Two Tivos To Paradise 10.30.09: All TV News Treats, No TV News Tricks
Posted by Al Norton on 10.30.2009
Ricky Gervais to host the Golden Globes, Patricia Heaton stops by to chat about The Middle, NBC orders more Chuck, Scrubs gets a return date, raves for Mad Men, a ratings breakdown, tons of news and notes, the TV Pick of the Week and more, all in the latest edition of Al Norton's Two Tivos To Paradise!
Hello Friends. This has been kind of a crazy seven days, with me trying to wrap as much as possible on all the work fronts because I won't be around next week (more on that later). The phone has been ringing off the hook and you can see the opening results by scrolling down to read my chat with Emmy winner Patricia Heaton. Next Monday you will be able to find my one-on-one with V's Joel Gretsch, followed the next day by my interview with Christian Slater. Thursday finds me talking with White Collar's Tim DeKay and then on Friday I'll have a conversation with new Brothers & Sisters showrunner David Marshall Grant. All of these will be available via the main movies/TV page of 411mania. Speaking of other places to read me, I go head-to-head with Chad Webb in today's Fact or Fiction.
My anniversary dinner with Mrs. Tivo was a big success, with the folks at the Capital Grille treating us quite well (rose petals on the table and everything). We didn't end up getting to the movie but instead took the twins and the in-laws out to breakfast at IHOP.
Time for a musical interlude, courtesy of The Late Late Show…
As I mentioned above, TTTP will be taking a one week hiatus as I deal with a family health issue but a fellow 411mania writer has agreed to step up and meet your entertainment industry news needs next Friday. I should be back on the 13th – hey, Friday the 13th!!! – with a jam packed column.
Got some amazing news from the folks at TNT this week when I found out I will be getting an interview with Andre Braugher next month. Braugher is perhaps my favorite TV actor of all time and I am already sketching out questions in order to keep my fan-boyism in check. He is co-starring with Ray Romano and Scott Bakula in Men of a Certain Age, which premieres in December.
For you, the living, the mash is meant, too. When you get to the door, tell them Boris sent news.
Jumped In The Cab, Here I Am For The First Time, Look To My Right, I See The Hollywood Sign
Ricky Gervais was announced as the host of this January's 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The show hasn't had a host since 1995 and has been suffering from sagging ratings the last few years. Gervais has been mentioned as a potential awards season host based on well received appearances on The Oscars and Emmys.
Hooray! I covered a lot of this in Fact-Or-Fiction this week but I still wanted to treat this story as the great news that it is. Gervais is flat out funny and more than willing to serve out sharp jabs at the entertainment industry when he is not busy mocking himself. The more laid back setting that the Hollywood Foreign Press offers is probably a better fit for his humor than the more stiff and traditional Oscars. There is no doubt in my mind that this will help ratings, especially if NBC does it right and allows Gervais to script his own ads.
Well I Don't Know Why I Came Here Tonight, I Got The Feeling That Something Ain't Right
Patricia Heaton was nominated for seven Emmys for her work on Everybody Loves Raymond, winning the Best Actress in a Comedy award twice. She currently stars in the ABC comedy The Middle, which recently got a full season pickup from the network. We were lucky enough to get a few minutes on the phone with her this week to discuss the show.
TTTP: Were you looking to do another family comedy and where was The Middle in the development process when you came on board?
Patricia Heaton: I was not looking to do another family comedy; I was hoping to be America's Next Top Model. This offer came along to play a Mom and I thought, "gee whiz, why would I do that again?" Then I read the script and thought, "wow, this script is really, really good." It's rare to find something that was as solid as the pilot for The Middle.
It had already been done once, two years ago, and I guess the pilot didn't turn out as well as hoped but the network really liked The Middle as a concept so they came back to me with it and I said yes. I was a little trepidatious; its long hours and I wondered if I would be repeating myself. I also wasn't used to working single camera. There were a lot of risks involved for me but I took the leap. It's nice to have an offer of a show that's got a good script so I went with it, and it's turned out beautifully.
