Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 2557

Creepiest step-father ever.

I get the impression that both he and ESPN see him as the next John Madden. And I tend to think that's a fair comparison. Not sure Tirico is the right pairing for him, though.

Terry O'Quinn would probaly just continue what he's done for decades: playing bada** characters (from charactor guest spots on up to starring roles) in movies and TV shows. He's probably played as many high ranking military officers (or ex-officers...or other "goverment types" from 3 letter organizations) as Dennis Franz has played cops.

He'd be fine. He's one of those that has made a living typcast as a guy wearing combat boots. Of course, as mentioned above, he'll always be "The Stepfather".

Mostly though, if you want a bald guy that would look credible pulling someone's heart out through their left nostril while calmly eating a ham sandwich, Terry is your guy.

Garcia, on the other hand, will likely have a tough time breaking out of the Hurley role. However, if Alcatraz fails, I don't think he'll be to blame. There will always be a need for that particular character and he's the go to guy for it now.

Terry O'Quinn has a career longer than the majority of the Lost cast combined!

I always remember him best from The Rocketeer and Millennium (the TV show not the movie).

He was exceptional in that role.

Thinking about Millennium now makes me want to go back and rewatch it. I haven't seen the show since it first aired and I don't think I ever caught the final season.

Then you picked the right season to miss!

Terry O'Quinn is the exception to the thrust of that NY Magazine article though. Show creators/casting agents bring projects to him and Terry has the luxury of choosing which one he'd like to appear in (like this one that was just announced), which is the exception rather than the rule. The story focuses on how no-name actors (some of them as good as O'Quinn that have been around the industry since forever and have paid their dues) can be held back from the right vehicle for them because of the rules/regulations they have to sign up to even get an audition to try for these parts.

Hey CBS how about putting some of your content on Netflix first.

TV Notes
'Colbert Report' production suspended due to reported family emergency
By New York Post Staff - Feb. 16, 2012

Stephen Colbert shut down his late-night comedy show this week to be with his ailing 91-year-old mother, sources close to the show said today.

The actor caused a stir today when he said only that he was canceling the shows due to unforeseen circumstances.

They are a very private family, said a source. It's not surprising that he did not want anyone to know what was going on.

Colbert, the youngest of 11 children, is very close to his mother, according to reports.

When Colbert was 10, his father and two oldest brothers were killed in 1974 in the crash of an airliner a tragedy that created an especially tight relationship with his mother.

Lorna Colbert was reportedly admitted to a hospital near her home in Columbia, S.C. earlier this week but was said to have been sent home.

The nature of his mother's ailments are not known and a spokesman for Colbert refused yesterday to give any details.

Comedy Central, which airs The Colbert Report, said the show would air repeat episodes until further notice.

The show was likely return soon, possibly as early as next week, according to a source close to the show.

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainmen...BdJQFGpKNXKq9O

I wonder if his 91 year old mom was watching last night when he used the guillotine on the sheathed banana?


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1279905.html

If his ninety-one-year-old mother is anything like my ninety-eight-year-old mother, it was probably her idea.

If that's Colbert's case then it would be accurate to say the banana doesn't fall far from the tree.

+1,000,000. Listening to Gruden is unbearable.

TV Sports
Turner to charge non-cable subscribers for March Madness online
By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times' 'Company Town' Blog - Feb. 16, 2012

March Madness is going over the top. Turner Broadcasting, which along with CBS shares the rights for the annual NCAA college basketball championship tournament, is going to offer its coverage of the event over the Internet at a price of $3.99.

The 64-team NCAA tournament runs about a month and ends in early April. The championship game often draws more than 20 million viewers.

Previously, people could watch games online for free via the NCAA's website. Games that CBS carries will remain available for free online.

The move by Turner is aimed at consumers who do not subscribe to cable or satellite TV and those who do subscribe but whose distributors have not yet put in place a system to allow customers to watch cable content online.

Of the approximately 100 million cable subscribers in the country, about 77 million have access to a service known as TV Everywhere, which allows them to watch cable content on the Web provided they can verify that they're paying customers. But of those 77 million who can sign up for TV Everywhere-type services, less than half have enrolled.

The low price tag for the games seems aimed more at encouraging distributors to start marketing TV Everywhere more aggressively than to create a new revenue stream for Turner.

"We're honestly not going after cord-cutters," said Matt Hong, Turner's senior vice president of sports.

