I felt the right decision creatively was to stop now and move forward with the new project.


How can Milch says this when he has always said that he envisioned a 4 season arc for Deadwood, especially when season 3 is already in the can?

I would guess, cynic that I am, he is getting more $$$ for the new project from HBO.

Or perhaps, less cynically, he got tired of the pressure of trying to top himself with "Deadwood".

I would guess, cynic that I am, he is getting more $$$ for the new project from HBO.

Or perhaps, less cynically, he got tired of the pressure of trying to top himself with "Deadwood".
Yeah, I was going to mention money but that would totally trashed what good will I still may have had for the man.

I doubt someone with Milch's ego would ever think that he couldn't top himself.

Perhaps it was the right decision creatively because he knew all his actors were gone. ;)

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.

Well, at least the internet gives you a wide diversity of bias! :rolleyes:

TV Notebook
'Good Morning America' Producer Sherwood to Leave Show

By Bill Carter The New York Times June 3, 2006

More change is coming to ABC's "Good Morning America." The program's executive producer, Ben Sherwood, will depart in October.

The announcement of the move comes in the same week that the co-anchor of "Good Morning America," Charlie Gibson, began his new job anchoring ABC's "World News Tonight." Mr. Gibson will remain on "Good Morning America" until the end of this month.

Mr. Sherwood, who has run "Good Morning America" since April 2004, said in an e-mail message to the program's staff that he had made the decision to step down for family reasons. He said he would move back to Los Angeles, where his wife, Karen Kehela Sherwood, is the co-chairwoman of Imagine Films.

An ABC News spokesman, Jeffrey Schneider, said the timing of the announcement — at the close of business on Friday — had nothing to do with an overall shake-up at the morning program. "Ben has pressing family issues in Los Angeles," he said.

Reached by telephone at his office, Mr. Sherwood said he had no comment beyond his e-mail message.

The news was first posted on the Web site of The New York Observer, forcing ABC to make the announcement earlier than it had intended, Mr. Schneider said, and before the network had a successor in place.

"We would have been happy for Ben to remain at ABC," Mr. Schneider said, adding that ABC's parent, the Walt Disney Company, would explore potential new positions for Mr. Sherwood in Los Angeles.

An ABC News executive who knows the terms of Mr. Sherwood's contract said the producer had "left a lot of money on the table." The executive, who would not speak for attribution because company policy forbids discussion of employee salaries, did not cite the figure but said it was in the "high seven figures."

Before joining "Good Morning America," Mr. Sherwood had written two novels, "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud" and "The Man Who Ate the 747." In his message to the staff, he noted that "the morning TV battle enters a whole new era in September."

At that time, Meredith Vieira will join NBC's "Today." ABC hopes to have a replacement for Mr. Gibson by then.

The future of Diane Sawyer, the other "Good Morning America" anchor, has been the subject of speculation, which has included questions about her working relationship with Mr. Sherwood.

Mr. Schneider said Ms. Sawyer had committed to stay on the program through the early part of 2007.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/03/arts/television/03gma.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

TV Notebook
Yes. ''JAG'' Is Coming to DVD

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

It's only taken a decade, and countless requests from fans, but ''JAG'' will finally appear on DVD on July 25. Paramount is releasing the ''Complete First Season'' set of episodes, apparently from the show's NBC run, in a six-disc set retailing for about $65. Expected extras include three featurettes: ''How the Series Took Flight,'' ''JAG: An Inside Look'' and ''The Military Accuracy.'' There's also a commentary from series co-creator Donald P. Bellisario on the show's pilot episode. That should be pretty good; I enjoyed Bellisario's commentary on the pilot of the ''NCIS'' first-season set, which hits stores on Tuesday.

I'm also encouraged by the release of ''JAG'' on DVD because it indicates that marketers are finally accepting the idea that people over 40 also buy DVDs. The accepted explanation for ''JAG's'' slow journey to DVD has been that it had an older audience, and Paramount thought they wouldn't buy it.

But we're beginning to see the arrival of shows remembered fondly by people who can't count their gray hairs on just their fingers. I'm thinking of something like ''Cheyenne,'' which premiered in 1955, or even ''The Wild, Wild West,'' in a new 40th-anniversary set of first-season episodes. And both shows are in black-and-white (although ''West'' star Robert Conrad complains about it in a DVD commentary), supposedly anathema to the younger crowd.

I'm all for the DVDs of ''Deadwood,'' ''The Sopranos,'' ''Medium'' and other relatively recent fare. But let's not forget folks who cherished older shows, even ones that might not be called classic, but which filled a portion of viewing time. And if ''JAG'' sells, we'll also be reminded that it's not just young people who will open their wallets for entertainment.

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

Perhaps it was the right decision creatively because he knew all his actors were gone. ;)
Of course, the chicken and the egg argument. :D

Well, at least the internet gives you a wide diversity of bias! :rolleyes:

yup, pick your poison and label it the elixir of truth!

Somehow I missed this from Lisa yesterday. But it is still a good read.

TV Notebook
Critics Have Spoken:

'Earl' and 'Office' Are In, 'Housewives' Are Out
By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, June 2, 2006; C07

Television critics have jilted their former sweetie "Desperate Housewives," which last year they crowned the best television series.

"DH" received nary a nomination for the 22nd Annual Television Critics Association Awards.

Critics showered fourth-place NBC with 10 nominations -- the most of any network -- six of which are split between the comedies "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office."

They totally nicked CBS, the country's most watched network -- are you sensing the critic-viewer disconnect? -- with two nominations, and those for aged "Hallmark Hall of Fame" and "60 Minutes."

Former critics' darling HBO had to settle for just four nominations this time around. That's the It's Not TV network's puniest haul in a while. Most of those noms went to "The Sopranos," though "Big Love" is in the running for new program of the year.

Though critics write volumes about the end of comedy on television, they seem to be pretty optimistic about the genre: Three of the five nominees for best new program are comedies -- or five, if, like some of my friends, you think "Big Love" and Fox's "Prison Break" are hilarious.

The other nominees in that derby are Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" and NBC's aforementioned "Earl."

The mostly male TCA membership did not show much love to women this year. Only two actresses received nominations: Lauren Graham of "Gilmore Girls" for best comedy performance and Kyra Sedgwick of TNT's "The Closer" for best drama performance.

Graham hasn't a prayer against Steve Carell of "The Office," Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report," Jason Lee of "Earl" and Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" -- partly because Graham isn't in a comedy, of which TCA was once aware, back at the turn of the century, when they nominated her series in the best-drama derby.

But last year "Gilmore Girls" was nominated for best comedy series and this year there's Graham's nom for comedic performance. Either this show's gotten funnier or the critics' sense of humor has gotten darker.

Sedgwick hasn't a much better chance against Alan Alda of NBC's "The West Wing," James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos," Hugh Laurie of Fox's "House" and Kiefer Sutherland of Fox's "24."

Replacing "Desperate Housewives" as best program of the year will be ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" or "Lost," "The Office," "The Sopranos" or "24."

All but "The Office" are also up for best drama series, because the TCA believes that any show worth nominating once is worth nominating twice. And the only reason "The Office" isn't joining them is because even the TV critics couldn't bring themselves to call that show a drama.

So "The Office" is also nominated for year's best comedy series, along with "The Daily Show," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Earl" and NBC's "Scrubs."

PBS bagged seven nominations, after mopping up in the news and information category with nominations for "American Masters: Newhart," "Broadway: The Golden Age," "Frontline" and a separate nomination for "Frontline: Country Boys."

No, I cannot explain it.

Also in that race is "60 Minutes."

"High School Musical," that Disney Channel phenomenon you're tired of hearing about, is up for best children's program, as are Nickelodeon's "Dora the Explorer" and "Nick News," Cartoon Network's "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" and PBS's "Sesame Street."

And, finally, TCA's Heritage Award will be given to "Hallmark Hall of Fame," "The West Wing" or "Will & Grace."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/01/AR2006060101961_pf.html

Critic’s Notebook
Wanted: More Violence

`Sopranos' Ends A Season Marked By Less Whacking - To The Chagrin Of Some

By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic June 3 2006

Fans of "The Sopranos" have emanated a general sense of malaise about the course of this year's season.

Not enough whacking, they'd carp. Too much hemming and hawing.

These are the same kind of complaints, in other words, that Tony Soprano has had to endure as boss of the New Jersey crime family in the 2006 season, which ends Sunday.

Show 'em who's boss, his underlings have said. Whack the guy who doesn't deserve to live. Don't appear to be weak.

If "The Godfather" is Tony's favorite movie, as his wastrel son A.J. claims it is, how could he let that old man get away with shooting him? How could he let Vito walk around and breathe if he'd been exposed as a "finook"? If he fainted in the metal detector on the way to a mob wedding, he at least beat up an underling in front of the guys to show he's still got it. Don't come off like Johnny Sack, crying at having to be returned to jail before the rice gets thrown at his daughter's wedding.

Appearances and action are the underlying themes of the 12 episodes that have been leading up to the eight that will wrap up the series in 2007. And if there hasn't been enough action to satisfy viewers conditioned to death and resolution through conventional TV shows, let's just say that it only appears there's nothing going on.

Actually David Chase and his talented writers have been crafting a saga that moves his characters forward while commenting on modern society in a way that other series wouldn't bother to do.

It hasn't been hinted what exactly will happen in the Sunday finale (something to do with Carmela and business; a workplace issue for A.J.; another headache courtesy Phil Leotardo). But unless something huge happens, it may actually end up that the season was structured backward - with the shooting of Tony occurring in the first episode of the season instead of the last, just to double the shock factor.

That also meant that instead of assuming his convalescence took place during the break between seasons, we had to sit through a few episodes of Tony touch and go in the hospital. That didn't mean nothing was happening in the narrative - it only had that appearance.

Tony's comatose brain was busy constructing a whole alternate life for him as a stranded salesman in California, mixed up in a Buddhist lawsuit through a case of mistaken identity and a lost wallet. Behind the scenes, his captains were scheming who would take over if, god forbid, T took a turn for the worse.

And when he was shaken out of the coma, finally, Tony was changed a bit. He appreciated his life more. Each day was a gift, he kept saying. Headaches with Phil Leotardo, agent of Johnny Sack, were more quickly solved - life's too short. After the ugly scenes of divorce last season, the reconciliation with Carmela seemed to really take; he didn't even sleep with other women when he had a chance to do so (at least at first).

He might even be persuaded to adopt a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with Vito for business reasons - "he's a good earner" - if not humanitarian. But however enlightened Tony may now be, he couldn't allow a homosexual in his crew without looking weak to the other mobsters.

So after the season's most unexpected side trip - to New Hampshire, where Vito began a new life, pretending to be a boxing writer and getting involved with a local firefighter - the wayward captain got a fatal beating in a Fort Lee, N.J., motel room.

That it was Phil's people who got to him before Tony's people did may be another reason for tension between New York and New Jersey; when an oaf from Phil's crew came over to joke about Vito posthumously, he got whacked as brutally as Vito did (upping the action ante for death-starved viewers, if nothing else).

But "The Sopranos" has always been more than tit-for-tat mob killing and retribution. The pleasures of this season have included cutting commentary on health insurance costs and coverage, old Hollywood (with no less than Lauren Bacall getting mugged), urban renewal and the invasion of old neighborhoods by national franchise retailers.

Echoes of last season's most memorable moment - the killing of Adrianna La Serva, popped up here and there, in dreams and nightmares of Tony and Carmella. Ade's mother is still pretty mad about the whole thing too, indicating the investigation into her disappearance isn't entirely over.

But family continues to be chief concern in the saga. Poor, sentimental Paulie was shaken to the core (and apparently got cancer) after learning the woman who raised him was his aunt, not his mother. Tony, who spent most of the past seasons obsessing about his relationship with his heartless mother, started talking to Dr. Melfi about his sister and son for a change. And yes, the shooting of Tony by Uncle Junior remains a bit unresolved, despite A.J.'s pathetic attempts at retribution.

There are big things still to happen on "The Sopranos."
http://www.ctnow.com/tv/hce-sopranosfinale.artjun03,0,870748,print.story?coll=hce-headlines-tv-top

TV Notebook
Dozier Could Return To The U.S. Sunday

(Mediabistro.com)

CBS News has released the following update:

"After undergoing additional surgery for her injuries on Friday, Kimberly Dozier remains in critical but stable condition, and continues to rest at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center today (June 3).

For the first time she was able to eat a small amount of solid food. The medical staff is preparing her for a return to the United States, which could be as early as Sunday."

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

TV Notebook
Fox will relive long day

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News

Jack Bauer is going where he's never gone before — summer reruns.

For the first time, Fox will rerun a season of "24" during the summer. Meaning Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) is going to be reliving that very long day filled with terrorists, assassinations, nerve gas, missiles, murder, mayhem and an evil president of the United States.

Beginning June 16, Fox will air back-to-back episodes of the show at 7 and 8 p.m. That will continue for 12 consecutive weeks, carrying through all 24 episodes and all 24 hours of the serialized show.

It's that serialization that has kept Fox from repeating any of the previous four seasons of "24." Dating back to the days of "Dallas" and "Dynasty," serialized shows haven't repeated well.

But we do live in somewhat of a different TV world than we did back in the '80s. DVDs of "24" seasons have sold quite well in recent years.

If you missed this season, you won't have to wait for the DVD release to catch up. And the just-completed Season 5 was the most successful "24" to date — ratings were up 14 percent over Season 4, which was the show's highest-rated until now.

And that's rather remarkable all by itself. Most shows don't do their best ratings in their fifth season. Even big hits generally begin to decline at that point.

EVERY SEASON OF "24" ends with the same question — how can they possibly top this? And every season the show's writers and producers manage to do just that.

Not that they don't worry about it themselves. "I honestly thought we'd run out of steam at the end of Season 4," executive producer Howard Gordon told TV critics just as Season 5 was coming to an end. "This time last year, I was in a bit of a panic over where we'd go."

But only a bit of a panic. "I think we have developed faith in the process and in ourselves and in this particular show to keep on giving," he said. "There always seems to be more material."

And he pretty much promised a great Season 6. "What we've talked about for next year, I've got to tell you, as a writer is very exciting," Gordon said.

So . . . how will Jack get away from the Chinese?

We'll have to wait until Season 6 begins in January to find out.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,635212150,00.html

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

Critic’s Notebook
Can Tony Soprano ever just fly away?

By Peter Ames Carlin The (Portland) Oregonian Saturday, June 03, 2006

Look for the beacon.

Six seasons into "The Sopranos," HBO's darkly comic exploration of the mind of a murderous, larcenous and yet morally conflicted mobster, the only hope for redemption comes down to the light in the sky.

First seen in the dream playing through Tony Soprano's mind as he lingered near death at the start of this season, the light called the conflicted mobster to a horizon he could sense, but not quite see.

Tony (James Gandolfini) eventually recovered from his wounds. Following the light of his conscience proved more difficult. But he wasn't the only Soprano seeing lights in the sky.

The beacon returned during Carmela's (Edie Falco) visit to Paris a few episodes later. Only this time it was real, shining from the tip of the Eiffel Tower. Though she didn't say a word, Tony's wife -- who has come to acknowledge her complicity in her husband's crimes -- clearly sensed the change in the air.

Whether either of them has the courage to change their lives remains to be seen. But their progress through this spring's episodes of "The Sopranos" (a 12-episode arc that concludes with eight more episodes in the winter of 2007) underscores that the show's real subject is, and has always been, human psychology: the creation of identity; the struggle between delusion and reality; and the immutability of primal experiences.

Or, to be more succinct: It's a show about some severely messed-up people. They struggle to control their failings, and even show occasional glimmer of progress. But, as Tony has shown again and again, they remain too wrapped up in their own illusions to contemplate serious change.

This year's episodes have been particularly rich in psychoanalytical symbolism. The coma dream that took up much of the first episodes (brought on by Tony's near-fatal shooting at the hands of his delusional father figure, Uncle Junior) was a tapestry of confusion and conflict: Trapped in a distant city with another man's wallet, Tony (who imagines himself a fiber-optics salesman) is forced to assume the identity of a man named Kevin Finnerty, a name which evokes an intriguing word: infinity.

This is just the start of Tony's brush with infinitude. Finnerty, as it turns out, is being pursued by angry Buddhist monks (!), who don't seem to care that Tony isn't actually him. A trip to the doctor ends with a diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's disease -- another entree to infinity. Tony tries to make peace with the Buddhists ("I'm kinda worried about what I might have done," he frets), but as the real Tony slides into cardiac arrest, his dream self ends up in a dark forest, standing outside a brightly lit house he knows is filled with long-dead relatives. He's on the verge of going inside -- surrendering to the past -- but the voices of his children, coming from somewhere beyond the trees, call him back to life.

Back in the real world, Tony's recovery is filled with more signs of his existential quandary. One fellow patient, a chatty physicist with terminal cancer, muses on the fungible nature of being and nothingness. Evangelical Christians offer to pray for his soul. And when Carmela shows up with a book, it's about the prehistoric world. "You've always loved dinosaurs!" she says, cheerily.

Actually, his fealty to old-world mafia customs has made him into a dinosaur. And unless Tony can find a way to adapt -- like the birds outside his window, long since evolved from the dinosaurs they once were -- he's headed for the same fate.

Back on the street, Tony works to re-establish his control of his families. But the same confusion seems to grip everyone around him. Jailed New York crime boss John (Johnny Sack) Sacramoni (Vince Curatola) shows unforgivable weakness by weeping at his daughter's wedding, then accepts a humiliating plea bargain from the feds. Devoted son and germaphobe Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) learns that his mother isn't really his mother, then has a brush with prostate cancer.

Perpetually backsliding addict Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), who sacrificed his informant girlfriend, Adriana, last season, married his new girlfriend, convinced that their child will change his life. "My son will be my rock," he declares, hours before going on another heroin bender.

Tony's wife and kids confronted their own struggles for identity. But while daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) chose to follow her boyfriend to California, Carmela's plan to leverage independence from a spec house collapsed beneath shoddy materials and her own shoddy ethics. Anthony Jr.'s (Robert Iler) attempt to take revenge on Uncle Junior ended in his own symbolic castration.

Meanwhile, Tony wrestled with his own shifting values. He couldn't go through with a fling with a sexy real estate agent, then resisted his gang's desire to kill up-and-coming captain Vito Spatafore (Joseph Gannascoli) when they discovered his homosexuality. "I got a second chance," Tony reasoned. "Why shouldn't he?"

Indeed, Vito provided a near-perfect reflection of Tony's own struggle. Taking it on the lam, the gay mobster ended up in a remote New Hampshire village as gay friendly as it was idyllic. Soon involved with a hunky chef and part-time fireman, Vito tried to pursue his (pretend) career as a building contractor. But honest work, and the ordinary life and relationships it fueled, made Vito miserable. He returned to New Jersey (listening to Frank Sinatra belting "My Way"!) and was soon consumed by the fate he had to know was all but inevitable.

So, as the spring's final episode approaches, presumably setting up the events that will fill the series' final eight hours, Tony finds himself living a real-world variation of his coma dream. He has already slid into some old habits, including a dalliance with a stripper and a grudging approval of Vito's murder. He undermined Carmela's spec house plans with the cool, passive-aggressive efficiency his own mother once wielded against him.

But Tony has already seen the beacons in the air around him. And, like every student of history, he knows full well that the only dinosaurs who survived were the ones who managed to sprout wings and fly away.

An image which takes us back to the first scene in the first episode of first season, when the ducklings that had nested in Tony's pool gathered their strength and soared into the sky. The sight knocked him to his knees.

Six seasons later, he has yet to find his way back to his feet.

http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/living/1149288919147550.xml&coll=7

Critic’s Notebook
Aliens Stole My Bikini!

Hot teens, sweaty beaches, sudden riches, and lots of paranormal high jinks.
That’s right—it’s summertime on TV.
By John Leonard New York Magazine June 5, 2006

As if there were a checklist for recycled summer trash—Sailboats! Sunblock! Teen sex!—Falcon Beach practically parodies its own components. We are plunked down in a New England village where the locals, at least those among them not yet palsied unto gnomic bromide after years of chewing cud, pump gas at the service station or knot rope at the boat shop, while the visitors, emotionally anemic, angelically transparent, rest up in rented lakeside shacks from a long winter of making money. To such staples, add loud music, negligent bikinis, recreational drugs, class animus, and volleyball. (You will have noticed on the sports channels that beach volleyball is the new striptease.) For several seconds in the two-hour pilot, I saw someone in a Che Guevara T-shirt, but he didn’t mean it. Summer trash is no more permitted to be political than to be fat.

Which brings us to the hunks and hotties. Chief among them is the six-plus feet of Jason (Steve Byers), a blond and blue-eyed local boy whose only ambition is to become a professional wake-boarder (which wake-boarding looks to me exactly like waterskiing). Otherwise, as Jason explains to Paige (Jennifer Kydd), “I don’t do plans.” Petulant Paige isn’t pleased to be stuck for the summer in these sticks: “I’m not a tourist, I’m a hostage.” (I’d tell you why her mother needs time away from her father, but they are both adults, so who cares?) Till a night on the lake with Jason, she’d rather be back in corporate America, working toward her M.B.A. Unfortunately, Jason still has issues to resolve with Tanya (Devon Weigel), who used to be his main squeeze until she ran away to Italy to be a supermodel. She’s back now, traumatized yet just as slinky. And she’s hanging out with Paige’s drug-dealing playboy brother, Lane (Morgan Kelly), which means that more than one heart and neck will be broken.

Never mind the second-stringer sidekicks, Danny (Ephraim Ellis) and Erin (Melissa Elias). Yes, they are cute when they sing “I’m leaving on a jet plane.” But their very cuteness distracts us from the summer-trash essentialism of teen angst. On television, your summer teen inside his sunblock is sunk in a sullenness so profound it amounts to a mystique. Most of us don’t feel as bad for fifteen minutes in our entire lives as these kids have apparently felt since Pampers. And if they never grow up to be more interesting than their urine samples, it’s your fault.

Windfall, on the other hand, takes a fairy-tale premise—that good luck can be a curse—and stomps all over it till it looks like television. Young married best friends Luke Perry, Lana Parrilla, Jason Gedrick, and Sarah Wynter, through no virtue or fault of their own and in cahoots with several acquaintances, win a $386 million lottery. “We can do absolutely anything we want to with our lives,” one of them squeals. Since Lana, who is married to Luke, always bets the same number, which is Jason’s birthday, you know they’ll spend the rest of the summer wrecking those lives—except, maybe, for Jaclyn DeSantis as a nurse who immediately helps a patient without health insurance. Windfall is primarily interesting as the latest chapter in network television’s Sisyphean exertions to find something, anything, for Luke Perry and Jason Gedrick to do with themselves.

Anthony Michael Hall is back from his coma for a fifth season, and while I usually enjoy his F/X visions in The Dead Zone, the master narrative is now slower than sap. Last year began with presidential wannabe Greg Stillson (Sean Patrick Flanery) preparing, after the murder of his own father, to marry a gorgeously unhappy Miranda (Laura Harris), who agreed to this loveless bargain to protect our psychic hero from the forces of evil (Martin Donovan). This year starts with that exact same wedding. It’s taken us a long, hectic time to go an inch to nowhere.

But The 4400, the series in which every human ever abducted by aliens (or some such shadowy captors) returns suddenly to Earth with paranormal powers and to quarantine, has always motored on with enough loud plot to suspend or concuss disbelief. In the third-season opener, Peter Coyote impersonates Rasputin, Megalyn Echikunwoke plays an Isabelle who goes to bed a baby and wakes up 20 years old, and the Nova Group delivers on its promise of a terrorist attack with a deed so astonishingly counterintuitive as to suggest—well, I must keep a secret, but it’s hiding behind a grin.
Falcon Beach: ABC Family. Sundays, 8 p.m. Premieres June 4.

Windfall: NBC. Thursdays, 10 p.m. Premieres June 8.

The Dead Zone: USA. Sundays, 10 p.m. Season Premiere June 18.

The 4400: USA. Sundays, 9 p.m. Season Premiere June 11.

http://newyorkmetro.com/arts/tv/reviews/17156/

TV FEATURE

Documentary focuses on race to stars
Film takes a look at development of von Braun, Korolev's crafts

By DAVE SHIFLETT
Bloomberg News
June 2, 2006, 6:29PM

Back in the good old pre-jihad era, the U.S. and Soviet Union competed for hearts, minds and real estate, including territories orbiting the Earth.

The race to space, the subject of a two-night, four-hour National Geographic Channel docudrama (8 p.m. CT Sunday and Monday), brings that competition back into focus, reminding us that tense times can also unleash massive technological achievement.

The first segment of Space Race: The Untold Story opens as World War II is winding down. It quickly sets up a horse race between Wernher von Braun, who developed Germany's V-2 rocket and later made his way to the U.S., and Sergei Korolev, who was released from the Gulag (where he had been sent on a false sabotage charge) to lead the Soviet effort.

The Soviets also wanted von Braun and his rocket-team colleagues, many of whom were invited to a raucous party, incapacitated with vodka and shipped off to the "worker's paradise."

Von Braun escaped that fate but nearly experienced something worse. He and many close associates were held captive by their own government, which planned to execute them lest they fall into Soviet or American hands. The day Hitler shot himself, an execution squad came calling, but von Braun and company escaped and soon surrendered to a U.S. patrol.

Von Braun is portrayed as a square-jawed, likable visionary, whose deepest desire is to send men to the moon and neighboring planets. Yet he is constantly dogged by his Nazi past.

"I never wore the uniform," he insists during one grilling, although critics in the press and political circles never let him, or Germany, forget that slave labor had been used in the V-2 campaign. As a result he was denied the full support needed to keep America competitive with the Soviet Union — at least until communist advances made the past disappear.

Korolev, shown as a puffier and less animated man, faced his own set of challenges, including Soviet management practices that relied heavily on threats. When early rockets failed to launch — or took a U-turn soon after liftoff — the prospect of a return to the Gulag, or perhaps a trip to the hereafter, seemed close at hand.

The show, which moves along quickly, includes numerous fiery crashes and scenes featuring another type of rocket fuel, vodka, which worked its ancient wonders on the future-molding scientists.

We are also privy to an interesting Soviet ritual, shown here with barely ample discretion: scientists urinating on the launch-pad before hitting the ignition switch, presumably to bring good luck to the proceedings.

While von Braun faced hostile reporters and politicos, Korolev's existence remained a state secret, which wasn't altogether bad for progress. He and his crew put together a 183-pound satellite called Sputnik I (the word means "fellow traveler"), which was sent aloft on Oct. 4, 1957.

In a letter to his wife, Korolev said he had "very tender" feelings about the satellite — not surprising considering that it probably saved him from permanent exile in Siberia.

Indeed, Nikita Khrushchev, portrayed as a jolly fat thug, was beside himself with glee. The Americans "have their pants around their ankles," he chuckles during a meeting with his star scientist. Khrushchev wanted to go a step further by sending a dog into space.

The chosen one was a mutt named Laika, launched on Nov. 3, 1957. It was a one-way trip; the doomed animal lived about five hours, although there is the consolation of knowing that the first earthling to circle our planet was a pooch.

With the Soviets sending satellites and dogs into orbit, Washington hit the panic button, especially when von Braun noted that Moscow could soon target the capital with a hydrogen bomb.

Fear and loathing became more intense when, on Dec. 6, a Navy missile called Vanguard TV3 exploded on the launch-pad. "Kaputnik," the headlines sneered.

Von Braun and his Army team suddenly went into high gear.

On Jan. 31, 1958, they successfully launched a 31-pound satellite called Explorer I, which brought America back into the game.

Part 2 follows the sometimes glorious, sometimes tragic race to the moon, where Neil Armstrong took his "giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969.

Von Braun lived to see that great moment (he died in 1977), while Korolev died unexpectedly in 1966, though not while trying to escape.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3923475.html

Does anyone in this thread know why ESPN2HD is on so few cable systems? The World Cup is about to start and our TW system does not carry ESPN2HD nor do very many other systems. I can't seem to find any real reasons, I'm sure it has to do with $$$$ but I would like to know who the bad guys are in this deal. And the other football games are not too far away! ESPNU seems to be the same deal probably the same answer. :rolleyes:

I understand it is on a lot of systems -- though far from a majority.
But I could be wrong.
At any rate, TW and ESPN are playing macho big corporation who-will-blink-first games.
Sadly the World Cup is just not a big enough reason --in this country -- to force TW to its knees.
Now if ESPN2 HD carried Monday Night Football.......

The 2006-2007 Season
NBC Focuses on Football

Sunday game will be a major promo platform
By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable 6/5/2006

When NBC hastily reshuffled eight of its 15 weeknight prime time hours shortly after unveiling its fall schedule, the network also changed its promotional strategy.

The new Sunday Night Football franchise will become a major promotional platform for freshman shows Heroes and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which air at 9-11 p.m. ET Mondays. The move also permitted NBC to move Studio 60 out of the path of competing hits Grey’s Anatomy and CSI on Thursdays.

The new emphasis on freshman shows is a shift in strategy. Until now, NBC has made warhorses like the Law & Order shows the backbone of its schedule, using the established series as cornerstones of individual nights.

Despite spawning an annual $1 billion-plus revenue franchise, NBC moved fabled producer Dick Wolf’s Law & Order, whose ratings have been on the decline, to 10 p.m. Fridays, making way for freshman Kidnapped at 10 p.m. Wednesdays to compete against CSI: NY on CBS.

Having a football game kick off the week represents a “huge opportunity for us,” says Mitch Metcalf, executive VP of program planning and scheduling for NBC. “Putting two new shows on Monday night, or any night, is not a first choice. But having Sunday Night Football leading into Monday made sense” since the broad football audience translates well to NBC’s mass-appeal Monday-night lead-in game show, Deal or No Deal.

Yet, as ABC discovered with Monday Night Football, there is a low carry-over rate of sports fans to entertainment programs on subsequent nights.

NBC faces additional hurdles ABC never encountered: namely, the prospect of having a majority of its Sunday Night Football viewers tune to ESPN the next day for Monday Night Football, rather than to Heroes or Studio 60.

“Using big-ticket sports like football, baseball and the Olympics to promote is no guarantee that we can launch shows successfully,” says Metcalf, “but they are still great platforms to get the shows out of the gate.”

After its big upfront presentation in New York and prior to the massive schedule revision, NBC focused on using Sunday Night Football as a way to reach the upscale viewers that have traditionally been the centerpiece of its prime time schedules.

Metcalf says the football audience “matches our schedule well,” although competitors and advertisers grouse about whether the network will be able to claim that distinction when Deal airs in the midst of its once Must-See Thursdays.

There’s also uncertainty about using L&O: Criminal Intent as a lead-in to SVU, since the latter was the highest-rated of the three franchisees this past season.

Metcalf believes the pairing will create a strong 9-11 block on Tuesdays and expresses faith in L&O. Its move to Fridays allows NBC to stick to its strategy of scheduling only established shows on a night for which it devotes little promotional or advertising resources, he says.

After announcing cast changes last week, which Wolf was working on when he got news of the schedule changes, Metcalf says he looks for the veteran series to perform strongly as it enters “another phase of its life.”

TV Notebook
Major "Shield" News

By Michael Ausiello TV Guide

The Shield has been greenlit for a sixth season. No one at FX will confirm, but very reliable sources say series creator Shawn Ryan has decided there's enough creative juice left to carry on for one more season.

The show is currently in production on Season 5's final 10 episodes, slated to debut in early '07.

In other FX news, I'm told the cable net has made a 13-episode committment to Courteney Cox's tabloid-set comedy Dirt. We're happy about this.

Why are we happy about this? Because I read the pilot script, and it's really funny.

We're also happy about this because Courteney Cox was the most underrated member of the Friends cast, and we want to see her succeed. At least I do.

http://community.tvguide.com/forum.jspa?forumID=700000049

TV Notebook
Doctors Prep For Dozier's Flight Home

(CBSNews.com) June 3, 2006

(CBS/AP)---CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier remained in critical, but stable condition and continued to rest at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Saturday a day after undergoing an operation to repair her legs, injured in a roadside explosion in Baghdad.

As Dozier's health improves, the medical staff prepared her for a return to the United States, which could be as early as Sunday.

This was the first time since the blast that she’s been able to eat solid food. Her father fed her cream soup, orange juice and chocolate pudding, reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Cobbe.

When Dozier first arrived in Germany she could not talk or breathe and was immobile. Now she is sitting up, talking with her family, cracking jokes with her boyfriend and eating, Cobbe adds.

Earlier Friday, she was taken off her respirator and began breathing on her own.

"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 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 on Sunday.

"She has to be stable enough to sustain the flight," Shaw said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/30/iraq/printable1664012.shtml

TV Notebook
Major "Shield" News

By Michael Ausiello TV Guide

The Shield has been greenlit for a sixth season. No one at FX will confirm, but very reliable sources say series creator Shawn Ryan has decided there's enough creative juice left to carry on for one more season.

The show is currently in production on Season 5's final 10 episodes, slated to debut in early '07.

In other FX news, I'm told the cable net has made a 13-episode committment to Courteney Cox's tabloid-set comedy Dirt. We're happy about this.

Why are we happy about this? Because I read the pilot script, and it's really funny.

We're also happy about this because Courteney Cox was the most underrated member of the Friends cast, and we want to see her succeed. At least I do.

http://community.tvguide.com/forum.jspa?forumID=700000049

Excellent news!! You made my day Fred, especially since I've been pissing and moaning about Deadwood for the last week. :D

I always enjoy passing along (the far too occasional) news that makes you smile, Jim!

TV Notebook
ABC cancels 'Buy It'

Alphabet puts 'Con' to the test
By Michael Schneider Variety.com

ABC has canceled its purchase of the summer reality skein "Buy It Now," but announced plans Thursday to administer "The Con Test."

"Buy It Now" revolved around families looking to fulfill their dreams by placing their prized belongings up for sale on eBay -- with friends and neighbors also chipping in to raise funds.

One problem: eBay ultimately passed on getting involved with the show. With eBay out of the picture, ABC decided to return "Buy It Now" to the shelves.

"Buy It Now," from Madison Road Prods., was slated to air Mondays and Tuesdays at 9 p.m. starting July 31; ABC hasn't yet announced what it will air in the show's place.

This marks the second time an eBay-related show was announced, but ultimately didn't come to fruition. Sony Pictures TV spent several years developing a syndicated show tied to the auction site, bringing the show to NATPE in 2004. The strip ultimately didn't move forward.

Meanwhile, ABC has sealed a deal with FremantleMedia North America to develop a version of the U.K. gamer "The Con Test."

Show, which launches on Britain's ITV this summer, was created by British TV presenters Ant and Dec (Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly). Gamer follows contestants as they attempt to bluff and lie through a series of questions -- attempting to trick their opponents.

"This series will be a fun outlet for viewers who want to sit back, be entertained and scream at the TV set," said Andrea Wong, exec VP of alternative programming, specials and late night at ABC.

Critic’s Notebook
'The Simple Life' is sapped of its fizz

By Jonathan Storm Philadelphia Inquirer Television Critic Sat, Jun. 03, 2006

Booted off Fox, the reality TV equivalent of a penthouse where the women have assistants to take messages from gentlemen, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are now selling themselves on the street, next door to the bowling alley and the cheap motel.

The Simple Life (would it were true), once a breezy piece of fluff that fit right in the closet next to Paris' assortment of 326 feather boas, has degenerated into a sad celebutante pas de duh on cable's E!, where the premiere of the show's fourth edition takes place tomorrow at 10 p.m.

Its famously feuding stars don't even occupy the same space in the opener of this version, subtitled " 'Til Death Do Us Part," except at the start, where they pass wordlessly by each other in a coffee shop, and Paris buys Nicole a big cookie with an insulting inscription iced onto the top.

Which Nicole should eat. She looks as if she's trying to out-skinny her former BestFriendForever.

Maybe that's why they're feuding, though the standard thinking says it's because Nicole screened Paris' infamous sex video at a party, and everybody giggled at Paris' ribs.

Whatever the cause, they work separately in the show, which destroys 50 percent of its fun - the rich-girl, dim-bulb interplay between the BFFs, bewildered in the world of mortals after being, as the theme song said, stripped of credit cards and limousines.

Viewers will get a good lesson in the phonality of reality shows, as clever editing makes it seem as if maybe they're together.

The other 50 percent of the fun was the interplay between normal people - dairy farmers, nudist-colony operators, auto mechanics - in the hinterlands and these pampered L.A. ladies. Well, that's gone, too.

Tomorrow, the two travel all of 20 miles to fill in for a pregnant wife and mother named Shari. Paris makes her 3-year-old yell. Nicole simulates sex with her husband, Doug, at the Lamaze class.

And then, presumably, they go back to rich-girl Nirvana at the end of the shooting day.

The girls will sub for other moms within limo distance in coming episodes, going through the motions and doing a half-baked job, just as we've come to expect. This time, it's not funny.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14729934.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Jonathan Storm | On cable TV, relief from the doldrums

By Jonathan Storm
Inquirer Columnist

The TV world turns upside down this summer, as the big broadcast networks open the spillway to a torrent of cheesy reality shows, while cable channels trot out meaty comedy and drama with high production values.

On the networks: Copycat dance and singing competitions join goofy games and voyeuristic examinations of supposedly steamy suburban lifestyles. D-list celebrities abound.

On cable: Established comedies and dramas with name stars return, and promising new ones premiere.

It's just another aspect of a crowded, topsy-turvy TV world where everyone tries to shout "Look at me!" while gasping for breath in the chase for the almighty dollar.

Here's how it used to be: Lots of people found better things to do in summer than watch TV. The networks saved their pennies airing reruns.

Here's how it changed: Cable channels, seeing a void, started to premiere their best shows in summer. Broadcast bosses blubbered, "We've got to do something." Sometimes when they did, they struck the mother lode.

Here's how it is: Cable channels continue to slot much of their best stuff in the summer. The network big boys (and girls) augment their reruns by throwing all sorts of cheap meat into the stew, dreaming of another Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Survivor, or American Idol, which all began as summer fill-ins. And lots of people still find other things to do in summer besides watch TV.

They're missing plenty on cable: Rescue Me, FX's fireman sit-dram starring Denis Leary and the network's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which this summer picks up guest star Danny DeVito; The Closer, TNT's tale of a brilliant detective (Kyra Sedgwick); The 4400, believable alien escapades, and the endearing obsessiveness of Mr. Monk on USA; and, of course, TV's best show, HBO's @#?!%^&*! amazing western, Deadwood.

HBO premieres the wildly divergent comedies Lucky Louis and Dane Cook's Tourgasm next Sunday. The next night, TNT's Saved, starring Tom Everett Scott as an emergency medical technician, begins. Showtime unveils the ambitious drama Brotherhood, about a politician and a gangster, on July 9, and USA starts Psych on July 7. It stars Corbin Bernsen and Dule Hill, with James Roday as a police psychic who's a complete phony.

The deep-pockets broadcast networks, where summer is low-budget, test-drive time, have nary a show that compares in ambition (and, most likely, in execution) to any of them.

The relatively low cost of most summer reality gives the networks a chance to swing at any sort of pitch to try to hit a home run. Millionaire, Survivor, Idol: Each of those blockbusters more than paid for all the shows like Tommy Lee Goes to College and I Want to Be a Hilton that sprang up on their respective networks.

Sadly for NBC, Tommy and Hilton have been the norm. The only notable winter success, a term used loosely, that the Peacock has bred in summer is Fear Factor.

In the fall-winter regular season just ended, the networks garnered exactly a 50 percent share in prime time, meaning that half of all the households watching TV at any time weren't watching ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN or the WB.

Count on that number to go down considerably this summer. Warm-weather cable-channel viewership passed that of the broadcast networks several years ago, and while one of the new summer broadcast shows (my money's on America's Got Talent, produced by American Idol's Simon Cowell) might catch, most of them sound like strikeouts.

New network summer series:

Gameshow Marathon, premiered Wednesday, CBS. Continuing the reality-show-as-endurance-sport theme, such "celebrities" as actor Leslie Nielsen and Trading Spaces' Paige Davis play such classic TV game shows as Card Sharks and Beat the Clock. Host Ricki Lake strives to beat itchy-fingered viewers into remote submission.

Windfall, premieres Wednesday, NBC. The only new network summer drama, it has a game component, resurrecting Luke Perry (Beverly Hills, 90210) as one of a group of 20 players who win the lottery.

How to Get the Guy, premieres June 12, ABC. From the folks who brought you Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, this one attaches two "love coaches" to four attractive young things as they search for Mr. Right. The deck's stacked against the gals. One of the coaches is slippery reality host JD Roberto. And they're looking in San Francisco.

Tuesday Night Book Club, premieres June 13, CBS. Desperate for some younger viewers, CBS hopes these real-life housewives will be smoking enough to lure fans from MTV's similar (if half a generation removed) popular "docu-soap," Laguna Beach. One of the guinea pigs even looks like Eva Longoria.

Treasure Hunters, premieres June 18, NBC. The artistry of Da Vinci might be lacking, but there will be plenty of codes and puzzles in this globe-trotting competition that is definitely not a rip-off of The Amazing Race. Each team has three people.

America's Got Talent, premieres June 21, NBC. Regis Philbin hosts, and Ed Sullivan's spinning plates in his grave. There are judges - a gal (Brandy), a guy (David Hasselhoff), and a Brit (who cares what his name is) - and home voting. But this show is not a straight steal from American Idol because jugglers, drummers, even a talking pony are eligible to be declared the nation's most talented creature. Idol overseer Cowell, creator of the new show, calls it the "most unique talent show ever undertaken in history." Don't look for a grammarian to win.

Master of Champions, June 22, ABC. Who has the most pizzazz at pizza tossing? Which unicyclist is uniquely skilled? Who can line up the lamest TV reality concept?

Rock Star: Supernova, returns July 5 to CBS with a new band. Tommy Lee learned a lot at college last summer, like how to worm his way into another reality show. The new rock super group, at least in their own minds, features oldsters Lee, Jason Newsted of Metallica, and Gilby Clarke of Guns N' Roses, and, as lead singer, some refugee from Wayne's World who will have competed for the "prize."

The One: Making a Music Star, premieres July 18, ABC. Fox took the dance-contest idea from ABC, but this not a complete copy of American Idol because - you get to see the contestants being coached.

Buy It Now, premieres July 31, ABC. A one-hour eBay infomercial combines with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, as worthy families seeking to "realize one of their most meaningful dreams" auction off all their heirlooms and hope friends and neighbors kick in some junk, too.

One Ocean View, July 31, ABC. Manhattan yuppies head to the Hamptons, or somewhere by the shore, to party hearty on the weekends. Aren't these the people everybody tries to avoid when they're vacationing down the Shore?

In addition, several series return this summer: So You Think You Can Dance, which had its season premiere on May 26 on Fox; Last Comic Standing, which began its fourth season Tuesday on NBC; Hell's Kitchen, which returned on June 12 on Fox; and Big Brother 7: All-Stars, which comes back for its seventh season July 6 on CBS.

Jonathan Storm | Best of cable

Here are the season premiere dates for some notable summer cable shows:

June 11. Deadwood. HBO.

June 11. The 4400. USA.

June 12. The Closer. USA.

June 28. Blade: The Series. Spike.

June 29. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. FX.

July 7. Monk. USA.

July 9. Brotherhood. Showtime.

July 12. Nightmares & Dreamscapes - From the Stories of Steven King. TNT.

July 14. Stargate SG-1.


http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14715482.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Q&A
Viewers rant about 'American Idol,' 'The Apprentice'

By Tom Jicha Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal TV and Radio Writer June 4, 2006

Question: I would like to voice my complaint about American Idol and what a fraud it has turned out to be. I tried for two hours, dialing almost continually, on my home and cell phones, to vote for Chris Daughtry [the week he was eliminated]. I was able to get through four times. My fiance also used his cell phone to call for Taylor and Elliott and he got through. My mother and a few other friends had the same problem trying to vote for Chris. Some got a strange busy signal, but most got the recording I did, saying the calls could not be completed. I know it's just a TV show, but when it generates as much viewership as American Idol does, someone has to stand up and take accountability. Every Wednesday Ryan Seacrest states, "America has voted . . . " People don't know America's voters never had a chance.

Answer: This is how conspiracy theories are spawned. Dialing to vote on American Idol is a crapshoot, but because one person gets through and another doesn't is not an indication of foul play. What's more, you admit to voting four times. That's at least three times that someone else might have gotten through.

Q: You wrote: "Did anyone seriously think Justin Guarini had any chance to beat Kelly Clarkson in [American Idol's] first season?" The better question would be, "Did anyone seriously think that the producers would choose someone as mediocre as Clarkson, when they had a real star on their hands in Justin?" However, they chose to kick him to the curb, with haste, afterward, to prevent him from stealing the spotlight from their choice. Thus the boredom continues season after season.

A: Are you related to Justin by blood or marriage? Kelly Clarkson has gone on to become a multiple Grammy-winning superstar. Justin isn't even a wedding singer. As for American Idol, the audience is so bored it keeps increasing every season. Four years after Justin was kicked to the curb, Idol is the No. 1 show on TV and is still growing.

Q: I understand that Donald Trump is equal parts substance and hype, but why do reporters, interviewers and critics let him rant continually about his "hit show," The Apprentice? Every time a microphone is put in front of him, he gushes about how well his show is doing. Truth is, it is ranked near 40th place and loses millions of viewers from the Deal or No Deal lead-in. Maybe NBC is afraid that if it cancels the show, Trump might buy its headquarters, tear the building down and build condos.

A: You must read and listen to the wrong media. I have written repeatedly, as have other critics, that every edition of The Apprentice has declined in the ratings from the previous one. Indeed, when Trump used the "No.1 show on TV" line on a press tour, one of my colleagues immediately corrected him with, "No, you're not. You're not even No.1 in your time period." When Trump tried to save face by saying he was talking about the 18-49 demographic, he was again corrected that this is not close to the truth. It's not a sure thing The Apprentice will return and even if it does, it might be for only one edition, not the two per season it has been presenting.

Q: At the beginning of Two and a Half Men, the three stars are seen singing a jingle about manly men. Could you tell me if Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones are really singing? My mom and I are always debating this.

A: Sheen, Cryer and Jones are actors, not singers. The voices you hear are anonymous studio singers.

Q: I understand that product placement produces revenue and is very common in movies and TV programs. My question is, why is it necessary to mention the make and/or model of an automobile involved in an accident on TV and radio? It would be just as informative to know that two automobiles were involved in an accident on I-95 without knowing the make of the vehicles. Is product placement the reason or am I just being a skeptic?

A: No company wants a negative association with their product. This is why airlines pull their ads from news shows in which an air crash is reported. Details make a story. The model of cars in an accident fleshes out a report. The fact that a Hummer broadsided a Geo is more interesting than just "two vehicles crashed."

Q: I find it curious that when you see Sam Waterston on Law & Order, his hair is parted on the left. On commercials his hair is parted on the right. Is there a reason the commercial is shot like that or does Waterston have a revolving rug?

A: You really need a hobby.

Q: In the 1967 film In Cold Blood, Scott Wilson plays one of the killers. Is he the same actor who now plays Marg Helgenberger's father on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation?

A: Good eye. Scott Wilson, who portrayed Richard Hickock in In Cold Blood, now plays Sam Braun, the father of Helgenberger's Catherine Willows on CSI.

Q: I have a question in regard to the Daytime Emmys. When the show was on CBS, it was the CBS-ABC show. This year on ABC, it was the ABC-CBS show. The past couple of years, NBC soaps have been snubbed. The only Emmy Days of Our Lives is nominated for (and wins) is for hair and makeup. Passions isn't even nominated. What gives? Are the NBC soaps blacklisted?

A: I'll open the floor for debate, since daytime dramas are not my specialty. However, the feeling I get from fans and people in the business is that the ABC and CBS soaps are generally more respected than the ones on NBC. If there were a category for most bizarre soap, I'm sure Passions -- which is rerun on the Sci Fi Channel -- would be a strong contender. As for the presenters, one of the perks of being the network that carries the show is the ability to top-load it with your own people.

Q: What is going on? The season-ending show of Las Vegas ended in a cliffhanger and will cause us to wait six months to get answers, if there are answers. Will Las Vegas make it to another season? Will we find out who Delinda marries? Will we find out if Ed Deline survives? Who knows, and furthermore, who cares?

A: Obviously you care, or you wouldn't be so annoyed. Las Vegas will be back -- in four months, not six. To answer another of your questions, I can guarantee Ed survives because the show falls apart without James Caan.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-chatter0406jun04,0,7764715,print.story?coll=orl-caltvtop

TV Notebook
Doctors Prep For Dozier's Flight Home

(CBSNews.com) June 3, 2006

(CBS/AP)---CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier remained in critical, but stable condition and continued to rest at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Saturday a day after undergoing an operation to repair her legs, injured in a roadside explosion in Baghdad...etc, etc.

I don't mean to be insensitive and I realize this is being generally reported as "news" in the thread, but - aren't we giving this story more coverage (and in long detail) than it truly deserves? It seems so many posts are devoted to this and in excrutiating length and detail. It's sad and tragic, but not unexpected. She was a journalist in a war zone doing limited "embed" stories along with the poor guys and gals who do it every day and face even more risk than any journalist. Recognizing that the journalists don't get hurt as often as the troops and that this makes it somewhat newsworthy, I still think the media go overboard whenever one of their own is involved. (e.g. see the 3 hour marathon of ego-embarassment of Couric leaving the Today Show as though this really deserved such treatment).

There's a piece in a local newspaper here about honoring the "hero" public defenders who recently were able to free a convicted murderer after months of research and effort. Seems noble at first blush, until you read on and find out that the guy was actually THE MURDERER of the victims and the public defenders spent countless hours and public dollars - not on finding his innocense or DNA proof, etc - but rather, they found a loophole in the procedure that led to his release. This despite the fact that he was most assuredly guilty via all the evidence. They even tacitly admitted his guilt, but said the procedural error required his release and was worth the effort and public time and $$$. Maybe so, maybe not - but "heroes", I don't think so. Nor do I think poor Kimberly Dozier or Bob Woodruff are "heroes". They are victims of their profession and were doing nothing paticularly noble, heroic or even truly necessary when they were injured. I empathize with their plight. I merely think the coverage is overdone and unnecessary and would not be nearly so extensive and oft quoted/covered if it were a regular soldier, citizen or you or me.

Sorry for the rant, I woke up early, headache, no coffee yet and naturally ran into yet more on Dozier's every movement and transfer and....on and on. My day to be a curmudgeon.

Fair enough, Ray.

I have tried to keep the posts to just detailing her condition and movement.

And I agree entirely that the coverage would be (and is) far less extensive for a regular soldier or civilian.

On the other hand, millions of people feel they "know" Kimberly Dozier (or Bob Woodruff or Mike Kelly) from their work.

Nonetheless, you make good points. I'll try to pare the Dozier posts to a minimum.

(Now get get some caffeine!)

Daughtry turns down lead singer gig....
Life After “Idol”
Crazy over Chris Daughtry

By Joe Killian and Maria Johnson Greensboro NC News Record Staff Writers Jun 4, 2006

After spending a television season away, Chris Daughtry returned home Saturday.
"I don't regret this life I chose for me," crooned the former "American Idol" contestant during his afternoon performance in the football stadium at Greensboro's Grimsley High School.

"But these places and these faces are getting old. I'm going home. I'm going home."

He arrived back home to the delight of thousands who turned out to see him, first in his hometown of McLeansville, then in nearby Greensboro.

…He said he wouldn't take the lead-singer job he'd been offered with alt-metal band Fuel, but he would be doing something musical on his own within the coming year.

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060604/NEWSREC0101/606030332/-1/NEWSRECRSSARKIVE&template=printart

As a veteran, I certainly agree with the main thrust of your argument. However, unlike individual soldiers, these "celebrities" are nationally known and there is a a degree of national interest in their well-being, therefore the national coverage. Local news, at least here, does a great job of covering individual soldier's stories, and I believe that is as it should be. While it may look like this story if being overdone here, it is only because Fred tries to post a variety of coverage from multiple sources.

IMHO, most veterans, and those currently serving, really don't care much about individual attention. We/they do what we did/do because that's what we signed up for, nothing more, nothing less. To use some of your reasoning, no one is truly a hero because everything they do is really just a part of the job. Obviously, some do it exceedingly well and get recognized for it, but almost everyone of them will tell you they were just doing what they were trained for. Those that I have met are very humble and I suspect the same is true for most of the embedded journalists.

I do take some exception to your statement that these folks were doing nothing especially heroic. Journalists have been an important part of every conflict in history and the current crop is no exception. The military even has it's own cadre of journalists. IMHO, today's journalists may be even more important simply because of the sheer reach of technology. Would you rather we got our news from Aljazeera? Or what we were fed during Vietnam?

I appreciate your thoughts, too, Dave.

To be honest, I'd like to nip this discussion in the bud before it turns too political -- if that is OK with everyone.

The Business of TV
Affiliates no longer feeling love

Local stations left out of corporate decisions
By Josef Adalian Variety.com Sun., Jun. 4, 2006

When Bob Iger and Steve Jobs announced their landmark deal to let viewers download ABC hits such as "Desperate Housewives," the Alphabet didn't even bother to give its hundreds of local stations a heads up.

Welcome to the life of a network affiliate, circa 2006.

On the surface, things still seem fine. At last week's CBS affil confab, station reps partied like it was 1969, filling Las Vegas' Bellagio Hotel with the sort of glad-handing and good spirits that might be expected for a No. 1 network.

But just as on Wisteria Lane, things aren't always what they seem.

Not long ago, local stations were the only real outlet nets had to distribute their content. Now, it seems every day brings news of a t deal to put shows on platforms from iPods to cellphones -- with affils lucky to get a taste of any resulting revenue.

What's more, the days of affil compensation are all but over. Nets that used to pay stations to carry their shows now ask affils to essentially pay them to help offset the costs of sports rights deals, like the NFL packages owned by CBS and Fox.

Then there's the FCC. It's pushing stations to spend millions to covert to high-def ASAP, while at the same time stepping up its role as a watchdog against indecency and against video press releases masquerading as news.

And if you're one of the hundreds of stations that spent years building brand equity as either a WB or UPN affil, guess what? You find yourself betting on risky start-ups CW and MyNetworkTV -- or going it alone as an independent.

"Twenty years ago, it was a much easier business," concedes Meredith Broadcasting's Paul Karpowicz, whose group owns 14 stations.

But don't break out the Kleenex for affils just yet.

For one thing, when the balance of power favored affils, "They squeezed the hell out of us," remembers one veteran network warrior.

And after initially bitching about moves like ABC's Apple deal -- "disappointing and unsettling" is what the head of ABC's affil board called it in a letter to the net right after the announcement -- stations are beginning to wonder if new media might rep a new paradigm for network-affil relations.

In the past two months, Fox and NBC have both announced agreements with affils that lay the groundwork for revenue-sharing from digital platforms. Eye affil board topper Doreen Wade says she expects to present stations with a financial proposal that includes elements of new media "within a few weeks."

As advertisers make more noise about spreading coin from nets to the 'Net, station groups with outlets in multiple cities also see an opportunity to cash in by selling ads on their local Web sites.

Some stations are already letting viewers download specialized newscasts with customized advertising, while syndicators like Sony and Telepictures have recently announced deals to share coin from local station Webcasts of shows like "Two and a Half Men."

"Control has shifted from the broadcasters to the consumers," says Frank Schurz Jr., whose Indiana-based company owns eight stations spread across four networks. "They're making the choices, and we're going to have to respond to it."

In other words, stations can complain about not getting a heads-up on a deal, or they can figure out ways to make money from new technologies.

CBS Corp. prexy-CEO Leslie Moonves says while things have undoubtedly grown tougher for affils, their pain is no greater than that of the whole TV biz.

"Most stations are still profitable," he says, expressing confidence that nets and affils will figure out a way to bridge the digital divide.

"A lot of this stuff is five-months-old," Moonves says.

Besides, Moonves argues, networks like CBS have a vested interest in keeping local stations happy.

"We own 40% of our affiliates," he says. "Their problems are our problems."

TV Notebook
Dozier's Stay In Germany Extended

(CBSNews,com)
Soldiers With Urgent Needs Flown Home Ahead Of Injured CBS Reporter

LANDSTUHL, Germany, June 4, 2006--(CBS/AP) Injured CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier will remain at a military hospital in Germany for a few more days before returning to the United States.

Though Dozier had been looking forward to going home Sunday, wounded soldiers with more urgent needs had to be flown out before her.

She may be flown back as early as Tuesday.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/30/iraq/main1664012.shtml

I do take some exception to your statement that these folks were doing nothing especially heroic. Journalists have been an important part of every conflict in history and the current crop is no exception. The military even has it's own cadre of journalists. IMHO, today's journalists may be even more important simply because of the sheer reach of technology. Would you rather we got our news from Aljazeera? Or what we were fed during Vietnam?

When Ms. Dozier or any other journalist is embedded with the troops, they face exactly the SAME danger they do, by definition...and are just as much a target for IEDs or shooting. It's not like they're back in the hotel in Baghdad or firmly within the so-called "green zone"...those journalists face far fewer dangers, though just being in Iraq in 2006 is a dangerous thing.

I do agree that the networks tend to go overboard on this, though I assume that once she's safely in the U.S. and recouperating, we'll hear less.

Then there's the FCC. It's pushing stations to spend millions to covert to high-def ASAP.....

It's no wonder people think we're in the midst of an HDTV transition instead of a DTV transition.

And the FCC knows that this is the public's perception, yet will not establish any HD requirements or standards - all while pushing for multicasting. :rolleyes:

And reporters covering the business really don't seem to understand the difference.

But that probably is what the station owners had in mind.

It is very discouraging sometimes.

HDTV Notebook
LG puts their biggest 100-inch LCD on display this weekend

by Richard Lawler hdbeat.com

If you're looking for a place to catch The Sopranos season finale on Sunday, let us make a suggestion. If you live in San Francisco, you may want to stop by SID (Society for Information Display) 2006, where LG will be publicly showing off their record setting 100-inch LCD HDTV.

Or maybe you wouldn't want to...oh who are we kidding you know you would.

If you were to accidentally make off with the massive 5ms refresh rate and 3000:1 contrast ratio monster, post up a pic or two in the flickr group of how you got it to fit in your living room.

http://www.hdbeat.com/2006/06/03/lg-puts-their-biggest-100-inch-lcd-on-display-this-weekend/

Saturday's Fast National Ratings have been delayed.

I'll post them when they become available.

Critic’s Notebook
Pilot Watch:

Still more NBC & Fox miscellany
By Alan Sepinwall in the Newark Star-Ledger’s TV blog

…Now onto the pilots. The usual caveat: these are not reviews. Too many things are going to change between now and when these things air. These are just first impressions. Thoughts on "The Black Donnellys," "20 Good Years" and "'Til Death" after the jump...

"The Black Donnellys"
Who's In It: Olivia Wilde, Kirk Aceveda and a bunch of young unknowns in the title roles.
What It's About: Four Irish brothers move in and out a life of crime in a drama created by "Crash" screenwriters Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco.
Pluses: "Crash" and "Million-Dollar Baby" had their detractors, but Haggis and Moresco were also responsible for one of the great unsung crime dramas of all time: "EZ Streets." While some of the details have changed, this is essentially them redoing it with Haggis' new Oscar clout. Same use of Celtic music on the score, a wildly unreliable narrator who could be the idiot kid brother of Sammy Feathers, same grand, gothic command of fairly dense material. (Though overall, the show's much easier to follow than "EZ Streets" was.)
Minuses: "EZ Streets" had Joe Pantoliano giving the performance of his career (even better than his Ralphie Cifaretto) at its center, plus great supporting turns by people like Carl Lumbly, Debra Farentino and Jason Gedrick. The four newbies playing the Donnelly brothers could turn out to be big stars in time, but they're not there yet. (Making it harder to judge is a big twist at the end suggesting the performances we see from episode two on will be very different from the ones in the pilot.)

"20 Good Years"
Who's In It: John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor
What It's About: When an arrogant surgeon (Lithgow)turns 60, he realizes he needs to enjoy life while he can and recruits his nebbishy best friend (Tambor) for a lot of carpe diem'ing.
Pluses: Lithgow and Tambor, two of the funniest, hammiest human beings alive. (Much as Spinal Tap was called "one of England's loudest bands," this is one of NBC's loudest sitcoms.) They sell a lot of material that probably shouldn't work, and they're fearless in pursuit of a laugh. Lithgow appears several times in a banana hammock, and it's as horrifying and funny as you might imagine. Plus, Tambor's playing a judge again, like he did on "Hill Street Blues." Any chance he'll wind up in drag within a few episodes?
Minuses: You need a real tolerance for loud, broad comedy, and even then, I wonder how far the two leads can carry this show on their back. A bit disappointing to see Tambor back to playing a dweeb after showing so many different sides on "Arrested Development."

"'Til Death"
Who's In It: Brad Garrett, Joely Fisher, Eddie Kaye Thomas, some young woman playing Eddie's wife.
What It's About: A bitter long-married couple befriend the newlyweds who move in next door.
Pluses: More evidence that comedy is about salesmanship. Garrett and, to a lesser extent, Fisher, manage to milk several laughs from fairly hacky material, sometimes with just the right grimace or sigh before delivering the punchline.
Minuses: Much, much much selling is required. Thomas' character is named Woodcock, and if you don't find that hysterically funny at face value, you're going to have to suffer through a half-dozen or so Woodcock jokes in the pilot alone.

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2006/06/pilot-watch-still-more-nbc-fox.html

Critic’s Notebook
“Deadwood” Season 3 preview

By Matthew Zoller Seitz Newark Star-Ledger June 4, 2006

The richness of "Deadwood" puts every other TV drama to shame; almost every scene, line and shot entertains in the moment while paving the way for future plot twists. But it's not just the craftsmanship that dazzles; it's the sheer scope and depth of writer-producer David Milch's vision. As we watch this western drama, we get the sense that we're not watching the weekly exploits of particular characters, but stepping inside a gigantic living mural that portrays a densely packed, ever-changing community -- a microcosmic example of what Milch calls "the larger human organism."

The organism that is Deadwood has evolved a lot over the last two seasons. The former mining camp has a newspaper, telegraph service, a lucrative gold mining operation, thriving Chinese and Cornish neighborhoods, and a brand new school, overseen by Mrs. Bullock (Anna Gunn), wife of lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant). The torch-lit Rembrandt lighting of the first few episodes has, thanks to the profusion of oil lamps, given way to a more even, golden illumination, a visual metaphor for how social and technological progress removes some of the darkness from life, yet leaves the essential human drama -- the collision of individuals stumbling from cradle to grave -- untouched.

The third season premiere -- written by Milch and Ted Mann, and directed by Mark Tinker -- illustrates the show's panoramic view of human life in its brilliant opening shot. It starts gazing up at gorgeous sky, then pans down to reveal the mountains outside Deadwood, S.D., then descends further to reveal the town's bustling main street, finally stopping on a close-up of the show's most charismatic character, saloon owner and powerbroker Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), surveying the scene from the balcony outside his second floor office. Then Al turns and looks at the main street below, refocusing the audience's attention from the specific (Swearengen) to the general (the town as a whole). This one shot explains Milch's working methods: he draws you into the roiling melodrama of individual lives, but continually reminds you that each person is a part of a community -- that every individual is connected to every other individual in ways they may not realize, and therefore, decisions that seem to affect just a few people affect everybody. Contrary to what Milch's driven, myopic, often oblivious characters might think, there is no "me" in Deadwood, only "we." A lot of characters are going to have to embrace this fact, because Deadwood has become more respectable by the week, its denizens more involved in one another's lives.

The town's slog toward respectability troubles Swearengen, who's deeply involved in the town's financial and political life, yet pines for the days when he could settle business disputes by slashing a rival's throat. The town is gearing up to elect a sheriff and a mayor. Townsfolk and candidates will gather for speeches outside Swearengen's joint, the Gem, a combination saloon, gambling den and house of ill-repute. (Talk about one-stop shopping.)

Deadwood's clench-jawed lawman, Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), is running for sheriff and seems more frightened of public speaking than fisticuffs or gunplay. Asking his wife, Martha, to read and edit his speech, he tells her, "Words are doing the wrong job, piling it on too heavy, or at odds over meaning" -- a marvelous insight into Bullock's personality, but also a self-deprecating joke on Milch's dialogue, which is as packed with metaphors, dependent clauses and profanity as the streets of Deadwood are jammed with people.

In context of the "human organism" notion, it's worth pointing out that Bullock, like all the show's characters, remains tied to people from whom he's tried to separate. When Martha arrived, he had to sever relations with his mistress, gold heiress Alma Garret (Molly Parker); but she deals with him every day because she's (1) becoming a local powerbroker herself, and (2) running a local savings and loan where Seth serves as an officer, and (3) carrying Seth's baby. Alma's husband and Man Friday, Ellsworth (Jim Beaver), has swallowed his pride and stepped up to take care of Alma, her adopted daughter and her unborn child. There's tension in this triangle, but it's delicately handled by all concerned; private melodrama notwithstanding, these characters have to walk the same streets.

Early in next Sunday's premiere there's a lovely moment where Ellsworth, en route to pick up a comforter from Alma's old residence, stops in the street to talk with Martha and Seth, who are walking Alma's daughter to the town's new school, a converted whorehouse. The scene's delicate mix of anxiety and decency will strike a chord with anyone who's involved in a so-called "blended" family. Seth and Alma's relationship didn't end, it just evolved; in episode two, Alma ends a critical conversation with Seth by telling him, tenderly, "I regret nothing."

