Posts with tag programming
Posted Aug 26th 2008 10:22AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
All right, let me say this up front and without equivocation: if CBS picks up
Flashpoint and cancels
Swingtown, I'm going to be ticked off. I'm not down on
Flashpoint.
As Jane wrote, Flashpoint is a good show. No
24, but solid procedural entertainment. However, when I read that
Canada's CTV has renewed up north and sources say that CBS is close to doing the same, I immediately got my back up.
Why should
Flashpoint get a break while an interesting, quirky and outside-the-box drama like
Swingtown may not? It's disheartening to me that
CBS is searching for a cable network to take Swingtown, while a "safe" crime show like
Flashpoint doesn't have that concern.
Continue reading The chances for a Flashpoint pickup are good
Posted Jul 14th 2008 1:43PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Burn Notice
Numbers don't lie -- although some people can manipulate them -- but in all the ways that matter for television, the second season debut for USA's
Burn Notice was a 100% hit. The spy caper-drama did something that brings smiles to the lips of all cable execs,
it beat first run episodes of ABC and CBS programs.
I'm generally
not a numbers person. (I freely admit that I sucked at algebra.) However, the
Burn Notice success in Nielsen ratings and key demographics -- 1.8 rating/6 share among adults 18-49 and approximately 5.4 million viewers overall -- is impressive. It built on last season's numbers considerably -- 35% in viewership.
Continue reading Burn Notice premiere sizzles in the Nielsens
Posted Mar 26th 2007 4:42PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Celebrities
Judd Apatow, who will forever be a hero to many TV viewers who loved the too short-lived NBC series Freaks and Geeks, is saying goodbye to television. But not before one final shot with the soon-to-be-released feature film The TV Set.
The movie stars David Duchovny as a series creator who butts heads with various studio executives (including Sigourney Weaver) who just don't get what he's trying to do with his TV show. And, yes, it's a version of what Apatow and The TV Set director Jake Kasdan went through when they worked on Freaks and Geeks.
Continue reading Freaks and Geeks creator says goodbye to TV with The TV Set
Posted Jan 27th 2007 3:05PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Music and Variety, Celebrities, MTV
MTV News' Gideon Yago is bidding the network adieu to pursue "creative ventures" on the Left Coast. Yago has been one of the slightly more tolerable voices of
MTV News for the past seven years, but a screenplay sale to Focus Features has him packing his bags.
Idolator published his farewell note to his co-workers, which included this classy send-off, "I have learned a great many things during my tenure here...There is one lesson, however, that I consider far more valuable than all the others combined: our audience deserves integrity and respect. Growing up in America is a difficult, sometimes traumatic, often alienating, very strange proposition. In between trying to figure out who they are and what matters in life, there is a chorus of parents, teachers, people and pitchmen telling them what to think and what to do...please keep fighting for them and thinking of them in the fine work that you all do."
Continue reading Gideon Yago leaving MTV
Posted Nov 20th 2006 3:28PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Cable, Industry, OpEd, Watercooler Talk
According to the AP,
a study commissioned by rerun-centric network TV Land found that Baby Boomers -- still the largest segment of the population -- are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the youth-oriented programs on TV these days.
The study found that 37 percent of boomers are unhappy with what's on TV, and 80 percent of all people over 40 say that they have trouble finding shows that they can find relatable to their own lives.
Continue reading Study finds boomer backlash against youth-obsessed TV
Posted Oct 13th 2006 6:30PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, BBC
(S02E05) When I said last week that things couldn't get any worse for Andy Millman, I was clearly wrong.
The only other show I can think of that spirals so badly out of control for the lead character is
Fawlty Towers, where Basil Fawlty, a victim of his own pomposity and bizarre circumstances ends up neck-deep in catastrophe upon disaster, finalising with a conclusion that often resembles the aftermath of a small war.
And this week, it was no different for Andy, in yet another classic episode of this genius comedy from Ricky Gervais.
Continue reading Extras: Episode 5
Posted Oct 8th 2006 4:19PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, BBC
(S01E01) Apparently,
8.2million people tuned in to watch the first episode of the new BBC series of Robin Hood, but I can only suspect it had something to do with a dull England Euro 2008 soccer qualifier airing immediately before it, because there was nothing extraordinary about this latest re-telling of a classic legend (reckoned to be around the 40th variation of the Robin Hood character in film and TV since 1908), which would persuade so many people to stay tuned for almost an hour.
Sure, it had everything you would come to expect from a quality BBC prime time drama; high production values, great locations, fine acting, a decent script and Dominic Minghela (brother of Anthony) at the helm.
However, I just couldn't help but feel that I had seen it all about 40 times before. And I had.
Continue reading Robin Hood Episode One: Will You Tolerate This?
Posted Oct 5th 2006 9:34PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, News, Programming, BBC
(S02E04) It really couldn't possibly get any worse for Andy Millman. Seriously.
Following on from last week's
Down Syndrome debacle, Andy kicked-off tonight's show with a charity video appeal, only to subsequently find his entire BBC sitcom hijacked by a shamelessly self-promoting Chris Martin.
However, the Coldplay front-man's repeated attempts to hawk a forthcoming greatest hits album was really only the start of Andy's problems, as he ended up nominated for a BAFTA award and finally caught a glimpse of some of light at the end of the tunnel.
Continue reading Extras: Episode 4
Posted Sep 29th 2006 8:04PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, News, Programming, BBC
(S02E01 / S02E02 / SE02E03) A few weeks ago, while I was on holiday in Florida, the second series of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's
Extras aired here in the UK, and I only managed to catch up last week with the first two episodes.
