Hot Off The Press! The Latest Television News and Info

[shuttermaker]

Both 'Six Million Dollar Man' and 'Bionic Woman' are out on DVD in Europe (Region 2) and a few other foreign territories. You can also get decent-quality bootlegs on eBay for a decent price (ask me how...wink, wink). The hold-up for an official release here in the States is that for years a 'Six Million Dollar Man' Hollywood movie has been in the works but never seems to get off the ground for one reason or another. At one point it was going to be a comedic take on the series starring Jim Carrey as Steve Austin, but thankfully that fell through. Anyway, whoever owns the rights to the TV series (Universal?) wants to release the series on DVD in tandem with the Hollywood movie so that the latter fuels interest for the former. But since the movie keeps getting bogged down in creative and production delays, the DVD's ain't coming out anytime soon unless the studio (Universal?) decides to forget about the movie tie-in and releases the series on its own.

Wasn't John Saxon in an early 'Six Million Dollar Man' episode as a bionic man with both legs and arms that were bionic? All I remember about that first season of 'SMDM' (which I caught in dubbed-in-Spanish repeats in the early 80's) was how poe'd I was that the early episodes didn't have the bionic sound effect whenever Austin did his thing. That now-trademark sound effect was added in the second season. shuttermaker, go to www.jumptheshark.com and click on both 'SMDM' and 'Bionic Woman.' These are some of the most heartfelt and hilarious recollections of fans like yourself about what it was like to be a kid in the 1970's re-enacting the previous night's 'SMDM/'BW' episode in the schoolyard the following morning. ;)

Wow, thanks for the info, good stuff. I hope they dont ruin that series with a movie. I think ill do some digging for the bootlegs.

[harley1]

Deleted

Dad already posted the article, sorry I missed it when I refreshed the page.

[fredfa]

The Business of TV
Sizing up the TV season at midseason
A look at the winners and losers and surprises
By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 12, 2006

NBC has been the only network this season to show improvement, up 12 percent over last fall’s average, from a 3.3 to a 3.7, and jumping into tie for second place during the November sweeps. But the big question now is how much of that fall momentum NBC can sustain.

Much of the growth has been driven by “Sunday Night Football,” which ends in January. Though the network has a few solid veteran shows returning in January, such as “Crossing Jordan” and “The Apprentice,” and the only new breakout hit in “Heroes,” it will miss “SNF’s” ability to balance out low-rated shows like “Friday Night Lights,” “30 Rock” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.”

NBC has showed patience with the shows thus far, giving all three full-season orders despite anemic 18-49 ratings. NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly has promised to continue his mantra of patience with such quality shows, and that will really be put to the test come spring.

That’s just one of the issues facing the networks at midseason.

Others include whether Fox can ride “American Idol” to another victory, if “Lost’s” no-repeat strategy will succeed for ABC, and whether CBS will make more changes after a disappointing fall.

Chris Allen, vice president and associate director of national broadcast for GSD&M in Chicago, talks to Media Life about the fall’s biggest successes, biggest surprises, and what’s in store for NBC over the coming months.

Who has been the fall's big winner among the networks?

NBC is the biggest winner of the new season, driven by a ratings rebound. This is due in large part to “Sunday Night Football,” but I think the addition of NFL did what it was supposed to do: bring viewers back to NBC.
As the only broadcast network to show year-to-year growth in key demos, they are now at parity with CBS among adults 18-49, and just a couple of tenths behind ABC. NBC has also aged down slightly, while ABC, CBS and Fox have all aged up.

How about the biggest loser?

It has been a lackluster season for most, with The CW delivering the most disappointing showing. Despite a heavy schedule of returning series, the network struggled to find its core audience. There has been a slight rebound in recent weeks, but the combination of viewer confusion on where to tune in and a couple of scheduling shuffles prevented what could have been a big boost versus the WB and UPN.

What's been the biggest surprise?

I think a lot of folks were surprised at the success of [NBC’s] “Heroes,” but we found great storytelling in the pilot and subsequent episodes. It was certainly an example of an upfront presentation clip that didn't do the series justice, so it reinforces the importance of taking the time to screen all pilots and learn all you can about what's happening on the set.

I think ABC’s “Grey's Anatomy” outperformed expectations on Thursday, running away with the win against “CSI.”

The demise of Fox’s “Prison Break” has been somewhat of a surprise, because the quality of the show is still there.

CBS’s “Shark” had breakthrough potential, but I think the over-saturation of crime-related dramas is starting to wear on viewers' appetites for new programming in that genre.

The double-digit decline of ABC’s “Lost” was also a big surprise, but the show still delivers a huge rating.

How do you see the season going forward? There will obviously be a momentum shift with the return of "Idol," do you anticipate any other major shifts in momentum?

“Idol” will definitely put Fox back in the game, but I think the biggest question is how long NBC will support some of its struggling shows like “Studio 60,” “Friday Night Lights” and “30 Rock.” I'm happy to see them give good shows a fighting chance, and with “The Black Donnellys” and “The Apprentice” coming up, I hope they will have renewed interest in their primetime schedule.

ABC needs to do some fine-tuning, but it was only a matter of time before the enormous ratings of “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” would come down to earth, so I think their focus should be on stability.
CBS has lived by the mantra of stability for years, but some of their shows are getting a little stale, so I think it would be wise for them to test some new concepts this spring.

How would you rate ABC's decision to take "Lost" off the air for three months in order to avoid airing repeats -- was it smart or, considering "Day Break's" struggles, a bust?

I don't think ABC had a choice about taking “Lost” off the air. The production on the show is incredibly elaborate, and I think they needed to rest the series to catch up with production. I can't imagine any show that would have replaced “Lost” during the hiatus, but “Day Break” was just a dog from the beginning.

Will "Idol" be as strong as last year, stronger, weaker, or considerably weaker? Why?

I think “Idol” is still trucking right along, and because it's water cooler television, the fact that we utilize live-only ratings to monitor performance will work to its advantage. I can't conceive that there will be any growth this season, and frankly, Fox probably doesn't want more growth or they'd be hard-pressed to find advertisers with budgets big enough to buy it.

I do think this may finally be the season that we start to see some minor fall-off, but I think it will be negligible. Fox is brilliant to have protected the show, building viewers' excitement for a new season. It's a great example of a show that doesn't have to push the envelope to draw strong delivery.

Who will finish first this season among adults 18-49?

Despite a weak start in September, Fox will pull off a victory, led by “Idol.” ABC and CBS should be close behind. ABC gets the younger audience, but CBS has the advantage of dramas that repeat well.

NBC is a bit of a dark horse, but I always like to pull for the long shot!

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_9064.asp

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
Survivor: Cook Islands — Finale Shockers Revealed!
by Ileane Rudolph TV Guide Tuesday, December 12, 2006

"Think of Survivor like a letter from a loved one," says Mark Burnett, who created the reality show that's now coming to the end of its 13th season. "You recognize the envelope and the handwriting, but [inside] is a fresh letter." "Fresh" is a good word to describe what's coming up in the finale of CBS' Survivor: Cook Islands. In an exclusive sneak peek, Burnett and host Jeff Probst tell TVGuide.com how they'll upend hallowed traditions on Cook's finale airing Sunday, Dec. 17.

Cooking the Numbers: There will be three finalists (instead of the usual two) at the final tribal council. And with the size of the jury raised to nine (from seven), there's the possibility of a three-way tie in the competition for the $1 million prize. Not to mention a bigger dose of rancor, bile and wacko questions from cast-offs who make up the newly expanded jury.

Final Challenges: The finale begins busting protocol immediately with five players still in the game. Their first challenge, Burnett reveals, "is the hardest puzzle we've ever done, called Compass Rose." Challenge producer Dan Munday spent two days, "like a mad scientist, cutting pieces of wood," says Probst. " Finally, he showed us exactly how it comes apart and then asked us to put it back together. I quit after 30 minutes." It takes the winner 25 minutes to solve it, Probst reveals, adding that "this final five had the highest IQs of any final five." The final four's last immunity challenge involves balancing on a very small post, one that gets smaller and smaller — 10 feet above the water. "It required balance but also intense concentration and pain tolerance, because it was made of steel and was not comfortable," Probst explains.

Survivors' Reactions: How does the surviving quartet react to the news that there would be three headed to the final tribal council? "The reaction is mixed," says Probst. "A couple are excited because it gives them an extra shot at the million. But for the other two, there is a sense of dread — they realize the strategy they had been planning won't work. From an audience point of view," says Probst, "the best news is that you have at least two people who are likable and very deserving of winning, and for me, that is a home run. I'll be very satisfied that whoever wins is a good winner."

Live Doin's: The big prize will be awarded in L.A. "The coolest part of the finale is that we're re-creating the tribal-council shipwreck at the CBS studios," Probst reveals.

The finale changes come at the conclusion of a season marked by new rules and procedures — first and foremost, the racially segregated teams that opened the Cook Islands contest. Despite the loud, early criticism of the tactic, Burnett says he's proud of the season. "What it really showed is that the American public will embrace a diverse cast," he says. "And the number of applications from minorities is now getting larger, because they see they have chance."

So who's going to win? We asked Burnett to handicap the players still in the game.

Yul: "He has that dangerous combination of being extremely likable and extremely cerebral. He used the immunity idol in a very smart way, and it actually turned the game."

Ozzy: "He's one of the greatest challenge players we've ever had, up there with Terry and Colby. He certainly is a target."

Adam: "There's no question that we've focused on his alliance with Candice, but he's a very strong player. He might be more clever than we think." (Candice, who was booted a couple of weeks ago, was "near genius," says Burnett, but Adam was "her Achilles heel.")

Becky: "She may be playing a clever, silent but deadly game in that she's letting [her ally] Yul take all the heat [while], for much of the show, she has been under the radar."

Parvati: "Parvati's a good athlete and can be a very strong challenge player, and she's not afraid to use her sexuality."

Sundra: "Sundra has offended nobody, and is the kind of person who can go to the end because she's not seen as a threat. And if she gets to the end — everyone likes her."

And the future? Survivor: Fiji — the show's 14th edition, set on the South Pacific island — will likely debut in February. "It has an extremely unique opening episode," Burnett says. "There will be an Exile Island, but it's quite different, and the hidden immunity portion of the game has an interesting twist."

And look for yet another new way to divide the tribes — and keep Survivor fresh.

http://tvguide.com/News-Views/Interviews-Features/Article/default.aspx?posting={6392F801-4DB6-4668-9D71-0D5D74CCCA66}

[fredfa]

Monday’s metered market over-night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted just under the HD Football listings near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

[fredfa]

Sunday’s updated fast national over night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted just under the HD Football listings near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

[dad1153]

Nielsen Overnights 18-49
NBC's Xmas turkey: Goodman's Santa
Remake special averages a 2.5 in adults 18-49
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine December 12, 2006

“The Year Without a Santa Claus” didn’t have much holiday magic for NBC. Despite stars like John Goodman and Delta Burke, the movie slumped to less than half what the network’s usual high-powered lineup pulls in the two-hour Monday 9 p.m. timeslot.

“Year” averaged a 2.5 rating among adults 18-49 last night, according to Nielsen overnights, compared with NBC’s usual 5.2 average for “Heroes” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.”

That wasn’t a huge surprise. CBS took advantage of the absence of “Heroes” with original episodes of “Two and a Half Men,” which had its best rating since Oct. 16 at a 5.2, and “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” an above-average 4.2.

