Two Tivos To Paradise 12.18.09: The Last TV News Column of 2009!

Posted by Al Norton on 12.18.2009

Glee gets much love from The Golden Globes - a full rundown of a huge award nominations week, Dexter breaks Showtime records, NBC's lineup changes, PBS' highlights for 2010, True Blood cast additions, raves for The Middle, the week in Neilsens, 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. Welcome to the last news column of 2009. We will still be running the next two Fridays but they will be year-in-review pieces, starting next week with our Top 10 Comedies & Dramas of 2009 followed on January 1st with our TV Entertainers of the Year list. All of this is my way of telling you to not let the holidays stop you from checking out your favorite Friday reading!

Here is a trailer for ABC's upcoming Happy Town - any show with Sam Neil and Steven Webber is worth checking out…



American Idol fans (and I know there are a few of you among my readers) can share their thoughts about favorites from the show's history at www.Fox.com/idolfans, with some of the videos submitted being used in the show's upcoming two part season-premiere.
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Met my old lover at the grocery store, the news was falling Christmas Eve

Always Believe In Your Soul You've Got The Power To Know, You're Indestructible
Nominations for the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced this week. What follows is a rundown of the major TV categories.

Best Supporting Actor (Comedy, Drama, Mini-Series, or Movie)
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
William Hurt, Damages
John Lithgow, Dexter
Michael Emerson, Lost

No real surprises here; all are quality performers whose work could easily justify a win. Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul could replace William Hurt and I would be happier but when you group four different styles of show (comedy, drama, TV movie, and mini-series) into one category there are going to be some overlooked actors. Ted Danson should have been recognized for his role on Bored To Death as well.

Best Supporting Actress (Comedy, Drama, Mini-Series, or Movie)
Rose Byrne, Damages
Jane Lynch, Glee
Jane Adams, Hung
Chloe Sevigny, Big Love
Janet McTeer, Into The Storm

This may be my single favorite category as Lynch, Adams, and Sevigny are all fantastic in their roles and incredibly deserving of these nominations.

Best Actor, Comedy
Alex Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
David Duchovny, Californication
Matthew Morrison, Glee
Thomas Jane, Hung

Thrilled to see Morrison and Jane among this group. I know some are bemoaning the absence of Jim Parsons but I would love to see Josh Radnor get some recognition for HIMYM one of these days.

Best Actress, Comedy
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Toni Colette, United States of Tara
Lea Michelle, Glee
Courtney Cox, Cougar Town

Another really solid group of nominees and an excellent example of the quality roles for women on TV.

Best Actor, Drama
Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Michael C Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Bill Paxton, Big Love

It's not that I don't think Simon Baker is good on The Mentalist, it's just that Denis Leary was fantastic during this past season of Rescue Me and deserves to be in this group as much as anybody.

Wait, what's that? The Golden Globes ignored back-to-back Emmy winner Bryan Cranston for a second year in a row? There's no way the Hollywood Foreign Press could be that stupid, right?

Best Actress, Drama
Glen Close, Damages
January Jones, Mad Men
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Anna Paquin, True Blood
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Katey Sagal's lack of a nomination for Sons of Anarchy is only slight more egregious an omission than Jill Scott not being recognized for The # 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Close and Margulies would be the two I would bump, and I also swap Elisabeth Moss for January Jones in the Mad Men slot.

Best Series, Comedy
30 Rock
Entourage
Glee
Modern Family
The Office

Hard to argue with these choices, although I could do without Entourage, with Party Down, Better Off Ted, Curb, Hung, or Bored To Death in its place.

Best Series, Drama
Big Love
Dexter
House
Mad Men
True Blood

As good as Hugh Laurie is, House is simply not producing at the consistent quality of many shows left out, with Rescue Me, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Friday Night Lights, The Closer, and The # 1 Ladies Detective Agency. True Blood is good but not among the best shows on TV right now, although I suppose with voters hotness can outweigh actual quality, which is why it's here.

The Golden Globes will be given out on Sunday, January 17th in a ceremony hosted by Ricky Gervais and aired on NBC.

You Come To Me, Give Me Everything I Need, Give Me A Lifetime of Promises And A World of Dreams
The Golden Globes weren't the only nominations given out this week, with both the Screen Actor's Guild and the Writer's Guild of America naming finalists for their big awards as well as the American Film Institute announcing their 10 best TV programs for the year…

SAG

Best Actor, Drama
Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Best Actress, Drama
Patricia Arquette, Medium
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law and Order: SVU
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Best Actor, Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Best Actress, Comedy
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Toni Colette, United States of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, New Adventures of Old Christine

Best Ensemble Cast, Drama
The Closer
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
True Blood

Best Ensemble Cast, Comedy
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glee
Modern Family
The Office

WGA

Drama Series
Breaking Bad
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Lost
Mad Men

Comedy Series
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glee
Modern Family
The Office

Comedy/Variety Series
Real Time with Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien

New Series
Glee
The Good Wife
Hung
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie

AFI (Top 10 series of 2010)
The Big Bang Theory
Big Love
Friday Night Lights
Glee
Modern Family
The # 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Nurse Jackie
Party Down
True Blood

I am not going to offer a critique of each of these but I will say it's great to see so many new names among the honorees.

