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TV Notes
Comedy Central's 'South Park' Reduces Episode Order
By Philiana Ng, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Jan. 28, 2013

South Park is cutting back.

Comedy Central's animated staple, from co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, will see a reduced episode count for the 17th season. Instead of the usual 14 episodes split into two batches of seven each, beginning Sept. 25, South Park will run straight through for 10 episodes.

There wasn't any particular rhyme or reason for the original half season format, but the more condensed run will offer the duo more opportunity to try other things, which could include a possible Book of Mormon movie. (Earlier this month, the pair formed their own production company, Important Studios, estimated to have a $300 million value.)

"Why did we do seven and seven to begin with?" Stone told the New York Times. "We just sort of made that up. And we are switching to 10 for the same reason. It just sounded like a good number, and we won't break up the year so we can more easily do other stuff."

That's not to say there wasn't any thought put into this particular move.

"There is no appointment viewing anymore," Stone said. "In our first season, you had to show up on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. on the comedy channel to catch the show. Now, I don't even know where or how people watch our show. We sort of don't really care about ratings. It's more important to come up with work that will add to the library in a way that we're proud of and will make people want to catch the show wherever they want to."

Added Parker: "Now instead of putting out two albums a year, we are only going to do one, which is more manageable and ensures that it will be something we are proud of."

For Parker and Stone, the move to cut back on South Park episodes may be seen as a risk, but the two reaffirm their hopes that this will ensure that the show continues for a long time.

"We want to keep South Park going for a long time to come, and given what is going on in television, I don't think it matters as much how many episodes you have," Stone said.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/south-park-reduces-episode-order-415858

TV/Business Notes
TV Rights To Secret ‘Salinger’ Documentary Licensed To ‘American Masters’
Will Be Prestige Series’ 200th Installment
By Mike Fleming, Jr., Deadline.com - Jan. 28, 2013

EXCLUSIVE: Not all of last week’s indie film deal-making action took place at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City. Three years to the day that The Catcher In The Rye author J.D. Salinger died and Deadline revealed a feature documentary on the reclusive author had been completed, the U.S. television rights to the Shane Salerno-directed Salinger have been licensed to Thirteen/WNET to be the 200th episode of the PBS series American Masters. Feature rights will next be auctioned for a theatrical release to precede the January 2014 PBS special. In addition, The Private War Of J.D. Salinger — an 800-page biography written by bestselling author David Shields and Salerno and informed by the eight years of research for the documentary — will be auctioned to publishers later this week.

Since Salerno had completed most of the film when I viewed an early cut in late 2009, why has it taken so long to start showing the film to buyers? Salerno told me it’s because the documentary took on a much different form after my original piece created a stir in the wake of Salinger’s death. Colleagues of the author who’d ignored or rebuffed interview requests for fear of offending the reclusive author began calling. More than a dozen were included in the finished film. It’s still about two hours long, but their inclusion changed both the documentary and the biography.

“I walked out of Technicolor the day he passed away with a final print, fully mixed, mastered, color corrected,” Salerno told Deadline. “About three days after he passed away, the phone rang and it was someone who’d had a deeply close, personal relationship with Salinger. The public will never have heard of him, but I’d chased him for years. This person said, when can you come?

“A lot of people in my life who’d already spent so much time on this wanted to get the film out, especially after all the attention that came with his passing,” Salerno said. “At the end of that seven-hour interview, they all said, we need to call everybody who said no. We did, and some of them called us. The 14 additional people in the film, whose interviews ranged from three to seven hours, required major changes to keep the running time the same. Things we’d fallen in love with suddenly weren’t going to make the cut and a lot of hard decisions had to be made. Major chunks came out to make room for new stuff that was much better.”

Why the change of heart?

“There were people who’ve been quiet 40 or 50 years, some of whom didn’t want to disappoint him,” Salerno said. “After his passing, it became part of some cathartic release they needed after being quiet so long. Once the camera went on, they had so much to say that was pent up. The most emotional interviews were the ones that happened right after Salinger passed away for the obvious reason, but also because they had unresolved feelings and didn’t have closure with him. That closure came from them talking to him, through us. At that point I knew we were two years away from being done.”

It is an unusual strategy to first sell TV rights to a documentary. Most with theatrical ambitions seek a film distributor that funnels their releases through ancillary output deals that include television. PBS has been courting Salerno since Deadline’s original story, and they were the only ones shown the film. I’ve heard in agency circles that they made a deal unprecedented for the broadcaster, and that Salerno has recouped the bulk of the $2 million he spent out of his own pocket to make the film.

“I’ve spent eight years on Salinger, and he was so protective of his work that I had an obligation to be protective over the presentation of his life,” Salerno told me. “American Masters covers the finest artists this country has produced, from Ernest Hemingway to John Lennon, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Woody Allen. Salinger is an American master and I wanted to see him in the company of those artists.”

The project was reeled in by American Masters creator and exec producer Susan Lacy, who has become the film’s exec producer. “This is an extraordinary piece of work; the more recognition Salinger received, the more reclusive and enigmatic he became, refusing all interviews and trying to block all coverage,” she said. “With the embargo finally lifted, it is my intellectual and emotional thrill to bring the inimitable J.D. Salinger into the American Masters library. I cannot envision a more appropriate subject for our 200th broadcast in January.”

Said WNET programming VP Stephen Segaller: “We never thought we’d see a film on the most elusive author in modern history, especially a film as gripping and powerful as this one. American Masters on PBS once again the place for unparalleled films on iconic cultural subjects.”

Most of the documentaries done for the series are generated in-house, but they made this an exception. Salerno retained full ownership of the film, and will now begin to sell in platforms that include theatrical, home video and worldwide film and TV.

It has been a long time since I saw the film in December 2009 (Salerno showed it to me after I’d heard about it from an interview subject, and I viewed it under agreement I would keep it quiet until it was shopped, which changed when the author died). It’s hard to remember specifics, so here is what I wrote three years ago, when the earlier cut of the film was fresh in my brain:

“I found the film, which doesn’t have narration, to be exhaustively researched and arrestingly powerful. Most importantly, it answers a lot of questions I and everyone have had about the author. There is previously unseen footage and photos, and a rich depiction of that unfathomable period in Salinger’s career when The New Yorker magazine was able to publish a new “J.D. Salinger” story fairly regularly.

There also are details of: his WWII soldiering in Normandy and interrogation of Nazi prisoners; his love affair with Eugene O’Neill’s daughter Oona, and the crushing disappointment of losing her to Charlie Chaplin while Salinger fought in Europe; Salinger’s habit of locking himself away in his New Hampshire cinder block bunker for weeks at a time to write; his penchant for taking a week to craft a single sentence; the damage his silences caused his family; the futile efforts of friends to re-introduce him to the world; Salinger’s protectiveness towards his work; his refusal to sell anything to Hollywood, turning down 8-figure offers and first-class filmmakers like Billy Wilder and Steven Spielberg; his determination to maintain total control over his prose (so that when a New Yorker editor once added a comma, Salinger never spoke to him again).

Even more intriguing, Salerno’s documentary also reports on what J.D. Salinger literary works might be in the famed secret vault, where 45 years of unpublished writings are rumored to be kept.

Salerno told me the project began when he purchased the rights to Paul Alexander’s book Salinger: A Biography and tried to turn it into a feature. He realized during interviews with Salinger’s peers that these 80+-year-old men wouldn’t be around much longer. That’s when he switched focus to the documentary, which was still based on Alexander’s book. Salerno succeeded in getting to many sources just before they died, though sadly didn’t get there in time for others.

A feature would have been a challenge anyway, since Salinger was so litigious and protective of his privacy. (He sued successfully to stop a book that contained his unpublished letters, and halted a Catcher in the Rye sequel novel by another author.) Salinger never sued over Alexander’s book, however.

But other attempts to put Salinger on the big screen have been unsuccessful. W.P Kinsella’s book Shoeless Joe incorporated Salinger as a kidnapped character. When it was adapted for the screen into Field of Dreams in 1989, Salinger was turned into a fictionalized reclusive author “Terry Mann” played by James Earl Jones. In another project, Sean Connery acknowledged that the inspiration for his role in 2000′s Finding Forrester was Salinger, yet that character was fictionalized as “William Forrester”.

Salerno went into the documentary expecting it to be a 6-month project. But it grew into a five-year obsession.”

Salinger has turned out to be an eight-year obsession waged while Salerno was writing or co-writing scripts that included the Oliver Stone-directed adaptation of Don Winslow’s Savages, and projects for James Cameron, Michael Mann and Leonardo DiCaprio. He cut the film at Technicolor, and the house preserved the secrecy of what it labeled “Project Y”. Discretion was also paid to interview subjects, with certain crew members setting up equipment and then leaving so they would not know who was being captured on film. Salerno wouldn’t say which Salinger acquaintances were added to the film. Back when I first wrote, he said that among those heavily influenced by the author include Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, E.L. Doctorow, Martin Sheen, Danny DeVito, A. Scott Berg and others.

Salerno added to the film a score by Lorne Balfe, the co-composer of Christopher Nolan’s Inception and The Dark Knight, with other credits that include Frost/Nixon. The film’s produced by Salerno, Buddy Squires, Deborah Randall and Craig Fanning.

I asked Salerno if we will finally learn from his film what writing Salinger left behind in the vault of his home in Cornish, New Hampshire, or whether he actually got screen time with arguably the most famous author of the 20th century. The filmmaker wasn’t biting.

“What I am comfortable saying at this point is, there are some significant surprises in the film, and it is substantial and comprehensive. We were at this eight years. The point of the photo we gave Newsweek after your article was, this is a photo of the man on his bed at the height of his reclusiveness. It was our way of saying we have what we say we have, and are as inside as anyone has ever been there is significant content and revelations.”

