Two Tivos To Paradise 09.03.10: The Labor Day Weekend Edition

Posted by Al Norton on 09.03.2010

True Blood hits a ratings high, raves for Jimmy Fallon and The Emmys, info on J.J. Abrams' new show, graphic novels The Sandman and Locke & Key are coming to TV, the new fall season begins and more!



Hello friends. We're coming off of what is most likely the last heat wave of the year here in Boston, with temps hitting the mid-90's this week. Of course, by the time you are reading this it's entirely possible that Hurricane Earl will be providing us with some entertainment. A slightly sad week as I've finally given up on the Sox chances to make the playoffs, made official by me by not sending in the form (and large check) for post-season tickets.

My daughter's recovery continues to go swimmingly, and she returns to daycare starting on Tuesday. That also means my mother-in-law will be moving out of our spare bedroom and heading back to CT; she has been amazing the past month (a lot longer than that, actually) and I literally do not know what we would have done without her. I know it's common for men to complain about their MIL's but I must have won some sort of lottery in that department.

No videos in our cold open this week since there are so many to be found below in the season/series premiere section that debuts this week…Ok, fine, here is a Spike tribute video someone sent me this week



Thanks for all of you who have already become a part of the Two Tivos To Paradise Facebook universe – the last two weeks have set record highs for comments and likes. I love the idea that TV fans can share their passions while getting up-to-the-minute TV news blasts. Click here to join in, and don't forget to invite your friends!

Can't you catch that I'm smiling, ain't it kind of beguiling cause you know that smile is all for news.

All The Gold In California Is In A Bank In The Middle of Beverly Hills Under Somebody Else's Name
The 62nd annual Emmy Awards were held last Sunday night, with a lot of first time winners and ceremony that actually ended on time. Here is a list of winners in some of the major categories:

Best Reality Competition Series: Top Chef
Best Supporting Actor, Comedy: Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Best Supporting Actress, Comedy: Jane Lynch, Glee
Best Supporting Actor, Drama: Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Best Supporting Actress, Drama: Archie Punjabi, The Good Wife
Best Actor, Comedy: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Best Actress, Comedy: Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Best Actor, Drama: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Best Actress, Drama: Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Best Series, Comedy: Modern Family
Best Series, Drama: Mad Men

My take: Jimmy Fallon did a solid job as host, with an inspired opening bit. Interesting choice to bypass the monologue all together but if you had never seen him before you might have thought he was more of a musical comedian than he is (I know he does great stuff with music but it's pretty much all he did on the show). The montages that accompanied each new type of programming were excellent but the graphics were not, and neither was the choice to do Variety and Reality back-to-back and slowing things down quite a bit…Archie Punjabi was the biggest surprise of the evening, in particular for me because I thought she was the least deserving of a nomination, let alone actually winning…Most experts (myself included) thought Juliana Margulies was going to take Best Actress, Drama but that didn't make Kyra Sedgwick any less of a legit winner. Her work on The Closer's five seasons deserved an Emmy at some point…I have been championing Bryan Cranston's performance on Breaking Bad as some of the best in television history since the pilot and his third win in a row solidifies his performance bringing Walter White to life as TV Hall of Fame worthy…Edie Falco joined Carol O'Connor as the only two actors to win lead Emmys in both comedy and drama…Great to see Aaron Paul win - he is so good on Breaking Bad…Other than Punjabi's win I can't quibble with the other awards; I might have made different choices on a couple but overall it was a quality group of honorees…

She's On Fire Cause Dancin' Gets Her Higher Than Anything Else She Knows
The cast for the newest season of Dancing with the Stars was announced on Monday night, with most of the names rumored last week confirmed. Attempting to trip the light fantastic will be Michael Bolton, David Hasselhoff, Rick Fox, Kyle Masssey, The Situation, Kurt Warner, Florence Henderson, Audrina Partridge, Jennifer Grey, Bristol Palin, Margaret Cho, and Brandy.

THR.com told us this week that the list of people approached for the season also included Sylvester Stallone, Tim Allen, Suzanne Somers, Condoleezza Rice, Ann Coulter, Erin Brakovich, Richard Branson, and Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. Chris Jericho tweeted that he had been asked but had a scheduling conflict and hoped to be asked again in the future.

Last spring's cast had some pretty big names with dedicated followings and I'm not really sure this group matches up. I know Jersey Shore is a phenomenon and folks may tune in to see how The Situation does, and Bristol Palin probably fills the "watch to see her fail" slot for the show, but my best guess is that ratings for this new season will be down from earlier in the year, although still quite strong overall.

Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't, I'm Supposed To Get A Raise This Week, You Know Damn Well I Won't
A long holiday weekend always means one thing – marathon TV viewing options. Here is a sampling of some ways to pass the hours away over the next three days. It's great to see some new shows getting the marathon treatment alongside some returning favorites. Shows marked with an * have marathons that lead into new episodes.

FRIDAY
White Collar (USA), 6 am, 22 episodes

SATURDAY
River Monsters (Animal Planet), 11 am, 18 episodes

MONDAY
Little People, Big World* (TLC), 6 am, 29 episodes
House Hunters International (HGTV), 6:30 am, 27 episodes
Bewitched (TVLand), 8 am, 11 episodes
The Game (BET), 8 am, 26 episodes
Hoarders* (A&E), 8 am, 15 episodes
I Love Lucy (Hallmark), 8 am, 40 episodes
Pawn Stars (History), 8 am, 26 episodes
Destination Truth (Syfy), 8:30 am, 7 episodes
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations* (Travel), 9 am, 18 episodes
Dirty Jobs (Discovery), 9 am, 18 episodes
Whale Wars (Animal Planet), 9 am, 21 episodes
World's Toughest Fixes (NGC), 9 am, 11 episodes
The Cupcake Girls (Oxygen), 10 am, 8 episodes
The Office (TBS), 10 am, 20 episodes
Star Wars Trilogy (Spike), 10 am
The Secret Life of the American Teenager* (ABC Family), 11 am, 10 episodes
Bones (TNT), Noon, 8 episodes
Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami (E!), Noon, 10 episodes (full second season)
NCIS (USA), Noon, 9 episodes
Two & Half Men (FX), Noon, 24 episodes
The Nanny (TVLand), 2 pm, 16 episodes

If There's A Feeling Coming Over Me Seems It's Always Understood This Time Of Year
Hard as it is to believe, the fall TV season begins next week, with one returning show and two airing series premieres. Each week this section will be a guide for you to use in setting your Tivos/DVR's.

Tuesday, 9/7
Sons of Anarchy, 10 pm, FX (season 3 premiere)
One of the four or five best shows on television returns…



Wednesday, 9/8
America's Next Top Model, 8 pm, The CW
Cycle 15 of the series begins.



Hellcats 9 pm, The CW (series premiere)
A drama about college cheerleaders. Ok, maybe "drama" is not exactly the right word. It's not good but it very well might be the kind of bad that is oh-so-fun to watch.



Terriers, 10 pm, FX (series premiere)
If Lone Star is the best network drama of the new season, Terriers is the best new cable series since…well, FX's last new series, Justified. I am three episodes in and LOVING it. Highest recommendation possible for this funny, well acted, well written, private eye dramedy.



Thursday, 9/9
Vampire Diaries, 8 pm, The CW
The CW's breakout hit of 2009 is back for a second season.



Nikita, 9 pm, The CW (series premiere)
To these eyes Nikita gives "over the top" a bad name.



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 7 days…

THURSDAY
Another week, another Jersey Shore ratings record; the episode drew 5.8 million viewers and the demos were the third best for the week in ALL OF TELEVISION, finishing behind an NFL pre-season game and America's Got Talent ( and it was just a shade behind AGT)…8.2 million tuned in to Big Brother…Rookie Blue improved a bit in the demos…

SUNDAY
The total viewing audience for The Emmys was the largest in four years…True Blood hit a new series high with 5.4 million viewers tuning in, not to mention the additional 1.2 million who watched the replay at 11:30 pm…Entourage hit a season high with 2.9 million pairs of eyes…

MONDAY
The Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion special was the most watched Real Housewives related programming of any kind ever in all key demos…E's post Emmy edition of Fashion Police was the most watched FP of any kind in network history…

TUESDAY
29 million people over 11 networks tuned in to President Obama's speech about the end combat troops leaving Iraq on Tuesday night

WEDNESDAY
The season finale of Plain Jane tied a season/series high. Maybe this will be the push The CW needs to do the right thing and renew the most charming and entertaining new reality series of 2010…Big Brother won the night in totals and demos…Minute to Win It and America's Got Talent dropped off from last week, the latter hitting a season low in demos…

