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fredfa

07-23-06, 10:42 PM

(Note: These TVWeek blog items are posted with the most recent item posted first.)

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Howie Is a Big ‘Deal’

By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com in the “Critical Eye” TV Press Tour blog

“Deal or No Deal” host Howie Mandel had no desire to talk about his well-reported obsessive compulsive disorder with critics or on the air at his show’s press tour session Saturday. Mandel, for example is so germ-phobic he doesn’t shake hands with contestants, but instead bumps closed fists with them. “I do that with a professional therapist,” Mandel said of discussing his OCD. “I don’t need a national TV show.”

Viewers shouldn’t be judgmental of players on the show, which seems simple but is much more stressful when you’re staring down the chance to go home a millionaire, “Deal” executive producer Scott St. John said.

“When they are out there, their heads explode,” he said.

Mandel is not one to be risky with his own cash, he admitted, noting that despite working Las Vegas regularly, he has “never put a quarter in a [slot] machine.”

“I drive a hybrid,” he said.

But it’s not an act when Mandel expresses concern for contestants who look like they are about to make an expensive mistake on the show.

“I’m legitimately a nervous wreck,” he said. “I watch these people and I live vicariously through them.”

Lorne Michaels and Budget Cuts at ‘SNL’

Longtime “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels surprised critics at the “30 Rock” press tour session Saturday when he let slip that due to “massive budget cuts” impacting all of NBC, the longtime late-night comedy sketch show was going to have to make do with much less in terms of its own budget. “That makes some decisions simpler or clearer,” he said, noting that as part of the transition on the show, head writer and cast member Tina Fey was leaving “SNL” after nine years to work full time on “30 Rock.” A replacement for Fey as head writer has not been named.

He noted that transition has always been a part of the show’s history, but the comment about budget cuts had critics rushing for a post-session tour with Michaels.

“SNL” has been on so long that Michaels has been through the budget cutting process “three or four times” in the past.

When asked what percentage of a cut the show is suffering, Michaels would only say “a budget significantly less than last year.”

“It is never pleasant,” he added, noting that “SNL” would have a smaller cast next season, but keep the same episode order.

“I made the decision to stick with the 20 shows, and cut everything back,” he said.

No Emmy Love From Critics
A large proportion of the critics who spoke up at the Prime Time Emmy Awards press tour session Saturday afternoon had their collective panties in a bunch.

The group had major issues with this year’s nominee list, which ignored some past Emmy favorites for newcomers that critics didn’t consider up to snuff.

Critics are not the only ones who share concerns about the new nomination process for the Prime Time Emmys, but I won’t go into that here since I wrote about it extensively in our June 10 dead tree edition, which you can access online:

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=30163

TV Academy Chairman and CEO Dick Askin was on the panel, and addressed pretty much all the issues I collared him on in my previous story.

The non-repetitive bright spot in the panel was this year’s awards show host, Conan O’Brien, who responded to one critic who wanted to know why in certain Emmy nomination panels, judges only view one episode of a series, considering television shows play out over 22 episodes or so per season.

The critic forgot that nominees like O’Brien do a lot more that 22 hours of programming.

O’Brien wanted to know if judges in his categories should be required to watch “all 180 episodes I made throughout the year.” He suggested that they would have to be “sent to some sort of center or camp” to get the complete O’Brien season experience.

“Every day they watch 15 episodes of the show, and are fed injections of protein, like veal,” O’Brien imagined.

Another critic wondered if O’Brien could share some of the gags he has planned for the Aug. 27 ceremony. O’Brien kept that to himself, warning that telling a joke too early comes with consequences.

“Comedy, she’s a fickle lady,” O’Brien said wistfully.

Tackling ‘Friday Night Lights’

The extensive on-field football shots in the NBC drama pilot “Friday Night Lights” were the real thing from the lead actors, up until the moment there were supposed to get tackled, series regular Zack Gilford said at the show’s press tour session Saturday afternoon.

“We’re running every play from the snap basically until the tackle occurs,” Gilford said.

One of the jobs for the pilot’s second assistant director was assessing the four lead actors level of athletic talent, and shooting scenes for them accordingly, explained co-star Scott Porter.

The show is not only going to be about boys and their balls, said Connie Britton, who was also in the feature film of the same name.

Britton felt the female story lines weren’t given their due in the film, but executive producer Peter Berg graphically promised her the small screen version would also profile the ladies.

“Peter drew blood and swore we would do it on the TV show,” Britton said. After the session, I did a sit-down interview with Berg about the series. Look for it in the print edition of TelevisionWeek the week of July 31.

Believing in ‘The One’

David Goldberg, the president of production company Endemol USA, has faith in his ABC reality series “The One: Making of a Music Star.” He’s going to need a lot of it , considering the show’s debut ratings Tuesday, which gave the network what several media outlets estimated was ABC’s worst premiere in history.

After his Saturday morning press tour session on the Endemol gamer “Deal or No Deal” for NBC, Goldberg said the “One” ratings are similar to the drubbing the show took when the British version premiered.

“The first show was pretty much a disaster and they were able to build it, almost triple the ratigns,” he said. “Now they are in their fourth season. I’m not saying that’s going to happen [in the U.S], but we’re trying to learn from the mistakes they made and try to fix that.”

Since the show is currently in production and incorporates live elements, Endemol “didn’t have the liberty of shooting for six monts and having all this great promotion,” he said. For on-air promos, ABC sued footage o the Spanish version of “The One,” which made it impossible for the show to introduce characters.

A “George Lopez” as a lead-in didn’t help either. If “One” flames out, don’t feel too badly for Goldberg.

There are three Endemol game shows about to go into production for the broadcast networks. And besides a Spanish-language version of “Deal” planned for NBC Universal-owned Telemundo this fall, Goldberg is looking for a 2007 launch for another version of “Deal” in first-run syndication.

Behind the Scenes of MSNBC with Dan

Dan Abrams is fine with leaving behind hosting the MSNBC show “The Abrams Report” to instead run the struggling cable news channel. I chatted with Abrams at the Keith Olberman breakfast Saturday morning at press tour to see how he’s been faring in his new gig as network chief.

“If I was really going to miss it I wouldn’t have done this,” he said of jumping into the executive ranks.

“I haven’t reached a point where I’m saying, ‘Oh my goodness, what did I do?’ So far, so good, although it was a sacrifice I knew was coming.”

The escalating crisis in the Middle East is putting pressure on Abrams’s schedule change to documentaries at 10 p.m. (ET) and 11 p.m., but Abrams said MSNBC is sticking to its new programming and covering the day’s news.

“We also said when there’s big news, we were goign to have a crash team ready to go, that that team has been busy at work, crashign, and allowing us to cover this story with some tape at night,” he said. “We’re doing it a little bit differently, trying to do it in the documentary-type mold, but also recognizing this is an enormous story of enormous importance.”

Sweating with the Kids from ‘The Office’

It seems hard to believe, but a chance encounter on the Ritz lawn in hundred-plus degree heat can be the highlight of the press tour. That’s what I realized Saturday night at NBC’s all-star party, after I had spent a few mintues trying to cool off by rolling a beer bottle across my forehead.

“Look, it’s Phyllis!” he squealed. Sitting at a table was indeed Phyllis Smith, who plays customer sales rep Phyllis, one of the brilliant supporting case members of NBC’s “The Office.” Plus, she was sitting with Leslie David Baker, who plays paper salesman Stanley.

We basically forced ourselves on the gracious pair, who gave us paper to wipe the sweat off our brows. Smith and Baker have been enjoying their “Office” rides and the attention that comes with it.

“I had a screamer in the Ralph’s the other day,” Baker said. “Oh, I had your screamer too,” Smith said noting that the same fan had approached her and told Smith she had also met Baker.

Getting the feel of working a crappy office job wasn’t hard for either actor. Native Chicagoan Baker worked a number of places in cluding a few gigs with psychiatric patients.

Smith, who is originally from St. Louis, had to deal with similar personalities in her last job — she worked in a casting office. Viewers feel they really know the characters, both actors said.

Baker noted that fans come up to him and regularly tell him they know what his character is thinking in the frequent reaction shots the show uses to play up the comedy.

“They don’t know what I’m thinking,” Baker said. “Most of the time I’m just tired because of the 5 a.m. call.”

Greg Behrendt, and what men do instead of reading self-help books

Sony Pictures TV had a good turnout for its Greg Behrendt breakfast early Sunday morning, luring about 50 critics out of their beds for pancakes, bagels and lox.

One critic was tragically dressed in a cut up version of her “free to be critical” CW t-shirt, which made for an unfortunate “Flashdance” look that was tied together with her denim short shorts. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m kind of over many of my TCA colleagues.

Anyway, back to Greg—who was pretty funny and engaging considering the hour and rising heat. As the promo clip told us, if Oprah is the queen of syndicated talk, Dr. Phil is your dad and Ellen is your sister, then Greg is your cool brother, ready to tell you like it is.

Proving that life doesn’t work out the way you always expect, Behrendt said he “came to L.A. in 1993 to be a rock star, and now I’m a contributor to Cosmo.”

Author, stand-up and former “Sex and the City” consultant, said he plans to be a “friend,” “facilitator,” and a “listener” on his upcoming daytime talk show, which he said will go beyond his “He’s just not that into you” moniker.

There were a few female critics publicly working through some of their men issues when they asked questions, which excited Behrendt but unsettled some of the rest of us.

Noting that he has been dumped plenty of times, Behrendt—who has been in recovery for 10 years—said there was a clear reason why he doesn’t write something similar targeted at the guys.

“Men don’t buy books,” he said. “They get drunk, stand on their lawn, and then the cops come.”

http://blogs.tvweek.com/?p=121

Inundated

07-23-06, 10:55 PM

“It is never pleasant,” he added, noting that “SNL” would have a smaller cast next season, but keep the same episode order.

So help me, if he lets Kristen Wiig go, there'll be hell to pay from this corner.

:D

fredfa

07-23-06, 11:06 PM

Inundated: re your earlier point about the blogs:
I am all in favor of having the reporters blog some personal stuff that they found interesting. (Even though so many of them seem to spend their time on personal cattiness or star-gazing that I find a little creepy, to be honest. One guy wrote about how he "scored a touchdown in the Rose Bowl". I kid you not.)

But if there could be a central reporter who would blog the various sessions on a pool basis to many of the newspapers, that would free up the reporters to do their city-specific work.

It also would probably give the readers of the blog much faster and more complete information on all the sessions.

Anyhow, it is just a thought.

fredfa

07-23-06, 11:15 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Hasselhoff : music :: Soccer : sports

By Victor Balta Everett WA Heraldl TV reporter July 23, 2006

The World Cup has come and gone. And Americans have largely forgotten all about soccer.

The same thing happens pretty much every time David Hasselhoff releases an album. We just don't seem to get it here, but the folks in Germany go nuts.

"The Hoff" has had six platinum-selling albums since 1989, when he released "Looking for Freedom," which became something of an anthem as the Berlin Wall came down. But his popularity has translated to the States about as successfully as ... well, something that doesn't translate well.

But he's not feeling sorry for himself. He's laughing all the way to the Swiss Bank.

"I'm a big punching bag," he said Friday, while he was in town discussing NBC's "America's Got Talent," on which he's a judge. "I just kind of go with the flow. I mean, you know, it's -- my success has brought me so much."

He listed Broadway as his greatest achievement, even beyond being a pop singer.

But he was just offered a spot opening the "European Music Awards," which he said reaches 500 million people, and his latest single, "Jump in My Car," is pushing the Top 10 in London.

"And if it breaks over here, fine," he said. "If it's not, I love London. I love Europe. I love the world. It's fun, you know. I'm more interested right now in developing my own musical. I'm working on 'David Hasselhoff, the Musical.' That kind of puts it all together in perspective."

It certainly does.

And he wasn't joking.

"No actually, I was offered to go on tour in Australia starting last December with just a concert and they came up with an idea of doing ..." Yep. A musical. "The answer is yes."

'30 Rock' is a solid bet

Enough with the comparisons between NBC's new shows "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "30 Rock."

Sure, they're both set behind the scenes of a "Saturday Night Live"-like sketch comedy show. But that's where the similiarities end. These two have as much in common as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scrubs," both awesome shows that are set in hospitals and are otherwise nothing alike.

So it's a little odd that "Studio 60" and "30 Rock" are on the same network, but even Lorne Michaels admitted Saturday that they're easy to tell apart.

"They are the hour show, and they have a '60' in (the title), and we're the half-hour show, and we have '30' in it," said Michaels, who serves as an executive producer on "30 Rock." "So I think people will be able to clearly distinguish which is which."

Tina Fey, creator and executive producer and star of "30 Rock" is giving up her place at "SNL," where she worked for nine years and has served as head writer. She's teaming with former "SNL" stars Tracy Morgan and Rachel Dratch on the new show, and frequent "SNL" host Alec Baldwin, who will appear in every episode of "30 Rock."

Morgan plays a comedian who's a little off kilter, or just plain nuts. A quick flashback scene of a news report shows his character, Tracy Jordan, in the middle of a busy street, in his briefs, waving around a "Star Wars"-like light saber. And there are several references suggesting his character is based on comedian Martin Lawrence, who has also lost it in public now and then.

Morgan was asked Saturday if he knows Lawrence personally.

"No," he said. "But I know my Uncle Rick.

"He did it first. The character that I'm playing is not really based -- I mean Martin didn't corner the market on meltdowns. The only thing (is), my Uncle Rick, he didn't have no drawers on at all. So he was really the Evel Knievel of dudes like that."

http://www.heraldnet.com/blog/blog.cfm?blogid=7

fredfa

07-23-06, 11:24 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Checking into Grey’s Anatomy

By Bill Brioux Toronto Sun

PASADENA, Calif. — The best part about going to a fake hospital is you don’t have to be sick.

TV critics were shuttled Thursday to the set of Grey’s Anatomy which, even though it is set in Seattle, is shot in Hollywood at the storied Prospect Studios.

Tucked into a fairly residential part of Los Angeles, the mid-sized studio lot is home to several shows including The Shield, shot on a soundstage bearing a plaque marking it as the second home of American Bandstand. Dick Clark’s long-running dance series originated in Philadelphia in the mid-’50s but moved out to Hollywood, according to the plaque, on Feb. 8, 1964 — the day before The Beatles rendered Bandstand obsolete on The Ed Sullivan Show.

On past press tours, critics have been taken to the sets of other medical shows, including House and ER. Of the three, Grey’s Anatomy’s Seattle Grace Hospital set is the most like a real hospital, right down to the bad art in the waiting room and the unmistakable hospital smell in the hallways.

The patient rooms, scrub-up areas and even the O.R. are about the size they would be in a real medical centre, with no extra room built in for cameras or lighting equipment. Carts filled with gauses, pills and surgical masks are scattered right where you’d expect to find them. The walls are painted in an acru egg shell hue, dull and greenish.

Executive producer Shondra Rhimes greeted critics and, as usual, was tight-lipped about future episodes. She did spill that the next season would pick up “hours” after last year’s chaotic cliffhanger, and that Diahann Carroll would be a guest next season.

Grey’s Anatomy is being shifted from Sundays to Thursdays next season to go head-to-head with CBS’ powerhouse CSI.

“Is CSI the underdog?” she was asked (CBS programming boss Nina Tassler tried to sell that to critics a few days earlier). “I love that line,” Rhimes said. “We’re going to take our shot at Thursday night.”

Waifish Ellen Pompeo (Meredith) led a group of reporters through the O.R., pointing out the icky fake cadaver on the operating table. She talked about a recent trip to Italy to promote the show, which is taking off in Europe. Pompeo described the reception the cast got there as “rock-star amazing. We were really overwhelmed.”

Asked about a rumour that Isaiah Washington (Preston Burke) was leaving the show, Pompeo wailed, “Noooo!” and consulted girlfriend-like with Ottawa-raised actress Sandra Oh (Christine Yang), who was off in her own press scrum a few feet to the left.

“I have no idea,” said Oh, whose character is romantically linked to Washington’s.

“I’ll have to give you a few pointers about how to move on,” kidded Pompeo.

Chandra Wilson (Grey’s no-nonsense instructor Miranda Bailey) recalled shooting the playful promo CTV used at their network upfront in June. It featured Canadian programming executives Ivan Fecan and Susanne Boyce in the O.R., skewered with a pole through their middles (reflecting a darkly comedic Grey’s episode). “It was completely goofy,” Wilson said. “Susanne and Ivan were great sports.”

This was just the second day back for the cast, which is heading into a third season. Sometimes, when a show is charging into hit status, actors pick this year to hold out for more money. But nobody was trying to hold up the show yet, said Patrick Dempsey, who plays “McDreamy” doc Derek Shepherd.

Dempsey says the formidable challenge of going up against C.S.I. on Thursday nights has kept the cast in check. Once that challenge is met, Dempsey expects “everyone will be treated well” — meaning back up the Brinks truck, ABC.

The 40-year-old actor says that, after a decade-long career drought, it was a bit nuts seeing himself plastered on dozens of magazine covers in the last year. He’s happy to draw attention to the show and grateful for any personal opportunities but noted that he had gone from being well known to a “passed over has-been” to famous again in less than two years.

He doesn’t have an “ego room” full of trophies at home, and as for one critic’s suggestion that he hold up a cover to his wife and say, “Do you know who I am?” he replied, “She says, ‘Yeah, I know it’s not that guy.’ ”

Dempsey says everyone has an opinion on his character’s adulterous ways. He’s constantly being heckled at airports and on the street.

He hopes the male characters on the series bond a little more next season, and they should stop “allowing themselves to be treated so poorly.” He summed it up this way: “They shouldn’t be castrated,” adding, “I’m keeping my balls and I’m happy.”

http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainment/Columnists/Brioux_Bill/2006/07/22/pf-1696808.html

fredfa

07-23-06, 11:27 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Death March With Cocktails

The Tour De Cocktails: Pyrannes
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog “The Bastard Machine”

This is the day for separation from the pack, when the grueling intake of lies and deceit simply devastates those unable to drink and hobnob in a varsity manner. Add heat to the Death March and it's merely a scene of chaos as the veterans and the young gamers head for a breakaway. All the JV participants are littered on the roadside. Martini glasses, wine corks, beer caps and stray bottles of Diet Coke line the Champs Elysess as the end is in sight.

Today was the second TCA Day, aka: "Pool Day 2." But it's not what you think. After a fine, heat-drenched stars party from NBC on Saturday night, early Sunday was merely a time to get in some water and throw it back to the young pool servants before moving on. Because if ever there was a day that separated the weak from the willing, TCA Day 2 is it. For starters, we have a group meeting and go over formal business which normally sucks the life out of us. But we got through it in record time. At 4 p.m., there was a cocktail party with members of the Writers Guild of America, followed by perhaps the best event on this tour, the TCA Awards (an untelivised, almost always star-studded and well-attended bash where we give out awards to the best of all television. Or as I like to think of it, Righting the Emmy Wrongs). Anyway, it's an award show with an hour of pre-cocktails and food, followed by post-show cocktails and dessert. (I'll post the winners and who was in attendance later tonight).

In turn, this event is followed by Fox's check-in party. Or, if you're counting, a post-post-post party. Not many networks have a check in party, but this is Fox and they like to have a good time. So sometime around 10:30 or 11 p.m., people will head into a room stocked with more food, dessert and - you can see this coming like a neon tanker truck on a jam-packed freeway - more cocktails.

If you are following the narrative flow, you will see a trend emerging.

Then Monday morning sessions at 9 a.m. Four straight days follow - two for Fox, two for PBS. This is the part of the Death March where you see people wearing dirty shirts or, worse, some cable freebie they were given 12 or so days ago. They speak in incomplete sentences. Their eyes are dead. And worse, they still need to sit through Fox and PBS.

Me? Are you kidding? I've got cigars in my pocket and bitterness on my brain. You can't stop me. You can only hope to contain me.

I thank all five people who remember that from "SportsCenter." Keith Olbermann was at the party last night. If you're going to sweat like a pig in Pasadena, you should try it with Olbermann. Very rewarding. Onto the awards...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24

fredfa

07-23-06, 11:30 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Heat wave

By Alan Sepinwall of the Newark Star-Ledger in the “All TV In Hollywood” blog

Sorry if the blog's been a little slow over the weekend, but the heat is sucking my will to live. I know it's almost as bad back in Jersey, but there was a point yesterday where the mercury out here rose to 111 degrees. They said it was the hottest day in Pasadena since the 19th century. But that didn't stop NBC from throwing their non-party party, mostly as planned.

Not wanting to have Jeffrey Tambor die of heat prostration, NBC pushed the start of the party back an hour, in the hope that the later it got, the cooler it would be. (Not exactly how it turned out; I'm pretty sure I want to burn the clothes I wore last night rather than ever wear them again.) But since the decision was made pretty late in the day, all of the actors arrived at the hotel for the original time, which was a plus for us.

Before any actors can enter the non-party party, they first have to walk a red carpet for the paparazzi and representatives of E!, "Entertainment Tonight" and all those other shows that need 10-second soundbytes of John Stamos saying, "I'm going to be on 'ER' this year" to fill out their programming day.

So ordinarily, the first half hour or so of any TCA party is the time to grab a bite to eat, because no one worth interviewing will actually have gotten past the red carpet army yet. But last night, the red carpet (which was moved inside the hotel, again no doubt to preserve Jeffrey Tambor, not to mention Linda Cardellini's makeup) took place as originally scheduled, so by the time the party officially started, most of "the talent," as they're called, were ready to go.

Not all of them stayed very long, however. Aaron Sorkin came armed with his pitbull personal publicist, who yanked him away after about a half-hour of relatively benign questions. (Besides, at this point, is there any way Aaron can embarrass himself further in public? We kind of know all there is to know.)

On the plus side, the two guys from "Nobody's Watching" arrived, in character and in tuxedos (talk about troupers), to film some guerilla video for some webisodes.

Fortunately, even "Nobody's Watching" creator Bill Lawrence wasn't such a monster as to force his actors to wear those woolen penguin suits all night.

Tonight is the TCA Awards, which is often the most memorable night of the tour. More on that Monday.

http://www.nj.com/weblogs/tv/index.ssf?/mtlogs/njo_alan/archives/2006_07.html#164252

fredfa

07-23-06, 11:36 PM

Tonight the television Critics Association is handing out its awards for the last TV season.

For a little perspective, here are last year's winners of the Television Critics Association awards:

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: “Desperate Housewives” (ABC)

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: “Lost” (ABC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: “Lost” (ABC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: “Arrested Development” (Fox)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: “Frontline” (PBS)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING: “Degrassi: The Next Generation” (The N)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES & SPECIALS: “The Office Special” (BBC America)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Jon Stewart, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Hugh Laurie, “House” (Fox)

HERITAGE AWARD: “Nightline” (ABC)

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Bob Newhart

(Courtesy Television Critics Association)

fredfa

07-23-06, 11:43 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
2006 TCA Awards

(Courtesy zap2it.com)

Here's the full list of winners:

Program of the Year: "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)

Outstanding New Program: "My Name Is Earl" (NBC)

Outstanding Achievement in Drama: "Lost" (ABC)

Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: "The Office" (NBC)

Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: "Frontline" (PBS)

Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming: "High School Musical" (Disney Channel)

Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: "American Masters: Bob Dylan -- No Direction Home" (PBS)

Individual Acheivement in Comedy: Steve Carell, "The Office" (NBC)

Individual Acheivement in Drama: Hugh Laurie, "House" (FOX)

Heritage Award: "The West Wing" (NBC)

Career Achievement: Carol Burnett

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-tcaawardwinners,0,974046.story?track=rss

fredfa

07-23-06, 11:48 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
The 2006 Television Critics Awards

(With nominees)
(Winners were announced Sunday night, July 23, 2006)

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
WINNER: "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
"Lost" (ABC)
"The Office" (NBC)
"The Sopranos" (HBO)
"24" (Fox)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
WINNER: "The Office" (NBC)
"The Daily Show" (Comedy Central)
"Everybody Hates Chris" (UPN)
"My Name is Earl" (NBC)
"Scrubs" (NBC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
WINNER: "Lost" (ABC)
"Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
"House" (Fox)
"The Sopranos" (HBO)
"24" (Fox)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT MOVIES, MINI-SERIES AND SPECIALS
WINNER: "American Masters: Bob Dylan: No Direction Home" (PBS)
"Elizabeth I" (HBO)
"Masterpiece Theatre: Bleak House" (PBS)
"Sleeper Cell" (Showtime)
"Viva Blackpool" (BBC America)

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
WINNER: "My Name Is Earl" (NBC)
"Big Love" (HBO)
"The Colbert Report" (Comedy Central)
"Everybody Hates Chris" (UPN)
"Prison Break" (Fox)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
WINNER: Steve Carell ("The Office")
Stephen Colbert ("The Colbert Report")
Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls")
Jason Lee ("My Name Is Earl")
Jon Stewart (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart")

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
WINNER: Hugh Laurie ("House")
Alan Alda ("West Wing")
James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos")
Kiefer Sutherland ("24")
Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer")

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING
WINNER: "High School Musical" (The Disney Channel)
"Dora the Explorer" (Nickelodeon)
"Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" (Cartoon Network)
"Nick News" (Nickelodeon)
"Sesame Street" (PBS)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION
WINNER: "Frontline" (PBS)
"American Masters: Newhart" (PBS)
"Broadway: The Golden Age" (PBS)
"Frontline: Country Boys" (PBS)
"60 Minutes" (CBS)

HERITAGE AWARD
WINNER: "The West Wing" (NBC)
"Hallmark Hall of Fame" (CBS)
"Will & Grace" (NBC)

CAREER ACHIVEMENT
WINNER: Carol Burnett

fredfa

07-23-06, 11:57 PM

fredfa

07-24-06, 12:03 AM

Cable TV Notebook
Cable Stokes Summer

By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable 7/23/2006

With no breakout hits on broadcast this summer, cable networks have proved again that they can steal the spotlight in the hot months with returning and new original series alike. Below is a report card on some of the summer’s cable series.

Hits

The Closer

• In its second season, the TNT series continues to soar. Through six episodes, it has averaged 6.33 million total viewers, ranking as ad-supported cable’s top original scripted series this year. It’s solid in adults 25-54 with 2.63 million. The network’s freshman drama Saved is also posting good numbers: 3.43 million total viewers over six episodes (1.67 million in 25-54).

Monk and Psych:

• USA packs a one-two punch on Friday nights with its quirky dramas. In its fifth season, Monk has averaged 4.99 million viewers over two episodes and is strong in adults 25-54, with
2.23 million. Newcomer Psych averaged 5.52 million total viewers and has done well with adults 18-49, with 2.25 million, and 25-54, with 2.6 million.

Eureka

• Sci Fi’s two-hour premiere of the show was the network’s highest-rated series telecast ever, with 4.05 million total viewers.

Project Runway

• In its third season, Bravo’s designer-focused reality series is strong, averaging 2.58 million total viewers. Episode two on July 19 was the most-viewed cable program of the day in adults 18-49, with 1.8 million viewers.

Kyle XY

• Over four episodes, ABC Family’s original sci-fi series has averaged 1.97 million total viewers, its highest-rated original series ever. It’s averaged 368,000 viewers in its target demo, viewers 12-17, second only in the time period to sister network Disney Channel.

The Hills

• MTV’s Laguna Beach spinoff has proved that viewers can’t get enough of pretty SoCal teens and blurred boundaries between scripted and reality. Since its debut, it has averaged 2.4 million total viewers, a huge 2 million of them concentrated in MTV’s 12-34 sweet spot.

Misses

Brotherhood

• Showtime’s drama premiered July 9 to 694,000 total viewers. Then, exploiting corporate synergy, CBS aired the episode to 3.4 million viewers. Despite the cross-promotion, the second episode’s premiere on Showtime got only 158,000 total viewers.

Lucky Louie

• HBO’s risk on a multicamera scripted comedy hasn’t yielded great returns. Through six episodes, it has averaged just 1.41 million total viewers, failing to hold on to most of its Entourage lead-in.

Blade

• Spike’s first scripted action drama premiered June 28 to a decent 2.5 million viewers but lost more than half of them by the fourth episode, which averaged 1.07 million. It also fell off by about half in Spike’s target demos to 428,000 men 18-34 and 781,000 men 18-49.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6355527.html?title=Article&spacedesc=news

Xesdeeni

07-24-06, 12:23 AM

TV Notebook
NBC to revisit Tubbs and Crockett in original 'Miami Vice' pilot The most interesting thing about this, since I've never been a fan of the show, was that it was shown in High Definition! On NBC!

Xesdeeni

fredfa

07-24-06, 12:49 AM

And just a few days before the Universal movie of "Miami Vice" opens in theaters nationwide.

What a coincidence! :)

fredfa

07-24-06, 01:46 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
2006 TCA Awards

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Today was a Television Critics Association day, including our summer business meeting and, tonight, the presentation of our annual awards. (I say ''our'' because I'm a member.) It was a nice ceremony, with lots of people turning out, and with some lovely acceptance speeches. And it was a good situation just to talk with people I like from shows I admire. Here's the winner list, with bits from the speeches, in the order they were given.

Individual achievement in drama, to Hugh Laurie of ''House.''

Laurie: ''I never believed for one moment that my respect and admiration for television critics could grow ever greater. It has. This is partly because I'm not from these parts. I am from England, as you can probably tell, from the fact that I've just told you. ... The relationship between artist and critic (in England) is very different. Over there, the artist is, if you like, the mouse. And the critic is the vicious sociopath who shatters dreams. It strikes me as a very different setup here and for that, I and everyone else on the show ''House'' is extremely grateful....

''As for this award, a couple of weeks ago I had the good fortune to attend the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis, won, as usual, by Michael Schumacher ... He has been world racing champion, Formula One, for the last seven years. But even his most ardent admirers would have to admit that it's got something to do with the fact that he has the fastest car. Elizabeth Taylor could probably get a podium place. ... People compete with unequal equipment. If, for example, it's a running race and Michael Schumacher began the race with running spikes and the man next to him had lace-up Oxfords, and the man next to him was running in stilettos and the man on the outside lane was wearing a pair of West Highland Terriers. ...

But so it is with the business of acting. ... I feel very much in the position of the man who has got a very, very fast car. ... I am, every day that I go to work, deeply sensible of the honor I have to sit at the wheel and drive this wonderful character called House.

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

fredfa

07-24-06, 01:50 AM

(And now back to the screaming and angst over those "other" TV awards......)
TV Notebook
Emmy Ranting and Raving

Awards officials feel the heat from a variety of sources on their voting rules "fix."
By Greg Braxton Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 24, 2006
(Times staff writers Scott Collins, Maria Elena Fernandez, Meg James and Lynn Smith, contributed to this report.)

One Emmy voter calls it a "blunder" and yearns for a chance to do the whole thing over. Another expresses "dismay" at a ratings system that ranks "excellent" above "superior." The disgruntled entertainment president of one network fumes, "It's a problem."

And even one of the nominees calls it "freakazoid."

Yes, after several years in which the biggest issue was the usual-suspects nature of the nominees, the Emmys finally have a red-hot controversy going.

And no one's feeling the heat more than Dick Askin, the chairman and chief executive of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, who over the weekend saw a barely air-conditioned ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena turn into a battleground — with him on one side and an army of unhappy and frustrated television critics on the other.

To outsiders, the issue — a seemingly arcane rule change designed to improve the Emmy chances of oft-overlooked shows such as the WB's "Gilmore Girls" — might appear to be just another tempest in a Hollywood awards-show teapot. (Remember the howls over Oscar screeners a couple of seasons back?) But for some fans, critics, television executives and members of the creative community, it's nothing short of butterfly ballots in Florida.

And it's even possible that the rhetorical slugfest will turn into a ratings disappointment when the show airs; some insiders predict that because many fan favorites were passed over in the new nomination process, the ceremony could take a major viewership hit when it is broadcast Aug. 27 on NBC.

At least one network is dead set on payback: ABC, which is smarting that many of its most popular shows were overlooked in the marquee categories, announced late Friday that it would broadcast the blockbuster film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" to go head to head with the Emmys.

When asked about ABC's decision and what it could mean for the Emmys audience and NBC's ratings, Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC Universal Television Group, said: "It's more formidable competition, and it's unfortunate."

ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson has been one of the most vocal critics of the new Emmy procedures, telling reporters last week that the lack of major nominations for "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" — both big winners last year — proved that the system this year was flawed.

But others, including NBC's "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf, have defended the academy, calling McPherson's claims misguided. And even one blue-ribbon panelist critical of the new rules said the networks' shortfall could be attributed to producers submitting confusing or subpar episodes for consideration, not the academy.

The roughly 13,000 members of the academy simply do not have time to watch every single show, so selecting the nominees has always been a tricky proposition, and the system has been tinkered with over the years.

Most recently, members voted and ranked candidates from their peer groups, and the top five vote-getters made the ballot. But there were persistent questions, particularly when the same shows seemed to show up year after year. Were staid academy members voting only for their tried-and-true favorites?

So this year, the academy tried something different in the best comedy, drama, actor/actress and variety, music or comedy series categories. The voting members narrowed their selections down to 10 candidates in the variety, drama and comedy programs category, and to 15 in the performance categories (outstanding lead actor in a comedy, outstanding guest actress in a drama etc.) Then, a smaller group of panelists watched a submitted sample of a candidates' work and helped winnow the list down to the names and series that appear on the ballots.

The academy hoped that this approach would help balance out members who shun new shows as well as raise the profile of oft-neglected shows. Instead, critics said, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" lost out, as did HBO's "Entourage" and "Big Love," along with niche favorites such as "Gilmore Girls" and FX's "The Shield" and Sci-Fi's "Battlestar Galactica."

Those involved in the nomination process were asked to keep details confidential, so the four panelists and one former member of the academy interviewed by The Times spoke on the condition of anonymity. One panelist said: "There were great shows and great people who didn't get recognized. I wish there was a way we could pull it all back and start over. I think they've made a blunder this year and could figure out a way to make it work next year."

Echoed another veteran member, a mid-rank studio executive who served on two of the blue-ribbon panels last month: "It felt like pilot testing" — in which marketers ask sample audiences for general opinions of new shows — and not a process by which the industry tries to recognize the talent within its ranks.

The academy invited members to volunteer in May. Then, on June 24 and 25, committees of varying sizes up to 100 gathered at academy headquarters to view episodes submitted by the networks and cable channels. Some panels evaluated a selection of finalists in the comedy and dramatic categories; separate groups watched the dramatic and comedic acting submissions. The screenings were held in morning and afternoon sessions, and the panels were broken up into smaller units so the committees did not know who all the finalists were.

A member of one drama committee said that in a morning session, he and his colleagues watched single episodes of HBO's "Big Love," ABC's "Boston Legal" and FX's "Rescue Me." Immediately after each episode was shown, committee members were given a piece of paper that asked them to rate the episode with an "A" (excellent), "B" (superior) or "C" (fair).

Some voters said they asked for clarification — since the middle rating, "superior," seemed to be a higher ranking than "excellent." "I was dismayed by what I thought was the confusion in the adjectives," one voter said. "If you think the very best program is being given a secondary adjective, it didn't make sense to me."

But panel members said they had bigger problems with the requirement that they grade individual episodes immediately after they had been viewed, and groused that they would have preferred to watch all the submissions first and then rank them. Panelists were also not allowed to reconsider their ballots, even if they felt the second or third performance outshone the previous one.

"We had to choose, even if we didn't know what was coming next," said one panelist. "There was no wiggle room, and we couldn't change our vote." Added another: "I would have preferred to vote on the three, rather than individually. It would have been a more accurate vote had we had the chance to see all three shows and compare them in quality."

But John Leverence, academy senior vice president, said of the process: "The intent was to get an immediate reaction to the episode, and not pit one episode against the other. We didn't want comparisons, we wanted a completely independent opinion."

Some panelists questioned whether the voting was skewed against edgier fare. One said, "The age of my panel was mostly over 40, and there might have been a tendency to vote conservatively. Work that's a little bit out there may not fare as well." Another panelist disagreed, saying she thought the panels had a good cross-section of academy members.

Despite the controversy, Leverence dubbed the new rules a qualified success: "The intent of the hybrid system to screen the top 15 in the performance categories was to bring into the candidacy fold individuals who would have been at the periphery of that fold. Those people were very well represented among the 15 candidates."

Wolf, the "Law & Order" creator, agreed. "It's a much better method for opening up the process, which has a tendency to become sequentially a closed process," Wolf said Friday. "The fact that Chris finally got recognized is proof in the pudding," he said referring to Christopher Meloni, who received a nomination for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

But even on the morning the nominations were announced, many of those who made the cut were as confused as the rest of the industry is now.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (best actress nominee for CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine"), who co-hosted the announcements, called the whole thing "freakazoid." Howard Gordon, executive producer of Fox's "24," said that morning that he'd tried to follow the new voting process but found it confusing. "I don't really know what effect it had, but it seems to work to our benefit so I'm not complaining." "24" received 12 nominations, more than any other TV series this year.

CBS' "Two and a Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre said that he understood there were panels watching the episodes but that he had no idea beyond that how it worked. "I don't care how they did it," he added. "I'm thrilled. You try to pretend this doesn't matter but it does." (The sitcom earned nods in several top categories, including best comedy.)

At least one of the panelists said it could be the individually submitted episodes that were the problem. The "Lost" episode "was excellent if you knew what was going on, but if voters were unfamiliar with 'Lost,' they were lost. What McPherson said is just arrogant."

And a mid-level network executive who also participated on the panels overseeing best actor and best actress said she sees the value in trying something different — but added that she does not think it worked.

"I was as surprised as a lot of people were for some omissions that seem like they were pretty obvious omissions," she said. "But I applaud them for wanting to be able to have some people considered that wouldn't be the normal go-to considerations. The intent was good."

The furor over blue-ribbon panels is not new, noted a former top academy official.

Years ago, committees would hole up at the Beverly Hilton Hotel over a weekend and select the winners from among the finalists. That system was abandoned around 2000 because the panels tended to be largely comprised of older or unemployed members. The rules were changed so that members could receive tapes at home and vote on their favorites.

"Now," griped the former academy official, "the process that didn't work for the winners has been adopted for the nominees."

In Pasadena on Saturday, Askin took exception to that characterization. "There were many, many executives from the studios and also from the networks that were on the blue-ribbon panels," he said.

Looking on the bright side, the show's executive producer, Ken Ehrlich, told the press gathering, "I don't want to say any controversy is good, but ... if this engenders a little more interest in the show itself, I think whatever it is, it's going to wind up being positive."

Conan O'Brien, the award show's host, who was also on hand Saturday, quipped to critics: "We're planning more controversies between now and August, some stuff that's just going to blow your socks off."

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/emmys/env-et-emmys24jul24,0,2491838,print.story?coll=env-home-headlines

fredfa

07-24-06, 02:03 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
PROUD AS A PEACOCK: NBC LEADS IN TCA AWARDS
(T C A News Release) Sunday, July 23, 2006

JULY 23, 2006, LOS ANGELES – Members of the Television Critics Association bestowed four TCA Awards on NBC tonight, including Outstanding New Program of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, Individual Achievement in Comedy and The Heritage Award.

In a ceremony introduced by Mary Lynn Rajskub from Fox’s hit series “24,” NBC was the top trophy earner. ABC and PBS came away with two awards per network; Fox and Disney Channel received one award each.

NBC newcomer “My Name is Earl” won Outstanding New Program and sophomore series “The Office” was awarded Outstanding Achievement in Comedy. The ABC series “Lost” was honored for Outstanding Achievement in Drama for the second year in a row, and ABC’s hot doctors led “Grey’s Anatomy” to a trophy for Program of the Year. In the Individual Achievement Categories, Hugh Laurie (“House”) won for drama for the second consecutive year, and Steve Carell (“The Office”) won for comedy.

PBS’s “Frontline” received its eighth (TCA) honor in the category of Outstanding Achievement in News & Information.

NBC’s “The West Wing” received the Heritage Award, which recognizes a long-standing program that has had a lasting cultural or social impact. Carol Burnett received TCA’s 2006 coveted award for Career Achievement.

Other winners included PBS’s “American Masters: Bob Dylan -- No Direction Home” (Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Mini-series and Specials,) and Disney Channel’s “High School Musical” (Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming).

Among those on hand at Pasadena’s Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel to accept were Carol Burnett, Hugh Laurie, Steve Carell, Jason Lee, Jaime Pressly, Rainn Wilson, B.J. Novak, John Krasinski, Ethan Suplee, Nadine Velazquez, Isaiah Washington, James Pickens, Chandra Wilson, Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel , Aaron Sorkin and John Wells.

2006 TCA Award recipients are as follows:

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC)

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: “My Name Is Earl” (NBC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: “Lost” (ABC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: “The Office” (NBC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: “Frontline” (PBS)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING: “High School Musical” (Disney Channel)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES & SPECIALS: “American Masters: Bob Dylan -- No Direction Home” (PBS)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Steve Carell, “The Office” (NBC)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Hugh Laurie, “House” (Fox)

HERITAGE AWARD: “The West Wing” (NBC)

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Carol Burnett

The 22nd annual TCA Awards were held at The Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif. Founded in 1978, the Television Critics Association is composed of more than 200 reporters and columnists in print media from the United States and Canada.

VIPs ATTENDING AWARDS CEREMONY:

HUGH LAURIE
Robert Sean Leonard
Gabriela Salick
Katie Jacobs
Karen Kaplow
Larry Kaplow
Russ Smith
Vanessa Fourgeaud
Nancy Perkins
Ron Perkins
Heather Greenfield

CAROL BURNETT
Brian Miller (Carol’s husband)
Deborah Kelman
David Bean
Mary Keye Schilling

THE OFFICE
Steve Carell
Rainn Wilson
John Krasinski
B.J. Novak
Greg Daniels
Ben Silverman
Teri Weinberg
Melora Hardin
David Denman
Leslie David Baker
Brian Baumgartner
Kate Flannery
Angela Kinsey
Oscar Nunez
Phyllis Smith
Michelle Bowhan
Steve Sauer
Howard Klein

MY NAME IS EARL
Jason Lee
Nadine Velazquez
Jaime Pressly
Eddie Steeples
Greg Garcia
Marc Buckland
Tracey Raab
Bobby Bowman
Josh Pollack

GREY’S ANATOMY
Betsy Beers
Mark Gordon
Shonda Rhymes
Kate Walsh
Sara Ramirez
Isaiah Washington
James Pickens
Chandra Wilson
Krista Vernoff
Peter Horton
Kevin Brockman
Justin Chambers
TR Knight

LOST
Jack Bender
Brian Burk
Damon Lindeloff
Daniel Dae Kim
Mark Pedowitz
Steve McPherson
Hope Hartman

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
Ashley Tisdale
Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Lucas Grabeel
Monique Coleman
Bill Borden
Gary Marsh
Michael Healy
Patti McTeague
Anastasia Lee
Barry Rosenbush

THE WEST WING
Aaron Sorkin
Thomas Schlamme
John Wells
Kristi Strupinsky

MARY LYNN RAJSKUB
David Lust
Christie Smith
David Surnow

FRONTLINE
Martin Smith

TCA GUESTS
Phil Piga (PBS)
Stephanie Aronson (PBS)

AMERICAN MASTERS: BOB DYLAN: NO DIRECTION HOME
Prudence Glass
Jessica Lacy
Kellie Spector

NBC
Rachel Filippelli
David Gardner
Liza Rindge-Peterson

NBC UNIVERSAL STUDIO
Angela Bromstad
Curt King
Jon Koa
Laura Lancaster
Shelley McCrory
Vernon Sanders
Mindy Kaling
Paul Lieberstein

PRESS
Frederick Brown (Getty Images)
Jesse Grant (Wire Image)
Phil McCarten (AP)

Beverly Garland

Gene Walsh

http://tvcritics.org/press/

dad1153

07-24-06, 02:28 AM

Hate to stroke the ego of the critics but, based on their lists of nominees and winners, they should be the one's deciding the Emmy nominees and winners (or their selections at least be given serious considerations). Because let's face it, outside of super-fans and elder/disabled people with lots of free time, opinionated critics are the only one's qualified to pick TV shows based on continuous exposure to an ongoing plot/story arc over an entire season. The Emmy process of awarding prizes based on a 'best of' single episode has been the TV Academy's fundamental flaw since its inception, which this year literally blew in their faces.

fredfa

07-24-06, 03:32 AM

I agree generally, dad.
But the critics often tend to get bored (or even disdainful) of shows the viewers really love. And some shows, which they disregard early, go on to be pretty exceptional TV -- and often it takes the critics a while to circle back and rediscover them.
Nonetheless, with the exception of the news example I cited earlier, it is hard to quarrel with this year's winners.
They were all deserving.
Overall, the TCA did a fine job.
So congratulations to Rob Owens and his group.

fredfa

07-24-06, 09:20 AM

Commentary
Consumer Watch: Why did FCC fail local sports fans?

By Jeff Gelles Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist July 24, 2008

Washington consumers had a problem, and the federal government addressed it. Philadelphia consumers had a problem, and the government - at all levels - failed them.

That sums up one of the most bizarre government decisions you'll ever see: The Federal Communications Commission's July 13 approval, with conditions, of Comcast and Time Warner's bid for bankrupt Adelphia Communications.

Not that the approval itself was bizarre. Everyone agrees that Adelphia customers deserve a cable company with a pulse.

No, the bizarre part came in the conditions devised by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin - in particular, in two conditions stirred by Comcast's willingness to throw its weight around at the expense of sports fans, as the cable industry has a long and unfortunate history of doing.

In one, the FCC is forcing settlement of a financial dispute that has led Comcast to refuse to carry the Washington Nationals' baseball channel on its Washington-area systems.

Customers squawked, and public officials listened. At least three area representatives complained to the FCC and to fellow lawmakers. The result: As a condition of the Adelphia deal, Comcast will have to accept arbitration to settle the Nationals dispute and similar cases.

Tale of another city

The FCC's logic took its strange twist when it came to Philadelphia's longer-running dispute over sports.

It made Comcast agree to share its local sports channels with competitors. But the condition exempts the Philadelphia market - the only place where either company actually withholds local sports, as Comcast does by refusing to share SportsNet with DirecTV and Dish Network.

Why did the FCC fix one city's problem and punt on the other?

Washington consumers certainly don't suffer more harm - they don't even suffer as much. The Nats' Mid-Atlantic Sports Network is available from the satellites and from RCN Corp., whose cable service competes with Comcast's in some parts of Washington.

Here, fans know that if they switch to satellite, they'll miss most of the Phillies, Sixers and Flyers. Comcast's practice robs them of consumer choice.

Nor did Comcast win on legal points. The FCC's Adelphia decision closes the loophole that Comcast has relied on to keep SportsNet to itself. Except in Philadelphia.

Leadership counts

So if those factors don't explain why Comcast got a pass here, what does?

One answer is that Comcast showed a willingness to compromise, but perhaps only so far, as regulators and lawmakers have questioned its use of local sports as leverage over competitors.

Comcast officials suggested that they had no intention of extending their Philadelphia practices elsewhere. At the same time, they urged the FCC and Congress to keep their hands off the Philadelphia market.

If Comcast was persuasive, it owes a special debt to Philadelphia area officials so enthralled at Comcast that they wink at its heavy-handed behavior.

Consumers gripe about the SportsNet loophole. So do bloggers, media-rights advocates, and the occasional columnist. But unlike the Washington officials who challenged Comcast's refusal to carry the Nationals, this region's politicians have been shamefully mute.

Only one councilman, Michael Nutter, even mentioned the issue at City Council's lone hearing on the Adelphia deal.

It doesn't hurt that, like most regulated businesses, Comcast knows how to work the levers of government, such as by hiring former officials as lobbyists. But it's hard to blame David L. Cohen or anyone at Comcast for our current political leaders' failure to cry foul.

The FCC's decision was a slap in the face to Philadelphia. It identified a practice that harms consumers, and barred it everywhere else. Yet its message to Comcast was: You own Philadelphia. Do what you please.

The first step toward solving a problem is recognizing that you have one. Right now, the message from our leaders is that everything is Comcastic.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/15107315.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

07-24-06, 09:33 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Trophy Time

By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer in her blog “Moraes On TV”

Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays brainiac Chloe on Fox series "24" was the kickoff entertainment at the Television Critics Association's trophy show.

Male critics in the room loved her; female critics -- not so much.

Rajskub started by noting how hot it was outside; the Los Angeles area has experienced record heat the past couple days -- up around 118 degrees in Pasadena, where the critics' death-march-with-scrambled-eggs known as Summer TV Press Tour 2006 slogs through its final week.

Rajskub told critics she intends to tell her boyfriend, Rush Limbaugh that global warming is real.

It didn't seem to play well in the room; maybe TV critics hadn't seen the photo of the conservative yakker planting a big wet one on her mouth during a recent "24" convention hosted by the Heritage Foundation in Washington last month. Or, maybe they just didn't want to think about it.

"I think I'm the one who listens in the relationship; he's not the listening type," she said of Limbaugh. She called herself a blank slate politically and said he tells her that we're waging "a war on war about a war and we have to go to war so we don't have to go to war."

Mostly silence, some tittering.

Then, Rajskub started to talk about her Tuesday night talk show which, she said, is in her head.

Before she goes to bed.

Drunk.

And covered in ants.

What seemed like hours later when she finally finished her bit, Hugh Laurie was the lucky guy who got to follow her act; picking up his trophy for best drama actor, he said had not believed his respect and admiration for TV critics could grow greater, but it has. Laurie also won last year.

ABC's "Lost" was pronounced best drama series but ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" was named program of the year. Someone forgot to tell their entourages the trophy show isn't being televised so they didn't need to give such earnest speeches: this little show was never supposed to work, how "amazing" is it that when we told network suits we wanted to do an episode in which a guy puts his hand into a guy who has a bomb in him they said that's cool, blah, blah, blah.