Against that competition, “Year” had a tough time. Also, the movie didn’t get great reviews, which probably didn’t help. And the film was a remake of an original that debuted more than 30 years ago, meaning some of today’s kids may not have been familiar with the animated special.

By comparison, recent airings of classic holiday fare like ABC’s “Charlie Brown Christmas” and CBS’s “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” recently pulled ratings of 4.5 or better.

NBC points out that "Year" did win its timeslot among kids 2-11. It averaged 7.4 million total viewers.

CBS finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 4.2 average rating and an 11 share. NBC was second at 3.2/8, ABC third at 2.9/8, Fox fourth at 2.5/7, Univision fifth at 1.7/5 and CW sixth at 1.2/3.

NBC started the night strongly, leading the 8 p.m. hour with a 4.5 rating for “Deal or No Deal.” CBS was second with a 3.0 average for “How I met Your Mother” (3.0) and “The Class” (3.1), with ABC third with a 2.7 for a repeat of “Wife Swap” and Fox and Univision tied for fourth at 2.3, Fox for a repeat of “House” and Univision for “La Fea Mas Bella.” That left CW sixth with a 1.1 average for “Everybody Hates Chris” (1.1) and “All of Us” (1.1).

At 9 p.m. CBS took the lead with a 4.7 average for “Men” (5.2) and “Christine” (4.2). ABC was second that hour with a 3.3 for “Supernanny,” NBC third with a 2.8 for the first hour of “Year” and Fox fourth with a 2.7 for another “House” repeat. Univision was fifth with a 1.5 for “Mundo de Fieras” and CW sixth with a 1.3 average for “Girlfriends” (1.3) and “The Game” (1.3).

CBS retained its lead at 10 p.m. with a 4.8 for “CSI: Miami,” followed by a 2.5 for ABC’s “What About Brian.” NBC came in third with a 2.2 for the last hour of its movie and Univision fourth with a 1.4 for “Cristina.”

Among households, CBS also finished on top, averaging an 8.3 rating and a 13 share. NBC was second at 6.6/10, ABC third at 5.1/8, Fox fourth at 4.5/7, Univision fifth at 2.3/3 and CW sixth at 2.0/3.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9089.asp

[dad1153]

The Business of TV
Granite Files for Chapter 11 Protection
By Michele Greppi, TV Week December 11, 2006

Granite Broadcasting on Monday filed for protection under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The filing included a plan of reorganization that has been pre-negotiated with the company's secured debt holders and that includes going private with debtholders exchanging their existing notes for a combination of new notes and new common stock, and the current common and preferred stockholders exchanging their existing stock for shares of the reorganized company.

W. Don Cornwell, chairman and CEO of Granite, said in a press release announcing the action that "we have been candid about the company's need to restructure its corporate balance sheet. Together with our financial advisor, Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, we evaluated and exhausted a number of strategic options. However, we were unable to find an alternative long-term solution that would have permanently addressed our capital structure."

The group, which owns, operates or provides services to 23 stations in 11 markets, has operated at a loss for the past three years and has twice borrowed money this year to meet late interest payments on hundreds of millions of dollars of debt.

Mr. Cornwell said Granite's Chapter 11 filing has the support of its secured debtholders, who had worked on the plan, which is expected to reduce the station group's corporate debt by more than $275 million to about $230 million.

When it reported on third quarter 2006, Granite said it did not have enough cash to make the Dec. 1 interest payment of $19.74 million on its notes and to repay all amounts outstanding under its $70 million credit agreement, also due Dec. 1. As of September, Granite said, it had unrestricted cash and accumulated deficit of $18.23 million and $513.9 million, respectively.

Granite said at the time that it was reviewing all reorganization alternatives, including bankruptcy protection.

Silver Point Finance is listed as the administrative agent of the most recent credit agreement with Granite.

Mr. Cornwell said the restructuring process is expected to be completed by the first half of 2007.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11213

[dad1153]

TV Notebook
FX orders additional 'Days'
E! slates 8 episodes of 'Broken Dreams'
By Denise Martin, Variety December 11, 2006

FX has ordered a third season of the Morgan Spurlock docuseries "30 Days," while E! Entertainment TV has slated eight episodes of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," a new series from the team behind the network's "True Hollywood Story."

In addition, Food Network has greenlit a second helping of docudrama "Ace of Cakes."

Production on six fresh episodes of "30 Days," a show in which a person spends a month in an environment antithetical to their own, begins next spring.

As he has done for the past two seasons, Spurlock will participate in at least two episodes for the upcoming third cycle. Spurlock got a taste of life on minimum wage for 30 days in the series' first seg, and spent time in a county jail in another.

Spurlock, R.J. Cutler, Ben Silverman and H.T. Owens exec produce. FX Prods. produces.

E!'s "Boulevard" will delve into the lives of ill-fated celebs. Among the subjects on tap are Nikki and Krissy Taylor, Chris Penn, Leif Garrett, James Frey and Jonathan Brandis. E! Studios-produced series premieres Jan. 22.

New episodes of "Ace of Cakes" begin Jan. 18. Skein revolves around Baltimore-based baker Duff Goldman and his staff of eccentrics as they construct some of the biggest, most elaborate cakes on the East Coast.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117955517.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

[homcom]

Well the Hawaii Bowl might not be in HD, but the all star Hula bowl will be in HD. Here is an artcile about the mid January al star game.

http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2006/12/11/daily8.html

Hula Bowl to be high-definition broadcast
Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
ESPN will air a college football game from Hawaii in high-definition for the first time, thanks to a makeshift high-definition control room made out of three office trailers.

The broadcast of the Cornerstone Bancard Hula Bowl in HD on Jan. 14 means ESPN will air all but one of its college football bowl games in high-definition this season.

Network officials would not disclose how much more they were paying to produce the Hula Bowl in HD. The cost of producing a game in HD is 25 percent to 30 percent higher than standard-definition broadcasts, but Hawaii presents unique challenges because of the difficulty in transporting the HD trucks usually used for producing games to the islands.

ESPN said it had opted against renting a Russian cargo plane for about $400,000 to fly an HD truck over, and shipping a truck to Hawaii was considered too time-consuming.

But after showing all but two of this year's regular-season college games in HD (the exceptions were both in Hawaii), ESPN felt pressure to show the Hula Bowl college all-star game in HD for the first time.

"It's important to us to be able to say that we do all college football games in HD," said Bryan Burns, ESPN's vice president of strategic business planning and development. "It's important for us to say that we're doing all of our bowl games in HD."

The remaining ESPN bowl game not in HD also is in Honolulu, the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24. Network executives said the high number of football games around the date made it more difficult to get the equipment over to Hawaii then.

For the Hula Bowl, ESPN hired a company called Gearhouse Broadcast, which agreed to fly several crates of expensive HD equipment to Honolulu for the Jan. 14 game.

The plan has ESPN shipping eight HD cameras and lenses, eight replay machines, a complete audio console, a video switcher and several flat-screen monitors that will make up a makeshift monitor wall. Plus, it will send all the HD support equipment, such as tripods for cameras.

"It's not more cumbersome from a size standpoint. It's just that the equipment is more expensive than standard-definition equipment," said Wendell Grigley, ESPN's senior director of remote operations. "There is no HD equipment that lives out in Hawaii to be able to do this."

ESPN's extra effort to show the post-New Year's bowl game in HD is a nod to the popularity of HD broadcasts.

Results from an internal survey show that 13 percent of viewers watched a recent ESPN on ABC Saturday night college football game in HD. Of that 13 percent, 32 percent said the fact the game was in HD influenced their decision to watch it.

"Thirty-two percent, in my opinion, is a significant number," said Artie Bulgrin, ESPN's senior vice president of research and sales development. "As the base of HD grows, the audience impact will be more apparent."

Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal

[TommyK]

TV Business
Altitude's sporting interest: Liberty
Home of the NBA Nuggets and NHL Avs finds the chance to team up with Fox Sports Net alluring.

By Kimberly S. Johnson
Denver Post Staff Writer

Altitude Sports & Entertainment is interested in possibly partnering with Liberty Media Corp. should Liberty gain Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain in an impending deal with News Corp.

Liberty is poised to gain three regional Fox sports networks - in Denver, Seattle and Pittsburgh - in addition to satellite provider DirecTV, in exchange for Liberty's 19 percent stake in News Corp., the company that controls DirecTV and Fox, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

"It's a little too early to speculate on it. ... We do have a good relationship with Liberty and would love to sit down with them and talk about working on some things," said Jim Martin, chief executive of Altitude.

"We'd do that now with Fox if they were interested," he said. "There are things we'd work on together to make things more efficient."

Denver-based Altitude is the broadcast network for Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Mammoth and Colorado Rapids games. Fox Sports is the network for the Colorado Rockies and Colorado Crush.

To complete the swap tax-free, 5 percent of the assets going to Liberty must be operating businesses, the Journal said. News Corp. has a 38.6 percent investment stake in El Segundo, Calif.-based DirecTV, but directly operates the Fox networks.

Liberty and News Corp. officials wouldn't comment on the possibility of regional sports being added to the long-anticipated DirecTV deal.

Altitude's "good relationship" with Liberty and its chairman John Malone stems from a 2000 deal with the network's owner, Kroenke Sports Enterprises, in which Malone sold Kroenke the Nuggets, Avalanche and the Pepsi Center for $404 million.

Liberty sold those assets to Kroenke four weeks after acquiring Ascent Entertainment Group, a Denver-based company, for $755 million. As part of the deal, Liberty maintained a 6.5 percent stake in each of the Nuggets, Avalanche and Pepsi Center.

Liberty kept Ascent's On Command unit, which provides movies and broadband services to hotel rooms, but in March said it would put On Command Corp. up for sale.

Martin, who served as chief operating officer for Liberty in 1991, said he was surprised News Corp. might be letting go of some of its regional sports networks.

"Anything could happen in this industry," he said. "I don't know if you'd see a lot of change. Fox Sports has a great management team. They (Liberty) could just let them run it."

Fox brings a strong brand name and a national slate of programming to its regional networks, which would be hard to replace, said Dave Smrek, principal of Adrenalin Inc., a Denver-based sports marketing agency.

But the idea of rolling Fox's local sports network into one brand under the Altitude name might be beneficial to the bottom line.

"Generally, two sports networks in a town the size of Denver stretches thin advertising dollars and programming," Smrek said.

However, merging the networks together would create programming conflicts as seasons tend to overlap, he said, suggesting that Altitude could be split into two networks.

"Somehow they need to figure it out," he said. "It's not a big enough marketplace to sustain two regional sports networks."

[TommyK]

TV Business
Sports channel in front row for Liberty deal

By Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News
December 12, 2006


John Malone's Liberty Media, once again, may own FSN Rocky Mountain.

The Denver-based channel and regional sports networks in Seattle and Pittsburgh are reportedly small but key pieces in a much larger deal in the works between Liberty and News Corp.

News Corp. is near an agreement to purchase Liberty's $11 million stake in Rupert Murdoch's company in exchange for News Corp.'s controlling 39 percent ownership in satellite-TV provider DirecTV.

The inclusion of the three sports channels allows the transaction to qualify as a tax-free trade because at least 5 percent of the assets must be operating businesses, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Officials for Liberty and FSN Rocky Mountain declined to comment, and News Corp. didn't returns calls.