Salerno is repped by CAA and attorney Robert Offer, and the book will be auctioned by Salerno’s The Story Factory.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/jd-salinger-american-masters-secret-documentary-movie-january-2014/

Business Notes
Kevin Tsujihara Named Warner Bros. CEO
By Tim Molloy and Sharon Waxman, TheWrap.com - Jan. 28, 2013

Kevin Tsujihara, head of Warner Bros. home entertainment division, has been named the new CEO of Warner Bros. Entertainment, beating out TV chief Bruce Rosenblum and movie head Jeff Robinov.

Tension has been high at Warner Bros. for more than a year, since Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes made it known that he would choose a chief executive for the movie and television studio from among the three co-presidents.

Bewkes named Tsujihara one part of a triumvirate titled “Office of the President” when he renewed chairman Barry Meyer’s contract in 2010. Alan Horn left the studio, creating a three-man race to succeed Meyer when his contract ends this year.

“Kevin is one of the most effective and respected executives within Time Warner, and the right leader to ensure Warner Bros,’ preeminence into the future," Bewkes said. "He brings the perfect combination of strategic thinking, financial discipline, digital vision, and management style to build on Warner Bros.’ track record of success under Barry Meyer.”

“It is an honor to have the opportunity to lead this storied business," Tsujihara said. "We’re at a pivotal moment in the histories of Hollywood and entertainment: technology is changing the canvas we use to create theatrical releases; home entertainment is rapidly evolving; and the definition of television now includes viewing across a wide range of devices and services. But in my mind one thing remains clear and constant: Warner Bros.’ unmatched ability to tell stories that inspire, educate, and entertain global audiences."

Tjusihara has run the home entertainment division since its founding in 2005. In that time, he has tried to offset declining DVD revenues by acquiring Flixster, a social movie site where users share movie ratings, and helping to launch UltraViolet, the industry-backed cloud-based movie ownership system.

The home entertainment division includes the studio’s home video, digital distribution, videogames, anti-piracy and emerging technology operations.

Bewkes and Meyer, who has been CEO since 1999, announced Monday that Tsujihara will take over the job March 1. His appointment is not a surprise, although many thought the ambitious Rosenblum had the edge on the job.

Rosenblum issued a unusual statement expressing his disappointment at not getting the job: “Obviously, I'm disappointed; who wouldn't be?" he said in the statement. "Warner Bros. is a unique and special place and I know it will be in good hands with Kevin at the helm. I continue to be proud of our accomplishments and I have the most respect and admiration for our amazing team at the studio – a team that is thriving in an ever-transforming business."

Robinov had no immediate comment.

In choosing Tsujihara over Rosenblum and Robinov, Bewkes made a clear statement that he believes the future success of the entertainment studio lies in the hands of a leader who is deeply engaged in the digital transformation of the industry.

The UltraViolet initiative has had mixed success since its launch. The Flixster acquisition is considered a success.

Here is the full news release from Time Warner:

Time Warner Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes and Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer today announced that Kevin Tsujihara will become the next Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros. Entertainment. Mr. Tsujihara will become CEO beginning March 1, 2013, succeeding Mr. Meyer, who will remain as Chairman through 2013.

In making the announcement Mr. Bewkes said, “Kevin is one of the most effective and respected executives within Time Warner, and the right leader to ensure Warner Bros.’ preeminence into the future. He brings the perfect combination of strategic thinking, financial discipline, digital vision, and management style to build on Warner Bros.’ track record of success under Barry Meyer.”

Mr. Meyer added, “In working with Kevin for nearly 20 years, I’ve come to know and value a talented executive with a passion for this company and its people. He has skillfully guided one of the most complex businesses at Warner Bros. during a time of transition in the home entertainment sector, and has a deep appreciation and respect for the films and TV shows we create. Kevin has a rare combination of extraordinary business acumen and a love for the art of storytelling, and I’m confident he will be a great leader for Warner Bros.”

Over the next several months, Mr. Meyer and Mr. Tsujihara will work together with other members of Warner Bros. senior executive team, including Warner Bros. Television President Bruce Rosenblum and Warner Bros. Pictures President Jeff Robinov, to ensure an orderly transition.

As President of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group since 2005, Mr. Tsujihara currently oversees the company’s home video, digital distribution, videogames, anti-piracy, and emerging technology operations.

Mr. Tsujihara said, “It is an honor to have the opportunity to lead this storied business. We’re at a pivotal moment in the histories of Hollywood and entertainment: technology is changing the canvas we use to create theatrical releases; home entertainment is rapidly evolving; and the definition of television now includes viewing across a wide range of devices and services. But in my mind one thing remains clear and constant: Warner Bros.’ unmatched ability to tell stories that inspire, educate, and entertain global audiences. We are extremely fortunate to have strong relationships with some of the industry’s most gifted talent and together we will continue to use those relationships, our scale, and our passion to build on Warner Bros. great legacy.”

Mr. Tsujihara joined Warner Bros. in 1994 as Director, Special Projects, Finance to assist in the management of the company’s interest in Six Flags. Across his nearly two decades with the company he has served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Business Development & Strategy, Warner Bros. Entertainment and, Executive Vice President, New Media, responsible for the oversight of all Warner Bros.’ new media endeavors.

Mr. Tsujihara received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California and his MBA from Stanford University. He sits on the Board of Directors for the MPAA, City Year Los Angeles, an education focused, nonprofit organization, the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, Kabam, the Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation, and the Entertainment Software Association.

Lucas Shaw contributed to this report.

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/kevin-tsujihara-named-warner-bros-ceo-74976

Nielsen Overnights
Dipping Pro Bowl Tops Night, 'Good Wife' Hits Low
By Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Jan. 28, 2013

The 2013 Pro Bowl gave NBC a win among adults 18-49 and total viewers on Sunday night. Fast National returns are approximate, but before time zone adjustments the NFC-AFC matchup pulled a 3.3 rating in the key demo. That's down 8 percent from last year's game. With the pre-game special (3.0 adults), the network averaged a 3.3 adults rating and 9.9 million viewers.

The Fox animation block started with an encore of Bob's Burger's before a new episode of The Cleveland Show (1.2 adults) was down 8 percent. A steady Simpsons (2.4 adults) led into an original Bob's Burgers (2.0 adults), down 13 percent from two weeks ago. Family Guy (2.8 adults) and American Dad (2.1 adults) were also down 13 percent. Fox averaged a 1.9 rating with 18-49-ers and 3.9 million viewers.

CBS saw dips without a playoffs leads, starting with 60 Minutes. The episode, which included an interview with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was down 48 percent from its last original to a 1.7 adults rating. After an encore of NCIS, The Good Wife (1.5 adults) was down 21 percent to a series low. The Mentalist (1.8 adults) dropped 14 percent. The network averaged a 1.5 adults rating and 9.7 million viewers.

Repeats of America's Funniest Home Videos and Once Upon a Time led into Hallmark Hall of Fame movie The Makeover. With a 1.1 adults rating, it was down 27 percent from last January's Hallmark outing on ABC. The network averaged a 1.2 adults rating and 5.2 million viewers.

Univision averaged a 0.9 rating with adults 18-49 and 2.3 million viewers.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-dipping-pro-bowl-415841

Nielsen Notes (Cable)
'Spartacus' returns to fewer damned viewers
By James Hibberd, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - Jan. 28, 2013

The final season of the sex-and-blood-drenched Starz drama Spartacus returned to a slightly smaller arena of viewers.

The premiere episode of the “War of the Damned” cycle of the show debuted Friday night to 930,000 viewers, a tally that rose to 2.5 million by the end of the weekend. That’s a solid performance, though a tad softer overall vs. previous years. The premiere weekend for the franchise’s Gods of the Arena prequel in 2011 had 2.8 million viewers and last year’s Spartacus: Vengeance had 2.7 million. (You might see stories out there saying Spartacus came back to its “second-highest rating ever.” That’s from a Starz press release touting a subscriber-universe “GRP” rating that’s normally only used internally at cable networks and not in media reporting).

Normally ratings for a final season of a series don’t matter too much. But in this case, Starz is weighing a spinoff centered on the Julius Caesar (Todd Lasance), who is introduced next week on the show. You can bet executives will closely follow how Spartacus performs this season — and whether Caesar seizes some fans of his own online.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/28/spartacus-fewer-viewers/

* * * *

Nielsen Notes (Cable)
SAG Awards ratings up

Hollywood’s top actors delivered improved ratings for TNT’s annual telecast of the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The Sunday night telecast delivered 5.2 million viewers across TNT and its sister network TBS, including 2.1 million adults 18-49. The show was up a slight 2 percent among total viewers and up 5 percent in the demo.

The networks also announced a new three-year contract to continue carrying the awards fest. The show gave to TV honors to performances by Claire Danes in Homeland, Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad, Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey in 30 Rock and the casts of Downton Abbey and Modern Family.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/28/sag-awards-ratings-rise-slightly/

TV Notes
‘Chicago Fire’s Order Upped By One Episode
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Jan. 28, 2013

EXCLUSIVE: NBC’s freshman Chicago Fire has been a late bloomer. The firefighter drama did not premiere until October. It started off slow but held onto its lead-in and did just well enough in its first few airings to earn a back 9 order. The Dick Wolf-produced series then kept steady and started to grow, hitting series highs earlier this month.

Now it has been given an order for one extra episode, bringing its freshman season to 23 episodes.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/chicago-fires-order-upped-by-one-episode/

TV Review
‘Southie Rules,’ staged and not funny
A South Boston family appears to be stumbling for the cameras
By Tom Conroy, Media Life Magazine - Jan. 28, 2013

There’s a relatively new term for reality shows in which people are supposedly filmed living their normal lives but are in fact entering artificial situations and doing what the producers tell them to do. They’re called “structured reality.” As years go by, these shows are becoming more structured and less real.

