Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 2849

Uhh... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)

Meteorological reckoning

Spring, when defined in this manner, can start on different dates in different regions. In terms of complete months, in most North Temperate Zone locations, spring months are March, April and May, although differences exist from country to country.

TV Notes
ABC Pulls 'Zero Hour' From Schedule
By Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Mar. 1, 2013

The mediocre midseason has claimed another victim. ABC has pulled freshman drama Zero Hour from the schedule, effective immediately.

News of the series' fate comes as little surprise after a soft debut of 6.4 million viewers and a 1.4 rating with adults 18-49. Zero Hour dropped in its second outing before bottoming with just 5 million viewers and a 1.0 adults rating on Feb. 28 -- despite a lack of original competition from most broadcast networks.

Encores of Shark Tank will air in the series' stead for the next two Thursdays until Wife Swap starts a seven-week stretch March 21. Wipeout returns to the hour May 9.

The 8 p.m. Thursday time slot has been a tricky one for ABC to fill. Autumn launch Last Resort opened to a relatively promising 2.2 adults rating and 9.1 million viewers in September before falling sharply. Still, after its November cancelation, the network did let the Shawn Ryan drama finish its run in the hour.

Produced by ABC Studios, Zero Hour was created by Paul Scheuring and stars ER veteran Anthony Edwards -- as well as Jacinda Barrett, Scott Michael Foster, Addison Timlin, Carmen Ejogo and Michael Nyqvist. The rather complicated conspiracy-theory premise had many referencing Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, though it was not dismissed by critics. The Hollywood Reporter chief TV critic Tim Goodman praised the series' risk-taking, calling it "worthy of viewers' attention."

Zero Hour joins NBC's Do No Harm and CBS' The Job as midseason debuts to get the ax. The CW's Cult is in similar territory, getting shipped off to Fridays after just two episodes.

It is unclear where the remaining episodes of Zero Hour will air, though it will most likely be during the summer.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/abc-pulls-zero-hour-schedule-425658

TV Notes
NBC affiliate airs 'Matlock' instead of network's Thursday shows
By James Hibberd, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - Mar. 1, 2013

You know NBC’s ratings are bad when…

An affiliate decides to air a 21-year-old Matlock movie instead of the network’s Thursday night programming.

You know NBC’s ratings are really bad when…

Matlock‘s ratings are not much different than the regular shows.

Last night, Cleveland’s WKYC-TV opted to run a 1992 two-hour Matlock movie at 9 p.m. instead of NBC’s scheduled lineup. The rest of the country saw an Office repeat, a new episode of struggling White House sitcom 1600 Penn and a Law & Order: SVU repeat.

How did this rebellious experiment turn out? The metered-market ratings show Matlock actually outperformed 1600 Penn‘s recent delivery in the Cleveland market, and was about on par with The Office repeat’s national performance. During the 10 p.m. hour, however, the SVU repeat was clearly more popular.

The station’s general manager president and GM Brooke Spectorsky told EW he ran Matlock because star Andy Griffith was controversially left out of the Oscars “In Memorium” segment on Sunday and to catch-up on airing some local ad inventory. “We pre-empt the network once or twice a year to run a local movie,” said Spectorsky, who noted that NBC approved the decision. “It’s nothing beyond that. We had a Matlock movie and after the whole issue with the Academy Awards, we thought it was a good idea. It made for a lot of tweeting today.”

But a station typically doesn’t opt out of network programming without thinking they can air something that can potentially deliver a better or compatible rating. And that a decades-old Matlock actually beat NBC’s new comedy series by the usual affiliate ratings measurement system is still pretty funny. “[Ratings were not] the reason we did it,” Spectorsky said. “The big lesson we learned was don’t pre-empt The Office. We’ve run into a lot of feedback.”

Now if WKYC had aired Murder She Wrote, they might have really blown NBC out of the water.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/03/01/nbc-affiliate-matlock/#more-122556

TV Review
'Red Widow' spins a web of deadly cliches
By Rob Owen, Pitsburgh Post-Gazette - Feb. 28, 2013

Broadcast networks have had little luck launching midseason shows this year, and ABC's "Red Widow" (9 p.m. Sunday, WTAE) is unlikely to change that trend.

Bland and toothless, this drama, about a woman who ends up working in organized crime, attempts to meld suburban mommy drama with a mob story but fails to come up with anything that's remotely interesting to watch.

Marta Walraven (Radha Mitchell) lives in upscale Marin County outside San Francisco with husband Evan (Anson Mount, "Hell on Wheels") and their children. Marta's father is a Russian mobster, and Evan has some comparatively minor dalliances in illegal activities (pot smuggling). Marta has turned a blind eye to any nefarious doings in her immediate or extended family.

Then Marta's dumb-dumb brother, Irwin (Wil Traval), is stupid enough to rip off crime kingpin Nicholae Schiller (Goran Visnjic, "ER"), and soon tragedy strikes. Evan is murdered, and Marta has to beg Schiller to leave her family alone. He seems to agree that if she does one job for him, she'll be done, but anyone who has watched TV in the past 40 years knows there will be more to it than that, otherwise "Red Widow" would cease to exist, as fantastic a prospect as that might be.

So why was ABC interested in this blah show? Well, it's a story told from a female point of view, always a plus for getting on the ABC schedule (see: "Scandal," "Grey's Anatomy," "Revenge," etc.). There are some clear "Sopranos" elements on the surface (mob + family drama), but let's not sully "The Sopranos" by granting that "Red Widow" offers anything more than a glancing, faint echo. And "Red Widow" is written by Melissa Rosenberg, who wrote the screenplays for all of the "Twilight" movies before adapting this show from the Dutch series "Penoza." But even "Twilight," laughable as those films could be, had better drawn, more relatable characters than "Red Widow."

When Marta isn't learning how to be a mobster, she's managing the lives of her children, including elementary school-age Boris (Jakob Salvati), who gets expelled for taking a gun to class to confront a bully. This half of the "Red Widow" story is no more compelling than the equally dull mobster-in-training plots.

There are many problems with the "Red Widow" pilot, which airs as the first hour of a two-hour premiere. Evan comes across as the most compelling, conflicted character and when he dies -- something given away long ago in ABC promos -- the whole show deflates. Evan and Marta as a couple prove more engrossing than Marta on her own.

