Two Tivos To Paradise 01.29.10: The State of the TV News Union

Posted by Al Norton on 01.29.2010

The final season of Lost begins, Forest Whitaker doing Criminal Minds spinoff, Chuck's Vik Sahay stops by to chat, Conan and NBC working together again, 30 Rock's big Valentine's plans, raves for The Tonight Show, tons of news and note, the TV Pick of the Week and more, all in the latest edition of Al Norton's Two Tivos To Paradise!

Hello Friends. Hard to believe but 2010 is almost 1/12th over. Wait, I didn't mean to spring some fractions on you so early on in the column. Since I am a New Englander and by birthright must talk about such things I will tell you it was 55 degrees in Boston on Monday and the high for today is forecast to be 17.

I am frequently raving about Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…so I thought I'd give you one of this season's best performances, a version of my single favorite Elvis Costello song. You may recognize one of the lyrics as a headline we use regularly here at TTTP



Not sure if I ran the Justified trailer already but the show looks so damn good that I had to make sure you all had seen it…



Here is the big interview update I promised you: tomorrow you can find my chat with Michael Trucco (Battlestar Galactica), a one-on-one with Heroes' Greg Grunberg will run on Monday, and then official Friend of TTTP Adam Richmond stops by to chat about the Man v. Food live special on Wednesday. In future weeks there will interviews with Shawn Hatosy (Southland), Keenan Thompson (SNL), and John Irwin (executive producer of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew).

I'm not a perfect person; there are so many things I wish I didn't news.

Well I Told You Once And I Told You Twice But You Never Listen To My Advice
Lost's sixth and final season premieres Tuesday at 9 pm with a two hour episode preceded at 8:00 by a catch-up special. As usual, details of the season are highly guarded but the latest trailer from ABC does give us new clips for the first time.



Some are suggesting that the bomb in the finale did the job and reversed everything that came before the crash, others think it may have created an alternate reality that we will see this year where the plane never went down. What is known is that almost all of the original cast will return at some point over the next few months.

Here is a remarkable video of the crash of flight 815 edited together from the various scenes the show has given us over the first five seasons. It's long but well worth the time for fans…



At this point it's not like Lost is pulling in any new viewers but I do expect higher ratings for this final season as those who may have stopped watching in the past will be more likely to return to see how it all ends.

We're Caught In A Trap, I Can't Walk Out, Because I Love You Too Much, Baby
Oscar winner Forest Whitaker is rumored to be in the last stages of negotiations to star in CBS' upcoming Criminal Minds spinoff. The untitled series follows a group of profilers who do their jobs outside of the rules and regulations of the FBI who will make their debut via a Criminal Minds episode this spring. Current CM executive producer Chris Mundy wrote the episode from an idea he and CM showrunner Ed Bernero came up with. Richard Shepard, who directed The Matador and won an Emmy for helming the Ugly Betty pilot, will direct.

As much as I don't think CBS, or television in general, needs another series about people tracking murderers, Whitaker is a truly phenomenal actor who makes just about any project worth checking out. His previous TV stints on The Shield and ER and several made-for TV movies have resulted in Emmy and SAG Award nominations, and the majority of his resume shows the man spends time picking scripts (we won't talk about Battlefield Earth).

Back to my earlier point; if this show gets picked up that would give CBS nine hours of prime time where the main thrust of the show is the apprehension of criminals, usually murderers, and that's assuming Numb3rs gets cancelled. Other than Ghost Whisperer and The Good Wife, both of which do frequently involve crime/murder, what does CBS have to offer someone not interested in crime dramas? It's telling to me that the one series they have that deals with crime but also puts much of the focus on the characters home life is Medium, which they grabbed from NBC.

I am not saying that individually any of these shows are terrible, just that collectively (3 CSI's, 2 NCIS, 2 CM's, The Mentalist, Medium) it gets to be a bit much.

