TVland-related stories
Posted Nov 9th 2009 9:33AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Curb Your Enthusiasm reruns are
coming to basic cable. First they will be shown on the TV Guide Channel next year (doesn't everybody get that channel? I thought it was just a guide to what's on television. They have shows?) and then TV Land in 2013. Any event that brings Larry David's sense of humor to the masses can only be a good thing (Who had the idea for the humor in awkward situations first, Larry or Ricky Gervais?).
Mind you, the show's language is somewhat racy for basic cable. There will be some bleeping here and there. At least there's no prevalent nudity in any episode that I recall. There is some adult subject matter, but nothing basic cable hasn't seen before. Hey, if
The Sopranos can make it to basic cable then Larry David should have no problem.
Given Susie Essman's vocabulary on the series, she may have every third word bleeped. That could possibly make her lines even funnier.
Posted Aug 6th 2009 9:31AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
TV Land has a little gem on their hands, methinks with
How'd You Get So Rich? When I was younger, I used to get a kick out of
Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. When your mother comes in and asks you which utility you want the most this month, it's kind of nice to imagine what it would be like to live in such opulence.
Joan Rivers was on
Late Night earlier this week, and she spoke of the idea behind the show. When traveling around the country, she'd see these mansions scattered around and wonder what the story is behind them. These aren't celebrities, after all. They're just ordinary people. So the title question came to mind.
What's great about the show is that it's presented in such an uplifting way. It's telling you that all things are possible. You too could have these amazing houses and cars. All it takes is hard work and dedication, and sometimes a great idea like tonight's founder of
Billy Bob Teeth.
Continue reading Joan Rivers wants to know How'd You Get So Rich?
Posted Jul 30th 2009 7:29AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV Royalty, The Apprentice, Interviews, Celebrities, TCA Press Tour
I had the great honor of interviewing the legendary
Joan Rivers after her TCA panel promoting her new TV Land show
How'd You Get So Rich? While the panel was hilarious, Joan was in fine form during the interview, telling me a good story about why she doesn't dwell in the past, criticizing Sarah Palin and Brooke Shields, and giving her one-millionth rebuke of her
Apprentice rival, Annie Duke, or "Annie Douche" as she called the poker star during the panel.
But Rivers also took some vicious shots at
David Tutera, the party planner who left her
and Duke high and dry on
The Celebrity Apprentice's finale, quitting after Joan asked him to make some changes to his plan. Since Tutera is scheduled to do a panel on his show
My Fair Wedding on Friday, I wanted to post what she said about him here and then give Tutera a chance to respond.
Continue reading Joan Rivers takes her shots at David Tutera - TCA Report
Posted May 12th 2009 12:03PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Ratings
You won't believe which show is kicking the collective ass of TV Land's
The Cougar. Then again, maybe you will.
The New York Times reports that reruns of (Shazam!)
The Andy Griffith Show are the cable network's most watched show.
So does this mean that the former classic TV network will go back to running
shows that people actually want to watch? Probably not. Sorry to break the bad news to you. Oh, and there is no Santa Claus, and if the tooth fairy does exist, she's probably a big ol' commie.
Continue reading The Cougar is not TV Land's number one show
Posted Apr 16th 2009 9:05AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
The marketing for this show has been relentless, and that's an understatement. It's easier to shake the SARS virus in a back alley chicken hut in downtown Hong Kong than it is to shake an ad for
The Cougar.
One of my personal rules (number one is "thou who smelt it, dealt it") is the harder the advertising, the worse a show is bound to be. TV Land hasn't just aired a commercial for
The Cougar every five seconds in between their few remaining watchable shows. They air it on other networks. They plaster ads all over the Internet. If the economy dips any lower, they'll probably start tattooing ads to people's foreheads.
Continue reading Does anyone watch The Cougar and if so, do they have eyes?
Posted Mar 29th 2009 12:38PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, TV Royalty, Programming, OpEd
My family often watches TV during the dinner hour. There, I've said it. I'm not proud of that fact, but there you have it. We also force the kids to take 2-hour nature walks with us every weekend, so maybe it all evens out in the end.
