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fredfa

01-14-07, 06:24 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
ABC Programming Chieftain Declares 'Lost' Isn't Lost At All
(Except, You Know, Maybe a Little)
By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline” January 14, 2007

Pasadena, CA -- Speaking to the assembled television press bright and early on Sunday morning, ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson -- more relaxed and jovial than during similar sessions in recent years -- insisted that despite claims that the megahit "Lost" had literally lost its way creatively during the kickoff of its third season this past fall, he believes the show is in fine shape, thanks very much, before admitting that he didn't really much like it at all. Perhaps that's a bit like voting for the intiative before voting against it.

"You know, I liked it. I think that (executive producers) Damon (Lindelof) and Carlton (Cuse) made a clear choice that that first installment would be really about the experience of Jack and Kate and Sawyer and The Others," McPherson said. "I thought it was really a riveting six episodes, and the production values, I think they exceeded even their own standards. But I like it when they're all together, and I think we're headed toward that when you come back after (the hiatus)."

Indeed, many have criticized the decision to launch "Lost" in the fall only briefly and give it a four-month rest throughout much of the fall and winter. (It finally returns to ABC's schedule in February.) McPherson admits this way have been something of a mistake in hindsight and looks to go the route Fox does with "24" next year.

"I even said last fall, ideally the way you would do 'Lost' is 22 straight (episodes), 23 straight, as many as we had done. I think for us, given where we were in our development, we really needed to (launch it) in the fall...I think coming into next fall there's a good chance we would run it 22 straight either in the fall or in the spring."

McPherson also spoke to the idea that committing to so many serialized dramas last fall may well have been a tactical error, certainly considering the weak performances of "The Nine" and "Daybreak." But he stands behind having committed to them despite his admission they were both "big disappointments."

"The shows were incredibly well-produced," he maintained. "We loved the shows creatively...It may have just been the timing." The programming guru added that both "The Nine" and the poorly-rated freshman drama "Six Degrees" still have a chance to return to the sked this spring despite having been pulled. "Six Degrees," in fact, is currently in production to finish out its original 13-episode order.

But McPherson insisted on Sunday that all is well in ABC-ville. The ballyhooed move of "Grey's Anatomy" to Thursdays opposite "CSI" has worked out better than anyone could have expected, and "we have two of the top three new shows in 'Ugly Betty' and 'Brothers & Sisters," he pointed out. "We're up in total viewers on Monday night without 'Monday Night Football.' We're the number one network 18-49."

That said, manby of ABC's rookie series have struggled to find their footing. That includes the comedy "The Knights of Prosperity," a half-hour built around the robbing of Mick Jagger. But McPherson maintains he is still committed to the genre.

"The great thing is that people are taking chances," he believes. "I mean, for us, taking chances is what redefined us...We hope we can get a bigger audience for (comedies). But I also don't think that the sitcom is dead. I don't think I could point to a great multicamera show that has been put on the air, marketed well, and failed. So it's frustrating. It's challenging. We definitely want bigger audiences for them. I believe that comedy is due to kind of explode."

McPherson's sole announcement on Sunday was that its hit "Dancing with the Stars" will return to the schedule with a pair of two-hour editions on March 19 and 26.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/

fredfa

01-14-07, 06:30 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
The ‘Lost’ Smart Bomb
By James Hibberd Television Week in the “Critical Eye” blog Sunday, January 14th, 2007

It seems the producers of “Lost” can also reveal surprise plot twists in real life. Exec producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof just dropped the biggest ballroom bomb of TCA: They’re in discussions with ABC to announce an end date for the series.

This statement comes as a surprise to everybody in the room—including ABC executives.

“It’s time for us now to find an endpoint for the show,” Cuse says. “JK Rowling announced there were seven books in the Harry Potter series and it gives fans [a framework for understanding the arc of the show]. ‘The X-Files’ was a cautionary tale for us. It was a great show that ran two seasons too long. ‘Lost’ has a short-half life.”

In the hallway after the panel, Lindelof says he’s thinking of capping the series at 100 episodes, which would only result in two more seasons. This is highly unlikely, and sounds more like a negotiation salvo, but capping at six or seven seems possible.

Lindelof comes across as smart and self-effacing as one might expect. He’s justifiably haunted by “The X-Files,” another broadcast sci-fi series loved by many fans, only to spiral into incoherence. “When people talk about ‘The X-Files,’ they don’t say how great it was,” he says. “They say how great it was ‘but’ …”

The current wave of criticism about the show bothers him, but he notes “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” show runner Joss Whedon once said fans tend to gush about the previous season, never the current season.

“Last year everybody hated the start of season two, they hated Michele Rodriguez, they hated the Tailies,” he says. “Now everybody loves season two and hates this season.”

Down the hallway, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson is having lunch, and seems less-than-thrilled by the producers’ comments. After all, producers don’t cancel shows, network presidents do. He admits he didn’t know Lindelof and Cuse were going to make the announcement, then objected to the term “announcement.”

“Nothing was announced,” he says. “We’ve had those discussions for the past two years.”

The critics, naturally, are in love with the plan, assuming producers follow through. It’s a bold attempt to try to preserve the show’s creative integrity and would give fans (and, just as importantly, the show’s writers) a clear idea where they are in the show’s overall storyline.

Earlier, during the panel, Lindelof gave critics a taste of how difficult it is to write for “Lost.” A critic asked why The Others ailing leader Henry Gale simply asks Jack to perform surgery on him. Why play out such a simple request as an elaborate and manipulative ruse for six episodes?

“No offense to your writing skills, but that version is considerably less intriguing,” Lindelof says. “What if when Kate was stitching up Jack [in the pilot] she asked, ‘So who are you?’ [He says] ‘I’m a spinal surgeon and I got some father issues.’ [She says] ‘You think you’ve got father issues, I blew up my ****ing stepdad!’ After that, why do the show?”

http://blogs.tvweek.com/?cat=12

fredfa

01-14-07, 06:34 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
TV-Movies Continue Their Incredible Disappearing Act
By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline” January 14, 2007

Pasadena, CA -- If you watch a lot of broadcast television and can't remember the last time you saw an actual, full-length, original made-for-TV movie, it isn't because you're having a senior moment or a weed-induced spaceout or anything like that. It's because almost none are being produced anymore. All have migrated to cable, and even those are dwindling annually.

Remember the 1980s? It seemed that ABC, NBC and CBS had 3 or 4 telepics on in primetime every week, documenting every disease, every spousal abuse scenario, every imaginable criminal act (both fictionalized and fact-inspired). Well, get this: It appears as if ABC is going to roll through an entire fall-to-spring TV season without airing a single TV-movie. Yep, not even one. This was more or less confirmed by ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson during his session with TV crritics at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel here.

The original strategy had been to air one: a remake of the classic "A Raisin in the Sun." But that is now being earmarked for next season. Circumstances are conspiring to keep the season free of TV-movies entirely at ABC for perhaps the first time in more than 35 years, going back to the early 1970s. But McPherson insists the deep-sixing of the genre isn't by design and that it remains a good and viable programming element as a big-event player during sweeps.

"I (still) think there's select opportunities where you'll at whether it's a mini or it's a movie that can help your schedule, and I think it also rounds out your overall creative," McPherson said.

The closest thing that ABC has had to an in-season telepic this year was the controversial two-nighter "The Path to 9/11" that drew fire from the left for its perceived right-wing political agenda -- a charge I happened to have agreed with. It aired last September just prior to the start of the official 2006-2007 campaign and found ABC forced to make numerous last-minute trims to mollify those calling for the film to be pulled before air (which I would not have endorsed, free speech zealot that I am).

For his part, McPherson said the network "loved" the film and stands by it. He also denies that it was irresponsibly fictionalized or at all driven by any campaign to distort the facts.

"Everything in that movie is backed up tenfold," he insists. "We think it was a really important thing to air. And you know, it's unfortunate that, for other agendas, people tried to squash it." When it was pointed out that ABC tried to backpedal with its last-minute alterations on 'Path to 9/11,' McPherson shot back, "We didn't backpedal. We aired the movie. We didn't change anything for those guys. We aired it as planned on the dates that were planned.

"I mean, it's a little odd to have (former National Security Advisor for the Clinton Administration) Sandy Berger telling you about what's truthful or not when he was indicted for stuffing documents into his pants on this very subject."

http://www.pastdeadline.com/

dad1153

01-14-07, 06:44 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
"Lost" In Pasadena
Peter Ames Carlin's Oregonian TV Blog - January 14, 2007

Oh, the excitement. The buzz. The ballroom fills with writers, publicists, chatter. And then the lights go out and, huzzah, it's the cast of "Lost," and producer/writer/execs Damon Lindlof, Carlton Cuse and one other guy whose name I seem to have missed. Stars aplenty: Everyone, it seemed, but Terry O'Quinn (Locke) and Naveen Andrews (Sayid). Interesting to see how different the posture is now that they're something more than just another aspiring freshman show. Now Matthew Fox (Jack) has this cool, silent confidence.

Evangeline Lilly (Kate) is very glam, with this button-up white shirt that is barely buttoned at all. Jorge Garcia (Hurley) looks regal and large, dead center in the back row. And Josh Holloway (Sawyer) beams a lot, that wicked, killer smile of his.

The gang's all here, and so are we, and we're on their side, and so this should be happy. But nothing is ever perfect in a critic's world, and so there are jagged questions too. Wounded, hurt queries about the scheduling of this season, about why certain mythology points haven't been resolved yet, about why others were resolved so quickly, about why Jack never just asks the Others what they're all about, for crying out loud.

"We don't allow the characters to focus on the mythology. They're focused on their relationships," the producers answered. "If the characters became focused on the mythology, viewers would drop off. Viewers are far more interested in who Kate will choose, not what's really going on with the Oliver Hanso character."

Then this, which strikes me as a perfect thumbnail description of "Lost": "It's about the monster inside all of us, not the one on the island."

Lindlof and Cuse talked about how they go about writing episodes, most often starting with the character flashback, and then penciling out action on the island that will best animate that story in island terms. Meanwhile, they also have to service the show's guiding mythology, unfold another layer of mystery and set up questions, answers, the whole thing.

Sounds complicated. But they try to think several steps ahead the entire time, which is why they're already talking to ABC about how, and when, to bring the show to an end. Not that that day is in the immediate future, of course. But it always pays to think ahead.

Which of course begged the next question: When did they think the show SHOULD go away?

"That's kind of a trick question," Lindlof said. "We're in the process of figuring it out now. As long as it's good." Then he gestured to the vast array of stars around him. "No one sitting on this stage wants to be in the Stalling Show, where the characters are just sitting around building sand castles one week, not doing anything to drive the story."

In Case of Critical Abuse
June 14, 2007

Now it's 3 pm, and time for a session with the gang behind "In Case of Emergency," a new sitcom that I liked a couple of weeks back. Which put me in the minosity, critic-wise, since virtually everyone else who writes about TV for money declared the show an unholy terror, a horror, an abomination on the face of televised entertainment. I don't know what to say. I just thought it was funny, and well-performed, and I enjoyed watching it. Weird.

So remember all the buzz preceding the "Lost" session? None of that is evident right now, gicen the sparse attendance out here in the wingnut gallery. In fact, I bumped into a critic pal just beyond the lobby, who snorted when I told him I was headed into the session. "I don't know why I should waste my time on a dead show that I hate," he said, cheerfully. And I get where he's coming from. I've skipped my share of sessions too, over the years. But I still like "Emergency," and dead or not, I'm here to party.

So Okay, the cut-down clip, with a lot of scenes from subsequent episodes, is kinda lame. A big emphasis on people falling down and hurting themselves.

First question: "How'd you get the idea for the show?" This is a hugely bad sign, starting a session with such a cookie-cutter, nonsense question.

Another bad sign: Jonathan Silverman just called the producers "amazing." Then, when asked about the distinction between doing a single-cam taped show (like this one) versus a traditional 4-camera live-with-audience show, he concluded, after a fashion, that he "much prefers" this kind of show. Though I'm willing to bet that if "emergency" flops, and he's back in July with a four-camera show, he'll point out how much he prefers doing live comedy in front of a live audience. Bet on it.

So sometimes a borderline, or below the borderline, show will give itself a boost through a good TCA session. This isn't happening for "Emergency" right now.

http://petercarlin.blogs.oregonlive.com/

dad1153

01-14-07, 07:06 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
ABC Adds More Procedurals
By A.J. Frutkin, Mediaweek - January 14, 2007

Following the failure of so many serialized dramas this fall, ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson confirmed what many advertisers already had predicted. "In the mix, as we go into development this year, we have more stuff that is procedural or close-ended," McPherson told reporters at the TV Critics Association's annual winter convention, held in Pasadena today.

McPherson was the first broadcast exec to address the convention this year, with his colleagues at the competing networks following throughout the rest of the week. McPherson also announced the return of reality hit Dancing with the Stars, scheduled to premiere with a two-hour special on Monday, March 19, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Another two-hour special follows on Monday, March 26, and the first results shows airs on Tuesday, March 27, from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. On April 2, the show begins its regular broadcast schedule, airing Mondays, from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., while the results shows will air Tuesdays, from 9 p.m to 10 p.m.

Although ABC's Fall '06 cycle of Dancing had aired on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, McPherson acknowledged the shift was a conscious move on the network's part to avoid Fox's returning powerhouse American Idol this spring. "I think our fans would have been upset, [and] Idol fans would have been upset, if we just put them head-to-head," he said, of the two reality programs. "We think both shows are good shows, and there's room for them on the schedule."

McPherson said that struggling dramas The Nine and Six Degrees also could return this spring, adding that Six Degress had resumed production to complete 13 episodes, while production on The Nine would not resume, because 13 episodes already had been completed. Meanwhile, new dramas Traveler and October Road could make air before May, while single-cam sitcom Notes from the Underbelly would most likely launch sometime in March.

Digital issues also were top-of-mind for McPherson, and for many reporters who asked ABC's top programmer how the network's online strategy fits into its overall broadcast plans.

"At this point, we think it's all additive," McPherson said. "It's still a brave new world. As a lot of people know, there's not of lot of research that can point to it. We've had tremendous success with the [online video] player, and I think we have the best product in the business, and the best technology right now. Where is it going to go in three, five years, I'm not sure."

Added McPherson, "I still think you're going to need the mothership of a network to drive all this stuff. And I think different shows have different applications. Lost, extends its brand through technology around the world on all these different platforms. Whereas for other shows, like Grey's Anatomy, it may be just...additive viewing for people who don't get a chance to see it on Thursday night. So I think it's going to be a mix, of what the show's applications are, and where the technology goes, in terms of not just dot.com, but video on demand."

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/spotlight/article_display2.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003532400

dad1153

01-14-07, 07:14 PM

Click the link at the bottom of this post for a nice selectable pictures of the much talked-about Lost panel assembled at Pasadena. Now if somebody would just post a video on YouTube of Steve McPherson dancing my Sunday would be complete! :p

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
"Lost" swears it isn't
Expect more emotional bonding on the beach
By Joanne Ostrow, Denver Post - January 14, 2007

PASADENA, CA.-- The producers of Lost swear they have a compass for the series' future, in fact they've got the ending in mind. They gave critics little indication of how things will end, but a better idea of when.

"It feels to me we re halfway there," said executive producer Damon Lindelof. "One hundred episodes feels right." The series returns Feb. 2, for the second half of its third season, the 55th episode. Going forward "Lost" will air one hour later, at 9 p.m. Wednesdays on Channel 7.

The writers and producers are well aware of unrest among fans after a second season that raised more questions than it answered. Viewers and critics alike were annoyed by the focus on the mean 'Others,' and by the separation of Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Jack (Matthew Fox) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) from the rest of the stranded plane crash survivors.

"I think what the audience wants is more beach stories. We deliver," Lindelof said. Most of the original ensemble will be reunited in the first five or six episodes.

Sex scenes to come: The Jack-Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) relationship and the Claire (Emilie de Ravin)-Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) story offer potential. The meaning of Jack's tattoo and Locke's (Terry O Quinn) wheelchair will be revealed.

And Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) is going to speak more English. ( "Thank you, " Kim stage-whispered into his microphone.)

The frustrations of viewers are well known to the producers, but to build suspense, they decline to give in to certain wishes. Why, for instance, don t the characters compare notes and try to solve the mysteries of the island?

"We don't allow the characters to focus on the mythology," said executive producer Carlton Cuse. "When we work on stories, we work on how the characters interact. The larger audience is more interested in who will Kate choose than who Alvar Hanso is."

Hanso, for those who don't follow discussions of the mythology in chat rooms, in the online game The Lost Experience or in books spawned by the ABC series, is the head of the Hanso Foundation which uses questionable means to explore social science research on humans. .

Click here (http://www.thehansofoundation.org/) to visit the fictional foundation's website.

Cuse noted the producers are in discussions with the network about settling on an endpoint and announcing it in advance, in much the same way J. K. Rowling has with her Harry Potter books. That, he hopes, will allay audience fears about the meandering plotlines. In the business of network TV, however, where networks need to squeeze every dime out of a production to offset deficit financing, that discussion could be difficult.

It s always been discussed that the show would have a beginning, a middle and an end, Cuse said. How long could they keep it going?

"For as long as it s good," Lindelof said. "Nobody wants to do the stalling show, (like) we re building sandcastles this week."

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_5013328

fredfa

01-14-07, 08:13 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Steve McPherson
By Michael Ausiello TV Guide January 14, 2007

ABC president Steve McPherson's in the house answering our questions.

• The remaining Daybreaks will land on ABC.com by the end of February at the latest. "It was an unfortunate situation," McPherson says of the music rights complications. (Would someone please relay this new information to Daybreak watchdog Matt Mitovich? I'm too busy.)

• McPherson admits he wasn't completely satisfied with Lost's Others-centric six-episode kickoff. "For me, the show that I really invest in is everyone together," he says. "And I think we're headed toward that when we get back." (The Lost panel begins at 11 am/PST. Clear your skeds.)

• Although The Nine has ceased production, McPherson hopes to run the remaining unaired eps later this season. Unfortunately, the final episode won't answer the question of what happened in the bank.

• He dodges a question about Rosie vs. Trump, saying he doesn't want to feed The Donald's PR machine.

• He believes Brothers & Sisters will "be on our air for a long time. The show is building audience week-to-week. It's hitting its stride." (I'll take "Understatements of the Century" for $500, Alex.)

• Regarding Men in Trees' weak retention of its Grey's lead-in: "We're going to give it some time on Thursday night."

http://community.tvguide.com/thread.jspa?threadID=700016583

RussTC3

01-14-07, 08:26 PM

A good chance, I am afraid.

Given the fact the "Lost" ratings are spiralling downward against "Criminal Minds" the announcement was not exactly a stunner.
You know, it may seem like a stunner, but to anyone who watches the show it makes perfect sense.

There is no way they can drag this series on for more than four or five years, it just wouldn't work right.

Shows shouldn't stay on the air for years on end simply because they rate well. I wish more television shows had natural and satisfying conclusions as I hope Lost will.

dad1153

01-14-07, 08:30 PM

Shows shouldn't stay on the air for years on end simply because they rate well. I wish more television shows had natural and satisfying conclusions as I hope Lost will.

Like The Office (BBC version) and Mary Tyler Moore?

fredfa

01-14-07, 08:41 PM

I would think that dramas, especially seriazed shows like "Lost" are substantially different from "The Office" or "MTM".

fredfa

01-14-07, 08:46 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
McPherson Looks Ahead
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable January 14, 2007

ABC entertainment president Steve McPherson said Sunday that sidelined series The Nine and Six Degrees still may return to the network before the end of the season.

He also did not rule out the debuts of The Traveler, Notes From the Underbelly and October Road before May as well.

McPherson also said the remaining episodes of the cancelled Daybreak will be put online by the end of February, after the resolution of a music rights issue.

Other highlights of McPherson’s presentation to reporters Sunday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena:

• He is considering running Lost for 22 straight episodes next season, either in the fall or spring.

• He once again expects Fox to program American Idol as often as it can. “I’m sure Fox will run as many two-hour Idols as they can to win the 18-49s and beat up on us a little,” he said.

• He backed ABC late-night franchise Jimmy Kimmel Live. “[Jimmy] really deserves a lot of credit and we brought in a new executive producer [Jill Leiderman] and she deserves a lot of credit,” he said. “Late night is still a place we can earn a lot of money and have a lot of success and we think he will be a part of this network for a long time.”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6407477

dad1153

01-14-07, 09:11 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
McPherson Looks Ahead
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable January 14, 2007

• He backed ABC late-night franchise Jimmy Kimmel Live. “[Jimmy] really deserves a lot of credit and we brought in a new executive producer [Jill Leiderman] and she deserves a lot of credit,” he said. “Late night is still a place we can earn a lot of money and have a lot of success and we think he will be a part of this network for a long time.”

Hooray! :D

rebkell

01-14-07, 09:13 PM

Like The Office (BBC version) and Mary Tyler Moore?

B5.

fredfa

01-14-07, 09:14 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
'Lost' producers talk about setting an end date and much more
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” January 14, 2007

Could it be time for the “Lost” castaways to start packing their bags?

Maybe not just yet, but executive producer Carlton Cuse said at a Sunday press panel that the show’s producers are in the process of “picking an end point to the show.”

“Once we do that,” he told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, “a lot of the anxiety and a lot of these questions, like, ‘We’re not getting answers,’ a lot of those will go away. They really represent an underlying anxiety that this is not going to go well or that we don’t know what we’re doing.

"[Author] J. K. Rowling has announced that there’s going to be seven Harry Potter books, and it gives everyone a feeling of certainty that the story is driving to a conclusion. It’s time for us now to find an end point for the show.”

“A show like the original 'Fugitive' ended. It was a massive phenomenon,” executive producer Damon Lindelof told reporters after the panel session with the “Lost” cast. “But they had the [guts] to let Richard Kimball catch the one-armed man and end it. If you could make a case for that then, why not now?”

Producers would not offer specifics on when that end point would come, but there were a few clues that the show’s fifth season might be its last. After the panel discussion, Lindelof reminded reporters that he had said since the start of the series, which is in its third year, that he thought “Lost” would last “about 100 episodes.”

“I would not want to go back now and say, ‘Oh, now that we’re in Season 3, I think it could go much longer,’ because I think that would be duplicitous,” Lindelof said. “That’s how I felt back at the time [of the show’s debut], that’s how I still feel.”

“The reality is, they can produce a sixth or seventh or eighth season, but would anyone be watching? Because the show would be so miserable by that time,” Lindelof said, who was reminded by one reporter that ABC could continue making the show without the involvement of the show’s current creative team.

“We were surprised when we went to ABC and started having that conversation,” Lindelof said. “As opposed to them saying, ‘Fine, we’ll bring on new people,’ they said, ‘Well, when do you think it should end?’ And the conversations began.

“Obviously they want the show to go on as long as possible,” Lindelof added. “And all that we can say is, ‘There’s a show with us running it and there’s a show without us running it, and if you want the show with us running it, this is when we think it should end.’ And like negotiation, therein lies the rub. I think you’ll find, if you talk to [ABC entertainment president] Steve [McPherson], in Steve’s vernacular, he’s begun to embrace the idea that the show needs to end. Now the question becomes when.”

When the show returns from its winter break Feb. 7, the story line of Jack, Kate and Sawyer versus Juliet and Benjamin of the menacing and mysterious Others, which occupied most of the first six episodes of Season 3, will wrap up, the producers said. That news pleased McPherson, who said earlier in the day that he missed seeing the extended “Lost” cast in Season 3’s first half-dozen episodes.

“I think, for me, the show that I really kind of really, really invest in, you'll see when [the show comes] back, which is everybody together and really that kind of emotional experience,” McPherson said. “I thought it was really a riveting six [Season 3] episodes, and the production values, I think they exceeded even their own standards. But again, I like it when they're all together, and I think we're headed towards that.”

Some of the following information comes from the “Lost” panel discussion, and some is from an interview that Damon Lindelof did with several reporters after the panel. Following that is a list of mild spoilers for the rest of the season. That section will be clearly marked. You can read this first chunk and you’ll be fine, but stop reading when you get to the spoiler warning if you don’t want to know about future plot developments.

The transcript for this first section of the post, by the way comes from the official TCA transcriber.

Carlton Cuse on the fact that there have already been multiple – and sometimes repetitive – flashbacks on the show: “That is one of the challenges of the show, and I think it's one of the reasons that the show ultimately does need an endpoint. Yes, there are not an infinite number of flashbacks. It's hard to top yourself. Nothing is as engaging as that first flashback story when you find out that Hurley is a lottery winner. It's pretty hard to go back and tell another story that has the same sort of visceral impact as that sort of basic piece of knowledge.

“But we sort of view the flashback stories as little New Yorker short stories, and we do believe that we have enough stories left to tell for all of these characters that will take us through the remainder of the series.”

Damon Lindelof on whether there has ever been pressure from the studio or the network to not give answers: “There has never been any pressure ever from the network or the studio in terms of how quickly we -- you know, we answer questions. In fact, to be completely candid, the only pressure that we've ever received from them is ‘Answer some [gosh darn] questions.’”

Cuse on whether he saw the show’s focus as relationships or mythology: “We want the characters to focus on primarily their relationships with each other. We always view the show as a character show with a mythology frosting over the top.

“All the questions we get asked are about the mythology. But when we sit down and we work on the stories, we're primarily spending most of our time talking about these characters and how they interact. And I think that if the characters became focused on the mythology, a lot of people would drop out. I think there's a much larger audience that's much more interested in who is Kate going to choose than the details about who Alvar Hanso is.

Lindelof on relationships vs. mythology: “To just add one more thing. When J.J. [Abrams] and I were first designing the show, he specifically said, ‘Don't make the mistake of having the characters talk about Rambaldi all the [gosh darn] time.’ And the reality is, you'd be asking a much different version of that question had we gone down that path where all the characters were more interested in solving the mysteries of the island than they were in sort of getting through the day or who lied to who or this sort character.

“Because for us, yes, the mythology is very important and we don't throw it away piecemeal. But at the same time, we approach every episode as, this is a Jack episode; we're going to explain a little more why the guy needs to fix things all the time and let the island story support that obsession. Unfortunately, the side effect of that is that the audience doesn't feel they're getting answers to mysteries in the time allotted.”

On the wisdom of adding the new characters Paulo and Nicki; here Lindelof addressed, as one reporter put it, “what is the point” of them: “The reality is, and this is something that you guys have asked us about in the past and is a very legitimate point, is, what the hell is going on with the other 35 people who nothing ever happens to?

“We saw Dr. Artzt explode and every once in a while one of them will forward for a fleeting moment, but are they just [‘Star Trek’] red shirts? Are they just monster food? What has their experience been? Why aren’t they participating in the primary decision making on the island?”

Cuse on the show’s declining ratings: “I think the question is, what size audience does ‘Lost’ deserve to have? I think that we never -- no one expected the show to work. No one expected it to work and have a huge audience. And I think there is a natural attrition due to the fact that this show requires sort of vigilant maintenance. You have to keep up with it. And I think that there are people who fall away because it does require you to really keep up and on the episodes.

“It's a complicated show. It's hard to drop in and out. You can, but it's not as rewarding as if you watch everything. I think a lot of those people may be watching the shows on DVDs. They may downloading it. They may be watching it streaming on ABC.com. And I think we still have a very large audience, and we are happy with the audience that we have.”

This exchange was pretty funny, so I’ll reprint it in its entirety:

[B]Question: “Is there a reason couldn't have, way
back when, before the Others started killing people, just wandered on over and said, ‘Hey, welcome to the island. I hear you're a spinal surgeon. I've got a tumor. Could you help a brother out?’ (Laughter.) Why does it have to be that convoluted?”

[B]Lindelof: Well, I suppose there's certainly -- you know, there's certainly a point to be made for that version. But I would argue, no offense to your writing skills -- (Laughter) -- that that version is considerably less intriguing for a mystery show. You know, the reality is, you know, if, when Kate was first stitching up Jack, you know, she's like, ‘Who are you?’ he's like, ‘I'm a spinal surgeon. I've got some hardcore father issues. I don't think I'm going to be a good leader,’ and she's like, ‘You've got father issues? I blew up my [gosh darn] stepdad,’ you know then it would have been like, ‘Why even do the show?’ because everything's right there. (Laughter)

This part is excerpts from an interview that Damon Lindelof did after the panel discussion with several reporters.

[B]On the show’s time switch to 9 p.m. Central: “It’s a time switch we were generally pleased with, because we lose almost 30 percent of our audience every year when we’re programmed against ‘Idol.’ To be completely honest with you, the family audience is that 30 percent… I do think we’re going to take a hit, but the hit will be comparable if not a little better than going up against a show that 27 million people watch.”

On the length of the show’s run: “When you guys were asking at the very beginning, when you’d sent the pilot and you’d said, ‘Seriously, how long can this thing go, how long can it sustain,’ I’d say, I can’t answer in terms of seasons, but I have been consistent in terms of saying, it’s always felt to me like the story is going to last about 100 episodes. The end of Season 4 is 93 [episodes]. So does that mean it’s five seasons or whatnot?

“I would not want to go back now and say, ‘Oh, now that we’re in Season 3, I think it could go much longer,’ because I think that would be duplicitous. I can only answer that question of, ‘How long do I think it should last,’ the way that I felt at the very beginning. Because to say now I’ve changed my mind about it, you could go, but you said back then…. That’s how I felt back at the time, that’s how I still feel.”

Lindelof’s answer to the question of whether, by ending “Lost” after a reasonable run, ABC would be the first network to end a hit show when it should have ended, not far too late: “I guess they would. The good news about a guy like [ABC head] Steve [McPherson] or a guy like [ABC executive] Mark Pedowitz is, we all looked at each other at the very beginning and said, ‘By the grace of God would this show even survive 13 episodes.’

“So Carlton and I are now able to sit down with them and say, ‘Remember in the very beginning when you guys were having us convince you that this thing could go on for years and years and years? And we all agreed it couldn’t?’ Well, now just because it’s successful doesn’t mean that’s changed.

“The reality is, they can produce a sixth or seventh or eighth season, but would anyone be watching? Because the show would be so miserable by that time. Was it really ‘The X-Files’ anymore when [David] Duchovny and Gillian Anderson weren’t on the show? For me ‘The X-Files’ wasn’t about, ‘Have aliens invaded?’ it was about Mulder and Scully, a skeptic and a believer. Once that element of the show was gone, the show was over. We don’t want to produce those episodes of ‘Lost,’ and in fact, we’re not going to produce those episodes of ‘Lost.’”

On what the show is about: “This show is about people who are metaphorically lost in their lives who get on an airplane and crash on an island and become physically lost on the planet Earth, and once they are able to metaphorically find themselves in their lives again they will be able to physically find themselves in the world again. When you look at the entire show, that’s what it will look like.”

On whether ABC would do the show without them: “We were surprised when we went to ABC and started having that conversation. As opposed to them saying, ‘Fine, we’ll bring on new people,’ they said, ‘Well, when do you think it should end?’ And the conversations began.

“Obviously they want the show to go on as long as possible and all that we can say is, ‘There’s a show with us running it and there’s a show without us running it, and if you want the show with us running it, this is when we think it should end.’ And like any negotiation, therein lies the rub.

“I think you’ll find, if you talk to Steve, in Steve’s vernacular, he’s begun to embrace the idea that the show needs to end. Now the question becomes when.”

On when the announcement of the end date might come: “It all depends. I would anticipate that that announcement will be sooner rather than later. Because again, you don’t want to make it in a way that it seems like it is reactionary. [Like] ‘The O.C.’ saying, ‘We’re going to end “The O.C.!”’ No, you got canceled. …

“The whole point of it is, to say we’re going to end a show when the show is still thriving -- I think that will bring a lot of the audience who left to say, ‘I was wrong! They are going to give [an ending] to me, whether I like it or not is yet to be determined.’ I think the question the audience is asking is not, will the answers they give us be satisfying, but it’s, will they give us answers at all? And I think that’s a very good question to ask, because they haven’t been promised a seventh book [as J.K. Rowling has done with Harry Potter]. I’d be asking the same question."

[B]On whether the show would ever have a cliffhanger like the “what’s in the hatch” Season 1 ending: “I don’t know if we will ever have a cliffhanger like what’s in the hatch, and the irony of that cliffhanger was, although people were ultimately satisfied with what was in the hatch, all we heard over the course of that summer was how angry everybody was so that makes us say we never want to have a cliffhanger like that again. …”

On the inevitable backlash: “Joss Whedon said something very funny when he and I were talking. He basically said, the critics and the fans always hate the season that you’re in, and wish that it was like the season that preceded it. And it’s true. The reality is, when we were in Season 2, everybody hated it, everybody hated Michelle Rodriguez, hated the tail section stories. Now we find ourselves in Season 3, and everybody’s hating it, and they wish it was more like Season 2.”

On would they ever do as “Battlestar Galactica” has done and jump one year forward: “First off, that’s an amazing show, and if we did it people would think we were ripping them off, and they’d be absolutely right. It’s a slippery slope and you have to execute it well, because when ‘Alias’ did it, it was a complete and utter disaster of unmitigated proportions. … Suddenly you have a paradigm where the characters are keeping a secret from the audience [as happened on ‘The Nine’].”

On the battering they get from various groups of fans (mythology fans, relationship fans, fans of the beach characters, etc.): “We feel battered, but it’s a battering we enjoy because if I was only talking to two reporters right now as opposed to nine, it would mean that you weren’t interested in the show anymore.

"I think what’s cool about the show is that it is polarizing. We’re not afraid to anger people and the thing is, we acknowledge we’ve always been writing what should be a cult show. The fact that it has crossed over to the mainstream, if we started writing it for the mainstream, then we’re doing something different than what we were doing in the first place.

“All we can do is the show that we know how to do, what’s cool for us. We all the time are aware of wow this episode is going to make the diehard geek crowd really angry. Because we are diehard geeks. But at the same time, [it could be a case of] it’s time to do a Hurley story that’s sort of slower and funnier and doesn’t advance any mythology. But if we actually sat down and said, it’s time to appease my mom.

“At the end of the say, the season in its totality and the series in its totality is all that really matters. What’s really sad to me about a show like ‘The X-Files’ is how great it was for six years. And we don’t look back on that show and say, ‘It was great,’ we say, ‘It was great, but…’ and that but is a very depressing thing. A show like the original Fugitive ended. It was a massive phenomenon. It went off the air with a 44 share. But they had the [guts] to let Richard Kimball catch the one-armed man and end it. If you could make a case for that then, why not now?”

THESE ARE SPOILERS BELOW. STOP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW SPOILERS. They're just wee spoilers. But still.

Just some quick hits on some things that are coming up:

• We have not seen the last of Michael and Walt.

• We will be seeing Bernard and Rose again.

• There will be revelations relating to the Season 2 finale scene of an Arctic scenario: “Not in these first batch of episodes, but by the end of the season, we will be paying off that reveal in a very significant way. The idea that Penny is looking for Desmond is something that comes in to play [in episode 308] but it doesn’t pay off on the island until the finale [of the season].”

• Robin Weigert, a.k.a. Calamity Jane on “Deadwood,” plays Juliet’s sister in episode 307, and she will be back later in the season.

• We’ll learn more about Nicki and Paulo in episode 314.

• It sounds as though Juliet and Ben will be around for a while. More on that from Lindelof: “I think it’s safe to say that we will see the last of Alcatraz Island [where Jack, Sawyer and Kate were held] by around the ninth episode of Season 3. Then we’ll be shaking things up a bit. … I love Ben and Juliet, I think they are the face of the Others right now, they are fascinating characters that we still have many stories to tell. I would not fear their death any time soon. Although a lot of people hate them and want them to die.”

• There will be a big reminder this season that on the island, it’s still November of 2004 and only three months have passed, which will help lead to “a major shakeup coming soon.”

• Rob McElhenny, one of the stars of FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” has a small role on the Feb. 7 episode of the show. There are also references in that episode to “Star Wars” and “Clockwork Orange.”

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/01/lost_producers_.html#more

fredfa

01-14-07, 09:34 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
TV tour: Lost, found
By Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic TV Critic in his Critic’s Tour blog 01/14/2007

PASADENA, Calif. -- With no session for The Sopranos -- never again -- the rock stars for this TV tour were the actors and producers of Lost.

Most of them made the trek from Hawaii -- no Locke, no Sayid; read into that what you want, but they said they simply had a scheduling conflict -- and chatted about the show a little, without giving away too much. You will be glad to know that they did say that the action will be moving back to the main island when the show comes back Feb. 7. (Not entirely true: I've seen that episode, and it takes place completely on the Others' island. But things happen that could shift the action back to where it began. Sure hope so, anyway.)

There was this: they're working out an ending already. Don't want to stay at the party too long, evidently.

"That's one of the things we're in discussions with the network about right now, is an end point to the show," Carlton Cuse, one of the show's executive producers, said. Later, he continued, "It's time for us now to find an end point for this show."

Before you start writing letters to ABC (or to me), don't despair. It's not ending anytime soon. But how long will it last?

"The most honest answer we can give you is, for as long as it's good," said Damon Lindelof, another executive producer. "I think I speak for everybody on the stage when I say none of us want to be doing a show that is the stalling show, that is the show that is just, we're building sand castles this week and we're not evolving."

"Not that that wouldn't be a good episode," Cuse added.

One critic asked why the show was so convoluted, why the Others couldn't have just wandered over when they saw the plane crash and asked Jack to operate on Ben.

"There's certainly a point to be made for that version," Lindelof said. "But I would argue -- no offense to your writing skills -- that that version is considerably less intriguing for a mystery show. You know, the reality is, if, when Kate was first stitching up Jack, she's like, 'Who are you?' he's like, 'I'm a spinal surgeon. I've got some hardcore father issues. I don't think I'm going to be a good leader,' and she's like, 'You've got father issues? I blew up my (expletive) stepdad,' then it would have been like, 'Why even do the show?' because everything's right there."

Good point. There's a reason these guys have these jobs.

Trumped

PASADENA, Calif. -- Why critics like Stephen McPherson, ABC's entertainment president: he's funny.

His executive session began with an old clip of him dancing to Shook Me All Night Long with one of the professional dancers who appears on Dancing With the Stars.

"I'm going to milk that as long as I can," he said.

Asked about criticism of The Path to 9/11, a movie the network aired last season, McPherson said, "It's a little odd to have Sandy Berger telling you about what's truthful or not when he was indicted for stuffing documents into his pants on this very subject."

One more: someone asked how long Boston Legal can stay on the air. Long time, was the basic answer.

"I mean, any show where the lead of the show can say, 'I think that midget I'm dating is my daughter,' I mean, that's good television right there," he said. "You know, it doesn't get better than that."

But even a funny guy has his limits. Asked to weigh in on the Donald Trump-Rosie O'Donnell feud (The View is an ABC show, after all), he declined, sort of.

"To me, the entire thing is just a publicity stunt for Trump to try to get stuff for The Apprentice," he said. "You look at the news right now, that's all he's trying to do is sue people and make waves. So me commenting just kind of feeds into his desire."

Consider him fed, then.

http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?blog=5&blogtype=Entertainment

fredfa

01-14-07, 09:41 PM

The following item might -- or mkight not -- contain "24" spoilers. TV Notebook

IS FOX SET TO BLOW THE NUKES ON '24'?

(The drudgereport.com) Sun Jan 14 2007

As Washington continues to raise concerns about terror threats on The Homeland -- a recent CIA report outlined a scenerio of possible "series of explosions using 'low charge' nuclear weapons" -- Hollywood and FOX-TV are set to up the ante with the new season of 24!

Few outside of the 24 set know the exact details of the new season unfolding, but studio sources claim producers are pushing hard to take it radioactive this time -- and keep it there.

"Time to wake the country up!" a top FOX source told the DRUDGE REPORT over the weekend. "I do not think there has ever been TV done like this, the viewer is going to be completely riveted."

The source claims executives are prepared for any fallout from local municipalities that may be on the receiving end of plot turns and twists. How many cities 24 puts on 'nuke alert' is unclear.

FOX has set a highly-controversial espisode of 24 to air Monday night, opposite NBC's GOLDEN GLOBES.

In 2002, White House officials questioned the timing and release of PARAMOUNT's action movie SUM OF ALL FEARS -- a movie which depicts a nuclear bomb unleashed on an American sporting event!

One senior Bush official, who spoke to the DRUDGE REPORT at the time, claimed the movie crossed over the line of civic responsibility and commerce.

http://www.drudgereport.com/24.htm

dad1153

01-14-07, 09:56 PM

How about a NATPE story for variety's sake? :)

The Business of TV
Five Ways To Fix Syndication
By Jim Benson, Broadcasting & Cable - January 15, 2007

It’s moment-of-truth time for the television syndication business.

As the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) gathers in Las Vegas for its annual conference this week, studio and station executives face an industry in crisis and a supply model in shambles.

Stations are clamoring for quality first-run programs but offer few desirable time periods for them. Studios, meanwhile, are largely striking out this season with expensive new talk shows that have struggled to break a 1.0 national rating. While stations look to fill their holes with acquisitions from a meager supply of off-network product, studios are churning out inexpensive, cookie-cutter court shows and costly talkers with little-known hosts.

Although revenues generated by syndication studios hit a five-year high last year—$4.2 billion, according to TNS Media Intelligence—ratings have dropped precipitously. Only three years ago, a rookie first-run strip could expect to average a 1.4 rating. This year, many have plummeted to the 0.8-1 range—a far cry from the 1.6 rating that most shows need to break even.

Not everyone thinks the sky is falling. Mitch Burg, president of the Syndicated Network Television Association (SNTA), points to TNS projections indicating that syndication is “a very healthy segment of the national television landscape” and “will enjoy the greatest increases in all of television this coming year.”

But the dismal ratings for this season’s first-run rookies and the tepid greeting for new shows teed up for next season suggest otherwise. Just six or seven new shows from the major studios—a mix of court, talk, game and magazine genres—are expected to be vying for spots this fall. That’s about on par with the handful that studios brought to the market a year ago, when talk show Rachael Ray (the only freshman to have reached a 2.0 rating this season) set the pace.

Meanwhile, the abrupt cancellation this month of expensive chat show Megan Mullally (produced by NBC Universal at an estimated cost in the mid six figures per week) and magazine show Geraldo at Large (produced by Twentieth Television at north of $800,000 per week) have left stations scrambling. With off-network sitcoms in short supply, they’re grabbing reruns of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Baywatch and Canadian imports. Others have resorted to airing as many as four daily runs of proven shows like Judge Judy.

Former syndication executive Gary Gannaway, whose Genesis Entertainment sold first-run series such as The Whoopi Goldberg Show, says the studios are in denial about the state of first-run syndication, which accounts for 40% of industry revenues. “The major studios know that first-run syndication is a lot like smoking,” says Gannaway, who now helps local media companies build business online as head of WorldNow. “They can’t keep launching shows at a 0.8 rating. But yet they are still smoking.”

Says Ken Werner, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, “In this dynamic, everything is possible.”

Let’s hope so. As the final pieces of the 2007-08 puzzle are still falling into place, the industry stands at a crossroads. Stations and studios can either cling to the old first-run system or kick the habit and adopt new business models in order to survive in a fragmented TV universe.

B&C spoke with industry executives about ways to fix syndication and jump-start the flow of original programming. Here are five ideas that are gaining traction.

•1-USE CABLE:

With decent time periods tough to come by in the crowded New York, Los Angeles and Chicago markets (which together constitute 15% of all U.S. TV households), most syndicators have been reluctant to commit to expensive new first-run projects for fall. For stations outside those markets, the shortage of original programming is disastrous—and will only get worse with the proliferation of digital channels that need to be filled.

Bill Butler, VP of group programming and promotion for the Sinclair Broadcast Group, has a solution. He proposes that the top Hollywood suppliers sell their shows to only 100-150 markets, rather than the requisite 200-plus, and skip the top three altogether—a radical departure from the current formula, in which syndicators seek to get the required minimum 80%-90% clearance for their barter shows entirely through broadcast coverage.

“If the New York station marketplace is such a roadblock,” Butler says, “how do we figure out a replacement quotient in that model?”

He proposes that syndicators fill in the gaps in the largest and smallest markets by selling their shows to midlevel cable networks willing to give up exclusivity for original programming, an approach previously used to cover only the bottom markets.

Although the idea would result inevitably in lower overall ratings, it would substantially reduce production budgets and force programmers to rethink what has been their primary goal thus far: scoring a breakout first-run hit on the order of Wheel of Fortune or Entertainment Tonight.

Rather than risk losing $6 million-$9 million annually in the hope that their shows will become $1 billion-plus Oprah-esque franchises after a few years, studios could make modest profits or at least break even with the new model. Midlevel station groups, meanwhile, could be assured a steady stream of new programming.

John Nogawski, president/COO of CBS Television Distribution (CTD), isn’t sold, however. He calls the concept a “regurgitation” of the models used previously by Superstation WGN and netlets like The WB.

With eight of the top 10 shows in syndication, CTD has no urgent need for such experimentation. Says Nogawski, “We’re unwilling to throw spaghetti up against the wall.”

Indeed, the three most successful first-run series launched in the past five years—Dr. Phil, The Insider and The Rachael Ray Show—feature talent and formats incubated on CTD’s own Oprah Winfrey Show and ET.

But CTD faces the same time-slot bottleneck as every syndicator. This year, it declined to commit to game shows The Joker’s Wild and Combination Lock after failing to secure plum time periods.

•2-BE LIKE MTV:

Midlevel station groups like Sinclair have been encouraging syndicators to break out of the traditional selling season, which results in an avalanche of competing fall debuts. They would rather see a slate of low-cost shows, agreed on by both buyer and seller in advance, that could come and go throughout the season—a programming game plan used successfully by MTV in the past.

Some broadcasters are so enamored with the idea that they have offered time-period and financial commitments to cover suppliers’ startup programming expenses.

“Give it a shot, and hopefully, you catch a pulse,” Butler says. “If not, agree to move on and have something already cooking to make the switch.”

Such a scheme could face opposition. Similar program partnerships between suppliers and stations have been doomed by the competing interests of the broadcast groups, making consensus difficult to reach. To syndicators, such consortiums have only reinforced the adage that a camel is a horse built by a committee. And agents won’t be eager to watch their commissions shrink along with production budgets.

If syndicators prove unwilling to break with tradition, however, stations appear poised to proceed without them. Word in the industry is that conversations are under way between some midlevel groups and a major production entity to essentially cut out the middleman—the Hollywood distributors—enabling stations to get programming directly from the producer.

•3-DO A HOLLYWOOD END-RUN:

Some suppliers have already succeeded in bypassing the traditional Hollywood studio system. Last year, producer/director/actor Tyler Perry chose to independently finance his first-run strip comedy House of Payne to gain creative freedom and be free from studio interference.

Perry chose a small distributor, Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein’s Debmar-Mercury, which was subsequently acquired by his film distributor, the large independent Lionsgate.

After a successful two-week on-air test in markets of various sizes last summer, Debmar obtained an upfront 100-episode commitment from cable and broadcast outlets in a deal that could fetch at least $200 million between license fees and barter revenue. TBS will begin stripping House of Payne this spring, stations in fall 2008.

If the show hits, it could provide a new sense of empowerment to independent producers and station groups pushed to the sidelines by the wave of media consolidation. And with the shortage of off-network comedies, stations may find a welcome alternative to the aging triumvirate of Seinfeld, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond.

•4-SHARE THE RISK:

Stations aren’t alone in proposing greater partnership. Some studios are keen on an arrangement in which broadcasters would provide more of the startup costs for the typical, expensive first-run series. They would be compensated with limited, pre-negotiated license-fee increases if the show becomes a long-term hit.

Stations would also be asked to provide time-period commitments in profitable dayparts, such as afternoons, and a fair amount of promotion. In true Hollywood spirit, the studios are betting on a happy ending.

“Generally, the first-run business has become harder then ever due to the underlying economics,” says a high-level studio executive who asked not to be identified. “Many times, people walk away feeling either like winners or losers, as opposed to both parties’ feeling good about the deal. We hope in the future, suppliers and stations negotiate deals that recognize each party’s strategic interests, finding common ground on sharing the risks and rewards inherent in the first-run business.”

The idea hasn’t won over everyone in the distribution community. Another top studio executive grouses that negotiating limited fee increases upfront “would be like the producer betting against his project” and labeling it “a failure” before it can even prove itself.

But with stations increasingly complaining that syndicators have been deaf to their programming needs, some broadcasters may welcome the opportunity to play producer. “If they want us to help them more in getting these things produced, that is a fair conversation,” says Sinclair’s Butler. “Conversely, perhaps we would expect to have more input into what they show up selling.”

•5-GO MULTIPLATFORM:

In December, NBC Television Stations launched the interactive daytime show iVillage Live, based on the iVillage Web portal for women, which NBCU acquired last year. Although the show has averaged only a 0.6 rating—less than what the station group’s cancelled reality strip Starting Over drew a year earlier—NBCU has renewed it for another season. Now airing on NBC’s 10 owned-and-operated stations and NBCU’s Bravo cable channel, it could expand to more broadcast markets.

The low ratings for the show—which invites viewers to participate online with live chats, votes and archived video—may never vindicate the $600 million NBCU spent to acquire iVillage. But the station group may be onto something.

Going multiplatform offers a way to engage viewers through interactivity and opens new revenue channels, such as product integration and merchandising.

Sony Pictures Television was ahead of the curve in 2004 with a show based on the online auction company eBay. But the unsuccessful pilot, hosted by Ahmad Rashad and former Daily Show contributor Molly Pesce, featured stories on items for sale on eBay, not actual transactions.

Now studios are looking for ways to build multi platform elements into new first-run shows. Last week, Twentieth Television unveiled its fall game show Temptation, from FremantleMedia North America, which will allow viewers to purchase online or by phone—at discount prices—the same prizes available to contestants.

At Warner Bros., a multiplatform magazine show built around AOL’s popular celebrity-gossip site, TMZ.com, is in the works. And CBS’ syndication operation may soon unveil a first-run show it has been developing with interactive Web and traditional broadcast elements.

Gannaway, who looked at ways to offer advertising and sponsorship deals incorporating non-TV platforms in the 1990s, says embracing new platforms may be just the thing to usher the syndication industry into the future: “Convergence could help foster the rebirth of first-run.”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6407351.html

fredfa

01-14-07, 10:13 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
A little song and "Dancing" with ABC
By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic in her TV blog Januray 14, 2007

Sunday morning and shortly before the coffee kicked in, ABC began its Q&A with a short clip of Stephen McPherson hoofing it somewhat oafishly with a sequin-spangled pro.

And when I say that, I mean he wiggled, swayed and threw her around a bit while she flitted and fluttered with all the grace a pixie can possibly muster when ballroom dancing to AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long."

Let's just say the president of ABC Entertainment poses no threat to the next group of B-list contestants.

Not to worry, McPherson won't be a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars" when it returns with a two-hour premiere at 8 p.m. Monday, March 19. A week later comes the second two-hour performance show at 8, and the first results show on Tuesday, March 27, at 9.

Performance episodes move to Mondays from 8 to 9:30 as of April 2, with results shows airing Tuesdays at 9.

"We wanted people not to have to choose between "(American) Idol" and "Dancing," McPherson explained.

Yeah. Right. You must know by now that there is no such thing as charity in this business. But strategy is everything. Such a move will nicely capitalize on "Idol" madness, allowing people to get their "Dancing" fix Monday nights and turn to see the results show after "Idol's" performances on Tuesdays.

On the other hand, now we'll have to choose between "Dancing," "Prison Break" and "24" on Fox, and "Heroes" on NBC. Well, somebody always to lose.

Speaking of which. ... "Day Break," anyone? "The Nine"? "We loved the shows creatively," McPherson said. "I don't look back in kind of hindsight and say, boy, we should have done this differently, that differently, about those shows. May have just been timing."

More like, all the hype in the world couldn't get anyone to care. But McPherson, Mr. Nice Guy, would never say that, opting instead for the "It's not you, it's me" defense to let 'em down easy.

McPherson even called "Big Day" a "laugh-out-loud" comedy, which is really unnecessary and doesn't help anyone. That's kind of like telling someone who has a tooth growing out of her forehead how beautiful she is right before dumping her. And blocking her phone number.

If you just point out that misplaced incisor, they might get it pulled or get some headbands. Similarly, if he had just said what most of us thought -- that "Big Day" wasn't funny -- then perhaps the producers would try harder next time.

But again -- it's not them, it's us.

