Two Tivos To Paradise 08.21.09: The TV News Heat Index is 100!
Posted by Al Norton on 08.21.2009
True Blood hits a ratings high, the new cast of Dancing with the Stars, James Marsters joins Caprica, Oliver Stone teams up with Showtime, is Paula coming back to Idol?, raves for Mad Men, tons of news & notes, the TV Pick of the Week and more, all in the latest edition of Al Norton's Two Tivos To Paradise
Hello Friends. The first official heat wave of the summer hit Boston, with enough humidity to make Jules Winnfield sweat. Hey, he's the coolest MF'er I could think of. And, of course, the baddest… at least according to his wallet.
The big event for us this weekend is the twins' first birthday party! Their actual birthday is the 26th but we are having the festivities on Saturday. Mrs. Tivo shot down my plans to have Wally the Green Monster make an appearance but it should be a fun time nonetheless. Here's hoping that Bill doesn't hit town until after the party winds down.
Check out my interview with two time Oscar nominee Joan Cusack on the main TV/movies page today. Speaking of such things, I am busy lining up chats for the fall season, with cast members from Fringe, Vampire Diaries, and Glee already signed on.
If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember news?
I'm Gonna Add A Little Guitar To Make It Easy To Move Your Feet
ABC unveiled the latest – and largest – group of celebrity participants in their hit series Dancing with the Stars on Monday, following their tried and true formula for bringing in as many different groups of viewers as possible. Lacing up their dancing shoes this fall will be:
So you've got the former NFL player (Irvin), the 90's TV actress (Hart), the retro star (Osmond), the Olympian (Coughlin), the pop singer (Carter), the eye candy (Krupa & Ireland), the why is she famous again? (Osbourne) and into that mix they make some very smart additions, bringing in Liddell (MMA) and Vito (snowboarder), whose fans probably wouldn't be watching DWTS otherwise. In Osbourne (The Osbournes) and Dascascos (Iron Chef) they have folks who have a track record of success in reality programming.
Tom Delay's name on this list has to be a bit of a stunner as the guy was at one point the Majority Speaker of the US House of Representatives and his name was being bandied about as a possible Presidential contender. Obviously things did not go as well as planned for him as a few short years later he is sharing a dressing room with Ashley Hamilton. DWTS clearly was looking to branch into politics as there were many, many rumors that former Vice-President Dan Quayle almost signed on two seasons ago.
This is the largest cast in the series 9 season history and to accommodate them there will be three double-elimination episodes that run back-to-back-to-back midway through the run. Based on the cross-marketing appeal of this cast I can't see any reason why ratings would not continue to flourish.
And I Find It Kind Of Funny, I Find It Kind Of Sad, The Dreams In Which I'm Dyin' Are The Best I've Ever Had
Sunday's season three premiere of Mad Men set series records for viewership, with its audience of 2.8 million representing a 38% increase over season two's debut and making it the most watched episode in series history. Even more impressive was the 75% increase in adult demos (18-49). Sunday night was actually a huge night for many shows/networks…
*As seems to be becoming a recurring story this summer, True Blood hit a new series high on Sunday night.
*The series premiere of Kourtney & Khloe on E! was the networks most watched debut since The Anna Nicole Show in 2002 with 2.7 million viewers. It also set a record for the network as the most watched show among women 18-34 and it topped the big three (ABC/CBS/NBC) in that group for the hour. The total audience represented a 60% increase over the March season premiere Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the series K & K is a spinoff of.
*The final round of the PGA Championship was up 150% from last year's coverage for CBS. That strong lead-in helped 60 Minutes, which featured a Michael Vick interview, top the night with 12.4 million, which in turn helped Big Brother set a season high for viewers.
*Shark Tank recovered nicely from a less-than-earth shattering premiere audience to the tune of a 35% increase, winning the 9:00 hour for total viewers. I will take a modicum of credit since I touted the show in last week's column as highly entertaining television.
*Drop Dead Diva averaged a shade over 3 million viewers for Lifetime, making it the most watched episode in series history. Lead-out Army Wives hit a season high with slightly more than 4 million tuning in.