Deadwood" can be a violent, sexually intense, often flat-out nasty show. Like Robert Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" and Sam Peckinpah's "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," it doesn't falsely soften the flinty harshness of 19th century life. But if you watch it closely, and revisit particular episodes a second or third time, you realize that it's not as grim as you remembered; that in fact, it's consistently one of the most life-affirming works of popular art in recent memory. The signature scene in "Deadwood" isn't the violent confrontation, though there are plenty. It's the negotiation -- the scene where characters that seem to have no common ground get together and hammer out a scenario they can live with.

Negotiating signals a willingness to adapt in the name of happiness. That "Deadwood" is driven by negotiations -- and accommodations -- confirms its compassion. Every character that passes before our eyes reveals their human potential, a potential they themselves may not realize. Milch is interested not just in who people are, but who they may become. The lives of these characters, this town, this world, are forever in flux, moving forward, evolving, and touching other lives in the process.

For instance, prostitute Joanie Stubbs (Kim Dickens) is back working for saloon owner Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe) again after a failed attempt to start her own place. (It wasn't her fault; a deranged Hearst associate murdered several of her employees.) But this arrangement can't last, because at heart, Joanie is a reformer who wants Cy's girls treated as decently as possible under the circumstances -- a scenario the piggish Cy just can't tolerate. Another keeper is the second episode conversation between Cy and Andy Cramed (Zach Grenier), a former wastrel who, after surviving a bout with plague, remade himself as a reverend, then impulsively stabbed Cy for talking to him as if he was still worthless. Their talk doesn't move in the direction you anticipate; both Andy and Cy reveal unexpected interests, new shadings. Milch's characters keep surprising themselves, and us.

The alcoholic Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) seems drunker and more disconnected than ever. But when Martha offers her a chance to tell a classroom full of kids about working as a scout for General Custer, she proves herself not just a brilliant off-the-cuff storyteller (she says Custer's middle name, Armstrong, makes her think of the phrase, "puffed-up") but also an exciting and attentive teacher who knows how to communicate with kids.

Given the curiosity and tenderness with which Milch observes his characters, and the delight with which he reveals new aspects of their personality, it's surprising and disheartening to read reviews that reflexively describe "Deadwood" in the same breath with David Chase's "The Sopranos." Without dismissing the latter -- a landmark show without which "Deadwood" would not have been possible -- it must be said that Milch's creation is clearly the greater work, because its vision of life is grander, subtler, more complicated, and above all, more life-affirming.

"The Sopranos" is a supremely cynical series; it depicts animal selfishness as the norm and savagely punishes anyone who tries to change their life for the better or do a good deed for someone else. "Deadwood" is as violent, sexual and profane as "The Sopranos," maybe more so. But in the end, it's much more moving, and feels more true to life, because it sees not just humanity's limitations, but its capacity to transcend them. Where the motto of "The Sopranos" could be, "A leopard cannot change its spots," the "Deadwood" equivalent would be, "What spots?" It's a panorama of human potential that catches a whole species in the act of becoming.

http://mattzollerseitz.blogspot.com/

fredfa,

My early AM (non-caffeinated) rant was not really aimed at you or your posts here - just the overall coverage excess everywhere (IMO, for those not in agreement). You do a great job here and I always read your stuff and links. I was just making a point and NOT a political one, but I'll leave it with this post. I had no political intent.

However, to the person who believes I was suggesting similar treatment for our troops, I was not. I was not pandering. And that ridiculous leap in logic you end with Would you rather we got our news from Aljazeera? Or what we were fed during Vietnam? - was so far off the point and so typical of reactionary thinking, I almost laughed out loud. I'm done, I didn't mean to start an argument, just state a viewpoint. But some always have to drag it to silly extremes to make their point, using totally invalid examples having absolutely nothing to do with what I said. On to our regular programming - keep up the good work fredfa, while I eagerly await The Sopranos and Big Love tonight.

I hope I didn't give you the impression I was thin skinned, Ray. (Not that I am not). :)

I appreciate your posts here -- and your total understanding that I am a messenger, and (in most cases) probably shouldn't be shot.

It has always been a source of pride to me that although I often post articles which could -- in many threads -- set off flame wars, we usually are able to avoid them here.

And it also helps that Ken H, CPanther95 and the big bosses, David and Alan have also allowed me tremendous latitude -- as obviously many posts would not fit technically into an HDTV forum.

But it is you folks who post -- and read -- who make this such a fun place.

Thanks again for your contributions.

Washington Notebook
AT&T/BellSouth Opponents Weigh In

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/4/2006

Consumer groups and anti-media activists are registering their collective opposition to the AT&T BellSouth merger June 5.

That is the FCC deadline for filing comments on the planned reunion of AT&T and one of its spin-off companies.

The groups include American Antitrust Institute, COMPTEL, Consumer Federation of America; Free Press, Media Access Project, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates.

Comptel will have a former ally on the FCC in new commissioner Robert McDowell, but it is unclear what decisions he will have to recuse himself from.

The groups also promise on June 6 to announce "new activities and strategies" to block the deal.

The proposed $67 billion merger between, announced in March, could speed AT&T's entry into the TV space.

Verizon has so far been the most aggressive player among the telephone companies.

It has been over two decades since the government broke up AT&T and spun-off local phone service into the Baby Bells, but the competitive landscape has changed dramatically, with cable into phone and telco into video, and the Baby Bells into long-distance.

TV Notebook
2 telefilms to mark 'Deadwood' end

By Cynthia Littleton The Hollywood Reporter June 05, 2006

HBO and David Milch have solved their "Deadwood" dilemma.

HBO has reached an agreement with Milch, creator/executive producer of the Western drama series, to wrap up the show as a pair of two-hour movies rather than a full-blown fourth season.

The issue of whether HBO would order a fourth season was forced in recent weeks by the fact that the cast members' contractual options for a fourth season are due to expire soon.

The third season of "Deadwood" is set to premiere Sunday. HBO had offered Milch a six-episode pickup for Season 4 rather than the 12-episode norm for the show since its premiere in 2004.

Milch was said to have not been in favor of a six-episode final season because of the show's emphasis on each episode representing a day in the life of the lawless camp in late-1800s South Dakota, where the show is set.

The shift of the final "Deadwood" installments to a two-hour movie format will allow for a clean break with that day-in-the-life format and allow the rest of the story to unfold on a broader narrative canvas.

Sources said the impasse was broken Friday after a series of conversations between Milch, an Emmy and Peabody winner for his work on ABC's "NYPD Blue," and HBO chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht.


In addition to shepherding "Deadwood" to its conclusion, Milch is busy working on a new pilot for HBO, "John From Cincinnati," set in the world of surfing in Southern California.

"I am thrilled that we were able to figure out a way to continue," Milch said Sunday. "No one was ready to let go of the show. And I am really glad we have found a way to proceed that works creatively."

HBO still has to come to terms with key cast members to appear in the two movies, including Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant and Molly Parker. I

nsiders said HBO brass were confident they would be able to proceed with the show in its new incarnation, indicating that the network was prepared to make it worth the while of cast members who had been anticipating a full season's worth of work.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002613082

Sports On TV
Networks May Unite for Baseball Rights

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable6/4/2006

News Corp. is considering a partnership with another network, possibly NBC, to cover the cost of new broadcast rights for Major League Baseball.

Only last month, President Peter Chernin said Fox would walk away from baseball if the economics didn’t make sense.

Fox holds the broadcast rights to baseball’s post-season through this fall’s World Series, when its six-year, $2.6 billion deal expires. The network has lost $200 million in the deal.

Partnering with another network could alleviate some of the financial strain for Fox.

One scenario being discussed: The network joins forces with NBC for one post-season package, with the networks alternating the World Series and splitting most of the games from the League Championship Series.

Both Fox Sports and NBC Sports declined to comment, as did MLB.

A package of two or three day games from the League Championship Series, the entire first-round (MLB’s divisional series) and the regular-season Saturday games of the week could then go elsewhere, with ESPN the most likely candidate.

CBS has also had preliminary discussions with MLB but is not a likely suitor given its strength in prime time.

Fox’s entertainment division is said to still covet the World Series, but it would be happy to jettison the first two rounds of the post-season.

Sports consultant and former CBS Sports President Neal Pilson says he does not expect Fox to carry any first-round games as part of a new deal: “It is too disruptive for their fall schedule, and Fox wants to pay less.”

Fox has enjoyed fourth-quarter success with programming, such as Prison Break, that appeals to its baseball audience. Its strategy of launching shows before the playoffs, then promoting them heavily throughout the playoffs, helped the network to a second straight season title in the adult 18-49 demo.

“All I care about is if [News Corp.] delivers it, I know how to work with it,” says Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori. But some believe that Fox and baseball still need each other.

“Baseball is a challenge on network TV but still represents an opportunity for Fox,” says John Rash, senior VP for media-buying agency Campbell Mithun. “The economics of baseball lends itself to major-market series more often, which makes the entire package more palatable for the network.”

Another advantage to having baseball is that, with fewer weeks to program regular series in the fall, the network runs fewer repeats. Says Rash, “Viewers have become highly repeat-resistant.”

TV Notebook
'Deadwood' rides again

Milch, net agree on pair of specials for series finale
By Denise Martin Variety.com Sun., Jun. 4, 2006

"Deadwood" lives.

After a month of what seemed like public negotiating, HBO and "Deadwood" creator-exec producer David Milch have kissed and made up, as it were, agreeing to produce a pair of two-hour specials that will serve as the show's series finale.

While Milch's grisly Western had been presumed a goner last month after HBO announced it would not be renewing options on the large cast (Daily Variety, May 12), HBO said Sunday that the series and its fans would get closure in what amounts to a four-hour event.

HBO will have to renegotiate new deals -- now for a pair of two-hours as opposed to a full season -- with all of the players. Although no one is locked into continuing with "Deadwood," an HBO rep said the network was confident in reaching all the deals necessary to proceed with the show in its new incarnation.

No decisions had been made about a production start date or a premiere date.

Insiders say HBO was uncomfortable with the hefty costs of holding the actors over an indefinite amount of time now that Milch would be splitting his time between another season of "Deadwood" and his new surf noir pilot "John from Cincinnati," also set up at the pay network.

"Deadwood" rotated in at least 20 major characters during season two. In addition, each episode of "Deadwood" is said to cost around $5 million to produce and require 15-16 days of shooting -- a hefty tab even for HBO.

And although both Milch and HBO say the parties had always intended for the series to end after four seasons, economics at the cabler have changed. "The Sopranos," which begins production on its final episodes shortly, is more expensive than ever, while new series -- including the expensive $100 million first season of "Rome," a co-prod with the BBC, and "Big Love" -- haven't exactly ignited ratings or subscriptions.

For Milch, keeping "Deadwood" alive in some form saves him having to prematurely end the show or work with a truncated fourth season of six episodes, which HBO had initially offered (Daily Variety, June 2). He is said to have worked with the network over the weekend to give "Deadwood" a proper conclusion.

A shorter order was problematic for Milch because each episode in the first three seasons of "Deadwood" represented a single day, and he could not see how to wrap up the stories in just six days. By instead producing a pair of special event presentations, Milch will be able to write the finale using a different format and space of time.

"I am thrilled that we were able to figure out a way to continue," Milch said in a statement. "No one was ready to let go of the show, and I'm really glad we've found a way to proceed that works creatively."

Decision to continue also spares HBO brass criticism that they were prematurely pulling the plug on a series with both critical acclaim and a loyal following -- two elements that earned lauded but ratings-challenged crime drama "The Wire" a fourth season, due this fall.

TV Q&A
Ask Matt

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

Question: In your recent Dispatch, you said you didn't think American Idol would ever win the reality-competition-series Emmy. So which show do you think should and/or will win it for the just-completed season? Certainly Amazing Race should be eliminated from the possibility of defending its crown once again, if only as punishment for putting everyone through the Family Sedition... err, I mean Edition. Survivor is certainly long overdue, don't you think, even if for just remaining a viable option after so many outings? — Todd S.

Matt Roush: Good point about Survivor. I've always championed The Amazing Race as the most deserving in this category because of its great production values, and it's quite possible that the second cycle of the show this season, a return to form, could give it a third straight win.

But Survivor, which is also excellently photographed and edited, doesn't rest on its laurels, as the twists of the Survivor: Panama season proved. And I suppose the show shouldn't necessarily be penalized just because one team collapses, throwing the show off balance to where it becomes way too predictable for too long. (Who won this time around? Darned if I remember.) I'd still think Race or Survivor would be the most likely and deserving winners, depending on what else is nominated. For Idol to win would just be a reflection of its popularity, not for how well the show is actually produced (especially that dreadful finale).

________________________________________

Question: If the ratings are good for the Everwood finale, since that appears to be what Dawn Ostroff looks at the most, what do you think are the chances that it will get a last-minute reprieve? Even if it's only a 13-episode run as a mid-season replacement (because let's face it, WB and UPN hardly have an inspiring track record with new shows)? Recently Everwood pulled in a respectable number, given that it had no lead-in, minimal advertising and was up against two season finales in 24 and Alias. Surely the CW network can't ignore this: Ratings = money! (Even though it's managed to ignore the sublime quality of the writing and acting, money talks the most! Yes, I'm very bitter!) — Sarah

Matt Roush: Oh, believe me, you're not the only one. Just watching last week's episode, revolving around the sudden death of Irv (and his impact on many Everwoodsians), was heartbreaking not just because of the high overall poignancy of the hour itself but because of the separation anxiety it produced in its fans. But not being in the business of false hope here (and at the expense of sounding like I'm raining on the parade of those who are signing online petitions and the like), I have to say that unless there's a 13th-hour miracle (forget 11th hour — that ship has sailed), Everwood is history after tonight's two-hour finale, which at least they were able to fashion as a finale. (Quoting Nina from last week's episode: "You have to create some kind of closure when you can, because there are too many times in life when you don't get the chance." Prophetic, no?)

A lot of people have made the fair suggestion that CW could have ordered half-seasons of both 7th Heaven and Everwood for next season, splitting the time period, and thereby sparing us repeats of either and appeasing fans. If the numbers for tonight's finale spike as high as 7th Heaven's finale numbers (like that should be the criterion for renewing a series that was being promoted as being gone forever), who knows what CW will do? But as Michael Ausiello has reported, the show's creative personnel have moved on. And, reluctantly, so should we.

________________________________________

Question: Bravo recently announced that Wednesday, July 12, will be the third-season premiere of Project Runway, meaning the finale will take place at New York Spring Fashion Week's event, which normally takes place in September. That means the finale will be shown in October, and just two months later the fourth season premieres for its traditional rollout for New York's Fall Fashion Week in February. Does this mean there will be two editions of PR every year? You've been asked questions on why this hasn't happened sooner, but now that it has happened, do you feel this will dilute or maybe even enhance the buzz factor for what has to be television's most addictive reality TV show over the past year? — Jason

Matt Roush: Before I get into this, let me say that if Project Runway trumped either Race or Survivor in the reality-competition category, I wouldn't mind. It's that good. But yes, it does look as if Bravo has ramped up production so there will be two cycles every calendar year (your math regarding the airdates and fashion weeks is better than mine). The more the merrier right now.

If UPN, now CW, can squeeze two editions of America's Next Top Model into a season, there should be room for two Runways in a year. I'm not sure cable, in particular Bravo, knows how to react to the notion of overexposure, but I'd like to think that Runway's buzz will only get stronger with more editions. If, that is, the quality of the competition and the contestants remains high. It's a fact about reality TV that we're still too new to all of this to predict with any certainty when a franchise will all of a sudden go cold. Hope it doesn't happen with this one for a long time. It's too much fun.

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Question: I am writing to you because I have faith (as much as I can in TV executives) that they read your columns because you have a lot of influence on viewers. I can only hope. Although I am crying tears of happiness that the CW executives found it in their (Grinch-like) hearts to renew Veronica Mars, I am disappointed to learn that Pepper Dennis will not be back. I don't believe they gave the show enough of a chance, putting it on WB (whose younger demographic probably didn't respond to it well) and on a night when so much else was going on.

I watched the show initially with skepticism because it looked like it was going to be just silly, but the characters and story lines grew on me, and Rebecca Romijn is unexpectedly fabulous in the role. I will be sorry to say goodbye to WEIE. Another one bites the dust. I hope all the wonderful actors (and writers!) on the show get another chance on a network that won't dump them without giving them a decent break. — Rebecca

Matt Roush: Looking purely at numbers, Veronica Mars' survival defies the gods. But Pepper Dennis' numbers are even worse, I believe. They're truly terrible. And WB, whatever its faults, promoted the heck out of this show all spring. The competition is fierce, but it had a mighty lead-in with the final episodes of the Gilmore Girls' season. And now that we're into heavy repeats, the numbers aren't budging.

There just wasn't much of an appetite for this Ally McBeal-ish show, which I agree wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. Even if WB had survived into the fall, I doubt Pepper would have been given a second chance. Same goes for Related, which I still get questions about. Neither show even opened.

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Question: Is it just me, or does the body count on Desperate Housewives seem pretty high for the neighborhood? At last count I place the tally at eight. At this pace the murder rate is higher than the one for the citizens of Deadwood. The season finale was just OK, but come on, another psycho for Bree? Another note: could the character Annabella Sciorra portrays on Law & Order: Criminal Intent sound any more morose, wooden and sullen? C.I.'s plots this year have been so convoluted, it's barely watchable. — Elizabeth

Matt Roush: I'll take your word on Criminal Intent and Annabella Sciorra. Haven't watched her enough on that show to have much of an opinion. As for Housewives, in my Dispatch on the show's season finale, I also moaned over the similarities between Kyle MacLachlan's sinister dentist and Roger Bart's perverted pharmacist. Looked like they were running out of ideas. As for the death rate on Wisteria Lane: welcome to the world of soap-opera cul-de-sacs. Comes with the over-the-top territory.

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Question: Every once in a while you mention the great programming on BBC America, but it's been a while. This summer they are showing the entire Sharpe series with Sean Bean. The last one is a new, never-before-seen one. Did Sean do this one, too? Have you seen or heard anything about the new show coming up called Hex? Love your column. — Shay

Matt Roush: Actually, I filed a review in May on the BBC America political comedy The Thick of It, which is one of the funniest things I've seen in ages. The last half of the season has been a little busy with regular network fare, so BBC America fell a bit off my radar for a while. Still love it whenever I get a chance to watch. As for the Sharpe episodes: Sean Bean is in all of them, to my knowledge.

And according to a BBC America press mailer, episodes new to the USA will start airing July 22, with Sharpe's Regiment. (Episodes previously shown on PBS are already airing on Saturday nights.) The series ends with a new two-parter, Sharpe's Challenge, filmed entirely in India, that will air on the Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend (Sept. 3-4). I hope to be able to look at a few of those. Also need to take a look at Hex, which premieres this Thursday night with a two-hour opener, about a boarding-school student who develops supernatural powers. I haven't had a chance to watch that one yet, but it sounds like a real change of pace.

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Question: I've been reading a lot of the chatter in the wake of the Lost finale, and one horse that continues to be beaten is the "problem" of Walt growing too fast for the show. People have been talking about the need to get rid of the character or recast the little guy playing the part. I really think it's ridiculous. I don't think the little boy playing the part should be booted for growing. Life happens. It reminds me of shows (and fans) freaking out when actresses get pregnant. The shows should just incorporate it or just cover as best as they can and ignore the rest. Another example was the whole "oh, no, Angel and Spike are getting too old!" nonsense. Life happens, even to actors. I would hate to see Walt go for a stupid reason. Does too-old Walt really drive you crazy, or am I just too fond of Malcolm David Kelley? — Nikki

Matt Roush: The problem isn't that the actor's growing, of course, it's that time moves slower for the Lost castaways than it does for the TV audience, and for the people in the cast. An adolescent actor who grows up too fast (think the boys on Malcolm in the Middle) can throw off the visual reality of the series, so I understand the concern.

For me, the best argument for writing Walt and Michael off the show is that Michael's story line effectively ended when he confessed the murders of Ana Lucia and Libby to his traveling companions. While his actions were justified in part by his desperation to be reunited with his son, I don't see how he can be reconciled with any of the island's tribes at this point. I try not to live in the world of spoilers, so I'm not sure what rumored fates are befalling this father-son team. But if that boat was their exit strategy, and it avoids the trap of having to portray Walt as a youngster while the actor is growing older by the week, so be it.

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Question: When will Series 4 of Foyle's War air? I see Series 5 is in production. — Preston

Matt Roush: I just found out that the next batch of Foyle's War episodes will air next summer (not sure if that constitutes Series 4 or 5, since the broadcast schedule tends to differ from there to here), so you'll have to wait a year for the U.S. broadcasts of this distinguished wartime mystery drama. This summer's Mystery! schedule, including new Miss Marple and Inspector Lynley whodunits, is already set.

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Question: This past weekend's NASCAR coverage of the Coca-Cola 600 on Fox further demonstrated for me that most TV networks really don't have a clue about covering continuously running events such as auto racing. Fox chose the most inopportune times to cut to commercials. Time after time they returned after pileups or after a restart. Fox should take heed and a strong lesson from ABC and IRL, which have instituted side-by-side viewing during their events. The commercial runs on the right of the screen while the race continues on the left. Nothing missed except some inane race commentary. I think MLS also utilizes this concept. Now, if only all sporting events did the same thing we might get through a game in something close to the allotted time. What do you think? — Dave L.

Matt Roush: I rarely comment on sports TV questions (not my specialty, to put it mildly), but I was so impressed by the side-by-side race coverage during the ads on last weekend's Indianapolis 500 (being a Hoosier, I still tune in) that I couldn't agree more with Dave on this issue. This device probably wouldn't work for every sport or for every sports-themed ad, but for a truly nonstop event like auto racing, it's brilliant, and I would think it would reflect well on the advertisers who go along with it.

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Question: Is Sara from Prison Break (gulp) dead? The season ended with her on the couch with a gray face and a morphine bottle beside her. — Brian

Matt Roush: To echo Michael Ausiello, who addressed this last week, I really don't know (and I wouldn't tell you if I did, because that's not what I do here). But seriously. If you understand the concept of a cliff-hanger, you should know how rare it is for major characters like this to actually die unless confirmed dead (and even then, given how rarely shows like this worry about credibility, that isn't always a death sentence). I'd bet she'll wake up next season.

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

The 2005-2006 Season
The Results Are In

By Stephen Battaglio TV Guide

A look at the winners and losers of the 2005-2006 season

Put a fork in the recent TV season — it officially ended on May 24, so now it's time to tally the results. For the fourth straight year, CBS was crowned the most-watched network, with an average of 12.6 million viewers per week. While the network didn't score any smash hits, new shows such as Criminal Minds, The Unit and Ghost Whisperer were solid ratings performers.

Fox was able to crow as well: for the second year in a row it was No. 1 among viewers aged 18 to 49, the group most coveted by advertisers. But this year the network won the demo race without the help of the Super Bowl. Sure, American Idol helped, but so did strong performances from dramas 24, House, Prison Break and Bones, and the Sunday lineup of animated shows, which saw their audience grow over the previous year.

ABC didn't come up with a new hit, but Grey's Anatomy, Lost and Desperate Housewives remained hot, and Dancing with the Stars proved it had legs. NBC continued its free fall, landing in fourth place among viewers and in the 18-to-49 demo. Too bad we won't have Joey to kick around anymore next season.

Here are the season's biggest winners and losers:

Winners
Dysfunctional docs: Sure, the surgeons on Grey's Anatomy sleep around, and House has a drug habit. But viewers are OK with bad behavior from heroes who heal. House saw its audience grow by 30 percent over its first season and held on to more of its American Idol lead-in than any previous show. Grey's went up 16 percent after its post-Super Bowl cliff-hanger.

American Idol: Instead of fading in their fifth year, Randy, Paula and Simon saw their best ratings ever — up 12 percent from the previous season. It's no longer just a TV show, it's a cultural event. "It came on at the right moment," says Fox scheduling chief Preston Beckman. "In uncertain times, it's given viewers something they can control."

The Unit: A likable star (Dennis Haysbert) hunting down terrorists was the simple formula for the highest-rated new drama of the season. "It's perfectly matched with the NCIS audience on CBS," says Steve Sternberg, ratings analyst for media-buying firm Magna Global. "It's entertaining, and you don't have to think too much."

Deal or No Deal: NBC came up with the perfect game show for the short-attention-span generation. "There's a big decision being made every two minutes," says one exec at a competing network. "Bringing in the contestants' families — that's kind of genius."

Dancing with the Stars: For the second edition, ABC used actual stars. "The casting was brilliant," says one competitor. "Rapper, football player, lady wrestler — they covered every possible portion of the spectrum."

CBS' Friday-night lineup: With Ghost Whisperer, Close to Home and Numbers, CBS has kept Friday from turning into the new Saturday. By drawing big ratings, it has encouraged the other networks to also be more aggressive on that night next season.

Losers

Sci-fi: ABC's Invasion, NBC's Surface and CBS' Threshold all proved it's tough for the genre to survive on broadcast TV. "The sci-fi audience is very loyal, but there aren't very many of them," says one network exec. "It's perfect for cable." Even Star Trek wasn't a network hit.

Sitcoms: The Office and My Name Is Earl are cool shows, but big, broad comedy hits seem extinct. Only CBS' Two and a Half Men cracked Nielsen's Top 20 for the season. Sternberg says many of today's comedies suffer when compared to Seinfeld, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond — all of which are still very easy to find on cable and in syndication repeats.

WB and UPN: The two failed "weblets" decided to call it a day and merge. Why couldn't they survive? Maybe one network could have prospered in courting viewers aged 18 to 34, but not two. The real losers are fans of good shows such as Everwood, which didn't make the cut at CW.

Commander in Chief: President Mackenzie Allen looked as if she would have a lengthy stay in the White House when 16.4 million tuned in for her premiere. But it was downhill from there as production delays and a revolving door of executive producers doomed ABC's most anticipated show of the season.

http://www.tvguide.com/news/thebiz/

Critic’s Notebook
Less famous, still funny

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In” Monday, June 5, 2006

I was just getting through the last of the tapes/DVDs that piled up during May sweeps when I found a DVD containing episodes of Comedy Central's "The Showbiz Show with David Spade" (10 p.m. Thursday). It included this handwritten/photo-copied note from Spade:

"Dear [fill in the blank],

Please tale a look at these. We have new writers, a new set and there's a new electricity in the air (not comfirmed). I think you'll agree the show has gotten better since last season. Its [sic] not as good as '24' but we are on cable -- let's not expect miracles. Our budget is literally $1,500 a week. But in our defense it's all on the screen. Thank you, David Spade."

So I popped the disc in and was pleased to see Spade was right: The show has improved. One episode included a funny parody using footage from "Grey's Anatomy" with Spade as a patient. But mostly, it's Spade's skewering of Hollywood that makes the greatest comedic impact.

"Remember when Lindsay was just an innocent little girl who didn't know the meaning of Red Bull and Vodka?" Spade said on Lindsay Lohan. "Neither does she."

In another episode, he reported that Travel Channel had aired "Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime" because "when people want a spiritual guide through India, they think of the dude from 'Entourage.'"

Spade's video edits -- showing Vin Diesel telling the same stories in every interview or the similarities between Katie Couric's and Meredith Vieira's farewell announcements -- are also quite funny.

Kathy Griffin, another "whistle blower for Hollywood," returns tomorrow with her weekly reality show, "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" (9 p.m. Tuesday, Bravo). If you like Griffin, you'll enjoy her return and fans will be happy to know she and husband Matt have reconciled after announcing plans to divorce last September (no word on the cause of the temporary breakup, although I've heard through the grapevine it wasn't infidelity).

She continues to chase down press coverage, even visiting an ailing fan while on tour in Charlottesville, Va. A local broadcast journalist, identified cheekily on screen as "D-list reporter," covers the visit.

"If there was no press, I wouldn't be visiting her. Who are we kidding?" Griffin says, half-joking, but Griffin fans know she's also half-serious.

In tomorrow's premiere, Griffin also visits Tyra Banks' talk show to promote a charity auction (Griffin auctions off a weekend at her house) and scatters the ashes of her dog, Captain, who was hit by a car. Don't worry, the hour is mostly funny and just briefly heartfelt.

http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin/

They can breathe easier over at CNBC – for now.

TV Notebook
Ailes: Fox Business Channel Not Open for Business

By Staff Broadcasting & Cable 6/4/2006

Time out, folks. Contrary to recent reports, the long-anticipated Fox Business Channel will not launch this month—or anytime soon.

Hoping to reel in the rumors, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes tells Flash! that he’s not even close—no programming plans, no staff, nada. "If it’s imminent," he says, "it’s imminent without me."

The idea for the channel has been gestating since 2001. News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch began pushing for it in 2004, but Ailes is reluctant to proceed unless wide distribution is assured: "I’m not interested in wandering around in the wilderness for a long time trying to beg people for subscribers."

Negotiations are tied up in renewal deals for the core channel. Fox News’ initial 10-year deals, at 25¢ monthly per subscriber, are expiring, and the network wants to up its license fee, big time: $1 per sub.

Getting its News Corp. cousin DirecTV to sign on to the new rate along with a new channel should go smoothly, but cable and DBS operators will likely agree to carry Fox Business only if Fox News offers a lower-cal sweetener.

But Ailes is firm: "We’re never going to bundle it. Why negotiate down the price of Fox News? I know what the value of Fox News is. We’re not prepared to lower that rate."

TV Review
'Lovespring International'

A TV Dating Agency Seeks Elite, Patient Clients Who Appreciate Deadpan
By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times June 5, 2006

Lovespring International promotes itself as "an elite Beverly Hills dating service." In smaller print, it adds, "Located in Tarzana, Calif."

This joke is the introduction to a new comedy that has its premiere on Lifetime (11 PM ET/PT) tonight, and it signals the series' deadpan comic bent. "Lovespring International" is very funny in the same vein as "The Office" (NBC), "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO) and "Reno 911!" (Comedy Central): icy-dry satire laced with moments of farce and inspired lunacy.

"It sounds like you are doing your job too well, but the truth is you're not doing it well enough," a disgruntled female client tells the agency's two relationship counselors. They are baffled when she complains that all the men they have proffered make her feel pressured by falling for her at first sight. "I don't expect you to understand what it is like to feel loved," she says.

It's surprising that this improvised comedy, which has a talented pool of comedy writers and actors, and includes Eric McCormack ("Will & Grace") among its executive producers (he also makes a cameo appearance as a love-hungry client), would end up on Lifetime. This cable channel offers original programming as well as reruns of "The Nanny" and movies about kidnapped-killed-betrayed women, but it mostly consists of female empowerment dramas like "Strong Medicine" and "The Division." The madcap spirit of "Lovespring" seems more suited to Comedy Central or Fox.

Tastes in television comedy have broadened. Some of the most popular new shows do without a laugh track, rely on some improvisation and are filmed with a single camera. It's hard to pinpoint exactly when the poker-faced satire of Christopher Guest ("Best in Show," "A Mighty Wind" ) or Larry David caught on with Middle America. But now there are many half-hour comedies, from the recently canceled Fox series "Arrested Development" to "My Name Is Earl" on NBC, that reflect the same comic sensibility.

Not all attempts are successful. Fox did not renew a similar midseason sitcom, "Free Ride," and ABC gave up on "Sons & Daughters." But sardonic black humor has taken root in mass culture much the way selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (S.S.R.I.'s) made their way into medicine cabinets and the way the slang phrase "I'm good" became a widely used synonym for "no thank you." Lifetime is hoping to lure viewers by pairing its new comedy with reruns of "Will & Grace."

Lovespring International's dating coaches are living testimonials to the axiom that those who can't, consult. Burke (Sam Pancake) is a neurotic, barely closeted gay man married to an obese, unkempt woman sometimes mistaken for his mother. (He explains to his boss that he and his wife are "miniature enthusiasts," busy making a tiny replica of Carnegie Hall.)

Wendi McLendon-Covey, who is Deputy Clementine Johnson on "Reno 911!," plays Lydia, a relationship counselor who boasts in the company's promotional video that she herself has no need of dating services because she has been in a committed relationship with the same man for 20 years. Later she corrects a client confused by her marital status. "I'm not married," she says. "He's married."

The company founder, Victoria Ratchford, is played by Jane Lynch, a veteran of Mr. Guest's movies (and Steve Carell's boss in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"). Victoria is a classy, pill-popping, botox-enamored taskmaster who spends a lot of time away at spas and self-improvement retreats. "I detoxed, I did some indigenous dancing," she tells Tiffany (Jennifer Elise Cox), the pretty, hilariously ditsy and indifferent receptionist who feels overworked even when on a break. "It makes me feel bad that I have to be the one to serve the cheese," she complains.

These and a few other employees do anything and everything they can to keep clients from bolting. Success is rare, and Victoria seems to be always on the verge of firing one or more of her counselors. "Do you know how many people have signed up for Perfectmatch.com in the last five minutes?" she testily asks Burke and Lydia. "One thousand, six hundred and twenty-three. The Web is eating us alive."

"Lovespring" wickedly sends up the creepy world of professional dating services and computer matchmaking, but its real charm is its unflinching close-up on a handful of endearingly self-deluded losers trying to sell happiness from an office in Tarzana.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/arts/television/05stan.html?pagewanted=print

TV Notebook
'Deadwood' is not dead

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog

Variety reported Sunday that David Milch and HBO have reached a deal to continue "Deadwood," after a fashion.

According to the Variety story, the cable network will produce two 2-hour 'Deadwood' specials to wrap up the series. No timetable on production of the 4-hour wrapup was announced, but on Friday ign.com posted a report that the breakdown of the elaborate "Deadwood" set had halted.

Production is set to begin soon on 'John from Cincinnati,' Milch's new HBO series. Milch's duties on the new series, a "surf noir," as well as budget issues, are reportedly what led the impasse over a fourth season for the acclaimed western drama.

Agreeing to the 4-hour wrapup represents a turnaround for Milch, who earlier had rejected the 6-episode season that the cable network had offered him in place of a full fourth season.

Four hours is less than six hours. It's a third of the length of a full fourth season of "Deadwood," which the show more than deserves to wrap up the fates of its many story lines and characters.

Still, the compromise allows us hoopleheads to get some kind of closure on the "Deadwood" saga. All praise to the many "Deadwood" fans who made their voices heard and whose lobbying no doubt helped lead to this result. Four hours is certainly a whole lot better than nothing.

Season 3 of "Deadwood," by the way, kicks off next Sunday. And here's an early heads up for fans: Gerald McRaney and Brian Cox (who turns up as a theater promoter) give outstanding performances in the five episodes sent for review (McRaney's Hearst, in particular, is a revelation). There's a good Mr. Wu scene (the first of many, I hope) in, I believe, the third episode. As for Ian McShane, well, what more can be said? His merest glance is gripping.

Season 3 looks to be every bit as good as what's gone before.

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

TV Notebook
TV's best family drama, 'Everwood,' signs off

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer Monday, June 05, 2006

Four years ago, Treat Williams was talking to me about a script he read. It was the pilot for Everwood, a new family drama on The WB about a brilliant but emotionally scarred New York City neurosurgeon who moves his two kids to a picturesque Colorado town after his wife is killed in a car accident.

Williams loved it. The veteran film actor couldn't stop raving about the script and called it the best he had read in 15 years. Inwardly, I rolled my eyes because if I had a dollar for every time I heard a TV star say what Williams had just said, well, I'd be rich enough to travel the globe and sip Mai Tais all day instead of watching TV for a living.

The ruggedly handsome actor said he was so impressed, he was even willing to commute from New York, where he lived with his wife and two kids, to the show's Utah set. Of course he would. Williams probably needed the work.

"I'd be doing this series wherever we shot it," Williams said excitedly. "To me, it's like a 47-minute film. It's the kind of film that I love and the kind of film that Frank Capra used to make where all the characters are important and interesting."

Williams was right — although at the time he had no idea how right he was.

Few shows live up to their promising pilots. Everwood did. Four years after its attention-grabbing premiere, Everwood (8 PM ET/PT The WB) is just as good — if not better — as it was when it debuted on Sept. 16, 2002.

Sadly, all good things on television must end. Tonight, Everwood leaves the TV universe after a magnificent run and some of the best drama writing the medium has seen in recent years.

Everwood is leaving us for the same reason most shows are canceled: not enough people watched. That Everwood was on The WB instead of one of the bigger networks certainly didn't help. And it didn't help that Everwood wasn't a sexy show like Dawson's Creek or One Tree Hill or Charmed.

Everwood was a quiet show filled with small, emotionally powerful moments that resonated. You often saw yourself or people you knew in the Everwood characters. Everwood tackled such prickly subjects as depression, cancer, suicide, abortion and teens with sexually transmitted diseases, and dealt with those subjects with heart and intelligence. It was the kind of show you could watch with your kids, then talk about afterwards.

Everwood dared to show how difficult parenting can be. Strained family relationships in real life aren't wrapped up in neat little bows in 57 minutes just as the end credits are about to roll. Life is complicated. Ugly, at times. Frosty relationships don't turn loving overnight. Trust takes time to develop. Feelings are hurt. Everwood exposed all of that.

At the heart of the show was the tense relationship between Andy Brown (Williams) and his moody teenage son, Ephram (Gregory Smith). Ephram resented his father for uprooting his family and for being a not-so-nice workaholic who was never around for his family. He also blamed his dad for his mother's death.

In one of the show's most memorable moments, Ephram, standing toe-to-toe with his dad, told his father how much he hated him and how he wished he had died instead of his mother. A furious Andy replied by telling his "little bastard" son just how much he despised him.

On The O.C., the scene would've played out as campy and stupid. On Everwood, the scene was raw and unapologetic. Real life, indeed.

That's just what Greg Berlanti, the show's creator, wanted. The one-time telephone operator and script typist for The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, said he was always fascinated by father-son relationships and thought they were poorly represented on television.

"I see so many fathers and sons who kind of go almost their whole lives without really ever knowing each other," he said a few months before Everwood's debut. "So I thought, 'What would drive two men who were very dissimilar, that happen to live in the same home, to have to get to know one another. It just seemed to me that to honor the memory of this woman that they both loved in equal measure would be the right device."

Everwood never got splashy magazine covers. Everwood was never over-the-top silly or driven by ridiculous sweeps stunts. It didn't feel the need to shock or titillate.

Williams knew he was on to a good thing from the beginning. But even then, he also knew those warm-and-fuzzy vibes wouldn't last forever.

"Buzz is very dangerous because it's something that can be cut off very quickly," Williams said of Everwood's positive word-of-mouth. "We're all very conscious how hard we have to work to sustain it."

The actors and writers worked as hard as they could to make Everwood's TV's best family drama. And they succeeded.

Too bad that wasn't enough.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/tv/content/accent/epaper/2006/06/05/a1d_everwood_0605.html

TV Notebook
Morning TV faces more upheavals

By Peter Johnson USA Today 6/5/2006

ABC Good Morning America chief Ben Sherwood, whose program almost edged out top-rated NBC's Today last year — only to see Today rebound — is leaving this fall.

Sherwood's surprise announcement Friday that he'll exit in October for family reasons is the latest in a string of sweeping upheavals at the top two morning shows.

Those changes, which could realign viewer loyalties and usher in a new era of morning stars, began last week with CBS Evening News-bound Katie Couric's departure from Today and GMA's Charles Gibson leaving for ABC's World News Tonight. In September, Meredith Vieira, host of ABC's The View, joins Matt Lauer on Today.

GMA, which will be co-anchored by Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts once Gibson leaves in a few weeks, will be vulnerable without him, says news analyst Andrew Tyndall. "There are a whole lot of viewers who needed Gibson as the ballast of the show," Tyndall says. "Without him, GMA literally loses its anchor."

Tyndall notes that Gibson, GMA's stalwart for nearly two decades, had led the broadcast on many breaking news stories, which is why he has been tapped to anchor World News.

Those hard-news morning duties — which Couric and Lauer shared equally on Today— are critical in the first half hour of a morning show because viewers want to know whether anything important happened overnight, Tyndall says.

Sherwood, who ran GMA for the past 2½ years, said in a memo to his staff that he and his wife, Karen, a movie executive, would move to Los Angeles. "For important reasons, we need to be on the West Coast now, closer to our family."

Sherwood says challenges and opportunities alike are ahead for GMA.

With new faces to choose from, a rarity in a world where anchor stability is prized, fans probably will shop around. "A lot of viewers are going to be up for grabs," Sherwood says. "For 15 years, millions of people made a habit of seeing Katie Couric in the morning, and for 19 years they made a habit of Charlie Gibson."

Sawyer and Roberts are expected to be joined by a male anchor sometime this summer. Top candidates include GMA weekend anchor Bill Weir, ABC legal correspondent Chris Cuomo, and Bill Ritter, a 20/20 correspondent and local ABC anchor in New York.

At Today— where the viewer gap between it and GMA averaged 800,000 for the season ending in May, up from 40,000 at one point last year — life is sweet, Today chief Jim Bell says.

About 8.5 million viewers, the largest audience since the morning after the 2004 elections, watched Couric's farewell Wednesday.

Familiar faces — Ann Curry, Campbell Brown and Natalie Morales — will fill in until Vieira arrives the week of Sept. 5, when a new Today set, the first change in years at the famous outdoor studio in Rockefeller Plaza, will be unveiled. The program will air from a temporary set on the plaza all summer.

A day after Couric left, NBC began running promos showing Vieira joking with Lauer. Also Thursday, when Curry joined Lauer, Today drew 6.5 million viewers, 1.7 million more than GMA.

"I feel really good about our team. I think we know who we are," Bell says. He says the widened gap proves "that our show is bigger than any one person or anchor — even Katie."

Steve Friedman, who was picked to rejoin CBS' third-place The Early Show in March, says he loves to see shake-ups at rival shops give viewers a reason to change channels.

"When you're in our position, it's a golden opportunity," Friedman says. "Status quo is bad for us."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2006-06-04-media-mix_x.htm

The Business of TV
Telco Video Delayed

Tech, Regulatory Issues Marring AT&T, Verizon Plans
By Jay Sherman TVWeek.com June 5, 2006

It looks as if the video dreams of the nation's top two telephone companies-hampered by technical glitches, regulatory hurdles and even owners of apartment buildings-will take a bit longer to come to fruition.

After two years of hype and big promises, AT&T and Verizon Communications are learning the hard way that morphing from a phone company into a cable competitor can be a more challenging process than anticipated. Indeed, one Wall Street analyst said he thinks the challenges facing Verizon and AT&T's rollouts of their respective TV products could delay by a year their ability to capture a significant number of subscribers.

"To date, though the Bells have made real progress in deploying their fiber network infrastructures, the rollout of video has progressed more slowly than originally forecast," Jeffrey Halpern, a telecommunications analyst at Bernstein Research, said in a research note.

While delays of new products and services are not a new concept, the price of a delay could be particularly high for the phone companies. Their chief rivals-cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision-are experiencing a performance resurgence this year, with a three-pronged product bundle of television, high-speed Internet and telephone helping them stem a years-long slide in basic-cable subscribers.

Most cable industry analysts now see the competitive wind at cable's back, which could make it more difficult for a new entrant to break through.

Meanwhile, phone companies are hoping they can beat cable with a similar product offering bolstered by their ownership of the country's top cellphone providers (Cingular in the case of AT&T, and Verizon Wireless in the case of Verizon) and their ability to offer super-fast Internet.

"We want customers to pick us over Comcast, Cablevision or Time Warner Cable," Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg said at an investor conference last week. "If they pick us, [the cable companies] are out. If they pick them, then we're out. Trying to share the house with a cable company is a difficult proposition."

Though few observers expected AT&T and Verizon to easily transition to offering television services, the progress the companies have made so far points to both companies having an uphill climb-at least in the early days of their video rollout.

For AT&T, the challenges seem particularly daunting. Though the San Antonio-based company was the first to talk big about its video service, dubbed Project Lightspeed, the company is only now-a year later than originally planned-running a controlled rollout in San Antonio. Next month the company expects to begin offering the television service in Houston.

Bernstein's Mr. Halpern said some of the blame for the delay rests with AT&T's use of a video technology produced by software giant Microsoft. Early versions of the software had glitches, especially when it came to live video, that rendered the software not ready for prime time. Many of those problems reportedly have been worked out, enabling AT&T to begin offering its video service, called U-verse, on a broader scale.

Verizon, for its part, faces a different set of challenges, the most important of which is obtaining local government approval to offer television in a community. While both AT&T and Verizon are lobbying hard to change the current rules covering video franchises, Verizon has gone ahead and begun obtaining video franchise agreements. So far, the company has 72 approvals and has another 400 in process. But the road to getting approvals can be a long one and it could be years before Verizon gets enough to cover a significant portion of its market.

Apartment building owners could also pose a hurdle, especially for Verizon, which does business in several major cities with a large number of apartment buildings. To wire a building for television, Verizon must first get access to the building, which often involves negotiating a fee to be paid to the apartment building owner.

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=29957

Critic's Notebook
`Apprentice' Limps To Conclusion

Excellent `Everwood' Ends WB Run
By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic June 5 2006

"The Apprentice" (NBC, 9:30 PM ET/PT), in its anemic fifth season, has dropped from being a Top 10 show to finishing the season out of the Top 50, with 9.7 million average viewers.

Still, there's a new Trump flunky to hire, and it's between young Lee Bienstock and the accented Sean Yazbeck, each of whom is given the impossible task of running a charity event days before it is to occur.

Bienstock, who is running a celebrity hockey event, has amassed a team that puzzled Trump and his cronies, including the hothead Lenny and virtually unknown Pepe, kicked out early in the season.

Still, a poll of viewers found he had a better team than Bienstock, who was in love with one of his contestants, Tammy, and had another member, Andrea, running off to the hospital coughing up blood last week. The egotist Tariq is also on the team, running a Barenaked Ladies concert in Atlantic City.

The live finale, though, will be held in Los Angeles because the next season of the show will take place there - in January.

Remote Patrol

High-minded and well-acted, "Everwood" (The WB, 8 PM ET/PT) deserved a fifth season on the new CW network in the fall. But while "7th Heaven" and "One Tree Hill" survived, the Colorado family saga starring Treat Williams unfairly did not. So it ends tonight with a two-hour episode.

Pioneer HDNet no longer alone
High-def offerings proliferate since network's '01 debut

By Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News
June 5, 2006

When HDNet launched in late 2001 with the broadcast of a Minnesota Twins-Texas Rangers baseball game, the Denver-based network was the only full-time high-definition broadcaster around.

Today all four major networks broadcast their prime-time lineups in high definition, and a host of channels including Discovery, Showtime, ESPN and MTV have introduced HD versions. And HDNet has expanded to create the all-cinema HDNet Movies.

"It's like day and night" from when we started, said Philip Garvin, HDNet's general manager and chief operating officer. "Back then, we were it. HBO was available in high definition, too, but maybe 20 of their movies were in high-def."

HDNet hit TV sets after veteran TV producer Garvin met Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, who made his fortune when he sold Internet streaming site Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for $5 billion in 1999. Sales of HDTV sets were starting to take off, but there was scant programming to showcase the technology.

So Garvin and Cuban decided to start HDNet to fill the gap.

HDNet debuted only on DirecTV satellite service, but it's now available on EchoStar's Dish Network and most major cable networks. The big exception is Comcast, which happens also to be Colorado's and the nation's largest cable operator.

Closely held HDNet doesn't disclose revenues or viewer figures, but Garvin said they've been "growing dramatically" in recent months as more households buy HDTVs and programmers such as Dish bolster their high-definition services.

HDNet has also boldly experimented in its efforts to attract new viewers, including a controversial strategy of releasing the Steven Soderberg film Bubble (produced by Cuban's HDNet Films) in theaters at the same time it showed ad-free on HDNet Movies. Most major movie chains, worried the tactic would undercut their business, refused to carry the film.

HDNet also bolstered its slate of original programming to about 20 hours a week with a smorgasbord of concerts, shuttle launches, Major League Soccer games and its own weekly one-hour news program, HDNet World Report, which has about 55 stringers worldwide filing reports from war zones and tropical paradises alike. The rest of the hours are a mix of programming ranging from travel shows to reruns of Smallville and Joan of Arcadia that were filmed in high definition.

The 170-employee operation is run out of Colorado Studios in Denver, while Cuban remains in Dallas and is "very involved" in all aspects of HDNet, Garvin said with a laugh.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_4750304,00.html

TV Notebook
Sweet sorrow: Bid adieu to 'Everwood'

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 5, 2006, 00:33

Ever since word came that the WB and UPN were merging into one network come fall, the fate of “Everwood” seemed doubtful. It was so much in doubt, in fact, that the WB drama’s producers reportedly decided to prepare two season finales this year: One with a cliffhanger if the show was picked up by the CW and one without a cliffhanger if it was canceled.

“Everwood” has indeed been canceled, and so tonight’s series finale will wrap up many of the nagging questions on the critically beloved show, which was also a favorite of many media people.

Among the open plot points entering tonight’s 8 p.m. show: Will Hannah and Bright get back together? That depends on whether Hannah can forgive the big lug for what he did to her.

Will Andy propose to Nina? Or will she choose Jake? And will star-crossed lovers Ephram and Amy reunite, as most fans hope? Producers were going to keep them apart if the series had been picked up for another season, according to reports on TVGuide.com.

The late finale, airing nearly two weeks after the regular TV season ended, probably won’t see a big uptick in ratings. Viewership for the WB has been downright dismal since the season ended, meaning not many people have seen the network’s promotions for “Everwood’s” series finale.

And it airs opposite the season finales of NBC’s “Deal or No Deal” and “The Apprentice,” so don’t expect much more than the show’s usual 3.6 million viewers to turn out. But those who do watch will see all those loose ends tied up, if not in a bow, with a certain sweet finality that should call upon the best of its writing crew.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5123.asp

The Digital Revolution
Cable operators find it tough to swallow HDTV

By David Lieberman USA Today 6/5/2006

NEW YORK — After years of dithering and infighting by government officials and corporate executives, the high-definition TV revolution is finally here.

This year, for the first time, consumers will buy more HDTV sets than traditional ones. Morgan Stanley estimates that nearly 26% of households will enjoy HD's gee-whiz video and theater sound by year's end and that 67.6% will in 2010, thanks to prices falling from today's $1,000 and up.

That's good news for the TV industry, right?

Maybe not for cable operators.

Their wires are so packed with TV channels and new services — including video on demand (VOD), broadband Internet and phone — that many are scrambling to find bandwidth for the coming wave of HD channels. "Cable operators need massive capacity for HDTV, and have to move quickly," says Sanford C. Bernstein's Craig Moffett. "HDTV is hot."

Executives say they're on the case. But their favorite plans to fix their bandwidth problem will, at least in the short-term, create hassles for millions of subscribers — especially those who hate the idea of hooking their TVs to a set-top box.

For example, one solution could strip dozens of channels from customers with cable-ready TVs — forcing them to pay an extra $10 or more a month for a digital box and service just to keep the channels they get now without them.

The other leading remedy would hobble new HDTV sets designed with a slot to work with a slick, credit card-size CableCard instead of a box.

In addition to being an inconvenience and expense, either change would represent yet another setback for the decade-old federal effort to force the industry to free consumers from cable boxes.

But operators seem willing to take the heat. They fear that if they fail to heed warnings such as Moffett's, they'll lose many of their 65 million subscribers who are hot for HD to satellite and phone company rivals that already are able to offer lots of HDTV channels and plan many more.

"We think it is a good differentiator for us," says Carl Vogel, vice chairman of satellite provider EchoStar and former CEO of cable operator Charter Communications. "Our vision is to be the best video provider that we can be."

To build on that advantage, DirecTV and EchoStar are preparing to launch additional satellites and use other means to offer at least 150 national HD channels, as well as each market's local stations.

"Satellite's going to be constrained not so much by how many channels they can carry than by how many they can get," says Bob Scherman, Satellite Business News editor and publisher.

Meanwhile, phone company Verizon is building state-of-the-art, fiber-optic networks that it says can handle 210 HD services plus all the conventional TV channels.

No analog baggage

These newer rivals for cable have always been digital, transmitting all their programming in bits and bytes, so neither of them has to worry about serving "satellite-ready" or "phone-ready" TV sets. Their customers are used to needing a box or receiver to convert the signals into the images of, say, Katie Couric or Taylor Hicks on the analog sets that still dominate living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens.

More important, being all-digital makes more efficient use of their capacity: About 10 standard digital channels fit into the bandwidth required for one analog channel.

By contrast, cable's roots are analog, and they typically still offer analog transmissions of 70 or more of the most popular channels that the majority of their customers watch on "cable-ready" analog TV sets — without a box. Providing those analog signals eats up about two-thirds of a typical system's bandwidth, even after the industry spent $100 billion over a decade to string fatter lines to handle interactive services.

Thanks to that analog legacy, most cable operators have room to add only about a dozen HD channels — roughly half what DirecTV and EchoStar already offer.

It's a competitive gap likely to widen. Satellite companies "will likely have a two-to-three-year lead over cable during which they'll be able to offer a materially higher number of HD channels," Morgan Stanley's Richard Bilotti writes.

The imbalance hasn't hurt cable so far. Their local operations can more easily tailor lineups to offer HD feeds from the markets' popular ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS stations than coast-to-coast satellite broadcasters. And there isn't much national HD programming yet.

About 30 of the 500-plus national pay-TV networks offer HD, a short list dominated by premium sports, movie and porn channels.

Some cable operators, trying to come up with a solution to their bandwidth pinch, have asked other networks "to please wait on launching new (HD channels) until 2007," Pali Capital's Richard Greenfield writes.

Up to now — for their own reasons — programmers have been content to leave HD on "pause."

"Going HD is an expensive proposition for content companies, and a lot of programmers are waiting for enough viewers to jump in" by buying HD sets, says Bill Goodwyn, president of affiliate sales and marketing at Discovery Networks U.S.

But that wait seems to be over. In the past few months, HGTV, the Food Network, National Geographic and A&E unveiled HD plans.

"We're seeing a tipping point," says Gwynne McConkey, Lifetime's senior vice president for operations, information systems and technology. "We expect to have an (HD) announcement this year."

Whether smaller channels get in on the HD party is in doubt, however. They fear that cable's bandwidth problem could cause giants such as Comcast and Time Warner to save their precious few HD slots for networks they own.

"The haves will get richer, and the have-nots will get poorer," says Tracy Dolgin, CEO of the New York Yankees' Yes Network, which is distributed in HD. "The Sewing Channel isn't going to get an HD channel. It just isn't going to happen."

Cable's bandwidth Band-Aids

Cable operators looking to accommodate more HD channels have come up with two basic strategies:

•Drop analog channels (and the idea of "cable-ready" TVs). "The first thing we'll do when we start putting on more HDTV pictures is to take one analog channel off the system," says Comcast Chief Technology Officer David Fellows. "In its place, we can put three HDTV pictures."

The beauty of that solution: It's simple and cheap, and CableCards would still work.

It's also risky.

By cutting analog service, operators force customers to buy digital service and a box to keep watching favorite shows they used to get on their cable-ready TVs. Because the customer now has to get a box anyway, they might consider switching to satellite or phone video that has more HD channels.

To try to avert that, "We may choose to ... keep 20 or 30 channels in analog," Fellows says. "That way, the TV set in your kitchen will still be cable-ready."

•Keep analog service (and make current CableCards obsolete). Time Warner, Cox and other operators prefer a solution, called "switched digital," that lets them offer more HD without hassling analog customers. It would, though, create problems for folks with digital TVs and other devices designed to work with CableCards, not a box.

Operators now send all channels through their fat fiber-optic trunk lines and also through the slimmer coaxial cables running through neighborhoods and into homes. The cable-ready TV tuner, cable box or CableCard blocks everything except the channel selected.

With switched digital, operators would send all channels through their trunk lines. The system then would pass the analog channels through the neighborhood lines but send a digital channel only when a viewer selects it on a set-top box.

Instead of also pushing 300 or so digital channels through the coaxial lines, they would be handling only the 60 or so a neighborhood is likely to be watching at any one time. That would free capacity for HD transmissions.

"We're effectively making digital broadcasting the same as video on demand," says Seth Kenvin of BigBand Networks, a major service provider. "The subscriber doesn't know what's going on."

Time Warner has deployed switched digital in three cities and plans to bring it to all its systems. Cox and Cablevision also are drawing up deployment plans.

"If you're not switching, you're going to run out of spectrum," says Time Warner Cable Chief Technology Officer Mike LaJoie. "Once I have the switching fabric in place, I can add as many channels as I want and never overload."

The system also has appeal for investors who fear the cost of solutions requiring set-top boxes on every analog TV, which operators might have to offer free.

"Going all-digital would cost $100 per subscriber. Switched digital would cost about $5 per subscriber," Moffett says.

Makes CableCards obsolete

The good news for operators and investors is bad news for subscribers who bought TVs and digital video recorders that unscramble digital signals with a CableCard — effectively, a set-top box on a card.

The Federal Communications Commission prodded the cable industry to support the cards as a first step to fulfill a 1996 congressional mandate to free consumers from having to get a box to watch or record TV shows. But the cards now in use in about 400 products introduced since July 2004 — including lots of HDTVs — only receive signals and can't send a message to a switched system telling it to pass through a particular channel to the neighborhood.

CableCard users in San Diego found out what that meant last year when Time Warner deployed a switched-digital system. They lost East Coast versions of several premium channels. A company letter also warned owners of HD sets that they might not be able to get HD channels being added. As compensation, the company said it would give them a digital set-top box free for a year.

That's a step backward, TV and DVR makers say.

"We see switched digital as another way cable is trying to undermine the CableCard and discourage its use," says Consumer Electronics Association spokesman Jeffrey Joseph. Although more than a million CableCard-ready digital TVs have been sold, he says, operators' half-hearted support has meant that only about 150,000 CableCards are in use.

An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment on the matter, citing proceedings in progress on new CableCard standards that would support interactive TV and switched digital.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2006-06-04-cable-hdtv_x.htm?POE=TECISVA

Cable operators find it tough to swallow HDTV
Updated 6/5/2006 6:48 AM ET
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY

HIGH-DEFINITION CABLE TV CHANNELS

Premium services
Cinemax HDTV
HBO HDTV
HDNet
HDNet Movies
INHD & INHD2 from iN DEMAND Networks
Playboy HD
The Movie Channel HD
Showtime HD
Spice HD
STARZ HDTV

Basic services
A&E HD (for September)
Discovery HD Theater
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
Food Network-HD (for June 30)
HGTV-HD
The History Channel HD (for early 2007)
NBA TV
NFL Network HD
National Geographic Channel HD
Outdoor Channel 2 HD
TNT in HD
Universal HD (formerly Bravo HD+)

Regional sports networks
Comcast SportsNet HD (Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington)
FSN HD
MSG Network in HDTV (Madison Square Garden in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania)
YES-HD (New York Yankees)

Source: National Cable & Telecommunications Association

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2006-06-04-cable-hdtv_x.htm?POE=TECISVA

The Digital Revolution
“The Bridge”

For an interesting take on the week in satellite, cable and telco, check out “The Bridge”.

You can access it here:

http://www.mbc-thebridge.com/archives/pdf/Telco_BR060206.pdf

(From Marc Berman’s Monday, June 5, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
“Sopranos” Finale

• Thinking Out Loud:

Am I the only one who though last night’s season-finale of HBO’s The Sopranos was nothing special?

Although even the worst of The Sopranos is better than most network dramas, what made David Chase decide to turn it into the Julianna Margulies Show?

And what was with that blander than bland ending? Nothing happened!

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp

TV Notebook
'60 Mins.' Contract ticking off Bradley

By George Rush and Joanna Molloy New York Daily News Monday, June 5th, 2006

"60 Minutes" star Ed Bradley and CBS execs are at loggerheads over the 64-year-old correspondent's contract as the network chases a younger audience for its venerable show.

Buzz around the office is that Bradley has grown so frustrated with the money he's being offered that he's gone on "strike."

"He still comes to the office, but he's putting off producers until his deal is resolved," one insider tells us.

Bradley insists that there's no work slowdown.

"I have a contract with CBS, and I'm honoring it," he tells us. "We're in reruns right now, so no one is shooting much. But I just taped a new opening for a piece on illegal immigrants," which ran last night.

So he's happy with his compensation?

"I don't discuss my contract with anyone," he tells us.

Some of his colleagues wouldn't blame him for feeling slighted.

"He's just come off a great season," says a source. "He's done stories about the Mafia cops, Tiger Woods, the CIA. Now that Mike Wallace is retiring, Ed is the rock of the show. I think he expected to be treated better."

Bradley's contract dilemma comes as CBS chief Les Moonves and news head Sean McManus have been tranfusing younger blood into the 37-year-old show. Among next season's contributors will be Katie Couric, 49, and CNN's Anderson Cooper, who turned 39 Saturday (and who's rumored to be getting around $500,000 for up to five stories). Also being groomed for "60 Minutes" stardom are Scott Pelley and Lara Logan, though some of the show's veteran producers are suspicious of Logan's sex appeal. "She wore low-cut shirts to interview soldiers in Iraq," says a source.

While 64-year-old Lesley Stahl is hanging in there, 74-year-old Morley Safer is doing fewer stories. And we hear "60 Minutes" contributor Dan Rather, also 74, could leave W. 57th St. once and for all in a matter of weeks.

Despite his intrinsic hipness, the earring-wearing Bradley may also be hearing the tick-tick-tick of the show's clock. "He doesn't need this," says a source. "He had a heart bypass a couple of years ago. He's not going to stick around like Mike Wallace till he's 88."

Some feel sure he'll be back next season. Bradley says he'd like to work at the show as long as it stays true to its legacy. "When someone tells me I can't do the stories I like to do," he tells us, "then I know it's time for me to go."

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/v-pfriendly/story/423776p-357621c.html

Re: Deadwood

Too bad the creator of Deadwood is not willing to wait until he is done with Deadwood before beginning his next project. I was always thought a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

The Digital Revolution
Cable operators find it tough to swallow HDTV


Some cable operators, trying to come up with a solution to their bandwidth pinch, have asked other networks "to please wait on launching new (HD channels) until 2007," Pali Capital's Richard Greenfield writes.
How typically self-centered of cable, "please don't launch any more HD channels we can't carry otherwise we'll lose more customers to satellite, if we can't carry it, nobody should". :rolleyes:



Whether smaller channels get in on the HD party is in doubt, however. They fear that cable's bandwidth problem could cause giants such as Comcast and Time Warner to save their precious few HD slots for networks they own.


No doubt.

TV Notebook
Sunday Ratings delayed

Nielsen processing problems have delayed the release of Sunday’s overnight ratings.

Apparently they will be available tomorrow.

I’ll post them when they are released.

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
NBC '4400' cross-play a ratings sinker

Saturday special averages a 0.9 in adults 18-49
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 5, 2006

For the first time, NBC aired a crossover promotion for USA Network, one of NBC Universal’s many cable properties. Unlike past successful crossovers like Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” which received lots of summer sampling a few years ago, this effort bombed.

“The 4400 Special: Unlocking the Secrets” averaged a 0.9 adults 18-49 overnight rating Saturday night, according to Nielsen, the worst rating of the night among the Big Four networks.

Nielsen delayed release of Sunday’s overnight ratings after a processing snafu. They will likely not be released until tomorrow.

“4400” finished last in its 9 p.m. timeslot, behind Fox’s “America’s Most Wanted,” a rerun of CBS’s “Without a Trace” and ABC’s rebroadcast of “Toy Story.”

The show recapped the last two seasons of the USA hit drama, which chronicles the tale of a group of 4,400 people who mysteriously disappeared and then reappeared without explanation. The show returns for its third season next Sunday at 9 p.m. after ranking as the No. 1 original cable series among 18-49s last season.

Perhaps no one felt an urgency to watch the show on NBC because it was repeated so much. The same “Secrets” program aired last night on USA and will air again on NBCU sister networks Sci Fi and Bravo. It was also available for download on Yahoo for over a week.

Meanwhile, Fox won the night with a 2.1 rating and 8 share, followed by CBS at 1.5/5, ABC at 1.4/5 and NBC at 1.2/4. Univision averaged a 0.8/2.

Fox’s “Cops” finished first at 8 p.m. with a 2.0, followed by NBC’s “Dateline” and the first hour of “Story” at 1.1, CBS’s “Numb3rs” repeat at 1.0, and “Sabado Gigante” at 0.6 on Univision.

At 9 p.m., Fox led again with “America’s Most Wanted” at 2.1, ABC’s “Story” and “Trace” tied for second at 1.5, and “Secrets” tied with “Sabado” at 0.9.

At 10 p.m., CBS’s “48 Hours Mystery” led at 1.9, followed by a “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” repeat on NBC at 1.6, ABC’s “Story” at 1.5, and “Sabado” at 1.0.

Among households, CBS led at 4.3/8, followed by Fox at 3.6/7, NBC at 3.2/6 and ABC at 2.1/4. Univision averaged a 1.3/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5155.asp

TV Notebook
Where’s Dan?

By Staff Broadcasting & Cable 6/5/2006

Station executives at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for last week’s CBS affiliate meeting were so entranced by the vision of the network’s newest star, Katie Couric, they barely noticed that CBS veteran Dan Rather was conspicuously absent.

While Couric enjoys a long welcome to the CBS Evening News anchor chair, the man who sat there for 24 years has been virtually disappeared by his network.

It seems the infamy he won with his flawed report on President Bush’s National Guard service during the height of the 2004 campaign is far from fleeting.

Since leaving his Evening News throne in March 2005 for what was billed as a full-time gig at 60 Minutes, Rather has reported only a handful of segments. (Lesley Stahl, by contrast, has reported dozens in that time.)

And while Couric and CNN wunderkind Anderson Cooper were feted as new 60 contributors at CBS’ upfront presentation in May, the silence regarding Rather’s future was deafening—and shameful, given his 44 years of service.

His deal comes due by year-end, but nobody inside CBS will confirm whether he’ll be a correspondent or even at the network this time next year.

