Two Tivos To Paradise 1.11.07: New Year, Same Great TV News

Posted by Al Norton on 01.11.2008

No Golden Globe show this year, Dexter hits CBS in February, the return of American Idol, behind the scenes shakeup at Brothers And Sisters, a new line up for The CW, the rundown on the latest Nielsen ratings, tons of news and notes, a shocking Best of What's Around, the TV Pick of the Week...It's all in the first regular Two Tivos To Paradise of 2008!

Hello Friends. While it's been fun to recap the year gone by for the last couple of weeks, I am ready to greet 2008 head on. One of my resolutions was to read more and I have gotten off to a great start; I read and LOVED Born Standing Up, Steve Martin's look back at his stand up comedy career. Best book about performing I have ever read. Also read Opening Day, a very well researched look at Jackie Robinson's first season for the Brooklyn Dodgers. And I knocked off The Last Great Fight as well, which focuses on the Buster Douglas – Mike Tyson fight in 1989, what led both of them to that classic match and the roads their lives have taken since. Also highly recommended is the porterhouse steak at The Palm, my favorite of all the fancy steak houses. Mrs. Tivo and I had a wonderful meal at The Palm in Boston this past Monday, with the standard high quality food and excellent service.

I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had news.

Try To See It My Way, Do We Have To Go On Talkin' Till We Can't Go On
The week in strike news…

* Obviously the biggest news of the week was that the Golden Globe Awards telecast was cancelled, first rumored to be replaced by three hours of programming including taped interviews and coverage of the parties, and then officially replaced with a one hour, news conference type program. All of this was triggered by the Screen Actors Guild announcement that none of their members would cross the picket lines to present or accept awards. NBC has issued refunds to some but not all of the advertisers that were booked for the show, with others choosing to get the prime spots in the 2009 telecast.

* A strike reduced People's Choice Awards telecast on Tuesday night had barely 50% of its 2007 audience.

* Despite having a full writing staff in tow, The Late Show with David Letterman still finished behind The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in their first week back on the air. All four of the returning shows hit season highs in the ratings, and all saw a major drop in the numbers after the first night.

* In a pretty clever publicity stunt, Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel appeared as guests on the other's talk shows last night. More next week on the results, both in terms of fun as well as ratings.

* The worst news of the week is that there is no movement whatsoever on the issues that find that WGA and the AMPTP deadlocked. Of course, it's hard to have movement when the two sides aren't even talking.

So You Keep A Little Secret Down Deep Inside Your Dresser Drawer
Dexter made a bit of TV history this week when CBS announced it will begin airing edited versions of the Showtime series in February, making it the first cable show to get a full season (in this case, 12 episodes) run scheduled on network television. The serial killer drama will begin its Sundays at 10 pm run on February 17th.

I am hoping that making this my lead story will in some way appease all those who sent me pro-Dexter emails the last few weeks (see below). I see this as a HUGE win-win for CBS and Showtime, one getting to air a series that many feel is among the best on TV and the other getting free advertising for their biggest asset. Well, that and also getting paid by CBS for the rights to the show, too. I bet this also has a big impact on DVD sales, too. Rest assured this will be season passed right away.

I'm Gonna Trade This Life For Fortune And Fame, I'd Even Cut My Hair And Change My Name
American Idol returns to the airwaves next week with two hour audition specials on Tuesday and Wednesday. Here is a rundown of the schedule for the next few weeks:

Jan 15th & 16th (Tue & Wed), 8 -10 – Auditions
Jan 22nd & 23rd (Tue & Wed, 8 – 9; Auditions
Jan 29th & 30th (Tue & Wed), 8 – 9; Auditions
Feb 5th & 6th (Tue & Wed), 8 – 9; Auditions
Feb 12th (Tue), 8 -10; First Hollywood Round
Feb 13th (Wed) 8 – 9; Top 12 Men & Top 12 Women Announced
Feb 19th (Tue), 8 -10; Top 12 Men Perform
Feb 20th (Wed), 8 -10; Top 12 Women Perform
Feb 21st (Thu), 8 -9; First Results Show, 4 contestants sent home

