TVSquad

We told you the other day about Boston station WHDH and their decision to show another local newscast instead of Jay Leno's new show at 10PM. Now NBC says that the new show will air in the Boston market, no matter what.

The network says that four other stations in the area could air the show. One of them is a Telemundo station owned by the network, and the other three are independent stations. Even if they do find another station for Leno's show, NBC will probably still strip WHDH of its NBC affiliation. WHDH says that they can't do that, but NBC says that the contract with them says that they can't pick and choose programming like this.

(S03E10) "He gets a golf magazine, so you know he's not gay or poor." - Jenna, about Drew

When I saw the promos for this episode, I audibly groaned. A subplot with an actor on a Telemundo soap opera who just happens to be a dead ringer for Jack? Alec Baldwin wearing a uniform and doing an accent? Ugh, I didn't think it would work at all, and with all of the over-the-top surreal subplots that have been on the show this season, I thought this would be the worst one of all.

But you know what? The subplot worked.

Do you ever watch Deadliest Catch and ask yourself, "How do they stay up for three days straight, pulling pots?" It would be good to know if you are a fan of the Olympics, because NBC is going to have some 3,600 hours of coverage from the games between TV, online, and mobile. The main network alone will have 225 hours over the 17 days.

On TV, there will be seven networks combining for the coverage, including NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Telemundo, Universal HD, and Oxygen. All 34 sports will get airtime, and 75% of that will be live on the east coast. Apparently all that coin they dropped to get the games gave NBC the stroke to get most of the key finals scheduled in the morning in Beijing, which will be prime time on the east coast. That prime time selection will include all 32 finals for swimming, four nights of gymnastics (featuring Alicia Sacramone, pictured), beach volleyball, and the marathons.

Actually, NBC already had its upfront over a month ago. This is a "spotlight event," a Part 2, if you will (a walk-thru set up at 30 Rock for advertisers and the media), but they did make some interesting announcements today.

This biggest announcement (though hardly a surprise at this point) was that Jimmy Fallon will take over on Late Night when Conan O'Brien takes over for Jay Leno. This will happen next year.

Here are some of the other announcements made at today's even and a recap of the new shows and the shows that have been canceled. And in this post, I promise not to fail you, rainbow chicken.

I'll have the NBC upfront info later today, but I had to post some news about the upfront from NBC Univeral-owned network Telemundo. They announced their new schedule today too, and one of the new shows is titled Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso. We've reported on this show before. The English translation is Without Breasts There Is No Paradise.

That's right, Telemundo is going to have a TV show about breasts. This gives the term "upfront" a whole new meaning.

When this show was first announced last year, I thought it was something that Ben Silverman grabbed to air on NBC itself, but it doesn't look like that's the case.

If Telemundo really wants a hit on their hands, they should come up with a companion show to go along with this one. Maybe call it Without Beer There Is No Heaven. Really get the young guy demographic. And old guy demographic too. Judging from the photo above, it's not only about breasts but also cell phones and skirts.

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• William F. Buckley, Jr.: He was conservative commentator and host of the long-running political show Firing Line, which started on WOR-TV and then went to public television, lasting 33 years. He was also the editor of National Review, the author of several books, and even ran for mayor of New York City once. Buckley was found dead in his home in Stamford, CT. He was 82.

Egad, it's like a real-life telenovela in Los Angeles.

Here's what happened last month: Mirthala Salinas, a reporter for Telemundo station KVEA, Channel 52 in Los Angeles was suspended for two months after an investigation revealed she had been having an affair with Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Salinas herself, previous to the affair being exposed, reported the separation of Villaraigosa and his wife on the air. She was suspended for violating "conflict of interest" policies.

Can we save the Earth through music?

Of course not, don't be stupid. However, that doesn't mean you can't catch the twenty-four hour Live Earth global concert series on TV starting this Saturday, July 7.

Here's a list of channels that will be covering the event:

• NBC: 8:00 p.m to 11:00
• BRAVO: 9:00 a.m. on July 7 through 2:30 a.m. on July 8
• UNI HD: 4:00 a.m. on July 7 through 2:00 a.m. on July 8
• SUNDANCE: 4:00 a.m. on July 7 through 2:00 a.m. on July 8
• MSNBC: intermittent coverage throughout
• CNBC: 7:00 p.m. on July 7 through 2:00 a.m. on July 8
• TELEMUNDO: 7:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m.
• MUN2: 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Ben Silverman has made his first major deal as programming head at NBC: he has bought a TV show about breasts.

Yup. Silverman bought the rights to the Colombian telenovela Sin tetas no hay paraiso, which means Without Breasts There Is No Paradise. That has always been a mantra for many guys but I didn't know they had made a televison show out of it. It is being developed as a show for NBC and also NBC-owned Telemundo.

The show is described as being about "a young woman who is determined to get bigger breasts in order to escape poverty."

I smell a number one hit show.

Things are not going well for NBC Universal these days. Studio 60 and Friday Night Lights are doing poorly in the ratings, the highly touted Kidnapped was canceled and pushed out to the dead zone known as Saturday nights, and even some of their established shows, like Law & Order, are slipping a bit. Now, it looks like the news division is about to take a direct hit as well.

According to TV Week, NBCU plans to eliminate 700 jobs, about 5 percent of their workforce, in order to slash $750 million off of their administrative and operating costs. The reductions will comprise of buyouts, offers of early retirement and attrition. The biggest department to be affected will be the NBC News, which will go through an extensive streamlining process in order to prepare themselves for the oncoming digital revolution (which is already in full swing, but why quibble.). According to News President Steve Capus, the changes being announced will allow the network to re-invest in new growth areas.

A little over a week ago, we mentioned that major cable companies were going to bow to FCC pressure and offer "family-friendly" channel packages. Well, Comcast is the first of those cable companies to announce their package. The 16-channel package, which will be offered in addition to the basic cable package, will include the Disney Channel, Discovery Kids, Nickelodeon, and Telemundo.

Telemundo? Have the people at Comcast seen some of the programming on Telemundo, especially during the daytime hours? Those women on those soaps they show have less clothes than half the cast of Showgirls. Even the news anchors and weather girls are popping out of their blouses. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it doesn't seem like it would be suitable for a "Family Tier" package. Isn't there a Latin version of Nickelodeon out there somewhere?