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Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information

10M views 101K replies 753 participants last post by  DrDon 
#1 ·
Note: Original "Hot Off The Press" thread: August 27, 2004 - April 23, 2007. (25,503 posts, 2,231,621 page views)
What's Available in "Hot Off The Press"

For the latest news, commentary and discussion,
please go to the last page of the thread.

Each day's prime-time network program listings
(along with late night and cable highlights) are listed by
dad1153 generally between midnight and 8 a.m. ET each day.

Post #3 - Useful Information
 
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#95,381 ·
TV Notes
On The Air Tonight
WEDNESDAY Network Primetime/Late Night Options
(All shows are in HD unless noted; start times are ET. Network late night shows are preceded by late local news)

ABC:
8PM - The Middle
(R - May 7)
8:30PM - The Goldbergs
(R - Mar. 4)
9PM - Modern Family
(R - Oct. 2)
9:31PM - The Middle
(R - May 14)
10PM - Motive
* * * *
11:35PM - Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Robert Pattinson; Pablo Schreiber; Nico & Vinz perform)
(R - Jun. 12)
12:37AM - Nightline

CBS:
8PM - Big Brother
9PM - Extant (Series Premiere)
10PM - Criminal Minds
(R - Apr. 2)
* * * *
11:35PM - Late Show with David Letterman (Professional soccer player Clint Dempsey; Sleeper Agent performs)
12:37AM - Late Show with Craig Ferguson (Michael Sheen)

NBC:
8PM - America's Got Talent (120 min.)
(R - Jul. 1)
10PM - Taxi Brooklyn
* * * *
11:34PM - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Kelly Ripa; Joe Manganiello; Sylvan Esso performs)
12:36AM - Late Night with Seth Meyers (Andy Serkis; Neon Trees performs)
1:37AM - Last Call with Carson Daly (Cinematographer Wally Pfister; Jake Bugg performs)
(R - Apr. 9)

FOX:
8PM - So You Think You Can Dance (120 min.)

PBS:
(check your local listing for starting time/programming)
8PM - Nature: Saving Otter 501 (R - Oct. 16)
9iPM - NOVA: Mystery of a Masterpiece
(R - Jan. 25, 2012)
10PM - Secrets of The Dead: The Mona Lisa Mystery

UNIVISION:
8PM - De Que Te Quiero, Te Quiero
9PM - Lo Que La Vida Me Robó
10PM - Qué Pobres Tan Ricos

THE CW:
8PM - iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party (90 min.)
9:30PM - Whose Line Is It Anyway?
(R - Mar. 16)

TELEMUNDO:
8PM - Reina De Corazones
9PM - En Otra Piel
10PM - El Señor de los Cielos

TBS:
11PM - Conan (Sharon Stone; comedian Marc Maron; Rodrigo y Gabriela perform)
(R - May 8)

E!:
11PM - Chelsea Lately (Susan Sarandon)
(R - Jul. 3)
 
#95,382 ·
That may work for the casual fan. Hardcore sports fans such as myself that are connected intravenously to a keg need more. Much more.

Who watches the NBA finals without watching the season? And those Sunday games don't count. Why? The Heat, the Lakers, the Heat, the Lakers, the Heat, the Lakers...

I need more than weekend college BB. Some classic rival match-ups happen during the week.

I'm only mentioning a few examples of how vast sports is on cable and satellite. Throw in a DVR and life doesn't get any better than this for a sports fan.

If you add the NBA League Pass online and the NFL Sunday Ticket online together, that'll run you $500. I don't see that as a bargain when I get the whole enchilada for $950 a year from D*.
You can't be a cord cutter and a big sports fan if you don't want to be left out of some of the midweek games.
 
#95,383 ·
TV Notes
Bianculli's Best Bets
By David Bianculli, TVWorthWatching.com - Jul. 9, 2014

2014 WORLD CUP
ESPN, 4:00 p.m. ET

How thoroughly did Germany defeat host nation Brazil yesterday in this year’s World Cup semifinal? Let me count the ways – a few of them, anyway. The BBC called the 7-1 loss by Brazil, “humiliating and brutal.” Yahoo Sports called it “a stunning and spectacular destruction.” England’s The Guardian called it “slaughtering,” and the Globe and Mail deemed the game “the most shocking result in World Cup history.” And still you’re not hooked on these games? Today’s World Cup semifinal pits the Netherlands against Argentina – and if you accuse the latter team of playing a Messi game, it’s not an insult. It’s a tip of the hat to one of the game’s most popular and effective players, the Argentinian Lionel Messi, who plays each possession as though he’s on a mission. Today, the mission is to win the game, and the right to face Germany in the finals.

GREMLINS
Encore, 8:00 p.m. ET

Director Joe Dante’s playful 1984 film, written by Chris Columbus, is 30 years old now. The special effects may seem a little dated and puppetlike, but it’s all part of the charm – an attribute of which this movie, like its furry little creatures, have plenty. So long as you don’t get them wet, or feed them after midnight. Stars include Phoebe Cates, Corey Feldman and Zach Galligan – but for fun, watch for Breaking Bad standout Jonathan Banks as Deputy Brent, and listen for Howie Mandel, who provides the voice of cute little Gizmo.