In its first hour, "Red Widow" flirts with the notion that it has a sense of humor -- Marta's mom (Natalija Nogulich) appears and offers some hope for buttinski mother gags but then disappears -- then quickly dispenses with that in favor of the sobering business of a woman learning the ropes of the mob trade, a predictable, boring enterprise.

Unlike a black widow, who mates and kills, "Red Widow" seems more likely to bore viewers to death.

RED WINDOW
When: 9-11 p.m. Sunday, ABC.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/tv-radio/tv-review-red-widow-spins-a-web-of-deadly-cliches-677220/

TV Review
‘The Bible,’ a few stories, some tricks
History channel 10-part series takes liberties with the original
By Tom Conroy, Media Life Magazine

The Bible wasn’t written with screen treatments in mind, so any movie or TV script is going to have to make some cuts — think of the pages of dietary laws and the Epistles — and fill in some blanks. But whether the writers use scholarly research or their own aesthetic judgments in this cutting and filling, they’re likely to make somebody angry.

The History channel’s series “The Bible,” produced by the reality-TV mogul Mark Burnett and his wife, the actress Roma Downey, divides its 10 episodes evenly between the Old Testament and New, but the since the latter section of the Bible is much shorter, that makes the first five episodes a series of highlight films and the second five an exercise in padding out.

Although it’s possible that the series’ many emendations and additions are based on rigorous scholarship, most of the changes weaken the power of the stories or distract from their point. The first half feels rushed and frenetic; the second is too slow.

Although the miniseries is clearly aimed at the secondary DVD market for families, scenes of graphic violence — only some of which are based on scripture — make many moments unsuitable for small children, and religious people will likely bridle at the departures from the original text. Parts of each episode are engrossing, but as a whole, the series is uninspired.

The first two episodes, airing as a block this Sunday, March 3, at 8 p.m., rush through both Genesis and Exodus, two books that are the source of many of the most memorable stories in the Bible.

The show opens on a dark and stormy night in Noah’s ark, where Noah (David Rintoul), is trying to calm his family by retelling the stories of the Creation, the Fall and Cain and Abel in a strong Scots accent. That allows the show to zip ahead to Abraham (Gary Oliver) with most bases at least lightly touched.

Abraham’s life is well-covered, and the desert locations, while familiar looking, feel authentic. The episode builds to a natural climax with the near-sacrifice of Abraham’s son Isaac. The actors, mostly unfamiliar faces cast from many countries, are capable but unmemorable.

The treatment of Abraham’s nephew Lot (Antonio Magro) is more problematic. The two angels who show up in Sodom are pursued by a mob of men for unspecified reasons — both politically sensitive viewers and parents might appreciate this vagueness.

But then the angels turn on their pursuers. One smites them with blindness, as the original text says, but the other pulls two swords from scabbards strapped to his back and demonstrates that heaven has an excellent martial-arts program.

One might forgive a little extraneous embellishment if the story didn’t then skip past the rest of Isaac’s life, as well as the lives of Jacob and Joseph. The narrator (the probably too familiar voice-over veteran Keith David) simply says that Abraham had many descendants and a famine drew them to Egypt.

Borrowing from the old biblical spectacular “The Ten Commandments,” the second episode sets up a sibling rivalry between the young Moses and his foster brother, the future Pharaoh. As adults, Moses (William Houston) and Pharaoh (Stewart Scudamore) seem slightly unhinged, screaming themselves hoarse at each other.

Episodes 3, 4, 9 and 10 weren’t made available for review, so it’s impossible to say whether the miniseries as a whole will feel complete. Even people with decent religious educations have a hard time keeping the chronology straight after Moses. But according to press materials, episodes 3 and 4 will focus on the stories of Joshua, Samson, Saul and David, which seem like good choices.

Episode 5 covers the Babylonian Captivity, including the life of Daniel (Jake Canuso). Probably to simplify things, Kings Cyrus and Darius seem to have to been combined into one character. This probably will make no difference, since, again, even people with decent religious educations are used to being confused by this period of history.

Episode 6 gets us into the part of the Bible that the producers — and probably most potential DVD buyers — seem to care most about: the Gospels. The life of Jesus will take up four hours.

So now the producers have the leisure to add stuff. We see Joseph and Mary making eyes at each other during a religious service in Nazareth, as well as many scenes of Roman soldiers bullying unwilling taxpayers and brutally suppressing rebellions. Pontius Pilate (Greg Hicks) gets more screen time than his cameo in the Gospels justifies.

Whereas the narration was necessary in the Old Testament episodes to stitch together the stories, these episodes are so full of expository dialogue that the additional explanation is merely distracting.

Like many modern screen Jesuses, the Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado smiles a lot. Although his looks are almost comically close to the pale Galilean depicted in kitschy Christian art, his accent and slightly wild eyes add a welcome hint of exoticism.

Some of the aesthetic choices in these sections are dubious. The miracle of the loaves and fishes comes across like a magic trick. In a preview showing Jesus (spoiler alert!) after the resurrection, sunlight shines through the hole in his hand.

The moving story of the woman taken in adultery is botched. In the King James Version, when the woman is brought before Jesus by a crowd planning to stone her to death, he mysteriously writes in the dirt with his finger and then says, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

In the Burnett-Downey version, Jesus paces around holding a stone, pretending he’s about to throw it at the woman, then says, “I’ll give my stone to the first man who tells me that he has never sinned.”

Why stop there? Couldn’t he have pulled a pair of swords out from under his robe and kicked some Pharisee butt?

Burnett and Downey must be aware that centuries of controversies have hung on minor differences in the interpretation of biblical passages. Beyond that, the people who will care the most about this project are the ones who will object the most to anything that seems like arbitrary treatment of the source material.

“The Bible” has its moments, but the producers should have gone for the Gospel truth.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/the-bible-a-few-stories-some-tricks/

TV Notes
Lifetime’s ‘Drop Dead Diva’ Gets Resurrected With Fifth Season Order
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Mar. 1, 2013

EXCLUSIVE: Drop Dead Diva lives! A month and a half after Lifetime cancelled the dramedy series, I’ve learned that the cable network has inked a deal with producer Sony Pictures TV to bring the show back for a fifth season. At the time of the cancellation, Lifetime insiders noted that that they were open to reconsidering the decision if Sony TV came up with a new financial model. After weeks of talks, I hear the two sides found a framework that made continuing Drop Dead Diva feasible for both of them.

