It has been announced that Michael Jackson's public funeral with be held next Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. CBS has revealed that they are going to cover it extensively, with The Early Show broadcasting live from the Staples Center on Monday and Tuesday and Katie Couric doing The CBS Evening News from there as well. No word yet on what ABC and NBC will be doing, though I assume they'll do similar coverage (not to mention the massive coverage we'll see on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News).
But how extensive should the coverage be? Should the news channels cover it all day long? Should the networks report live from the funeral? Should the funeral be televised live on all channels? Should there just be stories of it and no live coverage at all?
I don't know if the word "obitutainment" has been used before, but it's here now. Jon Stewart mentioned it last night in this installment of the Rippy Awards (I just now realized it refers to R.I.P., ha). And this isn't about Michael Jackson! It's about Karl Malden and his connection to an NBC anchor Brian Williams. I think I'm as connected to Malden as Williams is.
NBC isn't exactly engendering a lot of goodwill among people, with their cancellations of shows like Life and Medium, and My Name is Earl. The fact that they're replacing these shows with not one but two medical shows, isn't exactly a confidence booster. NBC hasn't sent screeners of all their pilots yet, hence the "Part 1" in the title. But I have gotten a taste of both their comedy and drama offerings with Community, a comedy starring The Soup's Joel McHale, and Trauma, one of the aforementioned medical dramas.
Going into this, I didn't have high hopes for Trauma, and while I wanted to like Community, I had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to be the vehicle that would change Joel McHale from cute host of a basic cable show to primetime star. Now, after seeing both of them, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by one.
More good news out of NBC's top drama. Wentworth Miller is guesting on Law and Order: SVU, and this time he's not going to be behind bars. The Prison Break actor will star in the September 23 premiere of Law and Order: SVU, which is kicking off its 11th season on the NBC.
Wentworth Miller's casting comes on the heels of NBC re-signing of Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni to two-year extensions as the show's mainstays, Detectives Benson and Stabler, as well as the return of Stephanie March as Alex Cabot and a four-show arc for Christine Lahti. I'd say that the powers-that-be are stacking the deck with prime talent to make sure Law and Order: SVU maintains its top quality status.
We've talked about this a lot here at TV Squad, how the word "exclusive" isn't used correctly in TV news these days. In fact I'll go one step further and say that networks often lie when they say something is an "exclusive." They'll say that an interview with a famous celebrity or a politician is an exclusive, but you realize you just watched an interview with the same person on another network the night before, or there's an interview with the same person the next day.
Now, some networks will say they have an exclusive before another interview airs, so in that case I guess we can say they're right (if we give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't know the other interview was coming, that is), but more often than not they know it's not an exclusive.
(S04E04) "Houston, we have a problem." - Piers about the Houston, Tx, contestants
Yesterday, America's got magic. Tonight, America's got a problem. Yet, another episode filled mostly with bad or subpar acts. I don't get why the editors don't ensure a good balance between good and bad acts in each episode. Actually, I don't get why they don't show more of the good acts that are voted through so that we get to know the performers right from the start so they all have an even chance to get our votes. I guess I'm not cut out to be a reality TV show editor!
Let's give our two cents about the bad acts of the night, including Divani; Jolie, Lester and their lawnmower; Rusty "They don't understand Broadway" Reece, and Marti "The most annoying man in Miami" Brill.
We're still not sure what The Jay Leno Show is going to be, exactly. From all of the clips we've seen and the hints that Jay and NBC have given, it looks like it's going to be more monologue/comedy sketch-driven than The Tonight Show., though with many of the same elements ("Headlines," etc). Leno is going to comedy clubs (as he always does) and trying out some new jokes, which are actually quite good. (Both clips start out the same but they are different... the second is after the jump.)
This is another one of those summer shows I didn't know was coming up until I started seeing ads a few days ago. The Great American Road Trip is NBC's new reality show that sends seven families cross-country, where they engage in various challenges against each other for fame and fortune. Or maybe just fortune.