ABC does seem to have learned some lessons from fall, though. "We're all kind of in hindsight right now looking and saying, how much stuff with that kind of a commitment can an audience make to an overall schedule?" he said. "There's so much good drama on right now that you're asking a lot of the audience."

True, many of us gravitated to the "Heroes," "Jericho" and "Ugly Betty" series with escapist bents. With "The Nine," McPherson said, "There is a dour nature to it."

So we should expect to see many more close-ended, character-driven procedurals getting the green light for fall 2007.

"Day Break" will finish up online, something it was originally supposed to do in mid-December before ABC yanked it away and hoped people wouldn't notice. But they did.

Apparently there was an issue with music rights, but that problem has been ironed out, McPherson said. Should you choose to believe him this time, look for the series to be back online before the end of February.

As for "The Nine," it's done. Production wrapped on its 13 episodes, and McPherson couldn't say whether or when the remaining hours would make it back on the air or get a final run on the Web. He also confirmed every viewer's worst fear as the season began: The question of what happened during that standoff will, for the time being, remain unanswered. There could be a blog about it. Woo to the hoo.

"Six Degrees" will mostly likely make it back onto the schedule "before May or in May," McPherson said. What he didn't say is that it is receiving the opportunity to work out the kinks that those other fine series didn't, largely (we're guessing) because like "What About Brian," it is one of J.J. Abrams's pets.

And "Boston Legal" fans can rest easy for now – McPherson says it isn't going anywhere. "That's one of my favorite shows. I mean any show where, you know, the lead of the show can say, 'I think that midget I'm dating is my daughter' -- I mean, that's good television right there."

Also in the hopper:

"October Road," a drama about a screenwriter who returns to his hometown to reassess his life among old pals and family. Scott Rosenberg, who wrote the script for "Beautiful Girls," (sub a piano player for screenwriter, and it's pretty much the same gig) wrote the pilot. It is directed by Gary Fleder ("Blind Justice," "The Evidence") and, according to IMDB.com, lists the frightening Tom Berenger among a cast of beautiful unknowns.

Still to be scheduled:

"Traveler," a holdover announced last summer about two young men who, on a dare from their longtime pal Will Traveler, pull a harmless prank at a New York museum that explodes after they leave it. Then Traveler disappears, and the FBI can't find any evidence that he ever existed.

"Notes from the Underbelly," a comedy that finds humor in the glories of pregnancy (i.e. hormonal imbalances, acne, constipation and gas), is tentatively scheduled to appear at some point in March, and disappear shortly after that.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/

fredfa

01-14-07, 10:21 PM

URFloorMatt

01-14-07, 10:29 PM

A good chance, I am afraid.

Given the fact the "Lost" ratings are spiralling downward against "Criminal Minds" the announcement was not exactly a stunner.

Indeed. My guess is that ABC will guarantee them a fourth season. Beyond that, I'm sure there will be negotiations concerning how much advance notice the show gets before a cancellation order comes down. Ultimately, this is all about Lindelof and Cuse sitting down and planning the final story arc, and making sure they have enough notice to commit it to film when the time comes.

Given the steady erosion in viewership (and quality), it seems unlikely that they'd hit the apparently desired seven-season run unless there was a serious injection of fresh ideas. And even then, it's unlikely that such a contorted serial could see a revival in ratings.

Then again, the 10:00 timeslot will be much, much, much less competitive than the 9:00 timeslot and a show like Lost could languish there for years. Honestly, if I had a new hour-long drama, I'd kill for Wednesdays at 10:00 now that Law and Order is gone and the remaining competition is average at best.

rebkell

01-14-07, 10:33 PM

Speaking of syndicated programs, are there any being made anymore, I'm not talking about game shows, but shows like "Highlander", "Babylon 5", V.I.P. , Relic Hunter, Andromeda, Hercules, Xena, those used to be some of my favorite shows, I don't know of any shows like these anymore. I guess the last syndicated show I remember was Andromeda. Are they still around and I'm just not running into them?

dad1153

01-14-07, 10:34 PM

Funny how little mention J.J. Abrams is getting in this avalanche of Lost stories. I know these producers (Lindelof and Cuse) are the one's that actually make the show and J.J. is a decision-maker from far away (ala Dick Wolf and Jerry Bruckheimer for their respective primetime shows) but you'd think one of the TV writers would be wondering outloud why J.J. didn't attend the tour, or what his involvement in this whole planned ending deal is.

fredfa

01-14-07, 10:35 PM

But Wednesdays at 10 "CSI:NY" seems to be steadily growing. Wait too long and the window of opportunity may be lost. In fact I suspect it is too late already.

People seem to be still finding out about "CSI:NY" while people are steadily drifting away from "Lost".

Once viewers have decided to leave a show it is very, very difficult to get them back, although "Desperate Housewives" seems to be having some success. But then Marc Cherry just drastically changed the storyline and went back, essentially, to what worked in Season One.

dad1153

01-14-07, 10:42 PM

Speaking of syndicated programs, are there any being made anymore... shows like "Highlander", "Babylon 5", V.I.P. , Relic Hunter, Andromeda, Hercules, Xena?

Yep, those types of shows have pretty much dried up, migrated to cable or disappeared into dead time slots. Why spend a ton of money making new shows when repeats of Stargate SG-1 and a CG-spruced Star Trek can get a similar (small) rating for less money? The only action series that I can think of for syndication is DaVinci's Inquest (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156442/), and that was only brought to the States based on the success of you-know-what.

URFloorMatt

01-14-07, 11:06 PM

But Wednesdays at 10 "CSI:NY" seems to be steadily growing.

Of course it is. It's the only steady programming during the 10:00 hour on Wednesdays. The CW and Fox don't counterprogram 10:00.

Meanwhile, ABC has rattled through half a dozen different shows while failing to find a good program to go with Lost, and before that it was trying to program with Alias and The Bachelor and who knows whatever else. Unless I'm mistaken, ABC hasn't had a steady show on Wednesdays at 10:00 since it temporarily moved NYPD Blue to that slot years ago.

Likewise, NBC moved a declining Law & Order last year and threw up two ratings bombs in Heist and Kidnapped, and has now just thrown up Medium, which is by no means a serious competitor. All positive media that I've ever read concerning Medium has never characterized it as anything more than a show good enough for a tanking NBC network, and even then it wasn't enough of a show to get a dedicated time slot for the fall season. It was slotted as a mid-season replacement.

Frankly, if CSI:NY wasn't growing, it'd just be a testament to its horrid quality. Lost is in prime position to capitalize on a weak time slot--easily the weakest in competitive primetime.

fredfa

01-14-07, 11:37 PM

We'll just have to agree to disagree, Matt.

It seems to me that "Lost" is already teetering on the edge of become simply a cult show, and CBS shows remarkable patience with its programs.

If "Lost" doesn't do well Wednesday at 10, and with ABC desperately trying to hold on to a potential 18-49 demo win this season, the Disney suits will move it someplace else.

(If I were ABC, I'd move "Lost" to Monday 10 PM and pickup the NBC audience from "Heroes" which has no place to go.)

But you know what? You could well be right and I could well be wrong.

VisionOn

01-14-07, 11:47 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
TV tour: Lost, found
By Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic TV Critic in his Critic’s Tour blog 01/14/2007

One critic asked why the show was so convoluted, why the Others couldn't have just wandered over when they saw the plane crash and asked Jack to operate on Ben.

"There's certainly a point to be made for that version," Lindelof said. "But I would argue -- no offense to your writing skills -- that that version is considerably less intriguing for a mystery show. You know, the reality is, if, when Kate was first stitching up Jack, she's like, 'Who are you?' he's like, 'I'm a spinal surgeon. I've got some hardcore father issues. I don't think I'm going to be a good leader,' and she's like, 'You've got father issues? I blew up my (expletive) stepdad,' then it would have been like, 'Why even do the show?' because everything's right there."

and the other (haha) answer is ... when it started they either had no real concept of who "the others" were and only started thinking about that in the second season, or they didn't like Abrams original vision and decided to change it.

Which is probably why the Others went from being scary, almost mythological beings in the first season (only seen in shadows and heard as supernatural whispers - a plot element which has since been dropped) to a group of scientists and thugs who like wearing fake beards and taking part in book clubs.

DoubleDAZ

01-15-07, 12:16 AM

There is no doubt Lost has more problems than just scheduling. I think that if they get back to the story and start revealing stuff again, they can catch some of that old magic just like ER has. I still watch it, but it's certainly not the must-see-TV it used to be.

fredfa

01-15-07, 02:35 AM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Fewer Serials and Closure for ‘Lost’ on ABC’s Horizon
By Edward Wyatt The New York Times January 15, 2007

PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 14 — ABC sees fewer ongoing, serialized dramas in its future, and at least one of its biggest shows — the megahit “Lost” — is heading toward a definite end.

Stephen McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment, told a meeting of television writers here on Sunday that after the experience of several failed or mediocre new serials this year — including “Day Break,” “The Nine” and “Six Degrees” — the network has fewer of those types of shows in development.

And for “Lost,” the biggest of the ABC serials, the network is now discussing with the producers how and when to end the series, Mr. McPherson said.

Damon Lindelof, one of the executive producers of “Lost,” said that the show’s creators had always viewed it as lasting about 100 episodes, and that he still believes that will be the case. Fifty-three episodes have been broadcast so far, with the show in its third season, meaning that it is likely that the fifth season will be the last.

“We’re no longer going up the hill,” Mr. Lindelof said. “We’re starting to come down now.”

Mr. Lindelof also said that while ABC has the ability to extend the series as long as it wants, with different producers and even different stars, he believes that the network is unlikely to do so.

“We don’t want to produce those episodes of ‘Lost,’ and we are not going to,” Mr. Lindelof said. He cautioned against such a move, pointing out that as series like “The X-Files” and “Alias” extended their runs by making dubious creative decisions, their ratings suffered greatly as fans abandoned the shows in droves.

He said the network and the producers would announce the decision soon after it is made, to make sure that fans understand that the show has a definite endpoint, and that outstanding questions about the mysteries of the island will be answered.

But there also was some good news for “Lost” fans.

Mr. McPherson said it is unlikely that viewers will have to weather another extended midseason hiatus. The network has been criticized by fans for running six “Lost” episodes last fall, then breaking for almost three months before resuming the series next month for 16 straight weeks.

Mr. McPherson said he believes that the next season will run for 22 consecutive weeks, either in the fall of 2007 or the spring of 2008. Production requirements and scheduling necessities caused ABC to break up the series this season, he said.

ABC also said it will present a fourth season of “Dancing With the Stars,” its hit ballroom-dance competition, on Monday nights beginning on March 19. The network decided not to schedule the competition installments of the series directly against “American Idol,” which runs on Tuesday nights, although the results show for “Dancing” will be seen at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, going up against at least a portion of “Idol” on some nights.

As for future serial shows Mr. McPherson said that the experience of the network’s current season, with several bad showings for new serials, indicated that audiences have a limited ability to absorb such shows. After the initial success of “Lost” and Fox’s “24” several years ago, a lot of television production companies put new serials into development, with many of them on at the same time, as they did this year.

“We’re going to see an adjustment this year because people in the fall were able to see whether or not there was a burnout,” Mr. McPherson said. “We’re seeing a little bit of a shift away from that.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/arts/television/15abc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=television&pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-15-07, 02:53 AM

TV Notebook
Veteran Dramas Bolster Friday Prime-Time Slates
By John Consoli MediaWeek January 15, 2007

Friday night’s lights are getting brighter for some of the broadcast networks this season, with CBS and NBC in a dead heat for adults 18-49 demo supremacy on the night.

Season-to-date, the two are averaging a 2.7 rating/9 share on the night (CBS is averaging 10.1 million viewers to NBC’s 9.1 million). Those aren’t blockbuster numbers by any means, but they are solid enough for a night that used to be a repeat dumping ground. Similarly, Saturday’s prime-time schedule a few years back was a rerun wasteland.

NBC has been able to give CBS, previously the dominant Friday player, some competition this season by moving two veteran dramas—Las Vegas and Law & Order—into the 9 and 10 p.m. time slots, pitting them against CBS’ Close to Home and Numb3rs, respectively.

Mitch Metcalf, executive vp of scheduling and program planning at NBC, said that after several years of trying new dramas on Fridays, it became evident that moving established shows would be a better course to take. “There are a smaller number of overall viewers on the night, and they are mostly older and seem to be more conservative in that they do not seem to want to sample a lot of new stuff,” he said. “We’re up 32 percent on the night in the 18-49 demo by moving established dramas there.”

NBC does lead off at 8 p.m. with a new game show 1 vs. 100. But Metcalf pointed out that the game show was first introduced last October leading out of a special airing of NBC hit game show Deal or No Deal.

The median age audience for both nets on Fridays is about 52. CBS’ youngest-skewing show is its 8 p.m. drama Ghost Whisperer with a median age of 51, the same as 1 vs. 100.

“There are still lots of folks home on Friday nights. And if you put on the appropriate programming geared toward them—right now it is procedural dramas—they will watch,” said Steve Sternberg, executive vp of audience analysis at Magna Global. “But there are also families available too.”

For example, ABC, which had little success with new drama Men in Trees on Fridays, aired family theatrical The Polar Express on Dec. 1, drawing a 4.0 18-49 rating but also attracting a solid number of parents and kids.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003532321

keenan

01-15-07, 03:20 AM

Once viewers have decided to leave a show it is very, very difficult to get them back,
Especially for a serialized show like "Lost", as obtuse as the storyline(and I use that term loosely) is for "Lost", leaving midstream would almost guarantee that a viewer won't be back as watching it every week doesn't seem to make any sense as it is.

foxeng

01-15-07, 09:09 AM

fredfa

01-15-07, 10:30 AM

The many, many other interests of Abrams, foxeng, could be the basic problem with "Lost".

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:02 AM

The TV Column
'Lost,' Back On the Radar
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 15, 2007; C01

PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 14 ABC will fairly soon announce an end date to its Wednesday drama "Lost" -- which, in turn, will cure viewers of the extreme anxiety from which they are suffering because none of the important questions ever get answered on this weedy tangle of a series. The idea is to bring back viewers who have abandoned the show out of frustration, and everybody lives happily ever after, "Lost" producers told The Reporters Who Cover Television at Winter TV Press Tour 2007.

This was big news, not just for reporters but also for ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson, who conveyed a "no news here folks" quality when asked about it afterward, saying he'd had no such discussions about announcing an endgame with the show's creators.

During the "Lost" Q&A session, the producers noted that the endgame announcement thing had worked really well for "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling, who's said she will wrap up that franchise with book No. 7. But while talking up the endgame notion, the exec producers got all coy, like nice girls on a first date, when reporters asked them how many seasons they thought the show should last. That would be "disrespectful" to the process, Carlton Cuse said, while adding that "The X-Files" was "a bit of a cautionary tale . . . a great show that probably ran two seasons too long." That one ran nine seasons.

"The most honest answer we can give: 'as long as it's good,' " creator Damon Lindelof said. Yeah, we gagged a bit too.

The intrepid reporters hounded Lindelof afterward outside the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel. They surrounded him and tortured him with questions such as, "Did you know both your show and 'Grey's Anatomy' have characters on them named Dr. Burke?"

"Yes, but they spell Burke with an 'e,' " Lindelof said, panic setting in.

Finally, he could take no more. He told the mob that because, way back when "Lost" was new, he had said in interviews that he saw this show running 100 episodes, he felt had to stick with that number. Because, you see, if he now says it should run 140 episodes, he'd look like a weenie. Yes, this is how things are done in Hollywood -- the weenie test.

One reporter also asked Lindelof what "Lost" was about -- a reasonable question but not one you usually hear a reporter who's been watching faithfully ask about a show in its third season. "This is a show about people who are metaphorically lost in their lives, who get on an airplane and crash on an island and become physically lost on planet Earth, and once they are able to metaphorically find themselves in their lives again, then they will be able to physically find themselves in the world again," Lindelof responded. Yup, sounds like 46 more episodes.

Of course, ABC can announce "Lost" will end at the close of Season 6, but there's no knowing whether that actually will happen. Isn't "The Sopranos" heading into its third " final" season?

• • • • • • • • • • •

"Dancing With the Stars" is moving to Monday nights when it returns on March 19, to get it out of the way of Fox's "American Idol," ABC announced.

The performance episodes will air every Monday from 8 to 9:30, and the results shows will run Tuesdays from 9 to 10 p.m.

ABC has already announced that when "Lost" returns to the landscape, it's moving from 9 to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays to get it out of the path of "American Idol."

"We wanted people to not have to choose between 'Idol' and 'Dancing,' " McPherson said. "Our fans would have been upset; 'Idol' fans would have been upset if we just put them head-to-head. We spend a lot of time in this business -- broadcast networks -- beating up on each other. We think that both shows are good shows and there's room for them on the schedule."

Meanwhile, serialized dramas are out, thank goodness, as new ones have not done well this season because -- hang on to your seats -- there were too many of them, McPherson said.

ABC will develop more dramas that are "procedural or close-ended" for next season.

And next season's big TV trend? Escapism.

This season's freshman successes are escapist, he said, naming "Ugly Betty" and "Brothers & Sisters" -- both on ABC. We'll add NBC's "Heroes."

"I think there is a kind of escapism going on out there. I think you may see a little bit of an adjustment towards that," he promised. ABC's failed freshman series "The Nine" was a "great show, well cast, well written, well produced, but there is a dour nature to it."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401122_pf.html

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:06 AM

TV Sports
CBS' Super Bowl Ad Sales at Fourth and Goal
By John Consoli MediaWeek January 15, 2007

The Super Bowl has become a super pain for the broadcast networks to sell. While the premier U.S. televised sports event is a huge annual revenue producer for the network that airs it, commercial spots in the game are increasingly hard to sell.

Case in point: CBS this year. With just three weeks to go until kickoff, the network has sold just north of 70 percent of the in-game units. And with a total of 58 spots, the network still has about 16 left to sell.

It’s become a not-so-well-kept secret among network sales executives that as much revenue and prestige that a Super Bowl yields—CBS could take in anywhere from $120 million-$140 million on the three-hour game alone, in addition to millions from the six hours of pregame programming—the three weeks prior to kickoff is a time of severe angst for sales teams facing fourth and goal.

One media agency executive described this current Super Bowl selling season: “CBS is definitely in hustle mode, trying to come up with any innovative way possible to move those in-game units.”

As the cost of a 30-second spot rises each year, so does the pressure on advertisers to come up with innovative and creative spots that will be talked about and acted upon by the 78 million viewers who tune in. The growing popularity of polls such as USA Today Ad Meter, which have consumers rate the in-game commercials the next day, has become a major factor in the decision-making process of advertisers as to whether or not they should create a spot and run it in the Super Bowl.

One network sales executive, who has sold past Super Bowls, said the next two weeks are crucial for CBS to get a bulk of the remaining units sold before Feb. 5. “It’s OK to go into the week before the game with three or four units left, but it can be a real problem if you have more than that,” the exec said.

The closer to game day, the more the ad community is in the driver’s seat as far as trying to price down the spots because the network cannot sharply lower prices without running the risk of alienating clients who came in early and paid more.

While the remaining spots are mostly in fourth quarter and early birds most likely are in the first half when the attention level is usually higher, no advertiser, regardless of placement, is going to be happy seeing a straggler get in the game at a deep discount.

“There are always Super Bowl units still available at this point, but this year there seem to be more left than the norm,” said one media exec, echoing the viewpoint of many contacted for this story.

But John Bogusz, CBS exec vp, sports sales and marketing, and Tony Taranto, senior vp of NFL sales at CBS, both insist the network is right where it was sellout level-wise when it televised the Super Bowls in ’01 and ’04.

“It is getting to be a harder sell, and we do wish more advertisers would embrace it for what it is and take advantage of the huge audience it draws,” said Bogusz, acknowledging the harder slog to sellout. Added Taranto, “Advertisers should realize that in addition to the in-game units, those ads are going to be replayed all over the Internet in the days and weeks following the game. Awareness levels for those ads rise every year.”

But that heightened awareness of the commercials—not the price tag per spot, which this year ranges anywhere from $2 million to $2.6 million depending on pod location and quantity bought—can be the problem, according to media agencies charged with buying Super Bowl spots for clients.

“The decision an advertiser faces is not a price dilemma,” said Marc Goldstein, CEO at media agency MindShare. “The reason advertisers may not go in is because of creative issues. No one wants to run an old commercial in the Super Bowl, so you have to go out and spend money to produce a new one. And the advertiser wants to make sure that this commercial does well in all the recall and opinion polls the next day. Many advertisers feel if they do not have a new product to launch, it is not worth the risk.”

Media agency OMD, which usually buys a double-digit number of in-game units for its clients, this year has purchased only half the usual number for advertisers like Pepsi, FedEx and Frito-Lay, according to sources. OMD executives declined to comment for this story. Likewise, a couple of other agencies that had clients advertise in last year’s Super Bowl may have none this year. “Selling the Super Bowl has become a shell game,” said a sales executive for another network that has sold the game in the past. “In the end it comes down to putting together any type of deal you can to get those spots sold.”

With that in mind, CBS is offering packages that include in-game spots, along with deals on additional commercials in its prime-time shows during first quarter, as incentives. CBS’ Taranto believes that that’s just smart selling, and smart buying. “The Super Bowl is not an island in itself,” he said. “Advertisers launch products there and then continue to promote them throughout the year. It’s usually part of a longer campaign.”

A good illustration of how hard it has become to sell the Super Bowl—but not to sell pro football, which continues to be one of the strongest marketing vehicles in any medium—CBS was sold out for the Jan. 13 and Jan.14 NFL playoff games and is also sold out for the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 21.

“Based on its history, Super Bowl sales just seem to always be liquid right up until a day or two before the game,” Taranto said. “That’s just the way it is.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003532343

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:12 AM

The Business of Television
“Ugly Betty” is Best Ad Deal
'Heroes,' 'Office,' 'Deal' boosting fourth place network

By Don Kaplan The New York Post

"Ugly Betty" is sitting pretty.

The quirky ABC drama, which has been drawing 5 million viewers aged 18 to 49, is Madison Avenue's best buy on television this season among primetime network programming, according to calculations by The Post.

It has cost advertisers only $1.85 for every 100 viewers in the key demographic - a bargain by any standard.

Coming in second is NBC's "Heroes," the high-flying comic book-style drama about a group of super-powered humans out to save the world. For major advertisers, reaching 100 viewers in the key 18- to 49-year-old demo costs cost $1.93.

That's better than a fire sale at Macy's.

"Anybody who put their dollars on 'Heroes' got quite a bargain," says Mediaweek TV analyst Marc Berman.

To calculate the best bargain on primetime TV, The Post used the price the networks were charging advertisers last spring - when the line-ups were announced. We then divided that amount by demo audience the show drew and multiply the result by 100.

When ABC announced its schedule last spring, the network was asking advertisers to pay roughly $93,000 for a 30-second commercial on "Betty."

The show, produced by Salma Hayek, follows the adventures of an awkward-looking girl working for a fashion magazine and is based on the most successful international soap opera format of all time.

"The art of the schedule is to correctly pick out the shows that nobody else thinks are going to be hits," Berman says.

On the flip side, the worst deal on television turns out to be "The Simpsons," which after 17 seasons is the longest-running sitcom of all time. Homer and company charged about $5.23 to reach about 100 of the key viewers.

In terms of spending ad dollars, nearly every other major network show falls in between "Ugly Betty" and "The Simpsons."

Some, like "American Idol," Berman says, can still be considered great bargains simply because of the sheer number of viewers reached. Others, like "House," "Criminal Minds" and "Dancing with the Stars" are also good buys because they are still growing.

But advertisers might want to think twice about "Survivor" - still pricey at $4.08 per 100 demo viewers - despite its age.

"Lost" also might pose a problem. The formerly white-hot ABC drama that has seen its ratings shrink since last year and faces an uncertain future as it was yanked from the schedule last fall (so that there would be no repeats when it returns for February sweeps).

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/01142007/business/ugly_betty_is_best_ad_deal_business_don_kaplan.htm

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:23 AM

TV Notebook
Scrubs a Near Lock for Next Fall
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 1/15/2007

Thursday-night comedy “Scrubs” will be back for a seventh season on either NBC or ABC, according to creator Bill Lawrence.

With the Touchstone Television-produced show now in syndication, Lawrence says, should NBC pass on bringing the show back, it will find a home at Touchstone’s corporate cousin, ABC. "Since every produced episode makes a ton of money for Touchstone," Lawrence says, "they told us not to write a finale for this year."

The show has a strong chance of returning to NBC next year, he adds. "We’ve essentially been told that NBC is really happy with how we are doing. I would say it’s better than a coin flip we are back on NBC."

Airing at 9 p.m. between The Office and rookie 30 Rock, Scrubs is averaging a solid 3.5 rating/9 share in the adult 18-49 demo as part of a Thursday-night comedy block that is cherished by NBC President Kevin Reilly. At a median age of 36.1, it is the network’s youngest-skewing primetime series.

"NBC isn’t the same juggernaut anymore," Lawrence says, "but it still feels cool to be on Thursdays."

But he understands that there is less financial motivation for NBC to keep the Touchstone-produced show on the network. "The show is a dinosaur, on one network and completely owned by another," he acknowledges.

And Touchstone continues to show faith in the show. The studio greenlighted a Jan. 18 musical episode at double the cost of a typical installment.

Lawrence also says that the show would not continue without star Zach Braff, but he "feels pretty good" that Braff is on board for a seventh and final season.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6407312

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:37 AM

TV Notebook
Ryan’s “Idol” Talk
What host thinks about clueless contestants, Jennifer Hudson, & more
By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News January 15, 2007

PASADENA, CALIF. - There are two kinds of "American Idol" fans - those looking for singers worthy of heavy rotation on their iPods, and those just looking for the next William Hung.

The real competition for the first group won't begin until Feb. 14, when the top 24 singers - 12 men and 12 women - are revealed. Live performance shows begin Feb. 20. The show returns at 8 PM ET/PT tomorrow and Wednesday with two-hour episodes.

But for those whose passion for "Idol" is as much about seeing would-be singers humiliate themselves as it is about discovering the next Kelly Clarkson or Fantasia Barrino, the games begin tomorrow night, with the first night of what Fox is billing as a two-night, four-hour sixth-season premiere, featuring the auditions - good, bad and ugly - from Minneapolis and Seattle.

Host Ryan Seacrest, who also works a morning radio show and for whom the show helped launch a busy producing career, was working into the night last week to record the voice-overs for the audition shows.

"What will we see? I can tell you that when I go in to voice-over the shows each season, for a couple of seasons it's been, OK, I get it, they come in, they do their thing, they walk out," he said last week.

"This season, actually in the tracking session, after we did it, I wanted to sit and watch the episode again because some of the contestants are so bizarre, and I use the word naïve. But you really experience some awkward moments with the judges and some of the contestants. So I think that, you know, this year more than ever, the strain showed up."

Hard to believe that after five seasons, anything could faze Seacrest, much less judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.

"I think we expect to see certain things," Seacrest said. "You know, we saw William Hung and we saw things last season. I think we expect to see certain things, and then we're surprised by how a few of these contestants can come in and really believe" they have a chance.

"I mean, we have a pretty good process of cracking them, and they still really believe, many of them, that they should be there. When you watch it, as a viewer, you'll see how organic it is, and how genuine," he said.

"There is [still] a talent pool. Fortunately, we need one person. We need about 12 really, really good ones.

"We usually get to that pretty quickly, and that did happen again. But it's those in the mix and sort of sorting through the ones that are great, those are obvious. The ones that are embarrassingly uncomfortable, those are the fun ones."

Though Seacrest was at the auditions as much as the judges were, watching the editing show can still shock and surprise, he said.

"We see so many, and less make the show. So of course the way it's timed in the show, it's done brilliantly by the producers and the editors. Not to change the story but just to pull the story together to make it a little bit tighter and pacier.

"I will tell you that when I was watching the auditions, I'm outside the room watching them on a monitor in real time, watching them happen, and sometimes I'm thinking to myself, 'I just don't know what to say when they come out.' Because I don't want to pretend they were great, or I don't want to embarrass myself by saying, 'Oh, you did fine,' or 'Great job.' So there were a few instances where I just didn't have a word, or a thought to express or to say to them when they came out. And you see that," he said.

Later, doing "the voice-over is a little easier," he said. "But it's not that it doesn't come to me, I don't know that you need [to say anything]. You almost just want to stare at that person. There's a lot of staring this year."

"Idol" could mark a new milestone this year, if "Dreamgirls" co-star Jennifer Hudson, a finalist in the third season, is nominated for an Oscar. (She's already up for a Golden Globe tonight.)

"I'll tell you what I remember" about Hudson, Seacrest said.

"I remember watching [the shows she was on] and rethinking, there is a lot of attitude. I think it's great attitude that Jennifer Hudson has that ['Dreamgirls'] Effie had as well. There's a lot of attitude - that really is Jennifer Hudson that you see in that character. I'm really excited for her. Personally, I love the fact that Simon kind of condemned her and now she's a great success, which I promise I won't bring up this season," he said, jokingly.

"I believe that she's going to get a nomination [for an Oscar], and I believe the story's so great that she may actually walk away with an Oscar, and I would love it," he said.

So might Hudson pop up on "Idol" this season?

"I don't produce that show. But I would love to invite her. I'm officially inviting her on. I'll give her some time."

Did viewers make a mistake voting her off?

Seacrest's not sure.

"Clearly, she's a very talented young woman, and I think the viewers were all sort of influenced by what the judges had to say, and sometimes the judges weren't leading us down the path of keeping her on the program. But in hindsight, it's all about growth and what you can do after the show. She's a great example of taking what 'American Idol' gives you and... kind of giving it the finger and saying, 'All right, I'll show you.' "

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//16462913.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:45 AM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
How 'How I Met Your Mother' is not a traditional sitcom
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” January 15, 2007

On a recent day here in Los Angeles, the sunny New York City set on a sprawling studio lot was a crowded place.

Dozens of extras clad in running gear and drenched in fake sweat ran by cameras for take after take, as technicians, makeup folks and scores of staffers milled around. Given the number of people on hand and the scope of the production, it looked as though a feature film was being made.

This is the set of a sitcom? A supposedly “traditional” sitcom at that?

The sweaty runners were participating in the back-lot marathon for a February episode of “How I Met Your Mother.” The CBS show about five friends in New York City, which manages to be both whip-smart and endearingly sweet, is part of CBS’ Monday lineup of mostly traditional, multicamera sitcoms. That term refers to shows that use up to four cameras at once to film a half-hour comedy in front of an audience on a soundstage.

Except we weren’t on a soundstage. And there was no audience. “HIMYM” does have a laugh track, but it’s inserted well after the show shoots for three solid days. Many traditional sitcom tapings last three hours.

“It’s definitely … a lot easier than a one-hour [show], but it’s a lot harder than a traditional sitcom,” says Alyson Hannigan, one of the show’s leads. “People are like, `What do you mean, you need three days to shoot an episode?’”

A lot has been written about the supposed demise - and even the comeback - of the half-hour comedy on network television. Traditional sitcoms, we’re often told, are too stodgy and predictable and are just not cutting it anymore, while “single-camera” comedies such as “The Office, “My Name Is Earl” and “30 Rock” are all the rage.

But the line between “30 Rock” and “HIMYM” is not that distinct. Just as “Ugly Betty” isn’t quite a comedy and isn’t just a drama, “HIMYM” is something of a hybrid.

For one thing, some “single-camera” shows use more than one camera at a time. And though “HIMYM” does have a laugh track, the fact that the laughs (from a studio audience that watches a tape of the show) are put in after filming means the comedy is not “a slave to the audience” as executive producer Greg Malins says.

“You’re not writing to their reactions and writing to the lowest common denominator,” Malins said says. On other shows he has worked on, “any time you need to replace a joke and you just put the word `panty’ in there, the audience goes nuts. It’s hard to resist that.”

“I come from multi-camera shows. I love traditional hard jokes,” says “HIMYM” writer Jamie Rhonhiemer. “But with this show, we can do that and still tell emotional stories.”

“HIMYM’s” stories are told with more scope than many traditional sitcoms employ. A typical episode of “Friends” might have had a dozen scenes, maybe 18 at the most, Malins says. The “HIMYM” episode being shot last Wednesday had 53. The show’s pilot had 60 scenes.

“There’s no way we could shoot this amount of material in front of an audience,” says co-creator Craig Thomas. “It would blur the line between `audience’ and `hostage situation.’”

“You have more freedom to make it more visual” with a longer shooting schedule, Malins says. “The traditional way is that you take three hours, you just put it on like a play and shoot it. You could never do the stuff we do here.”

“The terms single camera and multicamera are vestiges of another era of TV,” says Carter Bays, the show’s other creator. “They’re pretty vague categories at this point. Every show is its own animal.”

Another “HIMYM” anomaly: Five of the show’s 11 writers are women, which is an unusually large number, especially for a comedy staff. And director Pamela Fryman has helmed almost every episode of the show.

Having a strong female presence on the staff was a conscious decision, according to Thomas, who, along with Bays, used to write for “The Late Show with David Letterman.” “At `Letterman,’ there was one woman on staff the whole time I was there, and she was only there for three months,” he says.

“We knew we wanted it to have heart, and not just be totally snarky,” he notes. “With too many dudes in the room, it just becomes this total insult-fest.”

Despite the things that make it distinctive and different, “HIMYM” is still thought of by many as a traditional sitcom. And the people behind the show are conscious of the fact that if they were perceived as a single-camera show, “HIMYM” - which is a steady ratings performer with an avid fan base - might be more of a media darling, and could even become a breakout hit.

“I kind of feel like we get lumped in with some tacky shows sometimes,” says staff writer Brenda Hsueh. Graf can trim

“If we were on NBC on Thursday, you’d realize quicker that we’re more like `Scrubs,’” Thomas says.

Though he’s a devoted fan of cult fare such as “Veronica Mars,” Bays says, quite simply, “I want it to be the big hit.”

And they’re trying to make that happen through traditional and new-media promotional tactics. “Dancing With the Stars” champ Emmitt Smith was on the lot that day, filming a scene for the episode that will air the day after the Super Bowl. And Bays says that during May sweeps, there will be a wedding on the show.

The creators also have their fingers crossed that “HIMYM” will turn up on iTunes soon (a deal to make that happen is in the works, Thomas says). The show’s ladykiller, Barney, has a blog on CBS.com, and a MySpace page featuring a music video from another character, Robin, in all her former glory as teen-pop princess “Robin Sparkles,” was a hit: Her video has been streamed more than 400,000 times since its debut.

After the Robin Sparkles episode aired and the MySpace site’s traffic went nuts, “we got some of our best ratings the next week,” Thomas says.

Still, don’t expect J.Lo-style stuntcasting anytime soon. The show will continue to be about friends who hang out at a bar and have hilarious and sometimes sad experiences in life and in the dating arena. Like the best sitcoms - single-camera or multicamera - it’s grounded in a funnier version of reality.

As “HIMYM” writer Kourtney Kang says, “A lot of our stories come from `Oh, God, you won’t believe what happened this weekend.’”

A few more bits and pieces from my “How I Met Your Mother” set visit:

• To film the “Robin Sparkles” music video, Cobie Smulders had to perform the song 40 times for the cameras. When she was finally finished that day, they brought a crepe cart to the set so she could have a crepe as a reward. She said that episode is her favorite thing she’s done on the show.

• The robot in the Robin Sparkles video sits in a place of honor in the “HIMYM” writers offices. It’s an Omnibot 2000 by Tomy, the same robot Bays wanted as a kid.

• In the February episode “Lucky Penny,” Barney ends up running a marathon, and the track suits that Neil Patrick Harris wore on Wednesday were quite fancy. He has one powder-blue track suit that was nearly blinding, with matching silver running shoes. He called the ensemble his “B. Diddy” look. Thomas says there was a big debate as to whether Barney would run the marathon in one of his regular “suit up!” suits, but in the end they decided that he could “track suit up.”

• In an effort to save money, the show decided to do one episode last year on one set - a limousine. It turned out to be a nightmare. “We never know what’s going to be hard for the production staff,” Bays said. “Shooting in a car was the most excruciating experience ever. We had to take it apart, it was so hard to shoot anything in there.”

• Bays dropped this tantalizing idea about Barney, when I asked whether he would ever have a steady girlfriend. “What if he had a girlfriend but he just wasn’t bringing her around?”

Hmmm.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/01/how_i_met_your_.html#more

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:52 AM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
“Lost” in ABC's Serial Bowl
By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic Monday, January 15, 2007

So far, I’m on board with everything ABC is doing with and saying about Lost these days. As I’ve said before, I think the network is right to move the show to 10 pm/ET when it returns from hiatus on February 7—gets it out of the way of American Idol, provides a solid lead-in to the late local news, which the affiliates care about (although history tells us that many of the fans will ditch the TV to go straight to their message boards and fan sites), and keeps the network from worrying about what poor loser show will next have to follow Lost and fail to live up to expectations.

But what really jazzes me was ABC entertainment chief Steve McPherson’s suggestion at ABC’s TCA day over the weekend that next season, Lost will air in 24 style. Start to finish without a break, so we won’t again be frustrated by something like this fall’s six-season episode pod that, especially where our captive characters were concerned, felt like it was treading water more than usual. (Still, if only for introducing us to the lovely and mysterious Juliet, who will be the focus of the first episode back, I forgive the shows its flaws, as usual.) If this means keeping Lost out of the fall lineup, delaying its premiere until the midpoint of the season to ensure an uninterrupted stream of episodes, so be it. It works for 24. Why not for the other most creatively thrilling show on TV?

I also applaud the idea of Lost’s creators giving us a solid answer about the series’ endgame: perhaps in 100 episodes, as the show’s creators suggested at press tour (which means a five-season run); or, as some analysts have suggested, possibly a season or two longer, fulfilling the stars’ original contracts. Whatever the case, Damon Lindelof is absolutely right that the reputation of The X-Files (a huge influence on Lost) suffered by staying on the air at least two seasons too long. And unlike, say, The Sopranos, once these guys let us know when it’s going to be over, I hope they stick to their guns.

As for McPherson’s statements about ABC backing away from serial dramas next season, who can blame him after the debacles of Day Break, Six Degrees and the should-have-been-better The Nine (which I still believe was the best drama pilot last fall, but not as it turned out the best drama series, an honor that now falls to NBC’s struggling Friday Night Lights). Still, it’s not like ABC is bereft of serialized programming (think Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty, the steadily improving Brothers & Sisters and Men in Trees, and of course Desperate Housewives). It’s just that replicating the gripping experience of Lost is harder than it looks.

Another thought about ABC’s serialized shows, which came to me as I watched Housewives and Brothers this Sunday night. Just like last season, when Grey’s Anatomy became the show I looked most forward to on Sundays, with Housewives something of a chore if not a speed bump, I’m now enjoying Brothers & Sisters much more than the more popular show it follows. Not only is it better acted and more adept at juggling multiple and sometimes even believable storylines, it’s actually funnier than Housewives these days, and I would never have predicted that from the morose opening episodes that dealt with the death of the family patriarch and the financial mess he left behind.

Brothers & Sisters is also a sexier show, allowing its multigenerational cast to shine—and to glow—whether they’re single, married, straight, gay or (in the case of the wonderful Sally Field) of a certain age.

As for Housewives, after the terrific hostage episode during November sweeps, the show has settled back down in a hit-or-miss groove with uneven, mostly uninspired storylines that waste the potential of this great cast. And where, I ask you, is the sex appeal that should be bursting from this saucy series? This soap needs some serious lather, and I’m afraid that Dougray Scott (as Susan’s jealous flame), Kyle MacLachlan (as Bree’s creepy spouse) and even young stud Josh Henderson (as Julie’s cheating boy toy) haven’t raised the temperature much on Wisteria Lane.

The show can still get off some good lines. Examples from this Sunday’s episode: From neighbor Mrs. McCluskey (the invaluable Kathryn Joosten) to Lynette, once again meddling in her husband’s affairs: “It’s bad enough you cut off his cojones. Now you want to juggle ‘em?” Gaby to her young stalker Zack (who despite his fortune doesn’t appear to be able to afford a flattering haircut): “Don’t hijack the Ferrari if you don’t know how to drive.” (That one was given away in the promos.) Bree in despair: “I don’t know how I’m going to bake my way out of this one.” Orson to Alma (in perhaps the dreariest current storyline): “The novelty of not being a corpse can’t last forever.”

Neither, I think, can the novelty of Desperate Housewives’s brilliant premise ensure lasting or enduring success, if it continues to allow itself to be upstaged in the quality sweepstakes by its companion show (first Grey’s, now Brothers).

http://community.tvguide.com/thread.jspa?threadID=700016670

fredfa

01-15-07, 12:02 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Take your sex and violence straight up, not diluted on A&E
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Tekevision Critic Monday, January 15, 2007

Well, it's official. In less than seven years, we've witnessed a strange trifecta of censorship. Way back in 2000 -- heady times, no? -- when a smattering of Utah companies began honing in on technology that would "clean" the sex and violence out of movies, it was like some strange, pointless intrusion had entered the marketplace.

But that wasn't totally unexpected. Selling censorship -- or even values -- is oddly American. You can't put a price on righteousness and cleanliness in a world of Hollywood smut, can you? Never mind that the logic was mind-bendingly askew: People want to see Hollywood movies with sex and violence, and have the right to take that sex and violence out with software. The marketplace doesn't care about sides -- which one you're on, which one is intellectually or morally correct -- it only cares about cash.

Then censorship crept into the Federal Communications Commission when Michael Powell, backed by the cheerleading of the ultraconservative Parents Television Council, went on a crusade to clean up television. Janet Jackson may have been the poster girl for that era, but it was PBS and local network affiliates that dared run an unedited "Saving Private Ryan" that were hurt the most. You know, swearing in wartime is bad form. You could blow someone's body apart, but if they swore in the process, American children everywhere would be scarred.

War is heck. You've probably heard.

Again, not entirely shocking. Government-sanctioned censorship? No!

But what to make of this third leg: sanitized pay cable television series such as "The Sopranos" being shown on advertising-supported cable channels with edits and, apparently, being consumed voraciously by some people? Not just some -- 4.3 million viewers for the first two episodes on A&E. Are these the same people who bought all that Utah software? Is there a group of people who really want to watch Tony Soprano not use the f-word? Much has already been written about whether taking out the ultraviolence, profane linguistic tendencies and maybe eight or nine rounds from his mobster's gun makes him, uh, too likable?

(When creator David Chase thought HBO viewers were being too sympathetic to Tony, he made the mobster even more evil, more hateful. Let's see how A&E edits the later seasons when the blood really starts to flow and the misanthropy becomes wince inducing.)

It would be easy to say viewers feasting on a sanitized "Sopranos" are the same people using cleansing software to make movies more like God wanted them to be (God being relative to your faith and maybe even your state). But that's too easy. A good bet (or a better survey -- someone get on that) would be that those watching A&E's version of "The Sopranos" aren't obsessed family values types at all, just people who never forked out for HBO. Censorship by any name makes for strange bedfellows.

So, moral profiteers have used censorship and the government has used censorship and ... your cheap neighbors are using censorship instead of Netflix?

Strange times, indeed.

What's intriguing about this third level of censorship is that there really are people keen to hear "Sopranos" cast members say freakin' a whole bunch of times, instead of something more coarse (and likely). Those people will also watch "Sex and the City" without the sex. Or "Six Feet Under" in an altered fashion and "The Wire" without, perhaps, all the urban grit. Those HBO series have now entered ad-supported cable and it's ghastly enough to imagine them with commercials but more unacceptable to imagine them creatively altered in any way.

Why would anyone want to watch them in a censored, not-as-intended, patently manipulated way?

These are the scenarios that make sense: 1. Viewers who can't afford cable, the DVD box set or the rental charge from Netflix or some other outfit. This is totally understandable. Life is hard and pay cable is a luxury. 2. Viewers who don't care about the artistic "pretensions" of the writers involved or any sort of adherence to a realistic milieu (hey, strippers in the Bada-Bing are always covered up and mob bosses with anger management issues never use the dreaded f-word). Sad and only defensible in that "never underestimate the American public" way. 3. There is no No. 3.

This notion doesn't make sense: You want to watch Tony Soprano be a woman-hating, thuggish and murderous (albeit emotionally conflicted) mob boss, but you don't want to hear him swear so much? Is it OK to saw someone's head off but not OK to say the f-word? In "Sex and the City," there's a premise in the series that women are getting theirs. They are having careers and orgasms, too. And sometimes they are discarding the men that help in the latter department. How is the realism of the series served by having Carrie & Co. talk about sex but not actually be seen having it?

It's hard to fathom anyone who's not broke (which is excusable) wanting to see what amounts to a watered-down artistic vision. It's hard to accept the logic -- no, check that, the argument -- of people who say that what a writer means to convey through language or physical action can be censored and still deliver the same message. It's like yearning to watch "Scarface" but wanting it to play on your screen like "It's a Wonderful Life." You can't have it that way. (Well, thanks to technology, the FCC and your own lowered standards, you actually can -- but what's the point again?)

Here's an idea. If you don't want sex in "Sex and the City" and you don't want f-bombs and gratuitous murder from angry, violent mobsters in "The Sopranos," then watch something else. Censorship of any kind should be considered an evil, not a convenience -- and certainly not a right.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/15/DDG08NHF8D1.DTL&type=printable

fredfa

01-15-07, 12:27 PM

Sunday’s fast national over night prime-time ratings have been posted just under the HD Football listings near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

fredfa

01-15-07, 12:46 PM

TV Q&A
Ask Matt
(from the Ask Matt column at TVGuide.com
By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic Monday, January 15, 2007

Question: American Idol is coming back, and I was wondering if you thought it would drop in ratings. The popularity parade for a show like this has to end sometime, right? Will it be this year? Or can you imagine that there won't be a downfall in the near future?— Lisa

Matt Roush: I recently read a story quoting an exec from a rival network who said that every year at this time, when this inevitable question arises, he'll keep predicting that American Idol's ratings will drop, because eventually it will be true. It just hasn't happened yet. American Idol defies all conventional wisdom about the normal shelf life of a TV phenom. It hasn't slipped yet, and given the level of anticipation for the show this year, it's hard to imagine it slipping at all (and certainly not significantly) this season. As I've said many times before, the genius part of American Idol's appeal is that Fox keeps the show off the air for half a year. Unlike other reality staples like Survivor, The Amazing Race, etc., there's only one cycle per calendar year for Idol, and the demand for it only continues to grow. If there is a small decline this year, I wouldn't be surprised, because broadcast TV itself isn't as powerful as it used to be. But honestly, I'm not expecting Idol to do anything but grow.

Question: On Heroes, it just seems that Niki has a beyond-extreme case of split personality disorder. How is what she has considered a power?— Leora

Matt Roush: Have you seen this babe in action when she's possessed by Jessica? She's a freaking Amazon with super strength. When the show comes back a week from tonight, one of the more amusing moments comes when you see how all the cops keeping Niki/Jessica in custody cringe in fear, anticipating her next violent outburst. This isn't a happy power, but it is a power.

Question: With the record-breaking success of both Project Runway and Top Chef on Bravo, do you think that at any point NBC will become interested in trying out either of these shows on their own network? It seems that this could become an interesting trend for big networks to cultivate and test reality shows on their little cable networks and graduate them up to broadcast exposure once they have achieved success. Is this at all on the big networks' radar?— Jackie W.

Matt Roush: If memory serves, NBC has stunted at least once (probably a few times) with several Bravo shows: Project Runway and maybe even Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The results weren't so promising that NBC would go there on a regular basis. It's probably a mistake for a network, even one presumably as desperate as NBC, to look to its cable outlets as a farm team to develop prime-time hits. Runway and Top Chef are great fun, but even at their height, they're niche shows and not likely to translate into mass-appeal network-level hits.

Question: How did you feel about how the writers of House wrapped up the Tritter story line? Am I the only one who thought it was a very limp end to an excruciatingly annoying plotline? I was hoping the creative team would surprise us all and have some bang-up ending to reward us for sticking around until it played out, but I only felt more frustrated when the credits rolled. All that, and no conceivable change in House? In the end, this story didn't seem to do anything to drive the narrative forward. Outside of a seemingly sincere apology to Wilson, all is the same with House and his team. (And the apology won't really change things anyway; Wilson is too loyal to House.) I felt as if almost all of the characters suddenly became unidentifiable and inconsistent. Cuddy simultaneously enabled and scolded House; Wilson was willing to give up his career and his patients just because House was acting like a spoiled teenager; and Cameron never said or did anything that jived with the history of her character. Am I overreacting? Overthinking? Obviously, I know it's just a TV show, but I'm stunned that things went so haywire on a show that has been so solid and consistent with character development. It's like the chief architect of the story disappeared or something, and they just didn't tell the media or viewers, hoping no one would notice a change.— Suzanne

Matt Roush: I agree that the resolution was pretty anticlimactic, and I didn't know what to make of the twist that someone had been slipping him Vicodin through all of this so-called rehab. (Tritter was right; actions do speak louder than words.) That said, I'm glad House has curbed the Tritter story line, which in the big picture of things was hardly the show's finest hour (or hours). One big flaw in this story arc was that we knew too little about House's new nemesis, except that House ticked him off, and because our favorite curmudgeon refused to apologize, it set in motion a vengeful plot that at times felt like it was rivaling Les Miserables. I do empathize with a show like House that tries to expand beyond the patient-of-the-week procedural. And during the part of Tritter's crusade in which he targeted each of House's colleagues, I liked how this crisis forced each of the characters to examine their unhealthy relationship with their mentor. But ultimately, the story went on too long for its own good and began to feel as ridiculous as it was annoying. If the final act of this arc wasn't satisfying, especially if you were expecting more fireworks (as I was), it may be because the entire venture was a bit of a mistake. In the world of TV, sometimes you don't realize a mistake until you're already too far along to pull back. Bad things happen to good shows, but that doesn't mean the show has gone bad. I'm anxious to see new episodes later this month, especially now that this albatross has been shed.

Question: While I know it is still a very uneven show, I do find myself enjoying The Class more and more. I understand its fate is still up in the air, but does the People's Choice Award help it at all? In the past, I've never put much stock in the People's Choice Awards because the "people" aren't typically watching my favorite shows. Honestly, I never put much stock in any of the awards shows. I always get excited for the nominations, but once they are announced, I become bitterly disappointed.— Carrie

Matt Roush: People's Choice? Never heard of it. (Kidding.) Seriously, this is possibly just about the most weightless of all awards. But if it helps CBS look generously on The Class during its fumbling freshman season and give the show a little more promotional juice, cool beans. While we're on the subject, I'm intrigued by The Class' stunt this week of putting a table read online live today and webcasting a run-through this Wednesday (both at CBS.com), plugging fans into the production process in a way that I've never seen done before. Again, if it helps raise the profile of this likable but hit-or-miss series, all the better.

Question: In the wake of the cancellation of Day Break (and after last year's Eyes), can you do me a favor when you attend next year's upfronts? Can you please let ABC know that at least one TV junkie will not be tuning in to any more serialized dramas on ABC? And I will definitely not put any money in their pocket if they opt to release them on DVD. When a network signs up for a serialized drama, they are asking viewers to make a commitment to watch it. When they unceremoniously drop it before it's reached at least a reasonable conclusion (I recognize that a show can't continue in production when it is not making money — but Day Break actually had a complete season in the can, and Eyes had eight more episodes), they are telling us our commitment means nothing. Day Break was designed to fill in between Lost runs. Whether or not the show was any good (although I thought it was entertaining) is moot. At only 13 weeks, it wouldn't have killed ABC to complete airing the season. They could have doubled-up on episodes if they had to get it out of the way. But jerking the viewers' chains (including a "don't miss the next Day Break" promo at the end of the last aired episode), even if they didn't think there were very many of us, is a slap in the face. Then to further lie about releasing the remaining episodes online adds insult to injury. (Incidentally, additional episodes of Eyes were worthy enough to be released overseas, just not domestically.) Please let ABC know I won't forget, and I suspect there are others equally as put off.— Rick

Matt Roush: Oh, no doubt. You're hardly alone. I'm not saying the anger level against ABC and the others who've canceled their serialized dramas this season is unprecedented, but it is palpable and hard to ignore. But to play the devil's advocate here, ABC is also the home of such successful serialized hours as Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, the steadily improving Brothers & Sisters, the lovable Ugly Betty, the sleeper romantic comedy Men in Trees and even the farcical Boston Legal, which has plenty of continuing elements. (Not to mention the network's inexplicable loyalty to What About Brian). Plus, I keep hearing good things about the as-yet-unscheduled Traveler. To single out ABC here is to punish a network that has been ambitious enough to put at least some of these series in play in hopes of scoring the next Lost-style sensation. What really seems to rankle viewers, and I can understand why, is ABC's handling of Day Break, which was already known to be limited in duration. If ABC had just burned off the episodes with double runs on the low-impact nights between the holidays, what would have been the harm? (Many people would still have missed them and would have bitterly complained, but at least the effort would have been made.) But there's no reason to think that ABC will stop developing serialized shows, as they seek the next Housewives or Lost or Grey's. And despite how loudly many are complaining, if ABC hits pay dirt again (it could happen), we'd be foolish not to come to the party.