Still, if a few shell out some money to watch the games online, Turner won't complain.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ente...ne-charge.html

Washington/Business Notes
Congress Will Auction Public Airwaves to Pay for Benefits
By Edward Wyatt and Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times - Feb. 17, 2012

WASHINGTON The need for revenue to partly cover the extension of the payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits has pushed Congress to embrace a generational shift in the country's media landscape: the auction of public airwaves now used for television broadcasts to create more wireless Internet systems.

If a compromise bill completed Thursday by Congress is approved as expected by this weekend, the result will eventually be faster connections for smartphones, iPads and other data-hungry mobile devices. Their explosive popularity has overwhelmed the ability, particularly in big cities, for systems to quickly download maps, video games and movies.

The measure would be a rare instance of the government compensating private companies with the proceeds from an auction of public property broadcast licenses once given free.

The auctions, which are projected to raise more than $25 billion, would also further the Obama administration's broadband expansion plans and create a nationwide communications network for emergency workers that would allow police, fire and other responders from different departments and jurisdictions to talk to each other directly.

Public safety officials have wanted such a seamless communications system ever since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The sweeping changes are even more remarkable because they resulted not from an effort to address communications policy, but from a hard-fought bipartisan compromise to extend a payroll tax holiday and jobless benefits. Republicans insisted that the extension of the unemployment insurance a cost of roughly $30 billion be paid for in full, and one area that both sides could agree on was spectrum sales.

The spectrum auctions are at least one to two years away, but most of the programs they pay for would be covered immediately. Consumers are unlikely to see additional charges since the auction would add new spectrum rather than adding to the costs of existing spectrum.

The payroll tax exemption would be extended through the end of this year, providing a worker earning $50,000 annually with $1,000 more in take-home pay over that time. The bill would also prevent a reimbursement cut for doctors who accept Medicare.

The legislation is the result of an unusual degree of cooperation between two parties that have fought bitterly over recent issues, and members of the conference committee that negotiated the deal played to the cameras on Thursday. One by one, members filed into the office of the committee's chairman, Representative Dave Camp, Republican from Michigan, to sign the papers splayed out neatly on a large table that rested under an ornate chandelier.

Mr. Camp and his chief negotiating partner, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, linked hands for the cameras, as Mr. Baucus said helpfully for anyone who did not get the visual cue: Working together!

Not everyone agrees on the ultimate benefit of the new policies. Democrats, telecommunications companies and public safety officials have argued that the auctions of public airwaves will create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment to build the systems.

But the House speaker, John A. Boehner, was more lukewarm in his enthusiasm for the measure. While saying that the compromise was one that I support, he added: Let's be honest. This is an economic relief package, not a bill that's going to grow the economy and create jobs.

Some members of Mr. Boehner's party disagreed. Representative Fred Upton of Michigan, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, who leads a communications subcommittee, said in a joint statement that the bill would be an economic game-changer.

With 13 million Americans still seeking employment, job creation is a driving force behind efforts to expand wireless broadband, the congressmen said in their statement. Spectrum auctions are not only good public policy for the communications and technology sector, they will produce meaningful job creation when we need it most.

Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who for much of the last two years has pushed the idea of reclaiming what he called inefficiently used airwaves from broadcasters, said he was pleased that Congress has recognized the vital importance of freeing up more spectrum for mobile broadband.

But he expressed caution about some of the bill's language, which he said could limit the F.C.C.'s ability to maximize the amount and benefits of recovered spectrum.

He was referring to a provision in the bill, pushed aggressively by broadcasters, that sets limits on what actions the F.C.C. can take to reclaim airwaves from broadcasters. The bill prohibits the F.C.C. from excluding from the auctions companies like AT&T and Verizon, which already hold large chunks of spectrum for their networks.

The bill does allow the F.C.C. to write formal rules that set limits on how much spectrum one company can hold in a given market, however.

The legislation also provides for the creation of bands of unlicensed airwaves, so-called white space, around each segment of auctioned spectrum for use in building large Wi-Fi networks in urban areas and for use by cellphone companies in temporarily easing crowding on their networks.

About $15 billion of the $30 billion extension in unemployment benefits will be paid for with the proceeds of the incentive auctions.

Another $7 billion of auction proceeds will be used to build the public safety network on a block of spectrum that, had it been sold, might have raised another $2.75 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office's evaluation of the bill.