Greg Garcia, whose NBC series "My Name is Earl" was named best new show, did get the The Trophy Show Will Not Be Televised memo. He nicked critics for not loving his other show, CBS's spectacularly un-funny "Yes Dear," saying if there is one thing he learned working on "Yes, Dear" it's that you need critics on your side, because otherwise your show will only run, oh, maybe six seasons.

Best-comedy trophy went to NBC's "The Office" and star Steve Carell was named best comedy series actor. Accepting his trophy, Carell read a review written by Peter Ko of his performance in a short-lived late-90's ABC series called "Over the Top," starring Tim Curry and Annie Potts, in which Carell plays a deaf mute chef.

"I wish I could say that Carell is bad," Ko wrote, " but that would imply that I have some frame of reference to judge him against. The truth is I have never seen anything like what I saw last Tuesday night. I have stood in a freezer full of dead people at the morgue. I have seen a man's scalp pulled back over his nose. I've even seen 35 minutes of Ellen DeGeneres's 'Mr. Wrong.' But I can now honestly say that until Steve Carell's turn in the premiere of 'Over the Top,' I have never known true horror."

When Carol Burnett picked up her TCA lifetime achievement trophy, she said she still worked and she wanted a guest gig on "The Office." Uncomfortableness all around at "The Office" table.

NBC's "The West Wing" got the TCA's Heritage Award - aka the The So-Long Trophy. Creator Aaron Sorkin -- looking positively naked without uber-wrangler Pat Kingsley, who'd stuck to him like glue at the NBC party the night before to make sure critics couldn't get at him -- told same critics it was an "incredible compliment" to get this award.

PBS picked up two trophies: best movie, mini or special went to the "American Masters" Bob Dylan miniseries, while "Frontline" got feted for best news program.

And critics gave their best-kids-show trophy to Disney Channel's hit "High School Musical," although some critics afterwards admitted they're so tired of the hype they want to beat it with a bat until it's dead.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/tvblog/

fredfa

07-24-06, 09:37 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Fey: It was time to leave 'SNL'

By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News July 24, 2006

PASADENA, Calif. - It's not uncommon for actresses to regard sitcoms as a sort of "mommy track" - a job with reasonable-for-show-business hours that might even get them home for dinner.

Tina Fey, though, seems to have opted for the mommy race track.

Fey's daughter, Alice, will turn 1 in September, a month before the Oct. 11 debut of "30 Rock," the NBC sitcom in which the former "Saturday Night Live" head writer and "Weekend Update" co-anchor is not only starring but also writing and producing.

"I know. I'm making Kelly Ripa look so lazy, right? Take that, Kelly Ripa!" Fey joked.

"I didn't think it through," the Upper Darby native acknowledged cheerfully.

"What happened was, I put a lot of irons in the fire about four years ago, less than four years ago some of them. I'll pitch this movie to Paramount, I'll pitch this sitcom to NBC and I'll start trying to get pregnant and we'll just see how" it turns out.

"It all kind of happened at once and we're just going to keep our head down and try to be organized for the next year or so and do the best we can," she said.

One thing she won't be trying is to balance all that with "Saturday Night Live."

Last Friday, on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Fey finally announced she was leaving "SNL," ending speculation that began as soon as it became clear that hers was one of two behind-the-scenes-at-a-sketch-comedy-show series that NBC was picking up for the fall. (The other is Aaron Sorkin's hourlong "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.")

"I knew once the show was picked up that this was not possible, to do both," she said. "I forgot why I decided to tell Jay. I was sick of not answering."

She'd have said something earlier, she added, "but I just wanted to sort of let the season end because I didn't want to make a big deal out of it because that's just kind of cheesy."

While she'll miss "the immediacy" of the "Weekend Update" job, "it was also feeling like it was time to go," said Fey, who turned 36 in May.

"I felt like a grandma around some of those young kids. I felt like I'd been there a long time."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//15108506.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

07-24-06, 09:42 AM

Earlier, I posted the very first part of Rich Heldenfels reoort on the awards, with just the Hugh Laurie quotes. Here is the later and more complete report from his blog:

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
TCA Awards

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog July 24, 2006

Today was a Television Critics Association day, including our summer business meeting and, tonight, the presentation of our annual awards. (I say ''our'' because I'm a member.) It was a nice ceremony, with lots of people turning out, and with some lovely acceptance speeches. And it was a good situation just to talk with people I like from shows I admire.

Here are some highlights from the acceptance speeches, in the order they were given.

Individual achievement in drama, to Hugh Laurie of ''House.'' Laurie: ''I never believed for one moment that my respect and admiration for television critics could grow ever greater. It has. This is partly because I'm not from these parts. I am from England, as you can probably tell, from the fact that I've just told you. ... The relationship between artist and critic (in England) is very different. Over there, the artist is, if you like, the mouse. And the critic is the vicious sociopath who shatters dreams. It strikes me as a very different setup here and for that, I and everyone else on the show ''House'' is extremely grateful....

''As for this award, a couple of weeks ago I had the good fortune to attend the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis, won, as usual, by Michael Schumacher ... He has been world racing champion, Formula One, for the last seven years. But even his most ardent admirers would have to admit that it's got something to do with the fact that he has the fastest car. Elizabeth Taylor could probably get a podium place. ... People compete with unequal equipment. If, for example, it's a running race and Michael Schumacher began the race with running spikes and the man next to him had lace-up Oxfords, and the man next to him was running in stilettos and the man on the outside lane was wearing a pair of West Highland Terriers. ... But so it is with the business of acting. ... I feel very much in the position of the man who has got a very, very fast car. ... I am, every day that I go to work, deeply sensible of the honor I have to sit at the wheel and drive this wonderful character called House.''

Outstanding achievement in drama, to ''Lost.'' Damon Lindelof, executive producer: ''We all sort of thought the same thing two years ago when the show was first a pilot, that it wasn't supposed to work. ... We try to reinvent it constantly. But next year it could totally suck, and the year after that it could be gone. And we feel enormously grateful, by the grace of you guys. In the very beginning, the critics sort of backed the show and that has meant a lot to us. ... I would really like to thank (executives at ABC and Touchstone Television) ... for letting us walk into a room and say, 'All right, here's what's in the hatch: There's a guy, he's pushing a button every 108 minutes or he's told the world will end.' And they say, 'All right, right on, go ahead.' Normally that shouldn't be allowed to happen.''

Outstanding achievement in children's programming, to ''High School Musical.'' Bill Borden, executive producer, entered to a song from ''HSM.,'' then said: ''I ran into an old friend of mine, Peter Horton (the actor-director, who was part of a group from award-winning 'Grey's Anatomy') who said 'I loved that song and movie for the first 50 times. If my daughter plays it again, I'm going to kill you.' ''

Outstanding new program, to ''My Name Is Earl.'' Greg Garcia, executive producer: ''It's always nice to get an award ... especially this award, because it's the critics. I mean, how big is that? And if there's one thing I've learned by doing 'Yes, Dear,' is you want the critics. Because if the critics hate your show, you're lucky to go, I don't know, six years. But just like 'Earl,' who is making up for all the bad things he's done in his life, I accept this award as a sign that you feel bad about what you've done to me. And tonight, the healing begins. I'm gonna need about 10 or 15 more of these, and you can cross me off your list.''

Outstanding movie, miniseries or special, to ''American Masters: Bob Dylan - No Direction Home.'' Prudence Glass, representing the series: ''When Dylan's people called a couple of years ago and said, 'We're ready,' Susan (Lacy, ''Masters'' producer) called me into her office and said, 'You see what can happen if you call somebody once a month for 12 years?' ''

Individual achievement in comedy, to Steve Carell of ''The Office,'' Carell: ''This is obviously such a great honor, particularly in light of the following. This is an excerpt from a review of a little seen but little loved television show called 'Over the Top,' which ran from October 1997 to -- October 1997. (From the review:) 'Steve Carell's performance as what appeared to be a deaf-mute European chef should cause anyone watching with a modicum of taste to start tearing their hair while screeching, 'Get it off my TV. ... Take it away. Oh, God.' '' (You can find a link to the complete review in my ''Steve Carell Doesn't Forget'' post below.)

Outstanding achievement in news and information, to ''Frontline.'' Martin Smith, producer. ''I feel I should apologize coming between the two comedy awards. 'Frontline' can be such a downer. It's unfortunate that news and information has to be that way. Friends compliment me by calling me up and saying, 'That was really depressing. That was more depressing than your last depressing show.' ''

Outstanding achievement in comedy, to ''The Office.'' Greg Daniels, executive producer, thanked many people, including his partner Ben Silverman, ''for having the taste, connection and frankly the (brass) to get back on that horse after 'Coupling.' '' After reading a long list of names of actors, writers and others associated with the show, Daniels added: ''I can already picture you guys reviewing this speech -- its tired premise, there were no act breaks and it was terrible casting.''

Heritage award (for important, long-running programs), to ''The West Wing.'' Aaron Sorkin, creator: ''About 10 years ago I was living in New York and early one morning my father came over to my apartment because the Academy Award nominations were being announced and there was some hope that I would be nominated for a movie that I had written that year. And when I wasn't, my father turned to me and said, 'Look, how many people in the world do you think got up this morning with even a reasonable expectation that something like this might happen?' Which is when I discovered that for most people, it's an honor just to be nominated (and) in my family it's an honor just to be overlooked.''

Career achievement, to Carol Burnett (who received the most thunderous, sustained ovations of the night). Burnett: ''Does this mean I'll never get another bad review?''

Burnett recalled how, in the early '60s, she signed a 10-year deal with CBS that included a five-year option for her to host a variety series on the network. ''So we were five years into that contract, and I really needed the money. And so it was a week before the five years would be up, and I was in California with my husband, Joe Hamilton, ... and we called Mike Dann at CBS. ... And I said, 'Mike, you know, I think I want to push that button and do that variety show we talked about five years ago. And he said, 'What?' ... He called the next day and said, 'Oh, right,' so they had to do this. And he said, 'But, you know, we have this great sitcom pilot thing called ''Here's Agnes,'' and it would just be great for you.' ... I said, 'This is what I really want to do,' and he had to do it. ... And I'm so glad I didn't do 'Here's Agnes.' ''

Program of the year, to ''Grey's Anatomy.'' (Shonda Rhimes, creator and executive producer: ) ''You guys stuck with us through it all and you didn't even mind the fact that we wouldn't tell you what was going to happen in any episode of the show ever, for any reason.''

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

fredfa

07-24-06, 09:56 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
And our winners are ...

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”

PASADENA, Calif. | The nation’s television critics honored “Lost” and actor Hugh Laurie - two entrants inexplicably left out of this year’s Emmy Award voting - in handing out their annual awards Sunday night.

At the informal, untelevised but heartfelt hourlong ceremony, Carol Burnett was also presented with a career achievement award from the Television Critics Association.

“Does this mean I’ll never get another bad review?” exclaimed a grateful Burnett.

Laurie was also touched, and charming, as he accepted the award for outstanding individual achievement in drama for the second straight year. The British actor and Formula One racing fan told the critics that he felt like driver Michael Schumacher, “who has been given a very, very fast car to drive” in the form of “House.”

“The Office” on NBC won two of the eleven TCA Awards, including best comedy and individual achievement for Steve Carell. He got huge laughs from the crowd of critics by pulling from his jacket and reading a horrifically negative Internet review of his performance in an earlier series, “Over the Top,” which aired in 1997.

“I have stood in a freezer full of dead people at the morgue. I have seen a man's scalp pulled back over his nose. I've even seen 35 minutes of Ellen DeGeneres's ‘Mr. Wrong,’” Carell read without affect while the critics roared. “But I can now honestly say that until Steve Carell's turn in the premiere of ‘Over the Top,’ I have never known true horror.” (While it is a great source of reviews and a longtime ally of TV Barn, the source of that review is not a member of the Television Critics Association.)

Later, in accepting the series award, one of the show’s producers, Greg Daniels, thanked critics for affirming “The Office” in just its second season.

“It feels like we’re finally good enough to marry your daughter,” he said, as 16 cast members and producers stood behind him in the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pasadena.

Other winners at the 22nd annual TCA Awards were NBC’s “My Name Is Earl” (best new show), “Frontline” (news), “High School Musical” (kids), the PBS film “Bob Dylan: No Direction Home” (movie) and “The West Wing” (Heritage Award).

[url]http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/07/and_our_winners.html#more

fredfa

07-24-06, 10:00 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Death March With Cocktails

The TCA Awards: Our Strange Little Secret
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog “The Bastard Machine” July 24, 2006

We held the 22nd Annual Television Critics Association awards Sunday night and, true to form, it was one of those old school affairs that remains as odd as it is unique.

Our awards ceremony is not filmed. We don't play anybody off the stage when they accept their awards. I don't even think we have music. It's a relatively quick affair, ending a little more than an hour after it begins. There is no red carpet. There are no adoring fans. Just us. In fact, we limit the number of celebrity handlers as best we can. For a room full of the best TV has to offer, there's an astonishing lack of glitz. In fact, the TCA Awards play out like a little secret.

As more than a few of us have noted, less out of pride and more out of truth, it's the best awards show you'll never see. It really is. It's one of those times each year when you realize that as a professional organizaton, we've got some clout. We don't flaunt it, nor do we even really believe it. But the stars do show up year after year and they do seem to not only take it seriously, but appreciate our little glass offerings. Now, the cynic could say that some stars will come out for any awards show. But it's not really true. They'll go to the People's Choice Awards (is that still on?) or the MTV Awards because it's either good publicity or good business. They have no real reason to come to our awards show other than to feel the confirmation of people who get paid to watch TV for a living and who are not studio-sponsored movie-blurb hacks.

Often we are rewarding series that have been bypassed for Emmys - sometimes for the first time because nobody else appreciates them, sometimes because the Emmys are just lame. Each year I half expect nobody will show up, and then they do. It's not televised. It's not a big to-do. In fact, it seems a little bit low rent. But at least they know we're not doing this because we like glitz or stardom. We do this because we want to reward excellence. When we actually love something, after dismissing or even hating most of what we see otherwise, then we honestly, truly want to honor a show or a performer. Somehow in our low-wattage affair, that comes through.

We may not be slick or polished, we may not provide dinnner (in fact, we don't). Some of us may be a little geeky or oddly standoffish (as compared to, say, "Access Hollywood" or something). But we're relatively harmless in person (in print: different matter) and nobody is going to snap a picture of you eating an Oreo cookie you dipped in a fountain of chocolate and then spilled on your dress. If you want to hang out after the show and have drinks and dessert with us, great. If not, see you later. There's no pressure. On Sunday night, long, long after the ceremony was over and most of the critics were off to the Fox check-in party, I happened by the post-awards terrace and found Isaiah Washington and James Pickens Jr. from "Grey's Anatomy" just hanging out by themselves and talking.

Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays "Chloe" on "24," was our host. She also does stand-up and sings, but on Sunday she tried some offbeat, weirdly funny bits of comedy that were both quirky and - there's a word for this - "different," maybe? Let's just say that had you seen her, you'd probably say "Well, I wasn't expecting that." But it fit perfectly into TCA lore and nobody is the wiser.

Hugh Laurie from "House," who also won last year, won again this year for "Individual Achievement in Drama." He's a funny man, seemed to appreciate his award and seemed to tolerate being talked to.

Steve Carrell won for "Individual Achievement in Comedy," and was hilarious as he read a savage review of him in the short-lived 1997 series, "Over the Top." Of course he's brilliant in "The Office" and a box-office star, so there's no real reason he had to show up, but it was an unpretentious, honestly funny acceptance.

"Lost" won for "Outstanding Achievement in Drama," even though it was snubbed for an Emmy (after winning it the year before). Writer-producer Damon Lindelof and actor Daniel Dae Kim accepted the award (the "Lost" cast has been here in full in the past). Lindelof was gracious and honored.

"The Office" won for "Outstanding Achievement in Comedy" and - literally - the entire cast was there. Even all the bit players (some who are writers on the show).

"My Name Is Earl" won for "Outstanding New Program" and it, too, had a packed cast, including Jason Lee, Jaimie Pressly and - wow, even better looking in person, Nadine Velazquez (theme alert!). I resisted the urge to say "Hey, Crabman" to Eddie Steeples, figuring he's heard it a billion times, but it sure was tempting.

"High School Musical," the addictive musical on the Disney Channel won for "Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming."

"American Masters: Bob Dylan - No Direction Home" won for "Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials."

"Frontline" won for "Outstanding Achievement in News and Information.

"The West Wing" won our "Heritage Award" and Aaron Sorkin, who was joined on stage by co-producers Thomas Schlamme (who is married to actress Christine Lahti, who was also there) and John Wells, noted that the first award "The West Wing" ever won - before all the Emmys - was our new program award. Sorkin noted that the critics helped "The West Wing" stay afloat, supported "ER" right from the beginning and were the earliest fans of his "SportsNight." As usual, he was gracious and laudatory of the critics, which is naturally what we hear at these things but it's nice when you hear a genuine belief in the words. That's what makes our little awards work - in the end it's not a popularity contest or a trick of the voting process. It's validation for great work.

"Grey's Anatomy" won for "Program of the Year" (I would have preferred "The Sopranos," a multiple past winner, but you can't have everything).

But clearly the best moment of the night was Carol Burnett winning our "Career Achievement Award." You've never seen a room full of stars and critics get to their feet faster than that. (Though, truth be told, this category is always a show-stopper.) The ovation for Burnett lasted several long minutes and people like Carrell and Laurie were clapping with true enthusiasm. At the end of her acceptance speech, Burnett said that if anyone from "The Office" had an opening, she had the time, and later the producers were seen talking with her (and naturally critics were goading this to happen), so here's to the cameo, if it ever happens, actually being as electric as Burnett's award.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24

fredfa

07-24-06, 10:14 AM

Now the report from the President of the TCA:

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
TV critics' big night; stalking Sorkin

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In” Sunday, July 24, 2006

PASADENA, Calif. -- Yours truly kicked off the 22nd annual Television Critics Association Awards tonight, introducing host Mary Lynn Rajskub, star of Fox's "24." Her comedy introduction ended with her describing her experience learning to scuba dive, which she found to be a scary proposition. She said an instructor told her, "Pretend Jack [Bauer] is at the bottom of the ocean and he can't do it unless you get down there." Invoking the name of her "24" character's co-worker/crush didn't help.

Winner Hugh Laurie ("House") said American TV critics are nicer than their British counterparts, whom he described as "vicious sociopaths who shatter dreams for pleasure."

Greg Garcia, creator of NBC's outstanding new program winner "My Name Is Earl," still hasn't gotten over the critical drubbing his prior sitcom received.

"The one thing I learned doing 'Yes, Dear' is that you want the critics on your side, because if the critics hate your show, you're gonna do, what? Six seasons?" he said, pointedly but hilariously. "I accept this as a sign that you feel bad about what you've done to me. I need about 15 more of these and you can cross me off your list."

Career achievement winner Carol Burnett asked, "Does this mean I'll never get another bad review?"

But the guy who brought down the house was Steve Carell ("The Office"), an individual comedy achievement award-winner, who read a supposed review of his work, the short-lived 1997 sitcom "Over the Top" starring Annie Potts and Tim Curry. Carell clearly wrote this review himself, and it is much more entertaining than any TV review I've ever read. Here it is in its entirety:

"Steve Carell's performance as what appears to be a deaf, mute, European chef should have caused anyone watching with a modicum of taste to start tearing their hair out while screaming, 'Get it off my TV! Get it off my TV! Oh god, what have they done to the kids!' I wish I could say Carell is bad, but that would imply I have some frame of reference to judge him. Truth is, I have never seen anything like I saw last Tuesday night. I have stood in a freezer full of dead people at the morgue. I have seen a man's scalp pulled back over his nose. I have even seen 35 minutes of Ellen DeGeneres' 'Mr Wrong,' and I can honestly say until Steve Carell's turn in the premiere of 'Over the Top' last Tuesday night, I have never known true horror."

• • • • • • • • • • •

Stalking Sorkin: Have I mentioned before how much I despise personal publicists? You would think the job of a publicity professional would be to get publicity for his or her client, and for the vast majority of them, that is the case. But personal publicists to big-name stars more often play defense, particularly at press tour parties where they try to shield their clients from the press even though chatting with the press is the whole reason the client is present.

At NBC's party Saturday night, I and a few other critics tried to chat up Aaron Sorkin, creator of "The West Wing" and the upcoming "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." We only got a few questions in before his personal publicist, Pat Kingsley (Tom Cruise's PR maven pre-jumping on Oprah's couch), yanked him away. Undeterred, another critic and I followed him and managed to get a few more questions in before Kingsley yanked him again. Personally, I've always liked Sorkin. He's a smart guy who always has something intelligent and often very funny to say. I'm sorry to see he's employed one of the Sith Lords of PR. To any would-be celebrities out there: If you're not going to talk to press at a press tour party, don't bother showing up.

• • • • • • • • • • •

Other than the Sorkin debacle, NBC's party was well-attended with the stars of "The Office" and "Crossing Jordan" (plus many other shows) meandering around the Ritz-Carlton's Horseshoe Garden at the network's football-themed Texas barbecue (for its reacquisition of the NFL and new drama "Friday night Lights," based on the hit book and movie).

Beyond the chance of one-on-one interview time with NBC stars, a snowcone machine, horseshoes, mechanical bull, skeeball, photo booth, and an inflatable field goal kicking pen were the highlights of the party, which was delayed by an hour due to the extreme heat in Southern California Saturday night.

• • • • • • • • • • •

We don't need another 'Heroes': Wait a minute, yes, we do! NBC's "Heroes" is one of my favorite fall pilots. The show follows a group of disparate people around the world. Each one begins to discover they have super powers. It's "Lost" meets "The 4400" meets "Unbreakable."

Producers set up an Official/Unofficial Web site for the series last week http://www.9thwonders.com/.. Check it out.

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

fredfa

07-24-06, 11:32 AM

Marc Berman’s insights are always valuable. But his NBC thoughts are a bit dated by now – he didn’t post over the weekend.
So I am posting them, but not spending a lot of time with my normal formatting.

(From Marc Berman’s Monday, July 24, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )

NBC: Opening Executive Comments

Unlike last summer when a humble Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment, apologized for the mess his network was in, cautious optimism was the mood at NBC’s executive session. And a commitment to increase the ratings (which should not be difficult to do) while focusing on moving out of the No. 4 spot on a regular basis are promised for next season. According to Reilly:

“I am very proud of our new slate of shows. I'm not going to make any hard predictions about what our ratings will be or what our ranking will be next season. But I will commit to this: our ratings will definitely be better. We will not be mired in fourth, week after week. We are going to be a challenger in many time periods, and, most importantly, I believe we have new series that will emerge as amongst the best on television.”

Continued Reilly:

“I don't know if our shows are going to breakout. However, I do believe there is legitimate potential across our new fall schedule. And we don't have everything riding on just one or two shows. With the ratings momentum and added circulation of the NFL in prime and the quality of our new series added to the winners of last season, I think our fall is going to look pretty potent. As I look to the second half of the season, I think we will maintain that momentum with appointment series like Medium, Scrubs and The Apprentice coming off the bench, as well as some promising new series like The Black Donnellys and Raines."

While you can’t, of course, blame a network head for being optimistic, and one or two new hits could certainly turn NBC around, let’s be honest here: The Apprentice is no longer appointment television, Scrubs never lived up to that description, and a better way to describe the fall schedule is potentially promising, certainly not potent.

Next up, of course, was the subject of two new shows set within a fictional show. Considering the track record for this format (does anyone remember the last time a show about a show worked on network television? – and, no, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Murphy Brown do not qualify), according to Kevin Reilly on the subject of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and 30 Rock:

”It was really one of those weird show business coincidences. But it really came down to saying what would you do? You've got Tina Fey and Aaron Sorkin. I couldn't imagine saying, "Well, one of you will just have to go elsewhere." So we said let's make both shows, and if they both deserve to get on the air, they will. And not surprisingly, they were both worthy of getting on the schedule. And I think while they have similar backdrops, I think you can already see it's a very different tone, very different feel to the shows. And as they go on, it will only become more distinctive. So I'm thrilled we have them both, and it hasn't been an issue.”

While that may not have necessarily been an issue for the network, the uphill battle both shows face is the potential “too inside show business” nature of the story-telling. And since when is Tina Fey so big? Has anyone noticed how lackluster Saturday Night Live has been lately? If NBC really wanted to give the more worthy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip an advantage, it did not need the similar 30 Rock vying for an audience.

Since this really is Kevin Reilly’s first complete schedule with his development stamp on it, here is his take:

“During the transition period, there was a lot of conjecture about that. It was a tricky transition, just trying to find the footing, given that the momentum turned at the network. So, you know, I've been in the job two full years now. Anything along those lines is ancient history. I feel, again, in the last year, our team has really solidified at NBC. The spirit is kicking in again. The hunger is there. And they also have my personal stamp, and I'll stand behind any one of these shows, win, lose, or fail.”

Since the rebuilding of any network has never been easy, Howie Mandel might be busier than he thinks as host of Deal or No Deal next season if potholes start surfacing.

NBC in 2006-07: Fall Series Premiere Dates

NBC will kick-off the 2006-07 season on Monday, Sept. 18 with a two-hour edition of Deal or No Deal (which will air on four nights that week), followed by the debut of the highly touted Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Kidnapped will also premiere that week, while new drama Heroes is one week later, and new entries Friday Night Lights, Twenty Good Years and 30 Rock are in October. The NFL season on NBC begins on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. ET, with the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers opposite the Miami Dolphins. Three nights later is the premiere of Sunday Night Football, featuring the Indianapolis Colts versus the New York Giants.

Here are the new and returning NBC series launch dates:

-Deal or No Deal – Mon., Sept. 18: 8 p.m. ET (season premiere, two hours)
-Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip – Mon., Sept. 18: 10 p.m. ET (series debut)
-Law & Order: Criminal Intent – Tues., Sept. 19: 9 p.m. ET (season premiere)
-Law & Order: SVU – Tues., Sept. 19: 10 p.m. ET (season premiere)
-The Biggest Loser – Wed., Sept. 20: 8 p.m. ET (season premiere, two hours)
-Kidnapped – Wed., Sept. 20: 10 p.m. ET (series debut)
-My Name Is Earl – Thurs., Sept. 21: 8 p.m. ET (season premiere)
-The Office –Thurs., Sept. 21: 8:30 p.m. ET (season premiere)
-ER – Thurs., Sept. 21: 10 p.m. ET (season premiere)
-Law & Order – Fri., Sept. 22: 10 p.m. ET (season premiere)
-Heroes – Mon., Sept. 25: 9 p.m. ET (series debut)
-Friday Night Lights – Tues., Oct. 3: 8 p.m. ET (series debut)
-Twenty Good Years – Wed., Oct. 4: 8 p.m. ET (series debut, two episodes)
-30 Rock – Wed., Oct. 11: 8:30 p.m. ET (series debut)
-Crossing Jordan – Fri., Oct. 20: 8 p.m. ET (season premiere)
-Las Vegas – Fri., Oct. 20: 9 p.m. ET (season premiere)

On the NBC Panel Front:

STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP
Monday 10:00 p.m.

-The Premise:
Friends star Matthew Perry returns to NBC in this one-hour dramatic look at life behind-the-scenes at a long-running sketch comedy series (reminiscent of Saturday Night Live) from The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. Also featured are former The West Wing co-stars Bradley Whitford and Timothy Busfield, Amanda Peet, former Wings star Steven Weber, Sarah Paulson, Sex and the City’s Evan Handler, and comedian D.L. Hughley.

-Lead-in: Heroes
-The Competition: What About Brian (ABC), CSI: Miami (CBS)

-Who Was On the Panel:
Matthew Perry, Timothy Busfield, Nathan Corddry, D.L. Hughley, Sarah Paulson, Amanda Peet, Steven Weber, Bradley Whitford, director/executive producer Thomas Schlamme and writer/executive producer Aaron Sorkin.

-The Scoop:
On the subject of Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing versus his upcoming Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip:

”Studio 60 is the same thing that The West Wing was at its heart and the same thing Sports Night was before that. It's about a group of people committed to professionalism, committed to each other, committed to what they're doing, and hopefully, you know, we will enjoy watching them every week. But as political issues came up on The West Wing, I think that Studio 60 is tooled up to deal with issues of the culture wars in an interesting way, because certainly television, in general, and a sketch comedy show like this in particular, would have a front-row seat for that kind of thing.”

-The Reality:
Aaron Sorkin, of course, is best remembered for creating critical darling The West Wing, which was also a ratings hit for the first five years of its seven year run. But is the tale of life behind the scenes of an SNL-like show too “inside” to appeal to the masses? Can you, after all, think of any shows of this type that have succeeded on network television? Although you have to admire NBC for trying to push the creative envelope, facing CBS’ CSI: Miami without the benefit of proven lead-in support will be no easy feat, and Matthew Perry might soon realize he doesn’t have many friends.

-Chance of Survival for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
5-1

-Did You Know?:
Aaron Sorkin was also the force behind 1998-2000 ABC comedy Sports Night, which the critics loved but the fans could not get accustomed to.

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

TWENTY GOOD YEARS
Wednesday 8:00 p.m.

-The Premise:
After realizing they only have about 20 good years left to live, two aging New York friends in their 50s (3rd Rock From the Sun’s John Lithgow and recent Arrested Development star Jeffrey Tambor) try to make the most of it.

-Competition: Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Jericho (CBS), Bones (Fox), America's Next Top Model (CW)

-Who Was on the Panel:
John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor, Heather Burns, Jake Sandvig, executive producers Eric Gold and Tom Werner, and creator/executive producer Marsh McCall.

-The Scoop:
Described as an old-fashioned type of comedy, here is what John Lithgow had to say about Twenty Good Years:

“When we did 3rd Rock, nobody had seen that kind of wild, hectic energy since the 1950s when that was par for the course. Milton Berle and Your Show of Shows and people were like, “Whoa. What is this? People are dashing across the stage and clubbing each other with pig’s bladders and hurling each other behind a couch.” To me, that’s got great roots, great energetic, farcical American comedy from vaudeville and silent films. I just can’t restrain myself. That’s my problem. They write nice subtle stuff, and before you know it I’m all over the map.”

(Editor’s note: You may want to take it down a notch or two from the pilot, Mr. Lithgow).

-The Reality:
If you liked The Odd Couple, and can overlook John Lithgow’s inbred 3rd Rock theatrics, you will enjoy the surprisingly funny 20 Good Years, with John Lithgow the new Oscar and the underrated Jeffrey Tambor Felix. But the problem with anchoring Wednesday is facing Dancing With the Stars and NCIS in fourth quarter, and ultimately Fox’s returning American Idol in January (if 20 Good Years is granted 20 good weeks, that is). If dancing B-level celebrities and a proven military drama don’t kill 20 Good Years, the new season of American Idol surely will.

-Chance of Survival for 20 Good Years on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
7-1

-Did You Know?:
Jeffrey Tambor cut his comedy chops as uptight Jeffrey P. Brookes III on Three’s Company spin-off The Ropers from 1979-80.

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

HEROES
Monday 9:00 p.m.

-The Premise:
The lives of ordinary people who discover they have superpowers try to deal with how their destinies might be to save humankind. Included is a lowly officer worker who can teleport at will, a beat cop who hears other people’s thoughts, a 28-year-old junkie who has the ability to paint images of the future when he is high, and a 17-year-old cheerleader who defies death at every turn.

-Lead-in: Deal Or No Deal
-Competition: The Bachelor: Rome (ABC), Two and a Half Men and The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS), Vanished (Fox) and Runaway (CW)

-Who Was on the Panel:
Santago Cabrera, Tawny Cypress, Greg Grunberg, Ali Larter, Masi Oka, Hayden Panettiere, Adrian Pasdar, Sendhill Ramamurthy, Leonard Roberts, Milo Ventimiglia, and creator/executive producer Tim Kring.

-The Scoop:
If you are looking for a traditional good versus evil type of superhero drama, you won’t find it on Superheroes. According to Tim Kring:

”Very early on in the show, you'll begin to see that there is a dark side to these abilities as well. Some of these heroes could be villains. And some may take that arc where they start off as good and end up bad, and vice versa. There seems to be a kind of audience that wants a show to be less spelled-out for them. They want to have questions, and they want to participate. They want to set their TiVo, or they want to talk to their friends the next day. They want to guess where it's going.”

-The Reality:
Although leading out of Deal Or No Deal could be beneficial, facing CBS’ proven Two and a Half Men and two new dramas (Fox’s Vanished and the CW’s Runaway) might make the confusing Heroes (is this a serious drama, or an Incredible Hulk type tale?) anything but a hero once the ratings come in. If NBC really thinks Heroes will appeal to younger viewers, why not find an 8 p.m. time period?

-Chance of Survival for Heroes (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
9-1

-Did You Know?:
Milo Ventimiglia is remembered for playing brooding Jess on the WB’s Gilmore Girls and, more recently, WB clinker The Bedford Diaries. But his first regularly scheduled series was short-lived Fox sitcom The Opposite Sex in 2000.

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

30 ROCK
Wednesday 8:30 p.m.

-The Premise:
The head writer (Tina Fey) of a fictional sketch comedy called The Girly Show tries to come to terms with a temperamental star (Tracy Morgan) and a difficult executive producer (Alec Baldwin). Alec Baldwin, Rachel Dratch, Jack McBrayer, and Tracy Morgan co-star.

-Lead-in: 20 Good Years
-Competition: Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Jericho (CBS), Bones (Fox), America's Next Top Model (CW)

-Who Was on the Panel:
Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan and executive producer Lorne Michaels.

-The Scoop:
Here is the 30 Rock take on this show versus Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip:

Lorne Michaels:
“Well, this show was in development before we heard about the Aaron Sorkin show. I was told about the Aaron Sorkin show by Kevin Reilly by phone. They are not similar shows. So, no, there wasn't -- this show is not in any way a response to the other show. 30 Rock came first.”

Tina Fey:
”Well, it kind of all went down in, like, the same day. I heard about it, and we were sort of in pre-production at the time. We were originally supposed to shoot the pilot last summer. But I was pregnant, and we were going to shoot around the pregnancy. Then we thought, well, there's no hurry because it wouldn't be ready until the following season anyway. So I was home, and I had friends saying to me, "Oh, I'm so sorry that your show is not going to happen." And I was like, "Oh, okay." But Kevin Reilly called very quickly and assured me that he believed in both shows and he felt that they were very different in tone and that he really wanted to pursue both of them.”

(Editor’s note: Tina Fey may want to consider keeping her ties to Saturday Night Live open).

-The Reality:
Considering NBC also made a commitment to Aaron Sorkin on a show about a show on upcoming dramedy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, it did not need 30 Rock, a similar inside show business type sitcom. Can anyone, after all, think of one show of this kind that ever succeeded on a broadcast network (and, no, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Murphy Brown don’t count)? Without the benefit of proven lead-in support (and opposite killer competition that will include Fox’s American Idol come January), this shameless plug of NBC and GE does not stand a chance.

-Chance of Survival for 30 Rock on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
7-1

-Did You Know?:
Alec Baldwin got an early start on the small screen as crazed preacher Joshua Rush on drama Knots Landing in the mid 1980s.

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

KIDNAPPED
Wednesday 10:00 p.m.

-The Premise:
After the 15-year old son of a wealthy family has been abducted, the subsequent investigation (where everything, of course, is not as perfect as it seems) is followed throughout the course of the season. Dana Delany, Timothy Hutton, Jeremy Sisto, Delroy Lindo, and Mykelti Williamson star.

-Lead-in: The Biggest Loser
-Competition: The Nine (ABC), CSI: NY (CBS)

-Who Was on the Panel:
Dana Delany, Timothy Hutton, Will Denton, Carmen Ejogo, Delroy Lindo, Jeremy Sisto, Mykelti Williamson, and executive producers Michael Dinner, David Greenwalt and Jason Smilovic.

-The Scoop:
The evolution of Kidnapped according to executive producer Jason Smilovic:

“We have a 22-episode arc, and the show does go in to phases and evolutions. What we mean to do with the show is to tell a story over the period of 22 episodes, and in each episode we're telling a mystery that will resolve itself within that episode and then chip away at the larger mystery. Now, the larger mystery is slowly revealing itself. And every time the audience thinks that they know what the show is, or they understand the mystery or the motivation or the mechanism, we change it up.”

-The Reality:
Although NBC originally planned on airing Kidnapped Tuesday at 9 p.m. (opposite CBS’ The Unit and Fox’s House), moving it to Wednesday at 10 p.m. in place of veteran Law & Order (which shifts to Friday) still means it has to face CBS’ CSI: NY. While CSI: NY is no CSI, recently replacing Law & Order will new drama Heist was a colossal mistake. So, if crime drama Heist could not face CSI: NY, why will the similar Kidnapped succeed? And, if it does, what happens in the second season?

-Chance of Survival for Kidnapped on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
8-1

-Did You Know?:
Dana Delany won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress on ABC drama China Beach.

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

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Tuesday 8:00 p.m.

-The Premise:
Based on the book and the feature film, the lives of a high school football team and their coach (Early Edition’s Kyle Chandler) in a small Texas town are the focus of this feel good drama. The cast also includes Connie Britton (Spin City), Zach Gilford, Adrianne Palicki, and Jesse Plemons.

-Competition: Dancing With the Stars (ABC), NCIS (CBS), Stand-off (Fox), Gilmore Girls (CW)

-Who Was on the Panel:
Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Gaius Charles, Zach Gilford, Taylor Kitsch, Adrianne Palicki, Jesse Plemons, Aimee Teegarden, and executive producers Peter Berg and Jason Katims.

-The Scoop:
Although most shows with sports in the backdrop do not work, here is why Friday Night Lights will succeed according to Jason Katims:

”I can only speak to what draws me to the material. And when I saw the pilot, I felt like this was a world. This was a culture. This was a place that I wanted to be, and it really went beyond being just about football and just about sports. And it felt like you were dropped into this real small town in Texas. The show has an authenticity and a reality that draws you in. It has, you know, this sense of community that I think people yearn for. And then, there's all these tremendous characters that we intend to sort of fill out and draw upon and go into their homes and learn about their lives. So it goes way beyond just the sport, and I don't think people will sense it that way.”

-The Reality:
With so many crime solving related dramas, it would be a real plus for primetime television if a new family oriented drama broke out of the box. But opposite Dancing With the Stars, NCIS and Gilmore Girls, the lights could be out for this new drama by the November sweeps. Although the real competition, Fox’s American Idol, does not return until January 2007, Friday Night Lights will either be gone, or moved elsewhere, by then.

-Chance of Survival for Friday Night Lights on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
8-1

-Did You Know?:
Against the Grain, a similar appeal family drama about a high school football team (featuring a young Ben Affleck) lasted eight weeks on NBC in the fall of 1993.

Press Tour Tidbits: Notes With Interest

Lunch With Megan Mullally:
Although the buzz in daytime syndication is on King World’s upcoming The Rachael Ray Show (which will benefit, of course, by the exposure on Oprah), potential sleeper Megan Mullally charmed the TCA masses with a lunch (good food, actually) in her honor. After unveiling a handful of promos that wisely show Megan morphing from Will & Grace’s Karen Walker into the real Ms. Mullally, here is how Megan describes the show:

“We will have a live band, sketches, comedy, field pieces, and correspondence -- it's a blend of the old and the new. On the other side of it, we have some things that nobody is doing. We have an extremely interactive website that I'm really excited about because I want to get the viewer involved in a more active way. You can log on, and you can get involved in these creative challenges that we're going to have going on every day.”

Look for the debut of The Megan Mullally Show on Sept. 18.

----------

-More America’s Got Talent and The Last Comic Standing:
NBC has renewed summer hits America’s Got Talent and The Last Comic Standing for the 2006-07 season. America’s Got Talent will return on Sundays in January (with the day of the live results show yet to be revealed), while season five of The Last Comic Standing will begin in June 2007.

-Nobody’s Watching on NBC:
Former WB comedy pilot Nobody’s Watching, which found a spot on www.YouTune.com, will continue on NBC.com as a series of webisodes featuring two hapless young stars as they bounce around Hollywood. New scripts will be developed with the intention of producing an original on-air series on NBC later this season.

Brian Williams on the Battle of the Network Newscasts:
In a session on The NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, here is what the now longest running anchor had to say on the heated topic of who will dominate next season:

“Saying that I am now veteran of the news anchor group of three is like saying the Empire State Building is the tallest building on the New York City skyline. It is factually true, but it's for all the wrong reasons. And I wish, looking at the underlying reasons, that it wasn't so. Peter (Jennings) was a friend, and so is Dan (Rather). This is a highly competitive business, but at the end of the day, Katie (Couric) is a mother of two. I'm a father of two, and I've known Charlie Gibson for a long time. So, you know, that side of our business exists too. I'm happy to see them and spend time with them when we're together. It’s just like the three who preceded us, the lions of this past age, these great, great journalists who became friends and mortal competitors when they were all chasing the same story.”

-Deal or No Deal Update:
When asked about the danger of celebrity stunting a la Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, here is what Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel had to say:

“Well, ultimately, when you see any of those stunts, those are kind of external, right? Donald Trump shows up to help a contestant or, you know, a Hummer is driven on stage, that's just a stunt. But ultimately, I think the beauty of our show is a real person. As soon as you bring a celebrity in and the celebrity's playing for a charity, there's nothing at stake. I think one of the most relatable things of our show is the fact that you realize these are real people with real issues, real problems, real lives, and we can ultimately -- or they can ultimately -- change their life drastically for the better or maybe for the worse.”

(Editor’s note: Maybe the producers of Deal or No Deal should listen to what their host has to say, because it looks like the overexposed game show is traveling the same dangerous path as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.).

Move Over, Dr. Phil:
At a luncheon with upcoming Warner Bros/Telepictures talk show host, Dr. Keith Ablow, I can understand why the syndicator jumped at putting this noted psychiatrist and author on the air. And it is safe to say that daytime syndication will be home to the real deal (and not just the overrated Dr. Phil) next season. I smell a sleeper success here.

Also Present at TCA:
Sony Pictures Television had a breakfast with upcoming talk show host Greg Behrendt, who is hoping his expertise on relationships will translate into success in daytime. That makes four new talkers –- The Rachael Ray Show, The Megan Mullally Show, Dr. Keith Ablow and The Greg Behrendt Show –- looking for an audience in a genre already populated with nine returning first-run strips. Do the math, and that makes a lucky 13.

2006 TCA Awards: And the Winners Are...

Although it may not be the head of the class in the ratings, NBC led the pack of trophy winners at the annual TCA Awards, which were presented at the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena last night, with four wins. ABC and PBS won two apiece, and Fox and Disney Channel one each. The Heritage Award was presented to NBC’s The West Wing (which this critic is happy to say is finally over), while the career achievement award went to the one and only Carol Burnett. I’m so glad we had this time together with her!

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

fredfa

07-24-06, 11:59 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
The Heat Is On

By Peter Ames Carlin The (Portland) Oregonian in his “Greetings From the TCA”: blog Monday, July 24, 2006

This just in: the results of Sunday night's TCA awards are big enough news to make KCRW-FM's headlines during the "Morning Edition" local news break. Weird.

I know it's hot everywhere now, and I've already noted how screamingly, blazingly hot it is in Pasadena. But just for the record let's say it again: It's quite hot in Pasadena. Saturday was like 108 degrees up here, I kid you not, which turned out to be hot enough to take out power substations, turn the hotel pool into a simmering cauldron of murk, and also force NBC to delay the start of its Saturday night garden party by an hour.

The affair played out on the Ritz-Carlton's horseshoe garden out back, a Texas bar-b-que theme inspired by the new "Friday Night LIghts" show, which is based on Buzz Bissinger's book on high school football, and is surprisingly good. So lots of sports-related imagery, and Texas stuff, and so on, and also NBC stars, including Matthew Perry (cranky, according to sources); Timothy Busfield (nice, thoughtful) Evan Handler (Charlotte's bald bf on 'Sex and the City,' now pivoting into directing) and on and on.

Sunday was mostly a day off, but climaxed with the annual TCA Awards, of which you can read in today's Oregonian. Stars aplenty, despite the heat. Lifetime achievement winner Carol Burnett spoke about the decisions that led to the start of her iconic CBS variety show, and how CBS really would have preferred she star in a sitcom called "Hello, Agnes." She also indicated her willingness to join the cast of "The Office," and seconds after the ceremonies ended that show's producer, Greg Daniels, sprinted to her table to say hi. More on this story as/if it develops.

Jason Lee wore a thick beard, a dark suit and an expression of cool detachment that was simultaneously understandable and a bit of a bummer.

Steve Carrell was chatty and fun at the before party, then did a very funny acceptance speech which consisted largely of his reading a review of a show he did very briefly in the mid-90s, in which his performance was singled out as so egregious as to be horrifying. Hard to tell if this was real, or something he had concocted for fun, or if he meant it as a rip at the critics, or himself, but now that I think of it this kind of is-this-guy-obnoxious-or-hilarious-or-stupid-or-what?-itude is what his whole comic persona is about. An interesting mix, very explosive, could blow his head off at any time. But it works.

As ever, awards were presented by TCA members, some of whom did great jobs, others maybe not so much. But the worst performance of the night, by far, was by the creepy writer who sat across my table, attempting to curry favor with the far-smarter woman sitting next to him by snickering, rolling his eyes, sighing deeply and basically making it absolutely clear that he considered himself to be far superior to whoever was talking at the time. And while there were times when things were in fact getting a bit sideways up there (humor being so very hard to pull off in the presence of professional humorists) the guy in question mostly made very clear that he is a sad, mean-spirited creep with dubious social skills and, you have to think, insecurities so deep and excruciating that he can't even hear himself speak. Sad.

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/weblog/

fredfa

07-24-06, 12:07 PM

Personally, I think Peter Ames Carlin should give us more of a hint about identity of the creepy writer he mentions in his final paragraph. (Major east coast newspaper critic? Small-town Rocky Mountain TV writer? Broadcasting trade magazine correspondent? -- that would be my guess, by the way)

I have emailed PAC with that request, by the way.

I certainly hope he (the creep that is) isn't one of my -- or our -- favorites!

fredfa

07-24-06, 01:27 PM

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

fredfa

07-24-06, 01:30 PM

This has all the earmarks of being a really fun day at the TCA tour! Fox accusing other people of plagiarism....how great is that? :)

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Liguori Disses Talent-Show Copycats

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 7/24/2006

Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori used the low ratings of ABC’s The One to fire a shot back at ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson and others who have accused Fox of mimicking show ideas in the past.

“McPherson probably owes [Fox reality chief] Mike [Darnell] an apology,” Liguori said Monday. “He spends a lot of time dumping on Mike for copycatting, and I think he got a big stiff one there.”

Musical talent show The One debuted to miniscule ratings of a 1.1 and 1.0, respectively, last week on its first two nights in the adult 18-49 demo.

Liguori, who admitted that even he was surprised by how low those numbers were, says they were a product of the over-saturation of shows this summer trying to catch the American Idol success.

“There have been a ton of copycats this year,” he said. “Everyone has had some variation of a talent show in hopes of catching this wave.”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6355724.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

07-24-06, 02:05 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
"Free copy of Fox News!"

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” Monday, July 24, 2006

The blogosphere is going wild over Keith Olbermann's idea of breakfast-hour entertainment. I was about 10 feet away when Keith put on the Bill O'Reilly mask and made a Nazi salute. Here's a link from Olbermann Watch with the picture.

Robert Cox, who runs OW, is a decent guy who enjoys playing with dynamite. I belong to the media bloggers' group he heads up. Cox recently sent out a bulletin noting the 100th occasion on which "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" named O'Reilly its worst person in the world. (Something you'd think Olbermann would have thought of first, what with the book coming out and all.) Anyway, I used that email as the basis for a question about bloggers.

QUESTION: Keith, to follow up on that. Right in front of you. When you made the Bill O'Reilly "the Worst Person in the World" for the hundredth time, I got an e-mail from a guy who runs a blog called "Olbermann Watch," pointing out this milestone.

Do you worry about the blogosphere? Do you pay attention to bloggers? Do you worry that they might take something that you say and extract some sort of revenge, the way they did with Dan Rather?

KEITH OLBERMANN: There's, I guess, a risk for all of us -- and by all of us, I mean everybody in the world -- that the blogosphere is going to take revenge. They don't like your shirt. There could be about your blog -- about your shirt tomorrow. The thing that encourages me about this, to some degree, is that with every medium that is seemingly limitless -- every medium begins that way. Everybody's going to have their own television network. There's going to be 3,000 cable networks. Whatever. It is self-limiting. Eventually there's just not going to be enough money to keep all this stuff going. People are devoting a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of energy, and not necessarily getting any results in terms of readership.

The thing does tend to balance out. For every blog that there might be somebody criticizing me, of that one in particular, is the one I know of, there's another one or two other ones where they're desperately and unfairly favorable to me. So if you take it in the whole context, I don't really worry about it. There's very little that can be said about me on the blogs that isn't true and is going to hurt me, so I don't worry about it. I truly try to just go ahead and do what I do, based on some sense of logic which eludes me at the moment.

In other words, as long as the TV audience responds, he's going to ignore the blogs.

And the audience is responding. Yes, O'Reilly beats him like a porch rug in total viewers but ... well, I'll let Keith take it from there:

In the afternoon in New York, so that they don't have to take them back, the distributors of the New York Post stand on the corners and bark, "Free New York Post. Free New York Post." If you looked merely at a total number of newspapers that you printed and did not have to burn at the end of the day or bring back or recycle or something like that, that would be essentially the total audience number in television. The ones you actually sell are the demographic numbers because that's the ones we base the advertising on.

