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TV Notes
The Game' Is a Winner, Helped by BET Loyalists
By Brian Stelter, The New York Times - January 17th, 2011

Sometimes, what a television show needs is a new neighborhood.

The Game, a sitcom about pro football players' relationships with women, puttered along in obscurity for three years on the CW network. The season it was canceled, it attracted only 1.9 million viewers an episode. Then it was resurrected with two new episodes last Tuesday on the cable channel BET, which picked up the program and resumed production as part of an effort to add scripted shows to its schedule. The response from BET viewers, Forbes said, was jaw-dropping. The first two episodes of the new season averaged 7.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched sitcom ever on cable television.

When the Nielsen ratings came in, there were hugs in the halls at BET. The 30-year-old channel had never had such high ratings for a series. Just over the moon is how Debra L. Lee, the chief executive and chairwoman of BET Networks, described her reaction. It proves that cable is competitive, she said.

How does a show quadruple its audience? Ms. Lee credits a smart marketing plan, fan bases on Facebook and Twitter, and frequent showings on BET of repeat episodes in the past year, which ginned up interest in the new episodes.

The channel's target audience also mattered. Most of the stars of The Game are black, as are most of its viewers. In those ways, it differs from the other shows on the CW, which is best known for dramas like Gossip Girl. BET is programmed for black viewers.

Folks know what to expect from BET all day long, Ms. Lee said, praising the strength of the brand.

The Game had a higher rating on BET last Tuesday than it ever had on the CW even though, according to Nielsen, the CW normally has 60 percent more viewers in prime time, 1.9 million, than BET, 747,000.

In mid-2008, a viewer named Stacey Mattocks created a Facebook page for the show, and months later she became more active because of speculation that the CW might cancel The Game. She had been a fan of Girlfriends, the show that had spawned The Game, and had already been canceled. I didn't want to lose my other show, Ms. Mattocks said.

But she did, briefly. With cancellation looming, an online campaign by the stars failed to persuade the CW to keep the program. Having tasted success with Gossip Girl, the network decided to stop showing sitcoms altogether. The Game ended in May of 2009.

Ms. Mattocks said she thought the CW had neglected the show, partly by moving it into less favorable time slots. The CW declined to comment.

In 2009, BET began playing old episodes of The Game, which was critical to its success later.

A lot of fans had never heard of it until it was on cable, Ms. Mattocks said. Her Facebook page continued to gain fans, so when BET ordered new episodes of the show last May, it embraced her page with three million fans instead of trying to create one from scratch. The channel now pays her to run the fan page part time, in addition to her job at an insurance company in Florida.

The show received traditional marketing, too. Teasers about the return of The Game started appearing on BET as early as last June, and later commercials depicted viewers celebrating its return. One such spot, filmed on the Georgia Tech campus, had the cast walking out of a stadium tunnel, surrounded by cheering fans.

It helped to extend the message that we were doing this for them, said Janet Rolle, BET's chief marketing officer.

It almost certainly helped that BET had only one other scripted sitcom, Let's Stay Together, to promote. The CW, like other broadcasters, has a fuller slate of shows. BET paired the two new sitcoms last Tuesday, and Let's Stay Together averaged 4.4 million viewers.

The Game features the same stars as before. Keeping pace with the altered production, the story picks up two years later, Salim Akil, who is an executive producer alongside his wife, Mara Brock Akil, and Kelsey Grammer, told reporters this month. The time-shifting helps explain why the characters live in new homes now.Ms. Lee, who took over BET in 2005, had predicted that The Game could be a game-changer for the channel, which she has steered toward scripted and higher-quality programming.

This is really the top of the mountain, in terms of what I've been trying to accomplish, and what I knew BET could do, she said on Friday. She says that at a presentation for advertisers in the spring, she plans to announce another new sitcom.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/bu..._r=1&ref=media

Tech/Business Notes
Press Release: Apple’s Jobs to Go on Leave
By the Wall Street Journal staff - January 17th, 2011

Here is a statement put out by Apple on Business Wire on Monday morning. CEO Steve Jobs has battled pancreatic cancer in the past.

PRESS RELEASE: Apple CEO To Take Medical Leave

Apple Media Advisory
–(BUSINESS WIRE)–January 17, 2011–

Apple CEO Steve Jobs today sent the following email to all Apple employees:

Team,
At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

Steve

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/01/...o-go-on-leave/

I think everyone has focused on the size of his TV and overlooked his point. The point is all the stretched content whether it be from the TV owner or the channel itself, stretched content looks awful. But people still continue to do it.

Critic's Notes
Is Midseason Full of Great Shows, or What?
By Diane Holloway, TVWorthWatching.com - January 17th, 2011

Not sure what's going on, but either midseason 2011 is serving up lots of good stuff or my TV standards have collapsed.

I choose to believe the former.

It's early in the new year, so there's still time for my optimism to go horribly wrong. I've gone slap-happy in the past. Still, in the dark of winter, it's nice to head toward the light. Right now, there is much to enjoy and much to anticipate.

Here's why:

Shameless (Sundays on Showtime) -- Prime time has been littered with dysfunctional families for years, some in a good way and some not so much. Although I've only seen a smidgen of this new comedy/drama, I place my total faith in William H. Macy. If he's made a stinker, I've never seen it. His performances tend toward perfection, and this role, as a serious alcoholic trying to raise a family, looks to be yet another feather in his cap.

Lights Out (Tuesdays on FX) -- Yes, I know. Boxing is barbaric, not really a sport, and is nothing short of self-induced tragedy for those who choose to participate. Nevertheless, I've long been a fan of the sweet science, and, as far as I can tell, this is the first TV drama ever set in that tragically dramatic world. Holt McCallany stars as "Lights" Leary, a former heavyweight champ living on faded glory and enormous debt, caught between suburbia and gangland New Jersey. Great cast, great venue, great sense of place.

