Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 2531

TV Notes
Wednesday's Highlights: 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' on CBS
By Los Angeles Times' 'Show Tracker' Blog - Jan. 24, 2012

[ALL TIMES LISTED ARE PACIFIC TIME]

MARG HELGENBERGER makes her final appearance as Catherine Willows in a new episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation at 9 p.m. on CBS.

SERIES

Whitney: Roxanne (Rhea Seehorn) hires Whitney (Whitney Cummings) as her office assistant, but the job description includes more than typing and filing. There's also a bit of spying. Kathy Griffin, Dan O'Brien and Maulik Pancholy also star in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC).

American Idol: Hopefuls in Aspen perform (8 p.m. Fox).

Nature: Some 1,700 brown bears take up residence in the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska in the new episode Fortress of the Bears (8 p.m. KOCE).

Criminal Minds: In the series' 150th episode, the team is in Houston, where a serial rapist called the Piano Man has resurfaced and is targeting his past victims (9 p.m. CBS).

Touch: Kiefer Sutherland stars in this new drama about a widower and single father haunted by an inability to connect to his mute 11-year-old son (David Mazouz), until he learns the boy possesses a gift that enables him to see things no one else can (9 p.m. Fox).

NOVA: The new episode Mystery of a Masterpiece follows experts who approach art mysteries such as thefts and forgeries as if they were conventional crime scenes (9 p.m. KOCE).

Royal Pains: Hank (Mark Feuerstein) has trouble trusting Divya (Reshma Shetty) after her prescription error, but he has to work with her to diagnose the illness that's hit the members of a rising rock band in this new episode (10 p.m. USA).

SPECIALS

When Vacations Go Bust: This new special showcases mishaps that happen to folks away from home (10 p.m. Travel).

MOVIES

Tabloid: Veteran documentarian Errol Morris tells the stranger-than-fiction tale of a former beauty queen accused of kidnapping a Mormon missionary in England and holding him captive as a sex slave (6:30 p.m. Showtime).

SPORTS

Tennis: Australian Open: (9 a.m.; 6:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. ESPN2).

Pro basketball: The Clippers visit the Los Angeles Lakers (7:30 p.m. FSN and FS Prime).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...on-on-cbs.html

Star Wars is like if you took Star Trek and removed all the intelligence from it.

TV Review
'Touch,' feeling its way along
First episode of the Fox paranormal drama leaves no strings untied
By Tom Conroy, Media Life Magazine - Jan. 24, 2012

A bad TV premiere will leave viewers with little interest in seeing the next episode. Unfortunately, a good premiere can sometimes have the same effect.

The first episode of Fox's new paranormal series Touch introduces an interesting mystery and a compelling emotional issue and resolves them both to such an extent that many viewers may feel no need to tune in next week. But since the episode is so satisfying by itself, it gives us reason to hope that the creators will find a way to build on it. Even if they don't, the pilot is worth seeing.

Previewing this Wednesday, Jan. 25, at 9 p.m., in advance of its official premiere in March, the series stars Kiefer Sutherland as Martin Bohm, a 9/11 widower whose son, Jake (David Mazouz), is mute, is obsessed with numbers and cellphone towers and hates being touched. In a voice-over at the start of the episode, Jake explains to us that a select group of people can see the patterns in what appears to be chaos, especially in the random encounters of other human beings.

Martin, a former newspaper reporter who is now working security at JFK Airport in New York, takes a call on a lost cellphone from a British man named Simon (David de Lautour), who is trying to recover photos of his daughter. Martin misplaces the phone, which goes on an erratic journey around the world, linking a disparate group of people including an Irishwoman with ambitions to be a singer (Karen David) and a Baghdad boy (Shak Ghacha) whose family's bakery is in danger of going out of business.

At a loss regarding what to do with Jake, Martin finds an expert named Prof. Arthur Teller (Danny Glover), who tells Martin that his son may represent an advance in human evolution and may be able to perceive patterns that will allow him to predict the future. Teller seems sufficiently kooky that we have the option of dismissing his theories.

A brief, violent encounter with a man (Titus Welliver) who is buying a lottery ticket has a double purpose. It shows that Martin is no Jack Bauer, Sutherland's badass character on 24. And it reveals a series of numbers that will turn out to have greater significance.

The premiere will raise a series of red flags for people familiar with the two highest-profile paranormal dramas of the last decade: The series of recurring numbers and the lottery will recall the magic numbers of Lost, which turned out to have very little real significance, and the talk of highly evolved humans with abnormal powers will recall Heroes, which, like Touch, was created by Tim Kring, and which kept piling on premise when it should have been developing its stories.

Since neither of those series ended well, viewers may be hesitant to commit to Touch. But the new show has its own virtues. As on 24, Sutherland is movingly convincing as a man of constant sorrow. And Touch invests heavily in the story's emotional side.

While tugging on our heartstrings, the premiere ties up its disparate strands artfully. Unlike most paranormal shows, it doesn't leave us with a tangle of plot threads and leads that may or may not turn out to be worth following.

At the same time, the episode leaves us with a sense of completion that could have some viewers feeling they've seen enough. Some of us who followed Lost and Heroes to the bitter end now wish that maybe those shows had better signaled that their creators had no idea how to proceed past the first couple of seasons.

Touch could either fall into a rut or start flailing around in search of new ways to drive story lines. Since there's no way of knowing when or if we should stop watching, viewer discretion is advised.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...-way-along.asp

Nielsen Notes
Oprah Winfrey expands ratings-rich Next Chapter' to two nights on cable's OWN
By Richard Huff, New York Daily News - Jan. 24, 2012

Seeing a bit of positive ratings movement, the struggling Oprah Winfrey Network is getting more of what seems to work Oprah.

The network revealed Tuesday that Winfrey's Oprah's Next Chapter would expand from one to two nights a week, starting next weekend, and run that way through February.

The two-night approach begins with a piece on a trip Winfrey took to Haiti with Sean Penn, to run Sunday and Monday.