In total audience, we can be beaten on a given night 7-to-1, 3-to-1, somewhere in that range usually. Three-to-one is a good night that we're down by in total audience. But in that demographic number, we have in the last year moved from third place at 8 p.m., past CNN, into second place, which is, if not unprecedented at MSNBC, it is unprecedented in the last 100 years, 200? OK, five years. (Laughter.)

I'm a little loose with the numbers, as you can tell. On an average night, we might come in somewhere around 150,000, 250,000 in the demographic number. And O'Reilly is somewhere between 400. During times of a lot of news like now, it might be higher, closer to 600. It's competitive.

Are we still getting doubled, tripled, in some respects, every night? Yeah. But in terms of the growth number, our numbers are continually up over the last two, three years. All of Fox's numbers are continually down in that area of the demo, which is, as I said, where you make your money off of. Every other viewer is basically, "Free copy of Fox News."

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/07/oatmeal_and_olb.html#more

fredfa

07-24-06, 03:05 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Pageant wins on slow summer night

NBC’s Miss Universe pulls a 3.2 in 18-49s
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer July 24, 2006

In an era of declining ratings for beauty pageants, simply holding onto the previous year’s audience is an accomplishment. If that happens to give the network carrying the pageant a big boost over the previous week in this very slow summer, all the better.

Last night NBC got a big week-to-week bump for its Sunday night lineup thanks to the “Miss Universe” pageant, which averaged a 3.2 adults 18-49 overnight rating from 9 to 11 p.m.

While that was even to last year, when the pageant aired in early June, NBC did see a 4 percent bump in total viewers, from 9.2 million in 2005 to 9.6 million last night. Its household rating was down slightly, from 6.1 to a 6.0.

But in a summer when almost no shows have produced big ratings, and Sunday evenings have been particularly dismal, NBC got a very nice bump in its 18-49 average the previous week, going from a 2.0 to a 2.5 to win the evening.

“Miss Universe” was the highest-rated show of the night among 18-49s, with only Fox’s “Family Guy” at a 2.9 even coming close. The pageant peaked with a 3.4 in the final hour, including a 3.6 at 10:30 p.m.

Rather than saying much about the pageant, “Miss Universe’s” decent ratings may say more about the lack of selection on TV than anything else. Broadcast had mostly repeats last night, and HBO’s Sunday night lineup has been fairly weak this summer.

Sadly, the pageant was not without its problems. After she’d been crowned the winner, Puerto Rico’s Zuleyka Rivera collapsed during a post-pageant press conference, fainting because her dress was too tight and the room too hot. She was said to be fine shortly thereafter.

“Universe” led NBC to victory for the night at a 2.5 rating and 7 share among 18-49s, ahead of Fox at 2.1/7, CBS at 2.1/6, ABC at 1.8/6, Univision at 0.9/3 and WB at 0.6/2.

At 7 p.m., ABC and CBS shared the No. 1 spot at 1.8 for an "America's Funniest Home Videos" rerun and "60 Minutes," ahead of a 1.3 each for NBC's "Tom Brokaw Reports" and Fox's repeats of "Malcolm in the Middle" and "King of the Hill." Univision's "Hora Pico" followed at 0.7, ahead of WB's pair of "Reba" reruns at 0.6.

At 8 p.m., Fox's reruns of "The Simpsons" and "American Dad" led at 2.6, ahead of CBS's "Big Brother 7: All-Stars" at 2.4, NBC's "Dateline" at 2.3, ABC's repeat of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" at 2.0, Univision's 0.8 for the first hour of "Cantando por un Sueño" and the WB's "Charmed" rerun at 0.5.

At 9 p.m., NBC led at 2.9 for “Universe,” followed by Fox's reruns of "Family Guy" and "War at Home" at 2.5, CBS's "Cold Case" repeat at 2.1, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" rerun at 1.4, Univision's "Cantando" at 1.0 and WB's "Charmed" rerun at 0.6.

At 10 p.m., NBC was No. 1 again at 3.4 for Miss Universe, followed by a 2.1 each for ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" rerun and CBS's "Without a Trace." Univision's "Cantando" averaged a 1.0 in its final hour.

Among households, NBC edged to No. 1 for the night with a 5.3 rating and 10 share, followed by CBS at 5.3/9, ABC at 3.5/6, Fox at 2.9/5, and Univision and WB both at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_6181.asp

fredfa

07-24-06, 03:05 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Critics Weigh in on TV's Fall Shows

Many at Confab Wary of Networks' Serialized Dramas
By Claire Atkinson Advertising Age July 24, 2006

PASADENA, Calif. (AdAge.com) -- Marketers made their judgments about the coming TV season back in May. This month, it was the critics' turn, as hundreds gathered here at the Television Critics of America conference for two weeks of presentations on the fall shows.

The collective verdict won't make or break a good show but will help drive the initial sampling -- something the networks may be more dependent on than ever this year given the high number of serialized shows that require folks get hooked early or miss out on the premise.

Most likely hit? NBC's "Studio 60," from Aaron Sorkin.

Surprise hit? ABC's telenovela adaptation "Ugly Betty."

TV reporters from outlets as diverse as Zap2it.com, Us Weekly and The Kansas City Star said networks, with their drama-heavy lineups, are asking too much of audiences, and viewers will be left in the lurch when the inevitable cancellations come.

Before they worry about cancellations, producers must deal with the tricky new world of brand integration. Already, savvy marketers have begun shipping their wares to producers in hopes they will be worked into a show.

When asked about product placement on his CBS comedy "The Class," David Crane, who created "Friends," said: "Someone's already sent us a box of Victoria's Secret underwear and a box of Tupperware." Mr. Crane said he's not sure he has much use for frilly panties, but if something fits, the writers will work it in.

'Desperate Housewives' integrations

Jeff Greenstein, a member of the production team at ABC's "Desperate Housewives," said he'll include a brand if it's one he already likes. But he added that he's pushed hard against integrations on other shows he's worked on when it didn't feel right.

John Wells, the executive producer of "ER" and "West Wing" and now helming crime thriller "Smith" for CBS, appeared enthusiastic about the idea of working with marketers as long as it didn't impinge on his work.

But he laments that deadlines rarely work out; deals generally come in during the second cycle of a hit show. Some things that might get airtime on "Smith," which stars Ray Liotta, are websites showing how crimes might be committed. Mr. Wells was astounded by what he found online.

Sponsorships, anyone?

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=110680

keenan

07-24-06, 03:49 PM

Cable TV Notebook
Cable Stokes Summer

Misses

Brotherhood

• Showtime’s drama premiered July 9 to 694,000 total viewers. Then, exploiting corporate synergy, CBS aired the episode to 3.4 million viewers. Despite the cross-promotion, the second episode’s premiere on Showtime got only 158,000 total viewers.

What a shame, this is damn good TV, guess I better not get too invested in this one..

fredfa

07-24-06, 04:04 PM

The Business of TV
DirecTV HD DVR Delayed Again

By Linda Moss MultiChannelNews 7/24/2006

DirecTV once again delayed the rollout of its new HD digital-video recorders, which could make impatient subscribers switch over to competitors EchoStar Communications or cable, a Wall Street analyst said Monday.

In a report, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett wrote that DirecTV’s churn rates could rise because of yet another postponement of the deployment of its state-of-the-art dual-tuner HD DVRs.

“There is obviously a limit to how long customers -- who, after all, have just spent large amounts of money on a flat-panel HDTV -- will be willing to wait for an upgrade from DirecTV before they simply switch to a competitor instead,” Moffett wrote. “EchoStar and cable operators could benefit.”

Moffett cited a letter that DirecTV is sending to customers on a wait list for the HD DVRs. The direct-broadcast satellite provider said the new HD DVRs -- originally expected early this year, then pushed back until spring -- are now set to be available this fall. He blamed the delay on a lack of product inventory.

“We believe shortages of the combination HD DVR unit have contributed to DirecTV falling behind cable competitors in HD readiness,” Moffett wrote. “HDTV penetration of digital subscribers among cable operators appears significantly higher than at DirecTV.”

But in what he calls “the bizarre calculus that is the DBS industry,” Moffett said the glitches in getting the new DVRs to subscribers in some ways will help DirecTV’s bottom line in the short term, since the upgrade involves “significant” costs to the company.

“More delays for the HR20 should translate into better near-term financial results, since upgrades are a key driver of retention-marketing expense [and capital expenditures such as upgrade equipment are now capitalized under their new leasing plan],” Moffett wrote. “Lower retention marketing means higher EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, debt and amortization] and higher earnings … But we’re skeptical that investors will continue to give DirecTV a free pass, however, as the future upgrade requirement is clearly growing.”

The analyst also made reference to a plan announced last week by News Corp.’s British Sky Broadcasting to provide free broadband service to its subscribers in Great Britain. News Corp. owns 38% of DirecTV, which doesn’t have a broadband offering yet.

“News Corp.’s willingness to slash cash flows at BSkyB would appear to raise the risk of an unwelcome surprise in capital spending related to plans for a terrestrial broadband network at DirecTV, as well,” Moffett wrote. “Even if the business were to be built off-balance-sheet, subscriber-acquisition costs associated with the broadband venture could directly and significantly impact DirecTV’s cash flows.

A Federal Communications Commission auction for the so-called AWS (advanced wireless services) spectrum begins in a several weeks, he noted.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleid=CA6355813

fredfa

07-24-06, 04:10 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Big changes at "Saturday Night Live''

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News in his blog

It looks like "Saturday Night Live'' is going to do one of its periodic cast shuffles, driven in part by the departure of Tina Fey (a big loss since she's also the show's head writer) and Rachel Dratch. Budget cuts at NBC and a perceived need to reinvigorate the late night show are also playing a part.

Although it was pretty clear that she would be leaving "SNL,'' Fey (right, on The Tour) didn't make it official until the weekend when she told, first, Jay Leno and then the reporters gathered here that she would be exiting to devote full-time to "30 Rock,'' her new NBC sitcom. (Her line: "I want to spend more time with Star Jones.'') Fey is executive producer, lead writer and star -- which is a pretty full plate and would preclude dropping in to, say, do "Weekend Update'' even though "30 Rock'' is being filmed in New York.

The Dratch situation is a bit murkier. It's pretty clear that she's leaving "SNL'' and she is supposed to be a co-star of "30 Rock.'' But reporters duly noted that she is not, at this point, listed as a full cast member in press material. Fey replied that her role is being tweaked but Dratch will definitely be part of "30 Rock.''

Meanwhile, "SNL'' uberboss Lorne Michaels -- who is co-executive producer of "30 Rock'' -- confirmed rumors of cast changes although he was skimpy on details. The show, he suggested, is "always a work in progress'' -- which I'm sure is a sentiment that makes the current cast members much less nervous.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/charlie_mccollum/index.html

Inundated

07-24-06, 04:40 PM

I certainly hope he (the creep that is) isn't one of my -- or our -- favorites!

Well, it's not Rich Heldenfels, who is a happily married man who gushes over his bride. :D

I'd like to know, too, but the TV critics' circle is a small world, and I'm sure Mr. Carlin didn't want to make a life long enemy...

AFH

07-24-06, 04:43 PM

The Business of TV
DirecTV HD DVR Delayed Again

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleid=CA6355813

Again! Why no! Who is shocked by this? Most likely, not many people.

fredfa

07-24-06, 04:54 PM

Well, it's not Rich Heldenfels, who is a happily married man who gushes over his bride. :D

I'd like to know, too, but the TV critics' circle is a small world, and I'm sure Mr. Carlin didn't want to make a life long enemy...

I don't know who it is, Peter (rightfully) wouldn't tell me.

But I do know it isn't any of the folks I regularly post here.

Thankfully.

fredfa

07-24-06, 04:57 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
"Standoff": What an appropriate name for this panel

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic in her TV blog July 24, 2006

It has come to this: People are going to get hurt. Not physically mind you, but trust me, emotional scars will be made today and tomorrow, which for many of us, are the final two days of Press Tour, and they belong to Fox.

Fox's head of primetime Peter Liguori began the day with lots of talk about zigging where everyone zags, and that Fox is pretty much dominant; all the while some Kenny G song was playing in my head. You know the one. It's the soundtrack one chooses to accompany laughing gas inhalation and dental drilling.

Yeah, my snarky tank is on fumes, so when the cast of "Standoff" took the stage, it was all I could do to keep the drool from dripping out of the corner of my mouth. The problem here was two-fold: First, we all feel like television has spent two weeks beating us like we owe it money. This is problemantic because we really enjoy the actors on this show, most of whom deserve better than what we're able to give them. Ron Livingston is a man with a smile that can sweep you off your feet. Gina Torres made me wish that "Firefly" ran beyond its 13 episodes and into forever.

Unfortunately, "Standoff" pretty much bites. There's the second problem.

I'm not alone in this opinion. If it did anything for me or anyone else in the room this morning, we would have questions for days. As it turns out, the session was ... well, it was a little bit like hostage negotiation. Ask us anything, their hope-filled faces seemed to say, and we'll make this a great deal for everyone involved.

Except where a negotiator can take hours to resolve a dicey situation, we had the opposite problem here. Finding enough questions to fill a 45 minute panel was pure agony. It was really over about 27 minutes in, and the session itself only made it to minute 32.

Not a good sign.

To fill the time, many charitable souls asked about their other shows. For example, Livingston was on "Sex and the City" as the guy who broke up with Carrie Bradshaw via Post-It note. Great! Fantastic! Ask him about that!

He happily shared with us that he found out that "Flight attendants all over the world saw 'Sex and the City.' Doesn't matter what country you're in, flight attendants have seen it."

As for what it did for him, "Being Carrie Bradshaw's boyfriend was kind of the romantic interest stamp of approval. It showed that I didn't just walk away with 'Office Space.'"

After that, I harnessed whatever powers of telepathy I had and focused it on the publicist. Please get them off of this stage. Please. For the love of all that is decent in this world.

No dice. Another person asked relative unknown Jose Pablo Cantillo to tell us about his character. The questioner called him Castillo, however, which produced a somewhat annoyed and convoluted response where he should have just answered the question and been happy that anyone bothered to call attention to him.

Cantillo described his character as sort of a G.I. Joe kind of guy, "Which is ironic, because I used to play with G.I. Joes as a kid." Ironic? Is it really? No, it's not.

Soon after this, the publicist put the panel out of its misery. "This concludes the 'Standoff' session."

Thank you sweet handsome Lord, I thought.

"The next session will be, 'Til Death.'"

And the tragedy continues.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/print.asp?entryID=105283

fredfa

07-24-06, 05:55 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
So These Five Network Entertainment Presidents Walk Into a Hornet's Nest...

By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline” July 24, 2006

If you were a critic attending the Television Critics Association press tour (winding down this week in sub-Saharan Pasadena) back in the 1980s, the one network you always looked forward to was NBC because you knew Brandon Tartikoff would be there. Not only was he the most charismatic network entertainment head ever to hold the job, he was glib, self-deprecating, unapologetic, genuine and entertaining in his own right. There will never be another Brandon. And as we've seen once again during the current gathering, the present handful of presidents running the broadcast network entertainment divisions are more straightforward and generally guarded than they are jocular and/or quotable.

That's actually not to denigrate this quintet as a group. And it probably says more about the pressures of running an increasingly complex and corporately-driven enterprise than it does the individual personalities themselves.

Be that as it may, here's a quick look at how they compare (as viewed from the middle of a large hall in Pasadena):

Stephen McPherson, ABC: He's smart and energetic but also a bit on the bland side. Doesn't appear to have much of a sense of humor, which would seem to be an indispensible prerequisite to survival in this job. He also tends to take the Emmy nominations way too personally. If he wants to get into a scrum over who's been screwed over the most, McPherson ought to talk to the "Simpsons" producers (whose show has never ever been nominated for top comedy).

Nina Tassler, CBS: Tassler is a capable programmer, sharp and well-informed. She also tends to be a tad stiff with the media, seemingly caught up in the need to avoid saying anything perceived as wrong or insensitive. The result is she's not exactly a quote machine, if a likeable enough human. She got drawn into a little bit of a war with the critics over her seeming apathy surrounding the needs of fans left hanging when serial dramas are canceled early. She'll be better prepared next time.

Kevin Reilly, NBC: The most charismatic of the bunch, Reilly also appears to be the loosest and most relaxed with the critics. He's not averse to making the occasional joke (even at his own expense), which is like catnip to this group. He also demonstrates the commendable trait of standing behind his decisions, good or bad. He's careful not to overstate things, but you can tell that Reilly is dying to do exactly that, emotional sort that he is. Seems like the kind of dude who would take a bullet for the team. You've got to love that in a boss.

Peter Liguori, Fox: A straight-shooter with a smooth, easy manner. The smoothness might sometimes be mistaken for arrogance, but it fits his personality well. Liguori has the uncanny ability to appear forthcoming even when holding his cards close. The critics respect him, even if his quotes are occasionally more filled with spinworthy proclamations than actual information. He's generally a savvy and likeable guy who brings a measure of sophistication to this table.

Dawn Ostroff, The CW: Too often, I've heard the adjective "Poor" used in front of Ostroff's first name, as if she represents something of a sacrificial lamb heading up the forthcoming maiden season of a merged, semi-rudderless entity. But it often seems that Ostroff brings the underdog label onto herself by appearing to be a bit in over her head, such as during her TCA session when she made a passionate defense of enhanced "content wrap" advertising. Even-tempered and engaging, she'd be wise to do a little toughening up.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/

fredfa

07-24-06, 08:00 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Fox's Liguori: 24 to Air Continuously Into a Hornet's Nest...

By A.J. Frutkin MediaWeek.com JULY 24, 2006 -

In what may have been the least eventful executive session at the annual TV critics convention in Pasadena this summer, Fox entertainment president Peter Liguori answered questions from the press with significant aplomb, underscoring Fox’s continued status as the top-rated network among 18-49 viewers.

Not surprisingly, the subject of serialized programming came up, as it did for all network execs at these sessions this summer. Again, the focus was on offering viewers a sense of closure on series that are prematurely cancelled. “I think all of us have to ask the question, ‘What do we do if these shows don’t work?’ Liguori posed, rhetorically. “It’s not an idea we like to think about going into a season. But frankly, we do have to have some plans, that, say these shows don’t work, how do we wrap them up, how do we give the audience some satisfaction. And I think that there are ways to do it. One, we’d love to have an episode that does wrap it up&hellip.even if we did a conversation with the showrunner or creator, put that out online, and have text on it. I do think the audience deserves some closure. And frankly, I think the industry on the whole, we all have to start thinking about that, because if, in fact, some of these serialized shows are cancelled, and there’s no explanation, there’s no satisfaction, I’d have fear for next year, when a bunch of serialized shows come out, will audiences now be really gunshy about committing to these shows?”

Acknowledging that serialized programming fares poorly in repeats, Liguori stressed that 24 would air continuously, as it did this past season, because, as he added, “you’re giving up a lot of momentum when you running repeats of your Losts of this world and your Grey’s Anatomies of this world.”

Liguori also expressed relief at the success of the network’s other serialized hit last season Prison Break. “First and foremost, thrilled to have a 4th quarter show get out of the gate and work,” he said. “Let’s face it, that’s job #1 for us here,” he added, addressing the network’s persistent challenge of having its fall programming interrupted by baseball.

Of course, what Fox session would be complete without some sort of prediction regarding next season’s American Idol? “We all prepare ourselves that, eventually, it stands to logic and reason, that this show has got to notice some ratings erosion,” Liguori said. “We go into the year thinking that, and then every year we’ve been surprised, awed, by how the show has grown. So I can only predict a little bit of erosion, and then keep my fingers crossed and hope that the opposite occurs.”

In related news, Fox also announced it has renewed both of its summer reality shows, Hell’s Kitchen, and So You Think You Can Dance, for new cycles.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002878416

fredfa

07-24-06, 09:18 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Death March With Cocktails

CBS Lite Is Here And It May Take An Angel To Help Them
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog “The Bastard Machine” Monday, July 24, 2006

It's Fox. Normally when Fox arrives it's a welcome addition to the press tour, because the network has for years enlivened the proceedings with daring, original programming. This year, not so much. While that continues a downward trend in Fox's development slate of late, the most frustrating element in the network's upcoming fall shows is that they could just as easily be on CBS.

Though the network has two egregioiusly bad sitcoms coming toward you in the near future ("'Til Death" and "Happy Hour") - the former as bland and unoriginal as anything CBS has put on in a decade, the latter just Fox bad - it's the dramas and their boiler-plate familiarity that have failed to ignite expectations.

None of them are bad. But neither are they particularly original or different. There's worry in the air that "Vanished," probably the drama I liked best from Fox, doesn't have a clear direction or purpose. When that fear arises (as it did with Fox's failed series "Reunion" and a number of series on other networks), there's usually merit in the concern. Especially in this upcoming season when open-ended serials will dominate viewers' time, it's always helpful to find out the creator of a series knows how to drive the bus.

My worry goes beyond that. I just don't see Fox as being a network that's as creatively interesting as it used to be. In that sense, the "Fox brand" - as the network itself touted for years - is no longer distinctive. Nothing wrong with that, given Fox's ratings. It's not a fledgling network. It's part of the Big Four. You can't be a rebel all your life. But this will be an interesting season for Fox because as it becomes CBS Lite, it may just lose its soul.

On the plus side, Fox has arrived here yet again with a live DJ in the back of the room. Her name is The Angel. As the press tour slowly grinds on and the Diet Coke goes down in waves, she's a wonderful addition. She's played some great stuff so far. Not only is she keeping everyone awake, her hipness and creativity recall better days.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24

bgooch

07-24-06, 10:29 PM

Amazon's movie download to launch in August: report
Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:17 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc. declined to comment on Monday on a report in Advertising Age magazine that it would launch a movie download business in mid-August.

Speculation has swirled for months that Amazon is working on a digital download service that would allow consumers to download and copy popular movies and television programs.

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in March that the company was in advanced talks with several major Hollywood studios.

A spokesman for the Seattle-based company wrote in an e-mail to Reuters that it does not comment "on speculation or rumor."

Financial analysts have reacted positively to the prospect of a digital download service that would contribute higher profit margins than the Seattle-based retailer's traditional e-commerce business. The company's spending in research and development has skyrocketed, and many analysts have speculated that Amazon's new digital projects are the cause.

The company is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on Tuesday.

Amazon already owns movie web site IMDB.com. Sources have told Reuters that Amazon could capitalize on IMDB's fan base and sell them downloads of films that could then be copied onto DVDs.

Shares of Amazon were up 97 cents to $34.16 in Monday afternoon trading on Nasdaq. The stock traded as low as $31.52 in May after a 52-week high of $50 in December.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyid=2006-07-24T190528Z_01_N24376357_RTRUKOC_0_US-RETAIL-AMAZON.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

fredfa

07-25-06, 12:08 AM

TV Notebook
Craig Ferguson's new set

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”

The guy who gave Jay Leno his spiffy comedy-club look designed this one (see below), unveiling tonight.

Tonight, THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON will unveil its new set designed by award-winning production designer Leo Akira Yoshimura. Previously, he has designed sets for "Saturday Night Live," "Access Hollywood" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

Designer Yoshimura said, "Where else would a Scottish comedian and a Japanese designer find a place to work together...but at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. I'm trying my best not to embarrass myself."

Craig Ferguson's new home resembles an authentic "old Hollywood" downtown Los Angeles loft with a panoramic view of the city. All of the walls in the studio have been painted with the city of Los Angeles as a backdrop, so that audience members will feel as if they are part of Craig's world.

Through the "windows" behind Craig's new desk, the viewers will see an extraordinary view of the city featuring some of Los Angeles' most iconic landmarks, from Graumann's Chinese Theater to the Santa Monica Ferris Wheel to Pink's Hot Dogs to the Farmer's Market clock, which will keep actual time.

Another highlight will be a blimp and a 747 jet, created by the sound effects team, which will be controlled by Craig and will glide across the sky at his whim.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/07/craigs_new_set.html#more

fredfa

07-25-06, 12:12 AM

TV Notebook
Rants — and a few raves — for Emmy rules 'fix

By Greg Braxton Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 24, 2006

One Emmy voter calls it a "blunder" and yearns for a chance to do the whole thing over. Another expresses "dismay" at a ratings system that ranks "excellent" above "superior." The disgruntled entertainment president of one network fumes, "It's a problem."

And even one of the nominees calls it "freakazoid."

Yes, after several years in which the biggest issue was the usual-suspects nature of the nominees, the Emmys finally have a red-hot controversy going.

And no one's feeling the heat more than Dick Askin, the chairman and chief executive of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, who over the weekend saw a barely air-conditioned ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena turn into a battleground — with him on one side and an army of unhappy and frustrated television critics on the other.

To outsiders, the issue — a seemingly arcane rule change designed to improve the Emmy chances of oft-overlooked shows such as the WB's "Gilmore Girls" — might appear to be just another tempest in a Hollywood awards-show teapot. (Remember the howls over Oscar screeners a couple of seasons back?) But for some fans, critics, television executives and members of the creative community, it's nothing short of butterfly ballots in Florida.

And it's even possible that the rhetorical slugfest will turn into a ratings disappointment when the show airs; some insiders predict that because many fan favorites were passed over in the new nomination process, the ceremony could take a major viewership hit when it is broadcast Aug. 27 on NBC.

At least one network is dead set on payback: ABC, which is smarting that many of its most popular shows were overlooked in the marquee categories, announced late Friday that it would broadcast the blockbuster film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" to go head to head with the Emmys.

When asked about ABC's decision and what it could mean for the Emmys audience and NBC's ratings, Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC Universal Television Group, said: "It's more formidable competition, and it's unfortunate."

ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson has been one of the most vocal critics of the new Emmy procedures, telling reporters last week that the lack of major nominations for "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" — both big winners last year — proved that the system this year was flawed.

But others, including NBC's "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf, have defended the academy, calling McPherson's claims misguided. And even one blue-ribbon panelist critical of the new rules said the networks' shortfall could be attributed to producers submitting confusing or subpar episodes for consideration, not the academy.

The roughly 13,000 members of the academy simply do not have time to watch every single show, so selecting the nominees has always been a tricky proposition, and the system has been tinkered with over the years.

Most recently, members voted and ranked candidates from their peer groups, and the top five vote-getters made the ballot. But there were persistent questions, particularly when the same shows seemed to show up year after year. Were staid academy members voting only for their tried-and-true favorites?

So this year, the academy tried something different in the best comedy, drama, actor/actress and variety, music or comedy series categories. The voting members narrowed their selections down to 10 candidates in the variety, drama and comedy programs category, and to 15 in the performance categories (outstanding lead actor in a comedy, outstanding guest actress in a drama etc.) Then, a smaller group of panelists watched a submitted sample of a candidates' work and helped winnow the list down to the names and series that appear on the ballots.

The academy hoped that this approach would help balance out members who shun new shows as well as raise the profile of oft-neglected shows. Instead, critics said, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" lost out, as did HBO's "Entourage" and "Big Love," along with niche favorites such as "Gilmore Girls" and FX's "The Shield" and Sci-Fi's "Battlestar Galactica."

Those involved in the nomination process were asked to keep details confidential, so the four panelists and one former member of the academy interviewed by The Times spoke on the condition of anonymity. One panelist said: "There were great shows and great people who didn't get recognized. I wish there was a way we could pull it all back and start over. I think they've made a blunder this year and could figure out a way to make it work next year."

Echoed another veteran member, a mid-rank studio executive who served on two of the blue-ribbon panels last month: "It felt like pilot testing" — in which marketers ask sample audiences for general opinions of new shows — and not a process by which the industry tries to recognize the talent within its ranks.

The academy invited members to volunteer in May. Then, on June 24 and 25, committees of varying sizes up to 100 gathered at academy headquarters to view episodes submitted by the networks and cable channels. Some panels evaluated a selection of finalists in the comedy and dramatic categories; separate groups watched the dramatic and comedic acting submissions. The screenings were held in morning and afternoon sessions, and the panels were broken up into smaller units so the committees did not know who all the finalists were.

A member of one drama committee said that in a morning session, he and his colleagues watched single episodes of HBO's "Big Love," ABC's "Boston Legal" and FX's "Rescue Me." Immediately after each episode was shown, committee members were given a piece of paper that asked them to rate the episode with an "A" (excellent), "B" (superior) or "C" (fair).

Some voters said they asked for clarification — since the middle rating, "superior," seemed to be a higher ranking than "excellent." "I was dismayed by what I thought was the confusion in the adjectives," one voter said. "If you think the very best program is being given a secondary adjective, it didn't make sense to me."

But panel members said they had bigger problems with the requirement that they grade individual episodes immediately after they had been viewed, and groused that they would have preferred to watch all the submissions first and then rank them. Panelists were also not allowed to reconsider their ballots, even if they felt the second or third performance outshone the previous one.

"We had to choose, even if we didn't know what was coming next," said one panelist. "There was no wiggle room, and we couldn't change our vote." Added another: "I would have preferred to vote on the three, rather than individually. It would have been a more accurate vote had we had the chance to see all three shows and compare them in quality."

But John Leverence, academy senior vice president, said of the process: "The intent was to get an immediate reaction to the episode, and not pit one episode against the other. We didn't want comparisons, we wanted a completely independent opinion."

Some panelists questioned whether the voting was skewed against edgier fare. One said, "The age of my panel was mostly over 40, and there might have been a tendency to vote conservatively. Work that's a little bit out there may not fare as well." Another panelist disagreed, saying she thought the panels had a good cross-section of academy members.

Despite the controversy, Leverence dubbed the new rules a qualified success: "The intent of the hybrid system to screen the top 15 in the performance categories was to bring into the candidacy fold individuals who would have been at the periphery of that fold. Those people were very well represented among the 15 candidates."

Wolf, the "Law & Order" creator, agreed. "It's a much better method for opening up the process, which has a tendency to become sequentially a closed process," Wolf said Friday. "The fact that Chris finally got recognized is proof in the pudding," he said referring to Christopher Meloni, who received a nomination for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

But even on the morning the nominations were announced, many of those who made the cut were as confused as the rest of the industry is now.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (best actress nominee for CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine"), who co-hosted the announcements, called the whole thing "freakazoid." Howard Gordon, executive producer of Fox's "24," said that morning that he'd tried to follow the new voting process but found it confusing. "I don't really know what effect it had, but it seems to work to our benefit so I'm not complaining." "24" received 12 nominations, more than any other TV series this year.

CBS' "Two and a Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre said that he understood there were panels watching the episodes but that he had no idea beyond that how it worked. "I don't care how they did it," he added. "I'm thrilled. You try to pretend this doesn't matter but it does." (The sitcom earned nods in several top categories, including best comedy.)

At least one of the panelists said it could be the individually submitted episodes that were the problem. The "Lost" episode "was excellent if you knew what was going on, but if voters were unfamiliar with 'Lost,' they were lost. What McPherson said is just arrogant."

And a mid-level network executive who also participated on the panels overseeing best actor and best actress said she sees the value in trying something different — but added that she does not think it worked.

"I was as surprised as a lot of people were for some omissions that seem like they were pretty obvious omissions," she said. "But I applaud them for wanting to be able to have some people considered that wouldn't be the normal go-to considerations. The intent was good."

The furor over blue-ribbon panels is not new, noted a former top academy official.

Years ago, committees would hole up at the Beverly Hilton Hotel over a weekend and select the winners from among the finalists. That system was abandoned around 2000 because the panels tended to be largely comprised of older or unemployed members. The rules were changed so that members could receive tapes at home and vote on their favorites.

"Now," griped the former academy official, "the process that didn't work for the winners has been adopted for the nominees."

In Pasadena on Saturday, Askin took exception to that characterization. "There were many, many executives from the studios and also from the networks that were on the blue-ribbon panels," he said.

Looking on the bright side, the show's executive producer, Ken Ehrlich, told the press gathering, "I don't want to say any controversy is good, but … if this engenders a little more interest in the show itself, I think whatever it is, it's going to wind up being positive."

Conan O'Brien, the award show's host, who was also on hand Saturday, quipped to critics: "We're planning more controversies between now and August, some stuff that's just going to blow your socks off."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-emmys24jul24,0,3115753,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

07-25-06, 02:53 AM

(From Marc Berman’s Tuesday, July 25, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Fox: Opening Executive Comments

Although Fox minus American Idol normally struggles in fourth quarter, the momentum is poised to continue as a result of the unexpected success of Prison Break and Bones, a more strategically planned Friday line-up (Nanny 911 and Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy), veteran hits like The Simpsons and Family Guy, and early buzz for new Brad Garrett sitcom ‘Til Death. And this, of course, is without American Idol and 24, which both return in January. Consider Fox’s primetime line-up this fall its strongest ever in the history of the network.

With that in mind, Fox entertainment president Peter Liguori (who sounds exactly like Alan Alda) was considerably relaxed and well-suited to answer questions like the current concern about serialized dramatic story-telling. “After the way Fox handled Reunion last year, why should viewers watch Vanished?,” was the first question.

“I think that’s a question that not only we face with Vanished, but frankly the whole industry is going to be facing this year,” said Liguori. “Given the proliferation of serialized shows, I think all of us have to ask the question: What do we do if these shows don't work? It's not an idea that we like to think about going into a season, but frankly we do have to have some plans that say: If these shows don't work, how do we wrap them up? How did we give the audience some satisfaction? And I think that there are ways to do it. Certainly you would love to have an episode that does wrap it up. Something like a Reunion, I think, is a little more challenging on that front because it spanned 20 years. But even if we did a conversation with the show runner and the creator and put that out online and had text on it, I do think the audience deserves some closure. And frankly, as an industry on the whole, I think we all have to start thinking about that.”

Since baseball in fourth quarter has always been a blessing and a curse for Fox, here is how the network has finally assembled some balance while not alienating fans of its regularly scheduled series:

“Last year, we premiered basically all of our shows before baseball, and it worked,” said Liguori. “We were able to use baseball as a better platform for certain shows. That seemed to work, so I basically think we just put the sports guys in a position to go out and aggressively cut a better deal.”

On the subject of the FCC and their standards of decency:

”The FCC rules create a chilling effect on creative. It is very difficult to manage vague FCC rules, and our goal as a network is to foster the highest levels of creativity. But the water's incredibly murky, and it's difficult. Fortunately, I think Fox is out there in the lead in terms of having this issue discussed. Secondly, we are working very closely with our show runners. And we are figuring it out."

In other Fox news, 24 will air continuously upon its return in January but the location remains a secret; the network is not ruling out additional episodes over 16 for returning The O.C. (if the ratings are respectable -- and that’s a big if); Hell’s Kitchen and So You Think You Can Dance will return next summer; and there could be schedule changes from the already announced midseason line-up pending the results in fourth quarter. As to the future of ageless The Simpsons:

“I think I am going to be dead and buried before The Simpsons ever gets removed from our air,” joked Liguori. “Plus, there is going to be a Simpsons movie, which we think will introduce a whole new, young audience to the franchise.”

On the Fox Panel Front:

STANDOFF
Tuesday 8 p.m.

-The Premise:
Two top-ranked negotiators in the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit (Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt) complicate their lives and careers by beginning a torrid affair that they agree to keep to themselves.

-Competition: Dancing With the Stars (ABC), NCIS (CBS), Friday Night Lights (NBC), Gilmore Girls (WB)

-Who Was on the Panel:
Ron Livingston, Rosemarie DeWitt, Raquel Alessi, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Michael Cudlitz, Gina Torres, and creator/executive producer Craig Silverstein.

-The Scoop:
Since many TV critics are already comparing Standoff to Moonlighting, here is how Craig Silverstein addressed that:

“I actually watched a couple of episodes of Moonlighting in preparation for writing this, and I realized that I couldn't really get away with Moonlighting anymore in terms of, you know, Bruce (Willis) and Cybill (Shepherd). They didn't care about the case. It was all about the car ride on the way over to the case, and I didn't think that audiences would sort of accept that anymore, so we had to find a different path.”

-The Reality:
With American Idol returning to the Tuesday 8 p.m. hour in midseason, Standoff is expected to be shipped to Monday at 8 p.m. in place of Prison Break. But will a freshman drama really have the legs to anchor an evening by midseason? Although Prison Break is an exception, don’t expect Standoff to be the rule. It’s very unlikely.”

-Chance of Survival for Standoff (On a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
7-1

-Did You Know?:
Ron Livingston’s first regularly scheduled series was in short-lived Molly Ringwald sitcom Townies in 1996. The co-star was Jenna Elfman pre-Dharma & Greg.

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

‘TIL DEATH
Thursday 8 p.m.

-The Premise:
Former Everybody Loves Raymond star Brad Garrett returns to his sitcom roots in this story of two passionate and idealistic newlyweds who move next door to a cynical middle-aged couple. Joely Fisher, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and Kat Foster co-star.

-Competition: Big Day (ABC), Survivor: Cook Islands (CBS), My Name Is Earl (NBC), Smallville (CW)

-Who Was on the Panel:
Brad Garrett, Joely Fisher, Kat Foster, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and executive producers Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa.

-The Scoop:
Remember the proposed Everybody Loves Raymond spin-off with Brad Garrett that was generating conversation last year? Here is why it never surfaced:

“As an actor, you want to do something new, you want to do something different,” said Brad Garrett. “And then, again, you say to yourself, wow, I could spin-off from the No. 1 comedy. This is very exciting, too. I was open to both. I wanted to really do something different, though. And for the spin-off to really happen there were some creative choices that really had to come to pass for it to make sense. We couldn't get the writers that Raymond had. They were all doing their own things. And it didn't make sense to do a spin-off with writers that weren't familiar with the other show. And it kept going back and forth, and that's when this script was sent. And I went, you know what, I think I'm supposed to do this. I know it sounds kind of cliché, but I think this is what I was supposed to do. “

-The Reality:
Unlike ABC, which considers over-the-creativity the recipe for beating the sitcom blues, Fox was wise to offer this simple and generic tale of a bickering aging married couple that we all can relate to. With Brad Garrett basically playing Ray Romano’s Ray from Everybody Loves Raymond and haggard Joely Fisher a clone of Patricia Heaton’s Debra, this familiarity may very well succeed. Move over My Name Is Earl – ‘Til Death is now the comedy to beat Thursday at 8 p.m.

-Chance of Survival for ‘Til Death (On a scale of 1-1 to 10-1): 2-1

-Did You Know?:
Prior to Everybody Loves Raymond, Brad Garrett was a regular in two short-lived sitcoms: CBS’ First Impressions in 1988, and NBC’s The Pursuit of Happiness in 1995. ‘Til Death is the first comedy where he plays the lead.

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

VANISHED
Monday 9:00 p.m.

-The Premise:
The investigation of the missing wife of a powerful U.S. Senator from Georgia uncovers numerous mysteries and unknown conspiracies. The cast includes Gale Harold, John Patrick Amedori, Chris Egan, Rebecca Gayheart, Joanne Kelly, and John Allen Nelson.

-Lead-in: Prison Break
-Competition: The Bachelor: Rome (ABC), Two and a Half Men and The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS), Heroes (NBC), Runaway (CW)

-Who Was on the Panel:
John Patrick Amedori, Chris Egan, Rebecca Gayheart, Gale Harold, Robert Hoffman, Josh Hopkins, Joanne Kelly, Margarita Levieva, Penelope Ann Miller, Esai Morales, Ming-Na, John Allen Nelson, and executive producers Josh Berman, Mimi Leder and Paul Redford.

-The Scoop:
In the event you are wondering how NBC’s Kidnapped compares to Fox’s Vanished, according to Josh Berman:

“I haven't seen that pilot, but I understand that Kidnapped is just a straightforward kidnapping. This show is about so much more. It's about a family that's interrupted by a kidnapping. And we fall in love with these characters. These characters have a lot of stories to tell, and there are a lot of secrets that will unfold. And it can certainly go beyond one season.”

-The Reality:
Although the over-emphasis on new dramas focusing on a missing or runaway character could potentially dilute Vanished, the flow out of sleeper hit Prison Break is flawless. And the competition, particularly ABC’s should-have-been-benched The Bachelor, is not that severe. So consider Vanished a solid way to keep the time period warm for the return of 24 in January.

-Chance of Survival for Vanished (On a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
4-1

-Did You Know?:
Victor Garber’s first regularly scheduled TV series was a lightweight summer CBS detective drama called I Had Three Wives, about a private investigator who joins forces with his three ex-wives to fight crime. It lasted four weeks.

Press Tour Tidbits:
Notes of Interest from Fox

-More Hell’s Kitchen and So You Think You Can Dance:
Fox has renewed non-scripted summer favorites Hell’s Kitchen and So You Think You Can Dance for a third season, with both expected to return next summer after completing their current runs.

-Celebrity Duets Lines Up Musical Talent:
Upcoming Fox reality/competition Celebrity Duets, which debuts on Tuesday, Aug. 29, will pair established recording artists with celebrities not famous for their musical abilities. Musical talent lined-up for the show include Cyndi Lauper, Smokey Robinson, Randy Travis, Brian McKnight, Dionne Warwick, Michael Bolton, Richard Marx, Macy Gray, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan and Kenny Loggins.

-America’s Most Wanted Heads to the White House:
Fox reality stalwart America’s Most Wanted will broadcast from the White House on Saturday, July 29 in honor of President Bush’s anticipated signing of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which will create a national sex offender registry. This Thursday, July 27 will mark the 25th anniversary of the abduction and murder of Adam Walsh, the six-year-old son of host John Walsh, who turned his tragedy into a passion for improving society.

-Coming Up on The Simpsons:
Animated classic The Simpsons, which enters season No. 18 in September, will feature the voices of Kiefer Sutherland, Natalie Portman, Fran Drescher, Betty White, Dr. Phil, Harry Hamlin, Jon Lovitz and Sopranos mobsters Michael Imperioli and Joe Pantoliano.

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

fredfa

07-25-06, 02:58 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
"Vanished,'' and Fox goes legit

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News in his blog

* Sometimes on The Tour, the creators and cast members of a new series really help themselves with press sessions that suggest the show will be funnier, better or more interesting than writers thought after viewing the pilots. And then, occasionally, a new series will crash and burn right before reporters' very eyes.

That's pretty much what happened today with Fox's new "Vanished,'' a thriller about the disappearance of a senator's wife that gets the comfy time slot behind "Prison Break'' on Monday nights come next month. (It is scheduled to occupy the hour until "24'' returns in January.)

Most writers thought the show's pilot was pretty good, with some strong writing and an intriguing premise. They also thought it felt a lot like NBC's new "Kidnapped'' (the teenage son of a rich and powerful businessman gets snatched). Well, now we know it's nothing like "Kidnapped'' but we're not sure what it is.

Fox is now running promos that talk about a centurys-old mystery and conspiracy. But there was nothing to suggest in the pilot that the series is about to go all Rambaldi (see "Alias,'' destruction of) on us. Asked to explain what the hell was up with that, series creator Josh Berman (above) didn't exactly inspire confidence as he tried to give a hint of where the show was going without giving away details.

It ended up sounding like Berman and the other writers had no real idea where they were headed (the cast certainly looked like they were in the dark) and, at a minimum, certainly couldn't give us the sketchiest of outlines of what "Vanished'' really will be.

As one writer said after the session: "I went into the room liking that show -- and came out not liking it.''

* And, finally, when did Fox go legit, getting as stable as CBS? It used to be Fox could always be counted on to present something thoroughly outrageous during The Tour. (Usually, it came from the gorilla TV reality division run by the legendary Mike Darnell. Remember "Temptation Island''?) But its days here are pretty staid: lots of returning, well-regarded, successful shows plus some new ones that are hardly likely to pull anyone's chain. Sigh. Makes you nostalgic for the good ol' days.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/charlie_mccollum/index.html

dline

07-25-06, 03:07 AM

You have to hand it to the TCA, most of its awards seem, to me at least, to be heads and shoulders above the Emmy nominations.

There is one glaring example of total ineptness, however. "Frontline" wins the news award again?

Come on, critics. News awards don't have to go to PBS.

And this year would have been the perfect time for a joint award: to (in alphabetical order) CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC for their incredible coverage of Hurricane Katrina, the ineptness of government at all levels and the hundreds of stories of courage they all brought us for weeks last year.

That combined coverage moved us far beyond what Frontline did last season.

And for the TCA not to figure out some way to honor the exceptional work of all the cable news networks borders on Emmy-level incompetence, it seems to me.One of two things may be at work:

1) Sympathy for PBS producers who do great work while getting far less fame or fortune in return. In fact, "in return," some in Congress want to gut the place.

2) A general disdain for what cable news has become, especially when it is NOT covering something like the hurricane. The critics probably see that as the disaster wanes, it's back to Brad, Angelina, Natalee, et al. They don't see Frontline going that way.

That said, those who covered the hurricane probably deserved more respect, along with the Gulf Coast TV and radio staffs who continued to work despite the horrid conditions after Katrina.

fredfa

07-25-06, 04:40 AM

dline: you make very good points. Probably right on the money.

Mine, probably less well outlined was simply this: if the TCA members are going to rail against the ignorance of the Emmy procedures, they should take a look at themselves, too.

If they truly know TV, they would have immediately understood the heroic work the cable news channels did. And it was even more remarkable in the context of their own news channel culture, which, as you rightfully note, quickly returns to mssing girls in Aruba, Michael Jackson, car chases in LA, etc.

Frankly, I think they do look down their noses at those channels. And in this case, in my mind, that caused them to make an egregious mistake. I mean Katrina coverage wasn't even nominated! That is as bad as any of the stupid mistakes made by the Emmy folks.

DoubleDAZ

07-25-06, 09:38 AM

Well, we all know there are personality conflicts and politics that get in the way of any nomination process, so none of it is purely subjective on merit only IMHO.

fredfa

07-25-06, 10:18 AM

The TV Column
At the Press Tour, Yearning for Closure
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, July 25, 2006; C01

PASADENA, Calif., July 24 "After the way Fox scrapped serialized murder mystery 'Reunion' last year, why should viewers watch Fox's new serialized mystery drama 'Vanished'?" wondered a TV critic at the start of a Q&A session with Fox Entertainment chief Peter Liguori, getting to the nub of the Serialized-Drama drama that's been going on since Summer TV Press Tour 2006 started a decade ago.

"It's a question that not only we face with 'Vanished' but frankly the whole industry is going to be facing this year, given the proliferation of serialized shows," said Liguori, who, as one TV critic sitting in The Power Strip noted, often sounds like he's swallowed a dictionary. "Proliferation" -- paleeze.

"If these shows don't work how do we wrap them up?" he asked, and then he answered his own question:

"One, you'd love to have an episode that does wrap it up," he said. Or, there's Option No. 2 -- which has the advantage of being, oh, say $3 million cheaper -- in which someone has a "conversation with the show-runner and the creator and puts that out online."

"I do think the audience deserves some closure," Liguori continued. "If some of these serialized shows are canceled and there's no explanation, there's no satisfaction, I'd have fear for next year when a bunch of serialized shows come out. Will audiences now be really gun-shy about committing to these shows?"

One Power Strip critic, reflecting the general cranky-pants-iness of the room, said it was nice to know Liguori feels everybody's pain but what exactly is he doing about it? Is he having conversations with producers about an exit strategy?

"No, I'm not having conversations at this point about wrap-up strategy," Liguori said, while assuring critics he's working with a bunch of experienced show-runners who understand they owe viewers some conclusion and "we're going to offer them many opportunities to do that, be it online, be it other digital platforms."

Liguori, who has a sneaky streak we didn't know about, said he might appeal to show-runners' "selfishness," telling them that mopping up their canceled serialized drama today is good for their next serialized drama. "So I think that's an effective dialogue that's not going to be a difficult one," he said.

"Reunion" didn't have a mop-up online because the show spanned 20 years and the idea was "too daunting" to the show's creators, Liguori said.

Fox does have some new nonserialized shows on its fall prime-time lineup, such as Ron Livingstone's hot-hostage-negotiator-couple series "Standoff" and Victor Garber as a slick lawyer in "Justice," as well as sitcoms with actual laugh tracks, such as Brad Garrett's " 'Til Death" and ensemble slacker sitcom "Happy Hour." One critic wanted to know what's up with that.

"We did want to make sure we had some portfolio management," said Liguori, coughing up a little Merriam-Webster. It became clearer when he added that it's "a little bit of us zigging while the other guys are zagging, which happens to be fairly Fox-like."

And, because no Summer TV Press Tour would be complete without a nod to the Federal Communications Commission, one critic asked Liguori how concerned he is about "the FCC vagaries and their standards of decency" and the recent increase in fines that can be slapped on stations.

"Quite concerned," he responded.

"Let's make no bones about it. The FCC rules create a chilling effect on creative," he continued. "It is very difficult to manage vague FCC rules. The water's incredibly murky and it's difficult.

"The fines that are being levied, you know, none of these businesses -- Fox, NBC, CBS, any of us -- none of our business plans are designed to take on such huge fines. And I've got to tell you I personally feel blessed that our show-runners understand the situation and are open to the dialogue and we're figuring it out."

• • • • • • • • • • •

One of Fox's new serialized dramas, "Vanished," is about the search for a prominent Georgia senator's beautiful wife, who has inexplicably disappeared. As the search for her unravels one of the nation's most prominent families, it also exposes evidence that could rock the foundations of American society, Fox says. Everyone is a suspect, everyone has a secret, no one is safe.

On the other hand, it stars Gale Harold from "Queer as Folk."

Anyway, exec producer Josh Berman was asked if he thought shows such as his about government/conspiracies were popular these days for a reason. Berman, who has, like, four degrees -- from Princeton, Stanford and the University of Sydney -- said "living in this post-9/11 world is scary" and there is now a distrust of our government that they're tapping into -- "the puppet master so to speak."

One critic naturally wanted to know what cast member Josh Hopkins, who is the son of former Republican congressman Larry Hopkins of Kentucky, thought of all the "many corrupt" and "coldhearted" politicians we're seeing on the news these days.