The fifth-season pickup comes almost six months after Drop Dead Diva‘s fourth season wrapped its run on Lifetime. The dramedy, starring Brooke Elliott as a dead aspiring model trapped in the body of an intelligent, curvy lawyer, was one of two scripted series Nancy Dubuc inherited when she took over Lifetime in 2010, along with veteran drama Army Wives, which is underwent casting and creative changes heading into its seventh season. There had been speculation that Lifetime brass felt Drop Dead Diva did not quite fit into the network’s shift toward edgier fare with shows like The Client List, but ratings-wise Drop Dead Diva has been a solid performer since its July 2009 premiere, which drew 2.8 million viewers. Its most recent season averaged consistently over 2 million viewers in Live+Same Day. Additionally, Drop Dead Diva has developed a loyal fan base, which has been rallying in support of the show following its cancellation.

Drop Dead Diva, executive produced by creator Josh Berman, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, is the latest series to be resurrected after being cancelled in the last couple of years. Sony TV has done it three times before with CBS’ Unforgettable and FX’s Damages, Fox’s Breaking In, and Fox TV Studios accomplished it recently with AMC’s The Killing. Coming up on the network are the seventh season of Army Wives and second cycle of Client List, which premiere this month, and new dramedy Devious Maids, which will launch later this year.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/drop-dead-diva-returning-season-5-lifetime/

Critic's Notes
Dale Robertson and his Longhorn Buick
By Noel Holston, TVWorthWatching.com - Mar. 1, 2013

Dale Robertson, who joined those ghost riders in the sky this week at the age of 89, was the first celebrity I ever met. And though I went on to interview hundreds more as a media and entertainment writer, it’s still one of my favorite encounters.

I was 12 years old when Robertson, riding high as the star of NBC’s popular Western series Tales of Wells Fargo, visited my little hometown, Laurel, Mississippi. He was pals with a local car dealer who shared his passion for raising and riding quarter horses.

Robertson made a guest appearance at Red Martin’s car lot on a sunny Saturday to help drum up some business. He had driven to Laurel from out West in the customized convertible that his show’s sponsor, Buick, had given him as a token of appreciation. It was parked on Martin’s lot when my dad pulled in his 1954 Ford pick-up with me and my buddy, Leslie Davies, in the cab. Daddy wasn’t exactly the star-struck type, but he respected cowboy actors like Robertson who knew how to sit a horse.

The customized Buick was the most fabulous vehicle we had ever seen. Even today, I would take it over the Batmobile or Knight Rider’s KITT. It was white, waxed to a blinding shine, with gorgeous brown leather interior stitched like a fine saddle, a holstered, chrome-plated six-gun on each interior door, and a longhorn steer-head for a hood ornament. People stood around it at a respectful distance, staring at it as though it were the spaceship in The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Robertson appeared this day not in his Jim Hardie/Wells Fargo costume but in a summer sport shirt and slacks. The only nod to cowboy-ism was his handsome pair of boots.

Red Martin introduced him, and he hopped up on a low stack of Royal Crown Cola crates to make some remarks to the crowd, most about his host’s ranch and the beautiful working horses he raised. When he was done, he offered to take questions.

My buddy Leslie, an incorrigible smart-ass who could have been the model for Bart Simpson, raised his hand. Robertson pointed to him.

“Why would you ride quarter horses?” Leslie asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to ride whole ones?”

Robertson looked as Leslie like he would have pulled his revolver if he’d been strapping. Then he sort of rolled his eyes and recognized another questioner.

Afterwards, when he was signing autographs, I apologized on behalf of my friend and told him I was such a big fan of Wells Fargo I was trying to learn to draw my gun left-handed in homage to agent Jim Hardie. He asked me and a few other kids if we would like to sit in the Buick. We took turns sitting behind the wheel, but only after one of Red Martin’s salesmen brought over a mat on which we had to wipe our feet. Even Leslie eventually got a turn.

Robertson was never a great actor, but he had an outsized personality, gregarious and confident. He carried himself with a swagger, like he was a walking tall tale. Wells Fargo, which ran for five seasons, was the peak of his success. A second Western series, The Iron Horse, never caught on, nor did J.J. Starbuck, a series about a rich Texan who drove around the country in a convertible much like the legendary Buick — it had actual cow horns on the hood — solving crimes and helping people out of jams.

Starbuck and the recurring characters Robertson played on both Dallas and Dynasty were well tailored to Robertson’s robust persona, but for me, the role of his career was the title character in Melvin Purvis, G-Man, a 1974 made-for-TV movie in which he played the FBI agent who led the hunts for Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger and other Depression-era most-wanteds. The real Purvis was notorious publicity hound, and Robertson, working under the direction of Dan Curtis (The Night Stalker) with a script by John Milius (Dirty Harry, Apocolypse Now), played him with full-throttle flamboyance, resplendent in double-breasted period suits and waving a big cigar as he plotted strategy and held court. If this wasn’t the real deal, it was very close to the real Dale.

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/BlogPostDetails.aspx?postId=4410

TV Notes
The CW Revives 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?'
By Andrea Morabito, Broadcasting & Cable - Mar. 1, 2013

The CW is reviving the improv series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, on Friday ordering 10 half-hour episodes to premiere this summer.

Ryan Stiles, Wayne Brady and Colin Mochrie, who starred in the original ABC series that aired from 1998-2007, will return for the new version, which will be hosted by The Talk's Aisha Tyler instead of Drew Carey. The three performers and a special guest each episode will use prompts supplied by the studio audience and host to depict characters and scenes to win points in each round.

The pick-up marks the first move into the comedy space for The CW, a genre network president Mark Pedowitz has been looking to develop since he took the helm almost two years ago.

News of Whose Line's return was first hinted at by Mochrie on Twitter Friday morning.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/492134-The_CW_Revives_Whose_Line_Is_It_Anyway_.php

TV Sports
N.H.L.’s Request for Video Rights Creates Quandary for Olympics
By Jeff Z. Klein, The New York Times - Mar. 2, 2013

Talks between the N.H.L. and the International Olympic Committee over whether the league will send its players next year to Sochi, Russia, hinge on one overarching issue: if the I.O.C. grants the N.H.L. concessions for shutting down its business at midseason, other leagues that send players to the Olympics may ask for the same.

The N.H.L.’s main request is the right to use Olympic video on the NHL Network and NHL.com.

