's In It: Victor Garber, Kerr Smith, Eamonn Walker, Rebecca Mader
What's It About: "The Practice," Jerry Bruckheimer-style, with Garber as sleazy lead partner in a prominent Los Angeles criminal defense outfit and Smith as the firm's conscience.
Pluses: Garber has fun playing a narcissistic bastard. Eamonn Walker has a regular job. It's from the Bruckheimer shop, so it looks good and moves well.
Minuses: I'm personally burnt-out on the Bruckheimer formula, so my interest started wandering halfway through. Also, the pilot makes a big point of showing that their client didn't do it; will Bruckheimer's black-and-white worldview allow for a show where his heroes sometimes help guilty people go free?

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2006/06/pilot-watch-nbc-fox-errata.html

fredfa

06-01-06, 11:43 PM

Critic’s Notebook
'The Sopranos' deserves all the time it takes

By Robert Bianco USA Today

Time has not been kind to The Sopranos.

It could be said that this HBO series is actually timeless, a masterpiece that has carved its own artistic niche outside the entertainment constraints of commercial television. And though opinions differ on the 12-episode run concluding Sunday (9 ET/PT), the show remains the best reason to spend money on HBO.

Still, there's no doubt The Sopranos is no longer the powerhouse it once was. Viewership lingers at 8 million. What's worse for a network that is generally more talked about than watched, there seems to be precious little excitement around a show that was once among TV's most discussed.

What happened? Asking people to wait two years for new episodes was asking too much, particularly when that two-season stretch saw the debut of so many strong dramas. People have only so many "must-see" appointments they're willing to make a week, which means The Sopranos wasn't just competing with (and losing to) Desperate Housewives. It was also competing with Grey's Anatomy, House, Lost and 24.

It also appears that the show either took too much time getting moving this season or viewers had forgotten how much time The Sopranos usually takes. One of the joys and frustrations of the show is that it does not conform to TV's keep-them-hooked storytelling demands; the writers devote as much time to a story as they think it needs.

Even so, it seems clear that using Tony's fantasy-heavy hospital stay as a lead-in to a prolonged gay escapade by a character no one ever much cared about was not a crowd-pleaser.

Yet viewers who stuck with the show were rewarded by rich moments, particularly those that dealt with Tony's family. Tony, struggling to maintain his belief that his life is a gift. Carmela, trying to create her own life and failing. The two of them, coming to grips with AJ's failings as a son and a man.

Plus, in its gifted cast, The Sopranos has an advantage most series don't. Even when the plot dawdles, you can glory in the performances of James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, joined this season by particularly strong turns from Michael Imperioli and Tony Sirico.

We get to spend one more hour with them, and then they're scheduled to vanish until January's concluding run. That's another long wait.

But forThe Sopranos, I'll make the time.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2006-06-01-sopranos_x.htm

fredfa

06-01-06, 11:56 PM

Critic’s Notebook
C'mon C'mon: Why Rescue Me Rocks

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic

Denis Leary's firefighter dramedy Rescue Me returns for its third season tonight on FX, and while I recommend that you catch it for all the reasons I've written about before--Leary's acid-dripping, self-destructive performance, the show's treatment of machismo and self-deception and Irish Catholic guilt--another reason is that it has a kickass credits sequence.

Credits sequences are a dying art on network TV. You get a few bars of a tune, a few seconds of images, and then we're off to commercials--just one more example of the modern corporate imperative never to waste a unused second that can be wrung out for a couple more shekels. When you pop in a DVD of a show from the 70s, you'll be astonished by the lavish credits, stretching on for minutes and multiple song verses. Millions in potential advertising dollars, rotting there on screen like a whale carcass before your eyes!

Nowadays, the only shows that understand the importance of opening titles, to draw you in, establish themes and set the emotional table, are on cable. (The few network shows with good title sequences include Lost and 24, which make a virtue of parsimony with spare, almost non-existent titles and run their credits over the action.) Almost every HBO credits sequence is a gorgeous mini-movie in itself--the Henricksens in Big Love saying grace on their own planet to the strains of God Only Knows, the most perfect pop song written; the museum-quality images of gold dust and blood in the titles of Deadwood. The one clunker, to my taste, is Entourage, whose L.A. joyride with the four main characters in a convertible is a bit too literal--though the music choice, Jane's Addiction's Superhero, is a perfect choice for the story of a golden-boy celeb starring in the movie Aquaman.

Rescue Me's credits, anyway, are the best on TV, a flawless marriage of music, picture and idea. Image after perfectly chosen image hits on the themes of manliness, aggression, bathos and desolation: a punching bag swinging in an empty room, ketchup bottles and dirty dishes on a dinner table, the smoke from a finished cigarette wafting wraith-like from an ashtray, the World Trade Center-less Manhattan skyline. All of this is punctuated by firemen suiting up, red lights flashing, streetscapes whirring by--the brave, foolhardy drive that redeems the wrecked, obnoxious firefighters that populate the comedy-drama. The scene of a flock of pigeons exploding into the air as the rhythm section and lyrics kick in deserves an Emmy in itself.

Meanwhile, the music--the punk anthem C'mon, C'mon by Detroit's Von Bondies--so plaintively, fiercely captures the show's post-9/11 resignation and regret that it's hard to believe the song wasn't written for the series: "Now we grieve cause now is gone/ Things were good when we were young/ With my teeth locked down I can see the blood/ Of a thousand men who have come and gone." The verse sounds as coarse, wistful and Bushmill's-soaked as Leary's performance looks.

I never watch Rescue Me except on DVD and TiVo. I could skip the credits every time if I wanted to. I never do. Sometimes I rewind and watch them twice. FX may be leaving money on the table for the 50 seconds of credits, but what it does to immerse an audience in the show's black-humored, teeth-gritting world--that's priceless.

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

fredfa

06-02-06, 12:02 AM

T V Notebook
The Baghdad beat gives pause to some

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist June 1, 2006

CBS's Lara Logan can't wait to get back to Baghdad, but Jake Tapper and John Berman of ABC are having second thoughts.

Network correspondents covering the war in Iraq are experiencing disparate feelings about returning to the field after Monday's car bombing that killed two CBS journalists and critically injured a third.

Logan, CBS chief foreign correspondent, en route to Sudan for a long-planned Evening News story, says she's "devastated, personally and professionally," by the loss, but it won't stop her from being in Baghdad.

Logan, 35, a Durban, South Africa, native based in London, estimates that she has spent at least two of the last three years in Iraq.

"I have a constant commitment to the story and to the people - my colleagues in the CBS bureau and my Iraqi colleagues," she says from Johannesburg.

"I want to show my solidarity with them... . When you're invested in a place and in the people, every time you leave there, you feel like you're abandoning them."

Iraq has become the deadliest war for news people. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 71 have been killed there since 2003. Vietnam's total was 63; World War II's, 69, the Freedom Forum says.

Logan and her husband, Jason Siemon, who just retired from playing pro basketball in England, are friends with injured CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier, based in London.

Dozier is in critical but stable condition in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, CBS said yesterday. She suffered injuries to her head and legs.

The loved ones of cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan were to accompany their bodies back to London Thursday, CBS said.

After the attack, Logan says, some members of her family asked her to stay away from Baghdad. No dice.

And if her husband did the asking? "I would make him not ask me," Logan says. "I'd force a retraction from the question. I'd guilt him into it. I'm very independent. Everybody knows that."

Tapper, 37, a Wynnewood native and Akiba Hebrew Academy grad, was sent to Baghdad in February, only weeks after ABC World News Tonight coanchor Bob Woodruff was seriously injured by a roadside bomb.

"The fear is considerable," says the Washington-based Tapper, this week promoted to senior national correspondent. "Obviously, it's an important story, but it's nerve-wracking to be there. You have to decide when it's worth it to risk your life.

"Just getting stuck in traffic is a terrifying event. You don't want anyone to get in the car. You don't want to be targeted. Since I returned, getting stuck on the Schuylkill is an absolute pleasure."

Tapper says his parents - South Philly pediatrician Theodore Tapper and retired nurse Anne Tapper - told him in February not to go. This week, he's starting to rethink his position.

He promised his fiancee, Jennifer Brown, Eastern region field manager for Planned Parenthood, that he wouldn't go before their wedding in September. After that, "it's subject to negotiation."

For ABC's Berman, Iraq is a numbers game. He returned safely Sunday from his ninth trip, and he worries that the odds aren't on his side.

"It's the 'sooner or later' of it, if I keep pushing it," says Berman, 34, a New York-based correspondent. "I've been nine times now. Thank God I've been safe nine times. Is 10 times too many?"

If his wife, Liz Claiborne executive Kerry Voss, didn't want Berman to go, "there's no way I would go. At this point, the wall has come down. Journalists are fair game. The amount of random violence is staggering."

Logan, Tapper and Berman agree that it can be more dangerous in Iraq for TV journalists than their print brethren.

"Once the camera comes out, there's no secret about it," Logan says. "You can't blend in." Says Berman: "We are a big, giant target. You might as well have a bright neon sign that says, 'Look at me, I'm a Westerner.' "

Officials at ABC, CBS and NBC all say they have no plans to curtail their Iraq coverage.

ABC ramped up its security months ago, after Woodruff's injury, says Paul Slavin, senior vice president, worldwide news gathering.

"At the moment, we're comfortably uncomfortable with the situation we have. We hold a significant security review once a week, sometimes once a day.

"If the situation continues to seriously deteriorate, we will pull back at some point. No story is worth someone's life."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14711015.htm

fredfa

06-02-06, 01:03 AM

TV Q&A
Ask Matt

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

Question: Hey, Matt! I love your column and read it all the time. I fell in love with The Closer while watching its first season repeats on TNT. Do you think that a show like this will ever get a chance to run during the traditional season, or will it always be stuck in the summer season? Also, what's your opinion about the cast and its chances for a third season? Thanks! — Pam

Matt Roush: Later this week I'll be sitting down to watch the first two episodes of The Closer's second season, and I'll be sharing my thoughts before the show's premiere on June 12. I thought the first season was solid, and that if it weren't for Edie Falco, Kyra Sedgwick would have a decent chance at an Emmy (she'll certainly get a nomination). For a show built around such a strong character, the bench strength of the supporting cast is exceptional (J.K. Simmons, Jon Tenney, Tony Denison, G.W. Bailey, to name just a few). It's one of the better crime dramas on TV, and given the glut in that genre, that's saying something.

