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TV Review
Humdrum “Life”
By Mark A. Perigard Boston Herald TV critic Wednesday, September 26,

Grade: B-

How many Zen cops does it take to solve a murder?

Answer: We are all equally innocent and guilty.

Yeah, I don’t get it, either.

NBC’s “Life” (debuting Wednesday night at 10 ET/PT) is an odd little show that seems to have gotten lost on its way to USA Network, the so-called network for “characters.”

Detective Charlie Crews (Damian Lewis of “Band of Brothers”) is the anti-Monk - a little bit Columbo, a little bit Forrest Gump.

After 12 years in the slammer for a triple homicide he did not commit, his conviction was overturned, he won $50 million and his job back on the force.

He relied on Zen Buddhist practices to survive his incarceration, and he employs them to solve murders. This week, the victim is a young boy; next week, it’s a bride.

His reluctant partner, Detective Dani Reese (Sarah Shahi), comes with baggage that nearly destroyed her career - and could still take down Charlie. Robin Weigert plays the demanding commander who would like to run Charlie permanently off the force. (“Deadwood” fans won’t mind me saying that Calamity Jane cleans up right purty.) Brooke Langton (“Melrose Place”) makes an overdue return to prime time as Charlie’s attorney and biggest supporter.

Charlie is befuddled by such things as modern cell phones, Google and IMs. He constantly craves fresh fruit. He seems to have no boundaries about personal space and favors annoying non sequiturs.

“It is the universe that makes fun of us all,” he announces. Or, “You don’t have to understand here to be here.”

“Life” isn’t a bad show. As a procedural, it’s not taxing. It’s more about the personal journey, or as Charlie would say, of being in the moment with these characters. It just seems a poor fit for a major commercial network.

http://www.bostonherald.com/entertai...icleid=1034033

Critic's Notes
Grey's Anatomy brings back fun after dark season
By Chuck Barney Contra Costa Times TV Critic 09/26/2007

During the second half of last season, "Grey's Anatomy" went from being the TV pal with whom every get-together feels like a giddy first date, to the grating houseguest who constantly gets on your nerves.

You know the story line: Offscreen, cast members squabbled over Isaiah Washington's nasty homophobic slur. Onscreen, a dark cloud hung over Seattle Grace as death, destruction and personal devastation reigned. And oh, those creative missteps: George (T.R. Knight) and Izzy (Katherine Heigl) making booty calls? Ugh.

By the time the season of discontent was over, two key members of the cast were gone -- Washington getting the heave-ho and Kate Walsh getting her own spinoff show in "Private Practice" (9 tonight, Channels 7 and 10). Gone, too, was much of the good will the show had built up with fans and critics.

As "Grey's" returns for its fourth season (9 p.m. Thursday, Channels 7 and 10), its vital signs are flagging and one has to wonder: Can this show get back to being the frothy, intoxicating guilty pleasure it once was? Fortunately, creator Shonda Rhimes is saying all the right things: It's time to lighten up, sex it up and have a ball.

"I came back to this season sort of mandating that we have a lot of fun," she told TV writers this summer. "I felt like Season 3 is a darker season. It just is. I mean, Meredith's (Ellen Pompeo) mother dies. George's father dies. Meredith's stepmother dies. It was a bloodbath. But I want to get back to us enjoying it and having fun."

Still, Rhimes by no means cops to creative mismanagement. While she admits the behind-the-scenes rancor of last season was "difficult," she stands by the direction of the show's storytelling. ("It felt like the journey these characters needed to take."). And she even defends the hotly debated "Gizzie" plotline.

"I understand it," she says of negative fan reaction to the unexpected coupling. "I think, when Meredith and Cristina (Sandra Oh) and Alex (Justin Chambers) find out, they are going to have some pretty vitriolic reactions as well. I think that's part of what makes it interesting. The characters are flawed. The characters are really human.

And I'm not necessarily saying that George and Izzie are the love story of the century. People make mistakes. And perhaps this is a mistake. Perhaps it isn't. But I think it's an interesting thing to explore when you decide that your best friend is your soul mate."