EXTANT
CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE:
Halle Berry is being billed in many places as coming to TV, but she’s actually returning – two years before she won a Best Actress Oscar in 2002 for Monster’s Ball, she won a Best Actress Emmy for her starring role in HBO’s Introducing Dorothy Dandridge miniseries. (And she began in TV, too, on the 1989 sitcom Living Dolls, but I digress.) Anyway, she stars here as Molly Watts, an astronaut who has just returned from more than a year on a solo mission aboard a space station – only to find that she’s returned pregnant. This 13-episode CBS series premise constitutes a close encounter of the fifth kind – really, I’m not making that up – and includes Steven Spielberg, who directed Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as an executive producer. Based on the pilot, Extant isn’t so much an upgrade as a retread – but time will tell. Meanwhile, you can read a full review on Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes (below), or listen today to my review, of this show and of the upcoming FX genre thriller The Strain, on the radio, or website, Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

SECRETS OF THE DEAD: “THE MONA LISA MYSTERY”
PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

Did Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa have a twin? A twin portrait, that is? Just over a century ago, an art dealer traveling in England came across, and purchased, a painting in Isleworth, which he claimed then featured the same model as the one immortalized in Mona Lisa, only younger. Was it an earlier work by da Vinci? (The two works are shown here, with da Vinci’s classic Mona Lisa at left.) Finally, the latest advancements in science allow that question to be answered with more evidence than speculation – and that’s the topic of tonight’s Secrets of the Dead. “Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa? Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art?” Those answers, and more – tonight on The Mona Lisa Mystery. Check local listings.

THE BRIDGE
FX, 10:00 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE:
The opening scene of Season 2 of this moody drama series introduces a new character, a new crime scene, and what seems to be a new focus. It shows Lyle Lovett playing a man who comes upon a particularly bloody crime scene – bloody even by Dexter standards. But right after the opening credits roll, we find out what happened to last year’s protagonists, played by Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir, and we’re off and running again.


http://www.tvworthwatching.com/

* * * *

Critic's Notes
'Extant' Gives CBS Another 13-Episode Sci-Fi Summer Splash
By Ed Bark, TVWorthWatching.com - Jul. 8, 2014

As did Under the Dome at this time last year, CBS’s second big summertime splash opens with an impressive and involving first chapter.

Dome since has gotten silly if not altogether stupid, although its ratings remained strong for Season 2’s June 30 startup. Extant, a futuristic, 13-episode drama starring Halle Berry as a very vexed astronaut, looks to be more firmly grounded. Launching on Wednesday, July 9 at 9 p.m. ET, it packs a lot of intriguing plot threads into its first hour while also brimming with money-on-the-screen production values. Head producer Steven Spielberg, increasingly a TV maven, still doesn’t lend his name to anything cheap-looking.

Berry plays Molly Woods, who’s just returned from a one-person, 13-month mission in outer space. Her husband, John Woods (Goran Visnjic), is an inventor of human-like androids, with his prototype being the Woods’ pre-teen son, Ethan (Pierce Gagnon). The kid can have a short temper, as can Dad. But John Woods touts Ethan as an overall safe alternative for childless and/or infertile couples. The Woods had qualified on both counts, but Molly has returned suddenly and secretly pregnant. She gets this news from Dr. Sam Barton (Camryn Manheim), who’s also a good friend. At Molly’s pleading, they agree to keep it confidential for now. But in flashbacks, viewers will learn she’s not telling the truth, the whole truth, about what happened during a brief portion of her time on Seraphim Station.

Extant is set in a so far undisclosed year in the future. The series has a sleek exterior, a vaporizing outdoor garbage disposal unit and some cool, flying toys owned by kid android Ethan. It otherwise looks pretty much like the here and now.

The cast also includes Meryl Streep’s increasingly accomplished daughter, Grace Gummer (right, with Gagnon), as a teacher named Julie Gelineau. A corporate mastermind, Hiroyuki Sanada (Hideki Yasumoto), appears to be more sinister than honorable in his efforts to help John Woods build his fleet of androids. Brad Beyer and Sergio Harford play presumably deceased astronauts with ties to Molly. In the first episode’s final scene, she’s told to trust no one. That’s a hook as old as sci-fi itself. But Extant does a very good job of imbedding that hook.

It’s unknown for now whether Molly’s husband is an evil-doer or a well-intentioned man of science. But he’s not a good salesman, telling a questioner during a funding presentation that “what you call a soul, I call a cumulative effect of a lifetime of experience.” That’s not going to cut it.

Berry, an Oscar-winner for 2002’s Monster’s Ball, brings genuine star power to these proceedings. Her portrayal of Molly, particularly in the premiere episode’s outer space segments, is compelling and deeply emotional when something life-changing happens to her after a power outage aboard the station. CBS publicity materials say this will “ultimately change the course of human history.” Otherwise no pressure.

Extant now will have to live up to its considerable promise. CBS has provided only the opening hour for review, which was also its approach with Under the Dome. Had we known then what we know now . . . But Extant makes a pretty terrific first impression. With 12 episodes still to come, the series at the very least has cleared its first big hurdle.

GRADE: B+

NOTE TO READERS --
CBS will go this route a third time next summer with Zoo, a 13-episode series adapted from the 2012 James Patterson bestseller. The thumbnail description in network publicity materials goes like this: ”A global thriller about a wave of violent animal attacks against humans across the planet. As the assaults become more cunning, coordinated and ferocious, a young renegade biologist is thrust into the race to unlock the pandemic’s mystery before there’s no place left for people to hide.”

There’s no casting yet. CBS entertainment chairman Nina Tassler says that Zoo “further demonstrates our commitment to high-quality, year-round programming and to high-concept series that play to summer audiences in the U.S. as well as on a global scale.”

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/BlogPostDetails.aspx?postId=7712
 
#95,384 ·
TV Notes
On ‘The Bridge,’ the immigration issue
Season two of the FX drama tackles the timely topic
By Louisa Ada Seltzer, Media Life Magazine - Jul. 9, 2014

The subject of the new season of “The Bridge,” the FX drama returning for season two tonight at 10 p.m., couldn’t be timelier.

The show, set on the border between Mexico and Texas, will focus on immigration, a political hot potato right now.

The crisis has been mounting for years, and this week President Barack Obama asked Congress to support a $2 billion bill that would help warehouse the hundreds of thousands of kids and teens who have illegally crossed the border and are awaiting a hearing on their immigration status.