Oprah's Next Chapter is Winfrey's latest series since her talk show went off the air last spring.

It's landed just in time for the struggling network.

In the series, Winfrey visits people on location for in-depth interviews. The program launched earlier this month with an interview of American Idol judge Steven Tyler.

The show has turned into OWN's most-watched program of any kind, averaging 924,000 viewers.

Winfrey's sit-down with televangelist Joel Osteen drew 1.6 million viewers, the most so far for anything on the network. Last weekend the show averaged 557,000 viewers against tough football competition.

I think it is a good thing, says ratings expert Brad Adgate of Horizon Media about the program's expansion. It is something that appears to be working for them, when a lot of other shows, such as Rosie O'Donnell, [are\\] not.

It seems that Oprah's on-air commitment to OWN continues to increase as time goes by, and I don't think that was something she had originally planned when the network was announced, said Adgate. How much more on-air time beyond this will she, or can she, do?

OWN arrived in January 2011 to great fanfare and huge expectations. It also launched with a partial lineup of shows and little by Winfrey. At the time, her daytime talk show was still eight months from ending, limiting her ability to get on the air.

The most-talked-about show when the network began was a reality series that merely followed behind-the-scenes activities on Winfrey's talk show.

Since then, though, the channel has been dogged by executive changes, programming shifts, weak ratings and a suggestion that Winfrey isn't the draw she once was.

Moreover, Discovery, Winfrey's partner on the channel, has invested more than $250 million into getting the network off the ground. To start OWN, Discovery gave up on Discovery Health.

Expectations for OWN may have been too high, with people believing everything Winfrey touched would turn to gold.

We did overestimate it a bit, Adgate agrees. I think the landscape is cluttered with female-targeted cable networks and shows. They have failed to create a franchise show; it is difficult to program compelling content 24 hours a day. OWN has a niche in the TV landscape that could be a little smaller than originally anticipated.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1011307

TV Sports
NBC Universal all in on the Super Bowl
By Michael Hiestand, USA Today - Jan. 25, 2012

NBC Universal, with new channels to deploy after NBC's takeover by Comcast last year, will this year set some kind of a record for on-air Super Bowl tie-ins.

In plans to be announced today, NBC Universal shows how far today's media behemoths can go in milking what began as a sparsely attended game but is now the Woodstock of corporate America.

Says NBC Universal marketer John Miller: "We said to all the marketing executives, we want to make the week 'Super Bowl Week at NBCU.' "

Various networks have tried to wrap Super Bowl tentacles around various other shows. For NBC's Super Bowl three years ago, Bob Costas turned up on the cable show Monk and TopChef was worked into the pregame show. TopChef will be back in the upcoming Super Bowl pregame as NFL analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, assuming they don't crack under the pressure, will determine the winner of a cook-off.

But NBC Universal is going for real tonnage. Its G4 channel will air a special on gadgets meant to improve Super Bowl viewing — how about a beer funnel? — as the showbiz channel E! and Access Hollywood show report for days from Indianapolis. So will NBC Universal's Weather Channel and Spanish-language Telemundo.

NBC's Today show, predictably,will be on-site in what's shaping up as a once-in-a lifetime media hit for Hoosiers. Jimmy Fallon will break new ground for late-night comics tying themselves to a Super Bowl by hosting four of his live LateNight shows from Indianapolis. And as NBC airs an NFL-produced NFL Honors awards show hosted by Alec Baldwin on Super Bowl eve, preceded by a red-carpet show on NFL Network, NBC's Golf Channel airs an on-site Feherty Live special so viewers can finally get an Irish golf reporter's take on the Super Bowl.

And viewers wanting the meat 'n' taters won't be ignored: NFL Network plans a record 100 hours of Super Bowl shows next week.

Add in NBC's hype such as video being shown on planes, gas pumps and in Walmarts and you might think the big-market New York Giants vs. New England Patriots will set a Super Bowl ratings record.

Probably not. Last year's Green Bay Packers-Pittsburgh Steelers game drew 46% of U.S. households, the highest rating since a Dallas Cowboys-Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl in 1996. But the two highest-rated Super Bowls— the only ones to top the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan 1994 Winter Olympic showdown — have been untouched for a long time: San Francisco 49ers vs. Cincinnati Bengals (49.1%) in 1982 and Washington Redskins vs. Los Angeles Raiders (48.6%) in 1983.

But then, just look at the Super Bowl game ratings and you'd sort of miss the big picture.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colum...and/52779376/1

Tim Kring blew it with Heroes, I'm not giving him another chance with Touch. Critic hit nail on head with that preview.

TV Notes
NBC & G4 To Share American Ninja Warrior'
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Jan. 24, 2012

With the broadcast networks struggling to successfully launch a reality series in the past couple of summers, NBC is reaching to its new corporate sibling G4 for original summer fare. NBC will share with G4 the upcoming fourth season of G4′s popular obstacle course competition series American Ninja Warrior.

Last summer, NBC aired ANWs two-hour third season finale, which posted decent ratings. This year, NBC will be taking on a bigger role, with G4 carrying the preliminary rounds and the broadcast network airing the preliminary finals, as well as the grand finale. For the first time, each leg of the competition will be held entirely on U.S. soil after the original Japanese broadcaster, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, helped bring the course and all different designs to the U.S.