Southland (Tuesdays on TNT) -- Loved it in the first season, love the second -- and not just because Austinite Ben McKenzie is one of the stars. The raw and gritty Los Angeles cop show is chock-full of edgy characters played by terrific, not-so-famous actors. McKenzie's seasoned partner, played by Michael Cudlitz, tops the list, and Regina King is masterful as a deeply caring officer in a squad seething with cynicism. To say these characters are flawed and human is a major understatement, but melodrama is, thankfully, kept at bay here.

Big Love (Sundays on HBO) -- It took me a long time to warm up to this series. While just about the entire critical kingdom was singing its praises, I was put off by the whole notion of a drama about polygamists. (Not sure why this was harder for me to handle than Dexter, about a serial killer.) But now, in its final season, I'm hooked on the saga of the seemingly normal Henricksons. Bill Paxton manages to make the patriarch in this family of many children and three "sister wives" sympathetic and intriguing. And set against the creepy, abusive extended family members living in the Juniper Creek compound, well, the suburban Henricksons really are normal. How will it end? I have no idea, but I'm guessing Bill, who was elected to Utah's state Senate, will not run for president.

Harry's Law (Mondays on NBC, starting Jan. 17) -- It's about time. I've been having David E. Kelley withdrawal since the demise of Boston Legal two years ago. In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that I haven't seen anything of this new comedy-drama outside of the online preview, but I'm a devoted fan of Kelley's writing, so how bad can it be? Kathy Bates plays an attorney in Cincinnati, trying to start over with her own firm after getting fired from a bigger firm. We can undoubtedly expect outrageous humor, unrealistic situations and over-the-top characters -- all of which add up to good Kelley comedy-drama in my book.

The Chicago Code (Monday, Feb. 7 on Fox) -- Politics and police corruption in Chicago -- talk about a rich milieu. Bring it on! It doesn't hurt that the cast features top-notch actors such as Jason Clarke (on fire in Showtime's little-seen but terrific drama Brotherhood), Delroy Lindo and Matt Lauria. We've probably already reached the maximum number of cop dramas that should be on TV, but as long as they are well-written, well-acted and well-produced, I'll keep watching.

Justified (Wednesday, Feb. 9 on FX) -- Talk about offbeat. The first installments of this show, about a U.S. Marshal in the backwoods of his home turf of Harlan, Kentucky, were amazing. Funny, violent and intriguing, the stories came spinning out like little independent films each week. Timothy Olyphant as hat-wearing hero Raylan Givens strides charmingly into every scene, but it's usually the villains who make this show shine. Walton Goggins as mercurial anti-hero Boyd Crowder leads the pack of sleazy bad guys from the hollers. Based on the character created by Elmore Leonard, this one's a keeper. Oh, and the upcoming second season is every bit as good as the first.

Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (Wednesday, Feb. 16 on CBS) -- So what if it's a spinoff that mimics the original? This drama about FBI behavioral analysts stars Forest Whitaker, arguably one of the most brilliant actors ever to work in television. His stint on The Shield was breathtaking, and it's hard to imagine he will not shine again. Janeane Garofalo co-stars, but we'll get over that.

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/contr...on-tv-20.shtml

These days, we get most of the stuff from secure streaming sites. Right now, I'm only getting DVDs from CBS. ABC and FOX post screeners online. NBC wisely does not provide many screeners to anybody. I can't get on the list unless a show is SO bad, they need overhype. Then, they send the screener along with a huge ad buy. And may I say, I've LOVED every one of those shows!!!

So, that makes watching on a computer screen a must for any critic. Unless they've gone to the lengths I have. My HTPC puts the screeners up very nicely on my HDTV. That said, screeners are rarely HD, covered in anti-copying messages and frequently unfinished. So, yeah, you kinda gotta look past that.

Though, in "Mr Sunshine's" case, it won't matter. Unless they stick naked women in the 16:9 frame, I rather doubt anybody will make it past the first commercial break before surfing off into cable-land to find something less boring.

TV Sports
AFC matchup might bring smiles at CBS
By Michael Hiestand, USA Today - January 17th, 2011

Presumably, CBS doesn't get to actually pick who wins its games. It just worked out that way.

Getting the New York Jets— who this season turned themselves into one of the biggest NFL sideshows in years — means their AFC title game vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers on CBS will sell itself.

CBS' Baltimore Ravens-Steelers game Saturday drew the best overnight rating for an NFL division playoff game in 15 years. But that rating likely will be topped by the rating for the Jets' victory against the New England Patriots on Sunday in which CBS' Phil Simms said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady "might have thrown more balls away today than all year combined." The Jets also answered the question CBS' Bill Cowher raised last week about how they could possibly beat the Patriots: "I don't know. A couple guys get (stuck) in the snowstorms and not show up for the game. ... That might be the only thing."

With Jets-Steelers in Sunday's marquee late-game time slot, getting a lead-in from Fox's Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears game, CBS has a shot at producing its best AFC title-game rating — 26.6% of U.S. households for a Jets-Denver Broncos game in 1999 — since it reacquired the NFL in 1998. (The record for an AFC title game seems out of reach; that's 35.6% for NBC's Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos game in 1978, the pre-cable TV world.) Said CBS' Shannon Sharpe on the Jets and their mediagenic coach: "No one thought they had a chance for them to come in and do what they said they would. Rex Ryan, you're a genius." Agreed CBS' Boomer Esiason: "Rex Ryan is amazing!"

But ex-coach Cowher wasn't as exhilarated: "They have not played a defense like the Pittsburgh Steelers'; this will be their biggest test."

