Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 2328

I have a correction, dad. Not trying to be rude by correcting you.

The url you posted for "Wilfred" is incorrect. It takes you to the "So you think you can dance" page. The correct link for "Wilfred" is as follows:

''Wilfred' ratings strong in second week'
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/07/01/wi...atings-second/

Enjoy the weekend, good sir.

Pay $8 a month still have commericals AND have to wait if you don't have cable. Yeah real sound business model. Having cable kind of defeats the purpose of Hulu and Hulu Plus. Content owners are dertermined to continue old business models until it kills them. For people who hate piracy they are sure pushing people towards it.

It might work against Hulu Plus but Hulu still fulfills it's original promise of catching up with things you might have missed in a simple way.

I will never pay for Hulu and I will never rely on it to be a replacement for cable, sat or even OTA. It's not even in HD.

Keep a free version, keep ads in and keep offering the last five episodes will work just fine for me.

I thought they were already doing that at Ohio State!

Hulu plus is HD.

I suggest you duck.

xnappo

Remember "Lone Star" I watched and enjoyed the show. But hey since I don't have a meter it didn't count for much. Buzz doesn't kill a show viewership is what matters.

Hey, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often given the volume business we do here.


I haven't enjoyed a weekend since 1998, but thanks.

TV Notes
July 4th Boston Special Recruits Martina McBride As Lionel Richie Replacement
By Sophie Schillaci, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - July 1st, 2011

Country music superstar Martina McBride has been tapped to replace Lionel Richie for the July 4th Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, which will be broadcast live from the Charles River Esplanade on CBS.

Richie was forced to step down from his scheduled performance due to strained vocal chords. "I am extremely disappointed to cancel my performance with the Boston Pops but must follow my doctor's orders," he said in a statement. "It was such an honor being asked to celebrate the Fourth of July with this legendary orchestra and I hope to perform with them in the future."

Stepping in at the last minute is Grammy Award winning McBride, who will perform some of her biggest hits with the orchestra.

"One of my most favorite things in the world is to perform with a live orchestra, and to sing with the prestigious Boston Pops on Independence Day in front of thousands of people and on national television is not only an amazing opportunity but a career highlight for me," McBride said. "I wish Mr. Richie a speedy recovery and am looking forward to what will be a memorable day for me."

Emmy Award-winning actor and Boston native Michael Chiklis will serve as host at the 38th annual event. The last hour of the free show will air live on CBS between 10 and 11 p.m. on the East Coast, with a delayed Pacific Coast broadcast.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...ecruits-207737

Movie Review
‘Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop’ is a tour de force
By Aaron Barnhart, Kansas City-Star - June 30th, 2011

You paid your money last year to see Conan O’Brien on his Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television tour. So why would you pay to sit in a theater and watch a movie about the making of that tour?

It’s not as if you need to remember what O’Brien’s act is like — “Conan” airs every Monday through Thursday night, and his mug appears in TBS promos all day long.

One reason is that the director of “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop,” Rodman Flender, spliced and diced backstage portions of the tour into an entertaining documentary that captures a singular performer at a singular moment in his long career.

It’s not Bob Dylan in “Don’t Look Back,” the movie Flender said inspired him to make this one. It’s not even “Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii.”

But it is Conan, who emerged the hero after NBC’s bungling led him to give up hosting “The Tonight Show.” He’d waited 16 years to get the job but lasted just seven months. (O’Brien mentions the man who took his job, Jay Leno, only once here, in a hilariously bitter improvised riff over pizza.)

Freshly unemployed, both one of the hottest properties in television and in temporary exile from it, O’Brien conceives of the 32-cities-in-41-nights tour as a way to keep his brand going while in limbo.

It’s also a way, he admits, to work out his rage issues with NBC executives, who, he says, “feed your bone marrow through the chipper.” (Later, he compares getting over the “Tonight Show” to passing a gallstone.)

As the title suggests, “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” shows an entertainer unable to cease entertaining those around him. That includes, first and foremost, his staff. O’Brien’s antics in the writers’ room are industry legend, going back to his days at “SNL” and “The Simpsons,” and much of the film consists of him producing LOL moments with such colleagues as Andy Richter and “Conan” head writer Mike Sweeney.

O’Brien is the most accessible celebrity I have known in 17 years of covering TV, so I’m not surprised that he allowed Flender (a classmate from their Harvard days) to continually shadow him.