Not only was the pilot great but every script since the pilot has been amazing quality; smart, funny, edgy, warn. It's just a perfect combination of all those things. The cast is just great, it's kind of like we've been working together forever. It's very relaxed and still very professional. It's great having kids on a set because you've got to be on your best behavior when you've got kids, you're very aware of their working hours. It's a very professional, wonderful set with talented people.
TTTP: One of the things that make the show as funny as it is is the actors who play the kids.
Patricia Heaton: They're not those kind of slick, manufactured kids who have some sort of grown up, smart alecy response to everything, where the adults are always stupid and the kids are always smart. Everybody in this family is very human; they all have their problems and they all love each other at the end of the day.
What I find unusual about The Middle is that it's sweet and edgy at the same time. It's very hard to find that balance and our writers have done a great job with it.
TTTP: Does having Neil Flynn and Chris Kataan to play off of make being at work as much fun as you'd think?
Patricia Heaton: I am constantly laughing. Also, Brian Doyle Murray and Pete Breitmayer who play the guys down at the auto dealership, and then I get to come home to Neil and the rest of the family. It's great to work with nice people because you have all this time to get to know each other and learn each other's histories. That's a great thing about being an actor; you get to go to these different shows and make new friends.
TTTP: What do we have to look forward to on The Middle the next few weeks?
Patricia Heaton: The holidays are coming up and holiday episodes on comedies are always hilarious. The Middle does not disappoint, either at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Don't miss The Middle, Wednesdays at 8:30 pm on ABC.
Life Is Just Another Dream In This Old World Of Broken Dreams
The guests for the premiere episode of TBS' new late night talk show Lopez Tonight were announced this week, with Ellen DeGeneres, Eva Longoria-Parker, and Kobe Bryant joining host George Lopez on Monday, November 9th. Other guests lined up for the first couple of weeks include Larry David, Sandra Bullock, Ray Romano, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Alba, Charlie Sheen, Marc Anthony, Kathy Griffin, Queen Latifah, and Ted Danson.
Clearly the world was not dying for another late night talk show but I am hardly going out on a limb when I predict this is better than The Jay Leno Show from the get go. I am thinking Lopez monologue will be much more similar to the conversational style of Craig Ferguson as opposed to the straight line-punch line style used to varying degrees of success by the other current hosts, and that's a huge selling point to me. He's also lined up folks who used to produce The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Late Late Show to run the ship, a very smart move.
The bigger question to me is where will all the guests come from? CBS has two hours of talk shows per night, ABC one hour, and NBC four hours, and that's not mentioning Mo'Nique's five hours per week on BET. Also a factor is how much time do people have to watch these shows? I will TIVO the first week of Lopez Tonight and then go from there.
Some Southern Queen Is Acting Loud And Mean Where The Docks And The Badlands Meet
Tomorrow is Halloween, which means there are some fun (and scary) viewing options…
*Martha Stewart's Halloween Special: Good Things, Bad Things (Fine Living, 11 pm)
In addition you can find an all day scary movie marathon on AMC, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back-to-back showings of Night of The Living Dead, beginning at 6 pm. While your TiVo may tell you there is a Ghost Hunters special on Syfy, it's not the one you're used to; Ghost Hunters Halloween Live Countdown is a six hour special that includes their scariest episodes ever mixed in with live cut-in's from Destination Truth host Josh Gates.