A CBS spokesperson says: "Dan Rather is a 60 Minutes correspondent who is currently working on stories that will air in the next few weeks."

Rather has been gracefully silent about the silent treatment, but his friends describe him as "hurt and confused" by the state of affairs.

At 74 years old, Rather is young by 60 Minutes standards and eager to work.

But sadly, the chances that he’ll follow in the footsteps of Mike Wallace, whose long career (and non-retirement at 88) was celebrated on a recent broadcast, look about as thin as turnip soup.

TV Notebook
All’s Not So Well When 'Sopranos' Ends Well

By Michael Malone bcbeat.com
(As if the headline didn’t clue you in, the following is lousy with spoilers.)

Didn’t the season finale of The Sopranos feel like a series finale? It was odd that every storyline appeared to be wrapped up and tied with a bow, much like the gifts under the Soprano family Christmas tree at the end of the episode—a setting so placid that HBO.com called “a perfect family tableau.” Tony made peace with Phil. Chris got a handle on his junk jones. Carm’s stupid spec house passed the test. A.J. got a job and a girl, and, presumably, a set of cojones.

Yes, I’ve seen the show enough to know that loose ends are never really tied up, and the trouble beneath the surface always bubbles up and over. But, with its notoriously long hiatuses, the show’s braintrust could’ve left us with a cliffhanger or two – a doozy tossed in right before the credits roll. Tony pulling the plug on Phil’s heart monitor. Fat, bruised Vito ripping the duct tape off his mouth and emerging from a dodgy motel room. Melfi asking Tony out for a bowl of rigatoni.

In other words, something to chew on until ’07.

http://www.bcbeat.com/

Critic’s Notebook
'"The Sopranos,'' Baseball

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

The semi-season finale of ''The Sopranos'' on Sunday was a frustrating hour. As much as I understood what the show was doing, I wasn't crazy about the way it went about its business.

To be sure, I came to it with an increased longing for satisfaction. I watched it at about 11:30 Sunday night because the bride and I had spent the earlier part of the evening at a Cleveland Indians game. A very bad Indians game. It's a good thing we filled out our All-Star ballots before the game was under way. But I'll come back to that.

Once we got home, I had the DVR playing back ''The Sopranos.'' This was the last new episode for a bit. HBO has shown 13 in this cycle, with eight remaining for telecast in 2007. That in theory creates an extended final season, but Sunday's telecast felt like a season finale. The Soprano clan had gathered the way it tends to for season finales. And most of the big drama had happened in the episodes leading up to this one.

As I said, I know what the show was trying to do. These episodes have come back repeatedly to the issue of whether people can change or not, especially Tony, whose shooting earlier this season should have been a life-changing experience. In some ways, the show has demonstrated, Tony cannot change. He has tried to stop his infidelity, but just can't do it. He is drawn to women for mere lust (as was the case with his brief encounter with a Bing dancer) and for more complicated reasons (most recently embodied by the real-estate agent played by Julianna Margulies).

But, in his meeting with a hospitalized Phil, Tony did indicate that he has changed, that he has no stomach for pointless feuds and macho posturing. There was a further indication of it when he took no action against Christopher upon learning that the real-estate agent and Christopher were canoodling; the old Tony considered women his possessions even if he was no longer involved with them, and he was still in pursuit of Julianna.

Change was also a factor in the different view we got of A.J., whose surliness at last diminished when he met a woman who gave him a comfort zone, an older woman who was domestic in a way that he had not seen with his club-hopping contemporaries. To see A.J. bond with her son was to remember that somewhere inside the younger Soprano was a sweet kid who had gotten lost in poses and attitude.

But as much as we saw those characters change, they were counterposed against the ghost of Vito (whose inability to change ended up killing him) and Christopher's dark shadow. As much as any character on ''The Sopranos,'' Christopher has wanted to believe in change -- to believe that he can change from a thug into a writer, or a producer, or a decent married man. But as much as he dreams of change, he cannot change his most basic self -- an addict.

Not just a drug addict, either. Christopher seems addicted to self-destruction; he knows his drug habit risks his future with Tony, and that taking up with one of Tony's women has, in the past, been as great a risk.

At the end of Sunday's episode, it's not clear if Christopher has once again given up his habits. (We know he has gone to an NA meeting, but we don't know if it's a stopgap or a real step back to recovery.) But even if he has done that for the moment, odds are that Christopher will lapse into drugs once again, because that's what he does. And sooner or later, it's going to kill him.

And in between, we have Tony's rival Phil, put in a place where he needs to change, but still full of rage over past grievances. (And I loved the way Little Carmine unknowingly pushed exactly the wrong button with Phil -- proving Carmine's inability to change into the wise leader he wishes to be.) Tony has brought him the message of change. Now we'll have to wait to see if Phil learns from it.

So there was a lot of thematic business in the episode. But it didn't play out well dramatically. For most of the hour, we were offered a mood of dread and danger -- that Phil's guys were going to take out one of Tony's, that Christopher was going to make a fatal error, that Tony was going to revert, that Phil's illness might pass power into the hands of guys trigger-happy enough to firebomb Tony's home during the holidays. (At least, after all those threats, I wondered if that would be the episode's end.) And then? No power, no force, no shock. Just ideas, and a long wait to see where the story goes.

Unfortunately, I knew where the Indians had gone.C.C. Sabathia gave up two home runs in the first inning, the Angels were leading 7-0 by the end of the third. When we left, midway through the seventh, the score had ballooned to 11-0 and the lackluster Indians gave no hint they would mount a memorable rally. In fact, they let the score go to 14-0 before they scored a couple of meaningless runs, and we were home in time to see the final out on TV.

We still had fun at the ballpark, and the rain that threatened early in the game never became more than a few drops. Good seats. Good junk food. But the Indians disappointed, not so much because they lost, or because the pitching staff was way off, but because some of the players seemed to decide the game was over long before it really was.

When Jhonny Peralta declined to give maximum effort to prevent a base hit, an angry fan a few rows above us yelled, ''Omar would have dived for it!'' Not only that, Omar probably would have stopped the ball. As I said, we left early. But a lot of fans were gone before we were; it was a work night, after all, and the Indians weren't giving fans anything to chat about happily on the job the next day.

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

Critic’s Notebook
The Sopranos Spins Its Wheels

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic Monday, Jun. 5, 2006

It's appropriate that The Sopranos' halfway-through-the-season finale should end at Christmas: it left so many shoes waiting to drop that they were like stockings hung by the chimney.

Consider the number of storylines raised early in the season left unresolved and in most cases barely moved forward. The young, gun-buying Arab associates of Christopher's: terrorists or just garden-variety crooks? Tony's turf war with New York: a burgeoning war or destined to fizzle out? Is Junior going to trial, and what happens if he does? Is Tony's therapy going anywhere? Carmela's questions about Ade's disappearance: is she using them cannily as leverage over Tony, or did she just luck into using them to motivate him to help her real-estate career?

Answers: eh?, dunno, beats me, mmmmmmaybe, [shrug].

I've always defended the Sopranos against the fans who say it pays too much attention to domestic drama and not enough to whacking people. But last night's lackluster finale was a capper to a torpid season that, after opening strongly, seemed to settle into a throat-clearing stasis. Neither the mob side nor the family side of the drama advanced anywhere. In fact, the whole season gave the lie to the idea that the series is most exciting when it's most violent: plenty of people died this season, stabbed, shot, beaten, and yet 12 episodes later, we don't seem to be anywhere we weren't a dozen hours ago.

The rationalization I want to give is that David Chase is simply setting all the pieces in place for an explosive final eight episodes next January. But it would be easier to make that argument if it weren't the same thing everyone was saying at the beginning of this season. The New Jersey / New York conflict was foreshadowed years ago, for instance, and with occasional flare-ups, has always returned to the same threatening simmer. as it did last night. With subtle changes, most of Tony's relationships are, more or less, where they were in March: with Carmela, with A.J., with Phil Leotardo, and so on.

That's not to say the season hasn't been well-written and -acted. The season ended on a nicely staged, ironic note, as Tony and Carmela gathered the family around, smugly telling themselves that they were good people with a good family and good home. But it was the same note of ironic smugness they started on in March. And the season had an intriguing theme of decay and corruption, of characters literally, rotting from the inside. I haven't been counting, but I'm pretty sure nearly every episode had a scene of a major character vomiting—Vito, A.J. Tony, Chris, and last night Julianna Marguilies got in a special guest hurl. But this isn't Fear Factor: at some point you gotta do something beside barf artfully.

It all makes me wonder, on the one hand, why Chase bothered making a sixth season, and, on the other, why he isn't continuing the show indefinitely. If he feels the characters have nowhere to go, he could have nicely ended the show with Tony's ignominious shooting at the hands of his senescent uncle. On the other hand, if Chase's point is to show us that people don't truly change, that life resists neat closure, that we all return, like drug-addicted Christopher, to our old patterns and habits in different ways, then there's no reason not to keep doing it for years. Either way, this season, as nicely as the Gay Vito episodes were handled, seemed like filler to get the series to the 20 episodes that HBO wanted.

That said, I'll tune in anxiously in the winter to see if the show finally delivers. As we've learned from the producers of The Sopranos, if there's one thing as constant as the fact that people don't change, it's that people keep expecting that, next time, things will get better. They know us too well.

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

Critic’s Notebook
‘Sopranos’ ends season with a fizzle

By Diane Holloway Austin American-Statesman in her TV blog Monday, June 5, 2006

Is it considered a “spoiler” if you say nothing happened?

If so, then heed this SPOILER ALERT! If you recorded Sunday night’s “Sopranos” sixth-season finale for later viewing, read no further.

If you did watch last night, feel free to share my pain.

First, these hilariously violent gangsters make us wait nearly two years for a season; then they end said season with a fizzle. A Christmas episode, no less, with the extended Sopranos family all happily huddled around Carmela and Tony’s fireplace bathed in golden light.

Humbug! This is not what we watch “The Sopranos” for. Where was the whacking? Where are the juicy cliffhanger hints that are supposed to make us pine for the series to return in January?

I’m not alone in my disappointment. The message boards are awash in emotions ranging from disappointment to downright outrage.

“I paid extra for this,” screamed one former fan from Seattle.

To say the episode was uneventful — except for a good deal of sex, curiously enough without nudity — is to put it mildly.

After sitting on the edge of a friend’s lovely new leather sofa with eager anticipation from 8 p.m. until 9:02, I was overwhelmed with the sense that, once again, these folks are toying with us. They know fans expected a big season-ending blow-out. So they gave us nothing.

The season started off with a bang, when Uncle Junior, succumbing to dementia, shot Tony. This allowed Tony to take us through some fairly spectacular dream sequences during his coma. Nicely done.

Vito, one of Tony’s more endearing if brutally violent lieutenants, was revealed to be gay — a revelation that allowed a couple of nice episodes when Vito realized it wasn’t a curse to be gay in New Hampshire. Not surprisingly, Vito got whacked for his “shame.”

It was pretty much downhill from there.

Rumors abound that next season — as usual, presented as the show’s FINAL season — will find Christopher in a big mess. Last night we saw him pounce into a torrid affair with Julianna, whom Tony previously lusted after, and return to his old drug-using habits.

Are we supposed to spend six months wondering about Christopher and Julianna? Or whether Phil, who suffered a heart attack, will make it? Or whether the Christmas pudding turns out to Carmela’s liking?

I’m feeling used — again — by “The Sopranos,” which has taken its audience for granted since the second season, when it realized it was a critical darling. Showtime has a new summer series, “The Brotherhood,” about politicians and gangsters in Providence, R.I., that is truly superb. I think I’ll trade in the Italian mob for the Irish mob … at least for now.

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

Critic’s Notebook
Just make something up

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Monday, June 05, 2006

Legend has it that as the great English actor Edmund Kean lay on his deathbed, he told a concerned friend, "Dying is easy; comedy is hard." Were Kean around today, he might want to add a third clause: "Improv comedy is next to impossible."

For every "Reno 911" or "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode that convinces you unscripted comedy is the wave of the future, there are bad examples like "Significant Others," "Free Ride" or "Sons & Daughters," occasionally amusing shows that make you wish some writer had spent time punching up the jokes.

To the latter group we can add "Lovespring" and "Dog Bites Man," two new improvised sitcoms with good pedigrees and uneven results.

"Lovespring" (11 p.m. on Lifetime), about the staff of a matchmaking service, features a who's who of improv actors, including Jane Lynch from the Christopher Guest movies as the plastic surgery-loving CEO; Wendi McLendon-Covey from "Reno 911" as a relationship counselor stuck in a 20-year relationship with a married man, and Jennifer Elise Cox, Jan from the "Brady Bunch" movies, as the dumb, lazy and spoiled receptionist who dresses trashy but can't walk in heels.

It all starts promisingly, with a mockumentary-style ad for Lovespring that includes moments like McLendon-Covey telling prospective clients, "You come in and say, 'Hey, I have one leg shorter than the other and I'm missing all my natural teeth,' doesn't matter; I'm going to find someone for you." After that, there are long laughless stretches with occasional highlights, like guest star and producer Eric McCormack as a Lovespring client who suffers very, very badly for his perfection.

Still, that hit-or-miss quality is preferable to "Dog Bites Man" (Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central), a lazy swing at the big ol' target that is local TV news.

Andrea Savage, Matt Walsh, A.D. Miles and Zach Galifianakis play members of a news crew from Spokane, Wash. Savage is a former intern brought back as a producer, and reporter ex-boyfriend Walsh can't stop either propositioning or humiliating her, with clumsy help from the other guys in the crew. (During a sexual harassment seminar, they have a long debate about whether the characters from "Alvin & The Chipmunks" would make good code names for parts of the male anatomy.)

Even "Reno 911" has its slow spots, but I've never sat through an entire episode with the pained grimace with which I greeted all of "Dog Bites Man."

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/columns-0/1149482165242790.xml&coll=1

Critic’s Notebook
‘All wrapped up

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Monday, June 05, 2006

It should have been a triumphant moment for Dawn Ostroff. The former UPN president, now boss of the UPN-WB merged CW network, had just finished the network's impressive first schedule presentation to advertisers, and she was settling in to take questions from reporters -- most of whom only seemed interested in a show that wasn't on that schedule.

What happened to "Everwood," they asked. Why wasn't it considered for midseason, they asked. How could she renew "7th Heaven" and "One Tree Hill" and not "Everwood," they demanded. A few looked like they were ready to vault over the railing to throttle Ostroff until she agreed to bring it back -- or until Tom Welling and Chad Michael Murray were called in to play bouncer.

No one wanted to risk a pummeling at the hands of Clark Kent, but that's how passionately people feel about "Everwood," which instead of continuing with the new network wraps up its four-year run with tonight's two-hour finale (8 PM ET/PT, The WB).

The story of Andy Brown (Treat Williams), an aloof surgeon brought back to earth by the death of his wife (played by Brenda Strong years before "Desperate Housewives" got the idea to kill her in their pilot), "Everwood" was a thoughtful tearjerker.

It could do soap opera-esque stories like the early arc where local girl Amy (Emily Van Camp) befriended Andy's high-strung son Ephram (Gregory Smith) as a means to get Andy to perform brain surgery on her comatose boyfriend, but it told them with style. (Coma boy Colin eventually woke up, then died, and there was much sincere weeping from the fan base.)

The show was also unafraid to address hot-button issues with honesty and sensitivity, most famously an episode where we learned Amy's devout Christian father, Dr. Harold Abbott (Tom Amandes), quietly performed abortions for local women in need because he had taken a vow to continue the work of his late father. The writers rarely took sides (Abbott was shown to be completely self-loathing about what his father had asked him to do), but the fact that these issues were being raised at all was admirable, and it always depressed me to see that "Everwood" was less popular than "7th Heaven," which always had a disturbingly letter-but-not-spirit-of-the-law moral code.

Rumor has it "Everwood" had actually survived to the CW until the "7th Heaven" finale pulled in 7 million viewers (big by either WB or UPN standards), which prompted executives to renew that instead. Of course it pulled in 7 million viewers -- people thought it was over and were coming to say goodbye!

The good news is the "Everwood" producers read the tea leaves well enough to have filmed two endings for the finale: a cliffhanger to be used in the event of renewal, and a definitive coda to the stories of Andy, Ephram, Amy, Harold, Edna, Delia, Bright, Hannah, Nina and the rest of this memorable cast of characters.

Too many good TV shows don't get a chance for a proper farewell (see "Deadwood," which HBO pulled the plug on at the end of the upcoming third season, though the creator had planned on doing four), so enjoy this, "Everwood" fans. It's not new life on a new network, but it's something.

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/columns-0/1149482165242790.xml&coll=1

The End of the 2005-2006 Season
Tonight’s Finales

"Deal or No Deal" 8 ET/PT NBC (Season Finale)
"Everwood" 8 ET/PT WB (Series Finale)
"The Apprentice" 9:30 ET/PT NBC (Season Finale)
"Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" 10 ET/PT SHO (Season Finale)

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
NBC '4400' cross-play a ratings sinker

Saturday special averages a 0.9 in adults 18-49
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 5, 2006

For the first time, NBC aired a crossover promotion for USA Network, one of NBC Universal’s many cable properties. Unlike past successful crossovers like Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” which received lots of summer sampling a few years ago, this effort bombed.

“The 4400 Special: Unlocking the Secrets” averaged a 0.9 adults 18-49 overnight rating Saturday night, according to Nielsen, the worst rating of the night among the Big Four networks.

This does not surprise me since it was pointless filler, just like all those spliced together Lost episodes. Too much narrative exposition jammed together to keep new fans interested and nothing new for current fans.

The only surprise for me before I turned over was that it appeared to be in HD or at the very least upconverted widescreen. Much improved over USA's presentation.

The End of the 2005-2006 Season
Tonight’s Finales

"Deal or No Deal" 8 ET/PT NBC (Season Finale)
"Everwood" 8 ET/PT WB (Series Finale)
"The Apprentice" 9:30 ET/PT NBC (Season Finale)
"Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" 10 ET/PT SHO (Season Finale)


Thanks Russ...I totally forgot about listing tonight's finales.

I appreciate you covering for me! :)

TV Notebook
More yield from "Shield"

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” June 5, 2006

Shawn Ryan said last month he would decide whether to do one more season of "The Shield" in a couple of weeks.

He's decided. It's coming back.

However, if you'd been led to believe that the 10 episodes currently in production would be available later this year ... think again. Season "six," or "season 5.5" as it's informally been called, will now be delayed until 2007. Season "seven" won't even go into production until next summer. But truly -- better late than never.

(FX Press Release)

[COLOR=red FX ORDERS FINAL SEASON OF ITS ACCLAIMED DRAMA SERIES THE SHIELD [/COLOR]

10-Episode Sixth Season Scheduled for Early 2007 and
Seventh/Final Season of the Award Winning Series Slated for Late-’07 or Early-’08
Creator/EP Shawn Ryan to Stay as Showrunner, and Stars Michael Chiklis,
CCH Pounder and All Series Regulars on Board for Sixth and Seventh Seasons
Remaining Two Seasons Will Bring Series Overall Total to 88 Episodes

LOS ANGELES, June 5, 2006 – FX has set the timetable for the conclusion of its Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winning drama The Shield, ordering a seventh season of 13 episodes that will bring the groundbreaking series to a close in late-2007 or early-2008, following the upcoming 10-epsiode sixth season which begins in early 2007, announced John Landgraf, President and General Manager of FX Networks.

Shawn Ryan, The Shield’s creator, executive producer and writer, will continue in those duties as day-to-day showrunner for the remaining 23 episodes. Production of the 10-episode sixth season began in April and will conclude in July, and production of the series final season will take place in mid-2007. The final two seasons will bring the overall total number of episodes for the series to 88.

“It has been the privilege of everyone at FX to work with Shawn Ryan, Michael Chiklis and their colleagues on The Shield,“ said Landgraf. “It has always been our intent to have the show exit television as it entered, as one of the best dramas series ever. We’re thrilled Shawn has come up with a great way to end the series and that it will require one final season for his vision to reach completion. We look forward, along with fans of the show, to following Vic Mackey on his final ride.”

Shawn Ryan said, “The writers and I weren’t quite ready to step away from these characters just yet. We asked FX for an additional 13 episodes to conclude the show properly and, as always, the network graciously let us do what we thought was best for the show.”

Since its premiere on March 12, 2002 as FX’s first original drama series, The Shield has been one of the most critically acclaimed shows on television, broadcast or cable. It has also ranked as one ad-supported cable’s top series in delivery of Adults 18-49. The Shield’s fifth and most recent season, which concluded in March, arguably received more critical acclaim than any of its previous seasons and is drawing strong Emmy buzz.

Forest Whitaker joined the cast for all 11 episodes in a brilliant portrayal of Jon Kavanaugh, an Internal Affairs detective leading an investigation of Vic Mackey and The Strike of with the intent of bringing them down. Whitaker is scheduled to return in a limited basis for season six.

For its most recent season, the 11-episode averaged 2.8 million total viewers and 1.8 million Adults 18-49 for first-run Tuesdays at 10 p.m. The Shield, which aired four times each week, averaged an unduplicated 5.65 million total viewers and 3.64 million Adults 18-49 for its 11-week run last season.

The Shield, FX’s first original drama series, made history by becoming the first ad-supported cable series to win the 2003 Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series. In its first season, Shawn Ryan (Writing) and Clark Johnson (Directing) received Emmy nominations, which were also firsts for basic cable in those categories. The Shield has received two TCA nominations for Outstanding Achievement in Drama.

Series star Michael Chiklis received the 2003 Golden Globe Award, 2002 Emmy Award and 2002 TCA Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, all basic cable firsts. Chiklis received his second consecutive Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his work on season two and season three, as well as a SAG nomination.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/06/more_yield_from.html#more

Critic’s Notebook
One Trick Tony

By Linda Stasi The New York PostJune 5, 2006

The most hotly anticipated - but ultimately disappointing - season of "The Sopranos" went out last night like a lamb - a nice, slightly overdone Christmas lamb.

Aside from the token bombing of the wire room, the episode was both boring and pretty darned interesting. What was interesting - interestingly enough - was not really what happened but what might happen - that constant waiting around for the show to get back to its former greatness.

This season, everybody's favorite mob show went from consistently great television to bad Ibsen. (Is that an oxymoron?)

And last night was more of the same, punctuated with tiny, maddening glimpses of its former self.

After the bombing scene, the finale degenerated first into a remake of "Sid & Nancy" - and finally into "A Very Brady Christmas."

The jumps, for one thing, were disconcerting.

Two weeks ago, AJ was a slacker, going to high-end Manhattan discos with his trust-fund-baby friends. This week, he was not only diligently working construction but hanging out in a working-class Jersey bar that was straight out of "Deer Hunter."

And then there was Christopher. A couple of weeks ago, he got married out of nowhere to a totally nondescript woman who is pregnant, and last night we had to suffer through them discussing the pros and cons of decorating the baby's room. Help!

Then, suddenly and equally out of nowhere, Christopher was, in his words, "banging that real-estate agent" (the great and gorgeous Julianna Margulies) whom he seems to have fallen in love with.

Then, again without benefit of transition, Christopher and "that real-estate agent" went from drinking Valerian tea from the health-food store to becoming crack 'ho's in a car. Huh?

Don't get me wrong - both actors were on fire. It was the plot that was colder than the Jersey shore in December. Too much, too fast.

And how many more episodes do we have to spend at the hospital?

Last night was Frank Vincent's turn to act his heart out. Literally.

His character, Phil Leotardo, who had a heart attack after a stressful meeting with Tony and the idiotic mob boss/movie producer Little Carmine Lupertazzi (Ray Abruzzo), can only mean one thing: Vincent hadn't finished negotiating his contract for the final eight episodes - and I'm not talking that kind of contract. I'm talking the SAG kind.

He doesn't sign, he dies. Very Sopranos, actually.

And while last night's episode was in many ways more interesting than most of the other ones this season, we ultimately wanted more from this season of Carlo, played by my friend Arthur Nascarella, the real-life former NYPD cop who seamlessly morphed into Carlo the killer - and less of Artie Bucco and his "Big Night" whining; more Uncle Junior and less Carmela goes to Paris; and more (much more) of Paulie Walnuts tough guy and less Paulie Walnuts depressed orphan/cancer survivor.

The closing scene was the final finale straw.

I mean, really, what happened to cliffhangers? Are the writers and producers too above that now?

Why do we need to tune in for the final eight? To see if the baccala was good?

Was this season enough for the die-hards among us (and they've lost something like a million viewers per Sunday night) to tune back in for the final eight?

Sure. Why not?

You never know, right?

“The Sopranos” Notes:

• The final eight episodes are set to air starting in January 2007. No specific date yet.

• Shooting won't begin until mid-summer.

• A "Sopranos" movie is not going to happen, says creator David Chase.

This does not surprise me since it was pointless filler, just like all those spliced together Lost episodes. Too much narrative exposition jammed together to keep new fans interested and nothing new for current fans.

The only surprise for me before I turned over was that it appeared to be in HD or at the very least upconverted widescreen. Much improved over USA's presentation.
I thought it was pointless as well having already seen all the episodes, and honestly, the PQ was not that good. I don't know what the problem was, and it's been quite awhile since I viewed the DVD set, but I'd swear the DVD PQ was as good, if not better, than what NBC put on the air.

Thanks Russ...I totally forgot about listing tonight's finales.

I appreciate you covering for me! :)
You are welcome.

Everwood's finale had been mentioned several times and the Apprentice finale had also been mentioned.

It seems odd having finales in June after the Sweeps have ended.

The 2005-2006 Season
The Results Are In

By Stephen Battaglio TV Guide


Losers

Sci-fi: ABC's Invasion, NBC's Surface and CBS' Threshold all proved it's tough for the genre to survive on broadcast TV. "The sci-fi audience is very loyal, but there aren't very many of them," says one network exec. "It's perfect for cable." Even Star Trek wasn't a network hit.

That statement is so dead-on correct I just had to point it out and comment.

Perhaps this will once and for all put an end to good sci-fi getting cancelled because it was run on network tv.

Sci-Fi programming attracts a niche audience. Just keep it on cable, and everyone is happy in the end.

And on an unrelated note, while I'm disappointed Deadwood won't be going a full 4 years, I'm thrilled there will be a 4 hour conclusion to it after the third season.

The Business of TV
Webs blink first

ABC gives in to buyers
By Michael Learmonth Variety.com Mon., Jun. 5, 2006

TV advertisers scored a win Monday, as ABC dropped its demand that ad agencies pay for viewers who record shows like "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy" on TiVo-like devices.

ABC's concession ended the standoff between the networks and advertisers that began after the upfront presentations to advertisers two weeks ago. It now sets the stage for advertisers to place an estimated $9 billion in bets on network shows in the coming season.

"The ABC Television Network will offer 'live' guarantees as one of the options advertisers may consider during this year's upfront," the net said in a statement.

But at the same time, the net indicated the issue isn't going away.

"The ABC Television Network continues to believe strongly in the worth of the 'live plus' viewer, and will continue its efforts to include this audience," the web said.

As the strongest player going into the upfronts, ABC network sales prexy Mike Shaw attempted to use his network's leverage to get agencies to recognize -- and pay for -- viewers who time-shift shows on digital video recorders.

The broadcast nets estimate 4% of their viewing is occurring after a show airs, and those ratings are most concentrated for hit shows, which get premium ad rates.

But after two weeks of a standoff, CBS and Fox sent signals they were willing to start dealing on live-only ratings, forcing Shaw to choose between dropping the principle or face losing ABC its leadership position in the marketplace.

"The agencies moved in unison, but the networks did not," said one advertising exec who asked not to be named, due to the sensitive nature of the talks ahead.

By coming to the table, ABC assures it will be first to strike deals with the agencies.

"There was a chance they could have lost volume to the other guys," said a buyer at another agency.

The network upfront talks are akin to a union negotiation, where the five major networks and six agencies agree on a ratings currency before negotiations move forward.

The agencies typically deal with one network at a time, and the network that goes first has the opportunity to take market share from the others, especially in a market where viewership is flat and dollars are expected to be down slightly.

Because it has hit shows and is growing in the coveted 18-49 demographic, ABC is in the lead position for the second year in a row, but its position was growing precarious.

CBS and Fox also were in positions to lead the market if either had come forward with attractive terms for the agencies. "They might have stolen ABC's thunder," one buyer said.

That didn't happen last week, but CBS had indicated it was ready to do deals on live viewing only, which forced ABC's hand.

But the issue of "live plus" ratings promises to get more rancorous as DVRs explode in the marketplace. About 12% of U.S. homes have such a device today; by the end of the year, it is expected to be closer to 20%, making those viewers even more difficult to ignore.

Now that the ratings issue has been decided, buyers and sellers expect the market to unfold over the coming weeks.

ABC will negotiate first and set the ceiling on CPM rate increase -- the rate advertisers pay to reach a thousand viewers.

Observers expect dealmaking to take some additional time this year due to the complexity of pacts being sought by advertisers, which include online components, brand extensions and marketing tie-ins.

Critic’s Notebook
Live chat transcript -- Alan Sepinwall
After the final episode of 'The Sopranos', Newark Star-Ledger TV critic Alan Sepinwall stopped by NJ.com's live chat room to talk to the fans. Here's what happened ...
Alan Sepinwall: Hey folks. So, questions? Comments? Fire away.

nj-dot-com: Alan, I loved the finale, but what did you think?

Alan Sepinwall: I was a little frustrated with it, I have to say. First time all season when I felt disappointed at the lack of plot movement. Overall, though, brilliant season.

chachi26: How do you rate this season as a whole?? I thought it was great

Alan Sepinwall: chachi26, I'd probably put this season behind the first, and either tied with or slightly ahead of season five.

Rich: Nice episode, but not for a season finale

Alan Sepinwall: Rich, my thoughts exactly. As one episode in a group, it would have been okay -- though I'm tiring of watching Christopher get high and boring -- but as the last thing we're going to see for seven months, it was a bad choice.

Alan Sepinwall: Semi-interesting footnote: the guy playing Phil's hotheaded sidekick (the one who wanted to jam an ice pick in somebody's lung) is played by the same guy who was in two David Chase-written episodes of The Rockford Files that were essentially a dry run for The Sopranos.

wjerseyfan: Is Chase locked into a final 8 or is there a possibility of more than that

Alan Sepinwall: Chase has been adamant about these last eight being it. About the only way the story continues is if they want to do a movie.

Rich: Past episodes had some action, violence, etc. This season was peppered with it. Not worthy of waiting 21 months for it

dirtylaundry: What about that scene at the end?

Alan Sepinwall: dirtylaundry, that tableau at the end was definitely reminiscent of seasons 1 and 3, but I feel like more needed to happen leading up to it.

chachi26: Alan, do you feel that's with the originality that was the first two seasons that Chase and Co. are almost in a no-win situation with fans (this year and next)?

Alan Sepinwall: I think it's always going to be hard to live up to that first year, chachi, but I thought season five and most of this season came pretty close. The problem is, with each gap between seasons getting longer and longer, people build up the previous seasons in their heads to be something other than what they were.

dirtylaundry: Alan, what about the ending with Carmela, seemingly resigned to the fact that she isn't going to worry about Ade's whereabouts anymore?

Alan Sepinwall: dirtylaundry, I think the Carm/Ade thing was more of a joke; once Tony got her what she really wanted, she didn't care about Adriana anymore.

go3: whatever happened to the russian guy

Alan Sepinwall: Go3, the Russian is never, ever, never, ever, never coming back.

asdemudturns: Go3...the Russian guy was "Johnny Cakes"

bonzai: alan vito was the best this season, do you agree?

Alan Sepinwall: bonzai, Vito was definitely the most unexpected element to the season.

kit: Alan: Have you ever seen a tv show that constantly starts new story lines and never brings the old ones to a conclusion, thereby alienating the audience? As a loyal viewer, this season was the worst of the 6.

Alan Sepinwall: kit, they bring resolution to a lot of storylines, just not always in the way fans want. (The rapist comes to mind.)

dirtylaundry: The simple fact that we constantly come around to forums every week to dissect every single episode and every line like a great novel continues to tell you about this show's brilliance and stronghold. Season 6 will be looked upon as the best since season 1.

BadaBing: Alan, did you see this string of episodes as "filler" until January; did Chase get roped into more episodes than he wanted to do, so he's saving his big finish?

Alan Sepinwall: BadaBing, going way back to something you said about 100 lines ago about this season being filler, the first six or seven episodes were written before Chase knew he would do that final eight. Not coincidentally, the first six or seven episodes were much tighter than the last batch.

kit: Alan: Duly noted. But how on earth are the crime factions able to act with impunity without any pressure from law enforcement. Without any?

Alan Sepinwall: kit, because Chase has even less respect for the FBI than he does for the mobsters.

petemcdevitt: First episode I believe to start and end with the same song??? Alan?

Alan Sepinwall: Many other episodes have begun and ended with the same song; often its a Rolling Stones song like this one.

nj-dot-com: Alan, who was John Patterson?

nj-dot-com: The guy the episode was dedicated to?

Alan Sepinwall: John Patterson was the guy who directed all the previous season finales; he died during the hiatus between seasons five and six.

kit: Alan: What is your favorite episode of all time? I reckon it is not from Season 6.

Alan Sepinwall: kit, I would actually put the Johnny Sack wedding episode in my top 5 of all time, if not higher. Hard to go against "College" as the best.

Bada Bing: You think College was the best episode?

Alan Sepinwall: BadaBing, I'm always bad at picking just one of anything, but College represents so much of what made the series great. Pine Barrens is fun, but more of a stunt.

sferegrande: i thought T's session with Melfi was nothing but a hoot

Alan Sepinwall: I like that Tony finally admitted he just goes to therapy so he can spend time with Melfi.

dirtylaundry: Alan, I read that "The Ride" and the Johnny Sack wedding episodes were the two they submitted to the Emmy folks for Best Drama nods. Good choices?

Alan Sepinwall: DL, you actually submit eight episodes to the Emmys, but the wedding would be at the top of any list.

henryhill: Alan, do you agree Chris took a step back this episode. Seems like they were setting up his demise with his vises.

Alan Sepinwall: Henry, I just think Christopher's running in place. He's been shooting up since early in season two, and while the constant relapses are realistic, I want to see something more out of it already.
Carmella: ok, best line for tonight?

dirtylaundry: The Monica Lewinsky line from Chris was pretty good.

Alan Sepinwall: Best line may have been the "head full of snow" lyric from the Stones' song as Carlo was taking the head out of the freezer.

Justda2ofUs: Best line may have been what was being said about life in the movie casablanca, no value

kit: Alan: Don't you think the creators are stringing us along a bit too much?

Alan Sepinwall: kit, tonight was the first time I felt that way at all.

kit: Alan I've felt strung along since those ridiculous dream episodes from Tony's coma. You have to admit the show has lost its edge. But I am interested in where this Chris storyline goes, if anywhere.

henryhill: One last question Alan, If you could give one "guess" about the final episodes, what would it be??

Alan Sepinwall: I don't want to guess; every time I did this season, I was wildly wrong

sonny: Don't expect the final 8 to be a Godfather "wack" around shoot em up. Those were the old days of mafioso. Maybe a surprise here and there, but like today, the mob goes out with more of a whimper.

dirtylaundry: No matter, what, these past 12 episodes have given us many memorable moments that will live with the best ever in the series: Tony getting shot; Carmela's bedside breakdowns; Tony seeing Tony B in the coma; James G's acting job on figuring out who to beat up at the end of the wedding episode; Tony & Chris stealing the wine; the 2 classic scenes between Tony and AJ. The list goes on and on.

Alan Sepinwall: DL, exactly.

BadaBing: Alan, so I can assume you don't feel this show has "jumped the shark?"

Alan Sepinwall: Not in the slightest, BadaBing.

Carmella: no way

chachi26: Say what you want, but no other show on TV inspires such rapid debate and such a wide array of opinion ...

mike: do you think this was AJ's turning point, showing a maturity into a potential member of the 'family', or is it just another throwaway chapter in the mess of AJ that will blow up in his face like everything else?

Alan Sepinwall: I think AJ matured, but not into someone who will join the Family. He's just becoming a man.

ro: alan, do u honestly feel sopranos is still a good show?

Alan Sepinwall: Ro, abso-damn-lutely

Carmella: the show is better than anything else on TV....nothing else I look forward to

ro: the suspense is gone - the acting is still good but the writers seem like they had no idea what to do this year

petemcdevitt: AJ proved he cant be in the family by giving away his bike, instead of cracking skulls

Alan Sepinwall: I thought the bike maneuver was cool. No way AJ could take one of those guys, much less all three.

ro: i was wishing those guys would pummel AJ

BadaBing: What lengths does HBO go to in order to keep a tight leash on those, and do you feel that Chase saves his big hand until the fifth episode to prevent leaks?

Alan Sepinwall: BadaBing, Chase is like the KGB when it comes to trying to shut down the release of information. They sent out these first four episodes as late as they could to avoid too much spoilage of the shooting.

clover: What is up with christopher not wanting kids with his wife now???????????

Alan Sepinwall: Chris just wants Adriana back

kshane: Do you think the middle eastern guys will play a major role next season Alan?

Alan Sepinwall: I have a feeling the middle eastern guys are a tease.

sferegrande: yeah the arabs are probably a tease, if they did a terrorist tie in they might jump the shark

Alan Sepinwall: When the show was being developed at Fox, the exec there wanted Chase to have the Sopranos fight terrorists on occasion so they wouldn't seem all bad.

BadaBing: Alan, what was the purpose of dragging out the lack of progress on the spec house to ultimately give Carmela what she wants? To show her loyalty to issues like the Adriana disappearance?

Alan Sepinwall: Bing, I think that was exactly it.

d-dog: alan do you think the russian will come back?

Alan Sepinwall: Say it with me, folks: The Russian is never, ever coming back.

fds: they should end with a soprano's movie...

Alan Sepinwall: Bing, I'm thinking these eight episodes are it.

kshane: Alan do you think that the bodies of many of our favorite people will be littering the screen by the end?

Alan Sepinwall: kshane, nothing would shock me.

http://www.nj.com/sopranos/ledger/index.ssf?/sopranos/stories/livechat.html

The "Live +" viewer doesn't watch commercials. Just because they are now tallied means nothing. The spin may sound good, but there's no way advertisers believed it for a minute.

I appreciate your thoughts, too, Dave.

To be honest, I'd like to nip this discussion in the bud before it turns too political -- if that is OK with everyone.Looks like I may have gotten a bit carried away and read something not intended (sorry Ray :) ), just kind of rubbed me wrong and I also didn't intend to start a political discussion, just expressing an opinion.

The "Live +" viewer doesn't watch commercials. Just because they are now tallied means nothing. The spin may sound good, but there's no way advertisers believed it for a minute.


The networks will trot out some study which will "refute" what you say, CP95, but I agree with you entirely,

Critic’s Notebook
What is this show and where is it going?

By Joel Topcik at bcbeat.com

I agree with my colleague Michael Malone that David Chase and Family owe Sopranos fans something meatier to tide us over until 2007. And given the sadistic pleasure Chase obviously takes in keeping the show off the air as long as possible, don’t be surprised if the final eight episodes kick off sometime around Christmas of next year.

But I didn’t get as much a sense of closure from last night’s finale as the familiar feeling of being strung along--different from being left hanging in a state of suspense.

As with every season since then-closeted Vito whacked Jackie Jr., fans I've talked to had been divided sharply on whether this season managed to return the show to the grandeur it achieved in the first three. Several episodes in, I was pretty sure it had. I was willing to go several more episodes with a comatose Tony living an alternate life as Kevin Finnerty, stuck in an airport hotel purgatory wondering who he was and where he was going.

Even after the initially compelling possibility of gay Vito’s escape to a new life in New Hampshire turned soggy, I still thought the season had something resembling an arc or a through-line when Carmela suffered a similar existential crisis about who she was, where she was going while visiting Paris--the Eiffel Tower shot in that episode was a nice circling-back to the airport control-tower beacon outside Tony/Finnerty’s hotel window earlier in the season.

But as with previous seasons, this one just gave out. And as before, it happened almost imperceptibly. Maybe it was Paulie’s cancer (where did we leave that, anyway?) or the recurrence of Christopher’s drug use or the fact that yet another beautiful actress (this time Julianna Margulies) plays yet another beautiful character whose animal attraction to Tony Soprano suspends belief.

http://www.bcbeat.com/

Critic’s Notebook
'Everwood,' Despite Finale, Offers Hearts That Keep Throbbing

By Virginia Heffernan The New York Times June 6, 2006

The sudden death of a beautiful, funny, tenderhearted family show at the hands of cruel network forces: it's not a bad idea for a melodrama. But with its signature good taste, WB's "Everwood" did not burn and rave at its demise, which was scheduled for last night. Instead, the series, about a Manhattan surgeon who, after his wife's death, decamped with his two children for Everwood, a small Colorado town, seemed to forgive its killer (God will judge you, Leslie Moonves), making its cancellation look entirely natural and expiring on the same note of decorous sentimentality that propelled it for four charmed years.

The title of the emotionally lavish, two-hour series finale should have been enough to warn skeptics against it: "Foreverwood." A well-oiled tear-induction engine, the very last "Everwood" didn't just indulge in learning and hugs; it was all learning and hugs. Nearly every exchange ended with a surging-score embrace in a postcard landscape. And declarations — including some to the dead — repeatedly began "I've learned" or "You've taught me." It was almost an incantation.

Finally, in what must have satisfied the show's passionately surprise-averse viewership, the master lesson of the whole gorgeously sentimental extravaganza was "I still love him."

This fine and sacred major chord sounds loudly on a finale in which the bat mitzvah of Delia (Vivien Cardone), the daughter of Dr. Andy Brown (Treat Williams), cleverly played the closure-supplying role of a wedding. Who could argue with it?

But though happily-ever-after was the only way things were ever going to end in the kindly town, the finale still gave a dutiful hearing to some anti-"Everwood" ideology, the kind that has been regularly espoused by the show's passing cynics, brawlers, addicts and interlopers — all the visiting characters who over the four seasons were just not wistful enough to make it the "Everwood" way. These have included the volatile, brain-damaged Colin (Mike Erwin); the drug-dealing Tommy (Paul Wesley); the rocker-chick Madison (Sarah Lancaster); and the fakey Reid (Justin Baldoni).

Jake Hartman (Scott Wolf), a dippy little spoiler figure and the straw-man rival to Andy for the love of skinny Nina (Stephanie Niznik), was the last non-Everwoodized figure still hanging around. But Jake is now moving to California, and on his way out of town in the final episode he gamely spells out a version of anti-"Everwood" ideology, saying to Andy's son, Ephram (Gregory Smith), with credible impatience:

"Life is supposed to surprise you. I bet you've got a picture in your mind about how everything's going to turn out for you. What you're going to do, who you're going to be with. And I'm sure your dad had a picture too. But there are windows that don't stay open forever. Missed opportunities that never come back to you again. And waiting for them doesn't necessarily mean you're strong, or even right. Sometimes it just means that you're afraid to change the picture."

Wait, did he say windows don't stay open forever? No! Windows, like Andy's chance for love with Nina, and radiant Amy's (Emily VanCamp) chance for love with Ephram, and Bright's (Chris Pratt) chance for love with Hannah (Sarah Drew) and Rose's chance for adopting a baby? It can't be true!

Of course it isn't. Windows in "Everwood" stay open, at least long enough for all believers to get happy endings.

"You know what I've learned?" Jake goes on. What he's learned is bound to be a truism, but before his banishment the long-suffering pill-freak plastic surgeon deserves to say his piece: "Life is too short."

With that, Jake seals his fate. He is not long for Everwood. Because life is not too short for true Everwood believers: on this show, good things come to those who unseize the day. Those who wait. They're the ones who, like Andy, pine with a boxed engagement ring during the finale, hoping only that Nina will come and get it; or like Amy who spends the second half of the finale wandering and lying around waiting for inspiration on how to win Ephram back; or like Ruth who, having nearly become another of the show's martyrs to random diseases, might just get the baby she wants if only she passively hangs out, and one shows up ... on her doorstep.

Yes, it's been that kind of show. Amy never went to Princeton and Ephram never went back to Juilliard and Andy never resumed his high-powered career, and Rose never became mayor again. "Everwood" has been a heart-rending and at times breathtaking show, but absolutely never has it been a go-for-it American pep rally. Instead, "Everwood" is for the low-key, the patient, the passive, the recessive, the melancholic, the nostalgic, the homebodies. (Tom Amandes, as Andy's colleague Dr. Harold Abbott, expressed the show's poignant primness and decency most authentically; he's the Everwoodite I'll miss the most. Oh, and Amy: Ms. VanCamp is a starlet of the first rank. She deserves a huge movie career.)

And so it's unlikely that the series — which has fans every bit as devoted as those of "Veronica Mars" and "7th Heaven," both of which did make the jump to the CW network after the UPN-WB merger — will get a second life. "Everwood" fans are just not going to boycott or fight or lobby or raise their voices. They're too gentle, too discreet and too modest for that kind of fuss. Instead, they'll keep reminiscing online about the poignant show, holding onto the DVD's like a ring from a lost love, and one day — maybe years from now — they'll just forget all about it. Because in a sad, sweet Foreverwood world, that's how heartbreak goes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/arts/television/06heff.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Sorry I missed this yesterday….

Obituary
Bernard Loomis, 82
Merged Toy Marketing, Saturday Cartoons

By Patricia Sullivan Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, June 4, 2006

Bernard Loomis, 82, a legendary toy marketer who, by turning advertisements for toys into children's cartoon programming, was dubbed "the man who invented Saturday morning," died of heart disease June 2 at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

In the volatile world of toy sales, Mr. Loomis had an unmatched record of marketing best-selling toys from the late 1950s to the 1990s. He introduced the Hot Wheels action cars as characters in a television show. When the first "Star Wars" movie became a surprise hit, he sold empty boxes during the Christmas season with the promise to deliver the toys later, in effect creating a futures market for toys.

"He has been associated with the largest toy company in the world, at the moment it became the largest toy company, on three separate occasions," David Owen wrote in the Atlantic Monthly in 1986. "Almost every time the industry has taken a major, controversial step in the past twenty-five years, Loomis has been in the neighborhood."

He conceived of the Strawberry Shortcakes as dolls, greeting cards and a made-for-television movie. He licensed and sold action figures that included the Six Million Dollar Man, the Bionic Woman and Baby Alive, which when fed a special formula required a diaper change. He was astonished when colleagues thought Baby Alive would not sell, and he rejected requests to conduct time-consuming market research.

"The trouble with research is it tells you what people were thinking about yesterday, not tomorrow. It's like driving a car using a rearview mirror," he once said.

He managed flops, too. Steve Scout, the official doll of the Boy Scouts of America, and Duke the Wonder Dog never found much of a market. But the failures never bothered him.

Mr. Loomis, who had a highly animated demeanor, loved to play. His desk was covered with action figures. He also made a habit of watching Saturday morning television, although his children didn't, said one of his daughters, Merrill Nan Loomis.

Born into poverty in the Bronx, N.Y., Mr. Loomis had no toys as a child, but he created a baseball game out of a deck of cards and memorized the Lionel train catalogue. As a tall 11-year-old, he got his first job parking cars. In the parking lot at Yankee Stadium, he met Lou Gehrig, who introduced him to Joe DiMaggio.

He served with the Army Air Forces in the Philippines during World War II, then returned to New York and attended New York University. During the 1950s, he drifted a bit, working at a hardware store and then as a salesman for a toymaker before joining Mattel when it was still small.

"Prior to Mattel, there were no branded toys," Mr. Loomis told Robert Spector, author of "Category Killers: The Retail Revolution and Its Impact on Consumer Culture" (2004). "The business at that point was oriented to a few major retailers, like Sears. Sears buyers ran the world."

But when Mattel began advertising on television, the retailers' power was broken. TV expanded the market for toys, which resulted in lower prices for shoppers and narrower profit margins.

In 1969, Mattel was ready to introduce a matchbox-size series of miniature cars called Hot Wheels. Instead of simply making commercials, Mr. Loomis proposed creating a 30-minute program about the toys to appear on Saturday morning television. Although other toys had been spun off successful TV shows, no one had ever started a children's show with such a blatant commercial purpose.

The Federal Communications Commission, prodded by a Mattel competitor, asked stations to log the show as advertising time, which temporarily ruined the idea for other projects. The concept of commercials as entertainment programs returned about a decade later, when the federal regulatory climate changed.

Mr. Loomis had already moved on to General Mills, where he was president of Kenner Toys. He turned down the chance to license Stephen Spielberg's new movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," considering it not "toyetic," meaning its characters would not make good toys.

But he spotted a small notice for a movie called "Star Wars" in a Hollywood trade magazine that sounded more likely: Its characters wore distinctive costumes.

In keeping with standard practice, the "Star Wars" toys were not supposed to appear until about a year after the movie opened. But the immediate success of the film forced Mr. Loomis to reconsider.

Unable to speed up production, and with the all-important Christmas season looming, Mr. Loomis ordered paper certificates sold in colorful boxes for the price of the toy. Kenner promised to deliver the toys by mail eight months later, at which time a second wave of demand crested, as kids competed to get what their friends had.

With Mr. Loomis at the helm, General Mills's toy group surpassed Mattel as the world's largest and most profitable toy company. By 1984, he started a joint venture with Hasbro and served as consultant to that firm as it rose to the top of the industry. He operated his own business consulting group starting in 1988 and with his daughter Merrill launched another successful series, Quints dolls and accessories, with Tyco.

Mr. Loomis was the man behind the title of David Owen's "The Man Who Invented Saturday Morning, and Other Adventures in American Enterprise" (1988). A past president of the Toy Manufacturers of America, he was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1992.

In addition to his daughter Merrill of Napa, Calif., survivors include his wife of 59 years, Lillian Prince Loomis, of Palm Beach Gardens; another daughter, Debra Jan Loomis of Middletown, Calif.; and two grandchildren.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/03/AR2006060300729_pf.html

The "Live +" viewer doesn't watch commercials. Just because they are now tallied means nothing. The spin may sound good, but there's no way advertisers believed it for a minute.
Speak for yourself. I probably have more commericals recorded on my DVR than shows!

Seriously. No joke. lol

TV Sports
NHL's Strong Comeback Marred by Poor TV Ratings

By Tarik El-Bashir and Thomas Heath Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, June 5, 2006

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stood before a sea of cameras in New York last July and promised the league would emerge from its canceled 2004-05 season with more excitement and an economic system that would give all 30 teams a shot at profitability.

As the Stanley Cup finals begin tonight, Bettman appears to have achieved most of his goals: scoring and attendance are up and revenues are healthy, rule changes have made the game faster and more thrilling, and any team -- even those from small markets -- can win, as the finals between the Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers proves.

The big exception is television ratings -- a key revenue driver and measure of a sport's mass appeal -- which have gone from bad to worse. The NHL playoffs, mostly relegated to the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), a second-tier cable channel known for hunting and fishing programs and its Tour de France coverage, have barely registered with the American public. NBC's ratings aren't great, either.

"You look at the playoff [ratings] numbers, and they have been beaten pretty soundly by poker and bowling," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "But I don't think this year was ever about robust TV numbers. It was about the gate and about competitive balance. With an economic model that doesn't rely on television, they can make this league work long-term."

Bettman said the league continues to aspire to a national television audience, despite years of evidence that shows the NHL is a regional sport whose economics are attendance-driven. Bettman attaches his aspirations to those of OLN, which has jumped from 65 million to 70 million subscribers since it began broadcasting the NHL this season.

"In the short term, we gave up some TV subscribers," Bettman said in a telephone interview, referring to the league's move from the high-visibility of ESPN to the lesser-known OLN. "And in return, with patience, we will have better coverage, better production. And over time, both we and OLN will grow our presence."

He said OLN's coverage, involving six hours of hockey each night, will help bring back old fans and introduce the game to potential new ones. The coverage includes feature stories, hockey-themed movies, as well as highlight and wrap-up shows. Next season, the Comcast-owned OLN will switch its name to Versus as it expands its sports programming, using the NHL as its centerpiece.

"That is the type of treatment we have always coveted," Bettman said.

The NHL parted ways with ESPN when the network declined to offer the NHL any type of upfront rights fees for airing its games. Instead, ESPN proposed splitting profits after the network recouped its costs, terms virtually unheard of among the major professional sports leagues.

The NFL earns nearly $4 billion each year in national television rights fees, which earns each team well in excess of $100 million a year. And Major League Baseball and the NBA earn more than $700 million a year from national television rights, of which teams receive more than $20 million apiece. By contrast, the NHL national rights fee contract with OLN amounts to about $2 million per team.

Measured another way, the NHL will earn about 3 percent of its revenue from national television this year. The NBA's and MLB's share of national television revenue is well into the double digits, and the NFL's television revenue is about 66 percent of the total league-wide earnings.

Faced with little television revenue and rising costs, Bettman forced a player lockout last year and canceled the season rather than continuing to incur losses he said totaled nearly $500 million from 2002 through 2004.

But this season, thanks to higher than expected revenues and a new collective bargaining agreement with the NHL players' association that caps the amount the league pays its players at 54 percent of earnings, the NHL expects most of its teams will be profitable.

The salary cap has also created more parity on the ice, because the big media market teams like New York, Chicago, Detroit and Toronto can't beat the small-market clubs by simply outspending them. As a result, teams that lack the appeal the big clubs generate, like Edmonton and Carolina, are in the finals -- and television exposure continues to suffer.

During the playoffs, OLN is averaging 0.4 rating, which is well below the 0.7 ESPN had at the same time in 2004. NBC's telecasts have averaged a 1.1 rating, off from the 1.5 ABC pulled two years ago. There's a sliver of good television news: the Eastern Conference finals between Carolina and Buffalo last week was one of the most watched OLN programs ever. But that's a far cry from the big national television presence that Bettman and NHL owners hoped to achieve when they expanded in the 1990s.

Television ratings in Canada, where hockey has a huge following, figure to be strong for the finals, especially because Edmonton is playing for its first championship since 1990. But ratings in the U.S. could be among the lowest ever sans a large market team. Raleigh-Durham, where college basketball is king and where the Hurricanes are located, is the 29th-largest media market in the nation.

"The two objectives of parity and creating a national television contract are not necessarily consistent with each other," said Jeff Citron, a Toronto-based attorney who once worked for the players' union. Then again, said Citron, "hockey, in all fairness, is just not a sport with national appeal to Americans."

Some experts say modern professional sports, which have moved away from dynasties and more toward a system of financial parity that give even the smallest team a shot at winning championships, has caused ratings to suffer across the board. Most league executives privately pray for major market teams to make it to their finals.

"You want the larger market teams to be in there," said Capitals owner Ted Leonsis. "It's not New York and L.A."

However, the NHL has rebounded better than expected from the longest labor dispute in professional sports history. Fans returned in force -- according to league figures, attendance was up 2.4 percent to 16,955 fans per game during the regular season, a record. Revenues will likely exceed $2.1 billion, some $300 million more than projected.

And the new rules helped scoring rise to an average of 6.17 goals per game, up from 5.14 the previous season.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether the improved on-ice product will ever translate into better ratings. Some supporters say the NHL may have to consign itself to being a gate-driven sport with little widespread appeal.

"The NHL is what it is," said television consultant Mike Trager. "It's a major sport that is ratings-challenged."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/04/AR2006060400897_pf.html

TV Notebook
More ''The Shield,'' But With a Farewell Timetable

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Fans of ''The Shield,'' me among them, have feared that the 10 episodes planned for 2007 were going to be the last. But there will be more than that.

Although those 10 have been thought of as a continuation of the current season, FX is now treating them as a separate, sixth season. (Forest Whitaker, so good on the show recently, will be back on a limited basis for that sixth season.)

And there will be a seventh after that.

I don't really care what they call them -- although the separate-season labels could lead to an extra DVD set being squeezed out of the show -- just as long as the makers of the show are convinced they have more good stories to tell.

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

This does not surprise me since it was pointless filler, just like all those spliced together Lost episodes. Too much narrative exposition jammed together to keep new fans interested and nothing new for current fans.

The only surprise for me before I turned over was that it appeared to be in HD or at the very least upconverted widescreen. Much improved over USA's presentation.

Actually, as fans of the show, my wife and I quite enjoyed 'The 4400' clip show on NBC (and it most definitely was in HD, no upconvert). It helped us get caught up on the show's various plotlines after nearly a year away. The only bad thing is that we now have to watch the third season in SD on USA. The HD clip show was kind of like a date with a beautiful girl that you know you'll never see again. :(

And, since it appears we were about the only people in the country watching it, there was plenty of leg & elbow room in the cyber-theater! :)

And, since it appears we were about the only people in the country watching it, there was plenty of leg & elbow room in the cyber-theater! :)I watched it last night on the DVR and I alsow remember thinking that it was one of the better clip shows. And yes, for the same reason -- it has been so long since the last episodes, there were more than a few plot points that I had forgotten about.

TV Notebook
MediaLife Readers: A big ho-hum for fall lineups

Media buyers see no real breakout hit shows
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 6, 2006

This year’s upfront is off to a sluggish start, and the reason is that buyers are feeling no sense of urgency. The increasing parity among networks on competitive nights, such as Sunday and Thursday, means more choices and better leverage for advertisers.

It used to be that an advertiser wanting Thursday night could only go to NBC. Now that advertiser can choose between CBS, ABC and Fox.

But another reason for buyers' lack of urgency is their lack of excitement over the new fall shows.

That's the clear finding of a recent Media Life poll of media buyers and planners about the 2006-’07 season. We asked respondents to tell us, in their own words, what their biggest concern was about the upcoming season after seeing the upfront presentations.

The answer: programming, or the lack thereof. Some of the buyers' criticism was pretty harsh.

They predicted that none of the new shows would be hits, and this should be taken by the networks as a warning. Media Life readers have a good sense about this sort of thing. In a similar poll last year they had the same complaint, and indeed no new programs in 2005-’06 broke into the top 15 in adults 18-49.

That trend will likely continue this year. “There are not any really groundbreaking shows. The networks seem destined to lose more share points to cable,” writes one respondent.

Adds another: “There just isn't a hit in the new shows.”

And yet another: “The new shows lack originality. Much of the same ole, same ole.”

If there's one lesson from years past, it's that excitement over new shows sets the pace for the upfront market, with buyers rushing in to grab up scarce ad time on the new shows or existing hot shows, sometimes in a mood of near panic. It was that way for years when NBC dominated Thursday nights with the likes of "Friends." The other networks did not compete.

This year, buyers think Thursday will again be the most competitive night, though without NBC. In part that will be because of ABC's decision to move its hit “Grey’s Anatomy” there from Sunday night.

We asked, “What night will be the most competitive?” and 76 percent of respondents chose Thursday. Sunday came in a distant second at 16.5 percent. Tuesday was third with 4.3 percent.

Though buyers and planners don’t have big hopes for any of the new shows, they say NBC has the most promising drama, Aaron Sorkin’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” and the most promising comedy, Tina Fey’s “30 Rock.”

With 26 percent of the vote, “Strip” edged ABC’s “The Nine” at 22 percent. “Rock” received 39 percent, followed by ABC’s “Let’s Rob…” at 20.3 percent.

But NBC also has the two least-promising dramas, say Media Life readers: “Friday Night Lights,” a spinoff of the 2004 movie that received a third of the vote, and “The Black Donnellys,” a show about criminals from Paul Haggis that got 20.9 percent.

Respondents tabbed ABC’s “Notes from the Underbelly,” about a couple’s first baby, the least-promising comedy by a wide margin, 38 percent. Thursday companion “Big Day” on ABC was second at 15 percent.

As for which network is in the best shape for next season, it’s a tie. We asked: “Who has the strongest schedule for 2006-’07?”

ABC and CBS both received 33.5 percent of the vote. Fox was third at 20.7 percent.

On the flip side, NBC is in the worst shape for next season. We asked: “Who has the weakest schedule for 2006-’07?” NBC was first with 38.1 percent, followed by MyNetwork TV at 31.7 percent and the CW at 15.3 percent.

Asked which of last year's cancellations was more distressing, Fox’s “Arrested Development” or the WB’s “Everwood,” both favorites in media departments, 61 percent chose “Arrested.”

We also asked which last-minute renewal was most surprising. Fifty-five percent of respondents chose ABC’s “What About Brian,” 39.3 percent picked the WB’s “Seventh Heaven” and 5.7 percent chose CBS’s “King of Queens.”

Finally, we asked what the big storyline next season would be.

Nearly half, 49.5 percent, agreed with the statement: “Can NBC rebound after two down seasons?”

Second was “What the heck did the end of the 'Lost' finale mean?” with 18.9 percent, and third came “Will the CW succeed at wooing young viewers?” at 12.6 percent.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5156.asp

TV Notebook
Spoilers for HBO's Entourage Season #3

By Nikki Finke LA Weekly Monday, June 5th, 2006

As a way-too-cynical observer of Hollywood, I've always wondered why HBO's Entourage isn't, well, meaner. Seasons #1 and #2 were downright tame. The Hollywood I know and love is far more crappy than anything the series has shown yet. And don't get me started on the character of Ari: he bears as much resemblance to agents I know as the cleaned-up Henry Rollins of today does to the down-'n'-dirty Henry Rollins of yore. And "Let's hug it out, bitch" seems so lame two years later. Guys, you need a new catchphrase. Call me a cockeyed-optimist (no one ever does), but I have higher hopes for more realism on Entourage's Season #3 which bows next Sunday for 13 episodes. Not only are the five Hollywood talent agency heads featured (albeit fictional), but also the real Joel Silver and a fake Jeffrey Katzenberg. If you want to know more detailed spoilers, keep reading. Otherwise, you've been duly warned:

The new season picks up with Aquaman already shot and about to open. But, uh-oh, there are rolling blackouts around Los Angeles that threaten box office. Vince is now an international superstar; as a result, he scores even hotter girls since he's come out of his Mandy Moore-inspired funk by hitting single life hard. Ari opens his own boutique agency and develops a gambling problem. Eric gets serious with Terence's daughter Sloan, but also engages in a rather promising ménage à trois. Drama gets a TV gig. Turtle gets a girlfriend. There's also a lot of family in Season #3: we meet Eric's and Turtle's mothers. (No, Turtle wasn't hatched.) A new homeboy from the old neighborhood joins Vince's entourage. Shauna works pregnant. Ari is unnerved by his daughter dating a teen idol, but that may be payback for the agent's hazing of even more put-upon Lloyd. I'm looking forward to the scene between Ari and "The Five Families" i.e. the top five agency heads. Here's the casting sheet on this: "Male or female: Must be 35-50. These execs run the town's five biggest and most influential agencies. Smart, sophisticated, rich, slick and savvy, and very tough. A couple of lines apiece."

There's also a sexy and sophisticated female superagent Amanda (played by Carla Cugino) trying to steal Vince from Ari, and she plays dirty by sleeping with her prey. I'm hearing Vince pulls a prank on a Katzenberg clone by stealing a Shrek-like doll from his home. There's a road trip to Vegas, plus a visit to a Six Flags/Magic Mountain-type amusement park to christen the new Aquaman ride. Cameos this season include Kobe Bryant, Mercedes Ruehl (as Turtle's mom), Patti D'Arbanville (as Eric's mom), James Woods, Nora Dunn, Bruno Kirby and, again, James Cameron.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/

The Business of TV
CBS, Fox Kick Off Upfront Deals With 2 to 4% CPM Hikes

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JUNE 05, 2006 -

A small amount of broadcast upfront business was done by Monday night with both Fox and CBS doing deals at between 2 and 4 percent cost-per-thousand rate increases, according to industry sources familiar with the situation.

Fox, as it has traditionally done, struck some early deals with agencies representing movie advertisers. Among the agencies said to have done early deals were Starcom, OMD and Zenith.

Sources said ABC, NBC and CW had not done any deals by late in the day Monday.

ABC was said to be holding out for CPM increases above 5 percent for advertisers who were willing to base ratings guarantees on Live Plus Same Day ratings, which includes DVR viewing, but was seeking even higher CPM increases for advertisers wanting to base guarantees based on Live only (not inicluding DVR) ratings. Although he agreed to do business with live-only ratings as he previously vowed not to do, ABC sales president Mike Shaw was still attempting to do deals that took into consideration DVR viewing.

Earlier on Monday, ABC officials had blamed the other networks for caving in on the ratings' issue, saying that leaving Shaw alone to insist on Live Plus Same Day ratings gave him no leverage.

Going into the upfront marketplace, media buyers had said that they would only buy NBC, coming off double-digit ratings declines, if it rolled back prices siginificantly--possibly as much as 6 percent. And NBC execs had said that if that were the case, the network might hold back more inventory than usual and take its chances in the scatter market. That logic, of course, can change as upfront buying continues.

Most media agencies are expected to buy the Big Four networks, before they turn their attention to CW, the network that will be created by combining the WB and UPN and go on the air in early September. It may be a little more time consuming to do deals with CW, because a rate structure must be created for the first time that includes former WB returning shows, former UPN returning African-American sitcoms, and UPN's WWE (wrestling).

One network sales executive said, "A good chunk of business will be done by the end of this week, but deals will continue to be done throughout the summer."

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002613779

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Trumped: Finale fizzle for 'Apprentice'

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer June 6, 2006

Donald Trump’s “Apprentice” just keeps falling. The show, which has lost more than half of its audience over the past two years, ended its fifth season with a series-low finale yesterday despite airing against relatively little competition.

The 90-minute show starting at 9:30 p.m. averaged a 4.4 overnight rating among adults 18-49, 23 percent worse than the 5.7 for last season’s ender in December. It was the lowest-rated “Apprentice” finale ever, and was down 28 percent from a 6.1 for the third-season ender last year.

NBC held back the season finales of “Deal or No Deal” and “Apprentice” until nearly two weeks after May sweeps ended, hoping to build big audiences for them against light competition.

