Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 1956

TV Review
ABC's 'My Generation'
By Alan Sepinwall, HitFlix.com - September 23rd, 2010

Of the three terrible new shows debuting Thursday night, the ABC drama "My Generation" (which airs at 8) is the most disappointing. "$#*! My Dad Says" is a misguided cash-in project that nobody expected to be good, and hopes weren't much higher for "Outsourced." "My Generation," on the other hand, had an interesting creative pedigree and premise.

It's based on a Swedish series, and writer Noah Hawley's last show was the flawed but memorable cop show "The Unusuals," and the concept - a film crew that made an unreleased documentary about nine members of an Austin high school Class of 2000 returns to see what happened to them after a tumultuous decade that included 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Enron and more - had the potential to meld soap opera with national events in a way that felt like nothing else on television.

But the execution is just awful - leaden and predictable and eyeroll-inducing at nearly every turn.

We open with the characters back in those rosy days of the spring of 2000. None of the actors look in any way convincing as high schol students, which will be a problem if Hawley intends to spend a lot of time in future episodes bouncing back in time. The bigger issue, though, is the sledgehammer approach to setting up a series of dramatic irony revelations, each less surprising than the one before.

We're introduced to our nine characters with subtitles "The Nerd" (Keir O'Donnell), "The Brain" (Daniella Alonso) and "The Rich Kid" (Julian Morris). They're all given names as well, but the only two who register as actual characters and not broad types (and then only in the present-day scenes) are Dawn (Kelli Garner) the punk and Caroline (Anne Son) the wallflower. The off-camera filmmaker (Elizabeth Keener, a soundalike for sister Catherine) asks them to use one word to predict their futures. The Jock (Mehcad Brooks) says "victory," The Over-Achiever (Michael Stahl-David) says "success" and The Beauty Queen (Jaime King) says "glamour."

Ten years later, the filmmaker returns to find that, shockingly, everyone's life has turned out (ITAL)exactly the opposite of that one-word prediction!(ITAL) Rather than victory, The Jock is now a soldier fighting an endless war in Afghanistan. The Over-Achiever is a college dropout who surfs and tends bar in Hawaii, The Beauty Queen is a bored housewife, etc.

If the point is that none of these characters are where they expected to be ten years ago - in the same way that the America of 2010 would be shockingly different to a time-traveler from the Clinton years - that's fair. How many people actually live out their dreams to the last detail? But to have every single character wind up at an 180-degree angle from the futures they planned for - for The Rock Star (Sebastian Sozzi) to wind up as a bottom-rung DJ, or for The RIch Kid to marry The Beauty Queen when he and The Brain were so much in love - feels clumsy and cheap.

And the documentary device, which is even more overt and central than on "The Office," never quite clicks. We're in theory seeing everything the filmmaker does, but there are scenes where it's either hard to fathom a character bringing the camera crew with them (The Brain goes on a blind date, and the guy doesn't even bother to ask what the cameras are about until halfway through) or where the cameras are still there even when the characters have explicitly gotten away from them, and are doing things that even "The Real World" generation wouldn't want recorded. We get it: these people grew up accustomed to being filmed 24-7, but exceptions are made when, for instance, you're preparing to cheat on your spouse, no?

I respect series with ambition, but when the show continually falls so short of its lofty targets, it can be even more annoying than when something is bad without trying nearly as hard.

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-al...-my-generation

TV Review
Is being 'Outsourced' overseas funny? It's your call
By Robert Bianco, USA Today - September 23rd, 2010

Can a sitcom navigate troubled waters?

That's the task facing Outsourced, a culture-clash comedy about a Midwestern white guy who follows his outsourced call-center job to India. In a country touchy about race, rattled by unemployment and infuriated by overseas job flight, that's a risky proposition.

Outsourced hopes to counter that anger — and any potential backlash from an Indian community that may not like how it's being portrayed — with humor and an essential sweetness encompassing both cultures.

The sweetness certainly helps: It's clear tonight that Outsourced is going out of its way to keeps its jabs gentle. But it could afford to up the humor quotient from "cute" to "reliably funny."

Still, it's also clear that Outsourced has some potentially strong assets working in its favor, starting with newcomer Ben Rappaport's appealing gung-ho performance as Todd, the show's requisite fish-out-of-water.

Sent to Mumbai to manage a novelty company's call center, Todd thinks that his toughest task will be adjusting to a new country.

But he soon realizes that his Indian staff won't be able to sell novelties until they understand our fondness for fake vomit — and the fundamental, democratic genius behind its production: "Maybe no one needs this, but in America, no one can stop you from making it."

Despite its Indian setting, Outsourced is in essence an American office comedy, and the office is filled with typical sitcom employees. Those include an over-ambitious assistant manager (Rizwan Manji); a naive would-be playboy stuck with the name "Manmeet" (Sacha Dhawan); a socially inept guy who talks too much (Parvesh Cheena); a shy girl who talks too softly (Anisha Nagarajan); and a lovely woman (Rebecca Hazlewood) who smiles a lot at Todd.

Todd, however, and his new American friend (Diedrich Bader) only seem to have eyes for a beautiful blond Australian (Pippa Black) who runs an airline call center. Which does make you wonder why, exactly, in a country with millions of beautiful women, the show feels the need to import a love interest.

While it's possible that the staff is the butt of a few too many of the jokes, the pilot is good-natured enough to stay on this side of the offensive line.

