Two Tivos To Paradise 03.11.11: March Madness Edition

Posted by Al Norton on 03.11.2011

An update on the renewal chances of Fringe, Human Target and more, news on new shows for Elizabeth Hurley, Terry O'Quinn, Don Johnson and Michael Chiklis, How I Met Your Mother gets a big renewal and more!



Hello friends. Sorry for my absence last week; Wednesday night my computer went into sleep mode and would not reboot and it took a two hour phone call with Dell on Saturday afternoon before all was right with the world. I can't complain since the guys I originally took it to told me the hard drive was dead and there was no way to retrieve my files without spending big bucks with a data recovery company. In the end I paid $139 for one-time Dell software call (it would have been refundable if they were not able to fix it) and I lost nothing. To be honest, the almost three days I went without my computer were rather liberating.

This seems like a good place to point out that if you were a member of TTTP's Facebook community then you'd already know all this; not only did everyone there get the heads up that there was going to be no column last Friday, they also were able to continue to stay up-to-date on TV headlines. If you are on FB, you have no excuse to be click "like", and if you're not on FB, isn't this the excuse you've been needing to finally put down your can of New Coke and your Pong paddles and sign up?!?!?

HBO's upcoming Game of Thrones just looks better and better…



Speaking of looking better and better, the more I see of AMC's The Killing, the more I can't wait for the premiere…



Interview update; Monday you can read my wide-ranging discussion with Howard Gordon followed by a one-on-one with V star Elizabeth Mitchell on Tuesday and a chat with Justified's Joelle Carter on Wednesday. Coming up later in the month is Ken Baumann (b>The Secret Life of the American Teenager) and Marcel Vigneron (Marcel's Quantum Kitchen, Top Chef).

And when she struts that thing around everybody be breaking their neck like, "who dat news?"

We Want To Multiply, Are You Gonna Do It? I Know You're Qualified, Are You Gonna Do It?
FX has ordered a pilot for Powers, an adaptation of a popular comic book about a police detective who investigates crimes involving superheroes. Charles Eglee, who most recently wrote and executive produced on the first season of The Walking Dead, scripted the pilot and will serve as executive producer and Michael Dinner, also an executive producer, will direct. Powers has been popular for over 10 years now, with more than 60 editions of the comic book and 12 graphic novels. In 2001 the rights to the project were optioned to be a movie but nothing came of it.

This caught my interest on a number of levels, all of them good. Eglee has an incredibly impressive resume, with writing and executive producing stints on Dexter, The Shield, NYPD Blue, Dark Angel, Murder One, The Byrds of Paradise, and Moonlighting, meaning he knows cops shows, he knows superheroes, and he knows snappy dialogue. Dinner has a great history with FX pilots, having been behind the camera for both Sons of Anarchy and Justified. And let's not forget that not only did Katee Sackhoff tweet that she wanted the female lead but apparently there have already been meetings about her getting the role.

Considering their ration of series to series on my year's best list, FX has to be considered just about the top network on TV, so any project they are working catches my eye simply because it's theirs, and combined with the pedigree of source material and people working on it, my guess is there will be quite a lot of excitement around the eventual Powers series premiere.

Closing Time, You Don't Have To Go Home But You Can't Stay Here
After 2+ weeks of crazy ranting, name calling, and essentially begging to be fired, Warner Brothers did just that to Charlie Sheen, sending him a letter on Tuesday terminating his deal to star on Two and a Half Men. This is just the start of what will most likely be a long and protracted legal battle and while money may change hands, it is 100% clear that Sheen will never appear in a new episode of the hit comedy again. Something less certain is the future of the show; Warner Brothers and CBS will have to decide in the coming weeks if they want to continue the show without Sheen and if so, who they would get to replace him; John Stamos and Rob Lowe's names were mentioned this past weekend – before Sheen was actually fired – but it's unclear if those are ideas created by armchair casting directors or conversations actually coming from the studio.

Speaking of a protracted legal battle, Sheen filed a $100 million suit against Warner Brothers and Men creator/executive producer Chuck Lorre. Well, make that $100 million plus punative damages. The suit claims Sheen is suing on behalf of the entire cast and crew for the eight episodes missed.

There are also rumors that Sheen met with Live Nation this week to create a road show similar to the one Conan O'Brien did last summer after being fired from The Tonight Show and that he was developing a talk show to run on HDNet.