"My dad's a jerk," Hopkins responded.

"Kidding!" he added.

He told critics there are "plenty of honest politicians that get into the field because they want to better society and plenty that don't get into it for that reason" but instead for "selfish reasons."

Asked if politicians are getting a bad rap, Hopkins said "yeah," reiterating his position that a lot of them go into politics to "help the world and help society, but my dad wasn't -- he's a jerk.

"I'm kidding!" he then added.

This time no one believed him. Protesteth too much.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/24/AR2006072401270_pf.html

fredfa

07-25-06, 10:23 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Garrett finally gets spotlight

The actor best known as Raymond's brother gets his own sitcom
By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal television writer Tue, Jul. 25, 2006

PASADENA - Brad Garrett has come back to sitcoms, but not in the way you might have expected.

As Everybody Loves Raymond came to an end, there was a lot of talk about spinning Garrett's character, the long-suffering Robert Barone, into his own show. But that didn't work out, Garrett said Monday, mainly because he couldn't get the key Raymond writers to work in the sequel.

Garrett pursued other jobs, including a stand-up comedy tour with Raymond star Ray Romano, and playing Hugh Grant's manager in the upcoming movie Music and Lyrics By.

On the other hand, Garrett said, ``I have a weird film career. I'm very picky and I'm not in demand.''

Then he got the script to 'Til Death, a sitcom premiering Sept. 7 on Fox.

Garrett plays Eddie Stark, long married to Joy Stark (Joely Fisher), forming a couple whose jaded approach to marriage is a counterpoint to their happy, newlywed neighbors (Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster).

It's not a reprise of Robert, Garrett said at a 'Til Death press conference. ``I knew that if I wanted to go back into television, I would want to do a character that was very far removed from Robert on Raymond, which I felt this character was.''

He did have one good reminder of the earlier show. 'Til Death ``reminded me of a lot of the writing on Raymond, as far as it was believable stuff, it was stuff we were all familiar with, and that's what attracted me to the role.''

Eddie is a character with echoes of another Garrett performance -- his starring in a TV movie about Jackie Gleason's life. Even Garrett conceded the similarities between the Eddie/Joy relationship and the one Gleason and Audrey Meadows had in The Honeymooners.

Like Gleason's Ralph Kramden, Garrett said that Eddie ``is a flawed guy who loves his wife and doesn't really know how to show it, is really a big kid who won't grow up. All the little schemes, all the little ideas, at the end of the day, are really just for her. And that will be seen down the line.''

At the same time, Garrett said, ``It's really the first character that, I think -- and I'm not proud to say this -- is very close to me.''

Yet it wasn't custom-made for Garrett. 'Til Death creator Josh Goldsmith said that he and his co-creator/wife Cathy Yuspa just set out to create ``a larger-than-life character... from our own experiences and our own lives.'' (Yuspa added that the model was her own parents.)

``But when (Garrett's) agent called and said he was interested,'' Goldsmith added, ``he was the only person I could picture from that moment.''

Buckle up, then. Garrett hopes to have more creative input in 'Til Death than he had at Raymond, and his humor can bite.

At Fox's announcement of its fall 2006 lineup in May, Garrett startled people with some blunt jokes about American Idol's Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest, his new network colleagues.

He now says it was ``just comedy.... They were great sports about it. And they have a much bigger career than I do. So I think that's why they were fine with it.''

And it sounds as if he would like Eddie and Joy's marriage to be even more combative than it is in the series pilot.

``I don't think you really want to watch a marriage that works on television (comedy),'' he said. ``I don't know how funny that would be. I think there are different degrees of dysfunctional marriage. A marriage is a blending of neuroses. And Joely is incredibly neurotic, as I am, and I think it's just finding that.

``But I think, you know, from the beginning of television, there have been couples that were caustic -- in going back to your Gleason question. So we're not reinventing the wheel here. We're just putting, hopefully, our spin on it.''

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/columnists/rd_heldenfels/15116053.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

07-25-06, 10:28 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Unlike Upfronts, Brad Garrett kills at TCA

By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com in the “Critical Eye” TV Press Tour blog Monday, July 24th, 2006

Back in May, “’Til Death” series regular Brad Garrett raised a few eyebrows with his blue comedic rant in New York at the Fox advertiser upfront presentation, where he skewered “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest by suggesting they were lovers and that judge Paula Abdul was insane.

At the show’s press tour session Monday afternoon, one critic wanted to know if he had to send flowers to the network’s V.I.P. talent.

“Well, we’ve been together four years,” Garrett said of Seacrest to laughs. “That’s really just comedy.”

“I probably shouldn’t do comedy during the day, I learned,” he added. “They were great sports about it and they have much bigger careers than I do.”

Garrett was in rare form, graciously agreeing to do his Bill Cosby imitation for one critic, an imitation that cracked up his co-star Joely Fisher.

Another critic asked Garrett if he thought his co-star Eddie Kaye Thomas looks like Garrett’s old boss, “Everybody Loves Raymond” executive producer Phil Rosenthal.

Garrett eyed Thomas, and said he saw a resemblance.

“Is it good,” Thomas asked.

“No, it’s not good,” Garrett shot back.

“There’s a little Phil in all of us,” he said to the critic.

Garrett definitely was working the room, even with a critic who looked like she was sneaking outside to make a cell phone call.

“Ma’am, it will get better, please,” he said, entreating her to stay. “We only did a pilot, it will take time.”

Ron Livingston: Successful ‘Sex’ Alumnus

At the press tour session for his new Fox hostage negotiator drama “Standoff” Monday morning, series regular Ron Livingston said his guest stint on HBO’s “Sex and the City” was a good career move.
“Being one of Carrie Bradshaw’s boyfriends is the romantic lead stamp of approval I didn’t walk away with from ‘Office Space,’” he said.

One critic asked creator and executive producer Craig Silverstein if he was inspired by the 1980s ABC drama “Moonlighting,” which, like “Standoff,” involves a working couple juggling their sexual tension with the job.

“I watched a couple ‘Moonlighting’s’ in preparation for this,” he said, but noted that series was solely about the characters Dave and Maddie’s relationship. “We couldn’t get away with ‘Moonlighting’ anymore. They didn’t care about the case.”

While many action-heavy series build to the big explosion scenes, “Standoff’s” drama and tension will come when big events involving hostages are averted, Silverstein said.
“It’s more cerebral action,” he said. “It’s how do we stop those big sequences from erupting so that when they do, it feels like an even bigger deal.”

http://blogs.tvweek.com/?cat=5

fredfa

07-25-06, 10:29 AM

TV Notebook
Sometimes You Hit the Wall, Sometimes the Wall Hits You

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog Today is not only Fox's last day of the press tour, it's mine. I will be flying home tomorrow and gladly so. All my writing plans for yesterday evening gave way to an unexpected but necessary blast of sleep -- the kind where you lie down for a moment and wake up five or six hours later, then go back to sleep again.

Some of this came from having a day that felt dull. I managed to carve a column out of a press conference with Brad Garrett, but there were other stretches when it felt as if little was happening worth paying attention to. The only time I felt even a little aggressive was when I noticed that ''Vanished'' creator Josh Berman listed his tenure at ''CSI'' in his bio but had left out last season's short-lived ''Killer Instinct.'' Since I remembered him from that press tour, I gave him a chance to make amends during the press conference by asking what lessons he had learned from his previous series experience. But he talked only about ''CSI.''

Once the press conference was over, I asked him what he learned from the other show. ''I only wrote the pilot,'' he said. ''That was my involvement. I was contractually obligated to go back to 'CSI.' '' With a laugh, he added, ''So I learned that a show can get canceled if I'm not working on it.''

Asked if the show lost the direction he had wanted for it, Berman said, ''Yes. You know, you need a guiding creative force on a show and I don't think there are too many people out there who have the exact same vision. I like the people that they brought in to replace me very much. I thought they had a great vision for the show but it wasn't the same direction I wanted to take.''

Part of my weariness may also have been sugar shock; one of Fox's press tour traditions is putting multiple containers of candy at the tables where we sit, and I found myself compulsively chomping on Skittles. (My pre-tour vows to eat right and exercise regularly were kept inconsistently.) But mostly I think I was just plain tired after being in Pasadena for two weeks and change. Sure, it's nice to be in a fancy hotel and to see stars, and to get all sorts of material for future stories. No complaints about that. And I've now had enough rest to get back on the horse today (so expect more posts here). But I am also thinking ahead -- to the plane flight and to home and family.

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

fredfa

07-25-06, 10:45 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Picking up after the 'Prison Break’

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In”

PASADENA, Calif. -- It's become apparent there are a couple different ways to blog this press tour. Dish out every bread crumb dropped, posting a dozen times daily, or wait until you have enough crumbs for at least a snack. I've generally chosen the latter, because if I blog every funny/stupid/outrageous thing that's said, I'll be so busy writing I won't have time to pay attention during the press conferences, which is sort of the whole point of being here.

So despite drips and drabs of news about "Prison Break" last week (John Billingsley won't return as the president's thought-to-be-dead brother! Patricia Wettig won't be back as his sister!) it really made more sense to wait until the "Prison Break" producers and cast were here today to get more of the whole story.

Series creator Paul Scheuring said because Billingsley's face was never shown, the role will be recast seamlessly. As for Wettig, "She's not out of the picture yet," Scheuring said, explaining the the president will continue to be an off-screen part of the story. My guess is Scheuring hopes Wettig's new series, ABC's "Brothers & Sisters," will tank quickly so he can get her back for more "Prison Break."

With the prisoners escaped, the prison will fade into the background and the show will change its focus to the manhunt for the escaped prisoners.

"Because we delineated in the first season that each guy has a unique end game, it doesn't make any sense for them to run around in an amorphous mass," Scheuring said. "They will go toward their respective end games and fates and will pop back into each other's story. There are things they need from each other."

Star Wentworth Miller, who plays escapee Michael Scofield, spent his senior year in high school in Western Pennsylvania, graduating from Quaker Valley High in 1990. He said his character's relationship with the other prisoners will change now that they're on the run, thanks to his plan to help them escape.

"Now that we're outside, there's no reason for anyone to listen to Michael anymore," Miller said. "My objective is simply to get my brother to Mexico as quickly and safely as possible and I think the conflict for my character will be what's going on between Michael and Lincoln. Lincoln has [his son] LJ and [ex-girlfriend] Veronica to think about and that will keep him from scurrying across the border as quickly as his brother desires."

Scheuring said Lincoln will take a more dominant role in season two.

"Lincoln was in a box and Michael had to save him," Scheuring said. "Now that we're out on the streets in a world that's more of Lincoln's forte."

Michael will still have some say in what happens as the tattoo on his back, which held secret information that aided in the prison break, contains puzzles and codes that will help them disappear. It won't be easy though. Vengeful prison guard captain Brad Bellick (Wade Williams) is chasing the escapees.

"Bellick has his shotgun cocked and he's gonna do some kicking," Williams said. "I've give them two episodes and they'll be back in prison."

(Scheuring said that won't happen.)

The new season will cover just three weeks with each episode representing approximately a single day. After that, who knows'

"The idea was it was always going to be a 44-episode narrative," Scheuring said. "With success comes season three. So now we're framing the first two seasons as chapters one and two of a trilogy."

• • • • • • • • • • •

[b]Dodging your bad credits:

A reporter asked Josh Berman, creator of Fox's new fall kidnapping drama "Vanished," about what he learned from his past TV series experience. Berman started talking about his time as an executive producer on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," the only series listed in his bio. But I suspect the questioner actually wanted to know what Berman learned from creating "Killer Instinct," a ratings and critical dud from last fall.

• • • • • • • • • • •

FNC makes an appearance:

A Fox News Channel press conference was bound to be awkward since many TV critics are on record dismissing Fox News Channel as not exactly as fair and balanced as it proclaims. Just to be antagonistic, the channel's unsubtle PR department ran a reel of critics' negative quotes from when the channel launched in 1996. Yeah, we get it, the naysayers were wrong.

I never really had a huge beef with FNC because I never watched the channel all that much, or at least not enough to detect bias from newsreaders, until after this incident several years ago. I didn't share a real dislike for FNC until they blacklisted me.

Here's what happened: I think someone at the clip service that sends network publicity departments any articles that mention their programs pasted up a TV notes column incorrectly, making it look like I had written something negative (about the channel's ratings, I believe), when I had not. It was a wire story; I wrote another item in that TV notes column. I contacted FNC's PR department to clear up the misunderstanding, but they didn't care. I was on the blacklist and any time I've called on stories since then, they've ignored my requests for comment to the point that I've pretty much quit calling.

Even if I had written something to make me "an enemy of the channel," to blacklist a journalist is pretty unprofessional (FNC has blacklisted other TV writers, too). PR people have to deal with negative publicity all the time. It's just par for the course. That I didn't even write anything unflattering just makes the channel seem exceedingly petty.

The question of blacklisting came up during the press conference and Fox News Channel chairman Roger Ailes said he personally does not blacklist reporters.

"I'll talk to anybody our media relations people suggest we talk to," Ailes said. Note the key phrase "that our media relations people suggest we talk to." So he lets others play bad cop? "There are times if we're treated totally unfairly and people come in with total bias there's no use talking, I suppose that would happen."

Or maybe when they just can't admit a mistake has been made.

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

fredfa

07-25-06, 11:26 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Fox Beefing Up Foreign Coverage

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 7/24/2006

Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes says his organization is beefing up foreign coverage as international conflicts continue to intensify, but he doesn’t see his proposed cable business network going forward in 2006.

“We are beefing up our foreign coverage, not cutting it back,” Ailes says.

Ailes also says he likes the idea of having anchors in the field as well as reporters.

“I am anxious to put all our anchors and reporters out there to cover it,” he says of the current conflict in the Middle East.

Regarding the business channel, he told reporters there was no update on its progress.

“It probably wont happen this year,” he says. “After that it could happen, and we are in active negotiations.”

Ailes says that gaining enough carriage for the network to make financial sense continues to be the obstacle to a launch.

“When we have the distribution in place, we will go ahead,” he says. “We are still looking at it. I have developed a business plan; we haven’t pushed it any further than that.”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6355931.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

07-25-06, 11:44 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
ABC Decides It Makes Strategic Sense to Try to Crush Emmys Like a Bug -- Squish!

By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline” July 25, 2006

So it seems that ABC -- its feelings hurt after "Lost" and '"Desperate Housewives" got shut out of Emmy nominations in the big categories -- has decided to adopt a strategy of, "If you can't join 'em, beat 'em!". In its knee-jerk wisdom, the network will now counterprogram the Emmys the night of Aug. 27 by tossing on the broadcast of "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" opposite the annual telecast on NBC.

This naturally obliterates the unwritten rule that you simply don't try to beat a program that after all is honoring some of your own. Despite the "Lost" and "Housewives" snubs, ABC still has "Grey's Anatomy" up for outstanding drama, Sandra Oh ("Grey's Anatomy') and Candice Bergen ("Boston Legal") duking it out for supporting drama actress and "Dancing With the Stars" in the running for the reality-competition prize, among many others. ABC hauled in 63 total Emmy noms, more than any other broadcast network. For those of you keeping score, this hardly represents a complete and total diss.

But with apologies to women, Hell obviously hath no fury like a network entertainment president scorned. ABC's Stephen McPherson was mad as all get-out and somebody was gonna have to pay, dammit! He made no secret of his being upset at the way the nominations went down and obviously decided to lash out, using "Pirates" not as, say, a sweepstime ratings generator but an object of revenge. Good business decision there Steve-O, blowing off one of your few valuable theatricals in late August. As long as the Emmys suffer for their perceived sins, evidently, it's all good.

What McPherson may be missing here -- in fact, what I'm pretty much positive he's not getting -- is that this doesn't represent any kind of payback with the TV Academy. All he's really doing is punishing his own network's nominees while at the same time showing his contempt for the competition. It's not the kind of thing that's likely to engender goodwill with anyone. And here's a prediction: once this petulant snit subsides, McPherson will come to his senses and change his mind for the good of his nominees, his network, his bottom line...and his reputation.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/

fredfa

07-25-06, 11:47 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Fox's Liguori chastens FCC

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter July 25, 2006

PASADENA -- As Fox, CBS and NBC are locked into a legal battle with the FCC over the commission's indecency rules, Fox's entertainment president Peter Liguori had some harsh words for the media regulators on Monday.

"The FCC rules create a chilling effect on creativity," he said during Fox's portion of Television Critics Assn.'s summer press tour. "The rules are murky and none of (broadcast networks') business plans are designed to handle such huge fines."

Fox's record proposed fine of $1.18 million for the reality series "Married by America" was eclipsed earlier this year by the $3.6 million sanction proposed for CBS' drama "Without a Trace."

In what has become a recurring theme at this press tour, Fox joined the club of underdogs on Thursday night.

"There's no doubt about it -- it is going to be one monster competitive night on television," Liguori said of Thursday night, which will see ABC's powerhouse "Grey's Anatomy" go head to head with CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" at 9 p.m. "Everyone is an underdog," he added.

The network is easing its way into the killer Thursday 9 p.m. time slot with "Celebrity Duets," a singing competition which will air in the time period in the fourth quarter.

On Monday, Fox announced 13 of the professional singers to be partnered with amateur singing celebrities, including Cyndi Lauper, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Brian McKnight, Macy Gray, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Richard Marx and Michael Bolton.

Liguori credited the network's hit reality series "American Idol" and especially the appearance of Prince in the show's most recent season finale for "opening the door" for big-name singers to take part in reality singing competitions.

Because of the huge success of "Idol," Liguori said he was a surprised by how poorly ABC's summer singing competition, "The One," has performed. Given how vocal ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson has been about Fox's reality guru Mike Darnell's penchant for creating copycats of other networks' formats, including ABC's "Wife Swap" and "Supernanny," Liguori threw a salvo at his ABC counterpart over "The One," an "Idol" lookalike.

"I think McPherson owes Mike an apology," Liguori told reporters after the session.

To promote "Duets," Fox has used its successful summer reality shows "So You Think You Can Dance," which will conclude its run with a two-part season finale on Aug. 9 and Aug. 16, and "Hell's Kitchen." Both series have been picked up for a third season, the network announced Monday.

"The O.C." is slated to return to the Thursday 9 p.m. slot in November with an order for 16 episodes to run through the end of March.

While Liguori said he thinks the "O.C." loyalists will stick with the show in the face of fierce competition and an order for more episodes is possible, the network also is working on contingency plans, looking at the drama pilots "Drive" and "Beyond" as well as several reality concepts to fill the time slot come April.

Liguori also talked about the importance of having plans for how to wrap up serialized dramas that don't go the distance. At the other networks' presentations the past week, the network's "Reunion" was often used as an example of a canceled serialized drama that didn't have a proper conclusion and thus might deter viewers from investing in serialized dramas in the future.

"I think the audience deserves some closure," Liguori said.

Also on Monday, Fox announced celebrity couple du jour Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook will host "Teen Choice 2006," which will air on the network Aug. 20.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002878518

fredfa

07-25-06, 12:17 PM

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

fredfa

07-25-06, 12:19 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Digging deeper on 'Treasure Hunters'

NBC 'Amazing Race' wannabe sinks further
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jul 25, 2006

When a TV concept catches, you can count on a handful of imitators popping up immediately on other networks. This summer, those wannabes have proven that viewers won’t stand for substitutes. Two shows that mimic already successful reality shows have been particularly disappointing.

“Treasure Hunters,” NBC’s “Amazing Race”-esque globe-trotting reality competition, dipped to a new series low of 1.7 in adults 18-49 last night, down 6 percent from last week’s 1.8 and 26 percent from a 2.3 average just two weeks ago.

ABC’s “The One: Making of a Music Star,” in the mold of “American Idol,” debuted to even worse ratings last week.

“Hunters” has been hurt by other things than the retread factor, however. NBC debuted the show on a Sunday and intended to move it to Monday right away, but that was delayed for a week when the Stanley Cup final went to seven games.

Also, the show airs against Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” in the 9 p.m. timeslot, which “Kitchen” has dominated. Last night’s episode averaged a 3.4, 0.9 ahead of second-place CBS and doubling “Hunters.”

Meanwhile, CBS took the lead for the night among 18-49s with a 2.6 rating and 8 share, edging Fox at 2.5/8, ABC at 2.1/6, NBC at 1.6/5, Univision at 1.5/5, UPN at 0.8/2 and WB at 0.6/2.

At 8 p.m., CBS was No. 1 at 2.4 for reruns of "King of Queens" and "How I Met Your Mother," followed by ABC's 2.2 for "Wife Swap," Fox's 1.6 for a "Kitchen" rerun, NBC's 1.5 for "Project Runway," Univision's 1.8 for "La Fea Mas Bella," UPN's 0.7 for "One on One" and "All of Us" reruns, and WB's 0.6 for a "7th Heaven" repeat.

At 9 p.m., Fox's "Kitchen" led at 3.4, followed by CBS's "Two and a Half Men" and "Mother" reruns at 2.5, ABC's "CMA Music Festival" at 1.9, NBC's "Treasure Hunters" at 1.7, Univision's "Barrera de Amor" at 1.5, UPN's "Girlfriends" and "Half & Half" repeats at 0.8, and WB's "Heaven" rerun at 0.6.

At 10 p.m., CBS climbed back to No. 1 with a 3.0 for a "CSI: Miami" rerun, followed by ABC's 2.3 for "CMA," NBC's 1.6 for a "Medium" repeat and Univision's 1.1 for "Cristina."

Among households, CBS was No. 1 again with a 5.6 rating and 9 share, ahead of ABC at 4.4/7, Fox at 3.4/6, NBC at 2.9/5, Univision at 1.8/3, UPN at 1.3/2 and WB at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_6211.asp

dline

07-25-06, 01:04 PM

It looks like the contentious battle over media ownership rules is about to resume.

The FCC announced today in a press release (.pdf) (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-266033A1.pdf) that it is opening comment on its review of ownership rules. The Commission tried to change the rules back in 2003, but the Third Circuit Court of Appeals put some of those changes on hold.

In today's announcement, the FCC says it seeks comment on issues such as the local TV and radio ownership limits, the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban, and the so-called "UHF discount" which reduces how much a UHF station counts toward the national ownership cap.

Source: www.fcc.gov

GeorgeLV

07-25-06, 03:07 PM

fredfa

07-25-06, 03:18 PM

It will be interesting to see, from a purely political point of view, what happens here.

If the FCC really pushes through new rules which allow media concentrations to get even stronger, a new Congress, especially if Domocrats win control of one or both houses, might just retaliate by passing far more restrictive rules.

It is going to be a very interesting time to watch legislation wned its way through Cpngress for the next several years.

fredfa

07-25-06, 03:49 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Not-so-"Happy Hour":

Five signs Fox needs to admit it has a problem
By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic in her TV blog

1. You think "Happy Hour," an appalling Thursday night series whose star looks like he's familiar with the concept of waking up in one's own sick, is funny. By the way, this sitcom's panel used to be in the afternoon, when happy hour is acceptable. But a session on Simon Cowell's "Duets" dropped out, and something had to fill the hole. Bring on "Happy Hour," Fox says. There's a winning idea!

2. The idea of surviving this panel made the majority of critics opt for the pool, where drowning is a real risk, or sleep in, where the down pillows could asphyxiate them. Preferable dangers to this session.

3. So, at 9:45 a.m., you start sending cocktail waitresses around the ballroom to ply those brave enough to be here with mimosas, Bloody Marys and Irish Coffees. Whiskey, vodka and champagne before 10 a.m. Nope, no issues there, guys.

4. Our waitress says in a voice devoid of joy, "It's happy hour, kids. Get on board." She's trying to mask the angry. I'd be ticked off too if I worked for Fox in the hopes of launching a career in the industry, and was reduced to slinging booze to critics who only recently downed their eggs and bakey. Nearby a waiter/page is giving the hard sell to a woman noble enough to hold out. "Are you sure? Everyone else is doing it." She gives in and snatches the whiskey drink, which she is now hanging on to as if her life depends on it.

5. Perhaps Fox doesn't realize that alcohol is a depressant. Probably not the best idea to serve it to a room of people who, on the last day of Fox's Press Tour turn, are feeling mighty depressed. Between the network employees maniacally laughing on cue in the back and the early morning drinking, I'm looking around the room and seeing a lot of faces sunken into hands.

Off to N.A. (Networks Anonymous) with you, Fox. On the other hand, I can't really take the high road here. In front of me is a mimosa that I'm eyeing like it's Taye Diggs in silk pajamas. But I won't give in. Nope. I won't.

Help!

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/print.asp?entryID=105320

flint350

07-25-06, 04:05 PM

FNC makes an appearance:

A Fox News Channel press conference was bound to be awkward since many TV critics are on record dismissing Fox News Channel as not exactly as fair and balanced as it proclaims.

I always find these kind of blanket and one-direction-only comments about FNC to be rather funny. I get the Pittsburgh guy's point about being wrongly blacklisted- BUT - he starts the entire piece with the above quote and how so many "critics" find FNC to be biased. Well, that may well be true (the right-leaning bias) - but it almost always neglects the fact that the major 3 nets are so heavily biased the other way. Dan Rather couldn't have been more open with his biases and personal agendas at CBS, Katie Couric and Brokaw - same for NBC. Jennings feelings were also well known and often espoused at ABC before his untimely death. My only point to the Pittsburgh whiner (and his like) is that this is a two way street. And FNC is only one player among 3 other large players, plus CNN, MSNBC, etc. I've seen FNC interviews where they challenge Republican and Conservative guests' opinions pretty openly. But, even when Pres. Clinton was mid-scandal/s, I don't recall any of the FNC folks openly dismissing him as a person and President the way Rather and Couric have with Bush. Brokaw's latest foray into "documentary" on warming, a la Al Gore, is already being shown to be full of factual inaccuracy and supported by left-leaning zealots. Zealots of either stripe are usually mistaken/inaccurate in many of their assessments by virtue of their zealotry.

My only real point is- I am not defending Fox, but the others are at least as biased and it simply doesn't get the same attention. Also, I hope this isn't considered political diatribe and OT. I am merely offering my take on the post from the critic in Pittsburgh as quoted. I would enjoy seeing him and others take on the other side when the evidence is so clear. No, they didn't mention the other news outlets, just their favorite, easy target.

archiguy

07-25-06, 04:10 PM

...... but it almost always neglects the fact that the major 3 nets are so heavily biased the other way. Dan Rather couldn't have been more open with his biases and personal agendas at CBS, Katie Couric and Brokaw - same for NBC. Jennings feelings were also well known and often espoused at ABC before his untimely death. ........ But, even when Pres. Clinton was mid-scandal/s, I don't recall any of the FNC folks openly dismissing him as a person and President the way Rather and Couric have with Bush. Brokaw's latest foray into "documentary" on warming, a la Al Gore, is already being shown to be full of factual inaccuracy and supported by left-leaning zealots.

Good grief. :eek: What color is the sky in your world? :rolleyes:

FrankJ.Cone

07-25-06, 04:11 PM

Good grief. :eek: What color is the sky in your world? :rolleyes:

He lives in the real world so its BLUE, how about yours?

None of them are "fair and balanced" in reality but there is only one right leaning channel VS all the others.

GeorgeLV

07-25-06, 04:16 PM

He lives in the real world so its BLUE, how about yours?

None of them are "fair and balanced" in reality but there is only one right leaning channel VS all the others.

NewsHour on PBS is by far the fairest and most informative newscast on American tv.

archiguy

07-25-06, 04:18 PM

He lives in the real world so its BLUE,....?

Not if he actually believes anything he said in that post which was bursting at the seams with inaccuracies Frank, sorry.

CPanther95

07-25-06, 04:20 PM

Let's keep the politics out.

If you want to passionately argue, pick a side in the BD vs. HD-DVD forums - everybody else is. :)

keenan

07-25-06, 04:23 PM

NewsHour on PBS is by far the fairest and most informative newscast on American tv.
The BBC channel was playing while I was on hold with a Canadian company today and their reporters were right in the thick of it in Lebanon, anyway, I hadn't listened to the BBC in quite awhile and it was refreshing.

fredfa

07-25-06, 04:27 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Not That Happy Hour...

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

As a nod to its new comedy ''Happy Hour,'' Fox preceded the press conference with servers bearing cocktails -- mimosas, bloody Marys, something with Kahlua. It did not seem to bother Fox that the drinks were being distributed before 10 a.m. (although, it could have been a stunt planned when the network scheduled ''Happy Hour'' as an afternoon session -- and stuck to when the press conference was moved to the morning).

If the stunt was also meant to dull the wits of the assembled reporters, Fox needn't have bothered. As I've said before, this is late in the press tour. I don't even drink, and my wits have dulled quite thoroughly.

Besides, the ''Happy Hour'' session was quite enjoyable without cocktails, one of those cases where the cast and producers were funnier in the room than they had been in the show's pilot.

Before ''Happy Hour,'' we met the cast and producers of ''Justice,'' a new legal drama from Fox. The cast includes Victor Garber, fresh off of ''Alias'' and -- while saying he wanted to do this show -- he admitted that dramas are not fun: ''The schedule is brutal. You can't believe the hours that it takes to do these shows. And at the end of the day, if you go home at night thinking 'I
did a good job today, this was exciting,' it's all worthwhile.''

Because yesterday I tried to torture Josh Berman about ''Killer Instinct,'' a short-lived show from last season, (see my previous post for what happened) I decided to do the same to Jonathan Shapiro, an executive producer of ''Justice.'' Last year he created the gone-in-a-blink ''Just Legal,'' the Don Johnson lawyer show on The WB.

Lessons learned? '' 'Be on Fox' is a good idea,'' he said. '' 'Just Legal' was a great experience. I wish that it had lasted longer.'' Then he got back on message about his new show. ''A lot of the issues that we addressed in 'Just Legal' and I wanted to address in 'Just Legal,' we're going to address here. That was a defense firm, this is a defense firm.''

But I dug in a little more, asking how he felt about the quick hook the WB show got. ''I spent many years working with Democratic candidates in various statewide elections. So early and abrupt endings of hopeful campaigns don't surprise me.''

By the way, I think Fox had the most crowded stage of the press tour yesterday, when ''Vanished'' offered up 15 people -- three producers and 12 actors. We've seen a fair number of double-digit panels so far -- a sign of producer proliferation, ensemble casts and the need to make all the regular actors feel loved. Still, when the Q&A starts, because most of the questions are going to go to the producers (since they know most about what a show is going to be). Actors, meanwhile, are more likely to get individual attention in scrums afterward or at the network press parties. But press-conference neglect is even more likely when the stage is so packed.

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

fredfa

07-25-06, 04:48 PM

HDTV Noterbook
WPVI Goes HD

By Glen Dickson Broadcasting & Cable 7/25/2006

In a first for the Philadelphia market, ABC-owned powerhouse WPVI is now broadcasting its news in high definition.

The station made the transition July 23, converting its local news production to HD studio cameras and graphics. WPVI also has an HD-enabled helicopter, which it has been flying since February.

WPVI is one of only about a dozen stations nationwide broadcasting HD news. KABC Los Angeles is the only other station in the ABC group to go HD so far.

"This is an exciting time for all of us in broadcast television", WPVI President/General Manager Rebecca Campbell said in a statement. "High-definition truly changes the television viewing experience, and as the Delaware Valley news leader, we have an obligation to our viewers to bring them this new technology."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6356172.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

07-25-06, 05:07 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Ailes the Conqueror

By Christopher Lisotta at Broadcasting & Cable’s “Critical Eye” blog Monday, July 24th, 2006

Fox News Channel Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes began his press tour session Monday afternoon celebrating the cabler’s tenth anniversary with some quotes. Not just any quotes, mind you, but quotes flashed on a video screen that were written by the trade and consumer press (some currently at press tour) back mostly in 1996. The quotes all dismissed the cable net as a bad idea or a likely failure in a marketplace that was then dominated by CNN.Ailes proved his critics wrong, noting in his opening remarks that the news channel has been No. 1 in the news marketplace for 55 months, and in the ratings outpaces competitors CNN and MSNBC combined.

“I can’t wait to see what people think about us in 10 years,” Ailes said soon after taking the stage.

Like several of their network news colleagues, Fox News talents Shepard Smith and Jennifer Griffin appeared via satellite from the Middle East to fill critics in on the Israel-Lebanon conflict. Besides world news of the day, Ailes gave a round up on several developments for the channel itself.

Concerning the Fox News business channel spinoff, Ailes said when “distribution is in place we will go ahead with it,” and that he has developed a business plan for the network.

“We have not pushed it any further than that,” he added.

Asked about younger viewers, Ailes said it is clear they are “not turning to news,” but that the cabler had “some issues with Nielsen” about how they assessed younger viewers.

The issue goes far beyond Nielsen, however.

“It’s going to be the big question for the next couple years for all of us,” he said.

One critic asked why Fox News Channel will not call back certain journalists. The critic specifically referenced the Associated Press reporter David Bauder.

“We don’t have any policy like that at all,” he said, noting that he will talk to anyone his PR team forwards to him.

“I don’t know anybody I wouldn’t talk to,” Ailes added.

Going with an evening news show at 6:30 p.m. (ET) to compete with the broadcast news programs is a “complex issue,” he said. “Would I like to do it? Sure. I’m basically competitive.”

But there is “not great demand” for a new product, and on the station side, counter-programming with non-news content seems to be working fine, he said.

http://blogs.tvweek.com/?cat=5

fredfa

07-25-06, 05:28 PM

For those of you in the Nation's Capitol:

Sports On TV
FCC Looks To Expedite MASN Complaint

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 7/25/2006

The FCC appears determined to get the games of the Washington Nationals to cable households as quickly as possible.

Its order July 21 outlining approval of the Comcast/Time Warner purchase of Adelphia gave the MidAtlantic Spots Network 10 days to take its complaint to an aribiter as part of a new arbitration process for program access complaints.

But separately, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has circulated a proposal, which the FCC commissioners have to vote on, that would send the existing MASN program access complaint against Comcast to an FCC administrative law judge for action within 45 days.

That 45 days is the same amount of time the arbiter will have to make his or her decision if MASN opts for that route, though the arbitration decision can be appealed to the FCC, which would then have another 60 days to consider it.

In essence, the FCC is offering MASN two, parallel tracks to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible.

New FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell criticized FCC inaction on the MASN complaint in no uncertain terms during the public meeting approving the Adelphia deal, asking the FCC to speed the process.

MASN has the rights to the Nationals, but Comcast does not carry the games on its D.C. area cable systems serving hundreds of thousands of households. The two have been in a protected dispute, including legal action, over Baltimore Orioles games, which Comcast has carried but Orioles owner Peter Angelos is moving to MASN. Angelos has rights to the Nationals as part of the deal that allowed the Washington team to move into the market that had been the Orioles' alone.

MASN, which has until Aug. 4 to decide, has not yet made up its mind. "We are evaluating how to most quickly get the games on for the fans," said spokesman Todd Webster, "but we are grateful that the FCC has stepped up to end the Comcast blackout."

MASN sent letters to Comcast and Time Warner Tuesday to resolve the matter before taking either of the government alternatives. Time Warner had not been carrying the games in Washington, either.

Comcast spokeswoman D'Arcy Rudnay had not returned a call at press time, but she told The Washington Post, which first reported the story of Martin's proposed ALJ referral: "We believe that any program carriage proceeding on this matter will conclude that the MASN complaint is wholly without merit."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6356256

fredfa

07-25-06, 05:35 PM

The Digital Revolution
The New King of Tinytube

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic in Time’s Tuned In blog July 25, 2006

A few weeks ago I blogged that, with the purchase of a new HDTV, I had abdicated the position of Professional Television Critic with the Worst TV Set in America. Now a new aspirant has claimed the throne: Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe, who, like I once did, bought his 20-inch set back when an innocent America was delighted by the antics of Ross Perot and captivated by the hip-hop stylings of Kris Kross. Says Gilbert, the constraints of his modest cathode-ray boulder keep him focused on what's important in TV:

My ordinary set helps me keep my eye on what's essential about the TV material I cover -- primarily fictions such as drama and comedy series, made-for-TV movies, and (yes, they're fictional) reality shows. Without a lot of sophisticated sensory overload, I think, a show's writing, acting, and editing stand out more clearly. I can stay in touch with the true marks of good storytelling, without having to parse them out from a dazzling barrage.

I definitely agree with Gilbert on one thing: the supersizing of American screens not only encourages more cinematic TV but excuses using great visuals as a substitute for storytelling. I half wonder whether the influence of giant screens explains what I'd call the quality plateau of the new pilots I'm seeing for fall. There's an unusual lack of really awful pilots and an unusual surplus of interesting, competently made pilots. But there are no pilots that stand out as more exceptional than the rest, the way Lost did in 2004, or Arrested Development in 2003, or Freaks and Geeks in 1999. If the big-screen beautification of TV means that we've defined mediocrity upward, that's good, I guess, but I hope we don't lose real standout scripts that don't translate as well visually.

That said, I think there's something a little King Canute vs. the sea about hanging on to an old TV out of principle. TV is what it is nowadays, and a critic might as well have the option of seeing it as it was intended. (Of course I have to believe that, having just dropped well over a grand on a giant piece of glass.)

Regardless, Gilbert makes a valuable point: that changing the box you use to deliver the medium affects the medium itself. And we're in a weird time now, where we no longer share a universal way of viewing TV. Just a decade or so ago, you might have a bigger TV and I might have a smaller one, but we were both watching a cathode-ray box with a 4 to 3 screen ratio. But now there's a substantial chunk of the audience watching on something that looks a lot more like a movie screen, wide and narrow and lit with plasma or LCD. Another major chunk is still watching on old-school boxes. And a growing minority are catching shows on iPods, or computer screens, or 7-inch portable DVD players. Even if we're watching the same shows, are we really watching the same thing? And who can say which of us is watching the show the right way?

I don't know, but for now I'm erring on the side of using a screen that doesn't threaten to crash through my living room floor. And if anyone there is a friend of Matthew Gilbert's, you could pick him up a modest, 4 x 3, 20-inch flatscreen for a few hundred bucks. It won't corrupt his judgment any more than his current, "heavy but quite liftable" set. But it might just save his back.

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

archiguy

07-25-06, 05:38 PM

If you want to passionately argue, pick a side in the BD vs. HD-DVD forums - everybody else is. :)

And I find that endlessly amusing; more so than arguing about politics. Who cares? If nobody bought their stupid systems until they unified behind a common standard, or at least allowed universal players to be pushed to market, then that would settle the issue - in a newyawkminute. I've got no problem sitting this one out (and I got D-VHS/D-Theater to tide me over!).

fredfa

07-25-06, 06:16 PM

Let's keep the politics out.

If you want to passionately argue, pick a side in the BD vs. HD-DVD forums - everybody else is. :)

I second (and third) that notion.

A ,lot of stuff gets posted here. I try to be pretty ecumenical about it, although I often add my own views.

But the idea of the thread is not to argue about whether DirecTV or Dish (or Comcast etc.) is better, but to put information out there. So you can read various opinions and reports and hopefully be better able to make up your own mind.

And generally, in the nearly two years this thread has been allowed by the people in charge here to exist, we have been able to keep away from flame wars.

I have my personal opinions about Dan Rather's political views (and FNC's for that matter).

The idea between posts here, though, is to find out what Dan's hiring by HDNet might do for the mcuban empire. And as for FNC, its amazing success I would argue, goes way beyond the perception of its "slant".

To my mind, FNC can dance circles around CNN and MSNBC because it all stems from what Roger Ailes, a true TV genius, decides his network should do. He doesn't need approval of anyone else -- and neither Jon Klein at CNN nor Dan Abrams at MSNBC can make that claim. They have to go through potentially many layers of bureaucracy and please many masters.

So let's continue to keep the hard line political rhetoric out of the thread, please. I have been graciously allowed a lot of leeway here to discuss all of TV, not just HD, because in my mind it all matters.

Occasionally I'll sneak in some my own thoughts-- but generally it is about programming I hope you'll sample, or believe you might enjoy.

But the vast majority of material I post is about shows or networks or items I have little interest in -- but some of you, hopefully, will find enlightening.

Continuing debates over right/left or DBS/cable or plasma/LCD seem to me to add little to anyone's understanding of anything -- except the poster's own preferences, prejudices and beliefs.

(Now, if you want to debate whether "Gray's Anatomy" is a better TV show than "24" or "Lost", this is the place to have that discussion.)

But please remember: just because someone else doesn't share your views in what is enjoyable TV doesn't make him or her a "Joe Six-Pack" or an intellectual cretin. It just mean he or she enjoys different options that you do.

If we do manage to keep that thought in mind, we'll all continue to be far more open-minded than many of the TV critics have shown to be in the past couple of weeks.

GeorgeLV

07-25-06, 06:51 PM

Re: The New King of Tinytube

TV critics should be required by their employers to use a HDTV! If you're not watching what the producers intended, you're not watching the same show.

fredfa

07-25-06, 06:54 PM

Re: The New King of Tinytube

TV critics should be required by their employers to use a HDTV! If you're not watching what the producers intended, you're not watching the same show.

Agreed, George.

It is the same sort of elitist arrogance which belives the only good TV shows come from the BBC, etc.

flint350

07-25-06, 06:57 PM

IT's NOT POLITICS. I agree about keeping politics out. And, as usual, those who can't accept or comprehend what I was saying (where I specifically point out that I was not aiming at politics but rather the inequities of the comment by the quoted critic), will attempt to make it political. Maybe I edged toward politics a bit with the Bush/Clinton coverage remark. But, I tried to emphasize simply (and repeatedly) that my main point was solely about a critic claiming inbalance on the part of one media entity, when the true and larger imbalance goes unadressed. Archiguy, who thinks that means I live in a fantasy land with orange skies, simply doesn't agree or comprehend or can't keep to the real subject matter and resorts to ad hominem. Does he really believe that of the 6 networks mentioned, that only Fox has its agenda? Please.

The use of "balance" was my thrust, not politics. While archiguy -- who has no real clue where my politics are, despite what he may assume -- may not be able to differentiate, that is his problem, not mine. I did not condone or endorse any political view - I merely stated a basic opinion on the "balance" issue thought to be so obvious by the quoted critic and the main thrust of the quoted post. I hope this isn't deleted as political, bcz it really isn't. But if so, so be it. It's not my call and I'm not trying to derail the thread, just commenting on something already included and, I thought, open to discussion.

flint350

07-25-06, 07:01 PM

Let's keep the politics out.

If you want to passionately argue, pick a side in the BD vs. HD-DVD forums - everybody else is. :)

While (see above) I agree with the sentiment, I would point out two things. First, I bashed no one and insulted no one. You can't say the same for posts left in the HD/BD battleground, yet they go on. Second, (again, see above) I wasn't arguing politics, simply questionable statements/coverage by a quoted critic and an insulting response to my post by someone who DID want to make it about politics and can't see the difference. My final word on this one, I promise.

fredfa

07-25-06, 08:22 PM

Cable Nielsen Notebook
Disney, USA Tops in Cable Ratings

By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com JULY 25, 2006 -

For the first time this summer, non-ad-supported Disney Channel ended up on the top of the cable ratings heap, thanks to its latest ‘tween-skewing original musical, Read It and Weep.

Based on the bestselling kids’ book How My Private, Personal Journal Became a Bestseller, the new Disney movie averaged 5.41 million total viewers Friday night, making it the fourth most-watched program for the week ending July 23. All told, Disney averaged 3.34 million viewers in prime time and earned a 2.7 household rating.

The last time Disney was the top cable net was during the week ending June 18.

Disney boasted six of the top 20 programs on the week, including yet another repeat of its powerhouse film High School Musical, which scared up just under 5 million viewers Monday night in its umpteenth showing since debuting in January.

Meanwhile, USA Network took top honors among ad-supported channels last week, averaging 2.96 million viewers in prime and a 2.4 HH rating. Besides its WWE Raw juggernaut, which made short work of much of its competition Monday night––the two-hour presentation averaged 5.26 million total viewers between 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.––USA also saw audiences return to catch the third installment of its new original series, Psych. On Friday night at 10:00 p.m., Psych drew 4.69 million viewers, down just a smidgen from the 4.71 million total viewers who tuned in a week earlier.

USA was also tops in prime in the three core demos: 18-34 (0.6 million), 18-49 (1.3 million) and 25-54 (1.3 million).

TNT took second on the week among ad-supported nets, averaging 2.46 million viewers and garnering a 2.0 HH rating, as its coverage of NASCAR Nextel Cup racing cruised into first with an audience of 6.74 million. The race was also ad-supported cable’s top program in the 18-49 demo (3.06 million) and among adults 25-54 (3.44 million). Meanwhile, the network’s crime drama, The Closer, took third last week, drawing 5.7 million viewers Monday night at 9:00 p.m. Season-to-date, The Closer remains cable’s most-watched scripted series, averaging 6.38 million total viewers since making its record-breaking season two debut June 12.

The Turner net did see a decline in takers for its Stephen King horror/suspense anthology Nightmares and Dreamscapes, which lured 2.85 million viewers Wednesday night at 9:00 p.m. and 3.08 million at 10:00 p.m., a drop from the 5 million total viewers it averaged during its two-part debut the week before.

TNT sibling TBS came in third among ad-supported channels (1.98 million/1.7 HH), while Fox News Channel took fourth (1.89/1.7) and Cartoon Network placed fifth (1.54/1.4).

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002878929

RussTC3

07-25-06, 08:24 PM

Thought this might interest a few people, hope you don't mind I basically stole your editing style Fred :).
World Cup 2006 Ratings
World Cup scores TV equivalent of 64 Super Bowls

Reuters.com Tue Jul 25, 2006

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - World Cup soccer delivered the equivalent of 64 Super Bowls during the month-long tournament, with an average TV audience of 93 million viewers for each match, about the same number who watched the NFL championship.

More than 5.9 billion people watched World Cup matches live in 54 global markets, according to a final tally released on Tuesday by media buying and planning firm Initiative.

About 284 million people tuned in to see Italy beat France on penalty kicks in the final on July 9, while 202 million watched the Germany-Italy semi-final and 188 million saw the other semi-final between Portugal and France.

The World Cup also attracted twice the number of viewers who watched the Athens Olympics opening ceremony, solidifying its place as the top draw for broadcasters and advertisers.

The once-a-year Super Bowl is usually the TV event of the year in the United States, the world's biggest advertising market, with companies paying $2.4 million to show a 30-second commercial during the three-hour broadcast.

This year's soccer tournament benefited from being played in Germany, which offered convenient TV times for European and South American fans, many of whom missed the 2002 matches played in South Korea and Japan because of the scheduling.

The 2006 tournament attracted 10 percent more viewers than in 2002. It was about on par with the 1998 audience, though there were some shifts among various markets because of the teams that qualified and advanced.

About 41 percent of the viewing audience was female, Initiative found, the highest ever share for the World Cup.

Most of the brands advertised and marketing approaches used were male-skewed during the tournament, however.

"This could signal a move towards targeting a more mixed audience by non-gender specific categories in the future," said Initiative, which is owned by Interpublic Group (IPG.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's third largest advertising conglomerate.

Reuters.com (http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-07-25T110753Z_01_L25114158_RTRIDST_0_MEDIA-WORLDCUP-TV.XML&rpc=66)

keenan

07-25-06, 08:41 PM

Thought this might interest a few people, hope you don't mind I basically stole your editing style Fred :).
World Cup 2006 Ratings
World Cup scores TV equivalent of 64 Super Bowls

Even though I don't understand the rules of the game, or even player positions, I do know you need to get the ball in the goal, and with just knowing that, I enjoyed the heck out of this coverage, even with all the complaints about announcers and scorebars, great stuff and looking forward to it 4 years from now.

GeorgeLV

07-25-06, 09:00 PM

Even though I don't understand the rules of the game, or even player positions, I do know you need to get the ball in the goal, and with just knowing that, I enjoyed the heck out of this coverage, even with all the complaints about announcers and scorebars, great stuff and looking forward to it 4 years from now.

The problem is when the ball goes in the goal, yet somehow the team is "offsides". I still have no idea how that rule works and why it even exists since play is pretty much constant in soccer.

fredfa

07-25-06, 09:13 PM

RussTC3: Steal all you like -- I just try to make the stories easier to read!

(and thanks for the post)

keenan

07-25-06, 09:40 PM

The problem is when the ball goes in the goal, yet somehow the team is "offsides". I still have no idea how that rule works and why it even exists since play is pretty much constant in soccer.
That is weird and I think I figured it out, there has to be a defender, other than the goalie, behind the player receiving the pass where ever he may be on the field, I think. :D

GeorgeLV

07-25-06, 10:17 PM

That is weird and I think I figured it out, there has to be a defender, other than the goalie, behind the player receiving the pass where ever he may be on the field, I think. :D

So their rule would be like the NBA banning fast breaks. No wonder why the games end in ties so often.

fredfa

07-25-06, 10:34 PM

You guys are gonna get us busted by the "soccer is the greatest sports in the world and provincial Americans who don't understand that fundamental truth are just stupid and/or arrogant" thought police.
And I don't need that kind of atmosphere here! :)

fredfa

07-25-06, 10:54 PM

Cable News Nielsen Notebook
CNN Gets War Boost, Fox News Still Tops

By John M. Higgins Broadcasting & Cable 7/25/2006

CNN typically gets a big Nielsen boost when the world starts going to hell, and its coverage of the war in Lebanon is no exception. Still, Fox News by far won the week.

The Israeli attack on Lebanon drove CNN’s total primetime audience 51% compared to the same week last year, to an average of 1 million viewers, while the Nielsen Media scores among the 25-54 news demo soared 97% to 364,000.

Fox News’ total audience actually dropped 3% to 1.9 million. But the No. 1 news network increased 13% in news demo to an average of 586,000. The network ranked fourth among all cable networks in total audience for the week.

