TVSquad

Looking in from the outside, you might think that Alec Baldwin has the tiger by the tail. He's the star of a critically acclaimed television show. He's winning awards for his work. And, while he's no longer landing those leading man roles in films, over the last few years he's added several good supporting roles to his long list of credits. Apparently, those are not the makings of a happy-go-lucky life.

There is an interesting profile of Baldwin on The New Yorker's website. In a long and thorough piece, Ian Parker talks with Baldwin about his career, his family, mistakes that were made, and things that might have been. Throughout the piece, it becomes clear that he is anything but satisfied. They talk a lot about the film business, and the decisions that shaped the direction of that part of his career. For our purposes here though, the more interesting bits are the discussions of 30 Rock. They include a quote that actually shocked me. Not so much for the sentiment, but for the fact that anyone, even Alec Baldwin, would say it in print. I'll tuck it away after the jump for those of you that have an aversion to f-bombs.

If you're of the belief that actions speak louder than words, than this move by NBC is proof positive that the network has great faith in Chuck. NBC has given Chuck an early full-season pickup.

The term is called a "back-nine" order, which means that the adventures of a geek-turned-reluctant super spy, will be on NBC for all of 2008-09. The vagaries of the demographics and Nielsens notwithstanding, NBC is betting on Chuck.

The comedy-adventure is entering its sophomore season, returning on Monday, September 29, at 8 E.T. Apparently, the powers-that-be at NBC -- Ben Silverman -- have liked the shows that are currently in the can.

Assuming they're right, Chuck will pick up right where it left off last year with sharp characters, funny stories and the right blend of action and laughs. It's not an easy mix, although when it works -- like Chuck and Burn Notice -- it makes for terrific TV.

Everyone thinks they can write. No, really. If you talk to anyone who likes TV and movies, invariably you'll hear that they have a great story. Well, some do and some don't. In the soap business, just about every kind of story has been told.

A show like Passions, which has recently come to an end, told wild tales about witches and sorcery and dwarfs and demons.

General Hospital has been firmly set in plots about mobsters in the manner of The Godfather, with Sonny Corinthos a latter day Michael Corleone.

As the World Turns, currently in its 52nd year, is rooted in traditional love stories and family conflicts, although you have to give them props for Luke and Noah, a frontline gay romance which is definitely a 21st century development.

When I read AOL's Top 20 Best Game Shows of All Time, I pretty much agreed with all the choices. I might have moved Password up a bit, and dropped Who Wants to Be A Millionaire to a lower slot, but the one selection that really made me glower was The Price Is Right as number one.

No, no, not to me. For me, the only choice for numero uno is Jeopardy. It's not a game of chance or luck or random spins of a wheel. It's all about brains and thinking on your feet. And maybe having really fast thumbs. Merv Grifffin's creation remains the best gameshow ever in my book.

As I was thinking about Jeopardy, I realized that for me, the best Jeopardy is not today's Alex Trebek version. I mean, it's great -- don't misunderstand me. It's the one I still prefer to watch today, but my favorite Jeopardy remains the pre-syndication edition, the one that played on NBC daytime from 1964-1975. No, I'm not nuts. I have five very good reasons why I prefer the original, classic Jeopardy.

NBC couldn't have asked for a better Olympian than Michael Phelps. His chase after Mark Spitz's record has been a huge draw for viewers. So, it came as no surprise when I saw that Saturday night, with the record breaking 8th gold, did huge numbers, clocking in with 31.1 million viewers. What did come as a surprise was the big event from 18 years ago that topped Phelps reaching his goal. Surely it had to be something like a big sporting event, a dramatic news special, or something of the sort, right?

Not quite. Saturday, Feb. 24, 1990, 31.4 million viewers tuned in to watch Empty Nest. Wow. That says much more about the growth of cable TV and how the big networks have abandoned Saturday than it does about the success of the Olympics. At a time when half that number is the stuff of a hit show, it seems strange to think that 31 million people were watching Empty Nest.

