Two Tivos To Paradise 08.14.09: The Mad Men of TV News columns

Posted by Al Norton on 08.14.2009

The return of Mad Men highlights a busy week of TV premieres, including Top Chef, Project Runway, Flipping Out, and Ghost Hunters. Also, Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove do Family Guy, AMC brings The Walking Dead to the small screen, a Project Runway contestant stops by to chat, raves for Shark Tank, tons of news and notes, the TV Pick of the Week and more, all in the latest editon of Al Norton's Two Tivos To Paradise.

Hello Friends. We've had some warm weather here in Boston the last few weeks but this past week really felt like summer, with the heat index up around 100 on Monday. Thankfully last Saturday wasn't as bad when I attended the Futures At Fenway minor league doubleheader. So much fun and a nice respite from the sweep the big league club was enduring at the hands of the dreaded Evil Empire.

My chat with the McCann sisters (an adorable acting duo who are in The Time Traveler's Wife) ran yesterday; use the links below or check out the main 411movies/TV page. Use those same directions to find my one-on-one with Jason Priestley from Monday.

I make them good news go bad.

Monday, I'm Gonna Rock With Jane, Tuesday, It's Gonna Be Lorraine
Considering that we are about to enter the third week of August – a traditionally show time for TV – the amount of new programming hitting the airwaves over the next seven days is downright remarkable. Here is a guide to the highlights, with a TTTP guarantee that any/everyone can find at least one show of interest.

Mad Men (Sunday, 10 pm, AMC)
Hallelujah, the best show on television is back for a third season. I am not sure what I can say about the Emmy winning series that has not already been said, most of it much more eloquently than I could ever phrase things, but the show really is as good as the hype. The acting, the writing, the wardrobe, the set design…You could watch Mad Men with the volume down and still be entertained by the visuals. You could even get a general idea of what was going on from the body language alone. That's how finely crafted the details are here.

Shaq Vs. (Tuesday, 9 pm, ABC)
And now for something completely different…Shaq plays football against Ben Roethlisberger, swims against Michael Phelps, plays baseball against Albert Pujols…you get the idea. Anyone who has seen Shaq's dancing from last year's NBA All-Star game and/or his performance on Monday Night Raw a few weeks back knows how much fun the guy can be, someone who seems to embrace his celebrity instead of complaining about it. My guess is this series will be a lot of mindless fun.

Flipping Out (Tuesday, 10 pm, Bravo)
Flipping Out is my favorite reality show that's not titled 30 Days and an example of a show that really seems to capture the day-to-day activities of its participants; Jeff Lewis may be nuts but I have always felt that who he is when the camera is on is who he is at all times. Aside from all the entertaining personalities on the show, another reason Flipping Out stands out is that at the end of the day Jeff is extremely good at what he does; the houses he works on are truly beautiful and you can see why people pay him so much money.

This upcoming batch of episodes looks to be particularly interesting as Jeff and his crew are dealing with a bad economy and a depressed real estate market, so they will need to adjust their business model in order to survive.

Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage (Wednesday, 8 pm, Fox)
Do I think this is worth your time? No, but I am guessing it will draw more than it's fair share of viewers so I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about it. Seven months of footage, beginning with the birth of Natalie Suleman's octuplets, went into this two hour special, which at least has the pedigree of being produced by Craig Piligian (<>Dirty Jobs, Ghost Hunters). When the president of the network says, "it's a little bit of a train wreck and it's really entertaining to watch", you know the bar isn't being set that high. Also, Fox is doing its best to make clear that they didn't commission this footage, they simply bought it when they saw how "compelling" it was. Who knows – maybe if this special tanks it will be the end of the pop culture line for Natalie and her 14 maniacs.

Ghost Hunters (Wednesday, 9 pm, Syfy)
To borrow a phrase from an old wrestling pay-per-view, GH is the "granddaddy of them all", a show that has spawned not only spin off's but imitators and wanna-be's, and it returns with new episodes on Wednesday. What makes the boys from Rhode Island so great is their healthy skepticism – they go into a situation almost to prove their aren't ghosts, and only when they've ruled out every possibly explainable theory do they turn to the supernatural, which makes those moments they do catch on film that much more affective.