While “Bridge” won’t explore the political implications of immigration, it will examine the social aspects, against a greater backdrop of mystery as the show’s two main detectives, American Sonya and Mexican Marco, fight their personal demons while investigating the murder of a drug cartel member.

Whether the timing of an immigration-themed show will be a good thing for ratings is a real question. Many people prefer to avoid real-life issues in their entertainment programming; they want an escape rather than a current events primer.

“Bridge” drew decent live-viewing numbers and exceptional DVR ratings in its first season. In fact, it became the most-time-shifted show in FX history, with seven-day DVR playback more than doubling the show’s viewership among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen, to an average 1.684 million.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/dome-takes-hit-week-two/
 
#95,386 · (Edited)
You didn't warn us.
You haven't been paying attention then. :D

When someone like Moonves says, "We intend to get paid for our content," you should probably take it seriously ... I have no doubt that "they" are trying to figure out a way to charge OTA only viewers, as well as trying to lock down ATSC receivers so you can only receive the officially sanctioned station for your address.

In fact, the more paranoid part of my brain wonders if AEREO was actually bankrolled by "certain parties" for the purpose of setting a legal precedent. ;)

PS: Just because I'm paranoid ...
 
#95,388 ·
as well as trying to lock down ATSC receivers so you can only receive the officially sanctioned station for your address.
Impossible. The ATSC specification has no technological ability to do that.
 
#95,390 ·
Nielsen Overnights (18-49)
Another dominant night for a ‘Talent’ rerun
NBC reality show leads the network to first place
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Jul. 9, 2014

Just how incredibly dominant is “America’s Got Talent?”

Even in repeats the reality show can dominate a night.

A rerun of “Talent” last night boosted NBC to first place for the night, winning all six half-hours in primetime.

“Talent” averaged a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10:01 p.m., according to Nielsen, finishing as the night’s No. 1 show.

It also gave its lead-out, “The Night Shift,” a strong lead-in. Though “Shift” fell a tenth from last week, when it had an original “Talent” lead-in, it still posted a solid 1.3, good enough for No. 2 on the night among the Big Four behind “Talent.”

Of course, NBC faced minimal competition. ABC was the only network with all originals. Its 8 p.m. reality program, “Extreme Weight Loss,” posted a 1.0, up a tenth from last week, while lead-out “Celebrity Wife Swap” drew a 1.0, flat to last week.

NBC finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 1.6 average overnight rating and a 5 share. Univision was second at 1.1/4, ABC third at 1.0/3, CBS fourth at 0.9/3, Telemundo fifth at 0.7/2, Fox sixth at 0.5/2 and CW seventh at 0.3/1.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-nine percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

NBC was first during each hour of the night, starting with a 1.5 at 8 p.m. for the first hour of a repeat of “Talent,” followed by CBS with a 1.1 for an “NCIS” rerun. ABC was third with a 1.0 for “Weight,” and Univision fourth with a 0.9 for “De Que Te Quiero, Te Quiero.” Fox and Telemundo tied for fifth at 0.5, Fox for reruns of “Family Guy” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and Telemundo for “Reina de Corazones,” and CW was seventh with a 0.3 for a rerun of “Arrow.”

At 9 p.m. NBC led with a 1.9 for more “Talent,” while Univision moved to second with a 1.4 for “Lo Que La Vida Me Robo.” ABC was third with a 1.1 for more “Weight,” CBS fourth with a 0.9 for a repeat of “NCIS: Los Angeles,” Telemundo fifth with a 0.5 for “En Otra Piel,” Fox sixth with a 0.4 for reruns of “Brooklyn” and “The Mindy Project” and CW seventh with a 0.3 for a repeat of “Supernatural.”

NBC was first again at 10 p.m. with a 1.3 for “Shift,” with Univision second with a 1.1 for “Que Pobres Tan Ricos.” ABC was third with a 1.0 for “Swap,” and CBS and Telemundo tied for fourth at a 0.9, CBS for a repeat of “Person of Interest” and Telemundo for “El Señor de los Cielos.”

Among households, NBC was first for the night with a 4.6 average overnight rating and an 8 share. CBS was second at 4.4/8, ABC third at 2.2/4, Univision fourth at 1.5/3, Fox and Telemundo tied for fifth at 0.8/1 and CW was seventh at 0.6/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/another-dominant-night-talent-rerun/
 
#95,391 ·
TV Notes
BBC renews 'Orphan Black,' sets 'Broadchurch' return
By Gary Levin, USA Today - Jul. 9, 2014

BBC America has officially renewed acclaimed drama Orphan Black for a third season and is readying the return of murder mystery Broadchurch.

Orphan, starring Tatiana Maslany as a series of clones, will go back into production this fall and return to the cable network next spring. It is one of the first series produced specifically for BBC's American channel.

Broadchurch, a British import starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman as detectives chasing the murderer of a child, will return for a second season early in 2015, which follows the trial of the culprit. (No spoiler here in case you haven't caught up with it yet). Charlotte Rampling and Academy Award nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste join the cast.

The series is being remade, apparently scene for scene, by Fox, which has retitled it Gracepoint, set it in the Pacific Northwest, filmed it in Vancouver but kept Tennant in the lead role, though he has an American accent. That version, which co-stars Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) in the role played by Colman, airs this fall.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...church-orphan-black-tatiana-maslany/12430065/
 
#95,392 ·
Summer TCA Tour Notes
WGN America’s ‘Manhattan’ To Walk Fine Line Between Fact And Fiction, Creator Says
By Lisa De Moraes, Deadline.com - Jul. 9, 2014

WGN America’s 13-episode series Manhattan, about the race to build the world’s first atomic bomb in Los Alamos, NM, is not an allegory for current politics, creator Sam Shaw insisted today at TCA Summer TV Press Tour 2014, despite suggestions otherwise by some member of the cast, and by journalists.

