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fredfa

03-17-05, 02:12 AM

Slim Showtime is starving for a breakthrough
By Gary Levin USA TODAY
Showtime hoped Fat Actress would be the hit it needed to shake the image of an also-ran pay-cable network. But fat jokes can wear thin: When the show premiered last week, a modest 924,000 viewers tuned in. This week, the audience for Monday's second episode (10 p.m. ET/PT) plunged to 295,000, though a repeat an hour later drew 405,000.

Fat Actress is the first project to fully bear the imprint of Showtime president Robert Greenblatt. Like other recent efforts — psychiatrist drama Huff, which premiered last November, and the current second season of lesbian-themed The L Word (Sundays 10 p.m. ET/PT) — it came up short in the ratings, one measure of validation for the channel's $12-a-month price tag.

"What I hope is my show can help take comedy to some of the same stratosphere that HBO has," Alley says. Until now, she says, "I thought Showtime was (only) a place where I could see some good movies" she had missed in theaters.

Shows in the works
Among upcoming Showtime projects:

Reefer Madness (April 16), a musical version of the 1938 cult propaganda film starring Alan Cumming, Neve Campbell and Ana Gasteyer.
Our Fathers (May 21), a movie about the Boston archdiocese's molestation scandal, with Ted Danson, Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy.
Weeds (June 13), a comedy series starring Mary-Louise Parker as a suburban mom turned pot dealer.
The Cell (August), a drama series about an undercover FBI agent (Michael Ealy, Their Eyes Were Watching God) who infiltrates a terrorist cell.
Barbershop (fall), a comedy series based on the film.
Brotherhood (2006), a one-hour drama series about brothers in Providence: One is in the Mob, the other is a legislator.

Says Greenblatt, who joined the network in mid-2003: "I look at this as a small but significant turning point. People have been saying to me for months, 'I've heard about this show everywhere.' Certainly nothing (at Showtime) has had this much attention."

Showtime, in fact, has had attention deficit disorder. It struggles to increase its modest base of 13 million subscribers, half of HBO's reach, with shifting programming strategies. Launched nationally in 1978, it earned early interest with movies, boxing and soft-core porn. It then began pumping out as many as two dozen original movies a year in the late 1990s.

Five years ago, it courted niche audiences — well represented among subscribers — with dramas Soul Food, Resurrection Boulevard and Queer as Folk. Now the channel will focus on mainstream series amid a sharp cutback in original movies. "They're looking for edgy, contemporary material, not just another movie," says director Dan Curtis, whose Our Fathers movie is the only program yet to air from the previous Showtime regime.

"I'm trying to do things that are really bold and attention-getting," Greenblatt says, in a climate in which "almost every cable network has one or two (original) shows, at least. It's really hard to jump out of the pack."
Huff, a ratings dud, did achieve a Showtime first: a Golden Globe nomination in series acting (for supporting player Oliver Platt). "That may seem paltry compared to the great HBO, but my view is you build things one step at a time," Greenblatt says.

Says Kagan Research analyst Deana Myers: "They haven't come up with a runaway hit, their Sopranos or Sex and the City, but that's exactly what they need," because of its ripple effect. "If you can bring in syndication revenue and DVD revenue, it can be huge."

Myers says Showtime spent just 30% of its $500 million programming budget on original films and series last year. HBO devoted nearly half its $1.3 billion outlay to original fare.

"I would love to say one show can turn it around, but I'm not that much of an optimist," Greenblatt says. "Over time, when we have a handful of those shows, maybe people will say, 'I've got to get Showtime.' And subscriptions will start growing."

rogo

03-17-05, 02:24 AM

Jimmy Smits is obligated contractually to remain with the show if his character "wins". So is Alan Alda.

It's not like either is working a tremendous amount these days and would even want to pass up the chance to be the fictional president of the United States.

Ken H

03-17-05, 03:09 AM

Originally posted by rogo

It's not like either is working a tremendous amount these days and would even want to pass up the chance to be the fictional president of the United States. Sounds like me.....

fredfa

03-17-05, 03:15 AM

They will especially enjoy hanging around, rogo, if either Smits or Alda can help West Wing regain some of its ratings luster. I suspect there is more of a chance of that with Smits than with the Alda character.
(Although it might be fun to see how West Wing writers and staff react to a Republican President.)
I think the election campaign will continue through the first 6-8 weeks of next season, which will then, for the remainder of the year, have twin arcs:
a) the new administration , and
b) how the now ex-President Bartlett handles returning to private life.

I can't get my hands on all the specific numbers, but we should remember that, since its Sept 22, 1999 debut, West Wing has never been blessed with a great lead-in:

1999--Dateline NBC (West Wing tie for 24th for the season, 9.1 rating)
2000--Titans/Ed (West Wing tie for 11th for the season, 11.6 rating)
2001--Ed (West Wing 8th for the season, 11.4 rating)
2002--Ed (West Wing 21st for the season, 9.0 rating)
2003--Ed (West Wing 26th for the season)
2004--LAX (now American Dreams) (West Wing currently 36th for the season)

Nonetheless, over the years West Wing has managed good numbers in some demographics, and often spectacular ratings among the highest-income viewers.

foxeng

03-17-05, 07:28 AM

Originally posted by fredfa
Reefer Madness (April 16), a musical version of the 1938 cult propaganda film starring Alan Cumming, Neve Campbell and Ana Gasteyer.
Our Fathers (May 21), a movie about the Boston archdiocese's molestation scandal, with Ted Danson, Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy.
Weeds (June 13), a comedy series starring Mary-Louise Parker as a suburban mom turned pot dealer.
The Cell (August), a drama series about an undercover FBI agent (Michael Ealy, Their Eyes Were Watching God) who infiltrates a terrorist cell.
Barbershop (fall), a comedy series based on the film.
Brotherhood (2006), a one-hour drama series about brothers in Providence: One is in the Mob, the other is a legislator.[/B]

And Viacom wonders why no one watches? The answer to HBO? This programming isn't, IMHO.

I did sign up for SHO just for Fat Actress. I think it is funny, but as soon as it is gone, I am gone. Nothing else on it I want to watch.

JoeInNVa

03-17-05, 08:42 AM

Comcast and sinclair sign an agreement.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050316/phw022_3.html

George Thompson

03-17-05, 09:14 AM

Viacom May Split In Two
Would Split Company Into Separate Units

Mar 16, 2005 7:26 pm US/Eastern
NEW YORK (AP) Frustrated with a languishing stock price, media conglomerate Viacom Inc. announced late Wednesday that it is considering a plan to split into two companies to allow investors to value its businesses separately.

A breakup of the New York-based media company, whose properties include CBS, MTV, VH1, the Paramount movie studio and this Web site, would also solve the question of who would succeed Sumner Redstone as CEO.

Confirming a report on The Wall Street Journal's Web site, Viacom said late Wednesday it was exploring a plan that would split up into two separate entities: One anchored by its fast-growing cable networks such as MTV, led by longtime MTV chief Tom Freston; and another built around the broadcast television businesses run by CBS head Les Moonves.

Freston and Moonves have been contending for the top job at Viacom since last June, when chief operating officer Mel Karmazin left in a power struggle and triggered the two-way race.

Under the breakup plan being considered, the broadcast television company would also include Viacom's radio businesses, which remain profitable but have fallen out of favor with investors due to poor growth prospects and increasing competition from portable music players like Apple Computer Inc.'s iPods.

Viacom's stock has been languishing below $40 since April 2004 as investors remained frustrated that the high-growth businesses like MTV remained tied to slower-growth properties like radio, outdoor advertising and theme parks.

Viacom's shares jumped after news of the possible breakup hit the market, ending up $2.71 or 7.9 percent at $37.00 on the New York Stock Exchange. In after-hours trading the shares gained $1.41 to $38.41.

Last fall Viacom also separated itself from Blockbuster Inc., its video rental unit that had also fallen out of favor with investors due to heavy competition from cheap DVD sales from Wal-Mart Stores and DVD rent-by-mail services.

fredfa

03-17-05, 11:13 AM

Wednesday’s prime-time ratings (and MediaWeek’s ratings guru Marc Berman’s comments) have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

George Thompson

03-17-05, 11:21 AM

NBC TO AIR SHOW ON END OF DAYS; LOOKING FOR A RATINGS MIRACLE, THE NETWORK TURNS TO THE BIBLE FOR INSPIRATION.
By Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times, 3/16/2005

When it comes to high dramatic stakes, it's tough to beat the plot of NBC's upcoming drama "Revelations."

Inspired by the New Testament's Book of Revelation, the show is about a Harvard professor, played by Bill Pullman, who teams with a nun to try to stop what they believe is the beginning of Armageddon. That's not a premise commonly tackled on "The West Wing" or "ER," but NBC executives are praying that "Revelations," which will run for six episodes starting April 13, can connect with the same audience that turned Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' apocalyptic "Left Behind" series into bestsellers, and Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" into a box office smash.

Why is NBC -- historically a network focused on snagging affluent young professionals in big cities, often with randy comedies such as "Friends" and "Will & Grace" -- getting religion? Simply put, it needs a programming miracle. The network's ratings have fallen 14% this season -- more than any competitor -- among the young adults whom advertisers pay premium rates to reach.

Ranked No. 1 among young adults last season, NBC is trailing in fourth place now. That could have a big effect on the network's bottom line later this spring, when it starts selling advance advertising spots for the 2005-06 season. On Thursday NBC executives will give advertisers a sneak peek at some potential new fall shows.

But NBC is taking a big risk by bringing explicit and often controversial biblical themes into prime time, when past hits in the genre -- such as "Highway to Heaven," "Touched by an Angel" and "7th Heaven" -- remained upbeat and ecumenical. The fear of offending some viewers has made networks leery of approaching religious subjects, except for tradition-minded biblical epics, such as CBS' high-rated "Jesus" miniseries in 2000.

"Highway to Heaven," which ran on NBC from 1984-89, starred the late Michael Landon as an angel who returned to earth to help people in trouble, but the series took pains to keep its spirituality broad-based and uplifting. And even shows with general spiritual themes are hardly a sure thing: witness CBS' "Joan of Arcadia," about a girl who talks with God; the show's ratings have plummeted 20% in this, its second season.

"Revelations' " approach to religion is much more specific -- and therefore dicier. That may help explain why NBC executives aren't exactly thumping Bibles in their marketing of the show. For instance, the first episode includes an intense scene in which a hospitalized girl speaks in tongues, traditionally a touchstone for charismatic Christians.

"Ultimately, this is a fictional thriller," NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly explained in an interview, and made it clear that he welcomed the comparison to "The Da Vinci Code."

Although the network, borrowing a page from "Passion's" guerrilla marketing campaign, is screening the first episode to build word of mouth, the outreach isn't aimed at the evangelical Christians and other red-state churchgoers one might expect.

Tuesday night NBC screened the first episode of the series for about 3,000 people in nine cities, paying special attention to "students attending major universities and colleges who are studying philosophy, political science, religion, film and television," according to a news release. Reilly says the series is for everyone, not just observant Christians: "If we target to specific groups, we're crossing over [to become] something we don't want to be."

As it happens, the writer of "Revelations" has irked churchgoers before with his flamboyant interpretations of biblical prophecy. David Seltzer wrote "The Omen," the 1976 hit thriller about a couple who unwittingly adopt the spawn of Satan; the plot, not to mention the movie's allusions to the Bible and its often-gory visuals (including graphic hanging and decapitation scenes) made "The Omen" the subject of intense debate in religious circles.

"I am no scholar, but I am a fascinated student" of Revelation and apocalyptic religion, said Seltzer, who returned last weekend from Europe -- where "Revelations" is being filmed -- to help promote the series.

Seltzer began mapping out "Revelations" after receiving a phone call from veteran producer Gavin Polone ("Curb Your Enthusiasm"), whose company Pariah is producing the program. Polone had a vague idea for a series about Armageddon, and Seltzer grew intrigued.

"I think it's clear the world is on a bubble," the writer said, referring to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mideast conflict and ecological disasters. "Particularly as you look at the news of the day, I think we see there is such a thing possible as the end of days."

Seltzer sees the age-old conflict between faith and doubt as driving the show, although he added: "It's an entertainment, for sure."

The Book of Revelation's grim end-of-the-world prophecies are coursing through pop culture largely thanks to the LaHaye-Jenkins books, and NBC is hardly the first to invoke the Bible on behalf of a popcorn thriller.

A similar approach won "Da Vinci Code" legions of ardent fans -- and more than a few intractable critics. Characters in the book, which has sold an estimated 20 million copies worldwide and has a film version starring Tom Hanks currently in pre-production, assert that the Catholic Church has engaged in a centuries-long cover-up to conceal the truth that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had children.

On Monday an Italian newspaper published an interview with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a high-ranking church official, who blasted Brown's novel for "gross and absurd manipulations." (Seltzer said he hasn't read "Da Vinci Code," although he added: "I don't think that's a bad thing to be compared to.")

In a similar vein, some are already attacking "Revelations" for what they believe is a distortion of Scripture. Fred Schmidt, a religious scholar at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, says the series offers a "minority view" that treats cataclysmic present-day events as evidence of the coming apocalypse foretold in Revelation. Schmidt, who hasn't screened the series but is relying on plot summaries that have appeared in the media, worries viewers "will take what they see on a fictionalized TV show and see that as the truth about the book."

Schmidt believes that many fundamentalist Christians, in particular, will be offended by the show because the main characters are trying to ward off Armageddon; many fundamentalists, Schmidt said, welcome Armageddon because it will mean Christ has returned to earth.

Seltzer scoffed at such criticism. "He hasn't seen the show and he's mistaken [on] practically every aspect of this," he said.

"There's nothing that renders the Book of Revelation in the way that he describes."

NBC is expecting some sort of backlash -- which of course might conceivably even help ratings. "Some people who are religious are willing to go with a liberal interpretation of something for entertainment's sake," Reilly said. "Other fundamentalist interpreters are not as forgiving."

Of course, the ultimate fate of "Revelations" will depend on acceptance by millions of viewers.

NBC is programming the show in the 9 p.m. Wednesday spot, partly as a way to avoid running repeats of "The West Wing" (encores of the White House drama draw disappointing ratings, Reilly said). If "Revelations" delivers strong numbers as a limited "event series," NBC says it is likely to pick up more episodes next season.

"People want their theology in small doses," said Robert J. Thompson, director for the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. A series about Armageddon may be "hard to watch week after week."

On the other hand, the creators of "Revelations" are willing to give NBC points just for tackling the subject matter. When asked about his relations with the network, Seltzer sounded a note of gratitude.

"I have to say, they were very courageous in picking it up," he said.

fredfa

03-17-05, 11:43 AM

Kelley revisits 'Boston' revisions
Producer 'never figured out' ABC's actions,
but says Super Bowl 2004 may have figured in
By Barbara A. Serrano Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 17, 2005

David E. Kelley, creator and executive producer of ABC's dramedy "Boston Legal," says he "never figured out" what was behind the network's request that he cut all references to Fox News Channel in last Sunday's episode but that he thinks it may have something to do with Janet Jackson's breast-baring incident at last year's Super Bowl.

"That was the first time in 18 years I've ever had a network squelch an idea," Kelley said Tuesday night. "This was the first time that we really got the feeling that the network just did not want us to tell the story."

Kelley's remarks, made during a Museum of Television & Radio tribute to the series in Los Angeles, were his first public comments about his run-in with ABC's standards and practices office over a "Boston Legal" episode called "Let Sales Ring." In it, Alan Shore (played by James Spader) goes to court to challenge a high school principal who has blocked student access to a cable news network because of its conservative bent on the news. In the original script, Kelley identified it as Fox News Channel, but ABC ordered him to remove such references.

At first, he said, ABC executives told him they didn't want direct references to Fox because the cable network is connected to Fox's broadcast network, which is a competitor of ABC. Kelley said he was told, " 'We don't want to give them any publicity, good or bad.' "

But then, Kelley said, they came back and said ABC didn't want Fox in the script because "we just don't want to speak ill of a competitor."

In the end, he told the audience, he and other producers "just never figured out what was going on. I would be dishonest if I didn't say we all took a deep breath and said this is just" a result of the Jackson "breast incident" last year. After the appearance, Kelley did not expand on his remarks and declined to comment further.

The FCC received more than a half-million complaints and slapped CBS with a $550,000 fine for its telecast of Jackson's performance on the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, in which most of her right breast was briefly exposed. Since then networks have been more skittish about potentially offensive material that might draw complaints and fines.

ABC had no comment Wednesday on Kelley's remarks. But the network had said earlier that its request to remove mention of Fox was based on its desire to abide by a long-standing policy "not to use real people or actual events."

A former attorney who created such hit shows as "The Practice," "Ally McBeal" and "Picket Fences," Kelley said that until ABC's request about "Boston Legal," he had never felt constrained by network TV.

Even after the script change, he managed to tweak network executives through the character of Shore. At one point in the episode, Shore tells a fellow attorney, "I don't know which newscast you've been watching recently but the First Amendment is losing its luster lately. Some networks are even censoring their scripted dramas."

HDTVChallenged

03-17-05, 11:52 AM

Originally posted by foxeng
And Viacom wonders why no one watches? The answer to HBO? This programming isn't, IMHO.

(Sci)Fridays use to be Showtime night ... a list of the dearly departed

Outer Limits (redux)
Poltergist: The Legacy
Stargate
Jeremiah
Dead Like Me

PS: The reuse of the "Dead Like Me" Waffle Haus set on Stargate: SG-1 last week was brilliant ;) :D

PPS: Huff is actually good (for adults), I hope it sticks around.

keenan

03-17-05, 12:37 PM

Originally posted by HDTVChallenged
(

PS: The reuse of the "Dead Like Me" Waffle Haus set on Stargate: SG-1 last week was brilliant ;) :D

PPS: Huff is actually good (for adults), I hope it sticks around.

Huff and Dead Like Me are/were great TV, but currently there is no reason to keep SHO until Huff comes back, and Dead Like Me is history...

leesweet

03-17-05, 12:38 PM

Thanks for the comments on my questions!

West Wing: I'd bet on Smits. His character has been on a ton more than Alda's, which may be why the poll says what it did. It would be interesting to see a new administration transition into the White House, but that would mean a mostly new cast, no? You don't keep the same Communications Director, Press Secretary/Chief of Staff, etc., when changing administrations and parties!

Of course, one or two of the current ones are with the 'Smits' campaign...

American Dreams: Eden didn't show the navel? I thought that was the point of that midriff-baring costume in the first place. Sheesh, another urban legend (that I remembered! :) ) shot down.

(Yep: from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Dream_of_Jeannie

In most episodes Barbara Eden wore little more than her revealing "Jeannie" costume but despite the fact that she was allowed to be depicted living in a house with a man to whom she was not married, censors of the day would not allow Eden's navel to be seen. The makers of the series were also presented with the challenge of filming around Eden's real life pregnancy, without writing it into the Jeannie storyline.)

keenan

03-17-05, 12:44 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
Kelley revisits 'Boston' revisions

Even with the revisions, only someone living in a cave would not realize who they were talking about, even the term "fair and balanced" was used, so IMO, the revisions actually worked out for the best, the point was driven home without any mention of Fox. Great episode.

HDTVChallenged

03-17-05, 12:44 PM

Originally posted by keenan
Huff and Dead Like Me are/were great TV, but currently there is no reason to keep SHO until Huff comes back, and Dead Like Me is history...

Yep ... with a new, so-called "revenue neutral" state tax about to be applied to my satellite bill, I'm looking at stuff to cut. At the moment, Showtime (on D*) is safe simply because it's available in HD - Cinemax OTOH, will probably go along with one of my extra recievers.

fredfa

03-17-05, 01:35 PM

foxeng: I was going to sign up for Fat Actress.
I thought the first episode was very funny -- and Showtime was free that weekend.
Then I read the DVD will be out in late May, so I didn't bother signing up.
We did have it for years, but about two years ago we started keeping a diary on what we watched and Showtime rarely got a mention.
So out it went, and, to be honest, it hasn't been missed.

fredfa

03-17-05, 02:15 PM

TV Guide: Are These Shows In Trouble?
TV Guide’s Stephen Battaglio, in the current issue, lists these show as programs which “might get the axe”.

ABC
8 Simple Rules
Less Than Perfect
Rodney

CBS
Joan of Arcadia
JAG

Fox
Bernie Mac

NBC
Third Watch
Medical Investigation
American Dreams

UPN
Kevin Hill

WB
Jack & Bobby
Steve Harvey’s Big Time Challenge

fredfa

03-17-05, 02:28 PM

The Wire Renewed
It was touch-and-go there for a while, but sources have told TV Guide that HBO has renewed its acclaimed police drama The Wire for a fourth season. New episodes probably won't start airing until early '06, so you've got plenty of time to Netflix the DVDs.

AFH

03-17-05, 02:46 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
The Wire Renewed
It was touch-and-go there for a while, but sources have told TV Guide that HBO has renewed its acclaimed police drama The Wire for a fourth season. New episodes probably won't start airing until early '06, so you've got plenty of time to Netflix the DVDs.

This is greatttttt!

keenan

03-17-05, 02:55 PM

fredfa

03-17-05, 03:00 PM

More American Dreams Defections
It has been reported for weeks that American Dreams star Gail O’Grady has signed on for a new pilot for next season. Now TV Guide’s Stephen Battaglio reports two other cast members have signed with other shows. Will Estes (JJ Prior) and Rachel Boston (Elizabeth “Beth” Mason-Prior) have reportedly signed on for jobs with new shows “rather than wait for cancellation”.

fredfa

03-17-05, 03:17 PM

NBC renews four shows, gives ER an added season
By Jim Finkle Broadcasting & Cable

NBC has renewed prime-time shows The West Wing, Las Vegas, Crossing Jordan and Friends spin-off Joey for next season. It has also extended its commitment to ER through 2008.

That was the message to advertisers Thursday from NBC's new entertainment president, Kevin Reilly. The renewal news came in a program-development meeting with ad folks on the set of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in Los Angeles.

While Reilly renewed those shows, he also conceded it was also about finding some new hits. "We can do better," said Reilly. "I am acutely aware that we need the next generation of hits." This past February sweeps is the first time NBC placed last in a sweeps period since national people meters were introduced in 1987. Just a year ago, NBC claimed first prize in the February race, thanks to Friends and Frasier.

fredfa

03-17-05, 03:58 PM

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Thursday March 17th, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options

Thursday 3/17/05

ABC:
Jake in Progress (four episodes - two originals followed by two repeats) HD
Primetime Live

CBS:
NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball Tournament

No. 2 Wake Forest (26-5) vs. No. 15 Chattanooga (20-10) 7:10 PM ET HD
No. 7 West Virginia (21-10) vs. No. 10 Creighton (23-10) 9:40 PM ET HD
No. 3 Gonzaga (25-4) vs. No. 14 Winthrop (27-5) 7:25 PM ET HD
No. 6 Texas Tech (20-10) vs. No. 11 UCLA (18-10) 9:55 PM ET HD

NBC:
Will & Grace (originalHD and repeat SD)
The Apprentice 3
ER (R) HD

Fox:
The O.C. HD
Point Pleasant HD

UPN:
WWE Smackdown!

WB:
Jeff Foxworthy: The Early Daze
The Starlet (R)

bgall

03-17-05, 03:59 PM

Will and Grace new episode is HD, repeat is SD

FSugino

03-17-05, 04:00 PM

keenan

03-17-05, 04:07 PM

Originally posted by FSugino
Now if they just shoot/broadcast the new episodes in HD...

That would probably be far too expensive, I think we're lucky in just getting it renewed...

fredfa

03-17-05, 05:43 PM

We noted last week in this thread that David Hill reportedly would be moving to DirecTV.
Now comes official word:
Hill Named DirecTV Entertainment President
By Steve Donohue & David Cohen Multichannel.com 3/17
DirecTV Inc. said Thursday that David Hill has been named president of its new DirecTV Entertainment group. Hill had been chairman and CEO of Fox Sports. He will continue to serve as chairman of the programmer in a non-executive role, with his primary responsibility being at DirecTV.

After Mitch Stern’s surprise resignation last week from the CEO post at DirecTV, rumors began to surface that Hill would play a role at the direct-broadcast satellite provider. But Hill’s new position at the company -- which makes him responsible for all programming, including third-party programming and original content, plus the development and marketing of programming packages -- is broader than some observers had expected.

Hill will also be charged with developing and expanding DirecTV’s advertising-sales operations, in addition to other new revenue opportunities, DirecTV said.

DirecTV Entertainment is one of three new operating groups created by CEO Chase Carey “as part of a new, more streamlined organization that will focus on DirecTV's core businesses and continue to build on its leadership position in the pay television industry,” the company said in a release.

The direct-broadcast satellite provider also named presidents for the other two new operating groups, DirecTV Sales and Service and DirecTV Latin America and New Enterprises.

“David is a true innovator and an enormously talented executive who has distinguished himself with his creativity and originality in the television industry," Carey said of Hill in a prepared statement. “His proven capabilities, vision and experience, which transcends sports television, will be vital in taking DirecTV to the next level.”

fredfa

03-17-05, 05:58 PM

In its press release today announcing the renewal of “The West Wing”, NBC gave some of the reasoning it used to bring the show back for a seventh season:

“…'The West Wing' delivers the highest concentrations of upscale viewers for any primetime series on any broadcast network in such key categories as adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 living in homes with incomes of $100,000 and more. This season, "The West Wing" is averaging a 3.4 rating, 8 share among adults 18-49 and 11.4 million viewers overall….”

fredfa

03-17-05, 06:52 PM

HBO RENEWS THE WIRE, WITH FOURTH SEASON TO AIR IN 2006

(HBO Press Release)
LOS ANGELES, March 17, 2005 - The critically acclaimed, Peabody Award-winning HBO drama series THE WIRE has been renewed for a fourth season, it was announced today by Carolyn Strauss, president, HBO Entertainment. The 12-episode fourth season will begin shooting in late 2005, with debut set for 2006.

"THE WIRE just keeps getting better, so we're delighted that David Simon and his team will be returning for another provocative season," said Strauss. "We share the critics' enthusiasm for this unique and challenging series, and eagerly await the new episodes."

Created by David Simon, THE WIRE wrapped its third season last December. The first season looked at the national drug war through the microcosm of a West Baltimore housing project, and the second season focused on a longshoremen's union and its struggle to survive. In its third season, the drama developed its portrait of a fictional Baltimore by exploring the place of the political leadership in addressing a city's problems.

With the Barksdale investigation concluded, the fourth season of THE WIRE will expand its focus to include a look at the role of the educational system in an urban environment.

The third season of THE WIRE generated wide critical praise. It was named the best series of 2004 by Entertainment Weekly, which called the show "the smartest, deepest and most resonant drama on TV." The New York Times observed that the series is "one of the smartest, most ambitious shows on television." TV Guide hailed THE WIRE as "smart and subtle, yet also brutally powerful," while New York Newsday declared THE WIRE "the greatest dramatic series ever produced for television," and Daily Variety called it "brilliant" and "meticulously written, superbly acted."

foxeng

03-17-05, 08:43 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
foxeng: I was going to sign up for Fat Actress.
I thought the first episode was very funny -- and Showtime was free that weekend.
Then I read the DVD will be out in late May, so I didn't bother signing up.
We did have it for years, but about two years ago we started keeping a diary on what we watched and Showtime rarely got a mention.
So out it went, and, to be honest, it hasn't been missed.

I had it when I had cable and then cut it loose a couple years before I cut cable loose. Yeah, I thought it was funny. I don't know if the general public gets all of the "Hollywood Humor" but it has been the first thing in forever that I even wanted to watch on SHO. I did watch some of the L Word, but I guess I came in too late to really get into it. I personally try not to judge people with their sexual preference so I was looking for other things in it and I just didn't see it. Once FA is gone, I am cutting it off again. In the week I have had it, FA is the only thing I have watched. I did see the Super Size Me before the premiere, but I hadn't signed up for it then so that doesn't count!

keenan

03-17-05, 10:26 PM

When Huff returns you might want to give it a look as well, it's pretty LA-centric but IMO, it's very good TV..

fredfa

03-18-05, 12:43 AM

Some Upcoming TV Show DVD Releases
Here is a schedule of announced DVD release dates for some TV program favorites.
March 22:
Doogie Howser, M.D.: Season One
Kojak: Season One
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries: Season One
March 29:
Murder She Wrote: Season One
April 4:
The Greatest American Hero: Season Two
The West Wing: The Complete Fourth Season
April 12:
The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete First Season
All in the Family: The Complete Fourth Season
April 19:
Dynasty: Season One
That 70s Show: Season Two
April 26:
Highway to Heaven: Season One
The Waltons: Season Two
May 3:
Naked City: Set One
Everybody Loves Raymond Seasons One – Three
Star Trek: Enterprise: The Complete First Season
Touched by an Angel: The Complete Second Season
May 10:
Have Gun Will Travel: Season Two
Joan of Arcadia: Season One
May 17:
Cheers: Season Five
Scrubs: Season One
Six Feet Under: Season Three
May 24:
Baa Baa Black Sheep: Volume One
Dick Van Dyke Show: Complete Series
May 31:
Moonlighting: Seasons One and Two

bgooch

03-18-05, 04:29 AM

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/business/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000845947

March 18, 2005

By Diane Mermigas

CHICAGO -- After a decade of mergers and acquisitions, the corporate restructuring that is well under way at top media conglomerates won't be the same for all players.

Unlike Viacom, which Wednesday confirmed its interest in splitting the company in two, Time Warner has not openly declared its deconsolidation that is set to occur this year with the public spinoff of its cable systems as part of its anticipated purchase of Adelphia Communications. If current efforts fail to reposition America Online as a major Internet portal and broadband cable offering, it likely will be sold, which would return Time Warner to a pure entertainment play, company sources concede.

An expected joint acquisition of Adelphia by Time Warner and Comcast Corp. for about $1.7 billion will be the catalyst for Time Warner's downsizing, which actually began last year with the sale of smaller noncore assets and its music operations.

A reverse initial public offering of most of Time Warner's cable systems as part of its proposed acquisition of Adelphia would create a consolidated $48 billion cable entity with about 13.7 million subscribers, generating $4.1 billion in annual earnings on nearly $11 billion in revenue and $6 billion in debt, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen.

The rest of Time Warner, including AOL and Warner Bros., would have an enterprise value of about $67 billion and about $7 billion in annual earnings without the cable properties' current 35% bottom-line contribution.

As 84% owner of the new cable entity, Time Warner could use the new stock to do more deals, the first of which will be to buy out rival Comcast's 21% stake in its cable systems valued at $6.7 billion, which could be paid in a combination of cash, debt and stock.

Time Warner Cable also will move quickly to acquire Cablevision Systems, a $9 billion enterprise that recently has been vexed by a series of troubled deals and strife among members of the controlling Dolan family.

"The timing and circumstances could not be better," a high-level source close to the situation said. "Time (Warner)'s restructuring will come together this year."

Time Warner is just one example of big-media restructuring that was afoot before Viacom conceded it likely will split itself into a high-growth entity comprising the MTV cable networks and Paramount Pictures (that will trade at twice Viacom's current multiple) and a slower-growing entity including CBS, TV and radio stations; outdoor; and Paramount's television-related operations (that will trade slightly above Viacom's current multiple). Viacom likely will complete the sale of its theme parks and buy back more of its stock by year's end, sources said.

High-level executives at both companies concede Time Warner and Viacom could have achieved many of their existing cross-media synergies without engaging in the expensive acquisitions of the 1990s, which were driven by the belief that ownership was necessary to achieve higher value. Cable system and network acquisitions are among the only acquisitions that have delivered sustained growth to big-media firms.

Viacom chairman and CEO Sumner Redstone said in an interview that existing synergies will be sustained by long-term agreements between the newly formed companies.

For instance, MTV could continue to negotiate retransmission rights for CBS, Paramount TV could continue to distribute Paramount films in overseas television markets and Paramount films would continue to distribute Paramount Television's DVDs.

"We had to change our strategy in response to a changing media world," said Redstone, who has spent a lifetime as an astute entrepreneur assembling a $60 billion company media behemoth. "CBS was a good deal when we bought it. Radio was growing 27%, and our stock went to $70. Our stock is half that now, so we need a bold move that other media companies will have to look at. This gives us an opportunity to please our investors and some strategic advantages we wouldn't otherwise have."

The same likely will be true for Time Warner, which initially lost $200 billion in value acquiring AOL and since has removed it from its corporate moniker and reduced it to an operating unit. Even before its transformation is complete, AOL is expected to deliver 20% growth in earnings margins and generate about $1.9 billion in profits on $8.8 billion in revenue -- a good argument not to sell the unit, Time Warner executives say.

But even with many core businesses booming, Time Warner stock, which is valued as a cable company, declined more than 30% the past three years and made up only 11% of that value the past year. Time Warner stock closed up 3% to $18.60 on Thursday on breakup speculation.

Viacom, whose stagnating stock price lost 25% of its value in the past three years despite the spinoff of its Blockbuster operations, traded as high as $39 on Thursday. Most entertainment and media stocks have yielded slow to no growth the past three years despite the consolidation frenzy, while such pure-play stocks as Pixar and DreamWorks Animation have soared.

But do not expect the Walt Disney Co., Sony Corp., NBC Universal or News Corp. to deconsolidate any time soon, high-level industry executives say.

As Disney looks to maximize shareholder value, that more likely will result in individual asset sales like radio rather than a major restructuring.

Analysts suggest that it also could potentially spin off its ESPN properties or theme parks, which would create more of a pure-play Disney-branded business to trade publicly. But none of that is imminent or high on the to-do list of Disney's incoming CEO, Robert Iger.

"We like the might that all of these media assets provide," Iger said last year, and that appears to be his continuing mantra.

Disney, whose stock has been rising steadily, still considers itself one of the better-integrated media companies and has been adept at leveraging all of its assets in negotiations with distributors.

Howard Stringer, who last week was elevated to CEO of all of Sony Corp., has said his mandate is to realize long-promised synergy between its hardware and software operations to maximize its share of a booming interactive economy. "We've got to get the relationship between content and devices seamlessly managed to prepare for the truly digital revolution," he said in a recent interview.

But as chairman of Sony Corp. of America, Stringer has said a potential spinoff of Sony's lucrative U.S.-based film and music assets in the right kinds of market might be worth considering to more fully recognize and leverage their value. Experts say he now is in a position to do that.

As NBC Universal continues its integration while generating an estimated annual $3.6 billion in operating profit on more than $15 billion in revenue, the lucrative subsidiary is fodder for an eventual spinoff by corporate parent General Electric. GE is one of the multinational conglomerates under pressure to deleverage.

However, high-level industry executives say there are potential pitfalls to the kinds of breakup Viacom is pursuing.

For instance, a smaller Disney-branded entity -- comprising the ABC TV network and stations, Disney studios and cable networks like ESPN -- would be an easier, more affordable takeover target for the likes of Comcast.

"That's the risk involved. If you get smaller, you are bigger, easier prey," one high-level media executive said.

Among the big players, only News Corp. is pursuing the opposite strategy. It is in the process of bringing its publicly traded Fox Entertainment Group back into its corporate fold before it has to design a tax-efficient plan to use cash, stock and assets to buy back the $9 billion in News Corp. shares held by John Malone's Liberty Media, which also is deconsolidating. Assets could include smaller Fox television stations outside of major markets, which play handily into Fox's pricey NFL broadcast rights.