Our favorite channel during the dinner hour is TV Land. In our neck of the woods,
Hogan's Heroes airs from 6 to 7 p.m., and
The Andy Griffith Show from 7 to 8 p.m. We love both these shows, and the episodes always spark laughter and a few discussion topics. Like, how could Colonel Klink be such a dimwit, and why can't more people be like Andy Taylor?
But we might have to start watching the Discovery or History channels or - gasp! - turn the TV off altogether, because the commercials on TV Land are making us gag on our organic mac-and-cheese. I'm talking about the commercials for TV Land's reality shows,
High School Reunion and
The Cougar.
Continue reading Reality shows on TV Land? It's a world gone mad!
Posted Mar 19th 2009 7:01PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Industry, Reality-Free
Cable channels used to have fairly rigid formats that followed simple formulas. Nickelodeon was the network for kids. ESPN was the network for sports. USA was the network for non-stop reruns of
Wings.
Now most of them have fallen into a strange gelatinous blob of unoriginal and unrecognizable sewage. I believe the technical term is "reality shows."
The TV Land network has been slowly engulfed by this blob of mediocrity with shows like
High School Reunion and
The Cougar. Their latest VP hire indicates it's about to be swallowed whole by more of the same.
Continue reading Hoping for less reality TV on TV Land? Keep on hoping
Posted Mar 5th 2009 9:02AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, Episode Recaps
Since I accepted TiVo as my personal savior, I have been afforded an opportunity to watch some great shows that air in the wee hours of the morning. Shows that, until now, have only been enjoyed by air traffic controllers with low attention spans, speed freaks and easily confused frat boys.
One of them is
All in the Family, which airs at 8 a.m. on TV Land, the network with its rack of sour tasting reality shows and shrinking share of old sitcoms and serials that is in danger of becoming the new MTV.
A week ago, one of the show's -- and all of television history's greatest -- gems found its way to my "Now Playing List." That famous episode where Sammy Davis Jr. makes the trek to 704 Hauser Street and gives Archie a big wet one on the cheek. I had not seen this show since I was a kid, back in the 80s when
All in the Family reruns flooded my television, but this most recent viewing unveiled an interesting factoid that almost went unnoticed.
Continue reading The man behind one of the most famous kisses and kiss-offs in TV history - VIDEO
Posted Feb 25th 2009 2:04PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free, TV Squad Ten
Television as an industry is in need of a major overhaul. It's old, dusty, soiling itself, and not keeping up with the technology that changes from day to day. If it were an old, sick animal, or Larry King, it would probably be put to sleep. Alas, so many of us rely on the old biddy that it would be hard for us to say good-bye.
Luckily, I am a resourceful, intelligent and, dare I say it, gorgeous human being who has some ideas in mind to freshen up the television landscape. Yes, it may mean sacrifice from some of us (mainly network executives) and we may lose something in the process. But, in the end, the industry that we love to quietly despise while watching Cheaters will thrive once again.
Continue reading TV Squad Ten: What I would get rid of in television
Posted Dec 4th 2008 1:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities
There are two things that I find disturbing about the news that there's a reality show in the works for married actors
Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna for TV Land. Number one, do we really need another show biz couple exposing their personal lives for the cameras? Number two, why is TV Land getting away from celebrating TV history by broadcasting great old shows to do banal entertainment like this kind of unscripted drivel?
Are audiences really clamoring for more of this stuff? I know I'm not, and I don't know anyone else who is! Seriously, this is not reality TV. There's nothing real about it except that they're using their real names. (Yes, those are their real names!)
Continue reading TV Land plots a Harry Hamlin & Lisa Rinna reality show
Posted Sep 2nd 2008 10:21AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Industry, Programming
Don't get too worked up, they're not dumping all reruns. But
TV Land announced that by the end of 2009 they are looking to
have original programming fill up half of their prime-time lineup. Last year it was 4% and it's only 15% now.