Roughly $1.75 billion will be available for the F.C.C. to compensate television stations that volunteer to give up their spot on the spectrum. The F.C.C., with some restrictions, can also move some stations around on the broadcast spectrum, allowing it to put together packages of contiguous bands of spectrum. Those would be more valuable than scattered pieces and thus should raise more money at auction.

Public safety departments pressed to include in this bill a dedicated nationwide network, since fire and police departments in New York found that their radio systems couldn't talk to each other during the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. The 9/11 Commission endorsed such a project in 2004, and emergency units continued to have the same problems after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the BP oil spill in 2010.

The F.C.C. had favored auctioning off the section of spectrum that now will be turned over for emergency services, letting it be developed by cellphone companies that would agree to give first priority to public safety transmissions during an emergency.

The conditions for the auction, however, resulted in no company bidding the required minimum, and the block of spectrum has sat largely unused for several years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/bu...s.html?_r=1&hp

Nielsen Notes (Cable)
'Ghost Hunters' shocking Grant Wilson announcement translates into ratings bump
By EW.com' 'Inside TV' Blog Staff - Feb. 16, 2012

The announcement last night that Ghost Hunters co-lead investigator Grant Wilson will be departing the series translated into a big ratings win for the show's winter finale.

Last night's hour-long episode drew 2.2 million total viewers, the show's highest ratings in 15 months. In adults 18-49, Ghost Hunters drew 1.1 million, making it the series' top performance in that measure since October and a season high. That 18-49 number reflects grown of 36 percent from the last finale episode, on Dec. 7.

Wilson told the audience last night that he would be leaving the show after the upcoming season. It is with mixed emotion that I am announcing my departure from the cast of Ghost Hunters, he said. While paranormal investigating has always been and will remain a passion for me, after enjoying nearly eight successful seasons on television, I have made the decision to leave the series in order to focus on other aspects of my personal life.

Wilson isn't totally done yet, though: He'll figure into six new episodes, beginning in April, culminating with a final new episode of Ghost Hunters on Wednesday, May 16 at 9 p.m. Twenty new episodes of the series remain for 2012. Taking Ghost Hunters timeslot in the interim is not shockingly Ghost Hunters International, which returns to SyFy on Feb. 22 with seven new episodes.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/02/16/gh...wilson-rating/

TV Notes
Have nerds conquered TV?
Caught between popularity and authenticity
By CNN.com's 'Geek Out!' Blog - Feb. 16, 2012

Steven Molaro's workspace is filled with paraphernalia familiar to any geeky fan of science fiction.

"In my office, I’ve got a lot of robot paintings," he said. One of Molaro's co-workers, Bill Prady, often fiddles with a "Star Trek" phaser and will occasionally "shoot" some of his colleagues.

When he and his co-workers gather, they are surrounded by a statue of Spock, a massive painting of DC Comics' "Justice League of America," and a Cylon standee from "Battlestar: Galactica."

All of this is actually quite appropriate for their office, because Molaro is an executive producer for "The Big Bang Theory."

Now in its fifth season on CBS, the show is more popular than ever, airing in reruns on local TV, as well as on TBS (owned by Turner, which also owns CNN). It has recently boasted of beating "American Idol" head-to-head in the coveted 18-49 demographic.

This means that new people are discovering the show all the time, some of whom may originally have been hesitant to watch a show about a bunch of science nerds who collect comic books.
In keeping with the show, Molaro has a theory of his own as well: "There could be some resistance, here and there, from people who are living a geeky or nerdy life, who thought we might be making fun of it or trying to emulate it without knowing what we’re talking about," he said. "But it really does come from a place of love. I’m not a scientist, but I certainly grew up a nerd who was on the outside and didn’t have a lot of friends. A lot of these references come from our personal knowledge."

At the same time (and this being a sitcom, after all), Molaro admits that the show will sometimes have the characters poke fun at each other. "I’d be lying if we sometimes don’t goof on it, but I think people who are nerds who are friends tend to goof on each other as well in certain areas," he said. "I don’t think there’s a need for everyone to love everything geek, and walk in lockstep. I think it’s okay that here and there, as much as we embrace it, that we have fun with it at the same time."

Over the years, there has been something of a split in the nerd community over what to think about the show.

Molaro said, "Mostly we get nice feedback, and sometimes people have specific things they’re upset about. They’re absolutely entitled to those opinions."

At the same time, its supporters are devoted to it, snatching up "Big Bang Theory" merchandise at conventions and elsewhere.