“It’s not The Crucible,” Shaw said, drawing blank looks from some in the Golden Globes ballroom of the Beverly Hilton as he referenced Arthur Miller’s play — in which the Salem witch trials stands in for the McCarthy era’s Committee on Un-American Activities. Maybe sensing the hesitation, Shaw acknowledged that, even when not intended, storytelling about the past “has a lot to say about this moment in time,” he said, putting the bloggers/tweeters in the hall back on more familiar ground.

WGN America's "Manhattan" Panel at TCAEarlier, Shaw got asked if J. Robert Oppenheimer — sometimes called the father of the atomic bomb, and who appeared in the first episode — would be a regular or recurring character, and if other historical figures would populate the cast. “This is not going to be a Great Men of History piece,” he said, rather, a series that trying to “capture something of what life was like for the other 7,000 people living at Los Alamos.” The model, he said, is E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime — “It’s he texture of a time and place, populated with fictional characters.”

That led one TV critic to question the use of make-believe people to develop real atomic bombs.

“There’s a fine line between fact and fiction, particularly when dealing with scientific discovery,” Shaw acknowledged, but said they’ve been able to “create a show that has scientific verisimilitude but isn’t robbing the grave of history.”

Episodes are shot in and around an abandoned Army hospital they found in New Mexico that was due to be demolished and “was filled with asbestos,” director/EP Thomas Schlamme said. There they “created a whole world [the actors] could walk into, that didn’t feel like a sound stage, but something more along the lines of what it felt like for the men and women who were transported from their homes on the east and west coast, and “plopped into the desert” to work on, or in support of, the Manhattan Project.

Asked if the government was “cooperating” with the production, Schlamme responded the government was not restricting them in any way, “so, from my point of view, they are cooperating.” And when one TV critic asked if the anti-Semitism of that era in the U.S. would be depicted, Schlamme said, “both my parents fled Nazi Germany, so I can promise you it’s a theme.”

WGN America is pulling out all the stops for the premiere of the original scripted drama series. When it debuts on July 27, the premiere episode will be seen not only on WGN America but also on Tribune stations in 33 markets nationwide including WPIX/New York, KTLA/Los Angeles, WGN/Chicago, WPHL/Philadelphia and WDCW/Washington, DC. From Shaw (Masters Of Sex), director Thomas Schlamme, Skydance TV, Tribune Studios and Lionsgate TV, follows the brilliant but flawed Los Alamos scientists and their families. John Benjamin Hickey, Daniel Stern, Olivia Williams, Ashley Zukerman and Rachel Brosnahan star.

On July 4, WGN America aired a half-hour original special looking at 1940s Los Alamos. Premiere of The Manhattan Project: Beyond The Bomb was followed by airings on Tribune stations nationwide. After the series premiere, Manhattan will continue its run on WGN America, Sundays at its regular time, 10 PM ET.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/tca...e-line-between-fact-and-fiction-creator-says/

* * * *

Summer TCA Tour Notes
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Heartbreakers’ Cast Battles TV Critics

The 1980s and ’90s Hollywood hotties cast in Investigation Discovery‘s three-part summer series Heartbreakers got pretty undie-bunched this morning at TCA Summer TV Press Tour 2014 when a TV critic re-named their true-crime series True Crime Sharknado.

But a giant V-shaped depression had formed in the hall long before that. TV critics in the audience had guffawed pretty loudly before the Q&A portion of the festivities when the network showed them clips of the series’ three episodes — all based on real life stories about “dreamboats who turned into nightmares,” as Group President Henry Schleiff described the project, debuting August 13.

When one TV critic began to prattle on happily about how “campy” the project is, former Baywatch babe Nicole Eggert shot back: You call it campy — but it’s a true story…It was very emotionally honest.”

“You have to approach it with a realistic sensibility… you don’t want to approach it as a joke,” chimed in former Growing Pains cutie Tracey Gold. Kevin Sorbo explained to critics they were not seeing the interviews with the stories’ actual victims that will be woven into each episode, which he said, with a straight face, gives them a “20/20 feel.”

“On top of that, they paid us a lot of money,” Sorbo snarked.

That’s when another critic suggested the series wasn’t so much 20/20 as True Crime Sharknado. ”Sharknado was a hit,” snapped Eggert, like she meant it to sting.

Exec producer Pamela Deutsch jumped in here to calm the waters, agreeing there could be — “like life” — “moments of real seriousness, moments of tenderness” and “moments of humor” in the series, adding, “it ebbs and flows that way.”

To recap: Heartbreakers is a sort of macedoine of 20/20 and Sharknado. And peace reigned — for about a minute.

Sorbo bristled when a TV critic asked him to discuss his recent “comeback” having “left Hollywood” — or, having had Hollywood leave him. “I don’t know if I left Hollywood. I shot 50 movies in the last nine years. I’ve got about eight other movies in the can,” he said.

Another critic asked Eggert to talk about the “ridiculousness” of her storyline, in which her character finds herself married to a guy who’s already got a wife. “You’re asking a woman who’s never been married – and I have two kids. Relationships are hard, and they’re difficult. The woman I portrayed had already had a failed marriage and a child and was trying to open her heart and trust somebody and he wasn’t a good guy. It’s almost typical,” Eggert responded.

Another critic, probing a wound, asked the panelists to discuss how it feels to be so entirely identified with their decades-old characters.

“They don’t ever go away,” replied Christopher Knight, aka Peter Brady, who’d looked particularly unhappy to be here — but then his clip got the biggest laugh from the critics. “I’ve reached a peace with it.” Sorbo said he hated being Hercules in the ’90s, but loved playing Captain Dylan Hunt in the more recent Andromeda, adding that he knows loads of actors who would “give one testicle to get on one series in their lifetimes.”