Even so, I think TNT is wise to keep first-run episodes out of the "traditional season" mix. June is a perfect month for TNT to rebrand itself as a drama destination with The Closer and its new companion piece, Saved. While Saved may suffer by comparison with FX's Rescue Me, I'm confident that Closer will do just fine this summer and will be around for however many seasons Sedgwick is willing to make the commute.

________________________________________

Question: Rebecca wrote to you with the same feelings I have — glad that the TV season is over. The reason? The end of the network season means the return of Rescue Me! And for guilty pleasure, I see that Bravo will have Project Runway this summer. Now if the Sox can pull off another season, I'll be in heaven. By the way, please tell your readers about the Rescue Me comedy clip on fxnetwork.com. — Cynthia

Matt Roush: Consider it done. With Rescue Me back on the air, and Deadwood and Entourage little more than a week away (I've seen the first few episodes of both, and they're terrific), plus The 4400 back on the same Sunday night (June 11), and the delicious Project Runway scheduled to return July 12, I'm going to have precious little idle time before the next "traditional" season begins. A good thing, because we'll need fresh topics once Everwood (sob) signs off for good Monday night. Speaking of Rescue Me, wait till you see how Tommy reacts next week when he catches on about his brother and his ex-wife. Fighting fires is nothing compared to fighting siblings. Rescue Me is simultaneously the most harrowing and hilarious show on TV.

________________________________________

Question: I was shocked to read that the new Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip show will run in place of Medium until mid-season on Monday nights. I'd bet the new show will be terrific, but why do fans of returning shows have to pay the price? Medium does have fans out there. Patricia Arquette is wonderful, and the show is really more of a family drama than a "spook" show. Could they not have put it on another night? I'm still feeling the effects of that "network" choosing 7th Heaven over Everwood and the loss of the amazing Invasion. Networks are so greedy they remind me of Enron execs. — Pat

Matt Roush: Hmmm. I like it. Forcing Dawn Ostroff to actually watch all three seasons of One Tree Hill as penance for killing Everwood. Cruel and unusual punishment, indeed. As for Medium, NBC is making the argument that by benching it for half the season, it will return with all original episodes, which could help improve the show's slipping ratings. A new time period away from the CSI: Miami juggernaut also might not hurt, although let's not hold NBC to any of its recent announcements. If one of NBC's new shows flops, Medium could be back sooner than expected. But as I noted in my Dispatch, there is no bigger priority for NBC this fall than getting Studio 60 sampled and launched. The network isn't trying to kill Medium, but the show has definitely lost some of its luster.

________________________________________

Question: I have very much enjoyed the coverage of the new fall schedules, but I was wondering if TV Guide will be doing something similar for the shows either returning or premiering over the summer. Thanks! — Molly

Matt Roush: Thank you for asking (and I swear I didn't plant this question). As it happens, the issue currently on stands is a major summer TV preview, and in selected markets, newsstand copies include a free DVD with clips and interviews of new and returning summer shows. This should help you plan your viewing over the next few surprisingly busy months.

________________________________________

Question: Can I give a different perspective on reruns, one that actually has a somewhat positive view? While I don't live for reruns, I often miss shows I'd like to see in first run (this season Veronica Mars was notable in that area: I missed three episodes because I messed up my videotaping), and repeats are a chance for me to catch up. I know I've missed at least one episode of 24 each season, and never got to see it because Fox doesn't schedule repeats. I'm not high tech (no TiVo, just a low-end VCR), really don't want to buy an entire DVD just for one episode and not all shows are available on streaming video or iPod download. And one final note: If I don't want to watch a rerun, it gives me a chance to turn off the TV and go out and do something constructive. Thanks for listening, I enjoy your columns and read them every week. — Karen

Matt Roush: Hey, I'm a big fan of repeats myself. (More repeats means less I have to watch.) And for the record, unlike in some past years, Fox is actually repeating the most recent season of 24, with back-to-back episodes on Fridays. So maybe there's a bit of a reversal in considering some shows off-limits to repeats. (The main issue is repeating episodes during the regular season, causing confusion and some discontent when week to week you never know if you're getting a new episode, especially of a serialized drama.) Finding a way to marathon repeats, as they so often do on cable, would also be a big boon to series fans. All of your points make sense to me. But it looks more and more like the best way to catch repeats of your favorite shows is to go online to download or watch on streaming video. Brave new world.

________________________________________

Question: Matt, first off, nice seeing you on Charlie Rose. I hope you and he might sit down and have an extended conversation some time. Secondly, as regards the moving of Bones to Friday, I think the reason fans are so alarmist can be summed up in two words: Firefly and Wonderfalls. I know that's how I feel. — Michael

Matt Roush: Thanks for the Charlie Rose nod. That panel was fun, and once Charlie is fully recovered in his seat, it would be an honor to talk TV with him at length, should the opportunity arise. As for Bones moving to Friday next mid-season (should that even happen, which I'm skeptical about), I understand the trepidation regarding any good Fox show being shipped to that death slot. But keep in mind that Bones is a much more mainstream show than either Firefly or Wonderfalls, which would have been a risk on any night in any time period (except maybe after American Idol, and even then, imagine how bad they would look if they lost too much of the lead-in). Bones could work for Fox the way Numbers or Close to Home works for CBS. The numbers wouldn't be as good as on a weeknight, no doubt, but if Fox moves ahead with this mid-season plan, it's not going to decide Bones' fate solely on its Friday performance. It's not that it wouldn't be fair — it wouldn't make sense. (I know, when has that mattered?) Still, nothing to worry about just yet, please.

________________________________________

Question: I read your short iwrite-up of the Without a Trace finale in one of your Dispatches and was surprised that you didn't have more of a reaction. What has happened to this show? The writing has been so poor this season that it's almost criminal that their writers get paid. In my opinion, their writers had two approaches in Season 4: crib from old ER story lines or just toe the line by writing boring, exploitative cases that are comparable to the mess that is CSI: Miami. I don't see the writing getting any better since Hank Steinberg's pilot has been picked up and looks promising. I almost hope this show fails on Sundays — just to show CBS how far it has fallen. Trace used to be such a quality show, with subtle personal storylines and gripping cases. Now it is just plain bad — the agents never interact, the good story lines (Danny's PTSD, the Jack/Sam history) have been dropped, and boring, clichéd story lines have been bungled. If they continue with the Jack-Anne pregnancy story line, I don't think I will be able to stand it. Does anyone in prime time use birth control? That is just unbelievable. And don't even get me started on the possible Danny-Elena romance. I'm all for Danny getting a story line — he's been hopelessly neglected for the last three seasons — but the Elena character is poorly written and acted. And do they really need another office romance? This isn't NYPD Blue — clearly, the writers are cribbing once again. Does this always happen when TV shows change head writers? Is there any hope that Without a Trace can rebound? I don't expect you to have all the answers, although you most often do hit the nail on the head. But I just want someone to recognize that this show is a shell of what it used to be. — Sam

Matt Roush: You've made your points loud and clear. I'm not quite as down on the show as you, but I agree that the Elena character has added nothing but artificial and ineffective glamour to the ensemble, and I wasn't wild about the pregnancy twist, either. There are still weeks when the show works its magic on me — it's still among the top procedurals on TV — but also there are many weeks when it seems as routine as many other CBS crime dramas. It's not just that the number of great dramas on network TV has increased (though it has), but it's hard to remember what used to compel me (besides Anthony LaPaglia) to put Without a Trace on my yearly top-10 lists. It's now not even close.

________________________________________

Question: Is Izzie gone for good from Grey's Anatomy? I heard a rumor a major player from the cast would be leaving the show at the end of the season, but didn't pay much attention. Will they try and get her back? (From the reaction of the doctors when she announced that she quit, it looked like they accepted her quitting without issue.) — Jeanette

Matt Roush: Just because she's quitting the surgical program doesn't mean she's quitting the show. (Same goes for Mark Harmon's character resigning from NCIS.) The writers had a very dramatic, even traumatic, plan in mind for Izzie, and, as usual on this show, bad decisions come with dire consequences. I have no idea how she will continue to interact and work with her friends, but I can't wait to find out.

On another Grey's front, Erin declares: "It seems like I'm the only one who's happy about Grey's Anatomy moving to Thursdays. I've never been into the stale procedurals, so Thursday has been a dead night for TV in my home for quite some time. Grey's couldn't hold a flame to football on Sunday nights, so they've gained a regular viewer in me with the move. Do you think the audiences for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Grey's are that similar that they can't coexist?"

I've said several times that two hit shows can coexist in the same time period, and CSI and Grey's are different enough in appeal that each will find its audience. But both are also so mass appeal that putting them against each other would cannibalize the audience, and the numbers for both series will likely be depressed from when they ran more or less unopposed in seasons past. I imagine CSI will still get a better overall number than Grey's. But Grey's will look like a success because it will improve ABC's standing on Thursdays, and in certain young and female demographics, could give CSI a real challenge.

________________________________________

Question: I am really surprised at people's reaction to the finale of Will & Grace, specifically their 20-year friendship hiatus. I thought it was absolutely appropriate and necessary. For years every character on the show, including Will and Grace, bemoaned their unhealthy attachment. Yes, they were good friends, but they were constantly trying to conduct a platonic friendship in a romantic context, usually resulting in the scaring off of potential love interests. This was often played for laughs, but like the old trope says: The best comedy is often rooted in tragedy. And the tragedy for Will & Grace was the irreconcilable nature of their relationship: platonic soul mates looking for love.