Molaro and co-creators Prady and Chuck Lorre got their first hint that the show was growing a fan base at San Diego Comic-Con in 2008. According to Molaro, Lorre was fully expecting the room to be nearly empty. Instead, they got the rock star treatment (and have every year since): "That was the first time we looked at each other and realized, this might be tapping into something way bigger than we thought it was."

Molaro (who, by the way, prides himself on his "Empire Strikes Back"-inspired Tauntaun sleeping bag) has been with the show since its second episode in 2007.

“I watched the pilot, and I thought, well, that’s pretty interesting," he said. "As a potential writer on the show, I was concerned that I wasn’t going to be able to pitch any science. I don’t have a deep science background. It was hard for me to know how this show would be received. We try to keep it as smart as we can and accessible at the same time. That aspect of the show has paid off."

As Molaro saw it, "The basic idea (early on) was to embrace the science and nerd culture, and try and tap into the element of these characters who tend to feel like they’re on the outside. And I think that’s something that a lot of people who watch the show can relate to, whether they’re one of the ‘cool kids’ or not."

Despite his lack of science knowledge, Molaro said, there are plenty of resources around to make sure the show gets the science right.

"Bill Prady has a fairly deep general science knowledge, along with Eric Kaplan, another writer on the show," he said. "For the hardcore science, David Salzberg, a UCLA physics professor, is on call for us to go over our science and make sure it’s accurate. Sometimes we know the general area of what we’re talking about but don’t know the specifics. Sometimes we literally write ‘science to come’ and have David fill that in for us."

It doesn't hurt that the show's newest cast member is also a neuroscientist.

“We have called on (Mayim Bialik, who plays protagonist Sheldon Cooper's female counterpart, Amy Farrah-Fowler) to help us time to time," he said. "She is very good at keeping her dialogue accurate. On more than one occasion, we thought we had it right and she corrected us, which we were thrilled to have. We want to be accurate, so we’re totally fine to have that happen. We’ve also called her at home on more than one occasion, to say ‘we want a part of the brain that Amy would be looking for,' and she is very quick with those answers."

Molaro said that there are more examples than he can count of stories that were based on actual events. "Without a doubt, every writer has had nerdy things in their lives make their way onto that TV screen in one form or another."

The show's rise in the ratings has been nearly simultaneous with the mainstreaming of nerd culture. "I don’t know why that explosion took place, but it’s been great for the show, that’s for sure," Molaro says.

Even so, being a network show, the creators strive to appeal to the broadest audience possible.

"In every episode, we have come up against wanting to make a deeper, lesser-known, nerdy, geeky reference, and we have to show some restraint because not everyone in the audience is going to get it," he admitted. "We refer to them as 'five percenter' jokes (five percent of the audience will get it). However, as these kind of memes have gone more mainstream, it has made it easier for us to go deeper into those references."

One part of the show that is definitely aiming for the geeks is having guest stars like Wil Wheaton (who has played himself multiple times, as Sheldon's nemesis), Steve Wozniak, George Takei, and astronaut Mike Massimino.

One guest star Molaro would still like to see on the show is Stephen Hawking.

And ever since Sheldon hugged Penny for giving him the gift of Leonard Nimoy's DNA, fans have been clamoring for the "Star Trek" actor to appear, something the producers would also welcome.

However, Molaro warned, "(Sheldon's) head might explode. We may not want that to happen."

http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02...-tv/?hpt=hp_c2

I'm not a fan of either, and things will probably get worse before they get better. I wasn't a fan of Jaworski either. Not that any of them are that bad, but just not what MNF needs.

They ought to go back and watch tapes of Cosell/Gifford/Meredith for inspiration.

The only thing Upton's good for is his niece Kate.

This an almost 100-year-old story repeated over and over...very unlikely to change.

One of my favorite shows. O'quinn and Lance Hendrickson were excellent. My favorite theme music for any show was Millennium. Writers advanced the story line way too fast in season 2. Season 3 didn't have any base to stand on after Catherine died and Frank left the Millennium group.

I'd love to see this show reissued on Blu-ray.

I don't have an issue with this. In fact it seems like they are one of a very few that are actually getting it. If I don't want cable then forcing me to get cable to watch March Madness is not going to make me get cable. It will just make me not watch it which is a lost viewer. This way they get some money instead of ZERO money.