That line, however, could easily fray — as could our patience if Outsourced devolves into a two-joke show: silly Indians who don't understand our silly customs.

For now, mark it down as a show worth watching.

Only time will tell if it's worth the trouble.

OUTSOURCED Thursday at 9:30PM ET/PT (8:30 CT) on NBC.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/televis...ced23_ST_N.htm

TV Review
In My Dad,' only the title is fresh
By Matthew Gilbert, Boston Globe - September 23rd, 2010

If volume meant quality, $#*! My Dad Says'' would be a comedy gem. The actors, led by star William Shatner, shout their punch lines like infomercial pitchmen, and the laugh track makes your ears wish they could blink.

I don't have a problem with the fact that $#*! My Dad Says,'' which premieres tonight at 8:30 on Channel 4, has its roots in Twitter it's based on Justin Halpern's popular feed. Whatever. Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld have made brilliant comedy careers out of less out of nothing.

But I do have a problem with the way $#*! My Dad Says'' is so blandly traditional, so predictably brash, and so lazy. Even though Twitter is in the show's DNA, executive producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick (from Will & Grace'') haven't added anything fresh to the mix. Will & Grace'' had an old-school sitcom vibe, but the material was ahead of its time. $#*! My Dad Says'' has the multi-camera vaudeville-based style but then sticks stubbornly to a far too-well-trod odd-couple path.

Shatner plays Ed, the dad who says crazy and mean things. Like so many grumpy men in family sitcoms, he's Archie Bunker without the satirical spin, and without the overt prejudices that made Archie so edgy. When his son Henry (Jonathan Sadowski) loses his magazine job and comes back home, conflict ensues, peppered with non-sequitur exchanges such as when Dad says about his garden, You should see my zucchini'' and Henry responds, I think I did last night when you answered the door in your jammies.''

Ed doesn't want to pamper Henry, even while Henry is longing for a few warm bonding gestures. But, this being a retro sitcom, a number of aww'' moments pop up in the premiere. Of course, deep down Ed is actually hoping to connect with his son, but he's too proud to be overt about it. Divorced, unsocial, and irritable, Ed is secretly afraid of being alone.

Septuagenarian Shatner is one of the older TV stars, like Betty White, who's still working regularly, and who has found an unexpected place in our youth culture. He's fine in $#*! My Dad Says,'' although I find a little of him goes a long way, especially when he's hamming it up without the benefit of the clever scripting of Boston Legal.'' All of his punch lines end up sounding the same.

Sadowski is neither a minus nor a plus, although he makes Henry a little too gratingly whiney to be entirely likable. As Henry's half-brother, Will Sasso is the calm center, especially when he's with Nicole Sullivan, who plays his high-strung wife. I like Sullivan, but she's overly amped-up on this show, putting a little too much oomph and eye emphasis into each of her lines. Like so much in the formulaic and disappointing $#*! My Dad Says,'' she's all hollow emphasis.

$#*! MY DAD SAYS
On: CBS, Channel 4
Time: Tonight, 8:30-9

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles...itle_is_fresh/

TV Notes
Jeff Zucker doesn't deny NBC departure
By Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter

NBC Universal president and CEO Jeff Zucker wasn't ready to make anything official on Wednesday about his future or the future management structure of the entertainment company once cable giant Comcast controls it.

Recent reports have said he is expected to leave his post around the time the Comcast deal closes. Regulators are expected to rule on the planned combination near the end of the year.

Zucker in an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia investor conference here on Wednesday wasn't asked about his future.

Asked by The Hollywood Reporter after the session whether he is in or out and what the future NBC Uni management structure would look like, Zucker would only say that he expects final decisions and announcements "when [there is] more certainty around the timing of the deal closing."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...d76ef01379877b

TV Review
Community's Sophomore Swing
By James Poniewozik, Time's 'Tuned In' Blog - September 23rd, 2010

There are sitcoms you enjoy because you have such a good time watching them, and then there are the sitcoms you enjoy because the people involved clearly have such a good time making them. Community, which returns tonight on NBC, is an example of the latter. (The former too, but especially the latter.) The show, about a motley study group of adult learners at a community college somewhere in the West, is, as its title says, about very different people coming together to form a group. But its joys are also in the margins, goofs and details—the now-mandatory Troy-and-Abed outros over the closing credits, the stealthily inserted pop culture parodies, the ancillary characters like the eccentrically hirsute Starburns.

Tonight's episode is a blast, for many reasons I don't have the heart to spoil for you, but above all for how it so clearly conveys the sense that Dan Harmon and his crew simply could not wait, after four months, to deliver these laughs to you.

Here's what I can tell you: As Jeff (Joel McHale) and the gang return to Greendale Community College, they no longer have the same Spanish class, but they have a year's worth of shared history. That includes, from the end of season one, Britta's (Gillian Jacobs) declaration of love for Jeff and Jeff's impulsive kiss with Annie (Alison Brie). This gets addressed fairly quickly in the episode, as does the new status of former Spanish teacher / nemesis Señor Chang (Ken Jeong), as does the need for the study group to remain together. Because this is 2010 and you need Betty White on your TV show, Betty White appears, as a fearsome new anthropology teacher.

[For more of the show's plans for the season, and simply a general sense of the delight the creative team and cast take in it, see Jace Lacob's feature at The Daily Beast.]