I agree that the decline of this once-great show was palpable in the last few seasons. But the finale, with all of its flaws, understood that the only way for Will and Grace to successfully nurture a romantic relationship was "amputation." They needed this time apart. Far from giving us a gratuitous ending, the show used the seeds it had sown for eight years to allow the two main characters to come into perfect alignment only after a long period of separation. Thanks for reading; I love your column. — Venus

Matt Roush: Thanks for the thoughtful analysis. I still thought it was a downer. Taking a somewhat similar tack, here's how Kim saw it, and now I'm almost convinced:

"While I was watching the Will & Grace finale, I felt the exact same way you did. I found it completely unrealistic and out of character that Will and Grace wouldn't speak for 20 years. Then I watched last year's Backstage Pass special, which aired on Lifetime directly after the finale, and Eric McCormack said something that really made sense. He said that Grace could conceivably be a good wife and mother if Will wasn't in her life. He somehow holds her back because they rely on each other too much. He knows the character so well that he predicted their future a year in advance. It really put the finale in perspective. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how realistic the finale actually was. Even the strongest friendships sometimes fade. The way that they could pick right back up 20 years later really says something."

________________________________________

Question: I have been a faithful fan of The O.C. for quite some time now, but I feel the show is really going to suffer if the beloved character Marissa Cooper is dead. I saw the Season 3 finale and wasn't exactly pleased when I saw that Marissa was the character who was supposed to be "hovering near death." After the finale, I read on numerous sources that Mischa Barton's character Marissa Cooper will not return to The O.C. next season, due to Marissa's death. I was just wondering if you knew for sure if Barton's character has finally said goodbye. — Cory

Matt Roush: What more do you need, an actual autopsy? Marissa's dead. Gone. Kaput. Not coming back. Creatively speaking, this could be the best thing to happen to this show, which certainly needed some shaking up.

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

humdinger70

06-02-06, 01:06 AM

I wonder if Stephanie March is going to show up in any of Wolf's shows. I like her character but I will say I did not like the character that was presented to us in Wolf's "Conviction". I hope Julianne Nicholson turns up in something as I think she's a terrific actress.

I hope not. "Conviction" jumped the shark right out of the start as soon as she came on. Her character, ADA Alexandra Cabot, was supposed to be in Witness Protection, thus her total identity should have been wiped completely off the map.

I also think it didn't help that she was made into a sexpot (Alexandra's relationship with Anson Mount's Jim Steele that resulted in that impromptu desktop sex scene) that was never there on L&O:SVU.

fredfa

06-02-06, 01:49 AM

I think if Wolf really wants to shake up L&O (and he does need to attract a younger audience) Sam Waterson has to go.

But then Dick has not proven he can attract a younger audience.

fredfa

06-02-06, 02:39 AM

T V Notebook
Inside Move: Make a 'Deadwood' decision already

Milch ready to bury HBO's oater

By Denise Martin Variety.com

So is "Deadwood" officially dead?

That depends, apparently, on whom you ask. After a string of comments indicating that the HBO drama might be riding into the sunset, "Deadwood" creator-exec producer David Milch made his most definitive statement yet this week, telling TVGuide.com that he was pulling the plug on the grisly Western.

"I felt the right decision creatively was to stop now and move forward with the new project," Milch said, referring to a second potential series he's working on for HBO, "John From Cincinnati," a surf drama he's penning in collaboration with author Kem Nunn (Daily Variety, May 10).

Not so fast, says HBO, which continues to insist that negotiations about future episodes are ongoing and that no final decisions have been made.

Last month, the cabler announced it had released its options on the entire cast, and Milch has told reporters that the show's economics (a reported $5 million an hour) were making it difficult for HBO to keep it going. He also told several outlets that a shorter order for the fourth season -- six as opposed to a full 12 episodes -- would be unacceptable.

Milch disclosed to attendees at an event sponsored by the Writers Guild of America on May 25 that each episode required a costly 15-16 days of shooting, about twice as long as the average network drama.

An HBO rep says all is still up for discussion, but Milch's statement paints a grim picture.

Ending "Deadwood" would leave HBO without one of its few remaining buzzworthy dramas with "The Sopranos" slated to sign off next year.

Still on the sked are one-hours "Rome" -- though it's not clear when that will be back -- and "Big Love," both of which were renewed for second seasons. Also in reserve is a new season of another critical fave, "The Wire," and upcoming frosh drama "sexLIFE" from Gavin Polone.

fredfa

06-02-06, 03:52 AM

T V Notebook
Fox News About to Birth Business Channel

What Everyone Is Talking About
By Claire Atkinson AdAge.com

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- First the London Times is coming to New York, and now Watercooler hears Fox News Business Channel is about to launch. A number of tipsters claim the channel could launch as soon as this month. One Fox insider says carriage deals are in place with the main cable systems operators and with News Corp. sibling DirecTV, and that negotiations are very close with Time Warner Cable.

Getting a deal done with Time Warner is arguably the most important piece of the affiliate jigsaw puzzle, given the importance of the Manhattan market. A Time Warner Cable spokesman said negotiations were continuing, while a DirecTV spokesman would only say: "We're in discussions." If a DirecTV deal is in place, that would automatically put the channel in 15 million households.

Other tipsters say Fox News producers told folks they're expecting the launch this month, while analysts say recent meetings with News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and President Peter Chernin left them with the distinct impression that the Wall Street-focused sibling is close to birth. A message for a Fox News spokeswoman was not returned by press time.

The channel, under the aegis of Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, is likely to draw heavily on Fox News' existing on-air talent because cable-industry recruiters say there's been precious little activity on the hiring front and programming is likely to have the same provocative opinion format that characterizes many of Fox News Channel's current business shows. However, News Corp. might draw on some of the print staff of the London Times, which is edited by Melbourne, Australia-born Robert Thompson, who is a former editor of the U.S. edition of the Financial Times.

Fox News Channel's managing editor of business news, Neil Cavuto, is likely to spearhead much of the news coverage. Just yesterday, Mr. Cavuto interviewed NBC Chairman Bob Wright on his show, "Your World," and asked if CNBC would be merged with MSNBC or sold. Mr. Wright said the channels were in good shape and said the real focus is NBC's prime time.

Of course, Fox News Business has already had a few false starts. It's been two years since Mr. Murdoch first floated the idea of launching a Fox News Channel spinoff. A report in The Wall Street Journal last June suggested that a deal was close with Time Warner and that the channel was slated for launch in the first half of 2006. Since then, executives at Fox News have consistently refused to acknowledge that the channel would even draw a breath of airtime until distribution was in hand.

http://www.adage.com/print?article_id=109600

keenan

06-02-06, 04:54 AM

I hope not. "Conviction" jumped the shark right out of the start as soon as she came on. Her character, ADA Alexandra Cabot, was supposed to be in Witness Protection, thus her total identity should have been wiped completely off the map.

I also think it didn't help that she was made into a sexpot (Alexandra's relationship with Anson Mount's Jim Steele that resulted in that impromptu desktop sex scene) that was never there on L&O:SVU.
You hope not what? That March doesn't return, or that she returns as a character like we saw on Conviction? I too, do not want to see March reprise her character as she was in Conviction, that whole sex thing with Mount was a complete turnoff for me. I understand that Wolf was trying to give us the personal life aspect of the type of characters that he's always had in his shows, but it simply did not work for me. She appeared to be almost a completely different person from what we were used to from previous L&Os and IMO, it was terrible.

caernavon

06-02-06, 08:15 AM

I think if Wolf really wants to shake up L&O (and he does need to attract a younger audience) Sam Waterson has to go.

But then Dick has not proven he can attract a younger audience.

Screw the younger audience. The rest of us like to watch TV too.

Scott Gammans

06-02-06, 08:46 AM

TV Notebook
Tom Shales Accepts Washington Post “Buyout

Pulitzer-Prize winning TV critic Tom Shales of the Washington Post has accepted a buyout offer from the paper.
I am really bummed about this. Shales was one of the best things about the Post.

I really don't understand this buyout strategy of theirs, because it's all the GOOD ones that are leaving. Sure, the Post will be leaner, but who will want to read it?

Sad. :(

Joseph

06-02-06, 08:55 AM

Sure, the Post will be leaner, but who will want to read it?

Take a look at their circulation figures. Who wants to read it now? :(

fredfa

06-02-06, 09:36 AM

Screw the younger audience. The rest of us like to watch TV too.

Amen!

fredfa

06-02-06, 09:42 AM

TV Notebook
'Grey's' players in bonus round

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter June 02, 2006

After a red-hot second season, the "Grey's Anatomy" cast is getting a little extra green from studio Touchstone Television.

Sources said that the studio, which produces the hit ABC drama, recently handed out $200,000 bonuses to each of the show's principal cast members, including Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey, James Pickens Jr., T.R. Knight, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Chandra Wilson, Isaiah Washington, Justin Chambers and Kate Walsh.

But sources close to key cast members say the bonus is not likely to head off pressure from the actors for the studio to renegotiate their original series deals at a higher pay rate in light of the show's meteoric ratings spike this past season.

Indeed, ABC has high hopes for the medical drama to reinvigorate the network's fortunes on Thursday with its bold move of the show to the 9 p.m. slot on that night in the fall.

Touchstone TV, which declined comment on the "Grey's" bonuses, has a history of giving cash bonuses to the ensemble casts of its hit series.

In early 2005, the studio rewarded the principal cast members of its dramedy "Desperate Housewives" with bonuses said to be about $250,000 each four months into the run of the show. The "Desperate Housewives" actors also received salary bumps.

Meanwhile, in January, the "Lost" gang received salary increases, with Matthew Fox also getting a bonus.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002612296

fredfa

06-02-06, 09:46 AM

The Business of TV
The upfront: So how about next week?

By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 2, 2006

The dragged-out upfront will likely get underway sometime next week, but with weak advertising demand and a dearth of must-buy shows and lineups, like NBC’s old Thursday night powerhouse, negotiations will be orderly, with prices a hair above last year’s and total spending down from $9.1 billion.