It is part of his appeal that there appears to be no waking moment when he isn’t being Conan, whether signing autographs and posing for pictures endlessly, kvetching about his overcrowded schedule (usually before running out to do an unscheduled photo op with fans) and ribbing his assistant, Sona Movsesian, whose good-natured retorts make her the film’s co-star.

But Flender does extract some moments that give us a little insight into the tortured personality of the late-night host. I was struck in particular by the post-concert scenes where O’Brien is flopped on a couch, completely spent, staring at the wall.

“I enjoy performing,” he says, “but I feel no euphoria.”

You won’t see much video from the concerts (they’re on YouTube, anyway). Only one song is performed start to finish, over the closing credits, finishing on a high note from the band’s longtime trumpeter, Kansas City’s own Mark Pender.

So why patronize the locally owned movie theater instead of waiting for “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” to pop up on your Netflix recommendations in a month or two?

Because this film, like that tour, is best seen in a large room with other people who are cuckoo for Coco, reliving an all-too-brief moment in our shared popular history.

(At the Screenland Crossroads.)

‘CONAN O’BRIEN CAN’T STOP’
Rated R | Time: 1:29
★★★ (out of four)

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/30...is-a-tour.html

Critic's Notes
No Pause in Pursuit of Justice (and Ratings)
By Alessandra Stanley, The New York Times - July 1st, 2011


(Headline News Network)

Some people will never serve on a jury. But anyone watching HLN's coverage of the trial of Casey Anthony, the young woman charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, has a visceral sense of what it's like to be on duty in that courtroom in Orlando, Fla.

On HLN viewers are virtual jurors, buffeted by waves of contradictory evidence, riveted by the tears of grandparents reliving their loss, and sequestered from any outside distractions or news. When the proceedings adjourn, jurors don't go home, and the viewers aren't excused. Almost every spare second on that cable channel is filled with the voluble opinions of HLN commentators debating Ms. Anthony's guilt 12 angry anchors.

On Friday, once court opened in the Anthony case, and even when trial briefly recessed, HLN anchors stayed with their report. Not even the stunning reversal in the sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn interrupted their on-air discussion of duct tape, cranial washes, pet burials and Google searches about chloroform.

While other cable news programs dropped everything to show a smiling Mr. Strauss-Kahn leaving on his own recognizance and the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., trying to explain his decision to reporters, HLN replayed earlier deliberations over whether Ms. Anthony's lawyers could question a forensic pathologist called by the prosecutors as a rebuttal witness.

HLN's ratings have doubled since the trial began on May 24, and that could be because its focus is unrelenting, repetitive and unswerving, both when the proceedings are on and when they adjourn. The HLN anchor Nancy Grace dominates the discussion like the Ed Begley character in the 1957 movie Twelve Angry Men. Ms. Grace, a former prosecutor with a colorful history as a video vigilante, is passionately determined to convict the defendant she refers to as Tot Mom. On Thursday night, after the defense rested without asking Ms. Anthony to testify, Ms Grace called it a bombshell development.

That's right, Tot Mom refuses to take the stand, afraid of squaring off against veteran prosecutors, Ms. Grace said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. It's just not the same as a 2-year-old little girl.

Since Caylee was reported missing in 2008, the Casey Anthony case has fascinated the public. It's the kind of chilling story that is too horrible not to contemplate a young mother accused of murdering her own child. Since the trial began, the tale has grown only more twisted, with accusations of incest and adultery and depictions of a mother who was so depraved and indifferent that she went shopping and got tattooed while volunteers were searching for her daughter.

HLN, despite once being known as Headline News, now describes its mandate as news and views. And that means that all of its other talk shows, including Dr. Drew and The Joy Behar Show, have been commandeered to pursue, as the channel's logo reads, Justice for Caylee. On Friday Ms. Behar, a comedian, interviewed Chris Cuomo, a legal reporter for ABC News, about the Anthony case.

Viewers follow each twist in the proceedings, and even when the lawyers drone on about obscure technicalities, they are kept from being bored or distracted by a graphic reminder of the sad event behind it all: HLN continually posts snapshots of Caylee, smiling. When court is in session, the screen is split between witnesses and lawyers on one side and the inscrutable Ms. Anthony, a camera zooming in on any flicker of a frown, smile or tear much the way jurors keep a mindful eye on a defendant's mien.