MSNBC’s total audience increased 28% to 386,000 but zoomed 41% in the news demo to 161,000.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6356264

keenan

07-25-06, 11:27 PM

So their rule would be like the NBA banning fast breaks. No wonder why the games end in ties so often.
Exactly, that's my understanding anyways.

Fred, I don't think George and I are questioning the fact that soccer is the most popular sport in the world, so that should get us a get-out-jail-free-card. :D

SVonhof

07-25-06, 11:28 PM

That is weird and I think I figured it out, there has to be a defender, other than the goalie, behind the player receiving the pass where ever he may be on the field, I think. :D

Partially correct. There needs to be a defender between the closest offensive player to the goal and the goal itself when the pass is made. Freeze frame on the guy kicking the ball over/past the other players and take a look at where the offensive players are. If any are closer to the goal than the defensive players (except the goalie) that is off-sides.

The rule is the same in hockey, which may help you watch the Stanley Cup games as well, which were really great games this year.

Did that make sense?

SVonhof

07-25-06, 11:30 PM

Take a look at the Wikipedia explanation here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offside_law_%28football%29

GeorgeLV

07-26-06, 12:24 AM

Partially correct. There needs to be a defender between the closest offensive player to the goal and the goal itself when the pass is made. Freeze frame on the guy kicking the ball over/past the other players and take a look at where the offensive players are. If any are closer to the goal than the defensive players (except the goalie) that is off-sides.

The rule is the same in hockey, which may help you watch the Stanley Cup games as well, which were really great games this year.

Did that make sense?

But didn't the NHL change their rules to greatly reduce the number of offsides calls?

fredfa

07-26-06, 12:26 AM

Cable TV Notebook
Still shaping music history

MTV, the music channel that has given us everything from "The Real World" to the surreal world of the Osbournes, celebrates 25 years of setting trends and creating some of TV's most outrageous moments
By Steve Knopper Special to Newsday July 25, 2006

For better or for worse, MTV — which celebrates its 25th birthday Aug. 1 — has introduced the world to an extraordinary number of significant pop-cultural phenomena in its 25 years: Madonna; Michael Jackson; grunge; "Beavis and Butt-head"; reality television; Jon Stewart; Jenny McCarthy and Carmen Electra; Britney Spears; Ozzy Osbourne's family; Nick Lachey; and a bunch of jackasses who cackle while connecting their private parts with safety pins.

Since the channel made its debut in 1981, it has spent considerable time blithely introducing execrable trends, from empty-headed, misogynistic rap and teen-pop videos to VJ Jesse Camp. But it has also shifted quickly, rapidly, creatively, to accommodate new and important trends — such as the rise of Southern politician Bill Clinton or the AIDS-awareness agenda of doomed "Real World" contestant Pedro Zamora. It's easy to shout "MTV Get Off the Air!" as the Dead Kennedys did in 1985, but without it we'd have none of this:

1981 - MTV goes on the air Aug. 1. First video: "Video Killed the Radio Star," by the Buggles.

1982 - "I Want My MTV!" campaign stars Pete Townshend, David Bowie and other veteran rockers.

1983 - After months of inexplicably refusing to air African-American artists, MTV breaks Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Jackson transforms into the King of Pop, ultimately selling 27 million copies of "Thriller," while his success gives the channel staying power.

1984 - The first Video Music Awards showcase Madonna in a bustier and wedding dress, simulating sex all over the floor.

1985 - MTV goes crazy over Live Aid, Bob Geldof's end-world-hunger concert that draws Madonna, U2, Bob Dylan, The Who, a reunited Led Zeppelin and Phil Collins drumming on two continents.

1986 - Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" — with its "I want my MTV" refrain sung by Sting — is the big winner at the VMAs.

1987 - MTV expands to Europe and Australia.

1988 - "Yo! MTV Raps," starring Dr. Dre (not that one) and Ed Lover as roly-poly, hapless hosts, debuts, popularizing hip-hop at a crucial early stage. (Of course, MTV did help break Run-D.M.C. years earlier.)

1989 - After initially being banned, veteran rocker Neil Young's anti-corporate "This Note's for You" wins the video of the year award at the VMAs.

1990 - Still ban-happy, MTV refuses to air Madonna's "Justify My Love." The debacle helps both parties, however, as Madonna releases the video for $9.98 as the first "music video single" and the channel eventually reverses itself. "Justify My Love" becomes a massive hit and one of MTV's biggest videos ever.

1991 - Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video debuts — starring cheerleaders wearing punk-rock anarchy symbols and singer Kurt Cobain leering underneath a clump of blond hair — ushering in the Grunge Era.

1992 - "The Real World," one of the first reality shows, debuts. So does "Choose or Lose," MTV's groundbreaking coverage of the U.S. presidential race, during which candidate Bill Clinton answers the infamous "boxers or briefs?" question and wins over the youth vote as well as the nation.

1993 - "Beavis and Butt-head" debuts, and the two stoned-out high school freshmen become absurdly influential — and they wind up an unpopular subject in the halls of Congress. Their obsession with "fire! fire!" ostensibly leads a 5-year-old Ohio boy to set fire to his house and kill his 2-year-old sister, and Sen. Fritz Hollings refers to them as "Buffcoat and Beaver." Many disclaimers ensue, but the show stays on the air — with David Letterman doing a hilarious turn with our heroes on the balcony of the VMAs. Oh, and one more debut the same year: "The Jon Stewart Show," starring an unknown comedian with a thing for politics.

1994 - Kurt Cobain commits suicide; MTV airs a round-the-clock tribute, including numerous repeats of Nirvana's "Unplugged" performance and Courtney Love's teary reading of Cobain's suicide note.

1995 - Jenny McCarthy becomes Official Hottie of the Moment by co-hosting the new show "Singled Out," but it's her eventual replacement, Carmen Electra, who goes on to lasting show-biz success.

1996 - A two-year malaise sets in over the network, beginning with the old-fart grudge match between singer David Lee Roth and his old band, Van Halen, who "reunite" on the VMAs. Also, MTV2 debuts, playing the videos MTV has been gradually dumping over the past few years in favor of variety programming.

1997 - MTV Malaise, Year Two, stars singer-songwriter Fiona Apple (who curses the channel and the entire music industry while accepting a VMA); a dead rapper (the Notorious B.I.G., subject of a Puff Daddy-Faith Hill-Sting tribute on the awards show); and Martha Stewart and Busta Rhymes (who present an award together). "Beavis and Butt-head" exit. "Daria" enters, but the days of smart, hip MTV girls are numbered.

1998 - Britney Spears makes her MTV debut with "... Baby One More Time" — another tragic demonstration that the cheerleaders in pigtails and short skirts will always beat out the wisecracking, bespectacled Darias. To formally usher in the Teen Pop era, MTV rolls out "Total Request Live," with dreamy host Carson Daly and about a zillion screaming teenagers in Times Square.

1999 - Fires, alleged mosh-pit rapes, riots and Limp Bizkit performing "Break Stuff" mar the boiling-hot Woodstock '99 — and MTV News is there, with garbage-dodging host Kurt Loder soberly narrating the action above an "Apocalypse Woodstock" logo.

2000 - Proving the deadpan, disgusting "Tom Green Show" wasn't merely a cultural blip, Johnny Knoxville and his band of dare-taking, skateboarding, pain-addicted stuntmen make their debut with "Jackass." They're often hilarious — Knoxville's flatulent bit in an all-female yoga class is not to be missed.

2001 - Britney Spears dances with a lucky boa constrictor on the VMAs.

2002 - Black Sabbath front man Ozzy Osbourne comes back in an unexpected way when he declares himself "the prince of -- darkness" on his family-values reality show. Wife Sharon and kids Jack and Kelly become stars, while tattooed, complaining, slurring, cursing Ozzy simply reinforces his image.

2003 - "The Kiss": Madonna deep-smooches Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on the VMAs. Inexplicably, the Madonna-Britney kiss gets far more attention, leaving Christina as perpetual No. 2.

2004 - In the most controversial moment in Super Bowl halftime history, singer Justin Timberlake "inadvertently" pulls Janet Jackson's blouse open, revealing the Breast That Changed the World and prompting millions of people to hit "repeat" on their TiVos. The FCC has a fit, and the NFL vows never again to let MTV produce the entertainment. "Laguna Beach" debuts, with its bevy of reality show beauties.

2005 - Ratings drop after "The Osbournes," "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica" and "The Ashlee Simpson Show" go off the air. Replacing them with "Meet the Barkers," starring tattooed Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and his blonde-bombshell wife, is like NBC replacing "Friends" with "Joey."

2006 - What will be the next culture-changing "Real World" or "Beavis and Butt-head"? Will it be "Cheyenne," a reality show about a young and beautiful singer-songwriter, or "The Hills," a take-off of "Laguna Beach"? The smart money is on dating shows, from "Room Raiders" to "Next" to "Parental Control" — one of these will discover the next Tom Green and Drew Barrymore. We're certain of it.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-ny-mtv23jul23,0,981706,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

07-26-06, 12:48 AM

(From Marc Berman’s Wednesday, July 26, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
LIVE FROM THE TCA SUMMER PRESS TOUR IN PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

On the Fox Panel Front:

JUSTICE
Wednesday 9:00 p.m.

• The Premise:
A dream team of four lawyers join forces to tackle the most controversial and newsworthy cases in this new Jerry Bruckheimer legal drama. The ensemble cast includes former Alias star Victor Garber, Rebecca Mader, Kerr Smith, and Eamonn Walker.

• Lead-in: Bones
-Competition: Lost (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS), The Biggest Loser (NBC), One Tree Hill (CW)

• Who Was on the Panel:
Victor Garber, Rebecca Mader, Kerr Smith, Eamonn Walker, and executive producers Jonathan Shapiro and David McNally.

• The Scoop:
In the event you are wondering how Justice will be different from the typical crime/legal drama, according to executive producer David McNally:

“All the crime shows that are on television start with you seeing the crime with some small piece of information left out, and the rest of the hour is all about those people trying to figure out how to fill in the blanks. In the case of these lawyers, all they know is that there is somebody dead and so that's how the show begins, and every piece of the hour is putting together their defense of those people. And then at the end, we have the privilege of seeing what they never see. And the intention is to play with that a little bit and then expand upon it in different ways as we move on through the season.”

• The Reality:
Considering that Jerry Bruckheimer’s last new law-related drama, Just Legal on the WB, lasted three episodes last fall, attaching his name to a project is no longer synonymous with automatic success. And Fox might have benefited with comedies instead of a competing new drama in a time period populated with Lost, Criminal Minds, The Biggest Loser and One Tree Hill. Although fourth quarter lead-in Bones is certainly compatible, it probably won’t be enough to warrant Fox moving Justice into the Wednesday 8 p.m. hour in January when American Idol returns to 9 p.m.

• Chance of Survival for Justice (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1): 8-1

• Did You Know?:
Victor Garber’s first regularly scheduled TV series was a summer lightweight CBS detective drama called I Had Three Wives, about a private investigator who joins forced with his three ex-wives to fight crime. It lasted four weeks.

HAPPY HOUR
Thursday 8:30 p.m.

• The Premise:
Set in Chicago, this buddy comedy features two mismatched young guys - one recently dumped by his girlfriend and the other blinded by love - who end up as roommates.

• Lead-in: ‘Til Death
-Competition: Notes From the Underbelly (ABC), Survivor: Cook Islands (CBS), The Office (NBC), Smallville (CW)

• Who Was on the Panel:
Jamie Denbo, Nat Faxon, Beth Lacke, Lex Medlin, Brooke D’Orsay, John Sloan and executive producers/creators Jeff Filgo and Jackie Filgo, and Tom Werner.

• The Scoop:
According to Jackie Filgo, who also wrote for Fox’s That ‘70s Show alongside husband Jeff Filgo:

”I loved writing for the parents on That '70s Show because I liked having so many different perspectives on every issue. I do feel that all of our characters are so different that we'll get sort of that same dynamic, where everyone is coming to something from a different place. But I would also really like to explore the older generations of all their families. I think the hardest thing is writing for an 18-year-old, or a character that's really young because the stakes don't seem particularly high and they don't have as much knowledge of the world."

• The Reality:
With buzz building for lead-in ‘Til Death, you might think that Happy Hour would benefit. But opposite two other competing sitcoms and Tribal Council on CBS’ still potent Survivor (set in Cook Islands next season), Happy Hour may not be so happy after the initial rating results come in. Expect considerably fall-off from ‘Til Death at 8:30 p.m.

• Chance of Survival for Happy Hour on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1): 8-1

• Did You Know?:
The Tick, the last Fox sitcom to open the season in the Thursday 8:30 p.m. time period, aired for just six weeks in the 2001-02 season.

Reader Feedback:
• ‘Til Death

“So, upcoming Fox sitcom 'Til Death', by your description, is a retread of Everybody Loves Raymond and sounds like the generic sitcom that we have seen many times before. And you sound like a big fan. Do you actually prefer this traditional type of three-camera comedy with a laugh track to something more creative like as My Name Is Earl or The Office? I know the masses still tend to flock to the old-style of comedy (the stupider the better usually), but I would like to think that TV critics appreciate and champion innovation.
-PC, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

• The P.I.:
There is, of course, nothing wrong with innovation. And, no, I can’t say I prefer one format of comedy over the other. Each project has to be judged individually. But there is also nothing wrong with a familiar three-camera sitcom with a proven star if the premise is funny. And that is exactly what ‘Til Death is.

Press Tour Tidbits:
Notes of Interest from Fox

• So You Think You Can Dance Session:
Following opening dance routines by Benji and Heidi, and Travis and Allison, the judges, host Cat Deeley and the remaining contestants from So You Think You Can Dance gathered for a session on the summer hit, So You Think You Can Dance. Since many of the PI readers have commented on the arrival the statuesque Ms. Deeley (and it hasn’t necessarily been always positive), here is what she had to say about hosting a Fox reality/competition:

“Nobody has asked me to be a certain way or to act in a certain way or change my delivery. Nigel (Lythgoe) knew me from back in England, and he wanted me to do exactly what I do over there. I haven't been asked to emulate anybody. I did go and see Ryan Seacrest on American Idol, and he was incredible. He's a real professional. But I've enjoyed my time here. I love it in Los Angeles. Everybody's been really open and warm, and I love your weather. Its sunshine and palm trees. And I come from London, which is very gray. So, yeah, I think you're going to have problems getting rid of me, I hope.”

(Editor’s Note: Although there is plenty of sunshine, the average temperature during the Press Tour tipped the barometer at 100. So, that’s a bit too much sunshine - and not enough gray - for this TV critic.).

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

keenan

07-26-06, 01:36 AM

Partially correct. There needs to be a defender between the closest offensive player to the goal and the goal itself when the pass is made. Freeze frame on the guy kicking the ball over/past the other players and take a look at where the offensive players are. If any are closer to the goal than the defensive players (except the goalie) that is off-sides.

The rule is the same in hockey, which may help you watch the Stanley Cup games as well, which were really great games this year.

Did that make sense?
Yes, that's what I was trying to say, my understanding is as you describe it.

...and back to your regularly scheduled thread, sorry Fred. :)

fredfa

07-26-06, 05:14 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Ailes: Ratings? What about them?

The Fox News chief instead wanted to talk about something else: the cable network's journalistic standards.
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 26, 2006

As Fox News approaches its 10th anniversary, the top-rated cable news network is not about to let people forget the skepticism it encountered when it first came on the scene.

The network opened its Monday afternoon panel at the semiannual television press tour in Pasadena with a video montage featuring excerpts of the withering comments written about its 1996 launch, many authored by the very television reporters assembled in the room.

After noting that Fox News has beaten the competition for the last 55 months, a message on the screen suggested coyly: "Can't wait to see what people say about us in the next 10 years."

Nowadays, no one can argue the standing of the network, which regularly attracts at least twice as many viewers as second-place CNN. But Chairman and Chief Executive Roger Ailes wasn't interested in discussing ratings.

"I really want to talk about our journalism," Ailes said. "I actually think that Fox News is underrated in journalism."

Ailes expressed his commitment to foreign news, saying the network has been "beefing up" its reporting of events abroad.

To buttress his case, the Fox News president had anchor Shepard Smith chime in via satellite from Israel, where he's been reporting since the most recent conflict there began.

"I can't think of a place more important for the anchor to be than here," said Smith, who offered a lengthy and detailed analysis of Israel's air war campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. "The most ridiculous thing any of us can do is fly off to some place, parachute in and just anchor your show there and not go out and do any reporting. We've hit the ground every day."

Monday's session offered a rare opportunity to hear Ailes expound on his strategy for the cable news channel and the Fox station group, for which he recently assumed responsibility.

He dismissed criticism that Fox News has a partisan slant, repeatedly stressing the network's commitment to news.

"Some people have biases against us, and we understand that," he said. "They were unhappy we got in the game. Maybe we were a little too in-your-face at times. But basically what we do is we go to work every day, we cover the story and we haven't been forced to eat our words because we're actually telling people what's going on. And sometimes there's more than one point of view to that story, and we try to reflect that."

While Ailes said he was in "active negotiations" over the development of a cable business channel that would compete with CNBC, he said it was unlikely to happen this year.

"When we have the distribution in place, we'll go ahead with it," he said. "We are still looking at it. I have developed a business plan. We have not pushed it any further than that because you have to get the distribution in place and you have to negotiate that. So the only thing I can say to that is stay tuned."

The Fox News chief was also asked about whether he would have aired a piece about the federal government's monitoring of international banking data that was recently written about in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times despite requests from the Bush administration to withhold the information.

"I would have looked at that and said, 'Who does this story help?' " Ailes said. "Does it help citizens of New York, who already have 3,000 dead bodies lying down there, to put out this information, because we're worried the government might be doing something we don't know about? Or does it help the terrorists to let them know what we know about how they're moving money? That's how you have to weigh that.

"And I think that many people felt that there was no clear and present reason for the New York Times in a time of war to do that. But I would argue that under freedom of the press, they certainly had the right to do it. And you could decide whether you want to maintain your subscription or not."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-fox26jul26,0,2371747,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

RemyM

07-26-06, 09:21 AM

[QUOTE=SVonhof]Partially correct. There needs to be a defender between the closest offensive player to the goal and the goal itself when the pass is made. Freeze frame on the guy kicking the ball over/past the other players and take a look at where the offensive players are. If any are closer to the goal than the defensive players (except the goalie) that is off-sides.

The rule is the same in hockey, which may help you watch the Stanley Cup games as well, which were really great games this year. [QUOTE]

That's not the rule in hockey. In hockey an offensive player can't cross the blueline before the puck. It doesn't matter where the defenders are, there are breakaways in hockey.

Xesdeeni

07-26-06, 10:01 AM

Xesdeeni

07-26-06, 10:04 AM

That's not the rule in hockey. In hockey an offensive player can't cross the blueline before the puck. It doesn't matter where the defenders are, there are breakaways in hockey.I believe the problem they were trying to solve was someone camping out in front of the goalee and receiving passes from the teammates that they just popped in for a score. I believe that basketball solved this problem by using the 3-second rule.

Xesdeeni

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:08 AM

The TV Column
Summer Press Tour, Day 16: An Explosive Interview

By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, July 26, 2006; C07

PASADENA, Calif., July 25 People who molest children should have chips embedded in the rectum that would explode if they violate their parole, "America's Most Wanted" star John Walsh told a photographer for Fox and father of two at Summer TV Press Tour 2006 as a couple dozen speechless TV critics looked on.

Bet all those other critics who'd bailed out early felt pretty silly missing what turned out to be the highlight of the now 16-day-old tour.

A minute or so later Walsh said he'd been kidding, though he had a "not really" look in his eyes. He said it was the second time he'd used the joke and no one laughed last time either.

Meanwhile, the freelance photographer, who'd been hired to take photos during Fox's two days of the tour, was relieved of his responsibilities for the rest of the day for monopolizing Walsh's onstage time with their interesting exchange about child-tracking technology, sex-offender-tracking technology -- "pervert alert," the photographer called it -- and a comparison of repeat molesters to rabid dogs that need to be put down.

Both Walsh and the photographer, who declined to give his name, said bracelets on sex offenders did not work. "Bracelets are [horseradish]," the photographer said to Walsh as stunned critics looked on. Walsh agreed, saying, "I love your attitude."

Walsh told the critics that when he was talking to senators about electronic monitoring of sex offenders, "I said implant it in their anus and if they go outside the radius, explode it, and that would send a big message."

Walsh said it was a joke, adding, "Nobody thought it was funny."

Continuing his riveting performance, he said his wife had suggested that when he went to Washington to stump for the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, he ask all the congressmen who he thought were holding up the legislation named in honor of his son whether they were child molesters or if they had child porn on their computers.

"I said, 'Reve, I don't really use that tack walking through the halls.' But leave it to the mother of a murdered child to cut to the chase."

That would seem to include Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who, Walsh said, had slowed things down by attaching to the bill "a huge hate-crimes piece of legislation that was very controversial." Kennedy eventually removed the hate-crime bits, Walsh said. The bill passed on Tuesday.

Walsh appeared at Summer TV Press Tour 2006 to promote the fact that on Saturday his popular series will be a taped broadcast of the White House signing on Thursday of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which will create a national sex-offender registry.

July 27 marks the 25th anniversary of the abduction and murder of Walsh's 6-year-old son. This September marks the start of the 20th season of Walsh's catch-a-perp series on the Fox network.

• • • • • • • • • • •

Fox's new late night host, TV writer Spike Feresten -- he wrote the "Soup Nazi" episode of "Seinfeld" -- was asked who he thinks does the best job in late night television.

"To me it's all about Letterman and it always will be," said the star of "Talkshow With Spike Feresten." "He is the guy. He's the reason I'm in TV."

Feresten said he didn't think "The Soup Nazi" was his best "Seinfeld" episode. It was, however, his first.

"I didn't know what I was doing. It was my first time on a sitcom and we were done editing and . . . I felt like [series creator Larry David] hated it as much as I did and I almost apologized to him in the edit room and said, 'Look, my next one will be a little better,' which it never was, by the way. It's more of a documentary. I used to write at 'Letterman' . . . and a lot of those things were said to me and I was jotting them down. There's very little creative writing in that episode."

His executive producer, Stewart Bailey, told TV critics they are developing a bit for the show in which Spike's gravestone says, "Writer of 'Soup Nazi' " with an arrow pointing down.

• • • • • • • • • • •

Fox's new sitcom "Happy Hour" breaks new ground in that a young woman is seen eating a pizza.

The whole thing.

"The scene where you ate the pizza was very funny and it's so rare to see an actress on Fox convincingly eat anything," one critic said. "Did you have to get special permission from the network to do that?"

"There was an extensive training period, because I usually don't eat," Beth Lacke responded.

"It was, like, five takes so I'm done with it for at least a year. I don't think you'll see me eating."

• • • • • • • • • • •

Catherine Deneuve will play a widow who has her husband's ashes put into her breast implants on the new season of FX's "Nip/Tuck," critics learned late Tuesday. Only one wonders why she's trying to dispose of the ashes, exec producer Ryan Murphy hinted, saying he thinks of Deneuve as a "French murderess."

He says the story line is based on an actual incident and that there was no plastic surgery case too bizarre for him to consider for his show -- except he doesn't think people want to see plastic surgery on children.

Is it time to go home yet?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/25/AR2006072501590_pf.html

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:15 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
The Last Day!

Wednesday, July 26th: PBS[/FONT]

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:19 AM

The Business Of TV
AT&T To Bid For Dish?

AT&T's DISH Network Additions

(sky Report--)The partnership between AT&T and DISH Network continues to prove beneficial as second quarter numbers make their way to investors everywhere. The latest information coming from the companies is that AT&T/DISH satellite TV connections jumped by 42,000 over the three month period totaling 533,000 to date.

The companies also experienced continued growth in regional consumer revenues - up 1.5 percent to $3.6 billion, driven by 637,000 additional consumer connections over the past year. Consumer connections, AT&T said, is a measure that combines retail access lines plus DSL lines and video connections.

Total DSL lines increased by 342,000 to 7.8 million - up more than 30 percent over the past year, the company said.

In its 2Q06 earnings release, AT&T said that although it still intends to deploy its Project Lightspeed-based IPTV service - called U-verse - to 15-20 markets by year-end, it now expects to launch these late in the fourth quarter. "Whether the announcement reflects AT&T's flagging commitment to IPTV is a matter of debate, but at a minimum the announcement represents yet another delay, which we regard as at least a modest positive for pay TV stocks," said Bank of America's Doug Shapiro.

"It also supports speculation of an AT&T bid for EchoStar." Hello.

AT&T also said additional phone lines declined by 106,000 due to the migration from dial-up internet to DSL and primary lines declined by 320,000 with the trend toward all wireless and cable competition.

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:34 AM

Nielsen Notebook
July sweeps in the bag for Fox, again

It's up 5 percent in 18-49s over last summer
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer July 26, 2006

Two years ago, it seemed as though nothing could go right for Fox. Its bold summer strategy of programming new scripted shows flopped, and the boxing reality show “Next Great Champ” got stuck in court after a dispute with NBC.

Fast forward two summers, and it seems nothing can go wrong for the network. Ratings for its two summer tentpoles, “Hell’s Kitchen” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” are up, and even baseball’s All-Star Game, which had been tanking for years, finally showed some ratings strength.

That will power Fox to its second straight July sweeps win when the four-week ratings period concludes tonight. The network projects that it will finish with a 2.3 average rating in adults 18-49, up 5 percent over last year’s 2.2 average.

What’s more, it will be one of just two networks, along with NBC, to show gains over last summer. CBS, ABC, UPN and the WB will all finish behind their average from July 2005.

While ABC, CBS and NBC all have at least one summer clunker, Fox’s schedule doesn’t have a weak spot. “Kitchen” and “Dance” are its only original offerings.

“Dance” has showed gains in every major demographic compared with last summer. Its two-night average, including the Wednesday competition and Thursday results shows, has risen 19 percent among adults 18-49, from a 3.2 to a 3.8 average, and it’s up 13 percent in 18-34s, from a 3.3 to a 4.0, and 19 percent in total viewers, from 8.0 million to 9.5 million.

Meanwhile, “Kitchen” is up 3 percent in both 18-49s, from a 3.4 to a 3.5, and total viewers, from 7.1 million to 7.3 million. If those boosts sound less than impressive, consider that returning summer shows don’t often see gains.

In fact, one of CBS’s biggest problems this summer is declines for “Rock Star: Supernova,” down after a so-so first season, and “Big Brother 7: All-Stars,” showing alarming dropoffs in what was supposed to be a banner season.

Fox ordered third seasons of “Kitchen” and “Dance” earlier this week for summer 2007.

Yet perhaps Fox’s happiest surprise was the All-Star game, which aired two weeks ago. Ratings for the game had not risen year to year in five years, but an exciting ninth-inning rally by the American League boosted the game 7 percent over 2005 to a 4.6 rating, from a 4.2.

That will easily make it sweeps’ highest-rated program, giving Fox three of the month’s top five shows (All-Star Game and the two weekly editions of “Dance”).

Through Sunday night, the most recent tallies available, Fox leads the July sweeps with a 2.2 average, followed by NBC and CBS tied at 1.9 and ABC at 1.6. NBC will pass CBS after tonight’s “America’s Got Talent.” UPN is at 0.8 and the WB at 0.7.

Meanwhile, in English-language broadcast ratings for the week ended July 23:

Fox finished No. 1 with a 2.4 average rating and 8 share, followed by NBC and CBS at 2.1/7, ABC at 1.5/5, UPN at 0.8/2, and the WB at 0.7/2.

[COLOR=red Among adults 18-34, Fox led with a 2.4/9, followed by NBC at 1.7/6, CBS at 1.5/5, ABC at 1.1/4, UPN at 0.8/3, and the WB at 0.7/2.

CBS finished first at 2.6/8, with Fox and NBC tied for second at 2.4/7, followed by ABC at 1.8/5, UPN at 0.8/2, and the WB at 0.7/2.

[COLOR=red Top five (18-49s): 1. Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance-Wed." 3.8; 2. Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" 3.5; 3. Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance-Thu." 3.4; 4. Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance-Wed 8 p.m." 3.3; 5. NBC's "Miss Universe Pageant" 3.2

1. CBS's "CSI: Miami" 11.2 million; 2. NBC's "America's Got Talent" 9.9 million; 3. NBC's "Miss Universe Pageant" 9.7 million; 4. CBS' "CSI" 9.6 million; 5. Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" 9.4 million

[COLOR=red Bottom five (18-49s): Tie-105. WB's "Charmed," UPN's "Veronica Mars," WB's "What I Like About You," UPN's "Cuts-Wed.," WB's "One Tree Hill," UPN's "Veronica Mars," UPN's "Eve-Wed." 0.5; 112. “WB’s “Twins” 0.4

108. "WB's "What I Like About You" 1.31 million; 109. WB's "One Tree Hill" 1.28 million; 110. UPN's "Cuts-Wed." 1.2 million; 111. UPN's "Eve-Wed." 1.18 million; 112. WB's "Twins" 1.17 million

[COLOR=red Show on the rise: "CSI: Miami," CBS, Monday 10 p.m. The spinoff finished first among total viewers for the week and it’s improving on last year’s average.

[COLOR=red Show on the decline: [/COLOR]"Twins," WB, Friday 8:30 p.m. Finished dead last among 18-49s with a startlingly low 0.4 average. Good thing it’s already been canceled.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_6213.asp

cdp1276

07-26-06, 11:39 AM

By David Lieberman and Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — After years of helping TV viewers skip past ads, TiVo unveils an initiative Wednesday that will enable Madison Avenue to measure the damage. And, in the process, it is taking on longtime TV viewer tracker Nielsen Media Research in trying to quantify the impact of TV commercials.

The digital video recorder pioneer has created a division, TiVo Audience Research and Measurement, that will compile detailed data showing how many TiVo users zap particular ads, including the exact second when they jump.

"This is the hottest issue in television marketing," says TiVo CEO Tom Rogers.

Initial reports will show ad-viewing patterns of a random sample of 20,000 of its more than 4.4 million DVRs.

Nielsen recently said that it will begin tests this fall to track the average number of viewers who watch ads during an entire TV program. However, it will not provide ratings for individual ads.

TiVo and Nielsen's initiatives come as marketers, ad agencies, media buyers and TV networks grapple with consumers' changing TV habits. "We're trying to get down to the nitty-gritty in terms of what's being viewed," says Jeff Minsky, director of emerging media platforms at ad-buying firm OMD. OMD clients, including McDonald's and Universal Pictures, have signed on to work with TiVo's new service.

Marketers and media firms fear that ad zapping will become common as cable and satellite providers, as well as independent companies led by TiVo, promote DVRs. About 15% of homes are expected to have a DVR by year's end.

That concern is one reason why sales were comparatively soft in the just-completed "upfront" period, when TV networks pre-sell ad time for the fall season. Buyers committed about $9 billion for prime-time ads — down slightly from last year.

TiVo plans to provide a report for almost every national ad that it tracks. Data will include the number of people who saw the spot and when it was viewed. It also will offer measurements by program genre, the time of day the ad ran, network, day of week and an the ad's position in the commercial block.

Minsky says TiVo's viewing data will help ad agencies create more effective ads, as well as give media buyers better information on what positions in a commercial break are most watched.

During the initial rollout, TiVo will not provide personal, demographic data on the sample group.

TiVo wouldn't disclose if it would pay volunteers in the future to provide personal data. But it says users of its ad-viewing data will be able to correlate its research with other, outside marketing information, to further refine the results. "In a matter of months we will be able to match (the research data) to the U.S. demographics by overweighting and underweighting characteristics of TiVo households," says Todd Juenger, general manager of the new division.

Rogers declined to project how much revenue the new division might generate, although he says, "It's an important part of the overall model."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2006-07-26-tivo-ads_x.htm

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:41 AM

Sports On TV
Statistics on the Spot for Yankees’ Broadcasts

By Richard Sandomir The New York Times July 26, 2006

Fans who watch the Yankees locally on the YES Network on DirecTV can now push buttons on their remotes to call to their screens the in-game box score, scores of other games (with Boston’s always first), player statistics, standings, major league leaders and the players coming up next in the lineup.

They will also get one more feature to the YES Interactive venture: a camera dedicated to showing the second-best angle on a particular play. When requested, it will be shown in a split screen.

BonusCam, as the secondary camera is called, is largely at the mercy of the camera operator’s ability to determine quickly throughout the game what the second-most-relevant angle to a play will be. It might be the reaction in the dugout to a home run while the batter trots around the bases, or a player arguing a called third strike while a pitch sequence is being shown.

BonusCam will be available only during home games.

YES has been looking to add interactive elements to its Yankees broadcasts for a year, reasoning that viewers’ craving for information and statistics during games would be satisfied with the right type of service.

“What defines our product is its stickiness, the way people watch the Yankees and care intensely,” Tracy Dolgin, chief executive of YES, said yesterday. “This takes it to a whole new level.”

He said the service, which is free for DirecTV customers, will eventually provide additional advertising revenue. YES has been aggressively selling many elements of its Yankees and Nets games to sponsors, and the interactive addition will receive similar treatment.

DirecTV subscribers in the Yankees’ regional market are the only ones who can get the interactive service. Viewers have seen YES Interactive being tested during home games since the All-Star Game. So far, a third of DirecTV subscribers who get YES have used the service, with 25 percent of those using it at least 11 times a game.

Eric Shanks, the executive vice president of DirecTV Entertainment, said that subscribers expected services like YES Interactive, having showed high use of the interactive elements added last year to its NFL Sunday Ticket package of out-of-market N.F.L. games and the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament. “If you watch one without it, you miss it,” he said.

YES is the first regional sports network in the country to add DirecTV’s interactive service (which uses statistical information provided by M.L.B. Advanced Media, which owns MLB.com). DirecTV will not provide it to any other sports networks this year. A spokesman for SportsNet New York, the Mets’ four-month-old channel, said the network was interested but not until next year.

And because DirecTV does not have an exclusive hold on the service — as it does on NFL Sunday Ticket — cable operators will be able to offer it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/sports/baseball/26yes.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:44 AM

Sports On TV
ESPN's Reynolds is a wrap
By Neil Best Newsday Staff Writer July 25, 2006

Harold Reynolds, one of ESPN's most visible analysts and a long-time panelist on "Baseball Tonight," has left the network in the wake of one or more incidents of sexual harassment.

An ESPN spokeswoman yesterday confirmed Reynolds' departure but repeatedly declined to provide a reason for it.
Three people who work at ESPN and were familiar with the case said the cause was a pattern of sexual harassment, apparently culminating in a recent incident involving one of the network's young production assistants.

Reynolds, a major leaguer for 12 seasons before joining ESPN in 1996, did not appear on "Baseball Tonight" Monday after having worked the Sunday show, during which he and fellow analyst Steve Phillips suggested the Yankees trade Alex Rodriguez.

Sexual harassment charges are nothing new at ESPN, which operates out of a sprawling "campus" in relatively isolated Bristol, Conn., and employs many production assistants in their early 20s. The network has an extensive program of education and sensitivity regarding gender issues and an elaborate system for pursuing claims of sexual harassment.

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, a former ESPN host, told The New York Observer in 2004 he had testified in "three or four major cases at ESPN."

Among the prominent ESPN personalities accused of improper behavior in the past is Mike Tirico, who will debut as the play-by-play man for "Monday Night Football" in the coming season. He was suspended by ESPN in 1992 for what were reported at the time to be allegations of sexual harassment. Another host, Jason Jackson, was fired in 2002, reportedly for harassment.

In addition to "Baseball Tonight" Reynolds, 45, who is married and has an infant daughter, worked as a game analyst for the Little League World Series and College World Series.

Reynolds was very popular personally among ESPN staffers, many of whom were shocked by his dismissal.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/spharold26,0,6234733.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:47 AM

The Business Of TV
Court Upholds FCC DBS Local-Signal Test

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 7/26/2006
(John Higgins contributed to this report.)

A court has upheld the FCC's method of determining which households receive a local signal and thus are not eligible to receive an imported distant TV station signal from a satellite provider.

The U.S. court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Tuesday denied an EchoStar appeal of the FCC's congressionally-mandated model for determining signal strength.

Broadcasters concerned that EchoStar was importing distant network signals to viewers who could already receive a hometown affiliate of the same network, had backed the FCC in filings with the court.

Responding to the decision, NAB said: "This opinion affirms the FCC's hard work and expertise in establishing who is fairly eligible to receive such signals and strengthens broadcasting's rich tradition of localism."

EchoStar is already facing the prospect of pulling all its distant signals after an Atlanta Federal Appeals Court in May, in a harshly-worded opinion, declared: "We have found no indication that EchoStar was ever interested in complying with" laws regulating how satellite TV companies deliver broadcast stations to their customers.

That case was part of a long-running copyright dispute between broadcasters and satellite companies over homes located in the fringes of TV markets. TV stations want to reach every home in their areas. But subscribers in fringe areas often prefer their satellite companies to deliver stations from, say, New York City rather than Hartford, Conn.

EchoStar is permitted to deliver so-called "distant" signals only to homes that receive no other stations over the air. But EchoStar’s method of determining which customers were eligible for the distant signals has been a bone of contention, and litigation, for years. Broadcasters complain that the company abuses the rules and violates the Satellite Home Viewer Act by regularly delivering the wrong market’s stations to its subscribers.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6356370.html?display=Breaking+News

AAF

07-26-06, 12:45 PM

Harold Reynolds, one of ESPN's most visible analysts and a long-time panelist on "Baseball Tonight," has left the network in the wake of one or more incidents of sexual harassment.

Dang. I thought he was one of ESPN's more interesting pro's (IMHO), too bad he couldn't be more professional in the workplace.

keenan

07-26-06, 01:18 PM

Dang. I thought he was one of ESPN's more interesting pro's (IMHO), too bad he couldn't be more professional in the workplace.
Same here, always enjoyed his on-air presence.

fredfa

07-26-06, 01:57 PM

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

fredfa

07-26-06, 01:57 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Fewer grins for 'Last Comic Standing'

NBC reality show slides 14 percent in 18-49s
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer July 26, 2006

“Last Comic Standing” remains one of the top shows in a very slow summer on broadcast. But of late, the show has had somewhat less to smile about.

Last night NBC’s “Comic” averaged a 3.2 adults 18-49 overnight rating, down 14 percent from its 3.7 average for the seven previous telecasts thus far this season, according to Nielsen.

Though “Comic” still tied for first in its 9 p.m. timeslot with a rerun of Fox’s “House,” it was also 15 percent off the 3.7 the show averaged in its May premiere.

That decline seems odd, considering the show is getting closer to naming a victor and thus would seem ripe for higher ratings. But actually, some competition shows, most notably Fox’s “American Idol,” do better in the early stages, when the contestants are more likely to bomb out and thus are more amusing.

Likely another factor in “Comic’s” decline was the debut of “Rock Star: Supernova” in the same timeslot earlier this month. Though “Supernova” has draw modest ratings, it is bettering reruns of “The Unit,” which used to air in the slot, by more than 50 percent, and thus provides considerably more competition.

Even with its recent falloff, the fourth edition of “Comic” is still performing better than season three, which aired in fall 2004.

Meanwhile, Fox was No. 1 for the night with a 2.8 rating and a 9 share in 18-49s, followed by NBC at 2.7/8, CBS at 2.6/8, Univision at 1.6/5, ABC at 1.1/3, WB at 0.7/2 and UPN at 0.5/2.

At 8 p.m., CBS was No. 1 with a 2.9 for "Big Brother 7: All-Stars," followed by Fox at 2.4 for a "House" repeat, NBC at 1.9 for "Fear Factor," Univision at 2.0 for "La Fea Mas Bella," ABC at 1.7 for two "According to Jim" reruns, WB at 0.7 for a "Gilmore Girls" repeat and UPN at 0.5 for a "Veronica Mars" rerun.

At 9 p.m., NBC and Fox shared the No. 1 spot at a 3.2 for "Comic" and a repeat "House," followed by CBS at 2.8 for "Rock Star: Supernova," Univision at 1.7 for "Barrera de Amor," ABC and WB both at 0.8 for "The One: Making a Music Star" and a "Girls" rerun and UPN at 0.6 for a "Mars" rerun.

At 10 p.m., NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" led at 2.8, ahead of CBS's "48 Hours Mystery" at 2.3, Univision's "Que Madre Tan Padre" and "Vecinos" at 1.1 and ABC's "One" at 1.0.

Among households, Fox led for the night with a 5.6 rating and 10 share, ahead of NBC at 4.6/8, CBS at 4.4/8, ABC at 2.3/4, Univision at 1.8/3, WB at 1.5/3 and UPN at 1.3/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_6242.asp

fredfa

07-26-06, 02:00 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Another À La Carte Bill Proposed

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 7/26/2006
Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) and Tom Osborne (R-Neb.) are introducing yet another bill to require cable to offer its channels individually.
They will do it the same day--July 27--that the Senate is being briefed on a new $300 million content-control campaign from the TV industry, an effort meant, in part, to head off calls for mandated a la carte cable.
The timing of the bill and the campaign briefing is no coincidence says the Parents Television Council, whose President, Brent Bozell, will join the legislators for the announcement.
A bill, introduced by frequent cable critic Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would have effectively forced a la carte--making expediting cable franchising contingent on it--was defeated overwhelmingly as an amendment to a Senate telecom reform bill awaiting a floor vote.
“In today’s culture, young children are faced with a barrage of inappropriate images and messages coming into our homes,” Lipinski said in a PTC release promoting the bill. “We need to help parents by giving them meaningful ways to protect their children from indecent programming, and this bill will do that.”
PTC did not provide details of the legislation and the respective legislator's offices had not returned a call, but the likelihood of such a bill passing remain slim to none, particularly given the bipartisan 20-2 defeat of the McCain bill in the Senate Commerce Committee.

Cable argues that a la carte runs roughshod over its business model, likening it to forcing a newspaper to sell the sports or business sections individually, or breaking out the anchor store from a mall whose niche stores depend on it for their traffic and survival. The argument has resonated with some Democrats.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6356426

Joe3

07-26-06, 02:37 PM

fredfa

07-26-06, 04:47 PM

HD Notebook
HDNet Gets “Arrested Development”

By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/26/2006 3:25:00 PM

Fox Entertainment Group has licensed all 53 episodes of cancelled Fox comedy Arrested Development to MSN, HDNet and G4 for online, high-definition and basic cable runs.

MSN gets portal rights to air the show for three years beginning later in 2006, the first time the show will be available online. MSN Video will stream the show free of charge.

As part of its three-year, exclusive HD agreement, Mark Cuban’s HDNet will begin airing the show in September.

G4 gets the basic cable rights for three years and will begin airing the show in October.

Arrested ran for three years on Fox but never found a large audience despite attracting great critical praise.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6356650.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:11 PM

Tech Notebook
Survey Shows Trends of Households With DVRs

By Katy Bachman MediaWeek.com JULY 26, 2006 -

Households with digital video recorders tend to watch less TV than those without, but they are more likely to be heavy Internet users and readers of magazines and newspapers, according to the data released Wedensday from Mediamark Research Inc.

The Spring 2006 report, based on data collected from interviews with 26,000 adults between March 2005 to March 2006, found that 11.2 percent of adults reported having a DVR in their household, up from 8.6 percent reported in MRI’s Fall 2005 report.

DVR households are 23 percent less likely to be heavy TV viewers, 43 percent more likely to be heavy readers of magazines, 40 percent more likely to be heavy newspaper readers, and 81 pecent more likely to be heavy Internet users.

DVR households also tend to be more upscale than the entire adult popoulation, with 17.1 percent having an average household income exceeding $150,000 and 36.8 percent having a college education.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002912929

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:18 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
When you're mad about monkeys, it's time to go

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic in her TV blog July 26, 2006

Here's how I knew it was time for me to put as many miles as possible between me and the scene of this crime known as Summer Press Tour:

This morning, PBS began its turn with a breakfast to promote its new PBS Kids series "Curious George," which premieres over Labor Day weekend. Easy enough. I sat down at a table, blintz and fruit on a plate in front of me, and was about to dig in when one of my colleagues, a lovely lady whose company I usually enjoy, sat down with me and asked, "Is 'Curious George' a monkey or a chimp?"

"He's a monkey," I replied.

Someone else walked up. "No, he's a chimp. Chimps are more like human beings."

"But this is a cartoon based on a children's book," I insisted, "and he's a monkey. It says so on these stickers in front of us."

"He simply has to be a chimp! He's pretty big, you know, next to the Man in the Yellow Hat. Monkeys aren't that big."

In my imagination, I stood up at this point and screamed, "He's a @#*$&#% monkey! A $&*#*@# monkey!" Then I threw my blintz across the room and stormed off.

Thank god this only happened in my head, because I really do consider these people to be friends of mine. In reality I smiled, stuffed my face and headed up to my room to do a few deep breathing exercises and pack.

Consider this to be the end of my Press Tour diaries, because I am this close to committing a felony. Buh-bye Pasadena, buh-bye Ritz Carlton. For everyone's sake, I'd better head home to Seattle and spend the next 15 days decompressing. I'll return fresh as a daisy and considerably saner in mid-August, when I'll continue this blog thing and saddle up for the fall push.

Tomorrow I may throw in a few TV-related tidbits or direct you to some interesting news links to tide you over. Otherwise, stay cool -- and I'll catch up with you closer to the fall.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/print.asp?entryID=105365

fredfa

07-26-06, 11:38 PM

Cable News Nielsens
Fox Reigns as News Heats Up

Network Sweeps Top 20 as Mideast Fighting Lifts Ratings for Cable News Nets
By Michele Greppi TVWeek.com

The 20 most-watched cable news programs last week, when the escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah produced the biggest headlines, were on the Fox News Channel.

Leading the list were four installments of "The O'Reilly Factor," averaging from 2.68 million viewers to 2.45 million (Friday's "Factor" averaged 1.32 million viewers), according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

With only one exception, the three major cable news channels saw substantial year-to-year improvements in total viewership and among viewers 25 to 54, the most valuable news demo, in the week beginning July 17.

Fox News averaged 1.9 million total viewers in prime time, off just 3 percent from the comparable week in 2005. But in the 25-54 demo, Fox was up 13 percent year to year with 586,000 viewers in prime time, the most lucrative daypart.

CNN averaged 1.01 million viewers in prime time (up 51 percent), 364,000 of them in the news demo (up 97 percent).

MSNBC's prime-time average was 386,000 viewers (up 28 percent), 161,000 of them in the demo (up 41 percent).

For total day across the week, Fox averaged 1.2 million viewers (up 12 percent), 398,000 of them in the demo (up 41 percent).

CNN averaged 685,000 viewers (up 68 percent), 284,000 of them in the demo (up 117,000).

MSNBC averaged 280,000 (up 37 percent), 123,000 of them in the demo (up 68 percent).

Worth noting, perhaps, was the head-to-head breakdown at 8 p.m. last week. "The O'Reilly Factor" averaged 2.38 million for the week (631,000 of them in the demo), MSNBC's O'Reilly taunter, "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann, averaged 494,000 viewers (196,000 of them in the demo). CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" was second in the time period with 871,000 total viewers (313,000 in the demo).

At 9 p.m., Fox's "Hannity & Colmes" averaged 2.02 million viewers (614,000 in the demo), while CNN's "Larry King Live" averaged 1.21 million (399,000 in the demo). MSNBC's "Scarborough Country" averaged 433,000 viewers (163,000 in the demo).

At 10p.m., Fox's "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren" averaged 1.85 million viewers (632,000 in the demo). CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" averaged 1.18 million viewers (473,000 in the demo). MSNBC in that hour averaged 329,000 viewers (145,000 in the demo).

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10426

fredfa

07-27-06, 12:45 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Actors make a break from 'Prison'

By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News

PASADENA, Calif. - Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) and his convict comrades aren't the only ones who've sprung themselves in Fox's "Prison Break," which returns Aug. 21.

Patricia Wettig, who last season played the manipulative vice president of the United States, whose need for a cover-up appeared to be at the heart of the show's conspiracy, has signed on as a regular on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters," which is executive produced by her husband - and "thirtysomething" co-star - Ken Olin.

Meanwhile, John Billingsley, who played the vice president's brother, another pivotal figure in the conspiracy, will instead be a regular on ABC's "The Nine," playing one of the survivors of a hostage crisis.

And while the "Break" cast is large - and getting larger, with the addition this season of "Invasion's" William Fichtner as an FBI agent tracking the escaped convicts - both Wettig and Billingsley's characters might have been expected to grow more central in a second season, particularly since Wettig's now moved up to the presidency.

So what's up with that?

"John Billingsley, as far as we know, was never actually on the show," joked "Prison Break" creator Paul T. Scheuring. "You never really see his face. So if he was on the show, he did some wonderful work, but you couldn't actually see him."

Billingsley, he added, has been replaced by an actor named Jeff Perry.

Wettig, on the other hand, got plenty of face time, and "Patricia, she's not out of the picture yet," said Scheuring, who apparently hopes the show will be able to work around her ABC schedule.

"But [with] her ascending to the presidency," noted executive producer Matt Olmstead, "access to her is much more limited, conveniently for us."

Maybe more limited than he thinks: Wettig, asked last week about "Prison Break," told reporters she wouldn't be back.

"I don't now how they are going to deal with it," she said. "I had to make a choice. And it was kind of hard for me to choose against my husband and his good writing. So I'll be on this one instead."

With the five networks getting ready to unveil 263 new serialized dramas this fall - not an exact number, but keeping track of so many mysteries is already taxing my ability to do even the simplest math - such casting issues are likely to only grow worse.

Few series with "Lost"-sized casts can probably afford to tie actors who don't appear in every episode to long-term contracts, and the attention that comes with even a smallish part on a hit show can jump-start any actor's career.