Media buyers say initial discussions have begun, mostly centering on multiplatform deals that also include the internet and other new media. But major negotiations aren’t likely to begin until next week or possibly the week after.

The slow pace is partly due to Nielsen Media Research’s much-talked-about digital-video-recorder ratings. But it’s much more about buyers simply not panicking about losing out on commercial inventory.

In years past, NBC set the terms of the upfront. With its Thursday lineup of shows including “Friends,” “ER” and stretching back to the “Cosby Show,” it ranked No. 1 for 20 years on the most important night for many advertisers. During these decades none of the other networks had a comparable lineup on any night of the week, so when the upfront kicked off, it kicked off big, with advertisers rushing to snap up that limited amount of key inventory. That drove up prices and the sense of urgency that almost always led to a frenzied upfront.

There’s no such urgency now. The broadcast networks are competitive on most nights of the week and average ratings in the just concluded broadcast season were right about where they were a year earlier.

“Because there is no urgency that there will be a potential sell-out situation, I believe there will be money held back,” says Ed Gentner, senior vice president and group director of video investment and activation at MediaVest.

“That’s not to say money won’t be spent in the upfront, but I can definitely see a delay with some advertisers. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see additional money going to scatter,” he says, referring to ad time sold throughout the year.

A network negotiator in the Midwest agrees. “I think the market is softer than anyone had anticipated,” he says. “It seems like more and more money is being held back for scatter, with maybe 75 percent of dollars being put into the upfront, where in years past we would have put it all in.”

The networks also have other challenges, including new media outlets potentially stealing away a percentage point or two from upfront budgets. And then there’s the ongoing DVR ratings debate.

Nielsen began issuing three streams of ratings earlier this year, including live, live-plus-same-day and live-plus-seven-day ratings, the latter two counting DVR viewers who record and later play back a show. The networks want to include these viewers, but buyers don’t, saying it’s unclear how many of them are fast-forwarding through commercials.

“I believe this will work itself out,” says Gentner. “There’s not a real urgency on either side to rush into a decision on that. I think that’s what has been holding things up. A lot of advertisers are taking this time to get their budgets and strategies in order because there’s not that urgency that networks are going to sell out.”

Another buyer says all the networks want more than live-only ratings. But he also says the networks are becoming more flexible, noting that NBC has suggested it’s willing to compromise, perhaps with live-plus-same-day ratings.

In recent weeks, forecasters have mostly projected a grim upfront for the broadcast networks.
Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen, for instance, projected a flat upfront--at $9.1 billion--with the Big Four networks expected to be up 4 percent but new networks the CW and MyNetworkTV dragging down the market with significantly less money than the dismantled UPN and the WB.

Other forecasters mostly agree with that outlook, although a few projected low-single-digit percentage increases.

“I think it will be down,” says the Midwest buyer. “A few weeks ago, I might have said it would be up ever so slightly. But I’m not getting that sense anymore. I think it will be down several percentage points, but I don’t think the bottom will drop out.”

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5092.asp

fredfa

06-02-06, 09:59 AM

Critic's Notebook
Is it HBO, or just TV?

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 02, 2006

It’s hard to imagine HBO not doing things right, but that era may be upon us.

Back in 1998 and 1999, the pay-cable network debuted “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos,” respectively, and used those upscale destination shows to build an impressive, 29-million strong subscription base and polish its image as the place for quality programming for grown-ups.

But now, as “The Sopranos” era comes to a close, the network looks vulnerable. By killing off “Deadwood,” which debuts its third season June 11 and won’t return after that, HBO has publicly shot itself in the foot. For this buzz-dependent network, that’s a real rarity.

HBO has a little time to play with, but not much. “The Sopranos” ends its run after a brief outing at the start of 2007, but frankly, based on what we’ve seen of the show’s sixth season, it looks as though it’s already run out of steam (more on that here) -- and the network has let it. The meandering, even dull nature of this season of “The Sopranos” is disappointing, but perhaps telling as well.

Does HBO’s signature show losing its way creatively signal bigger problems at the network? Frankly, the creative decline of “The Sopranos” (not to mention the quality nose dive of “Six Feet Under” before it died) is downright alarming, viewed in the context of other recent moves by HBO.

“Big Love” is watchable and its cast is first-rate, but it’s not, in my opinion, a must-see program -- and how much more mileage can be wrung from the idea of polygamy’s intersection with “family values”? Perhaps I’ll be proven wrong and it is a concept with staying power. Still, is a show about one man and his multiple wives the program that’s going to draw in the female viewers who were addicted to the ultimate thinking-woman’s romantic comedy, “Sex and the City”?

“Rome” is terrific, but it’s so expensive that one wonders how long the network will keep it going. “Entourage” has the buzz that HBO covets so much and it’s a delightfully diverting treat, but it’s no “Sopranos” and it will no doubt run its course in another two or three seasons.

Most shocking of all is the network’s decision to let the contracts of its “Deadwood” actors lapse, which effectively means that the show is not coming back after its third-season finale. Not coming back. Ever. Let that stunning fact sink into your brain.

It’s like Admiral Nelson poking a hole in his own ship just before the battle of Trafalgar.

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

fredfa

06-02-06, 10:03 AM

Critic's Notebook
Too bad about 'Deadwood,' but you'll live

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Friday, June 2, 2006

When word filtered out recently that HBO was letting the actors on "Deadwood" out of their contracts -- essentially canceling the series without actually canceling it -- fans were not the only ones who were stunned. It was a strange move that surprised many in the industry because, well, HBO will be the first to tell you that "It's not TV -- it's HBO." What that slogan implies, of course, is that HBO does things differently.

Apparently not.

In the end, all roads lead back to the bank. And if there's any issue that places HBO squarely in the same realm as everybody else in the industry, from broadcast networks to ad-supported cable channels, that issue is cash. Whether or not it's TV or HBO is up for debate. But this isn't: It's always about the money. Some stories just have the same, sad ending, no matter where they play out.

But just because HBO acted like, well, Fox, doesn't mean it should suffer the whiny backlash of outraged fans. And yet, that's what's happening now, with Internet campaigns hell-bent on saving "Deadwood" and at the same time organizing the National Cancel HBO Day. The first is understandable, the second is asinine.

On the plus side, this is the kind of devotion and fervor "Deadwood" has aroused, with its Shakespeare-in-the-mud, swear-word-marathon mix of bloody drama and dark deeds of men (and hookers). HBO should be proud of that. It's the kind of series that gets people talking. And normally that's exactly the kind of series HBO wants, since word of mouth drives subscriptions, and subscriptions are more important than ratings to a pay-cable outlet like HBO.

Though the acclaimed foul-mouthed Western -- a magnificent drama, with nothing like it anywhere on the dial -- will start Season 3 on June 11 and run a full 12 episodes, that's the end of the run. Creator David Milch had always wanted to do four "chapters" of the "Deadwood" saga, essentially as long as the lawless town managed to keep itself a separate entity from God and country. And there was never any indication from HBO that one of its most acclaimed series would not return.

So the move by HBO caught most people by surprise. Although HBO has not officially canceled the series, chances of it surviving are slim and none and -- well, you know the rest of that story. While Season 4 is not an impossibility, once actors are let out of their contracts, any future work they take invariably leaves them unable to come back. Multiply that by an entire cast, and you can forget Season 4 (theoretically, the series could be salvaged at the 11th hour if Ian McShane, who plays Al Swearengen, would return; without him, forget it).

Why did this happen? A complicated set of issues that revolve around money, it would seem. The bottom line is that "Deadwood" is expensive to make, cannot possibly be cut for use elsewhere (even on ad-supported cable), would not be co-financed by any other production company in Season 4 (unlike the very expensive historical drama "Rome," where costs are offset by foreign producers other than HBO) and would require HBO to pay the "Deadwood" actors to sit around while notorious clock-killer Milch works on a different HBO series, "John From Cincinnati." Nothing dramatically new in all of that except, and this a big exception, HBO balked at paying the tab.

Welcome to network television, everybody! Here we cut corners to use as floatation devices when the corporate drones cast us off to sea!

And yet, why should HBO suddenly get frugal? That's the current mystery, which remains unsolved and is, for your purposes, probably unknowable. But both Milch and HBO are at least partially to blame here. Conventional wisdom is you keep a guy like Milch -- brilliant but scattered -- on a short leash or you might as well start tossing cash in the fireplace. Letting him keep two plates spinning seems indulgent and, given the result, disastrous. Though it might be hard to fault Milch for taking HBO's unparalleled creative freedom and largesse as a ripe opportunity, it's hard to buy into the notion that he had no inkling this one-for-the-other scenario might happen. Also, HBO did offer him a short order of six, instead of 12 episodes. He turned it down. Even if he doesn't like short orders, Milch has been around long enough to know that HBO is nothing if not pliant. Give them six, they'll eventually want 12.

But it didn't happen. And even though Milch is now reportedly trying to finance a big chunk of Season 4, it'll only end in tears. And you know the rule: No crying in "Deadwood." Which brings up the side issue to HBO suddenly acting like a TV channel with a working accounting department: Some people are so mad at HBO they want to cancel their subscriptions.

Now that's rich. The one channel that has almost never let anyone down turns off the cash spigot and people cry for blood? HBO may have a history of lavish spending and subsidizing works of outright genius -- "The Wire" -- but it's still a business. Viewers certainly have a right to cancel a service they pay for, no argument there. But at least anecdotally the reason people get HBO in the first place is to watch quality, noncommercial programming of the highest standards.

So now they want "NCIS"? That's a tough theory to sell. It's the cutting off your nose to spite your face sales gambit, and that's never very successful in the end.

It's fine to be outraged that "Deadwood" will leave too soon, that story lines will go unfinished, that everyone will suffer from not enough McShane in their lives. But if you cancel HBO, that means what, exactly? That you don't want to see "Entourage" or "Extras" or "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or "Big Love" or "Rome" or the last eight episodes of "The Sopranos"? This is a channel that doesn't launch many duds. Try as it might, Showtime isn't even in the same league as HBO. Only FX comes close. And you already get that. Two more seasons, possibly, of "The Wire" -- television's meatiest, most finely nuanced milieu -- and you'd pass on that? Just a reminder: Nobody else makes that series.