The N.H.L., like the N.B.A., the W.N.B.A., FIFA and other sports leagues, is currently not allowed to use such video. That means the clip of Sidney Crosby scoring Canada’s gold-medal-winning goal against the United States at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics has never been shown on an N.H.L. video player of any kind.

But if the I.O.C. grants an exception to the N.H.L., it may have to grant similar exceptions to other bodies. That is the sticking point.

“I would think other leagues would ask for the same thing,” said Ed Desser, president of the consulting firm Desser Sports Media and a former president of NBA Television and New Media Ventures. “It’s a very interesting conundrum.”

Desser added: “On the one hand, you have leagues that spend a huge amount of time and resources in creating the interest in the athletes and the sport, and the I.O.C., in essence, gets a free ride on that. It’s hardly surprising to me that the N.H.L. would seek to obtain some benefits.”

In 2010, Commissioner Gary Bettman raised the possibility of financial compensation for N.H.L. teams for shutting down at midseason and exposing their players to injury at the Winter Olympics. However, that issue is not believed to be under negotiation.

Last month, representatives from the N.H.L., the N.H.L. Players’ Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation met in New York for two days with Richard Carrión, chairman of the I.O.C. finance commission.

In joint statements after the meetings, Bettman and René Fasel, the I.I.H.F. president, said they were hopeful that N.H.L. players would go to Sochi. But they stopped well short of expressing confidence that an agreement would be reached.

“There are a lot of things that still have to be worked out on both ends,” Bettman said.

On Friday, Bill Daly, the N.H.L. deputy commissioner, described the negotiations between the league and the I.O.C. as ongoing but did not give details.

Mark Adams, the I.O.C. director of communications, said, “We would very much like to see N.H.L. players in Sochi and know the players are very eager to compete there, as the Games have long been a stage where some of the most memorable games in ice hockey have taken place.”

Most expect that the N.H.L. will send its players to skate for their home countries, as it has done for every Winter Olympics since 1998. The league’s players are known to be overwhelmingly in favor of Olympic participation.

“It sounds like it’s going to happen, whether the N.H.L. gets the video rights or not,” said Neal Pilson, a former president of CBS Sports.

NBC, the N.H.L.’s television partner in the United States, may offer a way for the league to gain some concessions from the I.O.C.

“What the I.O.C. might say is if NBC, the rights-holder, can work something out with the N.H.L. that allows the league to use video clips, then O.K.,” Desser said. “Of course, the N.B.A. might come along and ask for the same thing. Is it potentially messy? Absolutely.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/sports/hockey/nhls-request-for-video-rights-creates-quandary-for-olympics.html?ref=media&_r=0

TV Notes
‘Doctor Who’: Ice Warriors, Cybermen and London in show’s return
By Noelene Clark, Los Angeles Times - Feb. 28, 2013

New companion Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) and The Doctor (Matt Smith) are a smashing pair in the first image released for the show’s return March 30. (BBC)

The Doctor and his recently recruited companion Clara Oswin Oswald will face off against some new nemeses and reconnect with familiar friends when “Doctor Who” returns March 30 after a three-month hiatus.

BBC released details about the mid-season premiere episode “The Bells of St. John” as well as a new poster for the second half of Season 7 on Thursday.

The poster features the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) clad in a purple smoking jacket and a gold bow tie, astride a motorcycle, with Clara (newcomer Jenna-Louise Coleman) hanging onto his waist. Surrounding images reveal glimpses of the season’s upcoming aliens, including Cybermen, Ice Warriors and a face that appears to be a Sycorax. The motorcycle appears to be racing down the side of the Shard, a 95-floor London skyscraper that was completed last year and opened to the public in February.

“The Bells of St. John” will be a modern, urban thriller about “something sinister lurking in the Wi-Fi,” according to BBC. In the episode, penned by “Doctor Who” lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, the Doctor meets a new nemesis, the Spoonheads. The episode is set against the backdrop of London landmarks the Shard and Westminster Bridge.

The second half of Season 7 heralds the return of the Cybermen (in an episode penned by Neil Gaiman) as well as the Ice Warriors, which were last seen on-screen in the 1974 serial “The Monster of Peladon,” starring the third Doctor (Jon Pertwee).

In classic “Who,” the Ice Warriors were armor-clad reptilian humanoids from Mars. Though initially villains, the Ice Warriors later renounced violence. The 10th Doctor (David Tennant) praised them in 2009′s “The Waters of Mars,” saying, “They tell legends of Mars from long ago, of a fine and noble race who built an empire out of snow. The Ice Warriors.”

It’s a fitting time to bring back the classic creatures as Whovians celebrate the series’ 50th anniversary, as noted by Moffat in the exclamation-filled release.

“It’s the 50th year of ‘Doctor Who’ and look what’s going on!” Moffat said. “We’re up in the sky and under the sea! We’re running round the rings of an alien world and then a haunted house. There’s new Cybermen, new Ice Warriors and a never before attempted journey to the centre of the TARDIS. And in the finale, the Doctor’s greatest secret will at last be revealed! If this wasn’t already our most exciting year it would be anyway!”

Whovians are also eager for more details about the Doctor’s mysterious new companion, whose big debut in the Christmas special posed as many questions as it answered. Coleman’s character follows the departure of fan-favorite companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and her husband, Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill).

Guest star Richard E. Grant (“Dracula”) is returning after his stint as villain Doctor Simeon in the “The Snowmen” this Christmas. Also appearing this season are Warwick Davis (“Harry Potter,” “Willow”), Dougray Scott (“Desperate Housewives,” “Mission: Impossible II”), Celia Imrie (“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”), Jessica Raine (“Call the Midwife”) and Tamzin Outhwaite (“EastEnders”), as well as mother and daughter Diana Rigg (“Game of Thrones”) and Rachael Stirling (“Tipping the Velvet”).

The show returns March 30 at 8 p.m. Pacific on BBC America. [CLICK LINK BELOW TO SEE CLIPS]

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/tv/doctor-who-ice-warriors-cybermen-and-london-in-shows-return/

TV Review
'Red Widow' puts female spin on 'Breaking Bad' formula
By Ellen Gray, Philadelphia Daily News - Mar. 1, 2013

If this country ever legalizes drugs, TV writers will be among the first to take a hit.

(No, not that kind.)

When the American dream goes south for their middle-class characters, drug-dealing is less likely to be the fix of choice, since taxed and licensed transactions just don't pack the dramatic punch required by shows such as "Breaking Bad," or even "Weeds."