Spice rack: TNT's Kenny Smith said Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith needs a better mental approach. "He looks to make the highlights. He doesn't look to play all the time. He is enamored by being on SportsCenter, on TNT." Imagine that. ... What's funny about Fox having a comedian on its NFL pregame show is that other networks haven't followed suit with their shows. It's not that Fox house comic Frank Caliendo is all that funny, but having a comic allows a sports show to be a little edgier. After all, a comic is just making a joke, right? Like this Caliendo crack about ex-Southern California and current Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll: "I'm amazed at what Pete Carroll can do when all his players get paid and not just three or four." ... CBS mixed things up by briefly including golf reporter David Feherty on its Saturday NFL studio show and Cowher on its Sunday college basketball studio. Neither was particularly scintillating, but credit CBS for trying something different. Another wrinkle: CBS announcers, via headsets, interviewed redshirted Purdue men's basketball player Robbie Hummel as he sat on the bench during a game vs. West Virginia on Sunday.

Keep going: Sports studio shows can seem trapped in having to go through the same motions even when there's no need. At least Fox's NFL show occasionally acknowledged that Sunday, as when Terry Bradshaw, in the game-picking segment, said, "It really doesn't matter who I pick." And with underdog Seattle down 21 points to Chicago at halftime, Jimmy Johnson had the how-the-losing-team-can-come-back role — a network staple in blowouts because it doesn't want you channel-surfing. After going through those motions, he asked, "Did we sell it?" And Fox's Curt Menefee, after asking Green Bay's Charles Woodson whether the Packers would rather next face the Bears or Seahawks and being told "it didn't matter," said if you "ask a cliché question, you get a cliché answer."

At least Menefee had a good (if not original) line about Seattle's chances in opening Sunday's pregame show: "Do you believe in miracles?"

Clip 'n' save: Fox NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira suggested Sunday that the NFL, to get players to use hip, thigh and knee pads, is looking into an undergarment that includes those pads that might be required next year. ... CBS' Charley Casserly suggests the New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees should get $17 million a year in an extension and the Philadelphia Eagles' Michael Vick should get $12 million to $14 million.

On tap: Eventually, people will forget that pro teams didn't always open their doors to TV reality shows. The latest to allow cameras behind the scenes: the San Francisco Giants, subjects of a series produced by Showtime and Major League Baseball. ... TNT has had a Martin Luther King Jr. Day NBA tripleheader since 2003. But today it gets a doubleheader — Boston Celtics-Orlando Magic, (8 p.m. ET) and Oklahoma City Thunder-Los Angeles Lakers (10:30 p.m. ET) — as ESPN airs Chicago Bulls-Memphis Grizzlies, (1 p.m. ET). For the first time this season, TNT sends its studio crew to a game site that doesn't include the Miami Heat: Thunder-Lakers.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colum...-ratings_N.htm

Business Notes
An Ugly PIX-ture
Ax and work climate sap morale at TV station
By Josh Kosman, New York Post - January 17th, 2011

Aggressive cost-cutting moves at WPIX-TV -- together with continued allegations of a harsh and unfriendly work environment -- are taking their toll on morale at the Tribune-owned station, The Post has learned.

The latest move under News Director Bill Carey's watch that unsettled staff came in the last several days, when the station shuttered the sports department, eliminated the sports director position and reassigned Lolita Lopez, the sports director, sources tell The Post.

With the move, WPIX becomes the first Big Apple TV station not to have a sports department, sources said.

It is unclear if the station plans to fold sports into the news coverage and have news anchors report the scores or if it plans to outsource sports coverage.

In additional cuts, the station's human resources, research and community affairs departments have been eliminated.

Four present WPIX employees told The Post that besides the cost-cutting, they felt they were working in a deteriorating work environment. One of them said, "There's no line that can't be crossed."

At the same time, Channel 11 -- broadcast home of the New York Mets -- wants to change union rules to do away with a dedicated camera person during on-location news shoots and force WPIX reporters to do it alone, a union source added.

If successful, WPIX would be the first major New York station, besides non-union NY1, to do so, sources said.

Channel 11 is no stranger to such allegations of turmoil. Last June, Karen Scott, a former news director at WPIX, reportedly hit the station with a $4.5 million lawsuit claiming such news legends as Kaity Tong and Sal Marchiano suffered from age discrimination.

Later in the summer, employees were let go or demoted after participating in a report on WPIX's alleged difficult work environment.

Then-WPIX General Manager Betty Ellen Berlamino, who was investigating such charges, delivered her report to the head office of the bankrupt Tribune company in Chicago, according to a source. As part of her report, she spoke extensively to Jim Watkins, then the weeknight news anchor, who confirmed that fellow reporters had confided in him about their experiences.

"He [Watkins] was questioned and was honest [about the work climate]," said a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

Berlamino was soon let go, and Watkins demoted, sources said.

WPIX's former HR director, Jean Maye, told one individual who participated in the report that the person's employment at the company would not be threatened.

Also, this past fall, Emmy Award-winning reporter Peter Thorne tried to resign but wasn't freed from his contract after he saw a particular story air on the WPIX 10 p.m. newscast -- the same story Thorne pitched to Carey that morning, and that Carey rejected, sources said.

Carey, a former general manager at WFTS/Channel 28 in Tampa Bay, was hired in November 2009 with a mandate for change -- and to press for higher ratings. He demoted Tong and Watkins.

On the ratings front, he did appear to score a hit with the 10 o'clock news. Last October, Carey named Jodi Applegate as sole anchor and, over the past seven months, WPIX's ratings in that slot have risen to 1.1 from about 0.8.
WPIX spokeswoman Jessica Bellucci declined to comment.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...#ixzz1BJJDHieN

SUNDAY's fast affiliate overnight prime-time ratings - along with Media Week Analyst Marc Berman's view of what they mean -- have been posted on his blog: http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/t...51/m/192108643

Tech/Business Notes
Why 2011 Will Be Do-or-Die for TV
By Ty Braswell, The New York Times/VentureBeat.com - January 17th, 2011

Ty Braswell, founder of Creative Digital Strategies, is a consultant specializing in growing mobile TV revenues for companies including the NHL and Major League Soccer and was Virgin Records VP of New Media during the early Napster years.