The finalists, vying for a $500,000 cash prize in the national finals in Las Vegas, will be selected at six regional qualifying competitions throughout the country. ANW, whose Season 3 debut ranked as G4's most-watched original season premiere ever, is produced by A. Smith & Co.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/nbc-...ninja-warrior/

By Daniel Frankel
Jan 24, 2012 8:45 PM ET

With both the theatrical and home video channels in revenue decline, and amid panic that digital piracy will soon crest into a tidal wave, BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield says Hollywood must once and for all scrap its long-sacred policy of releasing movies in theaters several months before offering them for video on demand. It's actually a strategy another part of the movie businessindependent filmshas been using lately with some success.

more http://paidcontent.org/article/419-a...heater-chains/

TV Notes
Alan Ball’s Drama ‘Banshee’ Gets Series Order At Cinemax, Greg Yaitanes To Direct
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Jan. 25, 2012

EXCLUSIVE: Alan Ball, creator/executive producer of HBO’s hit vampire drama series True Blood, is getting another series, this time on HBO’s sister network Cinemax. Cinemax has given a 10-episode order to Banshee, an action drama executive produced by Ball and written by authors Jonathan Tropper (This Is Where I Leave You), and David Schickler (Kissing in Manhattan). Emmy-winning director Greg Yaitanes (House) has come on board to helm the first episode of the series, which centers around an ex-convict and master thief who assumes the identity of the sheriff of Banshee, PA, where he continues his criminal activities even as he’s being hunted by the shadowy gangsters he had betrayed years earlier. Yaitanes will also serve as an executive producer on the series alongside Ball, Tropper, Schickler and Peter Macdissi.

Banshee, which had been described as Walking Tall meets History of Violence, landed at Cinemax via HBO where the project was originally developed. It was put on a fast track last summer when Ball began assembling a writing staff. The actioner will start shooting this spring on location in and around Charlotte, North Carolina for a 2013 premiere. Bell will juggle production on both Banshee and True Blood, which is now filming Season 5. At Cinemax, Banshee joins a growing slate of original action drama series, including Strike Back, which has been renewed for a second season, the upcoming Nemesis starring Melissa George and a series version of The Transporter movie franchise, whose production was paused after star Chris Vance was injured.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/alan...nes-to-direct/

* * * *

TV Notes
USA Network Orders Aspirational Reality Series ‘The Moment’ Starring Kurt Warner
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Jan. 25, 2012

In October 2010 when USA co-president Jeff Wachtel first talked to me about the network’s plans to re-enter the reality arena, he pointed to CBS’ Undercover Boss as the type of show USA was looking for. Fifteen months later, the top-rated cable network has ordered its first original unscripted series, aspirational reality series The Moment starring former NFL star Kurt Warner, which is very much in the vein of Undercover Boss as well as other second-chance reality series like ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and You Deserve It.

USA has given a nine-episode order to The Moment for a premiere in the third quarter. On the show, Warner, who didn’t make it into the NFL on his first try and had to work at a grocery store until finally landing a spot on the St. Louis Rams, gives men and women a second chance at reclaiming the career dreams they put on hold when their lives took an unexpected turn. Each week, someone secretly nominated by a loved one will be given the opportunity to pursue the career they’ve always wanted under the guidance of a mentor. The Moment is executive produced by Justin Hochberg and Charlie Ebersol through their Hochberg Ebersol Co. “From the first moments of their pitch, we knew they were onto something that wasn’t just the right creative fit for the brand, but was also a fresh take on personal and inspirational storytelling,” USA Co-Presidents Chris McCumber and Wachtel said. USA has only run a handful of reality series over the past decade, including Cannonball Run in 2001, Nashville Star in 2003 and Made in the USA in 2005. Last April, USA successfully launched its first unscripted series in 5 years, a revival of WWE Tough Enough. USA is expected to pick up at least one more reality series from the pool of projects it put in development under SVP alternative programming Heather Olander, who joined USA last February, including Shed Media’s The Choir and shows from Magical Elves and The Hills” creator Adam DiVello.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/usa-...g-kurt-warner/

TUESDAY's fast affiliate overnight prime-time ratings -and what they mean- have been posted on Analyst Marc Berman's Media INsight's Blog.

TV Notes
'Beauty and the Beast' pilot ordered by ABC -- now there are two!
By James Hibberd, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - Jan. 24, 2012

Deep Impact vs. Armageddon.

Dante's Peak vs. Volcano.

And now Beauty and the Beast vs. Beauty and the Beast!

ABC has ordered a pilot based on the story of Beauty and the Beast a week after The CW ordered a pilot based on Beauty and the Beast. How many Beasts can you handle?

The CW version is loosely based on the 1987 CBS TV show that starred Linda Hamilton. While the ABC version is from Jonathan Steinberg (Human Target, Jericho) and is described as a fantastical re-imagining of the classic fairy tale set in a mythical, dangerous world wherein a beautiful and tough Princess discovers an unlikely connection with a mysterious beast. OK, so that logline told you nothing.

The project is on brand for both networks, too. ABC has Once Upon a Time and is owned by Disney so there's no telling them to back off a fairy tale. The CW has Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle, which certainly fit this genre.

The surprise success of Once likely helped ease both these projects in the development pipeline. There's no telling if either will progress to a series order, but wouldn't it be confusingly awesome to have two Beauty and the Beast shows fighting it out in primetime? How would they be different, I wonder (aside from The CW's Beauty being younger, weighing 87 pounds and having Beast-sex by the end of Season 1)?

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/01/24/be...the-beast-abc/

Or Star Trek is like Star Wars, but with boring descrptions of why a tachyon pulse can futz with the sensors. Can't we like both?

You should look up George Takei online - his Facebook page or his "It's OK to be Takei" blog. Mr Sulu has taken it upon himself to end the Trek VS Wars star battle - and of course turn all the hate towards Twilight & sparkly emo vampires. His "Star Alliance" mostly sprang up after Shatner & Carrie Fisher's duelling YouTube posts claiming thier respective franchises were better than the other.

Alcatraz.....


Yeah but It seems to me that it's slipping into a rut very quickly


What I'm baffled about is how they get to office on Alcatraz sooooo quickly ?
There is a mandatory boat ride to get to island ..
What they have boats that are at the ready to whisk them over the water ??

Helicopter?

1983 was not redskins/raiders it was dolphins/redskins.

I dont think they realistically expect the game to set a ratings record but they do try to set viewers records.

Last years super bowl was the #1 most watched tv show of all time setting records for both 111,010,000 viewers & 162,900,000 total viewers.

I think firing a tachyon pulse would disrupt another ships shields not the sensors.

Han Solo would never sweat such technicalities.