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…
Thursday The Jeff Dunham Show set a Comedy Central record as the most watched series premiere in network history with 5.3 million viewers…Survivor won the 8:00 hour with 12.8 million total and a season high in demos…CSI and The Mentalist were reruns, meaning Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice dominated the 9 – 11 demos even more than usual…The Office continued its streak of being the networks best written demo performer…
Friday Ugly Betty was down 14% in the demos from last week's series low…Dollhouse was down a whopping 20% in the demos…Medium was the nights top demo performer and drew in 8.4 million total viewers, with lead-in Ghost Whisperer pulling 8.5 million…Supernanny premiered to a lackluster 4.7 million…Smallville matched last week's season high in the 18-49 demos (not their target audience, which is younger, but still good news)…5.4 million tuned into the premiere of USA's White Collar, fantastic numbers for the network, not to mention topping the big three in several key demos…
Sunday
Sunday night was all about sports, with NBC's Sunday Night Football Cardinals-Eagles match up pulling in 13.3 million to go with the 14 million that tuned in to game six of the ALCS on Fox…Despite the big competition, Desperate Housewives (13.8 million) and Brothers & Sisters (10 million) matched last week's numbers…Amazing Race's 11.8 million total viewers was a solid number and the show had much stronger demos than it's 60 Minutes lead-in but that's where the good news ended for CBS, with Three Rivers (7.9 million) and Cold Case (8.8 million) continuing to sputter…Dexter set a new series high on Showtime…
Monday
The biggest story on Monday was The Jay Leno Show hitting a Monday totals low as well as equaling a series low for demos…One Tree Hill hit season highs in all their key demos…CBS was pleased with its overall second place finish for the night considering their programming was all reruns…Dancing with the Stars 17.8 million was up a bit from last week…Castle posted a strong 10.9 million…Heroes didn't drop at all (hey, the show needs as much positive spin as it can get)…
Tuesday The Biggest Loser was the evening's top demo program, up 15% among those viewers from this week last year. The show is the network's top performer right now…NCIS still managed to pull in a shade over 16 million with a rerun but NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife had pretty large drops with their first reruns…The two hour So You Think You Can Dance? may have finished fourth overall but it was # 2 in the demos…A Melrose Place rerun drew less than a million total viewers, the single worst performance of any scripted program of the fall season…The Jay Leno Show was second at 10:00 in demos – they'll take any good news they can get…Almost 9 million watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown…TNT's season opening NBC doubleheader was up 43% in total viewers from last season's tip of and set a record for the network's first regular season game coverage with an average of 3.7 million over the two games…
Wednesday
Game one of the World Series drew 19.5 million, with the highest game one demos in 6 years…Modern Family (9.2 million) and Cougar Town (7.5 million) continue to produce for ABC, both in totals and demos…The network was also pleased with The Middle's performance…CBS trotted out a night of reruns although they still finished third overall…America's Next Top Model hit season highs in totals and demos…
All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…The newly revamped Scrubs will return to ABC's lineup on December 1st at 9 pm with back-to-back episodes, with Better Off Ted taking the 9:30 slot the following week…TNT is said to be thisclose to picking up Southland…NBC picked up full seasons of Community, Mercy, and Parks & Recreation…The latest on Chuck's return; looks like a January premiere date (bumped up from March) with an additional 6 episodes ordered, bringing the season 3 total to 19…NBC cancelled Trauma, announcing plans to air the 13 episodes that were initially ordered but ending production there…HBO renewed In Treatment for a third season, with Anya Epstein (Tell Me You Love Me, Homicide) and her husband, Oscar nominee Dan Futterman, coming on board as executive producers, with Warren Leight leaving to run the ship on FX's Lights Out…Bravo is developing Top Chef: Just Desserts, a new show featuring pastry chefs doing battle. I have this cool idea that someday Bravo will do a competition series with three person teams (one from Top Chef, one from TC: Masters, and one from this new show) charged with creating multi-course meals…Don Cheadle and Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder are teaming up for a NBC comedy about two brothers who start a security business…Adam Carolla is also working on a comedy for the network, from the pen Bill Oakley (The Simpsons)…Benjamin Bratt will reprise his role as Detective Rey Curtis on an upcoming episode of Law