Had an interesting thread on our FB page this week (hint, hint) about why Sheen would be fired now after several years of open drug use, multiple allegations of abusing women, and his publicly cavorting with porn starlets, but the bottom line is he's gone on an almost three straight week binge of insulting his boss Chuck Lorre, the guy who created the show and without whom he wouldn't have a $30 million a year job to piss away. The only reason the network hadn't acted earlier is that the American people didn't seem to care; no matter what Charlie did, the ratings stayed the same, or frequently went up, but at some point enough is enough and for Warner Brothers it was now.

Warner Brothers and CBS have a limited window to make a decision since they are scheduled to reveal their fall lineup in two months. On the one hand, why throw away the number one comedy on TV when the worst case scenario is it's not that good. I mean, it's not like you're talking about damaging the legacy of some sort of brilliant comedic work. On the other hand, the last thing they want is for the show to fail and to somehow come away looking like they made a bad decision; network executives are rather sensitive about such things.

Do you think Two and a Half Men should live on? If so, and you watch now, who would make you keep watching, and if you don't watch, who might get you to tune in?



Father Wears His Sunday Best, Mother's Tired She Needs A Rest
Starting today at 3:45 with The Patriot League through Sunday afternoon at 3:30 with the Big Ten, there are 12 conference championship games on five networks to get your March Madness juices flowing. The main event is Sunday's NCAA selection show at 6pm on CBS (ESPN does their own version from 7 – 9pm.

The games themselves begin Tuesday and Wednesday night as teams play for the right to play top seeds next weekend, and then Thursday begins the all day coverage. While there have always been games throughout the day, this year EVERY game will be on NATIONAL television thanks to a new TV deal that brings in the Turner networks TNT, TBS, truTV to the traditional CBS coverage.

I know most of you will be doing brackets and planting yourselves in front of a TV over the next few weeks so I wanted to point out just how cool it is that ALL the games are on, so you don't have to worry about if your region is going to get your favorite team or when the producers are going to cut away from the boring blowout on your screen; all the power is in your remote.

Come On Darlin', Put On A Pretty Dress, We're Gonna Go Out Tonight
ABC revealed the cast for the latest cycle of Dancing with the Stars on last week; Ralph Macchio, Kirstie Alley, Sugar Ray Leonard, Hines Ward, Wendy Williams, Petra Nemcova, Chelsea Kane, Romeo, Chris Jericho, Kendra Wilkinson, Psycho Mike Catherwood will all be attempting to be best dancer in show this time around.

Jericho plays well here at 411mania but this is a really terrible group in terms of generating their own audiences. Ward and Leonard represent the athlete spot that has become standard, Williams is a pretty popular TV and radio show host (and even people who don't watch/listen may recognize her from The Soup), Kane is the kids show rep (she was on Disney's Jonas Brothers LA), Macchio is the 80's nostalgia trip this time around, and Nemcova meets the model quota, but where are the actual stars? Usually each season features someone with a big current following (hate them if you wish but Kate has a HUGE fan base and The Situation is on one of the hottest shows on TV right now) as well as someone who at one point was a superstar for a time in their industry (Brandy and Michael Bolton last season; Pam Anderson before that) and this time around I don't really see either. Some seasons haven't had one of those two groups accounted for but make up for it with a bunch of B- listers but this group feels like a bunch of third choices. I mean, how many people outside of LA folks even know who Psycho Mike is? They'd have been better off with Psycho Sid, or better yet, anyone from the cast of PSYCH.

I am not a regular Dancing with the Stars viewer and Mrs. Tivo makes her decision on a season-by-season basis and there is no one here who will make either of us tune in.

I Could Feel At The Time There Was No Way Of Knowing, Falling Leaves In The Night, Who Can Say Where They're Blowing
Sally Pressman is one of TTTP's oldest and best friends, contributing to all of our anniversary columns and also offering up her thoughts on 2010 in TV in last December's year-in-review. She stars as Roxy on Lifetime's record setting drama Army Wives, which returned to big ratings last Sunday. We caught up with her on the phone last week for a quick chat.

TTTP: With this appearance you pass Alison Sweeney and officially become Queen of Two Tivos to Paradise. Joel McHale is your King, by the way.

Sally Pressman: That's great. That is good to know. That is some pretty good company; you'll have to let him know that we're officially together now.

TTTP: Every season of a show is a little different in terms of tone and focus, so what can you tell me about season five of Army Wives?

Sally Pressman: We're in the middle of shooting the 7th episode and this season we're only doing 13, so it's a shorter season than 2, 3 and 4, and we're kind of packing a lot more punches into each episode. The tone so far is much more of an overall roller coaster; really high highs, really down downs.

Al Norton: This being the 5th season, and despite the show being a hit by any measurement, do you show up thinking, "this could be it"?