The latest such show is A&E’s “Southie Rules,” about a probably real family that is holding out against the gentrification of their formerly working-class neighborhood, South Boston. Their multigenerational household and endangered status could be interesting, but the phoniness of the plotlines imposed on them reduces the documentary value of the show without providing enough of the intended comedy.

Being a mercifully short half hour, the premiere episode, airing this Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 10 p.m., leaves out much of the family’s back story. But according to the press materials, they own a tattoo parlor. The father, Walter, who had problems with sobriety, is retired and divorced from the mother, Camille, even though they still share a bedroom.

Walter and Camille’s three grown children live in their house, a classic Boston “triple decker.” The eldest, Leah, is married to Jarod, with whom she has a toddler, Abby. The two sons, Jonathan and Matt, work in the family business. Matt and his live-in girlfriend, Jenn, have a one-year-old daughter, Liana.

In one of those situations that occur in shows like this, a comical family friend named Devin supposedly spends most nights on the couch in the living room.

If that doesn’t stretch viewers’ credibility sufficiently, the main story line in the premiere is the family members’ unusual way of paying the house expenses. We’re expected to believe that each adult reaches into a basket and pulls out a bill that he or she is responsible for paying.

Matt gets the $90 cable bill. Since he works only part time and, according to Jenn, spends most of his money on fantasy football, he’s broke. He tries to borrow the money from his parents, then hits on the idea of selling trays of Camille’s famous meatballs.

Various attempts at comedy ensue. Shopping for ingredients, he and Jenn discuss at great length what a shallot is. Then he makes a mess in the kitchen.

Throughout the show, ironic captions appear onscreen. While Matt phones around trying to sell his wares, he’s identified as a “meatball telemarketer.” One of his calls is to a vegetarian restaurant. Then he and Jenn screw up a delivery in a patently coached way that is supposed to be comical.

Fortunately, out of the blue, a friend of Leah’s calls, saying she’s having a bachelorette party and doesn’t have enough food.

Jon, meanwhile, tries to sell some supposedly antique dolls he bought at an estate sale. He tells the pawnbroker that they’re Faberjon.

When Jon fails to make the sale, Devin comes up with another potential moneymaking scheme for Jon. One or two improbable coincidences later, the episode has a punch line.

At this point, some viewers may start to feel queasy about watching economically disadvantaged people who have been paid to act like fools. But shows like “Jersey Shore” and “Buckwild” have established a TV rule that this is OK as long as the economically disadvantaged people are white.

The family members are charismatic and expressive, if not articulate, and their accents are chahming. They’re so comfortable on TV that one suspects that Devin isn’t the only plant.

It’s entirely possible that A&E is spoofing us with a fake documentary, but that’s already been done by such “mockumentary” sitcoms as “Modern Family” and “The Office.” The difference, of course, is that those shows admit they’re fictional.

Actually, the real difference is that those shows are funny and worth watching.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/tv-reviews/southie-rules-staged-and-not-funny/

TV Notes
Study: Majority of consumers watch TV and surf Web simultaneously
By Dawn C. Chmielewski, Los Angeles Times - Jan. 28, 2013

For millions of U.S. consumers, one screen in the living room is not enough.

A new study from KPMG finds that 60% of American television viewers are devoted multitaskers, watching TV and accessing the Internet at the same time.

"We continue to see that multitasking is getting bigger and bigger," said Paul Wissmann, leader of KPMG's U.S. Media & Telecommunications practice. "It's getting to older generations as well, as there are more and more options in front of them."

That has implications for network programmers and advertisers, which can no longer be sure which screen is drawing the viewer's eyes, Wissmann said.

Even though multiple devices vie for consumers' attention, the survey revealed that most people still prefer to watch television shows, movies and other video on the TV. A small number of those surveyed -- just 14% -- prefer to watch video on their smartphones or tablets, the survey found.

"What this may portend is that while we keep putting our eyes on anywhere, any time [access on portable screens], it may be that we want the flexibility of the Internet on our television set," Wissmann said.

That suggests the next big disruption in living room viewing may come from "smart TVs," those Internet-connected sets that afford the viewer access to traditional TV shows as well as online services such as Netflix, Hulu or Amazon.com.

"If you look at people still wanting to see things on a television -- and the fact that now, we're providing them with the flexibility that they get from their computer and mobile device on the TV -- that's a pretty interesting potential future we have out there," Wissmann said.

KPMG's findings were based on a global online survey of 9,000 people in nine countries, including the U.S., which was conducted Oct. 1-15.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-study-majority-of-us-consumers-watch-tv-and-surf-web-simultaneously-20130128,0,7900948.story

TV Sports
Sweet TV Deal Will Taste Bitter to Fans
By Richard Sandomir, The New York Times - Jan. 28, 2013

In Los Angeles, the number of teams remains constant. It’s just the number of regional sports networks that grows.

Not long ago, there were two: Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket, also a Fox channel.

Now there are six, in large part because of the aggressiveness of Time Warner Cable. In 2011, it lured the Los Angeles Lakers from Fox Sports West to its new English and Spanish language networks at an estimated price of $3 billion over 20 years.

On Monday, Time Warner Cable announced what has been expected for a while, saying that in a deal worth up to $8 billion over 25 years, it will carry Dodgers games on the newfangled SportsNet LA starting in 2014 when the team leaves Prime Ticket.

Add to that the regional channel created by the Pacific-12 Conference. While all this money being exchanged might be great for the teams, it’s lousy for the fans. With one team, SportsNet LA alone could add up to $5 a month to the costs of cable, satellite and telephone companies. They in turn pass much of those costs onto subscribers. The two Lakers channels charge $4 a month. And the two Fox channels together cost $5.40 a month, according to SNL Kagan.

The Dodgers’ deal shows a company simultaneously at work in two roles: Time Warner is the largest cable television operator in Southern California and a regional sports network creator. In its first role, it wants to avoid, if it can, going through a middleman to buy the rights to marquee sports teams. By creating a network to showcase the Dodgers, it can guarantee that all of its subscribers get that network, while also extracting steep subscriber fees from AT&T, Verizon, Cox, Charter, DirecTV and Dish Network.

The new Dodgers ownership — playing out the vision of the disgraced former owner, Frank McCourt — will take in a huge amount of cash just for putting a team on the field 162 times a year. Time Warner will pay the team $7 billion to $8 billion over 25 years.

But only a portion of that staggering sum, about $84 million a year, which will rise at 4 percent annually, is designated as the team’s market-value rights fee and taxable at a 34 percent rate for Major League Baseball’s revenue-sharing pool.

This is quite nice for the Dodgers if baseball upholds it. The remaining billions it will get — from odd sources like branding rights for Time Warner Cable and buying time on the channel for other Time Warner Cable programming — also rises at 4 percent a year. And that would not be subject to revenue sharing. Sweet indeed; a terrific tax shelter.

Once they get a hold of the contract, baseball officials will see if what is slated to be untaxed should really be taxed and available to share. If the money is guaranteed, and not at risk, it should be taxed. Guggenheim Partners, the financial services giant that backed last March’s $2.15 billion purchase of the Dodgers, might reluctantly have to share more than it wants.

“Throughout, it seems clear that Guggenheim was eager to minimize the bite that revenue sharing would take,” said Lee Berke, a media consultant who specializes in regional sports networks. “It seems a way to thread the needle to achieve a substantial upside. It’s a complex way around revenue sharing.”

The Dodgers-Time Warner Cable deal is the culmination of a tense drama inside baseball that began when McCourt, financially struggling and prohibited by Commissioner Bud Selig from extending his deal with Fox, put the team into bankruptcy. (That deal included a $385 million upfront sweetener.) In a process overseen by a federal bankruptcy court judge, McCourt sold the team last March to Guggenheim.

Even at his most nakedly desperate, McCourt knew how much more valuable the Dodgers would be as a television product once the team could negotiate on the open market. That opening occurred late last year when Guggenheim let prospective bidders know that it would make a deal only for a regional sports network. All Dodgers all the time. Fox’s offer, evidently not as enticing or willing to hit the tripwires of baseball’s revenue-sharing system, included giving the Dodgers some ownership of Prime Ticket.

The vast sums promised to the Dodgers might lead, on one level, to more Dodgers programming that only Tommy Lasorda might be able to tolerate. But that bounty also seems a precursor to higher costs for sports fans in Los Angeles and everywhere else.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/sports/baseball/dodgers-sweet-tv-deal-will-taste-bitter-to-fans.html?ref=media&_r=0

Critic's Notes
February sweeps: Uplifting time for TV
By Robert Bianco, USA Today - Jan. 28, 2013

The broadcast networks hope you are weathering winter in front of your TV -- and they're going all-out to entice you into staying there. USA TODAY TV critic Robert Bianco sorts through the month's offerings.

Jan. 31 (NBC, 8 ET/PT)
'30 Rock'
After seven seasons, Tina Fey's inside-TV spoof calls it a day with this one-hour special. Granted, it's a bit late in the day for this NBC comedy, once among TV's funniest, to take its exit: There's a reason NBC's onetime Emmy champ hasn't won one since 2009, and that reason extends beyond the arrival of Modern Family. Still, in its prime, 30 Rock was a great sitcom, so let's hope the finale makes us remember its past and regret its passing.

Feb. 3 (CBS, 6 ET/3 PT)
Super Bowl/'Elementary'
In one admittedly long broadcast day, you get America's highest-rated sporting event; TV's most expensive and (over) analyzed set of commercials; and a half-time extravaganza led by one of the music world's biggest stars, Beyonce. And if you stick around afterward, you get a special outing from broadcast's most entertaining new series, CBS' Sherlock Holmes update Elementary. Surely that's more than enough.

