The VICIOUS TV News Wrap: Season Finale 05.30.06
Posted by Steve Vicious on 05.30.2006
I take a look at what FOX and NBC have cooking for 2006-2007; Sci-Fi Channel gets EXTREME; "Deadwood" in trouble? Chris Rock is at odds with CBS and the CW; Lost the video game; Trump & Stewart make nice; J.Lo returns to TV; The View versus the Dixie Chicks; What to look forward to in the summer on television and TEN TV Babes! All that and much more in the season finale of the Vicious TV News Wrap!!!
- Written in front of a not-so-live studio audience in CA
Opening Segment: Introduction:
Welcome to the 36th edition and final edition Vicious TV News Wrap this season. As always, I am your host Steve Vicious. Before we kick off the season finale of the News Wrap, I would like to publicly thank both Scott Rutherford and Ashish Pabari for giving me the opportunity to write about television for 411mania.com every Tuesday (except for two weeks) since last August. I remember the day I received a private message from Scott Rutherford informing me about 411's need for a new Tuesday news reporter about television, and I was the writer selected for the job. At first, I said that I wasn't interested in doing the news report because it seemed like a LOT of work (the "Warped News" and the now defunct "Super Duper Happy News Report" come to mind), so I declined. Luckily for all of you readers out there in Vicious Land, Scott Rutherford pushed the idea on me again and I said yes. Scott & I talked about a name for the damn thing, and he specifically told me that it had to have the name "Vicious" in it. I think Scott pitched the idea of calling it "The Vicious TV Report" or something like that. I thought it was a good name, but it COULD be better. I then decided to take my blog's "TV Wraps" and combine it with the name Rutherford came up with, and the Vicious TV News Wrap was born! The first Vicious TV News Wrap premiered on August 13th, 2005. It wasn't very good, though. However, your trusty hero would get better as time progressed. Anyway, let's have one awesome, jam packed season finale like no other.
The Top TV Story of the Week:
- FOX and NBC 2006-2007 TV Schedules
First off, I would like to thank Carl Connaughton (a loyal VTNW reader) for helping me with finding the full schedules for both NBC and FOX. Unlike other 411 writers, I care about my readers.
FOX is coming off a very successful television season, having managed to solidify themselves as a major threat to CBS' throne. Of course, this is mainly attributed to another very successful American Idol season, and very strong ratings for both House and 24. However, having looked at the 2006-2007 television line-up for the network, I do not see anything new that really stands out like last year (Bones comes to mind). But there is one glimmer of hope and that comes from Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher, both of whom will star in the sitcom Til' Death (Thursdays; 8PM). Other new series include Vanished (Monday; 9PM), Standoff (Tuesdays; 8PM), Justice (Wednesdays; 9PM), Happy Hour (Thursdays; 8:30PM), and Talk Show with Spike Feresten (Saturdays Midnight). FOX will also shuffle their line-up a bit as The War At Home will now follow after Family Guy at 9:30PM. American Dad will move up an hour to 8:30PM, which is a great spot to be in following the still shockingly popular The Simpsons. The O.C. will stick around at their spring 2006 slot of 9PM on Thursdays. Friday night has never been a winner for FOX, but they have decided to send Nanny 911 and Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy to what is sure to be their death sentences there at 8PM and 9PM. Fans of Mike Judge's King of the Hill will have to wait until January 2007 until the series returns with new episodes. And that's about it for FOX's new television schedule.
