Hot Off The Press! The Latest Television News and Info - Page 6  

In addition, DrDon, the NBC late local news in many markets tends to beat the CBS affiliate late news, and Jay Leno beats Letterman by a substantial margin.

I wish it were so, Paul, but here, courtesy of thefutoncritic.com, here is Fox's latest series news (this will replace The Partner, which had been scheduled for Nov,7:

Released by FOX

FOX TRUMPS THE COMPETITION WHEN NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES "MY BIG FAT OBNOXIOUS BOSS" PREMIERES NOVEMBER 7

Contestants Seeking Apprenticeship Get More Than They Bargain For

FOX busts down the boardroom doors and invites viewers into the outrageous unscripted comedy MY BIG FAT OBNOXIOUS BOSS, a new series from the producers of the hit FOX reality spoof "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé." With business-oriented reality shows ripe for the picking and overly confident young entrepreneurs believing they can conquer the world, MY BIG FAT OBNOXIOUS BOSS gets down to funny business Sunday, Nov. 7 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

"What 'My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé' did for romance-reality, MY BIG FAT OBNOXIOUS BOSS will do for business-reality," said Gail Berman, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company. "When we saw the footage, we realized it belongs on the funniest night on television, FOX's Sunday night."

This comical hybrid of scripted, improvisational and reality series stars "Mr. N. Paul Todd," introduced as the founder and CEO of a multibillion-dollar company, IOCOR. The professional prank begins when 12 real contestants - young, overachieving, type-A business professionals - arrive in Chicago and begin competing in frustrating and ridiculous challenges. This dozen have the drive, self-assurance and ego that it takes to think they can jump to the top of the corporate ladder. They take their relationship with "Mr. Todd" and the competition seriously, plotting their strategies to win his approval, an enormous cash prize and a lucrative opportunity to join this powerful, yet unknown, investment organization.

The $250,000 cash prize is real, but that's about it.

Unbeknownst to these "business savvy" participants, IOCOR is a fictitious company and "Mr. Todd" is really actor William August setting out to dupe the 12 know-it-all participants. As Steven Bailey did in "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé," August uses his improvisational skills to test the limits of the unsuspecting candidates through unrealistic conversations, circumstances, and of course, questionable business challenges with humiliating consequences for the losing team.

Through a series of tasks, this phony climb to the top will feature unsuspecting teams utilizing their highly touted business backgrounds, educations and strategies to compete against each other. Each week, the losing team sends two finalists to the boardroom to plead their case with "Mr. Todd" before one of them is eliminated. What they don't know is that "Mr. Todd" isn't the one really making the decisions. It will remain a secret to the contestants until the last elimination that a mystery boss has actually been deciding their fate. In an eye-opening, jaw-dropping turn, the identity of the real boss will be the biggest surprise of all.

MY BIG FAT OBNOXIOUS BOSS is produced by Rocket Science Laboratories. Jean-Michel Michenaud and Chris Cowan serve as executive producers.

And the take on "Boss" from Zap2it.com

FOX Unleashes 'Big Fat Obnoxious Boss'
Critics may have hated FOX's "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance," but after its January premiere, the well-orchestrated reality prank averaged more than 16.6 million viewers. Never a network to rest on its laurels, FOX is trying again, lampooning shows like NBC's "The Apprentice" with "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss."
Shot in extreme secrecy this summer, "Obnoxious Boss" features 12 overachieving young business professionals who arrive in Chicago ready to impress N. Paul Todd, the founder and CEO of IOCOR, a multi-billion dollar company. They're prepared to do whatever business tasks are necessary to score a plumb job and earn a $250,000 cash prize.
Apparently the contestants are willing to do everything possible except do their research. Mr. N. Paul Todd is actually William August, an actor who wants nothing more than to confuse, humiliate and unnerve the 12 contestants.
At the end of each week's phony tasks, the players will be called to the boardroom and one will be eliminated. Although they all think that N. Paul Todd is making the decisions, it turns out that the real boss is a mystery. FOX isn't ready to spoil that surprise just yet, but the network promises that "in an eye-opening, jaw-dropping turn, the identity of the real boss will be the biggest surprise of all."
"What 'My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance' did for romance-reality, 'My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss' will do for business-reality," says FOX Entertainment President Gail Berman. "When we saw the footage, we realized it belongs on the funniest night on television, FOXs Sunday night."
"Obnoxious Boss" will premiere on Sunday, Nov. 7 in the 9 p.m. ET time slot originally slated for the legal reality show "The Partner." In an interesting twist, if FOX delays "The Partner" for too long, NBC could actually trump the network by getting its own unscripted legal show "The Law Firm" on the air first.
FOX had best hope that "Boss" producers at Rocket Science Laboratories do a better job of replicating the success of "Fiance" than Rocket Science did with the second season of "Joe Millionaire." Jean-Michel Michenaud and Chris Cowan serve as executive producers.

