Two Tivos To Paradise 06.03.11: Halle Berry, SVU, Grey's Anatomy, Family Guy, The Event, and more!

Posted by Al Norton on 06.03.2011

Where does Family Guy rank among the most watched shows of the season? Plus news on Halle Berry coming to TV, big changes at SVU, The Event possibly living on, raves for Men of a Certain Age and more!



Hello friends. Sorry for the one week absence – I spilled coffee on my laptop last Saturday and it took a week for me to get it back in good working order. Hope everyone enjoyed the long holiday weekend; my in-laws had the twins so Mrs. Tivo and I were kid-free for three full days. We got to eat at restaurants where they come to your table and ask what you want, we saw a movie in the theater (first such experience in 2011), and got 8+ hours of sleep for three nights in a row, the first time that has happened since August of 2008. Of course mixed into all of that was some major withdrawal and when they returned on Monday I am not sure who was happier to see who.

There were interviews with Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition trainer Chris Powell and former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi that ran on the site on Monday; use the link to my profile at the bottom of the column to pull them up.

Our big 250th column extravaganza is but six weeks away and the RSVP's keep pouring in; the latest folks to let us know they will be attending include PSYCH star James Roday, Mr. Skin (yes, Mr. Skin!!!), and some guy name Joel.

Just in case you haven't seen this already, here is the full trailer for the new season of Torchwood…





One of last summer's biggest success stories is back with another season later this month…





Season four of Breaking Bad premieres on AMC on Sunday, July 17th…




If you were a part of the TTTP Facebook community you could have spent some time last week discussing suggestions for the upcoming 5th Annual Norty Awards. Check us out – the page is listed as Al Norton's Two Tivos To Paradise, and don't forget to click "like" while you are there!

We had a great day, the very best way, to spend some news together.

A Little Bit Of Me And A Whole Lot Of You, Add A Dash Of Starlight And A Dozen Roses, Too
Here's a collection of news items from the last two weeks…

*Christopher Meloni will not return to Law & Order: SVU when it begins its13th season this fall. This comes on the heels of the announcement that co-star Mariska Hargitay had signed a new contract that called for a reduced role in the second half of the season to allow her to spend more time with her child. With a new executive producer this fall, the show has the opportunity to re-boot itself a bit, making casting decisions with an eye towards bringing in new viewers. Jennifer Love Hewitt was previous rumored to be the frontrunner for the new female lead but news of Meloni's departure may have them rethinking their plan as they have a ton of options now. May I suggest Esai Morales and Katee Sackhoff?

*The American Idol finale was up in both totals (21%) and demos (12%) from last year, the first year to year gains in the former in 3 years and the latter in 5 years. The average audience was 29.3 million but for the final 7 minutes – when Scotty McCreery was announced as the winner – there were some 38.1 million tuned in. Fox is over the moon with these numbers, especially since so many predicted that the post-Simon era of Idol would be a ratings disaster.

*Producers of The Event are in very early talks about bringing the recently cancelled NBC drama to Syfy as a mini-series, with the idea that it could get picked up for a second full season if ratings were good. The first and biggest obstacles of those of finances but the fact that these conversations are happening at all is somewhat of a victory for fans of the show.

*Patrick Dempsey announced that next season would be his last on Grey's Anatomy. The entire original cast's deals are up after season 8 in the spring of 2012 but Dempsey is the first to state his intention not to return.

*Oscar winner Halle Berry is attached to star in Higher Learning, a DreamWorks drama series about a college professor that is being shopped to pay cable networks like HBO and Showtime. This project came together very quickly and it's possible it may have found a home by the time you read this.

*Fox is shaking up The X Factor before it even premieres, with Cheryl Cole being replaced on the judges/mentors panel by series co-host Nicole Schezinger. The show has taped multiple audition episodes so far and the rumor is that the feedback on Cole's British accent isn't good, that it's so strong that it would confuse/turn off the American audience. There are also concerns about the overall chemistry of the judges.

*Aidan Quinn and Martin Short will do multiple episode guest runs on the upcoming season of Weeds, which will take a three year time jump from last season's finale, with Nancy getting out of jail and relocation to New York City. Jennifer Jason Leigh will be back for the new season as well. Showtime also renewed Nurse Jackie while cancelling The United States of Tara.