HLN viewers sometimes hear testimony that the real jurors are denied. Krystal Holloway, a woman who claims to have had an affair with Ms. Anthony's father, George, said during cross-examination that Mr. Anthony had told her that Caylee's death was an accident that snowballed out of control. On Thursday she was called back to the HLN stand by another anchor, Vinnie Politan, for a double cross-examination. (Mr. Politan asked Ms. Holloway how many times they had sex and pressed her on whether Mr. Anthony knew the death was an accident or merely wanted to believe it so; Ms. Holloway acknowledged that she couldn't say for sure.)

Nearly all breaks are commercials and short local news updates that trial watchers are apt to use for snack time and bathroom trips. On those few occasions when other legal news seeps in, HLN's legion of experts prosecutors, defense lawyers, radio personalities are not distracted from the Anthony case.

On Friday the channel's daytime news program, Morning Express With Robin Meade, reached out to Jeffrey Toobin, a legal expert on HLN's sister network CNN, to discuss how the prosecution's case against Mr. Strauss-Kahn had fallen apart.

But most of the program was devoted to the Anthony case. Holly Hughes, an HLN contributor who is a prosecutor turned defense lawyer, was focused on the defense's presentation, which she described this way: This was weak, it was whimpering, it was fizzling, it's kind of like those slugs when they slither around and they leave marks on the sidewalk.

The defense rests, but HLN never does.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/ar...ref=television

Critic's Notes
HBO, you're busted
In the sport of female frontal nudity, no one can beat the pay-cable channel for copious breast scenes ('Game of Thrones,' 'Boardwalk Empire,' etc.) — and that's not a good thing.
By Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times - July 3rd, 2011

Although it has not quite recaptured the magic of "The Sopranos," there is no denying that HBO is once again in full stride. With Emmy-winning movies, a panoply of well-done documentaries, successful comedies and dramatic hits both popular — "True Blood" — and critical — "Boardwalk Empire," "Treme" — the premium network bursts with so much justified confidence that it took on the perilous realm of fantasy with the well-received "Game of Thrones."

So maybe it's time to tone down the tits.

I write the word knowing it is going to render my editors and readers apoplectic — why not use the less crude "breasts?" Because I don't mean breasts. Breasts are what you see on cable during a lovemaking scene or when a character is caught unawares or when, as in the season finale of "Game of Thrones,"

Tits are what you see in a strip club or a brothel, when conversations or action between men, which usually have nothing to do with said strip club or brothel, are surrounded by nameless and silent women lounging or gyrating about in various stages of undress.

In one episode of "Game of Thrones," the upper frontals got so gratuitous — two women teaching themselves the tricks of prostitution while a male character, fully clothed, muses about his personal history and definition of power — that fans took to Twitter to complain. Even the fine finale included a young nude woman washing her particulars while her elderly john monologued about the nature of kings.

These scenes have become as much a hallmark of HBO as historically accurate dramatic series produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Other cable networks, mainly Showtime, dabble in the fine sport of female frontal nudity, but no one can beat HBO for hookers — the pole dancers of "The Sopranos," Al Swearengen's Gem Saloon on "Deadwood," the record-breaking female nudity of "Rome," and now, "Boardwalk Empire." HBO has a higher population of prostitutes per capita than Amsterdam or Charlie Sheen's Christmas card list.

Despite their quite disparate geography and genre, the newer series practically revolve around brothels. In "Boardwalk Empire," this makes a certain narrative sense; where there is liquor and gambling there will also be houses of ill repute. In "Game of Thrones," the scenes are more gratuitous — not only do the male characters visit prostitutes with wearisome regularity, one character, a king's counselor known as Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen), owns what appears to be a chain of brothels, which he considers the safest places to conduct his political conversations. This would be fine except, as in "Boardwalk Empire," the only rooms available for meetings are already occupied by half-naked women, lounging about seductively and occasionally playing the harp.

Now, I have not spent much time in the brothels of Prohibition-era Atlantic City or the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, but I'm fairly certain they would include some sort of private office where madams and menfolk could talk. I also wonder about all this free nudity — doesn't money have to exchange hands before the clothes come off? Not to mention the dazzling physical perfection of the women involved, who all appear to be so saucy, sober and healthy that one wonders why anyone bothered to invent penicillin.