Feb. 4 (TNT, 10 ET/PT)
'Monday Mornings'
Those who love every show David E. Kelley has ever made, and every role Alfred Molina has ever played, will be delighted to see them join forces for this series adaption of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's novel built around a hospital's weekly "morbidity and mortality" meetings. Anyone else, particularly anyone looking for an enjoyable TV series that doesn't make you cringe in disbelief, should look elsewhere.

Feb. 5 (NBC, 9 ET/PT)
'Smash'
NBC's behind-the-Broadway-scenes musical returns with a two-hour special that attempts to rescue a promising series from a first season that, like too many musicals, had a strong score and a weak book. On the plus side, the opener does efficiently excise pretty much every character and every story line fans complained about last season. Whether the stories and characters that are taking their places are truly improvements remains to be seen.

Feb. 8 (Fox, 8 ET/PT)
'Touch'
Kiefer Sutherland's sci-fi-ish drama returns with a new co-star, Maria Bello, and a new Fugitive-type direction, as Sutherland's and Bello's characters go on the run from evil, global conspirators with the supernaturally powered Jake (David Mazouz) in tow. The new story may not be leading the show in a novel direction, or even a wise one, but at least it is a discernible direction, which is something the show's first season never managed.

Feb. 10 (CBS, 8 ET/PT)
Grammy Awards
The music industry's biggest night once again offers the promise of wild costumes and water-cooler performances, mixed intermittently and blessedly quickly with its most prestigious awards. Over the years, the Grammys have become one of TV's most popular awards shows, which is why it is also an increasingly influential one -- as in, don't be surprised if the Emmys, Tonys and Oscars don't start moving its performance-centric way.

Feb. 12 (USA, 8 ET/PT)
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Could any TV special be more simple or basic in its appeal? You see dogs, all kinds of dogs: dogs you know, dogs you don't, dogs you love, dogs you don't. You go "ah" and "oooh" and then the next dog appears. Yes, there's a prize at the end, but outside of the tiny dog-show universe, most people won't remember what pup won a week after the show is over. Well, unless a basset wins, of course -- in which case, I'll never let you forget it.

Feb. 13 (CBS, 8 ET/PT)
'Survivor'
The granddaddy of TV reality contests returns for another round of island fun. This time, the game pits 10 of the show's top fans against ten of their favorite former contestants. For those keeping track of the show's locales, the jungle retreat in question is Caramoan Island, part of a chain in the Philippines that bills itself as "Philippines' Secret Paradise." Looks like that secret's about to be let out of the bag.

Feb. 14 (ABC, 8 ET/PT)
'Zero Hour'
You know how the popularity of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code led to Disney's almost equally popular National Treasure movies? Then It shouldn't surprise you to hear that Disney-owned ABC is attempting to translate the appeal of those secret cult/treasure hunt stories to TV, in the form of this short-run series starring ER's Anthony Edwards as a skeptic whose hunt for his kidnapped wife draws him into a conspiracy that mixes Nazis with Rosicrucians. OK then.

Feb. 17 (PBS, 9 ET/PT, times may vary)
'Downton Abbey'
Another glorious but far too short visit to the upstairs/downstairs world of Downton Abbey comes to an end with a two-hour finale that aired in Britain as a Christmas special. That means the Brits have had almost two months to talk about it -- and to spoil the ending for anyone who isn't careful. So be careful: There are plot twists here, as the show sets itself up for its fourth season, that you should discover on your own.

Feb. 19 (CW, 9 ET/PT)
'Cult'
Over on Fox, they're airing The Following, that supremely scary and, for broadcast standards, extremely violent series about a serial killer and his followers.Tonight, you get CW's twist on the story, with the added gloss that the killer people are following is actually the lead character in a popular TV series, and hence fictional. Unless he isn't.

Feb. 22 (CBS, 9 ET/PT)
'CSI: NY'
The weakest outlet of the CSI franchise brings its shortened season to an early conclusion Friday. That doesn't necessarily mean NY is gone for good; it has, after all, staved off cancellation before. But if you're one of the series' fans, you might want to mark this episode as "must see" on your viewing calendar, just in case it's your last chance to see it.

Feb. 24 (ABC, 8:30 ET/5:30 PT)
Academy Awards
The grandest awards show of them all arrives with new producers, a new host -- Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane, an Oscar nominee himself for his song from Ted -- and, it seems, a new Grammy-ish approach that puts the emphasis on performance-supplied entertainment. It will certainly be different. It may even be better.

Feb. 26 (CBS, 10 ET/PT)
'Golden Boy'
CBS offers a new take on the old cop-show format with this story (told in flashback or flash-forward, depending on how you look at it) of the rise of New York's youngest police commissioner. Nick Wootton of NYPD Blue is the creator; Theo James is the cop on the rise; and Chi McBride is his partner/mentor. Combined, those are three very good reasons to give the Boy a try.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2013/01/28/bianco-february-sweeps-2012/1871251/

Critic's Notes
Bianculli's Best Bets
By David Bianculli, TVWorthWatching.com - Jan. 29, 2013

PIONEERS OF TELEVISION
PBS, 8:00 p.m.
This third installment in the new season of this PBS series is devoted to Superheroes, from Adventures of Superman and the campy TV version of Batman to The Greatest American Hero. It does feature one of the last interviews with Robert Culp, and one factoid I didn’t know before previewing it: the creator of Wonder Woman comics also invented the lie detector, which was reflected in his heroine’s truth-compelling “golden lasso.” But so many of the stories told here, like so many of the scenes shown, are sadly shallow, familiar, or both. As a “Super” show, this edition of TV history is maddeningly Super-ficial. Check local listings.

ROCKY
Cinemax, 8:00 p.m. ET
Yo, Adrian! This boxing movie won the Oscar as the best picture of 1976 — an award it didn’t really deserve, not in a year when the other nominees were All the President’s Men, Taxi Driver, Network and Bound for Glory. But you have to give it to Sylvester Stallone, who wrote the script, for refusing to sell it unless he got to play the lead, thus launching his movie-star career. And for those of us who live in and around Philadelphia, Rocky is a terrific snapshot of Philly in the year of America’s Bicentennial.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: "HENRY FORD"
PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET
This new American Experience biography fits its subject to a T – a Model T, the automotive innovation that made Ford both an icon and a tycoon. His impact on the history and popularity of cars remains obvious; his impact on production assembly lines, even more so. Check local listings.

WILD THINGS WITH DOMINIC MONAGHAN
BBC America, 10:00 p.m. ET
The popular actor from Lost and Lord of the Rings takes his second week behind the reins of this new nature series, seeking out strange things in strange lands. Tonight he descends into an underground cave, on an inflated kayak, in hopes of finding a giant spider that was identified only in this century. It’s an ambitious quest, with a charming and impressive finale. For a review of the show, and an interview with Monaghan, see Bianculli’s Blog.

JUSTIFIED
FX, 10:00 p.m. ET
Last week, Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) showed up for a scheduled tough-guy duel with Randall (guest star Robert Baker), the immensely strong – and violent – ex-husband of Raylan’s new girlfriend, Lindsey (Jenn Lyon). But Randall didn’t, and before the episode was over, Lindsey was gone, too, along with Raylan’s money. Tonight, Raylan goes in search of all three.

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/

* * * *

Critic's Notes
FX's 'The Americans' a KGB Keeper
By Ed Bark, TVWorthWatching.com - Jan. 29, 2013

As January fades toward February, is any TV network more firmly hitting its stride than FX?

My hand is raised to answer that question. And in this view, the answer is no. FX at this point is the league leader in inventive, provocative, high caliber weekly series. Both Justified and Archer are early in their fourth seasons while the very promising comedy Legit launched on Jan. 17.

FX also is the network of Louie, Wilfred and Sons of Anarchy, all on break right now. And on Wednesday, Jan. 30 it will become the network of this season's potentially best new drama series, The Americans, which premieres at 10 p.m. ET.

Set in 1981 at the outset of Ronald Reagan's presidency, this is the rich-in-intrigue saga of KGB spies Elizabeth and Philip Jennings (Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys), who have been masquerading as husband and wife since 1965. Also posing as travel agents, they live in suburban Washington, D.C. with their two children — 13-year-old Paige (Holly Taylor) and 10-year-old Henry (Keidrich Sellati). The kids are clueless about their parents' cloak-and-dagger dark sides.

That said, The Americans gets off to a murky start in its elongated premiere episode (running until 11:37 p.m. ET) before everything is sorted out. A disguised Elizabeth seduces a department of justice dupe and follows through in the sack before an initially puzzling and prolonged nighttime chase scene kicks in three days later. But your patience will be rewarded once it's fully revealed who their prey is. In the meantime you can enjoy the sounds of Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk." And later in the episode, here comes Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" as a stealth ode to Miami Vice.

Russell, of Felicity fame, is the marquee star of The Americans. But Rhys' Philip is the standout character in the first two episodes sent for review. He's lately conflicted, wondering whether they should turn themselves in for what likely would be a multi-million dollar defector payout from the U.S. government. Philip increasingly worries about the children's future, and how scarred they would be if they learned the truth only after their parents were jailed or executed.

Elizabeth, the hard-core Commie, will hear none of this. But the Jennings' well-hidden agenda is newly at risk when FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) and his family move in next door. He's just been assigned to the agency's counter-terrorism unit. And Beeman is pretty obsessed with his work, even though he's outwardly a pretty regular guy.

President Reagan's unyielding stance against the Soviet Union provides an overriding backdrop, with Elizabeth's longtime mentor and instructor viewing him as a "madman." During their meeting in a Bethesda, Maryland "KGB Safehouse," he warns her that "the risks are going to be greater."