TV Notes
Friday's TV Highlights: 'Spartacus: Vengeance' on Starz
By Los Angeles Times' 'Show Tracker' Blog - Feb. 16, 2011

[ALL TIMES LISTED ARE PACIFIC TIME]

SPARTACUS (Liam McIntyre) leads the survivors through the woods in a new episode of Spartacus: Vengeance at 10 p.m. on Starz.

SERIES

VisitingWith Huell Howser: This episode takes a step back in time with a collection of favorite Videolog segments from the 1980s featuring a young-looking Howser (7:30 p.m. KCET).

Kitchen Nightmares: In this new episode, chef Gordon Ramsay works with the owners of an Italian bistro in La Verne, suffering from lackluster service, an uninspired menu and outdated decor (8 p.m. Fox).

20/20: This new episode of the news magazine series profiles Whitney Houston, provides new details about Whitney's final days and features an interview with Diane Sawyer conducted with the singer 10 years ago (9 p.m. ABC).

Michael Feinstein's American Songbook: The season finale of the musical history series looks at nightclub entertainment (9 p.m. KOCE).

The Life & Times of Tim: Omnicorp asks Tim to apologize for them publicly after they are responsible for an ecological disaster in the season finale (9 p.m. HBO).

Merlin: The treacherous Agravaine (Nathaniel Parker) tells Arthur (Bradley James) he believes court physician Gius (Richard Wilson) has fled Camelot under suspicion of dark sorcery in this new episode (10 p.m. Syfy).

100 Greatest Women in Music: The countdown concludes with the top 20 (10 p.m. VH1).

SPECIALS

The 43rd NAACP Image Awards: Outstanding achievements by people of color in entertainment and literature are saluted in this awards gala (8 p.m. NBC).

MOVIES

Radio Rebel: Debby Ryan stars in this new family drama as a painfully shy high-school girl with a secret life as the host of a podcast urging teens to eschew cliques. Sarena Parmar, Adam DiMarco and Atticus Mitchell also star (8 p.m. Disney).

SPORTS

Pro hockey: The Ducks visit the Devils (4 p.m. FS Prime).

College hockey: Dartmouth at Yale (4:30 p.m. NBCSP).

Pro basketball: The Phoenix Suns visit the Lakers (7:30 p.m. ESPN and FSN).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...hlights17.html

TV Sports
Jeremy Lin getting a national TV audience
By Michale Hiestand, USA Today - Feb. 17, 2012

Whether the Jeremy Lin buzz is largely news media-driven or comes from his playing in The City That Never Stops Talking — New York — will be tested as America weighs in Sunday when Lin makes his broadcast network debut as the New York Knicks host the Dallas Mavericks on ABC (1 p.m. ET).

With NBA TV schedules set before the season and limits on teams' appearances on networks, Lin's run hasn't been accessible on national TV. The exception came last Friday on ESPN against the Los Angeles Lakers, known as big TV draws. The matchup drew a less-than-spectacular 1.9% of U.S. TV households. The situation is sort of a throwback to 20th-century TV sports, when your TV remote couldn't always take you to everything big in sports.

ABC, which gets the marquee matchups and time slots in ESPN/ABC's NBA TV deal that began in 2002, has had it highest-rated games on Christmas Day— topped by its record 7.3% of U.S. households for a 2004 Miami Heat-Lakers game. (That was Shaquille O'Neal vs. Kobe Bryant I, as two ex-teammates squared off.)

Be careful about betting that Lin will top that Sunday. But it should best ABC's best regular-season NBA rating for a non-Christmas game — the 4.3% for a Boston Celtics-Lakers game last season — despite being assigned to Sunday's early time slot to precede Miami-Orlando Magic (3:30 p.m. ET) in the marquee slot. (Before the season, who knew?)

ABC/ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy, an ex-Knicks coach, doesn't worry about ratings going to Lin's head. "To me, this is the best part of his story. He's had this incredible early success and remains humble. … I don't think he's going to be distracted by media attention."

So how does Van Gundy, whose brother, Stan, coaches Orlando, figure Lin fell through so many scouting cracks? "With the shortened preseason, there weren't as many practices and preseason games. So this year, more than others, it makes sense. … But who cares? With all the over-saturation of stats everywhere — on ESPN, in fantasy leagues, here's what counts: He starts, and they win."

And Van Gundy assumes Lin's Asian ethnicity was a factor: "People who don't look that part have a harder time getting noticed. You have to be even better if you don't fit the 'profile.' "

As ESPN/ABC's lead analyst, Van Gundy is assigned to the game that was supposed to be the big deal. "I would have loved to do (Lin's game), no question. Everybody wants to see the underdog live."