This could actually be a fun show, sort of The Amazing Race meets Family Double Dare. You know there's going to be families to hate and families to love. Maybe they'll have a challenge where they tie a dog to the bumper and have to keep him alive on the drive to the next state. It starts July 7.
Good news is probably an understatement. It's really great news because with SVU moving to Wednesday, 9 p.m., the show really didn't need to shake up the cast at this point in time. Stability mattered and NBC found a way to bring the two stars into the fold, offering them both the flexibility they sought.
Every time I hear the name of Jimmy Fallon's "late night show soap opera" 7th Floor West, I think of Central Park West, the short-lived 90s soap from Darren Star that aired on CBS. I really liked that show, even if everyone else didn't. But this soap follows the adventures of Fallon and his staff their NBC studio. Here's the first episode, and you can watch the others (episode 7 debuts on July 13) at the 7th Floor West site.
Fallon is doing some clever regular bits on his show. Except "Lick it for Ten."
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.comto 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.
a. NBC's code name for what excuses they'll use to explain why The Jay Leno Show isn't a hit (or why it is a hit or why it started out well and then died off)
b. a new Bravo reality show where contestants compete to see who gets their own 10PM show
c. a new PBS documentary about Leno and his massive car collection
Last night, Bruno appeared on The Tonight Show and did a dance on Conan's desk, thrusting his crotch into the host's face several times. I am not going to show that video (honestly, has a character worn out its welcome so much before a movie even opens?). Instead, here's video from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon of a duck smoking outside of a bar.
All is well with the world: Lou Diamond Phillips won I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! He's the only contestant out there that deserves to be called a "celebrity."
Why did Lou Diamond Philips pick a show that anyone could see was going to be a train wreck? Did he have 24 days off and say, "why not?" Or did he look at the list of celebrities and then agree? After watching the season, I still don't know who Torrie Wilson was, and she was the runner up.
Lou Diamond Phillips is a good actor. I loved him in La Bamba. I have CHE on my list of movies to watch. He may be a little aged now, but he still gets parts and plays them well. If he did the show for his charity (I love him for supporting Art has Heart), he probably agreed because he knew he had the most celebrity and probably was the most sane person out there.
It's always great to hear the fall premiere dates for shows. It reminds you that, yes, eventually the summer is going to end and the fall will be here. Here are the dates when the new seasons of your favorite old NBC shows (and new ones) will launch (more dates to come).
Sunday, September 13: Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football Monday, September 14:The Jay Leno Show Tuesday, September 15: The Biggest Loser Thursday, September 17:SNL Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and Community Monday, September 21:Heroes Wednesday, September 23:Parenthood and Law and Order: SVU Friday, September 25: Law and Order and Southland Saturday, September 26:Saturday Night Live Monday, September 28:Trauma Thursday, October 15:30 Rock
It has been announced that Michael Jackson's public funeral with be held next Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. CBS has revealed that they are going to cover it extensively, with The Early Show broadcasting live from the Staples Center on Monday and Tuesday and Katie Couric doing The CBS Evening News from there as well. No word yet on what ABC and NBC will be doing, though I assume they'll do similar coverage (not to mention the massive coverage we'll see on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News). 
NBC isn't exactly engendering a lot of goodwill among people, with their cancellations of shows like 
More good news out of NBC's top drama. 
We've 
Well, that's a relief. After months of speculation that NBC would be bringing 
Actor, comedian and classically trained suit wearer Joel McHale has taken his talent for riffing to the next level. 
a. NBC's code name for what excuses they'll use to explain why The Jay Leno Show isn't a hit (or why it is a hit or why it started out well and then died off)
All is well with the world: Lou Diamond Phillips won 
It's always great to hear the fall premiere dates for shows. It reminds you that, yes, eventually the summer is going to end and the fall will be here. 
Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