As I wrote about in the Top 5 Things TV Things To Look Forward To piece I did on January 1st, I don't really understand all the AI haters out there. I mean, if you don't like it than don't watch, but what is really that awful about it? It's a talent show, plain and simple. And it's not like pre-packaged music performers are anything new to the entertainment industry; is anyone out there old enough to remember David Cassidy? Or how about New Kids on the Block? The Cheetah Girls? Hannah Montana?!?! As I am fond of saying, you can't have "alternative" unless there is a mainstream to be rebelling against. I don't think the dozen or so performers who have gotten serious airplay thanks to exposure on the show have really taken spots away from anyone who has gone undiscovered because of it. Truth be told, while it is not easy to break into the music industry, MySpace (specifically) and the internet (in general) have made it easier to build a following, and satellite radio has open up 1000's of hours of airtime that simple didn't exist 10 years ago. Hey, don't watch if you don't want to, but this is hardly the root of all evil some claim it to be.

The Road Is Long, With Many A Winding Turn
Jon Robin Baitz, creator of ABC's Brothers And Sisters, used two posts on The Huffington Report to go into great detail about why he is no longer with the show. Sighting pressure from the network to focus on younger characters and comedy over drama, Baitz said the show wasn't what he wanted it to be anymore and took aim at TV Guide.com blogger Michael Ausiello for a blind item he ran last year that hinted at the trouble on the show. While he was not in charge of the day-to-day production of the show, he still controlled the general direction of the show until his recent ouster. Baitz continues to be under contract to Disney to develop new programming.

I was saddened by this news as I very much enjoy Brothers And Sisters and am wondering why it is that ABC wants them to take the spotlight off of the characters played by Sally Field, Ron Rifkin, and Patricia Wettig. It's not like they are even the slightest bit uninteresting or that the show has a ton of younger actors. The network wanting them to go lighter in tone makes sense if you consider it follows the laughs that Desperate Housewives provides, but I think the majority of the TV viewing audience is fully aware that all shows are different. I was also curious about Baitz venom for Ausiello, who was simply doing his job and didn't specifically mention the show, especially since Ausiello had frequently championed the series. It will be interesting to see how this effects the on-screen product once the writer's strike ends.

Stir It Up, Little Darlin', Stir It Up, Come On, Baby
The CW announced their winter line up changes this week, bringing some returning shows back into the fold while seeing if promising new comers can find more success in new timeslots. Gossip Girl moves to Mondays at 8, to be followed starting mid February at Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious. Beauty And The Geek returns in March, when it will be paired with One Tree Hill on Tuesdays. American's Next Top Model kicks off season 10 on Wednesday, February 20th. The comedy block of Everybody Hates Chris, Aliens In America, The Game, and Girlfriends has moved from Monday to Sunday. The network is getting behind Reaper, hoping that moving it to Thursday later this month and pairing it with Smallville first and then Supernatural will open it up to a wider audience.

With all the reality programming hitting the airwaves the next two months, moving shows around makes some sense as if you haven't seen episodes of Gossip Girl, it's new to you. Considering how long it's taken for a CW series to generate any critical buzz whatsoever, it's nice to see them pulling out the stops to give Reaper a shot. The show needs work, in particular in creating subplots and advancing the overall story but it's funny and has a great cast, so it's worth saving. Does anyone know anyone who watched last season's Pussycat Dolls show? Seriously, I know people did as it did ok in the ratings, I just don't know who, or why.

Honesty Is Hardly Ever Heard And Mostly What I Need From You
Thought I'd try something new this week, it being 2008 and all. It's not going to be a regular feature but last fall I wrote about a great bit of dialogue on the otherwise mediocre Rules Of Engagement that did a fantastic job of encapsulating what I'm sure is a running argument in many a married household; when do you tell the truth and how much of it do you really want to hear.

Here is the set up – Jeff had a sore shoulder and found himself becoming physically aroused when neighbor Jennifer gave him a massage. He did not share this information with his wife Audrey, refusing to have sex with her when he walked in the door and instead buying her diamond earrings to assuage his guilt. Audrey found out what happened from Jennifer and decided to see if Jeff would tell her. We join them as Jeff has presented Audrey with the earrings and realized that she knows everything.

Jeff: Let's just do this.

Audrey: Yes, yes lets. You know this whole thing could have been avoided if you just didn't try to hide it from me.

Jeff: I didn't try to hide it from you. It was gone by the time I got home.

Audrey: I meant the fact that you hid that you…You know what I mean. By not telling me, it made you look guilty.

Jeff: I felt guilty. That's why I didn't let you have your way with me.

Audrey: And you are lucky you didn't.

Jeff: Why? Why? You've gone to bachlorette parties and Chip & Dale shows and gotten all worked up and I was happy to finish what those hairless oily freaks started.

Audrey: Yes but those hairless oily freaks were not our friends from the building.

Jeff: I don't know, Carlos in 5A is suspiciously smooth.

Audrey: Look, all you had to do was be honest. You should know you can tell me anything.

Jeff: Really? So you would have been fine if I walked in and said, "hey, look what the cute neighbor girl gave me?"

Audrey: Oh, now she's cute?

Jeff: No…You just said I could tell you anything!

Audrey: Yes, but don't be stupid about it.

Jeff: That's my point. I can't tell you everything.

Audrey: You can tell me everything I should now. If it's gonna upset me and It's not important, then don't tell me.

Jeff: I thought that's what I was doing here.

Audrey: Yes, but I found out!

Jeff: How is that my fault?

Audrey: Just don't let other women rub you.

Jeff: Fine, done…You're going to keep the earrings?

Audrey: Oh yeah.

Jeff: Easily the most expensive erection I have ever had.

I am very confident that any married readers have had similar conversations with their spouses, probably in the last couple of weeks. The scene is even funnier thanks to the charm that Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price bring to their roles.

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 last week…Not only was this year's The 25 Days Of Christmas the highest rated in the event's history on ABC Family but Holiday In Handcuffs, an original movie with Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez, was the single most watched program ever for the channel…The Ellen Degeneres Show posted season high ratings the third week of December, up 9% from this time last year…The Fiesta Bowl on Fox easily won last Wednesday night's battle for the demos, with the Supernanny/Wifeswap pairing on ABC finishing in second place…The two hour season premiere of Law and Order built on it's Deal or No Deal lead in but still finished third…The debut of The Celebrity Apprentice topped Thursday night for demos and gave the franchise it's highest totals in two years…No such thing as bad publicity – last Friday's season finale of Zoey 101 (aka The Jamie Lynn Spears show) drew 7.3 million, an increase of over 100% from the season average…How to Look Good Naked set Lifetime records for the debut of a reality series in the 18-49 demos…Desperate Housewives last new pre-strike episode drew just a shade under 20 million…Cashmere Mafia's debut was dreadful; aside from the show being terrible, it held on barely half of the DH audience lead in, and was topped in total audience and demos by American Gladiators, which had the best 18-49 numbers of any new show's first episode this season… The BCS Championship pulled in more than 21 million viewers for Fox on Monday, more than doubling anything else on in primetime…The premiere of Dance Wars just barely squeaked out a victory over American Gladiators…The season bow of Medium was up from last year and topped a CSI: Miami rerun as well as October Road, which continues it's downward spiral…A two hour Biggest Loser won Tuesday's demo battle…The season premiere of One Tree Hill pretty much matched last year's kick off and gave The CW it's best Tuesday ratings in almost 8 months…Law And Order: SVU took advantage of the lack of new competition to see it's ratings go up 23%...Remember a few lines ago when I mentioned Cashmere Mafia holding onto a shade over 50% of it's Desperate Housewives lead in? Well only 60% of that audience followed the show to its regular Wednesdays at 10 slot…Almost 10 million tuned in to Law And Order: Criminal Intent despite the episode already running on USA in October…

All The Young Dudes Carry The News
Industry Notes, Pilot Updates, & Casting News…FX launches season two of Dirt on March 2nd. The season will consist of the seven episodes completed before the strike and will run Sundays at 10 pm…Bad new for Bones fans (like me) - Fox is saving the remaining three episodes for May Sweeps…Alton Brown signed a three year contract to remain with the Food Network…E! renewed Chelsea Lately for a second season…Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef), Tony Gonzalez (tight end, Kansas City Chiefs), and Mallak Compton-Rock (aka Mrs. Chris Rock) are the three judges on ABC's upcoming Oprah's Big Give show, which debuts March 2nd…MTV has picked up a second season of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, while season one "winner" Bobby claims he was never given Tila's phone number and had not talked with her since the finale…Rumors abound that Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham will appear as a guest judge on the season finale of Project Runway…ABC has brought back The Mole, giving the forgotten reality series a 10 episode order…Bravo has a spin-off of Shear Genius in the works, with former contestant Tabitha Coffey going all Gordon Ramsey on salons in disarray…Showtime will have season two of Big Brother: After Dark. Airing on SHO2, the series is a three hour live feed from the house that is the setting of the popular CBS series that returns on February 12th…A & E has picked up a second season of The Two Coreys. I can think of two people who are happy about this news…NBC is running the last two new episodes of Chuck on Thursday the 24th, sandwiched around The Celebrity Apprentice…MTV's Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew has a casting special on January 26th before hitting its regular Thursdays at 10 home on February 7th...…The Today's Show's Al Roker and Spike are developing DEA, a six hour reality series that follows agents at the Detroit location of the government agency as they fight both local and international drug battles…

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…By the time this column is over, I may have so few readers that even a month of Sports Guy links won't be able to save me. I mean, its one thing to defend American Idol but it's another to come out and admit you've been enjoying reruns of…Reba…Yes, I said it, I've been enjoying reruns of Reba. Even laughing out loud at times. Now don't go gettin' up in my grill. After all, I am the same TV snob who gives folks a hard time for not watching Battlestar Galactica. Like many viewers, I dismissed the series because it was a comedy on The WB (and then The CW), a network not exactly known for its funny bone. But a very bad cold over the holidays found me on the couch without the energy and focus to dive into something major, and wouldn't you know it, the long running (six seasons!!!) family comedy more than hit the spot. As regular readers know, I am frequently chastising the networks for the lack of good family programming, and now I am sad I missed the boat to champion a series that dealt with some decently serious issues (teenage pregnancy, cheating husbands, kids being raised by divorced parents) without getting preachy, and also being funny without getting overly stupid (they way shows like My Wife and Kids used to). It's on for two hours a day on Lifetime, not to mention airing on local stations as well, so you could do a lot worse than checking it out.

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 (Actually 21) days…Where do I begin?...I caught the first four or five episodes of Paranormal State, which was extremely well produced but more than a bit over the top. Where Ghosthunters takes the attitude that most things have reasonable explanations, PS goes into it with the assumption that if people say they are haunted, they are haunted, so it's really only a show for true believers…I don't mean to use the Private Practice – Grey's Anatomy comparison as a crutch but the difference between the shows is how they treat the cases; on Grey's they cases – and the patients – are usually well drawn characters whose situations are meant to in some form parallel something going on in the regular's lives, and on PP they are an afterthought, or worse, an excuse to show a personality trait of one of the Doctors. Oh, Tim Daly must really care because he punched out a track coach who gave a runner bad pills…As I mentioned last week, Cashmere Mafia was the worst show I have seen in some time. If I were a women, I would be offended that ABC would think I would watch just because there show has female leads…Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project was a highly entertaining 90 minutes. My brother and I used to sit and listen to the Hello Dummy album as kids growing up (says a lot about my parents, I know) so I was familiar with a lot of his routine but that didn't make it any less funny…My low opinion of the first two Law And Orders of the year was magnified by catching part of the New Year's Day marathon on TNT, in particular a fantastic three part episode (D-Girl, Turnaround, Showtime) that was "inspired" by the OJ Simpson case and as much fun as anything the series has ever done. It was a great mix of a case with twists and turns, the regular character's personal lives, and a large portion of actual lawyering. It also featured guest turns by future Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham, and the late Michael Zazlow, a phenomenal daytime actor whose life was cut short by ALS…Finally watched the two part season finale of Side Order of Life – I had misplaced the DVD I taped it on – and am really keeping my fingers crossed that the powers-that-be at Lifetime (this means you, Suzanne) renew this charming series for another round of episodes. Steven Weber was great as cell phone guy in the flesh. Was there a better build of a romance on TV last year than Vivy and Rick's?...The last new Desperate Housewives was decent, although I hope we haven't seen the last of Nathan Fillion. Eva Longoria's Gabby was more than a bit over the top, but that's nothing new…Got a real kick out of A & E's new Parking Wars, especially the parts that took place at the tow lot...

TV Pick Of The Week
I wrote a review of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles a few weeks back after getting to view the first two episodes but I thought I would take this occasion to remind all of you how much I liked this new series. The action is more than solid, as is the acting, and the show does a good job of keeping it's fantastical plot elements grounded in the real world. I think this will be a hit for Fox, and more importantly for viewers, it's a good show. I don't want to quote myself too much so for more detailed thoughts use the links at the bottom to pull up previous columns, including my "Top 10 TV Things To Look Forward To in 2008". Don't miss Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles this Sunday at 8 and Monday at 9 on Fox.

Two Tivos To Paradise, Weekly Update
30 Days, Aliens In America, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antique Roadshow, The Apprentice, Battlestar Galactica, Best Week Ever, Big Love, Bionic Woman, Bones, Boston Legal, Brothers And Sisters, Burn Notice, Chuck, The Closer, Criss Angel Mindfreak, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, Dirty Sexy Money, Entourage, Eureka, Everybody Hates Chris, Flipping Out, Ghost Hunters, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, Jericho, Kid Nation, King Of Cars, Last Comic Standing, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Lost, Mad Men, Make Me A Supermodel, Medium, Moonlight, My Name Is Earl, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, Next Food Network Star, Nip/Tuck The Office, One Tree Hill. Project Runway, Pushing Daisies, Psych, Real Time With Bill Maher, Reaper, Rescue Me, The Riches, Rules Of Engagement, Run's House, Samantha Who?, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, Shark, Shear Genius, The Soup, Supernatural, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Top Chef, Top Design, Top This Party, Ugly Betty, Welcome To The Parker

Additions: American Idol, Make Me A Supermodel, Paranormal State, Parking Wars, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Top This Party
Deletions: None

A few new shows make the cut this week, plus I decided that it's time I watched a full season of American Idol.

Everybody's Talkin' At Me, I Can't Hear A Word They're Sayin'. Only The Echoes In My Mind
Very much enjoyed all the feedback (emails and comments left on the page) I've received the last few weeks about the year-in-review columns. Clearly people have been taking me to task about both Dexter and The Wire, although in my defense on the latter, The Wire was not on in 2007. To the person who wondered why I didn't have Back To You on my list, the answer is because I actually watched several episodes of the show. I did get a Barnes and Noble gift card for Christmas and was planning on ordering season one of Dexter before the CBS news broke. Amazon has The Wire DVD sets at a pretty high cost right now, so that may have to wait a bit, but my goal is to have seen all the episodes by the end of 2008.

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. It was fun to get back to the standard format for today, so look for more of the same next week when we bring you all the latest TV news as well as a sneak peek at the new ABC series Eli Stone.

Have a great week, see you next Friday!

Feedback is encouraged at [e-mail].

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.