Although there is male nudity — men occasionally, though not always, appear shirtless and/or bottomless when they are having sex with women — there are no male brothels, no scenes of clothed women, or men for that matter, sitting around chatting in a room filled with naked men. Well, maybe there was a scene or two like that in "Rome," but you get my point. The brothel scenes are there, ostensibly to make a point about men and power.

But as important to theme and character development as it may be to point out, in case we missed it on the nightly news, that some men enjoy paying for sex and treating women as sexual furniture, HBO has played this card so often that the obligatory scattering of reclining females with their blouses open or absent now elicits laughter more than shock or titillation.

Prostitutes and brothels are obviously and regrettably simply vehicles to work the R rating, to give viewers, if you will pardon the expression and maybe you shouldn't, more bang for the buck. Which isn't just gratuitous and ridiculous, it's lazy and sexist. For all their many functions, women's bodies are not props and prostitution is not something that should be regularly relegated to atmosphere.

It is also hugely unnecessary, an example of HBO uncharacteristically underestimating itself. Perhaps there was a time when people subscribed to the channel in part for the F-bombs and the nudity, but that time has passed. Naked women rule the Internet, "Doctor Who's" beloved Billie Piper plays a call girl on Showtime for goodness sake, and reality TV has redefined prostitution (is it truly more moral to sell one's soul than one's body?). No one subscribes to HBO because of the nudity, gratuitous or not.

So stick with the breasts — the final scene of the "Game of Thrones" season finale — and put all the tits away.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,6762922.story

I'll admit I will give this show a chance when it starts. Looks very good.

So just to be clear, "we're" ok with the graphic animal sacrifices, beheadings and disembowelments ... but "tits" are a problem??? Oh the humanity!!!

TV Notes
'Glee' Shake-up: Darren Criss and Harry Shum Jr In, Chord Overstreet Out
By Nellie Andreeva and Michael Ausiello, Deadline.com - July 1st, 2011

EXCLUSIVE: It's a case of good news/bad news for Glee fans courtesy of Ryan Murphy. First the good: Darren Criss (Blaine) and Harry Shum Jr. (Mike) have officially been upgraded to full-time series regulars, effective this fall with the start of Season 3.

And now for the bad Chord Overstreet's series regular option has not been picked up. However, a source close to the show says the actor who joined the Fox hit last fall in the recurring role of McKinley transfer student Sam Evans could return as an occasional guest star. Late Friday, Overstreet issued a cryptic tweet saying, It's been a good year. Too bad it's over. Time for summer and starting fresh.

The news comes two weeks after series creator Ryan Murphy raised eyebrows when he told Ryan Seacrest that most of the show's primary characters would graduate by the end of next season. The show to me is about the way you express yourself as you start to move out into the world as a fresh, young person, he later clarified to Deadline's sibling site TVLine. Do we really want to have an eight-year [high school] senior? The only way somebody could stay on the show is if they flunk, and that is always a possibility. I think Brittany is pulling straight Fs.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/07/glee...verstreet-out/

Critic's Notes
Saturday TV: Tour de France & Other Marathons
By Roger Catlin, Hartford Courant's 'TV Eye' Blog - July 2nd, 2011

For some, the Fourth of July weekend is nothing more than a chance to hole up and binge on TV marathons.

There's certainly plenty to watch. It starts early today with a 17 hour marathon of "Swamp Loggers" (Discovery, 9 a.m.) continuing to 2 a.m.

There's an 11 hour marathon starting that hour of "American Ninja Warrior" (G4, 9 a.m.).

Later comes eight hours of the "Ghost Whisperer" (We, 10 a.m.), 14 hours of "Frasier" (Hallmark, 11 a.m.), five hours of "Operation Wild" (Animal Planet, 11 a.m.), seven hours of "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" (TLC, noon), six hours of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Bravo, 1 p.m.), 15 hours of "First 48" (A&E, 1 p.m.), eight hours of "Snapped" (Oxygen, 2 p.m.) and eight hours of "NCIS" (USA, 3 p.m.).

A couple of races are prominently run today, such as the pomp of the first leg of the Tour de France (Versus, 8 a.m.). But there is also the Coke Zero 400 (TNT, 7:30 p.m.).