Working for the very hip Virgin Records back in 1999, I saw first hand how the Napster phenomenon decimated the old school music label model. It made me a keen observer of how digital disruption evolves as broadband access gets better. Disruption for radio and print followed music. And now television is headed for a big reset. 2010 was the first year of declining US cable subscribers.

As pundits debate the SNL Kagen report that estimated over 300,000 people canceled their cable subscription in 2010, the bigger concern is the Credit Suisse survey that estimated that 30% of Netflix subscribers aged 18-24 are using Netflix in lieu of cable. Think about the ramifications. We saw a similar trend in the music biz when college students were the primary audience for Napster. Like a generation of people who abandoned $16 CDs, these young Netflix subscribers might never use cable. For the cable industry, they are the new lost generation.

Netflix has over 19 million subscribers in US and Canada, with a majority choosing to stream video over 250 different connected devices. Netflix users generate over 20% of US peak broadband usage. Where Netflix is headed is clearly stated on its website: Every TV in the world to be sold with a Netflix app.

Analyst Brian Marshall estimates that Apple currently only sells about 475,000 video rentals daily through iTunes, compared to the 5 million daily rentals seen by Netflix. But add to the mix the fact that the new Apple TV sold 1 million units in the first 3 months, 3G iPhones are coming next month on Verizon, and that the next iOS 4.3 upgrade will enable apps on iPads and iPhones to stream video via Airplay, and Apple gets more mojo to grow that rental business. If Apple can grow rentals like Netflix, Marshall believes TV and movie rental revenue from iTunes could exceed $1 billion annually within 5 years.

Samsung is claiming 1 million app downloads to its connected TVs, and Roku has sold over 1 million internet boxes for TVs. Hulu TV has more than doubled its revenues from last year to $260 million. Microsoft and Sony are also locked in an aggressive battle for the living room with xBox Live and Playstation Network competing to deliver TV and films. Google clearly wants in on this market too. Its Google TV had a rough launch, but donÂ't count it out of the race.

All of these new offerings are enabling whole new ways to watch TV that are more flexible than just sitting on your couch. With Netflix, for example, I can easily start a movie on my iPhone, pick up where I left off with my iPad and then finish the movie on my big screen via my Apple TV when I get home.

Telecom carriers are also rolling out faster mobile broadband in 2011 via 4G networks, which will deliver a better TV experience on mobile devices. As a result, users will expect even more control over how and when they watch video content.

These changes pose a difficult hurdle for some TV executives. Acknowledging that the audience is now in charge is a 180-degree turn in their business model. Many executives just donÂ't get it, which is creating enormous opportunity for innovators. Smart executives will become bilingual and develop robust conversations with their customers.

Raising prices on CDs when the Napster revolution was in full swing was just one of the missteps of the music industry. Getting a price hike this Xmas from Time Warner cable just after I bought my Apple TV and connected my Netflix and YouTube accounts in my living room gave me déjÃ* vu of my last years at Virgin Records when the world was changing beneath my feet.

The first salvo of the major television disruption will happen around sports programming. If you want to pick one content category to watch where television is going, itÂ's always sports. Sports built the conventional television networks, cable, satellite, online and now mobile. ItÂ's a key reason why folks pony up to get cable, and without it, the cable operators will have a hard time keeping subscribers.

ESPN gets a $4 monthly bounty from every cable operator. Imagine if the anti-cable backlash reached a fever pitch with sports fans organizing a Groupon + Kickstarter style protest to deliver an enticing financial proposition: Millions of fans promising to pay ESPN directly $12 a month if they can get all the ESPN programming on any screen without being a cable subscriber.

Sounds far-fetched? Not really. Imagine if the NFL does have a lock out on March 3. This could be a perfect storm to change the behavior of the television audience and drive millions of new viewers to discover TV content online. According to the New York Times, ÂOf the 50 highest-rated programs during the 2010 calendar year, 27 have been NFL games, including 8 of the top 10. And donÂ't underestimate what the Facebook nation can deploy, especially if the protest is targeted globally to avid and displaced sports fans.

2011 will be the most significant year in the history of television. We are days away from the tipping point. Industry leaders who fail to organize with their competitors will see their business evaporate. Digital natives are already becoming comfortable and savvy getting TV and movie content illegally.

2011 will be a very good year for people in the business of television if they realize that television as we know it has gone away. For the start-ups and their investors, a tremendous opportunity has been created: Whoever teaches the television industry how to monetize content and make it easy to access will become the next big thing. The audience wants the content, but they want it their way, not dictated by a cable operator, a TV scheduler or even a DVR. It needs to be seamless and reasonably priced. Netflix and Apple already have a head start in the distribution channel but there is money to be made in a variety of areas of this $500+ billion global TV business, from digital distribution to content licensing. The future is now for the new TV.

If youÂ're an innovator, this is a great time to be in the television business because, as Stanford economist Paul Romer said, ÂA crisis is a terrible thing to waste.Â

http://www.nytimes.com/external/vent...ref=technology

Morale saps morale?

Apparently some of the cutbacks in the news business include competent headline writers...

^^^ Actually, that's my bad; the correct word on the headline is 'climate' (not the first 'morale') and it's fixed. Don't blame the usually-stellar Post headline writers, this one is all mine. Between a week-old cold that's left me with no voice, my laptop in the shop for repairs and my 89 year-old grandmother passing away yesterday I'm a bit of a mess right now. Sorry.

My condolences Dad....