Nielsen Overnights (18-49)
Fox's 'Idol' rerun tops a night of repeats
Averages a 3.3 in adults 18-49s for show that aired Sunday
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Jan. 25, 2012

The broadcast networks cleared their schedules for last night's State of the Union address, with repeats airing before and after President Barack Obama delivered his speech.

And Fox's "American Idol" rerun was the best of the bunch.

"Idol" averaged a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, well ahead of the No. 2 show in the timeslot, NBC's "The Biggest Loser."

This edition of "Idol" aired already on Sunday night following the NFC Championship Game on Fox. But that contest went into overtime, and so "Idol" did not begin until 10:57 p.m., meaning some people probably did not stay up late enough to watch it.

On Monday Fox decided to rebroadcast the show, bumping a planned rerun of "Glee."

Outside of "Idol," it was a pretty low-rated night. NBC led SOTU coverage at 9 p.m. with a 2.0, followed by Fox with a 1.8.

Ratings for Obama's SOTU are approximate, as overnights measure only timeslot data and not actual program data; they also do not take into account time zone differences.

Accurate ratings for the speech will be out later today, and Media Life will publish those when they are released.

Fox led the night among 18-49s with a 2.6 average overnight rating and a 7 share. NBC was second at 1.9/5, Univision and CBS tied for third at 1.6/4, ABC was fifth at 1.4/3, Telemundo sixth at 0.7/2 and the CW seventh at 0.5/1.

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

At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 3.3 for a repeat of "Idol," followed by NBC with a 2.1 for "Loser." CBS was third with a 2.0 for a repeat of "NCIS," Univision fourth with a 1.7 for "Una Familia con Suerte," ABC fifth with a 1.4 for repeats of "Last Man Standing" and the CW and Telemundo tied for sixth at 0.7, CW for "90210" and Telemundo for "Una Maid en Manhattan."

NBC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 2.0 for the State of the Union address, followed by Fox's coverage of the speech with a 1.8. Univision was third that hour with a 1.6 for "La Que No Podia Amar," with ABC and CBS tied for fourth with a 1.5 for their coverage of the president, Telemundo sixth with a 0.7 for "Flor Salvaje" and CW seventh with a 0.4 for "Remodeled," up slightly from last week's record-low 0.3 debut.

Univision moved to first place at 10 p.m. with a 1.6 for more "Amar," with NBC second with a 1.5 for extended State of the Union coverage. ABC and CBS tied for third at 1.2, ABC for the end of the speech and a "Modern Family" rerun and CBS for the speech and a repeat of "The Big Bang Theory," with Telemundo fifth with a 0.6 for "Relaciones Peligrosas."

CBS was first for the night among households with a 5.5 average overnight rating and an 8 share. Fox was second at 4.4/7, NBC third at 4.2/6, ABC fourth at 3.5/5, Univision fifth at 2.0/3, Telemundo sixth at 0.8/1 and CW seventh at 0.7/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...f-repeats-.asp

TV Notes
The Office' Spinoff Starring Rainn Wilson In The Works For Midseason 2013 Launch
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Jan. 25, 2012

EXCLUSIVE: Dwight Schrute may finally be off to greener pastures literally. I hear that NBC is working on an Office spinoff starring Rainn Wilson for a potential midseason 2013 launch. No deals have been closed yet but I've learned that the proposed spinoff is a family comedy, which was the brainchild of Wilson and The Office executive producer/showrunner Paul Lieberstein. It will have Dwight (Wilson) living at the Schrute family beet farm and bed & breakfast, which have been featured on the show several times, including in an episode where Jim and Pam visited Dwight there. (photos below) The potential spinoff will be introduced in an Office episode later this season set at Schrute Farms. Paul and Rainn have been joking for years about Dwight's life on the farm, his family and how ill-suited he is to run a B&B, a source close to The Office said. A while ago, it started to feel like a show to them. NBC agreed, it's been further developed to include multiple generations, many cousins and neighbors. (It is unclear if that would include cousin Mose who has been featured on the show.) At its base it will be about a family farm struggling to survive and a family trying to stay together. Wilson and Lieberstein will executive produce the spinoff with The Office executive producers Ben Silverman, who has been working with Wilson and Lieberstein on the development of the project, and Howard Klein. Greg Daniels, who developed and executive produces The Office, is not involved in the offshoot. He has his hands full already with The Office, Parks & Recreations and his newly picked-up NBC comedy pilot Friday Night Dinner.

This is NBC's second stab at launching an Office spinoff. Under Silverman, the network seriously considered the idea during the 2007-08 season but the efforts were ultimately re-directed to the Amy Poehler-starring Parks & Recreation, which hails from The Offices Daniels and Michael Schur.

If NBC proceeds with the spinoff, that will not mean an immediate departure from The Office for Wilson. If the veteran comedy is renewed for a ninth season as many expect, Wilson will return in the fall before segueing to the new series in mideason. Deliberately or not, the writers on The Office have been planting the seeds for a potential Dwight departure from Dunder Mifflin's Scranton office. Deeply convinced that he is the best salesman there, Dwight was crushed when it was Andy (Ed Helms) and not he getting the manager job vacated by Michael Scott (Steve Carell). Ever since Michael left, Dwight, now No. 2 to Andy, has been unhappy and looking to do something new. He recently flew to Tallahassee to interview with uber boss Robert California (James Spader) for a position there. The setup for the spinoff, with Dwight moving to a new family environment is reminiscent of the Cheers spinoff Frasier, which also featured a switch from a workplace to family format, moving Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) to a new locale.

