NBC needs a hit in the Fall
The dismal season for NBC is almost
over. Executives at the network are banking at next year's slate of
shows to boost ratings. Head Honcho Jeff Zucker tells BusinessWeek
that they're “one breakout hit” away from being on top. But as
even he admits, “Of course,
breakout hits are harder to come by these days."
Uh...yeah. Especially since the last two TV phenomenons, CSI and
Desperate Housewives, have been on competing networks. NBC announces
their fall line-up May 16. Let's hope there's no Phoebe planned for
Thursday nights.
Anti-Idol movement couldn't save Scotty the Body
USA Today is reporting that the
anti-Idol website votefortheworst.com was flooded with visitors
tuesday and crashed. Supposedly this prevented the visitors from
knowing who to vote for. But since Scott had been the topic of the
site for weeks they should have known that was the directive. But the
ouster of Constantine likely spurred people to vote seriously. Or the
show is just rigged. How awesome was it when Scott said he'd be
picking out his song for next week. And how he pointed to the sky
when he hit the couch. Everyone at once in a Nelson Munce voice:
Ha-ha!Town from hell wants apology from A&E
A&E's gritty true-crime show City
Confidential has found one town not to pleased with how it was
portrayed. the folks of Pikeville, Kentucky seems to think they deserve an apology
from A&E for describing the town as “hell” and for showing
stereotypical images (even if accurate) of rebel flags and overweight
citizens. The mayor says “You can go to almost any city in America
and find the same." So then why is it a big deal if they showed
them in your town? All of America should understand, right? The town
is demanding an official apology from the network. We don't see that happening anytime soon.Deadwood: Amalgamation and Capital
With only three episodes of Deadwood left I'd expect to see a lot more action than we have in most episodes. Clearly the creators are content enough in their future (and future seasons of Deadwood) that they can devote a considerable chunk of the show to character development. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The most notable was Bullock and his stepson William. Of course that could also just be to set-up the overly dramatic end of the episode.
Continue reading Deadwood: Amalgamation and Capital
Sunday's politco line-up
For the political junkies out there,
here's a round-up of the guests for tomorrow's beltway programming.
White House chief of staff Andrew Card pulls double duty. He'll hit
NBC's Meet the Press where he'll be joined by Senators George
Allen and Christopher Dodd. Then he'll be joined by Iraqi and Saudi
officials as well as Robert Reich and Steve Forbes on CNN's Late
Edition. CBS' Face the Nation gets excitement in the form
of Senators Chuck Hagel, Sam Brownback and Richard Durbin (go
Illinois!). Last, but certainly not least, is ABC's This Week,
which boasts the weirdest line-up of the bunch with Nancy Pelosi (who
annoys even me), evangelist Pat Robertson
and quarterback Tom Brady. I can't even imagine how they're going to
handle the segues on that show.
Must see postponed for Prez
President
Bush will break into primetime tonight (the first night of sweeps!?)
with a live press conference at 8 p.m. EST. He'll tackle the wildly
popular topics of Social Security reform and rising energy prices.
All the while, Americans will be thanking him for interupting Joey
and not doing this last night and throwing off the whole
Lost/American Idol times. The White House did move up the
telecast because some networks *cough*CBS*cough* didn't want to
postpone their highly rated shows. I always try and stay netral in
politics on blogs, but I must give some credit to this President, he
sure doesn't interupt TV much and his speeches are usually pretty
short. Now back to our regular programming...Bo knows cocaine
It probably seems like all we talk about is American Idol here on TVSquad,
but it's not our fault there is so much drama associated with this
season. The Smoking Gun reports that Bo Bice was arrested for cocaine
posession back in 2001 but had the charges dismissed after completing
a “diversion program” last year. The first-time offender now has
one more rock n' roll cliché sewn up, he's been busted for
drugs and gone through treatment already. He's ready for the big
leagues now. Go Bo.
Latest in the gross reality wars
No
it's not the latest Fear Factor copycat show that has us shivering at
our desk. It's the fact that ET has landed the rights to air the Mary
Kay Letourneau wedding. Yes, the teacher that fell in love with a
student and went to jail for him is finally settling down with said
student, now of age and father of her two children. Isn't that sweet?
No, it's really not. It's really disturbing and just shows
Entertainment Tonight's lame attempt at ratings. I prefer my girl
Nancy O'Dell and Access Hollywood myself.
Baby Fey on the way
We
like headlines that rhyme but we especially like any good news for
our favorite SNL'er Tina Fey. Today word came that the anchor of
“Weekend Update” is pregnant. She and her husband, SNL composer
Jeff Richmond, are expecting their first child in September. While it
is terrific news and we wish Fey the best, our guess is she won't be
on SNL next year. That will eliminate the one reason to still watch
the show (although Finesse Mitchell and Keenan Thompson are hilarious
when used).
Smallville: Blank
It
sounded like a lame premise. Clark gets his memory wiped out and thus
allows Chloe to figure out the truth about our boy in blue...T-shirt.
But to my surprise the episode was terrific. I was really shocked at
how the show gave fans what they wanted, Chloe finding out about
Clark's powers, then predictably finding a way out of it (another
conveinent memory wipe) and finally the kicker of a closer with Chloe
remembering enough to scare the crap out of Clark. What a ride. The
memory wipes didn't find their way to Lex (for once) and Clark's slip
about his drawings have his bald buddy's evil gears turning. I'm not
quite sure where this leaves Clark and Lana in the dating realm, but
it won't please the now-evil Jason that much I assure you.
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
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