NBC has struggled to keep up with the other networks after the departure of Friends in 2004. They found some success in last year's break out hit My Name is Earl, but the network might have pulled the trigger on a move to Thursdays way too soon (I did call for the move long before anyone else did, so I'm to blame for that) as the ratings have dropped a bit for the show. The Office managed to become a hit after Steve Carrell became a huge movie star thanks to The 40-year-old Virgin. With Will & Grace finally bowing out a few weeks ago, the network now has to coup with trying to recapture the magic that their Must See TV Thursday line-up achieved so many years ago. So they have decided to push Earl & The Office up an hour, which should help them out a lot because the other networks do not have anything major as a threat at the 8PM timeslot. I'm actually hoping that NBC starts airing My Name Is Earl and The Office reruns at 8PM & 8:30PM all this summer in order to get the viewers accustomed to watching the show at that hour and hopefully garnering new viewers. At first, NBC had planned to air their brand new Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip at 9PM on Thursdays, but they have decided to come to their senses after realizing that the slot was going to be too tough for them to compete head-to-head with major heavyweights Grey's Anatomy and CSI. The show will now air on Mondays at 10PM. Taking over the 9PM Thursday night slot will be the hit game show Deal or No Deal.
The biggest shock NBC announced was the rescheduling of Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The original series (struggling in the ratings this past season) will now be stuck on Friday nights at 10PM and Criminal Intent will now air on Tuesday nights at 9PM, before Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I actually think this could potentially be a very bad move for CI because some people might get sick of both CI & SVU all together. There's a reason why a fourth Law & Order series has yet to find success (Trial by Jury and Conviction). Personally, I would have moved SVU back to Friday nights at 10PM and paired the original series with Criminal Intent on Wednesdays. Speaking of Wednesday, NBC announced that their potential SMASH HIT 20 Good Years will air on Wednesdays at 8PM. Other new shows include 30 Rock (Wednesdays; 8:30PM), which reportedly will star the amazingly beautiful and smart Tina Fey, Kidnapped (Wednesdays; 10PM), Friday Night Lights (Tuesdays; 8PM), and The Black Donnellys (Thursdays; 10PM; premieres January 2007).
Due to the NFL airing on NBC, the network was forced to move Crossing Jordan to Fridays at 8PM (a great night, in my opinion) and Dateline will now air on Saturday nights at 8PM. The Biggest Loser will now air on Wednesdays at 9PM. I'm not going to delve too deep into talking about NBC's schedule, but I will say this: Wednesday could potentially be where the network finds their future Thursday night hits (20 Good Years and 30 Rock), or they could get creamed by the competition because of their new shows. I wish NBC all the luck in the world.
Random TV News: - Conviction canceled
After announcing their 2006-2007 television schedule, NBC did not renew Conviction for a second season. This is a situation which NBC can not be blamed for the cancellation because they did everything possible to allow the show to succeed, but it didn't work out for them. NBC reshuffled the Friday night line-up to help Conviction and they even moved it to SVU's Tuesday night slot for a week, but the viewers wouldn't bite. The show started off strong in the ratings, but they kept falling after the series premiere. This is the second straight Law & Order spin-off to receive the ax from NBC (Law & Order: Trial by Jury was canceled last year). However, fans of the show will probably receive a DVD set later this year. I'm always looking for the positive when it comes to canceled television shows. But, like I said when it first premiered, Conviction was "too pretty" to like.
- Sci-Fi Channel gets EXTREME!!!
In one hell of a shocker, World Wrestling Entertainment and the Sci-Fi Channel have agreed to air the returning Extreme Championship Wrestling brand on the network, starting June 13, 2006. It seems that Sci-Fi Channel has been taking some minor steps into becoming less gimmicky and more of a mainstream network (they recently aired a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit marathon). Spike TV also took their network in a bold direction and the same goes for G4, so I guess it's "in" now.
- Dead in the Woods
It's a clever title, right? Anyway, it's been rumored that HBO will cancel Deadwood after the third season wraps up. This is backed up by the fact that HBO did not extend/renew any of the contracts from the rather large cast, so they can basically go and work for any other network on television. If the show does end up canceled, the series creator would be a very unhappy camper because he wanted Deadwood to run for four seasons before pulling the plug on it.
- Lost: The Video Game
Ubisoft (makers of the excellent Prince of Persia and Rayman series) will be developing a video game based on ABC's popular television series Lost. They're shooting for a release sometime in 2007. There is no word on what consoles the game will come out on, but Ubisoft did mention it would be on both home consoles (except Wii, I think), PC and handheld systems.
