NBC Universal-related stories
Posted Nov 5th 2009 9:07PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Industry, Reality-Free
There are very few sure fire signs that a network is completely worthless and this is one of them.
Comcast has been looking to buy the financially troubled NBC from General Electric, but Wall Street insiders say the deal won't be good for Comcast's stock.
Even confirmed reports of a takeover bid can't save the network in the eyes of the almighty stockholder. What would make NBC more profitable in Wall Street's eyes?
Posted Nov 4th 2009 3:27PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Casting
The other day
I wrote about watching Mercy during a mini-marathon that aired last Saturday on Bravo. Is it possible that someone at NBC Universal was reading my plaudits for the company using Bravo to promote an NBC drama series? I think so, because today comes to the news that two of the
Real Housewives of New Jersey will guest on Mercy.
That's right; you didn't read it wrong.
Teresa Giudice and Jacqueline Laurita, the two who were having babies in season one of the show, will appear as themselves on the NBC medical drama, according to the Ausiello Files.
Continue reading Real Housewives of New Jersey to guest on Mercy
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 9:03AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Reality-Free
According to the New York Times, Comcast
is set to own NBC Universal and all channels that are part of it as early as next week.
This could change the entire television landscape and pretty much give us less of a selection in terms of entertainment. The rumor is that Comcast is going to keep the cable channels, then sell the NBC network. News Corporation expressed interest in the property, but the Comcast talks progressed along far enough to eliminate other potential buyers. It could be argued that having MSNBC partially owned by the same owners of Fox News is a bit of a conflict of interest.
Who would step forward to buy NBC network? The ratings haven't been great and they did do that silly thing with Jay Leno and their 10 p.m. slot. NBC is too much of a name brand to let fall by the wayside. Who do you think should step up and buy the network?
Posted Oct 14th 2009 8:27PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Reality-Free
In the last month, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston and Michael Bublé have all appeared and sang on
The Oprah Winfrey Show. All three have had number one albums. Coincidence? No. Good promotion (although Whitney had already reached number one by the time she warbled on
Oprah). Therefore, I have to wonder why
Jon Bon Jovi has entered an exclusive "artist in residence" deal with NBC Universal? For two months, Bon Jovi will promote the new Bon Jovi CD,
The Circle, only just on
NBCU channels.
You'll see him on
Today, The Tonight Show, The Jay Leno Show, Saturday Night Live, a segment of the
NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams and a sit down with James Lipton on Bravo's
Inside the Actors' Studio. When
The Circle is released on November 10, you'll know all about it... if you've watched NBC and Bravo.
Continue reading Jon Bon Jovi teams with NBCU for major album promotion
Posted Oct 14th 2009 4:00PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free, Comic-Con
It's great to see members of The State getting their due in Hollywood.
Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, founding members of the sketch comedy troupe, have been cracking me up since the early '90s when the State had its own sketch comedy show on MTV. They've been very productive since
The State was canceled in 1995, starring and producing Comedy Central's hilarious
Reno 911 and writing a number of films, including
Night at the Museum and
Balls of Fury. Now, the duo is bringing their twisted brand of comedy to NBC.
Lennon and Garant will write, produce and star in a
new multicamera comedy for the network, says
The Hollywood Reporter. The show is part of a talent deal NBC and Universal inked with Lennon.
Continue reading Reno 911 creators producing new comedy for NBC
Posted Oct 9th 2009 7:07PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: The Apprentice, Celebrities, Casting
If you thought Rod Blagojevich was done with television after the I'm a Celebrity debacle, then you don't know Rod.
An unidentified source close to team Blago confirmed that the ousted Illinois governor will compete on the upcoming season of
The Celebrity Apprentice.
Of course, NBC wouldn't confirm the info until the network makes an official announcement or maybe it just didn't want to come to terms with the fact that are giving the human spotlight once more chance on TV. I'm sure it's the first one.
Posted Oct 1st 2009 1:33PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Reality-Free
Yesterday, rumors were flying after an
Los Angeles Times report said that Comcast was in negotiations to buy NBC. But then
The New York Times reported late last night that both sides denied that any negotiations were going on between the two companies. This morning, things are a little... murkier.
Mediabistro got hold of an e-mail that NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker sent to employees. It's a long e-mail, but nowhere in it does he say that the rumors of Comcast (or anyone else) buying NBC are untrue.
Continue reading Comcast might buy NBC (or they might not - who knows?)
Posted Sep 25th 2009 4:07PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Law and Order, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
Last week we told you that
Julianne Nicholson had decided not to come back to
Law and Order: CI after having a baby, and in the same post we hinted that other changes might be coming to the USA show too. This could be those changes.
The Hollywood Reporter and set sources are both saying that
Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, and Eric Bogosian are all being written out of the show. That would mean that Jeff Goldblum would be the star of the show and that new cast members would have to be hired. D'Onofrio might make guest appearances in the future.
I can see Bogosian going, since he always seemed like a recurring character at best and you can replace those. But D'Onofrio and Erbe are the heart of the show, really, and it's interesting if Goldblum (who I always assumed would last for a season or two and then be on his way back to the movies) would be the lead character on the show now.