and Order…ABC ordered a six episode first season of Obese, a reality series that follows people trying to lose large amount of weight and the episodes will follow them over a long period of time…Angie Harmon has been cast as the lead in the TNT pilot Rizzoli…Kristen Bell and Jane Lynch will both return to Party Down for one episode appearances during the Starz comedy's second season. Lynch was a regular season one and Bell had a memorable guest spot that will lead to her character having a large – but mostly off screen – presence in the newest batch of episodes…Let's go on a run of new shows in development, ok? What I Hate About Me (Style, where people deal with the 10 things they most hate about themselves and/or their lives), Victorious (Nick, a teenage girl is admitted to a prestigious performing arts high school after standing in for her twin sister at a talent show), Nola Rising (NBC, private eye and ex-con team up to fight crime in New Orleans when said ex-con allows ghosts to take over his body in order to solve the mysteries), Ordinary People (NBC, being billed as Mad About You meets The Cosby Show), and finally Delta Blues (TNT, a George Clooney-produced drama about a Memphis Cop who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator and who lives with his Mom)…Ok, I lied – here are a couple more new shows, but these are a bit different as they are TV Land's first stab at original scripted programming; Retired At 35 is written by Reba creator Chris Case and follows a 35 year old man who leaves New York to move in to his parents Florida retirement community while Hot In Cleveland is from Frazier writing staff alum Suzanne Martin and focuses on three 40 something female friends who move from LA to Cleveland when they find that they are a big, glamorous deal in the new city…Augusten Burroughs is a hot author right now; not only is his Sellevision being turned into a NBC series by Bryans Fuller and Singer but now he has partnered with Katalyst Films for more TV projects including a Showtime adaptation of his book Dry (about the time in his life he was working in advertising while trying to get sober) and a CBS drama where a group of male fire fighters deal with a new female colleague...What the hell, let's keep it going; TruTV will premiere a new reality show set inside a Las Vegas prison this January, executive produced by the same company who do Fox's COPS…Look for Lisa Kudrow to guest on Cougar Town later this season…Speaking of guest spots, William Atherton will turn up during Lost's final season…Recent CSI: Miami departee Adam Rodriguez will reoccur on Ugly Betty…Two Tivos favorite Oliver Platt has been cast to star opposite Laura Linney in the Showtime pilot The C Word, a dark comedy about a wife and Mom diagnosed with cancer…In perhaps the most interesting new series in development news of the week Idris Alba (The Wire, The Office) and David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) are working together on a legal drama for NBC where a defense attorney uses any means necessary to help his clients triumph against a corrupt system…VH-1 has ordered a first season of Dad Camp, a reality series from the people that do The Biggest Loser where expectant fathers get a crash course in what lies ahead…Syfy picked up a 13 episode first season of Being Human, an adaptation of the BBC series where a vampire, werewolf, and ghost all share an apartment…Zooey Deschanle will guest as Temperance's sister on the December 10th episode of Bones, playing her real life sister's sister. Ryan O'Neal will also reprise his role as the Brennan family patriarch…Smallville's producers told Entertainment Weekly that they are really pushing for the show to get a 10th season from The CW…
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 was pretty shocked when Betty found the keys to Don's private drawer two weeks ago on Mad Men as I kind of thought she would never find out his past. The episode ended with her seemingly putting the issue aside, so I was more than a bit surprised when she confronted him about halfway through last Sunday's episode. What followed was an amazing 20 minutes of television, with Jon Hamm giving about as good a performance as you will see on TV this year. We'd never seen Don that exposed before and it was almost disconcerting as a viewer to see this polished ad man so at a loss for words. January Jones deserves much credit as well, especially for the moments where Betty showed some concern for her husband despite her anger.
What made the episode even better is that those segments weren't the only highlights. Aside from being Jon Hamm's Emmy submission there is a good chance it will be Jon Slattery's as well; this was as close to a peek at the real Roger Sterling as we will ever see, with some genuine goodness appearing beneath the heavy layers of (VERY funny) sarcasm, Add in some great work by Christina Hendricks as well and you've got the best episode to date of what is turning into another upper echelon season of the best show on TV.