Even with the promise of a potential new show, NBC is also serious about trying to extend the mothership series. I hear that The Office producer Universal Television has re-opened discussions with the other key Office cast members, approaching them over the past week or so with informal offers for next season. None of the core Office cast members, including Ed Helms, John Krasinksi and Mindy Kaling, have deals for next season, and while the studio can't formally sign the actors before there is a renewal for the show, it is trying to shore them up in anticipation of a pickup. It may not be easy to get the whole gang back together. Helms has movie offers lined up, including a Hangover trequel. Krasinski had been hinting that this could be his final season on The Office as he too has been busy in features, including co-writing and starring with Matt Damon in a movie directed by Gus Van Sant, which will start shooting in April. And Kaling, who is also a writer/co-executive producer on The Office, has been actively developing her own shows and has a live-action and animated comedy in contention at NBC.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/the-...13-new-launch/

Analysis
Legal Fight Brewing Over CBS' New Sherlock Holmes Adaptation
By Eriq Gardner, USA Today 'Hollywood, Esq.' Column - Jan. 25, 2012

Producers of BBC's hit series Sherlock have issued a warning to CBS Television over plans for a new modern-day adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories, Elementary. The British producers say they are prepared to protect against any TV show that too closely resembles their own.

One might assume that Sherlock Holmes, first depicted in the 19th century in four novels and 56 short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is firmly in the public domain. Since the master of logical reasoning first appeared in literature, there have been hundreds of films, TV shows, plays and stories featuring the character. But whether or not Holmes has slipped out of copyright, and whether TV producers have the ability to create derivatives at will, is a mystery that's ripe for legal sleuthing.

The public domain is commonly understood to allow unfettered access to works whose intellectual property term has expired. Unfortunately, it's not so simple. Sherlock Holmes presents a good case study.

For the past few years, BBC, along with Hartswood Films, has been imagining Holmes in modern times in the popular series Sherlock. A third season has just been announced.

Last week, CBS announced a pilot for its own modern retelling of the Holmes story with the detective solving obscure cases in New York.

CBS' announcement set off alarm bells for producers of Sherlock, which has been showing in the U.S. on BBC America and on various PBS stations. According to The Independent, Sue Vertue, an executive producer on the series at Hartswood, had this to say about the development:

"We understand that CBS are doing their own version of an updated Sherlock Holmes. It's interesting, as they approached us a while back about remaking our show. At the time, they made great assurances about their integrity, so we have to assume that their modernised Sherlock Holmes doesn't resemble ours in any way, as that would be extremely worrying...We are very proud of our show and like any proud parent, will protect the interest and well being of our offspring."

The British press has interpreted this statement to signal a lawsuit ahead. Might CBS get in trouble for using the famous detective character?

"Our project is a contemporary take on Sherlock Homes that will be based on Holmes, Watson and other characters in the public domain, as well as original characters," CBS tells THR in a statement. "We are, of course, respectful of all copyright laws and will not infringe on any stories or works that may still be protected."

When it comes to the public domain, not everything is elementary. One decision last July at the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals might hold some clues about the types of claims that producers of Sherlock might make against CBS.

In the case, Warner Bros. sued a company that specialized in nostaligia merchandise for using movie posters and lobby cards for Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and several Tom & Jerry short films. The 8th Circuit took up the question of whether the defendant had appropriated original elements of the film or merely elements that were already in the public domain. The appeals circuit handed Warners a win.

"There is no evidence that one would be able to visualize the distinctive details of, for example, Clark Gable's performance before watching the movie Gone with the Wind, even if one had read the book beforehand," the justices wrote. "At the very least, the scope of the film copyrights covers all visual depictions of the film characters at issue."

In other words, the Eighth Circuit ruled that the features of on-screen characters can be copyrighted even if these characters were based on prior work. It potentially means that Sherlock producers can protect their own modern version of Sherlock Holmes, even though it is based on work from the 19th Century.

But two factors potentially add intrigue to any possible lawsuit against CBS. First, copyright law only protects "substantially similar" expression and not ideas. Warner Bros. learned this the hard way in the early 1980s when it sued over a TV series on ABC entitled The Greatest American Hero, which allegedly showed a modern-day rip-off of its copyrighted Superman character. The 2nd Circuit found that while the main character in the show shared some traits with Superman, the "overall perception" of how the character looked and acted was different.

"Stirring one's memory of a copyrighted character is not the same as appearing to be substantially similar to that character, and only the latter is infringement," wrote the justices at the appeals circuit.

Still, Urmika Devi, an intellectual property lawyer at Duane Morris, believes that CBS would be wise to make its Sherlock character as different from the BBC's version as it can. "A modern-day Sherlock is clearly an idea," she says. But what if CBS copied the BBC by showing its modern-day Sherlock Holmes using text messaging to solve crimes and using a nicotine patch to beat smoking? "That would bring CBS' version closer to infringing highly-defined aspects of the BBC's character" says Devi.

The second factor that potentially complicates CBS' intention to retell the Sherlock Holmes story could be even more intriguing: Is Sherlock Holmes actually in the public domain?

In January 2010, on the heels of Warner Bros.' successful release of Sherlock Holmes, the New York Times published an article that looked into ownership of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation, revealing that heirs of the Doyle estate asserted that the character remains in copyright in the United States until 2023 and that any new properties involving the detective "definitely should" be licensed.

Other reports say that all but one of Doyle's works are in the public domain, leading to some confusion over whether the character is still copyrighted.

Warner Bros. said it had agreements with the Doyle estate that allowed the film to proceed. How about the TV producers telling the modern version?

We apologize for burying evidence of CBS' potential liability so deep that even Watson might not dig it up, but if CBS was sued, it wouldn't be the first time that a television network found itself in court to answer charges of infringing Sherlock Holmes.

It turns out that in 2002, USA Network produced a movie entitled Case of Evil about a young Sherlock Holmes. The cable network was sued by Pannonia Farms, Inc., which said it had been conveyed all rights to Doyle's works in 1986 in an agreement that few people knew about.

In a 2004 decision, New York federal judge Naomi Buchwald determined firmly that nine works of Doyle's were still under copyright, but let USA off the hook because its TV movie was based on the many other stories in the public domain that had delineated the Holmes characters. However, that doesn't mean that the Doyle estate (or anybody who has created new distinguishable features on the character) couldn't ever bring new lawsuits.