Posted Sep 14th 2009 7:05PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Late Night, Celebrities, Reality-Free
The Internet's series of tubes were glowing red hot last week when a video surfaced of
Sen. Al Franken drawing a map of the United States totally from memory.
It's one of those tasks that may look easy on the surface, but becomes increasingly difficult as you try to do it, as evidenced by the efforts of our sister (heh) site,
Lemondrop.com. Some of their staff tried to do the same thing and ended up with what looked like mutated twin brothers of the U.S. that their parents keep locked in the basement and feed a bucket of fish heads once a week.
But Franken's mutant power (his X-Men name would be "Sketchy") dates back farther than his recent days of pandering to voters in an election that made the Dade County, Florida recount look like a jelly-bean counting contest.
Continue reading Franken's cartography skills date back to his SNL days
Posted Aug 30th 2009 2:10PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, Reality-Free
I love Andy Richter, but he seems awfully stiff every time I watch him on
The Tonight Show. I prefer to remember the guy from his early days on
Late Night, his short-lived show
Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and his other short-lived show, the hilarious
Andy Barker, P.I.
Like Danny reported
back in May,
Andy Barker, P.I. is finally coming to DVD. Shout! Factory will release the entire series on Nov. 17. The two-disc set will include all six episodes, some with commentary by Richter and producer Conan O'Brien, plus a retrospective feature and a doc about the show's amazing writers, including Jonathan Groff (
How I Met Your Mother), Josh Bycel (
Psych), and Jane Espenson (
Buffy,
BSG). Click through for a better look at the DVD cover art.
Continue reading DVD cover art and release date for Andy Barker, P.I.
Posted Aug 27th 2009 6:00PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Industry, Cable/Satellite, Reality-Free
A long-awaited merger between two cable channels has been finalized...uh, finally.
A&E Networks aquired Lifetime as part of a deal between Hearst, Disney and NBC Universal. The deal makes Lifetime a sub-company in the A&E empire.
The deal puts Disney and Hearst in the front row seats of both networks with NBC in a distant third. This means that
NBC can sell its holdings in Lifetime to the other two parties within the next 15 years.
There doesn't seem to be any serious announcement or confirmations of a name or brand change under their new owners. Lifetime will still be called Lifetime.
Continue reading A&E buys Lifetime
Posted Aug 6th 2009 8:09AM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Heroes, Reality-Free
Alphas -- a science fiction/action pilot that certainly has nothing to do with
Heroes on NBC -- just got picked up by Syfy. The network would also like to assure you that their new show has nothing to do with
Heroes.
The 90-minute adventure has been kicking around Hollywood for a couple years now.
Alphas tells the story of "a team of ordinary citizens who possess hyperdeveloped neurological abilities."
That sounds nothing like
Heroes at all -- which is fortunate because Syfy is a member of the NBC/Universal family of networks.
Continue reading Syfy comes off as heroes for picking up Alphas
Posted Jul 28th 2009 12:02PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
NBC has broken some interesting new ground under
their now-former entertainment co-chairman, but they have also broken new lows in the same amount of time. The only reason it is hovering between third and fourth is because UPN isn't around anymore to screw with the flowcharts.
Ben Silverman has made some significant contributions to the Peacock Network, most notably with the smash cult hit
The Office, a show that wouldn't have even had a second season if people like Silverman weren't willing to give it a chance to grow.
Overall, however, NBC is in the dumper. And this is from a network that used to dominate free TV in almost every single category, from comedies to dramas to the newly mutated drama-comedies or dramadies. These days, "comas" is a more appropriate term.
Continue reading Will the Peacock's plumage perk up now that Ben Silverman has bailed ship?
Posted Jun 27th 2009 3:03PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, Web, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Actor, comedian and classically trained suit wearer Joel McHale has taken his talent for riffing to the next level.
The star of
The Soup and the upcoming NBC sitcom
Community has joined forces with Michael J. Nelson's
Rifftrax.com to provide a running comedy commentary for the perennial craptastic 80s classic
Red Dawn. Nelson announced the guest commentary on the Rifftrax site and
his Twitter blog earlier this week.
Rifftrax, for those who may not be familiar with the site and are therefore in no way cool, is the comedy website that provides downloadable MP3s of funny movie commentaries featuring the voices and talents of the minds behind
Mystery Science Theater 3000 including Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy. It is the only reason I still own all three
Matrix films, that and the fact that my desk is missing part of a leg.
Continue reading TV's Joel McHale riffing with Rifftrax on Red Dawn
Posted Jun 5th 2009 3:02PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Heroes, Casting, Reality-Free
The
Heroes casting reports just won't stop. Yesterday, we learned that
Prison Break's Robert Knepper would come on board as a new villain. Now,
Star Wars baddie Ray Park is in talks to
appear in the show's next season for a sizeable arc.
As Darth Maul in
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Park famously wielded a double-bladed light saber to slice up Liam Neeson.
He showed his goofier side as Toad in the original
X-Men film and recently as a Skywalker Ranch security guard in
Fanboys. We still don't know any details about Park's role on
Heroes, but some Interweb bloggos are convinced that he'll play the "Knife Thrower" described in
Heroes' recent casting breakdowns.
Continue reading Star Wars' Ray Park in talks to join Heroes
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