"We won't let you down, General," she stoically assures him.

Next week's taut, terrific episode quickly ups the stakes. Elizabeth and Philip are assigned to bug the office of Secretary of State Caspar Weinberger in just three days time. He views this as insanely dangerous. And the relatively primitive spying techniques of 1981 are an extra hurdle to overcome. But the plot they hatch is ingenious, with Rhys' performance letter-perfect throughout whether he's in or out of disguise.

The Americans also includes flashbacks to the mother country as well as the couple's first arrival in their Northern Virginia home. They marvel at the window unit air-conditioner. But it's a bit much when Elizabeth instantly deduces, "There's a weakness in the people. I can feel it."

Viewers are put in a unique position. Do you in any way root for the two principal characters — at least in the interests of preserving their children's innocence? Or is FBI agent Beeman the uncontested guy in the white hat, along with his partner, Chris Amador (Maximiliano Hernandez)? Richard Thomas (The Waltons) also pops in for a bit as a fellow U.S. agent.

The domestic side of the Jennings existence is almost Ozzie and Harriet-like. Elizabeth, fearing more for their safety, has a tender moment with Paige in which she offers to pierce her ears two years earlier than they had agreed on. Philip messes around with ice cream cones during a family outing.

It should be noted that AMC's only one-season-and-out casualty to date among its scripted series was the spy drama Rubicon. But The Americans is much easier to navigate and grasp once the events of the first 10 minutes or so are fully sorted out.

Whatever its ratings hit or miss prospects, The Americans enthralls with its complexities, simplicities and overall derring-do. Boris and Natasha need not apply. Although FX would happily embrace their long-term staying power in the popular culture.

GRADE: A-

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/BlogPostDetails.aspx?postId=4195
Edited by dad1153 - 1/29/13 at 10:13am

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

TV/Nielsen Notes (Daytime)
More Chenbot! CBS renews its daytime shows
By Lynette Rice, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - Jan. 29, 2013

Who says soaps and game shows are dead?

CBS has renewed its entire daytime lineup for the 2013-14 season (party in Genoa City to be announced later). That also means more Julie Chen and Co. in The Talk, which is averaging 2.35 million viewers, up 11% from last year. The talker’s bragging rights keep getting better: in the week ending Jan. 13, The Talk delivered its largest weekly audience ever in women 25-54 and women 18-49.

Renewals also went to The Bold and the Beautiful, the most-watched sudser in the world, The Price is Right, daytime’s most watched program, and Let’s Make a Deal. CBS’s crown jewel, The Young and the Restless, already earned a pickup earlier.

“Over the past few years, we have successfully transitioned our daytime schedule to a balance of program genres with new creative energy, while maintaining our ratings leadership,” said Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment President, in a statement. “We are proud of CBS’s history of quality and leadership in Daytime, thrilled with our current success and we look forward to more great things ahead from the outstanding creative talent in place at each of the shows.”

The sudsers have good stories to tell: Bold is averaging 3.44 million viewers, up 6% from last season. It’s also up 14% in women 25-54 (1.6/9 from 1.4/8) and 10% in women 18-49 (1.1/7 from 1.0/6). Price is averaging 4.30 million viewers and Deal is pulling in 2.53 million.

Y&R is averaging 4.74 million viewers and remains the most-watched daytime serial for a bazillion years straight. The show, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in March, earns a 2.1/13 in women 25-54 and 1.4/9 in women 18-49.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/29/more-chenbot-cbs-renews-its-daytime-shows/

TV Notes
David Muir Named ‘20/20’ Co-Anchor To Replace Chris Cuomo
By Dominic Patten, Deadline.com - Jan. 29, 2013

That was fast. ABC News president Ben Sherwood announced that David Muir will take over for Chris Cuomo, who is making the jump to CNN. Muir, who anchors World News on the weekend and subs for Diane Sawyer during the week, will join 20/20 co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas on ABC’s Friday night newsmagazine.

“For the last two years David has appeared on air more often than any correspondent at any news division, reporting from Tahrir Square to Fukushima to Tucson to Aurora”, Sherwood wrote today in an email to staff that also confirmed Cuomo’s exit.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/its-official-chris-cuomo-joins-cnn/

* * * *

TV Notes
CNN Cuts James Carville & Mary Matalin: Report

Things are moving fast and furiously at Jeff Zucker’s CNN. Long time political contributors James Carville and Mary Matalin are leaving the news network, Politico reports. “I was told they wanted the contributors to be more available – essentially closer to Washington I’m not always available, I don’t live there,” the former Clinton campaign chief and New Orleans resident said. “At some level it makes sense for CNN to move in another direction, and it makes sense for me,” added Carville, who has been married to GOP strategist and fellow former Crossfire host Matalin since 1993.

Carville and Matalin aren’t the only on-air talent leaving CNN today. Conservative contributor Erick Erickson is moving over to Fox News Channel also.

This comes one week after Zucker formally took over as CNN’s president and the same day that news network lost managing editor Mark Whitaker and hired 20/20 co-anchor Chris Cuomo from ABC.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/chicago-fires-order-upped-by-one-episode/

Nielsen Overnights (18-49)
Fox’s ‘Following’ grows in week two
Drama up 3 percent to a 3.3 in 18-49s as Fox wins night
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Jan. 29, 2013

“The Following” looks like it’s found one on Fox.

The show became the first new drama this season to grow in its second week as Fox posted its best Monday night of the season, and its first win.

“Following” averaged a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, up 3 percent from last week’s debut.

By comparison, this season’s other top new drama debuts, NBC’s “Revolution” and CBS’s “Elementary,” declined 17 percent and 19 percent, respectively, in their second weeks.

“Following” won its timeslot, helped by the fact that CBS’s usually highly rated comedies were in reruns. In fact, it was the No. 1 show on broadcast last night.

It also helped revive Fox on a night where it struggled last fall with the very low-rated drama “The Mob Doctor.” With the stronger lead-out at 9 p.m., veteran drama “Bones” surged to a season high at 8 p.m. with a 2.6, up 13 percent from last week.

It was one of several shows to hit season highs last night, again likely benefitting from facing CBS’s reruns. The CW’s new drama “The Carrie Diaries” grew to a series-best 1.0 in women 18-34 and 0.7 in adults 18-34.

ABC’s “The Bachelor,” airing from 8 to 10 p.m., matched its season high in 18-49s with a 2.5. It reached a season high in total viewers with 7.8 million. “Bachelor” finished ahead of NBC’s competing reality program, “The Biggest Loser,” which drew a 2.3 in the timeslot.

Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 2.9 average overnight rating and an 8 share. ABC was second at 2.1/6, NBC third at 1.9/5, CBS fourth at 1.7/4, Univision fifth at 1.6/4, and CW and Telemundo tied for sixth at 0.4/1.

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-six percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 2.6 for “Bones,” followed by ABC with a 2.5 for “Bachelor.” NBC was third with a 2.2 for “Loser,” CBS fourth with a 2.0 for reruns of “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory,” Univision fifth with a 1.6 for “Por Ella Soy Eva,” CW sixth with a 0.5 for “The Carries Diaries” and Telemundo seventh with a 0.4 for “Pasion Prohibida.”

Fox extended its lead at 9 p.m. with a 3.3 for “Following,” followed again by ABC with a 2.5 for more “Bachelor.” NBC was third with a 2.3 for another hour of “Loser,” CBS fourth with a 1.9 for repeats of “2 Broke Girls” and “Mike & Molly,” Univision fifth with a 1.8 for “Amores Verdaderos,” Telemundo sixth with a 0.5 for “La Patrona” and CW seventh with a 0.3 for “90210.”

ABC took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 1.4 for a repeat of “Castle,” while NBC and Univision tied for second at 1.3, NBC for “Deception” and Univision for “Amor Bravio.” CBS was fourth with a 1.2 for a repeat of “Hawaii Five-0″ and Telemundo fifth with a 0.4 for “El Rostro de la Venganza.”

Fox was also first for the night among households with a 5.8 average overnight rating and a 9 share. ABC was second at 4.8/7, CBS third at 4.4/7, NBC fourth at 3.4/5, Univision fifth at 2.0/3, CW sixth at 0.7/1 and Telemundo seventh at 0.6/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/television/overnights/foxs-following-grows-in-week-two/

* * * *

TV Review
‘Starter Wives Confidential,’ a non-starter
TLC reality series is just another cat-fighting 'Housewives' show
By Tom Conroy, Media Life Magazine - Jan. 29, 2013

Here’s a new angle on the “Real Housewives” genre: a show not about women married to successful men but about women who were with men who became successful and then left them. Unfortunately, as we’ve learned from watching reality TV, a new angle doesn’t mean a new result.

TLC’s “Starter Wives Confidential” shares some insights into the lives of six women who were the early significant others of men who now have some degree of celebrity. But instead of examining the women’s shared background and how it bonds them, the show concentrates on setting up the usual “Real Housewives” story line: The principals meet for a series of sassy conversations that build up to the inevitable episode-ending fight. Only those lucky few viewers who have never seen one of these shows will be surprised or entertained.

Premiering tonight at 9, the series focuses on women whose men are mostly in sports or popular music; so half of them are actually starter baby mamas, not starter wives. The main character is Monica Joseph-Taylor, who is currently divorcing the DJ Funkmaster Flex, with whom she has two children.

Talking to the camera, Monica introduces the other cast members, making a rather convincing case that they’re friends of hers and not merely a collection of the highest-profile exes the show could find.

All of them but one are based in New York City, the exception being Josie Harris, the ex-girlfriend and baby mama of the boxer Floyd Mayweather. She says she has come to the city temporarily to get her “business” together. Lacking any evidence to the contrary, we can assume this business is appearing on this show.