Question: I know you've probably addressed this question numerous times before, but with this season possibly being the last of Gilmore Girls, I'm wondering if you've changed your opinion on it. Whom do you see Rory ending up with romantically? I've always been an avid Jess lover, but I think I've finally accepted that he's not coming back. Do you really think Logan is her soul mate? Would it be realistic to introduce a new love interest so late? And what are the chances of her ending up single?— Melissa

Matt Roush: I vote for single, since you didn't give me the "I could hardly care less" option. But honestly, if the show were to end with Rory being as independent as Lorelai was when we first met her, that would make perfect sense. I've never bought Rory's fantasy romance with this impossibly rich, privileged, connected publishing scion in whose posh pad she lives. There are times when she looks absolutely dependent upon Logan, and that's not how I want to end up remembering Rory Gilmore (if, in fact, I do).

Question: How come Jericho does not receive the hype of similar shows like Heroes and Lost? I am a huge fan of Lost and Jericho, making Wednesdays the best TV day of the week for me. I read your columns as often as possible but never see any juicy questions about Jericho. Is it not getting a good viewer response? Please tell me the ratings are good enough for it to stick around!— Bridget

Matt Roush: Jericho is doing just fine, certainly well enough to make it through the season, and probably beyond. It seems to have attracted a loyal following, if not quite as rabid and vocal as that for Lost or Heroes. I've fielded questions and debate regarding this show, especially in the early days when it was clear Jericho wasn't going to be a dud, as I and a number of other critics had predicted. Maybe the lack of response in this column has something to do with the perception that, while I've continued to watch, I do so only grudgingly, finding the show to be a bland, poorly cast and feebly plotted bore. I assume fans have found other forums where they can be pandered to more enthusiastically. I just can't muster up much passion where Jericho is concerned, though I'm happy for CBS' sake that a rare risky departure from cookie-cutter crime dramas has paid off for them. I hope the next time CBS swings the bat with something different, it will connect emotionally for me. Jericho doesn't.

Question: There has been a lot of talk lately about how the Emmys should handle the dramedy. Unless the networks are insistent upon "comedy" and "drama" labels, why don't they take a cue from the animation categories? In animation, they award Emmys for half-hour and hourlong productions. Seems to me they could just change the titles of the categories to "Best Hourlong Show" and "Best Half-Hour Show." OK, so something couldn't be billed as "the best comedy on TV," but isn't "the best hour of TV" just as a good a promotional hook? If we are veering more and more into this hybrid area, why not just change the names of the current categories and not create new ones? Seems simple enough to me.— John T.

Matt Roush: Nothing's simple in these equations. If you pitted all hourlong shows against each other, it would almost certainly doom any light-hearted hour that fancies itself comedic as it goes up against powerhouses like the HBO dramas and staples like 24. And if you're talking about separating the half-hour from the hour comedies, that's still adding a category that I feel would make either individual win less significant.

Question: I have always wondered why the networks don't seem to care how many total viewers they get for a particular show. For example, on a recent Thursday, Shark had 14.5 million viewers and ER had 10.8 million viewers. But because ER had a 4.6/12 demographic rating and Shark had a 3.7/10, people say it was almost even. So does that mean a network would rather have 1 million viewers and a high demographic rating or 10 million viewers and a lower demographic? It just seems wrong to me that a show can have millions more viewers but because not as many 18-to-49-year-olds watch the show, people say it does worse than another show. It just seems obvious that the more viewers that watch a show, the better. Also, are you as anxious as I am to see the next Battlestar Galactica?— Tim G.

Matt Roush: To answer your simple question first, of course I'm anxious to see Battlestar upon its move to Sundays. Who among its fan base wouldn't be? As regards the ratings question, and keep in mind I'm not a numbers cruncher so I'm not checking your math, but the fact is that the networks don't sell a total-viewer number to advertisers anymore. They sell based on demographics, and advertisers pay more for younger viewers who tend to watch less TV. (It's not fair, and it doesn't even make much sense, but it's true.) One of the first times this resonated to me was during the long run of CBS' Murder, She Wrote, which was a powerful top-10 hit for years and regularly clobbered the competition. But often, the presumed loser in that Sunday time period (for instance, The Simpsons) could still command a higher ad rate because of the young (and male) concentration of its audience, over the decidedly older fan base for Jessica Fletcher. What's happening on Thursdays with Shark and ER is that both have bragging rights and both can be seen as successful. Shark, with its CSI lead-in, may draw the most overall viewers, but a younger audience still devoted to ER helps that show survive as a strong No. 2 (and most weeks, No. 1 in the demo). What I'm most anxious about, now that we're heading out of the rerun cycle, is to see whether ABC's Men in Trees can carve out its own niche against that competition in the same Thursday time period and find some demographic good news of its own to crow about.

http://tvguide.com/News-Views/Columnists/Ask-Matt/Default.aspx#01idol

VisionOn

01-15-07, 12:54 PM

The TV Column
'Lost,' Back On the Radar
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 15, 2007; C01

During the "Lost" Q&A session, the producers noted that the endgame announcement thing had worked really well for "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling, who's said she will wrap up that franchise with book No. 7. But while talking up the endgame notion, the exec producers got all coy, like nice girls on a first date, when reporters asked them how many seasons they thought the show should last. That would be "disrespectful" to the process, Carlton Cuse said, while adding that "The X-Files" was "a bit of a cautionary tale . . . a great show that probably ran two seasons too long." That one ran nine seasons.

The fact that Cuse missed mention of the main reasons for the X-Files decline in popularity doesn't bode well. The X-Files fell apart under the weight of it's ludicrous arc plot of killer bees, blind alien bounty hunters, clones and black oil. The standalone episodes, even with Robert Patrick, were still pretty good if overly familiar by series end. Those that did manage to stick it out to the end of the show got one of the worst resolutions I can ever remember seeing.

A fate which is looking increasingly similar to Lost given it's current path.

fredfa

01-15-07, 01:02 PM

Sunday’s fast national over night prime-time ratings – and some comments from Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s about 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

01-15-07, 01:53 PM

The Business of Television
Meidel Tops MyNetworkTV
By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable 1/15/2007

Industry veteran Greg Meidel has been named president of MyNetworkTV, reporting to Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television Stations.

Meidel’s arrival comes as the netlet is looking to chart a new course, with its all-telenovela strategy failing to gain ratings traction. Many options are on the table, including one that is believed to involve leasing out the 8-9 p.m. hour to producers.

In making the announcement, Abernethy said: “Greg is a proven leader and one of the most respected television executives in the business. These qualities, along with his unique ability to translate a vision into a business of scale, make him the ideal person for this position. I’m thrilled to have him on the MyNetworkTV team.”

Most recently, Meidel served as the president of programming for CBS Paramount Domestic Television, where he oversaw first-run programming in syndication including Judge Judy, Dr. Phil and Entertainment Tonight.

Previously, Meidel served as President, COO and Partner of Massive Media Group (MMG), a technology-driven company providing digital rights management for the convergence of content and technology over the Internet.

“I couldn’t be more excited about joining MyNetworkTV,” said Meidel. “I look forward to working with the talented group of people here to grow the network and ensure that it reaches its full potential.”

Meidel previously served as President and COO of Twentieth Television from 1992-1995, where he was in charge of all first-run and reality programming for network and syndication, including America’s Most Wanted, Cops and A Current Affair.

In addition, he supervised all cable, station and advertiser sales for The Simpsons, NYPD Blue and The X-Files.

He also served as chairman and CEO of the Universal Television Group from 1996-1998, where he was responsible for all television properties, including network and first-run production, worldwide distribution and the oversight of USA Network.

In addition, Meidel held a variety of management positions of increasing responsibility at Paramount from 1979-1992.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6407499.

fredfa

01-15-07, 02:09 PM

Washington Notebook
Musical Chairs: Dems Take Over
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 1/15/2007
Last week was the official changing of the guard in the House. Elected Democrats have taken over the committee and subcommittee chairs that will set the agendas for communications-policy—related hearings and legislation. Senate committee assignments were handed out not long after the elections, but a pro forma election is scheduled. A list of key players in both houses is in order.

The House is expected to take the lead in introducing telecom legislation, said one veteran lobbyist, but that didn't stop the Senate from getting started quickly.

Hardly had the majority unpacked and moved into their new digs when the Senate Commerce Committee e-mailed the list of its first full-committee hearings, to be conducted under new Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who is technically co-chairman with fellow octogenarian Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

The group plans an FCC oversight hearing “assessing the communications marketplace.” The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 1.

The commission is expected to be asked to explain its move last month to put limits on the local franchising process to allow telcos to more easily enter the multichannel video market.

Still, the House should dominate the action, with telecom-focused leaders taking their turn in the driver's seat, including John Dingell (D-Mich.), head of the new House Energy & Commerce Committee; and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee.

Here's a guide to who is in and out at key committees, and how they could affect the industry.

HOUSE

Energy and Commerce Committee
In: Chairman John Dingell of Michigan
Out: Joe Barton of Texas
What Dingell Could Do: “Communications is [key] for Dingell, who lives to do oversight,” says Media Access Project President Andrew J. Schwartzman.
Dingell has pushed for more money for a DTV-transition education campaign and for making sure no sets go dark, in sharp contrast to the more limited DTV-switch assistance effort pushed by Barton and company.
He wants to investigate whether media-ownership rules serve the public interest and says he would take another crack at a telecom-reform bill.

Telecommunications Subcommittee (of Energy and Commerce)
In: Chairman Ed Markey of Massachusetts
Out: Fred Upton of Michigan
What Markey Could Do: He gave up a full-committee chairmanship—Energy and Natural Resources—to take the telecom subcommittee. He knows the issues and cares about them. He is likely to be more amenable to multicast must-carry, though with public-interest conditions; as the “father of the V-chip,” he should be less inclined to slam the technology, as the FCC has done, but he is also concerned about TV violence.
Markey will also likely push for more money for the DTV transition or, alternatively, push the hard date if the transition starts looking like a political train wreck.
He has already come out with a to-do list as chairman that includes broadband access, DTV public interest, FCC oversight and public broadcasting.

House Judiciary Committee
In: Chairman John Conyers of Michigan
Out: James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin
What Conyers Could Do: With him at the head of the committee, the odds improve for passage of a federal shield law that would protect journalists from the too long arm of the government when it attempts to force them to reveal sources.
Conyers is also a fan of network neutrality. It has antitrust implications that created jurisdictional issues between Commerce and Judiciary in both the House and Senate in the last Congress and could do so again.

Education and Workforce Committee
In: Chairman George Miller of California
Out: John Boehner of Ohio
What Miller Could Do: He has been a vocal member on the issue of unattributed video news releases (VNRs) and the pay-for-plug contracts of conservative commentator Armstrong Williams. If the VNR issue heats up, look for Miller to hold hearings.

SENATE

Commerce Committee
In: Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Out: Ted Stevens of Alaska (He will be named vice chairman in a move mirroring his decision to make Inouye co-chairman when he was running the committee. Stevens asked for the vice chairman title rather than co-chairman, according to an Inouye staffer.)
What Inouye Could Do: He was one of the original co-sponsors of a network-neutrality bill in the last Congress, the new version of which has just been reintroduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.). Inouye was not a co-sponsor of the new bill, but as chairman, he may want to let the issue “percolate,” as Schwartzman puts it.
Schwartzman also says one new dynamic will be that Democrats, especially Dorgan, will pressure the Commerce chairman to be more proactive, which could include more emphasis on media-ownership issues. “There was dissatisfaction from some on the subcommittee with Inouye's closeness with Stevens.”

Judiciary Committee
In: Patrick Leahy of Vermont
Out: Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania
What Leahy Could Do: He is supportive of the federal shield law for journalists. Radio-Television News Directors Association President Barbara Cochran says Leahy has supported speeding the release of documents in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
He could help push a bill allowing cameras in federal appeals courts. And he has signed on to the bill that would legislate network neutrality.

Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
In: Tom Harkin of Iowa
Out: Saxby Chambliss of Georgia
What Harkin Could Do: He is arguably the most vocal critic in Congress of media practices in marketing food to kids. With childhood obesity likely to become the nation's top health risk, Harkin will have a more powerful platform.
Says Harkin's press secretary, Tom Reynolds, “Obesity will continue to be one of the top agenda items for the Senator.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6407361

fredfa

01-15-07, 03:02 PM

The Business of TV
When It Rains It Pours:
Nielsen To Issue Six Streams Of Commercial Ratings, Data
by Joe Mandese MediaPost Editor Monday, Jan 15, 2007

Madison Avenue has long desired TV TV commercial ratings data. It's now about to have its wish fulfilled - six-fold. Nielsen tomorrow is expected to announce a new plan that will provide six separate streams of data to advertisers, agencies, TV outlets. According to the plan, the new, multiple streams of average commercial minutes ratings data will be released beginning in May and Nielsen's clients will have until the end of August to evaluate them before a decision is made on how and whether they should become the official ratings currency for the new TV season beginning in September 2007.

The plan, which is the result of a series of client discussions that began in early December, following a special public meeting to address, which of the ratings streams should be used for processing TV commercial ratings (Media Daily News Dec. 8, 2006).

Following those discussions, Nielsen has decided to add three new streams to the three it already produces as part of its current TV program ratings. The new streams will include: "live" plus one-day, "live" plus two-days, and "live" plus three days of playback via digital video recorders. Nielsen currently provides three streams of data for "live" only, "live" plus same day, and "live" plus seven days of playback.

Additionally, Nielsen will slightly alter the definition of a television "day" from 24-hours to 27-hours to allow prime-time programs to be credited for the first day of viewing even if they are watched during prime-time the next evening.

Nielsen has said all of these new data streams would be free to existing customers for the duration of the evaluation period, but that it plans to charge separately for each stream if and when they become official ratings currency next September, a move that could prove a boon to parent VNU's bottom line.

The new ratings streams could also have a profound impact on the way TV advertising is bought and sold. Aside for providing greater accountability for advertising exposure, the networks have hoped the shift would allow them to regain time-shifted audiences as part of their ratings guarantees to advertisers. The networks lost that option during last year's upfront advertising marketplace, when - due to soft market conditions - they agreed to provide program audience guarantees on the basis of "live" only data.

During the public client meeting Nielsen held Dec. 7, 2006 in New York, a consensus seemed to emerge that "live" only ratings might not be the best measure of the TV advertising marketplace - and that "live" plus same day, or "live" plus one or two days might be fairer representation of audience delivery for advertisers.

With the exception of a agency executives - most notably Mediaedge:cia's Rino Scanzoni and Lyle Schwartz - Madison Avenue has been somewhat circumspect on that subject, and the issue of "live" only audience guarantees is expected to reemerge during the 2007-08 upfront advertising negotiations, despite the presence of the new time-shifted audience ratings streams.

CBS research chief David Poltrack has suggested that the marketplace might ultimately settle on a stratified approach that assigns higher CPM (cost per thousand) values for deals that are guaranteed on the basis of "live" only ratings, which cheaper CPMs for deals that incorporate more of the time-shifted audiences.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=53876

fredfa

01-15-07, 03:18 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
showrunners and the "nipple problem"
By Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic TV Critic in his Critic’s Tour blog January 15, 2007

PASADENA, Calif. -- ABC had a panel devoted to "showrunners," industry-speak for people who ... run shows.

We're a technical bunch.

It was a good group: Silvio Horta from Ugly Betty, Jenny Bicks from Men In Trees, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof of Lost, Shonda Rhimes of Grey's Anatomy, Marc Cherry of Desperate Housewives, Robbie Baitz and Greg Berlanti from Brothers & Sisters. In most cases, though not all, they're the folks who created the shows, an added bonus.

Topics were all over the place, but the answers were always thoughtful and often funny. It was the kind of session that doesn't necessarily yield a story in itself, but informs all the other stories we write. It was inside dope, in other words, and that stuff's priceless.

It's also a look at how these people think. Cherry, for instance, is a big, loud, funny guy who loves to go on about things like the discrepancies in how shows and the people who make them are treated.

"Do you guys have the nipple problem?" he asked the others. "I spend like $100,000 a week taking nipples out of my show, because I've got a couple of actresses who refuse to wear bras, and the standards and practices go, 'Can't see that.' So what's interesting is I'll turn on Friends and it's a nipplefest! I don't understand the difference. So that's an interesting thing you have to deal with. ABC actually has, I think, a little bit more restrictive standards and practices."

And some of his actresses have less restrictive ideas about underwear.

http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?blog=5&blogtype=Entertainment

fredfa

01-15-07, 03:20 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Calling the Decency Police
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer in her blog “Moraes On TV” January 15, 2007

During an ABC Q&A at Winter TV Press Tour 2007 featuring show runners on some of its scripted series, the subject of the network's Decency Police kept coming up.

"Desperate Housewives'" Marc Cherry said his strangest DP note came during production of the pilot, in which Eva Longoria's character has sex with her 17-year-old gardener. Looking at the post-sex scene, the DP said "does she have to smoke?"

"And I went, 'So, you're good with the statutory rape thing?'"

Jenny Bicks, from "Men in Trees" recalled one recent script in which "I had two 'ass's' and one 'crap'."

"I was... told that I could trade an 'ass' for a 'crap' but I couldn't have two 'ass's' and the 'crap'."

"This wasn't even the show," joked "Lost's" Damon Lindelof.

"This was last night at the bar," said Cherry.

Lindelof complained "you could say things on 'NYPD Blue' in 1991 that you can no longer say at 10 o'clock in 2007."

"Thank you Janet Jackson," Cherry added. (He forgot to thank Justin Timberlake.)

"The ambiguity of the FCC's position on what constitutes obscenity has really been difficult for all of us because it's made the Standards and Practices department ultra-cautious about risking fines. I think it's hindering us in our abilities to be as fully creative as we would like to be."

"You don't know what I had to go through to get the word 'douchy' in the pilot," "Ugly Betty's" Silvio Horta chimed in.

"Do you guys have the nipple problem?" Cherry asked his colleagues.

"I spend like $100,000 a week taking nipples out of my show because I've got a couple of actresses who refuse to wear bras, and the Standards and Practices go 'Can't see that.' ... then I'll turn on 'Friends' and it's a nipplefest."

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

fredfa

01-15-07, 03:34 PM

Here is just another reason – if you needed one – that Tim Goodman’s blog is essential reading on a daily basis:
Critic’s Notebook
Leo Sayer goes insane
(Can we get this "Big Brother"?)
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog “The Bastard Machine”

I don't know why this is so funny, but it is. Maybe because it's about underwear.

Leo Sayer - funny all by himself as the singer of songs we won't even mention for fear they will stick in our head - was on the British version of "Big Brother" and then freaked out in a way that is, well, classic television.

It contains gratuitous amounts of swearing, so if you're at work, turn down the volume. It also contains Leo Sayer.

You've been warned. All I can say is, hell, if "Big Brother" was this good in the US, I'd watch.

You can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poI_0HgHsH0&eurl=

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

dad1153

01-15-07, 03:38 PM

fredfa

01-15-07, 03:41 PM

The Business of TV
A “Broadcasting & Cable” Exclusive:
CBS Will Build Out Online Programming Strategy for Fall
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 1/15/2007

CBS next season plans on building out its strategy of making new fall shows available online prior to their launch on the network, according to network research chief David Poltrack.

He said after finding success this season, the network will back the approach next fall "more aggressively." In addition to offering most or all shows online ahead of time, CBS is looking at increases in promotion and exposure for the online premieres, as well as additional content to support the launch.

CBS and other networks continue to make shows available online with the belief the tactic doesn't cannibalize television viewership, but actually builds it.

And according to Poltrack, 53% of people who watched the network's rookie shows online prior to their fall 2006 launch are still viewers of the show.

"You could argue that any number of them would have watched the show anyway, but maybe it would be three or four episodes in with all the clutter in the fall," he says. "Partly because so many shows these days are serialized, it is more important than ever to get them in there early."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6407512

fredfa

01-15-07, 03:46 PM

Some "24" ratings comparisons with previous years:
TV Notebook
Good start for Fox's '24'
By Rick Kissell and Variety Staff January 15, 2007

The clock is ticking once again and Fox's "24" got off to a nice start with its special two-hour premiere Sunday night. CBS dominated the opening 90 minutes of the evening with NFL playoff action, while NBC's revamped lineup -- including the second week for "Grease" and "The Apprentice" -- looked shaky.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "24" averaged a 6.1 rating/14 share in adults 18-49 and 15.7 million viewers overall from 8 to 10, opening with a 5.8 rating in the first hour and rising to a 6.3 in its second hour. The drama thriller was down from last year's bow (7.0/15 in 18-49, 16.3 million viewers overall), which had the benefit of a football lead-in, but was on par in key demos with the 2005 season opener, which did air behind football.

Show's opening-night perf is all the more impressive given that the AFC playoff game between the New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers on CBS didn't wrap until nearly 8:30 in the East. And in its second hour, "24" nearly caught ABC's "Desperate Housewives" (6.8/15 in 18-49, 16.7 million viewers overall), which hit a firstrun series low for the second straight week.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957408.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

fredfa

01-15-07, 03:57 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Donald Trump:
This situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part
By Alan Sepinwall of the Newark Star-Ledger in his TV blog “What’s Alan Watching” Monday, January 15, 2007

NBC is bringing Donald Trump and the rotting corpse of "The Apprentice" here in a few days, so at this morning's TCA business meeting, I decided to make a pointless stand when it came to The Donald.

When the meeting came to new business, I pointed out that, while everyone is obviously entitled to ask any question they want, I thought it would be cool if we could get through the entire "Apprentice" session without asking a single question about Rosie O'Donnell. In my mind, that would accomplish two things:

1)It would allow us to comment, silently, on the stupidity of these celebrity PR feud and the media's role as accomplice in them;

and

2)It would drive Trump nuts.

After the meeting, several people told me they agreed with the sentiment, even as they acknowledged that there's no way this would actually happen. Said one big-city tabloid writer, "I wish I could resist, but I don't want to get fired."

http://www.nj.com/weblogs/tv/index.ssf?/mtlogs/njo_alan/archives/2007_01.html#225380

fredfa

01-15-07, 04:19 PM

Uhhh, I don't recall the end date being discussed by the "Lost" producers as coming anytime soon, only that its being discussed. Another Lisa faux-pa!... :rolleyes:

I don't understand the under-current of negativity, dad. (Another Lisa faux-pa! ????) You keep score?

Clearly, discussions are ongoing about how and when to end the series.

An EP wonders if viewers would be around for even a season six.

(And, at any event, Lisa didn't speak of an end-date coming soon, just the announcement of an end date.)

From Edward Wyatt of the N Y Times:

“…And for “Lost,” the biggest of the ABC serials, the network is now discussing with the producers how and when to end the series, Mr. McPherson said….”

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9468838&&#post9468838

From Ellen Gray of the Philadelphia Daily News:

“Producers of ABC's "Lost" say they're in talks with ABC to determine a fixed end point for the show, which they've always insisted was meant to have a beginning, a middle and, yes, an end.

Apparently, they're going on the "Harry Potter" model, noting that it's worked so far for J.K. Rowling.

No, they won't say yet if the curtain will drop on Season 4, or 5, or even 7 -- because it would be "disrespectful" to the discussions, said exec producer Carlton Cuse -- but reading between the lines, anything more than seven seasons might feel like a stretch….”

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9463907&&#post9463907

From James Hibberd of Television Week:

“In a highly unusual move for a broadcast series, ABC and the producers of "Lost" are in discussions to determine an end date for the show.

The date will set a limit to the number of "Lost" seasons to come and will be announced to fans. The show's producers, speaking at ABC's Television Critics Association press tour session, said having a conclusion date will bolster fan confidence in the series' narrative. A timeline for making the decision was not announced….”

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9464684&&#post9464684

From Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune:

“Could it be time for the “Lost” castaways to start packing their bags?

Maybe not just yet, but executive producer Carlton Cuse said at a Sunday press panel that the show’s producers are in the process of “picking an end point to the show…”

“…“The reality is, they can produce a sixth or seventh or eighth season, but would anyone be watching? Because the show would be so miserable by that time,” (executive producer Damon)

Lindelof said, who was reminded by one reporter that ABC could continue making the show without the involvement of the show’s current creative team.

“We were surprised when we went to ABC and started having that conversation,” Lindelof said. “As opposed to them saying, ‘Fine, we’ll bring on new people,’ they said, ‘Well, when do you think it should end?’ And the conversations began.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9466381&&#post9466381

From Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Republic:

“…There was this: they're working out an ending already. Don't want to stay at the party too long, evidently….”

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9466541&&#post9466541

And finally, as Lisa herself pointed out at the end of the "Lost" section of the TV Column:

"...Of course, ABC can announce "Lost" will end at the close of Season 6, but there's no knowing whether that actually will happen. Isn't "The Sopranos" heading into its third " final" season?..."

Frankly, I think your comment is just a flat out a mis-reading of Lisa D's writing.

foxeng

01-15-07, 04:23 PM

The many, many other interests of Abrams, foxeng, could be the basic problem with "Lost".

I totally agree and that was my point. He is now emerged in the new Star Trek movie, he doesn't have time for anything else and it is showing.

fredfa

01-15-07, 04:28 PM

It seemed pretty obvious last season, didn't it foxeng?

URFloorMatt

01-15-07, 04:36 PM

"Do you guys have the nipple problem?" Cherry asked his colleagues.

"I spend like $100,000 a week taking nipples out of my show because I've got a couple of actresses who refuse to wear bras, and the Standards and Practices go 'Can't see that.' ... then I'll turn on 'Friends' and it's a nipplefest."

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

And HDTV owners everywhere let out a disparaging sigh. He's definitely right about Friends though.

The problem that I have with this is not so much that the FCC has a problem but that the networks feel the need to be so tough about self-censorship. That's what bothers me. The FCC doesn't make serious rulings on these subjects. They've just set a tone that leads to a complete circumvention of the system.

archiguy

01-15-07, 05:27 PM

And HDTV owners everywhere let out a disparaging sigh. He's definitely right about Friends though.

The problem that I have with this is not so much that the FCC has a problem but that the networks feel the need to be so tough about self-censorship. That's what bothers me. The FCC doesn't make serious rulings on these subjects. They've just set a tone that leads to a complete circumvention of the system.

I have to agree with that. It's all so arbitrary, without any firm definitions, and then they go and increase the size of their arbitrary fines exponentially. It's made everybody wary, like they're walking on eggshells. And all due to the famous Janet Jackson micro-second boob exposure that, literally, nobody without the ability to freeze-frame even saw. This system is certifiably nuts, no doubt about it.

fredfa

01-15-07, 05:39 PM

Nielsen Notebook
Season To Date Ratings

Prime Time Programs, ranked by Total Viewers (In millions)
1 Desperate Housewives ABC 21.05
2 Dancing With The Stars ABC 20.69
3 CSI CBS 20.64
4 Dancing/Stars - Results ABC 19.12
5 Grey’s Anatomy ABC 18.26
6 Lost ABC 17.84
7 CSI: Miami CBS 17.11
8 Sunday Night Football NBC 17.02
9 Deal or No Deal - Mon NBC 16.08
10 Survivor-Cook Islands CBS 15.75
11 Criminal Minds CBS 15.69
12 CSI: NY CBS 15.46
13 Heroes NBC 15.26
14 House Fox 15.03
15 Without A Trace CBS 14.95
16 Two and a Half Men CBS 14.95
17 NCIS CBS 14.81
18 Ex Makeover-Home Ed. ABC 14.76
19 Cold Case CBS 14.68
20 60 Minutes CBS 14.29
• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

foxeng

01-15-07, 06:01 PM

It seemed pretty obvious last season, didn't it foxeng?

Yep.

fredfa

01-15-07, 06:04 PM

TV Notebook
Dishing the 'Dirt' on a mini-'Friends' reunion
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” January 15, 2007

Jennifer Aniston will guest star on the March 27 season finale of Courteney Cox’s new FX drama, “Dirt.”

The two haven’t worked on screen together since 2004, when “Friends” went off the air.

Aniston will play Tina Harrod, a tabloid editor and competitor of Lucy Spiller, Cox’s character, who manipulates the lives of celebrities through her popular gossip magazine, DirtNow.

Cox and her husband, David Arquette, are executive producers of the series, which was created by Matthew Carnahan.

“Jennifer loves the show,” Cox told critics at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena on Jan. 9. “She's already going, ‘What am I going to do?’ I'm like, I don't know if we can put you on, Jen. ... All my friends that are in this business think it's fantastic and love it and are addicted.”

“We were just on vacation together,” Cox noted, saying that she and Aniston, a frequent tabloid target, had discussed what kind of character she would want to play. They talked about “would you want to play yourself or should we just write some fantastic character for you, or maybe you take Dirt down,” Cox said. “I mean, I'm sure she would love to take one of the magazines down.”

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

GeorgeLV

01-15-07, 06:11 PM

I have to agree with that. It's all so arbitrary, without any firm definitions, and then they go and increase the size of their arbitrary fines exponentially. It's made everybody wary, like they're walking on eggshells. And all due to the famous Janet Jackson micro-second boob exposure that, literally, nobody without the ability to freeze-frame even saw. This system is certifiably nuts, no doubt about it.

...and they will rally under the banner "F#%k da Eagles!"

Seriously, the action/inaction of the latest indecency non-controversy should be very telling.

Davinleeds

01-15-07, 06:18 PM

$100.000 a week to remove nipples. I'm in the wrong business. But then, this is cost plus for one million per episode actors.

fredfa

01-15-07, 06:18 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Keep Guessing When A TV Show Ends…
…And You'll Keep Watching
A media critique by Wayne Friedman in MediaPost Monday, January 15, 2007

PASADENA, CALIF.--IT'S one of the best young, quality network dramas on TV, only in its third season--and producers are talking about when it's going to end.

They're referring to ABC's much-heralded "Lost." If all this sounds a little strange, it really shouldn't. Perhaps more producers and networks should have a similar approach.

During yesterday's Television Critics Association presentation, the producers of the show said picking an end date would help the show's writers' figure out how to plot the next several seasons.

This is an honest creative effort by ABC. With so many questions regarding the show's "mythology," fans need answers--or at least need to know when they'll be a payoff. Everything ends--even entertainment.

You go into a movie knowing that in about two hours the guy will get the girl, or the girl will get the guy, or someone will get someone. Tom Cruise will smile after saving the world or after impregnating Katie Holmes' character in "Mission Impossible 7." With a TV show, you never know. Why not?

Staying on the air too long is a long dreaded TV situation that no producer wants to confront. HBO's "The Sopranos" may be past the point of no return. Creator David Chase envisioned the series as much shorter. "Lost" Executive Producer Carlton Cuse noted that "The X-Files," also a show with its own "mythology," "probably lasted two seasons too long."

Will all this drive ratings for "Lost'? It should. Maybe this kind of publicity will help stir new viewers, especially since the show's ratings this season have fallen off by as much as 20%.

One wonders what it will do for future advertising sales in the show. Perhaps there'll be a greater push by marketers to latch on to big-rated prime-time series--whose life expectancy is undetermined.

Maybe in the future, networks will go one even better--not even telling viewers when a show will end. Maybe a popular program will just stop in mid-season, in episode 12 of 22, right in the middle of a November or February sweep.

Perhaps it'll have this marketing line: "This is not a "Lost" episode you will want to miss." Oh yeah, we've heard that before.

If you miss it --too bad, you probably weren't a fan anyway. Think of what this will do for the future of DVR manufacturers. You'll make sure you hit the season pass button for scores of prime-time TV shows.

This is just what TV viewing needs--to be a little more unpredictable. Tell viewers, from time to time, to get lost.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=53907

dad1153

01-15-07, 07:31 PM

TV Notebook
My top 10 'Idol' thoughts
Some suggestions, pro and con, for the new season of an all-American show
By Verne Gay, Newsday - January 16, 2007

This much we know: As day turns to night and night to day, Simon will scowl, and Paula will squeal (and Randy will say "dawg"). We know that there will be some horrific contestants over four hours tonight and tomorrow and maybe a few good ones, too. We know that by mid-February, there'll be the Hollywood rounds, and by late February, the first results shows. Come March, the 12 finalists ... and by May, the spectacular end.

But what we don't know for certain is this: How will "American Idol" remain the most vital, popular and influential show on television this season, as it so indisputably was in the last? "Idol's" sixth edition begins tonight, but the show actually turns 5 this June. So today, our birthday present arrives a little early. Here are five suggestions that'll keep "Idol" on top for '07 and beyond, along with the five bad habits that should be avoided as well.

•1. Mine the Beatles songbook. Yes, the Lennon-McCartney catalog that contains some of the great songs of the 20th century. Controlled by Michael Jackson and Sony ATV Music Publishing, the songbook is one of the most closely guarded treasures outside of Fort Knox, but imagine if just a few masterpieces made their way through to the finalist rounds. It'd be like a burst of brilliant sun, and would help to push out some of the sodden pop music standards that have made "Idol" occasionally so predictable and (at times) so wrenchingly awful. They'd also be a revelation to a few million viewers who have (hard to believe) never basked in their glow before. In an interview last week, Cécile Frot-Coutaz, one of "Idol's" exec producers and chief of FremantleMedia North America ("Idol's" production company) confirmed media reports that discussions have been held. What she declined to say was how far those have actually progressed.

•2. Don't force every star to work with the kids themselves. "Idol" hasn't been totally inflexible on this - after all, Prince (who appeared in the finale) didn't have to spend a week teaching Bucky Covington how to hold a note. But for the most part, the rule has remained pretty much the same: You want exposure, you have to work for it. The entertainers-in-residence haven't been slouches (Andrea Bocelli), but imagine how many more A-listers would appear on the show if they realized that strings were no longer attached? "Idol's" been working hard to get Paul McCartney to appear this season, but running a singing clinic may not be his idea of a groovy way to spend a week. Frot-Coutaz said the McCartney booking remained a work-in-progress, but added: "We're hopefully going to get some bigger and better people to come out to the show and work with the kids. I don't want to name names, we're trying to crank it up a notch."

[B] •3. Eliminate power voting. We're not so naive as to suggest here that a one-vote-to-one-viewer plan would work, but "Idol" at the very least should find a way to trim the flabby excesses that have dominated the process since season one - the computer bloc votes, the cell text message votes and even those online votes that try to stand the whole process on its head, like voteforthe worst.com (which has doubtless managed to keep lousy contestants around longer than they should). "Idol," of course, has little interest in losing the cell vote count because that's a huge revenue source for sponsor, Cingular. Telescope reports that nearly 600 million votes were cast last season. 600 million! Anyone else smell bloc voting going on 'round here?

•4. Broaden the "Event" appeal. Sure, you reasonably respond, even more events on "Idol," which seems to turn into an "event-a-week" by the later rounds. Fact is, "Idol" needs to turn up the heat even more. Frot-Coutaz explained that there will be a major event by mid-season, though she cryptically described it as a "big partnership. ... We're hoping to partner with some big celebrities [for] a special goal, I can't say any more about it." And what might this be? There's already been plenty of speculation online, and one popular "Idols" site (slimtainment.com) has suggested a reunion show. Good idea.

[B] •5-Feed the beast with more gimmicks. Viewers like gimmicks, especially interactive ones, and while "Idol" already is juggling dozens of those, potentially the best one is under its very nose: Get viewers to write the songs themselves. Yes, a songwriting contest is "planned" but for some reason has yet to be launched (or even announced). What gives? Viewers should be able to write better tunes (for the finale) than the syrupy sop that the pros have turned out in past seasons.

And now, here's my list of five potholes on the "Idol" superhighway. Avoid these and the future should remain bright for the next five years:

•1. Merchandising. Yeah, yeah, we know. Everybody's done it since the days of "Howdy Doody," but - Lordy - how many pieces of the franchise can you sell off before the hard-core fans scream "enough!"? Fox has been smart about limited TV scheduling, but check out the recent Ad Age piece, which reports that "Idol" ice cream, Monopoly games, Barbie dolls and even chocolate bars are soon coming to a store near you. Insists Frot-Coutaz, "We're actually very careful about how we manage the show and the exploitation of it."

•2. Arrogance. You know the line - pride goes before the fall - but wherever you look these days, someone from "Idol" is chest-thumping. "This is the greatest music talent show ever!" Randy Jackson declared last week. A veritable "Super Bowl!" bellowed Cowell. Calm down, guys. Just worry about the contestants.

•3. Signage. It's everywhere and it's gross, and most of it is in the form of Coke. "Idol" seems to have covered every open surface of the show set with the Coke (or Cingular or Ford) logos. What's next? Contestant tattoos?

•4. Less jive from Clive. You know: Clive Davis, the record company heavy who shapes the young talent in the later rounds. Problem is, his presence is a searing reminder that this whole talent contest is really just a means of channeling talent to BMG North America, of which Davis is the big cheese. We know "Idol's" really all about power and about making money, but does it have to be so blatant about it?

•5. Kill those hour-long results shows. This wise suggestion comes from my colleague (and "Idol" expert) Ronnie Gill, who rightfully points out that the hour-long results editions are padded just to make room for more commercials. No argument here.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-etlede5053119jan16,0,4451941.column?coll=ny-television-headlines

AAF

01-15-07, 07:35 PM

Free the nipples! Is it ironic that they spend money removing nipples when so many actresses spend money to put them up front...and sometimes center?

fredfa

01-15-07, 07:43 PM

As usual on awards nights I'll be posting the Gold Globes television category winners as they announced tonight.

(Until the show ends on the West Coast, they will be hidden by spoiler tags for those of you in the West who want to get your updates during the commercial breaks in "24".)

fredfa

01-15-07, 08:09 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
"The Today Show'' expands on NBC
By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News in his blog January 15, 2007

The official announcement probably won't come until Wednesday when NBC has its day on The Tour but sources say that the network will expand "The Today Show'' from three hours to four come the fall.
"Today'' is the most profitable show in the NBC lineup and the network wants to see if it can pick up some more coin with the added hour (10 to 11 a.m. in most markets.) While rumors of the move have been around for a while, the sources said NBC informed their affiliated stations (as opposed to the ones they own like San Jose's KNTV) that it will start offering the fourth hour in September. Just how many affiliates climb onboard remains to be seen because it would mean the local stations would have to give up money generated by the syndicated cooking shows and talk programs they now run at that hour.
As with the current third hour of "Today,'' the fourth will not feature Matt Lauer (who has publically expressed some concern about adding another hour) and Meredith Vieira who generally do only 8 to 10. Among the names being mentioned as possible hosts are Ann Curry and Al Roker, who now do the third hour; "NBC Nightly News'' fill-in anchor Campbell Brown; and White House correspondent David Gregory.

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

dad1153

01-15-07, 08:10 PM

The Business of TV
Time to Collect: A&E's Sopranos Bet Pays Off
By Anthony Crupi, Mediaweek - January 15, 2007

Mel Berning has made A&E’s ad sales partners an offer they can’t refuse.

In the 2006 upfront, A&E Television Networks’ executive vp of advertising sales drummed up 10 new clients that had never before done business with A&E on the strength of a single network acquisition: the HBO mob saga The Sopranos. On Jan. 10, as A&E took the wraps off of its $200 million investment, the show about the depressive Jersey mob boss outdelivered even the most bullish expectations.

The telecast, which ran from 9–11:11 p.m., averaged 3.86 million total viewers and delivered 1.68 million adults 18-49 and 1.79 million adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research data. When the two episodes were measured separately, the first hour delivered 4.27 million total viewers, making it the most-watched premiere of an off-net series in cable history.

More importantly, Berning hit his numbers by a comfortable margin. “We sold the premiere at a pretty aggressive number in terms of both audience delivery and [cost per thousand], and we exceeded our guarantees by more than 10 percent,” he said.

In keeping with A&E’s mandate to present The Sopranos in a more theatrical context, the first hour was punctuated by just two commercial breaks, with the first—a theatrical-length trailer for Paramount’s Zodiac—appearing at the 42-minute mark. The second hour carried a comparatively standard four-pod spot load.

Interspersed throughout the night were three category exclusives (movies, pharmaceuticals and financial services) and an original content showcase sponsored by Lincoln Mercury. Berning said the network aims to balance the somewhat minimalist clutter approach of the first hour with the standard load of the second hour. “Going forward, we’ll be adding up to a third more spots to achieve a more equal distribution,” Berning said, adding that A&E has “60 to 70 advertisers who have already bought into The Sopranos.”

Berning also plans to cut the number of promo spots. More than a quarter of the 22.5 minutes of total ad time placed in the premiere were for A&E franchises like CSI: Miami and Dog the Bounty Hunter.

While hefty, A&E’s net promo load was not out of the ordinary, said Brad Adgate, senior vp and corporate research director, Horizon Media. “An event like this will bring in viewers that aren’t part of the network’s core audience,” Adgate said. “So if you’re pulling in new viewers, you want to get them to sample your other shows as well.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003532322

fredfa

01-15-07, 08:13 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER:
JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

(Previously announced:
CECIL B. DEMILLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Warren Beatty

http://www.hfpa.org/news/id/42

fredfa

01-15-07, 08:17 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

(Previously announced)
CECIL B. DEMILLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Warren Beatty

fredfa

01-15-07, 08:30 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: EMILY BLUNT, Gideon's Daughter
TONI COLLETTE, Tsunami, The Aftermath
KATHERINE HEIGL, Grey's Anatomy
SARAH PAULSON, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
ELIZABETH PERKINS, Weeds

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

dad1153

01-15-07, 08:31 PM

Guess we can't comment on the Golden Globe winners until after the West Coast feed is over then. Right? :confused:

fredfa

01-15-07, 08:32 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA

WINNER: HUGH LAURIE, House
PATRICK DEMPSEY, Grey's Anatomy
MICHAEL C. HALL, Dexter
BILL PAXTON, Big Love
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, 24

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: EMILY BLUNT, Gideon's Daughter
TONI COLLETTE, Tsunami, The Aftermath
KATHERINE HEIGL, Grey's Anatomy
SARAH PAULSON, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
ELIZABETH PERKINS, Weeds

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

dad1153

01-15-07, 08:35 PM

Is it me or are lots of cancelled-due-to-low-ratings TV shows being turned into movies? If true then where's the Farscape movie that will explain all those loose ends left hanging from the cut-short last season? :cool:

TV Notebook
MGM Greenlights New 'Stargate' Movies
By Valerie Swayne, TV Week - January 15, 2007

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios announced Monday its plans to relaunch the "Stargate SG-1" franchise with two movies based on the sci-fi series.

The first installment, "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" promises fans closure to the Ori saga from the past two seasons of the show. In the second follow-up film, "Stargate: Continuum," the SG-1 crew will encounter new challenges as they journey through the galaxies.

"Stargate SG-1" stars Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Claudia Black, and Michael Shanks. The cast is tapped to reprise their roles from the series in the films.

"'Stargate SG-1' is to MGM Television what the 'James Bond,' 'Pink Panther,' and the 'Rocky' franchises are to our feature film unit," said Charles Cohen, senior executive VP of MGM. "We are committed to continuing to release new SG-I content and its "Stargate Atlantis" spin-off, and we're also steadfast in our dedication to extending the franchise. 'Stargate' is an indelible brand for MGM and we will support it well into the future."

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11381

fredfa

01-15-07, 08:44 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
'Lost' End's Effect on Actors
By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic in his “TV Eye” blog January 15, 2007

Fans of “Lost” may have been shaken by news out of the TV critics press tour over the weekend that the producers are in talks to put an end date for the show, in part to help give the narrative more shape.

But what about the cast? As it is, none know particularly where the show is going.

“None of us do, until we read the script,” says Yunjin Kim. “I still don't know who the baby's father is for my character; that's how little we all know.”

So far, the first part of the season has largely concentrated on three imprisoned characters – Jack, Kate and Sawyer.

“What I found really exciting about these first six episodes and all that we've done, says Evangeline Lily, who plays Kate, “we've been facilitating part of the introduction of these other incredible characters that have come to join our team.”

Even so, the addition of their captors pushed a lot of the show’s favorites out of the picture.

Which isn’t always bad, says Jorge Garcia, who plays Hurley. “I think as actors we like to act, so we like when we get our chances to do it,” he says. “Like any job, sometimes you also like a week off.”

“All of us on the show are really proud of it and want to participate in something that we can actually not just do for money but because we love it,” says Daniel Dae Kim. “The good news is this isn't our last season. There's a lot more story to tell.”

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/

rebkell

01-15-07, 08:46 PM

fredfa

01-15-07, 08:46 PM

Guess we can't comment on the Golden Globe winners until after the West Coast feed is over then. Right? :confused:

I would prefer it if you didn't.

There is no hurry.

There are quite a few people out here to whom that would be unfair.

This should be, whenever possible, a spoiler-free zone.

fredfa

01-15-07, 09:00 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Lost” Producers Defend Unanswered Questions
By Walt Belcher Tampa Tribune Jan 15, 2007

“As writers, the questions that the characters are asking on the show is always a slippery slope,” said producer Damon Lindelof.

“We find ourselves saying, ‘We’d be asking much better questions, too.’ Unfortunately, if Jack asked the questions that we wanted him to, The Others would answer none of them.”

“So you would just have him asking a string of questions with Michael sort of looking back at him stoically, which probably would not be that interesting to watch. He asks the questions that at least he has an opportunity of getting an answer out of them”

Lindelof added that the characters on the show experience in many ways the same frustrations that the fans
and the critics do everybody who is watching the show, in terms of, why don’t the characters talk more amongst each other about the mystery of the island.

“The reality is, we’ve written those scenes and in some cases we even shoot those scenes. And whether you take our word for it or not, we think they don’t work; they’re incredibly boring,” he said.

And actually watching a TV show where the characters are trying to solve the same mystery that the audience is makes for “very uninvolving television,” he said.

Producer Carlton Cuse said “Lost” is not a small genre show “because we don’t allow the characters to focus on the mythology.”

“We want the characters to focus on primarily their relationships with each other. We always view the show as a character show with a mythology frosting over the top.”

“All the questions we get asked are about the mythology. But when we sit down and we work on the stories, we’re primarily spending most of our time talking about these characters and how they interact. And I think that if the characters became focused on the mythology, a lot of people would drop out. I think there’s a much larger audience that’s much more interested in who is Kate going to choose than the details about who Alvar Honso is”.

Producer Jack Bender said “from the beginning, the show has always been much more about the monster inside our characters than the monster outside our character.”

Lindelof said that when he and J.J. Abrams were first designing the show, Abrams specifically said “Don’t make the mistake of having the characters talk about Rambaldi all the f’ ing time.”

“
“The mythology is very important and we don’t throw it away piecemeal,’ he said. “But \at the same time, we approach every episode as this is a Jack episode; we’re going to explain a little more why the guy needs to fix things all the time and let the island story support that obsession.”

“Unfortunately, the side effect of that is that the audience doesn’t feel they’re getting answers to mysteries in the time allotted.”

Cuse said there is a distorted sense of the season in its totality because there have only been six episodes.

“If we only showed you the first six episodes of last year, you’d probably be saying, has the show just become about the tail section people,” he said. “Those characters are basically now all dead. And by the time we got on through the entire season last year, we feel like we covered everyone’s story. I think the same will be true when you see the entire third season in its totality. You’ll have a much better sense of what everybody’s been doing.”

Lindelof said that the next pod of episodes gets back to the beach.

“Jake, Kate and Sawyer’s time on The Others’ island, on Alcatraz Island, is officially over at the end of episode six as a result of what Jack does,” he said. “Now we’re spinning back towards the beach community and telling a lot of those stories. It doesn’t mean that we are abandoning the other storyline by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just we’re not committing as much screen time to the telling of that story once we get our hero characters back together.”

He said there has never been any pressure ever from the network or the studio in terms of how quickly they answer questions. “In fact, to be completely candid, the only pressure that we’ve ever received from them is Answer some f’ ing
questions’.”

“But for us, we don’t approach each episode as Hey, should we answer this, or should we answer that? We go—we start from saying, ‘This is a Sawyer episode’ or ‘This is a Sun and Jin episode. And this is the flashback story, we want to tell. Now, what’s happening on the island that will emotionally sort of activate the telling of this story?’

“And then we say, Is that a story in the context of which we can answer or advance, like, a mythological question’.”

But viewers want to know what the monster is, what the island is, and where The Others come from.

Lindelof said “for those kind of mysteries, you don’t give one big answer. It’s a slow and subtle reveal. So, you know, as we were coming into season 3, our mission was We’re going to answer the question in these first six episodes of why The Others have kidnapped Kate, Jack, and Sawyer. Why those three? What is the play? And that’s one level of it. And the then, obviously, the next level is Who are these people? Why have they been taking kids? Why were they abducting people? How long have they been on the island? Why were they having book clubs? Who is Ben in relation to Juliet?

“And for those of you who have seen season three, episode seven, the new season premiere, we answer a very significant mystery about Juliet, at least in terms of how she came to the island and why. And that begins to posit sort of new questions, some of which will be answered by the end of the season and some of which won’t.”

Producer Cuse said “But honestly, if we answered the larger questions about—you know, if we started really giving answers about what is the nature of this island, what is the sort of innate underlying meaning of the numbers, those things are sort of series-ending questions. I think once the mythology of those is made explicit, I think the mystery goes out of the show."

http://entertainment.tboblogs.com/index.php/entertainment/related/C281/

fredfa

01-15-07, 09:09 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: BILL NIGHY, Gideon's Daughter
ANDRÉ BRAUGHER, Thief
ROBERT DUVALL, Broken Trail
MICHAEL EALY, Sleeper Cell: American Terror
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, Tsunami, The Aftermath
BEN KINGSLEY, Mrs. Harris
MATTHEW PERRY, The Ron Clark Story

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]HUGH LAURIE, House
Nominees:
PATRICK DEMPSEY, Grey's Anatomy
MICHAEL C. HALL, Dexter
BILL PAXTON, Big Love
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, 24

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: [/SIZE]EMILY BLUNT, Gideon's Daughter
Nominees:
TONI COLLETTE, Tsunami, The Aftermath
KATHERINE HEIGL, Grey's Anatomy
SARAH PAULSON, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
ELIZABETH PERKINS, Weeds

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer
Nominees:
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I
Nominees:
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

fredfa

01-15-07, 09:12 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: HELEN MIRREN, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
GILLIAN ANDERSON, Bleak House
ANNETTE BENING, Mrs. Harris
HELEN MIRREN, Prime Suspect: The Final; Act
SOPHIE OKONEDO, Tsunami, The Aftermath

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: BILL NIGHY, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
ANDRÉ BRAUGHER, Thief
ROBERT DUVALL, Broken Trail
MICHAEL EALY, Sleeper Cell: American Terror
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, Tsunami, The Aftermath
BEN KINGSLEY, Mrs. Harris
MATTHEW PERRY, The Ron Clark Story

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA

WINNER: HUGH LAURIE, House Fox
Nominees:
PATRICK DEMPSEY, Grey's Anatomy
MICHAEL C. HALL, Dexter
BILL PAXTON, Big Love
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, 24

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: [/SIZE]EMILY BLUNT, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
TONI COLLETTE, Tsunami, The Aftermath
KATHERINE HEIGL, Grey's Anatomy
SARAH PAULSON, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
ELIZABETH PERKINS, Weeds

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer TNT
Nominees:
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

dad1153

01-15-07, 09:19 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Lost” Producers Defend Unanswered Questions
By Walt Belcher Tampa Tribune Jan 15, 2007

I'm amazed print reviewers haven't picked on the similarities between Lost and Gilligan's Island for their critiques of the former. Both shows are about castaways stranded on an island hoping to be rescued, yet somehow events/things/people that shouldn't be on a desert isle (polar bear for one and the Harlem Globtrotters for the other, a hatch in one and a radio made out of coconuts on the other, etc.) keep popping up. The only one that seems to have gotten a clue about this is Jimmy Kimmel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVCdl29Rvq8 (Warning: minor spoilers for those that haven't seen 'Lost' up to the end of Season 2).

fredfa

01-15-07, 09:23 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER: ALEC BALDWIN, 30 Rock
Nominees:
ZACH BRAFF, Scrubs
STEVE CARRELL, The Office
JASON LEE, My Name Is Earl
TONY SHALHOUB, Monk

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: HELEN MIRREN, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
GILLIAN ANDERSON, Bleak House
ANNETTE BENING, Mrs. Harris
HELEN MIRREN, Prime Suspect: The Final; Act
SOPHIE OKONEDO, Tsunami, The Aftermath

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: BILL NIGHY, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
ANDRÉ BRAUGHER, Thief
ROBERT DUVALL, Broken Trail
MICHAEL EALY, Sleeper Cell: American Terror
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, Tsunami, The Aftermath
BEN KINGSLEY, Mrs. Harris
MATTHEW PERRY, The Ron Clark Story

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]HUGH LAURIE, House Fox
Nominees:
PATRICK DEMPSEY, Grey's Anatomy
MICHAEL C. HALL, Dexter
BILL PAXTON, Big Love
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, 24

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: EMILY BLUNT, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
TONI COLLETTE, Tsunami, The Aftermath
KATHERINE HEIGL, Grey's Anatomy
SARAH PAULSON, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
ELIZABETH PERKINS, Weeds

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer TNT
Nominees:
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

fredfa

01-15-07, 09:29 PM

I'm amazed print reviewers haven't picked on the similarities between Lost and Gilligan's Island for their critiques of the former. Both shows are about castaways stranded on an island hoping to be rescued, yet somehow events/things/people that shouldn't be on a desert isle (polar bear for one and the Harlem Globtrotters for the other, a hatch in one and a radio made out of coconuts on the other, etc.) keep popping up. The only one that seems to have gotten a clue about this is Jimmy Kimmel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVCdl29Rvq8 (Warning: minor spoilers for those that haven't seen 'Lost' up to the end of Season 2).