*VH-1 is bringing back Pop Up Video, ordering 60 half hour episodes of the highly entertaining music video series that has not aired since 2002. The network also renewed Mob Wives and Love & Hip-Hop.

*MyNetworkTV unveiled their fall lineup of reruns, with each night airing a two episode block starting at 8pm; Monday – Law & Order SVU, Tuesday – Cold Case, Wednesday – Burn Notice, Thursday – Without A Trace, Friday- Monk.

*Mark Cuban's HDNet is getting in the reality series game, with Celebridate (Blind Date's Roger Lodge helps celebs find dates), The Super (follows the work life of a guy who manages 1700 commercial and residential units in California), and The Ferris Wheel (a look at a couple with an open marriage).

*Current TV will premiere The 50 Documentaries To See Before You Die, a five hour, five episode series hosted by Morgan Spurlock and looking at how documentaries have become much more main stream in the last 25 years. The show will feature clips from the movies as well as interviews with the filmmakers.

*History has two new high profile mini-series in development; The Bible is a five episode, 10 hour dramatization of some of the world's most famous stories. It is set for 2013 and is executive produced by Mark Burnett, his first foray into a scripted project. The Hatfields and the McCoys is a scripted look at the famous feuding families and will be executive produced by Oscar winner Kevin Costner, who will also star in the series.

*Sam Waterston's first return to series TV after Law & Order ended in the spring of 2010 will be in Aaron Sorkin's HBO pilot More as this Story Develops, playing the head of a cable news network. Jeff Daniels stars and the cast also includes Olivia Munn and Alison Pill.

*NBC will use the prime TV real estate that is the post-Super Bowl timeslot to launch season two of The Voice in February of 2012.

*ABC's upcoming fairy tale drama Once Upon A Time got a bit more interesting this week when Jane Espensen and Liz Tigelaar came on board as producers, the former as co-executive producer and the latter as a consulting producer. Tigelaar was creator and showrunner of Life Unexpected and Espensen has one of the top resumes in television, with writing and/or producing credits on shows like Buffy, Angel, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Dollhouse, Gilmore Girls, and two of the more beloved (at least by us here at TTTP) short-lived series in recent memory, Andy Barker PI and Jake in Progress.

I'll Teach You The Proper Ploys When You Talk To Boys, Little Ways To Flirt And Flounce
With the 2010-2011 season officially in the books we can take a look back at the ratings to see which shows were tops with the general viewing public. I've broken it down a few ways to give you as clear a picture as possible but something to keep in mind is that it's the demos (the 18 – 49 year old crowd) that the advertisers, and therefore the networks, really care about.

Top 15 Shows Overall (Total Viewers)
1) American Idol (Wed), Fox
2) American Idol (Thu), Fox
3) Dancing with the Stars (Mon), ABC
4) Sunday Night Football, NBC
5) NCIS, CBS
6) DWTS (Tue), ABC
7) NCIS: LA, CBS
8) The Mentalist, CBS
9) Criminal Minds, CBS
10) CSI, CBS
11) Survivor: Nicaragua, CBS
12) 60 Minutes, CBS
13) The Big Bang Theory, CBS
14) Body of Proof, ABC
15) The Good Wife, CBS

Top 15 Shows Overall (Demos)
1) American Idol (Wed), Fox
2) Sunday Night Football, NBC
3) American Idol (Thu), Fox
4) The Voice, NBC
5) Modern Family, ABC
6) Dancing with the Stars (Mon)
7) Big Bang Theory, CBS
8) Grey's Anatomy, ABC
9) Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS)
10) NCIS, CBS
11) Glee, Fox
12) The Office, NBC
13) Two and a Half Men, CBS
13) DWTS (Tue), ABC
13) Family Guy, Fox
13) House, Fox
(four shows at 13 all tied)

Top 10 Dramas (Total Viewers)
1) NCIS, CBS
2) NCIS: LA, CBS
3) The Mentalist, CBS
4) Criminal Minds, CBS
5) CSI, CBS
6) Body of Proof, ABC
7) The Good Wife, CBS
8) Blue Bloods, CBS
9) CSI: Miami, CBS
10) Hawaii 5-0, CBS

Top 10 Dramas (Demos)
1) Grey's Anatomy, ABC
2) NCIS, CBS
3) House, Fox
4) Criminal Minds, CBS
5) NCIS: LA, CBS
6) Bones, Fox
7) CSI, CBS
8) The Mentalist, CBS
9) Castle, ABC
10) CSI: Miami, CBS

