Two Tivos To Paradise 7.18.08: Celebrating Two Years of TV News Excellence

Posted by Al Norton on 07.18.2008

Emmy nominations are in - see if your favorites made the cut, Amy Poehler may star in The Office non-spinoff, William Peterson is leaving CSI, Entourage lines up a fresh batch of guest stars, Nip/Tuck gets an exit strategy, raves for the Homerun Derby, tons of news and notes, the TV Pick of the Week and more, all in this week's birthday edition of Two Tivos To Paradise!

Hello Friends. Even though we just celebrated the 100th edition of Two Tivos To Paradise a few weeks back, another milestone is upon us; today is the two year anniversary of your favorite TV news destination. Ok, my favorite TV news destination, at least. Who'd thunk we'd last longer than Studio 60? I am thrilled that enough of you keep coming back each week to keep 411mania from evicting me from this cushy Friday slot. Let's hope year three is even better!

Remember my complaints about how FX had taken The Practice off for a couple of weekends to show movies? Well be careful what you wish for as starting this past Monday they are showing I>The Practic weekday mornings at 8, with episodes at 7 AND 8 am on Saturday and Sundays. Going from 2 hours a week to 9 means it's going to be very difficult for me to keep up with the show. What this also means is that Buffy The Vampire Slayer is no longer airing in reruns on US TV, the first time episodes have not been on a network's regular schedule since it debuted in 1997. Angel continues to air for two hours each weekday morning on TNT.

Now she if she news it like this, will you news it like that?

Nobody Does It Half As Good As You, Baby You're The Best
The 60th Annual Prime Time Emmy nominations were announced yesterday, with startlingly few surprises. Here is a rundown of the major categories:

Let's start with a few that aren't as big but still of interest…

BEST REALITY SERIES
*Antiques Road Show
*Dirty Jobs
*Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
*Intervention
*Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List

BEST REALITY COMPETITION SERIES
*The Amazing Race
*American Idol
*Dancing with the Stars
*Project Runway
*Top Chef

BEST ANIMATED SERIES (Less Than One Hour)
*Creature Comforts America
*King Of The Hill
*Robot Chicken
*The Simpsons
*Spongebob Squarepants

BEST ANIMATED SERIES (One Hour Or More)
*The Family Guy (Blue Harvest)
*South Park (Imaginationland)
*Justice League: The New Frontier

And now on to the biggies…

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
*Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men
*Kevin Dillon,Entourage
*Neil Patrick Harris , How I Met Your Mother
*Jeremy Piven , Entourage
*Rainn Wilson ,The Office

Analysis: No Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies) is almost criminal, and it would have been nice to see at least one "out of the blue" nominee in this group, like Dule Hill (PSYCH) or Ray Wise (Reaper). Maybe the Academy will just give Tracy Morgan a special award during 30 Rock's last season in honor of his brilliance.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
*Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
*Jean Smart, Samantha Who
*Amy Poehler , Saturday Night Live
*Holland Taylor, Two And A Half Men
*Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty

Analysis: Jamie Pressley goes from winning last year to not even nominated? Has Holland Taylor aged a day in the last 30 years? I remember her as Kip and Henry's boss on Bossom Buddies and she looked pretty much the same age then.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
*Ted Danson , Damages
*Michael Emerson, Lost
*Zeljko Ivanek,Damages
*William Shatner, Boston Legal
*John Slattery, Mad Men

Analysis: Where do I begin? I know that there are a lot of worthy nominees, and I will even push aside that Battlestar Galactica is going to end it's run without James Callis hearing his named called even once, but how did Henry Ian Cusic not get nominated for Lost?!?!? I suppose it's all moot since Michael Emerson is going win, and deservedly so.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
*Candace Bergen, Boston Legal
*Rachel Griffiths, Brothers And Sisters
*Sandra Oh , Grey's Anatomy
*Diane Wiest, In Treatment
*Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy

Analysis: No one from the cast of Big Love? No Ally Walker, who is the only reason to watch Tell Me You Love Me? No Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights)?

BEST LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY
*Alex Baldwin, 30 Rock
*Steve Carell, The Office
*Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
*Tony Shalhoub, Monk
*Charlie Sheen, Two And A Half Men

Analysis: I would have loved to have seen Zach Levi (Chuck) and James Roday (PSYCH) add some youth to this category, not to mention Josh Radnor get recognized for being the heart and soul of How I Met Your Mother.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY
*Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
*America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
*Tina Fey, 30 Rock
*Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, The New Adventures Of Old Christine
*Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Analysis: This is the category that makes the most sense, and four of these five were up for Norty's last week.