Probably because it is a bit of a fatuous comparison? And it would take "Lost" from its perch (buy it or not) as an ethereal, almost mystic experience down to the level of a cartoon.

Not many critics, and certainly none of the "Lost" fans want that. And, to be fair, it seems to me that there is far, far more depth to "Lost" than "Gilligan's Island".

fredfa

01-15-07, 09:32 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER: UGLY BETTY (ABC)
Nominees:
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
ENTOURAGE (HBO)
THE OFFICE (NBC)
WEEDS (SHOWTIME)

BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER: ALEC BALDWIN, 30 Rock
Nominees:
ZACH BRAFF, Scrubs
STEVE CARRELL, The Office
JASON LEE, My Name Is Earl
TONY SHALHOUB, Monk

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]HELEN MIRREN, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
GILLIAN ANDERSON, Bleak House
ANNETTE BENING, Mrs. Harris
HELEN MIRREN, Prime Suspect: The Final; Act
SOPHIE OKONEDO, Tsunami, The Aftermath

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]BILL NIGHY, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
ANDRÉ BRAUGHER, Thief
ROBERT DUVALL, Broken Trail
MICHAEL EALY, Sleeper Cell: American Terror
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, Tsunami, The Aftermath
BEN KINGSLEY, Mrs. Harris
MATTHEW PERRY, The Ron Clark Story

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]HUGH LAURIE, House Fox
Nominees:
PATRICK DEMPSEY, Grey's Anatomy
MICHAEL C. HALL, Dexter
BILL PAXTON, Big Love
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, 24

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: [/SIZE]EMILY BLUNT, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
TONI COLLETTE, Tsunami, The Aftermath
KATHERINE HEIGL, Grey's Anatomy
SARAH PAULSON, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
ELIZABETH PERKINS, Weeds

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer TNT
Nominees:
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

dad1153

01-15-07, 09:43 PM

TV Notebook
Creating "Heroes"
David Kronke's Los Angeles Daily News Blog - January 14, 2007

As an added bonus to today’s almost shockingly coherent story on “Heroes” (http://www.dailynews.com/entertainment/ci_5008458) and its brief but vaguely informative sidebar (http://www.dailynews.com/entertainment/ci_5008413), here’s some supplemental insight into the show gleaned from a day on the set, which could’ve resulted in four or five stories.

The typical, disenchantingly unglamorous name for such material is “notebook dumping,” which has already been performed a couple of times in the case of “Heroes.” In this installment, series creator Tim Kring explains the genesis of his series and which came first: The character or his or her powers.

“When I first started, I didn’t know where the story was going. I just started thinking about it, basically the idea of the show, to take ordinary people and start them at the beginning of a very long heroes’ quest. The only goal at the beginning was to light the fuse and see where it would go from there. I had bigger ideas about where I wanted it to go this season.

“The powers sort of met the characters half-way. I knew I wanted a single mother character. I wanted to do a character who was a single mother (Ali Larter as Niki) and struggling to make ends meet, stretched as thin as she could be. What would be a power that would be useful to that character – the idea originally was, what if I created a character who could literally be in two places at the same time. And that morphed into, what if it was more of an ‘id’ aspect of her personality, a protector, someone devoid of morality who was protecting her, causing her both problems and helping her out?

“Or taking Matt (Greg Grunberg), the cop, who is the lowest of the low members of the LAPD, who is literally relegated to directing traffic in front of crime scenes, and thinking what would be a power that you could give a cop that would be most useful to get ahead on the force? Hearing people’s thoughts would be the best, you’d know who was guilty and who was innocent and who was lying and telling the truth and where the money’s buried and all that stuff.

“Or Hiro (Masi Oka), an office drone in a sea of cubicles stuck in the drudgery of a workaday life that he can’t seem to get out of, who always felt he was meant for greater things. And I thought the greatest power to give him was the ability to teleport himself out of his dull life into adventure.

“A lot of it is, you work it as it goes. There was a bigger, tent-pole plotting of the season. We’re working in pods of episodes, so that our tent-pole only has to go to here and then we can change the tentpole. So while it looks like it elaborately planned out, it’s planned out elaborately in short little spurts. In terms of this kind of storytelling, it’s the benefit of having multiple storylines, you can have as much story going at one time, it feels like you’re seeing an awful lot. When in reality if you strung each characters story together and ran that as a whole, it doesn’t amount to that much screen time after several episodes. So there’s a little slight of hand there.”

Jesse Alexander, a staff writer on the show and a big comic-book geek (as evidenced by his “Fantastic Four” T-shirt and his previous work on “Lost” and “Alias”), attributes, oddly enough, the show’s success to the fact that “Tim is not a comic-book guy; he’s never read a comic book. So he approaches this from an incredibly, open, real-world, naturalistic, humanistic way that touches that broad audience. If I or some of the other guys on the show had created this, it would’ve been completely different. It would’ve been a disaster. It would’ve been guys running around in costumes blasting each other with lasers every day. But Tim’s approach really touched the deep-rooted mythological needs society has for heroes.”

“Heroes” returns Jan. 22 at 9 p.m.

http://www.insidesocal.com/tv/2007/01/creating_heroes.html

fredfa

01-15-07, 09:50 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST ACTRESS, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER: America Ferrera Ugle Betty ABC
Nominees:
MARCIA CROSS, Desperate Housewives
FELICITY HUFFMAN, Desperate Housewives
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, The New Adventures of Old Christine
MARY-LOUISE PARKER, Weeds

TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER: [b] Ugle Betty (ABC)
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
ENTOURAGE (HBO)
THE OFFICE (NBC)
WEEDS (SHOWTIME)

BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER: ALEC BALDWIN, 30 Rock
Nominees:
ZACH BRAFF, Scrubs
STEVE CARRELL, The Office
JASON LEE, My Name Is Earl
TONY SHALHOUB, Monk

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]HELEN MIRREN, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
GILLIAN ANDERSON, Bleak House
ANNETTE BENING, Mrs. Harris
HELEN MIRREN, Prime Suspect: The Final; Act
SOPHIE OKONEDO, Tsunami, The Aftermath

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]BILL NIGHY, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
ANDRÉ BRAUGHER, Thief
ROBERT DUVALL, Broken Trail
MICHAEL EALY, Sleeper Cell: American Terror
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, Tsunami, The Aftermath
BEN KINGSLEY, Mrs. Harris
MATTHEW PERRY, The Ron Clark Story

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]HUGH LAURIE, House Fox
Nominees:
PATRICK DEMPSEY, Grey's Anatomy
MICHAEL C. HALL, Dexter
BILL PAXTON, Big Love
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, 24

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: [/SIZE]EMILY BLUNT, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
TONI COLLETTE, Tsunami, The Aftermath
KATHERINE HEIGL, Grey's Anatomy
SARAH PAULSON, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
ELIZABETH PERKINS, Weeds

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer TNT
Nominees:
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

(Previously announced)

dad1153

01-15-07, 10:00 PM

TV News
On CBS news, Couric is out of her interviewing element
Peter Johnson's USA Today "Media Mix" Column - January 15, 2007

During 10 winning years at NBC's Today, Katie Couric became a household name thanks to her friendly banter with guests and her probing newsmaker interviews — key ingredients of morning TV.

But when you anchor a 30-minute newscast, as Couric has since she jumped to The CBS Evening News last fall, every second counts. What clicks with viewers every morning may not at night.

Couric said as much in an interview last week with The New York Observer and hinted at how she feels about it.

"I think that, probably, it may be off-putting at times to some people who are used to a very, very buttoned-up newscast that doesn't have much leeway for an occasional glimpse of personality, but you know, I try," Couric said. "I've always had the 'less is more' philosophy, believe it or not, but there are times when I think it's personally fine. If people feel discomfort, maybe they should consider a suppository."

Maybe. Or maybe Evening News should cut back on Couric's interviews.

That was the impression some staffers came away with after a meeting last week in which that subject arose.

Evening News producer Rome Hartman, who ran the meeting, has this version: "We're not giving up on Katie's interviews, but I did emphasize that in order to be as newsy and fresh and distinctive, that we want those interviews to be real newsmakers, that's all. We don't want to interview the same folks that everyone is doing."

An example of the kind of interview he wants, Hartman says, was Couric's exclusive with Michael J. Fox about stem cell research before last November's midterm elections.

Hartman dismisses Couric's "suppository" remark as a "quick aside. One of Katie's very enduing qualities is her irreverence. I wouldn't say that remark was her studied and considered view."

Hartman says he's not worried about Couric's deep-in-third-place ranking in the evening news wars.

"We always knew this was going to be a long-term process," he says.

He notes that it took NBC's Tom Brokaw "years and years" to get to first place on NBC Nightly News after he left Today.

"I think it's crystal clear that this (Evening News) is 30 minutes, not three hours, and you clearly can't — and we never expected to — do the number, length or quite the range of interviews that a typical morning broadcast might do," Hartman says. "And we haven't tried. All I'm saying to people is, as I try to say every day: 'Let's step up the game, let's get better, let's make everything better.' "

O'Reilly-Colbert factor

Fox News' mouth that roared, Bill O'Reilly, says he's really not sure what to expect Thursday at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT when he talks to Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central's Colbert Report, and he's not saying what he plans to ask Colbert earlier on The O'Reilly Factor (8 ET/5 PT).

"I think he's going to stay in the role, in full Colbert regalia. It'll be a Borat situation," O'Reilly says, referring to Sacha Baron Cohen's infamous character.

As for what he'll ask Colbert, "it's going to be a surprise. I prepare for all of my interviews, but it's not any more than I prepare for anybody else, but I have a certain line of questioning that I'm going to get into."

Is O'Reilly going for the big kill? "No."

Colbert could not be reached for comment. O'Reilly says the two met once at a Time magazine event last year. "It was a nice conversation, that's all, but I don't know him enough to say if he was in his role or not."

He's flattered to be satirized by Colbert and Jon Stewart, saying that Comedy Central "understood the culture was being influenced by us, and they decided to satirize us, and that's what smart people do in that business."

Some observers have noted that younger viewers now actually get their news from fake anchors such as Colbert and Stewart, but O'Reilly doesn't buy that.

"I don't think younger viewers get their news from them, but I do think people like Colbert shape their opinions," O'Reilly says.

"Their approval of a certain person means something, and their disapproval of a certain person means something to their audience, but I don't think they get their facts from them."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2007-01-14-media-mix_x.htm

dad1153

01-15-07, 10:10 PM

If you enjoyed The Best of Match Game (or in my case both the 'Match Game' as well as the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra DVD Box Sets) then this is very good news! :)

TV-on-DVD Notebook
BCI taking Fremantle shows to DVD
'Price,' 'Feud' included in portfolio
By Elizabeth Guider, Variety - January 15, 2007

LAS VEGAS -- BCI, a wholly owned subsid of Navarre Corp., has licensed the long-term North American DVD publishing and distribution rights to programming from FremantleMedia's portfolio of TV shows and films. These include gameshows "The Price Is Right" and "Family Feud," the British sitcom "The IT Crowd" and the Impossible Pictures docu series "Prehistoric Park."

Deal follows BCI's recent success as North American distributor of FremantleMedia DVD release "The Best of Match Game."

Announcement was made Monday by BCI prexy Ed Goetz.

"We needed a partner with both distribution strength and a creative marketing approach. We've found that in BCI and look forward to developing a FremantleMedia Home Entertainment brand in North America," said David Ellender, CEO of FremantleMedia Enterprises, the commercial arm of FremantleMedia.

Agreement offers BCI DVD publishing rights to shows in various genres, including current Brit series such as "The Bill" and Aussie shows including sudser "Neighbours" as well as games and docs.

BCI will be implementing a marketing and promotional campaign throughout 2007 and beyond.

Founded in 1983, Navarre is a U.S.-based publisher and distributor of physical and digital homevid and multimedia products, including PC software, CD audio, DVD video and videogames.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957458.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

dad1153

01-15-07, 10:44 PM

TV News
Network Blues
New York Post Staff Writer - January 15, 2007

Despite the large number of awards for TV news, the duPont Awards - given out by Columbia University - are the Oscars.

This year's duPont winners, announced over the weekend, were more notable for who did not win.

For the first time in memory, just one network news operation - NBC, for its Hurricane Katrina coverage - won an award.

HBO won for "Baghdad ER," as did director Martin Scorcese's Bob Dylan profile for PBS.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01152007/tv/network_blues_tv_.htm

RussB

01-15-07, 10:46 PM

While watching 24 tonight, I saw the following commercial:

Now, own the FIRST FOUR HOURS OF THIS SEASON ON DVD TOMORROW. Be the first to get an EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT NEXT WEEK's 24.

This is the first time I remember seeing a DVD being sold that had shows of the current TV season.

fredfa

01-15-07, 10:47 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST DRAMATIC TV SERIES

WINNER: GREY’S ANATOMY (ABC)
Nominees:
24 (FOX)
BIG LOVE (HBO)
HEROES (NBC)
LOST (ABC)

BEST ACTRESS, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER:
Nominees:
MARCIA CROSS, Desperate Housewives
FELICITY HUFFMAN, Desperate Housewives
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, The New Adventures of Old Christine
MARY-LOUISE PARKER, Weeds

TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER:
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
ENTOURAGE (HBO)
THE OFFICE (NBC)
UGLY BETTY (ABC)
WEEDS (SHOWTIME)

BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER: ALEC BALDWIN, 30 Rock
Nominees:
ZACH BRAFF, Scrubs
STEVE CARRELL, The Office
JASON LEE, My Name Is Earl
TONY SHALHOUB, Monk

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]HELEN MIRREN, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
GILLIAN ANDERSON, Bleak House
ANNETTE BENING, Mrs. Harris
HELEN MIRREN, Prime Suspect: The Final; Act
SOPHIE OKONEDO, Tsunami, The Aftermath

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]BILL NIGHY, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
ANDRÉ BRAUGHER, Thief
ROBERT DUVALL, Broken Trail
MICHAEL EALY, Sleeper Cell: American Terror
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, Tsunami, The Aftermath
BEN KINGSLEY, Mrs. Harris
MATTHEW PERRY, The Ron Clark Story

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] WINNER: [/FONT]HUGH LAURIE, House Fox
Nominees:
PATRICK DEMPSEY, Grey's Anatomy
MICHAEL C. HALL, Dexter
BILL PAXTON, Big Love
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, 24

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: [/SIZE]EMILY BLUNT, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
Nominees:
TONI COLLETTE, Tsunami, The Aftermath
KATHERINE HEIGL, Grey's Anatomy
SARAH PAULSON, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
ELIZABETH PERKINS, Weeds

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer TNT
Nominees:
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I HBO
Nominees:
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

fredfa

01-15-07, 10:49 PM

...This is the first time I remember seeing a DVD being sold that had shows of the current TV season.

I guess they figured since they sent out hundreds of the four-episode DVDs to the nation's TV critics, they could make a few bucks off the deal if they made a lot more copies.....

dad1153

01-15-07, 10:54 PM

Of course this means the Season 6 Box Set for '24' will be cheaper when it comes out in the summer, right? Fox wouldn't make its loyal "24" fans pay twice for the privilege of owning same four episodes, right? RIGHT??!! :rolleyes:

Shoot, the Golden Globes aren't over yet (as of 11:03PM). Gotta to go re-program the DVR so that I can watch Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien without the now-late local news cutting into monologue time! :(

dad1153

01-15-07, 11:08 PM

The Business of TV
Mediacom Repeats Arbitration Offer
MultiChannel News - January 15, 2007

Mediacom Communications again offered to submit to binding arbitration as a means of settling its ongoing retransmission consent dispute with Sinclair Broadcast Group (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6407473.html).

In its latest offer to the TV-station owner, the cable operator said it would accept final binding arbitration before the Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau under established procedures for arbitrating retransmission-consent disputes previously adopted by the commission in its News Corp./DirecTV order published Jan. 14, 2004.

The Media Bureau’s order on Mediacom-Sinclair, published Jan. 12, stated, “Although the commission does not have the authority to require the parties to submit to binding arbitration, we continue to strongly encourage them to submit to binding arbitration. Both parties could agree to final binding arbitration by the Media Bureau. If both parties agree to final binding arbitration by the Media Bureau, we would require Sinclair to authorize Mediacom’s continued carriage of its stations’ signals during the pendency of arbitration pursuant to the terms of the Nov. 30, 2006, agreement between the parties, or, if so directed by the parties, pursuant to the per-subscriber daily rate as proposed by Sinclair to Mediacom on Jan. 11, 2007.”

“Despite our disagreement with all of the Media Bureau decisions on the Sinclair matter, including whether the FCC already has the authority to order binding arbitration and continued carriage, we are heeding the FCC’s strong recommendation so that it orders Sinclair to reinstate the stations immediately, with or without agreement on procedural matters,” Mediacom executive vice president of operations John Pascarelli said in a prepared statement.

“It is readily apparent to Mediacom, the commission and federal lawmakers that binding arbitration is a realistic solution to this stalemate,” he added. “We are hopeful that Sinclair will quickly accept this recommendation and not try to undermine the government’s clear direction or stall this process by imposing unreasonable conditions on arbitration.”

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6407532.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:14 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners
BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA

WINNER: KYRA SEDGWICK, The Closer TNT
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Medium
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
EVANGELINE LILLY, Lost
ELLEN POMPEO, Grey's Anatomy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: JEREMY IRONS, Elizabeth I HBO
THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, Broken Trail
JUSTIN KIRK, Weeds
MASI OKA, Heroes
JEREMY PIVEN, Entourage

(Previously announced)
CECIL B. DEMILLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Warren Beatty

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:30 PM

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:31 PM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA

WINNER: HUGH LAURIE, House Fox
PATRICK DEMPSEY, Grey's Anatomy
MICHAEL C. HALL, Dexter
BILL PAXTON, Big Love
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, 24

fredfa

01-15-07, 11:52 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
In Cable, Winning Isn't Everything;
It's the Only Thing
By Barry Garron The Hollywood Reporter in the blog “Past Deadline” January 15, 2007

People say that all the news is gloom and doom. They should have attended the cable portion of the Television Critics Association press tour, held last week at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena.

There, over a four-day period, practically every cable channel was a winner. Viewers came out of the woodwork like construction workers during an INS raid.

Everywhere you turned, practically every cable network was bombarding critics with news that 2006 was the year of which dreams were made. Ratings were up, as if on steroids. Some examples:

Rich Cronin, GSN: "2006 was a fantastic year for us."

Michael Hirschorn, VH1: "2006 was the best rated and most watched year in the channel's history."

Lauren Corrao, Comedy Central: "Last year was Comedy Central's best year ever."

Jed Drake, ESPN: "2006...was the most remarkable year ever for ESPN."

Forget about Philadelphia. Everything's sunny in Pasadena.

More examples:

Jeff Gaspin, USA: "USA ended the year as the No. 1 network for the first time in six years." Also, Sci Fi had its "best ratings since 2002."

Gary Marsh, Disney Channel: "2006 was an extraordinary year...We actually finished tied for first place in household primetime ratings with USA."

John Solberg, FX: "Ratings for 2006...were the highest ever for the network."

Lauren Ong, National Geographic Channel: "2006 was our most watched year ever."

Paul Lee, ABC Family: "We just finished, literally, our most successful year ever."

If cable networks weren't crowing about their total numbers, they were bragging about their growth:

Johnathan Rodgers, TV One: "We were the fastest growing cable network by percentage in 2006."

Henry Schleiff, Hallmark: "The fastest growing, ad-supported cable network among the Top Ten networks measured by Nielsen."

Well, sure. And I came closest to winning a Pulitzer among all critics over 6 feet tall and born in Chicago currently employed at entertainment trade publications.

Even the networks that couldn't massage the ratings numbers managed to put a happy spin on them. Of these, my favorite was Rob Sharenow of A&E, who declared: "We ended 2006 on a real high."

He must have gone to the same New Year's Eve party I attended.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:00 AM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: ELIZABETH I (HBO)
Nominees:
BLEAK HOUSE (PBS)
BROKEN TRAIL (AMC)
MRS. HARRIS (HBO)
PRIME SUSPECT: THE FINAL ACT (PBS)

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:09 AM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

WINNER: BILL NIGHY, Gideon's Daughter BBC America
ANDRÉ BRAUGHER, Thief
ROBERT DUVALL, Broken Trail
MICHAEL EALY, Sleeper Cell: American Terror
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, Tsunami, The Aftermath
BEN KINGSLEY, Mrs. Harris
MATTHEW PERRY, The Ron Clark Story

dad1153

01-16-07, 12:10 AM

TV Notebook
Season four still awaits OK for 'Battlestar Galactica'
Rob Owen's Pittsburgh Post Gazette "Tuned In" Column - January 16, 2007

PASADENA, Calif. -- Future prospects for Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" are not as bleak as the show itself, but they're not as bright as the supernova of media coverage the series has received.

Despite stellar reviews, ratings are down, not necessarily because fewer people are watching, but because so many viewers are watching on DVR or via iTunes downloads, not on cable. Sci Fi Channel executives hope to reverse the ratings trend by moving "Galactica" to 10 p.m. Sunday this weekend, but they're not ready to discuss the show's future.

"I can't talk about season four," said Sci Fi Channel executive vice president of original programming Mark Stern when I approached him at an NBC Universal party Friday night.

Because the contracts with the actors expire next month, Stern said a decision on renewal will come by mid-February.

Actress Tricia Helfer, who stars in "Galactica" as the Cylon Number Six, acknowledged that the current third season, which wrapped production before Christmas, doesn't end with "anything tied up, that's for sure."

"I think we all feel like it's coming back," Helfer said, "but we don't know. We're all looking at [this time as a break, not an ending], but in this business you never know."

If it's not wrapped up, Sci Fi Channel will be deluged with angry e-mail from fans, Stern acknowledged, but added, "Can it get any worse than when we canceled 'Stargate'?"

Maybe he wasn't at the network when it canceled "Farscape" on a cliffhanger. I have to think those fans were even more outraged. At least Stern and Sci Fi went to the "Stargate" producers in a timely manner before they scripted the last few episodes of the current season to let them know the show would end. (It may not have done much good; the upcoming "Stargate" series finale is titled "Neverending" and won't wrap up the story so much as set the stage for a series of direct-to-DVD movies.)

If "Galactica" is renewed, producers are talking about making a TV movie about the first and second Cylon wars that would air and be released on DVD before the start of season four.

As for the "Galactica" spinoff series, "Caprica," Stern said that it will still be under consideration when network executives green-light new programs in March.

Sunday's episode is another strong outing for "Galactica" that ____ _______ __ _____ ________ __ _________ __ ___________________ __________ __.

Helfer said the move to Sunday is viewed by some as a death knell, because Sunday is more competitive than Friday. Others see it as potential salvation because more people watch TV on Sunday and might tune in.

"We're up against more powerful network shows, but there's also nothing like our show on that night," Helfer said. "Sunday is chick flick night, right?"

Helfer, who's not recognizable as Six when not wearing a platinum blond wig, appears nude in the current issue of Playboy. She'd been approached to appear in the magazine when "Galactica" began, but after 10 years as a model, she wanted to establish herself as an actress. Now those concerns are gone.

"I'm certainly not opposed to showing a certain amount of skin," she said. "I feel confident, and I'm one of those people who believe we all have the same parts. I don't like it when it's done in a gratuitous or nasty way, but I think some of my favorite shots are black and white nudes. ... I think [my] pictures are classy and fun. I'm proud of it."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07016/754039-237.stm/

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:11 AM

dad1153

01-16-07, 12:16 AM

TV Notebook
Why 'Idol' outshines all its rivals
By David Hinckley, New York Daily News - January 15, 2007

Like most of television's big hits, "American Idol" makes it look easy.
Invite people to sing, give a prize to the one who sings best. How hard can that be?

For the answer, we might want to check with the hordes of TV producers who have created shows that follow the same idea and never come close to the multibillion-dollar "Idol" payoff.

The informal catch phrase for "American Idol," which kicks off its sixth season with a two-hour gala on Fox tomorrow night, is Follow your dream.

Equally appropriate would be It's harder than it looks - a notion that might be seconded by winners like Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Hicks who clearly resent the notion that winning "Idol" is a random bolt of luck, like winning the raffle at the state fair.

Doing a TV show right is very much like singing a song right, and as "Idol" proves twice a week, every well-sung tune is surrounded with a hundred others butchered and left for dead.

For every Carrie Underwood in those long "Idol" audition lines, you could fill stadiums with the William Hungs.

At its core, "American Idol" is really no more than a slick version of the Major Bowes and Ted Mack amateur hours of the 1930s, whose alumni include the likes of Frank Sinatra.

Moreover, if "Idol" lasts 100 years, it's unlikely to produce anything close to the roster of winners Apollo Theater amateur nights have been delivering since 1934 - artists like James Brown, Michael Jackson, Gladys Knight and Luther Vandross.

However much fun it is to hear Simon Cowell turn snarky, chasing tuneless singers back home was even more entertaining at the Apollo, where Porto Rico ran on stage in funny suits firing a starter's pistol.

No matter. "Idol" has become the most lucrative amateur night of them all, brilliantly promoting and marketing itself into a package far richer than the sum of its components.

It's also masterfully produced. As contestants work their way through the process, "Idol" uses TV technology to preserve and spotlight the right moments, the ones when contestants are particularly funny, vulnerable, nervous or just human.

"Idol" also never forgets that every scene must channel the viewer toward the final prize, helping create the ever-building rhythm that pretenders miss.

It's an old story in the TV biz. When "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza" were No.1, Westerns popped up everywhere. Years later, "Seinfeld" inspired dozens of sitcoms built on the style of a standup comic.

Simple, basic and easy, right? So how many of the imitators do we remember?

How many record companies tried to create another Britney Spears because it seemed to require so little skill? How many movie studios figured anyone could get rich from a cheap goofball flick like "American Pie"? How many radio guys thought all they had to do was talk dirty to be the next Howard Stern?

No, "American Idol" isn't easy. It just makes it look that way.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/488709p-411596c.html

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:19 AM

TV Notebook
Creating "Heroes"
David Kronke's Los Angeles Times ....

(Kronke writes for the Los Angeles Daily News)

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:22 AM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER: ALEC BALDWIN 30 Rock
Nominees:
ZACH BRAFF, Scrubs
STEVE CARRELL, The Office
JASON LEE, My Name Is Earl
TONY SHALHOUB, Monk

dad1153

01-16-07, 12:23 AM

Philadelphia Inquirer's Ellen Gray blogged all night long watching Monday's Golden Globe telecast: http://blogs.phillynews.com/dailynews/ellengray/ (WARNING: DO NOT CLICK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE RESULTS FOR BOTH MOVIES AND TV CATEGORIES).

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:23 AM

Critic’s Notebook
NBC's in-house heroine
By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer in his Channel Island TV Industry column January 15, 2007

TV insiders like to say that one hit can turn around a whole network. That may be overstating the case, but NBC executives seem to be walking around their Burbank and Universal City pods these days with more spring in their heels and fewer frozen, tense smiles compared with the last few years. And it's not hard to guess why.

"Heroes" was the prize at the bottom of NBC's Crackerjack box this past fall. A kind of "X-Men" for prime time, the comic-book drama about everyday superheroes has become the breakout hit that the once-desperate network was praying for after a couple of horrendous seasons. Along with Sunday football, "Heroes" is responsible for a ratings surge that has teleported the network from last place into a three-way tie with ABC and CBS for No. 1 in young-adult viewers this season (and it even comes complete with an unlikely breakout star in Masi Oka, a Brown grad and former whiz kid whose nerdy character can teleport himself and freeze time).

NBC was widely expected to do better this year, but this wasn't exactly the path to restoration that pundits (including this columnist) predicted. If NBC doubled down on any new show this season, it was Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," a costly and inside-baseball-ish peek behind the curtain at a late-night sketch comedy that came from Warner Bros. Television, industrial-strength supplier of such TV perennials as "ER" and "Friends." But "Studio 60" has generated polarized critical opinion and lackluster ratings, while "Heroes" is sucking all the oxygen from the room. And it hails from NBC Universal Television Studio, the much-smaller, in-house unit that jockeys for clout, respect and talent alongside far better-provisioned competitors like Warners.

All this has given Angela Bromstad an especially broad smile. Bromstad is president of the NBC studio and the person, her staff is happy to remind anyone who asks, who put into motion the machinery that eventually got "Heroes" on the air. She's the one who, with subordinates, took the original 45-minute pitch from creator Tim Kring, pronouncing it "engrossing," and the one who excitedly read the first script before getting out of bed one morning. Now she sees "Heroes" as evidence of a full-feathered, peacock-ian renaissance, something that's "helped turn the tide at NBC."

"When I came in" — that is, started at NBC — " 'ER' had just happened," Bromstad said in her Universal City office last week, fresh from talking up the virtues of NBC's television operations (and showing a "Heroes" clip) to CEO Jeffrey Immelt and other top General Electric executives at the company's annual "global leadership" meeting in Boca Raton, Fla. (NBC Universal is a unit of GE.) "I thought, 'That must be incredible, to be there at the beginning and be part of a big hit like that.' "

"Heroes," of course, hasn't quite scaled "ER"-like heights yet; the former is, after all, only midway through its first season. But Bromstad's message was unmistakable. She wants it known that NBC's in-house studio, once the scorned also-ran known for bombs like "Surface" and "Hidden Hills," can deliver the big, generation-defining hits, something it's seldom been accused of doing before. In addition to "Heroes," NBC's studio has also found two critically acclaimed comedies with "The Office" and "30 Rock."

To drive home the point, the studio is spending big bucks to clinch development deals with a few top writer-producers to make more shows that executives hope will be game changers.

David Shore, who created Fox's hit drama "House," starring Hugh Laurie as a misanthropic MD, is working on a pilot for an NBC series about a cynical female cop in the "House" mold. Just last week, the studio announced it had wooed away (from Warner Bros., no less!) Hank Steinberg, creator of CBS' long-running missing-persons drama "Without a Trace" — a defection that was strongly suggestive of the momentum NBC Universal is enjoying these days. NBC also inherited a number of writers, especially those attached to the "Law & Order" franchise, after it completed its merger with Universal a few years back.

Other pending projects include a long-gestating adaptation of Candace Bushnell's "Lipstick Jungle" (an older-skewing "Sex and the City") and an Americanization of the Australian comedy hit "Kath & Kim" as well as a remake of the '70s action series "The Bionic Woman." And Bromstad said there are a couple of more high-profile producers NBC wants to make a run at soon, which may put to rest any notion that a heavily publicized corporate belt-tightening last year will crimp NBC's development plans.

"In all the years I've been at NBC or GE, money has not been a problem," she said. "Whenever I've really wanted something, I've gotten it."

Whether the studio succeeds will have big implications for NBC and for prime-time TV generally. Unlike Warners or 20th Century Fox Television, the studio makes few projects for non-NBC networks (Fox's "House" is an exception), which Bromstad said was an inevitable result of the "vertical integration" that swept the TV business in the past 10 years in which every network has its own sister studio. So to a certain degree, NBC's attempt to return to its glory days will depend on the ability of Bromstad & Co. to excavate more shows like "Heroes."

Competitors are dubious. They argue that the success of "Heroes" was nothing more than a happy accident; NBC clearly expected "Studio 60" to be its big hit. Moreover, they say, Bromstad, despite her close relationship with NBC Universal Television boss Jeff Zucker, has relatively little autonomy within the company's top-heavy management structure and has clashed often with NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly, who's responsible for picking the shows on the broadcast network.

When asked about a rift, Bromstad chose her words carefully: "Kevin and I have a very close working relationship." And in an e-mail, Reilly wrote: "Angela has been a good partner. The fact is we've had a healthy collaboration between the network and the studio which has resulted in some great shows and big assets for the company."

But she clearly doesn't see eye to eye with the network on certain creative goals. She would like the studio to make more comedies, for example, expanding on its modest success with "The Office." But that would entail NBC's opening up another night besides Thursdays for comedy. "The network probably has a different view," she said.

But NBC's studio may have a critical if not so obvious advantage: its size, or what Bromstad calls a "small, boutique-y" feel. When I asked Steinberg why he left Warners, he said that NBC is "a smaller shop than I'm used to."

But he reasoned that the studio is focusing its limited resources intently on a few key projects: "They're being very strategic about what those projects are," Steinberg said.

David Nevins, president of Imagine Television, which produces the football drama "Friday Night Lights" with NBC, said the studio had offered unstinting support for the show, despite low ratings. (Executives, for example, helped work out a costly music-rights problem that threatened to prevent "Lights" from being available for sale on iTunes, where it's due this month.) "The show has been incredibly well produced, ahead of schedule and under budget," Nevins said. "The studio has always known what they were going after."

Yes, but what they were really after was a hit the size of "Heroes." And now they've got it. Nevins isn't alone in perceiving an NBC "rising tide" that's lifting more than just executive spirits.

"I feel like the dynamic at NBC has really changed from 'Who's the next president going to be?' to 'They're finally doing something right,' " he said. "And they're being rewarded for it by the audience."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-channel15jan15,0,7810261,print.story?coll=cl-tv-features

dad1153

01-16-07, 12:26 AM

(Kronke writes for the Los Angeles Daily News)

Ooops! :eek:

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:32 AM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY

WINNER: UGLY BETTY (ABC) (ABC)
Nominees:
ENTOURAGE (HBO)
THE OFFICE (NBC)
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
WEEDS (SHOWTIME)

dad1153

01-16-07, 12:49 AM

TV Notebook
It's TV's top show -- can it get bigger?
By Rick Kushman, Sacramento Bee - January 15, 2007

PASADENA -- "American Idol" comes back Tuesday. If you watch any TV, you already know that. If you work in TV, you know that, too, because the TV universe is about to go nuts.

Fox's "American Idol," which is starting its sixth season (at 8 Tuesday on Channel 40, with a second two-hour block at 8 Wednesday), is more than the top-rated show on TV -- it's a ratings cyclone. The force of its drawing power changes the TV landscape, and not just when it airs, but all year long. It averaged more than 30 million viewers a week last year, but that's just part of it. "Idol" gets all the most valuable viewers -- young adults, teens, girls, the people advertisers prize and pay a premium for.

"American Idol" can suck the life out of the new shows that other networks are trying to launch. It can kill the buzz on growing shows, and it can even put a dent in the most solid series that run opposite it on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

"So much of how we schedule, and I'm talking about the whole season, is in reaction to 'Idol,' " one major network programmer said privately last week. He asked that his name not be used, however, because, he said, it doesn't look great that one show can affect his whole network.

But it does affect everything on TV. The other networks think very carefully about what they schedule on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, even in the fall, because they don't want "American Idol" to kill valuable or fragile shows when they run into it in January.

If they do put a new show into a time slot that will face "Idol," they'll often put a lot of energy getting it launched in September, then move it somewhere else in January, the way NBC moved "Friday Night Lights," a high-grade but struggling series, out of the 8 p.m. Tuesday slot to 8 on Wednesdays.

In January, they often fill the slots opposite "Idol" with news magazines, comedies they are burning off or inexpensive game shows. And it's not just "Idol's" regular slots. The other nets worry about a lot of their shows in January because, as with this week's season premiere, Fox often extends "American Idol" to two hours, or even occasionally shifts it to a Monday or a Thursday.

Even ABC, with its reality hit "Dancing With the Stars," is avoiding "Idol." ABC announced Sunday that "Dancing" will return March 19 and run on Mondays at 8 p.m., then air its results shows at 9 p.m. Tuesdays, generally after "Idol" has finished for the night.

ABC had floated the idea of challenging "American Idol" but backed away. "Idol" has outdrawn "Dancing" by as many as 10 million viewers at comparative periods of the shows.

"We wanted people not to have to choose between 'Idol' and 'Dancing,' " ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson told TV critics here Sunday.

That doesn't mean some networks don't try to counterprogram. CBS, for instance, has "NCIS" in the 8 p.m. Tuesday slot nationally (it airs at 7 in Sacramento) because it's an established series with strong ratings that tends to draw older viewers.

Even so, CBS knows "Idol" will even put a small hit on shows such as "NCIS" because "Idol" brings in huge dollars from advertisers; through its typical five-month run, it generates a reported $500 million in ad revenue, enough to drain the total ad money pool a bit.

So as we head for the sixth go-round, the question bouncing around the TV industry is, can all that keep up? It's hard to bet against "Idol." The 2006 season grew from the 2005 season, which averaged nearly 27 million viewers and grew from 2004.

As TV critics meet here with network and cable executives, producers and stars for a couple weeks, one of the parlor games is predicting how much "American Idol" will grow, or shrink, after it premieres Tuesday. For what it's worth, not a lot of people are putting their money on it shrinking.

By the way, Fox also announced some key dates for the show. The you're-in-Hollywood rounds will air Feb. 13 and 14, and the top 24 -- the first singers that viewers vote for -- will be announced Feb. 14.

The 12 top male singers go at it live Feb. 20, the top women sing Feb. 21, and the first results show is Thursday, Feb. 22. The 12 finalists will be announced March 8, and they'll perform the first time as finalists March 13.

http://www.sacbee.com/127/story/107939.html

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:49 AM

fredfa

01-16-07, 01:44 AM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners
BEST DRAMATIC TV SERIES

WINNER: GREY’S ANATOMY (ABC)
Nominees:
24 (FOX)
BIG LOVE (HBO)
HEROES (NBC)
LOST (ABC)

fredfa

01-16-07, 01:45 AM

TV Notebook
ABC, rookies rule Globes' TV side
'Ugly Betty,' 'Anatomy' take top tube trophies
By Brian Lowry Variety January 16, 2007

First-year series, British veterans and ABC's Thursday night all made a major splash in the TV categories at Monday's Golden Globe Awards, where "Ugly Betty" and its star wore the comedy crown and medical hit "Grey's Anatomy" checked out as best drama.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. -- which in the past has recognized such little-seen imports as BBC underdog "The Office" -- again instilled the event with a strong Anglo flavor that for a time virtually amounted to a second British invasion.

In the opening 75 minutes, that included three wins for the Emmy-anointed HBO-BBC collaboration "Elizabeth I" (for miniseries, thrice-nominated monarch Helen Mirren and co-star Jeremy Irons), thesp Hugh Laurie for "House," and Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt for a BBC America movie, "Gideon's Daughter." Kudos to "The Queen," "Babel" and "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen extended the international tide into the feature realm.

Adapted from a Spanish-language telenovela, "Ugly Betty" has delivered one of this season's few ratings breakthroughs among freshmen programs. With an ebullient cast and crew behind him, exec producer Silvio Horta called the show "an immigrant" and, as such, a symbol of the American dream. Voters also feted title character America Ferrera, who joyously and tearfully proclaimed it "an honor to play this role."

Following two Globes to "Desperate Housewives," a one-hour ABC show has now been selected top comedy three years in a row, leaving more traditional half-hour sitcoms in their wake.

Overlooked at the Emmys, "Grey's" also nabbed a top prize to go with its gaudy commercial achievements, which have included establishing a powerful beachhead for ABC on Thursday nights.

ABC's three wins and sweep of the series derby left the Alphabet web in an overall tie with HBO, again the most-nominated channel, whose tally was limited to "Elizabeth's" bounty, as the Globe voting spread the wealth among a half-dozen networks. Before ABC edged it out last year, the Time Warner pay service had made off with the most Globes among TV nets six years running -- dominating with at least six statues from 2002-04.

The Globes are watched most closely as a bellwether for the Oscars but generally considered less significant in regard to television. The principal exception is that the mid-season timing allows the HFPA to recognize series launched in the fall before other major ceremonies -- and a full eight months prior to the Emmy Awards.

In that respect, beyond "Betty" Alec Baldwin's award for NBC's struggling backstage comedy "30 Rock" surely comes as a welcome boost, with the star thanking voters for "remembering your old pal in the autumn of my career." (The sitcom did endure a small indignity even on its host network, with presenter Tim Allen inadvertently referring to it as "3rd Rock.")

"House's" Laurie, meanwhile, received his second consecutive Globe as the brilliant, misanthropic doctor in Fox's medical drama, joking that despite all the freebies lavished on nominees in the run-up to the awards -- including "free colonic irrigation" -- nobody offers to assist actors with their acceptance speeches. He then proceeded to thank his crew, saying that though the odds suggest not everyone can have a wonderful crew -- "Somebody somewhere is working with a crew of drunken thieves" -- he isn't among them.

Sarah Jessica Parker was the last back-to-back Globe winner among TV performers, completing a "Sex and the City" three-peat in 2002 (and tapped four times in five years). Four-time nominee Kyra Sedgwick also claimed her first honors as lead actress in the TNT cop show "The Closer."

In the awkwardly structured supporting categories, which combine series, movies and miniseries, Irons was singled out for costume mini "Elizabeth," while Blunt -- also up for "The Devil Wears Prada" -- took gold for "Gideon's."

The 64th annual Globes were presented in Beverly Hills by the HFPA, an organization consisting of less than 90 active members. The awards were televised by NBC, which has broadcast the kudocast since 1996.

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117957465&categoryid=-1

fredfa

01-16-07, 01:46 AM

Critic’s Notebook
At the Globes, Tears Are Fine,
but Fast and Mean Is Much Better
By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times January 16, 2007

It’s O.K. to be teary and sincere if you’re new, like Jennifer Hudson of “Dreamgirls,” but at the Golden Globe awards, it’s better to be fast and mean.

When Prince, the artist still known for being short, didn’t show up in time to accept his award for best original song in a motion picture, the presenter, Justin Timberlake, accepted for him by crouching down below the microphone.

Jeremy Irons thanked the director of “Elizabeth I” for not “getting in the way.”

And after opening the envelope for best supporting actress in a movie, George Clooney announced, “Leonardo DiCaprio.”

Awards shows can seem very long, but the Golden Globe awards is a speedy compendium of short bursts: abbreviated clips of the nominated works, condensed acceptance speeches and peekaboo camera pans of the audience. The awards show shares that quality with reality series like “Grease” or “American Idol,” where contestants sing a part of a song that is woven into snippets of backstage moments and edited into a kind of “best of/worst of ” anthology.

It’s attention-deficit entertainment, but YouTube isn’t the catalyst, just the enabler: Internet users merely download for themselves what shows like “Extra” and “The Insider” have done for years — and the Golden Globes is the ideal source material, especially the red-carpet warm-up shows. “You have great teeth,” Joan Rivers said to Sheryl Crow on the TV Guide Channel. “Are they yours?”

And yet paradoxically, the nominated films this year are almost prohibitively long; all but “The Queen” are close to two hours or even longer. Martin Scorsese’s “Departed” is a half-hour longer than “Taxi Driver.” “Babel” is almost as long at two hours and 22 minutes.

It’s even sometimes true on television. Serialized shows like “24” and “Heroes” are the endurance tests of the small screen — the denouement is stretched out over an entire season. (Or more, in the case of “Lost.”) That polarization was all too obvious last night: while NBC showed the Golden Globe awards, Fox was showing Part 2 of the four-hour premiere of “24.”

It’s not the rule of the marketplace: studios have no stake in making longer films. It’s director-driven defiance and proof of Newton’s Third Law of show business: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. (That’s Olivia Newton-John, of course.)

The first law is that every winner must thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and the second is that reaction shots must pan as often as possible to Jack Nicholson in the audience, preferably when he is wearing sunglasses and has his head thrown back and mouth open. (The actor is to American awards shows what pretty girls in soccer stadium stands are to Italian cameramen.)

Losers trying to look happy as someone else’s name is called are always a good camera bet, though Botox has ruined some of the fun by freezing most of the facial expressions in the room.

The night is a forced march for on-screen talent, and actors are corralled under lights and behind bottles of Champagne and chardonnay. They use body language, sometimes subtle (Angelina Jolie, a Greek goddess in gray, clung to Brad Pitt as if she were a perplexed member of a foreign royal family), sometimes less so. One of the most daring décolletés of the evening was worn by the middle-aged actress Helen Mirren.

A reality contest gives ordinary people a chance to act like stars; the wine-fueled Golden Globe awards give viewers a peek at stars acting like ordinary people. Both are platforms for extreme displays: triumph and humiliation, glamour and career-stunting glitch. Though some people aim for the unexciting middle.

Eddie Murphy was supposed to be making a comeback, but he mostly seemed underwhelmed and ready to leave. He accepted his best supporting award by thanking one of the makers of “Dreamgirls,” the entertainment mogul David Geffen, for “convincing me to work for free.” Mr. Murphy summed up the winning of the award as “a nice moment.”

When America Ferrera won for best actress in a television comedy, she was more animated, tearfully saying that the ABC series “Ugly Betty” was “truly bringing a new face to television.” And that brought tears to the eyes of even some of the oldest, best-preserved faces in the business.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/arts/television/16watc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-16-07, 01:47 AM

2007 Golden Globe TV Winners

DRAMATIC TV SERIES: Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) ABC

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA: Hugh Laurie House Fox

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA: Kyra Sedgwick The Closer TNT

TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY: Ugly Betty (ABC)

BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY: Alex Baldwin 30 Rock NBC

BEST ACTRESS, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY: America Ferrera Ugly Betty ABC

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TV: Elizabeth I (HBO)

BEST ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOVIE MADE FOR TV: Helen Mirren Elizabeth I HBO

BEST ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOVIE MADE FOR TV: Bill Nighy Gideon’s Daughter BBC America

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TV: Jermey Irons, Elizabeth I HBO

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TV: Emily Blunt Gideon's Daughter BBC America

CECIL B. DEMILLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Warren Beatty

fredfa

01-16-07, 01:56 AM

Now for two opposing views of the Golden Globes. First, Mo Ryan, from Chicago, who had no problems covering the event:
Critic’s Notebook
Backstage at the Golden Globes
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” Janujary 16, 2007

It was a refreshing night of upsets, fresh faces and lots of Helen Mirren at the Golden Globes, which were broadcast on NBC Monday.

Sacha Baron Cohen won as best actor in a comedy for his unconventional comedy “Borat,” and “Ugly Betty,” a dramedy that was originally relegated by ABC to a Friday-evening death slot, won both best television comedy and best actress in a comedy award for star America Ferrera.

In the tradition of the Golden Globes, Sacha Baron Cohen gave a salty speech when he won as best actor in a comedy for “Borat.”

He referred to the arduous nature of shooting with his co-star, Ken Davitian. In a speech that one just frankly can’t put into a family newspaper, to this writer’s eternal regret, Cohen referred to having to stare at a certain part of Davitian’s anatomy – the actor’s “golden globes,” as it were.

As he pondered that sight, Cohen said, he thought “I better win a bloody award for this.”

“Dreamgirls” was another big winner, picking up the best musical or comedy film award. Chicago native Jennifer Hudson was exultant in picking up her supporting actress award.

Did she have any words for Simon Cowell, who famously disparaged her talents when she was on “American Idol”?

“You like my award, Simon?” she cackled to the journalists backstage at the Globes ceremony.

Say what you will about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, their choices in the television arena were impeccable: Alec Baldwin won for “30 Rock,” Hugh Laurie won for “House” and “Grey’s Anatomy” won as best drama. Kyra Sedgwick was over the moon when she won as best dramatic television actress in the savvy TNT series “The Closer.”

“You know, I think you get better as an actor as you get older. I definitely believe that,” Sedgwick said backstage. “But everything else is pretty much luck and being at the right place at the right time.”

Another big winner was Helen Mirren who won for the film “The Queen,” and for HBO’s historical epic “Elizabeth.” They are the first of the no doubt many statues she’s no doubt due to collect this awards season. Meryl Streep also won for her role as the quietly terrifying title character in “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Clint Eastwood spoke for a few minutes to the assembled journalists backstage, speaking eloquently and seriously about his win for best foreign language film for “Letters from Iwo Jima.”

When he was done, the public relations man from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association asked him to pose for the cameras with the Globe he won for directing the film. Then a smidge of Dirty Harry came out.

“I’m not going to pose. What am I, Paris Hilton?” he growled.

In an upset, “Ugly Betty” was one of the big winners of the night. The unconventional freshman drama, which was as much of an underdog on the fall TV schedule as Betty is at the slick offices of Mode magazine, won as best TV comedy. When it did, the entire cast of the show crowded onto the Globes stage and were visibly vibrating with excitement as creator Silvio Horta thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press.

Star America Ferrera wasn’t ugly at all as she fought back tears after her surprise win for best actress in a comedy.

“I’m so sorry I’m such a mess right now,” she said in her acceptance speech, thanking Betty herself for bringing “such a beautiful message. I hear from young girls on a daily basis that it makes them feel worthy and lovable and that they have more to offer the world than they thought.”

Speaking of the fashion industry, Betty’s chosen profession, Emily Blunt looked as though, like her character in “The Devil Wears Prada,” she was on the cutting edge of fashion in her vintage Herve Leger gown. The actress, who won for her work on the television film “Gideon’s Daughter,” said she’d had to lose a little weight for “Prada,” but that she didn’t approve of the pressure on actresses to be very thin.

“It was about the part,” Blunt said. “The girl was supposed to be on-the-edge-of-ill thin.” As for actresses, “the pressure is so huge right now and it needs to diminish.”

Vanessa Williams spoke backstage about the appeal of tough bosses such as her character on “Ugly Betty,” the iron-spined Wilhemina Slater, who’s not far removed from the icy magazine editor of “the Devil Wears Prada.”

“I have to thank the writers. They love to see strong women say sassy lines,” Williams said. “She’s a firecracker. It’s a ball to play.”

What’s it like to be at the Golden Globes, or to win a Golden Globe? It’s best to ask a Brit.

Hugh Laurie, who won as best actor in a television drama for ABC’s "House" once again Monday night at the dinner-and-drinks televised (on NBC) party at the Beverly Hills Hilton hotel to announce the voting of the 85-member Hollywood Foreign Press Association, used his backstage interviews as an opportunity to do the spontaneous awards-show comedy he does so well.

Asked what it was like to run the gauntlet of the red carpet, he said that this year, he had it lucky - he followed Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie through the press obstacle course. He said he was like "an old plastic bag… I just let them tow me along in their wake."

And he said it’s no less crazy to win a Globe a second time (and no, he hasn’t figured out how to display the pair of statues in his home, he admitted).

"There is no way to prepare -- someone asked me if it would all be run of the mill now. It is sort of like your second parachute jump. You can’t be blase about a second parachute jump and start lighting a cigarette on the way down…. It was really a very exciting thing, still is."