Top 10 Comedies (Total Viewers)
1) Big Bang Theory, CBS
2) Two and a Half Men, CBS
3) Modern Family, ABC
4) Desperate Housewives, ABC
5) Mike and Molly, CBS
6) $#@! My Dad Says, CBS
7) Glee, Fox
8) Rules of Engagement, CBS
9) How I Met Your Mother, CBS
10) Breaking In, Fox

Top 10 Comedies (Demos)
1) Modern Family, ABC
2) Big Bang Theory, CBS
3) Glee, Fox
4) The Office, NBC
5) Two and a Half Men, CBS
6) Family Guy, Fox
7) Desperate Housewives, ABC
8) How I Met Your Mother, CBS
9) Mike and Molly, CBS
10) The Simpsons, Fox

Top 10 Non-Scripted Shows (Total Viewers)
1) American Idol (Tue), Fox
2) American Idol (Wed), Fox
3) DWTS (Mon), ABC
4) Sunday Night Football, NBC
5) DWTS (Tue), ABC
6) Survivor: Nicaragua, CBS
7) 60 Minutes, CBS
8) Survivor: Redemption Island, CBS
9) Undercover Boss, CBS
10) The Voice, NBC

Top 10 Non-Scripted Shows (Demos)
1) American Idol (Wed), Fox
2) Sunday Night Football, NBC
3) American Idol (Thu), Fox
4) The Voice, NBC
5) DWTS (Mon), ABC
6) Survivor: Nicaragua, CBS
7) DWTS (Tue), ABC
8) Survivor: Redemption Island, CBS
9) Amazing Race, CBS
10) The Bachelor, ABC

Sunny Day, Sweepin' The Clouds Away, On My Way To Where The Air Is Sweet
The Sesame Street video of the week…





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
So You Think You Can Dance enjoyed a strong premiere, up 7% in demos and 11% in totals from last year's debut…

FRIDAY
Game 7 of the Bruins-Lightning series was watched by 2.55 million people, making it the most watched conference final in Versus history as well as the 6th most watched hockey telecast in the network's history. The Boston ratings for Versus were the best ever for an individual market…

MONDAY
The Bachelorette was down 23% in week two…Lead out Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition did quite well at 10pm, up 28% from what True Beauty did in its season premiere in that same timeslot last year…Combining the premiere with the replay that ran at midnight, VH-1's scripted series Single Ladies was watched by 2.8 million viewers…2.5 million watched the season finale of Khloe and Lamar…

TUESDAY
Game one of the NBA finals Heat-Mavs match up was up 3% from last year's Celtics-Lakers opener…America's Got Talent returned in top form, up 21% in total viewers and 17% in the demos from last summer's premiere…The Voice enjoyed that strong lead in to the tune of a HUGE 69% increase in total viewers (it was the most watched episode in series history) and a 29% gain in demos…

WEDNESDAY
Game one of the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC was up 14% from last year and the most watched finals opener in 12 years…So You Think You Can Dance was up 8% in the demos from their Wednesday premiere last summer…

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Bravo is working on a new reality series with Kara DioGuardi, who currently is a judge on their just-premiered Platinum Hit. This new show would follow her through her life as a songwriter and music industry executive…The Liberty Bowl, which is played on New Year's Eve and has run on ESPN the last few years, will move to ABC this December, the first time the game has been on the network in 21 years…OWN picked up an 8 episode first season of Don't Tell The Bride, an adaptation of a UK reality show where a money strapped couple get a free wedding that is planned entirely by the groom and his best man. The other twist is the couple does not see each other in the month leading up to the ceremony…Rockmond Dunbar (Terriers, Prison Break) will be Charming's new, by-the-book Sheriff when Sons of Anarchy returns in the fall…Saffron Burroughs is out on Fox's new show The Finder; a new actress has not been cast…MTV has ordered a pilot for the needs no explanation reality series Married Young…Michael Hirst and Morgan O'Sullivan, who previously created Camelot and The Tudors, are now working on a 10 episode series called The Vikings. No US network is currently attached…MTV has renewed World of Jenks for a second season, with some changes planned; the episode will now be an hour and the season will follow three young people over six months of their lives…Spike picked up a six episode first season of the reality series Flipping Foreclosures…Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty) will do multiple episodes on the upcoming season of Hung…Paget Brewster will return full time to Criminal Minds in the fall while Rachel Nichols will not…ABC has optioned Stephanie Dolgoff's book My Formerly Hot Life with the idea of turning it into a comedy for the 2012-2013 season…TNT's coverage of the NBC playoffs was up 29% from last year…Josh Lucas will star as Mitch McDeere in NBC's upcoming adaptation of John Gisham's The Firm…Syfy renewed Ghost Hunters for a 20 episode eighth season…Morena Baccarin, last season as V's big bad, has joined the cast of Showtime's Homeland…Fox is developing Buried Treasure, a new reality show featuring the Leigh and Leslie Keno, identical twins best known for their many Antiques Roadshow appearances…Yea, another awards show – the first ever Critics' Choice Television Awards will air on Reelz on June 20th with Cat Deeley as host…TTTP fave Andrea Anders will do multiple episodes on USA's new Necessary Roughness later this summer…Speaking of USA series, Eliza Dushku will guest on an episode of White Collar…