- Trump & Stewart make peace
Yes, one of 2006's biggest feuds pitted Donald Trump against Martha Stewart. However, it seems that Stewart sent Trump some fake fur for his baby son, Baron, as her way of making up. It's good to see them bury the hatchet.
- Reality TV God sued over stolen idea
Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor and The Apprentice, finally settled a lawsuit over allegedly stealing the idea for The Apprentice from Mark Bethea, a man who is part of the Velocity Entertainment Group. I have heard rumors that Bethea pitched the idea of an Apprentice-like reality show starring Donald Trump! Wow, I hope he received a large sum for his troubles.
- The Return of J.Lo.
Well, it's not her full return yet, but MTV has reached a deal to work with Jennifer Lopez on a show titled "Moves," which will deal with dancers dancing (hahahaha). MTV has ordered eight episodes and J.Lo will likely make an appearance on the show at some point, although things could change. Anyway, the reason I'm reporting this is because I wanted to sneak in an image of J.Lo. "Moves" is currently scheduled to premiere in the fall.
- America's Got Talent is shaping up to be HUGE
Simon Cowell's NBC talent show America's Got Talent has landed Regis Philbin as their host. Not only that, but Brandy (singer/actress), David Hasselhof and Piers Morgan are all scheduled to be judges for the show, which premieres on June 21st. I'll be stunned if this is not a HUGE monster ratings hit in the summer for NBC!
- Ryan Seacrest goes DOWN American Idol host Ryan Seacrest recently went down with a minor injury after sitting on a glass table and accidentally falling through it. He ended up cutting his hand, but it wasn't serious, so eh. I can't believe he dumped Teri Hatcher. God, I would so...
- The View vs. The Dixie Chicks
The ladies from ABC's The View were offended after The Dixie Chicks insulted them after they mentioned in a Time Magazine interview about how they are above appearing on the ladies' show. Joy ripped up the magazine. I wish they would have burned it and called them WOMEN! I SO went there.
- Rock versus CBS
The insults don't stop there as comedian Chris Rock has made some rather suggestive comments regarding the racial diversity over at CBS. He mentioned how if Everybody Hates Chris was on CBS, they would replace the African American kid with a white girl. Also, Rock is also reportedly not happy with the fact that the CW network has put his hit UPN show Everybody Hates Chris on Sunday nights because it is an all African American line-up. This is not good for the CW.
- The TV 2005-2006 Results
Once again, CBS is the most watched television network with an average of 12.6 million viewers per night. ABC came in second thanks to emergence of Grey's Anatomy and a strong Super Bowl in January with an average of 10.8 million viewers. FOX, to my surprise, was in third place with an average of 10.1 million viewers. Of course, FOX's third place is thanks to American Idol. NBC ended up in fourth place with 9.72 million viewers a night. UPN & the WB ended up with 3.1 million viewers per night, making them both tied for last place (this is mainly due to the fact that people stop keeping track of the ratings after the merger was announced).
- Bonds on Bonds into hiatus
ESPN has decided to put their Bonds on Bonds series, which follows San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds as he chases down Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron on the all-time home runs list, on hiatus due to lack of
home runs from Bonds. Well, he did hit number 715, surpassing the Babe, on Sunday in San Francisco.
- Celine Dion on Deal or No Deal
Celine Dion will be appearing on the season finale of NBC's Deal or No Deal on June 5th. I'm not exactly sure why she will be there, so eh.
The Vicious Special Feature: What to Watch in the Summer
- Rescue Me (FX: returns tonight at 10PM) - Susan Sarandon and Marisa Tomei are going to appear this season!!!
- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (FX; June 29th; 10PM)
- Jamie Kennedy's Blowin' Up (MTV; Tuesdays; 10:30PM)
- How to get the Guy (ABC; June 12th; 10PM)
- Rock Star (CBS; July 11th; 9PM)
- America's Got Talent (NBC; June 21st; 9PM)
- The Hills (MTV; May 31st; 10PM)
- Who Wants To be a Super Hero? (Sci-Fi Channel; July 26th; 9PM)
- Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (TNT; July 12th; 9PM)
- Pimp My Ride (MTV; June 15th; 9PM)
- Run's House (MTV; June 15th; 10:30PM)
- Celebrity Death Match (MTV2; June 9th; 9PM) - Shaq v. Kobe!!!
- Chappelle's Show: Season 3 (Comedy Central; July 9th; 9PM)
- My Fair Brady: We're Getting Married (VH1; May 28th; 9PM)
- Deadwood (HBO; June 11th; 9PM)
- Entourage (HBO; June 11th; 10PM)
- The Ex-Wives Club (ABC; No date revealed) - famous ex-wives
The Nielsen TV Ratings for May 15-21, 2006: American Idol continues to dominate the ratings and actually finished tied for first with one another this week. The season finale of Grey's Anatomy, which aired on a Monday, did not perform as well as it normally does on Sundays. That should raise some eyebrows over at ABC. NBC actually managed to get a sitcom in the top 10! Not only that, but they have TWO shows in the top 10 this week! I'll also look at the 2006-2007 season ratings. Let's get to the rest of the ratings...
American Idol- TUES (FOX) 16.6
American Idol- WED (FOX) 16.6 [Tied #1]
CSI (CBS) 15.8
Desperate Housewives (ABC) 15.0
Grey's Anatomy- 5/15 (ABC) 14.2
House (FOX) 13.6
Without A Trace (CBS) 13.0
Will & Grace: The Finale (NBC) 11.7
CSI: Miami (CBS) 11.6
E.R. (NBC) 10.7
Top Rated Shows up to May 21, 2006
American Idol- TUES (FOX) 17.7
American Idol- WED (FOX) 16.8
CSI (CBS) 15.7
Desperate Housewives (ABC) 13.9
Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 12.6- Over a full rating lower than DH?!
With a Trace (CBS) 12.4
Dancing with the Stars (ABC) 12.0
CSI: Miami (CBS) 11.8
Survivor: Guatemala (CBS) 10.9
NFL Monday Night Football (ABC) 10.7
New TV-on-DVD Released Today: May 30th, 2006
- Joey: The Complete 1st Season
I'm only picking "Joey" because the first season has the episode where Joey's sister shows off her implants and asks him to feel her up.
- ALF: Season 3
- American Muscle Car: Season 2
- The Dukes of Hazzard: The Complete 6th Season
- Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids: Vol 3
- The Kids in the Hall: Season 4
- Night Stalker: The Complete Series
- Numb3rs: Season 1
- Queer as Folk: Season 5 (Final Season)
- Rollergirls: The Complete Season 1
- The Venture Bros.: Season 1
- Will & Grace: Series Finale
Here are my picks for the rest of the summer.
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season 2, Volume 1 (June 6th)
- Beavis & Butt-head: The Mike Judge Collection Volume 2 (June 13th)
- Cheers: Season 8 (June 13th)
- Justice League: Season 2 (June 20th)
- Married with Children: The Complete 5th Season (June 20th)
- Superman the Animated Series: Brainiac Attacks (June 20th)
- Superman the Animated Series: Volume 3 (June 20th)
- Roseanne: The Complete 4th Season (June 27th)
- Charlie's Angels: The Complete 3rd Season (July 4th)
- Reno 911: The Complete 3rd Season (July 11th)
- Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes (July 18th)
- Laguna Beach: The Complete 2nd Season (July 25th)
- Animaniacs: Volume 1 (July 25th)
- Pinky & The Brain: Volume 1 (July 25th)
- Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete 5th Season (August 1st)
- Prison Break: Season 1 (August 8th)
The Vicious TV Pulse: - SuperGroup
I'm telling you, watching a bunch of rock stars trying to form a new band is always entertaining for the Vicious One. The last episode saw Scott Ian and Ted Nugent's friendship develop into a father/son type of relationship. Ian even shot a fake deer with a bow, which made Nugent a proud papa. The funny thing was that there was some funny music playing when they were bonding over music and hunting. I almost forgot that the band finally decided on a name: FIST. I love the show right now and I can't wait to see Evan & Sebastian come to blows over the direction of the band. I also must say that the band's stylist was freaking hot and so is their blond cook. And I can't wait until Evan's wife, porn star Tara Patrick, shows up on the show later on in the season. That should rule. You can catch SuperGroup on VH1 Sunday nights after Hogan Knows Best.