Denver's FSN Rocky Mountain will come full circle if it returns to Douglas County-based Liberty's ownership. Nearly two decades ago, Malone created the Denver channel, then known as Prime Sports Network, with cable magnate Bill Daniels as part of a web of regional sports channels.

In 1996, Liberty teamed with News Corp. in a joint venture to take on powerhouse ESPN.

Liberty exited three years later after determining the fiercely competitive televised-sports business was too risky.

Sports is a market where "you aren't dealing with normal competitive forces," Malone said at a Liberty investor meeting in 1999.

Under News Corp.'s ownership, FSN Rocky Mountain expanded to 2.5 million households in Colorado and seven other states. The network has a deal to carry Colorado Rockies games through 2014, and its programming also includes University of Denver hockey and basketball games, Big 12 football and several weekly Denver Broncos shows.

FSN Rocky Mountain originally carried Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche games as well. But in 2004, team owner Stan Kroenke started rival network Altitude Sports & Entertainment and took rights to broadcast the Nuggets and Avalanche with him.

Liberty briefly owned the Nuggets and Avalanche in 2000 before selling them to Kroenke, and still owns 6.5 percent stakes in both teams.

FSN's strategy is to emphasize the local professional games that appeal to the most viewers, using national sports news and other programming as a backdrop to tie the stations together.

News Corp. will retain 14 of its FSN networks in major markets including New York and Los Angeles, the Journal reported.

Liberty will likely strike agreements with News Corp. to let it continue to use that programming for its channels, said John Mansell, senior analyst at Kagan Research.

It's unclear how Liberty ownership of the regional sports networks could affect the company's ongoing talks to exchange its 4 percent stake in Time Warner for ownership of the Atlanta Braves ballclub.

FSN Rocky Mountain owns a 15 percent stake in the Rockies, and regional sports networks can have ownership in only one professional baseball team.

That won't stop Liberty's talks with the Braves, Mansell said, because Liberty could immediately sell its Rockies stake or ask Major League Baseball for a temporary exception to own both teams.

"There are lots of different possibilities," he said. "It's been Malone's history to look at every kind of deal."

[dad1153]

The Business of TV
Ferguson to produce primetime for Paramount TV
Latenight host signs two-year deal with studio
By Josef Adalian, Variety December 11, 2006

Craig Ferguson is headed back to primetime, this time as a producer.

The host of CBS' "Late Late Show" and former "Drew Carey Show" regular has inked a two-year overall deal to develop programming for CBS Paramount Network Television via his newly christened Green Mountain West banner. He's hired Tracey Pakosta, former exec VP of comedy development at the now-defunct WB, as his partner.

As part of the pact, CBS Entertainment has a first-look option on any projects Green Mountain West develops.

Ferguson's deal makes him the latest latenight player to jump into the primetime development gang.

David Letterman's Worldwide Pants has the best track record of getting skeins on the nets, from NBC's "Ed" to ABC's upcoming "The Knights of Prosperity."

Conan O'Brien has developed several pilots, landed a reality series on the air (2001's "Lost") and has a half-hour starring Andy Richter in the works for next year.

Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart have also been prolific cable producers via their respective Jackhole and Busboy banners.

Only latenight power not actively developing for primetime is the king of latenight, Jay Leno. His Big Dog banner hasn't produced any primetime series.

Ferguson, however, thinks his night job makes the move into production logical.

"One of my earliest guests was Peter Guber, who came on with (Variety editor-in-chief and 'Sunday Morning Shootout' co-host) Peter Bart," Ferguson said. "They're both savvy players, and in his first booking, Guber said to me, 'You've got to form a production company. You'll meet everyone in this job and have access to talent like nobody else.' "

Ferguson said he waited until he was more firmly embedded as host of "Late Late Show" before approaching CBS about the idea of a production deal.

Tapping Pakosta was the next step; Ferguson said he hopes her depth of experience will help Green Mountain West lure talent.

"It was important for me to get someone who can do the job very well," he said, adding that Nancy Josephson at Endeavor connected him with Pakosta. "It sends a message that this is not a vanity thing. It's a proper company."

Ferguson said he and Pakosta are developing projects largely on spec rather than trying to secure blind commitments from nets. He credits CBS supremo Leslie Moonves with that philosophy.

"He said you don't spend five or six years in development on something," Ferguson said. "You either say yes or no."

As for the title of his shingle -- Green Mountain West -- Ferguson said it's a tribute to Vermont, where he spends much of his time when not in Los Angeles.

"It would be very handy if Vermont were closer to L.A.," he said.

Pakosta spent more than a decade at the WB, joining in August 1995 and leaving at the end of last year. She began as an assistant to Susanne Daniels and rose to head of comedy development.

During her run, Pakosta helped develop skeins such as "Reba," "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" and "What I Like About You."

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117955549.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

[dad1153]

Nielsen Notebook
ABC's 'World News' Closing In on NBC
By Michele Greppi, TV Week December 12, 2006

Only a one-night viewership spike for its one-sponsor edition Dec. 4 appears to have saved "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams" from being overtaken by ABC's "World News With Charles Gibson" in total viewers and the 25- to 54-year-old viewers who are most prized by advertisers in news programming.

"We're very pleased with the trend," "World News" executive producer Jon Banner said Tuesday after the ratings were released. "You work harder when you think you're getting closer."

Mr. Banner said the sampling of the three flagship newscasts has been going down since the debut of Katie Couric as anchor of "CBS Evening News" Sept. 5. Even though the pattern that is settling in seems to be going in Charles Gibson's favor, Mr. Banner said, "We know it's a long process and we've still got a lot of work to do."

For the week, "Nightly News" finished with its slimmest lead, 120,000 viewers, in five months over "World News," according to data from Nielsen Media Research, which put the race at 9.12 million viewers for "Nightly" and 9 million for "World News." In the 25 to 54 demo, the race was a near tie, with ABC slipping ahead by 20,000 viewers, averaging 2.92 million for the week, to NBC's 2.90 million viewers.

The ABC newscast outperformed the NBC flagship program every night except Monday, the night of Philips Electronics North America's much written about minimalist commercial buy. That evening, "Nightly" attracted 10.38 million viewers, some 15 percent more than ABC and 30 percent more than "CBS Evening News."

On Dec. 6, when all three evening newscasts originated from Washington to cover the release of the Iraq Study Group report, "World News" finished first by 190,000 total viewers and 180,000 25 to 54 viewers.

"Evening News" had its lowest week since the exit of Bob Schieffer, who had gained viewers while keeping the seat warm for Ms. Couric, at the end of the summer. For the week of Dec. 4, CBS averaged 7.45 million total viewers, with 2.26 million in the demo. That's a year-to-year drop of 10 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

"Nightly" posted a bigger decrease compared with a year ago, down 13 percent in total viewers and 18 percent in the demo.

"World News" was down 4 percent in total viewers and 11 percent in the demo.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11219

[dad1153]

Now this is a trial I'd make time to watch on Court TV! :)

The Business of (Regulating) TV
Court Says Profanity Arguments Can Be Televised
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable December 12, 2006

All that talk about "profane" talk not belonging on TV will be on TV after all.

The oral arguments in broadcasters challenge to the FCC's March profanity rulings against Fox Billboard Awards broadcasts will be allowed to be televised.

That's according to the docket of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. The court has informed the attorneys involved that on December 11 it granted a request from C-SPAN to televise the December 20 arguments.

Arguments by broadcasters and the FCC are scheduled for 12 minutes per side, but could and probably will go longer.

The televised coverage is "uncommon but not unprecedented," said Andrew Schwartzman of the Media Access Project, which is representing intervenor Center for Creative voices.

Broadcaster petitioners--led by Fox--are scheduled Wednesday to file their briefs with the court buttressing their case and responding to the FCC's defense of its rulings that the Billboard Awards broadcast of variants of the F-word and S-word by Cher and Nicole Ritchie were indecent by contemporary community standards.

A C-SPAN spokesman said that the Ninth and Second Circuits have been historically more amenable to TV coverage. He said no other cable or broadcast news operation has yet asked for a pool feed of the arguments, which it has supplied with Ninth Circuit arguments in the past, but that it would consider such requests.

That means look for the cable news nets and perhaps even the broadcasters, all of l the atter have a dog in the fight, to run with it as well. There is as yet no scheduled time for the arguments.

Veteran First Amendment attorney John Crigler of Garvey Schubert Barer called the coverage news "super," pointing out that federal courts are historically reluctant to allow coverage of oral argument.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6399397.html

[RemyM]

http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2006/12/11/daily8.html

Hula Bowl to be high-definition broadcast


That was a very well written story and the writer certainly did his research on all of the added costs of doing HD from Hawaii. For everyone who complains about certain events not being in HD what would you do if this was your money? By my math if 13% of the viewers were watching in HD and of that 32% said they were watching because it was HD, that means HD gave the game a 4% boost in viewership. I guess that justifies spending some extra money for HD, but not breaking the bank to do it. It will be interesting to see what CBS does for the Pro Bowl.

[dad1153]

TV Notebook
The Artist Formerly Known As Sexually Dangerous
James Poniewozik's Time 'Tuned In' Blog Dec. 12, 2006

CBS's announcement that Prince will be the musical headliner of the upcoming Super Bowl is a step forward for the show's musical interest (following on the last two, even older-and-less-relevant choices, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney). But it's gotta be a step back for Prince's erstwhile image as sexiest bastard ever to crotch-thrust a guitar. First he appeared on American Idol, the white-bread standard for universally inoffensive entertainment, and now he's this year's official Safe Alternative to Janet Jackson's Breasts?

I just wept a little, for my lost youth and America's lost libido. What has our society come to when Prince is the guy you can trust not to sexually offend 120 million middle Americans? What has Prince come to? The man whose "Darling Nikki" set Tipper Gore off on her record-labeling crusade? The man who appeared nude on the Lovesexy cover with a strategically-placed flower stamen where his, er, stamen would have been? Has he gotten that clean, or have we gotten that dirty?

Fortunately, what pop stars and TV networks choose to forget, YouTube now remembers for eternity. Journey back with me to 1980, a more innocent, which is to say less innocent, time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJKNKPHZ7Ow

...and let's say a prayer that this guy is the one who decides to show up in uniform at the big game.

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/2006/12/the_artist_form.html

[dad1153]

Nielsen (Cable) Notebook
USA Knocks ESPN in Ratings War
By Steve Donohue, Multichannel News December 12, 2006

USA Network displaced ESPN from its perch atop the weekly basic-cable-ratings battle, averaging a 2.3 Nielsen Media Research rating for the week ending Dec. 10.

While USA posted big ratings with its WWE Raw programming (3.7 average), ESPN saw its weekly primetime average drop to a 1.9 compared with a 2.6 for the week ending Dec. 3.

ESPN tied TNT and ABC Family for second place, with each network posting a 1.9 average. They were followed by Lifetime Television and Disney Channel (1.8 each); TBS and Hallmark Channel (1.7); Nick at Nite (1.3); and Cartoon Network, A&E Network and Fox News Channel (1.2).

Nickelodeon once again ruled the total-day period, averaging a 1.8 rating. It was followed by Disney (1.2); TNT and USA (1.1); Lifetime and Cartoon (1.0); and ABC Family, TBS, ESPN and Hallmark (0.9).

