Two Tivos To Paradise 3.07.08: The Recognized Symbol of Excellence in TV News Reports

Posted by Al Norton on 03.07.2008

A 24 TV movie for Fox, The Wire signs off this Sunday, Family Guy gets a spinoff, is Friday Night Lights moving to Direct TV?, ABC & NBC fight over Scrubs, The CW renews Supernatural, American Idol thoughts, raves for Lost, TONS of news and notes, the TV pick of the week and more, all in Al Norton's Two Tivos To Paradise!

Hello Friends. Mrs. Tivo and I had a Saturday afternoon living room picnic with some take-out and a remote control, actually managing to empty out my "now playing" folder of our main Tivo. By Tuesday we were stacking stuff up again but it was the first time in a long, long time that it was empty. We also drove to Hartford last Thursday to see Bruce Springsteen. It was the 8th time I have seen him live and I have never been disappointed. The song list included Janie Don't You Lose Heart, one of my favorite lesser known Boss tunes.

Picked up Maceo Parker's Roots and Grooves, a new live two disc set, the first half of which is a Ray Charles tribute that includes a truly incendiary version of What'd I Say?. Maceo is a saxophone God and not a bad singer, either.

I will spend my whole life through loving news, just loving news.

Here Is The Main Thing I Want To Say, I'm Busy 24 Hours A Day
Fox is starting production on a two hour 24 TV movie that would bridge the gap between seasons 6 & 7. Set to air this fall before the January premiere of season 7, this looks to be a prelude to the new episodes as opposed to a stand alone story.

Great news for those of you going through Jack Bauer withdrawal as you get a fix to carry you through the holiday season. This could work very well for Fox as it allows them to break from the real time format the episodes have used in the past and gauge audience reaction to it without messing with the product that has done so well for them. It also means they can introduce new characters and lay groundwork for storylines now, meaning more time for action come the new year.

Don't It Always Seem To Go That You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone
This Sunday's 93 minute episode of The Wire will be its series finale, bringing to a close one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the last 10 years. Created by David Simon, it brings to a close his Baltimore crime trilogy, which started with Homicide: Life on the Street, and was followed by The Corner, both of which were books before reaching the small screen. Simon's writing partner for The Corner and The Wire is former Baltimore Detective Ed Burns and over the course of the show's five seasons they have won many awards, including a Peabody, an AFI, and a WGA, although it's lack of recognition from the Emmys is glaring. Sunday's finale will be directed by Clark Johnson, who has helmed previous episodes and is in front of the cameras this season as Gus, the newspaper editor.

Sadly, when you use a phrase like "one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the last 10 years" it's usually shortly followed be the caveat that it was not a huge ratings performer, and that's the case here as well. I love that fans of The Wire are as passionate as they are; it's what watching TV is all about. While I have been open about not watching the show it's not because of a dislike of the series, just that I missed the first two seasons and by all accounts it's not the type of show you can jump in to. I will point out for the record that I have been a fan of Simon's since many of you were in short pants, including watching the first episode of Homicide, which I consider to be the best TV series of all-time (although BSG is coming fast), and running out and buying the book the next day. I also bought The Corner the day it came out – in hardcover – and think the mini-series adaptation is one of the best in television history. Ok, this ends the "Al Gets Defensive" part of the column. I am on the record as saying I plan on picking up the season one DVD's this summer and if I enjoy it half as much as some of my readers, I will be using this space to urge others to make similar purchases.

Oh My Baby's Comin' Home Tomorrow, Ain't That Good News, Man Ain't That News
TV Guide and Deadline Hollywood Daily are reporting that NBC and Direct TV are thisclose to signing a deal to give Friday Night Lights a third season. While there have been no details about the scheduling plan, the assumption is the show would air first on Direct TV with a later run on NBC, similar to the deal the network has with USA for Law And Order: Criminal Intent.

Color me thrilled. I don't have Direct TV and don't plan on adding it anytime soon but any deal that gives these characters more time to live and breathe should be celebrated. I will have further thoughts on this story next week when more of the specifics have been made public. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

All This Energy Callin' Me Back Where It Comes From
Fox and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane are developing a spin off of the popular animated series that the network hopes to have in its Sunday night line up this fall. Cleveland would focus on Peter Griffin's neighbor and his family, and is being written by MacFarlane, Family Guy writer (and the voice of Cleveland) Mike Henry, and American Dad executive producer Rich Appel.