Rather than give our readers a full review of each episode to date, I thought I'd jump in at episode three, and round up the other two along the way.
When Ricky Gervais helped created the global phenomenon of
The Office, then decided to end production after just two series, few people believed he could follow up on the success with a whole new series that could be as fresh and original in its approach to postmodern comedy.
Continue reading Extras: Episode 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3
Posted Sep 11th 2006 9:06AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Programming, OpEd
Ok, I like TV... a lot. You might even say I'm a little obsessed. When I started making up the list for this post I was reminded of the time I took a gig in Alabama. It was only two months work, but those two months were April and May. I didn't know what kind of cable access I would have while there, and you don't want to go missing shows in April and May! So I set up a crazy four VCR system so I wouldn't miss anything. There were charts, graphs, and explicit instructions. Sunday the cable box needs to be left on this channel. Tuesday you need to change tapes in VCR1 and VCR2. Wednesday change the cable box to this channel. Etc. I left the whole mess in the hands of my roomate Jen and made for the Yellowhammer state. When I returned, it was to a huge stack of television goodness. Now, here is my viewing schedule for this season.
Sunday - I'll kick of my week with
The Amazing Race at 8:00. I've forgiven them for the disaster that was the family season. At 9:00, flip to FOX and catch
Family Guy and
The War At Home. Medium takes over at 10:00. I'll be covering that one for the site this season, so it will get recorded on the computer while I watch live. VCR1 will grab
Brothers & Sisters while VCR2 tapes
Venture Bros. at 10:30.
Continue reading Brett's Fall TV Schedule
Posted Sep 5th 2006 10:02AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Programming, Syndicated
Whoops. A day late and an episode short. Here's your reminder that the G4 network is now showing
Arrested Development weeknights at 11:30 EST. There are just so many ways to go with this news that I can't pick. On the one hand, I have the tried and true G4 killed TechTV angle, which is always solid, because man did they do a number on the TechTV shows. Of course, there is also the pro G4 angle of what does this have to do with video games anyway? Probably not a lot of takers on that one though. And as always, holy crap, how is it that this show never found an audience? Choose your anger and let it tide you over until tomorrow when we can all sit back and watch another episode of
Arrested Development. For more info, you can find the schedule, an episode guide, chat and forums on the G4
Arrested Development page.
[thanks, Rocko!]
Posted Sep 1st 2006 12:35PM by Brett Love
Filed under: FOX, Programming, Game Show
TV Squad readers, let me take you back to the carefree days of 1999. You may recall ABC launching a little program called
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. It was a huge success and sent the networks scrambling to capitalize on America's perceived new love of the game show. This brought about such forgettable shows as
Greed: The Series, Twenty One, and
The Chair.
Fast forward back to present day and NBC has a nice little hit on their hands with
Deal or No Deal. And now, proving that they don't learn from their mistakes, network execs are once again bellied up to the rail shouting 'No whammy no whammy no whammy STOP!' as they try to hop on the bandwagon and pick the next hit game show.
Continue reading New game show coming to FOX: The Rich List
Posted Aug 7th 2006 6:25PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, News, Programming, Big Brother (UK)
I haven't updated on the U.K.
Big Brother series for several weeks, mostly because it started to lose whatever appeal it ever had as a reality TV show when the producers introduced half a dozen new housemates half-way through the series, but also because it started to feel like I was watching some kind of bizarre, mind-numbing TV marathon that had absolutely no point to it whatsoever.
In the intervening weeks since my last post on the show, we've lost Nikki (the most irritating person in the western hemisphere), the 'golden ticket' housemate Susie, loudmouth Jayne, Irish DJ Spiral, Michael and Mikey.
Things picked up a few weeks ago when Big Brother introduced a hidden prison in the house and split the housemates up like some kind of Stanley Milgram experiment, but it was temporary relief from the mundanity of this overly-extended offering from Endemol.
Continue reading Big Brother 7 (U.K.) update: yes, it's still running
Posted Jul 24th 2006 8:10PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Doctor Who
(S02E11/S02E12) Well folks, at last here is my review of the final two all-important episodes of the recent series of
Doctor Who which ended here in the U.K. only a few short weeks ago.
It had everything the viewer was waiting for; a battle with the Cybermen
and the Daleks, Billie Piper leaving the show, time-traveling twists and turns, the conclusion to a story arc which has run since the series was revived with Christopher Eccleston in the lead role, and, of course, the promise of more to come later in the year in the shape of
Torchwood and the Christmas Special.
Do you really want to read about all of those things, and not actually sit down and enjoy them the way I did when it aired here in the U.K.? Or maybe you did watch it here in Britain, and you want to read what I've got to say about it?
Either way, watch out: there's spoilers galore after the jump.
Continue reading Doctor Who: Army of Ghosts and Doomsday (season finale)
Posted Jul 13th 2006 8:22PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, BBC, Doctor Who
(S02E10) Now that the World Cup has sadly reached its zenith, I can finally catch up on my missed television and update everyone on my on-going reviews of the new series of
Doctor Who.
It's often the case that episodes towards the finale of a given season in a series tend to either fill gaps until the big reveal, or pad out the main plot before setting off on the final furlong.
It's not always the case, of course, but
Doctor Who seems to be one of those shows that commissions episodes which can slot in just about anywhere in the series, with a few minor adjustments to the dialog, and then juggles them around like tracks on a mix tape for the viewers to digest.
Sometimes that mix is a hit. Sometimes it's a miss.
Fear Her was a bit of both.
Warning:spoilers after the jump.
Continue reading Doctor Who: Fear Her
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