Is there a bigger star in the world right this moment than Michael Phelps? He's poised to break Mark Spitz's record seven gold medals in one Olympics. He's already the most honored Olympic champion of all times, having won more gold medals than some entire countries.

Jeremy Schaap was singing his praises on ESPN this morning. Michael Phelps is tall, fit, good looking and has the makings of humongous success. Can't you just see him as a TV star?

As Rich pointed out, being an Olympic champion can sometimes be a launching pad for a career on TV. For most, the fit isn't exactly right, but I think that that was the fault of the producers back then, not the Olympians.

Therefore, I'm going to help Michael and those TV bigwigs with a few ideas. Here's four existing shows that should be writing scripts for Michael Phelps right away, and one remake that's right up his alley.

So, you probably heard that the NBC Universal empire will be expanding by one, once it has added The Weather Channel to its media outlets. On MSNBC this morning, the subs on Morning Joe were crowing about CEO Jeff Zucker, sucking up royally, and even hyping GE stock.

It was all really uncomfortable, obvious and out of place when you are tuning in for news, politics, some pop culture and get NBCU corporate cheerleaders in full pom-pom mode.

Okay, enough ranting; there is some news to report. If the deal goes through -- and it will -- Today weatherman Al Roker may be relocating or he'll be repurposed, becoming the face of The Weather Channel.

This morning, as I watched the Today show, I noticed that they had "team coverage" of the big fire on the Universal Studios back lot. Not only did they have reporter Peter Alexander doing a live remote from the scene, but they decided to send Al Roker, who was in L.A. to tape Celebrity Family Feud, over there, as well. Matt Lauer called the fire "devastating," and Alexander went on to list all the sets that went up in smoke, including the town square from Back to the Future. Oh, and some of the video archives were destroyed, even though there are backups.

All of this was delivered in somber tones, as if this was like those wildfires that have enveloped that part of the country over the last few years. It made you wonder if anyone got hurt. Thankfully, no one did. So why the somber tone? Sure, these sets might have some sentimental value, but they're just fake storefronts. And why have a reporter there if Roker was already available? It makes you scratch your head until you realize that NBC and Universal are corporate siblings.

It is an interesting time for television that we live in. This is not your grandfather's TV, where they had three channels ... and they liked it! And when changing the channel involved telling you to take your Toughskins covered butt over there and turn the big dial. Grandpa's version of TV is being challenged on all fronts by cable, and it's really not fairing well.

Yet another article, this time from the L.A. Times, takes a look at the damage that has been done. Some highlights: For the just concluded sweeps period, NBC was down 27% in adults 18-49. 27%! ABC lost over 20% of young adults. The other networks also posted double digit losses. The scary bit though, for the traditional networks, is that the number of people watching television is up 2%, and for the season the ad supported cable networks are up 7%.

As I found out when I first spoke to Bill Lawrence last year, it doesn't take much to get the creator of Scrubs going. All it might take is a quick question and he'll go off on a monologue that is not only funny, but has a lot of good information as well.

That's what I got from him when I spoke to him earlier this week. Yes, we went over what happened with NBC after the writers' strike and how his show was able to make the shift to ABC. But, since he already spoke about that at length, we talked more about why NBC treated the show like it did, what creative shifts he's going to make to the show this year (expect to see less baby and relationship stuff this year, and more of the medical drama and comedy that got people hooked on the show). And, of course, he also dropped the mini-bombshell that I posted about earlier in the week, that there might be a ninth, "next generation" season of Scrubs.

I'll warn you right now, this is a long transcript, which is why we're splitting it into three parts. But it's got a lot of good information, and if you're patient, you'll find some interesting spoilers about what's going to happen next year on the show (production on eighth season should be wrapped up by August, according to Lawrence). So, buckle up and enjoy the ride...