The approach worked for “Deal,” which tied a series high with a 5.5 in 18-49s and drew a series-best 18 million total viewers. But “Apprentice” fumbled much of “Deal’s” big audience.

“Deal” averaged a 6.7 in its final half hour at 9 p.m. “Apprentice” fell 36 percent, to a 4.3, at 9:30 p.m.

Sean Yazbeck won the competition, which has been sinking ever since monster numbers for the first edition two years ago, when it aired on NBC’s then-powerful Thursday night. Certainly a good part of its decline is because it no longer airs in the strong Thursday slot, but there’s also been some backlash against The Donald himself.

NBC has wisely put the show on hold for next year, when it won’t return until midseason.

One show that did have a big send-off last night was “Everwood,” the WB’s now-canceled drama. It averaged 4 million viewers for its finale, 11 percent better than its season average of 3.6 million.

Even with “Apprentice” down, NBC easily won the night with a 4.9 average rating and 14 share in 18-49s. CBS was second at 2.6/8, Fox third at 1.8/5, ABC fourth at 1.6/5, the WB fifth at 1.5/4, Univision sixth at 1.4/4, and UPN seventh at 0.8/3.

NBC led at 8 p.m. with a 4.9 for the first hour of “Deal,” followed by CBS’s “King of Queens” (2.1) and “How I Met Your Mother (1.9) at a combined 2.0. ABC was third with a 1.9 for “Wife Swap,” Fox fourth with a 1.5 for the first hour of “Rush Hour 2,” Univision fifth at 1.6, the WB sixth with a 1.4 for “Everwood,” and UPN last with a 0.7 for “One on One” (0.7) and “All of Us” (0.8).

At 9 p.m., NBC led with a 5.5 for “Deal” and “Apprentice,” followed by CBS’s 2.4 for “Two and a Half Men” (2.4) and “New Adventures of Old Christine” (2.5), Fox’s 2.1 for “Rush,” WB’s 1.7 for “Everwood,” ABC’s 1.6 for a “George Lopez” repeat and the first half hour of the “2006 ALMA Awards,” and Univision with a 1.5

At 10 p.m., NBC led with “Apprentice’s” 4.4, followed by a 3.4 for CBS’s “CSI: Miami” and a 1.5 for ABC’s “ALMA.” Univision averaged a 1.1.

Among households, NBC led with a 9.1/15, followed by CBS at 5.9/10, ABC at 3.1/5, Fox at 3.0/5, WB at 2.6/4, Univision at 1.8/3 and UPN at 1.3/2.

Nielsen also issued national ratings for Sunday night, after a processing glitch delayed the release of overnight ratings yesterday. ABC won the night with a 2.4 average rating in 18-49s and 7 share, followed by Fox at 2.1/6, CBS at 2.0/6, NBC at 1.8/5 and the WB at 0.6/2.

ABC led at 7 p.m. with “America’s Funniest Home Videos” at 1.9, followed by “Dateline” on NBC at 1.7, CBS’s “60 Minutes” at 1.5, Fox’s “Malcolm in the Middle” and “King of the Hill” at 1.4, and the WB’s “Reba: Beginnings” at 0.7.

At 8 p.m. ABC led again with “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” at 2.3, followed by Fox’s “The Simpsons” (2.8) and “War at Home (2.1), CBS’s “Cold Case” at 1.9, NBC’s “Dateline” at 1.7, and the WB’s “Charmed” at 0.6.

At 9 p.m., a “Desperate Housewives” repeat on ABC tied with the first hour of “Ocean’s Eleven” on CBS at 2.4, followed by Fox’s “Family Guy” (2.7) and “American Dad” (2.3), NBC’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” at 1.9, and WB’s “Charmed” at 0.6.

At 10 p.m., ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” led with a 2.8, followed by a 2.4 for “Eleven” and a 2.0 for NBC’s “Crossing Jordan.”

Among households, CBS led the night at 5.5/10, followed by NBC at 5.4/9, ABC at 3.8/7, Fox at 2.8/5 and the WB at 1.0/2.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5186.asp

The Business of TV
ABC bows to buyers on deals

By Andrew Wallenstein The Hollywood Reporter June 06, 2006

The broadcast upfront marketplace began in earnest Monday as ABC relented to media buyers' insistence on sticking with live ratings guarantees.

The network said that it will continue to use live data from Nielsen Media Research as "one of the options advertisers may consider during this year's upfront."

Meanwhile, all four broadcast networks are in varying degrees of negotiations with buyers. ABC and CBS, sources said, have begun to write business, but cost-per-thousand price fluctuations are still being determined.

ABC reportedly had indicated to media buyers going into the upfronts that it would only negotiate on "Live Plus 7" ratings, which take into account viewership on digital video recorders a week after a program has aired. While ABC's broadcast rivals differed a softer position, Madison Avenue formed a united front of resistance to the idea, which led to ABC changing its stance.

But ABC also gave the DVR-inclusive ratings a vote of confidence.

"While the majority of the advertising community has reached a consensus on the Nielsen DVR ratings issue, and has concluded that that commercials seen during DVR-recorded programming have no value, the ABC Television Network continues to believe strongly in the worth of the 'Live Plus' viewer and will continue its efforts to include this audience."

ABC declined to elaborate. CBS, Fox and NBC declined comment.

Talks initially were at a standstill between buyers and networks over the issue. Representatives of the advertising world have argued that the sample of DVR usage being drawn by Nielsen is still too small to be valid.

Another complicating factor is the availability of advertising on digital platforms, with each network beginning to make significant investments on the Internet and wireless devices.

Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica Reif Cohen has projected the broadcasters could haul in $9.1 billion at this year's upfront, only about 1% higher than last year despite the winnowing of the field with UPN and WB Network merging into the new CW Network.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002613781

TV Notebook
Canceling fine family drama after four seasons is a bad call

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News

Of the dozens of e-mails I've received about the CW's decision to cancel ``Everwood,'' one struck a particularly plaintive tone:

``I can't believe that anyone who has ever seen this wonderful show would even think of taking it off the air,'' it said. ``There is so little on television involving real people dealing with real problems in very real ways. It has to be a mistake and they'll bring back `Everwood' after they come to their senses.''

Unfortunately, it wasn't a mistake -- at least not in the way the writer suggested -- and the touching family drama about life in a small Colorado town (came to and end last night). The producers of the show say they saw the handwriting on the wall and created an episode that, after some tweaking of the final scenes, could bring a level of closing to the series.

Despite rumors to the contrary, and a vigorous campaign by the show's fans, ``Everwood'' is gone. The sets have been struck; the writers and cast members have signed on to other projects.

It's a sad moment. ``Everwood'' never seemed to stand a chance with the top brass at the CW, the shotgun marriage of the old WB and UPN. I know and like Dawn Ostroff, the former UPN entertainment boss who is now running the CW. She's smart and has a great passion for good television.

But Ostroff -- and the folks she reports to -- had a clear vision of their new network as a destination spot for the 18-to-34 audience with the kind of cool the WB oozed in its heyday. That means there is room for ``Veronica Mars'' (fine series, lousy ratings) and ``One Tree Hill'' (lousy show, lousy ratings) on the new schedule, but not for ``Everwood.''

The network even chose to revive ``7th Heaven'' -- which aired its ``series finale'' in early May -- rather than to pick up ``Everwood'' for a fifth year. (I don't particularly mind ``7th Heaven'' coming back, and its considerable fan base is just delighted. It's the most-watched show in the history of the WB, and its finale drew a big audience, which contributed to its surprise renewal.)

The decision -- and it's pretty clear it was either ``Everwood'' or ``Heaven'' but not both -- may make some sense in the short term as ``Heaven'' probably is a better bet as a proven lead-in for the CW's new drama ``Runaway'' on Mondays. But ``Everwood'' was the stronger show creatively and, with some proper tending and a decent time period, it might have stayed on the air as long as ``Heaven.''

That's history now, however, and the CW executives will have to live with the call they made.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/14743472.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Speak for yourself. I probably have more commericals recorded on my DVR than shows!

Seriously. No joke. lol

I have one that is a permanent fixture on my hard drive. A Carlton Draft commercial that aired in Australia.

TV Notebook
Some Tuesday Cable Premieres

TVGuide.com

Rescue Me [New]
10 pm/ET, FX (Second episode of the season)
With Laura out of the picture (and Diane Farr a regular on Numbers), Rescue Me's Franco needs a new girlfriend. Enter Susan Sarandon. Will the age discrepancy between the fiery Franco and Sarandon's worldly businesswoman character be a factor? "She looks like my mom" is the way Sean puts it. All moms should look like that. Elsewhere tonight, John Sr.'s 83rd birthday is approaching, and the party, trust us, will be memorable. — Paul Droesch
________________________________________

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List [New]
9 pm/ET, BRAVO
Brazen celeb basher Kathy Griffin returns for more D-list misadventures as she kicks off the second season of her reality series. Kathy recalls the tribulations in her life since last season, addressing her breakup with hubby Matt and the death of her beloved dog. But the undaunted Griffin pushes ahead, auctioning off a weekend stay at her home for charity, going on a "Red State" stand-up tour, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live — and busting on celebrities galore. — Dean Maurer
________________________________________

Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency [New]
10 pm/ET, OXYGEN
The self-proclaimed "world's first supermodel" attempts to open and run her own modeling agency — all while the cameras roll. Known for her flamboyant behavior as a judge on America's Next Top Model and as a housemate on The Surreal Life, Janice Dickinson remains true to form as the star of her own reality show. During tonight's hourlong series opener, while auditioning candidates for her new venture, she tells a perfectly thin young woman to lose weight (ouch!) and gets livid when a Christian pastor refuses to take part in a nude photo shoot (yikes!). However, Dickinson's abrasive personality is toned down in dealings with her two young children. — Megan Walsh-Boyle
________________________________________
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy [New]
10 pm/ET, BRAVO
Carson Kressley & Co. return for a fourth season to help more dire straits. In the first of three glitzy episodes set in Las Vegas, the fabulous five attempt to reinvent magician and fire-eater Max Clever, whose ramshackle abode is an animal house, indeed: It's home to an Elvis-impersonating dog, 109 doves, two parrots and one wascally wabbit. While adding some Sin City pizzazz to Max's act, the team also helps his painter wife open an art exhibit. — DM

http://tvguide.com/tv/hotlist/

Washington Notebook
Indecency Fines

By David Hinckley The New York Daily News June 6, 2006

The House of Representatives is expected to approve the Senate's media indecency bill tomorrow, raising the top fine the FCC can levy for each indecency offense from $32,500 to $325,000.

The House earlier approved a bill raising fines to $500,000 per offense and making it easier for the FCC to fine individual hosts, as well as broadcast owners.

But the House is now expected to okay the Senate version, which says nothing about hosts.

Broadcasters don't want any new indecency bill, but President Bush has indicated he will sign it.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/423911p-357721c.html

(From Marc Berman’s Tuesday, June 6, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest

FX Renews The Shield for Season 7:
FX has picked-up Emmy winning drama The Shield for a seventh, and final, season, with an order for an additional 13 episodes following the upcoming 10 in season six. The Shield is expected to officially conclude in late 2007 or early 2008.

Cybill Shepherd Joins The L Word:
Cybill Shepherd will mark her return to primetime in Showtime drama The L Word next season. Shepherd will play the president of the college where Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals) attends graduate school.

Chain Reaction on GSN:
Cable net GSN has ordered 65 episodes of Chain Reaction, a revival of the 1980 quiz show from Michael Davies (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire) for Sony Pictures Television. Taped in New York City, Chain Reaction will feature teams of men and women as they try to complete chains of words after the first and last words of the chain are revealed. Each word in the chain is related in some way to the chain directly above and/or below it. Viewers at home will have a chance to play at home at gsn.com.

Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Comes to Adult Swim:
The immortal Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (no jokes, please!) is about to make a comeback courtesy of Adult Swim, which will begin airing all 45 original episodes (plus a Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special) effective on Monday, July 10 at 11 p.m. ET. Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, which debuted on CBS Saturday morning on Sept. 13, 1986, and featured Phil Hartman, Laurence Fishburne, S. Epatha Merkerson and Natasha Lyonne, will air Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. ET.

Court TV and MSN Partner for Online Premiere of Haunting Evidence:
Court TV and MSN have partnered for an online premiere for the first two episodes of new series Haunting Evidence, which debuts on Court TV, Wednesday, June 14 at 10:30 p.m. ET. MSN will premiere the first episode of the series on Monday, June 12, two days prior to the network’s premiere. MSN will also provide editorial support for the series on their TV and entertainment pages.

Reader Feedback: The Sopranos

“I thought the Sopranos season-finale was brilliant. It would have been too easy and too predictable to have Tony's world explode in a cavalcade of violence. Instead, David Chase left us on the edge of our seats waiting for a whacking. Only on the Sopranos could a milquetoast ending be so shocking.”
-B.H., Toronto, CA

-----

“The season ending episode of The Sopranos mirrored the entire season – truly awful. The only ongoing storyline that saved it from a total embarrassment was examining the relationship between Tony and Janice. Otherwise, the typical soap devices like Tony on his deathbed, Paulie learning the truth about his mother, and A.J. flunking out of school were no better than any typical daytime serial.”
-S.W., Gary, IN

-----

“I could not agree with you more about The Sopranos! Both my husband and I sat there on Sunday saying, "That's it?, That's all we get after waiting so long?" I thought for sure they would do something to entice viewers to come back in January. While I agree with you that The Sopranos is still better than most of the dramas on television, it is not the show it used to be.”
-C.B., Los Angeles, CA

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp

TV Notebook
Some Tuesday Cable Premieres

TVGuide.com

Rescue Me [New]
10 pm/ET, FX

Rescue Me premiered last Tuesday, May 30th, tonight is the second ep of the season.

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.

Last week’s top 10 prime-time program ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS -- the first post in this thread.

Rescue Me premiered last Tuesday, May 30th, tonight is the second ep of the season.


Thanks, Jim. Edit made.

Sorry I missed this yesterday….

Obituary
Bernard Loomis, 82
Merged Toy Marketing, Saturday Cartoons

By Patricia Sullivan Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, June 4, 2006

Bernard Loomis, 82, a legendary toy marketer who, by turning advertisements for toys into children's cartoon programming, was dubbed "the man who invented Saturday morning," died of heart disease June 2 at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla...

In 1969, Mattel was ready to introduce a matchbox-size series of miniature cars called Hot Wheels. Instead of simply making commercials, Mr. Loomis proposed creating a 30-minute program about the toys to appear on Saturday morning television. Although other toys had been spun off successful TV shows, no one had ever started a children's show with such a blatant commercial purpose.

The Federal Communications Commission, prodded by a Mattel competitor, asked stations to log the show as advertising time, which temporarily ruined the idea for other projects. The concept of commercials as entertainment programs returned about a decade later, when the federal regulatory climate changed...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/03/AR2006060300729_pf.html
Good article.

However, there has been some backtracking as of late. Among other things, while it would be OK to do a children's show based on Pokemon characters, it is illegal under the Children's Television Act for those characters to appear in commercials within or adjacent to the show. Doing so would cause the FCC to consider the show a program-length commercial, which would in turn violate the commercial time limit the FCC puts on kids' shows (10.5 minutes per hour on weekends, or 12 minutes on weekdays).

TV Notebook
Dozier Makes Progress, Travel Plans

(CBSNews.com)
(CBS/AP) LANDSTUHL, Germany, June 6, 2006--CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier, seriously wounded in Iraq by a car bomb that killed four other people, is expected to return home to the United States from Germany on Wednesday, the network said Tuesday.

Linda Mason, Senior Vice President, Standards and Special Projects, CBS News, who has been with Dozier since her arrival at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, reports the swelling of Kimberly's face has decreased significantly, she had the first physical therapy session on her legs Tuesday, and she had her hair washed.

Dozier is in good spirits, says Mason.

Dozier, 39, was critically wounded May 29 while reporting a story last week in Iraq. The attack killed her camera crew — Britons Paul Douglas and James Brolan — as well as a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi translator.

She underwent two emergency surgeries in Iraq before being flown the next day to the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in southern Germany. She suffered head and lower body injuries, and her family said she would need rods in her legs.

She was initially scheduled to be flown home Sunday, but the plane expected to carry her was full.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/30/iraq/printable1664012.shtml

The "Live +" viewer doesn't watch commercials. Just because they are now tallied means nothing. The spin may sound good, but there's no way advertisers believed it for a minute.

No, but the "Live +" viewer is subject to the product placement within a show. Expect to see more and more of this as DVR ownership rises.

Personally, if the advertisers could come up with some entertaining ads I might start scanning them rather then just skipping over them altogether. But, they might offend one person in Iowa, and we can't have that when broadcasting to millions!

You make a good point, except by the incessant catering to the 18-49 demo by all the networks in prime time, the advertisers (it seems to me) routinely offend tens of millions of viewers.

Cable TV Notebook
TNT's Weekly Ratings Top Cable Nets, Again

By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com JUNE 06, 2006 -

TNT extended its ratings streak by another week, eking out a victory over its basic cable rivals with an average prime time audience of 3.01 million viewers and a 2.5 household rating for the week ending June 4.

The Turner net held ESPN at bay even as sports giant boasted the two highest-rated programs of the week with game five of the NBA Eastern Conference finals between the Miami Heat and the Detroit Pistons (6.60 million total viewers) and the sixth and final game of that series (6.46 million) on Wednesday and Friday nights, respectively.

ESPN ended the week in second place, averaging 2.72 million total viewers in prime and a 2.3 household rating, enough to beat out USA Network (2.64 million/2.3), Comedy Central (1.80 million/1.4) and Cartoon Network (1.75 million/1.5), according to Nielsen Media Research.

Non-ad-supported Disney Channel was the nominal fourth-place finisher in prime, averaging 2.48 million total viewers and a 2.1 household rating.

TNT’s coverage of the Western Conference finals earned it three of the week’s top ten largest audiences, and two of the top five, as its games four, five and six of the Phoenix Suns/Dallas Mavericks series lured an average 5.97 million viewers.

Other top draws of the week were FX’s Sunday afternoon presentation of its weekly NASCAR Nextel Cup race, which took fourth place on the week with 5.99 million viewers, and Comedy Central’s Blue Collar Comedy movie, which drew 5.31 million viewers Sunday night.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002614406

I don’t want to offend anyone (really, I don’t!) but I found this ad in the Hollywood Reporter screamingly funny.

And I like Katie Couric!

I hope you'll enjoy it, too.

I don’t want to offend anyone (really, I don’t!) but I found this ad in the Hollywood Reporter screamingly funny.

And I like Katie Couric!

I hope you'll enjoy it, too.

Thanks for that Fred. It was funny at a number of different levels. :D

Cable TV Notebook
More fun stuff

Give Us Eight Minutes, We'll Give You The (Mrs.) World

By Ben Grossman bcbeat.com June 6, 2006

As networks, producers, media companies and everyone else fall over themselves trying to figure out the winning business model for pushing content via the Internet, sometimes there are occassions where you just have to stop, take a breath and give thanks for the invent of the technology.

Because without the ability to view video online, I would never have gotten to see the last eight minutes of the Mrs. World pageant, which was carried by WE.

The highlights included the wrong woman being crowned, a small child in a creepy costume being lowered from the rafters and even an Alan Thicke sighting.

If you have eight minutes, the link is below. Sit back and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TJ_UKt4QtQ

http://www.bcbeat.com/

TV Notebook
“The Evidence” Returns -- Briefly

Starting Saturday at 10 PM ET/PT, ABC will begin running unaired episodes of “The Evidence”.

The network has confirmed three consecutive Saturday airings.

A fourth, on July 1, is also believed to be involved, according to thefutoncritic.com.

Washington Notebook
NAB Testing New Multicast Legal Theory

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com 6/6/2006

A federal mandate requiring digital-only broadcasting in 2009 is a new and important governmental interest that justifies the need to broaden the digital-TV-carriage obligations of cable operators, the National Association of Broadcasters argued in a legal analysis recently submitted to the Federal Communications Commission.

The NAB’s reliance on the 2009 “hard date” bringing analog TV to an abrupt halt represented a novel legal argument in the trade group’s eight-year quest to require cable operators to carry a requesting digital-TV station’s entire signal, whether that’s one HD service or 6-12 multicast services. Today, cable is required to carry one program service of each station that elects mandatory carriage.

In February, President Bush signed a law that requires TV stations to surrender their analog licenses no later than Feb. 17, 2009, and to transmit only in digital. The law set aside $990 million-$1.5 billion to fund digital-to-analog converter boxes for millions of consumer with outdated analog-TV sets.

FCC chairman Kevin Martin is trying to round up support to adopt multicast-must-carry rules at the agency’s June 15 public meeting. If Martin is successful, the FCC is expected to highlight the analog cutoff as an important new policy in support of its legal position that multicast must-carry is permissible under the First Amendment, an FCC source said Tuesday.

The connection between the end of analog TV and the need for so-called multicast must-carry was spelled out in a 34-page white paper in which the NAB explained at length the constitutional bases for modifying cable-carriage requirements for digital-TV stations.

Many of the NAB’s legal arguments had been aired before. But its decision to make a connection between the analog cutoff and the constitutionality of multicast must-carry was a new approach from the NAB.

“There is yet another -- and entirely new -- important government interest here: promoting the swift transition to digital television,” the NAB said in the June 2 filing.

A successful digital-TV transition as articulated by the FCC, the NAB added, involved plying consumers with copious amounts of digital content, including HD and multicast services.

“Broadcasters have responded through their efforts to develop and offer multistream broadcasting to viewers,” the NAB said. “Consequently, an FCC requirement that ensures that multicasts reach the vast cable audience certainly would promote an important governmental interest.”

In February 2005, the FCC declined for the second time to impose multicast must-carry on cable, insisting that broadcasters had failed to demonstrate, as required by Supreme Court precedent, that expanded cable carriage would “preserve the benefits of free, over-the-air broadcast television” or “promote the widespread dissemination of information from a multiplicity of sources.”

In a court challenge, the cable industry would likely argue that the FCC’s rules were unjustified because within the space of 16 months in which market realities had not dramatically changed, the FCC went from saying that multicast must-carry didn’t meet Supreme Court standards to saying that it did.

The NAB’s introduction of the hard date as new and important development ordered by Congress could give the FCC the necessary legal support to explain convincingly the need to impose multicast must carry after refusing twice to do so.

“Extending must-carry rules to multicasting advances both of these clearly established interests [free TV and access to multiple sources of information], as well as interest in fair competition in the video-programming market,” the NAB said. “In addition, carriage rights for multistream broadcasting further the more recent government interest in transitioning from analog to digital delivery of programming.”

TV Review
This bite needs a shot in the arm

By Verne Gay Newsday Staff Writer June 7, 2006

There may well never be - never was, and never will be - a world more ripe for scorn, parody or flat-out ridicule than the local TV newsroom. All that hairspray. All those stern anchor visages, and Ted Baxter lites. All those stories on new diet fads or killer chickens bracketed by lead-ins that bleed and the latest traffic, weather and sports!! Local TV news seems to wear a sign on its back reading "kick me," and a couple of generations of TV and big-screen comedy writers have obliged. Sometimes the results are inspired ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show"), and sometimes not ("Anchorman"), but it's almost impossible to miss the target.

So, how did the team behind Comedy Central's "Dog Bites Man" (premieres 10:30 PM ET Wednesday) so thoroughly muck the whole thing up? This isn't to say there aren't a couple of funny lines here (there are) or that the characters aren't ridiculously implausible (they are, and that's fine to a point). But it's almost as though the production team - led by Dan Mazer of "Da Ali G Show" - wandered into a candy store and, not knowing what to grab off the shelf, decided to grab everything. In its zeal to zing local TV news, "Dog" loses any flavor of authenticity, which is absolutely essential for effective satire.

Another one of those single-camera "cinema verite" jobs, "Dog" borrows from the approach of shows such as "The Office" and "Reno 911," which is to say it's populated by workplace archetypes (dorky boss), or, rather, stereotypes. And like "Reno," there's an improv element here, while at least one of the regulars, Matt Walsh, is an old hand at that perilous craft.

Set at KHBX, a fictitious Spokane, Wash., newsroom, "Dog" features the exploits of reporter Kevin Beekin (Walsh) and his team as they pursue pressing stories of the day (pressing, anyway, for KHBX); in the premiere they travel to Pasadena to cover an Iron Man body- building contest. Yeah, there are complications (aren't there always?): Tillie Sullivan (Andrea Savage), a former secretary at the station with whom Beekin once had a torrid affair and who later left, has returned to the station as his producer.

But besides a now-resentful Beekin, she has to deal with the scatological-minded director, Alan Finger (Zach Galifianakis), whose habit of giving names to some of his body parts at the wrong place and wrong time (including "in front of Condoleezza Rice") brings a sensitivity trainer to the studio. The other member of their team, Marty Shonson (A.D. Miles), is a production assistant and failed stand-up comic.

When the station manager calls to tell Tillie she's got to get four extra minutes on the Iron Man story - four minutes that, for some reason, are impossible to get - she worries that she'll lose her job. Not to worry, says old pro Beekin: "We can save any segment ... remember that segment when we did the world's fattest pets" and all the tapes were lost? "You mean when we got those two rabbits," she asks, "and we tied them together to look like a big fat one?"

Kind of amusing, right? Kind of ridiculous, too, and "Dog Bites Man" never rises above this level.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel4770721jun07,0,6008915,print.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

TV Notebook
Not-Yet-Dead-wood

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic Tuesday, Jun. 6, 2006

Fans of HBO's Shakespeare-with-Tourette's Western have reason to rejoice, or at least to mourn a little less: Deadwood will not be fed to the pigs after the season 3, which starts Sunday. Not exactly. After weeks of confusion, in which the network seemed ready to let one of its highest-rated and most-praised remaining dramas die a season earlier than planned, HBO and creator David Milch struck a compromise: after season 3, the show will wrap in two two-hour movies, Variety reports.

It's still a loss for fans who expected a full four seasons —one, as Milch had planned, for each year the mining camp existed in real life—but it's better than the sudden death expected after HBO chose not to re-sign the cast several weeks ago. The various factors behind the shutdown—or as Al Swearengen would say, the "f___ing imponderables"—were theorized as follows: Milch was developing a new series for the network, John from Cincinnati, based on the surf-noir novels of Kem Nunn, and wouldn't have time to devote to both shows without a lengthy delay for season 4. Also, some suspected, it didn't help that Deadwood was very expensive to make and comes from an outside producer, making the financial bite even worse for HBO.

It still seems like too soon, but four full seasons would have, too. It's for the best, though—since, given the series' timeline, to have Deadwood last more than four years Milch would have to have made the mining camp exist longer than it did in real life, departing from frontier reality. I don't think any of us would have wanted to see that. (Coming up in season 8: Can Sheriff Bullock keep his job when an eccentric inventor promises to replace him with a steam-powered robot?)

Four hours should be plenty of time for Milch to plan and provide closure, as the lawless mining town is gradually taken over by ruthless, iron-fisted capitalists. That endgame is already playing out in the fantastic five episodes of season 3 HBO sent to critics, in which misanthropic mining mogul George Hearst (Gerald Raney—yes, I do mean Major Dad) rolls into town and proves to be even scarier than Swearengen. The episodes are poetic and searing--there is a violent scene in episode 5 that still gives me the heebie-jeebies, two weeks after watching it--and stay true to the show's theme that "civilization" can be as heartless and brutal as the lawlessness it replaces.

It's only fitting, in a way, that Deadwood the show, like Deadwood the camp, should have its life cut short by business-side intrigue. Whether you're mining gold or making TV, business can be a real c_________.

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

Cable TV Notebook
'Sopranos' finale ratings underwhelm

By Andrew Wallenstein The Hollywood Reporter June 07, 2006

"The Sopranos" went out with a whimper instead of a bang Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research ratings.

The mob drama's final episode of the year drew a disappointing 8.9 million total viewers -- just a hair over the average audience that turned out for the series throughout its sixth season.

Finales usually manage to build over season averages by millions of viewers.

"Sopranos" will close out its run with the final eight episodes of the series in January 2007.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002614348

Cable TV Notebook
More fun stuff

Give Us Eight Minutes, We'll Give You The (Mrs.) World

By Ben Grossman bcbeat.com June 6, 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TJ_UKt4QtQ

http://www.bcbeat.com/

Hilarious. Talk about "Ooooops".

The networks will trot out some study which will "refute" what you say, CP95, but I agree with you entirely,

I agree with both of you also but I watch enough TV that is not Tivo'ed that I still don't feel like I have not missed many commericals. My situation is a bit different since I have two different environments that I watch TV in, at home and at work. So I do end up watching more commericals than someone who works a normal 9-5 job and use the DVR heavily. Also I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who do not used the triple fast forward like I do. So they see them "subliminally". :)

I agree with both of you also but I watch enough TV that is not Tivo'ed that I still don't feel like I have not missed many commericals. My situation is a bit different since I have two different environments that I watch TV in, at home and at work. So I do end up watching more commericals than someone who works a normal 9-5 job and use the DVR heavily. Also I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who do not used the triple fast forward like I do. So they see them "subliminally". :)


And, of course, the overwhelming majority of Americans still don't have DVRs.

TV Notebook
First Wives Club

By Michael Starr The New York Post June 6, 2006 –

Unlike a certain HBO show that will go unnamed, the cable channel's quirky new hit, "Big Love," left viewers wanting more last Sunday night.

The first season of the odd little series about a Utah businessman trying to hide his polygamous life from public view - and wriggle free from the grasp of an evil cult leader who bankrolled him - has been picking up fans since its debut last winter.

And the finale this weekend left them wondering: When will it be back?

Filming on Season 2 of the show is scheduled to begin in August in L.A.

The stars of the first season - Bill Paxton as home-improvement store king Bill Henrickson; Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin as his three wives; and Harry Dean Stanton as the cult leader, Roman - are all set to return.

At this point, HBO has not set a return date for "Big Love." "Sometime in 2007" is all officials would say yesterday.

It's possible that, on the scheduling front, "Big Love" could once again be teamed on Sunday nights with "The Sopranos," which returns in January for its seventh and final season (which also begins filming those episodes this summer).

"Big Love" wasn't a breakout hit for HBO, averaging around 4 million viewers this season, according to Nielsen. That's roughly half of its "Sopranos" lead-in, but those are respectable numbers for a freshman series with an eccentric premise.

It has all the makings of the kind of show that could stick around for a while.

Unlike "Carnivale," "Big Love" is not a period drama, which is costly to produce.

Most of it is shot in the studio, which is cheaper than shows like "Deadwood," which are shot mostly outdoors at much higher-than-average costs.

Both "Carnivale" and "Deadwood" were canceled after a few seasons because of their expense.

Sunday's season finale left the characters in all sorts of precarious positions: the Henricksons' family secret is exposed; a sister-in-law is revealed to be an off-kilter, serial poisoner; and the battle for control between Bill and Roman is at a teeth-gnashing stalemate.

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/64815.htm

I never watch live. I may start 20 minutes late and watch in somewhat "real time", but catching a commercial is rare in my household. The exception is Lost, which in my Tivo-less theater gets watched in real time warts and all. 24 also was a "theater show" for me, and I hate to punish FOX, but when when Prison Break started, we started watching via Tivo because 2 hours of programming with commercials was too much to bear.

The message to the networks (for my household): Develop quality programming with great audio and video, and I'll watch your commercials.......just don't develop more than an hour a night of quality programming. ;)

I agree.
We often begin basketball/football games 30 minutes late so we can skim through commercial breaks quickly. If we have to sit through some fourth quater commercials, so be it.
But if we find ourselves catching up too quickly, we often take a break and rejoin watching the game a bit later.

Whether cable or OTA, all my TV watching is through an HTPC. Whenever I catch up to real time again and run into a commercial I hit pause for awhile and switch to email, browsing forums, etc. I also have a regular Accurian OTA STB but have not watched anything on it for months now.

So I don't think I actually watch anything completely real time anymore.

- Tom

I am far from an expert in anything technical, Tom.

Can you please explain HTPC for those of us whose VCRs always blinked 12:00?

I am far from an expert in anything technical, Tom.

Can you please explain HTPC for those of us whose VCRs always blinked 12:00?

HTPC stands for Home Theater PC...basically a computer that is built with a TV Tuner in it and basically works like a DVR but is completely customizable...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTPC for more info

Donald :)

Starting Tuesday at 8 PM ET/PT, NBC will begin running unaired episodes of “Fear Factor”.

The message to the networks (for my household): Develop quality programming with great audio and video, and I'll watch your commercials.......just don't develop more than an hour a night of quality programming. ;)

One hour of quality programming per night? Is that possible? :-)

Because I'm slightly over the age of 49, I have a great excuse for not watching commercials. The networks and advertising agencies don't care about Baby Boomers anyway. We're old, almost in the grave, don't have money, not capable of making new decisions, etc. The reasons go on and on. I've seen this firsthand. I work in radio.

With this in mind, I certainly hope the network and advertising agency folks, along with employees at Sony will personally forgive me for recently purchasing the 60" Sony SXRD HDTV. I humbly apologize for spending almost $5000, buying into new technology and occasionally watching network programming on it which is clearly and strategically catering to the 18-49 year old demographic. Me bad..........

Steve

One hour of quality programming per night? Is that possible? :-)

Because I'm slightly over the age of 49, I have a great excuse for not watching commercials. The networks and advertising agencies don't care about Baby Boomers anyway. We're old, almost in the grave, don't have money, not capable of making new decisions, etc. The reasons go on and on. I've seen this firsthand. I work in radio.

With this in mind, I certainly hope the network and advertising agency folks, along with employees at Sony will personally forgive me for recently purchasing the 60" Sony SXRD HDTV. I humbly apologize for spending almost $5000, buying into new technology and occasionally watching network programming on it which is clearly and strategically catering to the 18-49 year old demographic. Me bad..........

Steve

Great - now some funeral home company is going to read this post and we're going to start getting HD Commercials for our death planning - Thanks alot :)

I'm like the rest of you. The only thing I watch live is CSI: Miami and that's b/c I'm arriving at home from the gym when it is coming on but it's still recording just in case. I also reocrd the afternoon college football games and skip thru the commercials. I skip thru the commercials b/c they, quite frankly, bore me. If the commercials were better I would watch. The only commercials I watch are ones that catch my attention when I ff. You know, ones that appear to have a scantily clad woman :) in it or one about a movie that I maybe interested in or the preview for a show that I watch.

Even when I have to watch live TV I'm usually doing something else during the ads. Put some entertainment value into the ads and I just might close my laptop or put down the crossword.

TV FEATURE

Elizabeth Vargas says network didn't force her out

By GAIL SHISTER
Knight Ridder Newspapers
June 7, 2006, 9:50AM

Was Elizabeth Vargas pushed from the throne at ABC?

Oh, baby.

Despite feminist uproar, Vargas, who's expecting her second child in August, says it was absolutely her call to step down late last month as anchor of ABC World News Tonight.

"I am not a pregnant working mother wronged," she says. "I played a crucial and active role in this decision. It's the best thing for me and my family and my career right now. I have no complaints."

When ABC announced Good Morning America's Charlie Gibson as her replacement, Vargas played the good soldier, saying she was cutting back her workload on the advice of her doctors, and would remain as anchor of 20/20.

Vargas and WNT co-anchor Bob Woodruff had debuted as a team less than five months earlier. Moreover, she'd been carrying the load alone since Woodruff was seriously injured Jan. 29 in a roadside bombing in Iraq.

Such feminist groups as the National Organization for Women say that Vargas' move was a demotion and that it sent a bad message to American women about trying to balance career and family.

No and no, Vargas says.

"I don't feel I'm off this career track permanently in any way, shape or form. I still have a very important job and a very important role at ABC News.

"I have no reason to believe this is anything but a small blip. I've been assured from the highest levels that I will have a long career here."

Still, Vargas wants another shot at anchoring a five-day-a-week show (even mornings) for ABC in about five years, when her kids are older. If not her own shop, then ...

"I've been told by other networks if it doesn't work out here, there will be opportunities elsewhere. Those kinds of conversations take place all the time. It's a very small business. We all know each other."

Vargas' contract runs until mid-2010, according to ABC insiders. She joined the network in 1996.

As for a woman having it all, well, Vargas is the first to admit that it is hard "to be a good parent and a good employee."

Particularly when you're enduring a tough pregnancy. Vargas, who turns 44 in September, says she's had many more problems this time around than she did with Zachary, now 3.

"I feel horrible. I have debilitating nausea every day and fatigue. I've been very honest with them (management) about the difficulties. I didn't think it was fair to give this job less than 150 percent."

Vargas says she and her husband, songwriter Marc Cohen (Walkin' in Memphis), have a C-section scheduled for mid-August. She plans maternity leave of nine to 12 weeks.

Vargas understands why some feminist groups are making a call to arms, but there's no war to be fought in this case, she insists. "The answers in this case are different than their concerns."

To Paul Slavin, ABC's senior vice president for worldwide newsgathering, the groups are missing the point.

"Elizabeth is making the choice. That's what the liberation of all women means. In my mind, they're fighting a battle with an unwilling soldier."

Back in the early '80s, Linda Douglass was a willing soldier, but she had no army. As a Los Angeles-based correspondent in CBS' Western bureau, Douglass lived out of a suitcase covering 13 states. When she gave birth to her daughter in 1983, she asked management to cut her some slack in traveling.

"I asked them to let me stay assigned to one story so I wouldn't have such an uncertain schedule with a baby at home," recalls Douglass, 58. "They absolutely were not flexible."

Douglass quit and returned to L.A.'s KCBS as an anchor. She says she'd make the same call today. The difference is that she wouldn't be asked to choose.

"It would be scandalous today," says Douglass, senior fellow at New York University's Brademas Center for the Study of Congress. "A boss would be pilloried and probably sued."

Douglass, who left ABC in December after nine years, says she believes Vargas' anchor departure was voluntary and applauds her for it.

"I think women who make a decision to be sure their pregnancy is successful should be commended. I don't understand

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3943524.html

fredfa...

Is there any indication whether Treasure Hunters will be in HD. According to TitanTV it is not. According to local guide data, it is.

From www.fcc.gov:

STATEMENT OF FCC CHAIRMAN KEVIN MARTIN ON HOUSE PASSAGE OF S. 193 - THE BROADCAST DECENCY ENFORCEMENT ACT:

"I welcome Congress' decision to give the Commission increased fining authority in our efforts to protect children from inappropriate programming. Many parents are increasingly concerned about what is on television and radio today. Today's vote demonstrates that Congress shares their concern and has a clear desire for a more meaningful enforcement of our decency standard.

"The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act gives the Commission more tools to enable parents to watch television and listen to radio as a family. In addition, I believe that concerns regarding content should be addressed in a comprehensive fashion by empowering parents to choose the programming that comes into their homes."

Source: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-265837A1.pdf

*** Posted FYI only -- the above view is not necessarily shared by the poster. ***

Sorry for the delay, but Tuesday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the first post in this thread).

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Rising laughter for NBC's 'Last Comic'

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 7, 2006

The regular season ended poorly for NBC, which finished in fourth place among the broadcast networks for the second straight season. But thus far summer is shaping up to be a bit more cheerful.

The network, coming off its first weekly win among adults 18-49 since February’s Olympics, got more good news last night. The second episode of “Last Comic Standing” averaged a 4.0 adults 18-49 overnight rating, bettering its first-week premiere of 3.7 by 8 percent.

That, combined with Monday night’s big finale for “Deal or No Deal,” may help NBC to No. 1 for a second straight week depending on how ABC’s NBA Finals and Fox’s growing “So You Think You Can Dance” perform later this week.

“Comic” was the night’s highest-rated show in 18-49s, though to be fair, there weren’t a whole lot of choices. The only other originals on the Big Six were ABC’s “Rodney” and “Less Than Perfect,” two canceled sitcoms airing leftover episodes, and CBS’s “40 Hours Mystery.”

The 9 p.m. “Comic” outperformed every NBC offering in the same timeslot last summer, and it grew 13 percent from start to finish, from a 3.8 in its first half hour to a 4.3.

Meanwhile, Fox won the night among adults 18-49 on the strength of two “House” reruns. It averaged a 3.0 rating and 9 share, followed by NBC in a close second at 2.8/9, CBS third at 2.1/6, ABC fourth at 1.6/5, Univision fifth at 1.3/4, UPN sixth at 0.8/2, and the WB seventh at 0.7/2.

Fox led at 8 p.m. with the first “House” rerun, which averaged a 2.6. CBS’s “NCIS” repeat and NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” repeat tied for second at 2.1, followed by a 1.8 for ABC’s “According to Jim” (1.9) and “Rodney” (1.7), a 1.5 for Univision’s “La Fea Mas Bella,” a 0.8 for UPN’s “America’s Next Top Model” repeat, and a 0.8 for the WB’s “Gilmore Girls” repeat.

At 9 p.m., NBC leapt to the lead with its 4.0 for “Comic,” followed by a 3.4 for “House,” a 1.8 for CBS’s “The Unit” rerun, a 1.5 for ABC’s “Jim” (1.8) and “Less Than Perfect” (1.4), a 1.4 for Univision’s “Barrera de Amor,” a 0.8 for UPN’s “Veronica Mars” repeat, and a 0.7 for a “Pepper Dennis” rerun on the WB.

CBS’s original “48 Hours” barely bettered a repeat of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” at 10, averaging a 2.5 to the latter’s 2.4. ABC’s “Boston Legal” averaged a 1.5, and Univision’s “Don Francisco Presenta” pulled a 0.9.

Among households, CBS led with a 5.6/10, followed by Fox at 5.1/9, NBC at 4.5/8, ABC at 3.2/6, Univision at 1.7/3, UPN at 1.6/3, and the WB at 1.3/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5220.asp

HTPC stands for Home Theater PC...basically a computer that is built with a TV Tuner in it and basically works like a DVR but is completely customizable...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTPC for more info

Donald :)


Thanks, Donald V!

fredfa...

Is there any indication whether Treasure Hunters will be in HD. According to TitanTV it is not. According to local guide data, it is.


I have not heard anything that would indicate it is in HD. Sorry

I have not heard anything that would indicate it is in HD. Sorry


I guess I'll find out the hard way... record it and see... thanks.

Washington Notebook
Barton, Upton Oppose Multicast Must-Carry

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/7/2006

The multicast must-carry battle has turned into a turf war between the powerful Republican chairman of the FCC and the powerful Republican Chairmen of the House and Senate committees overseeing the commission.

Calling it a regulatory fiat that would "usurp Congressional authority," the chairmen of the House Commerce Committee and House Telecommunications Subcommittee are allied with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) in their opposition to FCC Chairman Martin's effort to secure multicast must-carry for broadcasters.

In a letter to Martin earlier this week, Joe Barton (R-Tex.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said they opposed the move and said that it did not square with existing must-carry provisions in the Communications Act, and would be "contrary to the market-oriented philosophy that has guided communications policy during the Bush Administration."

Pointing out that the DTV transition bill just passed did not include multicast must-carry, they argued that it would be "inappropriate for the commission to attempt to do so by regulatory fiat now."

"If Congress had intended to require carriage of multiple streams, it would have explicitly done so, either in the original must-carry provisions or in the digital television provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act," which was the vehicle for the DTV transition bill.

The FCC twice interpreted the must-carry rule as cable carriage of a single DTV version of a station's primary signal, not all the multicast channels it could fit into its DTV spectrum allocation. "We agree," said Barton and Upton.

Martin is on the record backing an interpretation that all those should indeed be carried, and had planned a vote on reversing the decision, while putting out for comment other issues surrounding it, including cable downconversion/degradation of the broadcast signal.

Broadcaster's fortunes appeared to be on the rise after they were unable to get a multicast provision on either the Senate or House version of a DTV bill. Barton, for one, was on the record in opposition to multicast must-carry.

The multicast must-carry item had been expected to be on the June 15 FCC meeting agenda, and had even been put out for a vote on circulation, an electronic vote that does not require an open meeting. The FCC said Wednesday that its next meeting has now been moved to June 21.

TV Notebook
Wounded Journalist Lands in U.S.

By Christine Hauser The New York Times June 7, 2006

Kimberly Dozier, the CBS News correspondent who was critically wounded in a car bombing in Iraq last month, landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland this afternoon and was to be transported to a military hospital for treatment and rehabilitation of serious head and leg injuries.

She remains in critical but stable condition, according to doctors.

Ms. Dozier left an American military hospital in Germany this morning for the flight back to the United States.

CBS News showed footage of Ms. Dozier, 39, moving her head and eyes and speaking, as military personnel removed her stretcher from a vehicle.

CBS said Ms. Dozier was one of about 40 patients on a C-17 transport that landed about 4:20 p.m. at Andrews Air Force Base, following a flight from Ramstein, Germany.

She was to be taken from Andrews to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., the network said.

The image shown earlier today was remarkably different from the one CBS aired a week ago when Ms. Dozier was shown immobile and hooked up to a respirator on her stretcher, the monitors and medical machines attached to its sides nearly blocking a view of her as she was unloaded from a plane from Iraq and wheeled into the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

A CBS News vice president, Linda Mason, said today that Ms. Dozier was in great spirits and talking animatedly as she was brought aboard the plane for the eight-hour flight to the United States.

"Phase one was to save her life, which they did here," Ms. Mason said in a statement.

"Phase two is to start remolding her life, fixing her legs so that she can walk, fixing her spirit so she can live a carefree life," she said. "It's all going to take time."

Col. W. Bryan Gamble, a spokesman at Landstuhl, said her progress has been "encouraging."

"She still has a long road ahead of her, but I think it is promising," he said, according to an interview broadcast on CBS today.

He said that it would be difficult to put a timeline on her recovery and rehabilitation, but added that it may take many months for Ms. Dozier to get back to "full speed."

Ms. Dozier was badly wounded in Baghdad on May 29 by a car bomb as she was working on a report about American forces in Iraq on Memorial Day. Two other CBS News journalists in her crew — Paul Douglas, a camera operator, and James Brolan, an audio technician — were killed by the explosion, as was an American soldier and an Iraqi interpreter.

The three journalists, who were embedded with a joint American-Iraqi army patrol, had climbed out of their armored Humvee to work on the street, wearing protective vests, helmets and eyeglasses.

Ms. Dozier, who has reported for the network from Iraq for three years, was initially treated at the American military hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad and has had surgery on her legs and to remove shrapnel from her skull.

Her family and boyfriend had gathered at her bedside in Germany last week, when she was heavily sedated and barely responsive. But as her condition slowly improved, she began to eat solids, breathe on her own and communicate. At one point, she jotted down a question asking about the crew, and was told immediately what had happened, CBS News said.

Ms. Dozier has told her doctors that she remembers the explosion, the network said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/business/media/07cnd-journalist.html?ei=5094&en=3e00502b48a2f13e&hp=&ex=1149739200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

PJO1966, I've stated in other threads that the rule of thumb is: if it's a "reality" show and it's not on Fox, then in will not be in HD. Of course, Fox has non-HD reality shows, but so far they are the only broadcast network to do any in HD or even widescreen SD, for that matter. I'm sure that will change soon though.

This is a major blow to advocates of mandatory digital carriage. And probably very good news for those intyerested in HD quality.

Washington Notebook
FCC Chairman gets Slapped by Hill Leaders

Congress Bigs Rap FCC Chair On Multicast
By Todd Shields MediaWeek.com JUNE 07, 2006 -

Powerful congressional leaders on Wednesday weighed in against Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin’s plans to force cable operators to carry all digital broadcast channels.

Separately, the FCC in a one-sentence email said it was delaying by one week, to June 21, the monthly meeting at which Martin planned to overturn commission precedent on the issue. It offered no explanation.

“We are writing to express our opposition to … any order that would impose multicast must-carry obligations” on cable or satellite operators, said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chair of the Commerce Committee, and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chair of the panel’s telecommunications subcommittee.

The unusually direct comments from the two House leaders came in a letter they made public – a sign they intended to put pressure upon Martin, a fellow Republican.

Earlier, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, told reporters in Washington he expected any reform of the must-carry rules to be carried out by Congress, not the FCC.

Martin in recent weeks has withheld public comment on the issue of cable operators’ statutory
obligations to carry broadcasters’ digital channels. Privately, FCC officials say Martin is seeking votes to reverse the agency’s earlier determination that broadcasters are guaranteed carriage of only one digital programming stream after the transition to all-digital TV in early 2009.

Broadcasters say that without access to the majority of homes that take cable TV, their digital programming will wither without viewers. Cable operators say they will provide carriage – and thus an audience – for compelling programming.

Barton and Upton in their letter echoed cable’s arguments, saying, “We believe that consumer demand will sort out the right balance between broadcast and non-broadcast programming.”

They told Martin that a mandate to carry multiple channels would represent the “wrong policy outcome” and usurp congressional authority.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002650191

Dog Bites Man - Series Premiere Tongiht

10:30 p.m. ET, Comedy Central

Dysfunctional fake newscasters interact with real people on camera. Andrea Savage, Matt Walsh, A.D. Miles and Zach Galifianakis star.

Washington Notebook
John McCain Introduces A La Carte Bill

Press Release from Sen. John McCain)

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the Consumers Having Options in Cable Entertainment (CHOICE) Act of 2006. The bill is designed to encourage broadcasters and cable companies that own cable channels to sell their channels individually to subscribers. It also promotes cable channel distribution over the Internet.

Below is Senator McCain’s floor statement that was submitted for the record today, the bill summary, and a copy of the of the opinion editorial by Senator McCain and FCC Chairman Martin as it appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 25, 2006. Attached is a copy of the legislation.


STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CONSUMERS HAVING OPTIONS IN CABLE ENTERTAINMENT (CHOICE) ACT OF 2006

June 7, 2006

MR. MCCAIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Consumers Having Options in Cable Entertainment (CHOICE) Act of 2006. This bill would encourage broadcasters and cable companies that own cable channels to sell their channels individually to subscribers. It would also promote cable programming distribution over the Internet.

For almost ten years I have supported giving consumers the ability to buy cable channels individually, also known as a la carte, to provide consumers with more control over the viewing options in their home and their monthly cable bill. Cable companies have resisted this and have continued to give consumers all the “choice” of a North Korean election ballot. There is only one option available: buy a package of channels, whether you watch all the channels or not. The alternative is to not receive cable programming at all. Why have cable companies and cable programmers refused to give consumers the ability to buy and pay for only those channels consumers watch? Simply because they do not have to. They are the only game in town. But not for long, I hope.

Telephone companies have realized that consumers want more and are poised to provide consumers across the nation with an alternative to the local cable company. Many of these telephone companies, including AT&T, are also ready to offer consumers the ability to purchase channels a la carte. Such companies will offer two crucial benefits to consumers: more competition in the video service provider market, and more options for programming packages. Together, these two offerings will allow consumers to have greater control over the content that enters the home and the ability to manage their monthly cable bills.

According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, in communities where there are two cable companies competing for customers, cable rates are 15 percent less than in communities without any competition. A subsequent GAO study suggests that in some markets the presence of another cable competitor may reduce rates by an astounding 41 percent. Unfortunately, today less then five percent of communities have two companies competing to provide consumers cable television service.

The CHOICE Act would help bring competition to the cable television market. Choice in cable television delivery is long overdue for consumers who have suffered steep rate hikes year after year. Since 1996, cable rates have increased 58 percent or nearly three times the rate of inflation. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has found that rates increased seven percent in 2001 and 2002, and five percent in 2003. The FCC’s most recent report found that rates again rose five percent in 2004, double the rate of inflation, but only 3.6% where the local cable company faced competition. I can only imagine the savings consumers could reap if presented with a choice of providers of cable service and a choice of channels. For this reason I call on Congress to pass the CHOICE Act.

A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans would like to buy cable channels individually and an AP/ Ipsos poll found that a remarkable 78 percent of Americans would like to do so. According to Nielsen Media Research, households receiving more than 70 channels only watch, on average, about 17 of these. Consumers know that they could have greater control over their monthly bill if given the ability to choose their channels. This was recently confirmed by the FCC. This year the FCC found that consumers could save as much as 13 percent on their monthly cable bills if they could buy only the channels they want.

Mr. President, consider the situation of a senior citizen on fixed income living in Sun City, Arizona, who watches only a few news and movie channels, but continues to pay for high priced channels such as ESPN, Fox Sports, and MTV – channels that other consumers enjoy, but channels that certain seniors may not want and possibly cannot afford. In fact, the general manager of the Sun City cable system has told my staff that he has tried to drop several expensive music video channels from the company’s channel lineup to make room for channels his viewers want to receive and to decrease costs, but the owners of the music video channels have forbid him to do so without serious repercussions. So the residents of Sun City continue to subsidize the cost of these channels for viewers around the country. That is why AARP, representing 35 million senior citizens, supports the ability for viewers to buy channels on an a la carte basis. But again, cable companies don’t have to listen to these 35 million viewers because there is no real threat of losing them. They have nowhere to turn.

The CHOICE ACT, Mr. President, is not a mandate on cable providers. Instead it is designed to encourage choice and competition by granting significant regulatory relief to video service providers, such as telephone and cable companies, that agree to both offer cable channels on an a la carte basis to subscribers and to not prohibit any channel owned by the video service provider from being sold individually. In exchange, video service providers would receive the right to obtain a national franchise; would be permitted to pay lower fees to municipalities for the use of public rights of way; would benefit from a streamlined definition of “gross video revenue” for the calculation of such fees; and would gain a prohibition on the solicitation of institutional networks, in-kind donation, and unlimited public access channels.

In addition, broadcasters that have an ownership stake in a cable channel would get the benefit of the FCC’s network non-duplications rule if the broadcaster does not prohibit the channel from being sold individually. The FCC’s network non-duplication rule provides exclusivity for broadcasters by not allowing another broadcaster with the same network affiliation from broadcasting in the same community. The bill would also modify Section 616(a) of the Communications Act that currently prohibits video service providers from using coercion or retaliatory tactics to prevent cable channels from making their services available to competing companies to extend this provision to distribution over the Internet.

For example, if Time Warner Cable offered CNN, a cable channel it owns, on an a la carte basis to its cable subscribers and allowed other cable companies, satellite companies, and video programmers who choose to distribute CNN to make it available on an a la carte basis, Time Warner Cable would be eligible for a national franchise and other regulatory relief. If Disney, which owns ESPN, allowed other cable companies, satellite companies, and video programmers who choose to distribute ESPN to make it available on an a la carte basis, the Disney’s ABC broadcast stations would have the benefit of the FCC’s network non-duplication rule.

Mr. President, contrary to what some might want the American people to believe, the CHOICE Act does not force video service providers or broadcasters to do a single thing. It is their choice whether to act or not act. The bill provides them with such a choice even though they currently don’t provide meaningful choices to their customers. This bill is incentive-based legislation that would encourage owners of cable channels to make channels available for individual purchase and would do nothing to prevent cable companies from continuing to offer a bundle of channels or tiers of channels.

The cable industry regularly touts the value of its package of channels, noting that it costs less than taking a family of four to a movie or professional sporting event. However, watching cable television is not always a family event. Several channels have programming that consumers find objectionable or that parents believe is unsuitable for young children. Complaints about indecent cable programming have increased exponentially in recent years. In 2004, the FCC received 700 percent more cable indecency complaints than it received in 2003. Most of the cable programs about which indecency complaints have been filed with the FCC aired during hours when many children are watching television.

Cable and satellite companies currently provide subscribers with a variety of methods of blocking the audio and video programming of any channel that they do not wish to receive. However, subscribers are still required to pay for these channels that they find objectionable. The “v-chip” does not effectively protect children from indecent programming carried by video programming distributors. Most of the television sets currently in use in the United States are not equipped with a v-chip; of the 280 million sets currently in United States households, approximately 161 million television sets are not equipped with a v-chip. Households that have a television set with a v-chip are also likely to have one or more sets that are not equipped with a v-chip.

Again, Mr. President, I am aware that not all consumers want to block and not pay for certain channels, but shouldn’t all consumers should have the choice to do so? Cable programmers and broadcasters have started offering individual television programs for download on the Internet. This is the purest form of a la carte – where one can watch and pay for only specific programs they choose. In addition, many of these same broadcasters and cable programmers make their channels available for individual purchase in Hong Kong, Canada, and other countries. Why do these cable programmers treat the American cable subscriber differently than a subscriber in Hong Kong or Canada or an Internet user? It remains unclear.

Lastly, Mr. President, I know that the cable programmers and broadcasters will not be the only group that may have some concerns with this bill. Many of my friends in local government are also likely to be interested in the reduced “rights of way” fee and streamlined definition of “gross video revenue” under this bill. Cable companies pay these fees to municipalities to use the right-of-way land under sidewalks, streets and bridges to reach customers’ homes and then pass these fees on to subscribers. However, these fees often surpass the costs of managing “rights of way” land and municipalities use these funds for other expenditures. Just last month at a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, Michael A. Guido, Mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, confirmed that these fees are often used to pay for other city expenses, such as emergency vehicles.

In 2004, state and local governments collected approximately $2.4 billion in these fees, slightly more than $37 per year from every household subscriber. Americans for Tax Reform believes that the “franchise fee is just a stealth tax on our consumption of the cable television,” as do other economists and tax payer advocacy groups. To this end, the legislature in my home state of Arizona just recently passed a bill to reduce such fees and taxes on cable television subscribers.

The Phoenix Center, a non-partisan legal and economic think tank, has found that the introduction of competition to cable companies could allow the fee to be lowered “significantly without doing any harm to local governments.” Based upon this research, the CHOICE Act would reduce the fee from 5 percent to 3.7 percent for eligible video service providers and allow local governments to petition the FCC for a higher fee if it is necessary to cover the costs of managing “rights of way” land. I believe this would provide some real cost savings to cable subscribers.

I remain open to working with municipalities on this issue and look forward to working with all interested parties to ensure that American consumers receive greater options for affordable and acceptable television viewing. Mr. President, I hope the introduction of the CHOICE Act furthers the debate on the issue of a la carte channel selection and I look forward to the Senate’s consideration of the bill.



Summary: The CHOICE Act

“Consumers Having Options in Cable Entertainment Act”

This bill would grant significant regulatory relief to video service providers who agree to both offer cable channels on an a la carte basis to subscribers and not prohibit any channel owned by the video service provider from being sold individually.

In exchange for offering consumers cable channels on an a la carte basis, video service providers would receive the right to obtain a national franchise, would be permitted to pay lower fees to municipalities for the use of public rights of way, would benefit from a streamlined definition of “gross video revenue” for the calculation of such fees, and would gain a prohibition on the solicitation of institutional networks, in-kind donation, and unlimited PEG channels.

Broadcasters with an ownership stake in a cable channel would get the benefit of the FCC’s network non-duplication rule if the broadcaster does not prohibit the channel from being sold individually. Lastly, the bill would extend Section 616(a) of the Communications Act to extend this provision to distribution over the Internet.

Below is a more detailed summary of the bill.

Section One
Sets forth the title of the bill, “Consumers Having Options in Cable Entertainment Act.”

Section Two
Defines the terms “a la carte,” “video service,” “video service provider” and “eligible video service provider.”
o A “video service provider” is defined as a provider of video services that uses a public right of way. This definition would cover all wired providers, including cable companies and telephone companies such as Comcast, Cox, Verizon, and AT&T. This definition would not apply to direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers such as Dish Network and DirecTV who are not required to seek a franchise under current law.

o An “eligible video service provider” is defined as:
(1) a video service provider that (i) has an attributable interest in a cable channel offered on the basic tier of a digital cable system, (ii) makes available that cable channel available to its subscribers individually, (iii) does not prohibit other providers from offering this channel individually and (iv) files with the FCC a declaration of its intent to offer its subscribers on an individual basis any cable channel provided to it on an individual basis.
OR
(2) a video service provider that does not have an attributable interest in a cable channel and files with the FCC a declaration of its intent to offer its subscribers on an individual basis any cable channel provided to it on an individual basis.


Section Three
Sets forth the regulatory relief for Eligible Video Service Providers:
o Dissolution of a local franchise, in favor of a national franchise;
o Termination of a “franchise fee” set at 5% of gross revenues in favor of a “rights of way fee” set at 3.7% of “gross video revenues;”
o Prohibition on in-kind contributions or institutional networks, unless such donations are credited against the calculation of “gross video revenues;”
o Streamlining of definition of “gross video revenues” from current statutory definition of “gross revenues;”
o Establishment of a dispute resolution process for disputes regarding the use of a municipalities’ “rights of way;”
o Modification of FCC’s rules on “public, educational, or governmental” (PEG) channels to require video service providers to make available at least three PEG channels and to necessitate municipalities who program PEG channels to provide at least eight hours of programming a day with four hours of non-repeat programming; and,
o Establishes an effective date of six months after enactment.

Section Four
This section states that broadcasters with an ownership stake in a cable channel would get the benefit of the FCC’s network non-duplication rule only if the broadcaster permits the cable channel to be sold individually. The FCC’s network non-duplication rule states that upon the request of a local television station with exclusive rights to distribute a network or syndicated program, a cable operator generally may not carry a duplicating program broadcast by a distant station. The Commission’s rules generally provide stations such protection within a station’s 35-mile geographic zone.

Section Five
Amends Section 616(a) of the Communications Act that currently prohibits video service providers from using coercion to prevent cable channels from making their services available to competing companies to extend the prohibition to other distribution systems, including the Internet.

Section Six
This section states that the FCC has the authority to prescribe any rules and regulations to carry out the CHOICE Act.

Section Seven
Sets forth a severability clause.

http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsCenter.ViewPressRelease&Content_id=1747

Washington Notebook
House Passes Indecency Act Measure

By Todd Shields MediaWeek.com JUNE 07, 2006 -

The U.S. House with a 379-to-35 vote on Wednesday passed a bill to increase fines for broadcast indecency tenfold, sending the measure on for the president’s signature.

The bill, which originated in the Senate, would increase maximum fines for broadcast indecency to $325,000. It leaves unchanged federal standards for judging whether programming is indecent.

The bill lacks measures included in House-passed legislation that stalled in the Senate, such as lowering barriers to fining performers and jeopardizing broadcast licenses after three offenses.

Before Wednesday, Congress had managed to pass no legislation addressing broadcast indecency despite the widespread furor provoked by singer Janet Jackson’s exposure at the 2004 Super Bowl broadcast on CBS. Since then the Federal Communications Commission has proposed record fines totaling in the millions of dollars against major broadcast networks.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who first introduced legislation to increase penalties in January 2004, welcomed the commencement late Tuesday of floor debate on the Senate’s measure. “We are entering the home stretch in getting the filth and triple-X smut off the public airwaves,” Upton said.

Previous versions of indecency legislation passed the 435-seat House by margins exceeding 350 votes.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002650104

Cable Notebook
Mob hit: 'Sopranos' finale eats lead

Show down almost 20 percent from last year
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 7, 2006

There is a downside to producing a show of such high quality as HBO’s “The Sopranos,” and that is expectations. When the show doesn’t live up to viewers’ expectations, which have risen to ridiculously high levels over the past seven years, those viewers complain.

And they’ve been doing a lot of complaining about “Sopranos” this season, culminating in an almost universal panning of Sunday’s finale episode. No one got whacked, no one got thrown out of the house, and no one had a major epiphany, all things that drove past finales to big numbers.

Instead the first half of the show’s sixth and final season ended quietly, with its least-watched finale since season one. Just 8.9 million viewers tuned in, down 19 percent from the 10.98 million who watched season five’s finale two years ago.

The show also finished with its worst season average since season three, drawing 8.64 million. That’s 12 percent lower than last season’s average 9.8 million.

HBO points out that Nielsen changed the way it measured the pay cable network between seasons four and five. Before multiple airings of the show were included in the show’s average, such as repeats on HBO2, and now Nielsen measures only the first-run episodes.

Even still, the show has endured a marked decline. Perhaps part of the falloff can be attributed to more competition on the night. Two years ago, ABC did not have “Desperate Housewives” in the same 9 p.m. timeslot.

But the season premiere of “Sopranos” drew 800,000 more viewers than the finale, which aired after “Housewives” had gone off the air. And season five ended opposite an NBA Finals game yet still drew nearly 11 million. Clearly a “Sopranos” backlash has been brewing.

Critics and viewers have been very vocal about their disappointment with this season, during which Tony Soprano meandered through a dream-filled coma and one mobster came out of the closet.

Perhaps the show’s long layoff deserves part of the blame. Fans watched old episodes over and over during that time, and surely built up unrealistic expectations for the show that could not possibly be met.

“As HBO's top drama ends its sixth season, it seems obvious the show's writers fell into a funk,” writes Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald. “[The finale] will have to be one heckuva caper to redeem the last three months.”

A poll posted on TVGuide.com Monday found that more than three-quarters of respondents thought the “Sopranos” season finale was disappointing. And chat boards are still abuzz with angry viewers more than 48 hours later.

“I expected something, anything but all l saw was nothing. This was one of the worst episodes of this season,” writes a fan on the TV.com “Sopranos” forum. “As far as the last 8 episodes, I couldn't care less if they started in 08. What a waste of a great show.”

“Sopranos’” final eight episodes begin airing next spring.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5187.asp

Washington Notebook
Cable Industry Faces a la Carte Proposal


By Doug Halonen TVWeek.com June 7, 2006

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced legislation Wednesday that encourages the cable TV industry and other video service providers to offer programming a la carte.

Under the measure, video service providers that offer a la carte to their own subscribers -- and permit programming they own to be offered a la carte by independently owned distributors -- would be rewarded with substantial deregulation.

In addition, the legislation would punish broadcast companies that don't permit cable TV programming they own to be offered a la carte. A la carte programming would allow subscribers to choose and pay for only the programming they want.

Cable TV operators that go along would be rewarded by being allowed to switch to a new national franchising system that would allow them to escape key obligations they currently face under existing franchise agreements with local governmental authorities.