The other cast members are Tashera Simmons, who is divorcing the rapper DMX; Zakia Baum, the ex-girlfriend of a rapper named Maino; Cheryl Caruso, the ex-wife of a mobster named Phil Caruso; and Liza Morales, the ex-girlfriend of the basketball player Lamar Odom, who is now better known as the husband of Khloe Kardashian.

Almost all of the women on the show say that their exes were flagrantly unfaithful once they got famous, but they go on to say that the men are good fathers. None of the men appear in the premiere, and in family photos, the children’s faces are all blurred out.

A seventh starter ex only appears remotely. When four of the women meet at Monica’s home, Monica asks whether Shaniqua Tompkins, the former girlfriend of the rapper 50 Cent, is coming. Shaniqua phones to say that 50 Cent obtained a cease-and-desist order that prevents her from appearing on the show for the time being.

Although it’s understandable that the celebrity fathers might insist that both they and their children be kept out of the show, their absence leaves a big hole in the portrayal of the women’s lives. The premiere gives the impression that the gals spend their days meeting at various homes and bars to share mimosas.

At Monica’s place, after the women discuss masturbation and how long it’s been since they’ve had sex, Monica tells the others that she’s planning to throw a party to celebrate the second anniversary of her web site, MommysDirtyLittleSecret.com. But she waits until Zakia leaves to announce that she’s invited the rapper Lil’ Kim, with whom Zakia’s ex may have had an affair.

We all know what’s going to come next. Tashera goes to visit Zakia in Brooklyn and tells her about Lil’ Kim. Zakia, who claims to be a devout Christian, refers to Monica as “a catty little b—-.”

So we’re all set up for the party, which has the sparsely attended, forced feel of nearly all “Housewives” parties. When the fight starts, Cheryl, who has made no impression at all up to this point, at least has the good sense to move the martini glasses away from the combatants.

In the middle of all this is a brief scene in which Liza has mimosas with Lamar Odom’s aunt Janene and talks about the death of her and Lamar’s infant son. She says that Lamar left the family soon after. Earlier, she tells the camera that she and Lamar never discussed the baby’s death.

A real documentary would at least have a “no comment” from Odom, but this show simply cuts back to the nonsense about Monica’s party.

Now and then, the starter exes say something about what happened to them as their exes got more fame, more money and more problems. Their experiences are extraordinary, but the temptation to turn the women into a bunch of “Housewives” proves irresistible. Confidentially, that makes this show a waste of time.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/tv-reviews/starter-wives-confidential-a-non-starter/

3D Notes
Lucasfilm postpones 3-D release of 'Star Wars' prequels to focus on new film
By Solvej Schou, EW.com's 'Inside Movies' Blog - Jan. 28, 2013

Lucasfilm isn’t kidding in its aim to pour all of its efforts – every fiber of the Force, every ounce of Stormtrooper chutzpah – into its revival of the Star Wars franchise. It’s even pushing back scheduled 3-D re-releases of prequels Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

“Lucasfilm has decided to postpone this fall’s scheduled release of Episodes II and III in 3D,” said the studio in a statement Monday to EW. “Given the recent development that we are moving forward with a new Star Wars trilogy we will now focus 100 percent of our efforts on Star Wars: Episode VII in order to ensure the best possible experience for our fans. We will post further information about our 3D release plans at a later date.”

Lucasfilm, bought by The Walt Disney Co. for $4.05 billion in October 2012, has revved up buzz for its new franchise film Star Wars: Episode VII, scheduled for a 2015 release, with the recent announcement that J.J. Abrams will helm the movie being written by Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3 screenwriter Michael Arndt.

Star Wars prequel Episode II: Attack of the Clones originally hit theaters in 2002 and prequel Episode III: Revenge of the Sith landed on screens in 2005. Prequel Episode I: The Phantom Menace, originally in theaters in 1999, was re-released in 3-D last February.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/01/28/lucasfilm-postpones-3d-release-star-wars-prequels/

The Wrap: Alan Ball's 'Banshee' Renewed for Season 2 by Cinemax.

TV Notes
Ben & Jerry's to Unveil '30 Rock'-Themed Flavor
By Kimberly Nordyke, The Hollywood Reporter - Jan. 28, 2013

In honor of the 30 Rock series finale, Ben & Jerry's is set to debut a new flavor inspired by the NBC comedy.

The company is selling tickets to a finale viewing party -- during which the new flavor will be unveiled -- set to take place Thursday night at Latitude Bar & Lounge in New York.

"What's the flavor, you ask?! Well, you’ll just have to join us to find out ... our lips — and our pints — are sealed until the finale," the announcement reads.

Ben & Jerry's also is encouraging revelers to come dressed as their favorite 30 Rock character, with the winner getting a year's supply of ice cream and frozen yogurt.

Proceeds from ticket sales will go to a charity that will be announced during the event.

Incidentally, this isn't the first Ben & Jerry's flavor inspired by something associated with 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin. In 2011, the company debuted a limited-edition ice cream flavor dubbed "Schweddy Balls," which was inspired by the punchline of a Saturday Night Live skit starring Baldwin.

One Million Moms called for a boycott and labeled the combination of vanilla ice cream and fudge-covered rum and malt balls "vulgar" and "repulsive." Some supermarket chains declined to carry the flavor.

The hourlong series finale of 30 Rock airs at 8 p.m. Thursday.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ben-jerrys-unveil-30-rock-416301

I bet Stefon liked that flavor ice cream.

If anyone's interested, here's my interview with Pauley Perette regarding tonight's show. And a lot of other cool stuff: http://wycd.cbslocal.com/2013/01/29/pauley-perrette-shares-her-love-for-tv/

Full disclosure: I work for WYCD and we're owned by CBS.

TV Notes
'Shameless,' 'Californication,' 'House of Lies' Renewed by Showtime
By Tim Keneally, TheWrap.com - Jan. 29, 2013

Showtime has renewed its series "Shameless," "Californication" and "House of Lies," the network said Tuesday.

The announcement comes two weeks after all three series posted record ratings with their season premieres.

All three series have also showed year-to-year growth with their current seasons, with the third season of "Shameless" (pictured) growing 22 percent over its previous season so far, "House of Lies" averaging 10 percent over its first season and "Californication" showing a 21 percent boost over its fifth season so far.

"'Californication,' 'House of Lies' and 'Shameless' possess highly distinctive comedic voices, and given that all three continue to grow their audience season after season – the pick-up decision was easy,” Showtime Networks' president of entertainment David Nevins, said of the renewals. “I am incredibly excited to see what each of these series has in store for their next seasons."

On their Jan. 13 season premieres, "Shameless," "House of Lies" and "Californication" drew 2 million, 1.19 million and 1.07 million total viewers respectively, reaching series highs and showing double-digit boosts over their previous seasons' averages.

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/shameless-californication-house-lies-renewed-showtime-75236

TV Notes
BBC One/BBC America Crime Series ‘Ripper Street’ Gets Second Season Order
By Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline.com - Jan. 29, 2013

BBC One‘s Danny Cohen and Ben Stephenson today confirmed a second season order of crime drama Ripper Street, just as the first season heads into the home stretch in the UK. The BBC America co-production will start shooting eight new episodes this spring for an as-yet unspecified 2014 air date.

Ripper Street debuted on BBC America on January 19, three weeks after its UK bow on BBC One where it has faced tough competition from rival ITV’s Jeremy Piven period drama Mr Selfridge in the same timeslot. However, it’s been gaining in recent weeks for a consolidated average of 7.1M viewers and a 22.9% share over its first five outings. Richard Warlow created and exec produces the series that stars Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg in 1889 London and the aftermath of the Jack the Ripper murders.

Warlow said today that the second season will “move forward into the 1890s: the death rattle of a century coming to a close, the labor pains of a modern world on the rise.” Executive producer Simon Vaughn said, “Partnering with BBC America was always our ideal scenario and it has proven to be a wonderful decision. They have given the series an amazing launch in America and we are delighted to be moving into series two together.”

Ripper Street is produced by Tiger Aspect and Lookout Point in association with BBC America. Will Gould and Polly Hill also exec produce. BBC Worldwide distributes internationally.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/bbc-onebbc-america-crime-series-ripper-street-gets-second-season-order/

TV Notes
HBO debuts 'Girls' and 'Enlightened' episodes early due to Super Bowl
By Hillary Busis, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - Jan. 29, 2013

All you really want is Girls? You’re in luck — in order to mitigate competition from Sunday’s Super Bowl, HBO has made the comedy’s next episode available via On Demand and HBO Go nearly a week early. Enlightened is receiving the same treatment, because someone who normally watches Girls and Enlightened on Sunday nights is definitely the kind of person who cares about football.

No matter: Both series will also get special live debuts the night of Saturday, Feb. 2 before playing in their usual timeslots Feb. 3 as well. The net’s schedule will return to normal Feb. 10.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/29/hbo-girls-enlightened-early/

Q&A
'House of Cards' director David Fincher on making 13 hours for Netflix
Acclaimed director has toyed with television before, and now has Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright with him
By Alan Sepinwall, HitFix.com - Jan. 29, 2013

David Fincher’s directing career was built on works that aired on television — just not the series kind. He made his bones as a director of commercials and music videos, before graduating to movies in the early ‘90s.

Now 20 years later (and after a few near-misses) Fincher is finally working on his first scripted television series, the political drama “House of Cards,” adapted from the acclaimed early ‘90s UK miniseries.Only it’s not technically a television series, but rather an original series produced for Netflix’s streaming video service, which will debut all 13 episodes of the first season (a second is already in the works) on February 1. It’s the approach Netflix used for a previous original series, “Lilyhammer,” and the way that Fincher has himself consumed the few TV shows he watches. But as an expensive production with big stars — Kevin Spacey plays the ruthless congressman at the show’s center, and Robin Wright his calculating wife — it’s something of a canary in the coal mine for this approach.