That possibility, like the spinoff of Viacom's broadcast properties into a "value"-driven entity, is raising a red flag for broadcasters.

While broadcast network-affiliated TV station groups are generating healthy free cash flow today that will be used for share buybacks and dividends to appease shareholders, they are likely to run into the same death dirge now plaguing radio station groups, which were free-cash-flow generators a few years ago. Any advertising-dependent media entity will be hard-pressed to attract investors in a digital broadband world where double-digit growth is assured for entities with multiple revenue streams and an interactive game plan.

fredfa

03-18-05, 11:19 AM

Thursday’s prime-time ratings – with some surprisingly mediocre NCAA Basketball Tournament numbers -- (and MediaWeek’s ratings guru Marc Berman’s comments) have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-18-05, 11:57 AM

(Whatever Charlie Ergen wants to do with Dish, whatever the dueling Dolans figure out as VOOM's future, all those guys, plus cable executives, should not be sleeping so well any more.
Fox's David Hill is a guy who has idea after idea and whose whole career has been breaking the mold. If Rupert says to him, as apparently he has, "go spruce up DirecTV and make its programming irresisistable" those competitors -- in my opinion at least -- are in deep, deep trouble.)

Fox Executive Assigned to Give DirecTV a Lift
David Hill's goal at a new entertainment unit is to jazz up the satellite TV firm's content.
By Meg James Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 18, 2005

Rupert Murdoch on Thursday tapped his longtime go-to guy, David Hill, to become president of the newly created DirecTV Entertainment group, with a goal of jazzing up the satellite television giant's offerings.

One of sports' most influential executives, Hill will remain chairman of the Fox Sports Television Group but will give up day-to-day management duties. News Corp. owns Fox and is DirecTV's largest shareholder.

The 58-year-old Hill will join El Segundo-based DirecTV Group Inc. on April 11 and report to DirecTV Chief Executive Chase Carey.

Known for his quick wit, Hill, who helped create Fox Sports and assisted fellow Australian Murdoch in launching Britain's first satellite TV station, described his marching orders as: "Get down there and do it."

"When the boss tells you to sit down, you don't waste your time looking for a chair," Hill said.

At Fox Sports, Hill earned a reputation for innovation. He instituted such flourishes as fixed scoreboards at the bottom of the screen, the yellow first-down line in professional football and "Catcher Cam" for Major League Baseball games. He also is credited with developing NASCAR's popularity as a television sport.

At DirecTV, Hill's challenge will be to revamp a clunky program guide, develop shows that are exclusive and create interactive offerings. DirecTV has nearly 14 million subscribers.

"I've got a zillion ideas, but it's a matter of sitting down and figuring out what works," Hill said.

His appointment signals the priority that Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp., is placing on building DirecTV. Sources said the media mogul was frustrated that executives running the service had not been developing programming options quickly. That led to the abrupt resignation of DirecTV President Mitchell Stern this month.

Hill's appointment had been expected.

Naming Hill was part of a larger reorganization that also saw John Suranyi, executive vice president of customer satisfaction, shifted to run a new sales and service group. Meanwhile, Bruce Churchill, president of DirecTV Latin America, was given the additional responsibility of heading the new enterprises division. Suranyi and Churchill also report to Carey.

Creating a separate DirecTV entertainment unit under Hill makes sense, said longtime media analyst Larry Gerbrandt.

"The company wins by generating potential ad revenues as well as getting an exclusive marketing hook that could help drive subscribers," Gerbrandt said.

This isn't the first time that Hill has worked in satellite TV. In 1988, he helped Murdoch launch Sky Television in Britain, and when it merged with British Sky Broadcasting in 1990, Hill became the head of BSkyB Sports Channel and created Sky Sports.

Hill, who started out in 1964 as a newspaper copy boy and police reporter for the Sydney Daily Telegraph, joined Fox in the United States in 1993. He has also dabbled in entertainment. For nearly two years, from 1997 to 1999, he was chairman of Fox Broadcasting Co., overseeing programming for the network. He became chairman of Fox Sports in 1999.

Now, Hill said he planned to augment DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package, which has about 2 million subscribers. He also is contemplating more shows about the action surrounding a NASCAR race, "the behind the scenes stuff that you never see." His continued presence with Fox Sports will allow him to integrate more of Fox's offerings into DirecTV, the company said.

Although it would probably take about two years to develop enough programming to sustain a DirecTV entertainment channel, Hill said his goal was to create one as respected and innovative as Time Warner Inc.'s HBO.

"If we get this right, it's going to be a hoot," Hill said. "We will be pushing back the boundaries of television."

keenan

03-18-05, 12:48 PM

Originally posted by fredfa

Fox Executive Assigned to Give DirecTV a Lift
David Hill's goal at a new entertainment unit is to jazz up the satellite TV firm's content.
By Meg James Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 18, 2005

Although it would probably take about two years to develop enough programming to sustain a DirecTV entertainment channel, Hill said his goal was to create one as respected and innovative as Time Warner Inc.'s HBO.

This guy sounds really ambitious, things are looking pretty interesting for DirecTV.

fredfa

03-18-05, 12:52 PM

Over the last decade, David Hill has been the architect of the Fox NFL, MLB and NASCAR programming. (OK, and the NHL, too.)
But he is amazing, and to say he thinks outside the box doesn't begin to give him the credit he deserves.
He also has the total trust of Rupert, so he will be able to get things done quickly, without going through any committee processes.

dline

03-18-05, 01:39 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
Kelley revisits 'Boston' revisions
Producer 'never figured out' ABC's actions,
but says Super Bowl 2004 may have figured in
By Barbara A. Serrano Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 17, 2005

David E. Kelley, creator and executive producer of ABC's dramedy "Boston Legal," says he "never figured out" what was behind the network's request that he cut all references to Fox News Channel in last Sunday's episode but that he thinks it may have something to do with Janet Jackson's breast-baring incident at last year's Super Bowl.

"That was the first time in 18 years I've ever had a network squelch an idea," Kelley said Tuesday night. "This was the first time that we really got the feeling that the network just did not want us to tell the story."

That's interesting. I just thought it was strange because 20th Television produces the show. Obviously we knew what news channel they were getting at, and I thought the show was pretty fair and balanced.

ABC had no comment Wednesday on Kelley's remarks. But the network had said earlier that its request to remove mention of Fox was based on its desire to abide by a long-standing policy "not to use real people or actual events."

Also interesting, considering that whenever the lawyers are depicted watching TV, they're watching a station identified as WCVB, Channel 5 -- ABC's actual affiliate in Boston.

fredfa

03-18-05, 05:56 PM

Tim Goodman often has provacative thoughts about TV. Here is his latest column:

Some lessons the networks never learn
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Friday, March 18, 2005
An older gentleman was talking recently about how he watched television. He turned it on when he felt like watching something. Then he flipped around the channels, found a show that looked interesting, and watched. It was a stroke of good fortune, he said, when he'd sit down at some later date to eat dinner, turn on the TV and find the same show he saw -- and liked -- before.

Unfortunately for most people, the act of watching television isn't that Zen. We are purveyors of what the industry calls "appointment television." We know that "CSI" is on Thursdays at 9 p.m., that "The Simpsons" is on Sundays at 8 p.m., just as we knew "Friends" was on Thursdays at 8 p.m., and on back through history -- a lesson in appointment making that became exponentially more difficult as cable channels proliferated.

What has the television industry done to show its appreciation for training viewers to be diligent? Made things tougher, for starters. And ignored its own hard-and-fast rules. For annoyed viewers, look no further than those die-hard followers of ABC's "Desperate Housewives." They have turned the freshman drama (along with ABC's other series, "Lost") into the breakout hit of the current TV season and, along the way, resurrected fourth place ABC into a contender. But right at this minute, millions of those viewers are extremely displeased by what appears to be never-ending reruns, or complete Sundays without the series at all, rerun or not.

They are confused. And annoyed. On Sunday, when "Desperate Housewives" offers up yet another rerun, you can imagine the frustration. After all, the last original episode aired on Feb. 20.

Part of the problem is that networks have never done a very good job of teaching viewers that a TV season runs from September to May, and is often 36 weeks in length. The standard number of shows per series is 22. That leaves 14 weeks of reruns, so that your hit -- "Desperate Housewives" among the biggest -- can stretch into the critical May sweeps period.

Sometimes a network gets around the rerun problem by stacking series. That is, one series will begin in September and run through January. Then a bigger hit -- say "24" or "Alias" -- will start in January and be able, in theory, to run repeat-free through May.

However well this benefits the viewer, it ultimately costs the network. See, all the money is made in reruns. It's like a cash-back program. Networks like cash. And reruns. But they also know that a viewer is fickle. Though "Desperate Housewives" will certainly hold its audience over the lean weeks of repeats, others won't. Fans will become frustrated and, gasp, not make their appointment.

Scheduling is one of those gigantic industry blind spots. Those who engage in it like to believe they understand the wishes, motives and tendencies of viewers, but history has proven this to be a grand lie of the mind. The most accepted theories of scheduling have more to do with tried-and- allegedly-true industry beliefs or archaic reasoning than they do with the actual needs of real people.

How else do you explain the dreaded "sneak preview" of a TV show -- a maddeningly common practice. A network will take a new series, introduce it on a day and at a time when it believes the most people will watch, then shift it to its regular slot, often a different time and a wholly different day. And they expect people to play this shell game?

Often a network will pull a struggling series from the all-important "sweeps" period. Why? Easy. Nobody's watching, relatively speaking. And if nobody watches during sweeps, that's cash money being burned. On the other hand, a struggling series -- say, "Arrested Development" on Fox -- needs all the viewers (and support) it can get. Pulling it off the schedule for three or four weeks only gives people a convenient reason to forget.

Result -- cancellation.

Now, television has been in business for a very long time. More than 50 years, right? And even though in that time viewing habits have changed, many of the givens have not. Such as: Hide a show from viewers, and if they can't find it, they will not watch. Not exactly science, but a lesson almost never learned. The goal of scheduling should at least include this tenet: Make it easy. Same day every week, same time every week.

Along the way, a network might think about not "pre-empting" a series or rerunning it too many weeks in a row. And advance notice -- you can never have too much of that. Instead of taking out yet another ad for a lousy series like "Jake In Progress," maybe ABC would better use its money on an ad that said, " 'Desperate Housewives' will return with all new episodes ON THIS DATE."

NBC, a network that used to understand the business as well or better than anyone, has lately fallen into such confusing disrepair that we're lucky it can actually send a signal. It was the latest abuser of scheduling bylaws when it premiered Mark Burnett's terrific new reality series about boxers, "The Contender," over three nights in one week.

It started Monday, March 7, at 9:30. Then a second episode aired Thursday, March 10, at 10, and finally a third on Sunday, March 13, at 8. How can anyone keep track? I get paid for this and I love the series but still managed to miss Sunday's episode.

This idea of trolling for viewers almost never works. The networks call it "sampling," an idea that you can hook different audiences over the span of a week and then carry them all to the "regular time period," which, in case of "The Contender," will be Sundays at 8 p.m.

The problem with that is simple, and borne out by the numbers. None of the three nights of "The Contender" were impressive, but by Sunday the series had lost nearly 2 million viewers.

So NBC took one of its best (and most costly) series, blew the promotion, wasted opportunities and left itself with a show that will have to struggle by word of mouth and hope to survive. Ultimately, NBC knocked itself out. Networks will tell you there's really no proven way to fix the system. But to viewers who just want something good to watch, that sounds like a desperate excuse.

fredfa

03-18-05, 06:01 PM

More on “The Wire” renewal from its “hometown” newspaper
Show gets in under 'The Wire'
HBO renews drama filmed in Baltimore

By David Zurawik Baltimore Sun Television Critic March 18, 2005

After three months in limbo, HBO's urban drama The Wire was renewed yesterday for a fourth season - one that promises a hard-hitting look inside Baltimore's troubled school system.

"This is basically going to be the beginning of a new arc," executive producer David Simon said yesterday. "The thing that we tried to convince HBO was that there was more to be said about the American city. It's gratifying to have the opportunity to continue to explore this urban universe that we created."

That universe has been an economic boon to Baltimore. The decision by the premium cable channel will save 125 jobs in the local film industry while pumping $17.5 million into the Maryland economy next year.

HBO's decision and the Hollywood money it will bring to Baltimore promise needed relief for a Maryland entertainment industry suffering one of its longest dry spells. Maryland has been without a major film or TV production since The Wire ended production on Season 3 last fall.

"We've been keeping our fingers crossed for three months, and this is just great, great news, because The Wire has such a huge economic impact for the city and the state," Jack Gerbes, director of the Maryland Film Office, said yesterday. "Things have been tremendously slow since September, so this renewal by HBO is going to put food on a lot of tables and pay a lot of bills in Maryland."

The backstage drama as to whether HBO would renew The Wire centered on ratings and creative direction. The complex and demanding Peabody Award-winning series - which premiered in June 2002 with a season that focused on a West Baltimore public housing complex as a window onto the nation's war on drugs - was never a ratings hit.

Its audience peaked at 4.3 million in June 2003 at the start of Season 2 - which examined Baltimore's port as a microcosm of working-class America - when it followed Sex and the City on Sunday. Even then, it was losing about 3 million viewers from the lead-in provided by Sex.

But HBO operates on an economic model radically different from network TV. Instead of trying to attract a mass audience that can be sold to advertisers, a premium cable channel makes money by getting viewers to subscribe for a fee beyond the basic cable bill. Thus, a series can be profitable on HBO with a smaller audience than on network TV - if the series is prestigious or unique enough that viewers will pay extra for it.

Simon has given HBO such a series. In December, Entertainment Weekly picked The Wire as the best show on television.

Loss of viewers

Still, the slump in viewers for The Wire from 3 million per episode in 2003 to about 1.9 million in 2004 left the series on the razor's edge of cancellation - despite mitigating factors. After airing during the summer in its first two seasons, The Wire in September was placed in head-to-head competition with the new fall season on network TV.

Furthermore, the drama found itself in one of the most competitive time periods - Sundays at 9 p.m. opposite National Football League games on ESPN and the ABC hit series Desperate Housewives.

Perhaps most important, Nielsen Media Research changed the way it measured cable audiences in 2004. Previously, cable series that had multiple showings during the week were given credit for all those audiences in the weekly rating. Starting last year, only the audience that watched the first airing of an episode was counted. All of HBO's dramas - from Deadwood to Six Feet Under - have shown audience loss under the new system.

"We never felt like we really lost all those viewers," Simon said yesterday. "But what we experienced the last few months is something all productions go through all the time in the real world of TV: Every renewal is an open question, and you have to sell yourself all over again."

It was especially true at the end of this year, because a three-season story arc involving the Barksdale drug operation came to an end with a major character, Stringer Bell (Idris Elba), killed and another, Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris), in jail.

"To be fair to HBO," Simon said, "they were watching the Barksdale story line come to an end, and they were saying, 'OK, what are you guys going to do now?' ... And, so, the last three months was a process of us pitching the new arc and saying the next couple of seasons would go in a different direction.

"While we only got the order for one season, the feeling is that if we execute well on Season 4, we'll be back for another."

Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO, said yesterday that it was the power of Simon's writing that ultimately won another season for the series: "As always happens with David, he works extremely hard constructing a story. Last weekend, he presented us with a really potent, complex and interesting story for the fourth season, and we all looked at it and said, 'There's just no way we can say no to this. It's just too good.'"

Season 4, which will start production in the summer and air in early 2006, will open with the municipal election involving Councilman Thomas Carcetti (Aidan Gillen), but the overarching theme will be education.

"Some of our story will be framed in terms of the public school system and the children enrolled there," Simon said. "In the same way that reform was a theme throughout Season 3 for a variety of characters in a variety of worlds, education will be the theme not just in the context of the school system, but in the political world, in the drug world and the police world."

Frustrating wait

Simon declined to discuss cast changes. Under the terms of the actors' contracts, the writers and producers have 10 days from the time of renewal to decide who will return and who won't.

"It's been frustrating," Simon said of the uncertainty. "HBO has in the past been a unique little cocoon for writer-producers - providing a certain comfort level for shows that were critically and creatively viable. Well, that cocoon kind of got popped open and a little bit of cold air came in, and it got uncomfortable for a while. ... But now it's sealed up again and warm and cozy."

fredfa

03-18-05, 06:15 PM

'CSI' Effect or Just Flimsy Evidence? The Jury Is Out

The Blake case raises the issue of whether forensic shows influence how much proof is needed
By Andrew Blankstein and Jean Guccione Los Angeles Times Staff Writers March 18, 2005

After listening to testimony for three months in a Van Nuys courtroom, mail carrier Lorie Moore thought her duty as a juror was clear: She would vote to convict Robert Blake for the murder of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

But when a first vote was taken within 90 minutes of starting deliberations, Moore realized hers was not the majority opinion. She was one of only two jurors who thought Blake was guilty. One other juror was undecided.

By the end of the first week, Moore said in an interview Thursday, she and the other early skeptics were mostly in agreement with the majority, having decided that the evidence presented hadn't proved the prosecution's case.

One factor that may have played into that perception, experts suggest, was an increasing desire on the part of juries for the kind of certainty shown on television programs such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," in which crimes are solved conclusively in less than an hour.

Across the country, prosecutors say juries are demanding more from them. In the Blake case, jurors said Thursday that they wanted more-convincing evidence, such as conclusive gunshot residue on Blake's hands, or a fingerprint on the murder weapon, or more precision from casual eyewitnesses about Blake's actions around the time Bakley was shot to death in a parked car in Studio City.

"There is no doubt that there's increasing expectation by jurors of [the evidence] they're going to see," said Joshua Marquis, an Oregon prosecutor and member of the board of directors of the National District Attorneys Assn. "Prosecutors across the country are very concerned about this."

Marquis found it disturbing that Blake jurors "seemed very dismissive of circumstantial evidence," he said. "Well, guess what? In most cases … you don't have physical evidence."

There is "an expectation that people from the crime labs will have super technology" to resolve a case," said Barry Scheck, president of the National Assn. of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a member of the O.J. Simpson defense team.

Nevertheless, Scheck said he thinks the "CSI effect" wasn't a factor in the Blake case. "There was an absence of evidence," he said.

Cecilia Maldonado was among the majority of jurors who felt from the beginning that the state had not proved its case. The 45-year-old Granada Hills legal secretary said she would have liked more of the kind of evidence she has seen in the cases on "CSI."

"I just expected so much more," she said, acknowledging that such television crime shows did create "a higher expectation" for her.

Blake, 71, was accused of fatally shooting his wife May 4, 2001, near Vitello's restaurant. He also was charged with soliciting two Hollywood stuntmen to kill her — both admitted former drug users whom jurors said they did not believe.

Blake's defense attorney, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, said he purposely picked jurors who would not be turned off by scientific experts testifying about particles of gunshot residue and the way blood spatters. He said he wanted jurors "who were interested in science because I knew [the prosecution] did sloppy scientific work."

"In the past, if you talked about that kind of evidence, their eyes would kind of glaze over," said Schwartzbach. "But that's not as true now, because of shows like 'CSI.' "

Potential Blake jurors were asked, "How often do you watch TV programs that show real-life or dramatized police activities (for example, 'Cops' and '911,' 'Law & Order,' 'CSI')?" Half the jurors ultimately selected said they watched such shows regularly. Two said they watched them "rarely." The answers of the others were not made public, at their request.

Once the jurors began deliberating, they examined the evidence in a detective-like fashion. "We went over every piece of evidence and broke down every witness," said Tim Donis, 28, a city employee from Northridge.

The jurors built their own timeline for the night of the slaying in an attempt to reach agreement. One holdout wanted to inform the judge early in the deliberations that they were deadlocked on the murder charge, but the others prevailed and they pressed on.

The initially skeptical Moore said she was finally swayed by the testimony of Rebecca Markham and her husband, Andrew Percival, who said they saw Blake walking alone from the direction of the restaurant in the minutes before the 911 call was made reporting that Bakley was injured.

Ironically, those witnesses were called by the prosecution.

Their testimony "gives credence to the possibility that he went back to get his gun," said juror Charles "Chuck" Safko. Moore agreed.

Moore said she was also convinced that Blake's alibi — that he returned to the restaurant where he and Bakley had eaten dinner to retrieve a handgun at the time Bakley was shot — was reasonable. The gun he said he retrieved was not used in the crime; the murder weapon was found in an industrial trash bin nearby.

Moore said she was also convinced by arguments that investigators failed to link Blake to the murder weapon, a World War II-era handgun, through forensic evidence, such as gunshot residue or fingerprints, and the fact that Blake did not have blood on his clothing.

"There was not enough evidence," said Moore, 43, of Granada Hills. "I had reasonable doubt."

On March 11, a week after deliberations began, foreman Thomas Nicholson, 66, a retired machinist from Santa Clarita, signed the verdict form finding Blake not guilty of murder.

Jurors then turned to the two remaining charges, that Blake solicited Gary McLarty and Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, two former stuntmen, to kill his wife.

Jurors could not agree on whether to believe Hambleton, who admitted using methamphetamine and lying at the preliminary hearing about his drug use. At first, he denied that Blake solicited him, then he changed his story.

"With Hambleton, it's hard to discern what he told the truth about and what he lied about," said juror Roberto Emerick, 30, a musician from Mission Hills.

Frustrated by their inability to reach consensus, they turned their attention to McLarty. Within hours Monday, the jury voted 12 to 0 to acquit Blake on the second solicitation charge involving McLarty.

"That one went real fast," said Safko, 50, a Winnetka truck driver.

Jurors believed the testimony of McLarty's adult son, Cole, over that of the father. Cole McLarty testified that his father told him Blake offered him $10,000 to beat up a stalker.

Turning back to the Hambleton issue, one juror, whom others declined to identify, still believed that Blake had solicited him to kill Bakley.

When that juror offered to vote with the majority to end the deliberations, the others refused.

"We told [the juror] don't change your mind because of us," Maldonado said.

They deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of acquittal on the Hambleton charge. The judge then dismissed the count "in the interest of justice."

fredfa

03-18-05, 06:28 PM

ABC still expected to drop 'MNF'
By Rudy Martzke USA TODAY
As NFL officials head to Maui in Hawaii for league meetings beginning Sunday, TV consultants Neal Pilson and Kevin O'Malley and IMG's Barry Frank said Thursday that they expect ABC to drop its negotiation rights to Monday Night Football, which remains among the 10 highest-rated shows but has been losing money for the network. This final season of the current NFL contract will be ABC's 36th with MNF.
But ABC Sports and ESPN president George Bodenheimer, who could be a candidate for the No. 2 post at Disney to new CEO Bob Iger, said in a statement, "The discussions with the NFL for both ESPN and ABC continue."

keenan

03-18-05, 06:51 PM

Fred, you're on a roll lately...great thread..thanks..:)

fredfa

03-18-05, 07:15 PM

Is "Bernie Mac" Done?
Word from thefutoncritic.com is that Fox is wrapping up this season of Bernie Mac on April 8 after just 16 episodes.
The year got off to a late start with Mac hospitalized for many weeks, and the ratings have been poor all season.
In the most recent weekly ratings the show (with a pair of airings) tied for 82nd (5.58 million viewers) and was 84th (5.50 million viewers).

bgall

03-18-05, 08:37 PM

Bernie Mac done for the season or done for good :(

dline

03-18-05, 08:55 PM

More indecency news ...

Looks like the FCC Enforcement Bureau is letting CNN off the hook for an "F-bomb" incident during the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Complaints came in after a live mic caught an event staffer swearing when the balloon drop malfunctioned.

As with Nip/Tuck, the EB said indecency laws don't apply to cable ... yet.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-717A1.pdf

f44

03-18-05, 10:11 PM

fredfa:

Living With Fran 8:30 PM ET Fridays starting April 8 8:30 PM ET (Special second episode that night also at 9:30 PM

- The parentheses need to be closed, and Living With Fran is an HD show (although the show's first episode at 8:30pm ET is not listed in The WB's press release as HD, the second episode is).

fredfa

03-18-05, 10:17 PM

Kirstie Alley in New Career as 'Fat Actress'
By Claudia Parsons

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – "Fat Actress" isn't a label many people in Hollywood would embrace, but former "Cheers" star Kirstie Alley is reveling in it.

She even enjoyed seeing what she admits is a very unflattering shot of her ample rear end on a 100-foot (33-meter) movie screen at the premiere party for her new sitcom "Fat Actress," which debuted this month on the Showtime cable TV network.

"We were explaining to a guest of ours it was on this huge wide screen and then midsentence I was, 'Oh my God'," Alley said in an interview the day after the premiere. "I was a little apprehensive, thinking it's going to be 100 feet wide."

Alley plays herself in the show, an overweight and out-of-work actress. The first episode opens with her wailing hysterically on the floor of her bathroom having realized that the reason she can't get a job is her size.
"My message wasn't, 'Oh wow, don't I look beautiful even though I'm hefty.' That's not what I was trying to accomplish," Alley said. "I was trying to accomplish somebody pathetically realizing that they're really fat."

There are no punches pulled in the show, which was unscripted beyond a detailed outline of the plot. The actors improvise, apparently trying to outdo each other in how politically incorrect they can be.

In one scene Alley has a meeting with the president of NBC Universal Television Group, Jeff Zucker, who plays himself, to discuss a new sitcom. Zucker is visibly shocked at her size and, when she leaves the room, calls her agent to complain about it.

"I don't think it's an attack on Hollywood," she said. "It's a comment on how if any woman walks into any interview overweight they would be all nicey nice and when she left they would go, 'Oh my God, she's so fat.' It's not exclusive to Hollywood."

FAT MEN WITH SKINNY WIVES

In another scene Alley is shouting down the phone to her agent about the injustice of a system where men have no pressure to be thin and stars like James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos" positively thrive on it.

"I know very, very few actresses who are not called in to be reprimanded about their weight," Alley said in the interview. "And that can't be true of men because if you just turn on the TV ... most men are fat."

"Apparently it's a prerequisite ... to having a sitcom. Men have to be fat and their wives have to be 20 years younger and skinny." Alley said when she was starring in "Cheers" and later "Veronica's Closet," she was constantly under pressure if she gained any weight.

"I think on 'Veronica's Closet" I started at around 140 (pounds) and got up to 160 on and off, and still at 5-(foot)-8 that's not tubby-go-lardy," she said. But she added: "It doesn't make me angry. We create our own lives." She said she is just as likely to laugh at a fat person, or animal, as anybody else.

"It does denote laziness. To me, I was lazy. I got lazy and complacent like a big fat deer," said the actress who has now signed a contract with diet guru Jenny Craig to promote the diet plan which she says has so far helped her lose 20 pounds. Under the terms of the deal Alley declined to say how much she weighs now. At age 54 and with two children, she is larger than most of her peers in show business but hardly out of the ordinary in a country where obesity is a growing problem.

Even as she strives to slim down, Alley says she is baffled by the preoccupation with looks and the body in society. "I think it needs to be made fun of. You can't be preachy and have them learn, so you have to do it in a way that you have them laugh," she said. "Is it the worst problem in the world that I need to lose 50 pounds? I don't think so."

The first season of "Fat Actress" features guest stars such as John Travolta and Kid Rock. Showtime has signed a deal with Yahoo to stream it to viewers on the Internet.

"You can't do fat jokes forever but you can certainly do them for seven shows," Alley said, promising more plot twists in the second season after she has lost weight. "I become completely promiscuous and become so in love with myself, and of course that's setting myself up for another big fall."

fredfa

03-19-05, 01:02 AM

Car Makers, Still A Driving Force in TV
By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Sunday, March 20, 2005; Page N09

So why does the television season start in September? Sure, at the end of the summer, viewing levels begin to rise as night comes earlier and the crisp weather sends us indoors. On the other hand, maybe thoughts turn to television in September because that's when the TV season has started since before some of us were born.

But really, why September? That's easy: cars.

It's the time of year when automobile manufacturers used to launch their new car lines, says David Poltrack, CBS executive vice president for research and planning.

In the early days of TV, auto manufacturers were the No. 1 advertisers, though tobacco companies were also big. "It was," he explains, "the time the advertisers wanted to focus on."

Car companies are still the top advertisers on the networks today, though their launches are more spread out in the calendar year, he says. Plus, back in those early days, car companies sponsored, and even produced, a lot of TV programming. When "The Ed Sullivan Show" (originally called "Toast of the Town") debuted in 1948, it was sponsored by Lincoln-Mercury; nearly a decade later, the theme song for "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" was "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet."

"They put these shows on when they wanted to put them on," Poltrack says.

fredfa

03-19-05, 01:02 AM

Thanks f44

fredfa

03-19-05, 12:50 PM

Friday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-20-05, 01:10 AM

Sports in HD Sunday, March 20, 2005
(All times Eastern)
NCAA Connecticut - North Carolina State CBS 12:10 PM
NASCAR Golden Corral 500 – Atlanta Fox 12:30 PM
NCAA Florida - Villanova CBS 2:15 PM
NCAA Michigan State - Vermont CBS 2:40 PM
NCAA Georgia Tech - Louisville CBS 4:45 PM

adb

03-20-05, 10:23 AM

Certainly is a nice line up for today.

fredfa

03-20-05, 10:54 AM

and then tonight there is: :)

CBS dangles shark bait
Network pumps out disaster pix in bid for younger demo
By JOSEF ADALIAN Variety.com

Critics be damned: CBS, the home of the Hallmark Hall of Fame, is turning to killer sharks and man-eating locusts in a bid to woo younger auds to its Sunday movie franchise. No, really.

In the wake of huge ratings for last fall's B-movie masterpiece "Category Six: Day of Destruction," Eye execs have decided a healthy dose of popcorn may be just the ticket to fight off those damn "Desperate Housewives."

Weepers like Keri Russell starrer "Ordinary Days" remain a big part of the net's longform future. Indeed, CBS recently renewed its association with Hallmark through 2008. But the traditional tear-jerkers are now sharing a timeslot with high-concept fare.

This week brings the babes-in-bikinis bacchanal "Spring Break Shark Attack," in which former "OC" hottie Shannon Lucio has to fend off bloodthirsty sea creatures while wearing next to nothing. And next month brings the title-says-it-all pic "Locusts," featuring Lucy Lawless as a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture scientist fighting a deadly breed of bioengineered critters swarming both coasts.

"We wanted to shake it up," says Bela Bajaria, the Eye's head of movies and minis. "We wanted to be more competitive on Sunday night and try something different." Eye's popcorn pic strategy first started taking shape following the unexpected success of NBC's 2004 earthquake mini "10.5." That led to a greenlight for "Category 6," and when that resonated with viewers, too, CBS execs figured they were on to something.

"There's an audience for this kind of movie that's perhaps not being served by features," says CBS Entertainment prexy Nina Tassler. Indeed, other than "Day After Tomorrow" and "The Core," the film studios haven't been churning out disaster pics like they used to.

Even cablers like TBS, TNT and USA -- once known for populist fare like "Atomic Twister" -- have moved away from popcorn pics in favor of more upscale fare.

"We sensed there was an opportunity there," Tassler says.

Eye execs are understandably sensitive to suggestions they're dumbing down one of the net's longest-running franchises.

"You can still have a good script with a high concept," Tassler argues. "It can still be well executed," she says.
"There's a mandate that these have to be fun, but they also have to be good movies," Bajaria says. "The quality and the production values have to be there."

Net has launched an unusually large promo campaign for a pic not even airing during a sweeps frame, even going so far as to arrange a deal with corporate cousin MTV under which the movie will serve as an official sponsor of the cabler's annual spring break festivities.

Extensive on-air promotion during the net's NCAA coverage was meant to woo young men, while street teams hit Times Square to hand out "Shark Attack" beer coolers and inflatable sharks.

CBS isn't the only net that's latched on to the B-movie trend. NBC, which kicked off the latest round of disaster dramas with "10.5," is working on several similar projects. It even snatched up a Robert Halmi-produced remake of "The Poseidon Affair" that had been headed for the Hallmark Channel.

Peacock cable entertainment and cross-platform strategy prexy Jeff Gaspin says popcorn pics offer auds "safe mayhem."

"You get to experience these awful things, but you're in your home and you know you're going to be OK," he says. "It's like a roller-coaster."

CBS is still planning just a few roller-coaster rides per season -- though if "Shark Attack" and "Locusts" both do well with viewers, that could always change.

"The goal is always to get ratings, get good reviews and to win awards," Bajaria says. "That's the goal. But not every movie is going to be that. At some point, it's about what the audience wants."

fredfa

03-20-05, 10:58 AM

Tonight's CBS shark movie inspired one of the funniest reviews in a while from Variety's Brian Lowry:

(Variety.com Review of “Spring Break: Shark Attack”)
(Movie -- CBS, March 20, 9 p.m.)
Filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, by von Zerneck-Sertner Films. Executive producers, Frank von Zerneck, Robert M. Sertner, JJ Jamieson, David Wicht; co-executive producer, Randy Sutter; producers, Peter Sadowski, Leslie Belzberg; co-producer, Ted Babcock; director, Paul Shapiro; writer, James LaRosa.

Cast
Danielle - Shannon Lucio
Shane - Riley Smith
J.T. - Justin Baldoni
Karen - Bianca Lishansky
Alicia - Genevieve Howard
Charlie - Wayne Thornley
Mary - Kathy Baker
Joel Gately - Bryan Brown

By BRIAN LOWRY variety.com

Tapping into the spirit of Roger Corman and maybe even Ed Wood, this blatantly exploitative little exercise -- positioned as it is in the midst of CBS' NCAA tournament coverage -- is so cheesy, it's almost hard not to admire. From the first sight of cardboard fins slowly cleaving through the water (swim faster, guys!), it's clear the budget went mostly into suntan lotion. The only problem, in fact, is that the producers don't quite go far enough, interrupting the skin show and reverse fish buffet with too much plot, an environmental message and even (ick) some romance.

With the kind of title normally reserved for Troma Films or CBS' sister cabler Showtime after midnight, "Spring Break" uses the traditional horror staple of comely coeds and splashes of gore, as well as the enduring maxim that wanton sexuality leads to certain death.

The plot hinges on Danielle ("The OC's" Shannon Lucio) disobeying her overprotective parents and flitting down to meet friends at spring break in Florida (actually South Africa). Soon enough, she begins a flirtation with local kid Shane (Riley Smith), who operates fishing excursions along with his mom (Kathy Baker). Conveniently, Danielle also has a marine biologist brother (Wayne Thornley) working on an antishark system and two friends who look like they're participating in the Miss Hawaiian Tropic tour.

Proving again that it's not nice to fool with Mother Nature, an artificial reef designed to boost tourism has apparently contributed to making the sharks behave strangely, along with the shenanigans of a local businessman (Bryan Brown). For some reason, no one appears to notice that drunken college students keep disappearing until the climactic sequence, which might as well be called "Jaws: Less Than 2-D."

Baker and Brown total about four minutes of screen time while the kids endeavor to save the day when not seducing each other. Still, director Paul Shapiro and writer James LaRosa deliver something of a cheat, what with the ecological poppycock and class-driven "Dirty Dancing" riff. Don't bait guys with sex and violence and try to feed them Merchant Ivory stuff, dude.