Clearly a lot of folks were in front of their televisions on Sunday night! I am thrilled that Mad Men - the best show on TV - is reaching a larger audience, although my guess is there will be a sharp drop off for episode two, much like last season. Also quite happy that Shark Tank showed some life in week two. K & K's success is a bit of a head scratcher in that a spinoff is rarely more successful than the series it comes from.
You're Scared, Ashamed Of What You Feel, And You Can't Tell The Ones You Love, You Know They Couldn't Deal
Entertainment Weekly is reporting that James Marsters, best know for his portrayal of Spike on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, signed a deal for a multi-episode arc on Syfy's upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica. Marsters, last seen on the small screen in Torchwood, will play a terrorist for at least three episodes. Buffy alum Jane Espenson is the supervising writer for Caprica.
Talk about rocking my world; two of my favorite TV things combining makes for a happy Al. Marsters performance as Spike ranks on my all-time favorite list, and he was excellent in his work on both Torchwood and Smallville, so my expectations will be high for what the talented group of writers involved in Capricacome up with for him.
Closer, Let Me Whisper In Your Ear, Say The Words You Long To Hear
Oliver Stone is teaming up with Showtime for a 10 part documentary series title The Secret History of America. Premiering in 2010, the 10 hour project will focus on events that "at the time went under-reported, but crucially shaped America's unique and complex history over the last 60 years." Events being profiled include the beginning of the Cold War, the decision to drop the Atomic bomb on Japan, and the Vietnam War.
While considered controversial by many, there are few who question Stone's abilities as a filmmaker, which makes this series very interesting and unquestionably on next year's must-watch list. Stone's obsessive tendencies should lead to episodes with tons of information, and he's well known enough to get some serious talking heads to participate, even those who disagree with him.
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)…Most of the noteworthy ratings news was covered in the news item above…The Big Bang Theory continued its strong summer of reruns with a Monday best 8.6 million viewers as well as the night's top demos…The series premiere of Horders on A & E set a network record for demos for a debut episode, with all numbers for the show showing an increase from the established Intervention lead-in…Shaq Vs. topped More To Love in total audience but finished behind Big Brother and America's Got Talent on Tuesday at 9 pm…Hell's Kitchen had the top demos on Tuesday…A bit more on Big Brother – not only were the numbers a nice increase from last week but the demos were the best since the 2007 season finale…Flipping Out's season three premiere was up 53% from the kick off of season two…Miami Social signed off in front of its largest audience of the season…Fox's two hour Nadya Suleman special on Wednesday drew a modest 4.2 million…America's Got Talent was Wednesday's top performer for total audience and demos…
All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors… Raderonline.com is reporting that Fox is conducting focus groups to decide if they should re-open negotiations with Paula Abdul on her recently expired American Idol contract…Speaking of Idol, Shania Twain, Kelly Clarkson, and Joe Jonas are the latest to guest judge for auditions tapings, following Posh Spice and Mary J Blige…Speaking of AI, there is no way to figure out if the rumors that Paula Abdul and the producers are sending out feelers about working on a new deal…ABC has ordered a pilot for Clive Barker's Hotel, a series about a haunted hotel written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, who wrote the last two Saw movies (plus the one coming out this fall)…Todd Haynes is writing and directing a mini-series adaptation of the novel Mildred Pierce that Oscar winner Kate Winslet is set to star in. No network is attached yet but HBO is rumored to be the likely destination. The novel was famously turned into a movie that won Joan Crawford an Academy Award…Jerry Seinfeld will be the first guest on The Jay Leno Show in September…Syfy picked up a second season of Warehouse 13…Saving Grace will wrap up its run on TNT with 9 episodes next summer. Rumors had TNT wanting to do a full season but not being able to come to financial terms with the producers…Comedy Central cancelled Reno 911 after six seasons…Kelly Clarkson and LeBron James are teaming up for Get Schooled, a half hour special on the importance of education that will air simultaneously on MTV, Nick, BET and 18 other channels on September 8th…Joel Schumacher and Topher Grace are producing an small screen version of St Elmo's Fire, which Schumacher directed back in the 80's. ABC won a bidding war for the project…Patton Oswalt has signed for a recurring role on Syfy's Carprica…Steve Harvey has joined Good Morning America as a correspondent…Gary Janetti, Will and Grace showrunner and consulting producer for Family Guy, is working a new buddy comedy (male best friends, one gay, one straight) for NBC…PBS will premiere Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth on October 17th, a new series where Gourmet Magazine's editor Ruth Reichl visits some of the world's top cooking schools with celebrity guests in tow. Lorraine Bracco and Frances McDormand will make appearances. The show is scheduled for a 10 episode first season…ABC and Friends creator Marta Kauffman are teaming up to turn The Time Traveler's Wife into a TV series…Lifetime picked up a 13 episode second season of Drop Dead Diva… Gina Torres (Angel, Firefly) will play Vanessa's Mom on Gossip Girl this fall…NBC extended their deal with the NFL for Sunday Night Football through the 2013 season…FX picked up first seasons for two new comedies; The League, which follows a group of suburban guys in the same fantasy football league, and Louie, with comedian Louie C.K. playing a semi-autobiographical stand up comedian who is recently divorced and raising two kids while hitting the dating scene again...