I must admit to being a bit surprised MacFarlane is hot to work with Fox again after his anger with them over their willingness to complete production of episodes of Family Guy without his involvement during the WGA strike. On the other hand no one is going better prepared to give this show a giant push than the big network that is clearly the most committed to animation. I am not a big Family Guy guy but the episodes I have seen, in particular one about gay marriage and Mayor Adam West spending all the town's money on a solid gold statue of Diggem the Sugar Snaps frog, have been quite funny. As part of my writing for Boston Now I did an interview with the Boston Celtics and found out they have a pregame ritual of watching Family Guy episodes in the locker room, with Kevin Garnet and Scott Pollard being the biggest fans.

When You Were So In Love With Me I Played Around Like I Was Free
America's Next Top Model, Supernatural, Smallville, One Tree Hill, Everybody Hates Chris, and Gossip Girl were all renewed by The CW for the 2008-2009 season this week. For EHC it follows on the announcement that Nick At Night would start showing nightly reruns of the family sitcom starting next year, but that was it for the good news for CW comedies as the network let go of 25 staff members from their comedy development department, which was eliminated by a merge with the drama development department. By their lack of inclusion on the above list, Reaper and Aliens In America remain on the bubble.

Lots of CW news this week as TV Guide is reporting that Michael Rosenbaum (Lex) and Kristin Kreuk (Lana) have informed the network they will not be returning as regulars on Smallville this fall. Also, they are creating a teen programming block next Month when Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill will air back-to-back on Mondays. Supernatural fans must be thrilled with this early pick up, and it's a big triumph for OTH as well, meaning their five year jump into the future was a success. Now we just need everyone to watch Reaper and Aliens and hopefully they can find room for that as well.

I Have Done All That I Could To See The Evil And The Good Without Hiding
As we reported last week, ABC and NBC are in the middle of a tug of war over Scrubs, with NBC claiming to have an exclusive rights period that should prevent any jumping from going on for the time being. This was scheduled to be the hospital comedy's final season but the WGA strike through a wrench into plans for a proper send off. NBC currently has 5 yet-to-air completed episodes and had been negotiating to do a real finale before talks fell apart last week, which led ABC Studios, which produces the show, to look elsewhere. This is not the first time the Emmy winning show has flirted with a move as a similar switch was discussed last spring before NBC picked it up.

One of the more surprising bits of information to come out of this is that star Zach Braff was on board with the rumored 18 episode ABC deal since it has been widely thought that the reason the show was shutting down was his wanting to focus on other projects. There is some thought that this is all a negotiating ploy by ABC Studios, with ABC the network simply allowing themselves to be used in order to get the series a better deal, although a recent commitment to comedy (Samantha Who?, the upcoming Miss/Guided) may make them in the market for a known commodity to use as an anchor. It is a bit sad that NBC seems to only show interest in Scrubs when someone else does first; if they had given the show a proper push and consistent home than it may have had the much wider audience that it deserves. Don't get me started on the injustice done by the Emmy's annual ignoring of Donald Faison.

I Saw A Film Today, Oh Boy, The English Army Had Just Won The War
ABC renewed five reality series this week, picking up new season of Dancing With the Stars, Wife Swap, Supernanny, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and America's Funniest Home Videos. Previously the network had ordered new editions of The Bachelor as well as bringing back The Bachelorette. Notable by its absence was Dance Wars, which just completed its first run.

Does it make you feel old to know that AFHV will be entering its 19th season?!?!? It was only thanks to The Aristocrats that Bob Saget was able to put the humor atrocities he committed on the series behind him. The above shows are all of ABC's "reality" series, and combined with their scripted renewals from several weeks ago makes up the bulk of their 2008-2009 line up. Anything not included in either of those lists has to be considered a bubble show at best, and that includes Boston Legal and Men In Trees.

And With Your Hair Combed Right And Your Pants Fit Tight, It's Gonna Be All Right
Season 7 of American Idol is actually season one when it comes to my watching. All season long I will be providing a weekly diary of the action as well as covering any AI related news items. This is the last week of separate gender episodes since by Thursday night we will down to the final 12. Last Thursday's eliminations were viewed by 25.91 million viewers, an increase of 2.7 from the previous week's farewells. Tuesday night's 28.2 million was down 5% from last week. Interestingly enough, Wednesday's 28.3 million was up a mil from last week.

TUESDAY
The last stag night of American Idol as next week it goes all coed on your ass. Let's get right to it...
-Randy's shirt looks like something out of Paula's closet, and Paula's dress looks like a reject from Project Runway made an outfit for one of the Desperate Housewives of New York. Pop culture reference much?

-Luke opens with Wham? Really? Just awful. From the opening note I was thinking that this guy is going to be giving his last performance on national TV tomorrow night and it's going to be Wake Me Up Before You Go Go. It's really kind of sad.