Fortunately, the hilariously bad special effects save the day, as bodies disappear into volcanic eruptions of reddish water. "This can't be real," Danielle mutters at one point, proving that she has a future as a TV critic as well as a lingerie model.

At the very least, CBS deserves some credit for playing around with the Sunday movie franchise, which can only deliver so many melodramas and Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptations in a season -- and certainly not after a day of NCAA hoops. Granted, a steady diet of "Spring Break" wouldn't be good for anyone, but as the sharks discover, an occasional serving of oily coeds makes for a refreshing snack.

slocko

03-20-05, 11:12 AM

Too bad I'm not 15 anymore. This movie would have been great for me back then :)

bgall

03-20-05, 11:57 AM

skipped saturday fred? How many people turned in to see the first installment of remaining LAX episodes?

fredfa

03-20-05, 12:03 PM

bgall: the numbers aren't out yet - should be soon, and I'll post them.

fredfa

03-20-05, 12:04 PM

More on the apparently hypnotically awful CBS shark movie...this time from Tom Shales of The Washington Post.

Tom Shales Review: Cue the Shark Music and Prepare to Be Scared
By Tom Shales Washington Post Staff Writer
What could make an aging, even ailing, television critic arise from his sick bed -- indeed, a bed not just sick but infected -- and crawl couchward to screen a television show? It would have to be some bold new departure in video storytelling, surely, or perhaps a tasteful new British serial adapted from a quaint old 19th-century novel?

No. The answer is much simpler. Four little words: "Spring Break Shark Attack."

Now there's a true dream title, the kind of thing you might expect to pop up on Cinemax in the wee hours or USA Network in prime time -- or maybe in a DVD catalogue under direct-to-video losers. But bless its old heart, the CBS Television Network is responsible for "SBSA" and has even made it the Sunday night movie, at 9 on Channel 9. No one will mistake it for a "Hallmark Hall of Fame" movie.

As trash-happy and ridiculous as it sounds, the movie isn't just another load of tired old beach bunk. For one thing, the scary parts really are scary, enough so that little kids should be sent to their rooms -- where, presumably, they can watch the less menacing aquatic antics of "SpongeBob SquarePants."

As for the rest of us, we get the requisite and appealing display of teenies in bikinis as a rather small but photogenic crowd gathers for the annual collegiate rite, a sanitized version of spring break as annually covered by MTV (owned, like CBS, by Viacom) but with gushing blood more in the vein, so to speak, of CBS's "CSI" shows.

When a partly eaten shark victim washes up onshore, for example, he really looks like a partly eaten shark victim, not the scrubbed-up visual euphemism of TV times gone by. Is this progress? Well -- kinda?

At the center of the story is the fair, dumb Danielle (Shannon Lucio of "The O.C."), who ignores her parents' warnings about spring break -- "Those boys are sharks!" Dad declares -- and dashes off to join her shapely peers on the shaky pier. Director Paul Shapiro fills the screen with local color -- bimbos and hunk-lunks in full romp -- plus a rude dude with a video camera trying to make his own "Girls Gone Wild" video.

We know this lad is perverse when we see one of his tapes. Just as the young woman in the viewfinder strips off her top, the boy turns the camera on himself for a reaction shot. Somehow one feels he has something to learn about show business, even at that lowly level.

The first shark attacks are largely implied, but they become more graphic as the film proceeds. Poor Kathy Baker and Bryan Brown are the main adult actors in the picture, and in all their scenes they tend to be just in the way. Brown plays the requisite greedy businessman who thinks an artificial reef built off the shore of this small Florida town will result in a greater influx of tourist dollars. Instead, as one might guess, it results in a massive influx of blood-hungry sharks, all of them looking for human bones to nosh on and human hair to floss with.

Director Shapiro includes the shark POV shot immortalized in "Jaws," looking up from underwater at a girl's legs bobbing like hors d'oeuvres on strings. Later, as a young woman on the pier dangles her toesies in the water, the movie delivers the first of several "yipe"-worthy shocks.

As things are really heating up in the second half, Danielle is at sea with pals ("Going out on the water is going to be so much fun," she had said -- poor, foolish child!). Suddenly, she looks through the binoculars into the distance and, astounded, gasps, "Oh, my God!"

Your critic, he doesn't mind telling you, was on the edge of the couch by now and couldn't wait for that spine-tingling next shot in which we'd see what she saw. But what the critic saw was this: "CGI" superimposed over the ocean. That meant the appropriate special effects weren't finished yet, so the poor critic didn't get to see a swarm of computer-animated sharks approaching from the distance.

Good Lord, am I going to have to watch this thing again? Oh well, duty calls.

Even without all the details sketched in, the movie still works on its own frankly silly, fitfully gripping level. When Danielle says, "This can't be happening," viewers could well be tempted to add, "And it isn't." But this is the kind of film that does not require complete suspension of disbelief. All it requires, really, is two hours to kill and a harmless lust for artificial blood.

fredfa

03-20-05, 12:21 PM

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Friday March 18th, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
Tonight’s Network Programming: Sunday 3/20/05

ABC:
America's Funniest Home Videos (R)
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (R)
Desperate Housewives (R)
Boston Legal

CBS:
60 Minutes
Cold Case HD
Made-for: Spring Break Shark Attack HD

NBC:
Dateline
The Contender
Law & Order: Criminal Intent HD
Crossing Jordan HD

Fox:
King of the Hill
Malcolm in the Middle HD
The Simpsons
Arrested Development HD
The Simpsons (R)
Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show

WB:
Charmed (two repeats)
Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge (R)

fredfa

03-20-05, 12:51 PM

Saturday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

f44

03-20-05, 04:20 PM

fredfa,

For tonight's programming, Malcolm in the Middle is in HD.

fredfa

03-20-05, 05:13 PM

Thanks f44, change made.

bgall

03-20-05, 07:16 PM

So is shark attack gonna be HD. The cbs site says yes, but our discussion about it got moved to the non-hd forum.

fredfa

03-20-05, 07:18 PM

It has been announced as being in HD for some weeks now.

bgall

03-20-05, 09:04 PM

yup it's HD, although it just started and already too much story :D

Ken H

03-20-05, 09:49 PM

Originally posted by bgall
So is shark attack gonna be HD. The cbs site says yes, but our discussion about it got moved to the non-hd forum. That was me who moved it, sorry, I didn't know it was in HD.

fredfa

03-20-05, 10:40 PM

Ken H - always a most stand up guy!
(And who helped nurture this particular thread from the start, even though it sometimes veers away from a strict discussion of HD only TV programming.)

fredfa

03-21-05, 01:41 AM

Networks Desperately Seeking Sitcoms
Big 4 Seeking the Divine Comedy
By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com March 21, 2005

The long, arduous search for the next hit network sitcom is still on. At the March network development meetings last week in Los Angeles, senior programming executives and sales staff rolled out the first glimpses of their 2005-06 development slates for advertisers and their buyers. Across all networks, the message couldn't have been more clear: Despite years of failure and millions of dollars spent on unsuccessful development, the industry is still hunting for a breakout prime-time comedy.

Four networks-Fox, ABC, The WB and NBC-made presentations for ad buyers last week, while CBS and UPN are scheduled to make similar presentations this week in New York. Though NBC's presentation was open to the press, the other three networks closed their meetings to the outside world. But conversations with some attendees gave a glimpse into what the networks have in mind for their audiences and, even more important to the bottom line, for their advertising clients.

"Everyone wants to address the fact that comedy has not had any traction in the last several years," said Stacey Lynn Koerner, executive VP and director of global research integration for Initiative Media. "Even those networks that aren't focusing predominantly on comedy are addressing the issue."

Ms. Koerner said it is too soon to tell whether the networks are on to something funny this year, since most comedy pilots have not even finished the casting process yet, let alone completed production. But with so many people focused on creating a hit, something should eventually give.

"Whenever anyone is spending a lot of energy trying to investigate an idea from multiple angles, you're bound to find something that works," she said.

Both Fox and NBC spent time promoting comedies that are scheduled to launch this season. On Tuesday Fox showed a clip of "Stacked" and brought out star Pamela Anderson to promote the sitcom, which stars Ms. Anderson as a woman with a penchant for bad boys but works in a bookstore to meet a different class of men.

On Thursday on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" set, NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly showed clips of his network's version of the BBC hit "The Office." Mr. Reilly, sitting in host Jay Leno's chair, chatted with "Office" series regular Steve Carell, who so got into the comedic spirit of things he unbuttoned his shirt twice to show the assembled ad sales community his recently shaved chest.

John Rash, senior VP of broadcast negotiations for Campbell Mithun, said the hunt for the new hit comedy goes beyond a single network securing a new series success.

"There is universal acknowledgement that the industry, let alone individual networks, are in need of a seminal sitcom in order to reverse their declining fortunes," he said. "The degree of exploration is more advanced than it has been in previous years, which should be encouraging for audiences and advertisers."

For The WB, which held its meeting last Wednesday afternoon on the Warner Bros. lot and had a cocktail reception afterward on the set of "Gilmore Girls," the emphasis on comedies came in the form of creative auspices. The network not only had comedy pilot stars including Rebecca Romijn and Camryn Manheim come out and personally talk about their respective projects but also presented high-profile producers-"Will & Grace's" Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, "Friends"' Marta Kauffman-who in the past wouldn't necessarily have been considered WB material.

In addition, The WB showed extended footage from its reality-comedy hybrid "Nobody's Watching."
Fred Dubin, managing partner of entertainment marketing and promotions for Mediaedge:cia, was pleased to see so many established producers on board.

"The auspices they have working on their shows seem to be very, very strong," he said of The WB. "They bring people with very good track records."

For Fox, part of the message to advertisers was that the network is staying the course with its "52-week season" strategy, and will launch more new shows this summer.

"We think this works," said Jon Nesvig, president of sales for Fox. "We had a couple of rough spots last year [fall 2004], but we have a better chance for success in the fall."

Mr. Nesvig said this summer, which will not include Olympics coverage on rival NBC, makes it easier for the network to get some traction on its to-be-determined summer premieres.

"Now we'll be able to premiere in August and September and hopefully get more scripted assets going after baseball," he said.

Besides "Stacked," Mr. Nesvig said the network showed footage from a number of drama pilots, including "Reunion," which in one season will profile 20 years in the lives of six high school friends. Fox also had video interviews with pilot stars including Ashley Williams, who plays the title role in the drama "Amy Coyne."

"We did a fair amount of production," Mr. Nesvig said, pointing out that there was more than just a speech from the network's Entertainment President Gail Berman. "If a lot of our best customers are going to pay their own dime to come out here, we should put on a show for them."

For ABC, which presented Wednesday morning, a more low-key approach was pursued, with President of Sales and Marketing Mike Shaw in a Q&A on ABC's development with the network's Entertainment President Stephen McPherson. ABC showed clips from two upcoming reality series, which Mr. Rash said fit with the network's existing "wish fulfillment reality brand."

One of the reality series, "Miracles," features a man with Tourette's syndrome who was so racked with tics he was unable to hold his infant son. The show then sent the man a team of experts and therapists that revealed a new procedure that might help him. By the end of the segment the procedure is completed successfully and the man is no longer exhibiting the behavior.

The second series, "Welcome to the Neighborhood," pits five families against one another in a competition for a new home.

George Thompson

03-21-05, 08:43 AM

NBC Universal Television Distribution Brings The Office Back to the BBC

The Office may be launching on NBC March 24, but the latest world news is that the BBC will be broadcasting the US version after acquiring the UK free-tv rights from NBC Universal International Television Distribution.

The six part series The Office is based on the award-winning BBC comedy from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, reworked for the US market by Reveille and NBC Universal Television Studio. In the US series, the 'office' in question is that of Dunder Mifflin paper-supply company in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Regional Manager Michael Scott (played by Steve Carrell, The Daily Show, Bruce Almighty) displays the same inappropriate management style as his British alter-ego David Brent. Scott's painstaking efforts to be liked and look cool result in personality clashes with most of his colleagues.

The BBC thinks there will be a huge curiosity from the UK audience around the US version of The Office.
http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Office/

CPanther95

03-21-05, 08:53 AM

I'll watch anything with Steve Carrell in it.

fredfa

03-21-05, 10:31 AM

Looking to Next Season
ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC Offer Their First Fall Options
By John Consoli and A.J. Frutkin mediaweek.com March 21, 2005

The four broadcast networks that shared prime-time program development plans with media buyers in Los Angeles last week--Fox, WB, NBC and ABC--seem to know what they need to do to remedy this season’s shortcomings, but, as is always the case, the question is: Will they be able to deliver?

"The general feeling is that there were a lot of shows that seem to have potential to work for each network,” said Lyle Schwartz, senior vp/director of media research at Mediaedge:cia. "But it’s going to depend on the execution: good writing, good acting, good directing.”

Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman told buyers she believes she might have the network’s next Ally McBeal and The X-Files in prospective new dramas Amy Coyne and Briar & Graves. Berman also touted new dramas The Break, a convoluted conspiracy piece in which a new clue is revealed each week, and Reunion, which also employs self-contained story lines in a single season (both shows are structurally similar to Fox’s veteran drama 24). Fox is also contemplating an Aaron Spelling dramedy, Hitched, about a brother-sister team running a Las Vegas wedding chapel.

Fox provided a preliminary tape for Reunion, which chronicles the lives of a group of friends over the course of 20 years, each episode reflecting one of those years. "Reunion looked really good,” said Laura Caraccioli-Davis, senior vp/director of Starcom Entertainment. But she added Fox might be taking some risk in trying to duplicate hits from the past. "Not only Fox, but every network seems to be looking back rather than forward for programming ideas,” she said. "The reminiscence factor may be good if you are looking for an older audience, but it may not be a way to bring in the younger audiences.”

The WB actually hopes to attract a slightly older (and broader) female audience by targeting women 25-34, rather than gearing exclusively toward female teens and women in their early 20s. One show that could fit the bill is Pepper Dennis, starring Rebecca Romijn as a career-driven reporter who sets her sights on a TV news anchor slot in Chicago. Another is Sisters, an ensemble drama from Friends creator Marta Kaufman about four sisters living in a city, coping with jobs, boyfriends, exes, husbands and the like.

Another drama, from David E. Kelley, titled Halley’s Comet, is about a woman who survives leukemia and goes to medical school. But the WB will also try to capitalize on its successful Buffy, the Vampire Slayer years with a new drama called Supernatural, about two brothers who crisscross the country tracking down the forces responsible for their mother’s murder 20 years earlier.

WB Entertainment president David Janollari hopes Supernatural will tap into the teen movie audience that has flocked to such scary films as The Grudge and The Ring. Some buyers believe it’s a savvy marketing move. "The amount of people who pay to be scared in theaters is phenomenal,” said John Rash, Campbell Mithun’s chief broadcast negotiator. " Supernatural is executed effectively, the WB could have a direct link to that audience. It’s a show that not only could play on Thursdays, but could be an attractive advertising magnet for the very theatricals it echoes.”

On the comedy front, the WB may pair sketch comedy The Ron White Show with current sketcher Blue Collar TV on Thursdays (White is part of the original BCTV crew). Perhaps the most unusual comedy buyers watched last week was the WB’s Nobody’s Watching. From Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence and NBCU TV, the project revolves around two young men who win a reality show and get to write their own sitcom. To cull ideas for their own show, the two guys visit the sets of some of TV’s most beloved comedies, where their every move is filmed. "It’s the most interesting comedy setup we’ve seen,” Caraccioli-Davis said,simply because of its dual entry points. There’s an element of bringing in the younger demographic by having two irreverent characters, and bringing in the older demographic that remembers shows like Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, even Friends.”

NBC, which currently has the fewest comedies in prime time in 25 years, will try to heavy up again next season. Kevin Reilly, NBC Entertainment president, told buyers the network plans to add a new sitcom to its Thursday lineup, and he also acknowledged that 8 p.m. time periods on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays &ldquohave been challenging for us.” He said the network will produce 12-14 comedy pilots.

While the networks all touted their desire to offer nontraditional comedies, most of those shown or described did not fit the bill, buyers said. "Most of the comedies looked very traditional,” Caraccioli-Davis said. &ldquoThere were workplace comedies, there were family comedies, just nothing out of the ordinary.”

NBC’s best attempt to break out of the box with marital sitcom Lies and the Wives We Tell Them To actually drew some fire. With a brash title and a logo that featured a ball-and-chain graphic, the show’s political incorrectness, some buyers believe, could be off-putting to at least some viewers. "If women make up 60 percent of the audience in the average prime-time night, this may not be the best way to bring them to the set,” said Stacey Lynn Koerner, Initiative’s exec vp/director of global research.

ABC, meanwhile, will try to duplicate its break-out success of this season, Desperate Housewives, with two new dramas. Soccer Moms, starring Sex and the City alum Kristin Davis, features two suburban mothers who team up as private investigators, while ensemble drama Life revolves around a group of twentysomethings struggling to find their way in Chicago.

CBS and UPN will jointly hold their development meeting with buyers on March 24.

fredfa

03-21-05, 11:09 AM

Sunday’s prime-time ratings (including the numbers for Spring Break: Shark Attack) have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-21-05, 11:23 AM

Some Big Numbers Early for the NCAA

The Associated Press--The first two days of the NCAA tournament were the highest-rated since 1991, the same year CBS began full-day coverage of the games.

The network's coverage averaged an overnight rating of 5.0 with an 11 share. That's the best since 1991's 5.0 with a 12 share.

The average is up 4% from last year's 4.8 with a 10 share.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use. The share is the percentage of homes with sets in use.

Overnight ratings measure the 55 largest TV markets in the United States, covering nearly 70% of the country.

adb

03-21-05, 11:28 AM

Wonder if HD helped these numbers any?

bgall

03-21-05, 12:08 PM

no, because HD viewers don't get counted...

bgall

03-21-05, 12:12 PM

-Networks Desperately Seeking Sitcoms
-Sunday’s prime-time ratings (Arrested Development loser)
What a confusing state, this really sux, AD is a great show :(

fredfa

03-21-05, 01:54 PM

Campaigning to save “Arrested Development”
By Michael Starr The New York Post March 21, 2005 -- THE biggest guessing game in Hollywood right now may be: will the much-loved-but -little-watched "Arrested Development" escape the axe? The off-center comedy series — starring Michael Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Walter and Jeffrey Tambor — has some powerful friends.

The biggest may be the show's executive producer Ron Howard, who provides the show's voiceover narration — and who carries a lot of clout in Hollywood. The show has also caught the eye of the Emmy and Golden Globes voters. On Fox, "24" is the only other show to get awards attention.

Averaging only 6 million viewers or so a week, "Arrested Development" would be packing its bags already if it weren't for the deep loyaly the show seems to inspire.

Several online petitions have thus far garnering over 40,000 "signatures," pleading with Fox to bring the sitcom back for a third season. "Save Arrested Development!" screams one petition posted on **************.com. "For the second consecutive year . . . the most brilliant comedy on television today is in danger of getting cancelled."

That petition had amassed nearly 32,000 signatures by late Friday.

Another "Save Arrested Development" petition, posted on petitionspot.com, has been signed by over 9,000 fans. One fan on petitionspot.com writes: "Fox is known for its risky shows! Television is in desperate need of a show like this! Don't get rid of it! Be patient!"

Fox officials say they won't decide the show's future until May, when it announces its fall schedule.

fredfa

03-21-05, 02:04 PM

Ultimate cliffhanger: Who shot J.R.?
It was 25 years ago tonight, on the season finale
By Ed Robertson medialifemagazine.com
Twenty-five years ago to the day, March 21, 1980, at approximately 10:55 p.m., a shot rang out that was heard in millions of households across America. It was the season finale of “Dallas,” television’s No. 1 show at the time.

Lord knows, if someone deserved to be shot, it was J.R. Ewing. And he got it that night after weeks of backstabbing friends, family and business partners. With only seconds left in the episode, a mysterious assailant popped into Ewing's office and shot the show's resident villain, leaving him at the brink of death as the final credits rolled.

Just who did shoot J.R.? It was a question that set off an international media frenzy that went on for many long months. Further, it was a seminal moment on television, defining forever the season-ending cliffhanger at its best. The device became a fixture in network TV and remains so to this day.

Yet no other cliffhanger since has had nearly the impact. It was a masterful device for sure, and it helped that "Dallas," one of the early primetime soaps, was the season's No. 1 show on CBS. But there were other factors at work as well that summer to make the who-shot J.R. cliffhanger a true pop cultural phenomenon. Here’s a brief look at each.

Hagman’s Power Play

Larry Hagman was actually a secondary player when “Dallas” premiered in 1978. But it wasn’t long before viewers realized that the sheer delight he brought to J.R. made “Dallas” such fun to watch. As the show soared in the ratings, so did the actor’s popularity. The series' producers cashed in, licensing a horde of products bearing J.R.’s likeness.

Hagman’s contract with the studio did not entitle him to a share in that wealth. With “Dallas” exploding as a result of the J.R. cliffhanger, Hagman saw a perfect opportunity to leverage his popularity with viewers for a better contract. He staged a walkout. The show resumed production in June 1980, but Hagman did not show. He took off for Europe.

Forget “Who Shot J.R.?” Suddenly the big questions were, “Will Larry Hagman come back?” and “What happens if he doesn’t?”

Rumors flew. There was much posturing on both sides.

The show’s producers considered throwing an accident into the storyline as a way to write Hagman out of the show. The ambulance transporting J.R. to the hospital crashes. J.R., already suffering from a bullet wound, is terribly injured, especially his face. He'll need plastic surgery, course, and that would allow the producers to substitute another actor (reportedly Robert Culp) to play J.R. Or that was one of the ideas being kicked around as filming began on the next season's first episode, with Hagman still out of the country.

But Hagman was “Dallas,” and the producers knew it was folly to continue without him. Ten days later, the actor was back on the set with a hefty raise ($100,000 per episode) plus a share of profits from J.R. merchandise.

The Emergence of 24/7 News

But Hagman’s walkout, even though it had ended, had the effect of making the question of who shot J.R. a much larger story. It was all over newsstands, including the covers of Time, People and the British magazine Punch. It also proved to be a godsend for an ambitious new cable news network, CNN.

Television news was quite different when CNN launched in June 1980. Viewers were geared toward watching the news at a set time in the evening and late night hours. Doubts abounded over whether there was really an audience for a 24/7 news channel. And who could imagine enough news to keep such a network forever in lively copy?

The timing of the J.R. shooting was perfect, giving the new network an endless stream of stories as it reported on it as a cultural phenomenon, one crossing over into politics and sports and other areas of coverage. Las Vegas laid odds on a wide range of shooting suspects, from J.R.’s beleaguered wife Sue Ellen (3-to-1) to saintly matriarch Miss Ellie (12-to-1).

The story helped CNN in other ways. As it reported each new clue, big or small, in the unfolding mystery of who shot J.R., it forced the broadcast networks and local newscasts to stay on top of the story. CBS affiliates began running teasers at the end of the 11 o’clock news promising the latest development on the outcome of the mystery.

An America in need of a diversion

"Who shot J.R." was also a welcome respite during a particularly troubling year. The economy was down in 1980. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage in Iran. Mount St. Helens erupted, causing mudslides and avalanches in Washington state.
The Olympics were held in Mo
scow that summer, but there were no American teams. The U.S. had already pulled out of the Games in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. There was a need for diversion that “Dallas” helped fill.

The Actors Strike Heightens the Suspense

Finally, another real-life cliffhanger delayed the outcome of “Who shot J.R.” two months longer than expected.

In July 1980, shortly after Hagman returned from his European holdout, the Screen Actors Guild went on strike, shutting down production throughout the film and TV industries. The key issue was over actors’ share of proceeds from the sale of programs on the then-burgeoning markets of pay television, videotape and video disk.

The strike lasted three months, forcing the networks to postpone the start of the new TV season from September until November. As a result, viewers would have to wait a total of eight months before finally learning who shot J.R. Yet the delay actually helped “Dallas.”

CBS took advantage of the delay by repeating early episodes from 1978 that established Hagman as J.R. As “Dallas” had picked up many new viewers as a result of “Who shot J.R.,” these early shows would therefore be fresh to those who hadn’t seen them.

The strategy worked. By the time the strike settled, interest in “Dallas” was at its peak. Who shot J.R was finally resolved on Nov. 21, 1980. The shooter was Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby), J.R.’s sister-in-law and jilted mistress.

Seventy-six percent of all U.S. viewers watching television that night were tuned in to “Dallas.” The episode was seen by more than 350 million people in 57 countries, including 83 million in the U.S. alone. The audience figure remains the second-highest for a single episode of a weekly television series, topped only by the final episode of “M*A*S*H” in February 1983.

Pop culture has seen other crazes emerge over the past 25 years. Ken Jennings’ winning streak on “Jeopardy!” comes to mind, as does “American Idol,” the premiere of “Survivor” in 2000, and the rage over “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in 1999.

While all were big in their own way, none came close to the far-reaching media impact “Dallas” had in the summr of 1980. It was a convergence of events the likes of which we may never see again.

fredfa

03-21-05, 02:09 PM

NCAA scores best opening-weekend numbers since '93

medialifemagazine.com--A weekend of bracket-busting boosted CBS’s coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to its highest numbers in 12 years. According to Nielsen overnights, Thursday, Friday and Saturday coverage averaged a 5.6 household rating and 12 share, the best three-day average since a 5.6/13 in 1993. Ratings for Sunday will be out later today. The three-day average was up 6 percent over last year’s 5.3/11 despite a disappointing start to the tourney with Thursday’s 4.8/10, down 6 percent from last year’s opening-day 5.1/10. CBS’s Saturday numbers were also the best since 1993, averaging a 6.9/14 among the country’s 56 biggest markets. Last year that day averaged a 6.4. Saturday got a big boost from West Virginia’s upset of second-seeded Wake Forest. The 8:15 to 11:30 p.m. window, which also featured Cincinnati-Kentucky, averaged a 7.8 rating, up nearly 20 percent over last year's same window, and peaked at a 9.9 at 11 p.m.

fredfa

03-21-05, 05:24 PM

Pilots get ready for takeoff

By Marisa Guthrie New York Daily News Staff Writer Monday, March 21st, 2005

Pilot season is in full swing in Los Angeles, where actors are lining up to audition for new TV shows that may or may not make it to the air. "American Pie" tart Tara Reid has landed a part in Fox's pilot "Hitched," about a brother and sister who run a Las Vegas wedding chapel, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Leslie Bibb ("Line of Fire") and Mark-Paul Gosselaar ("NYPD Blue") have been cast as the sister and brother opposite Reid, who becomes their reluctant business partner.

In other casting news, Brian Benben has been given a role in the ABC comedy pilot "Neighbors." Proving that good fences make good neighbors, Benben and Lenny Clarke are forced to forge a relationship when their wives and children become friends.

Christine Baranski, who played the boozing foil to Cybill Shepherd's aging actress in Shepherd's eponymous CBS sitcom, is taking on a more matronly role in the Fox pilot "Adopted." Baranski will play the mother of an adopted twentysomething son whose birth mother unexpectedly enters his life, leaving him with two moms to contend with.

And Dave Foley ("NewsRadio") may be returning to series TV if ABC picks up his drama about a teacher with an unconventional classroom persona.

The untitled project is from one of the writers of the network's Kelly Osbourne drama "life as we know it." Diminutive actor Peter Dinklage ("Living in Oblivion") has landed the lead role in the drama.

fredfa

03-21-05, 05:31 PM

CBS' NCAA Men's BasketBall Up 7%

By John Consoli mediaweek.com March 21, 2005

CBS' Sports four-day average overnight household ratings/share for its live coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship tournament is a 5.9/12, up 7 percent from a 5.5/12 last year. This year's tournament-to-date rating ties it as the best initial four-day tournament average since 1994.

The network's second-round coverage on Sunday, March 20 (noon to 7:30 p.m.) recorded an average rating of 7.1/15 in the metered markets, up 11 percent from a 6.4/14 earned last year. Within the Sunday coverage, the third window, 5:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., delivered an 8.6/16 rating in the metered markets, up 5 percent from last year.

CBS' tournament coverage begins again this Thursday night in primetime, and continues Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

fredfa

03-21-05, 06:03 PM

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Monday March 21st, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options

Monday 3/21/05

ABC:
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - How'd They Do That?
(R)
Extreme Makeover (R)
Supernanny

CBS:
Still Standing HD
Listen Up HD
Everybody Loves Raymond (R) HD
Two and a Half Men HD
CSI: Miami HD

NBC:
Fear Factor (R)
Las Vegas (R) HD
Medium HD

Fox:
Nanny 911
24 HD

UPN:
One On One (R) HD
Cuts (R) HD
Girlfriends (R) HD
Half and Half (R) HD

WB:
7th Heaven (R)
Summerland HD

TV Tidbits: Note of Interest

Premiering Today:
Twentieth Television's A Current Affair, which originally aired in syndication from 1986 to 1996, is debuting today on the Fox owned-and-operated stations in this remake hosted by Fox sports commentator and former NFL star defensive end Tim Green

fredfa

03-22-05, 11:21 AM

Monday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-22-05, 11:29 AM

The doctor is very in these days
An 'Idol'-infused renaissance for Fox's 'House'
medialifemagazine.com— Sometimes a show helps define a network, much as “American Idol” now defines Fox. But this season “Idol” has also helped define the new medical drama “House.”

At one point this season “House” was just a low-rated but well-reviewed medical drama dangling with the embarrassing lead-in “The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best.” Now, with “Idol” as its lead-in, “House” is the hottest new drama this side of ABC.

On tonight’s episode at 9 p.m., Dr. House must find out if mob boss Joey Arnello is faking an illness to get out of testifying and entering the witness protection program. This while Arnello’s brother Bill tries to slow things down and Vogler (“Boston Public’s” Chi McBride) continues to try to get House out of the hospital.

One sign a show is a hit is good ratings, which “House” has begun to get. Another is when lines from the show are posted online, just as Fox has posted “House”-isms. Among them is when a co-worker has trouble getting a female patient to do more tests, House quips, “You get that often? Women who’d rather die than get naked with you?”

That's our Dr. House.

fredfa

03-22-05, 12:55 PM

Monday Night Season to Open on a Thursday
Broadcasting & Cable 3/22/2005
ABC will air its first Monday Night Football game of the 2005 National Football League season Thursday, Sept. 8. The New England Patriots, this year’s Super Bowl champions, will host the Oakland Raiders.

The network’s football feature will air in its normal Monday slot beginning Sept. 12, when the Philadelphia Eagles visit the Atlanta Falcons. The remainder of the 2005 schedule will be announced at a later date.

This is the 36th season of ABC’s MNF. For the past 15 seasons, the show has finished in the top 10 among all broadcast-network prime-time shows in households, viewers and all key adult and male demos.

fredfa

03-22-05, 01:04 PM

Wait for new 'Sopranos' season is criminal
By Renée GrahamBoston Globe Staff March 22, 2005

When I heard last week that actress Edie Falco had adopted a baby boy, my first thought was ''Will this delay even further the return of ''The Sopranos"?

Falco is the multiple Emmy award-winning actress who plays Carmela Soprano on HBO's brilliant, brutal mob series, which in addition to remaining TV's finest drama, is also distinguished by the most absurdly long hiatuses in television history. It's gotten so bad that last month I feared that if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Groundhog Day, it would mean not just six more weeks of winter, but six additional months without ''The Sopranos."

When last we saw ''The Sopranos," New York mob boss Johnny Sack (Vincent Curatola) was in handcuffs, a surprisingly fleet-footed Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) narrowly escaped a similar fate, and everyone was still reeling from the ''disappearance" of the ill-fated Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo). That was back in June 2004 -- and there hasn't been a new episode since.

To make matters worse, ''The Sopranos" is not expected to return until sometime in 2006. (In an effort to give succor to hungry fans, the DVD release of the fifth season is scheduled for June 7.) And then, there will be only 10 episodes, for what is widely expected to be the show's final season. It's been reported that HBO is trying to coax ''Sopranos" creator and executive producer David Chase into a seventh season, but so far he isn't budging. ''There's no news on a seventh season. David Chase has publicly said the sixth season will be the last," an HBO spokesman said yesterday.

(The current hiatus has already had its share of off-camera drama. Falco was treated for breast cancer, and longtime director John Patterson died in February from prostate cancer. A friend and colleague of Chase since their days on ''The Rockford Files," Patterson directed such ''Sopranos" episodes as the second season's ''Knight in White Satin Armor," featuring the shocking murder of Richie Aprile, and last season's finale.)

Long spells of ''Soprano"-less Sundays are nothing new. There was a nearly year-and-a-half lull between seasons three and four, and a 15-month gulf between the fourth and fifth seasons of the series. Compare that with the average TV show which wraps its year in May and usually returns in the fall.

Of course, ''The Sopranos" has never been anything resembling average. Better written and acted that many big-screen offerings, Chase took what could've been little more than a one-note gimmick -- a mob boss in therapy -- and molded it into a series of remarkable depth and startling complexity. With his first-rate cast and crew, Chase has so immersed viewers in the personal and professional lives of these New Jersey mobsters, you can practically smell the gun smoke and taste the ''gabagool." (Better known among non-Italians as the deli meat cappicola.)

All this has earned Chase quite a reservoir of good will among devoted fans of the show, and without fail, every season has been worth the wait. Last season's marital jousting between the separated, then cynically reunited Tony and Carmela, Tony's handling of his recently paroled, out-of-control cousin Tony B. (Steve Buscemi), and especially Adriana's murder, finally earned the show a long-overdue outstanding drama series Emmy. (It could've won alone for the episode where Adriana got whacked; even though we all knew her demise was imminent, when Silvio pulled the trigger, it still took our collective breath away.)

Common knowledge has always dictated that Chase, who writes several episodes each season, is a meticulous perfectionist who refuses to be rushed into production, and HBO executives have no intention on messing with the makings of its franchise series. Still, these delays tax fans' patience and expectations. After each lengthy break, viewers' anticipation runs so hot and high, that each season is greeted with a flurry of disappointment and complaints that the show's quality has fallen off. Of course, that's never the case with those same people usually declaring every completed season the best ever.

At this time last year, season five had already begun. When it concluded three months later, it was assumed the show would return in a reasonable amount of time, if only to reward tolerant fans. There was even talk that Chase was shooting seasons five and six back-to-back, but alas, that was nothing more than a rumor.

Instead, we'll wait, and wait some more. Spring is here, and we'll probably be knee-deep in another bitter winter before we see Paulie Walnuts, Dr. Melfi, or Vito Spatafore again. And we know that as much as we grouse and gripe about the delays, we'll be happy to again plan our Sunday evenings around the fictional doings in northern New Jersey -- and don't think for a minute that Chase and HBO aren't banking on that as well. They know that we may hate the wait, but when ''The Sopranos" returns -- in 2006? 2007? -- so will we.

fredfa

03-22-05, 05:09 PM

Berman Leaving Fox for Paramount
By Paige Albiniak Broadcasting & Cable
Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman is exiting the network to become studio chief Brad Grey’s top creative lieutenant at Paramount Pictures, sources said Tuesday.
A Fox spokesman had no comment.

Sources are speculating that Twentieth Century Fox Television co-president Dana Walden is the leading candidate for Berman’s job, with FX chairman Peter Liguori also in the running.