Of course, this is a theory not lost on "Deadwood" fans. Nobody but HBO would have made "Deadwood" in the first place. So would you take 36 out of a possible 48 episodes of brilliance -- or none?

By the way, Milch's "John From Cincinnati" is described as "surf noir," which sounds just as ludicrous as "Deadwood" did before anyone saw it. What if that turns out to be even better? Will you be happy with "Prison Break" on Fox instead?

Cancel at your own peril.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/06/02/DDGJVJ5CO41.DTL&type=printable

fredfa

06-02-06, 10:13 AM

Critic’s Notebook
By suddenly shifting gears, ‘Sopranos’ shows it can still take viewers for ride

By Matthew Gilbert The Boston Globe staff June 2, 2006

If you’d predicted in March that the long-awaited sixth season of ‘‘The Sopranos’’ would be defined by gay Vito, you might’ve been called oobatz. Crazy. Gayness has been a plot non grata on this show, even if Tony and the boys do greet one another with kisses.

But Vito Spatafore did become the season’s dramatic engine, once he was spotted in Village People leather on the dance floor of a New York gay bar. His doomed affair with ‘‘Johnny Cakes’’ Jim in New Hampshire may have been one of the series’ gentlest portrayals of love. As a result, Vito has helped cause a divide in ‘‘Sopranos’’ viewership, between those who’ve loved this season and those who’ve hated it.

David Chase’s willingness to pursue this mafia taboo — in the same way ‘‘Brokeback Mountain’’ re-imagined cowboys — was just the kind of counterintuitive move that led him to create a mobster-in-therapy series in the first place. But while those who enjoy Chase’s psychodynamics and dream sequences defend the last 11 episodes, those who prefer more conventional mob-on-mob action deride them. Web debate on the subject is seemingly endless, with comments ranging from profusely positive to crassly homophobic.

The gruesome murder of Vito — which saw Phil Leotardo literally come out of a closet— was a tragedy to some, an overdue relief to others.

I’m on the pro-season-six side of the matter. This final season, which pauses until January after Sunday night’s episode, has been among the series’ best, not just for its unexpected coverage of Vito’s journey but for the way it has dramatized deep shifts in major characters such as Tony, Carmela, and AJ. True to what makes the show unique, Chase and his writers have kept their eyes trained on the character drama. While bringing to a boil the mob war that started when Tony B. killed one of Phil’s crew, the season has also subtly shown characters growing ever more conscious of their mortality and morality. It’s not easy for series TV to convincingly portray inner change, but Chase is now working with a set of characters who are different from those he began with in 1999. They are becoming incrementally more self-aware each year.

This season even gave us a different Tony, with passing moments when he seemed weary of the moral evasions of his life as a mob boss. Once he emerged from his coma, he became newly stricken with pangs of conscience. Faced with another unstable goomah like Gloria (Annabella Sciorra) in the person of Julianna Skiff (Julianna Margulies), he escaped in the nick of time, refusing to make the same mistake again. He may have been motivated by guilt about Carmela’s loyalty during his recovery, but he nonetheless resisted his own worst impulses.

This season, Tony also allowed himself to have compassion for Vito, with a push from Melfi. His insistence that male homosexuality is ‘‘disgusting’’ gave way to open ambivalence about whether sexual orientation deserves punishment by death. ‘‘I suppose something inside me says, ‘God bless,’.’’ he told Melfi, saying he doesn’t much care ‘‘what people do behind closed doors.’’ He even admitted that men who have sex with men in prison get a ‘‘pass.’’ (Perhaps Phil’s violent reaction to Vito was self-disgust? He recently got out of prison, at the same time as Tony B.) While Tony’s therapy moves at a turtle’s pace, and he has already reverted to sex with strippers, his hours with Melfi clearly affect him.

Carmela, too, underwent an important near-death experience this season, albeit a figurative one. In France, she realized that ‘‘When you actually die, life goes on without you. Like it does in Paris, when we’re not here.’’ She wandered through the City of Light in a state of enlightenment, seeing her life from a more realistic perspective. Her pangs of conscience — unlike Tony’s — have become fewer and farther between. Clearly, as we enter the final episodes of the series, we’ll see her continuing to move further away from washing AJ’s socks, and she may even take on a piece of mob action like Angie Bompensiero, whom she admires. As the men on the series became more weakened than ever this season, from Tony’s shooting and Paulie’s cancer to Silvio’s asthma, the women have gained in power.

This season, Carmela has come closer than ever to being Tony’s full partner in crime. She’s on the verge of her final step out of denial, as she closes in on the real fate of Adriana. She’s already made it clear she knows she lives on blood money: ‘‘The day I met Tony, I knew who that guy was,’’ she told Melfi.

In his sullen way, AJ also spent the season in flux. He appears to be getting closer to a mob life — not just because he’s famous in the New York club circuit as Tony’s son, but because he has nothing else to do with himself. Now that he’ll be working at a mob construction site, he may well fall into the family business. And my instinct is that he will ultimately end up like another mob boss’s son, Jackie Aprile Jr., who died from sloppiness and entitlement.

Not that such a deep loss would pry Tony and Carmela out of the mob. The most interesting thing about the Vito arc may not have been his gay struggles. Vito, played with admirable range by Joseph Gannascoli, took one of the show’s ongoing themes — you can’t leave the mob — to a more sophisticated level. Regularly on ‘‘The Sopranos,’’ someone tries to leave the life, but isn’t allowed to. In the first episode of this season, Gene Pontecorvo was desperate to retire to Florida, but when Tony refused he hung himself in an excruciatingly unsparing scene.

But Vito did succeed in getting out, and finding a more natural existence in a small town with a man. He had the rare chance. And yet the life called to him; it was in his blood. He brought himself back to it, and back into the closet, and in the process committed a kind of suicide.

Just when we thought that he was out, he pulled himself back in.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2006/06/02/by_suddenly_shifting_gears_145sopranos146_shows_it_can_still _take_viewers_for_ride?mode=PF

fredfa

06-02-06, 10:22 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Room for House

By John Eggerton at bcbeat.com 2006-06-02

The "critics who cover TV" have retored my faith in, well, "the critics who cover TV."

They have nominated Fox drama, House (yes, this is another House item, deal with it), for best drama and its star, Hugh Laurie, for best actor.

In addition, they have given shout-outs to veryfunnymen Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, who will compete head-to-head for "archest eyebrow" honors.

In the "last shall be first" category, May sweeps runner-runner-runner-up NBC had the most nominations with 10, though the majority went to two shows, My Name is Earl and The Office.

If I can pick one nit, House was not included in the best show nominations.

That is all.

http://www.bcbeat.com/

fredfa

06-02-06, 10:45 AM

TV Notebook
Fox renews ‘American Dad’

"American Dad," the strong-jawed CIA agent who protects the nation from such animated dangers as liberal teenagers, will be back on Fox.

The network yesterday ordered 22 more episodes of the animated comedy, taking it through the 2007-08 season.

This year, in its second season, the show averaged 7.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen, but the show placed fifth among teenagers, one place ahead of new fall lead-in "The Simpsons."

The decision to renew the show early stems from the long lead time required by an animated production.

“Family Guy’s” Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman created it.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/cat_index_31.asp

keenan

06-02-06, 11:05 AM

Critic's Notebook
Too bad about 'Deadwood,' but you'll live

Two more seasons, possibly, of "The Wire" -- television's meatiest, most finely nuanced milieu -- and you'd pass on that? Just a reminder: Nobody else makes that series.

Not that it's the first time it's been said, but it's nice to see The Wire get this sort remark made about it. I've felt like that about The Wire since the very beginning, and for a show that almost didn't get a third season it's interesting to see that it's got two more coming. At least HBO is doing something right. Still, canceling Deadwood is a huge black mark in my book. They'll continue with Entourage, which I understand, has fairly dismal ratings, and Rome, which I don't believe will ever be as good as HBO thinks it is, but won't even keep Deadwood around for it's last season, very disappointing.

I'm missing the meaning of this remark though, is it that it should be okay to chop a show off at it's knees, that we should be grateful for what we got? I don't think so, if you want to make a quality program, then make it and make it all the way, not tell us we were lucky to get what we did.
Of course, this is a theory not lost on "Deadwood" fans. Nobody but HBO would have made "Deadwood" in the first place. So would you take 36 out of a possible 48 episodes of brilliance -- or none?

fredfa

06-02-06, 11:14 AM

TV Notebook
Dozier Taken Off Respirator

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/2/2006

CBS said Friday morning that injured correspondent Kimberly Dozier has been taken off a respirator and is "resting comfrotably," though she remains in critical but stable condition.

She is expected to undergo "additional procedures" Friday, which CBS says are "routine in treating this kind of injury."

Dozier was critically injured in a roadside attack Monday in Iraq that killed two CBS News crew members.

CBS News veterans Paul Douglas, a cameraman, and James Brolan, a soundman, were both killed when a car bomb exploded near where they were working with Dozier.

They were traveling with a U.S. Army convoy and working on a story about how Memorial Day was just another day in the war, which proved tragically accurate.

fredfa

06-02-06, 11:16 AM

TV Notebook
Kimberly Dozier Breathing On Her Own

(CBSNews.com) June 2, 2006

(CBS/AP) CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier is off her respirator and breathing on her own Friday morning.

Dozier remains in critical but stable condition at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where she is resting comfortably. She is able to talk and has been visiting with family and CBS colleagues. Doctors will perform additional routine procedures Friday morning.

"She is talking well, hasn't lost her sense of humor, and was disappointed that we had to meet in Landstuhl, Germany, instead of over a drink in New York City," CBS News President Sean McManus said in a message to CBS employees.

"She's sharp as a tack. Really," Dozier's father, Benjamin, told CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar on Thursday. "She knows where she is. She knows the questions to ask."