"Storylines, dialogue, characters and character traits newly introduced by the Nine Stories are examples of added contributions susceptible to copyright protection," wrote Judge Buchwald.

Case closed?

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr...cbs-new-283966

TV Notes
Starz President and COO Bill Myers Steps Down
By Tim Kenneally, TheWrap.com - Jan. 25, 2012

Bill Myers, president and chief operating officer of Starz Entertainment, resigned Wednesday after 10 years with the network, Starz confirmed to TheWrap. No reason was given for his departure.

Myers, who came to the company in May 2002 following a stint as executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of On Command Corporation, had been responsible for Starz's day-to-day operations, including sales, marketing, programming and engineering.

He was promoted to president and chief operating officer from his previous position as executive vice president and chief financial officer in August 2006.

Bill has contributed greatly in driving Starz's growth and success," Starz Entertainment president and CEO Chris Albrecht said of the departure. "We are enormously grateful for his 10 years of service and wish him well in his future endeavors.

Starz recently scored a victory with its Kelsey Grammer drama "Boss," when Grammer won a Golden Globe in the Best Actor in a TV Series -- Drama category for his work on the series.

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/st...eps-down-34796

Nielsen/TV Notes
Judge Judy' Sheindlin still rules daytime TV, has 800th straight week as top court
By Richard Huff and David Hinckley, New York Daily News - Jan. 25, 2012

'Judge Judy' Sheindlin's TV show has legs long ones.

The syndicated daytime show has just notched its 800th straight week as the top-rated court show, according to Nielsen statistics out for the week ending Jan. 9.

The show has been the No. 1 court series since it began in 1996, according to statistics.

For the week, Judge Judy averaged 10.56 million viewers, and was also the No. 1 daytime show nationally of any kind.

Judge Judy airs locally weekdays at 4 p.m. on WCBS/Ch.2.

COWELL & PINKETTS TRY DJ SHOW

Simon Cowell is getting into business with Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith's company on a new reality show spotlighting DJs.

Cowell's Syco Entertainment, Smith's Overbrook Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television are planning to launch DJ Superstar, a live international show that will seek out the world's best DJs.

DJs are the new rock stars. It feels like the right time to make the show, Cowell said in a statement. He said the project has been in the works for a year.

The partners soon will announce the show's U.S. and U.K. broadcasters, said the announcement.

MORE VH1 GANG ACTIVITY

You wanted a bigger piece of Mob Wives, and VH1 hears you.

Starting Sunday, the regular hour of TV's toughest broads will be followed at 9 p.m. by Mob Wives: The Sit Down, a half-hour show in which two or three of the wives will sit with VH1's Carrie Keagan and discuss what everyone just watched.

Different wives will do the postmortem show each week.

Presumably this won't be just gals talking recipes. VH1 promises exclusive behind-the-scenes info on what really went down.

VH1 has ordered seven episodes of Sit Down. If it is a ratings hit, expect an extension and perhaps a separate version for "Mob Wives: Chicago, the spinoff that will debut this spring with all-new tough chicks.

WARNER FINDS HIS MOMENT'

NFL great Kurt Warner proved he can throw a football in the Super Bowl, but can he draw a TV audience?

The USA Network is banking on it, and has drafted Warner to host The Moment, a new, nine-episode reality series in which participants get a second chance to go back and take a different direction in life.

Warner knows that feeling. He went from an out-of-work player bagging groceries to quarterback of the St. Louis Rams and MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV within a stretch of 18 months.

In The Moment, on each episode someone who was nominated by a loved one is surprised by Warner and given a chance to start a new career. In the end, the participant has to decide whether to keep the new job or return to what they were doing before Warner came along.

The Moment is expected to start during the third quarter of 2012.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1011848

Critic's Notes
6 TV Shows We Think Are Doomed
By Tim Molloy, TheWrap.com - Jan. 25, 2012

We hate to say any show is doomed. We know people's jobs are at stake. But we have to be painfully honest.

This has been a great season for comedies, but a tough one for dramas. And so we're preparing our goodbyes for six shows whose ratings just don't give us much confidence in their futures. (We don't add shows to this list lightly; the last time we made one, we went six-for-six in our predictions.)

Here are the shows we think are doomed. May all of them prove us wrong.

The Finder (Fox)

It might seem incredibly presumptuous to predict the loss of "The Finder" (left) after two episodes. We don't think so. The "Bones" spinoff premiered Jan. 12 to a very soft 1.7 rating in the crucial 18-49 demographic and 5.5 million viewers. It improved to a 2.2 rating and 6.7 million total viewers in its second week.

But that second week improvement came after a lead-in from "American Idol," the biggest show on television, which on the same night had a 5.7 rating and 14 million viewers. It's not promising that a show connected to the very reliable "Bones" and following the mighty "Idol" is off to such a slow start.

The Firm (NBC)

We expect "The Firm" to finish out its season. And that will be an accomplishment, given ratings even worse than those of "The Playboy Club," which NBC canceled after just three episodes.

Why do we expect the John Grisham adaptation to soldier on? Because it's cheap for NBC to air. The show's production partners, Sony and Entertainment One, sold "The Firm" to international networks to cover almost the entire cost of production before they sold it to NBC. That means NBC pays a much lower licensing fee for the series than it normally would.

It's an intriguing model that could make sense for future shows. But it's hard to imagine even the fourth-place network signing up for another season of "The Firm," given that it's averaging a mere 1.3 rating.

A Gifted Man (CBS)

CBS has low tolerance for low ratings. And while the Fridays-at-8 time slot for "A Gifted Man" has been anything but a gift, the show's 1.3 average rating is still dismal. Its 8.2 million total viewers are impressive considering how poorly it does in the 18-49 demo, but we're confident that CBS is confident that it can do better with something else next season, if not sooner.

We'd say it's time for CBS to finally schedule the midseason cop drama "NYC 22," from Richard Price ("Clockers," "The Wire"). But we don't want to wish a Friday time slot on any show, especially one that looks so promising.

Pan Am (ABC)

We know you may be thinking this was already canceled. Not quite.