Nielsen Overnights
Golden Globes On Par With Last Year, 'Housewives' Hits Low
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - January 17th, 2011

The Golden Globes last night were an award show producers' dream, with a hugely popular movie (The Social Network) and series (Glee) dominating the awards. Did that translate into ratings? According to NBC's time zone-adjusted fast nationals, last night's three-hour ceremony drew 17 million viewers and a 5.2 rating in adults 18-49, winning the 8-11 PM slot in viewers and adults 18-49. That was pretty much in line with the award show's performance last year: down 5% in 18-49 (5.2 vs. 5.5) and up a fraction in total viewers (16.998 vs. 16.984). That was consistent with the metered-markets overnight ratings released early in the morning that had the Golden Globes averaging an 11.8 rating/18 share, retaining 99% of last year's 11.9/18.

Once again, the coverage of the NFL divisional playoffs bled into primetime and is expected to push CBS to a nightly win in adults 18-49. It buoyed 60 Minutes to a 4.1/10 in 18-49, up 173% from last week. Undercover Boss (3.3/8) was up 10%, while CSI: Miami (2.3/6) was down 8% from its airing at 8PM last week. ABC and Fox took a ratings hit. With no big football lead-in this week, Fox's series were down across the board. The Simpsons (3.1/8) was down 46%. Bob's Burgers (2.6/6) was down 42% from its premiere number last week (though it improved its Simpsons lead-in retention to 84% from 79% last week). Family Guy (3.7/9) was down 21%, and The Cleveland Show (2.7/7) was down 25%. ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2.0/5) was down 26%, Desperate Housewives (3.1/8) was down 21% for a series low, while Brothers & Sisters (2.1/6) was down a more modest 5% to tie its season low.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/01/rati...ith-last-year/

Yep, it was a nice Toshiba laptop with HD-DVD support. Hope they can save it, I love that computer. Seriously though, thanks.

Critic's Notes
Ricky Gervais' Golden Globes Insurrection
By James Poniewozik, TIME's 'Tuned In' Blog - January 17th, 2011

The Golden Globes are most entertaining when watched in the company of someone who knows that the awards and the awarders are best not taken too seriously. Last night, that person was host Ricky Gervais, whohilariously and to Hollywood's apparent discomfortdidn't so much host the awards as he conducted a three-hour roast of them.

It was the second straight year hosting for Gervais, who came off atypically tame at last year's awards. He was anything but this year, with a blistering monologue that left a smoldering crater where the floor of the Beverly Hilton had been. He limbered up with some Charlie Sheen jokeseasy enoughthen laid into dubious movie nominee The Tourist (stopping to apologize, "I haven't even seen the Tourist! Who has?") and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association itself. (The foreign press, he said, contrary to rumors did not nominate the film just to hang out with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. "They also accepted bribes.")

On it went, with a joke at the expense of certain closeted gay Scientologists (whose names legal advice forbade Gervais to name, or me to guess), Hugh Hefner and his new young bride ("Just don't look at it when you touch it") and the cast of Sex and the City 2 ("I saw one of you in an episode of Bonanza!"). It continued into the awards (Gervais introduced Bruce Willis as "Ashton Kutcher's dad") that caused several presenters to grumble back in a way that was probably scripted, but possibly also genuine. (Bantered the usually genial Tom Hanks to Tim Allen, "We recall back when Ricky Gervais was a slightly chubby but very kind comedian." Replied Allen, "Neither of which is he now.")

The assembled stars may not have enjoyed it much. The room was often uncomfortably unresponsive, as funny as the jokes were at homeit was like the Hollywood version of Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents' Dinnerand Gervais conspicuously vanished for much of the last half of the show. But it was a good time at home, and added some zest to an evening that included the Globes' usual jumble of head-scratchers and surprisingly on-the-money picks.

As for the awards, I'll let the movie critics hash out the movie choices. (Though it was nice to see Robert DeNiro pick up a Cecil B. DeMille Award, just as Little Fockers made his accomplishments unignorable!)

As for the TV categories, though, my usual caveat: the Globes are even less predictive of the Emmys than they are of the Oscars, and reflect an idiosyncratic HFPA (which, for instance, must absolutely love The Big C). For all that, it was great to see Katey Sagal recognized for her great work on Sons of Anarchy, and Steve Buscemi for his commanding work among a great cast on Boardwalk Empire. (Though I'd have given the trophy to Mad Men over it, and Breaking Bad over both were it even nominated.)

And it was a big night for Gleethough a generally weak 2010 for the show (compared with the strong first half of season one) argued against its best-comedy win, I can't begrudge Jane Lynch or especially Chris Colfer. And both gave winning acceptance speeches, Lynch cracking, "I am nothing if not falsely humble," and Colfer, who plays a bullied gay teen on the show, thanking the fans who are told they can't do things because of who they are: "Screw that, kids."

And unsurprisingly, the Globes largely reflected the creative dominance of cable over network TV; the only broadcast show to pick up a major Globe that was not Glee was The Big Bang Theory, getting a well-earned actor award for Jim Parsons.

For the biggest evidence of the chasm between cable and broadcast, though, just look at the frisson that HBO regular Gervais brought to NBC. As for Gervais' future hosting the Globes, we'll have to see whether the tension in the room was real or, well, showbiz. But he may have ensured his exit from the podium with his last joke, "I'd like to thank Godfor making me an atheist," a sentiment that, celebrity-roasting aside, may not sit well with a broadcast network.

But maybe Ricky Gervais will be back someday. When the Golden Globes move to cable.

http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2011/0...on/#more-13754

TV Review
'Skins' on MTV features lots of teen sex and drug use
Unfortunately, it relies on such activity instead of portraying it as part of a bigger picture.
By Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times - January 17th, 2011

From the beginning, which is to say Charles Dickens, stories revolving around the lives of children and adolescents often shared a similar theme. Facing adversity, most often in the form of poverty and/or dead parents, children banded together to create surrogate families of great resourcefulness and loyalty. In the old days, these situations were usually temporary —- at some point a benevolent (and rich) adult stepped in — Oliver and "The Little Princess" were adopted, the five little Peppers and the March girls attracted the beneficence of wealthy neighbors.