Last year's animated hit, "Despicable Me" (HBO, 8 p.m.), with voices by Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett and Kristen Wiig.

Christina Aguilera does her star turn in "Burlesque" (Starz, 9 p.m.). Last year's remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (Cinemax, 11) would really show your cowboy fast.

"From Spain with Love" (Cooking, 9:30 p.m.) concentrates on chocolate.

Flower sellers get their due on Turner Classic Movies with "City Lights" (8 p.m.), "Pygmalion" (9:45 p.m.), 'Brother Orchid" (11:30 p.m.), "The Subject was Roses" (1:15 a.m.), "One Heavenly Night" (3:15 a.m.) and "To Be or Not to Be" (4:45 a.m.).

Baseball today includes Yankees at Mets (Fox, 4 p.m.) and Red Sox at Astros (??!!).

The women's final is this morning at Wimbledon (NBC, 9 a.m.).

In the women's soccer world cup, it's Korea vs. Sweden (7:45 a.m.) and U.S. vs. Colombia (ESPN, 11:30 p.m.), live from Germany.

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catli...rance-oth.html

I don't know why no one is mentioning the HDNet Movies early previews in the past few months. But the other nights premier of "The Perfect Host" was a hell of a movie.

HDNet used to have several people announcing these things but I guess they don't care and I'm certainly not going to them free advertising anymore.

Hmm, I guess she doesn't have a sub to Starz does she?

Well, anyone with TWC as their provider no longer has HDNet or HDNM - two of my favorite channels. Why, I have no idea.

Both sides are mum about what the beef is - it's an argument between billionaires which makes it ridiculous - but it's been a couple of years now and that iceberg still shows no signs of thawing.

It's not free advertising. It is a service to dummies like me who have HDNet, but didn't notice the premier movie was on! I normally check their schedule, but their premier movies have been so dismal the last few months, I just got lax on checking.

Nielsen Overnights
Thursday Final Ratings (Cable)
From Marc Berman's MediaWeek.com Blog (Posted by Jay) - July 1st, 2011

BURN NOTICE (USA)
4.67 million viewers
1.3 demo

SUITS (USA)
3.89 million viewers
1.2 demo

WILFRED (FX)
2.04 million viewers
1.0 demo

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NYC (BRAVO)
1.93 million viewers
0.8 demo

FUTURAMA (COMEDY CENTRAL)
1.92 million viewers
0.9 demo

IMPACT WRESTLING (SPIKE)
1.84 million viewers
0.5 demo

THE DAILY SHOW (COMEDY CENTRAL)
1.82 million viewers
0.8 demo

COLBERT REPORT (COMEDY CENTRAL)
1.31 million viewers
0.7 demo

NY INK (TLC)
1.29 million viewers
0.6 demo

LOUIE (FX)
1.28 million viewers
0.7 demo

UGLY AMERICANS (COMEDY CENTRAL; Season Premiere)
1.14 million viewers
0.5 demo

CONAN (TBS)
1.00 million viewers
0.6 demo

CHELSEA LATELY (E!)
0.77 million viewers
0.4 demo

Source: Nielsen Media Research/TVbytheNumbers.com

http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/t.../171106083/p/1

Yeah, I know. HDNet Movies was one of my most-watched channels, and then one day TWC took it off (along with regular HDNet) and nothing. Cuban even publicly said he'd offer the channel for free to TWC if they guaranteed carriage but TWC hasn't budged. There's a personal thing going between Cuban and TWC, and many of us caught in the middle are suffering because of it.

TV Notes
In 'Drop Dead Diva,' a hit that she never imagined
By David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Enquirer

It's one of TV's unlikelier success stories.

Brooke Elliott was a stage trouper, performing in the national tours of musicals such as Wicked and Beauty and the Beast.

Then her agent told her about a prospective Lifetime series, Drop Dead Diva, that might suit her.

"I had a Broadway show audition that day, too," Elliott says. "I thought, 'Oh well, maybe I'll get the play. I don't have a shot at the TV show.' "

To her astonishment, she got the part - a role that requires some explanation.

Elliott plays Jane Bingum, a smart and zaftig lawyer, who is possessed by the spirit of Deb Dobkins, a shallow and skinny model.

"Deb's soul is in Jane's body," says the actress. The polar opposites have to find a way to coexist. The premise provides a steady stream of humor and pathos.