The debut also doubles down on something I could do with less of, the show's constant self-awareness and referencing of other TV shows, delivered especially through the character of Abed (Danny Pudi). After a puzzling conversation in the premiere, Jeff asks him, "Abed, why are you mining my life for classic sitcom scenarios?" Answers Abed, "I'm hoping we can move away from the soapy, relationshippy stuff and into bigger, fast-paced, self-contained escapades."

The exchange is funny, but it also takes me out of the show, and the regular awareness that I'm watching a pop-culture work that knows its a pop-culture work about other pop-culture works limits the show's upside for me. (By which I simply mean that I think Community is excellent, but can't quite put it in the league of NBC's missed-until-midseason Parks and Recreation, Starz's recently departed Party Down, or FX's new Louie.)

But I accept that this is what the show is, and what saves moments like this is that it's more than simple cold self-consciousness. Abed—whom Pudi plays with beautifully calibrated eccentricity—is conscious of the sitcom tropes around him because he's hyper-conscious of himself, and he's as self-conscious as he is because this is the mechanism he's developed to deal with life and understand other people. (He's something like an alien who's com to understand Earthlings by watching satellite transmissions that bounced into deep space.)

In other words, Abed's a character, not just a narrative device. Community, true to its premise, started with a group of characters who we were inclined to see as types (the crusty old man, the ingenue, the nerd) and fleshed them out without losing the show's surrealistic sense of play. The ensemble is so good that while it got the most attention a year ago for casting veteran Chevy Chase—who is no slouch as the brusque, clueless Pierce—his character by now is just one among the ensemble.

What makes Community not just funny but engaging is that it doesn't lose its essential sweetness amid the rapid-fire gags and Easter eggs. The gags and eggs are there, though—there's an inspired, meta-referential online tie-in to tonight's episode that I am dying to tell you about but won't—and they make watching each episode like dumping out an overstuffed Christmas stocking.

Community will need every treat it can offer, because the already ratings-challenged show is scheduled against CBS's just-moved The Big Bang Theory, which has its own vein of geek humor and a dangerously similar audience demographic. (The show's Thursday competition, and other off-screen developments, have also not escaped the attention of Harmon and the writers—and that's all I'm going to say.)

The choice between them is easy for me, but if you love both and want to keep them around, DVR Big Bang and make Community your priority. It needs you, and we need it.

COMMUNITY. 8PM Thursdays on NBC.

http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2010/0...phomore-swing/

Overnight Nielsen Ratings (Live Plus Same Day data)
(From Marc Berman’s September 23rd, 2010 Programming Insider newsletter and blog at Mediaweek.com)
http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/t...51/m/608102323
Wednesday, September 22nd

Fast Affiliate Ratings (Live Plus Same Day data)

Total Viewers:
CBS: 12.88 million, NBC: 9.54, ABC: 7.92, Fox: 6.57, CW: 2.57

Adults 18-49:
CBS: 3.6 rating/10 share, Fox: 2.9/ 8, ABC and NBC: 2.8/ 8 each, CW: 1.1/ 3


Yesterday’s Winners:
Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS), Modern Family (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS), Law & Order: SVU (NBC), The Defenders (CBS)

-Honorable Mention:
The Middle (ABC)

-Vast Improvement from Year-Ago Time Period:
Hellcats (CW)

-Respectable Sampling:
Undercovers (NBC), Better with You (ABC)

Disappointing:
Cougar Town (ABC)

Yesterday’s Losers
The Whole Truth (ABC)

Note: Year-ago results are based on the Live Plus Same Day ratings.

Ratings Breakdown:
CBS won this first Wednesday of the 2010-11 season, with a No. 1 finish in both total viewers and adults 18-49. NBC and Fox shared the No. 2 spot (NBC in total viewers, Fox among adults 18-49), with ABC third (tied with NBC in the demo) and last-place The CW a noticeable improvement from the year-ago evening (when failed drama The Beautiful Life aired).

CBS’ relocated Survivor: Nicaragua has settled into the Wednesday 8 p.m. hour with a dominant 12.47 million viewers and a 4.0 rating/12 share among adults 18-49. One year earlier, the combination of canceled sitcoms The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried averaged 7.01 million viewers and a 2.3/ 7 in the demo. And this is also an improvement from Survivor’s year-ago performance anchoring Thursday (Viewers: 11.66 million; A18-49: 3.7/11 on Sept. 23, 2009).

Next on CBS was the sixth season-premiere of Criminal Minds at a rock-solid 14.08 million viewers (#1) and a 4.0/11 among adults 18-49 (#2) from 9-10 p.m., followed by the series-debut of The Defenders as follows:

The Defenders (CBS) – Wed. 10 p.m. (series premiere)
Viewers: 12.09 million (#1), A18-49: 2.9/ 9 (#2)

Comparably, former occupant CSI: NY averaged a heftier 15.06 million viewers and a 4.0/11 in the demo on Sept. 23, 2009, but this is still solid sampling. Let’s see what happens next Wednesday when NBC’s Law & Order: Los Angeles premieres.