She has a point. That "Grey's" has adventurously embraced personal flaws and messy "mistakes" is one of the traits that makes it so intriguing. How many shows, after all, have a put-upon title character who inspires so much love-her, hate-her buzz? But it's a tough act to consistently pull off.

If plot developments become too outrageous and/or annoying, it becomes much easier for us not to care. How much longer, for example, will fans put up with the George-and-Lizzie melodrama? And more important, how many more Meredith-Derek (Patrick Dempsey) breakups can we take?

The cast departures also are cause for concern. Washington's complex genius Dr. Burke was a fascinating character and proved to be the perfect yin to Ms. Yang. As for Walsh's Addison, she arrived on the scene as a bit player whom you wanted to detest. But she deepened into a strong, classy, engaging woman who provided a welcome respite from the intern drama queens. Both were key components.

As "ER" repeatedly proved over the early part of its run, a medical show can withstand significant departures and remain involving if it makes the right casting choices. Maybe Chyler Leigh, who joins the Seattle Grace gang as Meredith's half-sister, Lexie, will make us forget Burke and/or Addison. Maybe not.

Either way, it will be interesting to see if "Grey's" can recapture the magic. When the show is at its best, it delicately blends sober drama and real emotion with unpredictable twists and breezy humor (with breezy being an operative word). It's a potent brew that keeps us captivated and gets us talking.

"I take really seriously what the fans say. I kind of love that people feel this strongly about the show," Rhimes says. "What that means to me is that they are watching it and that they care about it and that they feel as emotionally connected to the characters as I do."

WEDNESDAY SHOWDOWN: Oh how perfect it is that the exiled Washington winds up in a show ("Bionic Woman," 9 ET/PT tonight, NBC) pitted directly against Rhimes' new baby, "Private Practice."

Washington isn't in tonight's pilot -- he appears in five upcoming episodes -- but the show gets off to a strong start without him as British import Michelle Ryan makes a strong first impression as the 21st century Jaime Sommers.

Fans of Lindsay Wagner's 1970s cult hit won't find much carryover in this reinvention, which is darker, sleeker, sexier and more technically turbo-charged than the original. So don't expect any appearances by Big Foot anytime soon.

What you can expect is a bold performance by Katee Sackhoff ("Battlestar Galactica"), who plays a bionic babe gone bad. In tonight's opener, she locks up in a hellacious rooftop throw-down with Ryan that will have sci-fi geeks gasping in delight.

As for "Private Practice," it offers a very different kind of reinvention: Walsh's Addison heads to Los Angeles to begin life anew at a wellness clinic and leave her horrible McNightmare far behind. The good news is that tonight's pilot improves considerably on last May's preview episode. The bad news is that it still feels somewhat "Ally McBeal"-ish and it also remains to be seen if this cast of all-stars (including Taye Diggs, Tim Daly and Amy Brenneman) will truly jell into an appealing ensemble.

Speaking of the cast, Audra McDonald replaces Merrin Dungey as Addison's best friend, Naomi. And only one "Grey's" character appears in tonight's episode -- the Seattle Grace chief (James Pickens Jr.), who reluctantly accepts Addison's resignation and watches her bolt Seattle for good.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/port...766&siteId=571

Not so much on CBS, taffyrose.

That would be better, of course, and CBS would be happy if that were to happen.

Nonetheless, the network has done very nicely letting ABC, NBC, Fox and the CW fight it out for the 18-49 demo while it has by far the most total viewers year after year after year.

While it could charge substantially more for commercials if it had better 18-49 demo numbers, it still does very, very nicely as it is.

Washington Notes
Congressmen Tackle Product Placement
By Ira Teinowitz Television Week Sept. 26, 2007

Warning that increasing use of product placement and product integration are “blurring” the line between TV ads and TV content, two congressional committee chairmen are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to do more to make sure viewers know what they are seeing.

“In our view, the blurring of the line between advertising and content represented by product placement and integration is unfair and deceptive if it occurs without adequate disclosures to the viewing public,” U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said today in a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. “In some extreme cases, it may also undermine the integrity of the television programming itself.”