Earlier this month, another reporter and I sat down with Fincher to discuss the project’s origins, what he learned about telling a 13-hour story as opposed to a 2-hour film, and more.[/I]

HitFix: Were you looking to do a series? How did you wind up doing this?
David Fincher: If you're working in the movie business, you’re thinking in terms of you have this two-hour form that requires a kind of ballistic narrative that doesn’t always allow for characterizations to be that complex, or that deep, or that layered, or that you can reveal slowly and be as faceted. And I felt for the past ten years that the best writing that was happening for actors was happening in television. And so I had been looking to do something that was longer form. I never said I was going to hold my breath until somebody offers me 26 hours. And when they did it was sort of shocking when you try to kind of wrap your mind around the number of different storylines that it’s going to take to fill 26 hours. It can be a particularly daunting experience. But I had liked the idea of doing something either on premium cable that could be challenging to an audience of adults in terms of its drama and subject matter.

And MRC purchased the remake rights to this very famous British show that – I'd heard about it for years and I’d never seen it. My parents had told me about it; that they loved it. And Josh Donen, who’s my partner, and Eric Roth, my other partner, saw the show, sat me down, said, “You have to watch this; you have to see because somebody's got to make this and it might as well be us.” And I watched it and I watch Ian Richardson and thought, “Wow, that's pretty great.” And the question was how do we transplant it to Washington? And Beau Willimon came in; we’d read (his play) “Farragut North.” Everybody certainly thought he was an agile thinker and a wonderful dramatist and he came in and spun this: “This is what I would do. This is how I would do it.” And we all said “Knock me over with a feather and throw a sheet over me, and this guy sounds like he’s got a take on it.”

And he went away for four or six months and came back with a pilot script that we were able to go out, give to Kevin Spacey and it was a good thing that he responded because we didn’t have anybody else on the list. It's like if Kevin says no, what do we do? Well, we tell MRC, “Go with God, best of luck to you.” It was a very short list. He said yes. He said, “I have to be honest with you. I can't do this for a year. I have to go play Richard III.” And I was like, “By all means go. Perfect. You know, it'll be great training.” And I went to Stockholm to make a movie there (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) and gave the script to Robin Wright. And Robin responded to it.

So we had our first two choices. And that continued. One of the responsibilities I put on the cast when we had our first read through is I said, “I want everybody here to know that you represent our first choice - each actor here represents our first choice for these characters. So do not **** this up.”

And so we were in the enviable position of having a script that people wanted to make. And then it was just a question of, whether it was a pilot and then ten episodes or a pilot and nine episodes, and we were looking for 13 episodes. And Netflix came in and said, “We would love to do this. We think there’s something for our subscribers in this. We love the idea of it being something that people can get day and date.” We didn't go in knowing it was going to be February 1. We didn’t know it was going to be 13 hours February 1, but we knew that was a possibility. It was one of the things that they discussed, and although we were terrified of the idea of we have to actually finish everything for this one date. Because 13 hours is a lot of moviemaking. But that’s how I caught up on “Breaking Bad.” I missed the first two seasons. And it was only when I could TiVo an entire season that I started catching up to what everyone was talking about. So it didn't scare me. It just felt daunting, the idea of 13 hours to all be ready on a (specific date). And so we did it.

Question: And you directed the first two episodes?
David Fincher: Just the first two.

Question: How did you have to adapt your style of filmmaking?
David Fincher: I didn’t really. I find myself more and more fascinated with what people say in contrast with what they do. And I felt like I didn’t need to get particularly intricate or elaborate in terms of the staging. It’s very rudimentary, very kind of primitive; it’s simple. I wanted it to just be, here’s a guy. He’s presenting his case. Here’s a girl. She’s presenting her case. You know, I love the moves on the chessboard. I love the pauses as they wait for the other person to either fall for what it is that they’re saying or to offer them another idea. So I didn’t really change much.

Question: But it was faster?
David Fincher: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I shot a lot of takes. I shot two cameras, which is what I normally do. I didn’t really change much. I really didn’t. I’ve worked with the same crew for 20 years or something like that, so it was a whole new group of people. And I do think there were a lot of people kind of smiling a little bit going, “You know, if you think you’re shooting 15 takes of this you’re never going to (do it).” But we did. We averaged 35 setups a day and 14, 15 takes a setup.(*) So I didn’t really change anything.

(*) Later, I asked a veteran TV director who's worked extensively in both broadcast TV and pay cable what he thought of those numbers. He said that the number of setups per day was about right, but the number of takes per setup was significantly higher than anything he'd done, or knew of. "If he's squeezing that many takes into a regular schedule," the director said of Fincher, "then he's my hero."

HitFix: But I’m curious. You hadn’t done TV, Beau hadn’t done TV, Kevin last did TV regularly 25 years ago on a few episodes of “Wiseguy,” in terms of the top three people. Were there things that over the course of making the show you discovered, “Well, okay, this is different than movies. We have to do this a little bit differently,” or were you immune to that?
David Fincher: Not immune. I think there are definite conventions of how you lay out the story threads. You know, you’re going to cut away from your A storyline to your B storyline. And that’s going to inherently make it feel more like television than the degree to which you rigorously follow one point of view (in a film). That’s a different thing when you have an ensemble that of characters who are all interrelated and interwoven but they’re going through different things at the same time. And different things at different times that you need to weave into the tapestry of it. As far as the actual making of it, you have a readthrough every 20 days and notes are given. And there's no navel gazing. You get the script and you show up and if there are problems, you’ve got to work it out that morning right then. But other than that, it was storytelling. It was acting and storytelling, and photographing it. We didn’t crash any planes. And we didn’t do the kind of stuff that people expect from $200 million movies. But other than that it was what I’d always done.

Question: How much would you say this is the beginning of a new trend or medium? It’s not exactly TV, because you have the whole season, the first day to see on streaming
David Fincher: Well, they did “Lilyhammer” (that way). And that’s been my experience of a number of different shows including “The Sopranos.” I didn’t get on the bandwagon of “The Sopranos” until season 3. And I saw it off TiVo in very much the same way that Netflix is talking about making this available. I don’t see it as being a guinea pig. The interesting thing will be that there hasn’t — by the time you get to season 3 of “Breaking Bad” and it’s available to you on Netflix, it’s percolated. And people have (talked about it), and there’s a context for understanding that you’re gifted with it before you press play.

That’s going to be a slightly different than here. But other than that, this is how a lot of people are comfortable and in some cases preferred consuming this kind of story. I can only tell you from my experience because for the first time, two weeks ago, Beau and Josh Donen and Eric Roth and I sat down and we watched 13 hours from beginning to end. And it’s crazy. It’s like a book. It’s like you reading a chapter, set it down. Go get some Thai food, come back, fire it up again. It works in a different way. The pace of consumption in some way informs a kind of relationship that you have with the characters, which is very different from destination television. Or you know the (“I Love Lucy” rerun) at 7:30 at Tuesday nights. Those days are gone; that’s done. So is this a valid way to consume? Yeah, absolutely, and it has been for years now. We’re not doing anything new in that respect. The only thing that’s new is no one’s ever seen this before this moment. It’s not downstream of previous understanding. This is its initial understanding.

HitFix: You mentioned “Breaking Bad” before, and Vince Gilligan and Bryan Cranston will both openly talk about how it took many episodes to really find the character, find the performance, find the tone of the show. With television, there’s a learning curve with any show, in a way that I imagine there isn’t in a film. I’m assuming over two hours (of a film), the performance is the performance, as opposed to over 13. Kevin told me he felt like he understood Francis much better by end of these 13 than he did at the beginning. Sort of how was that for you?
David Fincher: It’s fun. It’s exciting. You know, we came into this with ten scripts written. By the time I left Baltimore and James Foley was shooting episodes three and four, Beau had fairly well cannibalized the next six. And was moving them around willy-nilly. Because he was responding to (the actors). We had actors that we cast on the basis of a videotape audition for three lines. And Beau would say, “I think there’s something to this girl and I want to bring her back in this other way.” And you kind of go, “My God, we don’t know whether she can do that? We’ve never - we haven’t asked this of her.” And then we would give her these pages. We’d go, “Wow, she’s great.” And there were appendages that we thought or veins that we thought we would mine that we ended up dropping.

It does reveal itself to you, just as the movie does. I mean, a movie does in a slightly different way because you have six months, seven months of thinking about it. It’s two hours. That’s all you have to really worry about. Thirteen hours is a lot. Anybody who says “I have the two-hour movie in my mind” is a liar. The notion that you could keep 13 hours in your head and know where you are in that is nuts. Actors who play a role that captures the imagination of many people, they have a hard time sort of getting out of that because it’s your compass. It’s your barometer that guides you through because you don’t know (what’s coming next). There are things that happen in the scripts for episode six that Kevin had never been privy to. When Beau finally showed up with the script it was like, “Wow, this is an interesting new idea. Where are we, where does this go?” And then there were ideas in episode nine that came out of this complete fork in the road that had happened.

So the company of actors who make themselves available for this kind of storytelling are both willing participants and victims of a process that reveals itself to you over time. And the interesting thing for me (watching all the episodes) two weeks ago was you would look at things that we were trying to weave into the through line, and you think about the pace the scripts came in — you get two a month. So you’re getting it more in a network kind of pace. And then you make them. I had seen all the episodes. And I’d color corrected all the episodes. And I’d done visual effects. And I’d made notes on the editing. So I’d see them and I’d seen them in different chronologies. And I’d seen them as this sequence was available. And that sequence that this one was being mixed. (But) I’d never watched them in the way that they were intended to go, one right after the other. It's a very different experience of something that you’ve spent a year of your life on when you sit down and it takes two days. It's like it’s Wagnerian.

