Filed under: OpEd, Big Brother (US)

Did you know that in order to jog a mile, you'd have to do 19 ¼ laps around the Big Brother 10 yard? Yep, it's true. You see ... if you had the live 24/7 camera feeds from the house you'd know all kinds of trivia pumped through the speakers by the taped BB voice. Exciting, eh?

Ah, but there are more vital goings-on, as well. The Sunday show will show the nominations. The Tuesday show will air the Power of Veto competition. Why wait? You don't need the feeds. You have TV Squad's daily live feed reports! Read on past the jump for extreme show spoilers.

Continue reading Big Brother 10: Live feeds report - July 19

 

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Filed under: 30 Rock, TCA Press Tour, Awards, Reality-Free, Mad Men

Tonight, the members of the Television Critics Association (including me) gathered at the Beverly Hilton to give out its annual awards. The membership voted on the awards in the month leading up to the press tour; we were given a number of candidates to choose from in various categories. The membership was also asked to choose recipients for an individual Career Achievement award and the Heritage Award, which recognizes a past show that had a big impact artistically and on the industry.

The members didn't reach back too far for the Heritage Award: it was given to The Wire. As for current shows, the members gave Mad Men a bushel of awards: Program of the Year, Outstanding New Program, and Outstanding Achievement in Drama. 30 Rock won for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, and Tina Fey won the Individual Achievement in Comedy award for her performance. John Adams won the mini-series award; its star, Paul Giamatti, won the Individual Achievement in Drama award. Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live received the Career Achievement award.

A complete list of winners is after the jump.

Continue reading TCA Awards: Mad Men, 30 Rock and The Wire are big winners - TCA Report

 

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Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, Smallville, Supernatural, America's Next Top Model, Pickups and Renewals, Reaper, Gossip Girl

When you're a ratings-challenged fledgling network like the CW, you're going to do anything you can to get a leg up on the competition. Releasing sex-filled advertisements for your most high-profile show is a good start, but that alone won't get the job done. To that end, the CW has just announced that it's moving its fall premiere dates up to September 1st, well ahead of the beginning of the traditional broadcast season.

The idea behind the move is that you're already going to be hooked on Gossip Girl and Top Model by the time the other networks get around to premiering their fall shows, sometime around mid-to-late September. The season isn't the only thing the CW is starting early, however. Starting in November, they're also extending prime time, with original programming beginning at 6:30 on Sunday nights.

Check out CW's full premiere schedule after the jump.

Continue reading CW announces an early Fall premiere schedule

 

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Filed under: Industry, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free, Gossip Girl

As I said in my post about the 90210 panel, CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff doesn't like to give us definitive answers. For some reason, she doesn't feel she has to. Problem is, that doesn't make the critics very happy. We don't like it when someone isn't being forthright with us, and we can sense it.

In her executive session, Ostroff avoided saying anything definitive on two major topics: the lack of "urban" shows on the schedule and the mechanics of the network's deal with Media Rights Capital to produce the network's entire Sunday block of shows.

Continue reading The CW wrap-up: executive session and two new shows - TCA Report

 

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Filed under: Big Brother (US)

Another report about what's going on in the Big Brother 10 house...

Jackie already told you that the nominations have been made, the food competition has been played, the POV has been played. At this point however, the POV ceremony has not been held yet. Anything can happen. Everyone has something to gain or lose. So tensions are high and everyone is scheming.

There's spoilers after the jump. Read at your own risk.

Continue reading Big Brother After Dark (July 19)

 

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Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free

Talk about a mismatch: Even though there are plenty of people in the press tour audience who fit in The CW's target demographic of women age 18-34, most of the people who seem to grab the microphone and ask questions during most sessions are firmly not in that demo. In fact, their demo could be described as "men, age 35 - infinity." Hearing some of them ask questions of the young stars of 90210, for instance, sounds almost creepy.

That being said, the CW sessions are always good to attend for two reasons: 1) the comedy stylings of communications chief Paul McGuire, and 2) the frustrating non-answers given by CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff. Both are entertaining in their own way.

Continue reading 90210 panel: Brenda's back, and the new generation - TCA Report

 

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Filed under: Celebrities, Casting, Pushing Daisies, Reality-Free

A few thoughts about Kristin Chenoweth, if you don't mind. First, congratulations to the Pushing Daisies' actress --she plays Olive -- for snagging an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. And kudos for the effervescent and spontaneous adlibs and asides she and Neil Patrick Harris -- another favorite of mine -- brought to the reading of the nominations Thursday morning.

So often the reading of the nominations is as dull as dishwater, like the stars doing the announcing are simply trying to get through it without tripping over their tongues. Not so with Chenoweth and Harris; they were delightful together and added a kick to the nomination announcement.