Broadcast owners of cable TV programming that decline to play ball would lose their current legal protection of the exclusivity of their network-affiliated programming in their communities.

If approved, the legislation would be a particularly severe blow to major broadcast TV networks that have substantial interests in cable programming networks, including The Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, NBC Universal and Fox.

If networks don't agree to the a la carte stipulations, cable TV operators in communities in which the networks own television stations would be free to bring in the signals of independently owned stations affiliated with the same networks.

In a statement, the watchdog Consumers Union, a longtime proponent of a la carte, said it does not endorse Sen. McCain's measure because "it goes too far in eliminating important public obligations of video service providers to ensure nondiscriminatory delivery of cable service, diversity of local programming and essential consumer protections, including the timely and successful resolution of consumer complaints."

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10140

Thanks, Donald V!

No problemo...

Donald :)

Re: Treasure Hunters on NBC...Tivo is also showing it as an HDTV program.

Re: Slapping Down Multicast Must-Carry.....FANTASTIC!

CPanther95: I think sometimes the bureaucrats in Washington believe they actually have the real power.

And every once in a while the folks on Capitol Hill have to slap them upside the head to get things back in balance.

Chairman Martin apparently bit off a lot more than he could chew in this one.

But I am sure the network O&Os and the other station groups will put great pressure on Congress to assure multicast must-carry. But it looks for now like they might have a very uphill battle.

Thank goodness.

We've seen very recently how Congress reacts when they feel the Executive branch is treading on the Legislative branch's toes. This may have been very poor timing for the FCC to try to force a mandate down people's throats.

Cable Notebook
Frenemies Paris & Nicole draw 1.8M in ‘Simple’ bow

MediaLifeMagazine.com—One network's played-out and canceled series is another network's gold?

You certainly won't hear E! complaining, after the premiere of "Simple Life: 'Til Death Do Us Part" on Sunday boosted the channel's primetime average nearly threefold.

The fourth-season "Simple Life" premiere drew 1.8 million viewers for a 1.2 household rating, according to Nielsen, and a 1.6 rating among women 18-34, its strongest demographic.

For the 10 p.m. slot, viewers' median age was 28, six years younger than E!'s typical average.

Though for E! "Simple Life" is an impressive performer, when the program debuted on Fox in 2003 it averaged 13 million viewers.

At its heart, "Simple Life" remains unchanged: it's still former best friends and current enemies Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie wreaking havoc among ordinary folk, although this time the creators have thrown a "Wife Swap" element into the mix.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/cat_index_31.asp

Fredfa,

Maybe I missed something?

Is "Deal Or No Deal" in HD on Thursdays this fall?

Paul

Fredfa,

Maybe I missed something?

Is "Deal Or No Deal" in HD on Thursdays this fall?

Paul


Actually, Paul, you caught one of my errors.

Thanks for noticing. I've corrected it.

"Deal Or No Deal" will not be in HD, as far as I know.

Critic’s Notebook
Vargas isn't a victim, she's a role model

By Joanna Weiss Boston Globe Staff June 7, 2006

Let's not cry for Elizabeth Vargas. Let's give her a hand.

Ever since ABC announced that its high-profile anchor -- pregnant and slipping in the ratings -- was stepping down as host of ``ABC World News Tonight," some women's groups have been setting up the barricades. The circumstances seemed too suspicious, they say: Pregnant woman ``voluntarily" steps aside as older man ( Charles Gibson) dutifully fills her place. Last week, three women's organizations sent a letter to ABC brass, complaining that between Vargas's exit and the cancellation of ``Commander in Chief," the network had ``managed to eliminate two of the country's most visible women role models and high achievers."

A few words on ``Commander in Chief": The show was fiction, and it was bad. Geena Davis might have made a fetching female president, but the plots were thin and the ratings tanked.

As for Vargas, it's quite possible that she wanted it this way.

That's what Vargas is saying, though many will choose not to believe her. Yesterday, she told the Philadelphia Inquirer that ``I am not a pregnant working mother wronged." She said she took part in the decision, and that doctors had advised her to cut back her workload. She said she'd love to host a daily news show, but later.

In short, she said she's been struggling with the reality of working motherhood -- a mess of complex emotions and logistics. And she may well be a role model after all, a symbol of modern compromise. A 2004 study by the Families and Work Institute found that members of generations X and Y are more family-centered, less focused on career advancement, than baby boomer s. (At 43, Vargas barely misses the GenX cutoff, but we'll give it to her in spirit.)

Vargas 's defense of ABC is a sign that there are no clear victims or villains here. Women in the TV news business have historically had to fight; 15 years ago, Meredith Vieira, the soon-to-be host of ``Today," quit CBS's ``60 Minutes" when pregnant with her second child, after producers wouldn't let her work part time.

But while American society has far to go in terms of helping families, high-profile companies are increasingly sensitive about looking insensitive. Vargas had some power here, and she likely got a nice payoff. Most TV journalists would kill for her fallback job, a co-anchor post on ``20/20."

Many were skeptical of her ``World News Tonight" gig from the outset. It was part of an experimental -- some might say gimmicky -- bid to draw younger viewers. Instead of the authoritative anchor at the desk, ABC offered two youngish co-anchors, rotating time on the road, contributing webcasts, rebroadcasting live for the West Coast.

Events got in the way. No one expected co-anchor Bob Woodruff to be badly injured in Iraq. No one expected Vargas to get pregnant. No one expected the ratings to slip. And in the TV news business, you live by the ratings, whether you're male or female.

While many of the highest-profile work-family decisions aren't made in a vacuum -- with better poll numbers, Jane Swift might've run for governor in 2002 -- that doesn't make the struggle any less heartfelt. There are ample examples of successful women who decide to step back. WHDH-TV's Caterina Bandini, co-anchor of the 11 p.m. newscast, announced she's leaving the station this fall because she's pregnant with twins.

There's no shame in stepping back from a grueling schedule, especially if your future looks bright. Vargas reached the upper tier of a high-pressure, high-paying business, and now she gets a portion of her life back, too. That doesn't sound half bad.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2006/06/07/vargas_isnt_a_victim_shes_a_role_model?mode=PF

Washington Notebook
The Price for On-Air Indecency Goes Up

Congress Approves Tenfold Increase in Fines FCC Can Assess
By Frank Ahrens Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 8, 2006; D01

The maximum penalty for broadcasting indecent material on radio and television will increase tenfold to $325,000 under legislation passed by the House yesterday that awaits only a promised presidential signature.

The bill, called the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, was passed unanimously by the Senate last month and cleared the House by a vote of 379-35. President Bush has vowed to sign the bill into law; it would allow the Federal Communications Commission to powerfully punish over-the-air broadcasters for airing raunchy content. The bill keeps cable and satellite broadcasters outside of the government's authority to police the airwaves.

Yesterday's vote culminates a three-year culture clash among lawmakers, regulators, broadcasters, interest groups, lawyers and ordinary consumers about what can and can't be said on radio and television, and how much authority the government should have over artistic expression and free speech.

"I believe that government has a responsibility to help strengthen families," Bush said in a statement. "This legislation will make television and radio more family friendly by allowing the FCC to impose stiffer fines on broadcasters who air obscene or indecent programming."

Politically and socially conservative groups, such as the Parents Television Council, have pushed for higher fines and flooded the FCC with complaints about objectionable programming.

"We hope that the hefty fines will cause the multibillion-dollar broadcast networks finally to take the law seriously," said L. Brent Bozell, PTC president.

The FCC and most lawmakers largely have concurred.

"All we are doing is adding a few zeroes to the current level of fines; we do not change the current standards one bit," said Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who introduced the first version of the bill in January 2004, two weeks before singer Janet Jackson's right breast was exposed during the Super Bowl halftime show on CBS, creating the flashpoint of the decency debate.

On the other side, radio and television broadcasters, artists and First Amendment specialists have opposed the increase in fines, saying they will exacerbate what they call the "chilling effect" already underway in the creative community, as the government cracks down on content. For instance, the networks have added delays to live broadcasts that allow them to catch offensive material before it airs. A number of broadcasters have instituted zero-tolerance rules for their on-air personalities, meaning objectionable broadcasts can bring immediate firing.

Currently, the FCC can impose a maximum fine of $32,500 on radio and television stations that broadcast indecent material, defined by the agency as sexual or excretory content of a "patently offensive nature" between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. when children are most likely to be watching.

The FCC can impose one fine per program that may include several indecent incidents, or it may chose to fine each incident within a program, raising the total amount into the low millions. The bill passed yesterday is meant to cap the fine amount at $3 million per incident per day, but lawyers disagreed on whether there is enough wiggle room in the bill's language to allow the FCC to impose fines running into the tens of millions of dollars.

The bill comes as networks are asking the courts to challenge the government's very ability to regulate content on the airwaves, an authority based on two Supreme Court rulings, the most important of which received only a 5 to 4 approval nearly 30 years ago.

ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and more than 800 affiliated television stations sued in federal court in April to overturn the March indecency rulings, saying the agency had overstepped its authority. The suit could become the test case long awaited by broadcasters to challenge the indecency regulations, the networks privately acknowledge.

Broadcasters argue that the decency rules were put in place when viewers had a choice of only a few television and radio stations and it made some sense that the government should regulate content.

Further, the broadcasters say, cable and satellite channels have an unfair advantage because they can show racier content than the networks -- such as HBO's "The Sopranos" -- which has contributed to the erosion of the networks' audience.

"In issues related to programming content, NAB believes responsible self-regulation is preferable to government regulation," said Dennis Wharton, spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters, the industry's trade group. "If there is regulation, it should be applied equally to cable and satellite TV and satellite radio."

Lawmaker and viewer outrage over increasingly vulgar radio and television programming was simmering in 2003, when U2 front man Bono uttered the "f-word" during a live broadcast of an awards show on NBC, former CBS Radio deejays Opie and Anthony aired a couple purportedly having sex in St. Patrick's cathedral in New York, and reality-TV star Nicole Richie used profanity during a Fox awards show.

But the issue boiled over after the 2004 Super Bowl. Twenty CBS-owned stations were fined a total of $550,000 for airing the incident, a penalty the network is appealing in court.

Since then, FCC commissioners and several lawmakers have said the maximum fine was no deterrent to the multibillion-dollar broadcast conglomerates. Various versions of bills that would raise the fines languished in Congress until this year, when Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) picked up one version and pushed it through the Senate. The House acted quickly after the Senate's approval.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/07/AR2006060700287_pf.html

Washington Notebook
If it all looks familiar, you are not alone

By Phil Rosenthal Chicago Tribune Media Columnist June 7, 2006

As this year's upfront TV ad-selling season, which traditionally would have closed by Memorial Day, drags on, here's a tip for broadcasters trying to secure billions in deals for the fall: Put in a call to Xerox, Canon and Ricoh.

Maybe there's a synergy tie-in to be had from all the copies out there.

NBC used to promote its reruns with the notion that if you hadn't seen their original broadcasts, they would be new to you. This fall, its series adaptation of "Friday Night Lights" set in the world of Texas high school football will be new to you if you haven't seen its 1993-94 drama "Against the Grain," set in the world of Texas high school football.

NBC is betting you haven't.

If you did, though, you might recall the 16-year-old quarterback in "Against the Grain," Joe Willie Clemons, was played by a newcomer named Ben Affleck.

Another series NBC is introducing this fall is "Heroes," about people who discover they have superpowers, which sounds like a variation on its 1985-86 misfire "Misfits of Science," a fantasy that gave early prime-time exposure to a young Courteney Cox.

You don't have to be a trivia expert to see a similarity or two between Judd Hirsch's 1988-92 NBC series "Dear John" about a singles support group and Ted Danson's coming ABC group therapy comedy "Help Me Help You." For one thing, "Dear John" alum Jere Burns is in Danson's show too.

But original ideas are often in short supply. A dozen years ago, CBS and NBC famously had competing dramas set in Chicago hospitals scheduled for the same 9 p.m. Thursday slot with "Chicago Hope" and "ER." Last fall there were no fewer than three science-fiction shows about alien invasions.

This time around, Fox's "Vanished" will track the search for the wife of a U.S. senator who has disappeared, while NBC's "Kidnapped" tracks the search for the abducted son of a wealthy family. ABC's "Big Day" is about a wedding, and Fox's "The Wedding Album" is a midseason show about a photographer who shoots ... well, you know.

TiVo or not TiVo: The early word from the upfront network ad sales front is that CBS, the most-watched network overall, has moved close to half its inventory at increases of between 2 percent and 4 percent, exceeding expectations for a flat market given the migration of ad dollars to the Internet.

One-time leader NBC, now mired in fourth, is said to be cutting prices for a second successive year.

A stumbling block slowing sales for next season was a network effort, led by ABC, to get advertisers to pay for time-shifting viewers watching shows on digital video recorders. ABC this week decided this was not a fight it could win this year.

The advertising community argued that the potential for fast-forwarding past commercials or time-sensitive messages being squandered was too great. But the issue isn't going away in future years as DVR use increases.

"These people have been excluded because Nielsen didn't have a way to measure them, and these are the heaviest-viewing households," CBS research guru David Poltrack said in a recent interview, noting broadcast networks will benefit more than cable outlets from DVR viewers being counted.

Among ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The WB and UPN this season, Poltrack said, "networks have a 50 percent share of regular television viewing, but 77 percent of playbacks are network shows. That is going to increase network share of audience. As more and more people get DVRs, networks are going to see their shares go up. ... The networks are going to argue that even fast-forwarding has some value, so basically we're going to want to get some value for that."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-0606070137jun07,0,1053309,print.column

Cable TV Notebook
President of MSNBC Steps Down Abruptly

By Jacques Steinberg The New York Times June 8, 2006

Rick Kaplan, who led MSNBC to some gains in viewers but was ultimately unable to raise its standing as the third-ranked cable news network, resigned abruptly yesterday afternoon.

Mr. Kaplan's departure was announced by Steve Capus, president of NBC News, in an e-mail message to the staff of MSNBC and the network's news division. Neither Mr. Capus's message, nor one that was appended to it from Mr. Kaplan, gave any reason for his resignation from MSNBC, which has continued to lag behind Fox News, the ratings leader among cable news networks, and CNN. Mr. Kaplan was named president of MSNBC two and a half years ago.

"I want to thank Rick for his service to MSNBC," Mr. Capus wrote, before adding, "Soon I will have an announcement for all of you about MSNBC's new leadership."

In an interview, Mr. Capus said he and Mr. Kaplan had come to a mutual agreement that Mr. Kaplan would leave. "There is no question MSNBC has some momentum right now," Mr. Capus said, adding, "this just seems like the right time to go about the next phase of MSNBC."

In his e-mail message, Mr. Kaplan wrote: "It is not often in professional life that someone has the opportunity to end his tenure on such a high note." Specifically, he noted the network's gains in prime time and during the day.

For example, last month, in the so-called May sweeps period, the average number of viewers watching MSNBC's prime-time lineup on a given night increased by 46,000 viewers, or 16 percent, to 334,000, when compared with the period a year ago, according to Nielsen Media Research. Many of the gains were recorded during the programs of Chris Matthews (at 7 p.m.) and Keith Olbermann (at 8 p.m.). Similarly, during the day on weekdays, the average audience had increased by 63,000, to 190,000, over the period.

But CNN's average audience last month, both during the day and at night, was more than double that of MSNBC — and both networks were eclipsed by Fox News.

Mr. Kaplan did not return a telephone message yesterday afternoon. A broadcast journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he is widely regarded as a talented producer with a bedside manner that is, at times, abrasive.

From 1997 to 2000, he was president of CNN's domestic operations. He has also worked, in several incarnations, at ABC. Among the jobs he held at ABC News, where he worked from 1979 to 1997, before returning briefly in 2003, was executive producer of "World News Tonight With Peter Jennings" and of the news magazine "Prime Time Live," as well as a senior vice president responsible for the redesign of the Sunday news show "This Week."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/business/media/08tele.html?pagewanted=print

Since I was away from my computer this morning I missed posting this weekly staple. Sorry for the delay:

The TV Column
A Very Big Deal for Ratings-Challenged NBC

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, June 7, 2006; C07

NBC aired the most watched show on television last week, which almost never happens anymore, and the network won the week among younger viewers -- ditto on that.

Here's a look at the week's deals and no deals:

WINNERS

"Deal or No Deal." Howie Mandel and the Briefcase Babes clocked nearly 14 million viewers to top last week's Top 10 list. (This past Monday, the show's season finale logged 18 million viewers, which suggests a possible repeat Top 10 performance.) The last NBC show to rank No. 1 for a week was a "Dateline" during Hurricane Katrina last August.

NBC. The GE-owned network won the week among the 19-to-49-year-olds advertisers pay a premium to reach, thanks to about 10 hours of original programming across the 22-hour prime-time landscape. That included two broadcasts of "Deal or No Deal," "The Apprentice," five hours of "Dateline" and a two-hour season debut of "Last Comic Standing."

"[Media conglomerate] National Spelling Bee." ABC's first prime-time broadcast of the bee scored nearly 9 million viewers, the network's best summer number in the Thursday time slot in four years. The audience grew from just 6.8 million viewers to more than 14 million for the competition's final 11 minutes. Still, the bee was only the No. 7 show for the week among kids, behind two Thursday broadcasts of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" and "The Simpsons," NBC's Monday "Deal or No Deal" and ABC's Saturday broadcast of animated flick "Toy Story" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

CBS dramas. Six of the week's top 10 series were CBS dramas because, as CEO Les Moonves pointed out during Upfront Week, they're not serialized and therefore they repeat better.

"Last Comic Standing." Did you ever break up with someone, then regret it and try to pretend it never happened next time you met that person? Me neither. But NBC did, with fans of "Last Comic Standing" last week, when it aired the much-ballyhooed fourth-season debut of the show it had canceled right before the third season's final episode, in which the winner was to be announced. Nearly 8.6 million viewers forgave NBC. While not as big a crowd as the more than 9 million who tuned in to the show's debuts in the summers of '03 and '04, it's still better than the fewer than 8 million who caught the debut of that ill-fated third-season all-star edition.

"The Hills." Nearly 3 million watched the premiere of MTV's series in which we catch our fave "Laguna Beach" alum Lauren Conrad living in L.A., interning at Teen Vogue. "Hills" was Wednesday's most watched telecast among 12-to-24-year-old viewers, the cable network's target audience.

LOSERS

"The 4400 Special: Unlocking the Secrets." Sounded great on paper to use the might of a GE-owned broadcast network to air an infomercial for a series on a GE-owned basic cable network, one week before the show's season debut. But the one-hour ad clocked fewer than 3 million viewers, which is a smaller audience than "The 4400" already gets on USA, and it's not even a good number for NBC on a Saturday night.

"The Simple Life." Poor Paris and Nicole have learned the hard way that there are times when it is not all about them -- sometimes it's about the network they're on. Sunday's fourth-season debut of their rich-bimbettes-out-of-water series attracted fewer than 1.4 million viewers; the show's third season had averaged nearly 10 million viewers, on Fox.

"The Sopranos." Slightly fewer than 9 million viewers watched HBO's first telecast of the mob drama's season finale -- the smallest season-finale premiere audience since its first season. Meanwhile, "Big Love" wrapped its first season with about 4.5 million watching, which is on par with its premiere audience of about 4.6 million, also on a Sunday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060601576_pf.html

Critic’s Notebook
'Deadwood': Watch carefully

By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News June 08, 2006

There are only a few TV shows that actively discourage multitasking.

ABC's "Lost" is one. I've learned the hard way that if I try to knit, or answer my e-mail or even just look away for a moment during "Lost," I'm going to miss the tiny surprise in some flashback that all the smarter people will be talking about the next morning.

UPN's "Veronica Mars," with its character-driven plots and plot-driven characters, is another.

But no show resists the occasional moment of inattention more than HBO's "Deadwood," which returns for its third season Sunday with an episode that requires not just an unblinking eye, but a keen ear.

My own ear, after a year away, needed a touch of recalibrating. When, in the second scene of Sunday's "Tell Your God to Ready for Blood," some of the actors began speaking Cornish, I thought at first I just must not have been listening carefully enough.

Because, profanity aside, the English spoken in David Milch's 1870s mining camp isn't exactly what most of us are used to hearing on television, or anywhere else.

After two seasons of "Deadwood," though, I've learned to love the language, even the language that at first seemed so unlovable.

Amid the dust and the dirty dealings, it's language that turns out to matter in Milch's Deadwood, whether it's a worried Sheriff Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) consulting his schoolteacher wife (Anna Gunn) about the wording of a campaign speech, banker and mine owner Alma Garrett (Molly Parker) rehearsing her approach to a formidable opponent (Gerald McRaney) or a murder committed in plain sight, the motive initially masked by the choice of a different tongue.

"Nothing showy is the main thing," Bullock tells his wife, a tall order in a show where character's often revealed in cadence as much as costume (or relative cleanliness).

Words matter.

So do actions, of course, and there's plenty of that in the five episodes I've seen so far, as well as some sizzling moments between the two Macs - Ian McShane as the too aptly named Al Swearengen and McRaney as George Hearst, whose presence in Deadwood promises to shift the power yet again.

McRaney, who's listed as a recurring guest star, gets to show what he can do as he goes toe-to-toe with McShane. Count on him giving nightmares to fans of "Major Dad."

Milch and HBO earlier this week announced a deal for two two-hour movies in lieu of a fourth season, which may or may not satisfy the hordes who cried foul when it looked as if this season might be it for "Deadwood."

Either way, this is a show that rewards those who can live - and watch - in the moment.

Watch it the way too many people watch "The Sopranos," laying bets on who'll get whacked next and counting down to some bitter end, and you'll miss a lot.

'Entourage,' '4400' return

Summer TV, up until now an excuse for the broadcast networks to foist their also-ran "reality" shows on an audience that might rather be fishing, returns with a roar this weekend.

As long as you've got cable, that is.

HBO follows up "Deadwood" with the return of the much lighter "Entourage" (10 p.m. Sunday) which seems to get better every season - and premieres with Mercedes Ruehl as Vince's (Adrian Grenier) flying-phobic mother - and a new sitcom, "Lucky Louie," starring comedian Louis C.K.

There's heavier lifting over on USA, where "The 4400" (9 p.m. Sunday) is also back for a third season. The two-hour premiere reveals some surprising changes in at least two of the returnees and pushes the tension between a world of so-called ordinary humans and the new, improved variety that's supposed to save that world to new heights.

Somewhat subtler than "X-Men: The Last Stand" - now there are two hours I'll never have back - "The 4400" covers some of the same ground as "X-Men" and even the ABC-canceled "Invasion," asking, among other things, whether the greatest stumbling block to human progress might not be humans themselves.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14767233.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Critic’s Notebook
Don't put money on 'Windfall'

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic June 8, 2006

Now is not the time to expect greatness from television.

Oh, sure, there are significant exceptions to that statement. "Deadwood" and "Entourage" are days from returning, as is the "The Closer." Every Tuesday FX has us merrily singing "c'mon, c'mon" as "Rescue Me" begins. It's true -- any of these are worth abandoning warm evening breezes and sunsets once or twice a week.

Notice, however, that these are cable series. Cable knows its place in the television universe, commanding our attention with, shall we say, inspired content. Some borders on greatness, but most is steeped in utter silliness. Seriousness generally doesn't fly in the summertime.

That's why NBC's "Windfall," a show about a group of pretty people who win a humongous lottery jackpot premiering at 10 tonight on KING/5, looks like it's destined for failure. BBC America's "Hex," a cult series about a supernatural high school minx that debuts at 7 and 10 tonight, could be a different story.

Let's see, beautiful, bitchy boarding school students with British accents -- that's enough of a hook by itself. Throw in a few ghosts, telekinetic powers, fallen angels, interesting fashion and dialogue that crackles with arch humor, and BBC could have a sleeper hit.

How does "Windfall" plan to fascinate us? Apparently with brooding handsome men and their angsty wives and girlfriends, all out to show us that getting a slice of a $386 million jackpot may be more trouble than it's worth.

The drama's best attempt at relevance is pulling together several plot threads, with married guys Peter (Luke Perry), Cameron (Jason Gedrick) and their wives Nina (Lana Parilla) and Beth (Sarah Wynter) swirled together in the center.

Pete and Beth hosted the lottery party, where each guest bought in with a dollar. This makes them the jackpot hub connecting a number of winners who barely know each other, including a high school slacker, a flower shop employee with a shady past and a pizza-delivering single mom who visits the party and chips in a dollar on a whim.

With their financial worries gone, they and the other winners now can nurse a variety of interpersonal dramas, in a mishmash of genres.

Cameron confesses to Nina that he's still in love with her because he and Beth are on the verge of moving away. Then the lottery happens and -- oops! Guess they and their unbearable sexual tension will remain neighbors after all.

But that's not even near the same realm of ridiculousness as Sean the flower shop guy's (played by D.J. Cotrona) situation. As it turns out, Sean isn't his real name, and he's hiding from some dangerous guys with allergies to bathing.

As these and other stories unfurl, "Windfall's" concept becomes increasingly muddled. Is it a bad soap opera, or a sluggish thriller? Maybe, since the slacker kid becomes an emancipated minor, it's a heartwarming teenage drama. And by the way, how long can this thing go on? Work it out for yourselves, folks.

Or not. Summer flies by too quickly to waste time.

The gothic "Hex," though, could become an addiction, among a specific crowd.

If you still pine for Willow, Giles and the rest of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" crew and if you appreciate a vision of high school that marries "Carrie" to "Pretty in Pink," this little series scratches that itch.

Talking about "Hex" without name-dropping any number of films and pointing out the odes to Joss Whedon probably is impossible. The black humor, twists and the strain of heartbreak are clearly Whedon-inspired.

One last comparison: The series is closer in kinship to "The Craft" than the Slayer, although its heroine, Cassie Hughes (Christina Cole) bears a striking resemblance to Buffy Summers. Blond and tragically attractive, Cassie is an outcast at Medenham Hall, a British boarding school on an estate built by a family of slave traders -- a piece of trivia that portends the bad juju ahead. She takes refuge in art and clings to her truest friend and roommate, Thelma (Jemima Rooper), a confident lesbian with Kelly Osbourne's wardrobe.

Once Cassie stumbles upon an artifact on school grounds, everything changes. The piece unlocks powers, and frightening visions linked to the school's history haunt her. Whatever, because soon Cassie is reveling in her supernatural abilities, influencing the people around her and taking delight in paying back her bullies in kind -- that is, until the fallen angel Azazeal (Michael Fassbender) comes into her life.

"Hex," for all of its homages and swipes, can't be written off as a carbon copy. Yes, Cassie and Thelma are Buffy and Willow born again in Britain instead of the Hellmouth.

Yes, their outfits can at times look like an overworked Hot Topic employee's nightmare.

But the pair is uniquely wonderful to watch, largely thanks to Rooper's sass and warmth. The deep, platonic bond that shields the girls from the bullying cliques is palpable.

More to its credit, "Hex" isn't afraid of the dark. Just as it indulges in comedy, it can be at turns erotic and twisted. Before tonight's two-hour debut is over, tragedy shakes Medenham. And as the series progresses, Cassie doesn't feel compelled to necessarily use her powers for good. "Hex" may not be stupendous TV, but for a decent summer thrill, nothing on broadcast holds a candle to it.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/273075_tv08.html

Obituary
Edward J. Yates, 87
“American Bandstand” director

By Gayle Ronan Sims Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

Edward J. Yates, 87, who directed Philadelphia's seminal dance show American Bandstand from its start in West Philadelphia, died of multiple organ failure Friday at Fair Oaks nursing home in Media, where he had been for two months. He lived in West Chester.

"Ed was an extraordinary director... he managed to grab every exciting moment on American Bandstand," Dick Clark said yesterday from his Los Angeles office. "The pictures he created influenced a whole generation of young people across America. His imagination and admirable work ethic made him one-of-a-kind. He was truly special."

Mr. Yates began preparing for television shortly after graduating from Yeadon High School in 1936. He established a photography studio, shooting weddings, portraits, parties, anything that paid.

He had to give up the business in 1942, when he was drafted into the Army. He served in Europe during World War II with the 660th Field Artillery Battalion.

After being discharged in 1946, Mr. Yates returned to the area. He married Teresa Gallen in 1948, the same year he was hired as a boom operator at WFIL-TV Channel 6, when it was located at 46th and Market Streets. Things went well for him; he was promoted to cameraman and earned a bachelor's in communications in 1950 from the University of Pennsylvania.

His career took off in October 1952, when he volunteered to direct American Bandstand, a new show most staffers thought would flop and no one wanted to direct. The show debuted with Bob Horn as announcer, but took off after Clark took over in 1956.

Up until the early 1960s, the show was broadcast live, which meant Mr. Yates pulled records, directed the cameras, and queued the commercials - all the while communicating with Clark and packaging the whole show.

"Ed was the coolest guy under pressure. Dick relied on him to pick top 10 records and songs for 'rate-a-record,' " said cameraman Ralph Di Cocco, who worked on the show. "Ed also directed live commercials and other shows: Chief Halftown and the Sally Starr Show."

"Ed was so mellow," Sally Starr said yesterday. "He taught me how to relax when I got nervous."

Local radio personality Jerry Blavat, who as a teenager was one of Bandstand's paid stars, said of Mr. Yates: "He was like the eye of a hurricane in his booth... In a calm voice he directed, 'Camera one, hold that shot. Camera two, get that wide angle. Take one.' "

The show went national in 1957, making stars out of Clark and the teens who regularly danced on the program. In 1964, Clark moved American Bandstand to Los Angeles, taking Mr. Yates with him.

Mr. Yates and his wife and eight children lived in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Mr. Yates retired from American Bandstand in 1969, and moved his family to West Chester.

In retirement, he was the dispatcher at Independence Hall. "Instead of directing American Bandstand, he directed all the security guards," said his son George.

Mr. Yates retired for good in 1974.

He enjoyed rebuilding Volkswagen Beetles, and was interested in genealogy. He traced his ancestry several generations back to Ireland.

In addition to his son George, Mr. Yates is survived by sons Edward, Joseph, Philip, Gregory and John; daughters Patricia McCann and Teresa Petrecz; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; a sister; and two brothers. His wife died in 2003.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/special_packages/todaystalk/14748499.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

The Business of TV
CBS Puts Big-Ticket Fare On iTunes

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/8/2006

CBS said Thursday it was putting its marquee shows on Apple's iTunes, for download to computers or iPods.
Survivor, the CSI franchise, NCIS, Number3rs, and more will be available for $1.99 per episode.

Those episodes will include from the just-completed season and from the upcoming season available the day after they air starting in the fall.

CBS has put some content on the Web already through a pay-for-play model on Google Video and iTunes.

In March it offered free, ad-supported streaming of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on iTunes, earning a reported $4 million in ad revenues. Co-owned Showtime has put two series, Sleeper Cell and Weeds, on the service.

CBS last month also launched a free ad-supported broadband channel, Innertube, that features some library product, made-for-Web shows and show promotion material including highlights, behind-the-scenes, and making-of content from network shows like Survivor.

Back in October, CBS made show audio clips, 60 Minutes segments, Andy Rooney commentary, the entirety of Face the Nation, and full audio from Guilding Light available on iTunes' podcast directory, as well as some CBS radio and digital media content.

Cable TV Notebook
Back to square zero for MSNBC, again

By Abigail Azote MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 8, 2006

What's known about Rick Kaplan's hasty exit yesterday from MSNBC is roughly this: He went into an afternoon meeting as president of the cable news network and came out without a title or a job, presumably after heated words.

Later, executives were saying it was all for the best, as was Kaplan. MSNBC had grown over his two-plus years of solid leadership, with ratings up 14 percent in total viewers this year.

But yet more growth was needed, explained NBC News President Steve Capus, which was why, after months of rumors, Kaplan was ousted. He hadn't done enough. MSNBC was still way behind CNN and Fox News.

But the bigger issue for MSNBC, beyond its poor numbers, and its often abysmal leadership before Kaplan, is that it has no clear identity as it competes against Fox News and CNN, whose identities are so firmly established.

Kaplan, himself a former top CNNer, with some ABC years behind him as well, brought discipline to the MSNBC news operation, and he was also its champion, a man who knew the importance of building morale when your're behind.

Under Kaplan, there were fewer truly wacky programming choices, such as right-wringer radio guy Michael Savage. MSNBC gained stability, and its best talents, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews flourished, their ratings well up.

But Kaplan was not able to solve or even tackle MSNBC's identity issue.

Just what is MSNBC besides a cable news network one flips to after Fox and CNN?

The network needs to be reinvented, and Kaplan was not the man to do so. Where he was good at nurturing established talents, he did poorly at finding new ones. Those he did introduce, most recently, Tucker Carlson, did poorly in the ratings.

MSNBC is now looking for Kaplan's replacement, and it would look to be a hard job to fill. It's the rare news executive who risks taking over from a man who was canned for only boosting ratings by 14 percent.

In any case, MSNBC will be looking for a truly imaginative sort whose mandate will be to reinvent on the fly, tossing out all the fix-its that have been tried by his or her predecessors.

And even then, there's the fundamental question to be addressed, one often debated among media people, whether there is any real place or need for a third cable news network.

Weekdays, MSNBC is averaging 360,000 total viewers in primetime, up 14 percent over last year. But that’s still less than half the audience of No. 2 CNN, at 800,000, and not even a quarter of the viewership for leader Fox News Channel, at 1.7 million.

In adults 25-54, MSNBC has an average 143,000 viewers in primetime, compared with 201,000 for CNN and 375,000 for Fox News, both of which are down from last year.

Some of MSNBC’s greatest primetime gains have come from “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” which finished ahead of CNN’s Paula Zahn in the 8 p.m. timeslot for the first time ever during first quarter. “Countdown” was up 41 percent to 164,000 25-54s, compared with 158,000 for Zahn. It also jumped 25 percent in total viewers to 404,000.

But while “Countdown” has been a success, several of Kaplan’s programming decisions bombed. “The Situation with Tucker Carlson,” a show about politics, got booted to late night after a few disastrous months in primetime, and a show hosted by Ronald Reagan Jr. and Monica Crowley was canceled after only a year.

A morning show with Connie Chung and Maury Povich has jumped up and down in the ratings since its debut a few months ago.

And “Countdown” and 7 p.m.’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” the two shows with the greatest gains on the nighttime schedule, were already on MSNBC before Kaplan arrived.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5222.asp

TV Q & A
Talk show hosts offer lessons to young folk

By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal television writer Thu, Jun. 08, 2006

If it's Thursday, this must be the TV mailbag...

Q: How can Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman be role models for our children? She, Oprah, living with Stedman (Graham), unmarried, yet the world loves her. Dave Letterman has no plans to marry his son's mother. P.S. I really don't expect an answer.

A: Well, I have one anyway.

For starters, while I think Letterman is principled, he hasn't set out to be a role model. He is simply a performer who is often entertaining, although his best and most iconoclastic days are probably behind him.

Oprah Winfrey, of course, is another case. But even if you disagree with her personal choice, in her life as a whole she has tried to use her wealth and fame for positive purposes. And on any given day, I would rather see children learning from the lives of Letterman and Winfrey than, say, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton or DMX.

Q: I have been a loyal fan of ``Nashville Star'' since it began. I know that the season one winner, Buddy Jewell, had a couple of big hits after his win. But what about seasons two and three winners, Brad Cotter and Erika Jo? I voted for them but never hear anything about them.

A: Although they don't currently have the profile that comes with a weekly television showcase, Cotter and Erika Jo are out there working. Both were scheduled to appear at the Country Music Association Music Festival in Nashville, which begins today. Each has put out a CD -- Patient Man and Erika Jo, respectively. You can keep tabs on them at their official Web sites, www.bradcotter.com and www.erikajo.com.

Q: In an episode of ``Cold Case,'' a rendition of ``Strange Fruit' was played. It was not the great Billie Holiday's rendition, but it was unique and haunting. Could you tell me the name of the performer and any other info available about that recording?

A: That was the version by Nina Simone, the acclaimed vocalist and pianist who died in 2003 at the age of 70. You can find several recordings with her doing the song, including her CDs Anthology and Compact Jazz: Nina Simone.

Q: Is my memory playing tricks on me? There used to be a black-and-white series titled ``The Millionaire,'' where a wealthy man gave away one million bucks each week to various individuals. I think there was a Marvin somebody in the cast.

A: The Millionaire aired on CBS from 1955 to 1960, with daytime reruns for several years after that.

The millionaire was named John Beresford Tipton; he was not seen but was heard, his voice provided by actor Paul Frees. His assistant, who handed out the money and warned the recipients that they couldn't tell where the money came from, was named Michael Anthony and played by Marvin Miller (the actor, not the baseball guy). You can find out more in The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh.

Q: On the NBC fall lineup, I did not see ``Scrubs'' listed. Will it be back?

A: Yes. NBC did not put the show on its fall lineup (or in the quickly revised version of the fall lineup). But it does expect the show to return with new episodes later in the season.

Q: My favorite TV program is ``JAG.'' I have tried to find it on DVD but have not been successful. If it is on DVD, can you tell me how to obtain a copy?

A: After years of requests by fans for JAG on DVD, Paramount is finally releasing a complete-first-season set on July 25.

Q: On the news, after the ``Lost'' finale, they said ``Lost'' wouldn't be returning until January, as they would be on hiatus. Is this really true, and if so, why?? That is too long for us viewers that are hooked.

A: Someone was apparently confused. ABC's plan for the fall is to air Lost at the beginning of the season. After about seven episodes, Lost will go on hiatus and the new series Day Break will fill its time slot. Then Lost will return in January. The idea here is to reduce the number of reruns that viewers have to sit through by putting a fresh program on instead.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/television/14768030.htm

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.

(From Marc Berman’s Thursday, June 8, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Syndication in May 2006:

Rating Results Year-to-Year

Based on the final May 2006 sweep, what follows are the household rating results in syndication by genre (with change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses for all established series), plus any bullet points of interest:

FIRST-RUN

TALK SHOWS
Oprah: 7.1 rating (-11)
Dr. Phil: 5.5 (- 5)
Live With Regis & Kelly: 3.3 (- 6)
Maury: 2.6 (-13)
Ellen DeGeneres: 2.3 (+10)
Montel: 2.0 (-17)
Jerry Springer: 1.8 (-18)
Tyra Banks: 1.7
Martha: 1.5
Starting Over*: 1.1 (no change)
Tony Danza: 1.0* (-23)

COURT
Judge Judy: 4.6 (- 4)
Judge Joe Brown: 3.0 (- 9)
People’s Court: 2.7 (no change)
Divorce Court: 2.6 (- 7)
Judge Mathis: 2.3 (- 8)
Judge Alex: 2.1
Judge Alex: 1.7 (no change)

GAME/RELATIONSHIP
Wheel of Fortune: 7.8 (- 5)
Jeopardy: 6.4 (-14)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: 3.2 (- 3)
Family Feud: 2.0 (- 5)
Blind Date: 1.1 (no change)
ElimiDate*: 0.9 (-18)

ENTERTAINMENT/NEWSMAGAZINES
Entertainment Tonight: 4.9 (- 4)
Inside Edition: 3.4 (+ 3)
The Insider: 2.6 (- 4)
Access Hollywood: 2.5 (- 4)
Extra: 2.2 (no change)

WEEKLIES (Hours and Half-Hours)
Entertainment Tonight: 3.0 (- 3)
Ebert & Roeper: 2.1 (- 5)
The Insider Weekend: 2.0 (+11)
Access Hollywood Weekend: 1.9 (+12)
Inside Edition Weekend: 1.8 (no change)
Extra Weekend: 1.7 (no change)
Chris Matthews: 1.7 (- 6)
Maximum Exposure: 1.4 (no change)
George Michael Sports Machine: 1.4 (- 7)
Showtime at the Apollo: 1.2 (+ 9)
Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures: 1.2 (-20)
Wall Street Journal Report: 0.9 (+13)
Your Total Health: 0.9 (-10)
Pet Keeping 0.8 (-11)
Rebecca’s Garden: 0.8 (-11)
The Tom Joyner Show (0.7 (no change)
This Old House (0.7) (no change)
Marketwatch: 0.7 (no change)
Home Team and Exploration: 0.6 each
Ron Hazleton’s Housecalls0.6 (-14)
Soul Train: 0.6 (-14)
Your House and Home and Fine Living’s Homes & Hideaways: 0.5
Business Week: 0.5 (-17)
American Latino: 0.3
Latination: 0.2

OFF-NETWORK

SITCOMS
Everybody Loves Raymond: 5.5 (-14)
Seinfeld: 5.2 (-10)
Friends: 4.5 (-13)
That’ 70s Show: 3.9 (+30)
King of the Hill: 2.8 (- 3)
Malcolm in the Middle: 2.5 (-17)
King of Queens: 2.4 (- 8)
My Wife and Kids: 2.1
Frasier: 2.1 (no change)
Bernie Mac 2.0
Sex and the City: 2.0
Home Improvement: 1.9 (-24)
Will & Grace: 1.9 (-30)
Yes, Dear: 1.5 (-17)
South Park: 1.4
Becker: 1.4 (-30)
Drew Carey: 1.3 (-19)
Girlfriends: 1.1 (-27)
The Parkers: 1.0 (-17)
Just Shoot Me: 0.8 (-20)
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: 0.6 (no change)

DRAMAS
CSI: 4.7
24: 2.2
Alias: 2.1
Da Vinci’s Inquest 1.7
Smallville: 1.7
Star Trek: Enterprise: 1.4
ER: 1.2 (-25)
Farscape: 0.9
The Outer Limits: 0.9 (-18)
The Twilight Zone: 0.9 (-31)

REALITY
Cops: 2.5 (-11)
Fear Factor: 1.1 (-31)

Of Positive Note:

• Warner Bros.’ The Ellen DeGeneres Show scored the biggest year-to-year household growth (10 percent) of any first-run strip in syndication. Compared to May 2004, Ellen was up by 24 percent.

• Paramount’s Entertainment Tonight has now led the entertainment/newsmagazine genre in every sweep period for 15 consecutive years.

• NBC Universal’s Access Hollywood was the only entertainment/newsmagazine to grow year-to-year in women 18-49 (+7 percent, 1.5 to 1.6) and women 25-54 (+ 6, 1.7 to 1.8). It also increased among all key female demos over Feb. 2006.

• King World’s Inside Edition was the only strip in that category to increase in households.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data (Live plus Same Day U.S. Average Audience data in May 2006)
* = canceled

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp

Sports On TV
The U.S. impact of the World Cup

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer June 8, 2006

When the men’s World Cup kicks off tomorrow from Germany, the whole world will be watching, and for once that’s no exaggeration.

According to a report from Initiative Futures released this week, the Cup may attract a cumulative audience of 5 billion people for the tournament, which would set a record for the biggest TV audience ever.

Games featuring defending champ Brazil will be the biggest draw, the report predicts. But just how many will be watching in the US, where the World Cup has been shown on English-language broadcast TV for only the last 12 years?

Estimates vary. Most media people don’t expect this Cup, in which the US has a difficult first-round draw, to fare as well as 1994, when America hosted the Cup and the final game averaged 14.5 million.

It will probably better the 2002 final, however, which aired from Asia at 7 a.m. and drew only 3.9 million diehard fans.

ABC and ESPN will split coverage of the games. Univision, which has Spanish-language rights, averaged 3.6 million viewers for its last three World Cup finals and will likely do just as well this year with several aggressive cross-platform ventures planned between TV and the internet.

But the bigger winners will likely be the advertisers, set to receive billions of dollars’ worth of exposure, and this year’s breakout players, who will get millions in endorsements.

To discuss all the media issues surrounding this World Cup, Media Life talks with Irving Rein, professor of communication studies at Northwestern University and co-author with Philip Kotler and Ben Shields of the forthcoming book “The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace;” Bill McDermott, host of XM Radio’s “World Cup This Morning” who has done commentary for every World Cup since 1970; and Mike Woitalla, executive editor of Soccer America magazine.

How much interest has the World Cup generated in the United States this year compared with past World Cups?

McDermott: I think an immense amount, simply because of what the U.S. did in 2002 [making the quarterfinals]. I think you’ll agree the American sporting public are big-event people. They still seem drawn in by the spectacle of World Cup, so I would say the awareness is very high, perhaps more so than ever in the past.

Woitalla: I’d say more than any other World Cup besides 1994. In 2002, the real wave of major interest didn’t start until the US beat Portugal and it became clear the team would do well. I think it’s also a cumulative effect, with each World Cup there’s more and more interest. Also, I think the media and people in the U.S. are realizing how much interest there is from the various ethnic groups.

Rein: This year's World Cup could generate the most interest among Americans in the history of the tournament. The United States team, ranked fifth in the world, is the most competitive it's ever been, and the German time zone is more convenient for Americans to watch the games. The advertisements from ESPN/ABC Sports, Nike, Adidas, and other companies are also helping publicize and attract fans to the event.

The real question is whether the team's competitiveness, favorable broadcast times, and promotional awareness will be enough to actually translate into fan interest. There is so much competition in the marketplace that soccer's jewel event could fall flat again in the US.

The biggest domestic audiences for the World Cup came when the U.S. hosted it back in 1994. But that did not spark much carryover. Since then, interest in soccer has remained low despite the start of Major League Soccer and kids who grew up playing soccer now becoming adults. Will soccer ever become really popular in this country?

McDermott: I think that soccer will always continue to grow, but I do not think--just because of the culture of our country—it will ever surpass the other major sports. That said, I don’t think any of us involved said it would do that, we just want it to find its niche and be competitive for the sports dollar.

Woitalla: Well, ‘94 was the springboard to launching MLS, which is in its 11th year, so that’s a significant contribution. We needed the World Cup to create a league. You also did see a bump in youth registration, but of course that was already high. Around 80,000 people showed up against Mexico in a friendly game in Los Angeles, I would think that would mean the game is pretty damn popular here, and those were Americans there.
Also, back to the demographics, our country is becoming more Latin American. What I think is interesting, you’ve always had ethnic populations coming to the U.S., but often they left their affinity for soccer behind. Now soccer is an American pastime, it’s absolutely mainstream, so it’s the best of both worlds for new immigrants. It’s no longer a foreign sport here.

What sort of marketing opportunities do advertisers have in the World Cup that aren’t available elsewhere?

McDermott: I think they grab on to the World Cup because of the international aspect of it. This is the sport that is the only one true world championship because it is nation against nation. The World Series is a North American series. People will say, well, the US has the best teams, they’d easily beat the other countries, and maybe they would, but at least other countries would be invited. This is the only one true world championship. To show the magnitude of it, it’s played only once every four years.

Rein: The official partners of the World Cup are willing to gamble an estimated $30 million to $50 million on sponsoring this year's event because of the size, location, and intensity of the fan base.
The fact that fans are so loyal to their national teams to the point of essentially closing down countries during matches is also appealing to advertisers. Finally, since sports are live events, fans are less likely to TiVo the programming, and it gives advertisers an uninterrupted platform through which they can communicate to their target audiences.

How much will the big stars to emerge from the World Cup earn in endorsements?

Woitalla: The World Cup is crazy. If you score a couple of goals, you can end up with a multi-million dollar contract. A lot of players going in are already very well paid and have endorsements. If you’re talking about American players, in a way it’s uncharted territory. Traditionally, American players would have to go abroad to make money.

Rein: The biggest soccer stars like Beckham, Ronaldo or Zidane are earning as much in endorsement dollars as athletes in any other sport. If you look at the top 50 earners, they are well-represented but are no bigger than Tiger Woods, LeBron James, or Michael Schumacher.

How valuable is the World Cup to advertisers? What sort of financial return do they see from this compared with other sports advertising venues?

Rein: The World Cup is the sports world's biggest stage, and its ability to generate strong viewership in a fragmented marketplace is obviously attractive to advertisers. The problem is that the World Cup platform is so valuable that it is has been the victim of ambush marketing in the past. Trying to take advantage of the World Cup name without paying for the association has forced FIFA [soccer’s governing body] to institute a Rights Protection Program for its major sponsors in order to retain the value of a sponsorship.
For advertisers, the World Cup is an all-or-nothing gamble, and the massive amounts of resources spent on the event means that there will probably be nothing left in the budget to be spent on other venues.

An interesting sidelight to the advertising mix in the World Cup is that many of the principal advertisers are targeting their messages to specific countries. So, for example, advertisers are customizing, with the help of technology, their ads to Ecuador or France with the same message but adapted. This strategy bears watching. It will be interesting to see if it becomes a part of the globalization of the advertising world or it causes resentment and kickback from the target markets.

What sort of things is Univision doing for this World Cup that's different from past ones?

Woitalla: At the last World Cup, Mexico was eliminated by the US in the round of 16, and I think after that Univision covered the US as a home team. I think it was interesting and delightful to see, and they did a lot of man-on-the-street type things. I think Latin American fans start to consider the US as one of their home teams. I think Univision has done a pretty good job of covering both teams, and I think we’ll see that this time.
If you went down the street in the U.S. and asked 20 Latinos, I think they could name more U.S. national team players than non-Latinos. If you want soccer to succeed in this country, if you want to make money on it, then what you want to do is give respect to, pay attention to and cater to the Latino community, because the passion is already there.

Rein: Univision is covering every day of the World Cup like Fox or CBS would the Super Bowl. For the month-long tournament, the network will have pre- and post-game programming, the games themselves, and primetime replays every night. It is all World Cup, all the time, and the network is using its three television channels and advances in new media technology to meet the expectations of a soccer-demanding viewership.
A big change in the strategy from 2002 is the inclusion of new media. Univision's web site offers streaming video, photo galleries and insider event coverage, and the network also signed an agreement with Verizon wireless to provide video clips and instant updates about the event to fans on their cell phones. It's quite likely that many fans will now turn to these highlight features for updates and sometimes even a substitute for watching the whole match. If the NCAA Final Four is any indication, this will be a major turning point in how fans view and interact with the sport.

Lastly, with Brazil the obvious favorites, what are three other teams you could realistically see hoisting the Cup on July 9 in Berlin?

McDermott: Argentina, England and France. I think even though Germany is at home, they’ll get nipped out at the end by Argentina. I’ve always liked the way they’ve played.

Woitalla: They certainly don’t have the talent they have in the past, but Germany could [make a run]. Italy is always a favorite, Argentina, which plays excellent soccer and the expectations aren’t as high as last time. France isn’t as strong, but they’re a good team, but top five, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, and oh, England.

Rein: Mexico, the Netherlands, and England.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5223.asp

TV Notebook
Fox counting down to '24' pic

Hit series headed to the bigscreen
By Josef Adalian Variety.com

After years of speculation, the clock's officially ticking down toward a "24" feature film.

Twentieth Century Fox has closed a deal with series creators Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, as well as showrunner Howard Gordon, to bring the Kiefer Sutherland real-time thriller to the bigscreen.

Surnow and Cochran will write the script, with Gordon working on the story. All three will produce via their Real Time Prods. banner, as will Imagine's Brian Grazer.

No talent deals are yet in place, though Sutherland -- an exec producer of the hit Fox series -- has made it clear he's interested in starring in the film should it snag a greenlight.

It's understood the Cochran-Surnow-Gordon troika will begin work on the script late this summer, just as production on the sixth season of the TV skein gets under way.

Execs at 20th should have a draft of the script in their hands by early winter, insiders said. Once they see the script -- and look at ratings for the first few episodes of season six, which kicks off in January -- they'll be able to make a decision on greenlighting production of the film.

Under the most optimistic scenario, feature would be greenlit early next year and lense next spring and summer during the hiatus between season six and a likely seventh season of "24."

Current plan calls for the "24" feature to abandon the real-time conceit of the TV show, making Sutherland's Jack Bauer, rather than the clock, the star.

Such a notion would allow scribes much greater plot possibilities, opening up scenarios not possible on a show where all the action takes place in one day. Chief on the list is international travel.

It's believed producers are toying with several possible locales for the pic, including London. Skein has a strong aud base in Blighty.

A rough sketch of the "24" feature plot has been drafted, but all those involved in the project are keeping a tight lid on details for now.

Pic would likely pick up where season six of the show leaves off, at least chronologically. Plotwise, however, the film is not expected to be tied too heavily to the "24" mythology, allowing those who haven't watched the series to understand the movie's action.

The "24" franchise is part of the News Corp. family: It's produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television. Latter shingle has an overall deal with the TV studio.

Small-screen studio, under prexies Gary Newman and Dana Walden, has already been active in exploiting multiple platforms for "24" --including a pioneering series of "mobisodes" tied to the skein. Studio also produced a DVD-only short that bridged the gap between the show's fourth and fifth seasons.

Just-wrapped fifth season of "24" repped a watershed for the skein both creatively and commercially. Ratings were up 14% vs. 2005, with nearly 14 million viewers every week, and kudos pundits have been talking up the series' Emmy prospects.

If the "24" feature ultimately gets a greenlight, it would join a number of other 20th features in the works based on series from sister studio 20th Century Fox Television.

A bigscreen version of "The Simpsons" is planned for next year, while there continues to be buzz about reviving "The X-Files" franchise with a second feature film. In 1998, Fox released "The X-Files: Fight the Future," based on the Fox net skein.

TV Notebook
$115-million cut in public broadcasting clears panel

By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 8, 2006

PUBLIC television and radio broadcasters are preparing themselves for another difficult budget season after a key House Appropriations subcommittee voted Wednesday to cut $115 million from station operations, system upgrades and grants for children's programs such as "Reading Rainbow" and "Sesame Street."

The cuts, which amount to a 23% decrease from this year's funding, are similar to ones proposed by the Bush administration this year and set the stage for another showdown between public broadcasters and the GOP-controlled Congress.

Officials at the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, along with the Assn. of Public Television Stations, warned that, if approved by the House and Senate, the cuts would jeopardize small, rural stations that do not have a strong donor base to supplement federal funding. They also could lead programmers to rely more on commercial sponsors to make up the shortfall, broadcasters said.

"There's great concern out there," said John Lawson, president of the television station association, who added that he had already heard from concerned station managers about the cuts. "The message I'm getting back is, 'We're ready to fight.' "

Still, the situation is likely to be less contentious than the one last year, one of the most precarious periods in the four-decade history of the public broadcasting system. Last June, the House Appropriations Committee moved to slash federal funding by 46% as some Republicans argued that there was no longer a need for the government to back the system. Meanwhile, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the private agency that distributes the federal funds to local stations, was engulfed in a partisan battle over questions of political balance in programming.

The controversy generated thousands of e-mails, phone calls and letters protesting the cuts. The full House ultimately rolled back about half of the cuts in a bipartisan vote, and the Senate restored most of the remaining reductions later in the year.

Many of the same items are on the chopping block again, including $20 million of the annual federal appropriation for CPB, which provides about 15% of public broadcasting revenue. The subcommittee also voted to eliminate all funding to help stations convert to digital transmission and upgrade their satellite distribution system, as well as money for the Ready to Learn program, which helps finance educational children's programs.

The full House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on the measure next week.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-wk-pubcuts8jun08,1,7174733.story

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Swingtime: Fox's 'Dance' a summer hit

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 8, 2006

“So You Think You Can Dance” may just be this summer’s “Dancing With the Stars,” that is, the summer’s biggest hit. The second-year Fox reality show continued to grow last night in its second Wednesday outing.

“Dance” averaged a 4.2 overnight rating last night among adults 18-49, up 17 percent over last week’s 3.6 rating. It easily won its 9 p.m. timeslot over NBC’s original “Dateline,” which averaged a 3.3.

“Dance,” which placed its Wednesday and Thursday shows in last week’s top five among 18-49s, has been performing very well after a decent first run last summer.

Last night’s 4.2 was a full point better than the 3.2 the show averaged last year. It also bettered Fox’s summer 2005 average in the Wednesday 9 p.m. slot, a 2.6, by 62 percent.

“Dance” led Fox to an easy win on an otherwise slow night, averaging a 3.3 rating and 10 share. It was followed by NBC at 2.8/8, CBS at 2.2/7, Univision at 1.6/4, ABC at 1.5/4, UPN at 0.8/2 and the WB at 0.7/2.

At 8 p.m., Fox’s repeat of last week’s “Dance” episode finished No. 1 with a 2.5 rating. The first hour of NBC’s “Dateline” was second at 2.4, followed by a 1.9 for CBS’s “Gameshow Marathon,” which fell 17 percent from last week. ABC’s “George Lopez” and “Freddie” reruns combined for a 1.8, tying with Univision’s “La Fea Mas Bella,” while the WB posted a 0.9 for “Blue Collar TV” and UPN averaged a 0.8 for “Gang of Roses.”

At 9 p.m., Fox’s 4.2 for “Dance” led, followed by the 3.3 for “Dateline.” CBS was third at 2.2 for a “Criminal Minds” repeat, followed by Univision’s 1.7 for “Barrera de Amor,” ABC with a 1.3 for a “Lost” repeat, UPN with a 0.8 for “Roses” and the WB with a 0.4 for a “One Tree Hill” rerun.

At 10 p.m., CBS led with a 2.7 for a “CSI: NY” repeat, followed by NBC at 2.5 for a “Law & Order” rerun. An original “Commander in Chief” on ABC mustered just a 1.4, 0.2 ahead of Univision’s “Don Francisco Presenta.”

NBC finished first with a 5.6/10 in households, followed by CBS at 5.4/9, Fox at 5.3/9, ABC at 3.1/5, Univision at 1.9/3, UPN at 1.4/2 and the WB at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5253.asp

Oops….
Washington Notebook
Multicast Position Misconstrued, Says Stevens

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/8/2006

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said Thursday he is not opposed to the FCC deciding to reverse its policy and require cable to carry all of a broadcast TV station's digital multicast signals.

"It's their duty and I am happy to see them do it," he said.

Stevens said Thursday he was sending a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to explain that reporters, including this one, had misunderstood him when they reported that he was telling the FCC not to proceed with revising its multicast must-carry policy.

By contrast, House Energy & Commerce Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) and House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) are opposed to that move and told Chairman Martin so earlier this week in no uncertain terms.

Stevens had said at a cable meeting in Washington Wednesday, in reponse to a question about Chairman Martin's pushing for the reversal: "We're hoping that, if it's going to be done, it's going to be done by Congress and not by the FCC. It's too easy to change at the FCC."

Stevens said Thursday that what he meant by that comment was that "eventually, we will try to put it into the law."

"People should realize that it is a regulation that is subject to consideration by us when we get to consideration of the whole digital transition, and that has got to be one of the things that is put to rest, and it can only be put to rest by having a law that cannot be changed by other adminstrative decisisions." (Like for, example, Martin's decision to reverse two previous FCC decisions that must-carry only applied to one and not multi digital channels.)

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6342153

Barton, Upton Oppose Multicast Must-Carry I honestly can't figure out which side I'm on with this. I'm not entirely sure what the reasoning behind must-carry was in the first place. What is different between the OTA networks and the others?

But even assuming there is some reasonable difference (requirements on OTA for public service?), how does that apply to extra channels? Is the spirit of whatever reason the must carry was created covered by just carrying the primary one? Don't the remainder of the channels just resemble any other network's offering?

And right now the cable companies seem to be just using the bits from the OTA stations as-is. But surely they'll switch to MPEG-4 in the future, and since they will be recompressing, won't they be free to compress the extra channels down into the mud? I'm sure Congress isn't putting any kind of quality requirements on this rebroadcast requirement (they have never exhibited any signs of understanding such a thing). So then it would be up to the OTA networks to negotiate with the cable operators to get better quality.

Also, one thing I've never quite figured out is why satellite doesn't have the same requirements as cable. They forced the cable industry to adopt CableCard. They forced them to provide 1394 out of their boxes. The made cable carry the OTA channels (I believe satellite only had to carry all the OTA if they decided to carry any, but they were free to opt to carry none, unlike cable). But satellite carriers don't have those same requirements. What's the difference?

Xesdeeni

P.S. Oh yeah, what about someone like USDTV? Do they then have the rights to have their digital streams rebroadcast on cable!?

P.S. Oh yeah, what about someone like USDTV? Do they then have the rights to have their digital streams rebroadcast on cable!?
That's moot. The whole point of USDTV is to provide a few "must-have" cable channels WITHOUT cable.

I honestly can't figure out which side I'm on with this. I'm not entirely sure what the reasoning behind must-carry was in the first place. What is different between the OTA networks and the others?

But even assuming there is some reasonable difference (requirements on OTA for public service?), how does that apply to extra channels? Is the spirit of whatever reason the must carry was created covered by just carrying the primary one? Don't the remainder of the channels just resemble any other network's offering?

And right now the cable companies seem to be just using the bits from the OTA stations as-is. But surely they'll switch to MPEG-4 in the future, and since they will be recompressing, won't they be free to compress the extra channels down into the mud? I'm sure Congress isn't putting any kind of quality requirements on this rebroadcast requirement (they have never exhibited any signs of understanding such a thing). So then it would be up to the OTA networks to negotiate with the cable operators to get better quality.

Also, one thing I've never quite figured out is why satellite doesn't have the same requirements as cable. They forced the cable industry to adopt CableCard. They forced them to provide 1394 out of their boxes. The made cable carry the OTA channels (I believe satellite only had to carry all the OTA if they decided to carry any, but they were free to opt to carry none, unlike cable). But satellite carriers don't have those same requirements. What's the difference?

Xesdeeni

P.S. Oh yeah, what about someone like USDTV? Do they then have the rights to have their digital streams rebroadcast on cable!?


As always, you bring up a lot of good points, Xesdeenie.

Generally, (and very simplitsically) must-carry was desinged to guarantee that all homes would received OTA stations. The thought behind this was that local stations offered much (news, weather, public affairs, etc) that the public needed to opportunity to see.

But that was then and now there are great numbers of local stations with little or njo real local presence at all. If it were up to me, I would revoke must-carry for any station which doesn't program at least two hours of news between 5 PM and midnight. Of course that is just me. I am a pretty much of a hardliner when it comes to demanding public service from corporations who get rich off the public airwaves.

It seems to me you have hit on a crucial differences in these side-band weather and other channels now being offered by local stations: they may (or may not) have public service aspects. (And as I understand it, if multi-carry were mandated as the NAB is lobbying so diligently, USDTV carriage would be required. But the big players whose signals are being retransmitted might have some concerns about that -- especially if cable operators start dropping cable systems which are available on USDTV.)

Satellite doesn't have the same requirements as cable in some areas at the moment. But in the latest SHVERA is a requirement (lobbied for by cable) that DBS companies with more than five million subs, offer local TV station signals.

I believe the box difference came about since satellite was, from the outset, all digital. And cable argued it had to make a very expensive transition from analog to digital. The Cable Card was just one (apparently misguided) effort along the way to allow folks to save a few bucks on their cable bill. Kind of like a generation ago when the phone company was ordered to actually sell phones -- not just lease them.

But obviously these issues have many, many sides. And many millions of lobbyist dollars are being spent in an effort to shape the legislation.

Generally though, it seems to me that if multi-cast is mandated, it can't be good news for HD PQ no matter who is the provider: OTA, cable, satellite or telco.

TV Notebook
$115-million cut in public broadcasting clears panel

By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 8, 2006

PUBLIC television and radio broadcasters are preparing themselves for another difficult budget season after a key House Appropriations subcommittee voted Wednesday to cut $115 million from station operations, system upgrades and grants for children's programs such as "Reading Rainbow" and "Sesame Street."

The cuts, which amount to a 23% decrease from this year's funding, are similar to ones proposed by the Bush administration this year and set the stage for another showdown between public broadcasters and the GOP-controlled Congress.

Officials at the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, along with the Assn. of Public Television Stations, warned that, if approved by the House and Senate, the cuts would jeopardize small, rural stations that do not have a strong donor base to supplement federal funding. They also could lead programmers to rely more on commercial sponsors to make up the shortfall, broadcasters said.

"There's great concern out there," said John Lawson, president of the television station association, who added that he had already heard from concerned station managers about the cuts. "The message I'm getting back is, 'We're ready to fight.' " ...
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-wk-pubcuts8jun08,1,7174733.storyOne side effect: Don't take PBS-HD for granted. We're already seeing reports on other threads of PBS stations cutting the PBS-HD feed because they couldn't afford it anymore, and that was before this news came out. Remember: PBS stations must pay to acquire their programming. There's no such thing as "barter syndication" or "network compensation" in public television.

I agree entirely, dline. If you are concerned with proposed PBS budget cuts you should immediately contact your representatives in Washington.

I must say how disappointed I am that even here in Los Angeles the amount of HD programming offered by KCET is so slim. If the Los Angeles PBS station is poorly funded, it would seem to only have itself to blame.

Even the substantially lower-budgeted Orange County PBS affiliate does a far, far better job with both the the quality and variety of HD programming.

Re: PBS Funding cuts

This news comes just as the Las Vegas PBS station KLVX (runs PBS HD 24/7) had been running commercials thanking viewers and informing them that because fundraising targets had been met they wouldn't have to do a summer pledge drive. I suppose if this bill passes that's out of the question now and we'll be seeing the telephones this summer. Of course, the larger issue is that what is merely inconvenience to adequately funded PBS affialites could be crisis for many others throughout the country.

Re: Slapping Down Multicast Must-Carry.....FANTASTIC!

I agree, IF this discourages the nets from multi-casting at all. If they continue to waste bandwidth on endless news/weather/music channels (that never get watched) it doesn't really bother me if cable cos have to carry the garbage or not.

Critic’s Notebook
Don't put money on 'Windfall'

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic June 8, 2006


Let's see, beautiful, bitchy boarding school students with British accents -- that's enough of a hook by itself. Throw in a few ghosts, telekinetic powers, fallen angels, interesting fashion and dialogue that crackles with arch humor.........

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/273075_tv08.html

And you have Harry Potter on television! ;)

I agree, IF this discourages the nets from multi-casting at all. If they continue to waste bandwidth on endless news/weather/music channels (that never get watched) it doesn't really bother me if cable cos have to carry the garbage or not.