Stevens Lucks into new career

Just because Gary Stevens won eight Triple Crown races, don't assume he got his role as a hard-drinking jockey in the intense HBO series Luck because he can ride. In fact, he's not allowed to.

"I have a stunt rider because of insurance," he says. "Paralysis or death would maybe cause problems for the production."

Uh, probably. "And I'm not allowed to ride my Harley Davidson, or jump out of airplanes — which I'd never do anyway."

But then, he'd never planned to go into acting or sportscasting. Stevens says that until the last few years of his career as a jockey — he retired in 2005 — he had "no other ambition to do anything other than train race horses. But unexpected opportunities arose."

Like the 2003 film Seabiscuit, where Stevens also played a jockey — and also wasn't allowed to ride. Stevens was sent to spend three days with an acting coach, who phoned the producers the second day. Stevens figured he was a goner. Instead, he heard the acting coach say: "I'm sending him home. He's ready. I don't want to screw him up."

In 2005, Stevens joined NBC, where he remains a lead analyst on its Triple Crown coverage.

In Luck (Sunday, 9 p.m. ET), a dark drama whose cast includes Dustin Hoffman as a scheming ex-con and Nick Nolte as an owner with a scandal in his past, Stevens' part was created with him in mind. He says he's known show writer David Milch for 30 years. "I rode race horses for him. He loves to play the ponies. … And every Luck character is based on certain personalities at race tracks."

And he trots out lots of racing lingo in his scripts. But cast members, including Stevens, use weekly Monday night Twitter chats —#LuckChat — to help viewers make translations.

Paying for March Madness

NCAA men's basketball games carried by Turner's TNT, TBS and TruTV will no longer be free to everyone online. Users will now have to pay for some elements, like watching on mobile devices.

Now called NCAA March Madness Live, formerly March Madness on Demand, what was a completely free service last year will now carry charges — albeit just a $3.99 one-time cost for the entire tournament.

All CBS games will remain free online. And in addition to Apple mobile devices, games this year will be available on Android phones.

Where the new $3.99 fee applies:

• If you are not a subscriber to the Turner TV channels. If you have them, you'll need to go online to "authenticate" that you are a subscriber to watch the games free.

• If you want to get all games being played simultaneously on one site, so you can quickly switch back and forth between games. Otherwise, you would need to access the games separately on each of the three Turner channel websites.

• If you want to get watch the games on a mobile device.

What's the big deal about having to pay $3.99 for all that action?

Not much, for now. But offering the service free last year — it had previously been pricy and didn't include CBS games to protect CBS' TV ratings — there was wide consumer sampling of live video with an obvious online appeal because it included weekday action. When you're stuck at work. Now, you might be hooked — and this might be the start of a series of price hikes.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colum...lin/53123976/1

TV Review
'Life's Too Short' (HBO)
By Tim Goodman, The Hollywood Reporter

Sometimes Ricky Gervais is so busy being controversial as an awards host or comedian or social commentator that the public forgets how great his television series can be.

Obviously, The Office goes into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. And not enough people seem to know how much genius went into Extras, his follow-up collaboration with Stephen Merchant that was co-produced by the BBC and HBO.

Now comes HBO's Life's Too Short and what looks, after three episodes, to be another vein of gold for Gervais and Merchant. The faux documentary series centers on Britain's "go-to dwarf," Warwick Davis (the Harry Potter and Star Wars movies), who's out of work, getting a divorce and owes back taxes.

It doesn't take much of a stretch to see the Gervais/Merchant DNA in Too Short, which borrows from the formula they mastered with Office. The duo excels at wince-inducing comedy, and central to their conceit is someone (think the David Brent character from Office) whose self-importance is wonderfully blind to reality. The more their shortcomings are exposed to the camera, the more resistant they are to believing their lot in life -- and pomposity, lies and misfortune generally follow. As does embarrassment.

Too Short is packed with such moments thanks to spot-on writing and Davis' superb star turn. He willingly puts himself up for abuse (he was an Ewok in the Star Wars films) and, as head of a fictitious "Dwarves for Hire" acting business, is constantly undercutting clients with his own desperation for work.