Even after she was cast, Elliott tried to keep her enthusiasm curbed.

"I had very few expectations, probably because I didn't know the TV world that well," she says. "Plus I had people say, 'Well, pilots rarely go to series.' I figured I'd go do the pilot and be back in New York in a month."

Not only did Drop Dead Diva get picked up, it was an instant hit for Lifetime. The recent debut of the third season notched 2.9 million viewers against some very stiff competition on cable, including the season finales of Game of Thrones and The Killing.

"When I started this role, I really wanted to make sure that Deb/Jane had a great sense of humor," says Elliott. "I wanted her to be able to laugh at herself. And I wanted her to have a really big heart."

Maybe it's DDD's themes of identity and personal transformation. Maybe it's the show's broad comedic streak. Or maybe it's the random song-and-dance numbers, but Diva's been able to pull an illustrious and eclectic parade of guest stars, including Liza Minnelli, Tim Gunn, Rosie O'Donnell, Clay Aiken, Wendy Williams, LeAnn Rimes, and Jennifer Tilly.

The series appeals to both genders, although men were reluctant to admit their allegiance.

"In the beginning, I would hear, 'Cool show. My wife makes me watch it' or 'My girlfriend has it on in the background,' " says Elliott.

"By season two there was no more justification. Guys would say, 'I love the show.' "

The actress struggled at first with the long hours and hermetic work environment.

"I had to get used to the fact that there was no audience there anymore," she says. "Here I am doing comedy and no one's laughing. You have to trust your instincts - know if you hit it or not and move on."

No one is going to confuse DDD's courtroom scenes with Perry Mason-style solemnity.

"This is different from most law shows because I'm really playing a person within the lawyer," she says. "If she doesn't know something, it's accepted. She often resorts to theatrics."

The protagonist's dueling personalities make even romance tricky. Before she died, Deb's boyfriend was Grayson (Jackson Hurst), an attorney at Jane's firm.

She's still in love with him, but now she has to try to gain his affection without the flowing blond locks and the Barbie-doll body.

After two seasons of romantic tension and impediments, the couple seem headed for a happy ending. Maybe.

"We do sleep together," teases Elliott. "But there's a twist to that."

We'd expect no less in the inside-out world of Drop Dead Diva.

DROP DEAD DIVA
Sundays at 9PM on Lifetime

http://articles.philly.com/2011-06-3...tt-jane-bingum

TV Review
'Citizen U.S.A.' (HBO)
By Nancy DeWolf Smith, Wall Street Journal - July 1st, 2011

Forget for a moment Ellis Island and the huddled masses of old. In "Citizen U.S.A," Alexandra Pelosi's documentary tribute to the process of becoming a new American, we learn what drives a more recent generation of immigrantsa number of whom have lived and thrived here for yearsto apply for citizenship.

For many, including a group of young Iraqis we met in Nebraska, coming to America and then becoming American citizens is about the same thing: "Freedom!" But Ms. Pelosi's film is notable for its array of people with more contemporary praise for America.

A Polish man says that the election of Barack Obama made him want to stop just living here and become a citizen: "When a black person became president, I said: This is it. I ain't goin' nowhere!" he beams. At one naturalization ceremony, a Russian man explains that he was moved by our national determination to "remove barriers and discrimination," and he signs: "I'm in America, and I'm so proud to be deaf!"

A dwarf from Indonesia (where, she explains, little people can't get cars with special pedals), a gay Iranian and several Muslims also praise our tolerance and accessibility. (Although a couple of laughing Afghans just bubble over with joy about the fact that here, they can talk to and even kiss girls on the street, "And nobody is asking you: What the hell are you doing?")

For the most part, though, Ms. Pelosi's subjects echo some version of the same theme: They feel lucky to be in the only country in the world where a person who works hard can make his or her dreams come true. Where he grew up, "we eat corn and bread...nothing else," says beaming new American Hile Corri in an Albanian accent. "Here is everythinglike in paradise!"

It is deeply moving to hear all this, and to see those faces full of hope and tears, as celebratory anthems play in the background. Yet there is one testimony that defines the pursuit of happiness as only a clear-eyed, newly minted American could.