Sally Pressman: There's definitely that concern every year and there was a delay this year in terms of when we found out about getting picked up so there was definitely that hint of "is this our last, is it not?" We've kind of got it down to pretty good, efficient run right now and I think we're all trying to do the best work we can do regardless of what the outcome is at the end of the year for next season. I think we're just taking it day by day and staying in the moment rather than get involved in the endless analysis that would come from wondering about getting picked up or not.

Al Norton: Who's the Charlie Sheen of your show?

Sally Pressman: (Laughing) There's no Charlie Sheen here.

Al Norton: Have you started to think about what you want your next step to be when the show does end?

Sally Pressman: 100%. Obviously as an actor you always think about what's next and when you're on a long running show you think about what else you'll want to do. The ideal thing for me, personally, would be comedy. TV, movies, either one, but definitely comedy.

Al Norton: What are you watching these days?

Sally Pressman: I really like Mr. Sunshine, I really hope it stays around. What else? I'm not watching Two and a Half Men anymore (laughing). I'm a big cable person; I've been watching Shameless and Episodes, which I absolutely love. Californication. The whole NBC line up of comedies on Thursdays, too. And Modern Family, of course.

Al Norton: The previews for this season look pretty heavy; what can you tell me?

Sally Pressman: They are pretty heavy (laughing). I mentioned the high highs and the low lows and I think the preview really captures the low lows we get early on in the season. Tissue boxes will be very necessary.

Don't miss Army Wives, Sundays at 9pm on Lifetime.

It Was A Slow Day And The Sun Was Beating Down On The Soldiers By The Side Of The Road
An email conversation with Joel McHale (yes, to paraphrase Ric Flair, I am a shameless name dropping son of a gun) about the likelihood of Community getting a third season made me realize it was the time of year to start to keep track of such things, so here is part one in a four part look at where each of the big networks current series fall on the renewal map. Keep in mind this is just my take on it.

FOX

ALREADY RENEWED
American Dad
The Cleveland Show
Family Guy
Glee
Raising Hope
The Simpsons

SURE THING
American Idol
Bones
House

TOO SOON TO TELL
Bob's Burgers
The Chicago Code
Fringe
Human Target
Lie to Me


DONE FOR (MOST LIKELY)
Running Wilde (already cancelled)
Traffic Light

Here's the bottom line; at best two from the list of Fringe, Human Target, and Lie to Me are coming back next season, and it's not entirely impossible that none will; Fox only does two hours of primetime each night plus has The X-Factor in the fall and Idol in the winter/spring taking up between 1 – 3 hours a week. Toss in Sunday's animated line up, the already renewed shows, and the sure things and you're left with just a couple of hours, and networks need to try new shows every season in the hopes they may be on to the next big thing. If it were me I might try giving 10-12 episode season to Fringe and Human Target, which would save on money, keep the fans happy, and leave room for more new programming.

Sunny Day, Sweepin' The Clouds Away, On My Way To Where The Air Is Sweet
A new feature here at TTTP – the Sesame Street video of the week…



Like A Coin In Your Mint, I's Dented And I'm Spent With High Treason
This is the time of year where news on network pilots flies fast and furious so it makes sense to carve out a new section for updates…