On NBC, the series-premiere of Undercovers at 8 p.m. did get sampled, but the skew was definitely older. Take a look:

Undercovers (NBC) – Wed. 8 p.m. (series premiere)
Viewers: 8.57 million (#3), A18-49: 2.1/ 6 (#4)

Comparably, this was similar to the year-ago debut of failed medical drama Mercy, which opened with 8.38 million viewers and a 2.3/ 7 in the demo on Sept. 23, 2009. Next on NBC was the 12th season-premiere of a two-hour edition of Law & Order: SVU (I know…time flies!) at a very respectable 10.02 million viewers and a 3.2/ 9 among adults 18-49 from 9-11 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 9.05 million (#3), A18-49: 2.7/ 7 (#4)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 10.31 million (#2), A18-49: 3.2/ 8 (#3t)
10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 10.11 million (#2), A18-49: 3.3/ 9 (#1)
10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 10.60 million (#2), A18-49: 3.6/11 (#1)

Compared to it’s year-ago season-opener (Viewers: 8.36 million; A18-49: 2.5/ 7 on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 at 9 p.m.), this was an improvement of a solid 1.66 million viewers and 28 percent in the demo.

Over at ABC, season two of sitcom The Middle, featuring guest star Doris Roberts, was on the map with 8.81 million viewers and a 2.6/ 8 among adults 18-49 at 8 p.m. -- second in both categories and up from one year earlier. Next was the series-premiere of compatible Better with You at 7.97 million viewers (#3) and a 2.5/ 7 in the demo (#4) at 8:30 p.m. Retention for Better with You out of The Middle was 90 percent in total viewers and 96 percent in the demo.

At 9 p.m. on ABC, season two of Emmy winner Modern Family perked up to 12.61 million viewers (#2) and a first-place 5.0/14 among adults 18-49. Compared to its series-debut on the year-ago evening (Viewers: 12.60 million; A18-49: 4.2/11 on Sept. 23, 2009), this was an increase of 19 percent in the demo. At 9:30 p.m., ABC lost noticeable steam, with the second season-premiere of Cougar Town, featuring guest star Jennifer Aniston, at 8.34 million viewers (#2) and a 3.3/ 9 (#2) among adults 18-49. Comparably, retention for Cougar Town out of Modern Family was a disappointing 66 percent in both total viewers and the demo. ABC, needless to say, can do better in this protected half-hour and my prediction is Matthew Perry sitcom Mr. Sunshine will step in come midseason.

In more series-premiere news, ABC legal drama The Whole Truth was stalled at the gate, with a very last-place finish in both total viewers (4.91 million) and adults 18-49 (1.6/ 5) at 10 p.m. One year earlier, failed drama Eastwick opened with 8.50 million viewers and a 3.0/ 8 in the demo on Sept. 23, 2009, and the retention out of Cougar Town was only 59 percent in total viewers and 48 percent in the demo. The Whole Truth, in addition, dropped by 700,000 viewers (5.26 to 4.56 million) and 18 percent among adults 18-49 (1.7/ 5 to 1.4/ 4) at 10:30 p.m. With NBC’s aforementioned Law & Order: Los Angeles stepping into the time period next week, expect considerable erosion from this already D.O.A. performance.

Moving to Fox, the two-hour eighth season-premiere of Hell’s Kitchen returned with a respectable 6.57 million viewers and a 2.9/ 8 among adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m., building by half-hour as follows:

Hell’s Kitchen (Fox)
8:00 p.m. – Viewers: 5.61 million (#4), A18-49: 2.4/ 8 (#3)
8:30 p.m. – Viewers: 6.29 million (#4), A18-49: 2.7/ 8 (#2)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 7.11 million (#4), A18-49: 3.1/ 8 (#3)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 7.27 million (#4), A18-49: 3.2/ 9 (#3t)

Capping off the evening was The CW’s combination of veteran America’s Next Top Model (Viewers: #5, 2.82 million; A18-49: #5, 1.3/ 4), which was virtually identical to one year earlier, and week three of Hellcats (Viewers: #5, 2.32 million; A18-49: #5, 1.0/ 3). One year earlier, failed CW drama The Beautiful Life departed with a mere 1.05 million viewers and a 0.5/ 1 in the demo on Sept. 23, 2009.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Note: Previous overnight ratings are available at Marc Berman’s Programmers Insider blog: http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/63310451

Nielsen Overnights (18-49)
Series high for 'Modern Family' debut
The returning ABC sitcom averages a 5.0 in 18-49s
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - September 23rd, 2010

"Modern Family" now has the ratings to match the buzz. The second-year comedy hit a series high in total viewers and virtually every adult demographic, becoming the new season's top sitcom so far.

"Family" averaged a 5.0 adults 18-49 rating in the 9 p.m. slot, according to Nielsen overnights, up 19 percent over last year, when it premiered behind "Dancing with the Stars," and the top show of the night. It averaged 12.6 million total viewers.

It did not, however, give much of a boost to lead-out "Cougar Town," which lost 34 percent of its lead-in to average a solid but unspectacular 3.3.

None of last night's new shows were that impressive, either. ABC sitcom "Better with You" averaged a 2.5 rating, retaining 96 percent of "The Middle's" 2.6 lead-in but still third in the timeslot.

And 10 p.m. ABC drama "The Whole Truth" bombed, managing just a 1.5 rating and losing more than half "Cougar's" lead-in.

CBS's new drama "The Defenders" had a ho-hum 2.9 at 10 p.m., down 28 percent from the "CSI: NY" premiere in the same slot last year but still second behind NBC's veteran "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" in the timeslot.

