TVSquad

As I type this, there are 11 court shows currently in first-run syndication, with Judge Judy leading the pack. These shows have become one of the more stable franchises for stations across America, as original programming has made way for pre-packaged fare. With the market seemingly saturated by the amount of court shows, you would think that the studios would be holding off in producing any new series.

Hello! It's television -- the obese glutton of the media world!

Four new series are being worked on right now. Three of these will make their first appearances as the fall season officially begins in a few short weeks. The fourth may not appear until 2009. However, when it does, it may push Judge Judy out of the top spot its held for several years. According to TV Week, former Minnesota governor and pro-wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura is currently in negotiations to host a court show aimed at the daytime television audience. Should the negotiations work out, Jesse could be presiding over some type of court cases by the fall of next year.

I don't usually watch Who Wants To Be A Millionaire after my local news in the afternoon. After the news is over I usually switch to another channel, but this week they're having a "TV Week," (though it could be a repeat week since it's summer, not sure) so I've been watching every day. And I have to tell you, these contestants don't know much about television.

I don't say this as a guy who writes about television for a living, I'm talking about as a television fan. The questions have been remarkably easy, especially in the early rounds, even up to $25,000, and the players are just failing miserably. Even with the lifelines the show offers! That's inexcusable. Of course, the audience hasn't always been a help either. They screwed over one contestant by saying that Eliza Dushku's show was called Tru Colors and not Tru Calling.

For once the info coming from CBS News is not about whether Katie Couric's job is in jeopardy. Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer has decided not to retire after all; he's staying with CBS News indefinitely.

The veteran newsman, who'll be 72 this year, had announced his retirement. He was going to leave the Black Rock as of the January presidential inauguration. Now he's decided to postpone the rocking chair. According to TV Week, the network didn't have to twist his arm; the deal was easily and simply done. All Schieffer had to do was get his wife Pat's approval and he was able to tell CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus asked him not to step down as planned with the inauguration of a new president that he would remain.

Edward Wyatt's New York TImes piece questioned whether NBC crossed the line by broadcasting racy material in the "family hour." On both 30 Rock and The Office, the writers let loose, basically presenting what you might call adult rated moments in what NBC asserts is family time. All I have to say to that is, "What? There's a family hour? Since when?" Apparently, I wasn't the only one caught off guard by the raunchiness of the family hour. The Parents Television Council just today rescinded their praise for NBC's claim that programs in the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. time period would target families. PTC is calling NBC's pledge "hypocritical."

Al Roker is in final negotiations to host the NBC celebrity edition of Family Feud, the one that we wrote about recently as a summer series on the Peacock.

Roker, currently the main weatherman and easy-going interviewer on Today (the first three hours at least!), would seem a perfect fit for this job. He's friendly, funny, personable and has a high recognizability/likability rating. He's also busy on the dial with Food Network shows, both producing and hosting. In fact, in 2006 his production company put out Celebrity Food Fights, about competing celebs -- not unlike Family Feud concept -- for Food Network.

A couple of times a year, TV Week asks TV critics from print and online media to fill out a survey with their lists of the best and worst TV shows of the season. The summer list this year doesn't hold too many surprises in the "best" category, though I think the "worst" has a few (worst lists are always more fun to read anyway, right?). First, the ten best:

1. The Sopranos (HBO)
2. Lost (ABC)
3. Friday Night Lights (NBC)

Responding to criticism in a recent Los Angeles Times piece that this season's 24 is lackluster and that viewers are tuning out, a co-executive producer of the show said failing to chart out story lines and sending several characters to sleep with the fishes are largely to blame for this predicament.

"You try to keep things interesting, find new ways to tell the story, and unfortunately we wound up repeating ourselves somewhat," David Fury, co-executive producer told TV Week. "I still would claim that regardless of the quality drop-off that people are saying, the show's still very strong. It's still one of the best things on television."

I'm not exactly sure what they mean by "powerful" whenever these lists come out. Does it mean influence? Does it mean the most-watched? Probably a mish-mash of both, since the list includes anchors and network executives. Here's the list, according to TV Week. Last year's rank is in parentheses.

1. Roger Ailes - Chairman and CEO of FOX News (1)

Writers on 24 put an end to the suitcase-nukes-on-the-loose story arc because they were "bored to death" with having their characters ask, "Where's the bomb?," show co-executive producer Manny Coto told TV Week.

Coto said that because writers knew they weren't going to have a second nuke detonate this season -- one flattened Valencia in the first hours -- they had Jack Bauer simply find the bombs and then they changed the story's direction.

Coto also told TV Week that, as a direct result of the consultations 24 creators had with terrorism experts, they decided that instead of having Jack torture terrorist Abu Fayed to coerce the location of the nukes out of him, they'd devise a scenario where Fayed was "rescued" from CTU custody by CTU agents posing as members of a splinter terrorist group.

The Idol producers have been promising us a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT for weeks, and tonight's the the night we get some answers.

Some have guessed that the announcement involves a surprise celebrity guest, such as Michael Jackson or Paul McCartney (although the producers have already denied this). Others think the producers have planned a surprise twist in the voting system. Possibly, wild cards could be brought back to the show, or more boys could be sent packing than girls. Perhaps the judges will override America's vote for the first time ever. These would all be big surprises.

Want to know why some of the bad guys in 24 are painted in shades of gray? (Think former President Charles Logan. The Day 6 version. The one who quotes the Bible in the bathroom.)

Want to know how long it takes to write one of these action-packed episodes?

Curious as to 24 staffers' thoughts on the controversies sparked by the show's graphic scenes?

TV Week has been posting a series of interviews with 24 producers and writers as part of their 24 "Backlot Talk" series. You can either download the audio of the interview or read the transcript. The site also has a place for readers to submit questions that could be posed to 24 creators in future interviews.

That's the theory pushed by veteran TV critic Tom Shales in this piece over at TV Week. The numbers for the Today Show are declining, and Shales thinks that the reasons are twofold. One, viewers haven't warmed up to Meredith Vieira since she took over for Katie Couric. And two, he actually thinks that Matt Lauer is trying to sabotage her work:

If viewers haven't hugely warmed up to Vieira, then part of the reason may be misbehavior by her hammy co-host. Repeatedly and perhaps vindictively, Matt has seemed intent on tripping Vieira up on the air-interrupting, hogging the spotlight, cold-shouldering her, subtly putting her down. Matt perhaps doesn't want to be outshone by a woman once again.

I don't watch the show as much as I used to so I have no idea if this is true or not. Readers?

Shales also doesn't have kind words for the pairing of Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts over at Good Morning America.

[via TV Newser]

After this season's nominations, we all know that the Emmys are a load of crap. Now the television critics over at TV Week think they know what are the best shows on television. In a semi-annual poll, critics voted Lost and The Sopranos as their favorite shows. Grey's Anatomy ranks No. 3. They also voted Unan1mous and The War at Home as the worst shows on television. Battlestar Galactica moved up to No. 11 and Desperate Housewives fittingly dropped from No. 2 to No. 23.

While I won't disagree on their picks for the worst programs, I do disagree on their choices for best television. This season's Lost wasn't so hot and The Sopranos seems tired. My hands-down favorite television program right now is The Office (tied for 19th among the critics). This season, I came to adore the characters. Everytime I hear the music for the opening credits, I can't help but bounce on the couch and clap my hands like a two-year-old.

What do you think is THE BEST show on television? Choose only one.