Viciously Ridiculous: - William Hung
We have three ridiculous items to discuss this week. First up, American Idol finished off their fifth season last week, but we all still have to deal with the legend that is William Hung from a few seasons ago. It seems that Mr. Hung, best remembered for his awful performance of Ricky Martin's song "She Bangs" on American Idol, will be named "Antichoke King" of Castroville, CA. Not only that, but Hung has released THREE albums already! THREE! What's next? Cris Murphy and Steve Vicious form a folk band and release an album? Hey, it could happen!
- William Shatner
When asked about his show, Boston Legal, actor William Shatner (he's Denny Crane) accidentally called it "Boston Public," David E. Kelly's long canceled FOX show. It seems weird since Shatner has been on the show for two seasons, but then again, this IS William Shatner we're talking about.
- Even more proof that everyone has a MySpace page
I was doing some research on Nip/Tuck's "The Carver" and I came across his MySpace webpage! What more can I say? I swear everyone has a MySpace now. Anyway, go ahead and stalk him for a change over at the Carver's myspace. >>>MySpace.com/theCarver
The Vicious TV Poll of the Week:
Last week's results: Did The CW make a mistake in canceling "Everwood"? The results were:
Yes, "7th Heaven" has run past its course (27%)
No, "7th Heaven" is the highest rated show on either UPN or WB (13%)
I Don't Care (61%)
This week's poll asks you the following:
The Vicious TV Babe of the Week:
- Stacy Keibler
This is for Cris Murphy. Stacy Keibler went from WWE Diva to television star in 2006 after appearing on the dance competition Dancing with the Stars. While she didn't win the competition, she did win America's heart with her sexy legs. Legs....
- Angie Harmon
She was on the original Law & Order series back in the day and left the show for bigger opportunities. That didn't work out for her, but she's still hot.
- Adrianne Curry
She was the first winner of UPN's America's Next Top Model and she is currently starring in VH1's My Fair Brady: We're Getting Married. Just in case you didn't know, Adrianne is engaged to Brady Bunch star Christopher Knight (Peter Brady), who is WAY older than she is. They met while they were on The Simple Life 4. Curry recently posed for Playboy's February 2006 issue, so she's having a very good life right now. Oh, and she HATES Tyra Banks and America's Next Top Model! >>>MySpace.com/adricurry
- Famke Janssen
Famke played a big role in the second season of FX's Nip/Tuck and she is currently in the number one movie in America, X-Men 3: The Last Stand (She's Jean Grey). Take a good look at her beauty.
- Katharine McPhee
I'd like to make a special mention for the runner-up to the 2006 American Idol, Katharine McPhee. She is hot and that's about it. I also hear she can sing.
- The Women from The Apprentice: Season 1
Just for the hell of it.
The Wrap-Up:
Thank you for reading the TV News Wrap this season and I hope you all return in the fall! Remember, I'm looking out for your television viewing needs and you may opine via e-mail below. Until then, feel free to check out the reruns of the VTNW below. Have a good summer and always come back to 411 on Tuesday for the Vicious DVD Wrap reviews.