Then, somewhere between J.D. Salinger and S.E. Hinton, a starker narrative emerged. Parents did not have to be dead to be absent, and even when present, they were either superfluous or downright harmful. On television, "Eight Is Enough" gave way to "Beverly Hills, 90210"; kids today band together not because the only resource they have is each other but because they believe the best resource they have is each other.

"Skins," the British original and now MTV's remake, is the latest reiteration of that conceit, spruced up by input from actual teens. The original was written by a father and then-teenaged son, both have a teenaged cast, and both pride themselves on not shying away from portraying "realistic" sex, drug use and self-destructive behavior.

But there is a difference between portraying and depending upon, and unfortunately the American version has chosen the latter. The pilot, which hews very closely to the original, introduces our band of alienated teens as they plot to aid the schleppiest member in losing his virginity — Stanley (Daniel Flaherty) is such a mess he can't eat a chocolate bar properly. The mastermind of this, and all of the group's doings, is Tony (James Newman), a modern-day Eddie Haskell armed with a cellphone and a gynecological vocabulary.

Tony enlists his girlfriend Michelle (Rachel Thevenard) who, reluctant to do the deed herself, procures the aid of Cadie (Britne Oldford), a girl recently sprung from rehab; she will sleep with anyone as long as he provides her with drugs. Watching in various states of disbelief — not over Tony's homoerotic fixation or the drugging of Cadie, of course, but the idea that anyone would have sex with Stan — are the rest of this self-righteously jaded group. There's Abbud (Ron Mustafaa), the wise-cracking Muslim; Tea (Sofia Black-D'Elia), the lesbian cheerleader; Chris (Jesse Carere), the puppy-dog-faced party boy and Daisy (Camille Cresencia-Mills), the vaguely angry overachiever.

"Skins" is the anti-"Gossip Girl," shot in shades of ashy gray and labored ennui. The pilot, which involves among other things, crashing the party of an all-girls school and a scared-straight assembly, is not so much shocking — that teens have ill-advised sex and smoke weed is hardly news — as it is ridiculous. Not only do these kids have no homework or extracurricular activities (beyond the above mentioned), school is just a place to smoke and gossip and have occasional run-ins with teachers who are either moronic or mentally unbalanced. The parents are no better, acting simply as convenient foils for the kids' angst, anger or narcissism.

There is some justice in this — children are often used in a similar way in adult drama — but the reliance on tropes makes "Skins" nothing more than an R-rated teen soap minus any truly resonant characters. Subsequent episodes improve — there is small hope for Tea and much hope for Black-D'Elia as an actor — but sadly, not enough.

SKINS
Monday Night at 10PM on MTV

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,5816705.story

oh no. so every person out there can thank "god" for everything, but him saying the opposite is SHOCKING. great double standard.

Sports
Video: CBS announcer bashes Jets' 'absurd' touchdown celebration
By Chris Chase

When you talk big, you'd better back it up. And if you back up the big talk, you deserve to celebrate even bigger. That wasn't a problem for the New York Jets during and after the team's decisive 28-21 victory over the New England Patriots in the AFC divisional playoff.

A bit of the celebration didn't please CBS announcer Jim Nantz, though. After Shonn Greene(notes) scored a late game-sealing touchdown, many Jets, Rex Ryan included, converged in the end zone to whoop it up and send one final message to the Patriots and their fans. Nantz didn't like this, particulary Greene's "nap time" celebration, which saw the running back fall to the ground and mimic that he was going to sleep.
"I've never understood the absurdity of all the self-aggrandizing and now you're going to cost your team 15 yards on the kick and you're going to give Brady and his unit a chance to do something."

All right, Jim. Come on down from that soapbox and let's talk about this. You're right that it's absurd for a player to cost his team 15 yards for an incident that was completely unnecessary. And you're right that Brady and his team were going to get another chance to do something. But did you have to go with "absurdity" and "self-aggrandizing" when ripping Greene's celebration? You know who's self-aggrandizing? People who use the phrase "self-aggrandizing." I assume you've been introduced to the pot and the kettle, Jim?

The real culprit here is the NFL for having lame rules in place that penalize players for having fun. Greene didn't get flagged for doing something wrong -- like taunting or disrespectful behavior -- no, he was penalized because he intentionally fell to the ground in the course of celebrating a touchdown. That's all.

Jets players flying around with their arms out like a kid in a meadow in an insurance commercial? Cool. Rex Ryan rumbling down the sideline and into the end zone (possibly producing another richter scale measurement in the process) to chestbump players and get his back jumped on by Mark Sanchez(notes)? Legal. Catching some game-clinching Z's in the end zone? Flag, and the contempt of Jim Nantz and the Patriots.

New England receiver Deion Branch(notes) didn't like any of the celebrations. "They don't deserve me nor my teammates' congratulations for them to act like that," he said. "You can tell they're not used to being in this position."

Harsh. For his sake, I hope Branch didn't catch this little postgame performance from Braylon Edwards(notes). He might have blown a gasket:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAqko3nayCQ

That's some tremendous athleticism by Braylon. Figures he'd be able to shine in an athletic endeavor in which dropping a pass wasn't an option.

Nantz was quiet about the backflips and we'll see if he changes his mind about the Jets next week, when he'll call the AFC championship between New York and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shu...urn=nfl-308377

Watch list
Monday Watch List: New Show Bonanza!
By Drew Magary

Welcome to Watch List, where we identify five things on TV to watch while you stay at home and polish your Golden Globe award. Sure, you won in the Musical/Comedy category, which is obviously the lesser category, but it's still an accolade! LET'S GO!