Top Chef (Wednesday, 9 pm, Bravo)
Everyone's favorite cooking competition show returns for a new season based out of Las Vegas. At this point TC has become that rarest of rarities, a reality show that has a sustained buzz that is actually good. Unlike the ridiculous Hell's Kitchen, these contestants (I refuse to call them chef-testants) are chosen for their cooking abilities first, not their personalities. Look for Wednesday to be a big ratings night for Bravo as the TC premiere (which runs an hour and 15 minutes) leads right into the finale of Top Chef: Masters, which has turned out to be a really entertaining series and one I hope they continue.

Quick note: Tivo is recognizing this season Top Chef: Las Vegas so if you have Top Chef as a season pass, it will not record these new episodes; you have to go in and create a new season pass.

Project Runway (Thursday, 10 pm, Lifetime)
At long last, Project Runway returns. After a lawsuit that kept it off the air for a prolonged period of time, the series makes its Lifetime network debut on Thursday, surrounded by other programming designed to maximize the hype. First off at 8 you've got Project Runway: All Star Challenge, a two hour special that brings together contestants from previous years for a winner-take-all $100,000 prize. The contestants are Daniel (season 2), Santino (season 2), Jeffrey (season 3), Uli (season 3), Mychael (season 3), Chris (season 4), Sweet P (season 4), and Korto (season 5). Season six of Runway follows (more on that below), and then at 11 pm Models of the Runway premieres, a new series where models compete for cash and prizes.

Lifetime has spent a lot of money to make sure fans know the series is back, and with a new address, and anything less than record-breaking ratings will probably be a disappointment. Of course, considering how much fans of the show have been clamoring for its return, I don't think those types of numbers will be hard to hit.

I Want To Wake Up In A City That Never Sleeps And Find I'm A Number 1, Top Of The List
Fox will air back-to-back episodes of King of the Hill on Sunday, September 13th that will serve as the long running comedy's series finale. Hill, which just finished its 13th season on Fox last spring, has six episodes that have been completed but unaired, and two of those will be the September outing, with the other four making their eventual debut during the show's syndicated run.

On the one hand I am glad that Fox is giving the show one last primetime network spotlight, but while they are billing it as the series finale, they are just two regular episodes. Not that Mike Judge would have done a big finale if given the chance but after 13 seasons it would have been nice if he had been given the option. Fox will certainly benefit from being able to hype this as the finale, and the networks that air reruns will enjoy being able to advertise never-before-seen-episodes.

I was never a regular King of the Hill viewer but have caught more than a few reruns over the years and always find myself highly entertained. The characters were certainly much more well drawn than on most of Fox's live action sitcoms, and the plotlines were just the right mix of family and absurdist comedy.

I'm Always Walking After Midnight Searching For You
AMC is adapting the graphic novel series The Walking Dead and is thisclose to signing Oscar nominee Frank Darabont to write and produce the project. The books, written by Robert Kirkman, debuted in 2003 and follow a group of survivors of an apocalypse who are now zombies, searching to find a new and safe place to call home. While no terms with Darabont are official, the ones being discussed is rumored to be one of the biggest development deals in TV history.

Darabont is best known as the writer-director of The Shawshank Redemption, and he's also got The Green Mile, the USA mini-series The Mist, and multiple episodes of Tales from the Crypt on his resume, so he seems perfectly suited for this material. Considering that AMC's two current original series (Mad Men and Breaking Bad) are on my top five list, I will give anything they do a try. This is obviously going to be a large budget project but the source material having a built-in audience and choosing a writer-director as respected as Darabont will go a long way towards ratings success.

You've Got Style, That's What All The Girls Say, Satin Sheets And Luxuries So Fine
As discussed earlier in the column, Project Runway returns on Thursday night in its new Lifetime digs. I caught up with Malvin Vien, one of the contestants, via email to talk about the show as well as give you readers someone to root for.

