Two Tivos To Paradise 09.12.08: Helping You Prep For Your Fantasy TV Drafts!

Posted by Al Norton on 09.12.2008

Two Tivos To Paradise is back with all the latest TV News, including The Gossip Girls visting 30 Rock, Sarah Palin's TV interview, 24 shutting down production, a new sitcom from the creator of Arrested Development, a guide to the next seven days in season/series premieres, raves for Sons of Anarchy, tons of notes, the TV Pick of the Week, and more!

Hello Friends. The first week with twins in the house is under our belts and I am here to say that Tivo is a parent's best friend; when Genevieve was keeping Mrs. Tivo up her last week (we take turns on the various night shifts), she watched Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth while rocking her to sleep instead of relying on whatever the cable networks show in the wee hours of the morning. I took the various late night opportunities to tell the twins all about the 2008 Red Sox and their post-season chances.

Thanks to everyone for their kind words last week; Genevieve continues to do well and is putting on weight like it's going out of style (she gets that from her Dad), and her brother Harry is a remarkably mellow guy. I also wanted to take a minute and say how in awe I am of my Mother in-law's strong yet gentle nature as well as her energy level; she ran herself into exhaustion making sure that Mrs. Tivo and I did not, all the while acting like what she was doing was not in any way a big deal.

On the pop culture side of things, I had the brilliant new Glen Campbell album (Meet Glen Campbell) and the soundtrack to Legally Blonde: The Musical on a rotation in my car to help get me through the four-to-five runs a day between our house and the hospital. Seriously, the Glen Campbell CD is the best thing I have heard all year, a collection of covers (including the Foo Fighters, Tom Petty, U2, Travis, and others) that just made me smile the whole time and show that he is far from done as an artist. I am a longtime Campbell fan and even I was surprised by how current he sounds. His version of All I Want Is You, Mr.s Tivo's favorite U2 song, is ridiculously good.

To continue this tangent a tad bit further, the week before the twins arrived I got an Amazon package that consisted of the aforementioned Glen Campbell and Legally Blonde CD's plus the House of Night trilogy (a series of Vampire novels written by a Mother-daughter duo and aimed at teen readers), and I think it was the single most ecclectic package I had ever received from them. Feel free to post your strangest Amazon order in the comments section below.

I don't know why, I don't know why, I don't know why, I can't get enough of your news.

Colored Lights Can Hypnotize, Sparkle Someone Else's Eyes
Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin is the subject of tonight's entire 20/20 episode, with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson's interview with her making up the bulk of the show. Gibson did three separate interviews with the Alaska Governor this week, and clips of them started to air last night on ABC World News as well as on this morning's Good Morning America, but the bulk of the conversations will be aired tonight along with a biography of Palin and a live roundtable discussion on the Presidential race and the woman who has gone from being a virtual unknown to being the most talked about person in the country.

This is must see viewing no matter who you plan on voting for as Palin remains very much a mystery in that voters have yet to see her speak extemporaneously; her stump speeches are distilled versions of her RNC speech, and as incredible as it seems considering she was named the presumptive VP nominee two weeks ago, this interview will be the first time she has talked to the press. Supporters of her will be tuning in in the hopes that she shows the same fire and passion she did at the convention while those voting for the Democrats are hoping Gibson asks the tough questions about her qualifications for the job as well as her record.

I want Gibson to be tough but fair and hope that he and ABC did not have to make any concessions - as in giving her the questions first – in order to secure what is clearly the biggest "get" of the year.

There's Something Happening Here, What It Is Ain't Exactly Clear
After executive producer Howard Gordon made clear his issues with the scripts, 24 will shut down production next Monday for two weeks in order to give writers more time to work on plot points and story direction. The delay will not effect the show's scheduled January return as there were 8 episodes completed from last year before the WGA strike and they will have completed 10 additional episodes when the break begins.

This season is a major season for the show as going almost two years between episodes can mean test an audience's loyalty, and them shutting things down while tinkering is done demonstrates how aware Fox is of this; if 24 bounces back with a big year than the franchise is alive and well, but if ratings drop again, it will almost certainly mean the beginning of the end for Jack Bauer on the small screen.