BEST LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA
*Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
*Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
*Michael C Hall, Dexter
*John Hamm, Mad Men
*Hugh Laurie, House
*James Spader, Boston Legal

Analysis: As I wrote last week, Bryan Cranston was the name I was most hoping to hear yesterday morning, so I was thrilled for he and Breaking Bad to get this moment. This is a fine group of actors, although I would swap Damian Lewis (Life) and Eddie Izzard (The Riches) for Byrne and Spader.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA
*Glenn Close, Damages
*Sally Field, Brothers And Sisters
*Mariska Hargitay, Law And Order: SVU
*Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
*Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Analysis: This is the category I have the most issue with as I think they just flat out got it wrong, with three of these nominees being here because they are movie stars and a fourth because she has been here before. Minnie Driver and Mary McDonnell, you was robbed.

BEST SERIES, COMEDY
*30 Rock
*Curb Your Enthusiams
*Entourage
*The Office
*Two And A Half Men

Analysis: No Pushing Daisies?!?!? Seriously? Wow – I'd love to meet the person who thinks Two And A Half Men is in any way a funnier show than Pushing Daisies, if only to give them a gentle whack upside the head.

BEST SERIES, DRAMA
*Boston Legal
*Damages
*Dexter
*House
*Lost
*Mad Men

Analysis: And once again Friday Night Lights gets no love. I would also put Big Love, The Riches, Breaking Bad, Grey's Anatomy, or even that sci-fi drama I hear everyone talking about over Damages, which continues to stun me with it's critical success.

Tune in to the Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 21st on ABC to see who wins!

On The Island Day Is Breaking, In The Harbor Tanker's Waiting
Amy Poehler confirmed on Thursday that she will star in the upcoming spin-off of The Office, although NBC is now saying the new series is not a spin-off of The Office but rather it's own independent series featuring the same writers and producers. It's unclear if the show will be a workplace based comedy or something new altogether. A possible complication could be Poehler's pregnancy; she is due in the fall and the series is set to debut in February in the timeslot that follows the Superbowl.

My original story had me going on a rant about spin-offs but that got the "never mind" treatmentvery , so I am left saying that Poehler is a funny lady and I am looking forward to seeing what this talented group of writers comes up with for her. She usually plays extreme characters as opposed to "real" people, so I am curious as to which direction they will go. As much as I will miss her on SNL, her departure will mean more screen time for the brilliance that is Kristin Wiig, not to mention a bigger role for last season's best addition Casey Wilson, so this could all work out to be a serious win-win for viewers.

One potential worry is that the writing staff will be taxed by handling two shows but clearly they recognize the magnitude of their undertaking because Toby and Ryan were written out of The Office last spring in order to give Paul Lieberstein and BJ Novak more time to handle production (writing & casting) for both shows, although both characters will appear on The Office at some point during the new season.

I Woke Up In A Soho Doorway, A Policeman Knew My Name
Multiple publications are reporting that the contract extension William Peterson signed with CBS last year was for only 10 episodes, meaning he will be leaving CSI during its upcoming 9th season. Peterson, who has played Gil Grissom on the mega-hit procedural drama since the show debuted, will stay on as an executive producer and has agreed to return for multiple guest appearances per season for however long the show continues to air. Peterson is the third original cast member to exit the series in the last year; Jorja Fox left on her own and Gray Dourdan's departure was the decision of the producers. No word yet on possible replacements.

It will be extremely interesting to see what direction CBS goes for a replacement for Peterson. The network's typical audience is older than advertisers like (CSI topped Grey's Anatomy last season in total viewers but lagged behind in key demos), so they may be tempted to bring in a younger actor to try and shake things up a bit. It's more likely they will go the safe root like they did when Mandy Patinkin left Criminal Minds last year, almost signing Geena Davis before hiring Joe Mantegna. I wonder if Harvey Keitel, who was rumored to be in talks at one point for Minds, would again consider doing a TV show. That wouldn't be going younger but it would certainly draw some attention.

Might I suggest Katee Sackhoff? According to multiple reports Sackhoff was very close to joining CSI this summer before producers vetoed the casting. Considering how loyal the sci-fi audience is, there is no question new eyes would be tuning in for her debut. In general, the idea of hiring someone with a following would be a smart way to go as opposed to relying on the show to regenerate/reinvegorate itself.