ABC
Hallelujah has me fully locked in; from Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry, it's the story of a small southern town where good, represented by diner owner Donal Logue, battles evil, in this case Terry O'Quinn's richest man in town, for the figurative (and literal?) soul of its residents. Jesse L Martin plays the stranger passing through who just might tip the balance of power…The Vampire Dairies Arielle Kebbel is also in the cast…Smothered is fast becoming one of my favorite projects; a comedy from Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen, who worked together on Friends, Worst Week, and Rules of Engagement, the show is about a couple dealing with their overbearing parents. While the log line isn't all that original, the cast is fabulous; Kyle Howard (My Boys) and Brooke D'Orsay (Royal Pains) are the couple and the two sets of parents are Adam Arkin & Marcia Gay Harden and John C McGinley & Julie White…Frances Fisher will play the Mom of two cops who are secretly half sisters on Partners…Jennifer Aspen (Glee, Rodney) is the first name attached to Good Christian Bitches…Shonda Rhimes pilot about the world of celebrity PR/spin got a title – Damage Control – and a new cast member - Tony Goldwyn, playing the President of the United States. Kerry Washington has the lead role on the show and Lost's Henry Ian Cusick co-stars…Katie Cassidy (Melrose Place) and Joe Mazzello (The Pacific) have joined Jimmy Wolk (Lonestar) in Georgetown…Abigail Spencer (Mad Men, Hawthorne) has joined Eric Roberts in the cast of Grace, a drama about a multi-generational family of dancers, as has Sherri Saum…Leslie Bibb and Annie Potts are also now on board to be Good Christian Bitches…Christina Ricci is now officially part of Pan Am, a drama about airline employees in the 1960's, as is Jonah Lotan (Generation Kill)… TTTP fave Bruce Greenwood and Joe Anderson (Across the Universe) have signed on to The River…Jesse Bradford (Outlaw) will star in Other People's Kids as a guy who gets an instant family when he starts dating an older woman (Bonnie Somerville) with kids, parents, and an ex-husband…Ginnifer Goodwin's first post-Big Love pilot is Once Upon a Time, a drama about a town where fairy tales are real. She will play someone who may be Snow White, while Robert Carlyle is possibly Rumplestiltskin. Jennifer Morrison (House, How I Met Your Mother) is the lead, a women who finds herself in the town and learning things about her life she never knew…Oscar winner Angela Basset will star in Identity, a procedural about government agents who investigate crimes of identity…Christopher Egan, so great in Kings, will play the lead role in Poe. Natalie Dormer (The Tudors) has landed the female lead…Emily Van Camp will star in Revenge, a modern day retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo… Jeremy Sisto is the Dad in Suburgatory, about a teenage girl who moves from the big city to the burbs…Jordana Spiro (My Boys) will star in Lost and Found, where a self centered 30something women's life is changed when the 18 year old son she gave up for adoption when she got pregnant in high school knocks on her door…

CBS
Michael Chiklis will star in the comedy Vince Uncensored, about a guy who decides to live his life with complete honesty. While this project is technically in "second position", CBS wouldn't have cast him if they thought it was likely that ABC would renew No Ordinary Family…Without A Trace star Poppy Montgomery looks to return to the network with a starring role in a police procedural about a NYPD detective with a photographic memory. I'd say it's PSYCH without the laughs but that's what The Mentalist is, so I am not sure what to call this…Emily Rutherfurd (The New Adventures of Old Christine) is now in the cast of The Assistants, a comedy about the folks who help keep a celebrity couple's lives on track…Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords) is appearing in How to be a Gentleman…Home Game is shaping up quite well; Rob Riggle and Constance Zimmer are leads and now TTTP fave Ken Marino is a part of the project, about the post-NFL life of a family man…Becki Newton (Ugly Betty) is a part of an untitled comedy from That 70's Show creators Jeff and Jackie Filgo…Jim Caviezel will take his first series lead opposite Michael Emerson on J.J. Abrams' Person of Interest…Enrique Murciano (Without a Trace) is a part of Hail Mary, and the great Stephen Tobolowsky is part of the cast as well. Minnie Driver and Tropic Thunder's Brandon T Jackson are the leads…Nadine Velazquez (My Name Is Earl, The League) is the female lead in the untitled Rob Schneider comedy. Ugly Betty's Tony Plata will play her Dad…

FOX
Kyle Bornheimer (Perfect Couples, Worst Week) has been cast in Council of Dads…Kerry Bishe, who starred on the last season of Scrubs, landed one of the leads in the comedy Iceland…Emmy winner Jamie Pressley will star as one of the two Mom's who realize their kids are the kind who used to torture them when they were in high school in I Hate My Teenage Daughter…Gabrielle Union is the latest to become a part of Little in Common…Robin Givens will appear in Tagged, a comedy set in the LA County Coroner's office…Lauren Ambrose landed one of the hottest parts of pilot season, the lead in Weekends at Bellevue, playing the weekend intake coordinator at the famous mental health facility. Greek's Amber Stevens is also appearing…