You're Wondering Who I Am, Machine Or Mannequin, With Parts Made In Japan I Am The Modern Man



We caught up with Vik Sahay – Lester from NBC's Chuck – this week for a quick email chat about his pre-Chuck career, research on working at the Buy More, and Jeffster.

TTTP: What did you know about the character of Lester before you auditioned? What research did you do into the world of Best Buy-esque stores?

VS: I actually auditioned for a different character, Morgan. So knew of him that he was a Buy-More salesman and a close friend of Chuck's. Lester was offered to me later. All I knew about him was, literally, where he worked. Everything else about him has been collaboration between me and the writers. For research, I went to a Best Buy-type store in Toronto and picked employees brains about their pet peeves, their passions, their grievances, their day-to-day, tried to get a sense of their world. Trying to find a sense of who Lester might be, internally, more than externally. Then trying to fill that with my blood.

TTTP: What was it like last year to go from being a borderline renewal to a being touted as a big part of the networks 2010 plans?

VS: It's amazing and nuts. Things change very fast in this business. You really got to have your feet on the ground. And thank those fans!!

TTTP: How did Jeffster come to be? With the reaction the band got at Comic Con growing to legendary status are there any plans for a tour, or at least a full set?

VS: Hilarious. No, no tour plans yet. Jeffster is the perfect expression of the oddball friendship between Jeff and Lester. The writers just came up with it. Clearly, it seems they struck a chord. Somehow, we may be, inadvertently, piecing a set together through the course of the series, I think. Just shot our first "unplugged" appearance. I'm loving the ride, every time we get to perform, there is suspense around what the song will be, and that tension, combined with the need to close my eyes, get into the soul of Lester, and jumping into his version of rock-star-ness, make doing Jeffster utterly thrilling.

TTTP: For people who only know you from Chuck, what of your other work should they check out to get the full range of your talents?

VS: I had a supporting lead in a Canadian indie film called Amal that I'm really proud of. We shot it on location in New Delhi right before I got Chuck. Before that, I did two seasons on a great series shot in Toronto called This Is Wonderland.

TTTP: Can you give me a preview of the rest of the season of Chuck?

VS: Only vaguely. Everybody wants to be a hero, not everyone has it in them...though they try.

Don't miss Chuck, Mondays at 8 pm on NBC.

I Don't Know Where This Road Is Going To Lead, All I Know Is Where We've Been And What We've Been Through
Days after news broke that Brothers & Sisters producers had granted Rob Lowe's request to be let out of his deal with the show this spring came word that Calista Flockhart would not be working a full schedule next season. The first story claimed Lowe asked out because he felt his character was underutilized and there is speculation that since he and Flockhart are married on the show, he knew he would be on even less in the coming season. ABC reportedly wants to keep Lowe in house and is already working on a new series for him to lead.

The first story sure makes a lot more sense now, and the second probably means that Lowe's character won't be killed off (he has had heart issues in the past) but rather that they will move to DC (her character is running for Senate). The bigger issue for Brothers & Sisters, which is definetley not having its best season, creatively or in the Nielsens, is how to survive without its main character as a main character. Sally Field's Nora has always been front and center but Kitty was the focus of the show from the start – her move home after Papa Walker died in the pilot set the series in motion – and this means the other characters will get more spotlight. In some cases that may be good (see – Sol and Sarah) and in others not so much (Kevin has gone from being a truly interesting person to one of the most annoying and predictable characters on TV right now). My guess is this also makes it more likely that Balthezar Getty is back as a regular 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 seven days…

THURSDAY
The series premiere of The Deep End was watched by 7 million viewers and was down 25% in the demos from FlashForward's average in that timeslot…Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice finished behind their CBS counterparts (CSI, The Mentalist) in total audience while topping both in the demos pretty easily…The return of Vampire Diaries and Supernatural saw the series matching their previous season averages…The Office was NBC's top performer and finished second on the night in demos…Back-to-back reruns of The Big Bang Theory topped Community and Parks and Recreation…