“If we weren’t on those shows we wouldn’t be here,” Eggert added, accurately.

Sorbo told the oft-told Michael Caine story — it may even be true — in which he was asked why he took a role in one of the Jaws movies, and if he ever actually watched the finished product, and Caine responded, “No – but I saw the house it bought me in Spain.”

In April, Investigation Discovery unveiled its new slate of cheesetastic shows, including A Stranger In My Home, Obsession: Dark Desires, Beauty Queen Murders, I’d Kill For You, Evil In-Law, Fear They Neighbor, and our personal fave, Elder Skelter, about people “too old to keep dry britches” who nonetheless committed cold, calculated crimes. “Did they suffer from dementia, or had their spent a lifetime surpressing sick fantasies?” ID asked, rhetorically.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/tca...breakers-cast-pushes-back-against-tv-critics/
 
#95,393 ·
Washington/Business Notes
Dish tells FCC to block Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal
By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times' 'Company Town' Blog - Jul. 9, 2014

Satellite broadcaster Dish Network wants the government to block Comcast Corp.'s proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable.

In meetings with top Federal Communications Commission officials earlier this week, Dish said a combination of Comcast and Time Warner Cable "presents serious competitive concerns for the broadband and video marketplaces and therefore should be denied."

The details of the meetings were revealed in an FCC filing by Dish.

Dish, led by Chairman Charlie Ergen, told the FCC that "there do not appear to be any conditions that would remedy the harms that would result from the merger." Dish made its case to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Ajit Pai, Jessica Rosenworcel and Michael O'Rielly.

Among Dish's concerns are the leverage a combined Comcast-Time Warner Cable would have in negotiating distribution deals with content suppliers. If approved, Comcast would see its video subscriber base grow from about 22 million to 30 million homes. It would also be the dominant video supplier in several major markets, including New York and Los Angeles.

"A combined Comcast-TWC will be able to exercise its enormous size to leverage programming content in anti-competitive ways," Dish said. The result of such leverage would be smaller distributors such as Dish having to pay more for their content.

Dish also said acquiring Time Warner Cable would give Comcast too much power over the Internet and the ability to stifle new online video services that might try to compete against it.

"Comcast-TWC will have at least three 'choke points' in the broadband pipe where it can harm competing video services: the last mile 'public Internet' channel to the consumer; the interconnection point; and any managed or specialized service channels, which can act as high-speed lanes and squeeze the capacity of the public Internet portion of the pipe," Dish told the FCC. "Each choke point provides the ability for the combined company to foreclose the online video offerings of its competitors."

A Comcast spokeswoman responded, “as our filings have shown, every market we operate in is highly competitive. Dish has long been one of our most vigorous competitors, and unlike us has a national footprint available in tens of millions of more homes than a combined Comcast –Time Warner Cable.” The spokeswoman added that Dish “not wanting stronger competitors isn’t surprising and it isn’t new.”

In addition to its worries about Comcast and Time Warner Cable, Dish said AT&T's proposed purchase of satellite broadcaster DirecTV also "presents competitive concerns." Dish had flirted with merging with DirecTV for many years, including as recently as this last spring, but ultimately, DirecTV chose to partner with AT&T.

Dish joins smaller cable operators and Netflix in voicing concerns about the Comcast-Time Warner Cable marriage. Some programmers have also worried about the ability of Comcast to squeeze them for lower fees.

Media watchdogs and consumer groups have also raised red flags about both deals, saying the end result will be less choice for video and broadband and higher bills.

The FCC, along with the Justice Department, are tasked with reviewing both the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal and AT&T's acquisition of DirecTV.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...comcast-time-warner-cable-20140709-story.html
 
#95,394 ·
TV Notes
On The Air Tonight
THURSDAY Network Primetime/Late Night Options
(All shows are in HD unless noted; start times are ET. Network late night shows are preceded by late local news)

ABC:
8PM - Black Box
9PM - Rookie Blue
10PM - NY Med
* * * *
11:35AM - Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Roseanne Barr; Eric Dane; Tech N9NE performs)
(R - Jun. 24)
12:07AM - Nightline

CBS:
8PM - The Big Bang Theory
(R - Mar. 17)
8:31PM - The Millers
(R - Oct. 10)
9:01PM - Big Brother (LIVE)
10PM - Extant
(R - Jul. 9)
* * * *
11:35PM - Late Show with David Letterman (Michael Douglas; comic Paul Morrissey; Kiesza performs)
12:37AM - Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (Carl Reiner; Valerie Azlynn)

NBC:
8PM - Hollywood Game Night
9PM - Welcome to Sweeden (Series Premiere)
9:30PM - Working the Engels (Series Premiere)
10PM - Last Comic Standing
* * * *
11:34PM - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Dana Carvey; Hailee Steinfeld; MAGIC! performs)
12:36AM - Late Night with Seth Myers (Keri Russell; baseball analyst Kevin Millar and broadcaster Sean Casey; Michelle Wolff)
1:37AM - Last Call with Carson Daly (TV hosts Brian Unger and Zane Lamprey; The Crystal Method performs; musical group Milagres)
(R - Apr. 10)

FOX:
8PM - Hell's Kitchen
9PM - Gang Related

PBS:
(check your local listing for starting time/programming)
8PM - The 'This Old House' Hour (R - Jan. 9)
9PM - Last Tango in Halifax
(R - Nov. 26)
10:30PM - Antiques Roadshow: Vintage Toronto
(R - Jul. 7)

UNIVISION:
8PM - De Que Te Quiero, Te Quiero
9PM - Lo Que la Vida Me Robó
10PM - Qué Pobres Tan Ricos