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6399240.html?display=Breaking+News

[dad1153]

The (Ugly Side of) Business of TV
NFL Network Serves Up Freebie for N.Y.
By Jon Lafayette, TV Week December 12, 2006

NFL Network said Tuesday it would offer its network free in the New York market for a week so that Time Warner Cable and Cablevision subscribers there can watch Rutgers University play Kansas State University in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 28.

The game is being shown only on cable and has not been offered to a broadcaster in either college's home market.

Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have not agreed to carry the NFL Network. They have said they don't think all of their subscribers should pay a high price for a network only some of their subscribers will watch. With the NFL Network carrying live regular-season games this year, the dispute has escalated to include nasty ad campaigns and lawsuits.

"Our dual objectives in offering this 'freeview' license are to provide broad access to programming of particular interest to these residents and to offer as many subscribers as possible the opportunity to sample NFL Network," NFL Network President and CEO Steve Bornstein said in a letter to the cable operators.

A spokesperson for Time Warner Cable said the operator has received the offer and is studying it.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11221

[dad1153]

(Cable) TV Notebook
In TBS's 'My Boys,' maybe a cable first
Original comedy is cranking strong early numbers
By Kevin Downey, Media Life Magazine December 12, 2006

It may seem too early to make bold declarations, but the numbers point the way. In its new sitcom “My Boys,” TBS may have the most successful original live-action sitcom ever to debut on ad-supported cable.

Ironically, it comes at a time when the broadcast networks are struggling more than ever to develop sitcoms that survive even one season.

How “My Boys” fares tonight could be telling. Last Tuesday, its second outing, the series was watched by 907,000 viewers in the 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen ratings. While down 300,000 viewers from its premiere, the sitcom still did better than the handful of original sitcoms that have premiered on cable networks over the years.

Its premiere was watched by 1.25 million 18-49 viewers, comparable to the audience for some of TBS’s biggest hits, like reruns of “Family Guy” and “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and it pulled a bigger audience than repeats of “Sex and the City,” the former HBO hit that's the inspiration for “Boys.” The show centers around a female sports writer who narrates each episode, as journalist Carrie Bradshaw did in “Sex.”

Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, says it will take a few more weeks before he's comfortable calling it a success.

“We look for critical respectability, and in comedy that’s extraordinarily hard,” he says. The network is also gauging advertiser demand, which Koonin says has been strong. "The third thing [we look for] is ratings growth, and that will be decided over the entire run.”

Despite its second-week slump, “My Boys” is outperforming FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” perhaps the highest-profile live-action original comedy on cable. It wrapped up its second season in August with an average 832,000 viewers in the 18-49 demographic.

Meanwhile, TBS’s new late-night comedy “10 Items or Less” is also doing well, though with much smaller numbers, in some demos beating stiff competition in Comedy Central’s “Daily Show.” Its second episode two Mondays ago averaged 811,000 viewers in the 18-49 demographic and 560,000 among 18-34s. “10 Items” was up 9 percent over its premiere in 18-49s and 3 percent in 18-34s.

Part of the early success of the two new TBS series could be the absence of sustainable comedy on broadcast.

“People are realizing that this is a network that programs comedy,” says Jordan Breslow, director of broadcast research at MediaCom. “And because the [broadcast] networks are having such a hard time with comedy, I think viewers who are missing the genre and just want to laugh are looking for an alternative.”

TBS is already plunging deeper into originals, with five other comedies in development. Among these is “Imperfect Union” with George Wendt from “Cheers,” which is being produced by “Will & Grace’s” Eric McCormack.

“You have to define your brand and deliver against it,” says Koonin. “We use acquired programs to build a foundation, but we need to use original programming to bring more people to our network, and to make the network attractive to advertisers and cable affiliates.”

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9065.asp

[dad1153]

Weekly Nielsen Ratings
Football, 'Heroes' Lift Peacock
Prime week for NBC, CBS
By Rick Kissell, Variety December 12, 2006

With ABC's top shows on the bench or in repeats last week, NBC and CBS dominated the primetime program rankings.

The Peacock and Eye nets each claimed five of the week's top 12 programs in the adults 18-49 demo, with Fox and ABC settling for just one show apiece among the top dozen.

NBC captured the frame in the prized 18-49 category for a second straight week, according to Nielsen, with its "Sunday Night Football" matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys on top (8.0 rating/20 share).

The Peacock's 3.8 rating/10 share in 18-49 bested a competitive CBS (3.5/10) and easily topped both ABC (2.9/8) and Fox (2.4/7).

Again exhibiting a good balance, NBC tied CBS for the lead in adults 25-54 (4.3/11) and led the frame in the 12-34 (2.9/9) demo. CBS cruised in overall total viewers (11.7 million) for the 12th straight sesh.

At roughly the one-third mark of the season, ABC (4.0 rating/11 share) enjoys a slim advantage in the 18-49 race over CBS (3.9/10) and NBC (3.8/10), with the Peacock the only broadcaster to improve over its average of last season, rising a healthy 15%.

Fox is a distant fourth, declining 6% vs. the first 12 weeks of last season and again counting on a big second-half rally to finish competitively.

In other categories, CBS has the edge in 25-54 over runner-up ABC (4.9 to 4.6), while ABC is ahead of second-place NBC in the 12-34 demo (2.9 to 2.7). It's no contest in total viewers, where CBS (12.9 million) easily tops No. 2 ABC (11.5 million).

Newbie net the CW is now at a 1.7 rating in its target adults 18-34 demo, putting it 13% ahead of the WB at the same time last season (1.5).

Top programs in adults 18-49 are ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives," CBS' "CSI," ABC's "Lost" and NBC's rookie dynamo "Heroes." In total viewers, it's "CSI" followed by "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives" and ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."

Looking at the week of Dec. 4-10, NBC's 18-49 average was boosted by the third best score of the season for "Sunday Night Football" (New Orleans-Dallas) as well as a big fall finish for "Heroes" (6.5/15, 14.94m), the week's No. 3 program in 18-49.

Also chipping in were season highs from "The Biggest Loser" (4.0/11, 9.37m) and "My Name Is Earl" (4.3/12, 10.04m), with an hourlong seg of the comedy logging its best scores since April 6 and winning its hour in adults 18-34 (4.4/12).

Behind "Earl" on Thursday, "Scrubs" (4.0/10, 8.38m) matched its highest 18-49 rating in more than two years, and lead-out "30 Rock" established series highs at 9:30 (3.2/8, 6.84m). "ER" closed out the night with another victory (5.5/14, 12.02m).

CBS was paced as usual by the Thursday tandem of "CSI" (7.8/19, 23.25m) and "Survivor" (5.3/15, 15.72m) but also received some nice contributions elsewhere, including the return of comedy "King of Queens" on Wednesday (3.4/10 in 18-49, 9.80m for two firstrun segs).

Friday saw the annual winning perfs from holiday classics "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (4.5/15, 12.95m) and "Frosty the Snowman" (3.5/10, 10.66m), with the latter scoring a big 26 share in kids 2-11.

And on Sunday, finale of "The Amazing Race 10" (4.1/10 in 18-49, 12.73m) was up from last May's conclusion but down a bit vs. last December's "Race 8" finale.

ABC was paced by a two-hour "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (5.2/12, 14.21m) and got nice production out of Tuesday holiday spec "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (3.8/11, 11.05m).

Wednesday's combo of gamer "Show Me the Money" (1.9/6, 7.10m) and drama "Day Break" (1.7/4, 4.46m) tanked, while in its second try in a new Thursday-at-10 slot, "Men in Trees" (2.7/7, 8.28m) finished a distant third.

Fox had another quiet week overall, highlighted by a repeat "House" on Tuesday (4.6/12, 11.77m) and a firstrun "The Simpsons" on Sunday (4.1/10, 8.31m). Net's airing of "The Billboard Music Awards" (2.7/7 in 18-49, 6.09m) was down year to year and ranked fourth in its Monday slot.

The CW delivered its best night to date Wednesday with the season finale of "America's Next Top Model" (3.0/9 in 18-49, 6.19m) and "One Tree Hill" (1.9/5, 4.24m). Net ran third for the night in 18-49 (2.4/7) -- ahead of ABC and Fox -- and led all nets in viewers 12-34 (3.2/10).

"Top Model" logged the best finale demo scores in its seventh season, including a 3.9/12 in adults 18-34 and a 5.7/17 in females 12-34. And "Hill" saw its best deliveries in 18-34 (2.7/8) and femmes 12-34 (4.4/12) in nearly two years.

Frame's biggest story in cable was ABC Family's rise to No. 3 in primetime among adults 18-49 (behind USA and TBS) and No. 1 finish in total viewers (2.81 million) -- the first time in net history it's finished on top.

FX's "Nip/Tuck" was the week's top scripted cable series in 18-49 (1.6/5), while a special two-hour episode of TNT's "The Closer" was the top scripted skein in both adults 25-54 (1.8/4) and total viewers (5.44m).

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117955603.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

[dad1153]

The Business of TV
AT&T Sues Time Warner in Texas
By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News December 12, 2006

AT&T filed a lawsuit in a Texas county court against Time Warner Cable’s San Antonio division, alleging that the cable operator engaged in “a methodical invasion of facilities owned, operated and controlled by AT&T Texas” at apartments and other multiple-dwelling units in and around the city.

As part of installing voice service, Time Warner “caused damage to physical plant” owned by AT&T, according to the lawsuit, “solely to gain competitive advantage and commercial benefit.” The telco estimated that Time Warner provides services to 120,000 or more units at MDUs in San Antonio.

Time Warner declined to comment on the lawsuit.

AT&T alleged that Time Warner field technicians cut or disconnected wires and jumpers inside the telco's building terminals.

In some cases, according to the suit, AT&T was unaware of the damage until it received a call from a customer complaining about problems with the network. Time Warner's actions have "degraded the quality and integrity" of the AT&T network, which, as a result, has caused "general confusion and dissatisfaction with AT&T Texas' service," AT&T claimed.

"AT&T is being deprived of the benefits it derives from many years of developing its network and its end-user customer relationships," the company said in its lawsuit.

AT&T is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Spokesman Brad Mays said the company is still assessing the extent of the damage it claims Time Warner caused. But, he added, “based on reasonable assumptions and what we’ve seen to date, we believe the total amount of damage is likely to run into the millions.”

AT&T filed the lawsuit in the 288th Civil District Court in Bexar County, Texas.

AT&T’s current corporate headquarters are in San Antonio, where the telco first launched its U-verse TV service in June.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6399398.html?display=Breaking+News

[dad1153]

TV Notebook
Networks deal with actresses’ pregnancies in their own way
By Amy Amatangelo, Boston Herald December 12, 2006

Network TV has come a long way, baby.

When Lucy Ricardo found out she was carrying Little Ricky on “I Love Lucy” in 1952, actress Lucille Ball wasn’t allowed to say the word “pregnant.” The networks have loosened up since then.

Four top TV actresses currently are expecting. Here’s how their respective shows are dealing - or not - with the blessed events.

Marcia Cross on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives”: Cross is expecting twins, but Bree won’t be pregnant. Bree is constantly behind something - a chair, a countertop and, most recently, a gingerbread house. With Bree already enmeshed in a questionable marriage to Orson (Kyle MacLachlan) and not a model mother to begin with, producers made a wise choice. Bree already has enough mama drama. But because Cross is so visibly pregnant, the series may have to throw in the towel about hiding it. Let’s just hope “Desperate” doesn’t do to Cross what “Frasier” did to Jane Leeves when she was pregnant. Suddenly Daphne had a weight problem.