TTTP: What is creative solipsism and how do you go from getting a degree in it to competing on Project Runway?

Malvin Vien: In itself, solipsism is a philosophical/metaphysical theory that the self is solely defined by one's imagination; in short, we create our own realities. From this, we must ask ourselves how is 'reality' defined? And by what means or methods is it created?

Based from solipsism, my work promotes a discourse geared in the direction of defining reality. That if there are multiple versions of reality it becomes unjustifiable to frame one living reality as performance and another as authentic or Third world and privileged. So, whose reality is valid at this point? What qualifies a valid existence? Is 'reality TV' real? Images, the media, fashion in this sense have an overwhelming capacity for power because they can draw influence towards a certain reality. Popularity is power and power not only produces the boundaries of a subject but also pervades the interiority of that subject; it makes it 'true.'

In this process of constructing true vs. false realities, dominant social pedagogies emerge where our identities become permanent, fixed; we feel that we must somehow live up to our imposed adjectives...gay, straight, white, black, male, female and their socially sanctioned lifestyles...in effect, the self becomes exposed, vulnerable and limited into prescribed and often visually based demarcations. This is where fashion dies. This is where clothes become restrictive and style non-expressive. This is conforming. This is performing. And it is as if the act of performance has become so well instituted into society that it functions at a level of perceived normality; acting out an identity that was offered and accepted vs. sought out for, self-discovered.

By performing, we inhibit our existence, playing solely on social platforms to which we have been extrinsically identified and generically introduced; adopting a standard of normality. The danger lies in accepting this reality as truth and coarctating a person's capacity to live happily, freely, and healthy because of the operations of an externally framing and normalizing ideal. For this and other reasons, identity no longer becomes a venue of discourse, a means to talk of the non-verbal self, but establishes itself as entirely who someone is.

Now, understanding solipsism as a theory of realities, my interest in competing on Project Runway and living in reality TV becomes clear.

TTTP: Walk me through the process of getting on the show, from the idea popping into
your head to finding out you had made the final cut.

Malvin Vien: Money was the last thing on my mind when I interviewed for the show. Actually, I have this theory about money that whatever I put in, I get back. It's crazy and unfounded, I know, but it keeps me in control. Money can drive a person to regret. I don't want to regret...at least not about money.

Anyway, aside from peer encouragement, sometimes sarcastic, I was approached to do the show while taking courses at Parsons...I turned down that opportunity, the first time around. The following year, I was approached again. This time, being unemployed and making decisions that came down to buying a Metrocard or groceries, I decided a hiatus into "reality TV" might be filling. I applied. I got in. It was simple, as most things that are meant to happen are. Now don't mistake my nonchalance for cockiness or vanity. You see, I know I am talented in design and it was evident through all my courses at Parsons. I worked hard; taking close to 8 courses a semester with ongoing internships to develop an advanced business plan that outlined the procedural steps to bring my designs into production. I practiced and invented my own draping methods from conventional teachings, perfected my patternmaking and tailoring skills and acquired the technical expertise that generated autonomy from vs. dependence on the labor market. I wanted to create a social business, dedicated to bring social change while generating renewable profit. I know I have a specific perspective and a lot to say. This isn't about my ego. It never was. I didn't apply to become a star, to be famous. It was more of a fascination. A curiosity of living a reality that feigned reality.

It's like the Gucci vs. the fake Gucci you buy in Chinatown. Not many people can afford the real Gucci, but lots of people can afford the Chinatown rip off. Both are similar in construction and material composition, maybe one has an upside down G. What's interesting is that so many people love their fake Gucci and treat it as if it were the real thing. So, which Gucci is real at that point: the one so many people believe in or Gucci's Gucci?

TTTP: Can you sum up the philosophy of your designs in a few sentences?

Malvin Vien: My designs are social commentaries. They are narratives of the collective patterns I find relevant to the modern generation. My philosophy is to make design pertinent for the individual. Fashion must have a meaning. The industry is currently investing in disposable trends that only generate waste and stifle development, from both a business and creative perspective.