Rep. Waxman is chairman of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee; Rep. Markey chairs the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s telecom committee.

Rep. Markey’s committee in May held a hearing on issues around product placement and product integration and heard testimony on pressure on writers and producers to weave mentions of products into shows.

The committee chairmen in today’s letter said they didn’t feel the FCC had made enough progress since then in addressing some of the issues raised at the hearing.

“We believe the commission should examine the growth in product placement and product integration and how this trend affects the overall composition and nature of television programming. As part of this inquiry, the commission should also review the criteria broadcasters and cable operators currently use to distinguish between commercial and creative content,” said the letter.

The two urged Mr. Martin to do a thorough review of sponsorship disclosure requirements. They said any review should include an examination of whether “rules sufficiently achieve the statutory requirement to inform the viewing public of the actual products being sponsored in a show as well as the entity that paid for such sponsorship.”

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/09/c...roduct_pla.php

Given the above statements by Reps. Waxman and Markey, it is hard to see how they could be anything but enthusiastic supporters of legislation to allow a la carte.

Nielsen Notes
Viewers make 'House' call
Fox's hit medical drama brings in big numbers
By Rick Kissell Variety Sept. 26, 2007

Fox's "House" returned with boffo numbers Tuesday night, dominating its hour and standing as the top returning show so far this fall among young adults. It overshadowed the night's newcomers, CBS' "Cane" and CW's "Reaper," which settled for varying degrees of mediocrity.

Fox carried the night in key demo categories while "Dancing With the Stars" helped ABC prevail in total viewers.

According to preliminary same-day Nielsen nationals, "House" opened to a 7.7 rating/19 share in adults 18-49 and 18.1 million viewers overall, dominating the night's middle hour and delivering the show's best rating to date for an episode that didn't follow "American Idol." Fox kicked off the night with solid numbers for "Bones" (3.2/9 in 18-49, 8.3 million viewers overall), which was up from its August 2006 season premiere and logged its best numbers for an episode that wasn't paired with "Idol" since November 2005.

At CBS, Jimmy Smits drama "Cane" averaged a 2.9 rating/8 share in adults 18-49 and 11.1 million viewers overall in the 10 o'clock hour, performing a tick better than its lead-in but coming in below the demo delivery of "Smith" bowed to in the hour a year ago. CBS points out that in total viewers, "Cane" drew the largest aud for a debut in the timeslot since "Judging Amy."

Earlier for the Eye, "NCIS" opened its season with solid numbers (3.1/9 in 18-49, 13.7 million viewers overall), and "The Unit" held onto most of its demo lead-in at 9 (2.8/7 in 18-49, 10.7 million viewers overall), but came in down from last year when "House" wasn't its competition.

ABC was strong from 8 to 9:30 p.m. with "Dancing With the Stars" (4.7/13 in 18-49, 18.4 million viewers overall) but vet drama "Boston Legal" fell off sharply after that with its premiere (2.5/7 in 18-49, 10.3 million viewers overall) -- tumbling about 25% vs. its year-ago premiere."Dancing" was the night's most-watched program overall, despite falling off from its Monday premiere.

NBC held in there with a two-hour "Biggest Loser" (3.0/8 in 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall), which grew with each half-hour against tough competition, and then won the 10 o'clock hour with vet crime drama "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.8/13 in 18-49, 12.1 million viewers overall).

At CW, "Beauty and the Geek" (1.5/4 in 18-49, 3.0 million viewers overall) performed decently in its second week, and new drama "Reaper" followed with similar numbers in its premiere a 9 o'clock (1.5/4 in 18-49, 3.2 million viewers overall). In the net's target demo of adults 18-34, "Reaper" improved slightly on "Geek" (1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5)

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 5.4/14; ABC and NBC, 3.6/10; CBS, 2.9/8; CW, 1.5/4; Univision, 1.3/3.

In total viewers: ABC, 14.3 million; Fox, 13.2 million; CBS, 11.8 million; NBC, 8.5 million; Univision, 3.2 million; CW, 3.1 million.