I am with you, Jim.

What do you do when your show falls to third in the ratings?
What do you do when your show suddenly trails the season's hot new show (Desperate Housewives)?
Well, according to thefutoncritic.com, here is one thing NBC's Law and Order: Criminal Intent plans to do:

IN NETWORK FIRST, NBC EMPOWERS AUDIENCE TO VOTE ON ALTERNATIVE 'KILLER' ENDINGS FOR NEW EPISODE OF 'LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT' ON OCTOBER 17

BURBANK, Calif. -- October 6, 2004 -- In a network first, NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Sundays, 9-10 p.m. ET) original episode "Great Barrier" will give viewers the option to choose their favorite "killer" ending in an episode to be broadcast on Sunday, October 17 (9-10 p.m. ET). Two versions of the episode's ending have been shot, in which a female murderer (guest star Olivia D'Abo, "The Wonder Years") will either live or be killed -- based on the outcome of a vote conducted on www.nbc.com.
On the night of October 17, one ending will be telecast to viewers in the Eastern time zone while the other will be telecast to those living in the Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones (including Alaska and Hawaii). Immediately following the episode, fans will be able to log on to www.nbc.com to view both endings and cast their vote, determining the fate of the character Nicole Wallace (D'Abo). Voting will be live through Wednesday, October 20.
The most popular ending to "Great Barrier" will be revealed during the following week's Sunday, October 24 broadcast. The audience will be alerted at the beginning of that night's new episode that the people's final choice from the previous week's episode will be shown at the end of the hour.
In the episode, Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) track a mysterious young diamond "swallower" (guest star Grace Shu) who is being manipulated by Nicole Wallace (D'Abo) ? Goren's murderous and chameleon-like nemesis. As Goren closes in on Wallace, he discovers a horrifying secret that may allow him to finally close the book on his lethal adversary.
The fourth-year series stars D'Onofrio as Goren, an exceptionally bright and compassionate homicide investigator with well-honed instincts that are a match for his most devious criminal quarry. Likewise, his partner, Eames (Erbe), brings a no-nonsense and stylish edge to her work that meshes well with Goren. Jamey Sheridan and Courtney B. Vance also star.

Cable News ratings for Tuesday night's vice presidential candidates' debate:
Fox News Channel 7.8 million viewers
Cable News Network 3.3 million viewers
MSNBC 1.4 million viewers

The end for the Simpsons?
(Yes, but don't worry about it too much. If the Simpsons' creator has any say about it, it'll happen just about the same time Conan takes over for Jay -- that is in 2009.)
Story posted under latest news.

Wednesday's ratings posted

Quirky new Monk-Northern Exposure hybrid planned by Fox.
Details in Latest News.

Reminder: Starship Enterprise premiere Friday night 8PM ET/PT UPN.

I am not posting this in the sticky, but it is TV news at least some (by reading the national polls, I would guess about half) will be interested in.
I am sure the other half will be not so happy.
The news item is from Friday's Daily Variety:

Moore to come: 'Fahrenheit' pay event irks DVD distrib
By JOHN DEMPSEY, GABRIEL SNYDER

Michael Moore's dream of getting "Fahrenheit 9/11" onto television the night before the presidential election is close to fruition.
Documaker is producing a three-hour pay-per-view event that will run Nov. 1, the night before Election Day.
"The Michael Moore Pre-Election Special" will consist of a screening of "Fahrenheit 9/11" bookended by interviews with politically committed celebrities who'll talk about the charges leveled in the movie and the importance of voting in the presidential election of 2004.
TV sources said In Demand, the largest pay-per-view distributor in the U.S., will transmit the special between 8 and 11 p.m. EST (5 and 8 p.m. PST) and charge a fee of $9.95.