Question You we're saying you were looking for a long format of storytelling for a while. So I was wondering what kind of TV shows made you think so?
David Fincher: I don’t watch a lot of TV. I get recommendations from people, and sometimes you see stuff when you’re casting things, and people send you edits of different actors. And you go, “Oh, that’s an interesting, that looks like an interesting show,” so I’ll try it. But I’m so not up to speed. And I feel like such a ****** because there’s so many times when we’d be with Beau and and I would say, “What about this?” and he would say, “We can’t do that because they did that on ‘West Wing.’” It’s like, okay. I didn’t know that. So I am a neophyte. I like “Breaking Bad.” I’ve watched that a lot. And I liked “Deadwood.” I at one point was going to do the pilot to “Deadwood.” And I had a couple of shows that almost got made at other cable subscription content providers. But I had never had to go nose to the grindstone and crank out 13 hours.

http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/house-of-cards-director-david-fincher-on-making-13-hours-for-netflix
Edited by dad1153 - 1/29/13 at 11:52pm

TV Reviews
The Spies Across the Street
By Dorothy Rabinowitz, Wall Street Journal

The period of this period piece would have been a draw all by itself. The time is 1981, the nation has just elected Ronald Reagan president—it's morning in America, but for the Soviets the shades of night are falling fast. It's a time of emergency; the American president is aggressive—a madman, KGB officers warn their agents. Against this background, "The Americans" unfolds a thoroughly seductive tale of sleeper KGB agents, a special breed trained for years so as to be able to pass themselves off as ordinary Americans leading inconspicuous lives while working within a network of Soviet spies and informants.

Phillip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell), the agents in question, have succeeded in establishing themselves as the quintessential American family, with two children—products of their arranged marriage who have no idea of their parents' actual identities—a home in suburban Washington, D.C., and a fake travel business. In that home, the series (created by Joe Weisberg) has located a base for drama that outshines most of the sex-seduction, martial-arts battles and spy shenanigans noisily competing for attention. Not surprisingly—given a household headed by two hard-core KGB agents—this is family drama of a highly complicated kind. For one thing, the members of this husband-and-wife spy team have begun to have somewhat divergent views of the American society they've been trained to undermine.

It's the husband who is increasingly open to the possibilities of life in this American society—Mr. Rhys's Phillip is so thoughtful a presence that it's impossible, however much vicious mayhem he visits on opponents, to imagine he means anything bad by it. That's in contrast to Elizabeth, his wife, who can't be softened in her views, who is stonily resolute in her devotion to their cause. When they first arrive in America she tells her husband the people here are weak—she can feel it. The female ideologue as the most fanatical of believers is by now an honored cliché and one that Ms. Russell's Elizabeth carries off persuasively. She can be chilling. Even when she radiates love toward her two very American children—Henry (Keidrich Sellati), age 10, and Paige (Holly Taylor), 13—there's something off about her connection with them.

The problem is their Americanness—and her Soviet identity. A point the highly intelligent script makes in a few deft strokes that set the stage for the deepening of this family's dilemma. One, of course, the children know nothing about. Still Paige, a sweet and studious girl, can hardly fail to notice something odd in her mother's shock that her daughter, at age 13, should have gone to the mall by herself and purchased a bra. When Elizabeth offers to take the girl to the mall herself so that they can buy a bra together, Paige gently informs her mother that this is not the way things are done these days—the kind of information that might be given to someone who was a stranger to this culture. Which is, of course, precisely what Elizabeth is and has been since her arrival in America.

None of this is to minimize the espionage parts of this saga, delectably complicated by the arrival of FBI counterintelligence agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) and family, who have just moved in across the street from the spies. Not to mention the harrowing episode two, an attempt to plant a recording device in the home of Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, which will involve one of the KGB's most notorious weapons—assault by poisoned umbrella. (For one of the more famous cases of this kind, see the 1978 murder of Bulgarian dissident and defector to the West Georgi Markov, attacked on a London street in broad daylight.) Between the spy and family drama here, the dull moments are likely to be few and far between.

THE AMERICANS
Begins Wednesday, Jan. 30, 10 p.m. on FX

* * * *

Dr. Jason Cole (Steven Pasquale), hero of "Do No Harm," is a man with a secret known to few people. A brilliant neurosurgeon, he does his work by day. But there's no finding him evenings, especially anytime close to 8. He suffers, we learn, from an affliction known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. There are support groups, we're shown, but the doctor's symptomatology takes a form that indicates his is a case beyond the help of groups. The doctor is the victim of an evil alter ego, Ian Price, who takes over his life nightly, from 8:25 p.m. till 8:25 a.m.

Life is no picnic for Dr. Cole in this updated version of the Jekyll and Hyde story, but it's not without its compensations, and even the opportunity to do a bit of social good. Infuriated by his hospital's inability to prevent a victim of domestic battering from going back home to the policeman husband who has nearly killed her, Dr. Cole arranges for his superhumanly violent other self to encounter the perpetrator. Count on it, the man will never again raise his hand against his wife, in the event he ever manages to raise it at all. There's considerable charm in this medical-drama concoction, which comes with the usual generous supply of spectacular brain disorders nobody you know will ever get—and in Mr. Pasquale's Dr. Cole, a confident, dedicated surgeon. You can only hope that's the one wielding the scalpel in the operating room.

DO NO HARM
Begins Thursday, Jan. 31, 10 p.m. on NBC

* * * *

"Space Shuttle Columbia: Mission of Hope" is presented in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the shuttle disaster of Feb. 1, 2003, that took the lives of the seven-member crew of astronauts. The documentary focuses on Col. Ilan Ramon, Israeli fighter pilot and the first Israeli to embark on a space mission. He viewed his own mission as an obligation to history—he would carry into space a miniature Torah scroll given to a young boy in a secret bar mitzvah held in the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen. The young boy had survived, to become Israel's lead scientist for the space mission. Col. Ramon's private mission would in the end be at least partially fulfilled by his friend, astronaut Steve MacLean, a moving testament to faith and fellowship.

SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA: MISSION OF HOPE
Thursday, Jan. 31, 9 p.m. on PBS

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323539804578261723913819046.html

TV Notes
Warner Bros Gives Green Light To Movie Version Of HBO Series ‘Entourage’
By Mike Fleming, Jr., Deadline.com - Jan. 29, 2013

EXCLUSIVE: Aquaman star Vinnie Chase is back, baby. Warner Bros has tonight given the green light on a movie version of Entourage, the HBO series that ran from 2004-2011. That gives a reprise for the inside Hollywood exploits of the up and coming film star, his manager and agent, his under-appreciated TV actor brother and the childhood pal/driver who form his inner circle.

The film will be directed by series creator Doug Ellin, who wrote the screenplay and who exec produced the series with Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson. Deals are starting to be made with Adrian Grenier, who played Chase, Kevin Connolly, who played his manager Eric “E” Murphy, Kevin Dillon, who played the actor’s brother Johnny Drama, Jerry Ferrara, who played their entrepreneurial driver Turtle, and Jeremy Piven, who played the show’s iconic type A talent agent Ari Gold. I’m sure Drama’s agent Lloyd (Rex Lee), E’s girl Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui), his management partner Scott (Scott Caan), and their quirky director collaborator Billy Walsh (Rhys Coiro) and Ari’s agency partner Barbara Miller (Beverly D’Angelo) will all be in the mix, along with a swarm of real Hollywood talent, playing themselves.

That’s about as far as the studio has gotten at this point, and there is no start date. I for one loved the series ending, in which Ari finally gave up his career and pledged his devotion to his long suffering gorgeous wife (Perry Reeves), only to get a last minute phone call offering him his dream job of running a film studio, knowing he’ll lose her if he says yes. Love to see how Ari negotiates himself out of that hell. Did I mention that I watched that show from start to finish, and miss it terribly?

While some naysayers might start in that an HBO transfer to film has no shot, the first Sex And The City did pretty well. For me, I can only think of one word to describe this development. Victory!!!!

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/warner-bros-gives-green-light-to-movie-version-of-hbo-series-entourage/

TV Notes
'Doctor Who' marks 50th year with trip to beginning
By Bill Keveney, USA Today - Jan. 29, 2013

The time-traveling Doctor Who is about to take a different kind of trip.

As part of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, BBC America announced it will co-produce An Adventure in Space and Time, a dramatic look at the creation of the popular series in 1963. Doctor Who veterans Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner will serve as executive producers, with Gatiss writing the script.

David Bradley (the Harry Potter films) will portray the actor who played first Doctor, William Hartnell, in the drama, which will premiere later this year. Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy) will portray BBC drama chief Sydney Newman, who is credited with the show's creation, and Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) will play Doctor Who producer Verity Lambert. Sacha Dhawan (History Boys) will portray Waris Hussein, the director of the first episode, An Unearthly Child, which was broadcast on Nov. 23, 1963.

"What a cast! I'm utterly delighted that everyone's favorite Time Lord will be in such brilliant and stellar company," Gatiss said in the announcement.

Bradley, also commenting in the announcement, said: "Mark has written such a wonderful script not only about the birth of a cultural phenomenon, but a moment in television's history. William Hartnell was one of the finest character actors of our time and as a fan I want to make sure that I do him justice."

Matt Smith plays the current incarnation of the Doctor, the 11th in the series.

Adventure, which will begin filming in London in February, is a co-production of BBC America and BBC Cymru Wales.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2013/01/29/bbc-america-marks-doctor-who-anniversary/1875915/