We enjoy "Pan Am." We like the unapologetic nostalgia, the easy breeziness of it all, the sense that the attractive, pleasant-enough characters are never in any real danger. It's truly diverting.

But the lack of drama -- and our lack of fear for the characters -- also makes "Pan Am" feel very much like a one-season show. There's nothing grabbing viewers and demanding we watch. The show's 2.5 average rating feels just right – not at all embarrassing, but not compelling enough to keep the show going, either.

"Pan Am" looked doomed a month ago, when one of its stars, Karine Vanasse, tweeted about receiving "THE call" and said "Pan Am" would only air one more episode in 2012. ABC quickly clarified that the show only wanted "Pan Am" to shoot one of five new scripts it had ordered, but that the show wasn't canceled and remained in contention for a second season pickup.

It won't happen unless ABC's midseason shows bomb. We don't think they will. One of them, "GCB," takes over the Sundays-at-10 "Pan Am" timeslot beginning March 4.

Fringe (Fox)

Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said at the Television Critics winter press tour this month that Fox was losing money on "Fringe," though he stressed that it has not been canceled. "Please don't start the letter-writing campaign right now," he joked. "I can't handle it."

We don't think a letter writing campaign would help.

Networks know Fridays are ratings hell, so they stock them with shows whose fans will follow them to hell. "Fringe" and its loyal viewers have nobly struggled there throughout the season, earning an average 1.4 rating for this perennial bubble show. We strongly expect that struggle to end with this season.

"Fringe" was one of many shows that have tried to recapture the mystery of J.J. Abrams' "Lost." But Fox has a new "Lost" successor in "Alcatraz," which has the same intelligent, mysterious qualities as Abrams' "Fringe" while earning much better ratings, at least so far. ("Alcatraz" is also performing well in a tough time slot, 9 on Mondays, against CBS hits "Two and a Half Men" and "Mike & Molly.)

Body of Proof (ABC)

The Dana Delany medical examiner drama was a midseason hit last year, but this year has averaged only a 2.1 rating. We're including it on this list with one caveat: We expect "The River," which will lead into "Body of Proof" on Tuesday nights, to succeed. It fills a drama-horror niche that "Walking Dead" and few other shows do.

If it thrives, it may be able to lift "Proof" as well, though the two shows are probably too different for it to make any difference.

We'll find out soon. "The River" premieres Feb. 7 with a two-hour episode, then settles into its Tuesdays-at-9 timeslot ahead of "Body of Proof" on Feb. 14. Maybe it will be a Valentine's Day present.

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/6-...e-doomed-34786

TV Notes
Thursday's Highlights: '30 Rock' on NBC
By Los Angeles Times' 'Show Tracker' Blog - Jan. 25, 2012

[ALL TIMES LISTED ARE PACIFIC TIME]

IDIOTS ARE PEOPLE, says Tracy (Tracy Morgan) in a new episode of 30 Rock at 8 p.m. on NBC. A second new episode airs at 9 p.m.

SERIES

American Idol: Singers audition in Galveston, Texas (8 p.m. Fox).

Parks and Recreation: Feedback from a focus group prompts Leslie and Ben (Amy Poehler, Adam Scott) to woo voters with a casual bowling party in this new episode (8:30 p.m. NBC).

The Finder: A NASA scientist asks Walter for help finding a woman he met at a bar in this new episode (9 p.m. Fox).

Project Runway All Stars: Diane von Furstenberg joins host Angela Lindvall to give the contestants a new challenge: designing a look for supermodel Miranda Kerr (9 p.m. Lifetime).

The Mentalist: When Patrick (Simon Baker) returns as a consultant he joins a new team with a new boss (Reed Diamond) since Lisbon (Robin Tunney) has been suspended and the rest of the team reassigned in this new episode (10 p.m. CBS).

The Firm: Mitch (Josh Lucas) asks Ray (Callum Keith Rennie) to dig up some information to help his defense of a gambler (Randal Edwards), who is willing to risk a guilty verdict to clear himself of a murder charge, in this new episode (10 p.m. NBC).

Fat Chef: In this new series, overweight food professionals spend four months with therapists, nutritionists and trainers to defeat their abusive relationships with food (10 p.m. Food).

Inside Comedy: David Steinberg hosts this new series. In the premiere he talks with Jerry Seinfeld and Don Rickles about their comedy careers (11 p.m. Showtime).

SPECIALS

Florida Republican Presidential Debate: The candidates meet in Jacksonville (5, 8 and 11 p.m. CNN).

The Fireball of Christ: This new documentary purports to have evidence that the impact of a deadly meteorite may have played a part in the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire (8 and 11 p.m. National Geographic).

SPORTS

Tennis: Australian Open: Men's Semifinals (9 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. ESPN2).

College basketball: Utah at UCLA (7:30 p.m. FS Prime).

Pro basketball: The Grizzlies visit the Clippers (7:30 p.m. TNT).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...-on-nbc-1.html

Business Notes
Amazon looking into taking on Netflix
By Claire Atkinson, New York Post - Jan. 25, 2012

EXCLUSIVE: Jeff Bezos and his team at Amazon are weighing a move to beef up the Web retailer's video-streaming service possibly carving it out as a standalone, subscription-based operation, industry sources told The Post.

Such a move, if undertaken, would set the retail behemoth in the same competitive orbit as Netflix.

Currently, Amazon's Instant Video comes free with Amazon Prime, the $79 unlimited shipping service.

They're looking into it being a standalone subscription service, one content executive said.

A second exec noted they believe Amazon is chewing over a possible charge.

The Internet retailer does have a paid video-on-demand movie and TV service but the streaming service would be different.

The big issue is their bundled media service, said one digital media executive. The subscription service, with the goodies being free video, is contractually an issue for the licensers.

Tinseltown talent doesn't like being a loss-leader for Amazon shipments of everything from diapers to digital devices.