And NBC's "Undercovers" did poorly as well, averaging a mere 2.0 rating in the 8 p.m. timeslot and finishing fourth despite a moderate amount of buzz - it's from "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams.

CBS was first for the night among 18-49s with a 3.6 average overnight rating and a 10 share. Fox was second at 2.9/8, ABC and NBC tied for third at 2.8/8, Univision was fifth at 1.7/5 and CW sixth at 1.1/3.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won't be available for several weeks. Thirty-eight percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. CBS was first with a 4.0 for "Survivor," while ABC and Fox tied for second at 2.6, ABC for "The Middle" (2.6) and "Better with You" (2.5) and Fox for "Hell's Kitchen." NBC was fourth with a 2.0 for "Undercovers," Univision fifth with a 1.7 for "Hasta que el Dinero Nos Separe" and CW sixth with a 1.3 for "America's Next Top Model."

ABC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 4.2 for "Family" (5.0) and "Cougar" (3.3), followed by CBS with a 4.0 for "Criminal Minds." Fox was third with a 3.2 for more "Kitchen," NBC fourth with a 2.9 for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Univision fifth with a 2.1 for "Soy Tu Dueña" and CW sixth with a 1.0 for "Hellcats."

At 10 p.m. NBC moved to first with a 3.5 for more "L&O: SVU," with CBS second with a 2.9 for "The Defenders." ABC was third with a 1.5 for "The Whole Truth" and Univision fourth with a 1.2 for "Don Francisco Presenta."

CBS also led the night among households with a 7.7 average overnight rating and a 13 share. NBC was second at 6.1/10, ABC third at 4.9/8, Fox fourth at 3.7/8, Univision fifth at 2.1/4 and CW sixth at 1.6/3.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...ily-debut-.asp

Nielsen Overnights
‘Modern Family’ return sets record; ‘Undercovers’ slumps, ‘Whole Truth’ tanks
By James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - September 23rd, 2010

The return of ABC's Emmy-winning "Modern Family" set a ratings record, but a couple new series failed to impress.

"Modern Family" (12.6 million viewers, 5.0 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) returned 19% higher than last fall and easily ranked as the evening's top-rated show. This is the hit comedy's biggest rating ever.

Among freshman premieres, CBS' legal drama "The Defenders" (12.1 million, 2.9) starring Jim Belushi opened with the best numbers. Still, "Defenders" dropped 28% from both its "Criminal Minds" (14.1 million, 4.0) lead-in and from the debut of "CSI: NY" in the slot last fall. While "Minds" was off 9% from last year.

The series premiere of J.J. Abrams' spy dramedy "Undercovers" (8.6 million, 2.0) underwhelmed on NBC. "Undercovers" was down 13% from "Mercy" opening in that same slot and placed last at 8 p.m. among the major networks.

Jerry Bruckheimer's latest legal procedural "The Whole Truth" (4.9 million, 1.5) couldn't make its case at 10 p.m. The ABC drama was down 50% from "Eastwick" debuting in the hour last fall, and fell 55% from its "Cougar Town" lead-in (8.3 million, 3.3).

"Cougar Town" was off 25% despite its "Modern Family" lead-in rising -- and even with Jennifer Aniston guest starring. ABC's new comedy block addition "Better With You" (8 million, 2.5) performed about the same as "The Middle" in the time period last year. "The Middle" (8.8 million, 2.6), now at 8 p.m., held steady despite its earlier time period.

Overall: CBS won Wednesday with "Survivor" (12.5 million, 4.0) staying rock steady, followed by its procedurals.

Fox placed second with the two-hour premiere of "Hell's Kitchen" (6.6 million, 2.9), rising a notch from last year.

ABC and NBC tied for third, with NBC airing a two-hour "Law & Order: SVU" premiere (10 million, 3.2), up 28% from last year and marking its best performance in the time period since 2008.

The CW aired "America's Next Top Model" (2.8 million, 1.3), steady with last week, and "Hellcats" (2.3 million, 1.0), down in the demo, but up slightly among The CW's women 18-34 target.

http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.co...-+Live+Feed%29

So much for J.J. Abrams' TV mojo. "Undercover's" ratings fell well below the hype and publicity for the (expensive) pilot and its leads' casting. Better luck with your new O'Quinn/Emerson project JJ, another NBC disappointment in the making. And Jerry Bruckheimer is becoming to TV shows what Joel Silver is to movies: a has-been that's lost his producing touch both on TV ("Dark Blue," "the forgotten," "Chase," etc.) and movies ("Sorcerer's Apprentice," "Prince of Persia," etc.) who is living off his past glories (the "CSI" series, "Amazing Race," etc.).

TV Notes
Public TV Project Aims to Make Baby Boomers Its Own
By Elizabeth Jensen, The New York Times - September 23rd, 2010


“Rick Steves’ Europe” is one of a
handful of public TV shows chosen
for their appeal to people ages 45 to 65.

The commercial television networks, eager to portray their shows as demographically desirable to youth-craving advertisers, have always had a love-hate relationship with aging baby boomers.

But the 77 million or so boomers, of course, watch television and browse the Internet in large numbers, and many have plenty of money to spend. A group of public broadcasting executives is putting together an online and broadcast initiative that embraces that demographic, hoping to make public television a mainstay for 45- to-65-year-olds in the same way that parents use it to help teach children their ABCs.