THE CW:
8PM - The Vampire Diaries
(R - Nov. 7)
9PM - The Originals
(R - Nov. 12)

TELEMUNDO:
8PM - Reina de Corazones
9PM - En Otra Piel
10PM - El Señor de los Cielos

TBS:
11PM - Conan (Lisa Kudrow; novelist George R. R. Martin; Wild Cub performs)
(R - Mar. 13)

E!:
11PM - Chelsea Lately (Melissa McCarthy)
(R - Jul. 2)
 
#95,395 ·
Summer TCA Tour Notes
Tom Hollander, Andrew Davies, BBC America Bring Dylan Thomas to TCA
By Cynthia Littleton, Variety.com - Jul. 9, 2014

BBC America always adds a big dollop of veddy British seasoning to TCA, but this year the cabler delivered a mini seminar on one of Blighty’s greatest 20th century poets, Dylan Thomas.

Tom Hollander plays the self-destructive Welshman in the telepic “A Poet in New York,” which chroncles Thomas’ last days in New York before his death in 1953 at age 39.

Hollander impresses in the role. It was clear from his appearance at TCA — via satellite because his flight out of France was unexpectedly grounded for weather conditions — that he steeped himself in Thomas lore. That process included weight gain of almost “two stone” in order to depict Thomas in his appropriately bloated, alcoholic state.

“I listened to as much of his poetry on my phone as I could,” Hollander said, noting that he sought out all the recordings of Thomas he could find. “And I thought about all the alcoholics I’ve known. And I’ve known a few.”

Andrew Davies, the seasoned scribe behind the original “House of Cards,” among other projects, said that the specter of Thomas loomed large when he was a kid growing up in Wales.

“He just poured open his heart all over the place — magnificently, passionately, and yet he was suffering all the time,” Davies said. “I knew there was something to do (dramatically) with those two things.”

Davies made it clear that he wasn’t as interested in exploring the issues of addiction as he was telling the messy story of Thomas’ life.

Hollander closed out the session by reading a Thomas poem that was recently unearthed and will be published in a new collection in the fall. “Song” is a goofy ode to “the Buckingham Palace of booze.”

“He was yearning for a life he couldn’t live,” Hollander said. “He tried to but he paid the ultimate price for it.”

http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/tom...america-bring-dylan-thomas-to-tca-1201260170/

* * * *

Summer TCA Tour Notes
Discovery’s World: Naked Survivalists, Poetic Hillbillies, Vintage Heartthrobs and More

Discovery Communications and its 14 niche-ified U.S. channels are a good illustration of how much TV viewing has changed.

The conglom’s channels turn out hundreds of hours of original programming every year, most of it unscripted. Beyond the flagship Discovery, TLC and Animal Planet brands, the Discovery outlets have tended to blur together. That’s why the group has been on such a rebranding kick, to give channels distinct identities that immediately telegraph what viewers should expect when they tune in.

The latest rebrand is the transformation of Discovery Fit & Health into Discovery Life, unveiled formally Wednesday morning at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills. It will take time for that moniker to mean anything more to viewers than the previous one, but Henry Schleiff, the Discovery group prexy overseeing the makeover, promises it will become clear in time with a mix of medical-themed shows ranging from mystery ailments to heart-tugging stories from the maternity ward.

Schleiff is a veteran cable programmer who has been with Discovery for the past five years. He signed on to oversee the makeover of Investigation Discovery, which has blossomed as it honed its true-crime and documentary niche. Schleiff’s success is reflected in the fact that he’s taken on oversight of additional channels (Destination America, American Heroes Channel and now Discovery Life) virtually every year he’s been at the company.

“The magic word is ‘curation,’ ” Schleiff said. “With the volume of cable and digital (programming) now there’s no such thing as appointment television. It’s important to have real clarity in your brand.”

That extends beyond the channel moniker to programming blocks as Investigation Discovery brands its primetime blocks with umbrella titles like “Deadly Devotion,” “Dark Temptation” and “Nightmare Next Door.”

“We change the name every hour or so but we’re consistent. We know what our viewer likes and we give it to them,” he says.

In the case of Investigation Discovery, that viewer is a femme on the older side of the 25-54 demo, and she wants mystery and suspense programming. ID may hit the jackpot with a new scripted show “Heartbreakers” that mixes 1980s and ’90s nostalgia with true-crime reenactment stories starring vintage heartthrobs a la Kevin Sorbo and Antonio Sabato Jr., as well as 1980s TV stars such as Nicole Eggert and Tracey Gold.

The range of Discovery’s efforts to target distinct slices of the TV viewing audience was on display in the eclectic mix of personalities that took the stage during the group’s presentation. The “Heartthrobs” session was lively, with Sorbo reminding jaded journos that he can’t be called a has-been if he’s got eight movies in the can and dozens under his belt since his last TV series, the syndicated “Andromeda” ended.

The self-described hillbillies of Destination America’s “Hillbilly Blood” kept the crowd engaged with discussion of the resilience that it takes to make it a place where chain stores are few and far between and locals expect to take care of their own. For all its challenges, Appalachia is “a part of the Earth that scrapes up against heaven,” said Spencer ‘Two Dogs’ Bolchak, in a genuinely poetic observation.

Discovery showed off “Naked and Afraid,” its buzzy show that sends participants into a exotic location without any provisions, not even clothes. No, it’s not about titillation, the participants insisted, but about testing your mettle as a human being, as past participant Dani Julien said on the panel. “You can’t just say I’m going to run around in the woods with no clothes on for 21 days without preparing,” she observed.

Exec producer Jay Renfroe noted that it is an elaborate job to keep up with the pixelation needs of the show. And while participants are stripped naked and humbled by the challenge, egos are not entirely suppressed by the experience.

“A lot of guys do request larger blur spots,” he noted.