(The Thursday night ratings are delayed a bit today.)
But while we wait, the latest from the Washington Post on NBC's pulling of The Last Comic Standing:

And Now, It's No Comic Standing! So Who Won?
By Lisa de Moraes Friday, October 8, 2004; Page C07

Three weeks into the season, reality shows are hitting the skids.

NBC has yanked the third edition of the competition series "Last Comic Standing" off its Tuesday lineup, effective immediately.

Ironically -- and how appropriate is irony in a story about a show starring stand-up comics -- there was only one episode left to air in this edition's eight-episode order. That, of course, would be the episode in which the winner of the competition is announced.

NBC's move comes just days after Fox pulled the plug on its reality boxing series "The Next Great Champ."

" 'Last Comic Standing' is cancelled!!!" host Jay Mohr says on his Web site.

"Amazing. Why would a network cancel a show with only one episode left?" he adds, which is a good question.

Yesterday, NBC was saying only that the finale would not air next week but that the winner would be revealed to viewers in some fashion or another.

A source with knowledge of the talks said that among the things being considered is an abbreviated finale that would air elsewhere on the NBC schedule or, more likely, on one of NBC's cable networks. A big-winner announcement during the "Father of the Pride" marathon was even being knocked around, though that idea has grown cold, one source said yesterday afternoon.

Ironically -- you just can't have too much irony in this story -- NBC had changed its prime-time lineup to include a fall edition of "Last Comic Standing" based on its performance this past summer.

On his site, Mohr says NBC was not happy with the ratings for the third edition and decided to pull the plug. It's true, the ratings were really, really bad. A perfectly adequate summer series -- the second edition averaged about 8 million viewers -- "Comic" opened its "fall" edition in late August with 7.7 million viewers, following a special 90-minute edition of "Fear Factor." It hasn't seen that many viewers since. Most recently, it scored 5.7 million; last week it suffered a series low of 5.5 million.

Even worse, from NBC's point of view, this past Tuesday, "Last Comic Standing" finished fifth in its time slot among the 18-to-49-year-olds NBC says it does all its ad sales off of. Yes, "Comic" came in behind ABC's sitcoms, Fox's baseball playoffs, WB's "Gilmore Girls" and even CBS's military drama "NCIS" among those viewers, and it didn't beat UPN's sitcoms by much. "Comic" can't be blamed entirely, but it contributed to NBC's third-place finish last week in the demographic. NBC is also third this season to date, down 15 percent compared with the same point last season.

Still, to the extent that TV industry executives care about "Last Comic Standing" -- which is to say not much -- they puzzled yesterday over why NBC would pull the very last, payoff episode out of a non-sweeps week. Why not just run the last episode so as not to infuriate the show's loyal, albeit small, core audience?

Instead, NBC will air a 90-minute marathon of "Father of the Pride" from 8 to 9:30 p.m. next Tuesday. That's right, three back-to-back episodes of the animated series that NBC said it scheduled at 9 rather than 8 p.m. to send a message to parents that it was not a program for children.

More than one non-NBC exec speculated yesterday that the decision to scrub the last "Comic" episode may have something to do with the schedule for "Father of the Pride" and NBC's recent postponement of "The Contender," both of which are produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg at DreamWorks SKG.

NBC announced this week that it would unveil its boxing competition series in January. The network had been expected to premiere the series, from reality hotshot Mark Burnett, in November, which is a sweeps month. But that was before Fox debuted its rip-off boxing series "The Next Great Champ" in early September and it tanked in the ratings because, hello, not many people care about boxing. Fox will burn off the remaining episodes of "Champ" on Fox Sports Network.

Even so, NBC's decision to delay the debut of "Contender" may have been troubling to Katzenberg, speculated those industry executives who love a good conspiracy theory -- and who doesn't love a good conspiracy theory -- particularly while his "Father of the Pride" is doing such sickly numbers on Tuesday night with the anemic "Last Comic Standing" lead-in.

Maybe, they theorized, this was NBC's way of making nice, and it can't hurt to yank "Comic" if NBC needs to see quickly what "Pride" can do with a stronger lead-in before ordering more episodes of the cartoon series.