Amanda Peet on NBC’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”: Creator Aaron Sorkin made the right call when he chose to write in Peet’s pregnancy. On a show fond of showing characters racing up and down hallways, Peet’s pregnancy would have been difficult to disguise. Now her character, Jordan, who already has incurred the ire of her network’s shareholders because of her tell-all ex-husband, is pregnant via a one-night stand with an old boyfriend. The situation has brought her closer to Danny (Bradley Whitford) and will continue to explore one of the show’s recurring themes, how female executives are held to a different standard than male counterparts.

Diane Farr on CBS’ “Numb3rs”: This season on the crime drama, Farr’s Agent Megan Reeves began an unlikely romance with nebbish professor Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol). But Larry and Megan won’t be expecting a little math wizard any time soon. The show’s producers have declined to write in Farr’s pregnancy. The actress, however, has hinted that something will happen that will force Megan to rethink her career. Perhaps a stint of desk duty is in her future?

Jaime Pressly on NBC’s “My Name is Earl”: Well, snap. The gum-smacking Joy will be pregnant on “My Name is Earl.” Being a mom is a big part of Joy’s life, so there was no reason to hide Pressly’s pregnancy. The only time Joy shows compassion is when she is interacting with her two young boys. Viewers will see a kinder, gentler Joy - until ex-hubby Earl finds another way to get on her nerves.

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=171561
____________________________________________________________ _____

I can't believe this article ommits one of the most recent and creative ways a TV show has handled the pregnancy of its lead actress to change and expand the dynamic of its lead characters. I'm talking about Mariska Hargitay's pregnancy, and how the producers of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit used it to explore the depths of loneliness and attachment that bond detectives Benson and Stabler (played by Christopher Meloni). The show could have taken an easy way out and just have Benson shot by a stray bullet and conviniently recuperating off-camera at some hospital ward. Instead the 'SVU' producers had Benson go undercover to spy on potential ecological terrorists while teaming Stabler with a new female partner (Connie Nielsen's detective Beck) with whom he comes close to falling in love with. Hargitay rejoined the show in full during the last new 'SVU' episode (the one with Bob Saget) but her pregnancy was used by the show producers to do things a little out of the ordinary than what we're used to from a network TV show.

And of course there's the pregnancy of Gillian Anderson back in 1994 that was used by The X-Files producers to build pretty much the foundation for the mythology of the alien DNA that was part of the show's fabric 'till its final conclusion. But that's an entirely different kind of story altogether (that's an entirely different kind of story). :rolleyes:

[dad1153]

DO NOT READ THE FIRST PART OF THIS ARTICLE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ SPOILERS ABOUT THE UPCOMING HOUR-LONG CHISTMAS EPISODE OF NBC'S 'THE OFFICE'

Critic's Notebook
On Comet, on Cupid! On Dunder! On Mifflin! And to all a good night
Maureen Ryan's Chicago Tribune 'Watcher' Blog Dec. 12, 2006

The test of a good comedy is whether it makes you laugh, of course.

The test of a better than good comedy is whether it makes you laugh on a second viewing of a given episode, and whether you spend the next day repeating lines from the show to your fellow fans.

Devotees of "The Office" are familiar with the whole line-repeating, multiple-viewing syndrome. And the show’s hourlong "Benihana Christmas" episode (7 p.m. Thursday, WMAQ-Ch. 7) will give them plenty of "remember this part?" fodder around the water cooler.

(By the way, if you don’t want to see any spoilers for the episode, stop reading now.)

There’s Dwight Schrute’s arrival at Dunder Mifflin, on the day of the Scranton office’s Christmas party, with a dead goose in hand. "I ran over it," he says, with an weird gleam in his eye. "It’s a Christmas miracle!"

Of course, he wants to cook it for lunch. "We Schrutes use every part of the goose," he notes. Human resources guy Toby rolls his eyes, and after some pleading from Dwight, Toby allows goose-cooking on the premises – only if Dwight promises to clean the bird in his car first.

Later, there's the memorable sight of Kevin doing an oddly intense karaoke version of Alanis Morissette’s "You Oughta Know," and Michael and new Scranton employee Andy (the terrific Ed Helms) doing a quietly hilarious duet on the wimp-rock standard "Your Body Is a Wonderland."

You might wonder why the Dunder Mifflin party gets so rockin’ — after all, the holiday affair planned by the eternally clenched Angela is so prim (one brownie per person, thank you) that not many employees want to go. A rival party, which Karen and Pam put together on the spur of the moment and which serves margaritas, is much more fun.

"Meredith if you don’t come to my party, you will be very, very sorry," Angela warns at one point.

"Is that a threat?" Meredith responds.

"No, it’s an invitation," Angela answers, trying her best to sound nice and failing miserably.

Well, gosh, who wouldn’t want to go to that party?

Andy, Michael, Dwight and the eternally bemused Jim arrive at the margarita bash after a long lunch at a local Benihana’s, where Michael spent the afternoon drowning his personal sorrows in Andy’s favorite holiday concoction, the Nagasaki, which is one part eggnog, three parts sake. Uggggh. Just the thought of that drink makes me want to both retch and laugh.

Earlier, Ryan declined to join Michael and his entourage for lunch at "Asian Hooters": "I’m not feeling so well. I got a ton of work to do here. MSG allergy, peanut allergy. I just ate there last night," he tells Michael.

"Thanks for taking all the excuses, dude," Jim mutters.

Michael and his posse roll back to the party with a couple of waitresses, whom Michael can’t quite tell apart. But funnier than his attempts to distinguish between servers is his attempt to mask his grief over being left by yet another woman. Steve Carell, who plays Michael, makes misery so hilarious that you almost want Michael to be put through the emotional wringer every week.

He can’t even get the post-breakup anger right: "Bros before hos," he insists to the camera. "Why? Because your bros are always there for you. They got your back after your ho rips your heart out, for no good reason. And you were nothing but great to your ho, and you told her that she was the only ho for you. And that she was better than all the other ho’s in the world. And then suddenly," he says in a voice thick with emotion, "she’s not your ho no mo’."

The various looks that flit by on his rubbery face when he realizes he won’t taking his favorite lady to Jamaica’s finest all-inclusive resort ("All-inclusive – you know what that means!" he leers) are so pathetic, so hurt, yet so laughable.

I don’t know if we’re laughing at Michael Scott. Maybe some of the time we’re laughing with him. Anyway, it doesn’t matter.

When you’re laughing, nothing else matters no mo’.
____________________________________________________________ _____
'30 Rock': Tina Fey's comedy is more winning by the week

In 2005, the award for most-improved comedy went to “The Office.”

This year, “30 Rock” (8:30 p.m. Thursday, WMAQ-Ch. 5) has snagged that trophy.

The first couple of episodes of the NBC comedy, set at a sketch-comedy show, were all over the map, with most jokes telegraphed too broadly and too little of creator Tina Fey’s obvious intelligence shining through.

But in recent weeks, the show has gone from pretty good to terrific. The Dec. 7 outing, for instance, in which deranged actor/comic Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) paid a memorable visit to Conan O’Brien’s show, was a masterful blend of energetic farce and whip-smart comedy.

Still, if I ran the world, there would be things about "30 Rock" I’d play up more, and a few things I’d change:

-Any scene with Alec Baldwin, who plays TV exec Jack Donaghy, is comedy gold. Keep infusing him with equal parts cluelessness, suave condescension and charisma. “Research doesn’t lie,” Donaghy once said regarding focus groups. “It lets us know what we’re thinking.”

-Donaghy infuriates head writer Liz Lemon (played by Fey). Their scenes together are always a treat, as when Lemon fumed after being set up on a blind date by Donaghy — with a lesbian. “What made you think I was gay?” Lemon fumed.
“Your shoes,” Donaghy replied.

“Well, I’m straight,” Lemon said.

“Those shoes are definitely bi-curious,” was Donaghy’s smooth retort.

-Kenneth the page, played by ImprovOlympic and Second City vet Jack McBrayer, is a delightfully innocent aw-shucks gofer who’s in love with the magic of showbiz — and plays a mean game of poker. After losing a poker game to the idiot-savant Kenneth, a confounded Donaghy issued this prediction, “In five years, we’ll all be either working for him … or dead by his hand.”

-As members of the writing staff, Judah Friedlander (Frank), Keith Powell (Toofer) and Scott Adsit (another Second City vet who plays Pete Hornberger) haven’t been given enough to do. Give us some funny from the writers’ room.
So far we’ve had stellar cameos from Conan O’Brien and “SNL” vet Chris Parnell, who did a hilarious turn as Jordan’s physician, Dr. Spaceman (pronounced “spa-chi-min.”) last week. Given Fey’s extensive comedy contacts, let’s get more great guest shots.

-As for Jenna, the character played by Jane Krakowski, we’ve seen the dimwitted, paranoid actress stereotype done to death on TV. Let’s see if they can give her character some depth, and not just mock her self-absorption.

-Any plot that depicts Liz Lemon as idiotic or clueless — remember when she made a fool out of herself by being overly familiar with Donaghy in front of other network executives? — feels out of place, given that the intelligent Fey isn’t skilled enough to play a stupid character. Keep Lemon in Fey’s limited-though-effective range.

-Depicting Tracy Jordan as just another erratic and eccentric African-American star just seems a little icky. The character is more interesting when he’s depicted as off his meds and/or “seeing the tiny blue man,” as it were.

-Rachel Dratch was the star of the first version of “30 Rock’s” the show-within-a-show. She has been downplayed too much, though, and is now playing a variety of throwaway parts on the show. The revolving-character gag isn’t that funny, though, and a meatier recurring role would be more worthy of her talent.
____________________________________________________________ _____
It's a 'Scrubs' Christmas, Charlie Brown

The following video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=20Of_mna-Rs) is a 10-minute version of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," but with entirely different dialogue, courtesy of the cast of "Scrubs." It's pretty darn hilarious, and must viewing for any fan of the NBC comedy.

It was put together by a former "Scrubs" writers' assistant, Ryan A. Levin, who wrote the dialogue for the cast of the show (and typical of this winning comedy, be aware that there is some salty dialogue herein). Levin then cut the dialogue together with the Peanuts holiday classic. As usual, the performance of John C. McGinley, Dr. Cox on "Scrubs," is a hoot -- even when it's only his voice.

Thanks to the So-Called Austin Mayor for the link.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/

[dad1153]

Nielsen (Cable) Ratings
ABC Family rides 'Express' to a ratings record
Cable network scores best numbers in its history
By John Dempsey, Variety December 12, 2006

ABC Family has broken out the party hats and balloons after scoring the best primetime ratings in its history last week.

Also for the first time ever, ABC Family came in No. 1 for the week (Dec. 4-10), beating such Nielsen cable powerhouses as USA, ESPN and TNT.

The main reason: two primetime runs of the hit Warner Bros. theatrical "The Polar Express," the most-watched program in ABC Family's history in its first run Saturday, when it racked up 5.06 million total viewers.

That number made "Express" the fourth highest-rated individual show of the week, behind ESPN's "Monday Night Football" (the Panthers-Eagles game on Dec. 4, with 10.5 million), TNT's two-hour original episode of "The Closer" (also Dec. 4, with 5.4 million) and WWE wrestling on USA (also Dec. 4, with 5.14 million).