The show's running gag is that Warwick Davis -- he constantly refers to himself in the third person -- thinks everyone knows who he is, but they never do. In one scene, he takes a camera crew to meet Gervais and Merchant but can't reach the keypad to be buzzed in. He asks someone on the street to do it, and the exchange is priceless: When Davis asserts that he was in Star Wars, he is met with skepticism. "I was an Ewok," he explains. "Those little bears?" says the person. "They're not little bears!" replies Davis.

Too Short already has been renewed in Britain, even though the series didn't reach the ratings numbers of Office (how could it?) or Extras. Gervais might be an even more polarizing figure there for critics than in the States, and some U.K. reviews of Too Short seemed more intent to rip on him than to critique the show. Not unexpectedly, the series became controversial because of its frequent use of "dwarf" instead of "little people" -- though the show makes clear that the real offense is "midget" -- and the ridiculous suggestion that Too Short exploits Davis. As for the claim that he is merely a shorter David Brent, and thus Gervais and Merchant are mining familiar ground, the argument is just lazy. Hypocrisy, self-grandiosity and meanness to others in an attempt to elevate oneself are the stock-in-trade of Gervais and Merchant.

In any case, Too Short has a few other tricks up its sleeve, particularly in the area of stunt casting (which Extras did so brilliantly). Liam Neeson, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Carell and Sting all appear.

Neeson is hilarious as himself, coming to Gervais and Merchant for help because he wants to do comedy (both of the latter men have perfected the sideways glance at the camera to indicate something is a very bad idea or about to go wrong).

Davis is doing great work here -- his timing is impeccable, and his spirit can't be defeated in the face of embarrassment, a key component of the Gervais/Merchant recipe.

Gervais hasn't let the public's divided opinion of him stop him from being funny (though it appeared to tame him during the Golden Globes in January). With Life's Too Short, he again delivers.

LIFE'S TOO SHORT
Airdate: 10:30 p.m. Feb. 19 (HBO)
The Bottom Line: Warwick Davis might be a shorter version of David Brent, but Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have once-again mastered the art of wince-inducing comedy meant to skewer people who have an inaccurately bloated view of their own fame or self-worth.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rev...gervais-291950

TV Review
'Radio Rebel' (Disney)
Shrinking Violet at School Blossoms on the Radio
By Jon Caramanica, The New York Times - Feb. 17, 2012

It's clear the indie kids will triumph in Radio Rebel from the first time you see Tara (Debby Ryan) in the hall of her high school, wearing a slouchy knit hat and flannel that scream Seattle, 1991.

Tara is an outsider, natch, but she also anonymously hosts an Internet radio show on which she shares her true feelings, groaning about the atomization of her peers into cruel cliques. In school every day, she's invisible. Online, she's a folk hero.

Radio Rebel, a film appearing on the Disney Channel on Friday night, is Pump Up the Volume for rugrats, a splash of anti-establishment insouciance between all of this network's shiny-cheeked go-getters and goofballs. (It's also territory that the Nickelodeon offshoot the N got to several years ago with Radio Free Roscoe.)

Ms. Ryan is a product of the Disney Channel farm system: she's had pickup work on Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana; a big role on The Suite Life on Deck; and now the lead on Jessie, which had its premiere in the fall. She comes off like a less peppy version of Demi Lovato (who preceded her as the Disney Channel's would-be alt star). When she's in Radio Rebel mode, she's almost sultry, oozing confidence and disruptive flair. Even her meek school presence feels more John Hughes than Saturday morning television.

Based on the novel Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph, this movie is a far less intense proposition than High School Musical, Camp Rock or their offspring and, to be fair, at least in places, it is less reliant on caricature. Stacy (Merritt Patterson), the chief mean girl and Tara antagonist, turns out to have low self-esteem, and Tara's mother, who initially seems ill equipped to deal with a shy child, ends up unexpectedly reflective.

Most of the rest of the characters are disposable, though: the caffeinated best friend, Audrey (Sarena Parmar), and even the supposed heartthrob Gavin (Adam DiMarco), who has huge features that do the work his words don't.

The main flaw, though, is logistical: That hundreds of high school students would simultaneously tune in to an Internet radio show tests the bounds of credulity, as does the idea that a local radio station would hire an Internet cult figure and give over its evening airtime to her. (I thought the Web liberated us from the tyranny of scheduled media, no?)

As Tara begins to embrace her power as Radio Rebel, things fall apart. The school's vindictive principal cancels the prom unless Tara comes forward, so she organizes an alternative dance, telling students, Just come as you are. The only student who struggles with that is, of course, Tara herself. Radio Rebel was nominated for prom queen, and Tara shuns the spotlight.