I am always torn when shows make changes before they hit the air, whether it's changing producers or fixing scripts; on one hand it shows they were clearly not happy with what they were producing (and if they were not, why should I be interested in watching?), but on the other hand why should a show take a hit in the eyes of the fans for realizing there is a problem and doing something about it?

This story may not be a huge one now but if the two hour movie Fox airs in November is not well received, this shut down will be immediately referenced as evidence that the show is starting it's final descent.

As it turns out, 24 isn't the only Fox show changing its production schedule for script purposes; Joss Whedon's upcoming Dollhouse also decided future scripts needed fine tuning and stopped filming for two weeks to address the issues. As with 24, it's not expected to have any effect on the scheduling of the series.

And You Knew Who You Were Then, Girls Were Girls And Men Were Men
Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz is developing a new comedy about a dysfunctional family for CBS, with Jason Biggs in final negotiations to play the lead. The untitled pilot script is written by Hurwitz and fellow AD alum James Valley, and the network has ordered an additional 6 scripts, a strong sign that they are getting fully behind the project. Biggs starred in the CBS pilot I'm In Hell last year but it was not picked up.

I suppose if all the AD diehards out there can't have their favorite show on the air, and the movie talk seems to have died down, they might be happy to settle for a series from the same people that mines much of the same familial terrain. The description in The Hollywood Reporter said it was about the adult siblings and parents who are over involved in each other's lives, and that does sound more than a bit like the Bluths. Hurwitz is busy this year as he also has the animated Sit Down, Shut Up set to air mid-season on Fox.

Mother Do You Think They'll Drop The Bomb? Mother Do You Think They'll Like This Song?
ABC has ordered 13 episodes of In The Motherhood, a new sitcom based on the popular internet series that stars Jenny McCarthy, Chelsea Handler, and Leah Remini acting out real life stories of Moms. This new series, produced by Mindshare (the same team behind the web show), will feature only Handler from the original trio, and it's being reported that Megan Mullally (Will and Grace) and Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) are negotiating to play the other two roles.

I am split on this as I think Jenny McCarthy can actually be pretty funny and would like to see her get a shot at this but I have been colored by how unlikable Remini's character was on the last few seasons on King of Queens and as such have transferred my dislike onto her. It's not like their replacements aren't established comedy actresses, although it will be interesting to see Mullally play a Mom, a role that couldn't be further from Karen Walker. The only bad news is Mullally taking part means the sitcom she was working on with Alicia Silverstone and Horatio Sanz is now dead.

The biggest unanswered question is how much this will effect Handler's current gig, E!'s late night talk show Chelsea Lately. My assumption is that E! will bend over backwards to keep her as it will benefit from Handler starring in a major network series. Come to think of it, ABC would want her to keep doing the show, too, as it would amount to a nightly commercial for the new series, even if it's only basic cable.

They Have Sweated Beneath The Same Sun, Looked Up In Wonder At The Same Moon
Greg Berlanti, who already has Eli Stone, Brothers and Sisters, and Dirty Sexy Money currently airing on ABC, is developing another series for the network. The Return is a science fiction series that looks at what happens to the world when aliens land on the grounds of the White House. Partnering up with Berlanti on this project is Rene Echevarria, who has some serious sci-fi chops after working as a writer and/or producer on The 4400, Dark Angel, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

I know this doesn't quality as huge news but it gives me the opportunity to talk about my all-time favorite one season show, Now and Again, which Echevarria worked on. N & A was the story of Michael Wiseman, a regular guy who's body is crushed by a train but is given the chance to live on by the government putting his brain in the body of a new artificial life force that is equipped with some serious super abilities. The trade off for this is he can never see his family again, instead leading his life as a secret agent. Sold already? Let me also say that the cast featured Eric Close (Dark Skies, Without A Trace) as the new Michael Wiseman (John Goodman played the pre-accident Wiseman in the opening scenes of the pilot) and Dennis Haysburt as the Doctor in charge of training him for his new life.