-Does David Archuletta even lighten up? First Imagine and now Another Day In Paradise? Hey, Simon agrees with me!

-Denise Richards?!?!? How random was that? Is Ryan Seacrest producing her reality show, too?

-Danny Noriega seems to on a quest to out gay himself each week. He's not bad at all, and I give him credit for matching his hair to his shirt, but he's headed home soon.

-Paula Abdul talks just like Fred Armisen's Nichols Fehn, Political Comedian character from SNL.

-Hmmm, David Hernandez, what's your most embarrassing moment? The whole world finding out you worked as all nude stripper at a club that catered to dudes? Just a guess. LOVE the song, though.

-Michael Johns has yet to live up to the promise of the audition round, and keeps that pace with a barely passable version of Don't You Forget About Me. Apparently Randy thinks that Michael Hutchence fronted Simple Minds as well as INXS.

-Mrs. Tivo has spent the last 25 minutes insisting that Paula is drunk. Does Ms Abdul ever finish a sentence? Or watch tape of previous episodes?

-I took a minute to see if I could come up with better song choices on 80's night than these contestants...Time After Time, True Colors, Against All Odds, Missing You...

-Words can not do justice to the horror that is the new Mohegan Sun commercial that uses Super Freak as their new jingle

-David Cook's version of Hello was the best performance of the night.

-Has Jason been smoking some of Paula's stash? His Hallelujah was fine but not much more.

-Chikeze did a song he sang during the auditions, which I always think is a bad move, and the judges seem to agree.

-Ok, so Luke is a definite to head home, and it's between Chikeze and Jason to join him. See you tomorrow night for the ladies.

WEDNESDAY
-It's time for 80's Ladies…I jump anytime I get the chance to make reference to the great K.T. Oslin.

-Got to admit, Ryan looks sharp tonight! Hey, Paula has her hair back for the first time in weeks and looks much better...and maybe a little less crazy

-Asia'h kicks things off with some Whitney. Not an impressive performance. Not bad, just generic. I don't know what the judges were listening to, although Simon comes through with some truth.

-My wife thinks Paula is still drunk but does acknowledge that she is completing her sentences tonight.

-Kady is doing a Queen song I can't place but she is hitting the big notes despite missing many of the small ones. She is the Johnny Bravo of the competition - she looks the part, and the suit fits, but there is more dressing than turkey. Wow, I got lost with all those mixed metaphors. I am surprised I didn't work an "all hat, no cattle" line in there.

-Amanda shocks the world and does a rock song. Why not Time After Time or We Belong, something to show a tender side? The judges all love it but didn't they tell her to show a different side last week? The band really sounded great on that number, by the way

-Finally someone does some Cyndi Lauper, although truth be told I prefer the Roy Orbison version of I Drove All Night. Carly does well with it.

-Break out the lighters, Kristy Lee is singing Faithfully. Countrified, for her pleasure.

-Did Remiele read my blog? Against All Odds is a great song but she took out the desperation that makes is so memorable. I never forget I am watching a talent show when she sings, and that's not a good thing.

-Brooke busts out with some Pat Benatar and a great arrangement of Love Is a Battlefield. Really good and much, much different than anything anyone else did tonight.

-My favorite Syesha is closing things out the way they began tonight, with some mediocre Whitney, although she sang the crap out of it.

-So who goes home? I'd send Kady and Amanda packing but I am guessing America votes Kady and Kristy Lee off the island. See you tomorrow night for the results!

THURSDAY
Not much to recap here as I won't stoop to recapping recaps. I will say that if Blake Lewis was submitting that performance for the vote, he wouldn't make the final 12. On to the results....Kady and Luke are the first two to go, which were the obvious choices...And Asia'h gong home has to be the first huge upset of the season since she is clearly a stronger singer than Kristy. And now Danny Noriega and his head bob of death are also sent packing. So here's the final 12: David Archuletta, David Cook, David Hernandez, Michael, Jason and Chikese for the men, and Brooke, Sayesha, Carly, Amanda, Kristy, and Ramiele for the ladies. Next week is all Lennon/McCartney tunes!