It comes from an Iraqi who says that when he first came to the U.S., he saw a man walking a dog that had socks on; and was told, when he asked, that the dog was wearing socks because the pavement was hot: "And I thought: Really? They care about animals to that degree, and even their feelings? Humans are not treated like that in Iraq. Many people would wish to be even an animal in the United States."

CITIZEN U.S.A.
Monday at 9PM ET/PT on HBO

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...estyleArtEnt_6

TV Notes
TV's Go-To Guy For Playing Truth or Dare
By George Gene Gustines, The New York Times - July 2nd, 2011

For those who have ever doubted the truthiness of reality television, a conversation with John Grogan, the man reality-show producers consult when they need a polygraph examination, will quickly validate those suspicions. Sometimes shows have scripted results, Mr. Grogan said.

That is hardly a shock to most viewers and critics. The surprise may be that these programs bother to employ a lie detector at all. Mr. Grogan, 52, a private investigator in Los Angeles, has been on so many shows reality, talk and news, behind the scenes or on camera that he's lost count.

His numerous appearances have not gone unnoticed. The Soup, the E! television series devoted to clips from reality shows, with arch commentary, recently gave Mr. Grogan its 2011 Most Valuable Player award. The no-frills awards ceremony included snippets of Mr. Grogan at work, often reading the results and indicating thumbs up (truth) or down (lie). For instance one clip shows him helping assess female suitors for the entertainer Ray J, the brother of the singer Brandy and star of For the Love of Ray J. Someone else read the questions, and Mr. Grogan verified the answers.

Question: Have you ever threatened or tried to physically harm a boyfriend or ex-boyfriend?

Contestant: Yes.

Mr. Grogan: Thumbs up.

Question: Did you ever have a pimp?

Another contestant: No.

Mr. Grogan: Thumbs down.

In conversation Mr. Grogan speaks in the dry cadences of someone trying to beat a lie-detector test which is highly unlikely, he said.

He began training to conduct polygraph examinations in 1988 when he noticed it was a specialty that few private investigators could offer. It's like in the auto business, he said. Anyone can do a tuneup or change brakes, but only 1 in 10 can rebuild a transmission.

The instrumentation has changed greatly over the years. When he started, the machine had graph paper and four moving pens to record various measurements: a red line for blood pressure, green for sweat skin conductance, and two blue ones for upper and lower breathing. With computerization, he said, came fewer paper-and-ink headaches and better results. Computer reading of the outcome is more accurate than a human's doing so.

Fractions make a difference in pass or fail, he said. There's almost zero inconclusive results now. When we hear inconclusive, we think, Someone is using an antique.'

Mr. Grogan is quick to point out the difference between a traditional polygraph examination, which can take up to two hours, and those shown on television. Viewers are not seeing the boring, real exam, they're seeing a re-creation, he said, with the length of time condensed and participants sometimes encouraged to answer angrily or to behave with particular animation. The real test is slow, there's more of a pause after the previous answer, and many questions are asked to establish a baseline reading. We tell all involved that for best results we need to test a person three times, he said. Sometimes a filming schedule doesn't allow that.

Mr. Grogan knows filming schedules well. He's been on Beauty and the Geek, Tough Love, Flavor of Love, Divorce Court and many, many more.

Some shows have become so adept at polygraph segments that the cameras are not readily apparent in the examination room. Forgetting they are being filmed occasionally leads some participants to offer bribes.

On some relationship shows, when someone is going to lose their wife and their kids and everything, it's amazing what they'll offer to falsify their past, Mr. Grogan said. I have people beg me, Please, I know I did wrong, but you have to pass me, or this bad thing will happen.'

Mr. Grogan has some sympathy. Part of his training involved taking polygraph tests as well. Until you've had one, you don't know the fear and what's going on through their mind, he said. You can hear your own breathing, you feel your heartbeat at your fingertips. We know it's not an easy thing to go through.

He has less compassion for those who think they can beat the test. When you tell a lie, you're human, deep inside, you know you're trying to get away with something, he said. It makes your nervous system do what it does, and it gets picked up with our equipment. Some participants have tried to outsmart the machine by inserting a tack in their shoe to alter their readings and thus possibly interfere with the results, a cheating method that Mr. Grogan called an old wives' tale.

Maybe on the old antiques it could help you, he said. On the computerized we see it.

When a person has a tack in their shoe, and they are expecting pain, their blood pressure goes crazy, he added.