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 know people frequently are disappointed with season premieres because they compare them to season finales - the last episode they say - which is ridiculous since a finale had at least a dozen hours to built up the tension, where a premiere's job is to take an hour and give the audience the re-lay of the land. Because it did such a good job at those things, and for many other reasons, I LOVED the season premiere of Mad Men.
The origin of Don's real name, the painting in Bert Cooper's office, Pete's happy dance (he seemed to be channeling Mr. Burns there for a minute), the look of sheer joy on Sal's face when he heard "limit your exposure"...I was in heaven for 44 minutes. Pete in particular stood out, with his emotional journey of happiness to utter disappointment to anger to being quietly satisfied at having drinks and a smoke with the big boys.
Not enough Peggy and/or Joan for my liking but I think over the course of the season Mad Men gives us perfect doses of each character, knowing how not to let them wear out their welcome so that when we see an episode that gives one a little more focused we are thrilled.
Jon Hamm really does not get enough credit as an actor. I am on record as saying that Bryan Cranston's performance on Breaking Bad is the best dramatic acting I have seen on TV in a decade but so much of Mad Men rides on if you buy Don Draper as a believable character. Imagine ANYONE else playing the part and the show falls apart. And it is acting - Hamm on talk shows is funny and charming but nowhere near the same person.
No show is perfect but I couldn't imagine enjoying the premiere anymore than I did.
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…Two episodes in and I am still really enjoying Shark Tank. Actually I liked this week more than last and am really hoping the show does well enough to get a second life. My guess is that even those who don't get funding from the "sharks" will find much interest in their products after the episodes air. That being said, how that Lifebelt guy turned down a million dollars is beyond me… Last week's Rescue Me featured two incredible back-to-back scenes, beginning with Maura Tierney more than holding her own with Denis Leary in the "cold as ice honesty" department, followed up by Callie Thorne giving us another Emmy worthy moment as Sheila and Tommy discussed the various relationship choices they have made…PSYCH's second episode of the season was much closer to form, especially Shaun introducing Gus as "Jazz Hands"…After playing such a good guy on Eli Stone as well as Brothers & Sisters it was great to see Matt Letscher as a arrogant bastard on Entourage this week. Letscher is a very talented actor and one of these days a network is going to build a series around him…Web Soup makes me laugh out loud more than any show on TV, hands down. The clips are funny, the segment names are funny, and host Chris Hardwick is top notch…I am trying not to be biased by how great he was during my interview but I've got to make Terry Serpico as a dark horse for a Norty nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His work on Army Wives is fantastic and is one of the big reasons this season is the best in series' history…I am still not fully convinced that Brenda's niece was a necessary plot device but this past week's episode of The Closer was another stellar outing, including a surprisingly emotional death. Two subtle things that really stood out were Provenza telling the Chief to take a moment and sit down (GW Bailey is one of the most underrated supporting performers on TV) and the way Fritz picked up on what Brenda was going to tell the when she returned from the hospital. What makes the supporting cast on the show so great is how well they do the little things…Great to see Rhea Pearlman back on TV on Hung this week, which gave us a solid episode with a somewhat sad ending. I really love Tanya as a character…I tried the new Skins season for two episodes but it just didn't grab me – felt too much like a new writer trying to write a Skins episode after watching the first two seasons and not anything like an organic creation. Too bad, because the first cast really had something special those first two years…
TV Pick Of The Week
What's amazing about Joel McHale and The Soup's writing staff is that they do these specials, using clips they have already aired, and they still find ways to make them new and funny. That's why this Monday's The Soup Presents: The Top 20 Clips of 2009 (So Far) is the TV Pick of the Week. My only wish is that they made these specials an hour.