I think the real worry is that with multicast must carry stations would cram thier subchannels with paid programming. There's much less objection to the news/weather/music subchannels which many cable companies are willing to (and in some cases already do) carry.

Washington Notebook
Affiliates Say FCC Has Multicast Muscle

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/8/2006

Framing the issue as "stripping of broadcasters free multicast signals," the CBS, NBC adn ABC, affiliate associations have filed comments with the FCC asking it to find that a cable system that does not carry all of a broadcasters free digital channels is illegally "degrading" the broadcast signal in violation of the 1992 must-carry law.

The groups sent a letter to key House and Senate leaders Thursday informing them of the filing and insisting that "there can be no question that it is within the FCC's authority to implement the congressionally-established non-degradation principle."

The wording was important, since the letter to House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton and Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton came a day after reports those two had sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin saying he was "usurping" congressional authority by trying to reverse two previous FCC rulings and grant so-called multicast must-carry.

The letter also went to Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, who had alsoe apeared to criticize the FCC multicast effort, but he said Thursday his remarks had been misintterpreted and that he was fine with the FCC proceeding, but added that the issue would ultimately have to be resolved in statute so that it could not change again by an administrative decision.

Washington Notebook
NCTA Letter to FCC on Multi-Carry
(From the NCTA)

“The First Amendment test is not about protecting squatter’s rights – it’s about protecting speech.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – NCTA President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow sent the following letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioners Adelstein, Copps, McDowell and Tate.

"The marketplace is working, even before completion of the digital transition, to ensure voluntary carriage of multicast broadcast streams that offer programming likely to meet the needs and interests of cable customers.

Broadcasters’ claim – that Congress created a perpetual right to 6 MHz of bandwidth and not simply to primary video – is not what the statute says and not what the Turner Court approved.

Guaranteed cable carriage of every multicast stream of every broadcast station – without regard to whether it serves any viewer’s needs or interests – serves no public policy purpose. It unfairly thwarts the development and availability of non-broadcast cable program networks, which have no such guarantee of carriage for even a single stream of programming.

And it forces cable operators, who spent $100 billion upgrading their facilities in the last decade to provide their customers with the most desirable array of video, voice and data services, to set aside valuable channels for services that may have no appeal at all."

http://www.ncta.com/ContentView.aspx?hidenavlink=true&type=lpubtp4&contentId=3276

Daypart Ratings Notebook
Bump in the night for 'Jimmy Kimmel'

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 8, 2006

People will be debating whether the quality of the new-look “Nightline” has improved or declined for months to come, with no definitive answer, but one thing is for sure. The show’s attempt to skew younger, with hipper stories and more youthful anchors, has been a big help to lead-out “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

With a more compatible lead-in, “Live” became the only late-night talk show to deliver a ratings increase among adults 18-49 during May sweeps, jumping 17 percent year to year from a 0.6 rating to a 0.7.

That was the show’s best May performance since 2003, its first year, and it tied CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” for No. 2 behind NBC’s dominant “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” in the 12:05 a.m. to 1 a.m. timeslot.

It’s not hard to trace much of that growth. For all the criticism “Nightline” has received for dumbing down, showcasing several stories per night instead of just one as it did under longtime host Ted Koppel, the program is achieving its goal of reaching a younger audience.

Its May sweeps average jumped from a 1.0 last year to a 1.2 this year among 18-49s, an improvement of 20 percent. That gave Kimmel, which targets the younger end of the 18-49 demo, a much more compatible lead-in than he had during the Koppel years.

“Under Ted Koppel, ‘Nightline’ was pretty serious fare, and it really had a different kind of energy than ‘Jimmy Kimmel,’” says Bill Carroll, vice president and director of programming for Katz Television. “I think the new show, although still journalistically in the same tradition, has a little different feel, and as such, with multiple topics and younger anchors, it delivers more of the younger audience potentially to ‘Jimmy Kimmel.’”

Certainly Kimmel’s increasing comfort as a host has made viewers stick around, too. During the show’s early months, it relied on a rotating series of guest hosts, which was both confusing and distracting when there were other guests.

These days Kimmel hosts alone, and he seems a lot more comfortable that way. Much as it took O’Brien several years to shake off critics’ intense trashing of his show, the similarly criticized Kimmel seems more willing to put his persona into the show. These days his monologues can be just as witty as O’Brien or David Letterman’s.

“I think what always happens is over time these shows find their voice,” Carroll says. “Now it’s uniquely his show, it has his sensibility. The more you do it, the better you get at it.”

Meanwhile, in other daypart ratings for the week ended May 28:

NBC’s “Meet the Press” finished first among the Sunday news shows for the 265th straight week, averaging 3.02 million viewers. ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopolous” hung onto second with 2.43 million, followed by CBS’s “Face the Nation” at 2.39 million. “Fox News Sunday” was fourth at 1.13 million.

NBC’s “Today” increased its lead over ABC’s “Good Morning America” to 900,000, averaging 5.8 million total viewers. CBS’s “Early Show” was down 200,000 week to week, to an average 2.6 million viewers.

In late night, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” maintained its 1.7 million-person lead over CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman.” “Nightline” on ABC fell by 300,000 week to week, to 3.3 million viewers.

For the week ended June 4, NBC’s “Nightly News” led with 8.1 million viewers, more than 300,000 better than the previous week. ABC’s “World News Tonight” fell by nearly 400,000, to 7.17 million, while CBS’s “Evening News” was also down nearly 300,000, to 6.78 million. Those totals do not include Memorial Day, which was May 29.

• For complete daypart and syndication ratings, check here:

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5224.asp

TV Notebook
Carell gets richer deal for 'Office'

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter June 08, 2006 (Cynthia Littleton contributed to this report.)

Steve Carell is looking at a big raise when he returns to "The Office" in the fall.

Sources said the per-episode fee for the "Office" star will more than double next season to the neighborhood of $175,000.

He also is said to be looking at a flexible filming schedule with two hiatuses to accommodate his burgeoning feature film career.

The renegotiated terms of Carell's deal do not include adding years to the actor's original contract, sources said.

NBC and NBC Universal TV Studio, which produces "The Office" with Reveille, declined comment Wednesday.

Carell has seen his star rise in the past year, with his first starring feature, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," becoming one of the biggest hits of the summer and "Office" taking off in the ratings this past season.

In January, Carell won a Golden Globe for his role as socially inept boss Michael Scott on the show.

NBC already has been accommodating to Carell's growing film commitments. The deal for the show's back-nine order this past season was done in a way that allowed the actor to begin shooting the feature "Evan Almighty" this spring, when most series are still in production, while also fulfilling his obligations to the NBC comedy.

Upon wrap of "Evan," Carell is set to segue to another feature, the Walt Disney Co.'s "Dan in Real Life."

He has at least four other films in different stages of development.

Carell's reps at Endeavor as well as manager Steve Sauer and attorneys Sam Fischer and Bryan Wolf declined comment.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002650440

Please pardon me for posting a local story – although it is by one of my very favorite TV journalists – but it sounds like this show would be fun to watch if it were available to other PBS stations around the country.

(Local) TV Notebook
40 years later: The Topeka tornado

‘FOR GOD’S SAKE, TAKE COVER!’
By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star June 8, 2006

Long before he made his name as a Chicago TV superanchor, Bill Kurtis was a young newscaster holding down the fort at the CBS affiliate in Topeka when disaster struck.

An F5 tornado — the worst there is — bulldozed through Topeka on June 8, 1966. In half an hour it cut a 22-mile swath, damaging or destroying thousands of buildings and cars, deforesting whole neighborhoods and killing 16 people. Washburn University looked like it had been bombed.

Forty years to the day and hour of that disaster, the public TV station housed on Washburn’s campus will air “June 8: The Topeka Tornado,” at 7 tonight on KTWU, repeating immediately afterward. Interviews with Kurtis, former Topeka mayor Chuck Wright, author Roy Bird and other eyewitnesses flesh out the terrifying minutes of destruction and the months of rebuilding that took place afterward.

Among the revelations in the one-hour documentary: When Kurtis uttered his famous warning, “For God’s sake, take cover!” on WIBW-TV, he was thinking chiefly of his wife. He hadn’t had time to call her at home because the weather bulletin was handed to him on the air. And we hear two Washburnites admit that the F5 was a “boon” to the school, leading to a wave of new construction and an overhaul of its creaky infrastructure.

“For every pencil we lost,” one observer says, “we got back a computer.”

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/14762630.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Notebook
Cleverwood

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 07, 2006

Here’s why I’ll miss “Everwood.” Not just because the show, which ended Monday, proved that sentiment could be blended with a sense of humor. Not just because it demonstrated on a weekly basis that compassion and sincerity don’t have to be treacly and condescending. Not just because the cast was so frakkin’ good.

Not just because Treat Williams made me cry with that final speech at his dead wife’s grave. Not just because it ended with Amy and Ephram together, with Andy and Nina together, with Bright and Hannah almost together, and with Edna moving in with Harold and Rose (OK, that last one requires a big leap of faith, but “Everwood’s” more than earned that in the last four years).

No, I’ll miss “Everwood” because, dang, who writes dialogue like this?

This excerpt is from the show’s May 29 episode, the one that paid tribute to the late Irv Harper. It’s a flashback scene in which Amy and Ephram are discussing their new dating partners, and they talk about losing their virginity (both, it emerges, have not, at this stage of the show). Ephram asks Amy if she’s done the deed with her new boyfriend, Tommy, which starts Amy musing on the whole virginity topic.

Amy: “It kind of makes me wonder who my first time will be with.”

Ephram: “I guess that answers that question.”

Amy: “Who, Tommy? No, although it would make things easier.”

Ephram: “Why, you think he’s experienced or something?”

Amy: “I’m sure he’s done it before. That’s not the point. It would just take some of the pressure off if it was him.”

Ephram: “Like, what do you mean?”

Amy: “I already know he’s not The One, so losing it to him would just be like getting it out of the way.”

Ephram: “Every girl’s dream.”

Amy: “Are you a girl?”

Ephram: “Compared to you? Possibly. I’m not saying it has to be all candles and Coldplay or whatever, but I definitely want my first time to be special.”

Candles and Coldplay? Who writes like that? Nobody. That’s the point.

OK, there are other great shows out there with compelling characters and great dialogue. But not this show. With these people. Who managed to be sincere and smartalecky at the same time. Who made me cry when Delia got a horse, for goodness’ sake.

Some have carped that “Everwood” wrapped things up too neatly. Pshaw. I think it was perfect. I want to think about all those couples together. I want to think of Rose and Harold raising that baby. I want to think about Delia riding her horse and Edna razzing her prickly son.

I want to remember that kind of dialogue and remember how smart and brave the show was when “7th Heaven” returns next year. No, actually, I don’t want to think about that come next fall. Because that would cause what’s left of my brain to ignite and explode.

Thanks, “Everwood.” I’ll miss you.

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

TV Review
HBO's funny `Entourage' improves with age

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News June 8, 2006

Television series about life in the wonderful world of Hollywood have had a decidedly checkered track record.

Most have come across as self-indulgent, boorish and painfully lacking in self-awareness. Even when a show avoids most of the pitfalls inherent in the genre -- 1999's wickedly funny ``Action,'' for instance -- viewers tend to tune out because they really don't care about the in-jokes or characters whose biggest concern seems to be how much swag they'll get for appearing on some awards show.

All of which makes the success of HBO's ``Entourage'' -- a comedy about life in the star-making machinery, which begins its third season at 10 p.m. Sunday -- all the more intriguing. Not only is ``Entourage'' a delightfully entertaining spoof of the quirks and excesses of Hollywood, but it also has a warmth that previous satires have lacked.

While wit and charm always have been part of the ``Entourage'' package, the heart of the show really didn't start to expand until Season 2. Characters who'd bordered on cliche suddenly became fully developed human beings -- particularly star-in-the-making Vince Chase (the likable Adrian Grenier), who went from one dimension to three. (On the DVD set for Season 2, Grenier suggests that ``my character didn't exist'' the first year.)

Vince's posse of hangers-on -- longtime buddy turned manager Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly), perpetual loser Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), pothead and ultimate mooch Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) -- also started to show shades and coloration lacking in the first season.

All that brought some balance to a show that had been dominated by one fully developed character: Vince's manic and profane agent, Ari Gold, played with great panache by Jeremy Piven. The portrait of Ari may have smacked of inside baseball but was so wildly funny that you didn't need to get all the jokes.

Now running on all cylinders, ``Entourage'' returns Sunday with a blast: the opening of Vince's first big film, ``Aquaman'' as ``directed'' by James Cameron. (The show has a real flair for making cameos by big Hollywood names into more than just drive-bys.) The angst about proper dates for the premiere, the box office for the opening weekend, Ari's status as Vince's agent and Vince's own concerns about becoming a superstar make the first episodes among the series' funniest.

Even though it doesn't rank among HBO's most-watched shows, ``Entourage'' is generating such buzz now that HBO has ordered 20 episodes for this season: 12 for this summer block and eight more to air in January when ``The Sopranos'' returns. That's a real vote of confidence in a show that has gotten funnier, more human and more insightful with age.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/columnists/charlie_mccollum/14768410.htm

TV Notebook
'CSI' hits iTunes

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 08, 2006

Some viewers detested the finale of "CSI," in which Gil Grissom was revealed to be having an affair with a co-worker, Sara Sidle.

But the fans who loved that development are in luck; they can purchase the episode via iTunes and watch it again and again.

CBS announced Thursday that the network had jumped on the iTunes bandwagon; the network's iTunes offerings include episodes of all three "CSI" shows, as well as "Numb3rs," "NCIS" and "Survivor." Each episode will cost the usual $1.99.

Episodes currently available are from the most recent seasons of each show, though in some cases older episodes are available as well. In the fall, episodes of those programs will be available on iTunes the day after they air on CBS.

Earlier in the year, CBS made the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament available through iTunes, and Showtime, one of the companies within CBS Corp., had already begun selling "Sleeper Cell" and "Weeds" via the online service.

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

TV Reviews
HBO's Sunday Tripleheader

Deadwood, Entourage shine in third season; Louie not so lucky
By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic

Let's not dwell on this being probably the last season of Deadwood (9 pm/ET), the tragicomic Western anchoring HBO's new Sunday lineup. Let's be grateful it's still so pungently riveting — bristling with deadly conflict, sordid secrets and treacherous alliances.

In 1870s Deadwood, violent actions may speak louder than words, but it's the words (courtesy of creator David Milch) you remember: a dazzling, baffling barrage of flamboyant language, elegant in its wit yet profane in its bile.

As the season opens, signs of civilization — a school, a bank, a theater (in a former brothel), elections for sheriff and mayor — are taking tentative root amid the squalor and savagery.

"Change calls the tune we dance to," says dastardly saloon owner Al Swearengen (the masterful Ian McShane). He's none too happy about being forced to tango with mining mogul George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), who's orchestrating a war for control.

The circuitous plot is challenging, but the true glory of Deadwood is in its vivid creation of a volatile world where scoundrels, wretches and tormented heroes coexist in an unvarnished time capsule of Wild West history.

And then we have the wild West Coast of Hollywood high life, skewered in the corrosively enjoyable satire Entourage (10 pm/ET). It's back for a scintillating third season with blockbuster movie openings, make-or-break box-office grosses and a father who says of his teenage daughter: "In this town, as long as I keep her off an E! True Hollywood Story, I've done my job."

It's a time of high anxiety for rising star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his frenetic, newly independent agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) as they await the opening of Vince's big-budget breakthrough, James Cameron's "Aquaman." Family and friendships are tested amid the dizzying rush. There's a reason a theme-park roller coaster is used as a metaphor. This is one fabulous ride. Strap in and enjoy.

Paired with Entourage is HBO's uneven first attempt at a "classic" sitcom, Lucky Louie (10:30 pm/ET), filmed in front of a studio audience. And that includes simulated sex scenes.

Ewww is right. Aiming to take Roseanne-style domestic realism to a new graphic level, Louie stars comic Louis C.K. as a mopey married-with-kid mechanic. Gripes about money and especially sex are common, delivered with cringeworthy crudeness.

The funniest running gag involves Louie awkwardly trying to bond with his new African-American neighbors. Understandably, they try to keep him at arm's length. At least.

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

TV Reviews
'Hex' may put a spell on you; 'Windfall,' not so much

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 08, 2006

What would you do if you -- and many of your friends -- won $20 million? That’s $20 million each.

That’s the intriguing premise behind “Windfall” (10 PM ET/PT Thursday, NBC), in which a group of friends, neighbors and acquaintances hit a huge jackpot and watch their lives change as a result.

“Like it or not, we’re different than most people now,” one winner tells another, as the two women settles back into their first-class airplane seats on a shopping jaunt to Paris.

That’s the trouble with “Windfall”: These folks aren’t much different from the sort of two-dimensional characters we routinely see on television, lottery win or no win. Though the actors are competent and mostly likable -- Luke Perry brings his feline, bittersweet charm to his role of an average guy whose wife is straying -- “Windfall’s” interlocking plots are mostly predictable and bland.

More mysterious but still somewhat frustrating is “Hex” (10 PM ET Thursday, BBC America). It has been promoted as the British “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” but it doesn’t quite live up to that billing.

Set at a British boarding school, “Hex” follows the story of a young woman who sees flashes of old tragedies and strange events that occurred at the art-oriented institution -- formerly the home of a prosperous merchant -- hundreds of years ago.

Eventually we begin to see how those old mysteries are linked to Cassie (Christina Cole), the shy student at the heart of the drama. Still, clues are doled out at a maddeningly slow pace. Note to folks working in this particular genre of television: a A brooding atmosphere is fine, but moody shots of the landscape and cryptic flashes of the past are really better in small doses.

Still, “Hex” shows promise once Cassie meets her otherworldly match near the end of the second hour, and Jemima Rooper supplies a much-needed spark as Cassie’s live-wire roommate, Thelma.

“Hex” takes a while to cast its spell, but it may yet prove itself worthy of viewers’ attention.

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

TV Review
Everybody probably won't love Louie

By Diane Werts Newsday Staff Writer June 9, 2006

Now we know why live-audience sitcoms run just 22 minutes and sidestep wanton swearing and sex. Discipline improves the product.

Exhibit A: HBO's new "Lucky Louie," (Sunday 10:30 PM ET, HBO) which does neither and suffers the less-than-hilarious consequences.

There's still something about the Much-Maligned Formula that simply clicks, given talent, commitment and creativity. Exhibit A: "Everybody Loves Raymond," which followed the basic rules yet felt fresh and crisp, thanks to its emotionally rooted characters and sharply observed situations. "Raymond's" subtle writing even managed to be adult without being coarse or offensive.

In "Lucky Louie," HBO attempts to reinvigorate the live-audience format by pushing graphic bedroom situations, man-talk cursing and explicit sex talk, without an equal level of explicit craft behind it. Louis C.K., one of stand-up's main men, goes down for the count as a muffler shop mechanic forever desperate to get some from his wife, an overworked nurse (Pamela Adlon). As if that weren't enough, he's also trying to make "a black friend" in his new apartment-house neighbor, a ham-handed subplot straight from Archie Bunker's era.

Sunday's pilot actually starts off promisingly, with a two-hander between Louie and his 5-ish daughter - a "Why?" assault from her that has him confessing his drug-addled youth, deconstructing the service economy and wryly concluding, "God's dead, and we're alone." The scene neatly sets up the show's situation, while teasing a depth of comedic character too rarely revisited. Instead, we're hurled easy masturbation jokes, tasteless sex tales from the guys at the shop and family friend Laura Kightlinger making love to a roast at the grocery store. Wife yearns for another baby, but Louie pleads being broke in such excessive observations as "Your [genitalia] is a chamber of financial ruin." It takes 31 minutes to deliver this.

Men are pigs also resounds as the theme next week, which adds several awkward sex scenes and attendant toys to the litany of four-letter words, five-letter words and 12-letter words. There's certainly comedy to be found in these basic situations, but not in "Lucky Louie's" confounding approach or stilted presentation. Louie's mostly a lug, and his guy pals range from self-interested to despicable. The women talk dirty the way men wish they did.

Too bad. This could have been a welcome return to the "Roseanne" real world of plain people feeling trapped in workaday lives. "Louie" gets the look right, shooting on videotape that details use-scarred walls and the lines on tired faces. But the "comedy," unleavened by the rethinking of restraint, gets simply in-your-face, not in your brain or emotions. Lucky isn't the word that comes to mind.

LUCKY LOUIE. HBO tackles the sitcom. The sitcom gets sacked.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettvtwo4773012jun09,0,4054316,print.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

The Business of TV
Connecticut OK’s Telco TV

Warnings Follow Ruling On AT&T Plan
By John M. Moran Hartford Courant Staff Writer June 8 2006

Opponents warned of possible lawsuits and legislative action Wednesday after state utility commissioners voted 3-2 to permit AT&T to deliver television programming over phone lines.

The split decision by the Department of Public Utility Control affirmed an earlier draft ruling aimed at speeding competition by allowing AT&T to supply video service without following franchise regulations that apply to cable providers.

AT&T has said it hopes to begin supplying some Connecticut customers with its new TV service later this year, and serve 50 percent of state households in three years.

But consumer advocates and cable industry representatives said Wednesday that they will file suits, ask the DPUC to reconsider, and look to Congress and the state legislature to intervene.

Paul Cianelli, president of the New England Cable & Telecommunications Association, a trade group representing cable providers, said his group will sue in state or federal court - possibly as soon as next week - in an effort to overturn the DPUC decision.

"We think this is clearly contrary to existing law, both on the federal and the state level," Cianelli said.

Meanwhile, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the state Office of Consumer Counsel said they would ask utility regulators to reconsider their decision and may also file lawsuits.

"The next step, pretty much undoubtedly at this point, is to petition for reconsideration," Blumenthal said. "A lawsuit could easily be in the cards if the petition is denied."

William Vallee, of the state Office of Consumer Counsel, which advocates for state utility ratepayers, said the agency would pursue a "three-pronged strategy" of asking for reconsideration, calling for legislative action and exploring the possibility of a lawsuit.

John Emra, executive director of external affairs for AT&T Connecticut, said the company planned to move forward quickly in the wake of the DPUC decision and will make further details available in the next three weeks.

He said talk of lawsuits was not unexpected, but would not deter the company from pressing ahead.

"I'm not going to be surprised if the cable guys file a lawsuit. Monopolists will fight with everything they have to protect what they have," Emra said.

Cable industry and consumer advocates have argued that AT&T should be subject to franchise regulations to ensure that the new video service is available throughout the state and that it meets service standards required of cable providers.

But AT&T has said that the Internet-like technology it plans to use in supplying video to customers is not governed by franchise regulations.

Deploying the technology quickly, the company said, would bring badly needed competition to the video marketplace now dominated by cable providers.

The DPUC agreed, saying in its final decision that AT&T's video product is "a packet of data bytes streamed over a network fundamentally different from CATV networks, which has the potential to offer consumers yet another competitive application of Internet-based technology."

Commissioners Jack Goldberg, Donald Downes and Anne George voted in favor of the final decision; Commissioners Jack Betkoski III and Anthony Palermino voted against.

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-dpuctv0608.artjun08,0,411689.story?coll=hc-headlines-business

Set at a British boarding school, “Hex” follows the story of a young woman who sees flashes of old tragedies and strange events that occurred at the art-oriented institution -- formerly the home of a prosperous merchant -- hundreds of years ago.

“Hex” takes a while to cast its spell, but it may yet prove itself worthy of viewers’ attention.

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

didn't someone else mention the "it's British, so it must be good" mentality before. Hex is a case in point. I've seen lots of reviews of this show from when it aired in the UK from British genre mags and most agree it's mediocre to rubbish. No surprise it was cancelled after two seasons. The only thing that makes it stand out as more than just a UK version of Charmed is the lesbianism and nudity.

Hmm, I think I just might have sold the show by accident there ...

Quick example review:

Hex Season Two
SFX Magazine

Season one of Hex was a case of file under “promising” and wait and see. A teen supernatural chiller set in a private school, it seemed like a show that could go places if it ever got rid of its Buffy complex. And, of course, there was lots of lesbian action, six-packs and simmering goth girls – if you like that sort of thing.

Season two is the point where the series should start to define its own style and identity. Instead it falls apart. Incoherent and incapable of adhering to any internal logic, season two displays every sign of being made up as it goes along by writers who think that the audience will never notice so long as it gets its quota of soft porn every week.

Spoilers in the full article at: http://www.sfx.co.uk/dvd_reviews/hex_season_two

Thanks for the background, VisionOn.

TV Review
'Deadwood' suits up for death dance

The third (and final) season premiere crackles with sudden violence.
By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times TV critic June 9, 2006

Much as I admire "Deadwood," David Milch's trippy western set in a gold rush camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota, I can't get with the outrage at HBO for canceling it (experience the venom at www.savedeadwood.tv).

Yes, I know Milch had intended his story of the Old West to play out over four seasons, but it's a western, we know how it ends — with gunplay, death and a classic soliloquy, not necessarily in that order.

That HBO reportedly balked at renewing the actors' salaries on "Deadwood" is bad for the actors (and there are many of them, all colorfully realized), but not necessarily bad for Milch, whose important credits as a TV dramatist include "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue."

Milch is such a committed, wracked personality, so uncommon in a TV world threatened by a wave of J.J. Abrams wannabes, that I'm anxious for him to move out of the American frontier and onto the next thing that strikes his fancy (a show based on the "surf noir" novels of Kem Nunn, apparently, to which I say, great, wonderful, sign me up).

Milch, having hit 60, is at an age when many TV writers have been unceremoniously guided into a quiet life of free screenings in the greater Beverly Hills area. Milch isn't infallible, but he is an anomaly — schooled under Robert Penn Warren at Yale, able as a writer to use his empathic skills and battles with compulsivity and addiction to channel broken people from various walks of life and history.

He's now at a place, HBO, that'll let him take however long to shoot an episode and go over budget, despite niche ratings. The proof is on the screen — the beginning of "Deadwood's" third season crackles as ever with sudden violence, slow death-by-drinking and gradual suffering.

The dialogue is "Deadwood's" calling card, with its mixture of gutter and Elizabethan grace. It layers Milch's broader, working theme — the coming-together of various organisms to create a single, functioning one.

On the ground, the show's period details — the costumes, the sets, the palpable sense of walking through muck in the thoroughfare — add to this singular Darwinian world.

This season a theater company arrives in camp, a brothel is turned into a school, Deadwood Bank opens, and there are mayoral elections.

Like "The Sopranos," in which Jamba Juice was used this season as a metaphor for the inevitable drag of change, "Deadwood" is partly about how fun and yet fleeting it is to live outside the pull of society at large (at least if you're a man, although Milch's women, it must be said, are a plenty salty bunch).

"From the moment we leave the forest, Dan, it's all a-givin' up and adjustin'," saloon owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) tells his lieutenant, Dan Dority (W. Earl Brown).

Milch has done a full-blown job with the Swearengen character, like he did with his mercurial detective, Sipowicz, on "NYPD Blue." Introduced as the camp's brutal overlord, Swearengen's gotten cheekier, though, his villainy smoothed out a bit; the arrival of outside influences has re-located him to a place more central to our hearts. Now he's pretty much fully allied with the steely eyed sheriff, Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), and he's settling his former girlfriend/employee, Trixie the whore (Paula Malcolmson), into a life of domesticity with the hardware store proprietor Sol Starr (John Hawkes) a.k.a. "The Jew," whom Swearengen is also backing for mayor.

Of course, all of this comes of Swearengen's cunning self-preservation, not a life reformed to good works (I wish I could quote you Trixie's reaction to his plans). His nemesis this season, "Deadwood's" new villain, is George Hearst, based on the patriarch of the newspaper family, who has come to the camp to consolidate his gold claim with that of the richest lady in town, the junkie Alma Garret (Molly Parker).

Hearst maneuvers to get every minor and major power broker in camp under his sway, and he is played with such wonderful menace and understatement that I had no idea it was Gerald McRaney, whom I will never again refer to as "TV's 'Major Dad.' "

Unlike Swearengen — and everybody else in Deadwood — Hearst doesn't tend to the profanity, and his cold-bloodedness is so far done by proxy. The way he and Swearengen parry, it's practically like a romance — Hearst sending Swearengen cryptic signs and notes, Swearengen trying to decipher subtext. "Don't I yearn for the days when a draw across the throat would make resolution?" Swearengen says. But instead, the more measured Al knows the situation calls for "composing my thoughts, tropes and gambits for the talk between us that has yet to come."

That sort of composing of tropes and gambits happened between HBO and Milch too, the two parties reportedly agreeing to a pair of additional two-hour installments that will serve as the season finale. This will hopefully enable Milch to bring the curtain down on "Deadwood" in a way that feels more organic. It's a compromise in an ongoing relationship — what on "Deadwood" is symbolized by the refilling of a shot glass or not shooting somebody dead or spitting into the palm before sealing the deal with a handshake.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-deadwood9jun09,0,7511397,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

Critic’s Notebook
After 'Deadwood' dies, we foresee HBO as a not-so-premium channel

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Friday, June 9, 2006

No crystal balls, no scrying bowls help TV critics do their jobs, only preview tapes and DVDs. Based on these methods, which are only slightly more precise than divination tools, we make predictions.

Since this qualification backs into a discussion of HBO's "Deadwood," "Entourage," and the new so-called comedy "Lucky Louie" -- the strongest evidence yet that the premium channel is in a dive -- you may be thinking to yourself, "No good news can come of this."

Perceptive. For, via the power of a few DVDs, this critic has advice regarding your premium channel subscription. Once "Deadwood" finishes this season, which kicks off Sunday at 9, consider canceling it.

Maybe forever, maybe for the months between the drama's finale and "The Sopranos' " return -- don't worry, as long as you have cable you'll always have a line tethered to HBO.

To some of you, such a suggestion is insane. Even HBO's worst series are better than anything you'll see on regular television! No other channel would dare to give us "Rome" or "Big Love"!

That's true -- other networks couldn't afford "Rome." Neither could HBO without the help of the BBC, its co-producers on the series.

It also bears mentioning that neither it nor "Big Love" was stupendous from stem to stern. Viewers held on until the kinks were worked out. We did so gladly, because this is HBO we're talking about.

The same was true of "Entourage." Admit it, the first eight episodes of Doug Ellin's high-roller Hollywood adventures were nothing in comparison to the Sunday-night dessert that it is now.

Yet, as enjoyable as it is to keep up with Vince (Adrian Grenier) on the eve of attaining superstardom in "Aquaman," "Entourage" has yet to display much substance.

Granted, a confection like this probably doesn't have to. Ever mindlessly open a box of Godiva chocolates and devour the entire mess without noticing? That's what it is to consume a few adventures of Vince, Eric (Kevin Connolly), Drama (Kevin Dillon), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Ari (Jeremy Piven, the series' secret weapon) on DVD or video on demand. Except the guilt has less of an impact on your buttocks.

Empty calories in a pleasant half-hour before bedtime, what's not to like? But again, not content for the ages. One day, we may even look back upon "Entourage" as the stylish comedy that The WB wished it could afford.

But we'll take a pile of "Entourage" over "Lucky Louie," the thing stuck to "Entourage's" $900 shoes, dragging behind it at 10:30. This is comedian Louis C.K.'s attempt to lampoon the classic half-hour sitcom, if by lampoon you mean drown it in toxic failure.

Why go into it? All you need to know is that the most original twist this comic could come up with is that his ugly, working-class dad with a cute wife and an adorable kid treats F-bombs like confetti. That, and instead of merely talking about boring sex, he shows it.

Should you fool yourself into thinking that "Lucky Louie's" crass comedy might grow on you, remember this: warts do that, too.

Fortunately "Entourage" and "Louie" aren't the only things HBO has going for it this summer. "Deadwood's" first new hour is ample reason for them to keep your business, for now.

Unfortunately, "Deadwood's" farewell, which was supposed to happen at the end of the fourth season, is arriving early. Savor these next 12 episodes; they're pretty much it. Creator David Milch has decided he's moving on to another series, a "surfer noir" tale called "John From Cincinnati."

Backtrack by eight words, and read them again. Take a moment to scream inside and ... all better. Moving on.

The best HBO could coax out of Milch was two 120minute specials to close the book on his Western, but try not to think about that.

Deadwood is no longer a filthy stage around which saloon owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), can push the townsfolk to sell, buy or murder one another to benefit his interests. Now he has to contend with George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), a new player who spent last season quietly consolidating holdings around Deadwood via several emissaries before appearing in the flesh.

With Hearst's arrival, previous threats to Swearengen's rule mean nothing. Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) has enough on his plate between trying to keep his sheriff's badge, now up for grabs in a coming election, and stifling his lovesickness over Alma Garret (Molly Parker). Alma, now pregnant with Bullock's child, is trapped in another passionless marriage to Ellsworth (Jim Beaver).

The most direct competition to Swearengen's gambling and brothel income, Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe), is recovering from being knifed in the gut. Those who aren't allies, Swearengen holds in check by force of will or plain violence. Hearst is another breed altogether, a man with vast wealth behind a hard fist.

That makes Swearengen an underdog for the first time, but far from toothless. One priceless exchange, after Swearengen has been unceremoniously brought to heel, gives us a taste of the battle to come. "You stay the (expletive) away from him," Swearengen hisses about Hearst, through a smile with gritted teeth. "I'm having mine served cold."

To call "Deadwood" great television doesn't begin to do it justice. Gorgeous in its ugliness, its black-hearted deeds and tapestries of expletives are merely there to keep the tale trundling along. "Deadwood's" smitten know that underneath that muck and despair hides exquisite expressions of soul-baring tenderness, much in the way the mud around this 1870s mining camp hell obscures nuggets of gold. And if you don't love McShane as Swearengen by now, he'll wriggle his way into your heart soon enough.

"Deadwood's" return was worth the aching wait and lives up to its reputation as an outstanding masterpiece. It even manages to get even better -- just in time to end.

This can only be a sign that it's time for a break from HBO's company -- just for a little while. All this channel needs is one terrific, can't-miss series to get back into our good graces.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/273278_tv09.html

Washington Notebook
Telcos OK'd for national vid regs

House approves bill that bypasses local franchise rules
By Brooks Boliek The Hollywood Reporter June 09, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The big telephone companies Thursday rang up a legislative victory in their effort to get into the video business when the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation allowing them to bypass local government franchise requirements.

On a 321-101 vote, the House approved the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act that sets a national video franchise for phone companies.

"Today, there are thousands of local franchising authorities, and each may impose disparate restrictions on the provision of cable service in its specific franchising area," House Commerce Committee chairman Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said. "The requirement to negotiate such local franchises and the patchwork of obligations local franchising authorities impose are hindering the deployment of advanced broadband networks that will bring increasingly innovative and competitive services to all of our constituents."

Overall, the bill sets a 10-year, automatically renewing national video franchise for phone companies. In territories the phone companies enter, the cable companies will come under the same federal franchise rather than the local one under which they currently operate. The cities would be paid a fee that reached 6% of gross revenue either way.

While the bill's supporters claimed the legislation will lower the price for video programming by bringing in a new competitor, its opponents called the measure a corporate giveaway, saying it gives a free ride to such big network operators as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the Commerce Committee's senior Democrat, called it a "bad bill" that would do nothing but advance the "cause of special and moneyed interests," allowing them to "cut a fat hog."

The legislation has become a lightning rod over the issue known as "network neutrality." Proponents of the concept, mostly Democrats, contend that the government should prevent the network companies from favoring one person or companies' programming or data over another. They are backed by many of the nation's Internet and high-tech companies including Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

Opponents of the idea, mostly Republicans, contend that a network neutrality requirement is an unnecessary government intrusion. They are backed by the big network companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

A network neutrality amendment written by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., was defeated, but the issue sparked lively debate.

"Unless we preserve network neutrality the (Internet's) basic DNA will be subject to mutation," said Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash. "Just as all men are created equal, all bits are created equal, and the Markey amendment treats all bits equally."

But the COPE bill sponsors said the amendment was not necessary because the legislation gives the FCC authority to enforce complaints against the network providers. The legislation, however, prevents the commission from writing network neutrality regulations.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. "There are protections in the bill that preserve those rights. There's no evidence of these problems."

Upton's view won the day as Markey's amendment went down 269-152.

The focus now shifts to the Senate, where Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, is pushing a different version of the legislation.

Stevens said Wednesday that he expected to make some changes to his version of the bill, which is much broader than the House legislation. His legislation currently only directs the FCC to study the issue.

"Basically we're defining what the FCC can do for consumers to ensure network neutrality," he said. "As far as the battle between the large entities and industries, they should fight their own battle."

Despite the House vote and Stevens' desires, the fate of the legislation is still up in the air. Getting a vote in the full Senate and ironing out the differences in the two bills in the short time left in this Congress remains a tall order in an election year.

The White House gave the legislation a boost, however, as it issued a statement in general support of the bill.

According to a statement of administration policy issued by the Office of Management and Budget, "The administration strongly supports efforts to promote competition in both video and voice markets and therefore supports this bill's language on video franchising."

It also sided with opponents of the a network neutrality requirement.

"The administration believes the FCC currently has sufficient authority to address potential abuses in the marketplace," the statement said. "Creating a new legislative framework for regulation in this area is premature."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002650934

TV Reviews
'Deadwood' and 'Entourage'

Men of Power Finding Their Stride
By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times June 9, 2006

“Deadwood" is about taming the Wild West. "Entourage" is about running wild in West Hollywood.

Both HBO series are about power and, especially in the beginning, they revel in the spoils of limitless sex and romance.

As they enter their third seasons, however, "Deadwood" and "Entourage" are suspiciously chaste. The 19th-century prospectors' camp is preoccupied with elections and sinister power plays by an interloping mining magnate. Nobody is canoodling: even the saloon whores are underworked and bored. In Hollywood the movie star and his posse are so caught up in show business that they take their mothers as dates to the premiere of a blockbuster film.

"Deadwood" and "Entourage" are not just men's shows that women love; they are like the men women love. After a while, or a few seasons, something seems different and it is difficult not to wonder and fret: it could be that the first flush of excitement is settling into a steady, lasting relationship. Or maybe his ardor is just fading.

"Deadwood" is a counterintuitive western; instead of wide open spaces and men of few words, the town where it is set is a cramped, muddy ghetto peopled by gabby merchants and jabbering prospectors. Everyone spews obscenities, but even the humblest characters do so in declamations that have a Shakespearean ring. And all that prolixity reaches new heights as the town delves into the electoral process.

The series' end is near; its creator, David Milch, has reached an agreement with HBO to bring "Deadwood" to a close with a four-hour, two-part finale. As it lurches to its conclusion, the politics of "Deadwood" keep growing more dense and colorful, and that magnificent obsession crowds out other primal forces. Death is still common in "Deadwood." It is sex that has taken a holiday.

Everything seems normal at first in the opening episode on Sunday night: Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) starts his morning on his deck in the spring of 1877 with a cup of coffee in his hand and two Cornish miners shot to death downstairs in his saloon.

Swearengen resents the intrusion (in "Deadwood," uninvited gunfights before breakfast are a breach of etiquette), but he also relishes the intrigue. The murdered men worked for the mining tycoon George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), but Swearengen suspects they could have been union organizers or thieves shot by Hearst's own gunmen. The choice of Swearengen's saloon as the kill zone seems like a territorial challenge. Scrubbing the blood from his saloon floor with his own hands, Swearengen vows to fight back. His first act is to postpone the campaign speeches.

The whole town is in a tizzy over the prospect of elections, and even the most drunken denizens look forward to the candidates' public oratory as excitedly as small children awaiting Christmas morning.

One of the charms of this brutish, grasping community, where drunks urinate where they stand and bodies are thrown into sties to be devoured by pigs, is that there are sudden glimmers of wonder and civic pride. Even Swearengen takes seriously his responsibilities as a founding father of Deadwood. Last season, he insisted on removing a clause in the town's charter that openly stipulated a $50,000 bribe.

Swearengen is in league with the handsome, stiff-necked sheriff, Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), one of the few townsmen willing to stand up to Hearst. Another is Ellsworth (Jim Beaver), a prospector who is newly wed to Alma Garret (Molly Parker), even though she is pregnant by Bullock, a married man. Bullock and Alma may still be in love, but this is the season of real estate grabs, not passionate clinches. Hearst wants Alma's mining claim, but Ellsworth, Bullock and Swearengen don't want him to get it, and their alliance seems to supersede adultery or sexual jealousy.

Meanwhile, the town's two most prominent prostitutes have gone legit: Joanie Stubbs (Kim Dickens) has turned her brothel over for use as a schoolhouse. Trixie (Paula Malcomson), who once was Swearengen's favorite, if ill-treated, whore, is now quietly involved with the shopkeeper Sol Star (John Hawkes).

On "Entourage," family keeps crowding out girlfriends or even just hookups. The premiere on Sunday night begins, fittingly, with a premiere of "Aquaman," a movie directed by James Cameron, who plays himself, and that stars the series' central character, Vince (Adrian Grenier). Vince needs what he describes as a "premiere-worthy" date for the red carpet, and it can't be one of his usual "West of Sepulveda skanks," as his agent, Ari (Jeremy Piven), puts it so delicately.

Vince wants his mother at his side, but she is a travel-phobe who has not left New York in 30 years. "Ma, don't curse," is the first thing Vince says to her when he begins his pitch. The mother is played by the wonderful Mercedes Ruehl ("Married to the Mob") and she is perfect for the part, but it is surprisingly small and subdued. Ms. Ruehl's talent for portraying loud, over-the-top women is a bit wasted in a role that requires the actress to be fearful rather than fearsome.

Even Ari is spending more time with his family. He has opened his own agency with his trusty assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee) still at his beck and holler, but the new business is rickety and his wife is on his back about the way he keeps dipping into her trust fund to stay afloat. At one point she is enraged to learn that the check he wrote to a charity drive at their child's private school bounced. Ari reassures her by saying the money was not for tuition; it was merely a donation to the less privileged. "This doesn't affect our kids," Ari tells her. "We'll never see the kids this affects."

Like "Deadwood," "Entourage" is as good as ever in its third season, yet somehow different. Both shows have lost a little of their effervescence and turned more sedate. "Deadwood" is more earnest; "Entourage" is a little sweeter.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing. Love can last, but it has to change over time. "Deadwood" and "Entourage" have reached a new, more mature phase in their relationship with viewers. The magic isn't gone, it's just that the early fireworks are missing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/09/arts/television/09hbo.html?pagewanted=print

TV Review
'Deadwood'

Bottom line: The third season continues to breathe new life and vigor into the Western genre
By Barry Garron The Hollywood Reporter


I'm sure one thing has nothing to do with another. Still, I kept thinking the reason strong-willed, larcenous Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) seemed more melancholy than usual in the new third season of "Deadwood" (9 p.m. ET Sunday, June 11 HBO) was because he knew it was the last one. HBO hasn't made it official but reports are that, despite the investment in a set that's bigger than some neighborhoods, HBO has chosen to let "Deadwood" ride off into the sunset.

A review isn't the place to analyze a business decision but, from a creative and artistic point of view, it will be sad to see this series go. The third season, as much as the two preceding ones, continues to breathe new life and vigor into the Western genre. What's more, the actors have become so comfortable in the skins of their characters, we can now appreciate the complexity of their personalities and desires. Heaven help us, but there are aspects of even Swearengen's henchmen that are becoming heroic.

In this season's "Deadwood," the camp attains a sort of social adolescence. Political and business institutions start to take root. Earlier, Swearengen gradually and grudgingly ceded power to Sheriff Seth Bullock (Tim Olyphant) and fellow saloon owner Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe). Now, even that triumvirate is eclipsed by evil tyrant George Hearst (Gerald McRaney). Deadwood is no longer about cornering the booze, drug and hooker markets but about the drama and the struggle -- often violent -- to form a community. Enjoy it while it lasts.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002650820

Critic’s Notebook
Mo's super-mega summer TV preview

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 8, 2006
(Note: All times are Central)

Sure, there are plenty of summer TV previews around, but here's the difference with this one: I've seen almost every show on this list (what I won't go through for you people, eh?).

So here’s my take on what may make for enjoyable viewing during some of the hottest months of the year. A word about August: I know “Weeds” returns then. Don’t start with the e-mails. This summer preview is a list of highlights for June and July.

The summer’s best

• “Entourage,” returns 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO: Ruthless agent Ari Gold (hometown boy Jeremy Piven) has a bigger role this season, which is all good. The only fault I can see in the mighty enjoyable first three episodes, in which Vince Chase deals with burgeoning fame, is that there’s not enough of Ari’s long-suffering assistant, Lloyd (Rex Lee). Love Lloyd!

• “Deadwood,” returns 8 p.m. Sunday, HBO: This sensational, poetic western series returns Sunday, and here’s the upshot: Al Swearengen vs. George Hearst — it’s on. You think Al and Sheriff Bullock are going to sit by quietly as Hearst tries to take over the camp? Not [expletive] likely. This show has, hands down, the best cast on TV, and it’s every bit as good as you remember — possibly better.

• “The Closer,” returns 8 p.m. Monday, TNT: I didn’t have much time for this series last season; I found Kyra Sedgwick’s thick Southern accent tough to get past. But this show is simply too good to ignore; the second-season opener’s twisty plot and “The Closer’s” smart cast (led by a terrific J.K. Simmons as fellow top cop Will Pope) make this police drama compelling. An added bonus: Next week, ace interrogator Brenda Johnson (Sedgwick) has to deal with a visit from her mama (Frances Sternhagen).

• “The Thick of It,” 10 p.m. Tuesdays and 8 p.m. Friday, BBC America: There are only a few episodes left in the summer run of this reality-style political comedy, but it re-airs in full beginning Aug. 17. It’s ruthlessly realistic about how much intelligence is required to be a Cabinet minister, or at least advise one. Not too much, it turns out. Somehow “The Thick of It” is able to spin comedy gold from that fairly terrifying fact. Peter Capaldi’s performance as a ferocious political enforcer is absolutely not to be missed.

• “Project Runway,” third-season premiere July 12, Bravo: Am I still mad that Chloe Dao won on the second season of this fashionista must-see? Yes. Will that stop me from watching this season? Please. That’s about as likely as Tim Gunn wearing plaid Capri pants. My only request as “Runway” goes forward: Please allow temperamental divas such as Santino a real chance at winning in future, if they have definite talent; don’t just keep the wild types around as kooky accessories.

• “Rescue Me,” 9 p.m. Tuesdays, FX: New York City firefighters, led by Denis Leary, do naughty things, struggle with women, razz each other and one of them even messes around with Susan Sarandon. What’s not to like?

Enjoyable escapes

• “Footballers Wives,” 9 p.m. Sundays, BBC America: Your one-stop source for the expensive adventures of baby-swapping, gin-swilling, designer-clad celebrity wives of fictional soccer players. Uberwife Tanya makes the most depraved, Versace-wearing tabloid denizen look like an innocent schoolgirl. That’s why we love her (the frosted eyeshadow is another draw).

• “Hex,” 9 p.m. Thursdays, BBC America: It takes awhile to get going, but this supernatural Brit drama shows promise. The Anne Rice-flavored “Hex” may be a bit pretentious and slow-moving, but it has a romantically alluring fallen angel named Azazeal. Hot fallen angels? Bring it on.

• “The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency,” 9 p.m. Thursdays, Oxygen: Can this former supermodel and “America’s Next Top Model” judge’s particular brand of crazy sustain an entire series? Perhaps not, but I’m willing to bet it’s good for at least a few weeks of summer-style brainless escapism.

• “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,” 8 p.m. Tuesdays, Bravo: Griffin’s an acquired taste for some, but for those who are in sync with her acerbic sense of Hollywood’s absurdity, this glimpse at her D-list life is the summertime equivalent of a big bowl of cookies ’n’ cream ice cream with a chardonnay chaser.

• “The Rock Paper Scissors Championship,” 9 p.m. Monday, A&E: How cool is it that people can not only compete at this schoolyard sport on national television, but that participants in the final tournament have a shot at winning $50,000? And it’s not just about the contest; this special also examines the vaunted history of the sport. I’m just waiting ’til they start televised Thumb Wrestling Olympics. I’m so going to win that.

Solid summer offerings

• “Stargate SG-1” and “Stargate Atlantis,” both return July 14, Sci Fi Channel: Jack’s back: Richard Dean Anderson returns as Jack O’Neil for several of “SG-1’s” Season 10 episodes, and Morena Baccarin from “Firefly” and “Serenity” joins the show as Vala’s all-growed-up daughter, Adria. Given that “Farscape’s” great Ben Browder and Claudia Black (pictured at left) are already in the “SG-1” cast, it’s pretty much a geek dream team. Meanwhile the “Atlantis” team keeps tangling with both the pesky Wraith and the persistent Genii, plus McKay is forced to spend time with his sister. Ouch! A request for “Atlantis” writers: More Dr. Zelenka, please. Love that brilliant, crazy Czech.

• “Last Comic Standing,” 8 p.m. Tuesdays, NBC: This is the kind of weightless but enjoyable show that fits perfectly with the season. And as summer reality TV goes, “Last Comic” is funnier than most.

• “Chappelle’s Show: The Lost Episodes,” begins July 9, Comedy Central: Not really the real thing, but an odd-and-sods trio of “Chappelle” shows cobbled together from what the comic shot before he left his hit Comedy Central show. And no, I haven’t seen these.

• “The Dead Zone,” returns 9 p.m. June 18, USA Network: Fans of the Greg Stillson story line are in luck as this supernatural series returns for a fifth season; the oily politician, well played by Sean Patrick Flanery, continues his ascent to power, with help from the mysterious Malcolm Janus (the fine Martin Donovan).

• “Reno 911!,” returns July 9, Comedy Central: Haven’t seen the fourth season episodes for this show, but I don’t need to. I know the antics of Reno’s least competent peace officers are guaranteed to make me laugh.

• “The 4400,” returns 8 p.m. Sunday, USA Network: It’s missing the sparkiness of the show’s great first season, but in its third year, “The 4400” gives the great Garret Dillahunt (“Deadwood”) a showcase for his many talents; another standout is “Star Trek” veteran Jeffrey Combs.

• “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” returns June 29, FX: Haven’t seen the second season yet, but this biting comedy showed promise in its run last year. Danny DeVito joins the cast this year, and the show will get exposure on the Fox network starting Sunday, when the first of three Season 1 episodes airs at 8:30 p.m. on WFLD-Ch. 32.

TV grab bag: Other summer bits and pieces

• “Meerkat Manor,” 7 p.m. Fridays, Animal Planet: Cutest critters ever get their moment of glory in a family-friendly documentary series that took a decade to make.

• “The International Consumer Electronics Show” special, 8 p.m. June 18, HGTV: What to do on Father’s Day? After you make Dad’s favorite meal and do whatever fun stuff he wants to do, park him in a chair, get him the beverage of his choice and watch him drool over the cool TVs, gizmos and gadgets on display at the annual home electronics trade fair.

• “Lucky Louie,” debuts 9:30 p.m. Sunday, HBO: HBO deserves a hand for greenlighting this experimental comedy, which is filmed in the traditional manner of a multicamera sitcom, but has the bleak, black humor of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” at its core. Still, you have to wonder, if a show about rich young guys living the Hollywood high life (“Entourage”) draws only 2 million viewers for HBO, will a show about a squabbling couple barely making ends meet reel in more viewers than that?

• “Eureka,” debuts July 18, Sci Fi: One small town contains the country’s biggest collection of mad scientists and inventors in this new Sci Fi series, which I have not seen but which bills itself as “Twin Peaks” meets “Northern Exposure.”

• “Fear Factor,” returns 7 p.m. Tuesday, NBC: I don’t usually advocate watching this rather predictable reality show, but Tuesday’s episode features past reality-show veterans from “American Idol” and “The Amazing Race” and the like; it culminates, according to a press release, in “one of the most explosive fights” in the history of the show, allegedly between host Joe Rogan and former “Race” jerk Jonathan Baker. I’ll tune in to see if Rogan flattens Baker.

• “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” debuts 6 p.m. June 19, WCIU-Ch. 26: Perry, the entrepreneur behind the “Diary of a Mad Black Woman”/Madea films and plays, expands his reach into the TV realm with this new syndicated comedy about a multi-generational family living under one roof in Atlanta. Fans of Perry should find this short-run series (prelude to a longer series that arrives in the fall) right up their alley, but the character of the gossipy, predatory Claretha is a tiresome collection of clichés.

• “HGTV Design Star,” debuts July 23, HGTV: Everybody’s doing it — having a reality competition to find the next “star” in a particular field. HGTV unveils its version of the now-standard reality competition, in which every throw pillow and stencil counts.

• “Broken Trail,” debuts June 25, AMC: I haven’t seen this old-west miniseries yet, but the cast is certainly top notch; “Trail” stars Thomas Haden Church (“Sideways”) and Robert Duvall as cowboys on a 1,000-mile journey.

• Various “Sharpe’s” adventure movies, Saturdays at 8 p.m., BBC America: As far as Napoleonic-era action-adventure chronicles, the chronicles of heroic soldier Richard Sharpe don’t quite reach the heights of the mega-enjoyable “Horatio Hornblower” TV movies, but Sean Bean is enjoyable as Sharpe and there’s a sense of dashing, manly adventure to these globe-trotting ripping yarns.

• “Hell’s Kitchen,” returns 7 p.m. Monday, Fox: More contestants line up to be verbally abused by British celeb chef Gordon Ramsay; the twist this time is that male chefs compete against female chefs. Personally, I enjoy “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares,” which airs 8 p.m. Wednesdays on BBC America, more than the Fox show. In “Nightmares,” Ramsay helps (well, yells at) the owners of actual restaurants and gives them constructive, if sometimes harsh, real-world advice on how to make their places profitable dining meccas. He shows both the occasional softer side, as well as a mania for clean kitchens (“There’s no excuse for filth,” he shrieks at one dirty “executive chef,” a title he abhors).

• “True Caribbean Pirates,” debuts July 9, History Channel: Arrrgh, matey, if you be knowin’ any kids under 10 with a fine collection of plastic swords and pirate eye-patches, they’ll be sure to love this chronicle of the roving privateers and such types who roamed New World waters way, way back in the day. Note to parents: This is actually a pretty interesting documentary, with the usual slightly cheesy History Channel re-enactments, but be sure to cover the wee kiddies’ eyes when the pirate experts that narrate give the details on torture techniques one particularly brutal pirate liked to use (that’s just a brief portion of the show, I promise).

• “Big Brother: All Stars,” returns June 21, CBS: I don’t quite get the allure of this show (the ejection rules and procedures frankly make my head hurt), but it’ll be worth checking out a few episodes to see what former contestants make it into the all-star “Brother” house.

• “Rock Star: Supernova,” debuts July 5, CBS: I’m theoretically against any reality show involving Tommy Lee, especially if music is involved. But last year’s singing contestants were so good that it’ll be worth watching to see if another Suzie McNeil turns up.

The summer’s choicest reruns

• The third season of “The Wire” begins repeats 7 p.m. Sunday on HBO.

• This summer, two episodes of “House” air Tuesdays and two episodes of Season 5 of “24” air Fridays on Fox.

• Cable’s Sleuth Channel started airing “Homicide: Life on the Street” from the show’s stellar beginning in early June, but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time to get on Sleuth’s “Homicide” bandwagon.

• The classic “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” begins nightly repeats on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block on July 10. The cult series “Dead Like Me” gets a second life on Sci Fi starting July 18.

Whatever: Summer fare that didn’t exactly ring my chimes

• “How to Get the Guy,” debuts 9 p.m. Monday, ABC: It’s an ABC dating reality show. Need I say more? OK, how about this: One host unironically describes a party full of singletons as a “target-rich environment.” Barf.

• “Windfall,” 9 p.m. Thursdays, NBC: What would I do if I won $20 million? Buy a better show, for starters.

• “Saved,” debuts 9 p.m. Monday, TNT: Troubled rebel is a rake and an addict in his personal life, but helps people in danger on the job. “Saved” has its moments, and Tom Everett Scott is great, but much of the TNT show is predictable and we’ve seen this sort of thing done better on FX’s “Rescue Me.”

• “America’s Got Talent,” debuts June 21, NBC 5: Buy earplugs, an eye mask and possibly a TV-free home thousands of miles away. Simon Cowell’s predilection for shoving many, many hours of terrible auditions (on display on both “American Idol” and another recent show that he created, “American Inventor”) threatens to spin completely out of control on this anything-goes “talent” contest. Run, run like the wind! Run away!

• “Tuesday Night Book Club,” debuts 9 p.m. Tuesday, CBS: The discussion of Trollope’s “Can You Forgive Her?” takes an interesting turn, with some of the women taking issue with the often contradictory moral code that Victorian women had to live by. Hahahaha! Just kidding. This show has nothing to do with discussions of interesting books (if only, CBS!), and has everything to do with taking the “Laguna Beach” aesthetic — rich people displaying their overly made-up faces, tacky McMansions and clueless self-absorption to the world — and marrying it to CBS’ older demographic. Yeah, it’s that bad. Trust me, read Trollope instead.

• “Treasure Hunters,” debuts 7 p.m. June 18, NBC: A travel-the-world reality show that tries to rip off “The Amazing Race” and mostly fails. Which, when you think about it, has the side benefit of making the viewer appreciate the fine editing and Phil-centric goodness of “TAR” all the more.

• “Blade,” debuts June 28, Spike: If you liked the “Blade” comic books and movies, this might be up your alley. Then again, if you’re not a fan of minimal dialogue, stiff acting and lots of predictable fighty-fighty, look elsewhere for your summer jollies.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/06/mos_supermega_s.html#more

TV Review
Nothing Can Revive “Deadwood:

Genius is in the dialogue
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Friday, June 9, 2006

There's a reason why so many people are upset, on the eve of the third season of "Deadwood," (9 p.m. ET/PT Sundays, HBO) that there won't be a proper fourth season because of monetary shenanigans, creative indulgences and twisted logic from HBO and the series' creator, David Milch. That reason: This series is one of a kind. Literally.

While it's true that "Deadwood" is a Western, a genre so worn thin and hallowed out through the years it hasn't been approached much in the modern world, Milch has risen up to take the form and infuse it with his cockeyed genius and he has created a landscape, characters and dialogue so thoroughly original that "Deadwood," when history has its say, may go down as one of television's greatest achievements -- a singular, original vision.

But money that works its own kind of madness and uninhibited creative freedom given to a writer like Milch are two dangerous strands to entwine. Translation: HBO gave Milch another project, which he took, and then he or the network or both of them believed that finishing Season 4 of "Deadwood" on time, with the actors on the hook and this other muse calling, might be impossible. Plus, "Deadwood" is not only expensive to produce, but an acquired taste. So they could not muster up the means to produce 12 more episodes, concluding just this week that a pair of two-hour movies might wrap up the whole affair quite nicely.

And they might. And it's true that viewers get, starting Sunday, 12 full episodes in Season 3, and they should, in turn, be pretty damned pleased about it. But still, all you need to do is witness Sunday's episode, "Tell Your God to Ready for Blood," and you can't shake the feeling of remorse for what you won't get next year.

Now, "Deadwood" as a series is probably not something a new viewer can walk into come Sunday and make and heads or tails of it. This is Shakespeare in the mud, a labor-intensive aural pleasure that is gilded with excessive violence, an unholy amount of swearing and a lawless machismo that will send the faint of heart or the politically correct reeling. So, all others inclined to see what the fuss is about should immediately tape this season, then rent or buy Seasons 1 and 2.

There truly is greatness in spades here, and dissecting "Deadwood" is as much a pleasure as watching it. But before partaking of what Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) would certainly consider unnecessary chatter, first the details of Season 3:

The law is coming to Deadwood. The town is about to hold its first elections and they are, of course, rife with backstage dealing, killing and fear. The dreaded George Hearst (Gerald McRaney -- in a role that certainly reverses a lot of recent network nonsense) is slowly putting the town under his thumb, leaving his imprint and causing no shortage of harm. But those who have been the bigger players in Deadwood, like Swearengen, Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and Cyrus Tolliver (Powers Boothe), aren't going down without a knife to the eye. But if last season was full of foreboding over Hearst's arrival, this season will be about managing his presence, along with the usual "Deadwood" storylines of whoring, booze, gambling, killing and, well, more whoring.

Since we now know that Season 3 is the last, sans two hard-won but reluctantly accepted movies that will allegedly appear in the future, there's no getting around the sense of needing to write a fitting epitaph. And in the same moment explain, once again to those who doubt but remain curious and open, what's so special about this foul-mouthed Western.

At the forefront, it's the writing. Next, it's the acting and lastly it's the storytelling, which allows the other two to mesh. But an interesting thing happened to the writing in Season 1. It was odd, sure. Milch is odd. He's theatrical and smart and adorned with a fearlessness that allows him to show off his virtuosity without actually making you hate him for it. But in the beginning, everybody focused on the incessant swearing, which is like a machine gun volley of words that daily newspapers, this one included, hesitate to even judiciously shorten. Suffice it to say all the really bad ones are in "Deadwood" and they pile up on top of each other like corpses in a lawless, godforsaken town. If you can't get past that, go elsewhere.

But what emerged, by midseason of that first year -- gaining confidence in later episodes and then blooming into magnificence last season -- was a Shakespearean grandness to the vocabulary that built on an ornate structure and was electrified by both humor and twisted logic. It got to the point last year that actually having a story arc for the season and various storylines in each episode was unnecessary (though they were present, handcrafted with precision). No, there was enough joy in just listening to the actors perform that a plot was like a forgotten present after a gift-ravaging Christmas morning.

The dialogue alone proved there really was nothing else like "Deadwood" on television. But for Milch's vision to succeed, he needs actors to pull it off. That, too, sets "Deadwood" apart from a lot of other series. (HBO has a stable of shows where you can take the 15th most important character and find him or her to be richly nuanced and the actor responsible to be immensely talented). Take a look at this cast. W. Earl Brown as Dan Dority is wonderful. Dayton Callie as Charlie Utter -- excellent. Paula Malcomson as Trixie, Brad Dourif as Doc Cochran, Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane, William Sanderson as E.B. Farnum -- they are all incredible, and that's barely half the cast.

"Deadwood" is just littered with talent. Hell, you can make an argument that Olyphant or Boothe have the misfortune to be overshadowed by the fully earned and totally cashiered virtuosity of McShane. They're really great -- but he's from another planet entirely.

Part of the sadness in knowing that after this season there are only four hours instead of 12 is directly related to the work of these actors as they read the scripts. It's a pleasure to witness them at work.

On a positive note, Season 3 is in the can. On Sunday, it's going to leap out at you, like a knife from a desperate man's pocket. Watch yourself.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/06/09/DDGEAJ9L9U1.DTL&type=printable

Sports Ratings

By Jay Posner San Diego Union-Tribune

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday was seen in 611,000 households nationally on OLN. At the same time, more homes were watching another Game 1 – of the Women's College World Series on ESPN2.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060609/news_1s9media.html

Sports On TV
Comcast says no Sportsnet for satellite

Philadelphia Business Journal

Comcast Corp. has no plans to make Philadelphia Flyers games and its exclusive-to-cable Comcast Sportsnet channel available to satellite customers, a Comcast spokesman said.

Consumer advocates had been hoping the cable giant would allow the programming on satellite as part of an approval process with the city of Philadelphia.

Comcast needs the city's blessing to take over areas representing about 49,000 customers being served by Time Warner Cable Inc.

Comcast and Time Warner are trading some territories to increase the number of their systems that are clustered together. The trades are part of their joint agreement to buy Adelphia Communications Corp.'s cable systems for $17.6 billion.

A City Council committee voted Monday to recommend the approval of Comcast's takeoever of the areas, Comcast spokesman Jeff Alexander said. The full council is expected to vote on the change in coming weeks.

A group called the Philadelphia Grassroots Cable Coalition said in a statement Monday that the transfer would give Comcast a cable monopoly throughout the city. "The sharing of sports programming would make satellite TV providers a more viable competitor in the local market," the group said.

The group's coordinator, Joshua Breitbart, said it does not receive any funds from the satellite television industry.

Alexander said satellite provider DirecTV (NYSE: TV) has exclusive rights to programming that it does not share with cable companies, including the popular NFL Sunday Ticket package, which allows viewers to choose among several NFL games in one afternoon.

"We have not heard a persuasive reason why a satellite company should be allowed to have access to exclusive programming but a cable company should not," he said.

Alexander said Comcast does make Comcast Sportsnet available to other cable systems.

In addition to Flyers games, ComcastSportsnet also shows Philadelphia Phillies and 76ers contests.

Those teams' games are also available to varying degrees on over-the-air channels and other cable channels.

The city neighborhoods that would be affected by the Time Warner-to-Comcast shift include Southwest and West Philadelphia, Manayunk, Roxborough and part of East Falls, Alexander said.

The Adelphia deal, which is not final, will give Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), which is the nation's largest cable company, 23 million customers, up from about 21 million. Comcast also has more than 8 million high-speed Internet customers and more than 1 million phone customers.

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2006/06/05/daily13.html?t=printable

Sports On TV
NHL Game 3 could bottom out TV ratings

By Michael Hiestand USA Today

History might be in the making: NBC's Game 3 of the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals on Saturday night just might produce the lowest broadcast network prime-time rating ever.

Reasons include: the series having a Canadian team — Edmonton — and our neighbors to the north aren't counted in U.S. ratings; the other team — Raleigh, N.C.-based Carolina — is in a midsized Southern city; neither team is a big brand name; and Saturday is TV's least-watched night.

Such factors were in play when a Tampa Bay-Calgary Finals game on a Saturday in 2004 scored the second-lowest-rated network prime-time rating ever of 1.4% of U.S. households. It was tantalizingly close to the all-time mark: 1.3% for snowboarding on NBC in 2002.