Among other news, Discovery announced the promotion of Rick Holzman as exec VP and general manager of Animal Planet. He’s a 10-year Discovery vet who previously worked for the flagship channel as well as Science. His promotion follows the shuffle of group prexy responsibilities that saw Animal Planet chief Marjorie Kaplan expand her turf to include TLC.

http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/dis...lies-vintage-heartthrobs-and-more-1201259769/
 
#95,396 ·
TV Reviews
Adrift in a Sea of Good Humor
‘Welcome to Sweden’ and ‘Working the Engels’ on NBC
By Alessandra Stanley, The New York Times - Jul. 10, 2014

Scandinavians don’t complain. Not even about ethnic stereotyping.

Apparently it’s not a slur to paint an entire people as tall, blond and briskly self-sufficient. So there is something to be gained by making fun of the land of the midnight sun — Swedish Americans are unlikely to picket NBC about its new show “Welcome to Sweden” or flood the Federal Communications Commission with mass emails. But there are also limits to how piquant the cultural collision can be between a blue-eyed, pancake-fed accountant from the Midwest and a blue-eyed, potato pancake-fed Swedish banker.

“Welcome to Sweden,” which begins Thursday at 9:00 p.m., is pleasant, inoffensive and quite charming. It was commissioned by Swedish television and was shown there in March. For American viewers, the 10-episode series has an unusually Continental flair, with much of the dialogue spoken in Swedish and rendered in subtitles.

Thanks to ever-expanding horizons on cable and the Internet, American viewers have become more open to a crime genre known as Nordic noir. “Welcome to Sweden” is Scandinavian blanc.

When the show is funny, and it can be, the humor is mild and slyly understated. It’s much better than another new show that follows it, “Working the Engels,” which is quite the opposite and not funny at all.

But “Welcome to Sweden” is more good-natured than it is good, more good-humored than it is humorous.

What it does have is pedigree. A little like many Swedes, Greg Poehler, the star and creator of “Welcome to Sweden,” is genetically blessed. One of his executive producers is his older sister, Amy Poehler, an alumna of “Saturday Night Live” and the star of “Parks and Recreation.” Ms. Poehler plays herself in a cameo; so does her “Parks” co-star Aubrey Plaza.

The premise is drawn from Mr. Poehler’s own life. He was trained as a lawyer, married a Swedish woman and moved to Stockholm, eventually giving up his law career to become a stand-up comedian.

Mr. Poehler plays Bruce, a financial adviser to celebrities who quits his New York practice to follow his girlfriend, Emma Wiik (Josephine Bornebusch), to her new banking job back home. He quickly discovers that even though almost everyone in Sweden speaks English, he still can’t be fully understood. Emma’s mother, Viveka (Lena Olin), for example, doesn’t understand why he is so short.

Emma is fairly patient, even when Bruce’s sweet but clumsy American provincialism alienates her relatives and friends. It’s a little like Ikea meets “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” but Bruce is no Larry David. Perhaps only by Scandinavian standards is Bruce uncouth. But he does have trouble adapting to the nude family saunas, rustic summer cottages and all-inclusive welfare. That, for some reason, doesn’t bother Will Ferrell, who shows up as himself seeking help with his taxes.

Comfortably ensconced with a gorgeous Swedish woman in a nearby country house, Will rhapsodizes about all the things about Sweden that Bruce finds irritating: “picking blueberries, outhouses, a year off if you have a baby, even if you don’t have a baby, just a year off, your family around constantly.”

Bruce finds a kindred spirit at a Swedish language class, a fierce-looking Iraqi immigrant named Hassan (Basim Sabah Albasim), who has a murderous hatred for all things American. Bruce doesn’t tell Hassan where he is from, and they bond over video games. When Emma questions their friendship, Bruce explains, “He accepts me for who I am.” She retorts, “Did you tell him you are not Canadian?” Bruce amends his words. “He accepts me for who he thinks I am.”

* * * *

“Working the Engels” (Thursday at 9:30 p.m.) is also an international effort, a joint production by American and Canadian companies, but it doesn’t by any means bring together the best of both worlds.

Andrea Martin (“SCTV”) plays Ceil, a woman who is left with huge debts after her husband dies. She has two older, parasitical children and one promising one, Jenna (Kacey Rohl), a rookie lawyer. The siblings band together to salvage their dead father’s storefront legal practice, but, of course, only Jenna can do any work. Sandy (Azura Skye), a former pill addict who has found religion, though mostly on the Internet, is a hopeless mess, especially as a receptionist. Jimmy (Ben Arthur) is a handsome petty crook who acts as the firm’s investigator, though he mostly discovers women he wants to seduce.

The family dynamic is not unlike the one on “Arrested Development,” only “Working the Engels” leaves out the humor, inventiveness and sophistication. “Zany” is a word that mostly applies to antic comedy that isn’t funny, and that includes “Working the Engels.”

“Welcome to Sweden” explores less familiar territory and best of all, is not in the least bit zany.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/a...working-the-engels-on-nbc.html?ref=television
 
#95,399 ·
Emmy Notes
New shows lead Emmy nominations
HBO's 'True Detective,' FX's 'Fargo' and Netflix' 'Orange' receive nods
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Jul. 10, 2014

This year’s Emmy nominations are a mix of old and new.

A number of first-year shows, including HBO’s “True Detective,” FX’s “Fargo” and Netflix’ “Orange is the New Black,” racked up nods this morning.

But there were also a number of familiar shows and actors in the running, including AMC’s “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men,” ABC’s “Modern Family,” and PBS’s “Downton Abbey.”

For the 14th straight year, HBO led all networks with 99 nominations.

Netflix scored more than double last year’s nods, amassing 31, more than many TV channels, including Fox.