Jennifer Hudson, the "American Idol" also-ran who won for best supporting actress in a film for her role in "Dreamgirls," said backstage that she’d celebrate by calling her mom in Chicago. "I am not a party girl, so I will just have to celebrate quietly and probably cry all night."

She meant that in a good way, right? It would seem that way, given her joyful acceptance speech; even then she was near tears.

"I’m trying not to cry, but you do not know how much this does for my confidence," she crowed on the Golden Globes stage. The Globes, which is the first televised event of the movie-award season, is thought to help the Oscar chances of the winners. Eddie Murphy also won for supporting actor in the musical.

Meryl Streep, who won her sixth Globe, this time for best actress in a musical or comedy for "The Devil Wears Prada," is an old hand at these awards ceremonies, but backstage, she admitted that this year she was a bit emotional when she went up on stage.

"I usually have a few drinks before my category comes up," Streep said. "I was not settled and my schpilkis were not quieted."

And she apologized to the press for having given a four-minute acceptance speech. "I hate people that do that."

She said she planned to attend the parties with her 15-year-old daughter. And she wouldn’t be having any trouble getting drinks, going by what Streep said in her acceptance speech.

"It’s amazing how much you can get if you quietly, clearly, and authoritatively demand it," she said when she won as best actress in a comedy.

Tina Fey came backstage to beam like a proud parent as Alec Baldwin talked to the press after winning a best comedy actor award for his role in "30 Rock."

"It’s a film performance," Fey said of Baldwin. "He really pulls you to him. It’s different from what you usually see in sitcoms."

Some final Globes thoughts:

• So, “Babel” won for best drama at the Golden Globes. Can you feel the excitement? I can’t. I also can’t feel my feet, since I’ve been wearing heels for four hours and everything below my knees is a pulsating mass of pain. But I’ve wandered off the topic, sorry. Anyhoo – show of hands from everyone who’s seen “Babel.” I have to think the number of folks who saw that picture – indeed, who saw a good number of the nominated films – is small (and hey Oscar, that doesn’t bode will for you, little gold man).

Even Meryl Streep commented on the fact that not many people have seen the big Oscar-bait movies.

“It does bother me that you can't see these films across America,” Streep said. “I am lucky, I live in New York and I can see lots and lots of great movies.”

• Backstage, Sacha Baron Cohen told a funny story about how he nearly died making "Borat." At one point, when his co-star Ken Davitian was sitting on his face, Cohen said he and the director had established that Cohen would tap the bed three times if he was in distress.

If you see the film, he said, you'll see him tap the bed three times. "He didn't realize I was dying under Ken's anus," Cohen said.

He also addressed the idea that the naive Borat somehow promoted intolerance.

“All his beliefs seen laughable” whether it’s homophobia or racism or anti-Semitism, Cohen said. “They’re all seen as forms of delusion. He doesn’t just think Jews are good with money, he believes they can change their shape into little insects. The idea is to show that prejudice is absurd and a type of delusion.”

• Backstage, Eddie Murphy said that his recording career was “pretty much dead.” “There will be no ‘Party All the Time 2,’” he said with a laugh, referring to his one long-ago pop song.

• Talk about on-message. Beyonce Knowles is like a robot when it comes to press questions. Backstage, someone asked her if her low-cut dress was taped to avoid wardrobe malfunctions. She just gave a bunch of blather about about what a great opportunity the movie was, blah blah blah. Please. If I hear another cliché from that woman I’ll scream.

And someone asked Jennifer Hudson if there was a different standard for actors and actresses regarding weight. Before Hudson could answer, Jamie Foxx jumped in front of the microphone and said that they just wanted to talk about “how great the movie was.” Oy.

• I will claim, with a certain amount of confidence, to be the only person in the Globes press room who saw “Gideon’s Daughter,” the TV movie for which Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt won awards. If I’m wrong, I’ll eat Beyonce’s hair extensions. (FYI, it’s a good movie, and now available on DVD.)

Nighy was another one of those amusing Brits who made the backstage interviews actually fun. He was asked how he teased Blunt on the set of the film, and here’s what he said. “Anything [about] the fact that I may at any point in my life have had any contact with any member of the opposite sex used to render Emily almost physically nauseous. She's not hard to wind up. I think she thought -- it was only about halfway through shooting she realized that I wasn't [Bill Nye] the science guy. She certainly couldn't spell or pronounce my name, which was refreshing.”

• The weirdest moment of the night was when the “Grey’s Anatomy” cast came backstage to talk about their best TV drama win. Someone asked about whether stars T.R. Knight and Isaiah Washington had made up, and as show creator Shonda Rhimes was in the midst of speaking, Washington grabbed the mic abruptly and rather angrily it seemed, and said “No, I did not call T.R.”’ a homosexual slur. “Never happened.”

OK. Let’s just say the mood was not festive on the stage. If anything, the look on Patrick Dempsey’s face was downright icy.

Then again, Kate Walsh looked positively radiant, so there was an upside.

• The fashions of the night, speaking of that, seemed to favor flowing, Grecian columns, a few jewel tones and lots of wavy, pretty hair.

Then there was Reese Witherspoon. Lovely woman, but that shade of bright yellow is all wrong on just about anyone, but really wrong on her. Fire the stylist, Reese.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/01/live_from_backs.html#more

fredfa

01-16-07, 02:00 AM

Next we hear from a rather churlish David Kronke of the Los Angeles Dialy News, who had nothing but problems covering the event:
Critic’s Notebook
Expletive-laden Golden Globes screed
By David Kronke Los Angeles Daily News Television Critic in his “The Mayor Of Television” blog January 15, 2007

A squad of trained chimps could run the Golden Globes more competently than, of course, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and probably with less scat thrown. When it comes to making life utterly miserable for those covering the event, no detail has been overlooked.

One had to arrive in the morning to pick up the press credentials, stranding you in formal wear in a gridlocked Beverly Hills for five or more hours before the show would begin. While I was picking up my credential - true story, a group of three guys with indeterminate accents were complaining that they couldn't get their credentials. When they were asked where they were from, they said, "Channel 5." They didn't have any camera equipment, but they each sported backpacks. When they were asked whether they had come last week to get photographed for the credentials, they said they didn't know that they had to.

Perhaps I watched too much "24" last week, but that assemblage of facts -- how could anyone from a legitimate media outlet not know they had to come to be photographed? -- and their general surly nature suggested only one thing: Terrorists. Of course, a publicist swept them into the hotel.

Later, the short (in terms of distance) shuttle ride from the Beverly Hilton -- still somehow standing, unbuffeted by a terrorist blast -- took 40 minutes. Forty unblessed-by-God minutes. Apparently, no one had explained to the shuttle driver that he was allowed access on the streets that were closed leading to the hotel, so he sat -- and his passengers sat -- in traffic as what should have been a five-minute drive stretched into a nightmare on deadline.

Once it became clear that he wasn't going to be able to turn left from Wilshire into the hotel, it was full-scale mutiny, with all the passengers demanding he just pull over and let us out of the van. "Let's re-enact 'United 93!'" I called out. Ultimately, our aggregate wrath intimidated him and he complied with our demands, whereupon a battery of cops started hassling the guy for blocking traffic.

And, finally, I have received improper credentials. I'm stuck in a tiny, cramped room elbow-to-elbow with other sweating, tuxedo'd men. I'm not in the backstage area where the winners will show up and burble happily about how their lives have been changed. My credential is so impotent I couldn't even get into the room where the headsets offering the broadcast feed are available. Which means, essentially, I'm wasting my time, even moreso than I do during TV press tour.

• UPDATE • Another reporter just shared his most recent indignity at the hands of Globes security: He told a security officer he needed to go to the Versailles Room. He was told, "There is no Versailles Room." The man was standing 10 feet from the Versailles Room. "What a chickensh!t operation," he opined. When it was announced that copier problems may delay the transcripts of acceptance speeches and backstage press conferences, the reporter asked, "Has this entire operation been outsourced?"

• UPDATE 2 • The headsets that're supposed to deliver both feeds from both the show and the interview room? Only doing half their job. The broadcast, loud and clear. Interview room, not so much.

http://www.insidesocal.com/tv/

fredfa

01-16-07, 02:07 AM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
'Galactica' star talks Six
By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In”

Actress Tricia Helfer has a logical explanation for the changes in her "Battlestar Galactica" character, Caprica Six, from the second to third seasons, and she sees the season two episode "Downloaded" as the impetus.

"The downloading process really instilled in her a revelation of how she really kind of appreciates human society and that's what started her guessing that maybe what [the Cylons] were doing is wrong and siding with Boomer," Helfer said. "She was trying to say, let's re-evaluate here. Then being back on the Base Star she started getting really confused while being surrounded by her people. Baltar lied to us about the Beacon and the infected ship.

"Something is about to happen in the next episode where she takes sides against the Cylons. It's a rash decision she does on the spur of the moment and then she thinks that maybe what has happened with Athena [being accepted by the humans] could happen to her."

Looks like that may be a pipedream.

"At the end of the season, she's really at a crossroads," Helfer said. "She's really stuck between a rock and a hard place. She has been welcomed with open arms [by the humans]. She doesn't know what her life will be like. She's starting to get angry, her vulnerability is coming out. She lashes out and shows sides that we know more as the [original] Six character."

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

fredfa

01-16-07, 02:11 AM

NATPE Notebook
Dispatch From NATPE
By Anne Becker The Hollywood Reporter in the blog “Past Deadline” Monday, January 15, 2007

Hello from my first NATPE (and first trip to Vegas!). I got in earlier today from New York and am operating on very little sleep, but some initial observations: I've seen only a handful of familiar execs so far-covering mainly cable, emerging media, and a random array of other NY-based parts of TV for the magazine, the international syndie group hasn't so much been my crowd.

But the longer I hang out in the lobby at my hotel-"THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay," that is-the more people pop up. Saw Bravo programming execs Francis Berwick and Jerry Leo in what looked like an intense conversation with four other guys over an afternoon drink. Then, a few hours later and a few tables away, I saw the mean older brother - Wayne maybe? - from The Wonder Years having a drink with a publicist and some other guy. Random.

Also, there are a TON of Spanish-speaking going on here. Guess it's the international buyers, but seriously, every elevator conversation I've snooped on-er, accidentally overheard-so far has been in Spanish.

During the Tartikoff Legacy Awards at 6 p.m. (co-sponsored by B&C), the late NBC programming exec's memory was honored with speeches by his widow Lily, NATPE chief Rick Feldman and the New York Times' Bill Carter. The night kicked off with an intro by current NBCU dashing, young executive on-the-rise Jeff Gaspin that, while nicely honoring-in a vanilla kind of way-was dated. NBC, he said, has had a rough couple of years.

"I'm not sure if you heard about it," he deadpanned. "It's not like there was any press coverage or anything like that." Um, Jeff? That gratuitous self-flagellation was the same thing that earned Jeff Zucker criticism from
the press during the upfronts-eight months ago! Buck up, guys! You're not doing all that badly now!

Anyway, I digress. Awards went to writer Stephen Cannell, Wheel/Jeopardy! EP Harry Friedman, USA/Sci Fi President Bonnie Hammer and CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.

Next up, drinks with NBC U for the Globes and then whatever else I can stay up for. Hasta manana.

http://broadcastingcable.com/blog/1380000138.html

fredfa

01-16-07, 02:14 AM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
ABC throws a party
By Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic TV Critic in his Critic’s Tour blog 01/16/2007

PASADENA, Calif. -- Cool party put on by ABC, which is to say, lots of stars showed up.

That includes a bunch of people from Lost, the chattiest of which was Josh Holloway. Not a bit like Sawyer, his character, it turns out. Well, maybe a little -- at least that's what he said. But his southern accent isn't quite so pronounced, and he's a lot nicer. And smarter. Like most of the cast, he seems genuinely thrilled to be starring on such a big show, so it's hard not to be happy for them.

Also roaming around: Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Jorge Garcia, Michael Emerson and Henry Ian Cusick. Maybe more, but that's who I saw for sure. (Also had a brief lunch conversation with Emerson earlier in the day. He, too, was quite nice, happy to talk about his character, the show, whatever.)

Also saw folks from Ugly Betty, In Case of Emergency, Brothers & Sisters (Calista Flockhart stayed a long time; co-star Sally Field also seemed like a good sport) and more. Supposedly Miley Cyrus was there, as well, but, alas, to my kids' great disappointment, I never found her.

Crowded room, I should add.

The best parties are the ones that don't just pack a lot of stars, but stars who are willing to talk. Big points on both fronts for this one.

BLOG UPDATE: Slowdown on the postings Tuesday, as critics are going on a bunch of set visits, a trip that'll take most of the day. But updates to follow Tuesday night. Stay tuned...

http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?blog=5&blogtype=Entertainment

fredfa

01-16-07, 02:47 AM

The Business of TV
Fox Affiliates, Network Look to Future
By Michele Greppi Television Week January 15, 2007

Fox affiliates focused on the future at an annual meeting between the stations and the network that was one of the most peaceful on record. Both contingents are concentrating on how they can adapt to a changing business environment rather than their differences.

The tenor of comments by attendees underscored the assessment by Fox Networks Group CEO Tony Vinciquerra that "we have a common business interest." That feeling was fostered by the deal struck last year that cut Fox-affiliated television stations in on revenue from digital repurposing of network content.

"The pace of change is not going to magically plateau or slow" in the industry, Mr. Vinciquerra said in his opening remarks at the affiliates meeting in Las Vegas.

Before the network and affiliates leave Las Vegas, where their meeting preceded the opening of the National Association of Television Program Executives conference, a recently formed futures committee will lay out for Fox executives several suggestions for collaborating on digital partnerships.

Mr. Vinciquerra also said that federal agencies that regulate the television business are not keeping pace with the dramatic growth of new technologies that impact the television business.

"The affiliate body has evolved. Stations know they have to figure out how to make the best use of the Fox brand," not just in the community but on the Internet," said outgoing affiliates board chairman Brian Brady, president and CEO of Northwest Broadcasting.

Mr. Brady had been affiliates board chairman, but passed the baton over the weekend to Joe Denk, general manager of Second Generation-owned KFXA-TV in Cedar Rapids, who presided over the full convention.

Positive ratings for Fox's first broadcast of the college football Bowl Championship Series, featuring best college football teams, contributed to the harmonious tone of the gathering, which peaked Monday.

"We got all parts of the company involved," Mr. Vinciquerra said of the bowl package. The game's ratings met expectations, he said.

The local-station executives also are pleased with the arrival of Fox's midseason lineup -- which has traditionally performed more strongly than the fall slate. The midseason push started Sunday with top ratings for "24," and continues Wednesday with the season premiere of "American Idol."

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11386

harley1

01-16-07, 07:56 AM

Critic’s Notebook
'The Mormons' on PBS takes aim at stereotypes
By Scott D. Pierce (Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News January 14, 2007

PASADENA, Calif. — Award-winning filmmaker Helen Whitney has one over-arching goal for her four-hour production "The Mormons," which airs this spring on PBS.

"I hope that most of the stereotypes — ideally, all of them — will be blown away," she told the Deseret Morning News on Saturday. "Because so many of them are just based on ignorance. Ignorance about Mormon history, ignorance about Mormon theology. Ignorance."

http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650222861,00.html

Could be a big help to Mormon Gov Mitt Romney when he announces his run for President.

harley1

01-16-07, 08:00 AM

Cuban's message to NHL
NHL could compete with NBA in U.S.

January 16, 2007
Dave Feschuk

That Mark Cuban is a rare American is well established. The owner of the Dallas Mavericks is one of the world's 793 certifiable billionaires. He's also among the few pro-sports executives who, in his jeans and sneakers and T-shirts, isn't a suit-and-tied corporate drone.

Less known, perhaps, is that he's of the opinion that the NHL — left for dead as a niche sport points south — should be considered a peer of the NBA's.

"The NHL has just got to give themselves more credit," he said. "They've got an inferiority complex right now, and I think they've got to overcome that."

Cuban was speaking on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre, moments before the Mavericks would take the court to beat the Raptors. He's still a basketball junkie, but the 48-year-old has been thinking about hockey a lot of late. He was in attendance Saturday night to watch the Leafs get pummelled by the Canucks. And late last year he put in an unsuccessful bid to buy his hometown NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Having kicked a franchise's tires, he has studied the way hockey is positioned in the U.S. market. He is clearly unimpressed.

"People in the States underestimate (hockey)," he said. "More people watch Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights than watch NBA basketball on Thursday night in the States. People in the U.S. don't realize that. They don't realize there are more hockey fans in a country of (32.8) million than there are NBA fans in the U.S. (population 300 million).

"I'd be out there promoting the NHL's combined TV viewership in the U.S. and Canada. But it doesn't happen."

It's an interesting point. The NBA on TNT, the league's Thursday night national broadcast, averaged a 1.1 rating last season, or about one million households in the United States. Meanwhile, Hockey Night in Canada's marquee Saturday night matchup is averaging about 1.27 million viewers in the northland. If you combine that with the typical rating for a national U.S. broadcast of an NHL game on the obscure Versus network — even if it's a pittance of about 160,000 households — it represents an impressive North American audience.

It's rough math, but it's the ballpark number that's important. Cuban's point is that people on either side of the border simply don't think of hockey as having an audience as large as basketball's. If you look at the U.S. perception of the NBA compared to that of the NHL. – "and perception," said Cuban, "is reality" – it's big league versus bush league. And even if folks in the U.S. realize the NHL is big in Canada, they probably don't realize exactly how big it really is.

Why does it matter? Cuban acknowledged you can shoot a few holes in the premise, to be sure. You could point out that the U.S. and Canada are served by different TV cable networks. But Cuban, who produces films, looked to Hollywood to draw an interesting parallel.

"People might not realize it, but when you put out a movie, the opening weekend isn't just U.S. It's not just Canada. They combine the two numbers," he said. "I would be doing the same thing if I was the NHL. And suddenly your numbers are bigger than basketball's."

Cuban said that if the NHL started citing the combined North American number it would be a productive step in changing the image of the game. It's an ever-evolving media landscape, after all, in which geography matters less and less. The NHL recently struck a deal to supply content to You Tube. And on the Web, audiences are measured in eyeballs, not necessarily nationalities.

The naysayers will chime in, "Well, TV doesn't work that way." And TV, to be sure, is a changing business, too. Challenging the conventional wisdom is Cuban's specialty. And in the delicate game of creating perceptions of value, Cuban – who sold Broadcast.com for about $5 billion – has some experience.

"The perception among regular sports fans is going to be, `Wow. I didn't realize hockey was that big.' Nobody's going to do the division and say, `Well, that's in Canada so that doesn't count.' It's just like a box office. They don't say, `Well, it was stronger in Canada.' We've had movies stronger in Canada per screen than they were in the U.S. No one cares. It's just total box office. Advertisers don't care. You guys drink beer. We drink beer. You guys play video games. We play video games. You guys wear stupid sneakers and pay too much money for 'em. We do the same."

"I think it's just a matter of educating people that it's not that far a leap from the NHL to the NBA. They're on par with each other. But you don't hear that."

http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/171418

How soon before networks start telling advertisers the same thing about the number of Canadian viewers ?

fredfa

01-16-07, 10:58 AM

TV Notebook
Idol' challenge: Top last year's tune-in
That was 35.5 million, and that will be tough
By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jan 16, 2007

Tonight’s sixth-season premiere of “American Idol” on Fox is going to be big. The only question is how big.

Last year’s fifth-season premiere drew 35.5 million total viewers and a 15.3 rating among adults 18-49. That was 2 million total viewers and 1.3 rating points more than the 2005 debut.

At least 30 million seems like a safe estimate, and if the two-hour show starting at 8 p.m. does better, that will be all the more impressive as no primetime program has broken even the 28 million mark yet this season. Tonight’s premiere likely will be the most-watched show of the 2006-2007 season in primetime both in total viewers and 18-49s.

Thus far this season, ABC shows hold the record in both categories. “Dancing with the Stars” set a season high for all broadcast shows with 27.5 million total viewers for its November season finale. And the season premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy” in September averaged a season-best 11.0 in 18-49s.

Meanwhile, expect a quiet night for the other networks. Last year ABC, CBS, NBC, UPN and the WB combined to average 33.95 million total viewers opposite the two-hour “Idol” premiere, or 1.55 million less than Fox’s average for the night.

Among 18-49s, the drubbing was even worse. The five networks together totaled a 10.7, or barely two thirds of “Idol’s” rating.

Not surprisingly, the other networks are sticking to repeats, specials or newsmagazines tonight. Only CBS, which performed best against “Idol’s” premiere last year, will offer originals of its regularly scheduled programs.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9514.asp

AAF

01-16-07, 11:07 AM

"Cuban's message to NHL: NHL could compete with NBA in U.S."

...and US audiences will get really excited about David Beckham & MLS because he's a huge star across the pond. Right.

fredfa

01-16-07, 11:19 AM

So, which show do you think dominated the ratings last night..."24" or "The Golden Globes"?

Make your pick and then check the numbers out...at least the preliminary ratings.

Monday’s metered market over-night prime-time ratings have been posted just under the HD Football listings near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

fredfa

01-16-07, 11:27 AM

TV Notebook
ABC dominates TV field
"Ugly Betty" crowned comedy champ; "Grey's" scores drama prize
By Martin Miller and Maria Elena Fernandez Los Angeles Times Staff Writers January 15, 2007

On a chilly winter evening, the television portion of the Golden Globes turned "Ugly" and "Grey."

The Hollywood Foreign Press celebrated "Ugly Betty" in the best comedy series category, and "Grey's Anatomy" won best dramatic series. It was a double-victory for ABC and Touchstone, the studio that produces both shows.

America Ferrera also took the top honor as the best comedic television actress, for her portrayal of the lowly assistant in New York City's cruel fashion magazine world in "Ugly Betty." The somewhat surprise picks for the freshman series continued a long standing foreign press penchant for recognizing talented newcomers, at least before the Emmys catch on.

Despite "Ugly Betty's" ratings success, the show's creator, Silvio Horta, could not get his mother and sister into the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. They watched the show in the viewing room.

Critical darling "30 Rock" also collected a Golden Globe in barely more than half a half season on the air for Alec Baldwin's acclaimed performance as a self-obsessed network executive. The NBC comedy show's name was helped little by former "Home Improvement" star Tim Allen, the presenter who initially called the show "Third Rock."

In the ballroom, Baldwin's victory drew wild applause from three television tables -- "30 Rock," "24," and "Heroes." For the second year in a row, Hugh Laurie won for Fox's "House," in which the British actor plays a misanthropic doctor. "I'm speechless," Laurie said. "I'm literally without a speech."

The Hollywood Foreign Press once again seems to be as enchanted with cable productions as it is with network. Film-turned-television actress Kyra Sedgwick won a Golden Globe for TNT's "The Closer" for television's best actress in a drama, beating out Evangeline Lilly of "Lost" and Ellen Pompeo of "Grey's Anatomy." She also bested "The Sopranos'" Edie Falco, who hasn't won a Golden Globe in that category since 2003, despite her critically acclaimed portrayal of a mafia wife.

Showtime was shut out despite six nominations. But HBO's "Elizabeth I" won best mini-series or motion picture made for television: the production's Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons also won for best actress and best supporting actor, respectively.

Emily Blunt, who was nominated in the supporting actress categories for both television and film ("The Devil Wears Prada"), kicked off an unlikely mini-sweep for BBC America's "Gideon's Daughter." Bill Nighy, who played her father in writer-director Stephen Poliakoff's moody television movie, set in the early days of Tony Blair's Britain, later won for best actor in a mini-series or motion picture made for television.

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/globes/env-ggtvhighlights-15jan15,0,4818942.story?coll=env-home-subfeaturebar

swamphhh

01-16-07, 11:39 AM

TV Notebook
Season four still awaits OK for 'Battlestar Galactica'
Rob Owen's Pittsburgh Post Gazette "Tuned In" Column - January 16, 2007

Despite stellar reviews, ratings are down, not necessarily because fewer people are watching, but because so many viewers are watching on DVR or via iTunes downloads, not on cable. Sci Fi Channel executives hope to reverse the ratings trend by moving "Galactica" to 10 p.m. Sunday this weekend, but they're not ready to discuss the show's future.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07016/754039-237.stm/

I honestly don't think I've watched a single episode of BSG live. Now, I'm not a Nelson guy so my individual actions don't really count. But I do feel sorry for the Network. Unfortunatelty, DVRs are a fact of life and cables networks are either going to have to find new metrics of measuring viewers or a new paradigm of distribution like PPV or making SciFi a Premium Channel. The big problem is that BSG can't use product placements. No Dell screens in the CIC and no Johnnie Walker for Col. Tigh.

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:18 PM

TV Notebook
Media buyer's guide to 'American Idol'
What advertisers get for their $600,000 per spot
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writerJan 16, 2007

The question each January, as Fox readies the premiere of its mega-hit reality show “American Idol,” is whether “Idol’s” hold on viewers will finally begin to soften.

It’s been the No. 1 show among adults 18-49 for the past three seasons and has yet to backslide in that time, pushing Fox to first place in the demographic the past two years.

In fact, all that success has resulted in a rather odd conundrum for Fox. Coming off the show’s highest-rated season ever, the network may not want it to grow any more, or advertisers will be priced right out of commercial spots.

“At this point, I don’t think Fox wants ‘Idol’ to get any bigger,” says one veteran media researcher. “Otherwise, they'll have a hard time finding advertising [because of the expense].”

This year a 30-second spot on the show will average more than $600,000, according to Ad Age, meaning most advertisers have already been priced out of TV’s most expensive show. What are advertisers getting for that money?

On the day of “Idol’s” sixth-season premiere, here’s a quick look at what media buyers and planners need to know about “Idol.”

“Idol” finished the past two seasons No. 1 in both adults 18-49 and total viewers. Last season was its best ever, averaging better than 30 million total viewers for the performance and results shows and up 14 percent over the previous year.

The show’s premiere and season finale were the two most-watched regularly scheduled broadcast programs of the season, averaging 35.5 million and 36.4 million total viewers, respectively. Both were series records, and up quite a bit from the 22.7 million who watched Kelly Clarkson win season one in September 2002.

Fox charged a reported $1.3 million per 30-second ad for May’s “Idol” finale, more than CBS got for the “Everybody Loves Raymond” series-ender in 2005.

It’s the priciest regular-season commercial buy by a long shot. ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” is No. 2 at a reported $394,000 per spot.

“Idol” is also one of the top shows in product placement. “Idol” had 446 minutes of product placement last year, up 12 percent over the previous year’s 400 minutes, according to Nielsen.

“Idol” reaches a desirable audience. According to Magna Global, the median household income for “Idol” viewers is $60,000, or $10,000 less than last year’s highest-skewing show, “The West Wing.”

What’s more, about two thirds of “Idol” viewers live in households with three or more people, meaning the show draws a large family audience.

The median age of “Idol” viewers has crept up to 39 for Tuesday’s competition show and 40 for Wednesday’s results show, according to Magna. That’s four and seven years older than when the show started, but it’s a desirable graying. It’s helped attract more upscale advertisers to the show.

Viewers are downright rabid in their devotion to the show. The past two seasons, more than 500 million votes have been cast in the weekly voting that determines who stays and who goes.

Several “Idol” singers have released platinum albums, including winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood and season two runner-up Clay Aiken.

A 2006 Lifetime movie about season three winner Fantasia Barrino was the network’s most-watched program of the year and ranked No. 40 on all of basic cable with 6.8 million total viewers.

Fox used “Idol” to lift Tuesday lead-out “House” into its No. 2 show, sticking the promising but struggling rookie program behind “Idol” for the first time in January 2005. Since then, “House” has risen to a top-five program among adults 18-49 even without the “Idol” lead-in and could well finish the season the No. 3 program in that demo, behind both “Idol” editions.

But the network has not been able to find a similarly potent combination Wednesdays, where a stream of reality and comedies have aired out of “Idol.” This year Fox has pledged to lay off the gimmicky reality shows in the hopes of growing a promising sitcom into a strong lead-out.

“I think it’s a mistake to constantly blow up our schedule,” Fox scheduling guru Preston Beckman told Media Life in November. “You get a lot of false positives that way, putting new shows behind big shows, but you don’t know if [the big ratings] are for the show or the time period.”

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9516.asp

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:19 PM

The Business of Television
Mediacom Offers Sinclair Updated Arbitration Terms
By Katy Bachman MediaWeek January 16, 2007-

Just days after Sinclair Broadcast Group rejected binding arbitration, Mediacom Communications said Monday that it again offered to submit to arbitration as a means to settle the ongoing retransmission dispute with Sinclair. In its most recent offer, Mediacom said it would accept final binding arbitration before the FCC Media Bureau under established procedures previously adopted by the FCC in the News Corp./DirecTV order published Jan. 14, 2004.

The high-profile, several-months long retransmission negotiations between the two companies has been rocky but unproductive, with a resolution no where in sight. As of 12:01 Jan. 6, 22 Sinclair stations in 16 markets went dark on Mediacom’s system, effecting some 700,000 Mediacom subscribers.

In its Jan. 12 order denying Mediacom’s request for interim carriage of the Sinclair stations, the Federal Communications Commission said it doesn’t have authority to resolve the dispute, but instead encouraged the parties to consider binding arbitration. “If both parties agree to final binding arbitration by the Media Bureau, we would require Sinclair to authorize Mediacom’s continued carriage of its stations’ signals during the pendency of arbitration pursuant to the terms of the November 30, 2006 agreement between the parties, or, if so directed by the parties, pursuant to the per subscriber daily rate as proposed by Sinclair to Mediacom on Jan. 11, 2007,” the FCC said in the order.

Mediacom continues to disagree with the FCC that it does not have the authority to resolve the dispute, and expressed hope that Sinclair would accept this second offer. “It is readily apparent to Mediacom, the Commission and federal lawmakers that binding arbitration is a realistic solution to this stalemate. We are hopeful that Sinclair will quickly accept this recommendation and not try to undermine the government’s clear direction or stall this process by imposing unreasonable conditions on arbitration,” said John Pascarelli, executive vp of operations for Mediacom.

Meanwhile, the Iowa General Assembly scheduled a hearing on the dispute for Jan. 18. The Iowa Congressional Delegation also wrote the CEOs of both companies urging them to agree to binding arbitration and find a way to resolve the dispute. Sinclair responded by rejecting binding arbitration and pointing out that consumers have other alternatives to view its stations, via over-the-air and by subscribing to DirecTV and Dish Network, both direct competitors to Mediacom.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003532716

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:28 PM

Monday’s 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.

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:30 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
'Golden Globes' bump with box office
Viewership is up 7 percent over last year
By Toni Fitzgerald medialifemagazine Jan 16, 2007

Two years after the least-viewed Golden Globes ever, the ceremony continued its climb from the cellar last night with a solid tune-in for the first major primetime awards show of 2007.

The Globes averaged 20 million total viewers from 8 to 11 p.m. last night on NBC, according to Nielsen overnights, up 7 percent over last year’s 18.7 million in the fast nationals. That is also up smartly over 2005’s ceremony, which drew just 16.8 million viewers.

Yet it’s still well short of past Globes ceremonies as the show settles into its new Monday timeslot, where it has aired for the past two years. The 2004 show drew 26.8 million viewers on a Sunday night.

The increased tune-in may have been a positive reflection on last year’s stronger box office, which rallied after a disappointing 2005. Among the night’s most nominated movies were “The Departed,” “Borat” and “Dreamgirls,” which, in addition to being critical hits, also did well in ticket sales.

“Dreamgirls” was the night’s big winner with three trophies, including one for best supporting actress in a musical or comedy, Jennifer Hudson. Hudson earned a loyal following as a contestant on “American Idol” a few years ago.

Airing opposite the Globes, Fox’s “24” held up quite well in the second night of its two-part, four-hour season premiere. It averaged a 5.9 in adults 18-49, equaling last year’s rating against the Globes though down a tad from Sunday’s debut.

It also drew 15.7 million total viewers, equal to Sunday and up over last year.

The Globes kept NBC ahead of Fox for first place for the night among 18-49s, as the network averaged a 6.5 rating and a 15 share. Fox was second at 5.9/13, ABC third at 3.3/8, CBS fourth at 3.2/7, Univision fifth at 1.9/5 and CW sixth at 0.8/2.

NBC took each hour of the night, starting with a 6.1 rating at 8 p.m. for the first hour of the Globes. Fox as second that hour with a 5.7 for the first hour of “24,” with ABC third with a 3.7 for “Wife Swap” and Univision and CBS tied for fourth at 2.6, Univision for “La Fea Mas Bella” and CBS for “How I Met Your Mother” (repeat) and “The Class” (2.7). CW was sixth with a 0.9 average for repeats of “Everybody Hates Chris” and “”All of Us.”

At 9 p.m. NBC led again with a 6.5 for the Globes, followed by a 6.2 for Fox for another hour of “24.” ABC was third with a 3.9 for “Supernanny,” CBS fourth with a 3.4 for a repeat of “Two and a Half Men” (3.5) and a new “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (3.2), Univision fifth with a 1.8 for “Mundo de Fieras” and CW sixth with a 0.8 for repeats of “Girlfriends” and “The Game.”

NBC completed the sweep at 10 p.m. with a 6.9 for the last hour of the Golden Globes. With Fox out, CBS moved to second with a 3.9 for a repeat of “CSI: Miami,” with ABC third with a 2.2 for “What About Brian” and Univision fourth with a 1.4 for “Cristina.”

Among households, NBC led the night with a 13.2 average rating and a 20 share. Fox was second at 9.2/13, CBS third at 6.3/9, ABC fourth at 4.9/7, Univision fifth at 2.4/4 and CW sixth at 1.2/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9543.asp

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:41 PM

TV Notebook
Pondering the magic of 'American Idol'
Fox's talent series gains with each new season
By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jan 16, 2007

Since “American Idol” debuted in summer 2002 on Fox, dozens of competitive reality shows have premiered on broadcast and cable, and most them haven't lasted long. Some, like ABC’s short-lived “The One,” have been “Idol” knockoffs. Others, like Fox’s own “Married by America,” were very distant but less-successful cousins.

All the while, “Idol” has thrived. For media people always trying to tab the next big thing for their clients, analyzing “Idol’s” success has become a fascinating subject. Shoved onto the schedule as an afterthought a year after the WB’s similarly themed “Pop Stars” fizzled, “Idol” grew into a summer hit the same way “Survivor” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” had years before.

But unlike those shows, “Idol” has grown stronger as it ages.

Media people cite many reasons the show works. Among them are snotty but snappy judge Simon Cowell, without whom the show would never have made it past the first season; his chemistry with loopy yet loveable judge Paula Abdul, judge Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest; and Americans’ eagerness to judge others.

Yet the single biggest factor may be the tangible talent of the contestants. Soaring voices like Kelly Clarkson and Fantasia Barrino may have been discovered eventually even without “Idol,” but watching them bloom in the spotlight is fascinating.

On the day of “Idol’s” sixth-season premiere, Shari Anne Brill , Carat vice president and director of programming, Heather Kruse, group media director at Fallon in Minneapolis, and Lisa Herdman, vice president and associate director of network programming at Rubin Postaer and Associates in Santa Monica, talk to Media Life about the “Idol” phenomenon.

Have you seen any signs that Americans may finally be getting bored with "Idol?"

Brill: No, I don’t think so because there’s so many interesting elements that make it work. And as long as they don’t get over the top with product placement, I think it will be fine. To me what I thought was interesting was the appearances of some pretty impressive celebrities during the finale. If they keep lending their libraries for performance to the contestants, it will help.

Kruse: Two years ago I would have said yes, but not anymore. It’s gaining a bigger audience because it’s expanding into new viewers, and you’re getting such a mass-market middle-America audience. I think the mass phenomenon is enabling it to get bigger. The only potential backlash is that you have to tune in so much.

Herdman: We have not seen signs in the ratings. As it relates to the popularity of the actual American Idol (the person) after the show ends, it’s safe to say that no one is as hot as Kelly Clarkson from season one. That could be a sign that the level of engagement of the viewers (phone calls to vote, etc.) may be slipping.

Why has the show demonstrated such impressive longevity?

Brill: There’s something in it for everybody. It’s the chance to pick the next singing sensations, and the auditions are out and out fun. The good ones are good but it’s also fun to see the horrible ones. They even bring them back in the finale.

Kruse: Because the contestants are having success. It’s not always the winner; multiple people in the top 10 go on to have high-profile success in their careers, and it’s not like they’re just going on bad reality show on other networks, they’re getting leads in movies, big-time stuff.

Herdman: The human effect. At the very least, people like to see other people fail and people like to see others succeed. This offers both. That appeal is very broad which results in a broader audience. Conversely, “The Office” and/or “Arrested Development” require a more specific interest.

How long do you think "Idol" will remain on the air?

Brill: I think the day Simon leaves is the day the show will fall apart. I think he’s everything for that show.

Kruse: As long as the talent’s good. As long as the contestants continue to be successful once “Idol’s” over, that’s what keeps people energized and ready for next year, it’s become a year-long phenomenon. The singles, the awards, that’s what keeps the brand alive and expands the audience. And I think they need to maintain the judges. Without them the momentum wouldn’t be there.

Herdman: At least five more years.

How do you think "Idol" will do ratings-wise compared with last year? Up, down or about the same?

Brill: I’d say on par. Even if it’s down, it’s still going to be the top-rated show on television, nothing will come close. “Dancing with the Stars” may come back for a spring run, I’ve heard that’s a possibility. And results may actually air opposite “American Idol” results, but I don’t think that will impact the bulk of viewers.

Kruse: I think last year, because it was such a banner breakout year, they’ll be challenged to do better, but at the same time I don’t think there’s any less hype or backlash that says it won’t be at least as good as last year. It will be hard to do better, but there’s no reason to think that it will do less.

Herdman: Based on the ratings history I believe, it would definitely go up.

How many total viewers do you think will watch tonight's premiere? (Last year's drew 35.5 million.)

Brill: I would be amazed if it didn’t do at least 30 million.

Kruse: There’s the 35.5, and the season final was 36-something, and I think it will do that. It will do above 30, but whether it gets to 35--the recent success of Chris Daughtry’s latest single has reinvigorated it, so I can’t imagine it not doing that well.

Herdman: 37 million

Will a strong "Idol" push Fox to a season win in adults 18-49?

Brill: I think it’ll be a very close race, it will be close like last year. Even though Fox was No. 1, it wasn’t very far ahead of the other networks. It’ll be close once again, it’ll probably be more between Fox and ABC.

Kruse: It’s kind of like nothing’s telling me it can’t. And “24” will help. I was a first-season watcher, and now, whatever they’ve been doing, I feel maybe I need to tune in again this year.

Herdman: Yes.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9517.asp

fredfa

01-16-07, 12:52 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Another wizard named Harry
By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Everything old is new again with "The Dresden Files" (Sunday at 9 PM ET on Sci-Fi), which dresses up the ancient detective genre with a liberal dose of magic.

British actor Paul Blackthorne, the bad guy from "24" season three, is Harry Dresden, a Chicago private eye who likely has some Eye of Newt in his desk drawer. Magic is real, not that many people know about or believe it, and Harry's a practicing wizard who solves his cases with potions and incantations instead of a gun and some tough talk.

Veteran "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" writers Robert Hewitt Wolfe and Hans Beimler, adapting the series of books by Jim Butcher, struggle at first to balance telling the individual cases with explaining Harry's world and backstory. There's some group called The High Council that Harry's worried about, even though no one ever says who they are, and ravens are a big deal, even though, again, no one says why. At least we get some hints that Bob (Terrence Mann), the English ghost who works in Harry's employ, didn't used to be so benign and helpful, but the cases Harry works in the first few shows drag.

There are some nice little moments early on that show the mix of the magical and mundane -- Harry bribing a wizard friend with a chicken salad, Harry being unable to do anything about a boot on his car -- but it isn't until the werewolf-themed fourth episode that "Dresden Files" finally gives you a trick worth applauding. Hopefully, there's more of that to come.

Another high point

"Battlestar Galactica" seasons tend to play out like an inverse bell curve. The arc episodes at the beginning and end of each batch are the ones you remember, packed with action, suspense and advancement of all the major storylines. The shows in the middle tend toward the self-contained, which producer Ronald D. Moore has admitted isn't his strength.

So after the astonishing New Caprica arc at the start of the September episodes -- an Iraq parable in sci-fi drag -- "Galactica" floundered creatively, and in the ratings, where the show was going into the teeth of the networks' fall season for the first time ever.

Now Sci-Fi Channel has moved it to a new timeslot, Sundays at 10 PM ET, and if the viewership doesn't improve, there probably won't be a fourth season.

The good news is that the first episode back from the break fits the show's usual pattern: a high-stakes showdown between the humans and the Cylons under the glare of a star about to go supernova. There are plenty of slaps, punches and gunshots, all of them hitting harder than normal because of how character-driven each blow is.

Some people knock "Galactica" for its unrelenting grimness, but a TV universe without it would be far more depressing.

As seen on YouTube

"Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence has been extolling the wonders of viral video ever since a bootleg copy of his unsold sitcom pilot "Nobody's Watching" turned up on YouTube, becoming so popular that NBC bought it.

Turns out there's a downside to viral promotion. Lawrence posted two numbers from the upcoming musical episode of "Scrubs" (Thursday at 9, Ch. 4) on YouTube: "Guy Love," an ode to the heterosexual bond between J.D. and Turk; and "Everything Comes Down to Poo," about the diagnostic value of human waste.

They're very funny -- sample lyric for the latter: "All across the nation, we trust in defecation" -- but they're also so much better than the episode's other songs that the episode suffers if you've seen them both already.

Still, theater buffs will get a kick out of the number of famous musicals being homaged (there are soundalikes to "Rent," "Les Miz" and even "Pirates of Penzance"), and if somehow you manage to get through your day without wasting several hours of it on YouTube, you'll be perfectly happy when the two previewed songs begin.

All TV bits:

• Plenty of TV stars -- desperate to hype their shows at press tour -- will start name-checking famous friends who they claim can't wait to guest star on their show. Usually, they're lying. Not Courteney Cox. Last week, the star/producer of FX's "Dirt" insisted that Jennifer Aniston "loves the show" and was already asking, "What am I going to do?" And as it turns out, what she'll be doing is guest-starring in the first season finale, airing March 27, as the editor of a rival magazine.

• Though April 8 has been the presumed return date for "The Sopranos" for quite a while, HBO has finally dotted the i's and crossed the t's to make that official. "Entourage" also returns that night.

• I've complained on several occasions about the uselessness of the obnoxious TV reporter character on "The Class." Apparently, I wasn't the only one, as actress Lucy Punch has left the freshman CBS comedy.

http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/sepinwall/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1168926439273850.xml&coll=1

fredfa

01-16-07, 01:07 PM

TV Notebook
'Amazing Race: All-Stars' cast
By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In” January 16, 2007

Eleven former teams will return to compete in "The Amazing Race: All-Stars," premiering at 8 p.m. Feb. 18 on CBS. Here's a list of teams from CBS's press release:
Kevin O'Connor and Drew Feinberg (SEASON 1)
Relationship: Lifelong Friends
Hometown: Kevin (Bayonne, N.J.); Drew (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Age: Kevin (40); Drew (41)
Occupation: Kevin (Forensic Accountant); Drew (Senior Court Officer)
Results from Season 1: 4th Place
America's favorite fraternity brothers are all grown up and married. They fell just short of the million dollars the first time around and are eager for another shot.

Ozwald Mendez and Danilo Jimenez (Danny) (SEASON 2)
Relationships: Best Friends
Hometown: Ozwald (New York, N.Y.); Danny (Miami, Fla.)
Age: Ozwald (36); Danny (41)
Occupation: Ozwald (Advertising); Danny (Paralegal)
Results from Season 2: 4th Place
These best friends from Season 2 had a falling out several years ago, but have since mended their relationship and claim to be better friends now than they've ever been during their previous 12 years of friendship.

John Vito Pietanza and Jill Aquilino (SEASON 3)
Relationship: Formerly Dating
Hometown: John (New York, N.Y.); Jill (New York, N.Y.)
Age: John (32); Jill (29)
Occupation: John (Trader); Jill (Product Controller)
Results from Season 3: 5th Place
Season 3's John Vito and Jill are back for another chance at winning the $1 million prize. What's different this time around? These former lovebirds are no longer romantically involved.

Uchenna Agu and Joyce Agu (SEASON 7)
Relationship: Married
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Age: Uchenna (42); Joyce (46)
Occupation: Uchenna (Land Developer); Joyce (Sales)
Results from Season 7: Winners
Uchenna and Joyce are one of the most beloved teams from any season of Race. The winners of Season 7, Uchenna and Joyce were relentless and stopped at nothing to win the $1 million prize??? including shaving their heads.

David Conley, Jr. and Mary Conley (SEASON 10)
Relationship: Coal Miner and Wife
Hometown: Stone, Ky.
Age: David (33); Mary (32)
Occupation: David (Coal Miner); Mary (Homemaker)
Results from Season 10: 6th Place
Everybody's favorite coal miner and his wife are back for another trek around the world. David and Mary, the lovable, wide-eyed couple from Stone, Ky. are ready to compete and believe they have what it takes to bring home the $1 million prize for their children.

Charla Baklayan Faddoul and Mirna Hindoyan (SEASON 5)
Relationship: Cousins
Hometown: Towson, Md.
Age: Charla (30); Mirna (30)
Occupation: Charla (Real Estate Investor); Mirna (Attorney)
Results from Season 5: 6th Place
Charla and Mirna captured America's hearts the first time around. They are proud of the way they played the game and look forward to another trip around the world together.

Rob Mariano and Amber Mariano (SEASON 7)
Relationship: Married
Hometown: Pensacola, Fla.
Age: Rob (30); Amber (28)
Occupation: Rob (TV personality/host/pursuing a career in TV); Amber (TV personality)
Results from Season 7: 2nd Place
America's Sweethearts met, fell in love and got married...all in front of the cameras, beginning with the filming of Survivor: All-Stars, where Rob finished in second place to Amber. They finished as the runners-up to Joyce and Uchenna in Season 7. To what lengths will Rob and Amber go to avoid finishing as the runner-up yet again?

Teri Pollack and Ian Pollack (SEASON 3)
Relationship: Married Parents
Hometown: Palm City, Fla.
Age: Teri (53); Ian (54)
Occupation: Teri (Homemaker); Ian (Private Investigator/Retired Police Lt.)
Results from Season 3: 2nd Place
Second place in Season 3 just wasn't good enough for this dynamic duo. Teri and Ian are still the oldest players to ever finish in second place in the Amazing Race and they are back to show that they haven't lost a step.

Eric Sanchez and Danielle Turner (Dee) (SEASON 9 -- Separate Teams)
Relationship: Dating
Hometown: Eric (Deerfield Beach, Fla.); Danielle (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Age: Eric (28); Danielle (23)
Occupation: Eric (Waiter); Danielle (Bartender)
Results from Season 9: Eric (2nd Place), Danielle (7th Place)
This unique duo met while racing against each other during Season 9. During their travels, they developed a bond which evolved into a romance and the two have been dating for the past year. Will the combination of big-city girl and self-proclaimed "beach bum" be a force to reckon with or will the other Teams discount this new pair who has never raced together as Team?

Joe Baldassare and Bill Bartek (SEASON 1)
Relationship: Life Partners
Hometown: Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Age: Joe (56); Bill (53)
Occupation: Joe (Owns his own Minerals Trading Company); Bill (Realtor)
Results in Season 1: 3rd Place
"Team Guido" from Season 1 returns for another attempt at the $1 million prize. Claiming they've had their bags packed since they returned home from the first season, they are ready to go!

Dustin Seltzer and Kandice Pelletier (SEASON 10)
Relationship: Beauty Queens
Hometown: Dustin (Seattle, Wash.); Kandice (New York, N.Y)
Age: Dustin (25); Kandice (25)
Occupation: Dustin (Grad Student); Kandice (Student at NYU)
Results from Season 10: 4th Place
These former Beauty Queens are back for a second chance and are more determined than ever to prove to the world that they aren't just pretty faces. Proven to be fierce competitors during the 10th installment of Race, Dustin and Kandice are focused and have their sights set on becoming the first all-female team to win the $1 million prize.

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

fredfa

01-16-07, 01:26 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
A 'Desperate' Countdown
By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic in his “TV Eye” blog January 16, 2007

There has been an awful lot of talk about the ending of hit series at the TV Critics Association winter press tour.

First, viewers – and ABC executives, it turned out – were rattled by statements by a couple producers of “Lost” that they’d like to send an end date for their enigmatic series – if only to help give more shape to the show’s narrative.

The “Lost” producers didn’t give an exact date, at least.

But Marc Cherry, creator of another ABC hit of the same vintage, “Desperate Housewives,” says he’ll stop the show after seven seasons.

“I want it to run seven years,” Cherry told critics in a weekend session. “And the moment seven years is past, I will personally take down the sets. For me, it's like that's how protective I am of this.”

He doesn’t want anybody else to run the show – while he’s there or after he’s gone. When he put less input into season two, ratings dropped a bit and the show was criticised.

“I took a little step back season two because of exhaustion a little bit. I don't think I was quite as present there,” Cherry says. As a result, “Things didn't go as well. It kind of really hurt me in a deep place.”

Therefore, he says, he’s determined to be absolutely hands-on as long as the show lasts. “ABC can't bulldoze me out of that show,” he declared.

”I'm only going to have one major hit. I'm only going to catch lightning in a bottle once. I wish I had the energy to develop and write at the same time, but I don't. This is going to be on my tombstone. I'll be damned if I don't protect it.”

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/

fredfa

01-16-07, 01:29 PM

The Business of Television
Sinclair Fires Back
By Linda Moss MultiChannel News 1/16/2007

Sinclair Broadcast Group Tuesday fired back a response to Mediacom Communications’ call for a Congressional investigation and hearings on alleged retransmission-consent abuses and the actions of the Federal Communications Commission.

The broadcaster -- which pulled 22 of its stations from Mediacom Jan. 6 -- sent its own letter to the same members of Congress the cable company contacted by letter Saturday.

Sinclair charged that Mediacom chairman Rocco Commisso made “numerous baseless and outrageous allegations” in his missive to the federal legislators, which asks them to probe the FCC’s handling of the Sinclair-Mediacom retransmission-consent dispute.

Mediacom sent out its letter one day after the FCC’s Media Bureau refused to order Sinclair to restore its stations to the cable company while the full commission considers whether the broadcaster has been acting in good faith during negotiations.

Sinclair pointed out in its letter Tuesday that Mediacom has been unsuccessful in its past attempts to obtain help from both a federal court and the FCC.

“That Mediacom, having failed in both the courts and at the FCC, would now try to obtain intervention from the legislative branch of the federal government is not surprising,” Sinclair said in a press release. “Mediacom's efforts represent nothing more than the desperate attempt of a private enterprise to seek congressional assistance to remedy its failure to reach agreement during private negotiations.”

Although it may be Mediacom's belief that “any objective observer would have to concede that Sinclair's treatment of Mediacom and its customers has been unreasonable, unfair and unlawful," Sinclair claimed that the fact that two objective observers -- a federal court and the FCC -- reached precisely the opposite conclusion would suggest that Mediacom's belief is completely incorrect.

Sinclair CEO Dave Smith sent his letter to U.S. senators and congressmen representing Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

“In the end, Mediacom has written to you about a simple commercial negotiation where two parties have not been able to reach agreement,” he wrote.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6407650.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

01-16-07, 03:26 PM

TV Notebook
Somewhat Lacking the Golden Touch
By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline”

Wow. I really did it this time. Or didn't.

As one of the Golden Globes TV category prediction pundits polled by the Los Angeles Times awards website The Envelope, I offered up my picks in six key races: Drama Series, Comedy Series and both Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama Series and Comedy/Musical Series. Of these, I nearly pitched a shutout, missing five of the six. The only one I got right: America Ferrera as lead comedy actress for "Ugly Betty."

Here are the ones I missed: drama (I chose "24," "Grey's Anatomy" won); comedy (I picked "The Office," "Ugly Betty" won); drama actor (I went with Michael C. Hall for "Dexter," while Hugh Laurie won for "House"); comedy actor (I picked Steve Carell for "The Office," Alec Baldwin got the nod for "30 Rock"); and drama actress (I picked Edie Falco for 'The Sopranos," Kyra Sedgwick got it for "The Closer").

I prefer to believe it requires a certain pathetic savoir faire to suck this badly.

