Posted Apr 29th 2009 6:19PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Heroes, Ratings, Chuck, Reality-Free
Of course, a lot of fans do care, and they want at least one of these shows to be renewed last year (maybe even both). But in general? The
ratings for the finales of both shows were rather lackluster at best.
The season finale of
Heroes had an average of 6.4 million viewers, while
Chuck got 6.1 million. Both of those numbers are actually down from the season average (7.7 million viewers for
Heroes and 6.5 million for
Chuck). Now, I'd love to have 6 or 7 million people reading my stuff, but I guess that's not enough in television land.
Continue reading Chuck and Heroes end their seasons, but a lot of people just don't care
Posted Apr 29th 2009 11:03AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Industry, Children, Reality-Free
Journalist Hunter S. Thompson once said about his strange work schedule, "I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours."
It turns out he was right. The truth is told on Saturday mornings.
Haim Saban, one of the founders of Saban Entertainment and creator of kids shows such as the
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, has become one of the principal players in
a Congressional scandal involving such high-profile names as U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Continue reading Oh no Power Rangers! Kids' show creator embroiled in Congressional scandal
Posted Apr 28th 2009 1:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Scrubs, Watercooler Talk, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
(Update: Bill Lawrence himself responds to my plea in the comments.)Oy, not again.
First we heard, straight from Bill Lawrence's mouth, that
Scrubs could get a ninth season. Then we heard
it was definitely done at the end of this current eighth season. Now,
The Hollywood Reporter is hearing that
talks to renew the show are back on, with Lawrence and company trying to figure out how to bring back most of the cast, at least in a recurring fashion.
They have to be recurring, since
Zach Braff has vowed that he's done with the show, and Neil Flynn, John C. McGinley, and Donald Faison are all attached to new pilots, with
Scrubs being a second option in case they're not picked up. Heck, even Lawrence is busy on the new Courteney Cox show
Cougar Town.
I'm here, as one of the show's biggest fans, to beg ABC and Lawrence to let the show die. Please. It's the best thing they can do for it.
Continue reading Memo from a Scrubs fan: please let the show die
Posted Apr 28th 2009 11:48AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Web, Chuck, Reality-Free
This is probably the web site version of the swine flu, meaning PLEASE DON'T PANIC, but it seems that
NBC's web site is calling last night's awesome
Chuck season finale ("Chuck Me!" - there's your catch phrase, fans) a "series finale" (on the right, near "Next On").
Of course, this could just be a lack of communication between the network and the people who maintain the web site. Maybe the person writing the headlines and posting the videos and putting up the descriptions put "series" instead of "season." But since
Chuck is on the bubble and fans are really anxious to see if the show will come back for a third season, any little sign of news (good or bad) is something that gets our attention.
Continue reading Hmmm ... NBC.com is calling the Chuck season finale a "series finale"
Posted Apr 27th 2009 7:27PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Programming, Reality-Free
Oh, fans of this show are going to be
ticked.
CBS is
moving their new murder-mystery series Harper's Island to Saturday nights. Guess the ratings just weren't what the network wanted, so starting next week the show will air on the night of reruns and movies. But don't worry that this is a sign that the show will vanish from the schedule altogether. This was created as a limited-run series and CBS says they'll show all of the episodes, just on another night (though I wouldn't bet on a second season).
I know what these networks are doing. It's all part of their master plan to make Saturday nights a "must-see" night of television again, an attempt to recapture of the glory years of shows like
The Mary Tyler Moore Show,
The Carol Burnett Show, and
The Bob Newhart Show. Someday all of the best show will be on Saturday nights and we'll be home in our Slankets watching them.
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 7:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Reality-Free
The networks are going to unleash their new fall schedules in a few weeks. Which new shows are in the running? Well, Juliana Margulies is going to be an attorney (again), Kelsey Grammer is going to be a Wall Street CEO who gets canned (you knew you were going to see at least one show with that premise this fall), Lauren Graham is going to be a self-help guru, Chevy Chase and
The Soup's Joel McHale are going to be community college students, and Thomas Jane is going to be ... well,
Hung.
AOL has a list of the 30 shows that have the best shot at being on our TV screens when the fall rolls around. Not all of the shows will make it, of course. Some we'll never see at all, unless the pilot episode is leaked online. I'm still ticked that
ABC didn't pick up Marlowe (with
Life on Mars star Jason O'Mara) a couple of season ago. The gallery is after the jump.
Continue reading Which of these new shows are you most looking forward to?
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 9:05AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
The New Adventures of Old Christine isn't even finished at CBS yet, and ABC is sniffing around already.
According to Michael Ausiello over at
Entertainment Weekly, ABC is interested in picking up the Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom if CBS decides to cancel it. If you read
our post about which shows are going to be renewed, which are going to be canceled, and which are on the bubble,
Old Christine is in the latter category.
Continue reading ABC might still want Old Christine
Posted Apr 21st 2009 12:30PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Industry, Lost, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Despite the fact that news about Lost's 100th episode celebratory cake has been bouncing around the 'net since February, I thought it might be worth mentioning it again since the milestone episode ("The Variable", S05E14) airs next Wednesday, 4/29.
As you can see, the cake, created by Duff Goldman and his crew from Food Network's Ace of Cakes, features a ton of characters from the show as well as some iconic items that all Lost fans will recognize. To drum up some buzz for "The Variable," ABC recently released some more pictures from the cast party where the cake was presented.