Maybe we'll see more bank robberies?

Fortunately for ABC's "Red Widow," which premieres with a two-hour episode Sunday, drug trafficking is still a dirty, dangerous business that stay-at-home moms in tiny northern California suburbs aren't supposed to mess with.

Not that Marta Walraven (Radha Mitchell) is just any stay-at-home mom.

Born into a colorful family of Russian mobsters, she's long pretended to herself that she's raising her three children outside that life and that her husband, Evan (Anson Mount), who works with her brother (Wil Traval), is just a garden-variety pot dealer, not a major drug trafficker - their huge and light-filled home outside San Francisco notwithstanding.

The fantasy's already crumbling when Evan is gunned down in the family's driveway, leaving Marta to sort out a dangerous mess that could get her and the rest of her family killed.

Complicating her problems: an FBI agent (Clifton Collins Jr.) who'd also like her to finish her husband's unfinished business - by turning state's evidence and possibly taking down her father (Rade Serbedzija).

Oh, and then there are her kids (Sterling Beaumon, Erin Moriarty and Jakob Salvati), who have a few issues, too.

What's a mother to do?

Marta's particular choice brings her into the world of Nicholae Schiller ("ER's" Goran Visnjic), a guy so bad even Marta's mob-boss father won't mess with him.

We know he's bad because he dresses impeccably, laughs inappropriately and refuses to guarantee the safety of anyone in Marta's world until she performs a task for which only he believes she's qualified.

Which may actually make him an excellent judge of character.

In the light of Monday morning, a lot of what goes on in "Red Widow" is probably going to seem pretty silly.

But shows like this are all about the chemistry, and the chemistry between Mitchell and Visnjic is everything you'd want in an essentially unequal relationship between a recent widow and the megalomaniacal drug dealer who can end her life at any moment.

If you've been spending your Sundays with ABC's "Revenge" - which returns next week to become a more appropriate lead-in than "Once Upon a Time" - you might enjoy meeting this "Widow."

RED WIDOW.
9 p.m. Sunday, 6 ABC. Moves to 10 p.m. Sundays on March 10.

http://articles.philly.com/2013-03-01/news/37375203_1_major-drug-trafficker-unfinished-business-fbi-agent

TV Review
History's 'Vikings' a bloody good time
Travis Fimmel and Gabriel Byrne come from the land of the ice and snow
By Alan Sepinwall, HitFix.com - Mar. 1, 2013

There are more ambitious dramas on television right now, but few that deliver as consistently on what is promised than “Vikings” (Sunday at 10 p.m.), History’s first scripted drama series. The show is exactly what you might expect from the title — unless, that is, you’re from Minnesota and expecting a fictionalized account of the career of the Purple People Eaters, or perhaps a dramatization of the sex boat scandal — presented with plenty of style.

So there are many tall men with axes and shields and interesting beards. There are longboats and debates over whether any lands exist to the west of Scandinavia — making our westward-looking hero, Ragnar (Travis Fimmel), a bold thinker for his era — and battles on green hills and sandy beaches. There’s abundant pillaging, talk of Valhalla and how to get there.

It’s called “Vikings.” It’s about Vikings. And it’s quite good in the early going.

The series was created by Michael Hirst, who has plenty of experience with period intrigue (the “Elizabeth” films, Showtime’s “The Tudors”), and the pilot directed by “Breaking Bad” veteran Johan Renck. With a little help from computer effects and a lot from their production people and the green hills of Ireland, they create a vision of the culture that may not be 100 percent to historical accuracy, but which also doesn’t feel completely ludicrous for the sake of drama.

Though we open with Ragnar as one of the few survivors of a fearsome battle involving swords, spears and axes — one that’s not quite as graphic as, say, Starz’s “Spartacus,” but also one that doesn’t hide from the blood — the series is willing to take its time to introduce us to Ragnar’s family, his community, and the conflicts before the action really gets heated. We meet his wife Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), a fierce shield-maiden in her own right, and their son Bjorn (Nathan O’Toole), who’s on the verge of becoming a man — with all the power and responsibilities that involves. And we see the subtle battle between Ragnar and the local Earl (Gabriel Byrne), who believes there are no lands to the west and no way to get there — even though Ragnar has discovered the Viking equivalent of GPS, and can properly chart a voyage through unfamiliar waters.

Fimmel’s a former model who had a rough introduction to the TV business a decade ago as the star of the WB’s “Tarzan,” but he’s evolved into an interesting performer. The role of Ragnar plays to all of his strengths: impressive physical presence, a command of the screen, crazy eyes that also reveal a wicked intelligence behind them. Some of his most interesting moments involve Ragnar in repose, contemplating his next move, and Fimmel absolutely holds the frame as he does it. The part (and the beard) may create more confusion between Fimmel and Charlie Hunnam on “Sons of Anarchy,” but that’s not a bad thing when the performance suggests it might have that kind of power behind it.

Fimmel is well-matched by Winnick, who’s convincing as a woman who can go to battle with these giant men, and also by Gustaf Skarsgard (brother of Alexander from “True Blood”) as Ragnar’s eccentric ship-building friend Floki. Byrne is playing more of a stock villain, but he also lends credibility to this maiden voyage for History, and Jessalyn Gilsig from “Glee” plays well to type as the Earl’s cunning wife.

In an odd way, the four episodes I’ve seen play almost like science fiction. Ragnar is the explorer determined to go somewhere that everyone says is impossible to get to (if it exists at all). And when the Vikings do eventually land on the shores of England, they’re greeted as something akin to aliens, baffling the local Christians — including George Blagden as a monk who becomes Ragnar’s reluctant guide to the Saxon world — almost as much as they in turn are baffled by those who would leave so much gold and so many jewels lying around an unprotected house of worship.

“Vikings” isn’t complicated. It doesn’t get too cute in its dialogue, and instead relies on the inherent appeal of the era and these characters to drive the story. It knows what it wants to do, and it does it. As original series debuts go, it’s no “Oz” or “The Shield,” but it does the job it sets out to do in entertaining fashion.

http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-historys-vikings-a-bloody-good-time

TV Review
The good book translates into a bad series
By Sarah Rodman, Boston Globe - Mar. 1, 2013

Given how many epic, sprawling, multi-character stories about good, evil, and the gray areas in between have found their way to television in the past few years — from HBO’s fantastical yet earthy “Game of Thrones” to the swords, sandals, and sexcapades of Starz’s soon to conclude, and underrated, “Spartacus” — it makes sense that someone decided to apply anew the “biblical proportions” approach to the actual source material for that phrase.