FRIDAY
16.1 million people watched Hope For Haiti Now over six major broadcast networks (not including the many cable networks that also aired the telethon)…Spartacus: Blood and Sand set a network record as the most watched series debut in Starz history…Caprica got off to a less-than-stellar start when its two hour premiere drew 1.6 million viewers, below the average that BSG and Stargate: Universe put up in that timeslot and way below SG: U's premiere last fall. Something to factor in is that the episode has been available via DVD, Hulu, ITunes, and the network's website for some time, so next week may be more reflective of the actual audience…The finale of the Conan O'Brien hosted Tonight Show quadrupled its average rating and gave the show its strongest numbers in the seven months he was with them…

SUNDAY
An incredible 57.9 people watched the Vikings-Saints NFC Championship game on Sunday, the most watched program of the TV season…A two hour edition of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition drew 7.9 million…

MONDAY
Castle hit a series high in demos along with 10.5 million overall…House topped the night in demos and total audience (14.2 million)…24 was down 6% from last week and lost 37% of its House demo lead-in…Heroes showed a slight increase after consecutive series lows…Life Unexpected was down 11% from its premiere…The Bachelor was second in both totals demos for the night…The season premiere of Damages put up the worst demo numbers of any episode of an FX original series this TV season. As a point of reference, Men of a Certain Age, which is not doing fantastic, still performed roughly 250% better in the demos in their head-to-head match up…

TUESDAY
24.9 million tuned into American Idol, including demos numbers that more than doubled the next closest show…Human Target lost more than 60% of that demo lead-in and totaled 9.6 million viewers….The NCIS train shows no signs of slowing down with 20.1 million on board…NCIS: Los Angeles was up 27% in the demos and it's total audience of 17.2 million was impressive as well…The Biggest Loser was down overall from last week but the second hour of the show spiked thanks to losing Idol as competition…

WEDNESDAY
American Idol's audience was 24.7 million strong, down 8% in the demos from last week...All the other networks showed reruns in the 8:00 hour rather than waste new programming as a lead-in to the State of the Union, which was watched by 48 million people over 11 networks. Those numbers represent an 8% drop from last year...

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…NBC has ordered a pilot for Justice, a new drama about a member of the Supreme Court who quits his post in order to open up his own law firm. What makes this item particularly interesting is the pilot comes from Conan O'Brien's production company Conaco…ABC announced that this would be the last season for Ugly Betty. The Emmy and Golden Globe winning comedy has dropped considerably in the ratings the past two seasons and the network made the announcement early so the producers had time to give the series a proper send off…30 Rock has a big Valentine's Day episode planned that brings back all of Liz Lemon's ex-boyfriends; look for Jon Hamm, TTTP favorite Dean Winters, and Jason Sudeikis to appear along with a guest spot by Jon Bon Jovi…David Fincher and Charlize Theron are teaming up to produce a new HBO series based on the book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit. Dexter writer Scott Buck is scripting the pilot…CBS picked up the 21st and 22nd cycles of Survivor as well as a 17th go-round for The Amazing Race. They also gave an early pick up to How I Met Your Mother, which just signed Jennifer Lopez for a guest spot…Joanna Garcia has been cast as one of the leads in the new Shana Goldberg-Meehan ABC sitcom I told you about last week…CBS is moving forward on the Josh Schwartz (Chuck, Gossip Girl, The OC) pilot Hitched…Scrubs writer Tad Quill has a comedy pilot with CBS about a recent widower raising a 12 year old boy and getting back into the dating world…Marc Webb, recently named as the director for the upcoming Spider Man movie reboot, will direct the Fox pilot Midland, a drama set in the world of oil where the lead character has two families, neither of whom knows about the other…History picked up a first season of Only In America with Larry The Cable Guy, where the comedian travels the country taking part in odd jobs and pastimes…ABC Family is adapting the young adult novel Huge into an hour long series. The pilot, which follows a group of young girls at a body-wellness camp, is written by Winnie Holzman, creator of My So Called Life, and her daughter, and is described as Glee meets Ugly Betty…Wow, that was quick – ABC Family gave a 10 episode first season order to Huge as well as to Pretty Little Liars (Gossip Girl meets I Know What You Did Last Summer) both adaptations of young adult books…Martha Stewart moves her self-titled daily talk show from syndication to the Hallmark Channel this fall...Mia Michaels is returning to So You Think You Can Dance? as a judge for the audition rounds of the upcoming season…Mark McGrath with host a daily syndicated version of Don't Forget The Lyrics this fall…CBS ordered a pilot for Brett Ratnor's Chaos, about rogue CIA agents, as well as an untitled procedural where a female NYPD detective can remember literally everything she sees and hears….You can call off you hunger strikes – word has it that the cast of Jersey Shore is close to signing new contracts for a second season that would air this summer…The CW is working on Nikita, a remake of the movie/TV show Le Femme Nikita…The team behind The Gilmore Girls – Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino – are developing The Wyoming Project, a family drama that revolves around a horse farm…David Spade and Fred Wolf are working with TBS for an animated series spinoff of The Adventures of Joe Dirt…Fox gave a pilot order to a comedy based in an IRS office from the pen of Brent Forrester (The Office) and executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer…ABC will air The Bachelor: Jason and Molly's Wedding on March 8th, a two hour special that includes a look at the wedding planning, dress shopping, and bachelor and bachelorette parties…

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…Last Friday's Tonight Show may go down as the standard bearer for classy sign offs by hosts; instead of anger and frustration, Conan O'Brien sent a different message to his audience, one that may carry some weight considering the situation he was in.

The montage of clips from the seven months was pretty entertaining and a great reminder to those who were only tuning in because it was the end that Conan does silly about as good as anyone in the business.




Was Tom Hanks the best guest in the world? No, but the truth is this show was not about the guests, it was about the host, and Hanks did his best to not get in the way.

Then came time for O'Brien to address the audience…I would try to sum it up but his words were so good that I will let them speak for themselves…



Ok, I lied about not commenting. I was so thrilled that he took the time to encourage his fans to stay positive, to work hard, and to pursue their dreams. There is no doubt that we as a country are becoming more and more cynical – just read most of the comments left on 411mania for a quick example – and for someone who has every right to be dissatisfied with the system these days, the high road was that much higher. Some may have simply laughed it off as him being polite but there is no doubt that the philosophy he put forth last Friday has played a large role in the success he has achieved.

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…Three episodes in and I have all sorts of love for Archer, the most pleasant TV surprise in ages. I had no expectations going in and love the wordplay, the animation style, and the subject matter (combining James Bond and The Office). Lana Kane may be the single hottest animated character I have ever seen…The Deep End was not particularly good but it was nice to have a ensemble cast legal drama back on the air, and any show that gives Clancy Brown quality screen time can't be all bad…Sissy Spacek blew me away on Big Love Sunday night, giving an interesting and unique energy to her character. It's been an interesting season so far as they have doubled – or even tripled – the regular pace to get as much as they can into these 9 episodes. It saddens me that we are already 1/3 of the way through this batch of episodes…The Wanda Sykes Show made a VERY smart move by pushing the Wanda Bar segments up to the first half hour of the show as they are almost always the most best parts, with the guests talking about much more interesting things than in the standard talk show appearance…I am afraid if I raved about Danielle Fishel on The Dish anymore my secret crush wouldn't be so secret…I was set to give Private Practice all sorts of credit for their handling of abortion last week, with fair and even handed dialogue given to both sides of the issue, and then they went and chicken out by having a 15 year old girl decide to keep her baby, a decision that the storyline had made clear was the wrong one. Regardless of how one feels about it, abortions are legal and happen every day in the US and the idea that networks feel they can't have a character have one without dealing with major repercussions is ridiculous…Eddie McClintock was perfectly cast as Ted's brother on Better Off Ted this week, an episode that featured some great comedy from the Veronica – Linda pairing…I was impressed that Life Unexpected could keep the quality level up after such a strong pilot. This week was a great indication that the show isn't going for easy resolutions and quick personal growth in their characters, which is always good as the fun – and the meaty drama – is in the journey…Craig Ferguson was on fire this week, with a great Carl Reiner-Alicia Witt outing on Monday followed by a highly entertaining chat with 50 Cent on Tuesday…Thoroughly enjoyed the season premiere of Damages this week, in particular the performances by Martin Short and Campbell Scott. Pretty gutsy to kill off one of the main characters like that - I admire them trying to keep the audience on its toes. Rose Byrne has really grown on me, although I still think she needs to eat a sandwich (or six)…It's not like I didn't thought Avril Lavigne was incredibly annoying before but her stint as a guest judge on Tuesday's American Idol sealed the deal. The winner of the week was Katy Perry, who came across as much less grating since she followed in the guest chair…