HARRY'S LAW - 10:00PM (NBC) Kathy Bates is now the latest Oscar-winning actress to migrate over to series television, following in the footsteps of Glenn Close and Holly Hunter and the like. For her first headliner show, she's teamed with David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, etc) for a show about a lawyer (David E. Kelley writing about lawyers? Stunning) who gets dumped from her corporate job and has to set up her own storefront. That dude from ER who got helicoptered is also around, and there will be the requisite David E. Kelley character quirks that felt dated fifteen years ago.Still, given Bates' recent guest turn on The Office, it might be worth tuning in every week to watch her chew the scenery. The woman isn't an amateur, that's for certain. ANTICIPATION: SHE HAS A BOY'S NAME!

SKINS - 10:00PM (MTV) MTV tries to adapt the controversial British TV show that features kids doing drugs (No!) and having sex (cover my ears!).I don't know why this is so scandalous. I saw that movie Kids over a decade ago and this can't possibly be any more distressing than that.Also tune in to see if MTV fails yet again at a scripted show. Scripted shows are like kryptonite to this network. It's uncanny. ANTICIPATION: SKIN!

BEING HUMAN - 9:00PM (SyFy - an NBC/Universal network) SyFy's newest scripted series is getting some good reviews. The pitch: a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost share an apartment together. That's it. That's really all you need to make an intriguing show. It's so simple, it's genius. Will the werewolf leave hair all over the toilet? Will the vampire hold blood orgies in the living room and annoy everyone? Should a ghost have to pay rent if she's not tangible? So many questions. ANTICIPATION: HIGH!

PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT - 9:00PM (CNN) Out with the old, in with the British. Tonight marks Piers Morgan's long-awaited debut as Larry King's replacement over at CNN. And his first guest is Oprah! Not bad, Piers. But call me when it's a slow news day and you have to interview the parents of some white girl who's gone missing. That's where Larry really earned his suspenders. ANTICIPATION: FAILURE!

HOUSE - 8:00PM (FOX) Seizures. Cutting remarks. More seizures. You know the drill by now. ANTICIPATION: SHARK NEARING!

http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/p...113874279.html

TV Review
'Harry's Law,' Kathy Bates, just for fun
This gifted actress carries the new NBC dramedy
By Tom Conroy, Media Life Magazine

The good news: Kathy Bates has found the perfect TV role. The bad news: It’s in an imperfect show.

NBC’s new dramedy “Harry’s Law” requires the Oscar-winning actress to be grumpy, formidable and good-hearted, all traits she can pull off with ease. Bates’ fans and admirers will find plenty to like.

But it also saddles her with a cutesy premise and implausible plots. The fact that the show is winkingly aware of the silliness doesn’t really help.

The premiere episode, airing this Monday, Jan. 17, at 10 p.m., establishes that we’re not supposed to take the show too seriously. In the opening scene, Harriet “Harry” Korn, a successful patent lawyer in Cincinnati, is going through a very late midlife crisis. After she tells one of her partners, “I’d sooner look into a mirror and watch my teeth rot than do one more case involving patent law,” she’s fired.

She then has two slapstick accidents involving Malcolm (Aml Ameen), a suicidal college student, and Adam (Nate Corddry), an up-and-coming lawyer. The two men are soon working with her in a storefront law firm in a bad part of town.

To the delight of Harry’s assistant, Jenna (Brittany Snow), the previous tenant has left behind lots of high-end footware. So the business opens under the name Harriet’s Law and Fine Shoes.

The take-it-or-leave-it whimsy is a trademark of the show’s creator, the veteran TV writer David E. Kelley, whose work on “L.A. Law,” “The Practice” and “Boston Legal” has often straddled drama and comedy, increasingly to the detriment of both.

Often in Kelley’s legal dramas, the lawyers will decide that a simple case is really about some major issue of the day. In the two episodes of “Harry’s Law” that were provided for review, this habit of Kelley’s is taken to extremes. Defending an obviously guilty cocaine user, Harry argues that drugs should be legalized. Defending a laundry owner who fired a woman for getting pregnant, Adam talks about the environmental benefits of China’s one-child policy.

Unfortunately, the arguments are nearly always sophomoric or glib. A cute old lady who committed armed robbery so that she could buy food justifies the act by pointing out that the government bailed out Wall Street. We’re also supposed to believe that she couldn’t get social security, Medicare or Medicaid. Though it may seem that Kelley is poking fun at liberal orthodoxy, the directing and music cue us to take the political stuff seriously.

Since none of the cases are argued particularly well, the jury verdicts start to feel like coin tosses, and the drama loses energy.

The dialogue is often shaky. The aforementioned holdup woman tells Harry to move out of the neighborhood, then suddenly says that she wants to hire her as her lawyer. An obnoxious DA (Paul McCrane) has a verbal tic that makes him repeat everything; by the second episode, it’s cured.

Bates, however, is fun to watch even when we can sense her struggling with the weak material. As she has shown in her appearances on “The Office,” she knows how to build a TV character.

Corddry is also appealing as Adam. He lets us share the joy that a suit feels when he gets to cut loose.

But the writing is eventually going to bring the actors down. Even knee-jerk liberals who agree with the show’s stance will probably experience a different reflex in their thumbs and change the channel.

HARRY'S LAW
Monday Night at 10PM on NBC

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...t-for-fun-.asp

TV Review
'Being Human' Arrives on These Shores with Fangs, Claws and Problems Intact
By Maureen Ryan, AOL.com's 'TV Squad' - January 17th, 2011

Syfy's remake of the cult British show 'Being Human' was always going to be a tricky endeavor.

Fans of the original series, which airs on BBC America, are likely to turn up their noses at a revamp of the U.K. show, which chronicles the lives of twentysomething roommates who happen to be a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire.