NBC
17th Precinct is pretty much my favorite pilot of the season as it is turning into a Battlestar Galactic reunion, created and executive produced by Ron Moore and starring Jamie Bamber, Tricia Helfer, and James Callis. The non-BSG alum part of the cast is pretty dang good, too, with Stockard Channing and Eamonn Walker (Kings, Oz)…Don Johnson will play the lead in A Mann's World, starring as a celebrity hairstylist in Hollywood trying to stay relevant in a field dominated by youth. The show was created by former Sex and the City showrunner Michael Patrick King. I am a huge Johnson fan (HELLO!!!!) and him taking the lead makes me want to see what he does with the role. Ellen Barkin, Kelly Hu, Mario Cantone, and Sandra Vergara (Sofia's younger sister) are also in the pilot…David Krumholtz (Numb3rs) signed on for Playboy, about life in and around the Playboy Club in Chicago in the early 1960's…Oscar winner Anjelica Houston and Tony nominated actor Christian Borle have signed on to Smash, about the making of a Broadway musical. Debra Messing and Katharine McPhee are already on board…Danny Pino, last seen on Cold Case, is the first actor cast in S.I.L.A….David Walton, currently seen on Perfect Couples, is the contractor who single Mom Amanda Peet falls for on Bent, and the brilliant Jeffery Tambor plays his Dad…Pedro Pascal (The Good Wife), Cary Elwes and Elisabeth Hurley will be seen in the Wonder Woman pilot…Aidan Quinn will star opposite Maria Bello in Prime Suspect…Hank Azaria will star in Free Agents, an adaptation of a UK series about two ad executives with recently relationship baggage while exploring the chemistry between them…

The CW
Jaime King has joined Rachel Bilson in Hart of Dixie, and Nancy Travis will guest in the pilot with the potential of recurring if the show gets picked up…Alex Breckenridge, last seen on Life Unexpected, is one of the two leads in Cooper & Stone. Riley Stone (24) is also on board…

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 14 days…

FIRST THURSDAY
How big was American Idol on Thursday? The best numbers for any non-sports programming on a Thursday in years (best demos in 3 years, best totals in 4)…Winter Wipeout was up 16%....Grey's Anatomy dropped to a series low in demos but still posted the best 18-49 numbers for the 9:00 hour…Rules of Engagement was up 8% from the numbers the $#@! My Dad Says finale put up at 8:30 last week but at the same time produced series low demos…CSI hit a series low in demos…The Mentalist was the most watched scripted show of the night and won 10:00 in demos as well while still dropping 7% in that measure…Private Practice was up 4%...Parks and Recreation was up 9% and 30 Rock jumped 30%...

SECOND THURSDAY
American Idol set season highs in totals and demos and gave Fox the best Thursday any network has had in four years. The demos were up 29% from that episode last year…Rules of Engagement was down 18% from last week's series demo lows…

FIRST FRIDAY
Blue Bloods was not only the night's most watched show but it jumped 11% in the demos to tie CSI: NY for the best 18-49 numbers on the night…Smallville was up 16% in total viewers and 10% in the demos while lead-out Supernatural dropped ever so slightly…Fringe was even with last week, which can be looked at as a good thing, or not…Kitchen Nightmares won 8:00 in the demos…The Defenders won 8:00 in total viewers but hit a new season low in demos for the second week in a row…

SECOND FRIDAY
Dateline put up the best demos of the night…The Defenders was up at 8…

FIRST SUNDAY
E!'s Oscar red carpet pre-show was the most watched since they started covering the Academy Awards arrivals, with almost 4 million viewers, a 9% gain from last year. The four hour pre-show countdown was up 19% from 2010…The 37.6 million who tuned in to the Oscars will make the show the most watched of the week – and one of the most watched telecasts of the year – but they also represent a 9% drop from last year. It also lost 12% in the demos, interesting because the two hosts were chosen specifically to boost the younger numbers…

SECOND SUNDAY
Breakout Kings posted the best demos for a scripted series premiere in A&E history…The season premiere of Army Wives was up 27% in totals and 13% in demos from last year. Lead-out Coming Home had the strongest reality series debut ever for Lifetime…The premiere of E!s After Lately nearly doubled what that timeslot had been averaging…Secret Millionaire had a very strong debut for ABC, winning the night in totals and demos…Next Great American Restaurant did not fare so well at 8pm, finishing fourth (as in last)…The Celebrity Apprentice was just ok at 9pm but hour two won 10pm in demos…Desperate Housewives was the top scripted program of the night and Brothers & Sisters was up 16% in the demos….The Amazing Race jumped 29%...CSI: Miami was up 20% in the demos and won 10pm in total viewers…5.6 million tuned in to the first episode of Chopped All Stars, making it the most watched Chopped outing ever…

FIRST MONDAY
Despite – or perhaps because of – all the publicity, a Two and a Half Men rerun was the most watched show of the night…Mike and Molly was up 6% and tied How I Met Your Mother for best comedy demos of the night…Mad Love dropped again, this time 4%...House was up 9% and had the best demos on the night while lead-out The Chicago Code was even with last week's gain…Chuck tied a series low in demos for the 5th week in a row while The Cape dropped to a new series low…Harry's Law was up 9%...Castle was up 8% to win 10:00 (Hawaii 5-0 was a rerun)…