Meanwhile, (LA Times) Envelope grand poobah Tom O'Neil went six for six. Didn't miss a single one. This makes him either the luckiest dude on earth or the smartest. I side with the former.

One thing I never seem to get through my head: the Hollwood Foreign Press Association loves new and unconventional stuff over the tried and true. Somebody please remind me of this fact next year in order to save me from myself.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/

fredfa

01-16-07, 03:34 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
ABC's Desperate Future
By Lacey Rose Forbes.com 01.16.07

PASADENA, CALIF. - ABC has been savoring a run of good, popular shows. But when the Walt Disney Co.-owned network spent the day trying to convince us that they’ve got more good stuff coming, they got off to a rocky start.

Case in point: In Case of Emergency, the network's newest comedy starring Jonathan Silverman and David Arquette. The show, about a crew of high school acquaintances whose lives have stalled, premiered on Jan. 3 to disappointing ratings.

And much like the comedy, the panel promoting the show failed to connect with the critics here. None of of the onstage banter between the show’s talent seemed to generate much enthusiasm.

The solution: Bring back the hits. When the network put on a panel of show-runners (that’s TV-speak for "person in charge of TV show," or alternately, "executive producer") from its biggest shows--including Lost and Golden Globe winners Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty--it made a much better case for continuing to tune in.

For starters, these folks are laugh-out-loud funny. Perhaps the Emergency gang should have stuck around to listen in. Here’s a sampling of their many quips--apologies in advance if they don't translate as well in print:

--Lost's Damon Lindelof said, in response to a reporter's question about executive producer titles, which she claimed were being handed out like candy: "You want one? It's yours. Now, what the f--- is the island?"

--Desperate Housewives' Marc Cherry, answering a query about the most ludicrous network notes they had ever received: "I remember the censor on the pilot said--you know, in the scene where Eva Longoria is having afterglow with her 17-year-old gardener--the censor looked and said, 'Does she have to smoke?' And I went, 'So you're good with the statutory rape thing?'"

--Lost's Cartlon Cuse, on that same question: "When you say, 'Oh, well, we're going to have Michael shoot two of our other characters. He's one of our leads, and he's going to murder two of our other leads. How do you feel about that? And he says..."

Here Lindelof chimes in: "They're like, 'As long as one of them is Michelle Rodriguez, we're cool.'"

Beyond the fact that they’re fleet of tongue, the show-runners are effective salesmen. They seem to believe in their product, and that translates. For instance, with one exception (Brothers and Sister’s Jon Robin Baitz) the panelists said they would not abandon their shows, at least not voluntarily, until they had run their courses. Call me naive, but I've chosen to believe them.

And last, but by no means least, they knew what we, the press, wanted: A sneak peek at upcoming episodes. Here’s my favorite, from Cherry:

"With Marcia [Cross] now on [pregnancy] bed rest, [Nicollette Sheridan's] going to be promoted and be front and center for the remainder of the season. She's going to have a fascinating romance with someone who already lives on the street, and we're going to be meeting her son that was mentioned in the pilot."

http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/16/disney-abc-comedy-tech-media-cx_lr_0116abc_print.html

fredfa

01-16-07, 03:41 PM

And now, a slight?? change from the previously announced format of all telenovas all the time….
TV Notebook
MyNetworkTV to Broadcast Mixed Martial Arts
By John Consoli MediaWeek January 16, 2007

MyNetworkTV will broadcast 22 two-hour International Fight League-produced telecasts featuring mixed martial arts bouts and related content, beginning in mid-2007, as part of a TV rights deal that will also have IFL shows airing on cable on FSN (Fox Sports Network).

FSN and MyNetworkTV, both owned by News Corp., reached a strategic, multi-tier TV and new media programming alliance with the IFL that includes TV, online and mobile telecasts. Under the terms of the agreement, FSN has multi-year rights to televise 22 one-hour, late night event programs, produced by the IFL, beginning in the second quarter of 2007. FSN also has the right to produce related ancillary programming, pay-per-view and video-on-demand products.

The deal also calls for the establishment of a joint venture to maximize viewing and distribution using Fox’s digital assets including MySpace, IGN and Fox Mobile Entertainment’s global distribution partnerships.

The IFL programs on MyNetworkTV will include bouts, highlights, features and news about the league.

“We are thrilled to be working with the IFL and we look forward to developing action-filled programming based on their events for our viewers,” said Bob Cook, Twentieth Television president, who oversees MyNetworkTelevision.

It was not announced where on its schedule MyNetworkTV would air the IFL programming. Right now, the network is programming only two hours a night in prime time, six days a week, excluding Sunday.

The IFL is a team-based professional mixed martial arts league that launches it’s first full season on Jan. 19. It has 10 teams in the U.S. and teams in Tokyo and Toronto.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003533295

fredfa

01-16-07, 03:52 PM

Awards Notebook
TV Globes winners weigh in
Backstage Notes
By Justin Chang and David S. Cohen Variety January 16, 2007

Looking anything but ugly, [B]America Ferrera[B] said she felt liberated by the role of "Ugly Betty."

"You know, when I jump into this character, I really feel comfortable," she said. "I'm not concerned (about) if I'm looking OK and what I'm wearing. If I've gained a pound or lost a pound or have food in my teeth, it all works for the show, so it's great."

The other cast and crew of the Globe-winning ABC comedy proved slightly more appearance-conscious backstage, taking turns announcing who they were wearing. (Exec producer Salma Hayek: "Christine Dior.")

• • • • • • • • • • •

"Grey's Anatomy" creator [b]Shonda Rhimes [B]denied that she rules the show with an iron fist. "I rule with a diamond fist," she said with a grin after showing off the huge diamond she wore to the show.

Did she think about what it might mean for an African-American woman to collect the best drama series Globe on Martin Luther King day? She said "It didn't run through our minds that we would win tonight. I've been telling the entire cast that we shouldn't win tonight so they should drink a lot of champagne and have a good time. I don't think we thought about it until we were on our way up to there."

• • • • • • • • • • •

[b]Alec Baldwin[B] wore a puzzle-piece pin on his lapel, supporting autism research, at the request of NBCU's Bob Strauss. "When Bob Strauss asks you to wear something," said Baldwin, "I would have worn a hubcap on my lapel."

For the outspoken liberal, it has been "exhilarating" to play a conservative executive who flies to Dubai, possibly to have sex with Condoleeza Rice. The character's hard edges jibe with Baldwin's past roles, but he said "When you do a job, everybody offers you the same job over and over again. I've said my dream job is to recreate 'Little House on the Prairie' and recreate the Michael Landon role."

As for his relationship with NBC and its parent company, he said he hasn't been gifted with any appliances yet but "I'm going to build a new house next year and it'll be completely GE, everything, from head to toe."

• • • • • • • • • • •

[b]Bill Nighy, [B]winner for "Gideon's Daughter," lamented he's often been mistaken for Bill Nye, The Science Guy. "I've disappointed a lot of small children. When my daughter started school her classmates were very excited to meet me until they realized I was the other Bill Nighy."

Grateful for a career that has taken him, unexpectedly, to leading-man territory, he said "My expectations were pretty low early on. I wanted somebody at some point to say my name and the word actor and my name in a casual way, I just wanted to be accepted in that community. The fact I've been able to do that and other things as well, I've never gotten over it."

• • • • • • • • • • •

"Gideon's Daughter" supporting actress [b]Emily Blunt[B] proved blunt indeed backstage, as the double nominee admitted she knew she wasn't going to win the Globe for "The Devil Wears Prada."

"I saw Jennifer Hudson in 'Dreamgirls,' who just tore up the screen," said the Brit thesp. "When I saw Jennifer, my friend turned to me in the cinema and was like, ‘Yeah, good luck next Monday.' "

• • • • • • • • • • •

"The red carpet was fine tonight," quipped "House" star [b]Hugh Laurie, [B] "because I surfed away from Ben (Affleck) and Jennifer (Garner). I was like a plastic bag surfing in their wake."

He said the separation from his family back in Blighty during production is difficult at times. "My children are much more grown up than I am, much more mature," he said. "And they're taking the separation very well. But it's hard all around. It's like I've joined the merchant navy or something, I just go to sea."

• • • • • • • • • • •

"I'm totally shocked," said [b]Kyra Sedgwick. [B] I definitely didn't think I would win, because there's Edie Falco and all these other amazing people. I was nominated three times last year and got really used to losing."

Sedgwick, it turns out, is a Falco fan, and even went to see her work onstage. "It's thrilling to be in the category with her at all." She apologized for forgetting to thank her crew, saying "I had this dog-eared speech from last year from three award shows, and I left it in the hotel room. Then I thought maybe that's not such a bad thing."

• • • • • • • • • • •

After "Eragon" and "Elizabeth I," supporting actor winner[b] Jeremy Irons[B] said he was looking forward to getting back to contempo roles.

"We rely on what people ask us to do. I push a few projects of my own forward, but basically people ask you do to things and you say yes or no. Lately it's been fantasy, or crusaders, or Shakespeare."

"Maybe it's the beard," he added. "Maybe I should take the beard off."

• • • • • • • • • • •

Though she certainly has a knack for playing queens, "Elizabeth I" star [b]Helen Mirren [B]gave a ribald dismissal to the idea that her blood runs blue.

"I'm an Essex girl," she said, quipping, "You know how you know if an Essex girl has an orgasm? She drops her fries."

Though she's reigned over award season so far, Mirren said she had no expectations about the future.

"One thing being a little bit older has taught me is you just don't expect anything. Love it when it comes to you, enjoy it, celebrate it, but never expect it."

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117957451&categoryid=1985

fredfa

01-16-07, 04:52 PM

Nielsen Notebook
A reminder

If you are waiting for the weekly Nielsen ratings numbers -- you’ll have to wait a bit longer.

Because of yesterday’s Martin Luther King Day Holiday, they will be released on Wednesday this week.

When released, they will be here.

fredfa

01-16-07, 05:30 PM

TV Notebook
Aaron Barnhart podcast

The TV critic for the Kansas City Star (and a thread favorite) has posted his discussion with Paul Harris of KMOX (St. Louis) radio regarding the return of "24" and "American Idol" to Fox, as well as the fate of certain ABC shows that vanished this fall.

You can listen in here:

http://podcast.kmox.com/kmox/97453.mp3

dad1153

01-16-07, 05:39 PM

I honestly don't think I've watched a single episode of BSG live. Now, I'm not a Nelson guy so my individual actions don't really count. But I do feel sorry for the Network. Unfortunatelty, DVRs are a fact of life and cables networks are either going to have to find new metrics of measuring viewers or a new paradigm of distribution like PPV or making SciFi a Premium Channel. The big problem is that BSG can't use product placements. No Dell screens in the CIC and no Johnnie Walker for Col. Tigh.

Same here. I still have last year's Fall Finale of BSG in my DVR. Waiting patiently for the 10PM premiere on Sunday to watch them back-to-back (unless I get wind the new show is part of a trilogy or something). I too haven't watched a single episode live. I'd rather let them pile-up and then watch a bunch of them back-to-back-to-back without the 'next week' angst. Sucks for the Nielsens (and those commercials for movies or DVD being released two or three weekends prior to my watching the show), but as the master of my own (digital domain) I absolutely love being able to watch my favorite shows when I feel like it. For some odd reason I find myself watching Heroes and Studio 60 the Saturday morning after new episodes air. And I'm not even a weekend morning person! :D

fredfa

01-16-07, 05:40 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Why So Few Posts Today?

No, the TV critics aren’t recovering from a long night of post-Golden Globes partying (at least not too many of them).

But most are away from their computers as they visit the sets of some TV shows.

They have already visited “Ugly Betty”, “Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip” and “24”. Right about now they are climbing onto this buses to head for the “NCIS” set.

So in the next little while we’ll probably be hearing a lot about those shows. Presumably they had a chance to chat with Aaron Sorkin about the ratings-challenged “Studio 60” and if anything can be done to save the program.

Tomorrow things get back to normal with an NBC day, kicked off by NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly’s session in the morning.
A panel for “The Today Show” follows, to tell us – among other things -- about the fourth hour to be added this fall.

So expect the posts to start picking up a bit later as the critics get back from their tour and begin filing their reports.

CBS follows on Thursday, The CW will try gamely to put an optimistic spin on a dismal season Friday, and the TCA Winter Tour ends Saturday with the Fox presentation.

dad1153

01-16-07, 05:41 PM

Can't wait for Gail Pennington to tell us how much the Studio 60 set looks like it does on TV! :rolleyes:

fredfa

01-16-07, 05:44 PM

TV Notebook
Katherine Heigl:
Isaiah Washington Needs to F'***ing Zip It
(TV Guide)

Isaiah Washington, who backstage at the Golden Globes made some sort of bid to set the record straight about what he did or did not call T.R. Knight during the infamous October on-set fracas, may have only dug himself in deeper — at the very least with another Grey's Anatomy cast mate, Katherine Heigl.

Speaking to Access Hollywood after his latest spiel, Washington reiterated, "There is no way I could do anything so vile" as calling another person the F-word.

Heigl, though, says Washington's revisiting of the incident — complete with uttering the epithet — hurt Knight, who was also in the press room at the time.

"I'm going to be really honest right now. [Isaiah] needs to just not speak in public. Period," the actress tells Access Hollywood in an interview airing Tuesday. "That did not need to be said, I’m not OK with it. Drawing attention to it and saying the word again is just unnecessary."

http://community.tvguide.com/thread.jspa?threadID=700016830

fredfa

01-16-07, 05:45 PM

Can't wait for Gail Pennington to tell us how much the Studio 60 set looks like it does on TV! :rolleyes:

It is hard for me to endure this endless wait, too!

fredfa

01-16-07, 05:50 PM

SJKurtzke

01-16-07, 06:35 PM

And now, a slight?? change from the previously announced format of all telenovas all the time….
TV Notebook
MyNetworkTV to Broadcast Mixed Martial Arts
By John Consoli MediaWeek January 16, 2007

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003533295
I wonder if it will be HD, they did committ to being the first all-HD network back in September.
(BTW, although I wasn't there for the actual scenes being filmed, I was on the WB tour on one of the days they filmed the pilot for Studio 60 and those sets are HUGE, just the parts of it they were struggeling to move out)

fredfa

01-16-07, 06:41 PM

Well MNTV has a new president and obviously needs to take a fresh look at what it offers.

I agree, the Studio 60 set is really large. I wonder what they will do with it next year?

dad1153

01-16-07, 07:32 PM

TV Notebook
While Gil Is Away
First Look at the New Guy on 'CSI' This Week
By Adam Buckman, New York Post - January 15, 2007

The earth neither moves nor shakes when a new investi gator comes to "CSI" this week to sub for the missing star of the show, William Petersen.

Though the substitution is only temporary - essentially three weeks - the arrival of renowned film and stage actor Liev Schreiber beginning this Thursday represents the first time that TV's highest-rated drama has undergone any kind of major cast change in its 61/2-season history.

And it's a tribute, of sorts, to the proficiency of this crime show's production that the introduction of this new character is - to use an overused word - seamless.

Schreiber, 39, enters the world of "CSI" in the very first scene this Thursday night (9 p.m. on CBS) in an episode titled "Sweet Jane" (and, indeed, Lou Reed's version of the song is heard at the beginning of the show and a version recorded more recently by Cowboy Junkies is featured at the end).

The actor - seen in such films as "The Manchurian Candidate" and all three "Scream" movies - is first seen striding into a crime scene where investigator Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) is already on one knee examining a corpse.

"CSI" fans will quickly learn he's a new hire for the Las Vegas Police Department who will be working with Willows and her team while Gil Grissom (Petersen) is "away," which is the only passing reference to his absence in the entire episode.

In real life, Petersen, 53, developed an actor's itch to hit the stage and was given permission last year to take a break from "CSI" in November and December.

He spent his sabbatical starring in a play called "Dublin Carol," a twist on Dickens' "Christmas Carol," staged by the Trinity Repertory Co. in Providence, R.I. It ran through Jan. 7.

In his absence, the producers of "CSI" hired Schreiber, who plays a veteran forensics specialist named Michael Keppler, about whom little is revealed over the course of two episodes CBS provided for preview.

What is known about him is this: He's an easterner, born and raised in Trenton, who comes to the LVPD via Philadelphia and Baltimore.

He is unmarried or, at the very least, seemingly unattached. And he has no children, he informs Willows, answering one of her few questions about his private life. The reason he left Baltimore, if any, is not divulged.

He is not at all abrasive and seems to be accepted as a fellow professional by the CSIs, although the staff's curiosity about him increases in Schreiber's second episode next week.

There is one small mystery about him: He gets repeated, unexplained phone messages from someone named Frank, and he doesn't return the calls.

Could this possibly mean Keppler is gay? The question is not even addressed, much less answered. Moreover, he seems to be taking a shine to Willows, so stay tuned.

Before Liev leaves, Keppler will encounter Grissom when Petersen returns for Schreiber's fourth and last episode, scheduled for Feb. 8.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01152007/tv/while_gil_is_away_tv_adam_buckman.htm

dad1153

01-16-07, 07:47 PM

I have a recurring fantasy that on the day the analog spectrum of TV broadcasting is turned off hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people across the country go on a wild, angry rampage demanding to have their TV sets back. That would wipe away any notion of civilized behavior being the rule of the land, and clearly showcase Americans as the addicted-to-TV couch potatoes they are even though they'd never admit it. Oh well, if that were to happen (FAT chance! :D ) glad to know everything's taken care of and under control in Washington. :rolleyes:

The Business of TV
NTIA Chief: No DTV Plan B
By Ted Hearn, Multichannel News - January 16, 2007

The White House’s point man on the digital-TV transition said Tuesday that the Bush administration isn’t preparing a backup plan in the event that millions of consumers lose TV reception when analog-TV service is cut off in 762 days.

“We’ve got an existing statute that defines the DTV transition, and that’s what we are working on,” said John Kneuer, director of the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Last year, Congress passed a law establishing the analog-TV cutoff Feb. 17, 2009. The law included up to $1.5 billion to subsidize digital-to-analog converters. The law allows a household to obtain up to two $40 coupons to buy converters beginning Jan. 1, 2008. The converters will allow viewing of digital-TV signals on analog-TV sets.

But the $1.5 billion is sufficient to fund about one-half of the estimated 73 million analog-TV sets that rely solely on free, over-the-air broadcasting. With demand for converters potentially outstripping supply, coupled with others factors, such as the lack of consumer education, millions of consumers could wake up Feb. 18, 2009, with no functioning television as a result of federal law.

Asked if the White House had some kind of auxiliary plan to avert a massive communications cutoff, Kneuer replied that his job was to implement the new law.

“There is nothing in the statute that directs me to do anything except operationalize this program as it exists in the statute,” he added. “That’s what I’m focused on. That’s what the whole team is focused on.”

The NTIA tentatively proposed excluding pay TV homes -- which have about 28 million analog sets not connected to cable or satellite TV -- from the coupon program. But key House Democrats came down on hard on that proposal after November's election. The NTIA is attempting to issue final rules as soon as possible, perhaps by the end of the month, Kneuer said.

“As far as timing, we are rapidly wrapping up that rulemaking, and we certainly hope to have something out in the next number of weeks, rather than months,” he added.

Citing legal restrictions, Kneuer several times refused to discuss whether the NTIA’s rules would ban pay TV home participation in order to ensure that that coupons flowed to the 20 million broadcast-only homes with analog TVs. At least in one comment, he indicated opposition to broad household eligibility.

“One of the things we are certainly focused on is having a program that reaches out to those in the most need,” Kneuer said.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6407854.html?display=Breaking+News

dad1153

01-16-07, 08:04 PM

TV Notebook
First 4 eps of "24" on DVD; Obama and Wayne Palmer; the Olden Globes
Tim Goodman's San Francisco Chronicle "The Bastard Machine" Blog - 1/16/2007

In case you missed the first four episodes of "24" this season (they aired Sunday and Monday), Fox thinks you'd be willing to actually buy those four episodes on DVD, available today. We already know anecdotally that several people are on their way to the store right now. Strange that. But no stranger than _____ __ __ _______. (See "24" entries below. And, as a reminder, I WILL be blogging about "24" all season long, just not in in a long, rambling, perhaps drunken fashion. It's my new less is more idea.).

Also, now that Barack Obama has officially moved to kinda-sorta consider a run for the presidency in '08 (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/16/politics/p071044S72.DTL), my column on whether having a black president is even an issue anymore - thanks again to "24" - can be found right here (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/08/DDG3SND9CA1.DTL).

And lastly, I'll refrain from making any comments about the actual winners (in the TV categories) last night on the Golden Globes, because that will just bring on a rant, but I will say two things. One, obvious: It's still a great party and perhaps the best awards show for celeb gawking. (Though the show would have benefitted immensely from shutting up the announcers who kept saying it was The Greatest Collection Of Glittering Stars At the Best Party Ever Assembled, over and over again.) Two, curious: Did anyone else think that the majority of stars there last night looked dreadfully old? I mean, a lot of us are secretly worried about the aging thing and adoring someone in the Elder Hot category like Helen Mirren has been sport for years, but wow, that was one serious Parade of Wrinkles. Maybe the lighting was bad. Maybe they really ARE getting old (and pretending not to), but this is the first time in a long time where I looked at the assembled stars and thought, "Is this a casting call for Golden Girls?"

I'm not trying to be mean here, which is a great departure for me. But wow. And to think, that's a LOT of plastic surgery. (Oh, hell yes they got it. All of them. Don't be naive.) Come on, Jeremy Irons looked like they dug him out of the grave and gave him a tux.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=24&entry_id=12660

dad1153

01-16-07, 08:13 PM

Another Tad Friend-penned New Yorker piece about television, and Tad's chosen subject for review is kind-of surprising! :confused:

Critic's Notebook
Hot Type
Aspiring rock journalists pursue the dream
By Tad Friend, The New Yorker - January 15, 2007

Reality shows exploit dubious myths by turning them into contests—you really can lose thirty pounds, snow a billionaire into giving you a dream job, win the cheerleader’s heart with a rose. Simply assemble the cast from a Benetton ad, serve drinks, and start removing the chairs. Someone will always emerge triumphant. MTV’s “I’m from Rolling Stone” applies this durable formula to six twentyish writers who intern at the magazine for a summer, competing for a one-year contract as a contributing editor. The two music-culture manufactories seem to have devised the program to preserve the bewhiskered legend that they still hire, and chronicle, raw youths.

In the sixties and the early seventies, Rolling Stone actually did work something like that. The critics Greil Marcus and Lester Bangs broke into the magazine in their early twenties, and Cameron Crowe was only sixteen when the editors sent him on the road with the Allman Brothers Band—an episode that inspired Crowe’s 2000 film “Almost Famous.”

Nowadays, Rolling Stone is a grown-up business, one whose non-camera-ready interns are in the office making photocopies while the “interns” are out covering Lollapalooza. Despite this rickety foundation, however, the show holds together, because the kids, selected from more than two thousand applicants, are touchingly optimistic—they don’t know they’re working for the man. Some of them seem to believe that their responsibilities will include jamming about poverty in Africa with Bono and then addressing the global situation in an all-night writing marathon fuelled by mescaline and unchained id. (That’s how I do it, but then I’m a seasoned professional.) Others have no idea what’s going on. Pete, the beer-pounding Australian crew jock, has barely written anything before; Tika, the self-satisfied African-American lesbian, loses her notebook while writing her first piece; and when Krishtine, the grill-wearing Asian-American hip-hop sprite, gets the you’re-in phone call from the magazine’s founder and editor, Jann Wenner, she might as well be talking to Archduke Ferdinand.

KRISHTINE: I’m so excited! Ian, is it? Ian?
JANN: Jann.
KRISHTINE: Jann?
JANN: Jann.
KRISHTINE: Spell it for me.

Krystal, an attractive blond poet, is the only one who really seems to know the magazine, at least as it was in the days when Annie Leibovitz spent weeks on the road photographing the Stones (and doing drugs with them, as Wenner rather meanly suggested in a recent “American Masters” about Leibovitz on PBS). When Krystal leaves her sepulchral boyfriend behind in Salinas—forever, it seems clear—she jokes about running off with Steven Tyler, and in a video Q. & A. posted on rollingstone.com she talks about hoping to party with Keith Richards. When Slug, the front man of Atmosphere, tells Krystal, “I totally want to make out with you,” her coy laugh suggests, Well, you’re not a legend like Keith Richards—you couldn’t be my grandfather—but, then again . . . No one seems to have got the memo about sucking face with your subjects.

The interns haven’t yet learned to keep their distance, to pigeonhole the work with insidery adjectives (duff, proggy, already dated), and then to award it a safe three stars; they’re thrilled to be allowed onstage, punching their fists in the air at song’s end. Their cluelessness induces nostalgia: this is what life was like before we were trammelled by BlackBerries and the knowledge of why Jann Wenner mattered.

Colin, a long-haired nineteen-year-old from Eugene, Oregon, is the most wide-eyed—the sort of guy who’s inadvertently left behind in the chill-out tent when the van leaves. When he interviews We Are Scientists, he arrives completely unprepared, grasps his pen like a garden tool, and finally mumbles to the lead singer, “I think I have that shirt, actually.” After an editor questions the use of “Boho” in his report, he says, “Isn’t that short for Brooklyn, or something?” We root for Colin to figure it out, hoping that figuring it out doesn’t, this once, amount to some form of selling out.

By making the writers show up for daily news meetings and giving them tight deadlines, the show seems to argue that the values of high school, where you are judged on your cool quotient, must now give way to the values of the adult world, where you are judged, in significant part, on your work. Yet it’s not clear that the work the kids are given to do is, in any meaningful sense, real. On rollingstone.com, they’re referred to as “characters,” and their pieces are preceded by the disclaimer “This is not an official Rolling Stone article. What follows is a submission to the MTV reality show.” When Wenner first calls Russell—a twitchy former resident of a juvenile institution who, it’s clear from the articles on the Web site, is much the best reporter and critic of the six—the editor says, chortling, “I hear you’re a real good writer.” “Google me!” Russell retorts, which underlines the issue: why hasn’t Wenner, the purported arbiter here, read his stuff yet?

Maybe because it doesn’t have much to do with picking a winner. The process of prose composition is fairly boring to watch, and shows like this prize drama and charisma—the old high-school values. Russell is the standout in this category, too: he stashes a cigarette behind his ear, breaks furniture, arm-wrestles Method Man, and takes a flying leap into a garbage container to impress Lupe Fiasco. He’s also bipolar, arrogant, and wildly self-destructive. Soon, he no longer bothers showing up at the office. After several pep talks go unheeded, Joe Levy, the executive editor, finally explodes, “You are royally screwing it up!” Chastened, Russell promises that he’ll get an alarm clock and arrive at work ten minutes early from now on. He adds, irrepressibly, “And then I’m just going to pull out my balls and flap them around.”

Is a free-baller what Rolling Stone wants? Back when the culture used to pause to digest Hunter S. Thompson’s latest screed, perhaps. On the evidence here, Rolling Stone now seeks someone skilled at working the words “rolling” and “stone” into every conversation. Reality shows often resemble extended brand-management commercials, and we can almost hear the producers’ whispered reminders when Russell remarks, “I think I’m on my way to being an amazingly talented journalist, here at Rolling Stone,” and when Joe Levy tells Pete, who wrote a piece while drunk, “If you don’t take this more seriously, you’re not going to last a summer, here at Rolling Stone.” After a while, “here at Rolling Stone” begins to sound like “here at Jonestown.”

Some of the interns weren’t yet born when Wenner played a Rolling Stone editor very like himself in the 1985 film “Perfect.” Even then, he was candid about the fact that journalism about rock stars isn’t a gonzo expedition in search of elusive truth so much as a mutually wary, mutually beneficial transaction. When Carly Simon complains in the film about being the subject of a hatchet job, Wenner’s character replies, “Oh, come on, Carly. The only thing worse than being written about is not being written about.” The smartest reality-show contestants understand that the show’s ostensible prize isn’t nearly as valuable as the exposure along the way, the personal branding, the chance, perhaps, even to land on “The Surreal Life.” As Krishtine says, “I’m trying to, like, make myself kinda known on the scene as Rolling Stone’s hip-hop celebrity.” She won’t win the job, but she couldn’t care less.

So we’re buoyed when Colin, of all people, is the first to break through on rollingstone.com. When his musings on We Are Scientists pop up onscreen, he rises gleefully: “I’m a winner! I’m a winner!” Russell tries to help celebrate by grabbing a chair to bash him with. But Colin ducks the slam-dance opportunity in favor of gambolling about, Aquarian style, while crying, “I’m gonna call my mama!” Then he does. The producers probably wish he’d called his papa, instead, so they could have cued up “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” but it’s still a sweet moment. The last one, maybe, before it all becomes just a job.

http://www.newyorker.com/critics/television/articles/070122crte_television_friend

dad1153

01-16-07, 08:49 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
The most wonderful time of the year (if you're a Fox executive)
Aaron Barnhardt's Kansas City Star "TV Farm" Blog - January 16, 2007

Paul Harris and I talked about the return of "24" and "American Idol" to Fox, as well as the fate of certain ABC shows that vanished this fall. DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST.

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

dad1153

01-16-07, 08:50 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
A Golden glow on the set of "Ugly Betty"
By Joanne Ostrow, Denver Post - January 16, 2007

Fresh from their Golden Globes wins for best series as well as best actress, and after a late night of partying, the cast and crew of "Ugly Betty" met with critics this morning on the sprawling Raleigh Studios set in Hollywood.

"America Ferrera said her life now bounces between extremes: whether in full glamour regalia on the red carpet or in full Queens frump mode as Betty, "both are like playing dress up," she said.

Regarding the nationally televised awkward moment before her interview by an "Access Hollywood" reporter following her acceptance speech, Ferrera acknowledged it was an "Ugly Betty" moment.

I have a lot of "Ugly Betty" moments, I mean, I waved at Tom Hanks from the stage!" Still caught up in the excitement, Ferrera thanked executive producer Salma Hayek, who "was like my mother--no, she wouldn't want to be called my mother, she was like my sister," supporting her from the start.

Leaning on the orange receptionist circle on the set, "Betty" creator Silvio Horta said "we just want to laugh and cry within one episode. If you have a lump in your throat and are crying in the next scene, then we ve succeeded." He said viewers shouldn't expect the Cinderella story being lived by Ferrera to be reflected on the screen by Betty. He'll keep Betty from getting a makeover for as long as possible.

Eric Mabius, who plays Betty's boss Daniel Meade, spent his post-Globes night at Prince's party: "Tom and Katie showed," he said.

Meanwhile in the corner of the set devoted to Wilhelmina's swank office, Michael Urie, who plays flamboyant assistant Marc St. James, was already talking about getting typecast. "I went to Julliard so I can do other things, if you know what I m saying. I want to do Shakespeare in the Park during the break."

The perils of fame. She noted that America, at 22, is "handling it beautifully. She's grounded, comfortable with herself. That's the joy, she's comfortable in her own shoes."

Speaking of shoes, the stunning Mode set (formerly home to "Commander in Chief") boasts all manner of high-end footwear, along with racks of chic clothes, fashion magazines, sleek curved walls along the arched tube hallway. The design shouts out glossy Manhattan. A few paces away, but light-years distant stylistically, the Suarez family home set speaks of homey warmth in Queens.

Endless bric-a-brac, a Jesus night light, jigsaw puzzles, a TV tray, and kitschy 1950s lamps crowd the rooms. A plastic green coffee maker graces the kitchen counter, Cream of Wheat boxes are stacked in the pantry.

Girlhood pictures of Ferrara line the living room mantel. The exterior is that of a modest row house in Queens. "We took that template and brought it here," said production designer Mark Worthington.

Outside, Ferrara chats with Williams in the parking lot, wearing Uggs. Mabius holds his 6 ?-month old son Maxfield as his wife Ivy looks on. The crew enjoys a breakfast buffet sent as a thank-you gift from Williams.

Finally the set is cleared of visitors. And the series, about a big-hearted heroine who bridges the gap between Manhattan and Queens, goes back to work.

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_5024701

Davinleeds

01-16-07, 08:55 PM

dad1153

01-16-07, 09:03 PM

The Business of TV
Cablevision Board Rejects Dolan Purchase Offer
By Jon Lafayette, TV Week - January 16, 2007

A special committee of Cablevision Systems Corp.'s board of directors rejected a $30-a-share offer by the company's founding Dolan family to take the cable operator private.

The offer was described as "inadequate" in a letter to Charles F. Dolan, chairman and founder of Cablevision and CEO James L. Dolan by the members of the special committee on Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Dolans, who own a controlling stake in the company, said the family had no comment.

The committee said the review process was drawn out because information it needed to evaluate the offer was not provided by the Dolans until late November. The committee also said it had indicated to the Dolans that the offer was inadequate several times.

The Dolans originally offered $27 a share in October for the stock in the company they didn't already own. The family raised the offer to $30 last week and said it was their "best and final" offer.

Cablevision stock closed at $28.49 before the rejection of the bid was announced. It lost another penny in after-hours trading.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11399

fredfa

01-16-07, 10:22 PM

fredfa

01-16-07, 11:23 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
My day at CTU
By Gail Pennington St. Louis Post-Dispatch Television Critic in the “Tube Talk” blog 01/16/2007

We did four set visits today, and all were fun (well, three were fun), but the best by far was “24.” Once you get inside the nondescript building in Chatsworth, the big permanent set feels just like being at CTU. I sat at Chloe’s station, saw where Edgar died and hung out in the situation room. All those concrete walls that make it seem like such a bunker are actually fake, by the way; all plaster.

First we talked to cast members. Kiefer had a huge crowd around him, and his voice is so soft I heard very little of what he said. His director’s chair just says “Kiefer” on the back; in the pockets are a package of cigarettes and breath spray. Talked to Mary Lynn Rajskub about whether Chloe is acting more normal this season; she said Chloe has a long way to go to even approach normal. New cast members Ricky Schroder (he’s Ricky again) and Chad Lowe are very excited about joining the cast. Ricky is a CTU agent and Chad is deputy to Peter MacNicol at the White House. They’re at a loss to say much about their roles because they know nothing until they get a script.

Finally, Jon Cassar, the executive producer who directs the show, gave us a tour — fascinating, tons of details about what happened where and why they shoot the way they do. We were absolutely not ready to leave when we had to move on.

http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/entertainment-tube-talk/2007/01/my-day-at-ctu/

fredfa

01-16-07, 11:32 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Scrubs’ is prepped for another season, perhaps on ABC
and two ‘Class’ mates weigh on show’s future (one’s in denial)

PASADENA, Calif. -- Bill Lawrence couldn't be happier that the show he created, “Scrubs,” is what is politely referred to as a cult hit. Oddly enough, if it had a bigger audience, the show might not have lasted six seasons, with a seventh season now a sure thing.

“I think there are only two ways to survive in television right now,” said Lawrence on Monday, while some of his fan base -- half a dozen TV critics with tape recorders running -- huddled around.

“You either have to be a giant hit that grabs the zeitgeist -- 'Lost,' 'Dancing with the Stars' -- and everybody watches. Then you're fine. You can print money. Otherwise, you have to have such a loyal core audience that they are going to stick with you no matter what. But you have to feed them, feed them, feed them.”

And the “Scrubs” audience is well-fed, with inside jokes, podcasts and fan-friendly promotions like the cell phone that cast members pick up and answer, in character, at the show's production offices, which are located at the onetime hospital where “Scrubs” is filmed.

And this Thursday, another treat: the show's first-ever musical episode. Scored by two composers for the Broadway hit “Avenue Q,” and with “Avenue Q” lead Stephanie D'Abruzzo in a guest role as a patient who thinks everyone is singing to her, “Scrubs: The Musical” (8 p.m. Thursday, NBC, KSHB-TV) is chock-full of lyrics aimed to please not only the broad viewing public, but the faithful fans who've been there since the beginning.

Take the kicky tango number, sung by nurse Carla (Judy Reyes) to her husband Turk (Donald Faison), “I'm Not Puerto Rican, I'm Dominican.” That's a reference to a very occasional joke that goes back to the show's first season -- “a shout-out to our core,” said Lawrence.

The idea for the musical came about because of an error in judgment.

“We thought this would be our last season,” said Lawrence. “I promised everyone -- the cast's all musical theater geeks -- that we'd do one. It's just really labor intensive. We hired out musical talent because they're crazy talents, 'Avenue Q,' and because I can't write music.” (His favorite number is “Guy Love,” featuring Zach Braff and Faison, “because it's a giant power love ballad between two guys, J.D. and Turk. Makes me laugh.”)

As it turns out, the musical is far from a swansong for Sacred Heart Hospital. That's because “Scrubs” is one of the last shows still on TV that's produced by a different network, ABC, than the one that airs it. And on Monday, the publication Broadcasting & Cable broke the news that if NBC isn't interested in a seventh season of “Scrubs,” ABC is.

Of course, NBC has good reasons to hang onto a show it has considered canceling more than once in the past. “Scrubs” now routinely exceeds internal ratings estimates and, after yet another schedule shuffle, seems well matched with zany newcomer “30 Rock,” which follows it at 8:30.

But Lawrence said it boils down to this: “The reason 'Scrubs' is still around is because, no matter what of the 40 time slots we're on, our core of fans still watches,” he said.

Other news from the winter press tour

“Class” dismissed? It sure looks that way. At a panel on the annual ritual in Hollywood known as “pilot season,” several TV insiders explained the grueling and oft-maligned process by which shows are pitched, written, filmed and picked up by the networks during a frenzy that peaks in late April.

Two members of “The Class” were there: Lizzy Caplan, who plays the cynical Kat, and Sean Maguire, who's the gay schoolteacher Kyle. The comedy arrived last fall with high hopes; a former muckety-muck on “Friends” was producing and the show earned a coveted Monday-night schedule spot on CBS. But the episodes disappointed and the network decided to end the show's season early, leading to speculation whether it will return next fall.

With the new pilot season approaching, the question came up: Will cast members on “The Class” be free to try out for other shows? Maguire said that while “technically” they were, “I would say it would be disrespectful to a show we believe in.”

But Caplan countered, “I don't know if I agree that it's disrespectful. I mean, everybody needs a job.” The assumption being, they won't have one on “The Class” for much longer.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2007/01/dateline_pasade_6.html#more

fredfa

01-16-07, 11:39 PM

If you have not watched the opening episodes of “24” yet—I just can’t keep you protected from the outside world. If you need to, please skip this ietm.
Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
'24' Showrunner Took Risk With Killing of Character
By Greg Baumann Television Week January 16, 2007

The sixth season of Fox hit "24" kicked off with big story events including the killing of the Curtis Manning character, a creative decision that risked alienating fans but was necessary to the show's development, "24" showrunner and executive producer Howard Gordon said.

"I'm always concerned," Mr. Gordon said in an interview with TelevisionWeek Publisher Chuck Ross. "By making these big broad reaches you risk pushing people away."

From the point of view of protagonist Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, the Manning character had to be disposed of to preserve the terrorist Assad, who Bauer is trying to coopt, Mr. Gordon said.

To learn the identity of an actor that Mr. Gordon had sought to play a character on the show, go to

http://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=407

for a podcast of the interview and a full transcript.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11400

fredfa

01-16-07, 11:47 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
The Dummys on “Studio 60,”
Maggots on “NCIS” and “Ugly Betty” Looks Good
By Walt Belcher Tampa Tribune in his Walt TV blog Jan 16, 2007

America Ferrera said she only had four hours sleep.

She had celebrated late Monday night and early Tuesday after winning a Golden Globe for best comedy actress. But the “Ugly Betty” star made it to the set for a 10 a.m. visit by TV critics attending a winter preview tour.

The mammoth set (the offices of the fictional Mode Magazine) has a lot of blue and orange. Some of the director’s chairs are Florida Gator blue and orange.

The actors say the set is always cold. Ferrera was bundled up in a black coat.

The 22-year-old told TV critics about winning the award and starring in a series that gives a voice to the underdog. “It’s about the beauty on the inside,” Ferrera said. Almost overnight she has become a role model for the beauty challenged. She recalled getting a letter from a young woman who said that “Ugly Betty” made her feel beautiful for the first time in her life. “I was overwhelmed,” Ferrera said.

Critics were also bused over to the “Studio 60” set where the cast and creators were available. The huge set is modeled after “Saturday Night Live.” I interviewed cast members Bradley Whitford and Sarah Paulson and producer Aaron Sorkin.

I learned that when they film the segments that are supposed to be the comedy skits, they hire some extras to be in the audience but most of the seats are filled with plastic dummys. An associate producer said the dummys are easier to work with because they don’t eat or take restroom breaks.

After an hour or so of interviews we were bused over to the set of “24” for lunch and interviews. The CTU headquarters is really cool and looks a lot bigger in person than on TV. I interviewed Kiefer Southerland (Jack Bauer) and some other cast members. I also checked out another set that is a White House bunker where the President and staff will be holding up soon. I sat at the President’s desk and tried out the phone. It was dead.

Another bus ride found us on the set of “NCIS” where we could interview the real Naval Criminal Investigators who are technical advisors on the show. Cast members also were there including Mark Harmon.

David McCallum, who plays the quirky pathologist Donald Ducky Mallard, told me about filming a scene that morning where he had to pick maggots off a body (an actor who had to stay very still).

The former “Man From U.N.C.L.E.” said the maggots were supplied by a woman who specializes in rounding up insects for TV shows and movies. “She is a maggot wrangler,” he said. He said maggots smell really bad.

http://entertainment.tboblogs.com/index.php/entertainment/related/C281/

fredfa

01-16-07, 11:53 PM

TV Technology
Atop TV Sets, Basic Black Boxes Face Competition
By Brad Stone The New York Times January 17, 2007

Adam Gillitt does not hate what is on his TV as much as he dislikes what is attached to it.

Mr. Gillitt, a graphic designer from Alameda, Calif., is exasperated by his high-definition cable box, made by the technology giant Motorola and leased to him by his local cable provider, Comcast. The $10-a-month device, he says, has a poorly designed electronic program guide and responds slowly, or not at all, to commands from the remote control.

“Paying for something this awful hurts,” Mr. Gillitt said.

For many Americans, the cable box — still commonly called the set-top box, though it is now too big to balance on top of increasingly thin TVs — may be the most disappointing piece of technology in their homes. As inventions like TiVo and YouTube alter the way people watch and control video, the traditional box has largely failed to keep up.

Now that is beginning to change.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, makers of set-top boxes exhibited devices with a host of new features: more hard-disk space for storing digitally recorded TV shows, easier-to-navigate program guides, connections to Web sites, DVD burners and video games.

The box manufacturers and the cable operators like Comcast, Cox and Time Warner Cable that they sell to, have an age-old motivation for improving their products: fear. New competitors are flooding into the TV business, including the industry’s rivals in the telephone business, and the computer kingpins Microsoft and Apple.

Consumers can buy those alternatives at regular retail outlets, including the newest high-definition version of TiVo. It sells for $800 (with a $20 monthly fee) and can replace the box that cable and satellite providers lease to customers, instead of merely sitting on top of it and adding to living room clutter.

Cable operators are being forced to play nice with these new entrants. The Federal Communications Commission has set a deadline of July 1 for all cable operators to make their services work with boxes from all third-party manufacturers, and last week it rejected a request from Comcast to extend the deadline.

“Set-top boxes are becoming the central piece of equipment in the home for accessing entertainment and information,” said Joshua Goldman, chief executive of Akimbo, a Silicon Valley start-up trying to bring programming to the TV over the Internet. “Consumers will buy their own device if they feel like they are not getting the services they want from their television operators.”

For decades, the cable industry did not worry much about introducing new features into their typically black set-top boxes. They faced little competition in their local markets and bought their equipment from one of two companies: General Instruments, which was purchased by Motorola in 2000, and Scientific Atlanta, acquired by Cisco Systems in 2005.

Both companies build TV boxes according to the specifications of cable companies, who lease them to customers and then make their money on monthly subscriptions. Because they are essentially giving the boxes away, the industry’s focus, not surprisingly, is on keeping the cost of the equipment low.

But now new players are offering more sophisticated alternatives to cable boxes. Over the last two years, 30 million personal computers have been sold with Media Center software from Microsoft, which enhances video viewing on the PC, making it more like a television. The computers come with a remote control and can pause and fast-forward through video.

Many of those PCs can now replace set-top boxes, thanks to a federal law passed over a decade ago that requires cable operators to sell credit-card-size devices called CableCards. These cards can plug into a Media Center PC, or other consumer electronics appliances like DVD players, allowing them to receive regular cable channels.

Last week, Apple also joined the fray with Apple TV, a slick silver box that connects to the television and displays programs and movies that have been downloaded from iTunes. It goes on sale next month for $299.

The message to cable companies and their equipment vendors is clear: if they want to keep up, they must build a better cable box.

They appear to be listening. At the Las Vegas show, just as many visitors swarmed around Motorola’s new set-top boxes as its latest mobile phones. The company showed a line of new boxes compatible with high-definition TV, with one-third more hard-disk space than its previous models, like the clumsy device Mr. Gillitt has under his TV.

The new boxes are designed to offer greater control over the television. For example, one new feature Motorola is promoting is called “program restart.” If cable customers miss a show by a few minutes and do not record it, they can click a button and get the cable company to retransmit it directly to them, instantly. Time Warner Cable is currently testing the service in San Antonio.

Padmasree Warrior, the chief technology officer of Motorola, said consumers now demand more from their televisions, largely thanks to TiVo, which has forced the cable companies to ask suppliers for more innovative set-top boxes. “Enough people are experienced with time-shifting that there’s a demand that the industry dynamics change,” Ms. Warrior said.

Across the showroom floor, Scientific Atlanta executives agreed that the old featureless TV tuner was quickly becoming a relic. Among its new boxes, the company showed off one called the MCP-100: a silver set-top box with a digital video recorder and one surprising new feature: a slot for DVDs. In addition to getting live TV, the device can play movies and burn programs and movies onto discs. It is now being tested by cable companies.

Scientific Atlanta is also building Internet connections into all its boxes, so consumers can get programming from the Web in addition to the traditional ways, by cable or satellite.

“There’s a growing need for high-quality video that goes right to where it’s supposed to, the television, and not to the PC, where only college kids are looking at it,” said Robert C. McIntryre, Scientific Atlanta’s chief technology officer.

The cable companies and their equipment vendors must adapt to the Internet age quickly, because soon customers will have more choices than ever. Telephone companies like AT&T and Verizon are investing heavily to bury fiber optic cables in most major cities and roll out their own TV offerings.

Because the telephone companies deliver television using Internet standards and typically package it with telephone and Internet service, they say they can offer consumers more choices and control over the viewing experience. AT&T, for example, showed off a set-top box at the Las Vegas show that received four different streams of programming (compared with most new digital cable boxes, which receive only two). That allows a customer to watch a program live while simultaneously recording three others.

One new feature that AT&T was showing, called picture-in-picture browsing, or PIP, lets a TV viewer channel surf on a small screen while continuing to watch another program on the rest of the screen.

AT&T hopes to have its TV service, called uVerse, accessible to 19 million homes by the end of next year. If it can pull it off, it would position AT&T as a serious rival to cable and satellite television providers.

All of these established companies also have to watch out for smaller rivals with their own set-top box innovations. TiVo’s Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder, which went on sale last fall at electronics stores like Best Buy, is CableCard-ready, which means buyers can plug in a card from their local cable operator and use it as a substitute for a cable box.

Another technology start-up at the show, Digeo, exhibited its new Moxi service, a set-top box with digital video recorder that it plans to start selling in the latter half of this year. The Moxi also works with a CableCard and comes with smaller optional “Moxi mates,” which buyers can connect to the other TVs in their homes. Those televisions will then have access to the programming received by and recorded on the primary set-top box.

Digeo’s chief executive, Mike Fidler, said increased competition was ushering in a renaissance in set-top-box design. “Companies can now come in with innovative products that change the consumer experience and bring a whole new level of enjoyment to television,” Mr. Fidler said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/technology/17settop.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-17-07, 01:16 AM

Yet another hour of network HD...
NBC’s ‘Today’ Is Expected to Add a Fourth Hour
By Jacques Steinberg The New York Times January 17, 2007

Meredith Vieira won’t appear on it at all, and Matt Lauer will make only an occasional cameo, if that, but NBC is expected to announce formally today that it will expand “Today,” its morning-program empire and the most profitable program on television, to a fourth hour, beginning at 10 a.m. on weekdays next fall.

The network, which supersized the program from two to three hours in 2000, knows that it risks diluting the “Today” brand through yet another expansion. But it is banking, instead, on the “Today” name serving as a lure to women, in particular, who watch television midmorning, said an NBC Universal television executive who was briefed directly on the “Today” plan but who would only discuss it anonymously before today’s announcement.

The ratings on the third hour of “Today” have fallen during each of the last three years, with the 3.8 million viewers it has drawn each morning, on average, so far this television season representing a drop of 6 percent from the same point in the 2005-6 season and 9 percent since 2004-5, according to Nielsen Media Research. Similarly, ratings for the first two hours of “Today” were down this fall, when compared with the program’s performance a year earlier — including that among women — though its chief competitor, “Good Morning America” on ABC, has also lost ground.

Though “Today,” which begins at 7 a.m., would become the first television program in recent memory — if ever — to command four hours each weekday on a major broadcast network, the move is not necessarily revolutionary: the fourth hour of “Today” is expected to look much as the third does now, in terms of its focus (home, cooking, health and fashion) and its talent lineup.

Its primary hosts will be Ann Curry, the news reader on the first two hours of “Today,” and Al Roker, the program’s weatherman, as well as Natalie Morales, who typically joins them in leading the third hour. (While NBC’s weighing of a fourth hour of “Today” has been widely reported in recent months, Variety reported online on Sunday that the announcement was expected today, at a gathering of television critics in Pasadena, Calif.)

For now, at least, NBC is not expected to hire any new hosts for the program, though it does anticipate giving at least occasional airtime in the fourth hour to up-and-coming stars like David Gregory (who covers the White House for NBC News); Lester Holt and Campbell Brown (co-hosts of “Weekend Today”); Hoda Kotb (a correspondent for NBC’s “Dateline”); and María Celeste Arrarás (an anchor on Telemundo, the Spanish-language television channel, which NBC owns).

When Mr. Lauer typically appears on the third hour of “Today,” it is usually to welcome the audience to the program, before he slips off. It has not been decided whether he would play a similar role, at times, in the fourth hour, the NBC Universal executive said.

Ms. Vieira is a different story: because she also appears as the host of the syndicated game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” she is prohibited, contractually, from appearing regularly in the third and fourth hours of “Today”; that poses a conflict because “Today” is already directly opposite “Millionaire” in some markets. (Both hosts, though, often remain in the “Today” studios in Manhattan to appear live for the program’s first half-hour in West Coast markets, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern time.)

It remains to be seen how many NBC affiliates — beyond the 10 owned by the network — would broadcast a fourth hour of “Today.” But the decision by NBC to add the hour would seem to have its most immediate effect on “Martha,” Martha Stewart’s daytime talk show, which is now at 10 a.m. on NBC-owned stations in New York and Los Angeles. (Those stations have renewed the show for next season.)

Executives in NBC’s domestic television unit, which syndicates “Martha,” and Mark Burnett, who produces it, did not immediately respond to telephone and e-mail messages yesterday seeking to ask where it might be moved on the schedule next season. For years “Today” has been widely described as the most profitable program on television, with profits last year estimated at about $250 million.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/arts/television/17toda.html?ref=television&pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-17-07, 01:24 AM

TV Notebook
'Today' will get longer, adding a fourth hour in the fall
By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

Today will add a fourth hour in the fall. Book it.

NBC officials will announce the expansion (Wednesday) at the TV Critics Association winter meetings in Pasadena, Calif. Book that, too.

Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira will continue coanchoring the 7-to-9 a.m. mothership. Ann Curry and Al Roker, now doing the 9 a.m. hour, will stick around until 11.

The extra hour is coming a year earlier than originally planned, due to pressure from NBC station managers. (More on that below.) Contrary to industry buzz, no new on-air talent will be brought in to anchor the 10 a.m. hour, NBC insiders say.

Some faces from within the NBC family will appear from time to time, however, including Billy Bush and Maria Menounos of NBC Universal's syndicated Access Hollywood, according to the sources.

Don't be surprised if ex-Giants smoothie Tiki Barber joins the Today franchise as a contributor on men's health, fashion and lifestyle.

Everyone and his brother is hot for the just-retired Barber. The football star recently turned down a four-year, $10 million deal with Disney because it would have required too much travel, for ESPN's NFL games, sources say.