Continue reading Lost celebrates 100th episode with Ace of Cakes' Duff Goldman
Posted Apr 20th 2009 9:05AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Reality-Free
Yup, it's that time of year again, the week when we're supposed to shut off our TVs (and computers, I assume) and go outside and get some fresh air, maybe eat a salad.
I mention this every year, and it has gotten to the point where it would be ridiculous to give the opposing viewpoints yet again (but you can read them
here and
here). Suffice to say, we think you should leave your TV on this week (and in September - there's a
TV Turn-Off Week then, too - when the new fall season starts!). If you don't, you're going to miss some cool stuff.
Continue reading It's TV Turn-Off Week (yes, again)
Posted Apr 17th 2009 10:13PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Reality-Free
It's been so long that we've heard anything about a
possible actors strike that I kinda forgot all about it. Now it looks like we don't have to worry about it.
The Screen Actors Guild has made
a tentative deal with producers and studios, so there will be no crazy interruption/chaos in our TV entertainment choices like we saw with the writers strike last year (remember that? Wasn't that fun?). The two major sticking points were compensation for new media (DVDs, online, etc) and when the contract would end. The two-year deal will be finalized this Sunday when the 71 member national board meets and votes on it. I'm sure a lot of members won't like the new contract but only half of the members have to vote for it to pass.
So if you've been worrying about a possible strike, you can exhale now. And get to work worrying about whether or not your favorite show will
make it to the fall.
Posted Apr 16th 2009 4:24PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Industry, 24, Reality-Free
Jack Bauer's very bad seventh day on 24 still has six hours to go, but we already know where he's headed next:
New York City.
Season seven's two-hour finale is scheduled to air on FOX on Monday, May 18th and production on the show's eighth season begins right around the same time. EW's Michael Ausiello has confirmed that the Big Apple is going to be Bauer's next metropolitan playground.
NYC isn't the only change in store for Jack though.
Continue reading Jack Bauer is taking on the Big Apple
Posted Apr 16th 2009 2:24PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Sports, News, Industry, Interviews, Reality-Free
John Madden is done. NBC announced today that Madden, perhaps the most famous broadcaster in football history apart from Howard Cosell,
is retiring from the booth after covering the NFL for 30 years, winning 16 Emmys and the admiration of football friends everywhere.
Madden
addressed listeners this morning on KCBS in San Francisco about the decision, which was obviously not easy for him. "I decided to retire," he said. "Heck I can't even say it. It's tough, not because I'm not sure it's the right time. I really feel strongly this is the right time. I'm just going to miss everything about it because I enjoyed it so much."
Football is in Madden's blood. He's a Hall of Fame coach, winning the Super Bowl with the Raiders in 1977, a college stand-out offensive tackle from California Polytechnic State University, and his Madden NFL is a perennial best-selling video game on multiple platforms. He joined ABC's
Monday Night Football crew in 2002, and spent the past three years on
NBC's Sunday Night Football.Continue reading Ebersol says Madden retirement will stick; Collinsworth named as replacement
Posted Apr 16th 2009 1:40PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Cancellations, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
The networks haven't announced their official fall schedules yet. That happens next month at the
network upfronts, or whatever each network is now calling them - upfronts, announcements, presentations. But just from seeing the ratings of certain shows and stories that have leaked to the press already we can get at least a fairly accurate idea of which shows are going to definitely be renewed, which are probably canceled, and which shows are "on the bubble." ("On the bubble" means they're in the middle, balanced on the fence between getting canceled and being renewed. It's named after Sebastian Bubble, an executive at NBC in the early 50s.)
USA Today has a complete rundown of all of the network shows you might be wondering about (in handy chart form!). After the jump, a look at some of the more interesting possibilities.
Continue reading Which shows are renewed, canceled, or on the bubble?
Posted Apr 14th 2009 8:35PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Cancellations, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Reality-Free
And yes, I am probably the 50th person to use that headline for this story. Thank you.
Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting (from various sources he has skulking around the television world) that
FOX is just about to cancel The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The
ratings haven't been great for the sci-fi show. FOX paired it with
Dollhouse on Friday nights and there has been no reason to keep the show alive for another season (ratings-wise, anyway - I'll leave it to the fans to judge the quality of the show itself). Things don't look that great for
Dollhouse either, but that's another story.
Officially, the network won't announce its fall schedule for another month or so, at their annual upfront presentation. Unofficially, you probably shouldn't look for the show on that fall schedule. Now I guess we'll just have to wait for the premiere of the movie
where Christian Bale yelled at everyone.
Posted Apr 14th 2009 10:19AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
I recall a scene from the movie
To Be Or Not To Be, in which Mel Brooks tells the Nazis they aren't backing down from continuing an anti-Nazi sketch. He quite adamantly trumpets "We are not backing down!". The Nazis then in retaliation threaten to close his theater, to which he responds "We're backing down."
The same thing just happened in Boston to that NBC affiliate that
wanted to replace the 10 PM Leno slot with a local news broadcast.
WHDH has relented to the network after being threatened with the loss of their NBC affiliation. Obviously, this is a sign of concern at the local level that a 10 PM Leno show would lose advertising dollars. Or perhaps the owner just doesn't find Leno to be that funny.
I can see this as an HBO movie in the future. It would be called something like "Lenogate" and have the subtitle: "Thou shalt honor thy parent company." If this does end up on HBO, be sure to give me proper credit.
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