Berman has headed Fox since 2000, and until now was the longest-serving entertainment president atop any major broadcast network. Under her watch, Fox developed shows including “24”, “Malcolm in the Middle” and “Arrested Development”.

fredfa

03-22-05, 05:14 PM

Cable Ratings Scorecard: Year-to-Year Comparisons

As we inch closer to the upfront, here is a season to-date listing in households (total U.S. rating) of the basic cable networks in primetime versus the comparable year-ago period:

Nick: 1.8 (+20 percent), TNT: 1.7 (+13), USA and ESPN: 1.5 each (no change), Nick/Nite: 1.4 (NA), Fox News: 1.3 (+44), Cartoon Network: 1.3 (+ 8), Lifetime: 1.3 (no change), Disney Channel: 1.3 (- 7), TBS: 1.2 (- 8), Spike TV: 1.0 (+43), A&E, History Channel, MTV and Sci Fi: 0.8 each (no change), ABC Family and FX: 0.7 each (+17), AMC: 0.7 (no change), Discovery Channel: 0.7 (-12), Hallmark Channel: 0.6 (+50), Comedy Central and TV Land: 0.6 each (+20), CNN and Court TV: 0.6 each (no change), HGTV: 0.6 (-14), TLC: 0.6 (-33), ESPN 2: 0.5 (+25), Food Network: 0.5 (no change), Animal Planet, BET and VH1: 0.4 each (no change), MSNBC: 0.3 (+50), Bravo and Travel Network: 0.3 each (no change), E!: 0.3 (-25), HLN and Oxygen: 0.2 each (+100), CMT and Weather Channel: 0.2 each (no change), GSN: 0.2 (-33), CNBC: 0.1 (no change)

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (9/20/04-3/13/05 vs. 9/22/03-3/14/04)

fredfa

03-22-05, 05:15 PM

A story detailing last week’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread. A complete list of all prime-time program ratings for last week will be posted later in the day.

fredfa

03-22-05, 05:23 PM

Fox has announced its already-canceled series "Tru Calling" will begin playing off its final six episodes on March 31.
Two hours of the drama will be shown that night beginning at 8 PM ET. Thereafter, it will be shown Thursdays at 9 PM ET.

fredfa

03-22-05, 05:28 PM

Fox Picks Up 'The O.C.' for Third Season
TVWeek.com
Fox has ordered a third season of its soapy teen drama "The O.C." The announcement was made Tuesday by Gail Berman, president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Co. This season "The O.C." has helped the network get a leg up in the ratings on Thursdays at 8 p.m. (ET).

fredfa

03-22-05, 05:36 PM

Berman exiting Fox for creative post at Paramount
By Cynthia Littleton The Hollywood Reporter

In a stunner of an executive shuffle that impacts a major network and a top movie studio, sources said Fox entertainment president Gail Berman is headed to Paramount Pictures to take on the top creative post under newly appointed chairman Brad Grey.

Sources said Berman informed News Corp. president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin of her decision to leave the network for Paramount late Monday night. Berman had been in negotiations with Fox to renew her contract with the network, which is set to expire later this year.

Berman has been Fox Broadcasting Co. entertainment president since 2000. During her tenure, the network has developed such signature series as the Emmy-winning "24" and "Arrested Development." She joined the network after developing its hit family comedy "Malcolm in the Middle" during her two-year tenure as the founding president of Regency Television, a joint venture of News Corp. and New Regency Enterprises. Before that, Berman was president of Sandollar Television, where she helped Joss Whedon develop "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" into a TV series for the WB Network.

fredfa

03-22-05, 05:42 PM

Berman Leaves Fox Television To Take Job at Paramount
By BROOKS BARNES Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

NEW YORK -- Gail Berman, president of entertainment at News Corp.'s Fox television network, has resigned and is taking a top creative position at Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ms. Berman has headed Fox for about five years, making hers as one of the longest reigns in that position. Under her watch the network has found big ratings success with the reality smash "American Idol," but also struggled to develop hit comedies and dramas.

Ms. Berman becomes one of the first hires of Brad Grey, who was tapped to take over Paramount Pictures in January. Paramount has had problems of its own as of late with several high-profile box-office flops. A well-regarded television executive with strong ties to the creative community, Ms. Berman developed the juggernaut "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" before joining Fox.

She also was one of the key forces behind an effort to reinvent how networks do business by launching shows year-round. That strategy initially was a boon for the network, providing a prominent showcase for series like teen drama "The O.C." during the doldrums of summer. But several of last summer's high-profile launches failed to catch fire, and while "American Idol" remained a ratings juggernaut, "The O.C.'s" audience shrank, and several reality shows fizzled.

Ms. Berman, who started her career as a theater producer before moving to television, is leaving Fox a few weeks before the annual "upfront" period, when networks unveil pilots for the following year for advertising executives.

By hiring Ms. Berman, Mr. Grey appears to be moving to invigorate the struggling studio. Once one of Hollywood's most powerful players, responsible for hits like "Titanic," "Mission: Impossible" and "Forrest Gump," Paramount has struggled as it shifted its emphasis away from blockbusters to less-risky, moderate-budget films. While some of those projects succeeded, several of the studio's biggest releases last year, including "The Stepford Wives," did poorly.

Mr. Grey moved into the top job only a month or so ago, joining Paramount after serving as one of Hollywood's leading talent managers whose clients included Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. At Paramount, he succeeded two of Hollywood's most established movie executives, chief executive Sherry Lansing and studio head Jonathan Dolgen.

f44

03-22-05, 06:04 PM

Another Mid Season Replacement:

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie (5-night miniseries as part of The Wonderful World of Disney), Not HD, ABC, 8pm ET on Saturdays, Starts March 26 (Last Episode of Miniseries is April 23), First Episode is a two-hour episode. If you list, include the "Laura Ingalls Wilder's" part of the title as a) it is part of the title and b) it signifies that the show is based on the book(s?) rather than the old show.

f44

03-22-05, 06:07 PM

I wonder if Berman's depature will hurt Arrested Development's chance of Season 3. :(

PJO1966

03-22-05, 06:08 PM

Originally posted by f44
Another Mid Season Replacement:

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie (5-night miniseries as part of The Wonderful World of Disney), Not HD, ABC, 8pm ET on Saturdays, Starts March 26 (Last Episode of Miniseries is April 23), First Episode is a two-hour episode. If you list, include the "Laura Ingalls Wilder's" part of the title as a) it is part of the title and b) it signifies that the show is based on the book(s?) rather than the old show.

Does this have anything to do with the TV movie that was made two or three years ago? It had one of the girls from Dawson's Creek (Andie?) as Laura.

fredfa

03-22-05, 06:21 PM

I usually don't list miniseries, f44. It is just too time consuming.
But thanks for the tip!

fredfa

03-22-05, 06:54 PM

Networks hard at work to sign up sitcoms

By Gary LevinUSA TODAY
NBC's remake of the British comedy The Office, premiering Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET/PT), may be the riskiest new network TV series this year. The lead character is an obnoxious boss, and the humor is based on awkward silences, not laugh-track-sweetened punch lines.

But the six-week tryout is the clearest sign yet of the risks that networks will shoulder to escape a comedy drought. Only the departing Everybody Loves Raymond ranks in this season's top 10, while the biggest anticipated newcomer, NBC's Joey, is a mere No. 39.

Even as dramas and reality series flourish, aside from CBS' Two and a Half Men, "there hasn't been a new comedy in several years that has really grabbed ahold" of viewers, NBC Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly says.

So new shows in the works for next season offer some unusual plots. NBC's Early Bird features a 27-year-old guy at a retirement home. And then there's Earl, about "a petty thief who has an epiphany after winning the lottery," Reilly says. The show offers another departure: "We haven't seen a lot of rednecks on NBC" lately.
Networks will pick their fall lineups in mid-May.

"In general, the state of comedy is liberating to us," says Craig Erwich, Fox's executive vice president of programming. "It gives us license to roll the dice" with riskier projects.

Other comedy trends:

•Familiar faces. TV often depends on well-known names to launch shows, although stars are no guarantee of success. This year, the comedy-star quotient seems even larger and includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Heather Graham, Freddie Prinze Jr., Geena Davis, Donald Sutherland, Melissa Joan Hart, Kristen Johnston and Brooke Shields.

•Drama crossovers. Serious actors are crossing over. James van der Beek (Dawson's Creek), Kyle Chandler (Early Edition), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Julie Bowen (Ed) and Alicia Silverstone (Miss/Match) lead sitcom pilots.

•Singles are everywhere. Call it the anti-Raymond. Many pilots abandon nuclear families in favor of blended clans, single moms, singles looking for love and single co-workers. It also reflects a greater interest in workplace series, which have been scarce in recent seasons.

Despite the changes, some Hollywood talent agents say new comedy scripts are only marginally better than this season's weak crop. Outspoken agent-turned-producer Gavin Polone is less generous.

"They all stink," he says. "The pilots being made everywhere are derivative and silly." Polone acknowledges he's guilty, too, for WB's 2002 Family Affair remake. "Even when they try to break out of the mold (of) the family with the couch and TV, then it's derivative of something else."
-----------------------------------------

(For network-by-network details see "What tickles the networks" -- the following post.)

fredfa

03-22-05, 06:55 PM

What tickles the networks

By Gary LevinUSA TODAY

In developing new series for next season, broadcast networks are on a quest to end a comedy drought. In May, they'll choose from about 80 sitcoms preparing pilot episodes. USA TODAY offers a snapshot of what each network has in mind.

ABC: Accessibility is in the mix

ABC's drama success this season isn't matched by its aging family-sitcom lineup, so "we cast a wider net" with more off-kilter shows and female-centered sitcoms, entertainment chief Steve McPherson says. Still, "we have to make sure it's accessible to our audience. We're not going to go so far that we're doing a brilliant Comedy Central show."

Contenders include Freddie Prinze Jr. as a single guy in a houseful of women; Chris Kattan as an egomaniacal consumer reporter; Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) as a soon-to-retire athlete training his replacement; Heather Graham as a luckless-in-love woman on Emily's Reasons Why Not, based on the book; and Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent) as "the world's least-motivated teacher" thrust into a classroom of Type A students.

Fox: The workplace is where it's at

Fox is aiming for more workplace comedies. Kitchen Confidential takes place in a fancy New York restaurant; The Loop follows a Chicago-based airline's youngest executive; New Car Smell, starring Brooke Shields, is set at a Las Vegas car dealership; the Queen B (Alicia Silverstone) is a high-achieving trend forecaster. Programming exec Craig Erwich says Fox was "more consciously aggressive about developing shows" that recall Taxi and Barney Miller, setting one new sitcom at a Times Square police precinct.

NBC: 'Fresh' and 'honest' are the watchwords

As the originator of "must-see" comedies, NBC especially is feeling intense heat. Once home to 18 candidates, it aired three last week. "I don't think the answer has to be that it's groundbreaking or something you've never seen before," entertainment chief Kevin Reilly says. "But a lot of comedies don't seem to be particularly fresh, and they don't seem to be particularly honest."

Among the network hopefuls: All In, about a single-mom poker champ (Janeane Garofalo); Hot Property, about cutthroat real estate agents; Dante, about an NFL star and his 3-foot-tall Uncle Goldy; Lies and the Wives We Tell Them To, about four couples for whom "innocent fibs" cause major ripples; and Notorious, starring Tori Spelling in a fictionalized version of her life.

CBS: The stars make the show

CBS loves Raymond, but the end of the hit comedy's nine-year run in May will be eased by Two and a Half Men, TV's No. 2 comedy that's sure to inherit Raymond's Monday time slot. Always a fan of star-driven shows, the network has enlisted Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld) as Old Christine, a divorced woman battling her ex along with soccer moms at her son's school; James van der Beek as the star of Three, about a married couple and a single best friend; and Tiffani Thiessen in Stroller Wars, about new parents in Manhattan.

WB: Star power and witty writing

WB hopes to juice up its perennially struggling comedy lineup, mostly confined to sluggish Fridays and built around lone hit Reba. Potential sitcoms include Nobody's Watching from producer Bill Lawrence (Scrubs), about two guys who create a sitcom after winning a reality show, only to find their lives are the show.

Also on tap are several "female point-of-view shows that are wildly, hopefully romantic," says WB president David Janollari, and fill a "real void on the air right now." The network is turning to more established writers and well-known stars: Jane Leeves (her daughter finds her sperm-donor dad, and they reunite); Anne Heche (a woman dumped by her boyfriend while she's in labor); and The Practice's Camryn Manheim (who battles soccer moms in her new neighborhood).

UPN: Reality concept drives the laughs

UPN's stable of urban sitcoms has dropped sharply this season, and the network is looking to broaden its focus by building on the appeal of reality hit America's Next Top Model among young women. Spring's top comedy prospect is Everybody Hates Chris, based on the life of comedian Chris Rock, who provides the voice-over narration to this tale of a black kid who attends a nearly all-white Brooklyn school in 1982. Also in the hopper: Talk Show Diaries, about the off-camera exploits of a trio of female morning-TV hosts.

f44

03-22-05, 07:44 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
I usually don't list miniseries, f44. It is just too time consuming.
But thanks for the tip!

I know. Just mentioned because the schedule for this one is just like NBC's Revelations, and if it does well, it might lead to a regular series.

fredfa

03-22-05, 07:48 PM

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Tuesday March 22nd, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options

Tuesday 3/22/05

ABC:
My Wife and Kids (R) HD
George Lopez (R) HD
According To Jim HD
Rodney HD
Blind Justice HD

CBS:
NCIS HD
The Amazing Race 7
Judging Amy HD

NBC:
Will & Grace (R, 43-minutes) HD
Scrubs (two expanded repeats)
Law & Order: SVU (R) HD

Fox:
American Idol HD
House HD

UPN:
All Of Us (R)
Eve (R)
Veronica Mars (R) HD

WB:
Gilmore Girls (R) HD
The Starlet

TNT HD:
NBA Detroit vs. Cleveland HD
NBA Miami vs. Houston HD

fredfa

03-22-05, 07:49 PM

f44: Little House certainly seems like it is worth a look -- especially if there are kids in the house.

fredfa

03-22-05, 09:13 PM

Last week’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-22-05, 09:59 PM

Each network’s top five and bottom five programs in last week’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

f44

03-22-05, 11:18 PM

fredfa,

NBC.com says Will & Grace is not HD tonight. Also, have no interest in Little House..., was just posting info.

fredfa

03-23-05, 12:48 AM

What follows are reviews of three anticipated TV program premieres from Los Angeles Time critics.

LA Times Review: “Chasing Farrah”
TV Land reality show give intriguing glimpses into her life, but lacks sense of structure.
By Paul Brownfield The Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 23, 2005

It's not at all clear that we're still chasing Farrah Fawcett, even though TV Land debuts a reality show tonight called "Chasing Farrah," in which Fawcett ponders whether or not she wants to do a reality show as she's doing one and speaks candidly about how the world is still chasing her.

"I have to be prepared when I go out because the next day I'm critiqued, it's reviewed — 'She didn't look good, what's going on?' " Fawcett tells the camera at one point.

But there's a Farrah-doth-protest-too-much quality to these laments; yes, she's still an icon, capable of creating a stir in public, but "Chasing Farrah" pretends there's a media maelstrom just outside her door at all times.

Like "Fat Actress," in which Kirstie Alley bellows at herself, "Chasing Farrah" is a forced piece of fiction grafted onto a genre, the celeb-reality series, that "The Osbournes" once had us believe could have its own wacked authenticity.

Much of "Chasing Farrah," in fact, has to do with how to construct "Chasing Farrah," featuring Farrah as the reluctant star of her own reality show. "Everyone's been after her," says Fawcett's agent, Harry Gold, which raises a question: Was Gold the one who told HBO, "Your offer is nice, but I've got TV Land on hold."

"Chasing Farrah" shows potential when it stops lying to us about how wanted and pawed over Fawcett still is (basically the entire contrived first episode tonight) and just gives us a window onto her world. Because Farrah, and by extension the show, is not without fascination — a former sex symbol presenting herself to us, albeit ambivalently, so that we might gawk at her freely.

Fawcett's publicist, summing up her most enduring contributions to the culture, refers to "everything from the hair to the nipples to the persona." I'm not sure how many of those things are still hers, from birth, but Fawcett is still a cultural touchstone, someone whose image has endured longer than Jessica Simpson's will, to say nothing of the young unknowns currently throwing themselves at fame on the WB's "The Starlet."

Because unlike them, Fawcett is old school — her public image grew out of a poster, for God's sake. Do they still even make posters? (In the interest of full disclosure, the poster over my bed as a boy was not Fawcett's but Raquel Welch in "One Million Years B.C.").

Even Fawcett's team, particularly the manager and the agent, look like entertainment industry figures from another era — guys who might also represent Vegas entertainers, perhaps a cruise ship comedian-magician. And so "Chasing Farrah" keeps you, insofar as you're able to feel wistful about the march of time and buy into the idea that Fawcett is letting us into her life.

But this is also where the show gets muddled, because it's difficult to gauge what she does, hour to hour or day to day. She's just full of meshugas, is what the show tells us, and being full of meshugas, you know, keeps you busy. In the meantime, we see her flying back and forth to New York (where the plane's pilot, wanting her autograph, conveniently produces a poster he apparently never flies without) and, of course, putting together the reality show that we're now watching.

"So why are people interested?" Fawcett asks as she plays with the strap of a sparkling bustier before an evening out. "Because they're, like, waiting for me to mess up or something? No. Hope not."

It's a veiled reference to an infamous appearance on "The Late Show With David Letterman," during which she acted crazy and/or on drugs. There was also the 1998 court case when Fawcett filed battery charges against then-boyfriend James Orr.

You may scoff, ladies and gentlemen, but these constitute a body of work — crucial building blocks for any former star's second or third career.

Stick around at least for episode two, when Fawcett eats dinner with her ex-husband and on-again-off-again true love, Ryan O'Neal. It's almost like watching "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" only without the brutal recriminations and boozing and throwing of heavy objects. As they poke at a very large spread of food for two, and later dance close to a song Fawcett did for the soundtrack of "Logan's Run," you do finally feel like you're in the presence of some weird kind of truth as opposed to a reality-show lie.

That truth is about love, I think, in that Fawcett and O'Neal actually seem to belong together. It's not so much what they say as it is their chemistry — Fawcett cradling O'Neal against her chest in a tender moment, O'Neal gazing at Fawcett with sad-eyed affection as she babbles on about whatever it is she babbles on about (that meshugas thing again). More than anything, O'Neal seems to give Fawcett what her show lacks — ballast and a sense of structure.

'Chasing Farrah' Where: TV Land When: 10 p.m. ET
Ratings: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)
Farrah Fawcett...Herself
Ryan O'Neal...Himself

fredfa

03-23-05, 12:49 AM

LA Times Review: “Life On A Stick”
Fox's latest sitcom has an attractive cast in cookie cutter roles.
By Robert Lloyd The Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 23, 2005

The first law of the physics of television programming is that, for any given network, there will be as many hours of prime-time programming as it takes to fill the available hours of prime-time television. Although this sounds like mere tautology, a matter of x = x, it explains much about the medium. TV abhors a vacuum: Something needs to fill that space, and something will.

Certainly there seems to be no other reason for the existence of "Life on a Stick," premiering tonight on Fox, than to occupy half an hour of airtime for however many weeks it can manage to stay alive (h/2 x w). There is nothing here that was crying to be said. It barely has a premise, really, just a setting: a corn-dog stand inside a shopping mall, whose employees wear awful colorful costumes clearly inspired by those worn at the real Hot Dog on a Stick (various locations). Perhaps it was a visit to one such stand that started the wheels turning in the head of creator Victor Fresco, who has been connected as a producer and/or writer with several better series, including "Almost Perfect," "Mad About You" and "Evening Shade." But they stopped turning too soon.

The series does put Amy Yasbeck ("Wings") to work again, admirably enough, but why she is doing this particular thing and not something else is harder to explain. And though Yasbeck is the nearest to a star the show has to offer, she is at the fringes of the action here, sidelined into parenthood along with screen husband Matthew Glave, while the show focuses primarily on the younger generation, by whom they are mostly confused and frightened, even after umpteen years.

These include his nearly-19 slacker son Laz (Zachary Knighton), her snarky 16-year-old daughter Molly (Saige Thompson) and their precocious 9-year-old son Gus (Frankie Ryan Manriquez) — it is a second-marriage-for-both situation, and was originally titled "Related by Family" — along with Laz's idiot friend Fred (Charlie Finn) and predictably perfect girlfriend Lily (Rachel Lefevre). The principal characters — which are not so much characters as embodied attitudes with a few stray details taped on — seem to have been shaped and cast in such a way as to remind viewers of the network's "That '70s Show," with Knighton, Finn and Lefevre standing in for Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher and Laura Prepon. But whether this was coincidental or intentional or unconscious, I don't know, nor does it much matter.

The hot dog stand scenes add nothing to the subject of fast food that wasn't already rendered by Judge Reinhold and Stuart Cornfeld in a few scenes from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." The nightmare boss here is Mr. Hut (Maz Jobrani), in a characterization one might call racially insensitive were Jobrani not himself actually Persian. As delivered by Finn (working in the venerable "Dude!" vein of comic acting) the name "Mr. Hut" also brings to mind "Fast Times," insistently reminiscent as it is of Sean Penn's Jeff Spicoli pronouncing the name of his nemesis, "Mr. Hand." Intentional homage or lack of imagination? Let us imagine the former.

All that said, the production values are high, and the players are nice to look at and give the material everything the material asks of them, and perhaps a little more. (Glave plays his TV dad as if on a cocktail of mood elevators — his performance is the one thing here that feels at all new.) There are some undeniable laughs and the vicarious fun of watching foxy teens get frisky; for balance, the adults, who are also foxy, get frisky too. Even the complete and utter expectedness of it all, and the way the show requires only the mildest sort of attention from the viewer, can be seen in a kind of positive light, as the pleasure of an undemanding familiar taste, fatty and fried and full of reconstituted odds and ends, a corn dog for the soul.

'Life on a Stick' Where: Fox When: 9:30 p.m. ET
Ratings: TV-14 DLS (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14, with advisory for coarse language, suggestive dialogue and sex)
Zachary Knighton...Laz
Charlie Finn...Fred
Rachelle Lefevre...Lily
Maz Jobrani...Mr. Hut
Amy Yasbeck...Michelle
Matthew Glave...Rick

fredfa

03-23-05, 12:49 AM

LA Times Review: “The Office”
The American version of the hit British sitcom is admirable, but it lacks the likable smarm of Ricky Gervais
By Paul Brownfield The Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 23, 2005

NBC's "The Office" is a curious experiment in the comedy import-export business, a remake of a show that originated in England but with elements seemingly drawn from American pop culture — computer-glazed office drones shot in a deadpan, mock documentary style.

In England, "The Office," starring Ricky Gervais and created by Gervais and Stephen Merchant, became a sleeper hit, airing discreetly on the BBC for 12 episodes over 2001 and 2002, and the cult following it picked up here added to the perception that British comedy is a slower burn, more sophisticated and character-driven, whereas American sitcoms continue to hit audiences over the head with a mallet.

NBC's remake of "The Office" is not a mallet show, but it can only simulate the heart and wit of the original. The devices are in place, and there's intelligent writing, but here the approach feels a bit tired, like a better version of those commercials set in offices, where the drabness of corporate life is mocked to sell some shiny new gadget, or to make you feel superior to it all.

Lost in translation is the sadness behind the characters on the BBC series, the utterly dreary lives outside the office from which the comedy inside the office emanates. Yes, these poor blokes are being derided, but at the same time the show elicits your compassion for them.

In the original, Gervais plays the most pathetic among them — David Brent, regional manager of the Slough branch of Wernham Hogg, a paper company. As Brent sees it, the principal job of a boss is to entertain his staff of lethargic desk-dwellers with pranks and jokes, never mind that he has no sense of boundaries, horrible comedic instincts, numerous personality disorders and an authority based on nothing so powerful as the fact that nobody else in the office can muster the energy to covet his job.

All of this is told quietly — handheld camera with which the characters make furtive eye contact, no laugh track, no audience, bleating phones or copy machines reminding you that some kind of work is being conducted. The show, seemingly too idiosyncratic and slow at first, is a statement about the odd sociology of office life, shown in a series of brilliantly self-contained moments and in interviews Brent gives to the documentary crew capturing his leadership in action.

"When people say, 'Oh, would you rather be thought of as a funny man or a great boss,' my answer is the same — to me, they're not mutually exclusive," Brent tells the camera in one of his self-deluded raps. "There's the weight of intellect behind my comedy.... "

You can't know how funny that scene is without seeing Gervais in action, fondling his tie and pitching his inflection between arrogance and digressive insecurity; his performance is a kind of continuous character study. When "The Office" made its way to the States, airing on BBC America, it gained more loyalists, and in 2004 the Hollywood Foreign Press — clearly a group with premium cable — gave the show and Gervais Golden Globes.

"I'm from a little place called England," Gervais said from the stage that night. "We used to run the world before you."

Quite right, now we run the world. Now we run the world and we decree that "The Office" shall be made American and premiere on one of our finest broadcast networks on our finest night, Thursdays, at one of our finest hours, 9:30 p.m., after Donald Trump and "The Apprentice."

For the remake, Gervais and Merchant agreed to take on the Tony Blair role to NBC's President Bush; they share co-writing credit on the pilot with executive producer Greg Daniels, ex of "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill." The story arc in the first episode (as well as some of the jokes, including a stapler encased in Jell-O), is the same as in the original: Michael Scott (Steve Carell) runs the Scranton, Pa., office of Dunder-Mifflin, a paper supply company, which is facing layoffs and the prospect of being folded into another regional office. At first, Scott, who purchases his own "World's Best Boss" coffee mugs from Spencer Gifts, doesn't think it will help morale to impart the news. "As a doctor, you would not tell a patient they had cancer," is his reasoning.

Carell is a former correspondent on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"; if you ever saw him debate fellow correspondent Stephen Colbert, or do Produce Pete, a slowly unraveling green grocer, you know Carell can sustain that tightly wound comedic poker face for as long as necessary. Michael Scott, like David Brent, believes he has a God-given ability to entertain. Episode two, in which Scott, seizing a performance opportunity, hijacks a diversity training session, showcases Carell at his zany best. "I wish every day was diversity day," he proclaims, and soon has the staff wearing index cards on their foreheads that say "Jewish" or "Italian" or, in Scott's case, "Martin Luther King. Jr."

But this role also requires Carell to show humanity, to allow us to feel into his character, however unctuous he is, and like Jim Carrey in a Jim Carrey comedy, Carell has trouble getting at the gradations that would make the person behind the ticks and the dead-on timing emerge.

As a result there's a menace to Carell's character that I didn't want to feel, a sociopathic, beady-eyed quality that's too cartoon, and that gives the show a colder edge. This "Office" will have to rely less on him as a guiding voice than "The Office" relied on Gervais. The American version features doppelgangers of the original cast — Dwight (Rainn Wilson), the outsized nerd with a Napoleonic complex, and Jim (John Krasinki), the mop-haired sales rep who has a sweet thing going with Pam (Jenna Fischer), the put-upon receptionist.

It's fairly careful transplant surgery, all in all, and for this "The Office" deserves credit, particularly given the shabby recent history of Americanized versions of British sitcoms, like NBC's "Coupling" and a CBS remake of "Fawlty Towers" starring John Larroquette. "The Office" isn't that, but the voyage from England still finds it without some of its luggage intact. At the end of "Will & Grace" last week, NBC ran a promo for the premiere with the tagline, "for anyone whose boss is an idiot." That's promo-speak, I know, but I cringed all the same that "The Office" would be reduced to that.

'The Office' Where: NBC When: 9:30 p.m. ET
Ratings: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)
Steve Carell...Michael Scott
Rainn Wilson...Dwight Schrute
John Krasinski...Jim
Jenna Fischer...Pam
B.J. Novak...Ryan Howard

George Thompson

03-23-05, 07:56 AM

HD Focus

Mar 22, 2005 4:14 PM
Millimeter article

Underwater 3D, in HD
By Michael Goldman
Once he decided to make a 42-minute, IMAX 3D documentary about sharks -- called Sharks 3D -- filmmaker Jean-Jacques Mantello had no real choice but to use high-definition cameras. Early on, Mantello and DP Gavin McKinney realized they would never get the close coverage of sharks that they desired underwater using the dual-strip, 14-perf, 65mm film cameras typically used for IMAX 3D productions. Therefore, the filmmakers picked a twin HD camera solution, with custom-designed underwater camera housings, and a specially designed postproduction pipeline for transforming that imagery into a 3D, 65mm negative.

“The IMAX 3D (film) cameras are just too big for shooting underwater, and they are very noisy,” Mantello explains. “To film sharks, you have to move fast underwater and be very quiet, so there was no way that approach would work. Therefore, we chose HD cameras in housings we designed ourselves.”

He has experience with stereoscopic filmmaking that dates back to the early 1990s, and alongside James Cameron and his colleagues, Mantello and the Paris-based company that produced the film, 3D Entertainment, have in recent years been innovating methods for using HD cameras to shoot large-format underwater imagery. As with Cameron’s recent documentary work, Mantello’s team built its solution around two Sony HDW-F900 HD cameras in a stereoscopic configuration.

For Sharks 3D, Mantello designed a unique camera housing to permit the capture of side-by-side, left-eye/right-eye imagery necessary to build a 3D image during the post-production process. Mantello’s team in Paris built the housing, giving filmmakers the flexibility they needed to track and film their elusive subjects.

“The first housing we designed had a total weight of about 300lbs., including the camera, and we needed a crane to get it in and out of the water,” Mantello explains. “But we designed a second housing that weighed just 150lbs., with the camera, and that was a big improvement. We began using it three months into production. It let us get in and out of the water from a rubber boat, to really infiltrate the shark’s habitat. That housing was made of aluminum, with no soldering, meaning it was created from a large aluminum sheet that we adjusted to the exact size of the cameras. Inside the housing, we mounted the two cameras on an electronic plate with small motors that let us change angles and camera position efficiently. We also reduced the size of the electronic component of the remote control unit inside the housing.”

Mantello adds that his team relied on Fujinon 13X4.5 VS lenses, in addition to a custom-designed optical system for the housing itself.

Mantello says the journey those HD images took to a 14-perf/65mm film master actually began on the production boat used during the making of the movie. It was there that filmmakers first examined their footage in a 3D environment.

“We had two 23in. Apple Cinema HD displays on the boat in a 3D monitoring room, and we viewed the images on those monitors through a special optical rig that we designed,” he explains. “We also brought along 3D electronic shutter glasses, and that gave us a good idea what things would look like in 3D. We actually used this monitoring approach, using both Apple and Sony HD monitors, throughout the entire editing process to view 3D imagery in realtime.”

Mantello’s company then processed, edited, and otherwise manipulated the imagery at its Paris facility, mainly using a combination of proprietary software enhancements to off-the-shelf tools like Final Cut Pro HD for editing and Adobe Premiere for color correction and effects. Filmmakers then enhanced and up-rezzed the imagery using a proprietary digital enhancement and restoration tool built around a spatial and temporal algorithm. Developed in-house, the algorithm works much like IMAX Corp.’s DRM technology. The film was eventually transferred from HD to 65mm film using a Celco Fury digital film recorder.

Mantello concedes the process required a great deal of in-house R&D and massive computing power: 3D Entertainment built a SAN with over 60TB of hard disk space for the project. But he points out that the kind of work his company and Cameron and his colleagues are doing have, essentially, opened up yet another market, albeit a niche one, to high-definition acquisition—large-format documentaries shot in harsh environments.

“There are not a lot of people right now doing this kind of work, but I come from an engineering background, so for us, it was relatively straightforward,” he says. “Jim Cameron is doing similar work with his own approach. But it’s still a small market, and there are just a couple of small companies filling that market’s needs right now. We’ve figured out solutions that make it possible to make these kinds of movies.”

mp3trojan

03-23-05, 09:35 AM

Originally posted by Jim Tressler in the AI thread.

From the idolonfox website... personally, they should just replay last nights show to be fair..

"IMPORTANT PROGRAM NOTE CHANGE
Due to an error with the graphics shown on-screen (incorrect voting numbers were displayed) during the performance recap at the end of last night’s AMERICAN IDOL, a live, one-hour show will air tonight, Wednesday, March 23 9/8c on FOX, to enable a re-vote. This new show will combine new live elements with encores of Tuesday’s performances from the remaining 11 contestants.

Phone lines will open at the conclusion of tonight's show and will remain open for two hours to give viewers the chance to vote for their favorite contestants and keep them in the competition. Only the voting results from tonight’s show will determine who received the lowest number of votes and will be sent home this week. Tune in to see who America has chosen to stay and who is sent home on the live results show tomorrow, Thursday, March 24 9/8c live on FOX.

RECAP
NEW LIVE SHOW & ENCORE PERFORMANCES THEN RE-VOTE - TONIGHT 9/8c
LIVE RESULTS SHOW - TOMORROW 9/8c

mp3trojan

03-23-05, 09:37 AM

Originally posted by ME in the AI thread.

Come on now.....

Do you ACTUALLY think that was a mistake???? A chance for FOX to have a near 30 share in the ratings three nights in a row??????

Do you know how much money that "mistake" just made for FOX???
And a chance to dominate Thursday night.

Come on now.....

fredfa

03-23-05, 11:07 AM

Marc Berman’s analysis of last week’s prime-time network ratings and Tuesday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-23-05, 11:44 AM

Alley of death for 'American Dreams'
Tonight's killer 8 p.m. slot claiming its latest victim
By Toni Fitzgerald medialifemagazine.com
Perhaps NBC acted too soon in canceling the cult favorite drama “Ed” last year. Thus far this season, the 8 p.m. Wednesday time slot that “Ed” had occupied has hosted two of the season’s biggest busts, the quickly canceled “Hawaii” and the low-rated reality show “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search.” Now it looks like the latest occupant of that slot, third-year show “American Dreams,” may be its third casualty.

The show’s ratings have slid this season, especially once it moved from Sundays at 8 to Wednesdays at 8 earlier this month. Season-to-date, “Dreams” has averaged a 2.5 rating among adults 18-49, down 22 percent from last season’s 3.2 average. Last week’s episode averaged a dismal 1.9 rating, ranking fifth in its timeslot behind even UPN’s “America’s Next Top Model” and ahead of only the WB’s “Smallville” rerun.

The 1960s-set “Dreams” follows high school idealist Meg, a dancer on “American Bandstand” who seems to confront a new Vietnam-era problem every week. Racism, feminism, teen pregnancy and the Vietnam War have all been examined over the past three seasons. But “Dreams” may not last many issues longer. Besides the slipping ratings, another bad sign came last week when Gail O’Grady, who plays Meg’s mom on the show, signed onto a new ABC pilot.

That seems to indicate that the cast has little hope. NBC officially says nothing has been decided yet, but it’s very doubtful “Dreams” will return.

“Dreams” was considered a bubble show the past two seasons. NBC likes the show’s prestige. It has attracted stars such as Paris Hilton, Kelly Clarkson and Alicia Keys to play historical figures on “Dreams’” faux “American Bandstand.”

NBC also likes the fact that it’s family-oriented. Most of the network’s other dramas are the police procedurals so attractive to the 18-49 set, but those aren’t critically acclaimed. Many media people like “Dreams” because of its unique premise and appeal to families. Even if NBC were inclined to bring the show back, though, it’s hard to figure out where the network would put it.