If NBC got him, Barber would work an easier schedule and would stay close to New York during football season, sources say.

NBC's goal is to maintain Today's continuity from 9 to 11 a.m. The network learned that lesson the hard way from 1999's short-lived Later Today, with Jodi Applegate, Asha Blake, and former Brady Bunch mom Florence Henderson.

The 9 a.m. Later Today, an entertainment-driven Today Lite, was a goofy mishmash with no news or weather reports. NBC's Jeff Zucker labeled it "a cousin" in the NBC family. Cuz quickly crashed and burned.

With Today's extra hour, it's expected that executive producer Jim Bell will add five to 10 people to his 100-plus staff. Already NBC's biggest cash cow, the current Today generates an estimated $250 million profit per year.

Early last week, Today staffers were told that NBC had decided to wait until fall '08 for the expansion, sources say. That didn't play well with NBC station managers, who are in Las Vegas this week rolling the programming dice. They pushed for fall '07.

Here's why: Like their brethren around the country, NBC suits are in Vegas shopping for syndicated fall shows at the annual National Association of Television Programming Executives (NAPTE) convention.

Contracts for syndicated programming usually run two years. If NBC wanted to launch the four-hour Today in fall '08, many stations would be forced to break deals. That would mean big penalty fees.

NBC stations pushed for an answer before NATPE began yesterday. Late Friday, NBC reversed its course and moved up the debut to fall '07. Now NBC managers won't have to hustle for 10 a.m. shows.

Aniston on "Dirt." It never hurts when your BFF is the boss, not to mention the star.

Jennifer Aniston will pop up on the season finale of the dishy new drama Dirt, FX announced yesterday. Courteney Cox is Dirt's star and co-executive producer. The episode airs March 24.

Aniston will play Tina Harrod, a tabloid editor and rival of Cox's Lucy Spiller, czarina of DirtNow.

It marks the first time that Cox and Aniston have worked together since NBC's Friends retired in '04 after 10 seasons.

Moyers redux. Bill Moyers, 72, who stepped down from his weekly PBS series, Now, in '04, will return to the public network with Bill Moyers Journal beginning in April.

The debut episode of Journal - the handle of his series in the '70s - will focus on the media's role in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//16467960.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

dad1153

01-17-07, 03:01 AM

Stalked by a starlet; visiting '24,' 'Ugly Betty,' 'Studio 60,' 'NCIS'
(A Field Report from the TV Critic's Winter Tour in Los Angeles)
From Rob Owen's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Tuned In" Blog - January 16, 2007

Whirlwind day: Like a channel surfer clicking from one show to another, I hopped from the set of one TV show to another yesterday as part of the Television Critics Association's day of set visits. First stop: "Ugly Betty," mere hours after the show won the Golden Globe for best TV comedy.

The stars didn't seem to be hungover, but they were definitely excited about the big win. Star America Ferrera, who also won a statue for her performance, still looked glam and un-Betty like. (And yes, Romijn was there, too. She debuts on the show tonight. Hope she doesn't think I'm stalking her.)

From there we were off to "Studio 60," a ginormous set, probably the biggest standing set I've ever seen with the possible exception of the Promenade from "Deep Space Nine."

Then it was on to CTU and the set of "24." FYI: Yes, Curtis is dead. I sure thought he seemed dead at the end of Monday's episode, though several other critics did not. Exec producer Howard Gordon confirmed Jack's bullet was fatal.

Lastly, we spent time on the set of CBS's "NCIS" and even got pointers from real NCIS agents who were on hand.

It was a long day, but incredibly worthwhile for someone who loves TV as much as I do. What better way to get to understand it than to immerse yourself in it and literally be surrounded by the settings you watch on a weekly basis.

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

dad1153

01-17-07, 03:05 AM

TV tour: Ugly, happy Betty
(Two Field Reports from the TV Critic's Winter Tour in Los Angeles)
From Bill Goodkoontz's Arizona Republic Blog - January 16, 2007

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Hard to imagine a better day to visit the set of Ugly Betty, which resembles a cross between a space ship and the cover of a '70s jazz 8-track tape, if the artist was overly fond of orange.

We got there early Tuesday. So did most of the cast, though not all of them as early as we did. The bulk of them evidently had a long, happy night after the show won a Golden Globe Monday. So did star America Ferarra, who couldn't have been happier, yet was still down to earth -- much as she was in her acceptance speech. Someone asked if she had any Ugly Betty moments in real life, and sure enough, she said, she did -- including one Monday night.

"When I was on stage and I saw Tom Hanks I waved at him and he was like, 'What are you waving at?' but I couldn't help myself, I was just like, that's Tom Hanks and I'm never going to get the opportunity to wave at him from the stage."

How can you not be a fan of that?

Meanwhile, Silvio Horta, who created the American version of the show, showed up on the set, Golden Globe in hand.

"I slept with it," he said, and it wasn't immediately clear that he was kidding. "It was in bed. it wasn't very warm or cuddly, but it was nice."

It was also heavy. Couldn't help myself -- I had to pick it up. Solid marble, I was told, with a cheesy little globe, golden of course, on top. But what do I know? The only other hardware I've lifted lately was my daughter's kindergarten soccer trophy.

TV tour: Kiefer's Quote of the Day

CHATSWORTH, Calif. -- Quote of the day comes from a hoarse Kiefer Sutherland on the set of 24. Funny story, that hoarseness: Sutherland said as he gets older the physical demands of playing Jack Bauer get more and more difficult, specifically screaming, which takes a greater toll on his voice.

Is that why he was hoarse today?

No. "I'm hoarse today because I was out last night at the Golden Globes."

I'll bet. But that's not the quote of the day. This is.

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU DIDN'T WATCH MONDAY NIGHT'S EPISODES, READ NO FURTHER.

Sutherland said he wasn't particularly worried about any backlash from 24's having taken out a chunk of the LA area in Monday's episode with a nuclear bomb since, as he said, he has the perspective of recognizing that 24 is a television show. True enough, but not everyone enjoys a such a rational position, something he acknowledged, though not without scorn.

"If terrorists are getting ideas from 24, we're a lot safer than we thought," he said. "That's ridiculous."

http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?blog=5&blogtype=Entertainment

dad1153

01-17-07, 03:48 AM

Plum role in 'Dirt' makes Hart an actor to watch
(Q&A with the Breakout Star from FX's New Primetime Show)
From Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe - January 14, 2007

The new FX series "Dirt" dramatizes the twisted world of the paparazzi in Hollywood. They are ethics-challenged journalists whose greatest dream is to catch Vince Vaughn in a bar fight, or to snap Britney Spears falling down drunk.

In "Dirt," which airs Tuesday nights at 10, British actor Ian Hart plays a gonzo paparazzo named Don Konkey who photographs celebrities in compromising positions for a tabloid editor played by Courteney Cox. While Cox is the star of the show, Hart is its heart. His Don is a functional schizophrenic who lapses in and out of reality as he hides in trees aiming his camera. That's right, he's a sympathetic invader of privacy and dignity.

Fans of independent films first encountered Hart when he played John Lennon in two early 1990s movies, "Backbeat" and "The Hours and Times," and then followed him through other indies such as "Hollow Reed" and "The Butcher Boy." And despite his work in the likes of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Finding Neverland," Hart, 42, is still best known for his smaller films. As his first series-TV work, however, "Dirt" may change that. His lovable, scrappy, self-destructive Don Konkey truly deserves a show of his own.

Question: Don't you want to say the name Don Konkey over and over?

Ian Hart: It's a great name. It's a kick.

Question: Did you research schizophrenia to get inside Don?

Ian Hart: Two of my uncles are schizophrenic, and my brother-in-law's brother is schizophrenic, too. I did do some research. But there comes a point when, unless you're doing the same research as the show's writers, there's a potential for, conflict of interest, shall we say. Know what I mean? "That's not what I read." "Oh, well, that's what we've written because we need the story to move on in a certain way."

Question: Obviously Courteney Cox is approached by paparazzi. Do you ever have close encounters with them?

Ian Hart: No! Except for research work. For another job I did [on the movie "Rag Tale" ], I went out with these guys back home in Eng-land.

To a degree, there was a pecking order. There are those that the studios and publicists and actors have reached an agreement with. And those are the ones everyone knows are going to be outside of the restaurants or at a premiere. They're easy to talk to. They love to tell you the story of how one time they sat in a ditch for two days to get a photo of Princess Diana or whatever.

The guys who drive around back alleys on mopeds are a different thing. I never met any of those guys because they don't want to talk to you.

Question: You do a lot of indie work, but still, your face is out there in mainstream movies like "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." Are you ever recognized?

Ian Hart: No. Never. I did get recognized once. Some guy thought I was some kid who was in a thing called "The Wizard." One, I didn't know what "The Wizard" was; and two, I wasn't in it.

Question: Would you like to be recognized?

Ian Hart: There's one advantage. The sick nature of the business I dwell in is that it values fame. Because that's how it sells its product. . . .

If you have a script about two miners in the north of England, they're going to look for, well, basically, Clive Owen . They're not going to go for two guys who happen to be fitting for that project. They want to get as much fame attached to that project so they get the financing and the distribution.

On the other hand, being unrecognizable doesn't prevent you from doing acting. And once you're known as a personality it gets harder for the audience to suspend disbelief. Say if Brad Pitt plays a mine worker in Scotland -- I'm sure he can do it, I don't think it's a problem for him as an actor -- but you're always going to know it's Brad Pitt. That's not a slight against Brad Pitt.

Question: At 42, what made you turn to the small screen?

Ian Hart: Basically, I wanted a job, dude. It's as simple as that.

I do movies back home, and we take the festivals, and I've been very fortunate in that some of them have won some prizes, and I've won some prizes and whatever. And it means absolutely nothing. You're still back being unemployed for a year. As I get older, I am less and less able to sustain a year out of work. Not just financially, but emotionally.

Question: Well, TV has done a lot for your compatriot Hugh Laurie. Thanks to "House," he's huge now.

Ian Hart: I auditioned for "Flight of the Phoenix," and Hugh Laurie got the job. Not to talk out of school, but the director pretty much told me, "It's not that he was better than you or better for the part. The issue is, can I get my movie made with a bunch of unknown guys? And the answer is no."

Question: Any small movies in your resume that you wish had gotten more attention?

Ian Hart: I did a movie called "Blind Flight. " Too much effort and work went into it for it to just be like it never existed. [Director-writer John Furse] spent five, six, seven years writing it, and raising finance for it. Shooting it, we ran out of money and people put their wages back in the pot so we could keep on filming. People believed in what they were doing.

At the end of all that, you hope somebody appreciates all the effort. But no one does because there's no money to be made out of it. When reality and the bubble touch each other, they seldom interact in a pleasant way.

Question: As Don Konkey, your American accent is flawless.

Ian Hart: I worked with a voice coach many years ago when I was filming in Boston with Denis Leary [on "Monument Ave."]. . . . When an accent is off, it undermines so much of what's going on, not just with that particular actor, but with everyone he's speaking to.

Question: Thanks for the time, Don Konkey.

Ian Hart: A pleasure.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2007/01/14/plum_role_in_dirt_makes_hart_an_actor_to_watch/

dad1153

01-17-07, 04:07 AM

Shows set records for Disney
'JUMP,' 'CORY' HELP CABLER TOP FRIDAY RATINGS
(Cable TV Ratings Report)
From Michael Schneider, Variety - January 16, 2007

Disney Channel viewers leapt on "Jump In," turning the original movie's Friday night premiere into the cabler's most-watched telecast ever.
The same night, the kid-centric cabler also posted its best-ever series premiere, as new live-action skein "Cory in the House" crushed all comers.

The one-two punch of "Jump In" and "Cory" helped Disney Channel dominate the basic cable ratings on Friday, ranking a solid No. 1 in total day and primetime auds among total viewers. In prime, Disney bested No. 2 Nick by 138% with viewers (6.2 million vs. 2.6 million). Disney Channel was also tops in its target kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14 demos.

Running from 8 to 9:30 p.m., "Jump In" scored 8.2 million viewers in its Friday bow, even surpassing the debut last year of Disney Channel phenom "High School Musical" (which attracted 7.8 million viewers in its initial run).

That easily made it basic cable's No. 1 program of the day; it was also the No. 7 program in all of TV, ranking only behind shows on CBS and NBC.

In the demo contest, "Jump In" averaged 3.7 million viewers among kids 6-11, and 3.4 million tweens. "Jump In" even performed well among older viewers -- and by old, we mean the 12-34 crowd, where the movie also won among all cablers.

"Jump In" commanded huge shares among kid and tween demos. The telepic scored almost 60% of all girls 6-11 watching TV at that time, for example.

As for "Cory," the half-hour entry (which premiered at 9:30 p.m. immediately after "Jump In") averaged 7.6 million viewers -- making it basic cable's second-most watched program of the day, only behind "Jump In."

That bested Disney Channel's previous top series debut, last March's bow of "Hannah Montana" (which attracted 5.5 million viewers).

"Cory" was also the second-most watched program of the day with kids 6-11 (3.4 million) and tweens (3.4 million).

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957517.html?categoryid=14&cs=1/

dad1153

01-17-07, 04:15 AM

Cablevision Board Rejects Offer by the Dolans
(Media Business Report)
From Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times - January 16, 2007

The board of the Cablevision Systems Corporation rejected an $8.9 billion offer yesterday to sell the company to the Dolans, its founding family.

The rebuff was a rare example of a board standing up to and denying a request by a controlling shareholder.

The rejection by the board, which set up a special committee to review the Dolans’ proposal, is the second time it has refused to sell the company to the family.

In 2005, the Dolans, led by the founder, Charles F. Dolan, and his son James, offered to break the company in two and buy Cablevision’s cable television assets. But they were forced to withdraw the offer before the board formally rejected it.

The Dolans’ latest effort, though, was much more public, and at times it appeared acrimonious. Rather than withdraw its offer when told it would be rejected, the family increased its bid last Friday by about $1 billion and tried to put pressure on the board by setting a deadline tomorrow, declaring that the proposal was its “best and final” offer.

In rejecting the bid, the board said in a letter to the family that the offer “does not represent fair value for the company’s public shareholders nor does it contemplate a transaction that is in their best interest.”

It said it had warned the family that it would reject the bid, noting that “indications were given” about the “the inadequacy of the prior proposal” and that the directors had provided “general guidance” about how much the family would need to pay to strike a deal.

A spokesman for the Dolans declined to comment last night.

Yesterday’s decision leaves the company publicly owned but at the mercy of the Dolan family, which owns 20 percent of Cablevision equity and controls 70.4 percent of the voting power.

With little chance of a sale of the company to anyone else, Cablevision’s future remains clouded. Some analysts last night questioned why the Dolans did not bring in a private equity firm as a partner to allow them to increase their bid further.

Investors have worried for weeks that the Dolans would buy the company at a steep discount to its value.

While the Dolans had offered $30 a share, most analysts estimate that the company would be worth at least $40 a share if it were put up for auction. When the Dolan family made its bid, it insisted that it would not sell the company to anyone besides itself.

“It’s a corporate governance victory,” said Richard Greenfield, an analyst at Pali Research, who wrote a note to investors last week titled, “Do Not Let Chuck and Jim Dolan Steal CVC.”

“This is exactly what the independent committee should have done,” Mr. Greenfield said. “The price was not fair for shareholders. If they had put it up for auction, it would have fetched far more.”

In his note, he suggested that the company was worth at least $33.50 a share and said that there was “a strong likelihood of a Time Warner Cable takeover attempt over the next 12-18 months.”

Time Warner has long been mentioned as a potential suitor because Cablevision’s systems, which are centered in New York suburbs, fit neatly into Time Warner’s regional network.

Some cable industry analysts speculated last night that the Dolans might attempt to raise the offer while also orchestrating a sale of assets — perhaps some cable networks — or trying to close some start-ups like the Fuse network, that are part of efforts to develop business. By doing either, the Dolans could keep the debt-to-cash flow levels acceptable to the banks.

The push by the Dolans comes as enthusiasm for cable companies has rebounded. Only a year ago, investors were concerned that as telephone companies entered the video market the value of distribution assets would fall. But perception has shifted, and many investors now argue that rival services to cable TV will materialize slowly and that cable is still the best-positioned rival to the phone companies and satellite TV.

With the recent boom in buyouts led by management, shareholders have become increasingly anxious about whether their interests are being properly represented and whether a board’s links to management might be too cozy. For instance, when the energy company Kinder Morgan was sold to a group led by its founder, Richard D. Kinder, shareholders were irate about what they considered a sweetheart deal.

The special committee in this case was Thomas V. Reifenheiser, a former media banker at Chase who had represented Cablevision, and a retired Navy vice admiral, John R. Ryan, who is chancellor of the State University of New York. Both joined the board in 2002, and neither is a personal friend of the family.

The committee was advised by Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley. Its legal adviser was the firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/business/17cable.html?ref=business

dad1153

01-17-07, 04:19 AM

The Fine Line Between Anonymity & Celebrity
(A Late Review of HBO's Sunday Night Series)
From Brendan Bernhard, New York Sun - January 16, 2007

"Extras," Ricky Gervais's follow-up to the hit British series "The Office," is back for its second season on HBO. "The Office" was a rarity among foreign comedy shows in that it spawned a successful American counterpart. Not having been adapted for American audiences, at least as yet, the uncompromising Englishness of "Extras" has so far been a sticking point. It's a bit like "Entourage" injected with a megadose of Valium, or "Curb Your Enthusiasm" afflicted by a slow-acting suicide pill. There is little comic catharsis, and the laughs tend to be small and located in a particularly dyspeptic portion of the belly.

The show, which is written by Mr. Gervais and his "Office" writing partner, Stephen Merchant, is about small-time actors in the worlds of film, theater, and television, each a distinct circle of hell. Failure and the lure of fame are the themes. Ambition is exacerbated by the occasional droplet of success, which almost immediately disappears without trace.

Mr. Gervais plays Andy Millman, a struggling actor whose humiliating career as an extra was documented in the show's first season. Now fame beckons: A sitcom he wrote and stars in has been picked up by the BBC. Called "When the Whistle Blows," it's a hideously old-fashioned working-class version of "The Office" — a sitcom for morons, shorn of any postmodern irony or postmodern anything. It's the kind of thing Mr. Gervais might actually have written if he didn't have any talent, though one can't imagine the BBC putting it on.

Despite receiving some of the most vicious reviews ever, Millman's pilot (which he knows is terrible) attracts 6.2 million viewers. In next week's episode, he is recognized and drooled over at his local pub by feverish, semi-demented celebrity-addicts whose behavior understandably repulses him. So together with his agent, Darren Lamb ( Mr. Merchant) and his only friend, Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jensen, playing a fellow extra of bovine stupidity), he repairs to a high-class showbiz hangout where there will be no rabble to hound him.

Big mistake: Suddenly Millman is thrust into a world of real celebrities. When he makes the further mistake of pouring his heart out to David Bowie, who just happens to be seated next to a piano in the VIP section, the rock star replies by improvising a song about just how ugly, awful, contemptible, and unfunny Millman really is: "He sold his soul for a shot at fame / catchphrase and wig and the jokes are lame." Soon the entire nightclub is merrily singing along, including his agent and friend, while Millman sits there and takes it. Yes, he's famous. ( David Bowie is singing about him!) And he's despised.

The Bowie song aside, much of "Extras" drifts along like rock 'n' roll with only a faintly detectable beat. It's in love with gaffes that cause painful, protracted silences — the notorious British propensity for embarrassment — in a way that is somewhat anachronistic. (Embarrassment may not be dead in England, but it's not exactly thriving.) Like "The Office," "Extras" portrays a certain milieu with drab, documentary realism, but then has its characters behave in ways that often defy belief. It divides the world into winners and losers, with the former being unbearable and the latter tedious or stupid. But while the misanthropy on a program such as "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is invigorating, here it's dispiriting, like flat champagne.

Messrs. Gervais and Merchant are sufficiently aware of the problem to liven things up with regular star appearances from the likes of Orlando Bloom, Patrick Stewart, Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter), Dame Diana Rigg, and Mr. Bowie, among others. Often the stars gamely make fun of themselves and their own vanity, though of course we are aware that they are mocking themselves in patently absurd ways rather than ones that might be plausible.

In other words, nothing to worry their fan base. Last season, there was an episode in which Mr. Stewart talked about a nonsensically egotistical film script he was writing in which he would be endowed with magical powers, allowing him to divest women of their clothes in virtually every scene. In this season's opening episode, Mr. Bloom portrayed himself as being unhealthily obsessed with his own good looks. Mr. Bowie, not sending himself up at all, lets loose with pure musical venom. And in a later episode, Ms. Rigg consents to having an unrolled condom land on her head while she's eating lunch, alone. Somehow I don't think this will rank as one of the high points of her career.

As in "Curb Your Enthusiasm," or in the work of Sacha Baron Cohen, much of the comedy centers around politically incorrect subjects — dwarves, children with Down syndrome, flamboyantly over-the-top homosexuals. But Mr. Gervais rarely makes you howl with laughter the way Larry David or Mr. Cohen can. The funniest bits tend to belong to his devious, incompetent agent, who appears not to have heard of a single actor, television show, or movie ever made.

Just as "The Office" was enough to put anyone off working in the paper industry, "Extras" is one long poison-pen letter to the siren song of celebrity and fame. If ever there was a program to make young people starting out in life consider a career in law, medicine, waste disposal, or just about anything other than drama, this is the one. At least that way you won't end up on television like Ms. Rigg, with a prophylactic on top of your 68-year-old head.

http://www.nysun.com/article/46777

dad1153

01-17-07, 04:22 AM

'Break' Meant Only to Last Two Years
(Mid-Season Television Report)
From Don Kaplan, New York Post - January 17, 2007

While the makers of "Lost" are trying to figure out how to end the show, the producers of "Prison Break" are scrambling to keep theirs going.

"Prison Break" was originally conceived to only serve a two-year sentence on Fox, but the show's popularity has its writers working to come up with a third season for next year, says "Prison Break" star, Dominic Purcell.

"One of the wonderful things about the show is how we built so many things into seasons one and two," says Purcell. " 'Prison Break' originally was a concept for two seasons," he says Paul Scheuring the [show's] creator wrote it to work over two seasons. Now because of its success and economics the writers have to get really creative to justify a season three."

The show, which returns Monday (Jan. 22), follows a pair of brothers, Lincoln and Michael who along with a handful of cons, broke out of jail last year using an ingenious plan. Michael cooked up the plan to save his brother who, as part of a large conspiracy, was framed for murder and about to sent to the electric chair.

This season, the show went from "Shawshank Redemption" to "The Fugitive."

"But I've been told that the conspiracy ends this year," says Purcell.

The writers of "Prison Break" find themselves the opposite situation as the creators of "Lost" who are in talks with ABC about setting a deadline to end the series.

"It's kind of like, a heavyweight boxer, some of them just don't know when to retire and you can probably say the same thing about 'Prison Break,' " says Purcell.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01172007/tv/break_meant_to_last_only_2_yrs__tv_don_kaplan.htm

dad1153

01-17-07, 08:05 AM

American Tragedy
'IDOL' OPENER A CRYIN' SHAME
(Two Reviews of Fox's Mid-Season Phenom's Season Opener)
From Linda Stasi, New York Post - January 17, 2007

Call it American Agony!

What in hell happened to the best show on TV? If last night was any indication of what was to come, Lucy, they got some 'splainin' to do.

What a disappointment! "American Idol" was for the most part sad and painful - and it was like laughing at the handicapped.

In case you missed it, the biggest show on TV returned last night with 10,000 hopefuls showing up in Minneapolis to audition for the chance of a lifetime.

I filled my living room with my biggest "Idol" fanatics - and we breathlessly anticipated the return of everyone's favorite talent show. By the end of the night, there wasn't a dry eye or a happy face in the crowd. Good thing I had brownies.

Sorry to report, but the show went from a high-note finale last season to a very sour-note season premiere.

Look, it's one thing to laugh at (yes, at) the talentless yet hopelessly arrogant. It's another thing to laugh at hopefuls who are just hopelessly sad.

The show began with an endless cry-fest from a girl named Jessica, who was so bad and so sad and so hopeful that she was heartbreaking.

Then there was the idiot dressed like Apollo Creed making my living-room "judges" snort in disgust. Was this "The Gong Show" or "The Price is Right?"

There were two military auditions, which you knew from the outset were going to make it - I mean, they showed up in their uniforms! Seriously, and the Army woman was only a reservist.

I'm surprised a blind nun didn't show up to sing "Over the Rainbow."

The rest of the night was just as sad, with contestants breaking down in real tears of despair. Hello! That's entertainment? Why not take us to the real dawg pound and watch the dogs get ready for euthanasia.

What always made "Idol" so fantastic was its blend of pathos and laughs, real talent and raw nerve.

Last night, we just had terrible voices, mostly personality-deprived contestants, and judges who may have been doing this too long.

Singer Jewel, the hot-shot guest, was lovely, but added nothing to the mix. Simon spent most of the evening making his shocked face, and Randy gave up the Dawg Pound and went straight for the rabid-dog act, biting jugular after jugular and leaving his helpless victims bleeding on the floor.

And Paula? Dear God. She managed to come out of her coma after each audition long enough to mumble a word or two before the glaze replaced the gaze. Get this woman some help.

In fact, get the whole show some help. I want my "American Idol" back.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01172007/tv/american_tragedy_tv_linda_stasi.htm
____________________________________________________________ _____

It's same ol 'Idol' worship
From David Hinckley, New York Daily News - January 17, 2007

The multibillion-dollar "American Idol" machine kicked off its sixth season last night by officially declaring it has fallen in love with itself.

"Together we've created a phenomenon," a voice-over modestly informed 25 million to 30 million viewers, kicking off an homage that built to a crescendo worthy of Kelly Clarkson herself: "We hold the biggest auditions in the world for the No. 1 show in the world!"

Now it could be argued that if a show can deliver, it doesn't need this kind of self-hype. On the other hand, it ain't bragging if you can do it, and "Idol" scored on opening night by the simple trick of sticking with all the things that have worked in the five seasons before.

Specifically, this meant following triumphant clips of Carrie, Taylor, Ruben and other past winners with a short snippet of an unknown, rather recklessly dressed young woman singing very, very badly under a yellow cowboy hat.

Sure, we love the winners. But the losers, Lord forgive us, are quite often more fun.

Okay, they aren't losers. They can go on to live productive, honorable lives. But on "American Idol," they're the discards, the new kids in the frathouse on hazing day.

Jessica, last night's first aspirant, practically begged for help after the four-judge panel - singer Jewel was sitting in as special guest - unanimously suggested she find another avocation.

Tell me how to get better, Jessica said.

"Jessica," said judge Simon Cowell, "it will take an hour in your case, you're so far off."

Simon was later asked the same question by Brenda, the show's self-described biggest fan. Is there anything, she said, that I can do to improve?

"Leave," he replied.

Yes, "Idol" is back.

And anyone who doesn't think milking maximum chuckles from other people's inflated dreams is a big part of the appeal should take note of the exit doors in the Minneapolis auditorium where this first round of auditions was held.

As with many double doors, for reasons that have never been clear, only one opens. Which means that about half the rejected people who leave will push on a locked door.

The producers make a point of including this moment in several audition scenes - not because it has anything to do with the singing, but because it extends for three seconds the moment of discomfort.

Yes, "Idol" once more sashays right up to the edge of cruelty. But just when Simon starts to sound like he's gone into reruns with lines like "that was juvenile, tedious, mediocre and horrible," some woman will do an off-center rendition of Blondie's "Call Me" and judge Randy Jackson, seemingly on a random whim, will ask if she'll do a few bars of Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie."

And she will, and it will be startlingly good.

Sometime this year, we're going to fall in love with someone like that.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/489400p-412161c.html

dad1153

01-17-07, 08:11 AM

'Office' building buzz
CUBICLE COMEDY BIG HIT FOR NBC
(A Demographic/Nielsen Profile of NBC's Thursday Night Sitcom)
From Rick Kissell, Variety - January 16, 2007

NBC has been looking for its next big laffer, and it may have found it in "The Office." The cubicle comedy, which has been building in buzz and audience, hit a season high last week -- even though it largely remains off the radar of adults 35 and over.

For the season, according to Nielsen, "The Office" is television's No. 4 half-hour comedy in adults 18-49 (4.2 average), pulling to within half a ratings point of leader "Two and a Half Men" on CBS and just behind Fox's "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy."

Its 5.0 demo rating last week is the second best score to date for the third-season skein, which struggled initially but has gradually built an aud airing alongside "My Name Is Earl" since the fall of 2005.

The two make for the strongest hour of sitcoms today, helping NBC remain competitive on a night when CBS and ABC both air their No. 1 programs. "Earl," too, deserves credit, opening the night very well.

While the nets have tried numerous single-camera comedies in recent years, only "The Office" and skedmate "Earl" have really broken through.

And not surprisingly, the oft-quirky shooting style hasn't been as easily embraced by those viewers who grew up with comedies filmed on a soundstage with a laugh track.

In fact, if "The Office" is going to become the next "Seinfeld," it will need to add more adults 35-plus.

On average, "The Office" at 8:30 has built on its "My Name Is Earl" lead-in by 5% in adults 18-49. But looking at both halves of this demo, you can see just how young "The Office" skews.

While "The Office" is performing a whole ratings point better than "Earl" among the 18-34 crowd (4.6 vs. 3.6), and outdelivers "Earl" in teens (2.0 vs. 1.7), it underperforms "Earl" in 35-49 (3.7 vs. 4.5).

"The Office," like "Earl," is also a strong performer among men, averaging a 14 share in men 18-49 last week and an 11 share in women 18-49. This testosterone tilt has come in handy on the night, as ABC's competing comedy hit "Ugly Betty" is a big draw among femmes.

NBC's biggest comedies in recent years -- "Friends" and "Will & Grace" -- relied on heavy female viewership, but it just may be that for the net's next big half-hour, it will be the men leading the way.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957502.html?categoryid=1275&cs=1

dad1153

01-17-07, 08:14 AM

Check Aaron Sorkin's comments on the 'Part le Deux' blog (below) about what he thinks of the recent coverage Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip has been getting from The Los Angeles Times.

Notes From the Field: Part the first
(Three Field Reports from the TV Critic's Winter Tour in Los Angeles)
From Peter Ames Carlin's Oregonian Blog - January 16, 2007

Turns out I was a little, uh, fuzzy on where we were going to spend our day today. So forget everything I said about "Grey's Anatomy," make it a definite yes on "Ugly Betty" and put "Studio 60: Live on the Sunset Strip" just before the visit to "24," and you'll have it right. Or I'll have it right. Or whatever.

So off we went, bus riders all, down the highway to Hollywood, and the cozy confines of Raleigh Studios (formerly Desilu, back in the way olde days) Here we find the inner workings of "Ugly Betty," which would be all aglow -- hit show that it is -- had they not just won glory at the Golden Globes just last night. Giddiness is everywhere. As is an apparently special-treat omelet bar set up for the staff just outside the studio door, with a small mimeographed note reading, 'Congratulations and thanks for your hard work! -- Vanessa.' Wish my boss did that. Bet he wishes I'd win a big award, too. Sigh.

Inside they're just getting geared up for another day's work, though some castmembers seem a bit blearier than others. Eric Mabius, who plays Daniel, confesses that he hasn't even been to sleep yet....he spent much of the night celebrating at a party thrown by Prince. Earlier, he'd been high-fived by Sharon Stone, who said she was a huge, huge fan of the show. "People have a secret place in their hearts for it," he said. "They TiVo it and watch it religiously."

Or maybe not so secret, given how well "Betty" is doing in the ratings.

Vanessa Williams, she of the omelets, looked even more radiant at her perch across the set. Possibly because it's so much more fun to be on a hit show than to still be stuck on "South Beach," that dismal UPN (I think) show that expired within weeks last year.

The differences between being on an ordinary show, she says, and being on "Ugly Betty" were both immediate and striking.

"No one's phoning it in here," she says, cheerfully. "No one's complaining about how many lines they get, or how much time in front of the camera. It's a real ensemble."

Another striking thing about "betty" is its amazing visuals: the beyond-modern layout of the Mode magazine offices; the bright colors and, particularly, the repeated use of fish-eye lenses and other tricks to tease out strange angles in characters and situations. And wouldn't you know that the design has an Oregon stamp on it? This thanks to Mark Worthington, a Reed College alum ('83) who spent a few years working in Portland's alt-theater community. He seems like a really nice, cool guy.

Field Notes: Part le deux

Back in the bus, and off across town to the Warner Bros. lot, and the set for "Studio 60: Live on the Sunset Strip." Here we find show creator, chief writer and co-exec producer Aaron Sorkin sitting at the center of the enormous table that dominates the showinside-the-show writer's room. He seems a bit older, and maybe a little heavier, than he did back in his "West Wing" salad days. But his eyes are bright and he doesn't even flinch when the rabble ask if he wants to comment on the recent spate of less-than-upbeat stories that the Los Angeles Times, among other publications, have recently run on his show.

"I'm taking a second to decide if I should answer honestly or diplomatically," he said.

"HONESTLY!" the rabble cried, as one.

So off he went, noting, not a little angrily, that the LA Times had in the space of four months run three separate articles about his show, all of them stating, re-stating and then re-re-stating the idea that some people on the Internet aren't fond of "Studio 60." The most recent story, he continued, also claimed that comedy writers don't like the show, either. And though it quoted a few members of a local comedy troupe called Employees of the Month, it failed to mention that the show had recently scored two nominations for Writer's Guild awards. Those are working, professional writers, Sorkin seethed. "And the writers she quoted were all, you'll notice, unemployed."

This was great. Sorkin was totally throwing down. And he wasn't finished!

"This was nonsense," he went on. "The Los Angeles Times should be ashamed of itself!"

Sing it, brother! And he wasn't done! Next Sorkin ridiculed the whole idea that bloggers -- many of whom come from parts unknown, bearing grudges, perhaps, and not always a reliable sense of who they are and what they're really after -- be taken more seriously in the mainstream media than any random josephine walking down Main Street. "An enormous rise in amateurism," Sorkin said of the blogosphere. "And everyone's voice oughtn't be equal."

Cool. So cool in fact, we nearly forgot to ask what the future held for the show! A bigger emphasis on romantic comedy, for one thing. More acknowledgment of Matt Albie's drug problem. And yet even more of the romanticized, idealized portrait of hard-working showbiz pros working hard on professional showbiz.

Huzzah!

Fun in the Field: Lunch at CTU

Then a long drive up the freeway to the northern reaches of the San Fernando Valley. Epicenter of the pornography industry, someone noted. But that's news for a different blog. Here we're squeaky-clean purveyors of TV facts and fancy, and so let's visit an extremely drab little office park -- a former pencil factory, I'm later told -- and into the bustling heart of "24."

So here's the bunker-like, cement-seeming CTU office. Lots of plasma screens playing and replaying obscure series of numbers and satellite-cam perspectives on various cities, states and nations. The core actors -- your Kiefers, your Mary Lynns, your Rick-not-Rickys, and so on -- confront enthusiastic knots of rabble. I beeline instead for the central console, upon which are scattered file folders stamped CTU, and Top Secret, and etc., and whip them open to read the documents therein.

This went on for ten minutes or so. Then a producer came sprinting up, smiling all friendly-like, but also more than a little insistent that I knock off any and all reading right this instant, lest I come away with top "24" secrets and spoilers that will ruin everything for everyone. I cheerfully agree.

But I'd already been taking notes.

Now I'll tell you what I saw.

Does the blogosphere rock, or what?

What I found was.....

Badly mimeographed pages from a CIA report on Lee Harvey Oswald, declassified in 1995.

Papers from what appeared to be a military record belonging to someone named Sgt. Bill Reiner, noting his awards for: overall achievement; discipline, weapons, friendliness; and being helpful to others.

A handwritten note reading: "Fresh! Exciting! It's so inviting to me!" These are lyrics to a song by Kool and the Gang.

A military personnel report regarding someone named Aaron Hallam, who served at Fort Billings, OK.

And a handwritten note reading: "Jack in trouble -- send help!"

http://petercarlin.blogs.oregonlive.com/

harley1

01-17-07, 10:03 AM

TV Notebook
Fox Apologizes for On-Air Profanity
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 1/16/2007

Fox has apologized for showing a T-shirt with the slogan "f**k da Eagles" in primetime during its coverage of the New Orleans Saints/Philadelphia Eagles NFL playoff game Saturday, Jan. 13.

Unlike much live TV programming these days, the game had no delay. "It was unintentional, inadvertent, and we apologize," said Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell.

The Parents Television Council has asked its members to complain to the FCC about the on-camera profanity, saying it had "no doubt" it was intentional. But the FCC would be unlikely to act on that or any other profanity complaints until a federal court has ruled on a challenge by broadcasters, including Fox, to its new profanity-enforcement policy.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6407826

PTC: Fox Deliberately Displays the “F-Word” During Prime Time Football Game

Group Calls for FCC Sanctions and Advertiser Refunds

LOS ANGELES (January 16, 2007) - The Parents Television Council™ chastised Fox for what appeared to be a deliberate display of the “f-word” during the broadcast of the NFL playoff game between the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles. The PTC called on its members to file complaints with the FCC about this indecent broadcast, and on Fox to refund its sponsors’ money.

During a cutaway shot to the stadium spectators, the camera focused directly on a woman wearing a t-shirt clearly inscribed with the words “F--k Da Eagles” (without the dashes). The shot stayed focused on the woman and her shirt for several seconds. Fans on the East Coast saw this obscenity televised during the Family Hour - 8:30 p.m. ET – and it aired at 5:30 p.m. on the West Coast.

“There is no doubt that this was an intentional airing of patently offensive language on the public airwaves, as the person wearing the profane t-shirt was chosen by the Fox Network’s broadcast crew from more than 70,000 spectators in the stadium. The camera operator selected that particular woman and the director and/or producers of the event made an affirmative and conscious decision to air the shot from that particular camera, forcing the ‘f-word’ into millions of homes,” said Tim Winter, president of the PTC™.

“It used to be that you could sit down and watch an evening football game with your children without fear of them being exposed to inappropriate material. Obviously, that’s no longer the case. Obscenities airing in live sports programming are becoming a regular occurrence. Not only do the networks seem unwilling to implement a simple 5-second delay to prevent such profanity reaching children and families, it now appears that they are intentionally seeking such material out. And in this instance, like so many others, the v-chip would not and could not have protected children and families from the indecent content.

“Broadcasters are legally obligated to act in the public interest and to adhere to decency laws. Time and time again the networks have violated those laws and challenged the right of the public to hold them accountable. To add insult to injury, the Fox Network has filed suit in federal court claiming it should have the right to air unlimited offensive language at any time of day - but the law does not give them that right, nor has any court granted it. We are calling on our members across the nation to file formal indecency complaints with the FCC, and we urge the Commission to take swift and decisive action to protect the public airwaves from those who are abusing their privilege to use them.

“Lastly, we are calling on the Fox Television Network and all of its affiliated stations to refund to its advertisers 100% of the advertising revenue they received for this broadcast. The sponsors were dealt the same ‘sucker punch’ from Fox that millions of children and families received, and they shouldn’t be forced to pay for it.”

http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/release/2007/0116.asp

What bothers me about the PTC is they have a link at the bottom of the article to file a complaint with the FCC, and many of people filing complaints NEVER saw the t-shirt on tv that they are complaining about.

So can you be offended by something you never saw ?

CPanther95

01-17-07, 10:06 AM

What's more damaging to kids - the "F" bomb, or incorrectly spelling "the"? :)

fredfa

01-17-07, 10:19 AM

I really don't want to get into an argument over the PTC and its tactics, harley1.

No one is going to change his/her mind.

I mentioned the item only as sort of a statement of record.

The fact is (as best I can understand them) that the PTC is almost always technically correct in its literal interpretation of the law and FCC regulations.

But its ignorance of how TV actually works, and its seeming belief in a vast conspiracy to undermine their principles is often laughable.

There are a number of topics I generally leave unposted because they tend to get knee jerk responses. The PTC is one, (you can probably guess many of the others, but O'Reilly and Olbermann probably head the list!) and perhaps I should have followed my own rule more completely.

I won't comment on your comment except to say that I agree. With you. (And to be honest, note that the PTC often makes cogent argument which speak for a large number of viewers. I have no doubt that some in the Fox truck thought the t-shirt was hilarious, just as I have no doubt that the vast majority of readers of this thread are wondering who cares about it.

It is an interesting argument which will never be won by either side -- or by the legions of those stuck somewhere in the middle. It is one I could enjoy discussing for hours. But I suspect there are better forums for that.

I do appreciate the posting, though, harley1. I just wanted to explain a bit of my thinking to hopefully ward off any back-and-forth about the PTC.

To my mind, this is a forum where all kinds of stories, ideas, columns, blogs and news notes about TV are welcome. On the other hand, it works better if discussions are limited to topics concerning the programming, business and/or technology of TV.

fredfa

01-17-07, 10:23 AM

What's more damaging to kids - the "F" bomb, or incorrectly spelling "the"? :)

Let's not start laughing at N'Awlins-speak, CP95, or we'll be really inundated with posts!

CPanther95

01-17-07, 10:25 AM

Actually, it translates quite well to Philly-speak. :)

fredfa

01-17-07, 10:27 AM

The TV Column
We Watch So You Don’t Have To
'Idol's' Trying Times
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Early audition episodes on "American Idol" are the torture camp of show business.

We feel really bad about it.

But we like to watch.

Judges Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul are back with their bag of ego deflators. Only this time, Jackson is the bad cop, Simon is the good cop, and Abdul appears to be all sober and normal and obeying the Geneva Conventions. What fun is that?

Singing star/poet Jewel is guest-judging; she's sitting next to Jackson, who told the press a few days ago he thinks the guest judges are hooey and shouldn't be mixing it up with the three regulars.

The judges jump right in, bringing "Idol" wannabe Jessica Rhode to tears.

"I don't want to patronize you but it's never gonna work for you, darling," Simon sneers.

"I'm sorry but we're trying to find the best, and that was so far away from it."

"Oh my God!" Rhode wails.

"No way. Please no, please!" she begs.

"The good news is today you found out you're not going to be [a singer] so you can just -- move on," Simon says therapeutically while she weeps.

Rhode seeks comfort from her family outside. "I really thought I had it. I thought I was ready. They said I'm not even a good singer," she sobs.

Mr. Urban Amish, Troy Benham, follows. He's never seen "American Idol," does not own a "broadcast television setup in my home."

He sings them a song that involves spit dripping into someone's face. And roaches. We're not familiar with that tune.

The judges begin to lacerate him; he puts up a good fight.

"I didn't say I was great. I didn't say I was the best and I certainly didn't say I was the next American Idol," Benham says.

Next, Jesse Holloway walks out midway through his audition, saying he's "real nervous right now." He takes a drink and returns.

"Why did you come back into the room?" Simon asks. "When you left, for once we were on the same page."

Outside the audtion room, Jesse unloads, saying Randy "needs to wipe off the damned makeup he's got on his face."

Which is funny, because we were thinking that Randy was looking much prettier this season for reasons we could not explain. Thank you, Jesse Holloway, for providing answers.

"When was the last time Paula made a record?" Holloway continues, now on a roll. "They can kiss my [heinie]. They need to be fired because they don't know what they're talking about."

Charles Moody auditions next -- dressed in stars-and-stripes bathrobe, top hat and boxing gloves. He's going to "knock out this performance." Singing opera.

Moody unnerves the judges.

"I don't know what I'm doing on this show anymore," Simon says. "The fact we're taking this seriously is disturbing. . . . We're acting like it's normal."

Cue up treacly sympathy music:

"My life wasn't easy, my mom struggles with drug addiction. I guess she can't help it," 16-year-old Denise Jackson confides to the "Idol" camera. "I was born as a crack baby. . . . They were going to send me to a foster home. My grandmother came and rescued me. . . . There is nothing wrong with me; I was actually born with a gift."

The judges are given notes on each auditioner; they're not gonna mess with Denise. She sails through to Hollywood.

"I'm the first person in my family who made something of himself!" she shouts jubilantly.

Trista Giese does a Bert Lahr-as-Cowardly-Lion impression from "The Wizard of Oz." Wrong show. Wrong century.

The appearance of Stephen Horst, alleged singing teacher, sets off the major role reversal of the evening. Randy really goes off on Horst, saying his students should all demand their money back.

"Randy -- enough!" Simon barks as Randy gets more and more in Horst's face, adding later, "Did you get abused by a vocal coach in some former life?"

Two auditions invoked the "American Idol" Military Immunity Clause -- show up in uniform and you're guaranteed to be sent to the next round.

Jarrod Fowler is a 27-year-old intelligence specialist on the USS Ronald Reagan. Fowler says he won the "Reagan Idol" competition on the Reagan. Fowler says it brings him a sense of pride knowing he represents all "these people who are actually defending our freedom."

"I think people will like you," Simon coos. The other judges meekly follow suit.

"This is for the Reagan," Fowler says outside the audition room.

Rachel Jackson meanwhile, works in Dad's body shop and her husband is in Baghdad now. She joined the Army Reserve.

"You guys are sooooo cute!" she tells the judges. Her song starts okay, but she inadvertently switches keys at least once.

Even so, her fatigues camouflage her lack of talent. Simon notes she started off well and "fell apart" toward the end. Which under other conditions would be the lead-in line to getting the hook. But instead he says while she was "not one of the best," "I think people would like you." The other judges agree glassy-eyed, and Jackson, too, is on her way to Hollywood.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011700094_pf.html

fredfa

01-17-07, 10:35 AM

Obituary
Benny Parsons, 65
Lost battle with lung cancer
By Nate Ryan, USA TODAY January 17, 2007 (Seth Livingstone and Gary Graves contributed to this story)

Benny Parsons, the taxicab driver from Detroit who became one of NASCAR's most beloved characters as a champion driver and an affable broadcaster whose generosity and infectious, good-natured personality touched peers and fans, died on Tuesday morning due to complications from lung cancer.

Parsons was diagnosed with the disease in July the day after he turned 65. After chemotherapy and radiation, Parsons said in October that he was cancer free. But the aggressive treatment badly damaged Parsons' left lung, and he had been hospitalized at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, since Dec. 26.

"Benny Parsons was a true champion, both on the racetrack and in life," NASCAR Chairman Brian France said. "Benny loved our sport and the people that make it up, and those people loved him. He will be remembered as being a great ambassador for the sport."

Parsons was born July 12, 1941 and grew up in the mountains of northwestern North Carolina, developing a passion for automobiles in the rural environs of Wilkes County, N.C., that also produced legend Junior Johnson.

"Everybody loved the cars," Parsons said during an interview with USA TODAY Sports Weekly last May. "Your car had to have two doors, two exhausts, and it had to be spotless."

Two months after buying his first car (a 1948 Mercury) and graduating from high school, Parsons moved to Detroit in 1959 to work at his father's gas station and taxicab stand. Parsons worked mostly as a mechanic on the cabs but "if they were all running and we had one sitting there, I'd jump in it and pick up passengers."

In 1960, Parsons noticed a truck stopped at the gas station with a stock car in tow. Told by the driver they were heading to a race in Anderson, Ind., Parsons grabbed a toothbrush and pair of underwear and hitched a ride with the team.

He became hooked on the sport and bought a stock car for $50 three years later. He tuned on it until midnight every day after work and competed at short tracks around Michigan, starting his career at Mt. Clemens Speedway northeast of Detroit in 1963.

When he went to make his first start at Daytona International Speedway in 1965, he filled out an application for an ARCA license. Under "type of business," Parsons wrote "taxicab business."

"I finished third in the race, and no one knew who I was," Parsons recalled in a 2005 interview with Dave Moody of Sirius Satellite Radio. "They rushed to my entry blank to see what I did for a living, and someone said, 'He must be a cab driver!' "

After capturing consecutive ARCA championships in 1968-69, Parsons moved full time into NASCAR in 1970. He made 526 Cup starts and notched 21 victories, 20 pole positions and 283 top-10 finishes. Parsons finished in the top five of the standings every season from 1972-80 while building a reputation as one of the series' cleanest, most consistent drivers.

"Benny Parsons was the kindest, sweetest, most considerate person I have ever known," said Fox analyst and three-time champion Darrell Waltrip. "He was almost too nice to be a race car driver, and I say that as a compliment. In my 30 odd years of racing Benny Parsons, I never knew of anyone being mad at Benny."

The kindness was repaid when Parsons clinched the points championship in the 1973 season finale at North Carolina Speedway. A crash on Lap 13 ripped the sheet metal off the right side of Parsons' car and heavily damaged its suspension and roll cage. A team that failed to make the race donated a spare roll cage, and several mechanics from other teams helped fix the car.

Parsons returned to the track in 1 hour, 15 minutes and finished 67 points ahead of Cale Yarborough. His crew chief, Travis Carter, estimated the repairs would have taken two 20-hour days by a two-man crew.

"You don't repair damage like that," Parsons recalled in 2003. "One of the neatest moments of my career was pulling out back on the backstretch. (The crowd) did the wave. It was unbelievable."

Parsons' career highlight was outdueling Yarborough, Bobby Allison, David Pearson and Richard Petty to win the 1975 Daytona 500. He was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers and also was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame.

But he was known for helping drivers as much as beating them. In the mid-1970s, Parsons took an interest in an upstart from Georgia named Bill Elliott. He provided driving and setup tips and helped hook Elliott up with car owner Harry Melling. They who won a championship together in 1988.

In 1995, Parsons discovered Greg Biffle, an unknown from Vancouver, Wash., tearing up ESPN's "Winter Heat" series in Tucson After lobbying several team owners to take a look at Biffle, Parsons convinced Jack Roush to hire him sight unseen for a ride in the Craftsman Truck Series. Biffle since has won championships in the truck ('00) and Busch ('02) series and finished second in the Nextel Cup standings in '05.

"Benny Parsons is not only the person I owe my NASCAR career to but he was a true friend to me from the day we met," Biffle said. "I will always appreciate his friendship and what he did for me. Every time I think about how lucky I am to have the job and the life I have, I think of B.P. because he's the reason I ever got this opportunity."

Parsons moved into broadcasting in 1989 after retiring from driving and became a fan favorite as an analyst for ESPN, NBC and TNT. He was known for light-hearted segments such as "Buffet Benny" about his favorite places to eat on the circuit. The popular feature also spawned a cookbook authored by Parsons.

"Ernie Irvan gave me the nickname 'Buffet Benny,' " Parsons said. "He saw me at Dover one time and said, 'There' a guy that can bust a buffet. He never met a buffet he didn't like.' "

Always cognizant of rewarding NASCAR's unsung heroes, Parsons also honored the fastest pit crews each week.

"He was a great driver and a terrific broadcaster, but above anything else he was a kind and generous human being," NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said. "His character and his spirit will define how he is remembered by all of us."

"This sport is more popular and more people know about it because of Benny," Michael Waltrip said. "He knew how to take this sport and explain it to people. He could take a story (about) the nuts and bolts and turn it into the people."

Fox analyst Larry McReynolds said he tried to pattern his on-air style on Parsons' ability to translate NASCAR's technical bent into a language that a casual fan could understand.

"He looked at it from the standpoint of being a racer, but he made sure he knew who he was talking to," McReynolds said.

Parsons is the second NASCAR champion to die this year after a bout with cancer. Bobby Hamilton, who won the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series title, died Jan. 7.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2007-01-16-parsons-obit_x.htm

fredfa

01-17-07, 10:36 AM

Actually, it translates quite well to Philly-speak. :)

(And Chicago-speak, too, I suspect.)

fredfa

01-17-07, 10:54 AM

Nielsen Notebook
“American Idol” Continues to Dominate

Matt Drudge at drudgereport.com repoirts that the early metered market ratings for “American Idol” were up from last year’s season premiere. He says the early numbers show a 21.8 rating/31 share for AI. Last year: 20.5/29.

You’ll get more details here in a little while when the full Nielsens are available.

fredfa

01-17-07, 11:04 AM

The Business of Television
CBS views Web as ally to boost TV viewership
Phil Rosenthal The Chicago Tribune January 17, 2007

It seems generally accepted that the future of broadcast television is only partly in broadcasting. The message, however, hasn't gotten to everyone. Not yet, at least.

A recent survey CBS conducted found that only 56 percent of viewers interviewed knew network TV programs were available on the Internet.