SECOND MONDAY
The Event was down 26% from its mid-season finale in November, yet another piece of evidence that serialized shows taking long breaks DOES NOT WORK…Harry's Law held steady at 10pm, winning the hour in total viewers…House and The Chicago Code matched last week's numbers…The Bachelor: Women Tell All was down 11% from last week and 21% from that episode last cycle…A Two and a Half Men rerun was CBS top performer in totals and demos…

FIRST TUESDAY
21.3 million watched the first full length performance night of American Idol, which topped all comers in totals and demos…Raising Hope loved the lead-in, up 42% to a season/series high and winning 9:30 in demos…One Tree Hill and Hellcats matched last week's numbers, impressive since their audience is also very much the Idol target…NCIS dropped 14% but still had strong 19.2 million totals…NCIS: LA hit a season low…The Good Wife was up 10% in the demos and won 10pm in total viewers while 20/20's Charlie Sheen interview won in demos…

SECOND TUESDAY
Glee was up 5% from its last new episode to reclaim the nights demo title…Raising Hope was up 17% from the last time it followed Glee, meaning that a chunk of the audience it gained by having Idol as a lead-in last week came back…Oddly lead out Traffic Light was down 6% from its last outing with Idol, meaning it somehow lost viewers despite last week's bigger audience...The Biggest Loser was up 21% from last week's season low…The penultimate V of the season hit a new series low…

FIRST WEDNESDAY
American Idol, as usual, ran roughshod over its competition in totals and demos…Traffic Light hit season/series highs, up 75% in demos…Criminal Minds and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior were both up, the latter winning 10pm in totals and demos…Mr. Sunshine was up 9%...

SECOND WEDNESDAY
As one might guess, everything else was a DISTANT second to American Idol, with 24.2 million viewers…Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior was down 15% in the demos to a series low. Not coincidently, this was the first time it didn't have a new Criminal Minds as a lead-in…Off the Map dropped to a series low…Mr. Sunshine was down 25% with a Modern Family as the lead-in…America's Next Top Model was up 18% to a cycle high, topping Minute to Win It in the 8:00 demos…

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…CBS picked up How I Met Your Mother for two additional seasons, meaning it will run until at least May of 2013…The revamped Law & Order: Los Angeles returns with a two hour episode on Monday, April 11th at 9pm and then settles into its regular Mondays at 10pm slot the next week…Season two of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution premieres April 12th…CBS picked up two more cycles of Survivor…Oscar winner Susan Sarandon will guest on 30 Rock later this season…USA is adapting Lucas Davenport's Certain Prey into a TV movie starring Mark Harmon with their eyes on using it to launch a 2 – 3 time a year movie event. There are 20 novels so far in the Prey series…Donal Logue's first post-Terriers TV appearance will be as the sick-guy-of-the-week on an upcoming House…Fox has picked up two more seasons of Hell's Kitchen…Showtime ordered second seasons of Shameless and Episodes while TV Land confirmed a third season of Hot in Cleveland…HBO has passed on Tilda, their pilot about a Nikki Finke-esque entertainment industry powerbroker/blogger that starred Diane Keaton…Our America with Lisa Ling is the first OWN show to get a renewal, with a six episode second season being ordered…NBC confirmed Cee-Lo Green, Adam Levine (of Maroon 5), Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton will be judges/coaches on their new reality singing competition The Voice from executive producer Mark Burnett, which premieres April 26th. …Oscar winner Marlee Matlin is the latest to join ABC Family's Switched at Birth. Those previously signed on to the series include Lea Thompson, Vanessa Marano, Katie LeClerc, and D.W. Moffett…Levin Rambin is red hot right now; coming off of last year's Grey's Anatomy stint and her starring role on Scoundrels, she's now got recurring roles on One Tree Hill, Wizards of Waverly Place, and she'll also be seen on the upcoming season on Hung. Also on Hung will be Vampire Diaries' Stephen Amell…HBO has ordered a pilot for 40, a comedy from Entourage creator Doug Ellin about a group of male friends dealing with getting older. Ed Burns will star…TLC picked up a 14 episode first season of What the Sell!!?!, about three generations of women who run a large antique store…Recent Oscar nominee David Fincher is executive producing House of Cards, an adaptation of the book and BBC miniseries of the same name. While he has not yet approached networks about the project, he has signed Oscar winner Kevin Space for the lead, a politician with high aspirations…Rescue Me's Stephen Pasquale will star in the USA pilot Over/Under as a day trader who loses everything because of a gambling habit and ends up opening his own book…Marc Anthony will be a full time cast member when TNT's Hawthorne returns for a third season…Married couple authors Michael Chabon (Wonder Boys, The Yiddish Policeman's Union) and Ayelet Waldman (Bad Mother, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits) are teaming for an HBO pilot about a group of conmen and magicians who use their skills to do battle with Nazis in World War 2…Keira Knightley will provide the voice of Tinker Bell in the upcoming Syfy mini-series Neverland…ABC officially picked up a second summer season of Bachelor Pad…Michael Rosenbaum has been upgraded to series regular on Fox's upcoming comedy Breaking In…NBC announced that the season finales of Community and Parks and Recreation would be one hour episodes…Web Soup returns to G4 for a third season on March 30th…ABC will premiere America's Karaoke Challenge in July, which follows contestants through the annual Karaoke World Championships…TNT's summer schedule is now official; Franklin & Bash and Men of a Certain Age – Wednesday June 1, Hawthorne and Memphis Beat – Tuesday, June 14, Falling Skies – Sunday, June 19, Leverage – Sunday, June 26, The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles – Monday, July 11…Concrete Cowboys, HBO's fictionalized adaptation of the award winning documentary about the drug trade in Miami in the 70's and 80's that is produced by Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer is back on track after gathering dust for almost two years now that Michelle Ashford (The Pacific) has been hired to write the pilot…