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Deadline.com says JJ Abrams is working with Lost executive producer Elisabeth Sarnoff on Alcatraz, a top secret new drama series they are shopping to networks. Sarnoff also has Deadwood and Crossing Jordan on her resume and wrote the pilot script for Alcatraz…From THR.com, Warner Brothers TV is working on an adaptation of the 90's comic book The Sandman, with Supernatural creator Eric Kripe is at the top of their list to lead the project…Conan O'Brien's new TBS late night talk show will be called Conan…Glee characters Finn, Rachel, and Mercedes will appear in the season premiere of The Simpsons when Lisa attends a performing arts camp. All will be voiced by the actual Glee actors…Ronald D Moore has a series in development with NBC that is being described as an "adult Harry Potter", set in a world where magic is the law of the land…Oscar winner Curtis Hanson will direct the HBO original movie Too Big To Fail, an adaptation of Andrew Ross Sorkin book of the same name that documents the financial meltdown of 2008. Fellow Oscar winner William Hurt has been cast as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson…The upcoming 6th season of TLC's Little People, Big World will be its last…Twilight's Jackson Rathbone has signed for a recurring role on ABC's No Ordinary Family…Steven Moffat told reporters that what most thought was going to be Doctor Who's upcoming 13 episode season with actually be broken up over two separate runs, with a major cliffhanger in the middle. The show returns to BBC in April, run for seven weeks, and then come back in the fall…Will Forte is leaving Saturday Night Live after 8 seasons…Two time Oscar nominee Joan Cusack has joined William H Macy in the new Showtime series Shameless, an adaptation of the long running UK show of the same name. Emmy winners John Wells and John Abbott are executive producing…NBC picked up a 6th season of America's Got Talent, bringing back the entire on-camera crew for next year. The show has been the most watched of the summer in each of its first five seasons…TLC has a six episode first season of Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss starting next month. The show focuses on plus-sized brides-to-be searching for their perfect dress…Bravo picked up a fourth season of The Real Housewives of New York and a third season of the New Jersey edition of their franchise…HBO renewed Hung for a 10 episode third season…Mekhi Phifer will not return to Lie to Me in the fall…I mentioned in this section last week that Fox was working on an adaptation of the graphic novel Locke & Key and now it seems they've already picked it up as a series, with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicle's Josh Friedman on board as showrunner. The network is looking at launching it next summer…Rumors have TNT giving Memphis Beat a second season…Dennis Miller: The Big Speech, premiering in November, will be the comedian's 8th HBO stand up special and his first in four years…Fox gave a 12 episode mid-season order to The Jamie Foxx Project, a sketch comedy show executive produced by the Oscar winner…Multiple outlets are reporting that AMC has already picked up a 13 episode second season of The Walking Dead. The first season premieres on Halloween…Eddie Izzard will do 8 episodes of The United States of Tara when the Emmy winning Showtime comedy returns with a new season next year…TTTP fave Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights) landed a recurring role on Big Love…

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…The opening of the Emmys was fantastic, mixing passion for television along with some gentle skewering and a group of stars showing they know exactly how seriously they should be taken.



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…Can't say I was thrilled with the Royal Pains finale as reestablishing tension and mistrust between Eddie and his boys just puts them back where they were when he reappeared at the start of the season. I'd have preferred they went a different route and had the ending with him shocking Hank and Evan with his business success/acumen. There is still plenty of time to have Blue Sky end up being a money maker but I don't thrilled to see another season of him trying to win his sons back…I am not saying, "if you man enough, all underwear is edible" was the TV line of the summer but I am hard pressed to find a better one. Despite the melodramatic ending to the season finale, The Hard Times of RJ Berger was one of the most pleasant surprises of the year…Gary Cole was wasted on The Closer this week – seriously, not even one meaty scene for him to sink his teeth into?!?!? – but Kyra Sedgwick showed anyone tuning in after Sunday's night Emmy win exactly why she was deserving of the award. This is actually the second time Brenda has allowed a killer to die when she could have done something about it, the first being last season's excellent episode when she let the Texas detective take the serial killer back to his home state to face the death penalty when she could have charged him in California…Is it possible that it was just a couple of seasons ago when Entourage was one of the best comedies on TV?!?! This season has been dreadful, and the Vince – Sasha scenes are truly painful and among the worst things I have watched on TV in 201…Loved the flashbacks on Mad Men this week, seeing how Roger and Don first met. Also loved the lack of awareness displayed by the two when being amused by Duck's alcoholism. Don really is on a downward spiral this season and Jon Hamm is proving he really is among the top people working in television right now…Every season (and mid-season) USA hypes the Burn Notice finales as putting Michael Weston in his toughest spot yet and it's just silly since we know he's going to get out of it, and it raises expectations to unmeetable heights. He was shot and lying in the road, presumably with Sam and Fiona somewhat close behind. I am a huge fan of the show but would love to be surprised by one of the finales one of these seasons…That Presidential Porterhouse on Man v Food had me dreaming about steak. More than usual, I mean…It seemed to me that last week's Rescue Me should have been the season finale. This past Tuesday's actual finale was good but the ending was too showy and frankly not that shocking; why would I be surprised that a guy who sees ghosts would feel so guilty about what happened to Damian that he would see a vision of him as well? The conversation about what a pavilion is was top notch, though…