>>>I would like to send my congratulations to the NHL Western Conference Champions the Edmonton Oilers, who are heading to their first Stanley Cup Final since Mark Messier was around back in the early '90s.
On the Next Vicious TV News Wrap: August 15, 2006 (Season 2 premiere)
- I will take a look back at the shows that were canceled by all of the networks from the 2005-2006 season
- Fall 2006 TV Premieres: What's Hot and What's Not
- I'm curious to see if anyone of you fine TV readers would be willing to be a correspondent for season 2 of the VTNW?
The Vicious TV News Wrap Credits:
Written & Directed by Steve Vicious
Art/Graphic Designs by SteveCorp
Executive Producers: Steve Vicious, Ashish Pabari & Scott Rutherford
Original Concept by Scott Rutherford & Steve Vicious
A SteveCorp.net & 411mania.com Presentation
FOX is coming off a very successful television season, having managed to solidify themselves as a major threat to CBS' throne. Of course, this is mainly attributed to another very successful American Idol season, and very strong ratings for both House and 24. However, having looked at the 2006-2007 television line-up for the network, I do not see anything new that really stands out like last year (Bones comes to mind). But there is one glimmer of hope and that comes from Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher, both of whom will star in the sitcom Til' Death (Thursdays; 8PM). Other new series include Vanished (Monday; 9PM), Standoff (Tuesdays; 8PM), Justice (Wednesdays; 9PM), Happy Hour (Thursdays; 8:30PM), and Talk Show with Spike Feresten (Saturdays Midnight). FOX will also shuffle their line-up a bit as The War At Home will now follow after Family Guy at 9:30PM. American Dad will move up an hour to 8:30PM, which is a great spot to be in following the still shockingly popular The Simpsons. The O.C. will stick around at their spring 2006 slot of 9PM on Thursdays. Friday night has never been a winner for FOX, but they have decided to send Nanny 911 and Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy to what is sure to be their death sentences there at 8PM and 9PM. Fans of Mike Judge's King of the Hill will have to wait until January 2007 until the series returns with new episodes. And that's about it for FOX's new television schedule.
NBC has struggled to keep up with the other networks after the departure of Friends in 2004. They found some success in last year's break out hit My Name is Earl, but the network might have pulled the trigger on a move to Thursdays way too soon (I did call for the move long before anyone else did, so I'm to blame for that) as the ratings have dropped a bit for the show. The Office managed to become a hit after Steve Carrell became a huge movie star thanks to The 40-year-old Virgin. With Will & Grace finally bowing out a few weeks ago, the network now has to coup with trying to recapture the magic that their Must See TV Thursday line-up achieved so many years ago. So they have decided to push Earl & The Office up an hour, which should help them out a lot because the other networks do not have anything major as a threat at the 8PM timeslot. I'm actually hoping that NBC starts airing My Name Is Earl and The Office reruns at 8PM & 8:30PM all this summer in order to get the viewers accustomed to watching the show at that hour and hopefully garnering new viewers. At first, NBC had planned to air their brand new Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip at 9PM on Thursdays, but they have decided to come to their senses after realizing that the slot was going to be too tough for them to compete head-to-head with major heavyweights Grey's Anatomy and CSI. The show will now air on Mondays at 10PM. Taking over the 9PM Thursday night slot will be the hit game show Deal or No Deal.
- Conviction canceled
- Sci-Fi Channel gets EXTREME!!!
- Dead in the Woods
- Lost: The Video Game
- Trump & Stewart make peace
- Reality TV God sued over stolen idea
- America's Got Talent is shaping up to be HUGE 
- Ryan Seacrest goes DOWN
- The View vs. The Dixie Chicks
- Rock versus CBS
- The TV 2005-2006 Results
- Bonds on Bonds into hiatus
- Celine Dion on Deal or No Deal
The Nielsen TV Ratings for May 15-21, 2006:
- SuperGroup
- William Hung
- William Shatner
- Even more proof that everyone has a MySpace page
The Vicious TV Poll of the Week:
