Two Tivos To Paradise 04.27.07
Posted by Al Norton on 04.27.2007
It's time for May Sweeps, which is almost as much fun as the sweep I saw last week at Fenway with the Red Sox kicking some Yankee ass. Click here for all the latest TV news before I alienate more of my readers!
Hello Friends. Hope everyone has been enjoying the same beautiful weather we have had here in Boston, where the 88 degree temp on Monday set a record. Even better was the Sox-Yankees game on Sunday night, where I got to see Dice-K in person as well as bear witness to back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns. The downside was the game didn't get over to almost midnight so it took multiple cups of coffee to get me going the next morning. On a related note, I highly recommend the Vanilla Bean Coolada from Dunkin Donuts – it's like a vanilla milk shake with caffeine!
You came here for the news and you know I won't hold you back now.
Turn Your Clock Back, Paint It Red On Black, Bring It All Right Back
Tuesday marks the start of May Sweeps, with the networks pulling out all the stops to get big ratings. Here is a calendar of the first three days (the next three weeks of Two Tivos will open with a similar guide):
Tuesday
*Bon Jovi stops by American Idol
*Veronica Mars returns for what could be the series final four episodes with a new, self-contained mystery format.
*Oscar de la Hoya guests on George Lopez.
*Michael Weston and Kim Delaney reprise their recurring roles on Law And Order: SVU.
*Law And Order: Criminal Intent rips from the headlines even faster than usual, with an episode featuring a NASA related love triangle and murder.
Wednesday
*America's Next Top Model does swimsuits
*One Tree Hill is back with new episodes after a Pussycat Dolls related hiatus.
*A Lost episode where all the flashbacks are to things that took place after the plane crashed.
*Neve Campbell and Jason Priestly turn up on Medium.
*CSI: NY has a crossover episode featuring Cold Case's Det. Scotty Valens (Danny Pinto).
Thursday
*Supersized episodes of My Name Is Earl and The Office
*The long awaited potential spin off launching Grey's Anatomy, with Addison heading off to California to introduce us to a new set of oversexed Dr's.
*Ally Sheedy, Enrico Colantoni (Veronica Mars) and Julie Hagerty are all UFO believers on CSI
*Billy Campbell returns as serial killer Wayne Callison on the season finale of Shark.
*Luka and Abby get married on ER.
The best thing about sweeps is the lack of reruns, which means I want to apologize in advance to anyone I don't call back during the month of May. I like the 80's vibe that Medium is giving off, and want to see if Shark will kill off Campbell's character or simply send him to jail where he can haunt Sebastian next season, but the big story of this week is the Grey's spin off test case. See the TV Pick Of The Week for more details.
People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Rosie O'Donnell announced this week that she was unable to agree to a new contract with ABC Daytime and would be leaving The View in mid-June. Her tenure with the show has been marked by strong controversy (public feuds with Donald Trump and Bill O'Reilly, sharp criticism of President Bush, and a running battle with co-host Elizabeth Hasselback) and even stronger ratings (up 15% in the key female demographics the show targets), and while it's expected that O'Donnell will get her own show in the near future, nothing is currently planed and it's unlikely any new talk show would get on the air before next fall. Foxnews.com is reporting that Rosie asked for $10 million for one year, while ABC was looking for $30 million for three years, with neither willing to budge on the length of the deal.
While I am not personally affected by this news, I do wonder what fellow TV News writer Steve Vicious will do for material now. Just kidding, Steve. What this does mean is people will stop talking about The View pretty quickly as there is no way they replace her with anyone who will get as much attention as Rosie. The question is do they even try and go that way, or pick someone who will be solid but not flashy and hope that the extra viewers Rosie brought in will stick around. As for Ms O'Donnell's future, she may try and get her rumored Nip/Tuck spin off moving or just sit back and wait until next fall to launch her return to a solo gig on daytime TV.
There's Something Magic In The Way You Hold Me In Your Eyes
Radaronline.com reported this week that VH-1 was on the verge of signing Scott Baio to a new reality series. Scott Baio is 45…And Single is the working title for the show that would attempt to find a new girlfriend for the former Happy Days and Charles In Charge star. This comes on the heals of Flava Of Love and the upcoming Rock Of Love With Bret Michaels.
Sometimes these stories just write themselves. Baio is the perfect choice for a show like this, just famous enough to garner interest and just desperate enough for publicity to throw himself into it head first. If there is a God, he will make sure Willie Ames is signed on to host this new show. Also, considering Baio's legendary status for sleeping with tons of Hollywood hotties, maybe they can get a few of them to stop by and offer tips to the potential dates; how busy could Heather Thomas and Nicole Eggert be these days, anyway? Now I have to go to Youtube.com and find the clip of Hibbleton singing the Charles In Charge theme to make my night complete.
Can we all be in agreement that the last scene of Scott Baio Is 45…And Single HAS to be him singing the above quoted theme to Joanie Loves Chachi in a duet with his new love?
But You Were Up To Your Old Tricks In Chapters Four Five And Six
All you need to know about the Nielsen's…Desperate Housewives was the top rated show on Sunday night despite hitting a series low for overall viewership, making it the second time in three weeks that it established a season low…The finale of The Apprentice: LA was the top rated program 10-11 on Sunday in terms of the 18-49 demos, meaning there is a strong chance The Donald's favorite vanity project will return for another year…Monday was a bad day all around, with the return of Heroes coming in almost 3 million below it's season average, 24 hitting a series low for Mondays, and the CBS comedy block pulling in underwhelming numbers…Despite (or perhaps because of) all the hype, American Idol: Idol Gives Back came in at 200,000 less than last Tuesday's outing, but the two hour Wednesday edition averaged 26.4 million viewers, with the final hour topping out at 29.4… The Pussycat Dolls: The Search For The Next Doll picked up a ½ million extra viewers for it's finale…Things are looking up for Lost, which beat a new CSI: NY in both total audience and demos for the first time…
All The Young Dudes Carry The News
Industry Notes, Pilot Updates, & Casting News…Drive was cancelled after three outings, replaced by House reruns for the time being…Alec Baldwin publicly asked to be released from his 30 Rock contract this week, saying he needed to focus on the family issues that have made headlines the past week. NBC immediately responded that they were looking forward to Baldwin honoring his deal and that filming of 30 Rock's second season would begin late this summer…Scrubs executive producer Bill Lawrence said this week that ABC had guaranteed him they will pick up the show if NBC decides not to renew it for a fifth season…Steven Weber guests on the season finale of Law And Order: SVU…Cybil Shepard and Marlee Matlin will return for the fifth season of The L Word next January…The judges for the first round of Steven Speilberg's The Lot were revealed this week, with Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner, Gary Marshall, and Jon Avnet holding the fates of the contests in their hands. The show premiers on May 22 on Fox…New episodes of Doctor Who hit the Sci-Fi channel in July…Passions may not be dead yet; NBC is reportedly close to signing a four episode a week deal to air the daytime soap on Direct-TV…Brooke Shields shows up on tonight's Hannah Montana, playing the title character's Mom in flashbacks…Gina Gershon reprises her role as Fabia on the season finale of Ugly Betty…Rumors abound this week that Woody Harrelson is returning to series TV in an adaptation of the BBC show, Shameless…David Eick (Battlestar Gallactica) is executive producing The Gathering, a mini-series for Lifetime where a Dr. trying to find his missing wife runs into a cabal of witches…Shonda Rhimes has decided she can't do it all herself and will have Marti Noxon (Buffy, Angel, Point Pleasant ) run day-to-day operations of Grey's Anatomy while Krista Vernoff (Wonderfalls, Charmed) will handle similar duties for Private Practice (if/when it gets picked up)…Sources are reporting it seems a lock for October Road to get a second season…ABC has moved up the premier of Traveler to May 10th, following Grey's Anatomy. What is odd is that the show won't reappear until May 30th, when it will take over its regular Wednesday at 10 slot by re-airing the pilot…Season two of Kyle XY kicks off on ABC Family in June…Sarah Silverman will host The MTV Movie Awards on June 3rd…American Idol: Idol Gives Back raised over $30 million in donations (both corporate and private)…
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…Rather than go with a third consecutive week of The Sopranos, I am selecting a show that is way more entertaining that it gets credit for, and that's The New Adventures Of Old Christine. This past Monday's episode, where Christine attempts to stay sober at a wedding for the first time in her life, was a fantastic example of how a great cast and solid writing can still make a classic sitcom set up seem fresh. The guys quoting Caddyshack, Christine wondering if men at weddings are always this unattractive before accidentally letting it slip she had slept with the groom back in college, and a great gag about a used chocolate fountain all led to the best episode of the season for this second year comedy. Keep your fingers crossed that CBS finds room for another night of comedy or this could be it for Christine, which would be a shame.