In fact, Wettig, who's never quite developed the resume many expected for her after "thirtysomething" and now finds herself at 54 in demand again, isn't the only actor to get a boost from a popular Fox series.

John Allen Nelson, whose turn as the duplicitous presidential aide Walt Cummings on "24" pretty much eclipsed his "Baywatch" background, told reporters that "it turned my whole career trajectory around."

Nelson, who'll play a U.S. senator whose wife disappears in Fox's "Vanished," said, "I haven't been able to be the most proud of the stuff that I've done" over the past 20 years or so, before playing Cummings.

"Vanished" executive producer Mimi Leder, a "24" "addict," chimed in:

"I was watching the show... and I said, 'Get me that... guy for the senator.' He was the man. He was the only man for that role. And I'm so glad he did '24.' "

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//15123698.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

RussTC3

07-27-06, 12:56 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Actors make a break from 'Prison'

By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News

"John Billingsley, as far as we know, was never actually on the show," joked "Prison Break" creator Paul T. Scheuring. "You never really see his face. So if he was on the show, he did some wonderful work, but you couldn't actually see him."

Billingsley, he added, has been replaced by an actor named Jeff Perry.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//15123698.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
I hope he was just joking. Billingsley was indeed visible for at least one episode, and present in a few more. Too bad he won't be part of the show any longer, but I guess it makes sense, given the circumstances.

ordinary joe

07-27-06, 01:02 AM

great!

fredfa

07-27-06, 02:41 AM

Welcome to AVS and the Hot Off The Press thread, Joe!

fredfa

07-27-06, 10:24 AM

The TV Column
PBS's Lip-Reading Effort
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 27, 2006; C01

PASADENA, Calif., July 26--The Federal Communications Commission's unclear edicts about language on television have paralyzed documentary filmmakers working for PBS, and its tenfold fine increase could put some PBS stations out of business, new Public Broadcasting Service chief Paula Kerger told TV critics Wednesday.

"We need to do a better job . . . letting the American people know that this is not just about Janet Jackson, that this is about filmmakers [who] have powerful stories that now are not being allowed to tell those stories on public television or on broadcast television," Kerger told critics at Summer TV Press Tour 2006.

PBS will file papers next week in support of KCSM, a small public-television station in Northern California that was hit with a $15,000 fine for rerunning before 10 p.m. an episode of the Martin Scorsese documentary "The Blues."

In the episode, musicians and the relative of a record industry executive use two words that the FCC has deemed unspeakable on the air between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Unless spoken by actors playing World War II soldiers in big-budget flicks, preferably with Tom Hanks attached. Then it's cool, as the ABC stations that ran the network's unedited broadcast of "Saving Private Ryan" found out on Nov. 11, 2004, leaving the 66 stations that opted out because of FCC fine fears feeling pretty foolish.

Actual old musicians -- not so much. That explains why the FCC, in response to a single complaint about the rerun, slapped the fine on KCSM, which, PBS execs say, broadcasts no children's programming at any time. Which presumably means not too many children watch the station.

KCSM is appealing the fine. The FCC cannot fine TV networks, only stations. (Though when the commission fines only the CBS stations that are actually owned by CBS over the debut of Janet Jackson's right breast at a Super Bowl halftime show and not the CBS stations owned by other parties, as is the case with Washington's WUSA, someone might get the impression that maybe the commission is trying to spank the network.)

Continuing the federal government's tear on TV since Jackson's breast-unveiling in 2004, Congress recently upped the amount the FCC can fine TV stations by a factor of 10, to a max of $325,000 per word. That move is particularly onerous to PBS stations, Kerger told the gathered critics.

"It's a moving target . . . it's paralyzing," said Kerger, who hasn't been on the job five months but who has a long history with PBS, most recently as executive vice president of the parent company of WNET and WLIW in New York, two of the country's largest public TV stations.

"When you have stations whose operating budgets in some cases are only a couple million dollars, even, frankly, the old fines . . . were daunting. The fines now would put stations out of business," she said.

Since late May, PBS programs broadcast before 10 p.m. not only have had certain words bleeped out, but the speaker's mouth also has been pixelated. Nice touch on a documentary film.

"Our current policy is, we try to follow the zig or the zag here of the FCC," PBS programming chief John Wilson explained to critics.

"We are now blurring lips when . . . to a reasonable person making this judgment . . . you can tell what they are saying. That's on the advice of counsel."

Kerger said the FCC commissioners think they are communicating clearly what standards should be.

"My point to them is that we, as public television, don't have the resources to try to understand what they're thinking. . . . I can't tell you, as I stand here today, that I . . . have a clear understanding. When you look at the rulings as they have transpired . . . I don't see a clear path."

Kerger said she recently visited FCC commissioners to try to find out whether adult language in Ken Burns's upcoming 14-hour documentary on World War II, "The War," would cause PBS stations to be fined if aired earlier than 10 p.m. PBS's current plans call for airing it at 8, though it's not scheduled to debut until fall '07.

"No one said, 'Oh, go ahead and run it.' They said, 'Well, you know, we understand.' So I can't really . . . read their minds. I don't know."

She defended the language in the project. "If you have someone telling a story about their experiences in the war and in telling that story a profanity is uttered, sometimes it makes a really big difference. And the impact of it is washed away or radically diminished if it's just bleeped out."

And airing the documentary at 10, she explained, would greatly reduce the number of people who would see the project, which, she said, Burns believes is his most important work.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/26/AR2006072602003_pf.html

fredfa

07-27-06, 10:30 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
"Prison Break" reboots

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”

A year ago at this time, many of the nation’s TV critics were thinking along these lines: OK, the "Prison Break" succeeds. Then what?

That’s the challenge the producers of Fox’s hit serial will face when it begins its second season Aug. 21, less than a month from today.

Few details, understandably, were revealed to critics when the cast and crew appeared for a preview on Monday.

This we know: The mad scheme of Michael (Wentworth Miller) to get sent to prison and break out his brother, Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), following an elaborate map tattooed to his body, somehow worked. If you missed the fun, the Aug. 21 season opener will be written so that viewers new to the show "can catch up to everything," producer Paul Scheuring said.

The action of Season 2 moves from inside prison to outside. Principal filming, which took place last year at the shuttered penitentiary in Joliet, Ill., will shift to Dallas.

"We’re opening up the visual look of the show, and I think people are going to be surprised," Scheuring said. Basically, it’s going to look and feel like a whole different series. "This is not an insular, visually claustrophobic show where everything’s done on green screen. We’re going to see a lot of parts of America. We’re going to see a lot of helicopter shots."

Some of the actors will look different, too. Robert Knepper, who plays the scary one-handed escapee T-Bag, showed up at the press session with blond hair. Going incognito is essential, he explained, because "I don’t want the cops to look stupid."

Just because they’re on the lam doesn’t mean the ex-prisoners won’t find a way for their lives to intersect, especially those who viewers have gotten used to seeing together, such as Michael and his cellmate, Sucre (Amaury Nolasco).

"I think one of the best things about ‘Prison Break’ is not just the mechanics of the escape and the tattoo and the blueprints and the ‘MacGyver’-esque shenanigans," Miller said. "It’s the relationships that we have as actors and as characters. And it would be a real shame if the odd-couple bond between Sucre and Michael were to simply fall by the wayside just because we’ve hopped over the wall."

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/07/prison_break_re.html#more

fredfa

07-27-06, 10:41 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
New Orleans Now & Forever
By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com in the “Critical Eye” TV Press Tour blog
Author and academic Ari Kelman said the old adage that New Orleans is “impossible but inevitable” is a great way to describe the city.

Kelman, who is featured in the PBS “American Experience” documentary “New Orleans, said at the show’s tour session Wednesday a city built below sea level that is ground zero for terrible epidemics “makes no sense.”

“On the other hand, it’s got the Mississippi River flowing by its front door,” he added.

In a post Hurricane Katrina world, it is a “fair question” to ask if the effort should be put into rebuilding the city. Because of its culture and its place in the history of race in the U.S., “the film demonstrates without New Orleans we’re no America.”

Filmmaker Stephen Ives said “New Orleans,” the latest in the “American Experience” city series, felt like the “fastest film ever made” and just could not be ready to air for the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in August. The film will premiere in first quarter 2007.

One critic asked if Ives had bumped into director Spike Lee, who is making a film specifically about the aftermath of Katrina.

“We were four people in a minivan,” Ives said, noting Lee had a much bigger film crew and a lunch truck. “We could see him before he could see us.”

Ives said he has not seen Lee’s film, which is “focusing on the essential present dilemma, and we were specifically not trying to do that.”

Instead Ives was taking a much longer historical perspective on New Orleans, which is why he worked with New Orleans fixtures like Irvin Mayfield, a jazz musician who founded the Institute of Jazz culture at Dillard University.

Mayfield gave a trumpet performance of the New Orleans classic “St. James Infirmary Blues,” which wowed the usually unimpressed critics. Performances like Mayfield’s are the reason New Orleans is so vital, Ives said.

“It’s an immeasurably rich gift,” he said. “That’s what makes it feel different. People have sunk roots in very unstable soil there.”

A Final ‘Suspect’

Helen Mirren was asked if like Cher and Barbra Streisand, who seem to have farewell concerts every few years, the seventh installment of Masterpiece Theatre’s “Prime Suspect” miniseries was really the last.

“It’s definitive,” Mirren said at the PBS series’ press tour session Wednesday.

“In the real world these people don’t go on forever,” she said. “I like the idea of bookends. It began and it ends.”

The clip showed the iconographic Chief Inspector Jane Tennison in the last few weeks on the London police force before her retirement. Her relationship with booze appears to be making her forgetful, but Tennison is determined to solve one last crime before ending her career.

This had critics wondering if Mirren’s character, would die in “Prime Suspect 7,” a detail Mirren had no intention of giving up.

Mirren hadn’t been suffering from any melancholy about the end of “Prime Suspect,” until she saw the clip PBS showed at the press tour session.
“I didn’t expect it, but just now, funnily enough,” she said.

“Prime Suspect” has a generous production schedule, considering for the current installment there were 11 weeks to shoot the four hour miniseries. Mirren didn’t know how much was spent on “Prime Suspect,” but “certainly I get paid more” than she did when the first installment was filmed over a decade ago, she said.

Despite being a producer on “Prime Suspect” this time around, Mirren said she didn’t involve herself in the writing and directing.

“I’m always a little hands off,” she said. I never want a writer and director coming on board feeling they have to stick to a format.”

The Stars Come Out on ‘Nip/Tuck’

Larry Hagman, Cybill Shepherd, Peter Dinklage, Rosie O’Donnell and Catherine Deneuve are all doing guest-star stints on the upcoming fourth season of the FX series “Nip/Tuck.” But don’t expect the sexy and disturbing show to turn into a cable version of “Will & Grace” by relying too much on big guest names, creator Ryan Murphy said at his press tour session Tuesday afternoon.

Using guest stars in a show’s fourth season “energizes story telling,” Murphy said, noting that “this show is always about these three people, make no mistake.”

The three people—Julian McMahon, Dylan Walsh and Joely Richardson—were all present on the panel, and uniformly expressed disappointment in the show’s third season, which was dominated by a homicidal maniac called The Carver.

“It felt like a different show for awhile,” Walsh said, with McMahon admitting “last year was not my favorite year, to be honest,” adding “this year I’m totally revitalized.”

Murphy stood behind the Carver storyline, but said for season four, the show would be focused more on the relationship of the show’s two plastic surgeons and long-suffering friend and mate Julia.Responding to curious critics, Murphy said Denueve will be playing a woman who wants to put her late husband’s ashes in her breast implants, which brought on groans of horror from the crowd.

“That’s a true story,” he said, noting that all the cases in the show are based on actual procedures and events.
Critics did get more about what Denueve would be doing on the show, however.

“When you think Catherine Denueve, you think French murderess,” he said. “At least I do.”

Spike Feresten Breaks Bulbs, Makes Nice With Sudafed

Three and a half years into his stint as a music student in Boston, Spike Feresten realized “he had made a really bad decision.” At the Tuesday afternoon press tour session for his new Fox late-night entry “Talk Show with Spike Feresten,” the failed music student explained he had been thrown out of his dormitory after chucking light bulbs out an eighth-story window. A few months later, he saw David Letterman pull the same stunt on his late night show. and Feresten realized “there is a place for me.”

“Instead of getting in trouble, I could make a career,” he added. One critic (and by one critic, I mean me) asked Feresten if Fox’s top ad sales guy, Jon Nesvig, had beat the crap out of him for his performance at the advertiser upfronts in May, when Feresten made cracks about Sudafed and its relationship to fueling the crystal meth epidemic. I thought it was funny back when Feresten made the joke, but apparently advertisers didn’t share my quirky sense of humor. “It’s a steep learning curve right now,” Feresten admitted, “and very public.” Executive producer Stewart Bailey said Feresten should be free lunch for journalists for a while.

“He’s remarkably free of polish,” Bailey said. “Enjoy it.” And the nick name Spike? It came when Feresten was the receptionist 15 years ago on “Saturday Night Live,” and his cow licked hair brought on the moniker.

“They said, ‘Do you have problem with that?’” Feresten remembered, when the name Spike started to stick. “I said, “Just don’t fire me.”

‘Happy Hour’ and the Cult of Kelly Ripa

Women are obsessed with talk show host, product spokesman and super mom Kelly Ripa. That was the big message to come out of the press tour session Tuesday for Fox’s new comedy “Happy Hour.”

Executive producer Jackie Filgo admitted her obsession onstage while talking about her show, which started a “me too!” discussion among series regulars Jamie Denbo and Beth Lacke.

“She’s got like, four different jobs,” an amazed Lacke said.

“She has like, seven nannies,” Denbo said.

Their co-star, Lex Medlin, (who you might recognize from his speed talking-auctioneer shtick he does on T-Mobile TV commercials) was frightened by the conversation, adding that his wife is a Ripa-phile as well.

Lacke explained that she is obsessed with Ripa because she is a “woman who can do it all and keeps diminishing in size.”

One critic asked the cast if women like men who are easily ordered around, noting that actor Nat Faxon’s character fits into that mold with his relationship with Denbo’s character.

“Oh yeah, that whole we want you to take charge thing,” Denbo said, “No, no, no, no.”
“I prefer them not to speak,” Lacke added.

The male cast members seemed to take note. While Medlin got a few words in, Faxon and fellow cast member John Sloan were pretty quiet throughout the session, speaking only when spoken to.

Just like Lacke likes it.

These Kids Can Dance

It’s not often that a press tour session begins with some interpretive West Coast swing, but this is Fox we’re talking about. At the press tour session for the summer reality hit “So You Think You Can Dance?” Tuesday, cousins Benji and Heidi cut up the stage, along with rival couple Travis and Allison. Critics actually applauded afterward, and for once it was deserved.

The four dancers reappeared onstage just moments later, along with the other four finalists, four judges, host Cat Deeley and executive producer and host Nigel Lythgoe.

One critic wanted to know if the dancers, most of who have been training for years, are enjoying a newfound popularity with the show, which has made dancing cool among the kids.

Benji noted that he had received an email from an “old school bully” who wanted to apologize for spitting on him and making his life miserable in high school.

“It’s really neat to see how so many people can be inspired.”

Another critic asked Lythgoe why the winning dancer will receive such a small prize—an SUV, Las Vegas dance contract and $100,000—compared to the cool million he gives on some other show of his, called “American Idol.”

“If you give somebody a million dollars as a dancer, you’re almost detracting from the dancer,” he said, noting that the cash on “Idol” is not a prize but a contract from a recording company. The top 10 kids are not going to be hurting for leg warmers and tap shoes, however. Lythgoe is trying to organize a multi-city dance tour that will feature the final ten dancers.

“Hopefully that will generate some money for them,” he said.

Choreographer Dan Karaty was asked what it’s like to work with big music stars. He admitted that Britney Spears picks his steps up quickly, but some other performers, “like Jessica Simpson takes a really long time to learn things.”

Something tells me that’s true of other things as well.

http://blogs.tvweek.com/?cat=5

fredfa

07-27-06, 10:51 AM

The Business of TV
EchoStar Looks to Supreme Court for Relief

By Ted Hearn Multichanne News

EchoStar Communications is planning to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to protect more than a half-million subscribers from losing access to out-of-market feeds of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox programming if a private settlement with hundreds of local TV stations can't be reached.

As a result of court setbacks in copyright disputes, EchoStar may have to terminate distant network service to 1.2 million customers in all, including about 600,000 who have been receiving the programming legally. An abrupt cutoff would likely inflict financial pain on EchoStar and generate a strong political backlash on Capitol Hill.

Legal scenarios are expected to play out in three courts as key House lawmakers wait to learn whether thousands of voters are going to lose access to network programming stemming from a court case that has dragged on for years and received little attention.

First, EchoStar Tuesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit -- which authorized the injunction back in May and just rejected EchoStar’s appeal -- to stay the ruling pending the outcome of the appeal it will file in the Supreme Court.

If the 11th Circuit rejects EchoStar’s stay motion, the case would return to a U.S. District Court in south Florida for processing of the injunction.

Second, in preparation of the stay denial, EchoStar and network-affiliated TV stations that sued EchoStar jointly asked the lower court Tuesday to postpone any injunction until Sept. 11. Both sides informed the court that they were attempting to reach a settlement.

The parties were urged to file for a 45-day postponement by key members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, including chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas).

Lastly, if the District Court ignores the postponement request, EchoStar still has the option of asking the Supreme Court to lift the injunction while considering the merits of the appeal of the 11th Circuit's May ruling.

In that decision, the 11th Circuit found that EchoStar had flagrantly broken the law by selling out-of-market network signals to thousands of ineligible customers.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6356776.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

07-27-06, 11:12 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Good crop of new TV series
By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger

GUESS WHAT, folks? That's it for the Television Critics Association press tour, and I am outta here. Yes, the tour technically goes on for another two days of PBS, but I've been away from my family, my friends and my TiVo long enough, so it's time to fly eastward.

Before I go, a look back at what was one of the best tours I can remember.

Too much of a good thing?: Interesting shows make for an interesting tour, and this is the best overall crop of new series the networks have introduced in years. Even the 2004-05 season, which gave us "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "House," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Veronica Mars," wasn't nearly this deep.

But since we're critics and therefore deeply cynical and pessimistic by nature, we have to find the negative, and it's this: Are people going to have enough time for all these shows? Especially since most of them, inspired by the success of "Lost" and "Housewives," are ambitious, densely-plotted serials where you probably have to commit to every episode?

"It's the flavor of the week right now," said "Prison Break" creator Paul Scheuring, "and I think there's an over-saturation, in my opinion. So my advice (to creators of those shows) would be to write a serialized show that started filming last year."

Since failure is the norm in the TV business, a lot of good dramas (not to mention some promising comedies, in the unconventional mold of "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office") are going to fall by the wayside unless every Nielsen family in America gets dual-tuner DVR's in every room and never leaves the house.

Too much of the same thing?: Okay, so we have two shows where missing persons cases will be played out over an entire season (Fox's "Vanished" vs. NBC's "Kidnapped"), two shows about amoral criminal attorneys (CBS' "Shark" vs. Fox's "Justice"), even two shows set backstage at thinly-disguised versions of "Saturday Night Live" (NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" vs. NBC's "30 Rock"). Imitation is the sincerest form of television, but this is a bit much.

Best show paneled at press tour: HBO brought back "The Wire" creator David Simon, along with the four teenage boys who play the central characters of the long-delayed fourth season. In hopes of drumming up interest, Simon arranged for all 13 episodes to be sent to critics in advance of press tour, and they are brilliant.

Best new show paneled: As I said above, there are so many candidates that it's a tough call. Highlights include NBC's adaptation of "Friday Night Lights," with Kyle Chandler as a Texas high school football coach; ABC's "Ugly Betty," a funny, slightly campy soap opera starring America Ferrera as a smart but unglamorous woman trying to prove that substance can trump style in the world of fashion magazines; ABC's "The Nine," about the unlikely bond formed among survivors of a 52-hour bank robbery hostage crisis; and NBC's "Heroes," in which ordinary people around the world begin developing super powers.

If I had to pick just one, it would be "Friday Night Lights," but that's because I gravitate towards sports dramas to begin with. All these shows (plus "Studio 60," "30 Rock," "Kidnapped," ABC's "Knights of Prosperity" and "Big Day," and CBS' "Smith") have the potential to be special, if the audience can find the time for them.

Show I care much more about now: Comedy Central brought out improv comics Dave Allen and Dave Koechner in character as "The Naked Trucker and T Bones," a clothes-averse hippie truck driver and his backwoods hitchhiking buddy who will be the stars of a new sketch/variety show. Hard to say who was braver: Allen with only a guitar to hide his unmentionables, or Koechner with a greasy comb-over and a T-shirt four sizes too small for his belly. For a series none of us had even heard of, it became a must-see by the time the guys were done.

Show I care much less about now: I already preferred "Kidnapped" to "Vanished," but that feeling was magnified by the sessions for each show. "Kidnapped" creator Jason Smilovic confidently explained how the show will follow a single case over 22 episodes, and how it will transition to a new abduction the following year.

"Vanished" creator Josh Berman, meanwhile, nervously hedged on exactly what he intends to do, or where the show might go after the initial order of 13 episodes. Maybe there's a master plan that he's keeping secret, but nobody wants to commit to a serial mystery show if even the writers don't know where it's going.

Best unintentionally funny quote: Matthew Perry's "I think it's like bad Vicodin in the schoolyard" got the biggest laugh, but he was trying for that. Then there was Taye Diggs, star of ABC's "Groundhog Day"-like drama "Day Break," about a cop who keeps reliving the same 24 hours. After he got frustrated with the number of questions about potentially confusing plot mechanics, he loudly insisted, "We're not dumb. I'm Taye Diggs! I wouldn't sign on for that."

Not since Keith Hernandez thought "I'm Keith Hernandez" before kissing Elaine Benes on "Seinfeld" has a celebrity been so confident that his name brings with it unassailable judgment.

Wardrobe worries: All three network news anchors showed up, and I inadvertently wove a thread between them. Near the end of CBS' Katie Couric press conference, CBS News president Sean McManus suggested that for the first few nights of her tenure, people will be focusing on the new set, the theme music and Katie's wardrobe. With a lull in the session, and keeping in mind that long montage of Katie's many outfits and hairstyles from her "Today" farewell, I mentioned McManus' comment, as well as the controversy over Dan Rather's sweater vests in the '80s, and asked Katie what she might be wearing on her first newscast.

"You're kidding, right?" she said, before cracking, "I've actually gone to Charlie Gibson's stylist and discussed that at length."

McManus then challenged me to ask the same of Charlie, so when the ABC anchor appeared via satellite from Cyprus a few days later, I apologized for being so frivolous while he was in a war zone, then asked him about his own sartorial choices.

"I don't know. Ask Katie," he laughed, before saying he owns four ties and five suits and puts on whichever is at the right of the closet.

By the time NBC's Brian Williams showed up, he was well-briefed. Before I'd even gotten the question out of my mouth, he smiled and said, "A simple black cocktail dress. And that's my answer."

http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/sepinwall/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1153891722261510.xml&coll=1

HDTVChallenged

07-27-06, 11:28 AM

dad1153

07-27-06, 11:48 AM

How about a round of applause for AVS' intrepid entertainment editor Fred (i.e. fredfa) and his non-stop coverage of the coverage of the Critics Tour in Los Angeles? I just discovered AVS a couple of months ago and now I cannot think of another source for all the sources about written opinion, commentary and review of the rapidly-growing-out-of-control entertainment/TV world than Fred's always-updated thread. I felt like I was in Pasadena with the critics, except I was all cool and comfty in my NYC apartment and workplace (thank God I don't live in Queens).

All together now... Hip Hip... HOORAY FOR FRED!!! :)

fredfa

07-27-06, 12:04 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Long Arm of the FCC Strangles the Spineless Broadcasting Service

By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline”

The programming and policy braintrust of the Public Broadcasting Service met critics on Wednesday as the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena wound into the homestretch. And whereas PBS once was the standard-bearer for free expression on the airwaves, it now instead resembles a frightened, flailing child, cowed into compliance (and then some) by the threat of Federal Communications Commission fines for alleged broadcast indecency and justifying its own stringent self-policing as vital to its very survival.

You may have heard that a new PBS policy issued on May 31 and immediately put into effect requires producers whose shows are broadcast before 10 p.m. to adhere to greatly tightened editing requirements in terms of perceived profane language, context be damned. Why? Because Big Brother FCC is staring down from its 1950s-era high horse with a disapproving gaze. It's designed to guard against things like the $15,000 fine levied by the commission against PBS outlet KCSM of San Mateo, CA over blue material broadcast in the ironically titled "The Blues."

Mind you, "The Blues" was a documentary series -- from Martin Scorsese. But no matter. PBS stations can't take any more chances on fines, what with legislation signed into law that increases the penalty for each violation 10-fold (to $325,000 per transgression). And as PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger reasoned this morning, "The fines now would put stations out of business, and we cannot allow that to happen."

So in order to keep doing business, PBS is having to sell its soul. The May 31 edict now goes beyond mere language bleeping to require that whomever is uttering the words on camera have his or her mouth digitally obscured -- apparently to protect lip-readers from having their fragile sensibilities compromised as well. Producers have complained that the masking process is awkward and embarrassing. And of course they're right.

What's next? How about digitally decapitating the speaker so as to remove from the equation any facial movements that might be viewed as patently offensive? It's ridiculous, but trust me that it isn't so far off.

"We are only (blurring the mouths) in places where we can see very clearly the judgment" is the way PBS senior VP of programming John Wilson described it on Wednesday, which raised the question: How exactly does a human mouth convey judgment? Wilson continued, "Our current policy is to try to follow the zig and the zag here of the FCC. We are now blurring the lips when you can see plainly, to a reasonable person making this judgment, that you can tell what they are saying. And that's on the advice of counsel. The FCC hasn't directed us to do that, but we are taking this route."

This is disturbing for a number of reasons. One is that it finds PBS running so scared that the pubcaster sees it as necessary to expend vast amounts of energy predicting the most radically repressive content path the FCC might think to follow -- and then beating it to the punch! Another is the notion that language concerns need suddenly extend to the eyes. We don't even have to hear the profanity now to be offended by it so long as we can see it. It's but a small step from justifying censorship through mind-reading. We know what that guy is thinking, and it's not good. That'll be $325,000 please.

The slippery slope being traversed here by public broadcasting is one of self-fulfilling prophecy, I fear, rather than genuine prudent restraint. It's destined to result in government bureaucrats dictating scheduling, specifically with regard to the much-anticipated Ken Burns World War II series "The War" that's earmarked for Fall 2007. With salty language uttered by the featured veterans themselves, the dread is that PBS may feel compelled to bury it in a 10 p.m. timeslot rather than the 8 p.m. family position it deserves. Right now, PBS is considering both 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., because upsetting Burns may be the only thing that frightens these folks more than does running afoul of the FCC.

In any case, both Kerger and Wilson vigorously defended their caution and timidity on Wednesday, vowing to fight the FCC but at the same time practically adding the caveat, "We're presently asking the FCC if they'd mind our disagreeing with them a little bit on this."

"It is an issue...of free speech," Kerger emphasized. "It is an issue because our filmmakers deserve to be able to tell their stories and tell them well...The FCC (needs to) understand that we are not talking about doing salacious work, we are just trying to do good work."

http://www.pastdeadline.com/

HDTVChallenged

07-27-06, 12:23 PM

Well if you can't get'em on murder and racketering charges, go after them for tax-evasion. And folks wonder where all my paranoia and conspiricy theories come from. :)

Marcus Carr

07-27-06, 12:26 PM

Study: DVR, VOD Usage Up; Impact Small

By Linda Moss 7/27/2006 11:28:00 AM

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group found that while the number of digital-video-recorder and video-on-demand users has significantly increased, the impact on overall TV viewing has been minimal.

Leichtman’s survey found that 60% of all digital-cable subscribers have used VOD, up from 25% two years ago, and about 12% of households in the United States now have DVRs, up from 3% just two years ago.

However, the overall impact of DVRs and VOD on U.S. television viewing remains small. Leichtman estimated that less than 4% of all TV viewing today is of recorded DVR programs or on-demand viewing, up from about 2% a year ago.

These findings are based on a survey of 1,350 households throughout the United States, and they are part of Leichtman’s study, On-Demand TV 2006: A Nationwide Study on VOD and DVRs.

Other key findings include:

• The mean reported number of programs recorded each week in DVR households increased by 23% in the past year, to 11.3;

• Among cable VOD users, the reported mean number of total on-demand programs and movies ordered per week increased by 33% in the past year, to 4.8;

• Premium on-demand programs and movies accounted for one-half of all reported on-demand usage; and

• 62% of DVR subscribers and 64% of VOD users said they usually watch recorded or on-demand programs when there is no regularly scheduled TV on that they want to watch.

“By the end of 2010, over 50 million households will have a DVR, and about 42 million will have access to VOD from their cable provider,” Leichtman president and principal analyst Bruce Leichtman said in a prepared statement. “Yet despite the growth in users and usage of DVRs and VOD, it is important to note that these services still represent a very small portion of all TV viewing in the United States.”

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6356918.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

07-27-06, 12:46 PM

Well if you can't get'em on murder and racketering charges, go after them for tax-evasion. And folks wonder where all my paranoia and conspiricy theories come from. :)

I wouldn't say I wonder about them -- but I (usually) do enjoy reading them as you post 'em. :)

fredfa

07-27-06, 12:50 PM

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

fredfa

07-27-06, 12:53 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
It's downhill for 'America's Got Talent'
NBC talent show falls to a series-low 3.2

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer July 27, 2006

When “America’s Got Talent” debuted last month on NBC, it was the most-watched premiere of the summer among adults 18-49s. It seemed well on its way to becoming the slow summer’s top hit.

But five weeks later, “Talent” is slipping. Last night’s two-hour episode dipped to a series-low 2.9 adults 18-49 overnight rating, nearly a point behind “So You Think You Can Dance” on Fox and 26 percent off of its 3.9 series average.

In the final half hour, the show actually fell 3 percent, from a 3.2 to a 3.1, which, while certainly not cause for panic, is never good.

“Talent’s” 37 percent slide since its debut has likely been caused by several things. First, it’s facing tough competition with “Dance” in the same timeslot, and some viewers may be going back and forth between the two. Indeed, “Talent” has had a consistent pattern through all six weeks, bouncing up the next week each time it exhibits a week-to-week decline.

Also, last night’s episode was two hours, beginning at 8 p.m. The show usually runs for one hour at 9, and perhaps viewers were confused about the start time, though even so, the last hour averaged just a 3.2.

Last, and perhaps most importantly, the earlier stages of the contest, featuring singing grannies and karate kids, may have been more appealing than the later ones, in which the field has been cut to a handful of semifinalists. It’s certainly more fun to watch a wacky competitor who could do something bizarre than one who actually performs well.

Meanwhile, “Dance” boosted Fox to No. 1 in 18-49s for the night, with a 2.9 rating and 9 share, ahead of NBC at 2.7/8, CBS at 2.3/7, Univision at 1.7/5, ABC at 1.5/4, WB at 0.7/2 and UPN at 0.5/2.

At 8 p.m., NBC "America's Got Talent" was No. 1 at a 2.6, followed by CBS's "Rock Star: Supernova" at 2.3, Fox's rerun of "So You Think You Can Dance" at 2.1, Univision’s "La Fea Mas Bella" at 2.0, ABC's "The One: Making a Music Star" and WB's new and repeat "Blue Collar TV" each at 1.0, and UPN's "America's Next Top Model" rerun at 0.6.

At 9 p.m., Fox's new "Dance" was No. 1 at 3.7, followed by NBC's "Talent" at 3.2, CBS's "Criminal Minds" repeat at 2.3, Univision's "Barrera de Amor" at 1.6, ABC's reruns of "George Lopez" and "Freddie" at 1.3, UPN's reruns of "Eve" and "Half & Half" at 0.5 and WB's "One Tree Hill" at 0.4.

At 10 p.m., CBS's "CSI: NY" rerun was No. 1 at 2.4, ahead of NBC's "Law & Order" repeat at 2.3, ABC's "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" at 2.1 and Univision's "Don Francisco Presenta" at 1.5.

Among households, NBC was No. 1 at a 5.8 rating and 10 share, ahead of CBS at 5.0/9, Fox at 4.6/8, ABC at 2.8/5, Univision at 1.9/3, WB at 1.2/2 and UPN at 0.9/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_6272.asp

fredfa

07-27-06, 01:24 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
PBS arrives, Internet crashes. Coincidence, I'm sure
By Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic TV Critic in his Critic’s Tour blog 07/27/2006

PASADENA, Calif. -- We have arrived at the last day of the TV tour.

There was very little blogging about the next-to-last day of the TV tour because, for a big chunk of time, the hotel lost online access. Imagine a hotel full of newspaper people who depend upon the Internet the way Ryan Seacrest depends on hair products suddenly having to go without. You could hear the withdrawal pains all over the place.

Wait. Sorry. The noise was the dog staying across the hall.

Anyway, PBS arrived Wednesday with a new president and CEO, Paula Kerger. It was her first press tour in that role, which meant her first time answering our mind-numbing questions about pledge drive, a perennial favorite. She scored big points by being straightforward and kind of funny. During a discussion about increased FCC fines -- look for a fight over Ken Burns' film called The War, scheduled to air in the fall of 2007, because Burns wants to use the language former soldiers used without bleeps or cuts -- she talked about the frustrations of not knowing what the guidelines are and the possible effect of a giant fine on member stations. (Effect: very, very bad.)

"This is not just about Janet Jackson," Kerger said. "This is about filmmakers that have powerful stories that now are not being allowed to tell those stories on public television or on broadcast television."

The issue, of course, revolves around language -- certain words that can't be said on television. Or in blogs, for that matter, at least not this one.

"If you want, I'll say them out loud," Kerger said.

No thanks. Again, not here. But we loved the offer.

Anyway, it's way too early to guess how PBS will fare under Kerger's tenure. But if her dealings with critics are any indication, she's off to a good start.

http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?blog=5&blogtype=Entertainment

fredfa

07-27-06, 01:27 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Questions

Does anyone else find it a bit strange that the TV critics have been departing Pasadena en masse the past two days – many of them missing the PBS presentations?

Especially when PBS programs always get such generally warm reviews from the critics?

So they couldn’t stay an extra day or two to learn about the PBS upcoming schedule?

What is up with that?

fredfa

07-27-06, 01:35 PM

Obituary
J.M. Wright Morris, 21
Child Actress Got a New Heart

By Valerie J. Nelson Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 27, 2006

J. Madison Wright Morris, a former child actress who underwent a heart transplant at 15 and had a heart attack a day after returning from her honeymoon in Hawaii, died Friday. She was 21.

Morris, who on July 8 married Brent Joseph Morris, a medical student at the University of Kentucky, died at the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington.

Her first major role was in the mid-1990s NBC series "Earth 2." She also appeared in the 1997 feature film "Shiloh," with her younger sister Tori, and in several television shows, including "ER." Her last role was in the 1998 Disney TV movie "Safety Patrol."

Her career began at 5, when she went to an open audition in Lexington and was chosen for a summer modeling stint in New York. By the next year, she and her sister were represented by the Ford Modeling Agency.

She used J. Madison Wright as her professional name, insisting at 12 that there were "just too many Jessicas" to be known by her first name.

In 1992, she moved with her family to Los Angeles to pursue acting and started out at 9 playing uppity young beauty contestants in "Grace Under Fire" and "The Nanny."

In "Earth 2," she portrayed True Danziger, a motherless girl taught to fend for herself in a world of intergalactic space travel centuries in the future, according to her fan club, the Screaming Trues. The club takes its name from her character's propensity to shriek when frightened.

As a teenager, she and her family returned to Kentucky, where she had recurring bouts of pneumonia and was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease. Clancy Brown, who played her father in "Earth 2," led fundraising efforts to pay for the heart transplant in 2000 at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Born July 29, 1984, in Cincinnati, she was the eldest of four children of Scott and Melissa Wright.

Morris attended the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., on cheerleading and academic scholarships, graduating this year. She planned to teach 10th-grade English this fall at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester, Ky.

On Monday, her funeral was held at Corinth Baptist Church in London, Ky., the building in which she was married.

In addition to her husband, parents and sister, Morris' survivors include her brothers Isaiah and Elijah, two grandmothers, two grandfathers, a great-grandmother, a great-grandfather and a great-great-grandmother.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-morris27jul27,0,4724746,print.story?coll=la-home-obituaries

fredfa

07-27-06, 01:55 PM

keenan

07-27-06, 03:03 PM

This is different from what we've been hearing about the DirecTV MPEG4 DVR launch. From TV Week, note the specific references to August.

July 27, 2006

DirecTV: August Launch For New DVRs
New Deadline for Pivotal Set-Top Boxes

DirecTV, the biggest U.S. satellite television service, plans to debut new digital video recorders with HD capability next month after being stung by criticism of past delays in rolling out the boxes.

The devices will hit Los Angeles in August and roll out in other major markets in subsequent weeks, DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said. The timeline is more specific than past "fall" deadlines previously announced by the News Corp.-owned company. Last week, critics ranging from a Wall Street analyst to frustrated subscribers voiced irritation with the delays in introducing the HD DVRs.

Mr. Mercer said that despite controversy about the delays, DirecTV's distribution timeline hasn't changed since early this year.

"We're just trying to clarify that it's rolling out in L.A. in mid-August," he said.

The next-generation HD DVRs are key to DirecTV's plans to become more competitive in the high-end TV marketplace. In 2004, DirecTV announced plans to switch DVR manufacturers from the popular Tivo brand to fellow News Corp. company NDS Group. But technological issues have repeatedly sidelined the NDS devices.

The Tivo-replacing HD DVRs were originally supposed to roll out last fall. Then early this year. Then this fall.

Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman and CEO of The Carmel Group, said the delays should not directly cause subscriber defections, but that the company needs to deliver a high-quality product -- and fast.

"At this stage, the real bottom line is whether they get it out in time for the Christmas season," Mr. Schaeffler said. "If they don't get it out, or if it's not a quality device, then people will start losing their jobs."

Even with the August target date, marketplace experts said several key questions remain: Will DirecTV yet again miss its deadline? Will it lose customers in the interim? Will the new DVRs satisfy users accustomed to the relatively glitch-free and user-friendly Tivo brand?

In a report released Monday, Wall Street research firm Sanford C. Bernstein warned that the latest delay could result in subscriber drain and puts DirecTV at further disadvantage against cable providers and satellite competitor EchoStar Communications' Dish Network.

"We believe shortages of the combination HD DVR unit have contributed to DirecTV falling behind cable competitors in HD readiness," analyst Craig Moffett wrote in a report. "HDTV penetration of digital subscribers among cable operators appears significantly higher than at DirecTV … We're skeptical that investors will continue to give DirecTV a free pass, however, as the future upgrade requirement is clearly growing."

Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group, said providing subscribers a quality HD DVR is vitally important for the company.

"[The delay] is certainly something they don't want to be doing right now," he said. "Everything DirecTV has said indicates they want high-end subscribers. High-end doesn't mean DVR, it means HD. They're clearly at a competitive disadvantage and have been for a while. The longer they go without an HD DVR, the more damaging it could be."

Mr. Mercer said the set-top box is going through final testing and that it will exceed expectations.

"The box has performed magnificently in tests," he said. "It's going to be a fantastic product."

http://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=202
TV Week

fredfa

07-27-06, 03:14 PM

keenan

07-27-06, 03:19 PM

Interesting news, Jim. I can't wait to get my nhands on the units -- although I am trying to see if I can keep my others connected for a two-month or so transition period.

So far I have been told I can -- if I pay the extra $5.95 charge per box.
Yes, it appears to be a response by Mercer to all the negative press lately, and the article is dated today, so hopefully August is an accurate date.

archiguy

07-27-06, 03:28 PM

dg28

07-27-06, 03:32 PM

I'm not a D* customer, but I'm curious as to why they would abandon a "glitch-free and user-friendly" HD-DVR from TiVo that works so well in order to create the same thing themselves from scratch? Seems pretty silly and a gigantic waste of resources to me.

It's called "synergy" (and perhaps greed). NDS, the new software supplier for D*'s DVRs, is owned by Fox. TiVo is not. So now Fox companies will get to keep 100% of that pesky monthly DVR fee.

mike_somd

07-27-06, 03:34 PM

I'm not a D* customer, but I'm curious as to why they would abandon a "glitch-free and user-friendly" HD-DVR from TiVo that works so well in order to create the same thing themselves from scratch? Seems pretty silly and a gigantic waste of resources to me.

I can see why, it's all about the money. If they give customers a box created by them, they don't have to give tivo any of the subscription fee. It's all about lining their pockets even if the software will be no where as polished and user friendly as tivo's.

Joe3

07-27-06, 03:42 PM

Hey, wouldn't be funny if the only DVR on the planet that forces adverisements down your throat is TiVo, the people who ivented a way to give us a choice?

fredfa

07-27-06, 05:02 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Oops

With all the postings from the TCA Tour, I forgot to update the weekly network and Top-10 program ratings.
They are now complete at the bottom of the first posting of this thread. Sorry.

Marcus Carr

07-27-06, 05:26 PM

Franchise Bill May Have Its 60 Votes

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/27/2006 12:24:00 PM

Lengthening odds on a telecom bill be-darned, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) told reporters Thursday that he thinks he has the 60 votes he needs to pass a franchise streamlining bill, and one without network neutrality.

"I haven’t been personally told we have [the votes]," he cautioned. " My staff and I believe that we have them, but I have not personally talked to Senators to make sure that we have them," he told reporter. "And the Leader’s asked me to make sure, so I’m going to visit with a series of Senators to make sure that they will be with us."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) won't give the bill precious floor time as the session winds down unless he is sure it is filibuster-proof

Stevens did not say whether and how the omnibus bill might have to be trimmed or tailored to get the votes, but he said he did not expect to trim it on the floor--that would leave it to the conference committee--and was adamant about the absence of network neutrality.

Joe Barton, chair of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which has passed its own streamlined video franchise streamlining bill, has reportedly said net neutrality won't be on the final bill, either.

Large computer companies like Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! have put millions into a campaign to put strong network neutrality language in the bill, which they say is key to keeping the internet safe for entrepreneurs and start-ups. They argue that networks, now that the FCC has ruled that they don't have to open their networks to independent Internet Service Providers, will create a system of 'net haves and havenots divided by the amount of money they are willing to pay. They also argue the telephone and cable networks will have too much power to quash speech, say slowing traffic to a Web site or e-mail campaign on an issue they don't favor.

Networks, who have put millions into campaigns opposing tough network neutrality language, say they would never do that, that the FCC has the power to punish anyone who does, and that they must be able to get a return on investment by managing their networks. The alternative, some argue, is an Internet where everyone's service is equally slow and jerky, and that the Internet of today, with everyone wanting to send high-res video of the family, is different from the one in which mostly data was bicycled around between computers.

Stevens also said he had been contacted by a noted scientist who backed his much-mocked "tubes" analogy for the Internet, and even said he would be willing to go on The Daily Show. Jon Stewart has been a long-time lampooner of the chairman.

http://broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6357121.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

07-27-06, 05:32 PM

(In the interest of full disclosure, I have no idea what this means. But it may be important to many of you with a greater tech knowledge.)

The Digital Revolution
FiOS Takes Big Step Toward IPTV

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable7/27/2006

As it ramps up its FiOS video system, already available in seven states, Verizon has just taken a "Very big" step toward going all IPTV, all the time.

Currently its video system is a hybrid of traditional video delivery via cable for its linear programming and IPTV for its video on demand offerings and electronic program guide. the goal is to put it all on the 'net.

The "very big" was from Verizon spokesman Mark Marchand, who says the company expects to delivery FiOS via IPTV within the next several years. "Eventually, this sets the stage for going all-IPTV when we feel the technology is more mature and scalable," he said.

The "step" is quadrupling broadband download speeds-and octupling upload speeds--through equipment deals with equipment from Motorola, Tellabs and Alcatel.

The rollout of what it is calling a Gigabit Passive Optical Network (G-PON) will come by the end of the year, and will have immediate impact on the speed and flexibility of VOD.

Currently, Verizon starts with 633 megabits per second, but that is divided among as many as 32 customers by the time it gets to the home. The new network will start out at 2.4 gigabits per second.

Why eight times upload speed but only four time for download? "We're trying to do more with upstream given that the Internet is more interactive," says Marchand.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6357086

keenan

07-27-06, 05:39 PM

It means they'll be able to carry more signal, about 3 times the current cable company capacity.

Marcus Carr

07-27-06, 05:55 PM

Comcast Digital-Cable Push Pays Off

Strong Second Quarter as Subscribers Switch to Digital

By Abbey Klaassen

Published: July 27, 2006

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- This is the kind of quarter CEO Brian Roberts has been anticipating. Comcast's aggressive investment in digital cable, phone and high-speed data is paying off in second-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations.

Comcast shares surged almost 5% on the news that net income rose 7%, as the company earned $460 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with $430 million, or 19 cents, for the same period in 2005.

Mr. Roberts, the CEO of the country's largest cable operator, spent much of first quarter lamenting what he considered to be a depressed stock price, stagnating in the $26 to $27 range. Today it hit $34.

350,000 new subscribers

The company grew digital-cable subscribers by 350,000, offsetting a loss of 66,000 basic cable homes. It also added 227,000 net phone subscribers and 305,000 high-speed data subscribers. Digital-video penetration is now at 49% of Comcast's 21.7 million video customers. Comcast also looks to add more of what it calls enhanced-basic-cable customers, or those who have low-cost digital boxes that allow them to access the video-on-demand library.

The company detailed how quickly its customers are adapting to new technologies, noting that about 30% of digital customers are subscribing to high-definition DVR products, compared with 28% last quarter and 20% a year ago. VOD use continues to grow as well, with 150 million VOD sessions in June, 33% more than the same month last year.

The cable companies' continued aggressive rollout of digital cable is fueling DVR penetration. According to research conducted by Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), digital-cable households are the most likely to have a DVR -- 30% of them have the time-shifting device vs. 22% of satellite customers. DVR penetration in cable households overall -- including both basic- and digital-cable subscribers -- has more than doubled, rising to 17% in 2006 compared to 7% in 2005.

Ad revenue up 8%

Advertising revenue, a small but growing part of Comcast's total profits, was up about 8% (the increase drops to 6% when political ads are excluded). Comcast Chief Operating Officer Steve Burke did touch vaguely on a couple of addressable advertising trials the company is conducting on a small scale.

"You're going to see us put our toe in the water in terms of interactive advertising, and we are very bullish on that immediate and long-term," he said.

Comcast executives also said they expected the Adelphia transaction, which will add 1.7 million new subscribers, to close in the next few days. The FCC approved the deal earlier this month.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=110763

fredfa

07-27-06, 06:47 PM

As I understand the structure of the Adelphia deal, it supposed to close no later than July 31st.

AFH

07-27-06, 09:34 PM

Tech Notebook
Survey Shows Trends of Households With DVRs

By Katy Bachman MediaWeek.com JULY 26, 2006 -

Households with digital video recorders tend to watch less TV than those without.......

DVR households are 23 percent less likely to be heavy TV viewers...............

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002912929

Wait, but haven't we been hearing that DVR households tend to watch more tv? So which is it? Do they watch more tv or do they watch less tv?

fredfa

07-27-06, 10:00 PM

Maybe it depends on who is paying for the survey?

DoubleDAZ

07-27-06, 10:11 PM

Can someone explain why Dish can't abide by the law on distant broadcasts? Do they not have the capability to block subs who can rceive local channels OTA?

fredfa

07-27-06, 10:30 PM

The Digital Revolution
Stevens says telco bill may have to wait

By Brooks Boliek The Hollywood Reporter July 28, 2006

WASHINGTON -- While the chief sponsor of hotly debated legislation making it easier for the big telephone companies to get into local markets feels sure he has the votes to pass it, he admitted Thursday that it might not come up in the Senate until after the November elections.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, told reporters that he felt he had the 60 votes necessary to break a filibuster and bring up the bill.

"I believe we have the 60 votes," Stevens said, but he admitted that he had not received personal commitments from all 60 senators. "I haven't been personally told we have them," he said. "I've not talked to them personally."

Stevens, the bill's primary author, chairs the Senate Commerce Committee.

While he pushed the bill through the committee in June, it was immediately put in a holding pattern. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has already put an informal "hold" on the bill, keeping it off the floor.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002914216

fredfa

07-27-06, 10:33 PM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Holding course on coarse words
PBS' president cites need to keep war vets' profane usages in a documentary

By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 27, 2006

PBS is prepared to do battle with the FCC over "The War."

Next fall, the network plans to distribute an unedited version of the World War II documentary by Ken Burns, told through the firsthand experiences of soldiers. Some of the veterans use profanities in recounting their battle stories, and that could raise the ire of the Federal Communications Commission.

But PBS President Paula Kerger said Wednesday that it's "important for public broadcasting not to just roll over, but to be very clear that in order to tell some stories, we may need to use language that, at the moment, the FCC is not sure that they feel is appropriate for broadcast television."

Kerger made her comments at the semiannual television press tour in Pasadena, during which she deplored recent FCC rulings and warned that the tighter restrictions and higher fines could have a chilling effect on public broadcasting.

With less than five months on the job, Kerger — a former executive at the Educational Broadcasting Corp., parent company of two New York public television stations — is showing no compunction about wading deep into the fray over indecency standards.

The PBS president told reporters that she recently met with each FCC commissioner to seek more clarity in their rulings, but came away with very little.

"If you're sitting in a local station, it's hard to figure out how to navigate through these decisions because there's no clear guidance," Kerger said. "And so we certainly have a couple of cases coming up where I hope we, as an industry, will stand up and be bold and sort of bring it on."

One of the highest-profile test cases will likely come in the fall of 2007, when PBS is scheduled to distribute "The War."

PBS executives said Wednesday that they are planning to run the Burns documentary without edits at 9 p.m., an hour before the so-called "safe harbor" when children are less likely to be watching.

"I think this is going to be one of the seminal pieces of work of his career, and it deserves to be seen by the broadest possible audience," Kerger said. "So if that means putting it on at 9 o'clock and putting flags around it ... I think that should be enough."

The PBS president said "The War" is an example of a program in which editing out provocative language would diminish the overall piece.

"If you have someone telling a story about their experiences in the war, and in telling that story a profanity is uttered, sometimes it makes a really big difference," she said. "And the impact of it is washed away or radically diminished if it's just bleeped."

That said, Kerger said each local PBS station will have to make the decision about its willingness to risk FCC fines by airing the program unedited.

KCSM, a station in San Mateo, was fined $15,000 in March after a complaint about profanities in the music documentary "The Blues." The station is appealing the fine, and Kerger said PBS is filing an amicus brief next week in support of its position.

"I think the pendulum has swung so far in this case that I really worry about the chilling effect it will have on the stations that don't want to take the risk," she said.

Still, when it comes to "The War," Kerger said she hopes "stations will stand firm."

Kerger also said that the Public Broadcasting Service would stop using pixels over the mouths of people seen using coarse language in programming. PBS recently instituted that policy to avoid possible FCC violations.

But in an interview after the media session, Kerger said she plans to end the practice after she unsuccessfully sought clarification from the FCC about whether the measure was needed. "I think we will cease pixellating," she said. "I don't know that that is necessary."
http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-wk-pbs27jul27,0,335533,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

07-27-06, 10:55 PM

TV Notebook
ABC Dumps “The One”

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 7/27/2006

ABC has pulled the plug on music-talent competition show The One after two weeks of low-rated airings.

The show debuted July 11 with a 1.1 average rating in the adult 18-49 demo, before recording a 1.0 for its results show the following night. This week the numbers were no better, with Tuesday’s show averaging a 0.9 and Wednesday’s results show coming in at a 1.0.

ABC is currently finalizing plans to fill the two one-hour holes next week and beyond.

Earlier this week, Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori used the low ratings of ABC’s The One to fire a shot back at ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson and others who have accused Fox of mimicking show ideas in the past.

“McPherson probably owes [Fox reality chief] Mike [Darnell] an apology,” he said Monday. “He spends a lot of time dumping on Mike for copycatting, and I think he got a big stiff one there.”

Liguori, who admitted that even he was surprised by how low those numbers were, says they were a product of the over-saturation of shows this summer trying to catch the American Idol success.

“There have been a ton of copycats this year,” he said. “Everyone has had some variation of a talent show in hopes of catching this wave.”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6357162

fredfa

07-28-06, 02:00 AM

TV Notebook
'Tonight' Host, helmer Smith to sub for Ebert

By John Dempsey Variety.com

NEW YORK -- "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno will be the first replacement co-host for the syndicated review series "Ebert & Roeper" as Roger Ebert recovers from cancer surgery earlier this month.

The Leno half-hour will hit the air on the Aug. 5 weekend; the movies under discussion are "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," "Miami Vice," "Little Miss Sunshine," "The Night Listener" and "Shadowboxer."

Buena Vista will move "Ebert & Roeper" from its home base in Chicago to Los Angeles to accommodate Leno's schedule.

As previously reported, Kevin Smith, director of "Clerks 2," will sub for Ebert the weekend of Aug. 12. Buena Vista hasn't named any other co-hosts but said Ebert is under doctor's orders not to rush back to work.

fredfa

07-28-06, 02:27 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
The new fall slate barely treads water

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Friday, July 28, 2006

Pasadena CA--At midnight, the Ritz-Carlton's outdoor pool lights up with a blue glow not unlike a television set. Usually the pool is empty by that late hour -- except for a few nights, when a man could be seen floating on his back and, oddly enough, smoking.

Gently kicking his legs to keep his head and chest above water, the man circled lazily, pausing every so often to take a puff, forefinger and middle scissoring the filter so his cigarette didn't get too wet.

This was a guy enjoying his place in the universe -- either that, or he was in the throes of an existential crisis, wrestling with "Who am I?" or "Where am I going?"

Think of him as the mascot for the fall TV lineup, a slate full of new series that seem to have very little idea of where they're going. Holding out for that one tremendous hit that'll renew your faith in TV? Don't. Intriguing pilots are everywhere, but behind a fair share of them are producers lacking in concrete vision.

That's what happens when network TV settles into a comfortable middle territory.

Fall 2006-07 isn't "Lost"-in-the-first-season fantastic, but it's not "Whoopi" terrible, either. The upcoming schedule is solidly built, with just enough fat around the midsection to float.

You may not think this after seeing a few premieres, because a lot of these introductory hours are quite well-made. The pilot for Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" is at the top of NBC's class, which is not especially shocking when you remember that it's made by two men who know and respect the medium. The Peacock also is taking a chance on Tim Kring's "Heroes," which could appeal to the comic-book-loving kid inside many adults. And if that kid doesn't exist? Well, nobody is making you watch.

ABC has a strong contender in "The Nine," a drama about a group of people who survive a hostage situation at a bank. The show boasts an ensemble cast that includes Tim Daly and Scott Wolf. "The Nine" promises lots of flashbacks as the series returns to that day even as the survivors move on, to show the ways in which it changed them.

Other drama pilots are glossier but -- well, there's that crisis again: The big question coming out of the Television Critics Association Press Tour, besides Can Serials Work, is whether these shows should be movies instead of great TV.

The problems go hand in hand. There are more serials on TV this fall than ever, it seems. A number of them premiered last year, too, but those are all gone, and in most cases, without giving their viewers answers to the questions that drew them in the first place.

We never really found out what the deal was with "Surface's" sea creatures or the source of "Invasion's" bizarre phenomena. Do you even remember specific story lines in "Threshold" or "Reunion"? Think hard -- and, no.

A number of the coming season's dramas speak to viewers in the language of serials dressed up as cinema, attempting to elevate TV's dialect of close-ended stories.

Fall casts have gotten more exciting too: Jeremy Sisto, Dana Delany, Delroy Lindo and Timothy Hutton are the faces of NBC's "Kidnapped." "Smith" brings Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen together on CBS.

Even the way these series are executed is going to make you crave popcorn. "Smith," created by John Wells, takes cues from "Reservoir Dogs," "Ocean's 11" and "Heat." The pilot clocks in at an hour. It really could be a movie.

Don't forget the significant difference between movies and TV -- movies end after a couple hours. We tend to be done with them once they're over, so what's to bring us back next week?

Puff, puff -- kaff kaff kaff. Serial and cinematic touches are TV's nicotine.

You can thank or blame "Lost" for this trend of attempting to create 22 hourlong movies for the small screen -- and for inspiring CBS's "Jericho," which substitutes a small Midwestern town for the island, a nuclear blast for the plane crash and dry confusion for excitement.

At least "Jericho" deserves credit for stabbing at complexity because only one of Fox's series, "Vanished," even makes an attempt at it, muddled though it is.

TV is experiencing an existential crisis, no question. Inevitably many of these shows are going to sink like boulders. Even in our supposed golden age of drama the simple fact is, who has the time to keep up?

But a solid medium is better than an out-and-out miserable one, which bring us to fall's new comedies. They're in a worse position -- not floating, but looking pretty dead in the water.

Beware CBS's "The Class." Just avert your eyes, OK?

One joke that has been passed around so much that it's already old is that NBC's "Twenty Good Years" has about 20 decent seconds in the pilot. An eyeful of John Lithgow in a Speedo is not one of them. It comes on at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays; eat early and take an antacid afterward.

This is a season in which Brad Garrett can play the bitter married-to-it card on Fox's very typical comedy " 'Til Death," and has a good shot at remaining employed, even if it gets murdered in its 8 p.m. Thursday time slot.

This is a season in which some ABC programming executive thought that applying "24's" concept to "Big Day," a half-hour comedy that desperately searches for laughs on a wedding day, would lead to a season of pants-wetting laughter. It was a struggle to get through 22 minutes of the pilot, let alone the 45-minute panel.

Comedy still has some cramps, but the genre has hope. Tina Fey's "30 Rock" is getting an overhaul, so she may be able to work through the dead spots in what was otherwise an enjoyable pilot. ABC could have something with "Knights of Prosperity," if it can find a name that isn't so dreadful and the producers can maintain the pilot's focus.

Dramas may have to race, but all these comedies need to do is tread water.

The swimming promises to be at a leisurely pace.

Ah, but don't forget that cigarette, Mr. TV. You might want to quit. Those things will kill ya.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/279151_tv28.html

DoubleDAZ

07-28-06, 09:41 AM

In others words, the TV isn't on when no one is really watching, thus no longer skewing the Nielson ratings.

RemyM

07-28-06, 10:11 AM

I would say I watch more TV, but in less time. I watch things that I would never sit and watch from start to finish (SportsCenter) but I will watch recorded on the DVR because I can FF through all of the fluff, and commercials.

CPanther95

07-28-06, 10:50 AM

I probably watch twice as much TV and about 95% fewer commercials.

keenan

07-28-06, 10:56 AM

Same here, I without a doubt, watch way more TV by utilizing a DVR and skipping commercials. While it's a great show, I seriously doubt I would watch a show like "Grey's Anatomy" or "Desperate Housewives" if I had to watch every commercial. In fact, a lot of ABC shows with their extra commercial breaks per hour, even "Lost", I would most likely wait for the DVD release. With "Grey's" or "Housewives", I probably wouldn't even bother, "Grey's" maybe, "Housewives", definitely not.

fredfa

07-28-06, 11:13 AM

The TV Column
Bananas About 'Curious George;
(Television, Not So Much)
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, July 28, 2006; C05

PASADENA, Calif., July 27 Every TV press tour, television critics suffer through at least one Hollywood celeb lecturing them as to why they do not let their children watch television.

TV critics never make a fuss when this happens. Maybe it's because they know that children who are denied TV in their early years tend to find interesting ways to make their parents suffer later, by way of paying them back. Some even become TV critics.

This week it was William H. Macy, who ironically came to Summer TV Press Tour 2006 to discuss his role as narrator on PBS's new animated "Curious George" series, which is designed for very young children.

"My wife [Felicity Huffman] and I are big fat movie stars, so we have wonderful nannies. My kids don't watch TV," Macy told critics with all of the complacency of a man who does not know what his children are watching when they're playing at, say, David Mamet's house.

"We decided that they wouldn't watch TV until they can read, which is imminent. . . . We did it just because we can. Television is very powerful," he said.

"I love Pixar films, but one must admit that they are filled with double-entendres," he continued, really warming up to his subject.

"They're designed to please parents and keep them in the theaters. . . . 'Curious George' is for kids, which is not to say that it's not funny. I saw you all laughing. But it's for kids."

He promised he would let his two young daughters watch PBS's "Curious George" adaptation when both could read.

"As a matter of fact, I can't wait. . . . It's gotten to the point where I want to say . . . 'That's me -- I did that!' "

• • • • • • • • • • •

Critics also wondered what TV shows Neil Simon watches these days. Simon, who got a break early in his career writing for Sid Caesar's popular sketch comedy series, pretty much dismissed the medium, except for televised Yankees and Mets games.

He did say he likes NBC's "The Office," or, more accurately, lead actor Steve Carell. Simon said he had watched Carell on the show, but loved him in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." Simon said the flick stuck out in a sea of film comedies these days that don't make him laugh.

The playwright did not really want to talk about other people's work; he wanted to talk about himself. That's understandable, since he'd taken the time to show up on the final day of Summer TV Press Tour 2006 to discuss receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center this fall.

Of his childhood, Simon said his family members "were not very intelligent people, and I don't know why I turned into a writer, from the lack of finding any of that in the home. We had eight books in the house and my mother and father bought them because four were red and four were blue."

One critic wondered whether being funny was an innately Jewish trait. Yes, he really did.

"Did you say 'innately Jewish'?" Simon asked. The critic amended the question to wonder whether it was innately Jewish or about being a New Yorker or what.

"I don't know if it's any of those things. With me, I see things that are sort of stupid or not smart as humorous," he said, which we like to think was a reference to the question.

"I can't explain that any better," he said. "I can write it for you if you want to wait -- I actually do that better."

Another critic wanted to know if Simon wrote with his mouth open, speaking the lines he was writing to make sure they were conversational.

"I never knew that until my family told me," Simon said. "They said they walk by the door and hear '[mumbling noises].' And eventually I started to hear it, and when I didn't hear it I knew I wasn't working."

It took him three years and 20 drafts to write his first play; these days it takes about seven or eight months.

On working with Sid Caesar, he said the writers knew the show was hot when Moss Hart, one of the leading playwright/directors of the day, asked if he could come watch them work on it.

Simon even got testy during the Q&A when people kept trying to compare him to Mark Twain -- including the award show's exec producer, Bob Kaminsky, who suggested that in the tradition of Twain, Simon was one of the foremost humorists.

"Okay, I wouldn't compare myself to him. . . . He's not getting the award. I'm getting the award."

Another critic asked how it felt having people say that all the can't-miss comedy plays were written by Shakespeare and Simon.

"Ridiculous," Simon said. "I mean, you can't compare them. I'm much better."

Asked who he'd like to see win next year's Mark Twain award, Simon replied, "Me again, because I'm not sure I'm doing good now. . . . I'll have to think about that. I'll call you tonight, around 7."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/27/AR2006072701780_pf.html

fredfa

07-28-06, 11:20 AM

The TV Column
For Hispanics, TV is not just novelas
In reality, they prefer news and politics
By Samantha Melamed MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jul 28, 2006

The going perception is that U.S. Hispanics principally watch telenovelas on Spanish-language TV, and it's not hard to understand where that comes from. One need look no further than the glut of primetime soap operas on Univision and Telemundo.

But the reality is quite something else. While telenovelas are certainly popular, Hispanics, like television viewers in general, are more inclined to watch news and political shows than any other format, and by a substantial margin.

Moreover, Hispanics are hardly wed solely to Spanish-language TV. They spend a surprising amount of time watching the English-language networks.

Those are two conclusions of a new study by Encuesta, a Hispanic market research firm in Miami, based on a telephone survey of 335 respondents. It found that 68 percent of respondents reported watching news or political talk shows at least once a week, while 43 percent said they watch novelas once or more a week. Eleven percent watch game shows at that frequency.

Hispanics watch other formats as well, but with a frequency related to their acculturation levels: 28 percent of U.S.-born Hispanics watch reality shows, while only 18 percent of foreign-born Hispanics do. And American-born Hispanics are more likely than their counterparts to watch sitcoms (25 percent versus 16 percent) and home improvement, cooking or travel shows (31 percent versus 20 percent).

In terms of Spanish-language versus English-language television, the study found that more than half of Hispanics, some 55 percent, split their viewing, watching some of each. Fewer than a third, 31 percent, watch in Spanish only, while 12 percent only watch English-language shows.

Even among the foreign-born, English viewing is surprisingly high, with 57 percent saying they watch either some English-language TV or English-language TV exclusively (versus 66 percent for the group as a whole).

When it comes to soaps, Encuesta found viewers spent about 7.2 hours per week watching telenovelas but nearly as many hours watching soaps in English, 5.9 hours.

Why the high level of English-language viewing among Hispanics? Lourdes Prado, Encuesta project director, postulates they are doing so in part because of their desire for programming not offered on the Spanish networks.

In any case, Prado says Hispanic viewing patterns are more diverse than many advertisers realize.

"Hispanics tend to be pigeonholed into the Spanish-language sector. This study shows that there are a whole lot of opportunities in English. It's a much more complex situation than advertisers are willing or ready to face," Prado says.

She advises that marketers look deeper into the demographics they want to reach rather than automatically toss their dollars at Spanish-language TV.

"If you really want to maximize returns on advertising investments, you should find out, based on age and gender as much on acculturation and language levels, how to reach the person you want to target. But marketers and advertisers simplify this, because it's just easier to say, we'll reach these people in Spanish, and we'll get to the rest of the market in our general campaign."

Nielsen Media Research data gives a pretty expansive view of just what Hispanics are in fact watching. As one might expect, Univision programming dominates the top-watched shows. But when the daily soaps are collapsed and their ratings averaged, programming like Fox's "American Idol" and ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and "Desperate Housewives" also make the cut.

"There's a huge section that overlaps, and it's a matter of figuring out how to reach those people who have one foot on each side of the divide," Prado says.

Ad spending on Spanish-language networks continues to outpace both English-language broadcast and cable, growing by 14.3 percent in the first quarter, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. And they do reach an impressive segment of the Hispanic population.

Adriana Waterston, vice president of marketing and business development at Horowitz Associates, which annually reports on U.S. Latino television viewing, says that Hispanics watching news and other formats of programming is nothing new. What's really changing right now is the growing awareness of the complexity of the Hispanic market.

"It goes back to taking an essentially stereotypical approach to the Hispanic market," she says. "There's a stereotype that Hispanic viewers only watch soap operas. Soap operas are very important in the Hispanic market, but that doesn't mean we only watch soap operas."

Most people watch news every day, she says, and Hispanic viewers are no different. However, they might turn to Spanish-language channels for a Latino perspective and English-language channels for U.S. or international news.

"There are 40 million-plus Hispanics in the U.S., and many have been here for generations. The Hispanic market is very diverse," she says. "The majority of the market watches both English and Spanish-language television because there's different content available."

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_6276.asp

fredfa

07-28-06, 11:30 AM

TV Notebook
Will Lithgow series run `Twenty Good Years'?

By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal television writer

Former Akron resident John Lithgow has a new prime-time comedy series this fall called Twenty Good Years. And it took about five good years for him to do it.

After his last series, 3rd Rock From the Sun, ended its run in 2001, Lithgow decided that he wasn't interested in another one. A drama, he said recently, ``is too much work, believe me. That's like a movie that never ends.'' And any comedy ``would have to be as good or better (than 3rd Rock) or I wasn't interested.''

Lithgow had plenty of other things he could do. Over the last 10 years, he said, ``I have learned to sail and ski and play golf and ride a horse.... I've broken a collarbone, I have pulled an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). I'm such a familiar figure in the ER... they are almost keeping score.''

Professionally, and somewhat less painfully, he also had other activities.

On Aug. 29, he'll be in the CD racks with On the Sunny Side of the Street, the latest in a series of albums for children, this one consisting of novelty songs and standards from the Tin Pan Alley era.

``The ones you would know are Inka-Dinka-Doo, Getting to Know You, The Sunny Side of the Street and Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off, Lithgow said after a press conference for Twenty Good Years. ``The ones you don't know are I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones and The Laughing Policeman.... And You Gotta Have Pep -- a Betty Boop song.''

He also decided to follow 3rd Rock with life more ``under the radar.'' So he went back to work in the theater in New York City. ``When you act in theater, you act for thousands and thousands of people, even in the most successful Broadway run,'' he said. ``You do one night on a successful sitcom and you're acting for millions and millions of people.''

He loves theater, having done four plays in recent years, most notably Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. As Scoundrels was winding down, he bought an apartment in New York because he had been spending so much time there.

Then Twenty Good Years fell into place.

Premiering on NBC this fall, the show is about two men in their 60s (Lithgow and Arrested Development's Jeffrey Tambor) who realize they have 20 good years left and they should take advantage of them.

Lithgow was first approached about the show a year ago. He waited to be sure the writing was right, that there was a mix of zaniness and heart. ``I always think that the best comedy has a string of anxiety and panic and fear in it,'' he said.

It took the addition of writer Marsh McCall to find the right mix. ``That's when the script became pitch-perfect,'' Lithgow said. ``Until then, we still didn't quite know what we had.''

What they still didn't have was a co-star. ``I was not going to do this show until we had a fantastic actor to play this (other) part,'' Lithgow said. Tambor's name came up early on, but they had to wait until he was free from Arrested Development.

``The day Arrested Development was canceled was the day we asked,'' Lithgow said.

The two actors had never worked together and knew each other only slightly. Still, Lithgow said, ``We have hundreds of great friends in common. We have the same work ethic and the same sense of humor.... The minute he walked into the room, everybody knew this was going to work.''

``I have huge respect for John,'' Tambor added. ``He's somewhat iconic in the theater world, and certainly in movies and television. What else do you do?''

In this case, they play mismatched friends -- Lithgow the flamboyant doctor, Tambor the uptight judge. You could easily see each playing the other's role (and, Lithgow said, ``in a sense, we will trade roles from time to time.''). But they think they have the right parts.

``I told my wife that I thought I was more apt to play John's role,'' Tambor said, ``and she said, `No, you are this role.' ''

``I can't restrain myself,'' Lithgow said. ``That's my problem. They write nice, subtle stuff for me, and before you know it, I'm all over the map.''

But Lithgow also comes back to relatable emotion under the farce. ``The first crisis of this (pilot) episode is my 60th birthday party,'' he said. ``I did have my 60th birthday party this year. I know how it feels to think, wait a minute, I do only have a few good years left.... It spoke very directly to me.''

How it speaks to audiences remains to be seen. The show is a bit of an anomaly -- a stage-bound show in an era when more and more comedies are looking like little movies, a series with two stars in their late middle age (Tambor is 62) when network TV more often worships at the altar of the under-50s.

Lithgow looked back at comedians like Jackie Gleason and Lucille Ball, who appealed to audiences of all ages while in middle age. And he likes doing staged comedy because he gets to perform in front of an audience.

``Even though a studio audience is fairly amped up by the warm-up man, and they are under obligation to laugh hysterically, you won't believe their laughter unless (the show) is funny,'' Lithgow said.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/15133460.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

07-28-06, 11:40 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
Sills Still Sings

By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com in the “Critical Eye” TV Press Tour blog

Opera legend Beverly Sills is not at all happy with the current state of television talk shows. Sills, who is the subject of an upcoming PBS “Great Performances” profile, bemoaned the state of young women on TV talk.

Speaking to TV critics via satellite Wednesday, she complained that none of the talkers are “clean shaven.”
But the female guests are a real sore point.

Talk shows book “women with absolutely nothing to say, and when they do say something, you regret it,” she said to laughter from critics.

Sills knows a few things about talk shows. A long time friend of Johnny Carson, she was a frequent guest and guest host on NBC’s “Tonight Show.”

“It was very unusual for an opera singer to have that opportunity,” she said, noting that her appearances helped bring her profession down to earth for the American public.

The documentary, which profiles Sills’ extensive career, features footage from her performances on stage and on television.

Although it is “not a pivotal moment” in her life, Sills said she was “tickled pink” about the retrospective of her career. A self-described “nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn” who is called Bubbles by friends and family, Sills had done everything from run Lincoln Center to perform with the Muppets.

“I’m really at the point where I’m quite content how my life turned out,” she said. “There were tremendous valleys, but there were tremendous starry moments.”

http://blogs.tvweek.com/?cat=5

fredfa

07-28-06, 11:47 AM

TV Notebook
Yes, But They Were Two Really, Really Good Lines
By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline”

A controversy of sorts is building over the fact that Ellen Burstyn received an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries/movie for her role in the HBO telepic "Mrs. Harris." It's not that anyone has anything against Burstyn, a fine actress in anyone's book -- an Oscar winner no less. The problem is that she was only on-screen in "Mrs. Harris" for, well, barely a clip's worth of time. Her screen presence is literally less than 15 seconds. She has some two lines -- obscured by music playing underneath -- and is identified in the credits as "Ex-Lover #3." In the official Emmy nomination list distributed by the TV Academy, Burstyn's role is listed as "Former Tarnower Steady" (Tarnower meaning Dr. Herman Tarnower, played in the film by Ben Kingsley).

The question is how a performance so absurdly short can qualify for Emmy consideration, crowding out other, more worthy (and surely more substantial) roles. In this case, Burstyn would barely qualify for "outstanding acting moment." It would have had to stretch substantially longer even to be deemed a cameo. What it means, of course, is that Burstyn was nominated by a lot of voters who didn't even see the film. This isn't surprising, of course, given the large number of tapes and DVDs required in judging based on a popular vote. And indeed, the new voting system can't be blamed in this case because Burstyn's category didn't fall under that heading. Another question: why was she submitted for consideration in the first place?

Tom O'Neil, a longtime Emmy expert and columnist on the L.A. Times awards Website TheEnvelope.com, believes the Burstyn situation supplies more evidence for why more targeted Blue Ribbon voting panels are the way to go. "It shows why the idea of a more mass popular vote doesn't work," he believes. "You get too many voters who see the name of an actress they like and respect like Burstyn and they just blindly support her without even seeing her project."

It's also not fair to Burstyn, who has been put in the uncomfortable position of having to root against herself lest a victory embarrass the academy further.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/

fredfa

07-28-06, 11:48 AM

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
The Final Curtain
By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com in the “Critical Eye” TV Press Tour blog

After 12 days and just under 70 entries, I’m done with press tour. In reality, I was probably done with press tour about a week ago, but there were still show sessions, lunch buffets and open bars to be had.

First, some business to take care of—the votes are in from the dumbest question at press tour survey, and the overwhelming winner was C, the question to “Ugly Betty’s” Vanessa Williams that brought up not only a defunct network (UPN) and a cancelled show (“South Beach”) but also the death of Williams’ father. A perfect cringe Trifecta.

By the end of tour, you know everyone in the room so well you have a handle on some major critic idiosyncrasies.

I won’t even get into some of the outrageous demands critics gave the networks, like one grouch who demanded to have air conditioning from the hotel hallways and guest rooms redirected to the TCA ballroom since it was stuffy.

It was the “Mutual of Omaha” observations that help you get through the more tedious sessions. One critic kept asking actors to give a “Reader’s Digest” summary of their character, something the critic apparently couldn’t do herself after viewing the pilots or from the reams of summaries provided by the networks.

Another critic had the habit of bouncing up and down in his chair when he got an answer to a question that pleased him. A third used the phrase “and/or” in every friggin’ question she asked. And some guy had the annoying habit of using “I’m just curious” to end his questions! Oh, that was me…

Anyway, the portly nerds are on their way home, wondering how they are going to sweat off their “TCA 10” from all those buffets, and content in the knowledge they understand what’s going on in television for the fall.

Some TCA veterans may not be back in January. More than once I heard critics talk to one another about the pressures on print media, and how wire copy is becoming more attractive to editors over the work of local columnists on a cost basis alone.

I hope to be back for Winter press tour, but I just found out that the broadcast TCA dates and the annual NATPE convention are running at the same time. Even I can’t be in Pasadena and Las Vegas simultaneously.

It’s been fun doing this blogging thing. Feel free to give me any feedback on stuff that was useful/entertaining versus the self-indulgent/pointless. And thanks for overlooking my typos…

http://blogs.tvweek.com/?cat=5

fredfa

07-28-06, 12:05 PM

Sports On TV
NFL pushes NFL Network on cable operators
By Michael McCarthy USA Today July 28, 2006

The NFL is preparing to launch a $100 million attack ad campaign over the next six months in an attempt to force cable TV operators to carry its NFL Network channel, which will begin airing regular-season games in November.

If the cable providers don't sign up, the NFL will urge consumers to switch to satellite TV operators that carry the channel, NFL Network spokesman Seth Palansky says.

The 2½-year-old channel also has basic cable and/or digital distribution deals with at least 75 cable operators, including Comcast, the nation's top cable provider, and reaches 41 million homes. With the NFL Network airing regular-season games beginning Thanksgiving night, the league thinks it has the leverage to force its way into 25 million more homes this season. The TV, radio, print and magazine ads, which will target cable operators by name, could begin as early as next week, Palansky says.

"We think it's asinine that Time Warner (the nation's No. 2 cable provider) carries 12 shopping channels and 50 other channels you don't want — but can't find room for one dedicated to the most popular sport in this country," Palansky says. "We're replacing the kid gloves with bare knuckles."

One ad aimed at Time Warner says, "Don't let Time Warner ruin your football season. You'll miss NFL games if you don't call and demand NFL Network now." Another targeting Cablevision, a provider in metro New York, warns, "Don't let Cablevision shut you out." The ad lists the channel's games and a toll-free number for NFL Network.

Time Warner Cable spokesman Mark Harrad says it "is still having discussions with the NFL Network." Cablevision's Marie Stenberg declined to comment.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2006-07-27-nfl-network_x.htm

fredfa

07-28-06, 12:08 PM

Sports On TV
NFL, cable operators square off
By Michael McCarthy USA Today

Leave it to the NFL to take on the most stubborn, monopolistic sector of the media world: cable TV operators.

The NFL's plan to try to force cable providers such as Time Warner and Cablevision to carry its NFL Network channel — by going over their heads to their customers with a $100 million ad campaign — sets up a clash of superpowers.

The TV, print and radio ads will name cable operators who've refused to carry the NFL Network. They'll urge football fans in those markets to either force their cable company to air the 24/7 football channel or get themselves a satellite dish.

Cable companies control the pipes and are used to getting their way. When there are disputes with programmers, they flip the off button until the beef is settled. The NFL also enters this fight without the leverage of media giants Viacom and News Corp., which can offer package deals.

But the league, which has expanded NFL Network into 41 million homes in only 32 months, is used to getting its own way, too, and usually does. This season NFL Network will air a package of eight Thursday/Saturday night games. It hopes football fans in markets such as New York, Tampa, Green Bay, Houston and St. Louis will go ballistic when they realize their cable company isn't playing ball.

"People will go nuts on Thanksgiving when there's a game on and they can't watch it," says Seth Palansky of the NFL Network. Forcing its way into another 25 million homes this season will bring NFL Network two-thirds of the way toward its goal of matching ESPN's distribution of 91 million homes.

Can the NFL pull it off? Don't bet against the country's most powerful and popular league, says cable TV expert Jimmy Schaeffler, a senior analyst with the Carmel Group consultancy. "They don't have leverage with individual operators, but they have leverage where it counts the most. With consumers. Who else gets in so many homes in less than three years? They're a one-of-kind entity."

Sure, NFL Network will tick off people it may have to do business with in the future. But as the old saying goes, if they can't earn respect out of love, they'll earn it out of fear. Nothing scares cable companies more than customers heading for the door. This should be one of the best matchups of the new season.

Fox won't air Saturday's Tigers-Twins showdown

The Detroit Tigers lead the American League's Central division, and the Minnesota Twins are the hottest team in Major League Baseball.

But Fox Sports won't air Saturday's game between the two clubs as part of its weekly Saturday afternoon coverage. Instead, it will air four other games: the Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox, New York Mets at Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

What gives?

The Tigers at Twins is an evening game vs. Fox's usual afternoon games. Fox has to notify MLB and individual teams 14 days in advance to request a game change. By the time it inquired about the Tigers vs. Twins, that deadline had passed.

"We did look into it, but it was too late," says Fox spokesman Dan Bell. "With both teams playing well, we will certainly look to add Tigers and Twins games, especially in September during the pennant and wild-card chases."

Fox is limited to showing one team a maximum of nine times per season. Skipping this weekend's game, will enable the network to keep its powder dry. "With two-and-a-half months to go in the season, we want the flexibility to add games key to the pennant race," says Bell.

Baker-Finch knows all the angles

Nearly lost amid the heart-tugging moments by Tiger Woods and Chris DiMarco during ABC's telecast of the 135th British Open was another emotional scene by one of its own analysts: Ian Baker-Finch. The 1991 British Open champion choked up when colleague Tom Rinaldi asked about winning at Royal Birkdale 15 years ago.

Some players-turned-TV-analysts excel because they're able to tell viewers what it takes to be the best in the world. Baker-Finch connects with hackers and duffers because he knows failure.

The affable Australian analyst retired from pro golf after suffering one of those inexplicable mental yips: a shattering loss of confidence that left him almost unable to swing a club under tournament conditions. He hit rock bottom at the 1997 British Open at Royal Troon where he shot 92, then curled up in a fetal position on the floor of the clubhouse. He was tagged with one of the nastiest headlines in golf: "Ian Baker-Flinch."

He believes his journey to sports hell and back makes him a better TV analyst. "I can give both perspectives. A lot of analysts can only give one," says Baker-Finch by phone from the Westin Turnberry Resort in Scotland, where he'll be calling the Senior British Open Championship on ABC this weekend. "When you're playing well, you think you'll never hit another bad shot. When you're not, you wonder if you'll ever hit another good one."

Does he have any advice for Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Alex Rodriguez or any other pro athlete suffering a slide in confidence? "If I knew, I could have stopped mine. You have to trust yourself and keep doing what you did to get to the top."

CBS goes distance, visits golfers' homes

You can bet the travel lovers at CBS Sports were clamoring to be part of this special. And that the folks processing travel expenses will have a heart attack when the bills come in.

On Saturday, CBS presents a one-hour special, Journey of a Lifetime, taking viewers to the exotic hometowns of international golf stars such as Vijay Singh of Fiji, Michael Campbell of New Zealand and Padraig Harrington of Ireland.

Singh, for example, was born and raised on the small island of Lautoka about 2,000 miles from Sydney.

New Zealand is the home nation of the 2005 U.S. Open winner. Campbell has become a national hero since his victory.

There should be more than a few Irish-American viewers interested in the story of Harrington whose nickname is — what else? — Paddy.

There'll also be postcards from the home of other PGA Tour stars such as Phil Mickelson from San Diego, Carlos Franco of Paraguay and Jesper Parnevik of Sweden.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/mccarthy/2006-07-27-weekend_x.htm

fredfa

07-28-06, 12:13 PM

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

fredfa

07-28-06, 12:16 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
MIA and DOA: 'Master of Champions'
ABC switcheroo slides in a rerun of 'Grey's'
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer July 28, 2006

Last Friday, ABC switched its schedule so that a repeat of “Grey’s Anatomy” was slotted to run this week instead of the finale of “Master of Champions.”

The change came so late that some newspapers still ran the listing for “Champions” in their TV sections yesterday. But even without a lot of advance publicity, the switch was still a good one for lagging ABC.

The “Grey’s” repeat averaged a 1.7 overnight rating among adults 18-49, tied for fourth place in the timeslot but still a hefty 54 percent better than “Champions’” 1.1 rating the previous week.

ABC has not said when or if the show, which pitted people with odd talents against each other in a showdown for the title Master of Champions, will run again. “Champions” averaged a 1.5 in its five-episode run, usually finishing behind the other Big Four networks as well as Univision in the 8 p.m. Thursday slot.

It’s part of a rough summer for ABC, which now has had three summer shows average a 1.7 or below, also including “The One: Making a Music Star” and “How to Get the Guy.” The network’s summer average is down 14 percent, from a 2.2 to a 1.9, versus last year, when it had the summer’s biggest hit, “Dancing With the Stars.”

Meanwhile, CBS was No. 1 for the evening with a 2.8 rating and 9 share among 18-49s, followed by Fox at 2.5/8, ABC at 2.1/7, NBC at 2.0/6, Univision at 1.5/5, WB at 0.8/3 and UPN at 0.6/2.

At 8 p.m., CBS led at 2.5 for "Big Brother 7: All-Stars," ahead of a 1.8 each for "My Name is Earl" and "The Office" reruns on NBC and a pair of "That '70s Show" repeats on Fox. ABC and Univision shared No. 4 at 1.7 for a "Grey's" rerun and"La Fea Mas Bella," followed by WB's 0.8 for a "Smallville" repeat and UPN's 0.7 for "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Love, Inc."

At 9 p.m., Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" led at 3.3, ahead of CBS's "CSI" repeat at 3.0, NBC's "America's Got Talent" results show at 2.4, ABC's "Grey's" rerun at 2.2, Univision's "Barrera de Amor" at 1.4, WB's "Supernatural" repeat at 0.8 and UPN's reruns of "Eve" and "Cuts" at 0.5.

At 10 p.m., CBS's "Without a Trace" repeat led at 2.9, followed by ABC's "Primetime" at 2.5, NBC's "Windfall" at 1.8 and Univision's "Aqui y Ahora" at 1.2.

Among households, CBS was No. 1 for night at a 6.3 rating and 11 share, ahead of ABC at 4.4/8, Fox at 3.9/7, NBC at 3.7/7, Univision at 1.8/3, WB at 1.3/2 and UPN at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_6306.asp

Marcus Carr

07-28-06, 12:22 PM

CBS Takes Jackson Fine to Court

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/28/2006 11:11:00 AM

CBS has paid the $550,000 indecency fine for the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident, but only so it can take the decision to court.

"CBS is filing today an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit seeking to overturn the FCC’s finding that the 2004 Super Bowl half-time broadcast was legally indecent," the network said in a statement.

"A prerequisite for filing this appeal is to pay the $550,000 fine, which we are also doing today only for this procedural reason.

"CBS has apologized to the American people for the inappropriate and unexpected half-time incident, and immediately implemented safeguards that have governed similar broadcasts ever since. However, we disagree strongly with the FCC’s conclusions and will continue to pursue all remedies necessary to affirm our legal rights."

The Third Circuit is the same Philadelphia court that remanded the FCC's ownership rules, saying they had not sufficiently justified them. It is also the court that held unconstitutional the Communications Decency Act, which tried to apply decency standards to the Internet.

CBS has also challenged four FCC profanity findings in court.

The court appeal came just a day after the TV industry announced a campaign to educated parents about the content-control they already have. That campaign, and the recently boosted indecency fines, both have their genesis, in part, in the FCC's fine of CBS-owned stations for Janet Jackson's 2004 Super Bowl Reveal. The affiliates were not fined, even though they also carried the fraction of a second's worth of exposed breast.

The FCC inMay denied CBS' challenge to the commission's $550,000 fine, rejecting CBS' assertion that the broadcast was not indecent. CBS' response, essentially, had been: "See you in court."

"The Commission affirms its finding that CBS’ violation was willful and declines to reduce the forfeiture imposed upon CBS," the FCC said at the time. "Finally, the Commission rejects CBS’ argument that the FCC’s indecency framework is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, both on its face and as applied to the halftime show."

CBS has long said that the decision shouldnd't stand. CBS chief Leslie Moonves back in 2004 told TV critics that the fine was "patently ridiculous" and that the company was "not going to stand for it."

CBS had a deadline of early next week to pay the fine, a point emphasized by Parents Television Council, whose massive e-mail complaints helped prompt the fine.

PTC has been running a countdown clock on its home page under the heading: "Time Running Out For CBS to Pay Indecency Fines." It was still counting down at a little over three hours and nineteen minutes at press time.

http://broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6357266.html

RemyM

07-28-06, 01:49 PM

NFL pushes NFL Network on cable operators

Another targeting Cablevision, a provider in metro New York, warns, "Don't let Cablevision shut you out." The ad lists the channel's games and a toll-free number for NFL Network.

This could backfire on NFL Network as Cablevision (my provider) doesn't react well to threats and attacks. I thought everything would work out on getting this channel added after the NFL held the draft at Cablevision owned Radio City Music Hall this year. The NFL moved the 2005 draft from Cablevison owned Madison Square Garden to the Javitts Center after Cablevision got involved with stopping the Jets from building a new stadium in Manhattan.

fredfa

07-28-06, 02:00 PM

You could be right, RemyM.
But the NFL is a very powerful entity, and could figure out a way to heavily advertise its availability on Dish or DirecTV or FiOS (or whatever) to those in the Cablevision areas.
And when those late-season Thursday night games are not available to CV subs, and Dish and/or D* offer sweet sign up deals, CV could be hurt.
We'll see.
I'd expect CV to sign on by mid season at the latest.

fredfa

07-28-06, 02:11 PM

TV Notebook
Production on 'Shark' halted after death of Woods' brother

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter July 28, 2006

Production on CBS' upcoming drama series "Shark" has been shut down after the sudden death of star James Woods' younger brother.

Woods received the call about his brother Michael Jeffrey Woods' passing at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday while he was on the set of "Shark," a legal drama co-produced by 20th Century Fox TV and studio-based Imagine TV.

The cause of the death is believed to be a heart attack. James Woods, who is said to have been very close with his brother, immediately flew to Rhode Island, where his family lives.

"Shark," which stars Woods as a celebrity attorney-turned-prosecutor, began shooting Monday. Production has been suspended at least until the end of next week.

CBS and 20th TV still hope to make the Sept. 21 premiere date for "Shark," when the series is slated to debut in the Thursday 10 p.m. slot, after the seventh-season premiere of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Michael Jeffrey Woods, 49, had acting roles in several of his brother's movies, including "Race to Space," "Another Day in Paradise," "Killer: A Journal of Murder" and USA Network's "Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002914218

RemyM

07-28-06, 02:16 PM

I hope your right fredfa. Hopefully Cablevision has learned their lesson after the whole YES Network fiasco when they lost a lot of subs to DirectTV. They added the new Mets network SNY this year after the Mets left Cablevison owned MSG Network and FSN-NY. Not to mention that FIOS TV has NFL Network and they are launching in some of Cablevision's areas.

fredfa

07-28-06, 02:18 PM

TV Notebook
CBS's Dozier: Doing better after Iraq wounds
By Courteney Stuart Stuart ReatdTheHook.com

Two months after she was critically injured in a roadside blast in Iraq, CBS reporter Kimberly Dozier, who did graduate work at UVA in the early '90s, is doing "great," says her Charlottesville pal Coy Barefoot, a WINA radio talk show host who received an email from Dozier last week.

"She said she's trying to respond to more than 1,000 emails," he says. Just this week, Dozier left the hospital and entered rehab. "She's working right now on walking, getting her legs back," Barefoot says.

Dozier was injured May 29 in Baghdad after she and her camera crew left the safety of their Humvee. An Army captain, an interpreter, and two of Dozier's cameramen died in the blast, while Dozier sustained serious injuries to her legs and head.

The well known 39-year-old foreign correspondent earned a master's degree in Middle East foreign affairs from UVA in 1993. Though the danger of her work in the Mid-East is no secret, news of her injuries devastated friends, who initially struggled to stay updated on her condition as she was first flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a U.S. military hospital in Germany, where several surgeries to remove shrapnel from her head pulled her from the edge of death.

A CBS report indicates that Dozier's blood pressure dipped precariously and that her pulse actually stopped at one point after the attack. "If this had happened back in the States," a doctor at the combat hospital told CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, "she probably would have died."

Her bravery prompted one soldier at Landstuhl to give her the ultimate military honor: his own Purple Heart.

"She's suffered as much as any soldier," he said to Dozier's brother, Michael, according to a CBS news tribute that aired on June 1.

Though doctors were "cautiously optimistic" about Dozier's prognosis after the successful surgery to save her legs, she has since made a "miraculous recovery," according to her boss, CBS News president Sean McManus, who shared the good news at the Television Critics Association's annual meeting on Sunday, June 17 in Pasadena, California, according to a report on E! News online.

"Kimberly has no real business being alive right now," McManus reportedly said, adding, "the good news is she has really no mental effects from the accident. She's sharp as a tack."

Barefoot confirms McManus' assertion.

"Her email was witty and full of great spirit," says Barefoot, host of the WINA radio program "Charlottesville, Right Now." In fact, Barefoot says the two discussed Dozier's future travel plans.

Dozier did not respond to the Hook's emails by press time, and there was no answer at her parents' home outside Baltimore. But Barefoot says Charlottesvillians may get to hear Dozier's story firsthand in the near future.

"She said that there's a possiblity she might be able to come to Charlottesville to do the interview that she and I have been talking about for months now," Barefoot says. "I don't want to speak for her, but I'd like to arrange some type of public event for her when she's here."

http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2006/07/27/NEWS-dozier%20update-c.doc.aspx

fredfa

07-28-06, 02:27 PM

I am (really!!) not trying to start a debate here. We all know the rabid pro and anti-Fox News feelings that abound.
But I thought it would interesting to see what Ailes himself (and some other Fox News people) had to say at the TCA Summer Tour the other day.
Personally, I find Ailes to be a TV genius who has managed almost singlehandedly to change – for better or worse – the face of TV news in the past decade.
I don’t think comments are necessary, if you like what he says, fine.
If you don’t, that's fine, too.
It is just posted to let you know precisely what was said.

TV Critics Summer Press Tour
FOX News' Roger Ailes Speaks at TCA Press Tour

Following is a transcript of an appearance by FOX News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes before the Television Critics Association in Pasadena, Calif., on July 24, 2006:

ROGER AILES: Good afternoon. I understand you've been locked in here for three weeks, so I'm going to try to get you through this as quickly as I can. I got an e-mail from a guy in Guantanamo and he said, "We got to get these prisoners out of there," so we'll do our best.

FOX News is doing pretty well. We overtook CNN at the end of 2001. We haven't lost a day to them for almost 60 months now. Since 2002, our cable news marketplace share has increased from 38 percent to 54 percent. Our primetime has made three or four adjustments over the ten years. Our competition, MSNBC and CNN have cancelled 54 shows against us in that time. We're now seen in 80 countries. Ad sales has increased and continues to; over the last five years, cumulative growth over 30 percent a year.

But I really want to talk about our journalism. I was going to bring Shep Smith with me, but he's standing by in Israel. I'm going to introduce him in a minute if you have questions.

I actually think that FOX News is underrated in journalism, and some people think that can't be possibly true. Many of those people are sitting in their hotel rooms right now reading the transcript of this and then writing their reports rather than coming, so thank you for coming.

FOX News breaks a lot of stories. Brit Hume's work is unparalleled. He's one of the finest journalists in the country. Our U.N. oil for food story which we sort of forced on the world was fine work by investigative journalist Eric Shawn. Shepard Smith's Katrina coverage was terrific. Steve Harrigan's Arabia series, the first time that thing was used, about radical Muslims taking over Europe. Doug Kennedy reporting on the dangers of treating kids with antidepressants led to congressional investigations and new warnings from the medical community. So this sort of journalism goes on day after day at FOX News.

What I'd like to do is introduce to you a man who was going to be here, as I said, tonight. I think he's the finest anchor in primetime news anywhere in the country. He's been working pretty hard, and it's, I guess, ten hours later. He's in northern Israel right now. This is Shep Smith.

Shep, can you hear me? I think there's a four-second delay.

SHEPARD SMITH: I'm used to that one, boss.

ROGER AILES: All right, Shep. First of all, I'm going to throw it open to questions here, Shep, if you can handle it, but I think you've handled pretty tough audiences in your life. First of all, tell me what happened today, because I've been in meetings all day, and I heard you had an exclusive and some interesting things go on.

SHEPARD SMITH: We did, Roger. We went up to the border north of here from Kiryat Shmona, and we were first to speak with Israeli soldiers returning from the frontline just across the border in the village of Maroun al-Ras. That's a small formerly Hezbollah-held village where Israeli troops have gone in. They started with air power. Then they went in with ground forces in limited operations, special operations forces. Seven Israeli troops were killed there over two days. They eventually brought in more from the south and some of their more experienced troops from Gaza, brought them up there and have gone in, and after three days of fighting there, they hold that town. But no one had spoken, on television at least, to any of the soldiers who had come out of there, it's my understanding. Today, we did just that. They told of fire raining around them, of bombs and Kalishikov rivals in their faces, of a very tough enemy on the other side of the border. And we'll be airing some of that tonight on the "FOX Report" if any of you critics want to watch that.

In addition, we took a number of Katyusha rocket incoming here today in the north of Israel in Kiryat Shmona. More than 100, we're told, across the north of Israel and about a half dozen here as our troops yet again were running for cover. This particular town was, for a long time, called Katyusha City for -- in previous encounters with Hezbollah fighters. They have taken a lot in this town. It's been pretty rough going here over the last few days, the town behind me largely evacuated and the war continues. And, of course, the pictures coming from our correspondents on the other side of the border inside Lebanon are enough to shatter your soul. So many Lebanese citizens running for cover and the Israeli folks say over and over "We have no problem with the people of Lebanon." One of three -- only three democratically elected governments in all of this part of the world but yet caught in the middle there of Hezbollah which, of course, are part of that government and the terrorist attacks from them, from the guerilla fighters there, and the strikes back from Israel continue. It doesn't appear at least for now, Roger, like this thing is going to wrap up anytime soon. Of course, Condoleezza Rice arrive today. She's working on the diplomatic front, and I think those on both sides of the border hope they can figure out a way to stop the fighting and stop it soon.

ROGER AILES: All right, Shep, thank you very much. I'm going to open it up to some questions here in the audience. Please -- row three's got a mike. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Mr. Smith, Ellen Gray from the Philadelphia Daily News. We've had, in the last week or so -- it all blurs here, of course -- Charlie Gibson from the Mideast by satellite, Brian Williams just back from the Mideast. It seems that the anchor and anchor desk are more and more separated and you guys all have to be expected to move pretty fast. Can you talk a little bit about the value to you as a newsman of being able to get out there and also what it brings to the report that, say, just having your bureau people on the ground can't do.

SHEPARD SMITH: Well, it couldn't be more valuable to me, I tell you. I'm not one who runs off to every story that comes along. I don't think that's valuable. We have an incredible team of correspondents who know their regions and know their beats and producers and technicians along with them. But when you have a story like this where almost all of your evening newscast is centered on this one conflict, where the conflict itself is so diverse and the opinions about such a thing are so diverse, I can't think of a place more important for the anchor to be than here.

The most ridiculous thing any of us can do is fly off to some place, parachute in and just anchor your show there and not go out and do any reporting. We've hit the ground every day. Ours are 18-, 20-hour days just as are our correspondents'. And because of the time difference, it's daylight over here before our programs even come on, so we're able to go out in the field and grab stories.

Today, interviewing those soldiers right along the border just as they had come back from the other side. Understanding the feeling of Israelis on the ground and at the same time being able to talk to correspondents who are across the border who are experiencing the rocket fall from the Israeli rockets on the other side, so just being in here and being able to soak up the storyline. We have a bureau chief here, Eli Fastman who knows this region better than anyone I've ever met. And every day, I'm able to get briefings from him all day, his sources on the phone and our correspondents' sources on the phone. It's very valuable for me to be here. I think it adds some depth to our reporting. It allows us to get better analysis in there. I agree with you on just jumping in and out and flying in and reading a teleprompter from a far location. A lot of that is just sort of sound-stage activity. It's anything but that here, and I'm really glad Roger sent me here too, because there's a lot to be learned, and we're learning every day.