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?lay...&categoryid=14

This Weekend’s Updated College Football HD Schedule
(Rankings are projected BCS ratings from Jerry Palm’s collegebcs.com)

Thursday, September 27th
#63 Southern Miss (2-1) at #33 Boise State (2-1) 6:30 PM ET ESPN

Friday, September 28th
#6 West Virginia (4-0) at #19 South Florida (3-0) 8 PM ET ESPN2

Saturday, September 29th
#97 Notre Dame (0-4) at #26 Purdue (4-0) 12 noon ET ESPN
#1 LSU (4-0) at #103 Tulane (1-2) 12 noon ET ESPN2
#60 Indiana (3-1) at #47 Iowa (2-2) 12 noon ET Big Ten Net
#30 Michigan (2-2) at #76 Northwestern (2-2) 12 noon ET Big Ten Net
# 22 Penn State (3-1) at #28 Illinois (3-1) 12 noon ET Big Ten Net
#75 Baylor (2-2) at #7 Texas A&M (3-1) 12 noon ET Versus
#4 Oklahoma (4-0) at #66 Colorado(2-2) 12:30 PM ET FSN
#12 Clemson(4-0) at #41 Georgia Tech (2-2) 3:30 PM ET ABC
#24 Michigan State (4-0) at #9 Wisconsin (4-0) 3:30 PM ET ABC
#31 UCLA (3-1) at #56 Oregon State (2-2) 6:30 PM ET FSN
#25 Alabama (3-1) vs. #32 Florida State (2-1) 5 PM ET CBS
#53 Auburn (2-2) at #3 Florida (4-0) 8 PM ET ESPN
#5 Ohio State (4-0) at #86 Minnesota (1-3) 8 PM ET ESPN2
#2 USC (3-0) at #49 Washington (2-2) 8 PM ET ABC

I must admit I have seen varying descriptions about whether this game will be in HD or not.

I chose to err on the side that it will be, and have calls in to the Versus PR people for confirmation, but they are notorious for not getting back.

Weekly Nielsen Notes
Cable TV enjoys hot summer
'Saving Grace,' 'Burn' add to ratings spike
By John Dempsey Variety Sept. 26, 2007

Ad-supported cable chalked up a bountiful harvest of viewers this summer, propelled in part by the 10 rookie series that set a cable record by scoring more than 2 million total viewers apiece.

TNT's "Saving Grace," with Holly Hunter, finished No. 1 among the rookie series during the third quarter, averaging 5.34 million viewers over its first nine episodes, a 66% jump compared to the summer-2006 time period. "Grace" got a big boost from its lead-in, "The Closer," which, winding up its third season, has reinforced its position as the highest-rated scripted series in the history of basic cable, averaging 8.3 million viewers for 13 episodes this summer.

In addition to "Grace," two other rookie series averaged more than 4 million viewers in the third quarter, USA's "Burn Notice" (4.5 million over nine episodes) and Lifetime's "Army Wives" (4.15 million over 13 hours). Almost half of the audience for "Notice" and "Wives" were people 18 to 49, driving the shows to first and second place in that category among rookies. Only about 31% of the 18-to-49's watched "Grace" this summer, placing it fifth over all.

The highest-rated non-scripted rookie program for the third quarter was History Channel's "Ice Road Truckers," which finished fourth over all with 3.48-million viewers. In fifth place was TNT's medical drama "Heartland," with 3.05 million, which the network cancelled because it was losing too many viewers from "The Closer" lead in.

Two new TBS sitcoms, "House of Payne," averaging 3.05-million viewers, and "The Bill Engvall Show," at 2.85 million, placed sixth and seventh for the third quarter. FX's "Damages," with Glenn Close, was eighth, with 2.7 million, followed by TLC's "L.A. Ink," with 2.39 million. Rounding out the top 10 is VH1's "Rock of Love," with 2.06 million.

Separately, among the top-10-rated returning original series this summer, most were down from their previous firstrun cycle, with two notable exceptions: "The Closer," up 23% at No. 1, and MTV's "The Hills," up 66% at No. 4. Bravo's "Top Chef," in ninth place, was up by 2%, and second-place "Monk," from USA, was flat.