The core of the project, called Next Avenue, will be a Web site with original and aggregated content from public and nonprofit partners — organized around health and wellness; money and financial security; and a category called living and learning — that is expected to start April 1.

Some existing public television shows will be bundled together under the Next Avenue banner, but original television programming is not planned until the third year. Community events coordinated by local public television stations will also be part of the package.

The initiative, which is based at Twin Cities Public Television, the public station in Minneapolis-St. Paul, has some deep-pocketed foundations backing its development with $5 million in grants, which is a fairly typical public broadcasting approach. But to make Next Avenue self-sustaining once it starts up, organizers are forming a new sponsorship approach for public television, which is often a difficult sell to marketers used to buying commercial time on more ratings-driven networks.

“I felt very strongly, having been in public broadcasting, and having seen initiatives come and go, that it was not going to sustain itself by going to foundations every year and writing grant proposals,” said Jim Pagliarini, Next Avenue’s co-founder and chief executive. He is also the president and chief executive of Twin Cities Public Television, and a longtime public broadcasting executive.

To lure corporate underwriters, the new venture is offering multimillion-dollar exclusive 52-week sponsor packages in the health, money, and living and learning categories, rather than using the traditional public TV approach of selling spots in specific shows.

For their money, sponsors will receive underwriting credits on the Next Avenue Web site and on a set of four to six public TV shows chosen for their appeal to the demographic, including “Rick Steves’ Europe,” “America’s Test Kitchen” and “Live From the Artists Den,” and any new programming created by the venture, said Judy Diaz, Next Avenue’s president and chief operating officer.

Ms. Diaz, a former managing director of audience and brand strategy at PBS and PBS Kids, declined to put an exact price on the packages.

Sponsorship will also be integrated into e-newsletters produced by Next Avenue and into the live events, which will give marketers more access to people than anything traditional public television has done to date. Spots within the shows will try to send viewers to the Next Avenue Web site and vice versa; shows that are part of the Next Avenue initiative will have material on their individual Web sites and Next Avenue’s.

In aiming at baby boomers, “It’s really an audience-centered strategy versus a genre-centered strategy,” said Mr. Pagliarini. Moreover, he said, “it really is designed from the beginning as an integrated media opportunity for businesses that want to reach this audience.”

Next Avenue grew out of Twin Cities Public Television’s 2004 award-winning documentary for PBS called “The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s,” and its series, “Life (Part 2),” also on PBS, about the generation’s fresh approach to aging.

“We began to think about what more could public broadcasting do to serve the needs of this booming population? And also, was there a financial model that could sustain it?” Mr. Pagliarini said.

Outside content partners for the Web site, Ms. Diaz said, are expected to include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Institutes of Health and its National Institute on Aging, the Treasury Department and the Office of Public Health and Science.

The major foundations backing Next Avenue are the Atlantic Philanthropies, which donated $3.5 million and has a particular focus on aging issues; the General Mills Foundation, which gave $1 million; and the Medtronic Foundation, which put in $500,000. American Public Television and the Public Broadcasting Service are also collaborating.

Cynthia Fenneman, president of American Public Television, which has helped bring some shows it distributes into the project, called Next Avenue a “large and needed opportunity to serve the boomers and aged of America.”

The project’s organizers have been talking to potential sponsors in recent weeks and in some cases have been invited back for third and fourth presentations. Mr. Pagliarini said he hopes to have a first sponsor signed by mid-November.

Barry Lowenthal, president of the agency the Media Kitchen, based in New York, a division of KBS+P, has a client interested in Next Avenue.

“I think the boomer generation and above is an underserved target in the media, and I think the way they’re approaching this target is really smart,” he said, adding that he likes that public television is “leveraging all of their programming, their content, to create these three hubs.”

Whether his unidentified client will end up as a sponsor, he said, depends in part on how flexible Next Avenue is in allowing the client to move money around based on what is working. “With sponsorships, you’re more locked in. We need to look through are we locked into a dollar commitment or a particular schedule.”

As part of its package, Ms. Diaz said, Next Avenue would welcome content from sponsors for the Web site, where such material would be clearly marked. Mr. Lowenthal said such accommodations are part of the profit-making Web world. “I applaud them for experimenting with different revenue streams.”

Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, disagreed. Organizations need to have multiple-platform strategies, he said, but, “public broadcasting has to resist giving in to new forms of advertising and commercial sponsorship in the online era.”

Instead, he said, public television should be trying to perfect “what the noncommercial alternative might look like.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/bu...ref=television

You can also do so on any Cisco/SA DVR running Passport Echo (Cox.) I don't remember how SARA works in this regard.

Washington Notes
FCC Approves White Spaces Order
Unanimous vote opens up broadcast band to fixed and mobile unlicensed devices
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable - September 23rd, 2010

The FCC Thursday unanimously voted on rules to implement its white spaces proceeding, which opens up the broadcast band to fixed and mobile unlicensed devices.

As expected, the commissioners voted to remove the initial proposal that those unlicensed devices have remote-sensing capabilities that would better help them avoid incumbent users. Instead, the FCC will rely entirely on a database where those incumbents can register for interference protection.

The commission also voted to set aside two channels for wireless microphones and will allow those using lots of microphones for events like Broadway shows and sports production to register for protection in the database, but they will have to do it in advance, the public will get to vet the request, and they must demonstrate that they really need the extra protection.