Now that the upfronts have been presented, it's time to start handicapping the ratings (although Jeff Zucker doesn't think Nielsens matter that much anymore). Nevertheless, some are looking at next fall's schedule and predicting a big-time battle royale on Thursday night at 8 o'clock. Which reality show will emerge at the Nielsen number one -- CBS's Survivor or Fox's The Moment of Truth? According to Hollywood Reporter, Fox is taking aim at CBS. When asked at the upfront about positioning The Moment of Truth -- and Hell's Kitchen right behind it -- on that night was a strategic move, the executive was diplomatic at first. He said Fox isn't looking for a battle; they're doing their own thing. But then said of Survivor, "Look, it's eroding. It's an older show. Its eventually going to give up and were trying to accelerate that."

Hmm, sounds like fighting words to me. The Moment of Truth and Hell's Kitchen are two of Fox's three premiere reality shows, behind only American Idol in the ratings. Anyway you slice it, Thursday night is going to be a night to drive TV fans crazy. While Fox and CBS are leading with reality shows to start the night, ABC will offer Emmy winner and critic's darling, Ugly Betty, NBC will serve up its Emmy winner(s) and critic's faves, My Name Is Earl and 30 Rock, and the CW will bring back the venerable fan fave, Smallville. And that's not even considering what the rest of the networks have planned.

What do you do when you're losing a race, coming in last in a field of four, and have to justify your dismal performance? You change the scoring. What am I talking about? When asked about why his network is doing so poorly in the ratings, president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal, Jeff Zucker told Television Week, "It's not just about the ratings anymore."

What? (Imagine that as said by the Aflac duck). Do you think he really meant it, or is Jeff just hoping that the advertisers won't mind that his primetime lineup is getting its collective butt kicked by CBS, ABC and Fox most every night on the week?

Just to be fair, Zucker explains that the ratings don't matter because the network is fulfilling the expectations of the advertisers. "We're in an era where - we've made a commitment to our advertisers to a schedule. Advertisers have an expectation. It's not just about the ratings anymore. It's about our relationship with our advertisers and what their expectations are."

(S03E14) "I bet you wish you had more than one God now, eh?" - Ravi Kapoor as Earl's doctor

Boy, that Jeff Zucker is one hell of an actor, isn't he?

Generally, I love it when a high-paid executive is willing to make fun of himself for his company. Case in point; when Les Moonves talks to Dave Letterman on the phone I think it's hilarious. The key, however is that the executive in question has to be able to effectively deliver a joke. I think My Name is Earl missed an opportunity for some real nice comedy. Too bad Jerry Seinfeld didn't have another movie to promote.

Hey, it looks like all that time the strike has allowed network executives to rethink the industry may actually lead to some positive changes after all. NBC's president/CEO Jeff Zucker explained how the struggling net is changing its whole strategy on television.

The days of the $10 million dollar mini-movie pilot, which bears no resemblance to later episodes done for less than $100,000 each, appear to be over at NBC. Instead, more series will be committed to based on script treatments alone, and rather than make sixty-two pilots and throw them all at the wall, they'll focus on maybe five or six. And you can forget about the lavish "upfronts" where they unveil a circus cavalcade of wasted money ... and their new pilots. Cable's been doing it this way for years. Now let's analyze where the most talked about shows on television are being broadcast.

According to Engadget, the relationship between NBC and Apple seems on the mend. This is a far friendlier state than their previous corporate catfight, which involved NBC Universal's CEO Jeff Zucker saying Apple destroyed the music business while Apple CEO Steve Jobs accusing NBC of doubling its price for online content.

I never thought that their silly name-calling would last when there was money to be made. NBC has the content and Apple has the means of delivery with iTunes. The motivation of mutual profit can end any argument. This has been proven time and again in the entertainment industry when people say "those two will never work together" and are repeatedly proven wrong.

Within a year, I suspect you'll be able to download shows such as 30 Rock and The Office from iTunes (for a fee, of course) and watch them on the go. Until then, don't forget to set your Tivo.