The three returning series that fell off the most were, in order of their finish, Sci Fi Channel's "Eureka" (down 11%; sixth place), USA's "The 4400" (down 29%; seventh place) and, also USA, "The Dead Zone" (down 16%; eighth place).

Among ad-supported networks in primetime, USA ran the table for the third quarter, finishing first in total viewers and in the three key adult demos (18-34, 18-49 and 25-54). TNT was a close second in viewers and adults 25-54; ESPN wound up second in adults 18-49 and MTV was second in adults 18-34.

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?lay...&categoryid=14

TV Notes
NBC Sets October 24 Premiere for “Phenomenon”
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 9/26/2007

NBC has set Wednesday October 24 as the premiere date for Phenomenon, a previously-announced alternative series in which Criss Angel and Uri Geller will try and find “the next great mentalist.”

The series of hour-long episodes will air for five Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET, including a two-hour live episode on Halloween night from 8-10.

Deal or No Deal currently airs Wednesdays at 8.

The show is executive produced by Suzy Lamb (Grease: You're The One That I Want), Michael Agbabian (Last Comic Standing) and Dwight Smith (Last Comic Standing).

It is from Granada America, Keshet Broadcasting and Kuperman Productions in association with SevenOne International, which controls the format worldwide.

NBC’s alternative department also announced an eight-episode mid-season series, My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad, a competition series from Mark Burnett Productions and Reveille (the company founded by NBC U co-chair Ben Silverman).

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6483737.html

Nielsen Notes
Tuesday’s Final Overnight Nielsen Ratings
(Posted by Travis Yanan in Marc Berman’s Programming Insider blog)
Tuesday original finals

Dancing with the Stars (90 minutes)
- 18.505 million viewers
- 12.2/19 HH
- 4.8/13 A18-49

House (season premiere)
- 18.307 million viewers
- 10.7/16 HH
- 7.8/19 A18-49

NCIS (season premiere)
- 13.894 million viewers
- 8.8/14 HH
- 3.2/9 A18-49

Law & Order: SVU (season premiere)
- 12.119 million viewers
- 8.0/13 HH
- 4.8/13 A18-49

Cane (series premiere)
- 11.210 million viewers
- 7.5/13 HH
- 3.0/8 A18-49

The Unit (season premiere)
- 10.698 million viewers
- 6.7/10 HH
- 2.8/7 A18-49

Boston Legal (90 minutes, season premiere)
- 10.304 million viewers
- 6.9/11 HH
- 2.5/7 A18-49

Bones (season premiere)
- 8.400 million viewers
- 5.2/8 HH
- 3.3/9 A18-49

Biggest Loser (120 minutes)
- 6.616 million viewers
- 4.3/7 HH
- 3.0/8 A18-49

Reaper (series premiere)
- 3.278 million viewers
- 2.1/3 HH
- 1.5/4 A18-49
- 1.8/5 A18-34

Beauty & the Geek
- 2.985 million viewers
- 1.9/3 HH
- 1.5/4 A18-49
- 1.8/5 A18-34

Eureka
- 1.538 million viewers
- 1.0/1 HH
- 0.6/1 A18-49

Damages (62 minutes)
- 1.162 million viewers
- 0.8/1 HH
- 0.5/1 A18-49

http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/t.../45810827/p/13

Absolutely correct, Amnesia. Thanks. Not your fault, archiguy -- I should know better.

Those numbers are not at all impressive to FX.....and I am a bit surprised at how bad they are.

Thursday Premieres and Returns

Ugly Betty 8 PM ET/PT, ABC
Smallville 8 PM ET/PT CW
My Name Is Earl 8 PM ET/PT NBC
Grey’s Anatomy 9 PM ET/PT, ABC
CSI 9 PM ET/PT CBS
The Office 9 PM ET/PT NBC
Big Shots 10 PM ET/PT, ABC
Without A Trace 10 PM ET/PT CBS
ER 10 PM ET/PT NBC

Looking ahead? The complete list can always be found here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...92&postcount=4