The FCC will encourage the development of remote-sensing devices anyway in the interests of more efficient spectrum use.

The commission's still has to select the company to administer that database, and its Office of Engineering & Technology has to come up with technical standards, but the commissioners all called the vote an important first step toward freeing up spectrum for advanced services.

The current elephant in the FCC room, network neutrality, was not on the agenda, but Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell found a way to add it to the conversation anyway.

He argued that opening up the white spaces for new wireless broadband service meant that neither open access nor network neutrality need to be mandated by the commission. "So you can take that off your list," he said to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski with a smile. His reasoning was that it would provide new competition to existing broadband providers and thus provide an additional check on "potential mischief."

McDowell also said that given the eliminatin of the proposed remote-sensing requirement, the FCC needed to proceed with great care. He said it has the duty to create an effective tool, but one that did not harm to incumbents, and by extensions, consumers.

Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker agreed, saying that the database would need to be as accurate and consumer friendly as possible.

"It's been a long time coming, but it looks like white spaces' time has indeed come," said Commissioner Michael Copps. "This is a truly major step to make more spectrum available for wireless broadband."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...aces_Order.php

Shame about 'Whole Truth', I liked it much more than 'The Defenders', both leads are far more interesting in 'Truth', and the story was better. I can't help but wonder if the shows had been on opposite networks if the numbers would have been flipped with 'Whole Truth' coming out the winner, I'm beginning to think nobody watches ABC at 10pm on Weds, period.

Not since "NYPD Blue" has an ABC show on Tuesday or Wednesdays at 10PM gained any traction and lasted a good long while. All networks have holes they seem unable to plug until the right show/schedule comes along. For years CBS was dead on Wednesdays at 8PM, and now with "Survivor" there not only have they plugged that hole but freed Thursdays for "Big Bang Theory" to continue their permanent takeover of Thursday. Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10 on ABC are like the Bermuda triangle of programming nothingness though. Unless it's a Barbara Walters special or a "20/20" investigation people just don't assume ABC has anything worth seeing those nights at that hour. Maybe ABC should gamble and put "Castle" on Wednesdays at 10 to see if its dedicated viewers follow it; waste the gigantic lead-ins from "Dancing with the Stars" on a new show and let Fillon & Co. swim on their own stream I say.

And with that the FCC has stabbed the consumer in the back with regards to net neutrality.

Kristen Bell would finance 'Veronica Mars' pic; Warner Bros. won't release rights to property: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...faa0cd8321b333.

I have all three seasons of "Veronica Mars" on DVD sitting in my shelf unopened (bought from an online sale years ago). Just sayin'.

On Monday, Lone Star looked like live poultry before a winter holiday. Now, at the end of this week's premiers of back to the future paint by number formula scripts, I have to take another look at Lone Star because it just doesn't look as bad in comparison. And yeah, I don't like john voight or his right wing fringe political views, but the show is distinguishable.

C'mon Warner Bros., let 'em make the movie. Especially if KB is financing it.

Nobody really seems to be downplaying Lone Star's chances to survive due to its quality, it's the fact that nobody watched it. Even Chuck was much higher than LS in both the demo and total viewers which I totally didn't see coming.

My wife has been rewatching "Veronica Mars" on Netflix lately. All it's done for me is remind me that I'm still mad at CW for canceling it. Truly one of the great shows of the last decade.

Watch List
Thursday Watch List: BIEBER GOES TO PRISON!!!

By Drew Magary

Welcome to Watch List, where we identify five things on TV to watch while you stay at home and decide to quit your job to pursue a career in hip hop. LET'S GO!

CSI - 9:00PM (CBS) CBS's perennial hit procedural returns for its four millionth season. But not what's important tonight. What's important is BIEBER!!!! BIEBER BIEBER BIEBER BIEBER! OMG! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Can you feel my heart beating? It's beating so fast! I may faint! This must be what menopause is like! My hand is shaking. Look at it move! It's doing that involuntarily! I'm NOT faking! Anyway, tonight Justin Bieber plays a troubled youth (is there any other kind?). He even wears a prison jumpsuit, which I bet will be totally convincing. I'm told he has an explosive confrontation with the CSI investigators, no doubt over whether or not he can stay out an extra hour on Saturday night, because Jenny Dixon's party is supposed to be the party of the year. ANTICIPATION: BIEBERRRRRRR!

MY GENERATION - 8:00PM (ABC) ABC's latest prime time soap is a phony documentary that revisits a group of high school classmates ten years after graduation. The mockumentary format works for comedies like The Office and Parks and Recreation, but it remains to be seen if it'll work wonders for an hourlong drama. ABC's Detroit 187 was also supposed to have this same gimmick, but it was ditched and the pilot was reworked. Also, I'm wary of anything with the word generation in the title. Sounds like a Pepsi ad. ANTICIPATION: ANGSTY!

OUTSOURCED - 9:30PM (NBC) Parks and Recreation is a midseason replacement this year, which makes me hate everything and everyone. In its place is this new comedy about an American sent overseas to work in an Indian call center. Cultures clash. Hilarity ensues. Curry for breakfast?! That's krayyyyzee! ANTICIPATION: DAAL!