Of those who knew about online streaming, 46 percent had streamed at least one program. But, more encouraging, among those who didn't know they could watch shows on the Web, 62 percent indicated they would watch at least one of the 33 available programs online in the future.

"It is clear that the potential for network program distribution over the Internet is just beginning to be tapped," CBS' report said.

This notion of untapped potential seems to be driving a good many of CBS' decisions of late.

Think of CBS' latest moves as a sort of "No Dollar Left Behind" initiative.

Recent days have seen CBS announce plans for a new licensing and merchandising unit called CBS Consumer Products and to establish a separate unit for its DVD business to be called CBS Home Entertainment.

It also has created the CBS Sports Properties Group to sell the CBS Sports brand and create brand extensions for corporate clients and sponsors.

As for the Internet, the network is encouraged to have found that 53 percent of those who checked out new CBS series online in advance of their fall broadcast debuts became regular viewers of those shows. So the network, according to trade paper Broadcasting & Cable, plans to offer more and more Internet previews of its programs.

The revelation that this is a vital part of how CBS intends to get its shows sampled is indicative of just how much the television business is changing and has changed.

Granted, anyone who has enough interest in a prospective series to seek it out online before its air date is probably more motivated than most to stick with, say, "The Class" or "Jericho."

But the idea that a television network can just trot out its shows each fall, and viewers will go through the local listings in TV Guide before premiere week with a highlighter so they can make their plans to watch the new shows, is so 20th Century.

It's as quaint as picking up TV Guide for local listings, which it no longer publishes and instead provides online.

Repeated viewing and easy sampling afforded by various on-demand formats, including online streaming, video-on-demand, downloads, reruns or the selected scene on YouTube.com and other sites have become part of all networks' playbooks.

The mass exposure broadcast TV networks afford may remain the primary way to expose an audience to their wares, building demand for, say, the quickie DVD Fox is putting out of this season's first four hours of "24." But with so many options for the audience's time, no one can afford to rely on one method of reaching viewers.

People who are tapped into digital media seem to revel in being able to watch what they want, when they want it.

Empowerment is an easy sale. But you have to let your audience know it's available.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-0701170056jan17,0,426760,print.column

humdinger70

01-17-07, 11:10 AM

Note to PTC: Get a f**king life! :D

humdinger70

01-17-07, 11:11 AM

Hey dad1153: Nice use of a serif font for the headlines. Much easier to read.

fredfa

01-17-07, 11:20 AM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
L.A., Chatsworth and Valencia:
On the sets
By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”

The magic bus picked us up four times and dropped us off four times today. From "Ugly Betty" to "Studio 60" to "24" to "NCIS" waaaaay out in the Valley (to give some idea how far out we were, we passed a sign that said, "Now Leaving Pornucopia"), we saw four of the most happening sets in televisionland.

"Ugly Betty" made for a fine 9:30 a.m. stop, considering that the whole crew had taken home the Golden Globe for best comedy the night before, and America Ferrara had won an acting award as well. But they caught a little sleep and made it on time for what, I'm guessing, was a very short work day talking to us. For a lot of us, it felt like deja vu: "Ugly Betty" is filmed on the same Raleigh Studios set we toured one year ago, when "Commander in Chief" was being run into the ground there.

"Studio 60" was amazing. It's the first TV studio I've been in that felt just as big as it looked on TV. It's a great big space. A director told us he could shoot there for five years and not run out of angles. Sadly, I doubt the show will be on the air five months from now. Aaron Sorkin held court, and put on a brave face.

Next, it was off to "24" for a tour of the "new CTU." The set I visited in 2001, "old CTU," was destroyed by a bomb during season two, rebuilt for season three, then moved to a new location — one even more nondescript than the old location — in Chatsworth for season four. That's the one we visited. Kiefer Sutherland was a quote box as usual, but what really surprised us was the chatty director Jon Cassar, who gave us a tour of the set and, in the process, imparted some eye-opening details about the way the show is made.

And I even got something out of the visit to "NCIS," not least of which the fact that there actually is a government law enforcement agency called NCIS. Who knew?

I'll be expanding on my set visits in the days ahead with stories and podcasts. After all, "Ugly Betty" is everyone's favorite flavor right now, "Studio 60" begins its make-or-break stretch of seven episodes on Monday, "24" is en fuego and "NCIS" is, as of tonight, proving once again that it is TV's most "Idol"-proof show. More to come.

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

fredfa

01-17-07, 11:27 AM

Generally, I have stayed away from posting stories about Sting, who appeared before the TCA the other day. After all, even though he is doing a PBS show next month, the stories focused on the possibility iof a 30th reunion tour of The Police. So they didn’t focus on TV. But Aaron Barnhart manages to talk about TV -- and let us listen to Sting on the lute – in his podcast today. It is a great listen. Unless you hate Sting.
Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Sting, sing a song,
make it simple and don't be so #&@$!! pretentious
By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” January 17, 2007

There are 150 TV critics at press tour and, as the cliché goes, 150 different opinions.

PBS brought the popular recording artist Sting and the concert lute player Edin Karamazov to Pasadena for a live preview of "Songs from the Labyrinth," a song cycle by the 16th-17th century poet and troubador John Dowland. that Sting has turned into a hit classical CD. He'll be appearing on PBS's "Great Performances" later this year.

Listen in as I debate three of my colleagues on the merits of listening to Sting on the lute. It's an entertaining give-and-take.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/files/TVBP7.mp3

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

fredfa

01-17-07, 11:35 AM

The Business of Television
The High Cost of HDTV
Study: Cable Operators to Spend $80 Billion Worldwide through 2012 to Expand Network Bandwidth
(ABI Research news release)

The accelerating adoption of high-definition television, multiplayer gaming, and other data-intensive services is leading to a "bandwidth crunch" that will require cable operators to upgrade the capacity of their digital networks. A number of solutions are available; according to a new study from ABI Research, the total revenue from this market is expected to exceed $24 billion in 2012 and will amount to $80 billion in total investment from 2007 through 2012.

"The looming bandwidth crunch, which is more pronounced in the United States than elsewhere due to its deeper penetration of digital cable, will present different problems to different operators, and each will need to find its own bandwidth upgrade formula," says principal broadband analyst Michael Arden. The severity of the crunch will depend on factors such as the speed with which HDTV is adopted in particular markets, and the extent to which cable operators add extra HDTV channels.

As usual, the available technology solutions are ranked along on a "you get what you pay for" range: some approaches, such as rate shaping and switched digital video are relatively inexpensive but don't deliver very much in the way of increased capacity, while others, such as a fiber-to-the-home PON overlay, are what Arden terms "outrageously expensive," but can provide all the bandwidth most operators will ever need.

"When designing an upgrade strategy," he adds, "operators should consider how much competition they face in their markets. Where there is significant IPTV competition, the need to grow capacity is more urgent because IPTV automatically comes with greater bandwidth capabilities. Markets with high sales of HDTV sets and substantial numbers of digital cable subscribers may also justify a greater investment in capacity upgrades."

In practice, says the study, network upgrades will naturally start in the major urban centers and gradually spread to less densely-populated regions.

"Assessing CATV Bandwidth-Expansion Solutions" examines a number of these technologies, including rate shaping, expansion of CATV spectrum, node splitting, switched digital video, PON overlay, home-gateway bandwidth management, and MPEG-4 deployment, and provides potential and actual market assessments and cost-benefit analysis for each. It forms part of two ABI Research Services, Broadband Networks and Multi-Channel Video.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations supporting annual research programs, intelligence services and market reports in broadband and multimedia, RFID & contactless, M2M, wireless connectivity, mobile wireless, transportation, and emerging technologies. For information visit www.abiresearch.com.

http://www.abiresearch.com/media.jsp?page=1&perpage=20

fredfa

01-17-07, 11:50 AM

Last night did produce massive ratings numbers for "American Idol".

But CBS scored well with NCIS, too.

To read more details, yesterday’s fast national over night prime-time ratings have been posted just under the HD Football listings near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

bphisig

01-17-07, 12:07 PM

41.84 million for Idol's last half hour??? Looks like it hasn't slowed down at all.

Fox has been EXTREMELY smart to keep run the show only once a year. Twice a year would be overkill.

fredfa

01-17-07, 12:13 PM

keenan

01-17-07, 12:15 PM

Obituary
Benny Parsons, 65
Lost battle with lung cancer

I'll miss him. Starting watching NASCAR a few years ago(kick in the pants in HD and DD 5.1 :) ) and enjoyed his commentary in the booth. RIP.

HDTVChallenged

01-17-07, 12:20 PM

41.84 million for Idol's last half hour??? Looks like it hasn't slowed down at all..

FOX was on the air last night? ... Silly me ... clearing off some of my TiVo backlogs. :p

bphisig

01-17-07, 12:23 PM

Agreed, bphisig.

It seems hard to remember that then-Fox chief Gail Berman was worried before last season that "AI" would begin to slip.

Personally, I think that rather than just give in to the "Idol" dominance, the other nets should go after it aggressively. Short term it might cost them, but somehow slowing "AI" down would help them immensely.

If they can, of course. It might just be impossible at the moment.
It would be pretty tough to slow down. It's rare enough that it is actually improving from season to season. It's defying logic at this point.

Pretty hard to do, especially for a reality show. Idol even dominated during the Olympics last year, which is normally a decent draw.

fredfa

01-17-07, 12:30 PM

Actually, the Fox scheduling is pretty brilliant, and you probably are right bphisig.

AI's debut comes following a month when most shows have been in re-runs, so viewers are used to missing their favorites, anyhow.

fredfa

01-17-07, 12:34 PM

I'll miss him. Starting watching NASCAR a few years ago(kick in the pants in HD and DD 5.1 :) ) and enjoyed his commentary in the booth. RIP.

As DW said, he was a great, great person.

Benny was funny, warm, friendly and always willing to take whatever time was necessary to help people new to NASCAR understand the entire scene.

It would be great if his gentle, helpful spirit could somehow spread to the internet and perhaps help some of us who so often become impatient with newbies. :)

(And maybe, just maybe, a few folks are quitting smoking in his memory.)

fredfa

01-17-07, 12:37 PM

TV Notebook
Full-Season Pickups Slated for NBC
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 1/17/2007

NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced full-season pickups for next season for rookie hit Heroes, as well as veterans My Name is Earl, The Office and Law & Order: SVU.

Reilly also announced the network will bring back seven episodes of Identity, the Penn Jillette-hosted game show it stunted for a week in December. He said the show will probably debut in March.

NBC also is working on five episodes of Thank God You’re Here, an improv comedy show hosted by David Alan Grier and featuring Dave Foley.

An Australian format, the show features comedians thrown into improve situations. Reilly said the show is most likely slated for the spring.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6407954

fredfa

01-17-07, 12:46 PM

(Actually, the L&O: SVU pickup was leaked some time ago, but this makes it official, I guess.)

fredfa

01-17-07, 12:51 PM

Nielsen Notebook
Fox's Idol Nets Record 37 Mil. Viewers
Up 4% from last year
By John Consoli MediaWeek January 17, 2007

Fox’s American Idol premiered its new season last night with record viewership and 18-49 ratings for its season’s first episode. The show drew 37 million viewers from 8-10 p.m., up 4 percent from the 35.5 million it recorded last year, and drew a 15.7 18-49 rating, up 2 percent from last season’s premiere 18-49 rating of 15.3, according to Nielsen Media Research overnight affiliate ratings.

Idol drew more viewers every half hour, beginning with 31 million at 8, growing to 37 million at 8:30, to 39.7 million at 9 and peaking with 41.4 million at 9:30 p.m.

While Idol dominated the 8-10 p.m. time period, a first-run episode of CBS’ drama NCIS from 8-9 p.m. drew a solid 15.9 million viewers and a 3.8 18-49 rating to finish second in the time period.

CBS also finished second from 9-10 p.m. with an original episode of drama, The Unit, drawing 11.9 million viewers and an 18-49 rating of 3.1.

NBC finished third in both the 8 and 9 p.m. Time periods with Dateline drawing 6.9 million viewers at 8 and a repeat Law & Order episodes bringing in 7.7 million viewers at 9. NBC did win the 10 p.m. time period with an original episode of Law & Order: SVU, which drew 14.1 million viewers and a 4.7 18-49 rating.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003533738

fredfa

01-17-07, 12:56 PM

It is interesting that all networks but Fox and CBS lost viewers at 8:30.

AI added almost 7 million in the 8:30 half hour, but NCIS added 1.17 million, too. Obviously the show skews older, but still it was pretty impressive for Mark Harmon and the NCIS crew.

And, based on the most recent Nielsens, NCIS would have placed sixth. Take out three football games, and it would have been third of all entertainment shows the week of Jan 1-7.

For a nice little show which gets almost no publicity or critical acclaim, that is almost amazing.

fredfa

01-17-07, 01:12 PM

The TV Column
A Golden Day-After With 'Betty'
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff WriterWednesday, January 17, 2007; C01

PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 16--On a very chilly morning after the Golden Globes were handed out, a pack of intrepid Reporters Who Cover Television lit out in a tour bus for the "Ugly Betty" set in Hollywood, to catch exclusive "We're thrilled to win the Globe" quotes from America Ferrera, executive producer Silvio Horta and anyone else they could run down.

Cast members were tastefully sprinkled around the Mode magazine set in director's chairs, wrapped in blankets, cashmere shawls and down coats.

"There's no heat," one producer said dourly. "This is California. . . . We have air conditioning, but no heat."

The reporters pounced on Ferrera, asking whether her win as best sitcom actress meant she "felt more a member of the club" than before, "How much sleep did you get last night?" and "When did you realize how much this show means to people?"

Ferrera told them she'd had her picture taken after the trophy ceremony with Steven Spielberg and it was just like being at Magic Mountain having her picture taken with a cardboard cutout celebrity figure.

The press demanded to know whether Salma Hayek had assured her ahead of time she was going to win.

"She's like my mother -- she had to say that," Ferrera responded, then realizing the hideous gaffe she'd just made, added quickly, "She wouldn't like that I said 'mother' -- she was like my sister!"

From Horta they learned the show's Globe win for best comedy series did not guarantee an automatic second-season pickup.

Little Mark Indelicato, who plays Betty's Mode-obsessed nephew Justin Suarez, assured reporters, "I get so much fan mail saying 'thank you!' " from young fans who say they are just like his character and equally misunderstood. One reporter asked if his character was gay.

"It hasn't been stated whether Justin is gay; it hasn't been stated whether Justin is straight," Indelicato said nervously. He added: "It has nothing to do with me."

Exec producer Hayek and co-star Vanessa Williams were nowhere in sight. But the show's very nice set designer, Mark Worthington, took reporters on a tour, explaining that Mode's Jetsons-meets-"2001" look was a result of a line in the pilot script that referred to the magazine's "iPod-esque lobby."

To find the Mode office in which to shoot the pilot, the producers scoured New York, assuming it would have cutting-edge office interiors, only to discover "New York is very conservative" when it comes to office design, said Worthington, who also did the set design on the "Lost" pilot and was art director on "Wag the Dog" and "Legally Blonde 2."

Thankfully, they found the lobby in the empty office of an out-of-business ad agency in the Woolworth Building, which has been re-created and expanded upon for the Hollywood set.

"Why so much orange?" one reporter wanted to know.

And then, much too soon, it was time to get back on the bus to go collect color over at "Studio 60," which did not win a single Golden Globe. But before reporters could leave, we spotted Williams standing outside one of the trailers lined up nearby. She turned and stepped back into hers and closed the door. Brrrrrr!

• • • • • • • • • • •

It was just one damned thing after another at the Golden Globes for NBC, which broadcast the trophy show Monday night.

On the one hand, the network's strategy to move the Globes off of Sunday, where it was getting stomped by "Grey's Anatomy," and over to Martin Luther King Monday, was a complete success. The show clocked 20 million viewers -- the Globes' biggest audience in three years and NBC's biggest non-Olympics Monday haul in seven. Yippee.

The show, in which film and TV trophies are awarded by a smallish group of people (led by Mr. Deer Caught in Headlights, featured in the broadcast) who cover the entertainment industry for overseas publications, mowed down all its Monday night competitors. Yes, that meant even the second night of the new season of Fox hit "24."

On the other hand, what those 20 million people saw was ABC cleaning up in the TV series competitions, including its "Ugly Betty" wins and "Grey's Anatomy" being named best drama. Bummer for NBC.

Still on that other hand, TV series trophies not snagged by ABC were scooped up by other, non-NBC networks: best drama series actor, Fox's "House" star Hugh Laurie; best drama series actress, TNT's "Closer" star Kyra Sedgwick.

(All the TV movie and miniseries races were soaked up by HBO and BBC America, but NBC's been out of that business for a while.)

Back to the happy hand: Alec Baldwin saved NBC from a total shutout. He was named best sitcom actor for his work on the network's freshman series "30 Rock," in which he plays a self-absorbed network chief. Oh wait, that's redundant.

But then that trophy's presenter, Tim Allen, called Baldwin's series "Third Rock" instead of "30 Rock." "3rd Rock From the Sun" is the name of a long-dead sitcom from NBC's heyday, when the network was in first -- not fourth -- place in the ratings. Ouch!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011601766_pf.html

fredfa

01-17-07, 01:18 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Day Nine -NBC
By Robert Philpot Fort Worth Star-Telegram in the Yelling Fire in a Crowded Theater blog January 17, 2007

Good morning from Pasadena, where the Television Critics Association press tour returns to normal after an insane Tuesday featuring visits to four sets, each in a different city and at least one in a different county. OK, apparently Valencia is in Los Angeles County, it just seems like it's on another planet.

Anyway, here's the highlights from the upcoming NBC day. During the built-in writing breaks, I'll try to post stuff from Tuesday's set visits, although you can read my story about Ugly Betty's Michael Urie, who grew up in Plano, elsewhere on the Web site.

That plug over, here's some NBC things:

--The Apprentice, with the always demure, reticent and timid Donald Trump. I suppose I should add that I'm just kidding, or he'll yell at me and maybe even fire off a memo to Barbara Walters.

--Executive session with NBC Entertainment honcho Kevin Reilly, who will field questions about a plan he floated to open each night of prime time with a reality show, as if those are cheaply produced programs that score big ratings or something. Bet he doesn't mess with Thursdays, though.

--A Today session in which Meredith Vieira once again says how great her timing was at leaving The View.

--Sessions for Heroes and for upcoming shows featuring Jeff Goldblum and Andy Richter, the latter of which will feature Richter and Conan O'Brien together again _ on the panel.

The life of Reilly

The executive session with Kevin Reilly, is under way. We're starting with the pompoous commercial about NBC's award-nominated/winning shows that aired during the Golden Globes. Somehow, they always leave out Deal or No Deal.

Reilly just announced that he's given full-season orders for next season for My Name is Earl, Heroes, The Office and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Now he's talking about how well game shows, including Identity (likely to return in the spring), are doing for the network.

And a show called Thank God You're Here, an improv comedy show that sounds not terribly unlike Whose Line is It Anyway?, will debut in the spring, with David Alan Grier as host and Dave Foley as a judge.

A rare soap-opera question

I don't pay as much attention to daytime as I should, but it sounds to me like Passions might be ending its on-air run in August, although Reilly is talking about keeping it alive somehow, either on a cable network or online (say, with an online episode of Passions a week). I often have Passions muted on my office TV, and even without sound, it's a trip. Hope he finds a way to save it.

We've quickly segued to the Donald Trump question, to which Reilly is giving an unexciting, rote answer about what a good business partner the Donald has been. One thing about Trump: He doesn't give rote answers.

Speaking of Donald Trump

This just in from www.eonline.com:

In a conversation with E! NEWS' Ryan Seacrest, Donald Trump explains when the feud with Rosie and Barbara will end. "It's (the feud) going to stop when the media quit asking when it will stop," he said.

When asked about Barbara Walters' involvement, Trump went on to say, "I think I brought out the worst in both of them. Barbara looked like a fool when she read her quote off the cue card that Rosie wrote for her." "She (Walters) comes off looking like a puppet and Rosie is pulling her strings…I predict the whole thing (The View) will crash and burn…and their ratings are up only because of me," he said.

"I think this is a terrible way for Barbara to finish off her career and I think she will go out like Dan Rather went out," Trump said.

http://blogs.dfw.com/yelling_fire/

fredfa

01-17-07, 01:27 PM

Who is Ken Levine, you might ask? Well, he is -- in his own words: “an Emmy winning writer/director/producer/major league baseball announcer. In a career that has spanned over 30 years Ken has worked on MASH, CHEERS, FRASIER, THE SIMPSONS, WINGS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, BECKER, DHARMA & GREG, and has co-created his own series including ALMOST PERFECT starring Nancy Travis. He and his partner wrote the feature VOLUNTEERS. Ken has also been the radio/TV play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres.”
And he is really, really funny.
Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
The TCA Convention (An Alternative View)
By Ken Levine in his my blogspot January 17, 2007

For the most part I’ve gotten along with TV critics. Okay, Tom Shales once blamed me personally for the downfall of television but he may have been right. Plus, in my capacity as blog wise-ass, I’ve done my own share of TV critiquing. So I have empathy for them. When some stink burger crosses my screen I can turn it off. They have to watch it…along with four additional episodes that are even worse. Hell, just the TEN COMMANDMENTS mini-series would kill me.

Currently the nation’s TV critics have gathered in Pasadena for the bi-annual spin fest called the TCA Convention. Here networks, show runners, and stars ply them with shrimp and Bloody Marys hoping to get good reviews and favorable press. On the surface it sounds like a good deal. Free trip to LA, comped room at the Ritz-Carlton. But then you realize what’s expected of them. Sitting in a conference room eight hours a day for two weeks hearing one dog and pony show after another. Imagine being trapped in a room while the producer of WHO’S YOUR DADDY talked for an hour about how groundbreaking and important to society his show was. If networks gave out ice picks as swag you’d jam it in your skull.

On the other hand, this TCA dance is no fun for producers either. Three times I have had the pleasure of sitting on stage touting my shows. I looked out at a room of 100 bored restless people who dared me to say anything they hadn’t heard fifteen times already… that day.

For one of our sessions we followed a producer who insulted all of the critics, made fun of one member’s accent, and listed every euphemism for vagina he could think of. By the time we got up to speak there was almost a mutiny.

Another time we confronted them after our studio’s crack PR department gave them swag so cheap and insulting that we became the laughing stock of the convention. We got questions like, “Will your show be in color?”

Only once did we have a good session, and that’s thanks to actor, Kevin Kilner. It was the first year of ALMOST PERFECT. Along with fellow co-creators David Isaacs and Robin Schiff, the show’s stars, Nancy Travis and Kevin Kilner joined us on the panel. For the first half hour it was the usual -- they asked rote questions and typed our rote answers even before we gave them. Finally, one reporter asked Kevin Kilner what his background was. He said that before he became an actor he was an accountant for a chicken farm. And then he said, “Do any of you guys know how they slaughter chickens?” I thought, “Oh Christ, we’re so dead.” But the critics all woke up. Suddenly a topic they hadn’t heard. So Kevin described in graphic neck-snapping detail how chickens are killed and for the next fifteen minutes we held them in rapt attention. And ALMOST PERFECT got the best reviews in our career.

So the lesson here is if you’re a producer scheduled to meet the press later this week, talk about anything other than your show. I think the topic of what goes into hotdogs is still open.

And if you’re one of the critics, the conference room now has Wifi. Go to pogo.com. There are hundreds of free online games.

And we’ll see you again in July and do it all over again. With fifty great NEW shows, much better than the 50 great new shows that are premiering now.

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2007/01/tca-convention.html

fredfa

01-17-07, 01:40 PM

TV Notebook
“24” and Its Sixth Season
EP Howard Gordon Discusses t the Show
By Chuck Ross Television Weekly

Chuck Ross: Hello again everybody. It's time for our weekly conversation with the folks at "24," starring of course Howard Gordon, the executive producer and showrunner. We're into season six, or day six as we fans like to call it, and we've just had the first four hours. I've got to tell you Howard, you've really outdone yourself. I think there was more there than even some seasons. The whole thing is almost numbing. I want to get right to it. You've gotten a lot of comments from last season with both Edgar and Tony having met their demise. And all I've been hearing about since last evening was of course what happened with Curtis Manning, played by Roger Cross. He got shot, and a lot of folks are very upset.
Howard Gordon: Well I'll tell them that we're going to stem the flow, for awhile anyway. Part of it was really, we look at the story from Jack Bauer's point of view and Jack kind of had to do something that was so awful to him that he had to turn his back on the last four episodes and on the idea of returning the service. And having to kill Curtis to preserve Assad with something, that came really came to mind and I think Roger played it brilliantly.

Mr. Ross: Are you concerned that you've gotten a lot of fan reaction that hasn't been the most positive?
Howard Gordon: Maybe I was sticking my head in the sand, I don't know. I knew people were pissed off, but I know people were pissed off when the same thing happened to Edgar. And again that was one of those things in hindsight I think was understandable and I hope this is similar. Yeah, I'm always concerned and again by making these big, broad reaches you certainly risk pushing people away. But to me I feel like they're sort of necessary moves. They're big.

Chuck Ross: And of course the one-two punch, I think viewers barely got a chance to digest what happened to Curtis when all of a sudden the nuke went off. Which I think was again pretty much of a shocker. And someone told me, and please tell me if this is true, that either you guys or the folks at Fox felt compelled after it was filmed to run it by Homeland Security.
Howard Gordon: You know, I heard some kind of rumor, but I don't know anything about it. I actually heard, and again this is second-hand, that somebody in the Bush administration felt it was irresponsible. I don't know if that's true, but somebody said it was on ABC News or something like that.

Chuck Ross: Interesting. Well what I've heard is that some folks at Fox had actually run it by Homeland Security and they said don't worry about it.
Howard Gordon: Oh, well I'm not aware of it, so maybe.

Chuck Ross: Well let's talk about some of the other things. There's a lot of things in four hours. A couple of real interesting relationships started to develop. Obviously one of the things that happened, I think we saw little sparks least season between Karen Hayes and Bill Buchanan, the actors being James Morrison and Jane Atkinson, and I guess they've actually decided to get a little more serious…
Howard Gordon: And then as always, since nothing's easy on "24," they had to get married and she had to take a job in Washington with the new president, just to make things a little more difficult. You know, they had a great chemistry last year and we just wanted to explore that.

Chuck Ross: Well, as a fan, I think that I'm looking forward to seeing how that develops. And some interesting things with Chloe, we have Carlo Rota and maybe you can talk a little bit about that relationship.
Howard Gordon: It's funny, I had this conversation with a journalist today and it was somebody who sort of missed the old, idiosyncratic, twitchy Chloe, and part of my thing is we've seen Chloe really mature. I think this is really Chloe's trajectory for becoming a woman and growing up. I think just to sort of keep Chloe static and just make her this idiosyncratic person, I think would start getting tiresome and she'd sort of wear out her welcome. I think here we're seeing an evolution of Chloe becoming an adult.

Chuck Ross: Another one of the things that "24" has done historically, so so well, and again I think fairly well this season, is with the villains. And I think it started off with Amad Amar, and I think that was handled really really well. And you guys must love the twist where the folks come to his defense in the neighborhood and then of course he does indeed turn out to be a terrorist.
Howard Gordon: Yeah, it's pretty standard operating procedure for "24" to twist everything around that way, but I will say that one of the things that was of concern to us and one thing that we really want to be careful about is we don't want to stoke any flames of xenophobia or anything. So I think a lot of times the people you think are good are bad and the people you think are bad are good, and it's more of a tangle, more of a mess. There seems to be no good answer or no good response to what's happening.

Chuck Ross: Again, I think another wonderful job with the Assad character played by Alexander Siddig.
Howard Gordon: Well initially we had been talking to Alfred Molina … and he was in. And then he got a miniseries …

Chuck Ross: And where did you find Alexander?
Howard Gordon: He did a part in "Syriana" where he played some Arab royalty, and he was just terrific. And I'm a "Star Trek" fan; he was in "Star Trek" as well. And he's just a terrific actor. He's actually a good friend of Joseph Hodges as well, our production designer, and he really recommended him.

Chuck Ross: And a couple of other additions to the cast I think are wonderful; I'm a huge Peter MacNicol fan. I've been a fan of his for years and years and I understand he came in at sort of the last moment there. He's done a wonderful job.
Howard Gordon: Oh he's wonderful. He's a real "24" actor. He's thoughtful, things are going on behind his eyes and you're not quite sure what that is.

Chuck Ross: I think we're all enjoying seeing DB play the president. That really gives him a chance to expand and a real chance to see how he does versus Dennis, who of course played his brother, and those pressures that are upon his as president as well. And also I like to addition of Regina King playing his sister.
Howard Gordon: Yes. She is again a challenging part because you don't want to make her this shrill irritant to his already complex day and I think Regina handled it very warmly and I think very convincingly.

Chuck Ross: And Harry Lennix. If you could talk a little about him joining the cast. I think he's another good addition.
Howard Gordon: Yeah well once again, trying to twist things as much as we can. The idea that the president's sister is going out with a guy who's a Muslim and who is head of an advocacy group felt like an interesting complication. And once again -- just an opportunity to explore some of the issues that we're exploring in real life. At what point do we sacrifice security for the things we hold dear: due process, the Constitution, and put her and him in the middle of it.
Chuck Ross: I certainly like how you've done, at least in the first four hours, the development of Jack and obviously what he's been through in China and his self-doubts. I thought that was one of the, if not the, strongest part of the whole character part of the script over the last four hours.
Howard Gordon: Yeah, Fox has done such a spectacular job of it and I think Kiefer … I think he was particularly fantastic last night. He communicated so much again with so little. It really was a very visual, very internal thing.

Chuck Ross: Let me ask you a logistics question. You wrote the first episode and then Matty wrote the second one, and I actually I guess there were five of you that wrote all four episodes. It's so intricate. How does that happen, where we're able to watch that and it's so seamless, but it's done by all different folks writing those.
Howard Gordon: Well the first four always tend to take twice as long as every other four episodes that we ever do. We work very closely together and rework them and obviously I have to write the first one. I try to get a jump on it and try to get the first one down so that we can go from there. So that becomes a cornerstone. But we're all working closely together.

Chuck Ross: And when you wrote that first one, did you know what was going to happen in, let's say, the end of hour four?
Howard Gordon: Yes I did. We knew the first four by the time I went off, at least in broad strokes.
http://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=507

fredfa

01-17-07, 01:47 PM

37.3 mil tune in for 'Idol' premiere
EP Howard Gordon Discusses t the Show
By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter January 17, 2007

NEW YORK -- "American Idol" showed no signs of faltering in its sixth-season premiere, with Tuesday's two-hour episode its second highest-rated telecast ever.

"Idol" averaged a monster 37.3 million viewers and a 15.7 rating/36 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research.

That was up 5% in viewers and 3% in adults 18-49 compared to last year's premiere, which in itself was no slouch (35.5 million, 15.3/34). But even more stunning it was the second-best telecast for "American Idol" since it debuted in the summer of 2002. The top ratings performer was the May 21, 2003, telecast between Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard that averaged 38.1 million viewers and a 16.8/37.

It wasn't immediately clear but it could have been the biggest premiere in the 20-year history of Fox Broadcasting.

On Tuesday night, "Idol" started strong with 31.1 million viewers and never looked back. It jumped to 37.1 million at 8:30 p.m., 39.7 million at 9 p.m. and then 41.5 million by 9:30 p.m. It topped out at an 18.0/40 -- 40% of the U.S. homes using television were tuned to Idol then -- which was the best ratings for a telecast so far this season and likely runner-up to only next month's Super Bowl.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i998a7d853a8bb6b64c29a976abc35bec

VisionOn

01-17-07, 01:49 PM

Hey dad1153: Nice use of a serif font for the headlines. Much easier to read.

but the green isn't. If you're using the white skin for the forum (like I am) it gives you retinal scarring and the weight of the orange serif font makes it hard to see.

fredfa

01-17-07, 01:49 PM

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
American Idol' debut pulls 37.3 million
Almost 2 million more viewers than last year
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine Jan 17, 2007

After a record-setting season last year, “American Idol” looks poised to deliver even better ratings this year. Last night’s season premiere was not just the most-watched program of the 2006-’07 season by nearly 10 million viewers, it also was the second-most-watched edition of “Idol” ever.

“Idol’s” sixth-season premiere drew 37.3 million total viewers last night on Fox, according to Nielsen overnights. That’s just 700,000 shy of the series-record 38 million who watched the season two finale nearly four years ago, and it’s almost 2 million more than last year’s then-record debut drew.

It’s the most-watched premiere ever for the show, and it also pulled record ratings among adults 18-49. Last night’s two-hour premiere, which began at 8 p.m., averaged a 15.7 adults 18-49 rating, up 3 percent over last year’s 15.2 fast national rating.

The show peaked with 41.5 million total viewers at 9:30 p.m., its final half hour. It also hit an astonishing 18.0 among 18-49s in that half hour.

No show this season has put up numbers even close to “Idol’s.” The previous most-watched show was the season finale of “Dancing with the Stars,” which drew 27.5 million in November.

It was also well ahead of the previous best among 18-49s, an 11.0 for the premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy” in September.

Certainly the show received a huge amount of pre-premiere buzz that helped build ratings. It also didn’t hurt that Fox advertised it on the highly rated NFL playoff games over the past few weeks.

Another thing that may have helped was internet speculation over judge Paula Abdul’s recent bizarre behavior in an interview to hype the show, which is a big hit on YouTube. Abdul blamed the incident on an audio problem.

“Idol’s” huge night led Fox to an easy first-place finish for the night among 18-49s with a 15.7 average rating and a 36 share. CBS was second at 3.2/8, NBC third at 2.9/7, ABC fourth at 2.1/5, Univision fifth at 1.8/4 and CW sixth at 0.6/1.

Fox comfortably took each of its two hours last night, starting with a 14.1 rating at 8 p.m. for the first hour of the “Idol” premiere. CBS was second that hour with a 3.8 for “NCIS,” Univision third with a 2.4 for “La Fea Mas Bella” and NBC fourth with a 1.9 for “Dateline.” ABC ended up fifth that hour with a 1.7 for the first 60 minutes of a two-hour “America’s Funniest Home Videos” special and CW sixth with a 0.8 for a repeat of “Gilmore Girls.”

At 9 p.m. Fox dominated yet again, this time with a 17.4 rating for the second hour of “Idol.” CBS was a distant second with a 3.1 for “The Unit,” with NBC third with a 2.0 for a “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” repeat and Univision and ABC tied for fourth at 1.8, Univision for “Mundo de Fieras” and ABC for its second hour of “AFHV.” CW finished sixth with a 0.5 for a repeat of “Veronica Mars.”

With Fox done at 10 p.m. NBC led with a 4.7 for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” ABC was second with a 2.8 for “Boston Legal,” CBS third with a 2.6 for “48 Hours Mystery” and Univision fourth with a 1.3 for “Ver para Creer.”

Fox easily finished first for the night among households as well, averaging a 20.3 rating and a 30 share. CBS was second for the night at 7.8/12, NBC third at 6.5/10, ABC fourth at 4.6/7, Univision fifth at 2.3/4 and CW sixth at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9573.asp

keenan

01-17-07, 02:10 PM

dad1153

01-17-07, 02:14 PM

Hey dad1153: Nice use of a serif font for the headlines. Much easier to read.

I'm off the thread as a contributor from now on, so enjoy those while you can. If Fredfa ever needs a sub I might step in and help, but I'm back to being a civilian reader (where I've always belonged anyways). Thanks for the complement! :(

fredfa

01-17-07, 03:35 PM

Fred, I noticed some pickups for NBC shows have been mentioned in previous articles posted here. I confess that although I wish I could read everything posted here, I simple don't have the time and the volume of info can be overwhelming.

Question, has NBC announced a pickup for FNL, or is it March when those announcements are generally made?

Renewals and pickups are updated constantly and are listed here, Jim:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4265637&&#post4265637

FNL has picked up FNL for the remainder of this season. It has not been renewe for 2007-08.

Today's NBC annoucements were for NEXT season.

keenan

01-17-07, 03:38 PM

Today's NBC annoucements were for NEXT season.
That's what I meant, for next season, but I see there is no notice yet though, thanks. :)

fredfa

01-17-07, 03:39 PM

Trust me, if FNL gets renewed from next season, (and, sadly, I can't imagine that happening) you will not miss it in this thread :)

steverobertson

01-17-07, 03:52 PM

Trust me, if FNL gets renewed from next season, (and, sadly, I can't imagine that happening) you will not miss it in this thread :)

So you think it is a gonna?

fredfa

01-17-07, 03:55 PM

Martin: FCC Needs To Move on Cable Caps
EP Howard Gordon Discusses t the Show
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 1/17/2007

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Wednesday that the FCC needed to move on its year-long review of cable ownership caps.

NOTE: Cable caps refer to two separate FCC wishes. As I recall one would limit a cable company to no more than 30% of the nation’s TV households. The other provides a cable company must provide at least 60% of its channel capacity to programmers to which it has no affiliation. Those rules – and precise numbers keep moving -- have been embattled by court action for most of this decade, and the FCC is trying to come up with new ones which will stand up to a federal court challenge.)

In a meeting with reporters after the FCC's annual review of the previous year, Martin pointed out that the proceeding was opened in 1999, and said he had told his colleagues on the commission that it should either proceed to conclusion on the item as a stand-alone or, if the issues were similar enough, roll it into the ongoing media ownership proceeding.

Martin had not timetable for when the ownership proceeding would be completed, pointing out that the FCC had held just 2 of six planned field hearings and still had 10 studies to deal with, though he said that he was looking to hold the next hearing in February, if possible, and that the studies should be completed this spring.

Martin said he was fine with either dealing with cable as a stand-alone or rolled into the larger proceeding, but that it was time to do something on cable ownership.

When asked why the FCC didn't have a Y2K-like plan in case the DTV transition hits a snag and viewers could lose service after the hard date of Feb. 17, 2009, Martin said he thought the FCC had taken steps.

The question was in response to the comments of National Telecommunications & Information Administration head John Kneuer, as reported by Multichannel News' Ted Hearn, that the administration had no "plan b."

Martin countered that the commission had been active, including requesting more funding from Congress for a consumer outreach plan. He also said the FCC was implementing policies "that would minimize the potential burden on consumers."

He cited his push for multicast must-carry, though not directly, saying "trying to make sure that all free, over-the-air broadcasting should be carried by the other platforms is one one of the ways we make sure to ease that transition to digital broadcasting."

A reporter said the city of Tampa had complained to the commission about its characterization in the December meeting approving changes to video franchising rules. Relying on filings to the commission on the proposed changes, Martin had said during the meeting that the city had made videotaping math tutorials one of the conditions of a cable franchise there, while the city said that was not true.

Martin said he would check into it, but was unclear on how extensively the FCC had vetted the information before using it to back its franchise changes. Those changes, which mirrored some moves in a failed video franchise bill in Congress, were the fruits of an inquiry into whether the local franchising process was impeding the roll-out of multichannel video competition to cable, whose rates Martin has said have soared since the 1996 act.

Martin is speaking to the Association of National Advertisers in New York Thursday, but said he planned no specific recommendations for changes to the ad industry.

Asked whether the FCC was close to a deal with radio station owners over the issue of payola--several groups were named in consent decrees between record companies and the state of New York--Martin said that the commissioners were still in discussions about what steps to take, and that Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Deborah Taylor Tate had been actively soliciting input on the issue.

On the possibility of satellite mergers, radio or TV, Martin said that FCC rules already prohibit XM and Sirius' satellite licenses to be held by the same company, and that the commission said, when DirecTV was bought by New Corp., that the combination of DirecTV and Echostar would not be in the public interest.

Asked to respond to the comment by National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Kyle McSlarrow that the FCC was in a "time warp" when it came to cable issues, Martin said that the commission takes each issue on its own merits.

The FCC has recently denied a cable industry request for more time to institute a computer-based system for digital cable boxes, has hammered the industry on pricing, and has pushed for an à la carte regime cable opposes. Martin pointed to the lack of network neutrality conditions on the Adelphia merger as one example of where the FCC and the cable industry were thinking in tandem.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6408028.html?display=Breaking+News

fredfa

01-17-07, 04:05 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
Aaron Sorkin To the Los Angeles Times:
Bite Me! (or words to that effect)
By Barry Garron The Hollywood Reporter in the Past Deadline blog January 17, 2007

Aaron Sorkin, exec producer of NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," has a beef with the Los Angeles Times as big as a herd of Texas longhorns.

He didn't bring it up when TV critics gathered for the semiannual press tour surrounded him during a trip to the "Studio 60" set on Tuesday, but he didn't hold back, either, when one critic asked him about a Times story that ran Christmas Day by Deborah Netburn. The story said "many comedic writers appear to hate Sorkin's 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.'"

"I'm taking a moment to think whether I should answer that question honestly or diplomatically," Sorkin said. "Honestly," the critics shouted. "It's the best policy," said one. So Sorkin let loose.

"You get a lot of negative press when you do a show," he said. "It's the cost of doing business. It's not fun but you get used to it. The piece in the Los Angeles Times was different. First of all, it was the third piece the Los Angeles Times did in four months about how people on the internet don't like 'Studio 60.'...As if there aren't people on the internet who do like 'Studio 60' and as if there are people who don't like other shows.

"But that wasn't the most aggravating part of the story. The most aggravating part of the story was that the comedy writers which she was referring to, first of all, her headline was 'Writers Don't Like Studio 60.' She was smart to ignore the fact that the show had been nominated a week earlier for two Writers Guild Awards. That would have undercut her thesis."

Next, Sorkin lit into the comedy writers mentioned in the story. Based on the headline, he expected to be attacked by the likes of Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey or Seth Meyers, "real comedy writers." Instead, he said, those that attacked him were unemployed and disgruntled. "It's not at all difficult to go on the internet and find the opinions of disgruntled people."

(For the record, the headline on the Times piece, not written by the writer, was "Comedy Writers Aren't Laughing About '60.'" The subhead, below the headline, said, "Some in the biz openly disdain the series set at a late-night sketch show.")

"So that L.A. Times piece was a piece of nonsense," Sorkin concluded. "There have been negative pieces written about the show which, like I said, I did not want to read but I get it...I don't necessarily agree with them but it seems to me that it's a well-considered piece of journalism. This is not that. The L.A. Times should be ashamed of themselves. That an Arts section in a paper in a town like Los Angeles should run with a piece like that, that was just God-awful."

"Studio 60" returns to the air Monday with seven consecutive new episodes. Lovers of good drama can only hope more people tune in. For his part, Sorkin says he is optimistic the show will be renewed. "I'm not thinking about the back nine episodes. I'm thinking about the next season," he said.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/

fredfa

01-17-07, 04:08 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
It’s Official:
“Today” Expands to Four Hours in September
(NBC News Release)

NEW YORK -- January 17, 2007 -- On January 14, 1952, "Today" made history when Dave Garroway and the "Today" show made its network debut – the first two-hour morning program of its kind. In September, 2000, the program did it again – and expanded to three hours. And now, in the midst of an unprecedented 11 year run as the number-one morning news program, "Today" will once again make its mark on television history, and expand to four hours. The announcement was made today by NBC News President Steve Capus. The new hour will launch in September, 2007.

"The success of the 'Today' show has been remarkable throughout its history, and the program has never been in a better position than it is right now," said Capus. "This is a tribute to all the dedicated hard work of Matt, Meredith, Al, Ann and the entire behind the scenes team. You can't do this with a program that isn't a powerhouse – and that is exactly what we have at 'Today.'"

In the coming months, NBC News will have more announcements about anchors and correspondents who will be added to "Today" to accommodate the fourth hour.

fredfa

01-17-07, 04:17 PM

Television Critics Winter Tour Notebook
NBC Day: Kevin Reilly, Feeling the Love
By James Hibberd Television Week in the “Critical Eye” blog Wednesday, January 17th, 2007

“Maybe quality isn’t something you define,” intones an NBC clip narrator, sounding almost like a “Saturday Night Live” parody of a fourth-place network’s ad copy. “But you know it when you see it, and, maybe, that’s what matters.”

The defensive-sounding clip opens NBC’s TCA session. But the funny thing is, NBC is currently—in a freakish perfect storm of Nielsen ratings positional jockeying—tied for first place season to date. Though they’re expected to end up in fourth by May, even that story is relatively sunny, since NBC has improved significantly year to year.

On stage, a reinvigorated NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly said NBC’s fall shows have “brought the love back to the network.”

“What I’m really feeling right now in the building is a new confidence,” he says. “It’s actually shockingly, weirdly, becoming fun again. People are saying, ‘What’s that feeling we’re having? Oh, that’s fun.’”

After the panel, however, Reilly could not muster much love for Fox’s Nielsen Death Star, “American Idol,” which open fired with a record-breaking premiere last night.

“We got to see how it weathers over the course of the year,” he says. “Not to be ****** about it, but maybe they’ll have a bad run. Nothing burns that bright forever. Some day it will be uncool to watch ‘American Idol.’

Two Fun/Rude Katie Couric Questions From Critics For Matt Lauer

Q: “How much more do you like Meredith Vieira than Katie and why?”

Lauer: “Um … I like them differently? It’s just a terrible question. It’s a different dynamic. I had 10 great years with Katie having Meredith brings a different perspective, she’s a different person. She didn’t come in and try to be Katie … Katie and I were at a different point, we were at the end of the 10-year relationship, we were at a point where we could completely each other’s sentences.”

Q: “Did Katie make a mistake leaving?”

A: “Katie went off to find a great challenge and she’s finding it rewarding.”

‘Heroes’ Turns Back Reilly’s Doomsday Clock

Sitting with Reilly after his TCA session for an upcoming TV Week “12 to Watch” executive profile, Reilly was circumspect about his former high-profile period of occupational uncertainty.

“It was character building,” he says. “I’m ready to put it behind me. It teaches you how to stay focused on your work. It was weird, the reports would come in these clusters. I’d come in and have 10 journalists on my call sheet that all have triple confirmation that my boxes were being packed. You start to feel bad for the organization, it bums people out. It undermines the organization when you’re trying to build confidence … [but] once you’ve been at DefCon 5, being at DefCon 3 feels pretty comfortable.”

Such talk has, of course, subsided in the wake of NBC’s rising ratings tide (specifically, “Heroes,” “The Office,” “My Name is Earl,” “Deal Or No Deal” and “Sunday Night Football”). Reilly’s NBC contract is up this summer and industry insiders say the ball is back his court. Reilly declined to comment on the contract status, saying only that he’s feeling confident about the company.

One last thing. According to Wikipedia, on the DefCon scale, level 5 is actually the most relaxed state of readiness, and 1 is the never-used “24”-season-premiere nuke-attack imminent level. But, c’mon. Reilly has to run an entire broadcast network, he can’t be expected to know everything.

http://blogs.tvweek.com/?cat=12

fredfa

01-17-07, 04:23 PM

TV Notebook
We're fine with giving spoiler alerts.
Just don't push it, OK?
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Television Critic Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Warning -- there are no spoilers in this story. Then again, there might be.

It used to be that producers (and the networks that aired their shows) were ultraparanoid about critics giving away too much information in reviews. They still are -- but the producers are now joined by a demanding group of television viewers who, aided by TiVo and DVD box sets -- are crying foul over alleged slips of information.

This season, as the first four episodes of "24" were shipped to critics, the producers sent along a letter urging restraint (such a letter is now regularly wrapped around the advanced copies of most series): "Last year, you complied with our request that you not reveal the most explosive plot twists in your reviews and we genuinely appreciated it. As a result, we're pleased again to offer all four of the opening episodes for your review," wrote Howard Gordon, an executive producer.

He put "all four" in bold type so we'd be excited. But did you also notice the threat? "As a result." Through the thin veil you get the point -- mess up this year and you might not get previews next year.

For his part, Gordon added more bold letters and even underlined for emphasis that critics shouldn't give away key points, "specifically the exact nature of how Jack is expected to 'sacrifice' himself, and what happens in the final minutes of the first and fourth hours."

Fair enough. At least two of those points were big twists.

Though what constitutes key points is certainly up for debate, most critics did not reveal the three elements that Gordon asked be kept secret. That said, some critics revealed almost nothing, barely writing about the plot at all, and others trod heavily in their descriptions of other scenes, blithely revealing what are now commonly referred to as "spoilers." The Los Angeles Times was particularly informative about what happens to certain characters.

This week, ABC sent out the next episode of "Lost," which has been off the air for what seems like eight months (and returns Feb. 7), noting in an accompanying press release -- in helpful italics: "We kindly ask that you use your discretion in reviewing this show by not revealing any plot details that contain spoilers."

What, we can't tell everyone that Jack kills Ben on the operating table? (Kidding.)

Of course, this advice from ABC conveniently ignores the fact that "Lost" is so confusing that nearly everything could conceivably be a spoiler. Serialized dramas are a minefield for critics, and some viewers believe that there are myriad clues in "Lost" that will provide answers to the "mythology" now playing out. What those clues are depend on what viewers choose to believe. Either way, the end result is often a barrage of angry e-mail as critics across the country unwittingly step in it, so to speak.

(One reader was annoyed at my "24" review because she had avoided Fox's many previews for the coming season and when I mentioned a plot point already revealed in the promos, she was livid.)

These are dicey times for critics. I'm a believer that a lot of television is terrible, so why take away whatever joy a viewer might get from a surprise twist? I've read reviews from some critics and thought, "Why not just print the script?" But it can be equally annoying when little or nothing is written about the plot.

Now, I've certainly let out a few spoilers by accident. I'll admit to that -- but roughly half of what picky readers say are spoilers do not, in fact, qualify as such. Not everything that happens in an hour is a secret that needs to be kept.

The current danger in reviewing -- of setting off the spoiler alert police -- involves technology and the changing nature of how people watch television.

First there's TiVo -- or any other DVR. (I'd include VCRs here, but most people can't use them effectively enough to tape and store.)

Some people will record a show on Monday, then another on Tuesday, three on Wednesday, etc. -- until they are digitally stacked up, ready to watch. Now, let's say that on Friday I write a column about Show A that televised the previous Monday, but that hasn't yet been watched by Picky Viewer from San Francisco. Perhaps, to tap into this new media thing, I even blogged about Show A on Tuesday. Either way, Picky Viewer in San Francisco reads some spoilers online Tuesday, or in the paper on Friday, and fires off a letter.

Normally, in this TiVo Age, I've been trying to employ a one-week "spoiler alert" policy on shows that people may have recorded but not yet watched (an event I call TiNo). Often, this is not good enough for people. They want spoiler alerts lasting beyond one week. Or they vilify me for not using a spoiler alert (for a show, I should remind you, that has already aired).

Semantics.

I try to do better. I try not to get annoyed about doing my job in a timely fashion.

And while getting dinged for lacking a spoiler alert up to a week after the original airing of Show A is sometimes aggravating, it pales in comparison to getting lectured because Picky Viewer in San Francisco has read a deconstruction of Show A on my blog. You know -- on the Web. Where people smirk at you for not live blogging. Soon is often not soon enough -- but sometimes way too soon for others.

Honestly, I got a few e-mail messages once when I deconstructed "The Sopranos," and the e-mailers read the spoiler-laden recap (all the way through, plus reader comments, it became clear), and demanded that I put up some kind of warning. And here I thought the headline might have been a red flag.

(Hey, even I have shows stacked up like planes over La Guardia on my three TiVos. People ruin plot points for me all the time.)

But where I draw the line is the DVD spoiler. You'd be surprised how often this comes up. Let's say I'm reviewing Season 6 of "24" or Season 3 of "Lost" and trying to adhere to the pleas of producers not to give away twists and surprises. I write the review and then receive five or eight e-mail messages from readers who are using Netflix to plow through the first two or five seasons and they complain that I dared to mention something that happened three seasons ago.

I think it's great that more and more people are buying DVDs or renting them and going on huge marathon benders by the fireplace (and through cold weekends) with lovers and friends. But expecting me to hide secrets revealed two or three years prior? Unacceptable.

And yet, I can also understand. You may have noticed that I adore a little show called "The Wire." Well, while deconstructing Season 4 on my blog recently, a lot of people happily wrote that after years of prodding (from me and their friends who were diehard fans) they went out and rented the previous seasons to catch up (great!) and were then rudely informed by me that a major character was killed off in Season 3 before they got to that episode (sorry!).

See, even now I write "major character" instead of the character's name. I've been scarred. So I give you this kind reminder: Please watch your television in a timely manner.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/17/DDG1ONJ60417.DTL&type=printable