Continue reading Emmy nominee Kristen Chenoweth would love to be Wicked

 

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Filed under: Video, Animation, Reality-Free

Joss Whedon and Dr. Horrible are getting loads of press right now, and deservedly so. It's very good. But there are also plenty of other shows that exist out on the internet. Since it's Saturday and most of us have a little extra time to burn before we head out to the multiplex and chase down a Dark Knight ticket, I thought I'd share one of those that I get a kick out of.

After the jump, have a look at Nite Fite as Penalty (Dan Meth) and Lloyd (Mark Vitelli) tackle the hot button issue of whether or not The Who sold out by letting CSI use their songs for those now famous opening sequences. As Penalty puts it, "Why would The Who urinate all over their artwork?" It's very funny, and one worth setting a bookmark for. New episodes arrive on Thursday nights, at 11.

Continue reading Did The Who sell out to CSI? Nite Fite debates - VIDEO

 

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Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free

• At 8, FOX has a new Cops.
• Food Network has the special Al Roker's Weird Restaurants at 8.
• Cartoon Network has two Hellboy animated films at 8: Sword of Storms and Blood and Iron.
• At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
• There's a new Robin Hood on BBC America at 9, then a new Graham Norton Show.
• At 9:30, HGTV has a new Divine Design.
• At 10, TLC has a new Trading Spaces.
• At midnight, Cartoon Network has a new Bleach.
• At 1am, Cartoon Network has a new Code Geass, followed by a new Shin Chan.

Check your local TV listings for more.

 

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Filed under: Project Runway, Ratings

Despite rumors and conspiracy theories about Bravo trying to sabotage Project Runway because the show is leaving them for Lifetime, the premiere had the most viewers for a premiere that the network has ever seen, 2.9 million. That was enough to make Bravo the #1 cable network from 9-10 in all key demographics. And Project Runway was the top ranked cable telecast for the day in adults 18-49.

That's certainly cause for celebration, but there's more good news. The fourth episode of Shear Genius managed a milestone of its own, becoming just the fifth Bravo show to top 2 million viewers for an episode. The others are Queer Eye, Top Chef, Project Runway, and The Real Housewives of Orange County. Completing the trifecta of personal bests, Flipping Out broke a million viewers for the first time.

The success sets the stage for a very interesting ratings drama once Project Runway debuts on Lifetime. Will the fans follow the show to Lifetime? And will the Lifetime audience embrace a show that seems to fit the network's brand about as well as a new season of Queer Eye on Spike? I'd prefer to see it stay at Bravo, but I'm all kinds of curious to watch the change play out.

 

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Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities, Reality-Free

If you are like me, you stayed up late Friday night just to catch Act 3 of Doctor Horrible, even though you needed to be up at 5AM to watch F1 in Germany. Chances are that there are more of you that stayed up late and couldn't give two shakes about a car race at Hockenheim, but either way, we've come to the end of Joss Whedon's great experiment. It seemed like a good idea to get a post up and see what everybody thought. A lot of it was what I expected based simply on the players involved. It stood to reason that there would be some good yucks, a bit of a twist, and since this is Joss Whedon, even...

Continue reading Doctor Horrible, the aftermath

 

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Filed under: Industry, Celebrities, TCA Press Tour, Casting, Reality-Free

Gabe Sachs, executive producer of the new 90210, just announced to the gathered critics here in Beverly Hills that Shannen Doherty will reprise her role as Brenda Walsh on an episode this season. Brenda will be recruited as a guest director of a musical being mounted by the students at Beverly Hills High. This was a deal that was in the works for a few weeks.

This is the third former 90210-er that will reprise their roles; Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth will also come back this season. Sachs and his fellow executive producer, Jeff Judah, told the critics that other previous characters will come back if A) they can get them to come back and B) if they can be written into the show organically.

I'm pretty sure Ian Ziering is available. Can't they have Steve Sanders be the woodshop teacher or something?

 

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Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Dexter, TCA Press Tour, Weeds, Reality-Free

When I posted the news items that came out of Showtime's portion of the CBS tour, the one question I got was "When will Dexter be back?" Well, network president Robert Greenblatt mentioned that the third season would debut in September. No word beyond that. Didn't seem like news to me. But there you are, Dexter fans; that's all I've got on that.

The executive session was introduced by a semi-funny clip from one of the network's stars, Tracey Ullman. Really, it wasn't that good, so I won't talk much about it here. Greenblatt also showed clips of The United States of Tara and Nurse Jackie during his opening remarks. Other than that? Well, isn't that enough?