Her first question Thursday was: "What (happened to the) crew?" Her family and doctors agreed, if she asked, that she should be told what happened — that James Brolan and Paul Douglas died in the attack.

The coffins with the bodies of Brolan and Douglas were flown on Thursday from Kuwait to London's Heathrow Airport, where a ceremony was held with their families and close friends. Their arrival was honored in a simple, moving ceremony; their plain wooden coffins draped in the Union Jack, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports.

When Dozier heard the news, "You could tell it upset her. She kind of closed her eyes," Dozier's mother, Dorothy, told MacVicar. "I know how deeply she feels, and when she can voice her feelings it will be much easier for her."

On Thursday a young American soldier gave his Purple Heart to Dozier's brother, Michael, to give to Dozier. He told Michael that he wanted Kimberly to have it because, he said, she'd suffered as much as any soldier. That Purple Heart is now beside Kimberly's bed, reports MacVicar.

Dozier's family remains by her side at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, where she is being treated. Dozier was seriously wounded Monday by a car bomb in Iraq that killed Douglas and Brolan. Her mother said Dozier is "going to have to have rods in her legs; they were pretty badly injured."

It is expected that Dozier will be stable in the next couple of days and she will be transported to an appropriate medical facility in the United States, MacVicar reports.

A hospital spokeswoman, Marie Shaw, said patients usually stay at Landstuhl for an average of three to four days before being flown to the United States for further care.

"She has to be stable enough to sustain the flight," Shaw said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/30/iraq/printable1664012.shtml

slocko

06-02-06, 11:23 AM

Well I guess no summer reruns of Invasion. Just got an email from my affiliate.

Good Morning ...I just spoke with our Program Director, and I guess for now anyway, "Invasion" is off the summer re-run schedule. Sorry I about that, I know that doesn't help much...but I wanted to get an answer for you. You might try the ABC.com website and look under programs. Sometimes you can purchase programs. Hope that helps...Have a nice weekend!!

Sincerely,
Tammy Taplin
ABC Action News
ttaplin@wfts.com

fredfa

06-02-06, 11:51 AM

In many cases, networks are reluctant to schedule reruns of canceled shows. They think there is little upside for them.
Although the programs are paid for, if the ratings spike, the audience is upset the program doesn't return. And the executives who canceled it in the first place look stupid.
Thus many shows just disappear.

fredfa

06-02-06, 01:12 PM

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

fredfa

06-02-06, 01:18 PM

HDTV Notebook
The “Wow” Effect of HDTV Is Still Here
Eyes linger on new hot medium

By Christian Toto The Washington Times June 2, 2006

First-time HDTV buyers know the feeling, that "wow" moment when they first catch sight of those razor-sharp images.
The men and women shooting those programs aren't immune to the effect.
The same HD, or high-definition, technology making televised images more crisp and clear is changing the way programs are shot -- and how the behind-the-scenes talent view their handiwork.

Shana Jacobus, manager of production and development for the Discovery Channel's HD Theater, says HD lets television teams capture scenes that otherwise would never be seen.

For years, television cameramen have had fits trying to track hyenas dashing through their natural habitat to reach their prey.

Not any more.

Today's HD-equipped cameras can record the charging hyenas from the sky via helicopter-mounted systems, according to Miss Jacobus. "They can capture animal behavior on the ground that has never been seen," she says. "And without getting too involved with it or interrupting it." HD has "opened up a lot of new programming ideas," she says, including the channel's "Sunrise Earth" series. What sounds like a snore-fest on paper -- watching the sun peer over the horizon at different spots around the globe -- can be mesmerizing on an HD set.

"In standard definition, you'd never put an hour of the sun rising on TV and expect the viewer to hang in there," she says.

What's next? "The Discovery Channel Presents: Watching the Grass Grow"? Seriously, the impact of the technological change is being unmistakably felt in post-production meetings at the channel.

Miss Jacobus says her colleagues have been spotting details in the backgrounds of their shots they never realized they had recorded. "They'd call people into the room -- 'Look at this shot,' " she says.

Veteran television executive Greg Moyer, general manager of the VOOM HD Networks and former chief creative officer for Discovery Communications, says HD has sparked a "rebirth of my interest in making programming." With HD, television shows become more cinematic, says Mr. Moyer, whose networks carry HD programming on 15 separate channels on Echostar's DISH Network.

"That rectangle looks a lot more like the framing used in cinema," he says.

HD lets cinematographers linger a little longer on their close-ups.

"You're looking at more detail," he says. "That doesn't mean every HD show should slow down or be glacially paced, but you can make watchable television with far fewer edits." He suggests some production teams might push themselves into trickier terrain to get the right shot now, knowing it will all be captured in stunning clarity.

The technology could also affect the way networks shoot more conventional programs.

With standard definition, editors occasionally "overtook the role of shooters," he says, citing programs like "Entertainment Tonight," which often rely on paparazzi-style footage. "Through fast-paced, clever editing, they make it seem like a moment worth observing," he explains.

With HD, the photographer is put back in charge.

The transformative effects of HD aren't limited to images originally intended for television.

Jason Kliot, an independent film producer and co-president of New York-based HDNet Films, says the HD format is a boon for guerrilla filmmakers who often must settle for exhibiting their work on traditional television sets instead of the big screen.

"When you're showing [an independent film] on a 4:3 screen, you're just seeing a tiny sliver of the information," Mr. Kliot says.

He calls the shift from standard to HD technology "an aesthetic transformation" more substantial than when black-and-white sets gave way to color. "People are getting the direct vision from the filmmakers," he says.

For an indie filmmaker such as Mr. Kliot, HD technology promises the capability to shoot projects that "look like Hollywood films for a fraction of the cost." Once he has his raw footage, he can now bend it to his every whim. "I can color-correct every pixel on the screen," he says.

Media critic Marshall McLuhan once coined the terms "hot" and "cool" in describing media, with television being relegated to the cool end of the spectrum for its lack of highly defined imagery, Mr. Kliot says.

"Television," Mr. Kliot says, "is now burning hot."

http://washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20060601-092724-7006r

fredfa

06-02-06, 01:46 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
ABC's spelling bee brings home a C-

Averages 2.2 in adults 18-49 over two hours
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 2, 2006

It got endless publicity on ESPN and local news stations, which gave breathless updates on how the local kids were faring. But all that hype didn’t lead to big ratings for ABC’s first-ever airing of the “National Spelling Bee” last night.

The two-hour bee averaged a 2.2 adults 18-49 overnight rating from 8 to 10 p.m., tying for third place with NBC in that time.

Perhaps more disappointing, that third-place finish came against a slate of “Office” reruns on NBC and the lackluster new “Gameshow Marathon” on CBS.

ABC may have expected a somewhat better turnout. After all, spelling bees have been a hot topic in the media for several years with the films “Spellbound” and “Akeelah and the Bee” drawing critical kudos in recent years.

And the “Bee” had become somewhat of a cult favorite on ESPN, where the early rounds aired during the day yesterday.

But it was still a smart programming strategy by ABC. Why not take a gamble on a meaningless summer Thursday night? At worst, the network had a flop on a night where it usually struggles. At best, it could have discovered a new summer phenomenon.

Speaking of which, Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” may be developing into one. In its second Thursday outing, the show built from last week’s 4.2 to a 4.3 last night, leading Fox to No. 1 for the evening.

It averaged a 3.4 rating and 10 share, followed by CBS with 3.1/9, ABC with 2.5/7, NBC with 2.2/6, Univision with 1.6/5, WB with 0.9/3, and UPN with 0.7/2.

Fox started the night in the lead with a 2.6 for “So You Think You Can Dance” followed by CBS’s 2.3 for “Gameshow.” ABC and NBC tied at third with a 2.0 for the “Bee” and “The Office,” respectively. Univision was fifth with a 1.8 for “La Fea Mas Bella,” followed by UPN and WB, both with a 0.9, the former for “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Love, Inc,” the latter for “Smallville.”

Fox held onto the lead at 9 with a 4.3 for “Dance,” followed by CBS’s 3.8 for a “CSI” repeat, ABC’s 2.6 for the “Bee,” NBC’s 2.4 for “Office,” Univision’s 1.6 for the first hour of its World Cup preview “Viva el Mundial,” WB’s 0.8 for a “Supernatural” repeat and UPN’s 0.6 for repeats of “Cuts” and “Eve.”

At 10, CBS took over the lead with a 3.2 for a “Without a Trace” repeat. ABC was second with a 2.9 for “Primetime,” NBC third with a 2.1 for an “ER” repeat, and Univision fourth with a 1.3 for the second hour of “Viva.”

Among households, CBS won the night with 7.7/13, followed by ABC with 5.4/9, Fox with 4.9/8, NBC with 3.4/6, Univision with 1.9/3, WB with 1.4/2 and UPN with 1.2/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5122.asp

fredfa

06-02-06, 01:50 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Friday, June 2, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not

Katie Departs on a High Note:

The long planned departure of Katie Couric on NBC’s The Today Show (goodbye, already!) was seen by 8.4 million viewers between 7-9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 31, rising from 8.1 million in the 7 a.m. hour to 8.8 million at 8 a.m. Comparably, that was the fourth most-watched Today Show telecast since at least 1987. The third hour of The Today Show (The Today Show II) set a record, meanwhile, with 7.6 million viewers.

Strong Season Three Opener for FX’s Rescue Me:

The third-season premiere of FX drama Rescue Me was off and running on Tuesday at 10 p.m., with 3.21 million viewers. Comparably, that was up 10 percent from its season two premiere, and up 15 percent from its season two average. Rescue Me also had a bump among key adults 18-49, with 2.05 million viewers in the demo an increase of seven percent from its season two debut, and 13 percent from its season two average. Based on the demo in the calendar year to-date, Rescue Me ranks as the second most viewed season premiere of a scripted basic cable series behind FX’s The Shield in January.