That those someones are reality show Midas Mark Burnett (“Survivor,” “The Apprentice,” and “The Voice”) and his wife, Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel”), may be a surprise to those unaware that the pair are devout Christians.

The 10-hour, five-part “The Bible” — the first two-hour installment of which premieres Sunday at 8 p.m., and which concludes, naturally, on Easter — is a passion project for the couple.

Downey, who also costars as Mother Mary, and Burnett take a sort of “greatest hits” approach to the bestseller, splitting time between the Old and New Testaments. The stories — Noah’s Ark, the Exodus, the tumbling walls of Jericho, the crucifixion and resurrection — are likely well-known to just about anyone who spent time in Sunday school or saw any of the various other attempts at Bible adaptations over the years, including the star-studded Cecil B. Demille network perennial “The Ten Commandments.”

So the challenge is to bring something new to well-trodden ground; and in the just over three hours that I sampled, there were few fresh elements on display beyond contemporary CGI updates of spectacles like the parting of the Red Sea and the vision of the burning bush.

Instead, “The Bible” takes a familiarly earnest and plodding approach with a lot of overwrought acting by a cast of a thousand accents. (Noah sounds Scottish; many of the Israelites hail from England, apparently; and the Pharaoh appears to be American.)

The styles of acting also range from very natural to Shakespearean melodrama to almost too contemporary. (At one point, when Abraham is dealing with the displeasure of Sarah and Hagar, he appears to look skyward with a “Women, amirite?”-type expression.)

It may also be impossible to intone phrases like “Let my people go” after so many iterations with anything resembling freshness. But the proclivity for the kind of bellowing normally reserved for Captain Kirk railing against Khan starts to become comical as each character histrionically shouts up to the heavens in turn: “Isaac!” “Moses!” “David!”

To Downey and Burnett’s credit, unlike the perfectly coiffed movie stars of yore, there is a lot of dirt in the first few hours, contributing to a palpable sense of heat, grime, and blood. And while it would be impossible to please everyone when dealing with such sensitive (and, to many, sacred) material, you can feel the heartfelt solemnity throughout. It’s clear they take the work seriously.

Theological scholars can determine whether “The Bible” achieves the stated goal of endeavoring to “stay true to the spirit of the book,” but as entertainment, even the most faithful believers might find some scenes unintentionally comic or snoozy, or wish for a stronger cast, direction, and writing to bring these stories to life once again. As is, “The Bible” sometimes feels too facile, like a colorful Sunday school pop-up book come to life, albeit one with much more graphic violence (which some parents might want to preview before sharing with their kids).

THE BIBLE
Network: History
Show Date: Sunday
Show Time: 8 p.m.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/2013/02/28/the-good-book-translates-into-bad-series/0zhubfjUwUi2pE0SuUOwgK/story.html

I really, really don't get their style. It either has the stupid periods or it doesn't, NYT.

Damn.. I just watched 2 of the 3 last night.. not a bad show. I guess I will watch the 3rd at some point..

I bailed after ep-2. I read the Da Vinci Code, I know the Da Vinci Code and ABC, this was no Da Vinci code. Looks like I made the right call.

The fact that March is considered a spring month by no means suggests that spring begins on March 1.

I enjoyed the first four seasons, but the fourth season's finale jammed the plot into such a horrible corner that I seriously considered, based on that alone, stopping watching.  When news of the cancellation came, it was not just a non-disappointment but a slight relief that whatever would have to come next wasn't going to be produced or perhaps even written.

But now it's tempting to hate-watch the next season.

I know this isn't the right place, but is there a forum here at avs that discusses iPads and tablets, if not, any recommendations on discussion sites regarding them ??

Go to MacRumors forums

While it is true that the astrological start of spring isn't until the 21st (or thereabouts), when it comes to stuff dealing with the weather, spring starts on March 1. The winter record keeping months are now over.

That must be why the Weather Channel was calling the latest storm in the midwest a late winter storm.

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

Nielsen Overnights
'Last Man,' 'Malibu Country' and 'Kitchen Nightmares' All Rise
By Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Mar. 2, 2013

ABC topped Friday night among adults 18-49 (1.6 rating) and total viewers (6.2 million), starting with boosted outings for comedies Last Man Standing (1.6 adults) and Malibu Country (1.4 adults). Both were up three tenths of a point from the previous episode. A steady Shark Tank (1.9 adults) topped all broadcasts for the night, and 20/20 (1.5 adults) was up a tenth of a point at 10 p.m.

Down a tenth from last week, a two-hour Dateline (1.3 adults) led into an even Rock Center With Brian Williams (1.0 adults) on NBC. The network averaged a 1.2 adults rating and 5.3 million viewers.

Fox saw boosts in both hours with Kitchen Nightmares (1.3 adults) rising two tenths of a point from last week and Touch (0.8 adults) up a tenth. The network averaged a 1.0 adults rating and 3.1 million viewers.

Repeats brought CBS a 0.9 adults rating and 6.1 million viewers.

On the CW, Nikita (0.3 adults) held last week's score, giving the network an average 0.2 adults rating and 811,000 viewers for the night.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-last-man-malibu-425719

Critic's Notes
The 'Enlightened' Soliloquies
By Eric Gould, TVWorthWatching.com - Mar. 2, 2013

HBO's Enlightened has achieved the difficult — a sophomore season better than the first. And as it approaches its season finale this Sunday night, creator-star-writer Mike White (top) has continued the weekly episodic interludes that eavesdrop in on the characters' innermost thoughts. That signature, lyrical trademark has heped make it one of the more satisfying series on television this year.

White's melancholy show about a former corporate executive (co-creator and leading lady Laura Dern), kicked down to data processing and bent on revenge, is as close to short-story or free-form verse as television can come. It's White's small, quiet corner, and that tone gives it an uncanny, literary feel.

The tale of Amy Jellicoe (Dern) will be coming to a head in the last episode of this season (Sunday, March 3, 9:30 p.m. ET). Amy is a reckless mess. She's a former executive whose unfortunate, public mental breakdown resulted in last season's epic demotion at Abbadon Industries. After a stay at an in-house treatment facility (and a divorce from her addict husband, Luke Wilson) she's living with her mother (Diane Ladd). Amy's full of moral outrage at Abbadon. She's enrolled her meek office pal Tyler (White) in a hacking and spy job into the corporate database, and has given over the information to an L.A. Times reporter to blow the whistle on their illegal influence and regulatory schemes.