I am sure Peterson's exit will draw huge ratings for the show next season but CBS has to be concerned that no mater who they hire, this many changes in such a short period of time runs the risk of having longtime fans feel like it's not their show anymore.

We Think We've Climbed So High, Above All The Backs We've Come Down
FX made a series of announcements this week at the annual Television Critics Association presentation, including that Nip/Tuck had been renewed for an additional - and final - 19 episodes, bringing the series to a close in 2011 with a total of 100 episodes. They also renewed It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia for a staggering 39 episodes (3 more thirteen episode seasons), not counting the new season that starts in September. Michael J Fox's four episode stint as the wheelchair bound boyfriend of Denis Leary's ex-wife on Rescue Me was confirmed, as was Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden's addition to the cast of Damages. Network president John Landgraf said there has been no decision made about a third season of The Riches but did point out it had a larger audience than buzz shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Dexter.

Best news of the week is that there may be life for The Riches! Perhaps last week's Norty Awards, which placed it in the five best dramas on TV, had an effect! Keep your fingers crossed! Nip/Tuck returns in January with 8 more episodes that will bring the series fourth season to a close, and it's likely they will break up the last 19 into two separate runs, thereby milking the "it's the final season of Nip/Tuck" cow as much as possible. 100 episodes is a pretty major achievement for any show, although it's lasting legacy may be pushing the sex-on-basic-cable envelope further than anyone would have though possible before the show debuted.

I have made no bones about how overrated I thought the first season of Damages was, in particular Glenn Close's ridiculously over-the-top performance, but there is no doubt about the firepower in the cast now that Harden has joined fellow Academy Award winners Close and William Hurt. Ted Danson will be back for several episodes as well, although it's unclear if it will be in flashbacks or if his character will survive the gunshot wound he sustained on the finale.

Seems Like Everyone's Got A Plan, It's Kind Of Like Nashville With A Tan
The upcoming 5th season of HBO's Emmy winning series Entourage has lined up a host of guest stars, with its usual interesting assortment of celebs stopping by. Playing actual characters include the previously announced Leighton Meester (reprising her season one role a pop starlet), Jamie-Lynn Siegler (playing "herself"), Bow Wow, Lukas Haas, Giovanni Ribisi, Fran Drescher, and Kevin Pollack. Doing spots as themselves include the great Jeffrey Tambor, Tony Bennett, the hosts of The View, and Phil Mickelson. Also reprising roles from earlier seasons are Carla Gugino and Beverly D'Angelo.

Dresher and Pollack will play a married Beverly Hills couple and could easily be the Martin Landau's of this season as both have shown an ability to be endearingly annoying and have stolen more than a few scenes in their time. Siegler will play a version of herself who becomes romantically involved with one of the boys; the internet rumors have her hooking up with Turtle but that may just be some writer's idea that caught on. I look forward to seeing Tambor in particular since they guy is always on (he even found ways to get laughs in last season's terrible, The Captain). I love him so much I may need to add him to my dream sitcom. What's that, you don't remember my dream sitcom?

To recap, it stars Dave Foley and Patrick Warburton as a gay couple, with Charisma Carpenter as Warburton's ex-wife and Jackson Brundage as their son. Maybe Tambor could play Carpenter's Father, or even better her rebound boyfriend. Or maybe Foley's ex?

Where were we? Oh right, lots of cool guest stars on the new season of Entourage, which starts in September.

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…Last Thursday's season premiere of Burn Notice was watched by 5.39 million, an increase of 35% from last summer's series debut. It topped CBS' Swingtown and ABC's Hopkins in the key demos, which were the second best of 2008 for a scripted cable series – behind the Monk finale last winter – although that will change when the numbers for last Monday's premiere of The Closer come in…In a sign of the apocalypse, Greatest American Dog won the Thursday at 8 battle for total audience and key demos…Flashpoint premiered strongly for CBS on Friday, topping it's NBC (Dateline) and ABC (20/20) competition…Big Brother returned on Sunday night to an audience of 6.3 million, on par with previous Sunday outings of the series, although much lower than it's mid week outings…Repeats of America's Funniest Home Videos (6.3 million) and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (5.4 million) continue to perform well for ABC, but the serialized Desperate Housewives sees a major drop off when they show reruns (3.1 million)…The Disney Channel movie Picture This! was Sunday night's most watched show among women 12-34…Hey, that didn't take long – The Closer's return was the highest rated ad-supported cable broadcast of the year…The first nine innings of Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game were the highest rated since 2001, although there was an obvious decline as the game wore on past midnight…