QUESTION: Well, then, following up with Mr. Ailes, do you see that a lot of people are sort of cutting back their foreign bureaus while arguing that they're maintaining foreign coverage. Sean McManus was here a while back talking about sending more correspondents to the Middle East. What are you doing to make sure that your bureaus stay in place, that you have experts on the ground when things happen?

ROGER AILES: When we started FOX News, I announced that I didn't think a bureau was 10,000 square feet of concrete and reporters waiting for something to happen. I believe that the technology had sped up the process greatly. When the tsunami hit, for instance, we were pretty light in that region. CNN was much heavier. We still got to the air first and, frankly, I thought we did great coverage out of there. It's a matter of anticipating and moving people and having enough people. We're actually beefing up our foreign coverage, not cutting it back, although admittedly we were thinner than CNN which has CNN Eye and some other people in place.

I think it's critically important to maintain it. I think the United States after 9/11 has become more interested in foreign news and, in fact, should become even more interested in it, because now we really have to deal with the world. So I'm not anxious to cut back foreign coverage anywhere. I'm anxious to beef it up, and I'm anxious to put all of our anchors and reporters in situations where they understand it.

SHEPARD SMITH: To follow up on that, if you don't mind. When particularly here in the Middle East, if you've been watching our coverage over the last few weeks, which I hope you have, you'll see that we have the technology that allows us to be live at scenes where our competition have not. As our competition were sitting in bureaus and reading about things that are happening out in the field, our correspondents were live at scenes. We were live when a missile came into Gaza just two weeks ago. We were live when a helicopter crashed just down the street from us. We've been out there reporting on scene and there's nothing more valuable than that. We have eight correspondents here and another half dozen across this region now. I think we're better situated right now to cover this story than any news organization here.

ROGER AILES: Okay. Down here in front.

QUESTION: About a year ago or maybe a little bit more than that, there was a lot of talk that FOX News would be spinning off a business news channel. What's become of that? We haven't heard about that in a while.

ROGER AILES: Well, I made several statements about it. Basically what I said is when we have the distribution in place, we'll go ahead with it. We are still looking at it. I've developed a business plan. We have not pushed it any further than that because you have to get the distribution in place and you have to negotiate that. So the only thing I can say to that is stay tuned. It probably won't happen this year. After that, it could happen. And we are in active negotiations on it.

QUESTION: I have a couple of questions for Shepard. One is: What are the particular challenges of this conflict as it's escalating so quickly to be able to cover it accurately and safely?

SHEPARD SMITH: I think part of the challenge is that you just never know when calm is going to turn to hell on Earth. That's happened to us and our correspondents a number of times. The other day, we were driving up -- well, we were in Kiryat Shmona yesterday and again today. And beginning our workday about 8 o'clock Eastern time this morning when the rockets began to fall, you have things that you want to be out covering. In addition, that's happened to our correspondents all up and down the region just as it's happening to the Israeli people. And I think there's a similar challenge on the other side of the border where our correspondents in Beirut and Tyre at this moment have dealt with incoming as well. You want to be able to go out and show the human suffering and the movement of troops and exactly what's being accomplished in that movement of forces. And at the same time, you have to keep yourself safe. It's a fine line there. The people with whom we work are very well experienced in this region. Many of them have been here for decades. We rely on them for their guidance as to where to go and what to do and what not to do. But the truth is, to cover this story, you have to occasionally put yourself in danger. We knew that when we signed up for this job, and that's a risk we're willing to take.

QUESTION: I have a follow-up. My follow-up question is: Watching in aggregate all of the different network and cable news coverage of this conflict so far -- I'm not asking you to speak for anybody else -- but it really looks as though there's this sense of doom right around the corner. Is that reading too much into it? Or what is your feeling as a reporter and as a person right there?

SHEPARD SMITH: Well, as a reporter who's been covering this from the very beginning on the ground, it was clear to us in the very beginning that Israel wanted to do this with air power and with artillery fire in the early going. When that didn't stop the Katyusha rockets from coming, they added special forces. When they added special forces the first night, two soldiers were killed and five were injured. The second night, three soldiers were killed. Then we found out that two more had been killed. And when that happened, they moved more troops up from Gaza, the more experienced troops, called in reserves and sent them down to Gaza, and now they're moving in in larger numbers. I think there is a wildly held consensus here that if Israel -- that Israel does not want to occupy territory on the other side of the border. But I'll tell you, as I've said to our viewers, the fact of the matter is they do occupy land there. Their plan is to expand that area which they control, and then their hope is to turn that over to a force as has been talked about today, most likely a NATO-led force with the French in the mix and some friendly Muslim nations in the mix to try and hold that area and create a buffer zone. If you look at Israel, when you talk about Syria, you have the Golan Heights, though there's no peace agreement there, but you have the Golan Heights as a buffer zone. Down in Egypt, there's a peace agreement and there's a buffer zone there. Israelis will tell you what they need for peace and stability in this region and to allow a democratically elected government inside Lebanon, only one of three in this region, to prosper and grow and be able to spread that sort of thing in this region, what you need is buffer zone.

Now, here is the fly in the ointment. There is no international force in place. That's the reason Condoleezza Rice is here to try to organize such a thing. The analysts and the experts with whom I speak say that could take weeks. The doom and gloom about which you speak -- and I wouldn't use those words -- but I think there is a great deal of concern that if that area is not held that Israel could end up in another quagmire and that the Israelis feel, from everything they've told us, that they could end up in a situation which they were in from 1982 to the year 2000 when they ended up leaving there and many -- and all around the world, including here in Israel -- saw that a victory for terrorism and very difficult days for Israel.

What all involved want to do is stop the fighting, get Lebanon back on a democratic foot, allow the people of northern Israel to sleep at night. Between the spot where we are now and the spot where we are then, there's a gulf. And the hope is that they'll be able to fill that gulf. Right now, there are some signs but there's nothing concrete, and I think that much of the world should probably be concerned about it.

ROGER AILES: Let's take a couple more questions here.

QUESTION: For Mr. Ailes and for Mr. Smith, I'm over here on your right in the third row. Could both of you talk about how FOX News was able to own the Natalee Holloway story and sort of what the process was and the resources that you devoted and how you decided to spend so much time on it?

ROGER AILES: Well, I can start by saying that Greta Van Susteren, who is exceptional at these kind of stories, particularly crime, legal stories, that sort of thing, did exceptional work. I mean, she went down there and really dug it out. She was able to take the victim's mother to the accused's house to sit down with the parents. That was just good street reporting. And more and more, when we broke the developments along the way on that story, people began to turn to us. But I give a lot of credit again to our journalists and to Greta.

Shep, do you have anything quick to add on that?

SHEPARD SMITH: Well, I mean, you can spin that story however you want from the critics, but the truth of the matter is the reporters from our channel -- and I wasn't one of them -- but those who went down there, and Greta included, broke details of that story all along the way. Just as we break stories in the Middle East, we break stories in the United Nations, and we break stories all across the United States. That was another victory for us.

ROGER AILES: I was going to say one other thing on that story, and that is that there was a lot of talk about "Well, you just single out one girl. Girls get killed all the time." And -- but we saw that partially as a family story, as a parents' story. Every parents' worst nightmare is a kid goes off for spring break or some graduation party and disappears. And so it became a kind of symbolic story for all parents, really.

QUESTION: Did you ever second-guess that -- or did you -- were there internal discussions that, "Okay, we're spending all this time on a missing girl in Aruba"? Now Shep is in Israel, but that's because the Middle East has exploded.

ROGER AILES: Well, but Iraq hasn't been in the news too much. It was in again today. What happens in the news -- and I think the point of your question is a good one. Do we tend to chase one story? And the answer is yes. Everybody does pretty much the same thing. The agenda shifts. You try to keep everybody up on all the stories, but when there's a new -- well, some people do breaking news more than others in terms of alerting the public to breaking news, but sometimes there really is breaking news, and you go back to that story. On the other hand, we tend to follow a story until a new story comes along and supplants it. I wouldn't deny that. 24-hour news started that.

QUESTION: Question here about the clip reel that we saw before you came out with some of the greatest hits of industry reporters covering this. You came out here ten years ago to introduce us to FOX News. And I recall that session being notable for how little was sort of communicated to critics about what the FOX News Channel would be. And I recently looked at some of the tapes of "The O'Reilly Report," as it was called back then, and things that I had stowed away. And it did feel to me like you didn't quite know what to do with the network right way. Were you just being cagey with us, or were you getting all of your ducks in a row, or did you in fact discover that this -- over time that this attitude was really resonating with viewers?

ROGER AILES: Probably a little bit of all three, but mostly I was getting my ducks in a row. I mean, I hadn't committed -- remember, we started with 25 percent of the resources of CNN, not a single person announcing that we would be alive a year later. I was trying to sign talent and attract talent to the network. I didn't want to tip off the competition exactly what I had in mind or where we were going. And a lot of the programming had not been really formulated. There was a belief at that time -- ABC was thinking of getting into the game, and MSNBC was going to launch -- or had launched immediately and so on. So it was a bit of a mishmash. And I'm reluctant, just like I'm reluctant to talk about business news -- I might as well -- I remember during the Gulf War, a colonel was standing on a beach when our troops arrived and grabbed a lieutenant colonel and said, "What time" -- "what exact time are they hitting the beach here?" And he said, "Why don't I just call Saddam Hussein and let him know when we're coming." There is a certain amount of competition in all of this that you don't want to talk too much about.

QUESTION: Okay, understood. Now, with regard to the local news operations that you've recently taken control of, is this -- I'll give you an opportunity here to say that you're not going -- that you're not in that same mode with them; that is, you start to introduce morning news and revamping the local news that these guys do, that you're not planning to inject it with that same FOX attitude.

ROGER AILES: What are you worried about? That we're going to do fair and balanced reporting at the local stations, or what is your exact question?

QUESTION: Well, a lot of FOX stations have focused on local news reporting without -- I mean, something closer maybe to the Sinclair News Channel experiment that --

ROGER AILES: That -- we have nothing do with that. I mean, I have no problem with fair and balanced reporting anywhere it's done. I don't worry about our competitors particularly doing it. I noticed when CNN came out here that John Klein said he'd reached all his goals. We're very, very happy about that --

(Laughter.)

-- that he's reached all his goals. We believe in fair and balanced reporting, but basically stations do local news, and that is what they're supposed to do, cover their community and let people know what's going on. Now, rather than ask me a question, I'll take one more question for Shep because he's got to get some sleep

QUESTION: Yeah, Shep, you've spent a fair amount of time in Iraq. I was wondering if you could compare how these two stories that you're covering -- how are they similar, and how are they different? Not just from the perspective of trying to report the story, but also kind of the American role in it? And frankly, since American audiences are very interested in "what does this mean for us," are you having to kind of tell a story from the Middle East differently than the one you tell from Iraq?

SHEPARD SMITH: Well, I think that you come about -- come to all stories with sort of the same idea: Try to fill in the gaps historically speaking that will allow viewers to understand better what's happening today. I mean, I think along the way, you touch on the war in 1967. You touch on what happened in 1982 and '83. You touch on the highs and lows of experiences with Hezbollah across the border, and you try to point out areas where the Hezbollah have seen to terrorize people in the north and where Israel, as some of its detractors would say, have overdone things to the north. And I don't see a lot of parallels as far as the way you cover the story. We can get to the border from this side, and from the other side our reporters can come down to the border, but you don't cross that border, for one side or the other may hit you. Iraq was a war contained within a country. This is one country fighting against another.

And I can't tell you what it's like to stand at the border of Lebanon and see 19-year-old, 18-year-old boys come back, boys who were 12 years old when Israel first came out of Lebanon, who had heard the stories of what it was like to fight the Shiia, the same Shiia who, in 1979, were sent by the Ayatollah Khomeini across a wide-open field to step on land mines -- a million people died in that -- where the same Shiia who blew up bases in Beirut where more than 400 Americans died over a period of a few weeks and sent the United States running out of there and the world in horror that suicide bombers had made the scene. And now with these young soldiers, who had only heard all of those stories, now living it. And to see them come out of there and say, "I've never even thought of a fight this difficult. I never realized that it could be this hard." One man said to me today, "We are children. This is hard for us." And I wonder how difficult it was for that young soldier, who is so well-trained, to look a correspondent from halfway around the world in the eye and say, "We're children." But there was a lot of reality happening on that border. And as difficult as those stories are to see, and of babies on the other side and mothers and daughters who have been hit by shrapnel because of Israeli fire as they try to take out Hezbollah, those are all learning experiences. And if those experiences that are through the television lead our viewers to learn more about the history that brought us to this point and the actions that were taken and those that worked and didn't work, the better we all are with analyzing what's happening here and forming our opinions and voting for people who agree with our thinking on such things.

There's a real possibility that across that border now, that the democratically elected government could at some point become a Hezbollah-dominated government. And that would mean very difficult times for the Middle East and, I think, very difficult times for the rest of the world. So Iraq aside, I think we're -- I said the other day I think we're crouched on a page of a history textbook that won't be written for 20 years, and the question is whether it's a page or a chapter. And I don't think we know yet. And it's fascinating to see and difficult to watch, and I'm so glad to be here and telling the story and that we're doing so in a fair and balanced way.

ROGER AILES: Shep, thank you very much. Tell your team over there everybody keep your head down. We need you, man.

SHEPARD SMITH: I will, Roger. Thanks, boss.

ROGER AILES: Get some sleep.

I want to introduce Jennifer Griffin. She's our chief Middle East correspondent. I'm not going to take a lot of questions because it is the middle of the night over there, but I want to just thank her. Jennifer, you're doing a great job. How is everybody over there? Are you all right?

JENNIFER GRIFFIN: Thank you, Roger. Everyone's doing fine, everyone's doing fine. I think what's surreal for our Israeli team here, Roger, is that we remember being up here on this very border in this very town exactly six years ago when the Israeli troops pulled out, they withdrew after 18 years of occupying south Lebanon. We were standing there as the last troops came across, the soldiers hugging each other up on the border. I remember distinctly doing an interview with a Hezbollah fighter on the border then. They were celebrating on the other side. They felt like they had kicked the Israeli army out. And he told me they weren't going to stop fighting until they made it to Jerusalem. Now, six years later, we're up here, the celebrations that we saw that day in 2000 up on the border here were very similar to the victorious celebrations that Hamas fighters had last summer when we were covering the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, another unilateral withdrawal by the Israeli army. What's striking to me is that Hamas is now the democratically elected government of the Palestinians, and as Shep said, it's a very real possibility that Hezbollah will simply gain popularity over in Lebanon because of the Israeli strikes and become even stronger as part of the democratically elected government in Lebanon. Roger.

ROGER AILES: Let me just ask you one question: Does it look like a race against time for the Israelis and the Hezbollah is trying to slow it down so that eventually this thing is going to end up in a shoving match and then stop, or do you think this thing is getting worse and could blow wide open?

JENNIFER GRIFFIN: Well, my feeling, Roger, and from what we've been seeing, is that it's going to -- what the Israeli officials are telling us -- that this is going to go on for as long as it takes to clear out about 14 border villages in the southern part of Lebanon so that then an international force with some teeth, a NATO-led-type force, can come in there and make sure the Hezbollah fighters don't get within 12 miles of the border. They'll create a demilitarized zone. The only fear, of course, is that somehow this spreads beyond Lebanon, somehow the Syrians get involved, or somehow the Iranians try to get involved. At this point in time, I don't see that happening, but that is the fear, that Hezbollah has some secret weapon that they'll launch against Haifa or they'll hit the petrochemical plant in Haifa and create what is essentially a chemical bomb, and that could be the unexpected event that could occur. My prediction is no, we're going to see probably several more weeks of very strong fighting in this border region, but it's going to stay limited between Lebanon and Israel, and then they're going to try to demilitarize that zone.

ROGER AILES: Jennifer, get some sleep. Tell Eli great job. We're all proud of you over here.

JENNIFER GRIFFIN: Thank you, Roger.

QUESTION: Mr. Ailes?

ROGER AILES: Yes.

QUESTION: Okay. Look, everybody here knows FOX News is now part of the popular culture. You've exceeded many expectations. You also have still many detractors, including Keith Olbermann here the other day. Can you talk a bit about kind of this long, strange, winding trip from ten years ago to where you are today?

ROGER AILES: Well, you know, I think it seemed stranger and windier to others than it did to us. We sort of decided that the context for the news was important. I think one of the important things about our journalism is in ten years we haven't had to fire our executives or our reporters or our anchors or anybody else for making up the news. We actually go out there every day, just like you saw, and dig it out. Now, some people have biases against us, and we understand that. They were unhappy that we got in the game. Maybe we were a little too in-your-face at times. But basically what we do is we go to work every day, we cover the story, and we haven't been forced to eat our words because we're actually telling people what's going on. And sometimes there's more than one point of view to that story, and we try to reflect that. So it's actually been from people literally laughing at us in the first press conference to where we're out there every day beating the competition and, I think, building some of the greatest news careers in the history of television. The two people you just saw, for instance, and many others are just great journalists. And so it's -- you know, it's not quite as odd as it might appear from the outside to us who go to work there every day and try to deliver the goods.

QUESTION: And just quickly, since, as you know, Olbermann was here just the other day, he was speaking to all the critics here, do you want to rebut him in any way? Do you care one way or the other?

ROGER AILES: Look, I'd be tempted to say something, a wisecrack or something, but the truth is clearly he has no viewers except those he gets when he attacks FOX News and particularly has made himself committed to attacking -- continuing to attack Bill [O'Reilly] and, therefore, his family. And I really think that's over the line. I don't really want to comment on it. I don't believe in giving the guy any more oxygen to do this sort of thing. It just seems like the use of corporate assets for personal vendettas, which strikes me as odd. But you know --

QUESTION: Can you -- just sort of asking you the local station question again. My understanding is that as you come on to head the stations, that you want to go to more news and informational direction with them. Why do you think at a local level that's something that will draw more viewers to your stations, and what do you plan to do with the local news that you think will be more compelling than what perhaps the stations are already doing?

ROGER AILES: Well, let me answer the first part of that. The stations depend greatly on either syndicated programming they can buy or programming they produce. I think with all the expanse of networks and cable networks and everything else, a great deal of news is still local. And to a large extent what happens in those local stations and at local websites is going to be particularly interesting and will keep the stations commercially successful going forward, because I don't know whether you know, but as "Two and a Half Men" and "Family Guy" and some of these series end up, there is not much in the pipeline in terms of syndicated programming going forward. Trying to line up a station so that you have audience flow from syndicated programming, from a game show to a talk show to this or that, it is clear that the more we can become self-reliant within FOX with our programming, the better off we'll be going forward. That said, I just think every time you have a program, you can improve it. There are many ways to look at production, whether it's graphics, which people have said over the years that the FOX News Channel sort of set the standard which other people are now following, or more information to the screen or the talent you hire or the producers and how you teach them. Too, fair and balanced; that's one of the elements of it, but it's only one. Basically you want to tell the truth because if you don't tell the truth, somebody's going to come along, you're going to have to take it off the air, and then you're going to be embarrassed, and it's going to be a mess. So all those things make for better newscasts. All I've said is we're going to improve the local newscast and do more locally produced programming and more news and information.

QUESTION: Just a follow-up. If you could just talk about, also, further syndicated acquisitions you might make that you think fit better into that overall vision for the stations.

ROGER AILES: I really can't talk about that because it's not good if we're in the middle of negotiations on the thing. I will say that we announced the other day that we're going to produce a new morning show with Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy. We will produce that ourselves because we're -- at the moment our local morning shows are doing pretty well. They're going to give us a good lead-in into that 9:00 a.m. period. We'd like to develop a national show. We have the station base to do it. We have the inclination to do it. And we have the lead-in to do it. So it makes sense to give it a shot. And that's really all I can say.

QUESTION: And you don't know whether you will syndicate that show?

ROGER AILES: Well, it will be syndicated, yes. I mean, it will go out through 20th Century. It will be on the FOX stations, but also available to others.

QUESTION: Mr. Ailes, the expression, the slogan "fair and balanced" has been a flashpoint for critics and things. How do you define fair and balanced? Is it -- like on radio talk they define it as across the whole day, you'll have a conservative voice, a liberal voice, or a show like "Hannity & Colmes" -- you have one of each -- or there are voices that aren't heard elsewhere, voices from the right. Which of those or any of those or all of those --

ROGER AILES: Probably all of those. Fair and balanced is a matter of common sense, being fair to every point of view, trying to let everybody have their say. I always say to our journalists, "When you're doing a story, be sure there's some point of view in there that you don't agree with because if all you're doing is the story you agree with, you have no chance of being fair and balanced with it." So this is a great country. There are two parties who have several points of view. We have Ralph Nader more than anybody else in the presidential elections because I've known Ralph for 35 years. I think he has interesting things to say. We did the Democratic primary debates with the Black Caucus, Black Congressional Caucus, a very liberal organization, because we felt that -- first of all, they were trying to figure out where they could reach the American people. And I went and met with them, and they thought that the FOX News Channel delivered the biggest audience to their point of view. And we cleared time, spent a couple million dollars producing those debates and getting that done. So, you know, I basically believe everybody ought to be able to defend their point of view, and they need a place to defend it.

QUESTION: Mr. Ailes, I'm just curious if you could answer -- it seems to me that -- and maybe this is just a function of your viewership -- that all the missing women -- or a lot of the missing women are pretty blondes. And I just don't see compelling stories or maybe -- I'm just curious, is it because the audience isn't interested in women of color who disappear? Is it that their stories aren't as compelling? Does the audience not respond to those kind of women? Because it seems like it's always blondes, attractive brunettes, wealthy women who seem sort of entitled or have a place in society, but yet other women don't seem to be represented in that circle. Is that a function of the audience?

ROGER AILES: Well, I think you make a good point in that, you know, there are more -- actually more missing people, boys and girls, in minority communities. We did two this year of African Americans, actually, one somewhere in the Midwest and one in Philadelphia. Both stories sort of ended tragically, I think, pretty quickly. But we covered both of them for, you know, as long as the story went. I must say we didn't get probably the same amount of e-mail or traffic that you get on -- I think part of it is what I said. I think parents were freaked out about a senior trip or a graduation trip or something. So I'm not sure that was just because she was a pretty blonde girl. But you know, as with everything else in society, some people have it more fair than others. And you know, one of the great tragedies of the children in this country is that they're being forgotten. And Bill O'Reilly has been the primary champion of children, forcing some states to change

their predator laws by never getting off that story, despite the criticism. So he takes a lot of heat, but like everything in the world, you ought to give the good with the bad. And he feels strongly about that and has done well with it with, you know, basically putting judges on the screen who are not protecting citizens.

QUESTION: Mr. Ailes, do you have any plans for more on-air promotion of your journalism, if you're so proud of it? And I'm also wondering, is part of the problem that your primetime news stars sort of grab most of the attention when it comes to FOX News Channel?

ROGER AILES: Well, primetime has generally higher ratings, so they tend to get written about more. You know, we try to do as much promotion as we possibly can. We haven't spent $20 million marketing a single star, as one of our competitors has, although not their top-rated star, which I found interesting. You know, outside marketing money is hard to come by. We don't spend a lot on that. We try to do the journalism day to day. It's interesting that we're the Number 1 news channel and we don't do that particularly well or particularly expensively. So somebody is watching our news and saying, "I'd rather watch these guys." Now, we've had some reporters write that that's because the American people are stupid. Actually wrote that. And we just actually don't believe that. So therein lies the difference, I guess.

QUESTION: Recently the New York Times and the Washington Post were challenged by the U.S. Government for writing and allowing to be revealed certain information in news stories that appeared in their newspapers. And it caused a huge hue and cry from the ACLU and other organizations, and I was wondering, first of all, if you could comment on that situation; and number two, whether or not you also are under pressure to keep certain stories that are newsworthy under wraps.

ROGER AILES: No. I think all news organizations are aware when there are certain stories there. I don't know that we've ever been pressured. After 9/11 the news -- the heads of news got together to discuss taking Osama bin Laden tapes immediately to air without analyzing them and so on. And my argument was that we shouldn't do that because at that time the CIA and everybody else didn't know if he was signaling people, there were more attacks. If you were in Manhattan at that time, you weren't sure what was happening. My argument was we wouldn't take a video news release from the American Tractor Association and just put it on the air without slowing it down and analyzing it. I didn't believe being first with that was necessarily good journalism. So there are times that I think that being first is not necessary.

That said, on the New York Times the other thing is you have to look at -- you have to figure out where people are coming from. If you believe we are in the beginning of a worldwide war with militant Muslim terrorists, then you could take the FDR position. We need an office of censorship. We need holding camps. We need serious -- you know, FDR and Abraham Lincoln were wartime Presidents who believed they were in war, and as commander in chief, they had a responsibility to protect the nation. And they did some things that today would get them impeached probably. If you don't believe that, then obviously the public's right to know information is paramount, and that's why we have freedom of the press. In that particular story, the thing that interested me about it is that the Times did not report that anything the Government was doing was illegal. And therefore I would have looked at that and said, "Who does this story help? Does it help the citizens of New York, who already have 3,000 dead bodies lying down there, to put out this information because we're worried the Government might be doing something we don't know about, or does it help the terrorists to let them know what we know about how they're moving money?" That's how you have to weigh that. And I think that many people felt that there was no clear and present reason for the New York Times, in a time of war, to do that. But I would argue that under freedom of the press, they certainly have the right to do it. And it's -- you know, you can decide whether you want to maintain your subscription or not. That's why we have a free country.

QUESTION: Right here. However you feel about CNN, and I think we know how you feel, but it's pretty hard --

ROGER AILES: I like it. I think it's great.

QUESTION: One thing -- they're not Number 1 in the ratings anymore, but they have always had that one key CNN moment which was --

ROGER AILES: Angelina Jolie. That was their great moment.

QUESTION: The first Gulf War, which, you know, that will last in lore forever as the thing that kind made them, that brought them on the scene. Does FOX News have the same thing? Do you think that there's a FOX moment when you kind of --

ROGER AILES: We have very steady growth all the way. There were peaks and valleys with news events, and what we found on any news event that we held -- there's always audience decay. After an event's over, the audience goes back to whatever they were doing. We held more of the audience after the major news events than CNN did. So what happened is an event comes along. More people sample. They're flipping around, and they decided to stay with FOX. So over time -- and I've seen this on a chart -- we held more of the audience. So there was no single event.

QUESTION: Does that -- do you almost wish that you did, that there was one thing that you guys could always point to and they would make a movie about and that type of thing?

ROGER AILES: No. I think CNN had that defining moment in the Gulf War. They had zero competition in cable news. They were the only people around doing 24-hour news at the time. So they were very fortunate. MSNBC and we and -- operate in a world of competition. The world's changed dramatically, so I'm not sure that would happen. I think people flip through and see who they like and stay with who they like. I know that will always be.

QUESTION: Roger, I have a couple questions. One is about something that concerns a lot of us in our room, and that's the aging of our audience. One of the areas in which your competition feels you might be vulnerable is in demographics where they point to your ratings and say that you tend to, particularly on primetime, load up on older viewers who are outside the demographic and that your lead over them in the key demographics that really drives revenue isn't as great. Does that concern you?

ROGER AILES: It concerns me, but keep in mind the real numbers. The real numbers are 5- or 6-to-1 or 4-to-1 or whatever, and when you take the demo factor in, we are still 3-to-1 over them. So you can't get killed jumping out of a basement window. We have more viewers, therefore, we can go down a little further when there's a hit in the demos. I think what's interesting is younger people are not turning to news, newspapers, television and what have you, and it's interesting to see. You know, we also have some issues with Nielsen, which we are in debate over, because suddenly some of those people just got up. Nobody left. They just got up and gave their seats to their parents.

We don't believe that happened any more than we think the local people made the thing happen with Fox Broadcasting. So I think that Nielsen is trying to sort -- I think they're sincerely trying to sort out some of these issues, and we're in discussions with them now. All that said, younger people are becoming less interested in news; although they seem to be watching -- going to websites and so on. Nobody knows quite what they're picking up, but that's going to be the big question for the next couple years probably for all of us.

QUESTION: Quickly, a couple of policy things. You mentioned the video news releases. And before you took over FOX Television News Stations Group, seven of your stations, I believe, were criticized in a report more than any other station group for carrying a video news release without disclosing to the viewers that this had been supplied to them. Have you addressed that?

ROGER AILES: Yeah. The key phrase there before I took over, because I don't believe -- I think you have to disclose public relations for what it is. And the stations have been told. Will they always do it? Do they always do it? Who knows? The answer is yes. We have that policy. We don't put PR releases on and pretend they're news.

QUESTION: And what have you told your staff about Tony Snow and about --

ROGER AILES: Tony is a very, very nice man.

QUESTION: Can I follow over here on the other side of the room --

ROGER AILES: Sure.

QUESTION: -- on the public relations issue? I see you're talking to David Browder again after two years. There are still several reporters that never get their phone calls returned by FOX News. Can you explain why that policy exists and how you select which reporters do not get their phone calls returned?

ROGER AILES: I don't have any policy like that at all. I will talk to anybody that my media relations people suggest that we talk to. There are times that, you know, if we're treated totally unfairly and people come in with a total bias, and there's no use talking, that I suppose that could happen. You know, I don't know anybody I wouldn't talk to, and I think most reporters know that about me.

QUESTION: All the other news organizations come here virtually every press tour. You come every two and a half, three years. Can you explain your motivation for coming today?

ROGER AILES: It's our ten-year anniversary. We are celebrating ten years in the pit, and I was told it would be helpful for me to kick off the tenth year because we're going to be at our ten-year anniversary in October, for me to show up, and I have other meetings in Los Angeles, and I said, "What a great plan. I miss all my good friends here in this room," and I was hoping I would get a chance for a reunion. So I came. It's pretty simple. There's no nefarious strategy here whatsoever.

QUESTION: Have you seen any evidence in your audience of Katrina fatigue? I'm way back here on the far right. Any audience evidence of Katrina fatigue, and do you think that's a problem?

ROGER AILES: I think there's always story fatigue on every story, and that's one of the reasons you move on. Sometimes people stay with a story too long. Sometimes they don't stay long enough. You know, audiences tire of the same story regardless. You know, as long as it's relevant, you try to cover it. We are going back and trying to figure out what happened, and looking at how the money is going to be stolen for those levees next time. But, you know, it's a sad story and people who, because of United States policies, were in the condition that they couldn't even get out of there, they were in such poverty. I don't know how they depended on the United States for 100 years and someone suddenly thought they were going to be saved in 24 hours. I think we need to address the underlying issues here of how do you help these people as well as rebuilding the levees, but that's what we are trying to do with so much coverage.

QUESTION: Talk about --

ROGER AILES: I am told I've got two more questions. That's it.

QUESTION: Way in the back here. On and off throughout the years and most recently talk of maybe going into the fray against your competition at 6:30 Eastern time with a mainstream network newscast perhaps anchored by Shepard Smith, what are your feelings on that now, particularly after talking about the audience erosion? ROGER AILES: It's a complicated issue. Would I like to do it? Sure. I basically am competitive, and I have great confidence in our people and great confidence in Shep Smith. But there is not a great demand for another newscast at 6:30, and you now have three, you know, important people doing those newscasts, and the FOX stations do better with other types of programming at that time. With that said, it's unlikely, and there's nothing on a fast track to do that. Do I think Shep would do well? You bet.

QUESTION: Far back -- given that television is an industry that chases success, why do you think more media outlets have not emulated FOX News? Is it that they don't quite understand what makes FOX News successful, or is it that this is much harder to do than they might assume, or is it that they're just sort of stuck in their old ways?

ROGER AILES: I don't know the answer to that really. I wish I could give you an answer to it. I think they have tried to copy in some ways, but superficially. I think that some people, they have their own view of what the news is, and, you know, they want to do it their way, I guess. That's fine. When the war broke out in Lebanon, you have Hezbollah and Israel in a death struggle, families being bombed on both sides, Iran and Syria looking over their shoulder, United States trying to figure out what to do, completely desperate situation that could end up in World War III.

One of my competitors spent three days on Cyprus trying to find somebody who didn't like the government because the plane was four hours late and they didn't get a candy bar in line. I thought that was not where the story was. I thought the story was in Lebanon. Those are choices that are made every day by news people. And why people make the choices, I think I can defend the choices we make if asked, and I assume they can defend their choices.

QUESTION: One more. Is that it?

ROGER AILES: One more. That's it.

QUESTION: You mentioned that at 6:30 that the landscape is already full. So why get a morning show, and is it because you see an opportunity? It's kind of a two-parter. You see an opportunity to compete --

ROGER AILES: I see 6:30 is full, so why am I doing a morning show?

QUESTION: Right. You said the landscape was full on that end. So why do a morning show after your local affiliates?

ROGER AILES: I'm not sure the morning landscape is as full as -- if you've got Katie and Charles and Brian up there at 6:30, that's a pretty full landscape. The morning show landscape at 9:00 a.m. may be a little more open than that. But it's -- a lot of money can be made in morning television. And in the end, these are capitalistic ventures, and they make money because then they get to pay people and journalists get to work and we're all happy.

QUESTION: Why do it in January and not in the fall?

ROGER AILES: That's an interesting question. We did look at it in the fall. That's what's called a hard-launch in the fall or soft-launch in January. The hard-launch gives you time to put together more sophisticated marketing materials and line up stations and build up a big hype and do all that. I didn't hype the FOX News Channel coming in, and I'm not hyping this show coming in. I don't hype things coming in. I just say we are going to try to do it.

And so I felt that -- my own view is once a decision's been made, execute it as quickly and confidently as you possibly can. It's just a style issue more than anything else. There are advantages to launching the show in the fall. There are advantages to launching more quickly in January. There are disadvantages to both. But once I make a decision to go, I just go. And, you know, whatever happens, happens.

QUESTION: Any chance you might take more than one question?

ROGER AILES: Okay. If it isn't --

QUESTION: You only come every 10 years.

ROGER AILES: That's true. This one's for the next time. This will be the first question in my next session, three hours. Go ahead.

QUESTION: You mention video news releases. It doesn't sound like you think they should just be put on without being labeled. How do you feel about taxpayers' money being spent to produce things that were obviously meant to be aired without too much explanation?

ROGER AILES: Give me an example. You must have something in mind.

QUESTION: There were things that different departments in the federal government were issuing as sort of video news releases. These aren't all corporate products.

ROGER AILES: But the government is the same. If they're putting out a video news release for the Department of Agriculture or whatever, it's still a news release from the government. I don't think media works as a tool of the government. I think we have a tool to resist -- we have a responsibility to resist in an honest way the government. I happen to be a guy who doesn't get up every morning hating my country because I just don't want to live in Somalia. And I think we have it very good here, and I think we have a responsibility to treat our country the same way our country treats us, which is to assume that they are innocent until proven guilty. I have no problem airing anything once they're proven guilty, and I have no problem investigating to see if they're guilty, but it's just an attitudinal difference about freedom of the press. Freedom of the press didn't invent democracy. Democracy invented freedom of the press. Democracy guarantees a free press. Freedom is dependant totally on a fair press so that people can hear everything and make up their own minds. So, you know, I'm the last guy that would get pushed around by the government, I would assure you.

QUESTION: I was thinking more philosophical. Is this how you would want money --

ROGER AILES: I don't want taxpayer money spent on a lot of things that they're being spent so, so I'm sure that is one that I think is probably not useful. On the other hand, if the taxpayer's money is going to put out how to handle yourself in the next terrorist attack, that might be a good use of taxpayer money from some government agency. So I think it's always a case-by-case basis. Thank you all very much.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,205966,00.html

fredfa

07-28-06, 02:29 PM

As an added note to the above post:
If I had access to transcripts of all the TCA Summer Tour events I most likely would have posted the vast majority of them.
It seems to me that it is always best to hear things in a subject's own words than through the filter of someone else.

fredfa

07-28-06, 02:44 PM

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

fredfa

07-28-06, 02:49 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Friday, July 28, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not

Recent Highlights:
While The Programming Insider was reporting from The TCA Summer Press Tour in Pasadena, here are some national rating highlights in primetime:

The Making of a Music Star (ABC)
The two-hour premiere of this new reality competition kicked-off with an embarrassing 3.08 million viewers and a 1.1/ 3 among adults 18-49 on Tuesday, July 18 from 9-11 p.m. One night later, the live 10 p.m. results show was even worse at 2.63 million viewers and a 1.0/ 3 among adults 18-49 on Wednesday, July 19. This week, the ratings for The Making of a Music Star dipped even further, with 2.60 million viewers and a 0.9/ 3 among adults 18-49 from 9-11 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25. Tick, tock…the cancellation clock is ticking!

The CMA Music Festival (ABC)
ABC had better results with the two-hour CMA Music Festival at 6.60 million viewers and a 2.1/ 6 among adults 18-49 from 9-11 p.m. on Monday, July 24.

Project Runaway (NBC)
This second consecutive Monday 8-9 p.m. NBC airing of the Bravo hit was left at the starting gate with just 3.69 million viewers (#3) and a 1.5/ 5 among adults 18-49 (#4) on July 24.

Big Brother 7: All-Stars (CBS)
Season seven of this All-Stars themed edition remains the dominant player among adults 18-49, with a 2.9/ 9 in the demo on Tuesday, July 25 at 8 p.m. Big Brother 7: All Stars also won the hour in total viewers with 7.27 million.

Rock Star: Supernova (CBS) vs. Last Comic Standing 4 (NBC)
Although neither reality/competition could top a repeat of Fox’s competing House in the Tuesday 9 p.m. hour this week, the already renewed Last Comic Standing 4 (Viewers: #2, 7.45 million; A18-49: #2, 3.2/ 9) outdelivered Rock Star: Supernova (Viewers: #3, 6.19 million; A18-49: #3, 2.8/ 8) by 1.26 million viewers and 14 percent among adults 18-49 on July 25.

America’s Got Talent (NBC)
The summer hit keeps on ticking with 10.35 million viewers and a 2.9/ 9 among adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 26.

So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)
Fox’s competing reality/competition scored an ample 9.17 million viewers with a first-place 3.8/11 among adults 18-49 on Wednesday, July 26 at 9 p.m.

30 Days and Rescue Me (FX)
Season two of FX’s 30 Days debuted with a lackluster 1.5 million viewers and 1.0 million adults 18-49 from 10-11:05 p.m. on Wednesday, July 26. The cable net had better considerably results with the most recent installment of Rescue Me at 3.0 million viewers and 1.9 million adults 18-49 on Tuesday, July 25 from 10-11:03 p.m.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest

Jay Leno The Movie Critic:
Workaholic Tonight Show host Jay Leno will shift from late night talk to movie reviews as the guest critic for Buena Vista’s Ebert & Roeper. Leno will fill in for regular co-host Roger Ebert, who is currently recuperating in Chicago from surgery last month.

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

Ladd

07-28-06, 03:00 PM

"Tonight Show" host Jay Leno will be the first replacement co-host for the syndicated review series "Ebert & Roeper" as Roger Ebert recovers from cancer surgery earlier this month.

Buena Vista will move "Ebert & Roeper" from its home base in Chicago to Los Angeles to accommodate Leno's schedule.I note that there is no mention of what's happening to Roper ...

fredfa

07-28-06, 03:14 PM

Roeper continues as co-host.

fredfa

07-28-06, 03:29 PM

If you are a fan of “Grey’s Anatomy” here are the answers to some questions asked often of the show’s creator Shonda Rhimes. If you are not a GA fan, just skip ahead to the next post.

TV Notebook
Grey’s Anatomy: Frequently Asked Questions
Answered by Shonda Rhimes

In response to your pleas, here are some answers to the questions y'all seem to ask most. They are in random order but 'hope it helps!

When will the Season 2 DVD be released?
The Season 2 DVD will be released on September 12, 2006.

On the DVD, what does "uncut" mean?
There were several episodes that aired in Season 2 that, were it not for the fact that we only have 42 minutes and 30 seconds of air time, would have been longer. And they were good longer - some of them were even better longer. There were also some moments in episodes that we had to delete because of the rules of Broadcast Standards and Practices. Nothing too racy but perhaps more racy than what is usually shown on television. We go to battle with the extremely kind people at BS&P and sometimes, we lose. Those important moments we lost are restored in the DVD versions of the episodes.

Is it possible ever to see the writers breaking story in the writers' room?
Our writers' room is super-secret, incredibly crazy, sacred place. It is Narnia. It is Oz. It is…well, some other place it's really difficult to get into. In that room, we talk, we laugh, we eat a LOT of cupcakes, we jog on the treadmill to burn off those cupcakes and most importantly, we come up with the story lines for the season and for each episode. No one gets in. Not the press, not the actors and -- I'm sorry -- not you. You might have heard that I am obsessive about secrecy. It's true. I am.

When does Season 3 production start? And when is the Season 3 premiere?
Season Three production starts NOW. Like, we're shooting the first episode now. The new season's premiere air date has not yet been officially set by the network. But we air Thursday nights at 9 pm and I'm guessing you'll start seeing promo ads with the air date very soon.

(Update: the premiere of "Grey's Anatomy" will be on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 9 PM ET/PT)

Can you tell us anything about your new show with Jeffrey Dean Morgan?
No. Again, I'm obsessive about secrecy. You'll just have to wait…

Will you be blogging over the summer?
I do love to blog with you all. I really do. But I'm gonna be spending the summer writing episodes and so, until we air again, you probably won't be hearing from me. Wait. Just now, I had an idea. We (the writers) can blog the first season reruns of Grey's Anatomy the same way we blogged the second season.

Will the show ever appear on iTunes?
Honestly, I'm not sure. I'll find out and get back to you.

Why has the show moved to Thursday nights?
Here's what I was told by Steve McPherson, the head of ABC: Grey's is a strong show that can stand on its own in the 9 o'clock hour. Thursday night is a big night for television and the network would like to see Grey's compete on that night. Here's what I say: Thursday nights rock. I love 9 pm because it means I can stay up and watch my own show. And I think it's kinda awesome that Steve and the network have that kind of confidence in our show.

Where do you get the characters' names?
A couple of names were thought up by other writers. Kip Koenig came up with the name Denny Duquette. But, mostly, I make up the character's names. They pop out of my head. And then ABC legal checks the names to make sure that, say, there's no surgical interns named Meredith Grey in Seattle. If they clear the name, we use it. If not, I keep thinking. I can tell you that I came up with the name Finn and when searching for a last name, I glanced up to my wall and saw the movie poster for the movie "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge" which hangs over my sofa - and thus, Finn Dandridge was born.

When is the first year of residency over?
On our show, the first year of residency will be over sometime near the end of Season Three or the beginning of Season Four. Our show is odd in that an episode may air that is actually in real time only moments after the last episode ended. So much less than a year of time has passed on the show since the pilot aired. And I wanted to honor that.

How can we (the posters) write YOU?
I read your responses to the blogs. All of them. Write me here.

Who writes the other blogs?
Joe the Bartender's blog is written by my assistant Chris Van Dusen. Nurse Debbie's blog is written by show writer Stacy McKee. And the medical blog is written by research director Elizabeth Klaviter.

Will there be another podcast?
YES. YES! We love the podcasts. We love podcasting. Podcasting is crazy fun. So absolutely, yes!

How much input do you (Shonda) have on the editing?
I have incredible, smart, funny editors. And they are kind enough to allow me to sit behind them in the editing room and scream and complain and whine and make all kinds of changes. Editing is my favorite place to hang out. To me, the shows are truly shaped in editing and I enjoy being a part of it.

How much of the back story of each character have you already determined? And, have you ever written yourself into a corner where you wish you had done something different with a character's back story?
Back stories for characters have been planned from Day One. And we write ourselves into corners all the time. It's part of what I love about the show. Every season, we paint ourselves into crazy corners and then we sit down and figure out how to get ourselves out.

How do you pick the song titles for the episodes?
Each writer picks his or her own song title. Each writer has their own sensibility and, part of writing an episode, is choosing a song that fits both the show and the personality of the writer writing the episode.

Will there be a Season 2 soundtrack?
Yes. And it's going to have great songs on it. Executive producer Betsy Beers, music supervisor Alex Patsavas and I are busy choosing the song list right now.

Are the character bios going to be updated soon?
Yes. The bios will be updated before the premiere of Season Three.

In your eyes, how long do you see the show lasting?
As long as they'll let me air it. Seriously. I love these characters. I love spending time with them. I can't imagine letting them go.

How long does it take to write an episode versus how long it takes to shoot an episode?
Writing is an interesting process. First there's the time we take planning the season and each episode. That can take weeks. Then there's the time each writer takes to write an episode. Some people write slowly, carefully going over each line and word. Some spend a long time with the episode in their head and then barf it out onto the page quickly. Me? I'm a barf writer. But both ways result in great episodes. We shoot the episodes in 8 days. 8 fast, furious, exhausting days for the crew and the actors.

Can we see a floor plan of Seattle Grace?
I'll ask the production designers if that is possible and get back to you.

Will you or Peter Horton ever make a guest appearance on the show?
I'm not an actor. I don't pretend to be. Acting is serious business and requires this thing called talent. I don't have talent. None. So you're never going to see me in an episode. Now, Horton is a real, honest to God, actor. He's chock full of acting talent. So I'm not ruling him out. But I have tried to cast him in the show before. I tried to get him to play Derek and Addison's marriage counselor. But Peter truly prefers to direct these days and so I have to work on him…

How involved are you in directing each episode?
Wonderful directors come and give their all to directing the episodes. I have what is called a story meeting where I tell them what is in my head, what I imagine. And then I step back and let them do their thing. Directing is a supremely creative process - honoring the vision of the directors is part of the fun of making the show.

Can you give us more information on Jeffrey Dean Morgan?
I can tell you the important stuff -- he's very nice, truly talented and more than a little bit dreamy in real life.

Why are you nervous for Mer and Der?
Because they had sex. And Derek is married. And Finn has plans.

Does Meredith's locker keep changing?
Yes and THANK YOU for noticing. I'm obsessed with it. That locker…it changed and changed and changed. I thought I was crazy but finally Bossy McBossy Rob Corn noticed it too, confirmed I was sane and fixed it.

How is it possible that Callie actually lives in the hospital? Will Callie ever sing on an episode? Is Callie a regular character now? Can we see where Richard or Alex lives? Is McSteamy ever returning to the show? Will we see more of Thatcher next season? Can we have more of Richard's back story? Is Cristina's mom ever coming back? Can we have something on Alex's family situation? Is Izzie really leaving the show? What will happen to Izzie? Why didn't Thatcher ever check up on his daughter?
Wait and see. Wait and see. Wait and see. Okay, at this point, you probably want to throw things at me but I can't tell you about plot that may or may not be coming.

When will we get background information on Addison and Derek's relationship?
Ooooh…really wait and see.

How did you come up with the idea of "McDreamy?"
Here's a question I can answer. Patrick Dempsey was on the set shooting the pilot of our show. Every day for fourteen hours a day, Betsy Beers and I sat on set watching him. And we like to add "Mc" to things. McTired, McBossy, McSilly. And there was one phrase we kept saying when looking at Dempsey - McDreamy. The man is McDreamy. He is. Look at him. Just look at him. There isn't another word for that kind of sexy gorgeousness. McDreamy.

Are we going to be able to read/see Ellis' diary?
I don't know. I've been considering it. But I wouldn't want anyone else to write it and I don't have a lot of time - I have to focus on the show itself, first and foremost.

How long were Thatcher and Ellis married before she began her affair?
Probably about seven years.

At the end of Season 1, how did Addison already know about Meredith sleeping with Derek?
Richard called her up and told her. That's why she came out. Richard brought her out to Seattle because he didn't like the goings-on between Derek and Meredith. And not because it was an attending and an intern. He didn't like it because he likes Addison and he feels a responsibility to look after Meredith.

Why did Bailey seem so angry when Meredith and Derek slept together, but no one seemed to care that much with Cristina and Burke? Or George and Callie?
Because Meredith and Derek were the first. They broke the taboo. And because they kept it a secret. In addition, Burke and Cristina were honest and went to the Chief - Bailey doesn't like it but she can't do anything about it. Also, there is an issue with interns dating attendings. But Callie's not an attending - she's a resident. That's not a big deal.

Did you write Chandra Wilson's pregnancy into the show, or was that an original storyline? If not, what was the original storyline?
Chandra called me and told me she was pregnant. I was thrilled for her. But I knew that hiding a pregnancy on a show almost never works. So I took it as a gift and added it to her character arc. I love the idea of watching a surgeon struggle with how motherhood affects her career. And I love the idea of watching Bailey struggle with managing her tough resident side with her maternal side.

Why was Derek more concerned with operating on Burke than the Chief?
Because the Chief's surgery was a relatively simple, straight-forward surgery that Derek knew he could perform. The outcome of Burke's surgery was a lot more difficult to predict.

Is there really no chance of Denny in Season 3?
Denny, like Dylan, is dead. He's really dead. He's so very, very dead. And it breaks my heart. But he is dead.

Where are the panties?!
Good question. Stick around and find out.

How did you select "Chasing Cars" for the finale?
We had a lot of songs to choose from - A LOT OF SONGS. So many that it made me a little bit panicked at the thought of choosing. Ed Ornelas, the editor for the second hour of the finale, placed the song "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol as a temp song when he was putting together the episode. And it felt so brilliant, so perfect that I left it in. Thank you, Ed!

Where can we get Izzie's prom dress?
I will ask Mimi, our costume designer, and get back to you.

Okay, that's it for now. Enjoy your summer!!!

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