While Amy is a warrior, she's conflicted, bossy and full of new-age superiority. And she's also realizing that the bomb she is about to explode might not turn out to be the incendiary victory she's been dreaming of — that maybe the good life doesn't mean a campaign. White's Tyler, a Caspar Milquetoast type, has just finally found love in an equally awkward, self-conscious co-worker, Eileen (wonderfully played by Molly Shannon). Trouble is, she's the CEO's assistant, and he's just hacked into her computer as part of Amy's plan (and presumably, soon will be discovered).

In one of the better turns this season, Amy's department head, the alpha-dog Dougie (Timm Sharp, right center), who was a menacing, caged presence in his glass office last season, has learned from Amy that he's soon to be a corporate casualty, too. The company is going to cut him and the data crew as part of the executives' downsizing plan to line their pockets with bigger bonuses. Now he and Amy and Tyler are an unlikely, oddball trio that viewers thought they'd never see.

But what elevates White and Enlightened above its simple tale of choice and consequences is its unusual weekly brand of beat-poetry narration above a montage of a different character. Enlightened's tone is extremely soft and everyday, yet the character's quiet revelations (and resignations) are palpable.

In this season's first episode, Amy mused on her corporate adversaries in their impenetrable glass fortresses, as beautiful nighttime shots of LA office towers drifted by in slow, mobile shots. The voiceover starts;

"This kingdom
This amazing kingdom we have made,
This monstrous kingdom.
Its castles are magic,
They are beautiful.
They are built on dreams,
And iron,
And greed.
They are inorganic and cannot sustain.
No kingdom lasts for ever.
Even this will end..."

(That same episode also showed us a grand bit of foreshadowing, too, in which Tyler finally relented to join Amy's plan. As they sat in Tyler's car talking, the traffic light behind them simply changed from green to red. We'll see on Sunday how that ominous signal works out for both of them.)

Then in Episode Five, we followed Tyler to the market and in his apartment, alone in his nightly routine. He's cooking for himself, and afterward, before bed, watches slow-moving manatees in a nature documentary on TV (gentle, soundless creatures, like him). We hear his voice, accompanied by a slow, single harp line:

"It's OK to be a ghost.
It has its pleasures.
You're light. You float.
You slip in and out, unseen.
There's no love to lose,
Or burden to be.
You have so little to hold you down.
You are free..."

The prose in Enlightened isn't the highest of free-form verse, and doesn't try to be. This is television, and the words supplement the pictures. But it does achieve its own brand of electronic performance art, and for that, it's worth noting that it's taken the Shakespearean soliloquy and evolved it into a more modern version all its own. It slips imperceptibly into the interiors of the characters, and as their thoughts blend with montage, they're haunting, rich moments.

As the finale comes for Enlightened, Amy has scolded Tyler about being complacent, and taking what life gives him, warning "what goes around comes around … you reap what you sow…"

It now, ironically, looks like that is exactly what is coming true for both of them. White has brilliantly shown characters fiercely chasing what it is they thought they wanted, only to find those passions misplaced, and evaporating at the exact moment they're about to be had.

Amy has wanted to tear down everything around her, and last week, she got the surprise offer of a well-paying higher position at the one place she thought she hated, just as her exposé is to run in the L.A. Times. It's another beautifully spun dilemma of possibility and failure, both outcomes being equal.

White's on record at Buzzfeed that HBO shortened the order for Enlightened to eight episodes this year. And he doesn't know if the series will return. (There are a lot of articles about it as the best show no one is watching.) So, he wrote this season's finale in a manner of a series finale.

This Sunday, we'll see how it turns out, and hopefullly, there will be more enlightenment to come next year.

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/BlogPostDetails.aspx?postId=4411

Critic's Notes
Giving Viewers What They Want
By David Carr, The New York Times' 'Media Equation' Column

In the television business, there is no such thing as a sure thing. You can have a gold-plated director, a bankable star and a popular concept and still, it’s just a roll of the dice.

Or is it?

In any business, the ability to see into the future is the killer app, and Netflix may be getting close with “House of Cards.” The series, directed by David Fincher, starring Kevin Spacey and based on a popular British series, is already the most streamed piece of content in the United States and 40 other countries, according to Netflix. The spooky part about that? Executives at the company knew it would be a hit before anyone shouted “action.”

Netflix, which has 27 million subscribers in the nation and 33 million worldwide, ran the numbers. It already knew that a healthy share had streamed the work of Mr. Fincher, the director of “The Social Network,” from beginning to end. And films featuring Mr. Spacey had always done well, as had the British version of “House of Cards.” With those three circles of interest, Netflix was able to find a Venn diagram intersection that suggested that buying the series would be a very good bet on original programming.

Big bets are now being informed by Big Data, and no one knows more about audiences than Netflix. A third of the downloads on the Internet during peak periods on any given day are devoted to streamed movies from the service, according to Sandvine, a networking provider. And last year, by some estimates, more people watched movies streamed online than on physical DVDs.

Film and television producers have always used data, holding previews for focus groups and logging the results, but as a technology company that distributes and now produces content, Netflix has mind-boggling access to consumer sentiment in real time.

How much data does it have at its fingertips? According to GigaOm, Netflix looks at 30 million “plays” a day, including when you pause, rewind and fast forward, four million ratings by Netflix subscribers, three million searches as well as the time of day when shows are watched and on what devices.

Jonathan Friedland, the company’s chief communications officer, said, “Because we have a direct relationship with consumers, we know what people like to watch and that helps us understand how big the interest is going to be for a given show. It gave us some confidence that we could find an audience for a show like ‘House of Cards.’ ”

In addition, movies and TV shows on the service are annotated with hundreds of tags — metadata descriptors — inserted by viewers commissioned to describe the talent, the action, the tone and the genre, among many, many other things. In the past, those tags were used to recommend other shows from the long tail of content on the service, essentially building profiles based on the preferences of individual subscribers. But now Netflix is commissioning original content because it knows what people want before they do. “There are 33 million different versions of Netflix,” said Joris Evers, the company’s director of global corporate communications.