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…
Jimmy Kimmel Live's post-Oscar special was WAY past my bed time but the next morning I had several emails in my box asking if I had seen the three shorts the show came up with. I spent my first twenty minutes at my desk at work on Monday morning trying not to do spit takes Jack Tripper would be proud of. These are some seriously funny videos and show what writers encouraged to be creative can come up with (are you listening, Jay Leno?).










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 …The Oscars were pretty bad, and I'm someone who cuts awards shows quite a bit of slack. Anne Hathaway was certainly up for the task but James Franco looked bored, seeming to have to remember to smile every time he started talking. The spotlighting of classic films from over the years was a flop; people love montages, so just work five minutes worth of highlights together and call it day. One of the worst Academy Awards I can remember…Each episode of Harry's Law I watch makes it less likely I watch another. There are some positive aspects but not a single line of dialogue David E Kelley writes for the African American characters rings of anything other than a white guy in his 50's thinking what it should sound like, as opposed to anything with the hint of authenticity to it…The last two Royal Pains of the season made very clear that Mark Feuerstein does earnest as well as anyone on TV and once again begs the question, "how did it take this long for the guy to get a hit show?!?!?"…"I want to be confused with you" was the romantic line of the season, or at least it would have been. I'm impressed that the HIMYM writers have made this version of Barney the last few weeks so believable, although much of the credit goes to Neil Patrick Harris, who this year might finally get the Emmy he so richly deserves. Also, I can't wait to hear the thermos story!!!...The opening of Being Human from two weeks ago, where the three seem to think they're watching porn but it turns out to be something much, much different, was a great example of the show's ability to mix humor in with violence. Sometimes they try a bit too hard but in general the tension of the very serious and foreboding tone makes for great opportunity for laughter…Mr. Sunshine just isn't that good. It could be, and I liked last week's double date, but I think there is some confusion about which way to go with Matthew Perry's character. To me, it's simple – he's an ass, and while he is trying to change, the process should be a slow one. Network TV needs to learn characters don't have to be likeable, they just have to be interesting. Each week when I watch I find myself missing Cougar Town more than I am enjoying B>Mr. Sunshine…The Real World audition video from Community was a riot and I bet there are more than a few folks in the 25 – 40 age group who have such things in their past…Michael Scott's evolution continues on The Office and hats off to the writers and Steve Carrell for not making it seem forced. Whether it's declaring his love for Holly, coaching Andy on how to close the deal at his seminar, not taking his movie too seriously, and realizing Todd Packer is an ass, Michael has become a better man this season and my guess is that when he leaves Dunder Mifflin to be with Holly in NH it will feel like the natural conclusion to that growth…LOVED the standoff between Jack and the teenage heir to the Kabletown throne on 30 Rock. That's the kind of high farce that makes the show so great. The other storyline of the week, about the sexpot girly-girl comedienne who joined the writing staff, was a bomb of epic proportions…I am not saying Nikita is a great – or even good – show but it's clearly got the best action sequences on TV right now…I kept wondering why the Grey's Anatomy writers were wasting the talented Peter McNichol during his run on the show so I'm thrilled they've finally given him a bit of a storyline. I still don't think they needed to go to the lengths that they did to portray him as such an ass at the start but he was showing his worth last Thursday even before he asked April out…The opening and closing scenes of Parenthood – the conversations with Max about his Asperger's – were incredibly well done and incredibly real, two things the show has excelled in this season. Peter Krause deserves some serious consideration come award time and I hope he is not overshadowed by some of the showier roles that cable TV has to offer; Krause does his work playing a regular guy leading a normal life, which is nowhere near as easy as it sounds…I've written multiple times about how Raising Hope gets laughs out of some pretty out there material and this week, making a scene where a son shaves his Dad's groin into something quite funny, was an impressive feat…Delroy Lindo's work on The Chicago Code is definitely Norty quality and there is no bubble show I am rooting for more to get a renewal…I liked the premiere of America's Next Great Restaurant, although the ratings said I might have been the only one. The judges being the investors is what keeps things interesting, and I liked some of the concepts that were pitched…Jose Canseco's boardroom performance on Celebrity Apprentice was all the more surprising since he was barely visible during the challenge. And Gary Busey was just as crazy as advertised, so that's either going to keep you coming back every week or tuning out fast…"Are we talking heads in a duffle bag or just an asshole?" – Justified's Raylan Givens trying to determine how bad a guy he was dealing with…