The show's 22 episodes were a fantastic mix of government espionage and human drama, as Michael couldn't stay away from his wife and daughter, neither of whom recognized him in his new shell. The chemistry between Close and Haysburt was almost as good as that between Close and Margaret Colin, who played the widow Wiseman. Now and Again alum went on to write and produce episodes of Battlestar Galactica, CSI, Eureka, Dead Like Me, Medium, Wonderfallls, Touching Evil, Monk, and The 4400. Sadly, it's not available on DVD.

Taking Echevarria's sci-fi chops and pairing him up with Berlanti, as hot a maker of human drama as TV has right now, sounds like a recipe for success. And yes, this is where I mention that Berlanti was the creator of my beloved Everwood, the show that played a large role in my starting to write this column.

In Daylights, In Sunsets, In Midnights, In Cups of Coffee
From now through mid-October we will be running a guide to the season/series premieres that occur over the next seven days. This will not replace the TV Pick of the Week and the guide to other notable programming that goes with it, which can still be found below.

*Don't Forget the Lyrics (Fox), Tonight @ 8 pm
Don't forget to not watch. Sorry, couldn't resist.

*Best Week Ever (VH-1), Tonight @ 11 pm
I am excited that my Friday nights will once again have two pop culture recap shows, although I must admit to being more than a little disappointed that BWE took all of August off, passing up the chance to offer what would have been fantastically snarky comments on both the Democratic and National conventions, not to mention the Olympics.

*Madtv (Fox), Saturday @ 11 pm
Jerry O'Connell stops by the season premiere, hopefully getting more laughs than his new Fox sitcom does.

*Saturday Night Live (NBC), Saturday @ 11:30
SNL starts its 33 season with Olympic God Michael Phelps hosting. If it's half as funny as the Michael Jordan episode, we are in for a good time.

*Lincoln Heights (ABC Family), Tuesday @ 7 pm
One of the best shows you are not watching starts its third season.

*House (Fox), Tuesday @ 9 pm
I am really interested in House this year based on the incredibly quality of last season's finale, one that seemed to change the dynamic of several of the show's key relationships.

*The Biggest Loser: Families (NBC), Tuesday, 8 pm
My brother's favorite reality show returns with families competing to win prizes and, more importantly, live longer, healthier lives.

*Smallville (The CW), Thursday @ 8 pm
Let's see how the show does without its lead villain – and most interesting character – as Smallville is sans Lex Luthor this year. Lana is also no longer a regular although she will be around for at least a few episodes. On the plus side, the Justice League is back!

*Supernatural (The CW), Thursday @ 9 pm
Can't wait to see how they resolve last year's fantastic finale, which found one of the Winchester boys in hell. Literally.

*It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX), Thursday, 10 pm
I have explained before that the reason I am not into the show has nothing really to do with the show itself and just that it and Starved came on at the same time for FX and they kept Sunny and cancelled the one that I thought was really brilliant. Time to do like Tim McGraw says and let it go, I know.

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…The final season premiere of The Shield was the least watched debut in the show's history…Better news for FX was the debut of Sons of Anarchy, which was watched by 3 million…John McCain's nomination acceptance speech was watched by 38.9 million people, about 500,000 more than who tuned into Barrack Obama's speech the previous Thursday. The DNP would like you include PBS' numbers - which usually are not included - because than there guy is back on top…Obama's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor led to the second highest ratings in the show's history…Staying with Fox News, the network was far and away the preferred method of viewing the RNC, with network records set multiple times during the week…Last Friday's Stand Up To Cancer averaged 10.3 million viewers, easily the most watched program of the evening…The return of The Sarah Connor Chronicles won it's Monday time slot in demos but was also the lowest overall rating for a new episode of the series…Gossip Girl was down ever-so-slightly from last week's all time high and overall us up 31% with adults 18-34…Michael Phelps = ratings, with the latest example being his appearance on The Tonight Show giving Jay Leno his best numbers in almost three months…Raising The Bar dropped from 7.7 million to 5 million in it's second week…The return of Monday Night Football meant big ratings for ESPN, with the Packers-Vikings half of the doubleheaders the most watched cable program of 2008 and a 13% increase over last year's regular season kick off…Fringe was watched by 9 million on Tuesday, good for second place for the night in overall viewers but it was far and away the top show with the 18-49 crowd…As expected, the second outing of 90210 saw a ratings decline, dropping 33% from week one while still being tops among the female demos…Privileged held on to 89% of it's 90210 lead-in, good for 2.92 million…Bones dropped 12% from last week's premiere…Fox was very disappointed with the Til Death and Do Not Disturb pairing on Wednesday at 9 pm; I guess TV viewers really do read reviews…America's Next Top Model bounced back somewhat after last week's poor showing…The Secret Life of the American Teenager had a spectacular season finale on Tuesday night, setting ABC Family records for total audience for an original series. The network would like us to note that more people watched it than have ever watched a single episode of Gossip Girl and it heavily outdrew 90210 in a head-to-head competition for women 12-34