In the rare cases when the modern machines are unreliable, Mr. Grogan trusts his training in reading facial tics and body language. We can catch some lying every time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/ar...ref=television

Really! Who does he think he is? The FCC?

^^^ The L.A. Times' Mary McNamra is a "she."

FRIDAY's fast affiliate overnight prime-time ratings – along with AdWeek Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted on his blog: http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/t...51/m/820109083.

Yeah. I think there was an article stating that Cuban sold his interest in Magnolia production company or whatever it was called. That's when the quality of HDNet premieres dropped. And eventually HDNet decided not to interact through AVSForum.

The other nights premier movie was an exception. I just happened to find it in the guide with enough to time to DVR the last showing. If "The Perfect Host" is like the other recent HDNet premieres in will be on Showtime in several months.

I did not know the feud with TWC was still ongoing.

Critic's Notes
Sunday TV: 'Treme' Season Ends
By Roger Catlin, Hartford Courant's 'TV Eye' Blog - July 3rd, 2011

Just as the large and varied New Orleans cast of characters has been doing, "Treme" (HBO, 10 p.m.) found its footing in season two, moving beyond the immediate shock and shambles of Katrina to find redemption and hope through music.

No TV series has so well integrated live music into its stories or depicted it so well, reflecting accurately how music is soaked into every aspect of New Orleans life. At the same time, David Simon's instincts as a storyteller are just as flinty, with a story line about police murders during the hurricane that couldn't have been more timely. It's very good news that there will be a third season.

On the second episode of the new season of "True Blood" (HBO, 9 pm.), a coven is already busy trying to bring life to a dead man.

A drowning at a Halloween party provides the final case for Agatha Christie's Poirot in the three episode run on "Masterpiece Mystery" (CPTV, 9 p.m.).

Tracy Morgan, Regis Philbin and Susie Essman make up the panel on tonight's "The Marriage Ref" (NBC, 10 p.m.).

Naturally, chefs on "Next Food Network Star" (Food, 9 p.m.) prepare for a 4h of July feast.

Among the marathons today are five hours of "The Glades" (A&E, noon), 11 hours of "Finding BIgfoot" (Animal Planet, 7 p.m.), 18 hours of "Deadliest Catch" (Discovery, 10 a.m.), 14 hours of "I Love Lucy" (Hallmark 11 a.m.), 13 hours of "Drop Dead Diva" (Lifetime, 10 a.m.), 13 hours of "Teen Mom" (MTV, 8 a.m.), 11 hours of "America's Next Top Model" (Oxygen, 8 a.m.), 13 hours of "48 Hours: Hard Evidence" (TLC, 2 p.m.), and nine hours of "Law & Order: SVU" (USA, 2 p.m.).

Merian C. Cooper was quite a showman. He says so himself in the documentary "I'm King Kong: the Exploits of Merian C. Cooper" (TCM, 8 p.m.), if not his famous ape movies "King Kong" (TCM, 9 p.m.), and "Mighty Joe Young" (TCM, 10 p.m.). Also, a 1927 silent he directed: "Chang" (TCM, midnight).

Boats don't have a chance on AMC tonight with both "The Perfect Storm" (AMC, 5 p.m.) and two helpings of "Titanic" (AMC, 8 and 12:30 a.m.).

The Wimbledon men's final (NBC, 9 p.m.) pit Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic.

In baseball, Yankees at Mets ( YES, SNY, 1 p.m.) winds up, as does Red Sox at Houston (NESN, 2 p.m.). Tonight, it's Dodgers at Angels (ESPN, 8 p.m.).

Stage 2 of the Tour de France (NBC, 3 p.m.) rides into network TV. Hope there's not a big pileup as there was Saturday.

It precedes some Beach Volleyball (ESPN, 4:30 p.m.).

* * * *

SUNDAY TALK

ABC: Former Sen. Mel Martinez, former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, reporter Jose Antiono Vargas, George Will, professors Michael Eric Dyson and Jill Lepore and Time editor Richard Stengel. CBS:Govs. John Kasich, Deval Patrick and Scott Walker, Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa. NBC: Preempted by Wimbeldon coverage. CNN: Sens. John McCain, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan, Suze Orman, Russell Simmons and Steve Case. Fox News: Sens. John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham and Joe Leiberman.

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catli...ason-ends.html