I Wanna Play A Game, I See Someone Coming It Don't Matter All The Same
PBS released their upcoming winter/spring schedule, with some highlights listed below.

*Antiques Roadshow season premiere, ¼

*Nova, 1/5 "Killer Subs in Pearl Harbor" episode finds the show tagging along on a dive into Pearl Harbor to learn more about the sinking of the USS Arizona

*The Human Spark, 1/6; a three part series hosted by Alan Alda that looks at what gives us the energy that makes us who we are.

*Masterpiece Classic season premiere, 1/10; Laura Linney returns as host

*American Masters, 1/11; the episode traces the life and music of Sam Cooke

*Great Performances at the Met, 1/20: "The Audition" is a behind the scenes look at the Metropolitan Opera's Nation Council auditions. Think America Idol for opera.

*Nova, 2/9; The episode is titled "Extreme Cave Diving"…do I need say more?

*Nature, 2/21; Another example of the title saying it all…in this case, the episode is called "Invasion of the Giant Python".

*The Buddha, 3/31; a two hour documentary about the life of the Buddha, narrated by Richard Gere.

*Great Performances, 4/28; The Royal Shakespeare Company's Hamlet, starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart.

I can already tell you I've got the Sam Cooke documentary circled on my calendar, and the MET opera auditions sound interesting, too. Broaden your TV, horizons, my friends.

I Keep A Close Eye On This Heart Of Mine, I Keep My Eyes Wide Open All The Time
NBC unveiled part of their early 2010 line up this week, with some returning favorites and some much hyped premieres.

*January 5th – The Biggest Loser (new season)

*January 11th – Chuck

*March 1st – Parenthood

March 14th – The Marriage Ref & Celebrity Apprentice

The Biggest Loser has turned into one of NBC's most consistent producers and despite doing two back-to-back cycles a year interest hasn't dropped in the slightest. Chuck fans like myself are pretty psyched for the return and Parenthood is/will generate a large amount of buzz. The Marriage Ref is a new reality series from Jerry Seinfeld with a bit more of a comedy slant than most reality shows take, at least more than they take on purpose, and Celebrity Apprentice seems to have another batch of quality C-listers trying to raise some money for charity.

If Parenthood and The Marriage Ref can turn into even modest hits the network would be in much better shape heading into pilot season. As it is now, assuming that they do the smart thing and cut Jay Leno down to one (maybe two) nights a week next fall, they will have a need for a lot of new programming, especially if, as expected, Heroes signs off for good this spring. They know they have their Thursday comedy block, SVU, and The Biggest Loser to bank on so a couple more hours booked will save them from having to go with entire nights of new programming next fall.

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 season finale of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia hit a series high in male demos. Overall the season was up 36% in total viewers from last season as well as a 52% increase in demos…The second time around was not so great for Steven Seagal Lawman as ratings dropped 43% from the premiere…Jersey Shore was up 50% in week two, with a total audience of just over 2 million putting it right around what The Hills averages…The 16.4 million who tuned in to The Mentalist represented a season high, with lead-in's Survivor (13.3 million) and CSI (16.4 million) also winning their time slots…Bones hit a season high this week with 10.9 million…NBC's comedy block performed well, with The Office being the top demo producer of the night…

Friday
Ugly Betty hit a season high in viewers on Friday night and tied a season high in demos…The first hour of Dollhouse was up 25% from last week but the second hour saw no gain…Law & Order's 8.8 million topped the 8:00 hour…

Sunday
For (at least) the third time this season Dexter hit a new series high in viewers, and this week's 2.6 million for the finale was the most watched telecast in Showtime history…Californication's finale also was a season high with 1.1 million…Oprah's Christmas at the White House pulled in a more than respectable 11.8 million…The Eagles-Giants game on Sunday Night Football topped the night with 18.6 million…The season premiere of Keeping Up with the Kardashians set a new series high with 4.1 million, making it E!'s most watched program in 7 years…2.3 million tuned in to the series premiere of The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty…

Monday
The Closer pulled in 5.4 million viewers, down 13% from last week, followed by Men of a Certain Age, which dropped 19% in week two. Men did improve on the lead-in's adult demos for the second week in a row…The Sing Off gave NBC it's best numbers in the Monday 8-10 slot of the season…How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory all hit season highs in total viewership…Find My Family dropped to the low of its young life…CSI: Miami's 14+ million was up from last week…

