As most people who follow our Press Kits Unwrapped series know, one of the most interesting perks to what we do is the free stuff the networks send us, usually along with their preview screeners. However, in the last year, the number of elaborate press kits have dwindled. Networks are starting to realize that sending a DVD in a sleeve is much cheaper than sending one with a water bottle or a t-shirt, and the show will get just as much coverage. Heck, ABC doesn't even send the DVDs anymore; they ask us to view screeners on their ABC Medianet website, which sometimes work and sometimes don't.
But FOX and its cable sibling FX are still plugging away, sending expensive-looking press kits to promote their shows. While FX is content with sending elaborately-packaged folders with DVDs and a glossy press guide, their broadcast cousins are still sending tchotchke-laden packages, like the one I got for the new season of House. An explanation, and more pics, after the jump.
Today marks 30 years since the premiere of ESPN. Happy birthday, ESPN! Hard to believe there was actually a time when there wasn't a cable channel devoted completely to sports. In fact, the idea of a cable network that just covered sports was considered as ridiculous as one that only reported the news. Don't even get me started on the radical notion of an all-food channel or one that specialized in weather!
Yes, once upon a time, all those concepts were deemed losers. Back in 1979, if you wanted to know the score of a game in progress, you had to hope it was playing on the radio or TV to tune in. Or, more often than not, wait till the local news broadcast at six o'clock for the score. How did we ever get by?
Normally, TV press kits come with more useless junk than an IKEA furniture kit. They usually come with T-shirts that are too small for the average TV critic's billowy build, toys that can turn the brightest human beings into easily-amused cats, and other assorted paraphernalia.
FX's press kit for the forthcoming second season of Sons of Anarchy has none of these things. There are no bloody brass knuckle sets, fake handlebar mustaches or even a lousy T-shirt that reads "The bitch fell off" on the back, perfect for that upcoming christening or bar-mitzvah.
That doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, it's one of the most bitching press kits to ever grace my cold, ink-stained hands.
After being suspended by both CBS Radio and MSNBC two years ago over some derogatory on air comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, Don Imus will once again enjoy a television presence (having already regained a radio presence) on the Fox Business Network.
Granted, the whole controversy around his statements from two years ago was a little overblown. Other shock jocks have made far worse statements on the air with much less in the way of media attention. That sort of language is business as usual for them.
The question is this; what does Don Imus have to do with business? He's not exactly Warren Buffett. He's not even Jim Cramer. Mind you, his previous television show was on MSNBC, which is also a business network [update: MSNBC is not a business network. I confused it for CNBC. My apologies]. At most this can be taken as a switch of political affiliation.
So what do you think? Will you be watching Don Imus on his new show?
In the latest issue of Time (hits newsstands tomorrow) the mag's resident critic James Poniewozik has a great article on the upcoming prime-time premiere of The Jay Leno Show. Poniewozik makes the argument (an ubiquitous one at this point) that as a result of Leno's move to 10 p.m., your TV is shrinking.
As he puts it, in a TV viewing world where the attention span of potential eyeballs is so segmented because of cable, DVRs, and Hulu, NBC is throwing all their eggs in one basket with "America's most successful purveyor of vanilla."
However, a lot of people really like vanilla. Good sign? Hard to say.
Highlights and a look the issue's cover after the jump.
If you ask J.J. Abrams about his master plan for Fringe, he'll tell you the plan went out the window a while ago.
The creators and cast of Fox's top new series from last year's fall season gathered with press in Vancouver Monday to celebrate the release of the show's first season on DVD and to look ahead at the upcoming second season.
When Fringe left the airwaves last spring, J.J. Abrams, Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman introduced fans to a parallel universe -- setting up a war between our world and that new Earth on the edge of the fringe.
According to Abrams, a long-range plan for the show had him, Orci, Kurtzman and their writing staff revealing the other Earth as the source of Fringe's anomalies maybe three or four seasons into the show's run.
Thank you, Mike Judge. I really needed a pick-me-up after watching that depressing video of Soleil Moon Frye dressing up like Punky Brewster to celebrate 1,000,000 Twitter followers. And this video of Beavis and Butt-Head promoting your new movie, Extract, did the trick.
Ah, "Master Bateman!" Sometimes it's the simple things that help you get through the day.
Last year, all the citizens of Transsexual, Transylvania felt a collective disturbance in their fandom force. MTV had announced that they were going to do a remake of the classic cult film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not only would this be completely unnecessary, but it actually kind of hurt every Rocky fan's soul to hear it. Rocky Horror needs no remake because it never becomes dated. It's so far removed from, well, everything ever, it still holds up perfectly, happily doing the Time Warp again and again in its own little universe.
Well, maybe MTV got lazy or maybe they got freaked out about the insane amount of Internet sad-chatter against the idea of the new version, but MTV's Rocky Horror remake is on hold. Rejoice and prod a gold underwear-clad Adonis with a standing candelabra.
In a rather clever move, FOX has scheduled "Tweet-peats" of Fringe and Glee this week. What's that, you say? It's only the latest evolution in the Pop-Up Video movement. In a truly interactive experience, the cast and producers of the shows will be Tweeting live during the broadcast with fans. They'll offer commentary, behind-the-scenes secrets and even hints about the forthcoming season.
Fans can follow along via Twitter, or if they'd rather they can just sit back and watch. FOX will stream the Tweets on the bottom third of the screen.
Before it became all cooking, gossip, fashion and interior decorating, Bravo used to be a fine arts network that aired classic drama, music, opera, etc.
McMahon wants to launch the WWE-dedicated channel for basic tier rates within the next two years. While a return to fine arts TV is unlikely, McMahon's wrestling product has been greatly softened in tone over recent months -- looking to attract a more family-based audience.