The earlier ABC Family run of "Polar Express" on Friday wound up the eighth highest-rated show of the week, chalking up 4.03 million viewers.

Two other cable performers leapt out of the week's TV ratings. Also on Friday, Cartoon Network's "Re-Animated," a mix of live-action and animation, delivered the best rating for an original movie among kids 6-11 in the network's history.

And Comedy Central's "Last Laugh '06 Starring Lewis Black" on Sunday pulled 688,000 viewers 18-34, making it the highest-rated program for the night in cable in that demo.

On the down side, A&E's original movie "Wedding Wars" Monday was left at the Nielsen altar, averaging only 483,000 viewers 25-54 and 470,000 viewers 18-49.

"Polar Express" was the first major theatrical scheduled by ABC Family that bypassed pay TV. HBO took a pass, exercising a clause in its theatrical output deal with Warner Bros. allowing the network to reject any animated movies.

Warner Bros. pitched "Express" to Showtime and Starz, but because the movie grossed a strapping $174 million at U.S. multiplexes, the pay TV price (tied to a percentage of domestic rentals) became too rich for HBO's competitors. Hence, no pay TV window.

"Polar Express" engineered its U.S. TV premiere on ABC Dec. 1, a year before cabler would have gotten it if a feevee had stepped up. On ABC, "Express" harvested the best theatrical-movie rating on broadcast TV since the premiere of "Shrek" on NBC in February 2004.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117955607.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

[dad1153]

The Business of (Governing) TV
Dingell, Markey Blast FCC Lawyer
By Ted Hearn, Multichannel News December 12, 2006

The two incoming House Democrats who will begin to oversee the Federal Communications Commission in January said Tuesday that the agency’s top lawyer failed to justify a decision allowing FCC Republican Robert McDowell to vote on AT&T’s merger with BellSouth.

Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), who takes over as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee next month, and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who will head a key subcommittee, issued separate statements insisting that McDowell should stay away from the giant telecommunications merger even though FCC general counsel Sam Feder gave him the green light to cast a vote.

"I find the general counsel's response inadequate in convincing the American people that … McDowell's participation is necessary, proper or wise," Dingell said.

Added Markey: “I trust that … McDowell will find the FCC general counsel's weak legal arguments, and even weaker rationale for a compelling government interest, of little comfort when deciding whether to abandon the ethical high ground upon which he currently stands."

Dingell’s and Markey’s comments came in response to Feder’s 10-page letter that explained his reasons for freeing up McDowell to participate in the $81 billion merger.

McDowell has been legally barred from voting because his former employer, a small telecommunications trade group, is opposing the merger and demanding conditions. The prohibition ends June 1.

With McDowell sidelined, the four voting FCC members left -- two Republicans and two Democrats -- have been at loggerheads over merger conditions, effectively blocking the deal from closing.

Martin notified Dingell and Markey Dec. 1 that he had asked Feder to determine whether McDowell could break the deadlock. Based on law, precedent and the large economic impact of the merger, Feder determined that McDowell could vote if he so chose.

Feder agreed to remove the constraints on McDowell even though Robert I. Cusick, director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, informed the FCC that if it were his decision, he would not authorize McDowell to cast a merger vote.

"The general counsel has not provided a thoughtful and appropriate explanation for departing from the advice of the director of the Office of Government Ethics, which could lead reasonable people to question the integrity of the agency's decision in this very important matter,” Dingell said.

McDowell, who is studying Feder’s decision, hasn’t indicated whether he will vote. Both AT&T and BellSouth support his participation.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6399384.html?display=Breaking+News

[dad1153]

Finally, the forbidden fruit is available for free so the entire world can share the love! :rolleyes:

TV Notebook
What's love got to do with NBC's 'Studio 60'?
By Andrew Wallenstein, The Hollywood Reporter December 11, 2006

It's typical in television for a show to come down with a case of acute cutesiness at Christmastime. But for NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," that might amount to a terminal condition.

The Dec. 4 episode -- its lowest-rated yet -- seemed to take a pronounced shift away from its usual deep dive into the industry intricacies of the titular fictional TV show toward the kind of romance-centric storytelling you'd find on "Grey's Anatomy." I would chalk it up to a seasonal outbreak of the warm 'n' fuzzies, but what transpired could linger long after the eggnog sours.

Here's the "Studio" update: Everyone is suddenly in love with everyone. The gruff producer played by Bradley Whitford abruptly declared his affection for the network president, played by Amanda Peet. Nathan Corddry, who depicts one of the "Studio" comics, has begun eyeing one of the writers, played by Lucy Davis. The "Studio" head writer, played by Matthew Perry, mired in an annoyingly stop-and-go dalliance with another comic played by Sarah Paulson, is suddenly go-go-go when they share an urgent kiss.

From the beginning of the episode, I sensed something was awry when Perry's neurotic sourpuss of a character came out extolling the joys of Christmas as if his dosage of Paxil had just kicked in. There was so much love in the air that I was convinced some character would remove the errant mistletoe wedged in the ventilation system and the show would return to its predominantly platonic ways.

For the record, NBC, Warner Bros. and executive producers Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme all insist that despite the series' ratings woes, "Studio" has not been subjected to any creative tinkering since the pilot, with the exception of writing Peet's pregnancy into the story line of her character, NBS network chief Jordan McDeere.

Whether ratcheting up the relationships like an Uzi-wielding Cupid is indeed an organic plot development, it certainly would make "Studio" more relatable. I watch every week less out of genuine appreciation than morbid fascination with the fact that the series feels like one big in-joke for TV-industry junkies like myself. I laugh less at Sorkin's witty banter than I do at the thought that viewers in Peoria are futilely looking up jargon in the dictionary such as "upfront" and "demo" in an attempt to understand the dialogue.

Yet for all its authenticity as a slice of Hollywood life, "Studio" occasionally appears tone deaf to showbiz realities. Take the never-ending story line, for instance, that would have us believe that when McDeere's ex-husband begins publicizing details of their sex life, she becomes a media obsession to rival Paris Hilton. As if anyone who reads Us Weekly could even name a network president.

"Studio" also didn't score points for realism last week with my favorite characters, the deliciously nasty NBS chairman, played by Steven Weber, and the Murdoch-esque chairman of the network's parent company, played by Ed Asner. My inner TV wonk was all set to jones on a new story line about a potential FCC fine for the network. But the story line instantly fizzled when Weber's character absurdly offered to resign over the fine only to have Asner's character barely bat an eyelash. This wild swerve away from an obvious boardroom clash made me wonder: Is Sorkin setting up Weber and Asner to fall in love with each other, too?

Maybe "Studio" just had to get its Yuletide ya-yas out for an episode. Or maybe the series is awkwardly remaking itself in the mold of the 13 other shows on the air about workplace romances, lowering the volume on the industry chatter that rendered it incomprehensible to anyone who has never made a reservation at the Ivy.

Maybe a little love will help "Studio" find its feet -- now that would be a Christmas miracle.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/features/columns/tv_reporter/e3i1ab243002a4990743c76e0063ac90b13

[dad1153]

(Syndicated) Nielsen Ratings
Few Syndicated Winners in November Sweeps
By Ben Grossma, Broadcasting & Cable December 12, 2006

Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Jeopardy!, Dr. Phil and Entertainment Tonight were the only four syndicated first-run shows to see year-over-year gains during an otherwise disappointing November 2006 sweep period that took place from November 2-29.

Millionaire’s 6% year-over-year jump to a 3.3 was the biggest boost for any show. Elsewhere in games, Wheel of Fortune was even at an 8.6, Jeopardy was up 3% to a 6.8 and Family Feud fell 10% to a 1.8.

In talk, Dr. Phil posted a 2% gain to a 5.6 average, its best November sweep since 2003. Oprah led the genre as always, but fell 13% to a 7.1.

Entertainment Tonight won its 65th sweep period in a row, up 2% on the year to a 5.6 average. Access Hollywood held steady on the year at a 2.7, thanks to a 3.0 average in the final week of the sweep, its best weekly number since March 2004.

Every veteran in the crowded court genre was down or flat on the year. Judge Judy was on top as usual, its 4.8 average slightly off (2%) year-over-year.

The news was also bad for the off-net sitcoms. Everybody Loves Raymond fell 18% to a 5.3, Seinfeld was off 20% to a 4.5 and Friends was down 31% to a 3.7. These numbers were sharper drops than in the past, as all three shows fell exactly 8% from November 2004-November 2005.

Of the rookies, Rachael Ray led the way with a 2.1 household average and was the only new show that improved its average time period rating over November 2005 (up 9%) in metered markets. Geraldo At Large averaged a 1.6, Cristina’s Court a 1.3, Dr. Keith Ablow a 1.1, Judge Maria Lopez a 0.9 and Greg Behrendt and Megan Mullally both averaged a 0.8.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6399262.html
____________________________________________________________ _____

Didn't Richard Karn get fired from hosting 'Feud' so the new guy (O'Hurley) could improve on the steady-but-unimpressive 2.0+ rating the show was getting last year? Looks like the joke's on Freemantle for screwing with something that didn't need the drastic measure of a host replacement. Hope Karn's 'Tool Time' money is enough to keep him from being too angry at getting so royally screwed! :mad:

[rebkell]

Critic's Notebook
The room that acts like a maze
By Verne Gay, Newsday December 11, 2006



Anybody watching 'The Lost Room'? I like it. I was surprised, but I got into it last night and was waiting on part #2 tonight.

[afiggatt]

Anybody watching 'The Lost Room'? I like it. I was surprised, but I got into it last night and was waiting on part #2 tonight.
Yes. Well written, well acted, and with a complicated & sophisticated plot. Best mini series - based on the first 2 parts - I have seen on Sci-Fi other than the Battlestar Galactica mini-series/pilot in a long time. Frustrating that this was shot in HD, but is not being shown in HD.

[Marcus Carr]

Universal: Still No Support Blu-ray in 2007

"Meanwhile, Universal Home Entertainment has gotten back to us this afternoon with a bit of news regarding their high-def plans. Vivian Meyer, the studio's Senior VP of Publicity, has informed us that the studio will continue exclusively backing the HD-DVD format in 2007 and expects to make a number of major HD-DVD release announcements at CES next month."

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

[dad1153]

And digital bits is also reporting (although as rumor) that Disney and Fox are committing to Blu-Ray big time in early 2007 with a slew of blockbuster titles (to be announced at the 2007 CES show). Looks like the war will go on 'till at least mid-07, when a clear picture will emerge as to whether BD sales are growing in proportion to the by-then wider availability of the PS3. Because lets face it: $1,000-1,500 BD decks from Sony, Philips and Pioneer are not going to determine the outcome of the BD/HD-DVD war... the $500-600 PS3 will. With HD-A2 decks selling out as soon as they're unloaded off the truck HD-DVD has the $500 stand-alone deck market cornered as long as HD-DVD looks better or the same with Blu-Ray. Me? I have an HD-DVD add-on for my XBox 360 and will get a PS3 when they can be had walking into a store. Then again, I'm still probably the only person in this forum that still doesn't have an HDTV (just a plain-old SD 27" Sony Wega Trinitron from '04).

[dad1153]

I'm re-posting this review because (a) the reviewed show actually airs tonight and (b) it may have gotten lost on the barrage of stories posted over the weekend.

