Considering the incredible overnight ratings that Fox got for Game Six of the World Series, you might think I'm crazy to suggest that the network would be rooting for the New York Yankees last night to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, but I have evidence. All through the game, Fox was promoting Fringe and Bones, urging viewers to tune in tomorrow night -- tonight -- for new episodes. Why would the network be sending that message when there was a possibility of a Game Seven?
Fox's master foodie is at it again. Gordon Ramsay has conjured up a new show called MasterChef, only it's not really his idea. See, it's already been done in England and Australia, but Gordon will put his spin on this show. So for all intents and purposes, it's another Gordon Ramsay project. (Like the Alan Parsons Project without Alan Parsons and a small 'p').
In MasterChef, amateur chefs will compete to master the perfect dish. These will be everyday people, not sous chefs or short order cooks, but backyard grillers and homemakers who have a specialty at which they excel. Sounds to me a bit like the Food Network Challenge shows in which people try to make the best chili or the definitive hamburger.
My first thought whenever O'Reilly visits The View is Joy Behar. She always looks like she'd rather be anywhere else but sitting next to him. But I suppose she puts up with it -- and has no choice in the matter -- because O'Reilly and Barbara Walters have been friends for a long time, and Barbara, of course, has the final say on who gets on the show and who doesn't.
This is all speculation, of course. I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. Just reading the body language, which I've learned a little about while watching Tonya Reiman on O'Reilly's Fox show, The O'Reilly Factor.
The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog is reporting that Apple is having meetings with TV networks to see if they'd be interested in having their programs available on iTunes in a deal where viewers would pay a monthly flat fee to watch the shows.
Obviously, many networks already offer various shows on iTunes, but this would be a scenario where Mac and PC users of iTunes would pay a $30 a month subscription in order to watch TV shows. And that would be all shows, not just paying for each show that you want to watch.
While we wait for the World Series to be over and The Simpsons (and other Sunday night FOX shows) to return, here's something fun: a list of the 14 most awesome fake products from the show (The Simpsons I mean, not the World Series).
I'm sure that there have been a gazillion funny products over the years on the show. I can't even remember more than a few of them. But this list brought back a lot of memories of certain episodes with great fake products, including: Malk, Cheezus H. Rice, and Nuts and Gm (Together At Last!).
Fox will use football this Sunday to help tall, blue aliens take over our televisions.
On November 1, Fox is shooting for the "world's biggest live trailer viewing" when it airs the new preview of James Cameron's Avatar live on TV and in the Dallas Cowboys' home park on the world's largest video display -- the Cowboy Stadium's Diamond Vision Screen before the Lone Star State's heroes take on the Seattle Seahawks.
A Fox press release explains that the Fox Sports NFL Sunday pregame show will present the new trailer live on the network. Meanwhile, those Cowboy fans still sober enough at noon to enjoy the brief glimpse of the sci-fi epic will take it in on a screen larger than some Far Eastern countries.
Putting the TV network's football viewing figures to work is the kind of bold step Fox needs to take to publicize Cameron's $300 million dollar movie. Though obviously ambitious and technically groundbreaking, special previews of the 3D fantasy flick left some viewers less than thrilled. While the film will be 3D in theaters, the trailer will stick to a simpler 2D TV image for the big event.
The Fox network cannot risk pissing off Seth MacFarlane. If they do, they run a good chance of suddenly finding most of their entire Sunday night line-up sucking eggs. At least, that's one possible reason for the renewal of American Dadfor a sixth season. That pickup gives MacFarlane the renewal trifecta for Sunday nights.
Actually, of MacFarlane's three series, American Dad is the best one (although I'm finding The Cleveland Show inching closer to first place). As opposed to Family Guy, the storytelling is more linear than the other two and the jokes actually have some relevance to the plot or characters (I'm on Team South Park regarding that "feud").
The Cleveland Show is also better at linear storytelling and jokes than its predecessor, but it's still not up to the standards of American Dad. Sadly, American Dad will likely live in the shadow of Family Guy and The Cleveland Show for years to come. At least MacFarlane has three chances with Fox to keep on working.
Both the World Series and the start of the NBA season brought in big numbers for their respective networks this week. The MLB faceoff between the Yankees and the Phillies score Fox a 6.3 rating share or 19.3 million viewers in their timeslot. The NBA's doubleheader opener on Tuesday helped TNT score a record-breaking 3.7 million viewers.
Stories like these make me long for the Yoda-like wisdom of baseball's Yogi Berra. Just think of the grammatically incorrect gems he could conjure.
"People watch sports because it's easier than playing it."
"Sports has a big following because so few people follow it."
As in years past during the World Series, FOX has started up the marketing machine for the new season of 24 and this year is no different. The official trailer for Jack Bauer's eighth very bad day (which has 24's traditional 2-night 4-hour premiere on January 17th and 18th) aired last night.
While it doesn't shed too much light on the new season (which takes place in NYC), one thing is for certain -- despite how we last saw Jack, sick as a dog with Kim by his side, the guy seems pretty healthy now. And a healthy Jack Bauer means an ass-kicking Jack Bauer, retired or not.
It's been revealed that the new season will focus on the assassination attempt of a Middle Eastern political figure played by Slumdog Millionaire's Anil Kapoor. He gets a little bit of play here in the trailer as well as a quick glimpse of the resurrected CTU. But let's be honest -- all we care about seeing is Jack, even though he is a grandpa now. Check it and tell us what you think!