More broadly, Game 3 might set an all-time TV low because it's a hockey game. The NHL drew minuscule ratings on ABC and ESPN in 2004, then defrosted an entire season before coming back to get even lower ratings this season on NBC and OLN — whose rating for Game 2 of the finals was out-rated by a rained-out baseball game on ESPN that never started.

NBC, carrying remaining Cup games, insists it makes money on the NHL. It doesn't pay a rights fee, and its production costs are covered by ad revenues. But NBC Sports President Ken Schanzer is non-committal when asked if the NHL makes a bigger profit than NBC parent General Electric does when it sells a dozen refrigerators: "I'm not going to give you an idea."

For perspective on NBC's game Saturday possibly going under 1.3%, consider ABC's World Cup soccer ratings. Its 1998 Brazil at France final drew 5.7%. Its 2002 Germany-Brazil final in Japan, starting at 6:30 a.m. ET, drew 2.5%. ABC's recent national spelling bee, won by an eighth-grader nailing Ursprache drew 5.9%

Still, Schanzer lauds the "radical changes" in NHL rules and says "we continue to think hockey is a premium-brand sport. We're enthusiastic about going forward." When it comes to the NHL setting TV ratings records, there's always next year.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2006-06-08-weekend_x.htm

Thursday’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.

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Promising tune-in for NBC's 'Windfall'

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 9, 2006,

NBC didn’t exactly hit the jackpot with “Windfall” but it did perhaps better than the network expected when it booted the show from midseason to a summer debut.

“Windfall” averaged a 3.3 overnight rating among adults 18-49, finishing second in its 10 p.m. timeslot behind the opening game of the NBA finals on ABC.

Though a 3.3 isn’t usually reason to celebrate, during the slow summer months it’s a solid rating. The show improved over last week’s timeslot occupant, a rerun of “ER,” by 57 percent.

Perhaps most interestingly, the show actually offered a glimmer of promise by building on its lead and staying steady through its second half hour, which is surprising considering how little faith NBC seemed to have in it. The drama about a group of friends who win millions in the lottery was supposed to premiere at midseason. But a few months ago NBC, which needed all the help it could get as the fourth-place network, announced it was bumping “Windfall” to June.

That seemed to indicate the network had lost confidence in the show. Original dramas traditionally struggle on the broadcast networks during the summer.

But it received decent reviews, including a positive one from Entertainment Weekly. “Windfall” finished 14 percent ahead of CBS’s “Without a Trace” repeat in the 10 p.m. slot.

Led by the Dallas Mavericks’ victory over the Miami Heat in the first game of the NBA finals, ABC finished first last night with a 3.5 rating and 10 share. Fox was second at 3.3/10, followed by NBC at 2.8/8, CBS at 2.7/8, Univision at 1.4/3, the WB at 0.8/2, and UPN at 0.7/2.

At 8 p.m., Fox led with a repeat of “So You Think You Can Dance” at 2.6. NBC was second with a 2.5 for two “My Name is Earl” reruns, followed by the NBA pre-game show and tipoff at 2.4, CBS’s “Gameshow Marathon” at 1.9, Univision’s “La Fea Mas Bella” at 1.6, and the WB and UPN tied at 0.8 for a “Smallville” rerun and repeats of “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Love Inc.,” respectively.

At 9 p.m., Fox’s “Dance” stayed in the lead with a 4.0, followed by ABC’s NBA finals at 3.7, a rerun of “CSI” on CBS at 3.3, more “Earl” reruns on NBC at 2.6, Univision’s “Barrera de Amor” at 1.5, WB’s “Supernatural” rerun at 0.8, and UPN’s “Eve” and “Cuts” reruns at 0.5.

At 10 p.m., the Mavs-Heat game led at 4.3, followed by “Windfall” at 3.3 and “Trace” at 2.9. Univision averaged a 1.2 for “Don Francisco Presenta.”

Among households, CBS led the night with a 6.9/12, followed by ABC at 5.9/10, Fox at 5.2/9, NBC at 4.7/8, Univision at 1.8/3, the WB at 1.5/3, and UPN at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5278.asp

Critic’s Notebook
`Deadwood' going out with guns blazing ll'

PRODUCER, HBO FINALLY AGREE TO GIVE SERIES A PROPER BURIAL
By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Fri, Jun. 09, 2006

A rather strange thing happened to HBO's ``Deadwood'' as the start of its third season loomed.

First, HBO all but canceled plans for a fourth season of the revisionist western because of money issues. Then, with fans of the show in full outcry, David Milch, its creator, seemed to pull the plug officially, saying he had concluded that ``the right decision creatively was to stop now.'' Finally, HBO and Milch reached an agreement that will allow the ``Deadwood'' saga to wrap up in two two-hour films at an unspecified date in the future.

The whole affair was as murky and smacking of behind-the-scenes treachery as some of the alliances on ``Deadwood'' itself. Details aside, it certainly was shabby treatment of a critically acclaimed and much-honored drama that will go down in TV history as one of the unique and truly visionary shows of all time.

At least passionately devoted ``Deadwood'' fans now can go into the third season with the knowledge that, further on up the road, there will be a payoff to Milch's tale of the hooligans and heroes who ``civilized'' the Old West.

They also can tune in to Sunday's season opener (9 p.m., HBO) with the knowledge that the series returns with its creative six-shooters blazing, its florid language and baroque manner of storytelling still gloriously riveting.

Set in the 1870s mining camp of Deadwood, S.D., Milch's creation uses the trappings of a classic western to explore in rich detail the American frontier and the complicated, often sordid motives of the men and women who built the West. From the very first episode, the show has dealt with the power struggles and human conflicts that were never far below the surface of Deadwood's rise from a squalid mining camp to an outpost of civilization.

As the story resumes, there are growing signs that Deadwood has reached a tipping point. There's a school now, and a theater in which flamboyant newcomer Jack Langrishe (the marvelous Brian Cox) presents Shakespeare, and a real bank. Elections for mayor and sheriff are just around the corner.

All of this is duly noted by the show's dominant figure -- the amoral, cold-blooded Al Swearengen, played with immense relish and raw power by Ian McShane. ``Change calls the tune we dance to,'' says the ever-poetic saloon keeper in an early episode.

And this particular dance involves protecting his interests from the new bad guy in town: mining magnate George Hearst (Gerald McRaney, holding his own with McShane), who is organizing a little corporate takeover of Deadwood under the guise of establishing law and order.

Hearst may be all slick and smooth where Swearengen is rough and profane, but this is a battle of titans with only the foolish and the clueless caught in between. When Hearst's thugs try to strong-arm some of the local citizenry in Swearengen's own saloon, you can see just how ugly the showdown will be when Swearengen says, ``Bloodletting on my premises -- that I ain't approved -- I take as a . . . affront.''

While Swearengen and Hearst occupy center stage, there are plenty of subplots swirling around their struggle.

Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), the closest figure ``Deadwood'' has to a full-blown hero, is running for sheriff but finds himself on the edge of a Faustian deal with Hearst. His partner Sol Star (John Hawkes) is facing Swearengen ally E.B. Farnum (the crafty William Sanderson) for mayor. Alma Garrett (Molly Parker) is pregnant but still as tough an infighter as any of the men.

Best of all, there's the continuing presence of Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert), who has become a symbol of the last gasps of the Old West. In the opening episodes, the foul-mouthed Jane shares her stories of being a scout for General Custer. Her oratory to the camp's children is poignant and hilarious, reflecting the fine balance of drama and wit that Milch and his writing staff bring to the series.

``Deadwood'' is not the easiest show to watch on television. It is sometimes dense to the point of being abstruse. Even in its third season, its profound profanity can be hard to follow. The cast is so huge that interesting characters get lost.

Still, the series is so vibrant, so insightful and so deeply human that its occasional failings easily can be overlooked. It will be a sad day when the good and very bad people of ``Deadwood'' ride off into the sunset.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/14778340.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Review
'Deadwood': It's our kinda town

By David Bianculli New York Daily News TV Critic Friday, June 9th, 2006
DEADWOOD Sunday, 9PM ET/PT HBO.
• • • • (Out of 4)

David Milch overturned the first season of HBO's "Deadwood" by killing its lead character, Wild Bill Hickok, after five episodes.

At the time, it seemed like the whole series was cast adrift, with no clear focus or central protagonist - but, in retrospect, that was the moment when Milch's intricate web of a Western began to reveal its delicate, captivating pattern.

The show's third season begins Sunday night at 9, and the first few episodes are testament to Milch's vision and generous payoff for all the groundwork and character development of the first two years. Just as the frontier town of Deadwood continues to develop and expand, so does "Deadwood" the TV series. It has become an amazingly rich and rewarding drama.

It's no exaggeration at all - in fact, it's an understatement - to say there are a dozen characters in "Deadwood" so fully fleshed, so endlessly intriguing, you could follow their stories exclusively and not feel at all cheated or bored. And this year, "Deadwood" wastes no time in bringing to the forefront two more actors and characters with personalities forceful enough to dominate the screen: Gerald McRaney as ruthless mining tycoon George Hearst, and Brian Cox as flamboyant actor Jack Langrishe.

This is on top of the established power centers of Deadwood the town and "Deadwood" the series: Ian McShane as the rugged town's alpha dog, Al Swearengen; Timothy Olyphant as the temperamental sheriff, Seth Bullock; Molly Parker as the wealthy, mood-swinging Alma Ellsworth, and Powers Boothe as Swearengen's whorehouse-owning rival, Cy Tolliver.

This year, when any two of these characters step into the same room, tensions are at a fever pitch. Put three in the same scene, and you begin to wonder which ones are likely to come out alive. If you watched the latest season of "The Sopranos" hungry for more scenes of conflict, your appetites will be sated here.

Other appetites are fed as well, though, by all the master chefs collaborating with Milch onscreen and off. Even without much screen time, Brad Dourif as Doc Cochran, Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane and William Sanderson as E.B. Farnum are fabulous, and have something in common: They never fail to score a laugh, but always maintain the tragic edges of their characters. And while mentioning them, I'm leaving out far too many others.

"Deadwood" is as rare as the gold in the mines and streams that brought the town into being. It's a shame that HBO has opted to end the series after this season, and a pair of telemovie finales, because a show so rich in story and character could have been mined for years.

Enjoy it while it's here. The language, the acting, the themes - everything in "Deadwood" is good as gold. In TV entertainment terms, maybe even better.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/v-pfriendly/story/424868p-358419c.html

Sports On TV
NHL, OLN expect better marriage in year No. 2

By Aaron Bracy Camden NJ Courier-Post Staff June 9, 2006

The first year of the NHL on OLN ended with Wednesday night's Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals.

So how did OLN do?

Based on game coverage, not bad. OLN improved after a rocky start, evidenced by Monday and Wednesday's excellent broadcasts of Games 1 and 2 between Edmonton and Carolina.

Based on television ratings, not well. Ratings, compared to ESPN's coverage two years ago, were down across the board, from the regular season, to the playoffs to the Stanley Cup finals.

OLN has a lot at stake, after paying the league $135 million for two years worth of rights. And so does the NHL, after finding an enthusiastic cable partner when ESPN declined its $60 million option prior to last season.

So can the relationship work?

"We're optimistic it will come and not soon enough," OLN president Gavin Harvey said, when asked a time frame for improved ratings. "We are putting tremendous amount of resources into it. What you've seen this season is the sport is dynamic and as hot as it's been. That's one of the most important things and now we just have to do our part."

In an interview with the Courier-Post Wednesday, Harvey laid out four ways to draw more viewers next season.

More awareness: It's likely that many sports fans never heard of OLN prior to it getting the NHL, and some still might not have. Harvey expects a year of televising the NHL to change that.

"The network is much more of a household name, or at least it's on their radar," he said.

Harvey also noted that OLN is now available in 70 million homes. While that is still 20 million less than ESPN, it's a six million increase from the start of the season.

Also, OLN, hoping to get a spark and rid itself of its association with former moniker Outdoor Life Network, will be known as Versus starting in September.

Better matchups: OLN televised 58 regular-season games this year. Because of the NHL's new rules it wasn't easy to predict the premier teams prior to the season, resulting in some pretty awful matchups.

The top four teams in the final Eastern Conference standings (Ottawa, Carolina, New Jersey, Buffalo) were on OLN a combined five times in the regular season while the bottom four (Islanders, Boston, Washington, Pittsburgh) made 25 total appearances.

The Stanley Cup finalists combined for just one appearance in the regular season.

"Going into the first season (of the new NHL), it was impossible to predict what teams were going to emerge and what were going to be the great matchups," Harvey said. "We have a lot more knowledge now and our schedule will be refined."

Develop personalities: Stars draw fans. The Gretzkys, the Lemieuxs and the Howes move the lever. The best player perhaps in today's game, Jaromir Jagr, is a reluctant star. And hockey players generally give way to the team concept.

But Harvey knows his network needs to market the game's stars.

"I'm not talking about trying to create any sort of Hollywood experience out of these players, but they're athletes and their names should be known," he said.

To that end, Harvey thinks having the All-Star Game and its festivities on OLN next year will help spotlight stars. The All-Star Game wasn't played this season due to the Olympics.

Improve the brand: Besides the NHL, OLN's offerings feature niche sports, like bullriding, cycling and sailing. The network, which made a play for the NFL's late-season package that went to NFL Network, will continue to add sports. It needs to focus on getting a piece of another major pro sport or adding big-time college sports.

"We'll be opportunistic about anything out there, whether it's a niche or mainstream," Harvey said.

Add up the above changes and Harvey sees a bright future for the NHL on OLN.

So does Flyers owner Ed Snider, an outspoken critic of the way ESPN handled the NHL in the last few years of its contract. He is pleased with OLN's coverage.

"I'm extremely satisfied," Snider said. "We've added a footprint to the channel. We were very instrumental in helping (ESPN2) get off the ground and I think (OLN) is going to get bigger and better."

Not everyone agrees.

"The problem is that hockey on TV will never really sell to non-fans or even casual fans," said WIP (610-AM) radio host Glen Macnow, a hockey enthusiast. "It's the one sport that's so much dramatically better in person that TV never does it justice."

Harvey and the NHL can only hope Macnow is wrong.

"We've seen the arenas filled, the level of competition is as good as anything in sports and now we have a year under our belts," Harvey said. "That's why we're optimistic the viewers will start to come in greater numbers."

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060609/COLUMNISTS39/606090389/1002/SPORTS

TV Review
Dead On

David Milch explores the Dakota Territory
By Nancy Franklin The New Yorker Issue of 2006-06-12

It has been many years since Westerns were essentially black-and-white, cut-and-dried stories of good versus evil: morality tales with lots of horses and guns and one of everything else—a sheriff, an outlaw, an embattled hero, a town drunk, a whore with a heart of gold, a honky-tonk piano, and a schoolteacher from Illinois, who found out shortly after arriving in town that, for worse and for better, there was more to life than book learnin’. Indians were, for the most part, the obstacle that had to be overcome—although sometimes there was a “good one.” Although Westerns have evolved, the conventions are still often glaring, making even Westerns that have gray, shadowy moral areas a tough sell to some people. There’s just too much dust, leather, whinnying, shooting, and mud—too much brown—and not enough talking, understanding, humor, and complexity. The trappings of Westerns make them seem fake and message-y, even as they strain to be realistic. David Milch’s “Deadwood,” which begins its third season on HBO on Sunday, is the exception to the rule; in what I’d assumed was very poor soil, he’s produced a gorgeously living thing.

“Deadwood” is set, of course, in Deadwood, in the Dakota Territory. It begins in 1876, when the settlement was just a few buildings in the crease between two hills, lining the sides of a muddy street, there to meet the needs of the men who flocked tothe Black Hills after gold was discovered in the area. The settlement is so small that your eye can take in the whole town at a glance; in a sense, viewers have the same perspective as Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), the saloonkeeper and power broker of the camp, who conducts much of his business from his second-story quarters, above the bar, but often goes out on his balcony to observe the goings on in town below. Over the first two seasons, we have watched Deadwood grow—the real Deadwood went from being a cluster of prospectors to a roiling community in less than a year. In the show, the cemetery expands; bigger, louder equipment is brought in to get at the gold deep underground; more prostitutes are shipped in. Seeing America being built in this way, we see what it is made of. Men are constantly digging, hauling, and hammering, and the desire, hard work, and risk that it took to create this place are always front and center. “Deadwood” takes you past the familiar cardboard cutouts of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and “the Old West,” and acquaints you with the real forces and peoples that converged to form our country.

Milch, who co-created “NYPD Blue,” with Steven Bochco, has a deep understanding of tortured souls and a gift for depicting the ways in which people are torn apart and come together. You never feel as though he were imposing a contemporary outlook onto the past in order to make his drama more “relatable”; instead, he shows how the past still lives in us. It’s obvious that serious research went into “Deadwood,” but, as Milch says, he learned as much as he could and then threw out most of what he knew when he began writing the show. “Deadwood” draws on history without being slavishly beholden to the facts; it smells and sounds right, and every aspect of the luxuriant production contributes to that sense: the costumes and sets seem to have perfectly calibrated levels of wear and tear. There are at least a dozen sensational performances, among them Keith Carradine as Hickok; Dayton Callie as his sidekick, Charlie Utter; Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane; Jeffrey Jones as the nosy newspaper publisher A. W. Merrick; Paula Malcomson as Trixie, a prostitute with higher aspirations; and Geri Jewell as Jewel, Swearengen’s crippled maid. Ian McShane’s Swearengen is a murderer, a monster, a clever beast you cannot help being drawn to; he wears a pin-striped suit over long johns, which emphasizes his hugely thick neck and his large head—he’s an unstoppable wall of man coming at you, episode after episode (except when he is pitiably felled, temporarily, by a kidney stone). But you don’t really notice the casting per se, because you’re too engrossed in the characters, listening to what they say, and trying to get inside their heads and hearts.

“Deadwood” has ten or so writers and nearly as many directors, but there is a unity to the dialogue (Milch is one of the executive producers). It is ornate and profane—far beyond, on both counts, anything that’s ever been on television. But you never feel that the show’s creators have injected the swearing gratuitously. It even has different colors, depending on who’s doing it—when Calamity Jane is trying to comfort a little girl whose family has just been hacked to death, by singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” to her with Charlie Utter, there’s something touching about the way she yells “God damn it!” when he screws up the timing. What I find more brutal than the language is seeing freshly dead bodies fed to the pigs, or people not stopping to help Jewel when she falls in the street. (In the scene, a horse walks by in the foreground, its large, all-seeing eye rebuking human cruelty.) People just go about their business, and their business is making money.

But even making money the Deadwood way is small potatoes compared to the interests that start descending on the town when the stakes get big—one of whom is George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), the father of William Randolph Hearst, whose arrival signals the beginning of strong-arm capitalism. It remains to be seen whether, in season three, Swearengen and his cohorts will adapt to the new ways. What we surely won’t see is Deadwood evolving into what it is today—a tourist trap. “Deadwood” has not been renewed for a fourth season, though there is a slim chance that it will return. Milch is now working on another pilot for HBO, called “John from Cincinnati,” which he has described as “surf noir.” Sounds iffy, but so did a show about a mafioso who goes to a psychiatrist.

http://www.newyorker.com/printables/critics/060612crte_television

Critic’s Notebook
Mo's super-mega summer TV preview

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 8, 2006
(Note: All times are Central)

Sure, there are plenty of summer TV previews around, but here's the difference with this one: I've seen almost every show on this list (what I won't go through for you people, eh?).

So here’s my take on what may make for enjoyable viewing during some of the hottest months of the year. A word about August: I know “Weeds” returns then. Don’t start with the e-mails. This summer preview is a list of highlights for June and July.


• “Big Brother: All Stars,” returns June 21, CBS: I don’t quite get the allure of this show (the ejection rules and procedures frankly make my head hurt), but it’ll be worth checking out a few episodes to see what former contestants make it into the all-star “Brother” house.

Maureen, the June 21 "show" is the show where 20 former 'houseguests' will state there case to America why they should be chosen for BB All Stars. America gets to vote over a period of a week by internet and phone and the group is narrowed down to the 12 whom will enter the house. 6 are picked by America and 6 by the producers. The actual show premieres on July 6th at 8pm eastern.



Chicago Tribune[/B] TV blog June 8, 2006]

• “How to Get the Guy,” debuts 9 p.m. Monday, ABC: It’s an ABC dating reality show. Need I say more? OK, how about this: One host unironically describes a party full of singletons as a “target-rich environment.” Barf.

That "target-rich environment" line was pretty funny in an ironic sort of way. I'm still going to record this show. I love seeing how women 'chase' after men and the way they go about doing. You have to study your opponent in order to be able to combat their attacks. ;)


http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/06/mos_supermega_s.html#more[/QUOTE]

You have to give Mo some credit though, Antonio.

She has managed to some how sit through almost all of these.

What torture!

TV Reviews
HBO banks on the boys with a trio of comedies

By Matthew Gilbert The Boston Globe staff June 9, 2006

Call it ``guys' night in." On Sunday, HBO begins a new programming lineup featuring a bunch of porn-using, attention-loving, curse-inventing, beer-belly-bearing dudes. Sure, these men bust each other plenty, but they always hug it out -- with conspicuous non sexual back pats, of course.

With Tony Soprano and his crew weakening and then departing in 2007, HBO is declaring a new demographic war on young men. This summer, from 9 to 11:30 p.m. on HBO's most valuable night, you'll find a sort of Howard Stern - flavored sundae with Vince Vaughn sprinkles on top. Look for the good (``Entourage"), the bad (``Dane Cook's Tourgasm"), and the ugly (``Lucky Louie"), all airing right after the return of HBO's most brilliantly artful of stinky sinkholes, David Milch's ``Deadwood."

Seriously, you wouldn't want to do laundry for the HBO men, who now include the comedian Louis C.K., a one-time Boston boy. His explicit sitcom, ``Lucky Louie," premieres in the 10:30 slot, and it's one of HBO's more fascinating series -- but not because it's good, or funny.

It's actually a failed experiment in TV genre, and a reminder of the power of the unspoken and the unseen in entertainment. When you can swear like a sailor and simulate love making openly in an old-fashioned sitcom, as the actors do on ``Lucky Louie," you don't generate much excitement or outrageousness. Often, shock depends on the forbidden for its ballast.

``Lucky Louie" is HBO's first-ever conventional multi-camera sitcom, complete with live audience laughter and a fake-looking set. It's the antithesis of the more sophisticated TV comedy that HBO has championed, from ``The Larry Sanders Show" to ``Sex and the City." But while ``Lucky Louie" mimics old-school sitcoms such as ``The Honeymooners," ``Roseanne," and ``The King of Queens," it's also frankly sexual. In tonight's episode, for instance, Kim (Pamela Adlon) catches her chunky lug of a husband Louie pleasuring himself in a closet. Next week, the series becomes even more unreserved, as the couple make love during a scene -- while exchanging quips, naturally.

Kim is a nurse who suffers Louie's quirks; Louie is a James Belushi type with a part-time job at a muffler shop and buddies with whom he can complain about women; and they have one adorable preteen daughter. They're just another working-class TV family, and if the same characters appeared on a network series they'd be definitively unoriginal.

On HBO, they're definitely unoriginal -- with sex. But let's be kind and say that Louie C.K. and HBO are ambitiously trying to usher an antique sitcom format into today's risque standards and see how it holds up. It's a study in cultural change. I don't think HBO would have anything to do with this lousy series if that weren't the agenda.

The masturbation content on ``Lucky Louie," so self-conscious and forced, made me think of the ``Contest" episode of ``Seinfeld," when the four friends competed to see who could refrain the longest. The word ``masturbation" was never used (according to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, NBC forbade it) and that fact made the half-hour funnier than ever.

``Will & Grace" also toyed successfully with ``dangerous" material, as the writers mustered their wit to make their sexual humor clear and yet stealth. Prudishness is boring, but pushing the envelope isn't fun when the envelope is torn wide open.

``Entourage" is compensation for ``Lucky Louie." Entering its third season Sunday at 10 p.m., ``Entourage" is the Hollywood satire with a heart. It makes good fun of movie-business self-importance and superficiality, in the way Fox's failed sitcom ``Action" did. But it also includes a collection of affectionately drawn characters whose successes and failures matter to us, and whose boyishness is amusing. The gang of five -- star Vince, brother Johnny Drama, dude-in-waiting Turtle, manager Eric, and agent Ari -- has jelled into a dynamic unit.

Based on the first three episodes, this season will add dimension to the characters, including Jeremy Piven's Ari, whose expanding sado-masochistic rapport with receptionist Lloyd (Rex Lee) has become one of the series' little gems. In the first episode, we meet the guys' moms, most notably Vince and Johnny's mother, when Vince tries to lure her to LA for the opening of his ``Aquaman." In a bit of perfect casting, she's played by Mercedes Ruehl. She's more like Johnny, with superstitions and competitiveness, but she probably doted on her baby Vince. Also, in episode 3, we meet one of the guys' buddies from Queens, as well as Ari's daughter's boyfriend.

The successes and failures of these guys -- and they are all guys, since female characters such as Debi Mazar's publicist get little attention -- has been a great device. They can never quite relax, because fame and money are so fickle and fleeting in Hollywood. Vince is only as good as his last movie, and if ``Aquaman" isn't a blockbuster, he, his friends, and Ari will be yesterday's news. And as long as they're on their toes, they're worth watching.

The oddest thing about ``Tourgasm," at 11, is that it's like a nonfictional ``Entourage." The docu-reality show follows four male comedians who live on a bus together as they perform around the country. Dane Cook has a Vince-like presence, since he is t he most successful and charismatic of the four. He's surrounded by Robert Kelly, Jay Davis, and Gary Gulman, each of whom has character traits similar to the guys in Vince's posse. As their customized ``Tourgasm" bus cruises along, they lose track of time and place, nerves go on edge, and mundane reality arguments occur.

And that's about it. We get snippets of the guys onstage at their gigs, but most of ``Tourgasm" tracks the morale on the bus. One minute, the porn jokes are flying, the next Davis is having a snit fit because he doesn't want to talk about porn. Whenever there is a clash, Cook jumps in as a peacekeeper, in case we didn't already know he's a nice guy. ``We've got to be the glue for each other," he tells the viewers.

But in trying to make the bus melodramas seem important, Cook stretches too far. This is a cross-country tour, something most performers have experienced, and there's nothing particularly special about it. Cook pretends that the bus dynamics are TV gold, but you can feel him straining to be convincing.

Cook is headed for greater stardom, for sure; just watch him dance around the stage as he pours out his stand - up material. He's a likable and formidable force. But ``Tourgasm" isn't going to get him to the top any faster. His show is too much like a dull season of MTV's ``Road Rules," without the women.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2006/06/09/hbo_banks_on_the_boys_with_a_trio_of_comedies?mode=PF

You have to give Mo some credit though, Antonio.

She has managed to some how sit through almost all of these.

What torture!

That is true! I feel her pain. Lucky Louie on HBO alone should have made her quit. I know I felt some pain last night after I finished watching Windfall. I should have kept reading my book.

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 was a latecomer to the Everwood fan club, about midway through Season 3. I caught most of that season's episodes and watched Season 1 on DVD. I've heard that additional seasons of the show aren't on DVD because the first season didn't sell well. And with the WB being dissolved and the show canceled, I'm wondering if there's any hope for me to see the middle seasons. Considering the cliff-hanger that ended Season 1, I'm sure you can understand my frustration, though I've obviously figured out the major plot points by now. Is it possible that the show will run in syndication, or that DVDs will be released? — Sarah

Matt Roush: Really can't answer the DVD question. But Everwood will be airing in cable syndication on ABC Family starting in the fall, so those who were late to the party can see what they missed. (For me, the show really came into its own in the second season, which is when I got hooked. And Season 3 was even better.) For the longtime fan, the replays of past seasons will probably be a bittersweet reminder that the show was cut short too soon (for my reaction to the finale, check out my Dispatch from earlier this week). According to my mailbag, there was a flurry of rumors in the last week or so that there might be a spark of life for the show at CW, but as Michael Ausiello noted, that's just not so. If you watched the finale, you have to admit that's pretty much as final an episode as you could possibly hope for. It was very hard to watch, for sentimental reasons, but I'm glad they got to make it and were able to pull it off with such dignity and heart.

No surprise that the mailbag was full of angry outpourings over the show's cancellation, especially in light of how satisfying these last episodes were. The tone throughout pretty much matched this one from Steven: "My feeling of sublime joy after watching the wonderful Everwood finale is only rivaled by my longing for more episodes and my anger over its cancellation. How can Dawn Ostroff sleep nights?"

My best guess is that Dawn, like most people in the industry, simply didn't watch it. If she'd done her homework, I can't imagine she wouldn't have been as ardent an advocate for this show as she was for (the lower-rated) Veronica Mars, which had the good fortune of airing on the network she was running before this merger.

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Question: "Irv's Funeral" was the best Everwood episode I've ever seen. But did they have to kill him off just to show how the series wraps up? I hope they have him voice the intro to make up for it. He and Edna were the best "old folks" I can think of. They were real, and they were interesting. And I loved his intro! While we all smile when everybody couples up in the finale, I fear my final memory will be Irv lying on the floor and Edna begging him not to go. Ugh. Thanks to the producers for leaving us with that image. — Jon D.

Matt Roush: One thing I always appreciated about Everwood was that it didn't shy away from sadness and didn't try to pretty up death and illness when it occurred. As Andy said at Julia's graveside, "I've learned that pain and suffering are unavoidable, and that ultimately they are what brings you closer to other people." Irv's death was probably a necessary catalyst to shake up several of the characters, to wake them up to making the choices that gave the finale the closure everyone (including the fans) deserved.

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Question: Hi, Matt. You seem to have such an eye for quality and trends in the TV world. I would love to hear your opinion on whether new forms of TV-viewing (iPods and streaming video) are going to stick around for the long term. I should also mention that these forms of viewing often leave out those who depend on closed-captioning to follow the shows. Captioning is used not only by the deaf, but also by the elderly whose hearing is deteriorating, people for whom English is not the primary language, etc. The deaf community is one of the most technologically savvy groups of people and yet they are completely ignored when it comes to alternative viewing sources. While I know that this subject isn't in your area of expertise, perhaps you can shed some light as to why companies refuse to follow federal guidelines in non-TV formats when the show has already been captioned for television. — Laura

Matt Roush: Good luck reading closed-captioning on those tiny video iPod screens. To answer your broader wuestion: new forms of delivering TV content are probably only going to expand as the business continues to change. They're not going backward. And as these new delivery systems evolve, I would think they'll also get their act together technologically, and that includes providing captions for those who desire and require that service. These are still early days, so give everyone time. (Also, if enough of a public fuss is made, they may be shamed into doing the right thing.)

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Question: I'm happy to read your appreciative review of the Sopranos finale, which I also enjoyed. For such an acclaimed show, it seems like every season gets the same reaction from a lot of TV writers (not you): lots of preseason excitement and buzz followed by intense disappointment and complaining, which is only interrupted when a character gets "whacked." Why do so many people fail to appreciate the smart and subtle aspects of this show? Personally, after the often ridiculously high body count on network TV this season, I thought it was refreshing that there were no huge season-finale fireworks or stunts, because the sense of dread and portent was much more potent, even in the show's sunnier moments. — Ryan

Matt Roush: My feelings exactly. What hypocrisy to complain of all the contrived bang-bang nonsense of the May sweeps, then gripe when The Sopranos refuses to deliver more of the same. If you couldn't sense the tension underlying the mundane goings-on of the Soprano clan at holiday time, you weren't paying attention. But this has unquestionably been a polarizing season for fans of the show. Some were mesmerized, many others were bored. I'm sorry for the latter group. I can't help but wonder if they'll come to appreciate this season more in retrospect, when they watch the episodes again on demand or on DVD in the future, without the anticipation that comes with the weekly airing schedule. I'm not joking when I liken this series to literature. It's such a different vibe from anything else you see on TV, even on HBO. More than most, it's not going to please everyone.

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Question: When does the new season of Rock Star start? I have been looking everywhere! — Angela

Matt Roush: Well, apparently you didn't look at our Summer TV Preview issue of TV Guide. Tsk-tsk. Look for the second season to premiere on CBS July 7. This time, with Rock Star: Supernova, the search is on for a lead singer for the newly formed Supernova, which consists of Motley Crue's Tommy Lee, Metallica's Jason Newsted and Guns N' Roses' Gilby Clarke. Let the headbanging begin.

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Question: Hi, Matt (love you). Am I the only person who noticed (or the only person who took the time to write) that the two more popular docs on the two most popular shows (Lost and Grey's Anatomy) are both named Shephard? I always knew Dr. McDreamy was Dr. Shephard, but it wasn't until I watched a rerun of Lost that I noted that Dr. Jack is also Dr. Shephard. (His father said it twice!!) — Betty

Matt Roush: Several of my trivia-obsessed colleagues picked up on that a while ago (we even ran a chart comparing the two hot docs), but for the record, their surnames are spelled differently. Jack's is Shepard, Derek's is Shepherd.

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Question: Okay, so this new credit-card commercial with MacGyver has been driving me crazy! Richard Dean Anderson looks way too old for this commercial to be a simple collection of edited clips taken from the original MacGyver show from back in the '80s and '90s. Plus, I loved that show and do not remember those scenes at all. Is it possible that the actor, who is supposed to have retired from acting, actually filmed this commercial more recently? In the ads, he looks more like he did in the early seasons of his show Stargate SG-1. Am I crazy? — Desiree

Matt Roush: I think the commercial is (in a word) priceless. And I'm not sure why you thought Anderson had retired from acting altogether. He was just tired of the Stargate series grind, and who can blame him? (He'll be making guest appearances on both SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis this summer.) This fun stunt was filmed expressly for this commercial campaign, not cobbled together from old MacGyver sequences.

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Question: If MTV can do their video awards live, why can't they do the movie awards live? And why can't the media wait until the awards actually air before they blab about them? (TV Guide, unfortunately, is guilty of doing this.) I read that MTV gives away the winners beforehand to "pique interest." Huh? How does spoiling all the surprises pique interest? Of course these are the same people whose response to complaints that MTV doesn't play videos anymore is to play even fewer videos. — Shamus N.

Matt Roush: Don't get me started on how the "M" in MTV has gone from "music" to "mindless reality." But surely you don't consider the MTV Movie Awards an actual awards show. (I almost wrote "serious" awards show, which is probably an oxymoron.) It's a party, a goof, a publicity stunt with silly, joke categories. The way I look at it, MTV gets double the mileage out of the show. First, the celebrity-page/gossip-column coverage on Monday morning after the weekend event (everyone covers it, not just TV Guide). And then they get the added bounce when the edited show actually airs. Win-win for them.

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Question: I would find those prime-time game shows on CBS far more watchable if Ricki Lake was not the M.C. It seems like she is yelling into the microphone, and the pitch of her voice just gives me a migraine. CBS should have, where possible, gotten the original emcees to do the shows. — Z. Green

Matt Roush: Is this celebrity Gameshow Marathon not the most insipid thing you've ever seen? And I love game shows! Whose bright idea was it to revive these lovably cheesy shows and stick C-list (being generous here) celebs in the players' seats? It's shrill, annoying and, for me, betrays what made the originals so much fun: watching ordinary folks playing the game (though in some of the formats, playing alongside C-listers). Yes, Ricki Lake is way out of her element, but I'm not sure even the deans of the genre could bring dignity to this misbegotten enterprise. (By contrast, how wonderful was last week's prime time broadcast of the National Spelling Bee finals? Now that was great TV.)

________________________________________

Question: Read the Dispatch on Katie Couric. Agreed with everything you said. I've read a lot about her leaving Today, but in all that I've read, I haven't seen any mention of when she'll actually start anchoring CBS Evening News. Do you have any idea? — Mark

Matt Roush: She'll begin her reign in the CBS Evening News anchor chair in September. That's when Meredith Vieira settles into Katie's old job at Today as well.

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

TV Review
The 4400

The future is now
By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger

One of the challenges of reviewing TV instead of movies is basing a decision on only the first of what could be many, many episodes. Case in point: the aforementioned "Entourage," which I hated on sight but has turned out to be a summer highlight. Or take "The 4400," which I dismissed two years ago as a "generic TV drama about alien abduction."

I recently gave it another try, watching much of the series in advance of Sunday's third season premiere (9 p.m., USA). And I was wrong in almost every way, starting with the fact that aliens don't figure into it. The 4,400 citizens who disappeared over the last 60 years, then returned en masse with strange powers, were actually taken by humans from a decaying future hoping to rewrite history for the better.

Or so we've been told. "The 4400" writers like to roll out an Everything You Know Is Wrong revelation every half-season or so. At the end of last season, government agents Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch) and Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie) discovered their former boss had killed nearly all of The 4400 with a secret chemical program. As Season Three begins, Baldwin and Skouris are still struggling with the new status quo.

"You're the bad guys now," they're told. "Get used to it."

"The 4400" isn't up to the level of, say, "Battlestar Galactica." The characters and performances aren't rich enough to transcend the show's B-movie roots. But as a genre potboiler -- complete with familiar conventions like a baby who suddenly ages into a beautiful young woman who likes to walk around naked (the producers know their audience) -- it does a much better job than I ever would have guessed when I finished watching that pilot.

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/columns-0/1149832379170600.xml&coll=1

TV Review
Growing 'Entourage'

By Matthew Zoller-Seitz Newark Star-Ledger Friday, June 09, 2006

If you wondered if HBO's critically acclaimed Hollywood comedy "Entourage" was at risk of developing an acute case of self-importance, the third season premiere (Sunday, 10 p.m.) will set your mind at ease.

It starts with a shot of a buxom young blond in a tank top crossing a sunny L.A. street. Move to reveal our four horndog heroes watching this California dream float by, whereupon has-been actor Johnny "Drama" Chase (Kevin Dillon) delivers his numeric verdict: "Six."

Drama's buddy Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) finds that verdict laughable, so he hops up from the table to invite the woman to the premiere of "Aquaman," a James Cameron comic book epic that the gang hopes will transform their best buddy and meal ticket, nice guy method actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), into a superstar, and raise the boys' already carefree bachelor lifestyle to a new level.

But don't expect a retread of the first two years. The first three installments sent out for review suggest that "Entourage" has managed to deepen itself without snuffing its main selling point, its against-the-grain conviction that being young and beautiful in Hollywood is a pleasure, not a curse.

Any worries about Vincent's career ascent get dashed early on, when it becomes clear that "Aquaman" can't really fail. The premiere's main source of suspense is the question of whether Cameron's movie will beat "Spider-Man" in opening weekend box-office numbers -- a deft illustration of the fact that in Hollywood, one man's success is another's disappointment.

The writers have learned a lot from the last few episodes of Season Two, which saw Vincent, his best pal and manager Eric (Kevin Connolly) and their piggish super-agent Ari (Jeremy Piven) struggling with fear of failure.

The last few episodes of Season Two faked me out; between the impending collapse of "Aquaman" due to studio politics and Vince's increasingly pathetic attempts to woo and win co-star Mandy Moore, it seemed possible that Season Three might shatter the series' lighthearted vibe and show Vincent, Ari and the rest learning to live with the idea that not every fantasy comes true.

Ari got fired from his job with a major Hollywood agency -- Piven's spectacularly desperate performance recalled young Albert Brooks at his most unpleasant -- and had to start all over with a tiny client list, highlighted by Vincent, an actor he'd previously treated as an ungrateful prodigy and charity case.

Eric, who'd once indulged Vincent's fantasies of only doing "meaningful" films (an amusing conceit, since Vince's arty pet project, the four-hour "Mean Streets" rip-off "Queens Boulevard," sounded awful) eventually came around to Ari's point of view, helped Vincent keep his "Aquaman" gig and encouraged him to take commercials, too. Eric's change in tactics relieved Vincent's other two hangers-on, Turtle and Drama, who couldn't face the thought of spending the rest of their lives on the other side of the velvet rope.

Vince's evolution has been subtler and in some ways deeper. Last season he unexpectedly revealed a naive side after Cameron cast Vince's ex Moore (playing herself) in the lead female role in "Aquaman." The sight of Vincent, a player par excellence, pining after Mandy -- the girl that got away -- revealed that he wasn't as cagey as he seemed.

In retrospect, putting the brakes on Vincent's success and forcing his buddies to turn bitter and self-reliant would have been an easy thing to do. The show's chosen course isn't just more fun, it's more dramatically rich: Let Vincent's career exceed his dreams, then watch him struggle to be both nice and powerful.

At some point, Vincent is going to have to figure out that his fantasy of riding out of Queens on a magic carpet and bringing all his childhood buddies with him is exactly that, a fantasy. (Johnny in particular is a whining man-child who prepares for a trip into the dreaded San Fernando Valley like T.E. Lawrence preparing to cross the desert, and coins a new mantra that I can't stop repeating: "Bro, I gotta hydrate.")

The third episode, in which Vincent adds a piggish ex-con to the posse, injects much-needed anxiety into his tight little group and paves the way for ugly, potentially life-changing conflicts. Like John Travolta's character in "Saturday Night Fever," Vincent will have to realize that growing up doesn't just mean getting older; it means making hard choices that are bound to hurt the people you love.

That "Entourage" can broach these unpleasant subjects while staying silly, sexy and light says a lot about its intelligence and potential staying power. It's serious fun.

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/columns-0/1149832379170600.xml&coll=1

TV Shows on DVD
`Medium' above other crime series with star Arquette

By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal television writer Fri, Jun. 09, 2006

DVD pick of the week: Medium: The Complete First Season (Paramount, 16 episodes, five discs, $54.99) is a smart and thoroughly entertaining series about a woman who is contacted by the dead -- and uses that skill to help the police.

Patricia Arquette stars as Allison DuBois, a married mother who, as the series begins, is thinking about law school. But she keeps having dreams about death and murder, and her husband, Joe (Jake Weber), keeps wondering if the dreams aren't just a result of disturbed sleep.

Soon enough, Allison is solving crimes -- and, based on this synopsis, you're thinking that this sounds pretty predictable.

Only in the hands of writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron (Moonlighting), Medium is more than just a spooky thriller. It works very hard to show its characters as ordinary people who see Allison's gift as just one more thing to adjust to. It is also funny, and Arquette brings a grounded, solid quality to her character that other actors might have missed.

Yes, I like the show. So do enough viewers that NBC has renewed it for a third season in 2006-07 (although the network has moved the show from the fall lineup to midseason). And the DVD, in stores Tuesday, goes beyond the series episodes to include an extended version of the pilot (which still works very well), deleted scenes, commentaries on four episodes, a making-of segment and a look at the real-life Allison DuBois.

I have tried from time to time to like Walker, Texas Ranger, since I used to hear from readers quite a bit when the show aired on CBS. And I can say that the new Complete First Season (Paramount, 26 episodes, seven discs, $49.99) includes episodes that were much better than what the show offered near the end of its run.

But I'm still not a fan of the show, which even on re-examination gets by with thin plots and a somewhat slow pace punctuated by action sequences showcasing star Chuck Norris (as Walker). Some of the action isn't that great, either.

There are no DVD extras. But the set does include the two-hour series pilot (where, fans will note, C.D. Parker was not played by Noble Willingham) and two other episodes from spring 1993 as well as the full first season of 1993-94.

I'm not a fan of Dharma & Greg, either, but I did like a DVD extra from its Season One DVD (Fox, 23 episodes, three discs, $39.98). It's an easier-to-read display of the text that series creator Chuck Lorre included on his ``vanity cards'' -- production-company displays in the show's closing credits. Lorre used the space for autobiography, philosophical musings and digs at the entertainment business.

Here's a sample from the first Dharma card: ``I believe that the Laws of Karma do not apply to show business, where good things happen to bad people on a fairly regular basis. I believe that what doesn't kill us makes us bitter. I believe that the obsessive worship of movie, TV and sports figures is less likely to produce spiritual gain than praying to Thor. I believe that Larry was a vastly underrated Stooge.''

The cards are often better than the show. And, if you don't want to buy the Dharma & Greg DVD, you can also find its vanity cards -- as well as the ones for Lorre's Two and a Half Men -- at www.chucklorre.com/text.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/movies/video_dvd/14777983.htm

TV Shows on DVD
ESPN World Cup Coverage Off To Slow Start

By Ben Grossman bcbeat.com June 9, 2006

ESPN2’s World Cup coverage did not take long to tick off this long-time soccer fan. Granted, having worked in soccer domestically and internationally for over a decade, I am a tough audience, but already for today’s Germany-Costa Rica opener, I was glad to have access to coverage on Univision and Setanta Sports on DirecTV.

With today’s match set to kick off shortly after noon Eastern time, ESPN2 decided to stay with its Cold Pizza morning show until 11:55 for some reason. So while that show had some silly sumo wrestling segment going on, I had to switch channels to see the teams taking the field, listen to the anthems, and soak in the wonderful atmosphere that sets up the electricity of the host nation playing its first home game. It was great television, and ESPN2 missed it.

By 11:57, I already had the starting lineups from Univision, while ESPN2 was still in taped pieces and a U2 video. ESPN2 finally got to the field just before kick off, and then had to give the lineups during the run of play. And it did so with a graphic that took up enough of the screen that you couldn’t see the ball.

The graphic-happy telecast also has that damned crawl on the bottom (thank god, or I wouldn’t have known that some Brewers pitcher is 0-1 in night games), and has another bar stretching all the way across the top of the screen with the score, time, a sponsor and a second on-screen reminder the game is on ESPN2. Too much of the screen is taken up.

As for rookie soccer commentator Dave O’Brien, about whom I wrote about in this week’s issue, after one cringe-worthy mispronunciation of an English team’s name early on he settled in and made it through without any more major gaffes, and was supported by a very strong showing from analyst Marcelo Balboa.

http://www.bcbeat.com/

If you don't enjoy "Grey's Anatomy", skip this post. If you do, here are the season-ending thoughts of the program's creator:

TV Notebook
HEY? ARE YOU STILL OUT THERE?

By Shonda Rhimes, Creator and Executive Producer of Grey’s Anatomy

Okay, okay. I know. I suck. I said I was gonna blog more and I didn’t. It’s just that I went home after 27 episodes and lay down on my sofa and then I…I…

…well…

Alright, I admit it. I started watching TV. Like a fiend. I LOVE TV. LOVE. I’m a TV junkie. And I never get to watch TV during the season because I’m busy making TV so I thought I’d just fire up the Tivo and watch a teeny tiny bit, just a few seconds and…and…well, I fell in. I fell into TV world.

I fell into this unbelievably brilliant island where this plane has crashed and there are all these people and they’re well, kinda…lost, I guess you’d say.

Then I fell into this super funny show that is made like a documentary and all of the people work in this one place which you’d maybe call an office.

There was also this group of super secret military men and their wives and no one is supposed to talk about the fact they work in a special arena called…well, it’s a unit.

How good are these shows with only one word titles? WOW.

But I digress.

The point is, I got sucked into OTHER shows. Mainly in an effort to push the events over at Seattle Grace out of my mind. I’m not over Denny’s death. I thought I was. I was sure I’d be fine by now. But I’m not. I’m just not. I’m all freaked out. And I’m kinda worried. About Mer and Der. Because, dear GOD, they had SEX! Really good sex. Great romantic perfect sex is what it looked like. But he’s married. And Addison’s all dancing at the prom and reliving the horror of Skippy Gould talking about Star Wars and poor Finn’s making all kinds of plans and…

…but Mer and Der have this all-consuming love and, I’m sorry, I did a little dance of joy when he kissed her.

Yeah, I wrote it. But still, when I SAW it in the dailies, when I saw it ACTUALLY HAPPENING, I did a little dance. Of joy.

But here’s a key piece of advice from me to you because there’s a difference between real life and TV and that’s this: don’t sleep with married people. Unless they are married to you. Because all-consuming love doesn’t come around all that often. And, in real life, nobody does a dance of joy when they find out you’ve been engaging in adultery. Not even me.

You think about that over the summer. Just in case some super McDreamy approaches you on the beach and you start feeling all steamy…

Here’s a few other things to think about over the long summer break:

The Chief: a lot of things were revealed about about the Chief. My favorite moment is Meredith leaning forward and saying, “It was you. You were the reason my parents broke up.” And the Chief, all of his secrets finally spread out for everyone to see, can do nothing but leave the room. The history of Ellis and Richard, it is long. It is deep. There is WAY more. But you gotta for wait. Watch for the clues.

Burke’s Tremors: yeah, they were there. You saw them. It was a tough choice to make, maiming a surgeon, maiming BURKE for God’s sake, but it was necessary. What’s a hero without a few stumbles? And you know that it’s not the fall that is so interesting. It’s watching whether or not someone chooses to get back up and, when they, how they choose to rise. That’s what we’ll be watching for Burke to do – get up and rise well.

George and Callie: My George, he’s been through a lot. He’s had sex with Meredith, had his dreams of love shattered, moved out of the house, cut his own hair and lived with Burke and Cristina. Callie, strange and odd and dark as she is, is his chance. His chance to be happy again. Give the woman the benefit of the doubt. She’s flawed and she pees in front of other people and she likes to crack bones but, guys…? She loves George. SHE LOVES GEORGE. That recommends her to the highest place of cool girl in my book. Because she’s the only one who sees George for George. Besides, I love that moment when she’s stomping down the hall, all uncomfortable in her prom dress, cursing her high heels but determined to go to the Prom. Determined not to be that girl she was in high school. Callie lays all her emotional crap right out in front of us, not bothering to hide or pretend she’s cynical or hip to fit in. She defiantly doesn’t fit in and her square pegness thrills me.

The Monologues: this was something we’d never done and I wasn’t sure would work. But you place those pages into the hands of the actors and each and every one of them layered their characters’ souls right into the dialogue. Those monologues – all grouped together in one act – tell us more about our characters than we have maybe learned all year. And they speak to the heart of why Alex, Izzie, George, Cristina and Meredith are the way they are. They also tell you how this episode is going to end. If you were really listening, everything was there.

Okay. I am shutting up now. Have a good summer. Get ready for Thursdays in the fall.

I’ll be reading your comments and answering the most frequently asked questions in the FAQ section of our website.

Thank you!

http://www.greyswriters.com/

Sports On TV
True confessions of soccer convert

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News Friday, June 09, 2006

So you tell me you're a traditional American sports fan who loves football, basketball and baseball and couldn't care less about soccer. That you have zero interest in the World Cup and nothing could make you watch it.

I was once just like you. I even made my feelings clear in a 1994 column headlined "World Cup on TV? Who cares?"

It was snide. It was snotty. It was seriously anti-soccer.

It was, looking back a dozen years later, seriously stupid.

This event was supposed to bring the United States into line with the rest of the world in worshipping soccer. It was supposed to make America another hotbed of soccer fanaticism.

Yeah, just like we were supposed to join the rest of the world in using the metric system back in the '70s.

I went on to write that soccer doesn't translate well to TV and that the lack of scoring makes World Cup soccer a snooze. Referencing ESPN and ABC's plans to air all the games (albeit many of them on tape-delay), I wrote, Hey, they can put all that soccer on TV, but they can't make us watch it.

It was an honest opinion. But I've grown out of it.

You CAN teach an old TV critic new tricks. And you can learn from your children.

I am (unfortunately) old enough to have grown up when soccer was not the big-time youth game that it is today, at least not in upstate New York. I remember Pele coming to play for the Cosmos, but I saw about as much soccer as I did girls field hockey growing up. And I had built-in prejudices against the game.

Quite honestly, I first signed my son up for rec soccer when he was 5 because I was hoping he would run around the field and burn off excess energy he was putting into more destructive pastimes. Ten years later, I know a lot more than I did then. (Although there are times when I think it was easier to watch a game when you don't really understand rules like offsides and, thus, have much less reason to be frustrated with the officiating.)

By 2002, I was setting the alarm for 5:25 a.m. so my son and I could watch the U.S. team play in the World Cup. These days, the Fox Soccer Channel is on at our house all the time. (I'm sure the neighbors wondered at all the yelling during an Arsenal game a couple of weeks ago.)

Frankly, these days I'm much more likely to watch a soccer game on TV than either a major-league baseball game or an NBA game.

I'm not saying you have to go to that extreme. But don't tell me you don't like soccer unless you give it a chance.

Nobody could have been any more disinterested in the game than I was. And look what I've come to.

WE DON'T HAVE TO SET our alarms so early this year. The three World Cup games Team USA is scheduled to play are:

• USA vs. Czech Republic, Monday, June 12, 9:55 a.m., ESPN2

• USA vs. Italy, Saturday, June 17, 12:30 p.m., ABC/Ch. 4

• USA vs. Ghana, Thursday, June 22, 7:55 a.m., ESPN

BY THE WAY, when my soccer-obsessed son read a copy of that 1994 column, he said, in reference to me, "Soccer is no longer the whipping boy of the ignorant."

"Are you calling me ignorant?" I asked.

"Well, you used to be," he said.

"You know," I said, "every word you say is going straight into the paper."

"Oh, (expletive)," he said, proving that not every word would make it.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,640185575,00.html

TV Reviews
'Deadwood' back in all its savage glory

By Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee TV Columnist Friday, June 9, 2006

For a moment in Sunday's third-season opener, "Deadwood" looks like a peaceful Western. Dawn is giving color to a quiet main street, and saloon owner Al Swearengen is standing on his balcony, coffee in hand, looking over his town.

But if you know anything about the sterling HBO drama, you know this festival of ambiguity, subtext and rampant human nature is like no Western before it, and there is no peace to be found in Deadwood.

The world of "Deadwood" (at 9 p.m. Sunday), created by writer David Milch, has no white hats, no stand-up guys, no easy moral choices. It is, instead, a battleground. The townspeople wage wars against each other, against themselves and against life.

It's also a place of surprises: of unexpected kindness, wisdom, and, once in a while, hope. But only once in a while, and never enough so you can plan on it.

Most of all, "Deadwood" is flat-out brilliant storytelling and mesmerizing television, delivered in the most profane and witty, literate language on TV. The first episodes this year are, if anything, even better than ever, because of the history behind them and the increasing complexity of both the characters and their battles.

Speaking of battles, the series itself has been in the middle of one worthy of the 1870s Dakota Territory town. News of it started earlier this spring, right after Milch confirmed what he'd been saying since creating the show: that he intended to end the series after four seasons.

But only a few weeks later, word came that HBO had released all cast members from contracts that would have held them through Season 4. And that, as Milch said, seemed to mean the show was dead at the end of this season.

The reasons are hard to sort out, but involved Milch's work developing another series for HBO called "John From Cincinnati" and described as "surf noir," whatever that means. It also, of course, involved money. Everything in the world of TV, just like in the town of Deadwood, involves money.

Then, earlier this week, HBO and Milch said they had struck a compromise and will conclude the series with a pair of two-hour movies, probably to run sometime next year.

In some ways, that sets up the underlying theme this season: Things change. Live with it.

Here is Swearengen (the brilliant Ian McShane) in early episodes this season on the subject:

"Change ain't lookin' for friends. Change calls the tune we dance to."

"From the moment we leave the forest, it's all giving up and adjusting."

"Don't I yearn for the days when a … draw across the throat made for resolution."

That semi-Shakespearean tone and depth -- melded with frontier speak -- is the cornerstone of this show and of Milch's stylistic, slightly inverted version of the English language. It's what makes "Deadwood" an acquired taste for some, and it's what makes the series soar.

Milch, a mercurial, raging force of a writer, is both a fatalist and an occasional if unpredictable optimist, and both those streaks flow through "Deadwood."

The fatalist shows up in Milch's reminders about the inevitability of change -- timed coincidentally almost as a companion essay to that Jamba Juice invading the old neighborhood in "The Sopranos." The relentlessness of change has been a growing reality in "Deadwood," as the former mining camp reluctantly receives organized government and what is generally described as progress.

The people of Deadwood are not exactly opposed to progress. It's more that they feel -- like people in America, 2006 -- that they're losing their control, and in some cases, their lives, to growth, new industry and technology, and to the rich and powerful, embodied by the mining magnate George Hearst (Gerald McRaney) who has moved to town.

But Milch's optimism shows up in the founding theme of the series: the urge to civilize. "Deadwood" began in 1876, when the wild mining camp was part of no political entity and had no law imposed on it. Milch described the camp as a sort of primordial soup.

The lawlessness, the greed, the totality of every human vice was the starting muck, and the people climbed out -- painfully -- and began to civilize themselves -- an instinct, Milch has said, that is almost primal.

In this third season, that civilizing is taking place in the form of elections. But because this is Deadwood, now 1877, the trappings of law and order don't mean the place is domesticated, just that it's a little less wild.

By now, Swearengen and Sheriff Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), the two alpha males in town, have forged a prickly alliance to try to at least limit Hearst from taking over the entire town. And, as always in Deadwood, nothing is clear and everyone is a pawn.

Milch has constructed his series to follow real events in the real Deadwood, but the power of his stories, the combined elegance and vulgarity of the language, the starkness and vitality of this town and its people, all make this series feel positively mythic.

Also Sunday night, HBO opens the seasons of two half-hour comedies that follow "Deadwood": the deadpan "Entourage," which continues to improve as it moves into its third season, and "Lucky Louie," which can loosely be called HBO's first traditional sitcom.

By traditional, that means it looks like a standard, shot-before-an-audience show. It does not sound like one. The language is pure HBO. That, however, is the only real difference.

"Lucky Louie" is based on the stand-up act of Louis C.K., and it's part blue-collar domestic comedy -- think a much more blue "Roseanne" -- and part attempt to put into sitcom form all the subjects that network TV treats so gingerly, such as sex, race, money and, um, sex.

You can see how the stories would make good stand-up comedy, but even without the shackles of mainstream TV, the show still has tired sitcom rhythms, overdone laugh-track reactions and stock misunderstandings you find anywhere.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/columns/kushman/v-print/story/14265859p-15078006c.html

Cable News Ratings
Al-Zarqawi Killed: A.M. Cable Ratings

(From TV Newser at MediaBistro.com)

Only on TVNewser: Here are the early morning cable ratings for the news of Al-Zarqawi's death:

FNC interrupted regular programming at 3:28am. From 3:28 to 4, the net averaged 151,000 in the demo and 314,000 total viewers; from 4 to 5, 100,000 demo and 292,000 viewers; from 5 to 6, 127,000 demo and 337,000 viewers; and from 6 to 7, 243,000 demo and 646,000 viewers.
Fox & Friends averaged 520,000 demo and 1,506,000 viewers from 7 to 10am.

CNN interrupted regular programming at 3:22am. From 3:22 to 4, the net averaged 90,000 in the demo and 207,000 total viewers; from 4 to 5, 69,000 demo and 221,000 viewers; and from 5 to 6, 139,000 demo and 319,000 viewers.
American Morning averaged 259,000 demo and 636,000 total viewers from 6 to 10am.

MSNBC interrupted regular programming at 3:06am and averaged 104,000 in the demo and 199,000 total viewers. The special report, simulcast on NBC, averaged 110,000 demo and 234,000 viewers on cable. From 4:06 to 5, the net averaged 116,000 demo and 197,000 viewers; and from 5:03 to 6, the net averaged 134,000 demo and 252,000 viewers.
Imus in the Morning averaged 179,000 demo and 368,000 viewers.

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

Fred,

Is it correct to assume "demo" means demographic of viewers aged 25-54 years and is this the key demographic?

TV FEATURE

Network tries to pump up ratings with Lucky Louie and Tourgasm

By MIKE MCDANIEL
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
June 9, 2006, 10:32AM

Note: Show Times are Central

He's bulky and balding. She's petite and pretty.

Louis C.K. and Pamela Adlon appear to be a sitcom couple in the same vein as Kevin James and Leah Remini or Jim Belushi and Courtney Thorne-Smith.

And in some ways, they are, even though they star in a sitcom for HBO. Like other traditional comedies, Lucky Louie is set inside a home and is taped with multiple cameras in front of a studio audience.

But similarities between Lucky Louie and The King of Queens or According to Jim stop there. The universe occupied by Lucky couple Louie and Kim is much more like Roseanne or Good Times than Friends or Seinfeld. Their world is a bleaker, poorer place, and their open and raw emotions blend in with their plain, kitchen-sink surroundings.

They aren't stupid or stereotypes, like Al and Peggy Bundy, but you suspect they have similar ancestors (Ralph and Alice Kramden?). These blue-collar characters — she's a full-time nurse; he's a part-time mechanic — cuss when they fight and do more than sleep when they go to bed. They're ordinary people who love each other but who, unlike Dan and Roseanne Connor, are not immediately likable.

That's not a good sign for HBO. Lisa Kudrow in last year's The Comeback was not immediately likable either, and that show failed to make it to a second season.

HBO could stand massive immediate support. The Sopranos averaged 13 million viewers during its just-completed 2006 run but barely scored a blip on the pop-culture radar screen this season. It will exit for good after 10 more episodes in 2007. Big Love averaged a mere 4 million viewers in its first season, in line with the audience for two other series returning to HBO on Sunday, Deadwood (8 p.m.) and Entourage (9 p.m.).

Dane Cook's Tourgasm also arrives Sunday (10 p.m.). Tourgasm, a reality series that follows Cook and three other stand-up comedians as they do a cross-country tour, could bring in young fans. Cook's comedy album, Retaliation, is the hottest seller since Steve Martin's Wild and Crazy Guy in 1978. But he's only a drawing card to Tourgasm, a largely unfunny nine-part series focusing equal attention to three comics of lesser standing. (Anyone heard of Gary Gulman, Jay Davis or Robert Kelly? Didn't think so.)

More episodes of poorly watched but critically praised series Rome and The Wire are in the pipeline. Extras is expected to return, too, although when is unknown.

If HBO is to avoid a summer of discontent, it needs Lucky Louie (9:30 p.m.) to hit its cultural mark. That will be difficult, since it's so unconventional.

C.K., which is a phonetic shortening of Szekely, says he doesn't look at Lucky Louie as a re-invention of the sitcom. But can you imagine this opening on any network show? Louie and his daughter Lucy (Kelly Gould) have a conversation. The 4-year-old is stuck on "Why?"

Louie: The sun hasn't come up yet.

Lucy: Why?

Louie: Because the sun comes up later.

Lucy: Why?

Louie: When the Earth turns a certain amount, the sun shines on the horizon.

Lucy: Why?

Louie: I don't know.

Lucy: Why don't you know, Papa?

Louie: Because I didn't pay attention in school, all right?

Lucy: Why?

Louie: Because I was high all the time. I smoked too much pot.

Lucy: Why?

Louie: I didn't think it would matter.

Lucy: Why?

Louie: I just figured my life would come together on its own. Then I met your mom and you came along, so now I work at the muffler shop.

The conversation goes on and on, touching on class, work and God. The absurd dialogue captures the tone of the show and establishes the principal characters. It's a brilliant discourse.

But the show sometimes goes places that, frankly, many people won't find funny. In Sunday's opener, Kim learns that Louie retires to a closet for some alone time with a Jessica Simpson pictorial. That leads to a frank discussion about sex and whether they should try for a sibling for their 4-year-old daughter. And that leads to sex.

"I love the lovemaking on our show," says C.K. in an interview. "Neither of us is glamourous enough to be naked on TV. It's very married sex. There's no close-up of two hands clenching and silk sheets. We're just two ordinary people having awkward married sex. I think people will like that; they'll relate to it.

"All HBO shows have different goals. Because our show can lurch around and kind of be reckless, it can be very funny and compelling."

He tried to be unconventional when he made a pilot for CBS.

"There was too much working against it," he says. "All the people have to be attractive and likable. It has to be politically correct. They (the CBS suits) want everything to fly under the radar."

HBO, on the other hand, likes to be provocative. Executives have been largely hands-off, C.K. says.

Creative freedom is what keeps creative people knocking on HBO's door. Without the freedom, a show like the superb Deadwood would not make it on TV. Dark, violent and littered with cursing, it's the series with guns and tongues blazing.

The town is about to go through a necessary metamorphosis. Civility is raising its head, and mayoral elections beckon. And there's a new villain to hiss at; mining magnate George Hearts (Gerald McRaney) wants to own this little piece of the world and is ready to battle the contemptible Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) for it.

Entourage, too, is about to go through change. Vince (Adrian Grenier), Johnny (Kevin Dillon) and the gang are still obsessed with self-image and -gratification, and their long-foreshadowed comeuppance may yet play out this season.

Things start off on a high note for the actor and his pals as Aquaman hits theaters. But an unexpected visit from a long-lost pal threatens to bring the good times to a halt.

Hedonism taking a holiday? Not likely. After all, this is not TV. It's HBO

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3951985.html

By MIKE McDANIEL
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
June 9, 2006, 10:31AM

Note: Show Time is Central

G.W. Bailey rose to fame — infamy, some might say — playing Capt. Thaddeus Harris, the strict honcho whose comeuppance we cheered in those Police Academy films of the '80s and '90s.

These days, the Port Arthur native plays a character much easier to like. As Det. Provenza on The Closer (8 p.m. Mondays, TNT), he's curmudgeonly but humorous as one of the guys who doesn't always play it by the book.

"There's an episode this season with Provenza and Det. Andy Flynn (Tony Denison) that's our version of McHale's Navy," tips James Duff, the show's executive producer.

Hearing that, Bailey lets out a snort.

"If we have many people saying this reminds them of McHale's Navy, we're in deep doo-doo," he laughs.

Turns out the comedy in question has to do with a dead body. Provenza and Flynn have tickets to a Dodgers game. But first they find a corpse in Provenza's garage. Flynn starts to call it in, but Provenza stops him.

"I say, 'What the hell are you doing? The place is going to be crawling with cops if you call this in.' I say, 'Look, she's still going to be dead after the game's over.' And of course, they go to the game, come back, check the garage, and the body is gone."