Critic’s Notebook
The Countless Varieties of a Single Emotion: Love
By Felicia R. Lee, New York Times December 9, 2006

The close-as-brothers relationship between Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix certainly exemplifies friendship as a kind of love. But it is an even more extraordinary example of forgiveness, compelling enough to be included in the PBS documentary “The Mystery of Love,” to be broadcast on Wednesday night.

“Mystery” serves up experts and ordinary people to investigate love’s varieties, and includes the story of how Mr. Felix’s grandson killed Mr. Khamisa’s only son. Afterward the men met and began teaching nonviolence as a way to redeem the tragedy, and their relationship deepened.

“The collective culture is competition, conflict and violence,” Joan Konner, the executive producer of “Mystery,” said in discussing why she turned her journalistic skills to a hardly neglected topic. A former dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Ms. Konner said she sought to encourage people to consider love as a tool to replenish a post-9/11 society that she said was focused on survival, and getting and spending.

“I hope that people become aware of the many deep connections and give them as much honor as they do the dominant stories in the culture, which are love and sex and religion,” Ms. Konner said in an interview about the program. Most often, the love stories we tell are about romance and sex, she said.

Given that even the oceans of wisdom from Shakespeare to Dr. Phil cannot unknot love’s challenges, “Mystery” introduces viewers to many types of love stories and many ideas about what it all means. The stories include those of an elderly, interracial couple in Indiana who live together platonically; a 30ish couple about to be wed; the seemingly odd-couple marriage of an opera singer and a hog farmer in Minnesota; a national group of motorcyclists who help abused children; three brothers in Baltimore who went to Iraq at the same time; and even a glimpse at connections among primates.

As host, the writer and actor Anna Deavere Smith brings together the stories, which are threaded with comments by people like the Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes Jr., senior minister of the Riverside Church in Manhattan; James Hillman, a psychologist and author of “A Terrible Love of War”; and Dr. Frans de Waal, director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University, where the chimps have their own love stories.

Ms. Konner, an award-winning television documentary producer, said she found no fewer than 1,000 current “experts” who have written about love. She discovered a handful of the show’s subjects through a professional choir called Conspirare, based in Austin, Tex., which is included as an example of communal love and whose orchestral and chamber music is featured throughout “Mystery.”

Ms. Smith was chosen as host, Ms. Konner said, as an alternative to hiring a glossy broadcast journalist who might not have had Ms. Smith’s intellectual bona fides. For her part, Ms. Smith said she was taken with the program’s presentation of love as a radical force, beyond the usual boy-girl fluff.

“I’m interested in connection,” said Ms. Smith, who teaches at New York University, in the Tisch School of the Arts and at the law school.

“On the one hand, the traditional family has fallen apart; it doesn’t exist like it did a generation ago,” Ms. Smith said. “On the other hand, we haven’t created a way for people to have intimacy outside of one-on-one relationships. We don’t have enough ways to care for each other; that’s the moment we’re living in. We need love to solve the problem of education, and I don’t know how we’re going to solve the health care problem without love.”

The major financing for “Mystery” came from the Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, Mich., a nonprofit foundation that, according to its literature, has a mission to foster the awareness of the power of love and forgiveness. Among other things, the foundation finances research on topics like altruism and compassion. It was endowed by John E. Fetzer, a pioneer in broadcasting and the former owner of the Detroit Tigers. Community groups in cities across the country, as part of an initiative financed by the Fetzer Institute, are convening with their group members and others to watch “Mystery” and talk about its ideas.

In Dayton, Ohio, for example, a group called Civic Life International is assembling a diverse group of 80 people to talk about love and race relationships. They will meet on Tuesday at the local PBS station to see two segments of “Mystery,” in advance of the national broadcast.

“When we talk about love, we don’t want to talk about it in isolation,” said Tokunbo Awoshakin, the executive director of Civic Life International, a group composed of journalists and professionals in conflict resolution who work to help African and minority communities. “How do you put love into action in a diverse community like Dayton, which is deeply segregated along lines of race and class?”

The story of Mr. Khamisa and Mr. Felix certainly happens along a few social fault lines. In San Diego in 1995, Tariq Khamisa, 20, was in a car delivering a pizza when Tony Hicks, Mr. Felix’s grandson, then a 14-year-old eighth grader, shot him to death. The teenager, who admitted the killing and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, was part of a gang that intended to rob Mr. Khamisa.

Mr. Khamisa, a devout Muslim, and Mr. Felix, who talks about society’s perception of his black grandson, now travel the country discussing forgiveness and the prevention of violence. In “Mystery” they tell their story to a group of elementary school students and ask how many would want revenge for Tariq’s death. Many hands shoot up.

“But let me ask you, would revenge bring Tariq back?” Mr. Khamisa asks.

Another provocative segment on the documentary, called “Love and War,” shows Mr. Hillman, the psychologist, theorizing about the brotherhood of the battlefield. Across cultures and across time a collective thrill runs through civilizations as they march off to face an enemy, Mr. Hillman said in an interview about his participation in the program. “How the hell do you account for the fact that we’ve been at war since human history began?” he said. “We must love it.”

“The love of war is a love, in war, of the men for each other,” Mr. Hillman says in “Mystery.” On a more mundane and upbeat note, “Mystery” takes us to the wedding of Mark Cravotta and Monica Proctor, musicians in Austin who met on the Internet and then grappled with preconceived notions of what a relationship should be. Ms. Proctor was wary that Mr. Cravotta was twice divorced and had a child. He realized that he had never really seen marriage as a lifetime commitment.

“We are in a position now where we definitely could get hurt,” Mr. Cravotta says in the show after he and his wife exchange vows. “And we’re in anyway. But that’s where the juicy stuff is.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/arts/television/09love.html?_r=1&ref=television&oref=slogin

[dad1153]

Critic’s Notebook
What to watch Wednesday
Robert Bianco's USA Today Critic's Corner Dec. 13, 2006

•Bones (Fox, tonight, 8 ET/PT) heads into the holidays with an episode that certainly holds the promise of big things. Directed by X-Files star David Duchovny, the outing features a guest shot by Ryan O'Neal as a priest who gives Bones a message from her father. Keep an eye out for a cameo character, Professor Constance Wright — she's played by Kathy Reichs, the author of the books on which Bones is based. Reichs should be pleased; the show she inspired has really come into its own.

•CW milks more time out of America's Next Top Model (8 ET/PT) with a two-hour condensed airing of the British version. Perhaps it's time for CW to put some of that creativity into producing more shows of its own, as a hedge against that quickly coming day when it can't get any more mileage out of its UPN/WB holdovers.

•Actress/writer Anna Deavere Smith helps PBS examine The Mystery of Love (9 ET/PT, times may vary). The show goes beyond romance to explore love in its many facets.

•It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Washington (10 ET/PT) as Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw host TNT's annual holiday concert. Performers include Taylor Hicks, Il Divo, Gretchen Wilson, Bianca Ryan and Corinne Bailey Rae.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/criticscorner/column.htm

[dad1153]

NO WAY!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

TV Notebook
Jerry Rigged
Reality Series Shocker
By Don Kaplan, New York Post December 13, 2006

A NEW YORK POST EXCLUSIVE :rolleyes:

Secretly, cameras have been recording for months the behind-the-scenes truth of how Jerry Springer's outrageous TV show is put together.

A new "docu-soap," tentatively called "The Springer Hustle," will detail where the transvestites, incestuous cousins and other curiosities come from, and how they're booked and prepared for their brief moment of tabloid TV stardom.

"You'll get a good idea about how they choose which guests they want and how those guests end up on stage," a production source told The Post.

VH1 is producing the show, slated for March 2007, as it moves to find successors to its hit series "Flavor of Love," a kinky, dating spoof show that starred an over-the-hill rap star and a bevy of bizarrely eager young women who wanted to date him.

The network, which was created 22 years ago as an older version of MTV, has apparently found a rich groove with "Flavor of Love" and plans to stick with it.

"The Springer Hustle" is just one of a slew of warts-and-all reality shows that the channel is offering. Other new VH1 stars include: Andrew Dice Clay - in a behind-the-scenes look at the caustic comedian's attempt at a comeback; and Tom Sizemore - the troubled actor who allegedly filmed himself on drugs and sold it to the network as a series.

Springer himself is only a part of the reality show, according to sources.

Featured instead are the foot soldiers of daytime TV, the producers, who were recorded as they found the show's guests who end up coming to blows - or at least tearing each other's shirts off.

Among the behind-the-scenes heroes at the Springer show are:

* Selena - a beautiful and obsessively driven producer.

* Toby - the staff clown.

* Annette - one of the original producers who left the show for a few years, only to be drawn back by the day-to-day tumult she couldn't find anywhere else.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12132006/tv/jerry_rigged_tv_don_kaplan.htm
____________________________________________________________ _____

This just in: Fox News panders to the conservative right, MSNBC to the liberal left, the sun will come out tomorrow (you can bet your bottom dollar) and every PlayStation 3 system made between now and March of '07 will sell out as soon as its unloaded off the truck. News, what news? :D

[dad1153]

So this is what Sherman-Palladino quit Gilmore Girls for?

TV Notebook
Fox picks up 'Jezebel'
Variety Staff Dec. 13, 2006

Pilot pickup -- "The Return of Jezebel James" (working title). Half-hour multicamera comedy about two sisters who reunite after one of them agrees to carry the other's baby (Daily Variety, Aug 2). Amy Sherman-Palladino ("Gilmore Girls") is writing, directing and exec producing for Regency TV.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117955648.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

[dad1153]

Not to sound like the sexist pig of man that I am, but if this is the future of anchoring news sign me up! :D

TV-on-the-Web Notebook
An Online Newscaster’s Appealing Bafflement
By Virginia Heffernan, The New York Times December 13, 2006

Amanda Congdon, the comely online newsreader, has a new job. After her whirlwind departure from the webcast news show Rocketboom, in July, Ms. Congdon — a droll, blond Rosalind Russell for the digital generation — has at last landed at ABCNews.com.

Now in the warm embrace of the mainstream media, this onetime indie figure is making online video segments on eclectic subjects. And ABC is meanwhile promising its groovy young girlfriend that she won’t have change a bit, even for corporate events: no first-lady suits, no hot-roller hair, no mannequin makeup. Ever. On her first minishow, which became available yesterday on ABC’s Web site, Ms. Congdon shows up in a taut Steely Dan T-shirt and opens with her trademark girly casualness: “O.K., this is weird.”

That’s a decently far cry from Barbara Walters.

The item she goes on to report isn’t all that weird — the actress Tori Spelling held a tag sale that was filmed for her reality show — but never mind that. What stands out is Ms. Congdon’s reflexive bafflement, well known to fans from Rocketboom. Like a teenager, she seems exaggeratedly puzzled by whatever’s at hand; she’s too cool for almost everything, and good for her.

To achieve this effect, she often appeals to the camera — the audience? God? — to find out what’s going on. Slim, swan-necked, with the upright bearing of a dancer or cadet, she doesn’t exactly lean in for intimacy with the viewer. She’s not relatable. She seems a touch abstemious. The news, it seems, kind of grosses her out.

Before dismissing this as eek-a-mouse-ing by a news bimbo, though, it’s worth thinking harder about the pose. If anchormen like Peter Jennings cultivated brave, value-neutral stoicism about the news, it wasn’t always so. Watch old Walter Cronkite broadcasts now and what comes through is the marvelous moralism that used to inform every syllable of his speech.