Tuesday
The Sing Off improved 23% in the demos for night two, a pretty impressive feat…NCIS topped the night with 20.5 million…Fox's Gordon Ramsey's Cookalong Live special didn't do well, losing 26% of its So You Think You Can Dance? lead-in audience and totaling 4 million viewers…

Wednesday
The So You Think You Can Dance? finale performed well for Fox, up 13% from last week and totaling 7 million viewers while finishing second overall for the night in demos…The Sing Off dropped 15% from Tuesday…Criminal Minds won the night with 14.6 million…New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried were up almost 10% from last week in their last new episodes of 2009…

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Syfy picked up a second season of Stargate Universe and a third season of Sanctuary, both of which will run together in the fall (the second half of SU's first season airs starting in April)…MTV cancelled It's On with Alexa Chung, with the December 17th episode of the daily live talk show being the last…VH-1 has ordered Tough Love: Couples, a spin-off of Tough Love (duh) where five couples on the brink of a break up go to a relationship boot camp…Eva Longoria Parker and Kim Kardashian have been added to Fox's Billboard's New Year's Eve Live…The Squeeze, a new reality series that goes inside Cook County Jail – the largest jail in the US – debuts on MSNBC on January 1st…Animal Planet's new pit bull rescue series Pit Boss premieres on January 16th…Lots of True Blood casting news, so rather than take up too much space I'll just list off those who have signed on for the new season: J. Smith Cameron, James Frain (The Tudors), Natasha Alam (The Bold and the Beautiful), Joe Manganiello (One Tree Hill), and Alfre Woodard…Gerald McRaney is the first actor cast in JJ Abrams' new NBC pilot Undercovers…Nick ordered another 26 episodes of Sponge Bob Square Pants…The new season of Project Runway begins on Thursday, January 14th at 10 pm, followed at 11:00 by a second season of Models of the Runway…Chuck Lorre, creator of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, is developing Mike and Molly, a new CBS sitcom about a couple who meet at an overeaters anonymous meeting…Tosh.0 got a 25 episode second season from Comedy Central…Allison Janney and Emmy Rossum have joined William H Macy in the Showtime pilot Shameless…The Beautiful Life's three unaired episodes will be available on YouTube starting December 21st along with the two that were broadcast…HBO's big World War II mini-series The Pacific will premiere on March 14th and run over the next 9 Sundays…USA is working on adapting the 1990 movie The Freshman. Andrew Bergman wrote and directed the movie, which starred Matthew Broderick and Marlon Brando, and is writing the pilot…Syfy will run an 8 episode Chuck marathon on Thursday January 7th as hype for that Sunday's season three premiere. The show's executive producers chose 8 favorite episodes from season 2, including the game changing finale…Stephen Nichols, best known for his role as Steve "Patch" Johnson on Days of Our Lives, has joined the cast of The Young and the Restless...

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 so not sold on The Middle from the get-go that I didn't even bother watching the series premiere; the joke was on me as I've discovered it's a show that gives warm and funny a good name.

This past week's episode was about the pressure on parents during the holidays and while I know it's not exactly never-been-done-before material, the strong quality of the writing and acting was magnified by the lack of other family comedies on the airwaves right now. I mean, you've got shows aimed specifically at kids and those aimed at parents but how many series are there that both groups could be entertained by equally?

Reginald Hudlin was behind the camera for the episode (yes, the guy who directed both House Party movies has become an in-demand TV sitcom director, with episodes of Modern Family and The Office under his belt this fall) that featured a strong but not overwhelming performance by Patricia Heaton and a turn by Neil Flynn that should leave anyone who was thinking that his only good role would be as the Janitor from Scrubs with completely changed minds.

The Middle is not on the same level of Modern Family or even Cougar Town but it's carving out a nice little niche and looks like it might have some legs (and know how to use them).

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… All four holiday episodes of NBC's Thursday comedy block were highly entertaining last week, with highlights including Anthony Michael Hall's over the top bully on Community and Michael's bitter Jesus operating the PA system on The Office. Also loved Julianne Moore's Boston accent on 30 Rock. "Hey, get a room Santas" was my line of the week…The Sing Off's biggest problem was that the opening number on the first night – all the group's joining together for Under Pressure – was so good that it made everything else pale in comparison. Also, two hours straight may be a bit much…Each week I am liking the folks on Scrubs more and more and wishing that JD would just be gone as it would lead to some fun stuff as Turk and Cox to have to find their identities without JD in their lives on a daily basis. Ted's exit was a classic, as were the state songs that he and The Gooch did in the elevator…The Closer's sex-change story this week had the potential to veer off into silly quite easily but Beau Bridges playing Georgette straight (no pun intended) made it work. And we found out Provenza's first name!!!...This week's Men of a Certain Age was the start of a run of several episodes of outstanding quality and I urge you to give the show a shot…