The Season Finale of Ghost Hunters Scores on Sci Fi:

Led by the expanded second-season finale of Ghost Hunters, Sci Fi was the top-rated cable entertainment network on Wednesday, May 31 among adults 18-49 (1.2 million) and adults 25-54 (1.2) during the 90-minute portion. Ghost Hunters averaged a healthy 1.9 million viewers.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest

More American Dad:
Fox has renewed animated comedy American Dad for an additional 22 episodes in the 2007-08 season.

Jenna Elfman Stays at CBS:
Despite the failure of sitcom Courting Alex (which came, and went because the lead character was too perfect), Jenna Elfman has signed a development deal with CBS to star in a new sitcom vehicle. A search is now underway for a writer to team with Elfman to come up with a concept and ink a script.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp

fredfa

06-02-06, 02:52 PM

TV Notebook
FSN's Final Score to Rival ESPN's SportsCenter

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JUNE 02, 2006 -

Taking direct aim at ESPN's SportsCenter, FSN on July 3 will be premiering a nightly 30-minuute national sports highlights show, called Final Score, which will air across its network of 21 regional sports channels.

In announcing the new show, executive producer Rick Jaffe took a swipe at SportsCenter: "Unlike the vast sea of sports highlights shows, where the hosts have become the centerpiece rather than the highlights, and where content has been infused with extraneous commentary, Final Score will offer fans nothing but highlights."

The show will feature a revolving lineup of hosts, rather than regular hosts, so that the highlights are key to the show, rather than the hosts, Jaffe said. The show will air in its regular, live period Monday through Friday at 11:30 p.m. locally, with Saturday's show at 10:30 p.m. and Sunday's show at 9 p.m. Repeats will then air throughout the night and the following day.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002612624

fredfa

06-02-06, 03:02 PM

TV Notebook
Bee-deviled

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” Friday, June 02, 2006

For those of us who have made an annual habit of blowing off our afternoons to watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPN, Thursday's prime time telecast of the Bee sure left the impression that like our little favorite has gone big time. Not only did the look of the show get a makeover, but the production values were ramped way up for prime time. It struck me a little like, "Who Wants To Be a National Spelling Bee Champion."

Among the changes:

• The show aired in high definition, probably thanks to its taking place in Washington, D.C.

• The drab reddish background was replaced with a snazzy, hi-def-friendly, New Hampshire debates-styled set.

• The parents of the dozen or so remaining contestants (when the telecast began) were moved up on stage, so their reactions could be captured more easily and their interactions with their kids better measured.

• Lots more of the host (GMA's Robin Roberts) injected in the show.

• I personally have never before seen a contestant restored to the Bee after a judging goof. I'm sure it's happened in the past, during the commercial breaks. But last night, for maximum dramatic effect,they waited until after the break and got the reaction shot from Saryn Hooks (who burst into tears).

• Lots more up-close-and-personal taped bits with key contestants.

• Other taped bits included highlights from earlier in the game, I mean Bee.

I didn't mind the changes -- on the other hand, I didn't need ABC's help. I was going to Bee watching anyway.

http://www.tvbarn.com/

RemyM

06-02-06, 03:08 PM

fredfa

06-02-06, 03:14 PM

TV Notebook
An early fall preview

By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic in the Sentinel’s TV blog June 2, 2006

You're seeing the network's teases for new fall series. Television critics are busy plowing through screeners of those series. Is the networks' hard sell justified? In some cases, yes ...

I've seen 17 of the 26 new shows. ABC hasn't sent out the DVDs for it its nine new entries, but here are a few themes:

NBC boasted that its new series were the best. And it isn't wrong at this point.

NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," with Amanda Peet and Matthew Perry (left), looks to be the strongest new show. Aaron Sorkin of "The West Wing" created this lacerating comedy-drama about the television business. ...

"Studio 60" starts by aping "Network," the classic 1976 film about television, and turns to more current issues. Network executives ponder what to do about a "Saturday Night Live"-type show after its top producer goes into a rant on national television.

The production values are top-notch -- what you would expect from the people who made "The West Wing." The cast is top-notch, too. Peet plays a new, risk-taking network programmer. Perry and Bradley Whitford portray the creative team brought in to save the show within a show. Perry is especially fine as a high-strung writer. NBC was wise to move "Studio 60" away from the Thursday night showdown between CBS' "CSI" and ABC's "Grey's Anatomy."

NBC also has "30 Rock," a promising sitcom about a "Saturday Night Live"-type show. This one comes from Tina Fey of "SNL," who plays the head writer on this show within a show. There are bravura performances from Alec Baldwin as a meddling network executive and Tracy Morgan as a difficult movie star who's added to the cast.

And an appealing cast should help NBC's "Friday Night Lights," a spinoff of the hit film about a Texas town that takes its high-school football very seriously. Kyle Chandler plays the coach, and Connie Britton is his wife.

The fall will be filled with bravura acting. James Woods is riveting as as a lawyer in CBS' "Shark," which will join that network's strong Thursday lineup. Brad Garrett gives a bold comedy performance as a cynical husband in Fox's "'Til Death." NBC's "20 Good Years" lets sitcom veterans John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor go over the top as middle-aged friends determined to seize all life has to offer.

The networks have tried to do more serialized thrillers in the "24" mold. I wasn't impressed. These shows will remind you just how special "24" is.

At first glimpse, this fall's new offerings seem stronger than last fall's new shows, but not as good as those from two years ago (when "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "House" premiered).

And this fall, the networks should find a few keepers. That situation could improve dramatically if ABC has better success than it did last fall. No new ABC series from last fall made it to a second season. ABC has nine chances this fall, and it's going to be a long fall if some of its shows don't click.

But in the cyclical television business, things seem to be looking up at beleaguered NBC.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2006/06/an_early_fall_p.html

fredfa

06-02-06, 03:20 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Sopranos' hits high notes

By Verne Gay Newsday Staff Writer June 2, 2006

The topic usually comes up right after most people have exhausted more immediately pressing matters, like the price of gas or the Mets' prospects this summer. And then - voice lowered, eyebrows knitted, evidence of concern in their face - someone will turn to someone else to pose the sullen question: "What's wrong with 'The Sopranos?'"

It is the TV question of the moment - the one whacked around at countless barbecues and countless car pool trips, the one of a thousand radio shows and a thousand Internet blogs. Something's wrong. Something doesn't quite fit. Something ... but what that "something" is remains a buzzing gnat, particularly adept at avoiding capture. Even so, the opinions usually seem to line up this way: too flat, no resolution, stories or scenes not leading anywhere, early dream sequences confusing, no payoff.

There's more, much more, but it all adds to a reminder that the greater the show, the greater the expectation, and (unfair or otherwise), that's the burden placed on Sunday's finale (9 p.m., HBO). The end is near, and fans want to be reassured that the trip was worth the six-year effort.

In fact, we are here to tell you that it unequivocally was and most assuredly will continue to be. This season has been the most subtle, most provocative, most deeply, richly, endlessly rewarding season in "Sopranos" history. Nothing is wrong. Everything is right. The endgame is afoot, and on to the glorious resolution that will unfold this Sunday and over eight final episodes starting next January.

So why the doom and gloom in the court of public opinion? One reason - the only reason - is that creator David Chase couldn't care less about the court of public opinion. It's now apparent that the sixth season was never about satisfying "the fans" but was about satisfying himself, and effectively resolving the literary and intellectual themes and puzzles that he has threaded through "The Sopranos" from the very first episode on to (soon) the very last.

And those are? That character - as the Greek philosopher first observed - is destiny. That there is no God. That the mystery and meaning to human life can be deciphered though an understanding of the universal symbols that roam through our unconsciousness. Chase's is a strange mystical vision, and the product of every strange mystical literary quest he has ever undertaken. And what a quest: There's some Blake, some Baudelaire, some Woolf. There's symbolism and modernism and especially Freud. There's William S. Burroughs and a battery of other beat poets and acid-fueled '60s psychedelic rockers, too. It gets even better or, one might reasonably argue, weirder: There's some Kabbalah here, and - especially Egyptian mythology. There's even tarot mysticism. On and on and on. But the literary/intellectual/mystical journey is, most of all, Chase's, and the allusions - a bottomless pool of them - can be found in almost every scene.

No wonder college English professors are so energized by this season and why so many viewers have been dispirited. Maybe they didn't realize they were supposed to dive in to this pool.

Where did this all begin? From the opening moments of the season, with an audio track of Burroughs reading from his "The Western Lands: A Book of the Dead for the Nuclear Age," in which "the ancient Egyptians postulated seven souls ..." The season - this season - has unfolded as an allegory based in part on the journey of Burroughs' souls, with each "Sopranos" character corresponding to one of the souls.

You think we jest? Consider the recent episode entitled "The Ride," when Christopher (Michael Imperioli) finds out he's going to be a father. One night he gets zonked on heroin, and sprawled on the ground stares at the moon just as a jetliner passes just beneath it. Now consider the line from Burroughs: "He, she, or it is third man out ... depicted as flying away across a full moon, a bird with luminous wings and head of light...."

Meanwhile, an audio track from a 1973 Tim Buckley album plays out during this entire scene. Buckley - as his small, devoted knot of fans well know - died of a heroin overdose in the mid-'70s.

Which brings us to another point. Chase has layered meaning into this season like a series of Chinese boxes. Visual and audio puns, in particular, abound; decipher one, and that then becomes a key for opening the next box, and so on.

And symbols? They are in every scene. Think of the flashing lighthouse in the second episode that Tony (James Gandolfini) sees in a dream-like coma. The lighthouse is one of the most loaded symbols in the Western canon, straight out of Freud and Virginia Woolf, who used it as a motif for the Oedipal complex, in which the son figuratively "slays" the father (also "Sopranos" motif from season one).

Carmela (Edie Falco) saw the lighthouse on her recent trip to Paris, too, meaning ... what? That Tony and Carmela's fates are converging toward a shocking conclusion. The endgame is afoot. Tony must (and probably will) die. TV's greatest literary Chinese puzzle will soon be solved.