While this news doesn't only affect television, it does affect the industry enough to warrant a mention since both companies have historically had a television presence. Disney has purchased Marvel Entertainment for about $4 billion.
So does this mean we'll be seeing Spider-Mickey cartoons in the near future? Beats me. There are certainly benefits to Disney's acquisition. Marvel is predominately known as a comic book company and that market has been shrinking. However, the visibility of its characters has been growing due to the myriad of Marvel movies out there.
I'm sure words like 'synergy' and 'downsizing' are going to be used when describing this situation in the future. Will there be layoffs at Marvel? Should editor-in-chief Joe Quesada fear for his job?
My biggest concern is content interference on the part of Disney and the "toning down" of the more adult storylines and characters at Marvel in an effort to maintain the corporate image of its new parent. One can only hope that Disney lets Marvel be Marvel.
Matt Williams has an impressive sitcom pedigree. He created the quintessential '90s sitcom with Roseanne. Then, with Carmen Finestra and David McFadzean alongside, he struck gold again with Tim Allen's Home Improvement. Now they're hoping lightning can strike twice (thrice?) with another take on the traditional family sitcom for ABC.
Once a television staple, the family sitcom has probably never seen leaner days than right now. But with the multi-camera format making a comeback, there's no better time to test the waters. This time, the family will be a sports psychologist who works out of his home, along with his three kids and presumably a wife.
The big difference between this project and Williams' other two successes is the lack of an established comedian at the center of it. One could easily argue that both Roseanne and Home Improvement were just expansions of the stage acts of their respective stars. That was kind of a trend back then. Are you ready for a family sitcom in the vein of these classics, or has their time come and gone?
Do you remember the good old days? The innocent times when Lindsay Lohan was an up and coming young movie star. She received critical acclaim for those early roles. She was beautiful and voluptuous (and you know how the kids love that!). Then she got into drugs, drinking, partying, weighing less than 90 pounds, and it all kind of fell apart. Since then, she's cleaned up her act a bit.
Which is great, Lindsay. But Lindsay Lohan in a reality show? You do know what kind of celebrities appear in realty shows? Do you think Whitney Houston and Britney Spears were at the heights of their careers when they did their amazing stints in reality television?
Speaking of Brit-Brit, LiLo is working with her manager on the project. Hopefully not the same guy that helped develop Britney & Kevin: Chaotic. The series is intended to follow Lohan as she attempts to get her career back on track.
When I first saw the headline of this Variety piece, "TV Audiences Are Growing Older," I thought, of course they're growing older. What, are there people that actually get younger as the years go by?
A new study shows that the average age of TV viewers of ABC, CBS, NBC is now 51 (FOX's is a bit younger but they're growing older too). CBS' average age has been 50 or over for quite some time (no surprise there, with the type of shows they have), but now ABC and NBC's age has jumped quite a bit in the past several years. The CW is the youngest.
That's interesting because just ten years ago the average age of a TV viewer was 43. Part of the jump is because of the introduction of the web and DVRs. The age of the people who use those are much younger than those who watch television. The Variety article breaks down all of the numbers.
Summer Glau isn't the only Terminator alum heading to a high-profile show next season. The cool and creepy Garrett Dillahunt has landed a role on USA's Burn Notice. Dillahunt will play Simon, Michael's super smart new client, when the show returns in the winter.
It's unclear whether this is a guest stint or a recurring role, but chances are good that Dillahunt will be sticking around for a while. The actor has made memorable guest stints on Life, CSI, and Law & Order: SVU, and critics praised his recent big screen performance in The Last House on the Left.
As most people who follow our Press Kits Unwrapped series know, one of the most interesting perks to what we do is the free stuff the networks send us, usually along with their preview screeners. However, in the last year, the number of elaborate press kits have dwindled. Networks are starting to realize that sending a DVD in a sleeve is much cheaper than sending one with a water bottle or a t-shirt, and the show will get just as much coverage. Heck, ABC doesn't even send the DVDs anymore; they ask us to view screeners on their ABC Medianet website, which sometimes work and sometimes don't.
Today marks 
Normally, TV press kits come with more useless junk than an IKEA furniture kit. They usually come with T-shirts that are too small for the average TV critic's billowy build, toys that can turn the brightest human beings into easily-amused cats, and other assorted paraphernalia. 
After being suspended by both CBS Radio and MSNBC two years ago over some derogatory on air comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, Don Imus will once again 
In the latest issue of Time (hits newsstands tomorrow) the mag's resident critic James Poniewozik has a great article on the upcoming prime-time premiere of The Jay Leno Show. Poniewozik makes the argument (an ubiquitous one at this point) that as a result of Leno's move to 10 p.m., 
If you ask J.J. Abrams about his master plan for Fringe, he'll tell you the plan went out the window a while ago.
In a rather clever move, FOX has scheduled "Tweet-peats" of 
Before it became all cooking, gossip, fashion and interior decorating, Bravo used to be a fine arts network that aired classic drama, music, opera, etc.
While this news doesn't only affect television, it does affect the industry enough to warrant a mention since both companies have historically had a television presence. 
Matt Williams has an impressive sitcom pedigree. He created the quintessential '90s sitcom with 
Do you remember the good old days? The innocent times when Lindsay Lohan was an up and coming young movie star. She received critical acclaim for those early roles. She was beautiful and voluptuous (and you know how the kids love that!). Then she got into drugs, drinking, partying, weighing less than 90 pounds, and it all kind of fell apart. Since then, she's cleaned up her act a bit.
When I first saw the headline of 
The Prisoner -- An early look
Sesame Street's 40th: Five funniest characters
Sesame Street's 40th: Five biggest controversies