All The Young Dudes Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors… Look for the Gossip Girl duo of Blake Lively and Leighton Meester to show up on 30 Rock in a flashback to Tina Fey's character's high school days…Stand Up to Cancer three month long fund raising drive, which culminate din last Friday's three network telecast, raised more than $100 million for cancer research…The great Gary Cole will play Sarah's Dad on an episode of Chuck…Grant Bowler, best known as the freighter Captain on Lost, will have a big role on the upcoming season of Ugly Betty… Patricia Heaton and Treat Williams will co-star in an upcoming Hallmark Hall of Fame movie for CBS…Tim Sizemore has been added to the cast of Starz upcoming adaptation of the Oscar winning Crash…Kevin Falls (Journeyman) had his adaptation of the gender swapping telanovela Lalola – Eva Adams here in the starts – ordered to pilot by Fox…Alec Baldwin confirmed that Oprah will appear on an episode of 30 Rock as herself…Rumors abound that Jennifer Lopez will be the guest judge on the finale of Project Runway…Jennie Garth has signed on for another six episodes of 90210 (her original deal covered 5) but it looks like Shannon Doherty's deal for 4 has not been extended…Project Runway judge Nina Garcia is getting her own reality show – Running In Heels - that follows her and her new staff as she takes over Marie Claire…TBS ordered a 10 episode third season of The Bill Engvall Show…NBC and iTunes have settled their differences and now episodes of the network's shows can be downloaded…Lifetime announced that Project Runway, switching over from Bravo after the current season ends, won't debut on the network until January…Antonio Sabato, Jr. is the latest celeb set to try and find love through a VH-1 reality series…

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…While True Blood lived up to my expectations, meaning I loved it (more below), the expectations game allowed FX's new Sons of Anarchy to win the award this week. A drama set in the world of a small town California motorcycle gang, I went in thinking it might be ok and found myself riveted for the full hour, pulled in by strong performances, sharp writing, and the feeling like I was getting a real peek into a world I didn't know anything about.

Special praise goes out to Katey Sagal, who is quite an actress and so much more than just Peg Bundy. Put an episode of Married With Children up with one of her appearances on Lost, add in her guest spot on Boston Legal last year as a mother with a WAY too close relationship with her son, and top it off with the Sons of Anarchy pilot and you've got a serious resume of range. Also, anything that gives Ron Perlman screen time works for me. Sons earned a season pass based on this hour, which is the ultimate TTTP compliment.

Regular readers know what a sucker I am for shows about people finding their place in the world, and the contrast of Jax finding out a lot more about who is late Father was and what he believed in at the same time he becomes a Dad himself was extremely well executed. The only real issue I had with the show was in how it wasted the Drea de Matteo, who seemed to be playing Adrianna's even more fraked up sister, a role she could play in her sleep.