That's not funny to Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson (series star Kyra Sedgwick), but it's a story line right up Bailey's alley, and he couldn't be more grateful for the part.

"I've done a lot of television movies and miniseries, but . . . this is certainly the most fun I've ever had," says the 60-year-old actor.

In his 30-year career, he's amassed more than 70 credits, including recurring roles on M*A*S*H (Sgt. Luther Rizzo), St. Elsewhere (Dr. Hugh Beale) and The Jeff Foxworthy Show (he played Foxworthy's dad).

But of all he's done as an actor and an acting teacher, the job he says gives him the greatest joy is working with Houston's Sunshine Kids, a program that provides support and activities for children with cancer.

"It's the primary thing in my life," says Bailey. "Every time we have a little break I come to Houston."

About 22 years ago, Bailey had a goddaughter who was diagnosed with cancer. She invited him to attend an event the Sunshine Kids were holding.

"It was just overwhelming," he says.

He's been a volunteer ever since and is responsible for initiating trips to Los Angeles for kids to meet their favorite stars.

"We're about to open branch offices on both coasts," he says.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3952501.html

Reuters News Service
June 8, 2006, 9:45AM

LOS ANGELES -- The real-time TV thriller 24 is headed to the big screen under a deal between movie studio 20th Century Fox and the show's producers, trade paper Daily Variety said Thursday.

The Hollywood publication said no deals are in place with the cast, although star Keifer Sutherland -- an executive producer of the series -- has said he would like to reprise his role as sleep-deprived action hero Agent Jack Bauer in a feature version.

However, the paper said the 24 movie would likely abandon the TV show's distinctive real-time conceit, meaning that all the murder and mayhem will no longer be squeezed into one day. A rough plot outline has been drafted, but no details have been disclosed, it said.

Fox, a unit of News Corp., struck a deal with series creators Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, who will write the script, and executive producer Howard Gordon, who will work on the story, Daily Variety said. The feature could potentially shoot next spring and summer during the hiatus between season six and a likely seventh season of 24.

The critically acclaimed 24 series, which airs in the United States on News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting unit, saw ratings improve by 14 percent for the just-wrapped fifth season, with nearly 14 million viewers tuning in every week, the paper said.

Fred,

Is it correct to assume "demo" means demographic of viewers aged 25-54 years and is this the key demographic?


Yes, RussB. That is the demo the cable news guys covet.

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

Sports On TV
The 'Open'-Minded Dan Hicks

By Leonard Shapiro Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, June 11, 2006

Dan Hicks will man his usual perch this weekend in the NBC booth, handling the play-by-play for the 106th U.S. Open. His vantage point will be near the 18th green at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

But every once in a while, his thoughts may drift to what he has described many times as the most electrifying moment he's ever seen on a golf course, when the late Payne Stewart won the '99 Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina with a dramatic 15-foot putt on the 72nd hole.

"You hear so many stories about guys who turned their lives around, and you could see it in Payne right there that day," Hicks said in a recent telephone interview from his home in Greenwich, Conn. "He had tears in his eyes, and he was genuinely moved by what had just happened. It was just a very palpable moment for him, and for me, something I'll never forget."

Hicks, 44, has witnessed countless memorable moments over his 14-year broadcast career at NBC Sports, in which he's handled assignments as varied as NFL football and the winter and summer Olympics in addition to his signature work as the network's main play-by-play golf announcer since 2000.

Hicks often subjugates his own ego to help set up his frequently outspoken partner Johnny Miller, a man unique among golf broadcasters for often saying what viewers watching at home are probably thinking.

It was Miller, for example, who said on the air in 1999 from the Country Club in Brookline, Mass., that American Ryder Cup player Justin Leonard might better serve his slumping team by leaving town before the start of the singles competition because he was playing so poorly.

"I had to adjust being right next to Johnny when I first started," Hicks said. "What I found out quickly is that you give your horse room to run. He's our guy. He's the best at what he does, and I admire what he does.

"I'm also not afraid to challenge him. Sometimes when he goes a little far out, I'll say to him, 'Are you sure that's the direction you want to go?' I've gotten a little bolder with him, and I can do that because we have a trust in each other."

What did he think when he heard Miller's comment on Leonard in 1999?

"I think we all said, 'Whoa!' at the time," Hicks said. "Johnny believed that was the case, but he also knew he probably could have said it better."

But, Hicks said, not once over the years has NBC Sports executive producer Tom Roy tried to put the muzzle on Miller. "You do that," Hicks said, "and you lose all the great things he brings to the telecast."

Hicks began training for the business of calling sports events on television as a teenager growing up in Tucson. In the late 1970s, he began bringing a tape recorder to Tucson Toros minor league baseball games, sitting in the bleachers and calling the play-by-play for his own edification and education. He majored in journalism at the University of Arizona, where he wrote for the school paper and handled the public-address duties for women's basketball games.

When he graduated, he took a first job at a local radio station for $5 an hour and eventually ended up doing studio sports work at CNN in Atlanta. That's where he first met his wife, then-CNN broadcaster Hannah Storm, and where NBC found him in 1992. The network hired him to do studio work and the occasional NFL game.

Hicks called his first U.S. Open at Shinnecock in 1992, working from a tower out on the storied Long Island course, and golf has always been one of his great sports passions. He's also been known to do killer impersonations of Tom Brokaw and Bob Costas, among many others -- including a wicked Richard Nixon way back when on his telephone answering machine. He usually plays it straight on the air, even more so at an event such as the U.S. Open, though he tries not to indulge in hushed reverence.

"It is the national championship, so there is a little more reverence than our usual tournaments," Hicks said. "But it is still a sport, so let's have a little fun with it when it's appropriate. I think people appreciate that, too."

U.S. OPEN Thursday through June 18 on ESPN and NBC

The Read on Hicks

• Born: June 2, 1962, in Tucson

• Education: BA, journalism, University of Arizona (1984)

• Career Highlights: Lead golf announcer for NBC Sports since 2000; joined NBC in 1992. Previously worked for CNN and news affiliates in Tucson.

• Family: Married to "Early Show" co-host Hannah Storm since 1994. Three young daughters: Hannah Beth, Ellery and Riley. He's generally home during the week while Storm is working in New York. But she's home when school lets out and on the weekends when he's often traveling -- as many as 20 weekends a year on golf when NBC's schedule expands in the 2007 season.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060600761_pf.html

The Business of TV TV
As It Starts TV Service, AT&T Hopes Its Pipes Are Fast Enough

The phone giant, using Net technology, aims to amaze.
But its network isn't the speediest.
By James S. Granelli Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 10, 2006

As phone and cable companies race to be the be-all and end-all connection to the home, AT&T Inc. is betting that its new broadband network will be fast enough to win over customers.

The nation's largest phone company said it would begin "changing the way people watch TV" this month by starting to pump programs over the network, which combines fiber optic cable with existing copper lines.

The move by AT&T comes as it is trying to thwart the advances of cable companies, which are aggressively trying to steal away phone customers.

The public rollout of the network and of AT&T's new pay-television service is scheduled to start within weeks in the company's hometown of San Antonio. Executives say they will add 20 more markets, including Anaheim, by the end of the year.

AT&T and its main partner, Microsoft Corp., have been keeping mum on most details about the service, including its plans for California beyond Anaheim. Nevertheless, industry experts are questioning whether the offering is enough to woo customers away from cable.

"A lot of eyes around the world are on AT&T because this launch is on a very large scale," said analyst Teresa Mastrangelo of Broadband Trends Research in Roanoke, Va. "Will it work? Will service meet expectations? Is there going to be enough bandwidth to do what they want?"

Microsoft also has a lot riding on the project. The Redmond, Wash.-based company wrote the software that will power the video system, which relies on Internet technology. Microsoft also has picked up contracts to provide the software to 14 other companies worldwide, including Deutsche Telekom in Germany, BT in the United Kingdom and T-Online Hungary.

Verizon Communications Inc., the second-largest U.S. phone company, has started adding some of the features of Microsoft's technology to its existing cable-like, pay-TV package, and BellSouth Corp., the next-largest phone company, has committed to using the technology.

"It's TV at the core, but a new type of TV," said Ed Graczyk, Microsoft TV marketing director.

A TV system using Internet technology TV doesn't broadcast all signals at once, as cable or over-the-air networks do. That would require more data than AT&T's copper lines could handle. Instead, the technology delivers only the channel the viewer wants. The software also predicts which channel a viewer is likely to visit next and buffers that data to give what AT&T promotes as instant channel changes.

"Boom, you're there," said Alan Weinkrantz, a technology industry public relations consultant and San Antonio resident who joined the U-verse test group in mid-May and posted his impressions on his daily blog.

Microsoft and AT&T say transmitting video using Internet technology offers richer colors than cable and makes it easier to order video on demand and to watch several picture-in-picture views.

"The user interface is so cool because it's a software metaphor with pull-down menus," said Weinkrantz, who gave up the high-definition TV service he had — and liked — with Time Warner Cable to join the test. "It's faster and more intuitive."

In his blog and an interview, Weinkrantz gave high marks for ease of use and picture quality, though he noticed a "couple of flickers" on the screen during an episode of "The Sopranos."

He knew he would be giving up high-definition television on two of his three sets, including a 56-inch model. He said he would wait for AT&T to introduce a set-top box in October that can handle high-definition and record one channel while he watches another.

"I did it because I really wanted to see what this was all about," Weinkrantz said. "I thought it would be fun to be a tester, and I was curious to see Microsoft's hand in it."

Searching for videos on demand is quick, but it takes 13 seconds to get a movie, he said. And a program guide not only lists what's on but also shows it in a box as he scrolls through the listings of 200-plus channels.

"Today, everything is fine. I'm just a consumer staying at home on the couch, saying, 'Oh, I like this,' and 'Wow, look at that,' " he said.

With TV running over a pipeline along with voice and other data, the company can integrate services, said Chris Rice, an AT&T executive vice president. Television programs, for instance, could be sent to a big-screen TV, computer, laptop or cellphone.

But industry analysts are skeptical about the network, dubbed Project LightSpeed, and the TV service, called U-verse.

"This is a complicated product launch on a scale that is pretty much unprecedented," said analyst Adi Kishore of the Yankee Group research firm in Boston. "They're going to have problems, especially given the relatively tight time frame to get things done."

Experts question the wisdom of creating a network that's likely to be technologically out of date by the time it's complete. LightSpeed is designed to send data at an average of 25 megabits per second by extending high-capacity fiber optic lines to within 3,000 feet of homes. To cover the remaining distance, AT&T plans to rely on new DSL gear to send data humming over existing copper lines.

That's sufficient for standard television, one high-definition feed and a 6-megabit-per-second Internet connection. But cable companies say they have the technology to better that. And Verizon offers as much as 30 megabits per second for Internet use on a fiber optic network that extends all the way to homes. It offers video on a separate fiber optic strand.

"This is a huge debate in the industry," said Maribel Lopez, lead telecom analyst for Forrester Research in Boston. "If you look at the technology three to five years out, this is not enough. But if you look at what most consumers use today, it is."

Unlike Verizon's separate strands for Internet and cable-like video, AT&T must send everything over a combined pipeline, so it's critical for LightSpeed to create an unhindered lane to the home, said analyst Matt Davis of International Data Corp. research firm.

LightSpeed customers would get as much as 6 megabits per second for their Internet connection; the rest would be devoted to the U-verse TV service, said Lea Ann Champion, AT&T's senior executive vice president in charge of the project. "We are seasoned players," she said. "We know how to deliver broadband. We know how to scale, and we build the systems that are necessary to support growth."

She says the company has a number of options to increase bandwidth as consumers' needs grow. For example, it could extend the fiber optic lines closer to homes. The shorter the run on copper, the faster the speeds.

In newly built neighborhoods the company is taking fiber optic lines directly to the homes for the ultimate bandwidth.

Lopez said AT&T also was looking at technology that would compress high-definition TV signals enough to allow two simultaneous streams.

Champion wouldn't comment on the compression technologies the company is using.

The U-verse TV service will be rolled out gradually in each new market, she said, and upgrades will be added along the way.

AT&T's strategy is to bring LightSpeed to 19 million homes in 41 of its markets by the end of 2008 — a little more than half the homes in its 13-state territory, including California. The rollout is expected to cost $4.6 billion. Other customers can get Homezone, a combination of satellite TV and high-speed Internet access, which will be available in the next few months.

Verizon says it will have fiber optic service available to 15 million to 20 million homes in 2008 or 2009. Fiber optic networks for 6 million homes, about 20% of Verizon's territory, will be ready by the end of this year, the company said. The build-out is expected to cost $6 billion by then.

"AT&T is saying, 'This is a good enough network and we'll try to make more interesting TV,' " Lopez said. "Verizon is making a big gamble on a solid infrastructure and will gradually add in more interesting TV."

Edward E. Whitacre Jr., AT&T's chairman, has led lobbying efforts to ease local cable franchising rules for new pay-TV providers. He has touted the need for competition to, among other things, lower prices. But he recently told analysts that he didn't envision a price war.

"I think it's going to be a war of value and of services," he said. With the ability to bundle landline and wireless phone service, video and high-speed Internet "all together, that gives us a lot of flexibility on pricing."

AT&T won't reveal its TV package prices yet. But Internet information company Broadband Reports said users of its online forums learned that the basic bundle of 170-channel TV service plus 1.5-megabit-per-second Internet access would cost $85 a month. The top tier of more than 200 channels with 6-megabit-per-second access would cost $114 a month.

AT&T is smart to look for ways to improve television viewing and make it different from cable TV service, said Kathie Hackler, an analyst at Gartner Inc. research firm. "To come in with a 'me too' offer would be a huge mistake," Hackler said.

As the first company out the door with Microsoft's TV technology, she said, AT&T should take the time it needs to make sure the product works flawlessly because viewers will notice.

Because the Internet technology being used by AT&T breaks signals into packets for delivery and reassembles them at the other end, a few lost packets could mean missing the winning field goal in the Super Bowl or a key scene in "Desperate Housewives."

"There's a big difference when you're trying to go into a market that has been working well," Davis of International Data Corp. said. "You can't have any hiccups."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-fi-att10jun10,0,4679284,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

TV Reviews
'Entourage,' Giving HBO Summer Fare A First-Class Escort

By Tom Shales Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, June 11, 2006

There may not be enough water coolers in the world to host discussions of HBO's best shows. The broadcast networks are starting to catch up, increasingly presenting programs that dominate the office chitchat. Even so, "The Sopranos" -- which as of last Sunday's mercurial installment has gone into yet another infernal hiatus on HBO -- easily remains the medium's all-time chatter champ: diced, discussed and dissected as no other drama series of its time.

A "Sopranos"-size hit can set off a ripple effect that helps carry a network's evening. With the Soprano saga having gone back into orbit until early next year -- and HBO declining to reveal when the final eight episodes will air -- the pay-cable channel needs another series strong enough to carry the rest of Sunday night with it.

Obviously, HBO thinks it has that in "Entourage," a smart and disarming lark about a sweet-natured young movie star and the three pals who try to keep him humble when he gets too lofty and tell him that he's hot stuff should he become insecure or depressed.

As the show's hero gets sterling support from underlings, and in turn uses his clout to clear their way to the promised land, so it is hoped that the 12 new episodes of "Entourage" will lead the way to a victorious summer for HBO's mix of the old -- "Deadwood," David Milch's raunchy whirligig of a western (returning tonight for its last full season of weekly episodes) -- and the new: "Lucky Louie," a working-class sitcom whose collar isn't the only thing blue about it; and "Dane Cook's Tourgasm," a reality romp about four young comics touring North America in a wackily wayward bus.

During the first two seasons of "Entourage," its central character -- an actor named Vince -- lobbied and campaigned for the lead role in "Aquaman," a James Cameron picture about a superhero of the same name. Tonight, as the third season begins, that movie is about to open, and both industry scuttlebutt and word on the street is good. Even so, Vince (played engagingly by Adrian Grenier) knows better than to get cockily overconfident, despite the many temptations that accompany career leaps in Hollywood; he already has to be planning a face-saving spin campaign should the costly ship sink.

His friends, who've gallantly offered support in the forms of woman-hunting, communal carousing, gamboling, gambling and just plain partying, know that it isn't over till it's over and not even then; in fact, it hasn't really begun till it's begun. The entourage includes top-billed Kevin Connolly as the manager, Eric, the level-headed brains of the group; and amiable hangers-on Jerry Ferrara as the burly Turtle and Kevin Dillon as Vince's self-deluded brother Johnny Drama. Most pivotal of all -- pivotal partly because he is perpetually twirling himself into the tautest of twisters -- is Vince's agent Ari, the ruthless scavenger who's a snarling shark one moment and a paternal porpoise the next.

Ari is played with masterfully modulated desperation, ferocity and bravado by Jeremy Piven -- without whom there simply would be no show. Piven is not the central character, but he is the Rolls-Royce engine that keeps "Entourage" heading down the highway. Bumblingly robbed of an Emmy last year, Piven is back and as deserving as ever for the latest season of "Entourage," refining a characterization of awesome complexity and elusiveness -- a man who is never in the rifle's sights long enough to be a bona fide target, even though there's an infinite number of candidates who'd love to pull the trigger.

In the season's first three episodes, viewers are likely to find it harder than ever to dismiss Ari as a mere deadly menace, since he's in exile from the big plush talent agency he'd called his home away from home and is having a harder time of it -- learning to cope on, curse of curses, a smaller expense account.

Naturally, as the "Aquaman" premiere approaches, there is the manageable crisis or two. Actor James Woods (as himself) has fewer tickets than he'd requested, and industry savants estimate the movie needs to gross $100 million its first weekend (vs. the mere $95 million originally estimated), and so on. But then, even as the red carpet is being unfurled, comes news from the North: a calamity so profound that it can only be called an act of God (except that, in this environment, even God might sue), something too awful to have been included on Ari's list of potential and arguably avoidable catastrophic mind-blowers.

A new character named Dom will be complicating the scenario as the weeks wear on. An alumnus of the state's Department of Corrections (although he appears still to be fundamentally incorrect), Dom likes to walk around Ari's house naked and commit such social faux pas as borrowing another man's deodorant -- the roll-on kind! Dom rubs everyone the wrong way, with the possible exception of the very vocal young woman whose shrieks of "oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" fill the house during an assignation that threatens to register on the Richter scale.

"Entourage" returns with feathers fully unfurled, zooming and soaring across the Sunday-night sky and elevating escapism to dizzy new altitudes and basically untroubled new attitudes. The cast and creators have pulled off a neat and tantalizing trick: They make you yearn to be there with Vince and his boyish brigade, romping through decadence but never wallowing in it -- Lost Boys in Ever-Ever Land, enjoying it all while it lasts and subconsciously aware that, like life itself, it could vanish in a poof without so much as half-a-moment's notice.

'Lucky Louie'

Elsewhere in its newly renovated Sunday-night lineup, HBO unveils "Lucky Louie," a blue-collar sitcom that might better be termed a ring-around-the-collar sitcom -- yet another attempt to breathe new life into a genre that is forever being declared as dead as the atrophied parrot in the famous Monty Python sketch.

It seems the much-mourned sitcom is not "bleedin' demised," but merely turning a tempting new corner. "Lucky Louie" is the precocious brainchild of comic Lewis C.K., who wrote tonight's pilot and stars in the title role: an embittered hard-luck Lou who faces bleak working-class realities made tolerable by Pamela Adlon as wife Kim and, as daughter Lucy, a strikingly adorable child star named Kelly Gould.

In an apartment that seems clearly a homage to the dingy flat once occupied by Ralph and Alice Kramden (in Jackie Gleason's masterpiece "The Honeymooners"), Louie and Kim struggle to attain their own minuscule portion of the American dream, with Louie staying home to watch Lucy while Kim holds down a respectable 9-to-5 office job. The back story is all spelled out in the opening scene, one that fans of Louis C.K. will recognize from his comedy-club act.

As children do, Lucy keeps asking "Why?" in response to every explanation that her father can offer. The answer to "Why don't you know, Papa?" is an unusually straightforward "Because I was high all the time. I smoked too much pot." Why? "I figured my life would come together on its own." But it didn't, and now his only employment outside the house is part-time work at a muffler shop. Why? Because "there's no real jobs in America anymore," he glumly tells his daughter.

In the opening episodes, Louie also tries to deal sensibly and intelligently with a new family that moved in down the hall and happens to be African American. Louie's attempts at conversation or socializing amount to a faux pas followed by an outright idiotic blunder.

"Lucky Louie" is not a runaway smash right out of the gate, but neither does it stumble or implode. The language is far earthier and more explicit than could be found in a sitcom on the broadcast networks, suggesting that one way for sitcoms to survive is simply to talk dirtier. There are also scandalous running gags, such as Louie's occasional lengthy sieges of the bathroom for purposes that have nothing to do with the digestive process.

The comedy becomes poignantly funny when it evolves that wife Kim, instead of choosing celibacy for herself (and thereby for poor Louie), decides she wants to have another baby, and proceeds to seduce her spouse via such dubiously subtle techniques as sticking a breast in his eye or bending over teasingly at the oven door. A pal of Louie's tells him -- as they discuss life on a park bench that seems designed precisely for that purpose -- that a man's first and second marriages are almost certain to fail, in various senses of the term, but that "the third wife is the best."

"Yeah," the friend says knowingly, "you'll enjoy that."

'Tourgasm'

Less inviting than "Lucky Louie" -- but also a bold departure from genre traditions -- is another in the swelling population of hybrid television shows. "Dane Cook's Tourgasm" is a combination of a reality series and a string of stand-up comedy concerts.

Cook, who created and appears in the show, might be the first comedy superstar to emerge from the murky wilds of the Internet. He used the Web to grow his fan base, and grow it did -- to such an extent that "Retaliation," Cook's comedy CD, has become the highest-charting comedy album in 25 years.

Unfortunately, the show's format -- inviting us along on a bus tour of college campuses by Cook and three other young comedians -- is off-putting from the outset, largely because comedians are among the most self-absorbed and self-fascinated creatures on the planet -- monkeys in front of mirrors who seem never to tire of making allegedly funny faces. Their onstage work is largely undistinguished, one comic opening with the unspeakably banal "How you guys feelin' tonight?" and another congratulating the audience for appreciating his humor: "You're amazing. Thank you so much," and "I had an awesome time. Thank you very much."

Okay, you're welcome, but aren't we the ones who are supposed to be having the "awesome time"?

The comics sit around the trailer making wry observations ("We're dysfunctional; that's why we do comedy") or venture out to sample the recreational activities of the towns they visit. Occasionally the chatter is interrupted by on-screen printed "rules of comedy," such as "Never trust an anti-Semitic horse" and "Learn the rules -- then do what you want."

If the prospect of accompanying comedians on a comedy bus does have a certain allure, don't get too excited. At any moment the group might hop on a private jet and fly from, say, Bozeman, Mont., to New Orleans (pre-Katrina, or so it appears). We are also given access to the questionable treat of watching comics hone raw remarks into jokes; one of them tries to find humor in such observations as: "You know what I hate about grapefruit? It ruins a fruit salad."

Hmm. Seems like a little more honing might be in order.

It would be unfair to expect 100 percent pure gold from HBO's Sunday-night lineup. It would even be unfair to expect nothing but comedy; the schedule, as of tonight, includes "Deadwood," the television show that boasts, among other features, more four-letter words per five minutes of airtime than any other series on television. "Deadwood" does have comic elements, to be sure, but could hardly be called a comedy to the degree that the other shows in the lineup are.

What they all have in common is that whether the roads they take could be called high or low (or in "Deadwood's" case, virtually impassable), they all go off in directions unusual for television. This is true of "Dane Cook's Tourgasm," the sitcom redux "Lucky Louie" or the fresh-breeze escapism of "Entourage." No other network has a night of television quite so intoxicatingly quixotic or as heavily dedicated to daring departures.

It used to be that the arrival of summer meant television turned to low-budget clunkers or scattered, tattered reruns. Cable and, particularly, HBO have changed that -- and just when you thought it was safe to turn the thing off and head into the water.

Entourage (30 minutes) airs at 10 PM ET Sunday on HBO, followed by Lucky Louie (30 minutes) and Dane Cook's Tourgasm (30 minutes).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/09/AR2006060900338.html

TV Notebook
They're no angels

That's why the industry sees "Entourage," with its neuroses and power plays, as a documentary
By Lynn Smith Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 11, 2006

A few hours after dawn, a group of extras suited up to play members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and assembled on a tennis court at a Beverly Hills mansion — the location for Episode 8 of HBO's industry insider "Entourage." "Just remember," instructed the second second assistant director, "They want everyone to know what Hollywood is like … on TV." The cast chuckled knowingly.

While other shows about Hollywood ("The Comeback," "Unscripted") have come and gone, "Entourage" starts its third season Sunday night with the first of 20 episodes, up from 14 last year, which was up from just eight the first season. The stock reason for its success, widely cited by the show's creators and actors, is that "Entourage" isn't really about Hollywood. The series, they say, is about something almost everyone can relate to: the friendship of four young men trying to make it in a world without rules.

Still. What has agents, actors, producers and publicists hooked on the series, despite moderate viewership, is that it also is really about Hollywood — the real traffic snarls on PCH, real restaurants on Melrose, real Laker games and real relationships among agents, managers, publicists and actors. "Everyone in Hollywood watches that show," said Brent Bolthouse, the town's premier party promoter. "Everyone in Hollywood can relate. It's all in there."

More than the Urth Caffé, Playboy Mansion or the nightclub Prey, the locals can't wait to see the sly, often mortifying details of their own lives on the screen — the high-stakes deals hanging on a lunch or a rumor, the short attention spans, the neuroses, the petty humiliations and faux reconciliations. Over the past two seasons, "Let's hug it out, bitch," the peace offering of the tightly coiled yet almost likable agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), has worked its way into the local culture. "A lot of people use it, as a joke," said producer Ben Silverman ("The Office"), admitting he says it himself with colleagues.

"Entourage" adroitly blends fact and fiction in this brutish, sunny industry town, Silverman said. "Battles for supremacy go on all day long across Hollywood every day," he said. Who the actual gatekeeper is for a hot young actor like "Entourage's" Vincent Chase "is a real-life struggle playing out every day over lunch," he said.

The archetypes are so strong, some have even had trouble separating art from life. Director James Cameron, who played a megalomaniacal director named James Cameron working on a fictional movie called "Aquaman," said he was surprised that acquaintances believed the project was real. When he jokingly remarked that he was making "Aquaman," they replied, "Yeah, I heard that. How's it going?"

"The funniest thing for me," Cameron said, "is I could have made 'Aquaman' with just two phone calls. It shows you how warped our perspective is. It spawned real momentum."

The only false note in the show, Cameron believes, comes from the characters that are not underhanded or manipulative enough. Chase (Adrian Grenier), the show's central figure who employs his brother and two childhood friends from New York, is "just such a nice guy," Cameron said. "He has his friends' back."


Saddling up a posse

In the beginning, there was an idea — a show about an actor's posse based on Mark Wahlberg and his friends: Vincent's brother Johnny Drama (played by Kevin Dillon) has the same nickname as a cousin and member of Wahlberg's entourage; and Chase's film, "Queens Boulevard," is a reference to Wahlberg's "Boogie Nights."

But "Entourage" head writer Doug Ellin didn't like it. "I said, 'I don't get it.' It was about hangers-on. I don't want to watch a show about people who live off somebody else."

Eventually, Ellin said, "I had to figure out how to make the guys relatable to me." A New Yorker and former stand-up comedian who moved to Hollywood in 1990, Ellin had lived the life himself, worked in a production company mail room, made the club scene, got some films made ("Kissing a Fool"), hung out at Sundance.

He moved the characters' hometown from Boston to New York. And he made sure each member of the entourage had a purpose: Drama cooks for the household while seeking acting jobs; Eric (Kevin Connolly) was asked to help Vince run his career. "There's only one hanger-on," Ellin said. "Turtle. And he gets paid. He's a gofer."

Now, he said, "The majority of stuff comes out of my head. It's all loosely based on a bunch of people." Ari Gold's wife (Perrey Reeves), the real boss at home, is based on Ellin's wife; Ellin's own agent, Ari Emanuel informs, among others, the contentious Gold. Instead of a Wahlberg-like rough-and-tumble Vince, which was difficult to cast, Ellin based Chase on the more artistic Leonardo DiCaprio. "What would Leo do?" tends to be the watchwords on set.

Even as HBO is seeing audiences for "The Sopranos" dip and its highly touted "Big Love" attract only middling numbers, the network is encouraged by "Entourage." By the end of the first season, Nielsen Media Research had counted 1.9 million viewers and word about how close to the bone the show was hitting had spread around town. Piven, especially, had struck a nerve, and captured two Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination, as Gold.

Though numbers dipped in Season 2, as the new season proceeds HBO's President of Entertainment Carolyn Strauss said, "There's a lot of creative momentum for the show….The show is really in its full creative flower."

Of the 20 episodes now in production, 12 will air this summer with the rest scheduled to follow the final eight episodes of "The Sopranos" in 2007, she said.

Even so, Ellin said, there's no particular plan for the season other than developing the characters and their relationships as Vince edges closer to stardom. Obviously, Ellin said, "We know with Leo, he became the biggest movie star in the world. He can't go that way, it would be boring. There have to be some complications."

Each character is taking on more personality as the series progresses, said Patty Jenkins, who has directed several episodes. "They're all heading in their own directions, finding themselves in Los Angeles and in the success."

And Vince too is being more fully explored. The character, Grenier said, is a mix of confidence and insecurity. "He's on the up and up. It's a long, difficult, vulnerable road. The larger the projects that come his way, the larger the risks. There's the potential for loss." Adding to the hall-of-mirrors effect of making a show about Hollywood in Hollywood: The cast members, now friends, are often seen together around town. "We're tight," Connolly said. "It's crazy when we go out as a group. People can't believe we would actually be friends."

In fact, sightings can be almost surreal. "I've seen a dinner with Jeremy Piven, Ari Emanuel and Mark Wahlberg," Silverman said. "Ari's the agent for both and Jeremy Piven plays Ari. It's so postmodern."


Ari over the top

Not everyone in Hollywood relates to "Entourage" in a positive way. "It's like bathing in mud," said John Burnham, executive vice president at the West Coast offices of International Creative Management. He finds the show funny but said Ari Gold's behavior is exaggerated, "insanely self-preserving" and "shameless." Citing a scene in which Gold made changes to his daughter's bat mitzvah in an effort to gain a business advantage, Burnham said, "You feel like you need to take a shower after you've watched it."

"Agents know this guy exists to a greater and lesser extent," Piven said in defense of the character. "He exists with an attention deficit disorder that's more advanced than I'm showing and with a heart bigger than what I'm showing at times as well. I hope to become more ruthless and more emotionally accessible. I want the highs to be higher and the lows to be lower. Bring it! I've trained my entire life for this moment."

Still, even Piven sometimes had trouble with the dialogue. "There are times when it's a little unsettling that I have to say these things regarding certain people or studios. But it's part of the character, so I just have to constantly sit on that grenade."

It's that true-to-life tension that plays best to some insiders. Publicist Stan Rosenfield, whose clients include George Clooney, said he's become an ardent fan. Rosenfield and an all-male network of friends discuss the shows the day after they air. "It's guy TV," he said.

Some of his favorite scenes: Ari Gold firing the mail-room guy, mistaking him for an agent; Vince getting his dream role, only to find out he's being paired with an ex-flame. "Anybody can relate to that," Rosenfield said. "Do you take the job if your ex-girlfriend is there?"

Unlike Hollywood shows that depict the wealthy and powerful, the fun of "Entourage" is that it dwells on the climb upward, he said. "A lot of times people live in big mansions — what's interesting is the process of how they get there," he said. "I look at 'Entourage' as the journey, not the destination."

Naturally, the actors would like it if the show led them somewhere.

"I was hoping playing Vince would launch my actual career," Grenier said, adding he wasn't sure if it had. After 14 years in L.A., Connolly said playing Eric has changed everything for his career. "This is the best gig you can have as an actor, being on a hit HBO series."

Even those who play cameos have been surprised by the response of the exposure. Burnham, whose firm represents Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange"), said the actor found himself more recognized in town from a few episodes playing an agent on "Entourage" than he had in a 30-year career in American and British cinema.

Cameron said he got a similar reaction for the few days work on the show as he did for the two years he spent making "Titanic." "Who knew it was going to be a career high?" he said.

The cameos are still difficult to cast, Ellin said, because of scheduling conflicts. But some publicists say that in the wake of appearances by Scarlett Johansson, Brooke Shields, Larry David and Jessica Alba, among others, actors are now lining up for the guest spots.

As Wahlberg jokingly warns in an interview on the Season 2 DVD, "They know if you're not involved, you're going to be a victim on the show."


Aiming to mix comedy, drama

"ENTOURAGE," despite the freedoms of cable, doesn't push as far as it could to show the dark side of the sex and drugs that pervade the Hollywood scene. But, Ellin pointed out, the show aims to be a mixture of comedy and drama. "I don't want to watch Vince OD," he said.

"What I love about the show is the tight little bond the guys have with one another. You don't see that a lot with heterosexual males. You're seeing the real group dynamics of conflict, jealousies and success without getting into the real darkness of drugs."

Two of Ellin's favorite scenes: Ari getting fired, thinking his life is over, and managing to persuade his gay Asian assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee) to come with him only after promising to apologize after insulting him. ("Even though I'm not an agent, I've been fired from everywhere I've ever been" — including the New Line Cinema mail room for talking back," he said.) And the Season 1 finale in which Vince and the guys almost leave Eric on the tarmac, until Vince decides to make Eric his manager.

The show, Ellin said, has consumed his life. He's worked seven days a week since August. "I'm in the office at 7 a.m. every single day. I get home no earlier than 8, usually later. I have two young kids. I have to figure out a way to slow that down." He better find it soon because he says there's enough minutiae in Hollywood for 10 more years of material — if he can last that long.

"The dynamic on the show is the dynamic behind the show," he said. "I just hope it keeps going."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-ca-entourage11jun11,0,1447334.story?coll=cl-tvent

TV Reviews
HBO is still looking for a blockbuster hit like 'Sopranos' or 'Sex and the City'

By Gail Pennington St. Louis Post-Dispatch Television Critic Sunday, Jun. 11 2006

(Note: All times are Central)

Last July, when TV critics toured the dusty set of "Deadwood" just outside Los
Angeles, the HBO drama was getting ready to shoot its third season. Now, that
season finally arrives.

But in the meantime, the David Milch Western has fallen out of favor with HBO.
The first sign of trouble came when the premium-cable network decided not to
pair the third season with the returning "Sopranos" in March. Instead, that
slot went to the new drama "Big Love," starring Bill Paxton as a Utah
polygamist.

Facing increased competition on Sundays from ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and
"Grey's Anatomy," and with "The Sopranos" winding up its run, HBO felt an
urgent need to develop a new superhit. "Big Love," with Tom Hanks as executive
producer, was seen as having more crossover appeal to women and thus the
potential to break out, attracting both "Sopranos" fans and those still
mourning "Sex and the City."

As the "Deadwood" faithful waited for June, news broke that HBO wouldn't order
Milch's long-planned fourth season. Via Web sites such as HBOnomo.com, fans
rallied in protest, threatening boycotts of everything HBO, before Milch
confirmed last week that he had agreed to end the series with two movies.

None of that makes Sunday night's return of "Deadwood" any less of an event for
its supporters who, HBO should realize, include women as well as men. In fact,
the drama is particularly rich in strong female characters, despite its setting
in a time and place when a working woman was probably a prostitute.

The new season finds the once-lawless town about to hold its first elections in
the spring of 1877. Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) is running for sheriff, the
job for which he was previously pressed into service, while his friend Sol Star
(John Hawkes) is opposing eccentric hotel keeper E.B. Farnum (William
Sanderson) for mayor.

Pushing buttons behind the scenes in the first two episodes is new arrival
George Hearst (Gerald McRaney). The mining megalomaniac takes on town boss Al
Swearengen (the brilliant Ian McShane) with chilling results, and then attempts
to manipulate Bullock, who lashes out.

But the women of Deadwood are central to both episodes. Alma Garret (Molly
Parker), newly married to that nice Whitney Ellsworth (Jim Beaver), suffers a
health crisis that lets all those in her life know where they stand. Joanie
Stubbs (Kim Dickens), who broke away from Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe) and his
brothel, finds herself being sucked back in. Martha Bullock (Anna Gunn), whose
husband loves Alma, teaches the town's children and reaches out to keep
Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) from drinking herself to death, while Jane finds
a new calling.

There's even a development for the town's most adorable couple, hardware man
Sol and prostitute Trixie (Paula Malcomson).

"Deadwood" is HBO's most exhilarating and satisfying series, especially
compared with the lackluster season of "The Sopranos" that just ended. Even
more than a year after its last episode aired, buzz is still louder for
"Deadwood" than for "Big Love," which performed respectably after "The
Sopranos" but didn't turn into the kind of pop-culture phenomenon HBO was
hoping for.

On the debit side, "Deadwood" is expensive to produce, but not as expensive as
"Rome," a series HBO inexplicably picked up for a second season. "Deadwood"
ratings are low, but not as low as those for "The Wire," the critically
acclaimed crime drama that will return for a fourth season sometime this year.

Ratings aren't supposed to matter to HBO, whose success is built not on
advertising but on subscribers. Many of those subscribers signed on for "The
Sopranos," which has just eight episodes left, and "Sex and the City," which
already ended its run. Hits as big as those two have an umbrella effect,
bringing viewers to other shows on the network but, so far, HBO hasn't been
able to develop either a new umbrella drama or a comedy.

On the comedy side, though, there's hope. "Entourage," which begins its third
season after "Deadwood" on Sunday, has grown into one of TV's most entertaining
half-hours.

In its first year, the story of Hollywood "it" boy Vincent Chase (Adrian
Grenier) and his loyal pals often seemed like a protracted inside joke about
moviemaking and celebrity. But as "Entourage" grew creatively, the depth and
humanity of the characters emerged. Without losing any of the fun, "Entourage"
now has a heart and soul.

The new season begins with the gang - Vince, half-brother "Drama" (Kevin
Dillon), manager Eric (Kevin Connolly) and sidekick Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) -
waiting for the opening of Vince's blockbuster James Cameron movie, "Aquaman."
The opening weekend box office can make Vince a huge star, so the waiting is
particularly tense for his agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), forced last season
to start his own agency.

Viewers also will be on pins and needles during the wait, a sign of just how
good "Entourage" has become.

'Deadwood' When: 8 p.m. Sunday Where: HBO

'Entourage' When: 9 p.m. Sunday Where: HBO


More Sunday premieres

Would you enjoy "The King of Queens" more if Doug and Carrie talked dirty - I
mean, really dirty - to each other? And if they frequently got rather
graphically busy in the bedroom?

If so, HBO's "Lucky Louie" (9:30 p.m. Sunday) is for you. Created by
and starring comic Louis C.K., the superficially traditional sitcom has a laugh
track (from a studio audience) and standard-issue plots. Wife Kim (Pamela
Adlon) wants another child; Louie says they can't afford it. Louie likes
doughnuts; Kim wants him to eat right.

The twist: This is HBO, where absolutely anything goes. Ironically, the
language and nudity actually distract from the fact that "Lucky Louie" is a
fairly funny comedy in the vein of "Roseanne."

Also debuting Sunday on HBO is "Dane Cook's Tourgasm" (10 p.m.),
which follows Cook and three fellow comics on a 30-day, TV-MA-rated tour.

USA, meanwhile, brings back "The 4400" (8 p.m. Sunday), the
complicated tale of people abducted by aliens and strangely returned, for a
third season. Fans say the show's intricate mysteries are a reason to pay
attention to TV in the summer.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/emaf.nsf/Popup?ReadForm&db=stltoday%5Centertainment%5Ccolumnists.nsf&docid=B85AF5BDC47CFCC48625718800321D31

TV Reviews
Always Be Closing

Kyra Sedgwick makes The Closer’s cop part Helen Mirren, part Blanche DuBois; also, Saved’s slacker savior.

By John Leonard New York Magazine June 12, 2006

It occurs to me that Kyra Sedgwick—scattered affect, steel-trap brain, secret wound—might make for a fine Joan Didion should Vanessa Redgrave ever flag in the forthcoming stage version of The Year of Magical Thinking. Granted, Sedgwick’s welcome return for a second season of The Closer as Brenda Johnson, deputy chief of the LAPD’s priority homicide division, suggests all manner of equivalents and correlatives. Because she specializes in interrogation, we are naturally reminded of Helen Mirren’s Jane Tennison in the Prime Suspect series. Because she puts on the mint-julep charm, we are reminded of everyone from Blanche DuBois getting off that streetcar to Flannery O’Connor and her peacocks. Because she is a closet sugar fiend, with snacks stashed in her desk drawers like vodka or a crack pipe, we recall Italo Svevo’s great novel Zeno’s Conscience, about cigarettes and psychoanalysis. And because she is Kyra Sedgwick, we expect to be charmed even as we are outsmarted.

I’ve been charmed with Sedgwick since 1992 and a Hallmark Hall of Fame production of Miss Rose White, in which she starred as a daughter of Jewish refugees from Hitler’s Europe who, in order to acquire the brand-new self that seemed to be the chief manufacture of her brand-new country, changed her name from Reyzel Weiss and clerked in a department store. In a cast that included Maximilian Schell, Maureen Stapleton, Amanda Plummer, and Gina Gershon, she was the nonesuch jewel.

As she is in The Closer. She’s surrounded by a remarkable ensemble that includes J. K. Simmons as her boss, Robert Gossett as her nemesis, Jon Tenney as her FBI lover, and Corey Reynolds, Tony Denison, G. W. Bailey, Michael Paul Chan, Gina Ravera, and Raymond Cruz as division detectives who spent last season learning to stop resenting and start respecting the way Brenda wiled confessions out of miscreants, even as she remained dangerously indifferent to office politics. This season, no surprise, they are fiercely loyal. Now if only she’d rescind her ban on sugar in the squad room; they slip her cake to calm her down.

During a complicated second-season opening episode that has to do with the murder of a cop who went into a warehouse without backup, an informant who must be dragged back from Las Vegas, and a DNA test that upsets everybody, Brenda will have to fend off advances from her about-to-be-divorced boss while she decides whether or not to nest with the FBI. Although we’re promised plots involving money, gangs, and sexual pathology, we’ll really be sitting still on Monday nights for the variations Sedgwick rings on Brenda, the neurotic whose very compulsive tics assist in the detection process—like Sherlock Holmes, a shaman, or an exorcist.

Saved, with Tom Everett Scott having a surprisingly good time as a paramedic in Portland, Oregon, asks us to admire the slacker as hero. Scott’s Wyatt Cole dropped out of medical school as if to spite his surgeon father, David Clennon. He has, at least temporarily, lost his girlfriend (Elizabeth Reaser), who is already an ER doctor. And he has a gambling problem, owing $10,000 to a sinister former classmate who may or may not be HIV-positive. And yet, at the wheel of an ambulance on the wet night streets, responding with Omari Hardwick, Michael McMillian, and Tracy Vilar to emergencies involving DUI accidents, abused children, drug overdoses, cardiac arrest, and expectant mothers in sudden labor, he is a happy man, most exuberant when wholly engaged.

I’d have thought pop culture had said good-bye to slackers, along with Kurt Cobain. Isn’t everybody now either working three jobs, fighting in Iraq, or hiding out in business school? But Cole arrives at the same time as jury verdicts in the Enron case. Just look into the faces of Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. Isn’t it clear we desperately need an alternative to corporate greedhead culture? If this alternative comes accompanied by Miami Vice production values—a pomo-arty smorgasbord of cop show, music video, and car commercial—all the better. When Cole and his buddies race to snatch back life, to record a “save,” while Johnny Cash is singing “Hurt,” we are encouraged to believe that there’s another way to keep score besides money.

The Closer TNT. Mondays, 9 p.m. ET Premieres June 12.

Saved TNT. Mondays, 10 p.m. ET Premieres June 12.

http://newyorkmetro.com/arts/tv/reviews/17177/

TV Reviews
HBO is still looking for a (cheap to make) blockbuster hit like 'Sopranos' or 'Sex and the City'


The title should read with the added text as they have dropped everything that cost a lot of money to make with the exception of Rome and there doesn't seem to be any reason why they haven't, it sure isn't the ratings.

I really don't like this new HBO...

TV Review
“Entourage”

By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal television writer Sat, Jun. 10, 2006

Aquaman changes everything.

That's your summary of the coming season of Entourage, the fine comedy-drama that begins its third season on HBO at 10 p.m. Sunday.

For those of you tuning in late, Entourage is about the life and career of Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), a young actor who has long been on the verge of his show-business breakthrough.

But it's not strictly about Vince as an individual, since his life and career include a circle of people who knew him before fame, among them his actor half-brother Drama (Kevin Dillon) and his manager Eric (Kevin Connolly). Elbowing his way into this tight group with large doses of bravado and real-world advice is Vince's agent Ari (Jeremy Piven), a character so wildly entertaining that you'll sit through slow parts just to get to his scenes.

At the end of the second season, Vince had decided -- after some second thoughts -- to star in a big-screen version of Aquaman directed by James Cameron (who plays himself in the series). His fortunes rose as things crashed around Ari, who lost a power play at his agency.

As the third season begins, Aquaman is finished and about to premiere. How it does will determine where Vince's career goes next. It can also make a huge difference to Ari, who is trying to rebound. (At the very least, he no longer has to hold meetings in a coffee shop.)

I have liked Entourage quite a bit, and the three episodes I have seen from the new season continued that enjoyment. Part of the pleasure comes from peeking inside Hollywood, for example in the lengths to which the characters go to see how Aquaman is doing at the box office -- tracking opening-weekend results across the country, hoping for a big opening that will make everyone a success.

But it's also a good, and very funny, set of character portraits. Vince is at the center of the show, but the story is kept moving by the quirks and actions of Eric, Drama, Ari and another friend, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara).

Then there are the cameos by real actors playing themselves, usually with some warts on display. Look for James Woods early this season.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/columnists/rd_heldenfels/14787293.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Review
Spooky, absorbing '4400' returns for third season

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer Saturday, June 10, 2006

There were 4,400 of them.

They came from all walks of life. They were fighter pilots. Housewives. Students. Young. Old. Black. White. Male. Female.


They had nothing in common. Well, they had one thing in common — they all mysteriously disappeared over the span of 50 years and were presumed dead.

Gone. Like that. Only to be returned one day in a big ball of light without having aged a day and possessing strange, paranormal powers.

But why were they returned? And what do they want?

That was the delicious premise of The 4400, (Sunday, 9 PM ET) a USA Network limited series that premiered two years ago. The show did so well — it was the highest-rated and most-watched new series premiere ever on a basic cable network — USA picked it up for a second, then a third season.

The creepy X-Files meets X-Men series is back in fine form and picks up right after last season's finale's ended in which baby Isabelle — the key to this whole 4400 thing — suddenly aged 20 years overnight. Now Izzy is a drop-dead gorgeous woman (Megalyn Echikunwoke) who walks around naked and reads encyclopedias from cover to cover.

Talk about an intoxicating combination: A babe with a bod and a brain!

Meanwhile, the folks at NTAC (National Threat Assessment Command), the government agency charged with keeping tabs on the 4400, have their hands full. It seems as if a radical NTAC group that was supposed to be a "defense wing" for the 4400 returnees is serving more as a terrorist organization as it systemically offs a bunch of government officials.

It all adds up to yet another fun ride. The 4400 should get even better when Billy Campbell returns later this season as 4400 leader Jordan Collier, who was thought dead.

If you're not looking forward to watching a bunch of dumb reality shows that are about to invade your living rooms over the next few months, once again The 4400 offers a nice alternative.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/tv/content/accent/epaper/2006/06/10/a1e_4400_0610.html

If you are one of the few who will be tuning in to CBS Sunday night to see the Tony Award presentations, here is a preview:

TV Notebook
Who Will Win the Tonys?

Expect a Big Night for 'History Boys'
By Campbell Robertson The New York Times June 11, 2006

To say that Tony Awards night is essentially an elaborate end-of-season party is not to belittle it: after this season, the players on Broadway have every reason to celebrate.

The industry has done stellar business, selling oodles of tickets, even to serious plays like "The History Boys" and "Faith Healer."

Though attracting a few hundred thousand more viewers to the Tony telecast would be nice (has it been mentioned that Oprah Winfrey and Julia Roberts are among the presenters?), it isn't as if shows that are left out of the festivities are doomed. The two hottest properties this year, "The Odd Couple" and "Three Days of Rain" (star vehicles for Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and Ms. Roberts), were shut out of the nominations. The "Wicked" witches at the Gershwin, who lost the Tony for best musical in 2004, took in almost $70 million at the box office, making it this season's best-selling show.

Still, everyone likes prizes. Despite the cynicism that practically paves Broadway, the Tony ceremony is also a chance for artists to carry home an acknowledgment of their talent and hard work. For Broadway investors, it's a chance to justify their dabble in one of the riskiest investments going with a victory walk to the stage of Radio City Music Hall. And for word-of-mouth shows like "The Drowsy Chaperone," it's a chance to be seen.

That's why the seven musical numbers, one for each best musical and best musical revival nominee, are some of the most important parts of the ceremony. The Tony Awards, which are administered by the League of American Theaters and Producers, the industry trade association, and the American Theater Wing, a charitable group, are, after all, the year's best marketing opportunity. Many viewers will be influenced more by a well-staged, infectious musical number than by whoever ends up thanking people at the lectern.

Which brings us to who will be thanking people. What follows is a mildly educated forecast, as there is no endeavor more noble than trying to divine the tastes, motives and whims of 763 Tony voters scattered across the country.

The forecast is based on a poll of 16 of those voters and a smattering of other industry professionals, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity so they can work in this town again.

First, the easy picks.

The best play and best play revival categories look to be about as suspenseful as a three-minute egg: Alan Bennett's "History Boys" and the revival of Clifford Odets's "Awake and Sing!," said those polled, are safe money. The directors of those two plays, Nicholas Hytner and Bartlett Sher, are leading contenders in their category; Mr. Hytner will easily win.

Indeed, "The History Boys" seems so likely to dominate the evening's proceedings that it would hardly be surprising if the play somehow won the award for best regional theater, even though the recipient has already been announced.

Richard Griffiths, who plays the rotund, poetry-quoting schoolteacher Hector in "The History Boys," should have his acceptance speech ready, say our voters, beating out stars like Ralph Fiennes in "Faith Healer" and Oliver Platt in "Shining City."

Frances de la Tour, the sole woman among all those boys, is expected to take best featured actress, though she may have some competition from Jayne Houdyshell ("Well"), who gave one of the best-reviewed performances all season. (Tyne Daly in "Rabbit Hole" and Zoë Wanamaker in "Awake and Sing!," two of the other nominees, also received good reviews but were somewhat camouflaged among well-reviewed ensembles.) The problem here is, how many Tony voters actually saw her? "Well" closed in early May after 23 previews and 53 performances.

Like the featured actress, the featured actor category has a front-runner and a dark horse. Samuel Barnett of "The History Boys" is the one to beat, said those polled. But Ian McDiarmid of "Faith Healer" received shining reviews and is that show's best chance for a prize.

As for best actress, where no one from "The History Boys" is eligible, Cynthia Nixon is likely to win for her portrayal of a grieving mother in "Rabbit Hole," beating out veteran stage stars like Kate Burton and Lynn Redgrave (both in "The Constant Wife") as well as Lisa Kron ("Well") and Judy Kaye ("Souvenir"). The potentially winning edge? "Rabbit Hole" closed in April, while "Souvenir" closed in January and "The Constant Wife" back in the receding mists of last summer.

There are clear front-runners in the musical categories, too. Jim Dale, at 70, is likely to win featured actor in a musical, a kind of war-horse award for his vaudevillian performance in "The Threepenny Opera."

Best direction is close to a consensus, with John Doyle in a walk for his stark reimagining of "Sweeney Todd." One of his competitors, Kathleen Marshall ("The Pajama Game"), will instead win for her show's choreography, says our random panel.

The work of these two directors — one radically interpreting a cannibalistic thriller, the other staying true to a bright 50's musical — could not set up more of a contrasting choice for best musical revival.

"Sweeny Todd," right? An epic, the "Hamlet" of musicals, daringly interpreted. Of course, sometimes people say they enjoy "Hamlet" in public but secretly they prefer Archie Comics. At least that was the case with several voters polled, who used the "I think 'Sweeney' is going to win but I voted for" line. Possibly. So do not say you were not warned if the presenter says "The Pajama Game."

The category of best actor in a musical is easily one of the most competitive. At first, said several of those interviewed, that hard-working Broadway soldier, Michael Cerveris of "Sweeney Todd," was grappling with the big-name newcomer, Harry Connick Jr. of "The Pajama Game." But in the past few weeks John Lloyd Young, who plays — mostly sings — Frankie Valli in "Jersey Boys," has worked the campaign trail like a seasoned pro, even giving Katie Couric a send-off on the "Today" show.

What's more, Mr. Young, a Broadway neophyte who almost did not get the part, comes with a narrative — "a star-is-born kind of thing," one voter said. (Bob Martin in "The Drowsy Chaperone" does not sing, which could be a handicap in the musical category, and Stephen Lynch in "The Wedding Singer" is, to put it bluntly, not in the race.)

The featured actress category is also up for grabs. While many of those polled said Beth Leavel ("The Drowsy Chaperone") should win it, several said this could be a place for "The Color Purple" to pick up an award. Two actresses from the show are in this category, but the one to watch is Felicia P. Fields, whose character, Sofia, was played in the "Color Purple" movie by one of the musical's producers.

"After all, she is Oprah," one voter said.

"Drowsy" is expected to win the scenic design and costume categories (awarded before the telecast), and Natasha Katz has a chance to take home "Tarzan's" sole Tony of the night for lighting.

As for plays, the "Awake and Sing!" and "History Boys" sweep could continue here, too, though the scenic designer John Lee Beatty, whose rotating "Rabbit Hole" set elicited oohs and aahs, will offer competition, as will Catherine Zuber for her reptilian costume designs in "Edward Albee's Seascape."

"I mean, they're lizards," one producer said.

The category of leading actress in a musical offers up a perfect example of the bizarre logic of Broadway. Patti LuPone ("Sweeney Todd") is deserving because, as one producer said, "she reinvented the role." On the other hand, said another voter, she simply reinvented a role, which is why the award should go to LaChanze ("The Color Purple"), who created the role of Celie.

Ms. LuPone is the favorite here, but among the chances for "The Color Purple" to take home something, this one looks most promising. Chita Rivera in her own show, Kelli O'Hara ("Pajama") and Sutton Foster ("Drowsy") will probably be going home empty-handed.

Now for the biggie.

"The Wedding Singer" and "The Color Purple" are not particularly strong contenders for best musical, though some mathematically inclined Tony voters suggested "The Color Purple" could benefit from a top-of-the-ticket split.

No, the race is between "Jersey Boys" and "The Drowsy Chaperone," and it has been a complicated one. First there was "Jersey Boys," out there singing alone — sure, it was a jukebox musical, but it was an enjoyable jukebox musical that would play well on the road.

Then "The Drowsy Chaperone" came along, aroused the nostalgia of Broadwaygoers, and suddenly there was a backlash — sure, "Jersey" was an enjoyable jukebox musical, but it was a jukebox musical. Thus a show that people liked became a show that people objected to on principle.

But like clockwork, then came the backlash to the backlash. And then the backlash to the backlash to the — well, the outcome depends on wherever the cycle is standing at 6 p.m. today, when votes are due.

It will probably look like this: "Drowsy" picks up best book and score, and "Jersey Boys" takes home the top prize.

But the likely result in any case is that both will sell a lot more tickets.

The 60th annual Tony Awards will be broadcast on CBS on Sunday night at 8 Eastern and Pacific times, 7 Central time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/09/theater/theaterspecial/09tony.html?pagewanted=print

TV Notebook
'Deadwood' Gets a New Lease on Life

By Jesse McKinley The New York Times June 11, 2006

For all intents and purposes, the set of HBO's "Deadwood," David Milch's blood- and profanity-drenched western, is a real (your favorite expletive here) town.

Located at Melody Ranch, a film studio about 35 miles north of Los Angeles, "Deadwood" — the town and the show — has real streets, real buildings and real manure. And when one of the residents of the town needs a fancy new house, HBO builds a fancy new house, from the stone foundations to the lacy curtains. If you were willing to do without indoor plumbing, you could probably be very happy there.

But about three weeks ago, something very strange happened: "Deadwood," which begins its third season Sunday night, started to disappear.

In mid-May, even as the promotional push for the new season began, word leaked that HBO was going to forgo a fourth season, after it had promised Mr. Milch only six episodes (the usual is 12) and Mr. Milch passed. Chris Albrecht, the chairman of HBO, said the decision was a complicated one. He and Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO's entertainment division, had attended a meeting with Mr. Milch about his next show, "John From Cincinnati," about surfers living on the polluted border between California and Mexico. The meeting, in Mr. Albrecht's Los Angeles office — a secluded suite decorated with New York Yankees memorabilia and a "Sopranos" pinball machine — was dominated by Mr. Milch reading aloud from the pilot script for "John," which thrilled Mr. Albrecht and Ms. Strauss.

Eager to get it on the air, the executives wanted Mr. Milch (who has been known to rewrite while filming) to focus on the new project rather than on a fourth season of "Deadwood." "He's not a guy who has a lot of scripts available in advance," Mr. Albrecht said. "So we said, can we figure a way to do a truncated version of the last season, as we'd really like to prioritize your time."

Mr. Milch, the creator and executive producer of "Deadwood," recalled that his reaction to the decision was cordial, but very disappointed. "It seemed to me that some sort of partial order for the show would make it impossible to do anything but superimpose all sort of interpretations that would deprive it of its own emotion," he said, in typical Milch fashion. "The viewer would come to it with all sorts of second agendas, and I didn't want to do that."

So he declined the offer, and just like that "Deadwood" seemed destined to become a ghost town.

When he heard about it, Timothy Olyphant, who plays Seth Bullock, the brooding, occasionally lethal town sheriff, was at home in Los Angeles, at a house he had just purchased. "David called and said, 'I've got sad news, it doesn't look like the show is going to happen,' " he said. "And I said, 'Stop and come over, because I want you to see this place before I sell it.' "

The fans were a bit less wry. Some set up anti-HBO Web sites: hbonomo.com gathered more than 600 signatures of people who said they would cancel their HBO subscriptions if "Deadwood" died; savedeadwood.net placed an open letter to HBO in Variety on May 25, threatening to do the same thing. "HBO seems to be forgetting who it is that pays the bills around here," read a menacing message on that site. "Which leaves us with but one option to make our voices heard."

As angry e-mail messages streamed into HBO offices — and the end date for the actors' contracts approached — Mr. Albrecht and Mr. Milch searched for a compromise. Last weekend, Mr. Milch rushed to New York and proposed a final idea. By the end of the meeting they struck a deal: two two-hour final episodes to run next year. Last Sunday night, just after the deal was settled, Mr. Milch said he was "deeply gratified" that the show would return, at least for a farewell bow. "I've always known that the support for this show was not a mile wide," he said. "But it was a fathom deep."

DEADWOOD" was saved. But how did a show with almost universal critical support, a star creator and a fan base strong enough to force HBO's hand end up on the chopping block in the first place?

Based on the real events that surrounded a gold rush in Deadwood, S.D., in 1876, "Deadwood" combined down-and-dirty realism and the twisted dreamscape of Mr. Milch. A former heroin user, alcoholic and compulsive gambler, he imbued the show with all his past vices: early episodes of Season 3 feature a drunken street fight and an ill-advised interlude between two characters with a taste for narcotics.

More than anything, however, characters in "Deadwood" are addicted to words: big, looping passages of quasi-Elizabethan prose that immediately set the show apart from the usual western repertory of variations on the word "pardner." "He created a language," said Ian McShane, the English actor who won a Golden Globe for his performance as Al Swearengen, the coarse, brutal and often hilarious owner of the Gem, a brothel and bar. "Shakespeare might invert a sentence once or twice. David inverts it three or four times." The first line of the third season — "Fetchin' toward a bloody outcome, boss" — is both typical and, given the recent circumstances, a little prophetic.

Mr. Milch also added copious measures of profanity and sexuality, dropping dirty language and bare skin into almost every encounter. Viewers have devised a "Deadwood" drinking game: every time someone uses a certain expletive on the show, you drink a shot. No one goes home thirsty.

The show also won plaudits for its distinctive look, taking home five Emmys in 2005 for its design and cinematography, a grittily beautiful wash of dirt and despair.

All of which was real purdy, of course, but also real expensive. An episode of "Deadwood" costs about $4.5 million, Mr. Albrecht said, with a very large ensemble cast and expenses such as horses, wagons and livestock coordinators. On occasion Mr. Milch would take up to two weeks to shoot a single episode. "I think HBO understood from the first the way that I work," he said. "I'm not derelict, and I'm not profligate."

Still, there's little doubt that Mr. Milch — a Yale graduate and former fraternity brother of President Bush — had an unusual artistic approach. And an unusual conversational style, for that matter. A casual question about the plot of the third season can prompt a seminar about the symbolism of money, Rome (the empire, not the show) and the myths people create about themselves to justify acquisition of goods, all in one very, very long sentence.

Asked about the curlicue language of his show, his response is a little — but just a little — more succinct than his characters': "The characters are very fastidious about emotion. But there are many of them that have access to Victorian-slash-Elizabethan locutions, in so much as they read the early Victorians or Dickens. And they use it to express distance or alienation with themselves."

Mr. Milch, on the other hand, is almost chronically confessional, and views his work as a way to exorcise demons and exercise personal discipline. "If I'm not writing, I'm reporting to my parole officer," he said kiddingly. "Goethe said he'd never heard of a crime he couldn't commit. I'm certainly down with that idea."

In the writing room at Melody Ranch, Mr. Milch lies on the floor while dictating long passages of dialogue to waiting assistants. "The script never came in before a day or two before you shot," said Mr. McShane, who likened the experience to jumping out of a plane with only the promise of a parachute. "And then he'd add 10 or 12 lines the day of, and sheepishly say, 'Sorry about this.' "

Mr. Albrecht said HBO had no problems with the way Mr. Milch worked. "Quality takes time," he said. "The show was never squeezed into a schedule that would have cut into the quality." But the budget was an issue. "I wouldn't say it was a burden on HBO," Mr. Albrecht explained, "but if you look at a year, say 2007, and there's a set production fund and there's a set amount of scheduling time. And there's only so much you can fit in."

As the discussions began, Mr. Milch worried about his cast — "I tried to be a faithful steward to everyone involved," he said — but once he told them the status of the negotiations, word soon reached to the media.

Even after the trade papers had announced the demise of "Deadwood," Mr. Milch and HBO kept talking. On June 2, Mr. Albrecht, in New York, and Mr. Milch, in Los Angeles, spent an hour on the phone but hung up without a deal. That's when Mr. Milch got on the red-eye. He arrived with an unusual idea about how to end the show with dignity, but without a full season. At a table at the Regency Hotel in New York — fearful of eavesdroppers, he slipped the waiter some cash to keep other diners away — Mr. Milch pitched his idea, and Mr. Albrecht said yes.

MR. MILCH was pleased, but the plan had come at a cost. "All those transcontinental flights cut into your editing time," he said.

For Mr. Albrecht, meanwhile, the negotiations had the unfortunate effect of shifting public attention from the show's creative horizons (it's the new season of "Deadwood"!) to its financial limitations (it's the last season of "Deadwood"!). They also raised questions about HBO's primacy in the field of narrative drama, which it had long dominated. Popular shows like "Sex and the City" and "Six Feet Under" have ended, and their replacements haven't permeated popular culture in quite the same way. Some have been yanked altogether. (Remember "Carnivàle"?)

Mr. Albrecht strongly rejected the notion that HBO — which will also begin a new season of "Entourage" on Sunday night — might be seen as faltering. "We've still got 'Deadwood' this year and 'The Wire,' and in January, 'Rome' and the next season of 'Big Love,' and the final season of 'The Sopranos.' We feel very positive about the things we have."

Still, for HBO, the idea that it was making an artistic decision based on economics was obviously an uncomfortable one; Mr. Albrecht also said that he started to fear that the real victim would be "John From Cincinnati," because it would be "The Show They Canceled 'Deadwood' For." (For his part, Mr. Milch said, "It was never my understanding that I was offering to curtail in any fashion my connection with 'Deadwood' in order to work on 'John From Cincinnati.' ")

By striking the compromise, Mr. Albrecht said: "I not only felt like we were trying to do the right thing for 'Deadwood' and the new show, but we were doing what HBO does well, which is come up with creative solutions. It's possible that this turns out to be a plan that doesn't come to fruition, but at least we have one."

Mr. Milch, meanwhile, said he was excited about the creative possibilities of a new structure. Episodes of "Deadwood" tended to run the course of a day in the life of the camp; in the two two-hour finales he plans to touch on events in the history of the real Deadwood, including perhaps a fire and a flood.

"What we've come to, or how it was come to, is a different approach, an approach to the temporal canvas, which will permit, I believe, a separateness, and a different kind of imaginative life for the actors who participate," he said. "And under those circumstances, I was happy to go forward."

The fans, as usual, are more agitated. Visitors to savedeadwood.net, for example, said they were still holding out for a complete season. (They shouldn't hold their breath.)

Reached at home on Monday, Mr. Milch sounded tired of talking about the whole thing. But then, typically, he did, arguing that the entire idea of bringing closure to a series was egotistical, paraphrasing a William James idea: "The world does not begin or end with the expiration of any living thing. It just becomes an exercise in bitterness or self-congratulation." As for his final perspective on the town of Deadwood, he seemed bittersweet. "It all depends on how you crop the picture," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/arts/television/11mcki.html?pagewanted=print