Wednesday, home to “The West Wing” at 9 p.m., seemed like a better fit than Sundays, where “Dreams” competed with ABC mega-hit “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Wednesday at 8 p.m. has been decidedly uncompetitive this season since Fox moved “American Idol’s” results show to 9 p.m.

NBC may be wondering, at this point, just why it dumped “Ed.” The show averaged a 2.8 in the 8 p.m. slot last year and also boasted an affluent audience.

fredfa

03-23-05, 11:51 AM

Deeper Fox swamp with Berman gone
Yes, it's No. 1, but the weeds underneath are thick
medialifemagazine.com
As Fox entertainment president, Gail Berman engineered one of the most impressive turnarounds in recent history, bringing Fox from dead last among the Big Four in adults 18-49 last fall to its probable first-ever No. 1 season finish in the demo this spring. When word leaked yesterday that Berman was leaving Fox for Paramount Pictures, speculation began immediately about who would succeed her. That person will inherit the No. 1 show on television, “American Idol,” and the top-rated network among 18-34s and teens.

But he or she will also face a raft of problems hidden by the success Fox has had this season. In fact, the network’s schedule is much weaker than it looks at first glance. It is a schedule held up by one tentpole, “Idol,” and it’s not clear when and how quickly the show will lose its steam.

Berman certainly gets credit for nurturing promising shows that happen to lag in the ratings, such as "24" during its first season, “House” before it got its boost from "Idol," and “Arrested Development” through its entire existence. Still, the network has not built a hit without an “Idol” lead-in for several years. Its experiment with year-round scheduling last summer hit a major bump when audiences proved uninterested in fall-style scripted fare during the warmer months.

And the baseball playoffs, while a source of strong ratings last fall, severely hamstring the launch of Fox’s fall schedule, a problem that even Berman never quite solved, leaving Fox in fourth place among 18-49s entering the January return of “Idol” the past three years. The most pressing, and least predictable, issue for whomever takes over as Fox's programming chief is “Idol.” It can't last forever. How much longer can it go?

No one really knows. This year even Berman predicted that the show’s upcoming fourth season would be weaker. Instead, it debuted to an even bigger audience than last year before leveling off. Last season “Idol” closed rather limply after several favored contestants were booted early. The show will certainly power Fox to No. 1 this spring, but beyond that it’s unclear how potent it will be.

Like any reality show, "Idol's" ratings depend very much on the appeal of its contestants. That explains fluctuations as a particular season goes forward, and from season to season. But there is also a wearing effect over time, and that's far less predictable. At some point audiences simply say enough. It can come quickly and without forewarning, as happened with two ABC shows, “The Bachelor” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

The big danger for Fox is that it ends up where ABC was after 'Millionaire's” collapse, suddenly in a ratings tumble without any promising shows to slide into those scheduling gaps. As the case of ABC so brilliantly illustrates, it can take several years to rebuild a schedule. Does Fox have several years left in "Idol?"

Fox’s new shows have been mostly varying degrees of flops the past two years. “24” and the fading “Simpsons” are the only two shows that could be labeled hits that are not fueled by “Idol.” The new Fox chief will have to not only develop great shows—after all, “Arrested Development” is a great show—but find an audience for them. For all her success in scheduling “Idol,” Berman never quite figured out how to do that.

This new person will be confronted by these problems quicker than expected, too. Fox has only two months until the upfronts, and though some of its pilots, like the drama “Reunion” and the Alicia Silverstone project “Queen B,” have received decent buzz, media people will be wary. They always are when a network is in turmoil.

Who that person will be is the other question facing Fox, and that answer is just as unclear.

Early rumors have FX president Peter Liguori, 20th Century Fox Television president Dana Walden, and Fox Television Studios president Angela Shapiro in the running. Former WB CEO Jordan Levin should also be among the candidates.

Liguori in particular has had much success developing highly rated and well-regarded programming at FX, including “Nip/Tuck,” “The Shield” and “Rescue Me.” Berman, the longest-serving president among the current Big Four network heads, took over in 2000. She served as president of Regency TV and Sandollar TV before that. Last year she inherited full control of Fox scheduling when Fox TV Entertainment Group chair Sandy Grushow left. Since then, Fox finished second among 18-49s to NBC last year and won the February sweeps this year, powered by “Idol” and the Super Bowl.

Media people were skeptical of Berman’s abilities when Grushow left. Media Life ran a poll shortly after his departure in which we asked, “Was Fox right not to replace Grushow?” and only 20.3 percent of respondents answered, “Yes, Berman can turn things around” while half said “Yes in the short term, but it should consider a replacement this spring if it can’t bounce back.” Thirty percent thought Fox should have brought in a replacement for Grushow immediately.

Al Shing

03-23-05, 12:09 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
Fox has announced its already-canceled series "Tru Calling" will begin playing off its final six episodes on March 31.
Two hours of the drama will be shown that night beginning at 8 PM ET. Thereafter, it will be shown Thursdays at 9 PM ET.

Does this mean Point Pleasant is dead?

Rakesh.S

03-23-05, 12:24 PM

Originally posted by Al Shing
Does this mean Point Pleasant is dead?

yes

the episode that was scheduled to air this week has also been pre-empted..

Just wait it out for the dvd release...Nothing else you can do at this point.

fredfa

03-23-05, 12:34 PM

Point Pleasant is not officially dead yet, but the ratings signs are not good.
You can see the updated current status of all shows at the bottom of Latest News post -- the first post in this thread.

fredfa

03-23-05, 12:46 PM

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Wednesday March 23rd, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options
Wednesday 3/23/05

ABC:
Lost (R) HD
Alias HD
Vacation Swap

CBS:
Survivor: Palau
CSI (R) HD
CSI: NY HD

NBC:
American Dreams HD
The West Wing HD
Law & Order (R) HD

Fox:
That '70s Show
The Simple Life: Interns
American Idol HD

UPN:
America's Next Top Model
Kevin Hill HD

WB:
Smallville (R) HD
Smallville HD

fredfa

03-23-05, 12:47 PM

With last night's voting snafu "forcing" Fox to do an hour of American Idol tonight, tonight's scheduled premiere of Life On A Stcik has apparently been pushed back a week to next Wednesday.

bgall

03-23-05, 12:50 PM

they have a show tomorrow at 9:30 the description is calling it a special preview, but it is still probably the first show, then next week it will go to it's normal time

http://www.fox.com/schedule/index.htm

fredfa

03-23-05, 01:03 PM

My bad.
Life On A Stick has been rescheduled from tonight at 9:30 to tomorrow at 9:30.
Then it settles in, barring more AI malfunctions, at 9:30 Wednesdays.

j_buckingham80

03-23-05, 01:21 PM

Fox is notorious already for this kind of schedule jumble leading up to a show, I don't see how this is healthy for Life on a Stick, regardless of the merits of the show. Crazy, crazy like Fox.

fredfa

03-23-05, 01:25 PM

I agree.
Premiering out of American Idol would have been a very good thing for LOAS.
(Just ask the producers of House.)
But now?

fredfa

03-23-05, 01:52 PM

The Week’s Winners and Loser
CBS Puts On Full-Court Press to Win the Week
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, March 23, 2005; Page C07
It's March Madness, when CBS wins the week with NCAA basketball championship play and all the action is on cable. Here's a look at the week's baskets and bricks.

WINNERS

"House." Fox's doc drama, starring the Fabulous Hugh Laurie, was last week's most watched scripted series, clocking its biggest audience yet -- more than 17 million viewers. Sure, it has a huge lead-in of "American Idol" fans -- 28 million of them last week. But about 5 million more "Idol" fans are sticking around these days to watch "House" on Tuesday nights than when "Idol" debuted in January.
Comedy Central Roast of Jeff Foxworthy. The 1998 "South Park" episode "Cartman's Mom Is Still a Slut" reigns as Comedy Central's most watched telecast ever, with its opening audience of 6.202 million viewers. But Sunday's Jeff Foxworthy roast officially assumed the No. 2 spot, with 6.195 million tuned in.
"Scooby-Doo." Nearly 5 million caught Nickelodeon's Friday telecast of the feature film, doubling the net's previous four-week average in the time slot. Among kids 2 to 11, "Scooby-Doo" beat every prime-time program on the broadcast networks last week except the Tuesday edition of "American Idol."
"The Shield." Glenn Close brought about 1 million more viewers to the FX series's fourth-season debut than had come to the third-season opener. With 3.9 million viewers, it's still a far cry from Season 2's opening haul of 4.4 million or Season 1's 4.8 million.
"Desperate Housewives." Sunday's rerun copped about 13 million viewers, making it ABC's most watched scripted repeat broadcast in nearly four years.

LOSERS

"Fat Actress." The pounds may not be falling off on this Showtime project, but the viewers sure did -- down to 285,000 for the first telecast of Episode 2, compared with the 924,000 who checked out the first telecast of Episode 1.
"Project Greenlight." In theory, moving Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's let's-make-a-low-budget-flick reality show from pay-cable HBO to basic-cable Bravo, making a more commercial (read: "horror") flick and bringing in Wes Craven to help would seriously goose the numbers. But Tuesday's third-season debut logged only 311,000 viewers; on HBO, the first season opened with 2 million viewers and the second with 3.5 million.
ABC re "The Ten Commandments." After more than two decades of airing the Cecil B. De Mille classic on Palm Sunday or Easter Sunday, the network shuffled the Charlton Heston starrer off to Saturday to make room for -- "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Desperate Housewives" reruns? And the flick suffered its smallest TV audience on record -- fewer than 7 million viewers. When that plague of locusts hits Disney, we'll let you know.

videojanitor

03-23-05, 02:23 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
I agree.
Premiering out of American Idol would have been a very good thing for LOAS.
(Just ask the producers of House.)
But now?

fredfa, "LOAS" will still get the AI benefit, because the AI "results" show will air immediately before it, though on Thursday instead of Wednesday.

George Thompson

03-23-05, 02:31 PM

Another Legend retires, my buddy Howie Reig

NBC's Living Legend: Howard Reig
Spotlight Stories
Source: NBC Universal
23 March 2005 Howard Reig, animal lover and radio announcer: 1947

by Chris Steib

It’s 2:05pm throughout most of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, but the analog clock on the wall of the Announcers Lounge says it’s 7:41. The second hand ticks futilely over the same spot while 62-year GE/NBC veteran Howard Reig closes the door to prepare for our interview. A few minutes later, Howard, now 84, is settled and ready to begin. The clock is persistent, still reading 7:41. Time, it seems, is of no concern here.

Without being fully clear as to why this NBC Universal rookie is interviewing him three days before his retirement, Howard is nonetheless appreciative for the opportunity to share his six decades of experience as a radio and television announcer. He takes a breath and begins explaining how he ended up working for GE in 1943:

“I was walking through a field one day, and I fell into a rabbit hole,” he jokes in his gentle and familiar voice. “And here I am.”

Gentle, perhaps, because of his age and stature; familiar because NBC viewers have heard Howard say night-after-night for nearly 25 years, "From NBC News World Headquarters in New York, this is NBC Nightly News….” During his tenure, Howard has plugged into that phrase the many famous names associated with the program, including Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Frank McGee, Tom Brokaw, and – as viewers will hear him say tonight – Brian Williams. “My first love was always news,” Howard says, “which is why I was so pleased to be the announcer on Nightly.”

He started as a high school English teacher in the early 1940s in Schenectady, New York, with a summer job in the finance department at General Electric Company – conveniently located up the road from WGY, GE’s 50,000-watt radio station. Howard found himself drifting over to the studios after work to watch the recording of a popular radio show, The FBI in Action, for which he eventually auditioned and was given a part. Howard's talents soon attracted the attention of General Electric's budding television division, who recruited him to be the very first GE first staff announcer for TV.

"I thought right from the beginning," Howard admits, "this is too good to be true.” To be safe, he obtained a master's degree in education from New York State College for Teachers (now SUNY Albany), but due to his on-air success, Howard never found a need to return to the classroom.

He recalls how, at only 25 years old, he won the top national award for announcers in 1948. (“I know this sounds like I’m bragging,” Howard says, “but it’s only because I am.”) The award came with a telegram from the then-president of NBC, Niles Trammell, inviting him to join the announcing staff in Manhattan, the city of his birth.

Howard began working for NBC in New York in several capacities, sometimes putting in 12- or 14-hour shifts to cover all of his responsibilities. From the graveyard shift as a radio show host to an on-air news program in the afternoon, Howard was NBC's first utility man, soaking up as much experience as possible. Television, Howard says, was a bit different back then. “We went on the air at around 4pm and stayed on for two or three hours...or as long as we pleased.” Before going on-air, Howard and his crew would call “the two or three hundred people with TV sets to tell them to tune in.”

Howard eventually made the shift from news to television and radio commercials, which were both lucrative and extremely fulfilling for him. He had been so prolific as a spokesman throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, that while recently watching a compilation of his commercials, he found himself asking, “Now when did I do that one?”

Howard will tell you that talking to Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the highlights of his life; that folk singer Mary Traver was a trouble-making neighbor (“don’t get me started on Mary,” he says); and that his second grade teacher’s name was Mrs. Champagne. However, what stands out most in talking with Howard is how many times in one conversation he will tell you how fortunate he’s been. “This is the matter-of-fact," he says, "it was a wonderfully lucky thing for me that I went to work for GE. All through the years, I have been very proud to be associated with what has always been the finest company in the world, one that treated me with far more consideration than I deserved.”

Howard adds with a smile, “And you know I’m telling you the truth because, at this point in my career, I have absolutely no reason to apple-polish.”

There is no lack of nice things to say about Howard, either. Tom Brokaw, who was introduced by Howard for nearly 25 years on Nightly, said a few years ago, “Howard is thoroughly professional and constantly reassuring to me. When I hear his voice…I know how DiMaggio felt when he was introduced by Mel Allen.”

Brett Holey, a director for NBC Nightly News, says, “Howard is not only one of radio and television history’s greatest announcers, but he is also just a wonderful person to know. He genuinely cares about the people around him. Not just his talents but his personality will be impossible to replace.”

“The most important thing is, I’ve finally found the exit,” Howard says, referring to his official retirement on Friday. “I’ve been trying to find it for 62 years, and here it is.”

After 84 years in what he considers undesirably cold weather, Howard plans to move to Coral Springs, Florida, to live with his son Greg and his family. Howard’s only off-camera work in the Sunshine State will involve baby-sitting his two young granddaughters, Georgia and Layla.

Howard leans back in his seat as another story comes to mind, which he prefaces with, “This is the part of the story you don’t need.”

On the television in the corner of the lounge, the NASDAQ closing bell rings relentlessly, informing the business world that it’s 4:00pm – notifying this interviewer he’s already been talking with Howard for two hours.

But the clock on the wall says it's 7:41.

There’s still plenty of time to talk.

*photos courtesy of the Schenechtedy Museum.

Howard on GE's WGY with musical legend Duke Ellington

fredfa

03-23-05, 05:07 PM

Thanks, George.
Howard has always been the consummate professional.
Friday will be a sad day for NBC.

fredfa

03-23-05, 05:57 PM

In case you still thought of CBS as “The Tiffany Network”
CBS to Air Amber Frey Flick for May Sweeps
By John Consoli mediaweek.com

Production on an Amber Frey movie, based on her book surrounding her involvement with convicted-murderer Scott Peterson, has begun in Vancouver, and will be broadcast on CBS, most likely during the May sweeps.

The working title of the movie is Amber Frey: Witness for the Prosecution, and stars Janel Moloney (The West Wing) as Amber, and Nathan Anderson as Scott Peterson.

Also starring in the movie will be Nora Dunn (Saturday Night Live) as Frey's attorney Gloria Allred, and Paget Brewster (Huff), who plays Frey's friend Carol, who arranged her blind date with Peterson.

Allred is one of the movie's executive producers.

fredfa

03-23-05, 11:48 PM

'Wall St. Week,' a PBS Staple, Will Go Off the Air in June
By NAT IVES The New York Times

Wall Street Week, which became one of the most-watched programs on public television over 35 years, has been canceled. Maryland Public Television, the program's producer, and PBS, which distributes it to member stations, plan to announce today that the program will be broadcast for the last time on June 24.

The cancellation comes three years after the program's creator and longtime host, Louis Rukeyser, was removed as part of an effort to attract a bigger, younger audience.

What had been "Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser" became a joint production with Fortune magazine and was renamed "Wall Street Week with Fortune." Since the program's reintroduction, its hosts have been Geoffrey Colvin, the editorial director of Fortune, and Karen Gibbs, who was previously a senior business correspondent for Fox News.

The split with Mr. Rukeyser was acrimonious, upsetting longtime viewers. After Mr. Rukeyser's ouster, 22 analysts and money managers who made regular appearances alongside him said they would not take part in a program without him. Mr. Rukeyser, who spoke bluntly of his anger at being removed, began a program on CNBC called "Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street" that competed with his former program. The CNBC program ended in December after Mr. Rukeyser became ill.

Over its long run, "Wall Street Week" averaged more than a million viewers. For many years, before 24-hour cable television and channels devoted entirely to business news, the program was sometimes thought of as the only game in town for investors who wanted to watch informed discussion of the markets, the economy and financial issues.

Mr. Rukeyser became known for his puns, quips and groaners delivered in a plummy voice. He also became known for his "elves," technical analysts who tried to predict the direction of the stock market. The panelists on the program, some of whom stayed on for years, became celebrities of a sort on Wall Street, as did some of Mr. Rukeyser's regular guests.

Larry Hoffman, a spokesman for Maryland Public Television, and Jan McNamara, a spokeswoman for P.B.S., did not respond to phone messages left late yesterday. Carrie Welch, a spokeswoman at Fortune, also did not respond to a phone message.

(Stuart Elliott contributed reporting for this article.)

fredfa

03-24-05, 02:02 AM

The always wonderfully entertaining Lisa de Moraes has some wickedly cynical (and very funny) views of the “American Idol” voting snafu.

'American Idol' Gets Some Really Wrong Numbers
By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Thursday, March 24, 2005; Page C01

The evil geniuses at FremantleMedia have found a way to add an extra hour of behemoth "American Idol" ratings to Fox's week, give the network more ad time to sell at "American Idol" rates and get Fox some serious traction Thursday night. They posted the wrong voting phone numbers for three contestants at the end of Tuesday's "Idol" broadcast.
But in a hastily put together phone news conference with TV critics, "Idol" Executive Producer Ken Warwick called "rubbish" the suggestions by hardcore "Idol" fans on the Web that the mix-up was deliberate. Which is an interesting way to handle hardcore fans, but there you go.

"Why would we contaminate the honesty of the top-rated show in America by fiddling with it?" Warwick asked rhetorically during the phone call.

Fox announced late Tuesday, after East Coast viewers brought the error to their attention, that it would run a second hour-long broadcast of "Idol" last night, combining new live elements with replays of the singers' Tuesday performances and including the correct phone numbers. Viewers would be allowed to vote for two hours after last night's broadcast, and only that vote will be used to determine which of the 11 contestants get the boot on the half-hour results show, which has been moved to 9 tonight.

Warwick said the situation was the result of "human error." In answer to the very first question he got from reporters -- "How did this happen?" -- he explained that the producers had had "sync problems" on the show the previous week, that they went to HD this season, something about "5.1 wraparound sound as well as stereo" and, summing things up, that "as always in these situations, you take your eye off one ball and it slipped through."

But that didn't stop conspiracy theorists, who wondered why the mistake was not caught, given that the Tuesday show had been taped Monday.

As each contestant performed during the broadcast, Fox ran a "chyron" at the bottom of the screen letting viewers know how to vote for that contestant. The phone numbers are posted twice. First, in larger print, as 1-866-IDOLS, followed by the two digits that indicate a vote for that particular contestant. Each week, the first performer's two digits are 01, the second's are 02, the third 03, and so on. Underneath, in smaller print, is the phone number in digits for the letter-impaired: 1-866-43657 followed by each contestant's two digits.

On Tuesday night, the phone numbers posted while performers were singing were correct. But at the end of the show, when host Ryan Seacrest did his let's-recap-the-performances-shall-we? thing and each singer was shown again for about 5 seconds, the digits for the final three performers were listed incorrectly in the bottom set of phone numbers. Those performers were Mikalah Gordon, Anwar Robinson and Jessica Sierra.

So anyone who wanted to vote for Mikalah -- but then, why would you? -- and hadn't caught her phone number as posted on the screen for 15 seconds (which is a lifetime in TV time) during her performance and didn't know that because she was the ninth performer her last two digits were 09, and didn't catch the top phone number in larger print during the recap and instead took down the bottom phone number only, would have wound up inadvertently voting for Anthony Federov.

Yes, you had to try really, really hard to get the wrong phone number. Nonetheless, conspiracy and cover-up theories abounded yesterday morning. You know, that "rubbish" Warwick alluded to:

"I think it's an attempt to weed out/irritate the power voters, since it takes a lot more effort to power-vote two days running," suggested one Web chat writer on televisionwithoutpity.com, adding that "there were maybe 2 or 3 people who couldn't figure out that the 11th contestant was 11, not 3."

"I assume the graphic is computer generated . . . all they would have to change each week would be to edit the name attached to the number," weighed in another. "Why would they need to rebuild the graphic from scratch each week? I call shenanigans on the AI folks for this ratings grabbing stunt."

"I bet they did this on purpose to sell more ads," speculated CNN anchor Miles O'Brien yesterday, adding that it was "more bling-bling for Fox."

When the producers first heard from Fox on Tuesday night about e-mails they had received saying the phone numbers were wrong, "we said ridiculous! Impossible!" Warwick said. He said the person who made the mistake was an "outside contractor." Asked if the poor fellow had been sacked, Warwick said nonchalantly, "It's up to his boss whether he's been fired. I don't know -- you probably won't see him in the building again. At this point it's the responsibility of his boss to take action against him."

Brrrr!

And, as happens so often in life, a seemingly innocent mistake made by some low-level contract worker -- make that former low-level contract worker -- had a ripple effect that cut clear across the country.

Take the students of Thomas Edison Middle School in West Orange, N.J., where contestant Anwar Robinson teaches music. Robinson was one of the contestants whose phone numbers were incorrect at the end of the broadcast. Each week, the kids at the school gather to watch Anwar sing. They did so Tuesday night.

Alan Sepinwall, TV critic for the Star Ledger of New Jersey, was sent by his editor to the school to watch the competition with the students for a warm and fuzzy feature. "It was fun," he told The TV Column. "The kids went crazy for Anwar, booing other people -- they hate Mikalah. But every time Anwar's name is mentioned, the place exploded. At 9 p.m., 100 cell phones lit up in unison as they started to text-message their votes."

Sepinwall reports that these kids were savvy enough to know that because Anwar was the 10th contestant to sing, his final two digits were 10.

The school's principal yesterday told Sepinwall he intended to make an announcement on the PA system at the end of the day "to tell students exactly what's going down and to remind them to stay up to vote, 'cause it's an hour later." Last night's show ran from 9 to 10.

So it appears that at the very least the "American Idol" Mistake will cost millions of schoolchildren around the country a much-needed hour of sleep on a school night. For shame.

But here's one bit of good news. Viewers who text-mailed their votes via Cingular on Tuesday night will not be charged for those transactions, Warwick says.

Last night, at the opening of the "Idol" redo show -- or as Seacrest called it " 'American Idol' meets 'Groundhog Day' " -- one audience member held up a large sign saying "Don't fire the phone number guy."

fredfa

03-24-05, 02:07 AM

re George Thompson:
"...and – as viewers will hear him say tonight – Brian Williams..."

Oops.
It was Campbell Brown Wednesday night, sitting in for Brian Williams..
(Though the author messed up, Howard Reig, of course, got it right.)

foxeng

03-24-05, 07:40 AM

Originally posted by fredfa
Howard has always been the consummate professional.
Friday will be a sad day for NBC.

They are all going away. Howard's generation may be the greatest announcing generation we will ever have. At least we still have Don Pardo. Thank goodness Howard is walking out the door and not being carried out the door!

84! WOW! I should be so lucky! Hey George, tell him we all wish him nothing but the best in Florida! Just stay out of hospice down there!! ;)

Good luck Howard. We will miss you!

jim tressler

03-24-05, 07:48 AM

question.. isn't American Idol filmed at CBS Television city?

slocko

03-24-05, 09:15 AM

i found the extra show of AI very boring. but i do think they handled it well and probably the only way it could be handled.

f44

03-24-05, 10:06 AM

NBC's 'Third Watch' Ends Shift

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- It's official -- NBC's "Third Watch" will not be returning for a seventh season.

The network has opted not to bring back the Warner Bros. TV/John Wells Prods. drama about cops, paramedics and firefighters serving the graveyard shift in New York.

The Peabody-winning "Third Watch," on hiatus to make room for midseason entry "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," will return with the remainder of its sixth season, ending its run with a series finale.

Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.

f44

03-24-05, 10:21 AM

FOX.com has removed all references to Point Pleasant. I would consider it cancelled (they did the same for Jonny Zero).

f44

03-24-05, 10:30 AM

fredfa,

You never put Complete Savages (HD) under cancelled for ABC.

f44

03-24-05, 10:38 AM

No Deadline for 'News' Redo, CBS Chief Says
Thu Mar 24, 2005 01:55 AM ET

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The planned makeover of the "CBS Evening News" won't go on the air until at least the summer, the network's boss said Wednesday.

In an appearance at the Association of National Advertisers' annual television-advertising conference in Manhattan, CBS chief Leslie Moonves repeated the criteria guiding the development of the new show: making it more relevant and faster paced, with an ensemble approach. He declined to put a date on the debut of the revamped newscast.

"We want to do it right," Moonves said.

Meanwhile, Moonves praised interim anchor Bob Schieffer, the veteran journalist who succeeded Dan Rather this month.

"We're very pleased with Bob Schieffer," Moonves said Wednesday. "He has been a breath of fresh air and has done a terrific job replacing Dan Rather."

Schieffer's time in the anchor chair is considered temporary, but no one knows how long it will be. Schieffer is anchoring the "CBS Evening News" during the week and continuing to moderate "Face the Nation" on Sunday. Moonves declined to say whether Schieffer would have a role in the new broadcast news.

Moonves, who is co-president and co-chief operating officer of CBS parent Viacom -- said he favored Viacom's plan to separate into two companies, one centered on CBS and the other centered on MTV Networks. He said it would help shareholders get more from what Viacom has long considered undervalued assets.

While CBS already has signed a renewal of its deal with the NFL, it might not be out of the market. Moonves declined comment about a report in Wednesday's USA Today that said CBS and Fox might split Sunday football, which is telecast by ESPN.

Moonves pointed to "The Early Show" as a possible blueprint for the new "CBS Evening News." "The Early Show" doubled ratings and profits in the past several years on the strength of an ensemble approach to morning news.

"We think we can do a similar thing with the evening news," Moonves said. He said the decadeslong way of doing the evening news -- stretching back to the days of Walter Cronkite and Huntley-Brinkley -- might be over. He seemed to imply that there might be some in the news division who do not realize that.

"Some at CBS News have been operating as if Edward R. Murrow was still down the hall. ... He hasn't been here for a while," Moonves said.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

fredfa

03-24-05, 10:39 AM

Thanks f44.

f44

03-24-05, 10:47 AM

fredfa, Complete Savages HD goes under ABC, not FOX. And it has 4 unaired episodes according to TVTome. And the unaired episodes of My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss are now on FOX.com.

fredfa

03-24-05, 10:57 AM

thanks for the proof-reading, f44.
No excuses, but it is still pretty early in the morning here!

fredfa

03-24-05, 11:05 AM

‘Johnny Ringo' star dies
Don Durant, 72; TV Cowboy Composed, Sang Show's Theme
By Dennis McLellan The Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 24, 2005

Don Durant, who sang with Ray Anthony and His Orchestra in the 1950s and starred in the short-lived TV Western "Johnny Ringo," has died. He was 72. Durant, who had been battling chronic lymphocytic leukemia since 1992, died March 15 at his home in Monarch Beach, Calif., said his family.

As the gunfighter-turned-lawman in "Johnny Ringo," a half-hour series that ran on CBS from 1959 to 1960, Durant had the distinction of being the only prime-time TV cowboy to not only sing but compose — both lyrics and music — the theme for his own show.

In a television era in which many Western series heroes brandished gimmick firearms, Durant's fast-drawing Johnny Ringo wielded a LeMat handgun that had an additional barrel that fired a shotgun round. Although it ran only one season, the Aaron Spelling-produced "Johnny Ringo" generated about 100 toys and other items — including Johnny Ringo board games, character puppets, gun sets and canteens.

The show, which continues in syndication, also spawned what is considered to be the single most valuable TV Western toy collectible ever — the "Johnny Ringo Western Frontier Play Set," featuring miniature figures, horses and wagons. In 2001, a play set sold on EBay for $8,998.

In close bidding against five others at the end, Durant himself had the winning bid. It was placed through his friend, Jacquelyn Patterson, a childhood fan from Knoxville, Tenn., who owns a website devoted to "Johnny Ringo."

"He was my hero," Patterson, who was 7 when the show first aired, told The Times on Wednesday.
"The reason I fell in love with him is because he sang to a little girl in the show who had been orphaned," she said of an episode that aired on Christmas Eve 1959. "He tucked her into bed and sang her to sleep with 'A Child's Prayer.' "

Durant, who wrote the song, also sang different songs in two other episodes.

Singing came naturally to Durant, who toured as lead vocalist with Tommy Dorsey and Frankie Carle in the mid-'50s. He sang at the Sands and the Sahara in Las Vegas and headlined at the Hollywood Bowl and the Mocambo nightclub in West Hollywood. Durant was a regular on the 1956-57 ABC musical-variety series "The Ray Anthony Show," and he recorded the four-song Capitol Records EP "Ray Anthony and His Orchestra Introducing Don Durant."

Born Donald Allison Durae in Long Beach in 1932, Durant spent part of his youth in Riverside and on a cattle ranch in Elko, Nev. While in high school in Riverside, he hosted a radio program on KPRO. He later served in the Naval Reserve and Army. After launching his acting career touring with a theater group, Durant signed with CBS as a bit player and singer in 1954 and appeared on such shows as "The Jack Benny Show," "The Red Skelton Show" and "General Electric Theater."

His first leading role was in director Roger Corman's 1958 low-budget adventure film "She Gods of Shark Reef." After guest spots on TV shows such as "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon," "Perry Mason," "Maverick" and "Wanted: Dead or Alive," Durant was cast as Johnny Ringo in a pilot that aired on "Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater."

After "Johnny Ringo" was canceled, Durant made guest appearances on "The Twilight Zone," "The Virginian" and "Wagon Train." He left acting in 1964 and began a second career in real estate and financial management. He helped develop Lago de Palmas, a housing area in Palm Desert, and owned retail and industrial centers and mobile home parks. He served for many years as president and chairman of the political action committee of the Western Mobile Home Park Owners' Assn.

As an arts supporter, Durant was involved in building Chapman University's School of Film and Television. In his later years, he appeared at autograph shows and Western film festivals, where he would strap on his famous LeMat. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, former actress and model Trudy Wroe; daughter Heidi; son Jeffrey; and two grandchildren.

His family suggests contributions be made to the Lymphoma Research Foundation, 111 Broadway, 19th floor, New York, N.Y. 10006.

fredfa

03-24-05, 11:17 AM

Wednesday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-24-05, 11:28 AM

Cable News Race: Tuesday March 22, 2005

(from drudgereport.com)

FOX NEWS CHANNEL O'REILLY -- 2,566,000 [VIEWERS]
FOX NEWS CHANNEL HANNITY/COLMES -- 2,206,000
FOX NEWS CHANNEL GRETA -- 2,101,000
FOX NEWS CHANNEL SHEP SMITH -- 1,604,000
CABLE NEWS NETWORK LARRY KING -- 1,529,000
FOX NEWS CHANNEL BRIT HUME -- 1,426,000
COMEDY DAILY SHOW -- 1,075,000
CABLE NEWS NETWORK AARON BROWN -- 847,000
CABLE NEWS NETWORK COOPER -- 670,000
MSNBC HARDBALL --571,000
MSNBC ABRAMS -- 477,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN -- 434,000
HEADLINE NEWS NANCY GRACE -- 386,000
E! JACKSON TRIAL -- 347,000
MSNBC SCARBOROUGH - 305,000

fredfa

03-24-05, 12:04 PM

Cable beats over-the-air rivals in ratings
By MIKE TIERNEY The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ratings for ad-supported cable television networks outstripped their over-the-air rivals during the February sweeps period for the first time. The breakthrough was trumpeted Wednesday by Jack Wakshlag, chief research officer for Turner Broadcasting – whose two main properties helped lead the way.

Cable stations secured 49.4 percent of all viewers compared with 48.6 percent for broadcast networks in their emphasized sweeps weeks. Wakshlag pointed out that the cable networks overcame Fox's advantage of airing the Super Bowl in February.

"Unless something extraordinary happens, broadcast networks will never win another sweeps," he predicted. The forecast is based largely on the fact that cable watchers are younger on average.

TBS and TNT ranked fifth and sixth among all networks in the 18-to-49 age group, behind the big four of broadcasting (ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS). Wakshlag credited the surge to a widespread shift in movies, comedies, sports and kids shows from broadcast to cable.

The broadcast networks "have cost themselves the young viewers," he said.

"Once you lose them, it's really hard to get them back."

Cable ad dollars are catching up to the broadcast side, he said, but still lag. Thirty-one percent of spending for commercials goes to cable networks, up 9 percent from four years ago.

fredfa

03-24-05, 12:30 PM

Seinfeld's TV Dad Dies

(zap2it.com)--Barney Martin, who played Jerry Seinfeld's father Morty on more than 20 episodes of "Seinfeld," died on Monday (March 21) at the age of 82. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin suffered from cancer.

An Air Force pilot in World War II, Martin served as a New York policeman before beginning a Broadway career that included such classics as "South Pacific" and the original production of "Chicago." Among Martin's film credits are a memorable part in "The Producers" and the role of Liza Minnelli's father in "Arthur" and its sequel.

Although Phil Bruns originated the part of Morty Seinfeld, Martin took over the character in the show's second season in the episode titled "The Pony Remark" and made regular appearances until the show's 1998 finale. A regular television guest star throughout the '70s and '80s, Martin cameoed on some of the decades' best, such as "The Odd Couple," "Hill Street Blues," "St. Elsewhere," "Murphy Brown" and "The Wonder Years."

fredfa

03-24-05, 01:03 PM

Late Night Ratings
Week Ending March 13, 2005
Five-day averages
Program Net Total viewers (millions)
Tonight Show with Jay Leno NBC 6.2
Late Show with David Letterman CBS 4.1
Nightline ABC 3.5
Late Night with Conan O’Brien NBC 2.6
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson CBS 1.8
Last Call with Carson Daly NBC 1.7
Jimmy Kimmel Live ABC 1.5
Source: medialifemagazine.com, NTI

fredfa

03-24-05, 01:24 PM

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Thursday March 24th, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options
Thursday 3/24/05

ABC:
Jake In Progress HD
Jake In Progress HD
Jake In Progress (R) HD
Jake In Progress (R) HD
Primetime Live

CBS:
NCAA Basketball Championship
Washington vs. Louisville HD
Illinois vs. Wisconsin - Milwaukee HD
Texas Tech vs. W. Virginia HD
Arizona vs. Oklahoma St. HD

NBC:
Joey HD
The Apprentice
The Office (premiere) HD
ER HD

Fox:
The O.C. HD
American Idol (results show) HD
Life on a Stick (premiere) HD

UPN:
WWE Smackdown!