Continue reading Showtime wrap-up: executive session and four shows talk at once - TCA Report

 

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Filed under: Industry, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free

The four CBS show panels on Friday involved four of the five new programs the network is rolling out in the fall (there was no panel for Gary Unmarried, or whatever they're calling it today, because Jay Mohr and his wife Nikki Cox are renewing their vows overseas). While the panels for The Mentalist, The Ex List, Eleventh Hour, and Worst Week had their moments, none of them were particularly newsworthy or interesting.

At least Diane Ruggiero, the creator of The Ex List, was entertaining enough to keep me from jabbing a pen in my arm to keep me awake. In fact, she might have actually convinced me to watch The Lake House, as long as I have a drink in my hand.

Continue reading CBS wrap-up: Diane Ruggiero livens up a dull day - TCA Report

 

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Filed under: Celebrities, Ugly Betty, Reality-Free

While Ugly Betty's move to New York City might not have been good news for the show's crew, Queens residents couldn't be happier to have the Suarez family in town. Fans welcomed the comedy series with a block party-style celebration in Jackson Heights, Betty's home base.

Actors America Ferrera and Tony Plana attended the event and thanked fans in both English and Spanish. The Ugly Betty cast and crew have already been seen filming in their new, more authentic surroundings. As Allison mentioned, America Ferrera was recently spotted riding a motorcycle in Brooklyn (dressed as Betty Suarez, of course).

Continue reading Ugly Betty gets a Queens welcome

 

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Filed under: Monk, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(S07E01) It seems like only yesterday when Monk, the ultimate obsessive compulsive Sherlock Holmes, began on USA Network, and now here it is the start of its seventh season. In all that time, for a man who doesn't like change at all, Adrian Monk has had to endure quite a bit of upheaval. The untimely death last April of actor Stanley Kamel, who played Monk's security blanket/therapist Dr. Kroger, was written into this premiere episode, in -- what I believe -- was a very subtle, graceful way.

Monk's sudden displeasure with his home is rooted in his discomfort in his life now that Dr. Kroger is gone. The ultimate egotist, in that Monk cares most for himself, Adrian is desperate to throw himself into work to avoid the irritating piano-playing coming from the little girl across the street and disturbing the sanctuary of his home. Kudos to the new therapist, Dr. Bell, for connecting the dots and quickly sizing up why Monk finds the music so displeasing.

Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk Buys A House (season premiere)

 

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Filed under: OpEd, Stargate, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(S05E02) And with that, season five has begun. I've really been looking forward to this episode for the simple fact that it would give us our first look at just what kind of leader Woolsey is going to be. There are certainly a lot of things coming in season five, but that one, more than any other, has the ability to really affect how the season is ultimately received. We got that first look, and it was an interesting one. Along the way, we also caught up with our old friend Dr. Beckett. And Dr. Keller got to step out of the background (and climb into bed) for a pretty big story of her own. We'll get to all that, after the jump.

Continue reading Stargate Atlantis: The Seed

 

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Filed under: OpEd, Psych, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(S03E01) Ahhh! The Boys of Summer are back! No, not The Beach Boys, or the song by Don Henley, or the lineup for the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. I'm talking about Shawn Spencer and Burton "Gus" Guster. For the last two summers this fake psychic and his over-excited friend have joined us on the crime comedy Psych. Now, they are back to tackle a third season that, according to stars James Roday and Dule Hill, should be a good one.

We have already provided an early look for the season premiere, so this review is more to flesh out the events of the episode. Plus, it is also a chance to continue last year's tradition of pointing out all of the pop references spouted by the characters. And, starting this season, to let you know where the pineapple is located in each episode. Please get your mind out of the gutter!

Continue reading Psych: The Ghost In You (season premiere)

 

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Filed under: Doctor Who, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(S04E11) With this episode, Donna has become my favorite Doctor Who companion of all time. Yes, better than Sarah Jane. Yes, better than Rose (who finally reappears as a person and not in a cameo or on a video screen). I love her quick temper yet human personality (it's reminiscent of Rose's mother from the first two seasons), which makes sense since this episode is about the Doctor's adventures from the human perspective.

Continue reading Doctor Who: Turn Left

 

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Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Episode Reviews

(S01E06) Steve Niles has become the modern day horror maven of the comic book world. He brought us 30 Days of Night, which is far better in the comic world than on the big screen. Here, he's paired with Darren Bousman, director of the Saw sequels to bring zombies to broadcast television. Right away, then, this had a better chance of me liking it because I've always had a soft spot for zombies and Niles has offered us a pretty different take on the genre.

Continue reading Fear Itself: New Year's Day - VIDEO

 

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