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” had the most nominations, 19. “Fargo,” which was entered as a miniseries much like FX’s “American Horror Story,” garnered the second most at 18.

“Black” earned 12 nods, the most for any comedy, while HBO’s original movie “The Normal Heart” had 16 nominations, the most for any film.

“Saturday Night Live” came close to tying its 2011 record for a variety program by scoring 14 nods, two fewer than in 2011.

Other new shows getting nods included Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” which picked up a supporting actor nod for Andre Braugher, and CBS’s “Mom,” which earned a supporting actress nomination for Allison Janney.

The Emmys will be presented on Aug. 25, a Monday night, on NBC. The ceremony traditional airs on Sunday but NBC airs “Sunday Night Football” on that night.

Here is the list of major nominees:

Outstanding Comedy Series:
“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
“Louie” (FX)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“Orange is the New Black” (Netflix)
“Silicon Valley” (AMC)
“Veep” (HBO)

Outstanding Drama Series:
“Breaking Bad” (AMC)
“Downton Abbey” (PBS)
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
“House of Cards” (Netflix)
“Mad Men” (AMC)
“True Detective” (HBO)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series:
Louis C.K., “Louie”
Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”
Ricky Gervais, “Derick”
Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series:
Lena Dunham, “Girls”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Melissa McCarthy, “Mike & Molly”
Amy Poehler, “Parks & Recreation”
Taylor Schilling, “Orange is the New Black”

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series:
Fred Armisen, “Portlandia”
Andre Braugher, “Brookyln Nine-Nine”
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
Adam Driver, “Girls”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Modern Family”
Tony Hale, “Veep”

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:
Mayim Bialik, “The Big Bang Theory”
Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
Anna Chlumsky, “Veep”
Allison Janney, “Mom”
Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
Kate Mulgrew, “Orange is the New Black”

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
Woody Harrelson, “True Detective”
Matthew McConaughey, “True Detective”
Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
Lizzy Caplan, “Masters of Sex”
Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Michelle Dockery, “Downton Abbey”
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Kerry Washington, “Scandal”
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:
Jim Carter, “Downton Abbey”
Josh Charles, “The Good Wife”
Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”
Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad”
Mandy Patinkin, “Homeland”
Jon Voight, “Ray Donovan”

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Christine Baranski, “The Good Wife”
Joanne Froggatt, “Downton Abbey”
Anna Gunn, “Breaking Bad”
Lena Headey, “Game of Thrones”
Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”
Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”

Outstanding Miniseries:
“American Horror Story: Coven” (FX)
“Fargo” (FX)
“Luther” (BBC America)
“Treme” (HBO)
“The White Queen” (Starz)

Outstanding TV Movie:
“Killing Kennedy” (National Geographic Channel)
“Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight” (HBO)
“Sherlock: His Last Vow (Masterpiece)” (PBS)
“The Normal Heart” (HBO)
“The Trip to Bountiful” (HBO)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie:
Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock: His Last Vow (Masterpiece)”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “Dancing on the Edge”
Idris Elba, “Luther”
Martin Freeman, “Fargo”
Mark Ruffalo, “The Normal Heart”
Billy Bob Thornton, “Fargo”

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie:
Helena Bonham Carter, “Burton and Taylor”
Minnie Driver, “Return to Zero”
Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story: Coven”
Sarah Paulson, “American Horror Story: Coven”
Cecily Tyson, “The Trip to Bountiful”
Kristen Wiig, “The Spoils of Babylon”

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie:
Matt Bomer, “The Normal Heart”
Martin Freeman, “Sherlock: His Last Vow (Masterpiece)”
Colin Hanks, “Fargo”
Joe Mantello, “The Normal Heart”
Alfred Molina, “The Normal Heart”
Jim Parsons, “The Normal Heart”

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie:
Angela Bassett, “American Horror Story: Coven”
Kathy Bates, “American Horror Story: Coven”
Ellen Burstyn, “Flowers in the Attic”
Frances Conroy, “American Horror Story: Coven”
Julia Roberts, “The Normal Heart”
Allison Tolman, “Fargo”

Outstanding Variety Series:
“The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central)
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC)
“Real Time with Bill Maher” (HBO)
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC)


http://www.medialifemagazine.com/new-shows-lead-emmy-nominations/
 
#95,400 · (Edited)
TV Notes
Rosie O’Donnell Returning as ‘View’ Co-Host
By The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog Staff - Jul. 10, 2014

After days of rumors, The View made it official shortly after noon Thursday, tweeting that Rosie O’Donnell would return as co-host for season 18 of the ABC daytime show.

The View's Twitter account posted the below announcement.

It's official! ABC confirms Rosie O'Donnell returns as co-host of #TheView w/ moderator Whoopi Goldberg for Season 18 pic.twitter.com/oRCAcxAZE5
— The View (@theviewtv) July 10, 2014


Just an hour earlier, Whoopi Goldberg told viewers she and the rest of the show's cast and crew didn't know who was coming in. O'Donnell, who was a panelist on The View for the 2007-2008 season, left after that one year.

O'Donnell had a notably stormy tenure on the show, often fighting with conservative panelist Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who suggested on Fox News on Wednesday that O'Donnell had been plotting her return to the show for "a very, very long time."

Hasselbeck also claimed that Barbara Walters' farewell episode on May 15 was effectively O'Donnell's "hello show," adding that O'Donnell produced the broadcast.

O'Donnell is the first new addition to the show's panelists for season 18, following news that current panelists Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy would be leaving at the end of this season. Since Barbara Walters' retirement as View co-host in May, Whoopi Goldberg remains the only current co-host returning for next season.

O'Donnell and The View failed to confirm rumors and reports earlier in the week that O'Donnell would be returning to the show, but O'Donnell weighed in on a few View issues on Twitter Wednesday night.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/rosie-o-donnell-returning-as-717742
 
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