WB:
Blue Collar TV (original and repeat)
The Starlet (R)

f44

03-24-05, 01:42 PM

fredfa, The Office (premiere) is in HD and you left a comma after the blue collar tv listing.

Also, thefutoncritic.com says Hell's Kitchen on FOX (prob. not HD since it is a reality show) starts Monday, May 30th at 9pm ET (regularly at that timeslot too).

Xesdeeni

03-24-05, 03:02 PM

Originally posted by videojanitor
fredfa, "LOAS" will still get the AI benefit, because the AI "results" show will air immediately before it, though on Thursday instead of Wednesday. I had set up to record LOAS last night, but tonight it's on against The Office, and it loses. So while they may have gained viewers with the AI screwup, LOAS lost at least one because of it.

Xesdeeni

bgooch

03-24-05, 03:40 PM

Thursday, March 24, 2005

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

THE WATCHWORD IS... AXED: It's official: Third Watch is calling it a night. After six seasons, NBC has reportedly pulled the plug on John Wells' mostly cop drama. Currently on hiatus to make room for Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Third Watch is expected to return to the schedule as early as next month with its final batch of episodes.

POINT TAKEN: Fox, meanwhile, has put Point Pleasant out of its misery, announcing that last Thursday's episode was the show's last. In an online posting, exec producer Marti Noxon told fans that she was relieved the show ended when it did. "[Tonight's] episode didn't quite come together the way I would have liked," she said, "and I would have hated for that to be our final word." And here's something to file under "T" for "Too little, way too late": Noxon says, "Episodes 9 through 12 were going to be pretty cool, though. Lots of twists and scary stuff." As reported Wednesday, Fox will air the final six episodes of Tru Calling in Point Pleasant's Thursday time slot beginning March 31.

dturturro

03-24-05, 04:01 PM

Originally posted by bgooch
Fox, meanwhile, has put Point Pleasant out of its misery, announcing that last Thursday's episode was the show's last. In an online posting, exec producer Marti Noxon told fans that she was relieved the show ended when it did. "[Tonight's] episode didn't quite come together the way I would have liked," she said, "and I would have hated for that to be our final word." And here's something to file under "T" for "Too little, way too late": Noxon says, "Episodes 9 through 12 were going to be pretty cool, though. Lots of twists and scary stuff." As reported Wednesday, Fox will air the final six episodes of Tru Calling in Point Pleasant's Thursday time slot beginning March 31.

So let me get this straight... They're replacing a low watched show with a show they've already cancelled for being a low watched show?

Maybe I can kill off 99% of my brain cells and finally be competent enough to be a network exec at FOX!

fredfa

03-24-05, 05:18 PM

FX’s Liguori to Replace Berman at Fox

Multichannel.com---FX Networks CEO Peter Liguori was named president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Co. Thursday. Liguori will replace Gail Berman, who said Wednesday that she is leaving to join Paramount Pictures.

In his new role, he will be responsible for the broadcast network’s program development and scheduling, as well as marketing, business affairs and promotions. FX became one of the top five basic-cable networks under Liguori’s leadership, featuring critically acclaimed series such as Nip/Tuck, The Shield and Rescue Me.

Prior to joining what was then known as Fox/Liberty Networks in 1996 as senior vice president of marketing, Liguori had served as VP, consumer marketing at Home Box Office.

“Peter has done an extraordinary job with FX," News Corp. president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin said in a prepared statement. “He's produced more quality cable programming in the past three years than anyone in the business and has raised the bar for distinctive television. Chernin added, “Peter is taking over FBC at a time when the network is in as good a competitive position as it's ever been, and that's thanks in large part to the leadership and creative instincts Gail Berman demonstrated in her five years at Fox. I look forward to seeing Peter make his own mark on the network.”

Liguori added in a prepared statement, “I'm delighted with the opportunity Peter has given me to take the helm of a network that has always been at the forefront of original, ambitious programming. Fox's exceptional team of creative executives has succeeded in breaking the mold with a year-round programming model, and I could not be more excited to work with them to roll out the network's impressive new development slate.”

fredfa

03-24-05, 05:32 PM

CBS ANNOUNCES NATIONWIDE CASTING CALL FOR "BIG BROTHER 6"
SIXTH INSTALLMENT OF "BIG BROTHER" TO BE BROADCAST DURING THE SUMMER OF 2005 ON CBS
(Released by CBS Thursday, March 24, 2005)
thefutoncritic.com--CBS has announced that applications are now being accepted for the sixth installment of the reality series BIG BROTHER, which will be broadcast during the summer of 2005. The series will again be produced by Oscar and Emmy Award winner Arnold Shapiro and his Emmy Award-winning partner Allison Grodner.

BIG BROTHER 6 will follow a group of strangers living together in a house outfitted with dozens of cameras and microphones recording their every move 24 hours a day. One by one, the houseguests will vote each other out of the house. At the end of three months, the last remaining houseguest will receive the grand prize.

fredfa

03-24-05, 05:52 PM

Paul Abdul charged with hit-and-run
Details are here:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0324052abdul1.html

fredfa

03-24-05, 05:59 PM

Liguori Named Fox Entertainment President
By Jim Finkle Broadcasting & Cable

FX Networks CEO Peter Liguori was named Entertainment President of Fox Broadcasting Co. late Thursday, taking the post as the clock ticks down on May 19, the day when he’ll announce the network's slate of shows for next season.

Liguori has more than two dozen pilots on the way, which were ordered by outgoing Entertainment President Gail Berman. He’ll review them over the next month with the development execs who helped Berman pick which shows would be made into pilots. “I respect that team a lot and what Gail has put in place,” Liguori said in an interview with Broadcasting & Cable. “We'll make a decision together.” He also said it'll be a while before he considers making any strategic changes at the network. “I gotta spend a lot more time listening to the good team over there before I start talking on that front,” he said.

Liguori, 44, is best known for developing The Shield, Nip Tuck and Rescue Me, three distinctive series that have won critical acclaim, put FX on the map, and influenced broadcast networks to develop edgier fare.

“Peter has done an extraordinary job with FX,” News Corp. President Peter Chernin said in a statement announcing Liguori’s appointment. “He took what was largely a blank slate and turned it into arguably the hottest network in cable.” His challenge at Fox will be to wean the network off its dependence on American Idol. Fox’s ratings were in fourth place among 18 to 49s this season, until Idol returned in January. Liguori needs to develop shows that can pull in high ratings, with or without a lead in from Idol.

Liguori's successor at FX hasn’t been named, but sources inside Fox say that the leading candidate is John Landgraf, the cable network’s top development executive. After he took control of FX Networks in 1998, Liguori pushed original programming development in a bid to distinguish FX from the hundreds of other choices that viewers can make when they pick up their remote controls.

The approach worked. FX’s subscriber base has grown from 39 million homes to more than 84 million over the past five years. His hiring may be a sign that the network will focus on developing quality programming and avoid reality fare that hasn’t performed well for Fox over the past year. Liguori leaves FX with a full slate of new shows scheduled to debut over the next year. They include Steven Bochco’s Over There, the first series about the War in Iraq and 30 Days, a documentary series from Morgan Spurlock, the creator of Super Size Me. FX has also ordered two comedies, Starved and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, along with Thief, a drama starring Emmy winner Andre Braugher.

f44

03-24-05, 06:16 PM

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
I had set up to record LOAS last night, but tonight it's on against The Office, and it loses. So while they may have gained viewers with the AI screwup, LOAS lost at least one because of it.

Xesdeeni

Xesdeeni, CNBC, USA, and Bravo will be showing the first two episodes of The Office next week. So if you can wait, you can see both The Office and Life on a Stick.

fredfa

03-24-05, 06:22 PM

But not in HD?

fredfa

03-24-05, 06:53 PM

Straight Up Misdemeanor: Abdul Pleads No Contest

(zap2it.com)--"Straight up now tell me," Paula Abdul once sang. "do you really want to love me forever? Oh, oh, oh. Or am I caught in a hit and run?"

The answer, it appears, is the latter.

On Thursday (March 24) the Los Angeles city attorney filed a single count of criminal hit and run charges against the former pop music superstar and current "American Idol" judge. In no time, Abdul's attorney entered a no contest plea. Abdul, who wasn't in the courtroom, received 24 months of informal probation. She will also have to pay $900 in fines and give $775 in damages to the other motorist involved.

The charge stems from an incident early in the morning of Dec. 20. Following an improper lane change on a California freeway, Abdul's Mercedes reportedly hit another car, causing no injuries, but minor damage.

Abdul allegedly drove on, but one of the passengers in the other car took a photo of the offending automobile.
According to "Celebrity Justice," California Highway Patrol investigators interviewed Abdul, who initially claimed that her car was in the shop at the time of the accident, though it was actually taken to Mercedes Benz of Beverly Hills the day after the accident.

The single charge carried a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a $1000 fine.

bgooch

03-24-05, 10:11 PM

From the March 27- April 2 TV Guide

Pity the struggling young actor. The competition this year for a big break on network TV is stiffer than ever as pilots angling for spots in the fall lineup have enough familiar faces to pack an “I love the 90s (or even the 80s)” marathon on VH1. Lara Flynn Boyle, Kristin Davis, David Boreanaz, Brook Shields, Peri Gilpin, Julia Louise Dreyfus, Fred Savage, Don Johnson, Benjamin Bratt and Dylan McDermott are among the dozens of prime time favorites cast in perspective shows that network executives hope will turn into the next Desperate Housewives or Lost. And they are being joined by other stars better known for their work outside of TV including Chris O’Donnell, Dennis Hopper, Ellen Burstyn, Tom Beringer and Aidan Quinn.

Networks desperate for a ratings hit are more willing to pay up for stars who can give the show on edge, but that’s no guarantee of success. (Remember NBC’s LAX with Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood?) “it’s not like they want a ‘so and so’ type,” one TV studio executive says. “They want that person in every role.” And in many cases they can get what they want. The reason? Right now, TV is where the jobs are. “The movie business is shrinking,” says Fox entertainment president Gail Berman. These days, big-screen opportunities tend to be high budget blockbusters for A-list stars, or independent films with salaries that barely pay the bills, with not much in between. “There just aren’t as many mid-level movies being made,” says NBC entertainment chief Kevin Reilly. “It’s forced a lot of the acting pool to say, ‘if I want to work, TV is a viable alternative.’ ” The current quality of TV drama has made the move to primetime an easier sell to stars, according to Scott Henderson of the William Morris agency. “The writing now on series television is better than ever,” he says. So much for the old industry adage that stars don’t make hit TV shows, it’s TV that makes stars. Says one veteran network executive, “it makes you wonder what ‘Friends’ would have looked like if they cast it today.” - Stephen Battaglio

fredfa

03-25-05, 01:17 AM

“Desperate” Viewers clamor: Where's the show?

By Bill Keveney USA TODAY
Viewers are getting desperate for their housewives. Sunday marks ABC's first new Desperate Housewives episode (9 p.m. ET/PT) since Feb. 20. The hiatus has frustrated fans of the first-year phenomenon.

Creator Marc Cherry has heard the cries: "I went to a party with a bunch of old friends and I was assaulted with: 'Where's the show? What's going on?' We're all getting it."

Housewives' absence — only one repeat has run over the past four Sundays — is mostly a matter of math:23 episodes of the year's No. 4 series (averaging 22.6 million viewers) must stretch over a 36-week TV season. As the broadcast schedule catches up to production schedules, fallow weeks must be filled by reruns or specials.

ABC had two high-rated Sunday shows during the past month, the Oscars and an Oprah Winfrey movie. "The scheduling isn't radically different from other dramas. But (Housewives and Lost) are so popular and serialized, they're noticed first when they're not around," says ABC scheduling chief Jeff Bader. Wednesday's Lost will be the first new episode since March 2.

ABC scheduled fresh Housewives in groups, resulting in the recent gap, rather than go back and forth more frequently between originals and reruns or pre-emptions, which would frustrate viewers more, he says. ABC repeats Housewives at different times — Saturday's (10 p.m. ET/ PT) will be the 14th rerun — to try to reach new viewers and avoid the risk of losing in its regular time slot, Bader says. That may change after last Sunday's rerun, the first in the regular slot. It drew 13.3 million viewers, 45% below the most recent original.

But it was Housewives' best repeat showing yet, finishing first among young adults in its time period.
Starting with Sunday's show, which features Wisteria Lane dominatrix Maisy (Sharon Lawrence) getting arrested, Housewives has eight new episodes for the last nine weeks of the TV year, including the May ratings period when ad rates are set.

Housewives' ratings aren't likely to suffer from its absence, analyst Steve Sternberg of Magna Global says. "New shows that are successful are not hurt by being off a few weeks."

But Carat USA's Shari Anne Brill says a smaller gap between new episodes or more reruns would help momentum. "This is a show everyone talks about," she says. "How do you suddenly pull the emergency brake?"

Fans disagree on how to dole out the precious supply of new episodes.

"I would rather have large blocks of new episodes and then reruns than new episode/repeat/new episode/repeat that interrupts the flow," says Tammy Wilson of Chattanooga, Tenn. But Lia Glavin of Arlington, Va., doesn't like the big gaps. "With as many detailed plotlines, it makes it more confusing for viewers when episodes are far and few between.”

Fans wanting more isn't the worst problem for a show. "On the one hand, it's nice," Cherry says, "but you don't want to upset the viewers."

fredfa

03-25-05, 01:27 AM

Howard Reig Retires at NBC Today

As George Thompson noted here a couple of days ago, long-time (almost 62 years) NBC announcer Howard Reig retires today.
I had the pleasure of working with him briefly many years ago and it was an honor to be associated with him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Associated Press has noted his retirement in a story that includes the following:

"I consider that I've lived a life of small miracles and some large," (Reig) said.
He plans to move to Florida and live with one of his three sons, and dote on five grandchildren.
"You have to face facts," he said. "When you're 84 the end of the road is not that far away and I want to spend as much time as I can with my grandchildren."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the facts we have to face is that we will not see Howard Reig’s kind again.

He is a consummate professional and a kind gentleman.

God Speed, Howard.

fredfa

03-25-05, 01:49 AM

THE WEEKEND ADVISER
Kojak Lives: Networks Remake TV's Past Hits
By JANE SPENCER Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

When you turn on your television this weekend, it might seem a lot like 1978.

On USA, "Kojak" will be sucking on lollipops and dispensing renegade justice in a modern remake of the 1970s cop show starring Ving Rhames (Friday, 9 p.m. EST on USA). On ABC, Ma, Pa and the rest of the Ingalls clan will pile into the wagon once again, and head toward Kansas for a new five-episode "Little House on the Prairie" miniseries (Saturday, 8 p.m. EST on ABC). And on the Sci Fi Channel, Lieutenant Starbuck will be battling Cylons intent on destroying humanity in a remake of the 1970s series "Battlestar Galactica" (Friday 10 p.m EST on Sci Fi).

In search of safe bets, networks are doing some recycling. In addition to launching a string of series remakes, networks are also mining their archives and packing sweeps periods with sappy reunion shows of past hits. (Last month's "Happy Days" reunion on ABC brought in nearly 20 million viewers.) More remakes are in the works, including "Loonatics," the WB's modern cartoon take on Looney Tunes, and a "Welcome Back Kotter" reunion special.

Networks are also copying shows that worked overseas. Thursday, NBC launched its Americanized version of the BBC comedy series "The Office," a fake documentary about cubicle drones at a paper-supply company. Producers have tried to keep the dark, twisted spirit of the BBC version alive, and the first episode sticks closely to the British pilot's script. Future plotlines will explore themes typical of an American workplace, but the series will include many conventions of the British series, like no laugh track, and lots of awkward pauses. (A script note in an early NBC episode calls for "the longest pause in network television history.")

In the American version, "The Daily Show's" Steve Carell replaces Britain's Ricky Gervais as the world's most insensitive boss. During a "Diversity Day" workshop in one episode, Mr. Carell's character asks a Hispanic employee: "Is there any term besides Mexican that you prefer? Something less offensive?"

USA has taken some liberties with the eight-week "Kojak" series. In this gore-filled version, Mr. Rhames takes the gritty rogue-cop persona to new heights, helping to murder a fellow cop in the first episode.

* * * * * * *

TiVo Tip: BBC America will replay the first season of the British version of "The Office" (Saturday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. EST on BBC America).

fredfa

03-25-05, 11:14 AM

Thursday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-25-05, 01:03 PM

Try to Remember: New York Bids Farewell to Jerry Orbach

By CHARLES ISHERWOOD The New York Times March 25, 2005

The many families of Jerry Orbach gathered yesterday to salute his life and career at the Richard Rodgers Theater, celebrating his achievements as an actor on the very stage that brought him one of his greatest Broadway roles - Billy Flynn in the original production of "Chicago" - and his wife of more than 25 years, Elaine, whom he met when she joined the cast as a standby for Chita Rivera in 1976.

Mr. Orbach's immediate family was joined by a virtual Who's Who of "Law & Order" stars, from Chris Noth to S. Epatha Merkerson to B. D. Wong, Richard Belzer and Bebe Neuwirth. That family overlapped a bit with Mr. Orbach's brethren from his days as one of the last great song-and-dance men on Broadway, represented by the actresses Angela Lansbury, Jane Alexander and Karen Ziemba; Gerald Schoenfeld, chairman of the Shubert Organization; and the producer Martin Richards, among others.

But even this clan was easily outnumbered by the family of New Yorkers who saluted Mr. Orbach as one of their own, the Bronx-born man who had come to personify the city in the eyes of television audiences.
Mr. Orbach died in December of prostate cancer at age 69.

His "face was synonymous with New York City," said the host of his memorial service, Sam Waterston, who played the upright prosecutor to Mr. Orbach's down-home detective for many seasons on "Law & Order." He admitted to being in awe of Mr. Orbach's ability to "do so much so well," and he introduced Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who paid tribute to the man who, as Detective Lennie Briscoe on "Law & Order," dispensed "enough one-liners to fill a Centre Street holding cell."

Mr. Orbach was indeed a man of many faces, as the ceremony made clear. He could play pinochle, poker and pool with the same skill and seriousness that he brought to acting. He could keep easy company with a Teamster, but he was just as at home at center stage, dancing with a verve and fleetness that belied his regular-guy charisma.

Many of the speakers noted that the traits television viewers came to associate with Lennie Briscoe - a steely armor of seen-it-all humor covering a heart of infinite compassion - were Mr. Orbach's own.

Richard Brown, who has taught film at New York University and the New School, was a close friend. He recalled his surprise at discovering that Mr. Orbach was free of the usual celebrity appurtenances - the publicists and handlers who provide insulation from the abrasions of contact with the real world. Mr. Orbach "chose to make his life not about celebrity or even talent, but about compassion and kindness," he said before introducing clips of Mr. Orbach in the films "Prince of the City," "Dirty Dancing" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors."

But Dick Wolf, the creator of "Law & Order," probably said it best. "In a business in which schadenfreude is a polite emotion," he observed, "Jerry is the only person nobody ever had a negative word to say about." At the end of the ceremony, Mr. Wolf, joined by Jeff Zucker, the president of television for NBC Universal Television Group, presented a check for $1 million made out to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for prostate cancer research.

There was also a little music: Ms. Ziemba, whose first role on Broadway was opposite Mr. Orbach in the 1980 production of "42nd Street," sang "They Were You," an elegiac love song from "The Fantasticks," in which Mr. Orbach first made his mark as a musical leading man as El Gallo.

And there was even some poetry. Ed Sherin, a former executive producer of "Law & Order," paid tribute to his friend with a reading of a Shakespeare sonnet. Later, Ms. Alexander, who is married to Mr. Sherin and starred on Broadway with Mr. Orbach in "6 Rms Riv Vu," read a dozen of the hundreds of short poems that Mr. Orbach composed for his wife every day before leaving for work on "Law & Order." (Mr. Orbach's love for his wife and family was a theme sounded perhaps even more than his generosity of spirit to co-workers and colleagues.)

The Shakespeare was touching. So was the Orbach. But the Orbach was funnier.

fredfa

03-25-05, 02:03 PM

Liguori’s Cable Strategy Will Undergo Network Test
The CEO has used edgy shows to boost FX.
But that model could face obstacles in his new job
By Maria Elena Fernandez and Meg James Los Angeles Times Staff Writers March 25, 2005

When Peter Liguori inherited News Corp.'s FX cable channel seven years ago, it was adrift with a hodgepodge of programming. Slowly and methodically, Liguori built FX into the poor man's HBO, with such in-your-face shows as "The Shield," "Nip/Tuck" and the post-9/11 firefighter drama "Rescue Me."

On Thursday, Liguori was named president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Co., replacing Gail Berman, who is expected to become president of Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures. News Corp. moved quickly to name a successor because Fox is in the middle of its pilot season and must present its new lineup to advertisers in less than two months.

"Peter has had a stunning track record at FX," said Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of News Corp., which owns both Fox and FX Networks. "He's taken a sleepy, backwater channel and created some of the most distinctive programming on all of television."

In his new job, Liguori will see whether the producing and marketing model he developed for cable can work in the far more rigid world of network TV.

"Welcome to the jungle," said Kevin Reilly, NBC's president of entertainment who worked with Liguori for three years at FX. The duo plotted out FX's strategy of creating original programming with a sharp edge, but "the network game is more of a high-volume game, with public ramifications to every decision that you make," Reilly said.

Liguori said in an interview that at Fox he hoped to be "the best advocate for the best possible programming with the best possible talent."

The 44-year-old Liguori has proved to be particularly adept at establishing relationships with talent. When producer Ryan Murphy wanted to develop his racy drama to pull the surgical mask off the plastic surgery industry, he told executives at Warner Bros. Television that he would develop the show only for FX. Murphy said FX's success with an avant-garde show like "The Shield," a drama about a corrupt Los Angeles cop, was what drew him to a cable channel even though a broadcast network deal would have yielded more money.

"In many ways, he is the network," Murphy said of Liguori. "Peter's incredibly supportive, very stern, and ultimately you trust that he's going to do the right thing…. He always has."

Liguori, who has a five-year contract, will oversee all of Fox's development, program scheduling, marketing, business affairs and promotion.

Chernin said Liguori's replacement at FX hadn't been decided. Berman's start date at Paramount is still up in the air, and until she departs she will work with Liguori.

Although Fox is on track to end the season in first place in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic, the network is not without its challenges.

Last year, it launched an ambitious year-round programming schedule, a strategy to which both Liguori and Chernin said they remained committed. The schedule sought to blunt the effect of the Summer Olympics on NBC in August and work around the problem Fox faces every October because of its baseball contract.

Fox must air Major League Baseball playoffs and the World Series throughout October, which makes it difficult to roll out the new season in late September. Last fall, the network faltered when it aired reality shows such as "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss" during months that rivals like ABC were gaining traction with new shows such as "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives."

"Baseball does present a terrific promotional platform and it is a part of Fox's schedule … and it's going to be embraced," Liguori said.

Critics complain that Fox has become overly dependent on "American Idol," whose fourth-season ratings have soared. But Liguori said the success of "Idol," and the creative pedigree of "24" and "Arrested Development," made it more exciting for him to accept the job. Still, Liguori "has got to figure out how to program all of the hours in the week that 'American Idol,' '24' and 'House' are not on," said Shari Anne Brill, director of programming for ad-buying firm Carat USA.

Liguori is used to tough times. When the former top marketing executive at Time Warner Inc.'s HBO took over FX in August 1998, it was little more than the NASCAR channel. With a programming budget of $100 million a year, it was making about $19 million in profit. Now, FX's programming budget tops $300 million a year and the network has a profit of about $175 million, said Derek Baine, an analyst with Kagan World Media.

"Their programming expenses have gone through the roof, but it's paid off," Baine said.

These days, he said, FX is spending about $2 million an episode for an hourlong drama — the same price that major broadcast networks pay. Chernin declined to discuss numbers.

The decision to tap Liguori is "well-earned recognition of all that Peter has accomplished at FX," said Peter Roth, president of Warner Bros. Television, which produces "Nip/Tuck." "He's a great, enthusiastic, creative cheerleader."

Liguori will have to navigate the uncertain waters over federal rules on indecency. Cable channels like FX are not bound by the same government standards as broadcast networks.

At Fox, Brill said, Liguori "won't have as much of the freedom, or the poetic license, that he's had before … but if he can bring that edge sensibility, although a little toned down, he'll do a great job for Fox."

f44

03-25-05, 03:06 PM

fredfa,

For Third Watch's listing in the canceled list, you should mention the final episodes start airing April 8.

fredfa

03-25-05, 05:25 PM

I'll make that edit, f44. thanks.

fredfa

03-25-05, 05:31 PM

Apparently, at least accoridng to tvtome.com, the four remaining Third Watch episodes will air April 8, 15, 22, and 29.

fredfa

03-26-05, 12:23 PM

Friday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-26-05, 02:49 PM

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Friday March 25th, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options

Saturday 3/26/05

ABC:
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie (premiere, two hours)
Desperate Housewives (R) HD

CBS:
NCAA Basketball Championship HD

NBC:
LAX HD
Law & Order: SVU (R) HD
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (R) HD

Fox:
Cops
America's Most Wanted

The Scoop on Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie:
Although ABC claims this is not a remake (this edition of Little House on the Prairie is based faithfully on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder), this tale of a loving, but struggling (and apparently jinxed) frontier family as they head from Wisconsin to the Kansas prairie will look awfully familiar.

fredfa

03-26-05, 02:52 PM

Note: Tonight's episode of LAX is not the final showing the the doomed Heather Locklear program.
The last episode is scheduled for next Saturday at 8 PM ET.

fredfa

03-26-05, 05:36 PM

”Beverly Hillbillies” Creator Dies
Paul Henning, 93; Created 'Beverly Hillbillies,' Other Comedies for TV
By Dennis McLellan Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 26, 2005

Paul Henning, the television writer and producer who created "The Beverly Hillbillies," which became one of the biggest hits of the 1960s and spawned the popular rural-comedy spinoffs "Petticoat Junction" and "Green Acres," died Friday. He was 93.

Henning, who had a series of minor strokes in recent years, died of natural causes at Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank, his family said.

After writing for radio's "Fibber McGee and Molly" in the late 1930s, Henning wrote for George Burns and Gracie Allen's radio and television shows. He also created, produced and wrote "The Bob Cummings Show," a popular situation comedy about a wolfish photographer; it ran from 1955 to 1959.

Inspired in part by memories of camping trips to the Ozarks as a Boy Scout, Henning came up with a fish-out-of-water idea for a series that made television history: A "poor mountaineer" unexpectedly strikes oil and moves his newly wealthy family out of a cabin in the Ozarks into a mansion in the hills of Beverly.

"The Beverly Hillbillies," starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas and Max Baer Jr., debuted on CBS in September 1962.

The series was immediately attacked by some critics, who did not take a liking to Jed, Granny, Elly May and Jethro and wanted nothing to do with the Clampetts or their "cee-ment pond."

"If television is America's vast wasteland," sniffed one critic, "the 'Hillbillies' must be Death Valley."

"The series aimed low and hit its target," wrote UPI's Rick DuBrow.

Even Henning's wife, Ruth, later conceded to a reporter that she preferred "something a little more sophisticated."

The average American TV viewer, however, took to the new show like a starving mountain man to a mess o' possum shanks.

"The Beverly Hillbillies" shot to No. 1 within three weeks of its debut. It stayed at or near No. 1 its first two seasons, according to Nielsen's yearly rankings of the top 25 shows, and continued to reside in the top 20 throughout the rest of its nine-year run.

With "The Beverly Hillbillies," Henning, a 5-foot, 5-inch former Missouri farm boy, became the biggest thing in television.

"Not since 'I Love Lucy' hit the airwaves 14 years ago has a single show so laid the industry on its ear," wrote Times TV critic Cecil Smith in 1965.

"Everybody in the business made a pass at [Henning]," James Aubrey, then president of CBS TV, told TV Guide in 1963. "And every major advertiser, too."

In response to Aubrey's request for a spinoff, Henning created "Petticoat Junction."

Set in the mythical Midwest farming community of Hooterville, "Petticoat Junction" starred "Hillbillies'" alumna Bea Benaderet as a widowed small-town hotel owner with three pretty daughters, one of whom was played by Henning's daughter, Linda Kaye Henning. The series ran from 1963 to 1970.

Henning produced and wrote or co-wrote most of the "Beverly Hillbillies" episodes. He also wrote the lyrics and music for the show's innovative theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," with music recorded by the legendary bluegrass duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and vocals by Jerry Scoggins.

Henning, who also produced and wrote many scripts for "Petticoat Junction," would begin his 14-hour days by rising at 4 a.m. and putting in a few hours writing before heading to General Service Studios in Hollywood. He also worked weekends at home in Toluca Lake, prompting his wife to lament to TV Guide, "To see him, I practically have to make an appointment."

"I believe in the country store concept of TV," Henning told the magazine. "It means you gotta watch the store yourself."

With the success of "Hillbillies" and "Petticoat Junction," Aubrey gave Henning carte blanche for another series — no pilot necessary.

Comedy writer Jay Sommers created "Green Acres, with the busy Henning serving as executive producer and helping cast and launch the new show.

"Green Acres," which ran from 1965 to 1971, starred Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a successful Manhattan lawyer and his ditzy-socialite wife who leave the city and move to a farm near Hooterville.

Cast members on all three of Henning's shows made guest appearances on one another's programs.

"He called it cross-pollination," said Stephen Cox, author of the 1988 retrospective book "The Beverly Hillbillies."

Unlike some of the era's other TV moguls, Cox said, Henning "had such an incredible down-home, approachable manner that you really knew you were meeting someone from Missouri. And he didn't necessarily dress or even act like some rich producers. He was very much an Everyman throughout his life, and I think that's why people enjoyed being around him so much."

In 1996, Henning received the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television from the Writers Guild of America, West, the guild's highest award for television writing.

"For an individual to have the longevity Paul Henning has in this industry, to be as prolific as he was, is truly rare," Brad Radnitz, the organization's president, said at the time. "He's written characters and images that have become part of our culture and given us countless hours of laughter."

The youngest of 10 children, Henning was born on a farm near Independence, Mo., on Sept. 16, 1911.

As a teenager, he worked as a soda jerk at a drugstore, where one of his regular customers, future President Harry S. Truman, advised him to go to law school. He attended night classes at Kansas City School of Law but dropped out after two years to pursue an entertainment career.

He began by singing on Kansas City radio station KMBC, where he eventually fell into writing. After he came up with an idea for a musical show, the station manager told him he would have to write it himself.

While at KMBC, where he also worked as an actor, disc jockey and news announcer, Henning met his future wife, Ruth Barth, a radio actress. They were cast as young lovers on the station's daytime serial, "Happy Hollow."

When Ruth went to Chicago to find bigger acting roles in 1937, she heard about an opening for a writer on "Fibber McGee and Molly." Henning submitted a treatment for an episode and was hired. After about a year, he moved to Los Angeles.

In 1942, after writing for Joe E. Brown and Rudy Vallee, Henning began his 10-year stint writing for Burns and Allen and moved with them into television in 1950.

Henning left the comedy couple in 1952 to produce and write "The Dennis Day Show," a live TV series that introduced Cliff Arquette to a national audience as "Charlie Weaver."

He also wrote a series for Ray Bolger in 1954.

For the big screen, Henning co-wrote "Lover Come Back," a 1961 romantic comedy starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day, which earned him and co-writer Stanley Shapiro an Oscar nomination. Henning and Shapiro also co-wrote "Bedtime Story," a 1964 comedy starring Marlon Brando and David Niven.

When he decided to shoot several episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies" in Silver Dollar City, Mo., which is near Branson, Henning was taken with an unspoiled section of the mountains. He bought a large parcel, which is now the Ruth and Paul Henning State Forest. Ruth Henning died in 2002.

Henning is survived by his children, Carol Henning, Linda Henning Adams and Tony Henning; and two grandsons.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Living Desert Zoo and Garden in Palm Desert, Children International or Doctors Without Borders.

At Henning's request, there will be no funeral.

f44

03-26-05, 05:50 PM

The Bachelor Spring ---fredfa, It starts this Monday with a two-hour premiere. Mondays 9pm ET, not HD.

fredfa

03-26-05, 07:06 PM

”The Bachelor”

F44: here is how ABC describes the latest incarnation of “The Bachelor”

Monday, March 28, 9/8c Season Premiere
Charlie O'Connell is a financially secure 29-year-old jack of all trades who enjoys a fantastic lifestyle and a love for life that is contagious. Charlie, a self-described fun loving "good guy," has long cherished his carefree bachelor lifestyle. However, amongst 25 beautiful bachelorettes, is there one girl who can stop Charlie in his tracks and inspire him to settle down?

This season will be unlike any other on The Bachelor, as we strip down some of the formalities and offer viewers a less structured version of the program. On the first day there will be no limos, no gowns and no traditional rose ceremony. This time there are no rules and anything can happen, as we give Charlie the opportunity of a lifetime to discover if love is out there waiting for him.

fredfa

03-26-05, 07:11 PM

2 HD Shows Worthy of Eyeing

By Debra Leithauser Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, March 27, 2005; Page Y02

First, ABC trots out smash hits "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost." Now the network gives us two more dramas worth checking out.

'Grey's Anatomy' Sundays at 10 p.m. on ABC
The tagline you'll never see: Diagnosis: stable and in good condition.

The basics: Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) is a surgical intern at a prestigious Seattle hospital, but she's still trying to compensate for a few things. She can't quite believe she's -- gulp -- ready to dole out medical advice. Her mother is a well-known surgeon who amazes the other interns. And she slept with a scrumptious surgeon on staff (Patrick Dempsey). Joining her in intern hell are several other bright docs who each has an Achilles' heel to cope with.

The lowdown: "Anatomy" seems like what the doctor ordered to fill the hour after "Desperate Housewives." The strong lead-in should bring viewers in droves, but the show has been given only four weeks to live in the primo time slot. After that, ABC has said, "Boston Legal" will return -- and the network is mum about what will happen to the other nine episodes of "Grey's Anatomy." Wow. Talk about a life-or-death situation.

Reality check: "Anatomy" seems like it will be just another hospital drama, but the show's cast has some chemistry that makes you want to see how each element in this experiment will react. Pompeo and Dempsey's warm-and-fuzzy flirtations are countered by the ambitious Cristina (Sandra Oh) and the bumbling George (T.R. Knight). Character development and not just drama trauma are at the center of this show.

'Eyes' Wednesdays at 10:02 p.m. on ABC

The tagline you'll never see: "Secrets, lies and videotape."

The basics: Harlan Judd (Tim Daly) knows how to take risks -- and how to manage them. His high-tech espionage firm and savvy surveillance team track down intelligence on cases that center on power and wealth
(no petty theft for this crew, thankyouverymuch). The hard part is that most of his sneaks are so stealthy that they're covering up their own secrets even as they stake out the truth.

The lowdown: Creator John McNamara and Daly were partners in crime on 2000's short-lived "The Fugitive." The two took the fast-paced style of that show and packaged it with intrigue for this venture. Joining them on screen are two powerhouse women -- Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon ("NYPD Blue") and Laura Leighton ("Melrose Place").