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…
Men of a Certain Age is a remarkable show in that it gives a rare look into the mindset of, well, men of a certain age, and that that look is not only honest but also compelling is what makes the show so damn good.

The second half of the show's sophomore season began on Wednesday with a real showcase of Scott Bakula's talents. Terry may have made the biggest transformation since the show began and it's a testament to Bakula's underrated skill set that he had us believing Terry had so much growing up to do when the show began and that his journey down that road has been so believable. When it becomes clear that Erin doesn't have the same idea about their relationship that he does, it's as heartbreaking for the audience as it is for Terry.

The hour also gave us a nice showcase for Andre Braugher and Lisa Gay Hamilton, whose Owen and Melissa remain one of the best portraits of a married couple with kids this side of Parenthood.

How good is Ray Romano performance as Joe? So good that it's almost a foreign concept that people thought he was just being himself all those years as Ray Barrone. The best word to describe his work as Joe tries to find his place in the world is one I and many others have used before in reference to Romano on Men; revelation.

I hope people are watching Men of a Certain Age, one of the best truly adult dramas that TV has to offer.

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 fourteen days …






Jimmy Fallon is as good as there is with musical impressions…Current TV's 4th and Forever is over produced – WAY to many recap scenes after commercial breaks – but the stories of these young people's lives are compelling enough to overcome it, making it a really strong summer viewing option for those of you who like the real in reality TV…Watched the last three Raising Hopes of the season in marathon fashion and came away with a huge smile. There's really something to be said for a family comedy where the family genuinely loves each other; it makes the more outlandish things that go on that much funnier…The Middle is another VERY funny family comedy and while at times there may be a bit more tension in the Heck house, the issues they are dealing with are significantly more realistic than those on many drama series, which makes the comedy that much richer. Patricia Heaton has proved she is a TV Mom for the ages and the entire cast works very well together… Hawaii 5-0 gets the award for season finale that shook things up the most, with deaths, arrests, new jobs, and more. One hopes that everything they did in the action packed final hour isn't cleared up in the premiere this fall but rather that the messiness takes time to clean up…James Spader made more of an impression in 10 minutes than Will Ferrell did in four episodes of The Office. I'd love to see Spader get the job but I doubt that will be the case. Overall the finale was amusing enough but really did nothing to advance any stories. I thought they were leading us to Pam getting the job, which to me would have been an interesting twist…Each week Norm McDonald seems to get a little more brutal with the jokes on Sports Show with Norm McDonald, which I suppose is another way of saying each week Sports Show with Norm McDonald gets funnier and funnier…I've very much enjoyed The Voice up until now, even though I haven't agreed with all the choices the judges/mentors have made, but I wonder if the show will still stand out next week when it begins the two hour live episodes where each contestant sings for the audience vote…Scotty?!?! Really?!?! American Idol lost most of my attention halfway through this season as none of the contestants really stood out but I find it truly shocking that none of the judges point out Scotty's creepy style of staring at the camera, not to mention that annoying head tilt that The Soup has had so much fun with. If I'm an Idol judge I watch the tapes of the episode each week so I can see what the home audience does in order to better inform my criticisms, but I don't get the impression anyone on the panel does that…The Chicago Code's finale was great in that it gave a solid wrap up to the show's storylines but was painful in that it was so great. Fox is on my bad side this year, cancelling Lone Star, The Chicago Code, and Breaking In, three of the better freshman series that any major network offered during the 2010-2011 season…Very much enjoyed the premiere of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. If anything, I wanted it to be longer, more in depth, to show more of the family squabbles that seemed to come up and also see what sort of changes there were in her social life. The transformation was astonishing – she was hot at the end – and I liked that everything didn't go super smooth along the way…Really quite bored with Top Chef: Masters this season. I liked what I thought were the changes they were implementing, making it more like the standard TC format, but as I've complained about here before, none of the challenges seem to take into account that these are top level chefs competing. Also, this is the most annoying panel of judges ever assembled for anything in the TC family…I did a mini Archer marathon with the last three episodes of the season, all of which were as brutally funny as the rest of the season. Archer isn't just my favorite animated comedy, it's one of my favorite comedies, period…