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…True Blood rocked my world this week, introducing me to a set of characters that I am eager to see more of. Anna Paquin did a great job of playing innocent without veering into annoying. Not that I needed anything else to get me more excited for the show but seeing Chris Offutt's name as a story consultant did just that; The Same River Twice, Offutt's memoir of leaving Appalachia to travel the US, is one of my favorite books…I was only familiar with Andy Kindler from his recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond but between his stellar work on Lewis Black's The Root of All Evil and his hysterical reports from the RNC for The Late Show with David Letterman, I am officially a fan…I wrote some not-so-great things about Real Time with Bill Maher's season debut but last Friday's sophomore outing more than made up for it, with laugh out loud lines mixed with real political debate. Sure, the show leans towards the left more than just a little, but the truth is I do, too, so its right up my alley…Samurai Girl was pretty entertaining and continued ABC Family's hot streak. The mix of The Karate Kid, Dawson's Creek, and Charmed took a while to gel but TV could use more female action heroes. My biggest complaint was the soundtrack, where they seemed to be trying to use a new song in EVERY scene, and frequently one that didn't see to match the tone of what was going on. Let's see if the ratings were strong enough to turn it into a series…Mad Men came very close to earning that rarest of rarities, back-to-back "Best of What's Around" honors. This past Sunday did nothing to dissuade me of the thoughts I shared last week, that Mad Men has leapfrogged Battlestar Galactica to hold the title of "Best Show on TV"…Hope I don't get flamed for saying so but I found Fringe to be rather boring. Sure, the last 15 minutes or so picked up but I didn't see a reason to care about any of the characters, nor was I particularly interested in the plot, which is a pretty bad storytelling combination. I may give it another shot next week but I was just not feeling it. I will commend the show for being extremely well made and edited. I am not saying I thought it was …Another week, another very strong episode of The Closer. The move to them being a "major case" squad means that they have opened the detectives (and writers) up to a ton of new types of crimes to solve. I should also mention how great it was to see Silas Weir Mitchell in this week's episode playing a regular person – he was the Priest who more than held his own against Brenda – instead of the usual lunatics that he specializes in…Entourage returned with an ok episode but I am hoping for more of a season arc than "Vince tries to get his career back." At this point E and his burgeoning agency is far and away the most interesting part of the show…Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles picked up at the same high quality level it left off last spring, including a fantastic opening segment. The necessary toughening up of John was done well, as were all of the action sequences. TSC definitely gives Terminator a good name…

TV Pick Of The Week
While it might seem odd that I am picking a show I have never seen before, the fact that I never caught a single episode of the first two seasons of Talkshow with Spike Ferensten is why I am picking it. I mean, why shouldn't I have previously tuned in to see a show hosted by a guy with a resume that includes Emmy nominations and stints on the writing staffs of Seinfeld and Late Night with David Letterman? I have no real excuses, and the third season premiere finds new American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi as his guest, which will be the first time I see her interviewed. Also included is Ferensten's trip to last month's RNC.

Don't miss Talkshow with Spike Ferensten, this Saturday at midnight on Fox.

Other noteworthy programming of the next seven days…

*Law and Order: SVU's Christopher Meloni tries to prove his comedic turn in Wet Hot American Summer was no fluke with Gym Teacher: The Movie, airing on Nick tonight at 8 pm.
*Get your last Shawn and Gus fix during tonight's PSYCH's mid-season finale (10 pm, USA).
*The legendary Shirley McLaine plays Coco Chanel in the later stages of life in Lifetime's three hour bio pic (Saturday, 8 pm).
*Weeds wraps up its latest season Monday at 10 pm (Showtime).
*Wipeout has to say goodbye for the summer, Tuesday at 8 pm on Fox.
*Big Brother 10 gets a winner Tuesday at 9 pm on CBS.
*Isaiah Washington guests on The Cleaner this Tuesday at 10 pm on A & E.
*Burn Notice has its mid-season finale on Thursday at 10 pm on USA.

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, The Dish, Entourage, Eureka, Everybody Hates Chris, Flipping Out, Ghost Hunters, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, I Want To Work For Diddy, Last Comic Standing, Last Restaurant Standing, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Long Way Down, 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, One Tree Hill, Private Practice, Project Runway, Primevil, 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, Skins, 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. We'll be back next Friday with a preview of the Mother-of-All-TV weeks, with 28 major network shows having the season/series debuts plus a preview next Sunday's Emmy Awards!

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.