Word that Bezos may be looking to add muscle to its video service comes nearly one year after Amazon launched Instant Video last February. In July, Amazon paid CBS around $100 million for 2,000 hours of TV shows. It then followed up with deals for Fox content such as Arrested Development, and with Disney and NBCUniversal.

The company has had little to say in recent months, however, though one source said that Amazon was refreshing its checkbook.

Amazon has been paying fees that are based on the number of subscribers.

Amazon Prime has 7 million to 8 million subscribers, analysts estimate.

Netflix, which reports fourth-quarter results today, has 20 million streaming subs globally.

Paul Verna, senior analyst at eMarketer, said: Amazon is aggressively pursuing the same content strategy as Netflix and is spending a lot upfront to try to secure exclusivity. They won't always get it, but they need to differentiate themselves.

Amazon didn't return calls for comment.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...b7mhUO3sczFbuM

Business Notes
Netflix earnings beat low expectations, stock jumps more than 10 percent
By Troy Woverton, San Jose Mercury News - Jan. 25, 2012

At first blush, Netflix's latest quarterly report didn't look good, but investors were still able to find a bright side.

The Internet video company's profit fell 14 percent from the year-ago period in spite of surging sales. Its cash-generating DVD business lost nearly 3 million subscribers. It projected a first-quarter loss that could be wider than analysts' estimates. And the Los Gatos company said again it expects to post a full-year loss this year.

Yet Netflix's stock surged in after-hours trading, rising as much as 16 percent, apparently because its quarter beat Wall Street's modest expectations and the company posted a net gain in its overall subscriber base.

"The company has at least turned around its net subscriber growth in the U.S.," said Cody Willard, a former fund manager and editor of Trading With Cody, a financial blog site. "That's huge."

What's more, Willard said, the market -- but maybe not Netflix's subscribers -- appears to have forgiven the company for its missteps over the summer, when it hiked prices, announced it was spinning off its DVD business and then reversed that decision.

"Time heals all wounds," said Willard, who doesn't have a position in Netflix's stock.

In the holiday quarter, Netflix earned $40.7 million, or 73 cents a share. In the same period in 2010, it earned $47.1 million, or 87 cents a share.

The profit plunge came in spite of revenue growth of 47 percent to $875.6 million. But a surge in marketing, technology, administrative and other expenses brought down earnings.

Still, the results were better than expected. Taking to heart the dour earnings guidance Netflix gave in October, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 55 cents a share in the quarter on sales of $857.9 million.

Looking forward, Netflix predicted it would lose 16 to 49 cents a share in the first quarter on sales ranging from $842 million to $877 million. That forecast implies a potentially wider loss than analysts were expecting.

For the first quarter, Wall Street had forecast that the company would lose 30 cents a share on $847.8 million in sales.

Netflix has had a rocky six months. The company's stock plunged amid customer outrage over the price hike and the aborted plan to spin off the DVD service. The company also drew criticism from investors and analysts for the growing costs of its deals with Hollywood studios to stream their movies and television programs.

In a sign that Netflix is still enduring the aftershocks of the price hike and other moves, it saw another decline in the number of DVD subscribers. That total fell 2.8 million from the end of the third quarter to 11.2 million.

In spite of that drop, the company posted a net increase in overall subscribers because of growth to its streaming-video service. Netflix ended the quarter with 24.4 million total U.S. subscribers, up about 610,000 from the end of the third quarter.

In after-hours trading, Netflix's stock was up $15.08, or 15.9 percent, to $110.12. The company's shares closed regular trading Wednesday up $2.37, or 2.6 percent, to $95.04.

Despite the overall enthusiasm from investors, some analysts weren't convinced that Netflix's troubles are behind it. The company is almost certain to see its costs of acquiring Hollywood content continue to rise, said Michael Pachter, a financial analyst who covers the company for Wedbush Securities. The only way it can keep those costs in check will be to accept less overall or less desirable content from the studios, he said.

"I honestly think the market completely got this wrong. They think (Netflix) is growing again," Pachter said. "My view is they're either a high-growth, no-profit business or a low-growth profitable business.

"Either way, they're worth (less) than they're trading at now."

http://www.mercurynews.com/entertain...730?source=rss

TV Notes
Border agents, clown couple team up on new 'The Amazing Race'
By Greg Braxton, Los Angeles Times' 'Show Tracker' Blog - Jan. 25, 2012



A pair of border agents, a married clown couple and last season's winner of CBS' "Big Brother" will be among the contestants competing in the upcoming 20th season of "The Amazing Race" premiering Feb. 19 on CBS.

The series this season will make first-time visits to Paraguay, Azerbaijan and other exotic locations. Along the way, the teams will travel five continents, 22 cities and nearly 40,000 miles.

One team will be composed of last year's winner of "Big Brother," Rachel Reilly, and her fiancé and fellow Houseguest, Brendon Villegas.

Other teams include:

U.S. Army Officer Dave Brown Jr. and his wife, project manager Rachel Brown, of Madison, Wis.

Motorcycle mechanic William "Bopper" Minton and best friend, former state inspector Mark Jackson, both of Manchester, Ky.

Federal agent Nary Ebeid and federal agent Jamie Graetz, both of Los Angeles. They are best friends.

Trainer/supplement company owner Joey "Fitness" Lasalla of Whitestone, N.Y. and his friend Danny Horal, a nightclub promoter from Holbrook, N.Y.

Car buyer Misa Tanaka and her sister, professional golfer Maiya Tanaka, of San Diego.

Married couple and "Ambassadors of Laughter" Dave Gregg and Cherie Gregg of New Port Richey, Fla. They are clowns.

Musician Elliot Weber of Scottsdale, Ariz., and his twin brother, professional soccer player Andrew Weber, of Menlo Park, Calif.

Program coordinator Kerri Paul, and her cousin Stacy Bowers, both of Gulfport, Miss.

Freelance writer Vanessa Macias and bar owner Ralph Kelley, both of of San Antonio. They are "dating divorcées."

Border partol agents and best friends, Art Velez of Temecula, and J.J. Carell of Carlsbad.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...ing-race-.html