TV Pick Of The Week
Yes, it's that time of year…No, no the holidays – College Football Bowl Season!!!! The first game is Saturday and it doesn't stop until the National Championship on January 7th. Here is a clip & save schedule…

New Mexico Bowl; Fresno State – Wyoming, Saturday 12/19, 4:30 pm ESPN
St Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef O Brady's; UCF – Rutgers, 12/19, 8 pm, ESPN
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl; Southern Miss – Middle TN, 12/20, 8:30 pm, ESPN
MAACO Las Vegas Bowl; Oregon State – BYU, 12/22, 8 pm, ESPN
S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl; Utah – Cal, 12/23, 8 pm, ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl; Nevada – SMU, 12/24, 8 pm, ESPN
Little Caesars Bowl; Marshall – Ohio, 12/26, 1:00 pm, ESPN
Meineke Car Care Bowl; Pitt – North Carolina, 12/26, 4:30 pm, ESPN
Emerald Bowl; BC – USC, 12/26, 8 pm, ESPN
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl; Kentucky – Clemson, 12/27, 8:30 pm, ESPN
Advocare V100 Independence Bowl; Texas A&M – Georgia, 12/26, 5:00 pm, ESPN2
EagleBank Bowl; UCLA – Temple, 12/29, 4:30 pm, ESPN
Champs Sports Bowl; Miami – Wisconsin, 12/29, 8:00 pm, ESPN
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl; Bowling Green – Idaho, 12/30, 4:30, ESPN
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl; Arizona – Nebraska, 12/30, 8:00 pm, ESPN
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl; Houston – Air Force, 12/31, Noon, ESPN
Brut Sun Bowl; Oklahoma – Texas, 2:00 pm, CBS
Texas Bowl; Navy – Missouri, 12/31, 3:30 pm, ESPN
Insight Bowl, Minnesota – Iowa State, 12/31, 6:00 pm, NFL Network
Chick-fil-A Bowl; Virginia Tech – Tennessee; 12/31, 7:30 pm, ESPN
Outback Bowl; Northwestern – Auburn, 1/1, 11:00 am, ESPN
Capitol One Bowl; Penn State – LSU, 1/1, 1:00 pm, ABC
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl; West Virginia – Florida State; 1/1, 1:00 pm, CBS
Rose Bowl; Ohio State – Oregon, 1/1, 4:30 pm, ABC
Allstate Sugar Bowl; Florida – Cincinnati, 1/1, 8:30 pm, Fox
International Bowl; Southern Florida – Northern Illinois, ½, noon, ESPN2
Papjohns.com Bowl; South Carolina – UConn, ½, 2:00 pm, ESPN
AT&T Cotton Bowl; Oklahoma State – Ole Miss, ½, 2:00 pm, Fox
AutoZone Liberty Bowl; Arkansas – East Carolina, ½, 5:30 pm, ESPN
Valero Alamo Bowl; Michigan State – Texas Tech, ½, 9:00 pm, ESPN
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl; Boise State – TCU, ¼, 8:00 pm, Fox
FedEx Orange Bowl; Iowa – Georgia Tech, 1/5, 8:00 pm, Fox
GMAC Bowl; Central Michigan – Troy, 1/6, 7:00 pm, ESPN
Citi BCS National Championship Game; Texas – Alabama, 1/7, 8:00 pm, ABC

Don't miss a minute of college football bowl season, starting this Saturday on ESPN.

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

*Season two of Starz Crash wraps up tonight at 8:00 pm

*If you want to see some serious athletes who train simply for the thrill of competition check out the Ironman World Championship Saturday at 4:30 pm on ESPN.

*The annual WWE Tribute to the Troops airs Saturday at 9 pm on NBC.

*Survivor: Samoa brings its season to a close with a two hour episode followed immediately by an hour long reunion (Sunday, 8 pm, CBS).

*The Sing Off crowns its first champion Monday at 8 pm on NBC.

*The Closer's season finale (and it's a good one) runs Monday at 9 pm on TNT, followed by an episode of Men of a Certain Age featuring an outstanding Andre Braugher performance.

*NBC celebrate the holiday with its annual Christmas Eve running of It's A Wonderful Life (Thursday, 8 pm).

Two Tivos To Paradise
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, Food Network Challenge, Gary Unmarried, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Glee, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, Hung, Iron Chef America, Launch My Line, 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, Men of a Certain Age, The Middle, Models of the Runway, 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 Chef: Masters, Top Design, Torchwood, True Blood, Ugly Betty, V, 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 next week – on Christmas, no less – with the first of our two part 2009 in review special. Have a fantastic week of last minute shopping. See you next Friday!

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.