TTTP: For fans of the show, is there a designer from seasons past you would
compare yourself to?

Malvin Vien: No... Didn't you get the whole solipsism bit? ;)

TTTP: Who are going to be the trouble makers this season?

Malvin Vien: Do you mean the "divas?" If so, there are too many to count.

TTTP: Are you having a watching party with friends and/or family for the
premiere?

Malvin Vien: Of course.

TTTP: Why do you think you will win?

Malvin Vien: Ha. Nice try.

Don't miss Project Runway this Thursday at 10 pm on Lifetime.

But You Were Up To Your Old Tricks In Chapters Four Five And Six
All you need to know about the Nielsen's for the past week (or so)…Last week's season finale of Tori and Dean was the most watched program in Oxygen network history…Last Thursday's So You Think You Can Dance? finale easily carried the night on the big networks with 9.8 million viewers, an ever-so-slight increase from last summer's final episode…The return of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire did well in total audience Sunday night (7 million viewers) but its demo numbers were not good at all…Shark Tank's premiere was somewhat disappointing to ABC, with a 4.2 million total and equally low demos as it's Millionaire lead-in…Big Brother continues to shine on Sundays, as the most watched regular series of the evening (the night's most watched telecast was NBC's pre-season NGL game)…2.3 million tuned in to the season premiere of Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew on Sunday night…Comedy Central's roast of Joan Rivers was down 32% from their previous roast (Larry the Cable Guy)…In a possibly related story, ESPN's Sunday night baseball game (Red Sox-Yankees) was watched by 4.6 million, the highest rated baseball game on the network since 2007…A Big Bang Theory rerun was Monday night's big winner, finishing second for overall audience and first for demos…The Teen Choice Awards were down from last two years, both in totals and in demos…

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove will provide voices to animated versions of themselves on a Family Guy episode this fall…Denzel Washington may take an executive producing role on Billy Stiles, a drama about a genius former gang member who becomes a police officer. Fox is negotiating to pick up the pilot, and Washington's involvement was part of the pitch…Arrested Development alums Mitch Hurwitz, Jim Vellely, and Will Arnett are re-teaming for a new Fox comedy. All three are writing the pilot, which will feature Arnett as a wealthy jackass who falls in love with a female social activist who finds his lifestyle reprehensible…Simon Cowell is thisclose to signing a three year extension on his American Idol contract…Louis C.K. is on a roll; a few days after he signed a deal to do multiple episodes of Parks and Recreation came word that he had filmed a comedy pilot for FX that mixed his stand up routines in with the story, based on his real life experiences as a recently divorced Dad…Criminal Minds executive producer Ed Bernero has signed a two year production deal with ABC Studio. He will continue to be the showrunner for the CBS drama while develops new shows as part of his new Bernero Prods…Fox ordered an 8th season of Hell's Kitchen…Paris Hilton will guest on Supernatural this fall, playing herself possessed by a demon…Rihanna, Jay-Z, and Kanye West will perform their new single on the premiere of The Jay Leno Show on September 11th. This will be Rihanna's first major public appearance since she was assaulted by then-boyfriend Chris Brown six months ago…Hilary Duff is starring in and producing the ABC Family movie The Business of Falling In Love, an adaptation of the book Diary of a Working Girl. Gil Junger will direct…TNT picked up a 10 episode second season of HawthoRNe…Gabrielle Union, set to be seen this fall in ABC's Flash Forward will star in and executive produce the Lifetime original movie The Vow...Ernie Hudson will appear on multiple episodes of Heroes this fall…Eric Close (Without A Trace) and Dreama Walker (Gossip Girl) will headline the Lifetime mini-series Seven Deadly Sins, based on the book series by Robin Wasserman…Paula Abdul will guest on Ugly Betty's upcoming season…Speaking of UB, the part of Wilhelmina's daughter has been recast and YaYa DeCosta (America's Next Top Model) will take over…Two Tivos favorite Joe Morton will have a recurring part on Brothers & Sisters in the fall, playing a medical school professor who takes Justin under his wing…Anne Dudek (House, Big Love) has been cast in the USA pilot Covert Affairs…Sherri Shepherd's Lifetime sitcom Sherri is set to debut on October 5th, paired with a second season of Rita Rocks…Look for Lewis Black on an episode of The Big Bang Theory…