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…Thanks to the AI lead in, Don't Forget The Lyrics hit a series high audience of 14.56 million on Thursday night, with Lost and The Celebrity Apprentice taking the blunt of the blow and putting up season lows…Saturday Night Live was down 10% from last week but was still strong enough to be the #2 episode of the season and 22% over the pre-strike average…Oprah's Big Move was the big winner on Sunday, posting an average of 15.55 million and winning the night in total audience as well as demos…Dexter picked up almost a half million viewers from last week…Unhitched retained 90%+ of it's Family Guy lead-in audience to the tune of 7.1 million, a pretty strong showing all things considered…Sunday's season two premiere of Dirt drew 1.7 million, less than half of the season one debut and under the season one average as well…ABC's special The Royal Family won Monday night with 14.5 million over the two hours as well as the evening's top demos…The season finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was up 860,000 from last week…Medium picked up 1.5 million viewers this week, up to 9.11 million for the episode…The New Amsterdam pilot was watched by 13.7 million, retaining 44% of it's AI lead-in…A Law And Order: SVU rerun did surprisingly well Tuesday at 10 with 9.4 million…Wondering about the AI effect? Moment of Truth following Wednesday's AI was up 15% from Monday's episode minus the talent show lead-in…America's Next Top Model posted season low numbers but Girlicious went the opposite route right after, going for season highs…

All The Young Dudes Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Newsday's TV Blog is reporting that Kathie Lee Gifford is in talks with NBC to join The Today Show as the anchor for the show's final hour. The story itself comes from www.FTVLive.com…TV Guide may have some big How I Met Your Mother scoop – according to their web site, CBS is negotiating with Alicia Silverstone to do multiple episodes as a love interest for Ted, and many are inferring that she could be the one spoken of in the title…I know I promised more info on the MMA – CBS deal but apparently the details I gave you last week turned out to be accurate; MMA will have four different Saturday night specials on the network, with the first one starting in April…Julianne Moore is in talks to do a multiple episode arc on Desperate Housewives, with rumors having her playing Bree's sister…As we guessed last week, NBC pulled Quarterlife after one episode. The originally made for MySpace series may end up on Bravo later on this year…Look for Valerie Bertinelli to have her own talk show this fall…Reba McEntire will handle hosting duties for the Academy of Country Music Awards for the 10th time when it airs on CBS next month…Looks like the rumors of Micha Barton doing a stint on Gossip Girl were premature…I was extremely happy to get the news that ABC Family was picking up a third season of the excellent family drama Lincoln Heights…Mira Sorvino and Victor Garber are starring in NBC's mini-series adaptation of The Last Templar, a best seller by Raymond Khoury…Robert Irvine, host of Dinner: Impossible, was let go by the Food Network after serious questions about the truthiness of his resume were raised. The show will continue once a new host is found…Jamie Lynn Spears will guest star on the March 20th series premiere the ABC comedy Miss/Guided… The CW's The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series debuts Saturday morning at 10 with back-to-back episodes, followed by the one hour series finale of The Batman…Jessalyn Gilsig, best known for her role as Gina on Nip/Tuck as well as a multi-episode stint on Friday Night Lights, will begin a recurring role on CSI: NY later this month as a love interest for Gary Sinese's character…TV Guide is reporting that at least one network has reached out to the producers of The New Adventures of Old Christine to let them know they are interested in the series if CBS doesn't pick it up. Considering ABC has recently made a move in female lead sitcoms (Samantha Who?, Miss/Guided), I would guess it's them…FX will air the final season of The Shield starting in September…CBS much discussed partner swapping 70's drama Swingtown will debut in July…The CW ordered a pilot for How To Teach the Filthy Rich, a young adult novel by the same author who penned the Gossip Girl series…E! made official its plans for Living Lohan, a new reality series that focuses on Dina as she manages her family and daughter Ali's fledgling career…Paris Hilton will play herself in a dream sequence on an hour long episode of My Name Is Earl on April 3rd…CBS picked up the pilot for Single White Millionaire, a comedy written by Ricky Blitt (The Family Guy, The Winner) about a rich dude trying to find love…Another big rumor has Pat O'Brien getting booted from The Insider, replaced by current sub host Donny Osmond…TV One will air all 13 episodes of ABC's Taye Diggs starring drama Daybreak on Sunday nights starting later this month, including the final 7 that were never shown on TV…

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…I fully admit that I am an easy cry. I figured this out quite young when a particularly sad episode of Laverne and Shirley had me welling up. Hey, don't mock – Laverne was dating a fireman who was about to propose to her but he got called out to a fire and died. Since then I have been known to walk into a room where someone is watching the last five minutes of a show or movie I had never seen before and find myself getting a little misty when the hero triumphed. Why do I bring this up now? Because I had tears streaming down my face when Penny finally answered the phone on last week's Lost. The episode had a lot going for it, including a great showcase for Jeremy Davies nervous energy, but the star of this particular show was Henry Ian Cusak. I frequently talk about the heart of a series, the emotional core that pulls you in and makes you invest yourself in the outcome, and right now there is nothing more compelling on Lost than the Desmond-Penny love story. Cusak's cool intensity serves as a great base so that he's that much more convincing and effecting when Desmond is spiraling out of control. While the intellectual side of me is greatly looking forward to all the mysteries of the island being solved when Lost reaches its conclusion, the emotional side of me knows that it will be seeing Desmond and Penny reunited that will pack the real punch.