Reality check: Chock-full of surprises, "Eyes" does for espionage what "NYPD Blue" did for cop shows. Daly's speedy dialogue and the show's complex plotlines give viewers a thrill ride a minute. With a 12-episode order, "Eyes" should hold the gaze of many viewers.

fredfa

03-27-05, 11:48 AM

Saturday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-27-05, 01:03 PM

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Friday March 25th, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options

Sunday 3/27/05

ABC:
America's Funniest Home Videos
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Desperate Housewives HD
Grey's Anatomy (premiere) HD

CBS:
60 Minutes
Cold Case HD
TV Movie: James Patterson's Suzanne's Diary For Nicholas HD

NBC:
Dateline
The Contender
Law & Order: Criminal Intent HD
Crossing Jordan HD

Fox:
King of the Hill
Malcolm in the Middle
The Simpsons
Arrested Development HD
The Simpson (R)
Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show

WB:
Charmed (two repeats)
Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge (R)

The Scoop on Grey's Anatomy:
The personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors is the focus of this new medical drama that will air in place of Boston Legal for four weeks.
With Desperate Housewives as a lead-in, expect ample sampling for Grey's Anatomy.

fredfa

03-27-05, 01:14 PM

There are few major HD series left to begin as the 2004-2005 network TV season winds down.
“Grey’s Anatomy”, which begins tonight on ABC at 10PM ET/PT, is one of them.
So I’ll post a few of the major reviews of the show, pro and con, to give you an idea if it might be worth watching – or recording.

”Grey’s Anatomy” Review
Tales of Sex and Surgery
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY The New York Times

Now that "Sex and the City" is off the air and "ER" is on its last legs, ABC has concocted a drama that tries to be a little bit of both: on "Grey's Anatomy," alluring young interns compete to become surgeons - "Sex and the City Hospital." And that is not a bad combination. In this age of "Desperate Housewives" and "The O.C.," it is refreshing to see a television show whose heroines aspire to meaningful work as well as meaningless sex. Certainly that seems to be the vocation of Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who narrates the series in a soft, Carrie Bradshawesque voice-over. In the premiere episode Sunday night, Meredith wakes up, callously tosses out the handsome stranger she picked up at a bar the night before and races to her first day at Seattle Grace Hospital. Her one-night stand, of course, turns out to be Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), a surgeon and her boss.

Medical shows are making a comeback after years when "ER" was the only place to enjoy a gushing kidney transplant. They are a prime-time perennial: like crime shows, hospital dramas are one of the few plausible backdrops for life-and-death crises, adrenaline-driven action and lots of gore (though it is a credit to the writers of "Desperate Housewives" that each week they manage to cram all that into a suburban cul-de-sac).
Television doctors also hold a special appeal in these days of insurance-driven treatment and H.M.O. diagnoses: they indulge the fantasy that physicians are brilliant risk-takers who defy the system and pay attention to the patient, much the way that "CSI"-style shows feed the delusion that civil servants are zealous brainiacs who never take vacations.

"Scrubs," an NBC sitcom, began in 2001, and this year two other hospital dramas have popped up on prime time. "Medical Investigation" on NBC seeks to be a "CSI" for living victims: a crack team from the National Institutes of Health identifies mysterious symptoms and stamps out scary epidemics. That show is painfully earnest and a bit of a bore. Fox does better with "House," a show whose hero, Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), is a malevolent Marcus Welby: each week he crankily ferrets out the hidden cause of a patient's deadly, unexplained symptoms while terrorizing the patient's family and browbeating his young acolytes.

"Grey's Anatomy" is a Girl Power version of "ER," focusing as much on the interns' love lives and career ambitions as it does on the patients' treatment. It is an unsatirical update on "Ally McBeal," and has a similar sensibility to "The American Embassy," a Fox drama about an American woman who escapes a bad relationship by moving to London to work as a diplomat. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the executive producers of "Grey's Anatomy," James D. Parriott, was a creator of that show. (Fox pulled "The American Embassy" after a few episodes.)

Mostly, however, the female interns on "Grey's Anatomy" are a postfeminist version of the heroines of Rona Jaffe's 1958 novel, "The Best of Everything." Instead of being torn between career and marriage, these bright young things agonize over which specialty to pursue: cardiovascular surgery or neurosurgery. (Romance, like take-out pizza, is consumed on the run.)

Surgery is known as "the game," and it is the interns' obsessive quest to scrub in and get their surgical gloves bloodied. "The game," Meredith says in a portentous, if inane, voice-over. "They say that a person either has what it takes to play the game, or they don't." (These must be the same people who say "Good things come in small packages" and "Beauty is as beauty does.")

On her first, terrifying 48-hour shift, Meredith bonds with other freshly minted doctors who are as hazed and overworked as West Point cadets: Isobel (Izzie) Stevens (Katherine Heigl), an ethereal blond former lingerie model known to her peers as "Dr. Model," who is immediately assigned dozens of rectal exams by her scornful bosses; and Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh, "Sideways"), a ferociously ambitious and hard-edged intern who always seems an inch away from smashing her helmet into some miscreant's skull.

Two male interns hover around the female threesome: George O'Malley (T. R. Knight), a sweet, goofy nerd who becomes their honorary sister, and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), an arrogant, bullying cad who is the intern everybody loves to hate.

All five are kept in line by Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), a resident so fierce and unwelcoming she is known as "the Nazi." Dr. Bailey's cardinal rule is not to be awakened unless a patient is in extremis. ("Next time you wake me," she hisses at Izzie, "he'd better be so close to dead there's a tag on his toe.")
There are no token blacks on "Grey's Anatomy." The three top surgeons who rule the interns with princely authority are all African-Americans, and that sign of social advancement is presented as a given, without fanfare or comment. Similarly, female doctors seem to outnumber the men, and nobody on the show finds that remarkable.

It turns out that Meredith has a reason for picking up strangers in bars: she has a secret that keeps her wary of commitment and ambivalent about her career choice. Her mother is a famous surgeon who recently quit and left town. Meredith does not tell anyone that the legendary Dr. Grey actually has Alzheimer's, is living in a nearby nursing home and no longer always recognizes her own daughter. Her mother was a cold, brilliant workaholic; she does not remember Meredith but lights up at the name of a scrub nurse who worked at her side for years.

Izzie has less success keeping her secret: on her first days on the ward, sexy photos she did for a glossy magazine race through the hospital faster than strep throat. She explains that modeling paid her medical school bills, but even some patients are wary. A man scheduled for prostate surgery refuses to be treated by a woman he last saw in a bustier and thong.

Ms. Oh steals every scene as Cristina, cynical and so crudely ambitious she appalls even her hardened superiors. While Izzie keeps a mournful vigil over a breathing but brain-dead patient, Cristina wishes he would hurry up and die so she can assist at the organ-harvesting surgery.

"Grey's Anatomy" marks the return of women in white coats after a long dry spell. And even viewers who don't track feminist trends on television may enjoy the sight of a quivering liver being lifted out for transplant and tenderly placed in a thermal picnic cooler.

If you enjoyed the medical textbook, you'll love the television show.

fredfa

03-27-05, 01:14 PM

”Grey’s Anatomy” Review
'Grey's Anatomy': No Heart, No Brain
By Tom Shales Washington Post Staff Writer

One of the abiding operative tenets of the TV business is that viewers don't want new shows, they want new shows that remind them of old shows. This doctrine is so old that it led comic Fred Allen to observe, 50 years ago, that "imitation is the sincerest form of television."

And so it is that "Grey's Anatomy," the new medical series premiering tomorrow night on ABC (at 10 on Channel 7), is only nominally new -- the vaguely familiar saga of ambitious young interns earning their stripes at a big fat Seattle hospital.

The cute title refers not only to a classic medical text but also, tee-hee, to Meredith Grey, a first-year surgical intern whose struggles and strife are at the center of the ensemble drama. As played by Ellen Pompeo, she's tough, tenacious, sweet and sensitive, and she has one of the sunniest smiles ever seen in a TV medical show.

Obviously the series owes a lot to "ER," the hospital drama that revolutionized hospital dramas with new levels of candor and graphic gore. "ER" still does well, but obviously it's considered to be showing its age, and NBC's Thursday night lineup is hardly the impenetrable fortress it once was.

So it's only natural that a producer and a network would figure that the time is ripe for another medical drama. By concentrating on young interns, "Grey's Anatomy" hopes to attract young viewers. The show is much more a matter of commercial calculation than an honest attempt to try something fresh and different -- and so bears a greater resemblance to the lurid 1962 melodrama "The Interns" than it does to this season's truly offbeat medical show, "House" on Fox.

As the premiere begins, Ms. Grey, who is not quite Dr. Grey yet, wakes in her apartment to find a handsome stranger (Patrick Dempsey) sharing her bedroom. In a reversal on a time-honored process, it's the woman who picked up a one-night-stand in a bar and brought the man home -- and can't quite remember his name when she sees him by dawn's early light.

She has to get to the hospital for her first day of on-the-job training, so she sends her guest on his way. Now, here's a TV-teaser for you: Have we seen the last of Mr. One-Nighter -- or -- will he turn out to be one of the surgeons to whom Grey is assigned at the hospital?

Tick, tick, tick. Time's up! If you guessed that he'll be popping up at the hospital much to Grey's surprise and chagrin, then congratulations, you could probably be writing junk like this yourself. You win the TV viewers' equivalent of a black belt. Now, use the belt as a handy blindfold to cover your eyes and give yourself a nice nap while "Grey's Anatomy" plods along.

Naturally the crop of young interns is a cross-section of humanity, united not by a love of medicine or a desire to serve the sick or stricken but by voracious ambition. They're as competitive as Olympic lugers, fretting about their careers and about what kind of impression they're making on their superiors. A narrating Wise Old Doc keeps referring to their jobs as "a game" and urges them to "look around at your competition" on the job.

"This is your starting line," the doctor says of the hospital. "This is your arena. How well you play, well, that's up to you."

How comforting it would be for the patients -- some of them linked to life by the beep-beep of a machine -- to learn that the interns not only think of all this as a mere game, but are encouraged to do so by the old pros. "Grey's Anatomy" is not a show to restore your faith, should it be shaky, in modern medical care.

In fact, the script by Shonda Rhimes, nimbly directed by Peter Horton (once an actor on "thirtysomething"), is nothing but a casserole made of equal parts ham and corn. Most of the venerable cliches are there, including the frenzied application of electrical paddles to revive a fading patient and, mere moments later, an angry papa, also frenzied, who reads the riot act when a doctor tells him he doesn't know why the man's teenage daughter is having seizures.

"That's my kid in there!'' screams Daddy to Seizure Girl's doctor. "My kid! And you have the audacity to stand there and tell me 'I don't know'?!'" Well yes, as a matter of fact, he does, and "Grey's Anatomy" has the audacity to stand there and restage this and many other such scenes from medical shows of the past already restaged ad infinitum and ad nauseam.

It's a "new" show only in the sense that Dr. Frankenstein's monster was a new man.

fredfa

03-27-05, 01:15 PM

”Grey’s Anatomy”: Operating at a high level (3 1/2 stars)
By David Bianculli New York Daily News
ABC is using the hour after the first fresh "Desperate Housewives" since the Paleolithic era to launch a series: "Grey's Anatomy," a medical drama borrowing the "Boston Legal" time slot for spring. It's a good gambit - and a good show.

"Grey's Anatomy," premiering Sunday night at 10, stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, whom we follow on her first day at a Seattle hospital as one of a squad of first-year surgical interns. Hence the title, a play on the most well-known medical textbook.

"Grey's Anatom," captures all the hectic exhilaration, disappointment and fear of someone in a high-pressure hospital environment. "St. Elsewhere" did this stuff brilliantly with residents, "ER" does it with emergency-room doctors, and "Doogie Howser, M.D." did it with an underage genius. "Grey's" does it with a female protagonist, and one who's satisfyingly complex. So are some of her fellow surgical interns, including Christina Yang (Sandra Oh of "Sideways"), an intensely competitive and intelligent woman; Isobel Stevens (Katherine Heigl of "Roswell"), whose beauty is held against her, and George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), a nervous but nice doctor in training.

The physicians overseeing their training are complicated, and satisfying, as well.

Patrick Dempsey, in a role that could return him to sex-symbol status, plays Derek Shepherd, the cockiest TV doctor to swagger in scrubs since George Clooney left "ER." Chandra Wilson is humorously tough as no-nonsense Miranda Bailey, and Isaiah Washington plays the brutally honest, yet impressively gifted, Preston Burke.

Peter Horton, one of the stars of "thirtysomething," coaxes very smooth and credible performances out of the entire ensemble. This is a group of actors and characters likely to catch on quickly - especially since Rhimes gives them all moments, and quirks, and serves up more than a few surprises.

Sunday's pilot covers the first 48 hours of Grey's first rotation. It begins with a comic twist, and ends with a dramatic one. In between is as satisfying a medical mystery as any on "House," and a hospital full of intriguing and often conflicted characters.

The best thing about "Grey's Anatomy" is the way it homes in on what it feels like to be at a new job, with new pressures, competitive new colleagues, demanding bosses and one life-and-death situation after another.
By the end of the first hour, there's no way not to feel empathy for Grey; she's absolutely charming, real and touching. By the end of the second hour, the moments she spends with her mother will touch you deeply, and the justifiable tantrum thrown by Heigl's Isobel will rank as the most potent wardrobe malfunction so far in 2005.

The pilot episodes of "St. Elsewhere" and "Doogie Howser" both started where "Grey's" does, with the first tour of duty - an effective way to introduce both the stresses and the players. And when that tour is over, with "Grey's" as with those impressive predecessors, you're eager to return for more. This, folks, is the "Anatomy" of a success.

fredfa

03-27-05, 01:17 PM

”Grey’s Anatomy” Review
An Overdosed Blend of "Paper Chase" and "ER”
By Barry Garron The Hollywood Reporter

For nearly a year, ABC preserved "Grey's Anatomy" in the network jar of formaldehyde, waiting for the right moment. Turns out that for this overdosed blend of "Paper Chase" and "ER," the right moment was about three decades ago. As a medical drama, the show has more in common with the sweetly processed tales of "Medical Center" than more contemporary fare, such as "House" or even "Scrubs."

Other than its allusion to a medical text that is both classic and dated, the title doesn't fit. It seems to have been chosen more for its clever play on words than for reflecting the contents of the series. Although Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) is the first of four surgical interns introduced in the premiere, the focus is diffused roughly equally in this and subsequent episodes. She shares the stage with ambitious, self-reliant Cristina (Sandra Oh), former model Izzy (Katherine Heigl) and socially awkward George (T.R. Knight). Despite different backgrounds, each member of this medical quartet is earnest, empathetic and eager.

Creator-writer Shonda Rhimes gets things started by having Meredith wake up to realize she brought home and slept with a guy whose name she doesn't know. Of course, because Seattle is a small town, who'd guess that the guy would turn out to be someone she meets later that day on her first shift as an intern? Even if we overlook this highly unlikely coincidence, there is a far bigger problem. Once we get to know a little about Meredith, it's clear she is far too responsible and uptight to engage in such promiscuous behavior. No matter. When "Grey's Anatomy" is determined to set up a dramatic conflict, here or later in the series, the end always justifies the means.

In the premiere, the four interns get acquainted. By the second episode, all except Cristina have become roommates in the home formerly occupied by Meredith's mother, who once had been a well-known surgeon. One of their supervisors, Dr. Bailey (Chandra Wilson), introduced as "The Nazi" for her stern and demanding ways, softens considerably after her initial outburst. Indeed, except for Alex (Justin Chambers), a mean-spirited bully of an intern, all the characters are as warm and soft as operating room blankets.

The cast is solid and as diverse as any to be found on the small screen, and the direction by Peter Horton is sharp and well-paced. What's missing, though, is the ring of authenticity. It's not just seeing surgical interns greet an emergency medical helicopter or, in a later episode, a patient with prostate cancer rejecting "Izzy" as a doctor because he fantasized about her after seeing her in a lingerie ad. That's part of it, all right, but mostly each episode is just too symmetrical, too neatly planned. Without those haphazard and chaotic moments, reviews like this one soon could become autopsies.

GREY'S ANATOMY ABC
Cast:
Meredith Grey: Ellen Pompeo
Cristina Yang: Sandra Oh
Isobel "Izzy" Stevens: Katherine Heigl
George O'Malley: T.R. Knight
Miranda Bailey: Chandra Wilson
Preston Burke: Isaiah Washington
Derek Shepherd: Patrick Dempsey
Richard Webber: James Pickens Jr.
Alex Karev: Justin Chambers

fredfa

03-27-05, 02:09 PM

(Updated, with help from f44)

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Friday March 25th, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options

Sunday 3/27/05

ABC:
America's Funniest Home Videos
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Desperate Housewives HD
Grey's Anatomy (premiere) HD

CBS:
60 Minutes
Cold Case HD
TV Movie: James Patterson's Suzanne's Diary For Nicholas HD

NBC:
The Contender: The Greatest Fights
The Contender
Law & Order: Criminal Intent HD
Crossing Jordan HD

Fox:
King of the Hill
Malcolm in the Middle HD
The Simpsons (R)
Arrested Development HD
The Simpsons (R)
Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show

WB:
Charmed (two repeats)
Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge (R)

The Scoop on Grey's Anatomy:
The personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors is the focus of this new medical drama that will air in place of Boston Legal for four weeks.
With Desperate Housewives as a lead-in, expect ample sampling for Grey's Anatomy.

MyGrain

03-27-05, 06:23 PM

I'm at a loss. I should just quit watching tv. If you watch something they'll cancel it, postpone it, pre emt it, or rerun us so much we lose interest.

And weh will the dman rating reflct time shifting? Grrrr.

fredfa

03-27-05, 06:26 PM

I feel your pain, MyGrain. (And welcome to the thread!)
While others suffer through the (apparent) demise of "Arrested Development" and I still mourn the dreadfully mishandled "Karen Sisco" last season.
Nielsen has major changes scheduled for early 2006.
Yikes.
So there is at least one more season to suffer through the current system.

foxeng

03-27-05, 06:50 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
While others suffer through the (apparent) demise of "Arrested Development"

I don't know anything, haven't been told anything, but with Peter Liguori taking over the programming job at FOX, AD may not be dead. He will need shows like that if he wants to create an FX on FOX. We all are waiting to see what he will do. With the new season announcements forthcoming, he is the man in the drivers seat now.

fredfa

03-27-05, 07:29 PM

That would be good news, foxeng, but Ligouri also needs ratings winners. And AD has never shown any signs of being a ratings winner.
(I've still can't understand why Fox put "American Dad" and a "Simpsons" episode on after the Super Bowl rather than "Arrested Development".)

foxeng

03-27-05, 07:44 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
That would be good news, foxeng, but Ligouri also needs ratings winners. And AD has never shown any signs of being a ratings winner.
(I've still can't understand why Fox put "American Dad" and a "Simpsons" episode on after the Super Bowl rather than "Arrested Development".)

I don't know why that was done. It didn't make much sense to me either, but then I am not in LA so I am not privileged to find out such details. That is why I said with new blood at the helm, they may be willing to try different things or let more shows incubate or shake things up. No one has said what he has planned so it is anyones guess at this point.

fredfa

03-27-05, 08:07 PM

You are right.
(And welcome to the thread.)

bgooch

03-27-05, 08:17 PM

the network programmers do not respect their viewers. A real benefit with Tivo is the "season pass" which brought me back to the majors. With it there is no need to figure if my favorite show has been moved, preempted or a rerun. Tivo even gave me a heads up about last weeks "Idol" rebroadcast. Now if we could just teach the programmers how to tell time. The odd start times are intended to carry over an audience. But those of us not parked in front of live tv for the night find this ploy off putting. When I see conflicts arise due to an overlap of a min. or two my 1st reaction is to cancel the season pass. BTW the cable co Moxi
dvr software has a ways to go before it will be as useful as Tivo.

keenan

03-27-05, 08:30 PM

Originally posted by bgooch
With it there is no need to figure if my favorite show has been moved, preempted or a rerun.

I'm not a huge Fox viewer, only 24, House and football, but what I've seen posted here and elsewhere is that their scheduling movements seem to be an issue with them. I agree that I think they should let shows hang around a little longer, it seems that after 5-10 airings a new show is yanked.

fredfa

03-28-05, 12:06 AM

FCC Looks at New Indecency Rules
By STEPHEN LABATON The New York Times March 29, 2005

The television and radio industries are about to come under renewed attack over sex, violence and profanity in their programming, both in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission.

Leading lawmakers and the new leader of the F.C.C. have proposed a broad expansion of indecency rules, which were significantly toughened just last year. They are also looking for significant increases in the size of fines and new procedures that could jeopardize the licenses of stations that repeatedly violate the rules.

Some senior lawmakers, including Senator Ted Stevens, the Alaskan Republican who is the leader of the Commerce Committee, as well as Kevin J. Martin, the new chairman of the commission, have suggested it may be time to extend the indecency and profanity rules to cable and satellite television providers, which now account for viewership in 85 percent of the nation's homes. And organizations opposing what they consider indecent programming have joined forces with consumer groups that have been trying to tighten regulation over the cable industry and force it to offer consumers less expensive packages of fewer stations, known as à la carte services.

Some of the anti-indecency groups see à la carte services as a way of helping consumers block out programming they consider indecent. "We are at a rare moment when there seems to be bipartisan energy on both sides of the political aisle and both sides of the ideological divide," said L. Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council, a leading advocacy organization that officials say has been responsible for the vast majority of complaints against the broadcasters.

Mr. Martin and the senior Democrat on the commission, Michael J. Copps, have consistently been among the most aggressive members of the agency on indecency issues. President Bush is expected shortly to announce the appointment of two new members to the five-person commission. Those appointments will determine whether the views of Mr. Martin and Mr. Copps on indecency issues will prevail at the agency.

Last year, the agency proposed fines of nearly $8 million in 12 cases involving television or radio stations. By contrast, in 2003, the agency proposed about $440,000 in three radio cases.

The number of complaints has also risen sharply, to more than 1.4 million last year, compared with 111 in 2000. Commission officials say that the number of complaints is misleading, because most of them come from the Parents Television Council. But Mr. Bozell disputes that, saying that the agency has no way of accurately tracking the source of the complaints.

Lawyers for cable companies say any effort to impose indecency standards on paid programming would violate the First Amendment. Meanwhile, broadcasters have been slow to respond to the new climate. The networks and affiliates have filed papers with the commission seeking a rehearing on the three major indecency cases: the Janet Jackson incident at the Super Bowl, Bono's use of a profanity at the Golden Globe Awards and a racy episode of "Married by America."

But the agency has sat on those appeals, and may not issue rulings for months or longer. As a practical matter, the inaction by the commission has prevented the networks from taking the matter to court. And for now, at least, the courts are widely viewed as the last hope for the broadcasters.

"The courts really are the only avenue of relief," said Kurt A. Wimmer, a lawyer at Covington & Burling in Washington, which represents a number of broadcasters in disputes with the commission. "The commission and Congress are locked in a political spiral that provides no avenue of relief."

Michael K. Powell, the former chairman of the commission, came under heavy criticism by broadcasters, civil liberties groups and producers for taking a hard line on indecency cases; Mr. Martin and Mr. Copps have taken an even harder line. They have argued in a number of cases that the commission erred by either not finding violations or not imposing tough enough sanctions.

Mr. Martin's views on the limited constitutional protections of broadcasters is summed up in a letter he sent to Mr. Bozell in December 2003 in which he complained that the agency was interpreting the indecency rules too narrowly. "Certainly broadcasters and cable operators have significant First Amendment rights, but these rights are not without boundaries," he wrote. "They are limited by law. They also should be limited by good taste."

He emphasized that view when he dissented from a decision by the commission in an indecency case over an episode of the "Keen Eddie" show. In that case, decided last November, the agency did not to penalize Fox for an episode in which three men hired a prostitute to get semen from a horse for the artificial insemination of another horse. "This order involves a television program that the majority admits 'contains references of a sexual nature that were broadcast at a time of day when children were likely to be in the audience,' " he wrote in that opinion. "Yet the majority concludes that the program, in which a prostitute is hired to sexually arouse a horse by removing her blouse and to 'extract' semen from the horse, is not indecent because the prostitute is 'never seen actually touching' the horse. Despite my colleagues' assurance that there appeared to be a safe distance between the prostitute and the horse, I remain uncomfortable. I respectfully dissent."

Mr. Martin's views appear to have broad support in Congress. Last month, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that would raise the amount the commission could fine a station to $500,000, from $32,500. The bill, proposed by Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican who is chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, was adopted by a vote of 389 to 38. The legislation also requires the commission to hold a hearing to consider revoking the broadcast license of any station that has three indecency violations.

In the Senate, meanwhile, a number of similar measures have been introduced. One bill introduced earlier this month would increase the maximum fine to $500,000 and permit the commission to double fines for egregious incidents, such as when the indecent material was scripted. The legislation would also require the commission to study the V-chip, which some senators say has not been effective in blocking undesired programs, and would force the broadcasters to double the amount of children's programming they offer, to six hours rather than three.

The bill is sponsored by Senators John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, and Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas. "I would welcome voluntary actions by the industry to address both indecency and gratuitous violence, but they aren't stepping up to the plate, and that's why Congress cannot wait any longer to protect our communities and our families," Mr. Rockefeller said when he introduced the measure. "If the industry won't protect our children from gratuitous violence and indecency, then we must act."

keenan

03-28-05, 02:19 AM

The March 28th issue of Time magazine has as interesting article on the indecency thing...

MyGrain

03-28-05, 02:44 AM

Originally posted by fredfa
I feel your pain, MyGrain. (And welcome to the thread!)
While others suffer through the (apparent) demise of "Arrested Development" and I still mourn the dreadfully mishandled "Karen Sisco" last season.
Nielsen has major changes scheduled for early 2006.
Yikes.
So there is at least one more season to suffer through the current system.

Thanks Fredfa. You say nielsens are going to change? To reflect dvr's and such?

20 some years after vcr's...
lol!

trbarry

03-28-05, 07:37 AM

You say nielsens are going to change? To reflect dvr's and such?

I don't at all understand why Nielsen has been such a holdup. We have the technology now that any cable box or PVR could report exactly which channels were tuned and which recordings were watched. The consumer privacy issue should be gotten around by making it totally optional to the extent legally required. Almost every PVR and most STB's are part of some subscription service so you could offer consumers a few pennies per month to be allowed to capture the info (in aggregate). Only a small percentage might agree but that would likely be more than enough data. There would become a large market for consumer data with the price bargaining going all the way back to the consumer. And it would be no more self-selecting than current systems.

- Tom

fredfa

03-28-05, 10:11 AM

Actually there are already surveys including TiVos.
(One of them involves about 10,000 users.)
So advertisers are aware of what is happening.
It is just a question of Nielsen incorporating DVR users into its national and local surveys in a statistically reliable way.

trbarry

03-28-05, 10:13 AM

I'll bet a consortium of major cable companies could get together and put Nielsen out of business real fast if Nielsen doesn't get their act together.

- Tom

fredfa

03-28-05, 10:50 AM

CBS, UPN Fill in the Gaps With Quality Shows
By John Consoli Mediaweek.com March 28, 2005

Media buyers reacted positively last week to the combined development presentation of CBS and UPN, with most believing that each network has enough quality shows to fill the holes in their schedules.

Buyers particularly liked prospective CBS dramas Conviction, about a defense attorney-turned-district attorney starring Eric LaSalle and Sally Field, and The Unit, from David Mamet and The Shield creator Shawn Ryan, about a secret-missions team that battles terrorists.

Other shows CBS discussed were 3 lbs, a medical drama starring Dylan McDermott as a surgeon; Commuters, a soapy drama about couples and infidelity; and Quantico, about an elite squad of FBI profilers.

“Anything in the drama area has a shot at working because it can be launched on a platform with one of their already successful dramas,” said one media buyer, who did not want to speak for attribution.

Buyers said the sitcoms that CBS executives pushed the hardest were Old Christine, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a divorced mother with a 10-year-old who owns a women’s health club; Washington Street, a romantic comedy about another single working mother of a 10-year-old who finds love in her building; and an untitled sitcom starring Susie Essman, who is best known for her role in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

“Julia Louis-Dreyfus is well-known to viewers, but she has not had much success since Seinfeld,” another media buyer said. “And Susie Essman is great on Curb, but HBO is only seen by 32 percent of the country, so not as many people know her.”

UPN shows that made impressions on buyers include dramas South Beach, about two friends whose lives take different directions when they move to Miami, and Triangle, starring Ivan Sergei as a doctor whose wife disappears while honeymooning in the Caribbean. Sitcoms include 20 Things to Do Before You’re 30, about four Chicago friends facing the anxieties in their lives, and Everybody Hates Chris, narrated by Chris Rock, about a teen growing up in Brooklyn during the early ’80s who is bused to a white middle school in the suburbs.

“UPN has enough good stuff in development to fill their schedule from scratch,” said one impressed buyer. “They will have lots to choose from.” The buyer added that UPN’s shows in development all seem to have elements targeting an 18-34 female audience.

fredfa

03-28-05, 11:06 AM

HD Now in 4 Million U.S. Homes
A recent report by In-Stat says:
-- There are currently 4 million HDTV households in the United States, that up about 250% in a year from 1.6 million in March of 2004.
-- 45% of the 10 million worldwide HDTV households get their service from a satellite TV service provider. Terrestrial broadcasters and cable TV operators provide high-def service to the remaining HDTV households.
-- A survey of U.S. consumers showed that 76% of the respondents had watched HDTV programming on an HDTV set, although many of the respondents noted that they had simply seen a demonstration of HDTV in a retail store.

More here:
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050328005204&newsLang=en

fredfa

03-28-05, 11:22 AM

Sunday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-28-05, 12:02 PM

Rescue me: Five shows in danger

From the Boston Herald

We call them shows on the bubble--and make no mistake, these cult favorites are in danger of floating away forever. Here are five shows that need your lovin'. Because if you don't do something, they'll be gone forever and the TV landscape will be poorer for it.

Arrested Development Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on Fox

Come on people . . . isn't it time you were ``Arrested''?

Now in its second season, this Fox comedy is silly and smart, subtle and laugh-out-loud funny, all at the same time. Maybe that's because it wrings most of its laughs from the secret conviction so many of us share - that we're the only responsible, sane ones in otherwise crazy families.

OK, so your dad probably hasn't been sent to the slammer for fraud, grand theft and petty theft. And I hope your mom doesn't swill vodka for breakfast and occasionally dress your adult brother in a short-pants sailor suit.

Still, even while you're laughing at Michael Bluth's (Jason Bateman) impossibly messed-up clan, it's easy to sympathize with him. There he is, a 30-something widowed father, earnestly trying to help the family business recover from corporate scandal - but he keeps getting derailed by his thoroughly crooked father (Jeffrey Tambor), comically ruthless mother (Jessica Walter), three slacker sibs (Portia di Rossi, Will Arnett, Tony Hale) and hopelessly clueless brother-in-law (David Cross).

A man-eating seal in a yellow bow tie? An underhanded campaign for student-body president? A failed magician who gets married on a dare? That's just the last three weeks in the life of the Bluths. Note-perfect performances and hilariously droll narration by executive producer Ron Howard add to the laughs.

Low ratings almost sent this show to the scrapheap last season, but fan support and critical acclaim got it renewed. Good thing, too, since it went on to win five Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series.

This season has been even better than the first - but ratings are still low. Come on, people . . . it's time get behind ``Development.''

Write to Fox c/o FOX Broadcasting Co., P.O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213. - LINDA G. KINCAID

American Dreams Wednesdays at 8 on NBC

NBC's ``American Dreams'' deserves a reprieve and a fourth season because there is no other show like it on the air.

Sure, the stunt casting (Paris Hilton as Barbara Eden!) is delicious. And who doesn't love seeing Third Eye Blind as the Kinks or Usher as Marvin Gaye.

Practically every singer on the Top 40 and every ``American Idol'' winner has stopped by ``American Dreams'' to impersonate a musical counterpart from yesteryear.

Set against the backdrop of ``American Bandstand'' and the tumultuous '60s, the show is a throwback to another television era - a time when there were quality one-hour dramas that could entertain the entire family. This season, the Pryor family deftly tackled everything from teen romance to corrupt local politics to civil unrest.

The series may be loose with the decade's time line, blending the era's significant events conveniently into the family's lives, but TV needs a show that understands how important the results of a high school essay contest are to a daughter, and a son's struggle after returning home from the Vietnam War. This dream should live on.

E-mail NBC at nbcshows@nbcuni.com or AmericanDreams@nbcuni.com - AMY AMATANGELO

Veronica Mars Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on UPN

There are dozens of reasons why UPN should renew ``Veronica Mars'' for a second season. Here are a few:

It's a smart, funny, lovingly crafted, well-acted hour that realistically depicts the horrors of high school through the eyes of a former Miss Popularity (the radiant Kristen Bell).

At the same time, it's a gripping mystery, slyly nods to pop culture, sports a hip theme song by the delicious Dandy Warhols and features the only voice-over narration worth listening to in prime time. It's the best new show of the season after ``Lost'' and ``Desperate Housewives'' and often has been more adept than both those shows at parceling out its mystery for maximum intrigue while deftly following Veronica's private detective gig of the week.

But the only reason that should matter to UPN's head honchos is the simple fact that for the first time ever the basement dwelling net-let has a bona fide water cooler show on its hands.

Fans obsess over who killed Lily Kane, who sexually assaulted Veronica and what drove Veronica's mom out of the home she shares with her lovable gumshoe dad (Enrico Colantoni).

Considering all of the gaping creative holes in its prime-time programming, it should be easy for UPN to see it's got a good thing going with ``Veronica.''

Aside from the trashy ``America's Next Top Model,'' UPN can't boast of a single true hit, and only the long-running sitcom ``Girlfriends'' could be considered top quality. (Sorry, ``Kevin Hill,'' you're good, but not as great as ``Veronica.'').

The Trekkies already are mad at UPN for canceling ``Enterprise;'' does the network really want more angry fans protesting outside the studio? Just as ``Buffy'' slayed new fans by word-of-mouth, more viewers will want to know about life on ``Mars.''

Go to upn.com and click on the ``contact us'' link. - SARAH RODMAN

Judging Amy Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on CBS

Don't judge, but I love ``Judging Amy.''

Yet the CBS drama, which is supposed to air Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. (half the time, it's not even on) seems to be on the skids, probably making way for the next reality brain drain like ``Nursing Home 911'' or ``Toddlers Gone Wild.''

This would be a big mistake - unless you're the editor of a pretty famous author I know who actually misses important deadlines because she is glued to the regular show and reruns on TBS and The Hallmark Channel - but I digress.

The point is ``Judging Amy'' needs to go on.

Why? Mostly because of Tyne Daly, who plays the salty social worker (and Amy's mother) Maxine Gray. She's who we want to be in lousy, stressful situations, offering sage advice while downing a few glasses of wine. Or if we don't want to be her, we want to be related to her, so we can invite at least one person we like to Thanksgiving dinner.

And we enjoy judging Judge Amy Gray (Amy Brenneman), who blunders and sputters and makes mistakes like we all do - she sleeps with the wrong guys, is sometimes a parental train wreck and still lives with her mother.