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 seven days…A very solid Grey's Anatomy last week, one that didn't advance any plotlines too far but was reminiscent of ER in its prime. Sad to see Sarah Drew go but she got a great showcase for her talents to send her off…Last spring's Private Practice finale was a bit over the top but the show has done great work with the story since, with the events having long lasting reprocutions. PP may be the most improved show of the fall, with the writing finally starting to get to the level of the cast they have…Community is brilliantly walking the line of making fun of much of sitcom formula while still following it, which is tough to pull off. It seems to be getting better each week, with the visual of the new college mascot making me laugh out loud enough to wake my son Harry…The first half of last week's episode of The Office was an instant classic, with the scene where Pam finds out Michael is sleeping with her Mom being among my favorite in series history. The second half was good – not great – but overall I was thoroughly amused. Any guesses as to where Ryan got his fedora?...Loved the premiere of White Collar; smart, funny, and completely devoid of the clichés that weigh down other shows. USA has learned well from the success of Burn Notice being filmed in the city it is set (Miami) as you can already feel the presence of NYC in the show…An incredibly strong episode of Medium this past Friday. I don't think there is another show on TV that focuses on a main characters personal and professional life that does as good a job with the family side of things. Part of it is how good the actresses who play the daughters are, part of it is the chemistry between Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber, and some credit also must go to the writers who have a phenomenal ear for real family dialogue…This week's Bored To Death may have been the funniest yet, with the boys in the car getting high and waxing poetic while Jonathan was getting rolled by an escort. Ted Danson is about as much of a lock as you can be for a Norty…I wrote in the last couple of weeks about how underrated Doug Savant is on Desperate Housewives and the last two weeks he has been even stronger. His explaining to the handyman why he lets his wife boss him around was some of his best work on the series…A laugh out loud episode of Brothers & Sisters this week, with everyone falling all over themselves to get close to their French house guest. Great example of how well the writers known those characters and can have fun with them…
TV Pick Of The Week
To get you in the mood for Tuesday's series premiere of V, Syfy is showing not only the full 4 & ½ hour original mini-series this Sunday starting at 12:30 but then are following it up with the 6 hour sequel, V: The Final Battle at 5 pm. After that you should be all set for the new version ABC is giving us Tuesday at 8:00 pm. I feel very good about the new show, both because of the high quality cast and also that Scott Peters, who proved he has a touch for intelligent sci-fi with The 4400, is the man in charge.
Don't miss the original version of V this Sunday on Syfy and then don't miss the new V series premiere, Tuesday at 8 pm on ABC.
Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Here is some other noteworthy programming of the next seven days…
*CBS' Ghost Whisperer, Medium, and Numb3rs offer up Halloween theme episodes tonight starting at 8 pm.
*Looking for some inspiration for that diet you need to go on? Check out coverage of Sunday's New York City Marathon, on Universal Sports at 9 and then on NBC at 2 pm.
*Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew has its series premiere Sunday at 10 pm on VH-1 opposite Styl'd on MTV, a new reality competition series where folks compete to become professional stylists.
*I actually really enjoyed the first season of I Want To Work For Diddy as a guilty pleasure so I will check out season two, which kicks off Monday night at 10 pm on VH-1.
*Top Chef All Stars Dinner (Bravo, 10 pm, Wednesday) brings together past season favorites in a surprise competition. Last season's Fabio Viviani, who coincidently just got his own Bravo series, serves as host.
Two Tivos To Paradise 30 Days, 30 Rock, The Academy, Accidentally on Purpose, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Better Off Ted, Big Love, Bones, Bored To Death, Breaking Bad, Brothers & Sisters, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, Chopped, The Chris Isaak Hour, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, 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, Glee, 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, Modern Family, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, Next Food Network Star, Next Iron Chef, 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, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…, Sports Soup, Supernatural, Table For 12, Top Chef, Top Design, Torchwood, True Blood, Ugly Betty, The Vampire Diaries, 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 in two weeks with all the TV news you can fit in a burlap sack. Have a happy and safe Halloween – hope you get more treats than tricks!
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! You can also follow us on Twitter!
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.