TV Pick Of The Week
Why is Next Food Network Star my favorite competition reality show? Well first of all, the winner gets their own show, so how could I not love that? Add in that the contestants have to be good at both cooking AND winning over an audience and I am even more hooked, but the secret ingredients here are the judges; Bobby Flay may not have Simon Cowell's presence but he does have that same "I could give a shit what you think of me, I've already got a job" swagger that makes him fun to watch, although he's not the real draw. No, the real pull is Bob Tishman (General Manager/senior VP of the Food Network) and Susie Fogelson (senior VP of marketing for Food Network), who bring their tremendous amount of combined knowledge about what it takes to make it on the network along with what is usually more charisma and charm than most of the contestants. I would love a show that follows them as they do their jobs! Anyway, to me the idea that the judges are that invested in who wins makes for a much more compelling selection process.






Don't miss the two hour season premiere of Next Food Network Star, Sunday at 9pm.

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

*Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution returns to ABC's lineup tonight at 9pm. While they are simply burning off the remaining episodes, if ratings were good than a third season might be possible.

*Animal Planet's Whale Wars, a show that has a pretty loyal following, including some friends of mine that don't watch a lot of TV, is back for a 4th season tonight at 9pm.





*SNL star Jason Sudeikis hosts the 2011 MTV Movie Awards on Sunday at 9pm.

*My Morning Jacket is the focus of the latest edition of VH-1 Storytellers (tonight, 11pm).

*The Glades, the most watched scripted series in A&E history, is back for a second season Sunday at 10pm.

*Showtime has brought The Real L Word (Sunday, 10pm) back for a second season but has replaced all but one of the cast members, so if you didn't like the first go round but the idea of watching a bunch of real lesbians live their lives, you might want to give it another try.

*The Teen Wolf series that MTV is premiering Sunday at 11pm is a lot closer to Vampire Diaries than it is Michael J Fox van surfing down the strip. To be honest, it looks pretty decent…






*Season two of Fox's Masterchef premieres Monday at 8pm, with another episode Tuesday at 8pm. I like the amateur part of the show and a toned-down Gordon Ramsay is, to me, a much more entertaining Gordon Ramsay.

*ABC Family launches their newest series, Switched at Birth, Monday at 9pm. As the title gives away, it's about two teenage girls who discover that they've grown up with the wrong parents.






*USA's highly entertaining action-drama Covert Affairs is back for a second season Tuesday at 10pm following the season premiere of White Collar. This is a fantastic way to spend two summer hours, for sure.

*The latest season of South Park comes to a close this Wednesday at 10pm.

Two Tivos To Paradise
24 Restaurant Battle, 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, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, The Chicago Code, Chopped, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, 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, Happy Endings, The Hard Times of RJ Berger, Haunted Treasure, 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, The Killing, Last Comic Standing, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law and Order: Los Angeles, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Mad Men, Man v. Food Nation, Men of a Certain Age, The Middle, Mike and Molly, Modern Family, Next Food Network Star, Next Great American Restaurant, Next Iron Chef, The Office, One Tree Hill, 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 Show with Norm McDonald, Supernatural, Table For 12, Top Chef, Top Chef Just Desserts, Top Chef: Masters, Top Design, Torchwood, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, The Voice, 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 in 7 days with all the latest TV headlines. I'll also have a review of the Glee Live! show I am attending on Tuesday night.

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, TVline.com & Deadline.com.