Turns Out Not Where But Who You're With That Really Matters
The top thing I watched since the last column went to press AKA The Best Of What's Around…I can't stand when someone says, "all reality television sucks." It's like saying, "all comedy sucks" or "all non-fiction books suck" and demonstrates the lack of an ability to separate and analyze things on their own. What do 30 Days, The Bachelor, Project Runway, Rock of Love Bus, American Idol, Deadliest Catch, and ABC's new Shark Tank have in common? They all fall under the heading of "reality television" but that's really about it. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of reality TV I think is awful - really truly horrible stuff that I can't understand why people watch – but I don't make the jump that therefore the entire genre is worthless.

Take Shark Tank, for example. Adapted from the BBC series Dragon's Den, it features budding entrepreneurs and inventors making a sales pitch to a group of investors in the hopes of getting the financial backing. What could be more compelling than watching someone try to make their business dreams come true? These aren't people willing to make asses of themselves on national television in the hopes of fleeting moments of fame (yes, I am talking to you VH-1), these are real, everyday folks (some of them a bit out there, for sure) who are dedicated to their ideas, some so much that they are taking second and third mortgages out on their homes to make their concept/product/service a reality. Sure, some are chosen as much for the "out there-ness" of their ideas as they are for their actual marketability, but I am pretty sure the guy who invented Bluetooth got quite a few strange looks at the beginning.

Is Shark Tank the greatest show ever? Of course not, but I was into the show from the get go and hope the show stays on long enough so that we can get updates on where these people are now, both the ones that did business with the sharks and those that didn't.

For those of you who didn't care for Shark Tank, please to enjoy this musical clip from The Late Late Show.



People Say I'm Crazy Doing What I'm Doing. Well, They Give Me All Kinds Of Warnings To Save Me From Ruin
What's flashed before my eyes the last few weeks…Last week's Army Wives was the best of the season, with Frank and Denise reuniting in a well earned emotional payoff the highlight of multiple tear inducing scenes…Warehouse 13 continues to be a pretty entertaining little series, although I am giving Syfy the big thumbs down for the ECW run-over every week. I added five minutes to the end of the Warehouse recording and that still wasn't enough…Caught a few episodes of The Late Late Show this past week and there is no doubt that Craig Ferguson has himself a good time as the host. His monologue is probably my favorite of the current late night shows, and the one that seems the most like it comes from the host and not from a writer's room…Burn Notice's half-season finale was darker and grittier than usual – Michael shooting his "agent" was a bit of a shock – and it added to the tension, in a good way. Not sure about the end, where it seems there is another unknown villain coming in to wreak havoc in Michael's life…I raved about Shark Tank above but the other new reality show I tried this week – There Goes The Neighborhood – only held my interest for 20 minutes. Actually, it held me interest a lot less than that but I decided I needed to give it a full 20 minutes before clicking delete. Those type of artificially situations do nothing for me – sheer manipulation does not an entertaining series make…The Closer continued its stellar run of episodes with the Jack-In-The-Box episode this week. To reiterate what I said last week, this is far and away the TNT series best season…Natalie Zea has made quite the impression on Hung the past few weeks – I think she is much more interesting here than she was on Dirty Sexy Money – and her taking Ray to her therapy session at the opening of last Sunday's episode was a riot...I am hoping Eric ends up taking this new job on Entourage as otherwise it would be another pointless subplot. Entourage is either the best bad show or the worst good one; it's got a lot going for it, including a top notch cast who know their characters inside and out, but its storylines frequently end up going nowhere. The celebrity roles have been excellent so far this season, with David Schwimmer and Tom Brady as stand outs…Web Soup has taken showing clips of guys getting hit in the nuts to a new level, raising the bar for the AFV's of the world…I've raved about Larry Miller before but he's so great on 10 Things I Hate About You I may need to add him to my dream sitcom cast…PSYCH's return was exactly its strongest outing but even mid-level James and Dule is better than most TV…The Joan Rivers Roast was pretty disappointing, although Greg Giraldo deserves to be singled out for his blistering set. Sure, the special was funny but nothing compared to the Bob Saget roast from earlier in the year…