Plus, we really want her to end up with Bruce (Richard T. Jones).

In the midst of dehumanizing dramas out there - where the story du jour usually involves bloodied women or victimized children, ``Judging Amy'' is just the opposite, a show with family and heart.

And Cheech Marin.

Go to cbs.com, and click on feedback link at the bottom of the page. - LAUREN BECKHAM FALCONE

Boston Legal Sundays at 10 p.m. on ABC

If the Michael Jackson trial were televised, perhaps only then could we live without ``Boston Legal.''

Nah. We'd still need it.

Prime-time network schedules are chock-full of law and order and highly technical investigations (both medical and crime scene varieties). That's what makes the comic relief of ``Boston Legal'' so refreshing, even if its hourlong plots manage to sneak in some preachiness each Sunday night.

As if we should expect anything less from creator David E. Kelley.

His handiwork - quirky plots, stellar guest stars and laugh-out-loud moments - is evident here. But Kelley found something truly special in bringing Hub native James Spader to the small screen as the shady-yet-heroic lawyer Alan Shore.

Spader's Emmy win last year was no fluke.

He breathes life into every episode of ``Boston Legal,'' even if Kelley and his writers haven't quite figured out where the show should head next. As it stands, the show definitely needs to balance Spader and William Shatner - ``Denny Crane!'' - with the underused Mark Valley, Monica Potter and Rhona Mitra.

On the bright side, Candice Bergen and Betty White are back on series TV, and each week features another fabulous guest star, whether it's Carl Reiner, Shelley Long or the Rev. Al Sharpton [related, bio] riding to the rescue.

When the show returns from hiatus (tentatively April 22), you must see Rupert Everett's three-episode arc and Heather Locklear's turn as ``The Black Widow.''

If nothing else, you'll see the Hub represented onscreen with pride each week. At least three episodes have name-dropped the world champion Boston Red Sox or New England Patriots. And that's always worth watching.

Write to ABC at 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-4551. - SEAN L. McCARTHY

keenan

03-28-05, 01:21 PM

Originally posted by fredfa

-- 45% of the 10 million worldwide HDTV households get their service from a satellite TV service provider.

That is an impressive number and I think it's only going to get bigger.

keenan

03-28-05, 01:30 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
Rescue me: Five shows in danger
Boston Legal Sundays at 10 p.m. on ABC

Boston Legal is in trouble!?!? I haven't paid attention to it's ratings, but I think ABC would be crazy to let this one go. It's a highly unique show in the manner it broaches real issues and combined with the high-powered cast and how they are used makes for one of my most favorite hours of the week. Where else can you see a political statement about the horror in the Sudan and laughing your butt off at Denny Crane in the same hour. I really can't think of a show with better talent on the air..

I will be very disapointed if this show doesn't make it, maybe the cast costs too much or they have stepped on too many toes.

fredfa

03-28-05, 01:41 PM

That is the Boston Herald's take on things.
I seriously doubt "Boston Legal" is in trouble.

f44

03-28-05, 02:41 PM

fredfa for the Mid-Season Replacments list:

ABC
The Bachelor Spring ---It starts today with a two-hour premiere. Mondays 9pm ET, not HD.

f44

03-28-05, 02:42 PM

I think ABC would be crazy and won't drop Boston Legal, but it'll be in a different timeslot next year as Grey's Anatomy had better ratings and is a better fit with Housewives.

AFH

03-28-05, 03:22 PM

Originally posted by f44
I think ABC would be crazy and won't drop Boston Legal, but it'll be in a different timeslot next year as Grey's Anatomy had better ratings and is a better fit with Housewives.

Grey's Anatomy has only has one episode so we'll have to wait and see if it gets picked up by ABC. Boston Legal is a decent show that will most likely find a slot in ABC's lineup. The Monday night timeslot could come open if ABC sends MNF off to ESPN. That'll free ABC up to put some of the newer shows like Grey's on Monday night and have it anchored by Boston Legal or some veteran show that ABC already has. ABC will be better in the long run by getting rid of MNF. With the way the ratings are going for MNF, advertisers aren't going to pay the rate that ABC wants, so new scripted programming like Grey's would fit right in to the Monday night timeslot.

Xesdeeni

03-28-05, 04:45 PM

Just a note for anyone interested. While I can't find it listed anywhere (TitanTV, my paper's TV magazine, etc.) that way, Nanny 911 is in HD...at least it has been the last two weeks.

Xesdeeni

(Ok, I don't watch, but the end is on the lead-in to my HD recording of 24.)

fredfa

03-28-05, 04:49 PM

You might be right, but the Fox website does not list Nanny 911 as being broadcast in HD.
Are you sure it isn't just the deaded Fox Widescreen Digital?

Xesdeeni

03-28-05, 05:15 PM

That's what I thought at first, but it looks like HD to me. While the 480p 16:9 looked better than 480i 4:3, 720p is much better. I'll snag a sample frame from tonight's recording when I edit and archive 24 (saving for the lean summer months) to be sure.

Xesdeeni

fredfa

03-28-05, 05:16 PM

I'd love to hear if Fox is sneaking more HD in on us!

fredfa

03-28-05, 05:22 PM

One For The Books

On a special Law & Order "cross-over" episode April 15, Richard Belzer ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") guest-stars in a record sixth different series as Detective Munch ("Homicide," "Law & Order," "X Files" and "The Beat"). The story arc begins Wednesday, April 15 on the L&O mother ship, the continue Friday night on L&O: TBJ.

(Obviously the new L&O franchise needs all the help it can get: it has been losing to Numb3rs. But it also kinda makes you wonder who keeps track of all this prime-time minutiae (other than NBC's publicists, of course).

keenan

03-28-05, 05:27 PM

keenan

03-28-05, 05:31 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
One For The Books

On a special Law & Order "cross-over" episode April 15, Richard Belzer ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") guest-stars in a record sixth different series as Detective Munch ("Homicide," "Law & Order," "X Files" and "The Beat"). The story arc begins Wednesday, April 15 on the L&O mother ship, the continue Friday night on L&O: TBJ.

(Obviously the new L&O franchise needs all the help it can get: it has been losing to Numb3rs. But it also kinda makes you wonder who keeps track of all this prime-time minutiae (other than NBC's publicists, of course).

I think Belzer's character in the best L&O character there is, second only to D'Onofrio, who is head and shoulders above all the rest.

fredfa

03-28-05, 07:43 PM

From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Monday March 28th, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options

Monday 3/28/05

ABC:
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - How'd They Do That?
The Bachelor (season premiere two hours)

CBS:
Still Standing (R) HD
Listen Up (R) HD
Everybody Loves Raymond (R) HD
Two and a Half Men (R) HD
CSI: Miami (R) HD

NBC:
Fear Factor
Las Vegas HD
Medium HD

Fox:
Nanny 911
24 HD

UPN:
One On One HD
Cuts HD
Girlfriends HD
Half and Half HD

WB:
7th Heaven (R)
Summerland HD

fredfa

03-28-05, 07:58 PM

Don't envy this Fox exec

By VERNE GAY Newsday.com March 28, 2005

Who is Peter Liguori and why does he deserve our pity?

For those of you just tuning into this sitcom, he's the new president of Fox Entertainment, named Thursday to what is almost certainly the worst job in television. This is job where the titleholder must check his or her taste - and often brain - at the door. This is a job in which the president, with a realistically straight face, must tell the world that shows like "The Swan," "The Complex: Malibu" and - God help us all - Pamela Anderson's forthcoming "Stacked" are actually worth watching.

Most of all, this is a job where the tenure over the last decade has more often been measured in months rather than years. To be a Fox Entertainment president means keeping a carefully folded resume in your Armani breast pocket, always at the ready.

Liguori replaces Gail Berman, a popular boss who lasted a year and was in such a hurry to leave the Fox lot last week that they still haven't come up with a name for her big new production job over at Paramount Pictures. But Gail's a happy woman today. Peter owns this mess now.

What's the problem? Ya got a coupla hours? Fox Kremlinologists have been studying the turmoil and dysfunction for years. Here's the macro-picture. The problem, of course, begins with News Corp. chief executive Rupert Murdoch. He is the most brutal reductionist in the history of television, and doesn't care whether a show is good, bad or horrific - as long as it gets a number. While his own personal TV tastes seem to tend toward the horrific, Murdoch is willing to give anything a try. This has bred - as we Kremlinologists delicately like to put it - an "inconsistency" on Fox's air. As obvious examples (and by no means isolated ones), shows like "The Simpsons" or "Arrested Development" have coexisted on a schedule with such specials as "Who's Your Daddy?" "The Littlest Groom" or "Man vs. Beast II."

Yes, all networks have their dogs, but those at Fox have always been especially mangy. Viewers have never really known what they're going to get from one night to the next: Something good or something that will force them to take a flea bath.

Berman, a particularly capable executive with reasonably good tastes who developed shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Malcolm in the Middle" during her former life in the production ranks, wanted upscale shows- although "Stacked" suggests she may well have lost that battle.

There have been other chiefs with similar instincts over the years, like Peter Roth and John Matoian. Their time in the executive suite, however, was brief and wretched, which conclusively proved that the higher the brow, the shorter the tenure. That may be worrisome for Liguori, who - along with NBC boss Kevin Reilly - did a terrific job turning must-avoid FX into one of cable's brightest destinations.

Next - and most important - is Mike Darnell. We in the TV press routinely and lazily refer to him as Fox's "reality guru." In fact, he is the Shadow President of Fox, who holds the real power there. If Liguori didn't bow and scrape before Darnell the moment after he was named last week, then he's in trouble already. Darnell's official title is "executive vice president of alternative programming," which is just another way of saying "executive vice president in charge of 'American Idol.'"

If you were in charge of "Idol." you, too, would be the Most Important Person in TV right now. There have been rumors that Berman and Darnell didn't always see, ahem, eye-to-eye. For a long time, though, that didn't matter. Berman actually joined Fox as Entertainment president nearly five years ago from Regency TV, but she reported to Sandy Grushow, who was Fox chairman. Before he was fired last year, Grushow had real clout at Fox, and it was he who did most of the mud wrestling with Darnell. But with Grushow gone, Berman had to do her own rasslin', and she was no match for the wily Darnell.

"Gail wasn't happy," says one acquaintance (and former Fox executive). "It's very tough being a female in that environment ... you have an atmosphere there that is always 'what did you do for me an hour ago.' She has been so successful with that network, [but] no individual will ever be looked up as contributing to its success."

And this person adds: "You'll never hear from her again. It's a shame, it's really a shame she's gone. This is a biggie."

An ironic biggie, too. In spite of all the nonsense, Berman leaves the network in surprisingly good shape - also surprising considering that Fox's entertainment lineup disappears each fall for baseball playoffs. She launched successes like "House" and fought to keep "Arrested" on the air. Fox will probably tie CBS for the coveted 18-to-49-year-old viewers' crown this season (thanks to baseball and "Idol").

"We all love and respect her," one insider says, "and she leaves this place in fantastic shape for Peter."

Sadly, love and respect get you squat at Fox.

f44

03-28-05, 08:13 PM

Guess by me:
ABC will move Boston Legal to Wednesday at 10pm for the fall, Eyes will get cancelled since it has to face CSI: NY and Law & Order and did not get nearly enough advertising and will get low ratings. Or something completly different might happen since they'll probably restructure Tuesdays.

fredfa, Do you think Alias is in trouble since its ratings slip a ton when Lost doesn't have a new episode (but Alias does) and it faces American Idol? Even Yes, Dear beats it now a good amount of the time.

fredfa

03-28-05, 09:02 PM

I doubt it is in trouble (in terms of cancellation) but its high license fee is a worry.
Yet it sells well, apparently, as DVD sets.
So I would assume it would get a fifth season next year as most of the actors' contracts are written for five years.
Beyond that I think it depends on what shows ABC develops next year. If they can come up with a few more solid hits, they might have enough bench strength to go for something new rather than renewing Alias (for 2006-07.
In my mind Alias really is starting to run out of steam, and the problem with shows that appeal to a young demographic is that when they begin to fade they tend to fade very, very fast.

boo

03-28-05, 09:38 PM

Originally posted by fredfa
I doubt it is in trouble (in terms of cancellation) but its high license fee is a worry.
Yet it sells well, apparently, as DVD sets.
So I would assume it would get a fifth season next year as most of the actors' contracts are written for five years.
Beyond that I think it depends on what shows ABC develops next year. If they can come up with a few more solid hits, they might have enough bench strength to go for something new rather than renewing Alias (for 2006-07.
In my mind Alias really is starting to run out of steam, and the problem with shows that appeal to a young demographic is that when they begin to fade they tend to fade very, very fast.

I think it will go on, based on DVD sales, syndication rights are already sold to TNT( but only for $200,000 per episode ) and it does get ok ratings for the prime 18-49 age range, and they might want to keep the co-creator of Lost happy and as far as a "high license fee", is not the show owned by Disney?

fredfa

03-28-05, 10:04 PM

Yes, but that one part of Disney still has to send the cash to the other end of the lot.
But be that as it may, I can't see much chance it won't get renewed for 2005-2006.

keenan

03-28-05, 10:07 PM

Originally posted by fredfa

In my mind Alias really is starting to run out of steam, and the problem with shows that appeal to a young demographic is that when they begin to fade they tend to fade very, very fast.

It is, it has become so formulaic this year that I'm only hanging by a thread. Same thing every week, just different bad guys, it's pathetic.

dturturro

03-28-05, 10:31 PM

Originally posted by keenan
It is, it has become so formulaic this year that I'm only hanging by a thread. Same thing every week, just different bad guys, it's pathetic.

The problem is the network said the cliffhanger endings were confusing people when they took time off for reruns. The solution: run the eps consecutively AND give up on the cliffhanger endings!

Ponderous!

dturturro

03-28-05, 10:32 PM

Originally posted by keenan
It is, it has become so formulaic this year that I'm only hanging by a thread. Same thing every week, just different bad guys, it's pathetic.

GregF

03-28-05, 11:21 PM

Originally posted by HDTVChallenged
(Sci)Fridays use to be Showtime night ... a list of the dearly departed

Outer Limits (redux)
Poltergist: The Legacy
Stargate
Jeremiah
Dead Like Me

PS: The reuse of the "Dead Like Me" Waffle Haus set on Stargate: SG-1 last week was brilliant ;) :D

PPS: Huff is actually good (for adults), I hope it sticks around.

There is only one show I watch or have watched on Showtime in ages now: "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" This is being played on Showtime HD even though it's merely SD. But it's one of the most interesting shows you'll see, and I would even go as far as to say it's better than anything you're likely to read even! It's playing weekly now, so I hope some of you will check it out.

keenan

03-28-05, 11:42 PM

It is a great show, but I never remember to watch it, going to have to set some reminders.

fredfa

03-29-05, 02:35 AM

"Grey's Anatomy" soars in 18-49

Sunday's debut of the new ABC series "Grey's Anatomy" got a 7.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic ABC targets.
That is the second highest 18-49 rating for the premiere episode of a new series this season.
The only series to do better: "Desperate Housewives".

Xesdeeni

03-29-05, 09:53 AM

Originally posted by fredfa
I'd love to hear if Fox is sneaking more HD in on us! You be the judge.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/Xesdeeni/snapshot.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/Xesdeeni/snapshot0000.jpg

It certainly looks better than last year's 24 480p up-converted to 720p. But that may have been done locally, and our local FOX's upconversion stinks. OTOH, there is a tell-tale closed caption line at the top of the video, which should really only exist in a 480i path.

As I said, you be the judge.

Xesdeeni

fredfa

03-29-05, 10:05 AM

NCAA Ratings Soar

(From Steve Zipay, Newsday

“…led by the 10.8 rating for Michigan State's double-OT defeat of Kentucky, CBS posted a 9.3 average overnight rating for Sunday's regional finals, its best in 15 years. That figure translates as approximately 7.1 million homes in the 55 major television markets….”
--------------------------------------

From Richard Sandomir, The New York Times:

“… The Michigan State-Kentucky game was the capstone to CBS's highly rated weekend. It produced a 10.8 overnight Nielsen rating from 5 p.m to 8:15 p.m. Eastern, exceeding the 10.1 for the seminal Kentucky-Duke regional final in 1992 (which was played on a Saturday from 7 p.m. to 9:33 p.m.), and was the highest-rated game in its Sunday time slot since a 12.4 for the U.N.L.V.-Loyola Marymount regional final in 1990.

Illinois's stunning comeback over Arizona in prime time on Saturday generated a 9.1 overnight rating, the best tournament performance in that time slot since 1993.

During West Virginia's loss to Louisville on Saturday (which generated a 7.2 rating, up 36 percent from the comparable game last year, and the best in its time slot since 1999), I got Pittsnogle fever…”

fredfa

03-29-05, 11:36 AM

Monday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

HDTVChallenged

03-29-05, 12:21 PM

Originally posted by GregF
There is only one show I watch or have watched on Showtime in ages now: "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!"

Yep, it's in repeats right now, but still worthwhile if you didn't catch it the first time around.

fredfa

03-29-05, 12:29 PM

NCAA B-Ball on CBS Rises 14 Pct. in Ratings
By John Consoli Mediaweek.com

CBS Sports' coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship tournament is averaging a 6.7/14 household rating and share, up 14 percent from last year's comparable tournament coverage which averaged a 5.9/12 in the metered markets.

This year's rating is the highest since a 7.0/16 in 1993.

The three Sunday games, which aired from 2:30 until 8:15 p.m., earned an average overnight household rating/share of 9.3/20, up 27 percent compared to last year's 7.3/14 for comparable games.

Those were the best ratings since the regional finals in 1990 which produced an 11.2/27. Coverage of the two Final Four games airs this Saturday night.

zebras23

03-29-05, 01:04 PM

Originally posted by GregF
There is only one show I watch or have watched on Showtime in ages now: "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" This is being played on Showtime HD even though it's merely SD. But it's one of the most interesting shows you'll see, and I would even go as far as to say it's better than anything you're likely to read even! It's playing weekly now, so I hope some of you will check it out.

Be very careful of taking that show w/ any degree of seriousness. I work in the environmental insurance industry (yes you can buy insurance for anything) and they did a show on recycling. We make no profit if there is or is no recycling - we just know a lot about the industry. Their conclusions couldn't have been more wrong. While recycling may not be very profitable, the upside is incredible.

Penn & Teller's Bullshit make "60 Minutes" look fair and balanced and not edited for affect.

keenan

03-29-05, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
You be the judge.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/Xesdeeni/snapshot.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/Xesdeeni/snapshot0000.jpg

Xesdeeni

Dude!! That "bug" is HUGE!!! Is that the normal network on screen bug? Does it fade off after a few minutes?

You can barely even see the one we have here in SF...

GregF

03-29-05, 03:52 PM

Originally posted by zebras23
Be very careful of taking that show w/ any degree of seriousness. I work in the environmental insurance industry (yes you can buy insurance for anything) and they did a show on recycling. We make no profit if there is or is no recycling - we just know a lot about the industry. Their conclusions couldn't have been more wrong. While recycling may not be very profitable, the upside is incredible.

Penn & Teller's Bullshit make "60 Minutes" look fair and balanced and not edited for affect.

I'm sorry I'm a big fan of the producers of this show, Michael Shermer, James Randi and that entire group. I applaud them for often quoting the very sources they criticize in their conclusions, such as the author of that government study. I'm not sure what upsides you speak of, unless it's the busywork created by all that unnecessary, government funded work. I'm not saying they're right and you're wrong, but I'd have to see a more detailed rebuttal with sources to take it seriously. But like they said, "Everybody got a gris-gris" and this is a very big gris-gris.

fredfa

03-29-05, 04:28 PM

On the Air Tonight: Primetime Programming Options

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

ABC:
My Wife and Kids HD
George Lopez HD
According to Jim HD
Rodney HD
Blind Justice HD

CBS:
NCIS (R) HD
Amazing Race 7 (two hours)

NBC:
Will & Grace (R) HD
Scrubs (R)
Scrubs
The Office HD
Law & Order: SVU HD

Fox:
American Idol HD
House HD

UPN:
All Of Us
Eve
Veronica Mars HD

WB:
Gilmore Girls (R) HD
The Starlet

fredfa

03-29-05, 04:44 PM

A story detailing last week’s prime-time ratings has been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread. The complete ratings list will be posted later in the day.

f44

03-29-05, 05:50 PM

fredfa,
Will & Grace tonight is HD.

fredfa

03-29-05, 05:57 PM

“Monk” in HD

Before premiering for its fourth season later this summer on USA Network, “Monk” will make its first HD appearance on Universal HD with a nine-hour “Monk” HD marathon on UHD April 3.
Then it will begin a regular HD run (albeit with reruns) on April 4.

fredfa

03-29-05, 05:59 PM

Thanks f44.
(That'll teach me to use USA Today as an HD source.)

fredfa

03-29-05, 07:40 PM

Last week’s complete prime-time ratings (and the complete season-to-date ratings) have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-29-05, 07:51 PM

The lists of last week’s top five and bottom five prime-time programs by network have been posted at the top of Latest News, the first item in this thread.

fredfa

03-30-05, 12:34 AM

Bridging the Culture Gap
Cable's Peter Liguori Faces Hurdles In Making the Leap to Broadcast TV
By Joe Flint The Wall Street Journal March 30, 2005

These days, television viewers often flip between channels without distinguishing between broadcast and cable. But behind the scenes, the two environments couldn't be more different, something that Peter Liguori will be reminded of as he leaves News Corp.'s FX to run Fox Broadcasting.

Mr. Liguori is taking over from departing Fox chief Gail Berman at a time when the network is riding high in the ratings, flush with the performance of reality hit "American Idol." But the network's success has been rooted in relatively few shows, and its roster of hit comedy and dramas is small. While Ms. Berman had a great eye for quirky shows that critics adored such as "Arrested Development" and "Pasadena," her track record for turning out series with broad appeal wasn't as strong. Mr. Liguori, who injected FX with creative drive, will surely attempt to change that. But many experienced cable hands have found their skill at innovating doesn't translate well to the broadcast world.

Cable has surpassed broadcast in viewers, and is closing the gap on ad dollars. Hollywood, though, still views broadcast television as the big leagues, and that means Mr. Liguori can expect greater scrutiny from both the media and Wall Street.

"His picture's been in the paper more in the last three days than it has in the last five years," jokes Doug Herzog, the president of Comedy Central and Spike TV who held the Fox job prior to Ms. Berman. Mr. Herzog, who lasted at Fox for just over a year, acknowledges that he had a frustrating time trying to make the adjustment from cable to broadcast.

Mr. Liguori is credited with turning around a cable network that had been struggling to establish itself. Prior to his arrival in 1998, FX had little success with original programming and relied mostly on a diet of old reruns and movies. But today, FX is viewed as basic cable's answer to HBO. Racy shows such as "The Shield," Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me" have become critical and commercial successes. The network's next big gamble is a drama it is developing from Steven Bochco about the Iraq war.

Mr. Liguori is the second prominent FX executive to move to broadcast television. In June of 2003, then-FX entertainment president Kevin Reilly went to NBC, where he is now president of entertainment. Elsewhere, UPN's current chief also came from cable.

One of the biggest hurdles Mr. Liguori will face is having to generate far more hours of programming at the network than he did for cable. At FX, Mr. Liguori had the luxury of time. Cable networks, which aren't wedded to a seasonal calendar that the broadcast world largely still adheres to, don't have to rush shows on the air. With that flexibility, cable networks often choose to launch their shows as soon as they are ready, and often at times when the competition is at its lightest.

"You're so much more able to march to your own drummer in cable," says Mr. Herzog. The big difference is the amount of programming the broadcast networks make. "[Mr. Liguori] puts out three shows a year ... the networks are in the volume business -- you're buying, buying, buying."

Broadcast television also pays far more attention to what the competition is doing. While cable channels often try to stand out by being different, broadcast networks follow the general rule that if a rival has a hit, copy it. Mr. Herzog likes to compare the way the broadcast networks run their businesses to Latin, "the language all other languages were based on, but one that has long since been forgotten."

It will be tougher for Mr. Liguori to be as hands-on with individual shows as he is at FX. Cable series tend to run 13 new episodes a season, compared with 22 or 24 episodes that broadcast networks produce. "I think that there is so much to schedule on Fox that the potential exists to be overwhelmed and not be able to put your imprint on everything," says Sean Ryan, creator of "The Shield."

Broadcast executives are far more beholden to advertisers -- their sole source of revenue -- and to audience opinion, than their cable counterparts, who also can depend on subscriber fees. Because of the nudity and coarse language on many of FX's shows, Mr. Liguori is no stranger to media watchdogs and wary advertisers.
But unlike cable, broadcasters face legal restrictions on what they can put on the air. As regulators at the Federal Communications Commission clamp down on indecency over the airwaves, broadcast executives aren't able to allow their producers nearly as much creative freedom.

Mr. Liguori also will no longer be able to operate under the radar. Broadcast network chiefs have a far higher public profile -- they spend much of their time at industry breakfasts and host over-the-top presentations for advertisers. Every day, the trade papers, "Entertainment Tonight" and others scrutinize their performance and ratings.

"On cable, which I love, you can put a show on and nurture it, and if it fails it's not on page one," says Ted Harbert, a former top executive at ABC and NBC who is now president of E! Entertainment Television. Cable, says Mr. Herzog, is slow-pitch, while in the networks the pitches come in fast and under your chin.

Mr. Herzog discovered personally just how intense that scrutiny can be in his short tenure at the helm of Fox. Mr. Liguori's fellow FX veteran, NBC's Mr. Reilly, has had uneven results since moving over to the broadcast network. Although he has had some success in shepherding new shows such as the drama "Medium," NBC has seen its ratings fall sharply since the start of the year. Similarly, Dawn Ostroff, the former programming chief at women-oriented cable network Lifetime, has struggled to mimic her success with female viewers since she moved to the top entertainment job at Viacom's low-rated UPN broadcast network.

In a brief interview, Mr. Liguori acknowledged that his new job will be a "big adjustment." But he says he doesn't anticipate having a problem adapting to broadcast TV's more conservative culture. Indeed, he already is speaking in broadcast clichés: "What I think what really works for "The Shield," "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me" is great storytelling," he said.

Fortunately for Mr. Liguori, he already is familiar with News Corp.'s culture, which should shorten the learning curve. And since the network has nearly wrapped up ordering pilots for next fall, Mr. Liguori might find he avoids blame for failures while getting credit for the successes.

Mr. Liguori's record at FX certainly isn't perfect. While he has an eye for good dramas, FX's other efforts in reality, talk and comedy series flopped (anyone remember, "Lucky," "Orlando Jones" or "Todd TV"?). But he is a smooth executive who clearly knows how to operate in both the corporate and creative worlds.

Considering how treacherous the waters can be at Rupert Murdoch's network, he probably is a solid choice for the job.

The lure of the broadcast networks, despite declining ratings, an inferior business model and greater pressure, is understandable. It is a huge platform, and success can lead to much bigger jobs. Leslie Moonves turned around CBS, and is now a co-president of Viacom. Gail Berman is on her way to a top job at Paramount Pictures. Bob Iger used to lead ABC, and will now be running all of Disney. "It's impossible to turn down," says Mr. Harbert. But, as Mr. Ryan from "The Shield" warns, "be careful what you wish for."

fredfa

03-30-05, 12:42 AM

The Week’s Ratings Winners and Losers
Hoops Help CBS Slam ABC's 'Housewives,' Fox's 'Idol'
By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Wednesday, March 30, 2005; Page C07
ABC brought back "Desperate Housewives" and Fox scored an extra hour of "American Idol." But CBS won the ratings race last week with the most-watched NCAA basketball tourney in a decade -- though none of that play made the week's top 10 (unless you include Sunday's Kentucky vs. Michigan State overrun, which we don't).
Here's a look at the week's slam-dunks and fouls:

WINNERS

Grey's Anatomy. ABC's hot-chick-docs-in-training show is this season's second-ranked drama premiere among young viewers, behind "Desperate Housewives." And it is this season's only midseason launch to finish in the top 10 its debut week (NBC's "Medium" was No. 11 the week it opened).

NCAA play. Four regional finals over the weekend copped an average of 13.66 million viewers -- about 44 percent more than last year's same games and the most watched regionals since 1993, CBS says. The tournament as a whole, including play outside prime time, is averaging just under 10 million viewers -- the best since '94.

American Idol. Fox had to rerun all 11 of Tuesday's performances on Wednesday after the show posted three wrong numbers for telephone voting. In so doing it came up with the week's third-most-watched program, behind Tuesday's "Idol" and Sunday's "Desperate Housewives."

The Office. Thanks to the "Idol" phone number mix-up, NBC's highly hyped unveiling of "The Office" battled the premiere of Fox's sitcom "Life on a Stick" on Thursday. But while "Stick" enjoyed a hefty "Idol" lead-in of 20.2 million viewers and "Office" settled for an "Apprentice" lead-in of less than 12 million, "Office" snapped "Stick," 11.2 million viewers to 9.3 million.

Kojak. USA premiered its remake, starring Ving Rhames, of the 1970s series and bagged 4.5 million viewers -- the most-watched series on cable last week.

Nancy Grace. CNN Headline News's mouth that roared delivered her most-watched telecast since her Feb. 21 debut last Wednesday -- 661,000 viewers. Overall, "Nancy Grace" nearly tripled "Headline News's" 8 p.m. audience in the same week a year ago.

ER. Sure, NBC's aged medical show was the third-ranked doc drama last week, behind whippersnappers "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC and "House" on Fox. But "ER" snagged only about 2 million fewer viewers than "House" and 1 million fewer than "GA" -- and both freshman series enjoyed enormous lead-in audiences compliments of "Idol" and "Housewives," while "ER" soldiered on with an "Office" lead-in of 11 million and change.

LOSERS

The Osbournes. Out with a whimper, aka 2.1 million viewers for the series finale last Monday. Had the clan bowed out at the end of their first season like they ought, they would have wrapped up with a whopping crowd of 7.3 million and we'd still be talking about the reality-TV phenomenon. TV is all about knowing when to call it quits.

Chasing Farrah. TV Land's being-Farrah-Fawcett reality series opened with 824,000 viewers Wednesday. Its "Leave It to Beaver" lead-in logged 1.2 million viewers. And younger viewers? Farrah snagged 446,000 18- to 49-year-olds to Beaver's 429,000.

Third Watch. "Bye-bye," NBC said this week; the series won't be back for another season.

Point Pleasant. "So long," added Fox, turning its back on the low-rated devil drama.

NAACP Image Awards. Chris Rock hosted; Oprah Winfrey, Queen Latifah, Jamie Foxx, Prince, Stevie Wonder and Kanye West showed up, and yet this trophy show mustered only about 4.4 million viewers Friday on Fox -- its smallest audience since 2000.

fredfa

03-30-05, 01:00 AM

Slow fade for NBC hopeful 'Medium'
Perhaps the talking-to-the-dead bit has lost its zip

medialifemagazine.com—Two months ago, it seemed as if NBC’s new drama “Medium” might be this year’s “Apprentice.” It was a surprise hit that showed little dropoff from its first outing through its first month, and it was especially important to NBC in a season when few of its other shows had hit. But now comparisons to “The Apprentice” are very outdated. Whereas “Apprentice” gained strength during its first season, “Medium” is weakening.

Monday night, according to Nielsen overnights, the show averaged a 5.0 rating among 18-49s and finished just 0.1 ahead of a repeat of CBS’s “CSI: Miami.” The 5.0 rating is 12.3 percent below “Medium’s” season-to-date average, and it marked the second-straight week of serious viewer erosion. Last week an original episode of the show averaged a 4.5 rating among 18-49s, 21 percent below its season average. Meanwhile, an original “CSI: Miami” averaged a 6.5, just slightly below its 6.8 season average.

The problem may be that the concept of the show has worn thin very quickly. There's only so many dead people you can see before the audience gets a been-there, done-that attitude. It's definitely a case of "Medium" petering out rather than "CSI: Miami" getting stronger. Over their last four head-to-head original airings, “Medium” has averaged a 5.4 rating to “CSI: Miami’s” 6.7 average.

Back on Jan. 3 “Medium” surprised media people with a 6.3 rating among viewers 18-49 for its premiere episode. The show has averaged a 5.7 rating in the demo season-to-date. Still, even a weakened “Medium” is an important part of NBC’s schedule. The show already has been renewed for next season.

NBC currently rests in fourth place season-to-date among 18-49s, and it has “Medium” to thank for not falling even deeper in the basement. Through last week the network had averaged a 3.6 rating in the demo this season, 0.2 behind third-place ABC’s 3.8.

fredfa

03-30-05, 01:26 AM

ABC and Fox brace for battle of titans

'Lost,' 'Idol' face-off in end-of-season showdown

By JOSEF ADALIAN variety.com

ABC and Fox are headed for an end-of-season smackdown that will pit the season-enders of two of TV's hottest shows against each other. ABC has decided to expand the frosh finale of the JJ Abrams/Damon Lindelof thriller "Lost" to two hours and, more importantly, schedule it for the last night of the season: Wednesday, May 25, from 8-10 p.m. That will place "Lost" directly opposite Fox's two-hour season four finale of "American Idol."

Abrams and Lindelof had planned for a 90-minute "Lost" wrap-up, but once the final script came in longer than expected, the decision was made to expand the finale to two hours. As a result, Abrams-produced "Alias" will air its season finale at 10 p.m. May 25.

The three previous "Idol" finales have been among the most-watched TV events of their respective years, making ABC's gambit something of a risk. But given the intense loyalty of "Lost" fans -- as well as the promise of a finale that will reveal the answers to some of the show's many mysteries -- Alphabet execs think they've got the goods to compete.

"It was all driven by the creative," ABC Entertainment prexy Steve McPherson said. "These guys have worked really hard to deliver for this first season, and to have it come to this great climax. They've delivered at the highest level, and it made sense to put it on regardless (of the competition)."

McPherson said the move is consistent with how ABC has played the ratings game all season long. "All year, we've focused on ourselves," he said. "I don't want to change what we're doing because of what others are doing. If you let the strategies of others alter your plans, you're making a mistake."

Indeed, ABC kept "Lost" on the air opposite the season premiere of "Idol," and the ABC drama did just fine. Net also didn't blink on Sunday nights, keeping original segs of "Desperate Housewives" on vs. the Grammys and Golden Globes -- and handily beating both kudofests.

"There's an audience for 'Lost' that's proven to be incredibly loyal," the ABC topper said.

A Fox spokesman noted the net has always planned to air the two-hour "Idol" finale on May 25. "Since 'Idol' launched this season, the schedule has been set," he said. "We plan to keep to that schedule."

Scheduling is a bold move for ABC, which risks limiting the potential upside for the "Lost" finale by forcing a TiVo crisis for auds who are fans of both "Idol" and "Lost." While it's not unheard of for blockbuster events to face off, nets often will yield to the dominant skein.

Indeed, CBS will air the season finale of "Survivor" on May 15 -- thus avoiding the finale of ABC's "Desperate Housewives." Calendar also suggests NBC will broadcast the finale of midseason drama "Revelations" the Wednesday before "Idol" and "Lost" wrap.

McPherson said he's seen "a top secret extensive outline" of the "Lost" finale, which he labels "phenomenal." He declined to give plot details but said the finale actually plays out over three hours, beginning with the penultimate episode airing May 18.