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…Smaller than usual this week – sometimes life gets in the way of TV…The Sopranos continues to blow me away; I would watch a whole series about Uncle Junior in a psychiatric hospital. Great interaction between Tony and Paulie this week, too. "Remember when is the lowest form of conversation" is a sentiment Mrs. Tivo shares when I get together with my high school friends and talk little league baseball highlights…Even Adam Sandler couldn't make this season of King of Queens funny. The longer the show goes on, the clearer it gets that Carrie is one of the meanest "good" characters in sitcom history…Had a Dresden Files marathon last weekend, catching up on the last three episodes of the season. I hope this show gets renewed as its quality light entertainment, and Terrance Mann's Bob is fast becoming the best scene stealing character on TV. Also, I would put Paul Blackthorne's American accent up against Hugh Laurie's any day of the week…Really don't like what Desperate Housewives is doing with Tom right now; I know they need to make him a jerk so the audience can understand why Lynette is tempted to stray, but it's out of character for him and insulting to the people who have watched the show for three years…One of things that made last week's Grey's Anatomy so strong is that they didn't ruin the surprise of Izzy's daughter being at the hospital with endless promos…As much as I appreciate The Apprentice: LA trying to shake up their format, the fact that the winner was someone who had never actually been a project manager shows that they need to do some re-jiggering before (if) the show returns next year…
TV Pick Of The Week
We've been talking about it for months and now the test-the-waters-for-a-spinoff episode of Grey's Anatomy is upon us. Next Thursday's two hour edition will be half Seattle Grace goings on, and half Addison (Kate Walsh) heading to California to visit friends/introduce the audience to the cast of Private Practice (the working title to the show-to-be). Taye Diggs, Tim Daly, Amy Brenneman, Merrin Dungy (King Of Queens, Alias), Chris Lowell (Veronica Mars), and Paul Adelstein (Prison Break) co-star in what would clearly be a big ratings hit for ABC. Even though my hope that Daly finally gets a hit series is balanced by my frustration that this is taking a spot that a more original series could have had, I would not miss it for the world. Check out Grey's Anatomy this Thursday on ABC.
Two Tivos To Paradise, Weekly Update 30 Days, The 4400, Antique Roadshow, The Apprentice, Battlestar Galactica, Best Week Ever, Big Love, Bones, Boston Legal, Brothers And Sisters, Celebrity Paranormal Project, The Class, Criss Angel Mindfreak, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Dead Zone, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Entourage, Extras, Eureka, Everybody Hates Chris, Fast Inc, Ghost Hunters, Grey's Anatomy, Hex, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, In Case Of Emergency, Jericho, Justice, King Of Cars, Knights Of Prosperity, Laguna Beach, Last Comic Standing, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Lost, Medium, My Name Is Earl, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, The Office, One Tree Hill, Painkiller Jane, Project Runway, Psych, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rescue Me, The Riches, Rules Of Engagement, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, Shark, Shear Genius, The Sopranos, The Soup, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, Supernatural, Top Chef, Top Design, Ugly Betty, Veronica Mars. Additions :None Deletions :None
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. By the time I am back next Friday will be full swing into May Sweeps, so expect lots of news and a big "What I've Been Watching" section. Don't forget to check back with 411mania.com for daily news reports, and as always, your feedback is encouraged at twotivotoparadise@yahoo.com.
Sources for this week's column include Daily Variety, TV Guide, and Hollywood Reporter as well as the web sites for those publications.