TV Pick Of The Week
The 2010 Norty Awards named Friday Night Lights the best drama series on TV, and I'd take this opportunity to say it's also one of the best shows of the last 10 years along with being the best sports themed series of all time. Why am I bringing this up? Because ABC Family starts airing FNL reruns every weeknight at 6 pm starting next week. Even better, the network is using their top rated series to launch the show, running the FNL pilot Monday at 9 pm after a new episode of The Secret Life.

This is a phenomenal chance for those of you who have yet to jump on the bandwagon to see what all the fuss is about. It's about family, growing up, life, and so many other things, including football, and I'm paraphrasing myself when I say it's one of the few TV dramas that is simply about people, without a weekly crime to solve or medical mystery to cure. The games themselves usually take all of five or so minutes of screen time, and there are episodes with no football whatsoever. Mrs. Tivo is a great example of someone who has no interest in actual football but would never miss an hour of the show.

Don't miss Friday Night Lights, Monday at 9 pm (and then every weekend night at 6 pm) on ABC Family.

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

*The new season of big time college football kicks off in earnest on Saturday, with some quality match up's; Texas @ Rice (3:30, ESPN), Purdue /@ Notre Dame (3:30, NBC), Oregon State @ TCU (7:45, ESPN), LSU @ North Carolina (8 pm, ABC).

*All American Handyman is a new HGTV reality series looking to find the best handyman in all the land. Catch the premiere Sunday at 9 pm.

*After Sunday's Leverage (9 pm, TNT) comes to a close you'll have to wait until December for new episodes, so make sure you tune in.

*MAD (Monday, 8:30 pm, Cartoon Network) looks to bring the wonderfully off comic sensibilities of the magazine to a new generation.

*VH-1 does lists as well as any network so I have high hopes for The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, a four part series airing Mon-Thu at 10 pm.

*White Collar (USA) hits the season two midpoint Tuesday at 9 pm and then takes a break for a few months. Do any of you want to join me in a Mozzy withdrawal support group?

*Hard as it may be to believe, pro football season is but a few bullet points away. Inside the NFL begins a new season Wednesday at 9 pm on Showtime.

*Part one of the Top Chef finale airs Wednesday at 10 pm taking the finalists out of the country for the first time in series history.

*Yes, the NFL regular season is here; the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints open at home against the Vikings of Minnesota (8:30 pm) preceded by a kick off special at 7:30 that features live performances by Dave Matthews Band and Taylor Swift.

*Rookie Blue (9 pm, Thursday, ABC), which surprisingly did well enough to earn a second season, wraps up its freshman batch of episodes with a two hour finale.

*Destination Truth (Syfy), a show that can be enjoyed by both the Mulders and the Scullys out there, opens season four on Thursday at 9 pm.

Two Tivos To Paradise
24 Hour Restaurant Battle, 30 Rock, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Archer, 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, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, The Dish, Entourage, Eureka, Fact or Faked, Flipping Out, Food Network Challenge, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Glee, The Good Guys, Gossip Girl, Great Food Truck Race, Grey's Anatomy, The Hard Times of RJ Berger, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, How To Make It In America, Huge, Hung, Iron Chef America, Justified, Kate Plus 8, Last Comic Standing, Launch My Line, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Life Unexpected, Mad Men, Make Me A Supermodel, Man v. Food, Medium, Men of a Certain Age, The Middle, Modern Family, Next Food Network Star, Next Iron Chef, The Office, One Tree Hill, Paranormal State, Parks & Recreation, Private Practice, Project Runway, Psych, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rescue Me, Royal Pains, Rubicon, Rules Of Engagement, Run's House, Sanctuary, Saturday Night Live, 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, V, The Vampire Diaries, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Worst Cooks In America,

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. I hope everyone has a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. We'll be back next week with all the latest TV related headlines!

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 and Deadline.com.