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…A stellar One Tree Hill last Tuesday, with the girls locked in the library leading to some quality dialogue and revelations. The show rewards its longtime viewers as well as any on TV in terms of bringing up plot points and characters from previous seasons in a way that seems quite realistic. Also, Jackson Brundage is clearly the best child actor currently on the small screen…Jericho's strong second season continues, and Esai Morales deserves to be singled out for praise as he jumped in this year and is matching rest of the cast clenched jaw for clenched jaw. Really nice scene with Stanley and his sister on the front porch of the farm…I am really digging Last Restaurant Standing on BBC America and am wondering how long it will take for a US version to get picked up. Taking an entire episode for a challenge that closed on of the restaurants was a time commitment you don't see much in the states on these types of shows…Loved Ellen Page's monologue on SNL, and I laughed through much of the episode even though she seemed pretty nervous. The digital short was phenomenal…The great chemistry that has developed between Jesse L Martin and Jeremy Sisto makes it even harder to swallow that Martin is leaving Law and Order later this season. I have no idea if the thing with the juror will come back later on but it would have been much more interesting if NBC hadn't hyped it to death during the week…Caught a couple of episodes from the last season of The Practice this past week and was amazed by how different a character Alan Shore was. So much darker, so much more defiant, and frankly so much more interesting. There is an argument that he has mellowed thanks to his relationship with Denny Crane but I think I like the old Alan better…The Nip/Tuck season finale featured a genuinely disturbing final scene as Sean lay bleeding on the operating room floor, gurgling for help. I thought the amnesia storyline was a bit daytime soapy but must concede it opens up some interesting story possibilities. Just when I think that they can't show any sex scene I haven't seen before, Christian jumps into bed with an amputee. To the show's credit, they filmed it with the same graphic, over-the-topness they do every other sex scene…The two hour Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was another in the run of fine episodes this freshman drama put together. While it seemed to violate every known rule of the time-space continuum, the scene where Derek takes John to see his Dad was quite moving. Even better was the use of Johnny Cash's When The Man Comes Around for the FBI-Cromarty showdown. Garret Dillahunt being dressed all in black was a nice touch, too. Good news for fans - apparently the show does quite well with Tivo/DVR viewings as well as downloads, so its chances for renewal are actually a bit better than I had realized…Aliens In America returned with a pretty funny episode. The visuals of the school bully making weapons in shop class was great…Three episodes in and I am still loving Dexter. Each week provides more stunning visuals, all incredible and all somewhat different…Wayne Brady was his usual entertaining self on Everybody Hates Chris, which once again proved it is without peer in its use of the comedy montage…Gregory Itzin gave an amazing performance on this week's Medium, especially his monologue at the end that almost made what he did seem noble. Despite what some local Boston radio hosts said, I did not once think of John McCain…Lifetime's new dance show Your Mama Don't Dance was predictably cute, with lots of awkward Dad's standing around while their daughters did the hard work. Loved Ben Vereen sporting the hip hairstyle. This week is the Mother-Son contestants…

TV Pick Of The Week
I highlighted the finale of The Wire as this week's lead so my pick of the week will be a different finale, one I hope will be merely the season variety and not a sign off for the series. From the opening moments I was hooked on Breaking Bad, a dark character study about what people are capable of when put into the right/wrong situations. Bryan Cranston's performance as a high school chemistry teacher who starts cooking crystal meth after he learns he has lung cancer in order to leave his family in a sounds financial situation more than lived up to the hype and right now he is the clear front runner for the 2008 Norty for Best Actor in a Drama series. There is more to the show than just Cranston as the entire cast is excellent, and each week there is a scene that simply blows me away. I believe you can watch the previous episodes On-Demand before Sunday finale, and trust me when I say you that any fan of quality television would be doing themselves a favor by tuning in. Don't miss Breaking Bad this Sunday on AMC.

Two Tivos To Paradise, Weekly Update
30 Days, 30 Rock, 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, Breaking Bad, 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, The Real Hustle, 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 :None
Deletions : None

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. We'll start a new feature next week, a guide to the next seven days in returning favorites; the post-strike era of the 2007-2008 TV season is upon us!

Have a great week, see you next Friday!

Feedback is encouraged at [e-mail] as well via the comments section below.

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.