The Wall Street Journal article goes on and on about how the channel is aiming to skew younger, to generate more ad revenue. When it spun off solo in 1996, TV on DVD was still relatively new, so it was a lot of fun to have a place to go to get your nostalgia fix. But now, most folks can go to their DVD library if they want to see
M*A*S*H again.
It goes on to say that the types of shows they're developing are romance and dating shows, like
Cougar, which is basically
The Bachelorette with an older woman scouting younger guys. The strides they've made so far have improved their ratings and median age, so I guess this will work, too but it's disappointing to me. Basic cable used to have channels where you knew what to expect when you went there and TV Land was one of them.
Continue reading TV Land cutting back on reruns, aiming younger
Posted Jul 9th 2008 9:23PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals
TV Land announced today that they will follow ex-boxing champion George Foreman for their new reality series,
Family Foreman. The show will consist of six half-hour episodes that feature George balancing his many business endeavors with his family life.
I think this show will be entertaining but I also think that MTV beat TV Land to the punch with
Run's House. The shows sound very similar. An immensely successful and famous dad who is also a loving father and husband. A stay-at-home mom who is everyone's rock. And a load of children with different personalities and pursuits. Thankfully, all of George's sons (who are incidentally all named George) have been given nickames: Monk, Big Wheel, Red, and Joe. I feel bad for the one that got "Joe." They couldn't come up with something more creative or more bad ass (like Big Wheel).
Family Foreman will premiere on Wednesday July 16th at 10 p.m. on TV Land.
Posted May 1st 2008 1:04PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Industry, OpEd
Many people think that the term "cougar," which is loosely defined as "older woman on the prowl for younger men to date" was introduced on last season's
How I Met Your Mother episode that had
Jane Seymour seduce Neil Patrick Harris' Barney. But like I said in my review back then, I had heard that term before that episode aired. But we can definitely say that
HIMYM popularized the term.
Now it seems like TV Land, which is becoming the network for reality shows starring people over 35, has decided to pick up a
Bachelorette-esque series where a number of young men will be
competing for the affections of "sexy and accomplished mature woman." The show is being produced by Mike Fleiss, who was the executive producer for the network's version of
High School Reunion.
Continue reading TV Land orders dating show for Cougars
Posted Mar 6th 2008 10:01AM by Jay Black
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews
(S04E01) Three years ago, I was asked to perform stand-up comedy at my high school reunion. I wasn't a full-time professional yet, but I was getting close; I figured I would go in there and kill. I imagined all the girls who didn't find me attractive in high school (which was, uh,
all the girls) would instantly swoon for me and I'd get some measure of closure on what was a very disappointing chapter in my life. Of course, I tanked. Badly. The people at my reunion couldn't have been less interested in what I had to say if I was trying to sell them timeshares. I spent the rest of the night mixing cold medication and hard liquor, trying to find a combination that wouldn't shut down my liver but would help me forget how poorly I performed that night.
I never thought I'd regret a decision more than my accepting that high school reunion gig. Now, three years later, I've finally found a decision I regret more: accepting the assignment to review TV Land's new reality show,
High School Reunion.
Continue reading High School Reunion: Meet the Mustangs (season premiere)
Posted Jul 15th 2007 2:02PM by Michael Maloney
Filed under: NBC, Programming, TCA Press Tour
Friday's TCA, which continued cable TV presentations, felt like three days rolled into one.
Just how jam-packed and eclectic are the programs and announcements that were made?
Here's a sample: Dynasty diva Joan Collins is checking into BBC America's Hotel Babylon, Richard Dreyfus (Jaws) is not afraid to get back into the water as host of The Discovery Channel's Ocean of Fear: The Worst Shark Attack Ever and Jonny Fairplay (Survivor) of CMT's Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull-Riding Challenge sadly announced that his beloved grandmother passed away two weeks ago.
Continue reading MTV Networks, BBC America, Discovery and more - TCA Report
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