While waiting for a full ratings breakdown from Thursday night, here is a ratings tease (courtesy of Matt Drudge and his drudgereport.com)
Thursday night:
CBS 15.8 /23
NBC 12.0/18
CSI top of the night with a 29 share...
ER falls to second in slot [21 share]
Without A Trace [23 share]
Trump 18 share
Fox Baseball 9 share

(Basic) Thursday ratings posted

Father of the Pride has not been a big ratings success.
But NBC seems to have sprung ratings leaks all over the place.
All the Law and Orders are off from last year.
The Apprentice is slumping rather dramatically.
ER is plummeting faster than NBC imagined.
American Dreams is even weaker than it had been on Sundays.
Ouch!
What do NBC programmers look to fix first?

By the way, regarding the Without A Trace-ER battle, here is what the Denver Post's TV writer reported yesterday:

"Trace" sinking "ER"
By Joanne Ostrow Denver Post TV Critic Oct. 7, 2004

Overheated melodrama, the extreme sport perfected years ago by ER, seems to be affecting millions of Americans the way it's affected me. What once was extreme is now overexposed.

Call it the 11-year itch.

NBC's Thursday-night ratings monolith seems exhausted. Nurse, get me Anthony LaPaglia, stat!

Last season, the CBS hour "Without a Trace" began to close the ratings gap with "ER" On Sept. 23, in its season premiere, "Without a Trace" broke through, becoming the first drama ever to go head-to-head on Thursday night with an original episode of "ER" and draw a larger audience.

The 11th-season debut of NBC's medical melodrama averaged about 2 million fewer viewers than the third-season debut of "Trace." The score was 21.5 million viewers for the CBS crime-solvers, compared with 19.7 million for the NBC doctors.

No wonder LaPaglia, one of the stars of "Trace," was working the phones for CBS this week in advance of the second episode of the season.

Tonight's episode of "Without a Trace," titled "Thou Shalt Not ..." (at 9 p.m. on KCNC-Channel 4), involves the search for a young woman whose status changes from victim to missing fugitive during the course of the investigation. As often happens on "Trace," the team discovers that people are not who they seem to be.

LaPaglia theorized that crime shows, or "procedural dramas" in network-speak, are ascendant on TV for reasons connected with reverberations of 9/11 in the culture. They are popular now, he said, "because in the current climate we're in, people live with a certain amount of uncertainty. These shows have a definite beginning, middle and end. There might be some comfort in that."

There is also comfort in watching a smart drama knowing that a helicopter isn't going to crash through the ceiling at the same moment a mad gunman bursts into the office while the supporting cast are in a near-fatal car accident just as they all arrive at life-changing epiphanies.

Instead of stressing the randomness of life, "Trace" emphasizes logic.

Or maybe it's a reassuring relief to see heroes who work with bulletin boards rather than scalpels.

What you get with "Without a Trace" is a strong missing- persons story or, as LaPaglia put it, "as good a mystery as you can tell in an hour."

Expect an increasing focus on Jack Malone's (LaPaglia) personal life this season. In the premiere, Jack learned that his wife wants a divorce and sole custody of the kids.

Beyond that, the actor cannot or will not say much.

"TV is a week-to-week process, from an acting point of view, unlike film. The writers don't really know where your character's going either."

But the consensus is, they'll try to take Jack in a slightly different direction just so it doesn't get too comfortable. "More bad things are happening to him this season," LaPaglia said. Change is the only constant, the Australian stage, film and TV actor suggests.

"By the end of the eighth year I hope it turns into a musical."

The cast and crew of "Trace" were all "a little shocked" by the ratings triumph of the season premiere. "Because 'ER' is an institution. It's such a juggernaut, it's been on the air for so long, we never expected that we'd actually beat them in the ratings."

If the rout continues - and "ER" is only getting older and more desperate - LaPaglia will have gone a long way toward reclaiming an important piece of primetime real estate for CBS.

"Talk to me in six shows," he said.

Just prior to the ratings high, LaPaglia was dealt a low blow by the Television Academy. The nominee didn't win the Emmy Award outstanding dramatic actor this year. But he's not complaining. "I actually won $800 and a dinner betting James Spader ("The Practice") would win the Emmy."

I'm for bringing Law and Order's new show on immediately.
(I think NBC upset the TV gods when they let Jerry Ohrbach leave the flagship show.)

I haven't heard about plans to rebroadcast the first Lost episodes.
I believe #1 and #2 were already rebroadcast about a week after their first airings.