All The Young Dudes Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Katie Holmes returns to her TV roots with a one episode (at least) appearance on Eli Stone…Ricky Gervais taped a stand up special last week that will air on HBO later this fall…Isaiah Washington is back on TV with a guest appearance on A & E's The Cleaner. Others stopping by during the new drama's freshman season include Eric Roberts, Tate Donovan, Kathy Baker, and Annabeth Gish…With it's second season picking up where it's record breaking freshman outing left off, Lifetime wasted no time in renewing Army Wives for an 18 episode third season. The network also announced some new shows on the horizon including a Carson Kressley talk show, a reality show featuring Kim Porter (aka the Mother of Sean Combs three children), and a dating-dancing series called Love and Salsa, hosted by Mario Lopez…Christina Ricci will do a three episode stint on TNT's Saving Grace this season as Holly Hunter's temporary new partner. Ricci's last TV appearance, on Grey's Anatomy, resulted in an Emmy nomination…Daytime legend Genie Francis returns to the role that made her famous when she reappears as Laura Spencer on General Hospital in late August, the second time in two years she has returned to the soap for a short run…Jordana Brewster will be Chuck's new love interest next fall, signing on for at least three episodes…Jason Alexander will do a November sweeps guest spot on Criminal Minds plus direct an episode of Fox's Till Death…The season premiere of Law and Order: SVU will feature James Brolin and Chris Elliot, making this the first time those two names have ever appeared in the same sentence…Justine Bateman plays the oft-referred to but never seen ex-wife of Detective Lassiter on PSYCH later this summer…John Stamos will serve as "roast master" when Comedy Central roasts Bob Saget. The special will tape in August and also feature Artie Lang, Tracy Morgan, and Jeffrey Ross, among others…Fox is still working on Prison Break: Cherry Hill – a women's version of their current show – but instead of being a spin off that uses the original to introduce some new characters, the show will have it's own launch…Mario Van Peebles is being kept busy by FX; not only will he be back for six episodes of Damages but he will also be directing multiple outings for their new Sons of Anarchy series…NBC has confirmed that Kristen Bell will be back for multiple episodes of Heroes…October Road's Jonathan Murphy is the last cast addition to Life On Mars…Desperate Housewives five year jump in the timeline means that all the Scavo children needed to be recast, which is just what happened this week…Two Tivos favorite Mark Feuerstein has been cast as the lead in the 90 minute USA pilot Royal Pains, which will be directed by Jace Alexander, who also handled the Burn Notice pilot for the network…One Tree Hill cast members are trying to show they are more than just actors; Chad Michael Murray will write one of the episodes for next season, and co-star Bethany Joy Galeotti will direct one as well…ABC Family is so happy with The Secret Life of the American Teenager that they ordered 13 more episodes; one more to air during this run and 12 for a second season that will debut in January…Jeffrey Dean Morgan will reprise his role as Denny on an episode on Grey's Anatomy this fall…

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…The best example of how hypnotic Josh Hamilton's performance was in the first round of Monday night's Homerun Derby is that after his fourth tater in a row, Mrs. Tivo pushed her lap top screen down and started watching. This gave me the opportunity to tell her Hamilton's incredibly inspirational story of recovery from drug addiction, although she was more interested in how his batting practice pitcher was managing to keep throwing pitches at his advanced age. The second best example of how great it was is that it managed to hit those levels of greatness despite some of the worst commentary in recent memory. Were there six guys in that booth? Even if there were just two, if one of them is Joe Morgan, it's not going to work out well.

This was one of those sports moments that had people calling and texting friends and family to make sure they were watching, with each jaw dropping blast converting more and more fans for the Rangers slugger. I'll be honest – I went online the next morning to order my Josh Hamilton All Star Game tee-shirt. No, he didn't win the derby, but in any and all ways that count, it didn't matter. For anyone in recovery, each day clean is a win, and the chance to show people that you can come back from the lows that Hamilton hit during his time as a user means more to him than any trophy ever could.