Based on that information, Netflix bought “House of Cards.” It is also producing new episodes of “Arrested Development,” and in April, it will begin streaming episodes of “Hemlock Grove,” a horror-thriller based on a novel of the same name.

Netflix has always used data to decide which shows to license, and now that expertise is extended to the first-run. And there was not one trailer for “House of Cards,” there were many. Fans of Mr. Spacey saw trailers featuring him, women watching “Thelma and Louise” saw trailers featuring the show’s female characters and serious film buffs saw trailers that reflected Mr. Fincher’s touch.

It is impossible to say that “House of Cards” is a hit because Netflix, to the consternation of some of its more traditional competitors, is not participating in ratings. But social media is thick with mentions of both the new programming and the new paradigm. The show made the front page of The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, and was on the cover of Emmy magazine, a good omen for its awards future. And when your price is as low as Netflix’s — $7.99 a month for streaming — a flurry of buzz can pull plenty of people off the fence.

While careers and entire networks have been made and lost based on the mysterious alchemy of finding a hit, Netflix seems to be making it look easy, or at least making it a product of logic and algorithms as opposed to tradition and instinct.

A cable executive who has talked to Amazon says that its Prime service, a nascent effort to get into original content, will also lean hard on data-driven approaches to determine its programming. The executive, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private, said it would change the way that business operates sooner than people thought.

“I think it is a little hysterical to say that Big Data will win the day now and forever, but it is clear that having a very molecular understanding of user data is going to have a big impact on how things happen in television,” he said.

Others aren’t so sure. John Landgraf, who, as president and general manager of FX Networks, has had a good run at the channel in finding hits, said he thought numbers-crunching would never have predicted the success of “The Sopranos,” “South Park,” and “Mad Men,” among others, including hits he has said yes to, like “Sons of Anarchy.”

“Data can only tell you what people have liked before, not what they don’t know they are going to like in the future,” he said. “A good high-end programmer’s job is to find the white spaces in our collective psyche that aren’t filled by an existing television show,” adding, those choices were made “in a black box that data can never penetrate.”

The rise of the quants has some worried about the impact on quality and diversity of programming. Writing in Salon, Andrew Leonard wonders “how a reliance on Big Data might funnel craftsmanship in particular directions. What happens when directors approach the editing room armed with the knowledge that a certain subset of subscribers are opposed to jump cuts or get off on gruesome torture scenes” or are just interested in sexual romps?

Netflix insists that actual creative decisions will remain in the hands of the creators. “We don’t get super-involved on the creative side,” Mr. Evers said. “We hire the right people and give the freedom and budget to do good work.” That means that when Seth Rogen and Kristen Wiig are announced as special guests on coming episodes of “Arrested Development,” it is not because a statistical analysis told Netflix to do so.

But there are potential conflicts. Given that Netflix is in the business of recommending shows or movies, might its algorithms tilt in favor of the work it commissions as it goes deeper into original programming? It brings to mind how Google got crossed up when it began developing more products, and those began showing up in searches.

And there are concerns that the same thing that makes Netflix so valuable — it knows everything about us — could create problems if it is not careful with our data and our privacy. But many think the trade is worth it.

“Netflix and Amazon know when you stop and start a program, whether you wanted the whole thing, all of that,” said Rick Smolan, whose most recent book was “The Human Face of Big Data.” “Programmers have been wandering out and shooting a shotgun into the night sky and hoping they hit something, and I end up paying $150 for channels full of nothing I want to watch. These guys know what they are aiming at.”

Netflix’s command of data, including mine, isn’t foolproof. It thinks I like “The West Wing,” which I don’t, and it thinks I am a sucker for every quirky little indie movie that floats in, which I am not. But when it came to guessing if “House of Cards” might appeal to me — politics, media and Mr. Fincher are all hot buttons — the deck was stacked in its favor.

Not long after the series became available, I found myself in a dark room, surrounded by empty food wrappers and unmet deadlines, wondering when the second season was going to start. I never had a chance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/business/media/for-house-of-cards-using-big-data-to-guarantee-its-popularity.html?ref=media&_r=0

TV Notes
Mitt Romney on ‘Fox News Sunday’; Bob Woodward on ‘Face the Nation’
By Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Mar. 2, 2013

The guest list will be more star-studded than usual this Sunday morning.

It should be especially fascinating to hear the discussion about whether the White House is threatening reporters. Bob Woodward of The Washington Post has said he was made uncomfortable by the White House’s telling him he would regret something he wrote. Gene Sperling, who made that comment to Woodward, will be a guest on “Meet the Press,” ”This Week” and “State of the Union.” Sperling is the director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy.

The Sunday guest list:

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talks to Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.” Wife Ann Romney joins the chat, the couple’s first since the November election, at 10 a.m. on WOFL-Channel 35. In the interview conducted Thursday in San Diego, the Romneys discuss the campaign, what they could have done differently and their lives since he lost to Barack Obama. The panel will be Bill Kristol, Kirsten Powers of The Daily Beast, Charles Lane of The Washington Post and former Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., who is a Fox News contributor.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is a guest on NBC’s “Meet the Press” at 9 a.m. on WESH-Channel 2. The panel will be Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho; Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post; Joy-Ann Reid, managing editor of TheGrio.com; and NBC’s Chuck Todd and Tom Brokaw.

Woodward is a guest on CBS’ “Face the Nation” at 10:30 a.m. on WKMG-Channel 6. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, is another guest. One panel features senators: John McCain, R-Ariz.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Woodward will be on a panel with David Sanger of The New York Times, Rana Foroohar of Time and John Dickerson of CBS.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., is a guest on ABC’s “This Week” at 11 a.m. on WFTV-Channel 9. The panel will be ABC’s Cokie Roberts, Democratic strategist James Carville, ABC political analyst Matthew Dowd, Paul Gigot of The Wall Street Journal and Mayor Mia Love, R-Saratoga Springs, Utah.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will talk to “State of the Union.” The program airs at 9 a.m. and noon on CNN. A panel on the economy brings together Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics; economist Stephen Moore of The Wall Street Journal; and Susan Page of USA Today. A discussion on forced spending cuts brings together Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2013/03/mitt-romney-on-fox-news-sunday-bob-woodward-on-face-the-nation.html

I could have sworn this was the "hot-off-the-press-the-latest-tv-news-and-information" Thread . . . PLZ explain Why this prolonged argument about spring is even being discussed on this thread ? ? Really the weather ? ?