What a shame we have to wait till next year to find out how.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel4764203jun02231317,0,5955801,print.column?coll=ny-television-headlines

fredfa

06-02-06, 04:52 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Greg Berlanti on 'Everwood': 'It's over'

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 02, 2006

Rumors have circulated among "Everwood" fans that the show might come back on the CW, for at least part of the season.

I asked "Everwood" creator Greg Berlanti whether those rumors were true, and here's his reply: "I have heard nothing about the show coming back and we've broken down the sets and said goodbye. It's done."

Executive producer Rina Mimoun gave the same reply to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello. On his blog, he reports that she said the "Everwood" rumors are "not true."

So it looks like Monday really is the series finale of the show. To all of you who wrote in to tell me (quite eloquently) how upset you are about the show ending, I share your pain. TV is losing it's only intelligent family drama, and one of the best shows on the tube. Monday will be a sad day indeed.

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

fredfa

06-02-06, 05:28 PM

TV Notebook
FX Greenlights 'Dirt'

Female-Skewing Show a Departure for Net
By James Hibberd TVWeek.com June 2, 2006

FX has ordered 13 episodes of the one-hour drama "Dirt," the network confirmed Friday.

"Dirt" is about a female tabloid magazine editor and her top photographer and is set against the world of celebrity journalism. The show is produced by Courteney Cox and David Arquette's Coquette Productions.

The series could add some female perspective to the channel, whose current series such as "The Shield," "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me" all have male leads. "Dirt" will premiere later this year.

"Dirt" was one of two drama pilots FX ordered in December. A network representitive said the second, "Lowlife," starring comedian Eddie Izzard, is still under consideration.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10113

fredfa

06-02-06, 05:50 PM

TV Notebook
Good Morning America's Sherwood Leaving ABC

By Rebecca Dana New York Observer

Good Morning America executive producer Ben Sherwood has resigned from ABC, according to three network sources. Sherwood, who agreed to the terms of the resignation in a meeting Thursday with ABC News president David Westin, will leave the network October 1, the sources said.

Sherwood, a Harvard graduate, Rhodes scholar and the author of two novels with a third forthcoming, has run the second-place morning program for two years--the two most successful in the show's history but still deflating ones, ratings-wise. During a period of high dawntime drama last May, the broadcast crept to within 40,000 viewers of NBC's long-dominant Today show, but has since fallen into a protracted slump. Nielsen Media Research released its sweeps ratings data today, showing that Good Morning America ended May 800,000 viewers behind its rival Today.

Sherwood is leaving behind a seven-figure contract, network sources said. He will return to his hometown of Los Angeles, where his wife is the co-chairman of Imagine Films and where he has an ailing parent, said two people close to Sherwood.

The relationship between Sherwood and GMA anchor Diane Sawyer is rumored to have soured in recent months, as ratings continued to slip. Last week's promotion of GMA anchor Charlie Gibson to the World News Tonight anchor chair put further strain on the ailing broadcast.

Still, a top ABC executive said the network will be sad to see Sherwood go and that he has "an open invitation to return to ABC News." In the meantime, the executive said, Disney will endeavor to find a role for Sherwood within the company that he can fill in California.

"We would like nothing better than for Ben Sherwood to continue to be the executive producer of Good Morning America for a long time to come," the executive said, "but that is not in the cards."

http://themediamob.observer.com/

dturturro

06-02-06, 06:00 PM

Take a look at their circulation figures. Who wants to read it now? :(

Like the NY Times it's way too low. People would rather read trash like the NY Post. It's really very sad when you think about it. Of course it does explain how 30 million people tune in to watch a karaoke show! :eek:

CPanther95

06-02-06, 06:06 PM

People would rather get their news as it happens on the web. Newspaper news is old by the time it hits your doorstep.

It's no coincidence that those peak circulation numbers were just prior to the radical growth of the internet.

dturturro

06-02-06, 06:14 PM

Is it the internet or the lack of any diversity in media? The networks, papers and service providers are all subsidiarys of the same 4 or 5 companies.

CPanther95

06-02-06, 06:22 PM

Could be both. Real-time news, more diversity and/or less bias - all could be factors in what drove people to the internet.

dturturro

06-02-06, 06:25 PM

I don't know about the less biased part, but I guess that place doesn't exist!

CPanther95

06-02-06, 06:27 PM

Many (hundreds, if not thousands) outlets for news available online. If you want your news raw, you can get it that way - minus the editorials and pontificating.

fredfa

06-02-06, 07:06 PM

The problem is that even if your news is delivered "raw" you often have no idea who has spiced it this way or that.

One man's objectivity is the next woman's bias.

fredfa

06-02-06, 07:09 PM

TV Notebook
Ben Sherwood’s message to GMA’s staff

(Mediabistro.com)

Dear GMA family,

I wish we could meet in person but I wanted to write as soon as possible with some news. I had hoped to speak with you early next week but those plans have been overtaken by outside events.

With heavy heart, I've let David and our anchors know that I am resigning from GMA effective October 1 in order to move with Karen and Will back to Los Angeles. For important reasons, we need to be on the West Coast now, closer to our family.

As many of you know, I’ve spent more time in LA these last months to help handle a personal matter, and I’ll need to be there even more in the months ahead.

We all know the morning TV battle enters a whole new era in September. Indeed, we’re making big plans for the summer and fall season ahead. I plan to lead the fight through the summer with everything I’ve got and I’ll work closely with my successor and the whole team for a smooth transition in the fall.

This has been an incredibly difficult decision - I grew up at ABC News and it feels like I am leaving my second family. As you know when I arrived, I spoke of the need to balance the personal and professional - no easy feat in morning television. I have done the math - as best I can - and there was only one choice for me and my family.

I love this place, our amazing anchors, incredible staff, and the work we do every morning. I’m confident GMA’s future is brighter than ever.

I look forward to talking one-one-one in the days ahead. There's much to discuss.

Ben

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/abc/sherwood_resigns_email_to_gma_staff_37909.asp#more

fredfa

06-02-06, 07:21 PM

TV Notebook
'Lost' character sailed into the sunset, possibly forever

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Saturday, June 3, 2006
Actor Harold Perrineau tells Scripps Howard News Service he won't be back on ABC's "Lost" when it returns in the fall.

"As of so far, I am not back next season," says the actor whose character, Michael, sailed off with his son, Walt, in the season finale May 24.

Perrineau, who was central to the "Lost" story line in recent weeks, says he is free to pursue other work and is no longer under contract with "Lost."

He says producers told him weeks ago he was being written off the show, but he also knew of a story line in which Michael, once he got home, attempts to get back to the island. Apparently that story line is not planned for next season, he says.

"I have no idea what is going on now," he says. Join the club, Harold.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/272592_tf203.html

fredfa

06-02-06, 07:28 PM

TV Notebook
No Good Can Come From This....

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog June 2, 2006

So I've been beat down like a dog with some kind of cold/flu/whatever. You know, like I swallowed some fire in the throat and a tour bus full of angry gnomes have disembarked and are beating my body with sticks. In other words, a perfect time to post something and get in trouble for it before crawling back to bad.

First off, yeah, I wrote about "Deadwood" for today's paper. Judging from the e-mail, sane people got the point, and those people who truly believe that canceling HBO will better their lives and prove their point about unfair treatment to "Deadwood" have read the piece online at some site that says, "Rise up and show THE MAN that you won't take this abuse."

Which is fine enough, everybody's entitled to an opinion. But in my current mood, those people trying to point out my "flawed logic" and "why you're wrong" and, in so doing, have drummed themselves off their 4th grade debate team, are working my very last nerve.

Many of these messages make the assumption that "Deadwood" is the best show on HBO, followed by "The Sopranos," and everything else is pointless or stupid. To which I say: Fine. Cancel your subscription. But have some guts and do it now - before "Deadwood" starts and not after.

I think it's pretty clear from the ratings of other HBO series that a lot of people DO like "Entourage" and "Big Love" and many different HBO series. HBO operates on the assumption that people subscribe for a multitude of series. The channel may be wrong about that, but that's the working belief model.

I'm upset about the loss of "Deadwood" as well. I think both sides should have figured out a way to save it. "Deadwood" remains one of my favorite dramas ever, and I appreciate more than anything else that it's a rare gem. Nobody else would have or could have made this series but HBO. So while I'm angry not to get a Season 4, I'm a whole lot happier that I got Seasons 1-3.

If you subscribe only for "Deadwood," by all means, cancel. But don't assume that just because YOU think the other series have no merit, that dumping HBO is the logical thing to do. What's more, stop talking about it.

Pick up the phone and call.

What I find most interesting in these e-mails is the dismissal of series people haven't even seen yet. Or the assumption that Milch's next project is going to be lousy. Also, when I called these people "whiny," they took offense. Then they went out of their way to say, in essence, that because HBO can't GUARANTEE a series won't be canceled, then nobody can trust the channel.

Well, good luck in finding the network/channel that will tell you, "We imagine this series running for six seasons. We promise to pay for all six of those even if, say, it begins to really suck in Season 2. Also, if it costs us millions of dollars to air each episode and only a small part of our audience is watching, have no fear, we will continue to subsidize your show until the creators want it to end."

Godspeed, whiners. Try Showtime.

And lastly, TV Guide just printed David Milch's official statement on the "Deadwood" situation. So, you still think HBO is to blame?:

"I'm touched by the passionate response of many of the fans of Deadwood and understand the disappointment they have expressed that this is to be the final season of the show.

However, I presented a new project to the network, John from Cincinnati, which they are very excited about.

We worked together to try and fashion a plan that would have enabled us to produce a fourth season of Deadwood, as well as the new show. HBO, in fact, offered to commit to an additional six episodes after this season to conclude Deadwood.

I felt the right decision creatively was to stop now and move forward with the new project.

Deadwood has been a magnificent experience for both me and the cast and crew behind the show, and I hope that everyone who loves Deadwood will not allow their disappointment in any way to affect what we believe is a wonderful season to come."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24