As a secondary pick, TNT is airing two Angel reruns that showcase the talents of Andy Hallett, who passed away at way too young an age earlier this year. The House Always Wins (Saturday, 8 am) finds Lorne working as a Vegas headliner (against his will) and demonstrates the full power of Hallett's voice, while Spin The Bottle (Tuesday, 6 am) is Lorne/Hallett as his dry-wit best.
Don't miss E!'s The Soup Presents Monday at 10 pm as well as multiple Angel reruns this week on TNT.
Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Here is some other noteworthy programming of the next seven days
*The Lifetime original movie Acceptance starring two time Oscar nominee Joan Cusack premieres Saturday at 9 pm.
*The latest chapter in the Red Sox-Yankees saga unfolds at Fenway this weekend, 4:00 on Saturday (Fox) and 8 pm on Sunday (ESPN).
*The season finale of Ice Road Truckers(History) rides at 9 pm on Sunday night.
*Monday night has a TON of season finales, including Great American Road Trip (8 pm, NBC), The Closer (TNT, 9 pm), Make It Or Break It (ABC Family, 9 pm), Dating In The Dark (10 pm, ABC), Nurse Jackie (10 pm, Showtime), and Raising The Bar (10 pm, TNT).
*Season two of The Rachel Zoe project premieres Monday at 10 pm on Bravo.
*Crash Course (ABC) is to cars what Wipeout is to water parks. Catch the first episode Wednesday at 9 pm.
*Dark Blue wraps up its first season Wednesday at 10 pm on TNT.
*Royal Pains was the breakout hit of the summer and that initial run comes to a close Thursday at 10 pm on USA.
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, 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 review 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 twotivostoparadise@yahoo.com 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.
I'm gonna keep bugging you until you give some love to ZRock. I know the season's over but c'mon. Don't hate on the guys because they're from Brooklyn. I'm a Tigers fan, so that's between you all.
Posted By: Hollywood Jim (Guest) on August 21, 2009 at 12:45 AM
Speaking from a viewer in the UK where the third season of Skins has finished, I initally thought the same thing. But after a couple of episodes in (the one called 'Thomas' I think, where they get rid of the whole stupid gangster storyline) I actually start to prefer it to the original cast. Maybe it's because I find these new lot a bit more believable, and because they've got as a whole a few more nastier characteristics. Trust me if you rewatch the first series you'll realise that the first few episodes weren't the best.
Posted By: AH (Guest) on August 21, 2009 at 06:10 AM
Interesting that Monk isn't on your list, considering it's the final season. This past episode was one of the best ones they've done in a long time
Posted By: Jeff (Guest) on August 21, 2009 at 09:11 AM
great picks of the weeks, i will be at work during those Angel re-runs but i do have the DVD's so i need to have an Andy Hallett marathon one night
Posted By: Joe (Guest) on August 21, 2009 at 06:58 PM
Interesting that Monk isn't on your list, considering it's the final season. This past episode was one of the best ones they've done in a long time
Posted By: Jeff (Guest) on August 21, 2009 at 09:11 AM
Agreed. The best episodes are the ones that reference Trudy and her death. They tend to take those eps more seriously, and the quality improves noticably.
Posted By: I'm Right!!! (Guest) on August 21, 2009 at 10:32 PM