TV Pick Of The Week
I've used these pages to sing the praises of Archer since the show premiered last year, naming it on my list of Best Comedies of 2010 and calling it the James Bond parody that Hollywood wishes it could do, combined with a healthy dose of The Office. This season has been just as good as the first and Thursday starts a two episode arc where the show does the near impossible, getting laughs out of a breast cancer diagnosis.

What's great about the show is that the humor comes from the characters – these folks would be funny no matter where the series was set – and so the secret agent stuff is a bonus. One wouldn't obviously think of cancer and comedy but these two episodes are hysterically funny without coming close to being offensive in any way. As an extra special treat there is a huge shout out to the best Magnum PI episode ever.

Don't miss Archer the next two Thursdays at 10pm on FX.

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

*The Bachelor (ABC). wraps up another season on Monday at 8pm; do you think Brad will actually pick someone this time around?

*Glee (Tuesday, 8pm, Fox). Regionals

*Season two of V (ABC) comes to a close Tuesday at 9pm with a blockbuster of an episode.

*Comedy Central premieres The Roast of Donald Trump this Tuesday at 10:30pm.

*Emmy winner Jane Lynch stops by Jimmy Kimmell Live (midnight, ABC) on Tuesday night.

*James Taylor stops by Mr. Sunshine (Wednesday, 9:30pm, ABC) in a rare acting turn, playing Alison Janney's ex-husband,

*Some high quality late night options on Wednesday; Ricky Gervais is Conan (11pm, TBS), Steve Martin on David Letterman (11:35pm, CBS), Kristen Wiig on Jimmy Kimmell (Midnight, ABC), and Amy Poehler on Jimmy Fallon (12:35am, NBC).

Two Tivos To Paradise
30 Rock, After the Catch, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Archer, Auction Hunters, The Big C, Big Love, Boardwalk Empire, Being Human, Bones, Bored To Death, Breaking Bad, Brothers & Sisters, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, The Chicago Code, Chopped, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, The Dish, Entourage, Eureka, Fact or Faked, Fairly Legal, Flipping Out, Food Feuds, Food Network Challenge, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Glee, Gossip Girl, Great Food Truck Race, Grey's Anatomy, The Hard Times of RJ Berger, Hawaii 5-0, Hollywood Treasure, House, How I Met Your Mother, How To Make It In America, Hung, If You Really Knew Me, Iron Chef America, Justified, Kate Plus 8, Last Comic Standing, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Launch My Line, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law and Order: Los Angeles, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Life Unexpected, Lights Out, Live to Dance, Mad Men, Man v. Food, Men of a Certain Age, The Middle, Mike and Molly, Mr. Sunshine, Modern Family, Next Food Network Star, Next Great American Restaurant, Next Iron Chef, The Office, One Tree Hill, Paranormal State, Parks & Recreation, Private Practice, Project Runway, Psych, Raising Hope, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rescue Me, Restaurant Impossible, Royal Pains, Rules Of Engagement, 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 Just Desserts, Top Chef: Masters, Top Design, Torchwood, Traffic Light, True Blood, V, The Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Worst Cooks In America,

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another Two Tivos To Paradise.



We'll be back next Friday with all the TV headlines. Have a great week and don't forget to check out the Two Tivos To Paradise page on Facebook! Use the comments section below to share your thoughts on what you've been watching as well as your take on any of the many pilots covered above.

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 TVline & Deadline.com.