Consider, for example, the way Mr. Cronkite laced with acid the words “drugs” and “alcohol” when referring to accidents or addictions. (Clips of him are available on YouTube.com.) His sentences are always loaded with enemies and heroes; clauses do battle with one another, often ending in a rueful truce. By contrast Mr. Jennings’s urbane style tamped down the melodrama and brought Apollonian reason to his reports.

And so the pendulum swings back. In another key — and of course in the quickie-video medium — Ms. Congdon may be reprising Mr. Cronkite’s melodrama. If it’s not good and evil that preoccupy her, it’s at least “cool” and “weird.” And that’s not entirely trivial. On Rocketboom she used expressions and interjections (Cool! Weird!) to interpret and inflect primary sources, and often that was enough. Last year her report on Hurricane Katrina simply played various television interviews in New Orleans. Then the camera returned to her. She gave a loose, flinging shrug that tersely conveyed disbelief, fury and sadness. It was an editorial in itself.

This works well in the ultrashort news clips she’ll be doing on ABCNews.com. On the premiere segment, her take on Oxycyte, a new blood substitute, restores to science news a nice wowee factor that’s often missing from more staid reports. “I also found it interesting that milk was tested in the 19th century as a replacement for blood,” she adds, sounding like an earnest seventh-grader. It’s catching.

Though Ms. Congdon quickly offsets that show of exuberance with a dash of sarcasm, it’s still unmistakably there. She’s plainly an enthusiast: for new media, for old media, for Amanda Congdon, for the possibility of being smart and pretty at the same time and furthermore doing something cool and kind of like weird.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/arts/television/13cong.html?_r=1&ref=television&oref=slogin

[dad1153]

Because the attempt to revive Dragnet with Ed O'Neill as the lead was such a smashing success for ABC a few years back (sarcasm meter blowing up!), why not try to ride the cottails of legend once again? :rolleyes:

TV Notebook
'Marlowe' on ABC's case
Network teaming with Bailey for TV series revival
By Josef Adalian, Variety December 13, 2006

Philip Marlowe could soon be back on the case.

ABC is teaming with producer Sean Bailey for a fresh take on Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled detective. Greg Pruss and Carol Wolper will write and exec produce the potential series along with Daniel H. Blatt, Phil Clymer and Bailey.

Hourlong drama "Marlowe" -- one of three scripts Bailey has set up at the Alphabet this season via the LivePlanet banner -- would be a present-day procedural crime drama with noir aspects and set in Los Angeles.

Touchstone Television, which has an overall deal with Bailey, will produce if the project goes to pilot.

Bailey said "Marlowe" will be "a detective show, but very much a character-based one.

"He's a guy who can travel in the highest echelons of power and the darkest and dirtiest corners of the city," he added, noting the new Marlowe will still "get his ass kicked every once in a while."

As of now, there are no plans to use any of Chandler's Marlowe books ("The Big Sleep," et al.) as source material for storylines.

Still, "You can expect to see your femme fatales and very wealthy individuals," Bailey said.

Producer said the project came together when Endeavor, along with the rights holders to the Marlowe character, contacted him "with the idea of updating the DNA of Marlowe and taking him into 21st century LA."

"Greg and Carol then came on board with the take that really cracked it for us," Bailey added.

Live Planet VP Daniel Pipski has been actively involved in the development of all three Bailey projects and is expected to snag a producer credit if the scripts get picked up.

The Marlowe character is no stranger to television. Powers Boothe played the gumshoe in the early 1980s HBO period drama "Philip Marlowe, Private Eye," which ran for several years.

On the bigscreen, Marlowe has been played by Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Elliot Gould and James Garner, among others.

Also on the police tip, Bailey has partnered with "Philly" co-creator Alison Cross on "Inside," a crime drama set up at ABC.

"Inside" revolves around a female undercover cop in Los Angeles who uses her perfect instincts to stay alive as she reinvents herself during every case.

Cross, most recently on "Commander in Chief," will write the pilot. She'll exec produce with Bailey via Touchstone.

"Tonally, think of movies like 'The Insider' or 'Donnie Brasco,'" Bailey said. "It's a very authentic look at this world, rather than light and cheerful."

Bailey is also attached as exec producer on "Plan B," an Ol Parker-penned hour about a group of thirtysomething friends in Portland who re-evaluate their lives after a friend dies. Parker will co-exec produce.

"It's very much a relationship drama in the tone of 'Love, Actually'," Bailey said. "It's funny, sad, poignant, charming -- all the good things Richard Curtis does well."

Last season, Bailey wrote and exec produced the ABC pilot "Enemies," helmed by F. Gary Gray ("The Italian Job").

On the film side, Bailey is producing Live Planet partner Ben Affleck's upcoming helming debut, "Gone, Baby, Gone."

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117955547.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

[dad1153]

TV Notebook
'Prodigal' goes about his father's business
By Marisa Guthrie, New York Daily News December 13, 2006

'One Punk Under God' (a six-part series) tonight at 9PM on Sundance

Jay Bakker was barely in high school when his father, the televangelist Jim Bakker, went to prison.

Although the money-siphoning and sexual imbroglio that leveled Bakker and wife Tammy Faye's "Praise the Lord" empire was one of the biggest scandals of the '80s, Jay Bakker, who turns 31 on Monday, doesn't feel condemned by the sins of his father.

"I really don't live there very much," he said. "It was 20 years ago. I was 11 years old when it happened. Most people my age don't remember much of it."

But television lets us relive scenes from a life. Bakker, who is tattooed and pierced, is running his own ministry now. He preaches every Sunday at 4 p.m. at Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg, where he lives with his wife, Amanda, who is getting her doctorate in psychology from NYU.

But as the documentary "One Punk Under God" makes clear, Bakker is still very much tethered to his family legacy. The six-part series, premiering tonight at 9 on Sundance, even invokes his parents in the subtitle: "The Prodigal Son of Jim and Tammy Faye."

Jay and Amanda Bakker relocated from Atlanta in August and Bakker quickly established an arm of his Revolution church here (www.revolutionnyc.com). His brand of Christianity calls for inclusiveness and embraces gays and lesbians, a recent evolvement that caused his conservative financial backers to bail.

Revolution, said Bakker, "is about letting people know that Jesus is inclusive and loves everybody and welcomes everybody. It's kind of showing that we're not all right-wing Christian Coalition neoconservatives. You can care about social issues. You can care about the poor and the hurting."

In the series, Bakker visits the ruins of his parents' Heritage USA compound, a luxury retreat near Charlotte, N.C., that had a video arcade, swimming pool, amphitheater where passion plays were performed and a main street complete with a clothing store that stocked Jay Charles Limited sportswear for boys (named for Jay Bakker). Bakker admits that the compound and the lifestyle that televangelists like his parents adopted in the name of spreading the word of God may have been excessive.

"That would probably be the right word," he said.

Today, his mother, who lives near Charlotte, is gravely ill with colon cancer.

His father lives in Branson, Mo., with his wife, Lori Graham Bakker. They co-host their own cable talk show, "The New Jim Bakker Show." Before "Punk" producers began following Bakker last spring, he hadn't spoken to his father in almost two years. After a series of voicemail messages and conversations with his father's assistant, Bakker finally got through and he and Amanda made the trip to Branson. He also made a rather awkward appearance on his dad's show.

"I think he was nervous," said Bakker.

They maintain regular contact now. Jim Bakker makes an appearance in the series' final episode when he comes to the Candy Store to address his son's flock.

"He calls me a lot," said Bakker. "He's a man who grew up with a lot of ups and downs in his life. But he's my dad."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/479529p-403441c.html

[dad1153]

Nielsen Notebook
Nielsen ratings, Dec. 4-10
USA Today December 12, 2006

Top broadcast shows

Rank/Season average/Show title/Network/Viewers (in millions)

1. 3 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CBS 23.3
2. 7 Sunday Night Football NBC 19.9
3. 11 Deal or No Deal NBC 17.4
4. 13 60 Minutes CBS 15.8
5. 17 Survivor: Cook Islands CBS 15.7
6. 24 Heroes NBC 14.9
7. 25 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC 14.2
8. 17 Cold Case CBS 14.1
9. 20 Shark CBS 14.0
10. 11 Without a Trace CBS 13.9
11. 8 Criminal Minds CBS 13.8
12. X Rudolph CBS 12.9
13. 35 Amazing Race 10 CBS 12.7
13. X Frosty the Snowman CBS 12.7
13. 10 CSI: NY CBS 12.7
16. 22 ER NBC 12.0
17. 16 House Fox 11.8
18. 6 CSI: Miami CBS 11.6
19. 13 Two and a Half Men CBS 11.5
20. X Santa Claus is Comin' ABC 11.1

Top cable shows

Rank/Show title/Network Viewers (in millions)

1. Panthers vs. Eagles ESPN 10.5
2. The Closer TNT 5.4
3. WWE Raw (Monday, 10 p.m.) USA 5.1
3. The Polar Express ABC Family 5.1
5. Santa Baby ABC Family 4.7
6. WWE Raw (Monday, 9 p.m.) USA 4.6
7. A Year Without Santa Claus ABC Family 3.8
8. Mean Girls TBS 3.7
9. Zack & Cody (Fri, 8 p.m.) Disney 3.4
10. The Bourne Identity USA 3.3
10. Zack & Cody (Fri, 8:30 p.m.) Disney 3.3
10 Spongebob Squarepants (Sat, 9:30 p.m.) Nickelodeon 3.3
13. Spongebob Squarepants (Sat, 9 p.m.) Nickelodeon 3.2
13. Big Fat Liar Disney 3.2
13. Law & Order: SVU USA 3.2

Tops among ages 18-49

Rank/Show title/Network Viewers (in millions)

1. Sunday Night Football NBC 10.5
2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CBS 10.2
3. Heroes NBC 8.4
4. ER NBC 7.1
5. Survivor: Cook Islands CBS 7.0
6. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC 6.8
7. Deal or No Deal NBC 6.7
8. House Fox 6.1
9. Rudolph CBS 5.9
10. Frosty the Snowman CBS 5.8
11. My Name Is Earl NBC 5.6
12. Shark CBS 5.5
13. Amazing Race 10 CBS 5.3
13. The Simpsons Fox 5.3
13. Scrubs NBC 5.3
16. Grey's Anatomy ABC 5.2
16. Football Night Pt.3 NBC 5.2

Spotlight: Late-night talk/news(November Sweeps, Nov. 2-29)

Rank/Show title/Network Viewers (in millions)

1. Tonight Show With Jay Leno NBC 5.9
2. Late Show With David Letterman CBS 4.5
3. Nightline ABC 3.6
4. Late Night With Conan O'Brien NBC 2.7
5. Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson CBS 2.1
6. Jimmy Kimmel Live ABC 1.8

Source: Nielsen Media Research

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/nielsen.htm

[dad1153]

Although this is more a profile of a website than the TV show associated with it I cannot ignore an article that mentions... cue James Lipton's voice... ONE OF THE GREATEST AND MOST ENTERTAINING TELEVISION SHOWS IN THE HISTORY OF THE MEDIUM!!! :D

TV Notebook
Web Site Hunts Pedophiles, and TV Goes Along
By Allen Salkin, The New York Times December 13, 2006

Last month, the Web site Perverted-Justice.com posted news of the conviction of Sean Young, a Wisconsin man sentenced to 10 years in state prison for soliciting sex online from a 14-year-old girl. According to a tr