TV Pick Of The Week
Obviously the pick of the week is Mad Men but for those of you who seek refuge in non Sterling-Cooper viewing, several networks are offering you new programming to check out. Over on VH-1, Antonio Sabato, Jr. is the latest "celebrity" to look to a reality series to find love with My Antonio, while E! gives Keeping Up with the Kardashians a spin-off with the debut of Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami. Your best non-Mad Men bet is probably Greg Giraldo: Midlife Vices (Comedy Central), the latest stand up special from the very funny comedian.

Don't miss any of the Sunday night at 10 pm options!

Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Here is some other noteworthy programming of the next seven days

*Coverage of the PGA Championship can be found today starting at 2 pm on TNT. On Saturday and Sunday it begins on TNT at 11 am before moving to CBS at 2 pm.

*Neil Diamond: Hot August Night NYC finds the ageless singer/songwriter performing his greatest hits tonight at 8 pm on CBS. For those of you too young to know, Diamond's 70's concert album Hot August Night is widely considered one of the best live recordings of its time.

*I was all set to highlight tonight's Real Time with Bill Maher (10 pm, HBO) because TTTP favorite Dana Gould was a guest but I just got word that Brad Pitt will be stopping by as well, so now it's twice as good.

*NBC's coverage of the Track & Field Championship can be viewed at 1 pm Saturday and Sunday.

*The NFL Network has a pre-season triple header scheduled for Saturday, with Falcons-Lions at 4 followed by Bears-Bills at 7 and Seahawks-Chargers at 10.

*Game On is one of my favorite West Wing episodes, the one featuring the Bartlett-Ritchie debate with the classic, "give me the next 10 words" line, and you can catch it Tuesday morning at 9 am. Thank you to Bravo for showing daily reruns of this all-time classic series.

*Bravo's Miami Social signs off for the season (and maybe for good) on Tuesday at 10 pm.

*TruTV's wildcatting series Black Gold has its season two premiere Wednesday at 10 pm.

Two Tivos To Paradise
30 Days, 30 Rock, The Academy, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Being Human, Best Week Ever, Better Off Ted, Big Love, Bones, Breaking Bad, Brothers & Sisters, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, Chopped, The Chris Isaak Hour, Chuck, The Closer, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Daddy's Girls, Damages, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, The Dish, Entourage, Eureka, Everybody Hates Chris, Flipping Out, Gary Unmarried, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, Hung, Iron Chef America, Jon & Kate + 8, Last Restaurant Standing, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Lost, Mad Men, Make Me A Supermodel, Man v. Food, Medium, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, Next Food Network Star, Nip/Tuck, The Office, One Tree Hill, Paranormal State, Party Down, Private Practice, Project Runway, Psych, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rescue Me, Royal Pains, Rules Of Engagement, Run's House, Sanctuary, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, Shark Tank, Shear Genius, Skins, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Southland, Sports Soup, Supernatural, Table For 12, Top Chef, Top Design, Torchwood, True Blood, Ugly Betty, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Will Work for Food

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. We'll be back next week with all the latest TV news plus a preview of the twins' first birthday party!

Don't forget to come back next Friday for all the news, and while you're at it, why not just bookmark the movies/TV page here at 411mania.com and make it that much easier for you to find your entertainment industry hook up!

Feedback is encouraged at [e-mail] as well via the comments section below.

Sources for this week's column include Daily Variety, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Hollywood Reporter (plus the web sites for those publications) as well as Aintit.cool.com.