$#*! MY DAD SAYS - 8:30PM (CBS) As a goof, comedy writer Justin Halpern started a Twitter feed that chronicled all the delightfully profane things his father said. He turned that feed into a book that topped the New York Times bestseller list (and remains firmly entrenched in the top 10), and now this sitcom starring William Shatner that has been reworked a few times over. Advance notices haven't been good. But really, even if this show fails, I'd say Halpern has come out wayyyyy ahead. People act like it's the end of days because a Twitter feed got turned into a sitcom. As if finding ideas from new places is some kind of horrible thing. It is not. Unless this show stinks, which it may very well do. ANTICIPATION: FILTH FLARN FILTH!

THE OFFICE - 9:00PM (NBC) It's all new tonight, as are Fringe, Bones, The Mentalist, The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, and about 90 other shows. So get all wined up and ready to party on your butt. ANTICIPATION: NEWNESS!

http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/p...103617109.html

Warner sucks, but we already knew this..

TV Sports
HBO to produce NHL reality series
Will follow Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals
By Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter - September 23rd, 2010

TORONTO -- The National Hockey League has made it to U.S. pay TV.

HBO Sports' "24/7" reality franchise is pacting with the pro hockey league to take viewers inside the rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals with a four-episode reality series to air in December and January.

The HBO sports reality show will follow the Penguins, led by Sidney Crosby, and the Capitals, led by Alexander Ovechkin, on and off the ice for a month in preparation for a December 23 regular season matchup, and a Jan. 1 “Winter Classic” showdown at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

The series will debut on December 15, and climax with a Jan. 5 finale.

“We will bring sport fans unprecedented access to what goes on behind the scenes in a sports league, and to two teams as they prepare for battle,” HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg, told a teleconference call on Thursday.

“These are two teams that don’t love each other. The rivalry aspect will play out well,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman added.

Production costs for the pay TV reality series were not disclosed.

News of the HBO deal follows the NHL coming off record ratings for its 2009-2010 season, followed by the Stanley Cup playoff rounds, ultimately won by the Chicago Blackhawks over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Rather than chronicle this year’s championship round next spring, HBO decided to portray a regular season run for the Penguins and the Capitals.

All four episodes of the HBO Sports show will have multiple replay dates on U.S. pay TV channel, and the series will also be available on HBO On Demand.

Greenburg said the “24/7” series will be sold into the Canadian market.

The NHL’s Bettman added that the tie-up with HBO would not necessarily impact the league as it prepares to negotiate for a renewal of its current TV rights deals with NBC and the Versus cable channel.

The contracts with NBC and Versus expire after the 2010-2011 season.

Bettman dismissed speculation that the NHL is seeking a possible return to ESPN after a rumored bidding war for the league’s future TV rights between Comcast and Versus and Disney’s ABC and ESPN properties.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...3d2b35339e7a71

TV Notes
Lifetime Renews 'Army Wives' And 'Diva'
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com's TV Editor - September 23rd, 2010

EXCLUSIVE: Lifetime has renewed its flagship series, Army Wives and Drop Dead Diva. Army Wives has been picked up for a fifth season, while Drop Dead Diva has been renewed for a third season. Both series have received 13-episode orders for a 2011 premiere. "Army Wives and Drop Dead Diva have lead Lifetime's charge in scripted programming and are key components to our success," said Nancy Dubuc, president and GM of Lifetime and History, adding that series' renewal "allows us to launch our next generation of scripted series." Under Dubuc, who took over Lifetime in the spring, the cable network has ordered 3 pilots, Against the Wall, Exit 13 and an untitled cop drama from Drop Dead Diva creator Josh Berman. The network will certainly use Army Wives and Drop Dead Diva as launching pads for any of the 3 that are picked up to series.

While it has slipped from the blockbuster ratings of its first couple of seasons, Army Wives still remains Lifetime's highest-rated series ever. Its most recent fourth season averaged 3.2 viewers, with its finale (3.9 million) hitting season highs in total viewers and all key demographics. Season 4 also included a planted spinoff episode, but the network recently passed on it. Army Wives is produced by ABC Studios, with Mark Gordon, Deborah Spera, Jeff Melvoin, Marshall Persinger and Harry Bring executive producing. Its cast includes Kim Delaney, Sally Pressman, Brigid Brannagh, Brian McNamara, Sterling K. Brown and Catherine Bell.

Comedic drama Drop Dead Diva, from Sony TV, opened its second season with 3.1 million viewers, up 11% from its series debut. Creator Josh Berman is executive producing with Craig Zadan, Neil Meron and Alex Taub. Brooke Elliott leads the cast that also includes Margaret Cho, Jackson Hurst, Kate Levering and Ben Feldman.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/09/life...rop-dead-diva/

That's true, but, you could have taken 1-2 years of resent cancellations and put them out this week and it would have been less boring at least up till this point.

Shows that bomb spectacularly are so much more fun to follow than mediocre one's or hit shows. "Lone Star" seems to be on a class of its own though; ABC's "The Whole Truth" had a debut episode that rated just as badly as "Lone Star's" but that was expected. Between (a) the near-universal critical acclaim its pilot received, (b) the big promotional bucks FOX spent pushing it, (c) the quarter-hour dropoffs in audience watching it and (d) the crater-making thud with which it landed there's a narrative that even non-TV enthusiasts can follow. It's like "Dollhouse" except this is actually a good show and there will not be an out-of-nowhere second season (heck, "Lone Star" will be lucky if all its produced episodes air at all).

Sounds like someone is bitter about Warner's Blu-ray encoding and lack of high-def audio options.