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…I greatly enjoyed the first episode of Generation Kill, although the second half was much stronger; things really picked up once the Rolling Stone reporter arrived. I did feel like there were two many white guys who looked alike, but I am guessing that is an issue in the military at times. It felt incredibly authentic to me at all times and I am greatly looking forward to the rest of the mini-series…The return of The Closer was a welcome site on my TV screen, especially with the fine guest turn by future Life On Mars star Jason O'Mara, who showed a quirky side I hadn't seen before along with his trademark intensity. I was a little surprised by the seemingly gratuitous bra and panties scene with Brenda, but that in no way should read like a complaint…Not that I want Stuff That Makes Me Cry to be a weekly feature, but if any of you caught Kyle's audition on America's Got Talent than you, too, must be experiencing a shortage of kleenex in your houses…Another week, another fantastic episode of The Middleman. I know we are 51 weeks away but I can already pretty much guarantee a Norty nomination or two. It has fast become the best show no one has heard of…Last night's Burn Notice featured the best moments of the series between Michael and his Mom, with some quality laughs as well as some real understanding…The latest round of The Soup Presents specials on E! have been really fantastic – original and funny and not at all seeming like a recycling of things we have seen before. E! shows them quite frequently so fret not if you haven't seen them yet. A new one debuts Monday at 10 pm…A host of mediocre reviews had me thinking I had overrated The Cleaner so I watched the premiere (again) on Tuesday night and felt just as strongly about Benjamin Bratt's performance as well as some of the show's deeper messages about personal responsibility. What can I say, I like my drama like I like my chocolate – dark…This week's Juiced was the best of the Rescue Me mini-sodes to date, with some funny baseball stuff that was followed up with an emotional gut punch…Belated raves to the season finale of Reaper, which I finally watched this week. Is Sam the Devil's grandson? Nephew? I am quite pleased this show is getting a second life and credit The CW for recognizing what it has. Now let's see how they market the reruns and the show's mid-season return to see if they can get any momentum…One thing I love about Last Comic Standing is the way they call each other out with the "I know I'm funnier than…" part of the show. How much better would American Idol be if they each had to pick someone to challenge to a sing-off each week?...I will write more about it next week but I find myself enjoying The Secret Life of the American Teenager. It's so unhip that it works…

TV Pick Of The Week
I had read about Criss Angel on the web but it wasn't until I saw him levitate on an episode of Mindfreak two years ago that I became a card carrying fan. Since then I have seen just about all the episodes of his A & E series, including watching him walking on water, making a kid's bike disappear into thin air, and multiple occasions where he flew, and each time I am more amazed than the last. Yes, some of his stunts are easier to figure out than others, and he can be a bit of a drama queen, but I defy anyone to tell me how he flies. Seriously. When I suggested to Mrs. Tivo that perhaps he had little jet packs on his ankles, she burst out laughing.

Angel will attempt to win over new fans with Wednesday's one hour season premiere of Mindfreak, where he attempts to walk across Lake Mead in Nevada, the world's largest manmade lake. And he follows them up next week with a live episode that finds him bound and shackled in a building in Florida that is wired with explosives and set to implode. Those of you unfamiliar with his work, or those who are non-believers, can check out A & E's all day marathon of the previous three seasons on Wednesday that lead into the new episode at 10 pm. If you want your head to explode in a more time efficient way, go to Youtube and search "Criss Angel flying".

Don't miss the season premiere of Mindfreak, Wednesday at 10 on A & E.

Two Tivos To Paradise, Weekly Update
30 Days, 30 Rock, The Academy, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antique Roadshow, The Apprentice, Battlestar Galactica, Best Week Ever, Big Love, 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, Last Comic Standing, Last Restaurant Standing, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Legally Blonde: The Search For The Next Elle Woods; Lost, Mad Men, Make Me A Supermodel, Medium, The Middleman, My Name Is Earl, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, Next Food Network Star, Nip/Tuck, The Office, The Paper, One Tree Hill, Private Practice, 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?, The Sarah Jane Chronicles, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Shear Genius, So You Think You Can Dance?, The Soup, Step It Up and Dance, Supernatural, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Top Chef, Top Design, Torchwood, Ugly Betty

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. Feel free to use the comments section below to let me know what you think of the Emmy nominations as well as your take on anything else we covered – or should have covered – this week. Mrs. Tivo and I already have our tickets for The Dark Knight on Saturday so I'll weigh in on that next week as well as fill you in on all the latest in the world of television.

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.