Truth be told, the British 'Being Human' had some flaws that I thought a remake might successfully address. In an ideal world, a U.S. 'Being Human' would attract new fans unaware of the original show by deftly exploring its themes of identity and self-doubt and jettisoning what didn't work about the UK drama.

Unfortunately the new version of 'Being Human' (9PM ET Monday, Syfy) is more repetitive, clunky and melodramatic than the previous one. In a pop-culture universe saturated with vampire fare, 'Being Human' is unlikely to dislodge 'True Blood' or 'The Vampire Diaries' in the hearts and minds of TV viewers who enjoy bloodsucker tales.

The frustrating thing about both versions of 'Being Human' is that they have solid premises: What would it be like if, during your angst-ridden twenties, a radical new way of life was forced on you? How would you define yourself when you're unable to share your true self with most people? Despite your self-loathing and doubts, should you even try to, well, be human? These are great questions to explore, given that they jibe perfectly with the confusion and experimentation many people go through in their early adulthood.

Unfortunately the new 'Being Human' doesn't explore any of these themes with much subtlety. The characters -- Sally the ghost, Josh the werewolf and Aidan the vampire -- repeatedly bemoan their fate and resist their current conditions, but they do little else of interest. It's frankly hard to work up much sympathy for these whiny, gloomy people, especially when they're telling us in on-the-nose voiceovers exactly how we're supposed to view their lonely situations.

The show's angst-ridden tone might be more palatable if 'Being Human' had a energetic plots, but the new version of the show, which features the expected emo musical interludes, has a rather sludgy pace. To be fair, given that I've seen a fair amount of the British original, I knew where a number of these stories were going, so that could account for the lack of tension -- but only up to a point. The problem don't necessarily stem from the unexceptional plots but from the bland people moving through them.

What made the British version of the show a cult success was the warmth of the actors who played the three central roles, a wry wit and a willingness to embrace the mundane yet amusing consequences of three otherworldly beings sharing a flat (Who deals with the landlord? Who washes the dishes?). The U.S. show's cast is serviceable, and Sam Huntington is especially sympathetic as Josh, but there's no real chemistry among the leads, and sticking them in obvious, slow-moving plots doesn't do them any favors.

The creakiest parts of the show are, once again, the villains of the piece. Mark Pellegrino is a fascinating actor, as he proved on his stints on 'Supernatural' and 'Lost,' but there's only so much he can do with the role of vampire baddie Bishop, who pops up occasionally to give Aidan (Sam Witwer) rather rote "return to the Dark Side or else" pep talks. It doesn't help matters that Pellegrino appears to be wearing a very unfortunate blonde wig.

I can't for the life of me figure out why the distracting wig was necessary. And that just about sums up the problems with this version of 'Being Human' -- at times it's too devoted to the original, but when the new show does make changes, those alterations aren't necessarily for the better.

There are some human moments in 'Being Human' that work, such as a sequence in which Sally (Meaghan Rath) meets another ghost -- a refreshingly flippant metalhead who helps her embrace her condition. In another episode, Josh prepares a home-cooked meal for his roomies, and for once, the show doesn't repeatedly hit the viewer over the head with an obvious fact -- i.e., ghosts and vampires don't have much use for roasted meats. The roommates just talked and hung out and didn't complain (much) about their weird lives. They did what the premise has always promised -- they found a common humanity thanks to the fact that they all have weird lives.

These moments make me wonder if this version of the series is going through some major growing pains as it attempts to find an original and fresh way to tell this story. If so, 'Being Human' will need to evolve more quickly if it wants to remain undead.

BEING HUMAN
Monday nights at 9PM on SyFy

http://www.tvsquad.com/2011/01/17/being-human/

I read this article on line today, glad you posted it here. I wanted to but was too lazy.

I thought Nantz was way off on his remarks and observation. After a week long circus of trash talking-- what in the world did he expect? This moment was the cherry on the cake. It was the milk bath in the winners circle, the cutting of the net. It was boys being boys. The Jets stayed true to the script. The shot of Rex running to the end zone was priceless. Very surprised at the usually smart Nantz.

Ironic humor is lost on a large proportion of the audience. I thought it was one of his smarter gags last night.

... and it looked like it just made the cut. I thought he wasn't going to finish that sentence as the shot went wide and the credits were rolling.

Nantz was pained throughout the game. You could hear it in his voice.

Next week I bet we hear as much talk about the Patriots as we do the Jets or Steelers.

yup. he knew it was live and they would probably not censor him at the last second

Except that they've upped the pledge drives to so often that about every tenth time I turn them on, they're in the midst of yet another one.

Yeah, I know - that's when they show the best stuff. But they also cleverly don't list or follow any set schedule for it, to get you to have to keep the channel tuned in constantly, and listen to their incessant badgering (which they also cut into the programming with at numerous, hard-to-time moments - and then they intentionally leave good songs out of their "concert" programming, and slickly inform you that you have to donate one or two hundred dollars to get the DVD, which contains the full concert).

I don't know about in your area, but here they do come dangerously close to "demanding" money from people. Really, really hard sell, and they use every dirty, aggressive tactic in the book. "Guilt", and trying to make you feel like you "owe" it to them are big ones. In fact, when watching them sometimes, I can get so angry with their tactics that the last thing I want to do is give them any money.

And then they have the nerve to try to claim they "bring you superb quality", when they've been degrading the picture quality of all the channels constantly on top of it.

As far as NPR, you have to agree with their "slants" to want to have to stay tuned in.

In other words, I'll gladly put up with a few commercial ads instead, as long as I get to see what I actually want and enjoy.

& if anyone should be ok to pass judgement on others its Jim "yes i cheated on my wife so now i pay $916,000 a year alimony" Nantz.

Yes. Including "...thank God" and "...making me an atheist" in the same sentence had me chuckling well into the 11pm news.