TV Pick Of The Week
Super Bowl Sunday is next weekend, a day most people look forward to for the mammoth amounts of food consumed as much as the game itself, and nothing gets you in the mood for mammoth amounts of food like Travel's Man v. Food. You can catch some of the best episodes of the first two seasons running marathon style on Sunday, or for the one hour primer you can watch a best of on Wednesday at 8 pm. The main event is the two hour special that follows – Man v. Food Live - where host Adam Richman attempts to eat a 48 ounce porterhouse at Shula's Steak House in Miami, Florida in just 20 minutes.

Don't miss the Man v. Food marathon on Sunday and then Man v. Food Live, Wednesday at 9 pm on Travel.

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

*The finale of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse airs tonight at 8 pm on Fox.

*Mario Lopez hosts the 2010 Miss America Pageant Saturday at 8 pm on TLC

*Fox Reality's newest original series is Seducing Cindy, where internet download queen Cindy Margolis, now a single Mom, tries to pick a new man from a group of guys whose ages range from 18 to 71.

*Going through some football withdrawal this week? Check out ESPN's coverage of the Pro Bowl Sunday at 7 pm. Wait, that's McDonald's Presents the 2010 Pro Bowl. Sorry.

*The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards air live at 8 pm this Sunday on CBS, with pre-shows on E! and the TV Guide Network starting at 6 pm.

*Julie Benz makes her first post-Dexter TV appearance Sunday at 9 pm when she begins a recurring role on Desperate Housewives as a stripper with a master's degree.

*Saturday Night Live Sports Extra (9 pm, Sunday, NBC) is a two hour look at the best of their sports-related sketches. It will be a crime if Smelt Night isn't a part of this.

*BET premieres The Michael Vick Project Tuesday at 10 pm, a new reality series that documented the convicted felon's return to pro football.

*Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials 2010 (Wednesday, 8 pm, CBS) ought to be good for some laughs as well as some nostalgia.

*Wednesday is a good night for guest stars; at 9 pm Sam Watterson brings Jack McCoy over to Law and Order: SVU (NBC) and then Luke Perry guests on Leverage (TNT) at 10 pm.

*The Bones "winter finale" airs Thursday at 8 pm on Fox.

*The great Jan Hooks returns to TV in a 30 Rock guest spot as Jenna's Mom (Thursday, 9:30 pm, NBC).

*Important Things with Demetri Martin kicks off season two Thursday at 10 pm on Comedy Central, followed by season three of the Emmy nominated The Sarah Silverman Program at 10:30 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, Chef Academy, Chopped, The Chris Isaak Hour, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Daddy's Girls, Damages, The Deadliest Catch, Demons, 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, Life Unexpected, 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, The Wanda Sykes Show, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Will Work for Food, Worst Cooks In America,

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 a full run down of all the latest TV news as well as my list for the best shows of the last ten years; I wasn't planning on doing such a list but I've received enough emails asking why I didn't to motivate me. Fans of The Shield and The Wire should be standing by with their flames at the ready.

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.