TV Guide has released their list of shows that are safe for the rest of the season and those that are "on the bubble," the shows that are in danger of being canceled. There are a lot of shows on the latter list that aren't a surprise, such as Hank, Gary Unmarried, Cold Case, and The Forgotten (I'm surprised Cold Case even made it to another season).
But among the list of shows are a few that I didn't think were in danger, including Gossip Girl and Fringe. I know that Gossip Girl isn't a show that gets incredible ratings, but that describes The CW in general, and I figure that even if it gets low ratings it's sort of the network's signature show. As for Fringe, the ratings are a lot worse this season than last season, but it would still surprise me if the show went away, especially since it has its fan base and it's produced by JJ Abrams.
I have to admit that, when the Yankees are in the playoffs, most of my regular TV watching gets obliterated. Thankfully, DVRs and online TV sites (and, in the mid-'90s, VCRs) help me catch up. For instance, even though I have to review Cougar Town, I'll likely won't watch it until tomorrow morning, on either ABC.com or Hulu. Why? World Series game one, of course. Nothing, not even the Yankees being behind 22-0, is going to tear me away from FOX at 9:30, when I should be watching Cougar Town on ABC.
Which leads me to something that I've been wondering lately: Didn't networks used to program more reruns against the World Series? Tonight, NBC has a lineup of new episodes, as does ABC (except for Charlie Brown in Hank's slot, for understandable reasons). Tomorrow, all three of FOX's competitors have new episodes.
(S02E05) "It's always the popular ones who think they can get away with murder." - Loker
Easily the best episode of Lie to Me to date, I have to wonder -- I can't be the only out there who's just dying to know more about Cal's past, right? Lennie James guest-starred as Terry Marsh, one of Cal's old crime pals and his arrival created so many questions that have just pushed aside anything else going on at The Lightman Group. Unless Gillian or Loker turn out to be serial killers from past lives, nothing else really matters right now besides Cal's history.
The upcoming A-Team movie has released its first cast photo (a larger version can be seen here), and I'll give credit where credit is due. Not only has Fox cast the movie perfectly, but they've gone out of their way to make the cast look like their 80's television equivalents. Okay, Rampage Jackson isn't wearing gold chains, but that's about it.
They even made Liam Neeson look like George Peppard. How cool is that? And of course that's the classic van in the background. Even if this movie ends up being a mindless action flick, then it's still following in the footsteps of its originator and will likely make $100 million that weekend.
I just wonder if anybody is actually going to be shot and killed in the movie. It never seemed to happen during the television show. More importantly, will any of the original cast members make a cameo?
So, let's say TV Squad wanted to have a 30-second ad on CBS' highest-rated show, NCIS. It would cost us $133,304. It would actually cost more, because we'd hire scantily-clad dancers, include a 35 pound bag of Doritios, fireworks in the shape of each writer, guest appearances from people like Tina Fey and JJ Abrams, and would have special effects because some of the commercial would be set in outer space for some reason, but I mean CBS would charge us $133,304.
To give you an idea of how that stacks up against other shows on CBS and shows on other networks, here's a quick list.
It's always interesting when you've been hearing about a series for years and then finally sit down to watch it. All the little pieces and pop references of Ally McBeal are starting to come together, like Fishisms, The Biscuit, dancing babies and Vonda Shepard. I have seen the light. Well, at least season one of the light.
Molly Dodd because Ally is funny, desperate, strong and cute. My World because of all her fantasies, though not always in cartoon form as was the case with John Monroe / James Thurber.
Fox's master foodie is at it again. Gordon Ramsay has conjured up a new show called MasterChef, only it's not really his idea. See, it's already been done in England and Australia, but Gordon will put his spin on this show. So for all intents and purposes, it's another Gordon Ramsay project. (Like the Alan Parsons Project without Alan Parsons and a small 'p'). 
It's always fun when Bill O'Reilly visits The View. Bob posted about it yesterday, too, talking about how weird Whoopi was acting. 
The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog is reporting that Apple is having meetings with TV networks to see if they'd be interested in having their programs available on iTunes in a deal where viewers would pay a monthly flat fee to watch the shows. 
While we wait for the World Series to be over and The Simpsons (and other Sunday night FOX shows) to return, here's something fun: a list of the 14 most awesome fake products from the show (The Simpsons I mean, not the World Series).
Fox will use football this Sunday to help tall, blue aliens take over our televisions.
The Fox network cannot risk pissing off Seth MacFarlane. If they do, they run a good chance of suddenly finding most of their entire Sunday night line-up sucking eggs. At least, that's one possible reason for the renewal of American Dad for a sixth season. That pickup gives MacFarlane the renewal trifecta for Sunday nights.
Both the World Series and the start of the NBA season brought in big numbers for their respective networks this week. The MLB faceoff between the Yankees and the Phillies score Fox a 6.3 rating share or 19.3 million viewers in their timeslot. The NBA's doubleheader opener on Tuesday helped TNT score a record-breaking 3.7 million viewers. 
The upcoming A-Team movie has released its first cast photo (a larger version can be seen here), and I'll give credit where credit is due. Not only has Fox cast the movie perfectly, but they've gone out of their way to make the cast look like their 80's television equivalents. Okay, Rampage Jackson isn't wearing gold chains, but that's about it.
It's always interesting when you've been hearing about a series for years and then finally sit down to watch it. All the little pieces and pop references of Ally McBeal are starting to come together, like Fishisms, The Biscuit, dancing babies and Vonda Shepard. I have seen the light. Well, at least season one of the light. 
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