What if I don't want to shine? she gripes. What if shining isn't really my thing?

Gavin had planned to take Stacy to boost his social status, but he naturally sees the error of his ways. When he bails, she melts down about the crowns they could have won, and he holds firm: I don't want to be king. I never did.

Tara outs herself at the prom, risking expulsion, but is saved by her peers, who one by one insist, I'm Radio Rebel! a very O Captain! My Captain! moment. And Gavin, who earlier in the film was ditched by his smarmy, party-centric electro-rock band for being too sincere, steps onto the stage to play a meaningful guitar ballad called Now I Can Be the Real Me.

RADIO REBEL
Disney Channel, Friday night at 8, Eastern and Pacific times; 7, Central time.


http://tv.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/art...ref=television

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TV Review
'Curious & Unusual Deaths' (Discovery Fit and Health)
Spoiler Alert: You're Going to Die at the End
By Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times - Feb. 17, 2012

I had thought that the Spike series 1,000 Ways to Die, a compendium of gruesome actual deaths, pretty much had the subject covered.

I mean, when you put your mind to it which I do a lot lately because I watch quite a bit of what I call Paranoia Television how many ways to expire can you come up with? Hit by a bus, flattened by a meteor, crushed by the neighbor's pet python, maybe a dozen others. Surely there can't be more than 1,000 ways to die.

Writing those words now, I can't believe that a mere 30 minutes ago I was so naïve. That was before I watched Curious & Unusual Deaths, a series that has its premiere Friday on Discovery Fit & Health. What exactly is fit and healthy about dying isn't clear to me, but what is clear is that I'll be lucky to finish writing this review before I am struck down in some bizarre, unpredictable way.

Why did the Bible salesman drop dead? the show asks in its opening moments. Why indeed? The series looks at this and other real-life deaths that might seem inexplicable and then explains them.

The salesman was struck down in midpitch on a cloudless Florida day. By the end of the segment we know that the phrase bolt from the blue isn't just an expression, and that a Bible is apparently no protection against random death.

The premiere also explores the departures of a scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project and a not-very-bright lawyer who worked on the 24th floor of a glass tower in Toronto. As if that weren't enough for the easily unsettled, the show sprinkles each episode with factoids related to the deaths examined, just rolling them out there without explanation.

Eighty-four percent of people struck by lightning are male, we're told in the premiere. Then, later, kitty litter and bananas contain enough radiation to set off many airport detectors.

Well, that settles it. This is the last time I clean out the cat box during a thunderstorm while eating a banana. Thanks to this series, I know that death could come when I least expect it, even in midsenten

CURIOUS & UNUSUAL DEATHS
Discovery Fit & Health, Friday nights at 10, Eastern and Pacific times; 9, Central time.

http://tv.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/art...ref=television

TV Notes
Best tube bets this weekend
The top draws in broadcast and cable and in sports
By Louisa Ada Seltzer, Media Life Magazine - Feb. 17, 2012

FRIDAY

Best bet on broadcast: NBC, "NAACP Image Awards," 8 p.m. Lenny Kravitz and Jill Scott are among the performers at the 43rd annual event.

Best bet on cable: TBS, "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," 8 p.m. The first of four new back-to-back episodes.

Top sporting event: ESPN, "NBA Basketball," 8 p.m. The first half of a doubleheader pits the Dallas Mavericks versus the Philadelphia 76ers.

SATURDAY

Best bet on broadcast: NBC, "Saturday Night Live," 11:30 p.m. Former musical guest Maya Rudolph hosts, with musical guests Sleigh Bells.

Best bet on cable: Nickelodeon, "Victorious," 8 p.m. Tori thinks Andre's new girlfriend is changing him for the worse.

Top sporting event: Fox, "NASCAR Racing," 8 p.m. The 34th annual Budweiser Shootout, live from Daytona.

SUNDAY

Best bet on broadcast: Fox, "The Simpsons," 8 p.m. The Simpson family is banished from Springfield in the show's 500th episode.

Best bet on cable: E!, "Khloe & Lamar," 10 p.m. Season premiere. Rob moves out of the couple's house and Lamar deals with the NBA lockout.

Top sporting event:ABC, "NBA Basketball," 1 p.m. Linsanity hits broadcast TV as the Knicks host the champion Mavericks. And yes, you will be sick of all the Lin puns by the end of the game.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...end-feb-17.asp